"So, how do you think this place came to be?" asked one soldier, older and wearing various war patch insignia on his uniform. "Jesus on crack?"
"Naw." a bearded hillbilly said next to him. "Jesus didn't make the world you know. Only the heavenly father made all things, as weird as they be sometimes. Talking mushrooms and walking bombs? Hell, I would think god turned the dust into cocaine and if he told me I'd believe it!"
"If that happened, we'd have naked hookers everywhere." said the first. "And we only got one prude bitch locked up right now. I haven't seen any other humans crawl through here other than that lunatic above us."
"This place ain't civilization." said the second. "Back on Earth you can settle in the trees, buy a few smokes and live off the land. Here? I don't know half the time what's going on here."
"Well-" He was interrupted by a fireball hurled at his gut, knocking him over the castle wall. His buddy looked on in disbelief before he too met the same fate, falling to his death below. There was nothing but silence afterwards.
Coming out of a pair of bushes, Luigi quickly dashed to a stone wall overlooking the western courtyard and hugged against it as he tried to reach a wooden door built into one of the western towers. He was lucky so far; those guards seemed to be the only ones on duty during the dinner hour. It meant that he had a chance of finding Daisy without having to fight most of Waluigi's men, or so he hoped.
Once he was close enough, Luigi dashed to the wooden door and carefully opened it to peek inside. There was a spiral stairwell running upwards to his left and downwards to his right, but there was no one present. He closed the door behind him and tried to remember the castle layout before he heard an eruption of laughter below him. They were definitely downstairs in the basement eating, which would make his mission easier. The less men he had to kill, the better.
"But you will have to kill them sooner or later." came a voice echoing in his mind. Luigi looked around but didn't see anyone nearby. "Huh?" he said to himself.
"You can rescue the princess, but you'll have to fight your way back out." the voice continued. "Why not kill them all now and destroy the pipe back to Earth so you wont have to worry about them anymore?"
"No." Luigi told himself. He was against killing his own kind. Plus, he had hoped to find Daisy and escape back out without fighting Waluigi or his men. It would be risky to try and kill them all now especially with artillery on their side.
Above him, the sound of a warp pipe was heard along with the stomping of feet. More men had arrived and Luigi thought twice about his plan. He knew that Earth was going through the pole shift just like the Mushroom World was, and any humans trying to escape it would surely come here and take control of what was left. He could try and rescue Daisy, but that left a countless amount of men to roam the landscape with weapons that few could stand against. This is a world not meant for most humans and Luigi knew it was the right thing to send them back. But could he do it without being killed?
Footsteps were heard coming down the stone steps. Luigi decided to head downstairs and try to find a hiding spot. He saw a warp pipe jutting out from the wall to his right. Remembering where it went (knowing Daisy's Castle well enough), Luigi darted into it and warped into a storage room. He ducked behind a crate in the back corner and waited. Nothing happened after several moments and Luigi assumed they were heading to supper. He looked around the room and found several ? Boxes. One held a fire flower and another held a star. "Just what I needed." Luigi said to himself, pocketing the powerups. On a few shelves he spotted a number of bob-ombs, small and large. Most of them were too large for him to keep, but a few normal bob-ombs caught his eye. He didn't want to do this, but in case worst came to worst, he wouldn't let them walk the land any longer. He took as many bob-bombs as he could hold.
"You need to kill them all." came the voice again. "They won't listen to an intruder like you. Why would they bother when their home planet is facing the same thing? They have nothing to go back to."
"Quiet." Luigi demanded, trying to think of his strategy. He needed to give them a chance at least before the likely would happen.
Luigi exited the warp pipe and found himself back in the stairway as before. He walked down to the bottom of the steps, reaching the basement area of the castle. The voices grew louder, and Luigi cautiously navigated his way around a few corners before arriving at a junction. To his left he saw a room full of green pipes and his heart sank immediately. There was no way he would find the right one in time without getting caught. He was going to have to destroy the whole thing. Ahead of him he saw a number of men seated at a table laughing at themselves. He was going to have to sneak past them without being noticed. Luigi took a moment to remember the pipe network of the castle. His escape would depend on where Daisy was, but if Waluigi was like any other villain, then...
There was an eruption of laughter then, and seeing his chance Luigi darted into the pipe room hoping that no one noticed him. Noticing someone in the room, Luigi ran behind a few crates in the left corner hoping he hadn't been seen. Peeking around the corner, he saw a man standing next to a green pipe in the center of the left wall, alongside a number of boxes. He didn't seem to notice him as his back was turned, rummaging through one of the boxes for something. Luigi logically guessed that was the pipe back to Earth, also seeing as he didn't remember that pipe in the original layout of the castle. Looking around, he found the pipe that he wanted for his escape. He inhaled and realized that asking them to leave now was impossible without getting captured. He was going to have to destroy the pipe and run.
