Chapter 3.6: Kamek's Mess

Alboort floated out of the country house. He looked around and pulled out his Thieftech. "Okay, Waluigi, I'm going up to give Kamek a piece of my mind." He clenched his ghostly fist. "He's going to regret being a two-faced weasel."

Waluigi raised an eyebrow. "Waluigi thought you were going to get Kamek out of the way so he wouldn't mess up the plan to kidnap the princess." He held his chin for a moment. "Besides, aren't we stabbing Bowser in the back by going through all this trouble?"

Alboort's glasses and almost fell off his face. "Well, first off, I certainly hope that Toadsworth didn't hear you."

Waluigi waved the comment off. "Please. That guy spends too much time sleeping."

Alboort adjusted his glasses. "Okay. Well, it's a bit different between us and Kamek. He tried to weasel his way out in the middle of a deal. We at least waited until the deal was through before we tried anything."

Waluigi laughed. "Ah, Waluigi's just giving you a hard time." He winked. "Be sure to blast that loser an extra time for Waluigi."

Alboort smiled wryly. "Well, it's not like I'm using this as an excuse to just beat Kamek up. He does pose a threat on our plans."

"Okay. Waluigi gets it." Waluigi span his hand in the air flippantly. "Next question: How are you going to get up to where Kamek is? Last time Waluigi checked, that loser was flying around somewhere near the fifth floor."

"You're right." Alboort looked up at the volcanic castle. "Fortunately, despite it's antique look, Bowser's castle is rigged to the gills with circuits."

Waluigi held his chin. "Well, wouldn't the circuits be even crazier than the room structure? If Waluigi remembers right, you sent Toadsworth in to find Princess Peach because of how Bowser had the castle built."

"That's a good point. But don't worry." Alboort pulled out a printed out blueprint. "According to these schematics, Bowser knows his electrical designs better than his architectural designs. I just need to remember to go up more than to the side."

Waluigi nodded. "Okay. Look, Waluigi wants to get dinner eaten, so how about you call him back when you get to the fifth floor."

"All right." Alboort nodded. "Yeah. I'll probably need to focus on the wires anyway. When I hacked his computer systems, I found out that he likes to pump way too much electricity into his castle."

Waluigi's eyes grew wide. "Wow. The Fat Lizard must be loaded with gold to do something like that."

Alboort nodded. "Perhaps. He never seems to run out of money, seeing how he can always build a new castle every time Mario destroys it."

Waluigi grinned. "Okay. Waluigi's just going to stop talking, so you can go beat up Kamek, and we can hurry up and get to the big heist."

"Okay." Alboort shut his Thieftech and put it away. He looked around and floated his way toward the castle.

After Alboort entered Bowser's Castle, he looked both ways and started floating down the hall. "Okay, let's see. Plug-in. Plug-in. Pl-" He froze and disappeared when he heard clacking.

A Dry Bones walked down the hall towards Alboort. After passing the invisible Boo, it swiveled its skull around. It turned to the wall and removed a stone plate. After examining the inside of the area the stone had been removed from, it picked up the stone and replaced it. Turning back onto its path, it crackled its way down the hall.

After the Dry Bones was gone, Alboort reappeared and floated over to the place with the removable stone. He pulled it away from the wall and smiled. "A fuse box. That'll work." He shrunk down and phased into the circuitry.

After entering the electrical box, Alboort looked around. "Well, now the trick is to go up." He floated down the circuits until he found one going up. He adjusted his glasses, watching the electricity go up. "Well, there's no way I could jump up that thing or climb it." He tapped his head a couple times. "However, if I can time it just right, I could jump onto one of these electrical charges and ride it up safely." He floated over and jumped up, closing his eyes.

After a minute, Alboort opened his eyes. "Oh, wow. I wasn't really sure that's work." He looked up to see the top of the cord. "But I should probably jump off before I get crushed."

As the electrical charge reached the top, the Boo jumped off. He looked around and floated down the cord. "Now, if I've done my math right, I should be on the second floor." He continued floating down the cord. "Now, there should be another cord that goes uuu-"

Alboort shook his head after landing on an electrical charge. He looked up. "I'm also going to have to watch out for cords that go back down. He jumped off as he approached the top. "Now, to find a circuit that goes up."

