Chronicles Of The Koopa Empire

[Clive Koopa]

Chronicles Of The Koopa Empire

This is a collection of stories chronicling life in the Koopa Empire and the daily lives of the koopas involved. There will be stories focusing on different aspects of the Koopas as well as its relationship with the Mushroom Kingdom.

Chapter 1 : Welcome to Castle Koopa

"So this is Castle Koopa," the koopa troopa said to himself looking up at the towering structure in front of him. "It's a lot bigger than I imagined."

He knocked on the big red door three times and waited.

"Who's there?" said a voice from behind the door.

"My name is Clive Koopa. I have come here to join the Koopa Empire," the koopa troopa said.

"Hold on a second," Clive heard the voice say. After about ten seconds, the doors to Castle Koopa opened. Clive saw a sledge brother standing in the doorway. He was holding some paperwork, which apparently had details of new recruits.

"Welcome Clive Koopa. Bowser has been expecting you," the sledge brother said. "Please follow me, I will take you to Bowser."

Clive nodded without saying anything and proceeded to follow the sledge brother. They walked down the entrance corridor, which had many rooms on either side. At the end of the corridor, they turned left down a few steps, which took them into a large circular room.

"This is the main lobby. From here, you can get to many different areas of the castle but you don't have to worry about that right now." The sledge brother said. "The throne room is this way."

The sledge brother then led Clive towards some steps going upwards on the far right hand side of the lobby from where they just came from. They walked up 45 steps to another floor then turned right down another corridor right down to the end. Clive saw a big red double-door in front of him with two hammer brothers standing in front of it.

"This must be the throne room," Clive thought to himself. While being led to the throne-room, Clive noticed that Castle Koopa looked more like a mansion rather than a castle.

"Here we are," the sledge brother said. "Remember when talking to Bowser to show some respect. Don't talk unless you are spoken to and keep your head down."

Clive acknowledged this and continued following the sledge brother. They walked up to the doors and the hammer brothers stopped them.

"You wish to see Bowser?" one of the hammer brothers said.

"Yes, I have a new recruit here who wants to join us," the sledge brother said.

"Okay," the second hammer brother said and knocked on the throne-room door.

"Come in," shouted Bowser from behind.

Both Clive and the sledge brother walked up the red carpet towards Bowser and stopped about a few metres from the steps up to where Bowser was sitting. The throne room was massive and had a few doors on either side as well as one larger door behind the throne.

"What's this then?" Bowser asked looking down at Clive who remained calm and quiet.

"You can speak now," the sledge brother whispered to Clive.

"Oh, I am Clive Koopa and I have come to join your empire," Clive said.

"Oh yes, I have been expecting you." Bowser said. "Thank you, you can go now." he said to the sledge brother who left Clive alone with Bowser as well as a few other guards who were in the room too.

"Firstly I want to give you a package," Bowser said handing Clive a parcel. "This holds everything you need for being a member of my empire. Inside you will find a handbook detailing the rules and regulations as well as a guided map of this castle. Also inside is your ID card showing you're a certified member of the Koopa Empire."

Clive opened the parcel and looked at the ID card, which had his name, personal details and an ID number. He also noticed something else, which confused him. On the bottom right, it said in capital letters, "LEVEL 1".

"What does level 1 mean?" Clive asked.

"That is your level number. You are a new member and all members start at level 1. Basically at the moment, you have restricted access to certain parts of the castle. The higher your level number, the more access you have. There are six levels altogether," Bowser explained.

"I understand," Clive said and put the ID card away.

"One of my guards will show you to your room. You will need a key to get in and your parcel should already have one," Bowser said and then motioned for a hammer brother near the throne-room door to come over.

A hammer brother walked over towards Clive and Bowser.

"Escort Clive to his room," Bowser said to the hammer brother.

"Yes Bowser," the hammer brother said then turned to Clive. "Follow me," he said as they both left the throne-room.

.

After a few more walks up and down corridors and stairs, they finally got to the residential section, which had lots of rooms on either side. They got to a door numbered 130W. The W meant west as they were in the west wing.

"This will be your room for now on," the hammer brother said. "Bowser will want to see you again in an hour's time."

"Thank you," Clive said and took out the key to open his door.

"Your welcome," the hammer brother said and left.

Clive walked into his room, which was quite small but had everything he needed. Clive dropped his parcel underneath the bed and kept his ID card inside his shell. He took the handbook and map out and started reading.

After about 45 minutes, Clive left his room ready to go and see Bowser hoping to start work right away. He read the map several times so he wouldn't get lost and managed to find Bowser's throne-room right away. The hammer brothers guarding the door recognised Clive and allowed him to go through.

"Welcome back Clive," Bowser said. "Its now time for you to begin your empire duties," he added and passed Clive a piece of paper. Clive opened it and saw a picture of a Toad.

"Your first mission will be to capture this Toad and bring him to me. He is one of King Oscar's most trusted spies and is a big threat to the Koopa Empire," Bowser said.

"I'll do it. King Oscar is the Mushroom King and Peach's father, right?" Clive asked.

"That is correct. But you don't have to worry about him just yet. Just bring me this Toad alive and unharmed and I'll be more than happy. His name is Preston K. Toad. You will need some ropes and a cloth to restrain him. You can get them down in the stock room," Bowser said.

"Right away," Clive said before Bowser dismissed him. He found the stock room not too far from the main entrance. After getting the stuff he needed he put them in a bag then left the castle and headed over to Toad Town.

Clive started walking west down the long road when he heard a voice behind him shout.

"HEY, WAIT!" the voice shouted making Clive jump. Another koopa troopa ran towards Clive.

"Sorry to disturb you but Bowser forgot to mention something. As a koopa troopa, you will not be able to just walk into Toad Town as easy as that. You'll need a disguise to fool the Toads into thinking you're one of them. Then lure that Toad out of the town out of sight and do what you have to do." the koopa troopa said and handed Clive a Toad disguise.

"Thank you," Clive said and put the disguise on right away as the koopa troopa ran away.

"Now capturing this Preston should be a breeze," Clive laughed to himself. He now looked like a real Toad. Clive continued to walk towards Toad Town. After a few hours, he finally reached his destination. Inside Toad Town were lots of Toads and mushroom shaped houses. Clive was greeted by a toad on the edge of the main road.

"Greetings sir, how are you?" he said. Not wanting to blow his cover although he was in a hurry, Clive decided to answer politely.

"Err.. I'm fine thank you. Actually I'm looking for someone," Clive said.

"Who you're looking for?" The toad asked.

"This guy, his name is Preston K. Toad," Clive said showing the toad the picture Bowser gave him.

"Oh I know him. He works for Peach. You can find him in the inn at the bottom of the road. He usually pops in there for a drink," the toad said.

"Thank you," Clive said and walked on. "What a sucker, this disguise works perfectly," Clive said to himself. "This will be a piece of cake."

Clive found the inn at the bottom of the road and walked right in. He looked around and saw his target sitting alone in a corner of the inn. Clive grinned. "Good, he's all alone now's my chance," he thought. He walked over to Preston and began to speak.

"Excuse me, are you Preston K. Toad?" Clive asked once he was close enough.

"Who wants to know?" Preston asked.

"Oh sorry, I don't mean to be rude. My name is Frank P. Toad and I was sent by King Oscar himself to come and get you," Clive lied.

"What does King Oscar want me for and what connection do you have with him?" Preston said.

"I am a faithful servant of the king and he told me some vital information, which has come up and wants you to check it out. He has also asked me to come with you," Clive said.

"What kind of information?" Preston asked.

"The king has word that Bowser is planning an attack on Rose Town and has asked you to check it out," Clive said.

"Well if thats the case then I'd better go. Let's go." Preston said and got up to go. Clive followed along behind satisfied the mission was working. They walked out of Toad Town towards Rose Town , which was the same road Clive took to enter Toad Town. As they were walking, Clive looked around to make sure no-one was around. Once they were out of sight from everyone, Clive quickly jumped on Preston.

"Hey, wha.." Preston started to say before having a cloth shoved in his mouth silencing him. Preston saw Clive take some rope out of his bag and looked at him confused.

"I'm so sorry to have to do this but Bowser can't have you being a threat to his kingdom any longer," Clive said while tying up Preston.

"Bowser?" Preston thought. Once Preston had been fully tied up, Clive removed his disguise to reveal his true koopa troopa form. Preston's heart sank as he now realised that he had been tricked. He tried to struggle but to no avail.

"Struggle all you want, you won't break free," Clive sneered before pulling Preston up to his feet.

"Now to take you to Bowser, he's gonna be so pleased to see you," Clive laughed as Preston glared at him angrily. Clive lifted Preston up and carried him over his shoulders. Preston continued to struggle and squirm but it was no use. Clive carried Preston all the way back to Castle Koopa and the throne-room before dumping him on the floor in front of Bowser.

"Excellent work," Bowser said. "He'll make a fine slave."

Preston looked up weakly at the mention of the word slave. Clive laughed at Preston's reaction.

"Okay Clive, you may go now. In your room, you will find a rota. On that will be all your duties and jobs for the week. When you complete your weekly jobs, you will get a new rota," Bowser said.

"What about him?" Clive asked pointing down to the tied up Preston.

"I'll get someone else to deal with him," Bowser said.

Clive nodded his head and walked out of the throne-room and Bowser smiled as the doors closed behind Clive.

[Clive Koopa]

Chapter 2: Looking After The Koopalings

It was breakfast time and in the canteen Tony Koopa, a koopa troopa was sitting down eating corn flakes with his friends Buzz and Scott, two hammer brothers. Tony was a senior member of the Koopa Empire having served for over 15 years while Buzz and Scott had only joined six months ago.

“So what are you doing today?” Buzz asked Tony.

“Bowser has an important mission for me,” Tony replied. “I've been on guard duty for three days running so now I finally get to do something different.”

“I heard there's another new koopa who's joined us,” Scott said.

“Yeah I know,” Tony replied. “I think his name is Clive. He caught a toad, apparently one of Oscar's spies." Tony looked at the time on the wall.

“Well I better be going. Bowser will be mad if I'm late. See you guys later,” Tony said getting up from his chair.

“See ya,” Buzz said.

Tony made his way to the throne room although Bowser wasn't there. After about a few minutes, Bowser came out of the back room with his wife, Francine. Francine was a large dragon-koopa like Bowser but had long dark hair down past her shoulders.

“Sorry to keep you waiting Tony. Me and Francine are going out for the day so I want you to look after the koopalings.” Bowser said.

“Why me?” Tony asked confused.

“You are a trusted koopa here and you get on well with the koopalings so I requested you personally.” Bowser said. “Please accept my request.”

“Okay I'll do it,” Tony said smiling. “It will be an honour.”

“Thank you. I've left a list in the kitchen of things to do. I hope none of it will be a problem,” Bowser said.

“Not a problem at all,” Tony said.

“Good,” Bowser said. “I'll be back around 10pm tonight. Make sure my kids are in bed before then. If anyone needs me, tell them I'm not here,” Bowser said.

“Will do,” Tony said.

“Well lets go honey,” Bowser said to his wife who was hugging him the whole time.

“Okay darling.” Francine said.

They both left via a warp pipe what Bowser created then dissapeared as soon as he and Francine entered.

Tony walked into the door behind the throne room and inside had many rooms reserved only for the royal family. Next to the door was an intercom what is used to contact those wishing to enter the throne room. The koopalings were playing in a room at the back of the royal headquarters. Tony knocked this door and waited.

“Come in,” Ludwig answered.

Tony came in and was greeted by the koopalings.

“Hiya Tony, how are you?” Iggy said.

“Howdy,” Roy said.

“Hi all. Your dad asked me to look after you all,” Tony said.

“We know. I'm sure we'll have a great time.” Larry said.

“I agree,” Tony said. “Your dad said he left me a list in the kitchen.”

“Yes he did,” Ludwig said. “I'll go and get it for you.” Ludwig found the list on top of the bread bin and brought it to Tony who was waiting with the rest of the koopalings.

Tony read the list before putting it down.

“Okay so you've all had breakfast, right?” Tony asked.

“Right,” they all shouted.

“Good. Well we don't need to worry about that then,” Tony said. “What about school?”

“We get home-schooled,” Ludwig replied. “But today is our day off so all we do is play mainly unless dad gets us to do something.”

“I see. Well on this list, I am supposed to help you with homework, cook dinner, and basically keep you entertained,” Tony said.

“We don't have any homework,” Roy said smugly.

“Surely you must have tons of homework,” Tony replied.

“Nope. The only homework we have is boring maths and empire training,” Wendy said.

“Empire training?” Tony asked.

“Yeah, train to become better koopas in the empire, like you.” Wendy said.

“Oh right,” Tony laughed. “Yeah, its best to learn that kind of stuff when you are quite young. Maths is important too though.”

“Not to me it isn't,” Wendy said.

The rest of the koopalings nodded except for Ludwig.

“Actually he's right. Maths is a very important subject as it helps you with calculations and other things,” Ludwig said.

“You would say that, wouldn't you?” Roy said. “You who thinks he knows it all?”

“What did you say?” Ludwig said raising his voice.

“You heard,” Roy said squaring up to Ludwig.

“Hey now, break it up you guys,” Tony said. “There's no need to fight about it.”

Roy and Ludwig stared at each other angrily for a few seconds.

“Fine,” Roy said turning away.

“Well what do you do for empire training?” Tony asked.

“We learn about combat techniques, how to get along with other koopas and stuff like that,” Lemmy said.

“I see. Well is there anything you need help with?” Tony asked.

“Not really. But you can help us with our maths.” Lemmy said.

“Sure,” Tony said. The koopalings and Tony then sat down on the dining room table and Tony helped the koopalings with their homework, which included algebra and calclulus mainly. The only one what didn't need help was Ludwig as he was quite an expert at maths, which annoyed the other koopalings a lot, especially Roy.

“Well I see you've all completed your homework now and I hope you do the same when I'm not here. What else do you want to do?” Tony asked.

“Lets play hide and seek,” Lemmy said.

“Yeah,” Iggy said.

“Pfff, hide and seek is for sissys,” Roy said. “How about you and me in a wrestling match, one on one?”

“Lets play hide and seek then,” Tony said ignoring Roy's suggestion.

“YAY,” Iggy and Lemmy shouted.

“Wimp,” Roy muttered. “Okay I'll play but you get to count Tony.”

The rest of the koopalings nodded.

“I guess I don't have a choice,” Tony laughed. “Okay but just this once.”

Tony then covered his eyes and counted to 100 while the koopalings ran and hid. “98.. 99.. 100.. Ready or not, here I come,” shouted Tony.

Tony began searching the royal headquarters and found Wendy hiding in the bath.

“No fair,” Wendy complained. Tony laughed at this. He found Larry hiding under his bed, Morton in the kitchen cupboard, Ludwig was in his shell among a collection of other shells and Iggy and Lemmy were in their bedroom wardrobe. He then looked and looked for Roy but couldn't find him.

“Roy where are you?” Tony asked. He continued to look for about fifteen minutes but couldn't find him anywhere.

