RECAP:
Mario and Bowser's training with Leanna was coming to an end. As they grew closer to becoming ready to wield the Kagi symbol and use its power to escape from Contemno's heart kingdom, an important truth came to light.
In order to use the power, the pair first needed to determine the location of their unconscious physical bodies in the real world. Only then would they be able to successfully return to them and break the spell.
Leanna departed for the real world alone in her own portal in search of information that would lead to the whereabouts of Mario and Bowser's real bodies. Meanwhile, Mario and Bowser ventured off towards the Second Wind orphanage in search of clues about Contemno's identity and character.
However, they were stopped along the way by Wart – an old, obscure enemy once bested by Mario. He shared with them troubling news of Contemno's absolute control over the kingdoms of the world before preparing an attack of his own.
Wart crushed each of the red bubbles in his hands; sending a cloud of red smoke racing in all directions. Mario and Bowser shielded their eyes and held their breath. When the crimson fog faded, the pair found themselves in a wide, circular arena suspended over a bottomless void. Wart was seated comfortably in a throne on a separate platform hovering just above them.
"I went to quite some trouble arranging all of this, you know," said Wart. "So do me a favor and try to make the fun last as long as possible for me, won't you?"
The last of the red smoke dissipated and two giant figures towered over Mario and Bowser in the arena a few feet away: A Goomba and Whomp. Although, they were many times the size of the common variety in their respective species, and each one dawned a crown atop their heads.
The Goomba had aged, white eyebrows and small twin halves of a mustache sprouting from its cheeks. Its body was dressed in a tacky garment alternating in red and white stripes. A plush red cap was housed inside a jagged golden band, which was decorated with sapphires. The Goomba's empty red eyes radiated disdain and blood lust.
The Whomp's gold crown – on the other hand – was much less elaborate. It also lacked any distinct features in its appearance to set itself apart from its minuscule brethren. It was a simplistic piece that hardly commanded much authority or respect for its wearer.
"A Goomba and a Whomp?" Bowser commented, unimpressed. "That's your big attack?"
"Oh, but they're not just any Goomba and Whomp," Wart replied. "Perhaps you'd better take a closer look."
"He's right! That's…" Mario started as he squinted to examine them closely. "Goomboss and the Whomp King!"
"Who?" Bowser asked, not even attempting to feign interest.
"You should remember these guys since you were the one who gave both of them fortresses at one point. The power stars? Star Spirits? Any of that ring a bell?" Bowser shrugged.
"Barely. I've hired a lot of people to try and kill you over the years. Can't say these goons left much of an impression on me."
"Perhaps not in their previous lives," Wart inserted. "But it won't be long now before you start wishing they still served you!"
The frog snapped his fingers, causing Gomboss and Whomp King to sharply straighten up in attention. Without warning, the pair charged forward across the arena towards Mario and Bowser. Ominous red veins protruded and rapidly crawled across their faces like spiders. Their eyes filled with empty, red light; their expressions stoic and zombie-like. Goomboss began to vibrate as if he were about to explode.
Mario and Bowser braced themselves for the approaching onslaught. Goomboss and Whomp King moved shockingly fast for their enormous sizes.
Before Mario could react, Gomboss rammed directly into him and kept running. Whomp King hopped and threw himself forward, but Bowser stopped the latter from crushing him with both arms. Yet, even with all of his strength, he was still only a few inches away from being completely flattened under the gargantuan stone monster's weight.
Gomboss made contact with an invisible glass barrier at the arena's edge with reckless abandon. Mario took the full brunt of the impact and slunk against it until he hit the ground. Cracks began to form in the transparent wall.
Bowser pushed back with 100% effort from both his biceps and knees, but Whomp King didn't budge. The Koopa King was pinned firmly in place and unless he found a way to miraculously increase his strength ten-fold in the next few minutes, he was going to be utterly squashed.
Mario slowly eased out of his daze; the ringing in his ears dissipated, and the shrinking silhouette came back into focus as his vision returned. Goomboss was slowly backing away.
Upon regaining consciousness, Mario could only assume he was preparing to charge straight at him again. What was his strategy though? Would this wall shatter under enough pressure? Was Goomboss simply going for a ring-out?
There wasn't enough time to think. He had to come up with his own strategy, and fast.
The plumber staggered to his feet; using the cracked wall for support. Streams of smoke rushed out of Gomboss's nostrils. Like a bull, the large Goomba charged straight at him once more. Mario waited until he drew closer. He jumped, kicked off the wall behind himself, and dove to face Goomboss head on. Mario performed a front flip, then kicked off Goomboss's face, causing the behemoth to stagger back slightly from the force of the kick.
