A/N Hello readers of fanfiction! This is my first attempt at posting a story, so I promise that I'll try to make it not horrible. I apologize for any odd errors, I'm typing this on my iPhone and it keeps wanting to change Bowser into BowsEd. Now, be warned that this is a Bowser/Starlow thing (I know that some people don't like this pairing) and may contain a few minor spoilers for Bowser's inside story. Otherwise, enjoy!

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It was a sunny day throughout the Mushroom Kingdom; pixls and star sprites danced together, while toads laughed and played in each little village. On the very edge of the Kingdom, however, there was a... dark spot on the map. This was a place where sunshine was rarely seen, and even more rarely cared about. The only ones who dared to enter this place were the baddest of the bad, along with the bravest of the heroes to foil their plots. It just so happened that in this place, known as "the Darklands," there were two individuals sulking and waiting for this brave hero to arrive.

King Bowser sat on his large, custom throne, lost in his own thoughts. Princess Peach, who was sitting beside him as a "prisoner" (Bowser hadn't bothered with a cage, but she was still technically a captive), thought that this was quite strange. Normally, whenever she was kidnapped, Bowser would go on and on about himself and why he was "so super awesome."

'Did we mess up his brain while we were adventuring?' Peach thought to herself. Indeed, it had only been about two weeks since she and many of her friends had been sucked into Bowser's body; two weeks since they defeated Fawful, and two weeks since they met Starlow the Star Sprite. Of course, Bowser was already back to his old kidnapping game, and Peach was expecting to suffer through more "Bowser is awesome" speeches and more made up stories about defeating Mario; but they never came. 'In fact, he's barely said a word to me since he picked me up in his clown car,' Peach thought to herself, 'I wonder if something's bothering him?'

Beginning to worry for the Koopa King, who had actually just helped to save her from the clutches of an even more evil being, Peach decided to ask what was on his mind. "umm... Bowser?" Peach began.

Bowser seemed to snap out of a trance. "What?" he asked, turning to look at Peach.

"Are you feeling alright? It seems like you've actually been thinking about something."

Bowser seemed to turn red for a minute before shaking his head and turning back towards the window. "I'm fine... I'm not thinking about anyone!" he grumbled.

Peach was a bit shocked, but then grinned and giggled at what she heard. "Anyone?" she clarified.

"Yeah, nobody," Bowser replied, obviously lying.

'How cute!' Peach thought to herself, 'Bowser has a crush! Let's see, who could it be? Bowser's never acted like this before, so it must be someone that we've met within the past two weeks... Oh! I've got it!'

"So, you're not even thinking about... Starlow?" Peach asked.

Bowser seemed confused for a moment. "Who?"

Peach rolled her eyes before replying, "Chippy."

At the mention of the Star Sprite's temporary fake name, Bowser blushed once again and angrily replied with, "Of course not! The Koopa King does not get crushes!"

Peach now had all of the information that she needed. She smiled and shook her head; "Oh, come on, Bowser. You can tell ME, right?" peach asked, giving him a glare.

"I... I don't..." Bowser began, attempting to look Peach in the eye. "I... Oh, fine," he sighed, breaking under her stare, "maybe I do sortakindofalittlebit like her," Bowser admitted, his blush intensifying, "But nobody needs to know, OK?"

Peach squealed with delight. "I knew it!" she screamed, "you should tell her!"

"What? NO, NEVER!" Bowser roared, shaking the castle. "What if she turns me down? I would look weak in front of my minions AND Mario! Maybe, if I just kidnap her..."

"No! Bowser, that will never work!" Peach intervened. "Come on, all you have to do is say it!"

"No. I... Just can't. The same way that you can't tell Mario, I just can't do it," Bowser replied.

Now it was Peach's turn to blush. "Hey! W-wait a minute, t-that's completely irrelevant!" she sputtered.

"Ugh, whatever. I'm done here," Bowser huffed, before turning back to his map of the eight worlds. Typically, small blinking dots would appear wherever "Mario and Green 'Stache are jumping around." Before Peach and Bowser had started talking, three colorful dots had been traveling through world 5; now, however, they were nowhere to be seen, which made Peach hopeful and Bowser confused.

"Hey... Where'd they-" Bowser never got to finish because at that moment, the door to the throne room came crashing down. Peach could just barely make out the silhouettes of two heroes with a small guiding Star Sprite floating behind them.

"Mario!" Peach cried out from behind Bowser.

"Mario!" Bowser snarled at his enemy.

Mario grinned and waved at Peach before turning towards the Koopa King. "Give her back, Bowser!"

"Yeah, Bowser, why do we have to go through this every other week with you?" Luigi added

Starlow joined in, saying, "it's only been two weeks since we worked together; can't we just get along?"

Bowser froze and blushed at the sound of "Chippy's" voice, but soon was able to shake it off enough to let out a hardy fake laugh. "BWAHAHAHA! If you want the princess back so much, then you're gonna have to fight me for her!" he declared.

"If you say so," Mario said, accepting the challenge. "Letsa-go!"

"Okey Dokey!" Luigi replied, jumping into the battle with his bro. Starlow decided to stay off to the side with Peach and use her powers to weaken Bowser untill the brothers needed help dodging flames.

"Hey, bro, use a jump helmet!" Luigi suggested. Mario nodded and threw one of the bouncy hats towards his bro. Luigi backed up just enough to have a shot at getting an excellent, and let Mario start jumping. Mario bounced one, two, three, four, five times on the helmet, each jump better than the last, before finally reaching the Koopa King. The room exploded in orange as he earned an excellent and took away over 100 HP.

Already weakened by the Star Sprite's power, Bowser fell to the ground, defeated. Mario high fived his bro before walking over to check on Peach. "Are you OK?" Mario asked.

"Yes, I'm fine; thank you for saving me, Mario," Peach replied, smiling at her hero.

"Hehe, anytime," Mario said, beginning to blush as he escorted Peach out of the room.

The two heroes and Peach waited for a moment before Starlow said, "go ahead, guys; I'll catch up." She and Bowser were now the only ones in the room.

"So... You were defeated again, I see?" Starlow said.

Bowser could feel his cheeks burning up, so he simply buried his face in his arm and replied with a grunt.

"I guess you're not very talkative after you've been defeated, are you?" Starlow asked.

"No, I guess not," Bowser replied, keeping his head down. 'Should I tell her now?' he asked himself.

"Well... I hope you'll have a nice rest-of-the-day anyways. See you around." With this, Starlow gave him a kiss on the cheek and went to join the others.

"W-wait!" Bowser called, but it was too late; she had already left.

Maybe he could try again next time? He'd have to wait and see.

/(._.)/

A/N Wow, depressing ending is depressing. That's not exactly how I expected this to turn out, but I kind of like it. Should I continue this into a two or three shot? Should I leave it as it is? Feel free to review! Nice reviews are nice, reviews with constructive criticism are appreciated, and even flames are loved. Hope you enjoyed it :)