DISCLAIMER: I don't own any races or places, nor do I own Bowser, the Magikoopas, Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, or anyone/thing that has appeared in a Mario game. I own all of the characters and places made up for this fic, as long as the fic itself, don't use without my permission (which I'll probably give gladly)
Anyway, now that that junk is over with, here's the story:
PLEASE R&R it REALLY helps me to carry on writing!
***********************************************************************
A chilly breeze swept through the castle, which had been built in a traditional style, and therefore had no heating (except the lakes of lava, and they were nearer the main entrance) or electric lighting. Mason reflected on this briefly as he stood in the corridor, but was soon brought back to more pressing matters of his job when two armoured guard koopas walked past, dragging a terrified looking Toad with them. Both of them ignored him, as anybody living or working in the castle had quickly learnt to do, but the Toad gave him a short glance. He waited until they had gone a few paces past him then began following behind them. His job consisted of being at the right place when he was needed, after all, and he had developed an almost extra-sensory awareness of when a message would need to be delivered, or something fetched, or any other of the menial but seemingly vital tasks that he had to perform. Besides, the Toad was being taken right to the Throne room, and Bowser didn't interrogate prisinors himself unless it was important. It was hard to judge the Toad's age, but he seemed to only be around 25, perhaps 30.
At that point the three entered the Throne room, and Mason quickly slipped in behind, then walked over near the throne and stood woodenly, waiting for some command to be issued to him. It was a grand room, indeed. From the large door, a thick, plushy red carpet led up to a huge golden throne, flanked on each side by statues of Magikoopers, generals, heroes, and of course Bowser himself. The throne was highly decorated, it's golden curves and designs pocked with rubies and sapphires. Styalised hands with diamond claws rose from either side of the throne's back, looking like they were about to cast some spell on the seat. The overall effect was both grand and gothic, and looked terribly expensive. The Koopa sitting on it radiated power and ferocisty, his huge spiked shell calling into mind an image of a giant morningstar. His full gaze was fixed on the Toad, who looked so small and weak in comparison. He must have felt it, too, Mason thought, as he looked as if he were about to cry.
The two guard released him, turned around stiffly, and paced to the door, in perfect syncronisation. When they reached it, the turned around again and faced the room, their eyes fixed straight ahead on the wall.
There was silence as Bowser regarded the terrified Toad, no doubt the pause was to instill as much fear as possible into him. Mason reflected that it seemed to be a waste of time.
Finally, Bowser spoke:
"You are V. John."
There was no question in his voice, but he seemed to be waiting for a reply, so the Toad quietly answered "Yes".
"And you were captured from a town near here." Another pause, but before he had a chance to answer, Bowser continued "And you were one of the group working on a new weapon, to be used against the koopa army?" That was definately a question.
"No. No, there was no weapon. We hadn't-"
Bowser cut him off "But you had developed, or were developing, a substance that would be lethal to Koopas."
"We didn't make that! Some of the peaceful Koopas had died, we were trying to find what caused it."
An expression of disgust had crossed Bowser's face at the mention of the 'peacful Koopas' and now his voice was even more raised. "Some of our Koopas raided one of your labs" he put almost sarcastic emphasis on the word 'our' "We found papers that directly contradicted that. They suggested that the use of this substance could harm all Koopas, and that you were going to try to make a weapon from it."
"I simply do research!" John snapped, then looked shocked at himself "I- I mean I have nothing to do with what happens after my findings. The Royal Guard would have decided that. But I'm sure no such weapon would have been created. You know how much hate there is for the peaceful Koopas from Toads today. Many of us haven't really, well, gotten used to the idea yet. The Palace would never order the creation of such a weapon for fear that it would fall into the wrong hands and be used on some innocent Koopas." John had obviously gotten his voice back.
Bowser gave a derisive snort. "You really think that I will take your word that a substance potentially highly lethal to us won't be used against us by our enemy? Pathetic. You will tell me what this substance is, and how we can protect ourselves."
"I- I can't" John's voice was small again. "It's top secret. And besides, we haven't worked out a way to defend against it yet, that's what we were doing when your thugs destroyed our-"
"You can give us what you already know. My scientists will finish your work."
