-Chapter 30-

Heads in the Clouds

Beanstalk

Mario and the others were slowly climbing the beanstalk.

"Mario…" Luigi began, "are we there yet?"

"Almost, bro," Mario replied. "Just a little further."

"Uuuugh…" Toad sighed. "We've been climbing for hours!"

"Ooh, hours long time," Yoshi remarked.

"Well, it feels like hours."

"But mushroom man not climbing at all."

Indeed, Toad was riding Yoshi's back and letting him do the work.

"Do you see these arms?" Toad held up his little arms for emphasis. "You ever try climbing with short arms?"

"Yoshi not have short arms.

"I rest my case."

"Okay, settle down you two!" Mario snapped.

"I mean, at least they're not spamming us with 'are we there yet?'" Luigi pointed out.

Mario gave him a look. "You literally just asked me that."

"Yeah. Once. Remember when we drove to Chicago for Uncle Louie's (1) wedding?

"How could I forget? Mips was, what, nine? And even with Ma's bag of toys, she still got cranky and started asking 'Are we there yet?' every five minutes." Mario chuckled. "Pop was getting annoyed, giving the classic responses. 'We'll get there when we get there!' 'Mary Pat, I will turn this car around if you don't stop!'"

Luigi chuckled himself. "And then she got the idea to start singing."

"Mama mia, I still can't get that dumb song out of my head."

"How did it go again?" Luigi started scatting a bit. Mario got in on it, and before long, the two bros. Were scatting an upbeat, somewhat frantic melody (2) as Yoshi and Toad gave them odd looks.

"What they doing?" Yoshi asked.

"I have no clue." Toad looked up, seeing something. "Uhhh...guys? You might wanna stop yackin' and climb faster."

Luigi waved a hand in dismissal. "Oh, come on. We're just having some fun."

"Yeah," Toad said, pointing upward. "Well, tell that to him!"

A piercing shriek tore through the skies, prompting the heroes to look up and froze as they saw a giant eagle divebombing toward them, talons primed to grab.

"Oh no…" Mario whispered.

Before anyone could react, the eagle grabbed them in its talons and took off into the sky.

"Bird!" Toad screamed. "Giant bird! We're about to be eaten by a giant bird! I never thought my game would end like this!"

"Why?" Yoshi titled his head quizzically. "How did mushroom man think it would?"

"I'd tell you, but it'd raise the story's rating!"

"Don't panic! Yoshi has an idea!" Yoshi clenched, gritting his teeth as everyone gave him a weird look.

"Yoshi...what are you doing?" Mario asked, very concerned and worried.

"Quiet! Yoshi need to concentrate!"

"Dude, this is not the time or place for that!" Toad snapped.

Yoshi closed his eyes, focusing with all his might and straining. As he began to sweat, finally an egg popped out.

"Whew…!" the dinosaur wiped his brow. "Much easier after Yoshi eats."

"An egg?" Luigi asked with a perturbed look.

"What the heck is that gonna do!?" Toad demanded.

"This!" Yoshi slammed the egg against the eagle, which exploded in a miniature burst of fireworks. The eagle shrieked in pain as his grip on the four loosened. Unfortunately, only Toad and Yoshi managed to slip out before the bird's grip returned.

"Oh no!" Luigi shrieked. "Toad! Yoshi!"

"Mariooooooooo! Luigiiiiiiiii!"

Mario and Luigi could only watch as the two fell to the clouds below.

-X-

Toad and Yoshi screamed as they fell.

"We're gonna die!" Toad screamed. "We are going to die! I'm gonna throw up, and THEN I'M GONNA DIE!"

"Hang on!" Yoshi cried.

He grabbed Toad with his tongue, putting him on his saddle. Once he was secured, he focused, rapidly moving his feet faster and faster until they were practically blurs.

"Oh man, this is it!" Toad braced himself as the clouds approached. "We're gonna break through the clouds and plummet to our...!" They bounced off the clouds like a huge cushion. "...doom?"

