"Well, you did say be ready to rock, so..." R.D. said, pulling out his weapons and connecting them to form the Phase Lance, keeping it deactivated for the time being. "Well, let's get this show over with."

"Not NOW!" Matt hissed, as R.D.'s movement attracted attention. He pushed the Phase Lance alongside R.D.'s side. "You're gonna freak everyone out!"

He noticed how everyone was looking at him. "Ah, crap." Facing the crowd, he raised his hands. "Everyone, do NOT worry!" He reached in his pocket and produced the special ID he was given. "This group is on official Beanbean Kingdom business! Everyone please resume what you were doing, and we'll get out of your hair as quickly as possible!" He flashed the most charming smile he could muster. "Thank you."

"You done making an ass of yourself?" Hugo asked.

"Hey, it ain't my fault, okay?" Matt answered.

"Look!" Helena said, pointing past Matt and the now-resumed crowds. Over by a round circle of benches stood a group of Toads, surveying the area. They were knit in a tight ring around a young, elegant woman:



"Is that Princess Peach?" Helena asked Mario, who nodded enthusiastically.

"Excellent," Matt said. He slid his hands in his pockets. "Let's go meet her-and act CASUAL."

R.D. rolled his eyes at Matt's antics. As if people were gonna care about what he held should all hell break loose.

"Yes, act casual," R.D. said sarcastically, "As if I knew how to act casual."

Kalmar began walking towards the small house, exhaustion settling into his bones. He looked at Blazen and Blane, deciding he was too tired to respond.

They reached the house and Kalmar quickly pulled the door open, looking around for potential threats but seeing none.

He turned to Blazen, "I'm going to lay down for awhile.. but first i'm going to raid the fridge. Anyone game?"

"Oh, you've certainly proven that," Matt said, his chuckle covering his irritation.

But Mario and Luigi had already swept past Matt and walked up to Princess Peach with big waves, waves that made all of them smile.

"Mario! Luigi!" The princess stepped out of the Toad circle and caught the two in a wide hug. "It's good to see you!" Her eyes fell on Matt and the others. "Oh! I see you've brought some friends."

"My name's Matt," Matt offered, looking over his glasses as he always did when conversing with strangers. "Me and my group volunteered to help Mario and Luigi getcha escorted to Beanbean Kingdom."

Peach shook Matt's extended hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

After the greetings were done and over with, R.D. looked about.

"Probably happen any moment now," he muttered, again drawing the stares of the group.

"You're doing it again," Matt remarked in singsong.

"I feel it too," Helena remarked, placing her hand on Matt's shoulder.

"People, I'm the only one with Awesome Sense here," Matt joked. "You're all just posers." He couldn't hold back the smile, a result of what was probably a pretty funny remark, if only to him.

Hugo humphed. "Matt, don't be stupid. You know Cackletta's lookin' for the princess."

Peach kneeled, examining the strage robot that was Hugo the Mettaur. "What kind of creature are you?"

"Explain later," Hugo replied. "Right now we need to get out of here and get you somewhere safe."

"Yes, you're right." Rising, Princess Peach looked to Mario. "Shall we?"

It was at that well-timed moment that a large, distant window shattered, spilling shards of glass over the crowd, instilling righteous panic.

"Told you!" R.D. yelled at Matt as he spun the Phase Lance overhead while activating it. He threw out a barrier over the crowd to prevent injuries from the glass.

"Never a dull moment, eh?" Alasea said as she drew her short swords.

The Toads crowded around Peach in the best defensive circle they could muster, with Mario and Luigi standing protectively in front. As the crowd run amok toward the doors, Matt brought his fists together and drew his energy blade. "Never a dull moment."

Fawful flew in through his newly repaired headgear, followed by a gangly, imposing figure:



"Well, well, well..." the figure drawled, in what could be considered a voice stereotypical enough for a witch. "I can't thank you enough for leading me to the Princess, you foolish plumbers!"

"Cackletta, I presume?" Matt asked.

"And who are you?" she answered.

Matt smirked. "Hired help. All the same, we ain't gonna stand here and let you get the Princess."

Cackletta's reply was loud, high-pitched laughter. "I'm afraid you won't have a choice!"

