Reunited
Chapter 22- Dreams
Vivian stands on a bridge that covers a gigantic fountain, fighting for her life. All of her friends lie unconscious on the ground, as does Doopliss. It is left with just her against both Beldam and Marilyn.
"Come on, Vivian! You're just delaying the inevitable!" Beldam yells as she uses her magic to shrink Vivian. Both of the older sisters begin thrusting ice and lightning respectively at their younger sibling, who does everything she can to dodge.
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"Gonzalez! Gonzalez!"
Despite the chanting, Eggo continues to be beaten senseless by Rawk Hawk. He knows it's all up to him to beat the bird and get the first jewel, but it's all hopeless. Rawk Hawk isn't showing any signs of pain after even Eggo's strongest attacks, and at this point the dinosaur could barely move due to the amount of punishment he had taken. Looking at the cheering faces of his three companions who were in the audience, Eggo decides that he must keep fighting and charges in for another strike, only to be hit by Rawk Hawk's signature flying tackle.
"Not... yet..." the Yoshi groans, still struggling to survive, still struggling to not let his friends down.
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Koops runs, struggling to prevent himself from befalling the same fate that his father had. But it is no use, it seems, as Hooktail continues to attempt to bring about the destruction of the intruder in her castle. Still, his father is only part of the reason Koops is risking life and limb in an impossible fight- he wants to not just gain revenge, but to protect his fellow residents of Petalburg. To protect Koopie Koo. For he cannot imagine losing her but knows it would happen eventually if Hooktail continues to devour the residents of the small village.
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"I'll give you some credit," the Apprentice tells Deathnify as she continues to battle him, though neither can seem to keep their opponent still long enough to get in more than one or two hits, "I never knew there was someone out there more cruel than myself."
"I bet if you had the chance to get what you want, you wouldn't. Which is exactly why I am more cruel than you. I won't hesitate to kill anyone."
"Don't be ridiculous. I'm working for Cackletta right now for that very reason! And what about that rumor that's spread through the grape vine for so many years of what happened to be your most embarrassing moment, Dante?"
"How DARE you refer to me by that wretched name! I curse that name and my parents too! I am simply Deathnify, with no family name."
"Then why didn't you kill them when you had the chance?"
"Because I for one at least have some sort of honor. What about you? What about all of those years of what you've done? I would never harm my family, even if I do despise them."
"At least I stick to realistic goals and follow ancient scrolls to find what I need. You, you probably got your info from that stupid book that C. P. Cornello put out about the stone, didn't you? Let me guess, you stole it off some member of the group when you realized that it offered what you wanted."
"And so what if I did? The author quite apparently knows his stuff, and I later checked some scrolls and found that they matched, besides the detail about transmuting that the book mentions. I always knew that alchemy stuff was just a stupid predecessor to modern chemistry." Deathnify suddenly surprises the Apprentice by transforming so as to have blades instead of hands, then hits her with one's side, knocking her to the ground. As he stands over her ready to launch the final strike, she punches the clock around his neck, temporarily freezing the demon in place. As the clock starts to glow, she yells out, "Goombella!"
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Goombella continues to run through the empty mall, crying her eyes out and trying to find her mother at all costs. As she continues to do this, she suddenly stops dead in her tracks upon seeing a bat appear before her. The bat's mouth opens and a gentle, somewhat motherly voice emerges, saying simply in tone, "Grow up, Goombella!"
Hearing these words, the crying suddenly stops. Goombella then feels her memories of later years returning. She returns to her normal size and age in the dream, then wakes up.
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Goombella's eyes open just long enough to make out the silhouettes of the Apprentice and Deathnify and nothing more before the Goomba goes back to sleep, though this time in an actual state rather than in a coma-like form of having her soul ripped out.
Deathnify, who suddenly regains mobility, is distracted by this just long enough for the Apprentice to throw him off of her. She pulls herself to her feet and then uses a trick she very rarely whips out: entering the Shadows. She does so, and reemerges next to the sleeping Goomba, picking her up just long enough to set her down in a safer area.