They bounced a few times before the cloud stopped, acting like a solid platform before they hit something hard and wooden.

"Ow…" Toad rasped. "That… wasn't fun."

"Yoshi pulled something…" Yoshi clutched his leg, wincing. "Yoshi pull everything! Owieeee!"

"Hold up…" Looking around, Toad found that the two had landed on a landmass made entirely of cloud with buildings made of twisting branches, vines, and leaves from the beanstalk below.

"Are we…is this the Overthere!?"

"Hold up...are we...is this...?"

"Nimbus Land, actually. But a lot of people make that mistake."

Toad and Yoshi looked to the side to find a man walking toward them. He was a tall, stockily-built fellow clad in billowing, purple pants with a green waistband, a red vest, green shoes, and a red, fez-like hat with a curl of light green hair popping out from underneath. He had beady, black eyes and a friendly smile only accentuated by his rosy pink complexion and chubby body, which appeared to be made entirely out of pink clouds.

Toad blinked. "What the…?"

"Cotton candy!"

Before either Toad or the stranger could react, Yoshi's tongue suddenly fired from his mouth, grabbing the cloud-man, who let out a scream of terror as the dino pulled him into his eager maw.

"Yoshi, no!"

Toad whacked Yoshi on the back of the head with his frying pan, causing him to spit out his victim.

"What is wrong with you, man?!" Toad demanded.

"Yoshi hungry…" the dino uttered guiltily.

"Yoshi stupid! You can't just go around eating people!" he turned to his partner's near-meal. "I am so sorry about that, sir! My friend here's a little…" He spun his finger and whistled like a cuckoo clock, earning a glare from Yoshi.

"Right…" the cloud-man said with an ill-at-ease expression as he stood up and wiped himself off. "'I'll be sure to keep that in mind. Anyway…" He cleared his throat. "Welcome to Nimbus Land, capital of the Cloud Kingdom. My name is Garro, a sculptor by trade."

"I'm Toad, and this is Yoshi." he gestured to the dinosaur. "We're…well, we were with Princess Peach's ambassadors sent to help you with your Koopa problem."

"Oh, thank Grambi!" Garro let out. "You have no idea how happy we are to see you! That vile Koopa and his accursed entourage have been an absolute menace!" He shuddered in fear. "Especially after they brought that masked thing with them…"

Toad paused. "Thing?"

Meanwhile...

A Nimbus shopkeeper was cleaning off his countertop when the door opened.

"Good day, how can I help...?" The shopkeep paled at the sight of Roy, Sledge, and Spike entering. "Oh no..."

"Top o' the mornin', buddy!" Roy greeted. "The name's Roy, and these are my colleagues… Spike."

"Yo, whassup?" Spike waved.

"And Sledge."

Sledge pounded a hammer in his hand.

"I-I see..." the shopkeep cleared his throat. "H-How can I h-help you, s-sir?"

"Oh, we're not here to buy nothin'." Roy smirked. "In fact, we're here to make you a deal. Could we interest you in some...'Oops' Insurance?"

"O-Oops Insurance?"

Roy knocks over something, causing it to break. "Oops!"

"Wh-What are you...!?" the shopkeep gasped as another crash sounded.

Spike waved casually over another broken piece of merchandise. "Oops."

"P-Please, stop!" the shopkeeper pleaded. "That's my livelihood!"

"Your point?" Roy gave the shopkeeper a look that said 'You know what to do, now shut up and do it'. The shopkeeper bit his lip, then finally caved.

"Ohhh, alright, I'll buy your insurance!"

"Wonderful!" Roy nodded. "That'll be a hundred fifty coins."

"A hundred fifty?!"

There was another crash. The shopkeeper turned to see Sledge standing in place, looking innocent, a hammer not-so-subtly poking out from behind his shell.

"Oops."

The shopkeeper appeared to be on the verge of tears, but sighed. "Alright, here."

He opened the register, handing him the money.

"Thank you..." Roy promptly got in his face. "You got another payment due next month! Later, loser!"

