CHAPTER 2: Hellfire
"That's odd," Luigi muttered, looking at the map Xylantha had given them.
Peasley took his face out of a forest stream, finally getting the last of the blood out of his hair. "What's odd?"
"The next piece of the Thread is apparently right on top of Bowser's castle," he answered, showing him and Dimentio the map.
"Isn't it the Flame Segment?" Peasley asked. "It would make sense, considering Bowser's affiliation with lava and fire."
"Yes, but why would he be working for the Prince of Null and Void?" Dimentio asked.
Luigi shrugged. "We'll just have to see, I guess." He caught an odd look of worry on Dimentio's face. "What's wrong?"
"Well, we're going to Bowser's castle. Unless you said something- and as far as I know, you haven't, -he doesn't know I'm alive and that I'm...on your side," he explained. "Not only that, but the Thread is said to make you more powerful... Imagine Bowser, but powered up to have total control of fire in any form!"
"Hold on, how many people know you're alive, Dimentio?" Peasley asked.
After a moment, Dimentio said, "Including you two, six people, and a small village of toads."
Peasley rubbed his eyes. "And why is that?"
"I would be dead by now if it wasn't this way."
"Of course," Peasley said, words dripping with sarcasm. "That's just fine." I'm walking around with a man who has an unspoken bounty on this head, he thought.
If you keep that tone up, I'll be tempted to cover you in your own blood, Dimentio silently threatened.
"Um, Bowser's castle is pretty far to the southeast from here, so we should get going," Luigi said nervously. Peasley and Dimentio are like a time-bombs waiting to go off! he thought, wringing his hands. I hope this won't interrupt the quest, but I get the feeling this is going to get worse before it gets better.
"Yes, yes, let's be off," Dimentio said pleasantly.
Peasley nodded, temporarily shaking off his frustration. "Indeed."
The trio flew in the same formation as before until the castle was in sight, then settled into walking to avoid notice. It was weird enough going through Bowser's kingdom, but perhaps- Luigi hoped, -it would be one of those days where no one would notice them, or, if they did, wouldn't know who they were.
However, the area around the castle seemed oddly...empty. Even as the castle gained color and became defined, it was deathly silent. It was eerier than the feeling of being watched that usually pervaded the place.
The silence was broken by a far off explosion.
"There! Off the lowest tower!" Peasley pointed at the smoke. "They've shot cannons at us!"
Luigi peered at the castle. "Hold on, I don't think that's a cannon. I think something was shot through the roof."
"Or someone," Dimentio said. "Though, that's not the shape of a Bullet Bill or a Bob-omb."
After a moment of looking, Luigi said, "I think that's-"
Peasley dragged Luigi out of the way and Dimentio teleported off as Larry the Koopaling hit the ground face first.
Larry slowly got up, rubbing the back of his head. "Ugh, who was that lady?" he groaned.
"Larry? Are you...okay?" Luigi asked carefully.
The Koopaling whirled around to look at him. "Hey! Are you with that crazy lady in red armor?!"
Luigi and Peasley looked at each other. "Uh, no," Peasley said, confused. "Who are you talking about?"
Larry's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. "This...lady! She just waltzed into the castle, and asked to see Bowser! I told her we weren't allowing any visitors- not that we do, but you get the idea, -and she just waved this...spear with some string on it at me, and suddenly I was launched out of there by lava!"
So Bowser doesn't have the Thread, Luigi thought, both relieved and freshly terrified. They were now facing someone who could bring lava up through castle floors like a living volcano.
"Well, we're actually against that woman, too," Luigi said. "She has something we need, so, as soon as we've got it, you can deal with her however you want."
"Really? That's awesome because, I... I really don't want to face her again..." Larry muttered the last part.
Several more explosions happened. "Was that six?" Peasley asked. "I counted six."
In an almost perfect semi-circle, the other six Koopalings landed around them in rapid succession, in similar states of pain and confusion.
"We're just gonna go..." Luigi said, already walking away.
Once the pair was out of hearing distance, Dimentio teleported next to them.
"Did you get all that?" Luigi asked. "Did the chick Larry described sound familiar?"
Dimentio's teeth and fists were clenched, but he relaxed them before letting an eerie smile slide onto his face. "Yes, actually."
