Archive of Our Own ^beta

There was an far away monarchy named Mushroom Kingdom. This kingdom consist of numerous ecosystems, ranging from poisonous swamps, gloomy forests, burning hot deserts and many more. However by far the most populated area in this land is a rather small town named Toad Town, which is located somewhere in the grassland area.

The brick roads of the town were accompanied by a few broadleaf trees and patches of grass on the each side. The colorful stone-made houses were placed near the roads, randomly placed altogether. In the middle of the town there was a large sparkling fountain. The water gently flew down the architecture from a five point star statue. The birds were bathing in the water. Around the town there were little mushroom-like fellows named Toads walking around and minding their own business. Behind the town there was a big gray castle with orange roofs. The castle had a giant stained glass in the middle. The stained glass had the figure of a blonde princess in pink dress on it. In front of the castle there was a wooden bridge, connecting the land and the building itself. The towering albeit majestic castle was surrounded by clear water with few fish in it.

Nothing eventful was happening in the town….or at least every day that is not Wednesday.

Every single Wednesday they get attacked by the opposing kingdom. That kingdom is known as Bowser's Kingdom, named after the fierce but dim-witted tyrant himself. Every single invasion ends up him kidnapping the monarch of the Mushroom Kingdom herself, Princess Peach. Luckily for her she always gets saved by her loyal plumbers, Mario and Luigi. In the end of the day, Bowser's rear always gets kicked. But on one certain Wednesday, things went down quite differently than usual.

It was a sunny, cloudless day in Toad Town. Toads were just doing their own business, be it trading or just being nice to each other. Mario, Luigi and Peach were having a tea party in the castle. The light through stained glass reflected beautifully on the checkered floor. The walls were painted in blue, accompanied by the paintings of the fluffy clouds and sentient hills. The trio were sitting behind the round table, sipping the tea that Peach has made.

"Mamma Mia! That is a very good-a tea!" complimented Mario.

"Thank you for inviting us for a tea-a party, Princess!" Luigi also complimented Peach.

"Aww, I'm glad that you guys like it." smiled Peach towards them.

Suddenly dark thundering clouds appeared out of nowhere. The once cloudless, blue sky turned into a thunderous, darkness filled celestial dome. Residents were panicking over the drastic change, running around circles in the town. Multiple lightnings struck down the soil of the town. No trees were damaged though. The thunder echoed through the town and beyond. Even the sentient hills were frightened. The interior of the castle darkened a lot. Peach was shaking in fear while Mario was looking around confusingly. Luigi nearly fell unconscious because of this.

"Luigi!" shouted both Mario and Peach, being concerned for his well being.

Numerous flashes enlightened the entire castle. Every time a burst of light happened, a silhouette appeared behind the stained glass. An imposing, turtle-like silhouette. Luigi regained his consciousness and noticed the threat. Mario and Luigi quickly recognized the shadow behind the glass and glared menacingly at it. Peach stood behind them, knowing that she will be safe.

"GWAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR!" the reptilian silhouette roared with laughter. Suddenly the silhouette jumped through the stained glass and absolutely shattered it into pieces. It was none other than Bowser, their mortal arch-nemesis. Bowser landed on the checkered floor, breaking some of the tiles in the process. Mario and Luigi put up their fists as they were about to fight. The menacing turtle looked at his enemies.

"Hey, Mario! Guess what day it is? It is the day where I SWOOP Peach right in front of your nose and claim your kingdom as MINE!" said Bowser as he prepared himself to reach Princess Peach.

The plumbers stared down to him as they were about to strike Bowser any moment now. They stared at him for quite some time. Suddenly their frowns and glaring eyes turned into a smile and they looked very relaxed. They were waving their hands as they were about to leave Bowser. Even Peach was waving towards Bowser. She was giggling at this.

"...WHAT?! WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING?! HOW DARE YOU LAUGH AT ME! DID I SAY SOMETHING FUNNY?" roared the enraged Bowser.

Bowser noticed something weird about this situation.

"Huh….my knees feel a bit funny." he said, checking the wobbly feeling of his legs.

Little did he know that Mario, Peach and Luigi were expecting him to attack. Luigi pointed at the floor. Bowser looked at the floor and saw that he landed on a large spring.

"WHA-" screamed Bowser before he was launched off, flying right through the very stained window that he obliterated. He was yelling through out the whole of his "journey"

"So long, King Bowser!" said Mario as he laughed harder with his companions.

The dark clouds have disappeared from the sky and it was blue once again. Bowser was flying through the Toad Town. He was flailing his arms through the whole time. During his flight he could see the other lands as well, even the far away sea and the sentient hills of the near. The direction of his flight seemed like it's gonna end near the fountain, where a bunch of Toads gathered together. Toads revealed that they were preparing a huge trampoline for him. Bowser hit the trampoline with high velocity and full force, but the trampoline was sturdy and flexible enough to bounce him high in the air once again. Toads cherished this moment with all their joy and jumped in the air, knowing that they defeated their enemy.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" screamed Bowser as he was launched in the air once again.

The direction of the traveling turtle was south, approaching the poisonous swamps. The swamps were covered in purple fog. The gloomy, spiky trees accompanied the scattered ponds. At the edge of the swamp there was a crystal clear pond, standing out of the other toxin-filled ponds. It seemed like Bowser was going to land right into the clean pond. Bowser somehow dodged all the trees while falling in the straight line and splashed right into that pond. He did not stay for too long as the giant boxing glove spring from the bottom of the lake punched him and sending him right back into the atmosphere once again. Bowser couldn't even react because this happened so quickly. This time he was gaining height vertically.

The troposphere above the swamps was full of fluffy, cotton-like clouds, which were slowly floating to the destination unknown. The sun shone through them with sunshine popping out of them. Some of the clouds were formed together, looking like an ocean of aerosol. Bowser was still flailing his arms like a maniac. He passed through multiple clouds as he slowly started to lose speed. At the certain height, he disappeared in the very thick cloud. For few moments he was stuck in that cloud. Nothing could be heard but silence.

Suddenly Bowser was launched out of the aforementioned cloud, being faster than before. However, he didn't even bother to react. He just sighed and supported his head with his left arm, embracing his impending fate. His orange eyebrows were wiggling around as the wind blew in them. He was approaching the surface with almost the speed of sound. Once he passed through all the view-obscuring clouds again, he saw his destination. It was his own kingdom.

The corrosive red soil painted the barren wasteland that was his kingdom. The land was surrounded by the boiling lava instead of gentle water. The volcanoes were emerging from the lakes of lava, constantly spouting the hot molten substance, filling the lakes with it. In the middle of the land an enormous dark gray castle stood proudly. The entrance had a giant sculpture of Bowser's head on it, which would welcome any guest with dread. The roof resembled Bowser's own shell. The towers were designed so they would resemble Bowser's arms. The castle signified the tyrant's malicious influence. The castle was connected by the robust, metallic bridge. Bowser, still in the same pose, crashed right before the bridge, leaving a rather large crater and dust flew up in the sky. Once the dust settled, Bowser stood up, having no bruises anywhere on his body. Only a bit of dust was in his eyes, but he cleaned them out quickly. He looked at his castle and took a deep breath before suddenly smashing his fist in the ground, causing a tiny earthquake. He then stomped the ground with his bulky feet, causing even more minor earthquakes.

"THAT'S IT! THIS IS THE LAST TIME I'VE BEEN SO HUMILIATED IN MY LIFE!" roared Bowser as he raised his arms in the air, vowing revenge. He slowly walked to the entrance, stomping all the way through.

The turtle men named Koopas and brown bipedal fungus-like creatures named Goombas were residing in the castle. They could feel the stomps of their enraged ruler as they bounced around the concrete floor.

"Prepare yourself, boys! The King's coming!" screamed a random Koopa as the two lines of people were created by the both sides of the red carpet, on one side Koopas and on the other side Goombas, standing calmly like statues. The stomping abruptly stopped. Koopas and Goombas were breathing heavily, knowing what would happen next.

Bowser punched the massive door, sending it thrusting through the hallway. The door crashed into another door and fell in pieces.

"Whelp, here goes the new door that we've been repairing for months." sighed a generic Goomba.

Bowser, having a scowling frown on his face and lowered eyebrows, was stomping to the end of the hallway while his troops were trembling in their knees.

"H-h-h-how was your day, Your Majesty?" asked an unimportant Koopa.

Bowser stopped at that Koopa and glared at him with steam coming out of his nose. His eyes were filled with the fires of wrath. His fists were shaking like an volcano that was about to erupt.

"How was it? HOW WAS IT?! DOES IT LOOK LIKE IT'S BEEN A GOOD DAY FOR ME?" said Bowser, pointing at his eyes. He then stomped further as his troops were bouncing on the floor.

The unsatisfied king continued walking towards the exit after his tantrum has subsided.

Later that day he was sitting on his beloved throne, constantly tapping the arm of the chair with his meaty fingers. The humongous, spiky throne styled after himself was surrounded by the barren gray walls of the castle. The room was lightened by the golden chandeliers which spherical beings with jagged teeth like Chain-Chomps held them from the ceiling. These chandeliers weren't the only source of the light. Some of the floor had holes in it. They were filled with lava. On the walls from all sides were pictures of Bowser himself performing various acts such as terrorizing the inhabitants of the unknown kingdom, bombarding Mushroom Kingdom with his wooden, ferocious airships and playing tennis with Princess Peach. However the biggest picture was just behind the throne. It covered three of the fourths of that wall. It portrayed himself, standing proudly with his own eight children. Below the picture there was a caption that said: "Me with my family, being awesome!".

Bowser was just staring at whatever was in front of his nose, still tapping his fingers on the arm of the throne and not changing his expression at all. He didn't even blink at all for hours.

Suddenly a robed turtle wizard broke through the door, slamming it hard on the wall. It was Kamek, his loyal companion. Bowser has noticed him but he didn't react in any way.

"Master Bowser! What is the reasons for such sour mood?" asked Kamek.

"Oh, nothing. It was just that I'VE BEEN FLYING OVER THE ENTIRE MUSHROOM KINGDOM LIKE A FOOL." replied Bowser, with all of his rage intact.

"Calm down, Your Mayesty! It was just a bad day! Don't take it to your stone cold heart too much." tried Kamek to calm down Bowser, but to no effect.

"Kamek, you don't get the point! It's not just that I've been humiliated so hard, it's the fact that THEY KNEW I WAS COMING! THOSE PESKY PLUMBERS KNEW WHEN AND WHERE I WAS ABOUT TO LAND! THEY EVEN KNEW HOW TO SEND ME BACK THERE! I've spend months, MONTHS, preparing for my "THUNDEROUS SURPRISE SWOOP" plan and it was all for NOTHING! The worst part is…..I didn't even lay a finger on Princess Peach. She….didn't took me seriously at all..." said Bowser as his emotions changed from blazing fury towards the unusual somberness of his. He looked at the floor and sniffed quietly.

"….Darn. Sorry to hear that, King Bowser." said Kamek, thinking about helping Bowser but he had no idea how to help. He scratched her chin, trying to come up with a decent idea.

"Maybe…..maybe we should attack someday that is not Wednesday." said Kamek.

"Bwah! You know I'm busy every single day in the week that is not Wednesday!? As a king I have duties to do!" Bowser quickly disputed Kamek's claims.

Long silence followed after this conversation. They were both thinking of a solution to this problem.

"Kamek…." Bowser suddenly spoke in a calm way.

"Yes, Your Majesty?" asked Kamek.

"Did I become too….uhhh….rusty?" asked Bowser somberly.

"What? N-n-no, Your-" spouted Kamek before Bowser slammed his fist on the arm, interrupting whatever Kamek was about to say.

"HAVE YOU NOT BEEN LISTENING TO ME BEFORE? I WOULDN'T BE SAYING THIS IF NONE OF THIS NONSENSE WOULD HAPPEN!" raged Bowser for a bit, before taking a deep breath and trying to come up with something rational.

"I've become predictable for them….What should I do to….NOT be as EMBARRASSINGLY DEFEATED AS I WAS TODAY?!" shouted Bowser so much that it echoed through the entire castle.

"Perhaps...you should start a new way..." said Kamek before being silenced by the sound of Bowser slamming his fist in the arm of the chair again, but this time he stood up as he was about to beat someone.

"WHAT? ARE YOU CRAZY? ARE YOU SAYING THAT I SHOULD…..GIVE UP? NO! I, THE GREAT AND ALMIGHTY BOWSER, WILL NEVER GIVE UP PURSUING PRINCESS PEACH, EVEN IF IT WILL TAKE MILLION YEARS! I'VE BEEN KIDNAPPING HER FOR YEARS AND I SHOULD JUST TOSS THAT LIKE NOTHING? THAT IS ONE OF THE STUPIDEST IDEAS I HAVE HEA-" hammed up Bowser so much that lava almost smelled like bacon.

"...I was about to say that you should change your approach towards kidnapping Peach, not abandoning your villainous roots but okay." Kamek quietly interrupted Bowser's glamorous rant.

"...OH?! So that's what you meant? Go on then…tell me about this "new ways" of kidnapping Princess Peach." said Bowser as he returned to his throne and sat down.

"Well...I would suggest invading her kingdom with something else than Koopas and Goombas."

advised Kamek, which Bowser surprisingly thought about it in depth.

"Hmmm...come to think of it…..Mario and Green Sta...uhh...Luigi do destroy my army single handily….more often than they should…." thought Bowser out loud.

Kamek suddenly remembered why he did visit Bowser. He said: "Oh, I have forgotten about what was I supposed to tell you, Master Bowser!".

"Yeah, what is it?" asked Bowser as raised both of his eyebrows. He made a gesture with his fingers like he was planning something.

"Well...come with me, King. I must show you something" said Kamek.

Kamek lead Bowser through out his castle to reach the balcony, which was located just below the gigantic roof. The balcony had the fence out of marble placed on the edges. A person could get a nice sight of Bowser's kingdom in this place. In the far distance there were large mountains, which at the certain height were covered by the black clouds. These mountains were surrounded by the fellow volcanoes and lava lakes. The particles of dust could be seen by the naked eye.

"Do you see these mountains, Your Highness?" asked Kamek.

"Yes, I have eyes you know." replied Bowser in a deadpan way.

Kamek pointed at the middle mountain and explained: "Well on the highest mountain we have discovered a rather old looking warp pipe there-".

"DOES THAT MEAN THAT THOSE CURSED PLUMBERS HAD A SECRET ENTRANCE TO MY LAIR ALL THE TIME AND I DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT IT?" Bowser interruped Kamek once again with his sudden outburst.

"Fortunately no, Majesty. That is, indeed, not a secret path." said Kamek.

"Phew….perhaps the idea for a secret path to my lair for them is too far-fetched right?" calmed down Bowser.

Kamek continued his explanation: "Perhaps...Anyway….There isn't much information about the pipe. There's only a sign that says: "Enter at your own risk. Seriously. I don't even know where this leads to.". It is located at the highest peak, right on the top, if you are curious."

Bowser looked at the Kamek with curiosity and asked: "Does that mean that this pipe…..might lead to another world?".

Kamek shrugged off with his arms. "Why do you ask, Your Majesty?" he asked.

"If I go to another world…..I COULD BUILD AN ARMY OF PEOPLE STRONGER THAN MARIO! YEAH!" he shouted, but not as loud that it would echo through out the kingdom.

"Uhh...are you sure about..." asked Kamek in concern but Bowser disappeared from his sight. The Koopa wizard looked around to see where did his king go. For a few seconds there was not a single sound through out the entire kingdom. Kamek cleaned his glasses for a bit for the better vision. Suddenly a noise could be heard. It was similar to a tiny propeller cutting through air, making a low sounding but high pitched noise. Once Kamek cleared his vision, he saw Bowser soaring through skies with his own personal transport, the round Koopa Clown Car. He was also laughing like a maniac.

"….that." frowned Kamek upon seeing his king recklessly flying to the new destination.

Suddenly Bowser turned 180 degrees around and rushed back to his home.

"WAIT, WAIT, WAIT, WAIT, WAIT!" he was screaming through out the whole time while he was rushing back home. Kamek flinched for a moment when he saw Bowser's sudden decision. Bowser crashed right into the balcony with his Clown Car, but none of the balcony was seriously damaged and the vehicle itself only had few bruises on it.

"HOW DID THIS SLIP OUT OF MY MIND?!" he vigorously shouted as he bum-rushed through his entire castle. Kamek just stared at this, being speechless.

In the northwest tower of the castle there was a large kids room. There were four bunk beds in the room, all of them shaped in the Bowser's style. The walls of this room were colored in almost the same way as Princess Peach's castle, except that instead of sentient hills and stars were rugged looking mountains and chains coming out of the lava. On one of their walls there was a medium sized TV, which had a console plugged in below. The console was called Super Bowsercube 64 Deluxe Edition, which was a bootleg consisting of multiple consoles. There were eight kids in the room, playing with their console. These kids of different appearances were called Ludwig, Morton, Lemmy, Wendy, Iggy, Roy, Larry and Bowser Jr.. The game was played by Morton, Roy, Ludwig and Bowser Jr.. The other Koopalings were intensely looking at the game and rooting for whoever they wanted.

Suddenly Bowser entered the room with force. All of the kids jumped in surprise.

"JUNIOR AND KOOPALINGS! I MAY NEED YOU FOR A MOMENT!" he shouted like it was an urgency.

"What is it, Papa?" they asked.

Bowser sat down next to them and took a deep breath, having a hard time explaining his decision.

"Well, you see….Dad's gonna go on a journey...Perhaps a long one at that. So I'm not gonna be home for quite some time." he said, almost bursting in the tears.

"Where are you going, pops?" asked Bowser Jr..

"….I dunno, Junior. But I guarantee you this: Once I come back….I WILL HAVE A STRONG ARMY! ENOUGH STRONG THAT IT WILL CRUSH MARIO LIKE A BUG!" he declared, much to his own kid's joy.

"Can we go, can we go too?" asked Larry and Iggy.

Bowser looked sadly at them, knowing that he can't fulfill their desires.

"….Sorry, but I can't let you. It's….too dangerous for all of you." he murmured while looking at the floor.

"Awwww…." all of the kids shouted in union.

"I WANNA SMASH!" shouted Morton as he stomped on the floor.

Bowser pat Morton's shoulder and said: "You will smash your enemies like bugs, Morton. WE ALL WILL…..but once I know it will be safe for all of you to join my cruise. However…..".

The kids looked at their dad, curiously waiting what will he say.

"…..you can all take control of my kingdom when I'm gone!" he promised them.

The kids gasped in excitement. "REALLY?" they all shouted in surprise.

"YES INDEED, MY CHILDREN! BUT….TAKE CARE OF IT! DON'T LEAVE IT IN SHAMBLES, PLEASE!" he ordered them with excitement.

Koopalings and Junior all cheered for Bowser's statement. "THANKS, DAD!" they all shouted.

"YOU'RE WELCOME! BUT NOW I MUST GO! I HAVE SO MUCH TO DO!" he said as he was about to leave their room but stopped.

"Just...one more thing." he said as he proceeded to hug all of his kids. He slightly squeezed them but not too much and then he let them go continue playing their games.

"BYE, POPS!" they all shouted as they waved at him in farewell.

Bowser rushed through the castle once again, this time returning to the balcony, where he had his Koopa Clown Car "parked". He jumped straight in the vehicle but before he went on the journey, he gave an order to Kamek: "KAMEK! YOU MUST TAKE CARE OF MY KIDS WHILE I'M ABSENT! THAT IS YOUR ONLY ORDER TODAY!".

"Yes, Sir Bowser!" he saluted towards the ascending Bowser. After his king left the area, he turned around a sighed: "Oh dear…..".

Bowser was slowly approaching the mountains, flying higher and higher. He reached the layer of black, particle filled clouds. He couldn't see anything but dust when he flew through the clouds. He covered his nose so that particles of dust won't enter his nostrils. Some of the particles did go in his eyes so he was squinting during the time he flew through the fog. After the minutes of the flight he finally escaped the clouds. He cleaned his eyes out and threw the particles back into the clouds but due the wind, which was blowing towards him, made particles enter his mouth. He started coughing loudly. Bowser coughed so hard that he spat a fireball towards the clouds. Once the fireball reached the clouds, an explosion occurred in them due the explosive nature of the particles. Bowser stared at the moment with wide eyes, not expecting that would happen at all. He quickly returned to his own plan and flew higher towards the highest mountain.

The highest mountain (actual name unknown) dwarfed other mountains in comparison. Some of the mountains had their peaks showing just barely over the layer of fog. The aforementioned mountain on other hand, was so high that it almost seemed that it could reach stratosphere. On the peak there was a rusty steel pipe, standing over the kingdom like a lonely buzzard. There was a sign next to it that said: " Enter at your own risk. Seriou-". The sign couldn't display its full message because half of it fell off.

Bowser finally reached the pipe. He was floating right above it. He looked at it and smirked.

"HAH! NOW I HAVE FINALLY FOUND YOU, PIPE! NEW SOLDIERS TO GAIN AND NEW WORLDS TO CONQUER! HERE I GO!" he screamed as he jumped out of his Clown Car.

He fell like a stone being thrown out of the window. He was also laughing during his descent. He landed in the pipe but he got stuck in it. The joy on his face quickly turned into frustration.

"ARGH! STUPID PIPE!" he shouted once again as he attempted to squeeze in the pipe so he could finally reach another world. After few seconds he finally fell in the pipe, rapidly accelerating his fall into the unknown.

The pipe that Bowser entered lead to an underground infrastructure made out of complex of tunnels. The brown walls of the pipes were full of decaying rust and filthy mold. In the middle of pipes a repulsively green water, containing variety of quite repugnant and unsavory stuff, slowly flown across it. The flowing fluid was accompanied by sidewalks on both sides, on which rats, filled with fleas, quietly crawled on them. Ceilings occasionally had steel manholes on them, some of them closed and some of them open. The open manholes were the only source of this garbage infested series of corridors. Each of the manhole had a rusty ladder beneath them, so that anyone who enters the sewers could go out of them. Anyone could get lost in this foul scented labyrinth made out of filth-filled pipes.

One of the pipes intersected the path of a drain that leads to the unknown. The pipe itself lead to a surprisingly clean wall. It seemed like somebody actually took time to rub all the trash on it. Suddenly echoing screaming of Bowser could be heard from that pipe. Due to velocity he was launched out of the pipe, crashing directly into that wall. The wall was left will a deep mark of Bowser's entire body on it with few cracks aside. Not much time has passed and Bowser already fell of the wall and hit the floor hard. He quickly got up and looked around the place.

"WHAT IS THIS PLACE? IT'S DARK AND….OH CRUD!..." he said as he covered his nostrils with his hand.

"….it also STINKS!" he added to his own comment.

He walked on the sidewalk of the tunnel, looking at what sewers offered him in disgust. Bowser was also covering his nose all the time due the ghastly scent of sewerage. Bowser reached the right turn of the sidewalk as he saw something in the water. There were a dead goldfish, empty turtle shell and a can of soda slowly floating on the greenish liquid. Bowser just stared at it in shock.

"Well...I'll pretend I have never seen that." he said before he continued walking in his own direction. His stomps could be heard from anywhere in the sewers, despite that he walked quite silently for his standards. He had a scowl on his face due this place not living up to his grandiose expectations.

"How am I supposed to get an army in a such place like THIS? Nobody even lives here!" he thought out loud. He continued walking as he encountered rats on the other sidewalk. Brown, dirty rodents quickly fled away at the sight of the stomping Bowser. He looked at them squeaking away, both disgruntled and disappointed at the same time.

"What can you even do with the army of RATS? NOTHING I SAY!" Bowser talked to himself again. He uncovered his nose so he could inhale some air, but he quickly put the palm on his nose back. He coughed just enough that he didn't spit fire.

Suddenly slightly loud footsteps could be heard. Bowser stopped as he looked at the both sides, searching for the source of the echo. The footsteps were getting louder and louder.

"WHO IS IT? WHO'S MAKING THIS NOISE?!" asked Bowser in panic as he put up his fists up. A silhouette of a man in the hat appeared in the lit area of sewers. It appeared that he hold a gun in his hand. When Bowser saw the shadow of the gun, he clutched his fists and prepared the fighting stance. The silhouette was getting bigger as the unknown man approached further. At this point Bowser was imitating a professional boxer, performing various rolls of punches in the thin air. The shadowy person stepped out of the corner. The man had a navy blue tuxedo and stylish silk trousers of the same color. Underneath the tuxedo he had a plain white shirt with black buttons. He also wore a black tie. On his head there was a navy blue fedora that he wore it for some reason. He hold a quite large silver revolver with the black handle in his left hand. The man had a plain white, expressionless mask on his face. The masked man approached Bowser slowly. Bowser still had his fists up in the air, prepared for the combat. The man put his fancy revolver in his left pocket. Both of them stared at each other while not making a single movement. The man looked around for a bit.

"Well then….that's not somethin' you see everyday." said the man to himself. He stepped closer to Bowser, but still far enough so that Bowser's arms could not reach him.

"Smells good, doesn't it?" he said to the combat ready turtle as he was his old friend.

WHO ARE YOU AND HOW DARE YOU IMPLY THAT THIS PLACE SMELLS GOOD?!" shouted Bowser at the man.

"….Oh this is gonna be a fun individual…." sighed the masked man as he put his palm on his mask in disbelief.

"I STILL HAVEN'T GOT MY QUESTIONS ANSWERED, YOU MASKED FANCY PANTS!" shouted Bowser once again.

"Why don't you introduce yourself first because I have no idea what the hell am I lookin' at?" groaned the man in the tuxedo.

Bowser put his hand on his chest like he was just shot in the heart. He said: "What are you looking at, you say? I'll tell you what are you looking at!".

Bowser dramatically raised his arm up as he was preparing for his speech. Then he continued: "You are looking at none other than ME, THE EMPEROR OF EVIL, THE PROFESSIONAL KIDNAPPER, THE SCOURGE OF MUSHROOM KINGDOM AND THE SWOON MASTER, REGENT OF ROMANCE, BOWSER! I AM THE MIGHTY RULER OF MY OWN KINGDOM, WHERE I LEAD MY OWN INCOMPE…..I MEAN FRIGHTENING ARMY! And let me tell you this! There is no other person that's greater than ME!"

The man just stared at him in utter bafflement. He then looked at the floor for a bit, thinking about what will he say to Bowser.

"Half of what you just said was comprehensible." said the masked man.

"Huh? I thought I was loud and clear! Do I need to explain it again!?" said Bowser as he angrily glared at the man.

"Look, I get the picture. Your name is Bowser and you're from some kingdom of mushrooms. No need for further explanations. I'm a busy man so I gonna make this quick." said the man very calmly as he grabbed his revolver, just so he could spin it on his index finger.

"Busy with WHAT?! Spinning that thing on your finger?" asked Bowser.

"Nothin' for you to care about. Anyway, I go with the name of…..George." said the masked man while doing a gesture similar to shrugging.

"...That's it?" asked Bowser, once again slightly being underwhelmed by his expectations.

"Yes, that's it. I have no time for the kitschy nicknames." said George bluntly as he put his revolver back in his pocket once again. Bowser frowned as he heard that.

"Follow me if you even wanna survive here." requested George. Bowser willingly, but not very happily followed George.

"...What a killjoy..." thought Bowser to himself, being disgruntled again.

George and Bowser were now walking towards the unknown destination as the measly rats ran away from the sight of them. The repulsive water accompanied the rustic sidewalks. Bowser was looking around the tunnel with an utter disgust while George hasn't even flinched about the things happening near them. There was a lot of trash floating on the water.

"Man, how do you even get used to a such a DISGUSTING place as this?! Yuck!" asked Bowser as they were currently walking.

"Simple. You just do after some time." shrugged off George.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU JUST DO?! WHAT KIND OF ANSWER IS THAT?!" shouted Bowser as he glared at George.

"Enough to be considered a valid answer." bluntly said George as Bowser glared at him even more but he couldn't come up with anything else.

"You are being cheeky with me, aren't you?" said Bowser as he lifted his index finger, indicating that he might beat up George.

George just ignore Bowser's threat. After minutes of snooping around the sewer, they have finally stopped at some corner with a rusty, rustic door on it. George seized in his right pocket and found a rather antique looking key ring with five keys on it. He used one of the keys to open the door. Bowser looked at what was George doing with no particular interest, but it piqued once he revealed what was inside that room.

The room had a big gramophone inside it. The left wall was plastered with vinyl records of various jazz, blues and swing musicians. The gramophone near the left wall was playing a smooth melody of swing. The walls themselves were unusually devoid of any mold and rust. There was also a shelf on the right wall. Shelf was full of perfumes. Under the shelf there were wire hangers, all of them had the same navy blue suits that George was wearing. For some reason there was a wardrobe opposite the door, but it didn't had suits inside them. A Thompson submachine gun was lying right next to the gramophone, possibly loaded.

"If you lay a finger on anythin' here, I'll shoot you and throw your corpse in the water." warned George, pointing his gun at Bowser's face.

"Shoot me? Now that is just RUDE! I mean I just come here and you already want to get rid of me?" said Bowser, outraged by George's threat and trying to push away his gun.

"….Didn't you heard "If" in my statement?" glanced George at Bowser, being a bit baffled by his reaction. He put his revolver back in his pocket.

"STILL! Anyway there's nothing really THAT fascinating here…..." said Bowser. George glared at him for quite some time and tried to reach for his revolver once again before restraining himself to do it.

"….except that…..whatever that THING is over there. It looks like some kind of…..weapon." said Bowser as he pointed at the SMG.

"...Tommy?" asked George, also looking at the gun.

"WHAT?! What do you mean by that his name is Tommy? WHY IS IT CALLED TOMMY?!" shouted Bowser once again, exhausting George more and more.

"…..Do I have to explain everythin' to you? I mean you have your own eyes, damn it." groaned George but at the same time not being angered by Bowser's words.

"Considering that I JUST ARRIVED HERE, knowing absolutely NOTHING about this world and what things is this world gonna throw at me, YOU ABSOLUTELY SHOULD! NOW EXPLAIN ME WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS "TOMMY" CONTRAPTION!" said Bowser as he vigorously pointed at the Thompson again. George looked at the Bowser and put his palm on his face in total embarrassment. He knew that he couldn't insist on his stance because of the bombastic turtle man.

"Fine," said George, slightly hesitant, "I'll explain it to you. I normally wouldn't do this under normal circumstances, but,' with a pause, George took a good hard look at Bowser, and continued, "You're not normal circumstances. You're mental."

George walked up to the Tommy gun and picked it up. He cleaned the dust off of it. He walked closer towards Bowser, so that he could show him the gun in detail. Bowser looked at the gun as he was scratching his chin, showing some kind of interest. Bowser also raised his thick, orange eyebrows.

"This is what I call "Tommy gun". After displayin' your overly zealous interest of the origin of such nickname, I feel like I should mention that's it's actual name is Thompson submachine gun. It owes a lot of other nicknames but I stick to the classic one. It used to be a sight of terror in the city back in my day..." explained George before he got interrupted by Bowser.

"….What do you mean by "back in my day"? Are you saying that…..you're old? YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE A BEARD!" asked Bowser as he pointed at George, suspecting him of something. George just stared at him before he looked at his gun again.

"Come to think of it I have not seen anything resembling a skin on him. It could be that he's just dressed so ridiculously." Bowser thought to himself.

"...So in the drum magazine there are around 100 rounds of .45 ACP cartridges, which fire with the velocity of the 935 feet per second. It shoots 1500 rounds per minute, enough to leave a man ridden with bullet holes. For such a fire rate it is surprisingly accurate for a submachine gun, which makes it even more favorable. It has been used in various confli..." George continued explaining before he got interrupted again.

"BAH! THOSE COMPLICATED WORDS! IT MAKES MY BRAIN HURT!" screamed Bowser as he shook his head with the help of his hands.

"Bloody hell, do I have to go full layman on you?" silently groaned George as he put his hat all over his mask in utter shame before putting it back on his head. Bowser looked at him with a confused look on his face.

"Look...This is a Thompson gun or Tommy whatever you wanna call it. It fires many bullets at the very high speed accurately. Bullets are kept in the barrel. It is also a well liked gun because it gets its job done. Capisce?" said George calmly but frustration could be heard from his voice. He was also shaking the gun for a bit.

"...YEAH! I think I get it! It's a gun that shoots very fast and that it looks weird!" said Bowser as he pointed his index finger to the ceiling.

"Bravo, you get it." said George in a complete deadpan tone. He put his gun next to the gramophone, where it was before.

"...Although I do have few more questions…." said Bowser.

"What?" asked George.

"In your weapon thingamajig talk you mentioned some kind of city, haven't you?" asked Bowser.

George was silent for some time. He didn't even move an inch. Bowser was just about to shout at him when George finally opened his mouth:

"Did you really believe that entire world is just this one specific sewer?"

Bowser's eyes have opened and his irises have shrunk at the realization. He walked near the water and stared at his murky reflection for some time. He took a deep breath.

"Great, now I feel stupid." said Bowser as he continued looking at his reflection.

"Under normal circumstances, I would called you an idiot, but given that you're completely out of this world in both literal and figurative sense, I shall give you guidance to the outer world. Do not overly rely on me though." said George, deciding to lend Bowser a hand. Bowser gladly took George's offer and grinned.

"GOOD! Now tell me what city were you talking about!" requested Bowser.

George looked up to the ceiling and sighed. He shook his head slowly and put his arms on his hips.

"You're….under the New York City." said George dramatically, lifting his arms like he was some kind of poet.

"WHAT?! NEW YORK CITY?! What happened to the old York!?" asked Bowser as he jumped back a little. It was not exactly clear to him what was George talking about.

"The city that never sleeps….." murmured George as he was day dreaming before snapping out of it. He then said: "Oh, York is far away from the New York City, so it shouldn't be your concern.".

"I MUST SEE IT IMMEDIATELY!" said Bowser as he tried to bum rush away from George's room, but George quickly appeared in front of Bowser and stopped him.

"Hold it, wiseguy. You ain't goin' like that in the public of New York." said George.

Bowser stomped in the fit of anger as he shouted: "WHAT'S THE PROBLEM NOW?! CAN'T YOU JUST BE SATISFIED FOR ONCE?!".

"Look, if you go like this you'll either get ridiculed, beat up by gangs or cops or both at the same time. Do you wanna that?" explained George, taking a deep breath.

Bowser has calmed down after hearing George's words. He pointed at him and said: "I'll take your word for it, since you know about this world, right?".

"I'll get you a some sort of disguise. You'll wait here." commanded George.

Bowser grumpily sat down next to the rusty door and crossed his arms. George walked in his room and picked one of his vinyls from the wall. He put the vinyl on the turntable of the gramophone and set the tone arm on the vinyl. It played one of the soothing tracks of jazz. The vinyl itself had so many songs on it that anyone could listen it for hours. Just as George set the music for Bowser, he almost tripped over his Thompson. He got his balance back quickly and continued where he was going: to the city itself.

"Ciao, Bowser." said George as he went on his journey. He has disappeared from Bowser's vision.

"You better be quick!" warned Bowser, juggling his finger towards the direction George went.

Bowser was sitting alone next to the door, staring at the other side. He sniffed the air and noticed something.

"Hey, it doesn't smell that much anymore…...maybe that George chump was RIGHT all along." he said as he stopped covering his chunky nose. "And the music is actually good too! That chump also has a decent taste in music too!"

"….but could he AT LEAST be quick enough?" he sighed as he continued staring at the wall.

After some time has passed, Bowser started observing the other side of the sidewalk. He noticed some rats crawling on it.

"One….two….two rats..." he pointed at them while nearly falling asleep at it. He suddenly regained his energy and stood up.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT I'M DOING THIS! HOW COULD I, GREAT KING BOWSER, GO FROM CONQUERING TO COUNTING THOSE PESKY RATS!" he roared as he stomped with his foot, scaring the rats away from him. He growled as he sat down.

Even more time has passed as Bowser became even more impatient. This time he was walking in circles, tapping with his foot. However he has not said anything. He was growling in frustration.

Just minutes after this Bowser has finally snapped. His face was bloody red as steam came out of his nose. His eye was twitching rapidly. He stomped with his foot hard as he shouted for hundredth time: "WHAT'S TAKING HIM SO LONG!? COULDN'T HE JUST BE QUICKER WITH THIS?! ONCE HE RETURNS I'M GONNA-".

"I can hear you from here, you know…." echoed a familiar voice through the sewerage. Bowser shut his mouth and looked at the right side. George emerged from the shadowy tunnel, holding an enormous suit and a hat similar to his, but only brown instead. He threw the hat like a frisbee. The hat successfully landed on Bowser's head without him even noticing.

"Phew, I've got lucky that I've got this jacket in such quick time." said George.

"QUICK!? YOU CALL THIS QUICK?!" roared Bowser at George, desiring to strangle him.

"Well, it's been only one hour. In a city like this it could take an entire day to get anything." calmly explained George. He cleaned of his hat for a moment.

"One…..hour? ONE HOUR?! OOOOOONEEEEE HOOOOOUUUUUUR?! Then why did it feel like an ETERNITY?!" asked the startled Bowser. He jumped backwards a bit.

"Let's skip the trivial stuff and get to the real deal, capisce? Anyway, try this suit to see if it fits." said George as he offered the giant suit to Bowser.

"….Are people THIS big in this New York City?" asked Bowser as he looked quite worrisome at the suit.

"Yeah, you'll find a guy like this." answered George.

Bowser put on the offered suit on his body. The suit itself fit him quite well, although sleeves were sort of over-sized for him and the collar was comically large. It was big enough to cover most of Bowser's face. He walked to the water again to see his reflection.

"Woah, I look fancy! I feel like a true mobster right now!" mused Bowser as he made poses and flexed his muscles to boast about his appearance.

"I'll decide whenever you're a made man or not." said George bluntly.

"GREAT! Is it now time to go to this city already?" asked Bowser, trying to rush to his wanted destination as soon as possible.

"Do you need anythin' else before we proceed?" asked George before they went to their journey.

"Not at all!" said Bowser, thrilling with excitement.

"Then we go." said George.

Bowser and George walked away from the rusty door as they finally began their journey. They didn't go much farther from the door as they saw the ladder that lead to a closed manhole. The ladder itself was filled with rust and it looked like it could barely hold a very lightweight person. Bowser, without any hesitation, jumped on the ladder and started slowly climbing it. The ladder somehow hold off Bowser without any significant problems. George was looking at the Bowser while he was approaching the manhole.

"NEW YORK CITY! PREPARE YOURSELF FOR THE RECKONING THAT IS BOWSER!" boasted Bowser as he raised his fist up to the ceiling. He removed the manhole cover by slightly lifting it and pushing it aside. He tried jumping directly through the manhole cover, but unfortunately for him he hit the underside of the taxi car. The car jumped a little due to the impact of the turtleman's head. The horns on his head penetrated the middle of the underside.

"Huh?! What was that?! Did the engine screw up once again?" panicked the taxi driver. The other drivers and the passenger of the taxi glanced at him like he was responsible for something.

"I knew I shouldn't have gone to that car repairing service. Fucking frauds." murmured the taxi driver before focusing on his objective.

After the impact Bowser fell from the ladder like a stone and hit the floor hard.

"OUCH!" yelped Bowser as he gave himself a pat on the head. George just walked towards him and shook his head.

"It always happens to rookies, so don't think you're first one to experience this." said George.

"Did this ever happen to you?" Bowser questioned George's statement.

"No." bluntly answered George.

"Hmmmpf…." quietly groaned Bowser at George.

They walked away from this manhole to search another one that would lead to a better location. It didn't take long that they found another one.

Bowser looked at the manhole with suspicion. George was just whistling around and standing still.

"Hmmm….are you sure that I won't hit my head again?" asked Bowser.

"Maybe." shrugged off George.

"….Do you EVEN KNOW where are we going?" said Bowser as he was done with George's attitude.

"Yes, I know every corner of this city. Stop askin' me about stuff like that." said George, shutting off Bowser once again.

"One more thing. Don't interfere with anyone's business. That's your only job for now." warned George before Bowser proceeded to climb the ladder.

Bowser looked at the ceiling again and climbed the ladder. Once he reached the top, he slowly moved away the manhole cover. He squeezed through the narrow manhole, but somehow he reached his destination. George quickly followed him, but unlike Bowser, he didn't have any problems going through the manhole.

"Well, here we are." said George.

"…..Woooaaaah." gasped Bowser, finally seeing New York.

Bowser and George stood on the sidewalk of the road filled with cars in lines, beeping all the way through. Multiple flats of various sizes accompanied the roads with an occasional skyscraper standing out from a distance. A view of the colossal bridge could be seen from their standing point. On the other side of the standing point a huge amount of skyscrapers could been seen. Every single parking place near any building has been taken by someone's car. It seemed like there was no end to this city.

"..It...is...so….so…..GIANT! I haven't seen such a HUMONGOUS city like this before!" said Bowser as his breath was taken away from the sight of the city

"And to think of it that it was much smaller in my day….barely any cars on the road..." daydreamed George once again.

"Are you being nostalgic for this city AGAIN?!" groaned Bowser at him. George snapped out of his thoughts and fixed his hat.

"...So where are we going now?" asked Bowser.

George looked to the both sides of the sidewalk and thought about what path should he pick. Then he said: "This way."

Both of them went to the right, walking along the sidewalk while breaking through masses of people. People avoided them due them smelling like urinated toilet water. Bowser was enjoying the view of the city while George was staring forward. Suddenly George dragged Bowser into the nearest and safest alleyway.

"Oh, forgot about somethin'." said George as he whipped out a perfume out of his pocket. He sprayed the perfume all over himself and Bowser. Now they no longer smelled like urine, but instead they smelled like a mixture of strawberry and peach. Bowser took a deep breath as he smelled the scent of the perfume.

"Ahh...finally something that smells good!" complimented Bowser. After being done spraying themselves they continued on their journey.

The journey consisted of aimlessly wandering around the streets and avenues and not doing much. Bowser was once again looking at the buildings as the cars passed by, honking all the way through. He was thinking how would New York look under his rule. People were still avoiding them despite both of them not smelling awful anymore.

"What's the deal with people now!? We don't even smell THAT BAD!" complained Bowser.

"That's just your typical day for citizen. Avoidin' others while mindin' their own business. Now let's do the same, shall we?" shrugged off George. They continued the exact same thing as they did before: wandering aimlessly around.

Suddenly something has struck Bowser as their journey took a pause. Bowser's stomach growled as if it desired something. George glanced at him as he was weirded out.

"BAH! I DESIRE SOMETHING TO EAT!" shouted Bowser as he stomped with his foot.

He looked around the place. Luckily for him he found a small pizzeria just right next to him. A pizza delivered stepped right out of the pizzeria itself. He was holding six boxes of pizza. Bowser's hunger and desire to snatch the pizzas intensified. He was attempting to sneak behind the deliverer but poked his back and said:

"Don't.".

Bowser stopped this time but his desire was growing stronger and stronger. However his resistance quickly fell off due him succumbing to his hunger. He once again tried to sneak behind the deliverer once again but George stopped him, repeating his words once again:

"Don't".

Bowser also stopped again, but his desire overwhelmed him once again. Not even George could stop him now. He sneaked behind the pizza boy and poked him on his back. The pizza deliverer turned towards Bowser and being surprised at the size of the "person" who poked him.

"Yeah?" asked the pizza deliverer, not knowing what will happen to him next.

Bowser snatched all of the boxes in one swipe with one hand and and punched the pizza deliverer in the stomach, sending him across the street before crashing in the watch store. His impact broke the glass wall of the stole and potentially some of his bones. The public panicked at that event, running all across the street.

"W-W-WHAT?! WHY IS EVERYONE RUNNING AWAY NOW?!" screamed Bowser at the crowd.

"You idiot." sighed George as he covered his mask with his hand.

Suddenly an African American middle aged man ran near them and said to the public:

"Woah! He stole that guy's pizza!"

Just after he said that, the sound of sirens engulfed the whole street. George looked at the source of sound in dismay.

"The cops..." whispered George.

"THE COPS?! WHAT TO DO NOW, GEORGE?!" panicked Bowser as he was shaking his pizza boxes.

George said no word as he started sprinting away from the incoming policemen. Bowser, despite holding six pizzas in his arms, caught up to George, even outrunning him for a bit. George was startled for a short amount of time because of Bowser's velocity, but he regained his composure quickly. After running for quite amount of time, George stopped at the black, vintage but clean looking Jaguar Mark 1 sedan. He brought up his keys and looked for the right one. It was the golden key that could unlock the car. He opened the car's door and starting pushingBowser inside of it, but due to Bowser's size it took rather long to get him inside.

"C'mon, get inside already and don't destroy any equipment in it. I've got it from the black market. This is where all of my money flourished…..again." complained George as he was ramming in Bowser, just so he could get inside the Jaguar.

"IT'S NOT MY FAULT THAT THE CAR IS SO SMALL! YOU COULD GET AT LEAST A BIGGER ONE!" shouted Bowser while he was nearly in the car, but still stuck.

By the time George actually managed to get Bowser inside the car, the police has arrived on the scene with their sirens blasting through the street. George jumped inside the car and started up the engine. They drove off as quickly as possible, but the police already saw them trying to escape.

Jaguar Mark 1 was driving at the high speeds while barely avoiding other cars to the point some of them receives some slight scratches. Three police cars were following just right behind them.

They were driving closer to the intersection with even more cars in front of them, waiting for the traffic lights to turn green. However they had no such time for inconveniences like this, so they drove right between cars in the line.

One of the cars was that taxi. Just like the others it was standing in the line. The driver was pressing on the horn due sheer frustration.

"C'MON MOVE ALREADY!" screamed the driver as he was slamming his fist on the handle. Suddenly the taxi got slightly bumped by the ever accelerating George's car. The driver exploded in anger as he smashed his fists on the handle, possibly damaging it.

"LOOK WHERE YA DRIVIN', YA FOOLS!" screamed taxi driver at them just before one of the police cars accidentally crashed in him, causing a domino effect of crashes.

George opened up the window before they turned to the right direction of the crossroad. He pulled out his silver revolver out of his pocket. Just as they turned right, he shot at the police car that was attempting to ambush them on the other side. The bullet penetrated the window and hit the policeman in the lungs, mortally wounding him. Bowser gave him a weirded out look.

"So what now?" asked Bowser.

"Drive around until they get tired. It usually worked whenever I did that." said George as he blew off the tip of his revolver.

"….THAT'S NONSENSE! WHY WOULD YOU BE DRIVING AROUND IN THE CIRCLES ENDLESSLY?! IT'S LIKE A WILD GOOSE CHASE BUT WE ARE THE GOOSE!" shouted Bowser

"...Oh yeah forgot to put in equation that I was once heavily armed with my associates on my side...but what's your idea then?" said George in a kinda condescending tone.

"….GETTING OUT OF THIS CITY, THAT'S WHAT!" said Bowser.

Something has dawned upon George. Something that he thought he would never do.

"….Leaving New York City? But..." murmured George as he covered his mouth with his hand.

"YES! YOU HAVE TO LEAVE IT! LOOK, I'VE HAD TO LEAVE MY OWN KINGDOM TOO….not that I had any other choices...DO YOU REALLY WANNA JUST LIVE IN AN ENDLESS CYCLE OF CONSTANT FAILURE!? IT IS TIME TO MOVE OUT!" said Bowser.

"….For once you are right..." said George as he picked up the old looking phone that he had secretly inside the car.

"Wait, you have your own henchmen? NICE!" said Bowser as he pumped up his fist.

"Don't get too excited about them." warned George.

"Hmpf. Let me guess…..They're incompetent fools who always screw up your plans that you have been working on for a long time and make you look like the dumbest chump on the planet?" claimed Bowser.

"Oh please…."incompetent" is too kind of a word to describe them." said George as he typed on the phone.

"Whelp...there go my hopes." grumbled Bowser grumpily.

It rang for a bit before he managed to get the call.

"Hello? So where are you two?….So we meet each other at…..Capisco." talked George to the unknown caller before putting the phone down.

"We're gonna go to the port. We got a ship reserved." commanded George.

Bowser gave a thumbs up in understatement. They were still evading police cars from before. This time four of them followed. George was shooting from the left window. One of the bullets hit one of the police car's left tire, causing the car to severely decrease speed. Other police cars were desperately avoiding the bullets.

After some time of the chase they have finally arrived to the coast. Unlike the other places this part of the city was not as crowded. On the other side of the parking lot there was a port filled with ships of many kind. They parked their car near the rusty but quite large fishing boat with cranes standing from it. However the police has already caught up with them. George and Bowser stepped out of the car and walked towards the boat, but Bowser has stopped and looked towards the policemen.

"Hey, what are you doin' ?" asked George, being concerned about Bowser screwing up the plans.

"GWAHAHAHAR! Don't worry, George. I got this. I'm gonna show here who's the REAL TOUGH GUY! " he reassured as he stepped closely to the police cars. Policemen have stepped out of their vehicles with guns pointing at Bowser.

"FREEZE!" shouted one of the policemen.

Bowser cracked his knuckles right in front of them. He took a deep breath and spat out a small fireball at one of the police cars, engulfing it in the flames. Some of the policemen were set one fire because of it and they all panicked in terror.

"BWAHAHAHAHA! SEE YA LATER, CHUMPS!" laughed Bowser maniacally as he lifted Jaguar Mark 1 and jumped right on the ship, causing it to shake a bit. George stared at Bowser in total silence, being stunned by his actions. He put the car on the deck without any serious injuries. After both of them removing the ropes that were keeping the ship in the place, they have sailed off away from the mainland.

After some time they have distanced from the mainland so much that the only things visible are the highest of skyscrapers and Statue of Liberty, but they weren't done with the nuisances yet. Some kind of vehicle followed them just when they thought they escaped.

"BAH! WHO'S BOTHERING US NOW!?" shouted Bowser.

It was a small red and white boat that was following the big rusty ship. It was driving right next to them but just few meters behind.

"Coast Guard? Never thought I would have a problem with them." said George.

Bowser walked near the Coast Guard and boat and tried to fend it off: "GO AWAY! SHOO! SHOO!"

The boat has not responded to Bowser's threats. In sheer frustration he spat some fireballs at them, intentionally missing them because he was just trying to scare the follower. The Coast Guard boat quickly sailed somewhere else, not wanting to risk it's life because of some turtle firing at it.

After some time both of them looked upon the skyline of New York City.

"Woah….even from afar….it still feels so big." commented Bowser.

George sighed in melancholy and stepped near the edge of the boat, looking at the New York possibly for the last time.

"Goodbye, New York….City that doesn't sleep….."

The day has past since their escape from New York. Now they are traveling through the vast ocean with no sight of any land whatsoever. The miniature waves were gently hitting the hull. George was standing near the the edge of the stern, looking at the supposed direction where New York was.

"Well congratulations. You confirmed yourself to be a made man. You got us into the trouble, but with luck and your strength you managed to save us. I'm mildly impressed." proclaimed George as he slowly clapped. He turned towards Bowser and saw him taking a huge bite on a whole pizza. Two of the boxes were already empty.

"It was still over a pizza after all." added George to his statement.

"But the pizza is good!" said Bowser while chewing that big chunk of pizza. George said nothing in return.

"Say...since you helped me out, I will allow you to take a slice of the pizza." said Bowser as he offered him some of his share.

"If there's one food that no one can refuse, it's pizza." complimented George as he took Bowser's offering without hesitation. Suddenly Bowser has stopped him from taking a bite of the slice.

"Wait! How will you eat it with the mask on?" asked Bowser.

"Well...I suppose I should reveal my little...secret." said George before he took off his mask, revealing his true identity.

"BAH! YOU WERE….A SKELETON?!" shouted Bowser, being surprised at rather angry looking skeletal face of George.

"Yes and I still don't know what you are." said George.

"Coooooooool!" shouted Bowser in with rather peculiar enthusiasm.

"I was not expectin' that kind of response." said George, questioning Bowser's response.

"Did you think I'm gonna scream in terror like a little coward? BWAHAHAHA! THAT'S RIDICULOUS! It's not like I've seen a skeleton for the first time, you see." explained Bowser.

"I guess so." shrugged off George.

"Anyway….so about those two henchmen you were talking about..."

"Oh, you wanna see them? Sure, but then again…." warned George.

"Disappointment, here I cooooooome…." sighed Bowser, preparing himself for a letdown.

Bowser and George walked up to the doors of the bridge and opened them. Unlike the ship itself the pilot house was rather small. The interior of the bridge only contained one weather monitor, one monitor for navigation, a ship's wheel reminiscent of the days of pirates and few other instruments. The place was fairly lit due windows being clean and big enough. The floor was rather rusty in some corners of the pilothouse. Two skeletons of not so much different sizes were standing over the ship's wheel. The taller one had a top hat on his head while the shorter one was hatless. Both of them were holding the handles of the helm. It seemed that they had a polite discussion about the ship.

"Boys, we got a new associate among us. His name is Bowser." said George to them, but they haven't responded to the introduction.

"Hey, I'M controlling the ship, you know!" said the shorter skeleton.

"No, you don't you halfwit. The Boss said I'M in charge of the ship!" barked the taller skeleton at the shorter skeleton.

"Oh, YOU were supposed to? Then explain your track record with driving!" screamed the shorter skeleton in defense.

"What are you even mumbling about? Go work at the monitors while I take the wheel!" said the taller skeleton as he tried to push away his partner in crime.

"Why don't YOU work at the monitors and I take the wheel!" I'm the one in charge of the vehicles!" shouted the shorter skeleton as he tried to tackle his co-worker.

"Pffft no. Sod off from that wheel, you sluggish simpleton. IT'S MINE NOW!" said the taller skeleton as he tried to fend away the shorter skeleton.

And so their bickering continued with no sign of ending soon as George and Bowser watched them.

"So….what would you say?" asked George as he turned his head towards him. Bowser's left eye was twitching as he was breathing heavily. He clenched his fists as if he was about to beat them up.

"Mind if I…..ahem….interfere in their chatter?" passive-aggressively asked Bowser.

"Sure, but good luck with that." answered George, allowing Bowser to do his thing.

Bowser slowly stomped towards the bickering duo without them even noticing. They still weren't aware of his presence even when he was standing menacingly right next to them. His monolithic shadow covered both of the bumbling skeletons. He tapped the taller skeleton's shoulder, but he got no response.

"...And that time when…." further argued the shorter skeleton right before a loud, booming voice interrupted him.

"GRRRROAAAH! WILL YOU TWO SHUT UP ALREADY?!" roared Bowser with his might, finally getting their attention.

"Who's this guy?" grumpily asked the shorter skeleton.

"Oh great, an obese turtle is gonna talk shit about us." groaned the taller skeleton.

"CAN'T YOU TWO BONEHEADS DO ANYTHING WITHOUT CONSTANTLY ARGUING ABOUT INSIGNIFICANT THINGS?!" grumbled Bowser.

"Oh, bonehead huh? Really original of you. It's not like we heard thi-" complained the taller skeleton before he was shut down by Bowser.

"ENOUGH! LISTEN, YOU TWO!" ordered Bowser at them. He forcibly pushed the taller skeleton to the helm and shouted: "YOU WILL TAKE CONTROL OF THE SHIP! DID YOU UNDERSTAND THAT?!"

The taller skeleton said nothing in return. Bowser then proceeded to put the shorter skeleton in his place by pushing him towards the monitors.

"AND YOU WILL TAKE CARE OF THE MONITORS! OH AND YOU TWO ARGUE AGAIN, I'LL THROW BOTH OF YOU IN THE SEA!? DID YOU TWO NUMSKULLS GET THAT?!" he angrily commanded them.

"Boss, what is this shit? You can't just let this reptilian douche to toss us around, can you?" complained the taller skeleton at George.

"Yeah! How could you!?" added the shorter skeleton.

"He contributed more in a span of days than both of you did in your entire career, so you two better follow his orders." said George, making them reconsider their lives.

"Damn, we got sassed by our boss. We can't recover from that." said the shorter skeleton. The taller skeleton only condescendingly looked at his fellow. Both of them decided that it would have been a good idea to follow Bowser's orders. By the time this was settled down, Bowser already went up to George.

"How did you even ENDURE them? I thought MY minions were inefficient, but THESE TWO….they're on a different level." asked Bowser, being astounded by George's henchmen.

"Eh, I just gave them the most insignificant jobs, so I wouldn't have to deal with them." answered George.

"But still! Couldn't you get some of your cooler henchmen instead?" asked Bowser once again.

"...I don't know, but I know I'll have to live with them…." said George.

"Urgh...What are their names anyway?" gruffed Bowser.

George covered his face with his hat for a moment before he pointed at the shorter skeleton.

"This is…..Scrongus." he said in embarrassment before he pointed at the taller skeleton. "And this is…..Krongus."

"...Those are the STUPIDEST names I have EVER HEARD! WHO GAVE THEM NAMES LIKE THAT?" shouted Bowser in bafflement. Scrongus and Krongus both looked at him

"You what?!" said Scrongus, being defensive about his name.

"Oh, someone named after a dog beer is saying that our names suck." hissed Krongus at Bowser.

"Eh, lets just leave em. It's not worth wasting time for this." said George before both of them went outside. The slight breeze blew up in their faces, making Bowser's hair wave for a bit. George hold his hat for a moment, so it wouldn't fly away from his head. They walked up to the fence of the left side of the ship, staring at the calm but empty ocean.

"So...should we make one of our goals that we find more and better henchmen?" sighed Bowser.

"Yeah, I had plans for it." answered George.

Both of them continued to do nothing but to stare at the sea. Nothing interesting was happening at all.

"...What now?" asked Bowser, being utterly bored at this point.

"I dunno. Maybe check the other sides of the ship." said George.

Bowser walked up towards the near edge of the stern to see if that side was more eventful, but much to his dismay it was not. He sighed in boredom and walked up to the right side of the ship. At first it seemed that the situation wasn't any different at all, but then he noticed something on the surface. It was a dorsal fin accompanied by the slightly larger caudal fin, cutting through the ripples of the ocean.

"YOU'VE GOTTA SEE THIS, GEORGE!" shouted Bowser. George slowly walked up to the Bowser's side

"Yeah, what is it?" he asked to see why has Bowser invited him.

"There's a SHARK over there!" exclaimed Bowser as he pointed at the moving fins.

"Not sure if that's a shark though. It's fins look a lil bit too small, I think." mumbled George just before the fins submerged.

"Then it's a small shark!…..Bah! This journey gets me excited over small things!" grumbled Bowser.

"Eh, whatever." said George, getting slightly bored of the view of the empty sea.

"Besides….a little shark like that can do NOTHING against us! It's not like it's gonna attack us anyway!" boasted Bowser as both of them turned around to get away from the right side of the ship.

Just as the turned away, a swordfish leaped out of the water and lunged itself right at them, but Bowser and George dodged the attack by quickly stepping aside in surprise. The swordfish slided on the deck before it jumped back in the ocean. George whipped out his revolver and aimed at the location where the fish was supposed to be, but he was too late as the fish has already disappeared from their sight.

"WHAT THE-" screamed Bowser in shock.

"You just had to say it, hadn't you….." groaned George.

Bowser followed the direction of the fish before he stopped behind the fence of the left side of the ship. He raised up his fists as he yelled: "BAH! HOW DARE YOU ATTACK US! I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU..."

The swordfish vertically launched itself at Bowser just before he finished his yelling, trying to impale him in the face with its long bill. He barely dodged the attack by moving his head back and the swordfish fell in the water once again. Bowser and George were looking all over the place to see from where it would attack next. The swordfish was circling around the ship, looking for the perfect spot to ambush them.

George was tightly holding his revolver and waiting for the incoming attack. Suddenly the swordfish jumped right in front of him and he aimed his gun directly in its face, but as the fish jumped it turned it's body around, slapping George's hand with it's tail. The slap was strong enough to make him drop his revolver and sending it at the corner of the pilothouse. George grudgingly glanced at the swordfish as he ran towards the revolver. Just before he reached his revolver, the swordfish launched itself once again and hit the revolver with it's body, making it launch towards the edge of the right side of the ship. Luckily Bowser has caught the revolver with his hand. He threw it to George, but the swordfish jumped again and slapped the revolver upwards. It tried to slap it horizontally but due the way it launched itself it could only slap vertically.

The revolver flew up high up above the ship. Bowser jumped on the roof of the bridge and then he leaped as high as he could towards the revolver. It was still out of his reach even when he was high up in the air. Suddenly the swordfish launched itself with the very high acceleration, reaching Bowser quite quickly. It tried to strike through Bowser's heart, but he grabbed the swordfish just as its bill touched Bowser's chest. Just as he grabbed it, the revolver started to descend. He let off his left hand from the swordfish and tried to grab the gun, but the swordfish was hindering him by swinging its bill around, trying to slash Bowser. It was also slippery, so Bowser had to hold it tightly in order that it doesn't escape.

"WILL YOU STOP THAT?!" commanded Bowser to the swordfish, but it only made the swordfish swing its bill even more. He turned the swordfish away from himself with his right hand. The swordfish retaliated by slapping with it's tail. Bowser managed to grab the revolver within time.

"GEORGE! CATCH THIS!" shouted Bowser towards George as he threw the revolver to George at the very high speed. He managed to catch revolver with his left hand and spin it with his index finger before putting it back in his pocket.

"Thanks, Bowser." said George.

Bowser was still stuck with the swordfish as they both were descending. He grabbed it with his left hand so that he can have the full grasp of the fish. He was keeping the fish away from his face so that it wouldn't slap his face with its tail.

"HOW WOULD LIKE THIS, CHUMP!" roared Bowser before slam dunking the swordfish back in the ocean. He landed just right behind the fence of the right side and made the entire ship tilt towards him, but the ship quickly stabilized its balance. His landing also made the car bounce for a However he didn't know that him slam dunking the swordfish only gave it the bigger speed.

"Phew….that was a close call." said George.

"I hope that we thought that STUPID FISH A LESSON!" boasted Bowser as both of them turned away.

Just as they thought they were done with the attacker, the swordfish leaped towards the bridge this time. It managed to enter the pilothouse by shattering the window with its bill.

"W-W-W-WHAT NOW?!" screamed Bowser in surprise.

Meanwhile Scrongus and Krongus immediately noticed the intruder interrupting their bickering. The swordfish was splashing on the floor to make itself seem vulnerable.

"THERE'S A GODDAMN FISH IN THE BRIDGE!" yelled Scrongus.

"LET'S WHACK THAT FOOL!" screamed Krongus.

Scrongus and Krongus ran towards the fish, ready to personally beat the crap out of it with their fists. Just as they reached it, the swordfish jumped towards Scrongus and slapped his face so hard that the sheer force of the slap sent him against the wall.

