A Koopa's Tale

Chapter 2: To the Mushroom Kingdom

"A man can't be too careful in the choice of his enemies."- Oscar Wilde

Logan and Mortimer sat in their high-security jail cell after "kindly" being escorted to the nearest police station in the city. Mortimer seemed to be as chipper as could be, quite the opposite of his friend.

The human-turned Koopa was nearly losing his mind at this point. This was the end for him. No more family, no more life, it would all be gone the second any scientist around the world got wind of this incident. He was going to be poked and prodded every which way just to see how his body worked.

Mortimer seemed to finally notice his friend's anguish, and questioned him on it. "…Something the matter, your ghastliness?" He asked, worried about Logan a little bit. Logan didn't exactly take too kindly to this question, and tried his best to stay as cool and calm as can be.

"Mortimer, I'm going to be straight up with you. This is it; we've reached the end of the line right here. No amounts of 1-UP mushrooms in the WORLD could save us from our fate now, am I understood? Every scientific mind in the entire WORLD is going to want to experiment us until we can't take it anymore, and then some. As you can tell, Koopas are kind of an oddity here on Earth, ya know?" He said, his voice dripping with sarcasm now.

"We'll be fine, your Angriness." The Magikoopa in training said with a confident smile that could win a boxing tournament, or in this case, just about anything.

"No, Mortimer, you don't seem to understand the magnitude of the situation. Bowser isn't going to send an army after us or anything. At best, you and I are disposable. We can be replaced easily, I assure you. Plus… Wait, someone's coming." Logan said, and put a finger up to tell his minion to shut it.

A guard came walking by to check up on the prisoners of this section of the prison, tapping his nightstick against the heavy-duty door of the cell to check for any major signs of life.

Logan said, and put his hands to his face. "Mortimer… You and Bowser have ruined my life. You don't understand man… I won't be able to go into public anymore.. I won't be able to go to school… My life… No, I don't even have a life anymore. I simply exist now for scientific crap. I don't even exist the way Bowser wanted me to. I'm just a fire breathing monster now, not even a shell of what I once was." He said, and went inside of his shell.

Moaning noises could be heard soon after, almost close to crying. Fire was spewing out of the major holes in his shell, and so could what appeared to be scratching noises.

Mortimer finally got the gist of what Logan was telling him this whole time. Bowser had turned a 16 year old kid into a terrible, fire breathing monster turtle at the cost of who he was before this. He not only stole the boy's identity, he stole what made Logan himself.

After about ten minutes of meditation, Mortimer made a major decision that would alter the lives of these two. "Logan. I hereby pledge allegiance no longer to Bowser, King of the Koopas, rather, I pledge allegiance… TO YOU!" He said, and held his scepter high into the air, as if he had just won a major victory. "Get out of your shell, your grumpiness, the warp pipe is still open; we can get to the Mushroom Kingdom and get Bowser to change you back!"

Logan shot out of his shell quickly and stopped himself from hugging Mortimer. "Wait, let me scrawl out a quick note." He said, and Mortimer provided pen and paper. He wrote a good-bye note to his parents, his family, and his friends, and told them he would return upon reclaiming his lost humanity. How would they know he wrote out the note before he set out on his journey? He signed it in his best handwriting, which remained intact despite his transformation.

He put it on the floor, making it the first thing that would be seen, and Mortimer used his magic to create a hole in the wall, allowing the two to get into the streets of New York City.

Getting to the warp Pipe wasn't too difficult. However, about halfway through the excursion, the two were quickly being followed by police officers, and they were tailing them like there was no tomorrow.

Running wasn't easy when you're close to 800 lbs. Logan began to curl up into a ball and roll around, but that only got him so far before about fifty people were able to make tons of insurance claims about a monster rolling over their cars.

After a series of alley turns and ducking in and out of sewer entrances, they finally came to the warp pipe. Mortimer had to use his magic to make the entrance wider in order for his master to get in. Once the two had climbed in and made their travel to the Mushroom Kingdom, it closed shut behind them, the pipe disappearing into the ground.