"I've already told you that I can't."
"Very well. Guards!" The heads of both guards snapped up, almost comically. "Take this guard back to his cell for interrogation."
"'Sir" the on on the left said, as they began walking towards the Toad. They grabbed him roughly, and dragged him out, passing a glance over the top of his head. Mason guessed that within ten minutes every Koopa in the palace would know of the conversation that had just taken place, or at least some warped version of it.
Mason remained in the room, for a few moments, anticipating the moment when Bowser would call-
"Mason!"
"Sir?"
"Fetch Kamek here immediately. If he's busy, fetch him anyway, it's very important."
Mason nodded, glad to be able to leave the room. Bowser had seemed unusually pensive after the prisinor had left, and Mason suspected that something was wrong. He hurried off to the Order's area.
***********************************************************************
It was some time ago that the Magikoopas had come up with the grandiose name 'The Order of the Shell', and they were still usually only called that officially, in everyday speech called 'the Magikoopas'. Led by Kamek, they spent their days in their area of the castle, mainly researching. A suprising amount of activities fell under "researching", from plowing through old texts to try to weave together some new spell, or a variation of an old one, to scientific studies, to coming up with new tactics for the army. Although the latter is traditionally the job of generals, the plans and ideas usually bubble up from the Order's section, and are then trimmed and editted by the generals before finally being offered to Bowser. Although the majority of the work done by the Order was magical, they had long ago stopped working on magic alone, and a Magikoopa was the preffered job for any academic Koopa. Not only were they respected, they had much less dangerous jobs than the average soldier, and were better paid for their services. They also had the novelty of practicing magic, although from what Mason had heard, this was a novelty that soon wore off. Kamek himself served as a personal adviser to Bowser, which in reality meant that Bowser shared his problems with him, and then had solutions returned to him soon afterwards.
The Order's headquaters were magnificent. The air crackled with occult energies, the walls emitted a faint but wonderful pink glow. In the center were two spikes, one reaching down from the very high ceiling, the other climbing up from the floor directly below it. In between them was a huge crystal, apparently floating but kept in place by the spikes' powers. The crystal was impossible to see, though, because it was bathed in blue-white electricity, which seemed to be passing between the spikes and the crystal, although it was impossible to tell whether the crystal was creating the energy or absorbing it. It didn't matter how many times Mason saw this, he was awestruck each time. The door he had gone through opened out onto a small platform with a rail, which looked over the huge room. There were stairs going down from this platform to the floor, which he now took. Koopas in their black, velvet cloaks which shimmered blue hurried around, seeming to shuffle. Mason estimated that about a thrid of them were carrying old, leather-bound tomes. In one corner, a few younger-looking members of the Order were hurling balls of energy or fire at dummies, and near to them a couple of neophytes were taking turns blocking each other's stunning spells (Mason had come to learn these spells well, as he was one of the very few Koopas who mixed with Magikoopas and Troopers alike due to his job, and he had become friends with a Magikoopa called Marten)
He found Kamek talking to Lemmy, and waited next to them in silence for their conversation to finish. One of the things he liked best about his job was his ability to eavesdrop without anybody getting angry.
"-you kidding?" Lemmy was saying, his arms crossed and a sarcastic smile on his reptillion face. "You think I'd tell Dad? He'd just look at me like I was some kinda bug then tell me to get on with something useful."
"But surely if we were to implement it, he'd have to know." Kamek replied, but Mason could see on his face that really he agreed with Lemmy.
"Well, sure, eventually, but I'd like the backing of a couple o' generals when I do, and your support would help to. If I say it's just my idea he'll assume it's crap." He paused, then added, as if it were an afterthought "Don't know what the hell's wrong with him, why does he assume everything we say is wrong."
"Okay, okay, I'll talk to the generals about it, but I can't guarentee anything."
"Aw, thanks Kamek, that'll really be a help." He turned to go, and then saw Mason. "Oh, Mason! Could you go ask Iggy for the shoes. He'll know what I mean." Mason nodded. "See ya Kamek!" and with that Lemmy began the walk to the exit, watching the hypnotic dance of the elcetricity over the crystal.
