Chapter 8 – Burning Rage
The Koopa King's eyes burned with an intense rage as he glared down on his son, "What did you just say to me?" he growled, leaning down so his face was right in front of Junior's.
Bowser Jr. held his breath to avoid breathing in his father's sulfur like smell, "The Princess... She's gone..." he gasped out, wincing and preparing for the koopa's mighty wrath.
"She's... gone, you say," Koopa said calmly, straightening up again and glancing down at his son again. He tilted his head upward again and laughed, "Really, Princess, I'd expect something more cunning of you!" he said, to nobody in particular. He ceased his chuckling and rounded on Junior again, "Listen to me, search every part of the castle, and if you find nothing... burn it down."
Junior gaped at his father. Was he serious? After all these years, he'd just get rid of the thing he was after? Whether it be the Princess or her castle, it would be gone.
"But Dad... What if she's in there?"
"She'll come out. I'm sure she'd rather spend an eternity with me that being turned to ashes in a smoldering castle," Bowser said mater-of- factly, "And if she'd rather stay there, so be it. I'd have no use for a queen that isn't loyal to me."
Junior frowned. He hoped that the Princess wasn't really still there. Ever since Bowser had tricked him into thinking she was his mother, he'd felt a special bond with the princess, as if she really were. He smirked, hiding his true feelings, and saluted his father, "Can be done, sir!"
"Good lad," Bowser said gruffly, giving Junior a hard, yet friendly, slap on the shell, "Now, take the other seven fools, and search it from top to bottom, you hear me?"
Junior nodded and turned to leave. He skipped up the steps that lead to the ship's deck, and was stopped briefly halfway up by his father's voice.
"And if you find anything valuable, bring it to me."
"Search it? Damn, I wanna burn it first!" Larry groaned, once Bowser Junior had announced Bowser's news. He paced back and forth along the ship's deck, muttering to himself.
"That's what he said, direct orders to search. Bring anything we can find back, including the Princess, -then- incinerate it."
"No fair," Larry grunted, crossing his arms, "Guess we'd better get it over with, eh?"
He was answered by Junior's nodding, "Yeah."
Lemmy sighed next to them, "Well, we'd better get a move on," he said, lightly hopping over the guardrail of the ship and onto the earth below, "Come on, guys."
The other seven koopas followed suit, and were soon in front of what was left of the castle.
Ludwig paced back and forth in front of the koopas, assigning them each to a different floor, "You're ground floor, east wing. You can the west, okay then? And Lar-Larry! Don't point that at me! You've got the basement. That wiped that smirk off you face, eh? You have the towers, you have the..."
After the tedious assigning of their different areas, which was delayed by several smart-aleck comments on Ludwig's hair, the seven koopas split their separate ways to search the castle for valuables, and the princess. After a few hours they had found nothing, save for the many gold coins they found in the treasury.
"You're sure? You checked every room?"
Wendy nodded, "Affirmative. Every single one."
"Then let's go..."
"What do you mean? Go back? How do you expect us to do that, your highness?" Waluigi asked, sneering, "You're stuck in this stupid place, and expect to be able to return before Bowser incinerates your kingdom? How stupid are you, exactly?"
"I don't know. We...we just have to get back, before it's too late..." Peach whispered, deep in thought. What was she going to do? She was trapped in Forever Forest, awaiting the death of her kingdom, and could do nothing about it. She had no army, no defense, save for Mario, whom was trapped in the forest as well.
"Yoshi could show you the way back..." Yoshi began, but wasn't completely sure of himself. He had a vague sense of direction, and could tell that Toad Town was in the northeast direction, but wasn't sure how to get there, "Yoshi has an idea, but not too sure..."
"It's the best option, I think. Better than dumb and dumber over there, who probably don't even know how they got here," Daisy said, glancing at Wario and Waluigi from the corner of her eye.
Wario snarled and lunged at her, and was stopped by Luigi, who stuck out his leg in front of Wario, causing him to fall over. He dashed away before Wario had figured out what had happened, and casually added to the conversation, "Yeah, Yoshi. It sounds like a good idea. It's better than standing here all night, anyway."
Yoshi nodded, turning towards the bushes where he came from, "Come on, then," he said, before rushing into the brush, followed by the group of six, who struggled to keep up with the quick-paced dinosaur.
Toad gaped at the item contained in Birdo's egg. It was better than he had hoped.
He tore the last bit of shell away from the Bob-Omb, revealing its shining black body to Birdo, who squealed in delight. His grin grew wider when the other two items were revealed, a star and a koopa shell. Eggs held three items, usually, one being the most powerful, and two others with less power, but more when combined.
The mushroom boy studied the items, and then his eyes wandered around the room and other cells, and stopped on the shelf of jars down the hallway. A smirk made its way across his face and he held the shell above his head, throwing it as hard as he could in the direction of the wall-shelf. The shell followed its intended course, and smashed into the wall, shaking it and sending the jars to the floor, crashing upon the cold stones, and jolting the guard awake. He groaned and hopped up, sleepily making his way over to the fallen jars. He didn't even notice the shell when it ricocheted off the wall behind him, and was sent towards him, sending him flying forward and onto the floor, where one final jar crashed upon his head, knocking him senseless.
Toad laughed joyously, he hadn't expected for it to go so easily. He looked to Birdo and nodded, walking to the back of the cell and winding the spring up on the Bob-Omb's back. He gave it four turns, and set it on the ground, where it began to move forward, toward the wall. After four steps, it stopped and began to tick.
