Author: Hey everyone! The Holidays are coming up fast, can't believe how fast it's approaching.

Luigi: I don't care how fast it's approaching! I need a break, from all of you!

Author: Aw, are you getting tired from all the work you've been doing?

Luigi: Well considering what you did to me in the last chapter I can't say I'm looking forward to it.

Author: Don't be such a downer Luigi, the readers love this stuff!

Luigi: I was afraid of that.

Author: Alright, let's begin! I don't own anyone here.

Chapter 10: Mission Complete

I won't go into much detail of what Francis was doing, basically he was trying to swoon Princess Peach with his laptop helping him, something about Swoon. Exe. Com or something geeky like that.

I got to admit it was amusing to watch Princess Peach talking to him through a laptop, but something else was going on in my mind… I felt mixed of emotions; worried, amused, curious, resent and guilt. I felt a lot of guilt actually now that I had time to cool off and thought about what I just did to the poor guy; I had threaten him and scared him, two things I normally don't do.

Why did I do all that? Was just stressed that I finally cracked? Maybe my sanity is finally going unstable after all those days in that dark castle…

I'm starting to wonder if it's possible to split your personality in half. I mean I've heard about a split personality before but… I always thought it was some kind of mental illness that causes that, I know for a fact I'm not insane but lately it feels like I have a much darker side that keeps popping up whenever I feel angry or annoyed lately as proof when I was with Bowser's baddies earlier and my sudden threat with Francis.

Oh… I wonder how what Parascope and Hanna are doing? I mean I did just kind of left them so suddenly… wonder if they met up with Goomical and Spike yet. Well I can't worry about what they're doing now, even if I am getting along with them they are still technically my enemies and I can't afford to expose myself now to go looking for them.

What is happening to me anyway? I should only be acting mean not actually being mean, there is a difference. Sometimes, lately, I feel like there's two different sides of me and that's not very comforting especially for my questionable sanity.

"Hey! Who's making me answer these questions anyway? I'm here for Tippi, where is she!?" Princess Peach's angry voice snapped me out of my thought of guilt and return my attention to them.

Francis was looking frantic, "W-what is she talking about? There's no Tippi command here!"

"Enough of this!" Princess did something quite drastic for someone as pure as her, she took Boomer and blew the laptop up in his face… why would she do that? I know she was annoyed but still… that was cruel.

Not everyone is as pure as you would think; even someone like Princess Peach has a dark side. I shook my head… where did that thought come from? I'm sure that wasn't my thought... or was it?

"Nooooo!" I heard Francis crying, "That was the only copy of the Swoon I had left! They don't make these anymore! Real girls are scary."

"Princess that was a bit harsh don't you think?" I heard Mario say in a soft voice.

"Maybe it was but after going through the ocean, climbing a giant tree with all those contraptions and getting lost in this maze of a castle I don't have the patience to put up with this anymore, now where is Tippi!?" Peach snapped.

Maybe that's why I acted like I did; all that stress finally caught up with me and I just acted from anxiety like Princess Peach is doing now… I hope that's the case anyway.

"Princess? Mario! You came for me?" Tippi said in what sounded like a very surprised yet happy voice.

"Tippi! Release her now Francis!" Peach snapped.

"Francine? No way! She's the only friend I have that's not on the Internet, I won't let anyone take her away." Oh great, he has some serious issues, now he named Tippi Francine and… did he just seriously say that a butterfly was his only offline friend? Talk about a dude with no life.

Francis pushed a button on a handheld remote and Tippi's cage along with Tippi herself were pushed underground. "If you want her you'll have to get her." Francis… I could tell, he only wanted to fight them to see just how strong they are not because they wanted to take Tippi away, clever way of disguising your star struck Francis.

Mario step forward, "Hey, I apologize for the Princess's… behavior, but we really just want the butterfly back please?"

