It's amazing how fast time seems to be passing by; I was watching the Super Mario Bros. Movie and I can't believe it's 2014. Geez, so much has changed so fast.

Anyway, here's some more for you to read.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Mario or its franchise; it belongs to

Nintendo and their affiliates. I just am really grateful to its creators for giving

me such a wonderful game and media series to write about!

I also don't own anything related to Harry Potter, all that belongs to J.K. Rowling,

but thanks go to her as well because, using her wonderful work, I can expand this

story to make it more interesting :)

Chapter Sixty-Two

If there was one thing that could be said of Rain Country, it was that there was no shortage of men who enjoyed the company of seemingly beautiful woman. Cackletta was in luck. She was welcomed into the arms and beds of countless individuals and never found herself wanting for anything for the past week. When she left the safe house, she'd feared she'd have to use her limited magic reserves for miscellaneous spells here and there, to eat and provide for herself, but the men she'd been with were only too eager to take care of that for her. She now found herself traveling the dirt streets with more than a few young disillusioned 'gentleman', who probably wouldn't be as enthralled and jovial around her if they knew what really lay beyond that clear skin and those generous attributes.

"What the-" Cackletta frowned, her eyes narrowing at the sight of a familiar figure up ahead.

She turned to the men and cast them a sugary, simpering smile. "You'll have to excuse me."

She was as disappointed as her lusty friends were with the news of her early departure. She had to leave, though, because she had a very strong feeling about who that short creature was. She sashayed away from the men in her audacious black mini-dress and then, when their backs were turned, she hurried towards the figure who was ambling clumsily her way.

"Where have you been?!" She hissed, putting her hands on her hips when she'd reached the person.

The squat magician huffed and bent over at the knees to catch his breath. His Mistress loomed over him like a giantess; her heels only made the difference in height worse. Cackletta tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder and crossed her arms under the ample swell of her breasts, then glared down her nose at her minion.

"Well?" She demanded. "What's the matter with you?"

"Forgive me," Fawful panted. "But I had to walk all the way here, I did. From the Badlands I walked."

"Walked?" Cackletta frowned. "Why didn't you just teleport? And why weren't you answering me when I summoned you?"

Fawful raised his hands in supplication and said, "There were complications with the plan."

"I garnered that much when you didn't return, genius," Cackletta sneered patronizingly. She asked, "What kind of complications are you talking about?"

"I was held up by the boy." Fawful admitted.

Cackletta narrowed her eyes further and probed her minion's mind and body. At once she detected the tracking spell and unbound it, then searched Fawful's memories. She only happened upon what had already been set aside for her to find; she could see that Fawful had been interrogated and that Ludwig now knew of their misdeeds and intentions.

"Did you at least get the clone?" She asked her minion.

Fawful held up empty hands and began to apologize.

Cackletta just rolled her eyes and spat, "Great. Just great."

She glared at Fawful and grabbed him by the front of his robes, intimidating him with her furious scowl and intense grip.

"Do you know what Bowser will do to me if I don't get that clone back?" She snarled. "I've been dodging him for days now!"

Fawful gulped and shivered a bit because errant traces of Cackletta's magic were sizzling and crackling in the air around them. Every now and again a spark would shock his skin.

Cackletta shouted, "I did not come this far to let you ruin this for me! I will take my place as the rightful ruler of Bean Kingdom and as the Dark Queen of this world!"

Fawful cringed at her exclamation and Cackletta released him, then gazed off in the distance moodily.

"Bowser owes it to me." She frowned. "He's building an empire and I will be his Empress. Together we'll own this world and any other."

Now Cackletta settled her severe eyes on Fawful, who seemed to shrink back under her sharp gaze. She poked him in the chest with her long, slender index finger.

"In order to do this, I need you to get on the ball." She ordered. "No more screw-ups. You want your reward, don't you?"

She cooed that last part as if pandering to a little child. Fawful recalled their previous agreement before they set on this quest and a greedy look passed over his green face. He nodded enthusiastically, his spiral eyes wide with glee.

"Yes, Mistress," He agreed, "Of course, Mistress."

Cackletta sniffed. "That's what I thought. Now go back to the palace and bring me that-"

"Mistress," Fawful interjected, "The clone is not at the palace anymore, it's not."

"What?" She scowled, then shook her head and said, "Whatever. Find it and bring it back here. You know where the safe house is, don't you?"

"Yes, Mistress."

"Good. Be quick." Cackletta snapped, then smirked and added, "I need to get back on good terms with the Dark King."

Far away, in a palace previously mentioned, a young king had but one thought rolling around in his disgusted mind:

Pathetic

Fawful took off to do his Mistress' bidding, but he didn't get far. As soon as he was almost a mile off, far from Cackletta's sight or earshot, Ludwig made his presence know.

"What...what's going on?" Fawful asked aloud as his body was forcibly stopped.

Ludwig had beads of sweat forming on his brow back at the palace as he concentrated fiercely on remote controlling the magician and also speaking telepathically at the same time.

He spoke coldly, "You been very helpful, but I'm afraid you've outlived your usefulness."

Fawful grew more panicked and confused as his own hands made their way mechanically to his face. As one hand gripped his jaw and the other the back of his bald head, Fawful tried to work against his unseen assailant. His magic was inaccessible now. Ludwig had the power of the Dark King amplifying his own abilities and he executed his movements with adept precision. He sent a flash of an image to Fawful's mind while he simultaneously held the old minion's magic at bay. Now Fawful knew exactly who was behind this.

