“It is time,” declared the former King matter-of-factly. “Your freedom is just hours away.”

The seven tortured creatures for the first time in years experienced a certain kind of hope by those simple words spoken by one of the most unlikely of allies. This had been the moment they had been praying for since they first arrived in a place that could only be described as the closest thing to hell on earth….


It was at the dawn of Lord Bowser’s first defeat by the Super Mario Brothers that it happened. Almost all the eggs of the Koopaharian Curse had long since hatched except for the special ones that grew, what prophesied, would be the seven deadly spawn of the tyrant King of the Koopas. With the Super Mario Brothers present in their birth world Bowser had needed more powerful beings to help regain and ensure his control over the Mushroom Kingdom. That is why Kamek had suggested to his master that he implement the three Rituals of Flesh, Blood and Mind to long last awaken the souls that grew within the remaining Koopaharian eggs.

In the first ceremony, under the fresh start of morning, Bowser mutilated his own body, cutting off seven pieces of his own flesh. This skin was then stretched to capacity and then used to cover each egg as a sort of outer membrane.

In the second ceremony, under the aging sun of noon, Bowser sliced open his veins, practically mortally wounding himself, so that half the blood of his body spewed out over the soil. The roots of the eggs then sucked up and absorbed the King Koopa's life force, transforming the creatures inside into that of Bowser’s own flesh and blood.

In the third and final ceremony, when the death of light birthed into the shroud of darkness, six Mushroom men and a lone Mushroom woman whom each had special and unique abilities, were led into the caves of the Dark Land to be slaughtered.  They were to be the seven sacrifices that would awaken the beings inside the last Koopaharian eggs causing them to finally hatch. Upon these seven innocents murder their unique talents, abilities and very oras were consecrated into the creature’s souls…

And so the seven destroyer of nations known as the Koopalings; Iggy, Lemmy, Morton Junior, Roy, Ludwig Von, Lawrence and the lone female Wendy O, had been born in the Mushroom World a little more than two decades ago...


    “Do you mean it, King Bomb-Omb?” whispered a frightened Wendy O Koopa in disbelief. “The day you have promised us for more than three years is here at last?”

There was an almost unbelievable amount of joy wretched in all seven of the Koopalings' hearts at this realization. Ten years ago, in a disturbingly odd sort of mock trial in the catacombs of the Dark Land, the infamous “Koopa Kids” were sentenced to a lifetime of torment in the Koopaharian Dungeons. For ten years had all seven of the Koopalings not seen the light of day nor breathed the fresh air of the world above ground. For ten years had the spawn of the King Koopa been locked up in an insanely claustrophobic prison cell. During their ten years of captivity, beatings and unspeakable acts of torture were implemented daily. They were starved, given only just enough rotten scraps of food so that they would continue to live on in constant pain. They were slowly being broken physically, mentally and emotionally until, at what Bowser had hoped, would be his own children’s lonely and gruesome death…

     This was their punishment for failing the sovereign empire of the Koopa three times too many.

    “Have I not told you that this day would come?” scoffed the once King of the living Bomb-Ombs. “I am never one to go back on my word. It is time that I break you and your brothers out of this hell hole once and for all.”

The whimper of relief echoed between the Koopalings. Yes, it was time. It was really actually going to happen this time.

    “You Koopas have been very patient indeed,” he continued. “A lesser creature would have died years ago in this place. You seven have an incredible yet curious will to live. Your spirit impresses that of even myself.”

The seven Koopalings were huddled together in their incommodious prison cell trying to keep warm amongst each other, as they fought the freezing atmosphere of a place never once before bathed in the light of the sun.  Next to the Koopalings cell, chained to a brick wall, was a creature that could only be described as a literal living weapon. Like all the Bomb-Ombs of the Koopa Army, this creature was that of a perfect black sphere with white oval “eyes” and a stare as lifeless as a corpse.  Its mouth was but that of a white irregularly shaped metal that gave those looking at it the illusion of a white mustache. But what separated this Bomb-Omb from the rest of its kind was its humanistic size and an almost independent self-awareness. For this former ruler of the Bomb-Ombs had, at one time, been that of Bowser’s greatest achievement in the art of war… But has since fallen to the fate of all those who have failed the Koopa King.