"Kamek, sir," Mason began, turning to Kamek. The Magikoopa wore robes slightly different from the other's. His were the same black, but shimmered crimson instead of blue, and a golden shell was embroided on the back, along with some intricate, wonderful patterns that climbed up the arms. "Bowser wants to see you. He says that it is very important, and asks you to come immediately, even if busy."
Kamek sighed. "Always busy," he murmered "Always busy. Okay," he turned to face Mason fully for the first time "I shall see him." He punctuated this with a nod. Looking at his face, Mason saw how weary he looked, and that made him think of his own sleepless job. When had he last slept? Really slept, and not just taken a half hour nap? A command over his sleep was the only real qualification that he needed for the job, he supposed, as he could fall asleep in under a minute, and usually could hold tiredness back until he was on the verge of passing out. He doubted that Kamek was blessed with such ability. His eyes, with their red glow, were half closed, and his forehead was creased in a frown. His skin was unusually marked for a Koopa's, and Mason supposed that this was from a mixture of age and the magic that danced through the air around Kamek constantly. The crystal itself was not the only source of magic in the room, for a Magikoopa is said to act like a focus point through which magic enters the world, and this is especially so with one more powerful. The lessens, and sometimes eliminates, the need to draw in magic from the air to form into a spell, as a powerful Magikoopa can us the magic already flowing through himself. Mason had picked all of this information up second hand, again from Marten.
Kamek held his right hand out a few inches in front of his face, pointed inwards and cupped, as if he were trying to read something from his palm. A silver spark jumped from it to Kamek, and suddenly he was gone, causing Mason to jump back in surprise (he had seen this before, but never so close or sudden), and leaving nothing behind but a little smoke and a soft pop as air rushed in the fill the space that he had left.
Mason paused for a few moments, gazing at the awesome crystal, then hurried off to see Iggy.
***********************************************************************
Okay, I wrote all that then realised that a pitifully small amount of stuff has actually happened. Sorry! More soon! Again, please R&R with insane praise and/or constructive critisism (and yes, I already know that I often end up with stupidly long sentences with about 10 clauses)
EXTRA NOTE: I wrote this from 12:30 AM to 2:00 AM... just thought you'd like to know.. or something.
"Perhaps someday we could make language a direct impediment to understanding"
-- Calvin
Anyway, now that that junk is over with, here's the story:
PLEASE R&R it REALLY helps me to carry on writing!
***********************************************************************
A chilly breeze swept through the castle, which had been built in a traditional style, and therefore had no heating (except the lakes of lava, and they were nearer the main entrance) or electric lighting. Mason reflected on this briefly as he stood in the corridor, but was soon brought back to more pressing matters of his job when two armoured guard koopas walked past, dragging a terrified looking Toad with them. Both of them ignored him, as anybody living or working in the castle had quickly learnt to do, but the Toad gave him a short glance. He waited until they had gone a few paces past him then began following behind them. His job consisted of being at the right place when he was needed, after all, and he had developed an almost extra-sensory awareness of when a message would need to be delivered, or something fetched, or any other of the menial but seemingly vital tasks that he had to perform. Besides, the Toad was being taken right to the Throne room, and Bowser didn't interrogate prisinors himself unless it was important. It was hard to judge the Toad's age, but he seemed to only be around 25, perhaps 30.
At that point the three entered the Throne room, and Mason quickly slipped in behind, then walked over near the throne and stood woodenly, waiting for some command to be issued to him. It was a grand room, indeed. From the large door, a thick, plushy red carpet led up to a huge golden throne, flanked on each side by statues of Magikoopers, generals, heroes, and of course Bowser himself. The throne was highly decorated, it's golden curves and designs pocked with rubies and sapphires. Styalised hands with diamond claws rose from either side of the throne's back, looking like they were about to cast some spell on the seat. The overall effect was both grand and gothic, and looked terribly expensive. The Koopa sitting on it radiated power and ferocisty, his huge spiked shell calling into mind an image of a giant morningstar. His full gaze was fixed on the Toad, who looked so small and weak in comparison. He must have felt it, too, Mason thought, as he looked as if he were about to cry.
The two guard released him, turned around stiffly, and paced to the door, in perfect syncronisation. When they reached it, the turned around again and faced the room, their eyes fixed straight ahead on the wall.
