Chapter 3:
Kevin made his way over to the residential tower as quickly as possible. He ignored the numerous Koopatrols and Magikoopa guards that stopped to salute him as he ran by. He rushed through the large double doors that were the entrance to the residential tower, nearly bowling over two Hammer Bros. that were talking to each other about their latest battle with the Mario Brothers. They had been veterans of several campaigns against the Marios, and were some of the longest-lived Koopas that had encountered the heroic plumber. He paid them little heed, though; merely making sure that he did not knock them over. He charged up the dark, spiraling staircase until he reached the top of the tower. There, he reached his room.
The last of his belongings were being unloaded by the movers, a duo of Sumo Brothers. The two members of a subset of Hammer Bros. had a yellow and tan skin tone with a green shell, and a single spike on their head. In battle, they could stomp on the ground, calling down a lightning bolt that would strike the ground and create a sea of fire. They had been a significant hurdle for the Mario Brothers to overcome in Dinosaur Land; the first, and only, time they had been deployed against the Mario Brothers. As Kevin approached, they stopped and noticed the prince arriving and almost dropped the sofa that they had been carrying into the room. "Prince Kevin, you're back," the stammered. Despite their formidable power, they were still highly respectful of the young prince, as they were of all members of the Koopa Royal Family. "We were not expecting you back here so soon."
"Don't worry about it," Kevin said reassuringly, giving them a kind smile. "In fact, I'll finish the unloading myself. I have some time to kill and this will be good training."
The Sumo Bros. were unsure of what to make of Kevin's statement, so they merely stood there. Kevin's expression flattened when he saw them freeze. "I insist," he told them, a little more forcefully. "You guys have done great work. Take some time to rest up. I'll take the check when it's ready."
The Sumo Bros. soon got the hint that Kevin wanted some time alone in his room, or study, as he was going to convert it into, and they merely went inside to set down the sofa. They then exited the room and prepared the check. When they handed it to Kevin, he read that the move would cost approximately one hundred gold coins, not a bad price considering that they moved the Koopa Prince's belongings half way across the kingdom. Kevin decided to give them a good tip and paid them one hundred and fifty gold coins. When the Sumo Bros. saw the offer, they told him, "Sire, the price was only one hundred gold coins."
"I know," Kevin responded. "You guys did good work here, and I reward such things. Take the money," he insisted kindly.
The Sumo Bros. smiled as they accepted their payment and the generous tip offered by the Koopa Prince. They then left the Koopa Prince to his own thoughts in his room. However, the sound of whistling could be heard as the Sumo Bros. made their way down the corridor to another sector of the castle. As they walked, they could scarcely believe that Kevin had been as nice as he had been to them. Normally, had Bowser or any of his other children come across the movers, they would have walked all over them and complained about how not all of their stuff had been unpacked and put away. Kevin was the exact opposite of the rest of his family. And that was one of the reasons he had been so popular with the masses.
As the prince entered his room, he stopped and looked around at the crates and furniture that was scattered all around his room. He pulled out his scepter and pointed it at one of the crates. A blue beam of energy emerged from the wand and struck the crate, a field of energy now surrounding the wooden crate. The top of the crate then came off of the rest and flew into the air, a blue field of energy surrounding it. Kevin set the top aside and then fired a second stream of energy from his wand at the crate. Pieces of a disassembled table immediately flew out of the box, along with one of his most treasured possessions: a framed photograph of himself along with the rest of his family. Using a simple spell, he assembled the small, round table and set it in the middle of his room. He then levitated the photograph onto the table until it was sitting in the center of the table. While that was not the final destination of the photo, it would suffice for the moment until he got everything else unpacked.
