Chapter Twenty-Three:

Curse of An Apple

The group of wizard ninjas wasted no time in dispelling Bowser and his group from the ball, using a magic firewall to remove them, and their instruments from the stage. And then, with a dose of more magic, the Shadow Monkey Wizard Gang began performing lively music as shiny disco lights started illuminating the room.

Completely mesmerized by how the ball had changed, the attendees hollered with excitement, and began dancing to the upbeat tunes that were filling the room while the disco lights illuminated their faces.

Nearby, Meggy and Melony, despite their boss's instructions that they weren't there to dance, started dancing to the music. Even without a man to dance with, Meggy was just as good of a dancer as her associate was.

The two girls twirled around one another, and swirled their arms while dancing the best dance they could do, with their moves almost synced up at one point.

"MaN, tHeSe GuYs ArE CoOl As HeLl!" King Bob exclaimed.

He left his throne and hopped on stage to buddy up with the Yellow Monkey Wizard, only for his blade hand to hurt the cloaked wizard ninja's hand a little. Thankfully, it was a tiny slice that could be healed with magic.

"Now this is more like it." SMG3 proclaimed as she started to dance.

Prince Luigi seemed to agree. However, he was so into the music, the prince nearly forgot about the apple in his hand, and wound up throwing it into the air while he was dancing the rave with the princess. The apple twirled in midair, then it wound up going right into Prince Luigi's mouth when it came down...

...and this was a magically cursed apple, intended to make SMG3 an ugly princess. As soon as the apple touched Luigi's lips, the green Italian prince bit into it, and the cursed properties of the fruit quickly took hold on him.

Luigi felt untold pain, and shrieked with agony, flailing his arms as his very being was affected immensely by what was within that fruit. He could feel his whole body changing, and it seemed like his face was changing too, until it felt like Prince Luigi was about to become someone very different.

His body was enveloped in a flash of light, and people yelped in surprise. The music came to a stop, and, when the hint of madness began to settle, a tall man in an odd yellow shirt and gray-blue tights with a green hat and a funny mustache stood where the prince had eaten the apple.

The mutated Luigi took a breath, then he threw his hands up in the most dramatic fashion yet, and he declared; "MISTER LUIGI!"

"Damn, I didn't see that coming." Meggy whispered.

"I didn't turn into that when I ate a cursed apple." Melony quipped.

SMG4 was beside herself. She wanted to ruin the princess' ugliness, but perhaps she could still ruin her life, especially with the new Luigi. That apple had to make him obedient, and subservient to the witch's insidious schemes.

"New plan!" The witch proclaimed, "Take the princess away, my minion!"

"Okie-dokie." Mr. Luigi nodded.

Princess SMG3 took a step back, prepared for a fight, even with so many people watching what was going on. However, she didn't stand the faintest chance ever. Mr. Luigi moved swiftly, grabbed her, tied her up with a thread of rope from nearby, and rushed out of the ballroom with the captive princess in custody.

King Bob and his guests watched with confusion, even the Shadow Monkey Wizard Gang were stunned. However, even with one or two less guests to worry about, the show had to go on, and the music restarted while everyone got right back to dancing.

"Back to my lair!" SMG4 ordered Meggy and Melony.

"C'mon, boss!" Melony exclaimed as she twirled like a ballerina, "Dance the dance of sweet victory."

"We didn't come to dance, you melon-headed witch!" SMG4 grabbed her green-haired lackey by the arm, "This isn't why we came to the ball. We came to ruin SMG3's life, and, despite the hiccup, my plans can still work. Now follow me to my lair."

"You're the boss, boss." Meggy saluted.

"Okay." Melony ceased her dancing in compliance.

Both women departed the ballroom, hopped onto a pair of floating broomsticks outside, and soared off into the sky with Meggy and Melony following SMG4 back to her evil lair. The warty-faced witch cackled with glee as she rode high, eager to see her plans through, and her henchwomen laughed with her while SMG4 made sure she didn't hurt her back like before.

Meanwhile, the cursed Mr. Luigi hauled Princess SMG3 all the way across a portion of the countryside to an abandoned tower that had not been used in years. In fact, it was so high, that attempting to escape by jumping out would end very badly in a very messy way.

The rogue prince found use in a Warp Star, from the kingdom of Dream Land, and carried SMG3 into the tower's main room, which looked very inviting... for a place that was going to be a prison anyway.

SMG3 yelped as Mr. Luigi threw her onto a bed, then he untied her ropes, and threw his arms up dramatically before a Lakitu with an odd box floated in. And that box was a camera, not that anybody in this fairy tale land cared anyway.

Neither of them noticed the device called a camera on the ceiling, which allowed Mr. Puzzles to watch SMG3's imprisonment.

"In this video, I kidnapped the fair princess SMG3 and put her in the tallest tower ever..." Mr. Luigi said in an odd voice, "Whomever can make it in here and save her..." He pulled out a dollar bill, "...gets one thousand dollars."

"SAVING? I THINK I CAN SAVE MYSELF, THANK YOU!" SMG3 shouted furiously, and in a feisty, and tough woman sort of manner, she pushed Mr. Luigi out the window. The princess flinched as the mutated prince hit the ground with a thud below, and she backed away from the edge, deciding to keep herself safe for the time being.

"On second thought, maybe one of my animal friends can save me." SMG3 remarked.

The princess took a very deep breath, and let out the loudest holler that any creature had ever heard. SMG3 had to stop after a minute when she felt the strain in her vocal cords. If she kept going, she'd lose her voice, but she hoped that someone, anyone, would hear her, and come to help.

In the nearby woods, Deer Mario was frolicking around, hoping Princess SMG3 was okay. Just then, he heard an odd sound, and yelped in surprise. It sounded like a dying pig, but it had to be the princess.

He used his ears, picking up the direction of the voice, and Mario began to make his way through the leaves, towards the very tower where the princess was being held captive...