Bowser's Tail September 8, 2007 By Bowser M. Koopa Copyright Pending ----------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1: Brothers In Trouble ----------------------------------------------------------- "Sup? This is Bowser, also known as King Koopa, King Dad, Bowser N64, King B-" "We get the picture already!" said Iggy Koopa, Bowser's most annoying son. "SHUT UP WHEN I'M TELLING A STORY!" roared Bowser. "Why?" asked Iggy. "BECAUSE I ORDERED YOU TO!" These loud words scared Iggy so much that he ran to his chamber and shut and locked his door, because he knew he had lost THAT argument. Iggy's brother, Lemmy, had been in his room, playing his N64 when he had heard what Bowser said to Iggy. He put his controller down when Iggy ran into the room. "You okay?" asked Lemmy. "Yeah." replied Iggy, "I think that I just narrowly missed being thrown in the dungeon." There was a pause. Iggy thought he heard someone laugh outside the chamber door. "Wow." said Lemmy. "Wow what?" asked Iggy. "Did King Dad just say, 'Because I ordered you to'?" "Yeah." "Wow. He's just in a really bad mood, isn't he?" inquired Lemmy. "Yeah." Iggy replied, "He's always in a bad mood. He's been in one all day since this morning, when I put that bob-omb in his cereal. Sure was funny though, it blowing up in his face, and cereal everywhere. Because they're timed, you know, so I just wound one up and threw it in there before he sat down." "Awesome!" Lemmy laughed. Then he looked as if he was thinking hard. "Well, you know, we can't let King Dad just order us around like that. I mean, we're his kids, not his troops." "Yeah. I see what you mean." said Iggy. "Who was he telling that story to, anyway?" asked Lemmy. Just then the chamber door burst open, and Bowser, accompanied on both sides by two goomba guards who, on the other side of the door, had been secretly listening to the brother's conversation, stepped in. "I WAS TALKING TO MY SCRIBE, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!" yelled Bowser. "King Dad!" exclaimed Iggy. "And yes," said Bowser, "I heard everything you said. Now, what are you planning to do to me?" There was a pause (no one answered), and he chuckled. "Ha, That's ok, I heard it ALL. 'We can't let King Dad just order us around like that.' SOUNDS LIKE A REBELLION TO ME!" "No! King Dad, it's not what you think! Please just try to understand our point of view!" said Iggy. "Ha! Fat chance! Understand mine. TAKE THEM AWAY!" The two koopa troopa gaurds obeyed and seized the brothers and headed off with them. ----------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 2: Wendy's Idiocy ----------------------------------------------------------- Just then Wendy Koopa, one of Bowser's daughters (Obvious by the last name), ran up to him, with his son Larry tagging along. Wendy was complaining like usual. "Larry's messed up my makeup again, King Dad!" "So?", remarked Bowser. "Why should I care? Do you think I care? Run along!" "But King Dad!" "I just got through talking with your brothers, and found out that they were planning a rebellion against me. Now, YOU draw the analysis. Am I really in the mood?" Wendy replied quickly, "But please, just look what Larry did to me!" said Wendy, getting right in Bowser's face. "Go to your room." said Bowser calmly. Usually when he is suddenly calm like this, it means that he is about to get angry. "It's okay to obey, Wendy. It's almost suppertime. You won't be in there long." said Larry. "If I'm nice." said Bowser. "But-" "NOW!" Bowser bellowed. "Fine. I HATE you!" yelled Wendy. "Thank you. I know you do. Most people do. GO!" Bowser ordered. Wendy walked off with Larry, muttering on the way to her room about how poorly Bowser treated her. "How can he do that to me Larry? Huh? How CAN he?" "Well-" started Larry. "It is so unfair!" interrupted Wendy. "Doesn't he realize that I'm royalty?" "Well, we are all royalty, Wendy." replied Larry. "I should get deluxe treatment! But NOOOO! He just orders me around, like I'm a little girl!" "Well, if you are trying to form a plan of rebellion, I caught news of what happened to Lemmy and Iggy this morning." "Oh yeah? What?" "They got mad at dad for something, and they were simply discussing, like us, how mean he is." "So?" asked Wendy. "Well it's really not that important, except they were planning to steal the throne from dad, or at least that's what I heard, which would have been great, except King Dad was listening at their keyhole the whole time they were talking, because he figured they would pull something like that, and he caught them in the act." "Wow, that's pretty smart of dad." mused Wendy. "Yeah, but he busted them, and I've caught word he threw them in the dungeon." "Wow! But Larry, how can he do that to his own children?" asked Wendy. "He's Bowser; he's the king. He can do whatever he wants." replied Larry. "I would have exiled them though." "Awesome! If I was him, I would throw people in there if they so much as touched me. Let's go visit them down there! Then we'll learn from Iggy's failure how to plan our own rebellion!" "But you just said a minute ago that you hate dad. Now you're saying what he does is awesome?" Larry asked. "Yeah. I hate him, but I don't hate his ideas. Secretly listening to your own sons slander you is pretty clever." "Well, yeah, it is." said Larry. "So." said Wendy. "Let's go." "Where?" "Duh. Down to the dungeon. Where ya think?" asked Wendy. "I dunno." Lemmy answered. "King Dad sent you to your room, remember? Imagine what he'd do to both of us for disobeying!" "So? What's he going to do? Slap us?" said Wendy. "Let's go!" They took an exit from the hall they were walking down. ----------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 3: A Dark Plan ----------------------------------------------------------- The foolish Wendy and Larry Koopa headed down to the basement levels. Wendy couldn't wait to go down there, so that she could tease and jeer at her brothers. She's just a nice little girl, you know? Larry was smart enough to not want to do this, because he knew that it would lead to nothing but trouble. Larry was actually given the authority by his dad, Bowser, to look after Wendy, and keep her OUT of trouble. "Um, Wendy, I'm not sure this is such a good idea." said Larry uncomfortably. They were descending the castle stairways that led to the basement levels. As they descended each stairway, the castle looked slightly gloomier. "Are you kidding? What do you think dad would do? He would love to come down here and make fun of Iggy and them. But he doesn't have the time." said Wendy. "Oh yeah? Well dad gave me the authority to look after you, so that you wouldn't do anything to get into trouble, LIKE WE ARE ABOUT TO!" "Really? Grow up Larry. Seriously, why would dad CARE if we went down here? Huh? We aren't messing anything up!" replied Wendy. "Ha! Right. Except the rules." "Shut up Larry." "You are so stupid Wendy! Dad's the king, and you don't even acknowledge his authority!? What we are breaking is not rules, it's laws! Can't you see?" "No." said Wendy. "I can't." "For instance, Dad does not put up with slackers in his army; when a goomba fails him he...well...you know where our Goomnut Cake comes from for dessert, right?" explained Larry. "Like I'd believe that! Come on!" They were descending the last staircase, and were now at their destination. Wendy started looking around for Lemmy and Iggy. Out of the gloom, she spotted their faces in the first occupied room. Lemmy saw Wendy as well. "Hey Wendy! Wasup? Get us outta here!" "Lemmy? Iggy! Well, well, well. How did you all get here? Ha ha!" She started chanting a stupid, juvenile song. "You got in trouble, you got in trouble!", Wendy sang. "That's not very nice, Wendy." said Larry. "If you just came down here to make fun of us, go away." said Lemmy. "I didn't. SHE did." said Larry, pointing at his sister. "Fine." said Iggy. "You wanna know what happened? Huh? You wanna know? Fine, I'll tell you." "Not really." Wendy said. "I just want to make fun of you." "It all started when dad was telling a story to his scribe." started Iggy. "What story?" asked Wendy. "Who cares? Anyway, he was beginning the story by saying who he was: Bowser. And that was fine, until he started going through all his names, like King Dad, King Bowser, etcetera. That made me really annoyed that he was so stuck on himself. So I smarted off to him." "Nice." said Larry. "Bowser is the last person you should ever do that to." "I know. He got really angry with me. That's why I ran to my room. I knew I had to get out of there, before he flamed my butt or something." said Iggy. "Well, I think that was a wise move." said Larry. "Well, what? Did you escape?" asked Wendy. "Yeah." said Iggy. "Sort of, dad actually eavesdropped on me and Iggy talking about how badly he treats us. That's what really got us in trouble. He broke down our door; he thought that what we were discussing sounded like rebellion, so he threw us in here. We tried to get him to understand what we were talking about, but, as you can see, that didn't work. So now we're stuck here." "Cool." said Wendy. "WHAT?" Iggy and Lemmy exclaimed. "This is where you guys belong!" said Wendy. "NO IT'S NOT!" yelled Iggy and Lemmy. "Sure it is." Wendy said. "All you guys ever do is get into trouble." "Oh I'm so sure." said Iggy. "Come on guys, could you please help us get out of here? Please?" asked Lemmy. "Well," said Wendy, "Only if you listen to what I have to say." "What is that?" asked Iggy. "Well, what Wendy wants to do is get us four together, and form an ally to steal the throne from Bowser." explained Larry. "What? Are you serious? That's a great idea! That way he can't discipline us anymore!" said Iggy. "Exactly." Wendy said. "You see, another benefit to this plan, if we are successful, is that the WHOLE Koopa Kingdom will be ours." "Oh yeah." said Larry chuckling, "Great idea. NOT! You all can go ahead, but count me out! I'm trying to keep a clean slate with Dad, and he'd never forget it if I was in with you when you rebelled." "Suit yourself." said Wendy. "But this is going to make Koopa history!" "Yeah. Koopa history that I don't want to be a part of." "But Wendy, if we do this, we're going to need Ludwig, and Morton, and all the others. How are we going to manage this, and who's going to be the leader?" asked Iggy. "I am, of course." said Wendy. "I'm not really sure how we will organize it, but it will have to be a mutual party." "Huh. It sounds like a great idea. Now could you get us out of here?" asked Lemmy. "Sure, but I don't really know where the key is." said Wendy. "Hmmm...a key...how about since we are surrounded by goombas, asking one of them?" Larry asked. "Hey. You know, that's a good idea." realized Wendy, walking over to the goomba next to Lemmy and Iggy's cell. "I think that would help." "You should ask for the key." said Larry. "Shut up Larry." The goomba Wendy had walked over to, finally, noticed that Wendy was standing in front of him. It is obvious that Bowser has completely manned his castle with guards that are always alert, energetic, and focused. "Why, little missy, what are you doing down here?" said the goomba. "His Majesty Bowser gave me orders that-" "Who cares? I'm Princess Koopa! Give me the key to Lem and Igg's cell now!" Wendy commanded. "Yes ma'am! Here you go!" said the goomba, handing the key right over to her. You see, the goomba thought it best to not make Wendy angry. "That's more like it." said Wendy, unlocking Lemmy and Iggy's cell. "Thanks a bunch, Wendy!" said Lemmy. "No prob. Let's go round up the others." "Alright!" said Lemmy and Iggy together. They all headed up the stairways, back to the main part of the castle. Larry was running along too, basically scared. Scared not because of the fact that what he had let Wendy do was wrong, but mostly because of the consequences, which would be him having to face his dad, Bowser, full in the face. He wasn't looking forward to that, because Bowser, at the time of this incident, would be VERY angry. On top of all this, Larry felt like a failure, because Wendy didn't listen to his advice. "Why is it that I feel that something bad is about to happen?" said Larry running up the steps. He and the others were trying to keep up with Wendy. "Oh shut up Larry. You worry too much." said Wendy. "I hope you're right." ----------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 4: The Organization ----------------------------------------------------------- Wendy, Lemmy, Larry, and Iggy (I could just say 'All four of them') finally arrived at the main part of the castle again. They were out of breath, because they had climbed a multitude of stairs. As for Lemmy and Iggy, you can bet that it was nice for them to see this part of the castle, as opposed to the place they had just escaped from. A few moments passed, and everybody regained oxygen to breathe. "Well, that was quite a climb." said Wendy. "Yeah. I am so tired." said Iggy. "We should go somewhere, and just chill out." "Actually, I think that is a good idea." said Lemmy. "Hmmm. Well my room is just down at the end of this hall here. I expect that is where King Dad is expecting to find me, if he wants me for something." said Wendy. "I would think so, considering that is where he sent you in the first place." replied Larry. "You know, let's just gather everybody in my room, and lock the door, and just chill out like you said, Iggy." "I can't believe it! You actually liked my idea! You hardly ever like MY ideas!" exclaimed Iggy. Wendy saw what was coming, and replied quickly. "This is hardly the place to start an argument Iggy. Just chill. Let's go get the others together." "Okay Wendy." said Larry. "I don't really approve of what you're doing, and I'm pretty sure King Dad doesn't either, but as long as you stay out of trouble, I'm okay." "Who cares if you or King Dad approves? We're going to rebel! It's the only way!" Wendy stated. "Fine. Let's go." said Larry, because he realized that NOTHING was going to change Wendy's mind. Alas, the foolish, dumb koopalings headed for Wendy's room. They had to walk down this hall I described, which is at least a quarter of a mile long, and all cram themselves into Wendy's room, which was not very hard, considering that her room was huge, like everything else in Bowser's castle. Really the only drawback to the koopalings meeting in this room was that Wendy's room smelled of perfume, and very strong nail polish. I personally can't understand why anyone would shut themselves into a room like that. It's much like sticking your head into a bucket of paint, and inhaling the fumes, which is very dangerous. Not that I have actually done that or anything. Anyway, on with the story. "Well, what now?" asked Lemmy. "It stinks in here." stated Larry. {Wendy is easily perturbed.