He then turned his attention to the sofa that the Sumo Bros. had been carrying in. With the same spell he used on the crate, he moved the sofa into a small study area where he set it up against the wall, facing a high-definition television mounted on a gray table that was set near another wall. To the left of the television was a work desk with a computer and a small bookcase that was loaded with books on military tactics, technology, and manuals on operating his computer, as well as fixing it should something go wrong. Once that was finished, he made his way back into the main living room and proceeded to finish unpacking the rest of his belongings. He first finished setting up the chairs and the dinner table. While his room was not nearly as large and opulent as those of his siblings or his father, he did set aside a dining room so that he could have the rest of his family join him for dinner should the occasion ever arise. Once the dining room and its table were set, he went over to the kitchen, where a smaller table was set near a much smaller HDTV. He checked the oven, stove, and microwave and found that everything there was in order. Then, he went into his bedroom. In his bedroom, he found a full size bed in the center of the room against the wall. Looking across the bed, he found a nightstand with a radio, as well as a cup holder. Across from the bed was a bookcase that was sparsely filled with books, mostly on the basics of magic. Once he was certain that everything was in order in his bedroom, he went down the short corridor and into the room where he would most likely be spending most of his time awake, the study.
His study was full of bookcases and housed other objects, like magic scepters and his own personal broomstick that he had gotten at the age of ten when he took his first official magic lessons under Kamek. Each of the bookcases was overflowing with books and scrolls that detailed both basic magical spells as well as more complex spells and types of magic, such as Rift Magic, a form of magic that was highly difficult to perform safely. Kevin was one of the few practitioners of Rift Magic that had been able to ascend to the rank of Master, and all of this before his eighteenth birthday. Thinking of his birthday, which had been only two days ago, he looked over onto a desk near the sole small window that offered ventilation for the room and saw an envelope on the desk. He went over to the desk and he picked up the envelope and opened it. He pulled out the card and found that it was a birthday card from his cousin, Karly Koopa. He opened it and read:
Dear Kevin,
Happy eighteenth birthday Kevin! I hear you're finally going home to see your dad, Uncle Bowser. I hope you get this card soon. Tell your dad I love him and I hope to see him not too long from now. I also hope to see you, too, cuz. Hee, hee, hee. Anyway, I hope everything's going okay with you and I look forward to seeing you again soon.
Love,
Karly.
Kevin smiled as he read the card. Karly was one of the few Koopas in the kingdom that actually understood him. He could talk with her freely and she would actually listen to his concerns, rather than just laugh them off the way his own siblings would. In fact, she was more of a sibling to him than his true blood siblings. He made a note to write a thank you letter to Karly at the first opportunity. However, he had even more important work to do at the moment, seeing that everything was in order in his study as well. He needed to get to work researching the Mario Brothers; for if he were to have any hope of defeating them, he would need to know everything he could about them.
The prince then proceeded to go back to his makeshift living room that doubled as a small study and went to work on his plan. Before he formulated any real plans, though, he needed to know everything he could about the Mario Brothers. He began by researching on the Koopa Net everything that was known about the two humans. What he found surprised him, for there seemed to be a great deal of conflicting information. This was especially true regarding their origins. Some sources indicated that he was from outside the Mushroom Kingdom, even outside of the world of Hylia as well, being from a world called Earth. Other sources, however, stated that he was delivered to his parents in the Mushroom Kingdom by stork. This story, however, had come from the Yoshis, who were very child-like in their behavior, and as such, he did not put as much stock in that story as he did in the other sources, especially since he knew that humans did not reproduce by having a stork deliver the baby to the parents. Not only that, but the sources could not even get the ages of the Marios straight, either. Some said that the Mario Brothers were twins, while others said that Mario was the older brother, and Luigi the younger. Kevin believed the latter to be true because one of the sources of Mario being the older brother was Luigi, himself, who had been known to call Mario, "big bro," on occasion. This would especially be true if, as Kevin seemed to believe, that the Marios were kidnapped when they were infants and taken to the Mushroom Kingdom together. It would be easy to confuse the Yoshis into having them believe that the Marios were twins and could explain why that myth had been perpetuated. While Kevin found the backstory of the Mario Brothers interesting, his primary focus was on more recent events. Still, he made note to study more of their history should his current plan fail. He decided that the next thing he would have to do would be to watch videos of Mario and Luigi's activities. He then left his study and proceeded to make his way out of his quarters.
