Infected Heart

[DBKoopa]

Blaze and D.B.: Infected Heart

by R. Blaze Koopa and Bowser166

Chapter 1: Left for Dead

DB woke up and yawned. He got up and went outside his room then downstairs to get some breakfast.

Blaze practically jumped from his ed as his rather loud alarm clock sounded. Annoyed, he slammed his fist on top of it. "Stupid piece of junk..." he muttered. He slipped out of his bed, then exited his room and headed downstairs to the dining room for breakfast. There he would find D.B. "Morning, DB," he said with a yawn.

"Morning Blaze." DB replied as he walked to the kitchen for his morning duty of fixing breakfast for everyone. "Have you seen anyone yet?" He asked as he saw the whole castle was empty.

Blaze looked around. He hadn't seen anyone else exiting their rooms, and no one was in the dining room but him and DB. Either he had woken up too early, or everyone else was completely knocked out... or something else. "... Actually," Blaze said. "I haven't seen anyone..."

"Run up to king dad's room and see if everything is alright. He might need help putting his good shell on again." DB said. "He says he can fit into that thing as he claims that he hasn't gained any weight since he bought it. I beg to differ."

Blaze chuckled, then said, "Heh, I'll see if the big guy needs assistance." With that, Blaze hurried off to Bowser's king-sized room. When he got there, he was shocked to find that Bowser was not there. "Hey! DB!" Blaze called. "Come here!"

DB finished fixing a large breakfast and hurried up to Bowser's room. "Yeah?" He asked as he walked in to see everything was gone. Plans to kill Mari0 and kidnap peach, his clothes, everything but his bed, desk, and chairs. "What the heck?" He asked as he looked around to find a single book. He opened it and gasped. "Blaze? There's a problem here..." He said sounding afraid.

Blaze walked up. "Um... what's up?" he asked, looking over DB's shoulder into the book.

"The building is under lockdown...Everyone is gone...There's an invasion coming and we're trapped in the castle." He began to panic as he saw the window was bared shut.

"Oh... that sucks..." Blaze muttered. "What's going on anyway? Who's invading?"

"It said...Z...Z...Zombies..." He gulped and began feeling faint.

Blaze froze, with a bugged-out look on his face. "... Did I just hear you correctly?" he asked. "I can swear I just heard you say zombies are about to attack..."

"T...They are...It said...At noon...And now it's 10..."

Blaze put his hands (paws?) to his head. "Well... dang... and the whole castle locked down. We can't get out. Any ideas?"

"I...I guess fight?" DB said.

"What good will that do?" Blaze asked. "Zombies don't die after all. They're ALREADY dead..."

"So? We can at least try after all..."

"I suppose... But we'll need a plan. We can't just go charging into them directly..."

"Then what's the plan? Besides go down and eat our last meal."

"Well, first, we do that, then we actually start planning the plan. Let's eat."

DB nodded and ran downstairs and set up the food for both of them. He then sat down in Bowser's huge chair and began to eat.

"It's lucky for you I'm not a snitch," Blaze chuckled, commenting on DB sitting in Bowser's chair, which the Koopa King had ruled that only he himself was allowed to sit in that chair.

"Lucky for you that I'm not really king dad." He said chuckling as he quickly ate his fill by lashing out his Yoshi tongue at what ever he wanted to eat.

Blaze munched down on a sausage, his mouth full of razors tearing through the meal like nothing. "I have to wonder..." Blaze said. "How would everyone else forget about us?"

"Well I'm a heavy sleeper so I don't use an alarm...Not sure about you."

Blaze shrugged. "Well anyway, where do you suppose they couldn't gone, besides 'away from here'?"

"Sorry but I have no idea."

Blaze took another bite of his sausage. "Well, i don't think zombies particularly come out during the day, so we should have good time to think if a good defense plan."

"Yeah." DB said but suddenly outside darkness came in the form of a giant cloud of some sort that blocked out the sun. "Or maybe this..." He said as he looked at a clock and saw it was already 11:30 "Please tell me there's a plan..."

Blaze raised a brow. "... Woah... cheap..." he muttered. "If we're going to make a good plan, we'll have to pull it out of our shells FAST..."

"Fight fire against Zombie?"

"... I guess that's the best we can do..." Blaze sighed.

"Should we get to the top floor?" He asked.

"That's a good starting point," Blaze replied. "Come on."

DB nodded and followed Blaze.

Once the two had reached the highest tower of the castle, Blaze peered out a barred-up window to see if anything was approaching. "I don't see anything coming..." he said. "... Not YET at least..."

DB looked the other direction out a window then quickly grabbed Blaze as he saw figures slowly moving towards the castle and above them was a haze of some sort.

"... Oh geez..." Blaze sputtered.

DB began spitting fireballs into the distance at the group of Zombies.

As DB attacked, Blaze joined in, inhaling deeply, and unleashing a huge wave of fire downward at the approaching zombies.

He watched as he saw the Zombies still moving as he continued to fire. One would just burn and fall but soon get back up. "It's not going...It's not going!"

"I told you they don't die..." Blaze muttered. "Can't you spray some of your magic on 'em and kill 'em all in one strike or something? That'd be very useful right now..."

"I would but...They took the wand charger from my room...And my wand doesn't have even juice to take them all out. Maybe one and that's it."

"Ugh... where's Kamek and Kammy when you need 'em...?" Blaze muttered. Then he had an idea. "Wait, that's it! Maybe Kamek has some sort of potion or spell in his room that can kill these bad boys."

You mean when I walked past their rooms to get to the kitchen? Nothing. Besides. You need DNA of one zombie to complete the potion. It only works on one and that's the one you get the DNA from." He said just as the Zombies made it to the castle doors. They began climbing over each other as they latched to the walls and began climbing up to both of them. "I...I think they left us here...For bate..." He said sounding afraid.

"What?" Blaze said. "Pfft. That's crazy... but then... it's Bowser we're talking about..."

"He did never like me even though I was his son...I guess he was curious if his strongest fighter could help his worse son." DB said as he looked down. He poked his head out the window again with his back turned to Blaze so he couldn't see him. He saw a Zombie Koopa right under them. He charged up a fireball in his mouth but not before the Zombie leapt up and bit DB on the nose. He let out a little yell as he shook the Zombie off and pulled his head inside to look at Blaze. His skin began to rot slowly as his hair began to fall. His eyes turned red as he stood there. He looked at his shaking hands as he suddenly fell over against the wall. He looked up at Blaze. "H....Help....Me..." He said as he began to sob.

"... DB?" Blaze asked slowly. "... Are... are you okay?"

He looked down at the ground that Blaze couldn't see his eyes. His whole body was soon finished rotting and changing as he stood there. He looked up at Blaze. "Blaze...Please...Help me..." He said as tears were dripping from his cheeks. When he spoke a few of his sharp teeth ended up falling to the ground. It seemed he was only changed in appearance as he still had his own free will to think how he pleased.

"... DB?" Blaze asked once again. "... Stand up straight..."

He tried to but his body was hunched down on one side as he stood there. "I...Can't..." He said. He looked behind Blaze as he tried shoved him out of the way quickly just as a Zombie got through the bar and about bit down on him.

"SON OF A..." Blaze fell to the floor, dazed and surprised, as he eyed the zombie. he stood back up, then turned to DB. "Can you move at all?" he asked.

"Barely..." He said as he blocked the Zombie's path to Blaze till the Zombie knocked him down as his legs split off from his knee caps.

Blaze threw the zombie off DB and slammed him against the wall. he turned back to DB. "Come on, man, don't fall apart on me, please!" A tear began to form in Blaze's eye. "I'll help you up, just hang with me!"

DB put his legs back into his knees as he got back to his feet. "I...Can't help you much...We need to get out of here." He said as he saw the windows were now covered in the infection army. Each of them trying to get to Blaze who was the last one not infected. Suddenly an arm reached out and pulled DB to the window as if trying to pull him through. He tried to fight them but couldn't do anything.

"NO!" Blaze cried. He rushed over and grabbed DB's hand, trying to pull DB away from the grasp of the zombies.

Soon they got the bars undone and they were pulled off as they pulled DB out the window into the hoard on the ground. He soon disappeared into the group.

"DB!! NOOOOOO!!" Blaze cried. It was too late; Db was gone. Blaze dropped to his knees, tears pouring from his eyes, filled with shock and dispair.

The Zombies began to pour in as they grabbed Blaze, bit him then threw him out the window as well. Once he landed in the group around where DB landed all of the undead creatures made it into the castle to search for more victems. Once they all found no one was there they began to clear out. DB laid on the ground out cold as his arms and legs were all sitting next to him as the impact knocked them off.

…

Blaze slowly regained consciousness. He stared up into the sky for a moment, then tried to sit up. He found a bit of difficulty in doing so. For some reason, he felt so strange. He felt rather dazed, and he couldn't feel his arm. Suddenly, it hit him: his arm was no longer attached to him! Blaze spotted his arm sitting a few feet away. He then noticed his skin decaying. What was happening to him?

He looked over at DB, lying unconscious next to him, with all his limbs detached. "... DB?" he said weakly.

DB lay there out cold still. Blaze slowly dragged himself over to DB's body, losing his lower leg in the process. Blaze knelt over him, tears filling his eyes. Seeing his friend in such a gruesome condition was truly horrifying, even for Blaze, who favored violence. By now, Blaze's head was spinning in confusion, terror, and dizziness. He could hardly even force another word from this mouth. It felt as though his vocal cords were frozen. What was all this? Why did this happen? What was going on? Blaze hoped it was all a nightmare. If he was dreaming, then it sure looked and felt realistic.

"B...Blaze?" DB said sounding shaky as his eyes were closed still.

Blaze's eyes widened. He looked at DB, relieved to hear his voice. "DB?" he said, finally able to speak. "Are... are you okay?"

"I...I can't feel my legs..." He said.

"... I can see why..." Blaze said, staring at DB's detached legs. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to ease himself. Once he had calmed down a bit, he spoke again. "... I... I.. don't understand... Why... Why us?"

"I don't know..." DB replied. "Should we go search for king dad and get answers?"

"There's no telling where he could've gone, but I guess it's out only choice. We'd have to do the best we can just trying to move while our legs are falling off."

"I guess...Now can you please reattach my legs and arms?" DB asked as he thought for a bit.

Blaze nodded, then grabbed one of DB's legs, reconnecting the hip joints. He then did the same thing with the rest of DB's limbs. "I feel like I'm assembling an action figure or something..." he muttered. Once he had reattached all of DB's limbs, he slowly crawled back over to find his own arm and leg. He had slight troubles putting his arm back, with his paw twisted the wrong way, but was able to correct it.

"I was thinking..." said DB. "Why not try out combining each other onto one huge Zombie? I mean to make us look more threatening and such and so we can be told apart from the other Zombies or something?"

"But if we two fall apart," said Blaze. "who will put us back together?"

"I don't know...But we only fall apart from being harmed after all. So we should be fine after all."

"... I suppose... I don't know how Bowser would recognize us though..."

"Well we both will be the only one standing out. That is unless you would prefer to stay separate for a while?"

"I'll be honest..." Blaze said. "As awesome as beating one monster zombie sounds, I'd rather stay separate for the time being. It's going to take a while before we can get used to the constant decaying..."

"True," DB agreed. "I'll keep it in mind for later. Got any ideas of where to start?"

"I guess we could look around the castle and see if Bowser left any clues to where he's headed," said Blaze.

DB turned to the castle and saw as it was destroyed and looked more like a castle for the dead. "How about we leave...I think some of the Zombies are staying here now. We should go try another castle."

"The only other castle I can think of is Princess Peach's, but as IF she let us Koopas stay there..."

"Oh yeah. You stay here in this castle don't you? Come on. There's 8 more left that we can check out here."

"Eh... all right... " Blaze grunted. "Let's just go already…"

DB nodded as he lead the way to the desert castle which was pretty much 250 miles away but was the closest one to where they were. DB found that he walked with a limp due to the typical Zombie walk showing that it's no myth.

Blaze and DB: Infected Heart

by R. Blaze Koopa and Bowser166

Chapter 2: Bowser's Reason, DB's Destiny

Mobility as a Zombie was quite hard to adjust to, as DB and Blaze noticed. They slowly but surely tracked across the barren, dry wasteland that was the Dark Frontier. There were quite a few questions they couldn't quite figure out. What triggered this outbreak of zombies, and what would bring Bowser to leave his own son and his longtime friend for dead... for bait...? It was all so confusing.

The two were silent as they traveled, until Blaze finally broke the silence. "Sheesh... this all just happened out of nowhere..." Blaze said. "I just don't understand..."

"Same here." DB said as he moved. He looked down and saw his chest was messed up while some of his ribs were showing and such. His legs were rotted and could see right through to the bone in some places as well which he saw.

Blaze pondered for a moment. If they were going to find Bowser, they would need any possible leads they could think of. "... We need clues..." said Blaze. "We need to think. Where is the most likeliest of places Bowser would go?"

Blaze shrugged, jumping slightly when he felt his shoulder blade shift. "Well, I support it's a good place to start... So… eh... where's the nearest warp pipe to the desert kingdom?"

DB pointed to a bush. He began limping over to it as he tried to jump up to it but ended up hitting his jaw on the side since his legs don't let him jump nearly as high as he could.

"Let me help you out there," said Blaze. He slowly and carefully lifted DB up and over the rim into the pipe hidden in the brush. Then he himself climbed up and into the pipe, though nearly losing his shoulder as he hoisted his, burly, boney body over the rim.

Soon the two both went down the pipe and came out the other side near the pyramid castle. DB looked and saw that both of them ended up switching torsos and shells some how. "What the?" He said as he saw the switch.

Blaze stared. "... Um... well... that was weird..." he said, looking back to see that he was suddenly wearing DB's green shell, and DB had his own orange shell. 'Eh... let's sort this out," said Blaze.

After a major body adjustment between the two, they stared up at the pyramid fort. "He'd better be in there," Blaze grumbled. "I just can't wait to hear his answers for the laundry list of questions I have for him..."

DB nodded. He tried to open the doors but they were locked as well as the windows all around the Pyramid were sealed just like the castle they came from. "Let's break in there." DB said as he began to claw slowly at the sandstone castle. His claws did just as much damage as they did previously before the change as he managed to do some damage.

Blaze joined DB in clawing away at the castle. Even as zombies, their claws were still strong enough to do some mean damage. The two continued to strike against the pyramid wall until it slowly began to whether. "Stand back, DB," said Blaze. "I think it's weak enough for me to smash it down." Blaze winded back, then lunged forward, executing a hard right-hand punch, which shattered the wall, leaving a large hole for them to enter. "After you," Blaze said to DB sweetly.

DB nodded as he walked through only to be shot by a Bullet Bill as his body just exploded as his limbs landed where he was standing but his torso was taken with the bullet.

Blaze jumped, not expecting the Bullet Bill. "... This is going to get really annoying... really fast... Uh... DB... need a hand... or two... or three...?" The Bullet Bill hit the ground ten meters away from where they were standing.

"Please." DB said as his head was looking at Blaze from where he was standing.

Blaze quickly gathered up all DB's limbs, then fetched his torso. He soon had DB back in one piece, after a minor adjustment due to accidentally swapping his arms. "DB... putting you back together is becoming a habit... Please stop it..." He then turned and looked down the corridor. "Now, who the heck is aiming at us?"

"Security system." DB said. "There's a note over on the cannon." He said. "Care to go read this one?" He said.

