While the Brothers Mario were taking in their mind-boggling change of setting, much more sinister events were unfolding miles away. . .
The Koopa Kingdom. A darkened world where the sun rarely rises and the yellowed skeletons of careless travelers riddle the charred earth. Few structures dot this grim landscape, the most impressive of which is the stone behemoth known only as Bowser's Keep. Atop a rocky crag surrounded by a river of glowing, molten lava, this horrific construction of brick and rock stares over the horizon jealously at the beautiful mushroom kingdom. It is within the highest tower King Bowser Koopa sits, stewing in his fiery, bitter hate, impatiently awaiting his two Koopa scouts, Earl and Nick.
"Where are those incompetent idiots?!! KAMEK! GET IN HERE, NOW!!" The ferocious king roared, shaking the colorful stain-glass windows that adorn his tower.
"Yes sir, right away, sir!" The terrified koopa wizard nervously announced to his seething lord.
"Use your powers and tell me where they are!" The Koopa King snarled as he snatched up the meek, blue-clad warlock.
"Gack! Please. . . ack! Loosen your grip!" Kamek pleaded in a raspy whisper, anxiously tugging at the huge, scaly fingers the Goomba Overlord had strangled the tiny magikoopa with.
"Of course, old friend," Bowser said through a forced smile.
"Aaah," Kamek took in a deep breath of life-giving air, though still held high above the greasy floor in his master's fist, "your two scouts should be arriving any moment. . . the news they bring is clouded, my lord, I'm afraid you'll just have to wait and see what they have to report."
Bowser growled to himself as he casually dropped Kamek to the floor, "I pray it is good news. . . for their sake," the malicious dictator said with a grim laugh.
As soon as he had finished his laugh, the monstrous wooden door leading to Bowser's throne room creaked open. From behind the warped wood a rather beat-up looking koopa peeked into the room.
"You have news for me, Earl?" Boswer hissed through his dagger-like teeth.
Gathering up all their courage, the two koopas painfully limped into their King's presence.
"Ah, yes, we have news for you, Oh Kind, Handsome, Benevolent, Generous, Loving King Koopa," Earl mumbled through a fat lip, nursing his black eye.
"ENOUGH!!" Bowser bellowed, "What news do you bring me?" He said, calmly reclining in his golden throne.
"We believe we have found the Mario Bros, sir."
"How do you know?"
"They were wearing the hats you told us of. . . One green, one red." Earl explained.
"Yeah, and they beat the crap out of us!" Nick reminded his cohort while adjusting one of his bandages.
"D@mn it! D@mn it all!!" Bowser howled furiously, "Those God-d@mned plumbers made a fool of me again! KAMEK!!" Bowser called out, turning his fury on the still horrified magikoopa, "This is your fault! You said a two-koopa team would be enough!!" Bowser again gripped Kamek's neck in his fist.
"Well, sir, I uh. . . well, you see, the logic was that . . . I uh--"
"Out with it!" Bowser screamed, spraying his 'old friend' with a few beads of spittle.
"If we sent more than that, the other hair-faced humans would have had a greater chance of seeing them, and we could have been destroyed by an entire army of monkey-men even more powerful than the Mario Bros," Kamek frantically spluttered, hoping to save his life from his enraged king.
Bowser's hellish temperment was cooled by the magikoopa's logic. His breathing slowed down, his eyebrows slowly lifted from their scowling position, and the once-furious Koopa King quietly leaned back in his chair, "I see your point, my friend. I wasn't angry at you. . ." he trailed of calmly, turning his attention back to his koopa scouts, "is there any chance the Mario Brothers could have followed you?"
"We have reason to think they may have, sir," Nick cautiously told Bowser.
"Well. . .," Bowser began, "Starting now, two teams of four Koopas will scour the Mushroom World, starting with the pipe that connects us to the world that hid the Mario Brothers from me all these years. If the Brothers are found, they are to brought to me dead or alive. Otherwise, we must seal off the pipe that would allow them to enter or exit our world."
"Yes sir, we'll take care of it right away!" The two koopas assured their king.
As the pair of koopas quickly trotted over the damp, cold floor, Kamek quietly stepped over to Bowser.
"What of the invasion?" The elderly warlock asked.
"It will take place, as planned and on schedule," Bowser replied cooly, drumming his claws on the armrest of his huge, golden throne, "having eight koopa troopas attending to other matters will hardly give those mushroom fools an advatage!" The green, scaly overlord explained with a laugh, a haunting, mean-spirited laugh that echoed through the dim, gray, torch-lit halls of Bower's Keep.
Edited by - billy chilly on 8/7/01 12:39:55 AM