Hey everyone. I'm still a big frazzled after being kidnapped. And miffed at the Koopas for scaring the daylights out of me.
Siph: But at least now you won't have to worry about them anymore.
That's true. Silver lining.
Disclaimer: Including this one, there will only be actual chapters from this point on until the end of the story. No more fake-outs.
Chapter 57: Face of the Enemy
Everyone who had an attack they could prepare did so.
Ludwig retrieved his wand and pointed it at the king's silhouetted form. "You are not our father!" he boomed. "You are a thief who has taken control of his body!"
"And stole four years of our happiness!" Lemmy accused.
The Umbra laughed, "Not your father? Last I checked, you are who you are on the worst day of your life." He gestured to himself. "And that's who I am. King Bowser on his worst day."
Princess Peach stepped forward. "That's where you're wrong, creature. While you are who you are on your worst day, you're also who you are on the next day. And the day after that. The day where you decide whether it's going to be the new worst day of your life, or not."
The Umbra snorted. "So you say, yet I'm still here, and he is stuck up here." He tapped his temple.
Bowser Jr. stepped out from behind Ludwig and pointed a claw. "So you admit that you're not actually Papa!"
In immediate reaction, Bowser's mouth glowed as the Umbra prepared a fireball. But before he could finish charging, a wall of Koopalings and heroes stepped in front of Junior, glaring.
Roy yelled, "Step into the light, ya coward! We ain't afraid of ya just cuz you're wearin' Pop's face."
To everyone's surprise, including Bowser's inside, he did so. He looked exactly like Bowser — no changes in appearance. Outside of the eyes that were pitch black, sclerae and all. No light reflected off them, making them seem like hollow, black pits.
The Umbra smirked. "Satisfied?"
Peach gasped, "It was you! You took control of that Bullet Bill! Its eyes didn't disappear, they turned black like yours!"
Mario looked at her, then Luigi. "You mean the one that hit Luigi?"
"I wanted to see if my Penumbra sprouted in him." The Umbra shrugged.
Mario glared at him. "You put a Penumbra in him?!"
Luigi looked down at himself. "I don't feel anything.
The Umbra growled, "That's because it never sprouted. I thought living in your brother's shadow was enough to feed one, so I planted one in his infant self back during your little time travel adventure. But you're too attached to Mario for your own good."
"Time tr— You put it in Baby Luigi?!" Mario sputtered.
"A waste of time and energy on my part. I'll be taking my power back now." The Umbra charged suddenly at Luigi.
"Luigi!" Mario jumped in front and swung his Super Hammer at Bowser's face. It connected and knocked the king off course. He tumbled to the ground next to the brothers.
Mario readied the hammer again. "Stay away from him!"
From the ground, the Umbra responded by kicking his feet back at Mario, sending the plumber hurtling back into a group of the Koopalings. The Koopas caught their former nemesis, but in that time the Umbra stood and lunged at Luigi again.
To his credit, Luigi nimbly jumped and dodged the Umbra's claw swipes. The Umbra growled and breathed a thick cloud of smoke at the man in green. His vision obscured, Luigi could only guess where Bowser's claws would come from next.
He guessed wrong.
The Umbra thrust a hand forward and grabbed him as the smokescreen cleared. Black magic surrounded his palm.
Luigi screamed in pain as his eyes blackened to match the Umbra's, then the black drained out like tears, floating through the air and into the Umbra's.
"LUIGI!" Mario yelled, leaping back into action and charging.
Satisfied as the last of his loaned power returned to him, the Umbra turned and hurled Luigi at his older twin. "He's all yours."
Luigi yelped as he collided with his brother, sending them both tumbling to the ground in a heap.
As they helped each other up, Mario asked, "Are you okay, Weegee?"
Luigi shook his head and adjusted his cap. "That hurt like nobody's business, but I'm fine now. Probably better now that I don't have that thing in me anymore."
The brothers glared at the Umbra, who was looking around the group.
"Where is he now?" he asked. "I know Clawdia's brat is hiding somewhere behind one of you like a coward."
"He's not a coward because we're the ones hiding him, you big dummy!" Morton shot back.
Wendy huffed, "I think he was trying to provoke a reaction out of Bowser with that remark. But it looks like he can't see through our eyes now that we're together, so he can't see where he is." She smirked and put a hand on her hip. "Am I off the mark?"
He glared at her. "You lot have given me more trouble than I expected."
Larry crossed his arms. "Well, we learned from the best troublemaker around, so you should've expected that."
