Chapter 2

"… I did it?"

Bowser knew his lips formed the words, but they still felt foreign, disembodied even. They echoed in his head, their implications too overwhelming to process in the mere moment it took to speak them.

"Yeah, we did it, Papa!" Junior whooped.

Bowser looked down at his son's eager grin and back up at the magical visual, unable to reply because he was at such a devastating loss for words. He blinked; Mario's hat still lay there, smoldering and lifeless.

"Wait… no. Let's not get our hopes up just yet," he said slowly. It felt too good to be true, and Bowser knew better than most that Mario was a crafty sort; there was still an annoyingly probable chance he'd escaped. Even if Bowser's heart was already pounding away with excitement.

"Your Doubtfulness, I don't think even he could have survived that," Kamek said. "We all saw he was trapped without any power-ups."

Bowser frowned. "I don't care. I want the bratpack down there, stat! Make sure he's really dead, and I want no stone unturned!" he barked, knowing that the Koopalings would be far more reliable than a squadron of standard Koopas.

Kamek jolted and saluted stiffly. "I'm on it, Sire!" He disappeared in a flash of purple smoke as he teleported away to relay his king's orders. Within a minute or two, he and all seven Koopalings were scouring the rubble for any further signs of Mario.

Bowser crossed his arms and watched them with great impatience as the next few minutes crawled by. He tapped his foot, a small tendril of smoke floating up from his nostril. Junior stood next to him, also very clearly impatient, as he repeatedly shifted his weight, shuffled anxiously about his father's legs, and sighed with exasperation while they waited for the Koopalings to conclude their search.

"Lord Bowser! I have discovered another fragment of Mario's denim over garment," Ludwig, the leader and eldest of the Koopalings, announced.

"Add it with the others," Bowser said, ignoring the surge of giddiness that fluttered up in his gut. Nothing had been confirmed. Yet.

Ludwig nodded and proceeded to add his scrap of overalls to the growing puzzle laid out on the rubble. Mismatched pieces of red, blue, and white fabric were spread over a large block of fallen wall, and two of the Koopalings were working together to assemble them together to make the shape of Mario.

"Hey, I've got his other glove!" A smaller Koopaling with a shock of light blue hair said in the background as he waved the ragged piece of white cloth in the air.

"Bring it here, Larry, I've just found a shoe," a Koopaling with oversized goggles motioned him over.

"Iggy, just like, stop mixing up his left and right, m'kay? You're making this way harder than it needs to be," the only female Koopaling chided him as he attempted to put the pieces in place.

"Hey, it's not my fault, Miss Wendy O." Iggy defended. "He's got five fingers and toes, and we've only got four!"

"Ugh, whatever. It's almost complete anyways," Wendy said with a roll of her eyes. She put the shoe and glove in their correct places. Aside from the jagged gaps where the torn cloth pieces would not fit together, there was a near-perfect outline of Mario's short frame. "I'm pretty sure that Mario is like, pretty extra dead, King Dad."

Bowser forced himself to take Wendy's words with a measured reaction. He mulled it over for a long minute, wanting so badly to just go ahead and declare his victory. But his more cautious side still wasn't sure…

"AGH! I found another piece," a loud and boisterous Koopaling balked. He pinched the fabric between his scaly black-and-white fingers and held it out in front of him as though it would bite. He plodded towards his siblings and they all squirmed away as he approached.

"EWWW, Morton, is that his underwear?!" Larry gagged.

The Koopalings began rapidly shouting over one another, arguing about the supposed underwear and what it meant if it was lying there with no owner in sight. When Morton tossed it at them with a cheeky grin, they all shrieked and scrambled away. When a couple of his older brothers made their way over to straighten him out, Morton's smile faded into a mask of repentance.

"Okay, okay, OKAY!" Bowser yelled through the magical projection. The Koopalings froze mid-sentence (and for a couple of them, mid-punch) and waited for him to continue. Bowser inhaled sharply, his next words leaving him light-headed.

"I did it. He's… he's really dead!" he felt the largest grin pull at his muzzle as the reality hit him full force. He threw his head back, finally letting loose the maniacal laugh he'd been holding in since the Bomber Bill first made impact. "Call off the search! Kamek, gather the troops and meet me at the front gates of the Mushroom Kingdom! We're going to push our invasion, and now, no one can stop me!"

As he finished with another laugh, a small thud behind him drew his attention. Bowser and Junior slowly and simultaneously craned their necks and saw that Peach was lying unconscious on the floor of her cage, having fainted.

