CHAPTER 4
The Mushroom Kingdom sat in twilight, illuminated by a brilliant display of purple, red, and blue on the horizon. A sliver of the moon cut through the clear sky amongst glistening stars from different galaxies and, as many young children believed, distant dimensions that housed perplexing planets. Tiny houses littered the landscape, sleeping as their inhabitants did with the lights out and the doors locked. The wind cooed as it swept through mostly empty streets.
The blond-haired Koopa paced Toad Town in silence. He stared at the food stands and banners with disgust and knocked several to the ground with the wave of his hand. Shadows danced across his slender body in a hypnotizing motion that would have been captivating had there been anybody to witness it.
tHe GiRl HaS bEeN rEtRiEvEd, a hollow voice echoed inside the Koopa’s head, DeSpItE hEr EfFoRtS tO hIdE hEr IdEnTiTy…
“I expected no less from a human infidel,” the Koopa said serenely. “She could not escape the fate that her despicable species deserved from the very beginning.”
ShAlL i BrInG hEr To ThE kInG?
“Go ahead. I, however, am still not finished with my mission.”
VeRy WeLl…
The Koopa felt his mind being opened for a split second as an unseen force ripped out and shot into the sky. To the average person the sensation would have left them a gibbering mass with half a brain left, but the Koopa was used to it, merely smiling at the jolt of pain as he continued walking.
Moments later he arrived at Toad Town’s eastern exit that led to Goomba Village. The lake running adjacent to the gate shimmered in the diminished moonlight, the Koopa’s reflection walking in it towards two other reflections. One was a Magikoopa while the other was a plain, bulky Koopa.
“Back so soon, Master Kal?” the Magikoopa said with a flourish. He had cracked spectacles and a hunched back, but the most interesting feature was the purple smoke billowing from beneath his cloak, pushing him a few inches above the ground and exposing an empty space where his feet should have been. Although Magikoopas are, as their name implies, mystical beings, rarely do they ever use such extravagant methods of movement when lacking the proper limbs. A crippled Magikoopa is often a retired Magikoopa.
Kal brushed his cascading hair aside and laughed. “She was an easy catch. The Mushroom scumbags didn’t do a thing to help her when she was crying for mercy, making it all the easier.”
“So you have the broad with you, then?” the other Koopa murmured. He had hair dyed red with the occasional tufts of purple and green jutting out, ruffled up and parted randomly to give the impression of a half-trimmed bush. His face was scrunched up and one eye was swollen, covered in a red crust. At first glance he was quite chubby, but that was the mere impression his blue shell, a storage compartment for all sorts of firearms, gave off.
“She is being taken to ‘The King’ by our dear friend,” Kal said. “We won’t be heading back to headquarters until our mission is complete.”
Kal’s Koopa companion groaned while the Magikoopa’s thin mouth stretched into a smile.
“As upholders of the Koopa species,” Kal lectured, “our duty has still to be fulfilled. Until then-”
“In case you forgot, boss,” the Koopa said sharply, “I’m not part of your wacky cult. I’m just a hired gun who is here ‘cause you’re offering a fine sum. Unless you’re willing to pay more, anything beyond nabbing the princess is not my business.”
Kal’s thin eyes narrowed further and blessed the Koopa mercenary with a cold glance from beautiful eyes. The Magikoopa floated aside to allow the two an intimate moment that would likely end in blood.
“I’m guessing that you don’t care about our superior species’ survival in this world of scumbags?” Kal said. The observant would have noticed his hand slipping down the neck of his cloak, but it came off natural enough that it wasn’t that noticeable.
“Whether I care or not was not part of our agreement,” the Koopa pressed on with a suicidal determination. “You offered a nice sum of cash in return for my help in staging this kidnapping. Anything else is beyond our deal and will require another contract.”
“I perfectly understand that,” Kal said.
“Then why is it so hard to understand why I’m not willing to go on with you freaks?”
Kal seemed to contemplate this for a brief second, but it was all a clever illusion to keep the Koopa focused on Kal’s face and not his hand that was swiftly pulling out a small dagger from inside his cloak and thrusting it forward with deadly accuracy. It was only the positioning of guns in the Koopa’s shell that saved him from death, the dagger striking a pistol and setting it off, blowing a small hole in the side of the shell.
The Koopa stepped back, looking more disappointed than scared at almost being killed. He pulled out a revolver, compact but packing quite a punch, and pointed it at Kal before he could try anything else.
“Don’t think I’m new to this,” the Koopa snarled. “You got yourself the best mercenary in all of Plit and you think you can kill him off when he brings up some rules you don’t like?”
