RECAP:
In the search for the whereabouts of Mario and Bowser's unconscious bodies in the real world, Leanna met up with Pauline - her contact on the inside of Contemno's operation. Pauline gifted Leanna a map of Contemno's traveling route across the kingdoms and helped her narrow down a possible point of interest in her mission. There was a large, unnamed and unmarked continent to the east. While she didn't know what this place was, Leanna was confident that finding this out would lead her ever closer to the answer she sought.
Elsewhere, Mario and Bowser struggled but ultimately triumphed over Goomboss and Whomp King. Wart escaped, but not before leaving Mario with a cryptic message about Essence. At the orphanage, the duo discussed the records of the establishment's children as they searched for clues about Contemno's true identity. An intense debate broke out between them surrounding the Koopalings and whether or not any of them were possible candidates for dawning the disguise and name of Contemno and carrying out an unknown, malicious ambition. Mario posed the question and although Bowser adamantly disagreed, he had admitted to himself that he also had doubts about the innocence of his own children.
By mid-day, Junior and the gang trudged to the top of the hill overlooking Toad Town. After parting ways with Professor Kolorado – who set off alone along Pleasant Path towards Koopa Village – it had been an arduous journey back from Sarasaland, to say the least. So grueling in fact, that none of them were quite sure how Daisy managed to make this commute every week to the Kingdom Council meetings.
"Whose bright idea was it to put that stupid warp pipe way out in the middle of an open field instead of…y'know, close to civilization?" Larry complained.
"I dunno. But if I ever meet them, I have a few choice words I'd like to say," said Junior as he weakly pounded his fist into the palm of his other hand. Daisy hustled up to the front of the pack.
"Oh, quit crying, ya babies! We're almost there! See?" She pointed to the familiar city just ahead. It was true. At last, the capital of the Mushroom Kingdom was within reach. And to their pleasant surprise, it was no longer the deplorable wasteland they had trekked through previously on their last visit.
A gentle hum blanketed the city. Packs of Toads were scattered and scurrying all around. Fresh wood planks and beams brought skeletal shape back to the ravaged, burned, and ransacked shops and houses. The adult Toads lifted furniture, boulders, and other heavy obstacles, while the children collected debris that was littered all over the ground.
Toad Town was far from restored to its former glory. But it was healing.
"Oh hey! Whaddya know? You're here!" A familiar voice greeted them from nearby. It was Toad – or rather – the one they had left behind at Merlon's when they initially set out for Bowser's castle. Peach knelt down and embraced him as he raced up to her.
"It's good to see you, Toad. But, what're you doing out here?" The princess asked.
"The old coot told me to come and wait for ya. Said he 'foresaw your return today' or something like that," Toad explained. "Good thing you showed up when you did. My butt was falling asleep, and if I had to wait five more minutes, I was gonna start thinking Merlon's losing his touch."
"Oh dear, well we certainly wouldn't want to inconvenience you," Junior inserted sarcastically. Toad glared at him, but otherwise seemed to shrug the comment off.
"So, how'd it go? Did you find the ship or whatever? Did you get to Sarasaland? How's Daisy?"
"Why don't you ask her yourself?!" Daisy exclaimed enthusiastically as she shoved her way to the front of the pack and struck a dramatic pose. Goombella and Kooper poked out from behind her, smiling awkwardly.
"It's been a long trip. Let's head back to Merlon's. We'll fill you in on the way," Iggy suggested.
As the group strolled through the wounded streets of Toad Town, they received a rather mixed reception from its denizens. Some Toads smiled, waved, and warmly greeted them. But others eyeballed them with skepticism and slight disdain. Junior silently gathered that the positive looks were most likely directed at their beloved princess tagging along in this little parade behind them. Meanwhile, the rest were probably because the Toads were disappointed it wasn't Mario whom was rolling into town to fix everything like he always did.
