Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story. The OC's belong to their respective owners.
While Mario Is Seeking Advice from Byleth…
A frying pan was put on one of the stoves at Bowser's Castle. A snap of the fingers caused a fire to ignite underneath the pan as some Mushrooms and eggs were put on the pan. The one holding the pan was none other than Cinder herself.
How did I get talked into this again? She thought, using her Maiden powers to keep the fire burning.
Just the day before…
"So, Cinder… I'm curious about something." Bowsette said as they were walking around the castle.
"Hmm?"
"Did you do anything… fun when you were held prisoner by the… Duchess or whatever she was?"
"Well, there was one thing I actually enjoyed aside from training with Rhodes." Cinder said. "I actually enjoyed cooking."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, it got my mind off things for a while. I found it… therapeutic in a way, as weird as that sounds." Cinder explained. "I made some good dishes for everyone.
"Ooooh!"
"Yeah, I thought they tasted pretty good. But the three stooges thought they tasted "mediocre" or "garbage" when everyone else said what I made was pretty spectacular. Even Rhodes liked my cooking."
"Hmm, interesting!" Bowsette rubbed her chin in thought before getting an idea, chuckling to herself.
"What's so funny?"
"Oh, I just got an idea~"
Cinder sweatdropped. "What's with that smirk?"
Bowsette took Cinder's arm. "Come with me!" She said, dragging her away.
"Whoa!"
In the kitchen…
A Dry Bones was tapping his fingers against the counter, rubbing his chin in thought. This particular Dry Bones has a medium sized crack on his lower jaw and a black bandana was wrapped around his non-existent neck. "Disgusting… looks like another failed recipe for me." He mumbled, seeing that his cooked dish was flame-grilled squid tentacles coated in honey. "Honey and squid… these things don't go well together at all…" He started to chew it right after, then got a horrible idea. "Flame-grilled squid tentacles coated in honey..." He snickered crazily. "Oh man, that's so horrific, I love it! I can't stop laughing to myself!"
A Koopa walked in, wearing a chef hat and an apron that had "Don't step on and kick the cook into a wall" on it. "Eddie, break time's over. Get back to woooooor-" He noticed the atrocity on the frying pan, causing him to facepalm. "Ugh, and can you please discard that disgusting dish of yours?! I've already lost count of how many of those atrocious things you made!"
Eddie nonchalantly rolled his eyes. "Sure thing, boss." He said as the Koopa walked away, then he looked back at his dish, letting out a chuckle. Ah, who am I kidding? Flame-grilled squid tentacles dressed in peanut butter is still the worst! He stored the failed dish into a plastic food container for later, then returned to work.
At that moment, Bowsette walked in with Cinder. "Oh! Lady Bowsette!" The Koopa Chef bowed.
"Hey Flambe." She smiled. "What's up?"
"A bit understaffed thanks to the Phazon shenanigans, but we're doing our best." He said. "…Wait, are you wanting to try some food? You gotta wait until it's fully prepared! I swear, you're worse than Lord Bowser at times." He mumbled, causing Bowsette to snicker. "By the way, m'lady, what's she doing here?"
"Oh, I thought Cinder would do well cooking in this kitchen." Bowsette said.
"Her?!" Some of the cooks exclaimed in surprise.
"Me?!" Cinder said in shock.
"Well…" Flambe rubbed his chin in thought. "I did warm up to her when I heard she was the one who killed Dark Samus. She's not all that bad… ah, what the heck, I'll give her a shot."
"Excellent!" Bowsette smiled, gently pushing Cinder into the kitchen.
"W-wait a sec!"
"You'll do fine." Bowsette winked at her and then walked off.
Cinder sweatdropped. That girl, I swear…
"Alright, show us what you got." Flambe said. "Think you can whip up something delicious?"
"I'll see what I can do." Cinder said, cracking her knuckles.
"Hey Eddie! Think you can show Cinder around the kitchen?"
"Of course." The Dry Bones walked over to Cinder. "Name's Edward Leboneski! Everyone calls me Eddie."
"Uh… charmed…?" Cinder tilted her head.
"So! Let me show you around real quick-"
One tour of the kitchen later…
"Wow, impressive." Cinder said.
"Indeed."
"How in the world do you guys just run around the castle delivering food for everyone?" Cinder asked.
