Chapter 2:
It was an ordinary day in the Koopa Kingdom. Propeller fighters and massive wooden and metal airships soared past the large castle that was the center of the kingdom. A perimeter of four tall watchtowers, almost half the height of the main tower in the center of the castle, was the sign that one was inside the massive grounds of this castle. The castle looked quite ordinary for Koopa standards, aside from its large size, with its grey bricks and numerous towers and battlements. It was the main tower that distinguished the castle from all others. For the central tower was topped with the likeness of a green spiked shell. The rest of the tower below the shell was made of metal and painted silver. It was also protected by several cannons and Bullet Bill and Missile Bill launchers. In addition, a single laser cannon could emerge from the top of the shell and was powerful enough to destroy a small castle with a single shot. The interior of the tower was also under heavy patrol from mighty armored Koopatrols that were armed with machine guns, as well as Elite Magikoopas. The tower was the telltale sign that this castle belonged to the infamous King of the Koopas, Bowser. And while there was little activity going on outside, aside from the routine patrols of propeller and jet fighters with a couple airships on hand should any foolish plumbers try to invade, the castle was bustling on the inside. It was there that Prince Kevin was marching through the gray brick corridors of the castle, heading towards the main hall. The walls were lined with the images of famous Koopa kings, princes, and other nobility, each of which looked regal in the pictures. Even Bowser looked regal in his picture at the end of the hall, near the door that would lead to the main hall. Kevin doubted that all of these Koopas looked nearly as magnificent in real life, especially considering how his father looked defeat after defeat at the hands of Mario.
Kevin was going to see his father on the pretense that he had just returned from military school, graduating at the top of his class, and wanting to boast about his achievement, but the real reason that he had come to his father's current castle residence was that he was eager to see how Bowser was doing after his shellacking at the hands of Mario, and to make a request of his father. He did not even notice the luxurious red carpet leading towards the main hall. He had seen it, and walked on it, so many times when he was younger that it held no interest for him the way it did for almost every other visitor that came to see his father. Nor did he notice the two Koopatrols dressed in their metal gray armor holding machine guns, an exceedingly rare weapon in the Koopa Kingdom, across their chests guarding the door at the end of the corridor. Things like these were nothing new to the Koopa Prince. This was not the only castle of Bowser's that Kevin had resided, though this was his favorite. It was one of the few castles that had not been destroyed by Mario in the seemingly endless war between the Marios and the Koopa Kingdom. He approached the golden doors that barred the entrance to the main hall with no apprehension, as many other individuals would, for he was the Crown Prince of the Koopas, at least he thought he was. He could never be sure with Bowser. His father was very fickle, and would likely be in a bad mood given how horrible his humiliation at the hands of Mario had been. The doors gave a strained creak as he pushed them open with ease.
Doctors, Magikoopa healers, and nurses were tending to Bowser, who was sitting on, or rather slumping in, a large, golden throne. The nurses were dressed in white aprons with a red cross over in the middle. It was not the type of dress that Kevin would want his nurses to wear. "Yeow," Bowser cried as one of the Magikoopa doctors moved his hand over Bowser's ribcage. Bowser reacted by firing a blast of fire towards the Magikoopa doctor, who deftly jumped out of the way of the stream of fire, which only caused Bowser to yelp again.
"Be careful my lord," one of the nurses, a female Koopa, scolded him, "Your ribcage is shattered and it will take time to heal the damage, even with magic."
"I don't care, just heal me," Bowser roared.
"Yes my lord," the nurse responded submissively, bowing before him.
It was then that Bowser noticed his oldest son dressed in black robes and hood standing before him. "Kevin," he boomed. "It's good that you finally made it!" Bowser seemed eager to see his oldest son, which caused hope to flare in the prince's heart. Kevin approached Bowser's throne and genuflected before his father.
