Death of a King

Act 2 - Aftermath

It did not take long for the world to find out about King Bowser's death. His body was discovered by a group of Koopa Troopas out on a search and rescue mission, after their king mysteriously never returned from his most recent kidnapping attempt. Bowser's body was found roughly thirteen and one half hours after he fell from the cliff. It only took a few days for the whole world to be in an uproar over the dictator's death. The Koopa Kingdom had been in absolute chaos over the loss of their ruler, however, the rest of the world had shown little to no pity over the king's actions. In fact, many parts of the planet seemed to celebrate and mock his death. The great and ruthless Lord Bowser, whom used to strike terror into civilians and callously attack innocent people without warning: falling off a cliff! What a laugh! Of course, at this point, everyone's eyes had been on the Mushroom Kingdom. Bowser had attacked their land more times than any of the other lands combined. How would they handle the loss of Bowser? That, my friends, is where our tale continues.

At this point, it had been about two day's since Bowser's suicide. There had been a lot of commotion in the Mushroom Kingdom; most notably, in Princess Peach's castle. There was a grand party held there that day to celebrate the fact that their kingdom would never again be terrorized by the stubborn and heartless Lord Bowser! Many of the citizens were laughing among their comrades as they guzzled beverage after beverage and sang songs of the glory days. Some played their instruments loudly while others clapped to the beat and threw their garments in the air. A few even quietly stood in the corner... while they buried their faces in the buffet table and shoveled 800 gold coins worth of food down their throat (cough DK coughWario cough). Even Mario and Luigi themselves couldn't resist all the celebration going on, going as far as bringing campaign to the party to commemorate all of their hard work. Yes, the idea of some power hungry dictator attacking their home seemed like a big joke of the past. It seemed as if everybody was enjoying themselves pretty well, and everything was going off without a hitch. However, there was one problem: Princess Peach, the one who should have been the most relieved about Bowser's death, was nowhere to be found. While all the merriment went on in the main hall, she was a few floors upstairs in a large abandoned corridor. It was here that Princess Peach had to go over a couple of political issues with her trustworthy assistant and royal adviser: Toadsworth. As a princess, and ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom, it was her duty after all!

"My dearest apologies for such an unusual meeting stop princess, but due to all of the revelry that's been going on due to the current events, this is virtually the only place in the castle that is quiet enough to discuss theses political matters. I understand that you have been under some very recent trauma, and have been out of the loop of news, so we must discuss what we are going to due about the situation.", the elderly Toad politely said while he tried to adjust his dropping spectacles. As Toadsworth said all this, Princess Peach had herself leaned up against the wall, wearing a fresh, new, elegant, yet somewhat identical, pink dress, which replaced the ripped one from the incident two days prior. She had a look on her face as if she had been in a daze and wasn't paying attention, which annoyed Toadsworth. Suddenly, the princess spoke.

"You're right", she said dully, "It must be done.", she added She asked her first question, "Do they know the cause of death?", asked Peach.

"Well, Lord Bowser's corpse was discovered lying among some sharp rocks at the bottom of a cliff near the sea several miles from this location. There could be numerous theories as to how it happened: such as assassination, accident, etc. However, according to our intelligence report from the Koopa Kingdom, the doctors who performed the autopsy believe that the king, in fact, took his own life. We suspect that the Koopa Kingdom is trying to cover this up, in fear that it could wreck their kingdom's image... as if it weren't wrecked enough as it was." Toadsworth answered. Peach did not answer at first after hearing this; she was dead silent, as if she were in some sort of trance. After a long pause, she finally spoke.

"So, a suicide huh? What makes them so sure Bowser killed himself?", Peach asked her advisor. After thinking about it, Toadsworth answered her.

"Well, if the reports are correct, the CSIs found absolutely no sign of a struggle near the death scene, so it couldn't be a murder. They also saw that the cliff edge was completely sturdy and intact, with no signs of recent crumbling or breaking, which means Bowser could not have slipped or fallen by accident. Also, when the Koopa Kingdom's search and rescue team tried to remove Bowser's corpse from the water, they found something in the clutches of one of his hands...err... claws." The princess raised an eyebrow and stared down at Toadsworth from the corner of her eye when he said this.

