Chapter 9: What You Desire
The Apprentice stands in front of the podium, talking to her leader. "...And that is what happened."
"So, the real thing wasn't even there, huh? Hmm... Well, this is good for us. At the Gateway you should be able to take out both Deathnify and those four zeroes, assuming you arrive late enough."
"Good. Now then, about what I am doing all of this for..."
"Oh, that. Well, my dear Apprentice, you will get what you desire just as soon as you finish my resurrection. And you shall have the power as well."
"Added bonus, I suppose. Still, as you know, the only reason I started working for you was to get what you promised."
"I am aware. And judging by how well you've done everything, I can tell that you want this much more than I originally thought."
"And remember, I want to do this alone with none of your minions or you."
"I understand. Don't worry about it, Apprentice. Now then, those so-called heroes should be leaving for the Dry Dry Desert about now. Head for the lab and take it out."
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"Tell me what you know!" Ludwig shouts as he walks into a laboratory in Rogueport. "Whose hand was that who was stolen!"!
The Beanbean researchers in the lab gasp and begin attempting to escape, obviously terrified that a large Koopa who happens to be the king of the area they are in has come in demanding they give him top-secret information. As the men run, Ludwig grabs one by the throat and raises him into the air, more than ten feet off the ground.
"Whose hand was it?" Ludwig asks again.
"I can't tell you that!"
"Wrong answer!" Ludwig yells as the Bean's back is slammed into a wall.
"AUGH!!!" the Bean screams in agony upon impact.
"Wanna try again?"
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Popple and Peasley are walking through a hall in the ship when they see an odd creature that looks like Knife Guy, Grate Guy, Cloaker, and Domino all rolled up into one.
"I say, what are you two doing on my ship?" asks the creature of the two Beans.
"Your ship?" asks Peasley. "This is Johnny's residence!"
"It was," replies the creature, "but he recently moved north. I don't know where exactly, but from what I understand Hinopio of the Barrel Volcano has seen him and has an idea of where he may be."
"Ugh," Popple yells. "I can't believe this! Just when I was about to gain my vengeance! Fine, Peasley, let's go."
"Not so fast," the creature breaks in. "Anyone who boards the ship that belongs to me, Gojira, without permission must suffer the consequences!"
The creature withdraws a katana, and Peasley and Popple both sigh before pulling out their own swords.
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Goombella, Koops, Eggo, and Vivian sit at a table inside a restaurant in the Dry Dry Outpost, talking while waiting for the waitress to get their food to them.
"Okay, the Dry Dry Ruins should be easy enough to find," Goombella begins, "but this other pyramid will take a while."
"Right. So, anyone know anything about this Golden Diva?" Vivian answers.
"Well, I know some things," replies Koops. "Apparently she was first uncovered by Wario, who defeated her and stole a ton of treasure."
"Anything about the map?" asks Goombella.
"He didn't find the map. It is apparently behind some type of secret door that is really hard to notice."
"Well, good thing there are four of us," replies Eggo. "Should be easier to find."
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Doopliss is on the phone, talking to Lady Lima once more. "Yes, I understood that Prince Peasley has gone missing. No, I do not think Ludwig's taking him hostage. Hold up, hold up. You think something may have happened to him? Come on. You know he loves adventure and all that. He's probably out looking into this stuff that's been going on with the hand and all that. Yeah, true, he would've called, I suppose. Are you sure you can't at least consider assistance? Well, all right, I suppose I could give you some more time to think about it. All right, bye."
Doopliss hangs up and sighs. "Peasley having gone missing is horrible to my plan. I hope they find him soon, because there's no way I can stop Ludwig without the Beanbean Kingdom's help."
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The Apprentice moves forward throughout the Forever Forest, looking for E. Gadd's laboratory. "I must find it... I must get this over with... I must have what I desire."
As the Apprentice passes an old mansion (not the one Bow lives in), she hears a voice behind her. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here merely to destroy E. Gadd's lab, and I'll be on my way," the Apprentice replies, not turning around.
"Not if I have anything to say about it."
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"Tell me whose hand it was!" Ludwig yells, again slamming the Bean's back into the wall.
"All right! Just stop this, I beg you! It was Cackletta's!"
Ludwig merely chuckles and drops the Bean onto the ground. The Bean begins to crawl away as quickly as possible, as he's taken far too much damage to walk or even stand.
"Thanks for your help," the Koopa King
replies as he walks out of the lab.
