Flipped (Super Paper Mario SWAP AU)

Shadow Casters (21)

"Are you finally done telling your stupid ghost story?" Prince Mario asked once King Boo and Bleck caught up to him and Peach. "Bleck, you didn't have to sit through all of that. They're all just made-up tales he uses to pass the time and freak people out."

"Oh, shut up," King Boo laughed. "And for your information, the little pixl liked it. I think I'm his favorite."

"I don't have a favorite," Bleck corrected. "And if I did, it would be Peach. But I really did like the story... it made me think. About myself. And that was strange."

He seemed to shake the thoughts off, then floated out in front of the group. "We're approaching the Whoa Zone. The Chaos Heart fragment is near, I can feel it!"

Peach let out a sigh of relief. As fun as flying was to her, she was starting to miss the ground. That was her home, after all. She liked feeling rooted and grounded in the world beneath her. Fly too high, and you just might get lost.

Daisy used to talk about flying. It was her dream to explore the stars while Peach dreamed of exploring the world.

Peach missed her friend dearly. The heroine hoped to find her sidekick soon. They needed her to be that fourth hero. When Peach thought of heroes, Daisy was the only other name that came to mind. They were best friends, almost like sisters.

When the heroes made it to the Whoa Zone, the gravity seemed to turn back on, bringing them back down to the ground. Prince Mario seemed slightly disappointed while Peach let out a sigh of relief. Bleck and King Boo both remained unaffected as Peach and Mario set their makeshift space helmets aside, no longer needing them. The Whoa Zone looked different from the rest of outer space too. It was cleaner and brighter. The gash in the sky was easier to make out, likely because of the lack of debris. Plus, in the rest of outer space, there were so many stars and streaks of light that it was hard to tell which ones were supposed to be there and which one was the gash made by Countess Tippi.

"We need to be careful," Bleck breathed. "Some know this place as the Space Graveyard."

"Oh, that reminds me of a tale when—"

"No, you already told one space-themed ghost story!" Prince Mario exclaimed, cutting King Boo off abruptly.

The ghost king scoffed at him but fell silent.

"Anyway," Bleck awkwardly continued. "Pierre explained this place to me. He said that legends claim it consumes all who enter. He instructed me to avoid it at all costs."

"Well, it's a great thing we're heading in, then," King Boo laughed.

"We've got no other choice," Bleck said. "The Chaos Heart fragment, I can sense it in here... and at the end of the day, what's worse; going against one of his wishes, or failing to get that fragment and letting him down?"

"Bleck's right," Peach said. "We wouldn't just be letting Pierre down, we'd let everyone down. Everything is riding on this adventure, the fabric of all our worlds. We can't turn back because of a scary legend."

Bleck nodded proudly at her as she pushed forward, taking the lead. Not that it was something she needed to take, she had been practically assigned the role of the leader from the moment the adventure started.

The Whoa Zone felt like a maze, but Peach was used to dealing with mazes. And, as luck would have it, King Boo was fairly skilled in creating the said mazes Peach often dealt with, so the two of them proved very useful in traveling through the strange place. King Boo hated to admit it, but sometimes it felt like maybe they really could make a good team. If they were friends, of course, which they weren't. The moment this adventure ended, he was going to go right back to being the main bad guy. It was what he was born to do. Or, more accurately, what he died to do.