A large, black cloud funneled out from the top of King Boo's current residence, protecting it from the harsh desert sunlight. This anomaly in the weather was visible from a long distance, popping out against the barren landscape. It stretched out for at least a mile; everything and everyone it covered became chilled to the point of shivering and turning black.

"So, this is his solution to the constant light?" Luigi asked rhetorically, once they were under the cloud. He whistled. "Impressive, almost."

"Why the 'almost'?" the Potion Master asked.

"Because... Do you want the long answer or the short answer?"

"Uh, nevermind," she shook her head.

"Alright then." He set his suitcase down and rooted through it. "Well, since we can't just drag the guy out to the light, we'll have to make our own!"

Luigi pulled from the suitcase his "L-Brand Transference Gloves" and put them on. He let out a small test flame from the palm of his hand. Good, they still work after being stabbed, like, seventeen times, he thought.

Luigi lit a small flame to guide their way, and advanced with the Potion Master not far behind. The small light cast odd shadows around the dark place, making the atmosphere all the more eerie.

"So, why does King Boo want you dead so much? It doesn't make a lot of sense to me," the Potion Master asked, attempting to make conversation.

"Well... For some reason, a while ago he decided it was a good idea to trap my brother in a painting..." He paused at the puzzled glance he got from the Potion Master. "Yeah, I know, it's weird. I got help from this scientist named Professor E. Gadd to get him free and defeat King Boo, plus his lackeys at the time, but he didn't seem to think that harassing me once was enough. He tried to get these pieces of something called the Dark Moon, but, once again, that didn't end well for him." He shrugged. "I guess he's just stubborn."

The Potion Master tilted her head. "You have a brother?" she asked.

Ugh, why did you have to ask? Luigi thought. "Yeah..."

"Oh, do you have a bad relationship with him or something?" she asked with sympathy.

Luigi sighed. "No, he's a great guy, believe me! He's kind, he's smart and keeps a cool head. Well... It's just that, whenever I mention him, everyone always compares me to him, and it makes me feel really small."

They walked in tense silence for a moment.

"H-hey, I think I see the mansion in the distance! We're almost there!" the Potion Master said excitedly.

Luigi didn't respond.

The mansion, unlike a proper place of villainous residence, did not stand tall, proud, or menacingly. It seemed to labor just to keep from collapsing in on itself. The wood was rotted, nearly every glass window was smashed, and weeds gnawed on the cornerstones. However, out of all of this, the most noticeable thing was the winding black tempest that seemed to grow from the weakchimney at the top.

"This is the place?" Luigi asked, speaking for the first time in a while.

"Yes, this is it," the Potion Master responded.

"It's kinda...sad," he said. "I mean, his old place at least looked like it had some life to it, but this is just...pathetic."

"A little, yes..." she admitted, pushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

Luigi shut the fire from his gloves off and gently pushed the door open. Part of it came off on his fingertips as moist residue. Oh, that's just disgusting, he thought, his face screwing up instantly.

The inside of the place was even worse. If not for the shade of the cloud overhead, all of the inner walls would have disintegrated by now, but instead they had come apart only halfway, making a crazed maze of wallpaper and moist plaster. What might have been carpet before was now merely a thick layer of fuzz atop of a thin wood base. The smell of mildew was stark andunmistakable. Once again, something stood apart in stark contrast from the rest: a large, metal wall with steel doors stood in the middle of the house, blocking the middle of the house off.

When Luigi tried the door, it was locked. "Don't worry," the Potion Master said, digging through the pockets on her dress. "King Boo gave me a key, just in case I got locked out. Oh, and be prepared. It's gonna look a lot different on the inside."

"Gotcha," Luigi said with a nod.

The Potion Master pulled a tiny key from her pocket and slid it into the key hole. It turned smoothly, and was out a second later. She gave Luigi a quick glance before pulling the door open.

Luigi wasn't sure what he was expecting, but it sure wasn't what he saw. Behind the door was an entrance hall that seemed to be ripped from Bowser's castle, only it was ten times as luxurious. The floor and walls were obsidian with deep purple carpets lined with gold thread. The hallway lead to another enormous door adorned with a giant painting of King Boo. Soft piano music played from a distance.

