Chapter 4 …Not Again
They raced through the halls of Bowser's castle with no opposition whatsoever. It didn't sit well with me. Bowser was this fearsome rival of Mario, but he didn't even defend his own walls after kidnapping a princess? We continue on through doors and up quite a few floors to reach the throne room where everyone seemed to be gathered. "This doesn't seem right," I whispered to Luigi. No one even noticed us walk in.
"Mario knows what he's doing," he shrugged it off. Mario started making his way through the crowd of minions and we followed him. It seemed as though Bowser had just given some sort of pep talk. All the minions were hooting and cheering for him. Some now started to notice that we didn't quite fit in and began yelling to their leader.
"We're under attack!"
"Haha!" Bowser boomed out a laugh. "We're under attack! Nice jokes, boys!" As his eyes continued to scan the crowd they finally fell upon us. "Hey! Who are those hairy guys in the back? We shave around here minions! He suddenly leapt towards us and all his minions scattered.
"Mario! … and Luigi! .. wait, who are you?" He looked at me quizzically. I was about to open my mouth to answer when he turned back to Mario. "How'd you get in here?"
"Through the front gate," Mario answered calmly.
"What!? My front gate was open? How many times have I told those idiots! If you're the last one in lock the gate!" Bowser bellowed as he began stomping on the ground seemingly throwing a tantrum. I just stared at him incredulously. Was he really a serious villain?
"Quiet, you big Bowser! We know you kidnapped the princess! Now where'd you put her?!"
Bowser looked genuinely confused. "Where'd I.. wait, what? We're only now about to launch our attack…"
"Mario! Help!" the princess suddenly screamed. We all spun around but there was no one there. Out of nowhere a bright flash appeared above us. When I could finally see once again I looked up and there was the princess suspended above us in a glowing cage of sorts.
"Princess Peach!" Luigi called. After a moment another figure appeared out of thin air. He was wearing a white top hat and cloak which faded to blue at the bottom. He held some sort of staff in his hand that glowed a dark blue. His face was dark, his eyes were cold, and his smile was menacing as he gazed down at our shocked faces.
"Bleck!" He suddenly exclaimed. "Your princess has been taken… by Count Bleck!"
"You," Bowser began angrily then paused. "Wait, by whom?"
"By me, Count Bleck!" the figure answered. "The chosen executor of the Dark Prognosticus… is Count Bleck!"
'This guy sure likes the sound of his own name…' I though darkly.
"The fine fellow prophesized to come to this dimension.. Is also Count Bleck!"
'Come to this.. Dimension?' I stared at him bewildered. 'He couldn't have meant he's from another dimension? Am I from another dimension? Maybe that's not such an odd occurrence after all…'
"I'll tell you what doesn't make even a little bit of sense… Count Bleck!" Bowser piped up, voicing what we were all probably thinking. "Enough! Release princess Peach right now! I'm on a schedule over here!
"Count Bleck says never! This princess is integral to fulfilling the prophecies. She will be brought to castle Bleck and used to destroy all worlds… by Count Bleck!"
"Destroy all worlds!?" Luigi balked.
"You're insane.." I mumbled.
Apparently Mario was fed up. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him leap towards Bleck, but the never collided. The count had some clear shield protecting him which pushed Mario back who then landed on the floor with a loud thud. Bleck wasn't amused. He retaliated by raising his staff which began to glow brighter. Suddenly shadows enveloped Mario and he cried out in pain.
'Those look almost like my shadows!' I gawked for a moment. I briefly noticed Luigi's whimpering before I reached behind me grabbing a hammer away from a stunned koopa, and flung it at Bleck. As it bounced off his shield I finally realized that maybe that hadn't been such a good idea. The shadows disappeared and Mario collapsed onto the floor. Luigi rushed to his bro as I glared at the count. He looked back at me, that eerie smile never faltering. 'This man could kill me without batting an eye' I thought. The last thing I remember was seeing him snap his fingers, and everything went dark.
I awoke groggy and disoriented. What in the world happened? I cracked an eye open and squeezed it shut instantly. This can't be happening again! I'm not home anymore. As soon as I found somewhere that accepted me it all got ripped away again! It isn't fair! All I want is to have a home and a calm life, but for some reason the universe just won't let that happen! I beat my fists on the ground until they were sore, then I slumped, panting and exhausted.
What do I do now? I took a few deep breaths to try to calm myself down. I have to find Mario. Mario knows how to be a hero; he should know how to fix everything. I opened my eyes once again and finally took a good look at my surroundings. It was bright and colorful, just like the mushroom kingdom had been. Everything actually looked confusingly similar, but there was one difference. Everything seemed to be made up of small cubes. It almost seemed unnatural, as if someone had built it all rather than it being formed in nature. Though the grass smelled like grass, the flowers smelled like flowers, but it all just looked so strange.
I looked around a bit more thoroughly and saw some goombas off in the distance one way and some koopas off in another. They looked normal, not blocky like the rest of the environment. What were the chances that koopas and goombas were native here? Could they have been sent here as well? Only one way to find out, right? I pushed myself off the ground and started making my way over to the group of koopas.
"Hey!" I called when I got near them. They all looked towards me and narrowed their eyes.
"Who are you?" One of them asked.
"She's not a minion!" another one blurted out.
