Hey! This is a new story that I came up with recently. It was originally supposed to be a oneshot, but it was too long, so it will most likely only be two or three chapters long. Anyways, please enjoy the story!
Young Love
Bowser Jr. hated the local playground. It was full of snotty little kids who ran around screaming their heads off and doing stupid things. None of them were anywhere near his status, a prince of the royal Koopa family, the heir to the throne! Yes, he looked down upon them, for they were inferior to him. In fact, the only reason he was there at all was to flaunt his superiority and make them feel like the lesser beings they were. The grownups called it 'bullying', but he called it 'putting peasants in their place'.
Actually, one should probably say that Jr. 'had' hated the playground. When he had first laid eyes upon it, it was a wasteland of hooligans and anarchists who called running amok and hurting themselves and others 'fun'. He had shook his head in disgust and vowed to cleanse the detestable place of everything he disliked. He had declared his power over the kids who inhabited the area and immediately proceeded to claim the land as his own. He got rid of the swing sets, slides, and jungle gym, replacing them with his own personalized play sets, which were basically the same, just with a more intimidating, impressive, and all around cooler appearance. Gaining followers had been simple. He rewarded those who swore eternal loyalty to him with candy, and threatened all of the others. They followed his every command without question, either too dumb to think for themselves or too terrified of him to fight back. The parents were a problem at first, but the matter was quickly settled when Jr. had asked Iggy to build him droids that could knock the adults unconscious with a chemical spray, erasing any memory of them opposing Jr.'s rule over the playground. It worked quite well, and when Jr. had asked Iggy what was in the chemical, his brother simply snickered. It didn't really matter what the ingredients were, though. As long as it worked.
Yes, it had been almost too easy to conquer the area, and when he had told his father of his achievement, he was praised and rewarded greatly.
Since then, the playground was no longer a playground, but Jr.'s small dictatorship. No one opposed his rule, and he was free to do as he pleased.
He strolled in through the spiky front gate, inhaling the sweet smell of fear and evil that he instilled upon the place. He glanced this way and that, nodding and smiling to himself when he saw that all was in order.
Or, mostly in order.
He climbed the ladder of the large tower on the north end of the playground. When he reached the top, he saw his second in command, Hammerabi, a young Hammer Bro., looking through a plastic telescope, observing the other end of the playground.
"Hammerabi," he said stoically, imagining himself speaking in his father's booming voice. "How go the war efforts?"
Hammerabi slid the telescope into his pocket and turned to his commanding officer, a triumphant smile upon his face. "All is quiet on every front, sir. It seems that the rebels are close to breaking."
Jr. nodded, pleased.
Though he had taken over the playground quite some time ago, some revolutionary had stumbled across the playground and observed the miserable state that the children were in. He had managed to turn some of his followers against him, creating a small group of rebels who fought to liberate the playground from Jr.s' tyranny. Though they fought valiantly, they were no match for Jr.'s numbers and firepower. Even now, Jr. watched as his soldiers rounded up captured rebels and confiscated their weapons, which were anything from water guns to foam swords.
He grinned mischievously and popped a candy he had stolen from Lemmy in his mouth, treating himself after this recent victory.
A Shy Guy climbed the ladder and saluted to Jr.
"At ease." he commanded, and the Shy Guy handed him a note. He stared at it, confusion on his face. "What is this?"
The Shy Guy shrugged. "Dunno. Some message from the Rebels, sir." she said.
Jr. opened the note and concentrated on reading it. He wasn't used to cursive, and it took him quite some time before he was able to decipher what the thin, curly lines were saying.
"'You may be winning, but you will never take our spirit. Even if I fall, another will take my place, and another will take theirs, until someone will finally defeat you. To prevent anymore violence, we wish to hold a meeting with you to discuss matters of peace and compromise (that word means to mutually agree on terms that will satisfy both sides, not that you get everything you want.) We expect you to show up at the picnic tables, 12:30 sharp.
Your foe, leader of the Rebels,
Sam.'"
Jr. growled and crumpled the paper up. Sam had just mocked him! As if he didn't know what compromise meant!...well, now he did...
He loathed this Sam. He had never seen the boy, but he was apparently highly respected among his traitorous followers. No matter how many tickle tortures he put his prisoners through, they never ratted Sam out.