Roy and his posse left at that, cackling evilly. As they did, Roy accidentally knocked something over.

"Oh! Oops..."

-X-

In another part of Nimbus Land, townspeople fled and cowered in fear as a group of figures strutted down a city street as if they owned it. The group consisted of three Koopas. The first was an orange Koopa with a yellow beak and a black shell and helmet, a set of hammers hanging from a belt he had around his waist. The second was a yellow Koopa with a green mohawk, red-framed sunglasses, and a shell with a green and black concentric circle pattern riding around in a white, smiling cloud. And finally, there, leading the pack with a smug grin on his face, was none other than Roy Koopa himself.

"Yeah, that's right!" Roy called out. "Make way for the King, ya creampuffs!"

"Look at these guys…" the cloud-riding Koopa said as he suddenly turned to a group of citizens, startling them. "Buncha softies."

"Got that right, Spike!"

As Roy and Spike laughed, the hammer-wielding Koopa stayed eerily silent, which didn't go unnoticed by his companions.

"Yo, Sledge, whuzzup?"

"We have a problem, Prince Roy." He pointed to a nearby house, its windows giving off an unearthly green light that sent chills up the trio's spines.

Roy groaned. "Oh for the love…" He stomped over, the others following as he shoulder-charged the door open.

"Phantooooooooo!"

The group found Phanto standing over a group of cloudfolk, just as he was finishing feeding off their fear.

"Ahhhh!" the nightmare creature let out in delight. "Light and airy, like cotton candy."

"Phanto!"

"Ahh, Prince Roy and company! Finish with your door-to-door insurance sales?" he asked with an exaggerated wave.

"What do you think you're doing, you freakazoid!?" Roy demanded. "I thought I told you not to kill anybody!"

"Kill? Me?" Phanto asked in mocking shock. "Why, I haven't killed anyone!"

He motioned to the cloudfolk he had just finished attacking. They were sprawled about the floor and their puffy bodies looked more like oatmeal, but they were fortunately alive and intact.

"So dark…so…c-c-c-cold…"

"Mommy…Mommy, where are you?"

"See?" he said happily. "They're perfectly fine."

Roy groaned, rubbing his face. "Remind me again why he came along?

"Cuz Big Daddy Bow-Wow told you to bring him?" Spike reminded him.

Roy cringed at Spike's nickname for his father, then again upon remembering that he was right.

Flashback…

Bowser's Castle

"ROY!" Bowser shouted from his throne room, prompting his son and his friends to run inside.

"What's up, Dad?"

"Anything we can do for ya, Big Boss Bowza-Man?" Spike asked.

'Big Boss Bowza' leered at him. "First, you can start by not calling me that again...ever."

"Y-Yes, Your Gnarliness!" Spike nodded quickly.

"And second, I need your help with something."

"My help?" Roy perked. "You need my help?"

"Yes. I'd like you to bring one of our new recruits along with you when you go about your business in your territory today."

"Yeah, sure. Who is it?" Roy perked, growing excited. "Is it Blue Hood?!"

"Sorry kiddo, not today."

Roy deflated. "Dad, come on. Junior's spent days with her, then both Iggy and Morton got to take her. Why am I left out?!"

"Cuz I'm afraid Hoodsy-Woodsy...had a great fall." Phanto walked into view from the shadows, leering creepily at the Koopa prince. "I will be your special guest party member during this quest. And I always come to work...with a smile."

Phanto grinned evilly, his eyes and mouth glowing. Roy immediately stiffened.

"Oh no..."

"Hello, Prince." Phanto greeted. "Nice to see you."

"Not you!" Roy yelled. "Anyone but you!"

"Awww, what's the matter, Princey? Is it my breath?" Phanto exhaled, releasing a ghastly looking green mist. Just being near the stuff made everyone feel ill at ease.

"That… and just everything about you."

"Who the heck is this bozo?" Spike asked.

"Ah, where are my manners?" Phanto bowed. "Call me Phanto, King Bowser's newest addition to the Koopa Troop. And Master of Nightmares."

