Chapter 6: It's War
"Come on, please let me break it?"
Birdo let out a squeak of protest, shielding the egg with her body. She glared at the mushroom boy before her. How dare he suggest such a thing?
"Seriously, Birdo!" Toad sighed in exhaustion, "I've already explained this. The egg has an item inside that can help us escape this stupid place" he said in a hushed voice, to ensure that the guard did not overhear them. But he was dozing quietly across the hallway, completely oblivious to the escape plan being cooked up right under his nose.
The pink creature growled deeply in her throat, and thrust the egg outward, turning her head away from Toad, who excitedly grabbed the egg from her, apologizing while he did so, "Sorry Birdo," he said, "but it has to be done."
Toad turned the egg over in his hands, taking a look at the crack that nearly ran the full length by now. He bit down on his lip and smashed it onto the stone floor with all the strength he possessed. But it hadn't changed at all. He let out a frustrated grunt and thrust it against the stone again, but his effort was in vain, for it still remained unscathed. The mushroom boy then took the opportunity to smack it on the wall several times, but he still got the same result.
"Birdo, what's up with this thing? Is it made of steel or something?"
Birdo made a low chuckle and took the egg from the boy's hands. Hesitantly, she picked up a sharp stone off the floor and wedged in into the crack. Then she hammered on its blunt side with her fist, driving it into the egg and making the crack run further across it. Birdo sighed and pried the mutilated egg open with her makeshift lever, and handed what was left back to Toad.
He tore into it like a present on Christmas day, tearing the tough shell away from the round, black object that was held within. His eyes widened when he saw what it was.
It was just what he had hoped for.
"The Mushroom Kingdom is in sight, sir!" Kamek squealed excitedly, hopping from one foot to the other in excitement.
"Yeah, I got it," the king said, turning around from the front of his airship to face the army that stood at attention along the length of the ship. Each koopa was armed to the teeth with weaponry. Bullet Bills, Super Scopes, Bob-Ombs, you name it, they had it. The ship had enough firepower to blast The Mushroom Kingdom to pieces.
"Hear this, you bumbling fools!" he bellowed, causing every soldier to stiffen up in fear, "This is it. The moment we've been waiting for: The fall of the Mushroom Kingdom. You are going to make it happen. You go down there, and show no mercy. We've been mercilessly slaughtered by those mushroom freaks for years, and it's time to take those lives back! Do whatever it takes for our revenge. Show no hesitation to bring them to their knees!
However, leave Mario and the others for me..."
Bowser took a long pause in his speech, looking over the land that would be his new kingdom. No more days in the dark. No more being forced to breathe the thick, smoky air. No more Koopa Kingdom.
Bowser found himself smirking, then chuckling, before he let himself go in a loud, roaring laugh that sent a shiver through each koopa's shell, "Now go!" he bellowed, pointing a clawed finger in the direction of the nearing Mushroom Castle, "and fulfill our destiny!"
The whole ship roared in rage as they landed on the fertile soil of the Mushroom Kingdom, just outside the gates of Toad Town. The thousands of koopas charged through them, and into the shocked town of mushroom people before them, yelling and spouting battle cries. They flowed through the streets like vermin, capturing villagers, smashing windows, and they showed no mercy to what were now the damned. The cries of pain and helplessness floated up to level of the Koopa King, and he smiled. It was music to his ears.
The Koopalings stood on the bow of the ship, observing the chaos. Iggy coughed loudly, trying to get his siblings' attention, "Okay guys, it's time to go."
Junior came bounding along the ship's deck, having finally escaped being locked in the ship's hold (by none other than the koopalings themselves) panting and cursing at his half-siblings. He walked up beside them, being careful to thump his foot down on Larry's tail, "Okay you filthy, useless excuses for koopas," he sneered, "let's go blast these vegetables to kingdom come."
The Koopalings grudgingly followed Bowser Jr. below deck, where the Koopa Tank was being held. They didn't want to work with him, but they'd have to if they wanted to keep thier heads, they had decided. Junior himself had other plans. He didn't run the risk of becoming Bowser's personal punching bag, and was determined to have the Koopalings suffer that fate. He snickered gleefully as he took a gunner seat of the tank, prepared to blast everything and anything that came between them and the Princess. Ludwig sat to the left of him, taking the responsibility of maneuvering the hulking mass of steel to the castle's back garden.
"Let's go get King Dad his Princess," Wendy said, sitting back in her seat and sounding a high pitched laugh, which caused Roy (who was unfortunate enough to sit beside her) wince as the pitch of her voice soared in and out of audible range.
