Inside the walls of his castle, King Bowser Koopa sat upon his throne, frustrated. The throne was massive; a likeness of himself carved out of hard stone. An exact replica of his head, depicting his large jaw with razor sharp teeth, sharp horns on the top, and his spikey hair, loomed above him. He rested his long, bulky arms on the likeness of his own, which were outstretched and ended in two fists. They gave a literal definition of the term, "arm rests". The throne was easily twice his size, and the hard stone had been worn in from the many years he, and his ancestors had sat upon it. Most people would have found the throne uncomfortable, but Bowser had always felt that stone was the most comfortable material to rest on.
Bowser wore his crown atop his head today, as he always did when he was giving orders from the throne. He leaned back in the great chair, and scratched himself under his chin. As he scratched, he noticed that his long claws were in need of a good filing. He'd have a servant take care of those, as well as the long claws on his feet, later. He wore chain-like spiked bracelets on his wrists and upper arms, and had a large, spiked shell on his back. Bowser couldn't see his face at the moment, but he was sure the troops kneeling before him could probably see the anger starting to flare up in his hard, red eyes. He pounded his fist down on the arm of the throne, and spoke.
"You mean to tell me that you can't even follow simple instructions?!" He roared. "I ask you to do one thing, and you are too incompetent to even accomplish a simple task!"
The two creatures, a Paratroopa-A turtle like creature with orange skin, a red shell with matching red shoes, and white wings protruding from two holes in it's shell-and a Goomba-a small, brown mushroom-like creature with large, black eyebrows-jumped backwards and started to shiver. They looked into Bowser's eyes, and he could see the fear in theirs.
"Y… Yo… Your wickedness… we tried to get close, but…. we were caught by a couple of Toad guards… and…" The Goomba said, swallowed hard. "They… shouted the alarm, and we had to flee!"
"P.. Please! Your rottenness… We had no choice!" The Paratroopa pleaded. "Please, just… give us another chance!"
Bowser sighed as he watched the pair start to weep. He tried to instill fear into his troops, the best way he knew how to get the results he needed. A lot of the time however, his troops seemed incapable of anything, let alone following simple instructions. What was he to do though? They were all he had.
"Just get out of my sight!" He yelled. "Go train with the other troops. I will summon you when I have use for you. Maybe I'll need someone to clean my shell, or perhaps feed the Chomps. Simple tasks that only morons can handle."
"Th… Thank you, your evilness!" The Goomba said.
The pair bowed and quickly exited the chamber. Bowser watched them go, and continued staring at the large, stone chamber door after they were gone.
Useless! All useless, the whole lot of them! He thought. I need to push them harder, stop being so soft with them. I have a kingdom to conquer, and I'll never get there at this rate.
He sat alone in his royal chamber for quite a while afterward, reflecting on previous failures. The throne room was massive, the largest room in the castle, and carved out of stone. There were large portraits all over the walls of himself, his ancestors and eight smaller portraits of his kids, Lemmy, Larry, Morton, Wendy, Iggy, Roy, Ludwig, and Junior. A long, velvet carpet stretched from the doorway to the foot of his throne. It stretched across a bridge suspended over a large pool of boiling lava. Bowser inhaled the fumes emanating from the pool, and allowed himself a smile. He did love the scent of boiling lava.
Still, despite the pleasure he was getting from that smell, he was very frustrated. Not only had he failed to kidnap Princess Peach and take over the Mushroom Kingdom more times than he would care to remember, but he was getting increasingly worse at it. He had tried all sorts of different tricks to try to accomplish his goal, but he was foiled every single time by those two cursed plumbers. He hated them. He was now even getting to a point where he couldn't kidnap Peach at all. At least previous attempts he was successful for a while, before those two got involved. As of late, he couldn't even get a spy close enough to her.
It was not only aggravating to fail so often, but humiliating. He was king of the Koopas! A lot was expected of him, and he had many other lands he wanted to conquer, and other objectives too, but his consistent failure had made him obsessed with trying to find a way to beat the Mario brothers. They constantly shamed him, and he could just not allow himself to let them get away with it. He didn't care if it took one-hundred years, he would beat them, and then Peach, and the Mushroom Kingdom would be his.
Yes! One day it will all be mine! He thought.
He looked to his right, and gazed at a portrait on the wall, just below a large portrait of himself. It was Peach, in her full royal regalia. She wore a pink silk dress, golden grown atop her bright, blonde hair, and her matching light blue brooch and earrings. She wore a smile in this picture, and Bowser found himself staring into her beautiful deep, blue eyes. He often found himself lost in them.
You will be mine as well, sweet princess. He thought. Someday, you will look upon me with great love and respect. I will have what's mine, and you are mine!
He scowled as he heard one of the large doorways to the chamber entrance open. He looked over to see Kamek entering. Kamek was a Magikoopa, and wore a long, dark blue robe, a matching long, wizard-like hat, and dark glasses. He had the turtle beak of a Koopa, and carried a magic wand in his hand. He was Bowser's most trusted advisor, and had acted almost like a father to him since he was a small child. He was one of the very few people Bowser completely trusted. Often times, more than his own children.
