Seeing the now-soured face of their former archaeological ally had made both James and Koopin's eyes turn wide with disbelief.  Koopin tried to speak out first, his mind begging for answers.
	"K-Koopmar!  Why are you doing this?!  What's going on!?"
	"I am merely trying to bring a new form of peace and equality to this world.  A world where weaknesses shall no longer exist, and we shall transcend beyond our pathetic bodies...permanently."
	"Wh-what?!  I don't get it, what are you talking about!?  Why did you kidnap me?!"
	"Kidnap you?  I'm dealing with a pest.  A pest...and a thuggish freak who tried to interfere with my plan, every single week you've been here."
	"Wh-what the hell you talkin' about?!" snarled James.
	"Your actions, your journey, you and your little friend here, everything you two have done, you have been constantly screwing up our preparations since the day you arrived!"
	"What the fuck did I do?!"
	"Let me refresh your memory, shall we?!  Let's start with the easiest explanation.  Koopin here almost revealed my true face, finding my little token back in the Weston Kingdom.  Then you two went off into the Forever Forest, trying to intercept my interceptors!  At least we were lucky enough to grab that package before you two would interfere, even if you did scare them off after the job was done.  But no!  You had to get even worse and break that wonderful record I left as a gift to Boohoven!"
	"That was YOU?!"
	"You can't even comprehend what a miracle that was to make, or what I had to do to even MAKE that damn thing.  Something to give that old fool unlimited power, a taste of which you barely witnessed when trying to fight it!"
	"But why?!  What's your plan Koopmar?!  What the hell's up with this whole cult and the black cloaks and the kidnapping and every other shit you did?!"
	"...BROTHERS!  ...how's about a story to remind you all why these two shall be sacrificed?  We might as well tell them what terrible crimes they committed, or else this wouldn't be a fair trial by fire."
	"YEAH!"
	"Very well!  Who doesn't appreciate a good story time?  Are you sitting comfortably?"

James was trapped under a hammer brother snarling, whilst Koopin hung precariously above a pool of lava, whimpering with fretful tears of both fear and confusion.
	"Then we'll begin.  It all started many months ago, back on Professor Kolorado's last expedition.  I was employed as his linguist, which I still am, as a genuine researcher of both his work and ancient history.  I wanted to learn about the ancient world, to uncover what secrets laid forgotten by time and to learn them, in order to become a better person."
	"How'd that work out for you?" mocked FG.
	"As well as your friend plunging into a pool of fire a minute sooner if you don't be patient!"
	"YOU BETTER NOT-GNN-NNNGH!"
His mouth was silenced by a strong gagging hand from the hammer brother, with Koopmar being allowed to continue.
	"As I was saying, I wanted to better myself with research, until one expedition in the Shiver Palace where I came upon a strange artifact.  This...artifact."
Koopmar pulled out a strange black marble, somewhat of a purple amethyst colour with a deep black cross grooved upon its surface.  Koopin recognised it almost immediately.
	"That thing...your lucky charm."
	"Ohhh it's a lot more than that, Mr. Kennidon.  When I first held it, I felt the world come alive to me for the first time.  Neither of you would understand...except perhaps you James.  Do you remember when you first felt magic flow through your fingertips?  That strange intangible feeling of an almost...sensational tingling running through your spine and out from your hands?"
The raptor could only nod, understanding all too well.
	"Imagine that feeling...but for your soul.  I could not believe how much power was in this little thing.  I felt it.  I needed it.  I had it.  And ol' Kolorado need never know about it, the fool would never understand its purpose anyway.  But I do.  A magical amplifier from ancient times.  With the right training and dedication, it could easily make me more powerful than Kamek himself was."
	"Wh-what?!" blurted Koopin.  "You're crazy!  Nobody's more powerful than Kamek!"
	"Not yet.  But there's always a first time.  I tested this out first time with a fun little creation of mine, for I made a friend with a local Frost Pirahna.  He had the same aspirations too of something greater in life, frustrated with living in a squalid cave suffering the indignity of climbers every fortnight."
	"Th-that...that pirahna?!  The climbers?!  YOU?!"
	"What can I say?  He was to be the first step in my new order.  I had already set up the Koopa Knights Brigade long before, after finding this artifact.  He was to be the first non-Koopa to be inducted.  Until YOU killed him."
	"...oops." said FG mockingly.

