Chapter 3: Where in the heck are we?
Now, before we start this chapter, I want to clear out some issues with a certain Super Mario Character: King Boo.
As many loyal fans would have known, King Boo has two entirely different looking appearances, one where he's just a bigger Boo with a golden crown on his head, and the one with heavy eye shadow, purple eyes and the big diamond crown from Luigi's Mansion.
Nintendo, for mine and others' displeasure, never attempt to explain why he had two different looks, yet keeps making character bio that potentially linked the two appearances as the same person. No, seriously, in the official release of an online Mario Super Sluggers' Baseball card, King Boo's card says he's from Luigi's Mansion, yet using the normal Boo look with gold crown.
So I decided to separate the two look as different people, the one with normal Boo look and gold crown is a Boo titled king by Bowser and made Minion of Bowser Kingdom, while the Luigi's Mansion's King Boo is a self-declared king that work individually.
"Where am I?"
- Mario (Hotel Mario)
You know, working for Bowser, the idea alone would make most citizens in Mushroom Kingdom pale in fear, but not for King Boo, well… for one, he was already pale as a ghost; two, the payment is nice, plus the comfortable working environment and safety insurance; three, working with Bowser means your species is under his protection and alliance.
Just… There's one small problem when it comes to working for Bowser, and that problem is work hazards. There's no telling what kind of hazard you're gonna encounter every mission. Usually just a stupid plumber in red, but still, it's a dangerous hazard, usually result in a stomped head and headache. One thing that Minions & Henchmen of Bowser had in common, they don't like it.
And currently, King Boo is having a terrible headache.
"Urrrrgg, Star Spirits, my head is killing me, but I'm already dead." Even in situations like this, the king of all dead still had a reputation to keep, including making dead-related puns.
Working for Bowser is fun, but sometimes this job can suck so hard. And today is one of the days where it sucks.
Using his long arms, he massaged his small scary face.
…
…
…
Wait a minute. Long arms? Small face?
He slowly looked down, and then found himself in a different body, and two unfamiliar lower limbs.
Now, a different note here: sentient animals are an interesting thing. No matter what species you are, if you're in immediate confusion and scare, your usual reaction would be screaming.
And screaming King Boo did. The irony.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" The low pitch of his trademark squeak echoes through the campus of Beacon.
"What the heck, what the heck! Why am I a human all the sudden!" He had floated off from the bed he was lying on, his foggy mind now fully awakened.
He can not compromise the situation, it makes no sense to him, moments ago he was still his glorious ghost-self, and how he is a flimsy weak human, what in the name of Star Heaven happened?
He looked left and right, ignoring the other three bodies that lay on the beds beside him, trying to find something that could start making sense to him.
And then he spotted a mirror. And was morbid by what he saw in the reflection.
Floating in the air with a lean body and a height of 6'3'', a man with pale white skin with super thick black eyebrows and lavender eyes, and white hair tied in a super long braid, pointy shape ears wearing small magenta diamond earrings.
His attire is consist of a modern theme, dressed in a faint-blue business suit with a purple dress shirt, and a puffy blue tie tucked into the V-shape hole of the suit, a magenta diamond shape gem decorates on the jabot; a black pin with Bowser emblem pinned on the lapel of his suit; faint-blue pants with silver belts; and faint-blue leather shoes.; and finally, his trademark gold crown with red and blue gems still stays on the top of his head.
This person was none other than King Boo, the king of all undead, granted the title by Bowser. Which furthermore ensured his powerful position among the Boos, and has he dedicated his loyalty to the Koopa king.
King Boo brought his hand to his face, horrified at what he was seeing. (Like the classic home alone cover) "Oh no, oh no no no no nononono! This can't be happening! What happened to my glorious Boo body?!"
Suddenly a fist made contact with his cheek, implanting him into a nearby wall like a Dry Dry Desert Mural art.
"Will you keep those annoying voices down? You're killing my head!" A super gruffy voice called.