"Uhh, did Mama Peach just fall asleep?" Junior asked him.

Bowser found that he was, once again, at a loss for words.

The Koopa King's triumphant entry into the Mushroom Kingdom was a plan that had been a long time in the making. Bowser never once doubted he'd eventually use it (which was true– he'd actually doubted it several times). Regardless, it still felt like a dream when he landed his Clown Car at the border of the Mushroom Kingdom's capital and sauntered over to where Kamek and the Koopalings waited for him, stationed in front of a massive army of Koopas. Junior hopped out with him, and Peach (after she had recovered from her fainting spell) was forced to come along as Bowser carried her.

"You did it, Your Viciousness!" Kamek congratulated him as he approached.

"Yes I did! I finally, really did!" Bowser sang, puffing his chest out. The army hurrahed, and the Koopalings all high-foured one another enthusiastically.

"Yeah, we did it!" Morton exclaimed.

"Not us, bratpack, I!" Bowser corrected him, lifting his snout into the air. "Hey, are you guys ready to rock?!"

"Shell yeah we are!" a Koopaling with cat-eyed sunglasses exclaimed, hefting a boombox on his shoulder.

"I will let the language pass this once, Roy!" Bowser shot him a pointed look, but his smile remained. "Now, hit it!"

The air was suddenly filled with the rumble of deep bass and the loud whine of electric guitar. Bowser bopped his head to the heavy-metal beat and started his slow swagger into the Mushroom Kingdom. Junior, Kamek, and the Koopalings all filed out on either side of him, trying their best to look intimidating as they walked beside him. The army followed behind at a steady, synchronized march.

Bowser couldn't hide his grin even if he tried. As the procession made their way down the narrow streets of the lower village, working their way up to Peach's castle, any Toads who dared to step outside could only stare in blank horror. If Bowser glanced their way, they'd scramble back inside to supposed safety or scream in terror, oftentimes both. He stuck out his tongue at them as he continued up the hill, a bounce in his step as the music announced his coming.

Peach was rigid in his grasp, as well as uncharacteristically silent. She hadn't spoken a single word since she'd woken up. Every once in a while Bowser glanced over at her with a smirk, but she only gazed straight ahead, her eyes misty and vacant. Bowser hoped she'd snap out of it soon.

Bowser and his army finally made it to the top of the hill, where a giant crowd of Toads stood in the courtyard between them and the castle. Damage from the Darklands' most recent attack was still evident, as scorch marks colored the polished white marble with sooty black streaks, and the statue of Mario appeared to have taken some hits, too.

Bowser knew the Toads were cowardly creatures, but he still came prepared for some resistance. As he climbed the last step (which admittedly, he was kind of relieved to see; the journey took much longer than using a warp pipe would have), he opened his mouth to give the order for his troops to detain the Toads. However, he didn't get the chance, as the Toads all hurried to make a direct path for him to the castle.

Bowser chuckled, pleasantly surprised, and waltzed up to the front doors of the castle, keeping in time with the rock music that followed him. Once or twice he bared his teeth at the crowd, and they all flinched backwards. The last line of defense at the front doors was the Royal Guard, a dozen or so Toads with matching helmets and halberds pointed in his direction. Even from this distance, Bowser could see they were sweating and trembling with fear.

"Boo," he said. Almost instantly, the guards dropped their weapons and raised their arms in surrender. Bowser poked the guard closest to him and snickered as he fell over without being able to catch himself with his arms still in the air.

He spun around as he reached the top step at the doors. He surveyed the frightened crowd for a moment, watching with satisfaction as his Koopas formed a perimeter to prevent them from running away. He motioned for Roy to cut the music.

Roy nodded and pushed a button to stop the song. However, the heavy metal only got exponentially louder. Bowser winced and motioned more harshly. Roy panicked and mashed buttons until the boombox sputtered out and the music mercifully died.

"Ahem. Well, then," Bowser cleared his throat. "Hello morons! I'm really flattered you all came here to welcome your new king. And, as you can see, I have your princess with me!"

Fearful murmurs rose up from the crowd. Bowser paused and set Peach down next to him, showing that she was unharmed. She seemed to finally come to her senses when her feet touched the ground, and she looked up at him with wide, glassy eyes. Bowser wasn't sure what to say to her, so he turned back to the crowd.