Koopmar did not appreciate such, and simply raised his hand to create a magical force.  A crank nearby that held the rope up, suddenly began to unwind, dropping the bound Koopin to the fire below with a heart-rending scream.
	"NOOOOOOOO!"
	"KOOPIIIIIIN!"
The rope suddenly stopped, before the crank began to wind itself back up, bringing Koopin back slowly before them.  Hoisted in the shell, whimpering and sobbing with heart-pounding tears.  Koopmar merely shrugged mockingly.
	"Oops."
	"You FUCKER!"
	"Your strange words mean nothing to me James.  Now, as I was saying...your dealing with Jack Frost had set me back, but no matter, it wasn't a huge problem for there are plenty more out there willing to convert.  Like Boohoven."
	"Willing?  Boohoven wasn't exactly sad about not having his power after you BRAINWASHED HIM!"
	"If he has the aspiration, then he has the potential.  Why let it go to waste conducting tired old symphonies, when he could command ARMIES for me?"
	"Because that's not what he wanted!  You're forcing people to work for you, to hurt others for you!  Was that pirahna guy the same?!  Was he just some lonesome happy plant before YOU corrupted him?!"
	"I would ask him...except you killed him.  Now who's the monster?"
	"YOU ARE!"
	"Hmph...pathetic.  You know what's worse than someone spoiling your plans?"
	"What?"
	"Someone spoiling your plans by accident.  And YOU...are the most despicable little stain I've met."
	"Oh what did I do now?" said FG sarcastically.
	"Remember our great battle against King Totomesu?  I'm sure you figured out by now that it was me who summoned that great black ball of energy to shoot straight towards his crystal stone.  I had it all worked out.  I KNEW what that place contained, I knew what I wanted, and I knew how to get it!  Deal with Totomesu, call it luck, teleport the gemstone away and say it was lost within the rubble!  ...but YOU had to get all brave and supportive, AND THEN YOU MESSED UP MY SHOT!"
	"Wh-what?!"

Koopmar pulled something from his shell, a necklace of some sort with a very familiar gemstone within.  Shaped like a fireball, amber and ruby.
	"Remember THIS?"
	"The...that thing!"
	"The Fire of Muda?!" squawked Koopin.
	"Yes," replied Koopmar.  "The very same.  All I wanted was to teleport this away from the place and hide it somewhere safe to use for my purposes.  But then YOU had to shoot off your pathetic fire magic and mess with the shot, causing the whole plan to tumble, and end up with Kolorado getting the Fire of Muda himself!  Do you have ANY idea how long it took to get that old fool to part with it?!"
	"...I...I don't-"
	"SIX HOURS!  Six hours of using every single concept I knew, to convince him to send it away for appraisal!  THANKFULLY he caved in, so I could intercept the package.  I didn't take it myself, oh no, THAT would be too easy to trace!  Do you understand now, you MORON?"
	"...you're a fucking moron."
	"SHUT UP!  You couldn't even let me have my own BAR in peace, what else you want to mess up next?!"
	"Wait bar?!  ...are you SERIOUS?  The fucking bar fight?!"
	"That YOU caused!"
	"OH, OKAY, SO YOU'RE A GAYBASHER TOO!?"
	"...a what?"
	"Walkin' up into the gay bar, beatin' around the faggots cuz you don't approve of their ways, didn't think one of 'em would beat your friends' asses didntcha?!"
	"...snrk...fffhahaha...ha ha ha ha, HA HA HA HA!"
The crowd began to laugh with their leader, somehow also sharing his incredulity at James' claims.
	"WH-WHAT!?"
	"YOU-FFHAHA!  You think THAT was the reason I was dealing with that bar?!  You really are a moron!  I don't CARE what goes on in there!"
	"Wait, what?!"
	"I just wanted to ruin that place and buy it for myself!  Why would I even give a damn about who's in love with who, or who likes what!?  Are you an idiot or something, who DOES that?!  That bar has a fine location in an area like that, it would make a good profit for me if I owned it AND it would bring in more people to convert, especially when made more agreeable when all full of drink!  Plus, it would be a wonderful low blow towards the owner."
	"You got problems with the owner huh?"
	"Oh no, just his father."
	"...why, he screw your sister or something?"
	"...SHUT.  UP!"
That somehow stung Koopmar hard, forcing him to come close and deliver a brutal blow to James' gut, making him wheeze and bend over.
	"I am done with both of you, I am going to make sure that you two are dealt with.  Permanently.  Make him stand up!"