“Come on Roy, this isn't funny anymore, where have you gone,” Tony said.

“He's left the heqdquarters again. He always does this,” Lemmy said.

Tony growled and walked outside and found Roy sitting on Bowser's throne.

“So this is where you've been hiding,” Tony said slightly annoyed.

“Yup, I told you hide and seek is for sissys,” Roy replied and got of the throne and walked towards Tony.

“Now I want to wrestle with you or are you too chicken to do so?” Roy sneered now standing really close to Tony. The rest of the koopalings didn't dare say anything. They knew what Roy was capable of.

“No I'm not scared. Sure I'll wrestle with you but here isn't the place to do it,” Tony said.

Roy smiled and walked back into the headquarters. “We'll do it in my room. There's plenty of room for us to have a match.”


Roy and Tony squared up to each other and before Tony could react Roy grappled him and pulled him to the ground. Tony tried to get back up but Roy had the upper hand and had Tony in an inescapable hold. Tony eventually tapped out signalling submission and Roy let go. Tony was completely out of breath and slowly got back up. Roy however still had loads of energy in him and smiled and Tony.

“Not bad, I thought you'd submit earlier but you managed to hold out a bit longer but I still beat you,” Roy said.

“Tony, I'm hungry now.” Wendy said from outside.

“Actually I feel quite peckish myself,” Roy said.

“So am I. How about you guys set up the table and I'll fix up something for us to eat,” Tony said now with his breath back. Tony went to the kitchen while the koopalings went into the dining room.

“Lets see now,” Tony said looking through the kitchen. “I know what I'll do.”

Meanwhile the koopalings had set up the table and were sitting waiting. After a while, Tony came in with a tray with eight plates. On the plates was roast potatoes, chicken, cabbage, broccoli and gravy.
Tony served the plates out to, which he and the koopalings all ate.

“Thank you Tony, that was a lovely dinner,” Ludwig said.

“Your very welcome. I'm happy you enjoyed my dinner.” Tony said.”You go and watch TV or something while I wash up.”

The koopalings all ran into the living room to watch TV while Tony did the washing up. In the living room meanwhile, the koopalings were fighting over what to watch.

“Hey I want to watch the news,” Ludwig said.

“But you saw the news earlier. Its just the same stuff every single day,” Lemmy said.

“I want to watch Mushroom Kingdom's most wanted,” Iggy said.

“Forget that rubbish, I'm watching boxing,” Roy said.

The koopalings started talking over each other fighting over the remote.

“ENOUGH!!!!,” shouted a voice from behind. They all turned to see Bowser and Francine back early.

“Daddy, Mummy,” they all cried.

“Hello kids, we're back early,” Francine said. “Did you miss us?”

“We sure did mum,” Larry said.

“Where's Tony?” Bowser asked.

“He's in the kitchen washing up,” Wendy said.

“Okay,” Bowser said.

Tony walked in the living room a few minutes later and saw Bowser and Francine.

“Oh hi Bowser. I wasn't expecting you back this early.” Tony said.

“Yeah, we thought we couldn't leave the koopalings for too long so we came back early,” Bowser laughed. “How were my kids? Were they behaving?”

“Oh they were fine,” Tony laughed. “They were as good as gold.”

“Tony got owned by Roy in a wrestling match,” Morton said.

Tony's cheeks got red when Morton said that.

“Oh he did?” Bowser laughed. Luckily Bowser never said anything else, he was used to Roy challenging babysitters.

“Thanks for looking after my kids Tony,” Bowser said.

“No problem,” Tony said. “I'll be glad to do it again sometime.”

“Now you go back to doing your regular duties and I'll see you later,” Bowser said.

“Right away,” Tony said before leaving the headquarters and the throne-room.

“So what did you do today?” Bowser said

The koopalings then told their parents of what happened.

[Clive Koopa]

Chapter 3: Plumbers and Prophecies

The arrival of two humans is set to change the destinies of both the Mushroom and Koopa Kingdoms forever. This is the story of how the Mario Brothers came into the Mushroom Kingdom and takes place roughly six months after the previous chapter.
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It was night-time in Castle Koopa and one resident was having trouble sleeping. Kamek was tossing and turning in his bed and was having a terrible nightmare.

“Bowser, are you okay?” Kamek shouted. Castle Koopa was on fire and was tumbling down. Several of Bowser's troops had perished and the koopalings were missing. Bowser was on the floor underneath some rubble what had collapsed of the top of the throne-room.

“Kamek, get yourself and my survuving troops to safety,” Bowser said weakly.

“I'm not leaving without you,” Kamek said. “What about your kids?”

“Its too late for me. The Koopa Empire has fallen and my kids are missing. I don't know where they are of if they are alive,” Bowser said. Kamek was now crying.

“No I will not let you or your empire die. We will rise up and we will defeat the Mario Brothers,” Kamek said defiantly.

Bowser shook his head sadly.

“I'm afraid we've lost Kamek, there's nothing for us anymore. At least you can live your life and be happy,” Bowser said, his voice getting weaker each time.

Kamek wasn't listening though. He was about to speak when some more fiery rubble fell on top of Bowser.

“NOOOOOOOOOO,” Kamek shouted. Kamek saw the whole ceiling was about to collapse and decided to run for it. He along with a group of koopa troopas and hammer brothers made it to the entrance. Kamek tried to open the door but it was blocked.

“Oh no, we're trapped,” Kamek said frantically trying to open the door. He looked out of the peep-hole and saw the door had been deliberately blocked with brick blocks and ? blocks. He noticed Mario and Luigi looking on from the distance as Kamek took one last look at the ceiling as it began to fall.

“Oh please no,” Kamek said. “It can't end like this.”

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO,” Kamek screamed.


All of a sudden Kamek woke up. He was breathing heavily and looked around and checked himself. He breathed a big sigh of relief. It was all just a dream or was it? Kamek had been having very similar nightmares for the past two weeks now. The scenarios are always different but the outcome is always the same and ends in the demise of the Koopas. He got out of bed and took a hand-drawn picture out of his drawers. It was a picture of the Mario Brothers what Kamek had drawn himself to remind him of what they look like in case they were to appear in real life. Kamek wasn't sure whether these dreams were warnings of what is to come or what might come. He took out a diary and wrote down his dream in vivid detail.

Meanwhile in the Mushroom Kingdom about ten miles south of Toad Town, a warp pipe popped up and two humans were ejected out by force. The Mario Brothers had finally arrived although they did not know their destiny yet.

“Ow that hurt,” Luigi said as he landed hard on his bottom. “Mario, are you okay?”

“I'm fine Luigi,” Mario said as they got up to their feet. They looked around in astonishment towards their surroundings.

“Hey, where are we Mario?” Luigi asked.

“I don't know Luigi but I have a feeling we're not in Brooklyn anymore,” Mario said. “We should take a look around and maybe get some answers to where we are.”

“Good idea, this place looks kinda creepy,” Luigi said.

They continued walking when they heard a voice from up ahead call to them.

“Hey you, over there,” said a Toad who ran up to them.

“Huh, who are you?” Mario asked.

“What are you, more like?” Luigi asked.

The Toad was quite shocked and offended by Luigi's comment.

“For your information, I am a Toad, which may come as a surprise to you but that is my name also,” he said.

“So your name is Toad and your species is Toad,” Luigi said. “Very interesting. Could you by any chance tell us where we are and how to get home?”

“You are in the Mushroom Kingdom. As for getting home, I'm afraid that's not possible. I've seen humans like you come here before through what we call a warp pipe, which is how you got here. Unless you know how to control pipes and by chance the right pipe appears for you, then you are stuck here permanently,” Toad said.

“Well that's a bummer,” Mario said. “Well at least we can go and find some place to eat, I'm starving.”

“How can you th..” Luigi said before being interrupted.

“Wait a second, I was told that two humans fitting your description would one day come here,” Toad said.

“What do you mean?” Luigi asked confused.

“There is a prophecy what tells that two humans would overcome an evil empire and bring peace to the Mushroom World. Oh my, it's true. You are those humans,” Toad said. “You have to come with me.”

“Wait, what prophecy, what are you talking about?” Mario asked.

“I'll tell you on the way, but please follow me. I'll take you to see Peach. She'll fill you in on a lot more detail when we meet her.” Toad said as he ran ahead with the Mario Brothers running behind.

Back in Castle Koopa, Kamek was telling Kammy about his dreams.

“Are you sure they are real and not just dreams?” Kammy asked,

“Positive. In all my life, I have never had a dream so vivid and so clear. Not only that but I have been having repeated dreams every day for the past two weeks and I'm really scared now,” Kamek said.

Kammy walked over to Kamek and put her hands on his shoulders.

“Listen Kamek, if what you are saying is true then all we have to do is make sure that the outcome of your dreams never happen. We must find the humans involved and capture them,” Kammy said.

“Capturing them might not be enough,” Kamek warned. “What's to stop them escaping and destroying us all. We may have to kill them.”

Kammy nodded and then said, “Well if that is the case then so be it. Just stay calm and don't let it bother you, I won't let anything happen to the kingdom or to you. Not while I'm still living. I'll go and see what I can do and I'll see if I can find something to help you with your dreams.”

As soon as Kammy left, a hammer brother knocked on Kamek's door.

“Yes, what is it?” Kamek answered.

“Bowser wishes to see you, it's urgent.” the hammer brother said.

“I'll be right there,” Kamek said. He took a few deep breaths then left his room to see Bowser.

In the throne-room were several troops all wondering why they had been summoned. Kamek walked over to the front and waited for Bowser to appear. Clive was also there along with many other of Bowser's most trusted allies.

“Hey, what's going on?” Clive asked Tony.

“No idea. I've never seen the throne-room this packed before,” Tony replied.

There must have been around 600 or more koopa troopas, hammer brothers, sledge brothers, shy guys, magikoopas and many other species all standing in the throne-room at that time. After about ten minutes Bowser walked out looking quite agitated along with his wife Francine and all of the koopalings.

“Welcome everyone. I'm sorry to bring you all here in such short notice but I have some very bad news to bring you all. You are my most trusted and gifted soldiers and I need you all to listen carefully,” Bowser said.

They all remained quiet intent on listening to what Bowser had to say. Kamek had a strong feeling though that he already knew what Bowser was going to say.

“An age-old prophecy what I have long feared has come true,” Bowser finally said after a pause.

Kamek held his head in his hand as he realised his dreams and everything he had seen was all true.

“Two humans who prophecy states will destroy the Koopa Empire and all of us have finally entered the Mushroom Kingdom,”. Bowser continued.

The troops looked at each other in confusion unsure what Bowser was talking about. They started chattering amongst themselves getting all confused and panicky.

“QUIET!!” Bowser shouted silencing everyone. “Thank you. Now I want you all to remain calm and let me finish.”

The troops remained quiet and waited for Bowser to continue speaking.

“As I was saying, the humans in question arrived in the Mushroom Kingdom about a few hours ago and are now currently with Peach. Peach will surely pass her powers onto these humans, which will make them very dangerous indeed. I want you all to look at the screen I'm about to show,” Bowser said before going behind the throne and pulled down a curtain revealing a large picture of the Mario Brothers.

“This is Mario and Luigi, collectively known as the Mario Brothers. If you see them, be very careful of them. They will show no mercy and will kill you. Now I don't care who does it or how you do it, I want you to get rid of these humans. Capture them or kill them. Do as you please but for now, keep them away from here,” Bowser said. “Any questions?”

A shy guy near the front put his hand up.

“Yes, you?” Bowser asked.

“If we capture them but not allowed to bring them here, then what are we supposed to do?” the shy guy said.

“Whatever you want, keep them as personal slaves for all I care. I just don't want them here where they can destroy us like the prophecy says,” Bowser replied. “All you have to do is to make sure the prophecy never comes true. Them just being here is proof that this can happen and Kamek here has been having the most awful of dreams,” Bowser said. “For now you are all dismissed. You may now go back to your regular duties but this is just a warning to be careful of them. If you ever get into contact with them, do what you have to to be rid of them.”

All the troops then left until only Bowser, Francine and the koopalings remained.

“Daddy, are you alright? Those nasty humans aren't going to hurt us, are they?” Wendy asked.

“No Wendy, I won't let anything happen to us. Our family and the empire are here to stay,” Bowser said. “Lets go back inside the headquarters. I'll cook us all dinner.”

“Sounds good to me,” Wendy said.

Meanwhile Clive was in his room going through some paperwork and was doing some thinking. He had heard about the prophecy from his parents and told to always fear it and he did.

“So the famed Mario brothers are finally here. Unlucky for them. Surely they can't beat the whole empire, just the two of them, powers or not. I'll make sure that I am the one who goes down in history as the one who prevented the prophecy from ever coming true,” Clive said to himself.

Many of the other troops who were present at the time were also thinking the same thing. Kamek, meanwhile managed to get a good night's sleep for a change and his nightmares didn't bother him again.

[Clive Koopa]

Chapter 4: Death in Castle Koopa

Clive walked down the dungeons down in the castle's basement and opened the door to one of them.

“Hey, do you always come in without knocking? When am I going to get some food” a Toad shouted from inside. Clive had been chosen to be this toad's personal guard and was quite annoyed at his attitude.

“Do you ever shut up?” Clive shouted back. “I was just about to feed you.” He brought a tray in with some food and put it down beside the Toad.

“About time too, I'm starving,” the Toad said before beginning to eat. Clive shook his head in disgust, he was used to this though.

“Not even a thank you. I hope you choke on it,” Clive muttered under his breath as he left. At least the other prisoners he was assigned to look after had better attitudes even though they weren't too happy about being captured. Afterwards he walked out of the dungeons and back into the main grounds. He heard a voice call him from behind.

“Clive, can I speak to you for a second,” the voice said. Clive turned around to see Francine.

“Oh hi Francine, how may I be of service?” Clive asked.

“Bowser has asked me to give you this if I see you,” Francine said handing Clive a new ID card. Clive knew what it meant.

“I've been promoted,” Clive said surprised.

“Bowser is busy right now in the Mushroom Kingdom and wanted to give it you in person but he asked me to do it instead,” Francine said.

“Thank you very much,” Clive said. “I'll be sure to give my thanks to Bowser the next time I see him.”

Francine then walked off. Clive smiled and put his new card under his shell. He was about to walk off the he heard a loud scream from behind. Clive stopped in his tracks and ran to see what the scream was. He kept running and was shocked at what he saw next. Roy was kneeling down over the lifeless bloody body of Francine, the koopalings' mother and who Clive had just spoken to.

“Mum, wake up,” Roy sobbed. There were other guards around who looked shocked, some turned away and couldn't look while others broke down in tears.

“Oh my god,” Clive said shocked. “She's, she's, she's dead,” he added barely able to say the words.

Bowser returned shortly afterwards with Peach.

“Hey, let me go Bowser,” Peach said.

“I can't do that,” Bowser said. “I have plans to take over the Mushroom Kingdom and you are part of the plan.”

Bowser parked his clown car on the balcony of his bedroom and they got in to see Kamek standing there.