"Ehhh..." Blaze growled. He slowly inched his way toward the blaster, being cautious to avoid stepping in front of cannon and possibly getting literally blown to bits. He gazed at the note and read it.

DB walked over to Blaze. "So what does the note say?" He asked.

"It says..." Blaze read. "Dear Blaze and DB, I figured this would be the first place you'd come to find me. Sorry to the two of you about this, but I needed two sacrifices who were close to me. The Zombie King was just destroyed and they needed to infect royalty to take his place. Bowser." Blaze stared at this for a moment, then took the paper and ripped it in half in fury. "Why... when I find him, I'm gonna..." He froze, when he realized what he had just read. "... Wait... royalty to take his place?" He slowly turned to DB. "... DB... he means you and I! The Zombies' ruler is dead, and they needed another King. Bowser left us behind so they'd take us instead of him!"

"Royalty? That means me but...Why you though?" he said. "But what are we suppose to do though? There has to be some sort of hint to help us find where we have to go." He began to think more why Blaze was infected. "I guess he picked someone to come with me...Sort of like a follower from one side to the other...But why you though?" He said as he began walking up the stairs to go to where Bowser's room in that castle is to find more clues.

"I haven't the slightest idea," said Blaze as he followed DB up the stairs. "Admittedly, I'm not royalty; I'm just living with you guys..."

"But your a follower of the family aren't you?" He asked. "I mean don't you agree with what the family thinks, does, and will do?"

"Well... true... I am wearing official Koopa Troop wristbands after all," Blaze mused.

I guess that's why." He said. "I mean kings need followers right? And the ancient Koopa Kings were buried with at least one of they subjects or soldiers right?" He asked as he opened a drawer and found another journal of Bowser's.

"Yeah..." said Blaze. "Very true..." He gazed at Bowser's journal. "Well, what're you waiting for? Open it up. Maybe we'll learn something new."

DB nodded as he felt nervous. He opened it and read it out loud.

"DB. My son. I'm thinking about you as I write this. I wish you good luck and I hope that you will survive to become king. I'm sorry if you read this, but it must be said. You have to make your way to the graveyard in the sky to become king. The only way there is to create the crown and find me for the final task of becoming king, of which I can't utter a word. I'm sorry but good luck. The first piece is next to this journal and it is a clue to the next piece.

This is the last time you will be able to hear from me for quite some time. Please be careful son. You may be dead, but you're not immortal. Your siblings are jealous of you and they are planning to stop you on your quest. Blaze is there since he is the strongest Koopa that I could spare you. I know you will be save with him by your side.

Blaze, please take good care of my son. I trust what's left of his life with you."

DB began to tear up a little bit as he closed the journal and sat on the bed. Blaze walked up to the bed and sat beside DB. He put his boney arm around his shoulder. He could tell this was a very tense and difficult moment for him. It was all so sudden; DB had not anticipated this, and it was quite hard to swallow it all.

DB pointed to a black, wilted rose in the drawer which was both the piece of the crown and a clue. "What do I do?" said DB. "I don't know how to be royalty...At least not good royalty."

"Hey, you won't know until you try," said Blaze as he got up to pick up the rose, the clue. "If Bowser learned royalty, so can you." He sat back down and patted DB on the shell. "Don't worry, dude," he murmured. "If you ever need advice, if you ever need someone to back you up, I'm here for you. No force, in heaven or hell, is going to make me leave your side. I swear it."

DB looked up at Blaze as he began to settle down. "Thanks Blaze." He said as he wiped his face and looked at the rose. "So the rose is both the clue and a piece of the crown? What kind of clue is this?" He said as he began to think. He sniffed the air and smelt the rose and he gave a sour look. "That's a death rose...There's only one place they grow and that's the tar pits in the restricted area of Yoshi's Island. They say that hundreds of Yoshis of all ages have died there through the years due to the tar pits giving off a scent that Yoshis can't resist." He sighed as he sat there. "But I'm half Yoshi though... And if we have to go there then... Who knows what will happen to me."

"Hey, that's why I'M here," said Blaze. "That's why Bowser assigned me to this. Besides, we have no choice. We have to get started now and head to Yoshi's Island while we still haven't run into any of the Koopalings yet."

DB nodded. "The closest pipe to get there drops us off outside the main town so were going to have to limp our way about three miles to the pits." He got up and sighed. "There's a pipe in the wall here to take. So let's get a move on." He said as he limped to a brick and pushed it into the wall as a bright green pipe came out of the wall behind them. "Let's get going." He said as he walked into he pipe.

"Well, here we go..." Blaze said to himself. He closed his eyes. 'Bowser...' he thought. 'I'm so glad to know you didn't really leave us for dead... I promise you... I won't let DB out of my sight for a moment...' With that, he entered the pipe.

And so, the quest begins...

Blaze and DB: Infected Heart

by R. Blaze Koopa and Bowser166

Chapter 3: Tar Pit Tangle

DB came out of the pipe as he looked around the jungle all around them. DB sniffed the air as a smile came to his face. He then began walking towards the scent of the tar pits which some how brings Yoshis to them as they can't control themselves till snapped out of it. DB wasn't an exception but the effect was only half working as he walked towards the aroma.

Blaze quickly held DB back, grabbing his arm, though being careful not to yank it off by accident. "I guess this tar pit smell works on half-Yoshis, too..." he said. "Be careful, will ya?"

"Sure...Just help keep an eye on me." He said as he began snapping into the clearing of the tar pits.

The ground was rocky and such with several rather large tar filled holes all around the area. DB tried sniffing to find something that doesn't belong there but all he could pick up was the tar. "See anything?" He asked as he began looking around.

"Nothing but tar, tar, and more tar..." Blaze replied, as he followed DB, watching his step as he negotiated around the pits.

A glimmer came from the lone tree in the center of all the trees. DB squinted and saw a gem there. "That looks out of place here. Come on and hurry up. I have a feeling we're not alone." He said as he hopped on the stones over to the center island with the tree. Every so often he would stop to steady himself.

"Oh geez..." Blaze muttered. He himself was not the best jumper, him being one of the heaviest in the Koopa Troop besides Bowser himself. Judging his moment, Blaze leapt forward to the first rock, though nearly losing his balance. He continued forward cautiously across the rocks. Though he had a few more stumbles here and there, he was able to make it across. Once at the center island, he gazed up at the tree, noticing the gemstone. "Ooh, that looks promising."

DB jumped over and got the stone till he noticed some rustling in the tree as it looked like a figure was inside. Suddenly it disappeared just as the figure swung around the tree and punched DB hard enough to send him flying to a rock in the center of the largest tar pit. DB had his arms which he used to reattach his legs which thankfully didn't fall in. The stone he was on was the size of a half a Basketball court. Suddenly the figure came down to the stone platform into DB's view. "Roy!?" DB shouted in surprise as Roy his own brother was standing on the other side of the platform.

Blaze stared. "You..." He narrowed his eyes and barred his teeth. He knew Roy too well. In fact, he just couldn't stand this guy. His brawns over brain intelligence, his eye-sore of a color, his annoying voice... Blaze would've just loved to take him and rip off a body part of his, then watch as his blood poured out while he sat there crying in extreme agony.

DB got to his feet just as Roy charged at him and knocked him strait to the ground again. "Roy! Stop!" DB said. "What are you doing!? It's me! Your brother!" "Your no brotha of mine." Roy said. "I shouda been picked on for that but instead king dad picked you." He said as he began charging at DB. DB jumped out of the way as Roy changed direction and charged at DB again not wanting to attack Roy back.

Blaze growled. Furious, he charged towards Roy at a tremendous rate and layed a hard punch to the side of his cheek, knocking the Koopaling to the ground hard. "Touch him once more and die..." Blaze said through grit teeth.

Roy slowly stood back to his feet, blood streaming from his mouth, where two teeth had been knocked out. "You stay out of dis!" Roy snapped. "You shouldn't have anything to do with dis anyways! You're not even royal!"

"Even so," said Blaze. "I can still mess you up, now get your sorry tail outta here... before I claw out your eyes..." Blaze extended his claws, just to let the Koopaling know that he meant business.

DB took this chance as he charged at Roy with his claws on his left hand were out. He swung them into Roy's side which made Roy swing a fist and knocked DB backwards with his arm stuck in Roy's side. DB got up as he saw Roy's blood dripping out from where he planted his claws in his side. He quickly ran up to Roy again and planted a fist in Roy's gut which made him hunch over as well as caused Roy to spit more blood out of his mouth.

"Youse no *Cough* Brotha of mine no more...You ugly...Zombie." Roy said just before DB kicked Roy in the jaw which sent him backwards to the edge of the platform with his head over the tar. Roy tried to move but couldn't as DB pulled his arm out of Roy's side.

Blaze grinned is he watched DB pummel Roy to near death. "Now, DB!" he said. "Finish him off while we have the chance!"

DB hesitated. "I can't." DB said. "He's my brother...I can't..." He said as he backed away from Roy who was still unable to move.

"You have to, DB," said Blaze. "Either you kill him, or he kills you! DO IT!!"

Roy suddenly jerked his right leg to trip DB but DB jumped over it. DB thought that he needed to get rid of Roy as he kicked Roy in the side and sent him into the tar pit as he landed on his back again. DB began to cry as he used his claws to pick up a bit of tar as he flung it at Roy's face. "Good bye Roy." He said as he hopped to the solid land as he waited for Blaze to follow.

"YOUSE THINKS YOUSE FINISHED ME!? DIS IS JUST A LITTA BIT OF TAR! DIS WON'T HARM ME!" He shouted as he began to sink really slowly.

Blaze savored the moment as he watched Roy slowly disappear into the depths of the tar. He had waited a long time for this, and it finally happened. "Farewell... you filthy little turd..." He grinned, then followed DB back across the rocks. Blaze looked at DB. He could see that he was quite upset about having to kill off his own brother. Blaze placed his skeletal hand on DB's shoulder and spoke to him. "You shouldn't worry..." he said. "There was no hope for that idiot anyway. It was only a matter a time..."

DB pulled the rose out and picked up the jewl that landed where he stood once Roy hit him earlier. "Not yet." He said as he blew a fireball into the tarpit as it caught flame and began to burn. Once the fire hit where Roy was there were muffled yells of pain that disturbed DB. "Good bye Roy." DB said as a tear fell from his eye. Once the flames began to disappear as the Tar was gone DB noticed a skeleton laying in what was left of the flames around what used to be his brother.

DB sat down in a safe area outside the tar pit area. Where he sat he felt something as he pulled out another journal from under the ground where he sat. He was too saddened by what he just did that he couldn't read it.

Blaze sighed. "It's all right," he said. "You just take a moment." Blaze took the journal and started reading. "Dear DB and Blaze." The journal began. "Congratulations if you read this. I'm sorry son, but I have lost control over your siblings as they all found and are guarding different parts to the crown. I hope that you will find each of my journals that I got Kamek to take to each crown piece. Please be safe and both of you take care of each other. I know I made the right choice choosing the two of you. Now please, both of you, make me proud. I want to see you both again. From your father, Bowser Koopa."

'I'd like to see you again, too...' Blaze thought, taking a breath. He then turned to DB. "So it looks like the rest of your bros and sis aren't playing around. Shouldn't be too big a challenge... Anyway, that's two pieces. Where do we go from here?"

DB looked at the jewel then noticed a skull inside. "You can't duplicate this gem...We're going to Deathmine. But do you think we should relax first and go around the island? I'm feeling hungry." He said as he began to relax as he looked at the journal. Little did he know that on the other side of the last page was a warning from Bowser saying that the Koopalings put a spell on the troops so they were looking for them as well.

Blaze shrugged. "Well... eh… what do zombies eat, besides brains...?" he asked.

"I don't know...What are you craving now?" DB asked as he began walking towards town. "Maybe we should go make a pitstop at the forest near Twilight town and make a base there? I mean we would blend in as well as that King Dad took over the tower there. There's pipes that lead to just about anywhere there now and I'm sure everything is alright since he might have thought of us going there eventually. And as long as we wear the Royal bands we can get anything for free in town."

"Yeah," Blaze agreed. "Besides, look at us now. We're bound to blend in perfectly with all the other freak people there..."

DB nodded as he began leading both of them through the jungle back to the pipe. "Thank you Blaze...If it were only me and Roy then I might not be here now." He said as he looked down while remembering Roy.

"No problem at all," Blaze said. "... Still, I wish I could've clawed out his eyes. I was going to do it, too, but you had it all covered." With that, the two entered the pipe. They now had collected two pieces of the crown and brought down one Koopaling. There was no doubt about it, however; the rest where bound to be just waiting to pounce...

Blaze and D.B.: Infected Heart

by R. Blaze Koopa and Bowser166

Chapter 4: Blaze's Choice

The zombiified Koopa duo exited the pipe. The area in which they had arrived was quite eerie and disturbing. The sky was stuck in an orange state of twilight, and the people watching around the town square all had blank faces, looking bugged out, showing hardly any emotion. "Yeesh..." Blaze said, taking a long gander around the place. "Now that's what I call creepy... as if I'm not already creepy myself... while I look like this..."

"You said it. Look at them. Do you think if I become king then would I rule over them or are they another species? I never understood that," DB said as he continued to look around. Suddenly his stomach rumbled as you could see it through a hole on his stomach as it shook. "Let's get some food before we do anything else." He said as he looked for a place to eat. "See anything? Or a store we could go to?"

"I think I see a shop over there..." Blaze said, looking west at a building with a sign with a Flower hanging over the door. "Come on."

DB nodded as he followed with both pieces of the crown in his hands. "So what would you like there? Just so we're not there for a long time." He asked.

"Depends on what they have..." Blaze replied as he reached for the doorknob. "I could go for some meat though..." The two entered the shop.

The shop owner saw the two then he went to the back. "Please feel free to look around. I'll be back in a second." She said with no emotion as he shut the back room door behind him. The two Koopas were slightly dumbstruck by the fact that the shop owner didn't give a care that zombies had just walked into her shop, but when back to business.

"See anything?" DB asked as he looked on a broken down rack of mushrooms and such till he noticed a platter of free samples of meat on toothpicks. He took a bite and enjoyed it. "Hey Blaze. Try this." He said as he took another one.

Blaze took a sample of the meat on toothpicks, and ate the whole thing in one bite, swallowing the toothpick as well in the process, but felt nothing. "Ooh.. That's good!" he commented. Feeling hungry still, he took another sample, and enjoyed it just as he did the first. He then thought for a moment, then shrugged. "You know what, I'm taking this. Come on, let's go." While the store keeper was still in the storage room, Blaze grabbed the whole platter and headed for the door.

Suddenly the owner came from the door and saw Blaze. "I guess you wouldn't like to see the recipe for that mean would you?" He said as he motioned for Blaze to follow him to the back room.

'Freaking A...' Blaze thought. He then followed the store keeper into the back room.

The Store Keeper locked the door as he turned off the light and lit a few candles. He turned around as fangs soon appeared on his face as he dove at Blaze, so much out of character then for a normal resident of that town. "WHAT THE-" Blaze wasn't quick enough to react as the fanged storekeeper jumped on him. It wasn't enough to knock him to the ground, him being very heavyweight. The Storekeeper knocked Blaze against the door as he suddenly sunk his fangs into the Zombie Koopa.

DB smelled something was wrong as he used a claw to unlock the door to see what happened. "BLAZE!" DB shouted as he sliced at the storekeeper's head and caused him to let go as the lights resorted him to his normal self. "Blaze? Are you OK?" DB asked as he pulled his friend and partner out of the store room along with the food.

