Chronicles Of The Koopa Empire: Episode 2 - The Ne

[Clive Koopa]

Chronicles Of The Koopa Empire - Episode 2: The New Human

Chapter 1 – Start Of A New Era

This is the second episode of my Koopa Empire based series. This is the story of how a human comes into the Mushroom Kingdom and how he ends up joining the Koopa Empire. This is a remake of my fic, which was titled The Human Recruit.

Jeff Weston was a nineteen year old from Brighton, UK. It was the late twentieth century, Earth time and this was going to be his last day in this world. It was a stormy night in the countryside and Jeff was riding his bike along a quiet country road. He was riding quite fast and noticed a tunnel straight ahead. He ended up riding through it and the scenery had suddenly changed once he had passed through the other side.

“What the heck?” Jeff muttered and stopped the bike immediately. He had noticed it was daytime and sunny when just a second ago, it was raining and at the middle of the night. He got off his bike and looked around to see where he was..

“What is this place? How is it daytime now when it was really dark just a second ago and where has the rain gone?” Jeff said in a quiet voice to himself. The scenery showed him some things he had never seen before and this puzzled him even more

“Now that is just weird, how are those blocks just floating in the air and what are those question marks for?” he asked himself. He turned himself around and realised the tunnel he had just come through was no longer there.

“Wait a minute, where did the tunnel go? Tunnels don't just disappear. Okay, well whatever this place is, it looks like I'm stuck here for a while,” Jeff said and decided to explore this unfamiliar world. He got back on his bike and took a slow ride down the road on which he was parked. He kept on riding until he saw someone but this wasn't human. He was about to realise where he now was.

“A turtle what walks on two feet?” Jeff said out loud. This was in fact a Koopa Troopa who looked towards Jeff's direction upon hearing his words.

“Huh, a human?” the Koopa Troopa said. Jeff looked at the Koopa Troopa with wide eyes.

“You can talk?” Jeff asked. He got off his bike as the Koopa Troopa walked up to him.

“Err.. of course,” the Koopa Troopa said. “You're not from around here, are you?” he added.

Jeff shook his head and was still quite shocked at everything he had seen so far, which the Koopa Troopa had noticed by Jeff's obvious reaction on his face.

“Okay, where we are now is the border between two kingdoms. On the left is the Mushroom Kingdom and this here is the Koopa Kingdom, which is where I live,” the Koopa Troopa said.

“Mushroom Kingdom? Koopa Kingdom? Okay this is too weird. Well I am from a place called Brighton in a country called England,” Jeff said.

The Koopa Troopa nodded and then said, “We don't get humans here very often. In fact I've only ever seen three humans in my entire life before you and all of them live in the Mushroom Kingdom. What's your name anyway?”

“Oh, my name is Jeff, Jeff Weston,” Jeff said.

“Well Jeff, I am Marcus Koopa and I am what you call a Koopa Troopa,” the Koopa Troopa said.

“Koopa Troopa? As in the Koopa Kingdom? And your surname is the same as your species?” Jeff said who was quite puzzled.

Marcus laughed at Jeff's reaction to this.

“Yeah, that's basically it,” Marcus replied. “My kingdom is called the Koopa Kingdom, my entire race are called Koopas, which have different variants. I am a Koopa Troopa but you get many different kinds of Koopas and all our surnames are Koopa.”

“Interesting,” Jeff said.

“In the Mushroom Kingdom, they have Mushroom like humanoids called Toads and all their surnames are called Toad. Its confusing, I know but that's the way things are here,” Marcus said.

“Well now that I'm here, do you think you could show me around or tell me where I should visit first?” Jeff requested.

“I'd love to show you round but I am quite busy right now. Its coming to the end of my break and I have to get back to work. If I don't, my boss will be furious. You should go that way to Toad Town for now, which is the capital of the Mushroom Kingdom,” Marcus said pointing towards Toad Town.

“Thanks Marcus. I'll go to Toad Town. Maybe we'll see each other again some time,” Jeff said.

“Maybe Jeff, maybe. See ya and goodbye for now,” Marcus said before heading east.

Jeff walked towards Toad Town and wondered about what lay there.

“I wonder if I'll meet those other humans Marcus was talking about,” Jeff wondered.

Meanwhile, Marcus headed back to Castle Koopa, where he worked. He was in fact a senior troop of one of Bowser's most elite units.

“So another human is here. I'll need to keep an eye on him. That's the first human I've seen since those Mario Brothers first came here. Wait till Bowser hears about this,” Marcus said quietly when he was out of Jeff's earshot.

[Clive Koopa]

Chapter 2 – Bowser Finds Out

It was a normal day in Castle Koopa and Marcus headed into the main doors. He walked towards the throne room but was stopped by the Sledge Brother guards standing in front of the throne room.

“You know you can't just barge in here without permission,” said the first Sledge Brother.

“State your reason for wanting to see the king,” the second Sledge Brother said.

“Please, I have some very important information for King Bowser regarding a human I just saw on our borders,” Marcus said.

“A human? Are you sure?” the first Sledge Brother asked.