He rushed down the corridor to another tower, passing routine hall patrols that consisted of Koopatrols and even a team of Boomerang Bros. As he passed, the Boomerang Bros. saluted him and after he was gone, they continued on their patrols. The Koopa Prince ignored their salutes as he rushed by them. He needed to get to the archive tower as quickly as possible. He was certain that the archive tower would have recordings of all of the Mario Brothers' more recent battles.
After a few minutes, Kevin arrived at the Hall of Archives, located beneath the main castle, and entered the large room. The Hall of Archives was a dark, dreary gray room with lines of shelves that stored all sorts of books, videotapes, audiotapes, CDs, and even DVD recordings. They were all divided into sections based upon the century, and some sections were subdivided into smaller sections based not only on year, but also on important individuals. Kevin knew that what he was searching for would be found somewhere deep inside the hall, a place that would be inaccessible to all but the highest-ranking personnel. As Kevin approached the more recent, and restricted, area, he was met by two Dark Koopatrols. These Koopatrols did not just wear thick gray armor and have spiked shells; they also had red eyes and were incredibly strong in and of themselves. They were even stronger than Elite Koopatrols. These Dark Koopatrols were also armed with machine guns and had extra pistols holstered at their hips. Despite the fact that they instantly recognized Kevin, they still held up their weapons and commanded, "Halt. This area is restricted. You must present proper identification before we allow you to pass."
Kevin then pulled out a card with his picture and personal information on it. The Dark Koopatrol on the right took the card and the two of them examined it, just to make certain that it was not a forgery. Once they were convinced that it was real, they handed the card back and told him, "Identification confirmed. You may pass, sire." The two Dark Koopatrols then stepped aside and allowed the Koopa Prince to pass uncontested.
Upon entering the restricted sector, Kevin searched the shelves for everything he could find on the Super Mario Brothers. Several books and videotape and DVD recordings caught the prince's eye. One of them was a recording of Bowser's one true victory over Mario after he had first gotten the Star Rod and had attacked Princess Peach's castle, taking it high into the sky. Another video had recordings of Bowser's more recent battles against Mario, one where he had grown huge and had chased the plumber through the lower levels of his castle until he had finally been flushed down the drain, and another where he had used the power of the stars to grow huge and fight Mario in space. Upon securing the much-needed materials, he headed over to the nearest work desk that had a working computer, television, and VCR. As he was getting himself situated, a couple patrol teams walked by. Kevin glanced back and saw the patrols walk by. They had consisted of a pair Ice Bros., and two Spikes. Kevin had heard that his father had always had the Mario section of the archives heavily patrolled, but he had never actually seen the patrols until now. This got Kevin even more excited, for he suspected that if his father had set up such extreme precautions against anyone getting a hold of the information that he had gained on the Mario Brothers, then there was likely something important here that would give him a better chance of defeating and capturing the Marios.
Kevin first decided to look through the books on the Mario Brothers. The first couple books did not contain much information on how they fought and it was more of the history and biography of the Marios. Again, the books cited both origin stories for the Mario Brothers, though, like Kevin, several guesses had been made. One of them was that the Mario were, indeed taken from their biological parents and brought to the Mushroom Kingdom when they were infants. However, there were no citations and that had merely been a supposition made by the author of the book. The second book merely detailed Mario's biography after he had "officially" arrived in the Mushroom Kingdom not much more than a decade ago. Kevin winced as he read about how Mario and Luigi had arrived in the Mushroom Kingdom when Bowser's forces had been on the verge of victory. Bowser had kidnapped Princess Peach and transformed many of the inhabitants of the kingdom into bricks. The Mario Brothers, of course, had arrived and single-handedly pushed back the entire invading force, killing over ten thousand members of Bowser's army in the battle. Most of the casualties had been Goombas and Koopa Troopas, with some Koopa Paratroopas, Buzzy Beetles, and Hammer Brothers, and a handful of Lakitus. Despite the large number of troops lost, this had not been a crippling blow to the Koopa Kingdom. Bowser had not yet unleashed his strongest troops upon the Mushroom World and its citizens. That had changed later on, though, when in his next invasion, he had launched airships, tanks, naval ships, Boomerang and Fire Bro. to support the Hammer Bros., etcetera. The losses in that invasion had been far more devastating, especially the loss of the airship fleet. It was all stuff that he had heard before in both military school as well as in magic class. The prince read on and found that the documents merely detailed how badly the Koopa Troop had been steamrolled by the Marios, not what powers the Marios had used or how said powers functioned.