“Kamek, what are you doing here?” Bowser said. “You know you can't just come in here.”

“Its your wife,” Kamek said starting to get teary. “She's gone”.

“Gone?” Bowser asked confused. “What do you mean?”

Kamek just stood there staring at Bowser.

“Kamek, where's my wife?” Bowser demanded instantly forgetting about Peach.

“She's dead.” Kamek finally said after a long pause. Bowser was gobsmacked and Peach was equally shocked. Bowser ran out his bedroom leaving Peach alone.

“Bowser, where are you going?” Kamek shouted running after Bowser. They continued to run and Bowser stopped just outside the throne-room when he saw the koopalings and several troops crying.

“Daddy you're back,” the koopalings all said all as they ran over to Bowser giving him a big hug.

“Mum's dead, Dad” Roy cried. “Someone murdered her.”

“I know kids,” Bowser said. “Kamek told me.

“Who did this daddy, who would kill our mum?” Wendy cried.

“I don't know Wendy, I don't know. But when I find out, I'll make sure he pays,” Bowser said.

“Sir, may I speak to you?” a hammer brother said.

“Go ahead,” Bowser said. He and the koopalings calmed down and stopped crying although they were still quite teary.

“I am Monty Koopa from Vibe Island's elite hammer brother's unit. We have information what might help track your wife's killer,” the hammer brother said.

“Continue,” Bowser said.

“I saw three Toads acting quite suspiciously earlier near the Dark Land border. It is my belief that they or someone else may have been responsible,” Monty added.

“Thanks for letting me know. Take your unit and explore the border. Let me know if you see anything. If anyone gets in your way or you find those toads, capture them and interrogate them,” Bowser ordered.

“Will do,” Monty said before leaving.

“Bowser, I thought Peach was with you,” Larry asked.

Bowser covered his mouth in shock as he forgot all about Peach when he heard about what happened to Francine.

“I almost forgot, I left her in my bedroom.” Bowser said.

“Bowser,” Bowser heard a voice say from behind. Bowser turned around to see Peach looking sad.

“Peach, what are you doing down here?” Bowser asked.

“I'm sorry to hear about your wife Bowser, really I am.” Peach said.

“Peach, I don't mean no offence but it is my belief that someone in your kingdom did this to my wife. I have received information that Mario was in Dark Land with a group of toads while I was kidnapping you,” Bowser said.

“I assure you that I had nothing to do with this but if I find out Mario was behind this, I will see that he pays,” Peach said. “Our kingdoms may be at war but I did not intend at all for this to happen.”

“I know. Peach, just leave now. I was going to keep you here but as you can see things have changed so please leave me and my kids alone for now,” Bowser said.

“Okay,” Peach said and then proceeded to leave the castle.

“What? You're going to just let her go?” Wendy said.

“Yes,” Bowser said. “I believe her words and right now isn't the right time to make my takeover plans. When all this is settled and back to normal, then I'll recapture Peach and put my plans back on.”

Meanwhile near the borders of Dark Land, a group of six hammer brothers stood by as Monty spoke.

“Okay, our orders are to explore this area and look for any clues as to the whereabouts and identity of Francine's killer. If we spot anyone suspicious, we are to take them prisoner and question them,” Monty said.

One hammer brother found something buried under the soil as they were searching.

“Hey Monty, I think I found something,” he said. Monty walked over and examined the find.

“It's a sledge hammer,” Monty said identifying it as a sledge brother's hammer. He noticed blood on it. Monty was shocked.

“This must be what killed Francine. We need to have this checked.” he added. They continued to search but found nothing else. They noticed someone walking near to the border and realised it was a Toad.

“Hey you,” Monty shouted to the toad. The toad saw the hammer brothers and saw them with the bloodied hammer and tried to run.

“Get him,” Monty ordered as the hammer brothers ran towards the toad. The toad tripped over a stone and fell over. He tried to get back up but Monty jumped on him pinning him down.

“Thought you could get away from us, did you?” Monty said as the rest of the hammer brothers stood around him.
The toad sighed in defeat as Monty tied him up. He carried the toad into a dark, quiet area near the border where they couldn't be seen and put the Toad down followed by the rest of the hammer brothers.

“Now then, what is your name and what were you doing near our borders?” Monty asked the toad.

The toad just closed his eyes and turned his face away like a snob.

“So you choose not to answer, do you? Monty said. He stood right next to the toad and put his hammer next to his head. The toad was now scared.

“Normally I wouldn't use this kind of threat in an interrogation. I could just tickle the information out of you or something but this isn't any ordinary interrogation. Someone is dead and you just happen to be in the area where the murder weapon was found. Now I suggest you answer my questions or I will hammer you into submission,” Monty warned angrily.

“Okay, okay, I was in the area with three other toads earlier and I was told to claim the hammer back but you got there first,” the toad said.

“So you admit to being responsible for Francine's murder?” Monty asked,

“It wasn't me personally but it was another toad,” the toad said.

“Give me the names as well as your own,” Monty said putting his hammer closer to the toad.

“George P. Toad, Harold J. Toad and Kyle M. Toad. My name is Jack P. Toad and Kyle was the actual killer,” the toad said.

“Where are they now?” Monty asked.

“I don't know where they are now, they are probably either in Peach's castle or with Mario,” Jack said.

“Thank you for being so co-operative,” Monty said as he wrote all the information down.

“You and you,” Monty said referring to two of the hammer brothers with him. “Find these three Toads and capture them. Take them away from Toad Town and interrogate them then bring them to Castle Koopa.”

The two hammer brothers left leaving just Monty and three others.

“Jack P. Toad, you will be coming with us to Castle Koopa where you will stand trial along with your three friends for Francine's murder,” Monty said. “If found guilty, you will likely get executed. Do you have anything to say in your defence?”

Jack remained silent. Monty then picked Jack up and carried him to Castle Koopa where he was put in one of the dungeons. The other three toads were captured not long after.

[Clive Koopa]

Chapter 5: The Trial

It had been three days since Francine Koopa, Bowser's wife and queen of the koopas had been murdered and the toads responsible had been swifly caught. They would stand trial on her murder as well as the attempted murder of the sledge brother they stole the hammer from used to kill her.

Spike, a senior sledge brother walked down to the dungeons that morning to escort the toads to trial.
He had two hammer brothers with him as back-up incase the toads tried to escape. The hammer brothers were called Buzz and Scott, two junior brothers who always worked together.

“Take the two cells on the left, I'll take these two on the right,” Spike told them. They understood and opened the two cells immediately to the left.

“Alright you, on your feet. It's time for your trial,” Buzz said to Harold J. Toad in the first cell. Harold, who was sitting on his bed immediately got up to his feet and stood still. Buzz walked over to Harold and tied his hands behind his back.

“Now move it,” Buzz said ushering Harold out of the cell.

In the second cell was Jack P. Toad, who had been interrogated previously by Monty and had revealed the identities of everyone involved in Francine's death. Scott bound Jack's hands in the same way as Buzz did with Harold and escorted him out the cell.

Spike did the same to George P. Toad and the actual killer Kyle M. Toad.

“Move it losers,” Spike ordered forcing the toads to walk with Buzz and Scott in front of them and Spike behind them.

The trial was being held in a large courtroom on the other side of Castle Koopa and the prisoners were made to sit in a dock while Spike, Buzz and Scott sat on either side of them with their hands still tied. On the other side of the courtroom, Bowser and the koopalings sat and watched. They all glared angrily at the toads with evil eyes. They were definitely hoping for a unanimous guilty verdict. The judge Michael C. Koopa, a koopatrol entered shortly afterwards and took his seat.

“This court is now in session, you may now bring in your first witness,” Michael said to the prosecutor, a female koopa troopa called Lucy T. Koopa.

Meanwhile in the mushroom kingdom, Peach was getting ready to attend the trial.

“Where do you think you're going?” Toadsworth asked from behind.

“I'm going out for a meal with Daisy,” Peach lied. She couldn't let anyone know she was going to Castle Koopa especially as she had been called in as a witness and had been secretly supporting Bowser. Shortly after Francine's death and her kidnap at the hands of Bowser, Peach had received a tip-off revealing the names of the killers involved and she realised that her own father, King Oscar II of the mushroom kingdom was responsible. She was furious but dared not tell anyone, especially Mario or Toadsworth.

“I see,” Toadsworth said. “Well make sure you stay away from dark land. This trial has nothing to do with us, you hear.”

“Don't worry Toadsworth, I have no intention of going to that horrible place,” Peach said.

“Good. You make sure you're back before nightfall,” Toadsworth said before leaving. As soon as Toadsworth left, Peach quickly left through another door and made her way towards Castle Koopa.


Meanwhile back at the trial....

“My next witness is Clive Koopa,” Lucy the prosecuting koopa said. Clive came in through a side door and took his seat on the witness stand. Peach arrived shortly afterwards and waited outside. It would be her turn on the witness stand next. Back in the courtroom, Clive remained calm and composed has he began to answer the questions given to him. He was the fourth witness to speak.
After a series of questions from both Lucy and Joey N. Toad, who was for the defence, it was now Peach's turn. Bowser was initially quite surprised to see Peach there and the fact she was on the prosecution side rather than on the defence side among her own kind. Peach hated going behind her own kingdom's back but someone had been murdered and her own family was responsible so she decided to fix it. She told Daisy to lie to everyone in case anyone asked where she was. As far as they were concerned, Peach was having dinner with Daisy in Sarasaland. Peach would be back in a few days to answer more questions. On the fifth day of the trial, it was the turn of Francine's killers to answer questions. The way they answered questions disgusted almost everyone in the courtroom as they smugly admitted in detail of how they conspired to and killed the queen of the koopas. Peach was absolutely sickened as to how high-ranking toads in her own kingdom could be so insensitive. Bowser nearly puked and the koopalings just wept. The only one who wasn't smug was Jack P. Toad, who was quite scared and revealed how he was forced into the plot. He had originally been captured by Monty Koopa who forced him to reveal the other names of the toads involved. On the sixth day at noon came the verdict and virtually everyone was hoping for a guilty verdict.

“Will the foreman of the jury please stand?” the judge, Michael C. Koopa said.

The jury consisted of three koopa troopas, three goombas, three toads and three shy guys. The foreman was a koopa troopa who stood up.

“Have you reached a verdict on which you are all agreed?” Michael said.

“Yes we have,” the foreman said.

“On the count of conspiracy to murder, do you find the defendant Kyle M. Toad guilty or not guilty?” Michael asked.

“Guilty!” the foreman replied almost instantly. Bowser shook his fist in delight and the koopalings whooped.

“On the count of murder, do you find the defendant Kyle M. Toad guilty or not guilty?” Michael asked.

“Guilty!” the foreman replied. “YES!” came a voice from the people watching.

“Order,” Michael shouted silencing the crowd. After a brief pause he continued.

“On the attempted murder of Daniel D. Koopa, do you find the defendant Kyle M. Toad guilty or not guilty?” Michael asked. This was the sledge brother who Kyle almost killed while stealing his hammer what would be used to kill Francine.

“Guilty!” the foreman replied. The judge then repeated the same questions for the other defendants and the answer was the same throughout except for Jack who was cleared of murder and attempted murder but was found guilty of conspiracy.

“Will the defendants rise?” Michael said and the toads standing in the dock stood up as did Buzz, Scott and Spike who had been guarding them the whole time.

“In all my years of judging I have never came across anything so despicable, so disgusting as you toads. You murdered the queen of the koopas then you brag about it like it was some kind of a game. You make me sick. I can think of only one suitable punishment for you, you will be plunged into the lava where you will die. As for you Jack P. Toad, you have been cleared of both murder and attempted murder and you seem to have shown some kind of remorse throughout this trial. However you are still guilty of conspiracy so I sentence you to five years as a slave. Take them away, this court is dismissed”

Jack gulped. He didn't like the idea of being a slave but at least he wasn't being executed.

“Take this toad to the slave camp, I'll take these three to their doom,” Spike told Buzz and Scott. The hammer brothers and escorted Jack out who hung his head in sorrow.

“As for you three, I'm going to enjoy watching you die,” Spike said to the other three toads who just turned their faces away. Spike took them to a room and they were made to stand together in the middle of the room on top of what appeared to be a trapdoor.

“Now you just stand still. It will all be over soon,” Spike said walking over to a lever. The toads just stood there motionless, they weren't scared nor did they even care. Spike pulled the lever and the trapdoor opened. The toads fell through falling over fifty feet down into the lava below where they drowned and melted. Spike just stared through the open trapdoor at the lava river before walking back to the lever and closed the trapdoor back up again.

Peach returned to the Mushroom Kingdom shortly afterwards and was greeted by Mario.

“Hi Peach, how did I go with Daisy?” Mario asked.

“Oh it was fine, me and Daisy had a great time,” Peach lied.

“That's good. I was thinking maybe you and I could go out sometime,” Mario said.

“I'd love to. But now I think I'll have a little nap now if you don't mind,” Peach said.

“Sure, I'll see you later on then,” Mario said and then walked off. Peach walked into her bedroom and locked the door. She pulled out a photo album and looked through. This was her secret album what no-one else knew about. Inside were pictures of Peach, Bowser and the koopalings.

“Those are lovely pictures, it brings it all back, doesn't it?” said a voice from outside the balcony.

Peach turned around to see Bowser.

“Bowser, what are you doing here?” Peach asked.

“To see how you were. I also wanted to thank you for your help in the trial and everything,” Bowser replied.

“Oh Bowser, you didn't have to come all the way to say that,” Peach said.

“I wanted to,” Bowser said. He looked at the pictures Peach had been going through.

“I never did tell the kids the truth,” Bowser said. “You know, about who their real mum is.”

“Did Francine know?” Peach asked. Bowser shook his head.

“Bowser, you shouldn't be here,” Peach said. “Someone might see you.”

“I don't care. Peach I've never told you this before but I love you. One of the reasons I keep kidnapping you is love. I loved my wife too but you were always the love of my life,” Bowser said shocking Peach.

“Bowser, you can't have me. I love Mario and he loves me. Go home and be with your kids,” Peach said.

“Our kids,” Bowser corrected.

“I know Bowser but what would they say if they found out especially when their mum, I mean who they thought was their mum was never their mum to begin with,” Peach said.

“I know, you're right. I'll be back for you someday and when that happens, I'll take your kingdom too,” Bowser laughed as he jumped into his clown copter, which he parked just outside the balcony and left.

“Bye Bowser,” Peach smiled and closed the balcony windows.

[Clive Koopa]

Chapter 6: The New Human

It had been over six months since the death of Francine Koopa and the murder trial and everything was slowly getting back to normal in Castle Koopa. Bowser had put extra security in his castle and hired over a hundred more troops to protect it and the residents inside. Bowser sat in his throne and was conversing with two koopatrols when a koopa troopa walked in.

“You may leave now and return to your duties,” Bowser said dismissing the koopatrols as the koopa troopa waited.

“Marcus, what are you doing here?” Bowser asked the koopa troopa who was called Marcus.

“I am here requesting new missions, I have completed all my other duties and have none left,” Marcus explained.