"You get used to it!" Eddie said. "The people at the Monster Community love the cooking too."
"They're still calling it that?"
"I heard they're still coming up with ideas on what to name it." Flambe shrugged. "Honestly, if Bookwyrm could just figure it out already, that'd be wonderful."
"Alright, so… show us what you can do." Eddie said. "Make something spectacular that can wow us."
Cinder smirked. "It'll be my pleasure." She said, fire shooting out of the corners of her eyes.
One cooked meal later…
"Here we are. Filet Mignon with a side of butterfly popcorn shrimp." Cinder said as Flambe took a little taste as did Eddie.
"…Oh my Koopa." Flambe said while Eddie's lower jaw detached itself and fell to the ground. "This is amazing!"
"Still got it." Cinder chuckled.
Flambe quickly put it on a plate. "This is amazing! Lord Bowser is going to be thrilled!" He said as he took off.
"That's goo-, wait, Lord Bowser?!" Cinder said in surprise.
With Bowser…
"Bwahahaha! You call that strength? I'll show you strength!"
"Oh give it a rest, bro. I'm winning this thing!" Bowsette smirked as the two were in the middle of an arm wrestling competition.
"That's what they all sa-… what's that wonderful smell?" Bowser wondered as he turned around to see Flambe coming in with a cart. "Ooooh!" He said, completely distracted as Bowsette smirked and tried to gain the upper hand, but Bowser's elbow wasn't budging.
"Rrrgh! Come on!"
"Lord Bowser, we have a hit." Flambe said as Bowser pushed Bowsette's arm down.
"Ack!"
"I win." Bowser said as he took the filet mignon and took a bite. His eyes widened in surprise, his eyes sparkling. "Best filet mignon I ever tasted! It's so juicy, scrumptious! I feel like I'm in heaven!" He said, cutting it in half and giving it to his sister as she took a bite.
"…Holy shit." Bowsette said, her eyes sparkling. "This is amazing!"
"Flambe, you've done it again!" Bowser praised.
"Ah… aheheheh… that's not my doing."
"Oh?"
"You see-"
"That would be my doing." Cinder walked over. "I cooked the filet mignon."
"YOU WHAT?!" Bowser yelled. "What were you doing in the kitchen!"
"Cooking." Cinder said. "I couldn't help but overhear that you enjoyed it."
"I… I… it was mediocre." Bowser mumbled.
"You say one thing, but your eyes say otherwise." Cinder pointed out. "It's more than just mediocre."
Crud, she's right. Bowser thought and glared at Flambe. "How DARE you hire this wench without my-"
"Your Nastiness, we are severely understaffed so we need all the extra hands we can get." Flambe pointed out.
"Eh? I thought the kitchen was fully staffed!"
"Sire, remember Dark Samus corrupting the troops? Several of the chefs are still recuperating from that."
Bowser sweatdropped. "Oh, riiiight… but still! When you hired her, did you ask her if she has any experience with culinary arts beforehand?"
"We did not." Flambe said, causing Bowser to anime fall.
"IDIOTS!" Bowser roared.
"Relax, doofus. I did it." Bowsette told him. "I was chattin' with her earlier and she said that she had some culinary experience back in her earlier days."
"…You went behind my back to bring her into the kitchen?"
"Yes."
"First of all: That's my sister and I'm proud of you for being a true Koopa. Second of all: WHY?!"
Bowsette smirked. "Simple. I trust her."
"She could've poisoned us!"
"If she did, both of us would be dead."
Bowser raised his finger to protest, but lowered it for he knew that she had a point. "…Dammit, you're right."
He turned to Cinder. "Alright, Cinder. I'll give you a little test. See if you can whip up one of my favorite meals."
"What's your favorite?" Cinder asked.
"I'm not telling you. Whip up something good and I'll see if you're worthy of being in the kitchen."
Cinder smirked. "Sounds good to me." She said as she walked back with Flambe following her.
"…I thought every food you ate that you find absolutely delicious was your favorite." Bowsette said.
"Yeah, but she doesn't need to know that." Bowser smirked. "Ha! I'm confident that she's going to crumble!"
In the kitchen…
"Knowing Bowser, I have a feeling his favorite food is anything he finds absolutely delicious." Cinder said.