Kevin decided to scan through several other books and hoped that they would give him more details on Mario's individual powers. The first of his next group of books did not tell him anything he did not already know. It was mainly about Mario's Super Mushroom, Fire Flower, and his Invincibility Star. The next book, however, did give the prince some much more useful information. This one not only listed many of the known superpowers of Mario, his natural super strength, his Super/Life Mushroom, Fire Flower, Cape, Raccoon Leaf, Tanooki Suit, Hammer Suit, Super Star, etcetera. The book detailed several variations of such powers that had appeared recently, such as the time limit for Fire Flowers during Mario's recent adventure throughout the galaxy. The Koopa Prince next checked one of the scrolls that he had found. The scroll detailed several items and combination items that could be formed when two items were cooked together. These items greatly interested Kevin; for he knew that such items had sometimes been used by his father's minions as well during Mario's adventure in Rogueport. Another chapter in the same book outlined several useful items, such as the Snow Cone and Meteor Meal, that Mario and his father had used during their adventures in Flipside and Flopside, two towns that were built by ancient beings in-between the various dimensions. The Snow Cone had been instrumental in allowing Mario to complete the Sammer Guy Challenge; and the Meteor Meal had been essential in helping Mario and the others in the adventure beat a shape-shifter named Mimi. As the prince continued to read the books, he began to wonder if Mario and Luigi were only powerful because of their superpowers. He quickly shook off the thought, for he had heard of other times where Mario and/or Luigi had beaten his father when they had not had any superpowers at all.
After he was finished reading the books, Kevin immediately set up the VCR and DVD players so he could watch the recordings of Mario's various battles against his father and against other enemies. As he put in the first tape, he steeled himself in preparation for watching the video. He could not afford to let his emotions take control of him. He needed to study Mario's fighting style and the only way he would be able to do so would be to watch Mario in numerous battles against his father, siblings, and other enemies of the plumber. The first video he watched was a recording of Mario's first battle against Bowser when they were both adults. Despite the fact that Mario was a dangerous enemy of the Koopa Kingdom, neither Kevin, nor the other students, had ever seen videos of Mario fighting, particularly against powerful fighters such as Bowser and the Koopalings. This would only be the second time Kevin had ever watched Mario fight and while this battle took place a decade ago, he knew that this would be a good starting point to see just how powerful Mario really was, and how he fought. As the video started, he saw his father standing on a bridge suspended over a pool of lava. Behind the bridge was an axe with which one could cut down the bridge. Behind his father was a cage suspended from the ceiling that held Princess Peach. Below her was another pool of lava. Mario soon came to meet Bowser, sporting his old Fire Mario outfit, a red shirt with white suspenders. Bowser initiated the battle by spitting fire and tossing out a volley of hammers, each of which Mario dodged with ease while returning fire with a volley of fireballs. Each of the fireballs scored a direct hit on Bowser and within seconds, the final fireball knocked Bowser off of the bridge and into the lava below. Mario then walked on by and proceeded to free the captured Peach. Kevin winced at the scene where his father had been defeated. He knew that this task would be taxing, for he could already feel rage and hatred towards the Marios entering his heart. He vowed that he would do whatever it took to take down the Mario Brothers, no matter the cost. Still, he wanted to avoid sacrificing more Koopas in order to accomplish this task. Kevin then watched the other videos in rapid succession, each of which showed Mario fighting either his father or some other enemy. All of them had the same outcome, though. Either Bowser or said enemy would be defeated, and if said enemy was not Bowser, oftentimes, they would die.
