Suffer, Arc I: Heroes' Demise

Summary: Parakarry finds out just how dangerous Trowzer really is.

So Soon?

He couldn't do anything but stare. The mailman watched as the massive beast in front of him growled and kept exhaling, his breath appearing on the cool air. Parakarry took a few shorts breaths, his heart beating fast as he tried to fathom the whole situation. How did Bowser even know he was there? How did Bowser even get there? Why was this happening—Parakarry hadn't done anything wrong. He just went around Toad Town asking his friends for help, and they all rejected him. And now here he was, forced to face the sinister beast on his own, in the middle of the night. Parakarry thought about saying something—maybe he could convince Bowser to leave him alone or at least give him time to prepare. But Bowser didn't care. He growled menacingly and approached Parakarry, opening up his fingers and extending his claws. Parakarry yelped and threw himself out the way before the monster clawed his face off. He didn't have another option; he was gonna have to fight Bowser. The mailman quickly flapped his wings and flew into the air.

The paratroopa shouted and flew out the way when Bowser opened his mouth and unleashed a powerful wave of fire breath at him. Once the big beast closed his mouth, Parakarry quickly performed his Sky Dive move and planted his shoe against Bowser's face. The king of koopas snarled and shook his head, ready to attack the paratroopa before he struck again. He jumped into the air so he could perform his Bowser Bomb move; the creature made two fists as he prepared to slam onto the ground (and Parakarry) butt first. But Parakarry easily swooped out of the way and dodged the attack just as Bowser landed on the ground. Before the koopa king could stand back up, Parakarry hid in his shell and did his special Shell Shot move. He clocked Bowser right in the nose, causing the monster to shout and fall on his spiky shell. Bowser grumbled as he fell backwards; he quickly rolled around to the left and right until he turned himself over and was lying on his stomach. Bowser stood up, panting, and looked around for Parakarry. The mailman had disappeared.

"Wha…where the hell is that little cretin? OW!"

Something hard bashed into Bowser's head, nearly spinning him around. Bowser snarled with frustration and ran out into the more open area of the mountain, where he was thwacked with something hard again. Unbeknown to Bowser, Parakarry was hiding his shell and flying around crazily as he performed his Air Raid move. Bowser tried to find the annoying mailman, but everytime he caught a glimpse of his shell, Parakarry would end up ramming his shell into Bowser's nose. The giant beast grunted and shouted as he was hit with Parakarry's shell over and over again, unable to keep up with the postman each time he zoomed around. After getting hit at least ten times in a row, Bowser realized that he had enough. He let out a long, exaggerated roar of defeat and began to take a few steps backwards, as though he were ready to fall down. Parakarry stopped zooming around the area and emerged from his shell so he could see Bowser fall. The king of koopas let out an odd coughing sound before he grabbed his chest and spluttered. Then the beast spun around almost comically and fell on his shell, exhaling as he closed his eyes.

"Um…okay then…"

Bowser's defeat seemed a bit exaggerated, to say the least. It was almost as if he were trying out for a role in a play—and failing miserably. But his defeat aside, Parakarry was shocked. Bowser came out of nowhere, attacked him for no reason, and then lost to a mailman? It all seemed way too easy. Parakarry stopped flapping his wings and landed on the ground. He slowly crept towards Bowser and examined the fallen creature. His eyes were shut and his mouth was partially open, but he was still alive. Parakarry couldn't see too well using only the moonlight, but as far as he knew, it was Bowser. And yet, it couldn't be…there was no way Bowser would lose that easily.

"None of this makes sense! Why…maybe I shouldn't ask anymore. I defeated Bowser, so…I saved the day? Um…I guess I should go back and tell the princess what happened."

"What makes you think I'm Bowser?"

