For some reason, Mario's phone-like device still worked while walking in the White Zone between worlds.
"Yes, we're coming… unfortunately it's not pleasant… yes, I know, Goombella… You know how busy we are… GOOMBELLA!" He shouted suddenly, startling the rest of his party members.
"Sorry. Goombella, something is happening in Rougeport of great importance… that sounds awfully familiar… no, I don't recall… than you Goombella. See you soon." Mario hung up the phone. "She can be a bit of a chatterbox… sorry about that."
"Eh, we're here," Bowser shrugged, opening the door at the other end of the tunnel. As soon as the party left, the door disappeared. Not that they noticed. The whole town looked like Mardi Gras! Balloons, lights, colors, dressy clothes, and even masks were everywhere. The whole group admired the scene.
"I know you said soon, Mario, but I didn't know you meant this soon!" A pink Goomba spoke up in front of them.
"Hello, Goombella!" Peach, Luigi, and Mario greeted.
"Hello to you as well! Welcome to the 'happening of great importance', as mustachio put it, the Carnival of Time! We hold it once a year to count the number of years left on the door's seal. It was supposed to happen after your trip here, Mario, but as you found out, the years and days were a little off."
"No kidding. Don't get me wrong, I like meeting new people. But I just wish it didn't come at the cost of a kidnapping, apocalypse, domination plot…" Mario trailed off.
Goombella made an odd face. "I can get with that. Anyway, newcomers, this is the Carnival of Time! I know you guys aren't here for pleasantries, but the Professor is still researching what the heck it was you needed to outrun. Feel free to walk around and enjoy the festivities! I'll be in the information booth if you need me." And with that, she walked off.
Mario shrugged. "Might as well. The Professor does take a bit more time, but his information is accurate and reliable. That should cover for the time lost."
Bowser was the first of the group to bow out. "I'll take Goombella on her offer- the information booth doesn't seem that exciting. I'm not into the whole cramming people thing."
Mario extended a hand to Peach. "Might I escort you, my lady?" Whether or not he was joking was hard for anyone other than Luigi or Peach.
Peach laughed. "Of course, sir." The two walked off.
"Luigi! There's a bell tower over there! Let's go knock it sky high!" Daisy exclaimed, dragging a laughing Luigi along by the hand.
That left Blumiere and Timpani. "Shall we?" The Count asked his Lady.
"Indeed," she responded, linking her arm through his. They started walking, not really noticing anything that had caught their attentions.
"I feel sort of bad… like I should've dressed up for this or something," Timpani said conversationally.
Spying a nearby stand, Blumiere directed his wife towards it. "You still can. Don't worry about coins, I have that handled."
She stared at him suspiciously. "You aren't going to scam them, are you?"
Blumiere looked offended. "Hardly! My time as the Count granted me some funding… I ignored it for the most part, seeing as how I didn't want anything. I usually just bought food for the minions or clothes for Mimi. Using it to buy clothes for you will put it towards a good cause…" he trailed off, unsure of how to phrase his thoughts. His wife kissed him on the cheek.
"I understand. You know what; I think I'll take you up on your offer." She and her husband walked towards the stand.
"Interested in one of my wares?" the salesperson asked kindly. "My wife makes all of these."
"All on her own?" Timpani asked, delicately holding one of the dresses.
"For the most part. The kids and I help out where we can, and one of my son's friends helped with some of the hats and masks." He gestured over at the racks that displayed the items. "She's still working on a few designs that will be here tomorrow, if you want to come back then?"
Timpani shook her head. "I'd love to see more of your wife's dresses and such, but we can only stay for a few hours."
"Ah, live far away? I can respect that. You're looking at sizes much too large for you, by the way. There are dresses that can fit you over on these racks." The salesman directed the human to the racks on the other side.
"Oh wow… these are all very beautiful," Timpani murmured to her husband, "I'm not sure which one to get."
"What about this one?" Blumiere showed a green dress that was similar in color to Timpani's tunic.
"I think I want something other than green… add in a few colors to the rainbow, right?"
Blumiere nodded and started looking for another color.
"If I may make a suggestion?" the salesman interrupted.
Blumiere gestured to the rack. "By all means."
The salesperson hardly blinked an eye as he reached into the crowded rack and blindly pulled out a dress.