"What...the...?" Luigi murmured as he took in his surroundings. "When did... How...?"

"I'm just as baffled as you. The place changes with his moods, but there's one constant: how to get to his quarters, which is where he's keeping your prince," she explained. "I get the feeling he's trying to intimidate you."

"No shit- I mean, yeah, definitely," he murmured with a swift shake of his head.

"Heard that," she said shamelessly.

At the end of the long hallway, Luigi hesitated in opening the door. The large painting hanging on the door looked like it was ready to pop open and release the monster upon them right then and there. He swallowed, and quickly opened the door. When nothing happened, he motioned for his small partner to continue along with him.

The next room was equally lavish, and had two winding staircases: one to the east leading up, the other to the west heading down. To the north was a door labeled: "Do Not Enter" in fine cursive. Behind them, the large door slammed shut.

The Potion Master smacked her palm to her forehead. "Ugh, I forgot, the soldiers from the Beanbean Kingdom... Listen, we can either get the Beanish people free from the basement before or after we rescue your prince, but not at the same time. They're on opposite ends of the... Uh, can't really call it a mansion at this point... Castle?"

"Oh, they're alive? That's good, but I wonder..." Luigi said, then took a deep breath. "Potion Master, could you do a huge favor for me?"

"Yes?"

"Could you... Could you help the Beanish soldiers so I can face King Boo?" he asked, making direct eye contact with her.

There was a long silence. Many emotions passed on the Potion Master's face. Indignation, rage, sorrow, humility, then cold determination. "Yes, I will," she said. Then, unexpectedly, she grabbed his hand. "Good luck, Luigi. You'll need it."

The Potion Master then ran down the stairs and out of sight.

Yeah, I'll definitely need it, Luigi thought with a shiver. With a pit in his stomach, he ascended the opposite stairs.

At the top of the stairs was a plain, wooden door with a small amount of light coming out from under it. After dropping his suitcase by the door he entered the room slowly, carefully.

This room was definitely the source of the piano music, as there was a grand piano sitting in the dark room, playing by itself. This wasn't very out of place in the ghostly environment. The only light in the room came from a fireplace at the far end of the room.

"King Boo! Are you here? I know you're behind this, so come out and face me!" Luigi yelled. His voice echoed for a few moments.

"Luigi?! Is that you down there?" Luigi heard Peasley cry from above.

Luigi looked up and saw Peasley dangling from a rope that was tied several times around his arms and torso. He kicked uselessly, making the rope swing back and forth precariously.

"Peasley!" Luigi called, grinning. "Hold on, I-I'll get you down as quick as I can!"

Just as he was thinking about how to rescue his prince, a dramatic ring of blue fire lit around Luigi. Shrill laughter filled the room as the temperature fell drastically.

"You idiot!" the shrill voice called. "You fell right into my perfect little trap!"

Luigi looked around, flames curling from his gloves. "Where are you?!" he demanded.

The smoke from the blue fire started to curl towards one common direction: right in front of Luigi. It quickly formed an orb that small stubs of arms grew from, and a face appeared in. A bright light on top of the orb formed a crown, finishing the picture: King Boo, in all of his horribleness.

"Right here!" he shrieked.

Immediately, Luigi shot fire at his opponent. The fire went straight through the ghost, who turned invisible and flew through Luigi. The hero's body seized up, but otherwise he was fine. Or so he thought, until he realized that he couldn't move his fingers. The gauntlets were malfunctioning and starting to spark and smoke.

"Oh, shit!" Luigi cursed and threw the gauntlets on the ground. They promptly exploded.

"Hah! Where are you now, without your fancy science gloves?" King Boo demanded.

"My... My hard work..." Luigi said softly. He felt himself tear up a little bit. He whipped his head around and pointed at King Boo. "I'll kill you again, you monster!"

The Potion Master, for the tenth time, shoved the key into the lock on the dungeon cell. It wouldn't turn. "Ugh! It just won't go!" she groaned to one of the captive soldiers.

"Maybe you could get one of our spears and break the lock?" he suggested.

"I tried to get your spears beforehand, but that door wouldn't open either! It's like the locks..." She smacked her palm against her face again. "He changed the damn locks."

"Well, perhaps I could help you?" said a voice from the darkness.

