Chapter 34: Calm Before the Storm of Reality
"Ugh…" I groaned tiredly, my slumber having been rather uneventful. My body was lying flat on its back, meaning that only the skin on my arms was able to feel the ground below me. It didn't feel too rough like I would've expected charcoal to be, which means that I had been moved a new location, one that was noticeably cooler than the Ignitor Cave yet still warm enough to make my body feel above its normal temperature. I cracked my eyelids open and lifted my head up first off, checking my shirt and noticing that I was back to my normal self. My sword was lying on the ground beside me, the flames diluted yet all seven triggers now had their colors restored.
"So I did pull it off…" I thought to myself, the tone of my inner voice showing little happiness due something I recalled from before I slipped into unconscious. I knew that Mr. Reality had spoken to me telepathically, yet he was clearly upset at me, and apparently I had 'cheated' in the final temple to take care of it. Sure, I did use the other Elemental Forms, but considering I have nary a clue about just how I was allowed to do that I couldn't really be held at fault now could I? Still, he delivered a threat to me, saying that he would "Use the remnant of the Overlord's greatest power against me".
From that message, I theorized that perhaps Alpha's own theory about the final battleground was correct, and that the alien would restore the Origin Temple. This time though, he'd use it as a fortress and attack me at an unprecedented time. "Would he really go that far?" I asked myself quietly and with a little doubt before shaking my head to disperse those suspicions and say in turn "Who am I kidding here? The guy is crazy, of course he would…" After which I lifted my upper body up all the way and grabbed onto the handle of my sword, looking at my reflection in the blade before dispelling it in a puff of fire.
"Its good to have all my elemental powers back, at the very least." I switched back to a joyous accent as I took a look around the room I was in. The walls were very abysmal as far as coloring went, the grey and black bricks and pillars reminding me much of my first encounter with the 'Midnight Channel' until a quick look at the golden, lit torches in the room reminded me of something that I had forgotten since I acquired it. Quickly shuffling my hands around my body in search of a solid lump, I nearly break into a panic until my right hand pats down on the opposite pocket of my pants, at which point I dig my hand into it and pull out the Time Stone safe and sound.
"Whew…Thank heavens this is still here." A relived sigh and pleasant sentence punctuated my joy before I put the Time Stone back into my pocket and close my eyelids to think about something for a moment. "I do have to wonder how it got into my pocket though…Last I checked I put it in my armor." I then opened my eyelids up, looked at the ceiling with a smile on my face, and said out loud "Of course! My multiple transformations must have shifted the location of the Time Stone to a safer part of my body since the armor was no longer there to keep it in place!" It wasn't a sound theory, but it was honestly the best one I could muster.
After declaring that, I started to lift my body up all the way, since my stiffening muscles needed to stretch before I continued moving on. Partway through my rise, I stare forward and notice something that didn't catch my eye before, that being an onyx statue of Bowser planted on top of a medium-sized pedestal. "Oh, so I guess this is Bowser's Castle…He must have regained consciousness and brought me and Mario here after the battle…" I wasn't entirely certain about the second part of my sentence, until I rationalized that if the Koopa King went through the trouble of rescuing me then he must've gotten his rival/enemy as well.
"You would be right in that assumption, gwahahaha!" The bellowing laughter makes me turn my head straight to the right, where I find that the red carpet leads to a red-scaled seated throne where the Koopa King is currently sitting down on, his right elbow leaning against the arm of it as he stares down at me with an eyebrow raised. "…Umm, how long were you sitting there for?" Was the first thing I said in embarrassment as I turned my full body towards him. "For a few hours. Not really much to do around here this morning considering that Kamek is off tending to the Koopalings and my son, Kammy is guarding the Princess since Mario asked me kindly to make sure she was alright before he fell asleep at the Ignitor Cave, and I sent all of my men to join Alpha's ranks temporarily to defend in case that alien were to attack. So while Mario is resting in the only remaining bed in those castle, I decided to bring you here and keep watch until you woke up."
