12
Bowser paced back and forth down in the empty satellite center as he awaited news of the ambush. He was certain that there would be no complications to report this time around, especially since he sent a whole wave of Koopas to hunt the brothers down. He stopped and stood next to the giant holographic simulator. There was nothing being displayed the moment, except for the Earth and a digital clock displaying the current time. It was 3:01 A.M.
"They should be wrapping up by now." Bowser said to himself as he yawned under his own breath. "It's been more than a few hours since I sent them. I guess I'll have to find out in the morning."
Bowser was about to leave when Kamek burst through the elevator doors, breathing heavily. Bowser could see that he had something to report.
"Do you have something to report?" Bowser asked.
Kamek said nothing.
"Well, you came down here to tell me something, right?" Bowser asked. "ANSWER ME!"
After a long pause, Kamek uttered the phrase Bowser was not looking forward to hearing: "They escaped…again!"
In a burst of fury, Bowser grabbed Kamek by the neck and held him in the air with all his strength before dropping him back to ground. Steam was literally coming out of his ears.
"THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING!" Bowser shouted. "How could the Koopas fail me again?! Those damned brothers!"
"From what I heard," Kamek said, coughing from Bowser's heavy grasp, "the damage that was done this time was more serious."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" Bowser demanded.
"There were many casualties." Kamek said. "The brothers killed off a large portion of the army we sent to Birachai."
Bowser went over to his holographic simulator and started banging his head on it as tears started to develop in his eyes.
"They're destroying my army!" Bowser cried. "They're crushing me with their acrobatics and their blasted fireballs!"
"And ice balls." Kamek added.
Bowser continued to cry as he kept thinking of the Koopas that lost their lives in the failed mission. It was his entire fault, and he knew it too. Never before has he suffered a major blow from two enemies that seemed insignificant in comparison to the many kingdoms he had once attempted to overthrow in his long and dark history. Every other person that attempted to overthrow him in the past was disposed of immediately. But the Mario Brothers have since proven to be just as difficult as trying to invade a whole kingdom. After a minute, Bowser came back to his senses and became furious once more.
"I WANT THOSE SONS OF BITCHES BURNED ALIVE BEFORE I SEE ANY MORE OF OUR ARMY WIPED OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH!" Bowser suddenly shouted. "THIS SIMPLY CANNOT GO ON!"
"Well, at least they haven't collected all the Crystal Stars." Kamek said. "We still have six more to find."
"Yeah, but the Mario Brothers have the one that has been recovered!" Bowser said. "We need that and the other stars to carry on with our elaborate plan!"
"I know, but why the rush?!" Kamek asked. "Why do you want the stars so soon?"
"Please don't tell me you've forgotten!" Bowser said. "We were just discussing this two days ago!"
"Please tell me again." Kamek said. "I'm afraid my memory is starting to fail me."
"UGH!" Bowser grunted. He turned around toward his machine. "LOOK!"
Bowser pressed a button on the holograph which made the virtual Earth shrink and move away from the center of the image. In the center of the giant holographic simulator stood the mighty stellar orb of the sun. The other planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn) as well as Earth's moon appeared on the screen along with their highlighted orbital paths. Kamek was stunned, for he had never seen Bowser bring it up before.
"This, right here, is our solar system…well, most of it anyway." Bowser said. "As you can see, all the planets appear to be on the other side of the sun relative to us."
He points to the Earth and the moon.
"This is our planet's current position in its orbit right now. But look what happens when I speed it to around two weeks from now, the day when the solar eclipse occurs."
Bowser pressed another button, which caused the planets to revolve around the sun much faster. Tiny Mercury was seen speeding along its tight, puny eighty-eight day orbit like a Bullet Bill. At the same time, ringed Saturn was slowly cranking along its huge twenty-nine and a half year orbit like the gears of a large clock, virtually staying in the same relative position. Finally, Bowser stopped the virtual orrery and turned to Kamek.
"As you can see," Bowser said, "The Earth and all the planets have changed their positions. But look at how they are arranged. If you look closely, the moon is lined up perfectly between the sun and the Earth. That would be the solar eclipse. On the other side of the sun, you have Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn forming somewhat of a straight line as well. These kinds of situations are very rare."
"So what does an alignment of the planets have to do with the Mario Brothers and the Crystal Stars?" Kamek asked. "I never quite understood that."
"Hidden inside those Crystal Stars is a power that hasn't been harnessed since the reign of the Shadow Queen almost a thousand years ago." Bowser said. "It just so happens that during that time there was a similar planetary alignment. But after that occurred, the powers of the Stars started to drain. It was when those powers disappeared that Shadow Queen was overthrown and the stars were scattered all over the world in different places to ensure that no one would use their power again."
"It's all coming back to me now!" Kamek said. "If everything you said was accurate, how can you be so sure that powers of the Stars are still there?"
"I'm not sure." Bowser said. "All I know is I can't risk having those Mario Brothers see the power before I'm able to get my hands on the Stars! They need to be disposed of as quickly as possible! Where are they now?"
"No one knows." Kamek said. "But my guess is that they are on their way to the pyramids in the Sarasalandian desert. They were also seen with a mysterious dark-haired woman."
"A woman?" Bowser asked.
"Yes." Kamek said. "She's probably the reason why the Mario brothers were able to escape!"
"Well, then she must be disposed of as well!" Bowser asked. "Or at least kidnapped and taken into my custody. We must warn the others!"
"Yes, sir!" Kamek said. "I'll send out the message right now."
"Excellent!" Bowser said. "Make it hasty now! I don't want any more failures! I will not sleep until the Mario Brothers are dead! You hear?!"
By now, Bowser is flabbergasted and running out of options. He has lost most of his Koopa Troop mob to Mario and Luigi and is deeply offended by them. However, he still has many armies to go around.
But on the same token, Bowser now has to make a critical decision: either continue with the same trial-and-error tactics that have gotten him nowhere, or step up to the plate himself. What will he do? Will he do anything different? If so, how will Mario and Luigi react? Things are about to get very interesting...that's all I'm going to say for now:) I will see you guys the next time I update :)
saturn95