RECAP:
Having settled into their new sanctuary at Merlon's house, Junior's group began to plan for the future. They discussed the strengths they could each contribute to the team and agreed that further magic training was necessary for each of them. Iggy remained behind to construct his laboratory; reasoning that he was better suited for the role of a scientist and strategist instead. Merlon revealed he possesses the power to look into the souls of others and read their deepest desires, much to the dismay of a rather secretive Roy.
Meanwhile, Maldeon and Bowser began to warm up to each other and eventually formed a pact. In exchange for freeing him from the prison, Maldeon requested to accompany Bowser on his escape as he believed the Koopa King just might be the key to reclaiming his lost memories.
"What do you mean it didn't work!?" Contemno exclaimed furiously.
"It's as I said. The plant didn't get them. There were no mud statues to be found when I came to round them up," said Eris as she shrugged. Contemno took a deep breath and reclaimed his composure.
"Well then, if they managed to somehow defeat Petey Piranha, where did they go?"
"If I knew that, would I really show up here empty-handed? If that timid little toddler of a prince is good at anything, it's disappearing acts." Contemno grunted as he could feel his frustration rising once more.
"I don't get why yous is all sore outta shape, boss," said Topper. "Ya saw it for yaself. Da kid's no threat to ya."
"Perhaps not yet, but his power is growing," said Contemno. "If he were truly stagnant, he would have never escaped from Petey Piranha. I'm certain of this. I can only assume this is once again the work of his little support network. Grrr…curse them all!"
"Relax. He'll crawl out of his hole sooner or later. After all, he must be terribly worried about his dear old dad," said Eris with a smirk.
"Of course," Contemno agreed. "It's time I started making better use of my resources. I must begin my tests at once." The mage declared as he strolled across the grand hall to make his exit. "In the meantime, summon the others for a meeting."
"What, now? Why?" Eris asked.
"They'll need to be ready for anything; especially to stop Junior and his entourage when they show themselves again if it should come to that."
"But, I thought yous said Junior wasn't a threat," said Topper. "So why da big commotion all of a sudden?"
"I was careless to let him escape so easily," said Contemno. "I need to do something about him and his growth now before he develops into a serious problem. Topper, I want the council present here in an hour. Eris, check on the progress of the other three test subjects back at the castle. They should be ready to go soon."
"Whatever you say," Eris obliged with another shrug.
"I'll be conducting some tests on Bowser in the laboratory until the others arrive. I am not to be disturbed a minute sooner, understand?"
"Yeah, yeah. We got it," Eris replied as she dismissively waved her hand at Contemno. As the trio exited the room, Maldeon emerged from behind Contemno's throne. Eavesdropping from within the lion's den certainly was not his first plan. But, he should've expected it to come to this. It only made sense Maldeon would get stuck in such a position by sniffing around Contemno's throne room for clues.
"Bowser…what does that monster have in store for him?" the man wondered aloud. "Alright, Contemno. Show me where this 'laboratory' of your's is." Maldeon hurried out the door, but was cautious as he slunk down the hallway so as to avoid drawing any attention to his tailing efforts.
Maldeon followed Contemno from a safe distance as the mage hurried down the prison corridor. The latter stopped when he reached Bowser's cell.
Perfect. This was the opportune moment Maldeon was hoping for. His eyes widened however at what he saw next. Contemno rotated his wrist, and a bronze key materialized in his hand out of thin air.
Dammit! Maldeon cursed under his breath. Don't tell me he just summons the cell key out of thin air when he needs it! How the hell am I supposed to get Bowser out on my own if he's always got the key with him?
Distracted by his thoughts, Maldeon failed to respond in time as Contemno approached him from across the hall; towing Bowser on a chain leash behind him. The Koopa King was now sporting a blindfold over his eyes.
"Maldeon, what're you doing here?" Contemno asked.
"Who…me? I…well, umm," Maldeon hesitated. He frantically fished around in his coat pocket for something; anything that could be used as a talking piece. Grabbing hold of something, Maldeon whipped his arm back out and presented a humble red apple. Contemno's mask tilted down slightly to acknowledge it.