"YOU WHAT!?" angrily said Krongus as he tried to reach the swordfish by himself, only to be smacked by the swordfish just like Scrongus.

The swordfish bounced towards the ship's wheel and slapped it, making it spin to the right side. The entire ship started to drastically tilt towards the surface in correlation with the ship's wheel. It started to suffocate from the lack of water, so it broke another window and jumped back into water.

Meanwhile on the deck Bowser, George and all of the objects started to slide towards the sea as the angle of the ship was becoming steeper.

"You take the care of the stuff while I'll try to get our ship back to normal, Capisce?" ordered George just before he ran towards the entrance of the bridge.

"OF COURSE!" said Bowser as he slided down towards the Jaguar Mark 1 and grabbed it with it's might. Unfortunately for him all of the boxes of pizza fell right in the sea. One of the boxes opened by itself so the box and pizza fell separately in the sea.

"NO, MY PIZZAS!" shouted Bowser in agony as he could do nothing but watch pizzas float away.

Meanwhile George already entered the bridge and saw his henchmen lying on the floor. He ran up to the ship's wheel and started rotating it in the left direction. Scrongus and Krongus stood up and saw their boss behind the wheel.

"Lend me a hand, you two." calmly ordered George.

"I'll help!" proclaimed Krongus as Scrongus angrily looked at him.

"No, I'll help, you dingus!" argued Scrongus.

"Not now, idiots. Now move." groaned George at them and stopped their bickering at the same time.

"Man, I don't wanna be sassed by the boss again." both of them thought to themselves. They haven't hesitated to help their boss and grasped the wheel at the same time. All of them rotated the wheel with as much power as possible. Much to their surprise the swordfish attacked them from the higher side, breaking another window in the process. It flew just behind them, but it managed to let Scrongus and Krongus lose their grip and fall on the floor.

"Cunning for a fish, huh?" said George to himself as he further rotated the wheel. The ship slowly started to stabilize its balance. Scrongus and Krongus were attempting to stand up and help George, but due another round of the swordfish attack they kept falling on the floor. By this point only few windows remained untouched and the shrapnels were all over the place. After some time George finally managed to return the ship's balance, but not before the swordfish swooped in right where he was. He barely dodged the attack by lowering his back like a tango dancer. The ship tilted a little to the left, but it was stabilized. Scrongus and Krongus managed to stand up and took over their places as George left the bridge. He saw that Bowser successfully kept his car away from the water.

"Without a scratch!" boasted Bowser as he gave George a thumbs up. George walked up towards Bowser and also gave him a thumbs up.

"I've got a plan, Bowser." said George.

"Tell me!" said Bowser.

"You'll go to that corner." ordered George as he pointed at the exact corner. Bowser stepped up to that corner without a question.

"I'll wait here. I've got a special technique up in my sleeve. You'll do your job by the instinct." he continued explaining his plan.

"Wait….you've got a special technique AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME ABOUT IT?!" shouted Bowser.

"You'll see." scoffed off George.

George was standing still as he was preparing for the attack while the swordfish was circling around the ship once again. Only sound that could be heard was the slight breeze. Within few minutes nothing happened. In the mean time Bowser was flexing his muscles in preparation.

"C'mon show yourself, aquatic bastard." George thought to himself.

Suddenly the swordfish launched itself once again at the George while he had his back turned against it. Just as the swordfish was close to impaling him through his spine, he performed a 180 degree spin and yelled:

"SKELETON BITCH SLAP!"

He slapped the swordfish right in the face with such fierce force that it was send right to Bowser. Some of the gills were slightly damaged because of the slap.

"SUPER BOWSER PUNCH!" yelled Bowser as he punched the swordfish right in the stomach. He sent it flying up in the sky because he punched it under a slight angle. As the swordfish flew up high it became nothing but a twinkle in the sky.

"THAT WILL TEACH IT!" yelled Bowser towards the twinkle in the sky.

"Whelp there's another thing I never thought I would experience." said George.

"SOMEBODY'S GONNA CLEAN UP THE FLOOR!" yelled Scrongus and Krongus as they started to argue who's actually gonna do it. Bowser and George ignored them this time.

"But my pizzas are gone…..what am I supposed to eat now?" asked Bowser in a slight despair.

"Learn how to fish. We're on a fishing boat for a reason." bluntly answered George. Bowser stared at him in a grumpy manner before he accepted the fact that he will have to hunt for food now. Both of them returned to the uneventful but calm lifestyle on a fishing boat in the middle of Atlantic Ocean.

Two weeks and five days have past since the incident with the swordfish. Only activities that the crewmen of the lonesome fishing ship did were fishing, bickering, sleeping, telling stories with each other and staring at the ocean. Somewhere between the 10th day and 12th day they crossed the Strait of Gibraltar, they reached the Mediterranean sea. Unlike the Atlantic Ocean it was exhaustingly hot and rather windy, but both of them had one thing in common: the journey of the both seas were largely uneventful. Then on the 19th day when they reached Adriatic sea, things seemed to change.

The sun gradually rose over the horizon in the morning as its light reflected on the crystal clear sea. Below the deck there was a supply room, filled with freshly caught fish of many kind. There were no such cases of rotting fish because they were eaten by the crew just quick enough. Bowser was sleeping and snoring there because he thought this was the only place on the ship where he could get some good rest. Scrongus and Krongus slept in the bridge while George was always up the entire night.

Two seagulls landed on the fence of the right side of the ship and started squarking. They were so loud with their shrill noises that it could be heard from any internal part of the ship. At first Bowser tried to ignore seagulls, but over the time he started to get more and more frustrated by them. At one point he awakened, revealing his red, tired eyes and snapped. He stood up and walked up to the ladder, climbing it so he could open the hatch that lead to the deck. Bowser managed to open the hatch without any problems and finally stepped on the deck.

"QUIET, YOU STUPID BIRDS! SHOOO!" shouted Bowser at the seagulls as they flew away from him due instinct, thus no longer disrupting the silence on the boat. Suddenly Scrongus and Krongus bursted out of the door of the bridge.

"What the hell, man?!" both of them said in the union.

"It was just some stupid birds, bothering me when I was sleeping. Now go back controlling the ship!" ordered Bowser. Scrongus and Krongus followed the order without the question and slammed the door shut, getting back to their positions.

George was standing near the fence of the right side of the ship, staring at the peaceful coast, accompanied by the groups of trees, some of them without leaves or branches at all and the rocky mountain range, displaying the typical karst landscape of this land. Bowser walked up to George and started doing the same thing.

"Hey, George." greeted Bowser.

"Yeah, what is it?" asked George.

"Nothing really. It's just so…..BORING around here. Can't something interesting happen without interfering in our business!?" said Bowser as he sighed in boredom.

"Oi, we got some land here. Perhaps we should land our ship there. It seems like nobody would bother us if we park it over there." advised George as he pointed at the untouched small beach.

"You know what? I'm sick of constantly cruising the sea all the time! Lets take a long break from the journey and do….whatever this place has to offer." said Bowser as he stomped determined towards the bridge, where Scrongus and Krongus resided. He opened the door with the sheer force and ordered them:

"YOU TWO! WE WILL NOW LAND THIS SHIP ON THE BEACH WITHOUT A QUESTION!"

Scrongus and Krongus looked at each other before Scrongus tried to verbally attack Bowser, but Krongus stopped him and instead attempted to negotiate with him.

"Only if our boss approves and you were supposed to say capisce after you give an order." said Krongus.

"But that's George's thing! Speaking of him…." mumbled Bowser before he stepped out of the bridge and yelled:

"GEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOORGEEEEEE!"

George did a motion similar to whenever someone rolls with their eyes and slowly walked up to the bridge, wanting to know for what was he needed.

"What..." he groaned loudly as he grumpily stared at them.

"Boss! Do you agree that we should land this ship despite the fact that we have not seen a port yet?" asked Krongus for permission while secretly hoping that his boss would disagree.

"I guess but as long as he manages to get the ship outta here." answered George, much to Krongus' dismay.

"You heard him! Now do as I said!" yelled Bowser at them. The henchmen duo both sighed in annoyance as they went back to their positions. Krongus grabbed the ship's wheel and rotated it towards the direction of the beach. The ship was steadily approaching the land with it's velocity decreasing. Once it reached its destination, it roughly went through the surface, making it tremble all the way. It abruptly stopped after a short amount of distance and slightly tilted to the right, but not so much as things would fall off of it. The crew stepped out of the bridge and observed the land. Bowser took a relaxed deep breath before smiling as he put both of his arms right above his legs.

"AHH, FINALLY SOME LAND TO CON...I mean land to explore! NO MORE OF THIS BORING SEA!" he shouted in excitement before he jumped off the ship. He landed on the beach and did a pose, but little did he know that the beach was not made out of sand, but instead out of pebbles of different sizes. It was way too late before he realized his mistake.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUCH!" he screamed as he felt agony in his feet due the stones. George also jumped off the ship in order to check upon Bowser. He did not feel any pain whatsoever because he wore some fancy looking shoes unlike his companion, who was barefoot. Only thing he did was to help Bowser advance further towards the land.

"OW! OW! OW! OW! OW! OW!" he yelped as he was prancing on the pebbles like an elderly man on a pogo stick while George was just calmly walking with his hands in the pockets, looking at the beach floor. Bowser only stopped hopping in pain after both of them crossed the pebble beach and stepped on the land without any major obstacles like pebbles.

"TAKE THAT, YOU BRAINLESS STONES!" he roared in frustration as he kicked the pebbles, only to get them stuck between his toes. He was stuck dumbfounded before he decided to remove every single pebble that was in between his toes.

"Brilliant idea here, Bows." scoffed George as he only watched Bowser with sheer perplexity. Bowser glanced at him with displeasure as he removed the final pebble that was between his toes.

"What?! It's not MY fault that the beach itself is so AWFUL and I don't even like ordinary beaches! Why couldn't they afford sand instead of these….stones? Sure it gets everywhere and it's irritating and so on and so on…..BUT AT THE VERY LEAST YOU DON'T FEEL LIKE YOU'RE WALKING ON SPIKES!" vented Bowser at George.

"And your solution to this is?" asked George in a rather derisive way.

"I'LL CRUSH EVERY PEBBLE! EVERY SINGLE ONE!..or at the very least once I conquer this land I'll make sure that we get a lot of sand so we can finally supplant this menace to our feet." boastfully answered Bowser.

"I don't know how will you exactly mess with environment but sure." responded George to his answer, doubting the practicality of his plan.

"I'll find a way!…..SOMEHOW..." declared Bowser. Before both of them departed to a journey across the unknown land, Scrongus and Krongus, still being on the deck, ran up to the fence and halted them from going away.

"Boss! What shall we do? Should we stay on a ship?" Scrongus asked.

"Yes, stay on the ship just in case someone tries to steal it from us. However if someone gets a funny idea and does try to steal it, make sure to whack that snitch." ordered George to them.

"And if you fail this task….." added Bowser while cracking his fists and staring menacingly at them. His threat managed to send shivers down their spine, so they didn't try to argue against their boss and Bowser and started guarding the ship like two meerkats on the watch.

"Goodbye then." said George as he and Bowser wandered away from the ship. They walked up the not so steep slope until they stopped at the narrow paved path, which was spread across the coast. Beyond the path there was slightly worn out grass, waving gently due the breeze. It was also supported by the age worn parts of what was once a complete fence, protecting anyone from falling off the more vertical slopes. Unlike the fence, the path was rather clean with just few cracks on it. Both of them observed each side of the paved path.

"Hmpf. I don't know which way should we go. What would say, George?" asked Bowser.

In response George searched through his pockets on the suit and found a single bronze cent.

"And what are we supposed to do with a….single….COIN?!" shouted Bowser at George.

"Here's a trick. Head and we go the left way. Tails and we go the right way. Capisce?" George explain his plan towards Bowser.

"That's a rather weird way to decide but have it your own way. I don't REALLY care which way we go." grumbled Bowser.

"It's a classic way you know. With the coin flip I was also in charge who's gonna live or not."

"….Was this really that necessary to say?" asked Bowser, questioningly glancing at George for his statement.

"Who knows. It might be useful someday." replied George like it was nothing.

George flipped out his coin high in the air and waited for it to land. Bowser stared at the coin flying up in the air. Suddenly the coin briefly stopped in the air and started to descend back to the surface. It quickly fell on the floor and landed with the "Head" side of the coin being revealed.

"I guess we are going that way." mumbled George as both of them went to the aforementioned direction. They were only greeted by the slight breeze, which was blowing towards the sea and nothing resembling any sort of life form whatsoever.

Presumably 120 meters away from them there was a little food "stand" (in reality just a medium sized table covered in white cloth) with a barbecue grill next to it. A short but stout mustached man dressed like a chef was standing behind the table as he tapped on the table. He supported his head with his left arm as he gazed upon the surface of the table.

"Dovraga! Pa to je za poludit! Cijeli mjesec nije bilo kupaca. (Damn! That's crazy! It's been a month since I've had customers.) " grumbled the man before he sighed as he continued tapping on the table.

Bowser and George continued walking to their decided direction without any real goal. George had his hands inside his pockets while Bowser was stomping and observing the land like a vulture. The man noticed them from the distance and smiled, anticipating them to take a brief visit. When the duo were close enough to the stand, he started to wave at them, inviting them over.

"Hey, this chump is inviting us over. Should we visit him?" asked Bowser.

"You sure? He looks like a total fraud to me." answered George as he loaded his revolver with bullets.

"Slow it down, George! Now it's not the time for bullets! If he wants to fight us, I'll just throw him into the sea with MY OWN HANDS!" boasted Bowser as he flexed his muscles.

"Whatever you say." said George as he put his revolver back into his pocket. When the duo of a turtle and a skeleton came up to him, he started rambling in his own language.

"Dolazita sem! Ja sam Brane I ja vam čem predstaviti najjaču hranu na u Dalmaciji!" the man proudly introduced to them, only to receive weird looks from them due lack of understanding of his native language. Upon closer inspection at their appearances (mostly at Bowser's appearance), he slowly realized that these were no average "customers" that you would see every day.

"No...ja...vidva sta...zanimiva." (Well….yeah….you two are….interesting.) mumbled Brane as he kept staring at them while preparing to hide if any of them would attack him.

"….What did he say?" whispered Bowser to George about Brane's rambling.

"I don't know. Somethin' about Dalmatians I guess." said George to him. Brane heard their talk and quickly continued to talk like he's proud of something.

"Ah, so you two are English I see." he said while clearing some of the confusion from earlier. He then continued: "As I said before, I'm Brane and I shall introduce you to the most delicious food in Dalmatia!".

"...What is this "Dalmatia" thing you are bumbling about?" asked Bowser while scratching his head.

"Dalmatia? You ARE in Dalmatia!" revealed Brane to him, however Bowser kept scratching his head like he had lice inside his hair.

"Okay, so it wasn't about Dalmatians after all." said George while scratching his jaw.

"Ah, it was never about the dogs at all! I'm talking about this land! Isn't it beautiful?" chuckled Brane as he raised both of his hands up in the sky like he was praising some deity.

"….What's your problem?" asked Bowser while he stared at Brane with a confused and slightly concerned stare.

"Problem? I have no-actually yes I have one. One big problem with a couple of minor ones." sighed Brane.

"What is it then?" asked George disdainfully.

"Well..you see...my little food stand hasn't seen a single customer for a month! MONTH!" shouted Brane in anguish as he once again raised his arms up in the sky.

"Talk about low standards if this is allowed as food stand here. How PRIMITIVE!" scoffed Bowser to George. Brane frowned and looked at the floor for a moment because of massive turtle's statement.

"And why do you think it's like that?" asked George as he was threatening someone.

"Hey, don't be so harsh! It's not like my food is bad! It's just…." retaliated Brane just before his old grill collapsed by itself and breaking every single piece in the process. Bowser and George glanced at Brane with perplexity and slight amusement.

"Yeah…." sighed Brane.

"Why didn't you buy a new one?" asked George.

"Well, here's another problem." further explained Brane as he put 7 coins worthy of 1 Kuna each on the table. Bowser and George inspected the coins.

"Huh, I've never seen this kind of currency before." commented George as he grabbed his lower jaw, further inspecting them.

"And why is there A MARTEN on them?" asked Bowser as he pointed out the martens on the coins.

"Hahahaha! It's because they are called marten in my language, that's why!" laughed Brane as hard as he could.

"But why marten out of all animals? WHY THE MARTEN?!" shouted Bowser as he nearly slammed his fist on Brane's table.

"It's because during old times they used marten skins as units of value during trading." explained Brane. Bowser just briefly stood for a moment with his jaw dropped and shrunk pupils.

"…...Old times here were some screwed up times, weren't they?" said Bowser while still being surprised by the Brane's explanation.

"Indeed." George reinforced Bowser's statement.

"Oh, you have no idea. But that's not the main point. The main point is that I need a new grill and I ask you two gentlemen to be kind enough to get me a new grill."

"One thing though." said George as he raised his index finger.

"Yes?" asked Brane.

"Will we get paid for it?" demanded George as he seized in his pocket for his revolver just in case Brane refuses his demand.

"Of course! I'll do anything as long as I can serve food to people!" agreed Brane without hesitation.

"Well then. That will make the job much easier." said George while offering his hand to Brane. Both of them shook their hands in agreement. Bowser was just scratching his nose while observing their interaction.

"Oh I've forgot something that I should have asked in the first place! What are your names." asked Brane.

"George." simply said the skeleton gangster.

"And I'm Bowser, THE KING OF AWESOME, THE UNDISPUTED TYRANT OF MY OWN KINDGOM AND..." boasted the massive turtle man just before he was interrupted by his own fellow.

"And a dedicated fan of overly bloated nicknames." added George.

"HEY!" shouted Bowser at George for his comment.

"Ah nice! Now we must go! The grill awaits us!" Brane invited them to join him.

"And the money." said George just before both of them went along with Brane without any issues. Bowser secretly picked up a single Kuna coin and inspected it.

The trio now walked uphill towards the camp, which only had few tents placed presumably due pebble infested surface. The camp itself was surrounded by coniferous trees with squirrels climbing on them. There were also eurasian collared doves all over the place. On their way they approached the abandoned restaurant, which was just below a small supermarket and a bakery. Bowser, as soon as he got off his eyes on the coin, looked a the landscape.

"Wait….why are the trees like that on the beach? Where are the palm trees? Why are there SQUIRRELS ALL OVER THE PLACE? WHAT'S WITH DOVES? WHAT KIND OF BEACH IS THIS? Not only does it have stones instead of sand, it has MISPLACED PLANTS AND ANIMALS! That's not even all! Brane said that this land is called Dalmatia, but on this coin it states OTHERWISE!" Bowser thought to himself just before he poked Brane's shoulder.

"What do you need, Bows?" asked Brane with a slight itch of excitement.

"You've said that this land is called Dalmatia, but this coin says IT'S REPUBLIKA HRVATSKA!" angrily shouted Bowser as he pointed the letters on the Kuna coin.

"Pfft hahaha! I should have clarified! Dalmatia is just one of the regions of the Republic of Croatia! I should mention that Hrvatska is Croatia in my native language, so that there won't be further confusion." eagerly explained Brane.

"Since when did it became a country?" asked George.

"Ufff….less said the better, but let's move on, shall we?" shuddered Brane.

"Man….I really need to adapt to this world. It's so…..WEIRD." grumbled Bowser while scratching his head and looking at the floor.

"Bowser, I don't think neither of us have any right to question this world." pointed out George, which made Bowser reconsider his words.

"Hmpf….I guess you are right, BUT STILL THOUGH!" said Bowser. All of them aimlessly looked around the place without having a single idea of what to do.

"...What now?" asked Bowser and George together.

"I guess we should move on! It's nothing but an abandoned restaurant and supermarket with overly high prices!" said Brane as he tried to lead the duo somewhere else, but was stopped by Bowser's muscular arm.

"Did you say….restaurant?" said Bowser while he had an idea for Brane.

"Yeah and?" asked Brane while having no idea what Bowser was thinking about.

"BRANE! THIS COULD BE YOUR CHANCE TO STARDOM! You can become THE GREATEST CHEF EVER! All we need to do, aside from getting that pesky grill, is to make that restaurant shiny and all stuff and BAM! You'll be RICH!" boastfully explained Bowser to Brane. He received some kind of enlightenment inside of him thanks to Bowser's explanation.

"...BRILLIANT! HOW DIDN'T I THINK ABOUT IT BEFORE?!" yelled Brane as he raised his hands up in the sky.

"Huh, not a bad idea at all." complimented George.

"Of course, we might need some tools to fix it, but no worries about that! I know where to get them!" said Brane.

"….Then why didn't you get the grill?" asked George as he is about to lose more of his barely existent hope.

"Well….no one had it…." answered Brane. George shook his head and sighed in disbelief.

"Lets go then!" shouted Bowser as all of them walked away from the abandoned restaurant and supermarket.

"Of course, if Brane gets rich, it would all benefit me and my desire for domination!" Bowser thought to himself. Brane lead them towards some kind of lengthy motel building. There was an old, but not rusty white Zastava Koral (or Yugo) car parked near the motels.

"Oi, what's this disaster of a car?" asked George as he could barely look at the Yugo without wincing his skeletal face.

"That, my friend, is ZASTAVA YUGO!" said Brane as he pointed both of his arms towards his beloved car.

"More like Zastava You Go To The Scrapyard!" commented Bowser, which Brane laughed at it and George pretended like he could wipe the sweat of his forehead (or rather skull). Brane opened the door of his car and sat on the front site with a huge steering wheel. He invited them to enter his car, which George just silently sat on the second seat and put his palm on his face out of regret. However, Bowser crossed his arms and refused to take a single step towards the car. George glanced at him before he put his palm on his face again while Brane just looked at him weirdly.

"NO! I WON'T GET STUCK THROUGH THE DOORS AGAIN!" complained Bowser.

"Then just enter the trunk. It should be more spacious I think." suggested Brane.

"IT BETTER BE!" groaned Bowser before he opened the trunk. He squeezed through it without much issues and closed the trunk.

"Grill, here we come!" yelled Brane as he put one of his keys inside the ignition lock, starting up the damn thing. Yugo shook a little before they drove away from the motel, going down the hill. After going under the non-functional boom barrier, they drove uphill on the curvy road. Bowser was hitting both sides of the walls because of the curves with a big frown on his face. The car reached the roundabout and turned towards the left. After a long travel near the Velebit mountain range and the Dalmatian coastline, the trio of buffoons reached a small town called Makarska. They parked near the closest shop with something related to grills they found. The shop was located the opposite of the port filled with various boats, yachts, sail boats and even ferries.

"Okay, so here's the plan. Bows will get the grill while me and George will go for the paint. I'll also get the meat for us. Everything clear?" explained Brane his plan.

"Capisco." said George.

"I'll get the grill once I get out of this headache-inducing trunk!" grumbled Bowser while patting his head. Brane and George went out of the car and opened the trunk for him. Bowser squeezed himself out of the car and fell on the floor. He picked himself up and brushed off some of the dust on his shoulders. George gently closed the trunk after that.

"Ugh, these CARS! Can't this world have bigger cars than this?" groaned Bowser.

"Now it's not the time to complain about cars. We have to get the job done." scolded George.

"See ya soon, Bowser!" said Brane as he and his skeletal friend departed away from Bowser in the search of the paint and meat. Bowser walked towards the entrance of the shop. He looked through the closed automatic doors and spotted a large box, which contained the grill. The shop itself only had few snacks, drinks and magazines in stock. However, he also saw a camera in the corner, probably observing the whole place.

"Hmmm….I've gotta sneak in QUIETLY!" he thought to himself as he scratched his chin. He opened the doors with sheer force and started to approach the box by walking on his toes. He looked at the camera and saw that camera was not functional at all. He brushed of the sweat and snatched the box as quick as possible. Once again he stomped on his toes as he went out of the store. Afterwards he shut the door with the same amount of force he used when opening the door.

"HAH! No one will notice!" he shouted as he approached the car, opened the rear door of the Yugo and put the grill inside. After that he shut the door and walked to the trunk, where he squeezed inside the car. Just as he was inside the car, George and Brane returned with two buckets of paint in each of their hands. They were also carrying packets of some kind of Balkan meat and paint rollers on their buckets.

"Ah, you two are already done? Good job!" praised Bowser.

"Yah, it went surprisingly quick." said George.

"Next stop…..SERVING FOOD OF DIVINE TASTE!" yelled Brane as he lifted both of the buckets, then he and George opened the rear doors and put them in the same place as the grill. They closed them and entered the front doors with Brane taking the driver seat. As soon as he started the car, the police car appeared right from the corner.

"Not even a day in a foreign country and the cops are already behind us. Incredible." said George as he looked back to see the car.

"NOT THE COPS AGAIN! FLOOR IT, BRANE!" commanded Bowser as soon as he saw the cops.

"Wait!" shouted Brane. He slowly drove his Yugo away from the store and as soon as he disappeared from the policeman's sight, he stomped on the gas pedal and Yugo drove away like a running cheetah. Little did they know that the police car just stopped in front of the shop.

The Yugo has left the town of Makarska and has approached the curvy road above the coast. George looked backwards to see if the police car is even chasing them, but to his surprise, no one was behind them.

"Oi, the cop didn't even chase us. We can slow it down now and relax." advised George as he looked towards Brane. His pupils were shrunk to the minimum size possible and he was sweating like a madman.

"Brane, why aren't you answering me?" asked George.

Brane looked towards George, twitching and sweating all over the place. He could barely look into George's eye sockets.

"The brakes…...are not working."

"WHAT?!" yelled Bowser.

"Damn it!" groaned George as he slammed on the dashboard.

"Relax! I've got this!" said Brane as he got the grip on the steering wheel. He steered his Yugo through tight turns at the high velocity with each turn making Bowser's head hit something. The grill and paint buckets were barely standing in their place while the meat packages and paint rollers just kept rolling with each turn. After speeding through the turns on the coast, they reached the roundabout. With all his might, Brane steered so hard, it made Yugo drift. Sparks flew out of Yugo's tires, causing screeches which could be heard from the coast. Everyone and everything was pushed to the right side with fierce force, but nothing has broke or been spilled, however it gave Bowser a minor headache. They turned towards the road that lead them to the camp, but just before they drove downhill, the engine stopped working. The car started to roll down the hill like a boulder rolling down the mountain, but Brane steered it with all of the energy he had, making the car not fall off the road. Just before passing through the broken boom barrier, Brane made the Yugo spin so it would drastically lose momentum. This caused the car to stop after passing through the raised boom barrier. However, all fours of its wheels fell off and the exhaust pipe smashed on the ground. No one but a single Czech tourist, who was walking towards the beach, noticed the wreckage. He looked at his beer can after witnessing what just happened and walked off with a disturbed expression on his face.

"Props for you for bein' a decent driver." said George as he stepped out of the wreckage.

"My head…." murmured Bowser as he squeezed out of the trunk.

"Well, now we have everything. Work awaits us!" declared Brane as he stepped out of the car and picked up the meat packages and paint buckets. Later he took out the grill from the car with the help of George because Bowser was a bit doozy. They put the paint buckets and meat packages on the grill.

"Oi, Bows! You've gotta help me for a bit!" requested Brane.

Bowser snapped out of the dizziness and asked: "What?"

"Can you bring the car to the restaurant, please?" asked Brane.

"Only if that piece of junk gets dumped in a place it belongs: SCRAPYARD!" yelled Bowser.

"Yes, but after we get a new car." said Brane.

Bowser picked up the car with both of his two hands while George and Brane lifted up the grill. He stared at the Yugo with sheer hatred and malice in his eyes. They carried all of the stuff back to the abandoned restaurant and placed them near the entrance. Broken Yugo was placed much farther from the entrance.

"HAHA! I've been waiting for this moment! Let's go, men!" shouted Brane in excitement as everyone picked up the paint rollers and buckets and started to recolor the interiors and exteriors of the restaurant.

Time has passed. The trio finished their work just as the moon has risen. All of them were observing their work. What once was a crumbling restaurant was now a subpar looking one. Interiors was colored in titanium white while the exterior was in lemon yellow. An attempt of Bowser's emblem was on the outside walls of the restaurant, but it was covered by yellow paint.

"So, gentlemen. What do you think of this?" grinned Brane as he put his hands on his hips.

"Conventional enough." said George.

"Hmmm….it needs a bit of flair of mine but it looks decent enough." said Bowser while having stains of yellow and white paint all over him.

"Since you two helped me so much, I should reward you…..with THE TASTE OF BALKAN!" offered Brane.

"Better be good or else I'll throw you into the sea!" threatened Bowser.

"Even it is bad, it won't stop me from sharing the goods with the world!" said Brane.

"Whatever, just get on with it." said George.

All of them walked towards the beach and reached the food stand with Bowser carrying the grill and them carrying meat packages. He placed the grill next to the table. Brane opened the box and build the grill in the mere minutes. The grill was also packaged with a kilogram of coal, so he put some coal under the heat plate and checked his pockets for matchsticks, but he had none of them. While Brane was looking away, Bowser spat out a small fireball at the coal, igniting them.

"Woah! Slow it down! Don't get the entire coast on fire!" warned Brane as he just noticed the fire. As soon as possible, he opened the meat packages and placed the meat on the heat plate. Thus all of them waited for the meat to get roasted with Bowser crossing his arms and tapping his foot. Once the meat got a nice little roast on one side, Brane flipped them over with a spatula while sweating and staring at the meat like the most determined person on this planet. With the meat finished, he put the grilled dish of minced meat on the table.

"Bon appetit! Now you shall taste the purity that is ĆEVAPI!" shouted Brane as he offered them his freshly made food.

"Che-what-i? Is this what these are called?" asked Bowser as he smelled them.

"Honestly, they look like turds." commented George.

"HAH! While yes, they might resemble turds, but they taste anything but like a turd!" laughed Brane. All of them grabbed one of the ćevapi and ate them. Bowser was the last one to put one of them in his mouth but he did it anyway.

"So…..how was it?" asked Brane while smiling.

"Not bad." complimented George.

Meanwhile, Bowser was stuffing his mouth with all of ćevapi on the plate. Brane and George looked at him.

"MORE!" demanded Bowser as he smashed his fist on the table.

"Sorry, Bows. That's all for now." said Brane.

"CRUD! I hope tomorrow you bring me a lot of ćevapi! But first…...I need a shower." said Bowser.

"It's over there. We are gonna wait for you in the meantime." Brane pointed towards the closest shower the coast had as he reached for the light he had under the table. Bowser slowly stomped towards it and pressed the button. Shivering cold water flew over his body, but he didn't flinch at all. He was rather standing like a bored statue.

"Yikes! No settings for the warm water!" he thought to himself while the paint stains disappeared over time.

Suddenly, he noticed a moving trash can. It startled him, but before he could look at it from a better perspective, it disappeared.

"Huh? What was that?!" he thought to himself as he walked out of the shower. He started walking towards the food stand, but he heard the sounds of wheels screeching behind him.

"YOU! STOP PLAYING TRICKS ON ME!" he shouted as he turned back, pointing at nowhere. Bowser reached the food stable as Brane had a lamp in his hand while George carried six bottles of some alcoholic drink.

"Hey, Bowser. What's with all the screamin'?" asked George.

"DO NOT SASS ME, GEORGE! I SAW A TRASH CAN FOLLOWING ME!" explained Bowser.

"Moving trash can? I don't recall seeing any trash cans in general lately." said Brane.

"HMMMMM…."thought Bowser out loud. All of them abandoned the food stand with Bowser looking backwards constantly. They returned back to the restaurant and sat down near the wreckage of the Yugo. Brane put the light in the center of where they were sitting. Bowser was still looking to the coast.

"Bowser! You've been staring at the coast for the whole time! Is it because of the alleged trash can?" asked Brane.

"I SAW IT WITH MY OWN EYES! IT WAS FOLLOWING ME LIKE A GHOST TRYING TO SPOOK ME!" replied Bowser.

"Oh please, there's no way a trash bin can just magically follow you. You tell me that its gonna just wander in like its no one's…." scoffed off George just before a trash can with tiny wheels appeared behind him. He turned back and saw the thing himself.

"….business."

"I TOLD YOU ALL!" shouted Bowser as he pointed at the trash can.

The trash can started to tremble in front of their eyes. Bowser and George stared at it like it's some kind of impending disaster while Brane just observed their reactions. The trembling increased further and further until….

A skeleton popped out, but not the whole one. Only the upper body stood out of the trash can. It clung on the edges of the can and yelled in a thick accent:

"BRANE! GIVE ME THE RAKIA!"

Without hesitation, Brane threw him a bottle of rakia and the skeleton caught it.

"THAT AIN'T ENOUGH!" the skeleton yelled at him, causing him to throw additional two of them.

"Hello." greeted George. The skeleton in a trash can stopped drinking two bottles at the same time and turned around and saw George.

"OOOOOH, BRETHREN! It's nice to see another skelly like me around." boasted the skeleton as he got uncomfortably close to him. George just stared at him in disbelief.

"….Who are YOU and…...WHY...ARE YOU….IN THE TRASH CAN?!" asked Bowser as he just stared in shock.

"...From WHAT circle of hell did ye arrive from and who are you two in the first place?" asked the skeleton after he stopped drinking three bottles of rakia at the same time.

"Oh, those are my new friends! George and Bowser!" Brane introduced them to the skeleton.

"Oh right. Anyway, me name is Mosseau Haggisbourgh of Skrumpskin I. The first and the greatest of the Skrumpskin clan of them all." he introduced himself.

"Sooo….you were once a king, huh? Because let me tell you that I AM THE KING." asked Bowser as he raised his eyebrow.

"Ah no, laddeh. Aye was never monarch, not even a landlord. Aye was better known as THE GREATEST WARRIOR OF SCOTLAND EVER TO GRACE THIS WORLD. Good for ye for embracing feudalism." said the skeleton in trash can.

"I can imagine." said George.

"Ooo, yer doubting me claims, aren't ye?" threatened Mosseau as he stopped drinking six bottles of rakia and pulled out a giant rusty claymore out of his trash can.

"No, that was just a "good for you" response." elaborated George.

"Aight, aye can tolerate that." said Mosseau as he put his claymore back into his trash can.

"So...yer askin yerself: "Why is that skelly in trash can?" Let me tell ye then...The trash can isn't where I reside….It's a part of me body!" explained Mosseau as he demonstrated by hopping for a brief moment.

"I also have A LOT more questions about you and your…..trash can." said Bowser.

"Ooo, aye can explain about why me trash can belongs in me anatomy." offered Mosseau.

"Sure then." said George.

"Mosseau and his stories! It's always a joy for me to listen to them!" praised Brane.

"Aight, lads. Lemme tell ya a grim, bloody fable of Mosseau and his trash can that ends on a very shite note. So not too far ago aye was just goofing around in a bloody battlefield that was near this country. Bullets were flying ever but aye, being the greatest warrior, participated in this conflict. This raw, unfiltered, bloody, diarrhea and vomit inducing conflict that was that war. Also me, being me, utterly outclassed every single combatant in the conflict. Gehehehe. But here is a wee trick. Aye did not mention mechanical monstrosities that modern era brought us. It was not the same as it was thousands of years ago, but aye still managed to keep up. It all suddenly changed when…..that fooking twat-faced, dirt filled, smoke-shitting aerodynamic abomination that is Warthog appeared from the heavens and….BOOM! Blasted off me lower body. Oh and if ye think to yerself: "Oooh, it musn't be that painful since you don't have a nervous system", YER WRONG! Imagine someone firing 30 millimeter uranium depleted bullets in yer arse and aye was going for a beer! Aye lost me dignity and gonads that day, THEN aye get dragged to hell…..for like fourth time or something. Then the bloody devil, who is a total pansy, rejected me from entering hell AGAIN….but not before I scammed him off the trash can of his. Turns out….it's a bloody nice trash can. Oh and aye did some modifications for it. I think that's it, lads." told Mosseau his tale, which left all of them speechless.

"That…..answers one question…...BUT IT RAISES THOUSANDS OF QUESTIONS!" yelled Bowser.

"What a thrillin' story you told me, wiseguy." said George as he sarcastically clapped.

"Honestly….I did not expect this." commented Brane.

"ANYWAY, LET JUST END THIS NOW! I'M TIREEEEEED!" demanded Bowser.

"Yeah, it's annoyin' how long this day is." added George.

"Aight, lad. I have thousands of more fables to tell ya lads." said Mosseau.

"Night, gentlemen!" said Brane.

"Night." said Bowser, George and Mosseau.

Then everyone fell asleep.

The sun has risen above the horizon, shining all over the coast of Dalmatia. The sounds of cicadas echoed through out the coast. The paint of the restaurant has completely dried over night. Bowser was still snoring alone near the Yugo wreckage. He woke up, stretched both of his arms and looked around to see if any of his companions are near. George walked up to him from the restaurant.

"Brane wants to see us all at his food stand. I suppose you should get movin'." advised George to the yawning turtle. Out of nowhere, Mosseau rolled in, much to Bowser's suprise.

"MOVE IT , LADS!" he yelled.

All of them moved their rears to the coast, where Brane's little food stand resided. What once used to be just a table covered with a white cloth was now exactly that, but with a sign below it, spelling "TOP BALKAN CUISINE WORLDWIDE!". Packets of various meat were placed underneath the table.

"BRANE! What's up? I see some improvement happened there!" complimented Bowser.

"Ah yes! I did all this stuff this morning! Now…." Brane said as he tapped on the table and gave a thumbs up.

"Now what?" Bowser and George asked.

"We wait for the customers!"

Upon hearing that, Bowser's smile was overtook by a large frown on his face.

"...Why must I ALWAYS WAIT?!" he yelled, clenching his fists.

"Life shall reward those who are patient." said Brane, cleaning a bit of filth from the grill.

Bowser just walked next to the table and stood like a severely damaged totem pole.

"Well, lads. Aye am gonna go to me private place. Aye have some business to do." said Mosseau. Just before he went off to the unknown, Bowser grabbed him by the edge of the trash can.

"Can I at the very least go with you?" asked Bowser, before letting go off him.

"Didn't ye hear "private" in me statement? Now aye must go!" repelled Mosseau as he rolled off to the place unknown.

"Urgh…." groaned Bowser as he sat down and supported his head on his arm.

"Oh, trust me, Bows. You don't wanna know." said Brane.

"Why?" asked Bowser as he glared at him.

"You'll see it eventually." warned Brane. Bowser then stared blankly at the sea. Brane prepared the grill for the incoming customers while George did nothing but standing in his place.

"...So, you're not gonna go anywhere? There are many places to visit here!" asked Brane, pointing out to the nearest city called Baška Voda.

"That is a bad idea." advised George as he lifted his index finger.

"NO!" dismissed Bowser, causing Brane to just shrug off and further continue waiting. A slight breeze blew from the mountain, unnoticeably disrupting the tranquility of the waiting men (and an overly large turtle). The breeze increased its velocity, causing to tip George's hat off his head for a bit. He quickly fixed it before it fell off. However, the breeze did not affect Bowser's determined but static sitting posture.

Suddenly, some kind of man was stumbling away from the town. He appeared to be of the muscular, massive stature with his hands being larger than his torso, but he had ridiculously short legs and a small head. Upon closer inspection, he had a very crusty beard spreading all over his mouth. His left hand was defined by the large tattoo of an anchor, carrying a rather long suitcase with him. Wearing sunglasses and a pilot's cap on his head, an open jacket with a green tank top underneath and brown shorts, the man would be an unusual sight if anyone else other than the four buffoons were on the beach at the moment. Bowser turned his head and noticed him immediately, causing him to stand up and informing Brane:

"Hey, Brane! There's some chump walking there!"

"Opa!" shouted Brane as he rubbed his palms together.

"Do you know this guy or what?" asked George as he poked Brane's shoulder.

"Yes indeed!" said Brane as he waved towards the incoming buff man. He finally arrived towards the food stand, put down his suitcase and gently slammed on the table with his bulky, hairy hand. The man was almost rivaling Bowser in terms of height.

"Oi, mates…." said the man as he stared at them with an intense glare. "I'm Sniper Mad John and let me tell you….."

Everyone quietly looked at each other as if they were participating in a cowboy battle.

"….Nice to meet you!" he said as he offered his massive, bulky hand towards them. "No need for introduction, since Brane already told me about you two."

George reached out his hand, only to see that his palm was dwarfed in size compared to John's hands.

"Why are your hands so bloody massive?" he asked as he shook his hands with John.

"Ah, that's just your usual diet and routine in my country. Not that I'm any different from others, thanks to the certain metal." said the massive sniper.

"What metal and from WHAT beefcake ridden country are you? Also, hello!" asked Bowser as he was about to offer his reptilian hand to him.

"Ah, I'm from Australia! To be honest, you look like you would belong in the wildlife of Tasmania or something and no one would bat an eye." Sniper Mad John clarified.

"….Are you saying that where you come from has EVEN MORE misplaced animals and plants?!" said Bowser as he received a shock from some kind of realization.

"Yeah, mate!" confirmed John with a big smile on his face as he shook hands with Bowser.

"...Oh man, I'm not prepared for the Beefy, inept at natural placement…..whatever their form of government is...of Australia…..YET!" said Bowser as he was imagining reptiles with swole arms wrestling with overly buff men with mustaches and fishing hats in the burning jungle.

"No one is prepared for Straya, mate. Not even the ones born in it. You're molded in it." explained John.

"Eh, what metal did you meant earlier?" asked George as he scratched his chin.

"Australium!"

"...Oh, you're jokin' me. And how much is it worth anyway?" asked George once again.

"Sorry, can't tell that. It's classified information , see. However, I can tell that it brought an era of renaissance to my country." told John.

"….When?" grumbled George as he tilted his head in confusion.

"Uhh….I think in the 60's." mumbled John as he scratched his pilot cap.

"...Oh man, I'm behind these modern times." thought George to himself.

"So, Brane! How's it going?" said Sniper Mad John as he shook his massive hands with Brane.

"Loše! But with the help of these two fine gentlemen, the situation is now very good! I can finally start doing some sweet Balkan food business now! And you, Mad John?" said Brane as he raised his arms up in the air.

"Pretty aight, mate. Just came back from Kosovo, which is not too far from here. Worked for KFOR and I can say that it was quite peaceful this time. However…...I am quite hungry now, since the journey from Kosovo to here has been quite long." said John as he rubbed his hand on his stomach.

"Of course! I shall give you ćevapi, but since you are my first customer in a long time, I shall give you a free sample and then we shall discuss the price!" offered Brane as he immediately turned on the grill and smacked some meat on it. The scent of grilled meat started to engulf the surrounding area, carried by the breeze.

"I WANT SOME ĆEVAPI TOO!" shouted Bowser as he raised his fist up in the air.

"You will get them, brate, but let John have the experience!" said Brane as he continued grilling his food. After his meat has been fully grilled, he put them on the plastic plate, piece by piece.

"Evo ga! It is now done!" proclaimed Brane as he offered the plate towards John. After doing that, he opened up a new package of meat and smacked it on the grill once again, repeating the process. John grabbed the plate and started consuming the ćevapi, one at the time. With each chew, Sniper Mad John made noises of satisfaction.

"Mmmm! Excellent as always, Brane! I've missed such a taste!" exclaimed Mad John. By the time he finished his meal, Bowser has already consumed his entire portion.

"You are welcome, brate!" said Brane as he bowed down towards John like an actor. Bowser gave a thumbs up behind his back.

"Say, George! Do you want some ćevapi too?" offered Brane once more.

"I'll pass." scoffed off George as he waved away from him, causing Brane to just shrug off.

"Oi, Brane! I feel like there's someone missing here." pointed out John as he looked around.

"Oh, him? He just went to his..." George tried to explain, but he was interrupted by the echoing and deafening yell, which went:

"AYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE LADDEEEEEEEEEEEEH!"

Mosseau, while he yelled, rolled down the slope sideways while erratically twitching like a mad bastard, causing additional noise with whatever there was inside his trash can. He was approaching with ever increasing velocity towards the food stand of theirs. Bowser intercepted the general direction of the incoming Mosseau by stepping in front of George and snatching the trash can just before it tumbled over the entire food stand. However, his action did not prevent Mosseau's erratic twitching and yelling. George just blankly stared at the whole situation while Brane and John just glanced over, sighing in process.

"WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING, YOU LUNATIC?!" shouted Bowser as he shook Mosseau and kept him as far from his face as possible, but to no avail.

George stepped close to the range of Mosseau's flailing and observed, coming up with his hypothesis:

"Hmmmm. I see he is sufferin' for being a…."

Just before he could finish his hypothesis, Mosseau abruptly stopped flailing and jumped out of Bowser's grasp, landing in front of George and pointed his left index finger on him.

"If ye say that aye am a "crackhead" or "bonehead" or anything remotely similar in front of me face, aye will rip out yer ribs, shove them right up in yer arse and drown them in the ocean of piss." threatened Mosseau, oddly quietly this time.

"I was about to say that you are a cocaine addict, you damned mentalcase. If you want puns, go ask someone else." retaliated George as he was about to perform his signature slap on him, while simultaneously pointing towards Bowser without him noticing it.

"Oh, aight then." said Mosseau as he then continued flailing his arms around and yelling, falling down on the ground once more.

"...Sheesh!" sighed Bowser.

"Mosseau! You must cease immediately!" warned Brane as he raised his index finger towards him, but he continued having his moment. "If you continue being like this, you'll drive away our incoming customers!"

He kept going on like a mad twat he was.

"And you'll get no Rakia!"

"FUCK!" Mosseau yelled as he stopped flailing and stood up. He turned around and noticed John, who just smiled and waved at him.

"So! Sniper Mad John, me lad, what did aye miss?" asked Mosseau as he further looked around the place.

"Ah, not much. Anyway, I would say that those ćevapi should cost around 7 kuna per approximately 1 pound." advised Sniper Mad John, unintentionally causing confusion towards Brane.

"Wait, how much is that in grams?" asked Brane as he scratched his head.

"I think around 500 grams, but I'm not sure, mate." said John.

"Ah, that seems optimal! 7 kuna per 500g or 1 pound!" declared Brane as he raised his hands up in the air once again.

"Say, Brane….Mind if I join you?" he asked.

"Of course!" welcomed Brane as John stepped between them.

"Gwahahaha…..my dream for conquest is getting closer and closer to reality." thought Bowser to himself as he grinned, clutching his fist in secret.

"Finally, I'm gonna get some money." thought George to himself, fixing his hat for a bit.

After John joined them, the state of waiting returned. Only the breeze turned into the wind of the medium force. However, a sight of a man, who held a beer can, appeared from right side of the coast. He was slowly walking towards the food stand, observing the coast just to kill time. Mosseau quickly hid inside his trash can.

"So, am I and Bows gonna stand here or what?" asked George as he poked Brane's shoulder.

"Ah, no worries about it! Tourists will likely accept you!" reassured Brane as he gave a pat on George's shoulder.

"You sure you aren't trustin' people too much?" said George as his left hand slipped in the pocket, grabbing the revolver just in case.

"Smiri se, George moj! Everything is gonna be fine!" reassured Brane once again.

"Hmmpf, fine." mumbled George, still keeping his hand in the pocket.

The man, who approached the food stand, was the Czech tourist from before. He looked at them, prepared to sip from the can and thought to himself:

"Co to kurva je?"

"Welcome to the TOP BALKAN CUISINE WORLDWIDE! With what kind of food do you want to be blessed with?" introduced Brane as the Czech tourist was just speechlessly baffled by them.

"...Did somebody just got murdered here earlier or what?" he asked as he sipped from his beer can.

"No, it was just that somebody stepped on a nail earlier." explained George while doing motions with his right hand.

"Yeah, it was also a real rusty and smelly one at that." added Bowser.

"And it happened right after his or her foot was recovering from stepping on an urchin." also added John while giving a huge grin.

"Oh, damn. That must have been hellish. Anyway, give me some of your ćevapi, please." requested the Czech tourist, to which Brane immediately prepared ćevapi on the grill. The grilling of aforementioned meat produced a special kind of aroma, which, helped by the wind, engulfed the large area of the coast again. Once the ćevapi were grilled, Brane put them on the plastic plate and offered them to the tourist.

"Voila!" he shouted as the tourist took the plate from his grasp. The Czech tourist picked up one of ćevapi and took a bite out of it. The moment he started chewing it, he started doing noises and gestures of severe satisfaction, much to Brane's pleasure.

"Oh! That is some good shit!" praised the tourist as he gave a thumbs up towards them.

"Thank you very much!" said Brane as he gave out the victory sign towards them.

"Nice!" added Bowser as he raised his fist up in the air.

"Seven kuna, please!" asked Brane, to which tourist gave them one coin of 5 kuna and two coins of 1 kuna without any hesitation whatsoever. Before the tourist left and minded his own business, he asked: "By the way, do you people know anything about that out of control Yugo before?"

"Shit!" thought Brane and George to themselves while John was just dumbfounded and Bowser thought to himself: "Crud!".

"Y-y-yeah, it went on a rampage by itself because it got jealous of other cars being objectively better than it." Bowser tried to explain as he was acting like nothing happened.

"Okay, if you say so." said the tourist as he went away, bringing up his not so modern looking phone and called other people, talking with them in his native language.

"Phew!" relieved Brane and Bowser as they cleaned sweat from their foreheads.

"Is it over yet, lads?" peeked Mosseau from his trash can. Cue the the sight of more people coming not only from the same side as the Czech tourist arrived from earlier, but also from the town itself.

"Nope!" answered Brane, which made Mosseau hide in his trash can once again. As the time passes, more and more people, be it tourists from different nations or Croatian citizens, began to flock over the food stand. With demand getting higher in just few hours, they had to take breaks to provide more meat for the customers. However, with income also getting higher and higher, they had to keep all the money somewhere safe and easily reachable. Mad John took care of providing meat from various butchers and shops while George sneaked into the town during one break, stole some empty jars and created holes on every cap, so that they could slip money inside of them.

Later that day, the sun descended from the sky, now that night shall take its place. The area within the close range of the food stand was no longer flocked by many people. Almost every jar that George brought , which were spread on the table, was filled with mostly coins and occasionally paper money.

"So, shall we call it a day?" asked Brane, just before they could return to their resting place, which was close to the restaurant.

"Yeah." said everyone as Mosseau popped out of his trash can, just to say: "Aye.".

"Very well then!" said Brane as everyone was about to return to the place near restaurant, not before George posed a question: "Say, who's gonna take care of the cash?".

"Hmmmm, I suppose anyone of us could do the job, though I do trust myself on that." advised Brane.

"Not me though. I admit that I ain't good with money." refused George. "However, I suppose you should take care of it, considerin' that you seem confident about it."

"Okay, and I'll let Mosseau be the bank!" said Brane, much to George and Bowser's surprise.

"...Are you sure you're gonna trust him with cash?" asked George, pointing at Mosseau.

"PFFFFT, yer implying that aye ever spend the mone!" he laughed and snorted for a bit.

"Hmmm..." thought George to himself.

"WHAT?! Are ye doubting me cla-" threatened Mosseau again as he was about to bring out one of his weapons from his trash can.

"Just curious." clarified George, just so that Mosseau could calm down.

"...Oh." said Mosseau as he stopped himself from further aggression. Everyone then returned to the place near restaurant, where they sat down near the light, which illuminated the area near the Yugo wreckage.

"The grill was success! Now that only the restaurant has not been proven yet, I do wonder if we should just toss one of the options away once the restaurant shall prove itself." said Brane as he scratched his beard.

"Why not keep both? If have them in the best form, we'll have double the income." advised George.

"Yes, and we'll get RICHER quicker!" Bowser supported his statement.

"Aight, but wouldn't that mean we would have the competition with ourselves, considering how close the restaurant and the food stand are?" argued Sniper Mad John.

"Not if take it to the account that the income shall not be split for the restaurant and the stand separately, but rather combined. Perhaps the food stand should work for the smaller doses of food for the customers, like drive-through or somethin', but the restaurant should work for the bigger stuff, like if people want to eat lunch. Capisce?" informed George, crossing his arms in the process.

"Who's gonna work there though?" asked Bowser.

"I would say John. He seems like a guy that would attract a lot of people without looking too odd." recommended George, while glancing at John.

"Oh, thank you very much! Now that I have been given this role and I assume Brane will be the main chef, what would you three be?" said Mad John.

"Uh...I don't even know. I'm a king, not a RESTAURANT MANAGER!" grumbled Bowser.

"Perhaps you could be the cashier for the restaurant. The first thing customers would see will be you, of course!" advised Brane.

"So that means I'm gonna get more well known here easier? NICE!" shouted Bowser and he laughed like a villain.

"I'm gonna be the provider of resources. Don't question my ways of doing it, though." announced George.

"Oh, aye am gonna be a SCAVENGER!" affirmed Mosseau, as he grabbed the edges of his trash can.

"...For what purpose?" asked George as he glared at him.

"Well, somebody has to fill that quota, eh? Not like the wasted food and beverages are the worst thing aye ever ate personally." elaborated Mosseau.

"Ew, that is DISGUSTING and I don't wanna hear more of it." complained Bowser as he winced.

"What?! Sometimes ye gotta eat anything to survive even if it sucks, laddeh!" said Mosseau.

"Yep, I know this." added Mad John.

"So, is everything clear?" asked Brane, just to reassure himself.

"For the restaurant stuff, yes." answered George, with everyone else nodding to his statement.

"So, mates, shall we kill some time or are we going to sleep now?" asked Mad John as he offered a deck of 52 playing cards, immediately catching George's interest.

"Of course." said George, much to Bowser's surprise.

They played various games during the night, such as poker and so on. George was unanimously and calmly winning all the games in a row, much to Bowser's and Mosseau's rage while Brane and John had laughing fits. After several laughing fits, outbursts of anger and noise disturbance warnings, they went to sleep, awaiting for a new day to come. Little did they know that George and Brane woke up a bit earlier.

Next morning, the remaining ones woke up and saw a billboard on the restaurant, with the words "Kornjača" written on it and a drawing of a turtle next to the text. The interior of the restaurant also had some sudden improvements, like a vending machine with beverages, a cash register, a vault and an electric grill.

"Ta-daaaa! Now the restaurant has become "Kornjača", the newer and better than before!" boasted Brane as he pointed his arms towards the renewed restaurant, with George standing near him silently.

"Corn-ya-what?" asked Bowser as he squinted his eyes towards the billboard.

"Kornjača! As in turtle!" explained Brane.

"Ah, I see-WAIT A MINUTE!" noticed Bowser something. "Did you just indirectly name your restaurant after ME?!"

"Yep!" confirmed Brane without hesitation.

"Why, thank you! Nice that even more people will know me, but indirectly." complimented Bowser as he gave a high five to Brane. George stepped closer towards Bowser and whispered: "He was about to name the restaurant with your name, but I've said that's a bit too obvious and if any scandal happens, we would have been an obvious target."

"Ah, nothing too bad. Still a nice gesture, if an indirect one." shrugged Bowser and so did George.

"I have to admit, if it was more direct, I would like it more." he thought o himself.

Meanwhile, Mosseau was observing the interior while John was waiting for him. Then he rolled towards Brane and said: "You know, lad. There's something missing here."

"Tell me, Mosseau! If it's variety in food or such, then don't worry. I've got that covered with pljeskavica, burek and fish!" said Brane. Hearing the words "fish", Bowser winced: "Eugh, MORE FISH?!"

"Is there anything wrong with fish?" asked Brane, being confused at Bowser's disgust.

"No, it's just I can't stand them after that journey." elaborated Bowser.

"Ah! That makes sense! Anyway, what was it, Mosseau?" asked Brane once again.

"TELEVISION!" yelled Mosseau while flailing his arms.

"...What purpose would that have to a restaurant?" questioned George.

"Ye know, if there's one thing that makes people flock around a place like birds around breadcrumbs, it's FOOTBALL MATCHES, LAD!" said Mosseau.

"Do I sense a compensation for legs?" sassed George.

"SHUT YER GEGGIE, YE SNOBBISH, BOAR-LICKED KNOBHEAD!" flipped off Mosseau as he showed his middle finger towards George, to which he did not respond.

"Well, mates. I have to go now. Mosseau, come with me!" said Mad John as Mosseau rolled just right behind him, constantly yelling: "WAIT FOR ME, LADDEH!"

Bowser and Brane entered the restaurant and prepared themselves for the incoming customers and George disappeared into nowhere. Meanwhile John and Mosseau arrived to the food stand and prepared everything. Mosseau hid himself in the trash can once again, just so no one could notice him. As soon as they arrived, one man from the town with sunglasses and a flaming shirt, which had " A" written on its back, rushed towards the food stand and asked: "Greetings, fellow gentleman of similar stature. May I ask you for a large amount of edible substance, which shall provide me nutrients for survival?".

"Oi, mate! We sell ćevapi there! So how much would you want?" asked Mad John with a big grin on his face.

"My most humble apology, but I am afraid that a grilled cuisine made out of minced meat, which is signature in the Southeastern Europe, shall not provide satisfactory for my ever-increasing state of hunger. I would like to ask for something akin to pljeskavica or, if I'm being too demanding, which I apologize in advance, some spit roast, preferably made out of a swine?" said the Polish tourist.

"Sorry, mate. The food stand only sells ćevapi for now. However, if you want a desirable lunch, there's a newly open restaurant over there." advised Mad John as he pointed towards the direction of the restaurant.

"I highly appreciate your help, my good sir, but alas, I must proceed to the restaurant that you have generously pointed for me. Farewell." said the tourist as he rushed towards the restaurant at the high velocity. He entered the restaurant and quickly approached Bowser, much to his surprise.

"Welcome to Kornjača, where you can taste the food out there!" promoted Bowser as he welcomed the customer.

"Greetings, fellow extraordinary reptile of the order Testudines, most likely resembling Macrochelys temminckii species. I have arrived here to order a large amount of edible substance, which shall provide me with nutritions, preferably protein and fat." greeted the Polish tourist.

"Uh...what do you want, professor?" asked Bowser, completely baffled by the tourist's speech as he was about to write the order.

"I would humbly ask for the local dish called "pljeskavica" with some ajvar on the side." requested the tourist as Bowser wrote down the order and gave the paper to Brane. After seeing the order, Brane immediately smacked one large pljeskavica on the electric grill. The grilling of pljeskavica created aroma, which again engulfed the coast by the help of the stronger winds. Once the pljeskavica was grilled enough properly, Brane put it on the ceramic plate, put and additional lepinja and spread some ajvar next to it. He gave the plate to Bowser, which he delivered it to the Polish tourist.

"Here you go! Enjoy the cuisine of Dalmatia!" said Bowser as he offered the plate to his customer and returned to his place.

"Fungah! I'm becoming like him" he secretly thought to himself.

The tourist picked up the fork and a knife and started consuming the meat, sometimes dipping it into the ajvar. The satisfaction on his face after the consumption of pljeskavica could not be described with mere words.

"MY WORD! EXQUISITE! My muscular organ, which can detect various tastes, has never tasted such a divine excellence ever before!" clamored the tourist, which in response, both Bowser and Brane yelled: "YES!"

After the customer paid for the pljeskavica, he left the restaurant in high spirits. However, in a quite short time, more people started to enter the restaurant. Bowser welcomed them with a boastful smile as Brane worked overtime, just to satisfy his customers. Most, if not all of the customers were singing praises about Brane's delicacies. The food stand was also selling the food, but not as successfully as the restaurant. After the sun descended from the sky once again, they temporarily closed the restaurant and sat down the Yugo wreckage as always. Just as before, they played various card games before sleep, with George having a winning streak. The next day surprised them, as contractors started to appear over the restaurant, requesting that this restaurant should spread all over the places. Of course, no one between the buffoons hesitated for Kornjača to spread out more. At first, it only spread through Dalmatia, appearing in towns like Makarska, which replaced that abandoned shop. The day for the working buffoons was almost identical as before, with Bowser greeting customers with a smile and taking their orders while Brane grilled the meat like a composition of aroma and taste. However, they somehow installed a digital television in one of the corners of the restaurant, mostly playing football matches with occasional news on it. Same as before, the restaurant closed after the sunrise, with them playing card games again.

However, within less of a week, Kornjača spread all over Croatia, from Makarska to Vukovar. Croatian citizens began to chant "Kornjača" all over the place, especially notably when the new branch of the restaurant was about to open.

In Zagreb, reporters recorded the mass chanting that happened near one of the branches. One of them reporters tried to interview some of the people in the masses.

"Mister, can you tell us about this unexpected, but well regarded restaurant that is called Kornjača?" asked the reporter.

"KORNJAČA JE JAČA!" the man and the masses yelled in union as they continued chanting.

"It is true….Kornjača took over Croatia!" said the reporter dramatically as they played a stock music piece over it.

Bowser and his group watched the whole ordeal on their own DTV with pleasure. George was too busy counting money to concentrate on TV though.

"We did it! We have become locally famous!" shouted Brane as he raised his arms up to the heavens.

"YES! Now people know how good our food is!" complimented Bowser as he gave Brane a high five once again.

"Finally, we have something to supply ourselves." said George as he briefly looked towards them, before he continued counting money.

"Goob job, mates!" praised Mad John as he gave everyone a handshake.

"WHEN'S ARSENAL?! CHANGE THE CHANNEL ALREADY!" screamed Mosseau as he slammed on his trash can.

"Wait! We have to see our news first!" said Brane, just before the news switched to another story.

"We shall cover the story of some celebrity causing some sh-" reported the broadcaster before George switched the channel to the football match between Arsenal versus Manchester.

"Here's your football match you desired so much." said George, leaving Mosseau alone with his TV. Everyone else also joined him and started playing cards while Mosseau was cussing up storms because of the match. Just before they went to sleep, Bowser's smile slowly turned into a slight frown as he looked down on the floor.

Within next few days, Kornjača has officially spread beyond the borders. Reports say that the sights of the restaurants have been found from Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, Bulgaria and even Slovenia, but so far nowhere else had it spread. Although the reception towards Kornjača in these countries was positive, it was not as extreme as in Croatia, even some in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bulgaria giving negative reviews for it. The most popular location still remained Baška Voda, with hundreds of people flocking the place. However, with each day, Bowser's aforementioned boastful smile started to fade away and became more unusually passive. This continued up until one day, where Bowser's smile completely faded away, leaving him to be utterly bored. Once the working hours have past, they all sat down near the wreckage and played card games, with Bowser winning this time.

"Congratulations, you won this one." complimented George as he offered Bowser a handshake, but Bowser refused it, much to George's surprise.

"Eh."

"Huh? Bowser, what is the matter?" asked Brane.