After the prince had finished watching the tapes, he began watching the DVDs. The DVDs had shown more Bowser's more recent battles against Mario and the others. Among others, it showed Bowser's only true victory over Mario, his battle against the plumber shortly after gaining the Star Rod. Mario had been caught unawares by Bowser and had been quickly defeated once the Koopa King had powered up using the Star Rod, making himself invincible. That battle made watching the subsequent fight, where Mario managed to defeat Bowser, Star Rod and all, that much more difficult. Still, a look of comprehension had crossed Kevin's face. The one time that Mario had been beaten, he had been caught off guard, after he had been invited to a party over at Princess Peach's castle. Every other fight Mario had had against his nemesis had resulted in victory. Granted, Bowser had some pretty big advantages with the use of the Star Rod, but that was beside the point in the young Koopa's mind. He skimmed through the other fights that Mario had had with his father and focused on what Bowser had done in order to defeat Mario the first time. Soon, a plan began to form in Kevin's mind. If he could truly control the circumstances in which he and the Mario Brothers fought, then he might have a decent chance of defeating the plumbers. And he had the means to do just that.
Once he was finished his studies on the Mario Brothers, he put away all of the materials that he had gotten out of the archives and exited the area. As he stepped out of the modern section of the archives, the two Dark Koopatrols guarding the entrance shut the gate behind him. Kevin then rushed out of the Hall of Archives and proceeded to begin bringing his plan to fruition. One of the more advanced spells that Kamek had taught him had been how to neutralize an enemy's power. Normally, such magical powers were notoriously difficult to neutralize beforehand since samples of the energy would be required before setting up a barrier seal that would prevent the use of said magic. If the magic were powerful enough, that would be very counterproductive towards the spellcaster. However, most of Mario's powers were based on items that he needed to get a hold of in order to gain access to their effects. That liability could easily be exploited by Kevin's spell. All he would need would be some samples of Mario's superpower items, such as a Super/Life Mushroom, Fire Flower, Raccoon Leaf, etcetera. The more powers he could get, the better. First, though, he had to read up on the spell. He wanted to make sure that nothing would go wrong, both in its casting and in its effect.
He quickly went back into his quarters and into his back study. He searched all of his spell books for the spell and quickly found it in the tome titled, Bowser the Great's S-ranked Spells, Their Effects, Requirements, and How to Cast Them Safely. Opening the book, he skimmed its pages, quickly finding the spell, called "Neutralize Special Powers". He read through the spell and how to cast it. Just as he had surmised, it was a complicated spell that required one to gain access to a sample of the magic or other power that one wished to nullify. It was the highest level of another spell that he had heard was called "De-Power". De-Power was easier to cast, but its range was limited and there was a chance that it could fail. Neutralize Special Powers, however, was a spell that could not only neutralize any of the Mario's Superpower items that Kevin managed to gain access to, the barrier also was the size of a small town, and could neutralize any power based on the type of magic, or psychic, cosmic, or whatever, power it was based on. There was a chance that Mario's other items might not work even if Kevin was not thorough enough in gaining said items. He did not want to take that chance, however, so he made certain that when he went to gain hold of some of Mario's superpowers, he got as many of them as possible. However, he knew that he would have to be discrete about it, for he did not want to give the Mario's any warning that he was after them. That would not be a problem for him, though. Kevin then went over to a desk and pulled out a special magic scepter that consisted of a golden rod with a round, red, dome-shaped gem at the end. He then put on his black cloak and, after tucking his wand into his cloak, vanished from his quarters.
Kevin reappeared on the same hillside that he had watched his father get beaten to a pulp by Mario. He remembered from his previous trip here that there was a Toad House not too far away. However, in order to be sure that he would be able to enter said Toad House without revealing himself or arousing any suspicion, he had to take on the guise of a Toad. He quickly pulled out his wand and went around searching for a Toad that he could mimic. Sure enough, he did not have to wait long, for a Toad with a blue spotted mushroom cap, and a blue vest, much like many of the other known Toads. In addition, this blue Toad was wearing a pair of eyeglasses. In fact, this Toad looked a lot like Blue Toad of the Toad Brigade, one of the few Toads that was willing to travel with Mario on some of his more recent adventures. He subtly approached the Blue Toad and extended his wand towards the Toad. A spray of energy emerged from the head of the wand and covered the Toad, the Toad seemingly unaware of the fact that he was surrounded by a field of energy. Soon, the energy field split apart and reformed a beam, which then retreated back into the wand. Kevin then transformed into a perfect copy of the Blue Toad, glasses and all. The Koopa Prince then used his wand to scan the wand of the Blue Toad. Peering into the Toad's mind, he found that the Toad had been going to a Toad House to take out some overstock from the house and deliver it to Peach's Castle. Kevin did his best to suppress a grin. This was perfect. He could duck into the Toad House, get the excess inventory, and disappear. Peach and the others would not know for a while that the merchandise had never made it to the castle. In addition, Bowser and the Koopa Troop could not use Mario's superpowers, so even if they had disappeared, the others would more likely suspect the Toad of taking the items for himself. He then deactivated the spell and put the Toad in a blissful sleep that he would awaken from in about a couple of hours. Kevin then cast a second spell so that he would begin to sleepwalk at approximately one minute before he awakened. Once he would awaken, he would remember having taken the excess inventory to the castle, none the wiser of his unknown encounter with the Prince of the Koopas.