Ludwig sighed and eased on the gas pedal, driving the tank forward and out of the hatch at the rear of the ship. Once on solid ground, they proceeded towards the castle gates, crushing everything in their way.
"Hey, watch it! Don't want to damage our new kingdom too much, brainless!" Morton growled, leaning over his brother's shoulder.
"Don't speak to me, or criticize my driving abilities, you ignoramus," Ludwig spat, narrowing his eyes and trying very hard to focus on driving the tank properly.
Morton laughed, "Okay, okay. There's no need to go all PMS-y on me!"
Ludwig snapped his head to scold his brother, "Now see here you-"
CRASH!
"Nice job, idiot! You ran us into a wall!"
"I have every right to 'criticize your driving abilities' now!"
"Oh of all the lousy..."
Ludwig snorted, "if it weren't for this bumbling fool here, we wouldn't have crashed!" he said, hitting Morton soundly on the head.
"Oh yeah! Well I oughta-"
"Shut up!" Lemmy hissed, clapping a paw over Morton's mouth, "You want the Princess to hear us coming? Huh? Ever thought of that?" he snarled, taking his paw off Morton's mouth, "Keep your oversized pie hole shut."
Morton would have given Lemmy a sound beating if it weren't for the loud crashing coming from the engine of the tank, "What the hell?" he said in a hushed voice, and left to investigate. He opened the hatch and popped up, looking for whatever was making the noise.
He spotted Bowser Junior's tail end sticking out from under the engine's hood, and scoffed, "What're you doin' maggot?"
"Fixing the engine, what's it look like?" came Junior's muffled voice, which was suddenly drowned out by the humming and sputtering of the, now functioning, engine.
"There we go!" Junior laughed, hopping out from underneath the hood, covered in oil and grease from the engine, "Good thing I know how to work these things, huh?" he asked smugly, attempting to prove that's he was more useful than he looked.
Morton just grunted and told him to get back in the tank and help finish the job, which he obeyed, much to his own surprise.
"This time, I'M driving this thing," Wendy said, narrowing her eyes at the others, daring them to oppose her. However, none did, and she took her seat at the front.
After a half hour of reckless driving through the streets of Toad Town, they reached the castle gates.
Junior giggled, this was his cue. He mashed his fist down on the firing button in front of him, setting off the cannon and blasting the gates to pieces. They proceeded through the gates, crashing through the hedge maze, and coming up to the front doors of the castle. They spotted the stained- glass window of the Princess herself above the doors, and had great fun watching it shatter upon impact with the bullet bill.
The entire wall of the castle was strewn about the gardens in several pieces within seconds, and the tank came crashing through the castle at top speed, destroying everything in its path. The mushroom retainers scattered once they spotted the huge machine, but the koopas paid them no mind. It was the Princess they were after.
They smashed through one final wall, crashing into the throne room. The hatch of the tank was thrown open and Roy's head popped out.
"Knock knock!" he laughed insanely, scanning the room for any sign of life.
There was none.
"What the- Where's the Princess?" he bellowed, lifting up his sunglasses to get a better view. "Damn it! Guys, she isn't here!"
"What?" came the enraged voices from below, and there was a mad scramble to the hatch to see whether or not Roy was telling the truth.
"Holy-" Lemmy said, "He's right!"
"Oh no, Daddy's gonna have us cooked!" Wendy whined, sniffling, "We're dead!"
Bowser Junior smirked triumphantly. They had no chance now. Bowser would use them for target practice after this stunt. But, he couldn't help but feel a little sorry for them...
What're you thinking, Junior! They're nasty little brats who'd want you dead, no doubt, he thought, mentally kicking himself twice. Your enemies, yeah...
"So, I vote Junior's the one to tell 'im."
"Agreed."
Bowser Jr. growled, "How come I've gotta do it? You're the screw ups, not me!"
"Ah," Ludwig began, "But we have a bad record, and you do not. If one of us were to tell him the news, he would ram our heads into a wall. But if you were to, he wouldn't harm you... as much... and we would get off clean. Uhm, well, we would still receive punishment, if that's what you want..." he said, hoping that Junior would do the job, which would let them get off easier.
Junior sniffed, "No way!"
Roy and Morton looked at one another and nodded. They advanced on the smaller koopa.
"Let's put it this way..."
"If you don't listen to us..."
"You'll definitely be.."
"Flat as a pancake."
Junior glared at them, but was secretly afraid. He was outnumbered seven to one, and his odds of surviving a violent encounter with his siblings were very slim. So he nodded, reluctantly agreeing.
"Glad you see things our way. Now head back to the ship and tell him what happened."
Junior growled and stalked back to the tank, muttering death threats under his breath.