The doctors and nurses looked at the young Koopa nervously. While Kevin wasn't infamous for his temper, like his father was, he was well known for the awesome amount of power that he wielded, as well as his skills in wielding said power. Tales of his exploits reached even the outlier towns. One of the reasons why there were so few rebellions in the Koopa Kingdom, despite the fact that Bowser was running the kingdom into the ground in his endless attempt to kidnap Princess Peach and force her to marry him, and the losses that resulted when Mario and/or Luigi intervened, was because Kevin crushed them all before they could really get going, many of them he crushed unaided in any way. Those that did manage to get going were still easily destroyed by the prince's might. The few times he had faced Toad or even sometimes Hylian forces in battle, Kevin had always emerged the victor with his forces suffering few, if any, casualties. While no one would dare openly say this, many believed that Kevin was the only Koopa that may eventually be able to match the might of the mighty Bowser the Great from a thousand years ago, and was the only one who had a chance of taking down the Super Mario Brothers at the moment. Many were surprised that Bowser had yet to release Kevin upon the Mario Brothers, since his existence was no secret to the Mushroom Kingdom. In fact, the Toads and other citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom held Kevin in about as much fear as they held the Mario Brothers in awe and respect. Even though they practically worshipped the Mario Brothers, they were not certain who would emerge the victor if the brothers had to face off against the Koopa Prince.
"It is good to see you as well, Father," Kevin said to his father in greeting.
"Rise, my son. You don't need to bow before me at the moment," Bowser said, his eyes beaming down towards his son. "Besides, I don't look so regal right now," the Koopa King added, looking down over his abdomen and hand, trying to add some humor to the atmosphere.
Kevin rose and lifted his eyes until they met with his father's. He quickly noticed the bandages covering the large Koopa's abdomen and hand. "I heard about your injuries," Kevin said quietly, motioning his eyes towards Bowser's bandaged body. "How bad was it and how long will it be before you heal?"
"I…suffered a shattered hand and broken ribcage," Bowser said with difficulty as if admitting how badly he was hurt would make him seem weak, and give Kevin reason to take the throne from him. Bowser never admitted this to anyone, but he knew that Kevin was highly regarded by the masses, and that the boy was powerful in the extreme, possibly stronger than him. His greatest fear was that Kevin would make a bid for the throne before he was ready to relinquish it. While nothing could be further from Kevin's mind, with the right support, Kevin would be successful in a coup attempt. Even without the troops directly behind him, he may still have had the raw power to pull off a coup, maybe even a bloodless coup. And many Koopa kings had come to power due to coups, most notably Bowser's ancestor Bowser the Great, to whom Kevin had constantly been compared to in recent years. After a few moments, Bowser continued, "It will be at least a week before my hand is successfully repaired, even with the assistance of magic. The ribcage will heal much sooner with magical assistance."
Kevin gave a nod. "Good, at least you won't have to get a prosthetic," he said with some empathy towards his father, though no one in the room would have picked up on it. After a moment, Kevin then began, "There is another reason why I came to see you." He paused for a moment. "I have a request to ask of you, Father."
Bowser gave a curious glance to his son. "What do you want from me?" Bowser asked.
Kevin met his father's eyes and he stated plainly, "I wish to fight and kill the Mario Brothers."
"Absolutely not!" Bowser roared. "I, and those I order to fight Mario, am the only ones who are allowed kill him. I don't need anyone's help in beating them anyway."
Kevin was tempted to say, your shattered hand and ribcage indicate otherwise, but he kept the thought to himself. What he said, instead, was, "You might not need help, but it would still be prudent to have someone who Mario has not encountered yet to be the next one to fight him."
"And you want that 'someone' to be you, right?" his father scoffed.
"Yes," Kevin said curtly, nodding. "I am the perfect choice. I have a talent in a form of magic that Mario has yet to encounter in a Koopa, and is different enough from the Shadow Queen's rift magic that he would not recognize it until it was too late."
"No, you're not killing Mario!"
"Why can't I fight Mario?" Kevin asked, his voice showing his displeasure.
"Because you are the Koopa Prince!"
"You have seven other sons, plus one daughter, all of whom have faced Mario—"
"—and lost to him numerous times."
