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Chapter 17: The second Star Cure and a betrayal

Back at the treasure chamber, the Elite Trio saw Bowser returning.

"King Bowser! You're OK?!" Private Goomp exclaimed.

"Of course!" Bowser replied.

"That Star Cure is in the safe, I'm so sure!" Corporal Paraplonk assured.

"Yeah, I remember!" Bowser walks to the safe's door. "I didn't know what the thing was, but it looked pricey, so I stuck it in this safe…"

"Begin safe incursion, sir!" Sergeant Guy said.

"Mmm." Bowser proceeds to turn the safe's wheel, but he froze, catching Private Goomp's attention:

"King Bowser? Something wrong?"

"Uh…Bowser?" Corporal Paraplonk rose an eyebrow.

"…I forgot it." Bowser said blankly.

"Sir?" Sergeant Guy spoke.

"The safe combination… I FORGOT IT!"

"WHAT?!" Private Goomp flinched.

"NNNNGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! C'mon, you stupid brain!" Bowser punches his head to try to remember. "Stop being stupid, and remember the stupid combination!"

"Your Forgetfulness! Get ahold of yourself!" Corporal Paraplonk tries to settle Bowser down.

"Haah… Hooooo… Haaaaaaah… No use… Can't remember…" he panted. Then, he calls for the group inside his body: "HEY! GUYS! COME IN, CHUMPS!" this left the Elite Trio confused.

"No need to shout! We hear you." Starlow told.

"So you forgot the safe combo, huh?" Wario guessed.

"Yeah, I did, but you can find it! Look around inside my head! It's in there somewhere! FIND IT!"

"Your tone… I don't like it." Melissa scolded.

"WHAT?!"

"That haughty, commanding tone of voice! I don't like it! No one should tell others to do something in this tone! Go help yourself!"

"What the… HEY! Find it!"

"Not doing it until you ask nicely. Star people like me only respect those who act nice."

"*sigh* find it…please?" Bowser lets out a sigh and changes his tone.

"Hmm… That's not enough."

"Find it…pretty please?" Bowser speaks in a much calmer tone.

"…Alright, that's better. The inside of your head is fragile, so stay totally still."

"We'll go look. Be right back." Mario finished.


Inside Bowser…

"OK, this is it! Nobody'll get that Star Cure without the safe combination, so we'd better help Bowser." Starlow said.

"All right, let's head for Bowser's…head!" Mario told everyone, pausing a bit at the last sentence.

The group went all the way up to the Memory Banks, located obviously in Bowser's brain. We can see nerve cords at the ceiling part, with the ground being the brain's surface. The background could be showing the interior of a neuron. The heroes could hear noises coming from the brain's operation.

After going down an elevator made out of dendrites, they reached the area where all of Bowser's memories are stored just like an organized bookshelf and there was some sort of computer thing at the middle.

"Wow, Bowser's memory banks… It's surprisingly neat and tidy…" Starlow looked around.

"Never expected it to be like a library…" Yoshi commented.

Just then, a strange being teleported out of the computer, startling Starlow in the process as it scans her. It then teleports in front of Mario and his friends and scans all of them. The being became speechless for a moment as Starlow flies to it:

"Ah… Um, hi. We'd like the combination to Bowser's safe, please…"

The being starts spinning around crazily while speaking:

"VIRUS ALERT! VIRUS ALERT! VIRUS ALERT!"

"That doesn't sound good…" Melissa backs away a bit.

Then, the being broke into six different groups of debris: one red, one green, one lime-green, one yellow, one brown and one pink.

"What the…" Starlow murmured.

Suddenly, the debris assembled, creating a blocky copy of Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Wario, Donkey Kong and Peach!

"WHAT?!" the group yelled.

"Database has been breached by virus of likely malicious origin!" Bowser Memory M spoke.

"Data backup complete!" Bowser Memory L added.

"Launch repulsion program!" Bowser Memory Y said.

"Repel virus!" Bowser Memory W said.

"Repel virus!" Bowser Memory DK repeated.

"Repel virus!" Bowser Memory P finished.

"REPEL VIRUS!" all of the memories shouted at once before charging for the heroes, but they moved out of the way.

"We're fighting clones of ourselves?!" Peach spoke horrified.