Goombella and Kooper were horrified to find Toad Town in such a sorry state, but the others were more surprised to see that its people were miraculously still alive when their last visit painted far too grim a picture for that to ever seem possible.
Toad explained that when Contemno first attacked, the city descended into chaos. Reports were rolling in that mysterious, armored soldiers were rounding Toads up and taking them prisoner; using violence and property destruction to strike paralyzing fear into their hearts. Most of the Toads had fled the town altogether; abandoning their homes, friends, and even families as they were swept up in an unsettling new life as wandering, homeless refugees. As quickly as they began however, the attacks eventually ceased. Contemno and the soldiers vanished as quickly as they had appeared, and Toad Town was left in utter ruin.
With both Mario and Peach missing, all hope seemed lost.
That is, until the group's own Toad unknowingly began to paint a different picture. In boredom one day, Toad had taken a walk through town to survey the damage. While Junior, Princess Peach and the others set off on their own journey, all Toad could do was look on in horror at the overwhelming despair that surrounded him.
Or at least, he assumed as much right up until the moment when he heard a faint cry for help coupled with the slight shuffling of debris. Toad encountered a poor soul that had been trapped under a collapsed building. It was a Paratroopa, but not just any ordinary one.
Dawning his signature leather aviator hat and goggles, Toad recognized him as Parakarry, the beloved town mail carrier. Toad quickly took Parakarry back to Merlon's house to be nursed back to health. Toad and Merlon explained what Junior's team was doing and after a few days of rest, Parakarry had recovered enough that he eagerly set off on a mission of his own.
In desperate times and in the absence of a hero, there was one thing people needed most: hope. And that was what Parakarry had set out to deliver.
In record time, Parakarry had delivered letters to his friends and connections all over the Mushroom Kingdom; detailing everything from Eldstar's first warning to the Kingdom Council, to Mario's disappearance, to Contemno's attack, and eventually concluding with Bowser Jr.'s quest to commandeer an airship and journey to Sarasaland on a mission to rescue Princess Daisy.
The letter ended with a call to action. In the darkest of times, hope was something people found within themselves. When all hope seemed lost, a once-infamous prince was emerging as an unlikely hero; seeking to restore some semblance of order in an overwhelming storm of chaos. If he could act, so too could others.
Slowly but surely, the refugee Toads trickled back into Toad Town to assess the damage. As their numbers grew, they delegated, collaborated, and worked tirelessly to restore their home; though still taking time to grieve for the lives they had lost along the way.
Now, Junior's group was witnessing the fruit of such labors. Toad Town was far from back to normal, and it would never again be the same as it once was. But as the flower beds across the street from the post office symbolized, a beautiful, hopeful new beginning was blossoming.
Bowser sighed and tossed his hands up in the air in surrender.
"Alright, that's it. I give up! This is officially a waste of time," the Koopa King declared. Mario glanced up from the file he was reviewing.
"You're giving up already? Did you finish reading through each of the Koopalings' files?" he probed.
"Of course I did. But I don't know what you expected. There's nothing here! It's just a bunch of old medical records from when they were kids. There's nothing about their personalities, their pasts, or anything that's even remotely useful to us now," Bowser explained.
"Well…did you at least learn anything new about them?"
"Other than the fact that Larry is ambidextrous or that Roy is the oldest of the bunch? Nope. Sorry to disappoint you, but if you were hoping to find a big red stamp somewhere that says 'This child will grow up to be a magical, mask-wearing psychopath named Contemno', it ain't here, chief." Mario sighed.
"Yeah, I'm not having much luck with any of these other kids either. There's just not enough information on any of them. Even for Leanna and Eris. I think I learned more about them from what you told me before than I have from their folders here."
"Well, what did you expect? This isn't some fancy, high-tech hospital. It's a disgusting, run-down, underfunded, understaffed dump of an orphanage that some poor, unfortunate kids got dropped off at when they had nowhere else to go," said Bowser.