Three.
Two.
One.
BOOM!
The explosion made the floors shake and the bars rattle, but the wall had crumbled before them, and the thick, smoky air of the Koopa Kingdom flooded in. Toad coughed a bit, and grabbed Birdo's paw, leading her quickly out into the crimson light and away from Bowser's Castle as fast as their legs could carry them. The koopa troop would be by any second to investigate their escape, and they would ultimately be better off far away from the castle and koopas.
Toad jumped when he heard frantic yelling behind them, and loud crashing and banging, followed by the pounding feet of the koopa troop, who had arrived on the scene far faster than expected. The mushroom boy swore under his breath and took off faster, dragging a hop-skipping Birdo behind him to the nearest pipe. He didn't care where it led to, as long as it was far away from Bowser's Keep.
He threw himself into the pipe, and went at a blinding speed through it, being spit out into the Marios' front yard.
What luck! he thought happily, but then remembered the koopas may still be on their trail. He and Birdo dashed to the bushes and squatted behind them, awaiting the arrival of the koopas.
They never came.
Toad let out the breath he had been holding subconsciously and laughed nervously. He stood up slowly, and looked around. Then he suddenly remembered where he was going in the first place, to the Marios' for tea.
"I hope I'm not too late..." he muttered, climbing the front steps. He looked up at the front door, which had a note tacked to it, "Huh?"
Luigi's note flapped in the evening breeze, and Toad snatched it and read it, "Hey Birdo! Let's go on in, they should be back any minute..."
Toad turned to Birdo, who still sat in the bushed, staring wide eyed and pointing at the sky behind him. Puzzled, he turned slowly and gasped. The sky was blood-red, and mixed in were yellows and orange hues. But the most disturbing thing about it was the thick black smoke than hung low over the treetops.
Yoshi broke though the shrubbery and out of the forest, and stopped dead when he saw what had happened to the once cheery Toad Town. From his vantage point upon a cliff, high above the destruction below, he saw what was left of the village. It lay nearly in ruins, as koopas armed with various weapons marched through the streets, terrorizing the remaining residents, and capturing others. But what caught his eye was the flames that reached to the sky, dancing and mingling with the reddened hues of the atmosphere. The flames came from a large building, whose once pearly white stones were charred and burned, the crimson shingles sliding off the towers, that once stood tall. And the stained glass window lay in shards, that had been spread out very far when it was blasted to pieces.
The once proud Toadstool Castle fell to the ground in a mass of burning stones, and the Kingdom with it.
The other six came bursting out of the forest moments later, and Yoshi turned to the Princess, with tears in his eyes, "Princess... Yoshi's so... sorry..." he whispered, feeling ashamed that he hadn't reached her in time. Maybe if he had been faster, this wouldn't have happened.
Princess Peach stood still, watching her kingdom burn to the ground, watching the koopas terrorize her people...
Watching Bowser win.
She sank to her knees, picking up one of the glass shards of the stained glass window carefully, and holding it gently in her gloved hand. It was all she had left of her kingdom, of her home. She stood up slowly, gripping the shard of glass tightly, almost so it pierced her delicate skin through her slik glove, and her tears flowed freely.
The others stood behind her, staring in shock at what was left of the Mushroom Kingdom.
Luigi couldn't believe it. After all these years, the one place he was proud to call his home was nothing but a smouldering pile of ashes, soon to be a desolate wasteland like the previous Koopa Kingdom. He closed his eyes, sighing and tightening his grip on Daisy's hand, who stood beside him with her other hand over her mouth in shock. Even Wario and Waluigi felt slightly depressed at the current state of the kingdom.
Mario closed his eyes, trying to keep from crying himself. He had felt this kingdom to be his home, where he belonged. When he opened his eyes again they burned with an intense rage and hatred for Bowser. He shook with hatred and rage, and pain.
He walked forward and stood beside Peach, placing a hand on her arm, he spoke slowly, "I'll get him. I'll get him for this..."
"No... We all will," came a voice from behind them, and Mario and Peach turned to the group. Luigi was the one who had spoken, and held a serious look on his face, not only serious, but determined. He stepped forward, "We'll get him."
Daisy nodded and stepped up beside him, "Sarasaland will be glad to be of service to you, your highness. Just say the word, and it will be done," she said stiffly, looking determined and angered by Bowser's cowardly move.
The Wario Brothers stood back, they refused to help. If anything, they were going to aid Bowser, whom they were sure would pay them a hefty reward.
"I won't lie to ya," Wario began, "we aren't with you. We think it's about time, in fact, you should have seen it coming."
"Yeah. You deserve every broken shard of glass, every crumbled wall. Every life taken," Waluigi spat, eternally jealous of the high lives they led, "And we're positive King Koopa will rule this land better than you ever have."
The brothers turned on their heels, and marched away from the broken hearted princess and her allies, snickering and plotting amongst themselves.
Mario growled and lunged forward at their retreating backs, "You-"
"Mario stop!"
Mario halted, and turned, surprised to the princess, "But didn't you hear them? They said-"
"Just... Just let them go..." she pleaded, "It's their choice."
Mario sighed, obeying his Princess' wishes and returned to the group of, now, five. They stood together atop the cliff overlooking the smoking Toad Town, and vowed revenge upon the Koopa King.