He gazed at the castle up ahead. "Her name is Innui. You could say that we have some-" He paused and chuckled. "Bad blood."
"Oh," Luigi said, instead of running the hell away. If looks could kill, I'd be roadkill, Luigi thought.
"How bad?" Peasley asked, unperturbed.
For a brief moment, Dimentio's hands flared with bright magic. "Let's just say that armor won't protect her from the amount of buried rage I'm going to unleash when I see her." He laughed again, louder. "Like years worth of whitewater from a dam, I'm going crush her! Onward!"
Smoke, dark and heavy, flowed from the seven holes in Bowser's Castle. Hot ash fell like rain, stinging any skin it hit. And yet...
"It's too much smoke to just be from those explosions," Peasley muttered, slowing down slightly from their brisk pace. They were almost to the castle doors.
Luigi glanced at Peasley, then back at the fire. "So you think there's a larger fire inside?"
"Well, it's fire fighting fire, with the flame segment," Dimentio put in. "I wouldn't think there was a tsunami inside. Why would it matter, anyw-"
The castle's windows and the tar between the bricks glowed bright orange for a moment, before rapidly turning red. Then fire expelled itself from the the windows and various holes in the castle with an ear-shattering BOOM.
"...That's why it matters," Peasley said with a cough. "Seeing how the building is structured, it won't take long until it falls."
Glass rained down in red hot shards the size of a fist. A large Bowser-shaped object flew from a new hole in the castle and fell somewhere near the Koopalings.
"Well, then," Luigi said, shaken. "That...happened."
Instead of flying out of the building in an explosion, Bowser Jr. scurried out of the castle doors and crashed down in a sooty, panting heap.
"Great," Peasley said with deep sarcasm. "The little ball of evil is alright."
"Well, it's really not our problem right now, so let's just step over him and get in the castle," Luigi said, adjusting a couple dials on his gauntlets.
"You want to go in there?!" Peasley gasped. "The whole thing's on fire!"
Luigi looked back and gave his partners a smug grin. "Oh? Did I not mention? One of the new features I added to my L-Brand Gauntlets allows them to absorb fire. Observe!"
He did a smug march to the door of the castle- nudging Bowser Jr. aside with his foot -and opened it. The door's inner side was coated in flames, but when Luigi pressed his hand against it, the fire was sucked in soundlessly.
"That's great," Dimentio said flatly. "Why didn't you use that when you set the Gloomy Woods on fire?"
"What? Oh- Um." Luigi's face turned red as he searched for an explanation. "I...panicked."
"That doesn't matter right now!" Peasley put in. "What does matter is that we have a way to get into the castle, so let's go before it crashes down!"
Luigi and Dimentio nodded and the trio carefully entered the castle.
The castle was hotter than a scorching desert sun. The air quavered in the heat and embers flew about. The only rest from the constant heat were the brief moments where they encountered one of the Koopaling-shaped holes in the walls, and, even then, smoke poured from them and ruined the air. Various minions were strewn about, either burnt, bloody, or unconscious from heatexhaustion. They were carefully ignored, but still uncomfortable to think about.
Progress was slow but anxious. The trio looked everywhere for any sign of their antagonist, but their efforts were fruitless. lmost an hour later, sweaty and exhausted, the trio came to the throne room, and carefully looked through the large doors before coming in.
A woman in bright blood-red armor was splayed on Bowser's throne as if it were a couch- most likely because of it's enormous size -with a spear leaned against one of the arm rests. The spear had a glowing red thread wrapped around it, near the point. She was talking to someone- or something, -in pink.
"...So there's really nothing you can do for me at this point. You can go back to Echo with my thanks," she finished, her voice muffled by the helmet.
"Really? That's great because-" the figure began.
"Just go."
"...Okay." The figure disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Luigi turned to Dimentio. "Is that Innui?" he asked in a whisper.
"Yes," he answered in a growl. "There's no point in trying to surprise her. Let's go in."
We're dead, Peasley thought.