It was short, probably only reaching the tops of Timpani's knees. The red base had purple lace swirling over it with a dark red belt right underneath the bust. The short sleeves themselves had a small amount of lace on the ends, but nothing overtop of them.
"Oh wow… your wife is amazing," Timpani gasped.
"My wife made it, but it was the kids who designed it. They made the pattern and dressed it up with the color scheme and lace patterns. There's a fitting room in the center if you'd like to try it on."
Timpani nodded, taking the offered dress and walking into the changing room.
"How much?" Blumiere asked.
The salesperson seemed confused. "You don't know if it's going to fit."
Blumiere chuckled. "My wife and I may not have held those titles for many years, but I still know her habits. She won't try it on unless she's confident she wants it. It's just her little check to make sure it's as comfortable as it looks."
"Ah. My wife is similar in that regard. Anyway, the dress is 150 coins."
"Wow… that's…"
"Overpriced?"
"Underpriced, actually. I'll pay you 225, no less."
The shopkeeper blinked. "That's the first time anyone's haggled upwards."
The Count shrugged. "It's a fine dress. Consider it a tip for the excellent customer service. Do you own a clothing shop?"
"No, just this stand. We open on festivals, for the most part; otherwise my wife would stitch until her fingers bled."
"That wouldn't be good." Blumiere gazed around the mask stand and pulled down two masks. One was ivory with purple and black beads decorating it, while the other was purple with red beads.
"And these?"
"Fifty coins total."
"I'll pay you a hundred… so that's 325 coins for the dress and the masks." Blumiere pulled out a pouch from his cloak and counted to be sure there was enough.
Timpani walked out at this time wearing the dress. She still wore her pants underneath, but since they were close to her skin, it didn't affect the lay of the dress.
Blumiere looked up when he was done counting and was struck by his wife's beauty once again.
"Wow… my dear, you look stunning…" he managed to say.
Timpani curtsied. "Thank you. And thank you, also," she addressed the shopkeeper.
"It's my job, Madam. I hope you enjoy the dress and mask."
"Mask?"
Blumiere handed the red one to her and winked. Timpani put it on, and Blumiere did the same.
"Lovely! Thank you for purchasing merchandise from Blue Birb Design, and I hope that one day, you'll come back to view more of our wares! Would you like a bag for your clothes?"
"No thank you, I have one," Timpani pointed to the back pack.
The salesperson bowed his head. "Come again!"
The couple walked off. "They would have a really good business if they had more hands going for them than just his wife's. I wonder if they'd be willing to teach a few Toads, they seem to want something to do a lot of the time."
"Hm… perhaps. But those are plans for another day," Blumiere replied as they walked through more colorful stands. The people manning them shouted their wares.
"Candy! Come buy your homemade candy!"
"Can you make six baskets in a row? Try your skill here!"
"Take a seat and watch Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door for only the small fee of five coins each!"
"Come and see the acrobatics here at Fangora Heights Circus! Best acrobats around!"
"Oh Blumiere! There's a dance area!" His wife grabbed his hand and caused him to stumble as she dragged him towards the area.
Blumiere laughed as she stopped. "Always the dancer, aren't you?"
The musicians began a new song, upbeat and happy. Blumiere and Timpani spun around with the other couples, following the steps made up long ago. They laughed and cheered with everyone else when the song ended. This went on for a bit until Blumiere stopped them, slightly out of breath but smiling.
"I, for one, haven't danced in ages… we also need to find Goombella again. Surely the professor has discovered something, and if not, we need to meet up with Mario so we don't miss the meeting."
"Just one thing first," his wiferesponded.
"Wha- oomph!" Blumiere began to ask his wife before she kissed him.
He felt his face flare up. Normally, the reserved their relationship for their own home, maybe doing small acts of affection around their friends. It was a habit since before they were married, but Timpani appeared to have gotten over it.
"There. Now we can leave." Timpani linked her arm through her husband's and moved on. Blumiere just nodded, very aware of how deep purple his cheeks were.
They meandered back to the information booth, finding everyone else already there.
"Hey new guys! I was just about to tell you all what the Professor found out. Apparently, in some other dimension, there's another Carnival of Time, and once, it was a deadline until the world was destroyed… the person who averted their apocalypse wore a bunny like hood that let them run crazy fast! Heck, he even found some pictures underneath Rougeport! Normally he'd meet us there, but… well, he's an aging Goomba." Goombella smiled sadly.