Goomboss quickly reclaimed his balance, but Mario was too close for him to react in time. The plumber jumped and punted Goomboss's crown effortlessly from atop the giant Goomba's head like a football. He landed and immediately back-flipped into the wall behind him-albeit slightly higher than before. Mario kicked off it once more, and repeated his front flip maneuver.
This time, Mario stomped down directly on top of Goomboss's bare head with both feet. The Goomba flattened under the tremendous force, but his head bounced back into its normal shape immediately after in retaliation-as if it were made of rubber-and repelled Mario back into the glass wall.
Amidst the pain radiating throughout his body, Mario looked over at Bowser, who was still utterly trapped and fighting a losing battle against Whomp King's impending, colossal, concrete face.
Suddenly, an idea struck him. It wouldn't exactly win the day on its own, but with any luck, Bowser would survive this and see tomorrow.
"Bowser!" Mario called hoarsely. The Koopa King cranked his neck in response to his name. "Remember what Leanna said about physical magic? Move the energy around your body!"
"Duhh! Where do you think I'm puttin' it right now?!" Bowser retorted as he jerked his head in gesture towards his bulging bicep.
"I know but…," Mario started as he struggled to put his idea into words. If only the pounding in his head would let up, even just for a second. It was impossible to think straight like this.
Meanwhile, Goomboss charged at him at full speed once again. Mario dove and rolled out of the way in time to avoid becoming part of the rapidly breaking glass wall behind him.
"Channel it somewhere else!" he finished.
"Are you nuts?!" Bowser argued. "If I put it anywhere other than my arms, there's no way I'll be able to hold this guy up! I'll get crushed!"
"You're gonna get crushed anyway if you don't do something fast!" Mario countered. Goomboss stampeded towards him once more. But again, Mario rolled out of the way."But where would I-"
Bowser's eyes followed Mario's pointing finger until they arrived at the Koopa King's own bent, trembling knees.
"No way! That'll never-"
"Trust me!"
"But what if-"
"JUST DO IT!"
Goomboss came back around for one more pass. Mario was too slow to respond this time as the speeding Goomba scooped him up for a perilous ride to his doom like a fly plastered against a windshield.
Bowser closed his eyes and concentrated. What else did he have to lose at this point?
The Koopa King steadied his breath and channeled all of the energy within himself down into his knees. As his arms lost power, Whomp King slowly crept closer to overtaking him.
A large thud sounded and a cloud of smoke followed.
As Goomboss sprinted towards the fractured glass wall, Mario climbed over the top of his head and pushed off the Goomba's back with his legs. This extra push contributed just enough speed that Goomboss couldn't stop in time.
The Goomba King collided with the glass wall, shattered it, and fell through the gaping hole; tumbling helplessly to his unseen doom below.
Mario crashed and slid through the dirt, but forced himself to sit up and look onward.
"No…," he muttered.
Whomp King was now lying perfectly flat on the arena floor several feet away. Bowser's struggle was in vain.
Or so it seemed.
The stone monster's entire rectangular form began to tremble. Mario and Wart both watched in bewilderment as Whomp King began to levitate in the air. He slowly ascended just enough for Mario to see the truth.
Whomp King wasn't levitating at all. Something was propping him up off the ground.
Protruding out from a small, humble hole in the dead center of the rectangular crater were two familiar yellow arms. Whomp King was suddenly shoved into the air and fell back onto his backside. Climbing out of the hole was Bowser, who was now covered in dirt. Mario raced over to help him.
"Bowser! You're okay!" said Mario. Bowser coughed from the surface's dust and debris.
"Don't sound so surprised. It was your idea after all," he replied. "It's about damn time all of Leanna's training started paying off."
"Fascinating," Wart commented from his spectator stand above them; scratching his chin. "So it would seem that more than raw strength is required in order to truly challenge your limits."
"Yeah, so why don't you quit wasting our time and come down here so we can clobber you, froggy?!" Bowser exclaimed.
"I wouldn't start picking your next fight just yet, Bowser. You see, your current battle is still underway," said Wart.
The frog snapped his finger once more.
Goomboss materialized out of thin air, and Whomp King was dragged back onto his marble feet by invisible strings. Standing side-by-side, both monsters began to tremble violently. The red veins that covered their bodies expanded in width and coverage. Their victims winced as if these veins were strangling them.
Suddenly, crimson spikes protruded out in all directions across Goomboss's massive head until he resembled a monstrous porcupine. The two stones that made up Whomp King's hands each melted and morphed into some form of cannon. The ominous red energy that flowed through the veins poured into the cannons, and Whomp King began to glow.