Sitting up from the bed, was a man in his late 60 or so, with a height of 6'7''. A muscle body frame with brown skin, bushy white mustache and a pair of bushy white eyebrows, red iris with a look that could kill, and two large reverse-vampire-fangs that stick out at the bottom-line of his lips, and a noticeable jutting chin, white long hair that slick back and end at the shoulder length.
His attire is consist of a medieval theme, white medieval shirt with a crimson vest and a white jabot collar, a red broad shoulder long coat with silver shoulder guard, a Bowser emblem painted on the left shoulder guard; crimson trouser with brown knee-high leather boots; the gold crown inlaid with red & blue square gems with red cap stood on top of his head.
This person was none other than Goomboss, the strongest Goomba in existence, and also the first and only Goomba that has defeated Mario once, like his ghost co-worker, he received his title by Bowser, and has sworn uttermost loyalty to the Koopa king.
"Stay quiet you loud-mouth, this headache is killing me." The ever angry Goomba King tiredly pleaded as he massaged his forehead with his hand… Hand? Wait, what?
Goomboss snapped his eyes wide open to look at the extra limbs that weren't his body parts before. His jaw hanging slightly as he tries to come up with a word, but failing miserably.
"What… in the name of Underwhere has happened to me?"
"That's what I would like to know." The ghost king speaks as he gets himself off the wall.
Goomboss stares at the man in front of him with a puzzled look. "Who the hell are you?"
"Let's see, the guy who commands the biggest ghost army, the guy who participates in multiple sport games with his royal highness, the guy who can trap people inside an illusion maze, the guy who can transform to impersonating anybody, the guy that could sneak up and swap your bean coffee with water without you noticing, and the only ghost that could stay under sunlight without exploding." King Boo listened as he lifted up his finger. "Come on! Goomb, there's only one guy that fills those descriptions."
Goomboss tilted his head as he placed two together, and he can't be helped but feeling incredibly lost at the unrecognizable friend in front of him.
"Boo? What the heck happened to us?"
"Beats me, when I wake up I'm already like this." The ghost man shrugged, then put his hand on the chin. "Although… I do remember there was a white flash, before I blackout."
"Sigh, so things go bad again, does it? Why must the world always be against his highness." Goomboss slumped his shoulder in defeat. In which King Boo replies with another shrug.
"Hmmm… what… what happened?" A familiar voice of King Bob-omb spoke groggily.
The Goomba and Boo king turn their head to the other bed, where the supposedly Bob-omb monarch is laying on, and find their friend met the same cruel fate just like them.
With a lean body frame and a height of 6'6'', the Bob-omb king had white skin and his trademark white mustache presenting on his face, his white hair in a business haircut, his iris color is white, which is rare to begin with.
His attire consists of a simple black businessman suit with a gray striped tie; and bright-yellow leather shoes; his gold crown with red & blue gems being the only highlight that stands out of his design, and a Bowser emblem band wearing on his left arms.
Looking over the next bed, they spot a giant in full-body armor, bulky frame with a height of 7'6'', a man shrouded inside a deep blue armor that protects his entire body, a helmet with a Y-shape visor that shows the only flesh part of him, two giant bull horn stick out from the side of the helmet, and red manes on the top of the helmet; an angry eye painted on the left chest, and the number 64 painted on the right chest; big shoulder guard with a Bowser emblem painted on the left shoulder.
This man was Big Bully, the front-line charger of Bowser Kingdom, the guy with almost indestructible defense, at the expense of mobility.
He is still unconscious, which is a good thing, because they weren't sure how he'll handle the news, probably start charging around like a wild bull.
The Goomba and Boo looked at each other, before looking at the Bob-omb man.
"Ok, Bob, no matter what you do, do not freak out and blow up. Okay?" King Boo holds both his hands up, assuring their fellow living bomb friend there's no danger nearby. The last thing they need is to be catching up inside the radius of a nuke.
The explosive Barron sat up from his bed, as he looked at the two strangers with a raised eyebrow.
- From the outside of the infirmary.
After hearing King Boo's screaming, Ozpin opened up the camera feed of the infirmary, as well as the bug in the room, eavesdropping on their conversation, hoping to get a good understanding of who these people are. While not much, he did get some pretty good information.
