Bowsette: A New Life
Chapter 62
Finding the enemy
Just before the three reached Toad Town, Bowsette had to stop and hover briefly to lower the anti-magic wards, or the copter might fall out of the sky. Bowsette landed next to Peach's castle. Toadsworth and other delegates rushed out to see the arrival of the three. "Here! Catch!" Bowsette quickly grabbed Luigi and tossed him onto the mass of Toads. "Get him some treatment will ya? We gotta go!" Before anyone could react, Bowsette was already lifting off and heading towards the sewers entrance.
Mario was startled at the Koopa Queen's antics, but Luigi looked to have landed fine in the arms of the Toads. He was too flustered to even berate her for it, but Bowsette was going to be Bowsette. As they landed next to the sewer entrance Bowsette leapt out.
"Stay here for a minute. Be right back." Bowsette didn't want to let Kamek have it in Mario's presence just yet. Truth be told Bowsette didn't know what she was going to do. Her conflicted feelings due to Mario these last few months were mini mushrooms compared to the swirl of emotions running through her at the prospect of facing Kamek right now. Still, she needed a new and more functional badge to give Mario before they could go after Peach, and Kamek was the only one who could make them.
Bowsette stopped at the entrance to Kamek's makeshift lab and removed and pocketed her own badge for now. She kept Mario's old one in another pocket, safe and secure for later. The Magikoopa was working too diligently to notice her right now. Bowsette's mouth widened into a maniacal grin as she watched him produce badge after badge oblivious to her presence. As quietly as a mouse, Bowsette drew near, and her grin grew wider as she stood directly behind the unsuspecting Koopa. She leaned up to Kamek's ear while he was just getting started on the next badge when… "Boo."
Kamek's girly scream echoed throughout the sewers. "Ooh! I haven't gotten you with that one in ages!" Bowsette giggled maliciously. Kamek turned around and froze at the sight of his Queen's freaky grin, fully exposing her long and pointed teeth. Kamek had only seen the look before when Bowsette was planning on laying some hurt on a particularly bothersome enemy.
"Oh Kamek…" Bowsette said in a faux singsong voice. She pointed at one of the dozens of badges Kamek had recently finished. "Be a dear would you and get me a new badge. The one you made for me kinda… melted." Bowsette's voice was filled with a familiar venom, the same tone that brook no argument from her that Bowser had used months ago to get Kamek to modify the Super Crown and start this whole mess, but there was a quiet and subdued anger under it all. Bowsette lied that the badge was for her since Kamek would probably just replace Mario's with another tampered badge.
Kamek could only squeak and sputter in response but instantly sprang into action. Kamek turned around and looked through the finished badges. He grabbed one at random and with his wand made a quick analysis to ensure it functioned before handing it to Bowsette. "Thank you." Bowsette took the badge with a huff. "I…" Bowsette's malice filled grin dropped and was replaced by a face that was on the verge of tears. "I value you so much Kamek. Please remember that." Bowsette put a finger up to Kamek's mouth before he could respond.
Bowsette simply walked out of the room. 'I still need him. For now.' Bowsette would handle Kamek more thoroughly later. Just to be sure, Bowsette checked the badge for Kamek's tampering before heading out of the sewers. Thankfully though, the badge was clean.
***
Mario simply waited patiently for Bowsette to get back. His heart wanted to rush to Luigi's side and make sure he was okay, but there was nothing he could do to help his brother. Mario would just be in the way of the healers, and he knew it. Besides, Mario couldn't bring himself to go against Bowsette's order, at least not after what had happened. Deep down he could still feel it, the embers of that unthinking rage that had the badge had ignited into a blazing fire and it scared him. Mario knew he'd never do anything like… that in his right mind, but the idea that he had the capacity for it he couldn't get out of his head.
What was certain is the incident had dispelled any thought from Mario that Bowsette was plotting something, at least when it came to this venture. There had always been this nagging idea in the back of Mario's head that Bowsette was behind these Remnants, or at least that she might try to take advantage of the situation at some point or another. Bowsette wasn't behind this, not intentionally, and she was doing so much to try to fix the problem.
