Reuploaded due to me not even noticing that there was a huge coding flop in the original - seriously it took me over 3 months to notice which is incredibly terrible XD my apologies!
When the invitation had first arrived for his older siblings, the entire castle had been ecstatic. Even Ludwig couldn't seem to contain his excitement at the thought of participating in such a grand event. The seven of them had been so joyous, so energetic, so unlike their usual selves, that it was contagious to even the most miserable of workers.
And, for a while, he had felt the same.
But as the days went by, the opening ceremonies for the tournament growing ever closer, his initial sense of pride and happiness slowly faded away when the mailbox continually failed him. His father had received his invitation long ago. His siblings more recently, but to a five-year-old, it seemed like eons.
And, of course, being as amazed as they were, they just wouldn't shut UP about it.
Eventually, it got annoying. Aggravating, even.
To the point where finally, when they had all gathered briefly after a training simulation, he had snapped at them and pointedly revealed that it wasn't such a big deal if a pink clone of his Mama was also allowed to come.
Of course, they were taken aback at his reaction. None of them could conceive why he was unhappy, especially since he had been the first one to freak out over their invitation in the first place.
"Don't worry, Junior!" Lemmy had encouraged him, a warm smile on his small face. "I'm sure your invitation is on its way! It probably just got lost in the mail or something!"
The youngest ran a hand over his maw, not nearly as optimistic as his older brother but unwilling to allow his misery to dampen the mood. "Yeah, you're probably right... Sorry, guys, didn't mean to yell at you."
They instantly reassured him that they hadn't been offended by his outburst, and the incident was immediately dropped and forgotten. Junior watched them leave for their karting practice, wanting desperately to join in but losing all motivation to even bother.
After all, what was the point if he wasn't even invited?
No... don't think like that. Remember what Lemmy said.
"Lost in the mail... right. No need to get upset. After all, it's not their fault and there are still a few months left. I'm sure it'll turn up soon."
Even so, he retired to his room to work on his art instead of joining the rest of them outside to race.
The days turned into weeks, and still no sign of his invitation.
His siblings may have meant well, but they couldn't help but inadvertently irritate him with the fact that THEY were going, and, for all intents and purposes, HE wasn't.
"Still no invite, eh, squirt?"
"Yeah, rub it in, why don't ya?"
"Sheesh, someone seems to have gotten tail-chomped this morning."
"What do you want, Roy?"
"Well, you were in five and six, so I was wondering if you had any tips for opponents. Strategies and stuff I can use against those Mushroom heads when the tournament rolls around."
"And why should I help you? I could be your opponent too, you know."
"No offence, little brother..." The two of them looked up to see their sister strolling towards them. "But if you haven't gotten in by now, it's unlikely you're going to get in at all."
"Jeez, way to encourage the kid." But his smirk indicated that he felt exactly the same way.
"No point in filling him with false hope!"
They knew he was RIGHT HERE, right?
"Oh, by the way, King Dad wants us seven on the track for some practice. Not that you all need it, since I'm going to utterly smoke you boys regardless."
"Oh really?" Roy folded his arms, a malicious tint on his glasses. "Last I checked, I was the best racer in the castle. Not some makeup covered drama queen."
Wendy waved her hand in a carefree manner. "Oh please. As if you'd even COMPARE to MY driving skills! Who's the one with the time trial records on Bowser Kart 7?"
He went smug. "This isn't a game. This is ACTUAL go-karting. Which YOU don't do because you're too worried about breaking a nail."
Wendy pulled out a pair of dainty looking pink and black gloves, the material snapping against her scales as she pulled them on.
"We'll just see WHO breaks a nail doing WHAT, hm?"
"Don't say I didn't warn you."
"Can I join?"
They turned to him in surprise, seeming to remember that, yes, he DID still exist. And while he didn't exactly want another reminder of what he may or may not be potentially missing out on, he didn't want to feel left out of something he COULD join in.
"Oh, uh... sorry, BJ. King Dad said official race invitees only. You understand."
"Maybe next time, squirt."
And off they went, taunting each other and making lighthearted jabs about their other opponents.
Leaving him behind, yet again.
"There's still a few more months... I'm sure the post office can find it by then."
He did eventually join in their races again, but he was so agitated and distracted by the concept of not being able to tag along that he was acting quite reckless on the track.
...I mean, more so than usual.
In fact, he was so tense that he ended up shoving one of his siblings off the track altogether, complete with a triple green shell barrage and a mushroom for an added boost.
A loud crunch caused the few spectators to lapse into worried silence when he forcefully collided with his older brother. The impact was enough to completely total the green circuit special.
Iggy looked at him in stunned disbelief as he was carefully placed onto the grass. His face was completely devoid of anger, unlike his younger brother, who had been forced to stop by some of the Lakitu. He sat scowling just past the finish line, his own Tri-Speeder idling clunkily because of the impact.
"Dude, what was that?!" Morton pulled up to him, eyes as wide as they could go. "You coulda crushed his leg! Then he wouldn't have been able to compete and he would've had to wait and you can't have seven koopalings with only six of them!"
Junior blinked back to reality and seemed to realize what exactly had happened. He shakily stepped out of the Kart and started to push it away.
"Yeah, sorry, I just... I got distracted..." This was getting ridiculous. Sure he was mad about the invitation STILL not arriving, with only one month remaining, but that was no reason to take it out on his brother...