Parakarry shouted and jerked his head back over to who he thought was Bowser. The giant beast made a fist and punched Parakarry in the nose so hard that the mailman flipped through the air. He landed on the ground with a hard thud and shouted, stunned by the beast's powerful punch. "Bowser" rolled around on the ground until he was lying on his stomach again. He stood up very slowly and growled as he walked towards the subdued Parakarry, his large feet making small tremors in the ground. Just as Parakarry got on his feet, "Bowser" was in front of him. He grabbed Parakarry by the throat, causing the mailman to gag as he was slowly being choked. "Bowser" lifted Parakarry off the ground and grinned before he brought the mailman close to his face. Parakarry could see the creature's dark crimson eyes and smelled his foul breath as he growled at him.

"Did you really think it would be that easy?"

"Bowser" lifted Parakarry even higher into the air and made a fist with his right hand. He then proceeded to punch Parakarry in the face over and over again without mercy, watching as blood started to spew from his nose. Parakarry lost count of how many times he got punched; his vision was becoming blurry, and he was having trouble staying awake. "Bowser" snarled as he chucked Parakarry's body against one of the mountain walls. The weak paratroopa fell to the ground, coughing up blood and groaning, too weak to even stand up so he could use his wings. But "Bowser" was alive and well, and slowly approaching the innocent postman. Parakarry grunted as he slowly rolled over onto his shell, breathing heavily. He glanced over to his left and saw "Bowser" standing right beside him, still grinning widely. He chuckled for a brief moment before lifting his right foot and stomping on Parakarry's head.

And then the paratroopa blacked out.

He already knew he was in a bad situation when he woke up and could barely move. Parakarry was breathing softly and trying to move his hands, but to no avail. Someone had placed a bag over his head and covered up his vision. Even if the bag wasn't there, Parakarry's right eye was swollen and black; he was struggling to keep it open. The mailman had seen his share of horror films and suspense movies in his lifetime to know that he had been captured. And considering the last person he saw, he could only guess that Bowser—or whoever the look-alike was—was the culprit. The paratroopa tried to move his hands again, but nothing worked. Frustrated, Parakarry stopped trying and huffed. The bad guy obviously wouldn't be stupid enough to capture him and then allow him to use his hands freely. The paratroopa was just about to ask something when someone snatched the sack off his head. Parakarry grunted and shut his eyes, blinded by the sudden light in the room. The mailman took a few deep breaths before he opened his eyes again very slowly.

"I suppose you were expecting that fight to go down differently, hmm?"

Parakarry took a few more deep breaths and looked down. He was sitting in a standard wooden chair, but his arms were tied against the chair arms and his legs were tied against the front legs of the chair. The paratroopa looked up and saw two different koopas standing in the distance near the exit. One was a Fire Bro. wearing an eye patch and the other was a dark koopatrol with menacing red eyes and an emotionless look on his face. The paratroopa looked around the room he was in, noticing that he was in some sort of empty, large chamber. Hardly anything was inside besides chains, a couple chairs, and a metal table that had several diabolical-looking instruments on it. Parakarry could tell exactly where this was going and feared that he was trapped in the movie Hostel.

"What…what the hell is this place?"

"Wow. You've just been captured by a maniacal genius and all you care about is where you are?"

"Bowser," who was standing behind Parakarry (and who just pulled off Parakarry's sack) slowly walked in front of the paratroopa, revealing his giant form to the mailman. Parakarry stopped breathing so heavily and blinked as he looked up at the monster. He thought he was looking at Bowser, but he wasn't. This beast had dark yellow hair and his shell was blue, not green. Not only that but his scales weren't the right color; they looked greyish and partially dark green, not yellow like Bowser's normal scale-color. The beast wagged his tail as he continued to look down at the mailman.

"Surely you're a bit more concerned about the chair you're tied in?"

Parakarry blinked. "Who are you?"

The blue-shelled beast snickered. "I'm Trowzer! King Trowzer, that is!"

Parakarry blinked as he stared up at the grinning pale-skinned monster, wondering if he was being serious or not.

"…You're Trowzer?"

"King Trowzer. And yes, that's me!"

"Well this is…I just pictured you differently, that's all."

"What, you mean frothing at the mouth and screaming at everybody?" Trowzer chuckled. "No, no, I'm not as angry as my half-brother used to be."