One. They worked for someone, as they keep referring to this person as highness, so possibly a monarch, this part is quite puzzling, as he's certain the monarch age is already over for Remnant, as it was him who created the system and witnessed it over. So where do they come from?
Two. They assume that something happened to their body, which makes them human, were they not human before? Were they some kind of different creature or species unlike Faunus? Yet none of them remember what exactly happened.
Three. There are many things that scream magic with these people, the medical staff have given him their report, and these men don't have their Aura unlocked. Yet the man in white was floating in the air like it was his nature. And the teenager group and odd man in Emerald Forest have displayed magic ability.
Four. He learned the names of the four in the infirmary, or at least he assumed: Goomb, Boo, Bob-omb, Bully. These names not only don't follow the color rule, but the name is fairly odd to begin with.
With all evidence listed, as ridiculous as it sounds, the only possible answer is they are from a different world than Remnant, it's the only answer that could make sense to Ozpin.
But again, magic by its own nature is unpredictable, and if these people's homeworld is still influenced by magic, then anything is possible for the result of their arrival and appearance change.
It wasn't much of a question, Ozpin can't let Salem learn these people's existence, let alone a different world's existence.
- Back in the Bullhead
What exactly are these people? Glynda asked herself once more after picking up the mascot man called Petey Piranha, the man first shows hostility, but upon hearing the teenagers calling him, his attitude changes to a much more relaxed tone.
But then Glynda was baffled when the man opened his mouth. A bunch of gibberish she can not understand a word of, yet the teenagers act as if they understand it perfectly.
Or was that a language she does not know of? Was this man purposely speaking a different language to deceive her? Was the man viewing her as an enemy?
So many questions, yet none can be answered as the way things currently are, until she brought all these people to Ozpin, there's not much she can do.
And speaking of the man...
"GLORGOK GLEP GLEP GLOP!" There he was, spouting nonsense to the group of teenagers Faunus.
"Huh, so you don't remember much then, wasn't expecting you to have an actual answer." Ludwig replies nonchalantly.
"GLOPGEP GLOR." Despite not knowing what he's saying, Glynda can tell he did not take that comment kindly, judging the narrowing eyes he's shooting at the blue hair Faunus.
Breaking his gaze, Petey focuses on the elephant of the room, the blonde woman he does not recognize at all. "GLAPBOK GARPAR GABORKA?" He lifts a finger and points at Glynda.
"Oh? That's Miss Goodwitch, our escort to leave this forest." Ludwig answers.
"GLORP? GLEP GLOP?" Petey tilted his head.
"Ummm..." Ludwig hesitated for a moment, before looking at Glynda. "Miss Goodwitch, were you by chance capable of using magic?"
The woman in question's eyes widened like a plate, they seriously just asked this kind of unusual thing like it's super casually.
Although panicked, Glynda answered with a shake of her head.
"Lame, I thought you can use some cool tricks like Kammy." Junior piped in, disappointed.
A tick mark appeared on Glynda's forehead, as she forced a super nice smile.
'Excuse me?' She thought annoyingly, and dangerously.
Roy snorted in amusement. "Heh, squirt, way to go for a first impression."
"To be really fair, she does look like a human version of Kammy, just much younger." Larry adds.
Glynda slapped her riding crop, making them automatically flinch in place. (except Iggy, Morton, and Petey.) "If you don't mind me asking, who or what is this Kammy you speaking of?"
They looked at each other meekly, it was at that moment, the Koopas realized they might have ticked off the wrong person.
- Back in Ozpin's office.
The development of the situation has gone super unpredictable, mainly because of the information Ozpin was able to obtain from these men.
After seeing these men wake up and understand they're at a strange place, Ozpin introducing himself to the group of mysterious men, and invited the men to his office, where they could discuss the details of how they arrived at his academy, and what they should do next.
The headmaster sighs in relief that these men show a certain degree of etiquette. A conflict was avoided, for now. With a decent first impression, Ozpin can now work on improving the trust between him and these men. And hopefully have them on his side.
