Chapter 26: Forest of Fury
"Fawful, it is time! Those fools are about half a mile away, in the woods!" Cackletta shouts as seven torches are lit, centered around a pedestal on which lie the four jewels she has, along with her hand. She herself is attached to one of the jewels, just in case the heroes get their hands on them somehow because then she could conduct the resurrection herself. The building they are in is an old building that is in good order. Black is all along the walls and a chandelier of onyx is located in each and every room, with red satin carpet also lining the building. The mansion is huge, with three floors: the ground floor is used as the holding place of all of the gear for both Cackletta and the Apprentice; a pair of rooms for combat are on the second floor, one of which has a spell on it to take care of that little thing known as gravity (that one's Sharm's), while the other is very much like an archery range, complete with heavy crossbows mounted in the corner of the room (that's Bowyer's). The third floor consists of Fawful's bedroom as well as an open area suited for Mack's style of battle. Mack, Bowyer, and Sharm are all currently in their respective rooms, while the Apprentice is lurking around waiting for the heroes to show.
"Of courseness, Cackletta. It is being about timing!" Fawful pulls out something the Apprentice picked up for him earlier, a small red cane, and waves it, instantly disappearing in an explosion of fire.
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"Sure is spooky here," Goombella mumbles while her, Koops, Vivian, Eggo, Ms. Mowz, and Yoshi all walk through the woods. Ms. Mowz is leading the way as she's the one reading the map (this time Goombella actually gave it to her), the others not speaking much as they take in the ever-present feel of the fact that it is do or die. Flavio is back at the boat; he had used the excuse of needing to keep anyone from robbing it, though they all know that he was and is scared of what is within this thick forest. As they walk, they begin to hear the sound of feet running through leaves within the woods.
"Fury, fury, fury," a voice whispers in tune with the steps. All six continue to walk, all but ignoring the goings-on, instead keeping focused on watching out for sneak-attacks. As they reach a fork in their path (with Ms. Mowz gesturing for them to head left), a sudden wall of fire emerges from before them, just a few feet shy of frying them. They turn to see Fawful standing, cane in hand.
"You shall not be stopping of the Cackletta!" he bellows as menacingly as someone his size possibly can. He raises the cane once more, this time causing fiery snakes to emerge from the air, lunging at all six and wrapping themselves around the heroes, pulling them to the ground. Immediately after this, Fawful walks over to Goombella and opens her knapsack, pulling out the three jewels and stuffing them into the pocket of his cloak.
"It has been being nice," he taunts before waving the cane once more, causing the snakes to dissipate. All six stand up once more.
"I don't know who you are," Eggo mutters as both he and Yoshi aim a pair of eggs, "but you're not going to resurrect Cackletta!"
"Wait!" Ms. Mowz shouts out, stopping either side from launching an attack. "I'm sorry to say it is my time to show my true colors!"
"What?" both sides wonder aloud. Ms. Mowz throws off her cloak before continuing.
"Sorry, old friends," she tells the other five heroes before turning to Fawful, "but I've been working for Cackletta all along! A spy, just to make sure she had me to turn to if ever a thing went wrong!"
"That is being preposterous, ratfink!" Fawful yells.
"I'm sorry to you, but Cackletta had to keep everything secret. The tiniest little rumor could cause the whole plan to fall apart, you see!" she answers him.
"YOU FILTHY TRAITOR!!! I'LL KILL YOU WITH MY BARE H-" Eggo starts to scream but is cut off.
"I'm afraid it is time for me to fulfill my calling of performing the resurrection of Cackletta now," she laughs sinisterly. She and Fawful turn away and as they begin to walk to Cackletta's residence the heroes see her reaching one hand into the pocket he put the jewels into. After getting what she wants, Ms. Mowz pushes the bean to the ground and runs back to the other heroes, stuffing the jewels back into Goombella's bag as quickly as possible.
"Err... Eyahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!" he cackles menacingly, much to their confusion.
"What are you laughing about?" Yoshi asks, confused. "We've got the-"
"No, you are having jewels of fakeness! The actual thingings have been sent to the great Cackletta of greatness withing the Wand of Zomb! The resurrectioning will be going on right nowness! But you six will not be living longenough to experiencing the excellence of Cackletta's reigning!" Fawful raises the staff high and, just as a blue ball of fire begins to emanate from it, a green figure comes flying from nowhere and tackles the Bean, sending him tumbling to the ground with the cane landing several feet away.
"Luigi!" Yoshi reacts, much to the others' surprise.
"Hurry up! I'll keep him busy here! You have to get there before Cackletta can come back!"
The other six say nothing and instead run forward as fast as possible. They reach the mansion, the door wide open as though it is inviting them in. They all go inside.
"I'll stay here and keep watch," Vivian tells them. "I see anything, I'll come warn you guys."
"Good," Koops answers for everyone. All but Vivian run into a room where creepy candlelight is emerging from. They enter and immediately see a short figure with a black cloak on, kneeling before the platform, where all seven jewels are now placed.