"Dad!" Roy turned to Bowser desperately. "For the love of all that's unholy, please tell me you're not leaving me with this psycho!"

Bowser sighed. "Sorry, kiddo, but I need you to do this."

"Couldn't you get someone else to babysit him!? This guy's a freak!"

"I know, but the Mario Bros. and their friends are heading to the Cloud Kingdom, your territory."

"And I'm itching for another chance to taste their sweet, otherworldly fear." Phanto remarked. "Also, I've done nothing but sit around in the castle ever since I got here, so I'm super bored and I'm getting tired of sucking the life out of all your soldiers and blurting out their deepest, darkest secrets."

"Say what?" Spike exclaimed.

"Secrets?" Roy blinked. "I thought you fed on fear?"

"And what causes fear but the revelation of secrets? For example… Prince Roy..."

Roy scoffed. "Like you've got anything on me."

"You 'borrow' your sister Wendy's shell polish and glitter, and blame it on Lemmy."

Roy froze.

"Wait, that was you!?" Bowser exclaimed.

"Sledge," Phanto moved on, "you used to be disgustingly obese to the point that people thought you had the Blorbs."

Sledge panicked. "H-How did you...!?"

"And Spike, your real name is..."

"Okay, no, stop!" Spike cut him off. "We get it! We'll take you with us!"

Phanto grinned. "Wonderful!"

Roy blinked. "Spike's not your real name? You lied to me?"

"Dude, please," Spike began desperately. "Just drop it."

"All of you, OUT!" Bowser roared. "Those pesky plumbers are going to be at the Cloud Kingdom any minute! Now, go out there and get them!"

Flashback Over

"Say, do you think these cloud-looking bozos fart lightning bolts?" Phanto questioned.

"Stop torturing people!" Roy ordered. "We're here to extort them for cash! You're cutting into the Koopa Troop's funding!"

Phanto shrugged apathetically. "What's the big deal? You can just take whatever you want, right?"

"Living, non-scarred for life people are better for business! They survive, they make more money, they give it to us!"

"Ahh yes, of course, the shiny, golden discs you mortals can't seem to get enough of. I still don't understand what you see in them."

"I'm serious, Phanto." Roy growled. "You mess up folks without my say-so again, and I'll..."

"You'll what?" Phanto leaned in close to Roy, silencing him immediately. "If I decided to go on a rampage right here and now, do you think for one microsecond that the entire force of Bowser's army could stop me?"

Roy grimaced.

"That's what I thought." Phanto nodded. "Watch who you order around, boy. I'm only cooperating with you and yours in the first place because we share a common enemy in the Mario Bros. Get in my way...and I'll be sharing a common enemy with them."

With that, Phanto stepped out.

"Daaaaang…" Spike let out. "That guy's the real deal, Boss."

"Yeah. I know," Roy sighed. "This is gonna bite us before long. If only those idiots had just left that mask buried…"

"Speaking of idiots!" Phanto cut in, scaring Roy out of his shell. "We have company."

Phanto points outside. The group looked out the window to see Toad and Yoshi going about town.

"Hey, it's those guys! The guys who…" Spike blinked. "Wait, who are those guys?"

"They're friends of the Marios." Phanto explained. "They reek of pasta and magic mushrooms."

"But where are the Marios themselves?" Phanto questioned. "Shouldn't they be with them?"

"Good question..." Phanto held up twin sickles. "Let's ask. Prince Roy?"

"Alright." Roy sighed. "But you and Sledge stay put.'

"Excuse me?" Phanto raised an eyebrow.

"Secret weapon."

"Ahhhh..." Phanto nodded sagely.

-X-

"Scuse me, have you seen a giant eagle carrying two guys with mustaches?" Toad asked one of the Nimbus Landers, only for him to shake his head.

"You see big birdy with red and green men in bird-claws?" Yoshi asked another, receiving a similar response.

This continued for some time. The duo would ask if anyone had been Mario and Luigi's avian captor, and every single time, they would decline.