The koopa guards pulled James up forcefully, making him grunt and stumble as he was forced to stand up before the edge of the bridge, the lava boiling away below.  Koopmar's face turned twisted with frustration, leaning close towards FG to make him hear every word.
	"I want you to watch your little friend.  I want you to watch him drown...and scream...and beg.  I'll let his feet melt with agony first, then pull him out, then when he's felt the pain leave from him...you can say goodbye to him before you join him.  Any last words, both of you?"
Koopin was running out of tears, shaking with fear as he felt his limbs uncomfortably bound within the false shell, crying with dry heaving sobs as he felt he had no more time left.  James however was struggling to think up a plan, running through every possible thought he had on what powers he could use.  His hands, while bound behind his back, were still able to fire off something, just needing the right position.  The moisture of the place made him realise another idea in turn, as Koopin began to form his words tearfully.
	"James...I...I need to tell you something."
	"What?"
	"I...I-i-i...I love you."
	"...I know.  I'm sorry Koopin.  This is all my fault."
	"FINALLY he admits it!" roared Koopmar.  "How refreshing it is to see a wretched thug like you confess to his faults!"
	"Yeah, well, whatever, least I admit my problems, what about you?"
	"What do you mean?"
At that moment, James began to burn a furious fire from his fingertips, blazing as hot as he could in order to burn the guards' hands.  They flinched back in surprise, grabbing their hands to check for burns before FG blasted out another fireball towards Koopmar.  His aim towards the Fire of Muda rang true, as the blazing gemstone burned at Koopmar's chest, making him fall back with a roar of painful surprise.

Before the crowd could react, James summoned the power of wind around him, sending out a powerful roaring gale straight towards Koopin.  The projection of the blast shot out the wooden shell towards land, as it clonked onto solid stone, the raptor swiftly pulling him out before the rope could be pulled back by anyone.  Standing before a large crowd of furious clankoopas, holding a naked koopa tightly against him with the pool of lava at his back, James tried to think as coolly as possible.
Koopmar however was going to give him something more exciting to deal with, as he roared:
	"YOU THINK YOU KNOW MAGIC YOU WRETCHED FREAK?!"
	"It's not magic, it's fucking SCIENCE!"
	"NO NO NO!  Science is what allowed me to figure out my plans.  Magic is what brings me power.  YOU...wield neither.  BROTHERS, STAY BACK!  ...I don't want to hurt any of you when I exterminate these pests.  You and me James.  I'll show you my true power...consider it my gift to you before you die."
Koopmar stood upon the fire-hardened bridge, sneering with vehement rage as the Fire of Muda glowed with anger.  James stood upon the beginning of the bridge, guarding Koopin behind him closely.  He could feel the world around him turn silent.  Everyone in the room knew this was to be a duel to the death.
Koopin said nothing, closely holding James' waist with panic, his nakedness glistening in the burning light of the lava below.  James waited for his opponent to move first, wanting to catch him off-guard as he quickly ran through every trick in his head.  He knew he was nowhere near as skilled with anything even close to magic compared to Koopmar.  But he had trickery on his side.
	"DRAW!"
Koopmar's roar of beginning the battle was signified with a powerful fire blast, shooting across the bridge straight towards both James and Koopin.  James quickly tried to dodge, diverting the blast of fire with a spout of water straight ahead.  It managed to defuse some of the flame, but not all of it which left him feeling the burn.  The water did manage to shoot through however, pushing back Koopmar with some force but not enough.