“I believe that the employer is the one who makes the decisions and reads the fine print,” Kal said, “not the mercenary.”
“Yeah, well I only operate by the rules I set down.”
The Magikoopa watched the scuffle with a detached amusement, the smoke supporting him dying down until it was a mere wisp. He remained silent and made eye contact with Kal several times.
Kal lowered the knife but kept it steady in his grip. “I suppose that you’ll be leaving then?”
“Well, unless you can fork over an entire fortune now that you almost killed me, ‘course.” The Koopa turned around and walked towards the closed gate with a sophisticated gait. “Doesn’t look like you’re going to change your mind…”
“Well…” Kal began, but he was interrupted by a male voice from behind him.
“Are you okay?”
Kal turned and came face to face with the famous plumber that the Mushroomers revered as a hero from the heavens. He quickly glanced backwards and saw that both of his minions had disappeared without a trace. Mario seemed unaware that anybody else had been there.
“Ah, Mario,” Kal began, “so surprising to see you out this late.”
“Well, I was just taking a stroll around town, you know. Couldn’t get to sleep,” Mario began, but he stopped himself from getting too casual. “I saw you standing there by the gate and thought you might be lost. Need directions?”
“I was just hoping to find the nearest place I could get help,” Kal said with a convincing tone of panic. “I thought that the guards outside the town walls would have been able to… you know…”
“Calm down,” Mario said, “and tell me what the problem is.”
“Oh, it’s horrible. I was just walking by the castle when I happened to see two shadows close by. I didn’t know who one of them was because… you see… they were dressed entirely in black and blended right in with the shadows, but the other had a pink dress and I have reason to believe that-”
Kal had triggered a strong emotion in Mario that washed over his mind. His feet, which were firmly planted to the floor previously, became restless.
“It can’t be. They couldn’t have possibly…” Mario tried to look for the words, but he was more interested in taking action than saying anything. “Look, thank you for telling me this, sir. I appreciate it.”
And with that Mario sped off in the direction of the Mushroom Castle, running with all the energy he could muster in his portly body. Kal watched with a smirk before turning around and releasing a dome of invisible energy from his body. His two minions reappeared where they originally stood.
Kal kept smiling as he pulled out of his satchel a handful of glistening coins and held it towards the Koopa mercenary. “Take this and I’ll pay you enough coins to fill a cathedral when the mission is done. While the gears are in motion we must act quickly. Our time has come…”
All three disappeared from sight. The night came to an end as Mario, several blocks away, arrived at the castle gates in a panic.
~~~
The arrival of the sun triggered a chain reaction throughout the Mushroom Kingdom. It started around seven o’clock when the clock towers rang out to mark the beginning of festivities. Fireworks illuminated the dawn sky as Mushroomers flooded the streets and filled the air with whoops of joy. Adults chatted with their friends over glasses of wine while their children enjoyed the games set up at each street corner or watched clowns frolic about on makeshift stages. The day had started out with a bang and the fire wasn’t going to die out any time soon.
Everybody was having a good time, oblivious to the troubles at the Mushroom Castle, where guests were in a panic over the princess’ sudden disappearance and the sudden placement of over a hundred soldiers around the castle’s perimeters. The police had arrived discreetly to investigate the scene while also worrying about the location of their lieutenant who had gone missing the previous day.
At the center of the chaos was Toadsworth, demanding that the soldiers quicken their search for any signs of intrusion, trying to calm the guests, and dealing with his own mental crisis at the same time. Accompanying him were Mario, Luigi, Princess Daisy, and Prince Peasley. They stood in Peach’s room, the focus of the police’s crime scene investigation.
“None of the guards saw or heard a thing, there’s an ornamental sword lying on her balcony, and none of the guests were outside of their rooms at the time of kidnapping,” Toadsworth grumbled, “and to top it all off, this has occurred during a time of celebration!”
“Come on, we have to have at least some idea of who did this,” Daisy said, though she didn’t sound too sure herself.
“I’m sorry, Princess Daisy, but we haven’t turned up a single thing!” Toadsworth said. “We have no clue if it’s Bowser or some other force altogether.”
Mario said little and simply looked around the room for any clues he could spot. The police officers rummaging around had left few stones unturned, but deep inside he hoped against all odds that something would stick out and reveal to them who the perpetrator was, why they had done it, and what they could do to get Peach back. He hadn’t found it yet, if it was there at all, but he didn’t want to give up.