"I haven't," Kevin said in a confident voice that caused Bowser to actually become afraid. Looking into Kevin's eyes, he saw the bloodlust in Kevin's eyes towards the Mario Brothers. It didn't help that Kevin was famous throughout the Koopa Kingdom and especially in the military. He had a lot of friends and admirers, especially among the military leadership. This scared Bowser, and he thought that if Kevin did indeed kill the Mario Brothers, the Koopa Kingdom would beg him to be their king, and even if Kevin did not realize it yet, he had the power to overthrow Bowser. And that was something that terrified the Koopa King to no end. And nothing Kevin would ever be able to say would assuage Bowser of his fear of the possibility of his oldest son being able to take power should he wish to, even though nothing was further from Kevin's mind. His reverie was broken when Kevin spoke again, "Father, no one else has been able to defeat the Mario Brothers. It will take time for you to heal from your injuries, and that time will allow the Marios to recuperate from their last battle."
"Like they need to recuperate from their light workout," Bowser muttered under his breath, but somehow loudly enough for the teenage Koopa standing before him to hear. Bowser noticed his son incline his head and his heart skipped a beat. He waited for Kevin to make a remark. After a few moments, when Kevin gave no remark, Bowser asked, "Is there anything else you came to see me about?"
Kevin shook his head. "No, Father. I only wait to hear what your orders are for me."
Bowser smiled and rose from his throne, despite the protests from his caretakers. "Since you have graduated at the top of your class, I have no orders for you at the moment. You are free to indulge your pleasures for a time here until I send for you. However, you are not allowed to fight and kill the Mario Brothers. However, I may give you some recording of my more recent fights with them so you can help me devise a strategy that will be effective in defeating them."
"Yes, Father," the young Koopa said, bowing to the king of the mighty Koopa Kingdom.
"You are dismissed."
Kevin bowed once more and then turned to depart the main hall. Bowser sat back down upon the large golden throne and resumed letting the doctors tend to his needs.
Kevin exited the main hall grimacing as he left. Why? Why would his father not let him take on the Mario Brothers? He was one of the few high-ranking Koopas that the Mario Brothers had yet to encounter in battle. The doors clanked shut behind the prince and he was left alone with his thoughts as he made his way down the corridor. As he walked, he began to consider all possible scenarios given the recent defeat of his father at the hands of Mario. After a few moments of contemplation, he began to worry. In Bowser's most recent kidnapping of Princess Peach, he used numerous airships in his attack…some of which had been captured by the Mario Brothers and a group known as the Toad Brigade. While he dismissed the Toad Brigade as nothing more than wannabes, he knew that the Marios were a definite threat. Even worse, though, was the fact that the recent capture of said airships, as well as the capture of four small Clown Cars that have since been rechristened as Hero Cars, two of which were currently in the possession of Mario and Luigi. These could be used in attacks and with Mario and Luigi's ability to use superpowers, they would be formidable opponents if they had a steady means of flight that could also allow them to use ranged attacks.
Soon, Kevin began to get a little worried. The recent successes could embolden the Mushroom Kingdom in its war against the Koopa Kingdom. One thing that had been constant in the war so far was the fact that even with the help of the Mario Brothers, the Mushroom Kingdom had never taken an aggressive stance against the Koopa Kingdom. They had always been reactionary instead of proactive. He began to worry that, with a force of allies behind Mario, Yoshi, and a few Hero Cars, the Mushroom Kingdom could put together an assault force that could threaten the lands of the Koopa Kingdom. He then shrugged. He was probably over-thinking things. As long as Peach was in charge, he sincerely doubted that the Koopa Kingdom would ever be attacked by the Mushroom Kingdom's military forces, even with the Marios, or rather, especially with the Marios as their heroes. The Mario Brothers merely fought when Peach, or the rest of the kingdom, or their friends, were in danger. Despite the extreme toll that Mario had taken on the Koopa Troop, the fact was that Mario never aggressively pursued the Koopas after he had rescued Peach and defeated Bowser. He was merely content to let them flee, as was demonstrated when he did nothing to prevent Bowser from leaving the battlefield after they had defeated him mere hours ago. Still, Kevin did not like the prospect of leaving the Mario Brothers alone right now. No matter how pure of heart they were, it would only be so long before they rightly decided that the only way to end the Koopa threat once and for all would be to launch an invasion of the Koopa Kingdom and attempt to take down Bowser, if not actually take him out. If, or rather when, that time came, Kevin vowed that he would be there to protect the Koopa Kingdom and the rest of the Koopa Troop with his life. He merely hoped that it would not come down to that and that the Marios would be dealt with by then.
