Chapter 27 – The Last Laugh
Mario shook his head as he woke up.
"Ugh…where am I?"
He took a good look at his surroundings: fire everywhere, and the green ground he was standing on had glowing red lines scattered all over. Right beside him was a KO'd Luigi. He also realized that he was feeling very exhausted. So he took out a Max Nut, ate half of it, and fed the other to Luigi.
The Max Nut was enough for Luigi to awaken, and Mario helped him back on his feet.
"Are you still conscious?" a voice rang out. "Ugh. You're a persistent pair!"
Several clouds of purple smoke gathered in front of them and began to take shape. When they were done, the figure they formed resembled a giant, monstrous version of Cackletta, only consisting of a floating torso, two arms, and a head.
The soul of Cackletta glared down at them. "I shall dispose of you quickly, and then eat you for lunch!"
"Not happening!" Mario declared, getting ready to fight.
Cackletta charged a ball of energy in her mouth before firing it at him, which Mario deflected with his Hammer. However, the ball then targeted Luigi, who had to do the same with his. The ball alternated between its targets, though it eventually broke apart after several hits.
Mario then moved to attack her head with a Jump attack, but one of her arms grabbed him instead and threw him to the ground. The arm then attempted to flick Mario with its hand, though a Hammer whack quickly put a stop to that.
"Looks like we gotta take those arms out first, Luigi." Mario informed his brother.
Luigi nodded as he let loose a Hammer attack on Cackletta's right arm. Said arm snapped its fingers as a ball of electrcity appeared and floated towards Luigi. Just as with the energy orb earlier, when Luigi Hammered it away, it redirected itself towards Mario, who dispersed it with his own Hammer.
Cackletta's left arm then snapped its fingers and summoned two fireballs that attacked by rotating around them, which had to be dodged by jumping.
After the attacks ceased, Mario and Luigi went to attack the arms again with their respective Hand powers, Mario attacking her right and Luigi attacking her left. The attacks managed to cause both arms to disappear into smoke, leaving her head unguarded.
Mario took this opportunity to use Splash Bros. on the head, dealing great damage to it. Luigi followed with Bounce Bros., which soon caused the head to vanish as well, leaving only hero torso.
Said torso shook violently, before a large, red heart revealed itself. The torso shook again before regenerating Cackletta's head and arms.
"The heart must be her weak point!" Mario realized.
"Then let's give it all we've got!" Luigi answered.
Mario went in for a Chopper Bros. attack, with Luigi doing a Knockback Bros. immediately afterwards.
"S-stop that!" Cackletta growled before her arms began to spin around and sweep the ground the Bros. were standing on, which was only dodged by jumping, though they had to watch out for when she tried to trick them by having her arms go over them, in which case they had to stay still.
"How about no?" Mario smirked as his suspicions were confirmed. He then went for the heart again with a Super Splash Bros. attack, which was followed by a Super Bounce Bros.
Cackletta raised her arms and succeeded in slamming the brothers with her hands, damaging them via squishing. At that moment, Cackletta's torso shook before her heart receded back into it.
"Guess it's rinse and repeat then." Luigi mumbled after witnessing this. He got his Hammer ready and began attacking the arms again. Soon after eliminating her arms and head again, Cackletta's heart exposed itself to the Mario Bros.
"Let's go!" Mario announced as he tossed Luigi to stomp the heart in a Swing Bros. move.
"Heeya!" Luigi cried out as he smacked Mario with his Hammer, and the red-clad plumber spun around in preparation while Luigi jumped on top of him, before both unleashed a Cyclone Bros. attack, getting several hits in on the heart.
Very soon, Cackletta's head and limbs regenerated again as she let out a loud, almost feral growl at the brothers and her entire body turned red.
Her eyes flashed for a second before time itself suddenly stopped, and she fired lasers from them that hit the brothers directly, and when time resumed, they felt the pain from them and were knocked to the ground.
"What just happened?!" Mario coughed in confusion.
He didn't have time to think as Cackletta charged up the same attack again. On reflex, he jumped, and when time stopped again, he avoided the laser, though the one presumably aimed at Luigi went over him instead.
Mario wasted no time going back on the attack, landing a Splash Bros. on the heart before it receded back into the torso.
Cackletta snapped her fingers. More clouds of smoke gathered together until they took the form of her minion Fawful. The illusion then used his headgear to fire several energy balls at Mario and Luigi, who dodged them with jumps.
Even with the extra fire from the Fawful illusion, who remained in the air, Luigi dispersed both of her arms once again. Her head then launched another giant orb in an attempt to crush both brothers once again, but they dispersed the orb with ease.
Very soon, the head was destroyed for the third time, forcibly exposing the heart. But almost immediately after, Cackletta regenerated her lost parts and glared down at the duo.
"WHY WON'T YOU FALL?!" screamed Cackletta at them.
"To someone like you?" Mario retorted. "I think not!"
Cackletta screeched as she summoned a storm of aura orbs that she threw at the brothers, only for them to smack almost all of them away.
