Princess Peach sat restlessly on her castle balcony. She hated feeling so useless. Mario was in danger somewhere and here she was relying on Bowser of all people to make everything right for her. Had all of her council work and training been for nothing? Was Peach really still so useless after all? What was she supposed to do if this dangerous threat were to show up out of nowhere on her doorstep? Peach couldn't protect her kingdom from it any more than her Toad servants could protect her from getting kidnapped. The princess of all people was never one to lose hope so easily. It wasn't like her to be thinking in such pessimistic absolutes like this. But somehow Peach had convinced herself otherwise. It always seemed so easy to remain hopeful knowing that Mario would come to save the day as he always did.

Mario…

Peach physically winced just muttering his name to herself. If the Mushroom Kingdom's greatest defender was unable to stand up to the impending danger, then surely all hope was truly lost. How would the Mushroom Kingdom get by without Mario? Adding insult to injury, Peach was also grappling with the fact that she had failed Mario as his wife. How could she allow him to run straight into his doom so easily? It hardly mattered now. She didn't care if she was right or wrong in their argument. She didn't care about what she should've done differently in that moment. She didn't even care what it would take from her to make things right between them now. Peach just wanted her husband back; to hold and cherish and never let go of again.

"How are you holding up?" Pauline asked as she approached the balcony from inside and joined Peach. The princess sighed and shook her head.

"Pauline, you're in a position of power too. Tell me, does this feeling of…being completely useless ever really go away?" Peach asked somberly. Pauline looked away for a moment and bit her lip.

"Not entirely," Pauline replied. "But you find little ways here and there of keeping it at bay."

"I see, and what do you do when your only means of keeping the feeling away is gone as well? What then?" Pauline didn't hesitate out of confusion towards the question. She knew exactly what Peach was getting at. She hesitated because she didn't have an answer she herself deemed suitable to give at the moment.

"That's…hard to say. You just…have to find a new way yourself; make a solution out of nothing if you have to with your own two hands," Pauline explained. Her advice conveyed only a shred of confidence behind the words. Yet, that shred somehow proved to be just enough to keep Peach's nerves tempered ever so slightly in the moment.

"Is that what you had to do to rebuild New Donk City after the whole Donkey Kong incident?" Peach inquired. Pauline fidgeted with her fingers slightly before answering.

"Yes," she confirmed. "Unlike you, I didn't have Mario around anymore to fix all my problems for me. I had to get things done myself. It wasn't always easy; not by a long shot. But I didn't have any other choice. I became mayor through hard work and the determination I made out of nothing but my own desire just to not feel so bad anymore."

"I've always admired you for that, Pauline. You're so strong. I always wondered why you and Mario never stayed together when you were dating. What went wrong?" Pauline blushed at Peach's praise.

"It was me, actually. I was what was wrong with us," said Pauline. Peach raised an eyebrow.

"…You? But…how can that be?" Pauline took a seat on the bench next to Peach and exhaled as she prepared to weave her tale.

"Well, I felt useless growing up in a family with so many strong, independent siblings," Pauline began. "So, I moved to the city way back in the day because I wanted to be more independent. Everyone back home swore I would quit and come home before too long; citing that city life would 'chew me up and spit me out with nothing but the clothes on my back.' But for a while, it seemed like it was working. I was getting by just fine working a 9-5 job wading tables at the local diner. It wasn't a glamorous life, but it was a life I was still proud to call my own."

"What happened then?" Peach asked; deeply enthralled in Pauline's story.

"When I fell in love with a certain dreamy carpenter who later became known locally by the alias of Jumpman, all of that drive vanished for a while. Mario swept me off my feet and wanted to do everything for me. I guess that was his strategy to win my heart; being the breadwinner without question. It worked for a while. But I knew Mario and I were wrong for each other the moment I found myself stranded atop the city's tallest girder next to a big, smelly rampaging ape."

