This is a somewhat shorter chapter, but it gets the action of the story accelerating finally. I hope that's a good trade-off for you guys! As always, enjoy and please feel free to leave any feedback.
Chapter 4: Tour Crashing
If there's one thing you should know about Dark Bowser is that he's loud. We could hear him all the way across the lawn right at the gate.
"Students! Comrades. Welcome to the castle. See this visitation as a treat. We do not usually allow outsiders in, so be on your best behaviour and don't break anything. Mr. President, please follow me to the war room—Oh, that's a figure of speech and I apologize; I meant to say my private meeting room—at the top of the steps."
They all followed him through the daunting double-doors obediently.
"If we run, we can still catch up with the group!" Kory exclaimed as he started dashing across the lawn. "Well, c'mon!" he called back to us.
"Toadsworth, are you up for a little jog?" I asked, turning to him. I only asked this because even though he's a sprightly Toad, he is still a little elderly and the thought of him doing all of this exhausting exercise scared me.
"Are you kidding? Last one there is a Dried Shroom!" As he started running, I could hear him chortling.
That was a Cheep-Cheep thing of him to do.
"Wait up!" I called after them. When I started running, both were already halfway across the lawn. Running was never my strong point. At one point I thought I had an excuse, what with barely having any legs and all, but Toadsworth proved me wrong that afternoon. I made a mental note after I caught up to them to ask how Toadsworth got so fast.
The doors open by themselves and we entered through. I couldn't believe my eyes. The interior looked so regal. Purple and blue adorned the walls, the carpet, the pillars… even some of the tapestries hanging up. The symbol for the Dark Star was also strewn over every surface possible. It was even on the polished red ceiling (I guess Fawful got to pick what colour the ceiling was painted).
What bothered me most was that it all looked so new. In most of the books I read and in every Toad's testimonial, they all said the castle was wrecked. How did they get a labour force—or even a money supply—big enough to make any progress on a project this massive?
My thoughts were quickly dispelled, as it seemed we interrupted everyone by walking in. They all stared at us; Mrs. Goomley, my classmates, and even Dark Bowser and the President of Isle Delfino.
"What business do you have here?" demanded Dark Bowser in a booming voice.
"Hope? Kory? What in Overthere's name are you doing here? I specifically gave you two the day to rest from your sickness." I've known Mrs. Goomley throughout my high school career thus far, and this was the first time I ever heard her sound startled. I guess she feared embarrassment in front of her idol.
Dark Bowser turned to Mrs. Goomley and asked, "Are you responsible for these children?"
"Well, in a manner yes. But not today! I—" She never finished her sentence.
"If you are responsible for these children, I see fit that you take them along, despite any ailment you observed whenever you did so. I don't see what the big deal is; they're already here."
"Yes, Your Highness." She curtseyed and allowed us to join the small group.
"Hold on," piped the president. "Who is the Toad with the brown spots? He seems…vaguely familiar for some odd reason."
"He's…uh…a foreign exchange student. Yeah!" Kory lied.
"From where?" Dark Bowser asked, raising a single eyebrow.
I could tell we were heading into dangerous territory now. No thanks to Kory, we were now lying through our teeth to the Supreme Ruler of most of the World and if we didn't satisfy his confusion, well OFF WITH OUR HEADS! Or so the phrase goes. I cringe whenever I tell this next part.
"Flipside!" "Yoshi's Island!" "Rose Town!" Oh, no! I thought. We're so dead!
"Well, which is it?"
"Well, you know how it is, always traveling," Toadsworth quickly said, "it feels as if they all become home to me, so I never have a straight answer. And those places my friends mentioned? I told them all about my exploits there, so they naturally thought I lived there."
I think the sweat I so profusely produced during my nap was quickly forming on my forehead again. I looked up at Kory, gritting his teeth in hope that Dark Bowser would believe us.
"Very well," He finally said. "Humor me first. Will you remind me where Rose Town is again? There are so many places on the map, I can hardly keep track of them all sometimes."
"Next to the Forest Maze, of course," Toadsworth answered, keeping the momentum of the conversation afloat and his eye contact with Dark Bowser.
"Thank you," he said, bowing his head. Turning, he continued speaking to his palm tree-headed, blue companion, "Satisfied, Mr. President?"
"I dunno…" he sighed, "I guess I am for now."
"Then without further intrusions, let us away to my private offices. One would not want the contents of our meeting to slip into the hands of the media until the proper time."
"Of course not, Your Highness."
It felt so weird, having my first encounter with the big bad wolf running our country's operations be the nicest one. Let me assure you that this would be our only nice encounter with him. But I hope you understand what I'm getting at. Mean, tyrannical menace accepting our story with a calm composure and not the slightest trace of malice? I guess it was because he didn't know what Kory, Toadsworth, and I were about to do while in his castle walls or because he was on his best behaviour for the representative of Isle Delfino.