Both of them charged forward at her, and she stretched her hands in order to flick them away, but they defended against the attack with their Hammers, though the recoil sent them back a little.
Cackletta then used her spinning arm attack, and slowly inched closer to the brothers in order to try and hit them, though both were able to evade the wave of attacks. She then raised her hand and tried to slam the brothers down, though they defended with their Hammers once again.
Cackletta's rage only grew at this, but in the midst of it, she had a devious idea. With one swoop of her arm, she caught Mario and Luigi off-guard by swiping their Hammers.
With both hands equipped, she began to use the weapons against their owners, but both brothers barely dodged to the side.
Cackletta's left arm covered itself in fire and slammed down the Hammer it was holding, creating several columns of fire that moved towards Luigi. At the same time, her right arm crackled with electricity as a wave of lightning columns made their way towards Mario.
Both of them rolled over to the side again to dodge, but Cackletts kept sending stream after stream of fire and thunder after them. The only way they could get their Hammers back were to attack her hands, but any attempts on Jump attacks were met by getting whacked with their own weapons. This left them with only one option: their Hand moves.
But when they tried to do those on the arms, the attacks seemed to have no effect. Before they could think about why, they were forced to dodge even more columns of flame and lightning.
Mario watched closely as he noticed something. "Luigi, you see that?"
"What?"
"Her arms. Her right one only seems to be using lightning, and her left one is only using fire."
Luigi realized it immediately. "We were attacking them with the same elements. We need the opposite ones!"
Palms alight with their respective powers, Mario attacked with Firebrand on Cackletta's right hand, and Luigi used Thunderhand on the left. Sure enough, Cackletta yelped in pain and let go of the Hammers, allowing the brothers to reclaim them.
Boiling with rage, Cackletta conjured up the biggest ball of energy she could muster in her mouth, and launched it towards them.
Mario, who just finished healing himself and Luigi with Mushrooms, widened his eyes as the giant ball descended down towards them.
With no time to dodge, he raised his Hammer and struggled to push back the attack. Luigi joined him just seconds after. Together, they slowly began moving forward as they were forcibly returning it back to sender.
Cackletta did notice what they were doing, but they had gotten so close that all she could do was raise her arms in an attempt at defense.
The struggle went on for several seconds, but in the end, the force of the attack was too much…
…for Cackletta.
The evil witch staggered back, the strength in her arms completely drained.
"YOU…YOU!" she snarled at the Mario Bros.
"This ends now!" Mario declared. "We'll show you the true power of superstars!"
Mario grabbed Luigi's hands and spun him around like he was doing a hammer throw, and tossed him with precision towards Cackletta's heart. Luigi struck it with as much power as possible, and when he bounced off of it to return to Mario, the red-clad plumber grabbed his hands and together both of them jumped and stomped again on her, both brothers spinning around like a drill in a Super Swing Bros. attack.
But they weren't done there. As soon as they returned to the ground, Luigi flattened Mario with his Hammer and the miniature plumber spun rapidly around. Luigi jumped on him after a few seconds, and the pair spun towards their enemy, with Luigi having his Hammer out to strike the heart with every spin. At the last second, they activated their Super Cyclone Bros., and with a mighty shout Mario and Luigi jumped into the air to land the final strike.
The Hammer struck true, and Mario and Luigi landed back on the floor to examine the results of their handiwork.
At first, Cackletta's soul floated there motionless, before it suddenly bulged and inflated as it was losing control of its power. It soon burst in a mighty explosion, and the sheer force sent the brothers flying away from their prison.
"GAAHHH! WHAT? HUH? HEY! WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME?!"
Bowletta was hacking and wheezing frantically as she flung herself to the floor. Her cheeks bulged, and she forcibly spat out Mario and Luigi. Then, with a loud roar, she fell down on her back, defeated at last.
Mario was the first to get back up, followed by Luigi. Both of them looked down on the fallen Bowletta, who was convulsing in pain.
"EEEYARGH!" she screamed in despair. "It can't be! Impossible! I…no…how could I…" she let out one last glare of hate at the brothers. "And to this filthy little pair! HOW COULD I LOSE?!"
Bowletta's mouth split wide open, and Mario and Luigi watched as Cackletta's soul emerged from it. The soul was desperately trying to cling onto its stolen vessel, but its power was far too weak, and the remains of Cackletta dissipated into thin air.
Without its soul to maintain it, Bowletta's body glowed with a bright light, and when it died down, an unconscious Bowser was now in her place.
"Did we do it? Is she gone?" Luigi asked.
Mario smiled. "Yes. For good this time."
"Indeed!"
Mario and Luigi looked behind them to see an applauding Prince Peasley.
"Cheers to the superstar siblings!" he congratulated them. "I have just finished rigging this castle with an explosive device! We must escape before it bows up and the castle falls from the sky! Make haste! I shall be meeting you back at Beanbean Castle!" and with that, he flew away on his winged beanbag.
"Welp, you heard His Highness." Mario said. "Let's get outta here!"
"Right!"
"Blablanadon!" Mario called out as soon as they reached the entrance.
