Disclaimer:I own nothing Nintendo related in this chapter or this story for that matter
An ear shattering explosion shook the room with the force of a tidal wave. The cage holding the new captives was thrown off their sleeping bodies. Glass and shrapnel flew left and right. The very foundation of the castle began shaking, rocking the building back and forth. The alternate universe koopalings ran left right, screaming their heads off. The room was spinning, literally. Ludwig felt like he might just vomit right then and there. Even amongst all the chaos, the magic of the music box kept the prisoners sleeping soundly.
"What's the meaning of all this! M-make it stop!" King Koopa shouted as he collapsed.
Then, as sudden as it began, it stopped. Ludwig desperately tried to correct his balance, but only managed to stand up straight for no more than a minute before falling down. His shaky legs barely helped him back up, he leaned against a wall for support.
In the center of the room, stood a figure cloaked in satin. Chain like tendrils were protruding out of it's limbs, like strings on a puppet. The chains themselves were linked back to the mirror, which was only a few feet behind it.
"Oh baby is it good to be back!" The figure cackled. It was Princess Peach's body, but it was the voice of the mirror that exited her lips.
"P-princess Toadstool?" Bigmouth asked, almost speechless.
"Nave! How dare you speak to me like that!" The figure snapped.
"Like what your royal princessy highness?"
"Do not dare refer to me as 'Princess' I am no princess!"
"Den what are you?" Bully growled.
"I...am the great and powerful sorceress, Queen Hemlock!" Hemlock's voice seemed to strike down the to koopa princes with the force of hurricane winds.
"Right-o, yes ma'am, you are no princess!" Bigmouth replied sheepishly.
Hemlock stared down at the trembling teenagers and grinned, only half the ritual was done, and already she could feel her powers returning. She limped forward, the chains on the mirror put one foot in front of the other, the mirror hovered close behind, acting as a giant martinet. Everyone in the room nervously backed away, frightened and curious all at the same time.
"Hey where do you think you're going!" Koopa snapped. Hemlock froze, her head turned to the angry monarch. "You still haven't granted my wishes!"
"Oh how could I be so forgetful, please, make your wish." Hemlock replied in a voice that was so sweet, it was sick.
"Finally! I wish to be the greatest ruler in the world!" King Koopa exclaimed.
"Your wish is my command." She grinned.
Hemlock pointed her index finger at the eager Koopa. The room darkened as she muttered an incantation. With the flick of her wrist, a green lightning bolt flashed out of her hand and struck King Koopa. The room exploded in a brilliant flash of colors, green smoke flooded the air. Slowly the air cleared, and in place of Koopa, was a small wooden board.
"Where'd he go!" Kooky gasped.
"That's him, right there." Hemlock picked up the small board. "He wished to be the worlds greatest ruler, and you will never go wrong when you measure with this ruler." She handed the ruler to Kooky and cackled.
"Turn him back! Right now!" Kootie pie demanded.
"Oh that's out of the question, you see he's all used up. Totally useless to me now." She replied.
"W-what about us!" Cheatsy yelped.
"Don't fret child, in fact I've already got a job for you."
"We'll do whatever you say, just don't zippty zap us into little wooden boards okay?" Bigmouth cried out.
"Your first duties as my new servants are make sure that no one gets in or out of this building." Hemlock commanded.
"Yes ma'am!" The kids reluctantly saluted her in unison and ran off.
"Now to deal with you." She turned towards Ludwig, only glared back.
"Deal vis me? And how do you propose to do zat?" He growled.
"That is a question I still need to answer." Hemlock folded her arms.
She studied Ludwig with her bright yellow eyes. A quick glimmer in her eyes told him that she had something up her sleeves. Of course before she could do anything, a huge crash made them both jump. A clanging and banging echoed down the large halls of the castle. Bigmouths unmistakeable voice screeched for help.
"Perhaps you'll just have to wait Ludwig, I've got company." Hemlock frowned.
Ludwig watched the frustrated queen disappear, leaving him to his own devices. The first thing that came to mind was his sleeping siblings, all piled up in the corner of the room. He shouted and yelled at them, but they still wouldn't budge. Frustrated he grabbed Iggy and slapped his unconscious face. The only thing that it accomplished was that it left a red bruise on a sound asleep koopa.