Alboort floated for a while before finding a circuit that went up. He hopped onto the electrical charge and made his way up.

A similar process occurred on the third floor, and it seemed to go smoothly during the trip up from the fourth to the fifth floor.

Alboort looked up and swallowed. "A broken circuit!"

The electrical charge ended halfway up the line, and the Boo dropped down to the previous floor.

Alboort shook his head and put his glasses back on. "I'm going to remember to hold down the A button when I get close to the ground, so I can soften my fall." He looked around and jumped off of the circuit plate before another jolt came up. He looked back and adjusted his glasses. "Now to find a circuit that isn't broken."

It took a few minutes, but Alboort found a ride up to the fifth floor. There, he looked around for a bit. "Now, to find a way out. There should be a fuse box somewhere." He soon found himself in a cavernous room. "Here we go." He floated to the front and phased out of the circuits.

As Alboort landed on the stone floor, he looked around. He pulled out his Thieftech. "Okay, Waluigi, I'm on the fifth floor."

"Sounds good." Waluigi held his chin. "But how are you planning to get to Kamek? He's flying around the whole party while you're stuck on the ground."

Alboort nodded. "That's a good point. But I do have a plan." He pulled out one of his bombs. "If I can just find a balcony, I could set one of these up and blow it up to catch Kamek's attention. I'll then continue to set these off to catch the head Magikoopa's attention."

Waluigi raised an eyebrow. "But what about the other guards? Wouldn't they hear the explosions, too?"

Alboort adjusted his glasses. "I doubt it. Even though Bowser is a bit paranoid, his main floor is the fourth floor. Even if he was expecting Mario to show up at all during the Koopa Ball, guards would be posted in the the first four floors and Peach's tower. The fifth floor is all Kamek's."

Waluigi scratched his head. "But what will you do after you get that weasel's attention? Last time Waluigi check, you're still leaving Kamek in the air."

"Another good point." Alboort looked around. "I'll need to lead Kamek to his lab. There, I could probably blow up a couple of solutions to throw him off his broomstick. I can then beat him up with my tongue."

Waluigi pointed weakly at Alboort. "You know, Alboort, the fact that your main attack is licking people kind of creeps Waluigi out a little."

Alboort shrugged. "I'll admit, it's not the most sophisticated means of attack, but it's what we Boos do."

Waluigi nodded. "Well, you go show that weasel up real quick. And don't worry, if you have too much trouble, you can just call Waluigi, and he'll be out there as fast as he can."

Alboort sighed. "Thanks, Waluigi."

Waluigi shrugged. "Well, you and Waluigi are on the same team, and a team needs to support one another." He snickered. "And we can't let anyone beat a member of the team up until we start arguing over shares of the payoff."

Alboort laughed lightly. "I just hope I don't end up getting stuck between you and Ashley. Otherwise, my share might as well go to medical bills."
Waluigi waved the comment off. "You and Waluigi can talk about that later. For now, just go out there and kick some Kamek rear!"

Alboort chuckled. "Okay. I get it. Yes, I was stalling, but I'm going now." He shut his Thieftech and put it away. Humming, he floated down the hall.

It took Alboort a few minutes, but he soon found a balcony jutting out over the party. He floated onto it and looked around for Kamek. After seeing the Magikoopa, he pulled out a bomb and set it on the balcony. "It's showtime." He floated back towards the hall and blew the bomb up."

Kamek looked down at the balcony. "What's that?" He flew down to the balcony. "Trespassers?"

When Alboort saw Kamek, he set another bomb up in the hall. He flew down a bit, setting the bomb off.

Kamek looked up. "Who is it!" He ran into the hall.

Alboort looked around the corner. "Okay. Now, I just need to lead him to the lab." He tapped his chin a couple times. "It should be a door with a red, a green, and a blue crystal on it." He looked back at Kamek. "Oh, I should probably set another bomb, so I can keep Kamek's attention." He strapped a bomb to the wall, floated away a bit, and pressed the button to blow the bomb up.

Kamek jumped on his broom. "Come here!" He flew down the hall.

Alboort nodded as he saw Kamek. He set a bomb down on the floor and floated down the hall.

Kamek heard the next explosion. He flew down the hall, grumbling, "Whoever this is, they're not very smart. For sabotage, they should be blowing up the bottom of the castle, not the top."