Bowser spoke in a reluctant, rather bored tone of voice, and I could tell from the way he leaned that he was really tired and would be better off getting some sleep instead of sitting around keeping an eye on me. But still, it was rather kind of him to do everything he said he did, so with a smile of thankfulness I said to him "That was generous of you, Koopa King." After looking away for a moment, the Koopa King turned back to me and with a glance showing his inattentiveness, or perhaps one that expressed his denial of my thanks he said to me "Huh? Oh…Yeah, it was nothing…" But then he sits up straight and pushes himself on off of his throne, standing firmly after the ground rumbles around him and folds his arms in front of his chest, adding on to that comment in a tone of absolute brashness "But don't get used to it kid! My assistance is only temporary. Once that stinking alien has been taken care of, things will go back to normal!"
"Hahaha!" I laughed happily at Bowser's sudden shift in behavior, but after I opened my eyelids suddenly I asked him "Oh yeah, so I guess you got caught up on the situation huh?" The Koopa King puts his arms back in their normal positions before staring at me and speaking in a polite yet gruff tone of voice "Yeah, Kamek happened to be outside the range of that 'Midnight Channel' or whatever when the Nova Cesspool and Dark Land were the only two areas left, and Alpha caught up to him and gave him the information to hand over to me when I came back. I swear, the only good channel is one that appears on a T.V…."
Bowser cracks a slight joke at the situation that sounded very much like him, guffawing at his own humor alongside me before silence set in for a few seconds, broken only by yet another show of appreciation "Seriously though, thanks for saving me and Mario. I'm sure it must have strained you to carry us through the Ignitor Cave, grab all of your kids, and get on a Doomship to fly back here, but you really do have my gratitude for this Bowser." Bowser rolls his eyes and scoffs at my genuine thanks, even though deep down I knew he was appreciative of it. "It was nothing, really…You did save us after all. Not just me and Mario, but the Koopalings and my son as well."
"Huh?" I noticed something odd about that last sentence, especially since this wasn't the first time he had referred to the Koopalings and Bowser Junior separately instead of one conglomerate word. "Why don't you just call them your children? That would be simpler, wouldn't it?" Bowser became a bit evasive after that, as he shifted his eyes back and forth suspiciously and tried to stay silent to avoid the subject until I pushed him on gently and said "Its just you and me, if you want to enlighten me, I won't tell anyone." The Koopa King looked at me and sighed, hanging his head for a second before looking up and saying in a rather fatherly and embarrassed tone "The thing is, out of the eight of them, only Junior comes from my bloodline."
"You see, before I set my sights on the Mushroom Kingdom, I was perfectly content with sitting in my castle with my lovely wife, as the two of us hoped to one day have a kid of our own. Part of our reasoning for wanting one was to have a full family, but I also wanted to do to our son what my dad never did to me, and that was be caring and raise him to be a benevolent ruler instead of a tyrant who ruled with fear and brute force. I guess either the Star Spirits or some higher power must have been listening to our wishes, because one strangely rainy day in our lands I heard a thump from the front door as I wandered through the main hallway of the castle."
"I walked up and swung them open, seeing a shadowy being scampering across the castle walls and leaping out into the lava pit beyond the drawbridge before he completely vanishes in a flash of lightning. I looked down, and found seven carriages, each one containing a different little Koopa that looked like they had descended from royal blood, much like I did. It was a rather suspicious thing to see, especially since only me and my wife were considered royalty after the reformation of the Koopa Empire following my father's death. Whatever the circumstances may have been though, what I saw was seven younglings sitting out in the cold rain without any parents in sight, so I did the right thing and took them into my castle."
"We tried to find out where they had come from, especially since each of them had distinctive features which would suggest multiple parents, but came up with no leads in the end. So we decided to adopt the seven of them, naming them after our cousins and in Morton's case my late uncle, who was more of a father to me than my own. We finally had a family of our own, our wishes answered. However, things ended up taking a turn for the worst a few years later. You see, the sudden appearance of seven kids meant our income had to be redirected towards taking care of them, and eventually it got to the point where we had to sell some of our property to make ends meet."
