Pink Tiara snapped her fingers again, making the light around Trouboole glow even brighter.
The pink Boo looked around in fear for a moment, not sure what was happening, but then suddenly clenched his eyes shut and uttered a horrible scream.
"TROUBOOLE!” Douboole cried, desperately butting his head against the bubble with little luck.
“WHAT IN STARS’ NAME ARE YOU DOING?” King Boo roared, his body going numb when Trouboole yelled. “LEAVE HIM ALONE!”
“All he has to do is give up the bracelet!” Tiara “It’s pretty basic torture, if you ask me.” She waved her hand slightly, and the light dimmed momentarily. “Well? How about now?”
Trouboole took a moment to recover, biting down hard on his tongue. When he had regained his composure, he narrowed his eyes and glared at Pink tiara.
“No.” He repeated.
“That’s too bad.” Pink Tiara said with a shrug. The light around Trouboole increased again, and he yelped, but this time seemed determined not to make a sound.
“Troub, just give her what she wants!” Douboole was crying now, feeling powerless to help his brother. “Now’s not the time to play the hero!”
Trouboole clenched his eyes shut again, but didn’t respond to his brother’s call. He was determined to stand up to Pink Tiara.
“I suggest you listen to your brother, dear!” Pink Tiara laughed. “Not that I really care one way or the other. I could just was easily reduce you to a pile of ectoplasm and get the bracelet that way, but... Let’s just say there’s a tiny bit of mercy in me, why not?”
"I can’t watch this!” Gilda cried from her bubble, covering her face with her leaves. Chrome, who sat beside her, cursed under his breath.
“Listen,” The Yoshi said, turning to Gilda. “I dunno if you care for those kids, but right now we need to find some way to save our own skins. Leave the ghosts, let’s try and get out of here!”
Gilda gave a whimper, not sure what to do. She had actually enjoyed the short time she spent with the three Boos, but now... Well, it was their fault she got pulled into this mess. Besides, she didn’t want the pink creature to turn on her next...
“How do you suggest we do it?” She finally asked, peeking a bit so she could see Chrome.
“These bubbles gotta pop somehow...” He replied, looking it over. “Did they say one of the kids escaped? They must have broken it! Let’s see if we can, too!”
The two of them didn’t have the chance to try, however, as Trouboole’s voice broke into their conversation.
“ALRIGHT, FINE!” He yelled, tears streaming down his own face. “I’LL GIVE IT UP, JUST STOP!”
Pink Tiara happily complied, beaming as Trouboole stopped to rein in his trembling. Once he was still, he stuck his tongue out, revealing the bracelet with its purple gem wrapped around it.
“Thank you, little one!” Pink Tiara cackled as she grabbed it from him. “Glad to see you finally came around.”
Without another word, she waved her hand, sending Trouboole back into the bubble with his brother. Douboole immediately floated over to cling to Trouboole, murmuring assurances in a calming voice. King Boo, from his bubble, gave his own words of encouragement.
“Now then,” Pink Tiara said, still smirking in triumph. “You all sit tight. I’m off to tell Karoyln the news. Bangle, if any of them cause a ruckus, you’re more than welcome to give them some discipline.”
Before she could reach the cave’s exit, however, she paused, frowning slightly. She then turned back to Red Bangle, pointing down the tunnel.
“Seems we have a few unexpected visitors. Take care of them, will you?”
Once Red Bangle had nodded, she vanished in a flash of pink light.
“That doesn’t matter. JUST GET US OUT OF HERE!” Chrome growled. He slammed a fist against the bubble holding him and Gilda before shooting Shellton a ferocious glare.
“R-Right, sorry!” Shellton mumbled. He pointed the wand at the group of bubbles, making them all vanish in a flash of the same magic he had used on Red Bangle. Chrome and Gilda feel to the ground, while the Boos all grouped together, glad to be reunited.
“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!
“And you want to know why that’s such a good thing?” She asked. She did not wait for a response, however, as she waved the wand again. Each of the accessories suddenly began to float into the air, even her tiara.
“It looks like they all fused or something! We have to--”
“ROOOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRR!”
The creature in front of them suddenly thrashed, its horns and tail knocking on the cavern’s walls. Several stones came loose, and then the cave began to crumble.
