Super Mario and Characters ©︎ Nintendo. Only the Original Characters are my own.
Chapter 10
Part I
First Friday of August, 12:28 PM
The Track & Field event is about to begin.
The participants took their places on the track while the crowds watched. Mario and his companions in the front row.
"Heeeey…!"
The voice of a girl reached Lydia. She was waving her hand before slowly walking over to the empty seats next to Shigura.
"Hm? Oh, it's you." Lydia responded. The voice belonged to the bubbly blue-haired girl, Aihara.
"I never actually got your name."
Aihara sat down next to Shigura. Before she replied to Lydia, Kurushima walked to them as well before taking his seat next to Aihara.
"Aihara Kendo, ma'am!"
She let out a smile before pointing to the gray-haired individual next to her.
"This is-"
"-Kurushima Kanzaki. Great to meet'cha."
"What he said…!"
Lydia nodded and introduced the rest of her allies to them.
On the field, Nico sighed and nervously got ready. His opponents did too. The use of Inducer abilities in this event is forbidden, so he can't ice-skate to victory. The timer on the billboard lit up and started at 10.
The announcer grabbed the mic.
"Hello and welcome to the Track & Field event! This event is self-explanatory, complete three laps. Inducer abilities are forbidden! Looks like the contestants are ready…!"
The '10' on the billboard counted down. 9, 8, 7… 3, 2, 1…
As soon as 'GO' appeared, the announcer yelled 'GO!' at the same time.
And thus, they were off. Some of the participants struggled, Nico maintained his speed and entered 4th Place. He was still far from passing 3rd Place, but it's something.
"Woah look at them go…!"
The announcer exclaimed over the mic.
Lap 2.
Nico began losing speed, slowly entering 5th Place.
"(Damn…!)"
Behind the bleachers, the man from before crouched a bit before launching himself into the air.
As soon as Nico reached the center of the opposite side of the track, a large rumble echoed throughout the stadium. The entire area became covered in dust. The impact had caused some of the players some injuries and were sent backwards. Nico held on and blocked the dust from coming in contact with his eyes using his arms.
The crowd sat in shock, everybody ran off screaming. Even the announcer ran. Mario, Lydia, Debrie, Shigura, Aihara and Kurushima hopped over the small fence and into the stadium.
"Nico!"
Lydia yelled. The boy coughed before running to Lydia.
"Are you alright?!"
"Y-yeah… I'm fine."
"What the hell…?"
Kurushima squinted his eyes to try and see through the dust.
The dust slowly cleared in an unusual manner. They circled around the one who had caused it before dispersing. The man in a suit that had landed in the stadium slowly stood up with his eyes close before opening them.
"Hey! Who are you?!"
Asked Lydia. The figure looked over to Shigura.
"... You are here I see."
Shigura stepped back a bit with a worried expression.
"Answer my question, damn it!"
The male sighed.
"Ningyo Mekiki."
He pointed to Shigura.
"One of her owners."
Mario quickly stepped in front of Shigura.
"So you're here to retrieve her huh…?"
"Correct."
"Screw your retrieval!", yelled Lydia.
"Don't you see? Unit-304 still needs to go through some experiments. If you don't comply, she will get destroyed."
"You're going to destroy her anyways-a, I know it and I won't allow it-a!"
"Hm… I see… What a shame that is then."
"I don't know what's going on, but if what Mario says is true, then if you really want Shigura that badly, you'll have to get through us…!"
Aihara exclaimed. Once again, Ningyo sighed. He held onto the hammer he previously created.
"You realize we outnumber you right?" Debrie told Ningyo.
"Being outnumbered means nothing."
The hammer in his left hand. He lifted his free right arm and opened his hand. The particles of dust from the ground slowly rose while twisting and turning. It all manifested into the form of a hand. It started as a fist until it opened up. Nico stood next to Lydia shocked.
"What… Inducer ability is that…?"
"It's not an Inducer ability.", Debrie responded as she closed her eyes while maintaining a serious face. The markings on her sleeves glowed, her hair flowed in the wind.
"It's an ability that allows him to create anything using particles of dust, planks of wood, etcetera."
