Reunited
Chapter 13- Grow-Up
"So, what shall I do for now, Mistress?" the Apprentice asks of her leader, "You said it yourself that we might as well let them have the one held by that pathetic squid, and unless they're there as well then going to the Gate would be a suicide mission."
"Simple, Apprentice," Cackletta replies. "There is a Bean that my minions have spotted sleeping in the woods near Twilight Town. Find him and bring him here for interrogation."
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Popple throws another fist at the Black Scorpion, knocking the man to the ground. Peasley, on the other side of the cabin they're in, has Gojira pinned to the ground with his sword held at the creature's throat.
"Alright, are you gonna let us go in peace or will we have to kill you?" Peasley asks of his opponent. Popple, while keeping BS#5 pinned to the ground, watches this curiously. He's falling for it even quicker than planned, Popple thinks before turning to his captive and pulling the mask off of him.
"Waluigi?" Popple questions, "Why would you be working for a guy like this, and what's with the funeral get-up?"
"If you must know," answers Waluigi bitterly, "I took a job working for Gojira after Wario retired to a private island on Earth using the money he made from WarioWare. I had nothing better to do, so I joined up with Gojira and I now guard the place."
"What happened to Black Scorpions 1 through 4 anyway?"
"KIA."
"That sounds pretty cool. Maybe they'd let me joi-"
"Popple," Peasley yells from across the room while still holding down Gojira, "It means 'killed in action.'"
"Oh."
"Well, go ahead then," Waluigi says to Popple, "Add me to the list. I won't complain about the inevitable."
Popple considers for a second, then gets up off of Waluigi. Peasley does the same on his side of the room.
"Nice to see you're not as merciless as I," Gojira mutters to the two while pulling himself to his feet, "If we had won instead of you, the two of you would surely be dead. Well, you may go ahead and leave. We will not hold you back further."
Popple and Peasley both look about ready to reply to this comment, but instead just turn and walk away.
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The Bean sits on a log in the woods, having recently eaten a few plants in order to gaim some stamina. He is ripping out his hair and beard in a blind frenzy filled with insanity.
"You, who are you and what are you doing here?"
The Bean turns around and sees the Apprentice staring at him.
"I repeat: who are you and what are you doing here?" she asks as a ball of ice begins to develop around her hand. "Cackletta does not accept trespassers. State your intentions or, well, get ready to be an ice sculpture.
The Bean apparently doesn't bother to listen as he continues to rip his hair out. Once almost all of it is gone, the Apprentice is stunned at what she sees. "You? Come with me. Cackletta will most definitly be elated to see you!"
The Bean stands up and follows, continuing to rip his hair out as he moves forward. As the two walk on, the Apprentice notices the jewel hanging around his neck.
"You grabbed one of those before you came? Excellent. Cackletta will be that much happier."
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"Take that!" Goombella yells as she kicks the Golden Diva in the face, again to no avail.
"Give it up, girl. You cannot defeat me."
"Wanna bet?" Goombella shouts in return before beginning a string of headbutts on the Diva. Once more, little damage is done.
"I grow tired of this," the woman yells as she points her fan at Goombella and waves it slightly. A strange wind comes out of the fan and lifts the Goomba into the air, and the Diva promptly smashes her fist down over her, knocking the teacher back to the ground.
"Face it, dearie," the Diva says as Goombella angrily pulls herself to her feet, "you are worthless. You're a pathetic little rodent who, despite the fact that she is a Goomba and not a particurally tough one at that, believes that she can do anything. You've got about 10 seconds to grow-up and face the facts: in the real world, heroes do not prevail. Heroes fall to the might of those who contain true power, such as myself!"
"No, you're wrong!" Goombella furiously yells in response. "Sure, evil may win a few battles here and there but in the end good will always prevail!"
"Oh, like your friend Mario 'prevailed' against Bowser?"
"That's it!" Goombella jumps into the air and once again kicks the Diva, this time knocking her back-first into a wall.
"Nice shot," the woman replies while holding her back for a second, "but you'll need about 100 more if you are to have any prayer of defeating me!"
Goombella launches another kick, which the Diva blocks before knocking the Goomba back to the ground.
"Face it, girl. You signed your own death warrant when you decided to fight me."
"Again with the cliched phrases? Come on, you washed up old hag."
"What? How dare you!"
Hearing the Golden Diva's reaction, Goombella begins to think of something, Good, I've got her mad now. All I've got to do is figure that into my strategy.
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Ludwig stands in the Royal Graveyard of his family, walking among the tombstones of his ancestors, looking for one in particular. He eventually comes to a stop at a rather new-looking tombstone. Very little weeds have formed around this particular stone, and the stone itself is not cracked at all.
"Dad," he starts, talking to the grave, "I don't know how you handled it. I always thought that, you know, I'd be a perfect leader for the Koopa Kingdom because of my intelligence, but it is hard to hold everything together during a time like this. I swear, I don't know who it was that killed you, but the murderer will be brought to justice eventually- I swear it. But between those invading Ninji, who've already managed to conquer most of the Mushroom Kingdom, and the return of Cackletta, I find myself in a rot. Everyone seems to be pointing fingers at me, and I have no doubt that the family will be overthrown if I do not do something fast. And if that were the case," he breaks up, tears starting to form at the thought, "then I would not consider myself worthy of being buried along the likes of you and our forefathers."