Dimentio laughed
to himself as he floated outside a nearby window. “It’s only a matter of
time until this world is the stage for my play of success…”
“Good evening, Prince Iggy.” A Koopatrol guard said as Iggy passed by. He was soon grabbed by the throat by Iggy and pinned to the wall.
“Where is Bowser?” Iggy asked, tightening him grip on the Koopa’s neck.
“H-he’s… in his… throne… room…” The guard coughed. Content with the reply, Iggy let the Koopatrol go, continuing down the hall as the guard ran in the opposite direction.
Meanwhile in the Keep’s health wing, the other Koopalings had taken Roy to a doctor. They waited nervously outside the examining room for the news.
“I hope he’s going to be all right…” Morton said, his nerves keeping him from his usual blabbering.
The door to the examining room slowly opened, a Koopa dressed in a white coat coming out. He remained silent as he walked over to the five siblings.
“Is he okay, Doctor?” asked Larry worriedly.
“Well, with the prolonged lack of air…” the doctor began, taking a deep breath.
“Spit it out, is he all right or not?” Wendy asked, annoyed by the little Koopa.
“I’m sorry… but he’s not going to make it… We’ve done everything we could do,” the doctor said before slowly moving back into the small room he was in before.
In the throne room, Bowser was watching a Fire Bro and Hammer Bro fighting for a raise. The battle was interrupted when a panicked Koopatrol blew through the doors and past the fighters, knocking them over.
“What is the meaning of this?!” Bowser roared in anger. “Don’t you know not to come in here unless you’re called?!”
The armored Koopa took a few deep breaths before replying to his king. “My Evilness, there is something very wrong happening in the castle,” he said, his armor rattling from his nervous shakes. “Your son, Iggy, assaulted me and I heard a large uproar coming from the lounge.”
“Although I don’t mind abuse of my guards, Iggy doesn’t seem like the one to do that,” Bowser mumbled to himself, scratching his chin. “I want you to investigate the castle and report anything that might seem out of place.”
“Yes my Lord,” the Koopatrol said with a bow before quickly exiting the room.
A Koopa doctor soon replaced the Koopatrol’s place in the throne room, resulting in another roar from the Koopa king.
“What is it now?” Bowser asked, all the guests beginning to annoy him. “Don’t tell me one of my kids has a cold.”
The doctor nervously held his clipboard in front of his face, as if he was hiding behind it. “N-no sir, I have some grave news to report…”
The remaining Koopalings had returned to the lounge, mourning the loss of their strongest brother.
“I know he wasn’t the greatest brother, but he didn’t deserve this…No one does…” Lemmy sighed, looking down at his green star ball.
Suddenly Larry began to shiver as if the temperature had suddenly dropped. “D-does anyone else feel like we’re not alone?” he asked, looking around the room for the source of his feeling.
“Maybe it’s just your imagination,” Lemmy suggested.
Before he could reply, Larry was gone, warped out of the room and leaving waves of distorted light behind. He soon found himself in a small room that was entirely green, with weird patterns inscribed on the walls.
“Where am I?” Larry asked himself, inspecting the room.
“You’re in my world, dear Koopa of the royal variety,” laughed Dimentio as he appeared in the room across from Larry. “You seem to be very sensitive to my invisibility magic; therefore I must keep you out of the way.”
“You’re the one my dad told me about,” Larry growled, staring down the magical jester. “He said that you died when you were defeated by him and the others.”
“Oh, he only wishes that were true.” Dimentio chuckled. “But that was just a cover, dear friend. I merely teleported to this world, disguising it as my death.”
This statement only seemed to enrage Larry more. “When I’m done with you, your death won’t be an act!” he growled, lunging at Dimentio, who simply teleported to the opposite side of the room.
“Actually, I’ve been watching you all for some time now, and you have some favorable abilities, my friend,” Dimentio said, gliding towards the youngest Koopaling.
“I’ll never join you!” Larry yelled, getting off the floor.
“I don’t remember ever giving you a choice in the matter.” Dimentio grinned as he took hold of Larry.
“Let me go!” Larry demanded as he struggled to get free. “I won’t help you!”
“Don’t worry,
this won’t hurt a bit,” Dimentio instructed, revealing a brown seed from
his coat…
“Something is very wrong…” Ludwig said, breaking the silence that had filled the lounge after Larry’s disappearance.
“Thanks for pointing that out, Professor,” Wendy scoffed. “What made you come to that conclusion?”
“At least I use my brain to think about something besides makeup!” Ludwig growled.
Lemmy squeezed himself between his brother and sister, pushing them apart. “Stop it!” he commanded. “Now is not the time to argue! We need to find out who, or what, is doing this.”
The sound of a large crash from the other side of the castle quickly caught their attention. Before anything was said, they ran out of the room and down the maze of hallways of the castle.
In Bowser’s throne room, everything was a mess. The very large throne was toppled over, paintings were on the floor and broken. Inside the room, Iggy was silently glaring at Bowser, breathing heavily.
“Iggy, Son, what has gotten into you?!” Bowser roared, staring down at his child. “First I get a report that you took your own brother’s life, now you attack your father!”
“Shut up, you old Koopa. It’s about time we had a new order around here,” Iggy growled.
“What did you say?!” Bowser roared, his anger beginning to reach its limit. “Never talk to me like that!”
Without another word, Iggy jumped at his father, slashing at him with a claw. He was quickly hit back by a large arm, but not before leaving a gash on Bowser’s stomach.
“Fine, I didn’t want to do this, but you forced me, Iggy…” Bowser sighed, stepping over to his son. He picked up Iggy with ease, but quickly dropped him as two sets of sharp claws penetrated his wrist, causing him to roar in pain.
Iggy jumped onto his father’s arm, digging his claws in and tearing at his flesh. He was pulled off his father and thrown across the room again, but not before eliminating the use of Bowser’s right arm. Bowser placed a large foot onto his son’s stomach to pin him down.
“I’m sorry, Iggy… I never wished to do this to any of my children, but you forced me into this…” Bowser said sadly, applying pressure with his foot. Iggy struggled under the massive weight, but soon fell limp and lifeless. “I am so sorry, son…”
Unknown to Bowser, a dark, cloaked figure had entered the room through a broken window. It silently moved closer behind the Koopa King, pulling a small dagger out from the cloak. “Your time has come…” is all that was said before the dagger was wedged into the king’s neck.
Bowser fell unmoving to the cold stone floor, just as the remaining Koopalings opened the throne room door. In the instant they noticed the cloaked figure; they charged it and quickly had it successfully restrained. Ludwig pulled the hood off its head to reveal the killer as Larry.
“Larry! What have you done?!” Wendy cried as she held down her brother.
“Bravo, my pets! Bravo!” Dimentio cackled, appearing in the room. “A little more overdone than I was expecting, but that’s what makes a great show!”
“You’re the one who did this?!” Morton roared.
“Why does it matter who did it?” Dimentio asked, slowly floating to the floor. “The deed is done, and I need to take my leave. Ciao.”
With no more words, Dimentio was gone and the Floro Sprouts on the heads of Larry and Iggy withered and fell off. Larry looked around the room to see the motionless figures of his brother and father.
“What happened here?” Larry asked, deeply confused. “It looks so horrid…”
“Don’t worry, Larry…” Ludwig said, helping his brother up. “We need to leave this castle and never come back…”