“Okay, you can go and patrol the borders. I have a few other troops there patrolling the north section but I have no-one patrolling the south area. So you may go and patrol there for a while. If you see anything suspicious, contact me with the details,” Bowser said.

“Thank you Bowser,” Marcus said. “I'll leave right away.”

Marcus then left Castle Koopa and proceeded to go down to the south area of the Koopa Kingdom borders near to the Mushroom Kingdom. He brought a notepad with him as well as a flask of water for himself and a walkie talkie to contact Bowser if he needed to.

After a long walk, Marcus reached the border where he set up camp and began patrolling. After about ten minutes, he heard a loud crash what made him jump coming down near the river.

“What the hell was that?” Marcus cried rushing over to see what the bang was. He saw a rubble of brick blocks what had tumbled down. He began to throw the bricks aside wondering what could have made them tumble. He began to notice something and continued to throw the bricks away until he realised what it was.

“A human,” Marcus said out loud. The human had crashed into the blocks and appeared to be all dazed. He slowly came round and staggered up.

“Are you okay?” Marcus asked concerned. The human took a while to come around and his vision was quite blurry but slowly came back to normal. He noticed the koopa troopa standing in front of him and his reaction was nothing but shock and puzzlement.

“Huh, who are you?” he said. “No, what are you?”.

He looked around at where he was rubbed his head in confusion.

“Where am I? What is this place? What on earth is going on?” he added almost forgetting Marcus was standing in front of him.

“Err.. hello?” Marcus said getting the human's attention. “I'm sorry but you seem kind of lost. What's your name mister?”

“I'm Jeff, Jeff Weston. Could you tell me what is going on and how I got here?” Jeff asked.

“You're in the Koopa Kingdom and just over there is the Mushroom Kingdom,” Marcus said pointing left.

“Koopa? Mushroom? Kingdom?” Jeff asked. “Now I'm even more confused. I was walking down a road not far from my house and I fell down this hole in the middle of it. Next thing I know, I'm falling down what appears to be a bottomless pit then I fall into a bunch of blocks and now here I am on a different planet entirely.”

“You're from Earth, correct?” Marcus asked. This question almost made Jeff break down in laughter but he realised he wasn't anywhere near home now.

“Yes I'm from Earth. And what is this planet of yours called? Also what species are you? Man, I have so many questions I want to ask,” Jeff said.

“This planet is called Plit and I am a Koopa Troopa. The name is Marcus by the way,” Marcus said holding out his hand.

“Well it's nice to meet you Marcus,” Jeff said shaking Marcus's hand.

“It's not everyday I get to meet a turtle what can speak human language,” he joked making Marcus chuckle a little.

“Is there anywhere where I can go so I can more answers where I am and how I can get back home?” he then asked.

“Toad Town is a good place to start, which is quite a walk away. You can get there by just following this road. From here, it should take about half an hour. As for getting home, I'm afraid that is highly unlikely. Entrances to and from your planet are very rare and are one-way only so you're pretty much stuck here,” Marcus explained.

“That sucks. Oh well I guess I might as well get used to being here. I'll visit Toad Town right away and get more answers. See ya around,” Jeff said before heading off to Toad Town.

“See ya,” Marcus called after him as Jeff ran away.

Jeff walked for about 40 minutes until he finally reached Toad Town. He looked up at the sign saying the name of the town and walked on.

“So this is Toad Town,” Jeff said looking at his surrroundings.

“Why do all these houses look like mushrooms?” Jeff asked. He turned to face forward and was greeted by Toad.

“Oh great, first I meet a talking turtle, now a talking mushroom. This day gets more weird by the minute,” Jeff said out loud startling Toad.

“Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend, I'm new around here and I was told to visit here. Do you know where I can go to get some help as I am lost and I'm also quite hungry too,” Jeff said.

“Sure, if you are lost and only just come here, then the best place to start is Peach's castle,” Toad replied.

“Peach's castle?” Jeff asked. “Who's Peach?”

“Peach is the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom and she lives in a castle in the north of Toad Town,” Toad replied. “Err.. what's your name by the way?”

“I'm Jeff,” Jeff answered.

“My name is Toad,” Toad said. “I'm a personal servant of Peach and I'm sure she'll be glad to see another human here.”

“So I'm not the only one then?” Jeff asked.

“Peach was born here but she is 100% human and there are two other humans who live here but are very close to Peach. They came here through a warp pipe and live in a detached house a few miles south of here,” Toad replied.

“Warp pipe?” Jeff asked confused.

“How did you enter here?” Toad asked.

“Through a tunnel and then I fell through the sky and landed in some blocks,” Jeff replied.

“Yes, you exited through a warp pipe. Warp pipes are all around this world although they are much rarer in your world. In your world, they can appear in hidden places” like tunnels or plug hole and only appear in such places during very rare intervals,” Toad said. “Anyway lets go to Peach's castle now. The two humans I told you about are called Mario and Luigi, they're brothers and are probably also there right now.” he added.

Jeff then followed Toad through the streets of Toad Town until they got to Peach's castle.

“Wow, I've never seen a castle like that before,” Jeff said amazed. Jeff followed Toad inside the castle.

Meanwhile back in Castle Koopa...


“You what?” Bowser shouted. “Are you sure?”

“I'm positive, he's probably already in Toad Town as we speak,” Marcus replied.

“Why did you let him get away? You should have captured him,” Bowser said annoyed.

“I didn't see him as a threat,” Marcus said.

“If he's in Toad Town, then he may end up in Peach's castle. He's probably already there then those Mario brothers will probably tell him stories about us and turn him against is,” Bowser said.

“I never thought of that. He was lost and I told him where he could go to get help,” Marcus replied.

“Help? HELP? The last thing we need is another human. If he ends up siding with the Mario brothers then they'll be even more harder to beat,” Bowser said.

“I'm sorry Bowser,” Marcus said bowing his head in sorrow.

“Forget it, what's done is done. Just make sure he doesn't end up becoming one of Mario's fighters. If you see him again, get him alone and interrogate him. Make sure Mario hasn't already poisoned him against us,” Bowser said.

“I'll get right to it,” Marcus said before making his leave.

In Peach's castle, Jeff was sitting down in the guest dining room along with Mario, Luigi, Toad, Peach and Toadsworth.

“This is a lovely cup of tea,” Jeff said to Peach.

“Thank you Jeff,” Peach replied. “Its so nice to see another human enter my kingdom and have such wonderful manners.”

“So you're the queen of this place?” Jeff asked.

“Oh no, I'm just a princess,” Peach replied. “My father is the king and the actual ruler but I help with ruling and royal duties.”

“I see. Where does your father live?” Jeff asked.

“He lives in another castle a few miles west of here,” Peach replied. “My mother passed away several years ago so my father raised me up.”

“I'm sorry to hear that,” Jeff replied.

“So Mario, Luigi, what's your story? Where do you come from and how did you get here?” Jeff asked.

“Well it happened one afternoon in Brooklyn, New York where we lived. We're plumbers and we were doing a job in someone's house. There was something wrong with the bath's plughole and we were fixing it. Next thing we knew were being dragged under and we ended up shrinking until we could fit through the hole and we ended up here, where we have lived ever since,” Mario replied.

“As for me, I'm from England. I was walking down a road near to my house and someone left a manhole open, which I didn't see. So I ended up falling in and it kept falling and falling for a long time and ended up falling into some blocks. I was quite dazed and was helped by this turtle-like creature,” Jeff said.

“Turtle?” Toadsworth shouted almost interrupting. “You don't mean those koopas?”

“He said he was a koopa troopa,” Jeff replied. “Why, is that a problem?”

“Listen here,” Toadsworth said now on his feet. “Those koopas are bad news, whatever you do, never trust them.”

Mario and Luigi nodded their heads.

“They have a king who goes by the name Bowser. He has been trying to take over the Mushroom Kingdom for a very long time and has enslaved many Toads.” Mario said.

“Oh I see,” Jeff replied. “Funny, because the koopa troopa I spoke to seemed to be nothing but friendly.”

“Some of them may seem that way but they work for Bowser and can be very dangerous indeed. Don't believe for one second that they are friendly,” Mario said.

“Okay. Actually I think I'll might have a look around the town and see if I can find somewhere where I can stay for a while,” Jeff said.

“You can always stay here if you can't find a place elsewhere,” Peach said.

“Thank you for your hospitality Peach. I'll see if I can find an inn somewhere where I can stay then I'll go and find somewhere on a more permanent basis,” Jeff said.

“I'll might see you later then,” Peach said.

“Bye everyone,” Jeff said before leaving.

Meanwhile outside of Toad Town, Marcus was preparing to make contact with Jeff again and intended to make a swift capture. Marcus saw Jeff going in and out of a few buildings but needed to get him out of Toad Town. He watched from a safe distance with high magnification binoculars. After about fifteen minutes, Marcus decided he was going to lure Jeff out of Toad Town so he waited for him to enter the inn, which was near to the exit and phoned the inn's number using his own mobile. The innkeeper answered the phone as Jeff took a seat in a corner.

“Yes, who is this?” the innkeeper asked.

“I'm looking for Jeff Weston,” Marcus asked pretending to be Mario.

“Mario is that you?” the innkeeper asked.

“Yes, I am looking for Jeff Weston, he's another human who I think might be in your inn, it's urgent,” Marcus said.

“Hold on Mario,” the innkeeper said. “I'm looking for a Jeff Weston. Mario wants to speak to him urgently,” he then shouted to the customers. Jeff stood up and came to the counter.

“My name's Jeff Weston but why would Mario want to speak to me?” Jeff asked taking the phone.

“Hello?” Jeff said down the phone.

“Jeff, it's Mario. I need to talk to you. Please meet me outside Toad Town right now and I'll tell you there,” Marcus said still in his fake Mario voice.

“I'll be right there,” Jeff said before hanging up the phone and leaving the inn.

“Gotcha,” Marcus said in his normal voice once the phone was hung up.

Jeff walked out of Toad Town and kept walking until he heard a familiar voice.

“We meet again, Jeff” Marcus said walking behind him.

“Marcus, what ar..” Jeff said before Marcus grabbed him and pushed him forward.

“Keep walking, you're coming with me,” Marcus said.

“What's going on? Where's Mario?” Jeff asked.

Marcus just laughed and then spoke in his fake Mario voice, “I need to talk to you Jeff.”

“That was you?” Jeff said shocked.

“Yeah. I needed you out of Toad Town so I could do this,” Marcus said as he pushed Jeff into a dead-end. Jeff couldn't get away now.

“Now get in,” Marcus ordered pointing to a warp-pipe. Jeff looked at the warp pipe then looked at Marcus confused.

“I said get in,” Marcus ordered again. “I know you've been in contact with Peach and the Mario brothers.”

“They told me nasty things about your kind. They said you all work for someone called Bowser and do evil things,” Jeff said now worried.

“We don't all work for Bowser and we're not all evil,” Marcus replied. “I do work for Bowser though but I wouldn't say he was evil and neither am I really.”

“Then why are you kidnapping me?” Jeff asked.

“Just get in the pipe and I'll tell you more,” Marcus said. “Or do I have to force you in myself?”

Jeff realised he couldn't run away and the only things between him and the warp pipe was a wall behind him and Marcus in front of him blocking his escape. Realising he had no choice he jumped in quickly followed by Marcus. They landed in a room in Castle Koopa and Jeff got up and looked around.

“What is this place? Why did you bring me here?” Jeff asked.

“This is my home, Castle Koopa. I work for Bowser who sent me to capture you. He is very interested in meeting you,” Marcus said. “Now follow me.”

Jeff sighed and followed behind Marcus. They reached the throne-room and walked up to the throne where Bowser was waiting.

“Bowser, I have brought the human as you requested,” Marcus said.

“Ahh so this is him. What is your name human?” Bowser asked.

Jeff remained calm although he was a bit scared. After a quick pause, he answered.

“My name is Jeff Weston,” Jeff answered.

“So Jeff, I understand you have been in Toad Town and have been in contact with Peach and her friends,” Bowser said.

“Yes I have,” Jeff replied. “And they told me th..”

“Enough,” Bowser interrupted silencing Jeff. “I don't want to hear what they have to say. They don't know anything about our customs or our way of life. Peach's father is the real enemy, not me.”

“What do you mean?” Jeff asked.

“It's a long story. My wife was murdered because of him and his people,” Bowser said. “His name is Oscar and he has commited many atrocities among my people. The Mario brothers will tell you the same things about the koopas doing such things against toads but its simply not true. Yes its true that we kidnap and steal but I have never done such evil as what Oscar does or what those Mario brothers claim that I have done.”

“Why would you want to kidnap and steal anyway?” Jeff asked.

“That's another story. Now I suppose you're wondering why I brought you here.” Bowser said. “Well firstly I needed to make sure you didn't join forces with the Mario brothers and ended up fighing against my troops. Secondly I enjoy kidnapping unsuspecting individuals and thirdly I don't really like humans much,” he added.

“What are you going to do with me?” Jeff asked.

“I haven't decided on that yet. But for now you will be taken to the dungeons where you will remain a prisoner until I decide otherwise,” Bowser said. Before Jeff could say anything else, Marcus quickly got to work on binding Jeff's hands behind his back.

“Take him to the dungeons,” Bowser ordered. Marcus escorted Jeff out to the dungeon who just bowed his head.

“I'm sorry I had to do this,” Marcus whispered to Jeff once they were out the throne-room. “I had orders to capture you so I had to lure you out of Toad Town in order to do so.”

“What's going to happen to me?” Jeff asked.

“I've no idea yet. But don't worry you may be a prisoner but you'll still be treated well. You may be turned into a slave or a servant or you will just stay in the dungeon where you'll be allowed out for a few hours or two.” Marcus answered. Once they reached the dungeon, Marcus untied Jeff's hands and pushed him in a cell.

“You'll be assigned a personal guard who will visit you later. He will be responsible for your needs from now on. I'll be going now so I'll may see you later. Bye for now Jeff,” Marcus said.

Jeff just lay down on the bed and rested. There wasn't much he could do now unless he was given a slave or servant job. He nearly fell asleep until he heard the cell door open. He shot up and sat up on the bed. A different koopa troopa walked in.

“Hello Jeff, I'm Clive. I'm going to be your personal guard from now on until you get released,” he said.

“Okay. So what are the rules here?” Jeff asked.

“You are allowed to eat three times a day. Your breakfast will be delivered to you first thing in the morning, then lunch at noon and dinner in the evening,” Clive said. “Bowser has decided to make you a slave. I'm going to make sure you attend and complete jobs what either me or Bowser tell you to do. If you fail to complete a job or you refuse, you will be made to go hungry or you will be punished in some other way,” he added.

Jeff understood and just nodded his head to show that.

“Good, then I'm sure we'll get along just fine,” Clive said.

“When do I begin?” Jeff asked.

“You begin now,” Clive replied. “Now follow me.”

Jeff stood up and proceeded to follow Clive to whatever jobs he had planned for him.