Without warning, Whomp King fired twin laser beams all the way down towards Mario with seemingly infinite reach. Mario ducked out of one beam's path, then hopped over the other. Whomp King took one wide step forward, then another.
While he himself was far too slow to keep up with Mario, his newfound laser hands were more than up for the task. Mario was forced to retreat backwards, only to find Goomboss charging at him once more-every inch of his face ready to skewer anything it could touch.
His rampage was halted however, as a spike ball of comparable size rolled directly into his path and collided with him head-on. Goomboss was sent hurdling back across the arena. As the ball uncurled, Bowser emerged and looked back at Mario.
"I'll handle this walking pin cushion! You take care of ol' rock face," Bowser ordered. Mario nodded, while Bowser transformed back and rolled off in the blink of an eye.
Whomp King continued directing his beams; vaguely tracing Mario's path with reckless abandon. Still sustaining his injuries from earlier, Mario was inconsistent in avoiding the lasers. Every now and then, they'd get lucky and graze him; leaving a painful burn mark at their points of impact as proof.
Mario knew that dodging them forever wasn't an option. He needed some way to reflect them back at Whomp King. If nothing else, he needed some way to shake the lasers even just for a few seconds so he could catch his breath and think.
Mario's eyes wandered around until they spotted the large jagged hole in the glass barrier at the arena's edge where Goomboss had crashed through it moments ago.
That's perfect! Mario thought to himself. Now I just need a way to break off a piece without getting sliced to ribbons…
Bowser's spike ball collided with Goomboss over and over. They were evenly matched in power, it seemed. No matter how hard or how fast Bowser raced on to challenge him. Goomboss was able to simply run and meet him with equal strength. In one exchange however, Bowser faltered slightly. The spiked Goomboss made contact and repelled the spike ball through the air. Bowser uncurled from the form and sprawled out on his back when he reached the ground. He sat up and saw Goomboss exhale clouds of red smoke from his nostrils as his foe prepared to charge straight at the Koopa King once more.
Bowser's eyes shifted in time to watch one of Whomp King's lasers slice cleanly across Mario's back when the latter was airborne. The plumber fell, tumbled and rolled through the dirt. The lasers then ceased fire. Whomp King shifted his arms mechanically until they locked onto Mario's lifeless body on the opposite side of the arena. The hand cannons combined together into a new cannon that was twice the size of the original two. A humming sound radiated through the air and a small red light emerged from the shadows of the cannon's barrel. It slowly grew in size and the humming grew louder.
Whomp King was preparing to finish him off. Bowser needed to act fast if he wanted to have any chance of saving his partner in time.
Before he could act however, Goomboss collided with Bowser. But his sprinting came to a hard stop as Bowser planted his feet in the dirt and held the giant Goomba in place. A bolt of immeasurable pain raced up the insides of Bowser's arms. As the spikes that encapsulated Goomboss's flesh dug into Bowser's palms, the Koopa King watched thin crimson strands of blood emerge from the point of impact and crawl across his hands and wrists.
The pain was too much to bear, but Bowser was too stubborn. He refused to yield.
At the cost of burying Goomboss's spikes deeper within his blood-soaked hands and creating irreparable harm to them, Bowser dug his claws into the grooves between the spikes until he had a firm enough hold on the beast. Bowser bellowed a carnivorous roar across the arena that shook even Wart to his very core.
Stretching his spine to its utmost limits, Bowser managed to hoist Goomboss off the ground. With an incredible suplex maneuver, Bowser shoved Goomboss's massive head into the dirt behind him.
Goomboss's stubby legs flailed madly as the Goomba struggled in vain to dig himself out.
Whomp King's cannon was nearly finished charging. It was seconds away from firing at the unconscious Mario. The glow of the beam that was about to be born cast a dim red hue over the entire arena.
At the apex of its charge, Whomp King's arm cannon fired the beam.
Bowser gritted his teeth, clenched his wounded red hand into a fist, and punched Goomboss with every ounce of energy he had left before collapsing to the ground.
"Consider…us…even…," Bowser muttered softly before losing consciousness.
Goomboss helplessly soared through the air and busted clean through the glass wall once more; falling once again into the bottomless void below. Several large chunks of glass broke off the wall from the impact and were instantly snatched by gravity.
As if ordained by fate, the largest piece of glass fell directly in Whomp King's line of fire. Mario was perfectly protected by the debris' reflective property, and the beam was immediately redirected back at its source. The blast pushed Whomp King further and further back until he too collapsed through the glass wall behind him with his massive weight and fell out of the arena.
