Chapter 9 Metallica vs the Koopas Part 2

Metallica's lungs stung as she ran toward her castle basement. She took off her high heels for the sake of going faster, all while her pounding heart echoed in her ears. As it so often did when she was in a stressful situation, her mind focused on the goal that everyone was expecting and counting on her to reach. She could see the Metal Star clearly in her mind's eye; shining, beautiful. Powerful. Such an amazing artifact… what disasters would ensue if it fell into the Koopas's hands? She didn't know, but just the possibilities terrified her.

After a lot of running, she finally got to the basement. She stood in front of the door at the bottom of the stairs, putting her hand to her chest and hoping that she wouldn't pass out. She drew in one extra large breath before opening the door. She was quick to close it, even going to the other side of the room to move pieces of furniture in order to barricade the door. Once she was satisfied with her work and was certain that she and the Metal Star were safe, she let out a breath and wiped her brow. She turned around…

And there it was. The Metal Star, the pride and joy of the Metal Kingdom, was floating right over a pedestal. It had a silver surface, the same shade of silver as Metallica's hair. It glowed with a light that was somewhere between silver and blue, and… looking at it right now, Metallica couldn't help but feel impressed by it. Sure, she had seen the Metal Star before, but for whatever reason, her mind always seemed to forget how glorious it was every time she wasn't looking at it. She supposed it was nice that coming down to see the Metal Star reminded her of its beauty and importance.

She approached the Metal Star, biting her lip as she did. She turned toward the door, waiting for the inevitable. Her heartbeat escalated beyond what was comfortable, and her hands felt clammy. Scratch that, her whole body felt clammy. She tried not to shake, she told herself not to shake. She had been training for this. She couldn't be weak now. She couldn't let anyone down.

BANG! BANG!

They were trying to break down the door. They were actually here trying to break down the door! Gripping her hands into fists, Metallica got into a fighting stance. This was it. She wasn't going to back down now. As difficult as it may be, she needed to be brave.

…

"Come on! COME ON!" Bowser rammed his entire body against the metallic door. Ludwig couldn't help but cringe. He didn't know if it was just his imagination, but he thought he heard the bone in Bowser's arm cracking. Which… oh God, he couldn't let him continue on like this.

"Bowser, stop!"

Bowser gritted his teeth. "Come on! I'm the biggest Koopa in the world; I should be able to do this!" He took a deep breath, an action that the Koopalings knew and dreaded. They all bounced out of the way as Bowser released a huge stream of fire breath at the door. It was so hot that it felt like Ludwig's skin was being scorched, even though he wasn't in the direct path of the stream. He closed his eyes, praying that this would end.

It thankfully did eventually, but the fire didn't make a dent in the door. Bowser stood there, blinking at the door before growling. "GAH! Why didn't it work?"

"Well for one, they probably used a fortified form of metal to construct the door," Bone Mage said. He stepped forward. "Second, I imagine this metal is enchanted." He smirked. "Not to mention Metallica probably barricaded the door. It would've been stupid of her not to."

Sweat beads were visible on Wendy's head. "So what do we do?"

Bone Mage's smirk grew more pronounced. "Stand back, everyone." He got his wand ready. "This is my area of expertise." He raised his wand, waved it, and…

BOOM!

The supposedly enchanted door blew right off its hinges, as did several furniture pieces that had been used to barricade it. The Koopalings all gawked at this sight, all while Bone Mage twirled his wand while wearing what was possibly the smuggest grin of all time. He stepped into the room, followed by Bowser and his increasingly reluctant kids. The first sight that Ludwig saw was Princess Metallica, covered in sweat and panting while she stood in a fighting stance. Behind her rested…

"Woah! The Metal Star!" Ludwig heard Iggy say. He turned to him and was shocked to see that he was smiling. "What a beaut! I am curious; what sort of metal alloys and magical enchantments were used on it?" He chuckled. "I might have to study it when I get the time!"

Metallica snarled at them. "Well, you aren't going to get the chance." Her breathing grew heavy now. "You aren't walking away with the Metal Star."

Bone Mage chuckled. "Oh Sweetie Honey Bunches. There are ten of us and only one of you. You think you stand a chance against odds such as that?"