The cult leader shot out another fireball, testing his foe's limits with FG now ready to dodge, ducking beneath the aerial blast with Koopin in tow before he shot out another blast of water towards the legs, tripping up Koopmar slightly, but he merely rebalanced himself with a sudden gust of wind, planting both feet back onto the bridge.
	"You like water do ya?!" snarled Koopmar.  "How about THIS!?"
Changing his tactics, he shot out his own blast of water, but this one was different.  It was an icy cold blast, cold enough that it turned into solid ice in half-a-second, the shattering white crackling following after to create a horrendous spear of ice.  James quickly dodged, not taking chances at using fire against it as he tore the landed ice spear from the ground, before rending it into pieces with fire and wind.
A burning scirocco that swarmed around him, taking off pieces of ice he soon fired back like shrapnel.  He could not divert the shards in mid-flight, but he could shoot them fast enough to act like a barrage of bullets, striking several parts of Koopmar's body enough to tear at clothes and wound his face and arms.  His shell however repelled most of them, before he readied another fireblast.  This one however was different.
Shooting out two fireballs, he manipulated the flames in mid-air to swing past each other like pendulums, crossing past the other as they charged in slicing arcs towards the raptor.  He recognised this tactic before, bringing out his scissors to readily dispel both flames with a single swing.  It was just as successful as it had been before, tearing through the magical fireballs harmlessly so.

Koopmar roared as he sent out another blast of fire, with James in turn shooting a lancing flame strike from his own weapon.  Using the scissors to properly aim and project his power, he shot through the fireballs with a single piercing strike, striking straight for the Fire of Muda and causing another eruption of flames to burn the cult leader violently so.  A burned mark was now appearing upon his shell belly, as James grinned cockily.
But the former linguist was not out yet, fuelling his energy together as he summoned the very fire of the gemstone itself into him, blazing his fists into pure balls of eternal fire.  The flames began to grow more and more strong, until his entire body was almost consumed.  At the apex of his flame, he fired with an earth-shattering roar, sending out twin volleys of serpentine flames, snaking like Asian dragons towards both James and Koopin.
He was too confused by their sinuous movements to do anything but guard, hoping the scissors as well as some water blasts would help.  They did little to help, burning his hands and tearing through his defence as he screeched from the blazing fire, desperately trying to shield Koopin.  He managed to withstand it, but not very well, shaking with burns all over him as he kneeled weakly.  He still had energy left, but the burning pain was stopping him from tapping it as he stood up once more.
He tried to imagine the burning cold, trying to cool himself down.  As he imagined a fierce cold as well as desperate ideas for his nanos to wield, he could see figures in the snow in his mind.  Horned warriors crossing great arctic plains, the sound of beating wings and ferocious blizzards deafening their ears.  Words came to him, the power of winds upon great leathery wings.  Words of power.  He felt it was too great a power for him to wield.  But it gave him another idea.
	"Had enough?!" challenged Koopmar.  "Or you thirsty for more?!"
	"NOT YET, FUS-RO-DAAAAH!"