She snapped her fingers, and they rushed in through the open doors-hordes of disfigured bean monsters, some with wings, some on their own two feet, all looking for carnage, the only thing they knew.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Alasea exclaimed. The teen girl raised her short swords up and started picking the creatures off with concentrated flame rays, punching lethal holes in the monsters.

"Sorry to burst your bubble," R.D. said, bringing his Phase Lance around, "But it's time for you to die."

With that, he shot forward, his weapon cleaving through the enemies with ease as he moved towards Cackletta. When he got close enough, ge leapt into the air, coming downward and slashing viciously with the Phase Lance.

"Kid, you really do need some help," said Kite who came up next to Blane.

Meta and Gilgamesh tried to make sure no arrow hit them. The shield surprisingly protected them rather well, though Meta needed to block a few with her blades.

"Well, that was a surprising change of events." Gilgamesh commented.

As R.D.'s Phase Lance smashed into Cackletta's head, she suddenly burst into smoke.

"Damn it!" Matt shouted, swirling around toward Princess Peach-but the witch had already appeared behind Peach, and seized her.

"Mario!" Peach shouted before Cackletta covered her mouth. As the witch began to float off, Mario ran foward, jumping off top of a Toad's head to get to Cackletta's level. In a bold motion he produced his hammer and prepared to swing.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Cackletta hissed, and took her hand off Peach's mouth to fire a bright purple lightning bolt at the plumber's chest, sending him tumbling to the ground to Luigi's visible dismay. "Eh heh heh heh heh!"

Matt drew back his flat palms, eyes on the fleeing witch. "Gum-Gum..." As he swung both of his arms, they stretched to incredible lengths, seeking to strike Cackletta with the edge of his hands. "Pincer Movement!"

A well-placed shot from Fawful smashed into Matt, his enlongated limbs flailing uselessly as he was sent flying.

"I'm afraid I must be going!" Cackletta laughed, as she hovered toward the door. "I've got a Beanstar to awaken! Eh heh heh heh heh!"

"Power Shotgun!"

Hugo's energy blast streaked past Cackletta just as she flew back through the shattered window, Peach firmly in tow. Fawful fired a few more shots before following as well.

"Damn!" Matt shouted again, swinging relentlessly through the thick monster crowd. "We gotta go after her!"

Behind Matt, beans were smacked away with great force as Helena, transformed out of fear, stormed the enemy forces.

"God dammit!" R.D. growled, "Let's mop up here, calm down Helena before she eats somebody, and figure out where the hell they went!"

Matt let the others clean house-he had the more pleasant task, smacking himself to the wall as unlucky beans flew past him. "Helena!"

She withdrew her long tail and growled at him. He raised his hands, and slowly walked foward. "Come on, kid. Calm down. Everything's cool." He played it cool, and it definitely worked, as the dragon before him retracted her hostility, allowing him to get closer and rest a hand on her horned head.

"Make sure your brother doesn't get too close," Hugo remarked to Mario as Luigi cowered behind him. "She's pretty mean when she's like that." The Mettaur glanced at R.D.. "Hope Peasley's still keepin' tracks on that bitch."

"Same here," R.D. replied, picking off the remaining enemies with energy beams, "'cause when I find that bitch, I'm gonna rip her a new one."

"Well, I'll be damned," Matt remarked, holding up Helena's clothing, which he had surprisingly managed to repair from the shreds Helena had reduced them to. "I actually FIXED it this time." He stepped over to the large wall of rock he had created, and bent his arm around it to hand the clothes to the girl behind it. "Here you go."

"Thanks...sorry for the trouble..."

"No problem."

The Tods were beginning to panic by now, and as Luigi performed his best to calm them down (with varying degrees of success), Matt rejoined the group. "Okay, people...there ain't any time to get back to Beanbean Castle, so R.D.-" here he pointed at the teenager in question- "I want you to set us some GPS thing or something, find out where they're headed. Hugo-" here he pointed at the Mettaur- "when we get where we need to go, I'm gonna need you to get these Toads to a safe place and watch over them while we throw down."

"Fine." Matt expected a more vehement reply, but hey, this worked. He turned to Mario and Luigi, the latter looking up from his failed attempts to cheer up the Toads. "You ready for this, guys?"

With a cheer, Mario and Luigi slapped each other's hands, and did the same with Matt.

