Chapter 54: Slippery Slopes

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I slowly awaken to the sound of circus music. Yawning, I slowly sit up, but quickly lay back down, bundling up in the heavy comforter I had slept under. It was freezing cold!! Shivering, I spot Lemmy practicing a balancing act on top of a medium-sized rubber ball, dressed only in orange striped shorts and a cream colored crop top. I sit up once more, keeping the blanket wrapped around me, and stare worriedly before speaking up.

"...Lemmy, you're gonna get hypothermia if you don't put on warmer clothes." He turns to face me before grinning.

"Hypo-what?! I've never heard of that! That's a funny word!" Giggling softly, he rolls over to me and stops at the edge of the bed before sitting on the ball. Staring at me quietly, he pulls his wand from a belt on his shorts and smiles mischievously before casting a spell on the blanket. It flies off of me before disappearing in a puff of orange smoke. Instinctively curling up, I shiver violently and huff.

"It's f-freeziiiing in h-here!! Y-you're gonna get...g-get sick...!"

"No I won't! You're so silly, (F/n)!" He laughs softly before gently tapping the tip of my nose with the smooth emerald in his wand. "I'm used to the cold!"

"H-how...?! It's like n-negative twenty degrees in h-here!"

"It's actually negative 36! And I'm used to it because I rule the Ice Kingdom!!"

"...that m-makes sense..." He nods and grins.

"Since you're cold, I'll make you have a nice warm outfit!" With a flick of his wand, he lightly hits the top of my head with it. In a flash of fiery sparks, my clothes change to a long sleeve, caramel colored ballerina dress with matching slippers and black stockings. It was surprisingly warm, and I sigh in relief at the newfound heat. "You look so pretty, (F/n)!!" I softly smile at that, my face heating up slightly.

"Thanks, Lemmy. It is a nice outfit....and it's so warm!" I grin, happy that I didn't have to wear a huge jacket to be able to stay at a nice temperature. He nods before standing on his ball.

"Well, we should go ahead and go into my fortress!"

"Oh, we're already there - er, here?"

"Yeah! We reached it a few hours ago. I didn't go in cuz you were sleeping and I didn't want you to be alone!"

"Thanks, Lemmy. Let's get inside." We begin to head out, but he suddenly grabs my hand, his grip surprisingly strong. I turn to him, worried that something was wrong.

"(F/n)....?"

"What's wrong, Lemmy?" He looks down quietly before looking up at me.

"Can you play circus with me until mean old Mario gets here?"

"Of course."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When he asked me if I would play circus, I wasn't expecting this.

On the main floor of his fortress was an ACTUAL circus, complete with clowns and Dinos for tricks. There wasn't a crowd, which was relieving, but the fact that there were tons of people around put me on edge.

"Lemmy, are you sure about this?..." He was currently trying to get me to balance on the back of one of the many Dinos around, grinning.

"Yeah!! Don't worry, you won't get hurt! Just stay right there, and...." Suddenly, loud alarms began to blare, startling the performers and sending the beasts into fits of hysteria. The Dino sprinted away, sending me flying off and landing on the wooden floor. Lemmy ran over, screaming worriedly, and checked up on me. Turning to everyone else, he grabbed a whip from a Shy Guy before cracking it in the air, a dangerously serious look on his face. "Everyone, calm down! You all knew he'd show up soon! Let's get a move on! Places, everyone! We can't let Mario win, got it?!" With another snap of the whip, everyone clears the room, leaving to go to....somewhere. Dropping the whip, Lemmy turns to me and smiles brightly. Suddenly, as he blinks, one of his eyes becomes crooked and faces in an entirely different direction.

"L-Lemmy, your eye...!"

"...? Oh, that silly thing? Don't worry about it! It does that whenever I get too mad. Well, we should get going! It's battle time!!" He quickly leads me upstairs to the arena, which was a simple stone brick room. Sandy suddenly walks in with Peach, the both of them bundled up in heavy jackets and blankets. The Shy Guy takes the princess out to the ship before getting on it himself and waving to me. I wave back before standing by Lemmy. Summoning a medium sized, orange rubber ball adorned with gold stars, he hops up and smiles before summoning a large, sparkly (f/c) whip and handing it to me.

"L-Lemmy...?"

"Fight with me! We can take them down together!" Softly smiling, I nod and hide it behind my back as footsteps approach the room. The two siblings rush in, this time without any power-ups, which I was grateful for. "Ah! The guest performers have finally arrived! How wonderful! We can get the show started now!"

"Lemmy, let the princesses go, and we won't hurt you!" Lemmy giggles before shaking his head.

"No can do, sillies! King Boss gave me an order to protect them, and I'm going to do that! You won't be getting them back anytime soon!" Pulling out his wand, he summons a ball almost as tall as him before hopping onto it with ease. "Now, let's get the show on the road!" With a flick of his wand, he begins to hurl multiple rubber balls at the two, who duck or leap over them and rush at Lemmy.

"Luigi, go get (F/n)! I'll handle Lemmy!" Nodding, the two split up, with Mario going towards the mohawked boy and Luigi racing towards me. Smiling sweetly at him, I wait until he's close enough before I swing the whip out at him. The whip grazes past his cheek and cracks right by his ear, causing him to sharply move away and cover his ear. Wincing, he shakes his head to clear his mind before running to me once more. I crack the whip at him again, the weapon nearly striking him in the face. He bends backwards to dodge it, and I quickly swing it over my head, preparing to hit him with it fully. I bring it back down, and he rolls out of the way. However, it makes contact with his arm, which tears his sleeve a little. Brushing the injury off, he adjusts his cap before charging again. I snap the whip at him again, but he swiftly grabs it and pulls me with it before I can react. I quickly lose my balance and collide with the floor. I hit my head hard against the hard stone bricks and instantly black out.

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