Bowser, Doopliss, Kammy Koopa, and a hundred soldiers behind them entered the throne room. It was supposed to feel like a heroic homecoming, but Bowser was being prodded along like he was a prisoner and there were certainly no adoring masses around to notice his presence.

This was essentially what he had asked for when they were returning to his kingdom, but not in the same way that he had imagined. This was... foreboding.

As they approached the throne, Bowser saw something that confirmed all of his suspicions. It was almost an anticlimax to see who was sitting on the throne:

Wendy O. Koopa, filing her nails and putting extreme attention into concentrating on that one specific task. She didn’t seem to have even heard the hundreds of figures entering the room.

Out of all of Bowser’s children born to his first wife, he believed Wendy was always one of the most apt to be his true successor. Morton Jr., actually a half-brother he secretly adopted as a hatchling, always had machinations for the throne, and competed very directly with Ludwig, Bowser’s firstborn. The other boys were largely left to their own devices, with Roy too interested in his own tough-guy reputation and Larry, Lemmy, and Iggy too weak, but Ludwig and Morton Jr. were the ones that were most willing to crush the others to take the throne.

However, Wendy was the only of the seven to have the potential to be a true leader, in Bowser’s eyes. She was vain, egotistical, and smart. As the middle child she had plenty of older siblings to learn from, and plenty of younger siblings to boss around, and that gave her the power necessary to learn and become the next ruler of Dark Land

She was a lot like her mother in that way, though Wendy herself would never be forced to endure the pain and struggle of a five-year revolution like she did. It almost brought a tear to his eye to see her like this.

To be honest, though, Bowser had somewhat expected Bowser Jr. to be sitting there. He was far too young to assume the status, but he was sure that Kamek and Kammy would support him, propping him up as their puppet to ensure a peaceful transition until another of their progeny could prove remarkable enough. Wendy having defeated her rivals was a feat of its own, in that.

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“Oh, Dad, didn’t see you there,” Wendy said. “Just doin’ my nails.”

Bowser, without being able to help it, bowed to his daughter. He was too proud of her to do anything otherwise.

“Eh?” She looked down at the throne and realized where she was sitting. “Oh, OH. Kakakaka.” She laughed and then hopped up from the throne. “It’s not me, don’t worry. I ain’t lookin’ to be that kind of gal. Too much work.”

Bowser got up and pretended that that had never happened.

Wendy still chuckled to herself, though. She walked over to Bowser’s side as they waited for the Emperor to arrive and said, “We really oughta get more chairs in here. It’s a pain to do your nails standin’ up, you know.”

“Who.. who is the Emperor?” Bowser asked.

“You’re about to see,” Wendy said.

Kammy teleported to in front of the throne and pulled out a tiny trumpet to blow on, but not much sound came out. “All hail the Emperor of Dark Land, the All-New, All-Different!”

Hey, that was Bowser’s title!

Out from behind the throne, stepping into the spotlight was-- Boshi?!

Boshi was just some punk Yoshi who wasn’t evil or anything. Why was he here? How did he prevail in the succession crisis?!

...And then he, too, walked past the throne and stood facing the throne next to Bowser.

“How’d you end up here?” Bowser asked him.

“Boshi Boshi Boshi,” Boshi said.

“Ah, makes sense. Pretty interesting stuff.”

Some drummers and chanting Koopas stepped out and lined the side of the room, making a loud racket that wasn’t very nice to listen to and covered up whatever Kammy was saying as she continued to introduce the Emperor.

Out stepped King Bob-omb. He quickly left to the side, as did Metal Mario, who would have been an otherwise very interesting boss had he won the succession.

“I love the way they do this introduction,” Doopliss says. “It’s so matching of the Emperor’s character. Such strong playfulness. Like me.”

What did that even mean?

The singers stopped and the drummers quieted down into a drum roll.

Who was it? Who was it? Bowser was dying with anticipation

“And here is... The Emperor!” Kammy shouted.

The Emperor stepped out and then sat on the throne.

OHHHHHHHHH.

THAT made sense.