I think I'm the first to post anything like this. In case you don't know... well, I guess you'll find out. This is 100% true, from Iwata's mouth itself. You might wanna go watch the latest Nintendo Direct if you don't want me to spoil anything!
The Koopa Castle was a bundle of activity today; the minions were preparing for Bowser and Junior's departure for the latest Mario Kart tournament, set to occur in a few months. Bowser had gotten his invite weeks ago, and, despite his procrastinate nature, was already hard at work making sure that the kingdom wouldn't fall apart while he was gone. Even though Junior had not yet gotten his invitation, it seemed fairly reasonable that he, like his father, would be included in the roster, and he too was getting ready to leave. They were first going to do a tour of the tracks around the world, bringing their karts and bikes along to test out the anti-gravity and get a feel for the roads, which was why everyone working overtime to finish the vehicles, per King Bowser's orders.
The race tracks would take them all over the Mushroom World, as always, from their own abode to Peach's castle to Donkey Kong's Jungle and everywhere in between, so it was important to be well prepared and have all of the ready equipment. Bowser had gotten a list of all of the karts recently, so minions were hard at work modifying his vehicles to suit the requirements. Thankfully, they still used the gliders and underwater features, and the anti-gravity wheels had already been delivered, so not many internal modifications were needed. They only needed to finish the external appearances, adjust the sizes accordingly, and make all of the logos for the vehicles. Other than that, there wasn't much to worry about.
At this moment in time, Junior was making his way to the old-fashioned mailbox at the front of the castle, right next to the bridge leading over the moat in order to look for his invitation. The mailbox was packed with different letters, and the ones he didn't care for he let fall to the black, rocky ground.
"No, no… not it, nope, no, nothing… ew, Wendy's Teen Koopa magazine, gross… no, not it, nuh-uh, nope…"
He neared the bottom of the stack before he finally reached a Mario Kart letter. Excitedly, he tore it open, sticking the rest of the letters under his arm. His eyes changed from complete excitement to intense shock as he read the letter.
"N... no way…" he whispered, unable to believe what he was reading. "This… this has to be… some kind of sick joke… it's not… possible…"
He read the letter twice more, just to make sure that his eyes weren't deceiving him. He even pinched himself to make sure that this wasn't a dream.
Once the initial shock of the situation subsided, he darted back into the castle at the speed of a Bullet Bill, screaming his lungs out.
Elsewhere, more notably the Kart garage, brothers Ludwig Von Koopa and Ignatius, aka Iggy, Koopa were hard at work making the final modifications to the anti-gravity wheels in order to help them support Bowser's incredible girth. Well, Ludwig was hard at work. Iggy was busy fangirling over the technology and copying it for himself.
And in all honesty, Ludwig would have been doing the same, had he not been completely and utterly sane and desirous to complete the King's orders in fixing the kart. From under the machine, he shot a short glance to the right. Lined up against the wall were a number of karts and bikes in multiple colours. His and his siblings'. They often enjoyed racing each other on the tracks that were built in Darkland, and they were pretty good at it, too. They all hoped to one day be part of something bigger.
Sure, they'd never been inviting to such events, and sure, they wanted to be in them, but what were the odds of that happening?
Screaming interrupted their work, and Ludwig rolled out from underneath Bowser's airship Kart with a growl.
"Vhat eez all of zhat irritating racket?" he grumbled, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand.
Iggy stopped his obsessing over the anti-gravity long enough to hear it as well.
The two of them exchanged confused looks, before heading out into the hallway. They were on the second floor of this section of the castle, and they looked down at the main floor, which was only a royal red carpet with gold edges, and a staircase leading up.
The noise-maker wasn't yet visible, yet their other siblings slowly entered the room, one by one.
Larry was the first, covering his ears. "Yeesh, what's with all the screaming?"
"Is someone getting eaten by a Chain Chomp again?" Lemmy asked, rolling into the hall on his circus ball.
"Seriously, who can think with all that noise? You wouldn't believe how well you can hear that I mean it's incredibly loud, noisy, amplified, filled with volume, you could hear it anywhere in the castle! Like the kitchen or the throne room or the bathroom or the bedrooms or the hallways or the training room or the dining room or the –" Morton continued to ramble on, with no one listening, as usual.
"What's going on? I was in the middle of a manicure!" Wendy, obviously.
"Man… who's yellin' so early in the mornin'?"
"It's two thirty in the afternoon, Roy," Ludwig frowned at the pink-headed Koopaling, who had exited close to him and Iggy.
