A/N: So, just in time for Valentine's Day, I decided to release my next story. Roy Koopa's the star this time! I hope you enjoy this new story! All characters are property of Nintendo.

Tough Love: Chapter 1

So, it is a strangely bright day in the normally gloomy Darklands. The glaring sun shone through Roy Koopa's bedroom window and woke him up. He grabbed his sunglasses from his nightstand and slipped him over his eyes before he even opened them. He glanced at his alarm clock. 7:00 A.M., he thought to himself. He stretched a bit then walked out of his room.

As he walked down the stairs, he told himself, "It's a very bright Saturday morning. I wonda how many of my bruddas are up yet." He went into the kitchen and noticed only Ludwig in there, sitting at the table. Ludwig looked at Roy with curiosity and asked him, "Why are you up so early, Roy?"

Roy had a huge smirk on his face as he replied, "Da sun woke me up," then he walked over to the cupboard and pulled out a pan and a spatula. Roy glanced at Ludwig as he said, "but it'll be ME dat wakes up da rest of my bruddas!" and walked towards the direction of his little brother Larry's room.

After he was in the doorway of Larry's room, he snickered as he watched his younger brother doze peacefully. He raised up the pan and spatula, then proceeded to beat the spatula against the bottom of the pan. "Wakey, wakey, Larry!" Roy yelled out.

The clanging sound instantly woke Larry. The sudden noise scared him and caused him to roll off the bed. The impact of hitting the floor made him moan and groan with pain. "What'd you do that for?!" Larry complained.

Roy laughed and said, "It's morning time! Ya gotta wake up sometime; I was just doin' ya a fava!"

Larry sluggishly got up off the floor and yawned. He walked out the door, mumbling, "Maybe I wasn't ready to get up," as he walked past Roy.

Roy repeated the same process of banging on the pan to wake up the rest of his siblings. When he woke up his last brother, Lemmy, who upon waking jumped so high into the air that he hit his head on the ceiling, he followed his tiny older brother into the kitchen. When he made his way into the kitchen, he got an annoyed, angered, and drowsy glare from each of his siblings, except Ludwig of course, who was the only one not rudely awakened by his burly younger brother. Ludwig just glanced at Roy with an indifferent expression.

Roy sat at his designated seat at the table, and like his other siblings, waited for his dad to arrive in the kitchen. It was a few minutes before Bowser showed up, and all eight of Bowser's children looked in his direction. Bowser looked with confusion at his children and asked them, "Why are all of you up so early?!"

At that, all the koopalings, except Ludwig, pointed at Roy. Roy had a sneaky grin crawl upon his face. Ludwig just shrugged and replied, "I'm always the first to wake up. I wasn't awoken to the clashing of a pot and spatula, courtesy of Roy, like my other siblings." Bowser then focused his gaze upon Roy.

Roy continued to grin as Bowser asked him, "Roy, why are YOU up so early?"

Roy simply replied, "Da sun woke me up." Bowser just stared back in response. Afterwards, koopa servants presented the royal koopas with their meals, and the family devoured their delicious breakfast.

When they were done eating, the koopalings went their separate ways, doing the things they normally did on Saturdays. Ludwig went to his room to work on his latest symphony, Lemmy went to play with his circus balls, Wendy began texting one of her friends on her Blackberry, Morton raced to the family room to watch TV, and Jr. went to spend time with his papa. That left only Roy, Iggy, and Larry to find something to do.

Larry asked his older brothers, "What do you want to do today?"

Iggy pondered over that, then replied, "I really don't know. What about you, Ro-" His reply was cut off when he was suddenly caught in Roy's headlock and was attacked by major noogieing.

"Noogie, noogie, noogie!" Roy yelled as he rubbed his fist on the top of Iggy's head.

"Ow, stop it!" Iggy cried. After several seconds, Roy let go of Iggy as Larry's face sparked, as if an idea just hit him.

"I know!" he said, "Why don't we get out of the castle and view the rest of the Darklands?"

Roy and Iggy looked at each other and then both shouted, "Yeah!"

"Well then, what are we waitin' for? Let's go!" Larry responded back. So, the three brothers headed out the front double-doors to the outside world.

They traversed through the Darklands, taking in the sights around them. Charred trees, very little vegetation, and barren, blackened wastelands were most of what the koopas saw. Several minutes passed, and the boys began to suffer from boredom.

"Where we goin'? All I've seen is dead trees fo' miles!" Roy complained.

Iggy giggled at his impatient older brother, "There's a city just a mile from here. There'll be plenty to do there!"

"Oh, ok den," Roy answered back.

Many more minutes passed until they finally reached their destination. Roy and Larry stared in wonder at what lied before them. Huge, exquisite buildings filled the vast city. Greenery lined the gardens of several divine houses, and masses of koopas in all different varieties, shapes, and sizes crowded the streets. Iggy turned to his brothers and said, "What do you think?"

