Time in Serenity Isle: 3:52pm, Thursday, October 18, 2001
Ludwig POV
"We're here! Whoa! Is it night time again?!" Lemmy questioned in curiosity.
"I honestly don't know. We're probably in a different timezone," Larry answered, "The Sun can't shine everywhere at once you know..."
Luigi and Daisy nod, the two of them trying to look around; seeing if they know where our precise location is. However, despite how dark it is, the two catch sight of... What they call a... dark funnel coming out of some citadel.
"Guys! There's like... Darkness coming from that castle over there!" Luigi shouted to us. He, as well as Daisy, dash off to this 'funnel'. Not being able to see it, we shrug our shoulders and run off after them.
~7~7~7~7~7
Peach POV
"Oh no..." I continued to cry in fear; dark matter pours out of the castle at a slow but sturdy rate, the dark matter going into the sky. Some of this dark matter even accumulates in front of us!
"Mwhahaha! Our Queen's spirit is slowly forming!" Beldam cackled in her ugly, witchy voice as the matter slowly takes place. Grodus laughs at us as if we are weaklings battling a heavyweight champion.
"Hahahahaha! You all are too late to stop me! You six have no power to stop me or Jabrael!"
Grodus continues laughing in his hideous voice while Mario glares at Grodus, "We will defeat you! Just like we did the first time!" he threatened. Grodus cracks up even harder and louder at Mario's puny threats.
"Oh Mario," Grodus attempted to say between bursts of laughter, "Haha! Ha. You've gotten so funny over the past few years. You should be a stand-up comedian for the prisoners in Jabrael's new world."
"That's not a joke this time!" Mario tries to say as boldly as he can, but I can tell by his actions that there's still a little seed of doubt being planted in Mario's head. Can the six of us REALLY beat Jabrael and Grodus? Or will we fail miserably? Also, where are the others?
Just as Mario begins to think of the other group, they all show up. Daisy and Luigi stand next to Mario and me, completely in shock at what they are witnessing. Right before us stands a giant black blob, Grodus and a still-frozen Crump.
"Well well well! More victims! More trespassers! This will be quite fun!"
"Grodus," Ludwig attempted, "You vill not get avay vith zis-"
"Oh, but I am, turtle-thing!" laughed Grodus. The X-Naut leader, still laughing, turns around to the giant blob and points his computerized scepter at it. Almost immediately, the blob turns into a shape much similar to the Shadow Queen, except for the fact that Jabrael has black-shadowy hair instead of the Shadow Queen's white-gray. Seeing as she has been summoned, Jabrael speaks in a voice that seems to rock the floor.
"I have returned... Back to my home town, my home island, my home planet. Today, I will find my body and reunite with it-"
"My Queen!" Beldam interrupted.
"What?! How dare you interrupt my speech!" snapped Jabrael. She then glances around the area, spotting our group, Grodus and the frozen Crump as she does, "Saaaaaaaay, who are these mortals, hmmmm?"
"That's why I interrupted you! You need to destroy them!"
"Destroy themmmm... Hmmm hmmm hmmm; too easy," Jabrael laughed to herself. All the sudden, she summons a dark lightning bolt and strikes Grodus with it! He immediately disappears!
'This is like the events of the Shadow Queen a few years ago,' I thought to myself, 'When I got possessed. I hope that doesn't happen again.'
"M-My Queen! What are you doing?" questioned Beldam in great concern, giving her queen a weird, menacing glare. Jabrael glares back at her underling.
"Dang it Beldam! Just watch!" Jabrael boomed, then casts another dark lightning bolt, this time hitting Crump, "I sent both of them to my realm. This is MY world now!"
The Shadow Sirens nod, the three of them disappearing into the ground. Meanwhile, the group of us heroes standing in front of the four shadow characters start to show fear in a variety of ways, from perspiration for us humans, to shaking for the Koopas. However, one character seems to be brave enough to stand up to the shadow beings; a character that we met only a few days ago...
"You know what?" Violent started, "I had to deal with tons of crap in my lifetime, and this is just another episode. We're going to win, and you know it. We're going to-"
However, before Violent can finish, Jabrael blows black air at Violent, causing her eyes to go blank.