Sitting opposite across his desk, the way these four men sit tells Ozpin what kind of person they might be. Mr. Goomb sits with his arms crossed, a rather grumpy frown on his face; Mr. Bob sits with both leg and finger cross, a mild look on his face; Mr. Boo leans back in his seat with his arms behind head and a figure-4 leg cross, a mischievous grin on his face; Mr. Bully sits properly as his leg closed and hands-on knees, his expression covered by the shadow of his helmet.
Eyeing all men one last time, Ozpin sipped his mug before addressing the matter at hand.
"Hello Gentlemen, I welcome you to Beacon Academy. I understand you must be rather confused about what happened, and that's why we're here." The four men nod affirmatively. "I am Professor Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon Academy."
"The name is Goomboss, the great Goomba, the grand pooh-bah Goomba." Goomboss self introduces as he stares at Ozpin.
"I'm King Bob-omb, baron of all blasting matter, king of ka-booms the world over. It's a pleasure." Bob-omb introduced himself politely.
"I am King Boo, the spookiest of all the spirits! the ghastliest of all ghosts! I love scaring wimpy humans." Boo introduces as he cackled.
"This one is Big Bully, heaviest Bully of all." Bully answered briefly.
Ozpin finds his eyebrows raised at the way these people address themself, they really act like they're monarch or royal, or someone that serves monarch. This proved his gut feeling that these people are no ordinaries. But some words puzzled him, Goomba? Bob-omb? Spirits? Ghosts? Bully?
Were they referring to their species? He needs to play his next card very carefully.
"Well, the pleasure is all mine. Now with the introduction dealt with, let's talk about how you got here exactly." Ozpin asks.
The four look at each other, then look back to the man in green.
"Honestly, we haven't the slightest clue." Goomboss says.
"Everything just whiteout like a flashbang-" Followed King Bob-omb.
"And the next thing we know-" Followed Big Bully.
"We're here and turning into humans." King Boo finished.
Ozpin crossed his finger and mused, that didn't provide much, perhaps he should fish this from a different angle?
"Well, then… what do you remember before the white out occurred?"
They looked at each other again, this time a bit uncertain.
"That does not concern you." Goomboss answered a bit aggressively.
"Classified." King Bob-omb just stroked his mustache.
"Doing jobs." King Boo answered as he looked away.
"..." Big Bully stayed silent.
Ozpin tried so hard to not laugh, who do they think they're fooling for? Even a kid could tell they are hiding something. "I see… then you believe this is just a small accident that happens to occur randomly then?"
"Pfffffff, hello, where did you live under? This is the Mushroom Kingdom we're talking about, crazy stuff like this happens every week or months" King Boo laughed as he rolled his eyes.
The others had a small smile present on their face, all except Ozpin, who just continuously stared at them with a poker face.
"I'm afraid I do not know what this Mushroom Kingdom you speak of." This had their smile dropped.
"Dude, are you joking?"
Ozpin was rather nervous, at how deadly correct his gut feeling was, as unbelievable as it is. "Well… how about this, have any of you heard of Beacon Academy before?"
"No?" Goomboss says.
"Then how about Huntsman?"
"Huh?" King Bob-omb says.
"Aura?"
"What?" Goomboss titled his head.
"Dust?"
"Excuse me?" King Boo says.
"Grimm?"
"Okay dude, what kind of game are you playing? You're spouting nonsense." King Boo floated up from his seat, pointing a finger at Ozpin.
Ozpin picks up his mug, and takes another sip, before answering them. "Well, gentlemen, it occurs to me that you're not native to this world." If he didn't have their full attention before, now he certainly has.
And they burst into laughs, all laughing as if Ozpin just said the funniest joke in the century. King Boo laughs the hardest.
And they notice Ozpin just looking at them still.
"You're joking?" Goomboss said.
Ozpin shook his head lightly. "I'm afraid you're not in your world anymore, sir, you're in the world of Remnant. Where the Mushroom Kingdom doesn't exist, and the age of the monarch has ended many ages ago."