"Eventually our once regal castle became the damp, dark place you see before you now. Our troubles weren't over though. About seven years ago, my wife ended up pregnant with Junior, going into labor nine months later…At the cost of her life." Bowser became solemn for a moment after saying that, a tear nearly trickling down his right cheek as he looks away from me and I in turn go quiet and my heart skips a beat. "I-I'm so sorry to hear that." I said to give my condolences. The Koopa King looks back up after a light sniffle and says while keeping himself together "Its alright, at least she died having a fulfilled life…"
"…Still, her death plus the addition of Junior made things even more difficult for us in Dark Land. I had to take drastic measures in order to procure more of a profit for the kids, and I also needed someone who could take care of everyone since I lacked the maternal instincts of a mother. I then remembered the girl I had a slight, foolish young crush on when I was almost a baby. The then current Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, Peach. I was a desperate man at the time, and resorted to magic and my forces to kidnap the Princess for the first time. Of course, you know how that all went."
"So you see, my plan was to not only get a mother for the Koopaling's and Junior, but to also gain ownership over the seven lands around the Mushroom Kingdom via marriage. The second one became possible accidentally via Count Bleck's whole marriage plot, since afterwards Peach wanted to get a divorce, and I made a diplomatic arrangement to her to break the marriage in return for my kids being allowed to share rule over her seven lands. The deal passed, and all of them moved in where they've stayed for quite a while now. Junior still stays with me, and we kind of do the whole 'Kidnap Princess' thing for fun…Well, unless I go through one of my mood swings and end up deciding to…Create a new universe or want to prove myself superior to Mario in order to prove my love to Peach and end up eating the Fire Stone and nearly become a mad beast in the process…Yeah, I really regret that second one…"
Bowser, having then finished his tale, let out a melancholy sigh due to how difficult it was for him to talk about his past. I picked up on this cue, and with one hand held out I say to him "It was a nice tale, but why did you choose to tell me about it?" My tone was drenched with sympathy and a hint of confusion, to which Bowser responds to by lifting his head up and saying with honesty "You plan to live at Mario's house after this right? Well I just wanted you to know what was going on between me and Mario. So if I kidnap Peach from here on out, our conflict stays between the two of us and possibly Luigi, ok?"
"I'd respect that even without the tale, Bowser." I respond with a firm and honest tone of voice. "Its not my place to take care of Mario's problems. He is the hero of this world, and I should only help when things come along that are too strong for even him to handle." "Yeah, that Whiter kid you were cloned from did the same thing while he was around." Bowser responded. He then folds his arms in front of his chest and gets a serious grin on his face. "Also, since you saved my kids yet in return I saved your life and Mario's, there is only one favor I have to collect from you Elemental Overlord types." Obviously he was referring to an unknown arrangement between him and Alex, but I wanted to hear him out before saying anything in turn.
"Beat that alien into dust for me." I was rather surprised by what Bowser asked of me, though considering the circumstances I don't know why I was. After blinking a few times I nod my head and give the Koopa King and confident thumbs-up in front of my chest. "I'll just chalk it up as another thing I have to give my word on, Bowser." "Thank you very much. Now, I'm going to check up on my kids until they awake. Besides, I think a certain someone wants to talk to you now." Bowser then unfolds his arms and gentle points behind me.
I turn around and find to my great surprise Mario standing at the doorway in his regular clothes. I didn't know how long exactly he was there for, but the fact that Bowser so casually noted his presence meant he wasn't there for long. The Koopa King walks past me and over the plumber, standing still for a moment so they can turn and acknowledge each other with a light nod. There was no antagonism in either of their stares, nor was there an overlaying feeling of tension exuding from their bodies. You could tell that they were true rivals just from that simple action. After a couple of seconds, Bowser walks down the hallway to the right, his thunderous footsteps fading in a matter of seconds.
