Paper Ed Chapter 14: Bowser/Peach's Castle III

Peach sat on the bed, her hands pressed under her chin as she thought about what she could do to potentially help the Star Warriors. Twink sat next to her seemingly imitating her exact pose like a mirror image. Finally, after several minutes of silence the Princess spoke up.

"Coming up with any ideas of what we can do Twink? I'm drawing a blank" she said

"Set the place on fire and sacrifice you for the greater good of the Kingdom" said Twink almost instantly

"uhh, hahaha" Peach laughed nervously "Maybe something that doesn't involve a mass homicide. Besides, I tried setting Bowser on fire five years ago, all he does is run in circles and scream until he passes out, and then he wakes up later feeling fine.

"You tried to set him on fire!?" shouted Twink in shock

"Oh yeah, every freaking time he's kidnapped me I've tried to murder that pervert and he somehow miraculously survives." Peach said "I think he has nine lives like a cat or something."

"….How, dare I ask…" said Twink still selling shock at this revelation

"The usual methods: poisoning, stabbing, explosives, gun shots, choking, the old toaster in the bath tub technique, even tried an ancient koopa torture method involving a tapeworm and a shoehorn..." Peach said

"What…the…hell?" said Twink his eyes as big as golf balls at this point

"Yeah, I need to step up my game a little bit, maybe I need to explore some more exotic torture methods..." said Peach scratching her chin

"THAT'S IT!" shouted Twink

"You know a new torture method! Awesome, when do we nail that sucker hahaha." Peach said rubbing her hands together

"No…" said Twink "I mean, maybe if we explore the castle a little bit we can find some info about Bowsers next move, that way we can give the Star Warriors a heads up what's going on up here."

"Great idea" said Peach jumping up off the bed before walking to single red door on the far side of the room, she gripped the gold door handle and tried to turn it before quickly realizing it was locked "Uh, Twink I think it's locked"

"Not for long" said Twink before rocketing across the room and smashing into the door and falling to the ground in a heap

"Twink!" said a concerned Peach

"Princess, quit making all that racket in there" said a voice on the other side of the door

"Yeah, ya know what shove it Clark." said Peach to the voice on the other side of the door

"Hey, don't this out on me! I'm just a poor Koopatrol trying to make a living, those five kids of mine don't feed themselves" said Clark

"Eh, sorry Clark, I'm just frustrated." said Peach picking up a dazzed Twink "Listen can you let me out of this room for a little while so I can get some fresh air, please"

"Sorry princess, but I'm under strict orders to not open this door unless Lord Bowser says so" said Clark

"Please Clark, I'll do anything if you let me out" asked Peach with her ear pressed up against the door

"Well, I've been standing here for three days now and I've been very lonely-"

"HELL NO!, Bowsers been barking up that tree for years now and he hasn't even gotten close hahaha" said Peach

"Well can you at least order me some strippers or something?" said Koopatrol

"Sure get right on my cell and take care of that, oh wait! You all took that too!" said Peach

"Princess" Tink whispers from across the room "Look at this."

Peach walked over to the fireplace where Twink was pointing and sticking out of the wall on the right side of the fireplace was a big red button. The button had been hidden behind an old portrait that had fallen to the ground when Twink hit the door earlier.

"Should we push it?" asked Twink whose hand was now only inches from it

"Uh, sure let's give it a shot." said Peach

And with that Twink pushed the red button, the fire place instantly extinguished and the back wall of the fire place began to rise up revealing a small exit out of the room!

"How long has that been there?" said Twink

"Oh! I remember this, the Castle Minister once told me about a secret escape route in this room, this must be it" said Peach

"Well let's see where it goes then." said Twink

Peach and Twink proceeded through the exit and into a small, dark hallway. At the very end of the hallway was a small pedestal with a single candle present on it on the very front of this pedestal was another big red button. Peach and Twink quickly traveled down the hallway to the button, with only a few small candles lining the walls providing them with light. Once they reach the button, they quickly pushed it causing the pedestal they were standing on to rotate around bringing the duo into another room. This one while slightly smaller seemed to contain a number of Bowser memorabilia including several pictures of Bowser and a giant gold statue depicting Bowser standing on a downed Mario.

