The unlikely trio walked through the halls, taking their time. Alex was actually counting the tiles on the floor as they moved through each area.
Olivia was, well... bored. Kooky had made her stop flying a long time ago, since it was hard to keep up. Alex looked like she was thinking, well, to Olivia she did, so she decided to leave her alone.
"Hey Ludwig," Olivia called, Annoying Orange mode on. When he didn't answer, she said it again. "Hey Ludwig." When he didn't answer for the third time, she screamed out, "*Hey Ludwig!*"
He turned around irritably. "What do you want?" Olivia grinned innocently.
"Hi." Kooky glared at her and facepalmed epically.
"Hey Ludwig. There's something on your back. You wanna know what it is?"
"Sure," he answered dryly.
"*Me!*" Olivia yelled, leaping on to his back. 'Another dream come true,' she thought.
Olivia buried her face into his hair. "I could stay like this forever," she said almost silently. But, apparently, she hadn't said it quietly enough.
"What was that?" Ludwig asked, smirking.
But Olivia did not hide her fan girlishness. "I said that I could stay like this forever," she said, it being muffled by Kooky's head.
She immediately blushed and flew off of Kooky's back. She started to fly to Alex, but Kooky grabbed her arm. "You know what? You're not too bad. I think that you're really nice, and really smart. The only thing is that sometimes you get a little giddier than usual." He smiled at her.
"I wish it weren't you," Olivia said suddenly. "I mean, for all of this. It could've been Hip or Hop, or Bully, or we could've sent Kootie Pie for one of the Bros. I wish I could be talking to the real Kooky. That spell not only changed your looks, but I think it changed your personality a bit, too. I want the real Kooky. Not Ludwig."
"The real Kooky? Well, there's me, but I don't know any real Kooky. I'm just Ludwig." He looked up at her.
"Okay, Kooky, stop joking around. This is really fun and all, but I wanna speak to Kooky," Olivia said, slightly concerned.
Kooky raised his voice. "It's just me, Ludwig. No Kooky anywhere. Now, where's Princess Toadstool? I've been meaning to talk to her. Not anything bad, of course, but just that we are really good with each other," he added, thinking that's what Olivia's shocked expression was about. But he was wrong.
"Alex? Alex!" Olivia flew back. She landed right in front of Alex. "Kooky's saying that he's Ludwig and he's saying that he's" –she paused to choke out a sob– "in love with the Princess!"
"Oh, crud, oh, crud," Alexandra muttered. "Let's just head to the throne room quickly and let him do what we came here for. Do you think that we could find something to get us there faster?"
"No," Olivia said softly. After closer inspection, Alex noticed that Olivia had tears slowly running down her face. She hastily wiped them away and said, "You're right. Let's go."
Olivia grabbed Kooky's arm. "We're going to see the Princess, Ludwig." She shuddered slightly at the mention of Kooky's supposed name.
"Oh, really? I can't wait to see her!" Kooky's enthusiasm made Olivia want to start bawling, but she stayed strong.
'This is actually the stuff I wanted to see happen in the cartoons,' Olivia thought, disgusted with herself. But then she remembered why. 'So I could daydream about saving the day.
'Well, looks like I get my wish. Looks like Mario's no hero this time. I'm playing Mario. And I have a feeling that it's going to be hard.'