Luigi lit a large bob-omb and threw it at the archway from where he came. Moments later the bob-omb exploded sending a rain of brick and mortar to the ground, effectively blocking the entrance way. The man immediately turned around and ran to the pile of rubble, but Luigi was prepared for him. Suddenly appearing from behind the crates, he launched multiple fireballs at the man who was quickly swept off his feet into unconsciousness. Looking around and seeing no other threats, Luigi ran to the pipe back to Earth and lit several bob-ombs before placing them all around the pipe. Luigi ran the other way and moments later, there was a series of explosions and the pipe collapsed in upon itself, moving backwards into the wall before another rain of bricks took its place.
Luigi heard shouting coming from the other side of the former entranceway and knew he had to act quickly before they could get into the room. Locating the pipe he wanted, he ran and jumped up towards it and successfully warped out of the room. After several moments, he appeared inside of a small waiting room with a save block and a wooden door on the far end. He was not far from Daisy now. After saving his game, Luigi walked to the door before hearing a number of footsteps run past it. Waiting a moment, Luigi slowly opened the door and peeked outside. He saw a number of men just rounding a corner as they descended down a stairway to his right. But to his left were a large pair of unguarded doors flanked by torches: the entrance to the throne room. What luck!
Luigi closed the door behind him and ran up the steps to the double doors. He inhaled as he suddenly doubted himself then. If she wasn't in there...no, she had to be. That's how they all worked. Even if she wasn't, Waluigi had to be defeated. His kind couldn't be let loose into the world if his stay at the Galaxy proved anything. At length, he opened one of the doors.
Inside, he found the throne room to be strangely vacant of furniture except for the throne itself which Luigi's eyes could not move away from. There lying across the armrests was his love Daisy, eyes closed and her skin a pale white. Next to her was the bastard himself, seemingly talking to her.
"He killed Daisy." said the voice. "You have to kill him and give her the justice she deserves." Luigi's arms shook in anger but he managed to keep it inside for the time being, despite a million thoughts that ran through his mind.
"Yes, we have enough now." Waluigi said to Daisy, looking at her. "Yes, and soon those damn turtles down south will all be killed, just like the old days. Doesn't that sound nice? I liked the place too, it was really nice. Except that one turtle." He paused. "Luigi is downstairs. Bring him up here so I can tell him." he said without looking.
Luigi locked the doors behind him and turned back around. "Tell me what?" he asked, and immediately Waluigi cast a gaze of hatred towards the green plumber. "That you were going to invade Mushroom World with a bunch of guys from Earth?"
"No, that wasn't it. No no." Waluigi jumped and landed in front of him. "I was going to tell you in a more comfortable place, yes. Comfortable for you, just like my new wife. Isn't she cute?"
"What did you do to her?" Luigi demanded.
"She's more comfortable now." cackled Waluigi, turning towards her. "Just look at her. She was squirming earlier, didn't like it when I hugged her. Why didn't she like that? I know she likes me. Why does she resist? Heh, doesn't matter now. She can't resist." Waluigi jumped back towards Daisy, and Luigi started. "Eh! I wouldn't an inch Green Mario, or my spike traps will take care of you." Luigi looked down and saw that the floor surrounding his small space lined with pressurized plates. The room was effectively bobby-trapped.
"Now Daisy, now you will see why I am your real love." Waluigi sat her up in her throne, but her head slumped to the side as if she was a corpse.
"She's already dead." came the voice. "And you know it. He's talking to the dead."
"No." Luigi muttered, starting to lose patience.
"You know he killed her, so why do you resist?" it continued. "She deserves justice. Why do you wait?"
"Who are you?" Luigi stammered. But the voice just laughed, seemingly mocking him. Angry, Luigi jumped towards Waluigi until a noise sounded and a thick wall of spikes suddenly descended from above him: he had set off a trap.
"Wahh!" The spikes hit, sending Luigi plummeting to the floor and making him lose his fire abilities. Unfortunately his landing activated one of the pressure plates, and Luigi could see the pillars around the room circling until they revealed lines of Missile Bill launchers. They all launched simultaneously with the bills glowing red; they homed in on Luigi's position, who could do nothing but gulp deeming it too risky to run back towards the doors.
"I told you he would!" Waluigi laughed, looking at the non-responding princess. "That was the best thing to do. Well, for us. Whaha!"
