Hey look an update! I decided to get some chapters done for the Halloween season.
This is another short chapter, but it's got a lot of body horror to make up for it. Anyways, Reviews! Lots of 'em!
Ems602 (aka Dimentio)-There will be Dimentio. Lots of Dimentio, just not right now. I can't go into detail what you will do but it's gonna be kinda nuts.
Opal-Fear not friendo, Dimentio has no need to hurt the Wege.
NormanWhitesmith-Glad to know I'm doing a decent job at writing this story. I've never actually read a horror story before but I'll be damned if I don't try. Also thanks for noticing that "Ciao" was spelled wrong. Auto-correct is a bitch.
Luigified531-Yeah it's Ciao. Blame autocorrect. Peach won't show up for a while, but you'll see why.
Space Dimentio-Responding to all your reviews would be kinda nuts, but I appreciate every single one of them.
DISCLAIMER: Paper Mario is owned by Nintendo.
Despite the obstacles and near-death experiences, Luigi had eventually found Bowser's Castle. He remembered when Mario had left him at home the first time after That Day, his sibling returned to him after only a couple hours, telling him in great detail about everybody's whereabouts; he talked very briefly about Bowser refusing to help with any efforts because his disdain towards Mario had been thicker than his concern for his minions and children. After Peach left the kingdom in search for outside help and never returned, the king had grown reserved and mournful; Luigi could only hope the once proud king would be willing to help him when the world seemed to be at it's worst.
Stepping towards the fortress, Luigi felt a warmth from outside the path. The lava of the old Darkland, which was once considered irritable, was now comforting and incredibly nostalgic when compared to how cold the rest of the world had become. If not for its tendency to melt off skin, Luigi would have considered swimming inside the molten liquid on his way into the castle.
The interior of Bowser's Castle was devoid of life everywhere Luigi looked; not even the King's children, both by blood and not, seemed to reveal themselves, which made things all the more unsettling. He delved deeper and deeper into the castle with anxiety welling up. Luigi began to ponder if Bowser had left long ago and that he was somewhere else in the world, but the sound of the koopa's heavy breathing ahead indicated otherwise; he ran to the end of the hallway to the furthest room of the castle, where a horrible sight towered over him.
The Goliath-sized form of the former king glared at the scrawny man. A hole in the ceiling dropped a seemingly endless supply of lava into a bottomless pit, lighting the room enough to show that Bowser had been suffering from corruption for a long time. He had been leaning his head into the lava waterfall to let the liquid melt away the scales and flesh down into burnt bones. Large chunks of untouched organic mass revealed the scales had been becoming much sharper and rougher, the horns more bull-like, and the spikes more jagged.
In spite of his condition, the koopa king's eyes were still familiar and still recognized his former foe. Looking at Bowser in the eyes was painful, there was a clear split between a corrupted face and a face melted down to the skull. Luigi was pretty sure something was oozing from the empty socket of the melted half in an unnatural shade of something.
"I want it to end..." Bowser's gravely voice whimpered, almost unrecognizable as comprehensive speech from a combination of corruption and possible heat-stroke.
Luigi couldn't speak. A once proud creature, his brother's oldest foe, turned into something so pitiful hurt him in a way. He took one of the beast's claws and held it to get a point across, hoping the king would understand what he planned to do. Bowser pulled away as he clutched his head, fearing that his mind was ready to slip away.
"Just go...I fear death too much to end it..." Bowser said, "I fear for my children...and for her..."
Luigi knew the king had two things in life he cared for most, not knowing where one went meant he had to protect what was left. Judging by the micelle of spiked shells that squelched behind the king, he desperately wanted to preserve what could have been a happy family. Eight puddy-like heads and many arms sprawled out of the micelle's bottom through a large orifice with a similar hole on the top protruding eight tails. The amalgam gurgled incomprehensibly as it's father held it back from harming the frail man.
Before taking leave, Luigi was given a simple request: "Promise me I won't die like this."
That concludes this chapter. I plan to have eight more coming up before I go back to work on Swap, but that might change depending on how school goes.