Chapter 11: Double Smash

The doors swung open, and Riba looked forward. There, standing at the top of the castle's staircase, were Bowser, and Peachette.

"Bowser!" Riba shouted. "I've come to negotiate the return of my Memory Fragment!"

"Memory Fragment?" Bowser asked. "I don't know what you're talking about. If you mean the shiny thing, it's not going anywhere! I'm gonna pawn it off for enough money to make another vim plant for the one you shut down! Once I kill you!" Bowser jumped into the air and went into his spiky shell, and turning it upside down, he rammed it down onto the ground, with a burst of flame knocking everyone back.

Riba slammed into a wall, his vision cutting out for a second due to the impact. Bowser was stronger than he had anticipated. He wasn't exactly betting on Bowser sitting down with a cup of tea to negotiate. But he also wasn't expecting Bowser to be as strong as he turned out to be.

He saw Bowser charging for Len, who was on the floor writhing in pain. "Ungh..." She whined.

"Len!" Riba cried. He gripped his machete and ran forward. He remembered Mario was always talking about going go-karting and playing other games with Bowser. They seemed like frenemies at worst. So Riba kept in mind that he shouldn't hurt Bowser. But if worse came to worst, he wouldn't really have much of a choice.

Bowser looked to Riba as he approached. Bowser was snarling and breathing fire through his nostrils. Riba would simply draw him away with his blade. Not attack him. Surely not even a monster would be dumb enough to stay in vicinity of a blade. But to his surprise, Bowser stopped, and crossed his arms, smiling. "Huh?" Riba asked, stopping in his tracks. He then felt something hit him hard on his side.

Riba was launched, and fell face first onto the checkerboarded floor. He looked up to see Peachette walking over to him precisely and elegantly, as if she wasn't in the middle of a battle. "Aw... did I win?" She asked. Bowser grabbed Len, and gripped her tight in his hand.

Riba didn't know what to do. He knew his blade could very well kill Bowser and Peachette. But he couldn't... he wouldn't! But there was no way out. If he didn't do something... he and Len would be killed. Not to mention E. Gadd and the Toads. Riba gritted his teeth, feeling as if his chest was bleeding again, and reached for his machete. Wait... where were the others?

A sudden flash of light from behind Peachette sent her flying with a shocked expression on her face. "Aaaaahh!" She screamed. With her out of the way, Riba could see E. Gadd with a strange-looking nozzle affixed to his back. E. Gadd gave Riba a thumbs up, and Riba smiled, but then involuntarily collapsed from exhaustion. He wanted to save Len, he really did. But he couldn't in this state.

"I'll enjoy this," Bowser growled, squeezing Len tighter. And he wouldn't quit until he heard her break. Len struggled to get out of his grip, but to no avail. Without her powers, she wasn't all that strong. Just durable. She looked at Bowser with disgust. Ala-Gold sprang into action, running up to Bowser. "Huh? Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Bowser asked, letting up on his grip. Len took a gasp of air.

Ala-Gold sprayed pores into Bowser's eyes. "Agh! My eyeeees!" Bowser cried, throwing Len across the room and putting his hands over his eyes. Riba gasped, and ran over. Leaving Bucken-Berry to take care of Peachette.

"What are you doing?" Peachette screamed as Bucken-Berry walked over to her, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Get away! That's a royal order!"

"Not anymore it isn't!" Bucken-Berry reached for her crown, and plucked it off like a weed. In a golden glow, Peachette turned into a lowly pink Toad. It looked like they had won. But not without consequences. Len was injured.

"Len, are you okay??" Riba asked, looking over Len as the chaos died down.

"Riba...?" Len asked, a pained tinge to her voice.

Just then, the castle doors opened. Riba looked up from tending to Len, and over to see a man who... looked like Mario. He had the same nose, same eyes, and same hair and overalls. But he wore green rather than red. His moustache was different, he was taller, and his hat had an "L" on it. He had his eyes closed, and he looked exhausted.

"Goodness, it's such a pain getting to the castle nowadays," Luigi panted. He opened his eyes. "Bowser! Peachette! Something has gone---!" Luigi paused. He took in the scene in front of him. Well, Bowser was screaming and covering his eyes. Peachette, now just Toadette, was on the ground, crying. Professor E. Gadd and his assistants were in the room, completely fine. There was an injured girl at the top of the stairs. But most importantly, there was... Riba!

"Riba!" Luigi shouted. He took a step back. "What are you doing here?"