} "Shut up, Larry! It does not. It smells great!" "So, what do we do?" asked Larry. "Well, you all can just sit down on my bed. I'm going to call the others." explained Wendy. Everyone sat down on the bed, except Wendy. So, I guess not everyone sat down on the bed. Now, I am going to explain something not totally bizarre. Wendy Koopa has a cell phone. This means that she can call the other koopalings in the castle, and talk to them. This is a very useful device in this situation, because it will allow Wendy to get in touch with Ludwig, Roy, and the others, without ever leaving her room. And Bowser, being a king, gave all his children only the best cell phones. Who knows why. The bill must be huge each month. Wendy whipped her phone out of her pocket and flipped it open. "This is an awesome phone. Okay. I think I will call Ludwig first." said Wendy, dialing Ludwig Koopa's number. Ludwig answered the phone, and here a conversation took place: "Hello?" "Hey Ludwig. Listen, I'm having a meeting in my room, and it's very important." "I see. But I'm writing a symphony right now." "I don't care. I need everyone present here. Could you please come?" "Why, yes, I suppose so. I'll be right over." "Alright. Thanks, Ludwig." "No prob. I'll be right there. Bye." "Bye." Wendy then called Roy Koopa. As you might expect, Roy picked up the phone. "Hi Wendy." "Hey, how'd you know it was me?" "Easy. It's this thing called Caller ID. You call me, and your name pops up. It's pretty sweet." "Great. Cool. Well, I was just calling you to let you know that I am having a meeting in my room." "Okay. I'm...kind of busy right now. I'm playing Bowser Bash 64 on my N64. Could you call me later?" "But this meeting is VERY important!" "Alright, I'll be over there in a minute. Just let me defeat Mario real quick here." "Okay. Thanks. We'll be waiting for you." "Okay. Bye." "Bye." Wendy then called Morton Koopa in exactly the same way, and then flipped her phone closed again. She plopped down on the bed. "Alright guys. Now it's just a matter of time until everyone gets here." said Wendy. "This is so exciting!" said Iggy. "I can't wait!" "Me neither." replied Wendy. ----------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 5: The Meeting ----------------------------------------------------------- The koopalings are still sitting on the bed, and still waiting, and have been for quite some time. "What should we do while we wait for the others to come?" asked Larry. "Um, I don't know. I guess just wait." replied Wendy. "Why? said Lemmy. "I think we should-" Just then, there was a loud knock on Wendy's door. She got up from her bed and walked over to unlock the door. "Come in." said Wendy, unlocking the door. "It's unlocked." Ludwig Koopa walked through the door. He had an excited look on his face. "Hello, Wendy. You won't believe what I did today! I wrote this awesome song about-" "No one cares, Lugwig." said Wendy rudely. "Oh." said Ludwig thoughtfully. "Well, I met Roy in the hall, he's on his way." "Excellent." said Wendy. Then there was another knock on the door. "Come in." said Wendy. Roy walked in. He closed the door gently behind him. "Yo Wendy. Nice crib." said Roy admiring Wendy's room. "I see you like pink." "Thanks. Yes, pink is a DASHING color." Roy sat down on the bed, next to Ludwig. Wendy got up from the bed, and started talking, while she paced in front of the other koopalings. "Good." began Wendy. "Now that everbody-" "We chillin' in da hood." interrupted Roy. "Excuse me?" asked Wendy, a little angered that someone interrupted her. "Call me back, put you on hold, know what I'm sayin'?" "Shut up." said Wendy. Just then, Morton Koopa finally arrived, coming through the door, and sitting down on the bed, occupying what little sitting space was left. There was a pause. "Now." Wendy continued. "Now that everybody is here, I will tell you what this meeting is about. This meeting is about forming an alliance to steal the throne from King Dad." "You've got to be kidding me. King Dad is way too powerful for us to do that. You've gotta be crazy." said Morton. "But I'm not. I think that if we plan it just right, we can do it." Wendy explained. "Crazy girl." Larry said, shaking his head. "Sweet." said Roy. "You'll never be able to do this." said Larry. "Yo! Wha'd I miss?" asked Morton, dumbly. "Everything." replied Wendy. "Now shut up." "You'll still never be successful with this plan." stated Larry. "Shut up Larry! Of course we will. We just have to think. " "That will be hard." said Lemmy. "No it won't." Wendy replied, thinking hard. After about a minute, she got an idea."I got it!" There was a pause. "Okay. Here's what we do. We infiltrate Bowser's forces, and spread slander about him, telling his troops that he is going to lower their pay even more, and raise the taxes higher. Wait. No, that won't work. Hmmm.... " "Oh, oh! I got one!" said Iggy, jumping up and down on the bed, with his hand stuck in the air. "Yes?" asked Wendy. "How about we all run up to him, and punch him in the face?" "Oh yeah!" Wendy said. "That would get great results!" exclaimed Wendy sarcastically. "I think we should just punch him between the legs." said Ludwig. "Come on, guys! Get serious. This is no joke. We need to think of a plan!" whined Wendy. "I think I'll go with Ludwig's suggestion." said Morton. "Wait, wait, I've got a good one." Roy said, sticking his hand up in the air also. "What is it? Is it a plan worth my hearing?" Wendy asked. "Yes." ----------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 6: Bowser's Pride ----------------------------------------------------------- While the koopalings are planning their strategy, we will now travel to the great hall of the castle, where Bowser, completely confident of his victory over Lemmy and Iggy, is boasting about his power and wealth while eating his supper. It seems strange that he didn't tell his seven children it was meal time. Maybe they have room service or something? "Ha ha!" Bowser laughed, slamming his fist on the table, knocking over the salt and pepper shakers in the process. "Awwwww! Did you see Iggy's face when I broke down his door?" "Yes, Your Majesty, very clever. Very clever." said Kamek, Bowser's right hand man and magician. "Oh yeah! He was TERRIFIED of me. And boy, did he run! Woo!" He slammed his fist, out of laughter, down on the table again, this time upsetting his drink. Bowser's bodyguards were watching all this, clearly entertained. "Yes, you handled the situation well. You showed your sons your supreme power." said Bowser's commander of his army, King Boo. "Let's have a toast." Everyone raised their drinks for a toast, except Bowser. "To King Bowser." said everyone, tapping glasses. "Hail King Bowser!" "Thank you." Bowser said. "What my sons DON'T realize is that I have been working out." said Bowser, stuffing his face with Goomnut Cake. "Uh huh! That what's they don't know! Just wait 'till they see my huge muscles! RAAAAWWWWRR!" Everybody in the room flinched from Bowser's roar, except King Boo. There soon was a slow silence all around the room, and some of the guests were drooping their heads, and some were even already asleep. "Well, I guess we had all better get to bed, and get ready for my new plan to capture the princess tomorrow." said Bowser. "I just want to thank everybody for coming out to celebrate with me, and, um...hopefully we can do it again sometime. It's been fun, but I'm tired, and I need to clean up my drink." "It's okay. I'll get it Your Majesty." said Kamek. "Thanks, Kamek." said Bowser, yawning. "I'm off to bed. I'll see all of you in the morning." At this, all his subjects got up from their seats, said goodbye, and left the great hall. Bowser, on the other hand, got up and began the quarter-mile walk to his chamber. Now, we shall check on what those dumb koopalings are doing. It turns out that while Bowser has been having an enjoyable time eating his supper, Wendy and the others had left her room, and were now snooping through Kamek's potion library in the basement. Wendy Koopa was up on a tall ladder, browsing the library of different potions. This library was a large and tall room, lined with shelves full of...let's just say..."many" potions. Apparently the koopalings have figured out a plan. "What's that green one right there!" Iggy called up to Wendy. "What green one?" yelled back Wendy, looking at the top shelf. "That green one with the writing on it!" Wendy looked in front of her at the bottle of which Iggy spoke, trying to read the writing. "Puking Pork Juice." "Ew. That one's not it. What about that blue one next to it?" Iggy called up to Wendy, pointing at the bottle next to the Puking Pork Juice. "That one next to it? Hmm... That's 'Z Draught'!" Wendy shouted back down at Iggy. She reached at the shelf, picking up the vial. "Wha'd it do? It got directions?" shouted Roy. "Yeah. Here they are!" yelled Wendy back down to the other koopalings, turning the bottle around to read the label. She finally decided to start shouting. "'Z DRAUGHT'! A POTION I MADE FOR KING BOWSER'S ENEMIES! DIRECTIONS: TAKE ONE TEASPOON, AND MIX IN ENEMY'S DRINK! CAUSES VICTIM TO SLEEP FOR TWELVE HOURS! USE ONLY IN DOSAGE PRESCRIBED HERE!" "Sweet!" yelled Morton. It's a good thing the koopalings closed the door to the potion library, considering they were shouting. "Hmmm...I consider King Dad an enemy, don't you, Roy!" "Yes, I do. Especially with our plan!" "Me too. Well guys, I guess we've found what we're looking for. Let's get out of here!" said Wendy, stuffing the blue vial in her dress, and descending the ladder. "Yeah. Before we get caught!" said Larry. "Shut up Larry." Wendy and the other koopalings fleed Kamek's potion library as soon as she was off the ladder. Just in time, in fact, because Kamek himself at the moment was approaching this particular place in the castle, on his way to bed, now that Bowser had dismissed him from the feast. The koopalings peeked around the corner, to see him coming, and they all took a direct exit from the hall. They were very glad they escaped. "Boy was that a close one!", said Wendy Koopa, leaning up against the stone wall of the corridor they had exited to. "Dude! We have to get to King Dad's chamber, before we get caught!" "Yes, I think that is an agreeable statement." said Larry. "He's probably asleep by now." said Roy. "We hope." said Morton. "Oh well. Let's go!" said Wendy. The koopalings slowly made their way through the many halls and corridors of the castle. They got lost a few times, but they finally found the royal corridor that leads to Bowser's chamber. Wendy stopped the others about halfway through the corridor. "Okay guys, here's the plan. I need a volunteer to go with me into King Dad's room. Anybody?" Nobody raised their hand. Everybody looked scared. "Come on, he's asleep, okay? Nothing to be afraid of. How are we going to take over the Koopa Kingdom if you are scared of your own father? Now, who wants to go with me?" All of the koopalings were silent. No one spoke up. After about half a minute, Lemmy stuck his hand up in the air. "I will!" "Alright Lemmy. You're getting brave." said Wendy. "Shut up." Lemmy replied. "Okay then, let's go." said Wendy mischieviously. "Wait!" said Ludwig. "What are we going to do while you two are in there?" "Well, wait here I suppose, and try not to get caught by any of the guards." Wendy replied. "Ha! Easy for you to say. But doesn't King Dad have guards that are guarding his door?" asked Ludwig. "I don't know, let me check." said Wendy. Wendy reached into her dress, and pulled out a pair of binoculars. Who knows what else is in there. She lifted them to her face, and looked way down the hall at Bowser's door. "Nope!" said Wendy, very pleased with herself. "Not a single guard." "What? Where did you get those from? You're pretty prepared aren't you?" "Yep. Always am!" she said, stowing the binoculars back in her dress. "Whatever Wendy! Just go." "Okay. Bye!" Wendy and Lemmy walked down the corridor leading to the door to Bowser's chamber. They reached the door. Ironically enough, Bowser had left his door unlocked. He must not have a problem with security. This is obvious because of the fact that he has no guards guarding his door. Wendy and Lemmy Koopa crept foolishly inside. Bowser was on his four-post bed, lying on his back and snoring loudly, with his mouth open. He was clearly very asleep. Wendy and Lemmy walked over to the sides of the bed. "This is so awesome!" whispered Wendy. "Yeah! May I do the honors?" asked Lemmy, whispering. "Sure, but be careful he doesn't wake up. We don't want to...upset him. Trust me." "Oh yes. Iggy told me." Lemmy said. Wendy reached into her dress, and brought out the blue vial she had taken from Kamek's potion library. The liquid inside the vial was bubbling; it was a pretty volatile potion. She uncorked the vial and handed it to Lemmy. Then she took a teaspoon out of her dress, and handed that to Lemmy also. The potion smelled like rubbing alchohol. "Okay Lemmy." Wendy whispered. "You remember the directions on the bottle, right?" "No. I need them?" "Yes. Read the bottle." Lemmy looked at the bottle for a few seconds. Then, he took the teaspoon, held it under the top of the vial, and filled the spoon with the liquid. He looked very pleased with himself. "This is so awesome." whispered Lemmy, with the spoon, still full of liquid, in his hands. "I can't believe I am doing this." "I know." replied Wendy. "In less than twelve hours, the whole Koopa Kingdom will be ours." She giggled. "Imagine that! But hurry! Dump the potion in his mouth, before it evaporates." "Okiedokie." Lemmy was still holding the teaspoon in his hands. Bent over the bed, he slowly moved the teaspoon over Bowser's open mouth. Grinning widely, he quickly dumped the liquid in the teaspoon right into Bowser's mouth and probably down his throat as well. The potion was pretty nasty, as it caused Bowser to cough a bit as it flowed down his throat. "Errrr..." Bowser growled, rolling over on his side. Wendy and Lemmy were covering their mouths, trying to stifle their giggling. "Mmmm. Homemade apple pie." Bowser mumbled, drooling on his pillow. "I don't know what that stuff tastes like," whispered Lemmy, giggling. "But I'm pretty sure that it doesn't taste like apple pie." "Me too." replied Wendy quietly. "Now we have to wait a couple minutes, until he's REALLY asleep. Then we'll get the others in here, to help us pick him up, and carry him away." "Yeah, I know. It will be awesome." "Yes." They both stood around waiting for the potion to set in. After about three minutes, Lemmy walked over to the side of Bowser's bed again, and looked at his face, to check that his eyes were closed. They were. However, while he did this, Bowser's breath caught Lemmy right in the face. "Ew! King Dad's got horrible breath!" said Lemmy, gagging. "I know. He asleep all the way?" "I think so." "Well, touch him." said Wendy. "I'm not touching him!" said Lemmy. "What if he wakes up?" Wendy smiled. "Then, I guess it's your own tough luck." "Fine. I'll touch him, coward." said Wendy, walking over to the bedside. She poked Bowser in his side with her index finger. Then she pinched him hard, getting no result. "He's out like a light. Let's get the others in here." Wendy said. "Awesome! We did it!" exclaimed Iggy. "You bet we did!" replied Wendy excitedly. "Thanks for your help, Lemmy!" "No problem!" Wendy and Lemmy exited the chamber, and were in the corridor again. The other koopalings were still stopped about halfway through the corridor, and sitting down on the floor, waiting. Wendy and Lemmy walked up to them to tell them the news. "We did it." Wendy stated. "You've gotta be kidding me." said Larry. "But I'm not. Bowser is out like a light." "Great job Wendy! Thanks for destroying King Dad's trust in me!" Larry said, very sarcastically. "Oh, shut up Larry. You have no vision! Can't you see that in a few hours the whole Koopa Kingdom will be ours? Just think about that! Isn't that exciting?" inquired Wendy. "No. You don't know the first thing about ruling a kingdom." replied Larry. "And when King Dad's army finds out what you've done, you're sure to have a fine problem on your hands." "That's what you think." replied Wendy skeptically. "Don't you know the way a monarchy works? The military force, subjects, and peasants have to do what the king, or queen says. Regardless of who the king or queen might be. That's just the way it works. So, Larry, we can rule this kingdom with just as much power and influence as King Bowser did. Isn't that something?" "Just shut up Wendy! I'm not talking to you anymore." Larry said, very angry. ] ----------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 7: The Secret Corridor ----------------------------------------------------------- Wendy Koopa led the other koopalings into Bowser's chamber, where he was still completely asleep. Once inside, Wendy, acting bossy like usual, started giving directions as to lifting Bowser to carry him away. "Okay guys, here's the deal. We have to carry dad to the dungeon. And we're gonna all have to carry him, because he is so heavy. So when I count to three, we will all start lifting him up, okay? Ready?" "No." said Larry. "There is one major oversight in your plan. How are we going to get past the goombas guarding the corridors and stuff? Don't you think the sight of us carrying Bowser down the hall would look slightly suspicious?" "Well, yeah, but I, I mean 'we' , now have the power to do whatever we please. The guards have to submit to our wishes, because we are now rulers." "No we're not. Not just yet. We are not officially rulers until Kamek finds out that we stole the throne, and he announces us to the kingdom as rulers." "Well, yeah Larry. That is a good point." said Wendy. "In that case we will...hmmm...take the secret corridor! Yes, that is what we'll do!" "Ah! There is another oversight in your plan! Doesn't King Dad have guards stationed in the dungeon?" "Only when there are people in the cells. So, logically, we won't get caught if we take the secret corridor." "The secret corridor? What's that?" asked Morton. "The Secret Corridor?" asked Wendy. "The Secret Corridor is a corridor, or secret passage that was created in order to quickly access the basement and lower levels of this castle. King Dad built it back in 64 A.D., so he could get down to the dungeon quickly, and access the other floors of the castle easily as well." "Awesome." said Larry. "I never even knew that it existed. Where did you find out about this?" "In the library. But that's not all about it. The Secret Corridor has other secret passages hidden inside itself, branching off from it, leading to almost every room and chamber in the castle." "So Wendy." said Lemmy. "You're telling me that someone like me could use this thing to get to my room, quick?" "Yep." "And does King Dad know about this?" asked Lemmy. "Dumb question. He built it. What do you think?" replied Wendy. There was a pause. "Anyway, the most amazing thing about the corridor is that the main entrance is in this chamber." said Wendy, pulling a map out of her dress. "According to this map, the main entrance is right behind this bed." "Wow! Where did you get that map?" Roy asked. "Off the internet." "Oh." "We need to move this bed, so we can open the corridor." Wendy said. "Wow. Did you get directions on how to open the passage too?" asked Morton. "Yep. Took me awhile. A lot of internet sites I visited didn't have the info, because they didn't want Bowser to find out that they had let the whole kingdom know about the passage, by putting info about