Bowsette: A New Life
Chapter 41
Holding the line
Mario navigated through the Koopa Castle sewers. He wasn't anywhere near as familiar with it as he was with the Toad Town sewers, but Mario would manage. He needed to find a drainage grate somewhere if he were to get in. Mario had gone in and out through his fair share of toilets before, but that was a last resort. Mario was already covered in enough excrement as it was.
Entrances he had used in the past were all covered, probably right after Mario had used them to infiltrate, so he had to search for a while. Eventually, Mario did find a drainage grate on the ceiling that hadn't been covered and looked weak enough for him to break through. Spending some time tossing his hammer at it a few times, the old grate gave way, and Mario jumped up through it.
Mario found himself in what looked to be the prisoner showers in the older Koopa Castle dungeons. The thick clouds of dust he was kicking up convinced Mario that the place hadn't been used in a very long time. He took the letter out of his pocket and checked it, it was still in good shape, and luckily for him the showers still had flowing water. Putting the letter down near the door Mario took a few minutes to wash off the mess he was covered in clothes and all and used what little fire magic he knew to dry himself off as best he could manage.
Mario rung out his hat and while doing all this he considered what to do next. The diplomatic badge might help him but with the castle under attack it was likely Bowsette's minions would be jumpy enough to just attack on sight. For once, it would probably be a bad idea to fight his way to the throne room and only end up reducing the defenders. Mario finished drying himself off and put the letter back in his pocket, he made his way to the fortunately unlocked door.
Opening the door to the showers, Mario saw there was no one in the corridors or cells. Mario walked through lighting the torches on the walls with fireballs as he approached. Eventually, he found the door out into the rest of the castle and went through. Mario had to get to the throne room somehow and while running into as few minions as he could. He went through a door toward the dining rooms where there probably wasn't anyone right now, from there he'd be able to reach the staircases without much… Mario's musing was interrupted when someone gasped behind him.
"M-m-m… Mario!?" A red shelled Koopa Troopa said. Mario sighed and turned around, so much for stealth. "What the Underwhere are you doing here?" The Koopa said, clearly scared just to be in his presence. "Um… okie dokie." Mario said. 'Maybe I was-a being too paranoid…' Mario thought. "I need to get-a to Bowser Junior. I have a letter from Kamek." The Koopa looked at Mario suspiciously for a moment but shrugged. "Alright, it's not like any of us could stop you anyway." The Koopa admitted. "I'll take you to him."
***
Bowser Junior was busy directing the defenses on the roof. The castle walls and drawbridge were holding well against the enemy ground forces, but that didn't stop the aerials like the Dark ParaKoopas, Paragoombas, Lakitus, and so forth from simply flying over the walls. The Magikoopas were busy directing a hastily made weak barrier to keep the pink lightning from spawning more of the enemy inside the castle, but they couldn't make it strong enough to stop the enemy from forcing through it, it was taxing, and would only last so long. Bowsette's ground minions mostly manned Bullet Bills and cannon fire to hold the enemy off, but they seemed endless and Junior didn't know how long they could keep it up.
Aside from directing the forces, whenever he had a spare moment for the first time in a long time Bowser Junior made use of his Egad Brush to make more aerial minions out of quick paint drawings. They were less effective and intelligent than the originals he was making copies of, but anything helped in this situation. The most fortunate thing was, the magical brush copies couldn't be infected like Bowsette's own forces and were instead simply destroyed by the attempt, and Junior ordered the troops that could to stay near the castle and protect each other from being infected.
Mario arrived on the roof with the red shelled Koopa Troopa leading the way. "Young Master! There is news!" The Koopa yelled. "Wha? Wait, Mario?" Junior looked at him surprised. "What are YOU doing here?" Junior said gruffly, though he was glad to see him. 'Did Mama send him?' Junior wondered. "I have a letter from-a Kamek. Your… your mother isn't doing too well and couldn't come." Mario said reluctantly. "Mama…?" Junior struggled to keep his composure. "Gimme the letter." Mario took it out of his pocket and handed it to Junior.