"What if she's an enemy?" a small koopa in the back of the group called out, frightened.
"Minion? No, of course I'm not a minion. Wait… You're Bowser's minons?" I asked.
"Yes, we are Lord Bowser's koopas. So you better get lost, or we're goin to have a problem," the lead koopa explained.
"Yeah, you tell 'er boss," a couple koopas yelled out.
"Is Bowser here? In this world? I need to talk with him!"
"No way little lady. No one see Lord Bowser except for official business."
"I was with Princess Peach! I have information that he might just want to hear!" I pleaded desperately. If that didn't work nothing would, and I really needed to see him. He's my one link with my friends and the other world.
They seemed to mull it over a moment before finally conceding. "Alright, follow us, and make sure you keep up. If you lag behind and get lost that's your own fault. We won't be coming to rescue you." The group turned away from me and started heading down the westward path. I followed closely behind them. Would Bowser even hear me out? Who knows, but I had at least a surprise factor. Although, I could be completely wrong, and he may just roast me immediately once he realizes I was the one who showed up at his castle with Mario and Luigi.
We walked on for a quite a distance. These lands were pretty plain; there wasn't a whole lot to look at while traveling. There weren't many trees, plants here and there, but mostly just rolling hills and grasslands in this area. Eventually we came upon a brick fortress in the middle of yet another open field. There were quite a few of Bowser's minions of all kinds milling about here, and they all gave me strange looks before turning to whoever was next to them and murmuring amongst themselves. The koopas led me into the building where Bowser was currently yelling at an elder koopa who was riding a broom. She quietly flew out through the window to do whatever his bidding may have been this time.
He turned to look at us now that she was gone and he narrowed his eyes, first at me, and then at the groups lead koopa. "What is she doing here?" he bellowed, demandingly.
"She claims to have information about the princess, your grumpiness," the koopa explained.
He narrowed his eyes once more. "Alright, you've done your job, now scram!" he yelled, and they all ran out the throne room as quickly as their little koopa legs would carry them. If Bowser had one thing going for him it was certainly the intimidation factor. "Now let's hear it, whoever you are. What have you heard about my princess?"
His princess? I almost laughed, but thought this probably wasn't the best time. "I don't have any information," I answered as casually as I could. His jaw dropped and he stared wide eyed at me. Good, now's my chance. "Bowser, I was at your castle when we all got sent wherever the hell we are now. I don't know about you, but I'd like to get home eventually. We need to find the princess and get back to the mushroom kingdom, but I can't do that without your help."
He seemed to have recovered from his shock at this point, and he was giving me a murderous glare. I took a step back, trying to get some distance between us in case I needed to run.
"You're the new pal of those stupid Mario bros!" he growled and took a step towards me.
"Bowser! Listen to me! That's not the point right now! Your princess is in danger!" I pleaded, hoping he wouldn't burn me to a crisp.
"Well where's Mario now!" barked Bowser. "Whenever I try to take my princess home he's right there to taker her away from me! But now she's in real danger, and he's nowhere to be found! That little mustachioed menace just has it out for me! He doesn't really care about princess Pea.."
All of a sudden there was a loud boom and the fortress itself seemed to shift. We watched in suspense as it never steadied and slowly started crumbling and breaking apart. I remembered I could move and I started sprinting towards the doors. I glanced back and realized Bowser wasn't following me. I stopped and yelled to him, "Bowser! You need to get out!"
His eyes snapped to me and he started galloping along with me to get outside. I burst out the doors with Bowser only a few steps behind me. As I jogged a safe distance away from the falling fortress I noticed Mario and Princess Peach were standing just a short ways away.
"Mario! Pincess!" I called, running over to them.
"Ruia! Thank goodness you're safe!" the princess exclaimed, clapping her hands together in front of her, with a beaming smile.
"Please tell me someone didn't just blow up my awesome lair…" Bowser moped.
"Mario!" he glared, but brightened up and smiled at the lovely princess. "And Princess Peach!" He shook his head and glared at Mario again. "Why do you always have to do that!? That's like the 100th time you've shown up at my castle and screwed everything up!" He roared. He leapt into the air and landed on the ground hard causing us to stumble. He grabbed Mario and flung him aside. They must have set a trap beforehand here, because when I looked up to figure out where Mario ended up there was a massive barrier blocking my vision. I heard Bowser roar out something else, but I couldn't make out exactly what he was saying. I turned to Peach who was gazing at the wall with a concerned look on her face.
After some time the barrier crumbled away and we looked in to see a battered Bowser laying on the ground and Mario standing looking almost unfazed.
"Mario!" Peach yelled out and ran over to them. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Mario answered, slightly out of breath.
"Ahh! Princess Peach!" Bowser perked up, "my lovely wife!"
Peach gasped. "Your WIFE!?"
"What? Are you kidding me? How could you forget our big day?" He explained cheerfully.
"That sham was not a wedding!" Peach argued, flustered. "What are you doing here anyway, Bowswer?" She asked, changing the subject.
"How should I know? I was in Count Bleck's stupid caslte, when all of a sudden, Bam! Me and the minions wake up face down in this field. Then we found this awesome castle, and I thought, why not make myself a lair?"
"Well, you see, Bowser. We really need your help. Why don't you come with us?" The Princess asked sweetly.
"Wait, what?"