As the prince walked further down the hallway, towards the outer courtyard of the castle, he heard a loud racket sounding from one of the rooms to his right. He knew that his siblings would undoubtedly call the noise emanating from that room, "music". Just as he was walking by, the door opened and a female Koopa walked out. She had a pink shell with short spikes and her skin was yellow and tan. She also wore pink lipstick, along with a pink bow with white polka dots on her head, as well as a long, red, beaded necklace, and large golden bracelets. She was without her traditional magic scepter that she oftentimes entered into battle with, but was holding a microphone in her right hand. Immediately upon emerging from the room, she immediately laid eyes on the Koopa in the black robes. She instantly recognized him as her oldest brother and gasped. "Kevin, you're back," she almost stammered in a surprised voice.
Kevin turned and looked into her eyes and beamed. "Yes, I am, Wendy; for a time. I'm going to remain here until Father has a new mission for me."
A grin then twisted Wendy's lips. She rushed over to him and grabbed his wrist, pulling the now bewildered Koopa Prince into the room. "Then you just have to join us for a jam session!" she exclaimed as she dragged him into the room and shut the door before he realized her plan.
Kevin tried to say, "I'm sorry, but I have other plans," but he was helpless to resist the tug of his younger sister as she pulled him into the room. Inside the room, the rest of his younger siblings were already playing a variety of musical instruments, making something that someone, somewhere might call music. Kevin certainly did not call the noise music, though.
"Hey everyone," Wendy called, "look who I managed to drag in here!"
The others mercifully stopped playing and singing for a bit to look over to her and saw the black robed figure that Wendy had dragged into the band room. "Well, who is it?" called Ludwig von Koopa, the next oldest Koopaling, after Kevin. He had a chubby frame, though that belied Ludwig's true strength, and also had a blue shell with orange rings around the short spikes protruding from said shell, and large, wild blue hair. He also has a green head with a short, beaver-like tooth extending from the upper center part of his snout. He, like the other male Koopalings, minus Kevin, also wore black metal spiked cuffs. As with the others, he did not have his magic scepter, but instead, a conductor's wand. He, evidently, was the director of the band. Ludwig continued to look over at Kevin, not recognizing his older brother beneath the sunglasses and black hood and robes.
"Oh, come on," Wendy complained, "take off those robes and join us!" She then jerked off his hood and took off his sunglasses so that everyone would see that their oldest brother had come back.
"Kevin!" everyone exclaimed with shock, rather than happiness, which saddened the prince a bit. The two Koopatrols that were guarding the younger Koopas and the other technicians, sound checkers, and even Kamek, who as assisting the Koopatrols in their guard duty, stopped what they were doing and looked in the direction of the forlorn looking Koopa Prince. They stared at the prince as he tried to back away and exit the room, only to be directed towards the others by Despite his age, he was no larger than Ludwig, though he seemed to be much more regal in stature. He also took to resembling a Magikoopa far more so than his own siblings, though like them, Kevin had a shell with short spikes and a yellow and tan, though unlike his siblings, he had a very dark gray to black head and short, black hair. Besides his robes, he did not wear much in the way of adornments. He did, however, carry a variety of weapons from magical daggers that he, himself, had crafted, to magic wands which assisted in the casting of his spells and provided good long ranged attacks as well. He was quite athletic in appearance, far more so than his other siblings. It was also one of the reasons why Wendy wanted him to join them. She, as well as the rest of the Koopa Kingdom, viewed Kevin as the most handsome of the Koopalings, and thus, she wanted him to be a part of their new band in order to get more people to attend their concerts.