"No! You'll have to fight me for her!" Francis snapped before taking our his camera and flashed it so brightly it blinded me for a second… yeah, he's taking pictures of them while using it to blind them for the battle, he is smart for a geek, but then again aren't most geeks considered smart? Too bad I'm only considered a coward.

I watched in amazement when Mario suddenly flipped and disappeared, so that's what it looks like from the outside… he just literally vanish and then suddenly he came back… that's cool, I wish I could do that.

Francis mostly fought back using those cat bots to attack them, but they were most used against him with Mario uses Throu and threw them back at him, the chameleon can go invisible but there was a bit of distortion indicating where he was, not very good for being invisible, but still invisible all the same. But then there was this one thing that got me sick; he would suddenly stick out his tongue, swallow them and spit them back up… that is gross.

Well needless to say that Bowser finally lost his patience and took out Francis with a rage full of fire.

"Enough of this! Just give us back the stupid insect so we can move on and take out the big bad count who thinks he can rule over my minions!" Bowser roared.

"Meow… Identified… someone in the closet." Huh? Oh-no… a robot cat must've found me hidden here, I have to get away before I'm spotted! I don't want Mario to know I was here!

I glared at the cat bot as I slowly opened the door and kicked it to shut it up, but that was already enough to get Mario suspicious as they just released Tippi from her cage and she seemed really happy.

"Mario… I can't believe you actually came all this way to save me." Tippi said in a soft voice.

"Of course I saved you, you're our friend." Mario said as if it was obvious.

"Hey! We saved you too you know." Bowser somewhat snapped.

"It's good to see you're okay Tippi." Princess Peach said back to her sweet self... That was quick, already hiding her real attitude? I shook my head… where did that thought come from?

I slowly peeked out of the closet I was hiding in and began to slowly ease my way out, I need to get to the door before they see me. Mario may be looking at Tippi but I could also see his sharp eyes are looking around too, I have to be careful.

I wish this place was darker, I stick out like a sore thumb in this bright place! I'm surprised nobody had noticed me yet. I stuck to the wall as if I was part of Francis's collection… and remind myself to come back later and apologize to him, I honestly didn't know what I was thinking back there and all the stress and desperation must've caught up with me.

I finally reached the door but then suddenly something bright, green and shiny clamp my vision, I quickly turned… *gasp* some kind of shiny heart came out of Tippi! Is that… yes, it looks like a Pure Heart alright… but what was it doing in that butterfly?

"Tippi! You must've had a Pure Heart within you all along and it came out when you became happy." Princess Peach said so sweetly I had to roll my eyes. She's not as sweet as she'd like you and herself to think. I shook my head; once again that thought struck me and I quickly went through the door before they saw me.

I was relieved when I came out and saw Parascope, Hanna, Goomical and Spike already there as if waiting for me… how did they know where I was?

"It's about time you came out, what were you doing in there anyway?" the Goomba said a bit bitterly to me and I glared back at him.

"Doing my mission; information gathering, why do you care anyway? It's not like we're on the same team." I snapped irritably.

"No, but we did agree to work together." Spike pointed out.

"Until we reached the fortress, which we have." I also pointed out.

"Wait a minute, there's something I want to find out about this Francis, he seems to know a lot about Bowser and Mario, maybe he could find a way to get us out of our contract." Hanna said calmly.

… Strange, lately it seems I talk to Hanna and Parascope calmly as myself while I treat Goomical and Spike like annoying pests, which isn't like me at all and ever since I saw Peach blow up Francis's laptop like that I can't help but think about a dark side she's been hiding from everyone, including herself. Even she's not as pure as she like to think, everyone has a dark side, even the purest of hearts.

"How is that geek going to help you with that?" I questioned smoothly as though nothing was wrong, inwardly I was getting scared; why am I acting like this? Why do my thoughts feel like they're not even my own?

"Well a geek can hack into computers and records, maybe we can delete our record with Bowser so we can go free." Parascope said with a hopeful smile.

"Maybe, but would the chameleon be willing to help you?" I questioned knowing how stubborn that coward can be.

