Super Mario Bros.: Fallen Star

Kamek snarled in irritation. “It wasn’t my place to judge your father’s actions.”

“I’m asking you to,” snapped Junior. “So answer.”

Kamek threw his arms out. “What, you can’t make up your own opinion? You need me to figure it out for you?

“Will you stop DANCING AROUND IT?” With a roar, Bowser Jr. slammed his fist into the lined shelves of glass bottles. Shards of sopping glass spun over the floor. Kamek felt a familiar cold shill race under his shell, and he shrank down.

“The entire world hates us, Kamek!” Junior thundered. “The entire world! They call us monsters! People are killing themselves to get rid of us! You don’t do that for things that are good! Do you?”

Kamek bristled. “Well, you seem to have made up your mind, so I don’t see the point of asking me.”

“The point is you lied to me!” Junior roared. “All the time I was a kid, you made me think we were doing something right!”

“When did we lie to you?” Kamek spat. “When? When we told you we hated Mario? That was the truth! When we told you we wanted the Mushroom Kingdom? That was the truth! What part of what we said was a lie?”

Junior faltered. He had been so full of righteous fury as he’d thundered down the steps, so sure that he had been wronged. He knew he had been deceived, but upon Kamek’s words, he inexplicably found himself put on the spot. He floundered, groping through his memory for anything definite, anything unmistakably duplicitous.

“He... He told me Peach was my mother,” was all he could manage.

Kamek snorted. “Even as a child, you didn’t believe that! Are you honestly telling me that little white lie is why you barged in here? You can’t fool me! This is about that girl, isn’t it?”

Bowser Jr. felt suddenly as though the front of his shell had been ripped open, exposing something raw and quivering underneath. 

“She... She has nothing to do with this!” he yelled, and he couldn’t stop the shaking in his voice.

Kamek snorted again. “I wasn’t born yesterday, you know. I know exactly what’s going on here. You were content to sit on the throne your father won for years, and then all the sudden that girl appears and flashes you that arrogant smile and you want to throw it all away!”

“It isn’t like that!” Junior felt his cheeks burning with a heat that had nothing to do with the captive star or the embers popping in his own throat. 

“Now who’s dancing around it?” Kamek knew there was a decent chance he would pay for these words later, but he had seen the troubling signs of interest in the young king, and he knew them all too well.

“Your father spent years running himself ragged for one woman! He hasn’t even glimpsed her face for years, and the thought of her still haunts him! Do you want that to happen to you? You think that girl will ever accept you, stand with you at an altar with a bouquet in her hand? Give me a break! It’s a fool’s errand! It always was! You can’t win her! Crush her, throw her away, and forget her! It’s for your own good!”

In his mind’s eye, Junior saw her. The girl with the wild, brown ponytail. The girl with the bold brows and flashing blue eyes underneath the brim of her pink cap. The girl who’d once said to him, “You are standing in between me and my throne.” Then she’d said, “I’ll be a better kind of ruler. That’s why I don’t want you to get hurt.” 

And then, she had said: “You deserve to be free, too, Junior.”

“I... She’s not... We don’t...”

“Very well!” Kamek shrieked. “If she really means that much to you, then by all means, run away with her! Bend down on one knee, offer her a ring, leave all this, your castle, your subjects, your family, leave it all behind! Abandon your father and tear down the home he built for you! Everything else has abandoned your father, why shouldn’t you?”

Junior winced. He couldn’t help it. “I never said I was going anywhere!”

“Of course you’re not! Because you’re not an idiot!” Kamek thudded the bottom of his staff against the cavernous floor. “You ask me about right and wrong, good and bad? You’re not a little boy anymore. You should know by now that there is no distinction. Good and evil are just words to dress up ‘us’ and ‘them.’ Tell me, do you truly feel it’s ‘right’ or ‘good’ to turn against your family?”

Junior looked away. He thought of his aged father, ailing, bitter, consumed with obsession and rage. “Torch that little brat!” he’d roared. The “little brat” who fought so ferociously and, every once in a while, smiled at him so kindly.

It was true. He wasn’t a little boy anymore. It had been a long time since he’d thought of Peach as his “Mama.” It had been a long time since he’d thought of Mario as a “bad man.” 