Kevin then walked down the hill and went over towards the Toad House down in the valley. The Toad House was shaped like a mushroom with a red head with white dots. As soon as he arrived in the town, the prince made his way towards the house with no one having any idea who he really was. He went over to the Toad House and knocked on the door. A voice from inside the house asked, "Who is it?"
"It's me, Blue Toad" Kevin replied, his voice perfectly mimicking Blue Toad's. "I'm here to pick up the excess inventory you've got and take it to the castle."
"Man, it's about time," came the voice from inside the Toad House. "What was keeping you?"
"I had other errands to run for the court," Kevin answered quickly, hoping that his excuse would suffice.
"Why? Bowser didn't even make it close to the castle," the voice from inside said.
"Don't ask me," the faux Blue Toad answered, "I just do what they tell me to."
The door soon opened and a Toad with a white cap with red spots on it stood at the entrance. At his side was a large trunk. He looked at Blue Toad and whistled. "Man, they gave you nuthin' to lug this stuff with, did they."
Kevin feigned looking glum as he stared at the large treasure chest. Inwardly, however, he was grinning from ear to ear. There had to be a ton of power-ups inside that chest. "Hope you can manage on the long trip back ta the castle," the Toad said, trying to inspire a bit of hope.
"Yeah, thanks," Kevin answered. "You don't happen to have a hand truck or a something like that, do you?" the prince asked.
The Toad shook his head. "Sorry man, this is all I've got. I hope they're payin' you extra for this."
"They better be," Kevin almost grumbled.
"Well, good luck," the Toad said, waving towards Kevin as he turned to depart. "And look out for any bandits as well. I hear that a band has appeared and is mugging travelers that are headed towards the castle."
Kevin, however, had long gone, feigning difficulty in lugging the large chest out of town. While the prince did not like having to act like the chest was a bother to him, mainly because he was so eager to get back to his quarters and begin working on the spell that would disable the superpowers of the Mario Brothers within the confines of the spell, he knew that he had to play the part until there was no risk of anyone seeing him. For the better part of half an hour, he "struggled" to carry the chest out of town and up the hill off in the distance. He felt as if once he was safely over the top of the hill, he could disappear and get back to his room.
As soon as he had crested the top of the hill, though, before he could vanish, a squad of four Bandits appeared. They were humanoid in appearance but smaller than a normal human. They wore red cloaks and hoods and also wore white masks. The leader of the Bandits approached the Koopa Prince and stared at the chest. He gave a whistle and said, "Woo boy. Looks like we hit the mother lode here." He then gazed at the Koopa Prince, who was still in the form of Blue Toad. "So Toad, how much ya want to avoid getting' beaten up, or worse?"
"You four don't scare me," Kevin growled defiantly.
This brought a chuckle from the Bandits. "Well, looks like we've got an idiot here, guys. How 'bout we show him what happens when fools decide not to follow our…" but he never got the chance to finish, for Kevin extended his hand and casually reduced the four Bandits to ashes by unleashing a blast of flame from his hand. The quartet did not even get the chance to scream. Kevin then sighed. "Weaklings," he muttered with disdain as he vanished from the hill.
