Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story. The OC's belong to their respective owners.
How Cinder Ended Up in the Mushroom Kingdom
Salem looked over the dark land on the edge of a cliff, watching the Grimm crawl out of the Grimm Pools. She let out a smirk, watching the Grimm wandering around and heading off to different parts of Remnant. She could just picture them destroying everything in Vale, being attracted to fear in Vacuo, making a mess of things at Menagerie. She could sense the destruction that the chaos that they will bring in Atlas and Mistral.
Every part of the world, including the oceans, will be covered with Grimm. The Huntsmen and Huntresses will wear themselves out and they'll be ripe for destruction. She closed her eyes… picturing such carnage in Vacuo, Menagerie, the Mushroom Kingdom, Vale…
…Wait, what?
Salem opened her eyes, she could sense some of her Grimm in an unknown part of Remnant. "What is this place…" She wondered. "I was not aware of this land…" She said and then snapped her fingers as a Nevermore came over. "I want you to go to this… Mushroom Kingdom and report back on what you find." She ordered as the Nevermore nodded, flapping its wings and flew off.
Salem would then walk over to Evernight Castle, calling everyone in for a meeting as they would meet in the conference room. "My queen, what did you call us up for?" Tyrian asked.
"There's a new land in Remnant… a place that I wasn't even aware of existing." Salem said, her back turned to them. "A few Grimm made their way over there as we speak."
"And this land is called…?" Cinder asked with intrigue in her voice.
"The Mushroom Kingdom." Salem turned to them.
"The Mushroom Kingdom?" Watts raised an eyebrow. "Is that what we're calling a field of mushrooms now?" He snarked.
"They're probably hallucinogenic mushrooms. Hahaha!" Tyrian laughed. "Some kingdom, am I right? It'd be some kind of wonderland!"
"Hmm…" Hazel had his arms folded. "The Mushroom Kingdom… I've never heard of it, so why are we hearing about it now?"
"If I were to guess, it probably has something to do with that anomaly a long time ago." Watts said.
"You experienced that distortion too? Hahaha! I thought I was starting to lose my mind!" Tyrian exclaimed.
"I always thought you lost your mind a long time ago." Mercury said.
"Regardless of… losing minds. I wish to know what the Mushroom Kingdom is like." Salem said, and then right on cue, they heard 'cawing'. They would all turn to the source of the noise as Salem opened up a window to where the Nevermore would report to Salem what it had learned. "Interesting…"
"What is it?" Watts asked.
"Apparently, this Mushroom Kingdom is a very big place… filled with wonder and mystery. Floating ? Blocks, bricks and what have you. There are two castles… one of darkness, and another filled with bright colors. These two castles are vastly different from each other." Salem responded.
"So it's a mysterious land filled with wonder? Fascinating…" Tyrian mused.
"If it is not too much trouble, your grace… perhaps I should go and take a look at this Mushroom Kingdom. Survey the land, if you will."
"Hmm…" Salem rubbed her chin in thought. "Actually, I believe Cinder should go to this Mushroom Kingdom and gain the resident's trust. If it was easy enough to walk into Beacon undetected, then I'm pretty sure Cinder can handle it."
Cinder smirked at Watts and then stood up before bowing to Salem. "I will not let you down, my queen." She said as she turned around. "Emerald, Mercury. Let's go."
"Hold on a moment." Hazel spoke up. "You are taking her to an unknown land. Perhaps she could use some back up just in case. After all, your grace… her henchmen are just kids. There's no telling what will happen if some unknown creature attacks them."
"Personally, I can handle myself just fine." Cinder said. "Isn't that right, you two?"
"You got that right." Mercury nodded.
"Yes." Emerald agreed.
"No, he has a point." Salem agreed. "There's no telling what will happen. After all, you only have half of the Fall Maiden's powers. Who knows what will happen to you? I say it'd be wise if Hazel and Watts were to accompany you."
"What?!" Cinder said in shock. "But my queen, I insist-"
"We wouldn't want anything to happen to you. It'd be all my fault if something tragic were to happen to you while in the Mushroom Kingdom… and we wouldn't want that, would we?"
Cinder scowled at this, glaring at Watts who was giving her a smug look before turning back to Salem. "You're right. What was I thinking?" She then bowed before her. "Without you, I am nothing." She then stood up. "Come, let us go to the Mushroom Kingdom."
"The Nevermore will accompany you." Salem said. "Wouldn't want you to get lost."
"Right." Cinder nodded as they would walk off, a scowl plastered on her face. She did not want to be accompanied by Watts and Hazel. She had to get rid of these two… fast.
Several hours later…
BGM: Forest (New Super Mario Bros Wii)
"We should be close to the Mushroom Kingdom." Hazel said as they were in a forest.
"What makes you say that?" Emerald asked.
"Do you not see the floating blocks?" He pointed to a few ? Blocks and Brick Blocks floating around.
"Oh… wait, how are they floating?" Emerald asked as something rustled nearby as they got ready to fight, but a Wiggler walked past them without a care in the world. A few Biddybuds accompanied the Wiggler. One of them turned around to look at them before going back to its group.
"Those were the biggest bugs I've ever seen." Mercury said.
"How curious." Watts mused, watching a few Parabeetles and Paratroopas fly overhead.
I need to escape from these two clowns… Cinder thought as she spotted a ? Block as she decided to throw a fireball at it for fun, but as she did, an Ice Flower popped out and landed beside Cinder. "Hmm?" She wondered as she picked it up and before she knew it, she absorbed the Ice Flower as her dress turned icy blue and her hair had a blue highlight going through her hair. "Wh-what the?!" She said as she aimed her hand and fired a small blizzard.