“Oh and one more thing Jeff, I see that because you are human you have to wear a lot of clothes. So you'll be given some new clothes to wear. If you need any washing doing, let me know and I'll arrange for it to be done,” Clive said.

Clive led Jeff to a room in another part of the castle. It was filled with dust and rubbish.

“Right, clean this room up and I want it spotless,” Clive ordered. Jeff realised this was Clive's own room but didn't say anything and went straight to work.

Meanwhile back in Peach's castle...

“Hey have you heard anything from Jeff?” Mario asked Peach.

“No, not a word. But I'm not worried. He must have stayed at the inn. He'll be fine, I'm sure,” Peach said.

But little did they know was that Jeff was now a prisoner in Castle Koopa.

[Clive Koopa]

Chapter 7: Prisoner Diaries

It had been three months since Jeff had been captured by Marcus Koopa and he was now getting used to his prisoner life in Castle Koopa although he still wasn't too happy about it. Clive, his personal guard was enjoying having him around.

“You've been here for three months now. It's time for you to do some serious slave jobs,” Clive said to Jeff that morning in the dungeons.

“What do you mean serious?” Jeff asked.

“Follow me and I'll show you,” Clive said smiling evilly. Jeff didn't like the way Clive was smiling but decided to follow Clive outside of Castle Koopa and into the mines a few miles away.

“What is this this place?” Jeff asked. “What am I supposed to do here?”

“Welcome to the Dark Land mines, this place is full of minerals and lots of other hidden treasures. This is one of many slave spots where we make our slaves dig for treasure and stuff,” Clive explained.

“You want me to dig for treasure? Is that why you brought me here?” Jeff asked.

“Not just treasure but anything really. Sometimes our slaves are made to dig just for the hell of it because we enjoy making them work. Look over there,” Clive said pointing over to another part of the mine. Jeff looked and saw a toad being made to dig with a koopatrol watching over him. The toad appeared to be exhausted and there were other toads scattered about what Jeff noticed doing the same kind of work.

“No way. I'm not doing that,”Jeff said about to walk off but Clive stopped him and held him against the mine wall.

“You'll do what you're told. You wouldn't want me to do to you what I did last time, would you?” Clive sneered.

Jeff gulped. He knew Clive was being serious and didn't want that same punishment to happen again when he tried to escape previously.

“Okay, I guess I have no other choice,” Jeff said.

Clive grinned. He had Jeff right where he wanted him and there was nothing Jeff could do about it except just follow orders and stay on Clive's good side. Clive then placed some iron legcuffs around Jeff's legs connected to a cannonball preventing him from making any kind of leg movement.

“That should hold you in place,” Clive said handing Jeff a pickaxe. “Now start digging or else.”

Jeff sighed and started to dig much to Clive's delight.

“Don't get me wrong Jeff. You might not believe me but I do like you. I may be quite hard on you as well as other prisoners but I as well as the other guards do care about our prisoners' well-being. If you respect me and do your job, then I'll respect you back,” Clive said.

Jeff just nodded but continued to dig and was clearly not happy.

Meanwhile down in the dungeons, Spike, the sledge brother responsible for escorting Francine's killers to trial previously was taking a check on all the cells when Buzz and Scott came down taking a toad into one of the cells. The toad had his hands tied behind his back and his arms tied together. His mouth was tightly gagged with a cloth wrapped around it to keep him quiet as he tried to scream for help during his capture.

“This toad was trespassing in the upper section of the castle. We think he may have been trying to rescue the human but we caught him,” Buzz said to Spike.

“Take him to the free cell down the end. I'll have him interrogated later once I've finished down here and whatever else I have to do,” Spike said.

“You got it,” Buzz said and threw the toad in the cell leaving him tied up. Normally the prisoners would be untied before being locked in the dungeon but this toad was quite dangerous and was trying to fight back so Buzz and Scott had to restrain him. Bowser came down shortly afterwards to look for Jeff and saw Spike.

“Spike, where is the human, Jeff?” Bowser asked.

“Clive took him to the mines,” Spike said.

“Thank you, I'll contact Clive right away. I wish to speak to Jeff as I am thinking of letting him go,” Bowser said and left the dungeons.

Back in the mines, Jeff was getting tired but continued to dig while being watched by Clive. Clive heard his walkie talkie buzz and answered.

“Clive, its Bowser, finish what you are doing and bring Jeff to the throne room right away,” Bowser said.

“Right away, Bowser,” Clive said and put his walkie talkie away. “You can stop now Jeff, Bowser wants to see you right now.”

Jeff put down the pickaxe and Clive released him from the legcuffs holding him.

“Why does Bowser want to see me?” Jeff asked confused.

“No idea but we had bettter hurry or I'll be in trouble,” Clive said and hurried out the mines followed by Jeff. Once they had reached the throne-room, they stood in front of the throne where Bowser spoke.

“Jeff, you've been a prisoner for just over three months now and I see no other reason to keep you here. You were initially captured due to me thinking you would end up as one of Mario's fighters and I wanted you out of the way so you wouldn't become a threat. However that has passed now and you seem to have settled in quite good unlike many of our toad prisoners who try and fight their way out at every opportunity. So what I'm trying to say is you're free to go,” Bowser said.

“You're letting me go?” Jeff asked quite shocked. Clive was also surprised at this as he wasn't expecting Bowser to ever release Jeff for a long time.

“That's what I said. Clive, escort Jeff out of the castle and away from the kingdom,” Bowser said.

“Yes Bowser,” Clive said before turning to Jeff. “Well Jeff, its been nice knowing you but it looks like you'll be leaving us. Lets get you out of here.”

Clive and Jeff then left the throne-room and Jeff followed Clive out of the castle and walked to the border.

“This is where we say goodbye. Leave here and return to Toad Town or wherever you are going,” Clive said and Jeff left immediately without saying anything.

“Goodbye Jeff,” Clive said and turned around and back to Castle Koopa. Jeff returned to Toad Town where he was greeted by Mario and Peach. They then took him to Peach's castle where he stayed in the guest room.

[Clive Koopa]

Chapter 8: Secrets and Lies
It was three weeks since Jeff was released by Bowser and he was now settling in Peach's castle but was looking for somewhere else to live in the meantime. Jeff had decided to visit Toad Town Library to look for some books as he wanted to learn about the history of the Mushroom Kingdom. The library was located on the south side of Toad Town and Jeff walked in and to the back of the library where all the history books were located. He was about to scan through some books when he heard a familiar voice. one which he hadn't heard for many years.
"Hello Jeff," the voice said. Jeff froze for a second when he recognised the voice before turning around.
"Julie," Jeff said surprised. "So this is where you've been hiding for the past seven years."
The woman who was called Julie smiled and nodded.
"It's nice to see you too. I never thought I'd see any of my Earth friends again. When I first appeared in this world, I was discovered by a toad who housed me until I found a place of my own just outside Toad Town," Julie said. "I found out from a koopa troopa that you were here and tried to locate you but he got to you first."
"You knew I was with the koopas?" Jeff asked.
"Oh yes. I have been in contact with the koopa troopa you know as Marcus," Julie said. "He is a good koopa, whatever you believe about him and the others. Several of Bowser's troops have been quite helpful and I have learnt a lot from them about the true history of their way of life as well as their feud with the Mushroom Kingdom."
"What do you mean by the true history?" Jeff asked.
"None of these books here will teach you the truth, they are nothing but warped lies and twisted tales about how koopas are sadistic and evil and portray their rulers such as Bowser as a tyrant," Julie said. Jeff looked at Julie with a puzzled look. "Lets sit down and I'll tell you more," Julie said.
"I think that's a good idea," Jeff said and they sat down in a corner at the back of the library.
"We have to be careful as what I am about to show and tell you is very confidential plus we never know who may be eavesdropping. The only reason I'm here is to do some reference on the fake history taught here so I was lucky to bump into you." Julie said.
"Okay, well I have all day so if what you are saying is true then I would like to know the true history," Jeff said.
"The truth is that King Oscar II of the Mushroom Kingdom is the real tyrant. He along with his murdering sidekick Mario, has been responsible for the deaths of many of Bowser's troops including his own wife Francine. Bowser, on the other hand has stolen and he has kidnapped many toads but he has reasons for that plus he has never killed anyone in the process. Most of the toads he has enslaved are spies of Oscar and are a big threat to him and his kingdom," Julie said. Jeff listened with interest in silence as Julie continued her talk on the history and stories of the Mushroom and Koopa Kingdoms.
"What about Peach, what is her part in it?" Jeff asked.
"Peach, as far as I know, is innocent. She is completely oblivious but I do know one thing about her," Julie said.
"What's that?" Jeff said.
"Well from what I've been told, Peach has been in league with Bowser the whole time. I have even heard that Peach is the koopalings' real mother but I don't know the validity of that story," Julie said shocking Jeff. "And as for Toadsworth, he is just a racist koopa hater. If word ever got out that Peach was with Bowser and that she is indeed the mother of the koopalings, then all hell will break loose."
"Wow, I never thought of Peach like that," Jeff said. Julie then showed Jeff some documents what she had aquired while researching the history of the Mushroom Kingdom. In the documents contained hand-written journals, photos and books different to the books what were already on display in the library.
"So what is your connection to the koopa kingdom and how did you learn all this?" Jeff asked.
"Not long after landing in the Mushroom Kingdom, I wanted to learn everything I could. I realised that there was a lot of hositility between the toads and the koopas so I decided to study both sides of their stories. At first, the toads version of events looked to be plausible but while staying with some toads, I overheard a conversation about how they were planning to murder some koopas, which shocked me. I knew they were enemies but didn't realise how bad the toads felt about the koopas so I travelled to the koopa kingdom and told them what I had heard. I also asked if I coulf learn about their history and I found tons of evidence including taped recordings of Oscar's brutality and how Bowser is really quite the opposite," Julie explained. Jeff was listening carefully while looking through Julie's documents.
"So after a while, I confided in some of Bowser's troops who I saw patrolling the city I was in and asked them if I could have a talk with Bowser. It took quite a bit of convincing as koopas don't like humans much but they eventually came round and had a word with Bowser. Bowser then let me talk to him and they, Bowser's troops, filled me in on some of the darker truths of the Mushroom Kingdom. There's a lot more to it than what I've just told you. If you want to know more, you should go to the koopa kingdom to find out. I am currently on good terms with them so tell them I sent you and they'll protect you," Julie said.
"That's a nice story Julie and its good that the koopas trust and respect you. What about the Mushroom Kingdom?" Jeff asked.
"They don't know that I am allied with the koopas. If I was found out, I'd be banished so this is just between you and me. Don't let anyone in this town know we've had this conversation or we could both be executed for treason," Julie said.
"I'll be sure to keep this secret. In the meantime, I'm going to take a trip back to Castle Koopa, hopefully they'll let me in," Jeff said standing up. "It's nice to see you again Julie, I hope we meet again.
"We will and good luck," Julie said taking her documents back and placing them in a folder.
Jeff walked out of the library and was quite shaken and spooked at what he had just learnt. The new knowledge he now had changed everything. He headed out to Toad Town and began the long trek back to Castle Koopa in the hope of getting more answers.

[Clive Koopa]

Chapter 9: Return to Castle Koopa

With the new knowledge Jeff had received about the Mushroom Kingdom from his longtime earth friend Julie, who he had not seen in many years, he walked out of Toad Town and planned a return trip to Castle Koopa. He knew he would probably be captured for trespassing but it was a risk he was going to take. He decided to take the route far to the south past Bob-Omb Battlefield as he wanted to see for himself the crimes of Mario. He knew that a lot of battles took place in this area and he would be able to witness firsthand what Mario, who he initially believed to be all innocent, was actually capable of. The walk talk much longer than it did when he had left Castle Koopa previously. It took about an hour and a half to reach the far south border and a further fifteen minutes to reach Bob-Omb Battlefield. Once he had reached the battlefield, his face turned to nothing but shock and disgust. All around were the mutiliated bodies of Bowser's troops; koopa troopas, goombas, hammer brothers and more.

“Oh my god, is this what Julie meant by what she said?” Jeff said to himself. He was expecting to see something nasty but nothing prepared him for this. It was a sight of pure horror and Jeff almost puked.

“These poor soldiers, killed for doing their jobs and in such a horrible way also,” Jeff said. Now that he saw what he needed to see, he rushed through the battlefield hoping to get to the end as quickly as possible. He was greeted by a goomba who stood behind him.

“Hey you,” the goomba said as Jeff stopped to turn around.

“Yes you, you're not supposed to be here, this is a restricted area and you can't just walk through here,” the goomba said.

“Oh I'm sorry, I never meant to intrude or anything, I was just walking through looking for a shortcut to Castle Koopa, I didn't realise this was restricted,” Jeff lied through gritted teeth. The goomba however was not convinced.

“You're lying, I can tell by the tone of your voice,” he said as a hammer brother walked over. Jeff knew he was in trouble now.

“Well what have we here? A human, eh? What should we do with him,” the hammer brother smirked. Jeff stood still and made no attempt to escape.

“Lets interrogate him,” the goomba said. “He could be a spy for all we know.”

“Hey, I'm no spy. I was j..,” Jeff started to say before being interrupted.

“Save it for the interrogation,” the hammer brother said then walked over to Jeff and quickly pulled him down to the ground where he tied him up while the goomba looked out for any witnesses.

“Oh great, captured again,” Jeff said to himself annoyed. Once the hammer brother had finished tying up Jeff, he put Jeff into a sitting position and then stood next to him while the goomba stood on the other side.

“Now we can question you here or we can take you to Castle Koopa where it will be much worse,” the goomba said.

“You can do whatever you have to do here. I have nothing to hide,” Jeff said.

“Good, then this shouldn't last long,” the goomba said. “Now what are you doing here and why?”

“I wanted to see for myself what kind of stuff happens here, someone told me that the Mario brothers had been killing many of your kinds and I wanted to see if it was true,” Jeff said.

“Why would you want to see what happens here?” the goomba then asked.

“I wanted to see just how bad it was, being told something is one thing but to experience it is another thing entirely. I was expecting to see something bad but nothing like this,” Jeff said.

“Well now you know,” the hammer brother said. “But that still doesn't explain why you were running through the battlefield, it appears to us you were rushing to get onto the other side, maybe towards Castle Koopa.”

“Yeah, how do we know you're not a spy sent by King Oscar or Mario?” the goomba said.

“Believe me, I'm no spy and I don't work for Mario or Oscar. It is true I was trying to get to Castle Koopa I admit but it was only because I wanted answers,” Jeff said.

“What answers?” the hammer brother asked.

“About your history with the Mushroom Kingdom. I found out a few things what changed my opinions completely of the Mushroom Kingdom and wanted to learn more,” Jeff said.

“He's lying, he's a spy. We should take him to Bowser and have him permanently enslaved,” the goomba said.

“I'm not lying, I swear. Please you have to believe me. I'm no spy and I would never work for Oscar. He's a murderer and a tyrant,” Jeff pleaded beginning to get quite teary.

“Ah, don't give us those fake tears,” the goomba said. The hammer brother however was beginning to pity Jeff.

