Author's Note:
The following chapter is a series of flashbacks. It doesn't forward the immediate plot of Bowser and Junior's journey home. Instead, it sheds some light on events that happened prior to this story. You can skip this chapter if you really want to get back on the road with the Koopas right away, but you might be confused why certain characters think and act the way they do in a later chapter without getting this context first. Also, this chapter gives us a better look at a certain character we know little about thus far so I tried to make it worth your time! I hope you enjoy!
Bowser collapsed against the wall and sunk to the hallway floor after making it around the corner. He nursed the horrible gash in his side he received from one of the Rose Kingdom soldiers moments ago. The Koopa King kept his breathing steady.
"It's hopeless, you can't go on like this," said Dianne. "You'll never make it out of this alive." The woman applied a wet washcloth to Bowser's injury.
"I have to," Bowser argued. He winced when the cloth was pressed against his wound. "We've come this far already. I can't let Celia down." Dianne looked deeply into the red irises of Bowser's eyes. They were filled with an endless, burning determination. She was beginning to see what her best friend saw in this creature. Nothing was going to stop him from getting to Celia. No injury in the world was too grave.
"Well, at least rest for a minute so I can make the bleeding stop," Dianne insisted. "The throne room is just around the corner and up the stairs. I'll get your wound bandaged up quickly, and then you can get to Celia." Bowser nodded. This was the second time all day he'd had a moment to think. The first had been earlier this very morning.
Bowser wasn't confident in the slightest that Celia's plan was going to work, as much as he wanted it to. It wasn't that he didn't believe in her. How could he not? The two had spent every day for the past two years together; preparing for this day. Her inspiring words had helped Bowser's confidence grow significantly from what it had been when the war first began. But now was the time to prove that this new strength of his was real and alive inside of him.
Celia suggested that the two of them return to the Rose Kingdom and convince Celia's parents to withdraw their troops. The pair would use their newfound friendship as proof that the Koopas would be willing to make peace. Coming alone without any other Koopa soldiers would hopefully come as a demonstration that Prince Bowser had no ulterior motives. Unfortunately, Bowser's doubts had turned out to have merit.
When Celia and Bowser arrived in the Rose Kingdom's capital, the king and queen deployed their remaining guards to kill Bowser on the spot under the assumption that he had invaded their city and brainwashed their daughter. Celia was captured and taken back to the castle to be placed under house arrest for sneaking off to war against her parent's wishes. Without his beloved by his side, it was up to Prince Bowser to summon his inner courage and fight back for his right to be with Princess Celia. He had to get to her and prove to the royal family that they were wrong about him.
Bowser fought through the royal soldier entourage by wounding them, but not killing a single one. He figured that murder would not help his proposal for peace in the slightest. Celia's best friend Dianne took notice of Bowser's merciful resistance, as did the rest of the Rose Kingdom's citizens. So, the denizens instigated a rebellion against the guards, allowing Bowser enough time to slip away and head for the castle. Dianne offered to assist him, explaining that her friendship with Celia ran deep.
"If Princess Celia trusts you enough to stand against her own family like this, you have to be someone special," she explained. "I trust her judgement, so I'll help you get to her. I want to hear what you have to say." Bowser nodded, and the two had set out for the city's capital with a handful of guards still in pursuit.
Bowser let out a small groan as Dianne tightly wound a bandage around Bowser's shell and waist in order to cover up his injury. He was scolding himself for getting so careless. Thankfully, Dianne hadn't faced any injuries herself. Bowser was at least semi competent in combat. He expressed his gratitude to his lover's friend and bolted up the stairs to the throne room.
"Bowser!" Celia shouted from her father's side at the far end of the room.
"Not another step forward, beast!" the Rose King commanded.
"Or what?" Bowser barked back. "You gonna kill your own daughter?" The king hesitated. "I told you before, your highness. I'm not here to hurt anyone. Don't you think Celia would be dead already if I really cared about taking this place over?"
"You've surely placed her under some kind of spell, monster!" the queen interjected.
"That's not true!" Celia jumped in.
"Sorry, but magic was never my strong suit," Bowser clarified. He unclenched his fists. The king took notice of this. "It's my father you should be mad at, not me. He's the one who insists on making Koopas your enemy. The only thing I care about in this whole miserable world…." Bowser blushed as he finished his statement. "….is Celia." The queen gave her husband a blank stare. He was able to read her thoughts easily.
"Dear…" he began as he looked at Celia. "Is this true?" he asked. "Do you…feel the same for him?"
"Dad, I love Prince Bowser just as much as you love our people," Celia answered. "I know you don't want them to die in this war. Bowser doesn't want to kill them either. You can stop this," the woman reasoned.
"How? If I recall the troops, King Morton will most certainly consider it a surrender," said the king.
