A/N: New chapter, and a longer one, too! Hope you guys like it!
*NOTE: The ending for the chapter was edited because I initially wrote that Jr. infiltrated the castle to find Peach, but I had him fight Luigi in the following chapter. If anyone was confused, I changed it to get rid of this discrepancy.
Disclaimer: I don't own Nintendo or Sega. All of us know this by now. Believe me, I'm tired of copying and pasting the same thing every chapter.
Chapter 8: Enter the Koopa King (1)
Location: Outside of Toad Town
"Koopas, set your targets! Aim for the town square. And after that, Mushroom Castle! Kamek, send the others to raid the city!" ordered Ludwig through his Koopa Kommunicator. (2)
Kamek, flying on his broom, instructed the junior minions to ambush the town. Koopatrols and Goombas busted down doors, Hammer Bros. broke the windows their mallets while Paratroopas flew in, ducking their heads in their winged shells before crashing into two-story windows. Koopas started to chase down innocent Toads as the mushroom-headed citizens started running away, flailing their arms and screaming at the top of their lungs.
Below the airship's deck were three underlings aiming the cannons after they were given the signal by the blue-haired turtle. The other Koopalings followed in pursuit behind Ludwig and Bowser's whose large flying vehicle led the pack.
"Those Toads won't know what's coming for them!" Lemmy cheered while balancing on his ball. "Once the attack is successful, we'll take over this kingdom in no time!"
"Urgh, I'll get my revenge on that red 'stache soon. My hammer packs a wallop that's waiting to smash his face to pieces!" Morton grunted.
"Maybe if I see that blue hedgehog and his friends, I'll show him that my rings are far superior and to his! And fashionable, too!" Wendy bragged. "The power of my attacks will knock them out in one fell swoop!"
Bowser couldn't help but chuckle at his kids after listening to their remarks from his communication device. "They're starting to become like me. Bossy, confident, determined to take down Mario… One day, they will become as strong as I am right now. But, that strength won't last forever. I am getting pretty old. Not only that, but fatigued, overwhelmed, and depressed. All because of that blasted mustached man…"
He clenched his right fist before continuing his thoughts. "At some point, I will have to give up my place as 'King of the Koopas' and the ruler of Dark Land. All of those battles, adventures, losses… they're building up on me. Sometimes, I feel like I can't take it anymore. But, I'm not one who gives up easily. For I, King Bowser, do not accept failure (even though he admitted his numerous defeats). Princess Peach will be mine, but hopefully before I retire.
The large-shelled turtle then looked up to his son. Jr., sitting comfortably in his Koopa Clown Car, was hovering beside the airship, looking ahead at the Mushroom Kingdom's castle grounds.
Bowser was still in deep thought, wondering if Peach would be comfortable of an eternity with him, his son, his adopted Koopalings, and the rest of his clan. But he knew how much she would reject him because his behavior, rude demeanor, and horrid plans to take over the kingdom. And whenever he kidnapped the princess, she felt disturbed, unappreciated, and disrespected. Add saddened to the list because of her, praying that Mario would be safe and come to her rescue.
Those occasions have been the same ever since the Isle Delfino vacation crash…
~Flashback to Super Mario Sunshine (3)
...
Location: Isle Delfino
Riding on Pinna Park's roller coaster, Mario and FLUDD fired a fourth water rocket at the large Mecha-Bowser robot, standing tall (technically short since it was reduced to just a Bowser head and its legs) above the amusement park's wading pool. The head began to malfunction and revealed Mario's shadow doppelganger and the princess beside him. Mario got off the ride and ran towards the disassembled machine. He looked up when he stopped to glimpse at the two characters.
"Mario!" Princess Peach called out. Shadow Mario stepped forward and waved his paintbrush in a defensive action, slightly frightening the woman.
Suddenly, the enemy performed a spin jump before landing in view for Mario, only in a different figure.
"What the hell?" Mario thought with confusion. Both he and Peach blinked in surprise.
He took off the magical mask that covered his mouth to reveal the identity of the graffiti perpetrator.
"Leave my Mama alone, you bad man! I won't let you take Mama Peach away!"
"Mama? …Mama Peach? I'm your… mama?!" Peach gasped.
"Is Peach hiding something from me? Or… wait, what am I thinking! And what kind of question is that?" Mario was bewildered about this, but he knew this newly revealed enemy had to be related to his lifelong archenemy (hence, the Mecha-Bowser robot, duh). Apparently, he was Bowser's son. He looked like the Koopa King as a baby, but he seemed to be genetically unrelated to any of the Koopalings.
"Yeah, Papa told me all about it. He told me my Mama got kidnapped by a bad man named Mario…" Bowser Jr. explained out loud.
"What a joke. This son of a… 'whatever'… is gullible enough for this?" Mario pondered.
"So you're Bowser's son…" Peach continued slowly.
"No shit, Princess. But who's the MOTHER?!" (4)
"So I came here to rescue her!" Jr. retorted.
"So the graffiti… that was you?" questioned the Mushroom Princess.
