Disclaimer: I don't own Paper Mario. There's one of the characters from this game in this chapter, and I don't own him, either. I also don't own Flower Fields.

Note: As should have been implied from all my fanfics, the relationship between Mario and Baby Mario (and thus Luigi and Baby Luigi) is not the game canon version. Just watch out for that.

Chapter 2

Three weeks from his almost-execution, Yoshi was at home again, muttering to himself as he made a Yoshi-egg omelette for himself and Toad.

"The house is a lot more empty without everyone," Yoshi said.

"Yeah, it is," Toad replied. "I still miss Mario and the rest. At least the babies weren't traumatized by their parents' deaths for long…"

"They shouldn't have been on the list, though," Yoshi responded. "I mean, they were only little kids, and they didn't threaten Bowser's rule or anything!"

"Mario and Luigi must have lasting legacies, though. Say, how were you almost executed again? I forgot, seeing how traumatic things are lately."

"Aw, heck, that?" Yoshi complained. "Fine, but this is the last time I'm repeating it. I had to swim to exhaustion, and thus drowning and death. Luckily, the executioner got tired, and so did Bowser, so I was let go after 12 hours' straight of swimming. I think I got lucky that time, even though I got bumped down to No. 1501. I'm not sure if you will be, but I hope you are."

"Who was the executioner?"

"Don't know. He was some spiky-haired Lakitu, I think. Anyway, won't you figure out when you have to go?"

"That reminds me, I have to go, too! In an hour! My doom is in an hour!"

"I sincerely hope you don't die. I don't think I can bear to look, though."

One hour later, Toad was in the execution chamber, having steeled his nerves for that event ever since the lists came on the walls.

"Bring on the punishment!" Bowser bellowed from the window.

The executioner hovered solemnly to the chamber's entrance, carrying a rope in his hands.

"Oh goody, at least it's not beheading," Toad muttered when he saw the rope.

"This rope is supposed to be for hanging you," the executioner forcefully said when he heard the comment. "And this platform near here is supposed to help."

"Get him on the platform!" Bowser Jr. impatiently screamed.

The executioner shoved Toad onto the platform and tied the rope onto his victim's head.

"There, now that's good," the executioner said to himself as he tied the final knot. "You should be dying pretty soon."

"Five…" Bowser started to count.

Bowser didn't even reach "two" when the executioner lowered the platform.

As Toad felt himself going down, the rope slipped to the top of his head. He felt shaken, but luckily not dead. Then he saw a Spiny coming at him, and he just dodged before it hit the floor.

"I heard it touch the floor," the executioner commented at Bowser. "As I'm pretty good at aiming, I don't think he's dead."

"Then pull him up and try again," Bowser boomed from the window.

The executioner was forced to pull Toad up, re-raise the platform, retie the knot, and try again.

Foiled! Toad's head kept on slipping through. The executioner realized that when he threw another Spiny into the hole.

"What should I do?" the executioner exclaimed. "I don't think that last one was a fluke."

"Try again," Bowser bellowed.

The executioner tried again and again until the rope wore and snapped.

Crash! Toad felt himself falling swiftly to the floor. When he landed, he ached where he hit the ground, but he didn't think he broke any bones.

"Drat, the rope broke," the executioner cried. "Should I fish him out of that pit?"

"Yes, and get another rope!" Bowser relentlessly yelled.

The executioner flew into the storeroom, grabbed a rope, got Toad out, and continued the hanging.

Two hours, fifty tries, and six ropes later, Toad was still not dead. By then, both the executioner and Bowser were getting aggravated.

"He's still not dead, and I've hanged him as many times as I can," the executioner complained.

"Rawgh, I'm tired, too," Bowser muttered in reply. "And I don't want to prepare you for trying anything else. Fine, let him go, but I'm placing him in position 1502. And remember to execute him at that time, all right?"

"Okay, I'll let him go," the executioner replied a little wearily.

The executioner drew up the rope, re-raised the platform, and untied the knot, which had managed to slide onto the top of Toad's head.

"Fine, I'm only doing this because Bowser's tired of it," the executioner said as he untied the knot, "but you're still going to be killed later!"