"So… An Inducer ability.", Aihara replied. Debrie's hair stopped flowing, her markings stopped glowing as she shook her head.
"It's not. What she means is that it's earned. He wasn't born with it."
Mario replies for Debrie. Ningyo smirked slightly.
"Impressive. So you're the one with the Light Prognosticus. I guess I can take you down while taking back Unit-304."
Mario takes out his hammer. He holds it with his right hand while extending his left arm in front of Debrie.
"You're not taking down Debrie. Not when I'm around-a."
"... That so…? Hm. In that case."
The hand formed by the dust from their surroundings closed into a fist.
"May you rot in the Underwhere."
The dust arm pulled back before launching itself towards Mario. Mario's hammer definitely wouldn't be a match for something of that mass. Lydia jumped in front of him and swayed her right arm to the left and then to the ground, creating a black-purple shield.
The arm collided. Once it did, it was destroyed. The dust particles slowly falling to the ground. Lydia put the shield away.
During that time, Ningyo had been speeding towards them.
"! Damn-!"
Lydia attempted to create a weapon, but was hit by Ningyo's own dust-made sword which then got destroyed. Lydia was sent back, after gaining her balance, she wiped the small amount of blood dripping from her cheek.
"... (It's a one time use…)"
Nico looked at their opponent. He opened his palm to create an icicle share and threw it towards Ningyo.
Ningyo looked over to the shard heading his way. He creates a shield which shatters upon being hit by Nico's attack.
"Alright-a… I'm still trying to figure out a pattern…"
Mario gets lost in thought before looking at Nico. He was running towards the enemy.
"H-hey! Wait-a!"
Kojo formed an ice sword and aimed at Ningyo who then moved to the side.
"?!"
Nico's sword strikes the ground. Ningyo elbows the ice user's side before kicking him in the stomach.
"Gah!"
Nico maintains his foothold before grabbing his stomach with an eye closed. Aihara rushed in as Kurushima extended his arm.
"Wait! Stop, Kendo! We need a strategy first…!"
Aihara spun around, ending with a kick that has spawned a small tornado.
"Interesting."
Ningyo looked at the attack coming his way.
"But not good enough."
Once the tornado got close enough, he extended and swayed his left hand to the right. The dirt particles contained within the tornado dispersed before forming a large fist to Ningyo's right.
Aiming straight for Aihara, she opened her palm which shot out intense winds. Her plan was to slow the fist down.
Kurushima stepped on the ground lightly with his left foot. The ground he stood on broke and part of the ground tipped upwards, the other half into the ground. Using this, he launched himself in front of Aihara and took his right hand out. Kendo quickly stopped using her ability, the dirt-like fist sped up.
Kurushima closed his eyes. Once he opened them, the incoming attack was close enough.
Ningyo's fist made of dirt.
Kurushima's opened hand.
The two attacks collided. A pause. Ningyo's attack came into contact with Kurushima's palm.
The dirt hand slowly collapsed. Kurushima was completely unharmed as he put his hand back in his jacket's pocket.
"...?!"
"Every fight needs a strategy.", Kurushima says, turning to Aihara.
Ningyo stood there silently.
"Oh. So you're one of the Rank 7's… Break Outer… correct?"
Kurushima's ability is named Break Out. However, his nickname among many is Break Outer.
"Yeah. What of it? I think we've noticed that most of your attacks can't do crap since they go away after they collide with something once. As it stands, you'd lose to someone like me."
"Hmhm.", Ningyo chuckled.
"That so? I haven't even used most of my power yet."
Ningyo lifted his right arm upwards and looked to the sky.
"I guess it's time to show you."
Rrrumble…!
The ground shook. The group maintained their footing. Dirt… Well… Not only Dirt, but rocks, cement, and gravel were brought to Ningyo. All the materials gathered behind him and started creating some sort of an upper body. Extreme winds surrounded the field. A large hand rose from the ground to the right of Ningyo, it placed itself palm-first onto the ground which caused a small shockwave. The area around the hand cracked. Another arm to the left of Ningyo emerged from the left side of the giant.
It's formation was complete. It lifted its right arm up and let out a roar.
"What… Is that thing…?!"