Flambe laughed. "Wow, I can't believe you figured that out so quickly."
Cinder chuckled. "Just a hunch. Now then, time to wow those taste buds of his."
One cooked up meal later…
Bowser stared at the food in front of him. On the plate was Chicken Parm with a side of toasted ravioli and breadsticks to go with it. "Pasta? She can't be serious! She can't win me over with this." Bowser chuckled as he looked both ways. "Okay, Mario's not here…" He mumbled as he took a bite. His eyes widened in surprise, sparkling at the delicious taste that Cinder had created. The toasted ravioli and breadsticks were wonderful to him.
Son of a bitch, she won me over. He thought.
"Well? How is it?" Cinder asked confidently.
"…It's decent." He said and turned to Flambe. "She can stay in the kitchen. HOWEVER! I will not warm up to her quite yet. She's got a lot of damage control to do after that whole mess. It will take a lot more than this to earn my respect and trust. What's more is that she is to cook her own meals for as long as she stays here. Do I make myself clear!"
"Understood, your nastiness." Flambe bowed as he and Cinder walked off.
"She won you over, didn't she?" Bowsette asked with a knowing smirk.
"…No."
"She went for your stomach, big guy. I say she won you over considering you licked that plate clean."
"Shut up!" Bowser grumbled with a blush on his cheeks.
The next day…
As much as Cinder liked cooking, she had to admit… using her Maiden powers just to cook a meal was pretty mundane to her. Not to mention she was still wondering how Bowsette managed to talk her into cooking for the King of the Koopas himself.
No matter. She knew very well that she won Bowser over. After all, he wasn't very good at hiding it. Her cooking skills made waves at the Monster Community and those who had fully recovered from the Phazon made their way to the castle to try out a Mushroom cheese omelette she made for herself for breakfast, but soon found herself cooking for the majority of the Koopa Troop.
Not that she didn't mind.
Once she was done, Bowsette decided to take Cinder's meal deep into the Monster Community with Cinder following her. "Where are we going?" Cinder asked.
"I noticed she wasn't in line, so I thought she might like this." Bowsette smiled as they arrived at an apartment.
"…Wait, I know this building." Her eyes widened. "Um… why are we at Marine's house?"
"You mean Marnie?"
"Right… I haven't memorized her name even though she's one of us." Cinder sheepishly rubbed her head. "You think this is a good idea? I know very well she's not the forgiving type after what happened earlier."
"The funny thing is, she's quite forgiving and very nice and friendly. I doubt she can hold a grudge for that long." Bowsette said.
"I can't even remember what I did… aside from getting exposed by that Egghead."
"Remember the whole "pie" thing?"
"Pie? What pi-… oh. Oooooh. Yeah, now I remember, she was the second to show me kindness after Peach during that whole Fawful thing."
"Yeah, I talked with her and she's convinced that you would've killed her after she showed you hospitality. Something about being afraid of lightning?"
"Well… I was mostly afraid of it because I was out in the open and had no shelter available…" Cinder admitted. "That and I'm not immune to electricity like that Nora girl."
"Oh, that's understandable." Bowsette chuckled. "I'd be a little freaked out too."
"…You think Marine- Marnie'll be forgiving after all that?"
"I'm sure she's let it go." Bowsette said. "If anything, I'm sure it's water under the bridge with her."
"If you say so." Cinder said as she rang the doorbell.
"Coming!"
Marnie opened the door. "Hey Bowse-" She spotted Cinder and immediately glared daggers at her.
"Heeey, we got off on the wrong foot earlier, so I thought I'd give you this omelette I've ma-"
SLAM!
Bowsette sweatdropped. "Okay, maybe she's still upset." She said and turned to Cinder, now seeing she's wearing omelette all over. "Ooooh…"
"Yeah, I should've seen that coming." Cinder said, igniting her whole body to incinerate the omelette off of her before turning around.
"Yikes… I'm not sure if Neo or Gloria rubbed off on her." Bowsette said as they walked away. "…Maybe both? I dunno. Eh, give her time. She'll warm up to you. A lot of the folks did anyway. Some may take more time like say… Marnie or Neo. My wife probably needs more time to warm up to you too."
"I should probably make something for her."