There was silence as Bowser regarded the terrified Toad, no doubt the pause was to instill as much fear as possible into him. Mason reflected that it seemed to be a waste of time.
Finally, Bowser spoke:
"You are V. John."
There was no question in his voice, but he seemed to be waiting for a reply, so the Toad quietly answered "Yes".
"And you were captured from a town near here." Another pause, but before he had a chance to answer, Bowser continued "And you were one of the group working on a new weapon, to be used against the koopa army?" That was definately a question.
"No. No, there was no weapon. We hadn't-"
Bowser cut him off "But you had developed, or were developing, a substance that would be lethal to Koopas."
"We didn't make that! Some of the peaceful Koopas had died, we were trying to find what caused it."
An expression of disgust had crossed Bowser's face at the mention of the 'peacful Koopas' and now his voice was even more raised. "Some of our Koopas raided one of your labs" he put almost sarcastic emphasis on the word 'our' "We found papers that directly contradicted that. They suggested that the use of this substance could harm all Koopas, and that you were going to try to make a weapon from it."
"I simply do research!" John snapped, then looked shocked at himself "I- I mean I have nothing to do with what happens after my findings. The Royal Guard would have decided that. But I'm sure no such weapon would have been created. You know how much hate there is for the peaceful Koopas from Toads today. Many of us haven't really, well, gotten used to the idea yet. The Palace would never order the creation of such a weapon for fear that it would fall into the wrong hands and be used on some innocent Koopas." John had obviously gotten his voice back.
Bowser gave a derisive snort. "You really think that I will take your word that a substance potentially highly lethal to us won't be used against us by our enemy? Pathetic. You will tell me what this substance is, and how we can protect ourselves."
"I- I can't" John's voice was small again. "It's top secret. And besides, we haven't worked out a way to defend against it yet, that's what we were doing when your thugs destroyed our-"
"You can give us what you already know. My scientists will finish your work."
"I've already told you that I can't."
"Very well. Guards!" The heads of both guards snapped up, almost comically. "Take this guard back to his cell for interrogation."
"'Sir" the on on the left said, as they began walking towards the Toad. They grabbed him roughly, and dragged him out, passing a glance over the top of his head. Mason guessed that within ten minutes every Koopa in the palace would know of the conversation that had just taken place, or at least some warped version of it.
Mason remained in the room, for a few moments, anticipating the moment when Bowser would call-
"Mason!"
"Sir?"
"Fetch Kamek here immediately. If he's busy, fetch him anyway, it's very important."
Mason nodded, glad to be able to leave the room. Bowser had seemed unusually pensive after the prisinor had left, and Mason suspected that something was wrong. He hurried off to the Order's area.
***********************************************************************
It was some time ago that the Magikoopas had come up with the grandiose name 'The Order of the Shell', and they were still usually only called that officially, in everyday speech called 'the Magikoopas'. Led by Kamek, they spent their days in their area of the castle, mainly researching. A suprising amount of activities fell under "researching", from plowing through old texts to try to weave together some new spell, or a variation of an old one, to scientific studies, to coming up with new tactics for the army. Although the latter is traditionally the job of generals, the plans and ideas usually bubble up from the Order's section, and are then trimmed and editted by the generals before finally being offered to Bowser. Although the majority of the work done by the Order was magical, they had long ago stopped working on magic alone, and a Magikoopa was the preffered job for any academic Koopa. Not only were they respected, they had much less dangerous jobs than the average soldier, and were better paid for their services. They also had the novelty of practicing magic, although from what Mason had heard, this was a novelty that soon wore off. Kamek himself served as a personal adviser to Bowser, which in reality meant that Bowser shared his problems with him, and then had solutions returned to him soon afterwards.