As Mario turns his head to watch him walk away, I move over to him and embarrassingly hold my arms behind my back as I sway my body back and forth in nervous anticipation for him to turn around. "What would he say upon seeing me?" I thought to myself. After all, it appeared he just got up, and I doubt he heard anything about the last few days. After a few more seconds after thinking that, the plumber turned towards me and immediately focused on my face. He didn't say a word, instead arching one eyebrow up as he scanned my entire body up and down. He then fixed his expression and said to me while waving one arm "So, you ready to go? We should probably get back to Toad Town as soon as possible."
I flinched in response, something that Mario doesn't notice after his casual remark that was devoid of any note of who I was due to how quickly he turned around and began to walk off. "Wait, what?" Were the two words I spat out in rapid succession before I chased after the plumber and walked in front of him as he went down the hallway, and I turned my body around and walked backwards to keep my eyes focused on his before saying "You aren't surprised to see me?" In a flabbergasted tone of voice. Mario kept walking, but looked up at me with a smile behind his bushy mustache and asked "Are you actually Alex's clone?"
"Umm…" I don't know what the point of that question was, so I just slyly slipped out a "Yes" in response to it and Mario quickly followed up on it by saying "Then no, I'm not really surprised." "B-But how can you not be?" Mario was really starting to confuse me, and as neared a corner and made a turn I chose to stand beside the plumber instead of obscuring his vision any further. Even with my honorable decision, Mario still looked my way and continued walking onward with confidence. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. He has traversed Bowser's many castles enough times to know how to get through them. "I guess you could call it a gut feeling. I always had a suspicion that Alex didn't go back to Earth once just to 'Reminisce for old times sake', especially when E. Gadd accidentally let slip the first four letters of the word 'cloned' when I asked him about where he had been."
"Still, I can imagine there is more to this story than you being a clone…How long was I unconscious for exactly?" From that inquiry, I determined that Mario had no clue about the fact that he was under the influence of the 'Midnight Channel', so I decided to be honest about the time "Five days is the roughest estimate I can give you." "I see…" The plumber folded his arms in front of his chest to ponder about that amount of time that has been lost, and when it was easy to see that he was unable to draw any conclusions from that information he turned his head towards me and asked "Since we got a few minutes until we reach the entrance, can you give me a basic rundown on everything that has happened since I fell unconscious?"
And that's what I did. I gave him an abridged explanation of everything from my appearance on Plit to my climatic battle with Mario and Giga Bowser in the core of the Ignitor Cave. By the time I finished, Mario began murmuring to himself quietly as we reached the monstrous, crimson front doors of the castle. They swung open on their own, revealing the surprisingly bright sun beating down on us from above. I guess it was just one of those rare days where Dark Land wasn't covered in clouds of smog and red skies. Either way, as we made our way to the castle walls, Mario reached into his overall pockets and pulled out a small feather, which gave him a cape upon making contact with his body.
"I guess you kept any spare suit power-ups after I defeated you." I commented, though as Mario puts one foot onto the wall he turns his head and says to me "Not likely. I had this feather with me before I went unconscious. Anyways, I'm glad you managed to come through and save all of us from that 'Midnight Channel' realm. You showed great courage and selflessness in doing so, Mew." "Hey, what can I say? I was inspired by one of the greatest examples of those two traits." I gestured towards the plumber, causing him to smile brightly and chuckle at my compliment. He didn't need to say anything about it after that, and instead changed subjects to say to me "So, shall we get a move on?"
Mario leaps into the air, and I follow close behind. We begin to fly away from Bowser's Castle, with the last thing I see of it being an overview of the entire, massive stone structure as I glance over my right shoulder. After all, I keep my arms held beside me and follow Mario through the air as he holds his arms out in front of his body. Our speed is near even, and we move at a brisk enough pace that we have plenty of time to talk and stare down at the abundant scenery below. This flight is made better knowing that everything is as pristine as it was before Mr. Reality came and did what he did.