    “I can’t believe it. I never thought this day would come. What makes this day, out of every other day of the past different?” inquired Ludwig Von Koopa as he reached his hands to grasp the rusted metal bars of the cell.

The giant Bomb-Omb laughed an inhuman, monotone, almost electronic laugh. “Does it really matter what might have motivated me to accelerate this plan of escape?”

    “Not to sound ungrateful for the current decision, your former majesty,” Morton Koopa Junior added, ”but why did we have to endure three more years of pain and suffering since you first made us aware of your plan? My brothers and sister have come so close, countless times in the past three years to being killed. If it not for our ‘admirable’ will to live we…”

    “It was the only way,” interrupted the Bomb-Omb abraded. “It was the only way. If I had orchestrated your escape sooner than now, it was almost a guarantee that you would’ve been caught and put to death. I had to wait for the right time when the Koopa Empire had shown signs of a mass distraction or weakness. That time has come. Your father, he is no longer concerned with the Koopaharian Dungeons. He has bigger, more important things to attend to. In fact… your father has issued a peculiar decree to all the Captains of the various Koopaharian Dungeons throughout the world. It seems that after Bowser re-conquers the Mushroom Kingdom with whatever plot he has transpired, all the prisoners of these dungeons are to be executed… exterminated, put to death, murdered, or whatever you want to call it.”

All thoughts cleared their heads as the children of the King Bowser absorbed the startling and sickening information presented to them. Slight gasps erupted out of their mouths unwillingly. Wendy O Koopa and her brother Lemmy’s eyes began to tear up. Their father had basically ordered their death.

    "H-how could he do this to us?" whimpered Lemmy. "His own children..."

    "Does this news really surprise you, you dimwit!?" spat an angered Roy trying to keep his voice down. "Our beloved father put us in this place to begin with! What did you think he wanted to happen to us in this place?"

Iggy added to his brother timidly, "…I always thought he sent us here because he didn't want us to die… I thought… I thought he just wanted us to be punished for letting him down..."

    ”Then you two are even bigger fools than I thought," Ludwig spat to Lemmy and Iggy cruelly. "Bowser has never viewed any of us as his children. We were always just mere pawns to him; living weapons to help aid in his wars against the Mushroom Kingdom. We were his soldiers… We were his slaves…. We were his scapegoats... We were anything but his children... That is why when Bowser's plans had failed for the third time since our involvement… we all had to be punished in the worst possible way. What use are inadequate weapons to him? That's all we ever were to him... Soulless instruments of death. You cannot love a weapon… "

Silence bestowed the Koopalings as they contemplated Ludwig’s soliloquy. All of them knew this bitter reality was true. And this truth was perhaps the greatest torture of all by their father…


    “...Now let me inquire this to the King Bomb-Omb once again?” Ludwig continued now obviously bothered by his own speech. "How did you acquire all this very specific information about the execution of all the prisoners?"

The Bomb-Omb did not respond.

    "King Bomb-Omb?" Wendy O stammered, confused at his silence.

    “During one of my forced visits to the Chamber of Harrow," he suddenly responded, "I overheard two Koopa-Troopas discussing an invasion of the Mushroom Kingdom within the coming weeks. Bowser, he has something quite grand in store for the world after what is going to be the 100th Anniversary of the Mushroom Kingdom. What exactly he has in store, I do not know. But thousands of various armies have allied themselves with the Koopa and are in training as we speak, preparing for war. Have you not wondered why in the past year security has been dropping here severely?”

    No Response

    "I thought so. Bowser, it seems, is going to bring this world into its first age of darkness... An eternal darkness. The Koopaharian Dungeons need to make way for the future victims of Bowser’s evil… He has toyed with all of us long enough….”

A metal latch was turned. The scrapping of metal against rock followed.  The Bomb-Omb and the Koopalings stopped their conversation instantaneously and began shaking in absolute fear, as did all the prisoners in their section of the dungeon. Someone was going to bring death to one of the dungeon's inhabitants.

The loud clicking of a powerful creature slowly walking through the chamber grew louder and louder causing all the prisoners hearts to beat quicker and quicker...

    “Did I hear talking in here?” a raspy voice slowly inquired.

A Boom-Boom Guard moved his way into the room looking around, observing the many prisoners. Various screams in the distant background mixed with the dripping of water seemed to be booming amongst the dead silence that had fallen upon the room at the Guard’s presence.

