Yes! Chapter 12! Alright I'm going away on vacation so maybe I'll use my free time to work on this story. This chapter is kinda boring, I dunno. I really don't like it. (I couldn't even think of a title at first.) But you guys tell me. Anywoo here we go! Chapter 12: To Feel Wrong
Bowser could feel it.
Something was wrong.
And it was definitely not the fact that he was at the border of the Mushroom Kingdom, waiting for Mario to arrive.
His koopa instincts were working overtime. This was it. The Final Battle. The fight to end all the fighting.
Once and for all.
Except everything felt so wrong.
"Sire!" Kammy screeched, interrupting his thoughts, "I have two urgent messages: one from the castle and a scout report."
Bowser merely grunted. Taking that as an "Ok," Kammy continued, "Your Badness, Your son, Bowser Jr. is missing. He has disappeared since early this morning and has not returned."
Immediately the koopa king closed his eyes in frustration. Of course, Junior would run off at a time like this. He knew this was coming! Bowser, however, grew more fearful of his current location. God, what if he was foolish enough to go onto the battle...?
"...Lord Bowser?" his assistant broke in with gentle tap.
"Scout Report."
Sighing the old witch began," Mario continues his march. Estimated time of arrival: 10 minutes. But the scout near Boo Forest saw something frightening that is growing out of the forest... That's what worries me..."
"Well what is it?"
"Sire... castle is emerging from Boo Forest."
"...And?"
"Oh Bowser can you not feel it!" Kammy snapped, "I sense a dark energy pulsing from that place. We should not be here! Our forces should be used for more important matters, like exploring the mysterious report and your son! ...Bowser?!"
The king did not reply, even gave the appearance of ignoring the old witch. The great koopa kept his eyes shut and though heavily over everything had done and he was about to do. Maybe this war... was stupid. Maybe he could have had a peaceful kingdom and not be so distant with everything that meant something to him...
Junior...
When had he and his son really talked about...,well, anything? He didn't even know what Junior liked these days...
Something was wrong. No doubt about it.
But.
"Kammy, I don't care about mysterious fungus or whatever growing in a forest. Junior's location is no concern of mine at this moment."
Growling fiercely into the distance, Bowser cursed under his breath and muttered,
"We stay here."
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Looking on the dark horizen, as the freezing rain feel, a red armada marched forward, their hatred pouring through their walk. Each soldier was adorned with the accursed symbol of green mushroom that Bowser had grown to hate.
Suddenly, the lightening stopped. The thunder ceased.
Death had arrived.
"Mario," the king whispered.
This was wrong.
No. That wasn't the word.
A feeling of restlesssness rippled through King Boo, and everything that had happened came rushing back with horrible waves of guilt.
Guilt.
That was the word.
Why was he guilt-ridden?
"My Lord," a servant hissed, breaking his thoughts.
"What is it?" he snapped. Being disturbed was something every minion of his knew not to do. One boo had tried that and disappeared for two months, only to be found in broad daylight mumbling about strawberry cakes. So whatever it was, had better been important.
"My apologies, Your Execenllency," the shadow servant replied without stutter, "but, Her Highness requests your presence in the throne room at once. She needs your opinion about something going on outside the forest."
"Very well," the king coldly said.
Gracefully he stood up from his desk and followed the servant out of the study. As he walked down the grim hallways, he tried to push away all thoughts he had merely moments ago, but word one continued to burn ever so fiercely into his mind.
Guilt.
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The king pushed the throne door with ease and walked into the dark room. Usually the only light in this room would be the purple glow from the large chandelier that hung above the actual thrones. However, a red ball hovered in the center, throwing its blood upon the walls. Standing before this bleeding crystal ball was the queen staring careful at it. As King Boo walked closer to her, he realized what she was looking at. The ruby sphere was a portal, for lack of a better word, but more importantly the image in the orb was what caught his eye.
It was Mario and Bowser.
Surrounded by a bloody battlefield.
"What do you think, Beauregard?" Shi whispered quietly.
He turned to his queen to respond, but froze upon the sight of her.
The ruby light that basked her was sickening, but it was blackness of her eyes and the malicious curl of her smile that shocked the king so deeply.
He was staring at Maria.
A blood-thirsty Maria.
Another wave of guilt blasted through him. Again, the same events flashed before him like a movie, and he felt sick.
Immediately, he pushed the thought aside. Not letting a drop of emotion show the king answered slyly.
"What do you think of it, my queen?"
Her lips curled back into an even darker smile, and faced King Boo with absolute glee.
"It's perfect entertainment. I was merely going to ask whether or not you think we should intervene."