"I know but…I just don't understand why Contemno would recreate a place like this in his heart kingdom if it won't tell us anything about him. He's gotta have some kind of connection to this place; some reason why he's kept a memory of it all these years later."
Bowser laid back in the chair behind the desk and propped his feet up on it in repose. He folded his arms behind his head and shut his eyes.
"Leanna said he grew up here with her and Eris. That's gotta be all there is to it." Mario's eyes widened slightly and his eyebrows rose.
"Or maybe…we're going about this all wrong."
"Oh really? Then what would be the 'correct' way to go about it, Mr. Detective?" Bowser ridiculed.
"We thought the reason Contemno made a copy of this orphanage in his heart kingdom was because it would tell us something about who Contemno is as a person, right?"
"You came up with that, not me."
"I know, I know. But, stay with me for a second. Maybe we're not meant to learn something about Contemno coming here. Maybe we're just meant to learn something about this place instead."
"I have no idea what you're talking about. But you sound like you're on a roll, so I'm just gonna let you keep talking," said Bowser as he scratched his belly.
"Hold on, just think with me for a second. What do we already know about Contemno?" Mario thought aloud.
"That he knows way more than he should about my past and my relationship with my parents?" Bowser guessed.
"No, that's just what he knows about you. But what do we already know about him?"
"He…does magic?"
"Right. What else?"
"He can…do crazy experiments like what he did with your voice and memories?"
"Yeah, and he's had a thing for Eris since they were kids, right?"
"Well duh, but I don't see how that's-"
"And where did they first meet?"
"Pfft, that's easy. Leanna told us they met…" Bowser suddenly jerked up in his chair as if the realization just hit him squarely across the face. "…at the orphanage!"
"Exactly," Mario affirmed with a smile. "If those two are even half as close as Leanna says they are, the memories of the time they spent here together would be way too important for Contemno to just forget; even if he hated this place in the end."
"So what you're saying is Contemno made a copy of this place because this is where he met Eris," Bowser deduced. Mario nodded. "So…what then? Are we supposed to go looking for some corny, secret love letters they wrote to each other or something?" Mario shrugged.
"Maybe. My point is that the reason we haven't found anything useful yet is because we've been looking in the wrong place this whole time," the plumber explained. "Contemno and Eris wouldn't have any special memories behind this desk or in these old files. But if we check out the rest of the orphanage and find the spots Contemno would have memories of, that's where we might learn something new about him!"
"Well what are we still sittin' around here for? Let's get a move on then!" Bowser exclaimed as he leapt out of his chair and started down the hall.
"Hang on, where are we going?" Mario asked as he started to catch up.
"Upstairs! That's where the kids probably slept and spent a lot of time! It's the best place to check first!" Bowser shouted back down from above.
"Makes sense to me!" Mario agreed as he followed his partner up the dusty staircase at the hallway's end.
Leanna stormed into her diner in a hurry and locked herself in her office in the back of the establishment across from the kitchen. The woman snatched a dozen books off the shelf in quick succession, ripped them open one after another, and then plopped herself squarely in her chair to study their contents.
She briefly acknowledged the absence of Mario and Bowser, then quickly dismissed it. They were likely still up at the orphanage, and despite agreeing to meet back here, Leanna realized that they never actually designated any sort of time to meet up again.
It hardly mattered. They were adults, and by now they understood just enough about this place to make it on their own without her for a little while. Leanna hoped they found something of interest in that old building just to keep them occupied and out of her hair for a while as she focused. If they did, Leanna certainly couldn't show up with anything less than a definite answer to the question that was burning in each of their minds.
Leanna unrolled the map from Pauline, placed it squarely in the center of her already terribly cluttered desk, and used the weight of four open books to weigh it down perfectly in place. Like a machine, Leanna's eyes scanned each book briefly before immediately jumping to the next and repeating the process in a repetitive cycle. She didn't know what exactly she would find, which made the search seem all the more daunting.