Parakarry saw the Fire Bro. standing near the door turn away, as though he knew that Trowzer was lying about his rage issues. Trowzer backed away from Parakarry before he started to pace to his left and right.

"I'm different from your ordinary villain, Parakarry. I'm different from my late half-brother; I'm better than he was. I'm better than all of his annoying little children. And I'm better than you and Mario and all the other 'glorious' heroes who've ever ventured around this kingdom."

"Why did you say 'late' half-brother? Peach told me about you already; she said that you're Bowser's brother. Does that mean—"

"That I killed him? Hehehe, of course it does! Shot him right in the head after a long and arduous fight! And then I tossed his body right out this very castle and watched as it plummeted into the fiery lava river below! It's a shame you weren't there; I think you would've been quite impressed over my skills."

Parakarry stared at Trowzer with wide eyes, watching as the maniacal beast grinned at him. After a brief moment, the mailman huffed and shook his head.

"You're lying. I don't like Bowser, but…that's just not possible. You can't kill someone like Bowser. He's survived dozens and dozens of beat downs from Mario and fell into lava too many times to count! How do you expect me to sit here and believe that you killed off one of the most iconic villains in the history of Mushroom Kingdom?!"

Trowzer blinked. "You're in denial. I can understand that. But like I said: I shot him in the head. It's a bit difficult to survive that. Sooner or later, you and everyone else just need to accept the fact that I beat him. I wouldn't be in his castle—my castle now—if I hadn't."

Parakarry huffed and closed his eyes. This guy can't be serious, he thought. He's just a cardboard cutout of Bowser painted differently; there's no way someone like this guy could've killed someone like Bowser. The paratroopa opened his eyes and sighed, still feeling a bit sore in the face. He figured he had more important things to worry about and decided to ask a more obvious question.

"Why am I here? How'd you beat me so easily back on Mt. Rugged? How'd you even find me?"

Trowzer laughed evilly before he grabbed a wooden chair and positioned it in front of Parakarry. He turned the chair around before sitting down in the backwards facing chair and staring at the paratroopa, still smirking.

"I just felt like talking to someone."

"So you beat me up, captured me, and then dragged me all the way to Bowser's castle?"

"My castle, Parakarry—remember that. And yes. Is it not simple?"

"…There's gotta be another reason; you…this is just too weird. Don't you plan on torturing me or-or something?"

"You sound like you want me to torture you."

"…Nevermind then."

"As for Mt. Rugged, well, I had someone in Toad Town following you, telling me all about your whereabouts. My contact told me about how depressed you seemed after leaving Flower Fields. What happened down there?"

Parakarry looked down. "I don't wanna talk about it."

Trowzer shrugged. "Why not?"

"I'm just…"

Trowzer looked around the chamber, surprised at how empty it was. "Oh, where are your friends? That goomba with the blue hat, the pink bob-omb, the koopa with the blue shell—why aren't they with you?"

Parakarry sighed. "They were all too busy. I don't even know where Kooper is. I told them all about you and that Mushroom Kingdom's in danger, but none of them cared. I left Flower Fields feeling upset because Lakilester wouldn't come with me to help find the Mario Bros."

"Oh. Well, that's a shame. You asked for help from your friends when you needed them most, and they all shooed you away."

"Basically…"

"Except you don't have any friends, Parakarry. You never did. No one cares about you. You fly around and deliver mail. You live alone. You have no one in your life. You're no hero, Parakarry. You're just a postman with wings. That's all you'll ever be."

"Shut up," Parakarry snapped. "My friends might not have backed me up when I asked for their help…but they care about me and what I do. And I am a hero. I was there when Mario was on his quest to save the Star Spirits; I helped him on his journey. I don't care what you say about my friends or my job or how I live, but don't you dare say I'm no hero."

"What makes a hero, Parakarry? What makes a villain? Is it the paths we take, the actions we perform? Or maybe it's the way we dress, the way we look, the way we smell? How can you sit there and possibly know that you're a hero, that the Mario Bros. are heroes, that anyone's a hero, for that matter?"