"Eeeeeeeeeeh."

"No seriously, what's wrong?" also asked Sniper Mad John.

"For fuck's sake, yer being like a passive mule lately. Spit it out or aye'll make ye say it!" rambled Mosseau as he was about to unleash his claymore.

"I suppose I should reveal the truth. Brane….I know restaurant business is fun for you and such….but it doesn't work for me. Something has been missing from my life ever since I left my kingdom." vented Bowser.

"Ah, I understand you, Bowser. What's been missing from your life though?" consoled Brane.

Bowser silently stood up and said one simple thing:

"CONQUEST!"

"Of course." said George as he performed a motion similar to the one someone rolling their eyes.

"Hahaha, you have certainly conquered the Balkan cuisine." joked Sniper Mad John.

"Did ye say…..conquest!?" shrieked Mosseau in excitement as he raised his claymore up in the air.

"NO! THAT IS NOT THE SAME! Sure, we have established dominion over Balkan cuisine chain, but...My style of conquering is more of CRUSHING EVERY ENEMY WITH THE IRON FIST, TAKING THEIR LAND WITH THE FORCE AND MAKING THEIR ENTIRE POPULATION KNEEL ONCE THEY HEAR THE NAME OF THEIR CONQUEROR: BOWSER! WITH SHEER POWER, I SHALL TAKE OVER THIS WORLD! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" boasted Bowser as he posed menacingly along with his rant, leaving everyone speechless.

"Uhm….should we tell that his plan seems….impossible?" whispered John to Brane, just before George bluntly told him: "No, Bowser, that is not possible to accomplish here."

"HMMPF! Go ahead and tell me WHY is such a plan impossible!" pouted Bowser as he crossed his arms.

Sniper Mad John quickly took out a world map out of his pocket and showed him every country on it. He pointed out on one nation: United States of America.

"What about it?" asked Bowser, being confused by the point John was trying to make.

"This is the United States, the most armed country on the planet. Practically unrivaled in terms of technology with very few countries EVEN competing it." started explaining John.

"Bah! T-t-they can boast all they want, but they'll have to PROVE it!" he tried to refute any statement.

"….It's entire army can destroy this world multiple times if they wanted just by one weapon type. Who knows how would a full scale battle against USA look like." further continued John, which made George's jaw drop.

"HOLY S….SHUCKLES! T-T-THIS IS A JOKE, RIGHT?!" screamed Bowser as his jaw also dropped and his irises shrunk.

"...I always knew my country was powerful, but to basically have that much power? I never knew..." mumbled George while staring at the world map.

"Oooooh, wrecking yer arse isn't the only they'll do to ye! They'll peacekeep it! So yeah, don't fuck with 'em unless you want unlubed annihilation of everything ye knew, loved and yer rectum." further added Mosseau.

"Not only that, but they're also one of the leading parts of NATO!" spiced up John.

"WHAT-O?! WHAT KIND OF FORCE OF NATURE IS THAT?!" asked Bowser while trembling.

"North Atlantic Treaty Organization or, to put it short, a military alliance between the States, most of the Europe, with very few countries being in NATO that are not in Europe. Basically, if you piss off one of the countries within the membership, the alliance will strike back HARD!" elaborated John, much to Bowser's horror.

"..So not only do they have SO MUCH POWER….they have other not as powerful but still threatening countries on their side? TALK ABOUT AN OVERKILL! No wonder why you guys seem to think that world domination is impossible here!" ranted Bowser.

"Oh yes! A fellow neighbor country of mine received a taste of NATO not too long ago." added Brane while pointing behind the mountains.

"The taste was fucked, mang." said Mosseau quietly.

"So, I hope at least anyone not in the NATO shall not give us trou-WHAT IN THE NAME OF FUNGUS IS THAT COUNTRY AND WHY IS IT SO BIG?!" Bowser tried to reassure himself but he noticed Russian Federation on the map.

"Russia? Oh yeah, you should be wary of it. While the consequences might not be as extreme as pissing off United States, they'll still wreck everything if you do provoke them….ruthlessly." said John.

"Oh man….things were much simpler back in my kingdom. Only Mario and Luigi were really the forces I couldn't defeat and even then they're were just some stupid plumbers in the end. Everything else was a big joke to me thanks to my pure power….and sometimes plumbers because certain mockeries of villains somehow managed to OUTSMART ME….not my fault though. But…..this….this NATO thing sends shivers down my spine just imagining it. What even makes them so powerful enough that they could manage to destroy this world multiple times? Is it some kind of doomsday device or what? I'm not screwing with them or that giant named Russia, since they would end everything I knew and loved….I must think of something…." thought Bowser to himself, before he came up with something.

"Hmm…Perhaps my old techniques of conquering countries wouldn't work here…...BUT…..I have an idea." revealed Bowser to them, which all of them caught interest.

"Perhaps as a start we could conquer….SOME SMALL ISLANDS THAT NO ONE CARES ABOUT! Obviously not close to here since….we are close to those NATO countries right?" advised Bowser as he turned his back towards them, glancing them over like a villain.

"Just to clarify, we are in a NATO country." said Brane.

"….We are leaving Croatia tomorrow." boldly declared Bowser as he clutched his fist.

"ŠTO?! Z-Z-ZAŠTO!? HOW COULD I EVER LEAVE THE BEAUTIFUL DALMATIA!?" panicked Brane as he began to sweat.

"Listen, I've been in this situation before. You start missin' it at first, but you'll get over it. I do miss a bit of Big Apple though." told George his experience.

"So have I, but I've got sick of constantly failing. I had to move out and this is the golden opportunity to do it. Speaking of opportunities….Brane, don't you want to spread your cuisine all over the world?" claimed Bowser, enlightening the mind of Brane.

"...I...I do! Oh ja! I could spread Balkan cuisine through your conquest!" said Brane as he raised his fist up in the air like a rebel.

"And do you three desire anything from the conquest?" Bowser asked them.

"As a vagabond myself, I don't really desire anything than a good paycheck and just traveling around the world, mate." said Sniper Mad John.

"Needs for survival and a good paycheck." demanded George.

"GLOOOOOOOOORY!" yelled Mosseau as he pulled out his claymore and the bagpipes. Just as he was about to play them, everyone told him to stop, much to his dismay.

"Well then! Those don't seem too difficult, but just before we take a rest for our incoming conquest, I must simply do one thing first." requested Bowser as he grinned towards Mosseau and George.

"WHAT?!" shouted Mosseau while George just uncomfortably looked at Bowser.

"It is true that our conquest is impossible with just five of us. Anyone with a functioning brain would said that. However, with an army, WE SHALL ACCOMPLISH OUR GOALS and I just got the right idea on what army shall look like!" explained Bowser while laughing maniacally. "Say...does anyone here have some kind of communication thingamajig or something?"

Brane immediately gave him his old Nokia phone. He had difficulties typing on it with his reptilian sausage hands, but he managed to type a random combination of numbers. Bowser put the phone near his ear and waited for the answer.

"Riiing….Hello? Who's calling this?" asked a familiar voice.

"Who else than YOUR MAJESTY HIMSELF, BOWSER!" answered Bowser.

"O-o-o-oh, your Farawayness! It's been….quite a long time honestly!" stuttered the voice.

"Kamek, I need you for something! Bring me that wand which revives the dead people, but keeps them as bones NOW!" demanded Bowser.

"I-i-i'll be there but where are you even?" asked Kamek.

"Baška Voda, Croatia. Also important: MAKE THEM SPEAK ENGLISH….so that there could be no language barriers!" further demanded Bowser.

"Understood, your Demandiness!"

"Also, get me Junior on the phone now!" ordered Bowser. Kamek switched the phone, so that Bowser Jr. could get on the it.

"Hey, Papa!"

"Junior! What's up, my son!" asked Bowser all giddy.

"Nothing much, pops. We're trying to conceive a plan to kidnap Peach without those dumb plumbers noticing!" answered Bowser Jr. happily.

"Just expected for my son! By the way, did you do your homewoooork?"

"….Yes, Papa, I did my homework….and other chores too….and commanding the army too." groaned Bowser Junior.

"Good! You know, dad is in this weird country called Croatia. Like, the beaches don't even have sand here, instead it's foot torture and the nature is super weird there, but once you get used to it, it's very nice." said Bowser.

"Cool! I hope one day, we might be able to visit it together. Whelp, time to inspect those Goombas! See ya, papa!" said Bowser Junior as he put down the phone.

"See ya later, Junior!" said Bowser a goodbye and then looked back, seeing them all baffled with exception of Mosseau.

"...You have a son?" Brane, George and John all asked in union.

"YES INDEED! Not only that, I have also additional SEVEN KIDS AS WELL!" he boasted as he put his arms on his hips.

"...Oh wow, mating season for you was fucking mental." said George.

"Eight only? PFFFFFFFFFFFT! That's nothing, laddeh. Aye used to have 25 kids back in me days!" countered Mosseau.

By the time Bowser told him about the kids, Kamek already arrived to the scene with some kind of wand in his hand.

"Here it is, your Majesty. Apologies for rushing, but I must take care." said Kamek as he gave the wand to Bowser and flew off back to his kingdom.

"COME BACK, YE WIZARD!" taunted Mosseau as he grabbed his AK-47 from his trash can.

"Don't fire at my own minions, Mosseau!" warned Bowser, making Mosseau hide his AK-47 back in his trash can. He observed the wand for a bit before deciding: "Now...anyone tell me where's the nearest graveyard?"

Later that night, somewhere on the sea facing side of the mountain, they found some abandoned graveyard with severely damaged graves. Crows observed them from the distanced and flew away, minding their own business. Then Bowser stomped with his foot and raised the wand up in the air.

"RISE FROM THE BELOW, MY SKELETAL FRIENDS!"

The lightnings from the wand scorched the earth with the sheer power of Bowser, causing large vibrations in the ground. Suddenly, skeletal arms bursted through the layer of ground, pulling themselves out of their grisly graves. More and more arms rose from the earth, with every furious skeleton fully ascending from their graves to the mortal realm of this world. Once every skeleton from the graveyard has risen, they all screamed in union:

"FUCKBOYS BEWARE! YOU'RE IN FOR A SCARE!"

Bowser, with a big smug grin on his face, approached the mass of skeletons, making every skeleton look in his eyes.

"Listen very carefully! I AM BOWSER, THE ONE WHO GAVE YOU ANOTHER CHANE, YOUR NEW LEADER! I DREAM TO BECOME ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTAL AND POWERFUL PERSON ON THIS PLANET. MY ACTIONS SHALL BE WRITTEN IN HISTORY! I WILL BECOME A CONQUEROR GREATER THAN…..uh…." Bowser gave a speech to them before he asked his companions for help. "Who was the greatest conqueror of them all?"

"Alexander the Great?" answered Mosseau.

"Yesss...GREATER THAN ALEXANDER THE GREAT! I SHALL OVERCOME HIM! I WILL BECOME RICHER THAN…...uh….who's the richest person on this planet?" asked Bowser once again.

"Sheikh?" answered Sniper Mad Jon.

"YESSSS…..I SHALL BECOME RICHER THAN SHEIKH! SO COME WITH ME, MY FELLOW BONES!" he completed his speech.

"Nice!" the skeletons said in the union.

"You will also get a lot of money if you join me." added Bowser.

"OH NICE, LAD!" they all yelled.

"Also, if yer gonna get our trust properly, aye might share some cocaine with ye." promoted Mosseau.

"SING ME THE FUCK UP, BOY!" they all yelled in union as they flocked over the Bowser's side.

"GWAHAHAHAHA! NOW THE WORLD SHALL FEAR THE NAME OF BOWSER! But for now…..let's take a rest shall we?"

In the morning, dozens of tourists and townspeople gathered around the seemingly closed restaurant, anticipating the words of the staff. The doors of the restaurant opened, with four buffoons of different sizes and shapes going out to the public. A trash can was standing near the entrance as Mosseau secretly peeked through out the whole ordeal. While George, Brane and John stopped and waited in their places, Bowser took few steps ahead and raised his arms towards them as he was about to announce something. The public quietly but tensely watched him as he spoke:

"My fellow Croatians and tourists from the lands of near and far away! Today I, the GREAT owner and one of the creators of Kornjača, Bowser, will announce that, yes, me and my crew are DEPARTING from this actually pretty nice, if not very weird country!"

"WHAT?!" yelled the public as they tried to get closer to Bowser and attempt to "interview" (in reality bomb him with related and unrelated questions) him on such a choice.

"CHILL, PEOPLE! Now let me explain! First and the most of all, just because we will be absent does not mean that Kornjača will be gone! In fact, it will stay here, unless you people decide to demolish it…..which I DO NOT RECOMMEND! Anyway, while the decision for the departure was tough, it is an utmost threshold for our incoming co-I mean, "adventures" around the world, so that the word of Kornjača shall be well known!"

The crowd calmed down. Instead with yelling, they responded with a thunderous applause for his speech. Bowser waved to them, making them cheer. The other three observed the whole situation. Brane put his arms on his waist, proudly smiling towards the public. John had a huge smile on his face and gave Brane a high-five, meanwhile George crossed his arms and leaned on the wall, watching them cheer.

"Now, before I go….I must do something VERY important, but it's not for the public ears." declared Bowser, just before he stepped to his crew and asked: "Hey, now that we're out….who's gonna take care of the restaurant?"

Just before any of his crew could've answered, the Czech and Polish tourist appeared right next to them, with both of them having crossed their arms.

"We shall volunteer, providers of exquisite food!" offered the Polish tourist as he raised his fist up in the air.

"Hmmpf...Since you two were the first ones to taste our grand delicacies, I shall give you permission to take care of it!" said Bowser as he gently shook their hands.

"You better not let everythin' go to waste, capisce?" warned George as he turned his head and glared at them.

"George! How could you say such stuff? I guarantee you they won't ruin our business!"

"While we understand that we are on high pedestal after your success, we will give you a word of a true man and will run this place as successfully as you!" promised the Polish tourist while the Czech tourist nodded in agreement.

"Brane, here's a life lesson for you: never underestimate the ability of someone completely ruinin' your career and potentially your life in a single decision." advised George.

"Well, it ain't that wrong, but isn't it a bit overkill to assume this about everyone?" admitted Brane as he brushed off sweat from his forehead.

"You see, you never know who's gonna do it, be it some random guy on the streets or one of your associates. It even could be anyone between us." further advised George.

"He's right, lad." quietly said Mosseau towards Brane, to which he nodded.

"Anyway, since Bowser has approved you two, I guess I'll allow it as well." said George, giving out the final needed approval. The Pole and the Czech gave each other a high-five and yelled: "YEAH!". While both of them overtook the attention of the people, Bowser and his associates went away from the public and approached the Yugo wreck. Without hesitation, Bowser lifted it with all of his strength and carried it to the nearest parking lot. Only thing that was parked there was a single but a bit modified in terms of length and width Volkswagen Type 2 Samba bus, painted in Woodland pattern and internally armed with M2 Browning heavy machine guns on each side. "KFOR" in white letters was written on one side of the bus. For the sake of simplicity, John calls it "Bendigo". Bowser put down the Yugo wreckage and cracked his fingers.

"Does anybody here have any idea where should I put this?" asked Bowser as he observed the Bendigo.

"On the roof, I would say." answered John.

"Yeah, but how is to gonna stay in one-" further asked Bowser, just before John pulled out a duct tape out of his jacket, much to his surprise. After that, Bowser gently placed the wreck on the Bendigo's roof.

"Always be prepared for everything." said John as he taped Yugo on the roof to prevent further accidents. He also opened the door of Bendigo, letting everyone inside. Aside from the installed machine guns, only the driver's seat and the seat next to it remained in order to make space in the bus. Although Bowser had slight difficulties entering the vehicle, there was enough space between his bulky head and the ceiling, much to his relief. He was the first one to enter the vehicle, with Mosseau and George following him afterwards. John took over the driver's seat while Brane sat next to him. Starting up the engine, he grabbed the steering wheel with his massive, muscular, hairy hands and prepared his foot on the pedal, just as he asked:

"Mates, where shall we go now?"

"TO THE SCRAPYARD!" commanded Bowser as stomped with his foot and raised his fist slightly above his head, just to not hit the roof.

"Aight then." said Sniper Mad John as he stepped on the gas, set up some 60's and 70's psychedelic rock about and drove off all the way to Makarska. When they arrived to the town, they searched for the nearest scrapyard, driving around the city like they were secretly patrolling the town. Once they finally found the closest scrapyard with a cut in half Volkswagen Beetle, which its left side faced away from it, as a sign, they parked their Bendigo right in front of the entrance, squeezed through the other (much more modern) automobiles and walked out of it. John took a swiss army knife out of his jacket and cut the tapes from the wreck, letting Bowser take it from the roof. As the went through the entrance of the scrapyard filled with rusty Renault 4's (also known as "Katrca"), Zastava 750's, fellows Zastava Yugo's and other automobiles from the eras such as 60's, 70's and 90's, Bowser put down the wreckage of Brane's Yugo in some gap between the walls of wrecked cars. The moment of silence followed as everyone looked down towards the wreck.

Suddenly, Bowser lunged towards the wreck and smashed with his arm, looking almost beastly in the process. Steam fumed through his nostrils as he took his breaths heavily. Brane's irises shrunk as he froze in place, John's jaw dropped, George just amusingly but bafflingly observed the whole situation and Mosseau just went: "Oh me!"

"YOU WILL PAY FOR EVERY HEADACHE YOU GAVE ME, YOU FOUR WHEELED DISASTROUS, PATHETIC DISGRACE OF A CAR!" shouted Bowser as he started pummeling the wreck his his iron-like fists. As if his fists weren't enough, he further continued to blast the poor car by stomping on it with his lumbering feet, further crushing the metal. Mosseau just cheered for him, yelling: "GO, GET THAT MECHANICAL FUCKTWAT! MAKE IT FEEL LIKE IT WOULD HAVE A BETTER PLACE TO MALFUNCTION IN HELL!"

With each blow, the ground shook a bit and the noise traveled through the approximate distance of a football stadium. The not so slight shock waves of his clobbering had a much lower radius than the noise, but it did cause near driving cars to jump up a bit, much to the confusion of the drivers. The owner of the scrapyard stomped out of the house and approached Brane, witnessing the carnage of his own car.

"Pa što ovi je poludio?" asked the owner, as he pointed towards the raging turtle.

"Nee, on samo frustracije svoje van dava." explained Brane, doing gestures with his hands.

"I do not know your language, but yes." leaned George towards the owner.

"Ali zašto? Zašto to radi?" further asked the owner as he grabbed his head in disbelief.

"Glavobolje, bi reko." answered Brane as he crossed his arms and smirked.

As they had their discussion, Bowser rendered the wreckage into a small cube. He grabbed it and prepared to spit out fire from his mouth, but Brane saw his incoming actions and yelled: "BEZ VATRA!"

"….WHAT?!" asked Bowser, confused at him.

"Oh….sorry, I've meant to say no fire." clarified Brane.

"Hmmpf…." grumbled Bowser as he squashed the cube to the smallest possible size and threw it to the pile of other wrecks. He exhaled one breath in relief and walked towards them in a slightly relaxed mood.

"Brane, I hope you didn't have an….attachment to your car, right?" said John as he gave a pat on Brane's shoulder.

"Nah, friend. Only thing I'll lose from this is the nostalgia of the older days, but we must move on. We can't dwell about the past when we can make a change today. Besides, it's not called "The worst car of the millennium" without a reason!" elaborated Brane. The owner just stared, bewildered by everything about them.

"So...shall we go now?" asked Bowser as he crossed his arms pridefully. Everyone in his group nodded and left the scrapyard, leaving the owner speechless. As they entered their Bendigo and drove away, the owner entered his own house and sighed:

"Ludaki jedni."

Bendigo drove away from Makarska as they went to the direction to Promajna. Slowly rolling downhil, they went through this rather small, but exquisite looking town near the coast, filled with tourists, shops, cars and boats of the old and modern age, although the roads were in a need for

maintenance. The visit ended quickly as they rolled away, now on the "yet to be fixed by authorities" path. After some time, they finally stopped in a close range of the ship. All of them stepped out of the Bendigo and saw something that they did not really expect:

The ship was covered by seagulls, squawking everywhere as loud as possible, but for some reason their rears were facing towards the sea, not the ship. Jaguar Mk1 seemed to be covered by a white, rather stainless tarp.

Bowser took breath and yelled:

"SHOOOOOOOO!"

The marine based avian hindrances flocked away as far from the turtle as possible, squawking all the way through. While Brane and John stared with their wide eyes, George scratched his beard and thought about something. Mosseau missed out the mass flocking due being too busy drinking the leftovers of one of his last Rakija bottles.

"Hmmpf. I bet those two BONEHEADS are involve-" rumbled Bowser, just before he abruptly stopped just before the pebble-infested beach. "NO!"

"Oh hey, looks like you visited your friends again." nudged George at him as he spun his revolver around his finger.

"GEORGE! HOW DARE YOU!" shouted Bowser as he frustratingly pointed his index finger at him.

"Just pointin' out the truth." shrugged off George, while continuing doing not really productive stuff with his gun.

"I fail to see a problem, to be honest, but I'm pretty used to it." said Brane.

"Well, if you like PAIN WHEN WALKING, then sure, absolutely no problem for you! Once I come back, I'll replace these CURSED STONES with something less painful, but potentially still as irritating like sand!" grumbled Bowser as his irises shrunk when observing the stones.

"Well, the stones gradually turn into sand thanks to the waves." reassured Sniper Mad John as he took a glance at his briefcase he was carrying.

"In what sense…..gradually?" asked Bowser in an almost threatening tone.

"Million years." answered John as he shrugged.

"WHAT?! NO ONE HAS TIME FOR THIS, LET ALONE ME!" shouted Bowser as he flailed his arms around like a deflated balloon.

"Well, aye do." blurted out Mosseau out of a sudden. Everyone turned their heads and stared at him as he committed a monetary fraud. "Wha?"

"Of course you would. Of course. You're older than dirt" sighed George as he tapped his hat.

"Aye mean, that's not exactly false, but it is true that aye have a lot of experience in me life and a lot more blood to spill, so aye can paint me a war face, so watching how the sand is created is not on me priorities." said Mosseau, which made everyone stare calmly but bafflingly at him.

"….Of course." said everyone to him as they turned to the direction of the ship's location.

"Anyway, ENOUGH OF CHIT CHAT! It is time to lift the anchors and proceed with our quest (and my conquest)!" declared Bowser as he walked to the Bendigo. "Everyone, get in!"

And so everyone got inside the Bendigo again. Bowser grabbed it with his muscular arms, lifted it like it was nothing and leaped onto the ship, causing it to shake a bit. Once he landed, he gently put the Bendigo near the Jaguar. Everyone stepped out of the van.

"Jače! You are a real Popeye, Bows!" cheered Brane as he gave a high-five to Bowser.

"Thank you, Brane! Now you see why do I have muscles like this!" bragged Bowser as he flexed his arms.

The vibrations were enough for to make two boneheads in charge of the ship open the door of the bridge.

"Oh look, it's the turtle man again, at it with his """"macho"""" car lifting service." groaned Scrongus.

"Oh, I already know. It's something about those damned feathery bastards, isn't it?" guessed Krongus, staring at him with disdain.

"INDEED IT IS! NOW EXPLAIN YOURSELVES AND DON'T EVEN BOTHER ARGUING WITH EACH OTHER ON WHO'S GONNA DO IT!" demanded Bowser, slamming his fist onto a palm.

"The coin shall decide." George stepped right in as he pulled out his bronze cent out of his pocket.

"Boss!" both of them yelled as their hands reached towards him.

"Head for Scrongus, tail for Krongus." declared George just before he threw the coin high in the air. Everyone on broad observed the brief ascension, constantly flipping in the air and defying the breeze, as it turned into a quick descension, falling like a stone being thrown from a high tower. The coin nearly hit the floor of the ship, if George couldn't have caught it and revealed it on which side it fell.

"Tail."

Krongus smugly stepped in front of the crew and started to talk: "Allow me to explain, Don. So, while we, yes, we were watching over the ship, these seagulls just kept landing here. At first, they were just one or two, but that number just kept multiplying until every inch of fences had at least two seagulls on them. But you may think "why didn't you just fend them to go away?". Well….these were persistent son's of ruptured rectums of the avian kind. Every time we yelled "SHOOO!", they just kept coming in numbers, going "GAWK GAWK GAWK BLAAAAARUGH!" all the bloody time. In the end, we decided to just give fuckall towards the seagulls, but not before making a deal with them."

"What deal?" asked Bowser, raising his eyebrows.

"How did you even make a deal with birds?" further asked Sniper Mad John.

"BRETHREN! Aye did not know ye spoke a language of seagulls!" said Mosseau as he raised his empty bottles up in the air.

"You forgot to mention a lot of details, you credit-taking shartknuckle." complained Scrongus, tightening his fist in anger.

"Anyway, so the deal was basically this: no shitting on our ship and especially on Don's car, or else we would whack 'em with our Chicago typewriters." further elaborated Krongus.

"The thing with Tommies was MY IDEA!" yelled Scrongus as he raised his fist in the air.

"Ain't that a little too much? I mean sure seagulls can be pests a lot of times, but….massacring them?" questioned Brane as he scratched his head.

"Yeah, it's not like someone would order a seagull feast in the first place." added Bowser towards Brane's statement.

"Waste of bullets. Making waste out of birds won't make one's bones." said George with hands in his pockets. "Anyway, I'm still curious about the state of my car.".

Without another thought, Scrongus and Krongus ran towards the car and removed the tarp of it, revealing the Jag. The surface of it shined like a mirror under the sun, not a single stain or even a piece of dust was found on the car. George checked the now-revealed car, observing it like an eagle searching for its prey.

"Hmmm….Nice job, associates. For this, you two will get an equal large." praised George as he gave them each 21000 Kuna. Scrongus and Krongus lifted their fists in the air and gave each other a high-five.

"Now, shall we go on our journey and start con-exploring the world?" asked Bowser for reassurance.

"Yeah, but how will we go though?" pointed out George as he looked at the coast.

"….Urghh, sometimes I have to sacrifice my own pleasure for the sake of progression." groaned Bowser as he was about to jump of the ship and face the inevitable, but not before Sniper Mad John grabbed him by the shoulder and stopped him.

"Wait, let me help, mate!" offered John as he was also about to jump off the ship.

"I suppose a little aid wouldn't hurt, but I doubt it's necessity." accepted Bowser as they leaped from the deck of the ship, landing on the beach. Predictably, Bowser's feet tasted pain from the pebbles and yelled in pain while John felt nothing, thanks to his shoes. They approached the approximate closest distance of the hull and Mad John put his arms on it, preparing for a push. However, for some reason, Bowser did not do that yet.

"On three! One! Two! T..." said John, but just as he was about to say three, Bowser suddenly pushed the ship like it was nothing and separated it from the coast. John, witnessing all of Bowser's actions, was left speechless. Just before he could say anything, Bowser grabbed him with his one arm and leaped towards the ship. Landing just in front of the Jag and Bendigo, he put down John as everyone watched. The ship slowly but surely steered away from the coast as they went in the direction of the Promajna, but they've got a visit from another similar looking but larger vessel that went in the same direction as them. The fishing boat was (over)filled with skeletons, with some of them being on the roof of the bridge.

"Eyy, boys! Our fellas are here!" one of them boneheads yelled as they looked at the crew of the opposite ship. "Get some of our boys there!"

As ships of similar classes approached each other as close as possible, some of the skeletal individuals started jumping over on the other side. For now, no skeleton was one the roof of the bridge. Few of the skeletons complimented the cars. Suddenly, one of the skeletons threw an overly large captain's uniform and a hat to Bowser as the boneman requested: "Put on this, boss!"

Bowser donned on his new clothes and posed like a macho superman.

"Hahah!" he chortled as he further flexed his muscles. "Now I look like an Admiral of the finest caliber!"

Meanwhile, Brane stood near the fence and waved towards his own homeland.

"Goodbye, my dear Croatia! I hope we see each other again!" said Brane, almost having tears in his eyes. He looked down at the floor and sighed. George and everyone else stepped near him and gave him a pat on his shoulder. "I know that feel, Brane. Sometimes, you've gotta go away from the things you love."

"Yeah….I know too…." added Bowser as he comforted Brane.

"Oi, it's been a while since I've resided in my home in Darwin. Gotta be honest, I've been missing that place." further added John.

"Me own country is not even sovereign anymore, for bloody Blue men of the Minch's sake. We were once the fiercest on the bloody Island until we got unified and now THEY have the crown, even though it was OUR RIGHT to fooken have it! We were the muscles and brains of the Isle!" ranted Mosseau as he took a "sip" (read: entire bottle) of Rakia. Cue everyone staring silently at him. "What?!"

And so they left Croatia and they didn't even taste sarma!

Hours have passed and now the boats of the skeleton men with their company cruised near the coast of Albania. Bowser was standing on the forecastle like a proud explorer while everyone just relaxed behind and discussed some stuff.

"So...You say you're a sniper, huh? Yet I haven't seen you carryin' any sniper rifles, but I do assume it's there." asked George as he pointed at John's briefcase.

"Oh? Lemme show you then!" said Sniper Mad John as he opened his suit case, revealing an engraved bolt action designated marksman rifle with a black scope on it and a diamond engraving on the handle of the fire arm.

"This is my custom-made bolt action sniper rifle. I call it Diamond Tom, after an inspiration of mine. Created it around in 1991 and I haven't used any other rifle ever since. It did replace my old scoped Mosin-Nagant though, which I've used ever since I joined the army. Speaking of Mosin-Nagant, my rifle is based around it, specifically scoped Mosin–Nagant M91/30 model. It's a good rifle all around I say, but it's not all in the rifle that matters. I've went through extensive training in ol' Straya for about 20 years to become one of the greatest snipers in the world, but I prefer to not boast." told Sniper Mad John, pointing out at the multiple components of his rifle.

"Custom-made? I see you are a man of refined taste as well. Allow me to show you one of my valued keepings." complimented George as he whipped out his silver revolver from his left pocket. "This is my most treasured assets, based around first generation Colt Single Action Army revolver. It passed on from my family line. I did a lil modifications of it, such as decreasin' the recoil and lengthenin' the barrel. Unlike you, it seems like I was a natural talent for gunslinging since I was a child. My mother always told me that I was just like one of my ancestors in the Old West. One of my ancestors gave it a name. It's called…..Silver Coyote. Honestly, I'm no fan of nicknamin' things, but I ain't changing the name of the gun."

"Oh, I see, but do you have any of those Thompsons? I haven't seen you wield one, despite you being a gangster." asked Mad John while still crouching near his Diamond Tom.

"Pfft, I have more Tommies than an Irish farmer has sheep on his farm. In fact, I've ordered two of my associates to stuff this boat with them as much as possible." answered George as he pointed on the bridge of the ship.

The conversation between them went right into Brane's ears, so he stepped right in. "Nice guns we're having here. Reminds me of those days when I was in JLA, in the Yugoslav Navy to be precise, before everything went downhill. Used to wield Zastava M70 back in the day. I think it's still there in Bendigo, but I could check later. During my time in navy, I realized my true potential….IN COOKING! So after my service, I followed my ambition to become THE BEST CROATIAN CHEF IN THE WORLD! My career so far, despite the first impression of yours, has been good. It's only recently that I've experienced the sour parts of my career."

"Oh nice, you've had two good jobs in your life time, though I think you would be better off with the former. Not to mention you had a choice. To be honest, the journey with him was my first official taste of the ocean." praised George as he put his Silver Coyote back into his pocket.

"Ah, the sea has been my life! The aroma of the waves will always entice a feeling of relaxation in me!" said Brane. Mosseau also heard the conversation, so he decided to roll in front of them and join the discussion. "Aye lads, ye talking about guns and stuff? Aye got a lot of stuff to show ye then!"

"Oh lord." sighed George in advance.

"Hey, Mosseau. Mind if you bring out that Kalashnikov for a moment? I wanna see something." requested Brane as he lifted his index finger.

"Of course, laddeh! Aye was about to show off me not-upgraded-yet weaponry first, but it seems like ye laddehs wanna see THE classic one." accepted Mosseau as he showed his AK-47 first, just like Brane asked for it. "Okay, so this guns needs no introduction, everyone with some fooken grasp in arms industry knows what a Kalashnikov is."

Brane inspected his rifle to find out that, contrary to his suspicion, is an authentic AK-47 and not some variant.

"Ah, I see it is a real one. I thought it was gonna be one of the Zastava variants. Say...where did you get one?" asked Brane after the examination.

"From a Bosnian black market, of course! Aye got it for like…..no dosh and 5 rakija bottles." answered Mosseau. Everyone, who participated in the discussion, just asked one thing silently:

"...how?".

"Okay so, Aye was wandering around some town in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Aye saw some arms dealer in the alleyway. He was not selling anything good. Stuff like spoons, shovels and ammunition crates for grenades were there. However, one item actually got me interest: this gun. Aye asked him about it, he said it was a 100% real one, but then Aye came to a horrible realization…..AYE HAD NO MONEY. So, with all resources Aye had got, Aye smacked a bunch of "ULTRA RARE AUTHENTIC BOSNIAN RAKIJA 100% REAL SHIT BOY!" stickers, which Aye made them me self, on ten of me bottles and gave one of them to him. They were flawless in terms of looking authentic like an old relic! He said he wanted 10 of the bottles, but I scammed him off there! Aye just had to give him one measly bottle. To prevent the questions such as "w-what happened to four other bottles?!"….well Aye drank them all and used the empty bottles for storing personalized Molotov's cocktails, that's what!" explained Mosseau while returning his AK-47 back into his trash can. Predictably, everyone was speechless. Just as about anyone was about to say something, Bowser stumped right in too.

"What'cha talking about, gentlemen?" he asked.

"Life and guns. Also Mosseau is showing his arsenal." said George. For a moment, Mosseau glared at him.

"Was that fookin usage of word intentional?!" the Scot thought to himself, thinking whether or not should he strangle someone. "Anyway, that's it for the untouched rifles. Now Aye gotta show ye my not-yet-upgraded selection of close range combat weaponry. Before Aye continue, does anyone of ye lads have any of interesting melee weapons?"

"Nope." quickly answered George as he shrugged off.

"Lets see….I have a swiss army knife, a regular knife, a duct tape, bagh naka, an axe and that's it." said Sniper Mad John as he pulled out everything he mentioned out of his pockets.

"Good choices, lad. It might be nice to expand your collection, but for now it's serviceable enough." endorsed Mosseau while giving a thumbs up to Jon.

"Do fists count?" asked Bowser while he stared at Sniper Mad John's display of melee weaponry.

"Sure, Aye guess." replied Mosseau with a pinch of uncertainty in his voice. After the answer, he brought up his giant claymore, which was more corrosive than an abandoned ship.

"This….is me oldest weapon. Aye had it since Aye was actually alive…..which is around late 10th century to early 11th century. Alas, me claymore is irrepairable, therefore it's just for the show and nostalgia." he said just before he returned his claymore back into his law-defying trash can. Next "weapon" for close range combat he brought up was a broken Rakija bottle. "Ye all know what this damn thing is. Moving on. However Aye should mention that it's"

Mosseau searched through his trash can once again, only to say: "Well, laddehs, the boring part is over. Time for the real shit."

With zero hesitation, he lifted one of his custom-made weapons up in the air. The weapon resembled a chainsaw crudely fused with an iron pipe. There was a button on the side of the "iron pipe" component of the weapon, presumably for revving up the chainsaw. Bloodstains were visible on the saw.

"WHAT IS THAT?!" Bowser desired to know while in state of absolute shock.

"For what purpose does it exist?" asked George while at the same time he groaned, almost putting his palm on his boney face.

"Now this...is me de facto close range weapon for now. Aye call them SCROTUM SLAYER! It is a simple thing, aye, just a pipe and a chainsaw smacked together, but it is an efficient thing, Aye swear on The Great Blacksmith! I've made them IN HELL and oh me wee lads, it was fucking great! With these things, demons from the deepest layers of inferno became meaty, beef-scented piñatas filled with fireworks of blood and guts! Their organs were flying everywhere in hell, gyahahahaha! Sadly, the fun stopped when the Devil, humongous arsehole with a smelly gaping anus, kicked me out of Hell….again. So the bloodstains ye see there is demon blood!" said Mosseu with excitement in his eye….sockets. Everyone was just silent as usual.

"...Wow. I mean just….wow." said Bowser.

"Are you sure demons smelled exactly like beef?" asked Brane as he lifted his finger, possibly preparing to object Mosseau's….tale.

"It was an close approximation, but aye." answered Mosseau as he put his chainsaws back in his trash can. "Anyway, that's all Aye can show ye. Some weapons, be it ranged or melee, are for…..urgent situations."

"So this world has a lot of cool weapons I see! I wonder how different would be in my world if I somehow managed to bring those arms there...if that would be even possible (gotta keep it E for Everyone I guess)." mused Bowser.

"Oh! You haven't told about what kind of weapons you own in your world! Please, mind if you tell us?" requested Sniper Mad John.

"GLADLY!" approved Bowser as he prepared to strike a boastful pose while he was about to explain. "Okay so….Most of the weapons my troops use are nothing special. I have like hammers, boomerangs, sledge hammers, fire balls, occasionally ice balls and magic, however the latter is only reserved for Magikoopas, basically like my advisor, who gave me the wand."

Hearing the word "boomerang" made John's eyebrows rise.

"However, I also have walking bombs and giant bullets as a part of my army as well! They're also homing!" continued Bowser as he made gestures to enrich his own speech.

"Homing giant bullets? Are you sure those aren't missiles?" questioned Sniper Mad John.

"N-no, they are bullets! They are shaped like one! I even made even BIGGER versions of it!" Bowser attempted to clarify his statement.

"I'm sorry, but are you secretly making shells for Schwerer Gustav or something, mate?" asked Sniper Mad John while being absolutely baffled.

"….What?!" What or who is this Schwerer Gustav you are talking about?" said Bowser as he tried to understand what John meant.

"The largest railway gun ever built. It was one of the "wonder weapons" from Germany during the darkest period of the human history." elaborated Mad John.

"RAILWAY GUN?! BIGGEST GUN?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" shouted Bowser with his body trembling in complete shock.

"Nope, I am not making this up, mate."

"HOLY MOTHER OF….SCHNITZEL! Dang, I thought I was THE ONE who made biggest weapons, but then it turns out this world is MILES AHEAD OF ME!" grumbled Bowser as he crossed his arms in jealousy of the creators of Gustav.

"Wait, when did Germany build such a weapon?" piqued George, being a bit out of touch.

"In the 40's." said Jon as quickly as possible.

"So after my "death"...How? Didn't a loaf of bread cost around 1 million marks? " further asked George.

"A lot of things changed during those times. The consequences of those...changes are still felt today." uttered Sniper Mad Jon in a rather melancholic tone.

"I am not sure if I desire to know." said George as he tipped his hat to obscure his face from the sun.

"...What happened during those times?" asked Bowser once again with his eyes being wide and irises shrunk.

"Bows no offense, but I do not think you are prepared to hear more about this subject. I'm just gonna give a little gist: the whole world was up in the arms." interfered Brane to prevent any overthinking on Bowser's behalf.

"Again?" asked George as he tipped his hat again, this time decreasing the shadow on his face.

"….While I desire to know more, I think that gist made a lot of things clear." said Bowser as he suddenly brought up a piece of paper and a pencil. It was written:

"BOWSER'S AWESOME PLAN!

-Defeat Mario and Luigi at all costs.

-Get and marry Princess Peach.

-Take over Mushroom Kingdom.

-Get a new, updated army.

-Take over the new world somehow. Start gradually.

-DON'T LET ANY OTHER POSERS TAKE OVER YOUR ROLE AS THE MAIN VILLAIN!

-Become greater than Alexander the Great.

-Become richer than Sheikh.

-Avoid NATO at all costs.".

He, as clumsily he handed the pencil due paper not laying on a solid surface, added to his list:

"-During the ultimate conquest, don't start a war with every nation involved.

-Build a bigger gun than Schwerer Gustav.".

"There we go." he said like he was proud of doing something small.

"Aye have got a question for ye, Bows!" interrupted Mosseau.

"Mosseau! I have a question for you too! If it's something about me, I'll let you ask first!" said Bowser.

"What's kind of vehicles do ye have in yer army? Aye mean for every branch ye have." he asked out of a sudden.

"Hmmmm….well for land forces I have tanks in my army. Personally I have some cars in my inventory as well, but most of them are used for racing. For my naval forces I use ships and something that even I cannot spill the beans about it, however I've been thinking about including it in my new army once we settle down somewhere." answered Bowser. The last thing mentioned caught everyone's interest on the ship. "For the air force I have hundreds of airships!".

"Airships as in blimps or…?" asked Jon.

"Airships as in flying ships. You know, like this one, but flying!" elaborated Bowser.

"PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT, aerial target practice!" laughed Mosseau as he smacked the part of his trash can.

"WHAT?! OH don't tell me about it! I already know how this conversation is going to go: "hahah Bowser your army is so outdated! This world's wonder weapons will wreck you in seconds". WON'T IT!?" protested Bowser as he rolled his eyes.

"Lad…...THE MOST BASIC OF WEAPONS, BE IT AERIAL, LAND BASED OR NAVAL, would absolutely annihilate yer entire air force in miliseconds! Sorry, laddeh, but ye gotta adapt, just like Aye did!" clarified Mosseau as he kept laughing. Brane and Jon glared at Mosseau, with former lifting his finger towards him, making him stop laughing.

"..Aye might went a bit too hard on ye, Bows. Aye apologize."

"...T-that was just low. Real low. I'll a-attempt to bring one of the airships here, along with my secret vehicle, just to test your statement! However that sorta ruined my motivation to talk more about my army." mumbled Bowser as he looked at the floor.

"Cheer up, Bows! There's always a room for improvement." consoled Brane as he gave him a pat on his shell.

"The path might be long and tedious, but we will get there, mate. I swear!" Jon also joined in comforting Bowser.

"Never said that ye should toss away yer dreams of a conqueror. Aye just said that ye gotta adapt." said Mosseau to lighten up the mood.

"The fact that you broke out of your status quo and got there is already an improvement." added George for the final word.

"...Thanks guys." said Bowser, slightly cheered up after the group's consoling. "Anyway….I have this question for you, Mosseau….Who was Alexander the Great and what exactly made him so great?"

"Oh, Alexander the Great? He was not only the king of Macedonia, a hegemon of Hellenic League, Pharaoh of Egypt and the king of Persia, which at the time was the arch-nemesis of Ancient Greece, but also the Lord of Asia! During his reign, he kept expanding his rule through out the world and had not his soldiers become homesick, he would probably take over the world with ease. He made every enemy shiver in their pants just by being there! The absolute thing that made him so great, aside from connecting Greece with the Orient and establishing many cities named after him, was the fact he never lost a battle in his life!"

"…..Could you repeat that again?" Bowser suddenly went silent after hearing what Mosseau said.

"He! Never! Lost! A! Single! Battle! In! His! Life!" emphasised Mosseau just for him.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT?! HOW?! HOW IS IT POSSIBLE!? WHAT MAGIC DID HE USE?! HOOOOOW?!" screamed Bowser with all his might.

"It's simple really. He was just...so great. Granted there are a lot of great conquerors through out history, but he came up first in me head so...yeah." muttered Mosseau as he was about to take a sip from one of his bottles.

"Darn, I'm already disqualified." thought Bowser to himself, imagining a battlefield surrounded by fire and filled with corpses on the floor and ruins of the ancient buildings, facing enormous Alexander The Great riding a horse filled with destruction and warfare, wielding a giant spear and having thousand of phalanxes behind his back, himself. The wind carried the smoke through out the entire (imagined) battlefield, which covered the entire sky. "I WILL GET YOU, ALEXANDER THE GREAT!"

"Speaking of conquering, how come for your interest in it?" asked Brane.

"Hmmmm...HMMMM…...Honestly, I have never thought about it too much, but ever since I was a kid, I've always felt like this was my destiny. To become the king of all as if stars told me or something. The desire for conquest was always in my blood….Do you get what I'm saying?" said Bowser. Everyone nodded in agreement and for some time, they talked about random stuff.

Few hours have passed, bordering almost evening and them cruising through the calm yet warm Mediterranean sea, near the mainland Greece. Just as before, Bowser was standing on the forecastle like an eager explorer while everyone else was scattered around the ship, but it was generally silent this time. However, the silence ended one George, flipping his coin out of boredom, asked:

"Hey, now that we have a lot more associates, I suppose we should establish our own organization or somethin'.".

"Precisely!" said Bowser as he turned towards George and everyone else. "But how would we name it…..Hmmmmm…..How about….BOWSER'S SUPREMELY AWESOME ELITE GROUP!"

"Hey, just a little pro tip: never name your morally dubious organization with your own name." objected George within second.

"And why is it that? Is it too "KITSCHY" or something?!" groaned Bowser.

"If any of the law enforcement groups or any other mafias start searchin' for you, they'll know exactly where to look at. Haven't told anyone about this but this is one of the reasons why I suggested you to avoid Italy, especially Sicily. You wouldn't want someone like NATO to find you out and eliminate you, would you?" George explained himself. Hearing the word "NATO" made Bowser shiver a bit.

"….Touche." sighed Bowser without an ability to refute George's point. "How about something simple...like….Skeleton Mafia!"

"….I like it. It's short, but it gets to the point. No overly long kitsch, just...Skeleton Mafia." said George as he made finger guns at Bowser.

"FINALLY, GEORGE LIKES SOMETHING I ADVISE! YESSS!" yelled Bowser as he pumped up his fists, making everyone look at him. "W-what?"

With exception of George, who at the very least smiled, everyone chortled at him. Bowser, not taking the gesture as a personal attack, laughed too. Suddenly, they got interrupted by the voices of their own boney workers:

"Eyy boss, we need food!"

"Of course!" said Brane as he bum-rushed inside the bridge, looking for the nearest kitchen.

"Say...who's gonna be the boss?" asked Sniper Mad John. Bowser was already pointing at himself after hearing John's question.

"First of all, it's Don. Second of all, I think we have only option and that is Bowser." answered George, much to Bowser's suprise.

"Really? To be honest I expected this to drag out but…..NICE!" said Bowser.

"It's not because the situation is dire or somethin'. It's because otherwise you would constantly complain about not being the Don." clarified George as he crossed his arms.

"Bah, come on! I wouldn't do such a thing! Prove it!" scoffed Bowser as he attempted to chuckle.

"Okay" said George as he made a gesture with his hands like he was about to deliver a package. "I'm the boss now, see?"

A moment of silence followed after George's statement. Everyone on the boat stared at Bowser, waiting patiently for his response. Bowser closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"George...may I, please, pretty please, become the leader instead?" asked Bowser politely, much to surprise his entire squad.

"Tch! You're actin'." abruptly blurted George while crossing his arms. "I'm in no mood prolongin' this, so be the leader."

"Darn, how did he figure it out so easily?!" thought Bowser to himself, but it quickly went away as he announced: "Now that we have a Don, Don Bowser in fact, we need a MOTTO!"

"….Sure?" said George while being curious for the suggestions.

"Oh, I have one!" suggested Brane as he lifted his index finger high up in the air. "What about: "Better live one hundred years a millionaire than seven days in misery!"

"Blatant, but very true." commented George.

"Hmmm, it should work for the Skeleton Mafia motto. Now I need my own personal motto because I like those! I am going to recycle some of the words I said to my skeletal associates." affirmed Bowser as he scratched his chin, further thinking about boastful quotes and sayings.

"Aye laddeh, Aye have one just fer ye!" requested Mosseau as he lifted his bottle up in the air. Bowser's eyebrow raised as he looked at him.

"Veni, vidi, vici!"

"...What does that mean?" asked Bowser.

Mosseau giddily rubbed his hands and cracked his fists. "Those were the words of Julius Caesar, a conqueror! They're in Latin, so if we translate them they would mean: "I came, I saw, I conquered!".

"CONQUERED!"

Suddenly, a rather metaphorical explosion of enlightenment and excitement happened inside of Bowser's brain with a voice echoing "conquered" through out his entire body.

"YES, IT'S PERFECT!" shouted Bowser as he clenched his fist and raised it up the air. "Conquerors always deliver such good quotes!"

"Ey boys, land ahoy! Mind if we take a rest here?" asked Brane as he pointed out a rather huge island, surrounded by the shiny beaches and crystal clear water, in front of their noses. No one minded Brane's idea, so they decided to take a rest and park the ship nearest port. The port, filled with smaller boats and sailships of different kinds, had a fortress located in it. The fortress itself, despite looking very antique, was rather in good condition. The current flagship of Skeleton mafia separated their ways from the additional ship with their boney workforce on it and parked. All of them jumped off the ship and started exploring the city, which was just right ahead. The city itself was filled with colorful flats and small white houses with blue domed roofs on them. Roads were well paved as well. Despite looking like an ideal vacation spot, only things they encountered were empty cars. Aside from their footsteps (and in Mosseau's case, wheel rolling), only thing that made a sound was a slight breeze. Every market place had absolutely nothing but dust for sale and even that wasn't always guaranteed. During their walk, they have noticed a rather big, dried out stain on one of the flats.

"...Odd." exclaimed Sniper Mad John while observing the city during the walk.

"Was it supposed to look like this or what?" asked Bowser while being boggled by Mad John's observation.

"Quite the opposite. It was supposed to be filled with tourists." John cleared himself as all of them continued their journey. Suddenly, George stepped on a thing, which has rolled off away from his shoe. He picked it up and it turned out it was a bullet almost as as big as his palm.

".50 BMG? What is it even doin' here?" wondered George as he took a in depth look at the bullet.

"Um, did we walk into a war zone?" gulped Brane as he brushed off the sweat from his forehead.

"Doesn't seem so. If it was a war zone, it would be thundering everywhere." reassured John, much to Brane's relief, but it the relief did not fully appear yet.

As they marched further, a piece of paper, delivered by the breeze, directly hit Bowser's face. Annoyed by this, he quickly took it off from his face and took a look at it along with his team. The paper had a stylized image of a bull with "WANTED DESTROYED: MINOTAUR" written above the image. Below the image it was written:

"NEUTRALIZE THE THREAT AT ALL COSTS. DO NOT HESITATE USING DIRTY TACTICS FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF THIS FOUL BEAST. REWARD WILL BE ANYTHING FOR THE HERO WHO SLAYS THE DREADED MENACE OF CRETE."

"...Minotaur? The hell?" blurted George as he saw the text.

"How?! I thought this creature was just in mythology!" said Brane as he grabbed his head in anxiety.

"OHOHOHOHOHO!" chuckled Mosseau as he was preparing his arsenal in advance.

"What?!" spurted Bowser as his irises shrunk again.

Just before John could react to the leaflet, he heard footsteps behind him.

"Something is behind us! Quickly, stay on guard!" warned Sniper Mad John as everyone prepared their positions for defense. Bowser raised his fists and so did Brane and John while George grabbed his Silver Coyote in his pocket. Meanwhile Mosseau was already holding one of his chainsaw-on-a-iron-pipe weapons. The footsteps were getting louder, increasing the self defense preparedness of the group. Suddenly, a squad of soldiers, having lizard-patterned uniforms, appeared from one of the alleyways and ambushed them. The sudden move startled the group and made them lose guard, however George kept his calm and pulled out his revolver and pointed it at them. Sniper Mad John quickly dropped his fists and he grabbed his Uzi out of his jacket.

"Do not fire!" yelled one of the soldiers as he raised his arm. The soldiers stood still as they pointed their Heckler & Koch G3's rifles at them with their fingers steadily on the trigger.

"….Hey, how many shots of Daniel's did you have in the morning?" quietly said one of the soldiers to his colleague, being baffled at the sight of Bowser's group.

"None." stoically replied his colleague.

"WHAT?! DO I LOOK LIKE A MINOTAUR TO YOU?!" shouted Bowser at them while flailing his fists.

"Negative. However, you shall explain why aren't you somewhere safe. Not too long ago a curfew was announced thanks to the menace of Crete." elaborated one of the soldiers as they lowered their weapons.

"Excuse me, but we were not aware of the affairs here. We apologize for the misunderstanding we created." interfered Sniper Mad John as he held the ground of Skeleton Mafia.

"We should get you somewhere safe, like in a shelter. Come with us!" recommended one of the soldiers to them as he waved.

"Nah, no need to. In fact, we're gonna defeat that minotaur by ourselves!" declared Bowser, which he received weird looks from everyone, from his group to soldiers. "What?!"

"Are you being serious?! It's too dangerous! Even we, the Hellenic Army, couldn't fully neutralize it and it took us everything we have in our equipment, but it always escapes to its hideout." cautiously advised one of the soldiers.

"Yes! Trust me, I've dealt with worse monsters in my life. One measly bull man is gonna be a piece of cake!" boastfully reassured Bowser as he flexed his muscles. "In terms of power, nothing overcomes my muscles!"

"Daunting, but commendable. If you are determined to give our country assistance, then we shall support you without hesitation!" said one of the soldiers as he shook hands with Bowser's group. "Optimally, we could start the operation against Minotaur tomorrow in the morning. We must not let it terrorize Heraklion ever again!"

"No problem! Tomorrow we shall do it! That bull is gonna get its posterior sent right to the Moon!" boasted Bowser as he put his arms on his hips.

"Just one question." said Sniper Mad John as he lifted his finger. "How did Minotaur get here in the first place?"

"Unfortunately, most of the information behind this subject, such as capabilities and performance, is not for public ears, so we cannot share it with unauthorized personnel. However, we can offer you a glimpse of it." explained one of the soldiers. "Apparently it was created by one of those paramilitary contractors as a deterrent in Cyprus, basing it off the mythological Minotaur. Unfortunately, the entire thing went haywire when it gained consciousness on its own and started the reign of terror on Crete. I hope that explains enough."

"I see. Thank you for the information. "said Sniper Mad John as Bowser's group and Hellenic soldiers saluted to each other and departed with the former looking for a decent resting place. However, one thought couldn't just leave John's brain: Why were talking about it like a vehicle?

Next day, when the sun just rose up in the sky, the gang was driving their across the small, filled with small Mediterranean trees hills to reach their ultimate destination:

Knossos.

A few of their skeletons, which were armed with Tommy gun's, were accompanying them. The journey from Heraklion to Knossos did not take long, since the distance between these two locations was relatively short and after they found the site, they parked their Bendigo near the entrance. Bowser, Sniper Mad John, George and Mosseau stepped outside while Brane and his skeletal companions decided to stay inside the Bendigo.

"I'm gonna find a good spot, mates." said Sniper Mad John as he departed from the group, doing exactly what he said. The rest of the gang marched through the entrance of the archeological site, observing generally well kept ruins of the once migthy Minoan palace. Parts of the palace were held by the vividly red pillars and the walls, some of them having a bit of rubble on them, gave the ruins a shiny glow under the sun. Aside from Bowser's group, there was no sign of a single soul on the site, despite being formerly a pretty popular tourist site. However, some walls had signs of stains, similar to one seen in Heraklion. Knowing that Minotaur won't appear outside by itself, they started exploring the interior of the palace. Inside of palace was enriched by the vibrant paintings on the walls, usually with the motif of dolphins and Minoan civilization. However, one painting stood out to them: three inadequately clothed men fighting a bull, with one of them seemingly trying to suplex the maddened animal.

"I'm not sure if this painting is just coincidental or prophetic. As much as former is more likely, I love imaging the second." mused Bowser as he observed the painting.

"There's a lack of turtle, though." commented George.

"Drat! They should make a similar one, but with me suplexing the bull instead!" grumbled Bowser while imaging the painting with him.

"Aye got no time for art discussions, laddehs. AYE GOTTA MAKE SOME MINOAN GRILLED BEEF INSTEAD!" yelled Mosseau as they continued exploring the palace. After some time has passed, they found a rather peculiar entrance with staircase leading downward. A dusty lonesome helmet occupied the place near the entrance with few bullets laying near it.

"So...who's gonna risk it?" asked George as he looked deep into the darkness.

"Bloody obvious!" boasted Mosseau as he was about to roll down the staircase. "Anyone going with me?"

"OF COURSE!" shouted Bowser as he joined with Mosseau, stomping down the staircase. With each step, the stairs crumbled a bit. After going through utter darkness, it turned out they found themselves in some kind of labyrinth. Mosseau pulled out one of his unused metal bars and ordered Bowser to light it up, to which he complied. He also brought up a bag of cocaine, to which he penetrated it with his finger and put it on the edge on the trash can.

"What are you even trying to do ?!" asked Bowser rather loudly.

"It will make our job just a wee easier, Bows!" replied Mosseau as they started their search for the beast in the labyrinth. Corridor by corridor, they wandered while looking at, contrary to the rest of the ruins of palace, dry and lifeless walls of the maze. With every step, a small amount of cocaine fell on the ground, creating a trail. The time passed, but there was no sight of the beast, not even a sound.

"Bloody hell, it's been so long yet that shite eating twat hasn't appeared yet." grumbled Mosseau as he whipped out one of his chainsaws out of his trash can.

"So….any ideas?" asked Bowser as he crossed his arms, looking at him.

"Aye, we gotta resort to a bit of a risky technique." said Mosseau as he smirked. Bowser just stared at him, waiting about the technique he was going to show.

"AYE FUCKER, GET YER ARSE OUT AND SHOW YERSELF! I'LL TURN YE FROM A BULL INTO AN OX!"

Mosseau's voice echoed through out the entire labyrinth, yet they were only greeted by the silence.

"Mind if I join?" requested Bowser, impressed by Mosseau's yelling capabilities.

"Of course!" accepted Mosseau as he raised his weapon up in the air. Bowser then took a deep breath and yelled:

"HEY, STUPID COWMAN! COME OVER HERE AND FIGHT US, COWARD!"

Bowser's shouting, just like his colleague's, received no response.

"Drat!" shouted Bowser as he clenched his fist.

"Eeeh, aye tell ya what, he's gonna appear any second now." said Mosseau as they continued their search. "Any second."

Suddenly, a massive iron axe swooped down right in front of their noses, completely catching them off guard as they jumped in the air. The impact of the axe made not only the labyrinth, but the entire site rumble and tremble. As the dust settled from the strike, a giant mechanical head resembling a bull's skull, which seemed to have a menacing grin, but protected with relatively thick armor on it appeared behind the wall with its glowing red, soulless eye staring right at the duo. However, the jaw and the horns had no armor on them.

"Y-YOU'RE MINOTAUR?" stuttered Bowser as he was completely in shock due the sight of the alleged Minotaur.

"Oh...OH! Yer one….sexy motherfucker, aren't ye?" taunted Mosseau while being kind of surprised at the appearance of Minotaur's head as he pulled out one of his custom made chainsaw weapons and a AK-47. "Come at us, ye ballsless damned demon from the deepest depths of piss-drinking Hell!"

After the moment of shock went away, Bowser quickly put up fists in the air as he waggled his finger, taunting the Minotaur. In response, Minotaur only roared:

"MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

It lifted up its own axe and started slowly approaching Bowser and George, revealing its full appearance. It dwarfed Bowser in height with its entire torso being covered in thick, charcoal grey colored armor. Arms and legs were defended with the slightly less thick armor as well, even the joints were protected. The feet resembled those of a metallic boot, rather than a bull's hoof. With each stomp closer to them, the entire labyrinth trembled. It was holding its giant iron axe like a bloodthirsty lumberjack, ready to chop down someone. Bowser and Mosseau started slowly walking back, following the trail of cocaine they prepared themselves for any attack.

Mosseau put his chainsaw back as he fully embraced his AK-47 and fired the bullets at the menace itself, but most of the bullets ricochet from the bull's armor, damaging the walls instead. Bowser spat out a decently sized fireball at it, engulfing it and a part of the corridor in flames, yet Minotaur unflinchingly walked towards them, chuckling at their attempt to stall his progress. In response, the Minotaur sped up, almost running towards them. Surprised at the sudden increase of velocity, they flat out started running backwards, but luckily for them, the exit was just few steps ahead as the trail of cocaine ceased to be. Both of them left the labyrinth and waited the Minotaur right in front of the entrance with Mosseau being in front. He had his arms in his trash can as he eagerly grinned, ready to throw something at it, whatever it was. Meanwhile, Bowser fired another fireball at the staircase, causing flames so that he could hope for the stall the Minotaur. The stomping was getting louder and louder as the palace started to shake. The flames on the staircase waved in the air like a maddened flag in the wind.

Out of a sudden, two glowing dots from a dark, bull-like figure appeared from the fire as the Minotaur climbed the staircase while, as like before, seemingly unaffected by fire. Each step felt like a precision guided bomb going off. Just as the Minotaur finished climbing the staircase, Mosseau whipped out two Vickers water cooled machine guns, fused with iron bars.

"WHAT?!" yelled Bowser as he saw Mosseau's two secret weapons.

"GYAHAHAHAHAHA! EAT LEAD N' SHITE, LADDEH" he yelled as he fired his Vickers' in quick rafales, hitting the Minotaur almost everywhere. While some of the bullets did penetrate a bits of the armor, most of the bullets bounced off, minimally affecting Minotaur's approaching. It lifted its massive axe as it was about to cut Mosseau in half, but he dodged the swing by briefly hiding in the trash can and rolling away, just before he continued filling Minotaur with bullets. Suddenly, George flanked the Minotaur and fired his Thompson at him, with bullets still ricocheting because of its armor. It noticed his attempts to bring it down and started running towards him with a psychotic expression vaguely resembling a smile, but it stopped once it felt and impact from Bowser's fist in the area where ribs should be.

"YOU!" shouted Bowser as the dreaded mechanical bullman looked at his eyes, still smiling like a psychopath. "COME AT ME, CHUMP"

The Minotaur ran towards the Bowser as he prepared his axe for the next attack. It swung its axe once again, but Bowser ducked down and jabbed him right in his right foot. The blade of the axe impacted the floor, causing vibrations through out the whole site. Mosseau and George moved their positions towards the entrance of the site, waiting for Bowser to bait Minotaur there and continued to fire at Minotaur, but to no avail. Just as Minotaur lifted up his axe with both of his hands, Bowser started to slowly follow his colleagues. The Minotaur started charging towards Bowser once again, lifting his axe. Bowser prepared his position to dodge his attack and counter him back. Just as he thought he was going to use the axe, suddenly Minotaur rammed with his horns, catching Bowser completely off guard and sending him flying forward. Bowser rolled a bit from the impact and landed on his stomach, before he picked himself up. Minotaur cackled with its deep, brooding voice at Bowser, agitating him in the process. Bowser charged towards Minotaur as the latter prepared its weapon, ready to strike him when the moment comes. Just as it was about to hit Bowser with an axe, Bowser stepped aside from the strike and punched him directly in the torso, but Minotaur just scoffed off the punch. As it prepared for another strike, a bullet from the unknown direction hit it right in its horns, making it flinch and leaving an opportunity for Bowser to strike again, to which he did not waste it, but instead of aiming it for the torso he aimed it for the head. Due the impact, the Minotaur took few steps back before it stabilized itself. It looked at the direction of the bullet which hit its horns. It turned out it came from Diamond Tom as Sniper Mad John was laying on some hill near the site, looking at the scope and aiming.