Lydia questioned.
"Spirit of the Giant… Inscae.", Debrie responded. Mario raised a brow.
"That's what it's called-a?"
"Yes. It's a duplicate of the great giant I mentioned: Inscae."
"I've never even heard of that-a…"
Ningyo let out a smirk.
"Ah yes… May Inscae's power give me the strength I need."
Ningyo opened his arms wide. Once again, the creature created roared. Mario and the rest of the group tool their battle stances. Nico formed three ice shards and aimed them towards the opponent. Upon contact, the shards broke.
"?!... Definitely stronger now…"
"Alright… Then let's try this."
Kurushima ran towards the giant, it then faced towards Kurushima's direction. The Rank 7 super-jumped to the creatures' eye level. The Giants' right hand aimed at Kanzaki. Once his foot came into contact with the creature, the hand slowly disappeared… Only to reform immediately. It swayed from the right to the left to push away Kurushima.
Kanzaki landed once more on the hand before using it to come back to the ground.
"Damn… Break Out's no use…"
"Not even an Inducer ability can touch Inscae…!"
"Tch… I can't use my wind abilities… It'll only help him..!"
Aihara stepped back a bit. Shigura had been watching things unfold, not participating in the fight. Mario and Lydia looked at each other and nodded before speeding towards Ningyo. Sharp, knife-looking weapons were formed by surrounding cement and heading straight for the duo. Lydia creates a sword to completely obliterate the attacks, Mario using his metallic hammer.
"Impressive, but you're gonna need more than that…!", Exclaimed Ningyo as the giant roared, it aimed a fist at the two.
Mario slowed down his running before placing his hammer in front of him. Lydia did the same, though creating a shield.
The punch collided. It had sent Mario back while Lydia's shield withstood it.
"Mario…!"
Mario smashed his hammer onto the ground to decrease the length of his knockback. He lifted the weapon off the ground.
"Are you alright?"
Aihara asked. Mario nodded.
"Yeah. I've faced-a worse before."
Lydia side-stepped and threw a lance at Ningyo, only to be blocked.
"Gh…"
"Nice try, but that won't work. You just left yourself opened."
Ningyo commanded the monster. It aimed another punch at Lydia. She created a shield once more, but upon collision, it was hurting her body.
"G-Gh…! (Damn Damn Damn…! If I keep resisting. My body will give out… I can't get out of the way either!)"
"Let your last minutes on this planet be your worst."
Lydia started giving away. Nico's ice wouldn't be able to do anything. Nor Aihara's or Kurushima's. As Mario was about to run, Shigure rushed by him.
"NOOOOOO…!"
Shigura slowed down and aimed her fingers at the head of the creature. Her left arm transforms to that of a gun as she starts shooting. Eventually, one of the bullets hits the "eyes" of the giant which causes it to stop trying to crush Lydia.
"N-No…!", Ningyo exclaimed his dissatisfaction.
While it didn't do much, it still gave Shigura enough time to pick Lydia up and jump back a few feet to where the others stood. The 'eyes' of the creature reformed after letting out a roar. Shigura put Lydia down.
"Holy crap, if I had resisted more, I would've been crushed… Thanks, Shigura…"
Lydia panted while looking at Shigura. The latter nodded. Ningyo clicked his tongue.
"We should've destroyed you a long time ago."
Shigure aimed her arm towards Ningyo and began shooting. The giant creature covered Ningyo, the sound of bullets ricocheting surrounding him. At this moment, Mario came up with a strategy. It seems Kurushima did as well since he looked over to the red plumber. Both nodded.
"Shigura. Stop-a."
"?"
The bullets from her arm slowed down, though her entire arm still in the shape of a weapon. Kurushima looked towards the enemy. Before continuing, shards from Ningyo headed toward them. At that point, Nico created an ice wall to protect the entire group.
"The monster only has 2 arms and it apparently can't grow legs."
"Meaning that-a it can only have two limbs. If you shoot at Ningyo, the creatures' right arm will protect him-a."
Mario looked at Nico and Aihara before he let Kurushima continue.
