Call it fate, call it Karma

Roy and Ludwig stood in the courtyard in front of Bowser's castle. Both held their wands tightly and made eye contact with the other. Roy smirked, beginning to cast a spell, then pointed his wand at Ludwig. Ludwig flipped up in the air and breathed fire at Roy, who moved out of the way in his shell. Keeping inside the shell, he found a ledge to bounce back off of. When Ludwig landed, Roy's shell plummeted near Ludwig's feet, knocking him off balance.

Roy squeezed out of his shell, flipping his wand into the air. "Got you there pretty quickly, huh?"

Ludwig began to stand up. "Yeah. I should probably work on staying in the air."

"But how? Install wings on your shell?"

"No. I'll learn how to flutter-jump."

"HA! How you gonna do that?"

Ludwig glared at Roy, who fell on the ground laughing. "I'll learn: from a yoshi itself."

"Good luck," Roy jeered, walking back inside. Ludwig sat on the stairs, looking out into the distance. I said I'd learn. But how? I can't just ask a yoshi to teach me without it freaking out. He cradled his head in his hands. If only there was somebody...anybody...that could help me...

Staring at the sunrise, he decided to go inside the castle to get some breakfast. But even as he feasted on his stack of pancakes, he couldn't get it off his mind. To clear it out, he went back into his room and took a shower. However, as he came out, he saw a female yoshi sitting on his bed.

Ludwig jumped back. "W-who are you?" he exclaimed.

The yoshi stood up. "The name's Karma. You wanted to flutter jump, didn't you?"

How did she know? "Yeah...I guess." It was at this time that he got a better look at her. She had brown hair tied back into a ponytail, a purple shell with spikes, almost like Roy's (Roy had replaced his old shell with a sturdier one) and a purple T-shirt.

"Well, I can help you with it," she said, half smiling. She has fangs, Ludwig noticed. Yoshis don't have fangs... Confused, he accepted.

"Whatever. I just want my brother to stop making fun of me."

"Alright. Let's start right now."

"Right now?"

"Heck yeah. No time like the present," Karma smiled.

"I still need to change, though."

"Well, do that. Then we'll practice."

Ludwig changed into his shell and wrist bands, fixed his hair, and walked out with Karma. She showed him some basics of weight-control and getting off the ground. At the end of the day, they sat out on the courtyard together.

"You know, Karma, you really are great. Thanks for today."

Karma smiled shyly. "Thanks. You are too."

"So, what's your story?"

"Well, I'm a hybrid between whatever you are and a yoshi. My father was the president of Dinosaur Land, and my mother was the ex-wife of your dad, I believe."

Wait, WHAT? "...H-how old are you?" Ludwig asked, trying not to sound weird.

"Thirteen. I've heard you're 14?"

"And you say she was Bowser's ex-wife?"

"...Yes."

"My mother went missing for a year after I was born. But I guess she wasn't missing after all."

Karma's eyes widened. "Wow. So she was still married to Bowser all along? What a tricky lie! No wonder my parents broke up."

"Yeah. My dad didn't even know, and just took her back and had the rest of my siblings. Imagine if he had found out, neither you, your father, or my siblings would be alive today."

"Please don't get that deep. It scares me."

"Right."

They both stared at each other for a while, then Karma broke the silence. "Well, I should be on my way," she sighed, standing up.

"Same time tomorrow?" Ludwig asked.

"Yep," Karma said. And then the two kissed. After the kiss, Karma waved goodbye and walked down the stairs.

Gleefully, Ludwig ran inside, humming all the way. Roy wondered what was up and went to check on him. "Yo, you okay?"

"Yes. Karma is just the sweetest person you would ever imagine. She looks so great when she flutter-jumps, don't you think?" He flopped down on his bed, with a big smile on his face. "I can hardly wait for tomorrow!"

Roy shut the door, with an evil grin on his face. He walked back into his room, plotting.

For the next few days, Karma and Ludwig not only worked on building up Ludwig's endurance for flutter jumping (he was getting quite good at it) but they were also building a relationship. Eventually, they referred to each other as boyfriend and girlfriend, and met every day. However, she never actually went inside the castle, due to the law that only honored citizens of the Koopa Kingdom could enter, so she barely saw the other siblings except Roy, who would often walk out to check on their progress.

On one day, Ludwig finally got the flutter jump down. He and Karma shared a hug and a kiss, and Ludwig pulled something out of his pocket.

"Well, I've been thinking about a couple things," he started, bending down on one knee.

Karma's eyes brightened in joy. "You don't even have to say the rest," she said. "Just get to the important part."

"Okay," Ludwig cleared his throat. "Karma, will you-"

"YES! Yes of course!" Karma jumped up and down, and the two kissed once again. Karma, not willing to spoil anything, went back down to the city, and Ludwig back into the castle. Little did he know that after he walked in, Roy snuck out.

He flopped down on his bed, and was about to fall asleep, until he heard a knock on his door. He answered, and it was Wendy.

"Hi, Roy told me to give this to you," Wendy said, handing him a white rose.

Ludwig smiled, knowing it was a surrender signal from him. "Thanks, but why couldn't he just give it to me himself?"

"I don't know, he said he was off in the swimming pool. How would I know, though?" She rolled her eyes, then left. Ludwig closed the door, smiling. Two great things today! I'm engaged to Karma, and Roy gives in! Could today get any better?

It couldn't get any better. In fact, it got much worse.

The next morning, Ludwig took his regular shower, fixing his hair and everything, and humming a happy song. He went out for breakfast, but to his surprise (and confusion) Roy was not there. Wonder where he is to apologize in person, he thought to himself. Or is he too much of a wimp? Smiling, he went out to greet Karma, but that smile quickly fell when he saw Karma with Roy. And Karma looked pretty pissed.

"Who was that brat who gave you that white rose last night?" she said, angrily.

"My sister," Ludwig explained. How much does she even know about me?

"Well, I know you're lying, thanks to my new best friend," she said. "He told me she was one of your exes apologizing from a past breakup. And you accepted it!"

"No, it was my sister turning in a surrender signal from..." He looked over and saw Roy smirking. And Ludwig lost it.

Rushing up to Ludwig, he grabbed his neck, eyes blazing. "Why would you do that to me?" he shouted angrily.

"Come on, man! It was the perfect setup." Roy began to explain everything.

"You see, I knew you guys would get into a romantic relationship. That's why I chose exactly her. I knew she would fall for you, and you for her. And once that happened, I intended to ruin your relationship, but first, I had to make sure she didn't know that Wendy was actually your sister by making up that rule.

"Once that happened, I got Wendy to give you that white rose. Then, I got her, and warned her that you were cheating, and we watched you from outside. I convinced her that Wendy was your ex, and she believed me! You fell right into the trap!"

Karma paused. "Wait, the reason I was brought here in the first place was...a setup?"

"Yep!" Roy said excitedly. "I knew it would-"

"You're sick!" Karma yelled, smacking Roy off the hill. Then she looked at Ludwig.

"Karma, I'm sorry. If only I hadn't mentioned all of this to him, we never would have been in this mess. I think we should just-"

Karma pulled him close and kissed him before he could finish his sentence. "It's okay. If this never happened, I would have never met you. And that's all I care for." She held out her hand. "Now, shall we go inside?"

"Yes," Ludwig said, taking Karma inside.