Chapter 10: A Scorpion and a Mouse
Peasley leaps forward, slashing at the bizarre creature that now inhabits the ship that once belonged to Johnny Jones. Gojira rolls backwards, then springs forward, kicking the Beanbean prince in his stomach. The creature's legs land behind him, and he immediatly raises- backwards- into a standing position.
"You two are foolish," Gojira says to Popple and Peasley, "Before you come charging into an area, do your research on what all is there. Useless advice though, I suppose, as this shall be your last memory."
And with that he launches forward at Popple, who ducks and takes a stab at the jester-like being as he passes over. Gojira lands on his feet, holding him stomach.
"Nice to see at least one of you has some knowledge of battle, it is. So, do you want to fight me one at a time or shall I call in a reinforcement to make this even?"
"Reinforcement?" Peasley asks, confused. "I know for a fact that the spirits onboard this ship will obey no man. And I doubt that the King Kalimari would be any more willing than they."
"You are Prince Peasley, correct? Heh heh. You don't think that I would move into here without a few bodyguards, do you? Because if so then you have no business being the future ruler of the Beanbean Kingdom. Of course, a country so horrible is deserving of such a slow-witted prince. Now then, come, Black Scorpion #5!"
Just after Gojira says this, a tall, somewhat disproportionate figure walks into the room. He wears a black hood and a robe to match, and no part of him besides his hands are visible. His hands indicate that he is either human or very close to it.
"This is it?" Popple asks, chuckling. "No sweat. We'll take care of you both easily enough, you cocky clown-thing."
The creature responds by merely tackling Popple to ground. Black Scorpion #5, meanwhile, begins punching Peasley in a frenzy, hitting the Bean's jaw numerous times. Peasley repeatedly attempts to use his weapon to attack in response, but the Scorpion is moving much too fast to keep up with.
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Goombella, Koops, Vivian, and Eggo stand up, having just finished their meal.
"That was good," states Goombella. "Bit dry, but all right. Well, anyway, shall we be heading out?"
"Not quite yet," answers the Yoshi. "I say we need to stop by the prison here first."
"Did you just say the prison?" Goombella asks, trying to make sure she heard correctly.
"Oh yeah, how could I forget?!" Vivian asks herself out loud. She then turns to Goombella and says, "Goombella, the prison here is where they are keeping Ms. Mowz!"
"Where they WERE keeping Ms. Mowz, you mean."
The four turn to see a small white Little Mouser standing on a crate above them wearing a red mask. Her tail is shaped like a heart which, though quite odd, actually looks fairly normal if you don't look at it hard enough to tell it's a heart.
"I escaped," the mouse says to the four, who are looking confusedly at her. "So nice to see you all again!" she then shouts, jumping down and whipping out a green robe, which she then tosses around herself quickly to keep herself hiddren from any locals who might recognize her. The four heroes run up and commence in a group hug with the thief, then turn to serious matters.
"Are you sure that you'll be safe just because of the robe?" asks Goombella of Ms. Mowz, sounding a bit nervous.
"Relax. They don't even know I'm gone; all of the police within the Mushroom Kingdom have been called by Ludwig to go find Cackletta. Everyone escaped and trust me, they'll be looking for murderers and such first of all, not people who didn't pay taxes. It'll be years before they even bother to come looking for me and by then I'll be out of the country. I've got plans to start a new badge shop in the Beanbean Kingdom anyway. Plus, they've been so intent on catching the Pirate Hunter that there've been days when we weren't even given dinner due to them being busy with investigating it."
"What was that about Cackletta? I thought she was dead!" Vivian replies, shocked.
"She is. Her hand was the one that was stolen. I overhead some guards talking this morning, and then a bunch of us got together and put together an escape plan. I take it that you all are working to stop her apprentice, then?"
"Of course. That would explain the bat in Glitzville, and that fifth person," Koops responds.
"Who's Cackletta?" asks Eggo. Goombella turns to the Yoshi.
"Five years ago, Mario and Luigi went to the Beanbean Kingdom to get back Peach's voice, which had been stolen by Cackletta, who was a Beanbean witch, and her bizarre-speaking apprentice Fawful. They defeated her in the Woohoo Hooniversity, but as she was approaching death Fawful sucked her energy into a special helmet he invented, which was also the helmet that had been used to steal Peach's voice. The ghost of the witch was put into Bowser's body, creating the monster Bowletta, who kidnapped Peach, who as it turned out hadn't had her voice stolen after all- it was actually a Birdo in disguise. The Marios got her back then went into Bowser's castle, and defeated all seven Koopalings, who were tricked into working for Bowletta, believing he... she... um, it to be their father. They then went on to defeat Fawful just outside of Bowser's throne room. After a timely assist from Prince Peasley, who killed the Bean by knocking him out of the castle and into the ocean, the two continued. They fought Bowletta and were eaten, but they retained enough stamina to survive. Inside of the creature, they fought and destroyed Cackletta's ghost, which left Bowser's body and this realm."