But his father was still his father. And his father was alone.

A low, rumbling snarl poured out between Junior’s teeth as he abruptly turned to pound back up the stairs. Kamek blew out the huge breath he had been holding in and flipped his goggles back into place. 

Doubt was a new thing. His father had never wrestled with doubt. Kamek was too old, too set in his ways to change course. He hoped he had convinced Lord Junior the same, but he was not fool enough to believe it. He knew better than anyone of the obstinacy of the young.

Junior, for his part, found himself stopping partway up the third staircase. He knew he couldn’t abandon his father. But forget her? He might as well try to detach his own arm. Every time he saw her face or heard her voice, he would think of the sad look in her eyes when he’d...when he’d offered her the kingdom.

“We could rule together! It doesn’t have to be like this! I’ll take care of you, Stella!”

Did Kamek know about that? Did he know that he had already tried the “idiotic” thing Kamek had railed against? Perhaps, by turning him down, she had proven herself to be less idiotic than him.

“That won’t work, Junior. Don’t you see that?”

He could never kill her. But if she had made up her mind to fight, then he would just have to beat her. He would thrash her so painfully, so completely, that she would retreat and never return. It was her only chance. 

For a moment, he imagined a scene from a different world. Mario was alive. Junior was still a kid. The stands surrounding the tennis court were filled with cheers and banners. And Princess Peach, still lovely with her golden hair that tumbled below her waist, pulled forth a squinting, brown-haired toddler as she smiled down at him patiently.

“Junior,” she would have said, “this is my daughter, Stella. I hope you two can play nice, at least for today.”

Junior shook his head and pulled himself further up the stairs. That had never happened. Don’t torture yourself. You know the way things have to be.

Stella emerged from the warp pipe hidden in an empty mine where Bowser’s forces wouldn’t think to look.

This was the first time she had set foot in the Mushroom Kingdom since she was sixteen, and the first time she had ever done so alone.

She was in awe as she traversed the country she still thought of as her birthright.

“This rock is mine. This tree is mine. That horizon is mine.”

Of course, that’s not how royalty or property works, and to some extent, Stella knew this,

But she was also young and mentally overwhelmed. 

She looked over the terrain the way a farmer would survey the untamed patch of wilderness they had just purchased,

Seeing both what was there and what would be underneath once every obstacle was cleared away. A sort of greedy double-vision.

But, of course, Stella had a job to do.

Luigi’s execution was in six days. She had to make her way to the site of the old castle and interrupt it somehow.

She didn’t really have a plan,

And the Mushroom Kingdom had become an unwelcoming place.

Everything about the country had changed, even its name.

It was called “New Bowser Kingdom” now. 

Much of the old cities had become industrialized, and new towns had sprung up surrounding ember-spewing weapon factories.

The sky was choked with pollution, and the air filled with the metallic clang of hammers.

Toads had been reduced to second-class citizens who toiled in dangerous and thankless jobs. 

And, while many were still secretly loyal to Princess Peach and dreamt of the day when she would return,

Others were consumed by bitterness, thinking that Peach had abandoned them.

Many of them had lost their last shred of hope in the wake of Luigi’s upcoming execution. 

Stella was deeply saddened as she moved through these sad, soot-filled cities.

These were her people. They needed her.

But she had no idea how to help them.

For the first time, she understood something of the full weight of what her mother and uncle were up against. 

Now, naturally, a human girl in the isolationist New Bowser Kingdom was bound to attract attention,

And if anyone discovered she was Princess Peach’s daughter, that could jeopardize her rescue mission.

But, Stella had a cover story.

She told any Toad to whom she showed her face that she was a reporter from the Metro Kingdom. 

She had come to see if living conditions in New Bowser Kingdom were truly as inhumane as the rumors claimed.

When people heard she was a reporter, they became eager to talk to her. 

They all seemed to have something they wanted her to say to the outside world.

Some felt it was important to communicate how bad living conditions really were.

They told Stella of overly long hours, low pay, strict rationing in winter, merciless fatigue in summer, how a coworker had fallen into a smelting vat and the smell had lingered for weeks.

Others had loved ones who had already escaped or that they had simply lost track of.

They urged Stella to send out inquiries and give names.