"Whoever this Sam is," Jr. grumbled, tossing the paper to the ground. "He writes like a girl!"
"What should we do, sir?"
Jr. thought hard. It could be a trap.
"I'll go." he said slowly. "But I want guards to come along with me. And position some Soakers in the bushes around the place, just in case they get any ideas."
With that, the Shy Guy saluted once more and ran off to carry out his orders. Jr. turned back to the now still battlefield, watching the figures of rebels on the other side.
7Z7Z7Z7
Jr. was extremely cautious. He wasn't very smart, but when it came to matters of leadership and conquering, he had learned everything he could from his father, and then some. Except, unlike his father, he actually planned to succeed.
He had four guards around him, long foam swords in their hands. In the bushes, almost undetectable, were Soakers, children lying prone with their water rifles trained on the table in case Sam made a wrong move.
Jr. sat on one end and stared at the Rebels standing away from the table on the other side, intimidating them with his stink eye. He waited for minutes until he finally exclaimed, "Where is Sam? He's late!"
"I'm here." a voice said. "And I'm no 'he'."
Bowser Jr. turned to where the voice was coming from, and his jaw dropped at the sight of the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen.
She was a Koopaling, like him, but a bit bigger and she had light red skin. Her eyes were bright blue and her blond hair was tied in a pony tail. Her shell was yellow with brighter yellow bumps on it, and she wore a large gold band on each of her wrists.
"So this is Sam, huh?" Hammerrabi muttered next to him. "Pssh! She's just an icky girl!"
"Yeah." a Goomba guard agreed. "I bet she has cooties."
"Bowser Jr." she said formally, taking a seat across from him. Her expression was all serious, not the demeanor of a regular, playful child.
Jr. stuttered, still struck dumb. "Uhwubba-weeba-wooba-wah?"
Everyone looked at him in confusion.
"Um...Bowser Jr., sir? Are you feeling all right?" Hammerrabi asked.
"Don't worry." Sam said. "This won't take long."
She leaned forward, her hands intertwined, and Jr. felt his heart thump faster as her eyes stared into his. He wasn't used to this feeling, and like anything new and strange, he wanted it to stop.
"It is clear that you are on the verge of winning this war. I'm sure that if you do, your first declaration would be to banish me from the playground, preventing me from starting another uprising. But that will do you no good. These people are determined to achieve freedom, and more will rise to take my place. Your defenses will weaken, and you will-okay, seriously, are you okay?"
Bowser Jr. was drooling slightly and there was a far off look in his eyes.
"Um..." Hammerrabi said, snapping his fingers in front his leader's face multiple times. "Yeah, he should be fine."
"Are you sure? Because I was sort of in the middle of something, and I don't want him zoning out on me."
Jr. slumped to the side, and Hammerrabi quickly pushed him upright again, a nervous smile on his face. "Y-yeah. Just go ahead."
She rolled her eyes, but continued anyway. "Basically, in order to end this quickly, I have a challenge of sorts for you to accept. If you win, you can keep your kingdom...for a while. But if I win, you must relinquish your position at once."
She waited for him to nod, but when he did nothing but stare blankly into space she continued. "All you need to do is go on a date with me. Whoever enjoys it most, loses."
At the mention of the word 'date' there were several 'eew's, dozens of 'gross's, and a thump as Jr. toppled off of his seat, now completely unconscious.
"So? Do you accept?"
Hammerrabi tried lifting Jr. back onto his seat, but when he couldn't, he spoke to Sam instead. "Why would we accept your challenge when we can easily crush you?"
She smirked. "What? Are you scared your big, bad leader might lose?" she said in a mocking tone.
Hammerrabi glowered at her. "No way! We accept! Prince Bowser Jr. doesn't back down to any challenge!"
Sam smiled, a plan already formulating in her head. "Very well, then. The date will take place this Saturday. I expect him to meet me here at 8:00 sharp. If he's late, he forfeits. My time is precious."
Sam rose from her seat and began to walk away. She briefly stopped and stared at Jr.'s unconscious form on the ground.
"Good luck." With that, she disappeared to her own side again.
Jr. groaned as he sat up, clenching his throbbing head. "What...what happened?"
