Author's Note: Hi, everyone! Ready for a super-special awesome epic chapter of epic proportions? Well, too bad! That's NEXT chapter. However, I'm pretty sure this chapter will be incredibly epic, too!


Chapter 52: Climbing through the Castle


Enter Coron:


With a loud THUMP!, I landed on my feet on a floating town in the sky. There were several small stars around, staring at me with wide-eyed horror.

"Where did the Dream Keeper go?" I growled, my claws itching to slice someone.

"Um… w-we probably shouldn't-" one brave Star kid said.

"WHERE!" I roared.

"Over there!" he meeped, pointing to an ancient looking building. I dashed past him, running on all fours now, heading to where he pointed. I could see him fainting out of the corner of my eye, but I didn't care. At that point, I didn't care about anything. You know how you humans have a tiny voice in your head that tells you not to do something if it's wrong or crazy? Nightmares don't have that voice, so there was NOTHING stopping me from focusing completely on my target: Destroying the Dream Keeper.

I reached the inside of the building to find a platform where some ship obviously docked. Ahead was deep space, and far away I saw what looked like a shooting star heading to a floating castle. Pulsing with energy, I jumped out, pitch-black bat wings sprouting from my back as I flew at lightning speed toward the castle and toward the Dream Keeper.

Before you move on to the Dream Keeper's part, I figured it would be worth explaining why I never did that before. Well, it's actually obvious: That's one of a few moves I only activate when in Instinct Mode. And if that's not good enough for you, then you can just go-


Enter Pax:


OKAY, let's stop there before this story's rating becomes M, shall we?

Anyway, after flying through space for a few minutes (all the while resisting the ever growing urge to do a Barrel Roll), we landed in the courtyard of Bowser's Castle. A river of lava flowed by, a bridge over it. Across the bridge was the actual castle, which was huge and menacing. At the very top of the castle was Peach's Castle, which looked pathetically puny in comparison.

"What is it with the final boss and the unexplainable urge to over-complicate everything?" I asked, putting one hand on my hip and holding the other out, pointing at the castle. "It makes you wonder how the antagonist himself gets around if it's so huge!"

"Maybe they take back ways or something?" Bombette suggested.

"Do you honestly think Bowser would be smart enough to build that?" I asked her.

"…okay, good point," Bombette admitted as we walked into the castle. The inside had a HUGE pit of lava spread out below with rope bridges spread across them. Standing on these bridges were what looked like Koopas clad in armor.

"Wow, Bowser's pulling out all the stops here!" Goombario said. "Those are Koopatrols! Those are Bowser's most elite of guards!"

"I gotta admit," Kooper said, "if it weren't for the fact I'd have to devote myself to Bowser, I'd train to be a Koopatrol in a heartbeat."

"Alright," I said, turning to my friends. "Any plans on how to out-smart these walking piles of iron?"

"…uh, we're right here, you know," one Koopatrol said. "We're not deaf."

"…CHARGE!" Parakarry cried. We all ran forward. The Koopatrols stood shoulder-to-shoulder to make a barrier to keep us from moving forward.

"Star Card, ACTIVATE!" I shouted, pulling out Skolar's Star Card. In a flash of light, the Star Spirit appeared. One Star Storm later, we ran around the unconscious forms of the elite soldiers and made our way into the next room.

The next room was completely empty, save for the far wall, which had a face carved into it.

"Mua-ha-ha!" the face laughed. "Mario! So you're finally here…"

"Uh… yeah, I am," I nodded.

"Well," the wall said, "guess you'll just have to hang around the prison for awhile! Time to take a little trip DOWN, Mario!"

With a laugh, the floor opened up from under…

…were we were standing a minute ago, before we moved.

"Wha… Why didn't you fall down!" the wall shouted.

"…you told us you were going to drop us down," I pointed out.

"Yeah," Lakilester said, "it's not like before you hit someone you say 'Look out, I'm about to punch you in the face!'"

"At this point, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if one of Bowser's minions did that," I sighed. "Alright wall, are you gonna let us pass?"

"Ha!" the wall said. "Fat chance! There's no way you're EVER gonna make me open up!"

"Bombette?" I asked, turning to my more-than-friend. She, in turn, lit her fuse and walked toward the wall.

"…oh, hey, look at that!" he said quickly, swinging open like a door. "A path forward! No need for explosions after all!"

"Remember: Violence solves everything," Bombette said as she walked through, along with the others. Goombario held me back, however.

"Mario?" he asked.

"Yeah man?" I asked, turning to face him. "What's up?"