Kevin appeared once more inside his room, in the center living room, with his large chest and immediately used his wand to lug the chest back to his study. As he went, he cast aside the disguise of Blue Toad, shimmering sparks flying away from his body as he reassumed his normal form. Once he got back to his study, and cleared away a large enough space for the chest, he opened the chest. After he opened the chest, he peered inside and his eyes went wide with delight. He was like a child on Christmas morning after going downstairs and seeing all of the presents underneath the Christmas tree. Inside the chest were numerous copies of many of Mario and Luigi's power-ups. The prince was easily able to spot Super/Life Mushrooms, Fire Flowers, Raccoon Leaves, Tanooki Suits, Cape Feathers, Hammer Suits, Penguin Suits, Propeller Suits, Ice Flowers, Frog Suits, etcetera. Even a few items that Mario had only used sparingly, such as Thunder Bolts, Thunder Rages, and Ice Storms, had appeared inside the chest. This was even better than he had hoped for. Kevin soon went over to begin preparations for making the spell. He would need a few days in order to get all of the proper ingredients in order to create the Neutralize Special Powers spell in a way so that it could be cast from a magic wand. Initially, Bowser the Great, his ancestor from a thousand years ago, had created the spell to be used only after intense preparation, for it had been used as an Ace-in-the-hole against Ganondorf, should the King of Evil ever attack the Koopa Kingdom. Kevin was about to try a feat that had only been discussed through theories, and not done in actual practice. However, he felt that if he were successful in this endeavor, he would definitely hold a significant edge over the Mario Brothers when the time came to face them. As it was, he knew that he would be hard at work for the next few days, preparing the spell, brushing up on his other magic and his fighting skills. If something went wrong with this spell, he knew that he would have to be at the top of his game in order to defeat the Super Mario Bros. on a level playing field. Kevin got out a large, black witch's pot and lit a fire underneath of it. While he did not often like using magic that required a large amount of preparation, for many things could go wrong with such spells, he knew that it would be well worth the wait, and risk, if everything worked out and he was able to disable the main weapons of the Super Mario Bros.
The days went by without any real incident. Kevin worked on his fighting skills, broom riding, and other magic skills. He had fought groups of drone opponents, Koopa Troopas and other enemies that had been created from magical spells out of bricks inside castles and that had just been laying around the kingdom. He also set up some sparring sessions with Kamek, ostensibly to hone his skills for whatever job his father might have for him in the future. He also took time to visit his father and his siblings, talking to them about recent events. He still sought his father's authorization to kill the Mario Brothers, but his father had refused his request at every turn. Still, that did nothing to dampen the prince's spirits, or dissuade him from his current path. The Mario Brothers had to be defeated, and even if he was not allowed to kill them, his father had said nothing about not capturing them. In addition, every day, at constant intervals, Kevin would check on his brew, which was boiling inside his study. He followed the direction of the spell to the letter. If this spell was going to work, he would have to get everything right.
Eventually, at the end of the week, the brew was finally ready. Kevin went into his study and checked on the concoction in the pot. After checking his spell book, he found that the brew was finally ready to be tested. He had set before him several of Mario's power-ups, a Super Mushroom, Fire Flower, Raccoon Leaf, and a Tanooki Suit. He cast an indicator spell from his wand and each of the power-ups stared to glow, indicating that they were still fully functional. The Koopa Prince then dipped his wand head into the brew and pulled it out. The golden liquid covered the red head of the wand and the head turned golden. He then activated the spell and fired it at the power-ups, being careful to only target the power-ups and leave everything else alone. A golden beam of light emerged from the wand and struck the Fire Flower in the center. Immediately, a square formed and encompassed every single one of the power-ups. As the square encompassed the power-ups, each of the power-ups went dark, indicating that they were no longer functioning. Kevin grinned at the sight. He then waited for a while to see how long the effect would last. He found that the effect lasted about an hour before it wore off. The prince grinned. This was better than he had hoped for. With one final blast of magic from his wand, he destroyed the power-ups, though he kept a few around for further study. He was hoping to be able to find out how they worked so he allow his father, or the other members of the Koopa Troop to use them against the Mario Brothers. He then dipped the wand back into his brew and pulled it out. Once again, his wand head glowed gold, indicating that the spell was stored inside his wand, ready for use at his call. His plans were coming to fruition. All he had to do now was set up the bait that would bring the Mario Brothers to him; and there was only one thing that would suffice: Princess Peach Toadstool of the Mushroom Kingdom. With that in mind, Kevin vanished from his room, his destination, Princess Peach's Castle.