"Mwhahahaha! Say goodbye to your little friend!" Jabrael laughed. All the sudden, Violent's eyes shoot back open, but this time, a hateful glare is present on her face! She then advances towards us, two shadowy fireballs in her hand. Seeing her advancement, we start to back up in caution; I even lift up the front part of my dress to prepare to run away from that possessed madwoman, but Violent screeches to a halt.
"Man, you guys are pathetic," Violent stated.
"V-Violent?" Ludwig croaked, looking at the enraged Violent. He then turns to Jabrael and gives the shadow beast a hateful glare, "Vhat did you do to her?!"
Jabrael starts cackling as Violent once again begins to walk towards us, the shadow fireballs in hand, "Let's just say... Your friend here joined the dark side..."
"Muehehehe! Say hello to Violent Seren!" Violent guffawed in a now ugly, demonic voice similar to Beldam's.
We stand in shock at Violent's sudden change of attitude. However, Wendy becomes enraged and starts approaching Jabrael.
"I hope you die you stupid! I hate you!" Wendy cried out, eventually taking off her high heels and smacking Jabrael with them. Seeing that one of our members is attacking the enemy, the rest of us, except for Ludwig, start attacking Jabrael. Ludwig makes sure to prevent Violent from attacking his other team mates.
~7~7~7~7~7
Ludwig POV
"Violent! VIOLENT! Fight Jabrael! Not us!" I cried, barely dodging the fireballs from Violent.
"HOLD STILL! Must destroy YOU! My master... Has commanded... Of me..." Violent mumbled, then she kicks my shin. A severe rush of pain courses from my shin, spreading everywhere in my body before making its final destination to my brain, thus causing me to crash down onto the ground holding my shins in severe pain.
"Aughhh!" I cried out in agony. After a few moments of holding my shins and avoiding the claws of that crazy madwoman, I try to get back up to fight the possessed hybrid. That failed, however; Violent pushes me to the ground again and claws at me. She succeeds in giving me significant gashes in my scales; I can feel blood flowing out of my cuts, with pain replacing the vital fluid, but I did not give up. I lay there, stuck on the floor stomach-up and try to claw at Violent.
Meanwhile, I can see the others attacking Jabrael from all sides. Wendy is whacking her stomach with high heels, as well as Morton throwing punches, while Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Roy, Lemmy and Iggy are doing three separate tag team moves together on her left and right sides. Peach and Daisy are tossing random boulders at Jabrael's back, causing her to wince every now and then from the minor damages. Toad is exploring the field, turning any bugs he finds into stars, then tosses the stars at Jabrael, while Larry, Reeka and Alex run towards Violent to help... Me out hopefully.
"Larry! Alex! Take out Violent! I can use Misstar's power to heal Ludwig!" Reeka commanded. Thank the stars; I forgot Reeka had that power!
As Reeka starts healing me, a dark lightning bolt flashes from the dark purple sky, causing the scene to appear pitch black for a few seconds, and Jabrael uses this time to her advantage. She plucks up Luigi and Alex from the crowd of attackers during this time and blows dark air on the two, turning them into her minions, just like Violent.
"Master, your wish... Is our... Command..." Luigi informed.
"Whatever... You want..." Alex continued. Jabrael smiles an evil smile at the duo before barking her command.
"Seren minions! Attack them!"
Alex goes off and attacks Wendy, while Luigi focuses on beating up Bowser.
"Look at this, weaklings," Jabrael smirked, then summons up several pairs of shadowy hands. Using the hands, Jabrael grabs Bowser and Reeka. She also breathes on them, leaving just Mario, Toad, us Koopalings and the princesses to fight her.
"Master..." Bowser stumbled.
"Anything..." Reeka continued.
"ATTACK THE REST OF THEM!" Jabrael shouted. Bowser goes off to attack Roy, Violent continues to attack me like there's no tomorrow, Reeka goes for Morton and Wendy, Luigi focuses on Lemmy and Iggy, while Alex focuses on Larry and the princesses.
~7~7~7~7~7
Toad POV
Seeing that Mario and I are left alone, Mario runs over to the other side of the field, where Jabrael won't be able to spot him. Not knowing what my hero's going to do, I follow him. When Mario comes to a sudden abrupt stop, he goes on to pull out two Super Leaves. The plumber pinches one of the Leaves, earning him raccoon ears, a tail, fur, and a glare from me.
"How come you didn't use that earlier?" I questioned in curiosity, confusion and a bit of anger as I continue to glare at the heroic plumber.