"FINE LEAVE THEN!" The shopkeeper shouted as DB ate another piece of meat. "BESIDES! THAT'S KOOPA MEAT YOUR EATING THERE! FRESHLY CUT THIS MORNING!" DB paused for a bit as he was putting two more into his mouth then he began to gag as he and Blaze shut the door.

Blaze put his paw to his head, feeling quite dizzy. "Ugh... I'll be okay..." he said. "I'm just... uh uuuuugh..." He began to moan as he felt his body began to change. His fangs grew longer, his decaying skin began to darken, and his eyes glowed red. "Uuuh... what's happening to me...?" he said. "Oooooh..."

Suddenly, POOF! Blaze regained his senses. He looked around, or at least tried to, but couldn't see diddly swat. He couldn't feel his feet touching the ground anymore, He was hovering. "... Uh... DB?" said Blaze. "... Am I... by any chance... flying... and... why the heck am I blind...?"

DB looked at Blaze as he backed away thinking it was the meat. He ran to the door to the shop and opened it as he threw up all the meat onto the floor. He then wiped his mouth as he turned to see Blaze once again. "S...S...SWOOPER!" DB shouted as he dove behind a dead tree while covering his neck with both hands. "D...Don't hurt me!" He shouted in fear.

"Wha... Swooper? Where?" Blaze wildly flapped around, trying to find out where he was going. "DB, help! I can't see!" Blaze suddenly felt that he was heading or a tree. Hearing his own yells somehow allowed him to know where everything was, as if he were seeing with his ears instead of his eyes. However, due to his low-level flying skills, he smacked face first into the tree DB was hiding behind, then fell to the ground, dazed. "Ow..."

"B...Blaze?" DB asked as he grabbed a stick and poked the Swooper on the right foot gently.

"Of course it's me!" Blaze hissed. "How can you not recognize me?!" Blaze stood back to his now tiny feet, then tried once again to fly. It took him a few tries to get back off the ground, but he was finally airborne. He hovered up in front of DB's face. "... DB?" he asked. "I may not be able to see you right now, but... you seem bigger for some reason..."

"That's because... You're the Swooper." DB said as he gulped and backed away slowly hoping Blaze wouldn't notice him walking away.

Though blind, Blaze could still hear DB walking backwards. "Uh... why are you backing up?" Blaze asked. "... Wait... WHAT?!! I'M A SWOOPER?!! No wonder I'm blind..."

DB may have had a Swooper friend back in the castle but then again his friend was a fruit eating Swooper so his fangs weren't that sharp in appearance. "Please...Don't hurt me...I still have my mission to do." He said as a Hammer Bro over heard them from behind a bush and saw them. He smiled as he pulled out a hammer and threw it at DB which happened to hit him in the head which caused it to fly off into a bush nearby. "My head!" DB shouted as his body began walking around with its arms out as it was trying to search for his head.

"Woah... decapitated..." Blaze said. Luckily for DB, Blaze listened to hear where DB's head had hit the ground. He flew to the bush, grasped DB's head with his feet, and tried hard to carry him out of the bush. However, in this form, he wasn't strong enough. "It's no use, I can't... hang on a second..."

Blaze let go of DB's head, then suddenly transformed yet again. He was now back to his normal shape. However, his face and skin were now a dark purple color. His fangs were still elongated, and his eyes still yellow. He also could see with his eyes know. "Oh... that's a little better..." he said. He then picked up DB's head with ease, then located his stumbling body and reattached him. "DB, if I have to put you back together once more..."

"DUCK!" DB shouted as he hit the ground just as another hammer came flying at them. DB saw the Hammer Bro behind the bush and got up once the hammer went by. He charged at it and went to tackle it to the ground but was stopped by the Hammer Bro holding a hammer up in defense as DB hit it and fell to the ground.

"Ouch!" DB said in pain as the Troop pulled out a hammer with a light in the center of the head as he began coming down with it. "DIE SCUM!" He shouted as he swung it towards DB but he rolled over and smacked the hammer away with his hand. "What is wrong with you?" DB asked the troop.

"Every troop is now under the Koopaling's control," the Hammer Bro sneered. "We've all been sent to kill both of you... But I see that Blaze is no longer a Zombie but now a Vampire."

The troop snarled as he continued. "I see that Blaze has decided to join the war of the Koopalings and Vampires against the zombie prince. Now come Blaze. Help me finish him off." He said as he pounded DB's chest quickly which made DB gasp. Now a hole was where he black heart was showing. "I'm in for a huge raise after this." He said as he raised his hammer to the weakened DB ready to swing it down on him.

It was only a futile effort for the Hammer Bro to play with Blaze's mind, which was already made up. He had already taken a side to this, and there was no force that would ever turn him against DB. "GRAAAAAAAH!! He charged at the Hammer Bro at full speed. The Hammer Bro heard his roar, but it was too late for him to react, and Blaze tackled him to the ground and pinned him. The Hammer Bro struggled to force Blaze off, but the burly Koopa was too heavy. "What is this?!" the Hammer Bro cried. "You're a vampire now! You supposed to be on OUR side!" "Whether I'm a zombie, a vampire, or whatever the heck," Blaze hissed. "You don't control me." He then bent down and bit into the Hammer Bros neck and started sucking. The Hammer Bro cried in extreme pain. After that, Blaze grabbed the Hammer Bro by the neck, and threw him headfirst into a wall, breaking his neck. The Hammer Bro landed on the ground, motionless.

DB looked at the Hammer Bro. Just in case something was going to happen he pulled out one of the Hammer Bro's hammers and raised it over his head as he swung it down with enough force to crush the head of the dead troop. Blood dripped from the hammer's head and from the troop's head which now looked like a bread bowl full of blood as it began overflowing. DB looked down into the head and saw the brain as he looked at Blaze. An urge came over him as he took his claws and cut the head off of the troop. "How do you like having no head!" He said as he held a hand under the neck to keep the blood from overflowing. "We found something new and now let's get out of here before any more of them find us. And looks like we have our food for the night."

DB reached into the blood and pulled out the brain as he held it in front of him. "Here's to becoming King." He said as he sunk his mouth into the brain which was dripping blood. Once he bit into it a squish was heard but it seemed DB enjoyed it which showed as he continued to eat at it. He then held out the head with the blood in it for Blaze's share. "Drink up. I have a feeling we might need it." DB said.

"Oh, we'll definitely need it," Blaze said as he slurped up the head full of blood. "This is far from over."

Once they had finished their meal, the two left the town and entered the dark forest for their next task.

Blaze and D.B.: Infected Heart

by R. Blaze Koopa and Bowser166

Chapter 5: A Brother's Lament

Stomachs full of blood and brains, the two pressed on through the dark, eerie woods. Nothing could be heard besides leafless tree branches scraping against each other in the wind, as well as the chirping of crickets and the occasional hoot of an owl. "... It's so... creepy-looking..." Blaze remarked. "And yet... I'm enjoying this place... Maybe this vampire thing is just getting to me..."

"That's what I'm thinking about me being a Zombie." DB said. "Feels as if I'm home... As if where I belong."

The two continued down the path until they reached a fork in the trail. "Now what way should we take?" DB asked as he looked down both trails.

"Eh..." Blaze thought out loud. "Let's try right path..."

DB took a step until all of a sudden a group of trees fell and blocked the way they were about to go. The two stared. "… That was… random…" Blaze said.

"Umm... I guess the right path is out of the question... Let's take the left." He said as he began walking down the path. Blaze shrugged, then followed.

The two continued down the path, the wood becoming darker and dark as they advanced further and further. Suddenly, Blaze stopped. "Wait a minute..." he said, putting an arm in front of DB to motion him to stop. Blaze looked all the around. "... We're not alone..."

"What do you mean?" DB replied. "What's wrong?"

"There's someone else near... I can feel it..." Blaze continued to look cautiously around the area. Someone suddenly tapped Blaze on the shoulder. "Yes?" Blaze said, thinking DB was the one who tapped him on the shoulder.

"What?" DB asked.

"You tapped me on the shoulder. Do you have something to say?"

"… I didn't tap you on the shoulder…"

"... What...? Oh boy..." Blaze realized DB hadn't tapped him on the shoulder. He slowly turned around to see a big, white, glowing face with fangs. "Excuse me..." it said. Blaze nearly fell in surprise. "Eh?! A Boo!" he said.

"What the…?!" DB said as he saw the Boo and jumped back and broke his knee out of his right leg.

"Can you hold yourself in one piece for at least a minute?" Blaze muttered as his reattached DB's kneecap. Once done, he faced the Boo again. "All right, you," he said. "Whatever you're trying to do, stay out of our way!"

The Boo jumped. "N-n-now take it easy," he stuttered nervously. "I'm n-n-not trying to cause you any trouble."

"Then what are you trying to do?" DB asked as he got to his feet.

"I'm looking for help..." the Boo replied.

"Sorry, no time. We have some important business of our own to handle. Come on, DB." Blaze turned to walk away.

He didn't get very far, however, as the Boo suddenly materialized directly in front of him. "Please," the Boo pleaded. "I really need some help!"

DB thought that if he wants to be a good king then he should listen to others. "Go ahead. What do you need?" he asked the Boo.

"My friends are all trapped," the Boo explained. "I managed to escape getting caught, so I went into the woods to look for help. Unfortunately, I got lost, until I found you two, that is."

Blaze groaned, losing patience. "Look, we're losing time. If you want to help your friends, then toughen up and help them yourself!"

"You don't understand!" the Boo cried tearfully. "I can't do this by myself! Please!"

DB turned to Blaze. "Come on," he said. "He looks desperate."

Blaze sighed. "Fine…" he grunted. "We'll help you. Where are your friends?"

"They're all at Creepy Steeple," the Boos answered. "It's where we all live, but this guy busted in looking for something and trapped everyone else so they wouldn't get in his way. I think he said he was looking for a... piece of a crown or something, if I remember right..."

"All right then…" said Blaze. "Come on, DB. Let's get this over…" Blaze froze. He turned to the Boo again. "... Wait... what'd he say he was looking for?"

"A piece of a crown," the Boo repeated.

"What did this guy look like?" DB asked.

"He's large, about as big as you two, and he has a shell just like you two, only gray. He's also brown, and has a star over his left eye," the Boos described.

Blaze barred his teeth, for he knew exactly who the Boo was talking about. "Say no more..." he said. "Just lead us to this Creepy Steeple!"

"Oh thank you guys!" the Boo said gratefully. "Follow me! It should be at the end of this path. I lost the path. That's why I got lost."

The two Koopas followed the Boo down the path all the way to a large cathedral isolated in the woods. The three stood just outside the front gate. "This is it," said the Boo.

DB looked around as he noticed a change around the area. "It looks like a volcano grew in the back yard here," he said as he saw a stream of lava behind the steeple that went underground. He saw a bridge with no rails coming from the top floor going to what seemed to be a platform. He saw something there. "Of course. Under here is where the cave is. And over there is our goal." He said with a smile. "Looks like we're going to be climbing some stairs." He then noticed a Koopa running out onto the bridge. "MORTON!" He shouted as he ran inside.

"Well, you want your friends rescued?" Blaze said to the Boo. "Then come on!" He and the Boo hurried inside after DB.

DB looked around as he saw bits of lava leaking through parts of the walls. "Now let's get Morton first." DB said as he looked around for stairs. "How do we get to the top floor?"

"It's a certain trick," said the Boo. "Follow me and I'll show you."

The Boo led DB and Blaze to a door off to the side. They walked long the side porch of the house until they reached another door. Near the door was a red switch. The Boo opened the door to reveal a staircase in the center of the room. "See?" said the Boo.

"Perfect!" said Blaze, who immediately started running up the stairs.

"WAIT!" the Boo cried.

It was too late. As soon as Blaze stepped through the door at the top, he took a GIANT step downward and slammed onto the floor. DB and the Boo would wait until Blaze ran all the way back around to where they stood. DB finished chuckling just as Blaze returned. "Why didn't you turn into a Swooper and fly up here?" DB asked.

"I'm not used to the blindness yet..." Blaze muttered. He turned to the Boo. "Was that a joke or something?! Those stairs lead nowhere but up to a twenty-foot drop!"

"That's why you need to MOVE it first!" the Boo said, slapping his forehead. "Why do you think this button his here?"

"I wouldn't know..." Blaze retorted. "I obviously don't live here..."

Blaze walked up and punched the button. Seconds later, an earthquake followed. Looking into the door, they could see the staircase slowly moving to the right, under another door (there were three doors). "There!" the Boo said. "Now let's go!"

The three hurried up the stairs and across the walkway/bridge. They reached another door, and entered. Inside was a huge, spiral staircase. They charged up the stairs, reaching a springboard at the top. "That's convenient..." Blaze said.

The trio bounced off the board and up through a hole in the ceiling into another room. There they were greeted by a mean voice. "Heh... I figured YOU'D be coming by..." said the voice. They turned to face the brown, gray-shelled, star-faced Koopa himself.

"Morton." DB said as he saw his brother standing there.

Morton chuckled as he went out the hole in the wall to the bridge. "There's no way you're going to get that piece of crown from me," he said as he stood there in the center in a fighting stance of some sort.

DB walked to the hole and looked out to see the giant pool of lava under them as well as stalagmites sticking out.

"Don't let the boiling lava disturb you," Blaze advised. "Let's take him!" Blaze charged forward towards Morton with an extended fist, but Morton dodged him. Blaze slid to a halt, then whipped around to see Morton charging at him. Blaze ducked, causing Morton to trip over him. He landed on the bridge floor, avoiding the edge. As Morton got back up, he was taken by surprise by a scary face from the Boo. Morton stumbled backwards in surprise, nearly falling off, but regaining his balance.

As Blaze stood back up, he didn't notice his foot hanging over the edge, and slipped off. He grabbed the edge and managed to pull himself back up. 'There's hardly any room to move around on this…' he thought. 'There's only way...' he then transformed into his Swooper form, then dove in on Morton, striking him in the face and making a large, bloody cut over his eye. Morton cried in pain, clutching his hands over his eye, he stumbled to the edge and slipped off, grabbing the edge with one hand.

DB put a foot on Morton's hand. "This was easier then with Roy." He said. "Any last words Morton?" He asked.

Morton felt himself slipping as the pressure on his hand was making him loose his grip. "I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T WANT TO FIGHT YOU!" He shouted as he began crying. "I love you DB... I never wanted to fight you but the others made me. I don't care about... About..." Morton was then hanging on by a claw. "I... never mind," he said as he saw he has been beaten. "You both won... I guess it's my time to go… Farewell, brother…" Morton let go of the bridge.

DB quickly tried reaching down to grab Morton's hand but barely missed it. "BLAZE! DO SOMETHING!" DB shouted as a tear came from his eye as well. Everything seemed as if it went into slow motion as Morton turned around as his body was going straight for a Stalagmite. "No... He was no traitor... I saw it in his eyes…" DB said to himself as he was pounding the bridge while crying.

Blaze jumped and flew down off the bridge, catching Morton by the hand. This slowed the descent down, but didn't stop it. Just as Morton was about to come into contact with the stalagmite, the Boo rush in, turning solid and catching Morton from underneath. Blaze and the Boo hoisted Morton back up and onto the bridge.

Morton took a knee down to catch his breath. He then turned to the Swoopified, Vampirified, Zombified Blaze. "... You... saved my life... but why?"