it on their site. The passage can only be opened if a royal child or Bowser himself speaks 'open' backwards." "That is tight!" said Iggy. "Yeah I know. We need to move this bed, so we can get into the passage." "Okay." said Iggy. "Right. I need everyone to get on one side of the bed, and push it to the left." Everyone got on the side of the bed, and pushed it over. However, the wall behind the bed just looked like a regular stone wall. "What? It looks just like a normal wall." said Larry. "But it's not." said Wendy, walking up to the wall, and placing her hand on it. "Watch me." said Wendy. "Nepo." Wendy said. The wall Wendy had her hand on started moving. The bricks sort of melted away, and when the process was done, there was a huge opening left in the wall behind Bowser's bed. The other koopalings looked in the opening, and saw a very long square tunnel. They were really excited. The tunnel was even lit with torches. "Wow Wendy! It really does exist! I'm sorry I ever doubted you." said Larry. "It's okay Larry. So, you mean you're actually going to join me now?" "Well...yeah. I might as well, since King Dad is going to be angry with me either way. So, yes, I will join you." "Alright! Welcome to the rebel group!" "Thanks. Do I get a badge?" "Shut up. Let's lift King Dad." "Are you sure that King Dad's asleep?" asked Roy. "Yep. Let's lift him." Wendy and the other koopalings lifted Bowser up, and started carrying him through the secret corridor. This took them about an hour. An hour of which, by the end, the koopalings were very tired and sore. Bowser was very heavy. They finally reached the dungeon, and just dumped Bowser in the nearest cell. Then they locked the cell, and walked back through the corridor, to Bo0wser's chamber. They all stood around, wondering what to do next. "Well that's taken care of." said Wendy. "Yeah. But now what?" asked Larry. "Well, my plan is for us to seperate now, and go to our rooms. Then we will go to sleep and act like this never happened, until tommorow morning. At that time, we will arise, and go into the throne room, and make Kamek recognize us as rulers. He will have to do so, because, if the king or queen is off the throne for a while...well, anyway, he has to make us rulers, and we are royalty." "Woah man. I'm gonna get a headache from trying to understand that and breathe at the same time dude." said Morton Koopa. "Sounds good." said Larry. "Let's move the bed back, and seal off the secret passage again." "Okay." So the young, power-hungry koopas moved the bed back from where they had pushed it, and sealed off the secret corridor again. After this, they all went their different ways, and went to their rooms for the night. Then they slept, all night. ----------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 8: The Tables Turn ----------------------------------------------------------- With last night slept away, around rolled the morning, and here we find the koopalings, still asleep, at ten 'o' clock in the morning. The whole kingdom was without a ruler for almost twelve hours, and didn't even know it; but the people and subjects in the castle were getting worried, as Bowser usually comes into the throne room to sit and rule on his throne at seven every morning. It was getting tense, because Kamek hadn't seen Bowser's face all morning, and Bowser was late by three hours so far. Boy, is Kamek in for a shock! All of the koopalings got ready, and it was all quiet in the throne room, until... "ALRIGHT LISTEN UP THIS'LL ONLY TAKE A SECOND!" shouted Wendy, bursting through the door into the throne room. "THERE HAS BEEN A CHANGE OF RULERS!" "Who are you, and what have you done with Bowser?" asked Kamek. "Me? Well, I am Wendy Koopa, Bowser's best daughter. 'Princess Koopa' to you. Bowser has been removed from the throne." "Excuse me, excuse me, what do you mean?" asked King Boo, commander of Bowser's forces. "She means that all seven of us are now rulers of this kingdom." said Larry Koopa, trying to walk regally through the throne room door. "How?" asked King Boo. "Bowser Junior is the one whom should be king right now if Bowser is gone. Not you." "Well, BJ doesn't seem to be around, does he? You want to know the story of how we got rid of Bowser?" said Wendy. "Ah, yes. Why not?" Suddenly all the other koopalings ran through the door, into the chamber. All of the subjects looked excited, as well as nervous. They had seen what the koopalings had done before. "Yes, please tell us Your Highness." said Petey Pirahna, an oversized plant. "It is a very cunning story." Wendy began. "Me and the other children got together, and then we broke into Kamek's potions, and -" "Gee thanks, Wendy. My potions are very dangerous. Did you have any idea what you were doing?" asked Kamek. "Not really." Wendy replied. "Foolish children." muttered Kamek, shaking his head at the floor. "Anyway, after we found a sleeping potion, we took it upstairs. We went into King Dad's chamber, and gave him the potion while he was sleeping. Then we locked him in the dungeon, went to bed, and here we are today, RULERS of the Koopa Kingdom, if you make us so Kamek. You pretty much have to." "Well, I guess so. I will crown each of you rulers right away. You see, Bowser has been annoying me lately. I'm ready to serve someone else. He almost flamed me when I didn't put enough sugar in his cake. And he threw a fit about the coffee I made him. He's quite moody." "Tell me about it." said Iggy. "Well, the whole kingdom is waiting, and there really doesn't appear to be an alternative, as it were, so let's crown all of you." Kamek with his magic, produced six solid gold crowns on the spot. He only made six of them because Bowser had left his sitting on the throne. As you could expect, the koopalings started fighting over the business of who was going to wear that particular crown. "I want King Dad's!" whined Iggy. "Shut up Iggy! I want it." said Morton. "It's MINE!" whined Wendy. "I suggest that whomever led the revolt is the one that should wear it." reasoned Kamek. "That would be me, hands down." Wendy said. "I planned this from the start, every step of the way. It is my crown. Give it to me." "It will be yours." Kamek replied. "But I must immediately notify the kingdom of the change of rulers, because I think they would be happy to know that His Majesty Bowser is off the throne. I will make an announcement immediately." Kamek walked over to a corner of the throne room. In this corner, there was a microphone, and a wooden office desk. On the desk was a microphone. Under the microphone there was a desk. Being that I have now well decribed both the microphone and the desk, Kamek picked up the microphone and started talking loudly into it, much like a DJ does in a radio station. "Gooood morning this is Kamek, bringing you the news, LIVE from Koopa Castle! The temperature is now about seventy degrees farenheit, and it looks like a great day in the Koopa Kingdom; mostly black clouded skies, thunderstorms, with just a hint of lightning here and there. But hey! I've got a couple announcements to make! I'm pleased to tell ya that King Bowser is no longer king of this kingdom! No he's not! His seven children have taken control, and the future only looks bright, huh?" Wendy then walked over to Kamek, and elbowed him in the shoulder, ordering him to say something. "Oh yeah! Princess Koopa, with some clever trickery, seems to have led the revolt against Bowser, and has dethroned him. Tell us a bit about it Your Highness!" said Kamek, shoving the microphone in Wendy's face. "Uh, yeah, I did actually lead the revolt." Wendy started, talking into the microphone. She was loving the publicity. "What it was was that King Dad totally clobbered my brothers yesterday." said Wendy, improving the truth. "He totally busted them. So us royal children got together. We snagged some sleeping potion off the black market, and poured it down Bowser's throat while he was sleeping last night. He's now asleep in his own prison." "Wo ho ho!" Kamek exclaimed. "And it was MY potion too!" Kamek said, taking back the microphone. "Well, you heard it folks! Straight from Princess Koopa's mouth! Thanks to her, the kingdom now has seven wonderful new rulers! They are: Princess Koopa, Prince Roy, Prince Lugwig, Prince Iggy, Prince Lemmy, Prince Larry, and finally, Prince Morton. Long live the Koopas! This has been Kamek The Man, your only news reporter. Thanks, and stay tuned!" Being finished with his announcements, Kamek put the microphone down, and turned back to the koopalings, to talk to them. "Well, now that that's done, I will have to get a carpenter to make six new thrones for each of you. Until the thrones are in order, we will bring in some fancy chairs from the banquet hall, and use those." "What!? Are you insulting my power Kamek? Don't you realize that I am now queen of this kingdom? We need thrones!" said Wendy. "You mean 'princess' of this kingdom." replied Kamek. "You are not married to King Bowser. And the chairs are all we have right now. Live with it." "Fine. Sounds good to me." said Wendy, crossing her arms. "Alright then." said Kamek walking over to a castle intercom. He pushed the intercom button, and shouted into it. "WOODY! COME COME PLEASE!" There was a sticky silence for about half a minute, and then the throne room door burst open, and a huge, brawny weirdo stepped in. "I'M WOODY WALKER, THE FASTEST DARN-TOOTING CARPENTER IN THE KINGDOM!" announced Woody. "Guys, you've got to see this." Kamek said to the koopalings. He created a two-by-four piece of wood with his magic. Then he threw it at Woody. Woody quickly whipped two knives out of his pocket, and shaved the wood to sawdust right before it hit him. Then he blew on the tips of his knives, and put them back in his pocket. Everybody was in awe. "And you're sharp as ever." said Kamek congenially. "How have you been doing Woody?" asked Kamek. "Fine." replied Woody. "Good. I need to you to make us six new thrones. Can you do that?" "Sure thing boss. I need wood though. Got any?" "Check down in the basement. I think we got a shipment of oak in last week." "Sure thing boss. See ya!" said Woody leaving. "Bye. Thanks." Kamek replied. "No problem boss." Woody said, closing the door behind him. "That was amazing!" exclaimed Morton, his eyes big as plums. "How can he do that?" "He practices, a lot. So, Your Highness." said Kamek, talking to Wendy again. "Could you tell us the story of the success in your rebellion against King Bowser again? In detail? We'd all love to know." "Sure." Wendy replied, and she proceeded to tell the story. ----------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 9: Pretty Nigh Hopeless ----------------------------------------------------------- And what has Bowser been doing in the midst of all this? Well, he has been sleeping in his own little place in his own dungeon. In fact, he was just waking up. While his seven children, including Larry, whom he trusted faithfully, were having thrones made for themselves and ruling HIS kingdom, he had been asleep. Not because he CHOSE to sleep, of course, but because he was FORCED to sleep, by his little brat daughter Wendy. "W-where is this?" mumbled Bowser, turning over on his side and sitting up. "I don't remember my bed being this hard, and cold, and-" Bowser was silent for a moment, thinking, because it was so dark, of which it was never dark in his chamber. "Wait." thought Bowser. "I'm not in my chamber; my chamber is never this dark. And it smells weird in here." Bowser started smelling the air, thinking hard about the smell, and where he had smelled that scent before. "I know that smell. I've smelled it many times before, but I just don't know...it smells...like my...dungeon." Bowser thought. Bowser finally started talking out loud to himself. He started to realize where he was. "This IS my dungeon!" he realized. "How else would it be so dark, and smell wet? Oh crap! How the HECK did I get in HERE? Have I been sleepwalking again?" "No." said the goomba guarding his room. "It's where you are." The goomba then lit the torch next to the room Bowser was held in. "WHAT? What happened? I DEMAND to know!" "Well, it's a long story." said the goomba. "WELL YOU HAD BETTER TELL ME, OR I'LL FLAME YOU!" roared Bowser, inhaling, about to breathe fire. "Please don't shout at me. If you flame me, you'll have nobody to let you out." said the goomba cooly. Bowser, on hearing this, gently breathed out the air he had taken in to breathe fire, and sat down on the floor again. "That's a good point goomba. Sorry. Excuse my anger." Bowser said. "It's okay. I can't really help you though, because I'm with Princess Koopa." the goomba replied. "What? 'Princess Koopa'? You mean 'Wendy Koopa'?" asked Bowser. "Tell me what is going on." "Well, I hate to tell you this, but your children have done this to you." "What?" "Your children have taken over your kingdom, and they locked you up down here. I'm so sorry, Your Majesty. I have to serve them, because they are the rulers." "And what am I then?" asked Bowser. "Um, an ugly dragon with a bad temper?" the goomba replied. "I'm gonna kill 'em." said Bowser. "I am terribly sorry. I know how you must feel. I feel you." said the goomba. "I'm gonna kill 'em." Bowser said again. "I know how you must feel. I feel your pain." replied the goomba. "No you don't!" Bowser said, losing his temper. "You have NO idea!" "I am very sorry." said the goomba. "Tell me what happened, in detail!" demanded Bowser. "Now!" "Okay, okay! I'll tell you!" said the goomba, frightened. "The news of the rebellion has spread all through the castle already. I was told that Wendy and them did it because of you busting Prince Iggy and his brother earlier. Everybody is saying that you threw them in the dungeon 'cause they were becoming a threat against your power. Is that right?" "Well, yeah, I did. I don't put up with them very much. They interrupted me in the middle of a speech I was giving to my scribe, in fact." "And you threw your own sons in here for THAT? Man...that's low." said the goomba. "You shut up! It is NOT low! I'll tell you what's low. HOLDING THE KING OF THE KOOPA KINGDOM HERE! THAT'S WHAT'S LOW!" roared Bowser. "AND IF YOU KNOW WHAT'S BEST FOR YOU, YOU WILL PROMPTLY LET ME OUT OF HERE!" By this time, the goomba was shaking from fear, and Bowser was breathing in air again, about to flame the poor thing. "I c-can't! I w-work for Princess Koopa! I-I-I will never serve you Your M-Majesty! NEVER! You are not the ruler of this kingdom anymore! Princess Koopa is! And you know what? You have FUN in here, all ALONE Your Majesty! I'm outta here! I hope you enjoy yourself, THRONE SCUM!" cried the goomba, running away as fast as his squatty legs could carry him. Bowser actually made the goomba so mad and scared that the goomba ran out of the place. The goomba, upon running away actually knocked the torch out of its holder, and the torch had been extinguished by hitting the floor. Bowser was quickly building heat, just ticked off. "Ticked off" would actually be an understatement. "WHAT DID YOU SAY? HOW DARE YOU CALL ME THAT!" roared Bowser in the direction of the goomba, kicking the bars of his room. Bowser then expelled a huge burst of flames in the direction the goomba had run. Then, being exausted from breathing out so much air at one time for the fire, he plopped down on the cold floor, talking to himself once again. Amazingly, he was starting to calm down. "I can't--believe this has happened." said Bowser, out of breath. "I was just about to--escape. And--now--my only hope to do that has run away. And it is--dark, again. There has to be something I can--do to get out of--here. Seriously. My little brat--daughter might keep me in here for--months! Good--grace, I hope she feeds me. There's got to be--something I can do to get--out of this. I think the best plan is to--relight the torch, so I can see first." He breathed in as much air as he could again. He was still a bit out of breath. "I'm--exausted." panted Bowser. "I think I'll just--sit here, until I can--breathe normally." So Bowser sat there for about five minutes. After he had started to regain his breath, he continued talking to himself. "If I can remember, that dumb goomba knocked the torch off, and I think it is lying right over there." said he, looking around in the darkness. "I guess I'm just sort of going to have to search in front of this room." he said, inhaling, ready to breathe fire again. "I'll try in front of me first." He flamed the area in front of the room he was held in. The flames were so bright that it was blinding to him, after being in the dark for a few minutes. After the flames were gone, Bowser was straining his eyes, trying to see through the dark. "Wow. That did nothing but make me see spots." Or so he thought. In front of his room, there was a faint red glow on the floor in front of him. Then the red glow started sprouting a yellow leaf of flame, and then the torch was lit. Bowser was still having trouble seeing. "Am I seeing light, or spots?" he asked to himself. "I think I'm seeing light." Finally, Bowser could now see the light clear enough to know that his attempt to light the torch had been successful. "I did it?" he asked