    “I repeat. Did I hear talking in here?” the Guard affirmed.

After receiving no response he continued, “It looks like some prisoners here have forgotten the rules. There is to be NO talking here what-so-ever. How do we know you all aren’t planning a revolt or an escape? Someone is going to pay for this outrage… Someone is going to be made an example out of... But who?”

Walking further into the dungeon the guard came face to face with three prisoners; a Lakitu, a Shy Guy, and a Ninji who were all hanging by their feet directly in front of the Koopalings cell. The three victims had been hung upside down for months and were completely disoriented and quite out of their mind. The Boom-Boom Guard studied the hanging creatures making sure to stare into each one of their blood shot eyes that were constantly turning inside their head.

Making sure that his finger would randomly fall upon one of the three prisoners that hung from the ceiling to correspond with every single word, the Guard sang, “Eenie, meanie, miney, mo. Catch a Koopa by the toe. If he hollers, slit his throat. Eenie, meanie, miney….  mo.”

    “I choose you,” declared the Guard as his finger fell upon the Lakitu.

Suddenly, as if the deadly reality hit the Lakitu, it awoke from its disorient and madness realizing what was about to happen next. “N-no, sir. I-I-I-I-I-t w-wasn’t me. I-I-I swear. I wasn’t t-talking,” pleaded the Lakitu.

The Guard indignantly pushed the pitiful hanging creature as hard as he could causing the Lakitu to swing into the metal bars of the Koopalings cell, its head cracking with a splatter of blood. With one swipe of his sharp claws, the Boom-Boom Guard cut the rope from which the Lakitu had been hanging causing the creature to fall violently to the floor. The Lakitu, still very much alive, was then pulled by its arm, dislocating its shoulder, as the Guard dragged him out of the room.

    “As for the rest of you,” the Guard declared with malice, “let what will happen to this prisoner be a reminder to you all. There will be no talking or whispering of any kind in my dungeon. Let this prisoners screams of agony and death make an imprint on your mind.”

    “NO! DON’T! I AM SORRY! IT WASN’T ME! IT WASN”T ME!” hysterically pleaded the Lakitu as he fiercely sobbed.

As the Guard made his way out of the chamber and shut and latched the metal door, the sounds of the Lakitu’s begging, screaming and crying faded away leaving the dungeon once again in absolute silence.

For a few minutes no one said anything nor moved a muscle. This would happen numerous times throughout the week and yet every time it happened it was still as horrifying as if it happened for the first.

    “In a few hours time,” the King Bomb-Omb suddenly spoke in a quiet and distant voice, “we will put our plan into motion. I have waited for this moment even longer than you seven have…”

The Bomb-Omb made a deep sigh and took a long pause before continuing, “You know… It was a long time ago that I was once a human being.  More than a hundred years ago I believe. Yes, it is true. I was once a member of the imperfect human race, the very King of Pipe Land no less. There was peace, prosperity and goodness abound in the land I once called home. I remember thinking to myself all those years ago that my life couldn’t have had more meaning than the simple life of ruling a land that truly didn’t even need ruling. I was king in name and name only as the citizens of the Pipe Maze, my people, really didn’t even need governing of any kind. They were too peaceful and intelligent to have any of the real problems that often plague a society. But oh how they did love me anyway and oh how did I love them in return.”

    “It wasn’t until the first war with the Koopas was well under way that my world first began falling apart. The honorable Patheon Toadstool was just beginning to unite the lands that would someday make up the great Mushroom Kingdom. My people were being slaughtered at the hands of Evil and as much as I tried to protect them, the Koopas lust for death was just too powerful. My kingdom was crumbling, peace was no more and it was only a matter of time before by country was overthrown. I had failed my people as a King. All the love and respect they had given to me was misplaced for when it really came down to it, I wasn’t a great ruler at all when faced with adversity.”

    “I remember Patheon Toadstool had issued a meeting to all the Kings of the Mushroom World. I was prepared to do anything to help my people at that point and I thought the wise Patheon could help. I was on my way to leave when I remember being plagued with an extreme bout of exhaustion that literally came out of thin air. I collapsed to the floor, I then blanked out and when I awoke I was no longer in my castle nor even my country...  I was in a whole new world not like any I had ever seen. I wandered through this very strange world for many a days and nights until I was seized by a gang of Shy Guys and thrown into a dungeon not unlike this. I was then held captive by Triclyde the three headed snake. I was driven mad. I realize that now. I was kept in isolation for years and had no contact with another living soul longer than any creature ever should. I would’ve done anything to be set free. And just as I reached that boiling point, I was visited by the first leader of the Koopas; the formidable Wart the Conqueror.”