"Haka sute alu! Manu secera resurac!" she yells out, obviously in the midst of the resurrection. She stands up and says one last word, "Cackletta," before turning around and leaving the room, heading back to where Vivian is. As the other five are about to follow, they see a golden light shoot from the hand.
"No..." Ms. Mowz says simply for the group, "We... failed."
Cackletta's soul emerges from the black
jewel and begins to circle around the beam of light before entering it.
Suddenly, the light spreads further and fills the room for just a second
or two, fading away to reveal Cackletta... alive.
Chapter 27: The Apprentice Revealed
Fawful punches Luigi, sending the plumber
toppling to the ground, staining the overalls he is wearing with mud and
grass. It is starting to rain as the two fight, almost as though the weather
wanted to make sure the environment was
as tense as could be.
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Vivian stands, looking outside at the forest, watchingin case someone else is to show up. As she stares, she hears a voice call from behind her, "Vivian!" The Shadow Siren turns, seeing the cloaked figure of the Apprentice standing behind her, all of her body obscured from vision.
"I've gotten one goal down, Vivian," the Apprentice tells her as both her hands begin to cover in green liquid, "Cackletta is alive."
"You succeeded?" Vivian asks, sounding both shocked and disappointed, "Well, you know as well as I do, ‘Apprentice', that there is still hope to defeat her."
"Don't you think I know that? But they don't, and I'm afraid I will not permit you to interfere in my life's work!"
"Your life's work? What about-"
"Shut it, Vivian. Do you know how long I spent, how much time I devoted, to making that work?! And then Mario and you and Luigi and Peasley and everyone else on the so-called "good" side just sweeps in and ruins it all! There is no true good or evil, Vivian. There are shades of gray, and you so-called ‘heroes' fail to see that! Everything happens for a reason, and some good comes of everything, and yet Mario and Luigi and Yoshi and Peach and everyone else all failed to realize this! I've seen it happen to Bowser, to Smithy, to Popple, to the Shadow Queen, to the Shroobs, to Wario, to Grodus, to Ludwig, to Cackletta, to me, and even the idiot, and I am sick of it!"
The Apprentice turns around for a second to compose herself, then turns around to see Vivian holding... a crossword puzzle?
"What on Plit is wrong with you, woman?!" the Apprentice shouts out as the green goo is overrun by ice. "Did you not understand a word I just said!?"
"I just figured that, since you are apparently pretty smart, you could help me out with this one I'm stuck on. Can you give me a word for an ugly old woman?"
"I'll kill you!" Both launch into a fury of trading punches, a flurry of fire and ice blazing through the air, but neither side can score a hit. Vivian eventually pulls into the shadows in order to get a few feet away, and the Apprentice moves back a few feet in the opposite direction.
"Just tell me this: why Cackletta?"
"Simple. I wanted to prove that none of my failures have been my fault, but always on the head of those simple-minded fools I've worked for!"
"So that's it, huh? Endanger the world just to prove you're not incompetent? That's kinda extreme, isn't it?"
"What about you, Vivian? What, did you think that Cackletta was just going to kill all of existence once she took over? Or that Bowser would? Or the Shadow Queen? The only so-called ‘villains' that truly fit that mark are Smithy and the idiot, but it's the point of the matter!"
The ice around the Apprentice's hands suddenly disappears, and they instead start to glow a bright yellow.
"Just because you feel like you're being wronged doesn't mean-"
"Shut up!" the Apprentice yells as a gigantic yellow block materializes from her hands and launches at Vivian, with Vivian incinerating the block as it is about to hit.
"You..." Vivian starts, a bit surprised by seeing such a strange attack being employed by the figure before her.
"What's the matter, Vivian?! Block got your tongue?!" the Apprentice shouts as another block launches forward, hitting Vivian and knocking her to the ground, the block busting on impact. The Apprentice enters the shadows, reemerging right over Vivian. The Apprentice locks both hands around the girl's throat, and just as she is about to send her hands up in ice and kill Vivian right on the spot, she stops.
"End it," Vivian moans, knowing tempting the Apprentice will likely help to stop the planned homicide.
"I will," the Apprentice says, considering it once more before rising off of Vivian and saying simply, "I prefer an actual fight. And I know you're capable of it, Vivian. I know it."
Vivian pulls herself up, then begins to fire balls of fire at the Apprentice, who creates a block shield to repel them. Strangely, she also makes a block appear in front of Vivian, shouting, "If we're gonna have a shootout, I don't want to make it one-sided!"
While the Apprentice charges a ball of ice, Vivian suddenly rises from the shadows and tackles her to the ground.
"What can I say? Unlike you, I have everything to lose and nothing to gain," Vivian taunts, holding the Apprentice by her right arm with her right hand and using the left to push the hood off of the Apprentice's face.
"Just who I thoughtcha were," Vivian says as she lays her left hand over the Apprentice's left arm.
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"Beldam."