Mario stirred awake and sat up. Hopping to his feet, the plumber's head swiveled back and forth quickly as he searched the empty arena in a panic for his absent opponents. He spotted the unconscious Bowser and sprinted towards him.
Suddenly, he was blinded by a light.
When his eyes adjusted, Mario found himself and the unconscious Bowser back in the city once more. The arena they were just in vanished without a trace. A slow, methodical clap reached the plumber's ears, and he looked straight ahead to find Wart standing in the middle of the road a few feet away; clapping with a humble smirk.
"Bravo, bravo," Wart applauded. "Even at the peak of their power, Goomboss and Whomp King still could not prevail, it seems." Mario climbed to his feet and scowled.
"The game's over, Wart! You lose!" he exclaimed.
"In my wildest dreams, the game is never over, my friend," Wart replied cryptically.
"What?"
Wart gripped his chin in his hand and glanced over at Bowser's lifeless body behind Mario's protective stance. The frog appeared to be deep in thought.
"It is just as I said before. I came before you seeking only entertainment. And I must say, you two certainly didn't disappoint me. Far from it. So it will take much more than the raw strength of Essence in order to emerge victorious. It seems there is still a primal rage that may dwell within the deepest pit of one's heart. With enough pressure, that rage will awaken and triumph with incredible ease. I will have to remember that. It is very valuable data indeed."
"What are you talking about?!" Mario demanded.
"Oh, never you mind my ramblings," said Wart casually. "Judging by your collapsed friend, I'd say you have more pressing matters with which to concern yourself. Do rest up for me, won't you? It surely won't be long before I come back seeking further amusement."
"Wait!" Mario shouted as he raced towards Wart, who disappeared into thin air in a cloud of red smoke. The plumber slowly returned to Bowser's side. The warmth of their triumph was consumed by the cold, eerie stillness that remained. Mustering the last of his strength, Mario lifted Bowser's large, limp body over his shoulders.
Step by slow, painful step, Mario set off once more with a single thought sitting pretty atop the mountain of confusion in his mind:
"What the heck is 'Essence'…?"
The blue portal Leanna emerged from lit up the dark alley and scattered discarded newspapers and other urban discardings in various directions as they rode a small gust of wind. Once the portal disappeared, Leanna hugged the wall with her back and carefully strolled through the alley to the street ahead.
She froze in her tracks and ducked back slightly as the circular beam of a flashlight nearly grazed her. Leanna paused and waited until the patrol had passed, then methodically sprinted across the street; taking cover behind a trash can. Scanning her surroundings, Leanna realized almost immediately that she wasn't safe in this spot for long. The light of another guard's flashlight was quickly approaching from behind.
Leanna fished a gun out of her bag; her gloved finger hugging the trigger. She aimed the gun up at the roof of the building in front of her and fired a grappling hook high into the night sky. The connected rope hissed as it ascended. The hook latched onto the support beam of a billboard perched along the rooftop's edge. With a click of the retraction mechanism, Leanna flew straight up into the air just as the guard patrolled past the area where she stood just seconds ago.
Upon arrival, Leanna finished retracting the grappling hook back inside the pistol and took off in a hurry across the rooftop. She sprinted and vaulted from building to building as her adrenaline kicked into full throttle. In one particularly daring leap, Leanna rode her momentum and ran up the side of a taller building; reaching the ledge and hoisting herself upon it as her speed gave out.
Leanna peered into the enormous window in front of her; dashing across the ledge only once she was certain no one was glancing up at her position from inside. Like a trapeze artist balancing on a tightrope, she shuffled along the building's narrow groove until she encountered a ladder leading to the very top of the building./p
Once there, Leanna spotted a familiar door and hurried over to it. Thankfully, it was unlocked as usual. She stepped inside and descended the staircase into the darkness of the building below.
At the bottom of the stairs, Leanna emerged into an empty backstage; the closed curtains contributing to the vast shadows. Her ears were greeted by the soothing, emotional melodies of a female singer out on the stage. Her silk voice and grief-stricken lyrics were accompanied by a somber, hypnotic piano; together weaving a tale of a heartbroken lover far removed from closure and unable to go on.
Leanna perched herself casually against the wall, crossed one leg over the other, and folded her arms. She had never heard this tune in particular, but she knew the singer's tunes always told a story. The descending notes conveyed a sense of somber finality to the tale. The last echo of the final note faded into silent oblivion at the conclusion. Then a modest round of applause from the audience followed.
It seemed that Leanna's timing was impeccable. This was indeed the last song of the nightly performance. In just a few minutes, they'd be able to talk freely.
