A/N: Sorry it took so long, but I've finally finished and uploaded a map to go along with this story. If you're familiar with my Super Koopa series (which I consider to be in the same canon as this story), you might know that I made a map for the Mushroom Kingdom and its neighbours, created by compiling various actual world maps from various games and twisting them around to fit together. Well, same deal here: everything is roughly in the same position relative to all the other places as in the game map, but a bit stretched, rotated and shifted around in order to fit the design I already had drafted for the western expanse of the Mushroom Kingdom. The resulting map can be found on DeviantArt by Googling "Western Mushroom Kingdom" – I hope you like it and/or find it useful for understanding the story!


Chapter 44: Foe


"Hey, Bowser!"

"Huh? Chippy?" Bowser sighed. "Silent treatment's over, is it?"

"Awww, did you miss me?"

"As if."

Starlow's snort was identical to Bowser's. "Well, whatever. Listen, don't walk away from that machine – leave it shining on your gut."

"Why?" Bowser narrowed his eyes suspiciously, turning to look back at the projection on the wall behind him.

"Erm, the light is, uh, shining on some stuff, and making it easier to fix some things that got messed up when you grew giant just now."

"Hey, I didn't turn myself giant – you did," huffed Bowser.

"Yeah, and you're welcome for that – or would you rather have stayed smushed under the Tower of Yikk?" snapped Starlow, not appreciating Bowser's ungrateful tone of voice.

Of course, if he had considered thanking Chippy for saving his life before, he certainly wasn't planning to now. "That wasn't my fault either," growled Bowser, instantly snapping Starlow out of her latest flare-up with the inadvertent reminder that it had been her fault. Not that he knew that, of course, and he kept on arguing. "Anyway, I don't see anything messed up on that display of my body on the wall."

"It's not really something you can see," said Starlow. "But trust me, it's there."

"Y'know, I don't see you up there either…" remarked Bowser.

"I'm small too, and your body's pretty complicated, so that chart's not the easiest to understand, I imagine."

"It is kinda jumbly," said Bowser. "Bwa ha ha! But of course a Koopa as awesome as I am wouldn't be easy to understand. I'm a pantheon of nature!"

"You mean paragon…"

"Glad you agree," smirked Bowser. "And lucky you, you get first-hand knowledge of how amazing my innards are."

I can't believe I'm having this conversation, sighed Starlow. Being nice was one thing, but this was asking too much. "Look, are you gonna stay on the machine, or what?"

"Yeah, yeah, I will, don't worry… It's not like I can leave even if I wanted to…" he spoke that last bit in a low growl, glaring at Yikk's closed book.

"Once you get the Star Cure, I'll tell Yikk to let our cantankerous friend go," said Chakron to Starlow, who relayed the message – in a way.

"Well, if you keep using the machine, maybe it'll satisfy Yikk and he'll let you go before too long. Once I'm done cleaning up, try asking him to open the door for you."

"Or I could order him to, lest this trial run of his Boo-Shine Machine is its only run, gwa ha ha…"

"Boo-Ray Machine, and he can hear you, y'know!"

"…Ha h- Crap," Bowser turned towards the book. "Just kidding! Just, joking around with, uh…" Bowser had to admit, he wasn't sure how he could answer the question without sounding crazy. 'With the girl in my stomach'? No. 'With the voice in my head'? No. 'With myself'? No. "…Uh, just joking around," he finally finished, flashing another sheepish grin at the ghost book before turning and facing the machine. Yikk just chuckled to himself: if all his guests were as entertaining as the crazy Dragon-Koopa, perhaps he should just leave his tower on surface instead of repairing it and going back into hiding, as he had been planning.

Starlow, on the other hand, was not amused. Rolling her metaphorical eyes at Bowser's antics, Starlow then entered her illusion. The conversation between her and Chakron had taken place in only a couple moments, and she had been free to talk to Bowser not long after Yikk had retired. And now that he was taken care of, she wasted no time in rousing the Mario Bros. from the Rump Command, where they had been resting. Reviving Bowser took a lot out of them – literally, and Starlow hoped they wouldn't have to do it again. But either way, they couldn't afford to rest just now – not until Durmite was taken care of.