"Because I help people! I don't run around plaguing the world in misery and chaos!"

"Have you ever found spare coins lying on the ground?"

"Wha…yes."

"Did you donate them to charity? Did you try to find the owner of those coins?"

"No."

"Hmm," said Trowzer, nodding. "So you just saw some coins lying on the ground and picked them up. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's stealing, isn't it?"

"Well…technically—"

"There is no 'technically,' Parakarry. When you and Mario were running around saving Star Spirits, you were also mindlessly picking up coins and spending them on yourselves. Not only is that stealing, but that's just downright selfish. And stealing is bad, as the law keeps telling us. Heroes don't steal. Heroes don't break the law. So how are you and Mario heroes?"

Parakarry blinked and lowered his head. "…That's not fair. You're only looking at the negative; don't you care—"

"When you were on Mt. Rugged, did you run into any aggressive creatures? Like Monty moles or clefts?"

The paratroopa huffed. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Did you or didn't you?"

"Yes, a cleft."

"What did you do to it?"

"I fought it off and knocked it off a mountain."

"Was it doing anything to you before you fought it?"

"It was trying to attack me! What, are you saying I run around killing innocent animals too? That cleft was hostile!"

"And what was the cleft doing before it attacked you? If I remember right, clefts just lie around and do nothing but look like rocks."

"I-I thought it was a rock…but after I sat on it—"

"Ah! You see?! You were disturbing its territory! Of course it attacked you, Parakarry! That cleft was no different than a bear protecting her cubs or wolves protecting their den! It was probably scared, frightened by your presence! …And you killed it."

"…It was in my way."

"So if I'm sitting on a plane trying to go to the bathroom and a fat person is blocking my path, I should kill him, right?"

"Wh—that doesn't make any sense!"

"Yes it does. I need to urinate. There's a heavyset guy in my way. So I should kill him and knock his corpse out the way, yes? Just like you did with the cleft."

"That's different! Clefts are dangerous; all they ever do is attack wandering adventurers!"

"And fat people are busy stuffing their faces, refusing to donate their food to poor countries around the world. They piss away all their money on food they don't need; they're subconsciously killing themselves, Parakarry. By me killing the guy blocking my way, I'm ending his suffering. He won't grow old and have a heart attack from stuffing his face with too many greasy, fat-enriched foods."

Parakarry and Trowzer stared at each other for a moment, and then Trowzer frowned. "You see how easy that is? You see how quickly someone can make a bullshit argument sound logical when they grasp for straws the way I just did? I'm sure if I tried hard enough, I could convince you that babies need to be slaughtered. If a cleft is hostile and in your way, then go around it and don't bother it. As for me, if a fat person was blocking my path to the bathroom, I would kindly ask him to move out the way so I can pass him. There's no need to resort to killing, Parakarry. In both of our situations, not just mine."

Parakarry closed his eyes and shook his head slowly. "None of this is fair," he murmured.

"Like I said, Parakarry, you're no hero. All you heroes see everything in black and white, yet you fail to acknowledge all the gray things you do. You think that all the good things you accomplish will make everyone ignore or forget about the morally wrong or controversial actions you perform. That's why you and Mario can't be heroes. You're both gray, not white."

Parakarry stared at Trowzer's smug grin and started to get frustrated. He was finally beginning to understand why he had been captured.

"You didn't capture me just to talk, did you? You brought me here so you could gloat. All you've been doing so far is chastising me and talking about how 'special' you are. Well, you know what? Let's look at you for a change. I think you're a narcissist who cares more about his pride and being smart. It clouds your judgment and logic. Don't you see the irony in who you are? You say you've killed Bowser and you're better than him, yet you look just like him. The only difference as far as I can tell is your smug attitude and a change in color—you look like a palette change from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, if we're being honest here."

Trowzer flared his nostrils, but he still kept grinning. "Is that all?"