Kevin, however, did not have any desire to join their band and he did his best to think of a way to leave without revealing just how far along he was in his Rift Magic training. He first attempted to teleport out of the room, but Kamek must have erected an anti-teleportation spell in the room, for his attempt ended in failure. Kamek looked over at his pupil and grinned, almost as if he had decided to turn this incident into a spur of the moment test for the king's eldest son. Not long after, Morton Koopa Jr., the third youngest of Bowser's offspring, with only Larry and Bowser Jr. being younger, came over to assist his older sister in bringing Kevin onto the stage. Despite his youth, he was among the largest of the Koopalings, rivaling Ludwig in height and breadth. Unlike the other Koopalings, he had dark brown skin, a white head with three thin black hairs, and a star mark on the left side of his face, centered around his left eye. He also had four large fangs in the upper corners of the upper part of his jaw. He also sported a black shell with a white encasing and, short spikes surrounded by white rings. Kevin had since recovered from his surprise at being dragged into the room and, as such, was holding fast against the pushing and pulling of both Wendy and Morton.
Soon, they were joined by the youngest of Bowser's offspring, Bowser Jr., himself. Bowser Jr. looked very much like a younger version of Bowser. He had a yellow and tan skin complexion, a green shell with white encasing with short spikes surrounded by orange rings, and fiery orange hair tied into a top-ponytail. Unlike his siblings, though, he wore a white bib with fangs drawn onto it. He sometimes wore it like a mask, though he was merely letting it hang around his neck at the moment. As he arrived at his older brother, who was still struggling against Wendy and Morton, he asked, "Hey, Kev, whatcha doin' back here so quickly?"
"Trying not to be drafted into Ludwig and Wendy's band," Kevin answered, with a note of only partial mock-desperation in his voice.
"Why's that?" the Bowser's youngest child asked. "Don'tcha wanna spend some time with us?"
"Yes," Kevin replied, "but I don't want to have to be part of a band. Besides, I haven't practiced with my trumpet for quite a while."
"You wouldn't be playin' trumpet!" Lemmy called over. Despite being the third oldest, after only Kevin and Ludwig, he was the smallest of the Koopalings. In addition, his head was oval shaped and disproportionately large compared to the rest of his body. In addition, he looked to be cross-eyed. Like most of his siblings, Lemmy had the same yellow and tan skin tone that they had. He also had a green head with a pair of orange bars on the left side of his head. He also had a multi-colored mohawk that went from yellow, pink, blue, yellow, pink, blue, and ended in a relatively long ponytail that started out a bright yellow but faded to orange close to the tip. He also wore an orange shell with white encasing that had short spikes surrounded by yellow rings. Kevin looked over and saw that Lemmy was without his standard yellow ball with orange stars. Lemmy had always been more interested in the circus and performing rather than committing evil, like his father, something that Kevin was eternally grateful for. The Koopaling then smiled knowingly at his older brother.
"Then what would I be playing?" Kevin asked, in an almost defeated tone.
"You'd be singin' alongside Wendy and me," came the response from Roy. Roy was unlike most of the others in that he had a pink head and sunglasses. He also had a purple shell with short spikes surrounded by hot pink rings.
"No," Kevin replied sternly, breaking the grasp of both Wendy and Morton. He then backed away a few feet.
"Why not?" Roy and Wendy both asked. Wendy was doing her best to look as cute and beautiful as possible in order to convince her older brother to join her. It was not working.
"Because I hate singing almost as much as I hate the Mario Brothers," Kevin responded, a little more harshly than he had intended. "Besides, I have more important matters that need my attention at the moment," he added in a more even tone.
"Such as?" Ludwig asked.
"Such as defeating the Mario Brothers."
The others scoffed. "Beat the Marios?" Larry, the second youngest of the Koopalings, after Bowser Jr. laughed. "You may as well be taking on the Golden Goddesses of Hyrule. At least they're a darn sight prettier than the Marios." Larry, like most of his siblings, he had yellow and tan skin and a green head. However, he had a small, blue star on the side of his head as well. He also sported spiky combed back blue hair and a light blue shell.
"The Marios have to be stopped," Kevin insisted.
"We know," the others agreed in a melancholy tone. He also noted that they sounded defeated when speaking about the Marios.
"Yeah," Iggy reiterated. Iggy was the middle child of the Koopalings. He had the same yellow and tan skin tone of his siblings, along with the green head. He also had four fangs jutting down from the upper corners of his mouth, like Morton. What differentiated him from the others, though, were his glasses, and his plant-like stalk of lime-green hair with darker green tips at the end. He also wore a light green shell with short spikes, surrounded by purple rings. "I wouldn't worry about it too much," he said, trying to assure Kevin that the Marios could wait and that jamming with them was a more worthy use of his time. "It won't be long before Dad comes up with another plan to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom and beat the Marios. And this time, it'll work. I'm sure of it. So why not just jam with us while you're here?"