"Is there any information you have on this Francis?" Spike asked me.

"Like is there any way we could bribe him into helping?" Goomical also asked me.

I raised a curious eyebrow at them, "Why do you two care?"

"Just because we act tough and loyal to Bowser doesn't mean we actually want to hurt others just for his selfishness." Goomical said.

"We each had our own reasons for working under Boswer in those desperate times." Spike answered.

Just like how everyone has a dark side they also have a good side, there can't be shadows without light after all and the same vice versa. Again the thoughts were invading my mind, I don't even know half the stuff I keep 'thinking' about lately.

But I conclude that Goomical and Spike hadn't wanted to really help Bowser either, but knew if they weren't loyal Bowser would make their lives miserable.

"Well… maybe he could hack into Bowser's computer system, he does seem to have a lot of his files when I last looked at his laptop." I growled a bit remembering how he degraded me.

"But the question remains; how will we get him to work with us?" Hanna asked and I couldn't help but laugh a bit.

"Francis seem to have the hots for cute girls Hanna, maybe you could sway him?" I grinned at her. Lust is a powerful motivator. I had to agree with the weird thoughts this time.

"I don't know… I've never had to 'sway' anyone before." The Hammersis said nervously.

"Come on Hanna, at least try, you're beautiful and confident, I know you can do it." Parascop said to her with a smile and it made me wonder if he has a crush on her.

"Alright, I'll try." Hanna went through the door, which didn't even beep anymore, guess the door was fried.

We see Francis crying over his fried up laptop and the loss of Tippi, "That was awful… I only wanted an autograph…"

I rolled my eyes, "Hey! Geek-who-cries-a-lot! Someone wants to see you."

"Well aren't you just getting along with your insults." Goomical sneered and I shot him a glare.

"What? You! Look, I-I promised I a-acted like I never met them, so please leave me alone." the chameleon said timidly and I felt guilty almost instantly.

Before I could say anything, Hanna walked up to him, "Hey, I was hoping you could do me and my… friends a favor before we leave?" she asked politely.

"… Well for a pretty girl like you how can I say no… just promise not to bomb me or hit me with your hammer." Francis said a bit nervously.

Hanna smiled sweetly at him, "Don't worry; I'm not here to hurt you or interrogate you, I just need your help, that's all."

"Okay, just… make sure he doesn't touch anything." Francis said looking at me and my hand and I gave him a sly grin though I didn't know why I did, I was hoping to apologize to him but I was having too much fun scaring the scales off him.

"Do you know how to hack into Bowser's files?" the Koopatrol asked him seriously.

"Uh well…" Francis got out another laptop… how many of those things does he have? And typed in something.

"Yes, I do."

"Good, now delete our contract and that's all we need." Spike said with a smirk.

"Um… I'm sorry, I don't think I can. I may be a geek and all, and I like being hi-technicaaaal! But this is something beyond me; it seems Bowser had some computer genius put up an anti-virus wall, highly secured, it'd be impossible even for someone like me to be able to hack into it and delete anything."

That made everyone glum and got me thinking… even though we're supposed to be enemies and I hadn't known them for very long… it makes me feel bad that they're stuck serving Bowser until their games end and they'll be ridiculed and bullied because of it… there's got to be something I could do for them… but I'm no computer expert.

"Maybe I could try something." I found myself saying before I could stop and my hand clutched into a tight fist with small sparks of blue electricity.

"W-w-w-what are you going t-to do?" Francis asked me very nervously and he had every right to be as I found myself smirking mischievously and I can imagine it's the same one that punk Bowser Jr. always gave me and Mario.

"Don't worry geek-reptile-who-love-butterflies, I'm not going to fry your laptop, just want to see if I can do something." I reassured him in a tone that doesn't sound so reassuring at all, though he still let me do it, most likely out of fear.

I don't know why I was doing this, but when I clicked on the files of Hanna, Spike, Goomical and Parascope, it's like I knew what I needed to do. I think Mouzchu may have showed me something similar to this at one point but… I'm sure this isn't natural.