Luigi tried jumping off of the bills as best as he could, trying not to get too high in the air as he maneuvered his way towards Waluigi. But the Missile Bill shells fell onto another plate which triggered a large number of spikes to protrude from the wall. Luigi glanced at them before the entire wall slammed down on top of him, sending him to the ground and reducing him to small Luigi. He crawled back to his starting place across the now pressed plate as Waluigi's laughter filled the room.
"Hook, line and...whahaha! You see Luigi? She likes me better. She can't even resist me! But you were her suitor, yes. Best to be kind. I'll let you live. But I'm sure those humans won't! Haha! Farewell, Green Mario!" Waluigi scooped up Daisy into his arms and began to make his way out of the room.
"You lost." came the voice. "You wern't good enough for her."
"No..." Luigi muttered.
"There's no way you can beat him on your own." said the voice. A figure appeared in Luigi's mind, bearing his silhouette. "But I can help you."
"No!" Luigi cried, prompting Waluigi to snicker.
"If you want her, you have no choice." the silhouette said, smiling at him.
"No!" Luigi screamed and suddenly his body began to transform.
"You lost...wha?" Waluigi looked back and did not expect to find Luigi surrounded by a cloud of green. Deciding he didn't want to stick around, Waluigi hastened his pace towards the door. But he never reached it as a beam of electric magic shot out of the cloud and hit him, electrifying Waluigi in place along with Daisy in tow. He fell to the ground like a statue, too paralyzed to move.
"This battle is just starting, you little pretender."
Slowly, Waluigi got up to face his antithesis...but it wasn't the Luigi he expected. "Eh? What's this little trick? You think that will outsmart me?"
"Luigi? I am Mr. L!" With a grin, Mr. L purposefully hopped on the plate next to him sending the same spike wall towards the ground, but Mr. L jumped in the air then and landed on the top edge before the ceiling spikes could make contact. Running across, he made a long jump over the remaining pressure plates and landed right in front of Waluigi who looked rather shocked. "I am here to take back what's mine. Only someone as good as me is deserving of Daisy, not someone who uses cheap tricks! Now you could stand aside and let me take her which would be easy for the both of us-"
Waluigi suddenly pulled out a gun and fired at Mr. L, but thanks to his new found abilities dodged them all via bullet time. Jumping up, he kicked Waluigi in the face before punching his gut, sending him withering to the ground in pain. With his famous home run kick, Mr. L punted the plumber wannabe towards the center of the room where he landed on several pressurized plates at once.
"What is this?" Mr. L spotted a lever behind the throne.
"Wahh!" Waluigi ran back and forth trying to dodge everything. "Don't touch that!"
Of course, Mr. L pulled the lever instead. The entire floor suddenly opened up inwards, swallowing Waluigi into a black pit before the floor closed up again just as fast. Mr, L laughed to himself. That was much easier than he thought. Now it was time to claim his prize and make a getaway.
"He didn't stand a chance against me!" Mr. L exclaimed, turning towards Daisy. "Daisy?" He walked over to her and saw that she was breathing, "It looks like he tried to have his way with you. But do not worry! I will get us out of this place and cure you. Just hang on! This will be a bumpy ride." Picking her up off the ground, he then dashed towards the exit that Waluigi would have taken. The archway led to a large tower with a spiral staircase and a few windows overlooking the now darkened courtyard. Deciding against his original idea, Mr. L made a large jump across the stairwell and crashed through one of the windows before taking the long plunge towards the ground. Shouts went up around him followed by a splattering of bullets, all of which missed their target. It didn't help that the sun had already gone down.
Landing on the ground, Mr. L sprinted towards the outer wall, successfully dodging bullets headed his way. With a large jump, he out performed his good side and reached the top of the wall with ease before hoping down to the other side. Cuss words flew through the air as Mr. L quickly made way for the forest outside the complex, the sounds of gun fire dying out behind him.
"L-ater!" he called back, now out of range from most of their weaponry. Ahead of him, the land suddenly slipped and slid towards his right, forcing Mr. L to run to the left as the land seemed to buckle down a slope next to him, landing around 50 feet below him. That's right, the pole shift was imminent. That meant hiding in the mountains was not a good idea in this area if landslides are apparent.
"Luigi?" Daisy stirred from darkness. "You look funny."
"Huh?" Mr. L looked down. Daisy was awake and looking at him, but she appeared exhausted. "Don't worry Daisy, I'll find a good hiding spot so they won't find us."