“Affirmative, I spoke directly to him. He says his name is Jeff Weston and he comes from England somewhere, Brighton I think,” Marcus said.

“Please stand by, we'll see if Bowser is ready to see you,” said the first Sledge Brother after a quick pause. He then knocked on the throne room door.

“What is it?” said Bowser's gruff voice from inside.

“Sir, one of our troops wants to speak to you immediately, he says its important.

“Bring him in,” said Bowser.

The Sledge Brothers stood aside allowing Marcus to pass into the throne room. He walked up to the throne and stood in front of Bowser who was sitting down quite calmly.

“What do you want? I hope you have something important for me. You know I don't like being disturbed unless I am expecting someone,” Bowser said.

“Sir, I found a human near the Mushroom Kingdom border. He is heading to Toad Town,” Marcus said.

“A human? If what you are telling me is true, then you'll need to keep an eye on him. We can't have any more of their kind threatening our kingdom. The Mario Brothers are more than enough. I'm going to inform two of my troops and they will accompany you to Toad Town. I want you to spy on this human and report back on anything the Mario Brothers tell them about our kingdom. You may have to kidnap him. If it comes to that, then you should bring him here unharmed and interrogate him,” Bowser said.

“Yes, sir. I'll make sure he doesn't become a threat to us. If I have to, I'll keep him here as my own personal prisoner,” Marcus said.

Bowser nodded his head agreeing with Marcus. “I'll inform two troops who will wait for you outside the castle's entrance. Go there immediately.”

“Yes, sir,” Marcus said saluting Bowser before turning around and left the throne room. Bowser informed two hammer brothers, Buzz and Scott, via walkie talkie to meet Marcus and accompany him on the mission.
Marcus was already outside waiting and was quickly met by Buzz and Scott a minute later.

“Hello Marcus,” Buzz said. “We will be with you on the mission. All we have to do is spy on this human, right?”

“That is correct. We may have to kidnap him but only if he finds out too much about our kingdom so he doesn't become too much of a threat,” Marcus replied.

“Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go already,” Scott said. The three of them headed towards Toad Town.

“How are we going to spy on him and the Mario Brothers without being seen?” Scott then asked as they were walking.

“That's easy, we disguise ourselves as Toads and we sneak into wherever Jeff and those Mario Brothers are and we listen to them,” Marcus said.

“So Jeff is his name, how common,” Buzz said sarcastically. They all laughed at this.

As soon as they approached Toad Town, Marcus took out a wand hidden inside his shell.

“Right, we should disguise ourselves perfectly with this wand. No-one will suspect us whatsoever,” Marcus grinned and turned himself, Buzz and Scott into perfect Toads. Marcus, now disguised as a Toad hid his wand inside his fake mushroom hat.

“Now lets go and find our target,” Marcus said in a disguised voice as the trio walked into Toad Town.

[Clive Koopa]

Chapter 3 -Espionage – Part 1

The three Koopas in their disguised Toad forms had walked right through Toad Town without any suspicion whatsoever.

“Okay, our target should be around here somewhere. If not, then he could already be at Peach's castle,” Marcus said to Buzz and Scott. They kept on walking down one of the main roads until they spotted Jeff straight ahead and they stopped near a shop to avoid suspicion.

“That's him,” Marcus said. “Now we'll follow him from a distance and see what happens.”

Jeff was talking to a Toad who told him about the Mario Brothers.

“So where can I find these Mario Brothers?” Jeff asked the Toad.

“They should be at Peach's castle now. To get there, just follow this road and it will take you straight to it just outside of town,” the Toad said.

The Koopas were listening to every word with interest.

“You hear that? He's going to go to Peach's castle and no doubt he's going to tell those wimps about meeting me and they're gonna tell him about what a bloodthirsty race we all are,” Marcus said. “Let's move, he's leaving now,” he added when Jeff stopped talking to the Toad and walked up the road towards Peach's castle. They followed from a distance behind him not wanting him or anyone else to get suspicious. When they got near the outskirts of Toad Town, they decided to change their route.

“There's nobody else round so lets take another route, we don't want him to know he's being spied on,” Marcus said.

“Good idea, we should go right. We can create a pipe with your wand and sneak in the castle that way,” Buzz said.

The three Koopas walked down the right path as Jeff walked straight on. Once they were out of sight, Marcus took one last look around to make sure they weren't seen and then quickly took his wand out from his Toad hat and made a warp pipe.

“Quick, lets get in and close the pipe before anyone sees us,” Marcus said jumping in before being followed by Buzz and Scott. Marcus put the wand back in his hat before the trio continued on their mission. The pipe had led them almost directly behind Peach's castle.

“Perfect, we're right next to the castle and Jeff isn't even here yet,” Marcus said. Jeff was still about five minutes away so the Koopas discussed their plan while waiting for him.

“Okay, in our Toad disguises, we should be able to enter the castle quite easily and freely. We can pose as visitors and we'll make sure we are in the same room as those humans at the same time and just listen to what everyone has to say. It is quite certain that I will be mentioned and then all the crap about us will come out. If it looks like that Jeff is being swayed towards those Mario Brothers' low opinions of us, then we should kidnap him and he will be made to listen to our side of the story,” Marcus said. Buzz and Scott understood the plan and they then set to it. They walked in through one of the back doors and towards the visitors' room near the front entrance. None of the Toads there seemed to notice anything suspicious about them and let them pass without hesitation.