“It’s me, Todd. I’m still alive. I miss you.

“Publish that for me, will you? Maybe she’ll see it.”

Still others had messages they wished to convey to Princess Peach.

“Long live the princess!”

“This kingdom is still yours, Princess! It will always be yours!”

“We’re fighting for you, Princess Peach! We know you’ll come back one day!”

It was this last group that hit Stella the hardest.

She found her eyes welling up with tears as she heard those earnest words, pledges of loyalty to her mother.

The Toads were taken aback by her tears.

“It’s just very moving how much you care for your princess,” she managed to choke out.

The Toads came to see her as a living bottle, carrying all their messages. They wanted to protect their messages,

And so they tried to protect her.

Stella found people willing to hide her in their homes, people willing to share their food. 

Still, there were a few close calls.

Stella found herself unable to stand back and watch as an overworked Toad was disciplined by a Hammer Bro. for passing out in the street,

So she jumped in and fought the Hammer Bro. off.

She knew it was probably a mistake, but the testimonies of the Toads had left her so riled up, she felt she would explode if she didn’t do something.

She’d had to retreat before reinforcements appeared by crawling into the sewer.

It was there, sloshing through who-knows-what in the dark,

That she discovered her uncle had not been the only one fighting for the kingdom’s freedom.

As previously stated, Luigi had been very hush-hush about his rescue work in New Bowser Kingdom. There were many aspects that he had never told Stella about.

That included his allies.

Stella found herself confronted with a cluster of very dirty, very fierce looking Toads. 

They were the remains of the Toad Brigade.

No longer an exploration team, they now served as the major resistance organization in New Bowser Kingdom. 

In the intervening years, Captain Toad had changed from a wide-eyed idealist into someone much more jaded and cynical.

Stella, overjoyed at having found a real resistance, confided in him her real goal of rescuing Luigi.

Captain Toad told her she was out of her mind.

Luigi was already dead. They couldn’t count on Mario, and they can’t count on Luigi.

They had a hard enough time keeping their numbers up as it is. Risking the entire Toad Brigade to rescue Luigi was a foolish gamble.

They had already seen so many brave souls fall.

He didn’t even want to mention what had happened to Toadette.

Before Stella even had time to ask, “Who’s Toadette?” Captain Toad had already turned away.

“Forget him. Head home. Nobody asked you to meddle in our business.”

The Toad Brigade had been tracking Stella, but they didn’t know who she was, and they were not impressed by what they saw as her feeble efforts to be a hero. 

Stella had no choice but to play her final card.

She opened the backpack she had been carrying and pulled out a hat.

It was a plumber’s hat, much like her father’s and uncle’s. It was in pink with an “S” above the brim.

She put it on and told Captain Toad to look at her.

He did.

He huffed.

“That stupid cosplay isn’t going to change my mind.”

“It’s not cosplay,” said Stella.

“Look in my eyes.

“Don’t you know who I am?”

Captain Toad looked.

He blinked. 

He couldn’t look away.

Stella’s eyes looked exactly like Peach’s.

And that determined expression underneath that hat...

“Princess Peach...the hero you called Mario...

“They’re not strangers to me, either. 

“I already lost my dad. I don’t want to lose my uncle.

“I know you think we failed you, but I promise it will change.”

In spite of himself, Captain Toad was in tears.

“Has it really been that long?

“Is she really a mother now?”

“Please, help me!” said Stella.

But, Captain Toad shook his head.

“Go home. Go back to your mother.

“Do you think we want to lose you, too?”

But, Stella was tired of being protected, tired of being told it was enough just to live.

She had never felt more strongly that she had so much more to offer than her continued survival.

“If you don’t come with me to save Zio, I’m going alone.”

Looking at her blazing blue eyes, Captain Toad saw Mario.

He knew she was serious.

He agreed to help her.

The Toad Brigade bowed to their princess.

It happened during a mission seemingly no different from any other.

Luigi, as Mr. L, broke into a weapon factory in the conquered Mushroom Kingdom to free the Toads enslaved there and help them escape to another country.

But, he miscalculated a jump over a spiked shell spinning his way

And fell on his shoulder.