"I…thought the prisoner might be hungry. So I brought him a little snack."
"Did you not feed him this morning?"
"No, I did. It's just, the big guy's got quite the appetite. I thought this might help tide him over until lunch."
"I see. How thoughtful of you. You seem to be enjoying this job, I take it?" Maldeon opted to choose his words carefully. At least until he could figure out where Contemno was trying to lead him.
"I guess you could say that."
"Eris did warn you not to develop any sort of relationship with the prisoner, did she not?"
"Oh…yeah! Of course! Nothing of the sort. To me, this guy's just like a pet I have to feed every morning. Nothing more than that!" Maldeon smiled sheepishly.
Contemno didn't respond right away. A bead of sweat ran down Maldeon's face. The mask made it impossible to tell how the mage was reacting to these responses until he spoke up; but by then, it would already be too late to backpedal with any degree of subtlety. This intimidation factor was what Maldeon had come to expect from him by now. Which would make eventually challenging him directly all the more difficult.
"If I may offer a word of caution, do not grow too attached to our prisoner."
"I just said I-"
"This role will not be around for much longer." Maldeon's eyes widened. This was his chance to dig up some dirt. But how much was Contemno willing to offer?
"What do you mean?" Maldeon asked.
"I have special plans for Bowser," said Contemno. "I do not intend to keep him locked up forever. So, it will not be necessary for you to feed him forever."
"What are you going to do with him?"
"I don't believe that is any of your business."
Figures you would shut me out again… Maldeon cursed under his breath. Suddenly, a rebuttal struck him.
"Actually, it might be," he retorted.
"I beg your pardon?" said Contemno.
"Keeping Bowser fed was my role. If that's going away, I'm going to need something to do around here, right? Don't I deserve to know what that is if it still involves the prisoner?"
"I already have another role for you in mind, Maldeon. But it has little to do with Bowser." Maldeon bit his tongue. He was desperate to know more, but it took everything he had to stop himself from blurting something out that might tip Contemno off to his true intentions. "I suggest you stand by until I'm ready to discuss the details with you."
"Right….I understand…," Maldeon relented. Without another word, Contemno stalked past him with Bowser in tow. Maldeon wasn't surprised to receive little acknowledgement from the Koopa King given that the latter couldn't physically see him at the moment and they couldn't very well comment on their plans in front of Contemno. Maldeon lingered in the hallway until the pair had left. He clenched his fists.
"No…you're not getting off that easy…"
Contemno shut the door firmly behind him once he and Bowser were both inside. He shoved Bowser up against a wall at the opposite side of the room. Colliding with the wall must have activated a mechanism of some kind, as the entire panel slid out and scooped Bowser up underneath it; forming an instant examination table. Metallic cuff links sprouted out from the sides of the table and clutched Bowser's wrists and ankles.
Contemno approached the table and waved his hand as a large florescent lamp descended from the ceiling and flickered on. The mage removed Bowser's blindfold, and it took a minute or so for the Koopa King's eyes to adjust to the suddenly harsh light in front of him. Bowser struggled for a moment, but quickly abandoned his efforts to break free. Contemno turned his back and approached a table against the wall behind him; examining his tools.
The door cracked open slightly as Maldeon tactfully slithered into the room undetected. He crouched and crept his way behind a large metallic machine of some kind to watch from a safe distance.
"So, what're you gonna do with me, tiny?" Bowser asked.
"You shall be my guinea pig," said Contemno. "There is a substance I'm developing, and I need to know what kind of reactions it generates in the body upon ingestion."
"What, you're gonna make me drink some stuff? That's it? That's your big, scary master plan?"
"That is but one of my tests. But first, I plan to monitor how your body reacts to direct injection of the substance." Bowser caught a glimpse of Contemno sanitizing and preparing a large needle of some kind.
"Well, I guess I see what the restraints are for then, if you're planning to stick a needle up my-"
"Kindly spare me your vulgar comments. I will administer a dose of anesthesia if you insist on mindlessly running your mouth."