The Order's headquaters were magnificent. The air crackled with occult energies, the walls emitted a faint but wonderful pink glow. In the center were two spikes, one reaching down from the very high ceiling, the other climbing up from the floor directly below it. In between them was a huge crystal, apparently floating but kept in place by the spikes' powers. The crystal was impossible to see, though, because it was bathed in blue-white electricity, which seemed to be passing between the spikes and the crystal, although it was impossible to tell whether the crystal was creating the energy or absorbing it. It didn't matter how many times Mason saw this, he was awestruck each time. The door he had gone through opened out onto a small platform with a rail, which looked over the huge room. There were stairs going down from this platform to the floor, which he now took. Koopas in their black, velvet cloaks which shimmered blue hurried around, seeming to shuffle. Mason estimated that about a thrid of them were carrying old, leather-bound tomes. In one corner, a few younger-looking members of the Order were hurling balls of energy or fire at dummies, and near to them a couple of neophytes were taking turns blocking each other's stunning spells (Mason had come to learn these spells well, as he was one of the very few Koopas who mixed with Magikoopas and Troopers alike due to his job, and he had become friends with a Magikoopa called Marten)
He found Kamek talking to Lemmy, and waited next to them in silence for their conversation to finish. One of the things he liked best about his job was his ability to eavesdrop without anybody getting angry.
"-you kidding?" Lemmy was saying, his arms crossed and a sarcastic smile on his reptillion face. "You think I'd tell Dad? He'd just look at me like I was some kinda bug then tell me to get on with something useful."
"But surely if we were to implement it, he'd have to know." Kamek replied, but Mason could see on his face that really he agreed with Lemmy.
"Well, sure, eventually, but I'd like the backing of a couple o' generals when I do, and your support would help to. If I say it's just my idea he'll assume it's crap." He paused, then added, as if it were an afterthought "Don't know what the hell's wrong with him, why does he assume everything we say is wrong."
"Okay, okay, I'll talk to the generals about it, but I can't guarentee anything."
"Aw, thanks Kamek, that'll really be a help." He turned to go, and then saw Mason. "Oh, Mason! Could you go ask Iggy for the shoes. He'll know what I mean." Mason nodded. "See ya Kamek!" and with that Lemmy began the walk to the exit, watching the hypnotic dance of the elcetricity over the crystal.
"Kamek, sir," Mason began, turning to Kamek. The Magikoopa wore robes slightly different from the other's. His were the same black, but shimmered crimson instead of blue, and a golden shell was embroided on the back, along with some intricate, wonderful patterns that climbed up the arms. "Bowser wants to see you. He says that it is very important, and asks you to come immediately, even if busy."
Kamek sighed. "Always busy," he murmered "Always busy. Okay," he turned to face Mason fully for the first time "I shall see him." He punctuated this with a nod. Looking at his face, Mason saw how weary he looked, and that made him think of his own sleepless job. When had he last slept? Really slept, and not just taken a half hour nap? A command over his sleep was the only real qualification that he needed for the job, he supposed, as he could fall asleep in under a minute, and usually could hold tiredness back until he was on the verge of passing out. He doubted that Kamek was blessed with such ability. His eyes, with their red glow, were half closed, and his forehead was creased in a frown. His skin was unusually marked for a Koopa's, and Mason supposed that this was from a mixture of age and the magic that danced through the air around Kamek constantly. The crystal itself was not the only source of magic in the room, for a Magikoopa is said to act like a focus point through which magic enters the world, and this is especially so with one more powerful. The lessens, and sometimes eliminates, the need to draw in magic from the air to form into a spell, as a powerful Magikoopa can us the magic already flowing through himself. Mason had picked all of this information up second hand, again from Marten.
Kamek held his right hand out a few inches in front of his face, pointed inwards and cupped, as if he were trying to read something from his palm. A silver spark jumped from it to Kamek, and suddenly he was gone, causing Mason to jump back in surprise (he had seen this before, but never so close or sudden), and leaving nothing behind but a little smoke and a soft pop as air rushed in the fill the space that he had left.
Mason paused for a few moments, gazing at the awesome crystal, then hurried off to see Iggy.
***********************************************************************
Okay, I wrote all that then realised that a pitifully small amount of stuff has actually happened. Sorry! More soon! Again, please R&R with insane praise and/or constructive critisism (and yes, I already know that I often end up with stupidly long sentences with about 10 clauses)
EXTRA NOTE: I wrote this from 12:30 AM to 2:00 AM... just thought you'd like to know.. or something.
"Perhaps someday we could make language a direct impediment to understanding"
-- Calvin