"You shouldn't blame yourself for getting kidnapped, Pauline," Peach interjected. "That wasn't your fault and trying to escape on your own was probably too dangerous. Staying put and waiting for Mario to rescue you was your best option, don't you think?"

"Sure, and that's probably why I ultimately stood by helplessly that day," the mayor agreed with a nod. "But after all was said and done, I knew I wanted out. Breaking up with Mario was heart-wrenching. I didn't take any pleasure in watching him slump away feeling so dejected that he moved out of the city a week later. But I just wasn't ready to completely throw away my independence and rely entirely on a man for the rest of my life. At least, not yet."

"You don't think dumping Mario in spite of him going so far for you just because you wanted your independence was wrong? You don't think it was even the least bit selfish?" Pauline chuckled, which surprised Peach - the one who was taking this story with the utmost seriousness.

"Oh, it was certainly selfish. I can't deny that. I regretted it for a while. But I couldn't stay with Mario and lead him on with hopes that I would change. I wanted more out of my life. I wanted things that Mario couldn't give me no matter how hard he tried. He deserved to find someone else who was a better match than me. I'm happy he found you." Peach smiled and blushed at such praise. "As for me, I found ways to cope and move on. I threw myself into the world of politics and the rest is history. I wanted to work my way to the top by ensuring the girder incident with Donkey Kong would never happen again," Pauline described. "That was the entire basis of my campaign. But even as the mayor of New Donk City today and in spite of all I've accomplished since the old days, I still feel useless every now and then. Heck, I had to rely on Mario to save my city after the whole Mecha Wiggler incident a while back. You have no idea how hard it was for me to sit by and watch Mario come to the rescue yet again all those years later. It felt like everything I'd done since I left him had been for nothing."

"I…never knew about any of this, Pauline," Peach commented. "Hearing your story now, it only makes me respect you more. I wish I were half as strong-willed as you." Pauline placed her hand on Peach's shoulder.

"Peach, you don't have to be like me to be strong. You have your own life; your own problems to deal with. So you have to determine what's best for you. Just because things didn't work out between Mario and me in the past, doesn't mean they can't for you and him now."

"But Mario is-"

"Still out there somewhere. Don't you try for even a second to tell me otherwise," Pauline argued sternly. The princess was a bit startled by her friend's sudden mood shift into one of aggressive assertion. "You have to believe you'll find him and that you two will be just fine."

"But believing in him to fix everything for me is what makes me feel so useless in the first place."

"So do more than believe in him then," Pauline suggested. "Believe in yourself for a change. Go out there and find him yourself." Peach smiled.

"But Bowser said to-"

"Since when do you listen to Bowser? No offense to the guy, but sometimes I don't think Bowser knows the difference between his tooth and his toe-nail. Take care of business yourself. Or at the very least, go out there and give him a hand! Do it for you and Mario instead of waiting at home like Bowser's obedient pet!"

"…You're right. Maybe I just need to-"

The princess was cut off mid-sentence by a violent tremoring of the floor beneath her. The entire castle was erupting in disorienting vibration as a roaring sound of destruction and collapse echoed in the hallway outside Peach's bedroom. Peach and Pauline stood up at once and sprinted back into the castle to investigate. The two rushed down the hall towards the stair case as the castle continued to tremor. Their fear that the roof was moments away from caving in above them only motivated them to sprint faster.

The floor directly under Peach's heels shook, causing the princess to lose her balance. Pauline was too slow to aid Peach as the latter stumbled into the railing in front of her. The structure that had been propping the floor up underneath her suddenly gave in. Peach froze with terror as she fell to the bottom floor below. Her fall was cut short however as a hand grabbed hold of Peach's wrist. She looked up.

"L-Luigi!" Peach exclaimed.

"Hang on, princess! I've got you!" Luigi assured with a grunt. Pauline and another figure whom Peach could not yet identify during this cataclysm aided Luigi and managed to pull Peach up over the ledge a moment later. At the top, the princess discovered that Yoshi was with him.

