13
Bowser gazed out the window of his bedroom to the desolate landscape that stretched for miles. A few hours have passed since he heard from Lord Crump and wondered if he was making any progress. He hoped that he would get an answer by the end of the day. Outside, the sun was making its way towards the southern sky as the midmorning hours started fading to noon. Since Bowser lived above the North (Arctic) Circle, the sun always appeared low in the sky when it was visible and the temperature remained cooler…that is if the relentless volcanic activity was not occurring. The last time Bowser experienced a clear, cool day in the Darklands was almost twenty years ago. Since then, fumes of volcanic gas have polluted the air and turned the daytime sky into a bright orange-brown color. Even during the night, the glowing lava flows would give the horizon an evil, reddish cast.
Suddenly, Ludwig von Koopa, Bowser's oldest child, ran into the room. At eleven years of age, Ludwig can be described as presumptuous, arrogant, and the cruelest of his siblings, but is still very much into culture; he likes listening to classical music and he is already beginning to compose his own "Koopa Symphonies" which deeply impressed his father. In physical traits, Ludwig also has a spiky green shell like his father, but has long blue hair instead of red. And, like the other six Koopalings (excluding little Bowser Jr.), he did have horns on his head like his father.
"What is it, Ludwig?!" Bowser said.
"Dad! Dad! The baby is having another fit! I don't know what's wrong with him!"
"Where's Kamek?" Bowser asked.
"He's practicing his magic right now. He asked me to watch over Junior."
"Where are the other Koopalings?" Bowser asked.
"They're in the playroom fighting over the toys again as usual." Ludwig said. "They should be lucky to even get to play with them at all!"
"Son, I know that they drive you insane," his father said, "but you must have patience for them! They're still learning how to be evil."
"Yes, father." Ludwig said. "But please! Junior is really upset!"
Back in the castle basement, Princess Peach and Princess Daisy finally woke up after a long and restless sleep. They felt dizzy and famished from the night before and were soon craving food. But they knew that their next meal was not coming anytime soon and they were going to have to behave themselves if they wanted to stay alive.
"Ugh…" Peach said. "I really hate this place!"
"Yeah." Daisy said. "I'm surprised that Bowser hasn't torched us yet! Where the hell is he right now?!"
"I don't know and I don't want to know." Peach said. "As long as he's away from us, I'll be alright."
"I can't wait to give Bowser the biggest black eye he's ever had!" Daisy said. "No one messes with Princess Daisy!"
Peach laughed.
"What?!" Daisy said.
"Oh, nothing." Peach said.
"Yeah right, Peach!" Daisy replied. "Tell me what you're thinking!"
"Luigi's already messed with you." Peach said.
Daisy glared at her cousin with irritated eyes.
"Don't start this again, girl!" Daisy said. "You know I'm not ashamed of it!"
"Touché." Peach said.
The princesses paced back in forth inside their cage as they wondered of the whereabouts of Mario and Luigi. They were starting to have more concerning thoughts the more they discussed. Still, they were confident that they were going to save them from Bowser.
"I really hope that Mario and Luigi are okay." Peach said. "I can only hope that Bowser's army hasn't killed them off already."
"What are you talking about, Peach?!" Daisy said. "Of course they're alright! They have to be! I can sense it."
"How?" Peach asked.
"Well, I had this dream last night where Mario and Luigi took on a whole Koopa army with fire flowers and fists!" Daisy said. "That was before they entered a cave and encountered traps and dangerous areas. But they still managed to survive!"
"Sounds like the dream was unfinished." Peach said.
"Yeah, well I was unable to sleep good last night so I never had the chance." Daisy replied. "Did you dream about anything?"
"No." Peach said. "I was afraid that Bowser would try and torture us in horrible ways."
"I know what you mean." Daisy said. "I've been feeling that way ever since we ended up in this trap."
"I'm still scared, Daisy!" Peach said. "I've never had to fear for my life at all like this!"
"We'll get through this, Peach." Daisy replied. "Once we get out of here, everything will be back to normal. I promise."
After finally calming little Bowser Jr. to sleep, Bowser left the room and made his back down to the command center to look for Kamek. It was when he reached the elevator door (yes, Bowser has an elevator!) when Kamek stepped out of it. He ran towards Bowser.
"Bowser! Come quick! Our satellite caught something!" Kamek shouted. "I noticed it in the footage when I finished my magic session!"
"What?!" Bowser said. "Is that good or bad?!"
"Bad!" Kamek said. "I'll show you in the satellite center!"
Bowser and Kamek entered the elevator as the door shut behind them. Bowser pressed the button labeled "satellite center" and the elevator started to go down into the ground. The elevator then came to a stop and the door opened.
Bowser's satellite center was highly advanced. There were computer monitors lined along each of the room's hundred-foot long walls with Koopa scientists and technicians sitting in front of them hard at work. In the middle of the room were giant machines that monitored satellite as well as weather activity throughout the world. Among them was Bowser's giant holographic simulator, which had the capability of rendering three-dimensional computerized models showing the positions of satellites he had sent into orbit around the Earth. He was proud of this machine. Not only did he build it himself, but there was nothing else like it in the world. The machine itself is so valuable, that the Koopa army elites estimated it to be worth more than the economies of the Mushroom Kingdom and Sarasaland combined. But then again, they were not full-blown experts when it came to money value.
Kamek lead Bowser over to a television monitor in of the room's "cubicles" and brought up a still satellite image of a dark and remote region of Earth.
"This was captured by one of our spy satellites as it flew over the dig site outside of Rogueport." Kamek said. "This footage was taken over two hours ago, around the same time you were last contacted by Lord Crump."
"So what's so bad about it?!" Bowser asked.
"Watch and you'll see!" Kamek said. "Let me zoom in first and fast forward just a little bit!"
Kamek zoomed in until the individual trees and buildings were easily distinguishable and then played the footage back. Bowser watched as two figures were suddenly seen running, followed by an army of five Koopas. Bowser immediately knew who they were.
"It's them!" Bowser said.
The brothers were seen trapped inside a hole for a little while, and then Bowser was surprised at the sight of fire coming from the Mario brothers and knocking down the small army. He became outraged when the brothers walked off the screen. The monitor went black soon after.
"That happened two hours ago!" Kamek said. "They blew through your army like it was nothing!"
"I realize that!" Bowser shouted. "Where was Lord Crump when this occurred?!"
"The satellite wasn't able to spot him!" Kamek said. "It was on the wrong side of the Earth after it captured this video!"
"THIS IS NOT GOOD AT ALL!" Bowser yelled. "LORD CRUMP IS GOING TO PAY IF HE DOESN'T DO HIS JOB!"
Bowser stormed out of the satellite center and closed the elevator door behind him. He knew that he was beginning to lose this battle, but he was determined to not let the prophecy come true!
Bowser now knows what is going on five time zones away from him thanks to one of his highly advanced spy satellites. Unfortunately, it revealed that not everything was going the way it was planned and Bowser thinks that Lord Crump is failing to carry out his duty. So what will he do now that the plot is starting to thicken?
The princesses are seeing no promising hopes of ever getting away from Bowser so far. It is notable that Daisy's dream was accurate to what happened to Mario and Luigi just hours before they woke up and that Peach's comment that her dream was unfinished further emphasizes her deep wish of them being with the Mario brothers again.
Ludwig von Koopa was also introduced in this chapter. Although he is still young, it is evident that he is already somewhat beginning to show some of his father's irritable traits.
See you in the next chapter! :)
saturn95