“Wait a minute,” the hammer brother said. “Lets not judge him too quickly, what if he is be telling the trut ?”

“You are joking?” the goomba said shocked. “Humans can't be trusted, you know that right?”

“I know most humans are untrustworthy, yes but we also know of one other human who was in the situation as this guy right here,” the hammer brother said.

“Grr, you're right but I still don't trust him, the goomba grumbled. Jeff realised they were talking about Julie but remained quiet.

“Besides most other humans don't talk in that way about the Mushroom Kingdom and this one seems to be quite interested in us,” the hammer brother said.

“So what shall we do?” the goomba asked.

“We'll take him to Bowser and he can explain to him,” the hammer brother said and the goomba nodded before turning back to Jeff.
“Okay it appears my friend here believes you we will guide you to Castle Koopa as guards,” the goomba said. “But don't try any funny business or its straight to the slave pits, you understand?”

Jeff nodded and then the hammer brother untied Jeff's legs and pulled him up to his feet but keeping his arms and hands tied.

“You won't be able to just walk in so we'll have to make out we captured you otherwise we'll be in trouble. Once you are with Bowser, you should explain to him what you told us,” the hammer brother said.

“Whether you are telling the truth or not, you still shouldn't have come through this battlefield,” the goomba said. Jeff just hung his head in sorrow.

“I'm sorry,” Jeff said.

“Forget about it,” the goomba said. “Anyway, what's your name?”

“My name is Jeff,” Jeff said.

“Well my name is Trevor and my friend here is called Charlie,” the goomba said.

“We should make a move, we can't hang around here all day,” Charlie said.

So they escorted Jeff through the battlefield and up to Castle Koopa. Once they had reached the throne-room, Bowser greeted him.

“Jeff, we meet again, what brings you here?” Bowser laughed.

“Wait, you've been here before?” Charlie asked Jeff.

“Yes, I was captured previously when I first entered this world,” Jeff replied.

“Okay, forget all the details. Bowser, we apologise for having to bring this human here like this. We know humans are not allowed to come here so we had to tie him up and make him out to be a prisoner,” Charlie said making Bowser confused.

“Huh? What are you going on about?” Bowser asked.

“Jeff, here says he wants to speak to you and learn the ways of the koopa and your history and stuff,” Trevor said.

“Oh he does, eh? Well I shall be the judge of that,” Bowser said.

“We caught him walking through Bob-Omb Battlefield, he says he wanted to see for himself the damage caused by the Marios,” Charlie said.

“I see, well if really wants to study our history and culture, then I see no reason why he shouldn't be deprived of that,” Bowser said.

“I'm still a bit unsure whether we can trust him,” Trevor said.

“Relax Trevor, if he is lying then he'll be taking a one-way trip to the dungeons and slave pits,” Bowser said.

“I hope he is telling the truth for everyone's sakes,” Trevor said.

“If its all okay then, then it should be safe to untie him,” Bowser said and Charlie untied Jeff who remained still and quiet.

“Okay Jeff, now its your turn to speak. Why are you so interested in our way of life?” Bowser asked.

“Well I was in Toad Town library and I bumped into an old friend of mine, someone I used to know when I was living on Earth. She told me about how Oscar was murdering many of your troops and showed me documents and stuff. She also said she was allied with you,” Jeff said. Charlie and Trevor listened with interest.

“And who is this other human you speak of,” Bowser asked.

“Her name is Julie, Julie Patterson,” Jeff said. At the mention of that name, Trevor now realised Jeff was telling the truth.

“Wait, you know Julie,” Trevor said surprised.

“Oh yes, me and Julie go way back. We lived together back in Brighton, my hometown and are quite good friends. Seven years ago she disappeared and was never seen since then I discovered she'd been in this world the whole time,” Jeff said.

“If you know Julie and she's told you all this stuff about us and the Mushroom Kingdom, then that means you are telling the truth,” Bowser said.

“I'm sorry I called you a spy,” Trevor said. “I thought you were sent by Oscar and jumped to conclusions.”

“It's okay, I forgive you,” Jeff said and Trevor smiled.

“Charlie, Trevor, you may leave now. I'm going to have a long talk with our new friend here,” Bowser said. Charlie and Trevor both left the throne-room leaving Jeff alone with Bowser. Shortly after they left, Marcus walked in and was surprised to see Jeff standing there.

“Jeff, what are you doing back here?” Marcus asked shocked.

“Hello Marcus, nice to see you again,” Jeff smiled.

“Marcus, you're here,” Bowser said. “I want you to escort Jeff to our libraries, teach him everything you know about our history, our culture, everything.”

“I'll do it but why does he want to know about us?” Marcus asked.

“It's a long story, I'll let Jeff tell you along the way,” Bowser said.

“Okay then, well come on Jeff. If Bowser had allowed it, then you should have no problem getting in the library,” Marcus said as they both left. The library was a big hall of books situated on the west side of the castle.

“We'll sit down in the back then you can tell me your reasons for coming here before I'll show you some serious history,” Marcus said. They sat down and Jeff told Marcus how he bumped into Julie and was told about the crimes of the Mushroom Kingdom. Jeff looked through several books with interest what Marcus showed him.

“They don't teach this stuff in Toad Town library, there works are all warped and half-truths and depict us all as nothing but criminals and make out Bowser to be a sadistic tyrant,” Marcus said.

Jeff remained with Marcus in the library for a few hours where he learned everything he could and Bowser was about to get the shock of his life at Jeff's next request later when he and Marcus returned to the throne-room.

“How did it go?” Bowser asked.

“It went great, me and Jeff went through many books and I showed him some literature samples from Toad Town library just so he knows how twisted they are,” Marcus said.

“It was good, yeah. Thank you for enlightening me Marcus and thank you for allowing me to use your library Bowser,” Jeff said.

“Your welcome Jeff. It's so nice to see another human who is so interested in our culture,” Bowser said.

“Oh there's one more thing,” Jeff said almost immediately after Bowser had spoken.

“What's that?” Bowser asked.

“I don't know how I should ask this but I've been doing a lot of thinking and I wish to join the koopa empire,” Jeff said. Marcus almost jumped out his shell and Bowser nearly fell off the throne.

“Say that again,” Bowser said after regaining his composure.

“I said I want to join the koopa empire. I would like to work for you,” Jeff repeated.

“Well that was a shock, I've never had a human ask me that before,” Bowser said. “Well you seem to be quite trustworthy and you have learned a lot about our customs and history. I have to ask though, is this what you really want.”

“Yes it is, I want to help you in every way that I can with your struggle against the Mushroom Kingdom,” Jeff said.

“Well so be it,” Bowser said. “Of course, I can't let you join just like that. You will need to be trained and tested first before I can make you an official member along with the rest of my troops.”

“Bowser, if I may, I would like to train Jeff and teach him the ways of the koopa empire,” Marcus said.

“I think that's a great idea. After all, it was you who Jeff first met during his fall into this world and also showed him around our library. So it would make sense for you to be the one who trains him,” Bowser said.

“Cool, it would be an honour to be trained by Marcus. When do we begin?” Jeff asked.

“You may begin right away if you wish,” Bowser said.

“Yes, I want to begin right now,” Jeff said.

“Let me warn you though, once you begin your life here, it won't be so easy to quit if you wish to do so in the future and you must cut all ties you may have had with the Mushroom Kingdom. Think long and hard. Becoming part of the koopa empire isn't just a walk in the park and you may come across some tough trials throughout your career here. Quitting the koopa empire is frowned upon and will make you an outcast, not that you'd be able to anyway,” Bowser warned.

“I have no intention of quitting, I have thought about this long and hard ever since I learned the truth about this world and I have come to the conclusion that I want to join and help you,” Jeff said.

“Good. Marcus, take Jeff down to the training rooms and go through with him some basic training rituals. Jeff, your training should last roughly two weeks. You will attend several training sessions each day where you will be taught combat training as well as how to restrain, guard and interrogate a prisoner as well as other different forms of training,” Bowser said.

“Thank you Bowser for giving me this opportunity,” Jeff said.

“I will look forward to working with you,” Bowser said.

“So will I,” Marcus replied.

“Your training will begin now. So you had better be prepared for whatever comes. Marcus, you may take Jeff down now,” Bowser said.

“Yes Bowser. Come on Jeff, lets get you all set up,” Marcus said as he and Jeff left. They walked down into the basement to a long corridor, which had many rooms.

“This is the training area. As you can see, we have many training rooms for different kinds of troops. You don't have to train in all of them though, some rooms are specialised so it fits the needs of specific kinds of troops. We'll begin in this room over here,” Marcus explained as they walked over to a room in the middle of the corridor on the right-hand side. They walked into a room and sat down on some chairs.

“Okay before we begin, let me go through a few ground rules. Firstly, the sessions you will be going through is all compulsory and must be attended fully. Failure to attend a training session will result in a one-way trip to the dungeons and possible banishment from the kingdom. Secondly, you will complete all training to the best of your abilities. This will help us determine what level you are at and the unit you will be assigned too. We all work alongside other troops of our unit although we sometimes get solo jobs but not always. Thirdly, once you are part of the empire considering you pass all the training first, you may never go back to your old life nor to your life in Toad Town. You got all that?” Marcus explained.

“I have,” Jeff replied.

“Good. Okay as your trainer, I am also going to be your partner while training you in combat,” Marcus said.

“What does that mean?” Jeff asked.

“In other words, you'll be sparring with me,” Marcus said. “You'll get to spar with other troops too later on in your training so you'll get to experience how tough it is here. Plus those muscles of yours won't cut it at all so before we do anything else, I'm going to build up your strength first.”

Jeff was then made to do several reps of weight-lifting, press-ups and crunches among other things.
After about two hours with a few breaks in between Jeff was exhausted.

“Good work Jeff,” Marcus said. “Give it another day or two then you'll be ready for some proper training. But you still have to keep yourself fit so it doesn't mean you can't just stop all what we've done.”

At the end of the day, Jeff was then escorted to a guest bedroom near to the training rooms.

“This is where you will be staying for the time being while you do your training. If you pass and become part of the empire, you will be given a different room where you will stay on a more permanent basis,” Marcus said.

“Thank you Marcus for everything,” Jeff said.

“Don't mention it. Its so nice to finally have a human on our side. I am of course already familiar with your friend Julie but she never signed up although she remains an ally of us,” Marcus said.

“That's nice Marcus, good night now,” Jeff said.

“Good night Jeff, I'll see you tomorrow,” Marcus said and left.

Jeff then lay down on his bed and closed his eyes. Shortly afterwards, he fell asleep.

[Clive Koopa]

Chapter 10: A Plot Uncovered

Jeff had now completed his training and was fully qualified to be part of the Koopa Empire. He was in the throne-room waiting to be assigned to a unit and had already received his ID card, which he put in his pocket.

“Before I assign you to a unit, I have something else for you to do first. As we both know, the Mario brothers are still unaware of your allegiance to me so I am asking you to return to Toad Town as a spy. I fear that they may be planning another attack on my family and my empire. Make notes on everything you find out and report back to me,” Bowser said.

“It will be done,” Jeff said and walked out. He left the castle and walked back to Toad Town.

“Toad Town, the one place I never thought I'd return to,” Jeff said to himself as he walked into the town's outskirts. He noticed Mario and Oscar down a backstreet and hid behind a corner as not to be noticed and listened to their conversation. He took out a tape recorder what Bowser had given him earlier and recorded as much as he possibly could.

“So it's that easy?” Mario asked. “We just make sure that they are in the castle at the same time and then blow it up,” Oscar nodded.

“Bowser won't know what's hit him, by the time he realises what's happened it will be too late. He and his whole empire will be as good as dead and his kingdom in ruins,” Oscar said. Mario smiled at this.

“So the prophecy is finally coming true,” Mario said.

“What the hell?” Jeff said to himself.

“This is what we have all been waiting for and today is the day it finally happens,” Mario added.

“That's right. He still has no idea that it was me who ordered the murder of his wife or that you were involved,” Oscar said.

“What about Peach? If she ever found out...” Mario said.

“Peach must never find out. She is my heir to the Mushroom Kingdom and I can't risk having her defecting,” Oscar said. Mario nodded at this.

“Once we have completed this operation, we can begin preparations for next week's independence day celebrations.” Oscar added.

“Yes, with all the koopas dead and gone, the celebrations will be even better,” Mario said.

“I think its best if no-one finds out. Not even Luigi knows about this. I'll meet you in your castle this evening,” Mario said.

“I'll be there with some of my most loyal soldiers and then we'll begin the attack,” Oscar said. “In the meantime, we'll go our separate ways.” Mario and Oscar began to walk down the street and Jeff walked away as so not to be seen. He was shocked at all this.

“Man, it's a good thing I was sent to spy here. Talk about good timing,” Jeff said as he stopped the recorder. “Wait till Bowser finds out about this.”

Jeff immediately returned to Bowser a little earlier than expected but this was important.

“Bowser,” Jeff shouted walking into the throne-room almost out of breath.

“Hey Jeff, you look like you ran all the way here,” Bowser said.

“I did, and I have some grave news to tell you,” Jeff said.

“Go on,” Bowser said.

“Mario and Oscar are planning an attack on the castle, they intend to blow it up with you inside this evening,” Jeff said.

“They're planning to kill me?” Bowser asked.

“They're planning to kill everyone here, not just you,” Jeff asked. “They mentioned a prophecy and said it would destroy you, your kids and all your troops.”

Bowser was shocked at this.

“This is just the kind of thing I expect from a tyrant like Oscar. Is there anything else they said?” Bowser asked.

“Yes, I heard Oscar say that he ordered your wife's killing and that Mario was also involved. I'm sorry to have to tell you like this,” Jeff said.

“Excuse me for a minute,” Bowser then said and walked into the headquarters behind the throne. Bowser was obviously shocked and disturbed by all this news. Ludwig saw him by the throne-room door breathing heavily.

“Dad, are you okay?” Ludwig asked concerned.

“No, not really. I just found out something and it's not good news I'm afraid,” Bowser said.

“What's happened?” Ludwig asked.

“Just wait here, I'm going to finish what I was doing in the throne-room then I'll be tell you and your brothers and sister everything. Tell your siblings to meet me in the dining room,” Bowser said.

“Okay Dad, I'll do that,” Ludwig said and did as he was told. “Something's going on. I've never seen Dad look so spooked in all my life,” Ludwig thought to himself. After a few deep breaths, Bowser came back out.

“Sorry to keep you waiting Jeff,” he said as he sat back down on his throne. He covered his head in his hands.

“I'm so sorry, I had no idea,” Jeff said. He then took out his tape recorder.

“I recorded as much as I could on this tape,” Jeff said handing Bowser the tape, which he listened to. “Thank you Jeff, you've been a great help and I don't normally say that about a human. Now I am going to go back in the headquarters for now and discuss all this with my kids. You may leave now. Oh I almost forgot, I haven't told you your unit yet. Go down to the second basement level, I have told the unit leader and they will be expecting you.”