"I want the both of you to go to the opposite side and start sending out projectiles. If you do that, the left arm will protect Ningyo's left. It'll have the monster too busy protecting its master with both arms that it'll give us-a time to go behind it and attack Ningyo."
Nico and Aihara look at each other and nod. They give thumbs up to Kurushima and Mario.
"What about us?", Lydia asked. Question what she and Debrie should do.
"Lydia, you're going to come with Kurushima and I to attack. Debrie, you stay behind for support."
Debrie nodded, although sort of disappointed.
"Inscae shall not be defeated. Neither shall I."
Ningyo stated.
"Go!"
Mario shouted. Shigura started firing at the left arm while Nico and Aihara ran over to the right and attack the right arm. As planned, both arms covered Ningyo. Mario, Lydia and Kurushima, like the others, ran along the track. Mario long jumped, Kurushima used his ability to super jump, Lydia used her own powers to form a grappling hook before sending towards the fence.
The three stood behind their enemy.
"Tch… I guess I'll have to deal with you three myself."
Ningyo created two daggers and threw them. Kurushima merely extended his arm, the dagger came into contact with his palm and was destroyed. Mario swung his hammer to the side, it too destroyed the dagger.
As their opponent was about to create something, Kurushima stomped his foot. The ground shook and a crack formed. The crack quickly headed towards Ningyo before his surrounding area finally broke apart which caused him to lose balance.
"Kh…!"
Shigura started slowing down. She was running out of ammo. She lifted her other arm, transformed it to another gun and started shooting.
Aihara and Nico started tiring out.
"Damn it…!"
Even then, the two continued. Lydia created an arm which grabbed Mario.
"W-woah!"
"I'm going to launch you towards him…! Get ready because here… I… Go!"
She swung her arm in a way mimicked how someone would throw a baseball. The hand released Mario.
"N-No!"
Ningyo creates infinite amounts of spears. Mario, in mid-air, swung his hammer in a circle, making sure not to let go of the item.
"?!"
Ningyo stopped for a second and coughed out blood.
"(I've been… abusing-)"
Before finishing his thought, Mario had cleared the spears in his path.
"Cheap-a trick trying to come after us in the middle of an event! You may not want to stop… But I will make you… How does stopping you right now sound?!"
And with that, Mario swung his hammer to the left side of Ningyo's face. Ningyo flew back after a spin in the air and landed on his back. The giant roared until ultimately, finally collapsing slowly. Shigura, Nico and Aihara stopped their attacks.
Smoke from the giant's collapse surrounded them. Aihara created a tornado to bring all the smoke in and with a snap of her fingers, it vanished, taking the smoke along with it.
Mario panted before setting his hammer on the ground. Ningyo laid unconsciously on the ground, a big bruise on the side of his face resulting from the plumber's attack.
"And down for the count.", Lydia says as she stood next to Mario.
"I'll go alert the security."
Kurushima spoke. Mario turned around and nodded. Kanzaki, once again, super jumped to alert them faster just in case. Debrie sighed of relief, so did Nico and Aihara.
Shigura returned her arms to normal.
"No more bullets."
She whispers to herself.
"Yo', that was some of the best aim I've ever seen!"
Nico patted Shigura's back, a smile formed on her face.
It took some time, but security… finally came?
"Hey, is this where the incident occurred? Just making sure."
She had short hair, wore a vest and had in black shoes and jeans. She walked towards the group in the middle of the stadium.
"Man did you guys make a mess…"
The woman spoke.
"It wasn't us! It was… What was his name again?"
Aihara pointed to Ningyo. The woman sighed and signaled some of her officers to pick up and arrest the intruder.
"Wait… Aren't you…?", Lydia raised an eyebrow.
"Hm? Oh… Right, I guess I should tell you. Name's Hinubou Kuwatsu, I'm from Institute."
"Institute? Oh them!", Debrie exclaimed.
Institute (保安慣例 [インツティトゥート]); the Mushroom Kingdom's new peacekeeping force. All around the kingdom, they are called when something regular officers can't handle. It is one of the toughest jobs to have and needs extensive three month training to be part of it. It ranges from normal people without Inducer abilities and Inducers themselves.