"Now we know what we're up against, at least," Koops says about the Cackletta subject. "But from what I understand she isn't exactly a light-weight. Cackletta's the real deal."
"Well then," says Vivian, "shall we be heading out?"
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The Bean walks into the Twilight Woods
slowly, dragging himself through the canyon which, at the rate he is going,
would take weeks, rather than using the trail. As soon as he gets into
the woods, he collapses, lying on the ground suffering of hunger, thirst,
and fatigue. His hair and beard's silver color reflects the moonlight off
of them as his eyes close.
Chapter 11: Then I Was Alive
As the Bean sleeps on the dirt path leading to the Creepy Steeple, which is about a mile away from his destination, he remembers so clearly why it is he is so exhausted and taking so long. He fingers the red jewel hanging by a string around his neck as he dreams of it...
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The Bean limps up the steps of the old mansion, exhausted at having finally pulled himself there but still ecstatic to reach that destination. The door is cracked slightly and, much to his surprise, he sees a fgure standing inside.
"Hmm? Is that so? Who is it then?"
"Just a group of three has-beens along with that fighter in the Glitz Pit known as Gonzalez Jr."
"Heh, that's it? I expect them to get one, maybe two, before us, but the rest... all ours. Now get going to the site of that pitiful King Boo's old mansion. There is where you shall find the Midnight Mansion where a demon known as Deathnify holds the Jewel of Memories."
"Cackletta, if you expect me to get these jewels easily then it'd probably be best to tell me all of their locations right now," says the Apprentice to her leader.
"Certainly," replies the deceased bean-witch, "in addition to the jewel we have and the one in the Midnight Mansion, here's how they go: the yellow jewel, the Happiness, is in Flower Fields, possessed by a Crazee Dayzee hiding there named Insanee Dayzee; the blue jewel, Sorrow, is in the sunken ship that once belonged to Captain Jonathon Jones and is in the possession of the King Kalimari; Love, the pink jewel, is buried underneath a hotel on Isle Delfino; Death, the black jewel, is in the possession of a creature known as Gateway that resides within the Gate; and finally, the red jewel known as Anger is held by the Ninji of Star Valley, and is buried deep beneath one of the houses, which, of course, could take days or even weeks to find because of having to go house to house just to find it."
"Good. I'll have to make a point to ensure that I collect them all before those fools get that worthless map."
The Bean, upon seeing and hearing this, turns away and thinks, Walking in now would not be smart. I shall though retrieve one of them - the Anger one - and bring it with me to here.
The man turns and slowly limps back down the path.
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Peasley goes for another slash with his rapier at the Scorpion, who again punches Peasley before the blade is slung.
What am I going to do? Peasley wonders. Must I wait for Popple to offer some assistance?
Popple, meanwhile, is having troubles of his own, as Gojira has the Bean on the ground, clawing away at the thief-turned-pirate's face.
"Peasley, a little help would be appreciated!" the Bean yells out as soon as Gojira takes a moment to rest.
"I'm not- oof!- in a position to- augh!- help out!"
Peasley then realizes something while dodging the punches. If I can't beat this guy... and Popple can't beat Gojira... then maybe we can try this the other way around!
Peasley kicks the human in the gut and then runs over, kicking the strange jester off of his Beanbean sorta-ally.
"Thanks," Popple utters to the Prince whilst resuming a standing position.
"You're welcome, but there's no time for that. You try working with Scorpy; I'll handle the freak."
"Deal!"
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The five heroes walk through the halls of the pyramid, looking very carefully for the door that will lead them to the map.
"This door could be a little hard to find... Whaddya say we split up?" Goombella suggests.
"Good idea. There are only eight main passages around here anyway, and five of those are down here on the ground level," replies Vivian. "Of course, there are many more passages that branch off of those, but it shouldn't be too hard to find our way around."
"Exactly."
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Wendy walks into the official kingdom lab, seeing that Iggy is sitting at his desk with his head lying on the table, obviously asleep.
"Iggy!" the female Koopa yells, startling her older brother and causing him to jump up in shock before seeing Wendy.
"Oh, it's you," Iggy mutters. "What is it he wants this time?"