"Look! Over there! Some activity! Let's go check it out!" The Bros. obediently followed her back to the Energy Hold, getting there just as Chakron had the Boo blocks disappear. "Wow! WOW!" Starlow was hamming it up a bit, but it was a bit impressive to feel Chakron rip through the illusion for her. What she had sensed back when Bowser first encountered the Chakroad had been spot on: this Sage was packing a lot of power. She was glad he was on her side, but as always, she wasn't going to let the Mario Bros. in on the full story. It would take too long to explain, and they really had to catch that worm, so as always, she lied. "The barrier that bug escaped under just disappeared! The light from outside changes this place, huh? Now we can resume the chase! C'mon! Let's go!"

"Let's-a-go," agreed Mario, and he and Luigi set off, the latter finally clearing the final jump now that there were no blocks narrowing the top ledge.

In the next area was an Emoglobin. "Some things only globin knows… Like when one sees nothing… One must let light shine on to make the invisible-ish exist! Or the opposite. Some things shun the light and hide when light strikes their globin."

Clearly Bowser's energy had taken notice of the struggle between the hiding bug and the Star Sage now surfing on the beams of light that even managed to permeate Starlow's illusion, making the area shine. The caverns beyond the Emoglobin were deep and high-ceilinged, but Chakron was making nearly invisible stepping stones flash in the light, and the Mario Bros. were able to advance.

At least, at first. For they soon came to a twist in the path devoid of stairs, invisible or otherwise. Determined not to beat around the bush, Starlow called out for some help. "Uhhhh, Chakron?"

"The Sage is displeased with me," said Chakron. He was putting it mildly: his foe was furious. It was almost amusing how poorly she was taking his interference – his 'cheating'. She may be a Sage, but she was not so enlightened: even her attempts to work around Chakron's manipulation of her hijacked illusion was easily solved. "She is trying to use my powers against you. Have Bowser turn off the machine."

"But won't things be WORSE without your energy helping me?"

"In darkness you shall see the way forward. Trust in me as you ask the Dragon-Koopa to trust in you."

"Okay, if you say so…"

"I am pleased to see you are learning to listen…"

Smiling to herself at the compliment, Starlow shifted her mental link from Chakron to the Koopa King. "Hey, Bowser!"

"What?"

"Turn off the machine for a sec, okay?"

"But you said to leave it on."

"Yeah, but now I need it off."

"Fine, whatever." Bowser punched the machine's switch and the light went dim, but as he moved to wander around the room and stretch his legs, Starlow called out to him again.

"Wait! Don't go anywhere – I might need the machine turned on again."

"Grrr, make up your mind!" he growled, but he soon relented. "…Bah, there's nothing else to look at anyway, I suppose."

Starlow wasn't listening to his grumpy muttering anymore, however, for just as Chakron had told her, once the light was off, more Boo blocks appeared. But they were jumbled and rather than forming a barrier, they provided the Bros. with a set of footholds to jump their way to the next level of the area. As always, Emoglobins weren't the only encroachments Bowser's energy made on the illusion, and electric Napses hindered the Bros. progress as they navigated the maze. Soon, they caught their first glimpse of Durmite, but she had another trick up her sleeve and sealed the passage behind her.

Once more, Bowser's energy took notice of the change, and a nearby Emoglobin piped up when the door closed. "And then there was globin… O holder of the panel made of triangular-ish pieces…Be sure to press up in front of the gate on the left. Something…will happen. Globin."

Mario and Luigi walked up to the door, viewing the star-shaped hole above the door. "Man, this Sage doesn't know the meaning of subtlety," smirked Starlow. "Chakron, can you open this, please?"

"The waves of my energy are strong, but just as levies holds back a flood, so too is the door holding fast," replied Chakron. Unlike Durmite, who had no qualms about manhandling Bowser's energy to slow Starlow's progress, Chakron had no intention of hurting the Dragon-Koopa by forcing his way through. And the other Sage knew that. But it had taken a lot of her own energy to seal herself in, and Chakron would at least be able to help Starlow breeze through the hoops Durmite had left for her.

More mazes awaited the heroes as they searched for the Star Panel they needed to insert into the hole over the door. Incensed by the energy block Durmite had created for her door, Bowser's essence now attacked with a variety of new enemies in addition to the Napses. There were club-wielding Protobatter-like Pwollops of varying sizes, Piranha Plorps that looked like Piranha Plants made out of swollen blood vessels, and glowing Peps that specialized in speed, power or defense depending on their colour.

Mario and Luigi made quick work of all of them as they journeyed through the Energy Hold, speaking to various Emoglobins, making their very bored Koopa host flick the lights on and off at various intervals, and toggling switches that activated the star-shaped key one arm at a time. The first time they returned to the main chamber, the odd-shaped panel that popped out of the wall was useless, but after activating the switch for the arm opposite the first one, the result was a triangular piece.