Junior read the letter without expression for a bit. He turned to a Paratroopa flying nearby. "Jerry, go find Witch and return with them ASAP. Tell them Pointy Hat Prime has sent orders." Jerry saluted. "Sir! Yes sir!" Mario scratched his head. "Witch? Pointy Hat-a Prime?" Mario asked the red Koopa. "I don't know what that means. The Young Master has been hanging out with Jerry too much while the Queen has been gone. You know how impressionable kids are."
The question was answered as someone Mario hadn't seen much of for a good while floated down from the sky. Kammy Koopa's broom putted as she flew around, coming to a stop and landing. "Mario…" Kammy scowled at him and turned to Junior. "Reporting as ordered Young Master." Junior simply handed Kammy the letter. "From Kamek." Bowser Junior went back to directing his forces, leaving Kammy and Mario to their own devices.
Kammy smacked her hand against her forehead. "Dampening wards! Why didn't I think of that! I must be getting old…" Kammy berated herself. "And then… hmm… that's really bad…" Kammy continued to read. She glanced at Mario and sighed. As she finished reading the letter she waved a hand and fire consumed the letter. "I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere." The old hag got back on her broom and flew into the air as Mario waited patiently.
-
Searching around the skies of the castle Kammy located a dozen Magikoopas who she knew already knew the dampening wards to help set them. The group returned to the roof and gave orders to the troops to get the supplies they needed. The dozen flew off to carry out their orders as Kammy returned to Mario.
Kammy didn't like having to rely on the plumber, but she saw no choice. "Come this way, and don't stray or I will turn you into a pig." Mario grunted but followed close behind. 'Bowsette… or Bowser… my Liege, why didn't you confide in me?' Kammy lamented as she walked. The letter had had a brief summary of the situation with Kamek and Bowsette back in the Mushroom Kingdom, as well as an explanation of the Super Crown accident. Kammy concurred that this might be the only way to fix her shifting problem, but she was still disappointed that Bowsette had kept it from everyone but Kamek.
"Where are-a we going?" Mario asked. The old hag continued walking for a bit before deciding to answer. "One of Kamek's magical labs. That's where we'll find the equipment needed." Kammy bypassed the anti-intruder magical defenses to keep them from harming Mario as she entered the lab. As typical for any competent wizard the lab was a complete mess, but Kamek hadn't been in here much since the incident with the Super Crown.
Kamek's letter said the remains of the Super Crown used in the accident should be here, inside one of the safes. Do not tell Mario about the Super Crown or what has happened with it. The letter had said. Kammy opened them, found an old sack, and put the pieces of the crown into it along with some other alchemical ingredients. Kamek could probably make do without them, but they made a good smokescreen. "If anything happens to the contents of this bag, my Queen cannot be cured." Kammy explained.
Mario got the feeling Kammy wasn't telling him everything, but he nodded and took the bag. "Now get out however you came in and get back to Kamek. I've got to get back to work." The old hag walked out of the lab with Mario trailing behind. However, rather than go back down to the old dungeons Mario continued to follow Kammy. It wasn't until Kammy got to the door to the roof that she noticed.
"Uh… what are you still doing here?" Kammy asked. "My way in was-a one way." Which it was, for all his jumping ability Mario wouldn't be able to get back up the pit from the pipe and he'd fall to his death trying to jump down. "Besides, I'm not going to-a leave you all like this. For one, Bowsette would-a kill me if I let anything happen to you guys." Kammy looked back at Mario, her expression somewhere between disbelief and suspicion. "You want to be the hero to your enemies?" Kammy said unbelieving. Then scoffed. "Fine then. I'm not going to stop you." Mario took a moment to secure the bag of the supplies in a storage room near the roof and headed up to join the fighting.