While his power was nowhere near what his mind had witnessed within its infinite relays of incomprehensible data, he felt the power.  He KNEW what it could do, and utilised his nanos the best way possible.  A ferocious roar accompanied by a blast of wind that propelled Koopmar back.  He hadn't expected such a ferocious sudden gale to be centred so directly upon him, forcing him to roll across the bridge.  James had his chance.
He rushed forwards across the bridge, with scissors out at the ready to kill and taking Koopin behind him by the hand, never wanting to leave his side.  He let go of Koopin and leapt into the air, roaring with a mighty vengeance as he swung down hard upon the cultist.  But Koopmar had recovered enough, firing off a charged-up shot with a fireball to knock James out of the air.
All it did was burn his chest, as well as misdirect his scissors to stab into the wood, quickly pulling them out before backing away.  At this distance, James had more ability to attack, swinging his blades with a firey strike.  Koopmar countered with a sudden streak of ice water, cooling the steel off as both of them countered back and forth, fire and water, steam rising between them.
One struck the other with fire, the other forced back with a striking blade of ice formed anew from his hands.  Back and forth they striked and blocked, the other countering with magical prowess.  Shards of solid water snapped and shattered before James' face, making him try to guard himself as Koopmar blasted him with a water shot.  He fell back hard, with Koopin tumbling further back in turn and almost falling off the bridge.

James quickly made sure he stayed on however, before firing back several volleys of fire to keep Koopmar busy.  The two stood up once again, with James keeping a hand tight around Koopin's shoulders before raising his scissors sternly towards his foe, the warlock chuckling breathlessly, as did James in turn.
	"Heh...hehe...not bad.  You'd have made...a fine magikoopa...if it wasn't...for your arrogance."
	"Look who's...talking."
	"Hah...you can't even control yourself anyway...especially not with your darkness."
	"Darkness?  The fuck you talkin' about?"
	"You dont' see it?  ...neither of you?  ...interesting, hahahahaha-"
	"What's so funny?!"
	"You.  You don't know anything at all...do you?  You wield your magic like a child trying to wield a sword.  You lie about your darkness with a fear I see tingling in the back of your eye.  You struggle and stumble with a heart full of rage and desperation.  The only thing you can do well is killing."
	"I can do plenty of other things good, Koopmar."
	"Yeah?  ...like what?"
At that very moment, a strange rumbling began to occur, slowly shaking the very foundation of the castle.  Koopmar steadied himself, while James held onto Koopin tightly to make sure he wouldn't fall off.  From the end of the castle itself, on the other side of the bridge, there came a greater tremble, louder and louder it came as James grinned widely.
	"I'm good at making backup plans."
A minute later, the wall began to cave in, blasting a shower of violent brick and mortar all across the room behind them.  The bridge did not suffer other than being rocked tremendously so, the raptor quickly getting off of it with Koopin onto solid ground, while the rest of the Koopa Knights Brigade tried to steady themselves in the midst of the ensuing chaos.

Koopas stormed across the bridge wearing full suits of spiked armour, red eyes glaring from beneath their visors as they roared commands at the cloaked koopas.  Spears and spiked hats glinted in the firelight as they forced the crowd back, with Koopmar floating above them all to avoid being hit.  James had flashbacks of riot police, as he steadied himself and stood before the bridge.  Koopmar did the same, roaring out towards the intruders as he sweeped the bridge clean with a wall of fire to stop them coming closer.
	"WHO DARES TO INTERRUPT OUR CEREMONY!?"
	"I'll give ya two guesses."
The voice that came from beyond the horde of armed koopas was deep and rough, like a mountain of gravel in an earthquake.  Koopmar shuddered at the very sound of it, as did every other koopa in the place including Koopin.  The guards stood in a row, standing to attention from one superior commander among them.  The room beyond was soon covered by a demonic shadow.  Large pointed horns and a crown upon its head.
Soon the light from the burning lava revealed it to be an enormous beastly turtle, with a thick stubby ox-like snout, black spiked bracers and a huge spiky shell.  James was thrown off-guard by such a beast, but every koopa in the vicinity immediately recognised its authority, even Koopmar who floated down onto the ground.
	"Y-y-y-y-y-y-y-your Majesty!"
Koopmar instantly bowed in fearful respect as did every other koopa, including Koopin behind FG, who merely stood dumbfounded at the infamous Bowser he finally got to see.  A yellow muscular reptile with fierce thick claws who spoke in a loud rough voice.
	"I got a report that there was some gathering here, without my permission...and I sure don't remember ordering a group to wear a buncha robes and...practice fire spells on an ol' bridge in one of my ol' castles.  YOU!  Yer the leader of this place right?!"
	"Y-y-yes your Majesty!  K-Koopmar is my name, just training with a whole group of up-and-coming magikoopas sir!"
	"That many?  Pretty sure you don't have that many friends."
	"H-he's lying sir!"
Koopin spoke out in a panicky voice, making Bowser leer at FG and him.
	"Th-they were trying to burn me!  They wanted to put me in that wooden shell and burn me alive for sacrifice!"
	"Sire, don't listen to him, he's young and always dreaming of silly adventures!"
	"Yeah?" said the king koopa.  "Where's his shell and clothes?"
	"He's delusional, he took them off and ran around like a fool-"
	"SHUT UP KOOPMAR!" said FG loudly.
He wasn't afraid to speak out of turn with a king he only heard of up to this point, bracing himself for what may come from his ignorance.
	"Your Majesty, Koopmar here was going to burn Koopin alive because this lot are a bunch of MUTINOUS LITTLE SHITHEADS, who want to get rid of every single goomba, boo, shy guy or anyone else who don't agree with them in this land, all for some weird-ass regime about 'improving' the land!  They even doubted you, they were talking about mutiny!  And they wanted to kill Koopin because-"