"Where are we going?" she asked, but the mysterious Mr. L didn't answer as he continued to run through the forest at superhuman speeds. Eventually, the duo crossed into a mountain range where Mr. L found a large grassy pit near one of the slopes. Laying Daisy down, he looked around him and wondered where they would set out next.
"You feeling okay, Luigi?" Daisy asked, trying to get up.
"Hm?" There was that name again. Who was Luigi? "Just plotting our next course..." Mr. L managed to say as he looked around him. He finally caught sight of his tool belt that was strapped across his waist that he had seemingly ignored until now. That wasn't his.
"Let me out!" came a voice. He knew that voice.
"Quiet you." Mr. L muttered under his breath. "You're the weak one."
"You're the one who got hypnotized by Nastasia." the voice claimed. Mr. L clutched his head at the sound of that name. "You're me."
"Quiet!"
"Luigi..." Daisy started, but Mr. L quickly turned toward her. "I need...to find food." he managed to say. "I'll...return...L-ater..." With that, he jumped out of the hole and quickly sprinted down the slope.
"Wait!" Daisy sighed. "What's gotten into him?" Was he corrupted by Waluigi? The thought crossed her mind, but Waluigi wasn't that skilled with magic. She then remembered that one time years ago when Luigi went missing for several months. Rumor was that he had become a villain, but Mario refused to tell her what had happened. Did he relapse?
That's all Daisy could assume as she wondered what to do with her seemingly mentally disturbed partner.
"It's all you now." came Roy's voice. "Gotta go back to da Old Kingdom."
"What? Dude, you know I can't do this by myself!" Kylie complained telepathically, nursing Amy with a bottle. "Plus my kids. I'm working overtime with no compensation!"
"They took Diadora and the eggs." came his response.
"Are you serious?" Kylie thought for a moment. "...wow."
"Wendy took them. She's a puppet of Narec, new head of those Marthos fucks. They'll ruin their childhood, I know it. Can't allow that. Have to go get them and finish what I started..."
Kylie frowned. It was too risky to simply let them go in their hands, but at the same time Roy was needed right here, right now making sure everyone was hunkering down for the shift. Plus, considering the eggs' location they would likely not survive what was to come for that area.
"I really do need your help with this load, but leaving them there like that...this sucks!" she exclaimed.
"Sorry." said Roy in a rare apology. "My fault. Should've killed her. Need to go back and finish the job. And I won't have my work destroyed like that. They are the future. My responsibility. I must go."
"No, I'm sorry for sounding selfish." Kylie said. "Go, just go. I'll get Morton to help. Go." There was no answer. Kylie had a gut feeling that if she wasn't inside the floating fortress and Ludwig was still king, then they would've shared the same fate as Roy.
She looked over at Ludwig, who was holding Tommy (to prevent him from escaping) while lecturing the others who sat in the crib. They had grown quickly and were already sitting down by themselves as they listened to their father teach them the alphabet and various words in their language. In a way, she still wished that Ludwig was still king because of how much of a power vacuum the position was. He was able to hold it, but couldn't stop its corruption over him due to internal issues. Roy seemed to handle it well but he was busy much of the time, and now he needed to go back to the Old Kingdom to rescue his fiance and kids. If he wasn't present as king, then in a way it was like having no king at all. Once word got out about his departure, Kylie feared someone might try to sway things their way. Because of that, she knew she needed to assert herself now and guard against that vacuum that nearly destroyed her husband.
"Mama!" she turned and found Xavier looking at her.
"Wonderful effort." said Ludwig. "An exemplary beginning for your lingual faculties."
"Well hello Xavier!" Kylie got up and walked over to him.
"Mama." Xavier pointed to her briefly before looking at his dad.
"Correct, that is mother, affectionately known as 'Mama'." stated Ludwig.
"Is this something I get to look forward to when I get home?" asked Kylie.
"Indubitably." said Ludwig. "Their education shall be undertaken by yours truly, at least for the time being."
Kylie put Amy back into the crib. "Well I appreciate the effort. I'm so busy now that I hardly have time to take care of them."
"Upon the realization that my previous power had tainted my inner being, I have decided to no longer live a life of obtaining power." explained Ludwig. "But rather, the expression long repressed in such environments shall be given full attention instead, including one of my greatest loves in life, music."
"So you'll never become a king again, huh?" Kylie asked.
"As long as the potential for my core self to become corrupted remains, I will not seek the halls of power any longer." said Ludwig. "I have lived my life decadently, upon a level believed to be deserving for an individual such as I. But in the due process I have also restrained and ignored my better characteristics which I believe will become more helpful now as it seems the people care less about hierarchy and more about their everyday lives. Perhaps performing music for them would be of greater benefit to them than a ruler with an ego unchecked and a lifestyle unjudged. I would not rule again unless I were forced to do so, and even then with utmost restraint."