"It's not something that he in particular wants, but I that need to do something he wants."
"And that is?" Iggy asks, reluctant to start inventing something new.
"I need the keys to the Cloudrunner, that is all."
"Oh," Iggy replies, relieved, before
taking the keys off the desk and tossing them to his sister, who catches
them quite easily. The female Koopaling nods in appreciation and turns,
walking out of the room, intent upon doing what she has been instructed
to do.
Chapter 12: Fallen
The Apprentice looks over her shoulder as she continues onward, looking at the nonmoving body of Flurrie.
"That settles that," she tells herself as she continues farther into the Forever Forest. "That foolish girl should've never tried to attack me."
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Vivian travels through the halls of the pyramid, looking around for any sign of an odd door, or perhaps the Golden Diva herself.
"I wonder what else lurks within these halls. Certainly the Golden Diva is not without protection."
The Shadow Siren continues further down the passage, eventually reaching a large empty room with nothing inside. Vivian sighs. "A dead end. Perfect."
The Shadow turns around and gasps as a giant teddy bear with a mouse on top of it comes flying down at her.
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Beldam goes through the Forever Forest, looking around for something.
Now to get what I came here for, the eldest Shadow Siren thinks as she continues her search for what she came to find.
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The Apprentice continues throughout the forest, finally reaching what it was she came for.
"You'd think that those pitiful four would have something a bit more impressive," she mutters whilst staring down the old shack. "Of course, they won't even have this in a minute."
The woman slams the door open and enters the room. She turns her head to see Frankly and Gadd rushing up the steps, and merely freezes both of them. The Apprentice goes down the stairs to the lab and once inside begins to mercilessly destroy everything in sight.
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Aerodent looks down at the Shadow Siren, who is laying on the ground following his attack.
"What's the matter?" the mouse asks of Vivian in a teasing tone. "Not big enough to play a real game?"
"You wish," Vivian yells in response as she resumes a neutral position. The Shadow then begins to lob balls of fire at the mouse, who merely dodges the blasts.
"Nice try, but you'll have to do much better than that."
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Ms. Mowz walks through the Sapphire Passage, looking around for the door and, of course, treasure.
"*sigh* I think Wario took all of it when he came here."
It is then that the rodent hears what sounds like the wings of a bat flapping. The noise comes from inside of a dark room a bit further ahead of the mouse.
"I wonder what's in there... well, who cares? I'm betting there's treasure! Or at least the Golden Diva!"
The thief charges into the room.
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Goombella walks into the final hallway of the Gold Passage, seeing nothing but two doors: one of these doors is straight ahead, while the other is a sealed off door that leads to the level Wario beat to get to the Diva.
"I think I found her," Goombella tells herself as she walks down the hallway slowly. The Goomba enters the room and inside discovers herself face to face with the strange floating creature that is the Golden Diva.
"All right, Diva, tell me where the door containing the map is and I'll, like, leave you alone and stuff!"
"Oh dear," the Diva replies sarcastically, "a Goomba school teacher who thinks she's some kind of hero! What am I ever going to do?"
"Why can't you just tell me where the map is? I really don't care for fighting."
"I do," the Diva replies, changing from her joking, sarcastic voice to a voice sounding just as evil as she herself is.
"Fine then." Goombella leaps at the Diva, who merely slaps her away.
"You're kidding, right? For someone as smart as you are, you are certainly too headstrong in battle. You need to think before you strike."
"Oh, I always hated villains who give you advice while you fight them!"
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The Apprentice flutters into the room in which she communicates with Cackletta.
"Did you do it?"
"Yes, I did, Mistress. And I have an
unpleasant surprise planned for those fools when they arrive here, whenever
that may be..."
Chapter 13: Grow Up
"So, what shall I do for now, Mistress?" the Apprentice asks of her leader. "You said it yourself that we might as well let them have the one held by that pathetic squid, and unless they're there as well then going to the Gate would be a suicide mission."
"Simple, Apprentice," Cackletta replies. "There is a Bean that my minions have spotted sleeping in the woods near Twilight Town. Find him and bring him here for interrogation."
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Popple throws another fist at the Black Scorpion, knocking the man to the ground. Peasley, on the other side of the cabin they're in, has Gojira pinned to the ground with his sword held to the creature's throat.
"All right, are you gonna let us go in peace or will we have to kill you?" Peasley asks of his opponent. Popple, while keeping the Black Scorpion pinned to the ground, watches this curiously. He's falling for it even more quickly than planned, Popple thinks before turning to his captive and pulling the mask off of him.
