Author's Notes: Welcome to the second chapter of my Mario fic! This chapter might as well have been titled "everybody looks at stuff". LOL! Don't worry, it's an exciting chapter, but there's also a lot of acclimation for the characters here too. Updates to this fic and others might be slow for a while. I'm working on a comic project that is taking up a lot of my time and inspiration, but i didn't want to leave you guys with nothing to read in the meantime. Anyway, thank you for returning to read this chapter, and if you're new thank you for giving this fic a chance :)
Chapter 2
Double Trouble
Mario felt every fiber of his being whoosh along at the speed of a falling star. Warp pipes were generally fast, but this was on a whole other level. The feeling was that of intense speed, yet also seemed to take forever. When Mario was finally transported to where he was going, he fell from the sky and landed hard in the dirt.
The impact was painful, but Mario was used to such punishment. He was, after all, one of the Mushroom Kingdom's greatest athletes. Why, he'd almost been killed several times just from playing soccer!
When Mario sat up from the small crater he had created from his reentry, he looked around to see the lush forest of Yoshi Island. Everything was green, there were peaceful peaks and valleys, and the fire fruit was in season on the bushes. Mario smiled in appreciation of his surroundings, but then he noticed everything was a little too quiet.
"Bowser?" Mario called out as he looked around, "Bowser, where did you go?"
Mario got up and walked around the jungle looking for the Koopa king, but there was no one around except for him. There weren't even Yoshis frolicking around like usual. Something was off about this picture.
The red clad plumber searched for anyone who might be able to tell him what happened. There were no Yoshis, no tourists, nothing. He couldn't even figure out where his friend Yoshi's house was, which was odd because he was supposed to be transported close to that. Perhaps if he could find the tennis court or go-kart track nearby he could get his bearings.
He walked in the direction of the go-kart track first, but all he saw was a hill where the tunnel to the track used to be. Everything had returned to nature!
"What is happening?" Mario asked himself, "Am I going crazy?"
He started walking up the hill, hoping to get a better vantage point, when out of the blue he heard footsteps behind him. He was relieved that someone was there, but wary given the current situation. He turned around, and saw that there were two Koopa Troopas carrying spears and walking toward him with purpose. Oh good, Bowser's envoy had arrived. Perhaps they had seen where Bowser went.
"Greetings, gentlemen," Mario tipped his hat politely, "Where's 'a the car?"
"That's Mario," One of the Koopas said to the other, "Get him!"
Before Mario could completely process what was going on the two Koopas started charging at him; their spears aiming for his midsection. Mario's reflexes were honed to near perfection however, and he was able to jump over them and out of the way in the nick of time.
"Whoa! Hang on!" Mario exclaimed irately, "What do you think you're doing?"
"Destroying an enemy of King Bowser!" One of the Troopas proclaimed, "Death to the Toadstools!"
"Are you people out of your-? Hey!" Mario yelped when one of them poked him with a spear, "Hey! Be careful! You're going to rip 'a my overalls!"
The Koopas paid him no mind however and continued their assault. Mario was certain by this point that these guys were either insane or else they were anarchists. He would have to do something to keep himself and any potential bystanders from getting hurt.
The Koopas turned for another strike and charged, and Mario calculated where their charge would stop. When they came for him he leapt high in the air, and aimed his landing for directly over one of their heads. He knocked out that Koopa, and then used the momentum to jump from one Koopa's head to the other!
Both were knocked unconscious, and Mario breathed a sigh of relief once he realized he was in the clear. He dusted off his clothes, and then continued walking up the hill.
Once he was atop the mound, he saw two large yellow boxes with question marks floating in midair. Mario knew what those meant. Power ups!
"Oh boy! This must be a new extreme sports arena!" Mario cheered, "I hope this isn't the off season. I'd hate to be stranded here alone."
He went straight to the boxes, but then wasn't quite sure how to release the power ups. These were normally kept on go-kart tracks. In order to break one it was necessary to run them over with a kart. These boxes were too high up to run over however, and besides that Mario had no kart. He left it at Bowser's main castle.
"Now what?" Mario asked as he stared up at the taunting yellow cubes of power.