to himself. "I did it! I lit the torch! ALRIGHT! Now I can SEE, if only for a few minutes. Come to think of it, this is the most useful thing that my fire power has ever done for me. I am so lucky." ----------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 9: Getting In Touch ----------------------------------------------------------- Bowser suddenly had a major observation. He looked down at himself, and observed that he was in his pajamas. Then he grinned. You'll see why. "I never realized I was still in my pajamas! That's awesome, 'cause if I'm in my pajamas, I have my spare phone! Ha ha! How did my children NOT know about me carrying a spare cell phone in case of emergencies?! Oh, this is GREAT!" said Bowser, talking to himself. "Bowser, how can you be so stupid to forget about this? You got completely ticked off about NOTHING! Oh well." Bowser reached into the pocket of his pajamas, took out his phone, flipped it open, and dialed Kamek Koopa's number. He got the operator, and nothing else, except this message: "This is your operator. For some reason unknown to mankind, your call did not go through. This may be your fault, or it may be mine, or it may be nobody's. There are some things in life money can't buy. If you would like to reach the person you are calling, please call your brain for assistance. Take this survey to proceed. Christopher Columbus discovered the New World in 17-" "Oh shut up." said Bowser, flipping his phone closed. "How stupid DO operators get? I guess I will call Princess Peach. Nobody in my castle can get my calls, I guess. She'll probably hate me and hang right up because of me, but it's worth a go." And so he dialed Princess Peach's number. She answered. "Hello? Who is this?" Bowser was silent, because he was nervous. "Hello? Speak up! I haven't got all day!" "It is I." "'I' who? You sound like Bowser. Are you Bowser?" "Well, yes, but please-" "Then leave me alone you freak!" Peach hung up. Bowser was a little depressed and angry. He didn't really know who to call next, if his loyal friend Kamek couldn't get his calls. "FINE THEN PEACH! YOU HANG UP ON ME!" Bowser yelled into his phone. "I'll call...Luigi. Maybe HE can help me out of this mess. He doesn't hate me as much as Mario does, so it's possible." So he dialed Luigi's number, and Luigi answered. Luigi was actually watching TV in the Pipe House with Mario when Bowser called. "Luigi here. Who is this?? "It is I." "Okay. Who is that? I don't mean to sound rude, but your voice sounds like that Bowser dude." "I know it sounds like that. There's something I need to tell you." "What? Tell me what?" "This is...this is..." "Yes?" "This IS Bowser! Please don't hang up on me! I called because I desperately need your help! I just called Princess Peach, and she hung right up once I told her it was me, and she called me a freak. So I'm asking you, please just listen to me!" "Oh! Well hi! What's your problem?" "Um..." "What's your problem?" "It's a long story." "Tell me. I've got time. I was just watching reruns of our show on TV with Mario. We look so cartoony on there." "Haha. Yes we do. I look terrible on there." "So, what happened?" "Well, I don't really know the full story, but I think I know HOW it happened." "How what happened?" "I have to tell you. You may not believe me. I have been locked in my own dungeon. That's where I am calling you from." "Good gosh! What happened to you that you got in THERE?" "Well, you see, the goomba guarding my room told me most of what happened. I think it started from me yelling at one of my sons yesterday." "Why did you yell at him?" "I was telling a story to my scribe, and he interrupted me. It was Iggy. He ran to his room and locked his door. Figuring he would try to get revenge on me or something, I listened at his door. Then I heard him and Lemmy start to plan a rebellion against me. I kicked in his door, caught them, and sent them here." "Wow! You sent your own SONS to there? Wow. You must have been REALLY mad." "Yes, I was. And then my daughter Wendy came up, complaining to me, and then I sent her to her room. And she was mad at me all day." "Wow. Sounds like yesterday was a bad day for you." "Yeah, it was. The goomba that guarded my little room here has run off, and he told me that my children put me in here." "He ran away? Why?" "He was afraid I would flame him, because he told me that he wasn't loyal to me anymore, and was now taking orders from Princess Koopa, my daughter Wendy. Wendy's now the ruler of the kingdom from what I understand. And so I need you and Mario's help to get my kingdom back." "That must suck that your daughter did that to you. You must feel all alone, since your guard ran away." "Yep, a torch is my only friend right now. And it's barely even giving me light." "That sucks man. I'm glad you called. I'll be happy to help you though." "Are you serious?" asked Bowser. "Yeah." Mario was getting tired of listening to Luigi talking on the phone, and was starting to get curious. Wanting to know WHY Luigi had been on the phone fifteen minutes, Mario asked Luigi whom he was talking to. "Who are you talking to, Luigi? You've been on the phone fifteen minutes." said Mario. Luigi covered the microphone of the phone and said, "It's Bowser. He says he needs our help." "Bowser!? Are you kidding me? He sure has a lot of guts to call US!" "I know." said Luigi. "But I think you should talk to him. He sounds like he really DOES need us to help him." "Why should WE help HIM? He never helped US." replied Mario. "Yeah he did!" said Luigi. "Remember Super Mario RPG?" "Okay. Fine. I'll talk to him. Just give me the phone." "Okay." said Luigi, uncovering the microphone on the phone. "Hey Bowser? Want to talk to Mario?" asked Luigi into the phone. "No! Mario and me aren't exactly on friendly terms." "Sorry. Mario wants to talk to you. Here you go." Luigi handed the phone to Mario. Mario received it immediately, and started asking all sort of questions. "Is this you Bowser?" "Yes." "You know, you and me are archenemies, or have you forgotten? Are you really that stupid?" "Yes, I know we are! Please don't hang up!" "You've got a lot of nerve to call us, you know. And don't even THINK about capturing Peach! You'll never succeed!" "I know. I never have, for any great length of time. I need your help." "OUR help? May I ask why, and what for?" "It's a long story." "Well, if you don't tell me, I'm hanging up. I'd rather watch TV than talk to you." "No! Please don't! I'll tell you. My children have rebelled against me, and have locked me up, and have taken over my kingdom. I desperately need your help! Mario, you are my only option." "Ha! Good one. And how do we know you're not lying to us?" "I'm not lying! I don't even want to capture Peach or anything. Could you please just help me?" "But how do we know you are not lying?" "Because I'm telling you Mario! Can't you just trust me?" "No. It's kind of hard for me to trust someone whom has kidnapped my girlfriend over a million times. Call us back when you can actually prove to us that you're not lying." "Okay. You know what? Fine. I'll call you back later, after I can prove it, okay? It's not like I'm on a time frame or anything. It's just that my children are probably going to destroy my kingdom. Other than that, I'm not in much of a hurry! I mean, you know, it's not like there's anything at stake here, is it?" "Okay Bowser. I'll believe you. Where are you in your castle?" "Thank you so much. I'm in the dungeon, as I have already told you." "Great. Is it big?" "Yeah, but I'll shout so you can find me." "Okay. Cool. Well, we'll be over right away. Just hang in there, okay?" "I don't really have anywhere to go, Mario." "Haha! Well, um, I guess we'll be right there." "Okay. I'll be waiting. Right, but, um, I have what is called 'security' in my castle. You can't just walk in and get me out of here. And now that Wendy's a ruler, she has probably guarded every room of the castle, especially the entrance to here. I must admit, she's really pretty clever. So, I'm just telling you, this is not going to be easy, Mario." "Sure it will. We have the power of the stars." "Oh yes! I forgot about the power of the stars. Okay. Well, I'll be looking forward to seeing you." "Ha. I bet. Bye!" "Okay. Bye." Bowser flipped his cell phone closed again, and plopped back down on the floor, and waited for the Mario Bros.. He was very pleased that he was going to be rescued. It looks as if King Bowser really isn't doomed after all. Ironically, his enemies, Mario and Luigi, were coming to rescue him. In fact, while Bowser was sitting on the floor waiting, the Mario Bros. were getting into their plumbing truck. ----------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 10: The Infiltration ----------------------------------------------------------- The Mario Bros. were talking about Bowser's predicament. They wanted to know WHY Bowser had called them. It was considered a little weird for Bowser to call his enemies. "I really think he needs our help though." said Luigi, jumping into the driver's seat of their truck. "Yeah, well, it sounded to me as if he was sincere. But Bowser pulls some pretty clever plans on us sometimes." stated Mario. "Yeah, but we just have to trust him." Luigi replied, starting the engine and closing the door. "He sounded really stressed out to me, and when he told me to not hang up, he sounded as if he was about to cry." Mario had closed his door as well. "Are you serious? Wow. I had no idea Bowser got that emotional." "Sure he does." said Luigi, backing the truck up. "Wouldn't you get emotional if you had a kingdom, and your own children took it away?" "Well, yeah." Mario said. Luigi backed the truck out of the Pipe House driveway, accidentally running over the metal trashcan that was sitting next to their mailbox. The can got lodged beneath the truck's back bumper, scraping the concrete, and it made a postively horrible sound as they were backing up. "I just don't understand it Luigi." said Mario, very irritably. "Why can't you just watch where you are going?" The garbage can was still loudly scraping on the concrete. "It's hard to do that when some one is talking to me." "Oh I'm sure you can't multitask. Could we get rid of the trashcan NOW? It HURTS MY EARS!" "Sure!" said Luigi shifting the truck forward. "WE CAN DO THAT!" The trashcan popped out from beneath the bumper, and flew through the air, landing with a thud, some ways away from the truck. Luigi then drove the truck onto the street, and then the road. The Mario Bros. were now on their way to the Koopa Kingdom. After they were on the road, Luigi continued. "Bowser told me that he called Princess Peach." said Luigi. "No way. What happened when he called her?" asked Mario. "Well, he said that as soon as he told her he was Bowser, she called him a freak and hung up." replied Luigi. "That's about right for Peach, never wanting to talk to anybody she dislikes." said Mario. "Yep." Luigi replied. "I just remembered. How are we going to get into Bowser's castle to rescue him? It's guarded everywhere." reasoned Mario. Just then Mario's cell phone rang, and Mario answered it. They were well on their way to the Koopa Kingdom. "Hello?" "Hi, its me." "Hi Bowser. Um, listen, we were thinking, and-" "Uh oh." "We were just wanting to know why you called US." "Ah! Well, there is a good reason. I called you because nobody in my castle is loyal to me anymore. You see, Wendy Koopa, my daughter, is now ruler of the kingdom. That makes me just a guy stuck in the dungeon, with no power except fire. Basically I'm worthless. And nobody in the castle can get my calls. Even if they did, they wouldn't answer, because they don't care about me anymore, since I'm not the ruler right now. My point of view is that I am, no matter what, though, I may not have power right now." "No no Bowser. You are not worthless. You're awesome! Just think of all those clever plans you made that allowed you to steal Peach, and have her for months! What about that?" "Thanks. I just called to tell you how to get into my castle without being seen by the guards." "Really? Wonderful, because we were just starting to think about that." "It won't be that hard, unless Wendy screwed it up." "Screwed what up?" "Well, a long time ago, I built a secret corridor leading into my castle. I have info about it in my castle library. I hope Wendy doesn't know about it. She's not usually one for reading, so she probably doesn't." "Sweet. But how do we get into it? Is the entrance on your castle grounds?" "No no! It would have been dumb to put it there! Nope. The entrance is located in the most inconspicuous of places." "And where is that?" "It's in the Lizard's Tail." "Lizard's Tail? Sounds nasty! What is that?" "I know it sounds nasty, but I didn't name the place. It's actually a tavern about two miles away from my castle. They've got great root beer in there. You should try it. Best in the land." "We'll be sure to do that, if you can wait a bit while we do." "I can wait a little bit, but I need to get out of here soon, or who knows what will happen." "Okay. How do we get there?" "Simple. Stay on the main road through the kingdom, and you will see a big sign that says "Lizard's Tail Tavern" on it. You can't miss it. Park your truck, and just walk inside. The bartender hooks famous people up with a free drink, so when he sees you Mario Brothers, you both are gonna get free root beer. I hired that bartender myself, he's a relative of mine, and he will show you the secret entrance into the corridor. I'll call to tell him you're coming." "Sweet. Okay. Well, thanks for the directions." "No problem. I'll be waiting for ya'll in here. I won't be going anywhere." "Alright. Well, bye." "Bye." Mario hung up, and Bowser sat down on the floor again, after what was a friendly conversation between two people that were normally enemies. "Well, he seems to really want us to save him," said Mario to Luigi, closing his phone. "Considering he just told us where the secret entrance to his castle is." "I told you!" replied Luigi. "I told you he needed help! So, how do we get into his castle?" "He said that we should keep on the main road, and we'll see a sign that says 'Lizard's Tail Tavern'." "A TAVERN? Why do we need to go there?" Luigi asked. "He said the secret entrance is in there." "Cool!" exclaimed Luigi. "Yep. Bowser said to just park our truck and walk in. And get this: he said we'll get free root beer!" "OH MY GOSH! ROOT BEER! THANK GOSH FOR ROOT BEER!" shouted Luigi, whacking the steering wheel from excitement. Evidently he never drank much root beer. It's really not that exciting to me... "Yes! So, let's be looking out for that sign, okay?" "Okay." The Mario Bros. drove on for quite some time. Eventually, they came upon the sign that Bowser had described. They got rather excited that they were there, and turned in to the tavern parking lot, and walked inside. They walked over to the bar. The tavern was very smoky, and smelled like baked bread and cabbage. There were people talking softly all over the tavern. Out of the smoke there emerged a figure. This figure was the bartender, and he sat down behind the bar, and asked the Mario Bros. what they would like to drink. "Hello. What would you like to drink?" asked the bartender, sounding bored. "Um..." Luigi began. "Wait." said the bartender. "You two sure are dressed colorfully. Are you by chance those Mario Brothers?" "Well, yes, we are." replied Mario. "Wonderful. His Majesty told me ya'll would be coming. Welcome. Have a free root beer. It's on me." said the bartender hospitably. "Okay, thanks." Mario said. The Mario Bros. sat down at the bar, and waited for the root beer the bartender was making them. "I am very pleased to meet ya'll." said the bartender, taking down glass mugs from a cabinet. "I never dreamed that I would actually meet THE Mario Brothers." "Well, it's nice to meet you too." said Luigi. "What is your name?" "My name?" asked the bartender. "My name is Cooky. I'm the bartender that His Majesty Bowser hired to run this tavern." "Cool!" said Luigi. "What happened to the old bartender? Or was there one?" "Oh. Well, that old fuddy duddy that used to work here, well, he was not very friendly to the customers." started Cooky, pouring root beer out of the tap into some mugs. "He didn't even talk to them. King Bowser comes in here every so often, you know, to take a breather, to get away from the stress of ruling. He fired the old guy. Then he hired me. And now I work for the King of the Koopas!" "Well congratulations." Luigi said. "It's a fun job." replied Cooky, setting two mugs, frothing with root beer, in front of the Mario Bros.. Mario and Luigi started drinking it right away. "Wow." Mario said, his tongue lost in the flavor of the root beer. "Bowser wasn't lying about the root beer. Best I've ever tasted!" "Thank you." said Cooky. "I try." "Wonderful." said Luigi, chugging his mug. "So." said Cooky very softly, leaning over the bar, to where the Mario Bros. could hear him. "I expect you would like me to show you the you-know-what that Bowser told you about?" "The you-know-what?" asked Mario loudly. "Oh! You mean the secret-" "Shut up!" said Cooky quickly. Then he leaned in to the