While it was still three arms short of the star they need to follow Durmite, the triangle piece did end up fitting in a different door elsewhere in the puzzle. Chakron could have opened that doorway without the piece had Starlow asked, but the Sprite didn't want to rely on him for everything, which he was glad to see. While he wanted her to speed through the test, he didn't want to spoon feed her everything, after all: that would do her no favours once Bowser left the Boo-Ray Machine behind and Chakron would be reduced to advice-giving rather than first-hand assistance.

Wandering around the corridor unlocked by the triangle, Mario and Luigi soon came upon a strange screw sticking out of the ground and used their spin attack to send it burrowing down into the fleshy floor.

"Interesting…" remarked Starlow, entering the illusion as she wondered what the adversarial Sage meant to accomplish by putting something like that in their path. "By spinning, you drove that thing into the floor. Just like a drill!"

"Hmmm," hummed Mario, getting lost in thought for a moment before jumping with excitement. "Oh, Luigi – You know what would make some of these puzzles-a easier?"

Luigi tilted his head to the side. Mario could practically see the question mark in his brother's body language.

"We should use our old-a move to drill into the ground," he continued. "Y'know, the-a Drill Bros. technique. Then we could-a just go under some of these-a road blocks."

Luigi's eyes widened with comprehension, and in unison the two Bros. cried out "Ya-hoo!" Starlow then watched as Luigi pulled out his hammer and jumped on Mario's back, they then started to spin but instead of gliding across the ground, they buried straight down into it.

"That's so cool! You two spin together and drill down into the ground!" exclaimed Starlow. She had heard of the Drill Bros. move before and was geeking out a little at seeing it in person. She grinned as little poofs of illusionary dirt marked the Bros. progress as they moved around under the surface. "That's even cooler! If you move underground, you can get in tiny openings and under barriers!" Starlow's fangirlish glee was cut short when the Bros. erupted out of the ground right beneath her and Luigi clocked her with his raised fist, sending her flying. "Hey! Watch where you're popping out, will you!" she snarled when she came zooming back.

Mm-hmm," nodded Mario as Luigi grimaced apologetically.

Starlow decided that given the circumstances, she'd let the indignity slide and went back to musing about Durmite's maze. "I bet that Drill Bros. move can do more that bypass things… What you should do is try it on suspicious spots in the ground. Try it out in various places!"

"Oh yeah!" cried Mario, although he doubted they'd find any Beans or buried treasure inside Bowser. So, for the most part, they simply used their long-forgotten ability to progress through the area, finally activating the entire Star Panel.

Mario and Luigi caught a glimpse of Durmite hopping away the moment they got through the doorway. They figured it was their lucky day and hurried after the bug, but Starlow knew better: the Star Sage had only been waiting for them to rub it in their faces that she didn't need a head start. Sure enough, Durmite quickly slipped past another barrier of Boo blocks, these ones only intangible without the light shining, so Starlow had Bowser turn the machine off yet again. She wasn't worried, however – Chakron could still speak to her without the conduit, although he couldn't affect the energy. Still, Starlow was itching to get a crack at the Star Sage by herself. Deep down, she knew she was being reckless, given how Durmite far outstripped her in rank, energy, abilities and experience, but Starlow was a hot-blooded Sprite and she couldn't help but look forward to confronting the stuck-up Sage.

Jumping to get Mario's attention, Luigi spoke up. "Let-a me get it bro, I'll sneak up on it nice and-a slow."

"Oh yeah!" said Mario with an encouraging jump. Luigi smiled at his brother and then walked past him. Mario watched as Luigi slowly stepped towards Durmite, who was also creeping forward, away from him.

Suddenly, she turned. "Wah!" yelped Luigi, also turning and covering his head as if he was cowering from something. And to Mario's surprise, this peek-a-boo method actually seemed to work, for Durmite turned back around and started hopping away again. Luigi went after her, but this time when she caught him in the act and he tried to hide his face again, rather than retreating, the worm slowly crawled over to Luigi. Mario instinctively tensed up: now was Luigi's chance. But instead of pouncing, his brother remained crouched over with his back to Durmite, who now raised herself up and sniffed at his rear end. Then came the next surprise, as the bug briefly latched onto the seat of Luigi's pants. Mario just raised an eyebrow at the antics, but Starlow was leery: what exactly was the Sage up to?