It was no surprise that Mario had been suspicious of Bowsette, they had been enemies for years, their whole lives even. The Koopa Kingdom had been trying to take over the Mushroom Kingdom with the three fighting over it since back when Mario, Luigi, and Bowsette… or Bowser, were toddlers. Of course, Mario couldn't remember that far back, but he had traveled back in time to see himself as a baby a long time ago.
It had been hard to shake the feeling that Bowsette would try to pull something evil at any moment. Or it was, until Mario saw that look of devastation on her face as she tried to protect herself from Mario's relentless assault. With his berserk state of mind at the time fuddling his ability, Bowsette could have easily defeated him, but she wouldn't even strike back once. It had been a harrowing experience for the both of them.
Thunk thunk thunk! Someone was knocking on Mario's head. "Mushroom Kingdom to Pasta Freak! Pasta Freak! Hellooooooo?" Somehow Mario had been so lost in thought he hadn't even noticed the Koopa Queen reenter the Koopa Copter.
"Uh… yes Bowsette? Are we-a ready to-a go?" Mario asked. Bowsette handed Mario another badge, it was blue like hers but didn't have a bit of Super Crown on it like the others. Mario looked at it warily.
"This one will work for sure. Ready? Let's see if we can find Peach and then…" Bowsette lifted up into the sky with no further comment. They'd see when they got there.
***
Bowsette put aside her thoughts of Kamek and focused on Peach as she flew. Never did she imagine she'd be the one trying to rescue Peach herself. Though… the infected princess had obviously left the infected Luigi behind to stall them. It was something Bowsette would expect out of, well, herself or one of the other villains the Mushroom Kingdom had to deal with over the years.
As they flew towards 4-2, the Copter's fuel gauge was getting low, and they didn't have time to head back to one of Bowsette's other castles. They'd just have to hope they could find the enemy stronghold before they had to make a quick landing and progress on foot.
However, it wasn't hard to find. It took Bowsette a second to remember where Morton's ruined castle was, but with the Copter they spotted it, fully rebuilt probably with magic. "Whoa!" Bowsette had to swerve to avoid a Bullet Bill that came out of nowhere and nearly struck the Copter. "Hang on!" More Bullet Bills followed, Bowsette turned the copter around and dove down low to avoid the bullets.
The Bullet Bills were still being shot in their general direction, so Bowsette dropped the copter into a cluster of trees near the castle. "Let's go." Bowsette hopped out with Mario following without comment. There wasn't any sign yet that the Remnants had pursued them, but it was only so long before they did.
"So how did-a they rebuild that castle so quickly?" Mario made conversation as they headed toward it on foot. "Were they building it before-a the attacks started?" He asked.
Bowsette shrugged. "Maybe, but maybe not. Kamek could build an entire castle with magic and enough rock in like a week. In a few hours if he had something like a giant tree to turn into a castle, and the thing that would take nearly all the time there is deciding the layout beforehand. Repairing a wrecked one? Depends on the damage. It would take a whole squad of Magikoopas to do it half as fast as Kamek could." Bowsette noted. Kamek really was the best magician in the entire Koopa Kingdom by a good margin. Only Kammy was anywhere close to Kamek in ability, and she was retired. It made the decision Bowsette was going to have to make soon more difficult. "Maybe that's what the fake Kamek was doing since our first date."
"First date?" Mario whispered. Bowsette hadn't even sounded flustered when she said that, just matter of fact like she was commenting on the weather. That was their first date, wasn't it? Mario hadn't really thought about their meeting at the fortress in 4-1 for some time. Back then Mario had been conflicted and confused about what was going on. After they retreated from the attack there had been too much chaos for things to really register. 'Are-a we… a couple?' Mario wondered.
"Look out!" Bowsette grabbed Mario and pulled him away as a Bullet Bill almost struck him. Mario cursed himself for his inattentiveness. Now wasn't the time to think of things like that! More Bullet Bills rained down from the enemy castle almost as though it was literal rain. Like the Remnants themselves the Bullet Bills had pink eyes and a pinkish purple coloration.
Mario and Bowsette only had to look at each other and nod before acting. The two rushed forward at full speed, dodging the Bullet Bills despite how many there were without much trouble. Mario had been through this routine plenty of times before and knew how to avoid them. Bowsette lagged behind a bit, she was a lot less used to forcing her way past enemy defenses like this.