Read all current chapters here
<< The Crown of Destiny << // >> The Rogue's Welcome >>
The great dragon king- er, queen? Ahem. The great dragon potentate sat upon her now over-sized throne with enough space to curl her extended tail around her hips comfortably, without touching the sides of the chair. The armrests, which had been within easy reach mere moments before, could now barely be touched with bent arms. In fact, she could probably sit on the arms themselves as easily as Junior had earlier tonight.
"Junior." Bowser mused aloud, still unnerved by the silky feminine voice that had replaced her kingly rumble. "This is going to be awkward to explain to him, if it can't be reversed." The sudden reappearance of Kamek made her jump and cover her exposed body with her hands. Embarrassment at being nude was something she was going to have to adjust to, among other changes.
"I can't find anything about a crown right now, but I have several koopa pouring over books in the library-" Kamek paused. Where the lord of the Dark Land normally sat was now a nude, blonde humanoid, awkwardly (and somewhat ineffectively) hiding her nakedness. "Well, I guess we know what the crown does now, huh? Maybe we should have tested-"
"Shut up!" Bowser yelled, though it had lost a lot of its former commanding power. An angry blush bloomed on her pale cheeks. "I… shut up. You're right but I don't need this right now. Sorry I snapped."
Kamek nearly fainted out of the air. Lord Bowser never apologized! Nor was he- I mean she- really required to. This qualified as a historical moment. And admission of being wrong on top of that! A much stranger change than the mere physical had occurred to the koopa lord.
"Take this to wherever you and Kammy do... magic things, and figure out how it works. I want a full report A.S.A.P." She tossed the crown to Kamek, who fumbled, then handled it gingerly for multiple and obvious reasons.
"Don't you think we should take care of something else first?" Kamek gestured to Bowser's bare form.
"Ack!" Having momentarily forgotten, Bowser hastily recovered herself with her arms again. "Yeah let's do something about this first."
Kamek teleported Bowser to his (I mean her) room to avoid any further awkward encounters, opting not to go along. Seeing Bowser as a naked human girl was making him uncomfortable. Instead he went to the laboratory which he and Kammy shared to begin research. The koopa k- (ah, koopa queen) on the other hand, was starting to feel weirdly comfortable in her new body. She felt lighter, her movements were more fluid, she could sense the movement of air on her skin as she walked around the room. The less obvious change she slowly became aware of was her mental state. On some level she knew she would normally be raging now. Mad at being out of control, mad at Shadow Guy, and though she wouldn't have admitted it before- mad at herself. Instead she found herself rather calmly taking stock of all these new events, and pondering how to turn them to some advantage. Bowser had never in their life enjoyed such a state of mental clarity.
"Ooh hoo hoo, you have Kamek flustered something fantastic!" Kammy cackled as she phased into Bowser's room. "He wouldn't even- Oh! I see. Well. This certianly explains his reaction." She snickered. "Let's get you some modesty then, shall we?" The mystic koopa summoned a measuring tape from her sleeve and began taking Bowser's sizes. "I could have told you what that crown was, but no one asked old Kammy Koopa. Nope. No sirree." She tsk'd.
"Consider yourself asked." Bowser replied dryly, tucking a sheet around her body while Kammy knitted dark clothing, seemingly spun from thin air. She wondered why Kammy had to take measurements or bother knitting if she could produce material from nothing, but that's how magic was. It operated on its own illogical rules.
"The crown is an old family heirloom that has existed as long as the toadstool royal family. Though it may in fact predate them, if such legends are even true. Its origins are a mystery so far as I know, though I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't something about it stashed in the castle somewhere." She handed Bowser a couple dark items.
"What do I need this for?" Bowser grumbled, eyeing the bra suspiciously.
"Trust me, you'll want this." Kammy replied, cinching the support garment tightly behind Bowser's back, causing a girlish gasp. It was clearly a repurposed interrogation device.
