Mario reappeared back aboard the Superstar Shuttle, facing towards his planet. He'd made it out alive, at the cost of Bowser Junior; Mario needn't turn around to work out who the aggravated footsteps behind him belonged to.
Instinctively, Mario dived to the ground, and just in time too - above him, a fierce claw cut through the air. His head still spinning from the somewhat dizzying transportation, Mario just barely rolled out of the way of Bowser's foot, stomping the metal foor with a loud bang.
"You wretched plumber!" Bowser roared, smoke pouring from his nostrils. "Do you know what you've done?!"
"Bowser!" Mario exclaimed, although he really had nothing to say. He could not defend himself; he was only trying to survive.
Then again, so was Junior.
"I'll get you, plumber!" Bowser bounded on all fours - Mario attempted to leap out of the way, but underestimated the Koopa's speed as Bowser's shell caught him mid-air. In all their battles, Mario had never seen the King of the Koopas fight with such ferocity. "You've gone too far! I'll make sure you suffer!"
Skidding across the ground and turning, Bowser went back around for Mario, fire erupting from his open mouth, scorching the shuttle's floor. Mario once again dived out of the way - without any power-ups, Mario had to play this carefully.
"Bowser, I'm sorry!" Mario emphasized. "You think I wanted Junior to suffer that fate?!"
King Koopa offered no verbal response; only the thick whack of his tail, sending Mario flying into the glass. It's a good thing Kartra made this ship so durable.
Mario slid down the glass, winded from the blow. He was unable to get out of the way as a panting Bowser swept him up in his fist, holding him just inches from his fangs.
"I'll make this nice and slow, Mario!" Bowser's growled, his voice distorted in absolute fury. "I'll pick off each arm, then each leg, one by one! I'll crunch on your bones! I'll make you feel every ounce of pain you have dealt to me over the years, and I'll make sure to make it last!"
"Mario!" Luigi cried, his party only just returning to the main area of the shuttle.
The doors slid open, and all of a sudden the plumber and the Koopa were parted, suspended mid-air. Kartra stood in the doorway, holding one hand up.
"Tut, tut!" Kartra clicked her tongue. "Well, I can't say I didn't expect this to happen; I'm just disappointed it didn't happen sooner!"
"Let me go, witch!" Bowser demanded, struggling to free himself from his invisible constraints. "This ain't none of your business! I'm going to kill that plumber, whether you like it or not!"
"Now, now!" replied Kartra. "We wouldn't want the tournament's namesake to meet such a grizzly end, would we? In fact, I'm hoping he sticks around! But I can't have you two fighting on board my lovely, state-of-the-art Superstar Shuttle, no no..."
Kartra glanced towards the crowd, to the wide-eyed face of Princess Peach.
"A-ha!" Kartra plucked Peach from the crowd, dropping Mario and putting Peach in his place. "The couple that never was! Tell me, King Bowser, did you ever tell Junior the truth about Peach?"
"Don't you dare speak his name!" Bowser snarled. "You're not worthy to speak the name Koopa!"
"Oh, you bad boy!" Kartra giggled. "Anyway, I think it's about time you and Mario Mario learnt a lesson. King Koopa, I do feel sorry for you, somewhat. Mario, do you ever wonder what it would be like to lose someone so dear to you?"
"Don't you dare, Kartra!" Mario gritted his teeth. "Whatever you're planning on doin' to her, you can do it to me!"
"No, no! I think it's time you learnt what it's like to experience loss!" Kartra pouted before a bright expression appeared on her face; a lightbulb materialised above her head and turned on. "In fact, why not make this a little more exciting? It's time we had a ROYAL RUMBLE!"
From the crowd that had formed around this spectacle, a few more figures were plucked and place in the air beside Peach and Bowser; Princess Daisy, King K. Rool, Queen Bee, Goombboss, King Boo, and Princess Rosalina.
"All the Kings, Queens, Princesses, and the like!" Kartra chirped. "Prepare yourselves! This is not a typical race!"