Durmite quickly popped off, making a face and spitting out the bad taste Luigi's energy left in her mouth. She started crawling away once more, but Luigi hadn't given up and creeped after her with Mario walking up behind him. Then, before Durmite could turn around, Luigi pulled off his hat and whapped it down on top of her with a "Wah!" However, Durmite was stronger than she looked and started thrashing around inside he hat with enough force to wave Luigi himself around. "Whoawawawa!" he yelped, but the hat soon stilled and he chanced a peek under the rim. But nothing was there.

Mario and Luigi blinked in confusion, but a sound behind them drew their attention and they turned to see Durmite hopping around free as a jaybird and grinning cheekily at the Bros. Luigi pushed past Mario and hurried after the worm and threw his hat down once more, but before he even had a chance to see if he had caught her that time, the ground behind him began to shift. Mario backed up and watched as Durmite came bursting out of the floor. Luigi turned and tried to catch her again, but once more she buried out from under the hat. Getting back up, he started to look for her, and Mario sighed.

"Luigi," he called. "It's-a no use. The bug will-a just escape again."

"I know, but we have to try-a something," said Luigi, walking up to Mario, unaware that Durmite was once again attached to his derriere.

"Yes, but if that-a something doesn't work the first-a three times, we should try-a something else," argued Mario.

"Like what? We don't-a have any butterfly nets or-a anything, and the bug is-a too slippery to catch by hand. She's fast and-a sneaky, but I'm-a sneaky too. I'm-a-gonna use my hat again, but this time I'll-a sweep her up with it – she won't-a be expecting that now that I've-a lured her into a false sense of security." Luigi's eyes gleamed as he voiced his plan, but as he brushed past Mario, the shorter man called out in surprise.

Luigi turned just as Durmite popped off his butt again, once more gagging on the taste. Luigi uses his hat again, but he wasn't fast enough and once more, Durmite burst out of the ground behind him and began hopping towards the wall. Luigi lunged after her, but she was too fast and wiggled under the overhang. And as if sliding into the wall wasn't bad enough, Durmite ejected all the energy she had siphoned off of Luigi right back into his face in a yellow puff of stinky gas.

Luigi just lay there as she crawled away. "Why do the Stars-a hate me?" he muttered to himself, thinking back to the time he and Mario visited the Star Shrine. The door refused him access, and while it later did let him in and claimed it was all just a test of character, he knew better. The things the door whispered to him weren't something one joked about.

"Don't-a worry, Luigi," said Mario, walking over and pulling his brother to his feet.

"Yeah, it's not you – that Sage is being an uncooperative jerk to all of us," said Starlow, entering the illusion.

"Mm-hmm," nodded Mario.

"I guess you're-a right," sighed Luigi.

"Of course we are, now shake a leg, you two – the sooner get our hands on that worm the better," said Starlow.

"Oh yeah!" chorused the Mario Bros., and using the Drill Bros. technique they hurried after the Sage. Unfortunately, she had actually used her head start this time, and they just barely caught a glimpse of her disappearing at the far side of the next area. With Chakron's silent help they used various blocks and vortices of wind to climb to the top of the cavern, and after navigating the maze that followed after that, they finally caught Durmite out in the open once more, at the bottom of a shallow valley.

Luigi was done trying to be sneaky and ran ahead of Mario after they hurried down the hill. He lunged through the air but slid to a stop short of his wriggling foe. Mario dived over his brother as Durmite hurried away, but he too missed the mark. The Bros. sprang to their feet as their slippery foe started to climb the far hill, determined to not let her get to the next area and whatever tedious challenges awaited them there, but Durmite was done.

"ENOUGH!" she screeched, turning around halfway up the incline hopping irately at the Mario Bros. "Persistent men, aren't youuu? What is it you want with meee?"

The Bros. were relieved their chase was finally over, but Starlow felt like she had just been stabbed. She didn't even hear what Luigi was saying as he started explaining the station; her world was starting to spin. It was bad enough when she thought it was just some random Sage that was ignoring her, forcing her to jump through hoops and treating her friends like fools, but it wasn't a random Sage: Starlow recognized the worm's voice. It was the one that had been so supportive at the beginning of the whole inside Bowser fiasco, the one that had promised to help, the one that Starlow thought she could trust. It was a voice she had known for years, and which she'd recognize anywhere: it was the voice of her mentor.

Wisdurm.