Bowser Jr. held up his tool in front of everyone. "This… is my magic brush." The weapon was indeed a paintbrush with colorful graffiti glimmering on the bristles and a strange blue emblem of a familiar face. "When I draw with this, all my wishes come true! A strange old man in a white coat gave it to me…"
"A strange old man… in a white coat…?" FLUDD repeated with curiosity.
"But why would you pretend to be Mario?" Peach was still confused with this situation; the same applied to Mario.
The graffiti artist explained more of his father's side of the story. "Papa told me everything. He said, 'Mario's a bully. He never fights fair!' He said, 'Jr., you gotta try to outsmart Mario.'"
He finished imitating his dad's voice. "So I tried to get Mario sent to prison, but they didn't lock him up, and now he came to steal Mama Peach again!"
Mario attempted to speak, but Jr. spoke one last time. "You… you pest! Stop following us!" With that, the young Koopa back flipped to his control panel and the Mecha-Bowser head began to shake forcefully.
"Hey, stop!" Mario yelled.
Peach held up her hand and cried for help. "No! Mario!"
The hatch of the head closed as a giant Bowser Jr. balloon inflated above the robot head and lifted it into the sky.
"No! Not again!" FLUDD complained.
The balloon, carrying Mecha-Bowser's head with Jr., and Princess Peach inside, began to fly towards Corona Mountain, the volcanic region of the tropical island. It was after that boss fight that Mario knew who ruined his summer vacation and why. And he knew where that irritating Koopa and his bratty son were hiding. The red plumber was determined to rescue his special one and recover the rest of the missing Shine Sprites…
~End of flashback
For years, Bowser had trained his son and the Koopalings to kidnap the princess multiple times. He knew that their skills would come in handy if one of them were to take the throne of the Koopa clan.
The large Koopa wondered if he should hand the title to his one and only son. He had relied on the little tyke to stop Mario in his galactic adventures and most of his 2D journeys. (5) But his immaturity was self-evident and he was still so young, making him an unideal candidate to become the next ruler. Bowser wanted his son to prosper into a strong Koopa like himself, but also wanted to make sure that he understands the responsibilities of being king and the consequences he would face in the future.
Otherwise, the frontrunner would be Ludwig, the eldest Koopaling. He had already matured into a young Koopa adult and was one of the most deceiving, yet trustworthy members of the Koopa family with the ability to clone himself and shoot multiple magic shots. He was taught by Kamek to learn the capabilities of being the crowned ruler.
Then, Bowser shook his head. He was getting distracted from his current plan: invading the castle, kidnapping Peach, and defeating the Mario Bros. once and for all!
He set his thoughts aside and took out his Kommunicator, contacting each of the Koopalings.
"Alright, kids! We're now approaching the castle. Prepare for launch sequence in the next 20 seconds. Make sure you don't miss!"
All seven had the same response: "You got it!"
Bowser then called for his son. "Jr., get those Bob-ombs ready! And activate the lasers!"
Jr. smirked while looking down at his father. "You got it, Papa! Bob-ombs are good to go! Lasers are charging up right now!"
"BWAHAHAHA! Time to wreck this party!" the evil Koopa King snickered.
Unbeknownst to any of the Koopa clan, including the troops already terrorizing Toad Town's houses and shops, there were some figures were running towards Peach's Castle.
Location: Peach's Castle
The man in green stared at the cake before he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. But before he had the chance to blow out the candles, the party heard a loud bang, startling everyone.
…
The castle doors flew wide open, slamming against the interior walls. Within the entrance stood a black hedgehog and two robots.
Before they could get a word in edgewise, Rouge was the first to speak up. "What the… Shadow?!"
"Geez, did you have to freak us out like that? A simple knock would have been fine!" Knuckles snapped.
"Wait a minute. Why are you here anyways?" Tails raised an eyebrow.
"And why is Orbot and Cubot-"
Amy got interrupted by the black hedgehog. "Will you let me speak at all, damn it?!"
Shadow's friends went wide-eyed and let him speak. Mario, Luigi, and the others remained silent, yet they were all perplexed.
"Sonic," he turned to the blue rival, "we've got trouble back in our world. Someone has been terrorizing Station Square!"
Never in a million years would Sonic witness Shadow telling him something tragic. The black creature rarely looked up to his speedy counterpart.
"Well, looks like Eggman is up to no good," Sonic scoffed. Punching his right fist in his left hand, he continued, "that narcissistic doctor is gonna pay for evil plans!"
Orbot frantically shook his head. "No, Sonic. You don't understand. Eggman is gone. He had nothing to do with terrorizing the city. He just… vanished."
Sonic and company were immediately confused until Cubot explained what happened back at the base.
"After we saw the guy infiltrate the lair and took the two Chaos Emeralds we stored, we searched desperately for our boss. Hours later, we encountered Shadow in Station Square, only to find it obliterated."
Orbot added on. "We managed to get here using Shadow's emerald to open up the warp pipe and we ran here to tell you the bad news."
"So far, our lead is that Eggman is nowhere to be found, and he's not the one taking over Mobius. Some dark purple figure is. He has two emeralds and the robots he brainwashed are frantically searching for them back in our world," Shadow concluded.