"It's simple; all you have to do is crash the system." I said as I felt my hand spark and touched the laptop.

"Hey! You said you wouldn't fry my laptop!" Francis screamed.

"Relax; I'm not going to fry your laptop; it's Bowser's. Have at you!" I grinned as my lightning went through the laptop and literally zapped the files out of existence, do not ask me how this was possible because I'm still trying to figure that out myself, something's happening to me and yet… I find myself enjoying it.

"Bowser will be in for a big surprise, now you four are free from his contract." I said as if that just solved their problem.

"Thanks L-man, but uh… I don't think we'd be accepted that easily by everyone else…" Parascope said a bit hesitantly.

"Well I don't think they've memorized everyone who worked for Bowser, just don't go blabbing you've worked for him and those small brained Toads wouldn't be the wiser." I said simply still feeling bitter at those Toads for not being able to remember my name, I mean it's not that hard to remember and I did help my brother a few times in his adventures. It's kind of sad because they can remember his other helpers like Goombario or Vivian, yet the guy's brother is always the one who never exist!

I shook my head to clear it, "Anyway, I have to go now, my mission here is done."

"Wait… will we ever see you again?" Hanna asked me as if she was going to miss me.

I gave her a smile, not a sinister one thankfully, "Who knows? Maybe we will meet again, only time will tell… but hopefully next time it would be as friends and not enemies." and with that I tap my scarf and imagined Count Bleck's castle and I was in that box before everything went blurry.

Ugh… I hate dimension traveling… but now I found myself back in the dark black and white castle of Count Bleck, despite it being blinding to me since I have been in a place full of bright colors and such, it felt kind of good being in a familiar place.

And I haven't even gone two steps to find Nastasia to report to her my findings when I was tackled down by an orange blur.

"There you are! It's about time you came back!" It was none other than the Squeeks Mouzchu and apparently he's been worried about me.

"Mouzchu… you should know that when Nastasia assign missions it has to be done right away." I said trying to keep him from chewing me out for not telling him or Mishi.

"But dude! I didn't know she would assign you to such a big mission so quickly! We didn't even have time to prepare you for leaving Castle Bleck." he said quickly.

"It wasn't a 'big' mission, more like a test mission. I guess she wanted to see my potential or something and speaking of which I have to report to her soon." I said to him a bit annoyed that he still had me pinned down.

"Oh? What was your mission?" he asked curiously as he finally allowed me to stand up.

"Reconnaissance." I said briefly before I began walking away.

"Tell Mishi to meet me in my room, we'll discuss what happened then okay?" I said to him patiently.

"Uh… of course… but you seem a bit… different lately, is everything okay?" he asked me a bit in concern.

Often people mistake concern and worry for hidden intentions and secretly take advantage of you. But Mouzchu wouldn't do that, he does seem genuinely worried about me… and I'm getting worried too.

"Well I think something is happening to me… but like I said we'll discuss it after I report to Nastasia." I said reassuringly as he nodded and walked off to find the purple Yoshi.

I have no idea where Nastasia is, luckily she found me, probably already knew I came back somehow. "So, how was the mission Mr. L?"

I went on telling her my findings in the Bitlands, about the heroes, the huge fortress, Francis and the likes, but I didn't mention my interaction and help from Bowser's former baddies; I get the feeling she wouldn't have approved of that.

Nastasia gave a nodded of approval, "Very good Mr. L, you have done exceedingly well for someone at your level. Keep this up and you may even be an elite minion, k?"

I nodded, that had been my goal since I started this entire charade. "Yes Nastasia."

"You are dismissed until further notice." she said and I nodded before I walked away and went into my room and smiled when I saw Mouzchu and Mishi there waiting for me.

Mishi waved, "Hey Luigi, it's about time you came back, so give us all the details!" of course, most girls her age would love all the 'juicy' details.