"It seems like it." Donkey Kong said as he glares at his clone. "We'll have to take them down if we want Bowser to remember the code."

Bowser Memory M gets a Super Mushroom Memory to grow big and two green Brick Blocks showed up. It hits them, sending the larger debris at Mario, but he destroyed them with his hammer. Then, a Koopa Troopa Memory comes from behind Memory M and touches it, causing it to shrink back to normal size.

"Looks like each of our clones have the same moves as all of us, so keep that in mind, everyone!" Mario warned as he punches his clone.

Bowser Memory L takes out a Hammer Memory and trips, causing it to fly to the air, about to land on Luigi. Thankfully, he deflects it with his hammer and stomps his clone. But then, after this attack, Memory L retreats.

"…Did my clone just run away?" Luigi questioned confused.

"Hmm, I guess it must be reflecting your cowardice and also your clumsiness." Mario pointed out.

"My clumsiness?"

"Of course! Didn't your clone just trip when he was attacking you with a hammer?"

"Oh, right. Then that means not only our clones have the same moves as us, but also our personalities!"

"You're right! So we'll have to-… LOOK OUT!"

Mario saw Memory M grabbing a Star Memory and becoming invincible as it goes after him and Luigi. The Mario Bros managed to move out of the way before getting hit.

Bowser Memory Y did a Yoshi Bomb at Yoshi, but he dodged it, wrapped his tongue around his clone, and flipped it over him. Then, Memory Y takes out an Egg Memory and throws it at Yoshi, but he threw his egg at the same time and both eggs broke in contact with each other. However, Memory Y latched its tongue at Yoshi and sent him at the Mario Bros.

"OOF!" the trio groaned from the impact.

This gave a chance for Memory M to bring out his Hammer Memory and whack them, but Mario quickly pulled out his hammer and both hammers' heads met. Mario struggles to push his clone back, and does it successfully, giving time for Luigi and Yoshi to recover.

"Thanks for saving our heads, Mario!" Yoshi thanked.

"No problem!" Mario replied. He continues to fight his clone. Just then, Memory L came back.

"About time!" Luigi exclaimed.

Then, a Boo Memory came from behind Memory L, causing it to run away while going after Luigi, but he jumped to avoid being rammed. Memory L starts running in circles around Luigi until he finally stomps the Boo Memory. With that taken care of, Luigi attacks his clone with a well-timed Super Jump Punch, sending it into the air. Upon landing, Memory L attempts a Green Missile at Luigi, but it ended up misfiring it, giving Luigi the chance to do a lunging kick at it.

Bowser Memory W and Wario kept throwing bombs at each other, but the bombs keep hitting each other, creating small explosions.

"Alright… I've had enough!" Wario growled as they both ran to each other and punched, but this caused both of them to blast a few feet apart from each other.

Bowser Memory DK hurls a Barrel Memory at Donkey Kong, but he did a Giant Punch to send it back. However, Memory DK dodged out of the way.

"Let's see how you like this, mate!" Donkey Kong smirked, doing a Hand Slap to knock his clone into the air. While Memory DK was in the air, Donkey Kong does a Spinning Kong at it. Memory DK then attempted a Stubborn Headbutt at Donkey Kong, but he jumps above his clone and once he landed on the other side, he claps his hands to send a shockwave, knocking his clone a few feet away from him.

Peach attempts to do a Peach Bomber at Bowser Memory P, but it countered by tossing Vegetables Memories at her, sending her to the ground.

"Ugh!" she groaned from the impact. "Gee…I got some skill." She said, looking at her clone, seeing it dashing towards her while holding a Golf Club Memory. "However…" she smirked, pulling her frying pan and knocked Memory P away from her, making it drop the golf club. "…frying pans are stronger than golf clubs!" she finished.

Melissa decides to help the Mario Bros to take down their clones by sending shooting stars raining at them. This knocked out Memory M with ease, since it had less HP than Memory L.

"We got one down!" Mario exclaimed.

"Hold on, what's my clone doing?!" Luigi noticed that Memory L was throwing a 1-Up Mushroom Memory at Memory M, and it got back up!

"What the-?! Are you serious?!" Mario didn't believe that.