His younger brother, skin a sickly white, let out a series of dry coughs. Mario hadn’t had the chance to tell Luigi of the kidnapping earlier and he would have rather not made Luigi even sicker with the news of the princess’ disappearance, but the green plumber came to the castle after having a nagging feeling that something was amiss. When he found out what was going on he refused to leave despite his poor health, and demanded to stay to solve the mystery.
“Luigi, I really don’t think this is the place for you,” Mario had insisted earlier.
“I’m perfectly fine, Bro; no need to worry,” Luigi said. “The princess’ safety is my priority too, you know?”
“If your sickness gets worse, your safety will be another priority,” Mario said, but Luigi had merely replied with a shrug. He wasn’t intending on leaving anytime soon.
In the present, Prince Peasley got everybody’s attention by clearing his throat. If he was panicking, he did a good job disguising it with a deadpan expression and crossed arms. “I believe that our primary suspect is King Koopa and his lackeys. In case any of you haven’t noticed, the egg has gone missing along with Princess Toadstool. I don’t think anybody else would be so desperate to get their hands on it.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Daisy said, “that must be a clear giveaway.”
“What?” Toadstool snapped. “What’s all this talk of an egg and how does it have anything to do with the Koopas?”
“It’s what we were talking with Peach about yesterday, and it…” Daisy stopped in her tracks. She didn’t know if she should continue talking about it to Toadsworth, a Mushroomer who could take any piece of information and use it to blame somebody for Peach’s troubles.
Toadsworth raised an inquiring eyebrow. “What were you going to say?”
“Well… um… I…”
Mario stepped in for her and said, “The egg is the key to ending the conflict between the Mushroom Kingdom and Koopa Clan, and the princess was the one who was guarding it.”
The four watched as Toadsworth reacted much as they expected him to. The aging Mushroomer closed his eyes and, in a matter of seconds, screamed with such intensity that the police officers turned to see what the commotion was.
“How could you give the princess a life-endangering item that is a large enough threat to Bowser that he comes in and swipes her away without anybody noticing?! You should have handed it to somebody like Mario who is capable of defending themselves. This is a completely travesty that has afflicted our great kingdom and-”
The door burst open as a soldier, dressed in red and white armor, walked in. “Sir Toadsworth!”
Toadsworth did a mental three-sixty and turned to the soldier, calmed down if not slightly aggravated. “Yes, what news do you have?”
“We’ve managed to find a suspect, sir,” the Koopa said with a salute. “It’s a Koopa bearing the Koopa Clan insignia. He was hiding out in the garden and was about to escape when we spotted him.”
“Ah, wonderful, wonderful,” Toadsworth said with a smile. “Unfortunately, I’ve got to meet with some of the world leaders in attendance to discuss this matter, so… Master Mario and Master Luigi, would you mind going to see who this Koopa is?”
“And what about us?” Daisy demanded. “Peach is my friend; I’m not going to just sit here on the sidelines.”
“I’m sorry, but the least you could do at the moment is go and ensure that the other guests are calm so this castle doesn’t turn into a madhouse, thank you.”
Toadsworth wasted no more time chatting before wobbling out the door with his cane in hand. Princess Daisy mumbled under her breath while Peasley kept himself composed.
“This is not fair. He thinks that just because Mario and Luigi save the day every time we can just get left in the dust! That’s entirely unfair to all of us and-”
“Look, Daisy,” Luigi said with a rasp, “I know that you’re concerned, but you do play a part in this. You may not realize now, but in due time it will be your moment to shine.”
Daisy was about to explain how that was not enough, but she thought Luigi’s words over and, after a moment’s deliberation, nodded and smiled. “Okay, Luigi.”
“I believe that Toadsworth assigned us the task of maintaining order amongst guests,” Peasley said. “We shouldn’t keep Mario and Luigi from performing their duties.”
“We have to get a move on ourselves,” Mario said. He was interested in confronting the Koopa and finding out why the princess was kidnapped and if it had to do with the egg. He couldn’t stand the suspense any longer.
The four left the room together before waving each other off and heading their separate ways. Mario and Luigi had to weave their way through a crowd of guests being forced away from Peach’s room by several soldiers. All the guests were agitated, demanding that they be allowed to help out with the investigation. Mario couldn’t help but be glad that they had used a guest list instead of allowing anybody to come- the Mushroom Kingdom would be in a panic rather than a naïve celebration.
The Brothers made their way down several staircases before they arrived in the castle dungeon, a small corridor connecting a few well-furbished cells. The Mushroom Castle was not meant to hold prisoners and as such did not put that much time into making the dungeon a despicable place filled with rats, steel beds, and dirty toilets. Instead, prisoners had nice mattresses with a blanket and pillow, a toilet with curtains surrounding it for privacy, and walls made of a red stone that was more appealing than the gray most associated with prisons.