"Here you have it, you bloody bastard." he mumbled as he continued observing the whole situation. The Minotaur looked at Bowser once again, charging at him while swinging his axe like a madman. Bowser kept walking backwards in order to dodge its attacks, but one swing did hit him and he was launched off from the impact once again. Bowser once again attempted to get Minotaur to the entrance as he rolled off in his shell, to which Minotaur followed with a grin on its skull-like face. George and Mosseau kept firing, but this time towards the head. Some of the bullets, while they did not penetrate the horns, did hit them, making Minotaur flinch every time an impact happened. Mosseau and George started circling around it to distract it. However, Minotaur refused to be distracted by them, as it considered Bowser to be a bigger threat as it once again charged towards Bowser. As the axe was swung once again, Bowser dodged it and punched the Minotaur, but this time in his left hand, making him loose grip from the axe. Bowser grabbed one of the ends of the axe and he slammed Minotaur with his horns, which made it take a few steps backwards, but it did not lose the grip of the axe. Bowser smashed his head once again, only for him to feel the impact of Minotaur's skull. They pushed each other with their head, but out of a sudden Minotaur kicked Bowser and sent him flying to the nearest wall. The velocity and the force of Bowser's impact made an entire wall crumble.

"H-HOW!?" screamed Bowser as he barely picked himself up, glaring at the cackling Minotaur. It shifted its attention towards George and Mosseau and started chasing them with its borderline mini earthquake causing sprint.

"Reinforcements!" called George as he with Mosseau started avoiding Minotaur's sprint towards them. They continued to fire, despite the Minotaur shrugging off most of the bullets and even the ones who penetrated his armor did not to stop his rampage.

Bowser started building up fire inside his mouth, to the point of bright flames bursting out. Once he couldn't handle the heat, he fired a massive fireball at the Minotaur at the high speed. Just as the Minotaur was about to slash two of Bowser's colleagues, the fireball hit him with such force that it almost fell down, but it kept itself together and targeted his sight towards Bowser. It sprinted towards Bowser, but it detected another bullet from Diamond Tom, so it caught it mid air by its mouth and threw it towards trash can, hitting just at the right angle of it so that it bounced right into Bowser's arm.

"OUCH!" he yelled as he flinched as the bullet dug in his skin, making him bleed. Just as he painfully removed the bullet, Minotaur was just in front of him, ready to slice him in half, but was ambushed by the Bendigo, driven by Brane as his companions fired from their Brownings. After the arrival of Bendigo a bunch of skeletons armed with Tommies joined in for assistance as they fired at the Minotaur. Mosseau and George ceased firing as they saw the van rolling in for assistance. The bullets from M2 not only hit the Minotaur in the torso, but also consistently penetrated his armor, constantly making it flinch with every impact. Bowser saw an opportunity and grabbed its axe and ripping it from his hands. Now in the possession of the axe, Bowser maliciously chuckled as he lit the entire axe on fire. Minotaur gasped in shock as it saw what he did to his precious weapon. Bowser ran towards the raging beast and started hitting it with the flaming axe as the beast was showered with bullets with his arm bleeding. While the blows from the burning axe didn't cut through the armor, the blunt hits from it did make Minotaur almost fall as it screamed in pain. Suddenly, as Bowser was ready to hit again, Minotaur grabbed the burning axe and attempted to rip it from Bowser's grasp. Clashing for the possession of the weapon, two of them stared each other in the eyes as Minotaur fumed in pure rage.

"….GWAHAHAHA! Now let's see how you will handle THIS, CHUMP!" laughed Bowser as he started bending the axe. Just as the Minotaur was about to both kick him and headbutt him at the same time, Bowser, with all his power remaining, broke its axe in half. The kick did hit Bowser and sent him flying, but there was no way at the moment to recover the axe in its former form. At the same time, the ones in charge of the Brownings in Bendigo started reloading them, preparing for the next salvo as it circled around Minotaur.

"Hahah! Now you've got nothing! In a fist fight, I SHALL DESTROY YOU, PUNK!" boasted Bowser as he barely stood up and raised his fists, preparing for a charge.

The Minotaur stomped in pure rage as the whole site shook once again. Steaming from its nose, Minotaur looked at Bowser with its "irises" shrunk and roared:

"MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-Damned be all! I'm done being archaic!"

"WHAT?!" everyone besides the bull yelled as they were shocked of the sudden transition from the primal roaring to a deep, synthetic brooding voice coming from its mouth. The Minotaur suddenly grabbed his left hand and ripped it off from its arm, throwing the hand directly to Bowser's head. The hand hit Bowser's head with great force, stunning him in the process as he dizzily lumbered around the battlefield. A giant machine gun was fitted inside his arm. George and Mosseau returned back as they started to fire against Minotaur again. It looked at their general direction as it prepared its machine gun for combat.

"Now you shall all be sent to the deepest depths of the underworld for daring to intervene the reign of the Neo Millennium Minotaur Mark I." it threatened as it fired salvos upon salvos on them, with George and Mosseau barely escaping the bullet storm unleashed on them. It changed its attention towards Bendigo as its target only started to fire and circle around it now. The Minotaur fired rafales on the Bendigo, with some of the bullets even hitting it. One of the bullets managed to bust one of the skeleton's leg, who was behind one of the Brownings. The skeleton lost his grip on the gun as he fell down on the floor.

"REINFORCEMENTS! WE NEED REINFORCEMENTS ASAP!" yelled Brane at the custom-made walkie talkie near the steering wheel as he saw the fall of the skeleton. As the Minotaur kept firing at Bendigo, Bowser started charging towards it with him even spinning his fist, but Minotaur noticed his attempts for the offense as it slammed his right hand to the floor just as Bowser was about to punch him from behind, culminating in a big explosion. The blast startled Bowser as it completely ruined his tempo. The shock waves from it were strong enough to make some of the walls crumble. As the dust settled, it was revealed to him that the Minotaur had a grenade launcher fitted in his right arm.

"WHAT EVEN ARE YOU?!" yelled Bowser at Minotaur while being shocked at his arsenal.

"Haven't you heard, foolish turtle? I am Neo Millennium Minotaur Mark I., the reincarnation of the almighty figure of Minoan civilization! Your attempts to bring me down are equally pathetic as futile! Now face the inevitable: your painful demise!" boasted Minotaur as it fired grenades at him. Bowser kept running away from the explosions of grenades, with shrapnels hitting him from behind. Now that Bowser got away from its way, it focused its attention on Bendigo once again, unleashing bullets and grenades on him. None of the grenades managed to score a direct impact on the circling Bendigo, but the shrapnels were penetrating through the glass of it, damaging those inside of it and the bullets that kept hitting it managed to go through its armor, making the whole armored van look like swiss cheese more and more. One of the shrapnels managed to hit one of the tires, slowing down the van. Skeletons had to cease fire in order to reload their guns. Brane was sweating through out the whole battle. In the process, the Minotaur kept laughing like a madman.

"Fucking cunt!" yelled Mosseau as he charged towards the Minotaur while getting approximately in close distance, but it responded with a powerful kick, negating his charge completely. The flying Mosseau hit one of the walls as he left a mark on it and fell down. Bowser managed to trip over some stone and fell down directly on his face. A pool of blood was created from his arm. Minotaur immediately noticed the fallen turtle and pointed its grenade launcher at him, ready to blast him to the heavens and above.

"Farewell, disgraceful bacteria." said the Minotaur as he chuckled, preparing the shell for firing as Bowser attempted but continuously failed to stand up and continue to fight.

Suddenly, a projectile coming from an unknown position, hit the grenade launcher that Minotaur was just about to fire, culminating in a huge explosion. It ripped the entire right arm of his into pieces as Neo Millennium Minotaur Mark I screeched in pure agony.

"HOW?! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE!?" screamed Minotaur as it looked around for the source of the projectile. A ray of hope shined through the minds of Bowser's group as they saw what happened to the beast they were attempting to slay.

"Our boys are comin' in, see!" announced George in amidst of the chaos.

Suddenly, far away from the site, three of the Leopard 2A6 HEL main battle tanks of the Hellenic army stormed to the battle zone. Apparently, the projectile came from the one that fired it midair. Fast as the wind, they shook the ground with the force of thousand guns. Minotaur's jaw dropped when it saw the thundering machines of war coming right at him. It tried to run away to the of labyrinth of his, but he tripped over due Bowser's sudden headbutt right in its knee from behind, using all the strength he had. Bowser grabbed Minotaur's leg and spun him around like a propeller going loose.

"So long, Neo Millennium Minotaur Mark Absolute 0!" taunted Bowser as he smashed Minotaur to the floor. The impact crippled one of the Minotaur's legs, making it even harder for it to stand up. Just as the Minotaur was about to succeed in picking itself up, another shell from the Leopards hit him in the back, crippling it even more and leaving a huge hole on his back.

"You fiend! The gods of Olympus will eternally damn you for this!" cursed Minotaur as he crawled to kill his adversary with anything he had remaining in one piece. Bowser walked in front of its face and chuckled at its state.

"So….nice of you to damage my arm….and whatever else you damaged in your life. But now…." mumbled Bowser as he furiously but at the same time smugly glared at Minotaur while cracking his fists.

"You have my permission to be wrecked."

Bowser grabbed the horns of the beyond damaged bullman as he smashed him around the floor The armor started to receive cracks from the hits and its bulletproof glass for eyes started to break down. For the finale, Bowser threw the Minotaur high up in the air and spat out a huge fireball, aiming for the flying bull. Luckily, one of the shots fired by the Leopards managed to hit it midair. Suddenly, a bunch of soldiers of the Hellenic Army stormed the place, only to witness a descending mess of a fireball in front of their eyes.

"Holy fuck from the gods!" said Mosseau as he, along with the rest of Bowser's gang, witnessed the whole ordeal. Rest of the gang was left speechless. The soldiers as well as everyone else not named Bowser evaded from the incoming fireball as it crashed down on the site, resulting in a high field explosion with shrapnels and flames flying all over the site, damaging some of the palace. Despite all of this, what remained of the Minotaur attempted to crawl away to its hideout, but Bowser, having a psychotic smirk on his face, grabbed its head and ripped it from its body, lifting it high up in the air as the flames burned behind him:

"Veni, vidi, vici!"

Everyone saw how Bowser was triumphantly holding Minotaur's head up in the air as they cheered for him. The Leopards finally arrived on the scene.

"You did it, Bows!" the gang cheered, even Sniper Mad John from the hills.

"Thank you so much for your assistance! Please, be blessed for eternity!" said one of the soldiers as he shook his hands with Bowser. One of the other soldiers called for transport on his radio. "However, we must take the remains of the Minotaur."

"Can I keep the head though? Just for the memoir!" requested Bowser as he held the decapitated head of the Minotaur.

"No problem, but after we remove the data components from its head." said one of the soldiers. They didn't wait long before a sight of a Boeing CH-47 Chinook tandem rotor heavy lift helicopter appeared in the skies of Knossos. The Chinook descended from the skies to pick up the gang and the Hellenic soldiers and took them to the nearest base.

Later that day, in the center of Heraklion, Bowser and his gang held a speech in front of the citizens, celebrating the destruction of the dreaded Minotaur once and for all.

"Ladies and gentlemen, today I tell you that the reign of Minotaur...HAS ENDED ONCE AND FOR ALL!" declared Bowser as he showed the public the decapitated head of the heinous beast. The citizens responded with a thunderous applause and constant cheering of "BOWSER OUR HERO!".

"Thank you, Thank you! Now, we shall get our reward and we will….OPEN A NEW RESTAURANT. A RESTAURANT CALLED KORNJAČA!" said Bowser as somewhere in the city the restaurant opened. "Now farewell, citizens of Heraklion!"

As Bowser left, some of the citizens started crying, begging for him to come back, but he did wave to them as the final goodbye.

Later, he approached his colleagues near his boat as they applauded him as well.

"Well then, now we got 10 million euros. Never expected to have that much money in my life." smiled George as he played around with the bucks he had in his hands.

"Yessss! Even the Greeks shall taste the glorious food of Hrvatska!" said Brane as he raised his hand.

"Aye, that was good, lads. Aye have been missing a fight like this!" clamored Mosseau as he raised his Vickers guns in the air.

"I've got a question for you before we continue our quest, fellas!" said Bowser as everyone looked at him. "Does Crete belong to anyone?"

"Yes, to Greece." Sniper Mad John immediately answered.

"Is Greece…." continued Bowser, but before he could finish the question, John already nodded. "...Does that mean..."

"Yep, mate." said Sniper Mad John while forcing a smile.

"…."

"HECK!"

Two of the ships under recently established Skeleton Mafia cruised through the Mediterranean sea after doing their job in Greece. The skeletons on the supporting ship had a party like there's no tomorrow, while the main ship, the fishing boat, serenely traveled over the waves. Inside the flagship, the ones behind the establishment of the Skeleton Mafia were sitting behind some kind of table in a dim lighted place. The light that hanged from the ceiling rocked together along with the ship.

"DRAT!" yelled Bowser as he slammed his fist on the table, almost making everything on it fall down. "How couldn't we know about it earlier!?"

"We kinda just went for it, didn't we? We need something that will deliver us information as fast as possible!" pondered Sniper Mad John as he held on a glass of mineral water on the table.

"Well, everything turned out to be good, but it's better if we prepare for future incidents." advised Brane as he took a little sip of rakija. "Next time our luck might run out!".

"We are in demand for moles. In order for our business to go smoothly as butter, info beforehand would greatly assist us." George offered a suggestion as he was being busy flipping his quarter for fun.

"Hmmm...you are right, George!" approved Bowser as he raised his index finger in the air. "But how would we get them? Do you have any idea?"

"BAH! Yer kiddin' me. Aye em the best man for espionage here! Just look at me!" boasted Mosseau as he smacked his trash can as its noise echoed across the ship. Everyone just glared at him in both suspicion and denial. "What?!"

"Well mate, you ain't exactly wrong." assured Sniper Mad John as he scratched his chin. "But we need more spies. One person can't cover the whole area."

"...Aye, ye got me there." admitted Mosseau as he pointed his finger guns towards Mad John.

"Well, the most optimal of choices would be that we would get one of them humans on our side. Whether or not it will be difficult depends on a person." further explained George.

"Haha! It should be EASY! Easy as popping up a balloon with a nail! Too easy to convince some numbnuts to join our side!" chuckled Bowser at the idea of gaining any kind of people on his side for his ever lasting desire for conquest. The statement of his reminded something of Brane.

"Oh….we could have done that in Croatia when we….were selling quality food of Dalmatia!" said Brane, spilling out his reminder. Bowser's enthusiasm shortly crumbled after hearing his words.

"Ah boy, here we go again." sighed George, knowing what's going to happen next. Everyone else bar Don himself took a sip of their drink, prepared for the upcoming event.

"CURSE YOU, HINDSIGHT!" yelled Bowser as he lifted the entire table up in the air, ready to throw it in the sea before he stopped himself and put the table down. His henchmen were more surprised that he didn't go through it.

"Mate, we haven't even started to conquer yet. There's no need to go up in arms now." affirmed Mad John as he attempted to further calm down Bowser.

"YET! But we must conquer NOW!….or at least….VERY SOON! I've been here for quite some time and I haven't even conquered ONE ISLAND! Sure, we have spread our influence across Balkan Peninsula apparently, BUT IT DOES NOT FEEL THE SAME! I must have a fix of CLAIMING THE LAND AS OF MY OWN!" rambled Bowser as he shook his clenched fist up in the air.

"Aye get ye, Bows me lad." avowed Mosseau as he offered Bowser a bottle, to which he refused. "Aye miss me olde days as well. Need a fix of that GLORY!"

"Yes, yes, we will get to that part." grimaced George as he stopped toying with his revolver, putting it back in his pocket. Suddenly, one of the skeleton minions barged in the room.

"Boss!" urged the bonehead as he made a gesture for them to come over the intended place.

"What?!" asked Bowser as he glanced at his henchmen, expecting some pestering and such.

"There's an island in front of us! It's massive!" announced the skeleton as everyone went outside of bridge, witnessing the mass of land in the Mediterranean sea. The gust of wind gently blew in their faces.

"AW YEAH!" shouted Bowser as he punched the air in excitement. "Finally, some action!"

"Perhaps we should apply here what we were talking about earlier." recommended Sniper Mad John as he brought up his binoculars so that he could take a closer look at the island, possibly identifying it.

"You're right indeed! So….who's gonna volunteer?" said Bowser as he posed to look like an explorer once again, facing his crew with a passionate look on his face.

"Can't ignore the obvious choices, my friend!" boasted Brane as he stepped closer to him with Mad John, both of them pumping up fists in the air. Meanwhile the gangster George approached his Jaguar Mark I sedan as he opened the doors and took his mask from it, putting on it on his skeletal face.

"George! I thought you forgot about it!" exclaimed Bowser, noticing what George was wearing.

"Well, I can't play the game of risks as of now. I admit, I should have done it back in Dalmatia." cautioned George as he stepped near the men of two radically different sizes.

"So!" grinned Sniper Mad John as he rubbed his hands, preparing to hear his boss' orders. "What are we gonna do, mate?"

Bowser glanced at the island in front of them before deciding to give orders. After brainstorming for an idea, he issued an order: "Okay, so! The first official mission of Skeleton Mafia shall be this! Your job is to investigate the island, obtain information and return back here! We shall later on plan our offense on it and conquer it! Understood?!"

"Of course, my colleague!" claimed both Brane and John as the saluted towards Bowser.

"Sure." said George as he prepared his arsenal of weaponry for the most critical circumstances.

"Gyahahaha! Let me in, lads!" called in Mosseau as he raised his rusty claymore up in the air.

"Now THAT is what I LIKE TO SEE! Now remember! This is only….uh how do you say it in fancy words?" Bowser attempted to boast before his tongue got tied from trying to sound somewhat professional.

"Reconnaissance mission?" Sniper Mad John corrected him as he raised his finger.

"….are there any SIMPLER terms?!" grumbled Bowser upon hearing the word "reconnaissance". It could simply just not get inside his head.

"Well, recon for short." added John, easing the mood of his boss.

"Ah, that sounds so much better for my tongue. Anyway, got any questions?!" asked Bowser as he looked at the participants of the mission.

"What will you do?" responded George, as if he was provoking Bowser.

"...Uh...ahem. I'll just….monitor the entire thing!" mumbled Bowser, desperately trying to come up with something as the ships slowly approached the unknown yet large island. "Let me just..."

"Take this, my friend!" resounded Brane, giving him his old crusty Nokia phone while John showed his own phone, just to assure that their plan is feasible with such an idea. "We will give out calls when we obtain some good info, but don't hesitate calling us! It's gonna be real jače!"

Bowser put John's phone inside the pockets of his captain's uniform before continuing finishing his improvised order: "So, we got that out of our system! Everything else is clear! Now, we just have to park our ships, which shall be soon!"

The crew prepared for the recon as the ships of Skeleton Mafia, while the one with only skeletons on board started lagging behind the "capital" ship, started approaching one of the ports of the island. The harbor itself, while not particularly large in size, was filled with many kinds of boats, sailboats with tall yet clean masts and luxuriously fresh yachts, residing soundly yet relaxingly in it. The vessels of Skeleton Mafia stood out like sore thumbs between them, in terms of size and appearance. Few of the palm trees of Mediterranean spurted out from the stone cube-paved path. In one part of the port, a renewed medieval fort, shaped like a quadrilateral, stood, giving the port its own identity. Once they managed to properly park their ships (the second one took just a little bit more time), the gang composing of George, Brane, Sniper Mad John and Mosseau jumped off the ship, all of them, while doing flips in the air, smoothly landed on the land of harbor.

"Good luck and DON'T screw up!" ordered Bowser towards his colleagues, standing above them on the ship like a true, boastful commander.

"No issue, mate. We're professionals after all!" boasted Sniper Mad John as he gave him the finger guns along with Brane. George just tipped his hat while Mosseau raised his fist up in the air while holding one of his custom-made weaponry. They walked off away from the harbor towards as close they could get to the center while Bowser observed them from the ship. He proudly crossed his arms as he kept thinking about how much is going to conquer.

"Boss!" shouted one of his skeletal minions, interrupting Bowser's borderline daydreaming of ruling of the world.

"What is it?" asked Bowser in a rather grouchy way because he was interrupted from imagining his glory.

"We forgot to tell you the bad news. The engine of our ship is hosed!" explained the skeleton as he pointed at the ship which had such problem.

"Urghh….which one of you is responsible for this?" bellowed Bowser, angrily approaching the skeleton while the bone man looked in the eyes of his boss without fear.

"No one. It was a malfunction from the engine!" elaborated skeleton, trying to ease the situation from his boss receiving another anger attack.

"Then do what must be done: FIX IT!" furiously commanded Bowser as he stomped right into the bridge, opening the door with sheer force of his irritation.

"Of course, Don!" obliged skeleton, saluting his boss before turning back towards his comrades. "Yo, anyone tech savvy here?"

One of the skeletons donned protective mechanic's glasses and black flat hat before loudly claiming: "Ayy, I'm in! Don't worry fellas, this will be done in no time."

"Thanks, my mang!" complimented skeleton as the mechanic, along with some of his followers who seemed to know how to fix engines, marched right into the ship, seeking the engine room.

"So...what will we do after we get rid of that problem?" questioned one of the skellies, scratching his skull in the process.

"Like we always do! Except that I think we should have a different game for today. We've been playing nothing but poker as of late." avowed another skeleton, making the group of boneheads trying to come up with an idea.

"Uno?" suggested some skeleton in the gang.

"Nah, we've got enough cards for now." disagreed another skeleton, as she was impulsed by the idea of playing any card game due burn out.

"Hmmm….Monopoly?" offered one of the skeletons, hesitating a bit because he thought his idea is going to be rejected.

"Oh! That's a good one! We should go for few rounds of it, since not much of it was played here!" agreed the skeleton, to which rest of the gang also approved the idea.

"Let us invite our boss to the game!" recommended another skeleton, to which the skeletal gang cheered as they raised their fists up in the air.

Meanwhile, those who were sent on the mission strolled through the city, which held resemblance towards the towns they visited before, except the streets were more occupied by people walking down the streets, looking for various buildings such as stores and restaurants or even some historical sights. By the contrast, not many cars drove around the roads, people generally preferred to walk in order to satisfy their needs. The white blocky buildings shined under the sun, giving the city somewhat of a glow. Sometimes, seagulls flew over their heads. Bowser's henchmen observed every detail of the town, trying to gather as much information as possible.

"Aye gonna go there, ye know for covering more space, See ye later, lads." said Mosseau as he rolled off to another street.

"See you later!" waved Brane towards the one who went in their own way before he took another look at the architecture, taking a deep breath in satisfaction when he raised his hands to encompass the size of the place. "Isn't this city just beautiful?!"

"I swear every town we visited feels similar. Is it a specific style here or somethin'?" recalled George as the group continued to stroll down the city.

"I assume it's the style of Mediterranean, so we shouldn't be surprised about the similarities." cleared up Sniper Mad John while eating one of his rations that he took it from Bendigo much earlier.

"Is that so?...Say, John. You've mentioned that you have visited all corners of the world. Tell me about it." George started a conversation out of curiosity.

"Ye, mate! Been on every continent, even on Antarctica!" cheerfully answered John, having a huge, dumb grin on his crusty face.

"Antarctica?! Opa! You haven't told me about that one yet. How was it?" piqued Brane as his eyebrows rose.

"Heatstroke inducing." jested George while having his hands in the pockets.

"Hahaha! Well, mate. You must be really passionate about penguins, because that's the only reason to ever even visit it unless you're a scientist. Then you have much more important reasons to go there. That being said, it's much more lively underwater, no question why. Went scuba-diving there and there were so many fish down there! Sometimes penguins, leopard seals and even orcas appeared! Thankfully, the last one ain't no aggressive type. I managed to get up close with it and the orca I've met was quite a funny one." chuckled Sniper Mad John as he went on about one of his many journeys in his life. Brane was happily listening to his story, smiling all the way through.

"Quite enthusiastic about travelin' and fauna, huh. Ever considered to be somethin' like a guide or zookeeper?" asked George, being somewhat interested.

"Tourist guide is my part-time job at times, but my real job is much….filthier, so to say. The one that takes lives. Don't worry about it, I ain't one of those corrupt types, but yea, my job is one of the reasons why I travel so much. For zookeeper I've considered about it." conceded John, making hand gestures during his speech.

"A job, no matter how filthy is it, is still a job. Better have one than none. Back in my day, I wasn't so fortunate, but far from bein' the only one. Thanks to the circumstances back then, I had to turn into the life of crime. Ever remained one since then." told George about his own experiences while having his head slightly angled downwards.

"Ouch...I know how that feels, to fight for the basic needs." lamented Brane as he attempted to pat the shoulders of George.

"It wasn't easy there either, especially at home. Had to get money somehow." said John as he somberly frowned for a bit.

"The memories may follow us forever, but it is no use holdin' on to them. Look at us now. We're exploring all those new places without a worry to not have the needs to survive, not a single worry about not having a job. We kind of created our jobs when we established the mafia. It's not fully realized, but I feel quite a decent amount of potential." acknowledged George, ending the sudden gloomy mood of the conversation with his message.

"Indeed, mate." affirmed John with his grin returning on his face.

"Credit to Bowser, of course!" praised Brane as he pumped his fist in the air.

"Surprisingly, yeah. He ain't exactly the sharpest, but it's nice that he got us somewhere." said George, snapping his finger in a complimenting way.

"I wonder what would Mosseau say about this." pondered Sniper Mad John, scratching his crusty beard.

"Frankly, it feels kind of empty without him ramblin' about whatever thing has he done." addressed George.

"Say, where do you think he went on his own?" asked Brane as they kept continuing wandering around the city, still doing the same as before.

Meanwhile in a bar with a rather large neon sign stating " LINEKERS" above it, accompanied with the symbol of the lion like creature, Mosseau rolled in through the few tables and chairs right into the entrance, revealing a spacious, well lit but empty bar with only large, bald bartender in it, cleaning the glasses. The equipment and furniture inside the bar was relatively clean, possibly from the bartender taking everything inside. He immediately looked over the entrance after hearing a loud, booming noise from Mosseau bum-rushing in the bar.

"You must be in a need." quipped the bartender while not even bothering with the appearance of his customer while still cleaning the glasses and cups.

"Aye, ye got that right! Aye am in a massive need!" confirmed Mosseau as he approached towards the bartender, slamming his fist as he demanded: "GIVE ME SOME GOOD HOMEGROWN STUFF!"

"...Sure." muttered the bartender, glaring at the demanding Scot before giving him a small menu with the names of drinks on it. "What do you want?"

Mosseau took a good look at the laminated paper and saw that the names of the beverages were written in Greek letters alongside with words written in Latin alphabet. The names of drinks were printed on the both sides of the paper. After thinking about what to choose, he then put the paper back and pointed directly on the first name on the menu.

"Aye want Commandaria! Make it good, laddeh!" boastfully demanded Mosseau. The bartender sighed before going for the bottle of the requested wine in the back. Once he brought the desired wine, he gave it to the still sober skeleton. The bottle itself was black with the red cap on top of it, etiquette covering the radius of it, its name being written in golden colors while warning about the volume of 15%.

"Mind if Aye take it home?" requested Mosseau as he grabbed the bottle like how an owl grabs mice with its talons.

"Okay, just pay for it." bellowed the bartender as he reached out his hand and opened his palm, requesting the dosh. "30 Euros shall it be."

"Ooooooh, Aye got something better than just measly mone!" boasted Mosseau as he whipped out a shiningly golden 7.62x51mm bullet out of his trash can. The glow from the bullet caused bartender to flinch.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" scoffed bartender, pretending to be unimpressed by the bullet.

"Oh that, my lad, is the legendary 24 carat bullet! It gives lads like us fortune, meaning that we'll always not only survive but win as well. However, the luck runs out if you use it, so conserve it and if ye don't believe me that the bullet is made out of gold..." explained Mosseau before he pulled out a 24 carat golden bar out of his trash can. Bartender's jaw dropped when he saw the bar shining in Mosseau's boney arms.

"C-can I...have it?" stuttered the bartender, admiring the glow of the golden bar while desperately trying to reach it and grab it.

"Take it! Just give me good stuff!" affirmed Mosseau as they exchanged their things with bartender giving him additional bottles of Commandaria.

"See ye efter!" greeted off Mosseau, rolling out of the bar with him being equipped with many bottles of Commandaria as the bartender was too busy staring at the golden items he received. He went off towards the back door, entering the alleyway behind the bar for a cigarette pause, yet he was still admiring the glow of the bullet and a golden bar.

"I'm gonna be rich! RICH! Finally, a future that is not running this damned bar!" shouted the bartender in joy as he raised the golden bullet and the bar up in the air. Suddenly, a dark stout figure flew down from the sky and snatched the items he held so dearly. Just like how his temporary possessions disappeared in front of his eyes, so did his brief moment of happiness. He sighed as he returned inside, back to running his bar as always.

Outside the entrance, Mosseau was wheezing from laughter as he was taking the "sips" of the amber-colored sweet dessert wine, greatly enjoying the taste.

"OHOHOHOHOH! GYAHAHAHA! Fooken mongloid! He totally felt for it!" he laughed far behind bartender's back, greatly ingesting the wine. However, he decided to spare some of the bottles, for his collection of alcoholic beverages and for future uses. "Aye just repainted a steel bar and a bullet in gold!

The laughter ceased as soon as he saw the stout figure flying above him. The man himself seemed to steer on a large balloon high up in the air.

"What the bloody hell is that?!" asked Mosseau as he saw the flying man in the sky. He decided to follow him out of curiosity.

Meanwhile George, Brane and John continued strolling down the town, searching for any information they could find and talking about various topics, mostly about life and cars of old and new. During their mission they haven't encountered many people, be them detrimental or helpful for their mission.

"Did Bows specify anything we need to bring to him? I know it's information but any items and such?" queried Brane.

"Not really. We could just say what needs to be said and it's over. He didn't say much about what exactly but I think I know what he meant: the name of the city, the name of the island and background information." cleared up George as they suddenly stopped walking.

"I can easily provide the background info!" cheerfully boasted Mad John before noticing that they were standing right in front of the souvenir shop.

"….Oh." all of them disclosed as they approached the shop up close, observing any possible items that could give information inside through the window. The shopkeeper stood behind the register, staring at the clock which hung from one of the shop's walls. Near the shop there were some bicycles and a worn out crusty moped parked, seemingly not protected by anything.

"Anyone found anythin' ?" asked George as they kept observing the interior of the store, witnessing many items scattered around in it such as cups, postcards, ships in bottles and much more, some of them kitsch.

"Aha!" shouted Brane as he spotted a postcard with a beautiful coast alongside with crystal clear sea on it along with one word written in golden letters. "We are in Paphos!"

"Paphos? Lemme see it up close." piqued Sniper Mad John, taking a closer look at the postcard as he saw a white flag with a golden shape of the island along with two stylized olive branches below in the top left corner of the postcard. "So we are….in Cyprus."

"Nice! Never been to it before, so I'm making history here!" crowed Brane as he was nearly prepared to buy some souvenirs before stopping himself from fruitlessly wasting money.

"I don't have a word in it, but seems like a tranquil place to live." commented George. On other hand, Sniper Mad John only had an expression used at times of something going hugely wrong as his mouth was wide open.

"Hm? Što se radi, Johne?(What's happening, John?)" asked Brane, puzzled at his colleague's reaction. George also glanced over, sharing his feeling with Brane as well.

"...Mates, I think we goofed up." calmly said Sniper Mad John as he brought up the phone from his pocket.

"What do you mean? Everythin' went decently well as of far." questioned George, scratching the tip of the hat as he looked at what John was going to do.

"I'll explain everything in the call." clarified Sniper Mad John as he tapped on his phone before starting a call.

Meanwhile on the flagship of Skeleton mafia, Bowser was playing monopoly alongside his skeletal troops, with each of the player having some money on their side and a figure of something, be it an object or life form, which worked for the player to obtain real estate. While all of the players did get some houses, some were more fortunate with others with Bowser being on the "Go to jail" space. Because of this, he glared at the figure while tapping his fingers. Non-participants watched the game, some of them even eating čevapi with kajmak, ajvar or mustard, basically their equivalent of wings during an intense game of Superbowl. Some of them took liberties with food and brought in kebabs, pljeskavicas and other typical Balkan food. Despite all of this, none of them were eating sarma. Each skeleton cheered for the player of their own choices, but most skeletons sided with Bowser, chanting his name when the game seemed in favor of him. The "fans" of other participants did that as well.

The Nokia phone in Bowser's pocket rang, heavily vibrating in the process. He picked it up and answered, still holding an annoyed expression on his face.

"Don Bowser! I've got stuff you wanted!" said the voice of Sniper Mad John through the phone.

"Huh? Already?! Well that was quick! Tell me!" marveled Bowser as he got his energy back. The skeletons stopped partying as they started to pay attention towards the news.

"It seems that we are in Cyprus, the island not that far away from Crete." started reporting Mad John through the compression.

"Cyprus? I think I've heard that one before." recalled Bowser, looking at the detached metallic skull of a bull on his table, used as a lucky charm.

"Yea, mate. However, what they told us about it during our visit in Crete gave us a bit of the idea on why starting a proper operation of taking over Cyprus will put our goals to the bitter end." warned John before he actually explained why.

"It's because of THAT NATO HOOLIGAN ORGANIZATION, isn't it?" angrily assumed Bowser, clenching his fist in the process.

"Not exactly. Cyprus is not a member of North Atlantic Treaty Organization but there's a dispute about this island between two NATO countries...for one which we had helped. Invading it would not only cause a grave international distress, but it would definitely make NATO intervene, destroying both us and our plans. In other words…..it would be a massive shiteshow." explained Sniper Mad John in the most tranquil possible way.

"DARN YOU, UNSTABLE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS!" yelled Bowser, causing voice cracks from John's phone as he shook his fist up in the air. "Now, return back to the ship. We'll start our conquest somewhere else. Somewhere where THOSE NATO CHUMPS don't have constant view!"

"No worries! I'll draw the path out of Mediterranean once we return!" promised John before the call ended. Few moments of silence and confusion followed.

"Are we actually gonna leave Mediterranean?" asked Brane as if he was concerned.

"Unfortunately, yes." confirmed John. Brane, while taking the realization well, still felt some sentimentality over not only leaving his homeland, but the continent as well. George also felt somewhat uneasy, but hid his emotions under the stoic facade of his.

"So….anyone want souvenirs?" asked George, pointing towards the store.

"OF COURSE!" shouted Brane and John in agreement, pumping their fists. All of them went inside and ventured into the shop, thinking what to buy. The store itself was cramped and small, so even with only just three people it felt like it was already full, granted though that Sniper Mad John's size equates to the size of two men. Brane chose the ship in a bottle, Mad John picked up some of the key chains while George secretly put some maps in his pockets. Two of the men paid for their stuff while the skeleton gangster sneaked out of the store without being spotted by the cashier. Leaving the store, the trio stepped closer to each other and showed their items to each other.

"That's a pretty nice boat, mate. Good choice." John complimented the vessel, similar to those in the 19th century, inside the bottle.

"Thank you! It is quite neat." thanked Brane as he gave John a high five.

"We gotta go now, capisce?" ordered George. He pointed towards the assumed direction of their ship before they put their items in their pockets. Suddenly, the shadowy stout figure struck from the sky and snatched the gang's items before they could even properly put them in their pockets. The group realized their situation once they felt a gust of wind in their face, almost causing George's hat to fall off.

"...The hell?" wondered George as he and his colleagues frantically searched through their pockets before noticing the figure of a man holding on the balloon as he flew in the sky.

"Is that…." said Brane, noticing some familiarity in the figure. John tried to figure out what Brane meant while George quickly pulled out his revolver and shot at the figure. The sound of the shot echoed through out the city, making many inhabitants looking through the windows what was even happening. The bullet pierced right through the balloon, popping it like it's nothing. The man in the sky flailed his arms like a madman once he realized that his transport device is no more and started falling down the sky like a stone. After hearing the sound of a man impacting the road, the gang ran up towards the destination of the man, only to be surprised what they saw. The man wore a red superhero like mask, complemented by the red cape which covered the yellow corset, presumably hiding girth of the lad. The formerly flying mustached man, also with black shorts, was picking himself up from the impact, but was caught surrounded by George, John and Brane.

"IZ BIJESA!" yelled Brane in shock as he saw the man, all of the recalls of his becoming true. "IT'S..."

"What?" asked Mad John after witnessing the man that fell from the sky, trying to see if knew about him before.

"Alright, Mr. Rejected idea for a comic book protagonist, give us the stuff back and make it quick." threated George, pointing his Silver Coyote revolver at him with his finger being on the trigger, prepared to be pulled any time.

The stubby mustached man chuckled as he fully picked himself up and stood in front of them, not even flinching at the threat made by George, who kept being calm even by the man's resolve.

"..Hahahahaha! Yes it is I..." laughed the man before he properly introduced himself as the gang continued being on guard.

"SUPERHIK!"

Brane gasped in shock after the man introduced himself while other two just glanced at each other in confusion.

"...Who?" asked George as he started to lower down the revolver, questioning if he's even a proper threat.

"Bastard jedni!" shouted Brane at him, threatening Superhik with his fist. However he didn't seem to be afraid of it.

"Hah! It seems like only one of you knows me already. I am Superhik, the patron and guardian of the wealthy! I steal from the poor so I can give it to rich! And now here, in Cyprus, I plan my grand return to New York!" boasted Superhik, shaking his fist in the air. The sentence about returning to New York made George lift up his revolver again while Brane clenched his teeth.

"..You sure you got that right, mate?" asked Mad John, questioning his modus operandi.

"Yes, I did. Now you fools won't bother me anymore as I continue planning my return!" daunted Superhik as he pulled out a bottle without the etiquette out of the cape and started drinking it.

"Should we shoot him now?" John questioned George, the latter still holding on the revolver.

"No need to make a mess at the moment. All it would do is to get the cops after us because of one blood bag." explained George while putting down his revolver back in the pocket and raised up his fists, to which both John and Brane followed. Superhik finished his drink and menacingly glared at them before taking a deep breath.

"DOVRAGA! Cover your noses!" alerted Brane as he grabbed his nose in preparation, so did John. George couldn't exactly do that because his lack of actual nose. Superhik exhaled and blew them his breath. The breath itself was visible, being colored green. Even though they covered their noses, they still felt the absolute magnitude of sheer smell of Superhik's breath, making them heavily flinch in the process.

"Lord, this is worse than anything from sewers!" rasped George as he crouched down from Superhik's offense along with his comrades.

"Mate, what the flying fuck?!" grimaced John before he started coughing from it.

"Iz bijesa! Ajde u kurac, Superhike! (Go into a dick, Superhik!)" swore Brane with anger in the bottom of his heart directed towards Superhik.

"Hahahaha! Now,...I must return! The reign of Superhik shall start again!" taunted Superhik, just as he attempted to retreat for them in order to continue his plans, but not before a force of something intercepted and crashed right into him, sending him off towards the store that he was in front of. Breaking the glass doors of the store while launched, he landed right in the merchandising refrigerator, destroying it as every possible plastic bottle above fell on his head. In front of the store stood the force of something that crashed into him: Mosseau. Somehow, he managed to catch Superhik's bottle while he bumped into him. He glanced over his colleagues and saw them still crouching. As soon as they noticed him, they stood up and frowningly pointed towards Superhik, who now lied unconscious in the broken refrigerator.

"Found ye!" yelled Mosseau as he looked towards the man in the costume, taunting him by shaking the bottle of his.

"Watch out for his breath, Mosseau!" warned Brane, knowing the experience.

"What?!" said Mosseau while deciding to inspect the bottle of the caped menace. He opened the cap of the bottle and sniffed it, immediately noticing the problem. "Shite's expired!"

Superhik regained consciousness as he picked himself up from the refrigerator and removed the bottles. He noticed what Mosseau was holding, but instead of getting angry that he had his main source of power, he could only stare at Mosseau's appearance.

"Impossible! I couldn't be drunk, alcohol is in my veins!" he yelped as he saw the skeleton in the trash can before his frustration kicked in.

"Alcohol in yer veins! Hah! So did I have it back when I was human!" commented Mosseau, causing puzzled reactions from his colleagues.

"Give me back my bottle, you abomination!" fumed Superhik as he prepared himself to lunge at Mosseau and use his trademark breath on him.

"Oh, ye drink from that?!" goaded Mosseau as he flailed the bottle to anger him. "Ye'd have better luck drinking DIARRHEA than this vomit!"

"No, you think? Of course I do, bonehead!" sassed Superhik, causing Mosseau's head to twitch. Other colleagues stepped in, attempting to possibly intercept Superhik if he tried to escaped, but kept relative distance from the raging skeleton in a trash can.

"...Ye fooken WOT?!" roared Mosseau with his accent getting suddenly thicker, throwing the bottle directly at Superhik, hitting him in the process. Yet only thing it caused to Superhik was making him flinch. "First ye insult me….NOW YE INSULT THE WINE, FINEST BLESSINGS OF THE GODS EVER, BY DRINKING THAT SHITE?!"

"And? What's the problem, you sour pisstake?" further taunted Superhik as he inhaled, oozing out any possible smell from his breath.

"A'M GONNA SAW YER BONES AND SELL EM ON THE BLACK MARKET, MONGREL!" loudly threatened Mosseau, pulling out two of his chainsaws out of his trash can and revved them up as they roared with the might of the angry Scot.

"Shit!" gulped Superhik with his jaw dropping at the sight, irises shrinking and balls dropping. Mosseau lunged at him ahead with the chainsaws, but Superhik narrowly escaped the attack by spitting out his breath and narrowly sliding towards the exit of the store, making Mosseau crash into the same refrigerator as he did earlier. George, Brane and John attempted to capture Superhik, preventing him from escaping but Superhik managed to evade all of them as he grabbed the moped of the Vespa Primavera 50 4T 4V kind and drove off away from them.

"Goodbye, you bastards!" he taunted as he kept distancing from them, waving at them in the gaudiest possible way.

"COME BACK 'ERE, YE COWARDLY SARDONIC SWINE!" shouted Mosseau at him before turning back towards his lads.

"Dovraga! We cannot let him escape, but only Mosseau has a proper way to keep a track of him!" seethed Brane as he smacked his fist on his palm. All of them looked back and saw few bicycles parked in front of the shop which they had previously visited and then glanced at each other, thinking about the idea itself.

"You sure this is gonna do it, mates?" asked Mad John, doubting the idea.

"A job must be done, the way how to do it be damned." declared George before all of them bar Mosseau jumped on the bikes, landing their posteriors on the saddles.

"CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGE!" Mosseau let out his war cry, pointing the chainsaws towards the direction their current adversary went as they started pedaling like mad twats. It did not take long to reach their maximum velocity. Mosseau followed them while keeping the same velocity as them.

Meanwhile, Superhik started slowing down once he noticed no one is behind him, smugly smirking in satisfaction. He was the only one who was driving in the somewhat quiet town, with only cars being around parked near the houses.

"Hah! Too easy! These morons couldn't even stand a chance." he thought to himself before he pulled out a balloon out of the area around cape and started blowing it, so he could fly again. Just before he could fully inflate the balloon, a shot was heard and the bullet flew right above his head, popping up the balloon as the elastic covered his face. After removing the elastic from his face, he looked back and saw three lads and one skeleton in a trash can on wheels chasing after him. His feeling of accomplishment dropped immediately as he tightened the grip on the handle bar, speeding up drastically. Yet the gang still was in range within the possibility of reaching him.

George held on his handle bar with one hand, since he was holding the revolver in his other hand. He started aiming towards the wheel of the moped after he shot the balloon. Brane and John accompanied him during the chase while Mosseau brought up two of his Vickers machine guns and aimed at Superhik.

"Not the best time to make one's bones , Mosseau." ordered George, stopping Mosseau from firing as he reluctantly put the machine guns back in the trash can, instead opting for the chainsaws.

"Now yer gonna get it, FUCKER!" threatened Mosseau as he closed near Superhik and attempted to cut him down with diagonal slashes, but Superhik evaded all of the attacks by distancing himself with his moped before striking Mosseau by bumping into him, causing the mad skeleton to lose track and nearly crashing into the nearest building, but Mosseau managed to break just in time to avoid collateral damage. His colleagues looked at him, reassuring if everything is going alright with him before they changed focus on the escaping hooligan.

"Not this time! Hahahaha!" laughed Superhik, bringing up another one of his bottles, this one lacking any substance. He threw it behind his back in order to hit anyone chasing him, but the bottle landed just a bit earlier to really hit the gang, but the shrapnels flew across the street, making the bicyclists evade them. Not a single shrapnel hit the bikers or the tires, but few of them bounced off Mosseau's trash can. It seemed that people of Paphos noticed the sound with residents of few buildings looking through open windows at the scene. They couldn't believe what was happening.

"Superhik!" some of them yelled before they started booing for him, however he took pride with it, grinning to himself. People kept looking at the gang in bewilderment, not sure if they should cheer for him.

George attempted to shoot the back tire of Superhik's moped, but he kept almost flawlessly evading them, making some smooth moves in the process. Once George noticed his gun is out of bullets, he let off of the handle and searched through the pocket to find additional bullets. Superhik took a notice in that, so he aligned himself right in front of George as he prepared another empty bottle, but his plan got foiled once Mosseau bumped right into him, temporarily losing the grip of his moped. He retaliated back by ramming sideways into Mosseau, but the Scot held on tight. Both of them kept pushing each other with their vehicles with them constantly tilting while George tried his hardest to keep the bike balanced while reloading the gun.

Sniper Mad John and Brane sneaked right at the side of the Superhik while he was dealing with Mosseau with Brane being pedaling on the right side of his massive friend. Superhik noticed it immediately and grabbed another one of his full bottles and started drinking it, but was constantly interrupted by John's attempted punches, having to resort to evasive maneuvers while drinking. Somehow, Superhik managed to drink the entire spoiled black wine in seconds and started to inhale. Knowing the inevitable, Sniper Mad John and Brane backed off while Mosseau ducked inside the trash can, sliding off a bit to the left. In the mean time, George managed to reload his gun without and disturbance and looked at the situation in front of him. After analyzing it, he grinned as he pointed his revolver towards the trash can owned by Mosseau and fired the bullet at it. The bullet itself bounced off just at the right angle, making it flying towards the front wheel, penetrating it as Superhik flipped over, but, due quick reflexes, he grabbed a balloon, inflated it with his volatile breath and flew off away from the gang.

"Što?! (What?!)" shouted Brane as he saw the sudden ascension of the alcoholic thug, not knowing what to do. George pointed the gun at him, but realized he was out of reach.

"Follow him, where he lands!" advised John as they cycled towards the direction of Superhik.

Meanwhile, Superhik landed on the roof of one of the shiningly white buildings in Paphos, watching above the streets. The balloon of his deflated the breath out, going high up in the air instead.

"Phew…..I take my words back. They're like Group TNT...except arguably crazier, especially the one in the trash can! What the fuck!" confided Superhik to himself while checking if he still has all the stolen items from before, exhaling in relief. "I have to get outta here real soon! New York can't wait much longer! I must give the stuff to the rich!"

"Oh...I only have few balloons left. Better make a good use of it!" said Superhik to himself as he pulled out one of his last balloons and started inflating it. The moment it seemed like the balloon was ready to go, a bullet out of nowhere popped up his balloon just like before. Superhik froze in fear once he realized who was near him: George, Mosseau, John and Brane, standing right behind him on the roof. After firing a shot, George placed his revolver back into the pocket.

Superhik turned behind and saw them all glaring at him while cracking their fists. Brane was even smirking in satisfaction, seeing the adversary cornered.

"Alright, we're busy men, make it quick. Give back our stuff, capisce?" said George in the most stoic, yet threatening voice possible.

Superhik, while heavily sweating, thought about how to respond to the threat. He could have easily pulled a balloon, but it would risk him losing one thanks to George. Attempting to strike with his weapon of choice could cost him life is what he also considered about. Running away seemed like the safest option to him, but at the same time most dishonorable. Then he decided his incoming action…

"Never! I, Superhik, the patron and guardian of the rich, shall not go without a fight!" boasted Superhik as he prepared to drink one of his bottles again, only to get jabbed right into the stomach by Brane, spitting all of the drink out.

"Take that, ludake jedni!" yelled Brane when he punched, which was followed by Mosseau going behind Superhik and striking him in the back of the head with his fists. Just as Superhik was about to fall down of the floor, Sniper Mad John performed an uppercut right on his chin, making him stand up dizzily for a bit. For the finale, George stepped right in front of him, placing his arm that it blocked the sun. The rest of the gang was watching George like they were on the edge of the seat.

"W-who are you madmen?" stuttered Superhik while holding on the remaining consciousness of his, prancing around the roof as if he was malfunctioning.

"SKELETON BITCH SLAP!"

George delivered his mighty slap across Superhik's face, heavily injuring his jaw, knocking out all of his consciousness and sending him flying across the city from the sheer force of the impact.

"Holy shit, man." gasped Mosseau in awe after witnessing the slap while John's and Brane's mouths dropped from how did he manage to make the alcoholic criminal fly across the sky from a mere slap.

"As if I'm moronic enough to tell him the name of our organization." uttered George in annoyance before all of them decided to visit the location where Superhik landed.

After some time leaving the building, the gang started walking towards their desired destination. Exhausted from all the work, their speed was rather slow. The city, while used to be slightly empty, was now filled with people watching them, secretly admiring them for what they did.

"Say, Brane...What's the reason that he pissed you off so much?" asked George as they kept strolling down.

"Do you remember the time when you saw me behind my stand constantly without any business? That was his doing. He's the reason why I couldn't get any money until you and Bowser came in!" explained Brane in a rather relaxed way, relieved and satisfied that his enemy got just what he deserved.

"Oh...I get ya, my associate. I get you well." commented George as he tipped his hat. Once they arrived, they saw the unconscious Superhik laying down as if stars were circling around his head. People were laughing and swearing at the man, but it stopped once they saw the gang walking towards them. Mosseau came closer towards the laying Superhik and picked up every item belonging to them that he stole: a "golden bar", "golden bullet", key chains, maps and a ship in the bottle.

"Our now!" said John in satisfaction as the gang had their grips back on the desired items.

"You there!" the crowd cheered as the gang turned towards them, slightly confused on why they called them. "Thank you for beating the crap out of that asshole! He was destroying the...relative peace in this country….and the aroma!"

"No problem!" thanked John as he bowed down to them with others as well. Suddenly a telephone rang from his pocket. He picked it up and he heard the easily recognizable voice through it.

"WHERE ARE YOU ALL?!" roared Bowser through the phone, causing some voice cracks in the process.

"Oh, we were supposed to return but….we had some unexpected slight technical difficulties here." elaborated John while remaining as calm as possible.

"BAH! Technical difficulties, RETURN TO THE SHIP!" furiously commanded Bowser, causing more voice cracks in John's phone.

"I think it might not be as soon as you think. We'll return whenever we can." persuaded John to give them some time while others carefully listened to their discussion.

"Fine! If it truly is THAT much of an issue, then I'll allow it until midnight." allowed Bowser before they said farewell to each other, cutting the call. John and his friends looked at the public and asked: "So...now that he's wrecked….what now?"

"Party?" requested one of the citizens of Paphos, which others were on board with the idea, shouting "YEAH" and raising their fists.

"Aye!" shouted Mosseau, Brane and Mad John in agreement as they also pumped their fists up in the air. They took a look at George to see if he agrees with it.

"I would have returned immediately but….I can't leave my associates behind." agreed George and thus the party across the city started. The contemporary energetic music blared through the city as John, Brane and Mosseau danced (or in Mosseau's case, flailing his arms like a flag in the wind) while George observed them while drinking martinis. John and Brane tried few of the drinks there but remained sober while Mosseau was chugging everything on sight. People asked to take pictures with them, though the most popular choice was Mosseau due his appearance. All of them bar George, to which barely anyone requested to take a picture with him because people were intimidated by him, allowed and made some goofy poses in the process. Sometimes Brane took the role of DJ and blasted some intense accordion music in the bar. None than less, all of them were having fun of their life that moment.

Night dawned upon Paphos with all of them remaining sober (even Mosseau) as they strutted confidently towards their ship. The full moon illuminated the city, keeping it away from the darkness as the waves gently touched the coast of Cyprus. The sea itself was black, with only the reflection of the moon on it. Bowser, along with Scrongus and Crongus acting like guards, was waiting for them in front of the ship, tapping his foot on the surface while having his arms crossed.

"So...what time is it now?" threateningly asked Bowser, thinking that they were only returning past midnight.

"Ten minutes until midnight." responded John, looking at the time on his phone. His response surprised Bowser, making him check the time on Brane's phone he kept just to be sure what John said was correct.

"Huh...you are indeed correct." said Bowser, toning down his frustrations by that fact. "Otherwise, we don't have much luck going here, do we?"

"Not one bit, Don Bowser." confirmed George as all of them got closer towards their boss.

"If yer wondering why are we late, some arsehole attacked us and it took longer than expected" further explained Mosseau as he held on one of his Commandaria bottles, still sipping it.

"I see….Do you remember his name?" pondered Bowser while fixing his captain's hat for a more comfortable position.

"It was Superhik, boss!" spilled out Brane as soon as he could.

"We'll be needin' a gas mask after that." added George while somewhat jesting about it.

"Ah...tell him that next time he meddles with our plans, he will be begging for his momma to save him." cautioned Bowser with a rather psychotic smirk on his face, catching off guard everyone around him.

"Of...course." remarked Sniper Mad John while being off put by the expression of his boss.

"By the way, I won the game of monopoly. We just finished now." Bowser suddenly changed the entire feel of the conversation as he stated.

"Nice, mang." complimented Mosseau before all of them decided to board the ship, but not before hearing a faint noise of menacing accordion. The group of them stopped and started looking around to see the potential source of the unknown sound.

"Momci, do you hear any instrument right now?" asked Brane, being weirded out by the noise as he kept looking around. The sounds of accordion, playing a rather famous tune akin to a theme of a certain villain in a movie about an intergalactic war.

"Indeed I do." confirmed Mad John while going in a fighting stance.

"Whom the bloody FUCK plays an accordion in the night?" questioned Mosseau as he prepared his chainsaws for any incoming attacks. The menacing accordion kept getting louder.

"It's not a question of who, but why?" said George as he prepared his revolver in advance.

"Why? More like WHAT EVEN is going on now?!" shouted Bowser in confusion, but just like his colleagues he prepared himself in a fighting stance. The sounds of the menacing (yet copyright infringing) accordion kept getting louder. Suddenly…

"I have you now!"

A man, dressed exactly like a soldier would but with gas mask on his face and an olive-green cape covering his back, rose from the water as he strolled, almost strutting, towards them.

"...WHAT?!" everyone yelled in response of witnessing such event while pointing their fists and weapons at the man. The man chuckled in response as he kept strolling towards them. The gang took some slight step backwards just to feel safer.

"Give me….čevapi." requested the man as suddenly, a lighting from a cloudless sky struck the sea, causing a humongous thunder. No one from Skeleton Mafia knew how to respond to such man like him.

"...Ordinary or from Leskovac?" daringly asked Brane while being completely on board of giving anyone his food.

"Any." responded the man in the most dramatic way possible while the gang still looked at him in confusion, possibly even fear.

"I'll be right back!" crowed Brane as he ran right inside the ship, so he could reach the kitchen as fast as possible. Everyone else just kept staring at him.

"...Who are you even?" asked Bowser, baffled about...everything about him.

"I am Balkan Lord of Čevapi. The sentinel of the darkness. Many truths and strengths are hidden inside me, but I seek life forms with incredible potential, so I can give them such powers. But great capability requires immense sacrifice. Therefore, I shall lend my hand towards the ones who could ascend to greatness….but they have to do me a single favor." the man introduced himself, only raising more questions in the progress.

"Lord of Čevapi? Are you serious? What do you mean by ALL OF….this...uh" stuttered Bowser while still not knowing how to respond. Others remained silent, but they felt great disturbance in the air.

"Even Hell itself couldn't come up with such bullshite, hahaha! Come at us, Aye dare ya!" cackled Mosseau at him while making a taunting gesture with his arms. The Balkan Lord of Čevapi chuckled at his response before turning towards a rusty boat that was lying ashore. He made a thrust with his arm, causing a loud sound akin to those heard in an explosion as the rusty boat itself turned into many meat dumplings a la čevapi. The jaws of everyone dropped after witnessing the action of his.

"Well….fuck me geggie. Hell didn't prepare me for 'tis." shuddered Mosseau, deciding it would be a better idea to be quiet.

"Now you see. Fighting back against such forms is futile." warned Balkan Lord of Čevapi as he turned towards them.

"Well…..what do you EVEN want to do!? How are we supposed to know when to attack if we don't know on what side are you on?" frantically kept asking Bowser while flailing his arms around.

"My quest is to make life beings with great potential ascend to prosperity, hence why I have come here." cleared up Balkan Lord of Čevapi as he pointed towards Bowser.

"So you're saying….you are sensing potential inside of me? Us?" Bowser pointed at himself in confusion. George secretly nodded in agreement with him.

The Balkan Lord of Čevapi chuckled before hearing Brane's footsteps, bum-rushing right out of the ship before landing near his gang, with a plate of many čevapi.

"Voila! Bon appetit!" cheered Brane as he gave the plate to the Balkan Lord. He picked up one of the meat dumplings and sucked it right through the filter on the mask, weirding out everyone. They waited for his review, clenching their fists in anxiety.

"..."

"..."

"You…." said Balkan Lord of Čevapi as he pointed at Brane, spooking him out. "You...make excellent čevapi."

"OH! Thank you, thank you!" thanked Brane, bowing down in front of the Balkan Lord of Čevapi.

"So, I get these new powers now?" asked Bowser, being all giddy about it as he raised his fist in excitement.

"...Not yet." declined Balkan Lord of Čevapi as he turned away from the group and started walking away from them, returning back to the sea.

"Huh?! Then what was THAT talk all about? FOR NOTHING?!" fumed Bowser as his expectations were crushed. Others still remained quiet about it.

"It is not that like you have not potential. On the contrary, you're one of the most intriguing types of life forms I've ever seen. Yet you are not prepared. For now I shall be your guide before granting you dark powers." explained Balkan Lord of Čevapi his reasoning for not giving him powers immediately.

"Prepared for what?!" demandingly asked Bowser as if he was interrogating him.

"..."

"..."

"...For the consequences of the path you have chosen to follow."

Suddenly, the Balkan Lord of Čevapi disappeared right in front of their eyes along with the čevapi that Brane has made. Everyone was left speechless as they boarded their flagship.

"What did he mean by this?" thought Bowser to himself before entering bridge and thus conceptualizing his next plan, but the thought itself couldn't go away.

The ships have sailed in the morning, leaving Cyprus behind them. The weather didn't seem to give them fortune as Skeleton Mafia was greeted with the murky gray sea along with ominous gray clouds in the sky. Waves rocked the vessels with force, but they went onward regardless, determined to their goals. Inside the "flagship", Bowser and his henchmen were sitting behind the table, looking at the map John had it with him. On the other ship, skeletons were gathered around a walkie-talkie, prepared to hear any orders from the top brass.

"So..." pondered Bowser, sticking his fingers together while looking at the map, specifically Mediterranean sea. "We have no chance here, right?"

"Indeed." confirmed Sniper Mad John, nodding his head. Other fellows looked at Bowser as well, waiting for his response.

"Darn..." croaked Bowser , clenching his fist. " Do we have any choices that won't end us in hundreds of bombs dropping upon us?"

"Yes, we do!" said Sniper Mad John, snapping his fingers as he performed a finger gun. "Two, in fact."

"What's it gonna be?" asked George as he leaned towards the table while making gestures with his hands like he was planning something.

"Alright then...Our first option is to cross the Suez Canal and conduct plans right after we reach the end of the Red Sea!" advised Sniper Mad John, pointing at the gap between mainland Egypt and Sinai peninsula.

"What's the other option?" asked George once again.

"Well, the other one is going all way back to Gibraltar, go completely around Africa and then potentially get out of reach of the danger….or just start circling around South America if you want." explained Sniper Mad John, doing motions with his hands.

"You can toss the second option out of the window because I am NOT backtracking!" immediately rejected Bowser as a big grimace appeared on his face.

"Alright then! Expected choice, to be honest." said George.

"Though I have one question…." chimed in Bowser out of a sudden.

"Yeah?" Mad John turned his head towards Bowser.

"Is the Red Sea….actually red?" the turtle lad asked, unsure if he had the right vision of the aforementioned sea. A minute of silence followed as his cohorts gathered together, deciding on what to do.

"Should we tell him?" asked Mad John, unsure if the honesty would be the best option at that moment.

"Nah, let him experience it." advised George, just for a laugh.

"You sure about that?" asked Brane, in case that the thing George planned went awry.

"Of course. Sometimes you've gotta have first-hand experience with stuff." answered George, increasing the temptation to see Bowser's reaction the Red sea.

"Oh ay, it is red!" suddenly blurted out Mosseau. "It will be red."

"Nice! I can't wai-wait what do you mean it will be red?" said Bowser, being unsure what of expect of him.

"Ye will see why." warned Mosseau.

"Huh...well now. For now, we shall proceed with plan I call: Red Sea Path! After that, we start conquering without any possible interferences!" announced Bowser as he raised his fist up in the air. His skeletal henchmen cheered for him, granting him a boost in support. Suddenly, Krongus barged in from outside, surprising everyone in the process.

"Boss! We have something to report!" shouted Krongus, alerting everyone in the room.

"What is it?" asked Bowser.

"It seems that-" he was about to report, but he was suddenly interrupted by the fellow skeleton, which was running in circles and flailing his arms like one of the balloons.

"TROOOOOOOMBAAAAA!" he yelled, warning them about the thing to which not everyone was, aside from Brane, aware of.

"Hey, you ass! Watch where you're walking!" nagged Krongus after he was accidentally pushed by the boney acquaintance of his.