"Then why don't you quit wasting my time already!" Bowser countered. "You think you're scary? Huh? You think you can intimidate me!? You're nothing!"
"Is that so?" Contemno replied calmly.
"Yeah, it is! You think shoving me behind bars for a few days or strapping me to a table for a little shot is gonna be enough to scare me!? Get real!"
"Have you forgotten I've nearly choked you to death twice now?"
"Like it matters! You didn't finish me off, genius! You can't go through with it and we both know it! I'm not afraid of some punk in a Halloween get-up with a few parlor tricks and mean words. If you really wanna prove how tough you are, then just kill me already!" Bowser roared.
Contemno snapped his finger. Suddenly, another metal cuff link materialized over Bowser's neck; cementing his head in place. The Koopa King gritted his teeth and struggled slightly. Contemno chortled.
"I would expect nothing less of you, Bowser. After all, you've spent the vast majority of your life crafting and perfecting such a savage demeanor. It is what the world has come to expect of you, and you won't accept delivering any less. Don't worry, I don't blame you. How could I? Acting tough and fearless is all you know. You do anything and everything you can to strike fear into the hearts of others. If someone has something that you don't, you seek to tear them down so that you can raise yourself up."
"Yeah, and you're no exception you scrawny piece of-"
"You have to make them fear you so that they won't question you."
"Huh?" said Bowser, raising an eyebrow slightly.
"You can't let anyone think twice about you because if they do, there's a chance they'll discover the real you."
"…What are you going on about?" Suddenly, Contemno jammed a needle into Bowser's thigh. The Koopa King winced, but suppressed most of his reaction. He watched as a bottle of red liquid attached to the needle began to empty. Bowser felt a vibration in his leg at the point of impact. Something was in fact being injected into his bloodstream. But what?
"It all makes sense now," Contemno continued as he reached for another needle. "I must admit, I'm kicking myself now for not having seen it back then. Ten years ago, Princess Peach intervened during my first attempt to kill you. So I placed the job in her hands, but she refused. She didn't see you the way I did; the way I thought the rest of the world did; the very same way you wanted us to see you. But I didn't understand why she couldn't kill you."
"Tch, maybe it's because she's not a psychopath like you...," Bowser argued. Contemno shoved another needle aggressively into Bowser's other leg. Bowser bit his tongue, but his scream still leaked out a bit. Maldeon watched on in helpless horror.
"Wrong. It is because she saw what you're really like," said Contemno. "It just makes too much sense. The princess has certainly spent enough time around you to have seen it eventually."
"God, do you ever stop rambling? Get to the point already!" Contemno tenderly rotated Bowser's arm. The Koopa King froze. Contemno stabbed his arm with a third needle. With every injection, Bowser lost more control and gave into his cries of anguish. It was as if the pain was growing exponentially with each additional shot he received.
"Bowser, you try with all your might to act tough and in control. You want the entire world under your thumb because you don't want anyone to see the real you."
"Real…me?" Bowser repeated.
"You don't want anyone to see that deep down, you're just a scared, timid little child who never actually grew up."
"T-the…the hell are you talking about?" Contemno jammed yet another needle into Bowser's other arm. By now, Bowser was too weak to utter much of an audible yell at all.
"I know about it, Bowser. All of it. I know how weak and useless your father made you feel as a child and adolescent. He treated you like trash. He never believed you would live up to the family name."
"Sh-sh-shut up!" Bowser begged.
"King Morton wounded your heart, Bowser. But somewhere down the road, once you finished weeping and wallowing in your pathetic self-pity, you decided you'd had enough. You never wanted to let anyone see you in such a sorry state. More importantly, you never wanted anyone to have this much power over you ever again."
"S-stop it!" Bowser pleaded.
"You act vicious because you can't handle the way you truly feel! You're ashamed of the frightened, sad, and utterly unloved little child that forever dwells within you! As time passed, you have only struggled more and more to keep your weak, sensitive self in check!"