With a cackle, Kartra snapped her fingers. Mario shieled his eyes from the bright flash; removing his hands, he found that Kartra and the remaining royal racers had vanished.
"That witch has got 'em again!" Luigi ran over to his brother, helping a disorientated Mario walk over to the screens. "C'mon, Mario - are you okay?!"
"I'm fine, I'm fine..!" Mario brushed Luigi off; after teleporting back aboard the shuttle and his one-sided fight with Bowser, the plumber had had little opportunity to regain his bearings. "What did Kartra mean, 'not a typical race'?"
"I think we're about-a to find out!" Wario pointed a fat finger to the screen. Instead of the typical map display, in its place seemed to be live footage of some kind of arena; it was similar in its appearance to the first ever track of the tournament, with grey roads and colourful boundaries. The arena was square shaped, with barriers creating corridors inhabited by item boxes.
-A Royal Rumble-
Peach looked around her kart at the strangely shaped arena. She noticed three blue balloons tied to the back of her kart; what they were there for, exactly, was unclear.
"This is different..." Peach thought aloud, unsure what to make of this situation. Sitting up a little higher to peek over the barriers around her, she spotted a few other racers - Bowser and Rosalina, with three red balloons each, and Goombboss with the same colour balloons as Peach.
Peach's head snapped towards the centre of the arena, where Kartra rose from the ground into the air. "Royal racers!" Kartra greeted. "I hope you're as excited as I am to introduce you to an all-new style of competition! The genius-level intellectuals around us will have noticed that we have two sets of coloured balloons - these represent your teams! The more astute of you will have noticed that you have three balloons, each. Each team will use the item boxes around the track to pop the balloons of the opposing team; if all your balloons are popped, you are eliminated - and you should all know what happens then! Whichever team is first to knock out the other sees all their remembers returned to the shuttle, regardless of if they have been eliminated!"
Princess Toadstool's heart sank; she had spotted Daisy with red balloons. Daisy and Rosalina, her dearest friends, were on the opposing team to her. This was not going to be easy.
The familiar, blaring countdown rang out over the arena: 3... 2... 1... GO!
The racers fired off around the track, and as Peach, Rosalina, and Daisy realised the predicament they were in, neither of them particularly felt like fighting.
Bowser, on the other hand, was still out for blood. Mario wasn't here, but that didn't matter; all this is just another means to take out his anger, and if he made sure he won, he'd be tearing that plumber to shreds in no time. Unflinching, he smashed through the item box, drawing a fire flower. He set his sights on the back of Princess Peach's kart; even if he couldn't physically harm Mario at the moment, torturing the plumber emotionally was absolutely a viable option. As the Koopa raised his hand, ready to toss a fireball, a red shell spun into the back of his vehicle. One of the balloon popped behind Bowser's head.
"Peach!" Daisy pulled up alongside Princess Toadstool, "What do we do?"
"The only way out is for one of our teams to eliminate the other," Peach craned her neck to look behind her while Rosalina parked beside Daisy. "And I fear that, despite your best efforts to keep me alive, your teammate is bent on victory."
The red shell had not deterred Bowser's efforts; having lost track of Peach after spinning out, he was now pursuing King K. Rool. The crocodile had already lost two of his balloons, and drove frantically in an attempt to shake off Bowser. So caught up in Bowser's chase, the three Princesses almost failed to notice the sound of something hurtling through the air towards them; a Bob-Omb detonated upon impact with Rosalina's kart, catching all three Princesses in the blast. Two of Daisy and Rosalina's balloons popped before the bulky Goombboss barged through their karts, chortling snidely.
"I'm not intending on hurting either of you," Peach coughed through the smoke left by the Bob-Omb. "But the best thing we can do is keep moving. Come on!"
-A Royal Rumble-
The Mario brothers kept their eyes fixed on the screen. Both had seen their beloved princesses race before, but this was far different; now, they were competing against one another to eliminate their opposing teams. Wario had taken a step back from the screen, accompanied by Lubba.
"Must be difficult for you, huh?" Lubba hovered around Wario. "Y'know, to have lost yer brother like that."
