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Box 16: Lady Rainbow

Everything appeared to be peaceful in the small koopa village. The sun was shining, the air was warm and the lava was boiling. Everything was set for the start of a good day. Clawdia watched the children play in her backyard. It appeared that she had somehow become the official village babysitter, not that she minded, she liked kids. Everything was calm and happy until a little boy came running to her. The little koopaling looked scared. He stopped out of breath as he tried to call her name. "Claw... Clawdia..."

"Take a beep breath Koopito," Clawdia said to the frightened boy. The koopaling did what he was told, recovering some of the natural color of his face. "That's it, now slow down and tell me what happened."

"My sister, the dragon got her!" No sooner had the boy mentioned the terrible dragon when they were surrounded by curious koopas and scared koopalings. "Go inside the house kids," Clawdia urged. "You too," she told Koopito. She stood at the door and smiled at the koopalings to reassure them they would be alright. "I know I never usually leave you alone, but this is a bit of an emergency. Don't leave the house until I get back. There are cookies and milk in the kitchen in case you want a snack. I'll be back soon." The koopalings nodded, commented about the situation among themselves and told her to hurry back as Clawdia closed the door of her house and went on her way.

"Clawdia, where are you going?" A young koopa asked. He looked like he knew the answer but needed to be sure.

"I'm going to find Koopita. That dragon's been eating koopalings for a long time. It's going to end now. He'll regret coming to this village," Clawdia was determined. The twins Koopito and Koopita lived just outside the village. For the last few months their parents let them walk to her house alone as long as they went straight there and stayed together. They never thought the terrible dragon would come to their village.

Curious koopas surrounded her. "That's insane!" "You'll be killed too!" "He'll eat you just like the he ate the kids!" All that could be heard from the crowd.

"Enough! I can't believe no one is doing anything. Just because the other villages got burned to nothing, doesn't mean it's going to happen to us if we fight the dragon! Besides, I'm can't let him get away with eating all those kids." Ignoring their warnings and protests, Clawdia left the village.

Once outside her village, she ran to the little house where the koopalings' parents lived. They were injured by the dragon's fire but they would recover. She sent a paratroopa that had curiously wandered by to see what the commotion was about to find a magikoopa to heal them and told them Koopito was alright. With no time to waste, she was off to find Koopita.

xoxox xox xoxox

Clawdia saw a fire burning far away in an area she knew was a clearing so it couldn't possibly be from a volcano. The dragon must have gone that way. To gain speed, Clawdia went inside her pink shell and spun around rapidly. She hovered above the ground moving at an amazing speed. She stopped at the entrance to a cave. Just outside the cave a few dry tress were set on fire.

The dragon that was inside the cave heard something and came out. There stood a koopa girl with a pink shell. She had a wild rainbow for hair, held into a ponytail by a pink bow. She also had a matching bow on her tail. "Where are the koopalings?"

"So you're here to save them?" The green dragon was only a little bigger than a koopa, but his tail was far longer and his wings larger than the wings of any paratroopa, plus they had no feathers. "Is this all the village can send? One girl? One person doesn't even make for a small angry mob!" The dragon laughed evilly.

"Enough! Tell me where they are. If it's true you ate them, you'll regret it!" How could that terrible creature eat innocent little koopalings? She just didn't understand.

"What are you going to do, scare me to death with your bad fashion sense? Is that mess of a rainbow natural or did you have a really bad accident with hair dye?" The dragon mocked.

Clawdia fell silent. She took a long pause then let out the loudest koopa roar the dragon had ever heard. With a killer glared she went inside her shell and spun, hitting the dragon, wounding him badly. The dragon gasped for air crushed between the cave wall and the spikes on Clawdia's pink shell. The shell released him, spinning in front of him.

Clawdia stopped and her head arms, legs and tail came out of her shell. "Never make fun of my hair." Hearing a child-like voice coming from deeper into the cave, she hurried to find Koopita and hopefully the koopalings from the other villages.

Defeated, weakened, wounded and with a broken ego, the dragon crawled away and clumsily took flight.

Clawdia was glad to find that the kids were taken prisoner but not eaten. She was heading back to her village with the group of koopalings when she saw an angry mob of koopas heading towards the cave. "You're a bit late," Clawdia and koopas celebrated the koopalings' safe return.

xoxox xox xoxox

Later that night at the village, while the koopas from the neighboring villages spoke of their plans to rebuild and make sure their children were always safe, it was revealed what the dragon planed to do. The koopalings had heard of his plans to try to steal the throne from King Bowser as soon as the kids were trained to fight for him. "I'm taking this matter to the king," Clawdia had decided there and then.