"The regular officers were too afraid to even check the situation. Good thing one of your buddies came over to us in time… However… It seems you took care of the incident already. No matter, at least we have apprehended the suspect."
Says Hinubou as Kurushima entered the area.
"Was anybody injured?," Hinubou continued.
"Just me I guess… But it's just a scratch. The ones you should be worried about-," Nico spoke before being interrupted by the Institute officer.
"The ones that fleed have been checked already. No major injuries which is good."
The others let out sighs of relief.
"You all exit the area. We'll take it from here."
Mario and the rest nodded. As Hinubou watched them leave, she turned around.
"Just what in the world happened here…? In my five years, I haven't seen something of this scale…"
Hinubou got lost in thought before she and her team got back to work.
Mario sat on a desk inside the Nurse's Office. The others as well. Shigura needed to go back to E. Gadd's laboratory in order to fix herself up and add more ammo.
"So what's going to happen to the festival?"
Debrie questioned.
"What happened didn't affect the other events. They said the rest of the festival will keep going, just that the stadium won't be available. All the events that were gonna use it have either been postponed, cancelled or have chosen another location."
Aihara gave her answer to Debrie before asking her own.
"Hey… You said what that guy had wasn't an Inducer ability right?"
"Yeah?"
"How did you know it wasn't?"
It seems the people that weren't Mario and Lydia were generally curious.
"Very well."
Debrie closed her eyes before opening them.
"I could tell it wasn't because it's a Spell. I have the Light Prognosticus embedded into me. A book written by the Ancients with incredible knowledge and spells. Not only could I feel it was one, but it's inscribed in it."
Nico, Aihara and Kurushima looked confused. Kurushima turned to Lydia.
"You don't seem phased by this, Lydia."
"Huh? Oh, it's because I'm like her. I can tell if it's an Inducer ability or not. I… Have the Dark Prognosticus embedded in me. Not the entire thing, just a few pages. It's how I got my power; Nico already knows. Like its Light counterpart, it's a book with with catastrophic spells to counter the Light Prognosticus. Among others."
The chestnut-colored haired woman replied with her answer. Mario stood from the desk.
"There's a difference between Spells from-a the Light and Dark Prognosticus and Inducer abilities-a. Like Debrie said while we fought him-a, Spells… or… essentially Magic, is earned. They both work differently. In a way… some Magic injures the person themselves-a."
Nico and the rest almost couldn't believe what they were hearing. Though, at the same time, it wasn't far-fetched considering the existence of Inducers.
The blue-haired girl, Aihara, turned to Lydia.
"Hold up a minute, you said you only had a "few pages". What happened to the rest."
"I think it's better for Mario to answer that."
She pointed towards Mario.
"I defeated Dimentio once. The Ruler of Dimensions. After that-a, and with the help of the Light Prognosticus, it's Dark counterpart was torn apart. I thought I got rid of him-a for good… until recently."
Debrie continued what Mario was probably going to say anyways.
"He's trying to gather all its pages to put it back together for a completely different plan. We don't know what it is yet, but I don't think any of us want to find out."
Lydia stretched before folding her arms.
"If that Ningyo guy wanted to take Debrie, he must've been part of Dimentio's plans. I mean, yeah he also can't, but you never know. To be honest, I sorta expected a page or two to appear or something after fighting that guy."
At that moment, Debrie remembered something that had occurred back when they fought Yosuru.
"H-hey, Mario, Lydia. Can I talk to you guys about something?"
"Hm? Sure."
Debrie and Mario left the room. Lydia was about to until she stopped right before the exit. She didn't turn around, all she did was speak.
"You were involved in this incident, yes… but… I don't want any of you to get involved with this Dimentio business. It's not that simple. Stay out of trouble."
Lydia left. Nico stood up and was about to object until Kurushima placed his hand on Nico's right shoulder.
"Let's follow her advice. We may have abilities and have the ability to take care of ourselves, but even we have limits to what we can and can't do."
Nico let the words sink in as he frowned a bit. Aihara patted his back.
"H-hey, don't let it get to you. Oh! I know! Listen to Rin's songs!"
She grabbed Nico's arm and dragged him out of the room.
"Agh…! A-Aiharaaaaa!"