"Because you didn't see his latest battle against Mario," came Kevin's response, which prompted Kamek to raise his eyebrows, for Kevin sounded almost as if he were recounting a nightmare. Kevin's hands clenched into a fist and he gritted his teeth "It wasn't even a fight! Mario slaughtered Father with contemptuous ease! And I could do nothing but watch since Father did not call for any help."
Kamek's face was aghast. Kevin had witnessed Bowser's last fight with Mario. Even after the pounding that his father had sustained, he still wanted to go and face off against Mario, and not just Mario, but the Mario Brothers: both Mario and Luigi. He had to stop the Koopa Prince from making the biggest mistake in his life. With that, he then said, "I know. Which is why you must not rush off and fight Mario. Remain here and enjoy your free time for a bit. Take a little time to look around and take in what you are fighting for."
Kevin looked over at his mentor and relaxed a bit. Kamek came over to him and said, "Your siblings are right. Take some time to relax a bit. Mario won't come and attack us since we don't have Princess Peach at the moment. Once your father is healed, he'll undoubtedly plan another kidnapping attempt on Princess Peach Toadstool, and then you might just get your chance to fight the Marios."
Kevin sighed and said, "I guess," but he was not convinced, though he did his best to hide this fact from Kamek and the others.
The others did not pay any attention to Kevin's body language and Ludwig went over and grabbed his arm, saying, "Come on, I need a good male singer to compliment Wendy. You'll love it. This'll be all rock'n'roll!"
"I hate rock and roll," Kevin said plainly. He pulled his arm away from Ludwig, breaking the second oldest Koopaling's grip and told him, "Look, I thank you for the offer, but I do have my studies to attend to. Just because I'm out of the academy doesn't mean that I can simply relax. Besides, Father will be healed soon. I need to be ready when he calls."
Ludwig sighed and the others gave an audible moan. "Maybe I can join you all for dinner later?" he offered. "I could cook if you want."
"Maybe," Wendy pouted, crossing her arms. "We'll let you know," she continued snidely.
Kevin gave a melancholy sigh and turned to leave. As he left, Kamek called to him, saying, "Kevin, remember your father's orders. Don't kill the Mario Brothers. He's already suffered a terrible beating facing one of them. Your father loves you. He doesn't want to risk losing you as well."
The young prince turned and, bowing, replied, "I understand, Master."
He then gave a resigned smile and continued on his way. As soon as the door closed behind him, he could hear the noise start again. This time, he heard the voices of Wendy and Roy muting out the noise, though they seemed to sound even worse. Maybe it was merely the fact that he did not like singing. He shook off the thought and continued on his way.
As he was making his way into the outer courtyard, a barren, rocky section of the castle, he could not help but think about what Kamek had said. He then thought back to the large number of dead Koopas that had littered the battlefield as well as the bruised and beaten form of his father. He then asked the specters of his father and Kamek, "But how many more have to die before you get lucky and one of your plans manages to kill the Marios?" That's if you don't get killed first, he then thought darkly. For a time, he had no idea what to do. He knew that he could not go against his father's orders and kill the Mario Brothers. Despite the threat that they posed, he had too much respect for his father to just disobey him at the drop of a hat. Just then, a thought came to him. His father had said nothing about merely capturing the Marios. His mind then began to race. He knew that capturing a group like the Marios was even more dangerous than killing them, but it was the only way he could neutralize the threat posed by the Marios while still obeying the letter of his father's order, if not its spirit. However, in order to make sure that he would have the best chance of success, he would need to brush up on the Mario Brothers a little bit more. To that end, he proceeded to make his way over to the residential tower of the castle. He was certain that the movers close to finished, if not already finished, unloading his few belongings. There, he would begin studying the Marios, as well as brushing up on some of his more advanced magical abilities as well. He needed to be in tiptop shape for when he finally went to capture the Super Mario Brothers.