"Oh my! That's terrible! What are we going to do?" Cream panicked with Cheese grasping her shoulder.
"We're gonna take down that jerk and get those emeralds back!" Sonic pumped his fist in the air.
"By the way, did you guys remember to lock up the pipe hatch?" Tails questioned.
Then, Shadow raised an eyebrow. He stood there with Orbot and Cubot floating in silence, looking at one another.
"You guys did close the entrance, right?" Tails emphasized with a little anger in his voice.
There was no response again.
The yellow fox facepalmed. "You've got to be kidding me…" he muttered under his breath before yelling. "How could you forget to close a door?!"
"Hey, you're just lucky we're here to tell you guys. This is no time for fun and games, even you were enjoying that all day. I'm the one to witness what happened and had to fight some rogues," Shadow defended.
"Yeah, but who knows if that mystery figure you guys mentioned will appear in this dimension," Mario spoke with frustration. "We've already had enough trouble with Bowser."
"Oh please, I'm pretty sure he won't even bother destroying your pathetic world." Little did Shadow and the robots know that was entirely wrong. Mario was getting more irritated by the second, alongside Sonic and his friends.
At that moment, the guys started arguing as the princesses and the rest of the party were watching the awkward confrontation.
Suddenly, Luigi felt a disturbance. In fact, two disturbances. One felt very close to approaching the castle. The other sent chills up his spine, as if someone was watching from above. He heard a whirring sound from outside. The green man walked over to the open window. Within the distance were eight airships and a flying helicopter-like dome. He knew those vehicles from anywhere.
"Those bastards are at it again, huh?" he thought to himself.
Luigi glared as he turned his attention to Toad Town, where he heard various Toads, shrieking and crying for help as he saw the shelled minions harassing the mushroom people and taking over the shops and buildings.
Then, the plumber heard something he wish didn't have: a launched cannonball. But it was loud enough to catch everyone's attention, startling everyone again. Shadow was barely fazed, but Cubot jumped into Orbot's arms.
Mario then noticed his brother at the window. "Luigi? What's going on?"
Before he could answer, the cannonball caused a huge explosion and an earthquake that put the heroes off-balanced. It landed in front of the open window Luigi stood near, causing him to jump in surprise and land on his back.
"Luigi!" Daisy called and ran towards him. "Are you okay?" she asked as the princess offered her hand.
"Ugh, sort of. But we've got ourselves another situation," Luigi complained as he got up. "Bowser's back."
Speaking of the devil, the gang heard the Koopa King's infamous laugh as his airship flew in front of the palace. Everyone turned their attention to the open front door. Mario raced outside to see Bowser, standing at the bow.
"BWAHAHA! So Mario, having fun at Wimpy Stache's party? Well too bad, because I'm about to crash it!"
Sonic, Tails, and Luigi followed the red plumber outside.
"You better get out of here, or I'll have to pulverize your ugly snout again!" Mario hissed.
"If only your threats were as good as mine," Bowser snickered. "Koopalings, set fire to the castle! We're not leaving without the princess!"
With that, the Koopa kids fired cannonball after cannonball, causing critical damage to the exterior. Knuckles, Amy, Yoshi, Silver, and Shadow also went outside and took battle positions. The Chaotix, Blaze, and Rouge led Peach, Daisy, Cream, Cheese, the robots, and the Toads as they ran for a safe spot in the castle dorms.
It was that time again when Mario had a score to settle against Bowser. The only difference was that not only did he have Luigi and Yoshi who stood beside him, but he also had Sonic and his allies, ready for action.
END OF CHAPTER
So Mario, Luigi, Sonic, and the others will take on Bowser and his Koopa army in the next one. But there are some concerns. Will Princess Peach be safe from another kidnapping? Where did she and the others go to hide?
And for you guys, what do you think is the second thing that Luigi felt near his presence?
Post-Chapter Notes:
(1): A knockoff of the movie 'Enter the Dragon', except 'Koopa King' takes place in the chapter title.
(2): Communicators designed for the Koopalings, Jr., and Bowser. Nothing special, just regular walkie-talkies, each with their respective colors by their shell and skin. Had to throw in the 'K' for alliteration and using the same letter.
(3): Throwback to Super Mario Sunshine! This was the first 3D Mario game I ever played, but finished 100% almost a decade after I first got the game. Now that I know all of the secrets, I can replay Sunshine with full memory on all of the Shine Sprites, and even the dreaded blue coins. Still this was one of my favorite Mario games despite the shitty voice acting and glitches found in the game.
(4): There has been controversy on Peach actually being Jr.'s mom, but that's just wrong to me. VERY wrong. Some several fanfictions I read explained that Bowser's former wife passed away while Jr. was still an egg. From there, Bowser would kidnap Peach multiple times in a sense of possession, even leading to the lie he told Jr. that started the events in SMS. To me, that makes the most sense on how Bowser Jr. became a mainstream character in the Mario series.
(5): 2D adventures include New Super Mario Bros. series, starting with the DS game (with the exception of NSMB2).