Leanna listened carefully for the distinct clacking of high heels meeting the marble surface of the stage. The performer was exiting the stage.
The monotone hums and mass shuffling of chairs signaled that the audience was taking its leave as well. Leanna knew that in her current attire, she'd stick out far too easily to even attempt to blend in or move with the crowd. Better to wait until they had all cleared out first.
It was fine. Leanna had the time.
Dabbing her face with a rag, Pauline finished clearing her face of her make-up. Her complexion was restored to its natural, flawless state. But this did nothing to address the subtle hint of sadness hiding conspicuously behind her dull blue eyes. She ran a brush mechanically through her long, burgundy-brown hair; never once looking away from the defeated, downtrodden woman she saw in the mirror.
There was no amount of sleep that could take away the aura of perpetual fatigue that engulfed her. There was no tune in her heart that could separate her from the blank, complacent expression on her face in which she always looked to be on the verge of scrunching into an ugly cry.
What she wouldn't give to turn back the clock. If for no other reason than to speak the words she'd left unsaid to the hearts that mattered to her the most.
"That closing number, was it new? I've never heard it before." A familiar voice plucked Pauline straight out of her downward spiral. She spun around quickly in her chair.
"Leanna, it's you!" Standing up in a hurry, Pauline raced across the room and hugged Leanna, who made no attempt to resist nor return the gesture. "You caught my show tonight?"
"The last part of it," Leanna clarified. "I meant to come back sooner, but I was tied up with a few things."
"I see," said Pauline. She strolled over to the bar off to one side of the room, reached for a bottle behind the counter, and began pouring its contents into a tall glass. "What can I get you?"
"None for me, thanks," Leanna denied. "Tempting as it is, I need to remain sober for this assignment."
"Please tell me you're here to finally spring me out of this awful place," said Pauline. She was trying her hardest to speak the words casually, but they both heard the slight tremble of desperation that got caught in her throat.
"Not yet but…I'm working on it. Soon. It won't be much longer, I promise," Leanna assured. Pauline took a swig of her wine glass; licking her luscious red lips and sampling the bitterness of her drink thoughtfully to wash down this bad news with.
"I don't know how much more of this I have in me, if I'm being honest…," Pauline confessed.
"But you get to sing in front of an audience every night," Leanna reminded. "I thought that was always your passion."
"They don't care. They couldn't. Not when they've got more important things to worry about. I'm just a distraction to them."
"People need distractions to get them through hard times. You're doing them a service, whether you believe it or not." Pauline sunk slowly into the plush sofa in her massive suite's center.
"Maybe, but I'm certainly not doing myself a service. I used to be so much more to this city; more to them. Now I'm just a pitiful song bird trapped in this 12-story metropolitan cage."
"You still are more than that and you know it. Don't lose heart." Pauline flashed Leanna a small, empty smile.
"Hmph, easy for you to say. You have the freedom to come and go as you please." Leanna returned the gesture and shook her head.
"It's not all it's cracked up to be, trust me. Not when the world is so broken the way it is. I'm working on fixing it. But it'll take time." Pauline sighed and sipped her wine again. She shuffled in her seat slightly and fixed her posture; running her fingers through her hair.
"Fair enough. So, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company at this time of night?"
"I need some intel from the inside. Think you can help?" Pauline shrugged and crossed her legs.
"Depends what it is."
"Contemno's got a couple of boys held captive in his heart kingdom. They were even caught up in a scuffle with him at one point," Leanna explained. "I need to find out where he stashed their bodies in reality."
"I see. And what makes these boys so special that they're worthy of your fine services?" Pauline asked; raising a skeptical eyebrow and swishing her wine in small, rhythmic circles within the glass.
"They might be useful to me. Emphasis on might," said Leanna. "I've heard some tall tales about these two and if even half of them are true, they could be just the stooges I need in order to pull off much bigger jobs; like getting you out of here, for starters."
Pauline placed her glass down on the marble table in front of her and sat back to digest this information for a moment.
"That does sound promising," she agreed as she folded her hands neatly in her lap. "Unfortunately, I can't say I've heard anything about Contemno taking anyone captive recently. Well…not anyone human anyway. There was that one other poor soul they had loafing around for a little while. But he apparently slipped out of his leash recently when no one was looking and flew the coop the first chance he got."
"Sounds like that one was more of a test subject for one of Contemno's insane experiments, rather than a prisoner," Leanna guessed.
"'Prisoners' does sound like a more accurate label for what you're looking for," said Pauline.
"Well, you're a prisoner too, aren't you? Surely you'd know something about where they're keeping other ones."