"No, it's not! You exaggerate too much and don't look at the situation for what it is! Fighting a cleft in self-defense makes me a bad person? If that were the case, then all meat-eaters are bad people. They-they're consuming flesh of an animal that was once living and converting it all into fecal matter. And what about vegetarians? They're consuming beautiful plants, some of which help the environment. Are they bad people too? The way you counter arguments is so ridiculous that anyone could counter your counter the exact same way and it would still make sense. You know what I think?"

"What?"

"I think you just need attention. I-I think you were jealous of your brother, so you killed him—which I still don't fully believe—and then took over his castle just so you can tell the world, 'Hey guys! I did something cool today!' You keep saying that I'm not a hero? Well, guess what? You're no villain. You aren't now, and you never will be. All you are is a smug schoolyard bully who thinks words are his best weapon. All you've done so far is beat me up and then bore me to tears with your incessant jabbering. You're nothing more than some second-rate copy of Bowser who does nothing but brag and is in serious need of breath mints."

Trowzer didn't say anything for a very long time. He flared his nostrils a few times and took several deep breaths. His right eye even twitched a few times, as though the beast was forcing himself to keep his cool. He could see a small smirk appearing on Parakarry's face and decided that he wouldn't give in. So Trowzer sighed heavily and shut his eyes, nodding.

"You're right. I suppose that sometimes my arguing gets a little carried away. And yes, sometimes I talk a helluva lot more than I need to. I do brag a lot, I do enjoy my pride, I know that I look very similar to Bowser with a few color changes here and there, and I'm fully aware of the smell of my breath. So many people have mentioned how much my breath stinks that I'm starting to get used to it. But the one thing you said to me just now that really hit me was that I'm not a villain. Maybe I'm not as popular as Bowser, but after I'm finished burning Mushroom Kingdom to the ground, the whole world will know who I am!"

Parakarry scoffed. "You keep telling yourself that."

Trowzer chuckled. "Well, since you insist. The difference between me and Bowser and several other villains is that I'm smarter than them all. I make a Plan B, Plan C, Plan D, etc. I don't make a Plan A, and then make a recycled version of Plan A and use it again. Bowser would say, 'Hey! Let's kidnap the princess and hold her in a castle for Mario to rescue instead of just ganging up on Mario while he's sleeping!' Some cardboard cutout Redwall villain would say, 'Hey! Let's try to take over this peace-loving abbey despite the fact that dozens of warlords have tried to in the past and failed miserably!' And some villain from 24 would say, 'Hey! Let's threaten a giant city with a weapon of mass destruction and completely ignore Jack Bauer's existence! Nothing could go wrong at all!'"

Trowzer sighed and shook his head. "Uh-uh, I'm tired of all that shit. That's just not me. That's why I'm taking a different approach on things. I'm not playing by the imaginary rulebook that the universe seems to set out for villains like Bowser and Smithy and all those other people who terrorize this kingdom."

"How different? What's your dastardly plan? I'm sure someone like you is dying to tell me."

Trowzer took a deep breath and stood up from his chair. He shoved it aside before he stood in front of Parakarry, rubbing his head.

"My goodness…I've been quite the chatterbox today, haven't I?"

"Yes…so about your plan?"

Trowzer huffed. "You don't listen, do you? I just told you that I'm smarter than all the other cliché villains out there, so why would I sit here and reveal my entire plan to you? I bet you were expecting me to blab about my plan, and then get up and walk out of this chamber, weren't you? And then I'm guessing you planned on breaking out of this chair so you could escape while I was gone, weren't you?"

"…Well…"

Trowzer scoffed and shook his head. "This is what we villains are portrayed as: a bunch of fuckin' idiots who don't know when to turn on their brain."

"So…if you aren't going to leave this chamber, and you aren't going to tell me your evil plans, then what are you gonna do?"

"That's simple, Parakarry!"

Trowzer stood in front of the paratroopa and leaned down. His face was so close to the mailman's that their snouts were almost touching. He grinned widely, showing off all his serrated yellow teeth.

"I'm going to kill you!"

Parakarry would've been worried, but after hearing Trowzer talk and studying his behavior, he just blinked and scoffed.

