AN: Hey guys! We managed to get this story up to over 100 reviews! Thank you so much everyone; it's been a while since a SK episode has managed to do this. Thank you :)

Chapter 28 Snowy Boss Battle

Consciousness was restored to Junior, but that was far from a good thing. He was out in the cold, it was dark, and he was tied to… an altar? And he had… a gag in his mouth? What was going on? Where was Kamella? What was happening here?

"MMM!" Junior yelled at the top of his voice. He struggled against the ropes keeping him tied to the altar, which appeared to be made out of logs and branches. He wriggled and shook, hoping that someone was around in this freezing wilderness to rescue him. Seriously, where was Kamella? What was she doing and why wasn't she here? "MMM!"

"SHHH!" Junior turned his head, and for a second, he felt extremely happy to see Kamella standing next to the altar. At least, until he saw her face. The dark expression was even darker than the night itself. There was sadness in her eyes, but there was also determination. Determination to do… what exactly?

"Mmm!" Speaking was impossible with the gag, but thankfully, it appeared that Kamella could pick up on what he was trying to say. A tear trailed down her face as she walked up to him.

"I really am sorry, Junior." She whimpered. "Queen Aurora demanded a sacrifice from me. She told me that the pure, untainted soul of a child is the perfect tool she can use to free herself from her interdimensional prison."

Junior's eyes grew wide. Wait, WHAT? His heart pounded as sweat beads formed all over his body. He fought against the bindings again, his thoughts racing at top speed. "MMMM! MMMMM!"

"I know," Kamella said. "I know we had a good time, but…" Kamella took off her glasses and wiped her eyes. "I really did like you Junior, maybe even love you. I'm going to remember the time we spent together forever. But… my Queen doesn't like to be disobeyed."

She got her wand out of her back pocket, which made Junior's heart rate spike up. He braced himself for a spell to hit him and end his life once and for all. Fortunately, Kamella didn't kill him. Instead, she waved her wand, causing a force field to enclose the two of them in the area surrounding the altar. This was a relief to him… until he realized that this force field spelled his doom. It was now impossible for anyone to rescue him.

"NNMF!" Tears streamed down his eyes. He couldn't move a single part of his body as Kamella got right to work. He hoped that she would stop this, that she would stop acting so crazy. He hoped that his cries would tell her, no, she didn't have to do this. Queen Aurora… the Shadow Queen… whatever she may be might be a goddess, but if she was demanding child sacrifices, then she wasn't worth worshipping! Junior hoped that Kamella realized that.

She gave no indication that she did. She didn't stop with trying to light the altar on fire. She didn't move to free him, she didn't talk to him, she didn't even look at him. After such an incredible last few days having spent by her side, that fact was at jarring at best and absolutely heartbreaking at worst.

This really was how Junior was gonna die, wasn't he? Betrayed by someone who he had thought was family. His life was going to end with no mother, no father, no siblings, nothing. He had closed himself off from the ones who REALLY loved him, and now he was paying the price. The tears came down at a much more consistent rate. He nearly choked on his own sob, the gag around his mouth making breathing difficult.

"It's okay, Buddy, it'll be over soon." Kamella stood up and wiped some sweat off her brow. "It'll only last a minute, and then your soul will return to Queen Aurora. The true queen of the Mushroom World."

How… demented. Junior closed his eyes, trying his best to fight his tears. This was it; this was the end. This was…

"JUNIOR!"

Junior's eyes grew wide. He looked to the left, with the stunned Kamella doing the exact same thing. It was Ludwig! He stood right outside the force field! He had his hands on it, and he didn't take his eyes off his youngest brother.

"MMMFWF!" A small spark of hope ignited in Junior's heart. At least, until he saw Kamella returning to work. She didn't look panicked, she didn't even look worried. And the reason why was plain for all to see. There was no way for Ludwig to break the force field. He may be here, but that wasn't going to do anyone any good. He came for nothing.

Junior resumed crying, these tears ladened with regret. The last encounter he had with Ludwig before he got taken away by Kamella came back up in his head. He should've gone home with him. He should've said how sorry he was. No doubt his running away had caused Ludwig grief. How stupid was Junior for not realizing that earlier? He said that Ludwig didn't care! Of course he cared! He wasn't perfect, but he had looked for him! He had engaged in the search, not because of an obligation, but because he loved his brother and wanted him to be safe! Ludwig had put in all the effort, and Junior rewarded that with a spit in the face. This realization made Junior's heart ache. He didn't even say how sorry he was, and he couldn't even do that with the gag in his mouth…

Junior rested his head on the altar. He gave up. He had no choice but to give up. He closed his eyes, waiting for the end when…

"HEY!"

Junior opened his eyes, and his heart leaped. Ludwig had pulled Kamella's wand out of her back pocket with his telekinesis. Kamella gawked at him as he did this, and Junior's heartbeat sped back up. No, this… was Ludwig really going to rescue him? Could it actually be done?

"Disappearance Spellus!" Ludwig shouted as he waved the wand telekinetically. The force field disappeared, leaving Kamella to gawk and Junior to cry tears of joy.

"NO!" Kamella cried. Without any other words, she rushed toward Ludwig. Ludwig aimed a stream of fire at her, but she dodged that. She jumped at him, clearly aiming for the wand, but Ludwig rose into the air when she did. Junior wanted to cry and shout for joy all at the same time. Oh, Ludwig, he deserved all the kudos!