So Toadsworth was allowed into our tour group (after a minor Hizza fit between Mrs. Goomley and Dark Bowser). After a few minutes of the class getting to know Toadsworth better, and after Dark Bowser and the president headed up the stairs leading to the higher floors of the castle, we finally got to see the rest of the castle.
In all honesty, it was pretty amazing. The gardens may have screamed 'big ego' because of his topiary mosaics of himself and Fawful scattered throughout, but the variety of plants and Power-Ups growing here left me wanting to go back to the library to research them all. They were so fascinating!
Next on our list of stops was his personal library. However small it may have been, there were undiscovered parts of our past kept locked away from the world in this highly maintained wooden array of bookcases. Kory shot me a warning look when I tried to take one of the well-kept volumes; I sheepishly put it back, blushing and ashamed of what I almost did. We were allowed some time to read, so I suppose that worked out. I learned a small bit about the plants in the garden, which made me even happier.
Finally, after the boring bits like the bedroom and the bathroom and this pointless room and that useless annex, we finally arrived outside the room where intense debates and new laws happen.
"We were supposed to go in for a quick look around," Mrs. Goomley said, "but since the president of Isle Delfino is here, that's sorta cancelled. I suppose that's the end of the tour, so if we'll all regroup downstairs where we first entered, then we…" her voice became lost as we stayed behind for a moment outside of this historic room.
"Aww, I really wanted to go in." Kory complained.
"I'm miffed that there isn't a little shop to go to. I always love a good little shop…" Toadsworth mused out loud.
As we started walking down the many stairs, we heard a thud from behind us; had something happened to the president—or better yet Dark Bowser?
"Did you guys hear that?" I asked. They said no at first, but when it happened again they changed their minds.
"Just what is going on in there?" Toadsworth asked. We all wheeled around and fought for a good spot at the keyhole. Toadsworth won that short battle.
"Tell me what you know! Where's the real president?" Dark Bowser's muffled, yet loud voice yelled.
"I'm telling you I don't know. I was only sent on his behalf—AAAH!" Another great thud. Toadsworth told us later that Dark Bowser had punched the imposter to the ground.
"You better start talking. Do you know what the penalty for treason is?"
"Please, no! I was sent so that we may figure out a peaceful way to coexist!"
"THEN WHY ISN'T THE REAL PRESIDENT HERE? ANSWER ME!" This time it was a harsh whump that Toadsworth confirmed as a hearty kick to the stomach. No scream; I guess the air was knocked out of him.
After a few moments of wheezing, the imposter finally spoke again.
"They… they will come for you… She… will conquer… You b…best watch out."
"Well, that won't happen since you remembered who that elderly Toad is earlier in our meeting. Thank you for the forewarning." And with a low growl, he started breathing a heavy fire on the impostor. Watching this reminded me exactly why I hated Dark Bowser down to his guts.
"Oh, Grambi." Toadsworth quivered. "I do believe I have put you all in such terrible danger. I may have even put Toad Town in grave peril."
"That poor Pianta. Wherever the real president is, I sure hope he knows what his humble servant went through to get this message across."
That's where I got the crazy idea that sparked the powder keg of this adventure. This idea stemmed beyond just the president, mind you. I read in certain periodicals during my time at the library of certain rebel groups existed and were 'thwarted' by our 'great leaders'.
"What if we go deliver a message to all the leaders? Y'know, that it's finally time to dethrone Dark Bowser and Fawful once and for all?"
The two boys stared blankly at me.
"Well are you going to let this fine Pianta's death be in vain? C'mon, we just watched someone die. Are we going to take this lightly?" I noticed my voice was rising, but I couldn't control that minute detail in the heat of the moment. "No! I say no! We can't… not like this!"
"You're crazy, Hope. How do you suppose we do this? And whom do we talk to? These articles you're mentioning must be years old."
"We have to try, Kory. If not for the future of the world, then—"
Creeeeeak went the door. A chill ran down my entire body and wouldn't leave. I hesitantly turned around, bug-eyed and a frown that would have touched the floor, to see Dark Bowser looking down on all three of us with the same blank expression Kory and Toadsworth had seconds before. Reaching for a cell phone in his pocket (wherever it was… don't ask me), he speed-dialed Fawful.
"Fawful, this is Dark Bowser. Be on the lookout for anything suspicious in New Rogueport. An old foe has resurfaced." Icy pause. "No, no. It's not a rebel group…yet. It's something much stronger than that if given the chance to grow. One more thing: Find President Antapi stat." A shorter pause. "No, I'll tell you about it later."
He hung up the phone, and I swear I learned how to sprint a full marathon in the five or so minutes we ran away from that dreaded castle and away from the iron clutches of our new enemy who no doubt alerted first the media and then the border patrols of our existence.