"Naaaah, ever since the whole fusion thing, she doesn't really eat that much." Bowsette said. "Perks of being a ghost."
"Isn't she half human too?"
"Yeah, but the ghost half is the dominating half. Not that Rei minds." She giggled. "Girl went an entire month without eating and then she went "Oh, I could go for a snack or two."
Cinder sweatdropped. "I see. That must be some awkward dinner dates. You eat and she doesn't."
"Nah, she's cool with it."
Cinder rolled her eyes. "Of course."
"So, what's it like? Cooking for my bro and all that stuff?"
"Well… to be honest… at first, I thought you taking me in after Eggman ousted me was a bad idea, considering… ya know." She rubbed her head. "I was reluctant, but over time… especially with what went on in space and you thought of me as a friend was… oh, how do I put this-"
"Enough to humble ya?"
Cinder blushed. "Sure, let's go with that." She said. "Of course, putting that Charizard in his place helped a little too."
"I bet it did." Bowsette chuckled as they started to walk out of the Community.
"Soooo… Eddie… is he normally so… weird?"
Bowsette snickered. "He's a good cook but his tendencies to make the oddest dishes makes him… well, one of the least bit respected of the chefs there. You probably didn't see this yesterday, but let's just say my son got hit with food poisoning."
"Which one?"
"Larry."
"…The one with the blue hair? Wait, no, there's two blue haired ones. Uh… spiky blue hair?"
"That's the one. Let's just say-"
"Ooooooh…" Larry groaned, curled up lying on the floor with anime tears rolling down his cheeks.
"Hang in there, Larry! Are you okay?!" Wendy asked in concern.
"Squid… and honey… why did he force feed me that atrocity…"
"Call me crazy, but I can't believe that Eddie has the guts to make people try out his worst dishes." Iggy whispered.
"Tell me about it." Roy agreed. "I may like the guy and his cooking, but if he never pulls crap like that, he'd be more respectable."
"I'm here!" Rei came running in and held Larry in her arms. "I'm here, sweetie…"
"Mom… do me a favor and put me out of my misery…" Larry groaned.
"Shhhh, momma's got you, dear…" Rei whispered.
Cinder blinked. "How the hell is Eddie alive?"
"He's a Dry Bones, they don't die easily… even if I smacked his head off with my tail and threw his body into the pot of soup."
"Hmm…" Flambe tasted the soup. "Needs more salt."
"That's my body you're tasting!" Eddie's head exclaimed.
"And I'm saying it needs more salt! …And maybe a little bit of pepper and onions."
Cinder chuckled. "Good to know…" She said as she glanced over to see a Seer approaching the two. "…Oh, great."
"Cinder. I've been looking for you."
BGM: The Next Step Pt. 1 (RWBY)
"Is that…?" Bowsette wondered.
"It is." Cinder glared. "Hello, Salem."
"I couldn't help but notice that you have the full Maiden powers. Not only that, but I witnessed you executing the one responsible for that phazon incident."
"I thought I felt your presence."
"You may have betrayed me by that man's broadcast, but since you have the full Maiden powers, I am willing to cast that aside and give you another chance. All you have to do is destroy your friend before me."
"Oh, is that all?" Cinder chuckled in amusement. "Sorry, but I'm not interested."
"You would rather spare this woman?"
"At least she's a lot more decent than you are."
"Is that so?"
Bowsette's hands caught ablaze. "Alright, bitch… you can show yourself all you want, but Cinder ain't budgin'!"
"I wasn't asking. Make her obey."
Suddenly, Cinder's emblem on her back lit up. "Nnngh!" Cinder grunted as she fell on both knees. "Rrrrgh! Aaaaagh!"
"Cinder?!" Bowsette exclaimed in surprise as she would spot a Grimm beetle coming out of the tattoo on her back. A Grimm was inside of her?! She thought.
"Nnngh! Aaagh… AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" She screamed, loud enough for a certain Charizard at the castle to overhear her screams, waking up from his nap.
The Beetle made its way out and then crawled over to Cinder's neck, attempting to bite down on her neck but Bowsette grabbed a hold of it and then crushed it with her fiery hand. "I got ya." Bowsette said.
"Hah… hah… th-thank you…"
"You must be Bowsette. Bowser's sister, I presume?"