"Tromba?" questioned everyone in the room, looking at the skeleton with confusion.

"Tromba..." cautioned Brane, squinting with his eyes. Just before action could be done, a small fish, likely a branzino, flailed right into the room, before being tossed in to the sea by Krongus.

"AGAIN?!" shouted Bowser, letting out a conscious knee-jerk reaction after seeing the fish. His eyes nearly stretched from his sockets (but not really).

"Looks like it's got itself a company." jested George.

"NO! I WILL NOT ALLOW IT!" roared Bowser before he stomped outside of the room as his colleagues followed him. The gray clouds covered the entire sky, blocking the sunlight. It rained like it was pouring from the heavens, even fish were falling from the clouds. The crew on the other ship remained inside. Soon they saw what the alleged "Tromba" really was.

A fierce columnar vortex, made out of water, that was coming directly at them. The beastly waterspout towered over the ship as it was slowly crossing through waves. The width of the vortex matched the length of a zeppelin.

"So...this is Tromba..." noted Bowser as he glared directly at the waterspout.

"Dear lord…." said George, stunned by the phenomenon itself.

"Iz bijesa! I haven't seen a tromba of such caliber before!" vowed Brane as his eyes widened at the sight. Sniper Mad John shared the same sentiment as him, both staring in the same direction in both awe and dread.

"It's...beautiful!" praised Mosseau, raising his arms towards the "Tromba".

"Bows, what shall we do?" requested Sniper Mad John to his boss.

Bowser squinted with his eyes towards the incoming vortex. Upon closer inspection, he saw a familiar being traveling through the vortex, spiraling upwards to the sky. The animal that appeared in the waterspout was none other than the swordfish.

"Oh you, mot-" cursed Bowser before a small fish fell on his head. He quickly turned his head towards the flailing fish on the floor, glaring at it with eyes full of wrath. Soon more fish followed, raining down on the deck. The crew on the other ship still has not responded.

"Full speed ahead, I say!" ordered Bowser, pointing forward. "I shall inform the other ship as well. Besides, don't worry about the Tromba too much...I've got everything covered! Everyone, go inside!".

"Roger that!" responded Mad John as he saluted. Following his command, everyone went inside the ship to hide from the falling fish. Requesting Brane to give him the phone, he picked it up and said:

"Ship number two! You MUST go full speed right now! Over!"

"This is ship number two! Roger that!" responded the captain of the other ship as they also started to speed up for evasive maneuvers.

Meanwhile in the bridge, Krongus slowly approached his colleague Scrongus, pointing at him with his index finger.

"You! Boss said we gonna go full speed ahead!" Krongus passed the order towards Scrongus.

"Full steam ahead!" shouted Scrongus, setting the throttle of the engine order telegraph on "Full Ahead".

"It's on diesel, you twathead." condemned Krongus, crossing his arms as he gave a scoffed look at his colleague.

"What?! I didn't mean it literally, you rotten swine anus!" Scrongus lunged himself at him, being ready for a fight. And thus the argument between them began.

Bowser stepped outside of the room, entering the deck of the ship as he witnessed that Tromba is coming even closer than ever before. He also noticed that Tromba has launched the swordfish way above in the sky, to the point it was flying. It seemed to head southeast, God knows where. Mosseau also went outside, much to Bowser's bafflement.

"Didn't I say that everyone must go inside?!" pointed out Bowser.

"Ye, but let me have some fun!" answered Mosseau, revving up his chainsaws on iron bars just in case.

"….Alright, you can have some fun." reluctantly approved Bowser as they both got themselves ready for the incoming waterspout. "Put away your chainsaws though. You don't need them now.

"Fuck…." lamented Mosseau due his wish of fish meat grinder not being realized.

Just like before, the fish were raining from above, though most of them were rather small. The fish that were about to land on their heads were smacked away, landing right in the sea. Some of them did manage to "strike" their heads, much to Bowser's annoyance. Mosseau didn't seem to mind too much as he was too busy slapping fish.

Suddenly, an Atlantic bluefin tuna fell from the skies, thanks to Tromba. It seemed that it was going to drop right on Mosseau's boney head, flailing around like it still thought it was swimming in the current. He looked up in the sky and grinned as he saw the falling tuna.

"OOOOH, Yer in my sight, laddie!" quipped Mosseau as he brought up his chainsaws again, revving them up even though that was against his boss' order. Just when he was about to butcher the tuna, Bowser leaped in the air, grabbed the tuna by its tail, span it around and threw it back into the Mediterranean sea.

"Oh, fuck off, will ya?!" fumed Mosseau, shaking his chainsaw.

"Listen, I'm NOT gonna clean the mess of dead fish on deck. Pretty sure no one will because this ship ain't gonna deal with the stink!" explained Bowser, giving him a rather goofy expression that radiated "are you kidding me" feel to it.

"….Fair enough. Ye got me there" admitted Mosseau, putting his chainsaws back in his trash can. "Oh hey, the laddie is almost there!".

Tromba was just few meters away from the ships. Both of the vessels tried to steer away from the dreaded vortex, but it was quick enough to render the actions of ships null. Bowser dashed towards the edge of the deck and looked directly at Tromba.

"What are ye gonna do with it, wrestle the thing?" asked Mosseau as he kept some distance from Tromba. Bowser did not respond to his question.

Bowser took a rather small breath as he closed his eyes for the incoming. Suddenly, he started to inhale the vortex. The suction power was strong enough that the water of Tromba started to spiral around Bowser's mouth. The traces of wind could even be seen from Bowser's inhalation. At times, a fish or two hit them in his face, but that didn't stop Bowser from continuing. The zeppelin-sized waterspout slowly started to lose its size along with its might. Only thing Mosseau could have done was to watch with his jaw dropped. Tromba did not put any resistance against Bowser' inhaling as its power was getting weaker by every second. The power of suck was so strong that even the clouds from above were getting sucked in, clearing the weather in the process. After some time, what once was a fierce vortex of furious water vanished as the sun shined upon the sea.

Bowser, with all the water stored inside of him, resembled a squirrel which has stuffed all the food inside its mouth. Suddenly, steam started to appear out of his nostrils. It became faster and fiercer as the time passed on. He roared with all his might, releasing all the steam inside his mouth that happened because the water inside of him got boiled by his fire breathing ability. There was so much steam that Bowser himself got covered by it, reducing the visibility near him. His colleagues stepped outside of the ship to see the source of steam. By then the entire ship was covered in steam.

Soon enough they found out the silhouette of their boss walking towards them. Every "elite" member of Skeleton Mafia gathered around in a circle.

"….Does anyone have anything sweet to eat?" boasted Bowser as he flexed towards the location where Tromba used to be.

"Congratulations, you have given the nature a whoppin'." jested George, giving his boss a slow applause yet there was some kind of awe in his voice.

"Good job, mate!" praised Sniper Mad John, clapping along with George and Brane.

"No seriously, I do need to wash off the pure salt from my tongue." requested Bowser, scratching the possible salt from his tongue.

"...Cremeschnitte?" asked Brane as he raised his eyebrow.

"Sure, I could go with that." nodded Bowser.

"Order up!" shouted Brane, raised his index finger up and dashed off inside to get the dessert for him.

"...How the fuck did ye manage to do that?" asked Mosseau while flailing his arms around in sort-of frustration.

"How did I managed to stop the entire waterspout with just inhaling? Well there, Mosseau, let me tell you a story..." elaborated Bowser as he began to tell a tale of his life. Everyone around him, especially Mosseau, tuned in for his story.

"It's a long story that involved mushrooms and….bean people." said Bowser as he made a gesture with his hands when he mentioned bean people.

"Of course it involved mushrooms." joked George, but didn't continue on due him thinking that the punchline is too obvious.

"...What do ye mean there's bean people?" asked Mosseau.

"BEAN PEOPLE! They are BEANS!….or rather, bean chump, since he was the only one." further explained Bowser. Brane arrived with a cream cake that consisted of custard, chantilly cream and puff pastry just right when Bowser was talking about his experiences. He has heard about the beans.

"Were they green or kidney beans?" asked Brane, both being genuinely curious and jesting at the same time.

"They were green for sure, but I think their heads were shaped like kidney beans. So...it's a mix. But anyway, as I was in the woods, the hooded man have me a rather weirdly colored mushroom that he dubbed "Lucky(?) Mushroom". What followed was a decision which would probably be a better one if it wasn't made. But at least I've got an utility so to say. The thing is that….the hooded man was MY ENEMY!" said Bowser.

"Putting unknown food in your mouth?! What the hell, Bowser?! You could have endangered yourself!" warned Brane, speaking out of his impulse. He have him the fabled cremeschnitte that his boss wanted.

"I know! It was the time where I wasn't in the best place, but at least it shaped me into who I am: The King of Awesome! But still, yeah, that time was rough…." assured Bowser before he took a bite out of the dessert. "Good stuff as always, Brane!"

"Hold on, mate. Can you explain certain things in order? I get a feeling that we're missing out the bigger picture." requested Sniper Mad John.

"Yeah, what is it?" asked Bowser, waiting for a thing that John wanted to say.

"So….what is like, the entire chronology of this? I know you often said that you're the de facto invader of Mushroom kingdom, but now that you have mentioned bean people, were there any other conquerors in your world?" requested Sniper Mad John

"Hmmmgrrhh…..of course. They were hosers but since you guys want to hear about them, I'll say everything that I remember." begun Bowser after taking another bite of cremeschnitte. "Alright so….while I am absolutely the best conqueror in my kingdom, there were other chumps as well. First gang of buffoons that tried to not only take over Mushroom Kingdom, but they tried to take over MY KINGDOM as well, were a bunch of living weapons." Bowser started to tell his tale. By the time he has begun, the steam got off the ship.

"Living weapons? That's fucking great, laddie!" cheered Mosseau, thinking that he would get some of the "living weapons" on his side for his future endeavors.

"….It was NOT GREAT because they kicked me out of the castle! A giant sword with eyes suddenly crashed down on my castle and then they had audacity to use my own troops against me!" grumbled Bowser at Mosseau's response.

"Oh….that's pretty shite." said Mosseau, retracting his previous statement.

"Anyway, it's not that important since I kicked their butts hard! We went to their base and defeated that crusty old man of a leader and thus the first invader that was not named "Bowser" got wrecked! I also regained the castle as well!" further told Bowser. He has intentionally left out that Mario, Princess Peach, a marshmallow fellow and a weaponized doll also helped him on his quest.

"May I comment on how did a giant sword fall from the sky and pierce your castle?" asked George, scoffing at the idea.

"...Listen, George. There are certain things in my world that definitely wouldn't make sense here and vice versa. So you gotta tell yourself that it's wizardry, alright?" explained Bowser in a rather annoyed tone.

"Yeah, I figured it out." said George.

"Wizardry is a scam!" angrily commented Mosseau, raising his fist in the air. Everyone else gave him the "Later" sign, to which he has decided to withhold his tale about how all wizards are frauds.

"So after those, we have the bean sorceress and her annoying, puny, talks-like-a-buffoon MINION! They have tried to steal Princess Peach's voice and cause chaos in Mushroom kingdom! Those jerks even attacked my own cruiser! How dare they be so devious! Other than that…..I don't remember much…" further explained Bowser. Upon hearing the bean sorceress, Mosseau reflexively turned towards everyone and planned to yell "con woman" out loud, but he kept it to himself so that he could hear Bowser's story in full.

"That's a shame. I would love to hear more about it." lamented Sniper Mad John.

"I DID hear about it. Apparently I was possessed and had my mind scrambled twice. Gah! It put me in such a bad mood that I nearly destroyed a mountain! Being possessed is not on my quota, that's the penguin's job!" rambled Bowser as his colleagues kept listening.

"What penguin are you talking about?" asked Brane.

"Eh, it's that self proclaimed lumbering fool that has only like….stole food from everyone before he completely softened up. After I take over the Mushroom Kingdom, I'll conquer his kingdom too! Anyway….next on the list of wannabe-invaders are some purple alien mushrooms. I wasn't much of a participant there but I got possessed….AGAIN!" said Bowser.

"Is this a common occurrence or what?" jested George.

"Nah….Once in a while it happens, but I don't let it completely ruin my reputation! Now comes the story which I love to tell! Okay so, it starts with me eating that Lucky(?) mushroom and gaining the ability to inhale! That hooded man that I mentioned as my enemy….was the henchman of the witch! Just like the weapon fools, he also took over my castle and turned my troops against me! A jerk size of a sun, I'd say! It took me fighting my own castle, one on one, to get my army back!" further rambled Bowser, this time in a much happier mood.

"It took you what?!" wondered everyone who listened to the story. "How?!"

"What exactly do ye mean? Did ye storm the castle be yerself or am Aye not understanding this well? If it's the former then it's not that impressive. Done plenty of stormings by myself!" asked Mosseau before he boasted about himself.

"Yeah, I had to duke it out with it. Fist to fist, all out knuckle brawl! I forgot to mention that I was giant too! Now this IS a common occurrence, my first experiences with being the titan of awesome was when I was a baby!" elaborated Bowser as he flexed some of his muscles.

"...Oh damn, now that's one thing yer out of me league." admitted Mosseau, impressed by Bowser's antics.

"Oh, that explains it." said Sniper Mad John.

"It wasn't the only castle I had to fight anyway! Had to fight many more. Anyway, so it turns out that bean jerk searched for some kind of dark power from star looking thing that would totally posses that penguin. In fact, it did steal from ME and created a dark version of yours truly! So of course, I had to duke it out with that poser! The set up for the battle was just perfect! The great dark hurricane accompanied by the gloomy sky! It should be obvious who was the victor, but it was still the greatest battle of my life!" articulated Bowser.

"I get a feelin' that you fought a lot of oddities out there already." commented George, crossing his arms.

"Indeed and they were no match for me!….99% of the time. That being said I have to address the elephant in the room….Mario and Luigi helped me on this quest."

"I thought were your enemies?" puzzled Sniper Mad John, scratching his head with his index finger.

"So that bean guy was so awful that you had make a brief alliance with them? Damn…." pondered Brane.

"That's frequent, Aye say! Had plenty of experience with shifting alliances!" nonchalantly said Mosseau.

"Indeed THEY ARE, but sometimes when a bad guy is so bad or is it one of those idiotic "I WILL DESTROY EVERYTHING BECAUSE SOMETHING" nutjobs, you gotta team up with even the most bitter of enemies. Besides, I hate to say it, but they're respectable foes." explained Bowser, to which he took one of the last bites out of that cremeschnitte.

"Ye got that right." agreed Mosseau.

"Now for the last one. This one was the very definition of wannabe! It was some dream invading bat fellow that I had to team up with them. He thought that he was using me, but IT WAS ME WHO WAS USING HIM! GWAHAHAHAHA! Sadly, that story concluded with me being defeated by Mario and Luigi, like nearly always. But yeah, that's about it for the invaders. Once I get a much bigger army, no one would even dare to touch any land I've stomped on! Hahahaha!" concluded Bowser along with finishing his cremschnitte in the process.

"So what you're sayin' is somethin' like that waterspout and such ain't nothin' new for you?" sincerely asked George.

"I would say….sort of. While stuff like that isn't uncommon, I certainly didn't expect something like that swordfish or minotaur to be THAT cunning. I wonder how are the other villains of this world. Oh by the way, George, it was there in the waterspout." replied Bowser, to which he pointed at the former location of Tromba.

"…..What." deadpanned George, lowering his arms down. "I was jestin' before."

"Yep...it was there. Anyway, now it's time to-" said Bowser before he was interrupted by one of his skeletal minions.

"Boss! You gotta see this!" reported the skeleton as everyone around him gathered to look at the thing he wanted them to see. They saw the transition from the vast sea to a narrow waterway that was being surrounded by a large city. The waterway was split into three parts. The area near the waterway was lacking of ships, only seagulls were accompanying the ships of Skeleton Mafia. It dawned on them on what kind of location they arrived. The city's name was Port Said, which was built around their current desired destination.

Suez Canal.

"We did it, boys." announced George, marveling at the sight of the canal.

"AW YEAH! Now our conquest can start safely….and Red Sea is coming soon too!" cheered Bowser as he pumped up his fist in the air.

"Mates, this is where our journey truly starts." said Sniper Mad John, also looking at Suez.

"Now we can get a taste of other cultures as well!" noted Brane, raising his arms up in the air.

"Time to probably get culture shocks as well." quipped George.

"Aye am with Bows there. Aye need me fix of conquering soon." said Mosseau, placing his chainsaw on his shoulder like a knight would do with his broadsword.

"Do not worry, Mosseau! Soon we shall do it like in the old days, but for now, lets cross first!" considered Bowser before he ordered one of the skeletons to look in front and behind in order to spot any incoming ships. The skeleton went inside to get binoculars and in the moment he was back with the needed item. Firstly, he has looked in front of the ship and saw no vessels, then he looked at back and saw a giant ship carrying containers, even though it appeared minuscule from the distance.

"No sign of any vessel in the front, a tanker from a far, boss!" reported the skeleton to his boss in a confident tone. "Nothing imposing so far, but I'll keep looking."

"Good! Continue, just like you said!" praised Bowser as the ship started to enter the waterways of Suez canal. The other ship sneaked behind the capital ship as they traversed through narrow waters. Some of the seagulls landed on the ships before they were fended off by the crew. They have slowed down, following the regulations of Suez canal. The crossing of the waterways was rather uneventful yet safe. After they left Port Said, they were greeted with nothing but scorching desert on both sides of the canal. The crew on both vessels decided to go inside and get cooled down using air conditioner. While the air conditioner functioned normally on the capital ship, the skeletal crew of the other ship had some malfunctions with their own device, trying to fix it. Lots of curses were thrown in that moment but the necessity of skeletons need air conditioning remains questionable. Inside the capital ship, Bowser and his comrades brainstormed about the conquest, where to start and how to invade it. As a first test, they decided to take over any small island that would have been encountered on their path. After a long conversation and travel without incidents, they have arrived at the Great Bitter Lake. Unlike before, what once was a narrow waterway became a vast, expanded body of water without a seeming end on the horizon. The crew of the capital ship went outside to identify their current location.

"Is this the Red Sea?" asked Bowser, looking at the vastness of water.

"Nope, mate. We're in a saltwater lake now." answered Sniper Mad John.

"Crud!" shouted Bowser as he raised his fist up in the air. "How far is it?"

"Just this lake, then one waterway and then we arrive at Gulf of Suez, where we will cross right into the Red sea."

"Hmmm, I expect that this will take us some time." wondered Bowser, walking around the deck. "Say! What's the status around us?"

The skeleton binoculars looked around to see the surroundings. He looked behind the ship first, witnessing the same tanker as before.

"Same as before." confirmed the skeleton before he went seeing the sides of the ship, both left and right. On the left side, he saw a bunch of tankers, carrying containers. On the right side, he saw some sail ships, calmly following the wind.

"Just a few tankers and sail ships, nothing too dangerous." reported the skeleton before looking in front of the ship. At first he saw nothing, but then he saw an oddity on the horizon. Unlike the ships witnessed before, the unknown vessel that was spotted was colored completely gray and from what he could decipher, there was a rather large antenna on the ship.

"….Fellas, does anyone know how to identify ships?" asked the skeleton, taking his eye (sockets) off from the binoculars as he looked towards his crew.

"Help is coming right away!" replied Brane as the skeleton gave him the binoculars so he could look at the unidentified ship. The distance between their own ships and the unidentified ship decreased for a bit, so that Brane could take a closer look at it. While only the backside of the ship could be seen, it was clear by that time this was no civilian ship as he spotted the helicopter pad on it, carrying a single twin turboshaft engine helicopter, which had four blades on its rotor. One of the things Brane also noticed was that the ships was carrying a flag.

A flag of stars and stripes.

"...it's Arleigh Burke!" revealed Brane after he stopped looking with binoculars and turned towards his colleagues with a shocked expression on his face.

"Oh SHIT!" shouted Sniper Mad John as he quickly tried to disarm himself. Mosseau offered his trash can to store the weaponry, to which John accepted. George remained perplexed about the situation, but chose to stay quiet.

"...Wait, WHAT is going on?" asked Bowser, unsure what to feel as he saw the other skeletons being kind of spooked and confused at the same time.

"Looks like we have a destroyer in front of us, Bows." explained Brane to his boss.

"Destroyer? Now I've heard plenty of ships in my life, but I haven't heard such a type before! Not gonna lie, that name sounds just awesome! Now, why should we be concerned?" asked Bowser once again, not feeling intimidated yet.

"It's an American one." bluntly answered Brane, to which Bowser felt a shiver inside of him.

"….Oh….hahaha….that explains it….hahahaha…..those are guys behind NATO, right?" Bowser rattled on as it began to down upon him, remembering the whole speech about the world back in Croatia.

"You are correct." confirmed Sniper Mad John, to which Bowser's irises shrunk.

"...Ahahahaha...hohohohoho...hahahaha-EVERYONE, GO INSIDE NOW!" ordered Bowser as everyone on the deck bum rushed inside the ship and sat down behind the table. Brane's identification was correct, there was an Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer of the United States Navy right in front of them, slowly but surely cruising in the same waters as them. Unlike the members of Skeleton Mafia, the servicemen on Arleigh Burke didn't pay much attention towards the ships of Skeleton Mafia as they were busy doing their duties. The helicopter on the pad was Sikorsky SH-60R Seahawk, standing idly there as it was being prepared for the next possible deployment.

"HOW?!" yelled Bowser as he smashed his fist onto the table, making it shake as some of the stuff fell down from it. " HOW DID THEY KNOW?!"

"Nah, mate. They're not after us. Just an usual route they take there." reassured Sniper Mad John as he made some motions with his hands.

"What kind of business do they have there? Isn't it far from home for them?!" asked Bowser, starting to feel secretly jealous of United States.

"Ye know, Bows. There's a sayin' that if ye have the strongest navy in the world, you rule it. British used to have that title, which Aye think is completely undeserved because SCOTLAND should have it! It should be Great Scotland, not Great Britain, those twat wankers! But ye, that title now belongs to the Hamburger lads, now having ability to beat the shite out of anyone that pissed them off greatly." explained Mosseau to him. "Aye can live with that, it's not the Englishmen or French.".

"Just like it was said before, they're a superpower and they have business all over the world." further added Sniper Mad John.

"Hmph! So what I need is a bigger navy than them! Hah! This shouldn't be too tough! Once we settle down on a slightly larger island, I shall bring my ships to this world! Battleships, submarines and such!" huffed Bowser as he put cards together in a formation like they were ships.

"Battleships, ye say?" prompted Mosseau, taking a sip of the wine he got from Cyprus. "Well, laddeh, lemme tell ye somethin': they're extinct."

"...Oh, is this one of THOSE cases where it's something that works perfectly fine in my world but not here, isn't it?" chided Bowser as he squinted towards Mosseau.

"Nah, they were perfectly fine before they were outclassed by other classes of ships, like submarines as ye mentioned them. It ain't like the case yer thinkin' of. Trust me, my lad, Aye been there and saw how naval warfare developed in front of me eyes! In me early days, ships were still made out of wood and relied on wind in order to travel the seven seas. As the time passed, ships became metallic, were powered on various other stuff like coal and combat took farther than it used to be. More as time passed, the farther the combatants were from each other. Nowadays, you can fuck up someone's arsehole from the other end of the world if ye want so and this is exactly what the land of bald eagles can do." Mosseau told his experiences like he loves to.

"...I'm gonna be honest, I didn't expect this from you." admitted George, pointing towards him as a positive gesture. "I also didn't know we became so powerful too..."

"Well, ol lad. That's what having one thousand years of experience gets ye. Aye fought many things, including…." boasted Mosseau before he went silent and started breathing heavily. Everyone around him looked at him, confused on why he went so silent.

"Hey, Mosseau! You alright?" asked Brane to be sure.

"...FOOKEN PIRATES!" shouted Mosseau as he smashed the bottle of wine on the table and flipped the chair. "FUCK EVERY PIRATE THERE IS! AYE WILL TAKE A DEEP SHIT ON THEIR UNDERSEA GRAVES AND PISS ON THEM! I FOOKEN HATE-"

"...Now what exactly did they do to you?" asked George, among of the only ones who wasn't slightly startled by the mood shift of his.

"THEY GAVE ME SCURVY! And they didn't even bother tryin' to help me! The only reason me scurvy got cured was because of a fooken miracle! So that is why Aye hate those self shagging, arse-wiping twats and Aye will tear every single fooken limb from their bodies, especially gonads!"

"Now now, Mosseau. It's not time to commit atrocities against humanity." tried Sniper Mad John to calm him down.

"Their existence is an atrocity against humanity!" asserted Mosseau as he slammed his fist on the table. Meanwhile, Brane picked up the pieces of broken glass from the floor.

"Cool story, but how does this help me get a bigger navy than United States Navy?!" demanded Bowser, making Mosseau's sense come back to him.

"Oh...right….good luck with that, lad. If yer seriously dedicated to overcome the bald eagle hamburgers, then ye need more than just ships." answered Mosseau, holding the broken bottle like it's nothing.

"Hmmm….I do need more ships indeed. I can't do much with just two fishing boats at all. I am sticking with my plan as of now, but I will try to get other ships as well. Perhaps I should focus more on the submarines, they would probably give me advantage." wondered Bowser, scratching his chin in the process.

"Ye, that would be good." approved Mosseau.

"Not to interrupt, but what shall we do with Burke?" piqued Sniper Mad John after the whole debacle about navy and pirates was over.

"Hrm...hey you, the one who took care of observation!" Bowser called out for the skeleton with binoculars. "You have to see what is that destroyer up to!"

"Capisco, boss!" saluted the skeleton as he stepped outside of the ship and looked with his binoculars again. Arleigh Burke was still on its intended path, barely changing its course. Sailors on it regularly checked the vessel's weaponry, from it's cannons to its missile and torpedo launchers. Sea Hawk that was stationed there was also maintained quite often in order to keep its combat preparedness to the maximum. Inside her computer filled bridge, the crew was constantly adjusting the ship's path as the captain gave orders to everyone. Each of the computers did their designated job, such as navigation and checking out for possible threats. The crew was composed, but dedicated to their job of taking care of the ship. The skeleton spotted no unusual behaviors from Burke and returned back inside.

"Boss! That destroyer seems to mind her own business! We are in no danger as of now!" reported the skeleton as he saluted towards him.

"Great! As long was we don't become suspicious, we shall be just fine!" complimented Bowser as he gave off the order for the two ships to act as innocent as possible.

And so they did, with Skeleton Mafia sneaking behind USS Arleigh Burke like two snakes following a tyrannosaurus as they traversed through Great Bitter Lake. The crew of Skeleton Mafia's ships always kept an eye on Burke, since they were not sure if it would actually retaliate in a case of offense while the destroyer cruised through with her crew having their own worries.

All three of the ships transitioned through the lakes to the last waterway before the Gulf of Suez without any notable incidents. By that time, sun was about to set down, slowly bringing out the night. Despite the duration of the journey, none of the crew of Skeleton Mafia's ships felt sleepy as they were constantly on the edge. Even through the last waterway, they kept behind Burke in order to feel safe. Bar few instances where they told short stories or had a decent banter, the gang didn't speak much with each other, not because of any misunderstandings, but rather they were thinking about the presence of Burke and how to act in such situation.

Last waterway has been crossed, now with all three of them entering Gulf of Suez. Just like before, no incidents happened between Burke and two of the ships of Skeleton Mafia. The waterway transferred to a much vaster sea before. Meanwhile in the capital ship of Skeleton Mafia, the lads were still sitting behind the table, still thinking on what to do. Then Bowser got an idea.

"Skeleton with binoculars!" called Bowser as the aforementioned skeleton arrived quickly to the scene. "You've got a job to do! Report me the status of surroundings!"

"Roger that, boss!" said the skeleton as he rushed out once more, observing the surroundings. Aside from Burke, he didn't see anything from anywhere, so he rushed back to finish his report.

"Just the destroyer and nothing else!" reported the skeleton once more.

"Ah, then it shouldn't be any issue going outside!" declared Bowser as he stood up. "Hey, John! Did we arrive to the Red Sea just now?"

"I believe so, mate." stated John, to which he kind of shrugged.

"Awesome! Now it's the decisive moment!" crowed Bowser as he rushed outside to finally see the sea. His colleagues followed him to see the reaction in full. Bowser, being full of excitement, looked over the edge to see if the sea was actually red. It turned out that, to almost no one's surprise, the sea was still the color of the sky: blue. For few minutes, the happy face remained until it started to slowly melt into a disgruntled grimace. All of his excitement passed away as he leaned towards the sea, staring rather disappointingly at it.

"What's up, Bows?" asked Sniper Mad John, even though he knew why Bowser was in a rather bad mood.

"...The sea is blue, right?" said Bowser, still looking at the surface while supporting his head with his hand.

"Sorry, Bows, but you're gonna get an obvious answer with that. Why do you ask?" notified Sniper Mad John as he leaned aside.

"..."

"THEN WHY IS IT CALLED THE RED SEA?!"

Bowser's shout was so loud that it echoed in lands far away. Unfortunately for them, the crew of Arleigh Burke has intercepted his shout with its computers detecting a distress signal.

"There's been a disruption in the signal, coming from north. Over." reported one of the crew members towards the captain in a calm tone.

"This is captain speaking. Send in Seahawk to inspect the cause of disruption. Over." ordered the captain. Within a moment, the rotors of the multirole helicopter started to slowly spin as it was accompanied by the engine start up. The doors of it opened as its blades started to cut the air even faster. Eleven sailors, armed with M4 carbines, arrived towards the prepared Seahawk as they were about to board it. They have boarded the Seahawk without any issues as they took off, searching the source of the "distress signal".

Meanwhile, back on the capital ship of Skeleton Mafia, Sniper Mad John finished explaining that the name of the aforementioned sea has biblical origins, to which Bowser kind of didn't understood it.

"Well, the Red Sea does actually get red at times, thanks to a certain kind of algae." John offered another explanation for the name.

"...Then call it SOMETIMES-RED SEA!" angrily countered Bowser, raising his hand up in the air as if he was betting something.

"We shouldn't be concerned about what the color of the sea is, we should be happy that we have come so far!" noted Brane as he tried to lighten up the not-really-serious mood.

"...You know what? You're right!" calmed down Bowser as the mood itself got better.

"I think we should be concerned about somethin' else, boys." warned George as he pointed out towards a black spot in the sky. Everyone gazed their eyes towards it and wondered what it was. That skeleton who was in charge of observation picked up his binoculars and looked at the black spot, which turned out to be the incoming Seahawk.

"They're coming!" alarmed the skeleton, shocking everyone on the process.

"OH NO! HOW?!" yelled Bowser in panic, thinking about what to do.

"One strange move and we're dining with the sharks." calmy cautioned George once again. "And that's not even a guarantee."

"Best thing we can do is being calm and back off for a bit." advised Sniper Mad John, pointing at the bridge of the ship.

"I agree!" added Brane, even though he was trying to keep his composure.

"Aye ain't fucking with them, to be honest." said Mosseau, reminding himself of that time on how he lost his posterior.

"Hmmm….I have a plan! Lets go inside and pretend we haven't done anything!" he said out loud as he ordered everyone to go inside.

"It's better than some alternatives but lets see." commended George before everyone rushed inside the ship, pretending to play poker at first until they actually got motivated enough to play it for real. The sound of blades hitting the air became much more audible as Seahawk got closer. Sailors inside the copter were sitting quietly, waiting to drop on the landing zone. As it got closer in quite short amount of time, the pilot spotted the capital ship of Skeleton Mafia. He noticed that something large was covered by the fabric, making it stand out. The other ship didn't receive such attention because it blended in as a completely normal looking ship.

"This is Romeo One. There's a suspicious vessel traveling behind us. Requesting order. Over." reported the pilot towards the crew of USS Arleigh Burke.

"This is captain speaking. Investigate the ship. Proceed with caution. Over." ordered captain.

"Roger that." responded the pilot of Seahawk. Once helicopter got close enough to the ship, it made an u-turn around the ship so it would face the same direction. Finding a good spot, Seahawk started to slowly but surely descend towards the "landing zone". After hitting the right altitude, it started to hover just a bit higher from the ship as its doors opened. A rope was dropped on the ship, enabling the sailors on it just slide down safely. All of the eleven sailors performed the jump without any injuries.

"Romeo One speaking. All of the personnel landed successfully. Pronto." notified the pilot to the crew. The squad started to inspect the deck of the ship, quickly noticing the fabric, which was hiding something. They uncovered the fabric, revealing that it was only hiding a black Jaguar Mark 1 saloon car and a green Volkswagen Type 2 Samba bus. Unknown to them, the sign "KFOR" has been temporarily removed to avoid suspicion. Deciding to inspect them further, they looked inside both of them cars. Jaguar Mark 1 was relatively safe from suspicion, not having something that someone would be cautious about it. They were somewhat doubtful of the bus as the woodland pattern of it did gave it an appearance of a military vehicle. Upon looking inside, they saw that the bus was completely empty. Someone has probably removed the M2 Brownings in the mean time. Squad leader deducted the color's of the vehicle as coincidence, jokingly citing that someone must have really missed their time in the military.

"This is Band Alpha speaking. Two of the civilian vehicles spotted on the deck. Purpose unknown. Requesting additional orders. Over." reported the squad leader after the whole deck was inspected.

"Investigate the interior of the vessel. Find the source of the distress signal. Over." ordered the captain once again. The squad gathered around the doors, preparing their carbines in the process. Their leader warned them to proceed with caution before slowly opening the door. Once they stepped in inside, they saw something that is not seen every day: a bunch of living skeletons, gathered around table and playing poker with two men and a draconian turtle that was dressed like a captain. They also were in an unfortunate time of witnessing something that even some of the skeletons felt slightly uncomfortable about it: George without his hat on. Upon seeing that scene, some of the sailors were left dumbfounded, rendered speechless. Some of the skeletons raised their arms up in the air, not sure if they were going to be shot. Brane and John waved upon them, acting as if they were friends that knew each other for a long time. Mosseau hid himself in the trash can, knowing that the mere sight of him would cause greater confusion. George kept playing poker like he would normally do. Bowser just looked at the sailors and remained cautious.

"...What? Is there a problem?" grumbled one of the skeletons who didn't put their arms in the air.

"You tell me." said one of the sailors, still being surprised by that view.

"….Band Alpha here. There is specimen resembling a turtle that is dressed like a captain playing poker with animated skeletons and two men. Over." reported the squad leader in a completely serious tone.

"….Could you repeat again?" asked captain, completely unsure if the squad leader was having a giggle.

"I say, there's a specimen resembling a turtle that is dressed like a captain playing poker with animated skeletons and two men." reiterated Band Alpha, assuring that he was not making up.

"...Hold fire. Identify if they're a threat or not. Over." ordered the captain.

"Come on! Don't act like you've seen this the first time!" Bowser tried to make sense of the situation.

"Yes, this is the very first time we have seen something like that." answered the squad leader.

"Oh...well then." said Bowser. The squad leader split the squad into smaller groups. He ordered "Group Alpha" to investigate the rest of the ship, while "Group Bravo" secured the area near him.

Group Alpha started with the hallways that lead to the storage room and engine room. Investigating the engine room, they only saw engines and skeletons maintaining them, but no sign of any smuggled materials such as weaponry and alcoholic beverages at all. Skeletons were surprised by their visit, but minded their own business with checking the engines. After checking the engine room, they visited the storage. Only difference between the engine room and storage was that the latter had no skeletons operating in the room.

On the bridge, Krongus still took care of the steering wheel while Scrongus maintained computers and such. A hovering Seahawk could be seen from the bridge, a sight both of them were not most comfortable with it.

"At the very least you can take solace in not goofing up this time." stated Krongus, giving him an imitated squint.

"For once you are right. The boss has done it. For now, lets just stay chill." agreed Scrongus, a moment that happens only under the blue moon. Suddenly, the USN sailors entered the bridge and started investigating it.

"AAAAH! DON'T LOOK AT ME!" both of them yelled as they raised their arms. None of the USN sailors gave off any response to them as they were too busy investigating the bridge. They have found nothing dangerous, so it didn't take much time. However, one of them noticed that a few of the windows were absent.

"Eh, we forgot to replace them. Older ones got broken from bird strikes." said Krongus, thinking that telling the truth would be just unbelievable. The sailors left the bridge and reported the status to the leader.

Back in the "planning room" of the capital ship, the squad leader started interrogating (so to say) the members of Skeleton Mafia.

"Sir, we have received a distress signal from this vessel. What exactly is the issue?" asked the squad leader in order to know more about the situation.

"Issue? Bah! There's no issue there! Not that I would have known about it!" denied Bowser, sincerely not knowing what was he talking about.

"Mate, I think he's talking about the yell." cleared up Sniper Mad John.

"Oooh...right! That was when...uh...I stubbed my toe! Then I stepped on the nail! I picked it all up, so it was safe!" Bowser tried to "explain", only for the squad leader to raise his eyebrow in disbelief?

"All this for a stubbed toe?" groaned one of the sailors. "Great, what a waste of our time."

"Trust me. If you put him in a room with the loudest thing, the latter would be deaf in minutes." jested George as he tried to justify Bowser's rationale.

"HEY! YOU CANNOT SAY THAT IN FRONT OF THEM, GEORGE!" shouted Bowser in anger, making the sailors flinch due sheer volume of his furious yell. Just by time Group Alpha arrived, assuring that there have been no issues encountered.

"Seems like the cause of the distress signal was just a high frequency yell, but nothing too concerning. Now then, may we escort you to the safer route? There are hostile waters up ahead and the night is about to come. It would be most advisable to do so." requested

"WHA…." wheezed Bowser out of a complete surprise.

"Of course! Your aid would be most welcome!" Sniper Mad John took over the conversation from Bowser before shaking hands with the squad leader.

"Roger that! As the servicemen of United States Navy, we are tasked to protect civilian vessels from any possible dangers and ensuring the stability of the region. Follow our ship until you feel the need to depart. Farewell!" said the squad leader Band Alpha before his squad left the ship, entered the Seahawk and flew back to USS Arleigh Burke. The sounds of blade hitting the air became increasingly quieter as MH-60R Seahawk distanced itself from Skeleton Mafia's capital ship. For some reason, Bowser remained silent, thinking about what squad leader said.

"Well, we did it. Got ourselves a free escort." commented George as he put his hat back on.

"Please, for the love of everything, don't remove your hat ever again." said one of the skeletons, still feeling unsettled from before.

"Don't worry. I just didn't wanna stand out." explained George as he smirked.

"Jače! Now we can finally relax!" praised Brane, but was starting to lose energy. "Gah, we should sleep soundly right now."

"Ye, mate. We got that sorted out and it's nice." noted John as he put his arms behind his head.

"How long will Aye have to keep all stuff there? It's getting' CRAMPED!" questioned Mosseau as he peeked from his trash can.

"Up until we depart, I'd say." answered Sniper Mad John.

"Goddamnit!" fumed Mosseau as he went back inside his trash can. Bowser still stared into nothingness, thinking about certain things.

"What's up, Bows?" John checked out him to see what's wrong.

"...I need some time for myself." answered Bowser as he continued looking at the nothingness.

The night dawned upon the Red Sea. The capital ship got much closer to Arleigh Burke than before, but the other ship kept distance. USS Arleigh Burke turned on its lights, brightening up the area near it. In comparison, Bowser's ships felt rather small compared to the might of a cruising destroyer. The sky itself was filled with luminous stars, only accompanied by the bioluminescence feeling that the military ship gave. Seahawk was also illuminated by the light. The crew could be seen from the bridge, thanks to the lights.

Everyone on Skeleton Mafia's ship fell asleep except Bowser, who was on the deck, looking at illuminated USS Arleigh Burke and the hard work of her crew even at night. He kept looking at her for quite some time.

"...So, this is how it is. You were supposed to be my enemy...yet you helped me. Why? For what purpose, what does it give you? We should have been duking out with each other until one of us falls. You have all the power, all the influence to simply take over the world and rule it with an iron fist, yet you decide that power should be used for helping others….at least you say so. Even if you fail, you feel being just in your mind. You wanted to do a good thing, not an evil thing...for yourself, for everyone? I don't know. And I have to say, this destroyer right here is a good representation of you. What can my ships even do if you know how to strike from a far? I wonder how many of them do you have and what else do you have up your sleeve? I have to commend you on one thing...there's no rushing in order to overtake you. In my land, you can conquer a kingdom in like...few minutes. Here? I imagine it's gonna take a long time to even come marginally close to you, but I assure you this. We might not be foes now, possibly not even in the future, but I will gain a considerable influence, rivaling you. Be wary of that, but for now I will not disturb you. I don't want to know how your wrath feels like. So I guess….I'll find a foe somewhere else. Someone who is comparable to me. Thanks for help, I guess. You showed me certain things I would never see in Mushroom kingdom."

Bowser went inside the ship to get some shut eye.

The sun rose up once again, bringing in a cloudless sky. No pirates were encountered during their trip as they reached Gulf of Aden. Alreigh Burke and two of the ships were traveling together, but the latter two were starting to distance themselves. On the deck, Bowser and his cohorts waved towards Burke, possibly for the last time.

"Goodbye! Thanks!" shouted Bowser as he waved towards them. The crew of the Burke also waved back as they started to lose sight of them.

"I gotta say, that was the weirdest shit I have ever seen in my life." commented one of the sailors to the squad leader.

"Weird, no doubt, but I'm not gonna forget it." said the squad leader as he smiled at the horizon.

Meanwhile on the capital ship, the gang gathered around the deck once more.

"Phew…..That was something." said Bowser as he let out a sigh of reliefe.

"Bowser! Lend me a hand!" ordered Mosseau as he peeked from the trash can once again. Bowser approached him, grabbed his trash can and started to shake it. Various weapons started to fall out of it, including M2 Brownings and a plethora of Tommy guns. Bowser was kind of surprised when he unloaded so much weapons from it. He put Mosseau back on the floor and rubbed his hands afterwards.

"Thanks, laddeh!" complimented Mosseau, not feeling dizzy at all.

"For once, I am grateful that you scammed the devil." said George in a both joking and sincere way.

"So, Bowser? What now?" asked Brane, being satisfied that the journey went better than expected.

Bowser started to chuckle, then it turned into an evil laugh.

"GWAHAHAHA! NOW IS THE TIME WHERE OUR CONQUEST CAN START!"

Skeleton Mafia cruised once again, leaving their first island behind. However, they almost forgot about the one thing when they left their island: the name of it. Gentlemen of various postures were sitting behind the table, facing each other. Some of their skeletal henchmen were also there, listening to what would the top brass say.

"So, what do you guys think? I think our very first island should be something humble because...lets face it, it's a small fry." asked Bowser, giving out a topic for a discussion for his colleagues.

"Hmmm...how about something simple like Island One?" suggested George, crossing his arms as he leaned back on his chair.

"That's a bit TOO bland for my taste!" complained Bowser before he continued thinking about the name of the island.

"How about The Isle of Salties? I mean, it represents the inhabitants on it quite well." advised Mad John, raising his finger.

"Hmmm…I will think about that." considered Bowser, but wasn't sure if the name was cool enough to be used. To him, it sounded more like a snark.

"I've got an idea! Rastplatz Island!" recommended Brane, saying the first thought of his out loud.

"What is this "Rastplatz" thing you're talking about?" asked Bowser as he squinted upon hearing the unknown word.

"Oh, that just means resting place, my friend." causally explained Brane.

"I must admit, I do like the ring of it. Therefore, this one it is!" complimented Bowser before letting out a chuckle.

"Alright then!" crowed Brane as he leaned back in his chair as well.

"So, now that we have done that, now what?" questioned George, wanting to hear more information from their "briefing".

"We continue our conquering, of course!" answered Bowser as simply as possible.

"There's one thing that's been kind of bothering me..." pointed out Brane, scratching his beard.

"What is it, Brane?" asked Bowser, turning his head towards his chef colleague.

"You know, as I have certain experience with vessels, I realized that we don't have a planned out path. After Suez, we are currently following our noses only. Perhaps we should set some kind of path in motion..." explained Brane while making gestures with his hands.

"Aye, that's a good point, laddeh." added Mosseau as he pointed towards Brane.

"John, get the map!" ordered Bowser, snapping with his fingers to give out a signal to him. Without hesitation, John brought up a map of the world on the table. One of the skeletons brought him a pencil, probably due the skeleton's prediction that Bowser might do something with it.

"Alright so, I'd suggest that we travel near the coasts of these countries, but not get too close with them as they would send their navy against us, right?" planned Bowser as he started sketching on the map. He started the sketch with a point near the coast of Yemen, to which he continued around Oman's coast. After reaching the edge of Oman's coastlines, he continued the path through the Indian ocean, that time keeping a much further distance from Pakistani and Indian borders. He thought that at that time it would safe to go further from the mainland along with the geographical size of India giving him some concerns. Then he got closer to Sri Lanka's coast, where he maneuvered through between Indonesia and Australia, transitioning from Indian ocean to Pacific ocean in the process. Bowser continued the path by going north, closing nearby Philippines. Upon looking that they were getting closer to United States of America as he continued sketching a path, he decided that they would conclude their main path a bit south from Japan while still keeping a relative distance from it.

"Only if we would be considered a threat but it is good that you considered that." said John, addressing and confirming Bowser's guess.

"I don't think it would have been a problem now, considering we still need those pesky ships, but once we get big...that could bring us some real trouble." continued Bowser, adding sketches of branching paths going south in the Indian ocean.

"I wonder if you realized that you just addressed one of the main concerns about our plan for takin' over islands." brought up George, quickly getting his boss' attention.

"Huh? What do you mean? asked Bowser, unsure what his colleague meant.

"By sailin' near the coasts, we have shorter distance to park and refuel." elaborated George, surprising the turtle conqueror with such fact.

"...Oh...oh right...I thought it was something that we wouldn't get lost so easily…." realized Bowser, scratching his head while thinking how he couldn't have thought about that sooner.

"Lucky for us, the region we are currently sailing nearby is stoked with fuel! We could just buy some of the barrels and not be concerned about fuel for some time." said John, giving out one of his advices.

"Or steal it. We could save money with that." suggested George, knowing his experience with money.

"But we have loads of money, thanks to Kornjača!" countered Brane, trying to reassure that they could do it in a way without breaking laws.

"You never know what is gonna happen with money." cautioned George as he tipped his hat. "Besides, what's the oil price for now?"

"It's a bit higher than the last year but I think it wouldn't give us trouble if we bought a couple of barrels." answered John out of his head, not entirely sure if he was correct.

"Hmm, I see." said George.

"Anyway, after we get more ships, we should expand downwards, capturing any island that crosses our path!...unless they're being owned by certain countries….are there any?" continued Bowser, pointing with his finger on the map before taking a glance at John, thinking that he knows the answer.

"Correct. Both by current and former superpowers." affirmed John, confirming Bowser's thoughts.

"Darn! I guess even with islands we ought to be cautious...I didn't have to worry about such stuff back in my own kingdom!" grumbled Bowser as he angrily crossed his arms.

"Well, if there's anythin' that you could get outta this, is that not only can you function as a conqueror here, but you can apply the things you've learned in your world." reassured George, upbringing his boss' mood.

"Bwahahaha! That is delightful to imagine! I can't wait to try it out!" laughed Bowser, already imagining it.

"Fuck em up, Bows!" cheered Mosseau, raising one of his self made chainsaw-on-a-pole weaponry.

"I think we ought to stop soon. I have heard from Scrongus and Krongus that we are getting out of fuel. Assuming we are around here, I would say our best stopping point would be Muscat. It's not too far away and it is still at the safe distance of our path. If we went further north, we would be in quite a storm." explained John, circling around the Middle East with his finger on the map.

"Oh, ye better believe it, Bows." added Mosseau, implying that there's a lot more reasons for Bowser to not cross his way there.

"I do see what you mean, John. Not only it looks like we would be dangerously closer to these two rather large countries' borders, we would also be stuck in a dead end." agreed Bowser, looking at the sea between Saudi Arabia and Iran. "I think we should be all set now, don't you agree?"

"I suppose so." nodded George, fixing his hat.

"For now, yeah mate." agreed John, to which Brane followed his words as well.

"Aye." approved Mosseau.

"Alright then! I shall give orders!" said Bowser before he stormed to the bridge, where the minions by the name of Scrongus and Krongus still were in the command of navigating the vessel. Same as before, Krongus was guiding the ship while Scrongus was in charge of the systems. However, it was rather quiet around them, not exactly a common occurrence when these two are around.

"...You know, we haven't argued in a while." commented Krongus as he glanced towards his colleague operating the systems.

"Yeah, I'm busy if you haven't noticed." snarked Scrongus while doing his thing.

"I could counter that back but I've been busy guiding this ship all the time." said Krongus, not in the mood to get into arguing. Silence followed his remark as they continued doing their jobs.

"...You know what this boat truly lacks?" asked Krongus, breaking the silence in the process.

"What? A sofa?" questioned Scrongus while giving out his idea.

"No, why would we even need a sofa?" questioned Krongus.

"I mean, we have the TV." answered Scrongus, referring to that cathode-ray tube television they have on the ship that they use to watch football and rarely anything else, thanks to a certain Scot.

"Yes, yes, but would there be enough sofas for everyone on board?" asked Krongus once again, taking the consideration of the crew.

"Extend the sofa then!" suggested Scrongus in a persuasive yet annoyed tone.

"I don't think there would be enough place. Anyway, what we truly need is a dartboard." continued Krongus with his suggestion.

"Why would we need that?" asked Scrongus, questioning the viability of such item.

"We have plenty of card games, but not much other activities. I suggest we get that that screams "perfect, bravo!" upon hitting the bullseye." explained Krongus as he was already imagining scoring ten bullseyes in a row.

"Yeah, but what would happen if a dart hits right into one of us? Wouldn't we be busted if our head shatters?" Scrongus raised a point.

"Scrongus, my man, I don't think anyone has enough physical strength to completely destroy our heads with a mere dart." answered Krongus in a rather calm but still somewhat condescending way.

"Counterpoint: our boss." disputed Scrongus, to which his colleague agreed upon hearing that.

"Oh yeah, right…." sighed Krongus, repositioning his hat as he imagined Bowser yelling on top of his lungs while accidentally destroying the entire wall with a single dart throw. "Having a dartboard would also be nice for just throwing darts at pictures of people you despise with every single fiber of your body, just like we did it in the old days."

"Ain't that overdone though?" commented Scrongus, possibly due to his experience.

"Perhaps, but a reminder of our days in Brooklyn would be nice." remembered Krongus, thinking about the times when they were still with flesh on their bone.

"Yeah, of things before they went to shit." reminded Scrongus, ending Krongus' nostalgia in the process. Suddenly, the sound of slammed doors was heard as the cause of it appeared in front of their eyes: their Don Bowser.

"YOU TWO!" shouted Bowser as both of them stood still, waiting for the order.

"Boss! What do you need us for?" both of them asked.

"We shall set course to Muscat! Is that clear?!" declared Bowser, raising his fist in the air.

"Yes, boss!" affirmed both of them, giving a salute to him. After giving out his order, Bowser stormed back to the main room of the ship, where the briefings took place.

"The path is set to Muscat. We shall arrive at our destination in few hours." said Krongus as he tightened the grip on the steering wheel, redirecting the path of the ship towards the Sultanate of Oman.

Few hours have passed as the vessels of the Skeleton Mafia were halfway to their destination. However, they still couldn't see the coast, regardless of efforts of the skeleton with binoculars on the deck. He kept observing left and right, but all he could find was the horizon filled with the calm yet clear sea that they continued to traverse. Small waves gently rocked the ships while they went forward, seeking a place to refuel. There were some other skeletons, guarding both cars on the capital ship while also accompanying the skeleton with binoculars. Sky above them had a few clouds, but they were the only thing in vastness of blueness. Suddenly, during his observation with binoculars, the skeleton spotted something shiny on the horizon. Due to immense reflectivity of the object, the skeleton couldn't identify it at the first glance. The reflected sun rays shined right in his eye socket, however because an average skeleton lacked actual organic eyes, he didn't have to worry about being blind.

"Ey, boys! There's some gleaming thing on horizon!" reported the skeleton as he lowered his binoculars. Even without the binoculars, the object still reflected quite a decent amount of light to be seen by the naked eye.

"What did you find, mang?" asked one of the skeletons that guarded the cars, also seeing the gleam. The skeleton with binoculars took another look with his item of choice as Skeleton Mafia's ships arrived closer to the thing. Upon the second, closer look, the skeleton found out that the source of reflection was none other than a low profile but lengthy golden luxury yacht. The vessel of unknown affiliation idled in the calm sea, being swayed by the small waves.

"We got a boat, boys!" announced the skeleton with binoculars, fixing his view on the reflective yacht.

"Should I tell the boss?" asked the skeleton in charge of guarding.

"Sure, my man." approved the binocular skeleton. After receiving the information, the guarding skeleton rushed inside, going to the main room where Bowser and his colleagues were sitting behind a table with a map on it. Upon opening the doors, the attention of his colleagues and higher ups turned towards him.

"Boss! We have something to report!" said the skeleton as he saluted his boss.

"What is it? Better be something good!" demanded Bowser, waiting for him to spill it out.

"There's a boat in front of us." reported the skeleton, causing somewhat confusion among his amigos on whether or not that information is any sort of relevant.

"What kind of boat is it? Is it perhaps some warship?" asked Bowser, thinking that he hasn't told the full story.

"No, it's a yacht. A golden one, at that." added the skeleton, raising not only Bowser's interest, but other's as well.

"A yacht, huh...Let me see. Gentlemen, lets go outside!" said Bowser before he stood up along with others and left the main room, going outside to see the yacht. As all of them reached deck, the shape of the yacht became clearer.

"Bah! That guy is flexing on us!" condemned Bowser as he squinted at the boat, possibly due the amount of light reflected.

"Yeah, it be like that with these fellas at times." added Mad John. The light was not as strong to him due to his black glasses.

"I still question the significance of this. It's just some guy chillin' on the boat." remarked George upon seeing the yacht.

"It's a little bit of kitsch, if I may say. I prefer ships to have more of a natural feeling to them." commented Brane, comparing the yacht with Skeleton Mafia's vessels.

"Aye've got an idea, lads." Mosseau suddenly suggested, posturing with pure confidence.

"Oh dear...what it is goin' to be?" sighed George, already knowing how will a conversation with him continue.

"Say it, Mosseau!" demanded Bowser, curious about the thing the fellow Scot could say.

"Throw the fucker in the sea and then we take the boat for ourselves!" Gwahahaha!" advised Mosseau, letting out a laugh. His colleagues were flooded with many thoughts of doubt about his plan.

"Ain't that pi-" Brane attempted to ask a question, but he quickly received a glare from his friend in a trash can.

"Do not speak of that cursed activity! It's not piracy if we ain't pirates!" countered Mosseau with the verbal embodiment of absolute disgust coming out of his mouth after hearing implications of his "favorite" type of people. However, the suggestion that he gave did cause Bowser to think of something.

"Hmmmm….On one hand, another ship in our arsenal would be excellent, but on other hand, I have yet to see the use of such ship." pondered Bowser, thinking on both the reason and execution of the plan.

"The reconnaissance, Bows! Yachts are fast as twats having their asses burned, it is a-" elaborated Mosseau before the turned towards the other skeletons, suddenly being filled with anger. "If anyone of ye jests about anything related to gold, Aye'll throw ye with me bare hands and FUCK ye!"

"Oh...uh...okay?" blabbered one of the skeletons upon hearing Mosseau's threat before the Scottish twatface turned back with the same confident and cheery expression on his skeletal face that he had at the time of his suggestion.

"...Anyway, what do ye say, Bows?" asked Mosseau for feedback.

"Gwahahaha! We will flex on that guy!" approved Bowser with a laugh only a villain could be able to do. "So!...Who is going to volunteer to be the first front offense on that yacht?"

"Wait, we haven't planned anything about it." warned Mad John, but the plan was already set in motion.

"Nothing about that boat screams danger to me! One or two boneheads will do!" boasted Bowser, just before one of the skeletons raised their arm.

"Ey, boss! You've got yourself a candidate!" offered the skeleton that was in charge of guarding the cars.

"Bwahaha! That's the spirit! It should be easy!" praised Bowser as the skeleton approached his boss, but not before George stopped him.

"Before any of you do somethin' stupid, I'd suggest arming yourself." advised George, pointing at the bridge of the ship.

"Got that!" said the skeleton before he went inside, searching for the weapons depot. After some time, he returned from the depot with a M1911 single action semi automatic pistol.

"What do you think of this, boys?" asked the skeleton as he was checking out the gun.

"Serviceable." answered George, somewhat approving his choice.

"Just good enough! Anyway, are you ready?" asked Bowser before the skeleton managed to fully reach him, standing near him.

"Always ready, boss!" affirmed the skeleton, giving out a salute to his boss. Bowser grabbed him and positioned him as if he was about to throw a spear. After adjusting the angle, Bowser threw the skeleton in the air with relative ease. He was sent flying towards the unassuming yacht, which kept idling despite Skeleton Mafia's ships coming closer to it.

"….The hell did you just do?" scolded George, being completely baffled by the action performed by his boss. His colleagues shared the same sentiment, with exception of Mosseau, who was cheering for the thrown skeleton.

"Just watch, George….Just watch." said Bowser as he chuckled, predicting that they would secure the boat with a mere single skeleton.

As the skeleton was still traversing through the air due to the throw, he saw that the yacht had a pool on it. Inside the pool, there was a man with black, white and golden clothing lying on a gold floating chair, sipping some kind of golden cocktail. He also had sunglasses over his glasses. Despite the descending skeleton over his head, the man didn't seem to care about it.

The skeleton that was once in charge of guarding the cars landed right in the pool next to the man in the floating chair, causing a rather big splash. While the water didn't land on the man's face, the landing did caught some interest as the man raised his sunglasses in order to get a better look at what happened. It was also revealed that the man had a set of upper golden teeth with "ZENI" written on them. Just right after the landing, the skeleton grabbed the edge of the pool, trying to pull himself out of it.

"Nuh uh, motherfucker!" jeered the man on a floating chair upon the sight of the skeleton as he pulled out a golden Uzi from his pocket. The skeleton didn't even get on land fully and he already received a salvo of continuous fire from the man's Uzi.

"OH NO, MY BONES!" yelled the skeleton, thinking that he was done for. He pulled himself on land just before he would sink underwater and then noticed something odd about the projectiles fired right in his back: it was money, with the man's face on it. The man on the money was happily holding more money. "Oh hey, money!"

"That ain't gonna do it. How about this?!" smirked the man as he pulled out another golden Uzi. However, as he fired the salvos of ammunition, the skeleton was met with unfortunate reality that his ribs were completely obliterated by actual bullets. He checked his body to see what happened, only to realize that certain bones were missing.

"...FUCK YOU, BASTARD!" shouted the skeleton in anger as he turned towards the man, pulling out his pistol as an attempt to shoot him, only to be met with a rafale of money right in his face, distracting him in the process. Thanks to the distraction, he managed to completely miss the man as the bullet landed right in water. Suddenly, two of man's henchmen in blue with golden yen symbols on their clothes, who used to be inside the yacht, arrived right behind skeleton's back, one hitting his head with severe force. The impact of the henchman's fist made skeleton's head spin around like a carousel as the other henchman bum rushed him right into the fence of the yacht before he delivered an uppercut, sending the skeleton back in the sea. After skeleton's head stopped spinning, he regained the visibility and decided to swim back to the vessels of Skeleton Mafia in shock. The man with golden teeth laughed hard at the misfortune of the skeleton.

"Our boy is busted!" reported the binoculars skeleton, shocked at the defeat of his colleague.

"WHAT?! HOW?!" shouted Bowser in complete surprise as the events completely destroyed his prediction.

"I told you all." sassed George, crossing his arms in disapproval. John and Brane seemed to be surprised by the turn the events took while Mosseau was mildly upset.

"Eh, he was an amateur! Allow for the professionals to take place!" boasted one of the skeletons that brought a Tommy gun from the depot. "Send me in, boss!"

Bowser followed the request of his minion as he repeated the sequence of throwing the boneful man on the yacht. As the skeletal lad traversed through air, he aimed his Tommy gun downwards, towards the man with a pair of golden teeth. Putting his skeletal finger on the trigger, the skeleton was ready to fire at any moment.

"Council President, it appears that another one is coming!" reported one of the henchmen upon seeing the thrown skeleton.

"Another mofo? Hahahaha! Let them get their asses kicked!" laughed their boss while still remaining seated in his floating chair, but having both Uzis ready. Upon reaching the right range as he was still traversing through air, the skeleton fired with his Tommy gun, unleashing salvos and salvos upon the personnel on yacht. In exhange, the man fired both of his golden Uzis at him, commencing in a bullet storm. Whereas bullets from Tommy gun hit only some areas of the floating chair and one of the henchmen's foot, the projectiles from Uzis, while money missed everything, the bullets hit the skeleton's left right on the mark, destroying it in the process. Another unfortunate fact for the skeleton was that his boss missed the mark on the yacht, making the skeleton plunge right into the ocean instead.

"YOWZA!" yelled one of the henchmen after receiving an injury right in his foot.

"Yo, go get him some aid ASAP!" ordered the man on the floating chair before he approached the edge of the pool, leaving it in the process. He still kept the Uzis in his hands, just in case for future attacks. The henchman took the injured colleague back inside in order to seek for first aid for his foot.

"The our second boy is busted!" reported the skeleton upon seeing the failure with binoculars. George just sighed while Brane and John anticipated such event. Mosseau was mildly disappointed that time.

"….GROOAH! Looks like I have to take matters in MY OWN HANDS!" fumed Bowser, before he stepped near the bridge of the ship before he faced straight at the yacht. Then he sprinted towards it, but not before stopping at the near edge. When he got just the right amount of boost, he leaped in the air, dedicating himself to land on the yacht.

Meanwhile on the yacht, one of the henchmen returned to the man after taking his colleague inside for some aid. As soon as he stepped outside, he saw a big black spot in the sky, descending right towards them.

"Big boy is coming!" warned the henchman, pointing at the black spot.

"Hold your ass tight now! Shit's about to go down!" advised the man as he held on a fence for the incoming landing.

Bowser slammed on the ship with his fists as he landed on the yacht, suddenly making it raise for nearly 90 degrees in the air. The henchman was sent flying towards the sea while everyone inside was met with their heads hitting the ceiling of the vessel, causing various concussions. However, the man with glasses and golden teeth managed to hold on the fence, staying on the yacht once it returned to its original position. All of the water in the pool was spilled right into the ocean, completely emptying the pool. After the vessel stabilized itself, two of them looked each other in the eyes with confident smirks on their faces.