"Well this is obviously Bowser's room" said Peach looking around

"Uh.. Princess you might want to look at this…" said Twink from across the room

The Princess looked over and almost threw up in disgust at what she saw. Taped all over one of the walls were several pictures of a slightly younger Princess Peach in a pink bikini posing in a variety of suggestive positions.

"Princess, how the hell did he get so many pictures of you in a swimsuit?" asked Twink

"I was in college, I needed the money, I posed for a magazine or two" said Peach shamefully

"But… you're a Princess why would you have to worry about money?" asked Twink

"Throw one little wild party while Dads out of town and get you your credit card privileges revoked that's how, let's keep looking around, this is making me sick" said Peach

"We're going to snoop around his room?" asked Tink

"Heck yeah, we need to dig up some dirt and this seems like the ideal place to start" asked Peach continuing to look around

She walked up to Bowser's desk which was surprisingly covered in many large books covering various subjects. One book in particular caught her eye, it was a small book with a worn brown leather cover, on the front read Bowser's diary.

"Oh my gosh Tink look its Bowser's diary" said Peach

"Sweet…. Are we going to read it?" asked Twink

"Oh yeah, this is exactly what we needed" said Princess Peach "shall we begin?"

Twink flew up and began flipping through the pages of the diary until they found an entrant written right before Bowser invaded the Mushroom Kingdom.

Day O/O Month: ?

Sunny

Today I went to Star Heaven and stole the Star Rod. Now I'm invincible! Cool! I also captured the Star Spirits, so they won't annoy me anymore. It was a hard day's work and I'm feeling pretty bushed. Dinner was nice but a bit bland.

"Well this is boring, keep reading let's get to the good stuff" said Peach

Day O/X Month: ?

Cloudy then Sunny

Today was great diary! I used my castle to lift Princess Peach's Castle way up into the sky! Then I barged into Princess Peach's Castle and beat up Mario! Yeah! Unbelievable I know! So fun! And there's more! After that, I kidnapped Princess Peach! I couldn't be happier, diary! I hope she likes me…

"In your dreams you perverted, oversized turtle" said Peach shivering in disgust

Day: X/X Month: ?

Sunny

F #K!, The Koopa Bros. got beat by those blasted brats diary, They even set free the star spirit I had hidden there. I'm so mad I can barely write! "Ohh, we're a bunch of booger eating little ba$#ers, we're so awesome we'll stop that big meanie Bowser." But you know what, I'm not worried. There's no way those little brats will save the Star Spirit in Dry Dry Ruins. To do that, they'd have to solve the mystery of the sands and then find Dry Dry Ruins in the Dry Dry Desert. How would they even know to do that? So I'm not worried at all. In fact, I'm so calm I'm gonna go to bed now.

"The Dry Dry Ruins in the middle of the Dry Dry Desert! One of the Stars Sprits is in that star-forsaken wasteland!" said Twink

"Twink, get to the kids and tell them about this as soon as possible" said Peach

"Right on it Princess Peach, I'll find them right away" said Twink

Suddenly, the door to the room flew open behind them and Bowser stepped into the room. He seemed oblivious to the Princess as he walked to his desk.

"Better check and make sure I didn't leave my diary lying out in the open. I'd hate for somebody to find that." said the Koopa King as he walked towards his desk. I was only when he got within about five feet of his desk did he notice the Princess standing there. Twink was hiding behind a nearby chair at this point.

"Princess Peach! How the f*&k did you get in here!" bellowed Bowser "Have you been reading my diary!? Errr… guards get in here right now!"

Quickly, two Koopatrols entered the room. They differed from regular Koopas in that they wore steel helmets over their heads with a sharp spike poking out the top and a large spiked steel plate pull over their shells. One of them spoke as they approached Bowser.

"What's the problem sir?" he asked

"You are the worst guards ever! Get the Princess back to her room now damn it!" Bowser screamed at the two guards.

"Yes sir, right away. We're sorry sir." one of them said

They quickly grabbed Princess Peach and pressed her over their heads with ease.

"LET ME GO NOW YOU DUMB METAL-HEADS! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!" Peach screamed as they quickly ran out of the room with her. Twink followed closely behind, Bowser and his goons oblivious to his presence.