"Luigi?" Riba asked, not taking his gaze off of Len. However, in the back of Riba's mind... he thought... how was this possible? Mario had told Riba that he had killed Luigi... Riba thought it best to keep that tad of information to himself. Was Luigi a ghost? Or had the Luigi that Mario killed simply been a trick by the mansion that Mario... and by extension Riba... had been fooled by all this time?

"Oh my gosh... is that girl hurt?" Luigi asked. He ran in and up the stairs, kneeling down next to Len. Luigi reached into his pocket, and pulled out small adhesive bandages. "I'm sorry... it's all I had time to bring."

"Why were you in such a hurry?" E. Gadd asked. Riba looked over to Luigi confusedly.

"Your ghosts!" Luigi exclaimed, as he and Riba collaborated without a word to each other to patch Len up, with the Toads just watching over them. Len was badly hurt, but she would live. "Neville, Lydia, Chauncey... even Hellen Gravely and King Boo! The people at the lab I work at are trying to release them all... something about using them to find my brother... It's terrible!"

"The vault I've taken to keeping them all in is passcode protected," E. Gadd stated. "But it's only a matter of time until it's cracked by the scientists there. Those ghosts are out of control! They won't take orders from anyone, and once released, may use their paranormal powers to take over the world!"

Bowser sniffled, and wiped his watery eyes free of the spores that were making him cry. "Darn! That's not good," He stated, not taking any ounce of responsibility whilst knowing this was his fault. "Peachette! Tell them to call it off...!" Bowser looked around. "Is it just me, or is Peachette gone?"

"She must have snuck out---!" Bucken-Berry exclaimed.

"While we weren't looking!" Ala-Gold followed up.

"Well then, we have no choice," E. Gadd stated. "We need to go there and stop them, post haste!"

"Wait," Riba said. He knew what he was about to say was going to sound incredibly selfish. It probably was. But he felt he needed to say it. "What about my quest?" He turned to E. Gadd and the Toads. "I still need to find my Memory Fragments so I can find Mario again. You guys said you would help me."

Luigi had a look of disbelief on his face. "M-Mario?" Luigi asked, butting into the conversation, albeit with good reason. "You're looking for Mario? Do you have any idea where he is?" Riba didn't want to tell Luigi that Mario was dead, and that they were going after a reiteration.

"No, but Len does---" Riba stated. But then, he felt his heart skip a beat. He gasped. He realized, if Len was so thankful for him making her feel emotion, why was she still making him go on this journey in the first place in exchange for her reuniting him with Mario? Why was she still using him like a lapdog? Besides... even though they had a deal, even though both their lives were at stake, certainly Mario would be able to help with his apparent superpowers.

Was she ever planning on reuniting him with Mario at all? Why was she using his love for Mario like a dog treat? This thought and more raced through Riba's mind. "Riba?" Luigi asked. "Hey! Snap out of it! Please, I have questions!" Luigi whined.

Riba snapped out of his thought. He realized how stupid it probably was. They had made a deal after all, prior to all this. "Ah--- sorry, Luigi," Riba apologized. He was thinking all these selfish thoughts--- why?

"That's okay," Luigi replied. "But I'm coming with you on your journey. I need to find my bro."

"That's a good idea," Riba accepted. He couldn't help but wonder if Luigi had the same abilities as Mario. If so, he not only had great reason to accompany them on their journey, he could also be a big help. "Professor, Toads... you guys go to the lab. This sounds serious. I hope our paths cross again."

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Riba, Len" E. Gadd said. Len groaned in pain. "I too, hope we may meet again."

"Uh... bye," Riba replied. E. Gadd ran out the door.

"Wait! Don't forget me, too!" Bowser shouted. "Guys, I have a car! You don't have to run!" Bowser ran out the door, followed by a crowd of rowdy Koopa kids flying out the door in Clown Cars, nearly running over Riba had he not grabbed Len and gotten her out of the way first. "Fish boy, keep that control stick smokin'!"

A calm moment.

"Riba, look!" Luigi exclaimed. He pointed towards a bottle on the floor, with a glistening orb inside it. "Bowser must have dropped it on his way out." That's right! Riba had been so caught up in everything, he nearly forgot about the Memory Fragment itself.

"The fragment!" Riba whispered to Len, as to not alert Bowser that the Koopa king had dropped it. "Len, will you be okay if I get that Memory Fragment real quick?"

"I'm fine---" Len coughed. "Go, get it!"

Riba ran over to the fragment, and, pulling the cork out of the bottle, allowed the fragment to float out and touch his finger. Everything went white.