Another Castle?
Following on from where the last chapter left off.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
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In the Dark World of the Koopas the army had a bit of difficulty adjusting to the fact that the great King Bowser was not present.
"So where his evilship? Still gone?" One of the Hammer Brothers asked his guard buddy Koopatrol, a koopa dressed in full spiked armour shell, the elite guard.
"Guess so, and it doesn't look like he'll be coming back any time soon, you know what that means?"
"No…"
"Kammy and Kamek have been stuck looking after the koopalings so…"
"…its party time!" Hammer shouted
"Damn straight! Now I can finally take these spikes off my shell."
"Yeah!" he tossed a wooden hammer into the air, it came sailing down onto his head "Ow!"
"Watch it with those freaking hammers, you're gonna hurt someone one of these days."
--
Kamek and Kammy; Bowser's third and second in command Magikoopas respectively were not looking upon the situation with as much pleasure as the troops. They were in a very big pickle and couldn't sort it out.
It was past the Koopaloings bed time and neither one of them had the nerve to tell them.
"You tell them." Kammy hissed.
"Me? Why me? They'll shred my robes!" Kamek whined.
"What do you think they'll do to me?"
"Nothing you don't deserve."
"Oh that's charming, you've been gunning for my spot ever since the crystal stars incident."
"Which was your fault for not getting the right information in the first place, sending his mightyness on a wild goose chase."
"I'm more trusted than you anyway, were you ever involved in the Star Heaven raid? I was there when he beat Mario for the first time…ever."
"Without me his plan for a new galaxy at the centre of the universe could never have been achieved. I developed all 3 of the major reactors instrumental in his plan."
"Which still failed because you made the glass on the lava shield too thin causing his majesties tail to be burnt!"
"How was I supposed to know King Bowser was going to jump on it?"
"So you blame your king for your failings. That's treason!"
"Treason? ME? Look here Kammy, I've been doing this job longer than you have. I'm the stronger mage, you may outrank me slightly but he just wants to keep an eye on you. He does it every time a particularly gifted Koopa rises through the ranks. You're just a flavour of the month."
"Flavour of the month? Why you little…" her voice dropping down a full octave before a koopa ran passed without his shell, t-shirt or shorts.
"PARTY!!" He shouted.
"Was that koopa just..?"
"Yes."
"Okay…"
"…"
"Maybe I should just check his quarters so that he's not just hiding to get out of meetings."
"I'll come with you." The two concluded, staying well clear, if the Koopalings found that there was a party, those two did not want to have to deal with the fallout. The King's bedroom was probably tied for decorativeness with the Princess's chambers for when she got kidnapped. A large 4 poster bed, plenty of statues of himself yet nothing about his parents. Bowser hated his lineage and as such his first act as king was to have all of it thrown out the window, he wanted people to fear him, not his ancestry.
"Hmm… in the event of an extended absence, to Kamek?" The old magikoopa read on finding a letter on the side, it wasn't the Kings handwriting, so what was it doing in his room?
"Well, open it!" Kammy shouted.
Kamek's jaw dropped slightly as he read more and more "My word."
"Well? What does it say?"
"Read for yourself."
Dear Loyal hench-koopa Kamek. And if it's not you then get your claws off it!
I have received an invitation to a fighting tournament along with Mario and the Princess. Lord knows how she got invited, it's not safe for her there. Anyway the point is that this place has links to different worlds, ones that are technically inferior and some that are superior. Most of them the enchanted mushrooms and steaks do not work there. However, that's not to mean we can't take it over. In fact without those accursed shrooms that those damn Goombas stuff in the "?" blocks Mario wouldn't be able to stop me, one touch and he's a goner.
So here's the plan, if I'm not at the castle for more than two weeks without me on a live sporting event I want you Kamek to go to star heaven, they've protected themselves from Kammy's magic but not yours, with a few magikoopas it should be easy to take the star wand again, wish that there was a portal linking this world to the one I'm in. Take as much building materials and troops as you can and head through it so we can rule another world. One that will be a perfect bargaining chip for Princess Peach's hand in marriage… hopefully.
To keep this secret I will now smash the Koopa Scribe writing it over the head.
Scribe: What?
The two Magikoopas saw the indentation in the paper, probably from the impact.
Singed his royal majesty of awesomeness, evilness and coolness
King Bowser Koopa.
"My word, he developed such an intricate plan without us. Maybe he's smarter than we give him credit for."
"You know what this also means?"
"You're off to star heaven."
"Yes and that he actually trusts me more." Kamek stated smugly before his glasses were blasted off by a magical blast that took the form of a Playstation controller.
--
"So you have actually been here before princess?" Link asked as they walked through Toad town towards Princess Peach's castle.
"Only once or twice, remember when me and Peach and me took our long breaks from the fighting, we spent it here."
"I thought Master Hand said he couldn't open the portals on a whim. Not our portal anyway." Link thought out loud, how was it that she had been to the other worlds and this was his first time, she could have been kidnapped! If it wasn't for Bowser being in another castle.
"He can't the Mushroom Kingdom portal is the simplest of the portals so it only takes a day to calibrate it safely."
"You operate them?"
"No Master Hand does, after a little persuasion." Link thought better than to pursue that point when a flustered Toadsworth greeted them.
"Ah! Princess Zelda, how lovely to see you again, although I wish it could be under better circumstances. You see our Princess appears to be…"
"In another castle?" Zelda completed.
"How did you guess?"
"Call it intuition."
"Well, yes. Or at least that's our guess. The only other time we don't know where she is she's usually trapped in Bowser's castle. Still, we do our best to maintain some degree of order."
"Excuse me but this isn't a pleasure visit." Link interrupted.
"It isn't? oh dear, you are master Link, am I correct?"
"Yes, and we need a way of getting back to our own world."
"Own world? I thought the Princess Zelda was just from some far away, secretive company who happened to have met the Princess under some unknown circumstance."
"It's complicated, but we really need to get back home, sort of like an end of the world scenario only…weirder and much more confusing."
"What about whatever brought you here in the first place?" Toadsworth suggested.
"That's what's causing the end of the world."
"Ah."
"Any ideas?"
"Just one." He answered after pondering for a minute, he led the two Hyilians inside the castle to get away from the crowds.
"This is the second castle that had to be built during Princess Peach's reign. Twice the castle was lifted out of the ground by Bowser and his minions, the Koopas."
"Both times although it was intact on the outside, the insides had been scrambled and scorched, they had to be knocked down and built up again, an exact replica of the original Mushroom Castle."
"So?"
"The first time Bowser lifted the castle was when he had placed his own directly underneath it, during a party the princess was hosting he struck, leaving Mario as its last defence."
"And Mario kicked his ass again?" Link guessed.
"Alas, no. King Koopa finally defeated Mario and held the castle in his possession for two months until Mario gathered the guardians of the skies, the Star Spirits, which Bowser had abused to defeat Mario the first time to take back the castle and control of the Mushroom Kingdom."
"So do you reckon those Star Spirits could help us out?" Zelda asked.
"Its worth an attempt. If star road is open you may reach the observatory by nightfall."
--
"Troops! Assemble!" Kamek called the Koopas, Clubbas, Goombas and shy guys eventually assembling in the main hall, most drunk, some with lampshades on their heads. "Now due to his Royal Badness' absence we have had nothing to do, however! That is all changed, I hold here top secret plans from the King himself! Man the Klown copters, we attack Star Heaven tonight!" He shouted met by a rousing cheer interspersed with a few hiccups.
--
Suspense! How long had Bowser been planning this? Who will get to Star Heaven first? Why do I continue using questions? All will be revealed soon-ish.
PM or review if you have any questions.