"You're bluffing."

Trowzer snickered. "I was hoping you'd say that."

The blue-shelled behemoth turned around and walked over to the metal table with nasty instruments on it. He chuckled and growled to himself as he played around with the tools, wondering which one he should use.

"If-if you're gonna kill me, then how do you plan on doing it?"

"Easy!" said Trowzer, as he picked up a crude-looking knife. "I'm gonna take this knife here, and, uh…tell you what: since you've been so 'kind' to me, I'll just slit your throat and make it quick. Sound good?"

Parakarry started to panic when Trowzer approached him with the knife in his right hand. The paratroopa began to pant and started to tug on the ropes that were tied around his wrists. Trowzer snickered.

"You see? Any dumb villain would've tied your arms behind the chair. But I couldn't do that. If I did, then I wouldn't be able to see whether or not you were trying to escape. I needed to see your hands and feet at all times."

Parakarry started to pant louder and faster. "You…you-you can't do this! This isn't right—you can't do this now! This isn't supposed to happen this way! I was supposed to get everyone back together so we could save the Mario Bros.!"

Trowzer blinked. "Really, Parakarry? Did you really think you would be the hero of this story?"

Parakarry whimpered and shook his head. "Please…you…you can't do this."

Trowzer started to twirl his knife around as he circled Parakarry in his chair. "Terry Crowley got shot in the face in the series premiere of The Shield. The series premiere, Parakarry. Helen Flynn got her head shoved into a deep fat fryer very early on in Spooks. And Game of Thrones is still very popular even though Ned Stark got his head lopped off in the first season. …Shit. I hope I'm not spoiling anything. You've seen all these shows before, right?"

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THESE SHOWS! JUST LET ME GO!"

"…Say that again?"

Parakarry sobbed. His vision became blurry as his eyes were filled with tears. "Please…just let me go."

Trowzer growled and wagged his tail merrily. "There…that's what I wanted to hear. This is what I want to see: you here, crying and sniffling, begging for mercy you know won't come. I'm kind of surprised you haven't peed or soiled your shell yet, but I guess beggars can't be choosers."

"I know you're not gonna kill me!" sobbed Parakarry. "You could've done it back at Mt. Rugged! You could've slit my throat then when I was sleeping! Why would you take me all the way back here, talk to me like a civil person, and then kill me? What kind of a sick person does that?!"

Trowzer shrugged as he grinned. "I'm quite fascinated in pain and torture. With me, it's more about emotional and psychological torture, not just physical. The reason why I brought you here was solely so I could fill you with hope. I wanted to make you feel comfortable around me, like I could be your friend despite being evil. But I don't care about any of that. All I wanted to do was make you think you would get out of here alive, and then snatch it all away. Isn't that fun?"

Parakarry screamed horribly as he tried to jerk both arms out of his restraints. Trowzer just stood still, snickering and grinning as he watched Parakarry desperately try to get free. The paratroopa thrashed around, hoping to tip the chair over so it would break. Nothing seemed to be working.

"Don't mind me! Keep thinking that you're gonna break out of that chair!"

As if the sadist's taunts weren't bad enough, Trowzer had to go and slice through part of the ropes tied around Parakarry's right wrist. He didn't slice the ropes off completely, but he made it so Parakarry could have a slight chance at breaking through them and getting free. Parakarry knew Trowzer was cocky; now was the perfect time to get free. He started to jerk and twist his right hand around, grunting and whimpering as he tried to break through the ropes. As he struggled, Trowzer shook his head and sighed.

"It's a shame really. I was so looking forward to torturing you, or your family. Goombario has a big family; Kooper has a mother and his idol Professor Kolorado; Bombette has all her friends; Bow has her butler and several boos who worship her; Watt has a mother; Sushie is a mother; Lakilester is currently dating another lakitu, most likely married to her at this point. But you? You have no one, nothing. Just a sack full of letters and a boss at work. No one's even gonna care that I kill you. They might not even know. Chances are, you'll be quickly replaced and your name will be forgotten."