"Dangit, it's no use," Toad said despondently. "We've asked just about everyone in town and nobody's seen anything! You think a giant bird holding someone would stick out like a sore thumb!"

"Maybe big birdy on another cloud?" Yoshi suggested.

Toad screamed in frustration, then fell face-first into the soft cloud ground.

"This is just great…" he groused. "We're stuck in the sky. Mario and Luigi are Grambi-Knows-Where. Can today get any worse!?"

"Oi, you two!"

Toad looked up and saw Roy and Spike walking and floating in his and Yoshi's direction.

"Yes," the dinosaur replied. "Yes, it can."

Toad sighed. "Well, I did ask. Thank you, Yoshi."

At that, Toad gets up. "You must be the Koopaling in charge of this place."

"That's right!" said Koopaling declared. "You stand in the presence of the mighty Roy Koopa!"

"Third oldest son of Bowser! And the biggest, meanest, baddest buff boy to ever buff, suckah!" Spike chimed in, earning him a deadpan glare from his superior.

"Too much?" Spike asked, shrinking into his cloud.

Roy nodded. "Eyup."

"Right…I'm just gonna float over here then."

Roy rolled his eyes and shook his head as Spike did just that.

"Now then…" Roy looked Toad up and down. "You must be the Toad who helped Mario drop my old man in the magma moat."

"Well, technically him and Luigi did it, I just watched," Toad replied.

"You still helped him turn everyone against us, take down our elites, and ransack the whole kingdom! Just for that..."

Roy pulled out his magic wand.

"I'm gonna turn you into a footstool for Wendy when she does her claws. Though, I might be persuaded just to send you to the dungeon... if you tell us where Mario and the Green 'Stache are."

"Joke on you, Purple-Koopa," Yoshi replied smugly. "We not know where red and green man are! They snatched up by big, red birdie! So there!"

He stuck out his tongue at the Koopas.

"Oh, that must've been the Albatoss that used to be King Nimbus!" Spike flew over. "He must've found the Marios first and…"

He trailed off as Roy gave him a dirty look

"Spike... do you want me to get out the duct tape?"

"Oops…"

"That was the king!?" Toad screamed. "That means they're probably at the castle!"

"Hey!" Roy shouted. "You honestly think you can just walk away from me?

"Course not. We're gonna run." Toad hopped on Yoshi's back. "Hi-ho, Yoshi! AWAAAAAAAAAAAY!

Letting out a determined hum, Yoshi sped off, leaving Roy and Spike to eat his dust.

"Hey!" Roy shouted before hopping onto Spike's cloud. "Get us a bird's-eye view and make it snappy!"

"Y-Yessir!"

Spike flew up into the sky, chasing after the fleeing Yoshi.

"Alright, Spike, drop some Spinies on 'em," Roy ordered. "That oughta slow 'em down."

"You got it, Big Boss!"

Spike reached into his cloud and pulled out several red spheres covered in white, conical spikes.

"Go, my children."

Chuckling darkly, Spike threw the spike balls several feet ahead of Yoshi, who skidded to a stop as the spheres popped open before them, revealing them to be small, spine-shelled quadrupedal Koopas with menacing looks on their faces.

"Toge!"

"Toge!"

"Toge!"

"Spinies!" Yoshi cried out.

"Oh course." Toad rolled his eyes. "That other guy's a Lakitu. Lakitus and Spinies always go together."

"TOGEEEEEEEEEE!"

Suddenly, the Spinies crawled into their shells, spinning around rapidly before launching themselves at the heroes.

Yoshi let out a surprised cry, just barely jumping into the air to avoid them in time.

"Whew! Close one," he let out.

"Uhhhh…" Toad tapped Yoshi on the shoulder, pointing toward where the Spinies had gone. The tiny turtles had reversed course and were heading back toward them.

"TOGEEEEEEEEE!" they cried out.

"They pulled a U-ey!" Toad screamed.

"What we do?!" Yoshi asked.

"Move! I gotta find something I can use!"

As Yoshi ran, Toad started going through his pack.