Logan and his accomplice emerged from the pipe in one piece; however, the pipe spewed them out in what appeared to be Toad Town.

Mortimer scratched his head with his scepter as the Toads scrambled, screaming that Bowser was attacking the town. The Magikoopa in training commented, "…Odd, Bowser must've fixed the Warp Pipe to come here… The one we took should've taken us right to Bowser's Castle."

Logan stamped his foot and growled. "You're not making me a happy turtle, Morty." Logan said as a small troop of Toad Soldiers, armed with shields and spears quickly ran up to him. "Listen," Logan said, putting his hands in front of him as a sign of peace. "We mean you no harm. I come to defeat the Bowser for what he's done—"And before he knew it, a hammer had struck him over the back of the head. Mortimer shared this fate as well before the human turned Koopa finally lost consciousness.

Logan awoke later in a cage, surrounded by Toads, two guys in red and green, and some girl in a pink dress. Once he fully regained his sight, he saw Mortimer was in a separate cage and much smaller cage, and a Toad was examining his magic scepter.

The girl in the pink dress spoke first. "I don't know Mario; he didn't go right to the castle like Bowser would, nor did he even dare attack any of the royal guard… Are you sure it's him?" She asked, and Mario and the man in green simultaneously replied with a "yes!"

Logan quickly roared upon and began to shout out of anger. "HOLD ON A MINUTE! DON'T YOU DARE COMPARE TO THAT UNDERHANDED BASTARD TURTLE! I AM NOTHING LIKE HIM, YOU HEAR!? I WASN'T ALWAYS LIKE THIS!! BOWSER DID THIS TO ME!"

A Toad who appeared to be more aged and wise spoke to the girl in the pink dress. "Princess, this beast is not to be trusted. For all we know, he could be one of Bowser's spies! If we let him go now, who's to say he won't come out of that cage and roast us with his nasty fire breath? Or worse, flatten us with his weight!" He said, tugging on the Princess' arm.

"Oh for God's sake… Listen. Please, for the love of all that is pure and good, listen to me. I am in no way associated with Bowser except in race and appearance. Sure, I may look like him. But listen, I wasn't always a Koopa… Bowser went to my world, to Earth, and changed me from a human into… into…" Tears started to well up in Logan's eyes, and he quickly wiped them away. "He turned me into a monster, he turned me into this! I want him to change me back!"

"…Likely story." The elderly Toad said, and Princess Peach looked shocked. "Toadsworth, this doesn't sound like a regular Koopa's tale or lie. I think this is real… Tell me, what's your name?" Princess asked, drawing closer to Logan's cage. She seemed to sense the truth to his words, where as her guardian did not.

"Logan Versailis, miss." He said, trying to remain calm now. Thank God, someone was taking his side. The Princess turned to the men in red and green. "Mario, Luigi… I believe him. I don't know why, but I trust his words. Plus, I sense something in there a normal Koopa would have… I sense a pure soul trapped in the body of a beast." She said. "Fyes T, open up the cage."

Mario and Luigi jumped out of fear. "Princess, please, think about what you're doing! Just because you trust him doesn't mean we do!" Mario said, wispy Luigi hiding behind his older brother.

"Mario, I know what I'm doing. Open up the cage."

The cage was raised up into the air, and Logan walked out and bowed. "Thank you, Princess. Now, if you'd be so kind as to let out Mortimer, I'd be happy to settle down and talk."

"Now that I won't allow!" Toadsworth said, his face red with anger. "You may be tame, but that Magikoopa isn't!" He said, and Logan sighed, shaking his head as he did so.

"Mortimer has sworn his allegiance to me. If he so much as casts any spell without my permission, he's my problem. Let him go." The massive Koopa began tapping his foot, remaining patient. Before long, the Magikoopa was released, and Logan smiled. "…Now then, I'd like to sit down for some discussions. I'd like to talk over some things before I set on a little… trip."

"What did you have in mind?" Princess Peach said, and suddenly, all the attention in the main hall of Princess' Peach's castle turned towards the Koopa.

"I'm going to get my humanity back, even if it means Bowser has to go down. At this point, I'm doing whatever it takes."