    “It seems he had used his powers of the psyche to curse me into the world conceived accidentally by the Star Spirits; Sub-Con, the land of dreams. Wart agreed to set me free but with a terrible price. I would have to bind my soul to the Koopa for eternity. I was a weak man, a terrible man for having agreed to this but it was the only way. One does not age in the land of Sub-Con… An eternity of isolation… A life-time of isolation... Fifty… Ten… Five years! One more day of isolation! It was just too much for me to bear. With my soul now sold to the Koopa, a bolt of lightening flashed before my eyes. I then awoke and found myself back in my castle in my home world. It was like the events that took an eternity were all but a single terrible nightmare conceived by my own mind. And although I was in the physical world once again, I soon found that a physical being I was not!”

    “I was not within my body. I was a spirit roaming as free and unseen as the wind. It would be much later until I found out what exactly happened to me. It seems that while my mind was quite awake in the land of Sub-Con, my physical body had fallen into a deep slumber in the Mushroom World. My body was comatose for many a years until towards the end of the first Mushroom/Koopaharian War, my castle was raided by the Koopa and my body was slain in cold blood while I unknowingly slumbered. For some reason my soul had not become one with the Star Road upon my physical body’s death and it was then that I realized the horrifying truth. I myself had bound my very heart to the Koopa and so my soul could never find peace within the Star Road. I was a lost soul, a tortured spirit and for many a years I wandered this earth more isolated than I ever was before. Until, when fortune came, my spirit wandered into the heart of the Dark Land where I came face to face with the almighty Lord Bowser.”

    “He was just beginning to plot his first full-scale attack upon the Mushroom Kingdom. Unlike other beings I would come in contact with, Bowser could see and hear me and had even been expecting me. He said that he knew of the deal of which I had made with Wart and that it was time to collect the payment for my supposed freedom. Not understanding exactly what Bowser had in store, he showed me the prototype of a giant robotic-like bomb that would house my spirit, giving me the ability to interact in the physical world as if I were alive. I was to possess this chamber and give it a life… a soul. Of course, I agreed to this without so much as a second thought. Even if I was given a choice, which I wasn’t, I could stand the torment of isolation no longer. After performing a strange ceremony, I was reborn into this world as a Bomb-Omb… But not just any Bomb-Omb… I would be the leader of all the Bomb-Ombs… I would be a King once again!”

    “After months of training under the personal guidance of Bowser, my soul became twisted, my heart decayed and I grew cold and cruel. I was no longer the good man that I once was. I was King of the Bomb-Ombs and so be it I would not fail my new people like I failed my old. And so did I train for thirty years all the Bomb-Ombs of the Koopa Army.”

    “A few years back, after a number of Bowser’s plots had failed miserably at the hands of the Super Mario Brothers, he had ordered me to help him in his new scheme. He stole the 120 Toadstool Power Stars, kidnapped the Princess and using his black magic, he opened up all her paintings in her newly built castle making them a gateway into the newly invaded lands he had conquered, thus setting a trap for the Super Mario. He had then entrusted me with a single Power Star to watch over as I guarded the Mountain of the Bomb-Omb Battlefield. When the Super Mario showed up, as predicted, his strength was still no match for me even with the help of the Power Star. I was defeated by the Super Mario, my sacred possession reclaimed. I had failed the Koopa Empire for my first and last time. After Mario defeated all of Bowser’s minions including Bowser himself and reclaimed the entire 120 Toadstool Power Stars, as well as rescuing the Princess… Bowser was insanely mad. He threw every last one of those involved in his failed plot into the Koopaharian Dungeons. And so have I been moved around to various dungeons until three years ago, when I was chained up next to you seven; the spawn of Bowser himself.”

    “Imagine my surprise when I saw you seven in a place that was reserved for the lowliest of Bowser’s scum. The King Koopa’s own children, being punished as if they were no better than a common Goomba. I knew you seven must have been enraged with your father. About as enraged as I was. So when this plan of escape formed in my mind, I knew that you seven were the perfect creatures to execute the many steps of my own grand and difficult plot.”

