The Demon Cat growled softly as it looked down upon the young witch. The whole experience was quite surreal for her. A moment ago she had just cast the spell. Everything went black for a while, and now she was face to face with what she thought she was supposed to become.
Wasting no time at all, the monster raised its foot to stomp out the child. Still dazed, Ashley sat there with wide eyes, unaware of the impending doom. At the last second Red grabbed her and teleported her to a safe spot with the rest of the group.
The beast roared into the sky. It had decided to forget about demolishing the palace for the moment. Right now it wanted nothing more than to destroy this meddling group of colorful characters. It smiled ominously as it targeted its next victim.
Rosalina was lying on the ground, fighting to stay awake. The wounds on her torso were gushing out blood, far too much than any normal person could handle. But Rosalina was not normal, now was she? With her last bit of strength, she waved her wand near the area of the wound. The bleeding stopped immediately, but she was still in immense pain. And if you were a giant, destructive demon of relentless evil, wouldn't you go after her?
The creature rushed for her with surprising speed. It slashed its arm through the air, about to strike her again. The attack would most likely have killed her, but Wario threw himself in the way and blocked the attack with his own strength. He was using all of his power to hold back the massive hand. No easy feet, to say the least. Rosalina looked at him with tired eyes. "Go already!" he ordered through clenched teeth. Daisy and Peach came and carried their friend out of harm's way.
Completely tired out, Wario couldn't hold on any longer. The beast slapped him across the field. Wario laid there, too weak to get up. The Demon Cat hovered over him with an eerily powerful force. It cackled with delight as it raised its foot for the kill.
"Hold on, Mistah W., I'm comin'!"
In a flash, Mona rode in on her scooter and grabbed Wario off the ground, just barely avoiding certain death. The Demon Cat was getting very frustrated. If it had regular eyes, it would be rolling them.
Mona got off her scooter and put Wario down on the ground. He looked around in confusion. "Mona? You… saved me?" he asked.
"Hey, us tough guys gotta stick together," she said with a playful punch on the shoulder. Wario smiled as Mona chuckled to herself.
"If the two numbskulls are done talking, we have a problem here. Remember, the giant monster?" Ashley said.
No one had noticed the child get up, or even come out of her dazed state. But she was all better now and back to her old self, no doubt. Well, maybe not her old self, but still pretty close.
Ashley looked up at the monster with a stoic expression, clearly deep in thought. Her thinking was interrupted when Bowser grabbed her by her collar and lifted her to eye level. "You little traitor! How dare you go against the great and powerful Bowser and his flawless plan?!" he yelled.
"Testify!" Junior called out, now wearing a church choir robe.
"Put me down," the witch ordered. "You don't want to mess with a person who lives in a haunted mansion."
"I thought that was Luigi," Bowser said.
A pause. Ashley pointed her wand at the Koopa. "I will grant you," she warned. Fear striking him, the Koopa King decided that, for the sake of his well-being, it would be a good idea to put Ashley down.
"Now then," Ashley continued, "I know I messed up. I am regretting this roll of the dice now. But that doesn't matter right now. What matters is defeating that abomination. Any ideas?"
The group remained silent. They looked up to the Demon Cat, who went back to attacking Toadstool Castle. This thing was a giant threat that could not be easily stopped. None of their skills could defeat it. The only option would be to get rid of it somehow. But how?
"The InfiniPipe," Rosalina said weakly. All looked at her in confusion. "That pipe is large enough to fit that monster," the princess continued; "A-and no one knows where it leads to, right?"
"She's right," Princess Peach agreed. Then she remembered something. "Wait, we just sealed it off. There's no way we could destroy the barrier surrounding it."
The group sighed in disappointment. Ashley stared at the beast again as an idea came to her. "Maybe we can't break the barrier, but I bet it can," she said as she nodded her head to the Demon Cat. Everyone got the idea immediately.
The monster showed no sign of slowing down. It had finished destroying the third tower and was moving on when it felt something on its foot. The beast looked down and saw Bowser blowing fire at it. The Demon Cat roared as it tried to stomp down the reptile. It missed, but showed no sign of quitting.
As the creature chased the Koopa King, Ashley was waiting for her cue. Red floated next to her, uncertainty on his face. "Are you sure you know what you're doing, Ashley?" he asked, obviously frightened. Ashley rolled her eyes. "Of course, Red. Have I ever been wrong before?" she asked. The little demon opened his mouth. "Don't answer that," the witch warned.
