Chapter Nine
Seigal snuck through the halls of Koopa Castle, making sure no one was around. It was dinnertime, so the koopalings should have been occupied at least. Pretty much everyone except the day's communications officer (him) would be busy with kitchen duty, so sneaking out of the castle with a mini-airship wouldn't be too hard.
He was almost to the docking bay when two guards came walking down the hallway. Seigal quickly hid behind a statue of Bowser.
"Stop…stop! There shouldn't be anyone around here…"
Seigal recognized the voice as Qourk, a mischievous shy guy guard who was always passing around gossip.
"What's the problem, Qourk? You're always so nervous…"
The other voice was Plack, a goomba, and Qourk's simple…sidekick, for lack of a better word. The two often conspired together to plan harmless schemes.
"I have reason to be nervous! The walls…um..." Qourk suddenly stopped talking. Seigal wondered if Qourk knew of his presence. It seemed not, as Qourk began talking again, and now at an increased rate. "Plack, about seven hours ago the communications officer told me that a telekinetic burst of energy issued forth from the communication wands, originating from a location near Mushroom Castle."
Seven hours? That was just before I came in as communications officer! Seigal thought, a little annoyed. Well, he had ended up hearing something far more interesting anyway- Kamek.
"Tele…" Plack ventured.
"Telekinetic!" Qourk burst forth excitedly. "And the energy burst was incredible! From the combination of the brightness of the wands and the intensity of the noise they made, it seems that powerful magic was used. Magic more powerful than…than…"
Another bout of silence followed.
"I'm…uh, I'm a little lost," Plack admitted. Qourk groaned loudly.
"It's…" Qourk cleared his throat. "There's something out there, Plack. Something with magic power beyond anything anyone's ever seen…and…I can't be sure, but…I think it may be communicating the success of our plan."
"Oh goody! …Uh…com-una…" Plack struggled.
"Communicating."
"Does that mean the plan is working?"
"That's right, Plack…we're golden this time! C'mon, let me show you the book Wendy showed me…"
Qourk and Plack's voices faded away down the hall. Seigal shook his head. It sounded like they were planning another pointless scheme. Seigal took a quick peek down the hallway to make sure they were completely gone before heading into the Mini-Airship Bay. Seigal slipped an ID Card from out of his shell and used it to open the gate to the outside. He then got into one of the mini-airships and used his card to activate it. The magical system that controlled the entire bay logged his name, his ID number, and the current time. The mini-airship was then activated.
He definitely wasn't supposed to be using a mini-airship without permission, but if he brought back Kamek he'd have to be forgiven. And he was sure he was going to find Kamek. If he had just gotten Kamek's transmission from Mario's house, and Kamek was still alive, then things must be going smoothly there. Perhaps Kamek was already making peace with Mario. Then he and Seigal could come back to Koopa Castle with good news!
SPLOTCH. SPLORTCH. The sickening sounds continued to emanate from the kitchen. Luigi struggled not to throw up again- his throat already hurt from the last three times.
It had been several hours since Mario had come home. Luigi had fainted from shock, only to wake up with the sun almost completely down and Mario standing- just standing there, staring at him with a manic look. He held the crowbar limply in his hands, its shine almost beautiful with the orange sun reflecting off of it from the still-open doorway. When Mario had seen that Luigi was awake he had loudly offered to "make breakfast", and had grabbed two of the dead Magikoopas on the floor, including the one that had called himself Kamek.
Mario had now been making breakfast for the last ten minutes. Luigi couldn't see what was happening from where the bed was, but he could hear everything- oh god, could he hear everything. The rubbery sounds of the crowbar hammering into the Magikoopas long-dead flesh. The SPLOTCHES as various, bloody juices burst out of the bodies with every hit. Coughing…constant, wet coughing. And Mario's whistling- the worst part: some slowed down, distorted version of the classical theme used in the historical games. It was off-key, and with random notes completely missing.
Outside it began to rain. Luigi tried to breathe slowly and think rationally. He'd have to escape- Mario had gone completely, murderously insane. Even though it hurt, he'd have to roll out of bed and crawl for the front door.
Luigi made it onto the floor as quietly as he could and began moving…slowly. He found that the crawl didn't hurt as nearly as much as he thought it would- in fact, it barely hurt it all. The lack of pain gave him newfound strength and he began moving faster. Unfortunately, he soon made it to the Magikoopa's body that Mario DIDN'T take to make breakfast with- it was directly in his way. Luigi considered going around, and he looked to the right- right to where Mario and the bodies were.
One of the bodies…one of the bodies was completely unidentifiable. Mario had beaten it with the crowbar until it was entirely a chunk of red gore. The other body was on the kitchen countertop, being converted to such a state. Luigi gaped in shock and immediately regretted looking over. He turned back towards the body and began crawling over it. He tried to hold his breath but the intense stink of death forced its way up his nose, and Luigi begin to involuntarily cry. By the time he had made it over his green suit was coated with damp red, and smelled the same as the corpse. Luigi turned towards the door. Mario began laughing.
