Chapter 25 A Plan Takes Shape

The cave went beyond the definition of creepy. The darkness alone was enough to put Pom Pom on edge, but when that was combined with the fact that there were bones from various species lying along the path, it was absolutely dreadful. Pom Pom still led the way though. She would protect Wendy, especially now at a time when she was defenseless. They walked through the passageway and came across a big open cavern, which had…

Pom Pom gasped. "Look!" she whispered. She pointed to a recliner in front of a little portable TV, and in that recliner sat Bink. The fact that the recliner was way too small to fit his ginormous skeleton didn't seem to matter to him. He kept his eye sockets on the TV, seeming completely engrossed.

"Man," Wendy whispered. "Even the undead can be TV addicts."

"Yeah." Pom Pom studied the room until she noticed another passageway, leading into another cavern. Something sparkly caught Pom Pom's eye from that cavern, informing her that this was where they needed to go. "Come on!" She gestured toward Wendy, and together they crept across the room. Pom Pom couldn't help but sweat; they needed to be as quiet as possible so that they didn't disturb Bink. One wrong move from either of them, one sound produced from anything they did would essentially mean a painful death. Every few seconds, Pom Pom would glance over her shoulder in order to make sure that Bink hadn't seen them. He didn't, thankfully, but even still, this experience was absolutely stressful.

After what felt like an eternity, the two girls got to the cavern. Both of them gasped, studying the scene that lay before them in awe. Mountains upon mountains of treasure dominated the room. Most of it appeared to be just regular gold coins, but there were also jewels of various sizes, colors, and types. Pieces of jewelry stuck out of the piles, and there were also some miscellaneous items. For example, Pom Pom saw a mirror encrusted in jewels. There were a few magikoopa wands and even a few spellbooks with dusty leather binding lying in the heap. If it had any sort of value, whether it be practical or sentimental, chances were more than likely that it was in Bink's monstrous treasure trove.

"Holy crap," Pom Pom whispered.

"I know," Wendy said. "All these things must cost a fortune." Wendy's eyes glittered. "I bet we could take this stuff and add it to the Koopa Kingdom National Treasury. Or maybe I could take some of this jewelry! I have a few outfits I'm sure they would go well with!"

Pom Pom shook her head. "No. This stuff was stolen from actual people. Taking them for ourselves would make us thieves by extension."

"Right, right, of course." Wendy let out a breath. "Okay, so let's get looking for my bracelets."

"Yep. And hightail it out of here as soon as possible."

And so they began looking, still going out of their way to be as quiet as possible so they didn't alert Bink to their presence. Pom Pom dug through the treasure, frowning as she did. Considering how many gold things there were, finding Wendy's bracelets was bound to be a challenge. Or… maybe not, as they were freshly snatched, so… perhaps they weren't buried so deep underneath things. Perhaps they were somewhere on top of these golden valuables, right out in the open for Wendy and Pom Pom to locate them. That would make the most sense. And since that was the most likely scenario, that probably meant Pom Pom was looking in the wrong place.

So, she moved away and started scanning the other piles in the cavern. She saw various bracelets, but they weren't Wendy's. And honestly, the fact that they weren't just made her nervous. She whimpered as she continued her fruitless search. "Oh man, what if the bracelets aren't in…"

She gasped, thankfully stopping herself from yelling as she tripped and fell to the floor. Groaning, she lifted herself up and looked at what she tripped over. It looked like a crystal ball, sparkly white and about the size of a bowling ball. Blinking, Pom Pom wondered exactly what it was as the concerned Wendy came over.

"You alright?" Wendy asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Pom Pom lifted herself to her feet and picked up the crystal ball. "What is this though?"

Wendy looked down and smiled. "Oh! It's a memory sphere!"

"A memory sphere? I thought they didn't exist!"

"Nope! They're real! Kamek even has one in his study!" Wendy's face fell as she took the memory sphere, frowning at her reflection in it. "Man. Kinda makes you wonder what exactly Bink had to do to get his hands on stuff like this." She visibly shuddered. "Obviously, he isn't above attacking people. And based on what he did to you when the two of us fought him… he might've actually killed people."

Pom Pom cringed. "I think you're right." Derek did say that Bink would literally kill for treasure, after all. And that was during his life; how exactly had the curse of undeath affected his mental state, his greed, his moral compass? Did it make him more vicious? Did it turn him into a mindless monster that only had the desire to kill and steal? Honestly, that was probably it. He had shown no mercy to Pom Pom and Wendy in the hotel, in fact probably only retreating cause his primal instincts directed him to finding and stealing more treasure. Oh man, Pom Pom was getting chills just thinking about that.

"Well." Pom Pom gently placed the memory sphere on one of the piles. "We should probably keep looking. I don't want to stay here for longer than I need to."

"Me neither." Wendy's eyes resumed scanning the room. She wore a contemplative frown as she did. "Hmm. Where could they…" She gasped, her face lighting up and her eyes sparkling. "There! There they are!"