Alboort saw Kamek coming and turned. A glint caught his eye, and he turned to see a door with three crystals in it. "Here we are." He placed a bomb in front of the door and floated inside.

After Alboort had entered the lab, he turned to the door and disappeared.

Not long after, Kamek opened the door and flew into his lab. "Who's in here! Nobody's allowed in here!" He flew higher towards the room's high ceiling.

Alboort appeared and looked up at Kamek. The Magikoopa wasn't looking his direction, and he was sitting over a table with fuming bottles and other hazardous looking materials.

The Boo smirked. "This is too easy." He floated over and placed a bomb on the table. He floated away a bit and set the bomb off.

"What the-!" Before Kamek could respond, he was splashed by a geyser of multicolored potions and strange chemicals. He sputtered as he fell off his broomstick and landed with a thud.

Alboort didn't waste any time. He floated over and started lashing his ghastly tongue against the Magikoopa.

Kamek stood up. "You! What are you doing here?"

Alboort adjusted his glasses. "Well, I thought that you did deserve some payback for what you tried back at Peach's Castle." He looked down at his tongue. "And I don't see what you have to complain about. I'm using my tongue to attack, and you don't taste disgusting."

Kamek scowled. He grabbed his broomstick as it flew down to him and flew up on it. He turned to Alboort. "You don't like my taste, huh?" His magic rod started glowing. "Then taste this!"

Alboort dodged last second. "No, I don't think so." He dodged a couple more attacks, noticing that Kamek was flying over another table. "If I could just get over there and blow that up." He dodged another attack and sped forward. He placed a bomb on the table and flew away from it.

Kamek was blown out of the air by another chemical explosion. When he landed, he found himself being assaulted by Alboort's tongue again. After a few seconds, he called his broom down and flew over to the other side of the room. "Yuck! Disgusting!" He started letting loose two magic blasts at a time.

Alboort floated over to the table beneath the angry Magikoopa. He placed a bomb on a potion bottle and flew away.

Kamek was once again doused in hazardous liquids and careening down to the ground.

Alboort attacked the Magikoopa similarly to before. Oh, this is so gross!

Kamek stomped his feet and called his broom down. He flew away from the Boo, shaking his fist. "You'll pay for your impudence! Pay, I say!" He started shooting off three magic blasts at a time.

Alboort floated back and forth for a bit, having trouble seeing through the magic blasts. As he approached Kamek's position, though, he smirked. "With as smart as Kamek's supposed to be, you'd think he'd learn to stop flying over tables." He dodged a couple more magic blasts and placed a bomb on the table.

Kamek screamed as he was blasted by the fourth table's contents. He spiraled down and screamed as he was licked into submission by the Boo.

Soon, Kamek backed up and grabbed his head. "Curse you, Boo! You and those Yoshis! You're all disgusting with those tongues!" He fell over backwards and trembled. "So many tongues. So disgusting." He passed out.

Alboort floated over to his knocked out opponent. He smiled and pulled out his Thieftech. "Okay, Waluigi. I think Kamek's decided to go to bed early tonight."

Waluigi laughed. "Gave him the good old one-two punch, right?"

Alboort adjusted his glasses and grimaced. "No, I licked him."

Waluigi stared blankly at Alboort. "You know, that's still weird."

"I know." Alboort stuck his tongue out. "Look, can we talk about this later? I really just need to come back to the hideout and wash my tongue off."

Waluigi nodded. "You're not exactly subtle out in the field, either."

Alboort nodded. "I'll see you later." He put his Thieftech away and floated out of the lab.

Mission complete,

signed

-Alboort

---

Speaking of bombs, I'm betting everybody's wondering why I haven't given Bomb-ombs to Waluigi. Well, he's supposed to be the sneaky guy. Also, it would just seem cliché to chuck those explosive guys all over the place (as if saving Peach from Bowser isn't cliché).

Anyways, I might add Bomb-ombs later.

Also, the Koopas and the Goombas are at the Koopa Ball. That's why there are only Dry Bones in the hallway.

By the way, I call stages like these mini-bosses for the sole purpose that they are a fight with usually only one or two people who are not quite as powerful as the main boss.

For now, enjoy and review.