The Super Mario Saga

Chapter 4 - "The Dark King"

By Gregory Achen

"Do you know why you are going to die?"

Those startling words echoed throughout the Dark King's chamber. His deep maniacal voice sounded amused at the question posed to the lone Mushroom man who stood chained to the dirty brick wall already stained with blood. Those harsh words stung him far worse than any pain known to an earthly creature. The flickering of a lone candle fastened to the wall beside him barely lit the room, leaving his captor shrouded in darkness. All he could see was moments, flashes of the dragon, as it would occasionally move into the candle light apparently relishing in every moment of his torture.

He had been talking to him endlessly like this for hours, going on and on about how "he was going to die" and how his "heart would be torn from his rib cage" and "eaten" by him personally. This King of all Evil, this dark creature of hatred, was mocking the beaten Mushroom man. The dragon knew very well he couldn't speak; his tongue had been cut out hours ago by the monster.

"You are going to die, my little friend, because you deserve to," spat the creature cruelly. "You represent all that is wrong with life on this Earth. You spend your whole existence oblivious, ignorant to the one true reality of the universe. Our world is not about such fallacies as love and goodness. Oh no. Deep down inside all living creatures is an abhorrence... a deep seeded loathing... a resentment towards all those that don't fit into one's own specific views on morality."

"What is goodness? Is it not something subjective? Is it not something that is represented by the collective views of a society? If that be the case, then who are you to tell me that I am the one who is wrong? That I am evil? In my society those who follow my order share my outlook on life. Are my followers not a society? Are the Koopas not living, breathing, thinking, creatures of this Earth? Is our collective will on what is good and decent some how less truthful than yours?"

"Hatred is the unifying emotion. Hate is pure, innocent... powerful. It is a truth. The only truth. How easy it is for a creature to hate those they at one time professed to love. How simple it is a transition from love to hate. How common it is for those to hate that which can not be understood. To hate those that you are jealous of. To hate those that challenge you. That hurt you. Ignore you. Are better than you. Tell me. How can one know love if one can turn to hate on a whim?"

"Hate is something that comes natural. All who live on this Earth will experience hate, few will ever experience love. Of course, many delude themselves into thinking they can love, be loved, or are themselves loving creatures, yet this is simply a mask worn to shield one's self from their true identity; the monster staring back at them in the mirror. Hypocrisy, I say!"

"I am what I am. I am a monster. My physical reflection shows it and my very core embraces it. And yet you, my little friend, the average ordinary hypocrite, are in fact the real monster. You are the one who is impure and corrupt, not I. When you die by my hands, I will in fact have been the righteous one and you will have been the true villain."

The dragon stared at the Mushroom man who was trying his hardest to control his hysterical weeping.

"Aw, what's the matter?" the dragon spoke sarcastically as it moved to him closer. The dragon's sharp claws reached to the Mushroom man's face to tenderly caress it. "Shh, don't cry. Don't cry. You are just going to meet your destiny. We all have a destiny, my little friend. It is pointless to try and fight it. Now, tell me. What are your thoughts on this?"

The Mushroom man closed his eyes as tight as he could trying to tone out the sadistic monster. Suddenly, a flash of lightening followed by deafening thunder sparked up the room causing the Mushroom man to become alarmed. Opening up his sight, he was immediately frightened by the startling stare of two blood red eyes tearing into his soul. The dragon was in his face, looking at him savagely.

"I said speak!" screamed the dragon as he backhanded the Mushroom man with a hideous crunch of bone.

Trying as hard as he could, the Mushroom man started choking hysterically from the blood that seeped from his mutilated mouth. This act amused the evil dragon as he found himself smiling and then laughing at the man's useless effort in trying to speak.

"You know. I have to admit. You make an excellent point," the dragon snorted.

Suddenly, the horned beast stopped laughing as he stared at his victim who was still trying to talk as he choked on his own blood.

"Stop it," demanded the dragon.

The Mushroom man continued to gurgle and choke.

"Stop it!" he again demanded growing infuriated.

The Mushroom man started becoming more and more hysterical as blood started rushing out of his mouth in a most disturbing way. The dragon then picked up a sword decorated on the wall next to the man; a blade forged in the legendary image of Exor.

"Stop it!" the creature screamed as he violently plunged the slick metal into the Mushroom man's chest with a loud crack. Ripping him in two, the Mushroom man was still alive, his insides hanging out. Slowly the dragon reached into his exposed rib cage, and tickled his beating heart.

"Poor little Mushroom man," the dragon said softly, "you should have obeyed my order. Now, rest in peace. Your salvation is awaiting." And with that the dragon grabbed the Mushroom man's beating heart and tore it from his chest. The Mushroom man was at last dead.

The Dark King raised the freshly torn heart to his eyes to closely examine the piece of meat. The dragon then squeezed the bloody muscle, expelling the remaining fluid.

"Lord Bowser?" a new voice suddenly echoed in the room.

King Bowser, leader of the Koopa, son of the Koopaharian Curse, spun around to face that which dared interrupt his brutal sacrifice. Standing at the doorway was the great sorcerer Kamek, old caretaker and personal confidant of Bowser, who stood shaking before the powerful dragon that dwarfed him in size.