Dimentio popped into view, grinning slyly. He held a silver key in his hand.

"You! How- When did you get here?!" the Potion Master demanded. "I thought Luigi made you go home, or something!"

"Wait, who's he? Was he with Luigi?" one of the Beanish soldiers asked.

"Well, yes, he told me to go home, but I didn't exactly listen to him, you see. I don't take kindly to orders," he explained. "Where is he, by the way?"

"Fighting King Boo," she answered. "Uh, the Ghost King, to clarify. Luigi and I made an alliance." Her eyes narrowed. "Hold on, where'd you get that key? I thought that-"

"WHERE ARE YOU, YOU DAMN THIEF?!" yelled Xylantha from upstairs.

"Oh my god, of all people, you took her key? Come on, you could have taken Clarence's, he's a big wuss!"

"Oh, you'll see why in a moment," Dimentio said with a smug grin. "For now, take this." He tossed the Potion Master the key and turned invisible.

Xylantha sailed down the stairs, hardly using her cane. "Y- You!" she panted, waving her cane at the Potion Master. "You sneaky, conniving...child! I thought you left!"

The Potion Master stared at her, her mouth slightly agape. She sent a telepathic message strictly to Dimentio: "This would be a great time to come out, you know..."

"Don't play dumb with me! I tried to defend you from being overworked, I cared about you, and this is how you pay me back?" Xylantha demanded.

"I'm sorry, I'm very confused," one of the Beanish soldiers said. "What in the world are you talking about?"

Xylantha glared at him. "You! You're not involved this! Shut up!"

"Well, that's not very kind of you," Dimentio said, appearing from the shadows, surprising no one but Xylantha.

"Dimentio? You're...alive?" she asked with soft disbelief. She suddenly grinned, picked Dimentio up, and swung him around. "Oh, it's so good to see you!"

"Ack! Put me down! This is embarrassing!" Dimentio protested. Evidently, this wasn't what he had in mind.

While this was happening, the Potion Master unlocked the cells containing the Beanish soldiers. She didn't paticularly care about Xylantha or Dimentio, seeing as they both seemed to beambivalent to her.

Xylantha dropped Dimentio back down and sighed. "Where have you been? I thought you were dead!"

"We can talk later," Dimentio said. "Right now, I need you to help me out."

"If by 'help you out', you mean kick King Boo's ass, I'm all in," she said. At Dimentio's puzzled face, she continued, "Like you said, we'll talk later. I'm sure we both have a lot of questions."

For the third time in the last few seconds, Luigi was thrown to the ground. With shaking knees, he rose up again. Before he could make another move, he was raised into the air by King Boo with a simple raise of the ghost king's arm.

Unlike before, King Boo laughed and said, "You know, this is way more fun than I thought it would be!"

"You're a sick bastard!" Peasley yelled from above.

"Oh, shut up, you. You were just bait, and frankly, I'm shocked you've survived so far," the ghost king said, then shrugged. "You know, this kind of gives me an idea. At first I was just going to kill you, Luigi, and torture you as a ghost until I got bored." He then motioned to Peasley. "And toss your useless body into the desert. But now, I'm thinking, why stop here? I mean sure, the Boos left me because they thought I was insane, but I'm good enough on my own! Besides, there's the Parasite Queen and my little demon spy-"

"You...dumbass..." Luigi choked. "They don't care about you or your cause... Hell, Clarence isn't even actually a demon! How could you not tell that already? Real demons are like, pink and wear business suits. I'm pretty sure it's pronounced 'D-man', too-"

King Boo strengthened his vice grip on Luigi, making him gag. "Silence! Do you know what you did to me?" he screeched. "After you defeated me for a second time, they decided I wasn't worthy to rule anyone, and all of the Boos left me for some loser named Lady Bow - I think that was what they said - and sent me far from my home! I had to wander this wasteland until I couldfind someplace where the heat wasn't so excruciating and make this storm cloud."

"Oh, like you didn't deserve it!" Prince Peasley yelled from above. "You're a horrible person!"

For a second, while the King's concentration was broken, Luigi felt the incorporeal grip around his body loosen. In that instant, he gave a quick nod to Peasley as if to say, Keep him distracted!