Just at that point, James was very unsure of himself.  He had his reasons for why Koopmar wanted him out of the way, but was it even enough?  And if he said the reason, would Bowser agree?  The beast looked like a tyrant who would not be above this sort of thing, but on the other hand he did look pissed off with this group.  Which would serve first in his mind?  Obedience or beliefs?
	"Because?  Well?!?"
James gently asked Koopin if he should tell the king, to which Koopin had a slight epiphany in his eyes.  The two nodded, before Koopin stepped up bravely forwards to say:
	"Because, sir...I'm...gay."
Koopin was expecting anything at this point.  Even if he had come out long ago in the past, and even if the Mushroom Kingdom was an open-minded enough world to not truly care about such things, to do so in front of the king was both the strangest and bravest time of his life.  He looked to his kindred king with the most pathetic eyes he could muster, knowing full well that the king appreciated absolute submission in this manner.  The king merely rubbed his chin after a minute and said:
	"This true Koopmar?"
	"WHAT!?  N-n-no!  Not at all, your Revulsiveness I-i-i wasn't hating him for tha-I mean I WOULDN'T hate him at all, he's just a pathetic boy, he's mad, all I'm doing is-"
	"No?" said Koopin.  "NO!?!  Then how about I do THIS?!"
A sudden anger flared in his eyes as he stomped towards Koopmar.  Using this surge of outrage in the guise of both courage and desperation, he grabbed the magikoopa's cheeks and kissed him forcefully on the beak, surprising everyone in plain view.  Even if it was on the beak, it made the robed koopa pull back with shock and fury, screaming:
	"GET AWAY FROM ME YOU WORTHLESS STAIN!"
An almost instinctive blast from his hands was aimed for Koopin, but was easily pulled off target by Bowser, who grasped it in one fist.  He slowly tightened up his grip to twist Koopmar's arm slowly, threatening to crack it in half.
	"Stain, huh?  So they're right, you ARE causing a mutiny in my ranks!  You think I'm gonna let a koopa fight another koopa and lose at least one good soldier who can still fight for me 'cuz of something like that?!  What's next, yer gonna hate red shells next or sumthin'?!?"
	"NO, THAT'S NOT WHAT WANT!  I JUST WANT TO IMPROVE THIS WORLD!"
	"You think I'd even allow this?!  So we'd all be fighting ourselves!?  HUH?!?  Well think again pal, cuz that's EXACTLY what the Mushroom Kingdom would love!"
He twisted Koopmar's arm fully huge vicious claws, breaking it out of socket fully which made the cultist scream in agony and collapse on the ground, clutching with his other arm.

