CHAPTER 1: Deceived

Scott, Karma, and Douglas flew south in the hot-air balloon through the sun-bright air above a flawless blue sea.

"We should be arriving at our destination shortly," Scott said.

Karma was enjoying the ride, but inside she was worried. There was no Koopa Kingdom lottery as far as she knew, and she never heard of any Scott Charles Tut, first or seventy-sixth or anywhere in between.

"We're here," Douglas said, "Take a look."

Karma peered over the edge of the basket and saw a welcome sight.

"That's Dinosaur Land!" she cried.

"Exacti-cally!" Scott said, "We'll drop you off at Cookie Mountain."

Karma was delighted. Cookie Mountain was where her tribe lived… as well as her parents. She hadn't seen them in a long time.

Scott and Douglas lowered the balloon level with the mountain's flat top, where another Lakitu was waiting. This one had a green shell, shades, and a green tuft of hair on his head.

"Welcome to Cookie Mountain," the Lakitu said, helping Karma, "The name's Spike."

"Hello, Spike," Karma replied. Spike got in the basket with Scott and Douglas.

Karma peered over the plain before her. There were several rocks and scattered vegetation. She also saw a dot on the horizon, which could only be the Yoshi village.

"Say, thank-" she said as she turned back toward the balloon, but stopped as she saw the basket, which had moved from the cliff and was hovering farther then she could jump. Inside the basket, the three Lakitus were snickering.

"Hey, I'm going to need that balloon to get back to the castle!" Karma cried to them.

"Well," Scott said, "there's one tiny itsy-bitsy little detail involved in this trip we forgot to mention."

"What?"

Douglas gave an evil laugh before transforming into a very familiar figure.

"It only goes one way!" Doopliss cried.

"Doopliss!" Karma cried, "What are you doing here?"

"Have you forgotten already?" Doopliss teased, "I'm a Game Over Commando."

"I know that! But where's Yosie?"

"Right here!" Scott cried.

"But you're a Lakitu! Yosie's a human!"

"Not anymore, I'm not! Scott Charles Tut abbreviated is SCT. The real name: supercomputer2, and then the seventy-six to 76. In all… supercomputer276!"

Doopliss spoke next. "Douglas Gaston. D. G. Duplighost!"

"Then who are you?" Karma asked Spike.

"Nothing more then the fifth G. O. Commando!" Spike replied, "Real name's Lakilester, but I like Spike. I joined the Game Over after I found its leader had decided to become a Lakitu."

Karma tried to flaw the three's reasoning. After all, one little detail made Yosie's whole plan fall apart last time. "How could you become a Lakitu, Yosie? The only way a human can turn into a Koopa-"

"-is by Kamek's wand. I know. I know. Why do you think it disappeared for a day?"

"What?!"

"It took that long for my computer to copy and transfer all that data from that wand to my own." To further press his point, he pulled out the G. O. Wand. It was like any other wand, except its point was split into four colors: white, black, orange, and purple. "Once that was done, I returned it and used the data to alter my DNA into that of a Lakitu. I'll admit, it was not a comfortable process. I also applied a few of my wand's elemental energies to my cloud, which was a product of a split of Spike's cloud. I just used a bit of magic and BAM! When I transformed, it became my cloud."

"But… but that's…"

"Improbable and illogical?" Yosie answered, "Yes, but you know what I'm capable of."

Karma started to drop her head.

"Yes," she slowly and sadly replied, "I do."

"Now I bet your wondering what I'm doing here. I'll admit it now." He looked back and forth to make sure all four of them were alone. "I have a morbid fear of death."

"Everyone has that."

"Yeah, but not in my way. I became a Lakitu to lengthen my life span, but it's not enough. I had to find a way to make myself live forever. As an unrecognized Lakitu, I leafed through several magic books in libraries all over the kingdom. Finally, I found the article I wanted: a combination of magical objects that could make a Koopa that bathed in it immortal, but it required too much electricity then a wand could make and thus was deemed impossible."

I have a feeling I know what's coming next, Karma thought.

"As you might expect," Yosie continued, "I've developed a machine that will do the job just fine: take the items and use electricity to make the formula to eternity!"

"You're insane!" Karma yelled.

"Thank you," Yosie replied, "By the way and FYI, my offer as a Commando from last time still stands."

"I still don't want to join you! You said you never lost, and yet last time we met you did!"

"That was not a loss! Only a minor setback. OK, mayor. I lost my flagship and some of my reputation, but since my computer-generated army had no where else to go, my offensive has not crippled in the slightest. I've been looking to add Yoshis to my squads because of their multiple attacks and high stamina, and guess who I want to lead them?"

"I have a guess… me."

"Correct! Now, I'm offering you a job and I'll show you just how good a boss I am."

"How?" Karma asked in a sarcastic tone.

"Hey, I brought you to Dinosaur Land, right next to your tribe. And this is just the beginning, as my Commandos get bonuses year round. You just didn't see it because our previous engagement didn't last more then a day."

Karma was weighing the scales. While she knew these guys wanted to conquer the multiverse, Bowser and the Koopalings didn't exactly let her have shore leave back home.

"Give me some time to think about it." She said this with pure honesty.

"Fair enough," Yosie said. "We'll be back soon. And with that… BAM! We're gone!" A wave of the G. O. Wand and the balloon and its passengers disappeared.

Karma turned around and ran toward the dot on the horizon. To be perfectly honest, she was glad to be home.