"You got a date, sir dude." Hammerrabi replied, shivering in disgust at the word. He still believed that all females were infected with the incurable disease known as cooties.
"A...date?"
"Yeah. With Sam, that Koopaling girl."
At those words, Jr.'s small heart fluttered and he passed out once more.
7Z7Z7Z7
Jr.'s seven siblings were all gathered in the living room, participating in their own separate activities.
Roy sighed and continued beating up the punching bag before him, soon tossing it into a pile of smashed and unusable bags that he had gone through in just that hour. "I love this quality family time, don't you guys?"
Nobody responded to his sarcastic comment.
Larry hung up the phone and turned to his brothers and sister. "Dad's still in the hospital getting his flame pipe fixed, so he said that we gotta make ourselves dinner tonight. Of course, that means that Wendy will cook."
They shrugged at his announcement, not objecting to allowing the only decent cook among them make their dinner.
"Also, he said that I'm in charge. So as my first order of business-"
"Stop right there, Larry." Ludwig said, tossing another brain teaser aside, adding to the mountain of complex riddles that, to him, were quite trivial, and had only barely staved off boredom on such an uninteresting afternoon. "We all know that no one, especially King Dad, would leave you in charge of anything. That means that I will take charge."
"Fine." his blue haired brother groaned, flopping back onto the couch and staring at the ceiling.
"Man, I am SO BOOOOREEEED." he moaned, bashing his face into a pillow. "There is NOTHING to do today!"
"On the contrary, there are too many things to do today!" Iggy exclaimed, tinkering with a tiny robot. Larry was surprised when his brother suddenly vanished and reappeared on the other side of the room, this time drawing out a blueprint.
"What the-? What was that? And I feel all dizzy, suddenly..."
"Oh, that? That was just the passing of the Iggy Hour." he said matter-of-factly.
"The what now?"
Iggy sighed and turned towards him, impatient. "The Iggy Hour? The twenty fifth hour of the day? Did I ever tell you about my Time-Addificationer? Long story short, too many projects, not enough time. Solution? Another hour of the day where everything else freezes and I can work in peace without you meddling monkeys bothering me. Side effects may include vomiting, headaches, diarrhea, hallucinations, dizziness, and rifts in space, time, and dimensions." he said hastily, giving infomercial narrators a run for their money. "Which reminds me: Larry, when is your birthday?"
"June seventh. Why?"
"Oh, no reason." he said, and muttered to himself, "Can't be too sure if the aliens from Dimension Nine snuck in here and stole one of your bodies..."
Larry shook his head and returned to doing nothing. He had long since given up on keeping up with Iggy's crazy inventions.
Suddenly, the doors burst open and the seven Koopalings turned to see their youngest brother, Bowser Jr., dash into the room, nearly tripping over himself in his haste.
"Whoa, slow down, kid!" Roy said, catching his brother before he could run head first into a wall. "What's got you all riled up?"
By this point, the others had gathered around, curious and too bored to do anything else.
Jr. panted and sat on the floor. "Sam...challenge...date...win..." he wheezed, trying to catch his breath.
"What? You gotta speak up, man!" Morton said.
Jr. coughed a bit and looked up at his siblings, rupturing them with an expression of utter helplessness. "Sam, the bully who was trying to lead a revolt against my playground campaign, challenged me to go on a date with her! She said that whoever enjoys it more loses, and if I don't win, she's gonna take the playground from me!"
From the way he had said it, his siblings thought that Jr. was truly worried about losing his mini kingdom. But Jr. didn't really care about that. He genuinely wanted to impress Sam on the date, and, frightfully, he had no idea why.
Whatever light, giddy emotions were working their meddlesome magic within him were clearly working, but Jr. didn't understand what he was feeling, and he wanted nothing more than for it to cease. She was his enemy, he should hate her. But he felt light when he imagined her smiling, and even lighter when he imagined himself with her, sharing wonderful moments. He had practically felt like he was drifting on air when he had spoken with her...well, if you could call his brain dead gibberish speech. He felt intrigued by her, most of all. He didn't know much about her, and he wanted to find out more. What makes her laugh? What makes her smile? Finding the answers to these questions would have been absolutely pointless for anyone else, but when it came to Sam, Jr. was obsessed, the questions buzzing in his mind and pestering him like a hoard of Fuzzies after drinking too much coffee.