Once the beast had made it into position, Ashley stepped out of the shadows in front of it. "Remember me?" she asked; "If I remember right, I was the main source of your power. Without me, you're just waiting to fade away."
The little witch hoped the monster would believe her lie. It apparently did, as it roared and tried to grab her. Ashley dodged and blasted it with her wand. The beast backed off a bit, but was soon coming at her again. Ashley floated slightly off the ground and quickly dashed away. The monster gave chase, though it was somehow not as fast as the child. Ashley led the Demon Cat in the direction of the InfiniPipe.
The witch zoomed past Peach and Mona, who were holding a long rope. "Now!" Ashley called out. The women pulled the rope up, tripping the monster as it came. The beast crashed down on the barrier surrounding the InfiniPipe, knocking out a few bricks. Peach cheered in delight as the demon shook off the pain.
Once the monstrous feline got back up, Ashley cast another spell. An image of the little girl's face appeared on the barrier, staring directly at the monster. It screamed as it clawed at the wall. Bricks went flying in every direction, nearly hitting the bunch. Soon the entire barrier was gone, only scraps of brick remaining. The beast panted as it continued trying to get rid of Ashley's smug face.
Ashley took advantage of this situation. She got Rosalina to her feet and walked her behind the beast. The two pointed their wands at the behemoth and fired away. The blasts had great power and nearly knocked the monster into the pipe. The creature grabbed the rims of the pipe in an attempt to keep from falling. Ashley and Rosalina continued their attack, but the princess was getting weaker. Her energy was fading. She finally gave out and fell to the ground.
The attack became intensely ineffectual with the sudden loss of power. The Demon Cat got up and headed toward Ashley. With a swipe of its paw, the creature knocked the witch across the field. It then targeted the rest of the group. One by one the monster took them out, though not killing them. It wanted them to see what it would do next.
The demonic abomination slowly approached Rosalina, who was still lying on the ground. The monster chuckled as the fire in its eyes intensified. It wanted to make an example of what would happen to those who opposed it. The princess got on her feet with careful hesitation. She panted hard as her legs desperately wanted to give out. The monster laughed again. Rosalina pointed her wand at the boss in a feeble attempt to take it on. She fired multiple attacks. They made the beast back up a bit, but did little besides that.
The monster shook off the blasts as if they were annoying insects. It screeched for no apparent reason before reaching for the princess with its incredible paw. It was over. The beast had won.
Then out of nowhere, a Bob-omb flew into the creature's mouth. It backed off as it choked on the projectile. Rosalina looked around in confusion. In the distance was a tall, lanky figure holding a tennis racket and several Bob-ombs. He ran closer and closer until the princess saw that he was wearing purple.
The Demon Cat looked on in confusion for a moment before it realized it had more prey. It howled to the skies before preparing for the kill. The tall man stood unfazed. In a split decision, he threw the Bob-ombs at the monster all at once. The explosion was enough to knock the beast back. It hit the InfiniPipe and began to lose its balance. Just one more hit would do the job.
Rosalina looked longingly at her savior. Then she realized that he was preparing himself for a head-on attack at the beast. "Waluigi, what're you- N-no, don't do this!" she begged. All of a sudden, the man grabbed her and kissed her passionately. When they finished, the man ran towards the monster. He jumped into the air and kicked the demon, sending it into the InfiniPipe and its eminent doom.
The man landed on the edge of the pipe. He panted slightly. He looked into the void, unsure of if the creature was actually gone. In an instant, a giant claw reached out of the hole. Soon two hands were grabbing the edge of the pipe. The Demon Cat was climbing back out.
Rosalina fell to the ground, unable to support herself any longer. The rest of the group watched in horror as the monster's head poked through the pipe. They wanted nothing more than to stop it, but they were all too weak to do anything about it.
Waluigi turned around and looked directly at Rosalina. The two stared into each other's eyes. The princess began shaking her head. "N-no. No. No," she said softly. But it was no use. Waluigi had already made up his mind.
The man jumped high into the air. "Waluigi, NOOOO!" Rosalina screamed at the top of her lungs. The man came crashing down on the monster's head. This made the creature lose its grip, and the two went spiraling into the hole. The usual teleporting noise was heard, followed by disturbing silence. Neither of the two were coming back out.
Slowly each person got back on their feet. It was over. It was finally over. They departed one by one until only Rosalina was left all by herself, crying into her hands.
One chapter left.