A soldier directed them to where the Koopa was being held, a cell situated at the very back of the corridor. Three soldiers had been positioned there; nobody was going to take risks with a suspect in the kidnapping.
Mario stood in front of the prison bars and sized up the Koopa carefully. He didn’t look like he was built for combat, being well past his prime in age and body build. Half of his armor had been ripped off, exposing a cracked shell that, at any second, could give in and crumble apart. He sat on his bed, staring at the ground with such intensity that everything else- soldier and Mario Bros. included- seemed miles away.
“He’s not responding to any questions,” one of the soldiers said, “but you can try to get his attention.”
“I don’t have the voice for interrogation,” Luigi said with a weak chuckle. “Feel free to press this guy, Bro.”
Mario nodded and turned to the disheveled, aging Koopa. “Hey! If you don’t mind, I’m Mario, and I’d like to find out about what you were doing trying to escape from the castle.”
The Koopa made no effort to respond. He seemed far more interested in the floor and continued to stare at it with narrowed eyes.
“I guess you’re the quiet type,” Mario said, keeping his cool. “Mind telling me your name, then?” There was no response. “Whether you were involved in the princess’ kidnapping?”
One of the soldiers pulled out his lance and was about to open the door, but Mario stopped him. “I’ll ask you one last question. If you don’t want to answer it… fine. But here it goes. Do you work for King Koopa?”
At that moment, the Koopa’s focus on the floor was lost. He looked up at Mario with angry eyes, his fists clenched tightly. “If one more person asks me that stupid question, I will rip my brains up and throw it through those bars!”
“So I’m guessing you do from your armor?” Mario ventured, feeling proud that he had finally got the Koopa talking.
“No! I have nothing to do with that ol’ crock! I quit when it became apparent that I was getting nowhere under his rule, and I became a free man. Why is it so hard for you to get that through your thick skulls, jeez!”
“Well, Mr...” Mario paused intentionally, allowing the Koopa to fill in the blank and provide more information.
The Koopa was all too aware of this, but he took the bait anyway. “I know where you’re going with this. No need to act all cheeky, ‘cause I’ll go ahead and tell you. I am Defonil, and I was charged by the police for being the victim of prejudice by one of your fine citizens. I managed to escape and then I got caught up in this whole ordeal.”
“Were you one of the kidnappers, then?”
“No! If I was, I’d be long gone and with the princess. I saw her, but then boom, something came and took her and I was out like a light.” Defonil had walked up to the bars at this point and every single wrinkle and boil became visible to Mario. “I woke up and just as I was about to get away from this mess your fine soldiers caught me and threw me in the slammer. It’s been a fun night, I’ll tell you that.”
Mario smiled. He felt himself getting closer to the truth, and he wasn’t going to stop until he found out everything. “But you saw the princess and her captor, am I mistaken?”
“Yes and no. I saw your beloved princess, but the next thing you know, she’s screaming and boom, I’m out. That’s the information you really want, right? Then that’s all I’ve got to say.”
“No! There has to be more!” Mario insisted. “Surely, you must have-”
“There’s nothin’ more. I got caught up in the mess, but I didn’t start it so don’t try to grind the answers outta me…”
Mario’s mood took a dive. It seemed as if his work to find out precisely what had happened to Peach had been for naught. There were no definite answers, and the only witness was a Koopa with an attitude problem who claimed to have seen nothing. He turned to the soldiers and asked if they had any other prisoners, but he didn’t like their answer either.
“We’ve got to keep looking,” Mario insisted. “If we stop at this guy, we’ll never get the answers!”
“Calm down Mario,” Luigi said. “At least we know that it’s probably the Koopas.”
“But how can we be sure? It could be…”
“Think about it for a second, will you?” Luigi let out a few coughs, but at that moment his paleness subsided and he looked much healthier physically and mentally. He seemed sure of his actions, his thoughts, and of the situation. Mario couldn’t understand why at first, his mind occupied by the thought of, for the first time, not knowing where to find Peach, but he eventually understood what Luigi was saying.
“Sure, Bro,” Mario said. “Guess it’s true that it wouldn’t make sense for anybody besides Bowser to kidnap the princess and the egg. I think we’ve got our culprit.”