"Exactly," he mumbled, rubbing his glasses as if they were his eyes, "I should be asleep."
"Eet's a vonder you manage to be so strong vith how utterly lazy you are," Ludwig scoffed disapprovingly, "You spend more time sleeping than training and breathing combined."
"And I still manage to kick your tail," he retorted, glaring at him.
Ludwig put a hand to his face, shaking his head slowly, and was about to reply with a jabbing remark when the screaming escalated and the doors below burst open. Junior stood there, voice echoing through the room as he rushed inside.
The older Dragon-Koopas were stunned, unable to give a reason why the heir to the throne would be so frantic. He was waving a piece of paper wildly, running around in circles as his screech began to give the others headaches.
Larry, being closest to the staircase, was the first to cautiously make his way down them and towards Junior. Soon, the others followed, and all seven of them stood in a group, watching as Bowser Jr. made a total fool of himself by screaming and running in circles like a female Goomba set on fire.
Irritated with this, Ludwig strode up to him and grabbed his arms, forcing him to calm down. He wouldn't stop screaming though, so the eldest Koopaling was obliged to clap a hand roughly over his mouth. The silence was sudden and blissful, but Junior's wide eyes informed them that they had to find out what was going on.
"…Junior? What's with the freak out?" Larry began slowly, taking a step forward, but keeping his guard up.
Junior squirmed in Ludwig's grip, and the musician released him, before going to stand with the others. The small prince gasped for breath, hands on his knees, letters falling to the ground and scattering everywhere. In one hand rested an opened letter, and despite the tough grip on it, it did not appear to be creased.
"…Y… you guys…" he panted, barely able to form words. His voice was coarse and his breathing heavy. "…you guys have to read this…"
He shoved the paper into Larry's hands before falling onto the floor from exhaustion, grunting as he hit it.
Confused, Larry began to read the letter aloud, his siblings crowding around him and reading over his shoulder.
"'To whom it may concern,'" he read, "'This letter is concerning the upcoming Mario Kart tournament, known as Mario Kart 8. As you may be aware, this tournament is unlike any held prior, with the incorporation of anti-gravity. Therefore, we request that you contact us in order to receive the parts needed to complete your karts and bikes for this upcoming tournament. All Kart and Bike forms required will be stated at the end of this invitation.'"
Wendy let out a snort. "Yeah, so? What's with this letter? We've already got that stuff."
Junior didn't look up at them, still trying to regain his strength. "Keep reading."
Larry obeyed. "You are expected within the next few days to attend
"'On behalf of the Mushroom Kingdom, I, Princess Peach, would like to cordially invite you to the upcoming Mario Kart tournament. The following people have been invited to this tournament, and are therefore the recipients of this letter…'"
Larry trailed off, unable to comprehend the words that followed.
"…Impossible… I can't believe it…"
"Believe what? What is it?" Lemmy demanded, he and the others straining to see.
"It's… it's us…" he whispered, eyes wider than ever as he looked at the others. "They… they want US! THEY INVITED US TO COMPETE IN MARIO KART 8!"
Six jaws dropped simultaneously, incredulous.
"It says it right here!" Larry pointed franticly at the paper after seeing some of their skeptical looks. "'I hereby request that the Koopalings, consisting of Larry, Morton, Wendy, Iggy, Roy, Lemmy, and Ludwig, compete in Mario Kart 8, to take place in a few months'!"
He was tackled to the ground by the other six, in a desperate attempt for them to see for themselves. Morton managed to get the paper first and popped out of the Koopa pile-up.
Upon scanning the paper, he let out a giant whoop. "This is amazing, stupendous, the best thing that's ever happened ever!"
They took turns snatching the paper away from each other, and each reaction was the same: unimaginable joy and excitement.
"Someone's gotta tell Bowser…" Iggy murmured, feeling tears well up.
"I'll do it!" Junior rushed off before he could even finish his sentence.
To them, it had seemed impossible. They had honestly thought they would be kicked to the curb, ignored for a long time after their exploits in New Super Mario Brothers U. But now, without a shadow of a doubt, they would finally make a debut. They would finally be playable. They would finally be in a game where players didn't have to just jump on their heads to move on.
This was the best day of their entire lives.
Seriously, when I heard the news, I freaked out. I absolutely love these guys, and the fact that they're finally playable is just amazing. The second last paragraph voices my fears about what I thought would happen. But I'm SO glad I'm wrong ^^