"It isn't," Celia responded. "Bowser and I are going to convince him to stop next. We want to end this whole thing peacefully"
"But my dad is probably a lot more stubborn than you," Bowser added. "We could use your support, your majesty." Bowser took one knee as a gesture of respect. The king sighed and closed his eyes to think. At that moment, the guards appeared and cornered Bowser with their weapons, anxiously awaiting their superior's orders to kill the Koopa Prince on the spot. The Rose Queen placed her hand gently to her husband's shoulder. All eyes in the room were on him.
"Prince…Bowser, was it?" the king began. Bowser nodded. "Out of love for my daughter, I will grant you this one opportunity," he declared. "Return to your kingdom and convince King Morton to recall his troops. Send word when you have accomplished this. If you are true to your word, I will bring my people home as well." Bowser agreed and stood up. He turned and prepared to exit. Dianne and the guards stood by and watched. At that moment, Celia ran over to the Koopa Prince's side.
"Wait!" she exclaimed. The king and queen were startled by her action. "I'm coming with you."
"Absolutely not!" the Rose King denied.
"Dad, Prince Bowser came here today, knowing full well that you would attack him; all in the name of fighting for his right to be with me," she explained. "I have to be there to support him when his family will likely try the same thing." The king glared at Celia, but the determination in her eyes did not waver.
"Very well…," the king agreed. He looked to Bowser. "Bring my daughter back safely." Bowser gave the king his word on the matter, and the duo exited the throne room together. Their quest was not yet complete.
The response of the royal Koopa family was far more severe than Celia had expected. But Bowser wasn't surprised. Bowser had urged Celia to bring a sword with her for protection, and now she was glad she'd listened. King Morton accused his son of treason against the kingdom for escorting an enemy into their land; ignoring Celia's explanation of her kingdom's willingness to stand down peacefully. Prince Bowser fully anticipated that he would have to resort to violence to in order to get through to his father. But to everyone's surprise, especially King Morton's, none of the Koopa soldiers attacked when their king had commanded. Much like Dianne, they too had faith in their friend and refused to attack him, even at the risk of being executed.
Furious, King Morton emerged from his castle and confronted his child in the center of town. The glare he gave off horrified the entire city. But Bowser knew he couldn't let fear hold him back.
"How did my own child turn out to be so weak?" Morton asked.
"It's you who's weak, Dad," Bowser argued. "You use fear to control people. That was the only way you could get anyone around here to listen to you. Heck, you used it against me my whole life. But now I'm done being afraid."
"Is that so?" Morton replied. "Then maybe I need to teach you and this entire cursed kingdom how to show proper respect to the crown!" he roared.
"You're not fit to wear it anymore!" Bowser shouted back. Celia unsheathed her sword as she stood at Bowser's side. The Koopa Prince knew what had to be done next. Having Celia there with him was the only way he could've imagined being brave enough to take the chance. "That's why I challenge you to a duel for the throne!" Bowser declared. King Morton laughed maniacally at the proposal.
"A royal duel is only meant for two equal knights!" he argued. "You, my poor, delusional son, are far from being my equal!"
"It doesn't matter!" a voice called out from the crowd. Emerging from the audience was the Koopa Queen. "It was established long ago in our kingdom's history that the prince may challenge the king to a duel as long as he can demonstrate bravery and commendable skill in the contest," she argued. The Koopa King was horrified to see his own wife coming to their child's defense against him when she had never done so before. His fearful tactics were no longer controlling her either. "If you have even an ounce of dignity left, you will accept our son's challenge, Morton."
"Never!" Morton refused. "I'll put an end to your worthless existence right now!" With no warning, King Morton charged directly towards King Bowser. Celia stepped forward to meet his challenge. However, she hadn't realized that he had been counting on her to do this. Morton grabbed the sword with his bare hand. It cut deeply as blood began to run down the king's arm. But he was completely unfazed by the injury.
He yanked the sword out from Celia's hand and swung it viciously at her. The princess fell to the ground, nursing a broad cut across her chest. Horrified, Bowser aggressively retaliated. He threw a straight punch at the king with all of his might and sent his father hurdling backwards onto the ground a few feet away. Then he quickly returned to Celia's side.
"Celia!" he cried out. She delicately held his hand.
"I'm alright," she responded. "Don't worry about me. Just do what needs to be done."
"No, I won't leave you like this!" Bowser exclaimed. I-,"
"Bowser," his mother spoke as she approached them. "I'll watch over her. Now go," she commanded. Hesitating slightly, Bowser agreed and stood back up to face his father; a newfound hatred burning inside of him. King Morton stood up as well and tossed Celia's sword aside.
"Very well…," the king began menacingly. "I accept your challenge. Consider this your final chance to prove to me that you aren't such a failure after all!" he roared. King Morton and Prince Bowser charged at one another as the entire Koopa Kingdom watched in awe. The future of the royal family was about to change after this battle.
