Chapter 2

You gotta love that crazy jester!

"Daisy and Peach are both working for the Empress and she granted them immortality." Luigi explained softly. The three moved from place to place in order to get closer to the remaining shards, but they were still cautious to remain in the shadows. The Dark Empress would surly find them if they stepped out into the light – and this time, she would dispose of them correctly.

Luigi continued, "But she's just using them until she finds all four shards. Once she does, she'll get rid of them, stripping them of their immortality and making them feeble. If she makes them weak enough, they could die on the spot."

The old wooden planks of the abandoned house creaked as Mario stepped forward. "How would you know? Maybe they wanted to be evil."

"You cannot trust anyone during times like these, L." Dimento smirked.

Luigi stared at his brother, "I know them. They wouldn't even consider being evil…but it was because they thought we were dead." He then glared at Dimento, "Please don't call me that."

"Oh please," He laughed, "You can't handle a simple memory, can you?"

"I don't want to be reminded of that thing."

"And what makes you think that we can trust them?" Dimento changed the subject quickly before he could respond.

"Because…"

"Because you loved her?" Dimento's tone suddenly changed. "I lost a battle to love once before. I don't want to lose to that pitiful emotion again."

Luigi sighed. Mario leaned on a door frame, crossing his arms over his chest. "I still agree with Dimento." He said, feeling almost ashamed of himself, "Who knows what the Empress could have made the girls think. For all we know, they're brain-washed minions that just want to go after the other shards."

Dimento's smile shone through and Luigi glanced away. He breathed inwardly before speaking. "Dimento,"

"Yes, L?"

"Luigi," He snapped, "You said you had another shard."

"Why yes…I do."

"Where is it?"

Dimento pressed his fingers together, "In a cave."

The brothers stared at him with confusion. "What?" They asked in unison.

"It is in a cave…in the Dark Lands…"

"Why would you put it there?" Mario arched an eyebrow.

"…Well, Mario," Dimento said his name in a mocking tone, "It was an ancient artifact that was made from the descendents of my people. The actual orb was meant to remain dormant in there, but some huge monster broke it apart. He took a shard and became a mutant dragon…thing."

"You mean Bowser?"

"That's why they call it The Dragon Orb."

"But he's a turtle."

"…Tomato, tomato, potato, potato."

Mario rolled his eyes. Even though they were working together, Mario and Dimento still didn't get along as well as they hoped. Dimento swore that he had given up evil and would work along-side the brothers, realizing that if the Empress destroyed the world, there would be no world to rule. Even though Dimento was living up to his promise, Mario was still wary of him. Luigi, on the other hand, also had an eye on the jester, but he didn't care as much - as long as Dimento would stop calling him "L".

"Well then," Mario finally said, "We should get going."

"Where?" Luigi cocked his head.

Dimento looked up, "The Dark Lands, L…"

Luigi glared once more, "Luigi."

"L…uigi." Dimento sighed.

"We have to be careful, though," Mario alerted, "The Empress has wardens all over the place. If we get caught, it's game over."

"Do not worry about that," Dimento scoffed, "I know my way around. And if anything, you two can fight off the wardens and I can make you invisible."

"But you would have to flip us between dimensions." Luigi recalled, "I thought you said that you lost that power."

"Oh…I suppose I did." He laughed nervously, "Oh well. When the time comes, I'll know what to do." Trying not to seem ominous, Dimento scurried away to the room that held the shard. The brothers didn't think much of his strange outburst and they prepared to leave the temporary hideout.

Dimento entered the room and closed the door quietly. He turned to face the shard that rested on a nightstand. He braced his back on the door and laughed evilly. "Those incompetent FOOLS!" He walked closer to the shard, "Once they get close to the wardens, they're history! The shard will be mine and they will be dust!" He picked up the shard, laughing once again. "And as for Luigi's little crush…ah; it brings back so many memories of the Count. He says one thing and then she comes along, raining on our wonderful parade. We were so close to a promised world, Count. Oh well, I'll bring the world to its very knees when I have the orb. Won't we? You can trust me, Count. I'll fulfill your promise."

"What will we tell her?" Peach walked fearfully next to Daisy. She kept her head down and breathed heavily.

Daisy clenched her fists. "She lied to us."

"Excuse me?"

Daisy sharply turned to face her friend. "Rosalina lied to us. She told us that they were dead and said that we had to help her if we wanted to live. She lied."

"She told us not to call her that or else!"