Mario nodded in understanding. "Let's not disappoint him, then. Shall we?"
The group nodded and followed Mario and Goombella. Blumiere and Timpani brought up the rear.
"Why did you react so strongly to the book Fracktail had, Blumiere?" Timpani asked her husband quietly. The question had been bugging her for a while now.
The Count sighed. "… The fact that he had it is a miracle… I thought that book lost ages ago. It was in my parent's library, Timpani."
Timpani blinked rapidly. "I suppose the question is how the guy in green got it."
"My realm was most likely restored with the rest of the realms…" Blumiere lamented. "While I am overjoyed that my deed is undone, I cannot help to feel dread."
"Your father?"
"Yes, my dear… I fear he will try to take you from me once again."
Timpani's smile surprised him at first, but he noticed that this smile was predatory.
"Let him try… if he hasn't gotten the gist by now, well, he's going to have a harder time, especially with our friends around. Something tells me that after this adventure, sleepovers are going to be pretty popular events."
"Have I ever mentioned how scary you can be when you're angry?"
"Yes."
Blumiere nodded. At this point, the group had managed to navigate the crowds and was nearly at the pipe that led below Rougeport when the former villain was struck with a sudden urge.
"Timpani," he requested seriously.
"Yes?"
"This book of mine can be used by whoever reads it. My spells will only be more potent if I use this book, but if for some reason I am unable, you can use it. I already know many of the spells within this book, so don't be afraid to take it."
"If it comes to that, I won't be."
Goombella and Mario went down the pipe first, followed by the two princesses and Luigi.
"You two go first," Bowser gestured.
"Thank you, Bowser," Timpani said before going down the pipe.
Blumiere tipped his hat. "Thank you indeed, Lord Bowser." Then he too went down the green pluming, landing on his feet with an "Oof".
"Follow me… but beware of rats…" Goombella said before walking into the distance.
"It's best not to stray too far… it's dark down here and she wasn't kidding about rats," Mario explained.
It didn't take long for the group to arrive. Bowser would spit an ember at every unlit torch they passed, making the area brighter.
"Here we are," Goombella announced. It wasn't very grand; just a pedestal with a few photos that looked old and worn… so old and so worn, hardly a thing could be seen on it. The only thing that could be made out were a set of familiar blue eyes staring straight ahead. The boys crowded around first, taking in each photo for a second before going to think about what they had seen. The girls crowded around next, Luigi's chattering teeth the only sound.
"There's some writin' here," Daisy spoke lowly, "'turn around…'"
A solid WHUMP marked the females turning around, only to see a giant rat where the guys were.
All four of them had been knocked to the side and were now dazed. None of them could participate in this battle.
"A rat!" Peach shouted, pulling a vegetable out of the ground. Timpani pointed her mech hand at the rat and fired a volley of electric blue shots.
But the rat wasn't there.
"Ee he he he he! Too slow to get me!" A laugh rang out behind them. Peach threw her vegetable as she was turning, but the rat was too quick to hit. He managed a hit on Peach, who tumbled a bit before getting back up.
"Oh no you don't! Flower Power!"
A glowing soccer ball hit the rat in the face, but it only seemed to anger the ghost enemy. He turned on Daisy, eyes narrowed.
"Uh-oh." Daisy turned and ran, just in time to dodge one hit, but another one knocked her down.
Timpani tried shooting it with homing projectiles, but they missed as well, crashing into each other.
Merlon's words suddenly echoed in her head.
"The magician's book is what you'll need/ in order to match a hedgehog's speed!"
Her husband's voice replaced her friend's.
"This book of mine can be used by whoever reads it."
An older memory came into play, her husband's voice still very much the same.
"How do I use magic? It's not a complicated process, like how most your species seems to think. You don't control the energy, it aids you. You ask for its help, usually by offering memories. Nowadays, whenever I think of you, it's difficult to keep the magic from occurring. Happy memories work best for magic that aids you, for their power is stronger due to the positive emotion. You could use magic, but I suggest against it without a supervisor or training. Perhaps one of these days I can help you."
This all took place in Timpani's mind within a second. She instantly ran towards Blumiere and dug through his cape, pulling the book out of his magical pocket and flipping to the last page with print.