Mario Bros. again, whispering. "It's is VERY secret! Don't go broadcasting it about the tavern like some great idiot! I thought you brothers were smart!" "Oh. Sorry." apologized Mario,still drinking. The Mario Bros. were almost done drinking; especially Luigi, because he loved root beer so much. "Would you like me to show it to you?" Cooky asked, seeing that the brothers were almost done with their drinks. "Yes, I think so." replied Luigi, shoving his empty mug away from him. "Very well, then. It's this way," said Cooky, motioning them to come behind the counter. "Follow me." The Mario Brothers got up out of their seats, as Cooky led them behind the bar. Cooky led them into the storage room, where there were literally gallons of root beer, in wooden barrels, sitting on shelves. The smell was irresistible for Luigi. "Oh my gosh! This is so cool! It smells great in here! Where's the entrance to the corridor?" Luigi asked Cooky. "Hidden." Cooky replied. They had come to the back wall of the storage room. It appeared to be solid rock. However, Cooky said "Open" backwards, and the wall melted away, in exactly the same way as had happened with the wall behind the bed in Bowser's chamber. The tunnel was lit with torches, and was identical to the corridor Wendy Koopa had opened earlier. Cooky led Mario and Luigi inside the corridor, and then sealed off the entrance. Then he turned to the Mario Bros., to say something. "I'm sorry, but I kind of lied to you back there." said Cooky. "What do you mean?" asked Mario, a little nervous that Cooky had sealed off the entrance to the corridor. "I'm not who I said I was." "Who are you then?" asked Luigi. "I'm...uh...well, I'm...Bowser Junior, also known as Baby Bowser. But don't call me that! I hate it when people call me that!" said Cooky. "You can just call me 'J Dawg'." "J Dawg?" Okay. Sure. Um, so why do you look so human, if you are Bowser Junior?" asked Luigi. "Well, because I took a special potion that Kamek Koopa made. It makes me look human for about three hours. In fact, it will be wearing off soon, and then I will look like myself again." "Wow." Mario said. "I'm not surprised though. Lots of weird stuff has happened today." "You see, King Dad told me to take over that bar if a kingdom crisis ever happened, like if his children stole the throne, you know? He called to tell me to get ready to show you this corridor, and so I payed the normal bartender a large sum of money, just to bribe him to let me take his position for a while. It worked, thank goodness. I'm about the only Koopa that King Dad trusts right now." "Well I'll be danged." said Mario. "Bowser thinks it all out, doesn't he?" "Yep." replied Bowser Junior, laughing. "King Dad is very underestimated. And the way he is portrayed in your video games does not please him very much. Same with me." "Well, sorry." "That's okay. I guess it wouldn't be a fun game if the enemies and archenemies weren't cheesy." stated Bowser Junior. "I've never really thought of it that way," said Luigi. "But that's a good point." "Anyway, the end of the corridor is this way." said Bowser Junior(I'm just going to call him BJ), pointing ahead. "What other way would it be?" asked Mario, a little more confident that BJ was going to help him and Luigi, and not kidnap them or something. They were really taking risks, by trusting Bowser. "Well, I don't know." replied BJ. "But I would just like you to know that I am going to help. I will help my father out of this mess at all costs." "I can only imagine how he feels right now." said Luigi. "Being all locked up, all alone, almost in the dark." "Yes, it must suck." added Mario. "Where does this corridor lead, anyway?" "To the castle." BJ answered. "Der! I know that! But what PART of the castle?" "Oh. It should lead right into the middle of the dungeon." "I see." ================================= Chapter 11: The Escape ================================= So, the Mario Bros. and Bowser Junior walked through the secret corridor for about two miles. At the end of the corridor, there was a grand opening, into a huge, cavern-like space, in which was standing a stone staircase, leading up to what appeared to be the stone ceiling. The party climbed the stairs, and arrived at the top, of the staircase landing. Once they were there, BJ climbed a metal rung ladder that was mounted in the wall, and pushed up on the ceiling right above the ladder. "It seems to be stuck." said BJ, standing on the top rung of the ladder, and pushing hard on the ceiling above him. "What are you doing?" asked Mario. "Well, I'm trying to open the entrance. But the lock on the door seems to be stuck shut. I think we'll have to pry it open somehow." replied BJ. "Oh." said Mario. "Then here! Try this screwdriver!" he said, taking a flathead screwdriver out of his suspenders, and tossing it up to BJ. "Thanks! This will work great!" "No problem." BJ worked with the screwdriver, lodging it in the keyhole of the lock, prying carefully in a circular motion, until the lock clicked open. "You know, we really need to have better locks on our doors in this castle." said BJ, tossing the screwdriver back to Mario. "It shouldn't have been that easy to open that lock. Anybody could have just broken into the castle that way, you know?" "Yeah. Well, we will tell Bowser about that in a minute." Luigi said. "But let's go rescue him." "Yes. Lets." said BJ, pushing up on the ceiling door he had unlocked. The stone door actually opened now, and there was a little hole left to climb through. "Nice. We did it! Thanks, Mario!" "No problem. You climb on through there, and we'll do the same." So, the Mario Bros. and Bowser Junior climbed through the secret trap door they had opened. They crawled up into the dungeon, which was rather hard work. Once through, they shut the trap door. However, when BJ was shutting it, the door latch slipped out of his hand, and the door smashed closed, with a resounding sound that echoed through the whole place. As you might expect, Bowser heard this, and it made him a little scared. "WHO'S THERE? SHOW YOURSELF!" roared Bowser's voice, out of the darkness. "It's just us, the Mario Brothers!" yelled back Mario and Luigi. "And your son, Bowser Junior!" added BJ. "WHAT!? I don't believe you! SHOW YOURSELVES!" roared Bowser again. "Um, we will do that as soon as we get over to you." said Luigi. "We'll um, come over to get you out. Just wait, and we'll get a light." "FINE!" The group stood in the darkness for a bit, and Bowser Junior pulled a cylindrical object out of his pocket. This object had a short string protruding out of the top. He pulled the string, and the top of the cylinder burst into flames. Then he held it in his hand, lighting the area. And no, it's not a stick of dynamite. "Sweet!" exclaimed Mario, looking at the burning cylinder. "What do you call that thing?" "A 'Dark Spark'." BJ answered. "It's an instant torch. Invented by King Dad a few years ago." "Nice. We have something like that in the Mushroom Kingdom, but they're called 'Road Flares'." Mario stated. "RAAAAWR!" roared Bowser angrily, kicking the bars of his room to get attention. "Oh yeah! Don't worry! WE'RE COMING BOWSER!" Mario yelled in Bowser's direction. "We'll I've been waiting!" replied Bowser impatiently. "Hey Bowser! Could you make some noise, so that we know where you are?" Luigi asked. "Sure! I'll do THIS." Bowser banged and kicked the bars of his room, so that the Mario Bros. and BJ could hear where he was. The gang wandered around the place awhile, with BJ lighting the way. Eventually, the gang arrived at Bowser's cell, and were face to face with Bowser himself. Bowser seemed to be rather excited about this, and he stopped kicking. "I am so happy that you came. Seeing all of you standing here in front of me is a real pleasure." Bowser said, with a smile. "It's no problem." said Mario. "Same here." said BJ looking admiringly at his father. "You sure are looking good. Not bad for the man with a- BJ looked at his father, and suddenly realized that Bowser's shell was gone. "Hey! Your shell is gone! What happened to it? Wha'd you do?" "Oh! I took it off so that I would fit easier in the car seat." replied Bowser. "And thanks for complimenting my appearance, son. I haven't cleaned up for almost two days, since I've been here. Thank you for remaining loyal to me, even during these trying times." "You're welcome." replied BJ. "So, what do you do now? Do you just drive around bare?" By this time, Bowser was getting very impatient, and wanted to be let out of his cell immediately, and was very annoyed that he was asked such a personal question. "Certainly not! I drive around just as you see me now! Actually, I have someone drive for me. Why do you ask such personal things?" "Because I'm your SON." BJ replied. "Shut up! I don't care if you're Princess Peach! Do you think it MIGHT be possible to let me out of this pithole?" "Oh yeah! Sure." said BJ. "Hey Mario, you still have that screwdriver?" "Yep. Here you go." said Mario, handing his screwdriver to BJ. "Thanks!" BJ worked quickly and masterfully, lodging the screwdriver in the lock of Bowser's cell. Bowser seemed to not understand what and why BJ was doing this. It must have been one of those Bowser moments. "What are you doing?" asked Bowser, looking at BJ picking the lock. "I'm picking your lock, dad. I'm letting you out." "Oh! Well, thanks!" "No problem." BJ pryed the lock a little bit more, and it flung open loudly. BJ then swung the cell door open, and Bowser walked out. "Thank you all so much! Free once again! How will I ever repay you for all of this?" said Bowser. "Well, you can start by not capturing Peach anymore." said Mario. "Agreed! I will not capture Peach for a long time!" replied Bowser. "Wonderful." said Luigi. "Are we at peace?" "Yes." BJ handed Mario back his screwdriver. "So dad, we--uh...uh oh." BJ started twitching violently. He fell down, writhing, on the floor. He looked as if he was having a seisure. "What's wrong with you!?" asked Luigi, with no reply. In about twenty to thirty seconds of this writhing and twisting, BJ was his regular self, Bowser Junior, once again. The twitching and writhing stopped. BJ no longer looked human. The potion had worn off. He looked like a mature Koopa. Everybody was staring at BJ, in bewiderment. "What're you looking at? I told you the potion would wear off, and make me myself again, didn't I?" said BJ. "Yes, but you did not tell us it would be such a disgusting transformation." said Luigi. "True." replied BJ. "Okay! Now that I'm out, we can-" began Bowser. "You're going to turn on us since you're out now, right?" asked Luigi. "Absolutely not!" Bowser replied. "Why would I do such a thing?" "Because you have done it before." Luigi replied. "Really? Hmmm. I don't remember you Mario Bros. EVER coming to rescue ME before." stated Bowser, with an 'I know more than you' look on his face. "Okay then...well...you did something similar!" said Luigi, pointing his finger at Bowser. "Why can't you just trust me?" asked Bowser in a melancholy sort of way. "I trust you, dad!" exclaimed BJ. "Well then...I guess that's good enough for me. I'm tired of talking about this nonsense. I have a kingdom to save! Let's go pound my idiot children!" Mario cleared his throat loudly, to get Bowser's attention. "Correction. 'WE' have a kingdom to save!" "Oh yes! WE have a kingdom to save! That's what I meant." "Yeah, sure." answered Mario sarcastically. "How are we going to save the kingdom, anyway, dad?" asked BJ. "Yeah." said Luigi, chiming in. "We can't just barge in there and hurt you children or whatever!" "We most certainly can. And WILL." Bowser stated. "BUT IT'S SO DANGEROUS DAD!" BJ said. "I'M dangerous." replied Bowser. "Have you forgotten that I am a Koopa?" "Yes. You seem pretty proud of that fact." said Mario. "Yes. VERY. Let's go NOW!" Bowser said, almost roaring. ----------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 12: The Tables Turn, Again ----------------------------------------------------------- The party followed Bowser out of the dungeon, because they dared not make him more angry than he already was by lagging behind. Once out of the room, BJ extinguished his Dark Spark, and stowed the cylinder in his bushy red hair; that seemed to be where he desired to put things. Some other interesting facts about BJ's hair were that there was a comb still stuck in it, along with a few scrolls of supposedly "secret" royal information from the Koopa library, which his hair had been wrapped around, to hold them in place. How these objects appeared in BJ's hair after he tranformed from human form a few minutes ago is a mystery, though it is thought that Koopas possess useful magical abilities such as this. The Mario Bros. were just following Bowser wherever he was going, uncertain of the situation, or what lie ahead. They did not even know where Bowser was taking them. BJ, knowing that it was a long walk to the throne room from this particular place in the castle, decided to start a conversation with his father, while they were walking. "So, dad, that bartender I paid at the Lizard's Tail, should I call and tell him to take his place again?" "Well, that would be a most prudent thing to do." replied Bowser. "What should I tell him?" "To take his place again." "Oh. Well that sounds simple." "It's simple enough." replied Bowser. "Okay. I will do that then." said BJ, taking out his cell phone. "Where are we going anyway?" "We are going to the throne room." Bowser replied, walking with pompous pride. BJ was holding his phone to his ear waiting for the bartender to pick up. The bartender picked it up almost immediately. "Um yes, this is BJ. I'm calling to tell you that you can now go back to your job, as I am now done." "Okay." said the bartender. "Thanks for telling me, pal. I will do that. And what does your name 'BJ' stand for?" "'Bowser Junior'." "Ah! So, you're related to the king? Well, thanks for calling me, Your Highness." "No problem. It's cool. I'll see you around." "Okay. Bye." "Bye." BJ closed the phone, suddenly realizing that it was on loudspeaker. This meant that everyone around him heard the conversation. "He seemed very interested in the fact that you were related to me." said Bowser thoughtfully. "Yes he did." Suddenly, Bowser stopped walking, and confronted BJ with a question. "You didn't tell him about the corridor, right?!" "No, King Dad. I didn't. Not a word. Why?" "I was just checking." Bowser replied, starting to walk again. The group walked with him. "It's good that you are so aware, Bowser." said Mario. "If you weren't, your children would have stolen your kingdom a long time ago." "Why, thank you Mario." "So, what was it like down there?" asked BJ. "Well, it was very dark. It was lonely, and it stunk. I'm very glad that ya'll came to rescue me." "It's no problem." said Mario. The party had finally reached the throne room door, and Bowser felt as if he had to announce the obvious to his friends. "Ah. Here we are." The door to the throne room was colossal. I mean, it wasn't HUGE, but it was very thick, and strengthened with bands of spiked metal, to reinforce the door. Also, padlocks were locking the door shut at the top and bottom. Bowser seemed to be very amused at this. "HA! They think these weak little padlocks are going to stop ME? Ha! They're even dumber than I gave them credit for!" "Well, King Dad, are you going to rip the locks off the door? Or are you going to burn it down instead? You are super strong, so why not?" asked Bowser Junior. "Well, I was just thinking the same thing. It wouldn't be very stylish to just kick in the door." replied Bowser. "Yeah. That's true. I'm all for making a stylish entrance." said Mario. "Burning it down would be much more stylish." stated Bowser. "You do that then." suggested Luigi. "Yeah. I'll do that." Bowser walked up close to the door, and inhaled an insane amount of oxygen. Then, he stood back a little bit, and breathed a cloud of fire almost as huge as the door itself. The flames licked up the length of the door, and it started to cause it to smoke and smolder. Mario was very amazed. "Oh my freakin' mama mia! I had no idea you were that powerful, Bowser! That door is smokin'! It's starting to get hot in here!" exclaimed Mario. "See? I told you King Dad was very underestimated! Great job, Dad!" said BJ. "Thank you son. It seems that we have set the fire alarms off. Dang it, now Wendy probably knows that we are here." And indeed she did. You see, Wendy Koopa is not as stupid as she is evil. Behind the door, she and the other koopalings were seated on their thrones, carrying on, in their usual spoiled little brat sort of way, a conversation with Kamek, about the various affairs of their new kingdom. "And now we need to--wait. Do you hear that? It the fire alarm! Do we have a fire?" said Wendy, hearing the fire alarm screech. "I don't know, Your Majesty. I'll go check it out." Kamek replied. Kamek, totally unaware of the situation that was taking place on the other side of the throne room door, walked up to it. He smelt smoke coming from around the door, and so stood there, wondering what to do. However, on the other side, as the door was burning violently by now, Bowser