The dinosaur turned to them with a worried look. "Hurry! We've gotta get out of this place! Now!"
Mario and Luigi clung onto his talons as he flew off, the hallway behind him crumbling.
Bowser shook his head and his eyes shot open, clearly quite groggy.
"Whoa…where am I?" he pondered. "What have I been doing?"
Only then did he take notice of his collapsing surroundings.
"Huh?"
Explosions boomed all over Bowser's Castle, and if one were watching right now, they could witness it falling and crashing far away into Oho Ocean.
Meanwhile, Mario and Luigi were dropped down at the Beanbean Castle entrance via Blablanadon, where Peach, Toadsworth, and the Beanbean Royals were awaiting their arrival.
"Mario! Luigi!" Peach called out.
"Peach! You've recovered!" Mario smiled.
"Well, well, Master Mario, Master Luigi." Toadsworth spoke up. "It seems that you've done it once again."
"Indeed. On behalf on the entire Beanbean Kingdom, you have my deepest gratitude." Said Queen Bean.
Mario looked back behind him, and his face fell when realized that despite having beaten Bowletta and saving the kingdom, the Castle Town was still heavily damaged from the earlier attack.
"Can't we do something about this?" Mario pointed at the destroyed settlement.
"Of course!" Peasley smirked. "The Beanstar, please."
A servant emerged from the castle doors, carrying with him the sleeping Beanstar.
"Alright Princess Peach, please do the honors!"
Peach opened her mouth, but suddenly began to cough, causing the Mario Bros. to panic in fear of yet another explosion.
"Tee-hee! Just kidding!" Peach giggled. She began to sing for real, and the very sound of her voice instantly calmed both of them down. As her melody reached the Beanstar, it opened its eyes, but instead of getting angry, it only yawned and floated in front of the group.
"Hello. I am the Beanstar." It greeted. "What do you wish from me?"
"Beanstar! Hear my desire…" Mario answered. "Please heal this town from its damages, and purge the kingdom of the evil Cackletta's influences…forever!"
"It will be done." Said the Beanstar as it floated high above the air, and released waves of light all over the land. When the light touched the castle town, all of the damaged buildings began to repair themselves thanks to the magic, and any evidence of Bowletta's attack dissolved into stardust.
After a few minutes, Beanbean Castle Town was completely restored, and the Beanstar descended into Mario's hands and fell asleep once more.
"So that's the power of the Beanstar…" Luigi muttered in awe.
Toadsworth cleared and throat and turned towards the superstars. "Now that that's out of the way, Master Mario, Master Luigi, what say we finally start our vacation?"
"Wahoo!"
"Ya-ha!"
And so, for an entire week, Mario and Luigi relaxed and vacationed their way through all of Beanbean.
They returned to Stardust Fields and took on an even harder version of the Border Jump challenge, followed by sightseeing around Hoohoo Mountain.
They even managed to revisit Woohoo Hooniversity, which too has been completely restored. The thankful professors working there gladly gave them an official tour of the campus.
They also returned to Chateau de Chucklechuck, where they sampled some of the finest Chuckola Cola, before watching some games at the Winkle Colosseum. They also visited Starbeans Café once more to sample some new blends, along with more visits from E. Gadd himself.
The two of them (along with Peach) also managed a no-incident revisit to Little Fungitown, where they found out that the arcade reopened, and Mario and Luigi went for another game of Star 'Stache Smash, and beat their high score (though there was no Invincishroom prize this time, which was probably for the best).
They also took to Oho Ocean, where they participated in a surfing game (with Luigi once again as the board) and also traveled to Gwarhar Lagoon, where they finally got some massages from the Jellyfish Sisters (which was thankfully on the house).
But alas, all good things had to come to an end, and once the week was over, Mario and Luigi prepared to depart the kingdom with their companions, with the Beanbean royals and their staff seeing them off at Beanbean International Airport.
"Take care, everyone!" Peach curtsied. "Please come visit us in the Mushroom Kingdom someday!"
Queen Bean gave a hearty laugh. "Princess Peach, you have a fine group of friends. I am quite envious!"
"Toadsworth!" Lady Lima cried out, tears in her eyes.
"Lady Lima!" Toadsworth responded with a similar expression.
Both elderly advisors rushed over and gave each other a hug.
Luigi tried to do the same to Peasley, but the prince simply floated out of the way, causing Luigi to faceplant instead.
"Princess Peach! Mario Bros.! I must thank you all!" said Peasley. "Accept this gift from me to mark your parting!"
He snapped his fingers, and a large, wrapped present fell from the sky and crashed onto the ground, shocking everyone on the airstrip.
After everyone said their goodbyes, the Mushroom Kingdom residents boarded the Toad Express, with the Beanish waving as it took off into the sky.
While Mario, Luigi, and their friends were chatting and laughing, Prince Peasley's present (which was attached to the plane's tail via chain) shook violently before Bowser's head burst out of the box.
"Uh…hello? Anyone there? I'm kinda stuck here! Help!"
The End
AN: ...Except not really. There's one more chapter after this.