"Okay, something that can beat Spinies...Hard-shelled lesser Koopas covered in spikes."

He reached into his pack and pulled out a cheese grater.

"No."

Toad threw it away, and searched again, pulling out a rolling pin.

"No!"

Throwing it away too, he started going through his pack again, only to pull out a bunch of grapes.

"I really gotta stop overpacking…" Toad deadpanned as Yoshi turned around and ate the grapes.

"Toge, toge!"

Two of the Spinies split off, spinning over and along the walls of the buildings to get past everyone. Once they'd built up enough speed, they launched themselves off the buildings, landing right in front of Yoshi and Toad.

"Oh crud!" Toad cursed as Yoshi attempted to avoid them. Unfortunately, they were close and he ended up tripping on one.

Time seemed to slow down as Yoshi fell over, Toad flying off his back and into one of the buildings.

"Owww..."

"Ha!" Spike laughed. "Nice landing, Toads-Tool!"

"Now to finish 'em off!" Roy finished.

Roy held up his wand, causing it to glow with magic power. Then scepter shifted and morphed, growing larger and longer. With a flash and a clap, the light dispersed, revealing the wand had transformed into a bazooka.

"Sayonara, sidekicks!" Roy called out as he aimed his weapon. Light began to gather at the mouth of the barrel before he pulled the trigger, unleashing a large blast of magic at his targets below.

Yoshi jumped out of the way of one, frantically looking around for any way to escape or fight back. Unfortunately, between the Spinies charging at him on the ground and Roy continued firing down on him from above, all he could do was leap around and dodge.

"That's right! Dance, dino! Dance!"

"Gotta do something!" Yoshi said as he sidestepped another blast. "Gotta stop Purple and Cloud Koopa! But what?"

Aa he dodges, Yoshi thought back to when he used the egg on the bird.

"Of course!"

Thinking quickly, Yoshi stuck his tongue out and grabbed a Spiny.

"Toge?"

And proceeded to pull it into his mouth…

"TOGEEEEEEE!"

"Gulp!"

…and swallow it.

"Eeegh…prickly," Yoshi said.

"Ahhh! My baby!" Spike screamed, only to gape in shock as Yoshi clenched his teeth and laid an egg.

Roy blinked in confusion. "Did… Did he just...?"

Yoshi picked up the egg, taking aim. He pictured an x-shaped crosshair moving around before it centered on Spike's cloud, then threw with all his might.

"Yikes!" Spike veered to the right, dodging the egg in time, but his movement was so sudden, Roy nearly fell off.

"Careful, you idiot!"

"S-Sorry, Boss! B-But he...AHHH!"

Spike gaped in horror as Yoshi began eating the Spinies en masse.

"My babies!" Spike waved his hands about in a panic. "Stop eating my babies!"

"Dude! Keep a hand on the cloud!" Roy snapped.

After gobbling up the last Spiny, Yoshi popped out a slew of eggs, picking them up and rapidly tossing them at Roy and Spike with the speed of a machine gun, his arms practically blurs.

"Aw crap! Spike, dodge!" Roy ordered.

"My babies…" Spike uttered in a miserable stupor. "My poor babies..."

"Nevermind your babies, you doof! What about...!?"

Just then, Roy felt something bump against the bottom of his foot. Lifting it up, he saw half an egg poking out from the floor of the cloud…with a large, glowing web of cracks on top.

"Uh-oh..."

The egg exploded in a large firework, knocking the Koopas from their cloudy perch and sending them plummeting to the ground, screaming all the way before hitting the ground with a loud thud, leaving their lower halves sticking out of the cloud-ground, as Spike's cloud just gently floated down.

"Yahoo!" Yoshi cheered, giving a mocking V-sign before picking Toad up. "Mushroom man, wake up!"

"Huh? Wha?" Toad asked blearily.

"Yoshi beat Purple and Cloud Koopas!" he explained. "Now, c'mon! We gotta find red and green before something else…"

At that moment, an ominous whistle reached their ears.

"What the...?"

