Let's Try This Again, Shall we? (A SPM Swap AU)

Ghostbusters

"Welcome my friends, welcome!" Merlon beamed as soon as Peach, Prince Mario, and Bleck arrived back in Flipside at the top of the tower after their little adventure. "Have you obtained the pure heart?"

"Yes, and I got chunked like five times to do it, so you're welcome," Mario replied with a salty tone, the small bruise on his elbow clearly still weighing him down.

However, though Mario was being fairly obvious about being unhappy, Merlon seemed not to notice. Or maybe he did notice, but he made the choice not to address it. "Yes. I would expect nothing less from the legendary heroes!" Merlon chimed, taking the pure heart. "I'll have Pierre put this away once he returns. He's just-"

The world suddenly began to shake, as if a large earthquake just hit, striking a wave of fear into everyone. Prince Mario immediately jumped into Peach's arms as the ground shook, causing her to giggle as she caught him, holding him in a classic princess carry.

"You don't need to freak out, your highness," Peach laughed. "It's just an earthquake."

"Heh... right," Mario muttered, waiting a moment and getting down once the earth stopped shaking. "S-Sorry. The Mushroom Kingdom doesn't get many earthquakes."

"Um, Sir?!" Pierre politely asked, suddenly teleporting into view, only to stumble and trip forward, nearly landing on his face.

"Whoa, Pierre. What is-"

"Shh..." Pierre quietly hushed, his voice just above a whisper as he rushed up to Merlon and held a finger to his mouth to silence him. Then he pointed up to the sky. "Look..."

Everyone looked up and gasped, seeing that the void grew in size. 

"Oh no. Our time is growing short!" Merlon exclaimed in a worried manner. 

"Yeah. No pressure, but we gotta hurry. I have every bit of faith that you heroes can save us all!" Pierre added, his tone back to how it used to be, still somewhat cheery, which seemed impossible for the situation. He paused a moment, then jumped slightly as if he had just remembered something. "And that's not all! I just remembered- er, I mean found out that there's not one, not two, but FOUR heroes required to defeat the one who wields the Dark Prognosticus."

"Four?" Merlon questioned.

He paused a moment, then suddenly grabbed Pierre by the ear and pulled him aside, whispering to him a few feet away so no one else could hear their conversation, making sure his voice was a hushed whisper.

"...What are they talking about?" Peach questioned, raising an eyebrow at them as they had their own separate conversation.

"Oh, they just do this every once in a while," Bleck replied, almost sounding bored. "Sometimes Pierre and Merlon have their own private chats. You learn to stop caring after a while-"

"Merlon... I swear this isn't about that. I-I already know... I'm just saying that there's four!" Pierre suddenly stated, raising his voice slightly but keeping his happy tone. "Four. You know, as in two squared. Three plus one. Fifty-two divided by thirteen. Take your pick." 

"I hear you, I hear you," Merlon assured, holding his hands up. "Let's just calm down. Deep breaths, my friend. We'll find the other two. I have faith in the legend. You mustn't forget that I studied the prophecy for years-"

"Yeah... me too," Pierre quietly whispered under his breath. The cloaked man then shook his head and cleared his throat, speaking louder again. "...You're right. You're right. I have faith. I totally have faith" Pierre assured. "I just... thought they should know that... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make it seem like I was doubting anything. I mean... it's not like they don't know about the girl in orange. Eheh..."