How could she find the answer she needed if she didn't even know what she was looking for? Would any of these books be useful and if so, which ones? She just needed some kind of hint; a gentle nudge in the right direction.
This unmarked continent had to be where Mario and Bowser's bodies were. She was growing more and more certain of that by the minute.
After all, it was just too perfect. As Pauline had suggested, it was completely untouched by the red pen markings outlining Contemno's route. On the surface, it seemed to be completely devoid of his interest and attention. No one would suspect it. Except Leanna herself, of course.
The only problem now was that she had no idea what on earth this place was.
Leanna searched every map, atlas, and every other written and illustrated record of the world's continents that she possessed; book after book, journal after journal, diagram after diagram. But not a single one gave even the slightest acknowledgement of this mysterious eastern continent. No markings, no symbols, no excerpts, no documented attempts to explore it of any kind.
It's not like this mass of land was some recently-formed anomaly either. It appeared on even the oldest records she had in her possession. Leanna possessed maps of the Mushroom Kingdom that were terribly outdated by today's standards. The mysterious continent was present in the exact same spot in the exact same shape every single time. It had to be just as old if not older than every piece of land currently known to man.
So why was there no information about it?
Leanna's first theory was that there was no information about this place simply because no one had ever been there. But why not? It's not like this was some obscure little island that was easy to miss. It was almost as big as the continent that housed both the Mushroom and Koopa Kingdoms together. It was impossible to just overlook by accident.
As the world's population grew century after century, the very nature of humans and animals alike had been to seek out new territory in order to obtain resources - food, water, shelter, and safety - so as to establish and grow a community. This mysterious continent was as prime real estate as any of the other currently occupied territories for someone to set up shop there.
Her mind then jumped to the possibility that someone did explore this place with the intention of documenting their findings and charting a lay of the land. But their records or even they themselves never made it back home to report what they found. That would explain why none of these books contained any information about this place. If that information was lost and the people who were tasked with providing it went missing, obviously that meant there was some sort of risk or danger to this place.
Some horrible death trap of an island would be the perfect place to hide one's treasure or dirty secrets without fear of them ever being discovered thanks to the utter lack of bystanders.
But then, how would Contemno know about this place if information about it was non-existent?
Someone, somewhere had to know what this place was. And that someone could not have been Contemno himself. He'd been busy with far too many other tasks to have time for exploring some dangerous land mass.
The only explanation that remained was that Contemno found information about this place from someone or somewhere, and decided then that it would suit his needs perfectly. Which meant that Leanna just needed to find that same source herself.
In an effort to ease her mental block, Leanna stepped away from her desk and returned a moment later with a tall glass of water. However, she slipped on a single sheet of paper resting on the floor, which had fluttered off the edge of her workspace. She managed to quickly regain her balance in time, but spilled her drink slightly onto her workspace; bleeding over one of the maps. In a panic, Leanna snatched it up to try and salvage the century-old parchment, but stopped just as quickly.
The paper wasn't ruined. Quite the opposite, actually. The illustrations in the inflicted area now stood out in a darker, bolder shade than the rest of the map. The water appeared to have washed away a much thicker layer of dirt; one that was actually obscuring something from the observant eye. Leanna carefully tipped her glass and let loose a thin stream of water over the rest of the page; expanding the stain further and washing more and more of the dirt away.
When the glass ran empty, Leanna paused and considered running back to the kitchen to refill it. But one glance over her handiwork was enough to convince her otherwise. The area of interest on the map was now completely exposed. While the vast majority of the mysterious continent remained as a blank canvas of seemingly endless possibility, a new shape had appeared near the eastern shore. It was large and rectangular in shape. The illustration was crude and lacked any distinctive detail. Yet even then, it was still immediately clear what the symbol was supposed to be.
Whatever this unknown land was, along the eastern shoreline sat an unmarked, unnamed man-made structure. It was a castle.
Leanna used the exposed map and traced the castle illustration onto her map from Pauline.