"Well, you said you never wanted to fight DB at all," said Blaze as he perched himself on DB's nose to rest his wings. "So I gave you a second chance, something we never gave your brother in the pink shell."

"... You mean...?" asked Morton.

"Yes..." replied Blaze. "Roy's dead..."

Morton closed his eyes, a small tear coming out. "Why, bro...?" he said.

"Well Roy attacked us at the tar pits and he ended up falling in due to his rage." DB said, trying to make it seem as though it was an accident so Morton could calm down easier. He settled down as he got to his feet before Morton. "Morton... Are you honest with what you said?"

Morton looked up and nodded.

"Just to be sure though." He said as he noticed a stream of blood on Morton's neck and knew that after that fight that both him and more then likely he would be hungry as well.

"Oh... um... DB?" Morton said. "Here, take it." Morton handed DB the piece of the crown.

DB opened his hand to see a vine there. The only difference is that it began coming to live once it touched DB's hand. "What is this? A soul vine?" He asked as he put it away with the other parts. "A soul vine...Kamek told me where that's from but I don't remem... Remem..." DB paused as if something was going on.

"..." Blaze turned around to look at DB's eyes as he sat on his nose. "Eh... DB? Are you feeling okay?" he asked. "Something up?"

"GET OFF MY NOSE!"

A voice that sounded like Bowser's came from DB's mouth as a hand swatted Blaze, who was sent sprawling onto the floor. "Ow!" he exclaimed. "What the heck's gotten into you, DB?!"

"Kamek it's working. Just keep it focused." Bowser's voice was heard as DB backed away.

"King... Dad?" Morton said as he got up and picked Blaze up in his hands. "What's going on?"

"That isn't important. I only have a little time," said Bowser's voice. "Kamek is using a spell so I may speak through DB but yet he can't speak during this. The next place to go is to the jungle near that Koopa town by Rogueport. There are two smaller temples then a larger one at the end of the pathway. Inside the last temple is the next clue." He then looked to Morton. "And Morton. I'm commanding you to go with these two but you must become one of them as your other siblings had a hunch you would turn on them. Now off... All of you."

Bowser's voice stopped as DB shook his head while rubbing it. Blaze groaned a bruise on his head. "Ugh… if that was Bowser," he said. "Then I don't think he recognized me… which I can understand…"

"Looks like we've discovered our next destination," said DB. "But we should make this place our head quarters. There should be some sort of gem or item to bring us back here whenever we want, like some sort of portable pipe. And as for you Morton." DB he shoved his brother into the castle for safety as he grabbed Blaze. "You're coming with us, and King dad said that you have to become one of us. Now let's get this part over with."

"Ey! Take it easy!" Blaze said as DB handled him rather roughly.

DB sighed. "Now Blaze, just bite him and get it over with. I want to see a Vampire Morton ether now or else." He said feeling impatient and out of character. Morton noticed the items in DB's shell giving off an odd black aura but didn't say anything since they stopped after a few seconds.

DB held Blaze's mouth open and jammed his fangs into Morton's neck as he walked back to the staircase.

"Now how do we save your friends?" DB asked the Boo.

"I'll show you," replied the Boo. He led them further into the building to a statue with a star on it. "Can of you push this out of the way?"

"I'll do it," said Morton. He pushed the statue forward, revealing a hole in the floor. They all jumped in, then entered a door to the left. On the other side was a room with a treasure chest. "They're all locked in there," said the Boo. "Morton put a password on the chest, which I don't know."

"It's 'wedding cake'," said Morton. Everyone else stared blankly at Morton's strange password choice, but sure enough, the chest opened, and Boos poured out, about 199 of them. "You... sure have a lot of friends..." Blaze remarked, rubbing the bruise on his head from DB's unintentional hand swipe.

"You!" one of the Boos yelled, pointing at Morton. "This was all YOUR fault! Now you're going to get it!" The Boos all crowded around Morton angrily.

"Well... I... uh..." Morton began.

"It's all right now," the other Boo began. "He's with us now."

"Oh... all right..." said the rest of the Boos, and they backed off.

Morton turned to the Boo. "Gee… thanks," he said, scratching the back of his head.

"Now are there any places we could stay?" DB asked the Boo.

The Boo nodded as he pointed to the far side of the room, which had a crypt opening in it. "A crypt?" DB asked.

The Boo nodded.

DB looked at Morton to see that his brother had longer fangs and looked pale then soon he was a Vampire just like Blaze. "What's that... Feeling I have?" Morton asked.

"Blood lust." Replied DB.

Morton nodded. "Is anyone hungry?" He asked.

"I am, actually," agreed Blaze. "Let's head to town and grab something to eat, then we'll rest for the night."

"No need," Morton said.

"Oh?" Blaze asked.

Morton walked to the main floor and snapped his fingers. A few minutes later the newest edition to the group came down with eight hypnotized troops. "These are all the troops that I brought with me to help," said Morton. "but they're useless to me now." He then commanded them to go downstairs in the crypt as he followed them.

"Go ahead," DB said to Blaze. "I have to get something done. It's late, so let's eat and get some rest."

"Ooh… delicious…" said Blaze, his fanged mouth drooling as he followed Morton to the crypt.

DB took the Boo in an arm as he walked away from Blaze. He began whispering to him. "Get us two capes please. Make sure they have hoods they can tie around their bodies. I don't want those two to get hurt from the sunlight. Try to get them to use by tomorrow before we leave." The Boo nodded as he flew off.

DB walked down the steps behind Blaze as he went to go enjoy his meal.

[DBKoopa]

Blaze and D.B.: Infected Heart

by R. Blaze Koopa and Bowser166

Chapter 6: Battle of the Underground Fortress

DB woke up the next day to see two of the eight troops next to his coffin, both of them brainless as DB himself had dried blood around his mouth. He looked around and saw blood all over the floor and the walls. The red substance made it feel like a real room for the undead.

He noticed that there were two troops still left alive but were trapped inside a coffin he had locked himself with a rusty chain that was originally on the floor. He looked around and saw Morton passed out as his body was covered in blood as he laid on the ground curled up into a little bloody ball. He walked over and shook his brother awake.

He then went to Blaze's coffin to see if he was up yet. "Hey Blaze... Felt like a party last night didn't it?" He asked as he opened the top of Blaze's bed.

Blaze slowly sat up, yawned, and stretched. He turned to DB. "Ah... yep," he agreed. "That was freakin' delish..." he licked his lips (or beak, more appropriately) clean of some dry blood.

"You said a mouthful!" Morton chimed in. "That was better than wedding cake! Anyway, it's a new day, guys! Come on, we've got crown parts to find!"

As Blaze stood up from his coffin, he suddenly realized something. "... Oh... we can't go anywhere beyond Twilight Town..."

"Why not?" Morton asked.

"Um… we're vampires, Morton," Blaze grunted. "We can't take sunlight very well."

"... Oh yeah..." said Morton. "I forgot…"

DB smirked. "You two wait down here and get breakfast out of the coffin," he said as he went up the stairs just in time to see the Boo who was holding two Dracula-esc capes with hoods. They could button on the front and would drape over their feet as well.

He walked down just in time to see Morton pull out one of the troops and use his hand to crush open it's skull. "What are those?" He asked. DB smiled as he let both of them hang. The inside of both capes were red while the outside matched both Koopa's shells perfectly. "Now why can't you two go out in the sunlight again?" he said as he threw Blaze his just as Morton snatched his own.

"These are awesome bro!" Morton said as he put his on. "But why do they seem to fit King Dad instead?"

"That's just in case you don't get another cape in your life time," said DB. "Have enough room to grow, but what about me though? I know I'm fine during sunlight but your both going to be hidden as people won't recognize you two. Shouldn't I get the same privilege?"

"Well..." Blaze pulled a pair of shades out of his shell and handed them to DB. "At least it's something," he chuckled. He then tried on his own cape. "Heh... nifty," he commented.

DB put on the shades but soon took them off. "Maybe not yet. Another time if it fits with something to help me hide."

Morton broke open the next troop's head but this time from the face as he tore the lower jaw off of the now dead Koopa to make it more like a spout for the blood. "Whose ready for breakfast?" Morton asked.

"Right here!" Blaze chimed, grabbing a skull and cracking it in half. He tossed DB the remains of the brain, then sipped away at the oozing blood from the skull halves.

DB bit into the brain remains as he enjoyed the squish that came with it. He continued to eat at it till it was eventually gone then he let out a large burp. "Talk about food for thought," he said as he chuckled.

He was interrupted by Morton throwing the brain at DB's head, which knocked it off again. "Why not brainstorm for a better joke?" Morton said laughing.

Morton was interrupted by Blaze conking a skull half on his head. "Why not cut the brain jokes altogether?" Blaze said, laughing. "Besides, I've had enough trouble ALREADY with keep DB in one piece." Blaze reattached DB's head with his skull.

Morton was rubbing his head where Blaze had hit him. "Hey, easy!" he said. "Bones are hard!"

"I tried..." Blaze shrugged. "I guess I don't know my own strength."

"Let's just leave before we go brain dead," DB said, laughing as he climbed the stairs with only a quarter of the second brain left, which he stuffed into his mouth.

"Don't test me, DB," said Blaze as they exited the building.

"So, where are we going again?" Morton asked.

"Actually I forget. Where are we going again Blaze?" DB asked. "I feel absent minded right now."

"Hey, Bowser spoke through YOUR body!" Blaze said slapping his forehead. "But then... I don't remember exactly either... Something about a fortress in a Koopa town or something..."

"Oh yeah. The Koopa Town by Rogueport," DB said. "I couldn't THINK for a second there. Was too absent MINDED. I seemed to loose my train of THOUGHT. Had a BRAIN fart." DB said as he literally fell on his back laughing terribly.

"Should I teach him the true meaning to L.M.A.O.?" Morton suggested.

"Actually, I think I should teach him the meaning of S.T.H.U..." Blaze replied. "All right, you clown… Get up and let's go already!"

DB continued to laugh but got to his feet as he began to lead the group to the next warp pipe, which came out of a wall once DB touched a brick. "Oh yeah. King Dad took this place over and installed these didn't he?" Morton said as he walked through the pipe. DB and Blaze followed suit.

They came out on the edge of the Koopa town behind a bush. Morton gazed through the bush at the citizens nearby. "Those towns people... they look... tasty..." Morton said as he began feeling his first blood lust.

"We had breakfast already, Morton," said Blaze. "Stay focused..." Blaze looked out at the people. "Guess we have no choice but to move forward, despite the fact that we'll likely cause a scene just by our appearances. We stick out like sore thumbs here."

"You two can cover up and such, but I'm the only one without a disguise." DB complained.

"Won't make much of a difference..." said Blaze. "Morton and I still look pretty creepy, with or without the capes. Anyway, enough stalling. Let's get moving and find where this fortress is… and... eh... TRY to keep a low profile..."

"Hey! I keep a low profile," DB said as he noticed Morton beginning to walk through the town.

"Slow down, Morton," Blaze said as he followed, motioning DB to follow as well. As they walked through town, some people nearby stopped and stared at the strange newcomers going by. Blaze whispered to DB. "Told you..."

"I have half a mind to pull those fangs out of your mouth," DB said.

The group so far managed to walk all the way through town without incident, until they reached a wooden gate, guarded by a Koopa Troopa. The Koopa froze, staring up at the trio before him, all much larger than he was. He spoke in a shaking voice. "... S-s-sorry, gentlemen," he stuttered. "No traveling beyond this gate without permission from the mayor."

Blaze growled with impatience. He wasn't about to go looking around for whoever the heck the mayor was. He grabbed the Koopa by the neck and squeezed, with the Koopa wheezing for air.

CRACK! The Koopa suddenly stopped breathing. People nearby screamed in terror, but Blaze gave no care. He simply handed the dead Koopa to Morton. "You looked hungry, so here you go."

"Ooh, thanks!" said Morton as he took the Koopa and ripped off his head, sipping away at the blood. More people screamed, some fainting.

Blaze then kicked the gate open, breaking it off its hinges in the process. "Ladies first," he said, shoving DB and Morton forward through the gate. DB fell apart as his torso went ahead but the rest of his body fell to the ground. Morton grabbed Blaze's arm before he was shoved and shoved him forwards as he drank the blood.

After DB was reassembled yet again and Blaze and Morton were finished arguing over who the real "lady" was, the group soon arrived at the first temple. It seemed to have two jars next to the other door, which was locked.

Above each jar were two stone Swoopers with sharp fangs and a pipe running down its throat and stomach through the jars. "What the heck? Those look new," DB said.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, ten troops dropped down to the floor around the three creature Koopas.

"Stop right there!" said a troop. "This is as far as you go!"

"Oh... this is it?" said Morton. "Pfft. Excuse me…"

Morton jumped in the air and slammed hard onto the ground, creating a shockwave that knocked all the troops off their feet, through knocking DB and Blaze down as well. "Now!" said Morton. "Grab them three at a time!"

While the dizzy troops struggled to get back up, Morton grabbed a trio of them and began choking them in his arms by their necks until they breathed no more. Blaze did likewise, killing three more.

DB suddenly threw his head at one of the troops and knocked him into the wall, which ended up crushing his nose. He laid there covering it as DB's body found his head as he held him up. He then finished off the rest of the troops.

DB looked and saw no sign of the door. "I think they had to be flown up to the Swooper statues and have the Swooper dig into their necks to drain their blood. So I think we're trapped here." He said. "Unless we can get more blood into those jars through the Swoopers' mouths… Hey you two Vampires. Get this guy up to those statues and fill those jars."

"Eh… okay…" said Morton. He changed into a Swooper, but fell to the ground, as he wasn't expecting suddenly blindness. He flew up again, and, after hitting a wall, took the troop up to the right statue and jammed the statue's fangs into the troop's neck as a sucking noise came from the statue as the Troop was suddenly drained of blood completely.

"Save those six. I think these four will do it," DB said as he saw the first jar was halfway filled already.

Blaze transformed to his Swooper form, then carried one of the choked troops up to another statue, draining his blood. Blaze and Morton did this once more each, then the three watched as the door opened up for them. "Okay, that was easy," said Morton. "But here's a question… how do you fly when you can even see crap?"

"Use your ears..." said Blaze, transforming back into his true form.

Morton raised a brow, then changed back just as DB dug his claws into the hinge on the top of one of the troop's heads for a cleaner opening. Once he did that he opened the head and pulled out the brain.

However, just as he did, Morton patted DB on the back but his head fell off and did a front flip over the troop as his own brain fell into the troop's head with a splash. Suddenly the troop's skin began to change and smell as it too turned into a Zombie. DB's body fell backwards as the troop got to his feet. "What the heck?" The troop said in his normal voice as the top of his head suddenly scabbed over as no blood was lost. "What's going on here?"

Morton saw the troop and tackled him to the ground determined to kill him for good.

Blaze realized what had happened. "… MORTON! GET OFF OF HIM!" he roared.

"But he'll attack us!" Morton yelled, continuing to beat on the troop.

"I said GET OFF!!!" Blaze grabbed Morton by the shoulders and threw him off.

"... Ugh... great..." said Blaze. "Just terrific..." He detached the brain from the troop's head, causing the troop's body to fall dead again. Blaze placed the brain back in DB's loose head, and reconnected his head to his body. "Last... freakin'... straw... DB..." Blaze muttered.