"Wow, talk about contrast. When I first met you, I remember you talking about what you'd do differently." Kylie remarked.
"Those days are in the past and no longer apply to the times." said Ludwig, putting Tommy down. "The world has begun to change, with the old regime now obsolete in favor of selflessness, a fact that I should not have glossed over so superficially, though being drunk with egotistical power what more can I say? It is the nature of Koopa. It is more likely now to see a structure resembling a democracy with a board of directors acting as head. It is possible that following the pole shift the roles of the kings and queens will become ceremonial and act only to further strengthen the original bond set into place by Koopa himself."
"That would be a lot better than what we have now." said Kylie. "But looking at how crazy people are, I wouldn't even think about starting something new." She paused. "I know you don't like him, but I was told that Roy's kids were kidnapped along with Diadora."
"Tragic news regardless of the individual." said Ludwig. "Who is the perpetrator?"
"It's your sister Wendy and the new leader of the UmNaru, Narec." said Kylie. "Roy said he's going to finish the job, which I assume means kill her."
Ludwig shook his head. "There is no escaping it, is there? She was an issue we all wished to avoid, but now it seems Roy has no choice. Despite their origins, I do hope they are speedily recovered."
"I'm sorry." said Kylie.
"It is fate." said Ludwig. "It is what it is." He paused. "In any event, I shall try to accommodate you to the surface to begin the orchestration of the future ensemble for the colony."
"That would be awesome." Kylie said. "I was looking for a few people start something up. I guess I'll let you know when."
"Very well." With Kylie leaving the room, Ludwig turned back to his kids who had begun playing with each other during their spare time. "Now, where were we?"
The Old Kingdom continued to be blasted with howling winds from the south as the remaining people there holed themselves up inside their increasingly dilapidated homes. The sea encroached the shores and brought large waves inland, over-sweeping the old harbor of Koopa city until it went entirely under the waves. Rotting corpses in the streets were swept out to sea with the rest of the debris, their final resting place chosen for them. Hillsides collapsed, bringing several houses down along with them and burying what lay below. To Narec Morello, it was all part of the process. Comfortable inside King John's Castle, he watched from a barred window the devastation that was wrought below, caring not for the people's lives that lay in danger of the onslaught. After all, the previous line and all their works must be purged before the next one could emerge. If any cared to look towards his direction, they would not know what they saw, save a hooded figure in a black robe that concealed what the God's Wrath spell had done to his skin.
"So then, when do you think will be the best time to let them know?" asked Wendy O. Koopa, getting up from the aged throne behind him. She did not look nearly as bad as her rescuer, though her left arm was noticeably crusted up during the same assault.
"Not until the shift ends and the dust is settled." replied Narec, not even looking at her.
"But those folks out there are getting anxious." said Wendy.
"Let them." said Narec, not caring for Wendy's impatience. "It is to be expected, along with Roy's inevitable return. Soon we will all be back together and can put this needless war behind us. Roy is already king, so half our work is done for us. The shift will take care of the rest. Kylie's Castle will fall and then she'll be an easy target. Why marry a queen with no experience in magic? His choice was poor and easily replaceable. Soon, you will become the queen of the Koopa's and rule your people."
In a square metal cage to the side of the throne room was Diadora Koopa, who watched the two converse in silence. Angry and distraught, she needed to find a way to escape, but how? Her eggs had already been laid, and they now sat upon a hearth in the middle of the throne room across from her cell. She couldn't carry them all at once and would need help if she dared tried to sneak out.
"But why do you have to use her kids?" Wendy asked, looking at Diadora. "They have mixed blood."
"Because they are the future." Diadora countered.
"They will be." said Narec.
"Huh?" Diadora did not expect that answer. "What will you do to them?"
Narec turned towards Diadora. "They are the future of the race." he said. "Unlike your father, all five will become the future masters of the family. Unlike your father, they will grow and learn of our ways and understand the need for order for such animals like the Koopa race, Fitting for a species destined for greatness. You have done your part, Diadora. Our council thanks you for it as we now stand a chance against the one who has ruined us."
"Roy will be coming for them." Diadora countered.
"Inevitable in any case." said Narec. "Ad when he arrives, he will find his entire family waiting for him." He moved towards the eggs.
"Don't you dare touch them!" Diadora cried out.
"We cannot afford to have the elements silence the future, now can we? How about we accelerate the process?"
"No! They have the right to live as they wish!" she cried.