Metallica visibly shuddered, her face falling just a little before rising back into an angry glare. "I think you guys are severely underestimating me." Her voice shook so much… oh, the poor girl. "I'm tougher than I look. I've got an iron will, nerves of steel, and… several other metal-themed attributes." She blew a lock of hair out of her face. "If you think I'm gonna just let our kingdom's most valuable treasure fall into your hands, then you are wrong. DEAD wrong!"

Bone Mage just chuckled. "Cute kid." He got his wand ready, a wicked glint in his beady eyes. "Real cute." He waved his wand. "Blastem Markey!"

An arcane blast shot out of Bone Mage's wand and went hurdling toward Metallica. The princess dodged, doing a backflip in order to do so. She ran towards Bone Mage and jumped on his head, leaving him a pile of disconnected bones. She ran towards Bowser and started punching him in the chest. She yelled at the top of her voice, punching his scaly body with all the might she had stored up. Bowser just smirked, grabbed her by the hair, and held her a loft. Metallica gasped and grunted in pain.

"Let me go!"

"Okay!" Bowser threw her across the room. Her back rammed into the wall, a painful crack ringing throughout the room. Ludwig cringed. He wanted to help her, but with Bowser seeming so determined to do this heist and Bone Mage finally starting to reassemble after Metallica jumped on him… would it really be worth the risk?

"You…" Much to Ludwig's shock, Metallica rose to her feet. Steam shot out of her nose as she charged at Bowser again. If she was in pain, she didn't show it. She just ran forward, sounding intimidating despite all the impossible odds. Unfortunately…

"Tela Leeft!" Bone Mage pointed his wand at her and lifted her into the air. Metallica gasped, looking like she wanted to yell at him. Before she got the chance though, Bone Mage slammed her into the ground. Ludwig actually gasped when he saw this. He only felt more troubled as Bone Mage rammed Metallica back into the ground over and over again.

"BONE MAGE, STOP!" Ludwig called out.

"Bone Mage stop?" Bowser asked. "Ludwig, we're winning, this is a good thing!"

Ludwig felt like he was two inches tall. How was this a good thing? Bowser never… NEVER harmed a princess in this sort of manner. It was… how could anyone NOT think it was hard to watch? How could anyone be comfortable with this? He wanted to go up and stop Bone Mage himself, but… well, he clearly had access to more manpower than Ludwig could hope to match even with his powers as a special koopa. If Ludwig tried stopping him, he would no doubt be smashed to smithereens just like what was happening to Metallica right now.

After a few absolutely PAINFUL minutes, Bone Mage was finally satisfied with his work. He let go of Metallica, who… oh God, Ludwig wanted to throw up. Blood poured from her nose, there was a bruise the size of a basketball on her cheek. Most damning of all was her arm; it bent in such an… awkward way. This wasn't even getting into the smaller details; her silver hair was a mess, there were rips and tears in her gray dress. On top of that, while she wasn't crying, Ludwig could tell she was trying her best not to. In fact, she also seemed to be trying her best to not slip into unconsciousness. This… oh dear God.

"Well." Bone Mage walked right past Metallica and grabbed the Metal Star from the pedestal. If there was a wicked gleam in his eyes before, now it was so much more pronounced. "At last The Metal Star." He turned toward Bowser and the Koopalings. "The most powerful treasure in the Metal Kingdom."

Bowser giggled. "Man, it's beautiful." He blinked a couple of times before giving Bone Mage a confused look. "What does it do?"

"It has the ability to manipulate any type of metal in the universe," Bone Mage explained. He looked back at the shining artifact. "Such power will be invaluable to our conquest. It'll give us an advantage over every other Kingdom, an advantage that even the Koopa Kingdom at its strongest has never truly had before.

"Woah," Bowser said. "That's cool."

"It is," said Lemmy as he stepped forward with a furrowed brow. "But… we aren't going to use it for bad purposes, right? We're going to use its power carefully and responsibly." He shook a little bit. "Right?"

Ludwig felt like crying, as he already knew the answer to those questions. His heart ached as Bone Mage laughed.

"You are just adorable, my dear Lemonade." He looked toward the exit. "Now, come along! There's so much to do and so little time."