"You all seem to be shocked. All I did was destroy your precious plumber– which, hey, we all knew was gonna happen someday! So you all really shouldn't be that surprised," he deadpanned. There was no reaction, other than more uneasy whispers. Bowser rolled his eyes.

"Okay, what if I answered some questions for you? Anybody got any questions for your new and awesome king?"

"I have one."

Peach's voice was slightly cracked from disuse, but Bowser was happy to hear her finally speak nonetheless.

"Yes! Go ahead. What question would you like me to answer for my subjects?" Bowser propped his hands on his hips and looked down at her.

Peach's gaze hardened and she stood to her full height. "Well, I'm sure we'd all like to know what you plan to do with us, and this kingdom." And me. The unspoken part of Peach's question was written all over her face, so it was obvious to Bowser. He tapped his chin as he considered his answer.

"Glad you asked. Imagine the Darklands. Rocks, lava, more lava. Pretty awesome, right? Well, now picture all that awesomeness here, right where we stand! No more stupid plants or sunshine or bright colors, only one-hundred percent Bowser-approved territory!"

There were a few gasps at this. Bowser took it as a sign to continue.

"Of course, you'll have to share with my Koopas. Can't keep all that awesome land to yourself, after all. Ah, and speaking of sharing, you should get ready to surrender all your power-ups."

"What?" Peach covered her mouth in horror.

Bowser picked at his claws, as though he had only announced it was going to rain later. "Starting today, I want every mushroom, flower, and star handed over to me. Anyone caught with a power-up will be thrown in the dungeon, no exceptions."

"You can't do that!" Peach exclaimed.

"Can and will. But don't worry Peaches, I've saved the best news for last!" Bowser took her small hand in his own. She stiffened, but didn't pull back like Bowser had expected. "Princess Peach, I want to ask you in front of all these people, will you rule by my side as queen over both my kingdoms? Will you marry me?" he flashed her a sharp grin. "I simply won't take 'no' for an answer!"

A small spark of anger lit up her blue eyes, and she opened her mouth as though she were about to fiercely decline his proposal. But she stopped midway, and blinked several times. She glanced out at the audience of Toads, and the Koopas that surrounded them. There was silence for a seemingly endless minute as everyone held their breath and waited for her reply.

When Peach turned back to him, Bowser could practically see all of the emotions draining from her body. She seemed to shrink before his very eyes, that hollow and distant look returning to her gaze.

"Yes, I will marry you," she said so quietly Bowser thought he misheard her. He tightened his grip on her hand ever-so-slightly and licked his lips.

"Louder? So the guys in the back can hear?"

"I will marry you!" she cried, looking up at him with eyes brimming with tears. "No tricks this time! I promise to marry you, just please don't hurt anyone else! I–"

"Wait!" a shrill voice suddenly called out over the crowd. "You can't do this, Princess!"

Peach looked out to see a white and red spotted head making its way to the front of the crowd.

"Toad?" Peach gasped as he pushed through. Before he could get any closer, however, an aura of purple magic enveloped him and froze him in place.

"How dare you defy your king!" Kamek hissed at him. Toad struggled and fought against the Magikoopa's spell.

"Princess–! D-Don't give in to that monster! You can't– AAAGH!" Toad was cut off by his own screams as Kamek shocked him.

"Toad!" Peach tried to go to him, but Bowser held her back. "Let him go!"

"What should I do with him, Sire?" Kamek inquired.

Bowser narrowed his fiery red eyes at the specific Toad who had been a thorn in his side since the beginning. If he wanted, he could incinerate him where he stood. It would be so easy.

Bowser heard a faint sniffle beside him. He knew he would lose his resolve if he looked down and saw that Peach was about to cry, but he did anyway. She was on the verge of tears, as he expected. He sigh-growled and rolled his eyes at himself.

"Just lock him up. I don't want to see this guy's face ever again!" he barked.

Kamek nodded and Toad disappeared in a poof of smoke. Peach gave the tiniest sigh of relief.

"Now, where were we?" Bowser took Peach's other hand, too, and beamed from horn to horn. The princess looked like she wanted to run, but where was there to go? Bowser had won, and they both knew it. "I think a wedding at sunset would be the most–"

"C-Could we have an engagement period?" Peach stammered. Without warning she squeezed his hands, and Bowser felt heat flood his cheeks.

"What–? No, why?" he asked, trying to cover up his surprise with a small cough into his fist. He hoped his kids didn't notice, but their snickers indicated otherwise.

"M-My people, our couples always have an engagement period. That way there's time to plan a big wedding. You… you want a big wedding, don't you?" she practically begged him with her eyes.