I just rolled my eyes playfully at her and told them about what I did, this time I didn't leave out any details like I have with Nastasia. It was funny to see their different reactions when I told them of Dimentio giving me the ability to travel to different dimensions, following the heroes, working together with the Bowser baddies Mouzchu and I had helped, making our way to Francis's fortress and finally the weird half personalities that kept showing up during our visit there.

This is where Mouzchu had a thoughtful look, "You have the Thunderhand ability and you say you feel like there's another 'you' that's a lot more… uh… jerk-ish for the lack of better word?"

"That's what it seems like lately and I'm starting to become more and more uncomfortable the more it's happening. I mean right now I'm… the usual me, but lately it's like I've been turning into a whole different person, one that's the complete opposite of who I am."

"But isn't that a good thing? Wasn't that the whole point why we've been doing this?" the purple Yoshi asked as if she couldn't see the problem.

"Not exactly Mishi; we wanted Luigi to only act like that, not actually become like that, there is a difference. Hmm… it seems you hold a lot more resent and bitterness than you originally thought, otherwise seeing the crazy fan chameleon's collection wouldn't have set you off like that, that's my guess."

"Not only that, but it's as if I could manipulate technology with my Thunderhand, I'm pretty sure I couldn't do that when I first used the ability." I said looking at my hands with a puzzled expression.

"I think I've heard legends about those granted with the Thunderhand; they can manipulate electricity, the very nature of lightning itself and they can even control the very electricity that are used to power technology, making it easy for them to change the flow of the technology itself." Mouzchu explained.

"Wow, that's one cool ability you have there, Luigi." Mishi smiled excitedly.

"I've actually had it for a while but I've forgotten about it since the fiasco way back in the Beanbean Kingdom, I mean I didn't have any real use for it after that adventure so I stopped using it… I wonder if my brother remembers about his own Firebrand?" I asked mostly to myself.

This time Mishi had the explanation, "Well, I hear those blessed with the Firebrand can manipulate fire, just like how Thunderhand manipulate electricity. Anything that involves fire can be manipulated, like say how a train runs on fire and coal, those with the Firebrand could manipulate the train quite easily, even a forest fire could be turned into nothing more than a match little flame."

Wow, after all this time I had no idea just how… manipulatively useful our elemental hands could be… I'll have to tell this to Mario the next time I talk to him.

"But anyway, you say you've been feeling like you may be turning out like… Mr. L? What about now?" Mouzchu asked me suddenly and I blinked for a second.

"Well right now I feel like 'me'. I mean I didn't insult anyone or call them long names, I still don't know what caused it when I was out there and I'm getting worried." I admitted.

Mishi then said, "Well… I think your pent up frustration and bitterness must've finally came out all at once during the mission and caused you to act much more aggressively then you usually are, but that's just my theory."

Well, whatever is happening to me, I just hope it isn't serious or permanate.

End of Chapter

Author: It looks like Luigi here is starting to become more and more worried.

Luigi: How can I not be? What if you suddenly started acting out of character without any explanation?

Author: Well actually...

Luigi: I don't care how many bitterness feelings I have buried, I still wouldn't act like that!

Author: You'd be surprised how different a person can be once their negative emotions start to arise and break down the wall that keeps them bottled up.

Luigi: Why does everyone love to torture me?

Author: Oh come on Luigi, it's not that bad! Oh! And before I forget I want to ask you readers if you want me to add in Wario and Waluigi in the story, yes or no?

Luigi: WHAT!? WHY WOULD YOU ADD THOSE TWO IDIOTS IN THIS STORY!?

Author: I know they weren't in Super Paper Mario, but I thought it'd be interesting to see Mr. L going up against the Wario Brothers, especially after seeing a tribute to Mr. L fighting with Waluigi, but again I'll leave it up to you viewers since you're reading the story.

Luigi: NO! DON'T YOU DARE!

Author: Hee, hee, bye!

Luigi: WAIT! YOU COME BACK HERE YOU DIRTY FOX!