Paper Mario: TTotS - Chapter 7 Interlude

The Temple of the Sun
00:00

King Shroude was pacing back and forth within the huge room that held the Aeon Clock. He was muttering darkly to himself, quickly running out of patience.

"Where is that huge lug?" he grumbled, still casting a shadowy ripple behind him as he walked. "He must have beaten Mario by now… this is ridiculous…"

He wasn't naïve enough to think that Mario wouldn't somehow find his way to the fortress. Why else would Shroude have gone through the trouble finding the perfect person to guard the final Sun Soul? Still, he'd given Bowser explicit orders to report back here the moment Mario was taken care of, and so far he'd heard nothing…

But then, right on cue, a huge plume of smoke suddenly rose out of the floor, causing the temperature in the room to drop. Shroude turned around expectantly as Blackout Bowser materialized from within the smoke – and then his eyes bulged from behind his hair as he saw that the Koopa King was sprawled on the ground, covered in bruises and badly beaten.

"Ooooh… ugh…" he groaned, his eyes only half open. "Ohhhh, my aching shell… I didn't even think that thing could ache…"

"King Bowser? What is the meaning of this?" Shroude snarled, stomping over to him in an instant. "What happened back there? Did – "

He paused.

"Don't tell me," he said, in a voice so cold that the temperature seemed to drop even more. "Mario… he didn't… beat you, did he?"

Bowser wearily lifted his head up and managed a sheepish grin. "Uh… well… that depends on your definition of 'beat'," he said uneasily. "I guess I may have, uh… gotten cut off before I could finish the job."

The halls of the Temple of the Sun suddenly began echoing with the infuriated shrieks of King Shroude as he lost all control, gripping his scepter and shooting a chaotic barrage of black lightning bolts in every direction.

"YOWZA! Watch your blood pressure, freakshow!" Bowser cried, covering his head as a lightning bolt flew over him and blasted the wall behind him.

"You were given one task, King Bowser," Shroude said dangerously, his entire body crackling with black electricity as his hair stood on end. "And that was to defeat Mario. You assured me that you were the right one for this job, and yet you FAILED!"

He punctuated the last word with another bolt of lightning that streaked all the way up to the ceiling, filling the entire room with a deafening crash and boom.

"Uh… well, to be fair, it wasn't just Mario," said Bowser, getting kind of nervous. "It was… Mario and a Goomba?"

The look Shroude gave him instantly told him he'd said the completely wrong thing.

"Uh… well, y'know, he just pulled a fast one on me, I guess," he said lamely. "But, uh, hey… there's no chance I could get some alone time with Princess Peach anyway, is there? You know, as… thanks for trying?"

Shroude's answer was a lightning bolt right to Bowser's face, causing him to explode into black smoke and vanish out of the Temple.

"Mario has the last Sun Soul. He has all of them," he muttered once he was alone, his shoulders sagging. "This is ridiculous. This is unthinkable. How could one short little man with such atrocious facial hair cause so much damage?"

He wearily hanged his head for a moment before his face grew firm.

"Well, it doesn't matter. He may have the Sun Soul, but I have Princess Peach… and she is not long for this world. Without her, the Sun Soul won't do a thing to protect Mario from his fate."

He straightened up and scowled. "I supposed it's true what they say then… if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself." He stomped his scepter into the floor. "You may have thoroughly humiliated my lieutenants, Mario, but you haven't won yet! Go ahead and come here if you think you're ready – we'll see just how you fare against the ruler of this world! The supreme Master of Night!"

He grinned, baring his sharp teeth as a shadow suddenly began spreading out from underneath him, rising up the wall behind him and turning the corner of the room pitch black.

"And let's not forget… you're not the only one with Guardians on your side."

From within the shadow, there suddenly appeared six glowing pairs of eyes…

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Soluna Town
12:00 Noon

"My, it certainly is nice out, isn't it? And so peaceful," sighed a Toad as he walked through the quiet center of town where the Star Pedestal was located.

"It certainly is," agreed the female Toad he was holding hands with. "What a relief – that gigantic Koopa thing who was wandering around town is finally gone! I was starting to think it'd never be safe to go outside again!"

That very instant, a huge cloud of smoke rose up right in front of them and revealed the dazed and weary Bowser lying on the ground.