“These disguises are just perfect. These would come in useful when we have to kidnap a Toad or two,” Marcus sneered. The trio finally arrived at the visitor's room and walked right in and sitting down on a chair on the far right was Jeff.

“Perfect, he's here,” Marcus whispered. “Lets wait for those wimpy Mario Brothers or Peach to appear, they're probably already expecting him.” They took a seat on the other side of the room and made no contact with Jeff whatsoever. After a few minutes a Toad servant came in and looked towards Jeff's direction.

“Ah, you must be the new human here,” the servant said. “The princess is waiting for you.”

Jeff proceeded to get up and the Toad then asked, “Is anyone else here waiting to see the princess?”

“Yes, we are,” Marcus said immediately.

“Well come on then. Dinner is almost served and the Mario Brothers are inside waiting too,” the Toad said. Jeff and the Koopas followed the Toad to the castle's main dining room. Luckily for the Koopas, the princess allowed any Toad as visitors and their disguises were flawless. Peach and the Mario Brothers were already sitting down and the Koopas had to hide their obvious hatred for the Mario Brothers. They all sat down and waited for dinner to be served.

[Clive Koopa]

Chapter 4 -Espionage – Part 2

Peach's dining room was quite big and was a bit smaller than Bowser's throne room. It had a large dining table in the middle of the room. The people present were Jeff, the three Koopas in their disguised Toad forms, the Mario Brothers, two other Toads who were visiting who had arrived earlier and Peach. It was Peach who was cooking and dinner was already served onto the table not long after they had sat down. It was Peach who started a conversation.

“So you're new here, what do you think of this place?” Peach had asked Jeff.

“Its very nice, your majesty,” Jeff said trying to sound polite.

“Please, just call me Peach,” Peach laughed. “No-one calls me your majesty here.”

“Sorry. Anyway, its a very nice place. It looks a lot more interesting than my own world. I think I'm gonna like it here,” Jeff replied.

“How did you feel when you found out you were in another world?” Mario asked.

“It was strange at first. I was riding my bike down this country lane near my hometown . It was raining really hard plus it was the middle of the night. I then came across this tunnel and passed through it. All of a sudden, it became light and it stopped raining. It was only when I looked around, I realised I was somewhere else,” Jeff replied. He paused for a moment to get his breath back before continuing.

“After a few minutes, I came across what looked like a turtle. I think it was called a Koopa or something and he seemed quite friendly enough. I was quite shocked to discover that there were other species than humans that could talk and also speak my language,” he added.

Mario had sipped some of his drink when Jeff mentioned Marcus. Marcus was a bit offended by this as he noticed him saying something under his breath but kept quiet

“He told me about where I was and told me how to get here and mentioned that there were other humans here,” Jeff said.

“He must have meant us and the princess,” Luigi said. “Did he say anything else?”

“No, only that his last name was the same as his species and that the same thing applied to Toads,” Jeff said.

“Okay then,” Luigi said. They continued to eat in silent for a while until Jeff spoke.

“So what's your names and how long have you been here?” Jeff asked the Mario Brothers.

“My name is Mario and that is my brother, Luigi,” Mario said. “We've been here quite a while now. It must be about twenty years or so.”

“That's a long time,” Jeff said.

“Yeah, we discovered this place by accident while doing a plumbing job in Brooklyn, our hometown,” Mario said. “As for Peach, she was born here and is half-human, half-Toad.”
“Look, I don't know what this Koopa told you or didn't tell you, the fact is they are not to be trusted,” Mario said. The Koopas got a bit angry at this but never showed it. Marcus had to stop himself throwing himself on top of Mario. Jeff was quite shocked by Mario's remark.

“What's wrong with the Koopas?” Jeff asked who was now quite puzzled.

“I wouldn't go anywhere near them if I were you. The Koopas are a bloodthirsty race who have no regard for the Toads or any other race for that matter,” Mario said.

“Bloodthirsty?” Marcus shouted out loud nearly slamming his fork on the table. He quickly covered his mouth when everyone looked at him. He realised he had almost blown his cover but luckily they stopped looking at him and Mario continued to speak.

“There is this ruler in the Koopa Kingdom, they call Bowser. He is always kidnapping Peach and his troops are always abducting Toads and who knows what they use them for there. It is up to me and Luigi to rescue them all the time,” Mario said. Jeff was now really confused. When he had spoken to Marcus, he didn't notice anything bloodthirsty or evil about him at all. He knew he had to explore this Koopa Kingdom later but didn't dare tell anyone at the table.

“It's true, I've lost count of the amount of times that tyrant has kidnapped me. He's horrible and those minions of him are just as slimy as he is,” Peach said.

Jeff finished his dinner not long afterwards and decided to leave early. He didn't want to hear any more of this and neither did Marcus, Buzz or Scott.

“I'm leaving now. I'll think I'll might stick around Toad Town and explore the region,” Jeff lied.

“We're going too,” Marcus said.