Peasley caught his nod. "Not-Not only that, but you're a coward! If you had any real sense of how to rule, you would have taken control of your people; though they had a very good reason to not like you. I mean, if I were a ghost, I would already be unhappy, but with your bad attitude and poor decision making, I'd revolt too."

"You know nothing of governing the dead!" King Boo hissed. "It's much more complicated than meets the eye-"

"Oh, sure it is. But I hardly believe that people's core desires change when they become a ghost," Peasley paused. "And you know what? On the previous subject of loyalty, you did a piss poor job on that, too! Your current subjects aren't loyal to you at all! If you don't take Luigi's word for it, I heard them talking behind your back. Xylania- I mean, Xylantha lied to you about the 'infected beings'. They died! All of them! Not only that, but she thinks that Clarence shouldn't be afraid of you. No one should, really-"

"Silence! Shut your mouth!" King Boo screamed and slammed Luigi against the ground multiple times in frustration. A mad grin spread over the king's face. "You-You thought you could distract me, or something like that? That will never work! I have a will of iron!" He burst into crazed laughter.

"Wow, you're- You're worse than I thought..." Luigi coughed, barely seeing out of a new black eye. "Not only obsessive, but crazy, too!"

King Boo shrieked to beat an upset child and dropped Luigi unceremoniously onto the ground. Luigi slammed his hands over his ears and groaned.

Wait, I can move! he realized. He grinned slyly and raised a shaking hand to aim. Just a few shots of lightning should do him in...

King Boo suddenly noticed his mistake. "Wait, no!" he shrieked.

One flash.

Two.

Three. After the blinding light faded, only King Boo's crown, lying on the ground, remained.

"You know, if I had thought it was as easy as that, I wouldn't have followed you."

Luigi turned his head, still lying on the ground. Dimentio was casually leaning on the wooden door frame.

"The heck are you doing here?" Luigi asked, then coughed.

Dimentio shrugged. "I figured I would bust in and dramatically save you at the last second, but I thought it would be way more fun to watch you get beat up."

"Luigi?" Peasley called from above. "Who's that?"

"Oh, this is, uh," Luigi struggled to his feet. Dimentio teleported over to support him. "Dimentio. You know, the ghost?"

"Oh, huh. Speaking of ghosts, where's King Boo?"

Luigi glanced around. "Huh. He kinda, I dunno, faded into nothing after that third shock." He shrugged. "Now, how am I gonna get you down from there...?" He glanced at Dimentio. "I mean, it's not like I can, I don't know, fly or something."

Dimentio frowned at him. Luigi grinned weakly. "You can't make me do anything, you know," Dimentio muttered.

"Yes, but I can ask you very politely, and know that you'll probably do it," Luigi said, still grinning.

"That's not true at all."

"Hey, prove me wrong."

"Oh, many thanks, Miss, uh-" Peasley started.

"Xylantha."

Dimentio and Luigi both snapped their heads to see Xylantha carefully lowering Peasley to the ground with psychokinesis. The rope had been cut by something. Luigi noticed that Xylantha's staff had a blade at the end of it.

"That woman! Hey, get away from him!" Luigi yelled, baring his fists.

Before he could run over and get in another fight, Dimentio caught him by the collar. "Don't worry, we're old friends."

"Oh, so you do know her, and she wasn't just lying to intimidate me - which, of course, wouldn't have worked at all, mind you - that's good." Luigi gave Dimentio a suspicious look. "Why didn't you want to talk about her, then?"

Dimentio ground his teeth. "Because she's...embarrassing."

"How so?"

"Dimentio, is Prince Peasley your friend?" Xylantha asked, walking over with the prince. "I mean, you could have just said that from the get-go, and I would have-"

"Actually, I don't really know him all that well," Dimentio said hastily. "Not to change the subject so suddenly, how are you here? I mean, we're many light years from where you live."

Xylantha sighed. "Let me show you." She and Dimentio walked off.

"Wait, what are you two even talking about?!" Luigi asked, calling ineffectively after them.

Peasley suddenly embraced Luigi tightly. "Luigi, you defeated King Boo and saved me!" He kissed Luigi soundly on the lips.

"Oh... No-No problem..." Luigi said weakly, blushing bright red.