The pieces were slowly starting to come together now. Given the age of the map, Leanna surmised that this castle must have been built centuries ago. Whether an accompanying town was ever founded alongside it after the creation of this map was almost irrelevant. If this place was some sort of kingdom, there couldn't possibly still be an active monarchy in place there. Otherwise, information about this land would be public knowledge and readily available.
If information about this land was in fact scarce, that either meant there was nothing there anymore, or there was something to hide.
A seemingly abandoned castle housed on an uncharted island forgotten by time?
To Leanna, that seemed like the perfect place to hide some bodies. Now all she needed was a name.
The upstairs bedrooms of the orphanage were identical in structure to one another. While the rooms themselves were quite large so as to accommodate half a dozen children each, every individual child surely had little space within to call their own. The rusted copper pipe frames housed pitifully lumpy mattresses and lacked any form of headboard. The pillows were flat and rags littered with holes were supposed to pass for blankets.
Mario was investigating an empty closet, but found little more than a few abandoned coat hangers within it. Meanwhile, Bowser sprawled out on one of the beds and shut his eyes.
"Hey! What happened to helping me look, huh?" Mario scolded.
"Get off my back, will ya? I still haven't fully recovered from our last big brawl, y'know," Bowser argued. Mario raised a finger to object, then rolled his eyes and abandoned his effort at forming a response. The Koopa King shuffled around on the bed to get comfortable, causing the entire structure to squeak incessantly under his weight. Mario turned back to face him with growing annoyance.
"If you're gonna nap, can you at least do it quietly?"
"Hey, it's not my fault these poor kids had slabs of cement to sleep on. I'd probably be more comfortable sleeping on the floor." Mario was about to return to his search when something caught his eye.
"Hold on a sec…what's that?" the plumber asked. Without waiting for a response, Mario approached Bowser's bedside and reached for something sticking out from underneath the mattress.
"What is it?" Bowser asked as he sat up.
"It's…a book."
"Oooh, some poor soul missing their secret diary?" Bowser wondered with a hint of mockery in his inflection. Mario flipped open the cover and glossed over a few pages.
"No, it's a storybook," he answered; wiping away the dust and reading the hard cover's title. "It's called…'Legend of the Star Keepers.'"
"WHAT?! NO WAY! LET ME SEE THAT!" Bowser exclaimed as he swiped the book swiftly from Mario's hands.
"What, have you read it before?" Mario asked casually.
"Duhh! Haven't you?!" Bowser fired back.
"No. What's the big deal?" The Koopa King shot him a look of deep shock and utter disgust.
"Only that it's the single GREATEST book of all-time! This was my favorite as a kid! I must've read it a hundred times at least!" Bowser described as he flipped through the pages excitedly. Mario folded his arms and raised a skeptical eyebrow.
"Call me crazy, but I never pictured you to be much of a reader, Bowser."
"I'm not! Reading's for nerds and sissies! But this is an exception!"
"How so?"
"It's got a bunch of cool characters who have all these insane powers. There's a ton of action and suspense to really sink your teeth into. Not to mention it's so realistic! Almost like it was all real. I could never put it down growing up, and I read it to Junior every night when he was a newborn. It's a classic!"
"Well, that's cute and all, but I still don't see what's so special about it," said Mario with a casual shrug.
"Of course you wouldn't get it. I mean, you haven't read it for crying out loud! I'll have you know that this book was the one thing that distracted me from my horrible family life."
"Really?"
"Yes. Whenever things got bad, I would lock myself in my room, crawl into bed, and read this under my covers with a flashlight until I passed out. Then Dad found it one day and burned it saying 'No son of mine would be caught dead reading some stupid book! Act like a real prince for a change!'" Bowser recounted with a cynical impression of his father.
Mario took a seat on the bed across from the Koopa King.
"That must've been really hard for you; losing something precious like that. I'm sorry," the plumber offered.