"GIVE ME BACK MY WAND!" Kamella shrieked.

"LET MY BROTHER GO!"

Junior smiled. Yes, yes! This was perfect! This was going so well! Ludwig could tear Kamella to ribbons, he could burn her to a crisp! He would defeat her, and Junior would be able to go free! Forget the stupid Queen Aurora nonsense; Junior getting free was the perfect way to go. Sure, Junior believed he hadn't done anything to deserve something that incredible happening to him, but…

Wait. What was Kamella doing? Junior sweated some more as she rummaged around in her robe. "Oh, Queen Aurora, please let me have a backup wand in here somewhere…" Junior froze in place. A backup wand? NO! Oh please don't let her actually have….

"Yes!" Kamella found another wand. Even though her back was turned, Junior knew that she was smiling. "Procurus broom!" A flying broomstick appeared out of thin air, and she looked up at the floating Ludwig when it did. "You boys may have think you won, but you're not out of the woods yet!"

Ludwig shrieked as she zipped up to him on the broom. Junior watched from down below as they engaged in an aerial battle. Ludwig shot multiple fireballs at Kamella, Kamella countered with some sparkly purple arcane blasts at him. At one point, Ludwig tried using his telekinesis to snatch the broom out from underneath Kamella and make her fall out of the air. Unfortunately, Kamella was prepared for that. As her glowing blue broom jerked forward at breakneck speed, she gripped onto it. It was like a pit bull gripping something with its teeth, and just like a pit bull bite, it made Junior scared.

I need to do something! He looked around, at the ropes keeping him bound to the wooden altar. If only he had a way to break them. He had already tried breaking them with brute force, but that hadn't worked. There weren't any pointy ends of the sticks sticking out either, and even if there were, they probably wouldn't do much in terms of cutting rope. The only option Junio really had was wiggling free, which… could work? He didn't know for sure. But then again, he didn't have a lot of time to think of another option. Slowly, he tried wiggling free from the ropes. It was unfortunately a little difficult, so difficult that Junior almost gave up on the plan entirely. He was just about to do so when…

SNAP! One of the sticks resting underneath his head snapped. His eyes grew wide as Junior banged the back of his head against the stick. He prayed it would break the stick even further, and thankfully, his prayers were answered. Soon, there was a little hole in the altar. It wasn't deep by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a good start. If Junior kept at it, He could deepen the hole, which would cause the altar to fall apart. Even if it didn't, the extra space would grant him the freedom of movement, which would help him get out of the bindings. He just needed Ludwig to distract Kamella for a few minutes more and then…

"PETRIFUS INSTANT!" Kamella's voice was a little soft given how high up in the air she was, but Junior heard it. And, unfortunately, he knew which spell the incantation was supposed to cast. Ludwig fell out of the sky, his entire body frozen. Kamella caught him before he could reach the ground, but that brought Junior no comfort. She flew back over to him, keeping one hand on the broom and another intertwined with Ludwig's. When she landed, she set Ludwig down near the altar, dismounted her broom, and tried to pry her original wand out of Ludwig's hold.

"My… GOODNESS, this guy has a strong grip!" She pulled and pulled, and Junior knew that now was definitely the point where he couldn't waste ANY time. He wiggled and squirmed, using the wiggle room to his advantage. He was almost free. He was almost…

HOLY CRAP! HE DID IT! HE WAS FREE! He slid out of the ropes, falling headfirst into the snow. Kamella gasped as she picked himself up and stared her down. She didn't move even as Junior got the gag out of his mouth.

"YOU GET AWAY FROM MY BIG BROTHER!" He pounced at her, but she bounced out of the way right in the nick of time. She chanted the petrification spell again, but Junior got out of the way before the arcane blast that would freeze him hit him. She fired more and more petrification blasts, but Junior dodged all of them. His breathing grew shallow and unmanageable when he did that, but he wasn't going to stop. He couldn't stop.

"JUNIOR!" Kamella paused. "Junior, just give up! Even if you aren't sacrificed, Queen Aurora is going to get free eventually! And when she does, she and her Dark Prince are going to judge those who oppose her and her followers VERY harshly."

Junior gritted his teeth. "Well, I hope that day NEVER COMES!" Without much input from his brain, he got into his shell and zoomed towards her. He crashed into her, causing her to shriek and drop her backup wand. Junior got out of his shell and swiped the wand mere seconds before it would've been too late.

"Junior!" Kamella stared at him, her wide eyes visible behind her glasses.

Junior bit his lip. As he looked at her, his mind flashed back to the good times he had with her. He wanted to go back to that time… but he knew that wasn't possible. This display of attempting to sacrifice him changed everything. That was why the next words to come out of Junior's mouth hurt him so much to say.

"I'm sorry, Kamella. You were so kind to me, but…" he cleared his throat and waved his wand. "Teleportus Bowser's Castle's dungeon!" He aimed the wand with her, a blinding light flashed through the night…

And she was gone. Junior stared at the spot where she had laid, feeling all sorts of interesting emotions. He stood in place for a few minutes before sighing. He turned toward Ludwig.

"Disappearance Spellus."

Ludwig gasped when the petrification spell was removed. He stood up. He looked down at the ground. He looked at the wand in his hands. He looked at his brother.

"Junior. Are… are you…?"

Without any other words, Junior ran forward and hugged him.