They went the opposite way. Kurushima stood there watching the blue-haired girl drag Nico. He sighs and smiles.
"Cute."
"-It was Shaykunian."
Debrie said. She wanted to talk about something that Yosuru had said.
"Ishkeshtraphen ka monosarius?"
Mario repeated.
"My Shaykunian is not that good-a, but… That means…. Actually… What does it mean-a?"
"Mario, you just said you know a bit of the language."
Lydia responded.
"W-Well… yeah, but… the first word-a doesn't exist in the language… unless it's a combination of words, in which case I can't decipher it-a."
"So much for that then… Then again… If he's Shaykunian, do you think we might find clues over there?"
Lydia questioned.
"That's a possibility, yes, but at the same time, no. If we went over there and we find nothing, we would've gone for nothing-a."
"Damn…"
Metallic footsteps were heard. Debrie turned around.
"Shigura!"
Lydia and Mario turned around as well.
"You feeling better-a?"
"Mhm. Yes. Though, I have someone who wants to talk to you."
A figure caught up and stood next to the robot. She had pink hair, part of it wrapped up in a bun on the right side of her head. White glasses with a red outline, white buttoned-up business suit and a black skirt that reached her knees. Black high-heels.
To Mario, she seemed all too familiar.
"Nastasia…"
The female fixed her glasses and lifted them up slightly with a finger.
Part II
Kurushima stood outside and looked to the sky. His hands in the pockets of his white jacket.
"'Shima!"
Kurushima looked to his right. The voice belonged to one of the Rank 7 Inducers: Seika Kisha.
A worried expression had formed on her face as she grabbed onto the sleeve of Kanzaki's jacket.
"Are you alright?! I heard about what happened from one of the Institute Officers. Tell m-"
Kanzaki placed a hand on her head.
"I'm fine, Seika. Sorry if I worried you. Let's just say that… something out of the ordinary happened…"
Seika raised a brow in confusion.
"A magician of some sort actually."
"Magician?"
Kurushima nodded.
"Whether you believe me or not, it's the truth."
"... And What happened to the event?"
"Canceled. Some of the other events were affected as well. They were either delayed, or moved to a different area. I'm going to head home."
"Huh? Already?"
Seika seemed surprised.
"Yeah. That fight took a bit out of me. None of the other events really interest me either."
Kurushima looked the other way. Seika let out a small chuckle.
"Right, you were never big on sports in general anyways."
Kurushima chuckled as well. He continued down the few steps in front of the school entrance.
"You'll be here for the other days of the events still right?"
Kurushima looked behind him.
"We'll see."
He responded before continuing forward.
During his walk home, he looked at his phone.
1:57 P.M.
He stopped and looked at the billboard.
"-the use of this new artificially made ability is a big step in the right direction for hospitals' says CEO. The ability is apparently called Pain Taker. Also-"
Kurushima continued his way home. Intrigued in the news that was shown, yet not at the same time. Once he entered his home, he sat down on the couch.
He wouldn't be able to make it to the next day of the festival tomorrow. He had a family member that was kept at a hospital and always visits them every weekend.
"Looks like Airi won't go tomorrow either…"
He said, proving how unstable their relationship is even more. While Step-Brother and Step-Sister, Kurushima didn't care about her a lot and Airi completely despises him.
"*Sigh*... Like a give a damn what she does."
Part III
The group entered another empty room.
"What are you doing here?," asked the plumber in red. The question was for the lady with pink hair, Nastasia.
The female adjusted her glasses once again.
"Merlon told me about your little… predicament."
"So… You know now as well-a."
Nastasia gave a sigh and nodded.
"At first I didn't want to believe it, but after he told me about recent events, I had to. Tch… That Dimentio really is something…"
She clicked her tongue. Any of Count Bleck's former minions would, especially after what Dimentio did. They had all despised him since then. Before anyone else had the chance to speak, Nastasia questions:
"I've already told O'Chunks myself, but… does Mimi know about this?"
"Uh… I don't think so. I didn't even tell her about it."
The plumber responded.
"Really? Where is she now?"
Nastasia quickly asked.
"She works at a restaurant as a maid-a in the city."