"Or else what?!"

Peach lowered her voice appropriately, "She said she would get rid of our immortality. You know that could kill us."

"I don't care." Daisy turned back around and kept walking up the staircase of the tower. "She lied to us and I don't want to work for her anymore."

"I don't either, but what can we do?"

Daisy didn't respond since they were growing closer to the study at the top of the dark tower. The Dark Empress secluded herself in the top of the tower that touched the sky. From there, she would try to find the next locations of the other shards. She already had one and thought that one could reveal the location of another. Using different kinds of spells and potions, she tried everything to find the other three shards. After months of research, she finally saw that the rich mortals in the Dark City found a shard, but they were going to put it away with every other ancient item they found, or sell it. The Empress sent the girls to go get the shard, but she was in for a surprise, since the girls walked in empty handed.

"Did you find it?" The Empress asked coldly.

"No." Daisy snapped.

"I-I'm afraid not." Peach tried to cover-up Daisy's retort.

"And why is that?" The Empress kept her cold tone.

"Because some other thieves stole it first." Peach said quickly before Daisy could scold their mistress.

The Empress turned around in a beat. Her platinum-blonde hair swayed with her movement and the normal lock of hair that covered her right eye was now pushed behind her ear. She was taller than the girls and easily towered over them. Her resemblance to Peach was easily seen, but her features were tapered sharper. Her eyes were blue with a noticeably cyan hue when she was calm, but as she became irritated, her eyes would turn a demonic black. The girls would try to avoid this as much as possible.

"What thieves?" She began to hiss.

"Mario and Luigi." Daisy crossed her arms, "You lied to us, Rosalina. They were never dead! You lied –"

The Empress put out her hand and closed her fist. Daisy suddenly couldn't breathe and fell to the floor, gasping for air. "What did you call me?" Her eyes began to darken.

"R…R…Rosa…l…li…nnnn…." She clenched her fist harder and Daisy began to turn blue.

"Stop! Please!" Peach pled.

The Empress released her grip and Daisy ducked down to breathe again. "Remember that I can destroy you easily. Immortality does not mean that you are invincible." She turned back to face the shard on the pedestal. "Do not call me that name again."

Daisy coughed and breathed inwardly. "W-why do you want…to do this?"

The Empress sighed. "Because you mortals are all stupid. You fight over everything and I'd rather re-create the world, but since I have befriended you, I'll let you live along-side me. This is the last time I will tell you this."

"But you said that they were dead." Peach said softly.

"I said they were gone."

"You said they were DEAD!" Daisy screamed.

"Do not yell at me."

"You lied!"

"I said they were missing and I couldn't find them."

"And if you did find them?" Daisy lifted herself up, "You would've killed them, right?"

"Do not talk back at me."

"The world isn't about you!"

The Empress turned around to face them and prepared to strike. She held back her fury, forcing her eyes to lighten just a bit. "Go find them and bring them to me." She ordered them out. The girls left quickly, but Daisy kept her stubborn attitude.

The Empress sighed. "Only three more shards and then I don't need them. Then I can finally mold the world into what I want and rid it of these unintelligible idiots."

You didn't have to choose this path. A much more gentle and soft voice cooed in the back of her mind. You know better. They are your friends.

"Were my friends," The Empress corrected, "And they were eventually going to use me to do stupid things, like grant them all pointless wishes. I am not a genie."

Come now, let me free. Let me fix this.

"Never."

The voice left moments later. The Empress had kept the moral of Rosalina locked in the darker part of her mind and it only spoke to her briefly and rarely.

Looking back into the shard, The Empress tried to find the location of another shard. As she did this, a strange mist circled around it. She stepped back, not out of fear, but out of curiosity. The mist soon manifested itself into words.

Remember me? I have what you're looking for.

"Not the jester…"

Biding a silent farewell to the abandoned house that the three had used as a hideout, Mario, Luigi, and Dimento made their slow way towards the Dark Lands. The path was covered with shadows and wardens, but the three were capable of getting through easily. Mario was still skeptical with Dimento and whether or not he was lying about the shard being in the Dark Lands.

"I do hope that you can keep up with me!" Dimento chuckled. "The cave isn't far from here!" His tone suddenly softened, "…I hope."

The three hid behind a large bolder. Mario peered over the edge, getting a good glimpse of the wardens that surrounded the area. He quickly turned back and sighed. "Ten wardens scattered across the board, approximately 30-35 degrees latitude north, five with tasers and five with spears. All are wearing night vision goggles, which spot anything that radiates heat. If we run out, we'll get caught."