"Of course! Bowser's memories of the brothers also behave just like Mario and Luigi!" Melissa realized. "Luigi has more stamina than Mario, so it's up to him to heal and revive his brother whenever he's in danger…"

"So that means we'll have to take them down at the same time?" Luigi asked.

"That's right."

"This is going to be tough... Especially when none of the other clones are defeated." Mario sighed before going back to battle.

After avoiding Memory Y's Egg Roll, Yoshi latches his tongue at it, but accidentally swallows it. With that, the poor dinosaur had no choice but to lay it out, and was having trouble with that. Melissa noticed that and thought:

"He must be having troubles laying his clone out, so I'll give him a hand."

She concentrates, and with that, a golden aura appears around Yoshi's body.

"Is this…the aura from the Star Children? I'm feeling much stronger, so it must be!" Yoshi thought happily. "Alright, I can do this!"

Yoshi uses all of his strength and to his surprise, he laid a gigantic egg rather than a normal one.

"Whoa! Did I just lay a Mega Eggdozer?! That's awesome!" Yoshi exclaimed. "Here it comes!" he lifts the Mega Eggdozer and throws it.

The Mega Eggdozer immediately crushed Memory Y, but that's not all: the Mega Eggdozer also traveled towards the other Bowser Memories, and it ended up also crushing Memory W, Memory DK and Memory P respectively. Now the only memories remaining are Memory M and Memory L.

"Did I just saw a giant egg passing by and defeating our clones?" Donkey Kong questioned.

"Yep! That was me!" Yoshi chirped. "It appears that I'm also a Star Child!"

"You are?"

"Let's leave this for later. Right now, we have two more memories to take down." Melissa came in. "I actually have a plan. Come with me!"

Then, Melissa, Yoshi, Wario, Donkey Kong and Peach quickly built a large blue pipe with two yellow rotating arrows printed on it. Once they were done, Melissa calls out:

"Mario! Luigi! Use this Spin Pipe to finish your clones!"

She sends the Spin Pipe to them after they nodded to her. The pipe stands above the brothers as they get on top of each other. The pipe falls down on them and flies into the air while spinning. The pipe falls down at Memory M with Mario, who was at the bottom, stomping it before it flies back into the air. The pipe falls down again, but this time, at Memory L, with Luigi stomping it since he was the one at the bottom.

With that, the two memories faced defeat with the rest, and Mario and his crew stood victorious. Suddenly, all of the six memories merged, becoming a blocky version of Princess Melissa!

"WHOA!" everyone flinched in shock.

"Affirmative. Correct." Bowser Memory PM spoke. "I manage the memory banks in this facility. I have failed to repel you from the area. But that is no problem. I have switched to a temporary observation protocol instead. Affirmative. Correct."

"Why did you take my shape?" Melissa asked in a somewhat awkward tone.

"Affirmative. Correct. I have taken on the form likely to aid communication with you. It is based on the host's most carefully preserved memory."

"Wow, who knew that Bowser is also showing respect to Melissa as much as Peach?" Mario thought surprised. He then cleans his throat and tells Memory PM: "Well, you see… We came here so that we could know the combination to Bowser's safe."

"Affirmative. The…safe?"

"Yes, there's a very special item inside it but Bowser can't remember the combination for some reason."

"Affirmative. Correct. The safe combination. Danger-avoidance protocols have unilateral failure. Affirmative. Correct."

"Failure? What does that mean?" Luigi asked.

"Are you saying that the combination isn't here?" Starlow questioned.

"Negative. Incorrect." Memory PM answered. "The combination is here."

"How so?" Peach asked.

Memory PM then shifts back to its original sphere shape, known as Bowser Memory Neuron, and begins searching through the memory library.

"Let's see… Drumsticks… Steaks…Mario…Princess Peach…AHA!" Memory Neuron finds the memory and pulls it out of the shelf, showing it to the heroes. "Affirmative. Correct. This is the combination."

"But…what happened to it? It's all blank!" Starlow said. "Did this memory shatter somehow?"

"Affirmative. Correct. There was large-scale trauma. This memory was broken when the Fawful Express rammed the host."

"Oh… No wonder why he can't remember the combination!" Mario confirmed.

"So how do we get it back?" Donkey Kong asked.