“Bingo,” Luigi said with a grin, and at that moment Mario saw why Daisy had listened to him when he had spoken earlier in Peach’s room. His brother had changed from the coward he once was to a confident man. Mario wasn’t sure how it had happened, but he suspected it might have had to do with Luigi hooking up with Daisy and understanding the virtues of love and protecting it no matter what. Where he had once mocked Mario’s obsession with protecting Peach no matter what, he now related and felt obliged to help out too. It was this change that made Mario love his brother even more.
“Guess we’re going to have to gather some troops and head to Dark Land?” Mario asked.
“Don’t think there’s anything else we can do, really.”
“Excellent, then let’s not waste any time dawdling.”
Defonil stood in his cell, scoffing at the touching moment between the Brothers. “Well, if you two intend to take on King Koopa, best of luck to you. I’ll be rooting for-”
“Now what makes you think you won’t be doing anything to help?” Mario asked, turning around to face Defonil with a mischievous shimmer in his eye.
“… What, cheering not good enough for you?”
“You act as if you’ll just be watching from the sidelines. You once worked for King Koopa, from what I can gather, and you’re the only witness we have of the incident, even if you didn’t see much. I think it’s best if you tag along with us, don’t you think?”
Luigi also pitched in. “You could be our guide, helping us get past Bowser’s men without a scratch.”
“Woah, woah, WOAH!” Defonil backed away from the bars, shaking his head frantically. “You’ve got yourself the wrong guy. It’s been fifteen years since I last stepped foot in Dark Land, and you expect me to be your guide into King Koopa’s heavily fortified castle?!”
“Well, you’re the only one from the place so you’ll have to do,” Mario said and gestured towards the soldiers to open the cell. They grabbed Defonil by the shoulders and yanked him out. “We’re going to get going right away, so we hope you’re ready for a long trek.”
“I feel like I could travel five hundred miles,” Defonil muttered under his breath as the soldiers dragged him behind the Mario Bros, who in turn headed out of the dungeon and back into the main hallway. They happened to bump into Toadsworth, who was yet again in one of his sour moods.
“Nobody understands the urgency of this situation!” he was yelling to nobody in particular. “Everybody thinks that Master Mario and Master Luigi will save the day as per usual and everything will just be fine. Well, it isn’t always that simple, we have to- Oh, hello there, Master Mario. What did you find out?”
“Enough to figure that Bowser was at it again,” Mario said with a smirk, “and we’ve got somebody who can lead us to Dark Land to reclaim the princess.”
Toadsworth underwent another mood swing, going from enraged to jovial in a matter of seconds. “That’s splendid! We must arrange for several troops to accompany you to Dark Land. If I may ask, who is this guide you’ve obtained?”
Mario and Luigi both gestured towards Defonil, who was strung out between two soldiers like drying laundry. Toadsworth frowned.
“You don’t mean the prisoner. I mean, how do you know you can trust him? For all you know he could be waiting to lead you into a trap and take you to King Koopa for some big prize!”
“Thanks; I feel so honored,” Defonil said while rolling his eyes.
“He’s the only one we’ve got,” Mario said. “What I’m more interested in knowing is how we’re going to inform the public of the princess’ kidnapping?”
Toadsworth scoffed. “We can’t do that! We’re going to have to keep them in the dark. It’s a good thing Bowser didn’t make a spectacle of kidnapping Princess Peach like he usually does. We can rescue her and nobody will know that she was gone in the first place.”
“Doesn’t sound too honest,” Luigi commented.
“What? Do you want to cause a mass panic throughout our kingdom? We can’t risk anything. I’ll go and fetch the troops to accompany you; you wait here, understood?”
Toadsworth walked off before they could agree, which was fine since they were going to say yes anyway.
In the time he had left before the journey began, Mario thought to himself. This would probably be the last adventure he would be embarking upon if they managed to retrieve Princess Peach and the egg; Bowser would be unable to fight back without losing his entire kingdom, and peace would finally reign. He wished that Bowser didn’t have to drop in and put one last obstacle in his path, but Mario was determined to see his lifelong goal finally completed. He would get Princess Peach back and they would live in a kingdom free of turmoil and conflict.
“You sure you want to come, Luigi?” Mario asked his brother. “I don’t want you keeling over halfway through the trip.”
“Come on, Bro, I can’t miss out on our last battle with Bowser,” Luigi said with a smirk. “This is going to be in our kids’ history books, you know that?”
“Is that all you’re concerned about?” Mario said with a laugh. “We’re going to finally ensure that our children and their children will be able to live their life without being at the mercy of the Koopas. Peace, happiness, joy… I want to see those things before I die.”
Luigi smiled. “Guess then that the Festival of Heroes this year will commemorate the end of war and the beginning of prosperity.”
“And you know what, Bro? That’s the way I want it.”
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