Chapter Text
Toaby leaned on the counter in her shop, keeping a close eye on Cackletta. Despite having found her years ago at this point, he… still didn’t trust her to be in his shop without doing anything wrong. After all, it was hard to sell things when all your customers were having their life force drained before your very eyes.
Toaby could see her eyeing up another customer. For the second time that day. She cleared her throat, shaking her head disappointedly at Cackletta when she finally looked over at her, receiving nothing but a scowl in return.
Cackletta had changed… a lot since he had found her. The wisps of smoke she called horns had finally hardened somewhat, though they now resembled bat wings, a membrane stretched between the main horn and the small branches that extended from it. Her claws had grown long and sharp, and her wrists were now frilled to make up for the lack of arms. She exuded a sort of… aura, now. One of power, not just physically, but magically.
Toaby couldn’t help but wonder if it was due to the life she practically sucked out of nearly every customer that entered the small grocery store, or if she’d been slowly regaining power some other way…
Toaby’s attention was grabbed by the sudden ringing of the bell above the door— a new customer.
She smiled at the newcomer, her smile faltering when she noticed how they were dressed. A thick grey cloak covered most of their body, leaving nothing exposed but the faint glimmer of something on their face. Glasses, perhaps?
”Eh… Hello?”
Toaby mumbled, the feeling of dread slowly creeping over him.
Cackletta seemed to notice them too, staring them down with a glare of intensity as they slowly made their ways through the isles, dead silent, save for the sound of their footsteps.
After a little while, they walked up to the counter, tossing a few things onto it. Several beans and some Beanbean coins. She may not have been able to see their eyes, but Toaby could feel them boring straight into her soul as she rung them up, taking the coins and sliding them back the difference.
As they reached for the beans on the counter, everyone in the vicinity seemed to stare. Their hand was a deep black, almost like the darkness itself had overtaken it, and it seemed to be… dripping.
The customer froze, their hand hovering over the beans.
”Is… Is that normal?”
Toaby joked, trying to lighten the rather tense mood and failing miserably.
They suddenly grabbed the beans and bolted for the door, before running headfirst into the doorframe. They staggered for a moment, before falling onto their back, letting out a wheeze.
Before Toaby could even step out from behind the counter, Cackletta moved swiftly towards them, grabbing them by the front of their cloak and lifting them.
”H-Hey, maybe you shouldn’t—“
Toaby started, before being shushed by a finger to the lips.
”…be silent. I can deal with this one myself.”
Cackletta snarled, sounding… oddly possessive of the unknown figure.
Toaby couldn’t do anything but watch as she carried them through the back door into the back of the store, which was essentially Toaby’s home.
————
Cackletta dropped the figure onto the living room table, a nasty scowl plastered on her face. She knew who this was, undoubtedly.
”…I’m surprised you’re still alive,”
She began, slowly circling them.
”Seeing as the last time I saw you, you were plummeting from the sky. But, I must admit, I am quite happy you’re here. I can’t bear another moment with that insufferable Toad.”
She let out a sharp laugh, which was met with a giggle from the figure. A smile slowly spread across her face, her fangs grinding together as she did so.
”But tell me, why do you hide your face from me, after all these years…”
She yanked the hood of the figure down, opening her mouth to laugh again, the sound breath catching in her throat, causing her to cough a bit. Her eyes widened somewhat.
”…Fawful?”
She knew it was him, it had to be him! Or at least, what was left of him.
The same sort of darkness that had coated his arm was now spreading across his face like a bacteria, soaking into his skin and staining it with pure black. Something seemed to be… protruding from his head, too. An antenna of sorts. That, and… insect legs sticking out from the stained part of his face, seemingly moving of their own volition.
His all-too-familiar grin widened a bit as he made an attempt to speak, but all that came out was a faint croak. The small beanish man wasn’t… looking too great.
”You, uh… You look terrible.”
Cackletta remarked, tittering to herself. She wasn’t exactly wrong. Fawful let out a quiet huff, that smile still stretched across his face. It took a lot more than a petty remark to make any Beanish frown.
Without warning, the door to the back of the store burst open, Toaby smiling and waving a piece of paper around.
”Hey! We’ve been invited to a ball the Queen’s hosting in order to celebrate the defeat of…”
She paused for a moment, her smile faltering before fading completely as her grip loosened and she eventually dropped the paper.
”…Fawful in the… Mushroom Kingdom.”
He stared at Fawful upon the table, dead silent, before speaking up again;
”Is this some sort of joke? Am I… dreaming? I’m dreaming, right?”
She seemed to ask nobody in particular, her gaze shifting between Fawful and Cackletta, the latter sighing and pinching the bridge of her nose.
”…get out.”
Cakletta muttered, barely even a hint of the hostility she typically showed towards Toaby. Toaby just slowly nodded and backed out of the room, closing the door behind himself.
She leaned down and snatched the paper from off the floor, her grip wrinkling the paper more the longer she read.
”I… see.”
She whispered, tossing the paper at the table, where it was quickly grabbed by Fawful. Almost immediately, his attention was grabbed by the mention of a special guest on what seemed to be the flyer for the forementioned ball. Four special guests; Princess Peach, of course, along with Bowser and—
Cackletta jolted as she heard Fawful attempt to speak, it being more of a garbled, incoherent mess. He sounded… mad. Hell, maybe even furious. He clearly didn’t like whoever was coming to the ball as a guest.
“I take it you’d… like to go?”
She asked, a sly smile stretching across her face as an idea formulated in her head.
”Perhaps go greet a few… old friends?”
Fawful seemed to pause his incoherent rant to look at her, before a smile crept across his face aswell. The ball would be a great opportunity to strike. Not only was it a masquerade, meaning nobody would know it was them or that they’d survived, but… everyone assumed they’d be in the Underwhere by then. It was the perfect crime…
Cackletta, well, cackled, her voice piercing and loud. All they’d have to do was wait a few days, and convince that little Toad to bring them along. Nobody could stop them.