Bowser blocked his father's fists, but hadn't anticipated their sheer strength. His guard had been penetrated, and Morton wailed on him with punch after powerful punch. Bowser managed to get in a few clean hits of his own, but he was sent flying backwards to the ground after receiving an uppercut to the chin. The Koopa Prince splashed in the mud as he landed.
Morton jumped into the air and was preparing to crush Bowser's head under his fists as they rocketed down towards him from above. Bowser caught the fists with his hands just before they connected with his face. As the rest of Morton's body came down, Bowser extended his legs straight up and pushed Morton back off of him before he could overpower his son. The Koopa King fell into the mud nearby. The two combatants each got back up and raced towards one another to continue their battle.
Morton resolved to change his strategy slightly. He made smart use of his claws as opposed to his fists. This allowed him to attack more quickly without expending as much energy with each attack. Bowser dodged the razor sharp swipes, but still took a fair share of scratches and cuts in the process. Morton may have been able to get in more attacks at once, but once his energy had depleted, he left himself wide open for Bowser to counterattack.
Bowser capitalized on this opportunity to the fullest. He delivered jab after consecutive jab. He could feel his confidence growing with each successful hit, which only motivated him to hit even harder. King Morton grew wise to the repetitive punches. But before he could counter, Bowser delivered a vengeful kick directly to his father's chest and sent the king tumbling back to the ground. As the rain poured on, both King Morton and Prince Bowser could feel themselves slowing down. They were each starting to run low on stamina and their injuries were starting to take effect. They had to end this soon before one of them collapsed from exhaustion. If that happened, the other would finish his opponent easily with little resistance.
Standing at a distance, Bowser and Morton each took a deep breath. They simultaneously unleashed their flame breaths and clashed. The heat was too immense to be stopped by the rain. Neither combatant was willing to let up. The loser of this clash would take the full effect of the burns and would come dangerously close to losing. The two Koopas could only exhale for so long. Each of them pushed their lungs to the absolute limit. Despite the longest clash of flame breaths that the citizens had ever seen, Morton's breath eventually gave out. He was immediately engulfed in his son's fire. The burns were too painful, and the king fell back onto his shell.
Gasping for breath, Bowser stood still for a moment. Once he'd recovered, Bowser strolled over to the side of the arena where Celia's sword was laying. The Koopa Prince scooped up the blade in one claw and approached Morton. He knew his father was too weak to get up, so he'd had plenty of time to retrieve the blade. The time had come to end this duel.
With a terrible hatred burning in his eyes, Bowser gritted his teeth and lifted the sword with both hands high into the air above Morton's chest.
"You…," said Morton between coughs. "You think you're superior to me. But in truth…you're just as vicious…" Bowser shook his head.
"There's a difference between you and me, Dad," Bowser replied. "You always fought for yourself." Bowser gripped the sword tightly in his claws. His mother looked away as she anticipated the moment of truth. "I fight for the people I love!" Bowser thrust the sword down into Morton's chest with as all of his anger, pain, and courage gave speed to the blade. Morton coughed up blood upon taking the impact. His limbs collapsed and fell motionless as the light faded from the Koopa King's eyes. The duel was over. As the rain stopped, the Koopa Kingdom sat still and waited for their new champion to do something.
Bowser turned on his heels and slowly approached Celia. He cradled her hand delicately in his claws. Bowser's mother hand been tending to her wound during the fight. Celia's eyes met Bowser's.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"I should be asking you that," she answered with a small laugh. "You look like hell." Bowser smiled and chuckled. If she was still able to talk tough, surely her wound wasn't fatal in the slightest.
"Who cares as long as I won, right?" Bowser asked confidently.
"Yeah," Celia confirmed. "I guess you can stand up for yourself after all," she joked playfully. The two exchanged a kiss as the sun pierced through the clouds and brought light to a kingdom on the verge of great change.
With Morton gone, Bowser took his place on the throne as the new Koopa King. His first order was to withdraw the troops from the frontlines and send word to the Rose Kingdom of his efforts. They were convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt going forward that their daughter's mysterious new friend could be trusted. The Rose Kingdom soldiers returned home and the war had ended. Bowser and Celia worked together to build a trust between the two kingdoms as they mourned for each other's casualties and helped one another recover. Three months later, the Koopa and Rose kingdom were united as Bowser married Celia and brought their people into a new era of peace.
Bowser had later received rumblings of a new kingdom expanding nearby. Allegedly, they were a race of mushroom people. But the Koopa King didn't perceive them as a threat and was in no immediate hurry to pick a fight and repeat his father's actions. Instead, he had other plans in mind. After some time in their marriage had passed, Celia approached her husband one day with news that excited her more than Bowser had ever seen of her before.
"Bowser…," she spoke as she composed herself with a persistent smile on her face. "I'm pregnant."