"OH COME ON! THIS ISN'T FUNNY!" the male Toad shouted as the two of them ran off screaming in panic.

"Urgh… oh great. Where am I now?" Bowser complained, rubbing his head and looking around. "Oh no… I'm back in this dump again? How am I supposed to find Peach now? I – "

He paused, suddenly noticing his hand. It wasn't blue anymore, but back to its normal color.

"What the – "

He looked down and realized his entire body was back to normal. Not only that, but he was down to his regular size, not huge anymore. The powers King Shroude had given him were all gone.

"What? Oh come on! So not fair!" he roared, angrily stomping the ground. "That guy can't just ditch me here like this! This whole thing was worth absolutely nothing!"

And then came a voice he had not been expecting to hear at all.

"Lord Bowser! Lord Bowser! Is that really you?"

Bowser turned around in surprise to find none other than Kammy Koopa tottering over to him in a hurry, waving her staff around in a panic.

"Huff… huff… it is you, Lord Bowser! I… ooh, my aching hip… I – ACK!" She was abruptly cut off as Bowser grabbed her by the throat.

"Where the heck have you been, you smelly old hag?!" he roared in her face. "I've been looking everywhere for you! Are you so senile that you forgot what your job is?!"

"Ack… wait, your odiferousness!" Kammy choked out. "I swear, I've been looking for you as well! We were separated somehow when we got here, and then… well, things got a bit confusing…"

Bowser snorted and let go of her. "Oh please. You think it's been confusing for you? I've spent the past who-knows-how-long dealing with these freaky little imp guys who wanted me to guard some stupid glowy egg thing of theirs!" he growled. "I only did it so I'd have the chance to wail on Mario, and what does that obnoxious plumber do? He hands my shell to me! Again!"

Kammy watched him in confusion as he started stomping the ground again. "Wait a moment… you said you've been working with a group of strange little imps?" she repeated. "Why, that's exactly what I've been doing!"

Bowser broke off from his tantrum and stared at her. "Huh?"

"Yes, and I fought Mario as well! I can't believe you weren't there to see it, Lord Bowser!" she exclaimed. "But then not too long ago, I was suddenly summoned into some kind of enormous temple with shining golden walls. There was a man there in bad need of a haircut, and he said… there was a change of plans, and I was dismissed from his service. And then… well, I'm not exactly sure what he did then, but here I am."

Bowser looked at her in disbelief. "Aw, come on, Kammy! That guy with the crazy hair is the one who's holding Princess Peach captive! We have to go back to that temple place now and trounce the guy!"

"Er… begging your pardon, your scaliness," Kammy said uneasily as Bowser began storming off, "but do you even know where this temple is, or how to get there?"

Bowser instantly came to a stop, his eyes narrowing impatiently as he realized the answer.

"No. I do not."

He groaned, sitting down on the same bench that he'd already broken. "Oh, who am I kidding… Mario's here somewhere, and we all know he's gonna beat Mr. Hairy and rescue Peach. He always does." He smirked. "Heh, yeah… we might as well just have him do the dirty work for us. Hah! Finally, that annoying Mario will be good for something!"

"An excellent plan as always, Lord Bowser!" Kammy said loyally.

"Yeah, it is, isn't it?" Bowser said with a grin, jumping back to his feet. "And once Peach is back home safe and sound in the castle, I'll just swoop in and kidnap her for real! This whole wacky field trip was just a little detour!" He laughed in triumph. "Graw haw haw! Tomorrow's another day, Kammy! Or at least it would be if the sun ever set in this dumb place! Now come on, let's go home."

Kammy blinked in surprise. "What – so soon?"

"Duh! I'm sick of this place. People throw cans at me! I don't wanna be here a minute longer than we have to." He stomped off toward the exit of the town. "Oh… but there is one more thing…"

He had stopped right in front of the store, and he smashed the window with his fist and grabbed a Super Shroom off the shelf.

"A snack for the road!" he declared, wagging his eyebrows. "Now come on, let's fly!"

"At once, your wickedness!" said Kammy, hurrying along after him.

The Toad inside the shop, who had just finished repairing the door after his last encounter with Bowser, now found himself frozen in disbelief as he clutched his broom and stared down at the shattered glass littering the floor.

"This is the worst neighborhood ever."