"Correction: I'm Tatanga's prisoner. Contemno handed me off to goblin boy shortly after the castle incident and I've been his property ever since. I've never been to Contemno's heart kingdom myself. So if I had to venture a guess, Contemno would likely want to keep your friends' whereabouts close to his chest."
"They're not my friends. They're more like accessories, if anything."
"Whatever. My point is, I only know as much as Tatanga does. And I doubt even he knows where Contemno's hiding them. That's probably top secret information that only Contemno himself has." Leanna rolled her eyes and collapsed onto the sofa with a defeated sigh.
"I don't have time to track that loser down...," she complained. "There's gotta be some other lead I can go on. Anything." Pauline snatched up her wine glass and took another sip.
"You might not have to find Contemno himself, per say," she offered. "You just need to retrace his steps."
"What do you mean?"
"Contemno is pretty mobile these days. He does a lot of moving around; never stays in one place for too long. I get the impression it's due to paranoia, but over what, I don't know."
"He's probably afraid someone will get the jump on him at some point."
"Could be. Anyway, he periodically hops around from place to place and meets with each of his subordinates – including Tatanga."
"Right, but where are you going with this?"
"If Contemno keeps all of his stooges in designated spots at all times, he's gotta have some sort of route he follows when he meets with each of them, right?"
"Yeah," Leanna agreed as she stood up slowly and shook her finger. The answer was right there in front of her face. "And because he's so paranoid, Contemno's the kind of guy who would probably go back and check on his prisoners frequently to make sure they're still exactly the way he left them. Wherever he's keeping their bodies, that's gotta be one of his regular stops. So if I can find out what his route is, I can narrow down the spots to check for where the bodies might be."
"Exactly," Pauline said; polishing off the last of her wine.
"I don't suppose you would have a map of Contemno's route, would you?" Pauline smiled and stood up herself.
"As a matter of fact, I do." She reached under the sofa cushion and pulled out a rolled up piece of paper; handing it to Leanna.
"Wow, I'm surprised you actually had this on you." Pauline shrugged.
"Tatanga could barely keep his eyes off it when he was here last. So I made him half a dozen martinis and got him juuuust tipsy enough that he wouldn't notice when I swiped it from his back pocket while he wasn't looking."
"Devilish," Leanna said with an approving nod as she quickly began eyeing the map. She spread it out on the table and Pauline began looking it over as well.
"So, where are you gonna start?" Pauline asked.
"Well, let's see…," Leanna thought aloud. "Mushroom Kingdom…Koopa Kingdom…Metro Kingdom…Cap Kingdom…Desert Kingdom…," she listed off. "It looks like Contemno's got somebody holding down an outpost at each of these major kingdoms. But if he wanted to keep his prisoners' bodies a secret, he wouldn't trust any of these guys with the important job of guarding them," Leanna theorized. "So, they can't be at any of these outposts. They have to be somewhere more…off the radar."
"Makes sense," Pauline agreed. Leanna traced the map with her index finger until it reached a collection of islands down south.
"What's down here? Doesn't look like there's any sort of occupation on these islands." Pauline's eyes zeroed in on the point of interest.
"Well, that one there is Isle Delfino," she answered. "It's a popular vacation spot."
"And here? This one looks completely deserted."
"For the longest time, everyone thought it was. Turns out that island is actually populated with Yoshis," Pauline described.
"So then they're not established kingdoms, which means Contemno probably has no interest in taking them over too."
"Well, Yoshi Island has actually become pretty progressive. They've spent decades turning their primitive little village into a full-on city."
"How do you know that? You ever been there?"
"Not me, no. But a friend of mine told me once that they've been fighting and lobbying for years to have an additional seat made for them on the Kingdom Council. Sadly, the Yoshis are too divided amongst themselves on the issue to think it would ever be a good idea for them to associate with the outside world. It's sad really for those of them who do want to connect with us."
"The way the world is right now, they're better off not wanting anything to do with us," said Leanna.
"Sad, but true," Pauline agreed. "So, you think Contemno might be keeping the bodies there? It seems a bit more off-the-grid to me." Leanna pondered this for a moment.
"Hmmm….no. I don't think they're there."
"Why not?"
"Both islands are still too populated. My gut tells me Contemno wouldn't want to stash his prisoners someplace where any random bystander could find them by accident," Leanna reasoned. "It has to be completely isolated. That way, even if the prisoners were to somehow miraculously wake up and escape, there'd be no one around to help them."
"In that case, he'd probably want to take them here instead," Pauline suggested; gesturing at a large continent on the far east side of the map."
"Why? What's over there?"
"No one really knows. It's completely uncharted territory. No kingdoms for miles as far as I can tell."
