It looked like Bowsette was trapped, with a crotchety old wizard setting him down on a table and beginning to rummage through some old books.

Merlon. Nasty little man who had always been a thorn in Bowsette’s side when he was the King of the Lava World, Lord of the Koopa Troop and Grandmaster of the Magical Arts. Now he was merely Bowsette, Half-Human Lordess of Power; standing up to Merlon now was a fruitless effort, because in this form his powers weren’t half as potent. He couldn’t escape the aura barrier that the man had encased him in.

“I am very interested to understand you, Bowsette,” Merlon said. “Ever since your first appearance, we of the Mer Family have been delighted to see you in person, to... study your abilities.” Merlon leered at Bowsette. “They are quite enticing.”

Ugh. This was... revolting!

Bowsette felt ashamed and embarrassed at the same time. What a creepy shaman he was. He had never had anything like this said to him before, and he realized how lucky he had always been.

Merlon raised both hands in the air and some sparks began to fly out. “Reveal your true self to me! Show me the true limits of your power, Bowsette!” His eyes closed as he began to shake and levitate slightly in the air. The aura around Bowsette began to flicker.

Bowsette struggled to move; maybe in this moment, if he budged right, he could escape!

But it didn’t seem so. The best he could do was rummage through his pockets, go inside his shell and hope to find something-- ah.

He grabbed out a Tweester Orb and rolled it off the table he laid on; it passed through the aura barrier and smashed against the floor with ease. If Bowsette couldn’t escape, then at least he could do that...

Merlon’s magics lit up the room in an all new shade of blue, bright and dark at the same time in a way that could hardly be explained. Whatever was happening Bowsette could barely comprehend it, let alone figure out a way to circumvent it.

His Super Crown began to glow, and the shades of blue gave way to a new vision, a new world where Bowsette, still trapped at a table, was presented with an entire existence zooming around before him.

It was like all of his ancestors appearing before him. His biological ones-- the Royal Family stretching back a thousand generations. He saw Morton, sixteen feet high and towering over his enemies with a mighty axe. He saw his ancestor of five generations back, a woman of science and magic combined, wearing a large cloak as she poured over experimental formulas and brought the bones of Koopas back to life. He saw a distant uncle piloting a massive airship blasting towards a distant galaxy, his beard as long as a mountain and eyes as deep as a collapsing star. He saw an ancient ancestor, the tenth generation since a celestial dragon and Koopa had found love, and a being so large they dwarfed all others Bowsette had already seen; a vast army surrounded and attacked them, but they regarded them with less notice than an ant.

And those ancestors circled around him, hovering in the air and looking down on Bowsette’s new body of skin and hair. Morton Koopa shook his head, and the others followed. Bowsette was a failure. He wasn’t good enough. It was all useless. There was nothing Bowsette could accomplish that hadn’t already been done by someone that had come before him, and done better than he was capable of.

The ancestors laughed at him.

He was so weak that he had made himself weaker. That was the hilarious way to finally cap off their legacy, fading away just as the celestial blood inside them had dissipated. It was--

The magic was over.

Merlon looked over at Bowsette with narrowed eyes. “I can’t help but stare...” he muttered.

“You... Get away from me...” Bowsette growled.

“I may have to,” he snickered. “You are... so powerful. More powerful than I could have ever imagined. It’s understandable that you were able to advance so far so quickly. Did you even know that inside of you glows the heart of True Royalty? Probably not. Your kind was always ignorant to your own capabilities.”

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll explain it to you,” Merlon said. “I’ll teach you a lot. See, because I captured you so quickly, the others do not yet know you have arrived. That means we are away from prying eyes. We have all the time in the world...” He snickered again. “Time enough for life to unfold all the... precious things it has in store...”

Oh, Underwhere No, Bowsette was not staying here any longer.

“Hey, Merlon guy? Wizard dude?” Bowsette asked.

“Eh?”

“Seeya around.”