Bowser wanted to say no to her, he really did. After all, he'd been waiting for this day for years. His happiness was halfway in his hands, and all he needed to do was tighten his fist. So he would tell her no, and she would have to deal with it. But when he opened his mouth to do just that, he found it was his turn to hesitate. On second thought, why hurry? Mario wouldn't be there to crash the wedding.

"One month, and not a second more. For a big wedding– and only because I want a big wedding," he said before he could take it back. Peach nodded so quickly that Bowser was afraid she'd hurt her neck.

"In the meantime," he addressed both Peach and the crowd now, "I want you all to just carry on and live your normal, pathetic lives– erm, well, without power-ups and all that other stuff I mentioned. And! I want you to prepare yourselves for the best wedding ever… in a month! It's gonna ROCK!"

As it turned out, running two kingdoms and trying to merge them at the same time was a lot of work. The first couple days were fun, of course. Terrorizing the Toads, remodeling the Mushroom Kingdom to his liking, and spending as much time with Peach as he wanted was great– better than great– but what was even greater was that there was no one to stop him.

He smashed a little Toad house? No Mario. He burned down an entire street for the fun of it? No Mario. He ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner with his reluctant fiancé? Still no Mario!

And no one from the other kingdoms dared to stand up to him, either. In fact, it was just the opposite. Not even a day after his takeover he began receiving all kinds of letters and gifts (or perhaps offerings would be a more appropriate description). A custom-made hot-rod kart from the Jungle Kingdom, a ring set with a magical gem from Jewelry Land (which he turned around and gifted to Peach as her engagement ring), and all kinds of other goodies quickly piled up in Bowser's study. The notes attached were always basically the same: "Congratulations King Bowser, and please leave us alone!" A few kingdoms had even sent dignitaries to try and personally negotiate with him, but Bowser always shooed them away under the excuse of not having time.

He laughed at them all. What weak fools they were! They put up a big show, but the second Mario was gone, they shied away like Boos. Bowser would conquer them all someday, but for now, he'd bask in his hard-earned victory, and throw a wedding so spectacular that Princess Peach couldn't help but fall in love with him.

The princess had been acting strange lately. True to her word, she didn't try to pull any tricks or run away, but really, she didn't do much of anything. She barely ate, she hardly spoke, and her piercing blue eyes were dull and lifeless. Bowser assumed she'd be a little upset by all the changes his takeover would cause, but he also knew she was tough and would learn to accept it soon enough. "Soon enough" couldn't come soon enough, in his opinion.

At least Junior and the Koopalings were happy. Now that they were getting a mother, they finally made a real effort to comport themselves (at least when they were around her). Junior was particularly cheerful, and oftentimes would join Bowser in his time with Peach. Peach was never mean to any of them (not that Bowser ever expected that anyways), but she wasn't exactly going along with what Bowser imagined in his head, either.

Kamek, surprisingly, was also much more jovial than usual, though his reason was more closely related to the near-endless supply of power-ups he had access to now. Bowser knew the Mushroom Kingdom had a lot, but Stars above, they really had a lot. It truly was a smart move on Bowser's part to restrict them, because seeing the staggering number now, it was no surprise how Mario had kicked his shell for so long. With so many at his disposal, the Magikoopa took great delight in experimenting with the foreign magical objects. Well, at least during what little free time he had.

Bowser could relate to his mentor. Too soon after the chaos came the mind-numbing paperwork. Bowser was used to performing his more official kingly duties back home, but now that he also had to worry about the Mushroom Kingdom, his workload was doubled. Princess Peach probably could've handled some of it, but she wasn't technically the princess anymore, since Bowser had claimed his rule over the throne. Besides, she would most likely want to go against his plans, anyways.

Really, the only thing he looked forward to in all of this was the wedding. Taking over the Mushroom Kingdom was great and all, but once the conquering was done, so was the fun. Having Peach by his side, and then moving on to conquering other kingdoms would surely pull him out of this empty, monotonous routine.

His mind was weighed down with all these thoughts as he mulled over a document he couldn't exactly process. He rested his chin in his hand and leaned on his elbow, going cross eyed as he tried to force himself to focus in the fading light of sunset.

"Your Terribleness! Another tribute has arrived," Kamek announced as he knocked on the door of Bowser's temporary office. It would have been a hassle to continuously go back and forth from the Darklands to the Mushroom Kingdom, so Bowser claimed a room for himself in Peach's castle (well, it was really his castle now, but anyways).