"What did they find?", she quietly asked. Toadsworth rubbed his well-groomed white mustache as he tried to remember what it was.

"Umm... If I'm not mistaken, I believe that they found some sort of blue, NO, turquoise gem. Yes, that's right! In Bowser's claw, they found a small turquoise gem. The CSIs believe that it held a lotof significance to Bowser, if he held onto it tight enough to withstands the fall from the cliff. With no other options, that would mean that he fell off the cliff for some reason unknown, thus leaving us with only the conclusion that Lord Bowser killed himself! Of course, his exact motives for why he did what he did are a complete mystery, and probably will be for a long time."

Peach turned her head away from Toadsworth and stared forward into the nothingness that was in front of them. She slumped down the wall slightly and dropped her head. Peach had a pretty good idea as to why Bowser committed suicide. A wave of guilt washed over Princess Peach as she pondered over her words and actions that day. But why should she care? She would never again have to live in fear of being kidnapped again! She had no reason to feel guilty at all, did she? She wasn't sure. As Peach lowered her eyes to the floor, she asked Toadsworth another question.

"Toadsworth, what of the kingdom? With it's king dead, what's going to happen to the Koopa Kingdom, Bowser's land, his numerous castles, all of his men?" Peach asked with a hint of concern in her voice. Toadsworth looked up at the princess and cleared his voice.

"Well princess, you of all people should know that when a king or queen dies, an heir takes the thrown and rules in the former king or queen's place. Namely, this would mean that one of King Bowser's eight kids would take the thrown. However, our intelligence report tells us that his offsprings have shown little to no remorse for their father's passing. In fact, ever since Bowser died, all eight kids have been in a large conflict over who takes the title of ruler of the Koopa Kingdom. All eight heirs feel that they deserve the right to the throne more than the others. Their has been heavy talk going around that the Koopa Kingdom will eventually go into a civil war, which would mean that the kingdom will be divided, dissolved, and then eventually crumble to the ground. In plain English, it really doesn't look good for the future of the Koopa Kingdom.", Toadsworth answered the princess, "Of course, I see this as karma. What goes around comes around! Right princess?", Peach didn't answer him. She just shook her head and wrapped her arm around herself. After a spell of silence, a loud POP! could be heard from downstairs. Mario must have opened the champagne. Slowly turning her head, she asked her adviser one last question.

"Toadsworth... w-w-what about Bowser's remains? What are they going to do with them?", the princess nervously asked. Toadsworth quickly jerked his head and raised his eyebrow at her. Her question slightly took him by shock. He shook off the feeling.

"I'm kind of surprised that you would ask that.", Toadsworth stated with strong sincerity. He wiped his forehead and continued, "Well, since you're interested, the Koopa Kingdom made a public announcement this morning that they were going to have a two day long wake about three days from now. After that, they will have the funeral and then they will place Bowser's body in a mausoleum on the castle grounds."

"Oh... I see", Peach quietly answered, but Toadsworth wasn't finished yet.

"If I'm not mistaken, I believe Master Mario and Master Luigi said something about wanting to go to the Koopa Kingdom to pay their last respects at the wake. Master Mario even offered to be a pallbearer, but I've been trying to talk him out of the idea. I know for a fact that Bowser's men would be in an outcry if he pulled such a stunt, but you know how Mario is. He's always trying to help out, no matter who it is he's helping.", Toadsworth let out a long sigh and looked at his pocket watch. Peach picked up her eyes and quietly mumbled something to Toadsworth.

"Maybe... maybe I should go too... and pay my respects. Bowser would probably like that after all." It didn't even take a nanosecond for Toadsworth to respond to that remark.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!",Toadsworth screamed, "After all the times Master Mario risked his neck to save you from that dreadful place?! By simply waltzing in like that, not only would you be abducted for sure, but you would be taking everything Mario ever did for you and throwing it away! As your royal adviser, I will not allow a princess of your kind to walk in there and be pounced on by those scoundrels like a sitting duck. You are staying here and that's that! It's far too dangerous!" At first, Peach glared at Toadsworth from the corner of her eyes. Then, she dropped her eyes again and let out a long sigh.