"Just put all of its pieces back together. Affirmative. Correct." Memory Neuron answered.

"Like a jigsaw puzzle? This might take a while…" Luigi sighed.

Everyone worked together to rearrange the memory for the combination. After they were done, the safe's combination was revealed: 9898 88241 983.

"We did it!" Starlow exclaimed.

"Affirmative. Correct. Memory has been restored. Correct." Memory Neuron said.

With that, Memory Neuron flew back to the empty spot on the shelf and inserted the memory back. In an instant, Bowser's eyes widened, finally remembering the combination as he cracks his knuckles.

"That's… Yeah! That's IT! Now I remember!" he exclaimed. He turns around to the safe and moves its wheel while singing: "9898 Doop-de-doo… 88 241 Bowser-oo… 983 Whoop-de-WOO!"

Eventually, the safe opens, revealing the Yellow Star Cure inside. Bowser takes it.

"GWAHAHAHA!" Bowser laughed in glory. "Unh! I did it, guys! I got the second Star Cure!"

"King Bowser! There's something else inside that safe!" Private Goomp said.

"What?! Where?" Bowser asked as he peeks inside the safe…and he was pushed inside of it by the Elite Trio. "Ow! Hey! Minions! What're you doing?! LEMME OUTTA HEEEEERE! OPEN THIS DOOOOOOOR!"

"Heh heh." Private Goomp snickered. "The age of Bowser is… OVER!"

"Now is totally the Age of Fawful! Definitely!" Corporal Paraplonk said.

"Lord Fawful will reward us well for this noble act, men! Can you say 'extra rations'?" Sergeant Guy added.

"VICTORY!" the Elite Trio cheered.

"Stupid minions! You idiots fell under Fawful's control at some point, huh? THIS IS MUTINY!" Bowser roared from inside the safe, realizing that his minions have betrayed him.

"Yeah, I guess…" Private Goomp stated. "So we oughta toss this thing somewhere, right?"

"But where?" Corporal Paraplonk asked.

"Hmm… Where…" Sergeant Guy pondered. "…Ah. There, perhaps?"

Inside the safe, Bowser was banging the walls as hard as he could, but he couldn't get out. Just then, he stopped once he realized that he was being carried.

"HEY! YOU LOUSY MINIONS! Where are you taking me?!" he growled. "YOU TRAITORS! LEMME OOOOOUT!" suddenly, the safe was flung into somewhere, causing Bowser to hit his head on the ceiling: "OWWWW!" once it stops, he calls out: "HEY! HEY! SOMEONE ANSWER ME!"

Nobody answered… Well, except for the ones inside his body.


Back inside Bowser…

"Did you all listen to that?" Starlow asked, and the group nodded.

"It sounds like they tossed the safe somewhere…" Yoshi pondered.


Back outside…

"Hey! Guys!" Bowser called for the heroes inside his body. "Make me giant again! Then I'll bust outta here!"

"Unless you get in mortal danger, we can't do it!" Starlow warned.

"For now, you just need to sit still and act like an adult." Melissa told.

"Crud." Bowser lamented.

"Anyway, what about the Star Cure? You got it, didn't you?" Mario asked.

"Of course I got it! This stupid thing is the reason I'm in this fix!"

"Well, since you have it with you and we're inside you, then how about you eat it so we can retrieve it? After all, you agreed that we should get the Star Cures."

"*sigh* fine… Here goes."

Bowser then eats the Star Cure, and Mario and his crew sets off to the Gut Check to retrieve it. There, the Star Cure fell from above, looking all…sticky and gross.

"Ew…" Luigi cringed.

"At least it's ours now." Mario shrugged as he takes the Star Cure.

"I feel bad for Bowser, but we should head back outside." Peach told. "Plus, we can't do anything in here."

"One more Star Cure left… Do you know where the third sage is, Melissa?" Starlow asked.

"Yes. Chakron, the last sage you're looking for is at Plack Beach, atop some cliffs." Melissa answered. "Let's head back to the Pipe Yard and find the pipe that'll lead us directly there."

They all nodded and exited Bowser's gut.

To be continued…


What do you think about how I wrote the fight against the memories of Bowser? Well, until the next chapter! Please review.