More banging echoed from down the hall, this time much closer. Whoever was at this castle wasn't happy. Ludwig looked around frustrated, his mind raced trying to think of a solution. Suddenly, the door was smashed down with a heavy set figure clad in a full body suit of blue armor.
"Drat, that hurt..." He coughed as he stood up. Dark magic particles fluttered around the air around him. Ludwig studied him carefully, he seemed familiar in a deja vu sort of way.
"Whoa hey put me down! Put me down or I'll AH- " Another voice from the other room was cut off by a loud smashing sound.
The blue armored figure stood up and hastily ran back into the battle field, while Ludwig curiously followed. Shattered glass and furniture were all scattered across the room. Two other similar armored figures attacked Hemlock, who fired her strange magic lightning bolts at them. All while the alternate koopalings tried to fight.
"Attack formation X!" Yelled the blue one, most likely the leader of the crew.
"Gotch'ya" A smaller figure in a yellow jump suit and motorcycle helmet gave him a thumbs up.
"Sheesh, you kids don't know when to quit do you?" Hemlock sighed as more and more bolts of lightning crashed around her. She prepared to smite down her nearest opponent, only to be hit by a fire ball.
Stunned, Hemlock was immediately surrounded by the new opposing force.
"Curse this inferior body!" She bellowed.
"Give it up Hemlock, we got you once, we can do it again."
"I'm not going back into that mirror, not on my watch. So long!" Hemlock snapped her fingers and in a green flash, she was gone, along with the other koopalings.
"Blast! She got away." A taller green armored person snapped.
"Jeez what a coward!" The one in the yellow jump suit shook his fist at the spot where Hemlock disappeared..
"What are we going to do? I can't believe she's back." Said the blue one.
"I dunno Andy." The green clad figure sighed.
"Well at least we stopped her from completing that ritual!" The yellow one pitched in.
"True Presto, true." The one called Andy nodded.
Ludwig really had no idea what to make of these people. They sure put up a fight against Hemlock, whoever they were. And obviously this wasn't her first run in with her. Ludwig was tempted to go and possibly ask them for help, but he was actually slightly frightened by them. Something just seemed weird about them that he didn't want to approach.
"Yo Andy, there's someone over in there!" Presto jumped. Andy's head turned towards Ludwig, who was shocked that the short kid even noticed him.
"Hey what the heck are you doing here!" The green one snapped.
"Calm down Vivo." Andy muttered as he walked over to Ludwig. "Are enemies or allies with Hemlock."
"As far as I know, enemies." Ludwig replied.
"Good, a friendly. Nice to meet you, I'm Andante, or Andy if you'd prefer." Andy held out his hand to shake. Ludwig gave it a firm shake, though he was very apprehensive.
"I'm Presto! How you doin'?" Presto shouted with zeal.
"Call me Vivo." The green one nodded.
"Um...my name is Ludwig." Ludwig replied, his face was still.
"So, Ludwig, what part of the empire do you come from, I don't think I've ever seen your face before." Andy asked.
"You definitely haven't, I come from...vell it's a long story." Ludwig sighed.
"Hmm, well, Ludwig. I swear I've met you before." Andy folded his arms in confusion.
"I could say za same myself." Ludwig muttered.
"Hate to interrupt this cordial meeting, but we've gotta go. Hemlock could send her goons here any moment now." Vivo butted in.
"He's right, we need to make ourselves scarce Ludwig, come on." Andy nodded solemnly. He turned around and headed to the door when Ludwig stopped him.
"Vait! Zere's others vis me, but zey're out cold in za ozer room." Ludwig shouted.
"Ugh, I don't think there's enough room in the ground braker to hold much more people Andy." Vivo rolled his eyes.
"I could make a few trips back to get 'em all. I think we've got plenty of time to do that if we're quick." Presto shrugged.
"Sounds like a plan, move out." Andante commanded.
Ludwig and Andante stepped into the so called "Ground Braker." A large drill/tank hybrid that specialized in underground travel. They managed to get Jr., Iggy, and Lemmy loaded in with them before the vehicle was too full to hold any more passengers. Meanwhile Vivo stayed behind to watch the rest of the Koopalings and the Mario bros.