"Oh, they will." Using his wand, he cast a spell on the entire batch of eggs which suddenly started to jitter all the eggs in place. After a few moments the eggs cracked simultaneously and the infant within were seen surrounded by a yellow light that continued to accelerate their growth.
"Stop it!" Diadora banged on the bars in desperation, tears forming in her eyes. Wendy watched her struggle with amusement as she guessed Narec's intent. The children grew to young adolescents before the magic spell ceased. They looked around the room with confused faces.
"You just stole a part of their childhood!" Diadora screamed.
"A necessary sacrifice." Narec muttered.
"They are so beautiful." Wendy exclaimed, unable to hide her admiration. "Roy had better genes than I thought. But what of their ages? They all hatched at the same time!"
"They are all of the same age." said Narec. "Now, their names shall be-"
"They're my kids! I'll name them, even if you call them something else...they are my kids." Diadora demanded, trying not to break down.
Narec merely sighed. "Very well, you have the right as descendant of Marthos." He pointed at one of the girls who had thin spiky purple hair and a yellow shell. Narec paused, waiting for an answer.
"Kristin Koopa." Diadora said, shaking from the emotional stress. Narec calmly walked to the next child, another female but bald with a gray shell and pointed at her.
"Stevie." she said quietly, now anticipating what would happen once this was over with. Narec pointed to the next child, a bald boy with a red shell.
"Vincent." Diadora replied. He pointed to the next, another girl with long yellow hair and a light blue shell.
"Beth..." Narec finally pointed at the last child, a boy with orange hair that seemed to spike in two directions, along with a matching shell.
"Duke. Now please, don't hurt them." she pleaded.
"They will not be tortured." Narec assured. "They will simply undergo the traditional ceremonies acquainted with the members of the Marthos branch. Once learning how to speak, they shall be educated to our history once learning how to speak. Do not worry, your children will serve as cherished vessels for the greater good. Let us be off then." With a snap of his finger, five wispy shapes appeared and materialized into dark hominid forms. Each picked up one of the children without instruction, and proceeded out of the room down a dark hallway. "When we are finished removing their hair and inducting them into our circle, they will soon be ready to meet Roy when he arrives." Narec said, grinning.
"I said they have the right to choose!" Diadora growled.
"You may also choose your fate, though I imagine the alternative to be less entertaining."
Diadora reached out through the bars and tried to grab onto Narec but he instead back away and touched his wand. Almost instantly, Diadora's vision became blurry and she swooned before darkness overtook her.
"Bring her to the initiation ceremony." said Narec, with Wendy simply nodding. With that he disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.
When Diadora came to, she was standing in the back of a large rustic room, the black rock warped and molded over time from deeds long past. But she could not move her body and instead felt trapped inside herself, some other force controlling her actions. She looked to her left and saw one of the wisps carrying off one of her children, Stevie. Much to her horror she saw an engraving on the child's right palm, a fresh wound still bleeding forth onto her arm.
"STOP IT!" she cried, but no words came from her mouth. She had been hypnotized into the sacred ritual for the newborn against her will. Her children were being inducted into the Line of Marthos, a sacred ritual that set them apart from the rest of the family. Stevie was placed with her other siblings who stood at attention like zombies with all their hair shaved off; were they hypnotized too? This was a living nightmare. Diadora wanted to do something, anything to stop this living version of hell but her body would not move.
"Find the one named Vincent." a voice called out. He was the only child missing, but it didn't take long before he was found hiding behind the curtain. A wisp took him up and brought him before an altar in front of Diadora that lay upon a raised platform. There, Narec produced a knife crafted in gold and jewels.
"Nalaan est brigatum aran da orum." he chanted, "Brigath aran est cleruen mari." With that, he grabbed Vincent's right hand forced open his hand. Diadora tried to look away but she was forced to watch as the enchanted blade cut into his palm the ancient symbol of the Line of Marthos. Blood ran down his arm and a wisp quickly wrapped a towel around it. The symbol flickered for a moment before disappearing altogether. The ritual over, the wisp then brought the child to Diadora, who in her shock did not know what she would do. But as the wisp stopped, she suddenly found control of her limbs again.
"Hi mommy." said a voice in her mind. How did he know how to speak so early? She struggled to keep composure and accepted Vincent into her arms. Every part of her wanted to run out of there, but she knew she would be killed and the other children tortured if she tried. But if she didn't do something, then her kids would grow up and be no better than any other descendant of Marthos.