"You like that?" Peasley whispered in his ear. "Then you can guess what I'm gonna do to you when we get a moment alone..."

"Uh, should I come back or...?"

Luigi glanced down at the Potion Master. "I, um, did you guys a favor and sent those soldierguys back home, you know, just in case... You didn't, you know... Come back...?"

"Who's this kid?" Peasley asked.

Luigi sighed. "This is the Potion Master. She's...a mute telepathic magic child..." He shook his head. "God, all these explanations and interruptions are starting to make my head spin..."

"It's fine, I feel the same way," Peasley said. "I think I heard King Boo and Xylantha talking about you," he said to the Potion Master. "It's nice to meet you."

"I mean, we did meet before. I was wearing a plague mask and kidnapped you, remember?" the Potion Master said. "It's fine. Xylantha said she and Dimentio would be waiting for you in the wormhole room."

"Okay, thank y- The WHAT?!" Luigi exclaimed. "What do you mean by the wormhole room?! I didn't see anything like that around here!"

"What? I'm almost certain I mentioned the wormhole room to you. You know, the room with the terrifyingwormhole where Xylantha and Clarence came from?" She got a blank and slightly horrified look from Luigi. Peasley just looked at her expectantly. "Not ringing any bells? Really? Huh." She rubbed her chin. "You know, that door between the stairs that you completely ignored? That's it."

Luigi nodded slowly. "Thanks..."

"Not a problem," she said, and gave him a little salute.

As Luigi and Peasley left the room, they held hands. Luigi wouldn't have admitted it, but he was slightly leaning on Peasley.

"You know, next time you save my life?" Peasley said as they descended the steps. "Try not to get so beat up, okay?"

"I hope there doesn't have to be a next time," Luigi said. "I love seeing you alive, but hopefully I don't have to be the only one keeping you that way."

Peasley shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, what if we start a thing, kinda like what your brother has with Princess Peach and Bowser? I've always wanted to try my hand at being a damsel in distress." He giggled at his joke.

Luigi shuddered. "You know, I may have once thought it was great to be like Mario and live fast like that, but I think only once or twice is fine for me."

"Heh, I thought you would say something like that," Peasley said. "Say, is that the aforementioned wormhole room?" He pointed at the door with the "Do Not Enter" sign.

"Yeah, probably," Luigi grumbled.

Luigi and Peasley entered the room and immediately stopped in their tracks. The wormhole, in fact, was a giant rip in reality that showed endless stars and a blue planet with a strange purple atmosphere. The edges of the rip were glowing in a pattern in all the colors of the rainbow. Dimentio and Xylantha were silhouettes against the bright glow.

"...And now, he's after this world, too," Xylantha said, leaning on her cane.

"I see. How long do you think we have?" Dimentio asked.

"I don't know. If I can stall long enough, you won't have any problem at all. If I can just get the universal thread and fix this, he'll never get here in the first place. But..." She shrugged. "If I can't,I'll just stall against him as long as I can. Start off rebellions, break his charms in strategic places... I'll do my best."

Dimentio nodded solemnly. "So he's taken over the whole planet? I'm impressed. Not even the King over Chaos could have managed that."

"Why do you say that? He could have if he wasn't murdered so long ago." She paused. "What's with the look?"

"It's nothing, nothing!" Dimentio said, laughing nervously. "Oh, hello Luigi, Prince Peasley! How much of that did you hear?"

"Something about someone after this world?" Luigi asked suspiciously.

Xylantha sighed. "Yes, the Prince of Null and Void. He's taken over the planet where Dimentio and I are from." She motioned at the orb shown in the rip. "He's a power-hungry maniac, but a smart one. He's placed charms over everyone in charge before him so that they would obey him without fail, and those he didn't, he killed. I was pretending to be loyal so I wouldn't have to die and still keep my free will. Clarence is one of his true followers. We were both, ironically, feigning loyalty to King Boo as an excuse to keep the rip open. I have no idea how he did it, but the idiot managed to rip a hole in space/time, and we had to convince him it was what he intended."

"Wait, Dimentio, you're from another planet?" Luigi asked. "Is that why you don't have arms?"

