6

Kamek found himself pacing in the main lobby inside the building of Bowser's outpost while watching the television screen as the media extended its coverage of the coming cloud of dark energy. All he could do was smile.

"The world will be ours," he said under his own breath, "because we have the only safe shelter in the world that is capable of protecting us from dark energy! Damn, it only I had my wand with me...That dark-haired girl is going to get what's coming for her, if she didn't get it already. She wouldn't be able to last long on her own in the Darklands anyway, so why I am I worrying about it so much? Oh, well. At least Bowser is coming to find me. Hopefully the weather isn't too bad out there..."

"Kamek! Kamek! Bowser has just arrived!" one of the Koopas in the lobby called out. "He's about to enter the front door!"

As if intentionally trying to have perfect timing, Bowser slammed the front door ajar, letting in the cold wind from outside and then closed the door before walking into the lobby where Kamek stood.

"Well, it's about time you got here!" Kamek said. "I was worried that you would never come!"

"Never mind that little wait." Bowser replied. "I have something else I want to tell you. You might find this rather irritating."

"Well, what happened?" Kamek asked.

"The Mario Brothers have stolen one of my most precious airships!" Bowser said. "He has really taken this way too far, and my methods of trying to hunt them down don't seem to be effective enough!"

Imagine that. Kamek thought.

"Where are the brothers now?"

"I don't know where they are exactly." Bowser said. "However, I did pick up one very important clue while I was arriving here."

"What did you find?" Kamek asked.

"I found the wreckage of one our airships just a few miles from here." Bowser replied. "As far as I could tell with my poor vision, there were two sets of footprints in the snow, and they looked like they were made by humans."

"Hmm..." Kamek said. "And I suppose you think they were made by the two brothers?"

"That's exactly where I'm coming from!" Bowser said. "Not only that, but I know for damn sure that they have two of the Crystal Stars now!"

"What are you going to do about it?" Kamek asked. "If they are indeed here in these parts of the world, where would they be right now? What are you going to do when you see them?"

"Kill them of course!" Bowser said. "You should know that by now that they deserve to die for everything that they've done to us!"

"What are you going to do with that dark-haired woman?" Kamek asked.

"Nothing at the moment..." Bowser said. "For all we know, she could be long gone from the Darklands by now."
"What makes you say that?" Kamek asked, slightly raising his right eyebrow.

"I don't know. I just have that weird feeling that she could be up to something that we don't know about yet." Bowser replied. "So much shit has happened in the last four days that one can't really predict what's going to happen next! Everything has its uncertainty now, and I do not like it. It's probably the reason we can never carry out an evil plan."

"You mean it's the reason you can't carry out an evil plan." Kamek said.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" Bowser demanded. "Don't tell me you've got a soft spot for these brothers! They need to pay for what they did! We have less than two weeks before the alignment and also before that dark cloud reaches the Earth. Haven't you heard about that on the news?"

"Yes, they're talking about it right now!" Kamek replied, pointing over to the television in the corner of the room. "It just passed Saturn earlier today."

"Hmm..." Bowser said. "The dark force is on its way to Jupiter right now?"

"Yep... It will be there in four days." Kamek replied. "Time is starting to run short."

"We should alert everyone at this base that the brothers are in the vicinity." Bowser said. "We need to catch them before they do any more damage, like obtain another Crystal Star."

"You're right." Kamek said. "Let's go!"

For the next half an hour, extra surveillance and defense weapons were set up around the base in an effort to hunt down and track the Mario Brothers in the event that they start getting close. Instead of heading back to the Darklands, Bowser and Kamek decided to stick and help with the effort. At the same time, however, Bowser was beginning to wish he was with his children so that he could be a father again. Bowser knew that the only way he would be able to do that was if he managed to kill Mario and Luigi and foil their efforts to stop him. He had to do perform this operation, not just for the sake of taking over the world, but also for his children, especially Bowser Jr.

The weather outside was beginning clear away as the heavy snowstorm started to die down. The bright stars of the night were beginning to show themselves, along with a surprising and beautiful blue and red spectacle that could only be seen at such high latitudes: the infamous Northern Lights, the result of ionized atmospheric gases created by the intense solar wind as it strikes the Earth's powerful magnetic field. Bowser, standing one of the high balconies of the main facility, was staring up at the mystical light in fascination, though he was not entirely moved by its spectacular beauty. He was more focused on the cloud of dark energy that was on its way to Earth and the implications it would have for him and his large army. He knew that he would have a better chance of making it through the apocalypse than anyone else in the entire world if his evil plan succeeded...