"But there aren't any arrows going through it. As far as I can tell, this isn't part of Contemno's route."
"Exactly. So if this map were to somehow fall into the wrong hands, even if someone was to learn his entire route by heart…," Pauline started.
"….They'd never think to check a spot he didn't mark!" Leanna finished as her face lit up. "That's brilliant!" She rolled up the map in a hurry and handed it to Pauline, but she objected with her hand.
"You need this information way more than I do. Besides, if Tatanga comes back looking for it, I'll have nothing to hide," she explained.
"Good point. I'll need to do some additional research on this other continent first. It's too much ground to cover going in blind."
"I'm sure you'll find your way around. You always do," said Pauline with a smile.
"Thank you for all of this, it means a lot. I swear I'll find a way to make this up to you. I'll get you out of here," Leanna promised.
"Take all the time you need. I'll be waiting." The two embraced in a hug before Leanna turned and jogged back towards the front door.
"Actually, there's something else you can tell me in the meantime," Pauline called out after her.
"What's that?"
"These boys…the prisoners. What are their names?"
"Mario and Bowser," Leanna answered. Pauline's eyes widened at this, and Leanna immediately took notice of it.
"You know them?" Pauline paused as if choosing her next words carefully. Her smile persisted as she settled on something.
"Yes, I do. You're unsure if you could trust them to be useful to you, right?" Leanna nodded. Pauline laced her delicate fingers together and held them close to her heart. "You can, trust me. They've got too much riding on the line to not be helpful. They won't let you down."
"Good to know, thanks," said Leanna with a smile before she slipped out the door and into the dimly lit hallway.
So…they're both alive after all…, Pauline thought to herself. A single tear rolled down her cheek. Then they'll keep fighting. I'm sure of it. We may still have a chance after all.
Bowser awoke to a pounding headache and sore, bruised hands caked in dried blood. His tongue was like sandpaper in his mouth, and he'd kill for a glass of water. The Koopa King sat up on a filthy, old sofa where he presumed he'd been resting until now. Once his groggy eyes adjusted to the shadows, Bowser recognized his surroundings. He was in the waiting room of the Second Wind orphanage.
They'd reached their destination after all. Or at least, Bowser had.
He looked aimlessly around the room, but there was no sign of Mario. His whereabouts was just one of half a dozen questions burning in his mind at that moment.
What happened to Wart, Goomboss, and Whomp King? Where'd that giant arena go? Just how did he make it here?
Minutes later, Bowser picked up on the creaking and clicking of an aged, wooden door opening and closing. Mario stepped into the room holding two water bottles; one of which was already half empty.
"Oh, you're awake," said Mario with very mild surprise in his voice at this development. The plumber tossed Bowser the full water bottle, and the latter caught it, twisted off the cap as quickly as he could and chugged the entire bottle empty within seconds. Mario was silently kicking himself for not bringing more. He should've guessed one measly bottle wouldn't be nearly enough for someone of Bowser's size.
"How long was I out?" Bowser asked, massaging his temples.
"I wish I could tell you, but I still don't really understand how time flows here."
"Oh…right," said Bowser; immediately remembering he was still technically asleep in the real world, despite waking up in Contemno's heart kingdom.
Mario proceeded to catch Bowser up on the events that transpired after the latter had fallen unconscious. In spite of Bowser's weight and his own injuries, Mario somehow managed to carry Bowser all the way to the orphanage. He had briefly gone back to Leanna's diner to bring water for the two of them; just blindly hoping Bowser would be okay until he returned.
"Guess we managed to hold off frog boy for the time being," Bowser commented.
"For now anyway. I'm sure he'll be back, and with more powerful goons no doubt," Mario guessed. Bowser sighed heavily.
"We gotta get out of here…"
"We will. We just need to be patient and focus on finding out where our bodies are."
"I know…"
"But you're still worried about what Wart said, huh? About the kingdoms?"
"Not just that. I'm worried about my minions…my family….and Junior…"
"I know what you mean. I'm worried about Peach and Luigi too. We'll help them. But right now, we gotta help ourselves."
"Right. I'm guessing you haven't heard back from Leanna yet?" Mario shook his head.
"She's still gone. But I have a feeling it won't be much longer. She seems pretty resourceful. I'm sure she'll come back with something. In the meantime, we should try to make ourselves useful." Bowser climbed shakily to his feet. Mario could tell he was still in pain and had gestured for him not to get up, but was completely ignored.
"Well, since this was your idea, lead on. Where do we go from here?" Mario motioned for Bowser to follow him back out into the foyer where the desk was completely covered with manila folders.