This was not wise, as there was a sudden flash, and all three were thrown across the room.

"I'm not sure if I can do that, but I'll try," R.D. said. When Mario, Luigi, and Matt made a high-five, however, and were blown across the area, he rushed over to Matt as Alasea checked on the two plumbers.

"Okay, what the hell just happened?" He asked Matt as he helped him up from the ground.

"...ow." Matt lifted himself up as best as he could, holding his head. "That's new."

Mario also managed to recover...while Luigi looked comepletely knocked out. With visible worry, Mario shook his brother's shoulder.

Which promptly caught on fire.

Luigi wailed as he leapt up and running about with his hands in front of him, his shirt now on fire. Matt stepped in front of Luigi. "Calm down, man!" he shouted, but that wasn't enough as Luigi crashed right into the boy while he ran, slamming into him with his open hands.

Which promptly electrocuted the lad.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Matt shouted, engulfed in lightning. He grabbed Luigi's arms and dropped to the floor, the sudden shift in weight causing Luigi to roll foward until he hit the wall.

The smoke from Luigi and Matt's smouldering clothes set off the sprinklers.

"...I hate my job," Matt muttered as the rain came down.

***

Later, when everyone was outside and dry again...

"I'm guessin' that when I hit your hands, it set off a random elemental discharge," Matt theorized as they stood near the car. "I guess that's how you can do that. Dunno how long it'll last but it could be helpful, I guess."

Mario formed a ball of fire in his hand, and shrunk it to nothingness. "Mario's power shall be called the Firebrand!" Matt declared in a melodramatic voice. He looked to Luigi, who so far had hesitated to try his electrical power. "And your power shall be called the Thunderhand, Luigi!"

"Did you have to give them stupid names?" Hugo asked.

"Yes."

"SHUT THE HELL UP!!!" R.D. roared at the speakers in the group.

He had finally snapped, as for the past half-hour he had been trying to get a lock on Cackletta's life-force signature, and between Mario burning Luigi, Luigi electrocuting Matt, and Matt's melodramatic tones, he wasn't getting anywhere with his concentration being broken every couple of minutes.

Edited by RisingDragon on January 19, 2007 at 18:07:59.

"...is there a problem?" Matt said, with a sideways glare at R.D..

"Yeah, there's a problem," R.D. snapped, "With all of you talking, it's making it pretty damn hard to track the bitch. So unless you'd like to come over here and help me, keep your mouth shut."

The group remained silent for several moments, with R.D. concentrating hard. It eventually came to him.

"Gotcha, bitch," R.D. muttered. "Come here, Matt, and see if you can fine-tune this so we can go after her."

"I suppose asking nicely is out of the question..." Matt muttered underneath his breath, walking over. "...got it." He pointed northeast. "That way."

"So, how are we getting there? Anyone have a fast ride?" R.D. asked the natives.

"What's that?" Matt deadpanned, throwing his thumb over his shoulder to point at the car they were standing near.

"Matt, that's not fast enough," Hugo said.

"Not yet it's not." Walking over to the car, Matt raised a hand. "Radical Good Speed!" As he hit the hood of the car, it was drastically reformed, its body becoming curvier and hi-tech, a loud pink paintjob complimenting the affair.

"I'm drivin'," Matt said, sliding into the driver's seat. "Want shotgun, Helena?"

"Okay."

R.D. blinked at the warped car.

"... I have this feeling in my gut," he confided in Alasea, "That this is going to end rather badly."

"Agreed."

Edited by RisingDragon on January 19, 2007 at 21:36:48.

(Morph/Juno, I'm supposing the fight is over, if not, pm me or something and I'll edit.)

"No more birds, it sounds like..." Poncho said, speaking to himself. "Just voices...let's see here...they can either be villains acting kind to one another, or a group that I'll help on the condition that I'm partnered with someone who could at least tell me where the hell I am..." He sighed and put his gun upon his back once again. He had taken down a few hawks already, so stood up and began walking towards the voices. It would turn out that they acknowledge him, he runs into one of them, or ignores him completely and keeps walking. "Well, I have two-third odds..." he chuckled a bit to himself as he began his slow walk towards them, making sure to not do anything to throw them off of what he truly is like say, tripping over a rock or the like.

"I'm right behind you for that fridge raid..." Blane said walking off.