"Well, well, weeeeelllll….look who we got here! A necromancer turtle punk straight from my soup store interfering with my vacation!" taunted the man with glasses, crossing his arms with pride while having the biggest shit-eating grin possible, making the words "ZENI" especially visible.

"Excuse YOU, but I am not mere turtle and NOT A PUNK! You are about the face the one and the only!" countered Bowser, clenching his fists in frustration as he gave him a glare.

"Go on then! Let me hear all the bullshit you spout!" nagged the man in glamorous clothing.

"Listen very carefully! Veni, Vidi, Vici! Those are the words of Julius Caesar and let me tell you something... I AM BOWSER and I SHALL BECOME THE MOST INFLUENTIAL PERSON ON THIS PLANET! MY ACTIONS SHALL BE WRITTEN DOWN IN HISTORY! I WILL COME A CONQUEROR GREATER THAN ALEXANDER THAN GREAT! I WILL BECOME RICHER THAN SHEIKH! ENEMIES WILL TREMBLE IN FEAR WHEN THEY WILL HEAR MY NAME! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!" Bowser introduced himself to the man with every single ounce of pride he had inside of him. Two of them quietly continued staring at each other, waiting for either of them to do a move.

"...PFFFFT HAHAHA, your name AIN'T SHIT compared who youse talking to right now!" laughed off the man, further irritating the turtle conqueror.

"WHAT?! How DARE you say that, you PUNK!" growled Bowser, angrily pointing at him, to which the man laughed even harder.

"Richer than Sheikh, you say? Well, let me tell you that you're face to face with Kaneo Motherfuckin' Takarada, bitch! I can both shit out fat bucks and clean my own ass with them at the same time!" introduced Kaneo Takarada himself to Bowser, suddenly bringing up plenty of his own bucks in his hands, proudly showing them to his opponent. If letters could materialize out of nowhere, there would be big red kanji standing right behind him, spelling his name and his status.

"You sure….love to flex, don't you?" commented Bowser, being completely dumbfounded by the statements of his opponent.

"I'm spitting straight facts at you, man! Dosh is what keeps Osaka going! But I do have a question for you, reptilian fuckhead. What makes you wanna tread on the property of Takarada?!" asked Takarada in the same pompous tone as before.

"That is quite simple, chump! This boat is now mine, whether you like it or not!" answered Bowser as he tried to counter the pride of Takarada.

"Ooooh, we playing those games, aren't we? Too bad, you ain't gonna get it, even if my own body is reduced to atoms!" retaliated Kaneo Takarada, peaking Bowser's irritation in the process. However, the ships of Skeleton Mafia flanked Takarada's yacht on both sides. On the capital ship, every skeleton pointed their Tommy gun at him. George was aiming with his Silver Coyote, prepared to pull the trigger at any time. John prepared his sniper rifle and even allowed some skeletons to use M2 Brownings from Bendigo. Brane had his own Zastava M70 assault rifle prepared. Mosseau already had his Vickers guns revved up, eagerly waiting to unleash the unholy bullet storm on the tycoon. The skeleton that lost all of his ribs thanks to him was also on the deck of that ship, giving him two middle fingers. On the other ship, every skeleton had their own Tommy gun aimed at him as well.

"Say that again, punk." dared Bowser with a nearly psychopathic grin on his face.

"Mofo, you deaf or somethin'? I ain't givin' you SHIT. Not even THAT!" taunted Takarada despite being at the risk of being turned into Swiss cheese.

"You don't have much choice. Surrender now and gives us the boat or you will be busted!" warned Bowser, staring right in his smug eyes.

"...Say, since this is my own turf, I decide the rules of this fight!" Takarada suddenly decided, surprising everyone around him.

"HEY, WHO ALLOWED YOU TO-" roared Bowser with all of his fury.

"I DID, DUMBASS! My soil, my rules, plain and simple. If you don't like that, then sod off from my boat, mate!" declared Takarada as he stomped with his foot. His prideful expression remained through out the entire time.

"….Hmpf….What rules do you propose, you insufferable glamour hog?" asked Bowser, trying to keep some level of composure as he realized that all the rage he would lash out would only make his opponent more provocative.

"We 1v1 on this boat, boy! No interference from others! First one who falls off from the boat or gets knocked the fuck out is the one that needs to piss off!" boastfully explained Takarada as he took advantage of the situation.

"Ohohoho, we are gonna duke it out then? So be it!" chuckled Bowser, already prepared to dish out some beatings.

"That's right! We start now, amigo!" declared Takarada, immediately pointing both of his Uzis right at him and firing them simultaneously, unleashing salvos of bullets and money at him. Bowser, as if he predicted such action, ducked and hid in his shell as he started spinning around, deflecting both bullets and money everywhere. Takarada stopped firing as soon as both Uzis ran out of ammo. The turtle conqueror stopped spinning and stood up to see the current situation. His shell had few scratches on it due to bullets.

"Not so lucky, are you?!" taunted Bowser before he tried to jump directly near him, only to be distracted by the money thrown right in his face.

"Ya think!" countered Takarada, using the time frame of Bowser being distracted to rush inside of his yacht in order to get some ammo. However, Bowser already spotted him and dashed off to the entrance.

When Bowser entered the interior of the yacht, he saw that every single thing, from walls to even something like computers were painted in gold. Few of the unconscious henchmen were lying on the polished floor while the ceiling had some dents on it. The walls were accompanied by the glittering couches. At the end of the interior there was the bridge of the yacht, where the captain and other crew would maintain the control and navigation of the ship. The main source of light for the yacht were giant (relative to the vessel's size) windows, letting the sun rays lighten up the area. Despite all of that, Bowser couldn't find his adversary at first glance, even after many looks around. Suddenly, Takarada popped out behind one of the couches and threw another stash of his money right in Bowser's face along with the smoke grenade on the floor. The smoke from the grenade engulfed the interior of the yacht, allowing Takarada to sneak through out it in order to find bullets for his Uzi. He ran to the captain's cabin through out the white smoke, however Bowser already memorized the entire interior and dashed towards the assumed position of his adversary.

As soon as he entered the cabin, Takarada opened up the drawer near one of the computers, revealing magazines for his golden Uzi. He snatched one of them as quickly as possible, only to be met with a sudden grip on his shoulder. Startling him, he glanced behind to see the menacing shadowy figure of Bowser. Witnessing that his enemy had him cornered, he realized that he had done goofed up, but still tried to reload his Uzi, only for Bowser to grab him arm and smashing him right on the floor, causing Takarada to feel major damage through out his body. Despite being floored, Takarada attempted to replace the magazine for his Uzi, but his weapon of choice was soon torn out of his hand by Bowser, whom then lifted it in the air just so he could spite him.

"Hah! This one is mine!" taunted Bowser before he continued smashing Takarada on the floor like an angry gorilla throwing a fit while swinging some unfortunate predator that has accidentally provoked it. With each smash, the pain in Takarada's body exponentially multiplied, despite his pompous demeanor. However, it was beginning to crack as some level of fear appeared in Takarada due to how easy it was for Bowser to smash him around like a ragdoll.

Bowser temporarily stopped smashing him around and lifted him like a fisherman catching the biggest bass in the lake, glaring at his beaten with a boastful look in his eyes.

"I'll give you one more chance! Forfeit or I will throw you in the sea!" offered Bowser, possibly sparing him an unfortunate fate.

"I'd rather take an entire skyscraper up my asshole than give you anything of my property!" bragged Takarada as he laughed in Bowser's face, cementing what would happen to him next.

"...Suit yourself." casually said Bowser before he started spinning Takarada around like a turbine before throwing him out of the window, shattering it to pieces in the process. The smoke exited the yacht by going through the window, being visible to the skeletons on their own ships. His colleagues didn't see who was being thrown out, so they were unsure on the outcome. Bowser, still inside the yacht, decided to throw out Takarada's henchmen as the vision became clearer in it because of the leaking smoke. Although most of them were unconscious by the time they were thrown out, one of them managed to gain his consciousness back. Seeing the sight of a rather large bipedal turtle conqueror coming right for him made him tremble in terror, but that did nothing to help him avoid being thrown out by him. After removing every Takarada's personnel, Bowser rubbed his hands in triumph and stepped outside, making the last remaining smoke fully leave the yacht.

"Veni, vidi, vici!" he proclaimed as he triumphantly raised his fist in the air, receiving a massive applause and cheering from his colleagues.

"Ye did it! Ye absolute did it, ya crazy bastard!" praised Mosseau as he fired one of his Vickers machine guns in the air, startling a few of his boney friends.

"Well done!" complimented Mad John, giving him an applause.

"Jače!" shouted Brane, raising his arms like an excited football fan.

"Color me surprised. You did it once again." mused George upon seeing his boss stepping outside of the yacht.

"BWAHAHAHA! This is now MY property! With this, we shall become stronger! Now come, skeletons! You shall take command of this ship!" boastfully ordered Bowser as two of the Skeleton Mafia's ships approached it even closer, enabling skeletons to just hop on the yacht. Bowser then jumped on the capital ship and returned to his position, continuing their journey to their destination, now with an additional vessel. Meanwhile, being all beaten up, Kaneo Takarada was floating in the sea along with his henchmen. He observed the three ships going their way as he had a rather determined yet smug expression oh his face.

"Ya think you've won, you absolute bastard, but this was only the beginning!" forebode Takarada before he pulled out a golden (big shock, I know) waterproof phone and started a call. "Yo, homie! Pick me up there!"

Hours passed once again as the confrontation with the flexing tycoon from Osaka was becoming a memory of another victory for Bowser and his organization. The city of Muscat appeared on their sight, making them navigate through the waters as quick as possible. After traversing for so much time, all three Skeleton Mafia's vessels docked in the port of Muscat as they waited for further orders.

"We're gonna take care of all! You fellas gotta stay a little low for now." requested Mad John as he invited Brane to join him.

"Understood! I wish you good luck!" approved Bowser as two of his men left the ship while he and his skeletal henchmen hid in the in their respective boats.

After some time, John and Brane managed to get the personnel of Muscat's port to refuel all of Skeleton Mafia's ships. During it, both of these refined gentlemen decided to take a little tour of Muscat as some kind of "self-assigned reward". Temporarily leaving the port, they went through the streets surrounded by radiantly white buildings, which had a rather block-like shape to them. Some of the buildings were more of a desert-like brown color, adding variety to the city. One of the buildings that stood out in the city was a white mosque with a noticeable blue cupola on the roof. Every building there had teal windows, which reflected sun rays all across the area. Some palm trees were planted in the streets as various cars passed them. Behind the city, there were tall rigid mountains, which blocked the wind. Both John and Brane were enjoying their little tour as they suddenly found a food stand with a huge chunk of juicy beef being cooked on a rotating spit. Both of them stepped towards the kebab person, taking some time to pick their food.

"Two kebabs, please." requested Mad John as the chef prepared two dishes quite quickly. He filled two breads with kebab meat and various amount of vegetables before giving them kebabs they wanted. John paid the price of kebabs and both of them thanked the chef before they went their own way, taking huge bites of kebab in the process.

"It is delicious!" praised John, enjoying every bite he took in kebab.

"We should absolutely add kebab on our menu in Kornjača!" happily suggested Brane as he continued eating his own kebab. Suddenly, as they finished eating their kebabs, they found a souvenir store filled with various clothing, pots and items originating from Oman itself. Out of curiosity, they decided to check it out to see anything cool in it. As they inspected, they found out all the neat Omani things in the souvenir store until John found something he thought of as strange: a world map with a path on it. However, there was a drawn area with crosses all over the place on it. The area took place in the Arabian sea, near Pakistan's coast. What truly caused some uneasy feelings inside of him was that the area was right on the spot where Bowser has drawn his own path of conquest. Brane joined in as well, observing the map, but he did not have any idea what it meant. Suddenly, another man approached them: an old bearded store owner.

"Are you, by chance, boat travelers?" asked the store owner, looking them right in their eyes with his weary eyes.

"I suppose we are." casually answered John, confirming suspicions of the store owner.

"...Do not cross that path, as it is cursed one." warned the store owner in a quite, yet ominous tone, escalating their curiosity in the process.

"Cursed? In what sense?" asked Brane.

"Many travelers disappeared on it as they crossed it….nobody knows what truly happened to them." spoke the store salesman, giving them reminiscence of various infamous zones where such things happened.

"...Interesting. I think we should tell that to our boys." said Mad John to Brane, thinking that it would be a good idea to warn the boss about such thing.

"..Yeah, you're right. Could be a bluff, though." doubted Brane. The store owner heard their talk, causing him to squint.

"Perhaps...perhaps not. Take caution, travelers..." warned the store owner one more time before they departed. Neither Brane nor John bought anything from the store, instead they were focused on the question of the zone in the Arabian sea, whether or not is it a threat to their organization.

Somewhere in the Arabian sea at night, a sole fishing boat traversed, facing the midnight storm of calamitous proportions. Lightnings were hitting the surface, enlightening the near pitch black sky for few moments. Feral waves kept hitting the vessel as it poured from the sky, nearly flooding the deck as it went on. Despite the storm, the fishing boat kept going on, riding the wild waves of the Arabian Sea.

"Come on, I have to make it home!" heaved the human captain of the fishing boat, clenching his teeth as he tightened the grip on the steering wheel as much as he could during his traversing of the waves. He just couldn't give up on his way home. Suddenly, the frequency of wild waves decreased, lashing out small waves instead. However, those waves were just an illusion of de-escalation as the captain of the fishing boat was faced with one of his worst fears imaginable: a single giant wave right in front of him. The captain's eyes widened from terror as the wave of destruction approached him closer. He tried to turn the ship away from the wave, but it already caught him. The ship was flipped on its head by the wave before it engulfed it with the sheer prowess of water, certifying the demise of captain. The storm, despite taking its victim, kept raging on.

The skeletal boys along with their higher ups have from the city of Muscat after successfully refueling their vessels. What were once merely two ships were now three, a marginal but notable increase for them. However, when they departed, their yacht went ahead a bit too far due to its speed. It had to wait for other two ships to catch up. Once they did, the skeletons settled down on a formation. It consisted of the capital ship being in the middle while the second ship and the yacht cruised next to it on each side, former being on the left of capital ship while the latter being on the right side of it. While the capital ship and second ship were set to full speed ahead, the yacht was set to merely 25% of its engine power.

As they cruised, they entered the Arabian sea. Nothing but crystal clear water and cloudless blue sky could be seen from the ships. The skeleton with binoculars observed every angle he could from the deck of the capital ship, looking out for either destinations to conquer or hostiles to deter. Other skeletons were either on the decks of their respective ships or inside of them. In the capital ship, the boney henchmen were gathered around Bowser and his colleagues. They were sitting behind the table with a world map on it, just like before.

"Gwahaha! Now that we have done it, we shall continue our conquest! I think we should have our next refueling right about here!" boastfully announced Bowser, raising his arms in the air before he turned towards his colleagues. "Does that sound good?"

"It's a little bit shorter than we had before, but I guess it should work out." commented George, having his arms crossed due to being it his favorite position to be.

"We better get some islands by them! Aye need me desire for battle quenched!" demanded Mosseau, already shaking his chainsaw based weapon in the air, in a desperate need for a bloodshed.

"Do not worry, Mosseau! We shall conquer those islands with overwhelming force!" proudly assured Bowser with his desire for conquest secretly increasing.

"Make it even above that!" boldly requested Mosseau as he pointed at his boss. Bowser chuckled at Mosseau's response, believing that his wish will be granted. He turned towards Sniper Mad John and Brane, wanting to hear their thoughts on the matter. However, they seemed to be lost in their own thoughts, thinking about what has been told to them. Neither of them were excited about it, rather feeling a certain amount of caution within themselves.

"What about you two?" asked Bowser, to which neither John nor Brane answered due to thinking.

"Hey, I asked you something!" shouted Bowser at them as he lightly (by his standards) slammed on the table, quickly gaining their attention.

"Oh, Bowser, while we were in Muscat, we have heard something that we should be cautious about." explained Mad John, making Bowser's eyebrow rise from curiosity.

"Take it with a grain of salt, it hasn't been confirmed yet." added Brane, doubting that it would be dangerous for them.

"Spill it out! Any information is necessary for me and Skeleton Mafia!" demanded Bowser.

"A shopkeeper told us that the Arabian sea is cursed. There even was a map with the drawn section on it, showing the location of the alleged cursed zone. He didn't give us any details, though." said John, to which he also gained some attention from George and Mosseau as well.

"Cursed zone?….Eh, nothing to scary. I've seen things more cursed than this sea!" shrugged Bowser, reminiscing at some of his experiences in the Mushroom Kingdom.

"That's what pirates called any sea where Aye was in!" boasted Mosseau, remembered all the times he used to slaughter pirates over them giving him scurvy.

"Are you sure that it is somethin' you imagine? Divin' in recklessly like that is not gonna do you any wonders, whether or not convenience is there." cautioned George, raising his finger towards his boss while warning him that any future endeavors like that could potentially end up horribly.

"Are ye two laddehs sure ye weren't talking to a scammer?" asked Mosseau, already changing his mood.

"Well, he did seem authentic." said Brane as he attempted to provide a reasonable discussion for them.

"Authentic, me arse! Any scammer can put up a facade!" fumed Mosseau, shaking his chainsaw around without hitting anyone nearby.

"Like you." pointed out George just to make fun of him.

"FUCK off, ye bloody arsetwat!" exploded Mosseau right in front of him, giving him a middle finger. George expected such response, so he was satisfied.

"Anyway, it's not something that is unheard in this world. There's been plenty of locations where ships just disappeared. No one knows how, though." continued John amid the light quarrel between George and Mosseau.

"Huh, so something like in my world? Usually, it turns out it was some kind of monster that gets whooped right back to the bottom of the ocean. Are there any monsters like that here as well?" piqued Bowser, desiring to know even more while giving him some taste of his experience back at his world.

"Some say yes, some say no. No one really agrees on it, mate." answered John as he shrugged off.

"Or it is just bad weather, really." proposed George as he tried to rationalize the thing that John and Brane brought up.

"Hmpf…" thought Bowser, scratching his chin as the thoughts of the cursed zone occupied his mind.

"Are we sure that the monsters are real?" asked Brane with his doubts rising about it. It reminded him of all the hoaxes that were talked about in his social circles.

"Eh, people like to bullshit around, it sells." scoffed George, knowing from all the newspapers he read in his life.

"Hm...I do see your poi-wait a minute..." addressed John before he stopped himself, taking a look at everything surrounding him. He came to a realization about the entire discussion and something else. "Why are we, out of all people on this planet, questioning logic behind the existence of monsters? Can we just take a look at ourselves?"

"We're bones…." said the skeletons as they inspected their bones, especially the ribs. They seemed to rather proud of being skeletons, possibly due many advantages a bone would have.

"And I am the King of Awesome!" gloated Bowser as he let out a large villainous chuckle, fitting for him.

"Real talk though, it does seem kinda strange that we are the only two humans in Skeleton Mafia when you think about it." pointed out Mad John as he turned towards Brane. His Croatian fellow agreed on such statement, but sg

"I mean, this is Skeleton Mafia after all. Do you want more people in it? Not that it is wrong, though." questioned Bowser, not ignoring their concern while thinking of an idea to expand his army, providing some variety in his group as well.

"Probably?" answered both Brane and John, not even sure if they wanted their wish fulfilled.

"Right...more the people in Skeleton Mafia, the better!" said Bowser, welcoming their suggestion with open arms.

"Good luck supplying them." reminded George, juggling with his finger as if he were to taunt him.

"GRAH! WHY MUST LOGISTICS BE LIKE THAT!?" shouted Bowser in frustration, slamming both of his fists on the table. He somehow didn't break it into pieces, despite the slight increase of power in his slam.

"Perhaps we should establish some kind of a supply route for our islands? That could ease up supplying the Skeleton Mafia." suggested Mad John, pointing at the route drawn by his boss.

"Hah! Perhaps it is a good idea to keep ourselves near the coasts!" avowed Bowser, pumping his fist in the air. No desire to change the path was felt within him.

"So, there are no changes in our route?" asked Brane, just making his boss sure about his decision.

"Nope, we are continuing it as I said before!" confirmed Bowser, leaning back a bit as he put both of his hands behind his head in a similar sense a person lying on the beach would.

"Hmmm…." both Brane and John thought, still not letting go of the aforementioned cursed zone.

Time went on as they cruised further. The skeleton with binoculars still observed the area around, checking in for any incoming threats. Suddenly, there was something right in front of him that caught his attention. The clear sky bordered by the wall of dark gray clouds in front of him, getting darker from inside as he looked towards the horizon. Shadow from the mass of clouds cast itself upon the surface, darkening the clear sea. Skeleton's vision got blurred by the endless rainfall from the ominous clouds. The approaching ships were rocked by the ever increasing waves as they traversed towards the rifted sky.

"Oh...oh lord..." fretted the skeleton with binoculars as he immediately rushed inside as quickly as he could. The moment that the entered the main room with a loud door slam, he immediately got attention of the top brass of Skeleton Mafia along with his fellow bones.

"Boss! We have an urgent situation outside!" reported the skeleton.

"What is it?!" asked Bowser, raising his eyebrow. John and Brane already suspected what skeleton with binoculars referred to.

"Look and see!" said the skeleton as the gang followed him outside, allowing him to show the very thing he saw: the endless gloomy clouds above them.

"Is this what we were warned for?" asked Mad John, squinting at the sky.

"Huh,...so it was weather all along." huffed George, feeling rather confident about his statement from before.

"Nothing too strange, to be honest." commented Brane, scratching his chin while taking closer look at it.

"Hah! We've dealt with this before! If nature wants a rematch, then so be it!" "No change of plan, we're going through! Though, make sure that the cars won't fall off. The sea is not gonna be kind to us now." boasted Bowser as he turned towards skeletons, pointing at them while waiting for his order to be completed. His henchmen quickly brought some rope and black fabric with them, tying up both cars in order to strengthen their positions. After they were done with that task, they covered them with the aforementioned fabric. Bowser gave them a thumbs up after they carried out his order.

Skeleton Mafia's ships left the clear sky behind, entering the dark seas. The waves were rocking the ships with ever increasing force, but Bowser only stood on the deck like a power hungry explorer, crossing his arms as he stared towards the horizon with a grin. After seeing his boss in such mood, Brane and John removed all of their doubts in their mind, grinning at the face of horizon as well. George tipped his hat and Mosseau eagerly awaited for their journey through the wild sea. At first, it seemed like it was just another stormy sea to cross.

Suddenly, an entire barrage of lightnings, spreading through out the entire horizon, struck the sea right in front of them. The entire sky got engulfed by the blinding light from bolts as a simultaneous thunder roared throughout. Everyone on the deck either flinched or jumped back a bit from the strike.

"Oh….this is...not something similar as before…." shuddered Bowser as his eyes widened from witnessing it. Others didn't say a word, but a certain confused surprise was seen through their expressions. After the initial shock, Bowser glared towards the darkened horizon, clenching his fist with

"EVERYONE! GO INSIDE NOW! I'll handle this!" ordered Bowser, directing others to the bridge. Just as ordered, his colleagues went inside to take cover from the storm. Heavy rainfall poured down on decks of all ships, but Bowser remained, still facing forward.

"Stepped up your game, haven't you? Gwahahaha! No matter how much you try, I, the great Bowser, will be always one step ahead of you!" boasted Bowser in the face of the storm. Few of the lightnings struck the sea from the clouds, lightening up the sky constantly. Suddenly, as if the weather heard him, one of the lightnings hit the deck of the ship, being millimeters away from striking down Bowser. Stunned for a moment, he quickly regained composure, but his pride got replaced with determination to cross the daunting sea without losing any of his vessels.

"Oh, this is PERSONAL now!" snarled Bowser right after the attack. The lightnings continued striking down from the above, with one of them even hitting their yacht. However, the no damage was caused on the yacht as it kept going forward. Endless thunder echoed through out the sky as the intensity of waves kept increasing, rocking all of the ships in the process. The cars on the deck, despite the waves trying to knock them off the deck, remained still like statues. Anyone inside the ships held on anything they could in order to not fall down. However, Mosseau was rolling on the floor, cursing the storm through out all the time. Meanwhile, on the deck, Bowser kept evading the lightnings, but one of them hit him right in one of the spikes on his shell, sending the electric shock through out his entire body. Despite being hit, Bowser grinned towards the sky, being motivated even more. He continued dodging the electrostatic wrath from the above as the rainfall poured down as if the entire world was about to get flooded.

As the time passed when they continued crossing the stormy sea, Bowser started to think of a plan to deter the lightnings from attacking him while he continued doing evasive maneuvers in order to not get fried by the lightnings. Rolling around the deck, he thought of something that would redirect the lightnings away from him, something that would transmit the electricity.

Three lightnings struck right behind him, all of them landing in the same spot while barely missing their target. Bowser looked back after the strike, seeing the bridge. Then he got an idea as he dashed towards the entrance while a few lightnings struck beside him, hitting the car covering fabric. Despite the strikes, neither cars were damaged.

As he entered the ship, he ran towards the main room, where his colleagues resided.

"Hey, give me something that will redirect the lightnings!" requested Bowser as his colleagues, regardless of rank, immediately searched for anything that he could find useful.

"Aye, got ye covered, laddeh!" said Mosseau as he threw him one of his surplus iron bars that he uses to construct improvised weaponry. Bowser caught the bar with his hand.

"Don't forget about this too!" reminded Mad John as he brought up a glove from his pocket before he threw it to his boss. Just like before, his boss caught the thrown item. He put it on his hand before he grabbed the iron bar once again. His colleagues stopped the search as their task has been completed.

"Gwahaha! Thank you very much!" approved Bowser before he dashed off outside, facing the storm once again.

The relentless storm raged on as Bowser stepped outside, greeted by surrounding lightnings striking the sea. He ran forward as quickly as he could before stopping at the edge of the deck, raising the iron bar as high as he could. Three lightnings came close to striking the don of skeletons down, but were redirected to the iron bar, transmitting all the electricity through it. The glove, made out of materials that are considered to be insulators, prevented the electricity flow from reaching Bowser. Soon, other lightnings from above struck, only to be redirected towards the same iron bar. As they gathered around, the skeletons from other ships watched in awe as it seemed like their boss was holding an iron torch, which its fire was natural but wrathful electrostatic discharges illuminating the dark sea. With a confident grin on his face, Bowser thought of placing the iron bar somewhere because he was absolutely not in the mood of holding it for the entire journey through the storm. Then he looked towards the bridge of the capital ship, getting an idea on what to do. He dashed off towards the doors of bridge, opening them with one hand.

"Hey, anyone here have some duct tape?!" loudly requested Bowser as he remained outside, still holding the "lightning torch". He thought it would be a bad idea leaving the iron bar, as not only it would redirected the lightning back at him, but the aforementioned item could potentially roll of from the deck, making Bowser lose all of his redirecting capability.

"Got you covered, mate." answered Mad John the moment when he heard his boss, rushing out of the main room almost immediately. Upon seeing his boss standing outside, he brought up the desired duct tape from his pocket and threw it right at Bowser. He caught it with his sole free arm before he gave John a fist shake of approval and closed the door.

After getting everything he wanted, Bowser leaped from the deck. Without much interference, he landed on the roof of bridge, stepping near the closest antenna he could find. He scratched the duct tape with his claw, managing to get the part of it out. Then he bit the duct tape with his mouth, extending it in the process. Bowser placed the iron bar near the antenna as he wrapped the duct tape around it multiple times. Just like the glove, tape was created out of insulator materials. When Bowser deemed the bar was stable enough to be taped to antenna, he tore apart any unnecessary parts before he completed tied it around the bar. The lightnings kept striking the iron bar, satisfying Bowser as he put his arms around his body like a happy artist wondering at the sight of his work.

"Hah! That shall do it!" remarked Bowser as he observed the "lightning torch" up close. Just when he felt he scored a victory, a strong gust of wind hit him, nearly blowing off his captain's hat from his head. He noticed that it came from the front of the capital ship, as he also noticed that the waves were getting even fiercer than before. The vessels were constantly climbing them at that point, before descending down them like sleighs on a steep hill.

"Stepping up your game, aren't you?" jeered Bowser, squinting towards the incoming waves before he jumped off the roof, landing on the deck. Despite the fierce waves, which rocked the vessels to no end, they still managed to cross them but not without a struggle. Bowser held on the fence as he stared at the waves. After the initial strikes of waves, the sea calmed itself down. The lightnings stopped striking, but the rainfall continued to pour down. It was just like when they first sailed in such territory.

"Something's not right…There must be some kind of trick up its sleeve!" suspected Bowser at the sight of the calming sea. It remained tranquil for some time as the ships went on.

Suddenly, his suspicion materialized right in front of him: a sole colossal wave, coming right at them. It blocked their view of horizon, signaling only one thing: their demise in the depths of the dark sea. Just by the size alone, it was clear that none of the ships could cross it. However, when Bowser saw the wave…

"SHOWTIME!" he shouted with all the pride he had in his heart as he faced the wave, standing on the edge of the deck. When the colossal wave got just close enough, Bowser started inhaling the wave with all the suction powers he had. The tsunami-like wave turned into a vortex, spiraling right into his mouth. All the mass of water got rapidly reduced as Bowser continued inhaling the monstrous wave, filling his mouth with saltwater. The storm attempted to disrupt Bowser's inhalation by pushing him with strong gusts of wind, but those only got sucked in instead. Once the tidal wave got reduced to a mere tiny one, he heated up all the water he had inside of him with internal flame. Steam started spewing out not only from his nostrils, but from his closed mouth as well. He let out a triumphant roar, releasing all the steam he had into the stormy sky, covering the entire exterior of the capital ship with it. The crew of both supporting ships watched with their jaws dropped as the vision of the capital ship started to become clearer due all of steam leaving it.

As the tidal wave got neutralized, the storm let out its last ditch effort attacks in the form of lightnings, only to be redirected once again towards the taped iron rod. Upon seeing the attack, Bowser got an idea on how to counterattack.

"So, you thought you've had me beaten, that you've won by default. Gwahahaha! I am about to show what it means to go face to face with ME!" boasted Bowser right in front of the storm as he jumped on the roof of bridge, landing right near the "lightning torch". He started inhaling the lightnings as they got redirected right in his mouth. When he decided that he stored enough electricity without being internally fried from it, he started mixing lightnings with his fire inside of him. Upon the heat inside of him reaching the breaking point, he fired a beam made out of fire and lightning right towards the stormy sky, piercing right through it. A path, split from clouds, appeared on it, leading them somewhere unknown.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" shouted every single skeleton who saw the event. Bowser then jumped off the roof, but not before he held himself above the window, looking at Scrongus and Krongus inside the bridge.

"You two! Follow that path!" ordered Bowser, pointing at the path in the sky.

"Capisco, boss!" responded Krongus as he redirected the ship to navigate under the path. Other two ships followed as they traversed underneath with sun peeking through the split clouds. The lightnings kept striking the iron rod, shaping the whole flow in a single V. The sea around them rampaged, but it gently rocked them under the path.

As they followed the path, they spotted something that caught their attention immediately: an island in the middle of a cloudless circle in the sky. From what they could see, the island appeared to be a plateau, sticking out of the sea. Not wanting to miss the opportunity, the vessels of Skeleton Mafia followed the path until they left the storm. Lightnings stopped striking once they entered the cloudless circle. After some time, they docked on the shores of the island, being faced by the rocky wall in front of them. Bowser, along with the "top brass" of Skeleton Mafia jumped off the deck to see the island up close.

"Gwahaha! We did! We showed that storm who's the true boss!" laughed Bowser as he took a look at near vertical but jagged walls of the plateau island.

"Can't believe we were first one to cross the cursed zone, mate." wondered John as he looked back at the ongoing storm, with all of them being on the "sanctuary" island.

"Tromba's got nothing on this!" commented Brane, reminiscing something from the past.

"Well, we can brag about that later in our lives." jested George, also taking a look at the walls of plateau island.

"FUCK YE, YE BLOODY ARSEHOLE OF A WEATHER! YER GIVIN ME THE GODDAMN ROLLIES ALL IN ME HEAD!" lashed out Mosseau as he turned back towards the storm, shaking his fist at it. Despite being rolled around earlier, he displayed no signs of dizziness whatsoever.

"Mosseau! Now is not the time to rage, but rather to celebrate!" reminded Bowser as he happily raised his arms in the air, still having a feeling of triumph.

"Oh, aight, new island." suddenly calmed down Mosseau, taking a glance of the center of attention. "What does it have?"

"Hmmm...Skeletons!" called Bowser. In a moment, two of the skeletons, armed with Tommy guns, jumped off the deck, joining their higher ups.

"Aye, boss?" asked two of the skeletons, awaiting his order.

"Inspect the area around it!" ordered Bowser as he pointed the coastline at them.

"Roger that, boss!" responded the skeletons as they began walking around the coastline as a part of their inspection. As time went on, they could see nothing but either barren gray sand or jagged rocky walls.

The skeletons returned, sporting the same expression and position like at the start of their task.

"Well, did you find anything?" piqued Bowser as the skeletons approached closer.

"It's same as here. Entire coastline of it is like that." reported one of the skeletons, making the top brass think about their activities on the island.

"Hmm...then I guess only one obvious option remains!" said Bowser as all of them faced forward, prepared to climb the jagged walls of plateau. Suddenly, they heard a voice that caught all of them off guard. It

"Greetings, fellow travelers!" greeted voice of the unknown, revealed to be from some kind of masked shaman in a crimson robe, who appeared right out of nowhere. Everyone who saw him was startled from sheer surprise.

"Wha?! Who are you?!" asked Bowser upon seeing him. Shaman only quietly approached them, as they were unsure if he was a threat or not. George already put his hand in his pocket, where his Silver Coyote resided, just in a case of an attack.

"Ey, where did you come from?" questioned one of the skeletons, being only slightly surprised by shaman's appearance.

"I hereby think that you want this island, isn't that correct?" acknowledged masked shaman while he pointed directly at Bowser. His colleagues, skeletal or made out of flesh, looked at their boss, assuming that Bowser has done something in advance.

"Hahaha, of course! I mean...how did you know?" confirmed Bowser, boastfully laughing before he realized that he hasn't even truly gloated in front of shaman's face.

"I can see through all the desires of living beings….but fear not, the island is yours!" offered masked shaman, surprising them all in the process.

"You're just giving it to me?…..That's nice!" thanked Bowser, raising his fist in the air in a same sense a sportsman being filled with satisfaction over winning a golden medal.

"Aw, come the fuck on!" groaned Mosseau, still feeling the need to quench his need for battle.

"That is, if you solve the riddle of this island." reminded masked shaman with a raised index finger, ending the triumphant feeling inside of Bowser, but also causing greater mystique around his colleagues.

"Gah, knew there was some catch there. What is it, some kind of question that seems vague at first but becomes clear if you grind your gears a bit?" grumbled Bowser

"The riddle is not a question, but rather a task." corrected shaman, raising Bowser's curiosity about the meaning of his words.

"A task? What could that be?" asked John as he leaned towards the individual. Suddenly, the masked shaman fell on knees as he faced the jagged rock walls. He bowed down before he rose up, raising his arms towards the plateau.

"You must cross this holy mountain horizontally!"

"...Wha?!" everyone around him blurted out upon hearing his words shouted like that.

"Pardon?" Mad John raised his eyebrow. Despite being absolutely baffled by the task, he couldn't help his morbid curiosity

"I say again, you must cross this holy mountain horizontally!" repeated masked shaman, picking himself up before he approached them

"Excuse me, but how do you cross ANY MOUNTAIN HORIZONTALLY?!" bickered Bowser, flailing his arms around in frustration. His colleagues did agree with him on that, but they chose to remain silent about it.

"That is up to you, as only the one with desire of ownership is allowed to walk on the plateau. However, while your time to solve this riddle is limitless, it mustn't leave your mind..." warned masked shaman, completely changing the tone around his "guests".

"What would happen if it does? I imagine something not good, as per course." asked George, already preparing assumptions in advance.

"A cruel fate will be cast upon you. It's better to not imagine it, focus on the riddle." answered masked shaman, leaving them even more confused.

"Cast? By who?" questioned Mosseau, finding shaman's choice of words to be a little bit ominous. He felt that something was not right, but before he could get any proper answers, shaman vanished from everyone's sight.

"Where did ya go, ye fucken twat?!" raged Mosseau at the shaman's disappearance, not satisfied with anything he said. Even though he was gone, the thought of crossing a mountain horizontally hasn't left anyone's mind. They kept giving our questions about how would one person perform such an act, why would such thing be needed and many more, but none of them could come up with a decisive answer.

"Do you think the island is related to the storm?" asked Brane as he turned towards Mad John, scratching his chin.

"Probably. Can't say that it being the only thing in the storm not affected by it isn't suspicious in the slightest." concurred John, both of them observing the barren but tall natural walls.

"We must now focus on how to solve this riddle! Gentlemen, it's time to give your brains some workout!" reminded Bowser, redirecting everyone's thoughts towards the act of crossing a mountain horizontally.

"So, how would you cross a mountain horizontally?" Bowser gave out a question for everyone, including himself.

"Definitely not by itself. You would need an external device to properly cross a mountain like that." suggested John while thinking on how would a device like that operate on plateau.

"Somethin' like an elevator?" remarked George after hearing John's advice.

"That could work, but are you sure we have enough resources to build one?" asked Brane to make sure that their plan is feasible.

"We do have a plank, enough for like, all of us to cross it." pointed out Mosseau, pointing right at the capital ship.

"We are not lacking in rope department either, so we could construct one." added John.

"But if we do build an elevator, that means it has to be built on the mountain, right?" asked Bowser, imagining a very simplified elevator being placed on top of the plateau.

"...Oh, yeah. I mean, it's only you that has to cross it horizontally, but we could climb it and build the elevator just for you." offered John with a rather unsure smile on his face.

"...Nah, not worth the broken bones. We need something else." rejected Bowser for John's own safety. "What if...we build a ladder instead? It should be connected to the plank and we could use that as a bridge…."

"Do we have enough resources to build a ladder of such size?" reminded George, thinking that the idea of a really tall ladder is far less practical compared to the elevator.

"Checked before. Aside from that plank, we barely even have wood. I don't think we have enough metals for such ladder either." interjected the skeleton with a Tommy gun.

"We could go back to Rastplatz island-" suggested Brane, only for Bowser's eyes to squint.

"NOPE, we are not going through that again! Pretty sure that the storm would cook up new tricks at that point. Besides, I've had ENOUGH of saltwater for a whole week!" rambled Bowser after everything he experienced that day.

"Well, what options do remain?" asked Brane.

"Another thing, which I think would be unlikely, is to land horizontally on the plateau" said John, giving out his hypothesis to them.

"We have yet to obtain anythin' flying, though." cautioned George, raising his index finger.

"Hmmm...perhaps I could call Kamek to bring me an airship here, but that cursed storm is quite a deterrent! I'm sure that not even he could withstand it!" answered Bowser before he tossed the idea away.

"With even that out of the way, now what?" asked Brane one more time, but everyone around him ran out of answers. They were stuck all day, thinking how to solve shaman's riddle.

The day came to an end as night took its place. The members of Skeleton Mafia went inside their vessels to take a rest, but their minds were flooded with one thought: to cross the holy mountain horizontally. Even when they were deep in their slumber, horizontal crossings of mountains was a priority for them. However, one particular individual remained awake, doing his nocturnal schedule of inspecting his weaponry.

"Who the flying fuck was that?! Why would someone need to cross the goddamn bloody mountain horizontally?!" rumbled Mosseau to himself while checking out his weapons. As he kept raging to himself, something appeared inside his mind. An idea out of a sudden that also managed to cheer him up.

"Wait a minute….Who said ye need contraptions to cross it? Gyahahaha! In this world, ye gotta improvise!….Mosseau, ye have the galaxy brain of Scots right there! Gwahahaha!" boasted Mosseau to himself as he prepared himself to execute him plan for the next day.

Next followed, with Bowser, George, John and Brane being outside, standing on the gray beach, still observing the jagged walls of plateau. For some reason, certain someone was absent at that moment.

"Got any ideas, boys?" asked Bowser as he turned towards them.

"Nope." his colleagues answered, leaving Bowser with only a groan. Suddenly, they heard a voice. A voice that warms the hearts of many girls and that inspires hope in many people. That voice being...

"YE BLOODY GOBSHITE, GO THROUGH THE FOOKEN DOOR ALREADY!"

"MOSSEAU! What is with your-" Bowser immediately rushed in to see what was even happening, only to see Mosseau with a plank tied around his trash can. It was placed behind Mosseau's back, along with additional rope for some reason. "….What are you even planning?"

"Aye, Bows! Aye been needing a wee bit of yer help there." requested Mosseau, to which Bowser carried him out of the capital ship like a plank before placing him near his colleagues.

"Aight, Bows, listen up. All ye gotta do for me is to climb the wall and carry me there. Ye'll be following me instructions as we go further!" explained Mosseau, pointing at some spot in the wall.

"This is going to be easy, but are you absolutely sure this will work out?" doubted Bowser, knowing that Mosseau's way of thought doesn't really align with anything, not even the most abstract life forms probably.

"Aye, me plans always work out!" gloated Mosseau, throwing the additional rope at him. Bowser caught it with his hand.

"...I genuinely wonder if your plans are influenced by what you drink." wondered Bowser as he tied the rope around his arm.

"Oh, absolutely." jested George, taking an opportunity to have a laugh.

"Shut the fuck up, ye don't know SHITE!" lashed out Mosseau at him, which greatly amused George, before he turned towards Bowser with the same cheery expression he had on his crusty skeletal face. "Anyway, lets have it a go, laddeh!"

Bowser started climbing the near vertical jagged wall of the plateau as the rope around his arm carried Mosseau. Without any proper difficulties bar some rubble going in his way, Bowser slowly but surely kept ascending towards his goal. His colleagues watched, believing that their boss would make mincemeat out of climbing.

Some time passed, as Bowser was approaching the edge of plateau, almost reaching the top of of. When he was just few inches from reaching the top, Mosseau gave out a sign of halt.

"Lad, can ye move just a wee bit up?" asked Mosseau, to which Bowser complied.

"A wee bit down." Mosseau requested once again. Bowser moved his position just like his Scottish colleague told him.

"A wee bit left." cautioned Mosseau one last time before Bowser moved to a place, where Mosseau was finally satisfied.

"Here we go! Now, punch the stoney fucker!" signaled Mosseau as he pumped up his skeletal fist.

"Gladly!" approved Bowser, aligning his arm right towards the spot where Mosseau pointed out. Then, with a considerable prowess, punched a hole right in the wall. It was as deep as the length of his arm. Despite the powerful punch, Bowser remained in his position without any slips.

"Aye, let me take the job now." said Mosseau as he launched himself right in the hole, fitting right in. It seemed like luck blessed both of them, as the plank was perfectly aligned to the surface of the top.

"Ayehahaha, yes! Now, get on the plank!" said Mosseau. Bowser, with the help of the additional rope, jumped right on the plank. It didn't even budge, despite the weight of the boss. He untied the rope around his arm, letting it fall from him. Then he looked forward, being prepared to cross the plateau horizontally.

"Gwahahaha! Yes! I did it! I have solved the riddle of the holy mountain! Take that, shaman!" thought Bowser to himself as he walked on the plank. With an immense satisfied grin on his face, he stepped on the plateau from the plank. To him, crossing felt like the greatest symphony played in the most prestigious concert. His colleagues saw him cross the plank, cheering him all the way through.

Suddenly, as Bowser was quite away from the edge of the plateau, the ground on the top started to rumble. The ground collapsed by itself as Bowser watched in shock, but the crust around remained.

"Huh?! What is going on?!" exclaimed Bowser while being the witness of the ground of the top collapsing, slowly revealing worn out stairs that led to some kind of beige entrance. While the event was going on, the vibrations caused by it forced Mosseau to slip out of the hole in the wall.

"Off Aye go." said Mosseau before he jumped out of the hole, but not before letting out a war cry (or in that case, a fall cry) as he fell towards the bottom of gray shore:

"AYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEE LADDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!"

Once the collapsing ceased to be, it fully revealed what the plateau was hiding: broken pillars and few preserved lion statues, accompanying the stairs that lead to the entrance. Although it did remind Bowser of some tombs back in his world, he was still puzzled by it.

"Huh…so this is it. Perhaps going inside will clear up some things." decided Bowser as je casually strolled down the stairs, getting closer to the entrance. Staring right in the entrance felt null, as if darkness was staring right back into his soul. Suddenly, just when he was just about to enter, he stopped. He felt a cold shiver around his shoulder as he was being aware of a certain presence.

"It seems you have solved the mystery that took many lives..." a voice spoke to him, a rather familiar one at that. The don of skeletons turned towards the source of it, only to find a familiar man, wearing a gas mask and a cape. Bowser's eyes widened when he saw the presence of Balkan Lord of Čevapi.

"...You?" blurted out Bowser at the sight of him, freezing from sheer surprise.

"I must say that I am impressed. You have done something that no one has ever accomplished before." praised Balkan Lord of Čevapi as he slowly approached the stunned Bowser with his cape following the flow of a slight breeze. "In a short amount of time too. Many beings took years, decades to even get a slight hint, only to succumb to the cruel fate."

"Were you perhaps-" Bowser attempted to ask, trying to confirm whether or not he is connected to the shaman.

"Now, you wonder about this place, don't you?" interjected Balkan Lord, changing their subject. Bowser was ready to complain about not getting an answer, but there was a certain feeling that lashing out against someone like Balkan Lord would be a very unwise idea.

"I mean, yeah I do?" said Bowser,

"What is your assumption? I would like to know, Bowser." asked Balkan Lord, catching the turtle conqueror off guard. Somehow, being referred by the name by him greatly unsettled Bowser.

"How am I supposed to know?! There's probably the owner of this island, I guess. Some monster or something." hesitantly badgered Bowser, trying to come up with a sensible hypothesis for Balkan Lord's question.

"You are quite light with terminology, for someone who's about to face a higher being." noted Balkan Lord of Čevapi, giving the turtle man a slight idea what is waiting for him.

"...Wha? What do you mean by a "higher being?" asked Bowser out of bafflement, sounding like he's in denial about someone actually being threatening to his rising skeletal empire for once. "What is all of this vague nonsense?"

"I cannot speak much about him, but the sovereign of this island is a defiant...of both Heaven and Hell." elaborated Balkan Lord in a rather warning tone. Although those concepts were blurry for Bowser, it's been all but confirmed that Bowser should not take things lightly at that moment.

"...Right." uttered Bowser. His mind couldn't imagine what he was about to face.

"Follow me. This is where you'll need my guidance." demanded Balkan Lord as both of them stepped inside the darkness of the entrance. From the vast outside of plateau, they crossed the narrow dark hallway, leading only forward. Carved by the stone floor, they emitted barely audible footsteps through out the gloomy hall.

"I must ask you to remain silent, if you want to come out alive." requested Balkan Lord as they continued traversing. Although annoyed by Balkan Lord's demand, Bowser remained quiet through out their journey through the hall. After exiting the hall, they found a giant, singular gray stalagnate, as tall as a skyscraper while wide as a football stadium, connected by the numerous marble bridges around it. Each bridge led to a tunnel towards the unknown. Barren pitch black water ran underneath the bridges, calmly residing there as the part of the unknown megastructure. Bowser and Balkan Lord walked over a single marble bridge among the labyrinth of many. When it was necessary, both of them jumped over to another bridge with relative easy. Leaping from one bridge to another, Balkan Lord finally found out the one he was looking for. Despite all the leaps, none of them even made a sound. In the grand scope of things, Bowser felt tiny when compared to Balkan Lord's presence and the sheer size of mystic stalagnate. After traversing over the correct bridge, they found themselves at the another entrance, similar looking to the holes on the natural pillar. Without hesitation, they went through it, only to end up in another hallway. However, unlike the initial hallway, that one seemed to be decorated with various mural paintings on it.

"This is where the fate is left up to you. Good luck, for you will need it." said Balkan Lord of Čevapi before he disappeared in the darkness, leaving Bowser all alone. Realizing that it was fruitless to ask additional questions, Bowser pushed forward as he slowly crossed the hallway. As the curiosity got him, he decided to check the mural paintings that decorated the narrow space. Upon seeing it, he was left quite stunned.

Demons, begging for aid, as they were being purged by the divine light. Some of the demonic beings were crying in anguish, being vaporized by the eternal luminosity of lords, reflecting from a shield.

"….I hope the other side is as messed up as this one." thought Bowser to himself as he stepped toward the other mural paintings on the other end of the hall.

Angels, pleading for mercy as they were being burned alive by the infernal fire. All of them wept for their goddess, who couldn't respond to their pleas. She was being impaled through her abdomen with a giant spear. The divine blood covered the floor of slain angels as the fire even engulfed the goddesses body.

"What am I going up against?!" panicked Bowser to himself, having his jaw dropped after seeing the mural paintings. However, he quickly picked himself up, realizing that he shouldn't let the feeling of hopelessness overcome him.

"No! I will not end up like either of them! I must remember who I am: I am Bowser and I will achieve what is impossible for all. I will be the greatest conqueror!" Bowser motivated himself before he faced forward. He decided to speed up his walk, so that he could face whatever was waiting for him. Stomping all the way through, he reached giant wooden doors. Although he couldn't understand it, there was a rune on it, written in an ancient language:

"Here rests Shah Hzalazan. May the bringer of balance prosper even in death."

"It's showtime!" announced Bowser to himself as he slowly opened the creaking doors. As the opened doors gave out a clearer vision, he saw another set of stairs, leading towards a wide but near empty hall. Light was emitted from the two streams of emerald water, running across the sides of the room. Despite providing a great amount of light, there was an amalgamation of darkness in the middle of the room. Bowser slowly walked down the stairs, glaring at the darkness.

"What brings you here, being from another world?" spoke the darkness out of a sudden with deep booming voice as the glowing emerald green eyes appeared from it, staring right into Bowser's soul with its deathly vision. Bowser, all in the name of spite, only confidently smirked at it, as if he was prepared for it.

"What bring me here, you say. Well, listen very carefully as I am about to say. I am Bowser and I have come to take over this island! I will become the most influential person on this planet. I will become greater than Alexander the Great-" boastfully introduced Bowser to it, only to be stopped as the darkness stood up, revealing its humanoid shape. Its bronze armored head had a pair of horns facing downwards, with his mouth infested with infernal fangs. With its body protected by the bronze armor, the being held a giant spear, dubbed "The spear of Djinn" in its one hand, while holding a giant circular shield in another hand. Shoulders of the being were armored by iron pauldrons, giving it the appearance that sows fear to hundreds of armies. When it stood up, it towered over Bowser like nothing has ever before, with the turtle king only reaching the size of its nail on the foot.

Bowser, the don of skeletons, was standing right in front of the ancient king: Shah Hzalazan.

"Do not besmirch the name of Alexander III of Macedon, as he is the only being who achieved something no one did before!" warned Shah Hzalazan as it prepared its battle stance. His revelation caused Bowser to flinch in surprise, with his eyes being completely wide upon hearing it.

"You...f-fought him?!" stuttered Bowser, barely imagining how would his idol fight such a menace.

"Indeed. When I was at the height of my power, fate made us cross paths in Babylon. A fierce opponent to the bitter end, my defeat at his hands banished me to this lonesome island. However, it shall be known as I put a great curse upon the Arabian sea, establishing the remnant of my reign." explained Shah Hzalazan, causing even more mind blows for the turtle king.

"I...uh…." stammered Bowser, trying to come up with something to say directly to Hzalazan's face.

"Yet you claim to follow his footsteps? I would like to see you back up such preposterous claim." scoffed Shah Hzalazan as he stood with pride.

"….Yes! Just like him, I will also score a victory against you! Our encounter shall mark your second defeat and it will be a permanent one!" boasted Bowser, deciding that it would be a better idea to face the ancient Persian king, rather than to be stuck in a loop of confusion. He raised his fist, pointing directly at the giant shah.

"Overconfidence of a man is the downfall of many. It shall be yours too. Now face me, false conqueror, as I shall inflict unspeakable torment of divine proportions upon you!" challenged Shah Hzalazan as both individuals let out their roars at each other. While Bowser's roar sounded like a prideful lion, Hzalazan's roar resembled a volcanic eruption, followed by the earth shattering earthquakes as it echoed through out the room, silencing Bowser's roar in the process. Without wasting a moment, Hzalazan pointed his spear of Djinn directly at Bowser and struck first, being inches away from impaling him right through his head, had the turtle king not tilted his head just the right moment. It hit the staircase, leaving a small crater due the tip. Bowser, after reacting to the first attack, dashed towards the colossal king as Hzalazan pulled out his weapon. He noticed the rushing turtle conqueror before Bowser leaped at him, preparing to deliver a punch right in his face, only for Hzalazan to put up his shield. His punch would have left a dent in the shield, but Hzalazan attacked him with it, sending him right to the nearest wall. Bowser's crash caused a crater in it as the rubble fell down from it. The moment he saw Bowser being stuck in the crater, Hzalazan prepared for another offense with his spear. Just when the Persian king nearly scored a hit with his spear, Bowser, with a smug smirk on his face, jumped off from the impact zone as he fell. He hid himself in his shelf, rolling towards Hzalazan when he landed on the shallow stream of emerald water. Rolling kept going faster, approaching the standing king with considerable speed. Suddenly, just when Bowser's rolling attack was about to connect, Hzalazan kicked him and sent him crashing into a wall once again, that time leaving a bigger crater than before. Despite being deflected, Bowser's rolling attack did cause minimal piercings in his foot, but not enough to be noticeable. Some of the emerald water leaked over to the hole left by crashed Bowser.

"Gwah! What's the deal with-" grumbled Bowser, only for him to be facing Hzalazan's deathly stare as he attempted to strike him down. Bowser ducked just in time as the spear struck just above him head. Realizing that he has no window of opportunity to talk, let alone boast, he attempted to run circles around the Persian king, but he was soon met with a swing of a spear, which sent him flying to the nearest wall in the room again. Bowser, knowing that any second could cost him life, quickly rushed away from another impact zone in the wall, as Hzalazan attempted to skewer him, along with swinging his spear around to deny area from his opponent. It was just large enough to cover the entire room, but still fitted in it.

"How am I supposed to even land a hit?!" angrily thought Bowser to himself as he kept evading both thrusts and swings of the spear of Djinn in any possible way, from covering down while running to jumping over the swings. Suddenly, as one of the swings managed to strike him, he was just lucky enough that he grabbed it, holding on it without being launched from the hit. It was that lucky moment that gave him an idea in a heat of the battle.

"Oh right! I should dispose of-" he planned out in his head, but his train of thought was quickly derailed when Hzalazan started spinning his spear around like a propeller in order for Bowser to lose his grip. Suddenly, the Persian king stopped rapidly rotating his spear as he smashed Bowser right in the wall, leaving another impact zone. As Bowser got removed from his spear, Hzalazan quickly prepared himself, striking Bowser right in his shoulder. The tip of the spear pierced through Bowser's arm, causing a heavy amount of bleeding. Bowser roared in agony from the attack, but he quickly spat a small but fast fireball right in Hzalazan's demonic face, causing him to flinch. It was just enough for Bowser to remove the spear and move his position away from the crater, landing in a shallow stream again.

"You're going to pay BIG TIME for this!" threatened Bowser, covering the wound with his other hand. He could still use his damaged arm, but not without considerable pain. In response, Hzalazan turned towards him with burning armored face, whom didn't seem to be too bothered by it, as the only thought being to secure a victory over him.

"Not before you are slain." said Hzalazan, preparing to take his life with the weapon of holy worth. Bowser jumped the right time before he could have been struck by the spear again. If it wasn't for the leap, Hzalazan's attack could have been lethal for him. The turtle warrior landed just far enough to briefly get out of Hzalazan's sight, making him turn towards him.

"There has to be some window of opportunity!" thought Bowser to himself in a haste as he attempted to use his "running in circles to confuse the enemy" tactic, however now he could at least predict where and how would Hzalazan attack. Suddenly, when Hzalazan kept swinging his spear along with some thrusts, Bowser thought of something. In a rush, he quickly calculated the risks, to see if the tide of the battle would turn in his favor.

"Alright, I think I have to risk it!" decided Bowser in a haste, as he suddenly stopped running when Hzalazan was about to swing his spear again. Just when the blunt end of the spear was about to send Bowser flying towards the wall just like before, Bowser, with all his might placed in one undamaged hand, punched the incoming handle. With the sheer power of the punch alone, he broke the spear in two, sending the pointed head flying before it landed out of Hzalazan's sight.

"What?" perplexed Hzalazan as he took a look at his broken spear. Then he glanced over, realizing that the distraction hindered him when he saw Bowser, despite still having a wounded arm, dashing off towards the pointed head.

"An audacious move for unholy vermin like you!" seethed Hzalazan, preparing to strike down Bowser with the broken spear, only to be met by a quick glance from him as he fired another small, but fast fireball at him. However, instead of directly hitting Hzalazan, it struck the broken spear, engulfing it in flames. It quickly crumbled right in the Persian king's hands as it turned into charcoal. Filled with an intense amount of wrath, Hzalazan faced toward Bowser, but soon saw that he was already holding the burning pointy head in his hands. The Persian king quickly put up a shield to cover his head and torso before Bowser threw the pointy head right at him with all force he had in both of his hands. What Hzalazan didn't expect was that the pointy head was thrown with such force that not only the shield was pierced, but it went right through his hand, burning it as well. He let out an agonizing roar, which gave Bowser an opportunity to rip the shield out of his hand. Such move caught Hzalazan completely off guard before Bowser threw the shield like a frisbee, hitting him right in his face as he flinched due the impact.

"Gwahahaha! Not so mighty, are you?!" taunted Bowser as his bleeding wound started to feel less like a detriment during the fight, pointing with his arm in a mocking manner.

Hzalazan, after removing the pointy head from his wounded arm, clenched both of his fists in anger as he smashed the floor with both of his fists. From the sheer impact alone, the entire floor of the room collapsed in seconds, dragging both of them down in a free fall.

"HUH?!" yelped Bowser as he started flailing his arms around like a madman when he, along Hzalazan, started falling down. The collapsed floor revealed a narrow abyss, surrounded by the dark jagged walls of the stalagnate. After regaining some composure, Bowser turned towards the falling Hzalazan, facing each other right in the eyes with only glares that could kill a man. The rubble from the destroyed floor joined their descent, but the puny stones were no match for the battle of two titans. Bowser started charging the flames inside his mouth as he attempted to approach Hzalazan closer, but he was soon met by a smack from the Persian king's hand, which sent him straight to the jagged wall. Despite bouncing off the jagged wall, Bowser kept charging the flames inside his mouth before he returned to his original falling position. Hzalazan attempted to smack him into the walls once again, but Bowser managed to evade all of the attacks. When the time was right for him, Bowser unleashed a large fireball right at the Persian king, engulfing his entire colossal body in furious fire. Despite being distracted by the flames eating up his armored body, Hzalazan continued retaliating as much as he could, but Bowser only got closer as he fell towards him with flames spewing out of his mouth. When he got close enough, Bowser started slashing Hzalazan's face with his claws. He unleashed multiple strikes, but the results were just mere scratches, thanks to both armor and Hzalazan's durable skin. The Persian king countered him with a headbutt, sending him flying upwards from the impact. Soon enough, Bowser regained the control of his fall and hid himself in a shell, rolling towards his adversary with ever increasing acceleration. Hzalazan tried to predict the path of Bowser's strike, preparing himself to smack him away, but Bowser fell so fast, that the Persian king couldn't even react as the rolling turtle king crashed right in his torso, tearing apart every bits of armor he had. Hzalazan could only attempt to remove Bowser from causing even greater damage, but to no avail.

As the fireball of two titans kept falls, the walls suddenly expanded into the vastness as they left the vertical tunnel, entering the lowest point of the island. The ceiling was filled with thin but sharp stalactites, while the bottom was filled pitch black but calm water. There was a large circular land sticking out of the water, resembling a gladiatorial area. The descending fireball illuminated the even the darkest places of the whole underground.

When both of them finally crashed the gladiatorial-like land, the flames from Hzalazan spread around it before they were quickly extinguished by both water and coldness of the underworld. Just before the impact, Bowser landed a little bit away from Hzalazan as he quickly stood up, preparing himself for the another phase of the fight. Soon afterwards, the Persian king stood up, revealing his colossal size once again. Both of them quietly glared at each other, filled with only the intent of ending their opponent's lives. Suddenly, instead of attacking him immediately, he held both of his hands together as he raised them above his head. Bowser's flinched from being startled as Hzalazan chanting in the ancient language:

"May you hear my plea, Lords from Above, for this water to cleanse all of those deemed too wretched to exist."

Suddenly, the entire pitch black water lit itself in a holy rampaging blue fire, surrounding them while illuminating everything in the underground.

"Woah, you have prepared an awesome background for our battle! But that won't be enough to take down me!" boasted Bowser while marveling at the sight of the roaring flames on the water.

"This divine fire shall be your grave!" threatened Hzalazan as he prepared his battle stance.

"Then make it my grave!" taunted Bowser before each of them let out their roars at each other. Bowser sprinted towards him, ready to strike him at any moment. Hzalazan swiped with his hand, but Bowser stopped just in front of the attack before he continued running. When he got just close to Hzalazan's leg, he punched it with his unharmed arm, making him flinch in the process. However, Hzalazan quickly reacted and swiped with his arm, managing to get a hit on Bowser as he was sent towards the inflamed sea. When Bowser landed in it, the divine flames engulfed him, making him shriek from the absolute agony from it. It was not the body that was being combusted, it was Bowser's very own soul drained by the holy fires. He swam as quickly as he could to minimize as much draining as possible. He was just in time when he reached the land, spinning around to extinguish the fires as he stepped on the area. However, he was out of his breath when he reached the land, despite being exposed to the fire for a relatively short amount of time.

"Crud! I can't prolong the battle anymore! I have to defeat him in a decisive blow!" thought Bowser to himself while immediately continuing evasive actions against Hzalazan's swipes. He realized that the only thing Hzalazan needed to do was to throw him in the water and keep him there for long enough for his soul to completely burn. When he thought about this, he formulated the plan in his head.

He shall fight fire with fire.

As he kept dodging Hzalazan's attacks, he started charging fire within him. Evasive action after evasive action against Hzalazan's swipes, the flames in his mouth, already leaking out in a small amount, kept getting hotter as the time went on.