"I've been looking through some of the files of the kids who went to this orphanage before…whatever happened to it. We know Contemno was an orphan who lived here at some point in his life, and I figure the reason why he has a replica of this place in his heart kingdom is because it's still important to him in some way." Bowser's eyes glossed over the files as he hesitated on where to start.
"So you think one of these kids grew up to be Contemno, then?"
"Right," Mario affirmed. "There aren't a lot of them. So if we look through each one, we might find some kind of clue as to who Contemno was in the past."
"I thought we were trying to find out where our bodies are."
"We are. But Leanna's looking into that too. Like I mentioned before, it's pretty unlikely Contemno would just leave that information lying around somewhere in a world he created. In the meantime, if we can determine which one of these kids turned out to be Contemno, we might start to piece together what happened to him to make him turn out this way."
Bowser took a handful of files, read their names, then dismissively tossed them off the desk; scattering their paper contents to the floor. Mario raced over to clean them up.
"Hey! What'd you do that for?!"
"Those are my kids' files, idiot. They won't be of any help to us," Bowser defended.
"The Koopalings? How can you be so sure of that?" The Koopa King glared at Mario.
"Are you suggesting that one of my own kids could actually be Contemno?"
"Not necessarily. But we can't rule anyone out."
"And why not?" Bowser asked incredulously, placing his hands on his hips.
"Well…," Mario hesitated at first as the Koopa King towered over him. "How can you be so sure Contemno isn't one of them?" he recovered.
"Because they're my family, you numskull! They would never do any of the stuff Contemno has done. They love me."
"What about your parents? They were your family too and that didn't stop them from-"
"Don't go there," Bowser threatened; pointing a claw at Mario threateningly like a dagger. Mario rubbed the back of his head.
"Right…sorry. All I'm saying is, everyone keeps secrets. Even within families. I mean, Luigi built the basement under our house without telling me just so he'd have a place to write in his secret diary. Maybe you don't know the Koopalings as well as you think you do."
"Or maybe you don't know what you're talking about!" Bowser bit back. "We're not talking about some stupid, lousy diary or a little white lie! Contemno is killing and torturing people! My kids are NOT capable of that!"
"But they are capable of kidnapping a princess. So they aren't exactly angels, now are they?" Mario argued; maintaining his composure. Bowser was stumped by this.
"Well…that's not their fault! I taught them that!" the Koopa King retorted seconds later.
"What else did you teach them?" Bowser went silent again and racked his brain trying to think of something; anything. Yet, he came up short, surprisingly.
"It always seemed to me that you were paying a lot more attention to Junior than to any of your other children," said Mario with a casual shrug of his shoulders.
"Well…t-that's because Junior is the royal prince! They're just my generals! That's why I adopted them in the first place. We've been over this already."
"Is that the only reason you give Junior special treatment? Are you sure it's not because he's your real son, and the others aren't?"
"Oh, like you're one to criticize my parenting style! I don't see you and Peach rearing any kids of your own!"
"This isn't about me. It's about the Koopalings," Mario said simply; folding his arms.
"Then maybe you better hurry up and make your point before I give you a black eye!" Bowser threatened.
"All I'm saying is that you seem to pay more attention to Junior than to anyone else. That could build up some resentment in any single one of the Koopalings. Resentment could lead to secrets. I'm not accusing any one of them of being Contemno. But, maybe you don't know absolutely everything about them. Maybe we might learn something about them by looking at these files."
Bowser picked up the last of the paperwork off the floor and held it tightly in his hands. His eyes locked with Mario's.
"Or maybe it'll just be a colossal waste of time," Bowser retorted in a low, sinister voice. "All of the stuff Contemno knows about me, I've never spoken a word of it to anyone. Even Junior doesn't know the full extent of just how awful his grandparents really were. So there's no way any of my kids could be Contemno without having the dirt on me that that little freak does. For all we know, Contemno could turn out to just be some disgruntled minion of mine who wants me to correct some 'injustice' I did to him."
"Maybe. That's a possibility too. But I'm just saying-" Mario started.
"But I'm getting really damn sick of you always lecturing me about my family," Bowser cut him off. "As if you could ever know any better when you have no kids of your own."
Mario sighed and shook his head; his shoulders drooping in surrender.
"Fine, fine. You've made your point. I'll lay off," Mario conceded. "Let's just look over the files of the other kids then."
Bowser nodded his head and placed the folders for Morton and Ludwig that he'd been holding on the desk and turned away.
However, he couldn't help but glance over his shoulder back at them one last time.
Come to think of it…how much did Bowser actually know about his children?