The door creaked open, and Innui's head whipped to look over. She flipped up her visor to reveal a tan, shocked face with red slitted eyes. "Dimentio?" she gasped. She stood up and smiled. "It's been years! What are you doing-"
Dimentio's fist slammed into her jaw, knocking her backwards. He stood in front her, both hands glowing purple and yellow. Luigi and Peasley were as surprised as if they had felt the blowthemselves. Because he had teleported (or flew extremely quickly), no one had seen the punch coming.
Innui looked at him with a nervous smile. "Hey now, I know you never pull your punches, but that's no way to treat your best friend!" She paused. "What...happened to your arms?"
"Innui, I may have been your friend, but now you're nothing more than someone standing between me and the Thread," Dimentio said, with no patience or false kindness.
Her smile turned into a deadly glare. "Oh, you're still mad about that, aren't you?"
"How could I not be?!" Dimentio demanded.
Peasley whispered to Luigi, "Do you have any idea what they're talking about?"
Luigi shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."
Innui held her hand towards her spear, and it flew into her grasp. "Well, I'm not going to give you the Thread, Dimentio." The air gained heat and the Thread glowed brighter as the tip of her spear caught fire.
The two began to circle each other menacingly.
"You know, I'm shocked you've so easily submitted to being some coward's lackey," Dimentio said. "Especially considering how you treated me when you thought I might have been a threat!"
"Might have been?! You had gone insane! You never talked to anyone, and all night, Gladesman and I could hear you doing dark magic!" She shook her head. "Besides, what are you doing with this... fat man and mutated woman?"
"Did she just- Oh, she's not getting away with that!" Peasley shouted, drawing his rapier.
Dimentio snapped his fingers twice, and two opaque yellow walls rose around him and Innui, trapping both of them in a small makeshift arena.
"Are you serious, Dimentio?!" Luigi cried. "You're really doing this? She's got a spear and the Flame Segment, and you have...magic and the Nature Segment in Dimension D. How are you supposed to survive this?!"
"I agree," Innui put in. "With the three of you it might have been a fair fight." She flipped down her visor. "Too late now, though."
She thrust her spear at Dimentio, but he dodged to the right and cast two magic missiles at her. She was hit by both, but was unfazed as the blows erupted into fire that harmlessly dissipated. She shot a fire ball from her spear that grazed Dimentio's side, catching his cloak on fire. When he stopped to try to put it out, Innui thrust her spear again. This time, Dimentio teleported and was gone.
"Running away?" Innui laughed. "You're such a- What in the world?!"
Leaves and long branches had sprouted from the wooden handle of her spear and began wrapping around her wrist. Dimentio reappeared with the glowing Nature Segment in his hand. He had a blurry green outline and floated above her.
"So you defeated the Gladesman, eh? Shame," Innui breathed, struggling as the branches began to solidify around her arm and reach her neck. With her free arm, she flipped up her visor. Her eyes glowed bright orange, and she breathed fire over the branch, burning it to ash. "What did you think that would do?"
There was a horrible creak as one of the supporting pillars next to Innui began to slip, the tar holding the bricks together beginning to melt and fall.
"Distract you," Dimentio said with a horrible smile.
Innui gave Dimentio one last terrified look as the pillar crashed down on top on her.
Dimentio gently floated down to the ground and dismissed the yellow walls. He knelt down next to the fallen pillar and began rooting through the bricks.
Luigi ran up to Dimentio. "Are you okay? She lit you on fire!"
"I... I think I'm alright," he said distantly.
"How'd you use the Thread like that, anyways? That was really cool!"
"You think so?" Dimentio laughed. "Well..."
Peasley sighed and crossed his arms. I can't believe this! You just watched someone you used to be friends with get crushed by a giant pillar and you... He shook his head and watched the pair, unwilling to move or get involve.
He was suddenly hyper-aware of the heat. "Have you found the Thread yet?" he called over.
"Yeah, it's right here!" Luigi said, holding it in the air.
"Then let's get out of here," he replied. "Before we burn to death."
The figure in pink watched as the trio teleported out to the front of the castle.
"So, they have two?" she muttered to herself. "I'd better tell Echo and the Prince...later."
She listened to the conversation:
"So, the next Segment is pretty far to the east- Are you alright, Peasley?"
"...I'm fine."
"Are you sure? You seem upset at something..."
"Just a bit. It's nothing."