“Be careful of those Koopas, they might try and kidnap you and torture you or something,” Peach said.

“I'll be fine. Don't worry about me,” Jeff said who was itching to get out as soon as possible. The three Koopas followed not long afterwards. Jeff headed east outside of Toad Town in the same way, which he came in. The three Koopas followed not far behind. Marcus, especially was quite furious.

“Did you hear all that garbage they were saying about us? I was expecting them to say it, of course, but it still makes me so angry,” Marcus said.

“Yeah. How dare he call us bloodthirsty and how dare that so-called princess call us slimy,” Buzz said. “What do we do now? That human is taking the east exit, he said he was sticking around here.”

“We'll follow him for now. He must have lied to them. I bet he wants to see for himself what we are like. Then he'll see who is bloodthirsty,” Marcus said. “As soon as we get at least five minutes away from this town , we'll change back to our normal forms.”

Jeff continued to walk eastwards and realised he was back to where started. His bike was no longer there when he abandoned it and he continued to walk until he realised he was now in a battlefield. He was about to find out something really shocking. The three Koopas had stopped following him when they realised where he was heading and didn't dare go he was.

[Clive Koopa]

Chapter 5 – The Battlefield

Jeff was now deep in the Koopa Kingdom and had just entered a battlefield, which looked like a warzone. Around him were empty Koopa shells, brick blocks and the bodies of nearly fifty Koopas and other species, many of which Jeff had never before seen his life until now.

“What happened here?” Jeff said looking around at the gruesome sights around him trying not to heave. He noticed a Goomba about 100 yards from where he was, who was alive but injured. Jeff ran over to him to see if he was okay. Jeff noticed the Goomba crying over another Goomba what looked like it had been flattened to death by something.

“Hello, are you okay? What happened here?” Jeff asked when he got close to him. The Goomba took one look at Jeff before turning away.

“Do I look okay? Why should you care anyway? You humans are just the same. Leave me alone,” the Goomba said quite angrily. Jeff was a bit taken back by his remark.

“I'm only trying to help, why do you hate humans so much?” Jeff then asked. The Goomba wouldn't reply and refused to even look at Jeff.

“Please, I really want to help. Just tell me what happened here?” Jeff asked after a pause. The Goomba looked at the floor then turned around to face Jeff after composing himself.

“My friend here was killed by these humans. He was my best friend and those Mario Brothers murdered him,” the Goomba said and was almost about to cry. Jeff was shocked at this as he had only just met the Mario Brothers back at Peach's castle.

“The Mario Brothers did this? And everyone else here too?” Jeff asked. The Goomba nodded.

“They do this all the time, they just jump on our heads like ants and show no remorse whatsoever,” the Goomba replied. “It was only an hour ago and I barely survived. As you can see, I am the only survivor here. It was terrible.”

“I'm sorry to hear that. Listen, whatever you may or may not think about humans, we are not all like that. I only just met those Mario Brothers and Mario said that Koopas were bloodthirsty and this Peach person called them slimy,” Jeff said.

“Those humans never change their opinions of us, they have always thought so lowly of us. Whoever you are, I'm sorry if I believed that all humans were like those two. I don't trust humans much and the same applies to most of us in this kingdom. My name is Trevor by the way,” the Goomba said.

“I'm Jeff,” Jeff replied. “Trevor, I'm sorry about your friend, I really am.”

“Thank you, that means a lot,” Trevor said. “You can keep walking here if you want, just be careful. You may be accused of trespassing and humans are considered enemies here and you are likely to get kidnapped,” Trevor warned Jeff.

“I'll be fine,” Jeff said. Jeff left Trevor alone while he walked past and deeper into the Koopa Kingdom unaware what was lying in wait for him.

[Clive Koopa]

Chapter 6 – Kidnapped!

Jeff kept walking and was quite shaken by what he had seen and what Trevor had told him.

“First Mario tells me that the Koopas are evil and now that Goomba is telling me it is those Mario Brothers who are bad. This is confusing. Now I don't know who to believe even after seeing what I just seen in that battlefield,” Jeff said to himself as he walked.

Meanwhile about a mile up the road were four koopa kids who were chatting amongst themselves. They were Iggy, Larry, Lemmy and Roy and they seemed to be discussing something quite sinister.

“So Ludwig told you what we are going to do?” Roy asked.

“Yes, everything is set according to plan,” Iggy said. “All we need now is someone to spy on the Mario Brothers in disguise of course and lure them into our trap.”

“We'll start in a few days once we have found someone to act as a spy. He or she will gather as much information on the Mushroom Kingdom and those plumbers. Once our spy has earned the full trust of our targets, then the trap will be set. Our spy will bring those Mario brothers out and we will be waiting for them. We will capture them and then we can begin stage two of the plan, which we will decide what to do with them when we get that far,” Lemmy explained.

“Me and Ludwig have some ideas but we haven't come to a final decision for stage two yet,” Larry said. Iggy took one glance and noticed Jeff in the distance.

“Huh? Its a human,” Iggy said.

“What? Where?” Lemmy said as he, Larry and Roy also looked to where Iggy was looking.