"So, you saved one, huh? I'm shocked. What would Cackletta say to that?" he asks mockingly, having known she would attempt it if given the chance anyway.
"I saved her just because Cackletta has bigger plans for all of them. And I'll save the others too."
Deathnify, bored with all the talk, transforms once more back into his original form. He then charges at the Apprentice, who shoots a blast of ice at the ground directly in his path. Not to be outdone, Deathnify enters the Shadows himself, emerging behind her. He grabs her by the neck and just as the demon is about to finish Cackletta's apprentice off, she headbutts the clock.
"Koops!"
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Koops dodges a blast of fire from Hooktail, having given up hope of defeating the dragon and now just trying to delay his inevitable death. As he tries for another useless Shell Shot, a bat appears before him. Instead of speaking in the gentle voice she'd used with Goombella, the Apprentice this time used a more forceful tone, "You did this before and won."
Hearing this suddenly fills the Koopa with all of is memories from before.
"I did this before... I've beaten Hooktail before!" The Koopa then launches yet again with his Shell Shot, this time doing damage like never before and KO'ing the dragon before him.
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Just like Goombella, Koops awakens for a second before going into a more peaceful rest. The Apprentice takes advantage of Deathnify letting go to grasp the clock while kneeling over in pain, grabbing Koops and laying him next to Goombella.
"Okay, I suppose a direct approach isn't getting the job done. Fine, try this on for size!" Deathnify shapeshifts once more, transforming from his standard human-like build and becoming a tall wooden puppet-like doll wearing a blue cloak and cape. The clock still dangles from his neck.
"Life is a WHIRLwind, huh?" the demon asks tauntingly as a magical yellow chain shoots from the airspace before him and straight at the Apprentice, who just barely ducks out of the way of the attack. She then fires a ball of a strange green goo out of her hands and toward the clock which, like the other two strikes in the clock, stuns the demon temporarily.
"Eggo!"
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Eggo lies on the floor of the Glitz Pit while Rawk Hawk stands in the ring taking a breather, though it isn't as though he really needs it. As Eggo pulls himself up once more, the bat once again appears, this time speaking in a concerned tone, "You knocked him out once. You can do it again."
As Eggo pulls himself to his feet, he realizes that he can, in fact, beat the champion. He jumps into the ring and hops onto Rawk Hawk's shoulders, performing the choke he had used in their actual battle. Unlike before, Eggo this time leans back a bit not only to add more pressure but to keep the Hawk from reaching him. Eggo squeezes for a few seconds before the Hawk finally collapses.
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Eggo's eyes open and he sees only shadows before falling asleep. Deathnify this time drops to one knee, struggling to breathe. Taking use of the injury inflicted, the Apprentice rushes forth and punches Gateway once more, this time shouting out, "Vivian!"
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Vivian had managed to knock out Marilyn, but she still is having troubles with her oldest sister Beldam. As both continually try to defeat the other, the Apprentice lands on Vivian's shoulder, whispering in the same tone she had used on Koops, "You did this before and won, Vivian. Do it again."
Vivian suddenly feels her memories returning and runs forward, nailing Beldam with a few flaming uppercuts before finally wrapping everything up with a fireball right in the stomach, knocking the oldest Shadow Siren out cold.
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Vivian awoke just the same as the others, and fell asleep just the same. As Deathnify began to scream while grasping his heart, the Apprentice reaches into his pocket and pulls out the black jewel, then shoots a ball of ice at him that sends the demon flying into a dark pit below. She knows he will live, but at least the KO will leave him incapacitated for numerous hours, if not days considering the pain inflicted by Gateway backfiring. She considers killing the heroes at the moment and solving the problem, but instead grabs Goombella's backpack and pulls out a few things: the map, the sole jewel they had obtained, a pen, and a travel log. She flips to a blank page in the log and rips it out, then scribbles on it, "I saved you. Feel honored. -Cackletta's Apprentice" before laying it on top of the Goomba's body along with the pen and log. She considers taking the jewel and map as well.
"I might as well give them some leeway," she sighs before laying both on the ground as well. She transforms into a bat and takes flight.