Bowser's eyes narrowed. "You have no idea who you're dealing with."
Lemmy stepped forward to be in front. "Then why don't you introduce yourself? Beldam told us that Umbra name themselves for what made them, which also forms their motivations."
"That's right!" Goombella noted. "And since this one has been around for so long, there's no way he hasn't named himself after what happened."
The Umbra's reaction was slow. It went from glaring, to stone-faced, to a slow smile creeping across Bowser's lips, sending chills up everyone's spines. It answered Lemmy's question, "My name… is Orphan."
Hushed gasps came from many of them.
"I had a feeling," Ludwig admitted. "If you were around before we lost Mother, then there was only one other terrible moment in Father's life."
Pauline gasped, remembering what Ludwig had told them back in the hospital room. "The Shroob attacks?"
Orphan chuckled and clapped. "The Koopa with the big brain gets it right once again. Little Prince Bowser lost his mama and papa, and for a time he hated the whole universe for taking them away from him." He put his hand on his chest. "I am that pain. I am that loss. I am that seething hatred of everything outside my control."
"Whaddaya mean your control?!" Roy spat. "Don't ya mean Pop's control?"
Flurrie floated above them. "That, my darlings, is what is called a Freudian slip."
"Queen Clawdia kept him at bay!" Blue Koopa gasped.
Peach gasped in turn. "And Bowser Jr. doesn't have the Penumbra!"
All the Koopalings immediately pointed their wands at Orphan in unison.
"So that is why you despise him!" Ludwig hissed.
"Was everything that happened to us last night just part of an elaborate scheme to murder him?!" Larry yelled.
Orphan laughed. "Yes! And while I can't use your minds to my advantage anymore…" He breathed deeply through Bowser's nostrils. "Your rage and hatred of me right now is delicious. All 23 sources in this valley."
"Oh no!" Koopie Koo gasped. "That's right! Umbra can power up by gaining energy from negative emotions! Orphan must be strong enough to get it from people around him besides Bowser!"
Kraig looked around. "There are 24 of us here, not counting yourself. Who is the one you aren't drawing energy from?"
Orphan sneered, "There are two, actually. My other source of energy is in here." He tapped Bowser's temple. "The exceptions are Clawdia's brat, and Clawdia's cheap replacement." He looked right at Princess Peach.
Peach gulped. "Me? You can't draw energy from me?"
"Don't sound so surprised, Princess," Ms. Mowz noted. "It's been well established that you have a very strong purity of heart."
Mario, Luigi, and Toad inched closer to the princess, never looking away from Orphan.
Ludwig's grip on his wand tightened. "Another reason for you to hate Bowser. For all his emotions from losing Mother before he even met her, and my abandonment of him, you can't benefit from any of that."
"He's useless to me and a testament to Clawdia's meddling!" Orphan roared. "Her and those stupid Stars!"
Twink flinched. "What did the Stars do?" he asked despite himself.
"A wish," he hissed. "The Queen of the Koopas wished for her seventh son to be immune to my influence. My power." Bowser's head drooped. Orphan chuckled. "We found out after she laid the brat's egg. I could tell something was off when I couldn't feel anything after his germination."
A few of the Koopalings' faces contorted in disgust at the implications, as well as a few of the others there.
Orphan continued, "She laid her cards on the table. My idiot host was so…" he gagged, "overjoyed. But me?" He shuddered as he laughed. "For just a few short, precious seconds, I was able to actually take control under the power of my own hatred of her. And… well, I'm sure you know how that ended."
A breeze passed through the clearing.
Orphan crouched and laughed as he felt the immediate reaction from all who were listening. "Yes! Anger, despair, lament, hatred! Every reaction you are feeling only feeds me!" He looked Ludwig in the eye. "And why shouldn't you feel this rage and horror? And your father's shame at having this terrible secret come to light! His children, the apple of his eye, and even his arch enemies all learning after five years that the Queen of the Koopas was murdered at the hands of her own husband!"
How's that for a reveal?
Siph: J I'M SCARED!
*hugs him* Don't worry, Siph. Remember, Umbra aren't actually real. And the Koopas are going to get out of this. My life depends on it.
Siph: This got dark fast again. And I'm not just talking about the shadows that are probably spreading from Orphan's body after that power boost.
Ooh that'd be a chilling visual. I better include that next chapter. Probably emanating from the eyes like a mist. This just gets better and better.
Siph: I will pelt you with cotton balls.