Bowser and the other Koopalings followed after Bone Mage, possibly because being in the room with the beaten Metallica made them uncomfortable. Ludwig was about to follow after them when he turned back toward the princess. Seeing her in this state was… painful. It made him hurt in so many ways, especially as he wrestled with what such a sight meant. This was what the Koopa Kingdom was determined to do. This was the path that Bone Mage was leading the Kingdom down. If this was what he was willing to do to Metallica, what could he do to everyone else? How many innocent people were going to suffer? How many nations were going to be ground into dust thanks to Bone Mage, Bowser, and the power that the Metal Star could and would give them?

"Ugh…"

Ludwig cringed at the sound of Metallica groaning. He stepped towards her, hoping he could do something to ease her pain…

"Ludwig, come on!"

Ludwig bit his lip. He had no choice. His hands were tied in this situation. Feeling as though he was the scum of the earth, Ludwig followed after his family. He knew joining them and being in their presence wasn't going to provide him any relief or comfort at this point, but… surely, they weren't going to do something as awful as what happened to the princess now that they had her treasure. Right?

Well, that was what Ludwig thought until he caught up with everyone. Much to his shock, he saw Bone Mage take a Metal Kingdom flag from its proper place hanging over the castle door, stomping on it, and zapping it with his wand. Blue fire engulfed it, a sight that made him want to cry. Especially since his own pyrokinetic flames were blue; in someways, seeing the flag go up in blazing blue kinda made him feel like… like he was responsible for this horrendous act.

"Observe, minions!" Bone Mage called out to the various enchanted troops, who by this point had beaten and defeated the clearly less-than-prepared metal soldiers. "We are getting closer and closer to obtaining our ultimate goal!" He grinned. "The world will know the might of the Koopa Kingdom. The world will know the might of Bowser… AND BONE MAGE!"

Everyone cheered, which was a sound that made Ludwig feel physically sick. He was just about to throw up when Boo Dude teleported in shouting "WE GOT THE POWER!" He teleported in right next to Roy, who shrieked like he had just watched a baby get mauled by dogs.

"Will you STOP THAT?"

Bone Mage just chuckled and turned back to the cheering troops. "And now, we move on to the next part of our plan!" He laughed. "My favorite part of the plan!"

Ludwig whimpered. He had no idea what this part of the plan was, but if it was Bone Mage's "favorite…" oh, this was not going to go over well.

…

"Oww…"

Every last inch of Metallica's body hurt. She had never experienced pain like this, never. She… was she going to die? She felt as though her life was draining away from her. That dry bones… those koopas… oh, she was right to have her kingdom go the isolationist route. Her parents had been right to distrust other kingdoms. If they saw what exactly had become of their daughter, exactly how her life would come to an end.

Metallica gripped her hand into a fist. No. This was NOT how her life would come to an end! Not today, not now! She still had a lot of fight left in her, and she was going to show it. She wasn't going to bow to the Koopas and their wicked ways. She would escape. She would recover. She would get the Metal Star back and beat the Koopas.

But she needed to move first. Grunting, she rose to her feet, doing her best to not place her weight on her broken arm. She wobbled through the basement, not knowing which way was up anymore. Eventually, after wandering around without any sense of direction, she collapsed to the ground. Her breathing sharp and shallow, she tried her best to think through the clearly concussion-caused headache. She was just gathering her bearings when a horrible scent filled her nose. That being, the scent of smoke.

Metallica's eyes grew wide. Oh no! Bone Mage was burning down her castle! She should… oh goodness… how could she… maybe this was the end. Maybe this was…

Wait. There was a warp pipe right in front of her. She didn't know how she hadn't noticed it before, but… well, it wouldn't hurt to use it. Maybe whoever or whatever rested on the other side would be able to help.

"Watch out… koopas." She said as she rose to her feet and grabbed a hold of the pipe's edge. "I'm not going down that easily."

With her last remaining strength, she jumped into the warp pipe.

" Ok Time for My brother's Bio" Angry Luigi says.

Alem tuber: He's the brother of Angry luigi they don't often get along Alem tuber can be seen as a rowdy rude guy who says Easy dubs and mental a lot but he means well sometimes he does care for his brother he's energtic helpful and a powerful ally to his friends. He takes pride in his powers and will not let anyone tease him. he hates losing when he does he rages.