The next day her journey around the Darklands began. Thankfully, she wasn't too far away from the Koopa Castle. What she didn't expect was that the dragon would be healed so quickly. "I've been looking all over for you Lady Rainbow," the dragon landed in front of her.

"Are you making fun of my hair again?" Clawdia was ready to teach him another hard lesson if he was.

"No, of course not, I was simply admiring it. No koopa has ever stood up to me like that. Your skill and beauty amazes me. I want you to marry me!" The dragon requested.

Clawdia simply blinked in surprised confusion. "I don't even know your name."

"How rude of me to forget the introductions, my name is Drageno. What might Lady Rainbow be called?"

"My name is Clawdia and my parents had a good reason to give me that name." She showed her long, sharp and perfectly manicured pink claws. Let's just say Drageno got a really good look at them with the cut on his face that went from his forehead all the way down to his neck. She just couldn't forgive someone who hurt children.

"What are you doing?" He roared angrily breathing fire.

She jumped out of the way. "I'm sure you'll want to get healed before your wound bleeds too much. Retreat or else!" Clawdia warned him. Carefully thinking about his decision, Drageno flew away.

A magikoopa that happened to be flying back to the Koopa Castle on his broom witnessed the event. "Good job taking care of that dragon."

"Thanks but I'm not done yet. That was a trap to get him to reveal the location of the captive magikoopa." Clawdia suspected he must have a magikoopa prisoner that healed him so quickly. No magikoopa would heal that tyrant willingly and he should have still been beaten from their last fight. She went inside her shell, spinning after Drageno, staying a little behind as to not be noticed. The magikoopa wasn't sure what was going on but he followed Clawdia.

xoxox xox xoxox

They came to an area with many dry trees. Drageno went inside a large tree trunk and after a bright light he emerged completely healed. "That was a magikoopa healing spell!" The magikoopa following Clawdia recognized the magic.

Drageno noticed he had been followed. He breathed fire, but the magikoopa, who was really Kamek, easily blocked it. That fire was nothing compared to Bowser's flaming temper tantrums when he was little. Knowing he was overpowered and outnumbered Drageno made his escape, flying away at a great speed.

"Is someone out there? Can you let me out of here?" A female voice came from the tree trunk. Kamek and Clawdia curiously but carefully approached and just as they suspected, there was a magikoopa there.

Kamek looked at the markings on the ground. It was a spell to trap magikoopas but he knew how to break it. He chanted ancient words as his wand began to glow. The symbols forming a circle around the female magikoopa began to glow as well, until they vanished. "You're free now."

"Thanks! That dragon chased me in here and kept making me heal him. I'll have to learn that counter spell to escape from things like this. That mean dragon, he burnt my broom too. By the way I'm Kammy who might you be?"

"I'm Kamek."

"I'm Clawdia."

"Well, now that we all know each other, Clawdia I was wondering if you were heading to the Koopa Castle?" Kamek asked.

"Yes, I needed to speak to the king about that dragon. I'll track him down and bring him back if he agrees to have a dungeon cell ready. Furthermore, why hasn't the official kingdom army taken action? Drageno was kidnapping koopalings to train them to fight against King Bowser eventually," Clawdia explained.

"I'm certain that dragon isn't a threat. There is another threat however, but my perditions tell me that it will be a little longer before they are able to find their way back into our world." Kamek quickly stopped, he had revealed too much. "Clawdia, Kammy, I invite you both to the castle. Kammy, I'll teach you that spell in case you need it and Clawdia you can meet King Bowser." Although Kamek didn't say it, he was thinking that Clawdia would make a good queen. She appeared to be quite skilled and brave.

"Sounds good to me," Clawdia agreed. Whether that dragon, according to Kamek, represented a real threat to the kingdom or not wasn't the matter in question. The point was that he kidnapped koopalings and that made Clawdia very upset. She wasn't going to keep quiet about it.

"That would be great, except I don't have a broom," Kammy revealed.

"I'll give you a ride, then you can get a broom at the castle," Kamek offered.

"Do you think we'll all fit?" Kammy inquired.

"Don't worry about me. I'm pretty sure I can keep up from the ground," Clawdia assured.

xoxox xox xoxox

The three journeyed to the Koopa Castle, which wasn't too far away. That spinning shell move of Clawdia's was really something. She had no trouble keeping up with the magikoopas riding on the broom. Upon their arrival, Kamek was informed that Bowser had run off. Clawdia and Kammy were given guest rooms and Kammy soon noticed something was going on.

"Kamek," Kammy found the other magikoopa as he was about to head out.

"Is the broom to your liking?" Kamek asked.

Kammy was carrying the new broom he gave her. "Yes, I like it very much. I was just thinking about my theory."