	"I don't like everything in the world sure.  Plumbers, being overcharged, that stupid packaging you get at supermarkets that either cuts ya or just tears in half.  But I want everyone who can serve me to fight those damn Toads.  I'm not gonna let some punks like you, wreck MY army and start burning off MY troopers be they koopa or boo or goomba!  And any that DO...I call that treason."
Bowser leaned forwards towards his former cohort, smoke rising from his nostrils as he spoke his next words with the voice of a demon.
	"You know what I do to those who commit treason?"
He grabbed Koopmar with one hand, lifted him up and stuffed him forcefully into the discarded wooden shell despite screaming protests, the leader of the brigade begging for mercy as the king made sure he was unable to slip from it with his fire-proof claws.  He stood before the edge of the lava, his size great enough to reach down into it as he slowly submerged Koopmar into the magma.
His hand never burned, never even singed slightly.  But Koopmar within the shell screamed and writhed in his wooden prison, crying out for mercy even after he knew it was too late.  The lava started to thicken against his skin, burning through into a blackening melted goo, before Bowser pushed his entire body down until only the head remained.  His eyes were remorseless, watching Koopmar's screams turn weaker before the lava consumed his body.  Releasing his hand from the wooden shell, the king watched Koopmar's remains sink into the lava, shaking off the lava droplets from his hand like warm water.
It made the raptor fear such callousness from the dreaded king, while Koopin looked away in horror as Bowser made an example, turning towards the clan members.
	"You wanna hate someone and improve this land, go hate Mario and his gang.  You start turning on each other, you only help them, and THAT is treason to me!  So if you can't accept having those other than koopas in my army just 'cause they're a lil pink-shelled or whutever yer reason was, heck if I know...then you better leave REAL fast before I start thinking about how many of you guys I can burn with one breath.  GUARDS, TAKE 'EM!"

Within the mere seconds it took for Bowser to breath in and get ready, they were gone into the night, quickly throwing themselves into the guards' arms and being taken away immediately across the bridge to their imprisonment.  Some even left their robes behind in panic.  Silence reigned for a few seconds above the bubbling pool, save for an extinguished exhale of harmless smoke from his nostrils and the dying flames.
The king turned around, flames turning into smoke spires from his nostrils as he stared upon the two who remained, his huge form made even greater by being up close to them.
	"You, koopa boy.  You better tell others that I don't allow anything that messes up my army's ranks, you got it?"
	"Yes sir, yes, oh thank you so much your Majesty, I'll never forget this for the rest of my life!  If you ever need anything from me PLEASE say so!"
	"Count on it, kid...and uhhh...who are you?"
The king pointed a large claw at James.
	"Oh..sire...this is my...um..."
	"Boyfriend."
	"Wh...wh-wha-"
	"I'm his boyfriend, your Majesty."
Koopin looked at him with shock, amazed that James had apparently come to terms with being in a relationship, finally.  But he merely said nothing, allowing James to introduce himself properly.
	"My name's James Campbell, I'm a traveller from far away.  I'm honoured as well as very thankful to be in your presence...and for saving us."
	"Heh, good, nice to see even newcomers know who to respect!  Never seen anythin' like you before...but since yer all scales I'm gonna say yer on our side, right?"
	"You got it, sir."
	"Awesome!  Count yerselves lucky that I make sure of all my army being both obedient and united under me.  And you better be just that."
He bent forwards with a toothy smile and a wink that both surprised and confused the two as to what he meant.
	"You two can follow us back to the castle escorted by my guards, then go back to wherever you live on yer own.  Don't wanna leave ya in the middle of nowhere."
After making sure Koopin was well enough to walk, recovering both clothes and shell, the two walked behind Bowser with his personal squadron.  Koopin was relieved from having survived such a harrowing ordeal, while FG was left wondering about the king himself, as they marched off into the cold cold night.  The king however did not leave the castle untouched, kicking the bronze axe that stood upon the end of the bridge.  It swung down onto the supports, destroying the bridge as it crumbled down into the lava.
	"Heh...been wantin' to do that fer years."
He turned towards the entrance he made as his army waited for him, his huge spiked shell fading away into the shadows of night.