We pass the border of Dark Land and make it into the plentiful grasslands, where Mario then turns his head slightly and acknowledges me by saying "So what do you plan to do next?" "Well, Mr. Reality is still out there somewhere, so I have to deal with him. After that, I was thinking, with your permission of course, to live with you, Luigi and Driad…" "Yeah, I'm perfectly fine with that. Admittedly, it might bring up some rather…Somber memories of when Alex was around at first, but it shouldn't be too hard to get used to after a few days. But what about your home back on Earth? What do you plan on doing with everything you own? Our house is pretty small after all, and from what I saw of your place there is no way we would be able to fit everything you own."
"Does Plit have storage houses?" I asked. "Umm…Not that I recall, unfortunately." So after that response from Mario I merely shrugged my shoulders and said to him "That's alright. My house is in a pretty reclusive part of the world anyways, so its not like anyone will buy it. So if need be, I'll just use the Professor's Stargadd to go back there and pick up anything I need if necessary." "That sounds like a good plan, actually." Mario said to compliment me for my quickly thought solution. "What about you Mario? What are you going to do upon getting back to Toad Town?" "I'm going to first stop by Peach's Castle, since its closer and all. Then I'll go see how Luigi is holding up."
"So I guess we will be parting ways temporarily pretty soon, since I plan to drop by E. Gadd's lab and ask him about the tablet, seeing as it might hold the key to our victory against Mr. Reality." "Sounds like a plan. When you are done, meet up with me back at my house, alright?" I nodded my head, and seeing as Toad Town lied just a few feet away and below us, Mario cut his flight off and went to the right towards the castle, while I kept going forward and dived downward to the area where E. Gadd's lab was. I landed on the ground nice and gently, and the Toads only took notice of my landing for a few seconds before continuing on their normal business.
"Man, it feels like it has been a really long time since I was in Toad Town." I said, sniffing in the fresh, atmospheric air and letting out a joyous breath before the memories of my brief time here flow through my like a river. And after that has settled, I turn towards the lab and think to myself "Not only was this where Alex's first adventure on Plit began and ended, this will also be the place where my journey did begin and hopefully shall end." With a confident stance, I made my way down the staircase, descending into E. Gadd's lab in hopes of finding a solution to combating Mr. Reality's powers.
Sure enough, I heard the sounds of the Professor tampering around with something in his lab, his feet scuffling around the room like a rampant rat until I reach the bottom of the steps, at which point he stops running around instantly and turns to me, his forehead sweating wildly as he tries to catch his breath and give out an exhausted greeting "H-Hello Mew…Welcome back to my lab, how are you doing today?" "Umm…Rather well Professor." I said as I nervously scanned the room. Things appeared to be in disarray since the last time I had come here at the beginning of this journey, as if someone intruded upon this area.
"Is everything ok in here?" I asked as I walked over to him. He nudged his glasses upward and let out his signature laugh to cover his embarrassment of the condition of his lab. "Ok, who am I kidding…This place became a wreck since the last time I was here. Pieces have been scattered about, my tables have been broken at the legs, and the experimental blueprints for a portable Stargadd gun have been stolen." "…Stargadd Gun?" I asked. "Yes." He nodded and turned to me. "I wanted to have a more convenient way for people to travel across different planets instead of having to come here every time, but even going past the prototype stages the gun only ended up sending people on a one way trip to whatever location I would wish to send them to."
"Any ideas of a perpetrator?" I asked as I folded my arms and began to think. "No. No one has really ever tried to steal my tech before, and I don't have cameras set up in here like Alpha does around the world…All I know is that not only were the blueprints stolen, but all the parts needed to assemble the device have been taken as well." "Hmm…Well, I'll make sure to keep an eye out for him, but it doesn't sound like a particularly major concern right now if it is only a one way device. After all, you know what I came here to check, right?" E. Gadd, after flustering about the room for a few seconds, suddenly stops and turns back towards me, regaining his composure and nudging his glasses before saying to me "Oh yes, yes…Right this way, please."