"What theory would that be?" Kamek asked.

"That you want to play matchmaker for King Bowser and Clawdia," Kammy answered.

"I wouldn't call it match maker. I'll just introduce them and hope for the best. I'm not planning to interfere any more than that," Kamek promised.

"Really? That's too bad. Playing matchmaker would be fun. I have an idea. Why don't we have a ball tonight?" Kammy suggested.

"Bowser doesn't like balls."

"I like balls and so does Clawdia."

"Did you ask her if she likes balls or are you just saying that because you want to have a party?"

"Fine, be that way," Kammy pouted and started walking away.

Kamek sighed in defeat. "Fine, we'll have a ball." He wasn't sure why, but he didn't want Kammy to be upset.

"Great, I'll go tell Clawdia," Kammy cheered. Kamek shook his head, more at himself for agreeing than at Kammy, and flew off to find Bowser.

xoxox xox xoxox

There was a knock on the door to Clawdia's guest room. "Come in."

Kammy entered the room and set her broom aside beside the door. "I've come to tell you about tonight's ball!"

"There's a ball? Am I expected to attend?" Clawdia wasn't sure she wanted to be at a ball while Drageno was still out there, but dragons were hard to keep locked up. She would need help from the king or his magikoopa assistant, who could only take action if the king sent him.

"Of course, I'll help you get ready if you want," Kammy offered.

"Sure, I'll need all the help I can get. Maybe you can do something about my hair."

"I think I can take care of it," Kammy then picked up a hairbrush and indicated for Clawdia to sit down. The magikoopa brushed the koopa's rainbow hair until it wasn't wild and spiky anymore. "There you go. You should wear your hair down for the ball."

"It's still a rainbow. I thought you were going to use some kind of magic on it." Clawdia's hair was dark blue, light blue, pink, yellow and green.

"Nah, it looks fine like that. Now you just need a dress." With a wave of her wand, Kammy made a beautiful pink dress appear, laid out on Clawdia's bed. She also made matching heals and diamond jewelry. "I need to get ready too, see you later."

"See ya and thanks."

"You're welcome, enjoy the ball. I know I'm planning to have fun," Kammy then returned to her room to get ready.

Clawdia looked at the dress. It was very nice, although there was no way it would fit with her shell on. It was just for the ball so she would leave her shell in her room and change back into it later. With that decision made, she changed into the dress and put on the shoes and jewelry.

xoxox xox xoxox

Kamek had found Bowser at the edge of the Darkland territories, looking curiously into the distance. The magikoopa had warned him countless times before never to go into the Mushroom Kingdom territory or it may trigger a chain reaction that would bring back those who were to bring disaster to the Koopa Kingdom. They would come when the Koopa Kingdom army went to carry out their plans to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom, but until then, until they were ready, it was best to keep a certain distance. "I really don't know what the big deal is about going beyond the Darkland border."

"You must understand that we might not be ready yet," Kamek warned.

"We're the most powerful kingdom of all, of course we're ready," Bowser argued.

"Not yet, we must become more powerful so that we still stand a chance, even if the Mushroom Kingdom's heroes find their way back to our world. Don't forget they destroyed your very first castle," Kamek reminded him.

"I thought I destroyed it when you turned me into a giant with your magic," Bowser recalled.

Kamek thought it was time to change the subject. "There is going to be a ball tonight and you are expected to attend."

"Who gave you permission to throw a ball? I hate balls!" Bowser complained. Could there be anything more boring?

"I know you think they're boring, but there is a visitor you might want to meet. I'm sure you two will be good friends or maybe even more."

"Are you implying that you have plans of playing matchmaker for me?" Bowser sounded displeased.

"I said no such thing. I just thought you might want to meet her, that's all."

Before Bowser could reply, a dragon flew above them carrying a rainbow haired girl in a pink dress and being followed by a magikoopa in a light purple dress. "Let go of me Drageno! Let me go right now!" Clawdia, she couldn't do her spinning shell attack in that dress and he kept dodging when she tried to scratch him.

"Hold on Clawdia I'm coming," Kammy shoot magic in the shape of yellow circles, red triangles and blue squares at Drageno. "Stay still!" She was frustrated to miss every time. Drageno breathed fire towards her, which she avoided, but fell further behind in the chase. She spotted Kamek down below and she assumed the koopa that was with him was Bowser. Kammy saw him long ago when he was little from afar, though Clawdia, who grew up in a small koopa village, had never seen the king. "You're King Bowser, right? You have to go save Clawdia!"

Bowser looked confused. "What exactly is going on here?"

"That was Clawdia being kidnapped by Drageno. She was the girl I wanted you to meet. Why in the world was she in a dress? I don't think the spinning shell attack she did before works like that," Kamek explained.

