Oh noes I uploaded this late and thus broke my chapter-a-day schedule ;o;

It's not my fault though! I tried to upload last night and FF.N wouldn't let me! Buuu FF.N glitches.

…

Chapter seven: The chapter in which there are complications.

He was ready. He had the new Poltergust 4500 for the ghosts, he had his FuryZAP 9000 for Kamek, there was nothing that would stand in his way now.

So why did he feel so nervous?

At the tiniest sound he would jump, he looked nervously around no matter where he was. The truth was that he was terrified. It didn't matter that he was armed now. He was still terrified of ghosts.

He had gone back to that first haunted house and used the Poltergust to suck up those three Boos that had been so irritating. That helped his confidence a little, but he knew that those Boos were nothing when compared to King Boo. Furthermore, from what he had heard, King Boo was made stronger by the presence of Boos—therefore, he would probably be accompanied by an army of ghosts. The idea of so many specters coming at him all at once sent shivers down his spine.

Stupid Kamek. When he got his hands on that Magikoopa…!

He found himself standing a distance away from the house that Kamek had found King Boo in. He knew the best thing he could do was to just run in there and hit the stupid spectral monarch when he was least expecting it, but…

"Rururu…," Fawful whimpered. "I have cowardice."

He sighed, walking away. That was it, he simply had nothing left to do but wait.

Rose Town was nearby. Perhaps he could hide out there. At least when the ghosts burst in he might be able to use the screams of the villagers as a warning system of sorts. Yeah, that was a good idea. He activated his jetpack and flew off toward the town.

Kamek wasn't happy. He'd just paid the ghosts, they were on the hunt now, he thought by now that his problems would be over.

But nooo.

He pounded a fist against the door to Kammy's study. At length the door opened, and Kammy looked at him with a smug little smile. Part of him wanted to punch her in that smug little face of hers, but he held back.

He shoved a piece of paper in her face.

"What's this supposed to be?!"

She took the paper from him and looked it over, still smiling. "Oh, this? It's my latest brilliant plan."

It was a wanted sign, with Fawful's face on it. It read WANTED – FAWFUL. FOR CRIMES AGAINST THE CROWN. GOES BY THE ALIAS 'GERA'. WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE – TURN IN TO LOCAL POLICE FORCE IF CAUGHT.

Kamek growled. "You idiot! What were you thinking?!"

"I was thinking that if Fawful gets himself locked up, he won't be able to bother us," she said.

"If he gets locked up, we won't be able to get him!" Kamek cried.

If Fawful was caught, King Boo wouldn't be able to get him. King Boo and the Mario brothers were enemies; if the royal specter showed up at a state jail Mario would come to vanquish him. Fawful would become untouchable, guarded by the very brothers he hated so much.

This was Kammy's plan. He knew it. She'd figured out he'd been up to something and, not knowing the details, did this to foul it up. She couldn't bear the idea of being outdone by him.

She fluffed her hair and spoke to him as though he were a fool. "I know you want the satisfaction of catching him yourself, but I'm being sensible. I just don't want him attacking us again, and if that means letting Mario win this little battle then so be it; we'll be better off this way."

"You weren't even here when he attacked us!" he argued.

"I just want what's best for the Koopa clan," she insisted.

He groaned loudly. He could do no more. He stomped off down the hall, being able to feel Kammy glaring at him with her proud eyes. He'd get her for this.

He wished he had caught this sooner. Surely everyone would have seen these posters by now, she had put them everywhere. If only he had caught her before anyone could have seen…

He could only hope Fawful could stay away from the authorities, just long enough for King Boo to catch up with him.

Fawful was feeling a little more confident by the time he got to the edge of Rose Town. Just the idea of not being completely alone was reassuring to him. As much as he hated the people of the Mushroom Kingdom, the thought of their company was quite soothing to Fawful right now.

He hadn't been listening to Kamek's conversations all day. He had no idea why the town seemed to freeze when he walked through.

Windows slammed shut as he passed, people hid from his gaze as best as they could. He was bewildered. What was going on?

Then he saw it: the wanted poster. He stared at it with wide eyes, taking in every word and wondering why they had used such a lousy picture for it. Eventually he grabbed it and tore it from the wall it had been posted on, crumpling it in his little green hands.

"I have fury…," he mumbled to himself. "What is being the meaning of this?"

He heard some footsteps behind him and turned to see the town elder standing a little ways down the street. He looked clearly unnerved.

"Fawful," he said.

"I am not knowing why you are having the calling of me that," Fawful said, playing dumb while hiding the crumpled paper behind his back. "My name is being Gera, are you not remembering?"

"I saw the poster," said the elder, "We all did. You lied to us!"

Fawful glanced around. People were starting to come out of their homes, armed with baseball bats and the like. He was surrounded.

He grinned. "Of course I had lying. If I had the truth-telling, you would all have doing what you are doing now."

The crowd was coming in closer now, and there really wasn't any place he could run—that is, if he was limited to running. But he wasn't, and he failed to be intimidated. He started to laugh heartily at the villagers.

"You idiots of foolishness! Do you really have the belief that you will be apprehending the great and amazing Fawful who is me?!"

The villagers didn't say anything. They just stared him down for a few moments before finally rushing at him all at once. But their efforts were all in vain and he simply activated his rockets. He shot up in to the sky, but not too high; he still had more taunting to do yet. He looked down at the villagers with his signature smile. They couldn't touch him and he knew it. No pathetic Toads could capture him!

"Are you now seeing the futility of the efforts you put forth? Your trying to capture me is useless like the kitchen sponge that tries to soak up the ocean of vastness!"

He laughed again. A child's voice yelled out "Jerk!" and a rock flew into Fawful's head. Growling, he looked down into the crowd and saw the innkeeper's son standing below him with a slingshot. He grinned and whipped out his FuryZAP 9000. The crowd below him started to scramble, running about aimlessly and crying out in fear. He laughed and charged up a powerful shot. He had always wanted to do this.

And then he saw it. Floating in the sky a little way away, a single Boo appeared. He stared at it until it caught sight of him. It grinned at him and more Boos began to appear with it. All of the color drained from the little bean's face and, with a scared little squeal, he turned and shot off in the opposite direction as fast as his rockets could possibly allow. He didn't dare look back.