“Dread Lord... inside of... what?”

Bowsette wasn’t sure if she misheard him or what, because that made no sense.

“You can’t be that stupid,” Morton said. “Surely it crossed your mind that that ‘celestial blood’ inside of us is not as innocuous or noble as it seems. You and I, your children, our ancestors... we are all that’s left of the Dread Lords.”

This... really hadn’t crossed her mind whatsoever, not the entire time she had been King Koopa, not in the entire time she had been searching for a way to stop her father from resurrecting the malevolent dragons that had conquered the planet eons ago.

And it finally made complete sense. The Royal Koopas surely didn’t descend from some benevolent spacefaring dragons that graced their presence on Earth but only ever so briefly... they had come directly from the evil forces that were defeated and sealed away, the planet’s ultimate villains.

Bowsette was a bad guy because it was in her blood.

What a pathetic excuse...

At this moment, Bowsette summoned all the strength she had and got back to her feet. She took out the Axe that she had gotten from Clawdia Koopa, the Axe that might have had the residual energy of the Firestone Amulet inside of it. She jumped and swung it with all her strength...

...and Morton caught the weapon with his hands before the blade count touch him. He laughed. “Kukukukuku...”

“Argh!” Bowsette struggled to break free and lodge the weapon in his skull. She had to win. She HAD to...

But...

But.

Morton shook her off. The weapon was too big to keep a firm grip of, and Bowsette fell to the ground again, losing the last of her ability to fight back as her back hit the ground again. Morton now had his own Axe back in his grasp.

It was all over for them.

Not a single combatant was left standing in the Throne Room, as close as they had gotten. The armies outside could surely invade, but now that he had his Axe back... it was not going to be pretty.

“I was not lying when I said I needed you or Morton Jr. for these rituals,” the bony dragon told her. “You two, my son and daughter, are all I have left.” At this, Morton Jr., currently lying on the floor in pain, gave a confused expression and then began to mentally work out the implications of what he just said. “You have the highest concentration of royal blood running through your veins simply because you are from an older generation. Because there are no more Dread Lords left to mate with, it is simply a matter of math to know that I should attempt this experiment first on one of you. And you, Bowsette, are the perfect candidate.”

“Why is that?”

“You’ve already begun unlocking your true potential. Everything you’ve accomplished since you gained your human form makes me realize... this is going to work. We can bring back the creature inside of all royals... We can conquer the planet once more.”

At this, a giant machine emerged from underneath the throne itself. Bowsette really wished the Bone Dragon had destroyed that when it was emerging from underground and attacking everything.

“Using the remains of your Bone Dragon, this machine, and the magic within you, I will be able to transform you into a Dread Lord,” Morton said. “And you will revert to your basal instincts, rampaging around the planet and preparing to drill into the core of the planet to brood for your next offspring. After millions die in that effort, I will transform each of your children into Dread Lords as well. Eight dragons on one planet... it will be a beautiful sight, won’t it?”

Bowsette realized all of that talk about her children not having any significant powers because Bowsette had “married commoners” was yet another ruse to throw her off the real secrets behind everything. And that Bowsette’s siblings who had all apparently died in combat fighting against each other and against Morton himself... were probably the first round of failed experiments.

Why in Brighton’s name did Merlon not tell her all of this when he first captured her over two years ago? That guy really was the worst person of all time.

The machine began to whir, and an aura of magical energy formed around it. This must have been what Kamek had been tortured and magically drained for; a weapon of pure transformational energy. The aura soon compressed until it was just a tiny ball of bright light.

“I wanted nothing more than to transform myself into a Dread Lord,” Morton admitted. “After everything, though, I am simply glad to bring back our family’s honor. We are not Koopas. We are monsters. And that’s what this is all about. The honor of monstrosity.”

The ball expanded and a beam of magic shot out and hit Bowsette.

Her pupils contracted and the Super Crown above her head shattered into a million pieces. She hadn’t even begun to transform back into a Koopa before the world began to shift around her... and inside her.

There was a surge of electricity in her veins.

And then everything went white.