"Maybe you should take it easy," Iggy suggested, raising an eyebrow in concern. "You've been tense all practice."
"Yeah, I... you've got a point. I'll see you guys later."
Bowser frowned as his son scuttled away. He would talk to him later - such actions were dangerous and couldn't be tolerated - but it was still upsetting to see him in such a frustrated state. He had contacted Peach, who had assured him that all of the invitations had been sent; he had insisted on the post offices scouring every corner and thoroughly examining every letter; he had even personally searched through the castle's mail depot in the off chance that it had been tossed amongst the minions' mail somehow.
Nothing.
"Don't worry, Junior... it'll show up eventually. We'll find it."
One more day.
Everything was all packed up, ready to go, the airships fully loaded and prepped to take off first thing in the morning.
Some of them would dock at Cloudtop Cruise, including the one required for the track, while one would be transported to Baby Park to complete an amusement park ride and the rest would be used either for sleeping quarters or for transporting karts to different tracks.
Larry was busy loading up the last of his luggage, rolling his standard bike carefully over the wooden planks before securing it against the side of the ship.
Junior was behind him, leaning against the stone wall of the massive garage as the light blue Koopaling prattled on.
"-never thought that I'D even get this chance, never mind the rest of us! I'm so excited I don't know if I'm gonna be able to sleep tonight! They've even got a track based off of ME!"
"Yeah. Great."
Larry glanced up as he made his way out of the airship, smiling sympathetically.
"Don't be so down, okay? I know exactly what it's like to be ignored. Trust me, you'll get your chance."
"But I wanted to race with ALL of you! I wanted to try zero gravity! That sounds awesome and it's not fair!"
He nodded. "Yeah, I know. I wanted to be in the new tennis game... win some, lose some. And for all you know, your invite could've been-"
"Lost in the mail?"
The pure, flat look on his face made Larry unable to resist bursting into laughter. "Hey, the roster always gets bigger next time. And who knows? Maybe they'll add DLC!"
"Yeah right. How often does that happen?"
He couldn't believe this.
He could NOT believe this.
His father and his siblings were all racing to their heart's content right in front of them, winning trophies and getting interviews...
And he was stuck at HOME, watching TV, with no one but MINIONS to keep him company!
The next time his Papa kidnapped Mama Peach he would be SURE to give her a STERN talking to.
But of course it couldn't end there, could it?
No, no of course not.
The tournament had been such a success that they had decided to host a second one, with an updated battle system and new items and features.
Of course, everyone at the first tournament was automatically invited and were already touring the new battle arenas.
And, also of course, he hadn't been invited.
That was just typical.
So now he was left to fume in the halls all by himself, bored out of his mind and in desperate need of something to do.
He ended up running into Pom Pom in the hall while he was sulking to himself. It was a bit surprising, as most of the minions had gone home to relax, but at this point he didn't really care.
"Ah! Prince Junior!"
"Oh. Hey Pom Pom."
"I'm glad to see you... I hope I'm not being rude, but I really need a favour. Would you mind checking the mail, please? I wanna see if I can snag Wendy's Teen Koop magazine before she gets her claws on it. She always tells me she'll lend them to me but she never does!"
He raised a thick red eyebrow at the pink scaled gymnast. "Why can't you do it?"
She rubbed the back of her head, embarrassed. "Ah, well, I'm supposed to be training with my brother right now and I'll get in trouble if I'm late. But if one of the Troop members gets it before I'm done I'll NEVER get to see this month's issue!"
Ugh... girls... His small black eyes rolled in annoyance, but he figured it'd be good payback since Wendy ate his secret stash of chocolate chip cookies. "Fine, I guess. Not like I've got anything better to do."
"Eeee! Thanks, Prince Junior! You're the best!"
And so Junior made his way to the castle doors, lifted the mailbox flap, and rummaged inside.
Nothing.
Story of his life...
He was about to head back inside to inform Pom Pom that someone must've already gotten the mail when a squawk made the Dragon-Koopa jump and look to the sky.
"P-Prince Bowser! Prince Bowser Junior!"
Ah. So apparently the mail was late. Figures as much. At least he wouldn't have to listen to anyone whine over-dramatically.
The figure grew in size and Junior recognized him as Parakarry, the blue-shelled Paratroopa postman.
He briefly wondered if Parakarry was related to any of the Koopas that had spiny blue shells.
No, don't think about that. It'll only make you want something you'll never have.
The postman waved at the prince just as his wings gave out and he came crashing down to the stone bridge, letters scattering about. Thankfully, none of them tumbled to the lava river below. That would probably be bad.
He was about to ask Parakarry what the rush was when a letter smacked him in the face.
Angry now, Junior decided that enough was enough and prepared to let a verbal barrage fly alongside a Bowser-sized tantrum. He ripped the letter from his face, reeled back to throw it into the lava below, and...
Froze when he saw the two words he had longed to see for months plastered officially on the front of the envelope.
There was no denying WHAT it was.
The real question was... whose was it?
"I-is this...?"
Parakarry dizzily voiced exactly what the prince didn't dare say out loud, lest his admittedly rising hopes came crashing down once more.
"It's... it's yours..."
Parakarry looked up at the incredulous prince, panting heavily, a small twinge of guilt evident in the Paratroopa's eyes.
"It... got lost in the mail."