"Damn right and I say it's time you leave Cinder alone for good. You know, you may not be killed, but that doesn't mean we can't defeat you and put you out for good."
"Hmph, how amusing. Your empty words mean nothing to me. You do not scare me, girl."
"You know, for someone who's all high and mighty… you send a Grimm instead of showing yourself. You're nothing more than a coward!" Bowsette said. "And I say this Grimm is about to expire." She then lunged, throwing fireballs at the Seer, but it would dodge as it wrapped its tentacles around Bowsette's neck. "Nnngh!"
"Fool. Cinder, despite not having the Grimm inside of you anymore, you are still loyal to me. I am giving you a second chance. Kill this woman… I've even made it easy for you. Either you kill her, or I kill her. Make your choice."
"Cinder… nnngh…" Bowsette gasped, trying to pry the tentacle off her neck but more tentacles wrapped around her arms.
Cinder clenched her fists, conjuring up a glass bow and aimed directly at Bowsette.
"Let me go! I've got nowhere else to go so I might as well just be sucked into this thing. I'm nothing!"
"You're not nothing. You can be your own person!"
"How? I serve nobody anymore! Let… go of me!"
"I'm not letting you go."
"And why's that!"
"Because I thought we were friends, you idiot!"
"Friends…" Cinder whispered as she closed her eyes, then she reopened them as fire shot out of the corners of her eyes, fire replacing the glass as she let go of the string, the arrow went flying straight for Bowsette… but the arrow flew up and pierced through the tentacle, cutting through as the flames would then go through and burn off the other tentacles that held Bowsette in place, causing her to fall.
End BGM
BGM: Face It! (Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories)
Bowsette gasped for air, coughing a few times. "Cinder…?"
"You FOOL!" Tentacles grabbed a hold of Cinder right after.
"Nnngh!"
"You dare spit in my face a second time! I gave you a home when you were at your lowest! Without me, you're nothing and you will DIE like the little nothing that you are!"
"Funny thing about that… you say I'm nothing without you… but you're wrong!" Cinder growled. "With you, I am nothing but a pawn. With Bowsette, I am something. Something more than just a pawn to your little suicidal game!"
"Meaningless words! You're nothing!"
"I could say the same to you…" Cinder glanced up. "And by the way, it would be quite a shame if something were to burn you."
"Your so-called flames do not scare me. Nor does your friend's."
"Oh, I wasn't referring to her." Cinder smirked as suddenly, Charizard came barreling through and slammed into the Seer, ripping it to shreds with his claws before jumping away and crushing the tentacle that held Cinder.
"What is that thing!"
"You say I'm nothing without you? Honestly, I'd say you're nothing, especially your colleagues." She said as fire shot out of the corner of her eyes, flames shot out of the corners of Charizard's mouth while flames conjured in Bowsette's hands.
"You will regret this, Cinder. When the inevitable happens, I will make sure you and your friends suffer a horrific death."
Cinder smirked. "I'll look forward to it. And when we find a way to defeat you once and for all? You can tell the devil I said hello." She said as all three of them incinerated the Seer until nothing remained of it.
End BGM
Cinder chuckled. "I would say "Fried calimari, anyone", but unfortunately, Grimm doesn't work like that." She said and then Bowsette hugged her tightly. "Oh!"
"I'm so proud of you…"
"For what?"
"You know what I'm referring to."
Cinder chuckled. "You're welcome, I guess." She said, returning the hug as she looked up to see Rhodes leaning on a tree and giving her a thumbs up. Cinder then turned toward the Charizard. "Thank you for saving me, I guess?"
The Charizard nodded, letting out a smirk and a small "You're welcome" grunt. "So… you thought of a name for this big guy?"
"Honestly, I never thought of one." Cinder rubbed her chin thoughtfully before snapping her fingers. "I got one."
"What is it?" Bowsette wondered as even Charizard got a bit curious.
"It's simple." Cinder smirked. "He'll be referred to as… Acnologia."
Saying KH4 just sounds so weird after saying KH3 for about a decade... watch as it's announced for Switch but it's for the Cloud.
Ibuki: Ha! Take that Salem!
This Gaiden idea (along with Eddie the Dry Bones and Flambe the Koopa) was crafted by DarkRebellion himself! The last bit of the chapter was all Wyvern's idea too.