"I suppose you're right. There probably would be a lot of controversy.", the princess quietly uttered. For the longest time, Toadsworth and Princess Peach stood there in the empty corridor, both trapped in their own deep thoughts. In terms of politics, there really wasn't anything more to say. Suddenly, after a few minutes of silence, one of the main doors at the end of the corridor sprung open, and none other than Princess Daisy appeared in the doorway, apparently sweating and flustered.

"Toadsworth!", Daisy yelled from across the corridor, "We urgently need your assistance downstairs! Mario got into the champagne and he's trying to get a Mario Party started!"

"Oh bloody Hell, not again!", Toadsworth mumbled to himself, "I'll be right there Miss Daisy!", he yelled to Daisy. Toadsworth picked up his cane and turned around to Princess Peach. "Are you coming?", he asked. Peach had this vacant look on her face as she stared into the vastness of space. She pushed herself off from the wall she was leaning on.

"You go on ahead Toadsworth. I'll be right behind you.", the princess answered Toadsworth. Toadsworth simply nodded and ran off with Daisy downstairs. Princess Peach was alone in the long empty corridor. She sluggishly walked a step or two toward the center of the corridor. Despite there being a layer of carpeting on the ground, her high heels still clacked and echoed off the walls as she wandered the area. Out of the blue, she let out a half sigh/ half grumble sound. There where tons of places that Toadsworth could have picked for a quieter meeting; but of all of the places he could have picked, why did he have to pick here? Peach knew this area very well, and it gave her a pit in her stomach that was tempting her to throw up. As her eyes wandered from the numerous doors to the large windows, she saw that this corridor was the exact same one where Peach and Bowser had there final and grimmest meeting. Even though she was completely alone, the young princess couldn't help but feel that someone was watching her, or that somebody was about to barge in at any second. As a sweat drop formed around her smooth forehead, she looked behind her shoulders and around the rest of her body and the area to make sure she was absolutely alone. Princess Peach let out a sigh of relief.

When the princess was absolutely sure nobody was around, she sunk her head low, and dug her tiny hand into one of her dress pockets, and pulled something out. The object glistened faintly as Peach lifted it up to the light. Tiny, yet so priceless, she held in her hands a shattered piece of the turquoise brooch from her old dress. Even Peach herself seemed surprised that she would hold on to such a trivial object, but something inside told her to hold on to it, as strange as that seems. Somewhat paranoid, Peach quickly looked over both shoulders to really make sure nobody was around. When she was absolutely sure she was safe, she closed her eyes, slowly took a deep breath, and held the gem shard to her chest. As she exhaled that deep breath, she began to think about all that had happened in the last few days. 'That Bowser was a fool.', she thought to herself, 'He was too blinded by his emotions to think with any common sense. He should have learned to give up on me while he had the chance. Why did he have to be so stupid as to kill himself? I know that my words and actions were really harsh, but it was the only way to get him to get the picture and face reality. Him and I could never be together, ever. I mean, the rulers of two enemy kingdoms in love? Just imagine what everyone would think of it... of us.', Princess Peach opened her eyes just a crack. Her vision was getting blurry and cloudy, 'Toadsworth would be so angry, and Mario would be so disappointed... and heartbroken. My subjects would question my leadership. I guess that's one of the reasons I resisted him so often: for the sake of my image. But Bowser didn't care. As long as I was in his grasp, he could have cared less what the public felt. I... I guess that's why he was considered one of the strongest around. He was strong enough to risk the public badmouthing us... but I wasn't, and I killed him.' She shut her eyes one more time; she could hardly restrain the cause of her clouded vision. Peach, held the sparkling gem closer to her chest. Tightening her grip on the turquoise shard, she whispered one final message to herself. Although her voice was hoarse and shaky, she whispered something under her breath that she had wanted to say for many years.

"I'm sorry Bowser."

Drop... drop... drop.