"Okay pal, this is funny the first time, and the moment has passed." King Boo deadpanned, as he and the others glared at Ozpin dangerously.
"Do I look like I'm making all these up?"
"What you said is downright unbelievable. Even by Mushroom Kingdom standers." King Bob-omb replies.
They stayed still for a moment, both sides just glaring at others, with the gears above them grinding in function.
Eventually, someone had to give, and Ozpin decided to humor them. "Very well then, perhaps you required some physical evidence for me to convince you." He then takes out his scroll and types some messages.
[Peter, Bart, I require your help. Bring a caged Grimm and a full map of Remnant to my office.]
- Time Skip -
Working for Bowser, the Minions and Henchmen have seen their fair share of weirdness, and wackiness.
This, however, by far, takes the cake.
The four men staring at the black beast locked in the cage with a puzzled look, with the said beast gritting teeth at them dangerously. And the Headmaster, Professor, and Doctor standing beside them.
"What even is this thing?" Goomboss asks.
"A Beowolf, or the creatures of Grimm by commons." Ozpin explains. "They're the foul beast that roams around the surface of our world, seeking the destruction of mankind."
"Mindless and Soulless creatures drawn to the feelings of negative emotions, anger, envy, sadness, loneliness, hatred." Port adds as he goes on. "They come in various kinds and shapes, but some of them sometimes survive for so long and manage to exhibit a certain degree of awareness and intelligence."
They go on explaining the history between mankind and Grimm, the discovery of Dust, Faunus, the history of four Kingdoms, then Huntsman and Huntsman Academy. By the end of it, the four men have a silly look on their faces.
"I still think you're pulling our legs." King Boo said in disbelief.
"Too complex, this one can not compromise." Big Bully had some steam coming from the side of his helmet.
"Urgg, this is hurting my head." Goomboss said as he massaged his temper.
King Bob-omb, being the only one that could somehow catch up with this knowledge dump, asked. "Say, if you're telling the truth, and we believe you, what happens of us next?"
"That depends on what our other guest's opinion is." Ozpin replies.
*Ding* The elevator door opened, as a group entered the room. They turned around, facing the newcomers, as the four henchmen had their eyes weiden.
"Lord Junior!" They spoke in unison, all of them kneeled down before the royal Koopa Prince. Despite transforming into a human, the signature horns, ponytail, and scarf would not be mistaken.
The Huntsmans were rather taken back by their sudden drastic behavior.
The Koopa Prince just looked at them with a raised brow. "Do I know you guys?"
*Excellent!* A random jingle can be heard from the background, seemingly indicating the comment to be a successful hit of major damage.
The four loyal henchmen either fall to their sides comically or drop on all four in despair. (Goomboss especially.)
"It's us, King Boo, Goomboss, King Bob-omb, and Big Bully!" King Boo flew in front of Junior, and pointed at himself and his comrades.
"Oh, so who is this dude that wants to see me? Is he strong? Does he seek a fight? I'm always down for a fight!" Just like that, Junior doesn't give a damn about the situation at hand, he's still bored, and requires a decent fight before he goes to bed.
Everyone looked at the hyperactive kid with a sweatdrop. With Ludwig and Wendy facepalming.
Ozpin stepped forward as he waved his hand nicely. "That would be me, although rather than fighting, I would like to have a chat with you. I'm Professor Ozpin, Mr...?"
"Huh? Lame, if you don't want to fight, what do you want?"
Ozpin smirked behind his mask, let's see if he can work the charm twice.
To be
Continued:
Author Note: Now that I have gone in motion and start making this long time planning fic into reality, I realize just how much detail hell-hole I have dug for myself. So many interactions between characters. But I intended to see it through, as there simply isn't enough fic about RWBY & Mario crossover.
And if any of you are wondering, we'll soon get to Volume 1's first episode, I just have to lay out an acceptable reason why Mario characters are now resident in Remnant.
And, challenges for you guys, try guess what Team name I'll have in store for the Koopalings and Bowser Junior, because this semester is going to be super interesting.