"Alorum rein maron." she began the prayer as she had done four times before, but in the process she slipped a ring from her finger and into Vincent's shell. "Mirus an. Mirun ka aresh. Jaren arai." She reluctantly gave Vincent back to the wisp and watched as he was placed in the middle of the other children at the left of the room. "Be strong honey." Diadora thought, hoping he could hear her. "Rely on yourself." Miraculously, Vincent seemed to make a short nod as he mimicked the movements of his siblings. Soon after, Diadora felt the darkness over-sweep her again until she lost all her vision.
Narec walked down from the altar and stood in front of the children, looking over each of them carefully. Diadora walked over to join him, looking over her children with a blank look. Seemingly satisfied, Narec placed a hand over his heart. "For the will of Koopa!"
The other children mimicked his movements. "For the will of Koopa!" they all struggled to say, some better than others. Vincent briefly looked at his mother and noticed that her eyes were now blank, not full of sorrow like they were before. What was going on? Why couldn't his other siblings notice what was what happening? Filled with more questions than answers, he looked forward again watching Narec looking upwards, chanting some prayer. "Now, let us teach you the art of speech and the power of manifesting your world in the name of Koopa." Narec walked out of the chamber and his siblings followed rank and file, and Vincent mimicked their movements as best he could. He was going to have to figure things out on his own.
Across vast stretches of the world, flooding ravaged numerous coastlines drowning tens of thousands of people within hours. Earthquakes wobbled skyscrapers that remained standing in the cities that still tried to function normally, terrifying those around them. Even more people starved, finding their usual food shipments running dry in their comfortable city lives. After moments of hesitation, a suicidal mother killed her infant child with her bare hands before stabbing her head with a kitchen knife. A group inside a city apartment cut open a fresh corpse for their daily meal, an inexpensive solution to the ongoing food problem.
"Tasty..." said Iggy, drawing their figures on the wall with a piece of charcoal. A squadron of Magikoopa's, formally serving Ludwig Von Koopa before their rebellion saluted their commander in earnest. Then, upon command they each branded a wand and pointed it at their temples. "For the glory of Koopa, we shall watch and pray for you in heaven." they all said in unison. "Farewell, O glorious!" Blasts of light erupted through the ranks, and soon the bodies of 1,300 Magikoopa's littered the ground.
Iggy laughed hysterically at the sight. "Brothers of heaven! Please, please see what you did wrong! You were just before the finale, the culmination! Watch what happens, if you can and see..." he sighed, frantically drawing their figures on the wall. He doubted most people could see the big picture. Watching hundreds to thousands of people dying every day did a number to Iggy's mind, being forced to see the minds of his race due to his position as Spirit King. He could ignore them if he wanted, but only for a small time. Death has a way of announcing itself to other people: the loss of emotion from the body's neural shutdown, the disconnection of the telepathic gateways, the sudden rise of panic and delusion that's blind to reason, all of these things could be ignored by the fool who knows nothing of the world and its people, but not Iggy Koopa. He had to see it all.
That made him wonder how much others could see of him. He had kept a good appearance to his brothers and to Penny, but it was easy to put on a mask to hide something. The struggle was keeping it on as a volcano of anger and frustration threatened to billow forth ruining all his progress. The monarchs could see his conscious mind if they wished to, but they hadn't done that lately. No brainer as to why.
"How...many more days." Iggy heard himself say. Yes yes, this was the insanity phase and he usually forgot he was insane. Down here it was easy to forget such things. The body was barely able to tolerate the bullshit, but this was the only way to experience this, to learn from this. He had to keep it going. Iggy never forgot losing his mind in the past, knew that history. He told himself he never would again.
But the thought made him burst out laughing. "Hehe...how much do you know?" He looked upon his charcoal mural which lined and entire wall inside one of the upper rooms of Erzembar. He sighed again. This was all negative. Where was the counter balance? Not in the 90% it seemed, though some tried to rationalize their situation while others played the lying game so common amongst his race. Except he saw all those too.
Iggy chuckled again. This was all so ridiculous. He could barely do his job as Spirit King in this state. If he wasn't being bombarded by questions from incarnate and discarnate spirits and thoughts of death and suicide constantly then he knew he could be helping his siblings a lot more than now. Iggy knew about Narec for quite some time. He could probably fight him and defeat him, but not in this state. Not with millions of voices talking to him, not with millions of dreadful realities filling his vision,
Iggy saw Penny warp into their old bedroom and sit down. Her mind bothered him then, striking a chord and so teleported into his old room. He found her there sitting on the bed with her back to him. The bright sun however distracted him, filtering through the narrow windows like bright stage lights. He looked at his watch, which read 10:05 PM. He did a double take. "Why is the sun up?" he asked, tilting his head as he looked at Penny.