Dimentio groaned and rubbed his forehead. "No, I don't have arms because- That's a different story."

"Wait, someone's going to come and try to take over our planet?!" Peasley exclaimed. "Why?!"

"I'm not sure," Xylantha said. "But that doesn't matter." She looked at the trio calmly. "If I were you, I'd prepare. He will not be an easy foe."

"Uh... You know, there are a lot more competent heroes out there then us," Luigi said nervously. "My brother for example-"

"Listen." Xylantha grabbed Luigi by the collar. "I don't care who's more competent in this world. You're the ones who know. Plus, you're Dimentio's friends." She smiled. "If you can keep that crazy guy from killing you at least twice, I think I can trust you."

"That's very specific," Peasley said. "Killing someone twice. Doesn't happen a lot."

"Actually, about that whole thing, he did kill me twice. Sort of-"

"STOP HAVING SUCH LOW SELF-ESTEEM!" Xylantha yelled. She paused, and set Luigi down gently. "Sorry, got a little frustrated there."

"Really?" Luigi said wearily. "Couldn't tell."

"Well, as much as I'd stick around, as I said, I've got some stalling to do," Xylantha said, adjusting her cloak. "Clarence has probably told the prince that King Boo's gone by now. Speedy little thing. Dimentio, I'll contact you when I can't stall him any longer. Good luck."

Xylantha stuck her hand in the wormhole, and disappeared in a flash of bright white light.

"I'm not crazy," Dimentio said sourly. "Why does everyone insult me so much?"

"Why do you think?" Luigi muttered.

"Say, where's my sword?" Peasley asked, looking around.

"Oh! It's in my suitcase, which...I left upstairs." Luigi sighed. "You guys stay here, I'll be right back!"

As soon as Luigi was out of sight, Peasley grinned indulgently. "So, you did it, didn't you?" Peasley asked.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean," Dimentio asked, not making eye contact.

"You told him about your feelings," Peasley said, his smile growing wider.

Dimentio glared. "How did you know that?"

Peasley laughed out loud. "It's all over your face! You're being much less...closed off, I guess would be the phrase."

"Well, what are you going to do about it? I told your boyfriend I loved him, and I've been curious about how you would react," Dimentio said.

"Nothing," Peasley said. "From what I can tell, you got rejected, so it doesn't matter. But hey, I don't mind you all that much, so it's not that bad. I mean, it could be, oh, Bowser or someone gross like that."

Dimentio stared at him. "Are you sure?"

"Definitely! Just don't go crazy about it, alright?" Peasley winked.

Luigi called from outside the room, "Got it! Let's get going, guys. This place is starting to give me the creeps."

"Agreed!" Peasley called back. "Besides, we clearly have bigger problems coming up," he said to Dimentio. "That's what I'll be focusing on."

As much as I hate to admit it, he's right, Dimentio thought. We all have bigger fish to fry, and we already wasted enough time. He snorted with a small burst of laughter. At least I don't have to say that out loud, though.

The Potion Master sat on the ground, staring at King Boo's crown. She picked it up off the floor and stood up. The jewels and bright gold dazzled her eyes and reflected her own expressionless face. She threw the crown on the ground and stomped on it. When only a small dent appeared, she stomped on it repeatedly and then kicked it across the room. She breathed heavily, staring at the now broken, useless piece of metal. The jewels were fragments. Probably fake in the first place, too.

I hope you got what you wanted, you vile, desperate creature, she thought.

Author's note

First of all: THANK YOU FOR READING! Sorry for the inconsistent posting, I've been busy with school and musical theater stuff. Thank you for reading and (hopefully) enjoying my self-indulgent fic.

Second of all: Yeah, it's kinda cheap dragging out the story into ANOTHER installment. I was originally going to write this story and be done with it, but then I started thinking about what would happen afterwards and how it would be kinda shitty to leave it where I was originally going to leave it. (Xylantha was going to be some big disgusting Princess Shroob esc monster but what's the fun in that?)

Thirdly: Yeah, there's fancharacters. I'm (not) sorry.

Lastly: The next installment WILL be the last. It will be titled The Universal Thread. You can expect it to be posted sometime this summer. Maybe. If I don't have a heart attack or something like that.

Once again, thank you for reading and have a great day!