"Thank you, Luigi. You have my gratitude," said Peach.

"Don't mention it," Luigi replied. "I'm just glad I wasn't too late!" The entire castle shook once more and pieces of rubble tumbling down all around could be heard within earshot.

"Can we have this conversation somewhere where our lives aren't in immediate danger!?" Pauline interjected. Peach and Luigi both nodded. Together, the four descended what remained of the stairs. Peach escorted them to the entrance of the royal kitchen nearby. It was well-renowned for being one of the more structurally sound rooms in the castle, so Peach assumed it would grant them a temporary shelter while they processed what was happening and gathered their bearings.

"Luigi, what are you and Yoshi doing here?" Peach asked the moment they were safe.

"We heard about what happened to Mario and ran over here as soon as we could. I figured you might be in danger with my brother missing. Guess I wasn't far off from the truth," Luigi gathered.

"Well, we sent Bowser to investigate and-" Peach started.

"Wait, wait, wait. Hold on. You sent Bowser to look into this!?" Luigi interrupted.

"Well…yes. He was more than willing to do it. He's not the same Bowser we used to know, after all. I had to choose to put my trust in him." Luigi kicked at the floor.

"So…you trust Bowser more than me or Yoshi now?" Luigi asked. Peach placed her hand to her heart.

"Luigi…it's not like that. I didn't even know if you were with Mario or not when this happened. For all I knew, you could've been missing too."

"Hmph, didn't know I was around? That sounds about right. You wouldn't be the first to think that way…," the plumber commented bitterly. The room erupted in another violent quake.

"Something tells me this room isn't going to hold up for much longer!" Pauline inserted. "We need to get out of the castle and find out what's going on!" Luigi and Peach silently agreed to postpone the rest of their conversation as the group barged through the kitchen doors and raced towards the exit. They refused to slow down even slightly until they reached the glint of sunlight and salvation just ahead. Embracing it full sprint, the four trampled and stumbled over one another once they had crossed the threshold of the collapsing castle and reached the open air. Peach opened her deep blue eyes. Her's were the first to meet the perpetrator behind the assault on her castle.

"Contemno!"" the princess exclaimed. Pauline, Luigi and Yoshi all glanced up together and spotted the short, cloaked mage approaching them from across the castle courtyard. He had not appeared to have aged a day since they last encountered him all those years ago.

"Ah, Princess Toadstool. I see I have your attention at last," Contemno commented smugly. Instinctively, Luigi and Yoshi rushed out in front of Peach to guard her as Contemno strolled towards them ominously.

"What are you doing here?" Peach interrogated.

"You failed to heed my warning."

"Warning?" Contemno chuckled half-heartedly.

"Come now. Even a ditzy damsel like yourself couldn't have possibly forgotten so easily what I once told you before." Peach's mind lit up as she recalled the moment Contemno was referring to.

If you truly love your kingdom, then do what is best for it. Ensure that this beast will never harm you or anyone else ever again.

"You don't mean…"

"I do." Contemno began to slowly pace around the group. "I've been watching you all this time, you know. I've seen what you've done in the time we've been apart. I urged you to kill Bowser. But instead, you simply turned him into your slave."

"That's not true!" Peach objected. "Bowser has always had good inside of him! I knew it. I felt it in my heart. He didn't deserve to die, and I could never take his life. Bowser deserved a second chance, and that's exactly what I gave him."

"But in doing so, it seems you became the very thing you wished to change about him," Contemno replied.

"…What?"

"Bowser is a tyrannical demon. He lives to torture people and make them suffer unless they serve him. He strips entire kingdoms of their dignity. You imprisoned him in your own castle for quite some time. You brainwashed him; made him forget everything he thought to be true." Contemno stopped pacing for a moment. "In the end, you became the tyrannical demon and made him your captive for a change." The princess gritted her teeth.