"Anyway, the toads are a skittish people that don't care much for change. They've always been sheep if you ask me. And so a queen many generations ago used the crown to copy her beauty and her knowledge as a ruler, and passing the crown to her daughter she gained her mother's good looks and world knowledge, and so on and so forth. The daughter copies were similar, but never exact. Close enough to keep the toads happy, but maintaining their original personalities, albeit..." She paused, looking at Bowser.
"What?"
"Well, aspects of the former princess was merged with their personalities. To keep things... streamlined." She handed off a strapless black dress that, when pulled on, came down to about mid-thigh on Bowser. Kammy fussed over her smoothing wrinkles and adjusting the dress around Bowser's 'assets.' Bowser suspected she was avoiding some bad news.
"Unfortunately…" Bowser prodded her.
"Unfortunately it was designed for Toadstools and humans. Not koopa. That's why the transformation only partially worked. As such I'm not sure if it can be reversed easily, if at all." She was now making herself busy styling some footwear out of leather and rubber.
"Yeah, about that..." Bowser hesitated, feeling out the idea as it came to her. It was the most radical idea she had ever had. Of course the majority of her plans had involved kidnapping Peach, and being happy afterwards somehow. Bowser had never had deep plans or considered broad implications before today. "Maybe we shouldn't rush to change things just yet. Bowser is a loser with a long record of failures, a joke to other rulers. Is this what I'm leaving to Junior? A legacy of bad decisions and losses? He deserves much better than this. Better than… me." Bowser trailed off to hide the hitch crawling into her voice.
It was Kammy's turn to nearly faint. Bowser's ego seemed to have taken a massive downgrade. "I could start over now. I could be someone better!" Bowser was speaking faster now as she warmed up to the strange idea. A train of thought that had bloomed up seemingly from nowhere, but once it had taken root she latched onto it eagerly. "I can remake myself, avoid old pratfalls, leave a proper legacy for my son! But first..." she paused, trying to find the right words. "I have to kill myself."
"Beg pardon, Lord Bowser?" She finished the footwear, a thick-soled pair of leather boots that came up her calves. They were covered with silver spikes and buckle straps.
Bowser shook her head. "Not Bowser anymore. I have been given a new life, and a new mission. I need a new name. Call me... hmmmm. Bowsette." The koopa queen nodded to herself, satisfied. "Now we just have to decide how I'm going to kill myself."
"We could simply report your untimely demise..." Kammy began.
"No. Too boring. This has to be grand. They have to know I really am gone. We need to play this out on a big stage, like Peach's front yard." Bowsette smiled evilly, soundling more like her former self. "Prepare the troops! Ready the airship armada! I want this to be HUGE!"
Kammy made herself busy scribbling notes. "Troops and armaments?"
"Expendable and... Something unstable. Lethal Bob-ombs? No. Giga Bob-ombs! Yes!"
"And are you positive this is truly the best course of action?" She and Bowsette had relocated to one of the Dark Land's few warp pipes. "Junior will be devastated at the news."
"No more hurt then what I've done for him so far. I haven't just ruined my life, I've ruined his future. I'm doing this for him."
"And you won't just let me take you wherever?" Kammy grumbled. "Or at least take the clown car..."
"I can't be seen with a high level Bowser associate this early in my career. I have to make a completely fresh entrance. And I have to make peace with this choice. For that I need some space." Bowsette took a look around her, her long blond lock swaying in the wind. "Things are going to be changing when I get back."
"So, Rogueport then?"
"It's as good a getaway place as any." Bowsette briefly and awkwardly hugged Kammy. "Take care of Junior until I get back." With that she disappeared down the warp pipe with the echoing sounds of rapid air displacement.
"Actually I can think of plenty of better getaway places." Kammy muttered to herself. She didn't look forward to telling Junior his pops was 'dead.' What Bowsette didn't realize, or was simply too stubborn to realize, was it would be all the harder now to explain the situation in the future, when the day came inevitably.
Log in to comment