Inside Princess Peach's Castle, Peach, a tall human woman with long blond hair, blue eyes, and wearing a long pink short sleeve dress; and her loyal steward, Toadsworth, an elderly Toad with tan skin, a beige cap with brown spots, sporting a light purple vest with golden buttons that have Toad emblems on them. In addition, Toadsworth also wore a pair of black glasses, and had a puffy, white mustache that covered his whole mouth. In addition, he carried a cane with a brown mushroom cap on top. This cane also doubled as a magic stick that could summon blocks out of thin air and produce power-ups for Mario and/or Luigi. Peach was headed back to her bedroom with Toadsworth following close behind. "Milady, I must insist that you study your Hylian," the old steward insisted. "This is the first time in over a century that Hyrule has been willing to even entertain the possibility of opening up with the rest of the world. At least being able to speak with their representatives on equal terms would do wonders for alleviating any fears that the people of Hyrule might have."
"I'm fine on my Hylian, Toadsworth," Peach insisted. "I've been studying it for weeks. I know what this opportunity entails, but the first meeting isn't for a week yet."
"I know," the old Toad admitted, "but you shouldn't wait until the last minute. Learning something about the Hylians could allow us to make some headway with them. They've been extremely isolationist for the last two centuries. Even this small attempt at opening up with the rest of the world is a momentous occasion to say the least."
"I understand, Toadsworth," Peach told him. She then made her way over to the door to her bedroom and bid Toadsworth a goodnight. She was about to open the door when an electrical field appeared over the door. The princess quickly pulled her hand away and turned around, only to see Toadsworth and several Toads gasping in horror at the Koopa standing before them. Kevin was wearing his usual black robe, though he had removed his hood, revealing his head. He was instantly recognized by Peach and the others present. The others gasped in horror at the sight of the prince and were frozen with fear. "K…K…K…K…Kevin," they barely managed to cloak, their fear evident on their faces.
"Kevin," Peach stammered. "What are you doing here?"
"What my father could not," Kevin answered cryptically.
Toadsworth raised his cane and attempted to shoot off a spell from his magic stick, but with merely a glance from the Koopa Prince, his stick flew out of his hands and across the floor. Kevin then held up his wand and a ring of energy emanated from it. The ring of energy expanded outwards, forcing Peach to duck beneath it. While the expanding ring sailed over her head, the other Toad guards were not so quick, and were rendered unconscious by the beam, leaving only Peach and an unarmed Toadsworth conscious. He then pointed his wand at Peach and a yellow beam of energy was fired at the princess. The beam of energy struck Peach and a series of chains formed around her, binding her. The princess was about to fall when Kevin disappeared from where he had been standing and reappeared next to Peach, catching her before she fell. He glared at Toadsworth and told him, "I am taking Peach to Mushroom Mountain near the outskirts of the Mushroom Kingdom. Follow me at your own peril." With that, Kevin vanished from the castle, along with Peach.
Just as he left, the other guards began to regain consciousness. Toadsworth then screamed to the guards, "Anyone, everyone, go get the Marios! Tell them that Peach has been kidnapped by the Prince of the Koopas. Also, get all dossiers on Prince Kevin at once! The Marios have never faced him before and they really need to know who, and what, they're up against when they go to save Peach!"
The Toads of Peach's Castle then went about their duties, with several of them rushing out of the castle so as to inform the Mario Brothers of Peach's kidnapping. As Toadsworth organized the gathering of information on Kevin, he began to wonder if Peach really was the Koopa Prince's target, or if he had another target in mind. The thought quickly left him, though. All that mattered, to him, was Peach's safety. Little did he know, though, that Peach was actually very safe for the time being; for it was not Peach that Kevin wanted, but the Marios.