"Guess that's my next destination."
"? You plan to tell her?"
"All of us need to know. After all…"
Nastasia lifted her glasses.
"You don't want what happened to happen again now do you?"
Mario stood there silently without responding. The secretary-like female continued.
"I've spoken to a certain King Koopa. He wants to confront you himself."
Mario knew exactly who she meant. Although reluctant, although this "King Koopa" was his nemesis. He was still a Hero of Light.
The rest were confused except for Mario.
"Alright-a… If he wants a talk, he'll get one."
Nastasia nodded before she left. The sounds of her heels touching the floor echoed throughout the hallway.
Aside from Debrie, Lydia and Shigura. Mario had to agree that bringing the group back together is necessary. As of now, only they know about Dimentio.
Not only do they all have to worry about Dimentio, but they also have to deal with the possibility of him causing chaos outside of Mushroom Kingdom's borders. In the end though, it's inevitable.
Pages of the Dark Prognosticus aren't just scattered in the Mushroom Kingdom alone. They all would appreciate it, it would be easy for not only Dimentio, but the heroes themselves.
Of course, it's not just about taking hold of the pages. Mario and the rest have to take care of Debrie, the walking Light Prognosticus, and Lydia, the one who has a few pages in her.
"Ms. Nastasia mentioned the "King Koopa"... Who is that?"
Asked Debrie. Mario sighed.
"Just wait and see. You three ready?"
Debrie, Lydia and Shigura didn't know what they were getting themselves into. Regardless, they nodded.
Amidst The Action I
The pink-haired secretary with red-outlined glasses, Nastasia.
She had just left the building and headed towards the city. The location in which Mario mentioned about the whereabouts of Mimi.
She's never been to a large city before. It's all new to her.
Nevertheless, Nastasia continued down the sidewalk that surrounded the large park in the middle of the area.
Mr. Toad's Bakery. The name of a building she stopped in front of. Originally, Mario said that Mimi works at a restaurant. However, right now, she sees the green female sitting down at one of the tables inside.
Nastasia fixed her glasses before entering. Once she did, two beeps sounded. It was usually a sound that occurred mainly in convenience stores when someone opened the doors and entered.
Mimi, 7 meters away on a table. Looked up after taking a sip from her drink. She wore a one-piece blouse. Bright yellow with red polka-dots. Red slip-in shoes. Her green hair was tied into two pony-tails. All this was her casual outfit.
"Oh, hey, Nastasy!"
She exclaimed as she waved to the secretary. Nastasia walked over to the table and took a seat. A blue shy-guy walked over to them and took out a notepad.
It was a way of saying "would you like anything?".
"..."
Mimi had already ordered something. The drink, a Shroom Shake.
"I guess a single Shroom Tea shall suffice."
Nastasia responded, the Shy-Guy wrote it down and left. Mimi took another sip before setting it to the side.
"It's been awhile."
Mimi said.
"Hm… I came to you because I wanted to talk about something important."
Straight to the point. No relaxing. That is the type of person Nastasia is.
"?"
"He's back."
At this moment, Mimi thought she was referring to Count Bleck, or rather… Count Blumiere is what he goes by now.
"Dimentio."
Mimi clicked her tongue. Of course it wouldn't be Blumiere, it would be too good for it to be true. She grabbed her drink with both hands and just stared at it.
"I didn't think I'd ever hear that name again…"
Mimi responded. The blue Shy-Guy came back, set Nastasia's tea on the table and left.
"Wish I never did."
Nastasia didn't apologize. She felt as if Mimi had to know about the situation. A sigh came from the yellow blouse wearing girl.
"Honestly… The first thing that came to mind when I heard his name again was the memories of helping the Count. We became Dimentio's puppets. All of us. While I met you all and thought all of you were cool… All of it has left a bitter taste because of him,"
She set her Shroom Shake down.
"All he was… was an annoying piece of-"
"Mimi."
Nastasia intervened before Mimi cursed.
"... Sorry."
She took a deep breath. The secretary took a sip from her tea.
"So? What about it? What do you want me to do?"
Mimi questioned in an annoyed tone. After setting her drink down, Nastasia spoke.