Eldstar and Star Warriors stood outside of Koopa Bros. Fortress, which had fallen completely silent since the massive battle that had taken place on the roof. Most of the group was covered with bruises and scratches but the smiles on their faces masked any pain they were feeling. Eldstar finally spoke:

"Children, I believe you can save us all, from the bottom of my heart I appreciate you all for what you have done so far. Thank you. Since you have freed me from my prison, the seal on my power is broken, and I will now recover it little by little. As long as once of power remains in me, I shall help you any way I can. Now since I only have a fraction of my power is available to me I can only give my ability to one of you, which I will leave up to you to choose."

"I vote Double D" Nazz said almost immediately while raising her hand

"Yeah, we'd have been goners on that bridge if it wasn't for that awesome magic trick he pulled" Johnny agreed

"But what about the ones who defeated the Koopa Bros." said Double D "Surely they deserve it more than I do. After all they stopped the masterminds behind everything we witnessed here today."

"Nah Double D, you take it" said Eddy putting his arm over Double D's shoulder

"Yeah, pounding on those dorks was reward enough for me" Kevin quickly added

"Well ok then, I except" said Double D

"Very well then" said Elderstar

Eldstar spun into the air causing a small ball of what appeared to be star dust to shake off of him, the dust then almost telepathically enveloped Double D. Almost instantly, Double D felt stronger as a mythical power surged through him.

"There you are my child; you now possess the power of Refresh." Said Eldstar

"Refresh?" asked Double D puzzled

"Allow me to show you how to access this power. Look at your friends, put your hands together and pray. Pray about their health, their well-being, and focus." Said Eldstar

Double D put his hands together and bowed his head and said a small prayer. While this was unusual to him, seeing as he largely believed science could explain everything, something about the events going on around him seemed to have instilled a sort of faith in the supernatural. He thought about his friends in front of him and their bruises, cuts, and scratches and how he wished for them to dissipate. He then opened his eyes and shockingly his friends stood in front of him looking as if they hadn't been in a fight a few minutes prior. All of their bruising and scratches were gone and even their tattered clothing looked brand new. Double D even noticed his own wounds had miraculously healed.

"Incredible, this world never ceases to amaze me" said Double D

"Well done Double D." said Eldstar "Now while this will be a beneficial power to you on your journey, you must be weary as to when you use it. Once you use the refresh, the toll it will take on me and you will be great, especially in the heat of battle. Once you use it, it will be a while before you can use it again. The same will go for any future powers you all receive when you save my fellow Star Spirits.

"Now that that's settled, it is crucial that you all save the rest of the Star Spirits as quickly as possible. If all seven of us come together, we will be able to bestow upon you all a star power called the Star Beam. The Star Beam is the only weapon that can counteract the Star Rod's power. I must return to Star Haven now, I can't imagine the chaos that has ensued in my absence. But rest assured I will be watching over you all. Please save us all, my children."

And with that, Eldstar rocketed into the air leaving a trail of star dust in his wake. The children stood quietly for a moment watching the spirit fly into the sky. Finally, Ed broke the silence.

"Guys, the pretty star just flew away" he said as if clueless to the events that just occurred "COME BACK PRETTY STAR!"

"ED QUIT YELLING!" Sara shouted back in anger

"Children please, didn't we just pull apart?" said Sushie hopping between the two siblings

"So where to now?" asked Eddy

"Well, I suggest we head back to Toad Town and rest before figuring out where we need to go next." Said Kooper

"I agree" said Double D "while I think we are good on supplies, some rest would be marvelous."

The trip back through Pleasant Path was peaceful for the most part. Only a few Koopa Troopas and the occasional Goomba harassed the group but were no match for the large team. After walking in silence for several minutes a familiar voice broke the silence.

"Hold it right there dweebs! I've been waiting for you hahaha!" said the voice in a manner almost akin to a serial killer

The group froze in place, and then they all slowly turned to see Jr. Troopa pop out of the bushes behind them with a massive grin on his face.

"Ahola dweebs, I'm back! Now it's time for me to get my revenge yo!" said Jr. Troopa "Here, I come bitches!"

TO BE CONTINUED…