“That must be the same human King Dad was telling us about. What's he doing here in the Koopa Kingdom?” Larry said.

“He's trespassing, that's what,” Roy said. “Quick, lets hide. We'll wait for him to pass then we'll ambush him.”

“Yeah, let's do that,” Larry said as he and the other koopa kids hid behind some brick blocks on the side of the road. Jeff kept on walking oblivious to the fact that he was being watched. Suddenly he noticed something flash to the left of him but didn't notice what it was until he found himself being pinned to the floor by Roy. Iggy, Lemmy and Larry were standing beside him. Jeff struggled a little but Roy was too strong so he gave up struggling.

“Well, well, well, look what we have here,” Roy sneered. “A wimpy human. What's your name and what are you doing here?”

Jeff hesitated for a while but noticed the other three koopa kids holding wands directly towards him although he didn't recognise what they were.

“Answer the question,” Iggy demanded.

“Er, my name is Jeff and I was just passing through,” Jeff said after a brief pause.

“Just passing through, eh? Humans don't just pass through this part of the Koopa Kingdom,” Roy said. “Who do you work for? Did the Mushroom Kingdom send you?” Roy tightened his grip over Jeff's shoulders.

“I don't work for anyone, honest. No-one sent me, I came here on my own accord,” Jeff said.

“Why would you come here?” Lemmy asked. Jeff was a bit puzzled at that question. He didn't think it would matter where he went in this world. “This is the Koopa Empire's turf and you are trespassing.”

“I was just exploring, I'm sorry, I didn't know I was trespassing,” Jeff said.

“Oh really?” Larry said walking over to Jeff. He held his wand over Jeff's head and demanded he speak the truth. “Alright, you are going to tell us your business here or I will turn you into stone.”

“No please, I'm telling you the truth. I swear to you I mean no harm and I am no Mushroom Kingdom spy or anything. Mario thinks I'm still in Toad Town. He said you were bloodthirsty and other horrible things. I told him I was going to stay in Toad Town but I lied and came straight here,” Jeff said. The koopa kids looked at each other and nodded.

“Alright then Jeff, we believe you but we still don't trust you. I'm afraid we are going to have to take you with us to King Dad,” Lemmy said.

“King Dad? Wait, are you princes or something?” Jeff asked.

“Yes, we are. Our father is called Bowser and he is the king of the Koopa Kingdom,” Larry said.

“Well I guess a visit to the king of the Koopa Kingdom shouldn't be too bad. Okay then, I'll co-operate and let you take me with you,” Jeff said. After he said that, Roy stopped pinning Jeff down and let him stand up.

“Good. If you had refused, we might have had to turn you into stone to stop you getting away. We don't have anything to tie you up with so you'll walk with us freely just as long as you don't try and run away,” Iggy said. Jeff had no intention of running away. He nodded when Iggy had finished and the koopa kids motioned for Jeff to follow them forwards on a different path to the one Jeff had took prior to him being captured by the koopa kids.

“My name is Iggy, and this is Lemmy,” Iggy said. “The one with blue hair is Larry and the one with sunglasses who had you on the floor is Roy.”

“Humans are not really trusted around here, which is one of the main reasons we captured you. King Dad, especially hates humans so you should treat him with respect if you want to get out his castle alive,” Lemmy warned.

They had eventually arrived at the castle after a fifteen minute walk and they walked towards the throne room. A lot of the minions in the castle had never seen another human before other than the Mario Brothers and Peach, some of them had seen the Wario Brothers but no other humans.

“Firstly, you address our father as King Koopa or King Bowser. Secondly, you speak only when you are spoken to and thirdly, when you are asked a question, you answer them immediately and honestly,” Larry said as they walked up to the door to the throne room. As they were Bowser's children, the guards let them straight in along with Jeff who they guessed that he was a prisoner.

Bowser was on his throne and saw his kids and Jeff in front of the throne.

“King Dad, we captured the human you were telling us about,” Lemmy said. “We caught him trespassing a few miles south of here.”

“He walked straight past us but I managed to restrain him easily,” Roy said.

Jeff followed Larry's advice and remained silent throughout until Bowser spoke to him.

“Thanks kids, I want to speak to the human alone now. You go out and play now,” Bowser said.

“Yes King Dad,” Iggy said as the three left the throne room.

“Good luck,” Lemmy whispered to Jeff as they walked past. Once they had left the throne room, Bowser began to speak.

“So human, you thought you could just waltz your way into my kingdom, did you?” Bowser said. “Trespassing is a serious crime here. I could keep you here for at least a week. What is your reason for trespassing on my kingdom?”

“I was simply just having a walk and decided to explore the region. I didn't know I was trespassing, I am sorry. Please forgive me, King Bowser,” Jeff said.

“Well, you're here now. You shouldn't have been trespassing within the castle grounds. You were captured in private territory so you will spend the night in my dungeons. I will send one of my troops to come and take you there. I will decide what to do with you later,” Bowser said. He then took out a walkie-talkie and spoke in it.

“Reporting to all guards within the castle, I need one of you to come to the throne room. I have a prisoner for the dungeons,” Bowser said through the walkie talkie.