“Oh, I’ll be seeing you. In fact, once I take you downstairs you’ll be seeing a lot of me. Nerlom has arrived from Flopside to see this through, and my dear relative Merluvee will be arriving shortly. Together we will figure out some tests for you, to help gauge the true potential of your magical--”

Bowsette clenched his fist and activated the Tweester. A cyclone formed right there in the middle of the room. The roof off Merlon’s house was the first to go, jolting up into the air and breaking up into a few dozen pieces. Then Merlon and Bowsette lifted off together. In the surprise, the aura surrounding Bowsette had finally broken, and Bowsette was able to kick Merlon upwards, flying further into the air.

Without a moment to spare Bowsette tumbled back down to the ground and landed feet-first somewhere in Toad Town. Had he stayed in the Tweester any longer, he would be halfway to Sarasaland by now.

He looked back into the Toad Town skyline, where Peach’s Castle still remained in plain sight. He was not much further back than he was just minutes ago.

Progress never stopped.

But... those visions he saw. They were so poignant, so realistic... He started to wonder whether it was his imagination or if his ancestors truly had been ashamed of him.

Regardless, it was time for him to fulfill his destiny and conquer the Mushroom Kingdom once and for all.

He ventured past the gate with the huge star embroidered on it, past the Toad guards too scared to do anything about him, past the bunnies scurrying around with power stars hidden inside them.

He stood at the bridge in front of the front door and took out the Sonic Cymbals he obtained from Nimbus Land. One quick crash and the entire region reverberated, shaking like the Earth rumbled beneath them. Little did they know the truth of the grounds below them, but the Mushroom Kingdom would surely recognize the sheer strength before them.

Quickly, a number of figures exited the front door, with two emerging behind him from warp pipes.

Each of them looked angry, each of them determined to face the mighty Bowsette and be the one to stop him.

From his field of vision, he noticed nine:

* There was a green Yoshi, huffing and puffing with six eggs trailing behind him.

* There was Princess Daisy of Sarasaland, wearing bike shorts and holding a soccer ball in her arms.

* Behind him there was Luigi, shaking in fear, and Birdo, standing tall with a bow on her head.

* There was Admiral Bobbery, shaking his head/body in apparent realization of Bowsette’s true identity. He was wise beyond his years but not wise enough to avoid his battle.

* There was Donkey Kong Jr., which to be honest was kind of a weird pick, as well as a man Bowsette didn’t recognize.

* There was Vivian, the reformed Shadow Siren who stuck up halfway from the ground, and next to her...

* ...was Mario Mario, Bowsette’s mortal enemy.

Bowsette wasn’t here for this large group, though. Bowsette could defeat them. All he wanted was Princess Peach, and she was not here.

“Is this it?” he scoffed with a shrill voice. “Surely you can do better than this! I am the Lordess Bowsette, Destroyer of the Waking World! Do you not dare bring me your precious Princess Peach, pretty please?”

“I’m here,” a voice said. Peach herself was there, but on the roof of the castle. She jumped down and floated gracefully to the ground. “What do you want with us? Pauline warned us about you, and...” Peach stopped as she got a closer look at Bowsette. Clearly, their extremely similar appearance was disconcerting to the woman herself, and her show-stopping good looks were having an obvious effect on all the fighters around him.

“I want to destroy you and take over the Mushroom Kingdom,” he answered. “That’s my only goal right now.”

“Well then, will you challenge me in solo combat?” Peach asked.

“Peach!” Daisy exclaimed. “What are you--”

“I’ll gladly accept that, as long as your fighters make sure to surrender peacefully when I defeat you. Kakakaka!”

Peach nodded and took out a frying pan. “I accept those terms, as well. We will--”

Birdo and Yoshi began launching eggs at Bowsette; he defelected each of them with his claws, but they still took him by surrpise and he took the brunt of the force impact of the first couple.

“Cancel that, then?” Bowsette laughed, hopping backwards and confronting the ten people in front of him. “I guess I’ll defeat all of you.”