"Cinder… you… your powers turned into ice!" Emerald said in surprise.
"This land is filled with wonder indeed…" Watts mused. "Normal objects changing your abilities… most intriguing."
Mercury would kick open a ? Block, as a stop watch would pop out. "What's this… a stopwatch?"
"Hmm…" Emerald mused. "A blue flower gives Cinder ice powers… you get a stopwatch, and I'm willing to bet that this isn't any normal stopwatch. I'm just guessing here, but perhaps this stopwatch could-"
"Stop time." Cinder guessed and then smirked, having a brilliant idea in her head as she took the Stopwatch from Mercury.
"What are you-"
"Follow my lead." Cinder smirked, as Mercury's eyes widened before smirking wickedly, knowing very well what Cinder would do. She would then turn to Watts and Hazel. "Well! It has been a very long day… so how's about we all take a break and cool off?"
End BGM
Watts smirked. "Cinder, my dear, are you planning on doing something reckless?"
"And what if I am?" Cinder chuckled.
"I was thinking you would pull a fast one on us. I could see it in your eyes." Watts said.
"Cinder. Put the stopwatch down." Hazel said. "You do not have to do this. We can do this peacefully. No one needs to fight."
"Oh, poor choice of words, Hazel." Cinder smirked, tossing it on the ground. "Ooops~!"
Watts and Hazel would quickly dive for it, but Cinder would freeze the two in their places while the stopwatch landed on the ground and froze time for the two. "What… what did you do?!" Emerald said.
"Making a get away." Cinder said. "Let's go!"
"Right!" Mercury nodded as he and Cinder took off running but Emerald stayed behind and looked at the two.
"This… this shouldn't have happened… this isn't right!"
"Em! Let's go!" Mercury called out.
"…I'm sorry…" Emerald told the two and then ran off to catch up with Mercury and Cinder where they would disappear deep into the woods.
"So… how are we going to get rid of bird brain? Chances are, he saw it." Mercury said.
"Oh, he's nothing but a bird brain. He'll forget about it." Cinder said, but right on cue, the Nevermore dive bombed Cinder and tackled her to the ground, pinning her down and roaring at her. The sheer force was enough to deactivate the Ice Flower powers. "Mmmph!" She grunted.
"Looks like it's pissed." Mercury said.
"Oh, shut your beak." Cinder said, aiming her hand and shooting a stream of fire inside its beak as it let out a yelp and backed off of her as Cinder sprang up and started shooting fire directly at the Nevermore as Mercury would spot a ? Block and ran toward it, kicking it and out popped out two Hammer Bros suits.
Not sure what these do, but it's worth a shot! He thought, tossing one to Cinder as they both equipped it as Cinder's Hammer Bro suit was a crimson red while Mercury's was gray.
Cinder smirked and together with Mercury, the two would clobber the Nevermore with hammers as the Nevermore cried out in pain as it tried to fly up and took off for its life, but Cinder conjured up a glass bow as Mercury pulled out a hammer and tossed it to Cinder where she would pull the string back and fired the hammer, hitting it dead center on the head as the Nevermore fell to the ground, disappearing before it could hit the ground.
That poor thing… Emerald thought.
"My my, these so called power ups are quite great!" Cinder said as they walked off while smirking, though Emerald was feeling awkward about it.
"Guys? Don't you think Salem will be mad if she-"
"What she doesn't know won't hurt her." Cinder chuckled as they kept walking… and then she and Mercury got hit upside the head by two Spiny Eggs, having the power ups disappear. "OW!"
"Ooof!"
"Whoops, sorry!" A Lakitu called out. "I thought you two were the Mario Bros… carry on!" He said and then flew off.
"Asshole." Mercury mumbled.
With Watts and Hazel…
Time resumed for the two as the ice disappeared as well. "That little…" Hazel growled.
"For a brat, she is certainly clever." Watts said. "Come along, Hazel… we must head back to Salem."
"And leave Cinder by herself?"
"She's a big girl… and if she wants to prove herself, then by all means… let her."
"Very well. What will we tell Salem?"
"We'll just say that Cinder got a bit too careless with these items and took off before she realized what she did." Watts chuckled. "Knowing Salem, however, she will want to know the truth." He said.
"Indeed…"
The two men walked off. "Will she be fine on her own?" Hazel asked.
"Cinder's a big girl. She'll probably get mixed in with some crowd and get into all sorts of trouble."
Later, with Cinder and her posse…
"Did it get hotter all of a sudden?" Emerald asked.
"It probably did." Cinder responded.
"Do you even know where we are?" Mercury asked.
"Beats me. This place is filled with wonder and mystery after all." She said as they walked into a clearing and saw Bowser's Castle nearby, She would spot Bowser and the Koopa Troop looking down at a Beowolf. She let out a smirk. "And opportunity." She said and turned to Emerald and Mercury. "Come."
"It doesn't look like it came from the Mushroom Kingdom."
"So… Sarasaland?" Bowser guessed.
"Nope."
"Then what is it, a mutated Yoshi?"
"Doesn't look like one."
"THEN WHAT IS IT?!" Bowser yelled, his patience running thin.
"It's called a Grimm." A voice spoke up as they turned to Cinder who approached them, smirking devilishly. "That particular Grimm is called a Beowolf."
Just tying it all together!