"…Do you normally do that?" Dimento tilted his head.

Mario shrugged. "It's a reflex."

Luigi patted his brother's head and chuckled, "I taught you well, young sensei."

"Well," Dimento breathed, "You two should get rid of the wardens…and I will stay here…behind this bolder…with the shard."

"We could make a straight run for it." Mario suggested. "It's just a little risky."

"No, no," Dimento reassured, "I'll be fine…on my own."

"No, we'll take the shard and go over to the cave. We'll get the second shard and come back. It's not too difficult."

"No."

"Come on, Dimento." Luigi reached over to him, "We're pretty fast. I'll take care of the shard."

"NO!" Dimento hissed.

"Stop whining." Luigi put his hand on the shard.

Dimento pulled the shard away from his grasp and shouted. "DON'T TOUCH IT! IT DOESN'T LIKE TO BE TOUCHED BY ANYONE OTHER THAN ME!"

Luigi recoiled. Mario looked behind them and his eyes widened. "Oh shit."

"Damn it, Dimento!" The three stood up and the wardens now faced them, holding their weapons in an attack stance.

Mario and Luigi balled their fists, ready to attack. "We can do this." Luigi muttered.

"Actually, no we can't." Mario corrected, "Without a power and Dimento not having his dimension abilities, we're screwed."

"Thanks a lot."

The wardens began to close it on them. Dimento kept the shard close to him and smiled manically. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Mario was back-to-back with his brother.

"I think so…" Luigi whimpered.

"RRRUUUUUUNNNNNN!"

They both made a run for it, leaving Dimento with the guards. Dimento looked around, making sure that the brothers weren't near. He laughed at the wardens as a black line surrounded him. He flipped between dimensions, making him invisible. The wardens were left in mystery and wonderment.

While running, Luigi looked back at the circle of wardens growing gradually smaller as he ran. He laughed, which was short-lived since he bumped into another human being. He fell to the floor. His back landed on sharp rocks that almost pierced his skin. This only made him cry out in pain again.

"Luigi?" A female voice sounded.

Luigi rubbed his head and looked up. Peach stood over him, tilting her head in curiosity. "P-Peach?"

She put her hand out and he took it warily. He stood up, studying her carefully. "Luigi, I…Are you okay?"

"Just my back, but…" He stepped back, "I can't talk to you."

"Why?"

"Nothing personal, just that fact that…oh, you know, you're working for the bad guys."

"But…I don't want to be evil." She turned back to face Daisy who was walking towards them, "We don't want to be evil."

"Daisy…"

Peach walked away from him and ran over to Mario. She yelped with glee and wrapped him in her arms. "I thought I would never see you again!"

"But we saw each other at the…"

She glared at him, "Don't spoil this for me."

He shrugged and they continued to hug.

Luigi and Daisy walked over to each other. Once they were face to face, they held each other's eyes, simply glaring at each other. "It's too late." Luigi stated firmly.

"No it's not. I know that you're alive now. The only reason why I agreed to help her was because I thought you were dead. I had the choice to help her or die."

"But I can't trust you."

Daisy slapped him. "That's for saying you can't trust me." He looked at her and she slapped him again, "That's for pretending to be dead all this time." He looked up; his cheek was red with her handprint. She moved his face closer to hers and kissed him passionately. Once she backed away, she smirked. "And that…that was just to cover the pain." She pulled him closer, "Don't do that again."

Mario and Peach walked over to them. "The cave with the next shard should be over there." Mario pointed north, to a pile of boulders.

"That cave had the shard the entire time?" Daisy scoffed.

"I guess so." Luigi shrugged.

The four made their way past the rocky surface to the cave ahead of them. After many minutes of climbing, slipping, and almost falling, our heroes gradually made their way to the cave. Once Daisy saw something sparkling in the distance, she ran ahead of the group, her body bubbling with excitement.

The shard was buried in dust, but it glowed with a heavenly light. Daisy stood mid-way inside the cave, unsure if she should continue. Once the group was safely behind her, she pressed forward. Putting her fragile hand on the shard, she dusted it off. Curling her fingers around one of its sharp edges, carefully, she pulled at it. It wouldn't budge.

She tried again.

Nothing.

She grunted, "Stupid shard!"

Mario walked over to her and pushed her aside gently. "Let me try."