"Hey, haven't I heard of you before?" Toad asked as he managed to get his first good look at his almost-murderer. "I think Mario told me about you from that Paper Mario adventure, didn't you?"

"Yes, but—" The executioner was soon interrupted by Toad.

"Hold on. I'm trying to get your name. Mario said…your name…was…Lakilester?"

"Darn, how many times have I told everyone not to call me that?" Lakilester howled when he was found out. "My…name…is…SPIKE!"

Toad was about to protest with "Fine, be that way," but instead he asked, "And why exactly did you take this job?"

Lakilester responded, "I had to if I wanted to stay alive, and believe me, I do. Bowser said that if anyone filled up his new job slot, they would be spared from his hit list, so I joined to protect Lakilulu and I. Now we're both safe from the list. But if I don't do a good (or at least obedient) job, we'll probably be back on it."

"How about you try to rescue Peach and Daisy so this whole list becomes pointless?" Toad offered. "At least I'll have plenty of time because I've got a temporary reprieve…"

"I'm not so sure if I can do it," Lakilester replied. "I don't know how to keep my life unless I'm present in this job. And I need to accumulate a reputation, so I'll still have to stay here."

"But I can get a substitute!" Toad cried. "I don't it'll take long…"

"Well, I guess helping people is always good," Lakilester pondered. "I might go if you do what you said. That way, at least we won't get killed."

"Glad you accepted," Toad said. "Also, we're going to join Yoshi on this. I think he'll accept the offer, too, as he's one of my friends."

"Friends?" Lakilester asked incredulously. "That guy who I tried to execute a few weeks ago was your friend!"

"Yes," Toad answered. "And so was Mario, who I think at one point was also your friend…Why didn't you spare him?"

"Well, he offered, but I had to refuse because I still had to keep Bowser impressed. Besides, it's not that I could come up with an excuse for letting him go, as Bowser told me to electrocute him on the chair."

"Should we go, then?" Toad asked. "I'd rather we get this rescue done as soon as we can."

"Guess so," Lakilester answered. "I won't be killing anyone else today, thankfully."

"We'd better get to Yoshi, then," Toad said.

They both left the chamber and headed for Toad's car. Bowser noticed that his executioner and victim left a little later than usual, but didn't think anything weird was going on.

"Must I buckle up?" Lakilester asked when he went into the car.

"I know it's tough for you Lakitus, but it's a lot safer that way," Toad replied friendlily.

A few minutes later, they arrived at Yoshi's house. Actually, it was Mario's, Luigi's, Toad's, Yoshi's, Baby Mario's, and Baby Luigi's house, but four out of the six once-inhabitants were already dead.

"Yoshi, do you want to join us on our rescue mission?" Toad asked.

"All right, but who are we rescuing and who is that guy with you?" Yoshi asked in reply.

"We're rescuing the obvious," Toad answered, "and this guy is Laki—"

"SPIKE!" Lakilester shouted at the mere mention of his real name.

"…Well, at any rate, he's offered to help us," Toad continued. "I think he'll be friendly, as Mario has talked about him before. In a positive way."

"So this guy's named Lakispike?" Yoshi asked, puzzled.

"Actually, no. His real name's Laki—"

"It's Spike! How many times do I have to tell you guys?"

"…lester, but he prefers to be called Spike."

"Okay, so I guess we're rescuing Peach with him?" Yoshi asked.

"And Daisy. She's kidnapped, too," Toad explained.

"All right, we're rescuing them both. But is there going to be a six-month-long snag?" Yoshi asked again.

"Maybe not six months, but yes, there is one," Toad said. "We're going to find him a substitute executioner before we can go rescue them."

"Sheesh, but how?" Yoshi exclaimed. "I don't there's many Lakitus with spiky hair…"

"You'll be surprised," Lakilester commented. "Then again, I don't think anyone has my hairstyle."

"I think we can make someone have such a hairstyle," Toad consoled.

"All right, but just one thing. How am I going to tell Lakilulu this?" Lakilester asked.

"We'll be searching Flower Fields first," Toad responded.

"All right then, shouldn't we get going?" Yoshi suggested, as he had already made his decision and he was going to stand by it.

"Yes, we will. Now, for Flower Fields!" Toad pronounced.