In his younger days, perhaps he would have been able to quickly recover from such a slip-up,

But the jolt of pain he felt now was enough to leave his gasping.

The Koopa Troop used his moment of vulnerability to capture him.

Bowser’s forces were excited.

Though Mr. L had never been the powerhouse Mario had been, he had been a thorn in the side of Bowser’s empire now for many years.

When they informed Bowser that they had captured Mr. L, Bowser flew into the kingdom to unmask Mr. L personally.

Years of grief had aged Luigi, but without his mask, Bowser recognized him with a satisfied smirk.

Luigi, for his part, had been careful to avoid directly confronting Bowser all this time

And was shocked by how he had changed.

Bowser had not aged gracefully.

His once muscular, imposing frame seemed to have been shriveled and curled over itself, like a fruit piece left to dry in the sun.

But his emaciated appearance made him no less frightening.

Quite the opposite, actually.

Bowser had traded in his bombastic demeanor for something slier, more predatory. 

He was less a dragon and more a serpent. 

Was this change also due to Mario’s passing?

As long as Mario was alive and Peach was within reach, there had been a net to prevent Bowser from sliding into full monstrosity.

But, after eighteen years with no Mario, no Peach, 

Bowser’s remaining scruples had slowly peeled away.

He’d been aware of what was happening to him,

But he didn’t know how to stop the twisting of his own heart,

And he finally gave up trying.

“If I’ve already killed Mario, I might as well keep going.

“There’s no stopping this now.”

Such were his thoughts.

Bowser now had Luigi, the prince consort of Sarasaland.

Bowser contacted the king of Sarasaland,

Daisy’s father,

And told him his intentions.

Luigi would be publicly executed on the spot where Peach’s Castle had once stood in one week,

Unless either Sarasaland or Luigi himself told him exactly where to find Peach.

If Sarasland made a move to rescue Luigi from his capture,

Bowser would take that as a declaration of war

And unleash the full power of the Havoc Star on all four kingdoms of Sarasaland.

Bowser’s announcement threw the Sarasaland government into an uproar.

Daisy pleaded with her father to launch the military for a rescue.

Wasn’t Bowser’s execution of her husband a declaration of war in itself?

But Daisy’s father wouldn’t budge.

He did love Luigi and didn’t want to leave his grandchildren without a father, 

But he loved his country more.

The Havoc Star had to potential to wipe Sarasaland off the face of the earth.

Meanwhile, 

News of Luigi’s capture reached Peach and Stella.

Like Daisy, Peach and her daughter were gripped with fear.

Peach regarded Luigi as one of her dearest friends,

And Luigi was the closest thing to a father Stella had ever had.

Stella spent a restless night wrestling with the promise she had made to Luigi.

She would stay in Sarasaland with her mother. She would stay safe.

That’s what she had promised him.

But if nothing was done, she would lose Luigi, her zio.

And she remembered the stories she had heard of her father, who’d risked his life again and again to save the country and his loved ones before paying the ultimate price.

Luigi may have been willing to trade his life for Stella’s,

But she was not.

She told her mother where she was going, not knowing whether her mother would try to stop her.

Peach was deeply grieved as she looked at her daughter.

In truth, she had always known this day would come.

Stella was too much like her father, too much like her mother, to be satisfied with her life of idly safety.

Furthermore, Stella was eighteen years old.

She couldn’t spend her whole life hiding away from the world.

Peach said only this:

“If you go, you need to understand that there’s a very large change you will never come back.”

She said this solemnly.

Stella said she understood.

Peach held her close for what she feared would be the last time.

“I’m so proud of you,” she said, and she meant it.

Peach prepared Stella the best she could for the journey.

Many years had passed, but the kingdom was still mapped clearly in her memory.

She showed Stella the route Mr. L had taken to sneak over the border and gave her detailed directions and instructions.

Luigi, in an attempt to starve his niece’s wanderlust,

Had deliberately hid details about the current state of the Mushroom Kingdom from her,

But Peach had been able to learn more from Luigi and Daisy about how the cities, terrain, and people had changed.

The last thing she said before Stella left was,

“If you can’t save him, I want you to come home anyway.

“No one will blame you.”

Stella reassured her mother that she would definitely return and with Luigi in tow.

She set off.