    “When I self-destruct… I will shatter this brick wall into a million pieces including the metal bars of your cell. Bowser never knew that fourteen years ago, I had discovered a way to blow myself up thus letting by spirit escape this living prison. Never wanting to face isolation again, I stayed in my body and did as I was told. I had contemplated releasing myself many times during my stay in the Koopaharian Dungeons… But that wouldn’t have been wise. For escape is just the beginning of my plan.”

    “As a spirit, how could I possibly murder anyone? I have wanted and want more than anything for the two people responsible for my being in here DEAD… Just as I know you Koopalings want these two individuals dead. King Bowser Koopa and the Super Mario must pay for their crimes against us.”

The Bomb-Omb stopped talking as he stared at the Koopalings whose eyes were unblinking and unwavering, returning his gaze. What were the Koopalings to say? They had heard this plan of escape and why they were doing it for three years, but now that it was actually going to happen… The magnitude of what they were doing seemed unfathomable.

    “Once I self-destruct, my presence will no longer be seen or heard nor will I be able to interact in the physical world in any way. You seven will have the burden of carrying out all that I desire, all that I cannot do. You will kill your evil father and the Super Mario before the 100th Anniversary of the Mushroom Kingdom. We cannot let Bowser’s war go through. With Bowser and the Super Mario out of the way there will be nothing to stop us from our taking over the Mushroom Kingdom and ruling it as we see fit. This assassination of Bowser and Mario is not only for revenge, but also for the very future of the Mushroom World. The oppressed shall become the mighty.”

A new thought entered Lawrence “Larry” Koopa’s brain. A situation that the Bomb-Omb would not expect, but Larry felt it had to be addressed anyway. “What if after we escape, we ignore your other plans and don’t kill our father and the Super Mario?”

    “Then it will be your death bed. It is very unwise to even contemplate betraying the man who will be giving you your freedom. I might be a spirit unable to do harm in the physical world for a short while… But fortune and chance have a funny way of coming back to those who need it the most. The price for your freedom is death. Mark my words, that if Lord Bowser and the Super Mario are not dead by the 100th Anniversary of the Mushroom Kingdom, what happened to you seven here in the dungeons will seem like a tea party after I am through with you. Now I will ask this once and once only before I execute your escape in a few hours. Can and will you get this murderous plan done?”

Horrific screams of incredible torture in the distance made the group conspiring fall grotesquely quiet. It was the Lakitu and he was about to enter the final stages of his torture. The Koopalings knew what was to happen once those terrible screams of death stopped. With one long last high-pitched yelp of the Lakitu, the Koopalings, like a reflex-action, instantaneously curled up into that of a ball as if to shield themselves. A tickling of the overhead pipes soon intensified into that of a powerful force rushing with incredible speed. The Koopalings whole cell rumbled and shook. Suddenly, overhead sprinkler systems sprang into life, showering the Koopalings with a red liquid. Blood. Blood of the latest victim lost to the Koopaharian Dungeons.

Minutes past as what seemed like an endless year of a twisted rainstorm continued. Unable to take this torture any longer Wendy O vomited, deathly repulsed at what was happening to her and her brothers. This would happen to them periodically throughout the day whenever a prisoner was executed. Gasping for breath, the warm and distinct taste of blood mixed with the sour and bitter taste of bile that still lingered in Wendy O Koopa’s mouth.

Finally, the red rain was slowing down and the seven Koopa’s tried as best they could to compose themselves. All of them were shaking. All seven of them had tears in their eyes. Any debate or doubt they might have had became crystal clear at that moment.

    “You needn’t worry about us getting the job done,” vowed Ludwig lowly and with contempt. “Nothing will fill me with as much pleasure as making the two people responsible for our lives being a literal living hell, pay. Death to the Lord Bowser! Death to the Super Mario!”

    “They will pay,” agreed Roy.

    “They will pay,” agreed Morton.

And so one by one, six of the seven Koopalings vowed their revenge until it grew into that of riotous chanting.

As Wendy O Koopa stared at the floor watching as the blood swirled and twirled down the drain with sickening gulps… She too made that pledge softly yet more sincere than any of her brothers…

                “They will pay…”