Roy and Larry stared at Iggy with cheerful expressions, then Larry shouted, "Ooh, let's go tour the entire city!" He began to rush off until Iggy grabbed one of his arms.

"Wait, don't go just yet! I have an idea," Iggy said. His two brothers looked at him, waiting for him to continue. He spoke again. "Why don't we split up and view this wonderful city as individuals? Then, at sunset, we can meet here, at this spot again."

Roy smirked as he told Iggy, "Sounds good to me."

"Agreed!" Larry replied. With that, the three brothers divided, each going a different direction in the crowded metropolitan area.

Roy went straight through the center of the city as his brother Iggy went left, and his brother Larry went right. He glanced back and forth at the different stores that resided there. "Juice shop, sporting goods store, a gym, and… a beauty salon? Bet Wendy would like dat!" Roy snickered as he thought about his bald sister going to a salon to get her hair done. He continued to soak in the splendors of the city as he pondered over the things that he could do. "Hmmm… I wonda what I should do fir-" Roy stopped his sentence in mid-air as he gazed at a remarkable sight not far from him.

Walking towards his direction was a human girl, but not just ANY human girl. She was a beauty. Her long, shiny reddish orange hair gleamed in the sunlight, and her crystal clear blue eyes sparkled like brilliant blue diamonds. Her skin was flawless, and her lips were a cherry red. She wore a black flutter-sleeve blouse, a short denim miniskirt, and black high-heeled leather boots.

Roy's jaw dropped as he stared in amazement at the beautiful girl. She's an angel! So hot, so sexy…, Roy thought to himself. As the girl passed by him, she glanced in his direction, and he snapped out of his awestruck daze and positioned himself in a tough-guy pose. The girl grinned at him, and he felt his cheeks start to get warm.

After she walked past him, Roy had a great idea. "I know EXACTLY what I wanna do today!" he exclaimed. So, he followed the girl wherever she went, but would hide behind a tree, in an alley, etc. so she wouldn't know she was being followed. Even when she went into a store, he would go in as well, staying a good distance away from her and admiring her from afar.

When the sky turned pink and orange from the impending sunset, Iggy, Roy, and Larry met at the spot they originally were when they first got to the city. Iggy was the first to speak. "So, how did your day go?"

Larry excitedly replied back, "I played tennis at the rec-com, got a ice cream cone from an ice cream shop, chatted with some guys and partied at a club, ate some Chinese food, went go-kart racing, and lots of other things!"

"That's cool! What about you, Roy?" Iggy asked his tough older brother. Roy was sipping on a smoothie as his thoughts were invaded by the cute girl he first laid eyes on that day. He hadn't been paying attention to anything his brothers said or did, and he didn't hear Iggy's question. Iggy tried to get his attention. "Um… Roy?" Still no answer. "Roy!"

At that, Roy snapped out of his daydream and responded with a "Huh?"

Iggy repeated his former question, "Roy, how did your day go?"

Roy thought for a moment, then said, "I went to da gym to work out, then I watched some local guys wrestle. Before I met you guys again, I got dis smoothie. Dat's pretty much how my day went."

Iggy and Larry locked their eyes on Roy, who continued slurping his smoothie, then Iggy spoke again, "…Ok, well I went to the library to read some books, toured the local museum, and visited an awesome laboratory! Ooh, all the chemicals it contained, and all the experiments being conducted!"

Roy mumbled a barely audible, "Nerd, nerd…" which Iggy heard, and he spoke again.

"…Did I mention that I also looked up girls' skirts when they weren't paying attention?!"

That caught his other brothers' attention, and they looked at him with disbelief. Larry then replied, "You really did that, you perv?!"

Iggy giggled and replied with a huge grin, "Yep! That was THE most exciting thing I've done today!"

Larry began to look upset and responded with a "Man, why didn't I think of doing something like that?!"

Iggy told him, "Well, there's always next time!"

Larry smiled again and said, "Yeah, you're right!"

Afterwards, the three brothers looked at the sky. The bright hues of pink and orange were slowly fading as a sapphire blue began to engulf them, which signified that nightfall was approaching. Sighing, Iggy stated to his brothers, "Well, it's already becoming dark; I think we should return home." Roy and Larry nodded in agreement, then the three koopalings set foot towards their dad's castle.

As the royal koopas were walking, Roy continued to have dazzling thoughts about HER; the beautiful young human girl he crossed paths with that day. She was so… breathtaking! So… pretty! I neva have seen a girl like dat in my entire life! She even smiled at me! Man, if only I knew her name… His mind continued to be bombarded with pleasant thoughts about the girl, and finally he decided on something within his thoughts…

I MUST see dis chick again!

A/N: So, what do you think so far? I hope you liked the beginning. Chapter 2 is coming soon!