DB paused for a bit. "No Blaze... Did you see that?" He said. "Do that again... It could come in handy." He said as he handed the troop to Blaze. "This could come in handy one of these times."

Blaze groaned, then brain-switched DB again, while Morton just stood there, watching blankly.

Soon the troop came back to life. "Wait... I'm actually in control of this dead troop's body?" he said as he began walking around to test out the body. "Like I said, this could come in handy," he said fiendishly as he looked through the door. "You two stay here and watch my body... I have an idea," he said as he walked towards the next temple.

"Whatever…" Blaze said, leaning against the wall. Morton was still speechless.

DB, in the troop's body, got to his stomach as he crawled into the temple while acting in pain as he saw 5 more troops around. "Help... me... He infected me." DB Troop said as his head fell faint.

The troops all gasped and crowded around their fallen comrade. "No!" one troop cried. "What should we do?"

"Call a medic!" cried another.

"I don't think the hospital can be of much help here..."

DB Troop lie there with his tongue hanging out as he stared blankly, his head falling on its side. Not having a pulse made it more convincing, as the troops didn't know much about Zombies in the first place, which DB was using to his advantage.

No..." one troop gasped. "He's... dead..."

"He was a good soldier..."

"Rest in piece. I salute you."

Once DB Troop noticed the other troops leaving him he slowly got to his feet and went behind the nearest troop and grabbed one arm around his neck and the other around his head as he began to twist it. "Any final words before you join me?" He asked sounding frightening.

The troop was too dumbstruck and frightened to say a word.

"You lost your chance." DB Troop said as he twisted the troop's neck and snapped it as he tore off the Koopa's shell and smashed it over another troop's head, smashing the shell as well as the head wide open, with the bloody shrapnel of the shell flying everywhere. The troop fell and blood began leaking out of him. "Whose next?" DB Troop asked.

A few minutes later he returned with two more troops in his arms and threw them down. "Let's move out. I got the next area cleared and this new ability works great." He said with a smile. "Now return me to my normal body."

Blaze groaned. "I swear, if I have to keep doing this..." He pulled DB's brain from the troop, whose body fell dead again. Blaze placed the brain back in DB's head.

Morton still couldn't get over what he had just seen. "That's... really... weird..." he said.

"Well, get ready," Blaze muttered. "Something tells me were going to see that power many more times in the future..."

DB chuckled as he lead the way back through the next temple and to the bigger one. He looked around as he didn't see a thing. "Any hints of where to go? I'm sure the vine is farther in here. How about you two go fly up to that window?" he asked.

Morton nodded as he turned into a Swooper. He was having troubles flying, hitting a wall again, but he made it to the window and perched himself there. Blaze transformed into his Swooper form and followed Morton up to the window ledge.

"SEE ANY-" DB shouted as he heard a pop and felt the ground under his feet disappear. "GAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!" he shouted as he fell down the hole which appeared under him.

"What's GAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!?" Morton asked as he continued to look out the window.

Blaze turned around to see what DB was yelling about, only to see that DB was no longer there, and a hole was in the spot where DB had been standing. "Woah..." Blaze said. "Come on, Morton! He fell!"

Blaze jumped off the window ledge and winged into the hole, while Morton followed. Blaze and Morton emerged from the hole to find that they were now in an underground chamber, the floor flowing with dirty water. "Are you okay?" Blaze asked DB, who was lying in the water.

DB looked up at Blaze and Morton. "I think so..." he said as he then got to his feet. He looked around and saw a vine moving. He noticed that it looked like the vine they had already. "Now I believe that we go in there." He said as he went through the only door there.

As they walked through the door, Blaze and Morton returned to their normal forms. Suddenly, a small, black creature, a Fuzzy, bounced in out of nowhere and jumped on Blaze's face. "UNGH!" Blaze grunted, and swatted the Fuzzy off. The Fuzzy landed in the water, and before it could recover, Blaze squashed it under his foot, the blood gushing out and flowing into the water.

That done, they continued forward. Morton, however, stopped to look at the blood in the water. With his blood lust taking his over again, Morton bent down and extended his tongue.

"MORTON!"

Morton jumped and turned around to see Blaze, looking rather annoyed. "What?" Morton shrugged. "I can't help it!"

"Just come on..." Blaze groaned, grabbing Morton by the tail and dragging him on.

"Ow! Careful!" Morton groaned. "My tail is very sensitive!"

"Why do you think I'm pulling on it?" Blaze hissed.

"Morton! Blaze! You traitors!" someone yelled.

The trio halted. There, standing in the water, looking quite furious, was Larry Koopa, who seemed to be holding some sort of seeds in his hand. "How COULD you two? You're supposed to me on OUR side, AGAINST this sorry excuse for a brother!" He pointed it DB.

"I didn't want to fight him!" Morton snapped back. "You all dragged me into it!"

"... Wait..." said Blaze. "How am I a traitor?"

"You're a vampire, aren't you?" Larry yelled. "It's not too late to switch sides, if you have some sense."

Blaze froze. He then immediately thought back to the Hammer Bro he and DB had battled the previous day…

'I see that Blaze has decided to join the war of the Koopalings and Vampires against the zombie prince.'

'Koopalings and Vampires against the zombie prince…'

The phrase ran through Blaze's head and wouldn't go way. He began to worry.

DB looked at Larry. "I'll give you one chance to stand down Larry," DB said as he dug his foot claws into the ground.

"No! Never!" Larry snapped. "The day I ever surrender to you is the day I hang up my shell for good!" He then tossed the seeds into the water. Almost instantly, the seeds sprouted up into a large, three-headed Piranha Plant. Larry laughed sinisterly. "Okay, my pet," he said snidely. "Time to feast yourself!" The Piranha Plant roared, and each head then lunged forward at the trio.

Morton jumped backwards in a dance of nerves. While the Piranha Plant was close enough, Morton slashed his claws through its head. The head cried in pain, and Morton then proceeded to disconnect the head from the body, cutting it by its stem.

The middle head went for Blaze, but not far enough to reach him. Blaze rolled his eyes, then blew a wave of fire at the head, setting it aflame. The middle head screeched as it slowly burned away.

The last head went for DB. DB grabbed the head and tore it off along with some of the stem, which he whipped around at Larry. Larry jumped back and up some stone steps. DB followed as Larry ran to an octagon stone platform. Once DB set foot on it Larry snapped his fingers as a giant Piranha Plant came under the floating stone platform.

DB heard it as he looked around till he felt the ground move. The floating platform along with the Piranha plant began moving till there was no place for either of them to jump to.

"I call THIS one 'Jimmy'," Larry sneered. "Ain't that cute? He wants to have you for dinner!" The Piranha Plant... that is... Jimmy roared, and blew a fireball upwards at the platform near DB. DB jumped out of the way as he dove in the center of the platform hoping he won't get knocked off.

"All right, you bucket of bones!" Larry growled. "This ends now!" Larry charged toward DB, attempting to biff him over the edge.

DB jumped over Larry as he grabbed his brother's hair and pulled him backwards. "I don't want to do this Larry. You have a whole life ahead of you. You can do great things with your gift."

"Yeah!" Larry yelled. "And the greatest thing I'm going to do is get rid of YOU!" He grabbed DB's leg and tripped him.

DB fell to the ground as he refused to kill off his brother this time. He wanted to find some sort of way to keep him alive but figured he had no other choice. He let out a fire breath, which ended up being a black flame as it left his mouth, which also smelled terrible.

Larry ducked to miss the fireball. Though Larry wasn't quite as strong as Roy, he was quite nimble, proving to be one tough cookie. Larry jumped up in the air, then launched himself downward toward DB, with a foot extended forward. DB jumped into his shell hoping it would hold. Larry, with no way to avoid the shell, kicked right down on top of it, with a spike piercing all the way through his foot. Larry let out a blood-curdling scream of pain and fell backwards, stuck on his shell, his foot bleeding heavily.

DB signaled both Morton and Blaze to hurry up and get over to them as he jumped into the air and ground pounded Larry's chest to both keep his spikes stuck in the ground, causing him to cough up minor blood. Blaze and Morton changed to Swoopers and flew across the gap.

Larry was still coughing up blood. He spoke coldly. "I... I hate you..." he growled. "I hate all three of you!"

"It's a shame..." Blaze sighed. "You were always my favorite... It actually pains me to see you like this, but today, you're an enemy. "

Larry glared at Blaze angry. After coughing again, he spoke. "Blaze... you son of a Chain Chomp... It's... not too late. Don't deny your destiny... join the Koopalings..."

"Nothing doing," said Blaze. "I made a promise, and I intend to keep it, and nothing's going to make me break that promise." He looked at DB for a moment.

"Any last words, Larry?" DB said as he wound up a punch.

However, just before he launched it, a Piranha Plant in hiding on the ceiling suddenly came down and ate DB. DB was struggling to get out of the plant.

"It's ether me or him..." Larry said, coughing again. "That plant is enforced with steel in his stem and head... He can't be killed but he can be stopped, which ether way I won't tell you how. If both of you join us then I'll let you both... See him one more time before we turn him over to Ludwig..."

Blaze and Morton reverted back to their normal forms. Blaze took a knee down, then spoke. "I guess you have us at your mercy..." he sighed. "I know when I'm defeated..."

Larry smirked snidely, satisfied with what he heard.

Morton looked down at Blaze with a raised brow. Blaze looked back up at Morton, then continued. "But... as they say... if all else fails..."

"Give up and admit defeat?" Larry interrupted.

"No…" Blaze paused momentarily, then uttered one last word. "... Cheat!"

Blaze suddenly stood back up and blew a hot, steady stream of fire at the Piranha Plant. The Plant's metal interior began to heat up fast. The Plant squirmed as its temperature rose fast, until his metallic enforcement became so hot that it began to melt. The Plant cried in extreme pain, dropping DB unharmed. The burn of the melting steel and the fire caused the Plant to go up in flames. Morton laughed hard, impressed, if not entirely surprised by Blaze's trickery. Larry was completely dumbstruck.

DB gasped as he looked at Larry. "That's it..." DB said. He looked at Blaze and Morton as he said two words. "Get him."

At once, Morton held out his cape to hide as he bit into Larry's neck violently and began to drink him dry on one side. Blaze followed Morton's lead and sank his fangs into the other side of Larry's neck and began sipping ounces of blood from him.

Larry wheezed, gasped, and coughed. He struggled to move, but his spikes were lodged deeply into the platform. "AAAAAAAAH! AUGH!" cried Larry. "You'll... you'll pay! ... You'll all die! ...AAAAAAAAUGH!!" The sucked of the blood continued on until Larry's heart finally stopped.

Blaze and Morton bent back up, licking their beaks clean. "Ah, refreshing!" said Morton.

"Quite," agreed Blaze. He bent back down to the body and cut Larry's skull open and took out the brain, handing it to DB. Blaze then decided Jimmy could use a snack, too. He pulled Larry's body loose from the platform (another journal and what appeared to be a miniature segment of a Pokey fell out of Larry's shell as Blaze grabbed him) and threw him over the edge, where Jimmy waited with an open mouth, chomping down as soon as Larry's body touched its tongue.

"I say good riddance," DB said as he gazed at the puddle of blood and bits of skin and what not around where his brother was. He noticed that from Larry's body came a journal and the next piece. It was a mini Pokey fragment but it was purple with a green stripe on one side. "A Pokey fragment? But... Where is this one?" He thought for a bit.

"Morton..." said DB. "Didn't you go to Poison Village one time? I heard you had to wear a gas mask since the air is poisoned with no way to clear it out. The villagers have grown accustomed to it so they're not affected anymore. As well as the poisoned fountain in the center I believe."

Morton nodded. "We should be good there, don't you think?" Morton asked.

"I think so," agreed Blaze. "But right quick, read that journal."

DB nodded as he put the piece away and began to read the journal.

"DB. I may have to say this would have to be my last journal to you. I hid this in Larry's shell before he knew about it which is how I assume you found it if your reading it. Your siblings are still after you as you know, but watch your back. A Vampire's bite may change you into a Vampire but if a Vampire bites another Vampire then you can expect changes. That's all I can aid you with for now. Good luck in your quest. I'll try to get Kamek to use another spell if we need to talk but that's going to be hard to see happening for a while. Goodbye and good luck. P.S.: Blaze and Morton both better be on their best behavior, or else."

"Yeah, Blaze!" Morton laughed. "You better be on your best behavior!"

Blaze snorted. "You're no angel either, Morton. At least I'm not the one who recently stuffed party poppers down Bowser's shell. Does Bowser even know who did it?" At this, Morton wisely stopped laughing.

"Anyway," Blaze continued. "Let's get going already. Were done here. Ready, Morton?"

"Roger," Morton replied. The two turned into Swoopers and carried DB back across the gap. After Blaze and Morton changed back, they headed for the exit, though on the way, Blaze encountered yet another Fuzzy, which he squashed, then tugged Morton along so he wouldn't stall again.

After an hour, the group made it back to their crypt in Creepy Steeple to rest and plan for the next day just as the Boos brought troops trapped inside of their ectoplasm bodies that they found around the forest. "So you guys are going to bring us our victims to eat?" Morton asked as the head.

The Boo nodded. "Sure. You freed my friends, so we're here to serve each of you."

"Well, guys," said Blaze as he broke a skull in half and sipped its blood. "That's four pieces down. We're racking 'em up." He turned to DB. "That was one amazing fight you put up back there," he remarked, giving a thumbs up.

"I barely did a thing. I just ordered you two to drink his blood, which seemed kinda odd... As if I felt something when I said 'get him'." DB pointed out. "I can't really say what it felt like for me... It felt weird..."

"... You mean... you didn't actually mean to tell Morton and me to do so?" Blaze asked. "... Well then, what made you say it?"

"I don't know..." DB said as he lay down in his coffin with it opened.

"Oh well..." Blaze said, sitting on his coffin for a moment before preparing to sleep. "I guess that's just another mind-boggling question for us..." As he ease himself into his coffin, he thought to himself. 'Another mind-boggling question... just like the question of why the Vampires are in cahoots with the other Koopalings...' He would have to sleep on that however, as he closed his eyes and drifted into the dream world.

Blaze and D.B.: Infected Heart

by R. Blaze Koopa and Bowser166

Chapter 7: Where's my Wedding Cake?!

The next morning (not that morning exists around the Twilight Town area), Blaze was the first to wake up. He sat up from his coffin and yawned. A lot of confusion was playing through his mind regarding the events of the previous day. What had suddenly caused DB to order him and Morton to suck Larry to death? Not only that, but what was all this about Vampires assisting the Koopalings? He then thought back to his unexpected encounter with a Vampire two days ago. However, it still wasn't enough to answer his questions. He decided he might and well worry about it later.

Blaze noticed Morton, once again fast asleep on the floor with blood covering his beak. Blaze turned to wake up DB. "Yo, DB," he said. "Up and at 'em, buddy."

DB yawned as he got up and looked around. "I swear...These are better then the beds at the castle."

"Well, they're certainly fitting," said Blaze. "I'll give it that..." He looked down at Morton again, snoring loudly. "Excuse me while I wake up sleeping beauty here..."

Blaze walked over to Morton and gently shoved him. Morton didn't move a muscle. Blaze shoved him harder, but Morton remained asleep. On thin patience, Blaze slapped Morton in the back of the head.

Morton jumped up in surprise. He looked up at Blaze. "... Good morning to you, too, Blaze..." he muttered, rubbing the back of his head.