Bowser groaned and bid Kamek to come in. Kamek came in bearing what looked like a large hatbox.

"Well?" Bowser rubbed his temple. "Who's it from this time?"

"The Cap Kingdom, Sire. The note claims that they offer you a personal servant in exchange for peace in their lands."

Bowser quirked his eyebrow in interest. "Oh?"

Kamek opened the hatbox and a rounded, black hat with two oversized red eyes came floating out. He bowed with his little, ghost-like arms.

"So, you're here to serve me, eh?" Bowser addressed the Bonneter.

"Yes sir, King Bowser, sir! The name's Bowler, at your service. I volunteered to come here 'cause I'm the toughest of the tough!" the Bonneter– Bowler– said in a rush.

"Ha! You hear that, Kamek? Now they're even sending me servants. Did you ever think this day would come?"

"Of course not, Sire! Er– I mean– of course I did, Sire!" Kamek sweated.

"So, Bowler, you think you're tough, eh? Well, that's a shame, because this place is totally, absolutely dry as a Dry Bones." Bowser flopped back in his chair dramatically. Kamek was puzzled by his reaction.

"Is… something the matter, Your Irateness?" he asked.

"Nope! Everything is great! Mario's dead, Peach is set to marry me soon, and the whole eight worlds are cowering at my feet! It's just perfect," he spat.

Kamek shuffled back a step and wisely remained silent as his king started to rant.

"There's no one to stop me! There's no one to stop me. This– this is too easy. Too easy, Kamek."

"I'm afraid you've lost me, Sire." Kamek adjusted his glasses.

Bowser sighed and waved him away. "Nevermind. Leave Bowler here, I'm going to go for a walk."

Kamek bowed. "Yes, Sire. If I may… if you're feeling down, you could always move up the wedding."

Bowser sighed again. "Yeah, I guess I could… but what's the point when I don't have to worry about him anymore?"

"'Him,' Sire?"

"Nothing. Just… Goodnight, Kamek."

Kamek bowed once more and exited the study. Bowser motioned for Bowler to come over.

"C'mon, let's go Capture a Wiggler or some stupid thing. I'm suffocating in this office," Bowser grumbled. Bowler saluted and rested between Bowser's horns.

"Hey, you can change into other hats, right? Because I don't think you suit my style, pal."

"Sir, yes I can, sir! Just give me the word," Bowler replied.

"Later, I just want to walk for now. Just keep quiet, will ya?"

Bowser made his way to the front courtyard, his thoughts growing more and more frustrated with each step. The statue of Mario still stood there, but only because Bowser hadn't had a chance to take it down yet. It made his blood boil to see it and he marched right up to its base.

"Stupid Mario!" he grunted, unleashing a mighty punch and cracking the marble. "You're supposed to try and stop me!" he punched again. "You're supposed to try to take back what I want so I can beat you to a pulp!" Another punch, sending some chips of stone flying this time. "You're supposed to–"

"Are you alright, sir?" a voice with a refined accent asked. Bowser whipped around and was suddenly face to face with the most dorkish looking man he'd ever seen. His poofy blue hair was piled in curls atop his head, and perfectly complimented his atrocious pink overcoat with poofy sleeves. A golden crown indicated he was some kind of foreign royalty.

"Get lost, doofus!" Bowser growled at him. "Don't you know who I am?"

"A-Apologies, sir!" the man stuttered as he paled. "I didn't mean to–"

"Hello? Is someone there?" a new voice called. Peach's voice.

Bowser felt his anger give way to sudden panic. Why was Peach out here? Ugh, he didn't want her to see him like this, throwing a tantrum over something he couldn't even figure out!

"Hello?" Peach repeated, her heeled footsteps coming ever closer from the other side of the massive statue.

Bowser suddenly remembered Bowler on his head, and looked back at the dork-man with a nervous glance. He didn't have time to think about it further.

"Bowler, look like that guy's crown, quick!" he hissed, then threw the Bonneter at the man's head.

"What in the Stars–?!" the man cried, but was stopped short as his crown was knocked off and he instantly wasn't himself anymore.

Bowser briefly looked down at his pale, five-fingered hands in awe. His head snapped back up as Peach turned the corner, surprisingly much closer to his height.

"I thought I heard voices… wait, Haru? Is that you?" Peach asked in disbelief.

Bowser only hesitated for a moment. "Ah, yes! It's me… Haru…?"