Flipped (Super Paper Mario SWAP AU)

The S.C.C. (19)

Peach, Prince Mario, King Boo, and Bleck all waited patiently for Pierre to put the Chaos Heart fragment away so the next dimensional door would open, allowing them to continue their journey. Though King Boo and Mario were tired, Bleck made it very clear that they weren't allowed to stay behind and take a break.

"It would be nice if I could have, like, a fraction of his energy," Mario breathed. "Pierre's, I mean."

"Yeah," Peach muttered. She furrowed her brows slightly as she thought about the mysterious red-cloaked man. He always seemed just a little odd. Like a teenager who had too many cups of coffee. Yes, he was an ancient and was essentially the leader of Flopside, but how did that happen? Where were the rest of the ancients? How come no one looked like him? "Yeah... Pierre?" she asked, looking down at Bleck with a slightly curious expression. "What's his story?"

Bleck didn't even pause to answer.

"He's the guardian of the Dark Prognosticus, of course," Bleck quickly replied with a chime.

"Yeah, I know that. But... why him? I mean, I've been on countless adventures, and I know I've mentioned this before, but usually, that role goes to a wise old guy with long white hair or something..." Peach trailed off. "No offense."

"Oh, well I guess this adventure breaks that stereotype," Bleck shrugged. "If you think about it, we're breaking a bunch of stereotypes here. I mean, the people fighting for darkness are usually the bad guys in a lot of stories."

Peach nodded. It did always seem odd, but she understood that going too far on either end of the light vs. dark spectrum could place anyone on the bad side. The distance between good and evil as never a solid line, it was more like a circle. Light and dark both had the potential to be good or bad.

"How does he know the countess?" King Boo asked. "When I was there in her castle, she talked about him occasionally, and not very politely. Is he her ex?"

"What does that mean?" Bleck asked innocently.

"Did they ever date?" Mario clarified. "An ex is someone a person used to love—"

"EW, NO! OF COURSE NOT!" Bleck gasped, utterly appalled that King Boo would ever think such a thing. "No, no, no, no, no, NO. Never. I don't know why she hates him so much, but that is NOT the reason! No, Pierre doesn't want a girlfriend or wife or anything, he's made that very clear."

"Alright, alright, sheesh," King Boo said, holding his arms up defensively. "Touchy subject, I guess."

"Very touchy. Don't go talking to him about love," Bleck said. "You could make him sad, and I hate when he's sad."

Peach furrowed her eyebrows slightly. Why was love a touchy subject for him? Did someone break his heart at some point? He was usually so happy, he didn't look like he was being weighed down by some kind of grief.

Bleck just stared at her a moment, then floated closer and gently placed himself on her shoulder.

"Sorry. It's just... I asked him what love was once, and he couldn't tell me. He's always so happy, but he was so sad when I asked," Bleck breathed. "I've never really told anyone this but...sometimes I too wonder who he is. He's talked about all the amazing things ancients are supposed to do, but he seldom talks about himself or what happened to the rest of them."

"Wait, huh?" Prince Mario questioned, somewhat surprised. "You don't know who he is?"

"Well, all I know is that he's an ancient and he guards the Dark Prognosticus," Bleck admitted. "He's not very good at magic, but he claims he used to be better. And he has to be somewhat powerful. He cast a spell or something to make it impossible for me to use my tattle ability on him. There used to be two tribes, the Tribe of Darkness and the Tribe of Ancients. The red cloak means he's from the Tribe of Ancients. It's something they used to wear, different colored cloaks based on different positions. I never got to see either tribe, though. We've been here waiting for you guys as long as I can remember."