"Well now that you're up," Blaze said, rolling his eyes. "Breakfast time." He tossed Morton a troop's head, with Morton then broke in half and sipped away at the blood. Blaze did likewise with another, tossing DB the brain.

Inside DB's shell glowed the pieces of the crown again as he muttered the word "stop" at Morton. Immediately and suddenly, Morton quit drinking and looked at DB and Blaze. "I'm through," he said as he poured more then half of the blood into Blaze's half. DB was a little confused by that as well as why he said stop.

"... Um... all right?" Blaze said with a raised brow. He turned to DB. "... Why did you just tell him to stop... and why did he do so?"

"I... I don't know..." DB said. "Something weird is going on here. I have no idea." He pulled out the crown pieces from his shell. For some reason, he had a feeling they were involved.

Soon the pieces began to merge into a crown with a few missing pieces left. It glowed black as he looked at Morton again. "Drink," he said.

Morton turned to Blaze and snatched his head of blood and began drinking it.

Blaze wasn't too happy about Morton stealing his grub, but otherwise, it didn't matter to him. "... 'Kay..." Blaze said. "... That's... odd..." He looked at the crown, which had mysteriously assembled itself. "... Apparently there's some info about that crown that we haven't learned yet..." he said.

DB reached into his shell and pulled out each of the journals they have gathered hoping for a clue. However, he didn't notice that inside the spine of the last one was a piece of paper sticking out a bit. He opened each one in order and began to read them, still not noticing the slip of paper.

Blaze quickly glanced over at Morton, who precariously splattered the blood all over his face as he drank. Blaze scratched his head, then looked at DB and his cluster of journals. Something then caught his eye: a small slip of paper sticking out of one of the journals. "... Ey... what's that?" he said. He pulled the paper slip out and looked at it.

The slip folded out into a half piece of paper with what the crown is suppose to look like currently. On it in Bowser's hand writing was also a list of it's powers which read "The holder of the crown may be able to control all undead beings whether their Zombies, Vampires, Werewolves, and Ghosts of all sort for one command at a time. Until fully assembled, the crown may react by making the holder use it's powers by accident."

DB looked up at Blaze. "What does it say?" He asked.

"I'll explain it in a nutshell," said Blaze. "It's a little note explaining with this crown does. Basically, you can control the minds of monsters and the undead with this crown. However, it tends to do so all on it's own if the crown is incomplete, which it is. Maybe that explains the whole 'Get him!' thing yesterday, not to mention Morton here..."

DB looked at Morton. "Stop."

Morton suddenly stopped and looked at DB. "Well I'm full... What should we do next?" Morton asked.

DB raised an eyebrow as he then began to chuckle. "Sit," he said to Morton who did so. "Roll over.," DB said, and Morton did just that as he rolled over the puddle of blood. "Play dead," DB said laughing as Morton jumped into his coffin and closed it. DB began laughing hard enough that he might just pass out.

"All right, DB," said Blaze. "That's... that's..." Blaze tried to say the word "enough", but couldn't quite get it out due to laughter taking him over. Once Blaze was finally able to contain himself, he spoke to DB. "Okay, that'll do, DB," he said. "It's time we got back to business anyway."

DB began to settle down till he turned to Blaze with a smile on his face.

Blaze raised a brow. When he was sure he knew what DB was thinking, he snatched the crown from him. "You know..." he said, glaring sharply at DB. "Maybe I should hold this before someone abuses it..." He slipped it into his shell behind his cape.

Morton came back to his senses and climbed out of the coffin. "Ugh... my head hurts..." he grunted.

"How about today we just relax?" DB said. "We can take the troops who come after us. Doesn't mean we can't relax every once in a while."

"... Eh, I suppose," Blaze said, shrugging. "Yesterday was pretty hectic in that underground tunnel. All right, we'll take a break today."

After saying that, he bent down to look DB straight in the eye. "Let's get something straight," Blaze hissed. "We're not going to use the crown unless we really need to, so no funny stuff... or else."

"I swear," DB said. "Now, what should we do on our day off?"

"How about we go get some wedding cake?" Morton blurted out.

"… Does the Twilight Town shop even SERVE wedding cake?" Blaze asked.

"Umm...I think so." DB said shrugging.

"There's only one way to find out," said Morton eagerly. "Come on, guys!" Morton quickly headed for the door. If there was one thing is loved more than anything in the world (besides blood), it was wedding cake.

Blaze, however, was a bit more reluctant. 'The Twilight Town shop...' he thought. 'The very same place where I was bitten...' Blaze took an uneasy breath, then followed Morton. DB followed as well.

After a bit of traveling through the woods, the group reached Twilight Town. Morton immediately spotted the shop and darted for it.

Once Blaze saw Morton's cravings taking him over, he quickly followed. "Morton! Wait a minute!" Blaze called. "There's something you should know about the..." It was no use, as Morton he already run into the shop and slammed the door shut. "... Store keeper..." Blaze muttered.

DB patted Blaze on the shell. "Let's get going then," he said.

Blaze and DB quickly followed Morton into the shop, where Morton was already on top of the desk (literally). "I'll have seven helpings of your finest wedding cake please?" he asked, his mouth drooling.

The shop keeper didn't notice DB and Blaze as she went into the back then soon came out and motioned for Morton to follow her into the back room. Morton eagerly followed the storekeeper.

Blaze slapped his forehead. "Well, we better snap him out of his cravings and get him out of there..."

"Should we? What's the worse that can happen?" DB asked.

"... Well..." said Blaze. "What happens if a Vampire bites a Vampire?"

"I think the slip of paper said that the Vampire bitten is under the control of the one that bit it. So if that means?" DB turned to the storeroom just as Morton broke out of the storeroom and looked at DB and Blaze as if he's ready to kill. "How do we snap it out of them again?" DB asked as he gulped.

"Oh... crap..." Blaze sputtered.

Morton began to charge at the two. "EVERY KOOPA FOR THEMSELVES!" DB shouted as he ran back towards the forest for cover. Blaze followed DB into the forest, with Morton not to far behind.

Upon entering the forest, the pair split up. However, Morton decided to go after DB.

DB ran through the forest and soon jumped to a high branch and began jumping from tree to tree hoping Morton would lose him.

Morton stopped to look around. When he couldn't see anything, he decided to try HEARING something, by going Swooper. He did so, and as he listened he could hear rustling in the trees near him. He flew forward and up onto a branch of the tree DB was in, though he couldn't find DB immediately. He came closer, however, as he began climbing the branches further into the tree.

DB had a branch pulled back as he saw Morton coming then once he got close enough he let go of the branch which smacked Morton and made him fall to the ground. DB then continued hurrying.

Morton lie dazed on the ground. He slowly got back in the air. However, he wasn't going to give up that easily, as his controller was very persistant. He dizzily flew on toward the sound of DB, though hitting one or two trees in the process. Morton's controller was going to find DB, even if Morton had to be abused to death to do so.

DB took a turn then turned back towards town while going around a huge tree in the process.

Morton continued to bang into trees until his Swooper for couldn't take much more. He reverted back to his true self, then walking away, completely losing DB.

Meanwhile, Blaze was still lost. He had lost the pathway while running, and was having no luck in backtracking. He feet aching, he changed to his Swooper form to give his feet a rest, then flew upward above the treetops to get a birdseye view. However, he realized he couldn't do so because he was blind. Groaning, he flew back down to ground level and continued on.

Then, he heard a noise nearby. "... DB?" he said. "... That you?" He slowly proceeded forward. He then noticed the source of the noise off to his left, and was shocked to see that noise was actually Morton.

Morton saw him, too, and gave chase. Blaze jumped and darted away as fast as he could. Morton, not being able to catch up on foot, changed to Swooper and pursued Blaze. Morton was catching Blaze gradually. Blaze continued to maintain his speed, dodging tree after tree and bush after bush. He still couldn't shake Morton. Blaze then decided to fake him. He veered left, with Morton following. However, as Morton was turned left, Blaze cut right. Morton saw this, but failed to notice a tree just feet ahead of him. Morton slammed head-on into the tree, knocking himself out. Blaze breathed a sigh of relief, then flew away.

Much to his luck, he had found the path again after covering much ground from the chase. Blaze smirked, then followed the path.

DB heard flapping as he was on the path by now back to town. He turned back and saw a Swooper, which made him being to sprint down the path.

Blaze saw DB just ahead, but raised a brow when he started running away. Blaze panted, he wings still aching from the long chase. "DB..." he breathed. "Stop... wait... it's just me!"

DB turned to see it was Blaze at the same time he tripped over a root and lost his left foot. "Blaze?" He asked.

Blaze could keep himself airborne no longer, and dropped to the ground, exhausted. He reverted himself back to normal, and stood to his feet. His arms ached very badly, as did his feet. He slowly staggered towards DB. "Who'd you think I was?" he asked as he reattached DB's foot.

"Let's hurry before Morton wakes up." DB said as he began to run towards town.

Arriving back at town, Blaze kicked the door open and glared angrily at the owner. "We'd like to have a little... eh... TALK with you," he growled, pounding his fists.

The owner jumped back as he showed his fangs with a hiss. DB wasn't afraid as he stood there.

Blaze clenched his fists. "She wants to play..." he said. "All right then. Ready, DB?"

DB nodded as he charged at the owner. Blaze charged as well.

The owner grabbed DB by the throat and threw him aside, then she quickly grabbed Blaze's arm and spun him around and threw him at the wall behind him.

Blaze rubbed his head, "Pretty strong..." he commented. He went into his shell and slid into the owner, knocking her in the air and over the desk.

DB got up as he ran to the owner and put her into a full nelson. "Blaze. Get him. But leave his body for me."

Blaze nodded, then bent forward and bit into the owner's neck. The owner squirmed and lurched, struggling to break free, but to no avail. She was now under Blaze's control. "You're mine," he said.

DB let go of the owner as she got to her feet. "Yes master...I am here to serve you."

'Let's test this out...' Blaze thought. "... Quack like a duck..." he ordered.

The owner began walking around, flapping her arms while quacking. DB let out a chuckle, as did Blaze.

Just then, Morton came in after finding his way back through the forest. "Ugh… my head…" he groaned.

Blaze scratched his chin. "… How about fixing my friend here a wedding cake?" he said to the owner. The owner nodded. He quickly brought Morton an already prepared cake, over which Morton began to drool, then devour.

"Tell her to make all orders come to the castle and to bring the supplies," said DB.

Blaze told her to do so. "When you're done," said Blaze. "Meet us at the Creepy Steeple in the woods... and don't get lost."

The owner nodded. DB grabbed Morton by the tie of his cape and began to drag him on his back while Morton was still eating. Blaze followed, and they all headed back to the Steeple. Once there, Blaze stretched. "So much for our day off..." said Blaze.

"You said it," agreed DB.

"My head still hurts..." Morton grunted. "... Does anyone happen to have an aspirin?"

"Morton, you just get some rest," said Blaze. "You've had enough headaches for today, being controlled like an R/C car and smacking into trees."

"I guess you're right..." said Morton, rubbing his head. Feeling slightly dizzy and exhausted, Morton walked to his coffin for a nap.

"Well, since Morton's going to rest," said Blaze to DB. "What should you and I do for now?"

"How about we just relax ourselves?" he suggested as he sat down. "Come on and sit as well. We deserve it after that." He then paused while looking at Blaze. "I wonder...What would it be like if I was a Vampire... I know it's strange to think about now but... It sounds like fun to me."

"Well, being able to fly in Swooper form is a nice new experience, despite the blindness..." Blaze chuckled. "... But hey, you're immortal... almost... Isn't that something to be proud about?"

DB stayed outside of his coffin as he closed his eyes. Blaze looked up at the ceiling for a moment before shutting his coffin and his eyes as well, drifting into the dream world.

Later that night, Morton woke up to see DB asleep just before he noticed Blaze was fast asleep as well. Feeling mischievous, he got up and picked his brother up and gently carried him over to Blaze's coffin. He slowly and quietly opened it as he slowly put a claw to the back of Blaze's neck to where Roy taught him how to paralyze a Koopa for a bit so they won't have pain which Roy used to beat up on Koopas all the time without killing them. He took a deep breath and dug a claw into Blaze's spine to make all pain go away, then pulled off the top of DB's head. "You said you were curious about being a Vampire...And Family should stick together." Morton said. "You better get me wedding cake for this as well. Here we go."

Blaze and D.B.: Infected Heart

by R. Blaze Koopa and Bowser166

Chapter 8: Royalty vs Efficiency

Morning came over creepy steeple. DB woke up and stretched. He had a weird feeling as he looked around. "Blaze... Morton... Let's get going..."

Blaze got up and yawned. "Morning already..." he said sleepily. "... 'Kay... coming, Blaze..." He stretched, then realized what he had just said, and looked in front of him to see his own walking body. "... Wait... I'M Blaze..." he said. "... What's going on?"

"Wait...What's going on?" DB asked as he looked at his own body.

Blaze jumped in surprised as he heard DB's voice coming from his body in front of him. "... DB...?" he asked.

"Blaze?" DB asked back. He walked closer to Blaze but soon a look in his eyes came. DB felt himself loosing control as he opened his mouth.

"Wha... what's... happened...?" asked Blaze. "... And what is this green thing in front of my face?"

"That's my... Err... Nose..." DB looked at Morton as if he has a feeling he did this.

"..." Blaze was dumbstruck. He then noticed Morton standing there laughing his head off. Blaze growled in suspicion. "... Just what are YOU laughing at?" he asked.

Morton stopped. "... Eh..." he said. "... Absolutely nothing... nothing at all..."

DB looked at Blaze as if he were ready to freak out. He wasn't used to this body and being a Vampire as he was ready to go crazy.

Blaze noticed DB looking rather shaken and freaked out. "Hey, now," he said. "No cracking up. I won't have any of that." He turned back to Morton. "As for YOU," he roared. "You're laughing at something. I know, and you'd better spit it out before I make you!"

Morton opened his mouth to say something, but his speech was taken over by hysterical laughter. Blaze growled irritably, giving Morton a murderous look.

"No... I'm hungry..." DB said as he began feeling weird. He looked at Morton and lunged at him. Morton was so enveloped in his laughter that he couldn't react quick enough to DB's charge.

DB raised his head and opened his mouth as he was craving blood now. He couldn't seem to be in control as he soon began to lower his head to bite down on Morton's neck. It was his first Blood Lust.

Morton yelled loudly as he felt the fangs dig into his skin. "DB! Stop!" he ordered. He grabbed DB by the shoulders and forced him off Morton, losing a hand in the process. He reconnected his hand and turned to DB. "All right..." said Blaze. "Looks like we two will have to get ourselves adjusted here. DB, since you're stuck in my body for the time being, you're gonna have to learn to control your blood lust. It's the only way we'll be able to move on, because I'm no in the mood to have to keep TWO blood-craving vampires in order myself..."

He turned to Morton and helped him up. "... You totally did this... didn't you...?" Blaze said with a raised brow.

"Well, DB, was curious about the way of the vampire," said Morton with fake innocence. "So I fulfilled his wish. I expect my wedding cake for-"

"BLOOD!" DB interrupted.

Morton and Blaze stared blankly, then Morton continued. "... Great deed, please," he finished.

"You more so deserve a tail-sizzle than a cake..." Blaze hissed. "... I'll deal with you later. We've gotta get going." He turned to DB. "If you're done acting like an animal," he said. "Might you know where we're supposed to be going next?" He tapped his foot impatiently.

DB seemed to try to gain control but couldn't seem to, as he looked at Morton once more ready to bite his brother once again.

