Bowsette: A New Life

Chapter 5: More Changes

The hallway leading to the lab was bare, so Bowser didn't waste any time. As hard as it was to walk in blasted heels she rushed down the hallway and up the stairs as fast as she could manage. On the next floor suddenly she stopped in front of a bust of... herself? It was the face she saw in the mirror that much Bowser was certain of. "No... no no no..." Bowser's suspicions only grew as she rushed up the stairs to her room.

"All hail Queen Bowsette!" Said Goomba and Koopa troop after troop as she passed. "No no no no no..." The greeting from the average troop was so familiar that Bowser didn't even notice when they said it most of the time, but now it only fueled her panic. Bowser threw open the door to her bedroom and stepped inside. Bowser stared for a moment as she looked at the room, little was familiar. There were jewelry boxes, another full-length mirror, and several wardrobes, something she'd never needed before. Well, unless his shell counted, he had never wore any clothing at all aside from his collar and wristbands and he could count on one hand the number of times he had even taken his shell off. Tearing the wardrobes open he found dozens of dresses as well as more casual wear, lingerie, t-shirts with low cut around the breasts... apparently, she liked to show off. The sight of the things only made Bowser more and more sick to her stomach.

Kamek stood there in the doorway as Queen Bowsette frantically went through one wardrobe after another. She threw clothes in haphazard piles in every direction and sometimes just pulled out and tossed entire drawers. Kamek had to occasionally dodge to avoid the woman's panic induced frenzy. She looked to all the world to be having some kind of nervous breakdown, but Kamek knew her well enough and long enough to know something was different.

"My Queen? Bowsette?" Kamek tried to talk, only to have Bowser whip her head around to look at him and instantly his mouth shut. "STOP CALLING ME THAT!!" Flames spouted from her mouth as she yelled at Kamek, her eyes filled with fury and something else, raw unadulterated panic. She quickly returned to her obsessive rummaging through her wardrobes, looking for something... anything that would look familiar to her.

Bowsette was usually so elegant and refined whenever she wasn't raging over some defeat or another... at least in her looks and manner. Even when she was fighting Bowsette never lost her grace and poise, but when she was angry or up against a wall, she could lash out with a fury and power few could match. Bowsette was disheveled, hair out of place, looking more defeated than Kamek had ever seen her. Not even Mario or Kamek had seen her like this except maybe after right she had taken enough of a beating.

Bowser had finally run out of clothes to throw about, so Kamek risked getting closer. "I'm here your highness. I'll always be here." Bowser felt the reassuring presence of his... her longest and most loyal servant before she felt him tenderly lay a hand on Bowser's shoulder. "Breathe... breathe..." Bowser felt something break and starts sobbing openly. "What have I done? I didn't..." Bowser choked out. "I didn't want THIS!"

Kamek just let his Mistress cry without comment for a while. He sensed that the hand on her shoulder was making Bowsette feel better, so he left it there. She was a tough old Koopa and proud, so she usually kept these moments of weakness very well under wraps. This wasn't that though, something was very very wrong and Kamek couldn't figure it out. All he could do was be there for her, as he always was, and always would be.

Bowser didn't know what to think right now, or if she should think at all. Her plan had backfired at the starting gate and now... it seemed like she was the only one who even noticed. Bowser didn't even bother to hold her tears back, she had screwed up. This was a screw up that beat all her screw ups before and Bowser knew it. She should've listened to Kamek and had it tested. She should have waited longer for Kamek to make more adjustments. She should've...

Eventually, Bowser wiped her tears away. As the Koopa King even Kamek had hardly ever seen him cry, men didn't do that and especially not the terror of the Mushroom Kingdom. He was more prone to blind rage over sorrow most of the time. "Hands off." Bowser said firmly and gradually got to her feet, Kamek taking his hand away instantly. Slowly Bowser turned to the mirror in the room and looked at herself again. She had messed up her hair and her dress was wrinkled and so she moved to smooth out the wrinkles without thinking. "So... this is my life now." She sighed and shrugged. "Fuck it. I'm Bowsette."