"Well…" Goombario looked down. "It's about Bombette…"

"Hm?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Merlin… he gave me a message," he said. "He told me… 'Beware of a Pink Bob-Omb. She will cause Mario nothing but grief down the road.'"

"…alright?" I said. "So, where's the pink Bob-Omb?"

"Mario, Bombette IS the pink-" Goombario started.

"No," I interjected. "Don't say it. She's NOT the one he talked about."

"Then what other bombs could he be talking about?" Goombario asked.

"I don't know, maybe one we haven't met yet?" I suggested.

"Mario-"

"Look, I TRUST Bombette," I said, anger bubbling in me. How could Goombario, one of my closest friends on this whole trip, pin the title of some kind of monster on Bombette?

"Why are you defending her like this?" Goombario asked. "Why do you refuse to see what's in front of you?"

"Because I love her!" I snapped. Goombario looked at me with wide eyes. I blinked myself.

"I love her…" I repeated. A grin slowly spread across my face. "I do… I really love her!"

"Mario… how do you know this is really love?" Goombario asked. "What if she's just tricking you?"

Before I could answer, the wall near us said, "Man oh MAN, this is better than a Soap Oprah!"

Realizing we weren't alone in that room, we left posthaste.


Enter Coron:


After flying through space for longer than I wished, I reached the castle. I dived down and crashed on top of the dark castle, next to the lighter one.

"Hey, who's that?" a Koopa in armor asked.

"Get him!" another said, running at me. I shot my claw through his stomach. He gasped in horrible pain as I writhed my hand inside him for a few moments before ripping it out and kicking him off the side of the castle. I looked up and growled at the others who were watching me with wide eyes. This growl got them to run away from me, screaming in fear.

Turning my attention downward, I could feel the presence of the Dream Keeper. I focused all of my power into my legs, jumped into the air, then kicked the ground below me, crashing down and landing in a pile of rubble in a small room. Once I reached it, I looked up to see everyone I saw from the clouds, including the Dream Keeper. They all stepped back, eyes wide with shock, but my eyes locked with his.

His body was exactly like Mario's, but his eyes… his eyes couldn't fool me. They were big and naïve and oh so full of light. They were eyes I couldn't WAIT to watch fade as I slowly squeezed the life out of them. The wall behind me said something, but I paid it no attention.

"You again!" shouted the Dream Keeper, pulling out his hammer. I gave a laugh that made them jump back. That pitiful hammer wouldn't do a THING against me!

"Dream Keeper!" I growled, pointing a clawed finger at him. My body was radiating pure hate, even I could feel it. "This ends here! I am going to SLAUGHTER you for the hell you've put me through!"


Enter Pax:


We had been walking for a bit of time, battling along the way with the power of the Star Cards, when we finally reached the final room with a talking wall.

"That's the… third one we've seen so far, right?" I asked.

"Yes, sweetie," Sushi nodded. "To tell the truth, I'm beginning to get a bit tired of these things."

"You and me both," I muttered. I turned back to the wall.

"Alright," I said, crossing my arms. "What's YOUR challenge? Quiz questions? Booby traps?"

"No!" laughed the wall. "I am going to send in a horrible, ferocious monster to attack you! Here it comes, Mario-"

CRASH!

The ceiling above us crashed down, and standing in the rubble was none other than Coron. He looked up, and his features were enough to make us all step back in shock.

He looked terrible. It almost looked like his shadow-y skin was messed up and parted everywhere, like the fur of a stray animal. His claws continuously moved, as if he were ready to slaughter anyone at a moment's notice. And his eyes… they were no longer cruel and calculating, they were insane, BEYOND insane. They were the eyes of someone who had been pushed above and beyond their limits and couldn't take it anymore. His eyes locked with mine, and I could tell he was examining my features as well.

"Huh…" the wall behind Coron said. "That doesn't look ANYTHING like the monster I hired…"

"You again!" I shouted, pulling out my hammer. Upon seeing this, Coron laughed an incredibly creepy, crazy, dark laugh that made us all jump back.

"Dream Keeper!" Coron growled, pointing a clawed finger at me. His body was radiating pure hatred, and his eyes showed it. "This ends here! I am going to SLAUGHTER you for the hell you've put me through!"


Author's Note: Short, albeit, but a great setup to my next two chapters! Yes, you read that right: Chapter 53 is going to be a two-parter! One part will be through Pax's POV, and the other will be through Coron's. The showdown you've all been waiting for, next time on the Legend of the Dream Keeper: The First Dream! Until then, this is Pax the Dreamer, signing out!