"Will you be willing to help stop him?"
"..."
Mimi stretched.
"Dunno."
"..."
"Who else-"
"Many people know. I've spoken to O'Chunks and the King of the Koopas himself. Apparently, Mario and a few of his new friends already knew."
"... I guess that means we'll be working together again with those guys huh?"
"As much as I hate to say it, yes. They have the power to do so."
Mimi sighed. While she and Mario, including his friends, have gotten closer, she still doesn't quite like them a lot. It's a mixed feeling really.
"What now?"
The green haired girl asked. Nastasia adjusted her glasses.
"Right now we wait until people involved know the situation."
She took out a notepad and a pen. Starting from the top she drew chibi versions of everybody.
"Aside from you and I. I've told O'Chunks about this. After I did, I went to Mario. As I said he already knew. Along with these three."
She drew Chibi Lydia, Debrie and Shigura.
"Hah? Who are they?"
"Didn't have the time to ask them. So for now, let's call them Ally One, Two, and Three. They will be heading to King Koopa's home land to talk about it. And I'm sure they will also confront greeny and the princess afterwards. Once all that's done, we'll gather at a place that's yet to be decided."
Mimi stretched once again.
"So… What you're saying is that… Right now it's just a patience game until every finished talking."
Nastasia nods. While being one who wanted things done quickly, there wasn't any other way. The green haired girl sighed.
"I guess I should go back to doing my own thing to pass the time."
Part IV
Red.
A gloomy red sky and blood red clouds.
That is what made up most of the Koopa Kingdom.
The ground was dark brown. It was either due to the gloomy red sky, or it was naturally made that way.
The noise of lava bubbles popping also made a bit of the kingdom.
The Koopa Kingdom. The Mushroom Kingdom's complete opposite in both citizens and of course, government. They have been at war for many decades, generations even. It was like…
Two sides of the same coin.
An extensive bridge led from a pathway between two large mountain sides to a large castle. All concrete with green roofs on most of its towers.
At a balcony on the opposite side of the castle, stood a large, turtle-like figure. A green shell with golden tinted spikes on their back. Reptilian-like skin from head to toe. Orange hair and eyebrows. They had their arms crossed.
This…
Is the King of the Koopas, the Great Demon King.
Bowser.
The Koopa looked in the distance, as if he was lost in thought. This was interrupted by the opening of the red double doors behind him. It was one of his minions, a regular Hammer Bro.
"Hey, Bowser!"
Bowser turned his head slightly to the right.
"?"
"*Ahem!* Someon- some people came by and are waiting outside. It's him, the plumber."
The king unfolded his arms and completely turned around.
"I see, so he did come after all."
He followed the Hammer Bro. through the castle and then to the main foyer. A big statue of himself in the middle. He is in love with himself that much.
Bowser looked on the small screen next to the door.
Indeed. It was the plumber in red, Mario. However, what caught his attention were three other girls. One in a white robe, another with chestnut-colored hair and a girl with their hair in a ponytail.
"Who are they? Whatever… Let them in."
"But, Bowser are y-"
"Let them in."
"Right…"
The Hammer Bro. responded to the King's orders and opened the large red doors.
After a few seconds, Mario and the trio of females slowly entered.
Mario adjusted his iconic red cap. Bowser crossed his arms. Both stood a few meters from each other. The Plumber looked up and the King looked down to meet eye to eye.
Debrie, Lydia and Shigura were confused.
"I'd never think we would work again… Mario."
Afterword
For those of you who continued from the previous chapter, Welcome Back.
This is Iwatome Toshiki
I've finally reached the point of introducing Bowser into this story.
It took 10 Chapters, but he made it. Originally, I wasn't going to bring him in until much later into the story. I decided against it and thought that people would probably want to see more actual Mario characters than original characters I've made for this.
Ningyo Mekiki. Did you know his given name, Ningyo, is "Puppet" in Japanese? Considering his type of ability, I thought it was perfect. Hm… But I don't remember where or how I got Mekiki…
I will stop typing for now. Please open the next chapter when it releases.
Hm… I guess I should work on that one Inducer finally…
–Iwatome Toshiki 俊樹岩止