Blaze growled again as he picked up one of the dead soldiers and sliced his head open, then kicked the head full of blood towards DB. Blaze swallowed the soldier's brain whole. "... Not bad..." he remarked. "... But this is just GREAT... Morton acts like a fool and brain-swaps us, DB is acting like a Chain Chomp or something, and I haven't the slightest idea where we're supposed to go... Could this get any worse?"

DB picked up the head and began drinking the blood franticly as it spills over his own head. Soon he settles down and drops the head with a burp. "That's... better..."

"Good," said Blaze. "Now, I'll ask one more time. Do you happen to know where we're supposed to go next?"

"What was the last clue again?" DB asked.

"The last journal we found only told us about what can happen it a vampire bites a vampire. It didn't say where the next piece is..." Blaze said. "... Let's just go now and think it over on the way. Something's bound to pop up..."

DB nodded. "How about we try caution Canyon? That's an idea to me."

"Anything is worth a try..." said Blaze, shrugging. "Let's just get going already..."

"... Will you give me my cake later then?" Morton asked as they headed for the door. Blaze simply let out an irritated growl.

DB turned into a Swooper and flew up through the door as if he had done it before. Blaze and Morton exited the door, though Blaze found it incredibly strange how DB so easily became used to the typical blindness of a Swooper. DB smiled as he continued to fly through the building and perched on a tree branch waiting for the others to follow. Blaze and Morton caught up and walked past. By now, Blaze had eased his patience a bit seeing as they were finally getting somewhere. However, he looked back and gave DB a look that looked as though he was saying, "Quit showing off and come on already...".

DB flew over and perched onto Blaze's shoulder. "Heh. Heck I'm better as a Swooper then you are," he said chuckling.

"You just love to give me a fit, don't you?" Blaze muttered.

"What? It's fun anyway. Morton join me here." DB said as he opened a wing as if inviting his bro to come and perch next to him.

Morton accepted the offer, Swoopified himself, and fluttered up and rested next to DB. "Ooh! Pleasant ride!" said Morton.

Blaze sighed. 'I'm the oldest in this bunch, yet DB always finds a way to use me like a puppet...' he thought. '... What's it like to be the annoying one instead of the one who gets annoyed...?'

DB continued to sit on Blaze's shoulder. He looked around then looked to Morton. "So who's left?" He asked the two.

"Well, you already killed Roy, right?" said Morton. "And we got Larry, I know. So it's Wendy, Lemmy, Bowser Junior, Ludwig, and Iggy…" He paused for a moment, then continued. "… Honestly, though, I don't wanna kill off my own brothers and sis. I hated to do that to Larry actually. I really hope a few more of our siblings decide not to be our enemies..."

"Me too Morton..." DB said holding back a tear but his voice didn't show he was doing so.

"Guys... listen," Blaze said. "That's where you two are lacking in your optimism... You may be killing off you're own siblings, and it may seem wrong... but it's only for a good cause. There's no other way around it... You gotta do what you gotta do. That's all I'm basically saying..."

Blaze closed his eyes for a moment before continuing. "... Not to say that I don't have any faith... MAYBE one or two of them will swap sides, but if not, don't hesitate to do what you must. In this case, hesitation leads to disaster... usually disaster that... um... can't be fixed... if you take my meaning..."

"Just keep walking," DB said.

As DB seemed to be ignoring a rather important bit of advice, Blaze thought to himself. '... Fine, DB... Since you seem to take a dislike to listening to me, I guess you just have to learn the hard way... I just hope you realize I'm only trying to help you...'

======

"Where are we?" DB asked Blaze a few hours later.

Looking around, Blaze noticed they had reached a mountainous region. "... This place ain't ringing a bell..." Blaze replied. "... I don't know where the fudge I'm going anymore..."

"Maybe i could fly up and get a bird's eye view of the area," said Morton before he realized something. "... Oh... wait... I can't do that... I'm blind..."

DB did some ultrasonic as he looked around. "Go down the slope to your left but be careful. Once down there go down the path and tell me when you see a Canyon."

Blaze proceeded in the direction DB pointed out. he advanced down the slope, climbing down slowly and carefully without stumbling once. He found the path and followed it until he could see the path snaking its way into a Canyon. "All right," said Blaze. "Here we go."

DB did his ultrasonic again and continued looking around. He found a path as he began flying down it. "Hurry and follow." He said as he went down the path into a tunnel.

Blaze followed DB into the tunnel Once inside, however, he lost all vision. "... Uh... I can't see..." said Blaze. "... I can't see at all..."

"I help you out, Blaze," said Morton as he used an ultrasonic, so he could find the things in Blaze's way in the dark. "Too the right," said Morton. "There's a boulder in the left side.... Right corner... Watch your head. There's a stalactite."

DB chuckled as he was watching the two. "Come on. I have a feeling we're about there."

"Aha!" said a loud, feminine voice out of nowhere. "I figured you'd be coming by sooner or later!"

All three stopped. Morton recognized the voice. "... W-W-Wendy?" Morton called. He flew forward a bit, close to DB, and used ultrasonic again. This time, it found the bratty Koopaling standing directly in front of them!

"Go Rings!" he yelled. Her gold bracelets flew off her hands and surrounded DB and Morton, slowly beginning to crush the two Swoopers. Wendy turned to Blaze. "You're the only one left now, brother..." she said, thinking Blaze was DB.

"... How can you see where I am?" Blaze asked.

"Night vision goggles, courtesy of Iggy!" said Wendy. "But that's off the point. I can't believe daddy would choose YOU over me, the prettiest face in the Koopa Castle! I'm NOT going to let this fly!"

DB could tell light from lava was down bellow the group. He tried to change back to normal but he couldn't seem to. Every so often he could feel and hear his spine or some bone popping.

Still mistaking Blaze for DB, Wendy continued. "If you care for the lives of your batty-little friends here, you'll give up now! If not... CRUNCH!" Blaze wasn't sure how to grab the upper hand. Either he give up, or DB and Morton would be crushed. Blaze wasn't for giving up, but he wasn't about to let DB be killed either.

"... Wendy..." Morton said tearfully. "Sis... why?"

Wendy looked sharply at Morton, then bent down until her face took up all of Morton's view. "... Why? ... WHY?!!" he bellowed. "I'll tell you why! I should rule my own kingdom. I just that much more qualified than ANY of you! If I can't have what I want, then no one else can either! NO ONE!!" The rings began to tighten more.

"Bla... I mean DB..." DB said trying to trick Wendy. "Stop her... Forget about us..." He said as he felt more of his joints popping then he felt a terrible sharp pain in his left wing.

Blaze began to sweat heavily shutting his eyes tightly under the pressure. Wendy was very much enjoying the scene of her "brother" tensing up in the pressure. "Don't even think about trying anything funny either!" she snarled. "Or these Rings will squeeze them faster then lightning, and that could get rather... messy! So, bro... what's it gonna be?"

Blaze slowly took a step towards Wendy, but as soon as he did, the Rings contracted again, and Morton let out a painful cry. Blaze immediately backed up. He couldn't take it anymore. "... All right..." he said at last. "You win... just don't hurt them anymore..."

"NO!" DB shouted as he was about to black out from the pain.

"I knew you'd see it my way..." Wendy snarled. She snapped her fingers, and the rings loosed, but still surrounded Morton and DB in case Blaze were to "cheat", as he did with Larry. Wendy continued to gloat. "This was way too easy... Of COURSE you couldn't let your brother die..." she said. "I know you too well!"

Blaze had his hands on his forehead, developing a migraine after that.

"Would you three come with me please?" said Wendy. "And no funny stuff! Those rings are still there you know!"

Later, two Sledge Bros were pushing a large rock to close up a crevice, in which DB, Blaze, and Morton were imprisoned in. "Well," said Wendy. "Look like I'll be getting what I want after all! But with that said and done, what am I going to do with you? ... Don't worry. I'll think of something, and I guarantee you it WON'T be pretty!"

The hole was closed up, leaving the three in the dark. Blaze sat against the wall and buried his face in his hands in frustration.

DB fell to his side, which he thought was more comfortable as he laid there.

Morton was about to lie down when he noticed Blaze looking rather upset with himself. He dragged himself over towards Blaze and lied next to him. He didn't speak immediately, but eventually spoke. "... Blaze...?" he said. "... You really didn't have to... You really shouldn't have..."

Blaze didn't reply immediately. He took a deep breath, then looked down at Morton. "... I know..." he said. "... But... I figured it wouldn't be worth it if DB was dead... The dude's got a destiny to fulfill, and Bowser asked me to see him to it... and that's what I promised I'd do... Besides that... maybe DB gets on my nerves at times... but next to Bowser... he's one of the best pals I've ever had..." Blaze tried not to show it, but a small tear flowed from his eye and dropped onto Morton's head.

DB looked up at Blaze. "Blaze... You're in my body... That means you're royal blood. Brains may hold memories but the proof is in the blood. They needed royal blood after all and that's what you are now... If I died then I would know that you would have been fine with finishing the journey. Now if we get out of here... Do what you can to proceed and we will take care of ourselves... Right now your Bowser's son. I'm not... And I rather enjoy it right now... After what I went through I enjoy being like this now since I have no more hassle of being Bowser's son... You're the boss now Blaze... We're just doing what we can to get you to your goal..."

Blaze sighed. "... All right..." he said. All the same, one thing still bugged him. '... I still want to know if DB realizes just how much I care about him as a friend, how much I'm willing to help out, regardless of whose body he's in. Ah... what's the use anymore...? He doesn't need me for help... He doesn't need me for anything...'

DB tried to squirm out of the ring a little more till he was out of breath then he looked up at Blaze and thought back to their adventure so far. He had then remembered some times where he didn't need Blaze and it began to bring him great guilt.

"Well..." said Morton. "What do we do?"

Blaze's thoughts were interrupted by Morton. He looked down at him. "... Wendy's most likely got her two Sledge Bro goons guarding that rock..." he said. "I guess all we can do is wait for nightfall when they'll most likely fall asleep, and then perhaps we can find a way pass this rocks... Until then, let's rest up. It won't be no cakewalk when we face Wendy again..." He yawned slightly, and rolled down onto his stomach. Morton dragged himself and his ring up and rested himself along the side of Blaze's snout.

DB looked at the two as he sighed while feeling bad and crawled behind a large rock. He soon fell asleep as he lay there.

[Lemmy Koopa]

Good story.

Do you have all the koopaling fights planned?

[DBKoopa]

Dec 12, 2009 14:26:27 GMT -5 Lemmy Koopa said:

Good story.

Do you have all the koopaling fights planned?

Actually we only have 2 planned. Roy's and I believe Ludwigs. BTW next chapter here.



Infected Heart

by R. Blaze Koopa and Bowser166

Chapter 9: Cavern Catastrophie

Blaze (in DB's body) slowly woke up. It was now nighttime, as he could tell because there were no longer any slits of light coming from behind the rock. Blaze looked down at the two sleeping Swoopers. "Guys..." he whispered. "Wake up." He gently shoved Morton with a finger to wake him up, then did likewise for DB.

DB sighed as he woke up then looked at Blaze. He still felt like this was all his fault as he began trying to move his way away from the two.

"Don't ask me if I slept well..." Morton muttered. "I don't see how ANYBODY could ever sleep with something like THIS stuck around your body." He glared at the ring that still trapped him. Lifting his head back up, he noticed DB crawling away from he and Blaze. "Uh... DB?" he asked. "Come on, will you? It's time to go show that Wendy what's what around here."

Blaze turned and noticed DB's rather disappointed expression, and wondered what was up.

DB didn't want to say anything right now as he went behind a rock twice his size.

Blaze and Morton looked at each other. They had never seen DB acting so strangely. Blaze crawled over to the rock and peer over it to see DB. "... Um... DB?" he asked. "... Is something wrong?"

"Just don't worry about it." He said since he's feeling terrible since he still thought this was all his fault.

Blaze wouldn't buy it. He gently picked up DB in his hands. "DB... talk to me," he said. "You don't usually look like this, now what's the matter?"

DB refused to answer since he knew it was his problem.

"..." Blaze gave in. "... Okay then... we'll talk later I suppose..." He set DB back on the ground for the time being.

"Well..." said Morton. "How are we going to get out of here? Even if you could move the rock, it'd make too much noise and the Sledge Brothers would be onto us in less than a second..."

"... Hmm..." Blaze leaned back against the wall. "... Let me... huh?" He suddenly felt the wall begin to rumble slightly. He then felt himself falling backwards onto his shell in a pile of rocks. There was now a big hole in the wall. "... That was easy..." Blaze said with a slightly chuckle. He turned to look at the passageway he had opened. "Well, there's our way out," said Blaze. "Now I'm going to teach that brat a lesson..."

Morton up Blaze's arm and perched on his shoulder. Blaze then turned to DB. "Come one, now," he said. "We have to go."

"No... You're the chosen one now... Morton can help you from here," DB said as he stayed where he was.

Blaze sighed, then growled with a sweatdrop. He went over to DB again and spoke rather bluntly. "DB, let me put it this way. I don't care who the frigging chosen one is. Whether it's you, me, or even Morton here, we're all in this thing together, and I'm not about to let us get separated just because of this 'chosen one' crap! I'm not in the mood for leaving a part of me behind right now, DB! I am NOT in the mood for it!" Blaze seemed angry in the face, but one may've noticed a small tear in Blaze's eye.

DB didn't reply. He just turned his head and stayed silent.

Blaze began to sweat each more, clutching his hands to his head. "DB... Stop it... I can't stand it..."

DB didn't say a thing as he sat there against the rock.

Blaze's face was now red and extremely tensed. Morton couldn't rub a wing against Blaze's cheek to calm him down, so he made due with his tiny head. "... Blaze..." he said softly. "You're getting unusually emotional. Just let him go. He's not going to move..."

Blaze sighed, then turned away, still tensed and uneasy as he crawled into the dark tunnel. 'Fine, DB...' he thought. 'Stay where you are... but you just made me lose something very important to me... and no, I don't mean my body..." Blaze couldn't help but shed more tears as he slowly, but shakily continued through the tunnel.

Morton wasn't feeling too happy either. 'Well, bro..." he thought. 'I guess we're parting ways for good now... I just hope you know remember that... you still my brother... and I love you... Goodbye bro... Goodbye...' Morton became teary eyed as well, which made it harder for him to see the way for Blaze in the dark tunnel, and Blaze, who wasn't paying attention anyway, constantly ran into walls.

DB continued to sit there till the two left. He continued to sit there facing the boulder as he smiled when he saw they were gone. He just had to wait till Wendy came.

Morton was finally able to clear his eyes and show Blaze the way through the dark. "... Make a left..." said Morton. Blaze did so, and there he could see a light coming from around the corner. "... I think we may've found it..." said Blaze as he headed for the bend. At the end of the curve, he exited the tunnel, and there, on a pedestal, was a piece of a cactus plant, the next crown piece.
DB continued to stay there as he wanted to get the attention of the guards.

Db would hear the large rock slowly beginning to shift as the two Sledge Brothers moved the heavy rock aside. "All right, you duds!" said one Sledge Bro. "Mistress Wendy wants..." He paused when they noticed the large hole in the wall, and that Blaze and Morton were nowhere to be found. The Sledge Bros turned to DB again. "... How... did...? Ah never mind! Come on, you little gnat!"