She muttered the words carefully, remembering happy times with Merlon, Blumiere, Mario, Peach, and everyone else in the room with her and all who weren't. As soon as she finished muttering the last few words, the world seemed to slow down. The rat was moving at a normal speed, maybe slightly slower than usual.
Peach got a clear shot with a vegetable. Goombella knocked it with a Headbump. Timpani ran forward, dropping the book next to her husband, and shot it a few times with electric ammo, stunning it, giving Daisy an opening.
"Four!" the aforementioned princess shouted, launching a golf ball that grew to be nearly the size of the rat towards the creature's face.
"Ack!" it shouted as it exploded into nothingness.
"We did it!" Peach cheered.
"What were you doing with that weird book over there? We could've used your help!" Goombella demanded Timpani.
"If you'd calm down and use that big thinker o' yours, you'd realize my sweet girl here did!"
"A prophecy," Peach explained to the confused pink Goomba, "The magician's book is what you'll need/ in order to match a hedgehog's speed! We have a hedgehog friend who can run super fast. Can you use magic too, Timpani?"
"Bleck… sort… of…" A winded Blumiere was the first to stand up, startling the females. All the other males were recovering as well.
"Anyone can… use magic so… long as they… have an idea… of how to use it… or have some form of… training… Timpani… is very lucky… the spell didn't… backfire on her as well…" the Count panted. His wife moved to help him stand up straight. The other females moved to help the other guys.
"Here," Peach said, handing each of them a piece of candy from her pouch, "it will help restore your strength."
"Thank you…Princess," Mario and Luigi said.
"Shh now, sugars, don't talk. That was a nasty vermin!" Daisy exclaimed.
"Ugh… you're telling me. What kinda low life sneaks up on their enemies?" Bowser demanded.
"T-that… k-kind…" Luigi muttered before being shushed by Daisy.
Timpani walked over and picked up the book she dropped before handing it to her husband.
"You'll probably get a lot more use out of it than I," she whispered to him as he put it back in his pocket.
Blumiere shrugged. "You seemed to do pretty… well." He exhaled heavily. "That's going to leave a bruise."
"Let's get these tough guys to the inn. They can rest up there," Goombella said, "I've got a few Inn Coupons left from mine and Mario's adventure that are still valid, but probably not enough for four couples…"
"I'll cover the others," Peach said, still holding up Mario, "just lead us there, please."
Goombella nodded… which was pretty much ducking. "On it. The pipe may be a bit tricky." Bowser, thankfully, was able to stand and walk on his own, just in a great amount of pain.
Somehow, getting to the overworld wasn't as tricky as Goombella had thought. Blumiere managed to help get the others on the pipe, and all of them had recovered enough to at least stand on their own. Getting them into their rooms wasn't difficult, either, since the whole inn was on the first floor. They each paired up, one guy and one girl so that way the girls could take of the guys while they recovered. (It's a pretty lucky thing Bowser only had a sore shell and maybe some chipped spikes, else the girls would be in a lot more trouble.)
Blumiere removed his top hat, cane, mask, cloak, and the top part of his suit, revealing dark purple discoloration in the shape of the Rat's tail on his abdomen. His back didn't look any better; he knew by the pain in it. While he had experienced worse, it still hurt. Timpani guided him to the bed in the room, helping him ease himself onto it before rushing off to the bathroom to get a few wet rags. She got a few things from the backpack on the way back, as Peach had handed them a couple of items each before helping Mario into their room.
He hissed as his wife placed the cold rags on his bruise.
"You can cut the spell, you know. I already know what you look like, and so do our friends."
"It's not really for any of you… though, in a way, I suppose it is. I keep the spell up, just in case. It doesn't cost much compared to some other spells I used. Besides, haven't you noticed how people stare at the group when they see me? I have… I don't people discriminating against us because of me…"
"Blumiere, all of our friends hold some sort of political power. I doubt anyone would discriminate against their friends," Timpani comforted as she put some leaves in her mouth. There wasn't a motar or anything in the room she could use to crush them other than her teeth, so she was stuck doing it the old fashioned way.
"It's not just that, my dear… I don't want to be seen as Count Bleck. I am no longer him and have no desire to be known as him ever again. This is part of that, and small as a change it may be, you all didn't recognize Luigi as Mr. L."