"You don't know the half of it. When I finally tracked down another copy to read to Junior all those years later, imagine my disappointment when he never quite latched onto it like I did. Of course…he was still a baby and his brain was the size of a peanut at the time…but still!"
Mario smiled and positioned himself comfortably on the bed.
"Well, don't just leave me in suspense then. Let's hear it," Mario prompted happily with an encouraging wave of his arm. Bowser's eyebrows rose at this.
"What, you want me to read this to you?"
"Of course! Any book that can hold the attention of the mighty Koopa King for more than two seconds has to be something worthwhile, right?" Mario teased.
"Oh hardy-har!" Bowser sneered back. "Very funny. But as much as I would like to, I can't read you the whole thing."
"Why not?"
"Well for starters, this copy's missing a bunch of pages. Whoever owned it before obviously didn't realize what a gem they had. Otherwise they would've taken better care of it."
"But you've read this book so many times, right? So just…fill in the blanks with what you remember."
"I would, but the book's pretty long too. We'll be here a while if I were to read the whole thing right now."
"You were right before. We both fought pretty hard earlier. A little break won't hurt. Just give me the abridged version, then."
He tried to fight the urge at first, but quickly gave in. Bowser couldn't help but break into a small, bashful grin as he geeked out at the prospect of getting to read his favorite story again.
Meanwhile, Mario felt a gentle warmth from seeing his adversary genuinely excited about something wholesome for a change. Knowing everything Mario now knew about Bowser's troubled past, he gladly welcomed the prospect of letting the Koopa King relish in this moment of unbridled bliss; as fleeting as it may have been.
Bowser shifted eagerly on the bed, cleared his throat, and flipped the book back to the first page; eager to begin.
"Alright, hold onto your mustache, plumber boy. You're in for a wild ride!" Bowser declared. "The story starts at the dawn of civilization; hundreds of years ago. Before people existed, the world was watched over by the stars in the sky above. For some unknown reason, four stars fell from the sky one day. It's said that this caused the first ever sunrise on a land that only ever knew of nightfall. When they landed, the stars became buried just underneath the planet's surface. Their power gave life to everything they could reach. Trees and flowers bloomed, lakes rose into oceans, mountains moved. The planet as we know it today took shape the day those stars gave our home the gift of life," Bowser recited with some improvisation of his own along the way.
"I thought you weren't going to be able to read all of it," Mario recounted with a chuckle.
"Right, right. I'll skip ahead a bit. Much later in the future, there lived four friends: Sia the chameleon, Juniper the bluebird, Bastierge the wolf, and Roderick the dragon. These friends discovered the four power stars that had been buried in the ground and managed to absorb them without understanding why or how. The stars gave each of them incredible magic powers. Together, the friends used their newfound abilities to grow their tiny little farming village into the world's very first kingdom. They dedicated their lives to protecting their home and its people from harm by darkness and the burgeoning forces of evil." Bowser turned the book around so as to allow Mario to gaze upon the picture that stretched across the page.
It was an illustration of a grand castle seemingly constructed entirely with golden bricks. The tall, immaculate structure rested at the top of a lush, grass hill – which was populated with flower beds and overlooked the ocean.
"Interesting," Mario commented as he nodded his head. "I can't believe I've never heard this story before."
"Like I said, it's the best story ever written! It's got everything; action, adventure, drama, romance, suspense, and even death!" Bowser explained with all the energy of a small child.
"How does it end?" Mario asked with genuine curiosity.
"Oh! Well, you'll never believe it but-"
"There you two are," a voice cut him off. Mario and Bowser turned to find Leanna strolling in from the doorway.
"Leanna! You're back," Mario greeted as he stood up.
"Hmph, bad timing much? I was just getting to the good part!" Bowser grumbled.
"How's the search going? Find anything useful?" Leanna asked, ignoring Bowser's complaint.
"Not really…," Mario admitted. "I thought we were on to something when we came here, but it turns out we still have no real idea as to who Contemno might be."