Trowzer was being full of himself again; Parakarry still had a small chance to get his wrist free. Parakarry grunted as he started rocking the chair around, hoping to tip it over. But Trowzer anticipated this, and walked forward so he could grasp the chair and stop Parakarry.

"Now just relax. It won't take long if I cut deep enough," said Trowzer, as he tapped the knife against Parakarry's leg. "You'll feel like you're drowning and you'll slowly start to get tired. Chances are you're gonna try to scream for help or break free from this chair, but after I cut you, it'll already be too late."

Parakarry whimpered as two tears fell down his face. "Please…you don't have to do this…"

Trowzer sighed as he walked behind Parakarry and got his knife ready. Parakarry continued to jerk his right wrist upwards. The fibers in the rope were breaking apart and getting thinner and thinner. He was almost there.

"I'm sorry, Parakarry. I really did want to keep you alive. There are so many devious things I could do with you…to you."

Trowzer was still running his mouth. He was letting his ego get the better of him. If Parakarry got his hand free, he could grab the knife before the blade touched his throat, snatch it away, cut his other restraints, and then kill everyone in the chamber. It was risky, and the chances of it all happening perfectly were slim, but the paratroopa didn't have any other option. He had to try something; he couldn't just sit there and die.

"Alas, I don't see the point in even torturing you. You're not some divine entity. You're not a celebrity. You don't even have a job that's out of the ordinary. You're just an average postman, Parakarry. You're just…useless."

By some miracle, the ropes broke. He was free. Trowzer made the vital error of cutting through the ropes in the first place, and now he was gonna pay for it. Parakarry didn't even get the chance to reach up before Trowzer grabbed Parakarry's head, placed the blade against his throat, and quickly ran it across his neck. Everything seemed to freeze in time. Parakarry wasn't even sure what happened. He thought he grabbed the knife, but his right hand wasn't grasping anything. Something warm and watery began to roll down his neck, getting all over his shell. Parakarry opened his mouth to speak, but all he could do was cough. The paratroopa let out a sharp gasp and looked down. A dangerous amount of crimson was getting all over his shell. He was dying. Parakarry's vision started to fade; he felt weaker, more tired. The paratroopa gasped again and coughed up some blood, unable to breathe. He let out a tiny whimper as he tried to lift his right hand, but he barely had the energy to do that anymore. All he could do was sit there and wait until everything faded away. Trowzer stepped in front of Parakarry, grinning as he watched the paratroopa bleed out.

Parakarry turned and glanced at Trowzer. Another tear rolled down his face as he opened his mouth to try and say something. But nothing would come out except a small whimper. The paratroopa blinked and looked like he was trying to grit his teeth, as though he wanted to curse Trowzer for what he had done. Parakarry felt more blood pour out his mouth. His eyelids became heavy. Everything slowly faded, and all Parakarry could see was darkness. He stopped moving and breathing, and his eyelids lowered very slowly, but were still open halfway. Trowzer wagged his tail and laughed as he saw the last inch of Parakarry's life drain away. He was dead, and Trowzer just stood there watching, taking great pleasure in seeing him die. The sadist walked over to the metal table and put the knife back down. Then he walked over to the dark koopatrol and the Fire Bro. so he could speak to them.

"Well now, did you two enjoy the show?"

The Fire Bro. blinked. "As long as you don't have another breakdown like you did with Larry, I don't mind your actions, sir."

Trowzer snickered. "Good, good! Now then, how long before we're ready to pay Glitz Pit a visit?"

The dark koopatrol blinked. "Just a few hours, sir."

Trowzer growled. "Excellent. Before we get started, I want the two of you to get rid of Parakarry's body. Make sure you incinerate it or bury him in a hole no one would ever think to look."

Both reptiles nodded. "Yes, King Trowzer."

As the one-eyed Fire Bro. and dark koopatrol went over to retrieve the body, Trowzer leaned against the wall and laughed to himself.

"Oh, Mario…you have no fucking idea what you're about to go up against."