“This is Sergeant Clive Koopa, ID Number 65427 reporting back. I'll do it,” the voice came from another part of the castle immediately after Bowser had spoken. The voice was Clive Koopa, a blue-shelled Koopa Troopa who had joined the Koopa Empire just six months ago. Clive came into the throne room about a minute after speaking to Bowser on the walkie talkie. He stood next to where Jeff was standing and waited for Bowser's orders.

“Clive, take this human to the dungeons. I am assigning you as his personal prison guard,” Bowser said.

“Yes sir, I'll do that right away,” Clive said before turning to Jeff. “Come with me.”

Jeff followed Clive outside the throne room and up to the dungeons. Once they were on the dungeon floor, Jeff was taken inside a cell near the far side of the corridor.

“Okay, I'm going to go through some ground rules with you. You will be staying here for the next couple of days. I will be your personal guard, which means I am here to look after your well-being. You have yourself a bed, a toilet and a sink. You will be given meals three or four times a day by any of our koopa servants,” Clive said. “Do you have any questions?”

“Yeah, how do I wash and do I get a change of clothes?” Jeff asked.

“There are showers and baths as well as washing equipment on this floor what you can use for washing. You can walk freely on this floor for two hours each day but most of the day, you will be locked in. As for a change of clothes, I'll see how long you'll be staying here first then you'll be supplied with everything you need for your time here,” Clive said.

“Okay, thank you. Thats all I need to know, I think,” Jeff replied.

“Good. One more thing, I said you were allowed to walk free on this floor for two hours a day, that does not mean you should try and escape. If you do, you will be re-captured and you will spend the rest of the day in your cell all tied up with guards standing right next to you.” Clive said.

“I won't try and escape. What do I call you by the way?” Jeff asked.

“You can call me Clive,” Clive replied. “I should ask for your name too as I am your personal guard.”

“My name is Jeff Weston,” Jeff replied.

“Well Jeff, I've told you everything you need to know. Just don't try anything funny while you're here and you will get out of here alive and in just a few days,” Clive said. Jeff was quite surprised at everything Clive had been telling him so far. What he had seen so far was far from what Mario had told him.

“Clive, I saw these other humans while in Toad Town. One of them was called Mario and he said that your race was bloodthirsty and the princess there said you were slimy. Not long before I was captured, I saw this Goomba who said that the Mario Brothers had slaughtered everyone in the area where I saw him,” Jeff said.

“Listen, Those Mario Brothers are the bloodthirsty ones, not us. We do our fair share of kidnapping, I admit but we don't harm our captives one bit. As for why we kidnap, that's a long story and we have many reasons for why we do the things we do,” Clive explained.

Jeff understood and nodded his head. He could tell Clive didn't want to go into detail and so left it at that.

“I'm going to leave you alone for now, I'll be back to check on you in a few hours after dinner what will be given to you in an hour,” Clive said. He then left the dungeon cell and locked Jeff in alone. Jeff sat alone and thought about everything that has happened since he had come into the Mushroom World. He had now heard two sides of the story from Mario, Clive and Trevor and now he was a prisoner in Castle Koopa.

[Clive Koopa]

Chapter 7 – Dungeon Life

Two hours later after last speaking to Clive Koopa and just over an hour after being given his first taste of Castle Koopa's food given to him by a koopa servant, Clive came back in the dungeon.

“Hello Jeff. How are you? Have you eaten?” Clive asked.

“I'm fine thank you and yes I have eaten, it was quite good actually,” Jeff replied.

“That's good to hear. Could you come with me please? We can't have you sitting here doing nothing all day so I've got a job for you to do. As with all our prisoners, you will be given various jobs to do round the castle similar to what the servants do,” Clive said.

“Will I get paid?” Jeff asked.

“No, prisoners do not get paid like the servants,” Clive said.

“Forget it then, I'm not doing anything unless I'm getting paid,” Jeff said. “I will not be your slave.”

Clive was expecting this as many of the prisoners said this so he held up some rope what he had been carrying with him just in case he would need it. He walked towards Jeff while starting to uncoil the two metre length of rope. Jeff walked backwards until Clive had him backed against the wall.

“You are a prisoner here and you will do as you are told,” Clive said firmly. “Trying to resist is pointless. If you want to have an easy time here, I suggest you come with me quietly or I'll have to tie you up and drag you.”

Jeff wanted to run but he knew that Clive could probably jump on him before he even got to the door not to mention all the other guards would catch him even if he did escape from Clive.

“Alright, I guess I have no choice. I'll do whatever it is you want me to do here,” Jeff said.

“Good, you made a wise decision,” Clive said. “Now come with me.”

Jeff followed Clive the far end of the dungeon floor near another corridor. Clive showed him a bucket of water and a mop.

“You will clean this floor and you will not return to your cell until you are finished,” Clive said. A Boom Boom walked up to them.

“You called for me,” the Boom Boom said.

“Yes, keep an eye on this human and make sure he completes his job perfectly. He will complete his job or he will go hungry,” Clive smirked.

“Leave him to me,” the Boom Boom said. Clive smiled and passed his rope over to the Boom Boom.