Suddenly, Bowser stopped on the tracks, facing right at the Persian king. The flames in his mouth got so intense and heated that he could barely contain them anymore. Hzalazan, seeing his adversary standing right in front of him, wasted no time as he prepared for the decisive swipe, to finally secure his position as the sovereign of the island while continuing the terror in the Arabian sea.

"Say your last prayers, false conqueror!" warned Shah Hzalazan as he was moments away from dealing the final strike, but something happened. Something that the Persian king never imagined to happen.

Bowser, after charging the flames for enough time, unleashed an exothermic inferno from his mouth, consisting of similar blue fire, right in Hzalazan's face. His wrathful fire consumed Hzalazan's entire body as he shouted in absolute agony, his body quickly disintegrating from the sheer heat alone. Despite the unholy torment unleashed upon him, Hzalazan still attempted to strike down Bowser, but to no avail, as his entire body got vaporized at that moment. Nothing but his fiery spirit remained from him when Bowser ended his massive attack on him. The blue flames of his seamlessly joined in the sea, continuing burning like they used to.

However, once Bowser ceased with his attack, he suddenly collapsed on the ground, feeling absolutely exhausted from all the things that happened to him that day. While he was laying on the ground, he saw Hzalazan's fiery spirit right in front of him. Frustrated at the sight of it, he dragged himself, trying to beat him up for the last time.

"That shall be enough. Your fighting shall be remembered for ages, especially for someone completely out of this world." declared Hzalazan's spirits, ending their fight with such words.

"Heh...I did it...I truly did it…I achieved something that only Alexander the Great did!…." chuckled Bowser, feeling an immense amount of satisfaction despite complete exhaustion.

"Before our fates depart, I must ask you few things." asked the spirit just before a farewell.

"...Yeah? Island is mine now, right?…." responded Bowser with a sincere grin on his face.

"Of course. But, did he send you here?" approved the spirit, but not before it referred to someone who he might find familiar.

"Uh...I think so…." answered Bowser, deep down knowing who was being mentioned.

"So...do you seek it?" asked the spirit once again.

"...Seek what?" quietly requested Bowser for a clarification as he was barely looking in spirit's eyes from exhaustion.

"Do you seek...something I've brought upon this world? Something I righteously tore from the above?" elaborated the spirit.

"I...I don't know. Maybe..." mumbled Bowser, being rather unsure about it.

"Perhaps you don't realize it yet, but what you seek shall gain you the ultimate knowledge. Your ambitions will become realized with such power. I must bid you farewell, Bowser." said the spirit in a rather calm tone before vanishing away from Bowser's eyes, disappearing into nothingness.

Being left alone, surrounded by the ongoing fire, Bowser turned towards the ceiling as he placed his arms on his belly, happily looking at the stalactites above him.

"Hehehe….it's hard to believe how far I have come. From trying to take over Mushroom Kingdom to not only creating the most awesome group ever to exist, but to actually conquer something even in this world!" silently cheered Bowser at himself as he let out some heartfelt chuckles. However, even in such mood, his eyes were forcefully starting to close down. He did all the efforts to remain awake, but it was slowly overtaking him.

"But I feel….so tired...Just so tired...Not that I feel bad...just...a little nap would help. Yeah, that's all I need now. Just a little nap….Even if the journey ends here, I'll be happy…."said Bowser with a smile on his face just before he shut his eyes.

"Junior….you're going to be so proud of your Papa when I tell you all about it…."

Bowser passed out in the middle of the area as the flames around him got extinguished, covering him in the cold blanket of nothingness.

Suddenly, he woke up, seeing a clear sky above him. A sole seagull flew above, squaking like all seagulls love to. His wounded arm seemed to have been seamlessly patched up, no longer bleeding unlike before. Completely confused by the sight, he stood up to see what was happening. As he got a better look, he saw not a single cloud above him, even at the horizon. The sea was completely calm, sparkling under the bright sun.

"...So this is what it looks like when you're-" wondered Bowser while observing the sea. All the feeling of magic and wonder vanished when one familiar voice spoke up.

"You have nearly died." reminded Balkan Lord of Čevapi, standing right behind him. His sudden appearance completely startled Bowser as he turned towards him.

"HUH?! REALLY?!" loudly sputtered out Bowser at mere imagining of him even being close to dying. "I mean, that's just hard to imagine, really."

"Indeed. I have pulled you out of it before it was too late. It is admirable, though, to slay a higher being. You have warranted a decent amount of pride within yourself." further explained Balkan Lord, cheering up his colleague(?) a bit.

"Gwahaha! Of course! Nothing stands in a way of Bowser, the greatest don ever to grace this planet!" boasted Bowser while letting out a huge villainous chuckle.

"Your journey shall be continued, as intended." said Balkan Lord of Čevapi.

"Hahaha! Now I've seen everything! I am ready to face whatever this world will give!" gloated Bowser, raising his fists towards the sky.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that if I were you." warned Balkan Lord, halting the usual Bowser's self complementary nature.

"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Bowser in a rather unsure tune.

"There are still some things unimaginable by your mind. You will see them soon enough." cautioned Balkan Lord before he walked away, disappearing from Bowser's sight completely. He had many question to give to him, as he was completely confused, but decided that he will think about them later. When he looked at the ground, he saw a new staircase leading down to the shores. He crossed the staircases with relative ease just before he saw his colleagues on the shore, waiting for him.

"Hey, guys! I did it! The curse is no more!" announced Bowser, to which his friends gave him a huge applause along with some cheering.

"Congrats, Bows. You did it once again." praised George, giving him a gesture of a finger gun.

"Good job, mate!" cheered Mad John, giving him an applause.

"Jače! No one is unbeatable when Skeleton Mafia is there!" boasted Brane as he triumphantly pumped up his fists. However, only one individual remained quiet amid the cheering. Mosseau gave out an impression that he was squinting at the plateau.

"What's up, Mosseau? We have taken over this island!" asked Bowser, unsure why is Mosseau sticking out like a sore thumb when it came to the mood.

"Oh, aight, congrats on that. But there is something that's been irkin' me a bit, lad." answered Mosseau in an unusually quiet tone.

"What is it?" questioned Bowser.

"Something...Aye think aye'll not involve ye in this, but Aye did see something familiar." hinted Mosseau before he returned to the capital ship, leaving Bowser sort of frustrated.

"Why must everything end on an ominous note?! Anyway, it's time to celebrate!" said Bowser before all of them returned to their respective vessels, celebrating their new territory with a lot games and booze.

The clock hit midnight, with sleeping inside. However, Mosseau remained awake, inspecting some book under the lamp, frustratingly searching for some contents that are unknown to everyone else.

"Aye saw that bloody fucker, Aye swear!" thought Mosseau to himself as he continued inspecting the book. Suddenly, a dark figure appeared right behind him as it slowly approached him.

"Are you perhaps looking for me, Mosseau Haggisbourgh of Skrumpskin I.?" greeted Balkan Lord, startling Mosseau as he turned towards him.

"...Aye." confirmed Mosseau. "Aye assume that Aye should give some questions that ye can actually answer."

"I see you have taken some precautions. A wise choice, given for someone with a lot of experience." said Balkan Lord, being illuminated by the lamp.

"Aight, first of, who the fuck are ye?" asked Mosseau right of the bat.

"I am Balkan Lord of Čevapi, Sentinel of Darkness. I ensure that everything is going in this world as intended. Balance must be remained for a prosperous world."explained Balkan Lord in a calm tone, but his words only made Mosseau even more uncomfortable.

"Yer not divine nor infernal, but Aye don't think ye'll answer me that. Rather answer me this: where are ye leading Bows?" Mosseau gave out another question to get a better idea on who he is.

"I'm surprised you haven't asked me about yourself, because you are also a rather fit candidate for it. Perhaps it is because you are already satisfied with your way of life?" assumed Balkan Lord due to his expectation being heavily based upon Mosseau's tempter.

"Aye, Aye've got everything Aye need, but lets return to our main point, shall we?" said Mosseau.

"I saw an incredible amount of ambition in him, hence I decided to help him a little. Once he would truly reach it, his desires could become realized by a mere snap of a finger." continued Balkan Lord of Čevapi, walking around Mosseau for unknown reason.

"What the bloody hell is this it yer referring to?" fumed Mosseau, frustrated at Balkan Lord's vagueness.

"It, you say? The ultimate knowledge, a goal of the seekers. One gains powers that a mere man could never comprehend. It's something that the being slain by your boss has brought upon this world after committing something you have done four times in your life, but on a much more devastating scale. So devastating that the entire pantheons from above got their control torn by Lords from Above, beings that I serve." explained Balkan Lord in a calm tone, but there was some underline of fury in his words, which unsettled Mosseau even more. "It goes by the name..."

"….By...what name?" asked Mosseau, still trying to comprehend how could gods be mere parts of a machine of a greater scope.

"Wisdom of Falcon…."

Utterance of the name left the Scottish skeleton speechless, as he tried to comprehend everything the Balkan Lord said.

"I must warn you this, Mosseau, since you got lucky now, but take this as a warning…." cautioned Balkan Lord, leaving one statement before he disappeared into the night:

"Do not interfere with the forces greater than you."

"...What the fuck?!" blurted out Mosseau after Balkan Lord vanished from his sight. Many questions were left unanswered that day.

The ships have departed from the once stronghold of the ancient Persian king, now claiming the island as their own. By Bowser's request, they gave it the name of "Despot Island", partially due to the memory of the aforementioned Shah. On the capital ship, skeleton with binoculars was back on duty, observing the surroundings to find any islands on his sight. Meanwhile, Bowser and his henchmen were discussing about the events that happened on the island.

"Hahaha, you wouldn't believe what I fought on that island!" laughed Bowser, already prepared to flex about his latest accomplishment. He was so full of pride that even a drunken sailor that fought against everyone in a bar and won would tell him to chill.

"What even was there?" asked George as he crossed his arms before he began to listen to his boss.

"I can safely assume it was the cause of the unnatural occurrences in the Arab sea, but I'm not entirely sure what was it." assumed Mad John, scratching his crusty beard during his thinking.

"Okay so, get this: it was an ancient king that was cursed on this island after being defeated by none other than Alexander the Great!" revealed Bowser, much to the surprise of everyone in the room.

"Wait what?" perplexed George when he heard the answer. He wasn't sure if Bowser was making things up or not, but then again, he saw beings like an extremely furious swordfish and a mechanical heavily armed minotaur with his own eye(sockets).

"Well now." casually responded Mad John, being used to such situation even before he even met Bowser.

"I'm not making this up!" added Bowser, just in any case his colleagues doubted him about it.

"Dovraga! So he was behind the storm!" Brane raised his clenched fist when he realized the true cause of the storm. However, he was quite satisfied that his boss defeated the menace from the antique, since they could traverse the sea safely at that moment.

"Is that Shah Hzalazan yer talkin about?" suddenly spoke Mosseau as he turned towards his boss with great interest.

"Haha, yes, indeed I am-wait, how did you know about him?" just before Bowser could boast about it, he was taken by surprise when his Scottish lad uttered his name. "Have you fought him as well?"

"Aye was born in 1000 AD. Alexander the Great died in 323 BC, which was also the same year where he fought that bastard. Do the math by yerself." sassed Mosseau, thinking that his question was, quite frankly, stupid, considering the distances of eras either of them lived in. He also thought his age was obvious, despite not properly telling his boss before.

"That still doesn't explain how did you know about him!" angrily badgered Bowser.

"Regional legends, laddeh. Aye've been to these places about after Aye've been kicked from Hell like the first time. Arab lads were telling me about it. There were even some books about it. In fact…" explained Mosseau properly before he looked through his trash can and brought up a crusty looking book with brown blank cover. The pages within it were colored completely yellow due age, with them also being rather delicate. Had a reader turned the page with more force than expected, it would crumble. Mosseau looked through it to find pages that covered Hzalazan's history. Once he found them, he gave the book to Bowser. "Here ya go, laddeh."

"Oh...I see. That does make sense." responded Bowser before he started reading Mosseau's book. When his eyes met the content of the book, one thing that immediately grabbed his attention was a rather well preserved black illustration of Shah Hzalazan's silhouette looming over a burning city of Babylon. The silhouette of the former Persian king blended in the dark atmosphere with only his fiendish eyes glowing as they watched the blazing inferno beneath it. Bowser smirked at the illustration, knowing that he scored a victory against a being of such significance. However, there was one issue he had with the book: it was written in Arabic. Not only did he not understand the written content at all, he was also reading it from left to right. "What does it even say?"

"It says "Before Alexander III of Macedon's conquest of Persia, Shah Hzalazan covertly ruled the empire with an iron fist. No Persian king managed to destroy his regime, as they either perished during the battle, submitted to his rule or escaped the duel but died due Hzalazan's curses, which were often formed in natural disasters. Alexander III managed to indirectly overthrow him when he won against Persia...It was only at the time when Alexander III of Macedon was in Babylon for the first time when they first met…" and so on." translated Mosseau to him, reading from right to left as one should.

"I'm curious how did you even get there." wondered George, also being genuinely impressed that Mosseau could read Arabic at all. It wasn't something he expected.

"Lads had a severe problem with seafaring thieving cunts, so the Scots offered to send me to it. Lets say that the bloody piracy plummeted all the way down to the abyss. Gyahahaha!" boasted Mosseau in a way he would usually do.

"You sure do hate pirates, don't you." commented Bowser, thinking that while Mosseau's hatred of pirates was understandable, he felt that he was way too overboard with it. Mario and Luigi give him quite a lot of irritation, but never to that extent.

"Oh, where was Aye-" continued Mosseau before he suddenly, out of nowhere, started slamming his skeletal fists on the table in a fit of rage, startling Bowser in the process. His other colleagues, however, were not surprised with the action at all, knowing him for quite a while.

"And off he goes." George performed a gesture that resembled rolling with one's eyes.

"MOSSEAU! STOP DOING THAT RIGHT NOW!" commanded Bowser as he pointed directly at him.

"OH FUCK OFF, YE LUCKY BASTARD! YER MANAGED TO GET A PROPER BATTLE!" exploded Mosseau, stopping with slamming just so he could lash out. It seemed like his repressed battle thirst finally leaked out a bit.

"Mosseau, if you do not cease, you will not get Rakija!" warned Brane as he raised his finger as an additional warning.

"FUCK!" Mosseau calmed down as quickly as he threw a shit fit. "Ye got me there."

"I told you already, Mosseau, you will get a battle. Just that we need to get a proper island and then maybe someone who will oppose us!" cautioned Bowser while still keeping his promise. He wasn't exactly opposed to the idea of having a solid opponent, even if it meant scoring a decisive victory over them.

"Me patience is on thin ice, Bows!" threatened Mosseau as he brought up his chainsaw as a part of the threat.

"Then place your patience on thick ice instead!" retaliated Bowser, but then he reminded himself of something that he really wanted to address. "But for now, as I said about proper islands, there is an issue we need to discuss."

"Oh, that's new. Bowsy boy's bringin' somethin' good to the table." noted George, who was quite interested in what would his boss, known for not the most thought provoking things, say at that moment.

"Okay, so hear me out: That talk about pesky logistics reminded me that we also have a problem with ammo! While we do pack quite a punch, not only are we still years behind many navies around the world, but we also don't really have much in terms of supplying ourselves! I'm thinking about establishing ammunition factories once we get proper islands, but does anyone have additional suggestions?" Bowser explained their situation, taking some notes from one of the previous talks.

"Establish trade with countries ASAP. This would give us not only proper supplies, but also decent relations with them as well." suggested Mad John almost immediately.

"That is a good point, but with who would be a decent trade partner?" asked Bowser, scratching his chin while he brainstormed a few of potential partners. Closer the trader partners were to the hypothetical "proper" island, the better for them.

"Don't you see? The answer is quite easy: Croatia!" Brane confidently raised his finger up in the air, fully believing that his answer was decisive and concrete. Upon hearing it, Bowser thought about the potential of Croatia being their trade partner, but he found a potential obstacle.

"...Ain't that too far, though?" doubted Bowser while considering the distance between their current position and the birthplace of Kornjača.

"Is this a genuine answer or are you just bein' homesick?" sassed George, turning toward his chef colleague with a mischievous grin.

"Fifty-fifty. Real talk though, we are already on the good with Croatia, thanks to establishment of Kornjača! That could give us a boost!" asserted Brane with a confident smile. It was true that he was missing the lovely feel of his home, but being around his colleagues and cooking for them helped him curb down homesickness of his.

"Hmmm….still though, ain't that too far? Don't you think it would take a long time for ships to arri-" further argumented Bowser, only to be hit by one simple realization: he has completely neglected the possibility of air travel. "Oh...I forgot. Planes."

"So that means that our islands must have runways for them!" quickly announced Bowser as he raised his fist in the air.

"While that would be quite beneficial, we don't even have planes on our own. How are we going to obtain them, mate?" questioned Mad John, partially due being used to traveling so much with ships on their journey. However, he was quite welcome to the idea of air travel due to being one of his favorite ways to travel.

"Easy, smuggle them. Spares us the money." suggested George with zero hesitation.

"I don't think I would call stealing an aircraft easy. I can see with a Cessna, but with something like an airliner or especially military aircraft, it would be quite a troublesome process." disputed Mad John.

"How about just buying them? We have the money." interrupted Brane with a more legally appropriate suggestion.

"That would be a more practical option. With the current income, we could snatch some Cessnas or something similar." concurred Mad John as he nodded as well.

"Awesome! I don't know what this Cessna thing is, but just the concept of having some air travel in our arsenal. However, I have a question: are there any planes that can land on the water? I think they would be quite helpful on our CONQUEST!" approved Bowser before he gave out a question for them.

"You mean seaplanes? Flying boats and floatplanes?" clarified Mad John, saying the very first thing that popped in his mind.

"Yes, exactly that!" concurred Bowser, but then he quickly thought about something that felt rather odd about the term flying boat. "Wait, aren't flying boats just airships?"

"And then you dunk on my designs." Bowser squinted at Mosseau, expressing annoyance for every time Mosseau has made fun out of his military equipment. Each of them had rather conflicting standards about such topic.

"Bowser, there is a great difference between designing an aircraft with a hull and smacking a giant bloody propeller on a galleon." clarified Mosseau in a tone that would both serious and mocking at the same time while he made some gestures resembling the key differences between a flying boat and Bowser's idea of airships.

"Hmmpf….Crud." Deep down, as much as he didn't like it, Bowser admitted to himself that Mosseau was actually pretty right about.

"Yea, we have a couple of them." said Mad John casually.

"Excellent! We have to get some seaplanes...somehow!" cheered Bowser as he raised his arms up in the air from excitement. "Now then, that should be all for now. What shall we do now aside from continuing our conquest?"

"I know exactly what we could do right now!" Brane got an idea that appeared in a flash. "Anyone want some čevapi?"

"Sign me up, mate!" approved Mad John as he slapped his knee.

"Of course! Bring me čevapi!" agreed Bowser as well. Unlike the taste of fish, he was more than welcome to try out čevapi again.

"I haven't tried them out in a while, so why not?" said George.

"Make sure to bring me Rakija as well, me lad!" demanded Mosseau, shaking his fist.

"Super! I shall go and make čevapi!" announced Brane before he went to the kitchen to prepare the desired dish. As soon as he entered the kitchen, he poured some sunflower oil on the frying pan before he heated it up. After some time, he threw some raw čevapi in it and started frying them. When one side of a meat dumpling got fried enough, he turned them. Once all of čevapi got finished, he placed them on a plate and left the kitchen, but not before taking a bottle of rakija with him. Opening up the doors, Brane revealed himself to his gang with great amount of grandiose.

"Evo ga! Čevapi so tu!" proudly announced Brane as he put the plate with čevapi on the table. He also gave Mosseau the exact drink he wanted. The gang, along with the Croatian chef, started eating the definitive meat of Balkan cuisine.

"Delicious as always!" praised Bowser as he gave him a fist bump of approval.

"That's the stuff, mate." complimented Mad John, munching the čevapi with glee.

"Yea, it's pretty good." simply commented George.

"Ooooh, laddeh! This is what Aye needed!" cheered Mosseau as he started chugging rakija while he ate čevapi.

"Thank you, thank you! It's always welcome to hear the satisfaction of customers!" thanked Brane as he bowed like an accomplished chef he was. Suddenly, a fellow skeleton barged in the room as he gained attention from everyone in it.

"Eyy, boys! You gotta see this" invited skeleton with binoculars to see something.

"What is it? Is it something important?" Bowser raised his eyebrow in interest.

"I wouldn't call you if it wasn't. Now, come and see!" added skeleton with binoculars before the top brass of Skeleton Mafia followed him on the deck. He pointed at the seemingly larger than before island on the horizon. There was a hill in the middle of the island, standing out from the flat surfaces of it. However, judging from their view, the island lacked any sort of typical tropical environment, compared to the very first island they have taken over. There were very few tropical trees there, instead being more reminiscent of environments seen in the Mediterranean sea.

"Hah, island! Just what we needed! It looks bigger than those two as well!" boastfully commented Bowser at the sight of the island. He put his arms around his stomach like a conquest hungry explorer, awaiting the opportunity to seize.

"A bit convenient, innit?" jokingly noted George.

"Well, it depends on what does this island offer to us." said Mad John, taking notes from take overs of previous islands.

"Skeleton with binoculars, inspect the island!" ordered Bowser, to which the bone minion did as quickly as he was told.

"Hmmm….I see a port." reported skeleton with binoculars after seeing a gathering of houses, which had stone walls along with dark brown bricked roofs on them, from a considerable distance.

"An already built port? AWESOME!" Bowser pumped his fist out of joy.

"And it has four ships…" noticed skeleton with binoculars when he saw four wooden ships with four large masts, each of them holding a decent amount of sails on them. Seen vessels also had "beaks" in the front with a bowsprit added on them. They also had some flags on top of the sails, but due the distance, they weren't recognized at that moment. "Hey Brane, right?"

"What do you need, my friend?" asked Brane, stepping in the need.

"You're the vessel man, right?" skeleton with binoculars pointed at the ships.

"Of course! Gimme the binoculars for a little bit, as I will identify ships for you!" said Brane before he looked through the given item. Upon seeing the ships, he immediately knew what type they were. "I see….we have four galleons docked right there and it seems like there's also a town there."

"Galleons? Hah, those should be easy to deal with if they attack us! I've dealt with them plenty of times" smirked Bowser, but at the same time he was kind of surprised that he would encounter such a ship in this world, considering what he saw back in the Red sea. However, hearing that of vessel also raised Mosseau's interest, but he looked at them with a suspecting glance.

"Hold up there, me lad. Let me check something." interrupted Mosseau before he tore the binoculars from skeleton's hands as he checked the faraway vessels by himself. His suspicions were lowered when he recognized the decorations of the vessels. Flags were still not recognized by anyone because of the distance.

"Crisis averted. They seem to belong to navy." reported Mosseau in a chill tone as he returned the binoculars to the skeleton. The skeleton himself was not amused with his binoculars being taken away from him in such Mosseau-ish fashion.

"It was about pirates, wasn't it?" assumed Bowser, squinting at Mosseau from the lack of surprise.

"...Aye." confirmed Mosseau in a similar tone as one storyteller would tell a "scary" story.

"How surprising." jeered George. Bowser, on other hand, had no comment about his "mild" opinion on pirates.

"Say, did you manage to identify the origin of the galleons?" asked Mad John, raising his finger to gain attention of others.

"Aye don't know, Aye haven't seen the flags." answered Mosseau before he snatched the binoculars from that skeleton again. "Lemme check again, lads."

"Hey!" shouted skeleton without binoculars as he spread his arms around in frustration. As ships of Skeleton Mafia got closer to the island, Mosseau got the chance to identify the flags. The vessels of an unknown allegiance had flags with two red crosses bordered by white lines on a blue background.

"Oh, it's the double crossing, tea snorting, shite at food preparing, arse shoving-" Mosseau started fuming immediately on the sight of Union Jack. Bowser was initially confused on what was Mosseau mumbling about while John and Brane immediately knew what set him off. George, on other hand, was curious about what was he raging at again.

"Yes yes, Mosseau, you can describe them however you want, but that doesn't still tell me FROM WHERE ARE THEY!" condemned Bowser, raising his voice only to get proper answers from him.

"The British." concisely explained Sniper Mad John, knowing from experience and also being one of the three members of Skeleton Mafia that has their origins traced to Anglosphere.

"Of course it was the British." Somehow, George expected that to be a reason.

"Oh...should be cautious about them or...?" asked Bowser, just to be sure. Considering that he had unknowingly interacted with NATO members before, he thought asking first would be a better option than panicking or laughing at it.

"On one hand, they're a NATO member after all and their special forces on their own are finest in the world. They still possess a considerable military capability and there were times when they would deploy their troops thousands of miles away, such as what happened in the 80's." started explaining Mad John.

"...Crud." Just hearing the accursed acronym of an international military alliance made Bowser know with what kind of force were they dealing with.

"On other hand…" continued Mad John before he bursted into wheezing, which transformed into a laugh.

"What's so funny?" startled by his laugh, Bowser raised his eyebrow.

"The hubris of Englishmen, that's what! If it was up to Scots, we'd be still screaming "Rule Britannia" or something. I'd prefer "Rule Scotland" anyway." butted in Mosseau, so that he would get a proper excuse to rant about his fellow countrymen, although he separated Scots from the Englishmen. Bowser chose to not ask Mosseau further, instead opted to hearing what John would say.

"Tell me about these British, Mad John. Who are they?" further asked Bowser, genuinely curious about the nation that defined history through out a century.

"Well, they used to have the biggest empire in the world and their navy used to be the strongest." started John, doing his part in providing explanations to his boss.

"Even bigger than Alexander the Great?" interrupted Bowser just for a bit to confirm something.

"For comparison, Alexander's empire covered around 4% of the world. The British empire had about 26% of the world in possession." continued Mad John with a fact that blew Bowser's mind. To him, for all the talk that how difficult it was to control a large amount of territory, let alone taking over the world, the fact that there was a time where it was possible seemed incredibly impressive to him. However, he quickly regained composure, reminding himself that empire was no more in the present.

"Just to be sure, when were they an empire and what is their current status now?" further asked Bowser as he assumed that something major happened in the interval of their peak and current time.

"Their empire had their beginnings around the last years of 15th century and gradually started collapsing in the second half of the 20th century. I believe they were at the peak of their power in 1920. However, now they own just few island, contrary to the large colonies in the past." Mad John continued with his exposition, confirming Bowser's suspicion.

"Let me guess: it collapsed because they kept mistreating other people in their colonies, which gave them enough fuel for people to rebel against them and declare independence from them. That, and because it grew too big to sustain itself." Bowser said his suspicion out loud, surprising nearly everyone around him.

"...Yea, those are two of the many reasons why it collapses." agreed Mad John, but the surprise hasn't worn off.

"Why act so surprised? I know the basics of ruling." squinted Bowser after he shared something that he thought was obvious from the get-go.

"Oh, I apologize, but I'm more used to explaining stuff to you, mate." elaborated John, potentially feeling that he has indirectly insulted his boss' intelligence.

"I mean, I am a conqueror, but at the very least I take care of people from occupied territories." said Bowser to prove that he has some level of standards.

"….You're a villain?" asked Brane out of a genuine surprise. Everyone else was, once again, also surprised.

"OF COURSE I AM AND I TAKE PRIDE IN IT!" Bowser, being Bowser, boasted about his status of villainy, much to no one's surprise that time.

"Bows, me lad, let me tell ya something: Everyone is a bastard in this world, just some are better at hiding or denying it." Mosseau gave him a grim reminder about the world, however the Scot himself was relishing in that fact since he considered himself to be a bastard.

"Great! If everyone is a dastard, then this world is perfect for me!" laughed Bowser, feeling great that finally there was something that could benefit him in the world that he was officially not part of.

"...Ye know ye can swear, right? Nothing is preventing ye to." reminded Mosseau, annoyed by his boss' hesitation with using swears.

"I know, but I have MANNERS! Even as a villain, you must have them" Bowser provided an argument for his less than colorful vocabulary for insults.

"Oh, fuck off with that shite…" quietly grumbled Mosseau before he took a quench of rakija.

"Wait a minute, momci. Doesn't it seem suspicious that despite seemingly being a British territory, there's only four galleons? Wouldn't it make more sense that they would bring something more modern with it?" pointed out Brane in the middle of

"Something like Burke?" Bowser brought up a memory from that time when they were face to face with that destroyer. It was not uncommon for him to have thoughts about the vessel that belonged to a superpower.

"Yeah, something like that. I, along with skeleton with binoculars and Mosseau, haven't seen anyone on the island." confirmed Brane.

"Hmmm….we shall discuss further plans when we arrive there. But for now, I must set the direction to the island." said Bowser before he went inside the bridge, where he found Scrongus and Krongus doing their jobs. They were oddly quiet and dedicated to their task, instead of their usual debacles about insignificant topics.

"You two! We shall go for the island! Understood?!" ordered Bowser as he pointed at them. They carried out their order without any complaining (or any word for the matter) before Bowser returned to the deck with his colleagues. Three ships of Skeleton Mafia set direction to the island with galleons as they slowly but surely crossed the waves to reach their destination.

Upon arriving to the island, they have docked their ships in the port, occupying spots that weren't already taken by the British galleons. Once they anchored their ships there, Bowser and his gang jumped off the deck, landing on a stone paved path. They got a good look at plenty of houses, built out of bricks, which had wooden roofs. The color of the walls was rather worn out, only being a pale shadow of their former selves. Similarly sized buildings were tough to distinguish from one to another if one were looking from a distance. Near the port were also giant poles, where the flags were placed. Aside from a washed out Union Jack, there was also a poorly maintained Dutch flag, both of them miserably hanging from the poles. Before they ventured to the town, they gathered around the ships to discuss their plans about the islands.

"Scouts, come over here!" called out Bowser, inviting his minions over. Knowing who they were, Thompson gun armed skeletons jumped off the deck to join in, being prepared to do whatever task Bowser would lay upon them.

"So, here is our plan: we will investigate this town while you will take care of the rest!" announced Bowser as he pointed at the directions away from town.

"Roger that, boss." nodded skeletal scouts before they went on their recon mission, walking away from the group. As the skeletal scouts proceeded with their task, the gang's attention turned towards the seemingly antique looking town.

"Alright then, lets see what this crustville is all about." said Bowser before they went exploring the town. Walking on the stone paved surface, they looked around, observing the old looking buildings. Bar them, not a single trace of any other life was found as they were only met by desolation and silence.

"This silence is familiar and I don't like it." noted Bowser, remembering what happened on Crete. Others shared a similar sentiment as him as they were on high alert in case of any intrusions. As they went on their way, Mosseau noticed a bar. There was a sign hanging above the doors, which said "Drunken Debauchery". Thankfully, it wasn't name "Ye Olde something" or else the Scottish lad would have lost it. Without even notifying everyone around him, he sneaked inside the bar to get some of the beverages, only to find out that the only resident inside the darkened pub was dust. All the bottles in the bar were filled with air.

"Bloody hell, where's the beer? What kind of shite pub is this?!" raged Mosseau before he sodded off from the bar, quickly returning to his group. They haven't even noticed that he went away for a bit.

As they ventured forth, they found themselves at the place that once was a market. The sheer bareness of the market gave the gang a rather uncanny feelings, as if someone was watching them. Each of them had their own fighting stance ready, just in case any similar incidents from the past would happen. Suddenly, they heard a noise coming at them.

"Wait, someone is coming!" warned Mad John as everyone prepared their fighting stance. Bowser and Brane raised their fists while George and John were holding their guns in their pockets. Meanwhile, Mosseau revved up his chainsaw. Once the source of noise revealed itself, it turned out be a squawking seagull, which was just minding his own business. If it wasn't for the split second where George let off from the trigger, the seagull would have been shot.

"Oh, nevermind, mates." calmly said Mad John before they continued their journey uninterrupted. After exploring the market, Bowser and his colleagues decided to return to the port, only to check the galleons. Once they returned, they decided to go on only one of the galleons, since, at least externally speaking, four galleons had a similar but washed out decoration that didn't exactly help distinguishing between them. They stopped at the one that was nearest to them.

"Huh, these aren't so different from the ones I have in my world." Bowser observed a galleon in front of him with a smirk. Despite all of them being larger than any vessel they owned, they completely lacked the presence that Arleigh Burke class destroyer had. It was looking at the relics of the past rather than the vessels themselves posing an actual threat. Without much hesitation, Bowser and his colleagues boarded the intended galleon. Once all of them got on it, they gathered beneath the sails to observe. Out of all things on the island, it seemed like the ships that once belonged to the Royal Navy were oddly in best condition.

"Say, Bowser, have you ever had a naval campaign on your own? During my service in the Yugoslav Navy, I was on a Kotor-class frigate, but most of my duties were just patrolling around the coasts." asked Brane out of sudden. He always wondered about it ever since he saw boss' capability to deal with vessels.

"Gwahahaha, yes! I've had plenty of those! There is one that I particularly fondly remember. I think Mosseau is gonna like this once, since it involves pirates." gladly answered Bowser, pumping his fists when he turned towards Mosseau.

"Oooh, laddeh! Did ye beat the fuck out of them?" happily asked Mosseau, wanting to hear how exactly did Bowser beat up pirates in his own world, even if it was only to compare to how he did it multiple times.

"Of course! Now, listen very closely…" began Bowser with his story as his colleagues listened closely.

---

Way before Bowser even considered going to the other world, his own navy was committed to policing the seas of Mushroom Kingdom. For some reason, despite being the largest administrative power in Bowser's world, Mushroom Kingdom lacked any sort of proper military for both defensive purposes and to secure any interests of Princess Peach (which is debatable if she had any aside from maintaining her own kingdom and having constant tea parties). It was especially apparent in the seas, where piracy ran rampant.

It was Saturday that day, one out of six days that it was not mandatory for Bowser to kidnap Princess Peach. He directly commanded a fleet of five galleons, armed with plethora of conventional cannons among with weapon that Bowser himself dubbed "Bullet Bill Blaster", a specialized black cannon with a skull painted on its sides, which was capable of firing Bullet Bills. The ships themselves had decoration of large Bowser's head on their beaks while there were flags of Bowser's Kingdom (with Bowser's face on them) waving on top of sails. The crew he commanded consisted of Koopa Troopas, Goombas, both of them in charge of general tasks on ships, Bob ombs, who maintained and operated weaponry (not exactly Bowser's safest idea, probably) and Shy Guys, who took care of navigation and situational awareness. They cruised through the calm seven seas as Bowser was posing on the deck like a power hungry explorer.

"Gwahahahaha! We will show those pirates who's boss!" boasted Bowser as he pumped his fist towards the sun, just to flex on it. As they cruised, one of the Shy Guys observed the surroundings with his telescope. Not much time passed when said Shy Guy spotted a fleet of three pirate galleons, waving typical Jolly Roger flags. He immediately ran to his boss, out of pure instinct.

"Your majesty, we have a contact. A fleet of pirate galleons closing it, bearing 315!" reported the Shy Guy with a telescope as he pointed northwest of their direction.

"HAHAHA! PERFECT! We shall intercept them, then once we reach the proper range, we will strike!" boastfully ordered Bowser with a grin of his face. His word spread through out the entire fleet. Shy Guys on each ship helped with navigation with the help of flags while Bob ombs loaded up cannons with the help of Koopas and Goombas. Two ships departed from Bowser's formation in order to flank the adversary vessels. The pirate fleet from a distance remained in formation, waiting for opportunity to strike.

Once both formations got close enough to the pirate fleet, Bowser grinned with confidence, knowing exactly what to do next.

"FIRE!"

All of Bowser's ships fired all of their cannons at the same time, leaving a thunderous roar through out the seven seas. First few shots splashed in water, but few shots from both main fleet and flank managed to strike down one of the pirate galleons. Cannonballs demolished the hull so much that the whole galleon started sinking. Pirates on the sinking galleon jumped off from it, seeking help from other ships.

"Hah! We got one!" taunted Bowser, but not long after his attack, pirates returned fire. Just like it happened with Bowser's shots, first ones missed. However, some of the cannonballs managed to hit the hull of one of galleons of Bowser's Kingdom, piercing right through the wooden hull. A chain reaction of explosions engulfed the struck ship as its crew desperately threw themselves in the water.

"One of our ships is out!" reported Shy Guy in complete shock by the sequence of events.

"Crud!" shouted Bowser, also shocked by explosion, but he quickly regained composure. He couldn't lose sight on obliterating them pirates. "KEEP FIRING!"

The sound of cannons echoed through out the seas once again, but unlike the first strike, each cannon was fired at their own pace. Sea itself was bombarded with missed cannonballs. Pirates also fired their own guns at Bowser's fleet, with cannonballs going all over the place. One of cannonballs fired from Bowser's very own ship managed to take down a mainmast from one of them. It was sight to see all the rope, all the sails from mainmast tear apart as it fell down, blocking the view from cannons on their side. Few other shots from both main fleet and flank ensured that the pirate galleon with a destroyed mainmast met the same fate as its vessel in arms.

"Other one is down!" reported Goomba with glee as he watched adversaries of his kingdom fall. Amid the exchange of cannonballs between Bowser's fleet and pirates, Bowser noticed that the remaining ship had a crusty bearded person with a noticeable hat. Said person also wore an extravagant red coat. Just from the clothing alone, Bowser assumed that he was the leader of the pirates.

"Troops, keep that ship afloat! I'll personally deal with the captain. As of now, rest of our fleet can keep distance from it!" suddenly ordered Bowser before he dashed off inside the ship. After finding the nearest room with a cannon, Bowser barged in. The crew stationed there saluted him the moment he appeared.

"I will board that ship by myself! That captain is gonna get some real whooping now!" declared Bowser in front of them.

"But sir, how are you going to board their ship?" asked Bob omb.

"Watch and learn!" grinned Bowser before he hid himself in his own shell. His minions lifted him and squeezed him inside the cannon. Bob ombs adjusted the angle of the cannon, just so that the hit would be completely guaranteed. With all preparations done, cannon was prepared. Only thing they needed was the order to execute the strike.

"FIRE!"

With just one word, the crew ignited the fuse on the cannon. After the entire fuse burned down, the cannon fired Bowser right at the pirate captain's ship. Traversing at the speeds of a cannonball, crashed right into the foremast, knocking it down in a similar fashion as the mainmast of the other ship went down. Bowser stood up from the impact zone, looking right at the pirate captain and his crew. Pirates around him pulled out their sabres and started angrily running towards him, preparing to strike him down with their weapons.

"GWAHAHAHA!" laughed Bowser before he spat out long streams of fire, completely demoralizing adversary pirates around him as they even jumped off the ship to avoid flames of Bowser's fury. However, pirate captain remained on the burning ship, glaring directly into Bowser's eyes. He clenched his teeth before he sprinted towards Bowser with his sabre. Just before he was about to cut him down, Bowser grabbed the sabre by its edge. Smugly grinning at the pirate captain, he broke the sabre in front of his eyes like a toothpick. Then, he grabbed the startled captain by his neck, lifting him

"Argh! I won't let you defeat me, for I am destined to rule the seven seas!" pirate captain showed his last moments of defiance against the turtle king.

"Oh, don't worry, you will get to rule the seven seas…" chuckled Bowser just before he threw the captain off from his ship as the final nail to the ocean coffin. "...just that your residence will be UNDERWATER!"

Bowser remained on the burning galleon as he watched other two pirate ships sink, waiting for his navy to pick him up, but not before he let out an uproarious triumphant laugh.

"GWAHAHAHAHAHHAHA-"

---

"-HAHAHAHahahaha! It was just great! Now what do you think?" concluded Bowser with a hearty laugh. Brane and John seemed amused by his story, while George had a neutral stance on it. Meanwhile, on a certain other one's behalf...

"Ye were too kind with pirates!" complained Mosseau as he slapped his trash can for some reason.

"Bah! You consider beating them up to be TOO KIND?!" grumbled Bowser, being completely disappointed by lack of enthusiasm from the pirate hating Scot.

"Aye! Wanna hear how Aye did it with those scurvy giving twats?" bragged Mosseau, preparing his claymore just to show off.

"...Later." declined Bowser, not being prepared to hear one of Mosseau's stories after his own. Not that anyone is prepared for Mosseau's tales.

"Now, hold on there, mate. Something doesn't add up." pointed out Mad John as he raised his finger.

"John, if it's about logic in my world, I already gave you an answer: it's wizardy." reminded Bowser, crossing his arms in the process.

"No, it's not that. It's just that one implication must be addressed." elaborated John.

"Then what is it?" Bowser raised his eyebrow.

"You've said that Mushroom Kingdom, at least territory lead by Princess Peach, has no proper military, right?" asked John as if he was interrogating him in a friendly way.

"...Yes?" Bowser raised his eyebrow once again.

"...Then what is preventing you from just annexing the entire thing?" genuine frustration came out of Mad John's mouth.

"Have you forgotten? Mario and Luigi!" sighed Bowser, hating the fact he had to mention the names of his number one enemies in front of them.

"How do these two guys completely prevent you, the one that actually has an army in your world, from taking over? Are those two plumbers also highly skilled mercenaries or something?" continued Mad John with his confusion. He just thought that a recognized country with no military to defend itself somehow calmly existing was an absurd concept, possibly due to his own history with warfare.

"Mercenaries? Them?! What?! Are you ridiculous?! They're too much of goody two shoes to do any dirty work. But to answer your question, I actually do conquer Mushroom Kingdom a lot of times, just that they always free it from my control. It can get real annoying, I say!" spluttered Bowser before he continued grumbling about them pesky plumbers.

"Kill em." suddenly and nonchalantly blurted out Mosseau. He was even grinning when he offered him such advice.

"WHA?!" Bowser's irises shrunk after being completely startled by Mosseau's suggestion.

"I fail to see where he's wrong, pal. If one's consistently crossin' your ways, it's best to get rid of them." agreed George, speaking from his experience as a gangster.

"….It's complicated. Anyway, we should now investigate this ship!" Bowser changed the topic as they went inside the galleon. Just after going inside, they split in order to cover as much area as possible. With each step they took, the wood creaked.

After some exploring, Bowser found captain's room. Barely lit by the outside light, it had a huge world map, which showed borders of the past, plastered on the wall. On the desk, there was a globe and a sextant placed on it. However, one item caught Bowser's interest.

"Hmmm...what do we have here…" thought Bowser as he reached out for a crusty looking book. He wiped off some dust from it to see what was it about.

"History of Royal Auxiliary Isle? That could be useful, but what kind of name for an island is that?!" Bowser read out the title out loud before he gently opened the book and started reading it.

"Royal Auxiliary Isle was first settled by British merchants on 25th of February, 1825. It served as a station for British merchants to stop by and supply themselves while they were on their way to India and similar countries…."

He then turned a page.

"….Even though British merchants have managed to construct a town in short amount of time, it wasn't long when the tensions with the rival powers flared up. First such tension appeared in 1830, when the British merchants battled Dutch merchants over the control of the isle. It required both forces to call in their navies, although Royal Navy ultimately won the battle….

"….One notable incident that happened through out Royal Auxiliary Isle's blossoming was when the island got invaded by various pirates. They were quickly dealt with, thanks to Royal Navy's assistance…."

"Oh, Mosseau would definitely not like that part…" Bowser immediately thought of a rage fit if that Scot were there.

"….After prosperous years, another battle between British Empire and Dutch Empire happened on the island in the year 1845, which was much fiercer and costly than the battle in 1830. The conflict ended with Raamsdonksveer Treaty, where the island was split into two. One part of the isle was controlled by the British Empire, while other was under Dutch reign…."

"Whatsdonkswhere?" questioned Bowser, baffled by the Dutch language.

"….However, Royal Auxiliary Isle's days came to a sudden end when the entire populace of the isle left it en masse in year 1899, due various conflicting reasons. Some of the inhabitant's testimonies cited that the vessels got attacked by unknown forces, while other specify natural causes for the instability. No one knows the true answer to anomalies that happened on the isle..."

"...Huh...I think I know who might be behind this, but I've already got enough answers for now. I'll read this book fully later." concluded Bowser as he took the book with him. He left the dusty captain's room, returning to his colleagues.

"So, gentlemen. Have you found anything?" asked Bowser.

"Surprisingly, plenty of cannonballs and powder kegs. Cannons are also there and seem to be functional." reported George, resting his arm on one of the powder kegs he brought out of the ship.

"A rather simple kitchen! Even our stuff is more advanced!" praised Brane, just by the fact he could make some Balkan cuisine even on a galleon.

"Flintlocks and muskets. Aye wouldn't recommend them, to be honest. Them reload times are arse, we're better off with Tommies. Also sabres for close range combat." Mosseau revealed all the weapons he stole from the galleon.

"I saw some barrels. Wanna know a funny thing, mate? It's all in good shape." pointed out Mad John.

"Gwahahaha, excellent! Now, hear me out! I've found that this island's been abandoned! We can take over it! It's also called Royal Auxiliary Isle and used to be quite active in the past." reported Bowser on his behalf as he showed them the book he found.

"Typical name that these tea addicted wankers give." grumbled Mosseau at the mere Britishness of it.

"Hold on, Brits just leaving an island like that? I'm pretty sure that this one of British Overseas Territories." questioned Mad John, just in case.

"Lets see what will they send after us if they found out." wondered George out of sheer morbid curiosity. "If they don't, we pretty much hit a jackpot."

"Hmmm….it would be a good idea to wait before we can safely declare that this island is ours. We are going to stay on the island on caution for a day or two before we can own it and then rebuild it. Also, scouts have yet to report the situation!" said Bowser before all of them left the galleon for that day, returning to explore the town a bit more. They have decided to spend the rest of the day and following night on the island, just to see what would happen. Whether United Kingdom would send their navy on their rears or something supernatural would happen was left uncertain.

Meanwhile in Dubai, where the police owned Lamborghinis, was a normal sunny day. Various skyscrapers, including the famous and overly tall Burj Khalif, shined in the basking sunlight. There were few artificial islands, two notable ones being a palm shaped island and an Earth shaped one, around the coast, accompanied by the sail shaped Burj Al Arab building. Turquoise colored water surrounded some of the skyscrapers as it continued into few rivers. In the city, both inhabitants and tourists were doing their daily things, just minding their own business.

On one of the floors of the glamorous Burj Al Arab hotel, there was an entire hotel room covered in gold. So much gold that it was even more than it was considered standard. Accompanied by a giant ultra high resolution television, the room also had the most luxurious golden colored (and plated) furniture inside. The doors of the room opened as the tycoon from Osaka by the name of Kaneo Takarada proudly strutted inside, smugly grinning to himself.

"Have fun with the yacht all you want for now, Bowsy boi, but I am coming for your ass and I'm gonna beat the hell out of it!" boasted Kaneo Takarada before he closed the doors. He rubbed his hands like someone who had a master plan in his mind. "And I know exactly how am I gonna hit a bullseye!"

Suddenly, someone was knocking on his door. Surprised by knocks, he opened up, only to see a stout mustached man dressed like a superhero on a budget.

"Greetings, a fellow rich man." Superhik bowed down like a gentleman meeting a celebrity.

"The fuck are you?" sneered Takarada at the sight of Superhik. However, he let him inside out of morbid curiosity and perhaps a chance to use him for his own means.

"Oh, I am Superhik, saint patron of the wealthy. Now please, accept this sixty cents that I stole from a beggar as a gift." introduced Superhik before he gave him the exact amount of coins as he said.

"WTF, MAN?! That's not how it works, dumbass! You were supposed to bribe the general populace with dosh, not take away it from them! That shit makes you a dead man, man!" denounced Takarada before throwing sixty cents directly at him out of anger.

"I humbly apologize. It's a tradition of mine. Anyway, I have sensed that you are in peril, mister." apologized Superhik before he returned to the topic of his intention.

"Some lizard fucko stole my boat and Imma gonna exact sweet revenge on him!" revealed Takarada. Although the words might have sounded angry on surface, he said it in such a way that it came of as arrogant and prideful.

"A lizard? I haven't seen any lizards around, but last time, two skeletons and two men gave me a whooping, so I am also seeking revenge!" Supehik shook his fist in anger, remembering what happened on Cyprus. By that reveal, Kaneo Takarada realized something that could be useful for him.

"Eyy, that turtle boye also had skeletons with guns among his ranks. Is that the same fucker we are looking for?" asked Takarada, revealing his golden teeth when he grinned.

"What the?! The reptilian is the leader of skeletons?! Argh, curse him!" fumed Superhik

"So, Superhik my man, wanna team up? Ya gonna get some fat bucks if you join me beating the fuck out of his scaly ass!" offered Takarada as he pulled out some fat Osakan bucks out of his pockets.

"Of course, my liege! I will do everything to help the rich! Now, what is my task?" agreed Superhik almost immediately, thanks to being blinded by the amount of money the tycoon offered him. It was enough to make Takarada satisfied with his decision.

"Wait just a lil. I have yet to execute stage one of our plan, G, but it shall come soon! Very soon, in fact!" said Takarada before he pulled out a golden phone out of his pocket. After typing out the desired phone number, he put the phone near his ear. He had a huge, confident yet malicious grin on his face as he waited for the response. Whoever he was calling, it meant only one thing: someone was out for Bowser's blood after all. Just that someone might not have been who he would have expected.

The ships of Skeleton Mafia have not sailed in the morning, instead being comfortably docked in the abandoned port of Royal Auxiliary Isle. Bowser and his skeletal (and non-skeletal) henchmen decided to sleep inside the inn, where sailors of the former empires once slept. The inn was in a similar shape as other buildings on the island: untouched, but not renovated at all. Washed out walls that were made out of bricks along with a decaying wooden roof on top of it was a defining feature of the inn, not unlike nearly every other building in the town. The same decayed colors of the building were apparent inside as well, with walls having the same bleached out tone of white as outside. Wooden furniture that showed the consequence of age were one of the few, if not only things that occupied interior of inn. However, the inn was quite large, allowing quite a decent amount of travelers to sleep inside. Not exactly surprising, considering that it once worked as a station for once largest navies in those periods.

Each of the higher ranking members (with a sole exception, who wasn't even there at all) occupied their room, but those were more or less identical to each other. The rooms had the following: a sturdy wooden bed, a wide but short cupboard with a candle on it and a hole on the wall that functioned as a window. At that time, when the sun was just getting up in the sky, sun rays went through that window, enlightening the room in the process. Bowser, who was sleeping on the bed that, despite all odds, still managed to keep itself together, knew it was time for his day to start when he felt sun rays on his face. Not that he was a particular fan of that, though.

After fully waking up and getting out of the bed, Bowser decided to leave his dorm. As soon as he entered the halls, he was welcomed with the sheer emptiness of them. Aside from the doors that lead to dorms, only objects being there were some portraits of the former admirals of previous empires, who were proudly posturing themselves in them. He observed portraits, wonder what kind of conquerors they were. After a slight distraction, Bowser faced towards other dorms, preparing to call out for his amigos.

"Gentlemen, it's time to get up!" announced Bowser loudly, so that everyone could hear him well, as if they didn't already. It didn't take long for them to open doors of their rooms and leave their dorms. It was rather, much to Bowser's surprise, instant, so to speak.

"Oi, mate. What'cha needing us for?" asked Mad John before he closed the door of his own dorms. Bowser felt like the subject matter he wanted to talk about was best discussed outside, so he and his colleagues left the inn, greeted by the port town's aging yet suspicious tranquility.

"So, you have to tell how did you sleep through out the night." Bowser raised his eyebrow as he turned towards them, curious if they found anything odd during their slumber.

"Eh, slept in worse places if I'm honest." shrugged George, remembering how much has he slept in quite bad places during his time as a human.

"One of the better places I have partaken!" praised Brane, who seemed to have enjoyed his stay at the rusting inn. It quickly caused a rather confused reaction in George after seeing how happy his Croatian colleague seemed.

"To what kind of places did you go, buddy ol pal?" perplexed George, wondering if Brane had questionable standards regarding inns or places where he has slept were really that horrendous in comparison.

"I have literally slept on stones in my life already. You could not get worse than that, mate." said John, recalling many of his experiences abroad in his life.

"Hmpf...I can't say it was the worst or the scariest place where I had some sleep. It was alright, I suppose. However, have you seen anything supernatural in the night?" queried Bowser before he realized that he was a fire breathing dragon ox turtle talking to a skeleton gangster, a mercenary sniper and a chef. "Ahem...relatively supernatural."

"Define relatively supernatural." demanded George, acknowledging the elephant in the room or, rather, the giant turtle dragon ox specimen in front of an old British inn.

"You know, ghosts, spooks, sleep paralysis demons. Something like that." casually clarified Bowser, wondering if they saw anything spectral in that regard. He wouldn't have been surprised if they did, considering that an army of round giggling ghosts was also under his command. Only thing they lacked at dealing with paranormal spectacles at that moment was a vacuum cleaner.

"Nope, not on my end." said John, confirming that no spectral nonsense was encountered that night.

"Nothing too weird that night." added George, with his two cents on the matter also solidifying about lack of ghosts and stuff.

"Nema." Brane shook his head, putting the final nail in the coffin regarding spooks.

"Well, neither did I, but lets not get too comfortable so soon. We should check our surroundings as well." suggested Bowser before noticing that one of his colleagues was not present in the group. "I just noticed that one of us is missing."

"Ya know where he went. No doubt about it." ribbed George before they went checking the place to see if anything odd happened on the island. First place they decided to check was the port, putting a priority on it in order to see if their ships were still in their place. After they had spent a solid amount of time walking, they have arrived to the port. Much to their relief, two fishing boats and one golden yacht, along with four galleons, were still comfortably docked in the port.

"Hmm... ships seem to be in the right place. Perhaps I should move those cars on the land." thought Bowser before he jumped on the deck of their "capital ship", landing near two of Skeleton Mafia's land based vehicles. The first car he decided to move on the isle's ground was George's classic Jaguar MkI, since it seemed less of a hassle to carry. After lifting the one ton machine with relative ease, Bowser then jumped off the deck and carefully placed the Jag on the ground. Once being done with moving that saloon car, he leaped on the deck of "capital ship" once again, dealing with a privately militarized hippie van in the process. Even though Mad John's Volkswagen Type 2 Samba bus was, from the design alone, slightly lighter than George's Jag, those M2 Browning machine guns inside provided quite the additional weight. Despite that, Bowser lifted it with ease and performed the exact same procedure as he did with the Jag. After he finished his self imposed task, he rubbed his hands in satisfaction.

"George, John! Here are your cars!" called out Bowser for their attention. Immediately after hearing him, George and John approached him to see status of their cars. Just from looking at their exteriors, both of his colleagues seemed to be satisfied with states of their personally owned vehicles.

"Thanks, mate!" Mad John gave him a thumbs up as a sign of approval while George tipped with his hat. Both of them approached even closer

"Good to see you back there, my baby. You've been through a lot, now my car can get some rest." George tapped on the hull of his car as if it were his horse.

"Just to be sure, check if everything is working." suggested Bowser as he pointed at both vehicles, just making sure that he wouldn't see any mechanical failures on their end. George was surprised by Bowser's suggestion, considering that his usual pieces of advice tend to be the exact opposite of sensible. Both George and John entered their respective cars, put their keys in ignition cylinders, revved up their engines and started their cars. From the noise alone, they could tell that their machines were working well, but just to be one hundred percent sure, they went on short test drive. Brakes, steering and such seemed fine to them, so they concluded the results to be satisfactory.

"All good!" crowed Mad John while George just quietly nodded, both happy that their machines seemed to work quite dandy, despite all the sea faring they had to go through. After they have performed their tests, they turned off engines and stepped outside

"Great!" Bowser pumped his fist before deciding to check another place in order to see any oddities: the port town itself. Judging from the view of their position alone seemed like nothing changed. The same old buildings occupied the town, just that their status of being abandoned was disrupted by Skeleton Mafia. However, a view from faraway didn't exactly convince them to leave it as it is. They have decided to take a closer look at the town itself.

However, despite being cautious about it, no drastic changes were spotted during their patrol. It all seemed too good to be true, that no intervention arrived, either from paranormal or just normal visitors.

"The buildings also seem to be the same as before. No drastic changes...yet." noted Bowser as he observed all sorts of buildings present there. Countless of minutes were spent on directionless meandering.

Suddenly, an oddity was spotted by Bowser: the poles had two different flags on them, waving in the slight breeze. Instead of having worn out Union Jack and Dutch flag on them, he saw that two blue flags with white diagonal crosses were in their place. They were also in really good shape, which caused greater confusion for the turtle don.

"Hey, boys! Weren't there two different flags there before?" Bowser pointed at those flags, focusing attention of his colleagues onto them. George, Brane and Mad John immediately recognized those flags and already knew what actually happened there. It warranted quite a lot of squints, to say at least.

"Oh, I already know who's behind it." scoffed George.

"Something supernatural?" piqued Bowser, curious whether or not his suspicions could become reality, despite them refuting any sort of ghost activities on the island before.

"Supernatural by all means, yes, but very familiar at the same time." hinted George

"Who could that-" Bowser wanted to ask before it dawned to him who was true cause of sudden flag changing. It wasn't anything spectral, but rather a one thousand year old Scottish skeleton in a trash can. Upon realization, Bowser let out a furious call out:

"MOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSEAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

Upon hearing Bowser's scornful shout, Mosseau immediately bum rushed out of the pub with a bottle of Rakija in his hand. As he rolled on the stone paved path like a dragster, he was quick to arrive to the group. Everyone among the "elites" was squinting at him for what he did.

"Aye laddeh, what'cha needin me?" nonchalantly asked Mosseau as he took a quench of a half full bottle of Rakija.

"WHY DID YOU CHANGE FLAGS WITHOUT MY PERMISSION?!" condemned Bowser, bringing his own typical loudness with him.

"Aye replaced shite with national treasure, just like God intended." Mosseau casually rationalized his actions with sheer pride he felt as a Scotsman.

"Do you want the British to find us out?! It's too early to change flags!" argued Bowser, taking caution that any sort of international attention at them could easily become their downfall, considering that they did have first hand encounter with a destroyer belonging to a superpower.

"Who gives a damn about opinions of britbongs anyway?" seethed Mosseau at the mere mention of inhabitants of Great Britain. His tone in his argument was enough to warrant a warning glare from the Australian mercenary sniper.

"Jesus Christ, Mosseau, tone it down." warned John calmly, yet full of condemn. He raised his finger to put emphasis on his caution, implying that such behavior will face consequences in the future.

"If ye knew what kind of shite were they doing, then ye will see why they absolutely fooken deserve it." retaliated Mosseau, insisting on his point.

"Still though. We shouldn't do any risky moves yet!" interrupted Bowser before their debate would turn into a discourse of whether or not modern Britain should be judged by their actions from the time when it was an empire.

"Says a person that thought throwin' skeletons at the ship was a good idea." George couldn't help but to make a jab at him. Provoking Bowser was almost a secondary job for him at that point.

"THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TACTICAL RISKY MOVES AND STRATEGIC RISKY MOVES!" thundered Bowser, falling right for George's provocation, before he decided to tone down his voice and explain his opinion in a more delicate manner. "On the battlefield, you have to pull risks in order to influence the tide of the battle. If your risks flop on the grander scale, then you're pretty much hosed for the long run."

"I fail to see how changin' flags on an abandoned island is a risky move, pal." George raised a point, considering they were kinda in the middle of nowhere. He doubted that any country would really care about an abandoned island, including former colonial titans like Great Britain.

"...Eh, forget it. Lets move on." Bowser decided to drop the conversation and change the topic into something else. Meanwhile, Mosseau rolled up to John to give him a present of sorts.

"John, me laddeh. Aye've got somethin' for ye." said Mosseau as he pulled out the worn out British and Dutch flag out of his trash can and gave it to his sniper amigo. "If ye weren't a flag collector, Aye'd dump em right in the sea."

"Oh thanks, mate! They are going straight to Bendigo." thanked John, rolling up the flags before he went to his militarized Hippie van and placed them there. After their debates have settled down and them observing every corner of the port town, they have decided that nothing truly strange happened on the island. That also meant that they were closer to approving their own "renovations" for it.

"So, aside from...that, everything seems pretty normal." concluded Bowser as he crossed his arms.

"I think we have forgotten about something, though." corrected Brane, remembering something from the previous day that wasn't addressed at that moment.

"Hm? What do you mean, Brane?" asked Bowser with his memory a bit clouded.

"The scouts, don't you remember?" reminded Brane, which made Bowser also remember.

"Oh, right! Brane, hand over your phone!" ordered Bowser. With no hesitation, Brane gave him his Nokia phone. Bowser then pressed buttons on it to type a phone number of skeleton scouts. He had to use tip of his claws to type, otherwise his huge fingers wouldn't do it. However, any concerns about breaking Brane's phone were null, since it was a Nokia after all. After Bowser managed to type the number, he put it near his head and waited for skeleton scouts to pick up his call.

"Eyy boss." casually greeted skeleton scout through the phone call once he managed to pick it up.

"Scouts, report me everything you've seen!" demanded Bowser in his usual royal fashion.

"Alright so...there was a lake on our way. No roads, though. Seems like they have forgotten about it. Now we're at some kind of port town, looks kinda crusty." reported skeleton scout, stationed in a port town on the other end of the island. Port itself raised Bowser's interest by a huge margin.

"Another port town? Tell me everything about it!" further commanded Bowser, wanting to hear as much as possible.

"Well, what'cha got there on your own end?" queried skeleton scout to see if there's anything different on his boss' end.

"Hmm...we got...a port." Bowser looked around to see what sort of places were in it and started reporting back.

"I mean, it's a port town, boss. Did you expect a port to not be there?" sassed skeleton scout, thinking that Bowser's words were so obvious, that even Captain Obvious would take a jab at him.

"To be fair, the port could be busted, but I digress." Bowser raised his own point, taking in a consideration whether or not ports could be used by them. A busted port falls under the category of "useless" for the turtle man. "We also have...a market."

"Same here." replied skeleton scout as he looked around the town he and his fellow two scouts were occupying.

"I think there's also a pub here, also known as Mosseau's paradise." squinted Bowser at his skeletal trash can chronic alcoholic colleague.

"Gyehehehe, the pub's now full of good stuff, thanks to me!" boasted Mosseau, who might or might not have transported all alcoholic beverages from the ships during previous night.

"Did you actually spend the entire night relocatin' alcohol?" perplexed George, baffled by not only already his insomniac tendencies (not that it had any effect on him though), but the fact that he possibly spent entire night placing drinks there.

"Bloody Aye, laddeh!" proudly confirmed Mosseau, smacking his rib cage like a prideful soldier. George was rendered speechless, pressing his hand on his face after hearing Mosseau's boast.