The Professor reaches into his pocket protector and pulls out the hyper dimensional cube from earlier, placing it on top of the only stable table in the room and pressing a few buttons to summon a fully completed stone tablet that is suspended by pure blue light.. "I tried a few more types of language that I knew Alpha wouldn't have had access to since the records are one of a kind, but I was still unable to get a translation for the second part of this. What do you see when you look at it?" After explaining what he did with the tablet, E. Gadd moves out of the way, and after leaning my hand against my chin I walk towards the tablet and glare into it, thinking deep and hard about the translation behind the text.
As I stare at it for an extended period of time, my focus causes the text to illuminate with a pale-ish white glow, which stretches out and imprints itself onto my forehead. I then feel myself going into a strange trance as the light connects to my brain and forces me to say the translated words in a deep, echoing tone of voice with light flowing out of my eyes. "In secret it lies, out of sight. A temple forged, the torment is purged by light. If the light is broken away, the torment shall release. From then it will only be a matter of time until existence itself shall cease…" The light then fades out in full, my body limbering backwards as I push my left hand against my forehead and begin to feel dizzy.
E. Gadd, having heard everything I said while I was possessed, rushed over to my side and kept me propped up with both of his hands. "Mew, you ok?" But instead of giving him and answer, I thought about the message, a couple other moments from the past swirling amidst those thoughts to remind me of what Mr. Reality had said before. "That is something for you to discover if you continue to survive…" Was what he said when I questioned if there wasn't a single one of the Overlord's temples he had yet to defile. And then there was the recent message of his that revealed his plans to use one of the Overlord's…
"Oh god…" I widened my eyes in abject fear as I straightened myself up and a cold sweat began to drip down my forehead. I clipped my fingernails against the bottom of my teeth, pacing back and forth as the Professor asked me. "Mew, what's going on?" In a tone of concern unbefitting of his usual nature. I turned myself around forcibly, widening my eyes and saying to him in an unhinged tone of voice. "E. Gadd, we have to warn the others! This is insane…I think that crazy alien is going to attack us with-" I was unable to finish, for a gravitating tremor followed by the panicked cries of the populace outside forced me to break away from the Professor and rush outside of the laboratory at a speed I never knew I could manage.
As tremors shake the ground and break apart fragments of the buildings around the area, Toads scatter about left and right and a major shadow is cast across the ground. I force my head upward, staring into the massive structure that has obscured the sun and is slowly making its way towards Toad Town. It was a gigantic, super advanced yet completely diamond and pure white temple, one that looked better suited to stand in the vibrant plains of Heaven instead of the rocky mass that it was standing atop of. From a basic appearance alone, the mass appeared to have been pulled out from the underside of an island, the consequences of that observation not sitting well in my gut as I continued to stare blankly at the citadel itself.
In a matter of seconds though, I see a small figure floating above the top floor of the citadel, recognizing it as Mr. Reality as he stretches his hands out wide and says in an echoing voice that reaches all the ears below "Citizens of Toad Town! A certain inhabitant of your populace has defiled the rules of my game, and for that I have chosen to rain judgment on you until he willingly submits to me! For you see, only when he is broken beyond all physical and mental limitations, will you all have my permission to live. Until then…"
The being snaps his fingers, silencing the whole world around him as the light from the citadel is purged by a monochrome shroud and brought to the front of the rocky mass. As the alien sinks into the citadel itself, the light is fired out in the form of a massive quasar-like pulse, speeding across the air in an overwhelming second until it collides with the one place unfortunate enough to be in its path…Peach's Castle. I heard no explosion as the crushing disbelief of the moment deafened my ears and the light from the impact flushed through the air and nearly blinded me. I saw nothing of Peach's Castle when both of these feelings subsided, and what I heard only served to fuel my rage against the being who spoke to us all who remained. "Consider the destruction of their leader and her castle to be a warning to you, Overlord…"
Next Time: Penetrate the Citade