"What did you find? Know where our bodies are yet?" Bowser chimed in.
"Pretty close. I've got a good idea of where they are." Leanna went on to explain the intel she received from Pauline, though she thoughtlessly neglected to reveal her source by name. The woman continued on by describing her discovery of the unknown castle on the mysterious continent. "So unless we can find out what this place is or where the castle is situated, the portals won't work. After all, you can't just drop in there if you don't know where it is," she concluded.
Mario studied the map intently, but his expression was utterly puzzled.
"Whatcha got there, tubby?" Leanna asked, taking notice of the book Bowser was reading silently on the bed.
"Legend of the Star Keepers," the Koopa King answered. "I hope you're cultured enough to have heard of it. Same can't be said for Mario."
"I'm familiar with it," Leanna confirmed. "My sister on the other hand, was hopelessly obsessed with it. It's what got her interested in magic in the first place. She treated it like it was her own personal bible or something."
"So then…this isn't Contemno's copy?" Mario asked. Leanna shook her head.
"Not exclusively. Remember that Eris introduced Contemno to magic, so they both took inspiration from it. It's not too surprising that there'd be a version of it here in his heart kingdom. The book itself was important to him, but so was Eris – whom the book initially belonged to." Leanna explained. "But I'm surprised Bowser of all people would be drooling over it as much as he seems to be right now."
"Get in line, sister. You're not the first one to make that comment!" Bowser retorted defensively. "It's too bad Eris doesn't have her head on straight and is siding with Contemno. Otherwise, she and I would have something in common!"
"Oh please, don't tell me you actually believe in that garbage too. You do know that none of the stuff in that book is real, right?"
"Huh? Of course it is! It's all true!" Bowser exclaimed, utterly flabbergasted by her comment.
"Oh really?"
"Yes, really. Where else do you think the stars came from?"
"I've read dozens of theories about that, and they're all way more plausible than that stupid little fairy tale."
"But can you prove the place in this story doesn't exist?"
"Can you prove it does?"
Meanwhile, Mario was tuning out Bowser and Leanna's bickering by intensely studying the map. His eyes widened.
"Wait a sec….Bowser!" The Koopa King turned to acknowledge him. "What's the name of the castle in that book?"
"Castle Olympus," Bowser answered in a matter-of-fact manner without even needing to consult the text. "Why?"
"Let me see that picture again!" he demanded as he stole the book from Bowser in a rush.
"You're on to something. Care to share with the rest of the class?" Leanna prompted.
"Bingo! I knew it!" Mario exclaimed seconds later. He slammed the open book down next to Leanna's map so it was side-by-side with the picture in the book. "See? Look! They're identical. The castle in this story was built at the top of a hill overlooking the ocean. And the castle Leanna's been researching is right near the coast of this unknown continent."
"See? Told you it was all true!" Bowser declared smugly.
"But…there's just no way," Leanna denied. "Legend of the Star Keepers is nothing but a fairy tale. No one actually believes that these characters existed; that this place is real, or that any of the events in it ever actually happened."
"Or maybe, that's what certain people want you to believe," Bowser reasoned. "People like Eris and Contemno."
"Bowser's right," Mario agreed. "What if there is at least some truth to what's in here? If this place is real, but the rest of the world doesn't believe that, then they'd never go looking for it. It would be the perfect spot for someone who knows the truth to hide something valuable without having to worry that anyone would ever come looking for it."
"You mean…," Leanna began. Mario confirmed the suspicion he could see clearly blossoming in her eyes.
"That's right. This has gotta be it. Contemno is hiding our bodies at Castle Olympus."
Alpha and Omega disembarked from their aircraft, which was nestled inconspicuously behind a tree and some bushes.
"You got a visual on 'em yet?" Omega asked. Alpha surveyed the town below meticulously until his binoculars immediately stopped upon a point of interest.
"There. I see them," Alpha confirmed.
"How many?"