Luigi squeezed his eyes shut tight in fright, but when he looked back he saw that Mario was still hard at work. He hadn't turned around. Luigi took a deep breath to get a bit of courage, but all he managed to do was inhale the smell of rot. He retched into the floor as quietly as he could, and then began crawling again. He made it too the door and started to crawl out.
The storm had turned vicious, just like the night two days ago when the koopa advance patrol had appeared. It would've just been better if they had captured Peach, Luigi thought miserably. Then Mario and I could've just gone on another adventure to save her. If only we had ignored that tip about Bowser's attack…
Luigi crawled out the door, down the porch steps, and into the mud. He considered standing but decided it was too risky. He continued through the muck, trying not to swallow the torrential mud.
Luigi was three-quarters of the way to the Warp Pipe when the door to the house, which had quietly blown shut from the wind, suddenly slammed open. Mario stood in the doorway, clothes blood-soaked, crowbar in one hand, eyes wild, and mouth horribly ajar.
"MEAt! WhErE iS mY mEaT?" Mario screeched, an unearthly rhythm trembling through his words.
"No!" Luigi cried, trying to crawl faster. The mud was slippery, but he was almost to the Warp Pipe. He just had to get inside.
"MeAt!" Mario screamed, running at Luigi with the crowbar.
"No!" Luigi cried again, his arms slipping, causing him to collapse face-first into the mud. He struggled to raise his head.
"ChEwY mEaT!" Mario screamed, plunging the crowbar down into Luigi's skull.
Seigal flew over the muddy plains, trying to figure out a map that he had found. Mario's house should be to the west…through the Forest…well, really, I guess it's in the MIDDLE of the Forest…heck, is the whole Mushroom Kingdom the Forest…?
A bolt of lightning suddenly struck a tree, surprising Seigal. He lost control of the mini-airship for a moment and it plowed softly into the mud just outside of the edge of the Forest. Seigal frowned and tried to restart the engine, but it seemed the motors were now clogged with mud. Seigal got out, opened the engine door, and jammed his right hand inside the motor, scooping numerous handfuls of mud out.
"Aren't you…worried…about that thing…turning on?" A mud-gagged voice gasped. Seigal jumped in surprise and turned around. It was King Bowser- he was coated with mud and bleeding all over. A horn was missing and his head was bent at an odd angle. Seigal hailed Bowser quickly and began bowing. Bowser shook his head and fell to his knees. "Stop…stop, damn it."
Seigal stopped.
"Now…I don't know…who…you are…" Bowser continued.
"Lord, my…my name is Seigal Ca…"
"And I don't care," Bowser interrupted. "But…I am…dying."
Seigal tried not to show his shock. Bowser looked towards the top of the nearby trees. As Seigal waited for Bowser to continue speaking, he listened to the sounds of the wind. It was the sounds of natural existence: the wild whistling through the trees and the sounds of the leaves blown off of their branches, and the sound of the storm building energy and throwing bolts down nearby onto both the dry and muddy ground.
"Crawling all this way…I'm glad I found another koopa…before I died. Another of my own," Bowser gritted his teeth in anger. "I was killed…by a Magikoopa. I survived…all of the fights against Mario…for so long…but then the toads and the Magikoopa…no, no…it was…just the Magikoopa, only…" Tears fell from Bowser's eyes. Seigal had no idea how to react- he had never seen Bowser remotely sad…only angry or mildly content.
"Um, I'm sorry…" Seigal almost reached out to pat Bowser's arm, but thought better of it.
"And my children…what have I left in this world?" Bowser's tears continued to flow. "Useless trash…all eight of them…wastes of space. They don't deserve the kingdom…"
What little of the sun could be seen through the storm had set. The stormy darkness was now all that surrounded Seigal and Bowser.
"My line…ends with me. Take this," Bowser dug around in his shell and pulled out a green crystal the size of Seigal's right hand. Seigal had to use both hands and a bit of strength to hold the heavy object. "It was called the…Rigex in ancient times; however…that merely means…Stone. Call it…however you like. It is the sign…of royalty."
A strange opaqueness was beginning to come to Bowser's eyes. Seigal stood in awe. He was actually witnessing the death of the King.
"There's a Magikoopa…in a black cloak. Beware him. He killed me." Bowser croaked. His body began to drift back and forth, about to topple over. Seigal backed up a bit. A long, quiet moment passed, uninterrupted by thunder.
"I…think my life has been a waste." Bowser fell to the ground. A large puddle of mud was tossed up with the landing, but none of it reached Seigal. Lightning crashed and the sky flickered in all directions. Seigal didn't stop to think. He got into the mini-airship (now working again) and headed back for Koopa Castle. He had to tell everyone what had happened. He had to show them the Rigex.