Yoshi slowly turned, finding the ominous mask of Phanto materialize from the shadows of an alleyway.

"Mask...man?"

"Mask?"

As soon as they saw Phanto's mask, his left eye began to glow with an eerie, green light. Yoshi and Toad felt a sudden chill run up their spines, followed by a jolt to their brains, causing them both to pass out.

"That was easy. Should've just done that from the start." Phanto chuckled as he and Sledge stepped out of his hiding spot. "Sledge, be a dear and get Prince Roy out of the ground, would you?"

Rapidly nodding, Sledge moved to do what he was told, grabbing Roy by his ankles and plucking him out the ground like a turnip.

Roy gasped for breath as Sledge set him down, then proceeded to collect Spike.

"Good day, Prince!" Phanto greeted. "Did you enjoy your little bout with the heroes?"

Roy leered at the nightmare beast. "No... but we know what happened to the Marios. Apparently, King Nimbus took them."

Before he could continue, Spike let out a gasp as Sledge finished pulling him out.

"Gah! I couldn't breathe in there!" he shouted.

"So, they're at the castle?" Phanto asked. "Along with the king and queen..."

Roy nodded. "Yeah… We'd better get moving."

"You mean we'd better get moving," Phanto corrected, pointing to himself and Sledge. "You and your cloud rider are going back to Daddy with these two."

"Say what!?" Roy demanded.

"You had your turn and you blew it," Phanto explained. "So, Sledge and I will handle the brothers. Got a problem with that?"

"Of course I do!" the Koopa Prince shouted. "The last time I checked, I was the one in charge! So, why in Grambi's name should I listen to you?"

"Because, little prince with the over-polished shell and the tacky 80s sunglasses..."

"Tacky!?"

Before Roy could protest further, he was suddenly overwhelmed with a wave of fear. The area around him seemed to grow darker and murkier, as Phanto's body began to shift and change, growing larger and more demonic.

"Your noble title and physical might means NOTHING compared to what I am capable of," he explained, his voice now deep and raspy, with a demonic reverb effect. "You are naught but a weak, pathetic child. Whilst I am a God of Fear!"

He removed his mask, massive tentacles flailing around from where his face was supposed to be as Roy screamed in terror (3). Satisfied with his victim's reaction, Phanto put his mask back on, causing the area and himself to return to normal.

"Well, Your Majesty," he began, drawing out the last word in ridicule. "Is that sufficient an explanation?"

Roy nodded frantically, still quivering in terror.

"Good." He walked off, taking Roy's wand with him. "Now, get the Toad and Yoshi to the next castle. Mario and Luigi will be along for them... and we'll be ready. "Sledge!"

Sledge snapped to attention, giving Roy a brief, apologetic glance before going after Phanto.

"Boss," Spike finally piped up. "What in Jaydes' name was that?"

Roy swallowed nervously. "I... I don't think I wanna know, Spike." He took a deep, shuddering breath. "I don't wanna know at all."

Author's Note:

(1): An uncle on their mother's side; Author of the Insane's idea.

(2): The classic Dr. Mario theme Fever. The only Mario song Author of the Insane knows.

(3): Beetlejuice reference.

Oh no! They got Toad and Yoshi. And Mario and Luigi are due for another face-off with Bowser. What will happen next?

Voice cast for this chapter:

* Garro - Wally Wingert (Almighty Tallest Red in Invader Zim, Renji Abarai in Bleach, Kotetsu T. Kaburagi / Wild Tiger in Tiger & Bunny, the Riddler in Batman: Arkham, Jon Arbuckle in The Garfield Show, George Miyagusuku, Amshell, & Nathan Mahler in Blood+)

* Spike - Justin Cook (Yusuke Urameshi in Yu Yu Hakusho, Hatsuharu Sohma in Fruits Basket, Super Buu, adult Dende, & Raditz in Dragon Ball Z, Eustass Kid & Bellamy in One Piece)

* Sledge - Chris Murphy (Murray in Sly Cooper)

Please R&R. Until next time!