"What is it, Kamek?" Bowser shouted as Kamek started crossing the bridge.
"Sire." He said calmly, approaching the throne. "I have big news, news that you must hear immediately."
"Well, what is it? I'm trying to contemplate our next move against the Mushroom Kingdom." He said.
"This is bigger than that I would say, your majesty." Kamek replied.
Bowser raised an eyebrow at that. Kamek knew that nothing was more important to him than the takeover of the Mushroom Kingdom.
"You know nothing is more important than our conquest!" He said.
"I'm afraid this is, sire." He said. "You see, this may just be the most important thing in the entire universe."
Bowser was very taken aback by this, and nodded.
"What's going on?" He said, intrigued.
"Do you remember that incident ten years ago with the stars?" Kamek asked.
"Hmm… Can't recall, Kamek." He said, thinking.
"You know, that erm… temporary truce you had made with Mario, and that journey you went…." Kamek was cut off as Bowser slammed his fist into the arm of the throne. The force of the blow broke the stone hand off of it.
"I TOLD you never to bring that up again!" He roared. "The only reason I even partnered with that damned plumber was to reclaim what is mine! You were NEVER to bring this up again!"
Kamek did not look fazed by his sudden outburst, perhaps knowing that Bowser needed him too much, and that he wouldn't actually reprimand him for bringing it up, but still Bowser's blood boiled. He remembered all too well that journey. Never had he been humiliated to that degree before. That giant sword had fallen from the sky into his castle, sending him flying out of it. He had taken his troops back to the castle a couple of times to try and take it back, but had ultimately failed. Afterward, he had met up with Mario, and reluctantly joined him to reclaim his castle. Some creep named Smithy had taken not only his castle, but his pride, dignity, and to top it off, forced him to become allies with his worst enemy. No victory in his life had been sweeter than when that final blow was struck to Smithy, and he was defeated.
"Why do you bring this up?" He found himself asking Kamek.
"Your majesty, I did not mean to offend, but I needed to bring it up. That… incident ten years ago is why I come to you now." Kamek said. "You see, I've had a vision."
"What? Of the past or something?" He asked.
"No your majesty, of the future." Kamek replied. "You see, I've seen… events coming to pass in the near future. They very deeply concern you, and may be the key to your ultimate victory, or your defeat. There's no clear answer, and none of these events I have foreseen are set in stone. All I can state to you unequivocally, is that soon, a series of major events will come to pass. In fact, they have already started."
"What do you mean they have already started? And, what are these events?" Bowser asked, curiously.
"Well sire, you said to me that during your journey ten years ago, that you collected some Star Pieces, right?" Kamek asked.
"Yes, well Mario…" He growled at having to say that name. "He was the one collecting them. One of his friends, some doll with a stupid blue hat said he was from some place called the "Star Road" or something. He needed the Star Pieces to fix the Star Road, since Smithy had destroyed it. I didn't believe he was anything more than a stupid wooden doll, until he…." He paused. "….he was gone."
Kamek cleared his throat.
"Yes… well, it appears your majesty, that the Star Road is gone." Kamek said.
"Gone?" Bowser said, confused. "What do you mean gone? How do seven stars in the sky just vanish?"
"I couldn't say, your majesty." Kamek said. "But last night after the vision, I consulted my crystal ball, and it showed me an image of the seven stars of the Star Road slowly fading away. I immediately went outside, and watched it transpire with my own eyes."
"Well, what does it mean, Kamek?" Bowser demanded. "You said this event could be the start of a series of events which could lead to my victory or defeat. What will happen next, and what should be our next move?"
"Well, your majesty…" Kamek trailed off, thinking. "I'm honestly not too sure. I would say that we need to be on guard for now, and prepare the troops as best we can for the best or the worst possible outcome.
"That's it?!" Bowser exclaimed. "You say something major is happening, and all you'd have me do is prepare the troops and be "on guard"?!"
"What other choice do we have your majesty? I've tried consulting the crystal ball a number of other times, but it won't show me anything else." Kamek said worriedly.
Bowser stood up and walked over to the lava pool. He took a deep breath and inhaled the intoxicating hot fumes. He stared into the lava, deep in thought. He stood there for quite a long time, contemplating this situation. He would play this hand as it was dealt to him, and he would be victorious. After a while, he turned back to Kamek, who also seemed deep in thought.
"Prepare the troops." He said to Kamek. "And summon my children to my chamber immediately."
"What do you plan, sire?" Kamek asked curiously.
Bowser took a deep breath, and crossed his arms across his chest. He stared directly into Kamek's eyes, and spoke.
"Something I may regret later, but we have no choice." He said.
Kamek nodded, and turned to leave. Bowser stopped him.
"And, Kamek." He said as Kamek approached the door.
Kamek paused and looked back at him.
"I have a special mission for you. This must be done in absolute secrecy, and you must do it quickly…"