Bowser then returned to his headquarters where his kids were waiting while Jeff went down to the basement to find his new unit. Jeff found the leader, a boomerang brother, waiting down a corridor.

“Hello, you must be Jeff. My name's Mike,” the boomerang brother said extending his hand. Jeff shook the boomerang brother's hand.

“Don't take this the wrong way but I never thought I'd see a human on our side. Humans aren't well liked here at all but you seem to have earned Bowser's trust so if Bowser trusts you then so will I,” Mikey said. “Let me introduce you to the rest of the team,” he added while walking down to the end where the rest of the unit was.

“This is Derek,” Mikey said pointing to a koopa troopa. “He can be quite nasty so watch him.”

“Pleased to meet you, I'm not nasty but I can get quite aggressive to those who cross me. If you respect me, then we'll get along just fine,” Derek said greeting Jeff.

“This shy guy here is Barry,” Mikey added.

“Hello Jeff,” Barry said. “So nice to finally see a human on our side.”

“This is Martin,” Mikey said referring to a goomba.

“Yo, so you're the guy who crossed through the battlefield and got caught,” Martin said.

“Well that's everyone. Now Bowser has already told me what just happened so he wants to speak to everyone once he has finished whatever he is doing with his kids,” Mikey told Jeff. “As the leader of this unit, it is my responsibility to make sure that you and the rest of the unit are okay and obey orders. If you are injured, it is my job to make sure you get the right treatment and if you refuse to obey any order, then I am supposed to be the one what does the punishment, you got all that?”

“Yes, loud and clear,” Jeff said.

“Good,” Mikey said before his walkie talkie went off.

“Calling all troops, report to the castle gardens right away,” said Bowser's voice.

“Okay everyone, lets get to the gardens right away. Bowser has something big to tell us all,” Mikey said as he led his unit out to the gardens via the basement they were already in.

“Hey Jeff, is it true that you're friends with Julie?” Derek said walking alongside Jeff.

“Yeah, she told me a lot of stuff about your history and culture. It's because of Julie that I was able to join you in the first place,” Jeff said.

“What happened up there anyway? Earlier I mean, Mikey said you spoke to Bowser about something and he wanted to speak to us all,” Derek asked.

“I think it's best if you wait till Bowser tells you. It's a long story and not the kind of thing I really want to discuss,” Jeff replied.

“It's okay, I understand,” Derek said.

They reached the gardens, which was packed full of troops waiting for Bowser to make his speech.

“Hello again Jeff,” a voice beside him said.

“Hello Marcus,” Jeff said recognising the koopa troopa.

“Well look who it is, it's my favourite prisoner,” another koopa troopa joked coming up to Jeff.

“Nice to see you too Clive,” Jeff said.

“Hey Jeff, what's going on here?” Marcus asked.

“Bowser wants to make an important speech, its too detailed to tell you so its best if you wait for Bowser to tell you,” Jeff replied.

“Jeff, just to let you know when this speech is finished, we will be leaving to do a mission outside Rose Town,” Mikey said referring to the unit. Jeff nodded and then the crowd fell silent as Bowser walked out of a balcony with a microphone.

“Greetings troops, I am so happy to see you all here. You are probably all wondering why you are all here. I have received information that Oscar and Mario are planning an attack on our castle. They plan to exterminate every single one of us,” Bowser said. All the troops looked at each other in confusion.

“How do they plan on doing that?” one troop asked out loud.

“Good question, and the answer to that is they are planning to blow up the castle and are expecting us all to be in there at the same time. I, however am going to use this as well as some other information I am aware of to my advantage,” Bowser said.

“What do you plan to do, Bowser?” a troop asked.

“If Oscar wants a war, then a war he shall get,” Bowser said and the crowd cheered.

“Bowser, Bowser, Bowser,” shouted everyone.

“QUIET!” Bowser shouted and the crowd shut up.

“I haven't finished yet. Oscar expects me to be in the castle at that time so as far as he is concerned, we will all be dead, right?” Bowser said confusing everyone.

“What are you trying to say, Bowser?” someone shouted from the crowd.

“Well if we are dead then they won't have to worry about us getting our revenge on the Mushroom Kingdom and taking it without warning on their independence day celebrations,” Bowser said confusing everyone even more.

“Do you know what he is talking about?” Derek whispered to Jeff.

“No idea at all, lets just listen and find out,” Jeff whispered back.

“He's going to fake his death and then attack the Mushroom Kingdom when they least expect it,” Clive realised. Jeff, Marcus and Jeff's unit looked at Clive surprised.

“What I am trying to say is that while Oscar is attacking the castle, it will be completely empty. We will all be hiding in various places underground or elsewhere,” Bowser said. “They won't have to worry about not finding any bodies because as far as they are concerned, we'll all be blown up or drowned in lava or something.”

“Then what?” Clive asked out loud.

“Then between now and their celebrations, we plan a massive comeback and we strike their precious mushroom kingdom back. I will take Oscar and deal with him personally. You take as many toads prisoner as possible,” Bowser said.

“Sounds like a plan, what about our regular out-of-castle missions?” Clive asked.

“As long as you are out of sight from anyone connected to Oscar or Mario, then you may continue as normal,” Bowser said. “They can't exactly scan the entire Mushroom World for every single koopa troopa, goomba and whatever else in existence now, can they?”

“Good point,” Clive said.

“Me and my kids are going to evacuate to the basements, if you want to join me you are welcome to do so otherwise get back to work. Just make sure you stay away from the castle. I'll be transferring all the prisoners in the castle down to the basement also,” Bowser said. “So long troops and long live the koopas.”

“YAY!” the crowd cheered. “LONG LIVE THE KOOPAS!”

“Jeff, we'd better leave now,” Mikey said. “We should quickly complete this mission before going into hiding.”

Jeff quickly followed Mikey and the rest of his unit out towards Rose Town.

Bowser walked into the dungeons opening each cell as quickly as possible.

“Get out prisoners, you're going to the basement,” Bowser shouted punching each door open one by one.

“Hey what's going on? What's happening?” a toad cried from one of the cells.

“I'm saving your lives, that's what's happening,” Bowser replied.

“Huh?” the toad asked. He and the other prisoners had no idea what was about to happen but they decided to follow Bowser anyway down to the basement.

“These cells will be your new home, now I don't want to hear any complaining because I'm not in the mood right now,” Bowser said as he quickly locked the confused toads in the basement dungeons and walked off in a hurry. He then went back up to the castle to check that it was completely empty. He looked through every room thoroughly and it was all empty.

“Good, the castle's completely empty now I need to make it look like it is occupied,” Bowser said as took out a wand from one of his drawers in his bedroom and waved it across the castle's rooms making illusions in the hope that it will fool Oscar and Mario.

“Right, time to go,” Bowser said as he went back down into the basement where his kids were waiting.

“Hello kids, I'm glad to see that you are all okay,” Bowser said hugging them all.

“Same for you Dad,” Roy said. “Remember, we stay down here until next Wednesday on the day of the Mushroom Kingdom's independence day. So we have seven days to plan our big comeback and complete takeover of the Mushroom Kingdom.”

“After all these years, we will finally be victorious. The fact that Oscar plans to kill us all and their celebrations is a week today is perfect timing for us,” Morton said.

“While they're busy celebrating their independence and our deaths, we can surprise them with a full-on assault and capture everyone,” Iggy said.

“Yeah. And I can capture Peach for myself and marry her and the kingdom will be mine,” Bowser said.

“Oh yeah I almost forgot about that,” Ludwig said.

“Forgot about what?” Bowser asked.

“We know Peach is our real mother,” Ludwig said shocking Bowser.

“You knew? All this time?” Bowser asked. “But how did you know/”

“We loved Francine as much as we could but she was not our mum. As for how we know, well I've seen the way you talk to Peach even when Francine was alive. I've heard you refer to us as “our kids” to Peach,” Ludwig said and the other koopalings nodded.

“Yes it's true. Me and Peach go way back, way before Mario came onto the scene,” Bowser said.

“We're not angry Dad, I think it's great you want Peach, sorry I mean Mama Peach. But does she want you?” Lemmy said.

“She wants that Mario,” Bowser muttered.

“Mario wants to kill you and he was part of the conspiracy what killed our step-mum Francine,” Ludwig said.

“Yeah, we need to get rid of him first and Oscar before you can marry Peach,” Wendy said.

Bowser smiled and nodded.

“We have plenty of time to plan it all. Peach also needs to be made aware of her father's and Mario's brutality,” Bowser said.

“Right Dad,” Larry said. “Do you still have that tape recording Jeff gave you?”

“I do and I plan on posting it to Peach, how much time do we have?” Bowser said.

“It is 3:30 pm Dad, you have just over an hour before Oscar proceeds with his plan,” Ludwig said.

“Okay, I'm going to quickly post this to Peach then I'll be right down. I need to make sure that Peach and only Peach is the one who opens it. God forbid if Mario or Oscar found it first,” Bowser said. He then quickly went back up to the castle to look for some wrapping paper. He found some in one of the guest rooms. He wrapped up the tape in a box with sellotape then addressed the parcel to Peach. He also wrote on it “Not to be opened till Independence Day” then posted it in a box for Parakarry to pick up. He then returned to the basement.

“It's all posted. Come Independence Day and Peach will have access to that tape,” Bowser said.

Most of the troops had now gathered in various underground sections and waited.

Back in Toad Town, Mario was waiting for Oscar to arrive in his castle. Oscar arrived a few minutes later.

“Are you all set Mario?” Oscar asked and Mario nodded.

“Good then lets get going,” Oscar added as he and Mario went up to the tower of his castle where there were several bomber planes. Each plane had an arsenal of bombs, turret guns and flamethrowers among other weapons. They all flew over to Castle Koopa and Oscar noticed the fake illusions Bowser had planted. Oscar thought they were real though.

“Good they are all inside as I expected,” Oscar said. “Fire at will.”

“Wait, what about the prisoners?” Mario asked.

“Forget about them, some sacrifices were meant to be. A few Toads is nothing compared to an entire koopa civilization.” Oscar said. “Now lets destroy this castle.”

All the planes started throwing bombs and fired guns through all the windows at once. Oscar then went up to the window where the Bowser illusion was and sprayed gunfire along with the flamethrower directly through the window. He then threw bombs in it wrecking the whole room. Shortly afterwards, the whole castle was on flames and began to collapse.

“It's working,” Oscar laughed with glee. “The Koopas are dying. Bowser should surely be dead now.”

“Yeah, just a few more bombs and gunfire should make sure this castle falls to the ground,” Mario said as he threw several bombs in the windows circling the upper floors of the castle. After about fifteen minutes, the castle tumbled down and all that was left was a pile of rubble.

“Goodbye koopas,” Oscar laughed and the planes left the area. Bowser, his kids and the troops were safe underground unbeknown to Oscar. They felt the ground rumbling and heard the attacks above them. When they were gone, Bowser quickly went back up to ground to investigate the ruins and collapsed at the sight.

“No, my beautiful castle,” Bowser cried. “It's all gone. My whole life, my everything all in shatters.”

The tears quickly turned from shock and sadness into pure anger. He stamped his feet and punched the ground.

“Just wait till your precious independence day then we'll see who has the last laugh,” Bowser said and then went back down to the basement.

Back in Toad Town, Oscar was celebrating what he believed to be the end of the koopas along with Mario. Peach was shocked when he found out that the koopas were all dead, or so she believed. She quietly left the party where many toads were celebrating and back to bedroom. She covered her head in her hands and sobbed.

“Oh Bowser,” Peach cried. She continued to cry when she noticed Parakarry knocking on her window.

“Parakarry, what are you doing here?” Peach asked.

“I have a parcel for you,” he said giving Peach giving her the tape recording Bowser had wrapped.

“What is it?” Peach asked looking at the parcel.

“I don't know but it says you can't open it till Independence Day,” Parakarry said.

“Thank you,” Peach said and closed the window as Parakarry flew off. She put the parcel away in one of her drawers.

Meanwhile back down in the basements...

“You may laugh now Oscar, you too Mario but come next week, we'll be back bigger and better than before. Then you'll be the one who'll be dead, not me,” Bowser said to himself.

[Clive Koopa]

Chapter 11: The Final Battle

It was exactly seven days since the fall of Castle Koopa and Toad Town began celebrations for the Mushroom Kingdom's Independence Day. Oscar started a speech that morning and addressed the city's toads who were all in the gardens of Peach's castle.

“Good morning everyone,” Oscar began from his balcony. “Today is the 400th anniversary of the founding of this beautiful kingdom and I would like every one of you to celebrate it. We no longer need to fear the tyrant Bowser or his army as an attack on their castle finished them for good so we are now safe,” Oscar said as the crowd cheered. Peach was standing beside Oscar and was the only one not cheering although she did her best to hide it. Whilst Oscar continued to talk, she walked back in the castle and into her own room and opened the drawers, which held Bowser's parcel, which she received from Parakarry a week ago.

“I wonder who would send me a parcel and why do I have to wait till today?” Peach wondered. “Perhaps its just a present from Mario or someone.”

Peach was about to open it when Mario walked in.

“Hi Peach, happy independence day,” Mario said.

“Thank you Mario,” Peach smiled.

“Hey you got a present, who is it from?” Mario asked,

“I don't know, it doesn't say who its from,” Peach said now realising Mario didn't send it.

“Well your father wants you back out on the balcony to make a speech so whatever it is will have to wait,” Mario said. Peach nodded and put the parcel back in the drawers.

“So if Mario didn't send it, who did?” Peach wondered.

Meanwhile in Dark Land, Bowser was making his own speech. Everyone was back on land now after a week down underground.

“Okay everyone, today is the day we finally make our comeback,” Bowser said. “We will strike at noon while everyone is busy partying.”

“All the doomships have been prepared as you commanded, Dad,” Ludwig said.

“Good, now I am going to read each of your unit numbers out and assign you each to a doomship. The koopalings will stay with me on one doomship,” Bowser said and began reading out the units and one by one, each unit consisting of four to seven troops on average went to their doomships until there was no-one left.

“Good now before we leave, I need you all to check your doomships for fuel and arsenal,” Bowser said through an audio system connected to all the doomships while on his own. “We will begin our flight in just over an hour so we have plenty of time.”

Meanwhile in Toad Town, Peach was celebrating with Mario.

“Oh Mario, do you have the time?” Peach asked.

“It's almost noon Peach, why do you ask?” Mario asked.

“I was thinking of maybe opening that parcel. I'm quite curious as to what's inside,” Peach said.

“Sure, you go up and open your present. I'll be waiting here,” Mario replied.

Peach walked up to her room and saw Oscar.

“Oh, hi dad,” Peach said.

“Hello Peach, why aren't you down celebrating?” Oscar said.

“Oh I just decided to have a little nap,” Peach lied. She knew that Oscar wouldn't approve of her getting presents and would likely confiscate it.

“Okay, well I'll see you later when you're finished with your nap,” Oscar said and walked back into his room.

“Bye dad,” Peach said and then walked into her room and locked the door. She took the parcel out of her drawers and opened it up to see a box. She opened it to see a tape recorder with a tape inside.