Not knowing how else to get at the prizes inside, Mario jumped under a box and broke it open with his fist. A gold coin popped out, and Mario quickly pocketed it before anyone else noticed. Hey, if it was a power up it was free game, even if the item was a coin.
After that Mario walked under the other box and jumped up, ready to punch this one with his fist as well. Unfortunately he miscalculated his jump and ended up breaking the brick open with his head!
"Ow ow ow ow ow!" Mario barked as he rubbed his sore head and ran around in little circles, "Man, that's smarts! Whatever is up there better be worth it."
Mario looked at the box, and sitting atop it was a large white egg with green spots. A Yoshi egg. The green spots indicated a green Yoshi, much like one of Mario's dearest friends. Yoshi had rescued Mario and Luigi when they were babies, and practically helped raise them when their parents were too busy to deal with them. Yoshi was family, so Mario always had a soft spot for green Yoshis.
"How do I get that egg down here?" Mario pondered, "Hmm...If I jump up to the edge of the boxes and grab the side, I can climb up and hatch the egg. I'm 'a sure an egg that large is far past time to hatch."
With this in mind, Mario made the jump, grabbed the edges, and somehow managed to pull his fat self up to the top of the boxes. As he huffed and puffed from the effort, he began to ponder why it was that he was so great at sports and yet never seemed to lose any weight. Considering how much fitter Luigi was getting, it didn't seem fair.
Mario then approached the egg and gently rubbed the sides to search for the weak spot. Once he found it, Mario rapped his fist against the shell twice, and the entire thing broke and poofed away with little effort.
What came out of the egg was something Mario never expected. It wasn't a baby Yoshi at all! It was Mario's best friend Yoshi, whom he had seen mere hours ago at the go-kart track!
"What the?" Mario gasped, "Yoshi! What are you doing in there?"
"Yoshi Yoshi!" Yoshi explained in his native language, "Yoshi Yoshi, Yoshi Yoshi!"
"You say Bowser did this to you?" Mario asked in confusion, "But that's impossible. I just saw him."
"Yoshi Yoshi!" Yoshi insisted.
"Wow, I never knew he was such a sore loser," Mario commented, "This is a pretty cruel prank. I'll 'a have to talk to him about this."
"Yoshi!" Yoshi exclaimed frantically, "Yoshi Yoshi Yoshi! Yoshi Yoshi!"
"What about the princess?" Mario asked for clarification, "You're 'a not making any sense. I just saw her too."
Yoshi then told Mario that Princess Peach had been kidnapped by Bowser, and the Koopa king was going to invade the Mushroom Kingdom just as he had done to Yoshi Island.
"Kidnap? That's crazy talk!" Mario replied incredulously, "Peach is playing golf with Luigi and Bowser Jr."
"Yoshi?" Yoshi asked.
"Bowser Jr.! You remember him. He's the little devil that likes to pull your tail when your guard is down," Mario tried to help him recall, "Yoshi, I don't know what's going on, but clearly there is a misunderstanding. Bowser doesn't want to invade anything. Well, on this planet at least. For some reason he wants to fight space aliens. He's always been a little odd."
"Yoshi..." Yoshi sniffed.
"Oh, come now! Why would you think that?" Mario asked as he rubbed Yoshi's back comfortingly, "I'm 'a not going anywhere. Why would you think I died? I survived Rainbow Road, after all. I'm still right here, Yoshi."
"Yoshi Yoshi...Yoshi Yoshi," Yoshi said, a melancholy to his words.
"Luigi?" Mario asked, "Where did you say he go?"
"Yoshi Yoshi," Yoshi repeated.
"He's under attack trying to get to Princess Peach?!" Mario asked in alarm, "You know now that you mention it, I was attacked by a couple of Koopa Troopas. Something is definitely wrong here. Perhaps a coup, or even brainwashing. Yoshi, take 'a me to Luigi!"
With that Mario hopped on Yoshi's back, and Yoshi hopped down from his platform and started running down the hill. Mario didn't know what was going on, but if Yoshi was this upset then something had clearly happened. Yoshi wasn't the type to lie or make things up for attention, after all.