"You don't know anything about Bowser!" Peach exclaimed. "You have no right to lecture me about cruelty when it was you who nearly choked him to death years ago!" Contemno chortled at this.

"Ohhh my poor, deluded princess. My actions come from a realm of justice; of vengeance. As I've already discussed with you, Bowser stole my kingdom from me. Taking his life would mean reclaiming the life I once called my own and ridding my friends and family of the suffering he has brought them. I gave you a chance to do the same thing because I recognized the many ways he has troubled you."

"Bowser's fate was never your's to decide, Contemno," Peach contested. "…Nor was it mine," she confessed reluctantly.

"But you forced him to become docile despite knowing full well that he would resist."

"Well, what other choice did I have!? I couldn't take his life, but I had to do something to stop him! Pacifying him was my only other alternative."

"There is no place in this world for those who foolishly gift mercy to the wicked because when left unchecked, they become corrupted themselves. In essence, such misguided souls are just as in need of extermination as those they seek to help," Contemno replied bitterly. Luigi, Yoshi and Pauline stood silently beside Peach in absolute shock. Pauline especially hadn't the slightest clue what was going on or what this mysterious terrorist was talking about. Despite being smothered by fear, Luigi mustered up his courage and stepped up to the princess's immediate side; ready to take action at a moment's notice. Yoshi followed Luigi's example and noticed Contemno twisting his wrists. He was preparing to do something. Peach bit her lower lip. She could feel a bead of sweat run down the side of her face.

"History and fate are decided only by those who act in absolute," Contemno continued. "I see now that you are not one of such people. The world has little use for your kind…" A purple chain materialized around Contemno's glove. The mage swiftly waved his arm. The chain lunged directly towards Peach. Instinctively, Luigi shoved the princess aside and embraced the incoming attack. The chain wrapped itself around Luigi's waist and electrocuted him with ominous purple shocks. The plumber crumpled to the ground, unconscious. Contemno flicked his wrist, causing the chain to break off and become finite in length. The remainder of it wrapped around the motionless Luigi; cementing him as its captive.

Yoshi lashed his tongue out towards Contemno, but Contemno gripped it firmly when it was mere inches away from his face. Squeezing it aggressively, the mage shot a painful pulse of purple lightning across the tongue and back towards its host. The horribly crisped Yoshi fainted near Peach's feet.

Pauline was ready to spring into action herself, but Contemno had a trick up his sleeve for her as well. The masked assassin tossed a disc-like purple projectile in the mayor's direction. Just as it reached her, it expanded and Pauline was encased in a purple bubble before she could react. Punching and kicking at the barrier proved to be a fruitless means of escape.

Alone, Peach stood her ground as Contemno strolled towards her like a cat cornering a mouse. Clenching her gloved fists and gritting her teeth, the princess swallowed her fear as she stared down her predator. She had to be brave; now more than ever. There was no one else who could come to her rescue. Pauline's words echoed in her mind:

Peach, you don't have to be like me to be strong. You have your own life; your own problems to deal with. So you have to determine what's best for you.

Peach knew well in the heart pounding furiously in her chest that as the ruler of this kingdom, it was up to her to settle this conflict here and now. Peach took several paces towards Contemno as she glared into the empty, soulless eye sockets of his mask. He was admittedly taken aback slightly at Peach's boldness, but it didn't change what had to be done next. The princess and the mage stopped once they neared one another. For a moment, they stood still and waited for the other to make a move.

Contemno elected to begin as he swung an enchanted purple chain from his glove. Just as the chain was about to whip her across the face, Peach dismissively waved her arm diagonally across its path as if to deflect it. A sharp ringing sound echoed through the air. Contemno barely managed to catch a glimpse of what had just happened. At the moment his chain should have made contact, Peach's gloved hand glowed and something materialized in her fingers: a tennis racket.