"Well, that is something we cannot allow." Ludwig declared. "Gentlemen...and lady, I feel thy it is our duty to assist our youngest brother in defending the land that he conquered. And since we have nothing else to do, it is perfect for us."
"Speak for yourself, Bucky." Iggy said, calling Ludwig one of his most irritating names. "I've got way too much to do! But I'll find some way to help out, don't you worry your silly little liver!" With that, Iggy paraded out of the room, carrying his many gadgets, doodads, and thing-a-majigs with him.
Lemmy shrugged and turned to his younger brother. "Ok, first thing you gotta do: give her lots of candy!"
"Why?"
"'Cuz EVERYONE loves candy!" he shrieked happily, stuffing various sweets into his own mouth as he did so. Then he shoved a pile of sweets into Jr.'s arms.
"Don't mind him, Jr." Wendy said, turning him around and guiding him out the door. "What a girl truly looks for is how handsome a boy is. I'll be sure to make you look so irresistible that she'll practically melt at the sight of you!"
The other Koopalings followed, intrigued and just a bit skeptical.
7Z7Z7Z7
Eventually, they ended up in Wendy's third room, one of the eight she had in the castle. The first one was her own bedroom, but the others were dedicated exclusively to her passions, which either had multitudes of makeup stowed like treasure in a room or racks of clothes neatly organized in rows in another. The third room was a room filled with male clothes. Wendy hated being the only female in the castle, so she had vowed to provide her brothers with stylish clothes if they were ever fortunate enough to start a relationship with a girl (Wendy was a firm believer that style and appearance was at least seventy percent of a relationship). Then she could visit all the time and Wendy would FINALLY have another female to talk to! Of course, her brothers never really wore clothes, except on special occasions, so Wendy had never gotten the chance to put the room to use. Until now.
When she flung open the door and led her brothers inside, they gaped at the clothes inside.
From wall to wall, there were dozens upon dozens of racks, piles, and stacks of men's clothing. Wendy hadn't been sure when (or if) one of her brothers would start dating, so she had put all sorts of different sizes and styles in the room.
"Now, we'll start over in this section and make our way down the room." Wendy planned. "I'm sure there will be something in here that will look good on you."
Wendy fit her brother into all sorts of clothes. Formal, casual, REALLY casual. None of them seemed to look right on him, though.
"Oh! Over here!" Roy bellowed. He was pointing to a certain outfit hanging on the wall. It was a black, leather jacket with a pair of ripped jeans. The belt was simply a chain that wrapped around the waist and a pair of dark black sunglasses hung next to the outfit.
"I don't know." Larry said. "I'm not sure if that's the right thing for a date. Are you sure?"
"Totally." Roy said. "Don't these shades just scream, 'cool'?"
"Roy, once again, your intellect astounds me." Ludwig said sarcastically. "Jr. here is going on a date. Clearly, he is going to take the lucky lady to a most refined place. THAT is not refined. Might I suggest something more appropriate, such as this?"
He held his hands out to another outfit, not far from Roy's suggestion. It consisted of a black tuxedo, black pants, and a formal looking tie. It appeared to be extremely expensive.
"And who says our little bro is gonna go to some fancy-schmancy place, huh? Their not gonna do something boring like that! Obviously, the only way she'll be impressed and give in is for our bro to give her a wild ride! I'm thinking more along the lines of a high speed, motorcycle joyride through the city!"
"Nonsense! Women are more attracted to men with refined tastes, not ruffians who run rampant with wild abandon! Surely, she'll enjoy formal dinner more, or a trip to the local art museum."
"Boring! Your ideas stink!" He then turned to Jr. "Let me tell you a little something, kid. You gotta go with my ideas, 'cuz unlike this killjoy, I'll actually help you win!"
Ludwig growled at his comment, but Jr. was interested. "What ideas do you have?"
"Well, if the media has taught me two things, it's that A: Girls like a tough, bad boy, and B: Girls like expensive stuff. The pricier, the better."
Jr. nodded and pulled out his coloring book, making notes in the margins beside a half colored clown face.