and the party were crawling under the smoke, like in a fire escape, because it was so thick. Something not so good was bound to happen to Bowser and his friends, if Bowser did not get the smoke out of the corridor soon. So, Bowser decided to take action, by burning a hole in the middle of the door, to let the smoke out into the throne room. Kamek watched the hole appear in front of his very eyes. He peered through it, and he was able to see Bowser's face glaring at him through the hole. "Fancy seeing you here, Kamek." said Bowser in a deep voice, looking at Kamek's face through the hole. "Your M-Majesty? Bowser? Is that you?" "Yes, Kamek, it is. Now get out of the way." Suddenly Kamek heard the door creak, as if it was about to fall in on him. This caused him to run around the throne room, in a circle, screaming, with his hands up in the air, like a huge coward. "YOUR HIGHNESS! BOWSER'S HERE! SAVE YOURSELF!" "What is going on?" asked Wendy cooly, walking over and standing in front of the door. "GET OUT OF THE WAY, YOUR HIGHNESS!" Amazingly enough, Wendy actually listened to Kamek, and ran out from in front of the door. At this time, the door fell in to the throne room, smoking and burning, smashing down with a sound that shook the whole room, and, probably half castle. Wendy, Kamek, and other various castle subjects looked at the smoke pouring out of the corridor, and into the throne room. The ultimately intimidating figure of Bowser appeared from behind the smoke, and he stepped into the chamber. Wendy was a little frightened, as Bowser literally roared in anger. "Hello Wendy." said Bowser in a deep tone of voice. Wendy tried to hold her voice steady and act as if she wasn't scared at all. "Bowser! I expected you would bust out down there somehow, with that brilliant tiny little brain of yours! Oh well. TAKE HIM AWAY!" commanded Wendy. Two of the goombas that Wendy had guarding her side ran up to Bowser, grabbed his brawny arms, and attempted to drag him off. They, however, did not succeed. "Get your hands off of me!" Bowser wrestled his arms out of the goombas' grip. He then picked both of them up, and threw them across the room. They smashed into the nearby stone wall, knocked out, for a long time. "HA! You can't stop me, Wendy! Come on guys! It's time to fight!" Bowser yelled. He motioned to the Mario Bros. and BJ to come in to the room. They did so. Luigi was amazed at the damage Bowser had done to the room already, as there was a pile of bricks that fell off the wall that the goombas had smashed into. "What the heck are the Mario Brothers doing here?" asked Wendy in bewilderment. "Wow! This is awesome!" exclaimed Luigi, looking around. He then noticed Wendy standing in front of him. "Wow. You're ugly." he said, surveying Wendy's appearance. "How could you do this to me Wendy? How could you even DARE TO?" asked Bowser, almost in tears. "And Kamek, I hope that Wendy put you up to this, and you didn't just take her side when she took over. I don't really want to have to get rid of you." "No Your Majesty! Wendy made me do it! I swear! Honest! Lord Bowser, I'd do anything!" pleaded Kamek, on his knees. "Okay then. Get up. You are making yourself look dumb like that." said Bowser. "I'll assume you are being honest. I can't recall any time in the past that you lied." "Thank you, Your Majesty." "Shut up Kamek! I never made you recognize us as rulers. You did it yourself! So-" said Wendy. "Shut your face Wendy! Kamek wouldn't lie! Games up!" Bowser replied angrily. "No! You can't stop me!" Wendy yelled. Bowser shook his red mane of hair. He then decided to show off his anger, by running up to a group of goomba guards, and kicking some of them across the room. They smashed into the walls, likely knocked unconscious for hours. "RAAAAAWWWWR!" Bowser then ran up to the door, which was lying on the floor, still smoldering. Some of it had been burned black, or to ash now. He raised the door above his head, and Kamek saw that he was going to chuck it right where Wendy was currently standing. He intelligently warned Wendy. "YOUR HIGHNESS! GET OUT OF THE WAY! BOWSER'S GOING TO DO SOMETHING DREADFUL!" yelled Kamek, lunging into Wendy, whom was standing around, at a loss for words. Kamek knocked Wendy out of the way, just in time. "RAAAAWR!" Roaring and screaming, Bowser threw the door into the nearby wall. It shattered into hundreds of little shards of wood, which flew all over the room, so that all the subjects and koopalings covered their heads to avoid the falling debris. Once they avoided the the wood debris, they then had to worry about the metal pieces from the bands that had reinforced the door. Bowser advanced towards Wendy. "Please don't hurt us! We'll give you your kingdom back right now!" cried Wendy shrilly, covering her head with her arms. "Oh really? Sure you WILL, because you don't want to have it out with me. You're afraid that you'll lose." said Bowser, in a gruff voice. "And you WILL lose." said Mario. "Yeah." said Luigi. "You should just throw them in jail, Bowser." "I know." Bowser replied. "Trust me, I'd like to, but apparently, that doesn't work very well." He glared at Lemmy and Iggy. "They'll just break out again." "I didn't do anything. It was all Lemmy and Iggy who busted out." lied Wendy. "What are you going to do to us King Dad? Surely you're not going to lock us up?" "No. That doesn't seem to stop all of you. No. Instead, I'm going to exile you out of my kingdom." Bowser replied, in a serious manner. "EXILE US!?" said Morton. "But we love you King Dad! It was just a little mistake we made! Please! Let us stay!" Morton got off his pathetic little throne, crying fake tears, and tightly hugged Bowser's legs. Bowser shoved him off of his legs immediately, showing no compassion or sympathy whatsoever. "Why? Why should I let all of you live with me, if you are just going to be a pain in my butt? May I remind you, you STOLE MY KINGDOM AWAY FROM ME. And you also drugged me up, using one of Kamek's potions that he made exclusively for my use. Consider yourselves very fortunate that your punishment is just exile. Maybe you spoiled little brats will learn how to live life on your own without being pampered by the servants in this castle. Perhaps you will learn how to tie your own shoes. I'm sure you children thought that being a ruler was all about power. But, I assure you, it is not. There is so much responsibility that there is no time to relax. So, I am amazed at just how dumb all you children are to think that you could handle all of the ruling matters correctly!" "Very wisely said, sire." said Kamek. "Thank you." "But King dad!" exclaimed Ludwig. "We are in a position of national power right now. We could just tell our guards to lock you and your little Mario Bros. sidekicks back up." "True, but I don't think that will be accomplished." stated Bowser. "He's right." said Kamek loudly to the koopalings. "King Bowser is the true king of the Koopa Kingdom. He has great power. Much greater power than yours, that's for sure." "Do you have to state the obvious, Kamek?" asked Bowser. "And what about me?" asked BJ. "Remember me? Bowser Junior, whom has kicked your sorry little butts many times when you have gotten out of line? If you don't obey my father here, we're gonna get down to business." At this time, the Mario Bros. reached into their suspenders, and pulled out Plunger Launchers. They cocked the guns, and aimed the plunger launchers at the other koopalings, who were still sitting in thrones. This was done mainly to frighten them. However, if the need to actually shoot one of them with a plunger became neccessary, they were ready. "Now, step away from the thrones." ordered Bowser. "Okay. FINE! YOU WIN!" said Wendy, violently getting up from her throne, and walking up to Bowser. She was still wearing his crown, still looking like a proud, spoiled little brat princess. She glared at him in the eyes with a glare so hateful, that it was quite disturbing. "Why hello, Wendy." Bowser said, surveying Wendy's appearance. "I believe you have something that belongs to me?" Bowser reached quickly into Wendy's hair, and yanked the fancy gold crown from it. As he yanked the crown from it, he also caught hold of a sizable patch of Wendy's hair, and she yelled in pain as this patch of hair was torn from her head. With a satisfied expression on his face, Bowser hung the crown on his head, on his right horn. In case you did not know, Bowser has two horns on the top of his head, similar to longhorns. "Ah. That's much better. GUARDS! Take them away!" "NO!" yelled Wendy. "WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?" The goomba guards acknowledged Bowser's authority, and they advanced to the koopalings, lifted them off their thrones, and started to carry them out of the room. This made the koopalings a bit angry, and scared. "NO! Dad! Father! You can't do this to us! We're your children! Please! Let us stay!" "AHHH!" screamed Wendy, as she was lifted off her throne. The weak goomba forces were evidently too strong for her. "I HATE YOU DAD! I HATE YOU!" "I know, I know. Is this news?" The koopalings, as they were carried off one by one, said many nasty things to Bowser on the way out of the room. Some of these things were so rude and disrespectful, that I do not care to write them here. "King Dad!" yelled Larry Koopa, as he was dragged out the door. "I had nothing to do with this! It was all Wendy's idea! I swear! Please! No! I tried! I tried to keep her in line!" Wendy heard this confession from Larry, as she was being dragged out too. "Oh yeah Larry? I never did anything wrong! All I did was take over! Larry, you TRAITOR! I'm gonna-" However, Wendy did not get to finish her sentence, as she was dragged out of the door, and through the hall, to who knows where. Her screams and shouts could be heard all over the castle, along with the other six children. ----------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 13: The Kingdom Is Recovered ----------------------------------------------------------- Bowser sighed, out of exaustion. He was very glad he did not encounter the need to fight his children, because he was very tired, from all the exciting events that took place lately. Plus, you know, it was hard to sleep on that hard cold floor, of which he had spent much of his time these past two days. The fight for his kingdom had only lasted about a minute, and it ended with him, of course, winning. The kingdom was finally recovered. "Well, that was quite something, wasn't it?" asked Mario, who had been silently observing the spectacle that the koopalings had made. "Yes." Bowser replied. "Yes. It was. I'm sorry you had to experience that. You just caught a premium glimpse of what it is like to live in my castle. But, I knew they would not be happy when they found that I got out. Tough luck, huh? Welcome to my fun little world of koopalings." "Yeah." said Luigi. "Mario and me here, we're brothers." "Really? Are you SURE?" asked Bowser sarcastically. "Yeah." "Anyways, I'm glad that's over. I need rest, as probably do you Mario Brothers. BJ, you should rest too. Have a seat." At this, Bowser completely collapsed onto the throne room floor, and so sat there, because he was so tired. "Your Majesty!" said Kamek, cordially. "Get up off that filthy floor! Sit in your throne! After all, it's where YOU belong. It's much more comfortable there." "Thank you, Kamek. I forgot about that. I'm just so tired." Bowser got up off the floor, and plopped down in his lush, soft, cozy throne, almost half asleep as soon as he sat down. I don't think I'VE ever had the oportunity to sit in something that comfortable... "Kamek! Prepare a seat for the Mario Brothers, and my son BJ here." Bowser ordered. "Yes, sire." Kamek thrusted his wand at the ground and produced three very nice, regal-looking armchairs. "Have a seat." The Mario Bros. and BJ plopped down in the chairs. "Thank you, Bowser, for everything." said Mario. "No problem. It's the least I could do, after you three busted me out down there." "Yeah. Thanks Dad." said BJ. "You're welcome." "Kamek!" said Bowser loudly. "Yes, Your Majesty?" "Get rid of these other pathetic little thrones here! I want them destroyed!" "Yes sire." "Thank you." "You are welcome. Also sire, I need to know where you are exiling your children to." "What? Why?" "Because, you ordered us to take them away; we are doing this, but we really can't successfully exile them unless you tell us where to send them." "Oh! Yeah, well, sorry I didn't specify....um...take them far away from here. Anywhere far away from here will do." "But, we need a specified location, Your Majesty." "Oh. Well, I don't know where to send them...." Bowser turned to the Mario Bros. to ask them a question. "Hey, do any of you know of a good, distant place from here?" "Yeah." replied Luigi. "Yoshi's Island is a long way away from here. You should send them there." "Thanks! Okay then." said Bowser, turning back to Kamek. "Take them to this...Yoshi's Island...immediately. I want them to see that I am serious about this exile thing. I want it to sink in to their thick little heads." "Okay sire, I will tell the goombas right now. They should be out on the drawbridge, awaiting your orders." "You do that." Kamek walked over to the throne room intercom he had used earlier, and pushed the button to talk. However, as soon as he pushed it, he heard a message coming out of the device. "Breaker 209, this is Goomba Smackdown, of the Koopa Kingdom Protection Administration. We have your seven children here in custody, most high Bowser. Where should we take them? Breaker 209, this is Goomba Smackdown, anybody got their ears on?" Bowser shouted back from his throne, in CB radio jive as well. "Yeah, you got Koopa King here, standing still on westbound. Just slap them on the back and tell 'em you're taking them to Yoshi's Island, ten-four. The goomba on the other end of the radio reponded with more CB jive. "Breaker 209, you got Goomba Smackdown here, that sounds like a good plan, ten-four?" "Yea, ten-four, over and out!" "Breaker 209, thank you Your Majesty. I will send them out on your jet immediately. Over and out." The conversation between Bowser and the head goomba of the Koopa Kingdom Protection Administration now ended, Kamek decided to just sit down in his arm chair, since he just realized that Bowser had done his job, which was working the radio for Bowser, by himself. "That was great, Bowser!" said Luigi. "Where did you learn to CB like that?" "Well, I just learned, from listening to Kamek do it all day." "Well, good deal! That was awesome!" "Thank you." "That was pretty good, Your Majesty." stated Kamek. "You're a fast learner." "Thank you." There was silence in the throne room. All of Bowser's court subjects were asleep. Really the only people still awake were Bowser, Kamek, Mario, Luigi, and Bowser Junior. Bowser was starting to drift in and out of sleep as well. "You know, why don't you Mario Brothers just spend the night here, you know, because, I am......sleepy. So tired. Too much stuff went on these past two days...I'm...exausted." "Hey, thanks, Bowser! That is so kind of you!" said Mario. "It's the least I can do." "We'd love to stay." said Luigi. "No, no, no, no, NO!" Kamek exclaimed. "What?" asked Bowser. "We're not going to bed just yet, are we? We still have to eat supper!" said Kamek. "Oh. Well...ya. I'm hungry. Very hungry. I forgot just how hungry I was, because I'm so...tired. You guys hungry?" Bowser looked over at the Mario Brothers and BJ. "Well, Your Majesty, we would enjoy a bite to eat." said Mario. "I hope you'll enjoy a FEAST to eat." replied Bowser with a smile. "Um, yeah. A feast sounds good." stated Luigi. Just then the intercom came on again, and Kamek went over to listen to it. It was a message for him, in some sort of Koopa language. Not english. Nobody understood what the person on the intercom was saying, except Kamek, and Bowser. "Well, the cooks have told me that the feast is ready in the dining hall. Should I tell that we have guests coming as well?" "No. It's fine. We should have enough food for the subjects and more, right?" asked Bowser. "Yes." replied Kamek. "Plenty of food. So much food it will make you-" "That's enough." said Bowser. "Well, if it is ready, then, let's go eat. I'm so hungry." said he. Bowser got out of his throne, and stood up. "Attention!" Most of Bowser's subjects were asleep on duty, and they did not hear him. "ATTENTION!" roared Bowser. "Yes Your Majesty!?" said King Boo, waking up. "Sir?" said Petey Piranha. "I'm hungry sir." "Well, that's good for you, Petey, because we are going to have a feast right now." "A feast! Oh man! You mean food?" asked Petey Pirahna. "ATTENTION! EVERYBODY! EVERYONE! LET US HAVE A GREAT FEAST TO CELEBRATE THE RESTORATION OF THIS KINGDOM!" roared Bowser happily. "Um, what's restoration, Your Majesty?" asked King Boo. "Restoration? By that I mean that I got the kingdom back from my koopalings. In other words, the kingdom has been returned." "Oh! Thank you for explaining." "You're welcome." said Bowser. "NOW, EVERYBODY, GET READY FOR BAT- wait. Sorry! EVERYBODY, GET READY FOR THE FEAST! IT STARTS AT SEVEN O' CLOCK SHARP! I WANT EVERYBODY BACK