Bowser's Apprentice
The Darklands was under heavy rebuilding since its last invasion by the Mario Brothers. The villages that were under the Koopa Empire's domain were still being rebuilt. Bowser's castle itself needed few repairs due to it taking not as much damage, but the psychological effects of the guards there were more damaged. Slowly, but surely, they were recovering and they wanted revenge for their foiled attempt to take over the Mushroom Kingdom and Sarasaland. Ever since that fateful day of the invasion, there had been new technological advancements in the Koopa Empire's weaponry. Whether it would be effective against the Mario Brothers would be a test of its own, but the Koopa troops were confident that it would work, motivated by the need for avenging their fallen brethren in battle. However, none had the desire for revenge more than their leader, King Bowser.
Ever since that battle, he had been resting and healing from the scars both mentally and physically suffered from his humiliating defeat. The first, second, and third degree burns were prevalent at first, but started to finish as time had passed. The nightmares he had suffered of the brothers beating him over and over again subsided with time as well. He was a shell of himself literally for a while. But now, he was ready to plan his revenge against the Mario Brothers and finished what he started. Bowser had started dabbling in research into some of the Mushroom Kingdom's secrets including what he considered to be the most important ingredient to his revenge, the Power Stars. He had studied their secrets, learning of their abilities to make someone more powerful than what they had hoped to become and when all one hundred twenty stars are collected, he could become almost godlike in power, being invulnerable to destruction. But, he had to start small and plan in small steps. "That was my downfall," Bowser thought slowly clenching his fists as he was not fully recovered from his last defeat. "I let the plan become too big for me to handle. I've got to take this slow. Only then will I have my revenge on those plumbers."
Over the course of the few months after the invasion, Bowser did research on the Mario Brothers. He knew of where they came from, their names, and occupations and all of the relevant background information he needed to know. He also knew of the affections the Mario Brothers had towards the princesses, something he could use to further advance his plans if he needed to. He had also sent scout Koopas over the past few months to also gather information on the castle itself, as he needed his plan to concentrate only in the Mushroom Kingdom, and not lead another invasion back in the Darklands. "It's too risky," Bowser thought concentrating hard on his upcoming plan. "If Mario and Luigi decided to come back again for another invasion, my empire would be lost."
Bowser had also begun practicing magic in order to better his abilities. He was only a novice so far, learning the art of disguise as it was the core part of his master plan to take control of the Kingdom. The reason why was ambiguous as he never did share this fact to this troops, who just assumed he was always bedridden. Bowser had only wanted to seem weak to his troops to motivate and inspire them to want to exact revenge on the Mario Brothers for their supposed part in weakening their leader.
"Master," called one of the Koopa troops nervously approaching Bowser in his bedroom. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine, I think it's time we call a meeting. Find all of the Koopa officers and tell them to go to the throne room. I have one more thing that must be done before our plan can be put into effect." Bowser commanded, slowly getting up from his bed as he made his way towards his throne room. The throne room was fully repaired after it was disheveled due to the battle that took place there only a few months ago. The throne chair was fully repaired; the lava pit was covered up again with a new floor. Bowser slowly sat down in his throne chair, emitting low groans and moans of pain from the burns suffered from the lava pit. The Koopa officers slowly made their way, making a line of 10 of the best Koopa officers Bowser had mustered, all bowing down to them with absolute loyalty.
"Milord," said one of the Koopa officers, still in a kneeled position. "Why have you called us your benevolence?"
"I have an important mission that you must accomplish before we can execute our invasion of the Mushroom Kingdom." Bowser replied, his fingers on his left hand tapping on the left armrest on his chair. "I've been thinking about it for quite some time. I believe that in order to beat the Mario Brothers, we need to fight fire with fire. Bring something from their world to use against them."
"What are you suggesting milord?" asked another Koopa officer, who was also in a kneeled position.
"I am suggesting bringing someone from Mario and Luigi's world and train him or her to become my apprentice. " Bowser replied with a small grin on his face. "It would be perfect as most of these humans probably have more talent and skill than those plumbers."
"It would take convincing for one of their own to fight against one of their known for an unknown cause." Said another one of the Koopa officers, causing Bowser to glare towards him, which made the Koopa afraid. "B-but s-surely you milord can convince him to fight for us."
"Don't worry about the convincing part," Bowser said in a confident voice. "Leave that part to me. Now go find him!" The Koopa officers dispersed, entering a warp pipe to the real world that was found in the Darklands a month ago after careful exploration of the area. "Curiosity will lead that human to me," Bowser thought having his grin becoming a little wilder. "All I need is patience." So Bowser waited at his throne room, waiting for his potential new apprentice to be delivered to him by the Koopa troops.