"Yoshi!" Yoshi told Mario to hang on.
"I am, I am," Mario replied, "Let's 'a go!"
Bowser awoke with a massive headache. That infinite warp pipe really took the energy out of a guy. He looked around, but rather than see Yoshi Island like he expected he instead found himself in his own castle.
"Drat. The power couplings must've disconnected," Bowser muttered to himself as he rubbed his sore head, "Hey Mario, sorry about the power failure. Maybe next time it'll- Mario? Hey Mario! Where are you?"
Bowser looked around the room, and only then did he realize he wasn't in the infinite warp pipe room like he thought. He was instead in an empty room lined with bricks and lit with torches. Not unusual in itself, but the lack of furniture was slightly unnerving.
Snorting to himself, Bowser opened the door to see if Mario was outside. What he saw instead was eeriness itself. It wasn't the hallway he had walked through before, but instead a massive room filled with troops, servants, lava dripping from the ceiling, and traps. So many traps. It looked like a cross between an obstacle course and a torture chamber.
"What happened to my castle!?" Bowser demanded to know, "What room is this?"
One of the red shelled Troopas overheard Bowser's shouting and ran to attend to him.
"My liege!" The Troopa saluted, "No intruders have been detected in this castle. The Mushroom King has attempted contact, but he has been swiftly dealt with per your instructions."
"Dealt with?" Bowser asked, having no clue what the Troopa meant.
"Of course, sire," The Troopa replied proudly, "He won't dare cross into our kingdom now! All is in readiness for your next command, sire. Just give the word, and the pits of inferno will spring forth from the Koopa Kingdom to anywhere you desire."
"I think you need a vacation," Bowser remarked dryly, "Just tell me which room this is."
"The P Wing, sire," The Troopa replied dutifully, "Is there anything you require, my liege?"
"A newspaper," Bowser replied, "If anyone needs me I'll be in the throne room, if you catch my drift."
With that Bowser turned from the Troopa and went to the right. P Wing was the same general area as the infinite warp pipe room, but for some reason Bowser was still lost. It seemed like a lot of extreme decorating had happened while he was out, which made him wonder how much time had passed. Was he in a coma? Did he travel through time? Was this some alternate dimension? He didn't know, but he needed time to think.
Bowser walked down hallways and corridors on his way to the bathroom. If nothing else he could read the paper in privacy and figure out what was going on. For some reason though, while some rooms were the same as always, many of them were not. It seemed that the castle was a bit more...weaponized than he remembered.
When he got to where the bathroom should have been he was greeted by a rickety bridge over lava, and a big axe proudly displayed on the other side.
"You've got to be kidding me," Bowser sighed in exasperation, "A bridge?! This isn't my go-karting castle! It isn't even my golf castle!"
Bowser muttered curses under his breath as he walked across the bridge, and then once he made it to the other side he saw just how close that axe actually was to the rope holding the bridge. Not to mention how precariously perched the axe was.
"What is wrong with my building staff?" Bowser asked himself, "Who would put this here? It's a safety hazard."
Bowser then grabbed the axe and leaned it against the wall. He saw there was a door on the other side of the bridge, just like in his original floor plan. Well, at least the bathroom hadn't been moved...or so he thought.
When Bowser opened the door he saw a dark hot room with a worn cot, some straw, and a very battered looking Princess Peach.
"Peach?" Bowser gasped, "What happened?"
Princess Peach turned to him, and Bowser could see her black eye and the scratches across her face. A look of horror crossed her features, and she backed away from him and against the wall. Well, that was concerning.
"Stay away from me, you monster!" Peach practically squeaked in fright, "You won't get away with this!"
"Get away with what?" Bowser shrugged haplessly, "I'm just looking for the bathroom! Peach, what is going on? I can't find anything in my own castle! How long have I been out?"
"You came in two hours ago, if my time keeping is accurate," Peach replied warily, "It doesn't matter what you do to me, Bowser. I will never cave in to your demands. Mario will come for me."
"Mario! Oh, pit! I forgot about Mario!" Bowser cursed himself, "Look, he's gone, but I think I can-"
"Gone? What do you mean gone?" Peach asked heatedly.