Sword still in hand, Bowser walked casually over to meet his right hand. The dragon looked mad, enraged at Kamek's interruption, however, his frowning face soon tightened into that of a devious smile. Bowser then slowly lifted the bloody blade of the sword to Kamek's neck, slightly piercing it.

"Afraid, aren't we, Kamek," stated Bowser calmly. "I bet right now your stomach is in knots and you are feeling nauseous. I bet you are thinking a thousand thoughts at once and feeling emotions you never knew yourself capable of feeling. I could stand here for hours like this and in the end, after I tore your neck open, the anticipation of death would be over and you would be at peace."

Kamek swallowed hard causing the blade to dig further into his skin. The warm sensation of blood then trickled down his neck. He hated Bowser's mind games. One of these days, Kamek just knew that Bowser really was really going to kill him.

"If I killed you fast," continued Bowser, "that would be it. Over and done with. It doesn't take a powerful soul to kill a creature quickly. No. You want the victim to suffer and die mentally long before you rip them end to end."

Bowser then glanced slightly toward the cut up dead body of the Mushroom man still standing lifelessly chained to the brick wall before continuing on with his speech.

"Anticipation is the key. The thought of knowing you are going to die is far worse than death itself. Wouldn't you agree, Kamek?"

The King Koopa looked into Kamek's terrified eyes as Bowser's expression turned back into one of seriousness. He then quickly released the blade from Kamek's throat and raised it high in the air ready to hack him in two. The MagiKoopa collapsed to the floor and whimpered expecting the blow from the sword to slice him.

Seconds past and yet still Kamek felt no pain. Looking up cautiously, Kamek only saw a grinning Bowser who began laughing hysterically at his behavior.

"Oh, Kamek," Bowser cackled. "Did you honestly think I would kill the one person in this world with whom I trust? I was merely teaching you a powerful lesson. Rise my friend."

Still shaking from fear, Kamek rose from the floor and dusted himself off while Bowser threw the instrument of death to the floor with a metallic clink.

"Now, what exactly did you so desperately want to tell me that you felt the need to interrupt a sacrifice to our cause?"

"Lord Wart has made contact. He shall arrive tonight."

"Excellent," said Bowser amused. "Walk with me over to the balcony."

Stepping inside the dimly lit room, Kamek could barely see anything. The only source of light was a single candle on the wall that only seemed to illuminate the dead body of the Mushroom man.

Bowser pulled a rope causing two large red curtains to retract revealing an expansive balcony that allowed what little daylight there was to enter the chamber. Kamek then hurriedly walked over to his master's side who was already standing on the ledge of the railing and staring out toward the rising sun. The sun's rays caused the billowing storm clouds to glow a swirling black, purple, and gray.

"Beautiful, isn't it, Kamek?" inquired Bowser. "Acres and acres of dead land in the very Mushroom Kingdom that despises me. Koopa Territory. My Territory."

"Yes, your Majesty," Kamek said agreeing.

"Soon we will spread this beauty to all of the world. It is my destiny, Kamek. My very reason for living. And destiny is rarely altered, is it not?

Kamek was about to again agree with Bowser before the dragon continued on with his thoughts.

"I have come so close in the past to making the Koopaharian Curse a reality and have failed not by my own accord, but because of two fragile and vulnerable human beings. More specifically, there has been one man, who has time after time ruined my only opportunity at happiness by stealing the one thing that was and always will be rightfully mine."

The mystical MagiKoopa tensed up at those words. He knew all too well precisely what his Dark King was referring to and he disagreed with it immensely.

"If I may say so," Kamek said as he spoke slowly, contemplating how to word what he was going to say, "I don't understand why you are so infatuated with her."

Instantaneously Bowser grabbed Kamek's light blue gown and lifted him to his face angrily.

"I dont want to hear it again Kamek! I can't help how I feel!"

"But if it wasn't for those so-called feelings you have for her, Sire, your judgment would not have been so clouded in the past and you would still be ruling the Mushroom Kingdom to this day."

Bowser threw Kamek to the stone floor and turned back out to face the morning sky. He knew that what Kamek spoke of was the truth, but his infatuation was deeper than even he could have fathomed; it was an obsession. And that was why he hated with a passion the man whose heart the woman's belonged to.

"You lecture me again, Kamek," Bowser continued suddenly calm, "and you will be joining my seven children in the Koopaharian Dungeons. They might have been my own flesh and blood but they failed our cause one time too many. You might be the only person I trust in this world, Kamek, but not even you are immune from such a fate."

Kamek stood up from the floor and rejoined his master's side. "I am sorry, Master. I was only trying to help," he apologized.

"I know, I know. But why don't you just focus on your part in the grand scheme of things. I am in charge now, Kamek. Though I realize how hard it must be to forego the control you once had over me, you must trust my will. I am the prophesied Dark King of the Koopaharian Curse and all shall heed to my whim. The One Hundredth Anniversary of the Mushroom Kingdom is drawing near and there is still much to be completed. Once Lord Wart arrives tonight, our plans will greatly accelerate."

Bowser then put his claw-like hand, dried with blood, on Kamek's shoulder.

"And as for my feelings for Princess Toadstool," he continued, " leave that my own business."

Bowser closed his eyes and smiled to himself as his thoughts drifted to that of the Princess. Softly, he whispered a silent pledge for the woman whose heart he hoped to one day claim for his own...

"I love her..."