"Waluigi?" Popple questions. "Why would you be working for a guy like this? And what's with the funeral get-up?"
"If you must know," answers Waluigi bitterly, "I took a job working for Gojira after Wario retired to a private island on Earth using the money he made from WarioWare. I had nothing better to do, so I joined up with Gojira and I now guard the place."
"What happened to Black Scorpions 1 through 4 anyway?"
"KIA."
"That sounds pretty cool. Maybe they'd let me joi-"
"Popple," Peasley yells from across the room while still holding down Gojira, "it means 'killed in action'."
"Oh."
"Well, go ahead then," Waluigi says to Popple, "add me to the list. I won't complain about the inevitable."
Popple thinks for a second, then gets up off of Waluigi. Peasley does the same on his side of the room.
"Nice to see you're not as merciless as I," Gojira mutters to the two while pulling himself to his feet. "If we had won instead of you, the two of you would surely be dead. Well, you may go ahead and leave. We will not hold you back further."
Popple and Peasley both look about ready to reply to this comment, but instead just turn and walk away.
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The Bean sits on a log in the woods, having recently eaten a few plants in order to gain some stamina. He is ripping out his hair and beard in a blind frenzy filled with insanity.
"You, who are you and what are you doing here?"
The Bean turns around and sees the Apprentice staring at him.
"I repeat: who are you and what are you doing here?" she asks as a ball of ice begins to develop around her hand. "Cackletta does not accept trespassers. State your intentions or, well, get ready to be an ice sculpture."
The Bean apparently doesn't bother listening as he continues to rip his hair out. Once almost all of it is gone, the Apprentice is stunned at what she sees. "You?! Come with me. Cackletta will most definitely be elated to see you!"
The Bean stands up and follows, continuing to rip his hair out as he moves forward. As the two walk on, the Apprentice notice the jewel hanging around his neck.
"You grabbed one of those before you came? Excellent. Cackletta will be that much happier."
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"Take that!" Goombella yells as she kicks the Golden Diva in the face, again to no avail.
"Give it up, girl. You cannot defeat me."
"Wanna bet?" Goombella shouts in return before beginning a string of headbutts on the Diva. Once more, little damage is done.
"I grow tired of this," the woman yells as she points her fan at Goombella and waves it slightly. A strange wind comes out of the fan and lifts the Goomba into the air, and the Diva promptly smashes her fist down over her, knocking the teacher back to the ground.
"Face it, dearie," the Diva says as Goombella angrily pulls herself to her feet, "you are worthless. You're a pathetic little rodent who, despite the fact that she is a Goomba and not a particularly tough one at that, believes that she can do anything. You've got about ten seconds to grow up and face the facts: in the real world, heroes do not prevail. Heroes fall to the might of those who contain true power, such as me!"
"No, you're wrong!" Goombella furiously yells in response. "Sure, evil may win a few battles here and there, but in the end good will always prevail!"
"Oh, like your friend Mario 'prevailed' against Bowser?"
"That's it!" Goombella jumps into the air and once again kicks the Diva, this time knocking her back-first into a wall.
"Nice shot," the woman replies while holding her back for a second, "but you'll need about 100 more if you are to have any prayer of defeating me!"
Goombella launches another kick, which the Diva blocks before knocking the Goomba back to the ground.
"Face it, girl. You signed your own death warrant when you decided to fight me."
"Again with the cliched phrases? Come on, you washed up old hag."
"What?! How dare you?!"
Hearing the Golden Diva's reaction, Goombella begins to think of something, Good, I've got her mad now. All I've got to do is figure that into my strategy...
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Ludwig stands in the Royal Graveyard of his family, walking among the tombstones of his ancestors, looking for one in particular. He eventually comes to a stop at a rather new-looking tombstone. Very few weeds have formed around this particular stone, and the stone itself is not cracked at all.
"Dad," he starts, talking to the grave, "I don't know how you handled it. I always thought that, you know, I'd be a perfect leader for the Koopa Kingdom because of my intelligence, but it is hard to hold everything together during a time like this. I swear, I don't know who it was that killed you, but the murderer will be brought to justice eventually, I swear it. But between those invading Ninji, who've already managed to conquer most of the Mushroom Kingdom, and the return of Cackletta, I find myself in a rut. Everyone seems to be pointing fingers at me, and I have no doubt that the family will be overthrown if I do not do something fast. And if that were the case," he breaks up, tears starting to form at the thought, "then I would not consider myself worthy of being buried along the likes of you and our forefathers."