Pom Pom blinked and looked in the direction Wendy was looking. When she saw the bracelets, sitting pretty on a smaller pile in the corner of the cavern, she let out a breath of relief. "Oh, thank goodness." She and Wendy went over. When Wendy picked up the bracelets, she laughed.

"Yep! These are mine alright! They look and feel exactly the same!" She gleefully put them back on her wrists and let out a hearty laugh. "Well! Let's get out of here and go back to the hotel so we can try to get some sleep." She started walking toward the door, smiling up a storm when…

"Wait." Wendy turned back to Pom Pom, blinking as she did. Pom Pom bit her lip as she started sweating. "I know I just said I want to get out of here as soon as possible, but… well…"

"But well what?" Wendy came back over to Pom Pom with a raised eyebrow. "What's wrong? Is everything alright?"

Pom Pom shook her head. "No." She gestured toward the door that led back out into the main cavern. "I just… feel really bad about Bink."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that it's really sad what happened to him, how Viv more than likely cursed him. Sure, he isn't the nicest guy, based on what I know, but I don't think he deserves to stay a skeleton. I think, if anything, he deserves to be put out of his misery."

Wendy did a double take. "So… you want to kill him?"

"Uh, killing is a really ugly word, but… more or less. I want to be able to help him find peace." She gripped her hand into a fist. "Viv caused me so much trouble. The least I can do is help someone who was also been ruined by her."

"I see." Wendy frowned. "Those are noble intentions, no matter how messy this situation is. But there is a problem with that, Pom Pom. You see, dry bones… they can't really be killed via normal means. They have regenerative abilities that are almost impossible to combat." She paused, and a smile slowly started growing on her face. "At least, for the most part…"

Without any other words, Wendy walked back over to the treasure. Curious, Pom Pom followed her. Wendy looked among the treasures, her smile growing larger as she saw what was there. "Yeah. Magikoopa spellbooks and wands… that's actually perfect!"

"Perfect? Perfect how?"

Still smiling, Wendy turned to Pom Pom with a noticeable enthusiasm, so strong in fact that she actually started shaking. "I know how to do it. I know how to kill Bink." Feeling hopeful, Pom Pom approached Wendy. Her hopes climbed to the ceiling, even though logically she should probably quell her expectations. When close enough, Wendy bent down and picked up both a spellbook and a wand. "Kamek once told me that there is a spell in the magikoopa spellbook that can kill a dry bones. It's a very complicated spell, as it requires a long incantation and a great deal of focus from the caster. But if done right, it can make the remnants of a dry bones's soul leave the animated corpse and go to the afterlife where it belongs."

Pom Pom smiled. "Well, I'm sold. Bink would certainly feel more at peace in whatever the afterlife has to offer him." Her face fell. "But there's a problem with that, Wendy. Neither of us are magikoopas."

"True. But that doesn't matter. You see, Pom Pom, when I was younger, Bowser and Kamek decided to teach me and my brothers how to do magic. And we were pretty good at it for the most part. We each had our own wands and could cast basic but effective spells. We even used some of those spells in boss fights against Mario. Sure, we haven't practiced magic in quite a while, but I still remember the basics." Wendy looked Pom Pom in the eye. "I can perform the spell on Bink!"

For the first time since entering the cave, Pom Pom felt excited. "Oh man, that's perfect!" Her face fell as she took the time to think more critically about what Wendy just said. "But didn't you say that the spell we need is pretty complicated? If you only know the basics, then how are you gonna be able to perform a spell like that?"

Wendy's face fell. She looked down at the wand and spellbook in her hands with a nervous expression. "That is a good point…"

Pom Pom whimpered. She looked back out into the other cavern. Did this mean she had to leave Bink stuck in this state? Stuck in a state where he was potentially suffering and no doubt caused other people a good deal of suffering? That didn't feel right. It really didn't. And sure, maybe Pom Pom shouldn't necessarily be feeling sympathetic towards Bink. After all, she was still recovering from the injuries he gave her back in the hotel. But, again, both of them had been impacted negatively by Viv's presence. Both were suffering in ways that most people couldn't comprehend. Something like that couldn't be unaddressed, it just couldn't.

Which was why what Wendy said next filled Pom Pom with hope. "But I can certainly try. I mean, it needs to be done, doesn't it? Not just for Bink's sake, but also for the sake of all the people who he's hurt." She gestured toward the treasure. "Like I said before, he must've killed countless people in order to get a hoard this big. He's ruined lives, ended lives, hurt people… all because of what happened between him and Viv." Wendy let out a breath. "I need to try this. I don't really have much of a choice."

Pom Pom sucked in a breath and nodded. "You're right." She smiled. "I know you can do it, Wendy."

Wendy smiled back at her. "Thanks, Pom Pom." She stopped. She looked behind Pom Pom and gasped. "AAH!"

Her blood running cold, Pom Pom swerved around to see what had made Wendy's scream. She gasped out loud when she saw Bink. Even without eyes, the gaze that he gave the two of them was cold and murderous.

But Pom Pom wasn't going to let that intimidate her. She put on a serious face as she pulled out her ninja star. "Wendy, you start trying to cast the spell. I'll take care of Bink."