"Heh, hold on this gets a little bumpy." Presto called to the back as he revved the engine. The power drill positioned at the front pushed it's way into the ground and began its under ground drive.
In the back, Andy began pulling of his heavy armor and setting it aside. Ludwig was surprised to find a koopa under it all. A mat of tangly blue hair draped down in in his face. Ludwig gasped, it soon became very apparent who Andante was.
It was him! Him, in whatever universe this was. The odd aura around these guys suddenly made sense now. The tall one, Vivo, was Iggy. And Presto was of course Lemmy.
"So where was it you guys came from again?" Andy asked.
"I never said." Ludwig replied.
"Oh right, long story. Well we've got plenty of time, care to tell?" Andy asked.
"You might find it fairly confusing-"
"Just tell the story."
"Fine, alright. I'm from vhat's called an 'Alternate Universe.' It is very much similar to zis vone." Ludwig explained.
"Do what?"
"You heard me, Alternate Universe. And believe it or not, I'm you." Ludwig replied.
"Did Hemlock hit you over the head or something? Alternate Universe, that's just a bunch of science fiction mumbo jumbo." Andy laughed.
"I'm serious! I'm you from an Alternate Universe!" Ludwig replied frustrated.
"Alright, alright, sorry I asked." Andy muttered.
The rest of the trip was rather uneventful. Andy didn't talk much more, he seemed kind of freaked out by Ludwig now. Either he was scared there was some truth to what he said, or he just thought that Ludwig was out of his mind. Whatever the case, it made for an awkward silence.(All except for Presto singing "Puff, The Magic Dragon" up in the front seat.)
Ludwig tried to his luck again with waking up his sibs, but still no dice. They did however talk in their sleep. Which was amusing all on its own. Iggy kept up a small nonsensical conversation with himself. (It was nothing but grumbles and murmurs though)
Finally the Ground Braker stopped and dropped off its cargo. Ludwig stepped around uneasily in the unfamiliar terrain. A lone building sat in the middle of the deserted clearing. It was in heavy disrepair, but Andy kept walking towards it.
"Hold on a sec, I've gotta call up someone." Andy stepped over to the door and pressed a small intercom button.
"Yeah what is it?" A child's voice spoke impatiently.
"Shut down the defenses Agito, we need to get in." Andy raised his voice.
"Oh, right, right. Hold on a sec..." Agito's voice disappeared for a moment, then returned. "Okay the defenses are shut down, come on in."
Andy opened the door and stepped inside, Ludwig followed close behind. Inside the building was a narrow corridor, neat little holes were poked along the walls. They followed the corridor until they reached a small trap door. Ludwig moaned as he clambered down the small hole in the ground, notches in the sides acted as stepping stones for him follow the bottom, was yet another hallway, except this one had various doors along the sides.
"Hey guys! Get out here, I need some help!" Andy yelled down the hall. There was some grumbling as a group of teens lazily made their way out.
"What is it now Andy?" A girl in a nightgown yawned.
"Hemlock's been busy and kidnapped some people, all but one is out cold, some sort of enchantment." Andy replied.
"Enchantment you say? I'm on it..." The girl replied.
"Well we have to get them down here first Largo." Said Andy.
"Oh well why didn't you say so, send up the big guys then, where's Largamen when you need him..."
"What do you need me for?" A large muscular koopa replied poking his head out of the door.
"Just come with me..." Andy replied.
~~Some time later
It took a total of 3 trips to get all of the koopalings and the Marios in the base. Ludwig, Largamen, and Andy, all moved them into a small potion room owned by Largo. From what Ludwig could gather, Largo was a skilled sorceress, experienced in all sorts of potions and enchantments.
"Alright, well obviously they've been put under a sleeping spell of some sort." She said.
"Vhat do ve do about it?" Ludwig replied with an impatient tone in his voice.
"It's rather simple, here hand me a glass of water."
"Sis, I don't think this is a good time for a d-"
"Just get me a glass of water."
Andy left for a moment and came back with a glass of water. She pulled it from his hands and poured it on Iggy's head. Iggy sprang to life in an instant.
