#karolyn

“Are you alright?” King Boo immediately asked Trouboole, holding one of the smaller Boo’s arms worriedly. All Trouboole did was nod absently, as he had turned to Ribboon and Roswell.

“How did you find us?” Douboole asked.

“It wasn’t possible without Roswell’s help.” Ribboon explained. “He made a device out of the blue creature’s necklace, and we used it to track you.”

“H-Hello!” Roswell squeaked, a bit intimidated by King Boo. The royal Boo wasn’t playing attention to him, however. He was instead looking to the cave’s exit, where Chrome was now arguing with Shellton.

“What do you mean, your sister’s the one who summoned these things?!” The Yoshi growled, getting in Shellton’s face. The Koopa whined and stepped back, but answered in as level a tone as he could muster.

“Karolyn, she... She’s not herself. After mom and dad died, she blamed everything on Bowser and the Koopa Troop. She... She hoped to use the Conquerors to get back at him, to take over the land and show him she was better--Without hurting anyone.

“But that’s not the Karolyn I know! She was kind and happy to help everyone... I stole her wand to try and stop the Conquerors, to show her this wasn’t the right way...”

“Fat load of good that did.” Chrome spat back. “The pink one got away!”

“There’s also a blue one,” Roswell added, walking over to the group. “He gave us his necklace, but he’s still out there somewhere. He apparently said he was going to warn his comrades about something.”

“That’s all of them, right? Then our job is more then halfway done!” Chrome said. “I poofed the green and black ones!”

“Hey! You wouldn’t have defeated the green guy without our help!” Douboole chimed in.

“And I believe I was the one who dealt the final blow to Black Ring.” King Boo growled.

“It doesn’t matter who defeated who!” Gilda cried. “We need to get out of here, before--”

Gilda did not have the chance to finish her sentence. A flash of pink light struck Shellton’s hand, making him fling the wand away from the group. Pink Tiara floated into the cavern, still looking smug. She made her way over to the wand and picked it up as if it were a prize.

“It’s almost as if I expected this to happen!” She chuckled. She turned back to the group, her yellow eyes burning into all of them.

“I never went to talk to Karolyn,” She admitted. “You see, being a creature of magic, I kind of know when something powerful like, say, a wand, is being moved around. So I knew you were coming, Shellton, and I was hoping you would take care of Bangle for me. Keeps me from having to get my hands dirty.”

“And Karolyn! No need to hide in the shadows! We’re all here just having fun, so why not join us?” She called. 

From the tunnel outside, Karolyn cautiously stepped forward, revealing herself. She had apparently been chasing after Shellton.

“Great work back there, taking care of Blue.” Pink Tiara giggled. “But he didn’t have his necklace with him?”

Karolyn was quiet for a moment, then shook her head in response. Blue Necklace had not been wearing the item he had been named after.

“Oh, that’s right.” Pink Tiara sighed, hitting her head as if to punish herself for forgetting. “He gave it to you.” She then fixed her eyes on Ribboon and Roswell, who both stiffened in fear. 

She pointed at the device in Roswell’s hands, which promptly exploded in a shower of pink sparks. Roswell dropped it, yelping in pain. He failed to notice that the purple stone that had been inserted into the device was now floating over to Pink Tiara.

“We’ll just do a little of this... And good as new!” The pink creature hummed, waving the wand a bit. The gem was surrounded in blue light, which soon grew too bright to look at directly.

Once the light had faded, however, it revealed that the necklace had been repaired. 

“How were you able to do that?” Karolyn asked. 

Pink Tiara’s smile suddenly dropped, as if disappointed in Karolyn’s lack of knowledge. 

“It’s child’s play to reform a necklace. Not to mention, some of Blue’s magical essence still remains on it. Heck, all of our accessories still reek of our power. A strong enough summoner could probably bring us back if they tried hard enough...”

“So what? You want me to bring your friends back? There’s no way I’m doing that!” Karolyn growled.

“Oh, but I don’t want you to!” Pink Tiara replied. She held out Karolyn’s wand so everyone could see it better. “Not when I have this! You know why I’m so glad I have the wand now? Because now I don’t have to listen to anything you say. That’s right! You don’t control me anymore!

“This is all my fault.” She mumbled. “I shouldn’t have... I...”

“If we can’t do anything, we need to run!” Shellton urged. He turned to the cave’s exist, but his heart sank when he saw the pile of rubble blocking the way. 

“We’re trapped...” He gasped.

Karolyn seemed lost in thought, but stirred a bit as Shellton spoke. A small rock from the ceiling struck her on the head, and she finally came to her senses.

“Well, what is it?” Shellton asked, waving his arms. “Hurry, so we can stop this thing!”

“You’re not gonna like it.” Karolyn mumbled. She stared at Shellton for a few moments, and he could see her eyes were starting to form tears.

“Lyn... Lyn, tell me what it is.” He breathed, suddenly scared. 

“What are you--”

But before he could finish speaking, Karolyn darted away, running straight for the lumbering beast.

It was in that second that Shellton realized what she was going to do. And it made his heart plummet.

“YOU CAN’T! DON’T BE STUPID, DON’T--”

Shellton ran after his sister, grabbing her by the shoulder and forcing her to stop. Tears were running down her face, and she shook her head slowly.

“Why did you follow me, Shellton?’ She managed. 

He didn’t respond, but looked up as a great shadow suddenly covered the two of them. It was the beast’s clawed hand, rushing down to them.