Past the Shiver Mountains, past Starborn Valley, was a massive palace made seemingly of ice and glass, perched up at the top of a large hill. That was the place that the Crystal King had called his home since he left Bowser’s Kingdom all that time ago.

They walked through the castle, had to solve a few annoying mirror puzzles involving their reflections, and finally entered the throne room. Bowsette had been in so many throne rooms in the past year, she was getting sick of the very concept of them.

The Crystal King was there, and he was sitting on the throne, his tiny Crystal Bits floating around him in an orbit.

“Crystal King, how good to see you,” said Bowsette. “So, you have read our proposal. And--”

“Hehehehehe...” the Crystal King and his Star Bits disappeared in a wisp.

“Uh, okay then...” Peach muttered. “What’s uh... his deal?”

“He likes to show off his powers,” Bowsette said. “He has really powerful blizzard attacks, which worked really well against the fire-based enemies we fought back during the revolution. And he has those little Star Bits that protect him and he can launch at people. And....”

“Hehehehehe,” said a Crystal King that appeared to their left.

“Hehehehehehehe!” cackled a Crystal King that had appeared to their right.

“...He has the ability to teleport and create illusion clones. It’s... a chore to deal with. That’s why he was the final of the seven Generals I recruited.”

“Recruited me?” Crystal King scoffed. “I recruited you. It was my army that defeated Morton’s Royal Guard. The rest of your Generals were mediocre at best.”

“It is a desperate hour where we ask you for help,” Bowsette said, looking at neither of the two Crystal King copies because it was unlikely that either of them were real. In fact, as she said this, a third one appeared right in front of them. “I do not want to disturb your, uh, peaceful reign here, but if Morton Koopa is not stopped again, we may never be able to match what we did last time.”

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“Because the Firestone Amulet is gone?”

“Exactly.”

“Why not just make a new one?” the Crystal King asked. “You have the Axe, don’t you?”

“Uhh...”

“Surely you didn’t... misplace it.”

“I didn’t, but even with the Axe, creating another Firestone Amulet would be useless. It would take five years to gather the pieces,” Bowsette said. “All the gems in the world could barely power another.”

Peach was confused about this at the moment, Bowsette could tell, but she wouldn’t bother explaining this stuff. It was a bit too complicated for the current situation. All that Bowsette realized was that Crystal King was stalling for something. He was trying to surround them, as a fourth copy of himself had materialized behind the two women.

This was going to be a fight after all.

“He’s still just a reanimated skeleton,” Bowsette said. “We can still defeat him if we act fast.”

“I’m afraid I have some bad news,” Crystal King said. “I don’t want to help you.”

Suddenly, dozens of Star Bits flew down from the ceiling and rained down upon Peach and Bowsette. While Peach raised her parasol to block the incoming attacks, Bowsette swiped them away and then sent a few fireballs upwards, cracking or melting them.

Each of the four Crystal Kings lunged, but only one of them was real. It was impossible to tell, though, so Bowsette picked a random one and slashed-- Fake. Her claws just went through thin air.

Peach was completely outmatched for this kind of fight. Bowsette needed to end this quickly or else she was going to get hurt again. So Bowsette hopped right above Peach, backing up against her own back and then breathing fire in a circle surrounding them. The fake Crystal Ghosts kept charging, but the real one backed away, fearful of the flames.

“Wise move,” he said.

“A wiser move would be to join us. I’m still powerful. You’re still powerful. We can do this together.”

“Do you know why I took so long in my deliberations?” Crystal King asked. “It wasn’t because I was torn morally and emotionally. It was that I received another offer the same day as yours. I chose that one.”

“Another... offer?”

“From Morton Koopa.”

Suddenly, an airship burst in, and Dry Morton hopped into the throne room.