"Because you're crazy." she replied.
Iggy laughed. "I am crazy, yes I am. But not crazy enough to stop the planet from rotating. The last weeks must have started...then."
Penny said nothing.
"That is a problem...of course it happens at the last second." Iggy muttered.
"I worked so hard on this." Penny said. "I designed all those hydroponic gardens in the basement levels. Now they're all flooded. Those walls weren't supposed to crack, Iggy."
"Don't look at me." said Iggy. "I don't run the site."
Penny rolled her eyes and sighed.
"It was probably that snow we got a few days ago." said Iggy. "And this place has been rumbling lately. The Kermillion fault is probably opening up. The aquifer didn't handle the run off well...but it was 6 inches, so it wouldn't anyway. Well, I saved some of that harvest outside and transplanted them into Marthos so we won't totally starve. Is the temple a total loss or can some thing be salvaged?"
"...the underground levels are all flooded except the first two." said Penny. "All the food is gone. Everyone is flipping out. I don't know what to tell them...rations? That won't last forever."
"Move them into Marthos." said Iggy. "We'll figure out how the food will work from there."
"I guess I don't have a choice."
"I would salvage whatever you can, and ask everyone to help you with the move." Iggy suggested. "We haven't explored the basement of that place yet, so there may still be a few surprises left over."
"I don't know how you can say that after what you're going through." Penny said. "I don't think someone is qualified to say that when they act that crazy."
"Penny, let it go." Iggy warned. "Or you won't survive."
"I probably won't survive at this point." Penny muttered.
"All because your shelter took a direct hit." Iggy countered. "As we all know, the world revolves around you."
Penny said nothing. "Come on, there's one more shelter to the north." Iggy continued. "Like I said, I already brought what was left of the garden in there and we're growing off of that. Plus, there's the seeds Erzembar refuses to let go of, but I think I'll force it from him."
"I just wanted to escape the voices in my head." said Penny, curling into a ball. "The ones that die. Now I can't run from them anymore."
"I've been naked against them since the beginning." said Iggy.
"How the hell do you do that?" asked Penny.
"By letting go." Iggy answered. "Don't hold onto anything or anyone for long."
"Doesn't stop you from going crazy though, does it?" Penny countered.
"There's too many of them for our little minds to handle." said Iggy. "You gotta have...hehe...some kind of outlet. They just clutter up otherwise then you snap and its all over."
"I don't know what to think anymore." Penny buried her head. "What do I do?"
"Don't think. Feel." Nothing happened for a while. Iggy looked out the window again with a million things on his mind. "Alright?" he asked.
Penny looked up but said nothing.
"The mind is the instrument of the heart, not its controller." Iggy explained. "Or there's that old saying: the mind is a wonderful servant but a terrible master. No matter what the mind says, the heart creates your reality. The mind merely directs it. As the world continues to fall apart the mind will not stand to see what it sees."
"Denial." said Penny. "I think that's the issue. This is happening."
"Whether your mind likes it or not, yes." said Iggy.
There was a pause, then Penny got up and walked over to Iggy and simply looked at him. They didn't say anything as a flurry of thoughts danced between their subconscious minds, but eventually Penny couldn't take it anymore and grabbed hold of him.
"I think we need to stick to each other more often." Iggy commented. "My insanity seems to quiet down a little bit when I'm around you."
"We've been away too long." said Penny. "I forget obvious things sometimes."
"We all do. Let's just make it a habit to work together then by ourselves, if that's alright with you. I know there's the urge in the other direction, but we have to ignore it because we deserve better than being alone and miserable. Yeah, it's kinda hard to believe but you deserve better. The pole shift makes anyone miserable if you let it, but it's the ones that keep their heads and hearts held high that shine."
"You would've been a great motivational speaker." Penny said.
"There's something I should do." he said to himself.
"Thank you Iggy." Penny smiled. "One reason why I love you." She gave him a quick kiss.
"See? Love always wins." grinned Iggy. "Now, ready to go out there and fix this mess?"
"If you're with me, I am." said Penny.
Iggy started, then remembered something. "Will you think about it now?" he asked.
"I'll think about it." responded Penny. "But it doesn't mean I will."
"If we have food that is." Iggy said.
"Yeah. There's that. But I know its important for you, so I'll think about it." They both looked outside in thought, and each had their eyes glued to The Great Destroyer which hung in the sky next to the sun. It was now larger than the moon, watching over all below as it continued to wrack the planet with deluge and destruction. An Earth tremor snapped the pair back to reality and they teleported out of Erzembar to begin the evacuation of the Temple of Inauro.