"To be fair, we had some really important shindigs happening," Timpani defended after she spat out the leaves into a bowl. She mixed in some drinking water from the pack and gave it to her husband, who took the medicine dutifully.
"It helps me more than others," the Count admitted, turning his head from his wife.
He felt her over him. He turned to her, his eyes downcast in embarrassment and shame.
Her fingers lifted his chin upwards, forcing him to face her.
"It's okay," she whispered to him quietly, "I understand."
Blumiere shook his head, his nose brushing hers. "How can you understand? I betrayed my family, my people, the universe! I nearly dest-"
And for the second time that night, his wife cut him off by leaning down and kissing him. He returned it after a second of regaining his wits.
"I know," she said as she leaned away, "because I did something rather similar when I married you. I betrayed my father's wishes, your family's wishes, my own race…. And you want to know what? If it meant rescuing you from being Count Bleck, I'd do what you did and worse. It's called love, Blumiere. It's shared joy, sacrifice, pain, happiness, and just… love."
Blumiere smiled. "You always know just what to say, my dear."
"No; I just know what to say to you, when I need to say anything at all."
It was Blumiere who kissed her this time. Unlike him, she reacted immediately, reaching up with one hand to run through his hair.
He sighed and did the same to her, his other reaching to try to push her closer to him automatically.
That wasn't a smart idea.
Both yelped for different reasons. Blumiere because that bruise was seriously painful; Timpani because those rags were still really cold.
"Sorry," the Count apologized, "I also got your dress wet."
"The dress will dry… besides, it's not 'dry-clean-only' material or whatever, we can just stick it in the wash when we get back if need be." Timpani laughed.
Blumiere's eyes widened before closing as he lifted a hand to his forehead. He said something Timpani couldn't understand but heavily suspected was cursing.
"What?"
"Did that rat drop a Power Star?"
Silence took over for a moment.
"Well. Crap."
A/N: The main purpose of this story was to give Blumiere and Timpani a bit more love. So, an entire chapter dedicated mostly to fluff and epic girl action. Because let's face it, Daisy and Peach need more kick-butt moments, and having Timpani be a character I can just go full-hog with is awesome.
And why is Daisy using sports equipment? Go-karts are a bit difficult to put into hammerspace… but multiple tennis rackets, golf clubs, and more are pretty easy to get in and out. (In chuggaaconroy's words, Nintendo logic.) Also, note from Fracktail's fight: a sand wedge is the heaviest golf club according to a quick Google search. So yeah, Dimensio's got a hell of a bruise!
Peach is able to use some of her Brawl moves, however, they've been modified. She will never pull a Mr. Saturn out of the ground because there's no one from Mother/Earthbound here to allow her to do so, even if the worlds are collapsing (as I said, mostly in Mario's universe). Bob-ombs and vegetables still can be, but Bob-ombs are rare.
Furthermore, now that it's been revealed that basically anyone can use magic, will the others be trying Blumiere's book? Probably not unless a circumstance arises; as Blumiere said, it's dangerous without training.
Another thing: I really hope the guy in green is either obvious or getting on your nerves because you don't know who it is. I really freaking hope. Don't worry, you'll be meeting him soon…
Also, shout-out to my friend for allowing me to base that stall scene of his family's own. They do something really similar during the winter here where I live, though I'm not sure if they've met anyone like Blumiere! They're also the one who named the place and helped me out with the next chapter.
This story is dedicated to the YouTuber chuggaaconroy. It was his Let's Play/ Walkthrough of Super Paper Mario that introduced me to this ship and thus all the ideas coming from it. It was also his videos of The Thousand Year Door that let me write this chapter. He does mostly live commentary, 100% playthroughs of games. He's done Kid Icarus Uprising, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, Pikmin 2, Sonic Colors, Animal Crossing, and is currently doing Xenoblade Chronicles. There are many other games he's done as well, mostly Nintendo, so if you're stuck in one or just have some time to kill, I highly recommend sitting down and watching his channel. He's also part of the channel TheRunawayGuys with Proton John (who did Superman 64) and NintendoCaprisSun (NCS), who has done Plants vs. Zombies. (Just watch them, okay? They're awesome.) A guy named Josh Jepson is also part of the Runaway Guys, but I have no idea what he does.
Disclaimer: After this really freaking long A/N, I still own jack squat.
(Current length: about 29 pages and 10,981 words in MS Word.)