Ludwig groaned, fed up with Roy's ideas. "Jr., don't listen to this moron. Come. I will teach you things that will benefit you more than this hooligan's detrimental suggestions."
With that, the party was off once more, this time to Ludwig's chambers.
7Z7Z7Z7
Ludwig's room was just about what Jr. expected.
It was well organized, but diverse. One part was devoted to music, with many instruments and music sheets laid out in an orderly fashion. Another end had complex mathematics scrawled across a chalkboard in elegant hand writing. A desk sat in a corner, a quill dipped in ink ready to write another one of Ludwig's pieces of literature. Ludwig wasn't much into building things like Iggy did, but he still dabbled in science, so there was a section reserved for science equipment like beakers, flasks, and test tubes. Why, Ludwig would even collaborate with Iggy occasionally in order to create some of the most amazing (and terrifying) machines the world had ever seen.
"Now," Ludwig said, leading them to a gigantic organ at the end of the room. "I will teach you how to play an instrument, something I have LONGED to do for one of my younger siblings, but have never been able to."
Morton protested. "Nu-uh! I know how to play the guitar!"
"ELECTRIC guitar. And that is not the kind of instrument I had in mind."
Jr. sat on the stool in front of the organ, glancing up at the huge pipes that towered above him. He hated it when Ludwig played his stupid classical music, and he hated the organ and its blaring, deep sound waves that resounded off the walls of the castle and swirled in his head, always giving him a headache. But if it would help him win Sam, he was willing to learn how to play the dreadful thing.
Ludwig instructed him on what keys made what noise. He had him play a simple piece, but when Jr. failed (many times) to successfully play it, they moved on to other instruments. Jr. tried the violin, the piano, the flute, and many more, but he could not muster a single ounce of musical talent, and failed miserably at producing a decent tune out of any instrument.
"Stop, stop, stop, STOP!" Ludwig bellowed, snatching the viola that was emitting a terrible screeching sound from his hands. "Obviously, music is not your forte. We should move onto something different."
"Hopefully one that doesn't put any kind of instrument in his hands." Larry whined, holding his assaulted ears.
The group walked down to the dining area, Ludwig explaining the next lesson on the way.
"While on your date, you may be placed in the position of ordering a meal, most likely from a, as our dear brother Roy would say, 'fancy-schmacy' restaurant. You must know proper etiquette while dining and refrain from behaving in your usual manner, loud and whiney."
By the end of his sentence, they reached the dining hall. The massive, rectangular table was resting in the middle of the room and the party moved towards it.
"Now," Ludwig said. "We shall run through a practice date. The first time, I will give you no instructions and see what you do. That way, it will be more efficient to see what you must work on instead of explaining everything to you. We shall begin. Pretend that I am Sam."
With that, he ceased giving Jr. instructions and waited for him to make his move.
Jr. feeling ever nervous as time passed on, pondered what exactly he should do. He decided to sit at the table, and he waited for Ludwig to do the same.
Ludwig said nothing, only moved towards the seat across from him and sat down, furrowing his brow a bit as Jr.'s action. Instantly, the young Koopaling feared he had done something wrong.
Ludwig turned to Morton and motioned him closer. "Waiter, I believe we require menus."
Morton, who hadn't really been paying attention, spacing out as he followed his siblings, was confused and looked around, hoping Ludwig was addressing someone other than him. "You mean m-me?"
"Yes, good sir. Please, if you don't mind fetching us some menus..."
When Morton did nothing, Ludwig sighed and pointed to the other end of the table. Two sheets of paper with words on them sat there. Morton hastily grabbed them and gave one to each of his brothers. Jr. stared at it, befuddled by the strange things the 'restaurant' had to offer. Salisbury steak? Pasta carbonara? What the heck were these things?
"Um, I have a question." Jr. said, raising his hand.
Ludwig glared at him, and Jr. decided to stay quiet.
"You, uh, ready to order?" Morton asked awkwardly.
"Yes. I would like to have the Salisbury steak, medium-well, please. As for my drink, a glass of water would suffice."
Morton nodded and turned to Jr. "And you?"
"Forget it! I can't do it!" Jr. screamed, frustrated. He got up from the table and strode to the doors, making his way out of the room.