“It's a tape. But who would send me a tape and why?” Peach wondered to herself. She pressed play on the tape and as she listened, her face turned to pure horror. Everything she knew or thought she knew about Mario and her own father came tumbling down.

“No, it can't be true. My own father did this, and Mario too,” Peach said and nearly threw up. Peach quickly turned towards her bedroom door and her face turned back into anger. She was going to confront her dad and was going to make him pay.

“Father, I need to speak to you,” Peach said calmly knocking Oscar's door.

“Come in Peach,” Oscar said. Peach closed the door behind her and quickly got to talking.

“It was you, wasn't it?” Peach said.

“What was me?” Oscar asked confused.

“You killed Bowser and his army,” Peach said.

“What makes you think that?” Oscar asked.

“This, that's what.” Peach shouted holding the tape recording up. Oscar had never seen Peach so angry before. Peach pressed play and Oscar just laughed afterwards.

“So someone overheard my little conversation with Mario. Yeah it was me and I killed Francine also,” Oscar said. “And you know what, I'd do it again if I could. Those koopas deserved everything they got.”

“How can you say that? They never deserved this. And I can't believe you can be so cool about it,” Peach cried.

“You shouldn't worry about them anymore. Bowser and his kids were nothing but worthless criminals what deserved to die. Same applies to every one of his troops. I'm glad they're dead,” Oscar said.

“You're not my father,” Peach cried. “Oh and Mario is dumped. You and him can go to hell as far as I'm concerned.”

“HOW DARE YOU TALK TO ME LIKE THAT!” Oscar shouted.

“I will talk to you how I want. Oh and guess what,” Peach said.

“What?” Oscar asked.

“Francine isn't the koopalings' real mother, I am,” Peach said.

“YOU WHAT?” Oscar roared.

While all this was going on, Bowser and his doomships had finally reached the outskirts of Toad Town and the troops descended onto the ground.

“It's Bowser, he's alive and his troops are attacking,” one toad cried. All the toads started panicking and ran away.

“That's it, seize them, seize them all,” Bowser said to his troops began chasing the toads. Shortly afterwards, a lot of the toads had been rounded up and quickly tied up by the troops. The remaining troops walked towards the north of Toad Town towards Peach's castle where most of the toads were celebrating. What happened next would shock every toad in the area much more than any of Bowser's attacks ever could.

“YOU MONSTER!” Peach screamed as she pushed Oscar out of the window and Oscar came tumbling to the ground in front of the crowd of over three hundred toads stopping the celebrations instantly. Oscar began convulsing for a few seconds and then stopped moving. Oscar was dead and Peach was responsible. She sat down on Oscar's bed and broke down in tears. Toad walked in shortly afterwards.

“Peach are you okay?” Toad asked.

“Oh Toad, what have I done?” Peach sobbed as Toad looked out of the broken window and saw Oscar's body down below with many toads gathering round.

“Oh my god, he's dead,” Toad said. “What happened?”

Toad then sat down next to Peach who told him everything what happened. Bowser, his kids and the troops walked towards the castle and stopped when they saw the crowd all in a circle.

“What's going on?” Bowser asked. The toads turned around and ran away when they saw Bowser. The troops were about to chase after the toads but stopped and looked in shock when they saw Oscar's dead body lying on the floor of the castle with shattered glass around him. Bowser looked up and realised what happened.

“He was pushed,” Bowser said.

“Bowser, we have successfully captured Mario and my men are holding him captive just west of here, we caught him trying to escape” a hammer brother said. This was Monty of Vibe Island's elite hammer brother unit.

“Good work,” Bowser said. “What about Luigi?”

“I haven't seen Luigi at all and don't know where he is,” Monty replied.

“Well I have no interest in Luigi right now, you keep Mario prisoner for now, I have something else I want to do right now so he is your responsibility now,” Bowser said.

“Yes Bowser, I'll take Mario to Vibe Island and keep him locked up,” Monty said before leaving.

“Troops, go and locate any runaway toads, tie them up and keep them prisoner,” Bowser said. “I am going to have a talk with Peach.” The troops then left as Bowser walked into the castle. Peach was now in her own room as Toad had now left. She was still crying and stopped when she heard a familiar voice.

“Hello Peach,” Bowser said. Peach stopped crying and looked up.

“Bowser, you're alive. But how?” Peach asked.

“We're all alive. Me, the kids and my troops had been hiding underground. I came here to get my revenge but it appears you beat me to it,” Bowser said.

“My so-called father was behind the attacks and your wife's death the whole time and I also found out that Mario had a part in it too,” Peach said.

“I know. Just to let you know, Mario was captured by some of my troops. A group of hammer brothers are taking him to my villa in Vibe Island,” Bowser said.

“Mario can rot in hell for all I care,” Peach said.

“What about Luigi?” Bowser asked.

“Luigi found out something about Mario and ran away. I don't know what it was about though,” Peach said. “You think he ran away because he found out about Mario's part in your attempted murder and your wife's death.”

“That's a strong possibility,” Bowser said.

“Oh Bowser, I'm just so happy to see you again,” Peach said as she gave him a hug.

“Its nice to see you too,” Bowser said.

“Bowser?” Peach asked.

“Yes Peach?” Bowser asked.

“There's something I want to ask you,” Peach said.

“What's that?” Bowser asked.

“Well I was wondering.., will you marry me?” Peach asked.

Bowser was surprised at this as he wasn't expecting Peach to ask but he was more than happy to respond.

“Of course I will,” Bowser said and bent down to kiss Peach on the cheek.

“I love you, Bowser,” Peach said.

“I love you too Peach,” Bowser said.

[Clive Koopa]

Chapter 12: Start Of a New Era

The Mushroom Kingdom was in shock at the news that Oscar, their Mushroom King had been killed. It didn't take long for the news to reach the entire Mushroom World. Most of the toads who were in Toad Town at the time had been captured by Bowser's troops and were being held in Toad Town's market square. Peach remained in her bedroom with Bowser as they prepared to make a televised speech to the entire Mushroom World and announce their engagement.

“What are we going to do now? My father's dead, Mario's been captured and your castle is in complete ruins,” Peach said. “Also, Toad Town is now in chaos and your troops are holding my people captive. What do you plan to do?”

“I've already thought of what we are going to do and you'll find out the same time as everyone else when we make our speech to the world. And you don't need to worry about your people, they are in good hands and I'll make sure they won't get harmed,” Bowser replied. Peach smiled and nodded. A large group of troops gathered in front of Peach's castle along with the koopalings as they waited for Bowser to emerge from Peach's balcony. Among the troops stood Jeff, Clive, Marcus among others.
They all stayed quiet and started cheering as Bowser made his appearance. Across the Mushroom World, this was being televised live across all networks. After everyone had stopped cheering, Bowser began to speak.

“Hello everyone, I would like to thank you all for being here. Now as you are all aware, it has been a tough week for all of us with the destruction of our castle. The death of the Mushroom King and Mario's capture means we can now rebuild our kingdom and our castle back to glory,” Bowser said.

“Where is Mario anyway and what happened to Luigi?” Jeff asked from the crowd. Some of the other troops started murmuring amongst themselves wondering the same thing.

“Mario has been taken prisoner and Monty has taken him to Vibe Island as a slave. Luigi, as far as I know, has left the Mushroom Kingdom,” Bowser replied. “Before I go any further, I would just like to announce my engagement to Peach.”

“Engagement? You and Peach are getting married?” a troop asked.

“That's right, you can come out now,” Bowser said calling Peach out. Peach walked out and stood next to Bowser. The troops didn't know whether to cheer for Peach or not. There were mixed cheers and murmers among the crowd.

“Come on guys, I was expecting a bit more enthusiasm,” Bowser said. “I'm marrying the mother of my kids and my true love. Plus we also get the Mushroom Kingdom.”

The crowd then cheered and the koopalings cheered the loudest. The toads who were present as prisoners were not happy at all. Once the crowd quietened down, Bowser continued with his speech.

“Now the first thing what we are going to do is rebuild Castle Koopa but this time, I want it much bigger and better than ever before. Me and Peach will be getting married tonight so after tonight, we will be rulers of both the Mushroom and Koopa Kingdoms,” Bowser said.

“Bowser, what shall we do with these prisoners?” Clive asked.

“They will be made to work on the rebuilding of our castle and our kingdom,” Bowser said. “Also, I want some makeshift cells to be made to hold them while my castle is being rebuilt.”

“What about us?” Lemmy asked. “What do we do?”

“I am inviting you kids to attend my wedding, I want you to witness my reunion with your mother before we begin the unity of our two kingdoms,” Bowser said. The koopalings all smiled.

“Okay everyone, thats all I have to say, now Peach has a few words she wants to say,” Bowser said handing the microphone to Peach as he stood aside and she stood in the middle.

“Hello all Bowser's troops,” Peach said a bit nervous. “Well I never thought I'd be talking to you all like this, I'd just like to say I am so happy to be marrying your king and I'll be looking forward to being your queen. As Bowser just said, we have plans to unite both our kingdoms. Now I know my own people are against this but I just want to say to every toad who may be watching this that after tonight, me and Bowser are going to be married and I am going to be ruler of both the Mushroom Kingdom and the Koopa Kingdom as will Bowser. I would just like to ask you to give Bowser a chance. Its because of your attitude towards the koopas and because of the history my kingdom has had with them is why many of you always get kidnapped and enslaved by them,” Peach said. Bowser was surprised as he hadn't heard Peach talk this way before about her own kingdom.

“So you toads down there who Bowser's troops have, you will help Bowser and help his troops rebuild his castle. Also some of you can help me with building extensions to my own castle. You will be seeing a lot more of the koopas so I suggest you get along together or else you'll have me to deal with,” Peach said. The toad prisoners down below were surprised at this outburst and just hung their heads and everyone watching on television were equally shocked at this. The koopalings just sniggered finding it quite amusing.

“You heard her,” Bowser said now taking the microphone. “Take half of the prisoners away to the Castle Koopa site. They will start work right away. The other half will stay here and work on Peach's castle. Me and Peach will be leaving now to get married so troops, make sure these toads are kept busy and as the future ruler of both my own and the Mushroom Kingdom, I ask that you also help out but make sure no toad escapes,” Bowser said. “Thank you all for listening and I'll see you all later.”

As Bowser and Peach made their leave, the troops started work immediately. Half of the troops escorted half the toads to where Castle Koopa once stood and made them start building while helping out themselves. The other half did the same with Peach's castle. The prisoners were also made to build their own makeshift cells to hold them and stop them escaping.

Bowser and Peach travelled in Bowser's clown copter to a secret location where they got married. That night, they were finally wed and became co-rulers of both the Mushroom and Koopa Kingdoms.

[Clive Koopa]

Chapter 13: The Union

After the marriage of Peach and Bowser, they went to Isle Delfino for their honeymoon for a week. After their honeymoon, they returned to Toad Town to see that work on Peach's castle was still ongoing. Both Bowser's troops and their toad prisoners were working hard on the extensions to Peach's castle and at the same time, another group of koopas and toads were working on Castle Koopa.

“Bowser, you're back,” Clive said seeing Bowser back.

“Yay, they're back,” some troops cheered.

“Welcome back, Bowser. How did it go?” Jeff said.

“It went great. Me and Peach stayed in Isle Delfino for a week and have been planning to unite the kingdoms as soon as both castles have been finished on,” Bowser replied.

“How is my castle going?” Peach asked.

“The extensions are almost finished,” Clive said.

“What about Castle Koopa?” Bowser asked.

“It will be a few more days, maybe even a week before Castle Koopa gets rebuilt again. The troops there along with the prisoners have been working non-stop so if all goes well, it could be finished by tomorrow,” Clive replied.

“Good, I can't wait to see it. The sooner the castle gets built, the sooner we can press ahead with the union,” Bowser said as Clive went back to work.

“Where shall we stay in the meantime? We can't stay in the castle while they are working,” Peach asked Bowser.

“We shall stay in the inn for now, as I am now married to you, the innkeeper should let us stay,” Bowser replied. So they went to the inn where they stayed while work was going on at their castles.
After a week, Bowser and Peach went back to Peach's castle.

“Peach, I am happy to report that your castle is complete,” a hammer brother said walking over to Bowser and Peach.

“It looks great,” Peach said looking at the now bigger Peach's castle.

“What about my castle?” Bowser said.

“Castle Koopa is also complete and we can now move back in,” the hammer brother said.

“I want to see for myself,” Bowser said. “Come on Peach, lets go in my Clown Copter and have a look at my castle.”

Bowser and Peach jumped into Bowser's Clown Copter and travelled to Dark Land and saw Castle Koopa much bigger than ever before.

“It looks beautiful,” Bowser said as they descended down to ground and they were greeted by many of Bowser's troops all happy to see them.

“Congratulations everyone, I must thank every one of you for taking so much effort and time to get my castle back up. You are all so wonderful troops and I am very honoured and happy to have you all as part of my empire,” Bowser said getting quite emotional.

“Hey, no need to get all sentimental,” one of the troops said. “We're just doing our job. We love working for you and we are proud to be members of the koopa empire.”

“Bowser, Bowser, Bowser!” the troops chanted. Bowser was used to this kind of behaviour, his troops practically worshipped him.

“Thank you everyone,” Bowser said. “Now Peach, care to join me in having a look inside.”

“Of course Bowser,” Peach said. “I'd love to come inside with you.”

Bowser and Peach walked into the castle and were greeted by troops while inside. It looked similar to the original Castle Koopa but with better walls and the layout was slightly different. After going through every room, they walked out.

“So Bowser, do you want to do this now?” Peach asked. “The union I mean.”

“Yes, lets begin the union of our two kingdoms right away,” Bowser said. Bowser then walked over to the group of troops who were waiting and began to speak.

“Firstly where are the prisoners I told you to look after and help you work on the castle,” Bowser asked.

“We put them in the dungeons, the ones used for Peach's castle will be taken here later,” one of the troops said.

“Release them,” Bowser said. “Bring them out here.”

“Release them? Are you sure?” the troop asked surprised.

“I'm very sure. After the union is completed, then the prisoners will no longer be needed. Unless of course they are dead against this union and start acting aggressively or something then they can go straight back in,” Bowser said.

“I'll bring them out to you right away,” the troop said and went back in the castle.

After a while, the troop had brought all the toads out unharmed. After a while, everyone present at both Toad Town and Castle Koopa gathered at the border of the Mushroom/Koopa Kingdoms. Ludwig gave Bowser an official document, in which both he and Peach signed. This document meant that both kingdoms could be united and both rulers could be co-rulers of both kingdoms. Everyone cheered and started to party. For the first time in the history of the Mushroom Kingdom, both toads and koopas joined together as friends. Also for the first time, Bowser made it legal for toads to join the koopa empire and both Peach's and Bowser's Castle had joint roles in the empire.

THE END


(Sorry if this chapter is a bit short and seems a bit rushed, I didn't know what else to do with it and had come to the end of the story anyway. I may get round to doing some other short stories unrelated to this although with the same characters.)