One bro went over and grabbed DB in his hand. "As I was sayin'," said the Sledge Bro, holding DB up in front of his face as they walked out of the cave. "Mistress Wendy wants to have a little talk with you..."

"Good... I want a talk with her..." DB said.

The Sledge Bro was confused as he looked into DB's rather nonchalant and easy expression, but otherwise didn't care. The Bro retorted by blowing a bit of air from his nostrils into DB's face.

The Sledge Bros took DB through the main cave entrance. Because they couldn't see, however, they ran into a few walls. Nevertheless, they were able to make it through to the main chamber, where Wendy awaited them.

Wendy raised a brow when he saw that only DB was there. "... Where are my two stupid brothers?" she demanded, again mistaking DB for Blaze.

"They've busted into the cave system somehow..." said a Sledge Bro.

"Well FIND them, you idiots!" Wendy ordered. The Bros jumped in surprise and nodded, then quickly ran off.

Meanwhile, Wendy held DB in her gasp. "All right, Blaze!" said Wendy, totally unaware that it was really DB. "Since my brothers managed to escape somehow, I might as well make due with you. I have... eh... a few questions..." Wendy gave a devious grin as she held DB up right in front of her face, her head towering above DB's tiny cranium.

"Wendy... It's me, DB... I… well..." DB sighed as he then took a deep breath. "Wendy... We swapped brains... me and Blaze... Now I'm in his body... Please I want to talk to you with no problems... Just like we used to before all this..."

Wendy stared at DB with narrowed eyes, then suddenly burst into uncontrollable laughter. "OH! That's rich!" she laughed. "How dumb do you think I am? You're not talking to Roy right now, you know?!" She continued to laugh.

"Then how do I know of your box full of those pictures of Luig1 as a Koopa? You kept those pictures even after you knew it was him. Would you think Blaze would know that some how? Or how about this? Who was it that helped get those renovations for your ice castle? I'm sure Blaze has no idea about that ether. Or who was it that gave you Yoshi Rides when you were two years old?" DB said stern like as he wanted to prove to Wendy that it was him.

Wendy stopped laughing. She stared at DB with a blank face. "... No!" she snapped, being bratty and persistent as she was. "How do I know DB didn't just TELL you all those things... BLAZE? How do you explain that, BLAZE?"

"Sis...Why would I tell Blaze about those things? You know my brain is half Yoshi...Which means that I'm able to be trusting to others...I have nothing to gain by telling him those things...And besides that Morton swapped our brains for one of his stupid ideas. Is that enough to tell you this happened?"

"... Actually..." said Wendy, blank again. "... I can't argue with that... In fact, I wouldn't even know HOW to..." Wendy stared at DB for a second, then went back to her devious grin. "Oh well! You're the one I REALLY wanted anyway. Blaze and Morton don't really matter to me! Now I can get rid of you myself! ... And you say you just want to... TALK... like before all this began to happen?! Too bad, my foolish bro! We're not in those times anymore! It's over!"

"You do know that Blaze is of royal blood so killing me now is no gain to you... But a gain to you could be if you allow me to join you... Please Wendy... I didn't want to even do this in the first place...Besides that I'm the only one that knows where King Dad keeps his key to his everything proof vault... I was going to let Larry have the crown but Blaze was the one who killed him... Him and the others except Morton... Please sis... I promise I will help you any way I can. I know where everything is and I have the trust of Peach. With that I can get you anything from her you want... Please Wendy..." DB began crying. Only two things would make DB cry: when he's telling the truth and feels they don't believe him, and from too much pain.

Wendy stared at DB again. She began to sweat heavily. If Blaze was now the royal blood, then she'd be killing off her on brother for no real gain. Wendy began to realize the unnecessarily rash choice she nearly made. She eased her grip on DB, then called her ring back to her wrist to release him. Her eyes began to tear as she stared down at DB with a guilty look on her face. "... Oh... DB..." she said tearfully. "Don't cry... Now you're making ME cry, too..." He hugged DB up against her cheek as she began to break up even more. "DB... I'm sorry..." she sobbed. "I'm... so sorry..."

DB began to settle down as he changed into Blaze's form and stood next to Wendy as he was still crying. "It's okay Wendy." He said as he wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry... I didn't even want this for me... I just want to be back home..." He sniffed as he soon started up again. "Please... Wendy... If you can help me get to my body I promise that I will give you the DNA required to become the next leader..."

Wendy began to calm down a bit as he looked up at DB, still in tears, but cheered up. "... Thank you, brother..." she said softy. "... Thank you so much... I don't know how do make this up to you... Just… thank you..."

DB nodded. "They went down this hole in the cave you stuck us... I have an idea how to get my body back..." DB said as he began to calm down once again. "Just remove my brain and put the head back on then just hang the body over some place where they would see it. Maybe put me in a Koopa's body or something...that is if you want?"

"Well..." said Wendy. "... I do have a Koopa Troopa who was hit on the head by a falling heavy rock. He's dead now because of a really bad head injury. We could use his body..." She looked at DB's head to see the crack. "... And I think i see where Morton must have split Blaze's head open to make room for your brain... Follow me, DB." Wendy motioned DB to follow her as he led DB into the next tunnel. DB whipped his eyes and followed.

At the end of the tunnel was a room with a small, rather lumpy tarp in the center. Wendy lifted the tarp off to reveal the dead Koopa. "Well, this is him," she said to DB. "... Could you get his head open? I can't do that without breaking a nail..."

DB nodded as he got a claw out and felt on the head for a little crease-like thing. He then got his claw under it and pulled it up to pull up part of the head. He pulled out the Koopa's brain then his own. He set the Koopa's brain aside as he tried to quickly get his into the Koopa before the body becoming useless. His brain landed in as he soon took control of the Koopa. He grabbed the head and put it back on him. "Now we have it... Let's get them." He said with an evil smile.

Wendy returned DB's smile with a devious wink, and they headed off. DB smiled as he followed his sis.

Meanwhile, by now, the Sledge Bros had caught up to Blaze and Morton in the chamber were the cactus crown piece was located. However the Bros were not fairing too well against them.

Blaze executed a charging punch into the stomach of one of them. The Bro wheezed for air and fell onto his shell. Before he could recover, Blaze jumped above him and ground-pounded onto his stomach hard. The Bro suddenly spewed blood out of his mouth, beginning to lose his ability to breathe. However, he was dying fast enough to Blaze's liking. Blaze walked his claws across the chest of the Sledge Bro, then, when his fingers were right over the correct spot, he dug his claws into the skin. The Sledge Bro cried in agony as Blaze cut even deeper. Seconds later, there was a huge gush of blood, and the Sledge Bro's cries abruptly ceased. Blaze gave a satisfied smirk.

Morton, meanwhile (who had changed to his normal form) dodged a sledgehammer from the other Sledge Bro, then executed a swift kick into the Bro's knee, causing it to bend backwards at an angle that knees should never bend. Sledge Bro let out a blood curdling scream as his knee buckled, and he dropped to the floor. Morton stood over the Sledge Bro and watched him squirm. "Hey Blaze!" Morton said with a grin. "Is he in enough pain already?"

Blaze walked up and examined the Sledge Bro. "... Not quite..." he said. He bent down and dug his claws into the Bro's leg (the same leg with the shattered kneecap. He dug deeper until he felt his claws puncture a large artery. Allowing the blood to gush from there, he proceeded to slice through more arteries and veins on the Bros arms and lower wrists, then watched as he cried in pain while growing closer and closer to death with every drop of blood his lost. "Now he is," said Blaze with a chuckle.

"Nice touch!" Morton laughed.

"Thank you," said Blaze. "Now let's take this crown piece and try to force DB to come with…"

Elsewhere, DB looked at Wendy. "Well how have you been doing though since this stuff has been happening?"

"Until now, I had been trying to different methods to kill you off," Wendy said with a chuckle.

"Well...I understand that so don't worry...As for me I can each you all I know about being a Zombie. Not as bad as you think."

"Well... what are the pros to being a Zombie?" Wendy asked.

"Well you can take over other bodies like I showed you," explained DB. "You get night vision as well. Maybe there isn't that much but I'm still learning. But when you become Queen of the undead I'm sure you will be fine."

"Controlling others' bodies... night vision..." Wendy digested the thoughts. "Sounding good... I wonder what ELSE I could do..."

DB shrugged. "You have to eat brains though or else you'll feel weak though. But let's hurry and get my body back please."

"Right," said Wendy. "The chamber where the crown piece is located is right around the corner."

When she turned the corner, however, who should she find but Blaze, Morton, the crown piece in Blaze's hands, and two bloody Sledge Brothers. "... Hmph..." she said. "I figured you guys might have reached this chamber by now..."

Blaze saw Wendy and barred his teeth.

"Oh... uh... hiya, sis!" said Morton.

"Don't get sweet with me, Moron!" snapped Wendy. "Just hand over the crown piece and DB's body slowly, and we promise not to hurt you TOO much..."

"... What...?" Blaze said. He looked at DB with a confused look.

After hearing 'nothing personal', Blaze understood, and nodded... with a grin.

DB grabbed Blaze's brain with one hand and quickly pulled it out as he then looked at Morton. "You know sis...This can come in handy..." He said. DB then grabbed Morton's neck and smiled. "Your coming with us." he said as he began choking Morton. "Now where sis?"

"Wha... what?!" Morton gasped, wheezing for air. "W-w-w-what are you talkin' about?! Sis is right there!" Morton pointed.

"I know...She's in charge now..." DB looked into Morton's face eye to eye then gave him a wink. Morton saw DB's wink, and smirked. DB turned back to Wendy. "What should we do with these two?"

"Well..." said Wendy. "I don't see a problem with smashing Morton into a bloody puddle with a boulder." She gave a sinister chuckle which made Morton shiver. "And Blaze... well... reuniting his brain with his body would be too risky. I think I'll just grind his brain into mush... or let YOU eat it."

"Put me into my body and I will do so." DB said as he slammed Morton to the ground and sat on his head as he bent his head down for Wendy to help by moving his brain over to his right body.

Wendy nodded and, though slightly reluctantly, opened up the troop's skull and took DB's brain out, then inserted it into DB's body.

DB's body soon moved as it came back to life. He closed his head and looked at Blaze's brain as he smiled as he took it in his hand again. "Are you ready Wendy? Time for you to change and get ready for being crowned." He knew to do so she would need the rest of the pieces after all.

"Readier than ever, brother," Wendy grinned. Morton was still confused as to what was going on.

DB leaned down to bite Wendy as he held Blaze's brain behind him for Morton to take. He knew Wendy would be in pain during the change and was hoping to take this time for them to get Blaze back to his body.

Wendy yelled in pain. "AAUUGH!! I SHOULD'VE KNOWN! YOU'RE A HORRIBLE KOOPA!!!" Wendy felt her body starting to whether, her skin falling off, her bones detaching. "My... body... what's happening to me?"

"No...Wendy..." said DB. "This is the change that you have to take in order to become queen...I had to as well..."

"I can't take it! Make it stop!" Wendy cried.

Wendy was too shocked to say more for the moment, and dropping to her knees. Morton was impatient. "Come on, DB. Leave her! We got the crown piece, now let's just get Blaze back on his feet and get the heck outta here!"

"No...We can't leave Wendy..." DB said feeling bad for doing this to his sister. "You get Blaze. I'll help Wendy out of here." He grabbed Wendy in his arms and tried going for the exit.

Morton raised a brow, but shrugged and hurried away with Blaze's brain. As DB helped Wendy, looked up at DB. "... Bro..." she said. "After all that... you still want to save me?"

"Your my sister...I will do all that I can to help you." He said.

DB smiled as he looked down at Wendy. As he did so his face was more allert as he felt the ground shake violently. "Oh crap. An earth quake..." He said as he began sprinting harder towards the exit. "Hold on sis...This may be a bumpy ride." Wendy hung on for dear life.

Meanwhile, Morton had just reached Blaze's body when he felt the ground shake. "... COME ON..." he said sarcastically. He hastily inserted Blaze's brain back in his head and closed his skull.

Blaze slowly sat up. "Ugh... Morton?" he said. "Where's Wendy...?" He then noticed the whole place shaking violently. "What the... Wha?! What's going on?!!"

"It's an earthquake!" Morton cried. "We gotta get outta here NOW!"

Blaze sprang to his feet. "Well what the devil are we waiting for?!" Blaze changed to his Swooper form and jetted into the tunnels, with Morton following suit in his Swooper form.

DB looked behind him and noticed the ceiling coming down and following right behind them. He saw the light at the end of the tunnel as he continued sprinting as hard as he could. As the light began getting bigger and brighter he knew they were save. Just at the exit the ceiling fell on top of DB which sent Wendy flying out the doorway onto a patch of grass. There laying in the rubble of that one tunnel was DB's hands sticking out. Limp and seemed even lifeless for even his form. Not a sign of his undead life as they sat there broken off of the wrist. His hands had small pebbles inside the palms as it seemed they slapped the ground hard showing the force of the stone that fell on top of DB.

Wendy was dazed, but slowly got up. "Whew... that was a..." She saw DB's boney, cracked hand lying admist the rubble. She gasped and rushed over to it. "... DB...?" she said, think DB would still be alive from being undead. No answer came. "... DB?" she asked again. Still no answer. Wendy began to tear up heavily. "DB!!!" he sobbed.

Meanwhile, Blaze and Morton narrowly escaped through the passageway in their prison cell to the outside, just as the tunnel collapsed. "Whew..." said Morton. "That was TOO close..."

"Mm-hm..." Blaze said, panting. "I hope DB is okay, and I still don't know what he did with Wendy... maybe they escaped at the other entrance... come on."

They flew around until they found the other entrance, where they saw Wendy and a boney head sticking from the rubble. At this, Blaze stared blankly. "... Oh no..." he said.

The Swoopers flew down and landed next to the sobbing Wendy on both sides, reverting back to their normal forms. "... Is he?" Morton asked, pointing to DB's hand.

Wendy was too overwhelmed to speak. Morton began to tear up as well. Blaze stared at the rock on top of DB. Dare he lift it? Blaze slowly inched to the rock, bent down and lifted it.

Just as Blaze began to lift up the stone an arm suddenly flew up from the rubble into the air. As it did so it soon fell limp on a few stones as if that was the last of its energy.

The others saw the moving arm. "... Hmm?" said Morton. He walked over to it and picked it up. "Oh DB..." he held it close to his chest and hugged it, teary-eyed.

Blaze was still digging through the rocks for the rest of DB's bones, and most importantly, his head and brain.

After a while of digging DB's head was broken into pieces but his brain wasn't anywhere around there it seemed. "Dang it, DB!" Blaze said, breathing heavily. He continued to dig, tossing the rocks aside.

DB's brain wasn't seen as his body laid there. It seemed to pop out some how as over their head an Albatoss began flying away with something in it's claws.

By now, Blaze had collected every piece of DB's body and put them in his shell, though it didn't feel very comfortable. He sighed. "..." He was speechless, and simply pounded rock in from it him in frustration and grief, shattering the rock as well.

"HEY!" Morton cried. Blaze and Wendy turned to him. Morton was pointing upward. "That Albatoss has DB's brain!" Blaze and Wendy looked up to see the Albatoss carrying with looked like a brain in its talons. "Follow that bird!" Morton ran after the bird, Wendy following. Blaze tried the run, but could move very enough with the bones against him in his shell. He transformed into a Swooper, the bones magically still in his possession, and followed suit, going higher in case Morton and Wendy were to lose sight of the Albatoss.