“If he tries to run, you know what to do,” Clive said and smirked at Jeff as he walked past him.

“Now get to work, human” the Boom Boom told Jeff once Clive had left them. Jeff obeyed and started mopping the dungeon corridor immediately. He didn't bother to correct the Boom Boom that his name was Jeff as the Boom Boom was much bigger and stronger than him. Not even a minute after starting, the Boom Boom had pointed to a spot where Jeff had just cleaned.

“I believe you missed a spot,” the Boom Boom sneered. Jeff was now getting a bit fed up but continued to do everything he was told.

Meanwhile in another part of the castle, Clive was talking to Marcus, the first being Jeff had encountered when he first set foot in the Mushroom World.

“So long will he be staying here for?” Marcus asked Clive, referring to Jeff.

“He will be interrogated tomorrow then we'll see after that. He could be released afterwards or maybe he'll stay for a few more days. I have got him doing some slave work until then,” Clive replied.

“Does he know about me being in Toad Town?” Marcus asked.

“I don't think so, he never mentioned it. I'll find out more tomorrow anyway when he is interrogated. You can go and see him later if you like when he finishes his work,” Clive said.

“Yeah, I think I will. I'm going to tell him that I was there when Mario said all that stuff then I'll try and find out some more on who he is,” Marcus said.

“It should take him at least 45 minutes to the entire floor. I've got someone keeping an eye on him so he'll be a while. You can see him later,” Clive said.

Later, back on the dungeon floor, Jeff had just finished cleaning the floor and was now exhausted. The Boom Boom had watched him the entire time.

“Good, you've done a good job. Now you can rest. Leave the mop and bucket here and someone will put them away later. I will take you back to your cell and I will tell Clive you have finished,” the Boom Boom said. Jeff was too exhausted to reply but followed the Boom Boom back to his cell and he was locked in while he recuperated.

Later, Marcus came to visit Jeff as he said he would to Clive.

“Marcus? It's you,” Jeff said recognising the Koopa Troopa from when he first came into the Mushroom World.

“Hello Jeff, how are you?” Marcus asked.

“I'm okay, I had some dinner then I was made to clean the dungeon floor earlier and I didn't even get paid,” Jeff replied.

“You'll get used to it. That's if you are staying long,” Marcus said.

“Are all prisoners treated like that?” Jeff asked.

“Like what?” Marcus asked.

“Like slaves,” Jeff replied.

“Not all of them. We do keep prisoners as slaves,” Marcus admitted. “However, we do make sure that all our prisoners are looked after and unless you have a perfectly good reason not to work such as illness then you will be let off.”

“Clive threatened to tie me up and force me to come with him if I didn't co-operate when I initially refused to do unpaid work,” Jeff replied.

“You should not argue with Clive. He hasn't been here for long but he is very good at his job and has had a lot of experience with the prisoners here, most of which are Toads,” Marcus said. “Prisoners here are generally treated quite well despite us using them as slaves. We would rather make them work than have them rot in their cells without anything to do.”

“I suppose you're right about that. I would rather be doing something than just sitting in my cell getting bored,” Jeff said. “Even if I'm not getting paid.”

“That's right,” Marcus replied. “Oh by the way, I know what happened at Peach's castle earlier today. I was there.”

“You were? Where? I didn't see you,” Jeff replied.

“I and two hammer brothers disguised ourselves as Toads and we were there at the table. I was the one who almost lost his temper when Mario mentioned the word “bloodthirsty”,” Marcus said. “We used these wands to turn ourselves into perfect Toads.”

“Wow, I'd never have guessed that was you. But why were you there in the first place?” Jeff asked.

“To spy on you, Bowser asked me to spy on you to make sure you wasn't any kind of threat to the Koopa Kingdom,” Marcus said.

“Oh, I see. Well I am no threat, honestly. I have seen no evidence to suggest you are bloodthirsty. However I did pass through a battlefield before I was captured and this Goomba told me the Mario Brothers had murdered a lot of Koopas and Goombas,” Jeff replied.

“Yes, that is true,” Marcus said. “The Mario Brothers are guilty of the murders of many of my kind and other species but Mario is the more dangerous of the two. They have these so-called super powers what allow them to use fire power and other powers and they also jump on our heads.”

“I see, I can't believe they would do such things and they say you are the bloodthirsty ones,” Jeff said. He was now beginning to understand why Koopas didn't trust humans or Toads much.

“You will be questioned tomorrow morning, just tell the truth on how you got here and you should be released sooner than you think,” Marcus replied.

“Thanks Marcus,” Jeff said.

“I'm going to leave for now. You should make the most of your time here. You'll be given your pyjamas later. You should have an early night tonight as you are scheduled for interrogation first thing tomorrow as soon as you have had breakfast,” Marcus said.

“Okay I'll do that. Bye Marcus and see you again,” Jeff said.

“See you Jeff,” Marcus said before leaving the cell.

Jeff was supplied with some pyjamas by Clive later at around 9:45 pm that night not long after supper. The dungeon floor's lights were all turned off by an automated system at 10 pm and Jeff was already in bed, which he thought was quite warm and comfortable. He closed his eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep wondering what tomorrow would bring.