"Please…"
"You cried when you finally realized that your father never loved you and would never change his mind! You cried when your beloved Celia died! You desperately lashed out against Kammy and the Koopalings and your servants and guards and anyone else for that matter who's ever had the misfortune of being involved in your life! Why? It's because they dared try to console the wounded animal that you really are!"
Contemno continued on in spite of Bowser's mild whimpering and moaning. He maneuvered around the table and violently removed the first needle in Bowser's leg. The container that once housed the red liquid was empty.
"When you tried to act as a high and mighty king, you desperately sought to destroy Mario because he challenged the image you'd built for yourself. You lusted for Princess Peach, and when she didn't return your affection, you shielded your hurt feelings behind ever-growing anger and a distasteful personality."
Contemno yanked out the second needle. Bowser hardly reacted as he was too busy openly weeping on the table.
"Perhaps most important of all, you lashed out at your only son if he ever challenged your authority because you couldn't fathom the idea of Junior ever seeing the real, vulnerable you. If he did, his idealistic image of his Herculean father would shatter. You wouldn't be his hero anymore. He would never respect you, much less love you. If even your own son disowned you, what purpose did garbage like you have left in this life? Junior would just be another in the long line of people in your life who had no reason to love you."
Bowser reached out towards Contemno's mask, which was just out of range. The advancement was slow and meager, so the latter wasn't threatened by it in the slightest.
"You….you bastard," Bowser muttered. "Who the hell are you? Just how do you know all of this?"
"I didn't always know. But I had more than enough time to do my homework," said Contemno. "It is true that I lack the raw, physical strength that you command, Bowser. Which is why I had to get creative. I succeed not because of my magic, though it has proven to be quite helpful. No, I succeed because of my intellect. My real power lies with wielding the truth; the kind that people like you can't bear to face. Having said all of this now, it truly does not matter if I kill you or not, now does it?"
Bowser shook his head gloomily.
"Precisely. I don't need to kill you to make you fear me. I know your Achilles' heel. I take much more satisfaction out of letting you live a powerless, empty life than to end it abruptly." Contemno removed the last of the needles and scribbled something down on a clipboard.
The mage snapped his finger. All at once, the overhead light shut off, Bowser's restraints vanished, and the table flew back into the wall; leaving the drained and defeated Bowser to sprawl out on the cold tile floor. Contemno chuckled.
"I can't wait to see what fun I can have with you," he commented. Bowser lie still on the floor; silently lusting for death; a swift and painless one; the kind that Contemno seemed unwilling to grace him with now. The mage wrapped a blindfold across Bowser's empty, defeated eyes.
"Come now, on your feet," Contemno instructed. He flicked his wrist and a chain leash materialized around Bowser's neck. The Koopa King staggered slowly to his feet. "Tell me, did you enjoy his performance as much as I did, Maldeon?"
Maldeon froze in his place when he saw Contemno staring directly at him. The man backed himself up against the wall.
"You…you knew I was here?" asked Maldeon, horrified.
"Of course. It was rather obvious you would come to eavesdrop. Subtlety and deception really are not your strong suit, you know," Contemno replied playfully.
"W-what are you gonna do with Bowser?"
"I will continue conducting my experiments on him. As you can see, this stubborn mule is actually quite cooperative with the right motivation. Once he has demonstrated enough loyalty, perhaps he will become more to me than just a guinea pig." Bowser said nothing as his head hung low submissively.
"You…you won't get away with this, you maniac!" Maldeon exclaimed.
"Oh please, and who is going to challenge me? You? Ha! It is far too late for that I'm afraid," said Contemno. "It was obvious you've been conspiring with Bowser behind my back from the start. If you honestly think you can betray me now and get away with it, you are mistaken." Maldeon gritted his teeth and glared at the mask.
"Yeah? We'll see about that!" the man exclaimed. He turned on his heels and ran out of the lab as quickly as he could.
Bowser…I'm starting to remember you now. Just…please! Please don't forget who you are! Don't let him win! Stay strong! Remember, we're in this together!
…Aren't we?