Mario tightened his cap and stepped forward. "Mario, stop!" Daisy called out.
Mario stopped and looked over his shoulder. "...be careful, okay?" Daisy said, concerned. "Luigi, go help him!" she ordered as Luigi cowered out of the crowd to his brother's side.
"Baahahaha, Perfect, two for the price of one, huh? Bring it on, brothers." Bowser Jr. finished and grinned, showing a set of teeth no one had ever seen from him before. The teeth were sharp and menacing, and were a perfect sign of Bowser Jr. crossing the threshold into the realm of a truly evil villain.
"I-I got your back, bro!" Luigi assured Mario as the two stormed at the villain. A fight had ensued as Bowser Jr sent paint in all directions, attempting to get the brothers off his back. The crowd observed in awe as Mario and Luigi used impressive acrobatics to dodge a multitude of Bowser Jr. attacks and projectiles. The fighting had continued for a short while until Bowser Jr. began to sloppily stumble in some of his movements. It was apparent he was getting tired and couldn't keep up with the agile Mario Bros.
Bowser Jr. kept his eyes on his foes as he stepped backwards onto the red carpet of the throne room and stumbled over the statue of his fallen father. Bowser Jr. fell backwards onto his shell, and Mario immediately raced in and kicked the paintbrush across the room. Bowser Jr. rolled backwards into an opening and was immediately back on his feet. Bowser Jr. stopped for a bit as the crowd watched the three fighters with anticipation. Mario stood in a fighter's stance, ready to rumble yet again. He had some noticeable scars from Bowser Jr.'s claws, but Luigi remained unharmed as he mostly hid behind a pillar and watched his heroic brother handle the beast alone.
As ready as Mario was, he could not attack Bowser Jr. Mario watched as the little bowser stood with a blank stare, and after some hesitation, began to shriek loudly.
Mario covered his ears as the crowd ducked for safety and watched as a purple cloud rose from Bowser Jr. and formed the figure the Mushroom Kingdom group had seen when they chased Bowser Jr. through the forest.
The figure floated above Bowser Jr., who had now fallen onto his back and moaned, not knowing where he was. Mario and Luigi looked on, and Luigi immediately came out from his cowardly hiding spot to his brother's side.
"Dimentio!" Luigi cried out as he pointed toward the same jester that had previous tried to not only destroy Mushroom Kingdom, but all worlds in existence.
"Heh heh heh, happy to see me, Mr. L? How have we been, hmm? Have you enjoyed the show so far? Some pretty gripping stuff from the two turtles here, I must say." Dimentio spoke calmly, very pleased with his work.
"It's good that you guys are here, really. You've put on a great show, so far. And now, I can eradicate you and destroy every world that is meaningless to me." he added, "I hope you're prepared for some of the greatest magic you've ever seen! And it begins now!"
"...Ciao." Dimentio finished and snapped his fingers, causing for the throne room to go pitch black. The crowd yelled in fear, hiding cowardly in hope that Dimentio would spare their lives. Mario looked through the darkness to see the bright yellow glow of Dimentio's left eye.
Mario raced toward where he believed Dimentio would be, and he shot a fireball to dimly illuminate the room long enough to find his target. Mario chased Dimentio as he floated around the room, laughing menacingly. Once Mario finally connected an attack, the battle had begun, and the duo traded blows within the empty darkness.
The sounds of the match echoed through the throne room, as no one else dared make a sound. Bowser Jr., finally arising from his defeated state, looked through the darkness and became greatly disoriented. He crawled around slowly and felt the shaft of the Magic Paintbrush as it rested against a wall. Bowser Jr. faintly remembered what Dimentio had told him before his mind blanked, and he touched the brush with his fear and worry for the situation guided him. Upon touching the paintbrush, the paint on it's tip sparked a light that could not be ignored by anyone else in the giant chamber.
Dimentio and Mario stopped and looked over as Bowser Jr., tiredly and pathetically, rose to his feet.
Chapter 14
"Hey! Stay down, kid. If you don't want to die, you will stay out of the way!" Dimentio ordered, hoping to force Bowser Jr. to recoil back into a frightened state.
However, Bowser Jr.'s emotions caused the paint to become increasingly brighter with each second, clearly identifying each figure that was still inside the throne room.
Dimentio and Mario raised their arms to shield the blinding light, and Bowser Jr. scanned the room before noticing the large statue tossed onto its side across the room.
"D-dad? Poppa?" Bowser Jr. said to himself, and he stumbled over to see the statue was in the form of his dad, bracing for impact from an on-coming attack.
"Dad!!" Bowser Jr. was stunned as he knelt down before the statue and looked it over. "I-I must have done this to you. This brush did this..."
"This..This was your fault! This is your magic!" Bowser Jr. turned around and glared at his nemesis. "You caused all this, and you used me..." Bowser Jr. became more saddened by the realizations he was making as to why this destruction had occurred.
"Hahaha, well, what can I say, kid? I didn't think you would be so stupid and easy to manipulate." Dimentio laughed at this plan coming together.
"Sure, it's been dirty work at this stage, but in order to get here, you played the part pretty well. What would I do without ya?" he asked, sarcastically. "Now, back to business.." Dimentio turned to face Mario, who had vanished.
"Oh, now look what you did, kid. I lost him. Put out that light!" he turned towards Bowser Jr. who had now leaped towards him.
Bowser Jr. swiped with his paintbrush, and the paint simply went through Dimentio's body. Dimentio erupted with evil chuckles and laughter.
"Don't be so dumb, kid. You got that power from MY magic. You think I didn't prepare for this? All real magicians make sure to think ahead!" Dimentio applauded himself for his preparation and cunning.
Dimentio floated down to the floor where Bowser Jr. had taken a hard fall. He looked down at the pathetic turtle and waited for Bowser Jr. to lift his head up from the red carpet.
Bowser Jr. looked up to see Dimentio shoot a magic blast at him to force him backwards, colliding with the statue of his dad. As Bowser Jr. ricocheted off the statue, an item fell from his shell and dropped before his dad. After the collision, Bowser Jr. dropped the paintbrush, causing for the room to immediately return to its pitch black state. As the paintbrush barreled to the ground, a dab of paint flew from the brush tip and landed on the Bowser statue. Immediately, the paint began to expand and cover the statue, slowly causing for Bowser to return back to the healthy being he once was.
Very slowly, Bowser lifted himself to his feet amongst the booming sounds of the clashing attacks Dimentio and Mario had exchanged. Bowser shook his head and shifted his foot, only to feel it knock against Bowser Jr.'s magic paintbrush.
Bowser picked up the paintbrush, and tried to see if his son was nearby. He looked around, and heard faint whines over the clashing of the two fighters in the dark void. The whines became screams as they echoed in Bowser's ears, and he immediately recognized the original voice of his beloved son.
"J-junior?" he asked quietly into the darkness, and the paint on the brush tip began to glow dimly from Bowser's worry and curiosity. As, Bowser looked over at the dim light of the brush, the item that had dropped from Bowser Jr. had caught his eye. Bowser reached down and picked up the item, analyzing it by the glow emitting from the brush tip.
Bowser's mouth hung open in shock as he looked down at a photo of himself and his son, posing as a loving father and son would during their first bonding experience. It was the very picture he had given to Bowser Jr. that he knew his son cherished with his life. As Bowser began to worry more and sadness overtook him, the paintbrush's glow became a tad more noticeable. It lit his path enough to reflect off the tiny spikes in the back of Bowser Jr's shell that was now riddled with cuts and scratches. Bowser immediately noticed his son in distress and ran over to him.
Linear Mode