Daisy scoffed. "Like it'll change for you?"

"Maybe." He tugged at it. It still didn't move. He tugged harder at it, but it remained dormant. "Ugh! It's broken!"

"Broken?" Luigi pushed his brother aside. "Oh please."

"It's not going to move. Especially for you." Mario crossed his arms over his chest.

Luigi glared at him for a moment, "I could at least do better than you."

"We'll see about THAT."

Luigi tugged at one of the shard's edges, but it still wouldn't move. "Well, I tried."

"HA!"

"Shut up."

Peach hushed them. "Shh, do you hear that?"

They all looked around. A faint sound of slow clapping was heard. A black line outlined the form of a box and a ripple came through. Dimento appeared, clapping steadily and smiling, in a strange way. He pulled the shard out of its resting place and kept a strong grip on it. "Did you brothers forget that only I could retrieve this shard?"

Mario glared at him, more skeptical than ever. "I guess…we did."

"Well, thanks for getting it out." Luigi reached over for the shard, "You can hand it over now."

"No, I cannot, L."

"Luigi. And why not?"

"Because," Dimento looked at the girls, "We can't trust them. They're working for the Empress."

"We don't want to work for her anymore." Peach said softly.

"Yeah." Daisy added, "We're with you guys now. You can trust us."

"Yeah, so hand it over." Luigi put his hand out.

Dimento recoiled, staring at the man. "No."

"Come on."

"No, L!"

"Hand it over!"

"NO!" Dimento held the shard closer and glared at Luigi. "You can't trust them, L. They want to use you. They want to take what you have and toss you to the side. That's all they've ever done, that's all they'll ever do. Trust me, L. You can only trust me."

Luigi's eyes flashed a dark color of white and he recoiled, holding his hands to his head. "You can only trust Dimento, L. Only me." Dimento summoned black smoke around Luigi as he fell to the ground. His head pounded and his eyes were shut tightly. A jolt of pain shot through him.

Daisy stepped forward. "What are you –?"

"STAND BACK!" Dimento shouted. He held his hand out and blue electricity sparked through it. "Come any closer and say goodbye to your lover!"

Daisy did as she was told, as did the rest of the group. Once the black mist faded, Dimento looked down at his creation. "Well, I hate to leave so early, but I have to let L here get some space. Ciao!" And with a simple ripple effect, he was gone.

Luigi was crouched down, holding his head between his arms. Daisy stepped closer to him, putting her hand out. "Luigi?"

He suddenly grabbed her hand with an iron grip. She stepped back, but was forced to stay close to him. He laughed and stood up. "Please, darling, please," He turned around, "Call me L."

DIMENTO IS STILL OUT OF CHARACTER!

I'm sorry! I can't catch his character! So, I sort of made him like Gollum in Lord of the Rings. *shrugs*That's why he's all like: "NO! Precious no like people touching! Only Dimento can touch! ONLY MEEEEEE!"

HOLY FLIM-FLAM, LUIGI WENT ALL COMBOBILFIED!

Yes, yes. He's changed a bit, hasn't he?

THE EMPRESS IS ROSALINA?!

*you don't say look* Yeah, she is. But she also has Rosalina somewhere in her subconscious. Maybe something epic will happen at the climax. *SPOILER ALERT*

DIMENTO IS TRYING TO FULFILL THE COUNT'S WISHES?

Yes. That's actually a huge plot point. Dimento wants to use the orb to re-create the world into what the Count wanted. But, since the Count lost to love, he doesn't want to deal with that "pitiful emotion" again. Since Luigi and Daisy are in LURVE, he's like: "NAW!" and turned Luigi into Mr. FANGIRL ATTRACTION!

MARIO IS WEIRD!

Actually, Mario represents a person that I know. He always adds extra information to things and it sounds like he's soooo smart. I was going for that, but knowing me, I probably failed.

ROSALINA AND DIMENTO KNOW EACH OTHER?

Yes, that is also another huge plot-point. But, that will be explained in the stories "EPIC CLIMAX" (I put quotes since I know that the climax will be pretty weird)

THIS CHAPTER SUCKS!

I actually didn't know how to start this chapter, so that explains why the start sucks so many basket-balls.

Like it? Hate it? You tell me!

I tried to add humor in here. I know that I alreday failed at THAT.

Click my profile for more stories by me! Leave a comment, review, favorite, follow, PM me if you want to know anything, and, as always, I will see YOU...in the next update! BYE-BYE!