"I mean I lost him," Bowser replied, "He was with me, and now he's just...gone."
"If you've hurt Mario I will consider it an act of war," Peach warned him.
"Hurt him? Peach, that's ridiculous," Bowser replied gruffly, "Look, just tell me what happened. Also, how did you get hurt? You look like something a chain chomp coughed up. No offense."
"Stop toying with me!" Peach yelled, and Bowser backed up in surprise, "You might as well just kill me, because I will never consent to be your wife!"
"My what?" Bowser asked in shock, "Uh...okay. Something has clearly happened here. Peach, do you know where Bowser Jr. is?"
"Who?" Peach asked uncomprehendingly, "If you're referring to your little brats, I don't care where they are. Please, just let me go. The Mushroom Kingdom will never surrender to you, so there's no point in keeping me here. Just leave me alone!"
Bowser was confused and a little afraid. Peach acted like they were enemies, and she didn't know Bowser Jr., a child she had babysat many times in the past. She had obviously been hurt by someone, and the Troopas seemed ready for war. Everything was upside down, and Bowser wasn't sure if his friend Mario was alive or dead. How could things have gone so wrong? Where the pit was he?!
"Sire," A green shelled Troopa called out from the other side of the door, "Forgive the intrusion sire, but your son wishes an audience with you."
"Oh, of course," Bowser nodded, "Tell him to meet me in the dining hall."
"Very good, sire," The Troopa bowed before leaving.
"Look, Peach, just hang tight, okay?" Bowser requested as he rushed for the door, "I'll be back soon and we'll figure this out, alright? Just don't panic."
Bowser was clearly the one panicking, but Peach didn't say a word. She just allowed the manic monarch of the Koopas to shut the door and seal her in her oven-like dungeon room. She had been beaten, tormented, and broken down so much that she was losing the will to fight back.
Bowser meanwhile followed the Troopa to the dining room. At this point he didn't trust his own sense of direction, and apparently he was right to feel that way. The dining hall was on the east side of the castle instead of the south where it used to be. This castle didn't feel like Bowser's at all. Why was everything so topsy turvy?
"Announcing one of the heirs male of the Koopa Kingdom!" An announcer intoned, and Bowser turned toward the entrance, "Ludwig Von Koopa."
One of? Heir? Ludwig? Bowser's mind was somehow both freezing and going a mile a minute. Who was Ludwig Von Koopa? Bowser only had one son, and his name was Bowser Jr.
"Hey, Dad! I got good news from the front!"
Bowser turned toward the voice, and saw a teenage Koopaling with a snaggletooth smile, a spiky green shell, yellow scales, and blue hair that poofed up on two sides like a pair of wings. This young Koopa was a complete stranger to Bowser, and yet there was a slight resemblance that could not be ignored.
"Who are you again?" Bowser asked.
"Hahahaha, very funny Dad!" Ludwig guffawed, "I'm glad you're in a good mood. You're about to be in an even better one. In the land you gave me my Troopas have killed 127 Toads, and have enslaved 782 more. Many still remain in hiding, but we'll find them. Mario and Luigi haven't come through my territory yet, but Iggy says that Luigi has already passed through Yoshi's Island. Leave it to Iggy to mess up, right Dad?"
"You killed over a hundred Toads?" Bowser asked, his voice muted from horror.
"You betcha!" Ludwig replied proudly, "You'll see, Dad. I'll make a much better heir to the kingdom than Iggy, Lemmy, Larry, Morton, Roy, and Wendy O. I'm a war machine, just like you!"
"You just named off...one...four...six other people," Bowser replied after counting on his fingers, "You didn't mention Bowser Jr."
"Who's Bowser Jr.?" Ludwig asked in confusion.
"So...You're saying I have seven kids?" Bowser asked for clarification.
"Of course, Dad!" Ludwig chuckled, "What? You have a secret family somewhere we don't know about?"
Bowser's heart was racing and hurting at this point. This blue-haired battle axe was his son, he had six other children, and his own son Bowser Jr. didn't exist? How could this have happened?
With no dignified responses left, Bowser did the only left he could do, and promptly fainted.