"I was caught up in fighting," Mario brushed off the question, treating me like I'm an idiotic no-good fungus for not knowing the obvious answer. As Mario turns to look at me, he can still see the glare implanted on my face. He then sighs as he holds out another Super Leaf, "Toad. Forget about it. We need to do this quick."
I nod my head, accepting the leaf. I then sprout out ears, a tail and fur, but I give Mario a puzzled expression, "Mario. This isn't like that vision we had..."
"Of course it's not the vision. Half the Koopalings that weren't in the vision are here now. Nature isn't here, though she was in the vision. Last, it's both me and you with raccoon tails, not just me. We're totally rewriting history, and that can definitely change the future, fur bad or for good. Let's hope for good."
After his detailed explanation, Mario flies off towards Jabrael. I shrug, following Mario's lead.
~7~7~7~7~7
Larry POV
No one is attacking Jabrael. Instead, we are fighting the possessed group that are going against us.
Since the princesses have everything under control against Alex, I look up at the sky and suddenly see Mario and Toad using their raccoon powers!
"Yay! Mario and Toad will save the day-"
Jabrael seems to overhear my words, resulting in her looking around until she sees Mario and Toad. When she sees the two flying raccoons, the shadow beast instantly blows her cold, shadowy breath on Mario and Toad, causing the two to lose their raccoon power and become brainwashed. Oh no, not Mario and Toad also! My big fat mouth!
"Master... You own us..." Mario said submissively.
"Your command..." Toad muttered.
Us Koopalings and the princesses stare in shock at the sudden transformation of the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom and Peach's Retainer. If Mario, Luigi and King Dad are possessed, then does that mean... We won't win this battle?
I wanted to keep fighting our possessed friends and heroes, but there are just too many of them, as well as not enough of us, to do so. Instead, I sneak over towards each hero and whisper to them.
"Guys! Let's retreat! Go over towards those rocks over there! I'll distract all of them!"
Wendy is the first one I told my message to; she gladly ends her battle with Reeka as I dash off towards the others. My only sister runs off to the group of rocks in the distance, hiding as best as she can behind them. Morton, Ludwig, Lemmy, Daisy, Iggy, Roy and Peach run off to the same rocks, leaving just me to fulfill my part.
"Over here, morons!" I yelled out trying to act tough. However, in honesty, I feel as if I'm close to wetting my shell; the sudden shift of attention from my retreating siblings to me didn't help the case at all.
"Ohh ho ho ho!" a possessed Toad laughed, the group slowly approaching me, "Look at this pipsqueak looking tough!"
Acting in instinct rather than thought, I sprint in the opposite direction of my siblings and the princesses. If this plan is to work, then the creatures need to be as far away from them as possible.
"Slow down..." Bowser murmured.
"Too... Fast..." Luigi panted. Despite the tiredness of those two, they still walk over towards my direction.
I am out of ideas at this point; I am distracting them, but what's taking the rest of the group so long to do their part?! This is when I had a flashback of when Kammy got trapped in my greenhouse, simply because she was trapped in some of my vines.
That's it! Vines!
I point all of my fingers at the ground in front of the possessed beasts, hoping, praying and begging for Nature's power to work. I feel energy being sapped from my body, eventually making its way towards my claws and out from my fingertips. As the energy flows out, coldness and weakness start to build up in greater quantities in my body...
Despite the weakness I am experiencing, I am relieved to see that the possessed minions of Jabrael are being held hostage by the vines I generated. The relief changes into pure horror when Jabrael notices her minions trapped in a pickle. There is no doubt that she wants to change up that situation.
That is when Jabrael creeps up closer to me. I wanted to run—to sprint even halfway across the world to get away from that vile beast—but I couldn't; I feel much too weak from the spell I used.
She creeps up closer to me, then eventually blows cold, shadowy breath towards me, making my mind quite foggy... A dark, evil voice in my head grows and matures, until just that voice seems to take over every other brain process of mine...
I... Need to... Destroy the survivors...
Now... I am acting... On that very thought...
"Master, I am now in your servitude for this magnificent cause," I emitted.
A/N: I'm going to admit now... Out of the whole story, this chapter is the one that frightens me the most when it comes to writing. It could be because I feel like I rush battle scenes a bit too much. Anyway, I hope you guys like it, but this was just a small warning in case it seems a bit too... Say, 'cheesy'.