"What?" Wario looked confused. "Waluigi? No, he-a wasn't my brother."
"Seriously?!" Lubba appeared equally baffled. "So what's with the whole knock-off act?"
"Don't-a you compare me to that pesky plumber!" Wario pointed an accusing finger. "Waluigi may not have been-a my brother, but he was my partner in crime! Sure, he-a wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer - but we could count on one another!"
Lubba nodded understandingly. "I get it, big guy. I've met a lot of people from a lot of unique, wonderful, quirky little species all over the universe. The Whittle - loved 'em! But they're disappearin', one by one. You don't have to be in love with someone to feel the hurt once they're gone, y'know?"
"Aye," Wario mellowed slightly. "I'll-a never forgive that witch Kartra. I'll-a get her, just you see!"
"Whatever yer planning, you'll have a Mario brother on your side..!" Lubba looked back over to the screen.
-A Royal Rumble-
The list of eliminated players had grown; King K. Rool, Queen Bee, and King Boo were now out of the game, although it was possible they could return should their team win. Only Peach and Goombboss remained on the blue team, although it was clear they wouldn't last for much longer - in their fierce battle against Bowser, they were each down to one balloon.
Deep down, Peach knew that the outcome of this race would not be her return to the shuttle. Daisy and Rosalina escorted her around the track, looking back at her, wanting to help but being unable to do anything. A loud siren blared as Bowser ploughed into Goombboss' kart with a mushroom, popping his last balloon and finally eliminating him.
Now, for that ever-evasive Princess.
"Peach..." Daisy spoke loudly enough for Peach to hear her over the grumble of their engines. "I just want you to know... well, if I could do anything right now, I would!"
"I know," Peach assured. "I understand."
Drifting around a corner, Peach narrowly avoided a set of green shells hurled by Bowser.
"What can we do for you when you return, Princess Toadstool?" Rosalina requested. "What duties of yours can we fulfil?"
Slamming on her brakes and skidding out of the way of a banana, Peach answered with the first things that came to mind. "Don't give up - find a way to defeat her. Comfort the Toads - and Mario, oh Mario... please, won't you tell Mario that-"
A signal on her kart starting beeping; a red shell had locked onto her. With nothing to block it, Peach clutched the wheel, closed her eyes, and held her breath.
-A Royal Rumble-
"Red Team Victory!" lit up the monitors on the Superstar Shuttle.
Mario froze, his heart dropping to his stomach. So overcome with emotion, he felt himself sagging, going limp, almost ready to pass out. He felt like his feet could give on him at any moment; he wanted nothing more than to drop to the floor and weep and wail, but a hand on his back kept him up.
"Mario?" Luigi whispered softly. "I'm so sorry, Mario. I'm sorry."
Behind them, the red team reappeared aboard the shuttle. Mario could not bring himself to turn around - he felt that any moment could cause him to break down. Daisy sprinted to Luigi, torn between wanting to wrap her beloved in a warm embrace, but knowing the gut-wrenching feeling of loss that Mario must be feeling.
Even Bowser was not all that elated. He thought that inflicting the same kind of pain on Mario would make him feel better about his own grief, but instead Bowser felt just as low and hollow as before, if not even more so. With nothing to say or do, Bowser stepped away, ignoring the babble of the Koopalings and finding a quiet corner of the Superstar Shuttle.
"Mario..." Daisy put an arm around the plumber, gently rubbing his shoulder. "You were the last thing she thought about. You should know that. She wouldn't want you to stop now - she needs you to carry on."
Mario maintained his upper lip. He gulped loudly, swallowing his pain, before breaking from Luigi and Daisy and following Bowser's path.
"Mario, I really don't think that's a good idea..!" Luigi discouraged, reaching out for him.
"It's not like that," Mario answered gruffly. "I just want to talk."
A/N: Here's a shorter but more emotional chapter! The story is beginning to ramp up now, so stick around!
Also, I thought I'd answer a question I received in a review: yes, Kartra is an original character.