"No!" He cried, aghast.

But that was his last words before his arms gave a rough jerk and he fell to the ground like a sack of wet potatoes. Anyone walking by would have witnessed what appeared to be a swift and undeniable suicide, a man having snapped his own neck. Only Fawful knew the truth and now the truth had died along with him.

Back at the palace, Ludwig shuddered. His eyes flipped open as soon as the connection to Fawful's mind had been lost. He stood without a word and dusted off his pants. A part of him felt quite justified with what he'd done. Fawful had made a complete fool out of him, and the last time that happened Ludwig had been near-powerless to get revenge. He'd be damned if he let anyone cross him on such a grand scale and get away with it.

Because of him, I have a liability out there, a threat to my success, a problem that needs to be worked around for the next ten or twelve years, Ludwig thought bitterly.

But if truth be told, there was another part of him that wondered if maybe he'd been wrong, that maybe he didn't have as much control over the wicked impulses and suggestions that came with the late king's power as he thought.

Our first stop in the Mushroom Kingdom was Daisy's house. We had to pass through the area at the outskirts of the city and I had to say, not much had changed. The homes looked better, like they'd been repaired, but the gypsy vibe was still there amongst the people and children gathered under the waning daylight. Most of them recognized Daisy and spoke to her and again, people sort of congratulated us on our 'daughter', with only a few seeing the child as a boy and not a girl. None of them thought it was odd for a person with black hair and one with brunette to create a child with blue hair.

Then again, there's black streaks in his hair, I noticed. Maybe people think the blue is dye. But still, neither of us have green eyes.

The point was, everybody seemed to think the kid was ours. I didn't say anything against this because I figured people would get a clue when they saw the boy wasn't with us anymore, after we passed him on to Peasley.

"It looks the same," Daisy spoke as we entered her old home.

The memories began to hit me as I stepped inside behind her. I recalled sitting on that very couch near the door, being nervous out of my mind. I remembered eating breakfast and even dinner at that kitchen table. I recounted the time Meech was sick and I brought him some comics to cheer him up, and many other snippets of events the girl and I shared here. I knew the nostalgia had to be a thousand times more potent for Daisy. She had tears in her eyes.

The child was between us again, with both me and Daisy holding his hands. He glanced back and forth at me and her and kept silent, his emerald eyes wide and intrigued. We roamed the house and the bedrooms and I saw how Daisy lingered in her room the longest. By her words, the bedroom was untouched. The whole house looked like no one was living here. Sure, there were a few signs of life here and there, like the clothes on the floor in the boys' room and a few dirty dishes in the sink, but other than that it was hard to tell life had gone on. And of course the glaringly obvious fact was that neither Meech nor Danny were here.

"Let's go." Daisy urged me, stepping out of the house and locking it up behind us.

From there, we traveled to the castle and it got progressively darker outside. Still, the people who did happen to be out greeted me and Daisy brightly and I could see the market and surrounding neighborhoods had improved as well. Sometime between now and our arrival, someone must have let my brother know we were here because by the time we got to the palace, he and Peach were standing there waiting for us. They both seemed surprisingly relaxed and happy.

"Hey there, Luigi!" Mario grinned, "Come to see your big brother so soon, eh?"

I shrugged and hugged him once we met at the top of the steps. The royal guard members all nodded fondly at our trio in turn. Daisy smiled back but ever since we left her house her mind had been somewhere else. Princess Peach hugged us both and straightened her shirt. Yes, she wore a white top akin to a polo shirt and a pair of comfortable-looking pink capri pants. Her blonde hair was up in a fluffy ponytail and her smile was warm and genuine. My brother wore simple black pants and a long-sleeved red shirt. They both noticed the child who was trying to hide behind my and Daisy's legs. Peach looked pleasantly surprised. Mario just winked at me.

Here we go again

Thankfully they didn't say anything on the matter. Instead, Peach pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear and tilted her head.

"I wish we'd have known you were coming," She told us. "We would've made arrangements for your stay."

"That's probably for the best." Daisy spoke tiredly. "We won't be staying long."

I nodded and added, "We'll only be a night, we've got to get on the road to Sarasaland tomorrow."

Peach frowned lightly and asked, "Is there something wrong?"

"Yeah," I told her.

Daisy said, "We only stopped by to brief you on the past few events that have transpired lately."

"What kind of events?" My brother wanted to know.

Daisy and I shared a wary look that made Peach's candy-pink lips purse anxiously.

It was Mario who said knowingly, "Ah. I see. Well let's get inside, then."

A/N: Thanks for reading, hope you liked this latest chapter. It would be great for you to voice your opinions, comments, and ideas about the story. Things are coming to a close with this sequel. We'll see how the events play out with Ludwig/Bowser/King Boo, and then it's on to the third installment!

A lot of things will be revealed in the next story, like: Munson and Alicia's past/present situations, the Koopaling's missing history, the Dark King's fate, and a whole lot more, so I hope you readers stick with me for that. Be on the lookout for a few more chapters in CP, and be sure to leave some helpful suggestions for a clever name to the next story in this series.

Until next time...

~DymondGold~