The guard yawned. He had been on duty for six hours, and he hadn't even seen a bug. He despised his job, one of the most boring jobs in existence, but it was the only thing keeping food on his table. What was even more boring was the place he was patrolling. The Mushroom Kingdom Museum of History. Sure it had some interesting stuff, but mostly old artifacts. He had seen it all a billion times. The only thing that was worthy of calling impressive was the shiny gold object in the center of the room. The legendary Power Star. It's said to have some sort of hidden power, but no one knows exactly what it is. Scientists studied it for years to no prevail.
The guard decided to take another walk around the museum to find his partner. He wanted to talk about something, to stay awake. But then, he sensed a presence in the room. He knew it wasn't his partner, because he saw no light. Every guard was asigned a flashlight, uniform and taser gun.
"Hello?" he called out to the darkness.
No answer.
Then he saw an object lying in the corner. Probably a mop the janitor forgot, he thought. But what he saw made his eyes widen in terror. His partner's body. The guard panicked. He frantically looked around the room. He then saw someone standing in the dark.
"Hello, Mr. Guard," the shadow said. "Don't worry about the other guy. He's just knocked out."
He started laughing. "Looks like the people running the museum don't know much history at all."
The shadow signaled to someone behind the guard. The guard turned around, but it was too late. He felt a strong jab to his back and fell to the floor.
The figure stepped out from the shadows. Bowser Jr., now a grown adult, was standing over the guard, who was lying unconscious. "Toads were never good guards."
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I slowly opened my eyes. Sunlight pierced them, and I quickly closed them again. I stretched out my arms, and they banged against something metallic. For a moment, I had forgotten where I was. Then I remembered everything.
"John," I whispered, turning to my friend. "You alright?"
"Ungh...I guess," he managed to say. He was barely recovering from that buff Koopa's hit. "So...they won?"
I frowned. "Won" wasn't a very good description of what had happened the night before. "Look around. We're prisoners to these idiots."
"I wonder why they took us instead of just leaving us in the desert," John pondered to himself.
"Well, let's hope that this is a good thing," I said to him. "Later on we might wish they had left us there."
My dream came to my mind again. Who was that weird turtle guy? I knew almost all species living in the Mushroom Kingdom. The society of archaeologists looked more like a zoo than a society. There were Koopas, Goombas, Shy Guys and many other creatures. But I had never seen a creature quite like that one.
And the museum. The dream seemed so real, it was almost like a message...
"Hey, you two."
The voice came from the front of the car. It was one of the Koopas. He was talking on a cellphone.
"We'll be arriving soon. Don't be disrespectful to the boss. Speak only when spoken to," he instructed us.
John and I just glared at him.
"Understood!?!" he said, an angry tone to his voice.
"Yeah, alright," I responded. He frowned at us, then turned around and continued talking.
John and I exchanged worried looks. Arriving? Where?
As if to answer my question, the other Koopa said, "Welcome to Bandit Town."
I looked around, and saw that we were driving through a city different from anything I'd ever seen. It seemed like nobody cared for others' property. There was graffiti and destruction everywhere. Some Bandits looked over, surprised to see a good car driving through the street. A lot of them saw us and gave us nasty looks, and I quickly hid from view.
Suddenly, the Jeep made a quick turn, and we were thrown to the side.
"Ow!" John cried. I had fallen on top of him, and the impact made us bang our heads against some briefcases.
The briefcases!
When you're an archaeologist, driving through the desert might make you come across something interesting. That's why we always bring our handy tools. We keep them in briefcases because they are somewhat delicate and expensive.
The tools might also work on something other than digging, I thought.
"Hey John," I quietly said to him.
John was massaging his head. "What?" he asked.
I picked up one of the briefcases. I took out a tool that was used to pry open doors and things like that. It was a special tool, because it could open tough things, but without harming them.
"I think I just found our way out. Come on, help me out with this," I said. I signaled to the back door of the car. John nodded, understanding.
It was another dangerous plan, I'll admit, but we had to get out of there.
"On 3," I whispered. "1..." John placed the tool on the door handle. To John's surprise, the door opened.
The Koopa was standing on the other side!
With all the commotion, we didn't notice the car had stopped. The Koopa snatched the tool from John's hand.
"Nice try, bub," he mocked. "Try anything else, and you'll be sorry."
John gulped. The Koopa forcefully got him out of the car. I sighed. Another failed plan.
The other Koopa signaled me to get out too. I stepped on to the street. In front of me was the cleanest looking building around. It was probably really important.
I looked at a sign nailed onto the wall.
NO TRASHING, OR ELSE!
Hm. No wonder.
"Come on. Let's go," one of the Koopas said. They opened the big door leading into the building. I hesitated, then followed them inside.
What I saw inside was amazing. It was like a palace. I was right, saying that the building was important. The main hall was heavily decorated. There were Piranha Plants everywhere, which made me kind of nervous. There were also many paintings on the wall. More weird turtle creatures.
One of the Koopas interrupted my sight seeing. "Move along," he told me.
But the building was just too amazing. It had giant chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, with all of the candles lit. The plants were doing a little dancy thing.
The Koopa turned around once more. "What, you need a dungeon map? Come on, we can't keep the boss waiting."
I followed him to another big door. John was looking a bit nervous. The Koopas pushed the door open.
Warlu was waiting on the other side. "Hellooo, we've been waiting for you."
He came over to us. "Take the other guy to his seat."
The two Koopas nodded, and took John away.
He took me aside to speak with me. "The boss must have a word with you. Remember: don't be disrespectful! We'll be watching you."
I was confused. "The boss? Wait, I thought you were the boss."
"No, no, no!" he said shaking his head. He took me to the front of the room. There, one of those turtle guys was sitting in a fancy chair. "Meet: The Boss."
He seemed familiar... the guy from my dream! He was real?!? But ho-
"Hello, Steve," the turtle guy said politely. "You probably don't know me."
He stood up, and I saw that he was wearing an elegant cape.
"My name is Bowser the second," he introduced himself. "This might sound weird, but I know you."
My thoughts were still on the dream. Maybe a weird coincidence?
"Steve. You don't know your last name, do you?" he asked.
He was right. My dad had told me that it was a secret he had to keep, so I could be safe. Whatever that meant.
"Well... I do." he said mysteriously.
"You...you know my last name?" I asked.
"Yes," he answered. "Actually, I knew your grandfather."
"My granddad?" I had never known my grandfather. Everyone said he was a great person, but one day, he suddenly disappeared, without a trace. No one knew why. No one knew how.
"So," I asked curiously, "what's my last name?"
"He," Bowser smiled. "I knew you'd ask, Steve Mario."
Another short chapter. I was bored today and decide to write another one. Thanks for the reviews ChocolateTeapot and deadheart! Just what I wanted! Corrections and compliments. Sorry for any awkward phrases, I live in Mexico and haven't a chance to practice my English in years. Chapter 3 coming soon!