HERE AT SEVEN! NOW GO!" All of Bowser's subjects and servants woke up, obeyed his orders, and left their posts immediately, almost running out of the throne room. Everyone went their seperate ways to get ready for the feast, leaving the Mario Bros., Bowser, BJ, and Kamek in the throne room, alone. ----------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 14: The Grand Feast ----------------------------------------------------------- Our unlikely little party, made up of the the Mario Bros., Bowser, Kamek, and BJ, stood around in the throne room. They were quite clueless as for what to do next. "So. There's no sense in standing here, with our stomachs growling. Let's head for the dining hall." said Bowser. So, Bowser and the party headed for the dining hall. Once they got there, they sat down at the table, with Bowser at the head of the table. The rest of the party sat next to Bowser, on the sides of the table. It was pretty quiet in the dining hall. Now, I'm sure most of you have been in a school cafeteria, about fifteen minutes before the cooks start serving. When you are there that early, usually you can hear a low rumble of the air conditioners, and stoves, and what not, and it is rather quiet. You can also feel the nice cool air inside the room, and the room smells like antiseptic cleaning solutions. This is what the dining hall was like at the time that Bowser and his friends were here, early. It was a very relaxing atmosphere. "So, tell me Mario. How are you and Peach doing?" asked Bowser. "Well, we had an argument, and... she kicked me out of the castle for a while. That's why me and Luigi are living in the Pipe House." "You mean you've had the good enough fortune from her to actually live in her castle? Wow." replied Bowser. "You still in love with her?" "That's a little personal." said Mario. "Ah. Sorry. Just wondering. I thought you loved Daisy." "No. Um, Daisy? Well, um...she's not quite my type." "Ah. Well, you do know that Peach is ugly?" asked Bowser. "Shut up! She is not ugly! She is like sunshine through the clouds. She is like...the sweet smell of roses. She is like love at-" "Give me a break, Mario." said Luigi. "You are so stuck on her." "I know. She is like...." "Shut up!" commanded Bowser, slamming his fist down on the table. "Just shut UP! That's enough! You're making me sick!" "Sorry, Your Majesty. It's just-" "I don't want to hear it!" yelled Bowser, accenting his statement with a louder(and harder) slam on the table. "I'm so tired! I don't have the energy to listen to nonsense!" "Well, I have some interesting news for you, sire." said Kamek. "And what is that, Kamek?" "I watched a movie. It was about this evil guy who built a device to control the weather." "And?" "Well, it looked like it might be a practical idea, you know, or invention, for us to try to build. We could try to build a machine to do that." "To do what?" "Control the weather. Shall we?" "Certainly not. It is a completely stupid idea." "But sire! It would give us so much control over the world! Imagine! Striking Peach's castle with lightning, when you are many miles away! She would never know where it came from." "Hmmm...control over the world, you say? Hmmm..........excellent! Tell the Shy Guys to draw me up a schematic right away, after the feast!" "I will, sire. But our Shy Guys and Goombas do not have the mathematicians and physicists required to build this project." "They don't? Well, send out an announcement on the radio, asking for applications for a mathmatician and physicist. Make sure one of the requirements is that thay MUST have graduated from the University of Koopa Kingdom." "Yes sire. I will do so after the feast." Bowser then looked over at Luigi. "You been having fun lately, Loogi?" "It's 'Luigi'. And not really, we were just preparing for the next time you capture Peach." "Ah. Well, I'm not going to do that anytime soon." "I know." said Luigi. "But we just want to be ready." "It is apparent that you do not trust me." said Bowser conversationally. "That is correct." said Luigi. "Ah, well, what is up with you, son?" Bowser asked BJ. "None much. Just trying to stay entertained. It's been a very boring week, until lately. In fact, I was here when the other koopalings got the idea to take over the kingdom." "WHAT?" exclaimed Bowser. "You mean to tell me that you KNEW they were going to rebel, and capture me? Why the crap did you not tell me?" "Please don't get mad dad. I knew from castle rumors. I knew almost after they had already taken over. So, I thought it would be best for me to get down to the Lizard's Tail Tavern, and play the bartender position, so that whoever came to your rescue would be able to use the corridor." "Oh. I'm telling YOU, you are my smartest son." "Thank you dad. I try." "You're welcome." After this rather short conversation, Bowser's subjects arrived, and sat down at the long, lengthy table. Shortly after, long rows of food occupied space on the table. Drinks were then brought and set down by the cooks. Along the length of the dining hall, many hungry faces could be seen. All of Bowser's subjects and servants were looking down the table at him, awaiting orders for what to do next. It was at this time, when everything for the feast was in order, that Kamek leaned over to speak in Bowser's ear. "It is time for your speech." stated Kamek. Bowser was very tired, and it was a bit obvious, because he was laying on the table, with his head in his arms. He looked as if he was almost sleeping. "Ah, shut up Kamek." said Bowser, raising his head up and laying it back down. "Bowser! Get up!" Kamek jerked Bowser's head out of his arms by means of both of Bowser's long horns. With a firm hold on Bowser's horns, he yanked his head around in a circle, to wake him up more. "Quit that crap!" Bowser commanded Kamek, wrenching his horns out of Kamek's control. The guests were really enjoying the spectacle of Kamek waking Bowser up. "I don't want to make a stupid speech! Nevertheless, I will." stated Bowser quietly. "Better." said Kamek, smiling. Bowser cleared his throat, and then said: "FRIENDS AND LOYAL SUBJECTS! THIS IS TRULY A HAPPY DAY! I HAVE REGAINED CONTROL OVER THE KINGDOM, AFTER SEIZING IT BACK FROM MY KOOPALINGS!" "What?" said a dumb, ignorant goomba to the shy guy next to him, somewhere down the table. "Bowser's kingdom was stolen by his children? What the heck?" The ignorant goomba and the shy guy, after a while of talking, suddenly noticed that the room had fallen silent. They then looked down the length of the table at Bowser, to see him glaring at them, with his arms crossed. "I dink we shud shurt up." the shy guy said out of the corner of his mouth, to the goomba. "Yes. I think that would be a wise idea." said Bowser loudly, so that everybody in the room heard. "Shut up NOW goomba." "Yes Your Majesty." replied the goomba. "S-s-sorry." Bowser decided to continue. "TO CELEBRATE THIS MOMENTOUS OCCASION, WE ARE...GOING..." Bowser's head suddenly dropped, and it became evident that he was asleep again. All of the guests were giggling about this. This is because it was incredibly funny that the King of the Koopas had fallen asleep at his own feast. After about a minute, Kamek resorted to picking up the fork next to his plate, and poking Bowser in the nose with it. Needless to say, this woke Bowser up immediately. But he did not have time to be angry about this, because he was so embarrassed that he had fallen asleep twice now. All the guests were staring at him. With his nose still throbbing from the painful poke it had received, he continued. "WE ARE HAVING A GREAT FEAST, TO CELEBRATE THIS VICTORY! YOU WILL FIND THAT ALL OF THE FOOD YOU COULD EVER POSSIBLY WANT TO EAT IS ON THE TABLE! WANT A LOLLIPOP? WE GOT IT! WANT A DELECTABLE STRAWBERRY SHAKE? WE GOT IT! WANT TO GET POKED IN YOUR NOSE WITH A FORK? (He glared at Kamek when he said this.) WE GOT IT!" "Be nice Bowser. Don't insult my intelligence." Kamek said. "Just shut up and leave me alone, Kamek." He then continued, "YOU WILL ENJOY THIS FOOD GREATLY! JUST DIG IN UNTIL YOU ARE FULL, AND THEN YOU MAY LEAVE WHEN YOU DESIRE, AFTER YOU EAT! THANK YOU FOR COMING, EVERYBODY! I APOLOGIZE FOR DOZING OFF, BUT IT HAS BEEN A LONG COUPLE OF DAYS! ENJOY, AND CHOW DOWN! THANK YOU!" At this, he blew a small cloud of flames up in the air. It lingered up there for a few seconds. He then slammed his fist down on the table. "THE FEAST HAS OFFICIALLY BEGUN!" "Wow. You have to admit it, Bowser's got style." said the goomba, who got in trouble earlier, to the shy guy next to him. "I wish I could breath fire like that." "Yeah." replied the shy guy, stuffing his face with a hot roll. "You should see him light the torches that burn out periodically in his chamber. He doesn't call us to relight them. He just lights them himself. Just puffs a little cloud of flames at the torch and it lights fine. I think he enjoys showing off." "Oh? You are talking about Bowser?" said another minion next to them, a boo. "Dude. Sure he is stylin', but you don't want to get on his bad side. Take a look at this." The boo got out of his seat, and turned around to show a burn mark on his side. It wasn't a horrible thing to see, but it was not neccesarily pretty. The goomba and the shy guy gazed at the wound in amazement. "You've got to be kidding me!" the goomba exclaimed. "He did that to you?" "Yah." the boo replied. "That is why I am suggesting to you that whatever he says, do it. ALWAYS." "But surely he isn't always THAT violent?" asked the shy guy. "No. It usually takes a lot to get him that angry, but I got him on a bad day. Try to be especially careful on his bad days." the boo advised. "Well, thanks for the advice." said the shy guy. "No sweat. I just wanted to let you fellows know about that." the boo stated, hovering in his chair again. "Well, thanks for enlightening us." "So, Bowser," said Mario. "Tell me about Wendy Koopa. What's up with her?" "Oh. Wendy Koopa, my idiot daughter? Well, uh, she's.....something else." replied Bowser, reaching for a Goomnut Cake, and depositing it on his plate. "In fact," Bowser continued, "She found out that we were a royal family when she was four. After she turned seven, I found her spending a lot of time in my library." "How odd." mused Luigi. "Yeah. I never really found out what she was doing in my library for such long hours, but my theory is that she was studying the family tree, plotting a way to take over the kingdom." "Oh. Wow. That's not good." stated Luigi. "No it's not, but she's a pretty smart girl. She doesn't want to use her smarts for good, however." said Bowser, shoving his Goomnut Cake in his mouth. Yes, he shoved the WHOLE thing in his mouth. He then reached for another. "So," he continued, "It didn't really surprise me that she took over my kingdom this week. Yes it made me angry, but I was kind of expecting it to happen eventually. I tried to be ready, but, I just wasn't successful." "Dude. Why did you even bother raising her? She's so evil!" Luigi said. "Well, I'm her father. A father's love is supposed to be unconditional." "Ah. Well, I guess I can understand that." "Whoa Bowser. What was it like dealing with her?" asked Mario. "Well, it was long, hard, and very...very..." Bowser dropped his head, asleep again, and his face smashed into his Goomnut Cake. The physical and emotional strain from the events in the last two days was just too much for him. He simply could not stay awake anymore. This time, Kamek didn't do anything to wake him up. He just let Bowser sleep, with his face stuck in his cake. Everyone was giggling again, but Kamek felt bad for Bowser, because he was so exausted, and he could not even conduct himself in a noble, orderly fashion. "Wow." said Bowser Junior, watching his dad sleep peacefully in his Goomnut Cake. "I think dad's blitzed." "Yes BJ, it looks that way. But, he's been through a lot these past two days." "Yeah. Way too much." Mario agreed. "Just let him sleep. He needs it. Besides, it would not be wise to wake him up." Kamek suggested. "True that." said Luigi, eying Bowser's horns and claws. "Hey, um, I'm pretty tired. I'm sure everyone else is too?" BJ asked. "Yes." said Kamek. "Could you show us to our rooms, Kamek? Or, do we have to have Bowser's permission to be dismissed from the table?" asked Mario. "Um, we DO need his permission. Let me ask him. It's pretty dangerous to wake him up." replied Kamek, with a worried look on his face. He leaned over to speak in Bowser's ear aqain. "Sire, um, are we dismissed?" Bowser did nothing except groan and snuggle his head deeper into his cake. "Your Majesty!" said Kamek louder into Bowser's ear. "Are we dismissed from the feast!" This time, Kamek got a semi-conscious reply from Bowser. "Yeah yeah." Bowser mumbled into his cake, half asleep. "Okay then guys, it sounded as if said yes, but, he was half asleep when he said that, too. Let's just go, and if he wakes up and I get in trouble for dismissing the feast, I'll take the blame. I want rest too. Let me dismiss the guests." All of the guests were by now, stuffed, and were already sleepy. The goomba and the shy guy that were talking earlier were silent now. "FRIENDS! GUESTS AND STUFF! KING BOWSER HAS FALLEN ASLEEP! THE FEAST IS NOW DISMISSED! EVERYBODY, GO BACK TO YOUR POSTS, OR DO WHATEVER YOU DO, AND WE CAN GET SOME SLEEP! THANKS FOR COMING EVERYONE, BUT IT IS TIME TO GO! THANK YOU, AND GOOD BYE!" These words, of which Kamek shouted, woke Bowser from his restful nap in his Goomnut Cake. He was not too keen to be woken up like this, but, miraculously, he wasn't mad about it either. Just a little frustrated. "Idiot." growled Bowser drearily, raising his head up out of his cake, and glaring at Kamek. "Why do you have to shout like that?" "Well hello there, sleeping beauty!" Mario said. "Shut up." Bowser replied drowsily, looking over at Mario. All the guests were leaving the dining hall quickly. "Just for your information, Bowser, your um, um, face. It has cake all over it. Did you notice that?" asked Kamek. "Uh, no. I uh, didn't know. Is it messy?" said Bowser, feeling his face with his hands. "Nah. It's okay. Just clean it 1with a napkin." said Luigi. Bowser picked up his napkin and cleaned the cake off his face with it. He then put it down. "I think I heard someone ask me about 'dismiss' something or another?" Bowser said. "'Dismiss'? Oh! Yeah, that was me. I was asking you if I could dismiss the guests. You said 'yeah', so I did." said Kamek. "Ah, yes, now I remember." said Bowser, watching the last of the guests file out of the dining hall. "I did say yes to that question. I was barely awake, I might have been dreaming. But I thought I heard something." "Ready to go night night?" Kamek asked Bowser. "Is Bowser sleepy beepy?" "Don't talk to me as if I am three Kamek." said Bowser, in a threatening tone. "I'm ready to go to bed. Let's go." ----------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 15: Retirement From Excitement ----------------------------------------------------------- Bowser got up from his chair at the head of the table. All of the guests and servants had left the room now. He slowly walked out of the dining hall and down the corridor, on the way to his chamber. BJ, the Mario Brothers, and Kamek followed closely behind him. After awhile, Bowser started to get annoyed that he was being followed. "Why are you all following me?" Bowser asked wearily. "Because, we are waiting for you to show us our rooms for the night." replied Mario. "Oh." Even though Mario had answered Bowser's question of why he was being followed, Bowser kept on walking through the castle on the way to his chamber, not speaking at all. He did not even give the slightest hint of where the Mario Brothers' rooms were, or show them the way. He just kept on walking. Finally, after ten minutes of walking down seemingly endless corridors and halls, Mario decided to try to get Bowser's attention. "WHERE ARE WE STAYING?" Mario yelled ahead at Bowser. Still no response. Mario amd Luigi were getting impatient, waiting on Bowser to answer. To be honest, it was starting to frusrate Mario. He began to think of an idea that would get Bowser's attention. "2222222Bowser?" Desperate, Mario stared at Bowser's backside, and alas, he noticed that Bowser's tail was swaying back and forth as he walked. Watching it sway back and forth with each step he took, an idea that was nothing short of brilliant came into Mario's head. "YA!" Mario grabbed Bowser's tail, and hung on it, taking care to avoid the spikes. "What the $#!