So you are gifted in the enchanted arts as well, I see…

Contemno swung his chain once more. It clashed with Peach's racket and the two began to tango. Peach and Contemno exchanged blow after blow. The latter quickly resolved to change up his strategy soon after. With his free hand, Contemno pitched a malicious purple fireball. Peach spotted the incoming flame in the corner of her eye but was too busy defending against the chain to do anything about it. The projectile hit its mark and the edge of her dress was set ablaze. Startled but still ultimately unfazed, Peach tore the burning fabric off and tossed it aside. Her ankles were now exposed. The princess smirked slightly. She could move a bit more easily now. She had to be as agile as possible if she was to have any hope of winning this fight.

In one particularly aggressive swing of his chain, Contemno whipped Peach's wrist; sending the tennis racket flying out of her hand. The mage retracted his weapon, lunged forward and swung it again. Peach dove out of its path and rolled in the grass a few feet to gain some distance. She quickly climbed to her feet once more, but Contemno refused to give her a moment to retaliate. His chain was relentless as it lunged at her again and again. Peach accumulated a few scrapes on her arms and legs as the metallic serpent grazed her every now and then while she moved. But she had at least managed to avoid taking any direct, critical hits.

One second of concentration was all Peach needed to realize that she had a window of opportunity. It always took Contemno a moment to retract his chain before he could attack again. Peach knew that that was the moment in which she had to strike. It was a small window to be sure, and it was incredibly risky to get so close to her opponent when she didn't know the full extent of Contemno's powers. Charging straight at him wouldn't pay off unless she managed to land a decisive blow in the process. She needed to be even faster to accomplish this.

Kicking off her heels, Peach took off barefoot into a sprint directly towards Contemno while he was retracting his whip. Her hand gripped a frying pan the moment it materialized in her palm. She was right on top of him now. He noticed her but couldn't react in time. With all her might, Peach smacked Contemno across the face with her pan; sending the mage tumbling back in the grass a few feet. The princess leaped into action once more. She couldn't stop now; not until she was positive that the mage was defeated. The princess resolved to rain down on him from above and clobber him once more.

Contemno flicked his wrist and pulled the chain towards him to block against Peach's frying pan before it could make contact. A piercing ring screeched through the air as the two metallic forces clashed again and again. They danced like yin and yang in perfect balance; cancelling one another out. Peach's frying pan was powerful, yet slow and lacking in range. So, she was able to block with it and little else. Meanwhile Contemno's whip possessed range and speed, yet it was cursed with a slightly unruly nature that made it difficult to fully control. Landing an accurate, critical hit was proving to be too difficult. It was time to change strategies again.

Contemno retracted his whip yet again. But instead of thrusting it out once more as he had done so many times already, the weapon glowed in a blinding, purple light contained within the mage's hand. A second later, an onyx spiked ball rocketed out from the light and raced towards Peach. The transformation caught her off guard and ricocheted off her frying pan; knocking it clean out of her hand as the princess lost her balance and fell backwards onto the ground. Contemno resolved to capitalize on this new development. The mage catapulted the spiked ball once more. Peach flinched and shut her eyes as her only remaining instinct was to accept her fate. Yet as she braced herself for the impact, a minute passed and nothing happened; the spike ball never came.

Cracking open her eyes and sitting up slightly, Peach surveyed the land around her. Luigi and Yoshi were still lying unconscious nearby. Pauline was still encased in her magic prison, but she seemed to be staring at something in sheer awe. Now fully sitting up, Peach turned around to process what had just happened.

Standing directly in front of her was Toadsworth. He was using his cane to prop himself up with one arm, and extending his other out towards Contemno. What on earth just happened?

"…Toadsworth?" Peach muttered in disbelief. The elderly Toad glanced back at her.

"Fear not, your highness. This menace shall not have his way with you today. Not while I draw breath." Peach had to be dreaming. Since when did Toadsworth ever put himself in harm's way like this?

"Stand aside, you miserable old fossil!" Contemno commanded.