"Same shit as here it is. I think it's safe to say they're more or less identical." concluded the skeleton scout.

"Hmpf, so be it. However, have you found any ships on your side?" Bowser raised one more question, desiring to hear if there's more vessels that Skeleton Mafia could implement in their minuscule fleet.

"Uh, no. Not here, boss." reported the skeleton scout as he looked at the port, only to notice the lack of ships at their port.

"Hah! One score for us!" flexed Bowser before he gave out an order. "Anyway, one of the scouts should return back here, capisce?"

"Capisco, boss." said the skeleton scout before the call ended. Bowser already formulated a plan for the island in his head, but before he went to announce it, he wanted to check something first.

"Did I get that right?" asked Bowser as he turned to George to check his mafioso terminology.

"Yes, you did." approved George, which was a sign that Bowser could tell his colleagues about his plan for the island.

"Gentlemen, I have a plan to announce!" declared Bowser as he turned towards his colleagues, gaining their attention in the process. "We are going to build a road to connect those two port towns, basically doing what those British have forgotten!"

"That's actually one of your more sensible plans, but we still have an uno problemo." pointed out George one thing before fully agreeing with his plan. "Where are we gonna get materials for it?"

"...Hmmmm…." thought Bowser, thinking about possible materials to use for their road construction.

"Well, I don't expect asphalt to be used, so why not use stones?" suggested Mad John as he pointed at stones on a nearby empty beach.

"I haven't seen a single good stone for roadbuildin' there, pal." commented George

"What about we made the bare minimum of a road? You know, just like in a jungle or something?" advised Brane, thinking of something rather simplistic to use as little time as possible for the construction of it.

"Bare minimum is not acceptable within my standards!"rejected Bowser, wanting his road to look like an actual road instead of just a dirty path that poorly connects two port towns. "Perhaps we should establish trade routes fir-"

Then, just like how fireworks explode on the New Year's Eve, an idea appeared in Bowser's mind. It was a daunting one for sure, but at the same time, it was a perfect opportunity to obtain necessary material for their road.

"This gives me an idea! A risky one, maybe, but a brilliant one none than less!" announced Bowser as he started typing another phone number on Brane's phone. It seemed like he had memorized that number to such extent that he could say it rapid fire at three in the morning.

"Oh boyo, what's he gonna now?" wondered George with a slight undertone of dread, being unsure whether or not his boss' plan was of his typical forte: being crazy. After few seconds of ringing

"KAMEK!" shouted Bowser as his voice was so powerful enough that Nokia couldn't fully register it. His skeletal (and human) colleagues got used to his yelling already, so they weren't really taken aback by his booming shouts.

"Aaah! I-I did not expect you to call, Your Very Loudness." Kamek

"First of, how's it going back there? Is everything in my kingdom still in check?" piqued Bowser, wondering if his kingdom has been attack or taken over by some external force. It has happened a few times in the past, such as the case with giant magic sword or a maniac bean that forgot to take their English grammar lessons.

"Of course it is, Your Majesty. All is well." confirmed Kamek, making sure that Bowser's kingdom was still owned by Bowser himself.

"Gwahaha, that's great to hear!" laughed Bowser, feeling relieved that he didn't have to deal with another bad guy trying to take over his kingdom before he switched to the topic he wanted to talk about with his wizard colleague. "Anyway, I'll be needing you here at Royal Auxiliary Isle, which is located in…"

"Uh, where are we again?" Bowser turned towards his colleagues, asking them what was the exact name of their location. He didn't want to get it wrong, but certain names gave him issues, such as that Raamsdonksveer place mentioned in that book he found on the ship.

"Somewhere in the Arabian Sea." answered Mad John.

"Yeah, somewhere in the Arabian Sea!" Bowser passed the answer to his wizard colleague in his world.

"Uh, Your Farawayness, where does that pipe on the mountain lead again?" asked Kamek.

"New York or something." replied Bowser, trying to provide as accurately as possible. New York was one of the places he remembered quite well, especially for his escapades with George.

"Ah, that's a nostalgic name." reminiscent George of his home. On a good day, he thought about New York, despite living through some tough times in it.

"Alright then, I shall arrive as soon as possible." said Kamek, confirming his incoming appearance on Royal Auxiliary Isle.

"Wonderful! Make sure you bring your magic wand with you, because we will need it!" reminded Bowser, just in case the wizard would have forgotten about it.

"What for, Your Demandiness?" asked Kamek once again.

"I will explain everything once you arrive here. Now, put Junior on the phone!" demanded Bowser before his wizard colleague passed his phone to the youngest son in Bowser's family.

"Hey, Pops!" happily greeted Bowser Junior, glad to hear his father's voice after such long time.

"Junior! How's it going, my boy?" beamed Bowser during his conversation with his son. The tone of his voice and mannerisms were quite radically different, as if Bowser became a completely different person when his children were around. Such contrast was found to be amusing among his colleagues.

"Doing good, Pops! I'm actually doing two things at once: trying to come up with a plan to take over Mushroom Kingdom with Peach kidnapping included and I'm currently trying to build a mechanical combat suit! I'm thinking about how to use my thingy for conquest, but so far we are only in the brainstorming phase." Bowser Junior reported his situation at his home as he still worked on the aforementioned suit. He took a brief pause just so he could talk to his father.

"That's great! Keep up the good work, son!" praised Bowser, feeling nothing short of proud for his son.

"Thanks, Pops! Anyway, are you still in Croatia?" asked Bowser Junior.

"Nope, I'm actually at Royal Auxiliary Isle now, it's the first island I...ahem, unofficially took over! There's been two islands that have been conquered before, but they are too tiny to be considerable." corrected Bowser as he told his situation at that moment.

"Royal Auxiliary Isle? That place sounds really cool! There must be a kingdom on it!" cheered Bowser Junior, imagining the island that once belonged to the British Empire to be something akin to an island that was shaped like a dolphin. When he thought of that island, he remembered all sorts of adventures he and his father partaken on it.

"If you count two abandoned port towns as kingdoms, then yeah, I guess." said Bowser while neglecting to mention his other two islands. He considered the Rastplatz Island to be too minor of an achievement to mention, but he wanted to tell his story about the events that happened on Despot Island a little bit later. "Anyway, once we set everything up, you're welcome to visit!"

"Really?! Coool! I can't wait to see it!" chorused Bowser Junior, raising his expectations from the events on dolphin shaped isle.

"Hahaha, I knew you would like it. I must ask, how are Koopalings doing as well?" asked Bowser about his other kids as well, wondering if they were doing okay.

"Lemmy and Larry are playing video games, Wendy's binge watching fashion shows, Morton has been trying to order pizza...multiple times, Roy's been really into kart racing lately, Iggy is trying to make bombs and Ludwig is plotting to overthrow another kingdom. You know, usual stuff." cheerily explained Bowser Junior, despite some of the actions he mentioned in his report.

"That's good, that's good. Glad to see you are all doing well." smiled Bowser, knowing that his family was doing just dandy at home.

"Anyway, Pops, I have to go now. I still have quite a lot of work regarding my thingamajingle." said Bowser Junior before he returned working on his mechanical combat suit, which had a resemblance to the Koopa Clown Car.

"Alright then, son! Take care!" Bowser wished him well being before the call ended. The turtle king returned Nokia to Brane before he faced them, prepared to share information he received from the phone call.

"Well, gentlemen. I've got good news and bad news." announced Bowser as he was about to tell them the situation at hand. "Good news is that-"

"Bad news first." interrupted George, wanting to start off with possible negative possibilities before any good news was shared. The interruption surprised the turtle king quite a bit.

"….What? Don't you want to start on a positive note?" grumbled Bowser, who wanted to start with good stuff first.

"It's better to know what forebodin' events come first, ya know." rationalized George, knowing from his experience that usually what is told later holds more water than what is told earlier.

"I do not disagree with such sentiment." concurred Mad John, who related to gangster skeleton's experience regarding

"...Alright then. So, bad news is that we gotta wait for our package. Estimated time of arrival is sadly unknown." Bowser admitted that his gangster colleague had a point, so he started with the possible

"Well, that isn't really bad. We've got plenty of stuff to do while we wait." said Mad John, who, along with George, expected much worse than a waiting time.

"Now, good news is that we are gonna get materials and additional manpower to reconstruct this island! Kamek will make sure of it, I swear!" Bowser

"Is Kamek that wizard guy we saw back in Croatia?" asked Brane, who remembered the process of establishing Skeleton Mafia

"Yes he is tha-" confirmed Bowser, but anything he wanted to say more about it was soon ended when Mosseau pulled out a fully loaded Kalashnikov out of his trash can out of instinct.

"MOSSEAU, NO!"

"Wizards deserve to be hunted to sport, laddie!" fumed Mosseau as he flailed his AK-47 around, waiting for Kamek to arrive so that he could fill him with 7.62×39mm rounds.

"I WILL NOT TOLERATE ANY KIND OF FRIENDLY FIRE INCIDENTS, IS THAT CLEAR?!" raged Bowser, telling Mosseau to cease with his trigger happiness, but to no avail.

"Make me, fucker!" taunted Mosseau, who had zero intentions holding back.

"No rakija!" grinned Brane as he raised his finger to assert dominance, knowing the exact sentence to use when his Scottish colleague goes mental.

"Ye got me there, lad." Mosseau calmed down and placed his assault rifle back in the trash can. No action was worth for losing alcohol was what he thought.

"Sheesh, how many things do you vehemently hate in your life? Isn't there a limit?" perplexed Bowser, both concerned and amazed at how much was that Scottish fella capable of such enduring hatred of many things.

"Too many to list." deadpanned Mad John, knowing all sorts of stuff that his Scottish colleague had less than positive opinions on them. Considering that Mosseau's life was more or less the entire millennia, one wonders what he experienced during that time span.

"Geez...and here I thought I was the heated up one." blurted Bowser before he regained his composure and continued with his plan. "Anyway, any of you got any ideas what to do, now that we wait for Kamek and scout?"

"Poker?" suggested George while also being in the mood for a card game.

"Aye, we could go with that." approved Bowser before all of them went to the pub, spending rest of the day playing poker for like one thousandth time on their journey across the world.

Meanwhile in Dubai, Kaneo Takarada and Superhik, each of them wearing Kandūrah, were waiting in front of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building not only in United Arab Emirates, but also in the world. Any skyscraper near Khalifa was utterly dwarfed by its sheer size. The sky piercing skyscraper was surrounded by a park, which offered luscious plants amid the scorching desert, along with a large fountain lake. Teal colored water reflected under the unforgiving sun.

"Homeboy should be here some, G." stated Kaneo Takarada as both of them waited for a specific person, probably the one he called before.

"I cannot wait to see him! It will be a personal historic moment for me!" Superhik couldn't contain his excitement to see that person. Compared to the once-janitor-now-"saint patron of the rich", Takarada was not as eager, but not out of personal feelings, but rather because he had quite a lot of meetings with that person already.

Suddenly, a Rolls-Royce Phantom VII luxury saloon car, painted in raw platinum, drove down the street. The noise of its engines caught their attention in an instant as it was quickly approaching them.

"There he is!" Kaneo Takarada pointed at the incoming Rolls-Royce. It also seemed like EDM Trap music was blaring from it, probably due chauffeur's or guest's liking. After it arrived nearby, the luxury car stopped right in front of them. First person to step out of it was chauffeur, who opened the doors for the person inside the car.

"Fire up that loud, another round of shots, shots, shots, shots…."

As the person inside the car stepped out, it was revealed that it was none other than the Sheikh of United Arab Emirates, the richest man in the world. Wearing a white colored Kandūrah, he also wore sunglasses and had a beard worthy of a Sheikh.

"TURN DOWN FOR WHAT?!"

The moment when the beat dropped, Sheikh put his sunglasses away in a dramatic fashion. If he were in a Hollywood movie, there would be explosions behind him.

"Wassup, my homie?" casually greeted Kaneo Takarada as if they were buddy-buddy with each other, approaching him in the process. Meanwhile, Superhik quietly bowed down to show nothing but respect for Sheikh.

"As-salamu alaykum, The Tycoon from Osaka Kaneo Takarada." formally greeted the Sheikh of United Arab Emirates as he shook hands with Japanese tycoon. "Explain your decision for calling me."

"It be all clear, G. Just that we need to be where we can discuss stuff." stated Kaneo Takarada before all of them went inside Burj Khalifa. "Imma be summarizing though, because if I went into detail, it'd be pretty fucking trippy."

As they navigated through the interior of Burj Khalifa, they have decided to use the elevator. After entering it, Takarada pressed on the button that showed the number "112". Upon the press of a button, the doors of elevator closed as it began to rise. Despite there being about 163 floors in total, the elevator was so quick, that going from the ground floor to floor 112 felt like a mere moment. The doors of elevator opened, allowing them to traverse the desired floor. After looking for a place to discuss relevant matters, they found an empty corporate suite. Takarada and his colleagues entered the suite and sat on the nearest chair, prepared to discuss the issue which the Osaka tycoon had at that moment. The window of the suite allowed for quite a view of Dubai, despite not being at the top of Burj Khalifa. After everything has been set and done, Kaneo Takarada began explaining his issue with a certain turtle conqueror:

"Alright then, hear me out. My boat's been stolen by some seafaring fuckheads and this boye right here wants to beat their asses to hell and back and, of course, get my boat back. So, my boy Sheikh, I ask for your assistance for finding that boat and beating the shit out of those pirates!"

"Solving out personal grievances with military assistance is not a matter of mine nor of my country. This region is already as volatile as it is, any further build up could lead up to some severe escalation. I am well sure you are aware of that." immediately cautioned Sheikh, knowing well what could happen if a more noticeably aggression of any nation around the Gulf was shown.

"Oh, no worries, my G. I'll handle them myself, if that's an acceptable compromise. However, I must note that only a minimal amount of my private forces are stationed here, so I may just ask for two favors instead. One, let me get some of my own homeboys on this soil, so I can properly launch those operations against pirates and two, help me find the ship." elaborated Kaneo Takarada, deciding to take a compromise in his plan while also expressing confidence that he himself will deal with a threat in an armed sense.

"First of, I fail to see why would you need our assistance when looking through publicly available satellite imagery could solve your issue in a much more efficient way." suggested Sheikh.

"Here's a lil issue with satellites, though. Their info needs to be constantly refreshed. I want data of my ship as insta as possible. Who knows what those fucks could do with it by the time image refreshes." Kaneo Takarada raised his point regarding Sheikh's suggestion. He felt like it was best to deal with Bowser as quickly as possible, but also because having that yacht back sooner was an optimal option for him.

"That is a fair point indeed, but I make sure that your potential deployment of private forces doesn't get recognized as a threat to regional stability." warned Sheikh, putting emphasis on his previously raised point.

"Bruh, I goddamn pour my own money right here! What makes you think that I am the threat here?" perplexed Kaneo Takarada, baffled that his possible ally already considered him to be a threat to the Gulf.

"I know well of your status as an investor, but Islamic Republic of Iran could respond to your actions in a quite different manner than you would expect." calmly elaborated Sheikh before giving him a rather intense glare to further put emphasis on his warning. "I am going to make myself very clear: I better not see a Scud strike on my country."

It was enough to make the prideful and stubborn Osaka Tycoon reconsider.

"Oh...right. Good point there. Didn't take that in consideration." concurred Kaneo Takarada while thinking about how was he going to execute his plan against Bowser without further disruptions in an already incredibly volatile region. Any sort of action gone south could get a response not only from regional powers, but also from foreign nations, who had quite a lot of escapades in the Persian Gulf for one reason or another. Superpowers, be it former or current, always had their eyes on the region.

"Before I can give out any sort of approval, I would like to hear more about pirates that have stole your boat." Sheikh

"Shit, you got me good. This one's gonna be tough to explain." thought Kaneo Takarada to himself, but he gave it a try none than less. "Very well, hear me out. So far, I have seen they operate stolen civilian vessels, judging from that I've seen two fishing boats. I'd expect them to use speed boats, but I digress. For such a small group, they seemed to be armed to the bone as well. Was kinda surprising, really."

"Perhaps they are a proxy." assumed Sheikh, knowing that a decent amount of nations, including in the Persian Gulf, often utilize proxy organizations to achieve their goals. Sheikh's nation was no exception, often using mercenaries in not only regional conflicts, but across the world as well.

"Proxy? Unlikely, but it's not impossible." denied Kaneo Takarada, because the idea of Bowser being state sponsored by Iran or similar was just too silly to be believable. "I do think it's same to assume they're stateless, since I doubt any country would support dickhead of a boss that is their own."

"What were they armed with, so to say? Do you perhaps remember what you saw during your encounter with them?" asked Sheikh, wondering whether or not thieves of Takarada's yacht could have capability to disrupt the region, especially the flow of oil tankers in the Gulf.

"Hah, those dumbasses though they could flex on me and look at that now. Their flex gonna bite them in their asses hard!" boastfully thought Kaneo Takarada to himself, glad that he could use Bowser's words against him.

"Fuckton of Thompson Machine guns, gangster style, a singular Mosin-Nagant with a scope, a revolver, Kalashnikov clone and even a Hippie van technical with Brownings." Kaneo Takarada started counting down all the weaponry he saw at his encounter with the aspiring turtle conqueror. "Hippe van technical, can you believe that?"

"They seem to be more armed than I have initially anticipated. There's also a variety in their weaponry, which makes me wonder about their origin even further. Do they pose any threat to the regional stability?" further wondered Sheikh as he scratched his beard in curiosity.

"Hmmm, what did that guy say again?" Kaneo Takarada tried to remember what sort of grandiose speeches Bowser had said to him. Then, after some time of thinking, Bowser's words flashed right in his mind.

"...I WILL BECOME A CONQUEROR GREATER THAN ALEXANDER THAN GREAT! I WILL BECOME RICHER THAN SHEIKH!…"

"Oh yes, absolutely! Territorial expansions seems to be in their great interest and there's definitely potential that they could build up their forces here and cause shit." grinned Kaneo Takarada as he crossed his arms when giving out an answer. His words regarding Bowser's desire of conquest did rang quite true.

"Curious. They do not seem like a typical militia, but we cannot afford to take risks. Kaneo Takarada, consider your request approved. Our air force is going to deploy a maritime patrol aircraft in order to find your stolen vessel." Sheikh gave out an approval for assistance in Takarada's operation against Bowser after hearing "I assume that your private forces will arrive through air transport, is that correct?"

"Duh. Other means are same as having a snail do a trucker's job." said Kaneo Takarada.

"Your aircraft can use Al Dhafra air base. If you will deploy any vessels, I suggest docking them in Fujairah." Sheikh gave out a few offerings to him to

"Hahaha, excellent! That's all I needed." boastfully grinned Kaneo Takarada before he decided to share a "fun" tidbit regarding what Bowser said to him during their confrontation. "By the way, the boss guy said he's gonna be richer than you."

"I would like him to back up his statement." smirked Sheikh at Bowser's words, knowing that the turtle conqueror, despite having a restaurant as a means of funding, had still a long way before he would reach the amount of income provided by Sheikh's oil industry alone. After their discussion, they have concluded the meeting, traversed through Burj Khalifa once again before exiting the skyscraper, standing outside the entrance once again.

"I wanna express thanks for offering me to perform my operations against those pirates. Many blessings for you, homie." thanked Kaneo Takarada for the approval while also getting more and more eager regarding executing revenge against Bowser.

"Wada'an, Kaneo Takarada." Sheikh of United Arab Emirates gave him a farewell before he entered his Rolls-Royce. After the chauffeur turned on the engine, it drove off as it gradually disappeared from Takarada and Superhik's sight. Left alone in front of the Burj Khalifa, they have decided to discuss their situation at that moment.

"Hahahaha! We got ourselves a homerun, hombre!" Kaneo Takarada pumped his fist from the excitement.

"Soon, that Bowser guy will get his lizard ass kicked!" cheered Superhik before both of them decided to go back to Burj Al Arab.

"Indeed, G. Now that the first phase of my plan is done, lets go to the next one." concurred Kaneo Takarada before he brought up his telephone on their way to the exotic looking hotel. After typing a phone number that only he knew, he put the device near his ear, waiting for the response. Once, after a series of rings, the call was picked, Kaneo Takarada issued an order:

"Yo, send ma boys to Dubai."

Another morning on the Royal Auxiliary Isle came to be. The same old rustic buildings continued their reign on it. The elites of Skeleton Mafia, along with their skeletal henchmen, waited inside the bar. The lighting in it was provided by windows, which was more than enough to read a book properly. They discussed various topics as they brought in drinks that they already had on the boat. For a while, quite uneventful stuff, as they though.

Their lackluster peace came to an end when their boss, dressed like a bonafide captain, barged in as he stomped to them, shaking every single furniture with every step he took.

"Gentlemen, it's finally clear!" announced Bowser as he raised the book in the air, displaying it in front of everyone. "This island is ours!"

"Ya sure about that, Bowsy boy?" asked George, doubting that they would get a proper island so easily. Everyone, including Bowser himself (at least subconsciously) shared same doubts about it.

"YES, absolutely!" insisted Bowser "I have found out that not only has been this island completely abandoned, but also the British removed their ownership of it!"

"When do Britbongs ever leave their territory?" scoffed Mosseau as he did a motion that signified rolling with eyes, despite lacking eyeballs in the first place.

"Lemme get to that part. Gonna be a bit on short side, which is good for me!" Bowser opened the book as he searched for the specific paragraph. Once he found it, he read it out loud with his boisterous voice.

"The ownership of Royal Auxiliary Isle, after mass abandonment due circumstances, some deemed to be too cursed to speak of, has been removed. No one owns this island."

"Too cursed to speak of? Where did I hear this again?" Mad John scratched his crusty beard.

"Eh, Hzalazan was it behind it all, wasn't he?" immediately guessed Mosseau, sounding rather unamused by his own words.

"On one hand, probably yes, but on other...what makes you say that? That's not his island, isn't it?" questioned Bowser, even though he had plenty of experiences dealing with haunted locations, some of that he even owned in the world where he came from.

"If that higher bastard put an entire curse on the sea after his defeat, he ain't gonna stop at islands." elaborated Mosseau, implying that he had his own experiences regarding out of the ordinary life forms.

"True, but I made him kick the bucket, so he should be out of the picture." boasted Bowser.

"Aye am not so sure about that one, Bows. Ya know these supernatural shitters tend to love to cause shit after they're kaput." cautioned Mosseau before he took a sip of rakija bottle he held through out entire time.

"From my personal experience, I can attest to that, sadly….but now, now comes the important part of this meeting!" concurred Bowser before he snapped with his fingers. Two skeleton henchmen stepped inside, carrying a canvas stand. The boneheads placed it in front of the table occupied by the boss and the elites of Skeleton Mafia, so that everyone could take a good look at it.

"If you have any pranks, prepared, do them now." suggested George, leaning towards his Scottish colleague, just so he could have a laugh.

"Not today, laddeh. Ran out of the ideas." Mosseau shook with his head.

"Here it is!" Bowser presented them his own project regarding the island before he stepped next to the canvas, with a paper with a huge title that went as "Awesome Bowser Island Reconstruction Project!", accompanied with a drawing of him standing proudly over an island, letting out a laugh of pure malicious pride. "Today, we shall discuss my plan to reconstruct this island as I see fit!"

"Didn't we go through this already?" piqued George, crossing his arms as he lifted his chin, recalling the discussion partaken before the conquering of Rastplatz Island.

"Sorta! We only did the conquering part, but we barely mentioned how are we gonna rebuild it." correct Bowser, elaborating on differences of the presentation at that moment compared to one way before.

"Go on then." George, along with the rest of the group, allowed him to proceed.

"Alright, so be it! But first, we must address the elephant in the room: those pesky logistics!" Bowser started info dumping about their plan as he flipped a paper, displaying a drawing of him in a rather annoyed state and few skeletons carrying boxes of what it seemed to be food and weapons on the world map. "Do not worry though, because I have taken care of that. Just that it's a little bit different than you would imagine."

Bowser then flipped over another paper to show a drawing of him standing proudly and boastfully next to a warp pipe "My plan is very simple: I am going to connect this island with my kingdom!"

"Pardon me, mate, but is this why you called the wizard?" asked Mad John after he realized the need for the magician.

"Gwahahaha, smooth thinking, John! I'm gonna make Kamek create a warp pipe on this island with his wizardy." praised Bowser with a laugh before he felt that he needed to state one more thing that could make Kamek's arrival less trouble free than anticipated. "And before anything is said, Mosseau, you will NOT intervene with your guns, got it?"

"Fuck wizards, those bloody scammers!" simply, yet furiously stated Mosseau. He already prepared himself to pull up his Kalashnikov the moment the turtle wizard appeared on the island.

"You know this idea...is quite a curious one, I must admit." wondered Brane about the potential uses the link between Bowser's world and the one he found himself in could provide. Food was the first thing that popped in his head.

"….Carrying on, with this warp pipe, I will bring not only my troops and vehicles here, but also resources, such as iron and wood!" continued Bowser as he moved the paper to show a drawing of his own army, consisting of walking frowning mushrooms, various turtles, some holding hammers and walking cartoon bombs marching out of the pipe. Not a single colleague could stop themselves at snickering that a large draconic turtle lead an army of what it seemed to be "cannon fodder"-type bad guys from Saturday morning cartoons. Luckily for them, Bowser didn't hear their mocking of his army.

Until a certain individual spoke about it.

"Can't wait to see yer army, Bows." sassed Mosseau. The boss was just about to be excited that someone was at least looking forward to seeing his own military, but that thought was just present for a second because he realized that it was the Scottish skeleton that was yapping at that moment. The brief smile turned into an unsatisfied yet deadpan frown on his face.

"..So that you'll laugh at it?" squinted Bowser at him.

"Aye." bluntly confirmed Mosseau. George was almost impressed at how quickly he fired out his response at him. Bowser's only answer was a disappointed glare that was followed by him rubbing his eyes.

"Mosseau...you can be a real…" sighed Bowser before he intentionally gave a pause to his statement, causing others to become curious to what he was going to say to him.

"Say it, Bows!" motivated Mossau, anticipating a swear being uttered in Bowser's growling yet boastful voice.

"...jerk sometimes." Bowser finished his sentence, intentionally letting out a "softer" swear, just to provoke his Scottish colleague.

"...Bloody hell, just fucking swear already like a normal human-oh wait, yer ain't human-uh, reptile, Aye guess." fumed Mosseau as he slammed on the table with his one thousand year old skeletal fist.

"My code of conduct still applies!" insisted Bowser before he switched the topic with a single flip of a paper, showing a drawing of his troops carrying steaks and water barrels to the town. "Ah, got distracted again! So, after I transfer my own stuff from the kingdom, first, we shall restock the island with needs, such as food."

"Do you have any good meat in your kingdom, we could make some Balkan cuisine here, eh?" nudged Brane. Mad John raised his eyebrow and supported Brane's decision about making Balkan food out of material from other world.

"GWAHAHAHA, OF COURSE! Nothing is more tasty than a greatly prepared drumstick or čevapi!" approved Bowser with a laugh.

"Jače! Now we're talking!" Brane pumped his fist.

"It better be good." commented George, even though he knew that Brane's cooking was widely popular in Skeleton Mafia. He did wonder how was the taste of food from Bowser's world.

"Aye think we forgot to mention one important resource, lads." reminded Mosseau. Knowing him, everyone already knew what was he talking about.

"...It's beer, isn't it?" sighed Bowser, at that point losing any feeling from surprise that would come out of Mosseau.

"What did you expect, Bows?" sassed George.

"Aye, of course!" confirmed Mosseau as he triumphantly raised his bottle of Rakija in the air.

"...Fine, you'll get your stupid beer after I restart the production back there." reluctantly approved Bowser, but the tiny tidbit about Bowser's Kingdom's potential alcohol industry took everyone bar Mosseau by surprise. To them, Bowser didn't seem like he would consume alcohol, let alone produce it.

"Do not insult beverages, laddeh! Ye'll never know when ye'll need them!" cautioned Mosseau, pointing his index finger right at him while also insisting how civilizations supplied themselves with alcohol for various reasons of doubtful validity.

"What do you mean by restart the production?" asked Mad John as he wanted to know more about Bowser's domestic alcoholic beverages and maybe perhaps a tale about some drunkards in his kingdom.

"Long story, pal. Anyway, we got distracted again, so...let me continue already!" Bowser shut down the question, instead flipping another paper to show a drawing of what seemed like a convoy of turretless wooden tanks driving out of the warp pipe. Everyone, even George, who only saw tanks up to midwar era of 20th century, was completely baffled by a concept of a wooden tank going into combat. The one that took it the hardest was Mosseau, who felt like his soul and knowledge of warfare just had a stroke. It was like a spit to all tanks he saw with his own eyes, especially those that were present in Southeastern Europe in the time of war. "Right, after we rebuild the island, I think it would be safe to start transferring my own vehicles here.

"...Is that fucking tank made out of wood?" scowled Mosseau at the sight of a drawn tank before he drank an entire bottle of Rakija out of instinct.

"No, it's made out of paper. Of course it is made out of wood!" retaliated Bowser with his own remark.

"Me god, who designed that shite?! Who the flying FUCK makes a tank out of wood?" exploded Mosseau as he started flailing his arms around.

"It's an older model, you living incarnation of a ragefit! I do have tanks made out of metal, if you care so much for it!" retorted Bowser. Somehow, Mosseau managed to calm down through it. At least metal made more sense than food to him.

However, Mosseau didn't stop at what Bowser said, addressing one issue with boss' reassurance: "That ain't enough, laddie."

"What do you mean that ain't enough?! Metal should be strong enough to endure any hit!" angrily perplexed Bowser as he got one of those "This world ain't like yours" moments that he had so often through out Skeleton Mafia's journey.

"You see, mate. Tanks are no longer made out of just metal anymore, at least here. Not sure how it's at your world, but it seems like, and I don't mean to be rude, but you mates have been consistently behind us." calmly and casually elaborated Mad John with a raised index finger.

"Then what are they made of, if metal isn't enough?" asked Bowser out of genuine curiosity.

"Composite armor, mate. Metal is a part of it, but it's not the only one. You get in other stuff as well." explained John. The boss of Skeleton Mafia wasn't sure of what response would he give to the received answer, considering they were talking about a material that was never even considered not only by his army, but any army in the Mushroom Kingdom. He wanted to hear more about it, especially on how to obtain it, but he wanted to prioritize the island reconstruction plan first, since not only it was more relevant but also feasible at that moment.

"Hmm….well, before any of my weapons see battle, we are gonna go through tests on some occupied islands that we will get in the future. That should be a good idea." Bowser

"Answers are already obvious, lad!" Mosseau wasted no time to rub the outcome in Bowser's face.

"….Yeah yeah, right, but I must mention this. There will be an additional warp pipe for ship specifically and it will be placed at the port." Bowser rolled with his eyes before he explained an additional step to his plan, which was accompanied by a galleon with Bowser's emblem on its large sail traversing out of the warp pipe placed near the port. Unlike before, no one really had complaints about the step initially, at least.

"Oh, that's actually pretty good." praised Mad John with a single clap.

"How many ships do we expect to bring in here?" questioned George.

"About as much as this port can take...which isn't a lot, judging from what I saw. We will bring more ships once we conquer more islands!" answered Bowser as the image of an entire fleet cruising dominantly through the Seven Seas came into his mind.

"How big is the chance that yer ships are gonna see battle?" Mosseau gave out his question, which Bowser already felt dread of any response Mosseau would throw at him back, since it usually ends up in the Scottish warrior dunking on anything that would come out of his world.

"Mwahaha, huge, of course! We are conquering after all!" boasted Bowser.

"And how's the chance that they're gonna encounter stuff like Burke? Because Aye can already tell the outcome." suddenly reminded Mosseau, causing Bowser to drop enthusiasm about carefree conquering in the world. It wasn't just a dunk, Mosseau brought up a point that Bowser constantly had to think about ever since the encounter with the destroyer. Even with his own armada at home, Bowser thought that no matter how many ships would he send against a much more modern opponent, it would bring an end to his conquest. It was even a question if his own vessels could even come remotely close to such adversaries. Only solace he had for himself was that he wasn't aware of what those vessels can be a part of.

"...Hopefully zero, Mosseau. I think we have already established that we are NOT gonna have beef with countries, regardless if they are small or big. It could even be a NATO hooligan, which is even worse!" answered Bowser in, unusual for him, a rather quiet, if solemn tone.

"Basically, we could only traverse through international waters when we are on our conquest. Anywhere near coasts and we have to play friendly." suggested Mad John while also reminding them of how were they supposed to operate.

"Yes, exactly! Lets stick to that…" agreed Bowser before he noticed that he ran out of papers, therefore concluding with his presentation. "So, I think that should do it with my Awesome Bowser Island Reconstruction Project. What do you think, gentlemen?"

"How long until the wizard comes? Because any question is null if he isn't there." piqued George before any of them would say their final opinion on his plan, even though they have already expressed their thoughts through out the presentation when they needed to.

"...Still to be determined. Gah! I'll let him slide today, since the distance from that pipe in New York and here is….someone give me the map!" requested Bowser as he pointed at John. The Australian sniper immediately pulled out the world map out of his pocked as he placed it on the table. George pointed at the location of New York and Mad John pointed the approximate location of Royal Auxiliary Isle. "...Oh wow, that's pretty large."

"So what should we do now?" asked Brane, knowing that they couldn't do much aside from wandering around the island and entertaining themselves, killing boredom in the process.

"Poker, I guess? You know, the usual." suggested Bowser the first thing that popped in his mind before he remembered another thing: none of them have eaten yet! "Also, Brane...prepare the food!"

"Of course, momec!" Brane proudly pointed at himself before he dashed off to the nearest kitchen, which was located in the capital ship of Skeleton Mafia. As the Croatian chef went to make some delicious čevapi, George brought up a case with cards and trading chips, beginning their game of poker of that day.

"Now, where even is he?" wondered Bowser amid the preparations for their poker game. It wasn't uncommon among his army that their troops, be it grunts or higher ups, would be late to important meetings.

Meanwhile in Gibraltar, very much far away from Royal Auxiliary Isle, in a much more forgiving environment, resided a typical European port town. Anywhere one could go would see a giant monolithic limestone promontory reigning over the territory. Ships of various types, most prominent being cargo vessels, traversed nearby, following trade routes.

At one typical gas station, rather unoccupied at that time of day, the blue robed wizard turtle stood, taking a breath after a long time flying with his magic broom through the skies above the Atlantic.

"Huff….huff….can't believe I just flew over an entire ocean without eating or drinking beforehand. This was not a logical decision!" said Kamek to himself. "Then again, I was in rush or else Lord Bowser would throw a fit...as usual."

"I do really need a snack, though." contemplated Kamek before he noticed the gas station right behind him. "Ah, this looks like it."

Without hesitation, he walked right towards the gas station, entering it with a push on the glass doors. The gas stationed had all that it should, from food, drinks to miscellaneous stuff like magazines. In other words, nothing out of the ordinary, from Kamek's perspective.

The one who was behind a cash register thought quite differently when he saw a small turtle wizard just walking in: "What the fuck?"

Kamek just casually strolled down the store, looking for desired items to quench his thirst and hunger. Considering that the gas station, like every single other ones, was quite small, it didn't take him long to find a supplement, stored in a fridge to keep it cool even amid the hottest of days.

"Hmmm...just water would suffice." thought Kamek to himself as he grabbed a plastic bottle of water. He felt coldness in his hand, which satisfied him, knowing that his thirst would be eliminated after the transaction is complete. Upon his way to the cash register, he spotted a Frutabela yoghurt cereal bar with cherry filling. Since it looked cheap enough, he took it with him as well. "Ah, this would do as well."

The cash register man still couldn't believe his eyes when he saw Kamek place a plastic bottle of water and accompanied snack right in front of him, but he scanned items without a complaint. Not that he would complain about it, since it would drive away possible customers.

"That'd be...one pound, please." said cash register man in order to complete their transaction.

"Excuse me, but what is a pound?" asked Kamek, first time ever hearing that someone referred to money as a pound.

"You come here and you don't even know what pound is? Strange..." perplexed cash register man with a raised eyebrow, as if the presence of a turtle wizard wasn't odd enough for him already.

"Ah, is that the currency around here?" said Kamek.

"What kind of tourist are you, turtle wizard?" deadpanned Cash register while being nearly close to slapping his bald forehead with his hand.

"I'm no tourist, I just need something to eat and drink! I'm in a big rush right now!" grumbled Kamek before he decided to improvise with a coin "I don't have any pounds right now, but please take this coin."

"Whatever this is, it's not an acceptable currency here." cash register man immediately denied the transaction just upon seeing the coin. At first glance, he thought that the turtle wizard was taking a piss at him with such a fake looking money.

"How am I supposed to get pounds then?!" complained Kamek.

"Get a job or something, wizard!" retaliated cash register man, even though someone hiring Kamek at their place could potentially cause complications, especially on Kamek's own end. Kamek clenched his fists as he seethed, with his pride insulted.

Then, he got an idea that somehow didn't appear before: "Wait a minute….I work for bad guys...and I am a bad guy, so….why do I need to abide by law anyway?"

"I already have a thankless job already, so no thanks! Anyway, I gotta go now. See ya never!" retorted Kamek before he snatched both the bottle and the cereal bar and ran out of the story as quickly as his feet could take him. The cash register man flinched from the sudden snatch before he, out of pure frustration, decided to chase down the thief. It was a good thing that the traffic was low that day, or else the news about "Local worker at gas station chasing down a wizard thief" would be spread all over Gibraltar, if not the whole world wide web.

"Come back here, you shitty wizard!" fumed cash register man, but Kamek already took off with his broom. By the time cash register man reached the spot where the broom was, Kamek was already away from his sight.

"I can't believe this. Now I can't even call the police for it!" cash register man clenched his fist before he realized he was getting mad at items that were worth just one pound overall. "Oh well...it was just a Frutabella bar and a bottle of water. Nothing to lose a nerve for."

The cash register man, defeated and humiliated, returned back to his working position.

Kamek was flying on his broom again, taking quenches of water while munching on the cereal bar he obtained through not-so legal means.

"Ah, so refreshing! Exactly what I needed!" thought Kamek to himself, consuming his meal while rushing to his destination, Royal Auxiliary Isle, to provide help for his boss and his plan.

However, just like Bowser was planning to reconstruct an entire island in his own image, so were his adversaries plotting against him, in a much less forgiving country.

Al Dhafra Air Base, located about one hundred kilometers away from Dubai. The air base was operated by not only United Arab Emirates Air Force and Air Defence, but also by United States Air Force. American aircraft parked there waited for their time to conduct operations amid the scorching heat of the Persian Gulf. At that time, they were accompanied by few aircraft from United Arab Emirates Air Force's own aircraft, with Bombardier DHC-8 MPA-D8, a maritime patrol aircraft of the aforementioned nation, prepared on standby for its incoming mission. In the mean time, Sheikh and Kaneo Takarada observed the whole procedure.

"We got everything ready, G?" asked Kaneo Takarada while also taking opportunity to look around the air base, since it wasn't common for him to be at such places. From a distance, he saw a couple of E-3 Sentries, the quintessential airborne early warning & control aircraft of the USAF, accompanying KC-10 Extender tankers. Despite those types being larger aircraft, there was a squadron of much more imposing American aircraft parked nearby the UAE's maritime patrol turboprop plane.

"Prepared like it was said. The operation to track down your missing vessel starts today, just like it was promised." confirmed Sheikh with a nod, causing Takarada to focus his attention towards him

"Good stuff, man! That's what I like to hear!" praised Kaneo Takarada, adding a gesture with his hand to emphasize his satisfaction.

"You have said that your forces will arrive here as soon as tomorrow, is that correct?" piqued Sheikh.

"Bullseye, my G! If everything goes butter smooth, then it will all buckle up in a pretty short time." happily confirmed Kaneo Takarada as he flexed with his own money.

"Make sure that the flight path taken by your forces does not intrude air spaces of surrounding countries. This is something we have taken into consideration when planning out the mission. So far, Americans have provided us information about the current status of air space. We made sure that our aircraft will execute the mission without interference." suggested Sheikh out of consideration, even though information provided by United States Navy's E-2 Hawkeye airborne early warning & control carrier capable aircraft assured that there were no potential disturbances above the airspace of United Arab Emirates and Oman. However, the concern about Iran's response remained.

"No worries, my man! We have already planned out the path without snooping in Iran's air space!" promised Kaneo Takarada before he took a glance at the parked squadron to take a better look at what type of aircraft were those present.

The squadron itself consisted of F-15E Strike Eagles, just serenely waiting for their mission to come. Yet even Takarada felt slight amount of dread just looking at them. Their presence alone sent the message to anyone opposing the omnipresence of United States of America and what would happen to adversaries, current and future alike.

"...Say, I was thinking about involving Americans into this. That should deter that bastard." suggested Takarada to his colleague, although even he hesitated about the idea.

"Although I am sure that, if the militia proves to be a threat to my nation, it will sort it out by itself. United States of America already has their own interests in the region, I doubt that they would be interested in neutralizing what seemed to be a minuscule armed group. Terrorists that not only they, but we deal with tend to be in thousands." reasoned Sheikh, recalling that the superpower ally of his nation was already quite active around the Persian Gulf, providing support to its allies while also engaging in a fight against insurgent groups and proxies of hostile nations. Kaneo Takarada thought for some time whether or not to involve the superpower itself into the conflict. On one hand, Bowser would have been, without a single doubt, absolutely devastated militarily wise. However, any mistake could lead to escalation in the region that would turn the already present hostilities between United States and its regional allies and adversaries to such degree that it would be a full blown regional war that the world was not prepared for. There was also a fear of politicians of either side mishandling the situation, which was quite common through out history of the Gulf. Kaneo Takarada couldn't afford to set the entire region ablaze over a single yacht.

"Yeah, that's probably for the best. Shit could escalate hard if they flew over Iran's air space, accidental or not." decided Kaneo Takarada, with Sheikh agreeing that it was probably a better option, since United States had their own business there already. The Tycoon from Osaka noted that it was about time to conduct the very mission he anticipated for some time. "Anyway, it's time to rev this baby up!"

The serene, but ominous tranquility of the air base came to an end with the start up of Bombardier DHC-8 MPA-D8's turboprop engines. It introduced itself with a shrill noise of turboprop as the propeller of the left engine started to rotate. Gradually, the propeller itself reached enough rotation speed that it replaced the shrill noise with the notoriously loud slashing of air done by blades themselves. When the left engine had its start up complete, so did the right engine follow. After the same procedure was done, the noise that dominated the airbase was the booming growl of the Bombardier.

"Aw yeah, dude!" cheered Kaneo Takarada as the aforementioned maritime patrol aircraft started taxiing to one of two runways present in Al Dhafra. When it went past them, the thrust caused by engines caused the wind to blow right in their faces.

"We will report to you the moment when we found location of your stolen vessel!" shouted Sheikh, just so Takarada could hear him. Otherwise, Sheikh has never raised his voice, unless there was a disturbance, such as the growling Bombardier.

Both of them observed as the olive drab Bombardier followed the yellow lines to reach the runway. The procedure took some time, but the aircraft reached the runway after carefully listening through instructions of the air traffic controller. The pilot set flaps to take off position as it waited on the runway.

When the time was right, they only needed to hear only one statement from the ATC:

"Overseer 1-1, you are cleared for take off."

The Bombardier started rolling down the runway, replacing the growl with its turboprop engines roaring as it gained lift. Once enough speed was gained, the maritime patrol aircraft lifted itself off the ground, retracting its landing gear amid the process. Kaneo Takarada couldn't help but feel pure excitement after witnessing the take off, while Sheikh sternly observed to see if everything went as planned. As the Bombardier reached the coasts of United Arab Emirates, it became all clear to them.

"Let's see how you like this, reptilian fuckhead!" smirked Kaneo Takarada to himself, knowing that it was all going as planned. It was only a matter of time when the Bombardier of United Arab Emirates Air Force was going to reach Royal Auxiliary Isle, but when the time will come, it will dawn on the conqueror that his conquest encounter severe setbacks.

United Arab Emirates was more than prepared to monitor his activities around the Persian Gulf and Arabian sea combined.

Hundreds, if not thousands of kilometers were crossed above the seas of the world by Kamek, cruising as high as he could in the air with his broom. By the standards of the world, he flew as high as the maximum possible ceiling of a personal civil aircraft, which, compared to its other flying brethren, wasn't really that much. If he flew just a bit higher, he would be unable to breathe properly. All he could see below was the serene, but despairingly vast surface of the Red Sea. Last station that he stopped at was at Gibraltar, so his muscles and mind were nearly depleted by all flying he had to do.

"Huff, puff….all this flying over this world is slightly too much for poor old me...Why did Lord Bowser had to go so far?!" contemplated Kamek within himself, just wishing a solid surface to land on and take a break. Either by some coincidence or fortune, he spotted a large tanker, which was slowly cruising the sea to its destination, below him.

"Hmm, perhaps I could take a little rest here. It wouldn't hurt much, would it?" wondered Kamek whether or not would it be wise to get some relief after tormenting his body and mind so much with endless flying. The thought of lying down on the deck and then rethink life choices was a dominant one in his mind, influencing the outcome of his decision: he decided to take some rest on a ship. It was a better decision to him than passing out and then drowning in the Red Sea. After observing the ship, Kamek decided that it would be best to land on the back end of the ship, since it seemed like that the place would be best to hide just in case. With a slow, quiet descent with his broom, he landed on the ship before he laid down on the solid yet heated up metallic floor. Heat didn't bother him too much, because the feeling of his mind and muscles feeling total relief was way better than anything else. All he could and wanted to do was to stare at the clear sky above him, breathing the fresh scent of the sea to clear out his mind.

"Aah, surface again. Long time no see." said the turtle wizard to himself as he was continuing relaxing, thinking of all the pleasant things he liked to do in his free time. It seemed like he finally got the break he wanted after traveling such distances in an unknown to him world.

"Who was that?" suddenly, an unknown voice broke the silence, accompanied by loud footsteps on the metallic floor. Kamek glanced over the direction of the sound to see the cause of disruption, only to find a security guard, armed with a M16A4 assault rifle, coming right at him. The moment he saw a weapon, all of his senses went into overdrive from adrenaline. All the relaxation was quickly undone by sheer energy of a panic. Only saving grace he had was that the guard hasn't spotted him at that moment.

"Good heavens!" shouted Kamek before he ran away from the spot, disappearing before the guard could trace him out. "This guy looks like no joke! My instinct tells me I'm in the world of pain if he find me out!"

As he was running away, he spotted a nearby crane on the absolutely wide deck of the tanker. It was only thing he could see because of pure adrenaline pumping through his blood. Within a moment, he got an idea that could help him out against the chaser.

"I think this should be a good spot." thought Kamek to himself before he placed himself behind the crane. The guard followed what he assumed to be the path of the intruder wizard, stopping at the nearby crane to patrol the area around him. Kamek felt some satisfaction that he managed to hide from him. "Hah! Your mind truly comes up with genius ideas, Kamek!"

But the guard, much to Kamek's dismay, continued patrolling around the crane. Any time the security guard was closer than he was comfortable with, Kamek moved his position to conceal his hiding spot.

"Why doesn't he go away already?!" angrily thought Kamek to himself before he accidentally glanced over to the other side of the deck, finding out that it wasn't just one guard protecting the ship. It was an entire team of them, all of them armed with the same rifle as the one chasing the wizard. The worst thing for him was if anyone just even slightly glanced over, they would have seen him right in front of them.

"There's more of them?! Will my misfortune ever end?!" panicked Kamek before he ran away from the crane after finding a perfect opportunity to. However, the sound of his footsteps didn't do him much favors in concealing from the security guards. Even though the guard didn't spot him with a glance, he heard the metallic sounds done by wizard's retreat.

"There's a potential intruder abroad, I request assistance." reported the guard to others as they all began inspecting the deck of the ship, trying to find out where the wizard was.

Kamek was hiding in the corner on the side of the ship, hoping that no one would find him out, despite his shoddy position. A pinch of luck granted him that the guards haven't checked the spot.

"I don't think I have any more options right now….other than flying away because-" thought Kamek to himself, trying to come up with a plan to get out of the ship. Him being exhausted, hungry or thirsty no longer mattered, all it did that he would manage to reach Bowser's island without being ridden with bullet holes.

However, his luck ran out quicker than a lightning strike as not only he, but security guards spotted a rigid inflatable boat with fellas wielding Kalashnikovs on it speeding right up at their flank. Only silver lining that Kamek had was that all of security guards focused their attention on the incoming vessel.

"Pirate vessel spotted!" warned one of the security guards before each of them scattered across the deck to find an optimal position, preparing their guns for the incoming attack. The pirate boat was riding on the waves as it got closer and closer.

"What the? There's a wizard on the boat!" spotted the pirate driver as he pointed at the poorly concealed Kamek. All of the pirates looked over to get a better look on the wizard. Most of them were baffled by his existence.

"I hate his face! Kill him now!" winced other pirate on the boat at the sight of turtle as all of them, except the driver, pointed their Kalashnikovs right at Kamek's face.

"WHY?!" shouted Kamek when he saw pirates were going directly for him, only for him to realize that all of his efforts of hiding away from guards went to null with a single decision. "...Uh oh."

"I have heard the intruder!" reported the security guard that was chasing the wizard first.

"Dispatch Team Alpha to look for intruder. Team Bravo will deal with the hostiles." ordered security guard leader as he pointed at the assumed source of the intruder.

"Roger that." nodded security guard that lead the Team Alpha before the team went to inspect the ship. Team Bravo readied their guns in case pirates would strike first.

"I can't fly now that these pirates are going for my head!" worried Kamek amid the confrontation before coming to one conclusion. If flight wouldn't work, fight would. "Well….only one option remains, really."

Suddenly, in a blink of an eye, a hand sized fireball materialized on the tip of the wand. Pirates were even more baffled by the sight of seeing actual magic right in front of their eyes, but they did manage to tell that Kamek's attack was going right for them.

"Ha-yah!" shouted Kamek as he sent the fireball right at them, only to be completely evaded by pirate driver just making a simple turn with his boat. By the time the fireball was supposed to reach the boat, it was already far away. One failed attack made Kamek realize that this world was completely unlike his. "Huh? Were my spells always that slow?"

"The wizard wants to have it a go!" alerted pirate driver as they maneuvered around the side of the ship.

"Fill him with lead!" ordered pirate commander before the storm of bullets from Kalashnikovs was finally unleashed upon the wizard. Unlike his attack, bullet holes above him were created at the blink of the eye. Some of bullets were centimeters away from ending Kamek's vital organs. All he could do was cover.

"Aaah! I don't stand a chance! Commence tactical retreat!" yelled Kamek as he ran across the ship while taking cover from the rampaging fire. However, Kamek's presence was a hidden blessing for the security guard, as they could shoot back without resistance. They took the opportunity and unleashed a storm of small caliber yet lethal bullets towards the aggressor vessel. Amid the exchange of high speed traversing lead, the pirate driver was shot in the chest, falling off the boat in the process. The pirates realized that all the focus on the wizard costed them an opportunity to deal with guards properly.

"Oh fuck, the guards!" one of the pirate's eyes widened when he saw similarly armed, yet better defended men on the deck, firing directly at them.

"Ignore the wizard, open fire on guards!" ordered pirate commander as all of them pointed their rifles at the bigger threat, beginning their own attack on the security in the process. Thus a fiery exchange of bullets continued on the calm waves of the Red Sea.

"Taking cover." security guard hid himself behind the crane as the storm of pirate's bullets became occasionally overwhelming. Kamek was still trying to run away from the fight, but some of the pirates, especially the one that hated his face, continued firing upon him.

"Oh heck!" yelped Kamek when pirates managed to shoot him right in his hat, tearing the fabric apart with holes. The wizard sped up his run, just trying to keep on living. However, either by some fortune on his end or misfortune on pirates, more and more pirates fell from the boat, thanks to projectiles fired from Carbines of security guards ending their vital processes. Last one to fall was the commander himself, who at the very least gave the most trouble for security guards to take him down. Yet all that remained was a sole, empty boat.

"Team Bravo here. Hostile vessel has been neutralized." reported the leader of Team Bravo as they all returned to their usual patrolling. Some of the guards went to capture the remaining pirate boat, keeping it as a backup equipment. "Team Alpha, have you found the intruder?"

"Negative. Still searching." said the leader of Team Alpha as they all continued their search for the intrusive wizard.

For all the effort Kamek could make, he just arrived at the other side of the ship. Feeling nothing but adrenaline and fear for his life, he has decided that there was only one remaining thing to do.

"This is my only chance now…" said Kamek to himself before he finally flew away from the tanker with his magic broom, ending his time on the secured vessel in the process. "Squadala! I'm off!"

By the time Kamek was already high up in the air, Team Alpha arrived to the position, only to see a blur of the flying wizard getting away from their sight.

"What am I just seeing right now?" wondered the security guard as the blur was getting smaller as the time passed. They have decided it wasn't worth wasting bullets on it.

"Be sure to check if the intruder has stolen the cargo." suggested Team Alpha leader as the entire band went inside the tanker to see if the aforementioned load was disturbed by the wizard. After crossing through the narrow metallic hallways, they found themselves in the dark storage, with all cargo intact.

"Everything seems to be in place." noted security guard as all of them felt slight relief from all that happened.

"That's good." said Team Alpha leader before his phone rung in his pocket, focusing his attention on it in the process.

"Johnson of Houston Electronics Security here." Team Alpha leader picked up the call. It turned out it was the leader of them, or to be more specific, the CEO of Houston Electronics.

"Howdy y'all. Dell Conagher here, but you may know me as the Engineer." greeted the specially southern voice in a polite and amiable manner. "How's it going?"

"Oh, Engi. Hello there. We have some things to report." Johnson dropped a few formalities before he went on to tell him the events of the day.

"Is the package for Dubai still in check?" asked Engineer about the load.

"Affirmative. The cargo remains untouched. However, there was an intruder on the tanker and we had an encounter with pirates." confirmed Johnson before he went on to tell about the anomalies.

"Intruder? Have you found them?" further piqued Engineer.

"We saw him flying away...on his broom. Probably a wizard, a small one at that." Johnson attempted to report with a straight face, trying to hide bafflement from the sheer prospect of an actual wizard being on their ship.

"Huh, not the first time I have dealt with wizards. We should take notice of further encounters with any of them." commented Engineer, despite the fact he was not baffled by the concept of a wizard at all. It must have been due shenanigans of one of his colleagues, who had a mafia-indebted wizard as his roommate. There was also something about Tom Jones or whatever. "You've also said that you boys had to deal with pirates again. Have you cleared them out?"

"Yes, the threat has been neutralized." confirmed Johnson once again, recalling how every single pirate met their end at the bottom of the ocean.

"Hahaha, that's what I like to hear! Now you boys just continue your job and it will be all dandy." complimented Engineer before giving them further orders.

"Roger that." said Johnson, concluding anything he had to say.

"I must bid farewell. Lotta business awaits me in the future." Engineer gave his last words before the call was concluded. The security team continued their job of protecting the tanker in peace.

As the time passed, Kamek was speeding through the air, still journeying to the island of the desired destination. Wind was blowing right in his face, but his mission was the only thing in his mind. However, he seemingly got a tunnel vision from the adrenaline, as he bypassed right in front of the United Arab Emirates' Bombardier maritime patrol aircraft without even noticing. Contrary to him, the pilot and the co-pilot immediately noticed the flying object just passing by.

"Did you see that?" asked the co-pilot as he pointed to show a path that the wizard partook in.

"My eyes did not deceive me. Perhaps we should follow it." confirmed pilot before suggesting about chasing it down to get a better view of it or anything related to it.

"Lets not forget on our primary mission, shall we?" reminded co-pilot while expressing lack of desire for causing disapproval among the higher ups.

"Of course, but maybe there's a chance that the flying object could provide us a clue." pilot provided an argument for his decision.

"Lets give it a try. We have an entire sea to monitor anyway." concurred co-pilot before the pilot made the aircraft bank to the assumed flight path of Kamek, following it in the process. Kamek was just fast enough that he kept distance, yet slow enough that he didn't disappear from the sight.

By all flying done, he finally saw destination that he was looking for so much time. Kamek just sped up to it, trying to land on the surface in the process. However, due sheer rush and lack of consideration regarding landings, he crash landed on the island, sliding on the ground with his face. His means of transportation and the wand remained intact, despite the rough landing. The ground managed to slow him down enough for the slide to come to a halt.

"I have...huff...huff...arrived, Lord Bowser!" announced Kamek in an exhausted tone before he stood up to witness an old formerly British town right in front of his eyes. Yet no sign of his boss or any of his things he was infamous for, such as yelling and stomping. "Bowser?"

Kamek stepped forth, inspecting the town to see if there was any trace of the turtle king. As he walked on the stone path, he bumped into a skeleton, who was just chilling on a sunny day while reading a newspaper.

"Gah!" yelped Kamek when he saw an animated human skeleton right in front of his eyes. For a brief moment, he thought he visited a skeleton island instead. Though he technically wasn't that wrong.

"What? Why you screaming, wizard boy?" asked skeleton in an annoyed tone, more for scream than him accidentally bumping into her. The skeleton leaned at the turtle wizard to get a better look on him. Kamek felt slightly uncomfortable that eye sockets were staring right in his eyes.

"Pardon me, I just didn't expect you. I have heard that Lord Bowser is on this island. May I ask where he is?" apologized Kamek before asking for instructions regarding his mission.

"In the bar. They're always there, waiting for some wizard, I guess." responded the skeleton as she pointed at the mentioned building.

"That wizard must be me." said Kamek with a sense of pride in his voice.

"Then move your magician ass up there!" ordered skeleton as she stomped with her foot.

"Sheesh...you didn't need to word it like that!" grumbled Kamek as he went towards the direction of the bar, using his last energy to finally arrive at the entrance of the aforementioned building.

Meanwhile in the bar, the elites of Skeleton Mafia were observing Sniper Mad John and Bowser playing a small, yet mentally depriving game of chess. It seemed like they have only started the game, as none of them made their moves yet. That changed when Mad John moved the white pawn that was in front of the knight for one space.

"Your move, mate." Mad John offered him a chance to make his own move with black pieces. Wandering through the thoughts of performing a tactical move, Bowser stared at the board with a dedicated look in his eyes. After thinking of a move, he grabbed on a black pawn piece in front of the knight, prepared to make a move.

Only to be interrupted by the turtle wizard opening the door and announcing his arrival: "Lord Bowser, I have arrived!".

The game of chess was postponed in order to let the wizard talk.

"Kamek! Where have been for such long time?!" asked Bowser in his typical booming voice.

"It's not gonna take seconds to cross an entire ocean and some seas, Your Impatience!" Kamek defended himself from the get go, possibly due to being used to his yelling commanding for years.

"Well, now that you're here, let us begin with our plan!" ordered Bowser as he stood up from the table.

"Can we...postpone it?" Kamek raised his hand to tell them about his current status.

"What? What's gonna be excuse time?" Bowser with an annoyingly raised eyebrow, not exactly satisfied that they couldn't do it immediately.

"I am really really really really really REALLY exhausted after everything that happened on the journey. I just need some rest already." Kamek explained himself while still trying to stand up, just so that he wouldn't pass out right in front of him.

"Maybe this is gonna fire you up, ya bloody wizard!" Mosseau, being Mosseau, lifted up his trademark chainsaw-on-a-pole weapon and revved it up.

"AIIIIIIIIIEEEE!" screamed Kamek with his adrenaline returning once again.

"MOSSEAU, NO! WHAT DID I SAY AGAIN?!" yelled Bowser at his Scottish colleague, ordering him to put down his weapon.

"It was just a warning, Bows." lied Mosseau, while in reality he wanted to sell Kamek's body parts on the black market, but he did as Bowser said.

"I don't need more violence after everything that happened today!" complained Kamek as he finally fell on the rough floor of the bar.

"What happened, wizard?" asked Brane, curious about what the wizard had to go through.

"Well...I didn't expect cargo ships of this world to be armed!" explained Kamek. Aside from his boss, who did sort of understand him, other elites of Skeleton Mafia responded with all sorts of weird looks for not only displaying ignorance regarding defense of cargo ships, but also the fact Bowser hasn't implemented self defense measures for such vessels in the first place.

"Don't you also have to deal with piracy at your world, though?" questioned Mad John as he raised his index finger. From his experience, any major ship was defended, from just small amount of security guards to being flat out escorted by warships.

"Yes, yes, we do deal with it, just that that's left to battleships, not cargo ships." elaborated Kamek with him being minutes away from passing out.

"Step up your game then, wizard!" taunted Mosseau, which it managed to irritate Kamek in the process. However, the talk regarding defense of ships did give Bowser an idea that he could implement not only in the world he was currently in, but also in his own world.

"Hmmmm...that is a good idea indeed." noted Bowser as he imagined his cargo carrying galleons carrying large cannons and bullet bill blasters before he decided to choose Kamek's fate regarding that day. "However, Kamek…I order you to take a rest. I want my minions to be in top shape!"

"Ah, thank you, Your Forgiveness. Where can I take a rest?" asked Kamek, feeling relieved that he could finally get some actual rest, free of security guards, pirates and angry Scottish skeletons.

"The Inn. You know, the usual location. It's right there." recommended Bowser as he pointed at the direction of the aforementioned location.

"Well then. We shall each other tomorrow." said Kamek before he opened the door, planning to leave the bar, so that he could get some rest.

"Aye'll get ya in yer sleep!" Mosseau couldn't just leave the wizard alone without threatening him.

"MOSSEAU, WHAT DID I SAY AGAIN!" warned Bowser once again before he noticed that Kamek has completely disappeared from their sight. "...and he went off."

"Shall we continue?" suggested Mad John, wanting to continue their game of chess without disruptions.

"Of course! Now let me rethink!" agreed Bowser as he returned to the game, performing a move that he wanted to do in the first place. Both the captain turtle mafioso king and an Australian sniper continued making moves after long periods of thinking of right choices as the game dragged on through out the day. Yet, other still eventfully watched the whole chess game, wondering who would be the one that would reign triumphant. As their game went on, Kamek managed to arrive at the inn. As some kind of luck, the inn was free to use, so the turtle wizard just threw himself on the bed once he arrived to the room he wanted. Given how absolutely crusty those beds were, they were a blessing compared to everything he encountered before.

But despite the rest and distractions, none of the members of Skeleton Mafia knew what was coming to them. Even though it was still far behind, the Bombardier from United Arab Emirates was approaching at the alarming speed. It was just a matter of time before they would be discovered by a nation that sees them as a potential threat.