@! Get off!" Bowser ordered irately, jerking his tail to throw Mario off. "No Bowser! I'm not letting go until you tell us which room we're staying in!" "Kamek! Get him off me now!" "I'm sorry, Your Majesty." giggled Kamek. "But this is too funny for me to do anything!" "Idiot!" Mario still hung on to Bowser's tail, being dragged for about a hundred feet, until Bowser finally gave up and stopped walking. "Fine! FINE! LET GO OF MY TAIL! I'LL TELL YOU!" roared Bowser. "Okay." Mario said, letting go and getting to his feet. "IDIOTS!" Bowser roared, turning around quickly to face the party. " What is it with you people? I mean, first, it's Kamek, poking me in my nose and grabbing my horns! And now YOU, grabbing my tail? How DARE you! Then you just hold on! What do you think I am, some mode of tranportation or something? This is humiliating! Do you have any idea what I have been through these last two days?" "Sorry." said Mario. "Your rooms are that way, first door on the left! Go, and LEAVE ME IN PEACE!" roared Bowser at the Mario Bros., pointing at an exit from the corridor. "Oh. Sorry we made you mad, Bowser. We just wanted you to answer our question TONIGHT." "Mmmmhmmmm. So, you had to get physical. Go away. I need to get some sleep, before I do something violent." said Bowser. "Good idea." said Mario, giggling. "Good night." The Mario Brothers turned away from Bowser, BJ, and Kamek, and walked to their room, walking in and closing the door gently behind them once they were in. Bowser and the others continued down the corridor, on the way to Bowser's chamber. "Well, it's been a nice day." said BJ. "But now I have to go to bed. See ya." "Bye son." Bowser replied. "Thank you for helping me so much." "No problem, dad. See you tommorow." BJ took an exit from the corridor they were walking down, and went off to his room, but Bowser and Kamek continued walking and talking together. "That was so wrong, Mario grabbing your tail like that. I'll show him for you, Your Majesty." "Oh, shut up Kamek! You don't care about it at all. You know as well as I do that you thought it was funny. You said yourself, 'Sorry, but this is too funny to do anything.'. Let's just go to bed, okay? I'm so tired. Just leave, and I'll walk to my chamber on my own, thank you." "But Your Majesty! It is against royal tradition to-" "I don't give a hair about royal tradition!" Bowser interrupted. "Who cares, anyway? Just leave. I can take care of myself." "But-" "Now, Kamek. Please." said Bowser, looking at Kamek earnestly. "Okay sire. Good night. Stay safe." Kamek said, turning to leave. "Thank you. I will. Good night." With this, Kamek left Bowser's company, and he also took an exit from the corridor, to his room, like the others. Why he didn't just warp to his room is unknown. Bowser continued walking, finding the way to his chamber himself. After reaching the door to his bedroom, he opened it and slowly walked over to his bed, and threw himself down on it, with a very happy groan of comfort. He nestled his head into his cool, soft pillow, and, with a growl of content, nodded off to sleep. But, meanwhile, the Mario Bros. were wide awake in their room, talking about the day's events. "I'm just not sure that Bowser really wants us here." said Mario, unclipping his plumbing tool belt and laying it on the dresser. "I don't know if we should sneak out of here now, or stay. I don't trust him." "Well, like he said, he just wanted to let us stay the night, to repay the kindness we showed him, you know, by freeing him." replied Luigi, hanging his tool belt on a bedpost. "It's common courtesy, know what I'm sayin'?" "I guess he's alright." Mario stated, climbing into bed. "He's fine. I wouldn't worry about it." "That's what you think, Luigi. But we've been caught off-guard many times. I don't want to see it happen again. Bowser's a very untame beast to deal with. Never do know what he's gonna pull next." Mario was lying under the bedcovers, looking up at the ceiling. "He's not a beast, he's a person!" Luigi said, crawling into bed as well, and forgetting to brush his teeth. "Just think of all the nice things he's done for us today. Like having the feast!" "Well, yeah, that feast WAS pretty gpod. He's got great food here." Mario said. "Yeah." Luigi agreed. "And then he actually talked to us about his koopalings, and stuff, and he is letting us stay the night! That's pretty nice, if you ask me." "Yeah." said Mario, yawning. "Okay, I guess he's a good guy." "I told you!" "Let's get some sleep." "Yeah. Good idea. I'm tired." "Me too." replied Mario, turning off the lamp on the bedside dresser, and getting comfortable in bed. "Good night, Luigi." "Night Mario." Luigi then turned off the lamp on his side of the room as well. ----------------------------- Chapter 16: Down In History ----------------------------- As Mario and Luigi, and everyone else in the castle was sleeping peacefully, the koopalings were on Bowser's private jet, headed for Yoshi's Island; but we don't really care about them, do we? Soon came the morning, and the Mario Bros. awakened to a certain familiar angry voice. "GET UP YOU USELESS IDIOTS! IT'S TEN O' CLOCK! I'VE BEEN ON THAT THRONE THREE HOURS, WAITING FOR YOU! NOW GET UP!" Bowser roared with his arms crossed, standing in the doorway of their room. He didn't see the Mario Bros. move in bed at all. "Fine! I had better see you both in that throne room in ten minutes! Get up!" Bowser then walked off, violently slamming the door behind him. "Uuuuugh." Luigi groaned, turning over in bed, and sitting up, yawning. "Why did BOWSER have to wake us? Doesn't he have better things to do?" Luigi got no reply to this question, as Mario was still asleep. To solve this problem, Luigi decided to get out of bed and grab his flathead screwdriver. "Get up Mario!" Luigi exclaimed, jabbing Mario in the butt with the screwdriver. "Ow! Dang you! Go back to bed Luigi." "No. It's ten o' clock." "Ten o' clock?! Mamma mia!" said Mario, quickly getting out of bed. "How did we sleep so late?" Mario began getting dressed. "I guess we were tired?" "Could be." "Anyway," Luigi continued, getting dressed as well, "Bowser came in here to wake us up. Didn't you hear him screaming? He wants us to meet him in the throne room in ten minutes." "Oh. Okay then, let's not keep him waiting. I can't wait to leave. I wonder if our truck was stolen?" "Who cares?" asked Luigi, strapping his tool belt on. "I do." Mario replied, clipping his belt on also. "Let's-a-go." Luigi said, opening the door, and holding it for Mario. And the Mario Bros. left the room. The two brothers walked slowly to the throne room. That is, once they found it. When they entered the room, Bowser got out of the throne, and came up to greet them. "Finally you are here. You hungry? Have you two done anything all morning besides SLEEP?" "Um, no, I'm not that hungry." replied Mario. "Is there something in particular that you wanted us to get up for?" "Yes! I wanted you to get up because it was ten o' clock! You both sleep so late! You missed breakfast!" "Well, I don't feel like I missed out on much." said Luigi. "Just the best breakfast in the kingdom, that's all." Bowser said. "But, at least the koopalings aren't awake yet." "Your Majesty." began Kamek. "You don't have to worry about them today. You exiled them, remember?" "Oh yes! I forgot about that." said Bowser. "It's so nice to have them gone." "Truly." said Kamek. "Actually, I have something that I think you both might find interesting." "Really, Bowser? What is it?" asked Mario. "Well, since you insist on not eating, I'll take you there right now." "Let's go. We'll eat later." "Okay, it's this way." Bowser said, pointing a claw at the throne room door. "Kamek, take over while I'm gone." Bowser said, pointing at his throne. "Good heavens, Your Majesty. Nothing is going to happen. You are just going into a different part of the castle." said Kamek, almost laughing. "True. But you never know. Bye." Bowser and the Mario Bros. walked through the throne room door, into a long corridor. They took a right turn, and soon traveled down to the basement, close to Kamek's potion library. Now, it is only logical that the Royal Library be located close to Kamek's library of potions, so the party continued straight ahead, and soon faced a large, spiked wooden door. "Wow." said Luigi. "This thing is huge! How do you open it?" "You push on it." said Mario, pushing as hard on the door as he could. It didn't move at all. "I can't get it open." Mario said, stating the obvious. "Excuse me." said Bowser, picking Mario up, and moving him out of the way. "Don't-a-touch me!" Mario yelled. "Forgot your precious power stars, did you?" Bowser said calmly, pushing the door open with ease. He held it open with his tail. "What the...how can YOU open it so easily!" asked Mario angrily. Bowser actually quite enjoyed replying to this. "Well...one, I'm strong and powerful. Two, doors are made to be opened. Three, I'm a Koopa. Four, that door was designed to be opened by me." "Shut up Bowser! You're not the only strong one." Mario said. "True, but I am naturally strong, whereas YOU need something stupid, such as a super mushroom, to make you strong." said Bowser. "You know what Bowser? Just because we helped you escape out of your children's plans, doesn't exactly mean that we like you. We actually have careers that have made us rich by defeating you. So shut your face." "Ah, and likewise I am filthy rich because I'm royalty, and steal Princess Peach from you in return. That's nice. Now, please enter." Bowser replied, still holding the door open with his tail. The Mario Bros. entered the Royal Library of Bowser's castle. It was a huge, tall cylindrical room, much like Kamek's library of potions was. However, instead of only being able to use ladders to get things off the shelves, there were rings of spikes built into the walls, which marked each floor of the library. Built on top of the rings, encircling the interior of the room, were wide walkways. There were ladders mounted right above the floor of each walkway, in the wall, to allow ascension to higher floors of the library. Using the railed walkways on top of the rings, one could easily grab any book from the library shelves. There were also, of course, torches lighting the place. "Wow!" Luigi said, awestruck. "This is beautiful!" "Yeah, but we aren't going up THERE." said Bowser. "Oh." "What we need is right on this pedestal here." said Bowser, leading the brothers to a fancy pedestal in the exact center of the room. "I think you might find this particular book interesting." Bowser picked up the large book on the pedestal. It was a deep royal red, and on the cover read, "Bowser's Royal Diary; Volume 64". He opened the diary to the most recent written page. "This is what Kamek and me wrote and recorded in here when you two were asleep earlier. I just wanted to show you that the takeover by the koopalings has now made Koopa history. Check this out." Bowser pointed a clawed finger at the newest, most recent page in his diary. Here, the Mario Bros. read: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- July 3, 2008 My koopalings, through Wendy Koopa's selfish genius, stole the Koopa Kingdom throne, and took over the kingdom for a couple days. They drugged me up with one of Kamek's sleeping draughts while I was asleep in my chamber, and threw me in prison. After I awoke, it took me almost a full day and a half there in the dungeon to realize that I had my pajamas on, and had my emergency cell phone in my pocket. It seemed like the longest time in my life. Using my phone, I tried to call my subjects to let them know that I was in trouble, but nobody answered. Desperate, I called Princess Peach, but she just got mad at me and hung up. I didn't try calling Daisy. Even more desperate, I called Luigi. He and Mario finally agreed to come to my rescue, after some honest begging. They busted me out and helped me take back the kingdom. As punishment for what the koopalings did, I have exiled the koopalings out of my kingdom for a while. Overjoyed to have my kingdom back, I held a celebratory feast in the Mario Bros.' honor, for saving me. This turned out to be one of the most momentous days of my life. Bowser --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Hmmmm." said Mario, finshed reading the entry. "Thanks for acknowledging us for saving you, but, why exactly did you want to show us this?" "Because. I wanted to let you know that you and Luigi here just made Koopa history." "That's so awesome!" said Luigi. "Thank you." said Bowser, closing his diary and laying it back on the pedestal. "This place is pretty amazing." Mario said, looking around at the library. "Thank you. I hardly ever have to go out into the kingdom to get a book. I just get it here. Whatever book I don't find here I have my servants search for in the kingdom's various libraries, and they bring it back to me." "Woah, Bowser. Aren't we proud!" Mario said. "Yes, well, royalty does have its advantages." "Shut up Bowser. Quit showing off. Why don't you just take us back to your throne?" "Don't talk to me like that." ordered Bowser, raising his hand in the air, with claws ready to attack. "Woah, take it easy Bowser! please don't hurt us! Please, just take us back to the throne room." said Mario, nervously. "Oh. You want to go back already? Too bad. Oh well. I guess we should be leaving then." replied Bowser, lowering his hand. Bowser led the Mario Bros. back out of the library, and closed the library door. He waved his hand over the front of the closed door, saying some indiscernable Koopa words, and then turned back to the Mario Brothers. "What did you just do?" asked Luigi uncertainly. "I was sealing off the library door with an old magikoopa charm." Bowser replied. "What? I thought Kamek was a magikoopa." said Mario. "He is, but because of my royal Koopa blood, I have magikoopa powers. And Kamek has taught me a few charms and things." said Bowser. "Oh." Mario replied, with a nervous voice. "Don't worry." said Bowser. "It's not like I'm going to perform curses or anything." "Oh good." said Luigi. "Can we go back to the throne room now?" "Yes, let's go. Follow me." said Bowser, starting to walk ahead of the Mario Brothers. Mario and Luigi kept their distance from Bowser, so they could talk behind his back. "Luigi," Mario said, leaning over to whisper in Luigi's ear, as they walked behind Bowser. "I'm not sure about Bowser. I still don't trust him. Let's get out of here." "WHAT was that?" asked Bowser, glancing back at the Mario Brothers. "Nothing Bowser. I just said-" "I KNOW what you said, Mario. You said that you didn't trust me, and that you want to get out of here." "Mamma mia, how did you hear me say that? I WHISPERED that!" "We Koopas have very sensitive hearing. I can hear what my koopalings are doing, one hundred feet away, even when they whisper." "I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to say that." said Mario. "You most certainly did, or you wouldn't have said it behind my back." Bowser replied, walking a bit faster. "Umm..." began Luigi. "You know what, I really don't care. I mean, nobody trusts me, not even my own children, so why should you be any different?" Bowser said annoyingly. "Er.." "You know, it's funny, now that I think about it." Bowser continued, walking even faster. "I trust YOU more than you trust ME." "Just chill, Bowser. Are we almost to the throne room?" Mario asked, eager to change the subject. "Yes, we are. Turn right." Bowser said, turning into a room to the right. The Mario Bros. followed Bowser into the room. All of the subjects in the room stared at them when they came in. "Welcome to the throne room, where I spend most of my pathetic life!" said Bowser, walking to the center of the room, and sitting down in his throne with a sigh. Kamek was sitting in a fancy chair, on Bowser's right, reading the newspaper with his spectacles. "How are you doing, Mario?" asked Kamek, lowering the paper to look at Mario and Luigi. "Just fine." replied Mario. "Well, thank you for all of the food, and stuff that you did for us, Bowser, but I think we should be leaving now." Mario said, walking up to Bowser, and shaking his hand. Luigi did the same. "No problem. Thank you both for rescuing me from my children's plans." replied Bowser. "Bowser, I just want you to know, we still aren't really friends." stated Mario. "Oh, I know. I was just repaying the kindness you showed me when you rescued me." "Alright, well..." Mario said. "I've ordered two goomba guards to show you the way to a warp pipe. The pipe will take you back to the Lizard's Tail." said Bowser. "From there you can get in your truck and drive back to the Mushroom Kingdom." "Yeah, it was nice seeing you, but Lord Bowser needs some rest, so please leave." said Kamek impatiently, not taking his eyes off what he was reading in his newspaper. "Yes. Show these two plumbers to the warp pipe." Bowser ordered to a couple goomba guards to his left. "Yes sir." the goombas replied, leading the Mario Brothers away from the throne. "Okiedokie, well, bye." said Mario, following the goombas. Luigi began to follow too. However, he turned back to ask Bowser one last thing before he and Mario departed for the pipe. "So, what are you going to do, now that the castle is back to normal again?" "Me? I'm going to relax." said Bowser, yawning. "Okay, well bye." said Luigi, running to catch up with the goombas, who were almost to the door. "Bye." Bowser replied sleepily. Mario, Luigi, and the two goomba gaurds walked through a door in the throne room, and headed to the warp pipe that would take them back to the bar. Bowser watched them leave happily, and soon after they had left, he relaxed in his throne, and, with a growl of comfortable content, drifted off to an easy sleep. ------------------------------------------- Copyright Pending -----------------------------------------