[Clive Koopa]

Chapter 8 – The Interrogation

It was early in the morning at Castle Koopa and Jeff was asleep in his cell when he was woken up by a Sledge Brother who came into his cell.

“Rise and shine sleepy head,” the Sledge Brother said while nudging Jeff.

“Huh, what? What time is it?” Jeff said after a short while.

“It is seven o clock,” the Sledge Brother said.

“What, why did you wake me up at this time? Its too early,” Jeff said quite annoyed at being waken up at such an early time.

“Your interrogation will begin very shortly. You should get washed and dressed. Your breakfast will be served in about ten minutes then I will come back to escort you to the interrogation room,” the Sledge Brother replied then left the cell.

Jeff got up and did as he was told although he wasn't at all happy that he had to wake up at this time of the morning. Fifteen minutes later and after Jeff had eaten breakfast, the Sledge Brother returned.

“Stand up and face the wall,” the Sledge Brother ordered. Jeff obeyed without hesitation and the Sledge Brother grabbed Jeff's hands and tied them behind his back.

“Is this necessary?” Jeff asked as his hands were being tied.

“This is absolutely necessary, I can't take any chances of you running off and escaping. You are still a prisoner here so I need to ensure you stay that way until you are released,” the Sledge Brother said.

“That should hold you,” the Sledge Brother said after tying Jeff's hands. He then held onto Jeff's arm and ushered him out the cell and towards the interrogation room. Once they got to the interrogation room, which was located on the far end of the corridor of the dungeon floor, the Sledge Brother pushed Jeff down onto a chair next to a table, untied his hands then re-tied them to the arms of the chair then tied his body to the chair to make sure he stayed sitting down.

“Now you sit there and keep quiet, I will be back shortly so don't even think of trying to escape,” the Sledge Brother said before leaving Jeff in the interrogation room alone. Jeff didn't try to either and he knew he wouldn't be able to escape even if he wanted to as he had been tied up really well. So he just sat quietly and waited for the Sledge Brother to return. He returned about ten minutes later with a tape recorder and some pen and paper, which he would use to make notes on. He sat down on the chair opposite where Jeff was sitting and placed the tape recorder and his pen and paper down on the table.

“Alright human, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Spike and I am going to be your interrogator. You will not speak unless you are spoken to and you will tell me the absolute truth to everything I ask you, is that understood?” the Sledge Brother asked.

“Yes, I understand,” Jeff replied.

“Good,” Spike said. He pressed the record button on the tape recorder.

“The time and date for this interview is 7:55 am on March 5th 1755,” Spike said through the tape recorder before beginning the interrogation.

“Please state your full name and date of birth,” Spike said to Jeff.

“My full name is Jeffrey Timothy Weston but I prefer Jeff to Jeffrey. My date of birth is 14th June 1978,” Jeff replied. Spike realised that Earth had a different timeline to the Mushroom World as he had questioned a few human captives previously a long time ago.

“How old are you, Jeff?” Spike then asked.

“I am nineteen years old,” Jeff replied.

While asking Jeff all these questions, Spike was writing notes down as well as having the whole interrogation taped. The whole interrogation must have lasted over two hours long.

“Well that concludes your interrogation. Thank you for answering all my questions. I hope for your sake, you have been honest. Now I must take you back to your cell but first would you like a drink?” Spike asked at the end of the interrogation .

“Yes please, can I have some orange juice please?” Jeff asked.

“Sure, you'll be given one back in your cell,” Spike replied. He then untied Jeff from the chair and re-tied his hands before escorting him back to his cell. He untied Jeff's hands once they were back in his cell then returned a few minutes later with some orange juice.

“Now I have business to attend to. I'll see you around,” Spike said before leaving Jeff's cell and locking him in.

Spike immediately contacted Clive via walkie talkie and they met in a room in another part of the castle. They were alone in the room and Spike locked the door so no-one would walk in.

“How did the interrogation go?” Clive asked. It was him who had arranged for Spike to talk to Jeff.

“Good, I found out a lot of information about him, he is also an accomplished thief and kidnapper. You wouldn't know it by just looking at him but from everything he's told me, he can be just as devious and sly as Bowser. We should watch him,” Spike said.

“Are you sure? Is that really what he told you?” Clive said quite shocked.

“Affirmative, I have it all on tape and he sounded quite serious and I believe him. He could make a great ally but first we need to get him fully on our side,” Spike said.

“A human working for us?” Clive asked. “Bowser would never allow it to happen. How do we know he can be trusted?”

“I will show Bowser the tape recording and my notes. If he'll allow it, we'll test him and we'll see if what he has told me is the truth. We'll see just how good he is at kidnapping a Toad and I hope his knot tying skills are good as well,” Spike said.

“Good idea, Mario would never suspect one of his own kind betraying him to us, let alone a simple Toad,” Clive replied.

“Exactly,” Spike said. “I'll tell Bowser right away, you wait here for me and I'll contact you to see what he says.”

“Will do, this could be just the victory we've been waiting for,” Clive said.

Spike smiled and nodded before leaving the room and walked towards Bowser's throne room to tell him the news.