"You are not welcome here, demon! Away with you!" Toadsworth exclaimed. He shot the palm of his hand out in Contemno's direction and it began to glow in a gentle, white aura. A series of small shooting stars rained down from the sky and raced towards Contemno. The mage used his weapon to fend them off, but there were too many. The celestial onslaught quickly overwhelmed him.

On the ground nearby, Peach was absolutely dumbfounded. What were these powers Toadsworth seemed to possess? When did he acquire them? Why was he just using them now? Contemno stood up and launched his weapon at his new opponent. Toadsworth calmly waved his cane in front of him. Thin beams of light protruded from each end like a staff and deflected Contemno's weapon with ease. Toadsworth twirled his cane like a baton. When Contemno's ball and chain came around for another attack, Toadsworth leaped high into the air to avoid it. He closed the distance between himself and Contemno as he landed near the mage. The elderly toad swatted Contemno off his feet and with the palm of his hand, pushed the mage several feet backwards. Contemno plunged into the nearby castle lake. The pair were safe for the moment. Peach climbed to her feet and rushed over to Toadsworth's side. His entired body was now encased in this white, glittery aura.

"Toadsworth…what is this? What's going on? How are you able to-"

"I never wanted you to know…," the elderly Toad interrupted.

"Know about what?" Peach asked.

"What I am. What you truly are. I'd hoped the day would never come when I would have to call upon this power to protect you like this." The princess continued to stare at her elderly assistant in sheer disbelief. She knew they didn't have much time to talk, so she had to pick her questions carefully to try and best understand the situation as quickly as possible.

"…How long have you had powers like this?"

"Since the day you were born," Toadsworth answered.

Suddenly, Contemno sprang out of the water and rocketed back down to the ground nearby. He raced towards Toadsworth and Peach with as much speed as his short legs could muster. His weapon had transformed once again. In sheer primitive desperation, the mage materialized a simple pointed spear and rushed towards Toadsworth with full desire to simply stab him. Just as the weapon reached its mark, Toadsworth waved his hand once more. In a flash, time slowed down to a halt. Peach was only half surprised by his newfound ability to manipulate the flow of time all of a sudden. She was more concerned about getting answers.

"I don't understand…"

"I never intended for you to understand. You were never supposed to know this truth about me."

"But why? This doesn't make any sense. Why do you have all these…powers? Why did you need to keep it all a secret from me until just now?" Toadsworth sighed and faced Peach at least. His eyes seemed to be full of shame.

"Do you recall the story I once told you of why it has been me who has raised you since your birth and not your mother and father?" The princess hesitated, and then nodded. "Well…there was a piece of the tale I intentionally left out; a detail I never gave you." Toadsworth glanced back at Contemno, who was still frozen in place. "I fear I may never have the chance to tell you it unless I do so now. So I will." Peach braced herself for whatever bomb her suddenly mysterious adviser was about to drop on her next.

"Please…," Peach invited.

"You were not born an ordinary child, princess. You have gifts I'm sure you never truly recognized until recently. The truth is, you have always had them. These gifts made you precious and…valuable. There were those who would seek to steal you in hopes of harnessing your power for themselves. As I held your infant self in my arms one evening, I could not bear the thought of someone taking you away from me. I loved you too much. So I made a wish on a passing star; a wish that you would be forever guarded from harm by any means necessary. It just so happened that my wish came true."

"So that's how you…"

"Yes," Toadsworth confirmed. "The stars granted me an assortment of powers. The very ones you just saw me demonstrate. It was intended that I would use these powers when you needed my protection the most. But seeing as I was only getting older over the years, becoming some sort of vigilante type was out of the question. To that end, I feared for your safety. That is…until we met Master Mario."

"That's why it's always been him then…," Peach gathered. "All the times when I was kidnapped or in danger. You could have been the one to save me. But instead it was Mario…" Toadsworth nodded.