"Jr.!" Ludwig called after him. "You cannot give up so quickly! Learning this is absolutely essential!"
Jr. ignored him and kept walking down the hall, not wanting to accept any more help from his siblings.
However, Larry soon caught up with him. "Hey now, not so fast! Ludwig's boring lessons may not help you, but I definitely can!"
Jr. was actually intrigued by this comment. So far, his siblings had only contributed ideas that were similar to their interests. Larry, though loud, humorous, and most likely the friendliest of the Koopalings, was actually quite secretive. He was very perplexing, since he never really let anyone in on what his passions were or what hobbies he enjoyed. But his sociable personality masked his mystery, causing one to overlook this abnormality unless they thought hard about it and saw through his disguise. Therefore, Jr. was extremely curious as to what Larry would do to help, since it must have something to do with what he liked.
He thought over it for a moment before saying, "Fine, whatever. But it better be worth it."
Larry nodded and smiled, leading Jr. to his room. The other Koopalings, equally curious, followed.
When they reached the door to his room, he opened it and signaled for Jr. to enter. He did, but as the others attempted to follow him, Larry thrust his arm out.
"No, no, no. This is only for Jr. to witness."
Without another word, he followed his little brother into the room and shut the door behind him. The Koopalings exchanged brief glances before shoving their ears against the door, hoping to catch what Larry was saying.
"What's he saying?" Lemmy asked. The others shushed him, straining to listen.
They heard his voice on the other side, but the words were impossible to decipher. They waited for a long while, but jumped away when they heard footsteps approaching the door again. It opened and the two brothers walked out, Jr. writing notes furiously in his coloring book, Larry with a smile on his face.
"So, what did you tell him?" Roy asked.
Larry's smile grew wider, and he leaned on the wall. "Oh, nothing you need to know. That's between me and my favorite little bro. Isn't that right, Jr.?"
Jr. only grunted in response. When he turned to walk down the hall once more, Wendy could have sworn she saw the words...No! Impossible! She had imagined it. Larry couldn't have possibly told Jr. about THAT. Or...did he?
"So, since everyone but Morton has helped out, I must ask; what do you have planned to teach our brother, Morton?" Ludwig asked.
Morton looked surprised, then smile sheepishly and scratched his head. "Oh, um...I haven't been paying attention. What are we doing, again?"
The others sighed and facepalmed in unison. Then Roy spoke up. "Whatever, he doesn't need any more help. With all of our ideas, Jr.'s got this in the bag!"
So it was decided that Jr. would incorporate his siblings' ideas into his date. He would bring her chocolates at their meeting time, buy Sam whatever she wanted (made possible by use of their father's credit card. Obviously, they had completely forgotten about the trouble that had arisen the previous time they had used it.), take her to a fine restaurant, and wear a black tuxedo at the restaurant. As for Larry's idea, he simply snickered, "If the opportunity pops up, take it. Never know if you'll ever get a chance like that again!"
"My, look at the time!" Ludwig exclaimed, pointing to the wall clock. "It's getting late. Let us rest so that we may see Jr. off bright and early in the morning.
"Whoa, you can read that thing?" Roy said, genuinely impressed. The only type of clock he could read was a digital one.
"Yes, Roy. It is quite easy if you only took the time to learn."
"Nah, seems pointless. I'll stick to easy clocks, thank you very much."
The voices of his siblings faded as they walked down the hall to their own rooms, leaving Jr. standing alone in front of his own. He flipped through his notes and sighed, then entered his room and climbed into bed. He didn't really think that all of this was necessary. Really, all he wanted to do was to take Sam to the park and walk with her. They wouldn't do anything special, just talk, and get to know each other a little better.
But what did he know. This was his first date, and he was sure that his older brothers and sister knew more about such things than he did.
Jr. pulled the covers up to his nose and stared at the dark ceiling. Sam's image flashed through his mind again, sending his heart on an adrenaline fueled roller coaster ride. It made no sense. How could simply thinking about her make him feel so light, so free, so...happy?
Jr. didn't have a clear idea of what was happening to him, but there was only one thing he could link it to. Jr. was displaying all of the symptoms one usually describes when they are affected by this word.
He was experiencing love.