"I was helping her get ready for the ball so I gave her that dress," Kammy admitted.

"Who are you? Is that Kammy's broom?" Kamek inquired.

"How could you recognize the broom and not me?" Kammy pouted.

"Kammy?" Kamek was surprised.

"A pretty dress and contact lenses is all it takes to stop being Kammy? I'm sill the same Kammy, you know," Kammy continued to pout cutely.

"Oh, I see, you look... um... nice," Kamek blushed.

"While you two flirt, I'll go rescue Clawdia," Bowser ran off, leaving the two magikoopas to suffer with an awkward silence.

xoxox xox xoxox

Bowser continued running in the direction Drageno had flown away, until he was well past the Darkland border and in Mushroom Kingdom territory. At a clearing filled with flowers, he spotted Drageno and Clawdia. She had apparently forced him to land and now he was pitifully being attacked by mushroom people.

"Let the pretty rainbow lady go!" A young man yelled as he attacked Drageno, who easily threw him aside.

"Evil dragon you'll pay for kidnapping the lady of the rainbow," another mushroom man yelled. He was defeated as easily as the first. Three others followed, being easily cast aside, while Clawdia snuck away.

Bowser watched the scene. This wasn't what he had expected. Sure the inhabitants of the Mushroom Kingdom lived up to their kingdom's name with those mushrooms on their heads, but they weren't as dangerous as Kamek made them sound. Maybe it was just those two legendary heroes he had to worry about, but if they were anything like those toads, taking over the Mushroom Kingdom would be a piece of cake when the time came.

Although, maybe Kamek was right about waiting, why rush it when there were more pleasant things to do than plan a take over a kingdom? It could be so tedious at times. "Hello."

"Hi," Clawdia didn't know who this koopa was or that he happened to be the king.

Drageno noticed Clawdia had sneaked away and was enraged. "King Bowser Koopa? I don't know what you're doing here, but Clawdia, the lady of the rainbow is mine!"

Drageno breathed fire at him but Bowser sent back a counter attack. "You call that a fire breath? I'll show you fire!"

Soon Drageno was roasted. "This can't be! How can a koopa breathe more fire than a dragon?" He coughed up smoke in a pitiful attempt to attack again.

As if on cue, Kamek and Kammy arrived. "Looks like he's weakened, now let's try that spell I told you about," Kamek suggested.

"Ready when you are!" Kammy announced.

"Now!" Kamek signaled. They both send magic at the dragon in the shape of yellow circles, red triangles and blue squares, a classic for magikoopas. The dragon began to shrink until he turned into a lizard, a little bit smaller than a toad. Clawdia smiled satisfied. In that size, a koopaling could easily overpower him if he tried anything again.

While the two magikoopas flew overhead after the dragon was defeated and hurried to run away, the toads that were attempting to fight Drageno before got ready for round two against Bowser. "Let the lady of the rainbow go you terrible koopa!" One of them yelled.

"Yeah! Don't worry Lady Rainbow, we'll save you!" Another called. The other three agreed and got ready to attack Bowser, but they stopped when Clawdia stood in the way.

"I'm a koopa too you know," Clawdia revealed.

The young toads stopped with frozen expressions of surprise and disbelief. "You're a koopa?"

"That can't be! You don't have a shell!" One of them pointed in denial.

"It's in my room. I'm just wearing a dress for a little while," Clawdia explained.

"I can't believe I liked a koopa," one of the mushroom men grimaced.

"Yeah me either," another agreed.

"Yuck koopas!" Another exclaimed. After they each made their complaints, the five young men hastily left. There was no need to risk their lives fighting koopas if there was no Lady Rainbow to save and even more so if the lady of the rainbow turned out to be on of them.

"What's wrong with being a koopa?" Clawdia looking annoyed.

"Nothing, nothing at all," Bowser assured. "I should know, I'm their king."

"So you're really King Bowser..."

"That's right, I'm Bowser, king of the koopas."

"You're also late for the ball," Kamek pointed out.

Kammy floated on her broom near by and poked him with her wand. "Be quiet, don't interrupt their moment!"

xoxox xox xoxox

While Bowser and Clawdia walked back to the koopa castle, Kamek and Kammy watched them from the air on their brooms. "What do you think they're talking about?" Kammy whispered.

"I think they want to run off and leave us behind," Kamek theorized.

"If they do, we should let them. A good matchmaker knows when the job is done," Kammy reminded.

"But we didn't really do much," Kamek pointed out.

"We did what needed to be done, we did enough. The secret to good matchmaking is to interfere just enough, not too little and definitely not too much."

End of Box 16

Disclaimer, I do not own Super Mario.