"I assume you do not wish to do so."
"Of course not," She hissed and clasped her hands together, "That would be a waste of time and take away from the enjoyment. Look at the determination in their eyes. They are going to fight to the death. Even their soldiers will die for them. It's so...wonderful."
"However," she whispered, her face turning in demonic frown, "There is a town outside of this forest. I wish to annihilate it. No one will obey me... I want to kill them all."
Her gloved hand morphed into one of her dark claws and her eyes burned a intense purple. The orb now showed the queen's current target.
Toad Town and all of the area around.
King Boo's eyes widened. Everyone would be destroyed! The demonic Maria was going to kill them all. If she ever awoke from this possession and realized her crime, the princess would be heartbroken...even suicidal...
"WAIT!" he cried.
Immediately the Shadow Queen turned to him in deep shock.
She snarled menacingly, "What did you just say?!"
The king raced for a response and quickly turned the situation around.
"My dear, why waste your powers on a worthless village? Send out your new pet dragon. Should he get bloody, you can just kill him."
The queen said nothing, yet stared at him. Those black eyes bore through the king, bringing those memories from long ago. Except now, it was different. His princess was not the same princess and it disgusted him to look upon the face of his queen and see innocent Maria, masked by hatred and despair.
The Shadow Queen's face relaxed after a moment, and spoke calm to him, "Yes, it would be a waste. Of power and excitement. To see a dragon ripe people limb from limb would be quite a show. Unfortunately... this new dragon is a piece of garbage. I had him locked up in the dungeons for disobedience. I was going to execute him later bu-"
"Allow me, my dear," King Boo bowed. Another splash of guilt had attacked and had given him a sinister idea. "This monster has caused me many problems. If I cannot persuade him to obey me, I will personally kill him and get you a new pet. You enjoy your show here."
Another childish yet cruel face spread across Shi and clapped her hands in approval.
"I shall await your return. Do not delay for too long...or I might destroy those two kingdoms dueling," she finished with a snicker.
"Of course, my love."
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Junior feel weak.
Everything felt sore. Every movement he made another wound would reopen, blood trickling down with it. Not like he could really move though. Every inch of his body was cuffed and chained to the cell around him. Even his snout was locked. He couldn't roar, bite or even cry.
But that didn't mattered.
He had lost Maria. The one thing that he cared for, vanished before him and was captured by Hell's hands.
What was the point of living? He could not save her now...
Click.
In front of him was the large cell door that he barely squeezed through. Next to the door was a smaller one. One made for a person, and indeed an person had entered through that door. Trying his best to snarl at the monster before him, Junior produced a growl and glared at King Boo who looked relatively amused.
"Don't even try you great brute. What makes you think you have a chance against me? Your girlfriend was only able to stand up against me with my ghost form. Now that I am at my greatest power, what makes you think you could even live for more than five minutes?"
The koopa prince stopped growling upon hearing this, but kept his eyes fixed to the king. Instead of continuing his amused grin, King Boo softened his face which now looked saddened at the sight of Junior. Putting his hand into his pocket, King Boo pulled out a small glittering piece jewelry. It was simple a golden chain and star as the center piece.
It was Maria's.
"This fell from your wrist as you charged during the ritual," the king began gently, admiring the star charm, "It's a beautiful necklace. It's a simple gift, but it tells me how you view Maria and how much she means to you.... You really love her....Don't you?"
An eerie silence befell the two and Junior watched as king stared at the necklace, lost in thought and emotions. With a simple sigh, King Beauregard raised his hand, and whispered quietly to himself.
"I guess I have no other options then."
He snapped his fingers.
All the restraints on Junior faded away.
The koopa prince froze as the king looked upon him with a sad smile.
"I will let you go. If you promise me something: You save the one person I love."
The skies continued to glow red and purple above the gloomy castle. Everyone could feel the dark energy flowing from the forest. But no one, but Bowser Junior could heard the request that escaped King Boo's lips and echoed in the dungeon.
"Maria."
HOW'S THAT FOR A CLIFFHANGER!!!! MUWAHAHAHAHAHHAHA! Alright I'm done. Take this as you will. I'll explain in the next chapter. I hope the next one doesn't suck. lol. I really really really wish I could have made this chapter into two. (I'm glad I put that Bowser part in though.) King Boo's only been king for a couple hours and he's given up. Hahaha I'm not sure how I'm going to write the next chapter simply because there will be a lot going on. I hope I can split it up at a good part... or smoosh it all together.
That's all for now! CHAPTER 13 NEXT WHAT WHAT?!