"I was never meant to be your hero. I was too old and too frail to save you myself. Master Mario was exactly who you needed. But only now when he is missing did I at last see my time to step forward and fight for you," Toadsworth explained. Despite his elaborations, he still seemed cryptic. Peach wasn't fully grasping the whole situation. "That is why, princess…" The elderly Toad glanced back at Peach. "I will protect you with my life." Before the sentiment could sink in, a dreadful pattering of punctured flesh rang through the air. Toadsworth coughed up a small bit of blood and glanced down at his torso. Peach gasped.

"A touching bravado…," Contemno began. "But a fruitless one at that." The mage's spear had been violently thrusted straight through Toadsworth's chest. Peach's eyes watered as she watched her caretaker's body fall limp. The mage approached his remaining target.

"You monster!" Peach screamed.

"You of all people would know what a true monster is like," Contemno rebutted. With tears flowing like bathwater, Peach glared into the empty eye sockets of her enemy.

"WHO ARE YOU!? WHY ARE YOU DOING ALL OF THIS!?" The princess roared hoarsely.

"Giving you such answers is meaningless. You're too ignorant; too far gone to ever truly comprehend my intentions," Contemno answered. "You are yet another of life's imperfections. I will gladly wipe this earth clean of you." The mage raised his spear over his head, then sharply thrust in straight down towards the princess. In a knee-jerk reaction, Peach shielded herself with her hands stretched out in front of her as if to block the attack. Suddenly, a dazzling pink light penetrated the space between Peach and Contemno and blinded each of them. The terrible shriek of glass shattering rang and echoed all through the air and everything in sight became blanketed in an abyss of white light.

As the world came back into clarity once more, Contemno lifted his head and examined the area around him. The clash between his power and Peach's had left the castle grounds in ruins. The gardens were polka dotted with patches of violently sheered and scorched grass. Under eternally dancing flames, the castle was gradually melting and crumbling into a mountain of rubble and debris. The sky was polluted with thick clouds of smoke in the aftermath. All that remained after the conflict aside from Contemno himself was the now lifeless corpse of the princess's elderly protector. Peach on the other hand had mysteriously vanished.

"Sir!" someone exclaimed from nearby. It was one of Contemno's henchmen. The armored soldier sprinted over to the mage's side and helped the latter up to his feet. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm mostly unharmed," Contemno answered.

"That's a relief. It seems we were a bit naïve in assuming there would be no opposition to our advances today. But that explosion just now made me fear the worst had happened," the soldier explained.

"There's nothing to be concerned about," Contemno assured his follower. "The only one here who could have possibly stood a chance against me has already perished."

"You mean the girl?" The soldier inquired.

"Hardly. I was more so referring to that old codger Toadsworth." He eyeballed his fallen opponent, who was practically floating in a pool of his own blood. "I must admit that I was not aware he possessed such power. He did an admirable job hiding it for all these years. But his secrecy did little to save him or his precious princess in the end." Contemno looked onward into the horizon. "As for Peach herself, she is of little concern to me. I may have been unaware of the fact that she too has been housing a hidden power until now, but it hardly matters. Unlike the Toad, she has likely just begun to tap into her true potential." The mage clutched his fist as a dark aura engulfed in. "While I have had years to master my own."

Just then, two more of Contemno's armored henchmen arrived on the scene. Using their combined strength, they were carrying a large, rectangular stone box.

"Sir, where did you want this?" one of the soldiers asked. Contemno strolled over and brushed the side of the box with his glove for a brief moment as he examined it.

"Take it inside and put it somewhere safe." The two broad-shouldered soldiers exchanged confused glances.

"But sir…there's not much left to the castle…," the second soldier replied.

"Don't worry about that. She'll make it a home for herself in time," Contemno reasoned. The two soldiers shrugged and carried the box away.

"So what shall we do now, sir?" the original soldier inquired. Contemno adjusted his gloves and mask slightly.

"I believe it is time we paid the Koopa Kingdom a visit," the mage answered.