"Let's see…the short plump one with the red hair must be Bowser Jr. Then there are…four other Koopas with him: three with spiked shells, one of the normal variety. I'm guessing those must be his servants."
"Tch, pompous royalty at work. Always overcompensating," Omega remarked with disdain.
"Hold on…he's got more. A Toad….a Goomba…and two women."
"Sheesh…quite the entourage for a kid."
"Wait a minute, I recognize 'em. Those two broads are from the council. Peach and Daisy."
"What? I thought Contemno had them locked up. What happened to ol' Misbud or whatever his name was?"
"L said he got nixed and that the mushroom chick slipped away somehow during Contemno's raid. They're part of Bowser Jr.'s entourage now, no doubt."
"Lemme see that!" Omega demanded as he stole the binoculars from his partner and looked onward. "What's the big deal? The brat doesn't seem so tough. Separate him from his little posse and I bet I could have the brat crying for his daddy in seconds." Alpha slapped Omega from the back of his head.
"You numbskull! Didn't you hear what the boss said? That 'brat' put him in the hospital in the first place! Underestimate him now and you won't be far behind."
"Blind obedience like that is what will keep us from ever amounting to anything more than stooges," Omega argued.
"Stooges is all we'll ever be if we screw this up!" Alpha retorted as he confiscated the binoculars back. "We're playing this smart, just like Tatanga said. We do this right or not at all. Got it?" Omega crossed his arms and grumbled. Omega tossed his hand up dismissively.
"Fine, have it your way. So what're they up to anyway?"
"Looks like they're heading somewhere in town. For now, we play the waiting game and see where they go. I wanna get a good look at their base of operations and…wait…what's that?"
"What's what?"
"There! Up in the sky! Is that one of ours?" Alpha asked as he pointed up.
"Huh? Where?" Omega looked up as well and his eyes locked on to some sort of ship coming quickly into view. "No way! Who's that? You think Contemno authorized someone else to come out here too?"
"Maybe. Doesn't sound like the boss and Contemno are on good speakin' terms. Besides, he wanted to keep our whole operation under wraps. Whoever that is, I doubt they know we're here," Alpha surmised.
"Wait a sec…what the hell are they doin' now?!" Omega exclaimed. "They're gunnin' right for 'em!"
Junior's crew was beginning down the pathway towards Shooting Star Summit when Junior himself immediately stopped in his tracks.
"Wait," he instructed. Everyone came to a gradual stop.
"What is it, Junior?" Iggy asked. The Koopa Prince turned and shut his eyes to concentrate.
"Something's coming this way," he warned.
"Look, up there!" Kooper exclaimed as he pointed to a flying object in the sky, which was rocketing into view.
It was an airship, but not one of Bowser's design. The team didn't have enough time to get a good look at it, however. As within seconds, a series of cannon balls came barreling down towards them.
"Incoming!" Roy shouted. He clapped his hands and summoned a rock barrier from the ground to shield his comrades from the attack.
"QUIT HIDIN', BRAT! IF YOUS IS REALLY BOWSA'S KID, DEN COME AN' FACE US!" a nasally voice chirped. Peach poked her head out from behind the rock wall just long enough to catch a glimpse of their attacker.
"It can't be..." she said.
"Peach, you know who that is?" Larry asked.
"Yes, it's the Broodals!" she confirmed. Everyone took turns between the rounds of cannon fire to take a quick look.
"So, those are the Broodals, eh?" said Junior as he hopped over the barrier.
"Junior, wait! What are you doing?!" Goombella called out. The Koopa Prince twirled his paint brush and swatted each of the cannon balls away with ease.
"You looking for me, furballs?!" Junior called out. "Well here I am! Come and get me!"
As if on command, the four Broodals dove straight off their ship together and stuck the landing directly in front of Junior. Menacing grins were plastered on each of their faces.
Roy lowered the rock barrier and the others raced over to Junior's side; armed with their weapons.
"We need ta talk, peewee," said Topper.