"Help I'm drowning! CPR CPR!" Iggy screamed.
"Calm down kid, you're all right." Andy patted Iggy on the back, but Iggy just kept on panicking.
"Here I'll deal vis zis." Ludwig sighed. He grabbed Iggy by the shoulders and slapped him across the face, Iggy shut up immediately.
"S-sorry 'bout that." Iggy smiled sheepishly.
"Alright, who's next?" Largo rubbed her hand's together.
It took only five minutes total to awake the enchanted sleepers. All of them were wet, confused, and rather cranky. Especially Morton, who once again was rudely awoken from a pleasant slumber. He made his complaints for a little while, just before dozing back off.
Now regardless of all the complaints, Ludwig was actually somewhat glad to see his siblings up and about. In fact he was very glad to be out of the presence of that Queen Hemlock.
So after the whole initial shock of the awakening, Ludwig got to know these people a little better.
They called themselves the Treble Squad. Their leader was their father Fortissimo. Each of the teens were specialists in certain areas. Andy was the oldest, and head strategist of the team. Presto was next, he was the pilot and vehicle manager. Largamen was the muscle of the group, there was no task that could stop his strength.
Vivo was the tech manager, he built machines, operated machines, in fact he was part machine! (His right leg is a metal replacement.) Largo was the only girl, and knew everything magic, be it potions or spells. Three others that had not yet been seen also made themselves known. The next 2 were two boys by the names of Lento and Legato, both of which were the weapon specialists.
Finally we have Agito, the youngest and base defense system manager. He pretty much makes sure no one gets in our out of the base.
Ludwig and his siblings got themselves properly acquainted as well. It was mainly small talk after wards, until the mention of one name.
"So uh, who is this 'Hemlock' person you guys keep mentioning?" Iggy asked. The room froze.
"You were kidnapped by her and knocked out cold by her!" Andy replied.
"Well actually this weird little kid put me to sleep, I don't ever recall meeting a lady at that castle though. And you still really haven't told me 'who' she is anyways." Iggy scratched the back of his head in thought.
"Oh boy where to begin..." Largo sighed.
"Well first off she's a very powerful evil sorceress." Presto replied.
"That and she's a queen too!" Lento butted in.
"Who's King Hemlock then?" Larry asked. Once again more silence.
"Uh..." Legato's face was bright red.
"Our father, was her husband." Andy coughed.
"Yeah, believe it or not our arch nemesis is our mom!" Agito nodded vigorously.
"Of course dad would've never known that after years of trusting and loving her-"
"That she'd betray him in the end." Lento and Legato replied.
"She got close to him, then one night she bribed all his servants."
"And all his soldiers."
"To help take his life." Andy, Largo, and Vivo all added.
"But he was a bit harder to kill than she thought." Largemen said.
"Yeah, he managed to escape into the wilderness with us." Andy nodded.
"Exiled, we built this fort and remained here for years." Presto added.
"About a year ago, we managed to launch a full scale attack on Hemlock." Largemen said.
"It was very successful, dad managed to cast a spell on Hemlock and seal her away in a mirror."
"But the spell went wrong, and pulled him in as well." Andy sighed.
"Alright so now ve know how zat happened, how' d you guys find Hemlock here so quick?" Ludwig asked.
"It was impossible not to notice the huge earthquake that came out of nowhere." Andy shrugged.
"Vivo pinpointed an energy surge, and we three set out to investigate it." Presto replied.
"We were very shocked to find that Hemlock had broken the curse."
"Only partway though, she was still part of that mirror." Andy pointed out.
"And obviously she wasn't back to her full power, otherwise she would've destroyed us three."
"Where is she now?" Iggy asked.
"She could be anywhere right now, if she knows about this place, she could easily come here through magic." Andy answered.
Everyone looked around at each other nervously. Just the thought of the wicked queen being anywhere near them was disturbing. The room had been left completely and utterly, silent.
A/N: Wow jeez it's been forever since I've updated this story...on this website. I'm sorry to all the people who enjoy this story on here! I actually got a DA account (I'm Spencerklondike20) and I've been posting stuff there more frequently. After checking my email and seeing people actually like this story I decided to come back and update it here XD