"Guys, I still can't even believe that it's Princess Peach! She's in all the best magazines from the Mushroom Kingdom." Wendy gushed after Junior broke the news to them.
"I can see why their marriage didn't last..." Roy commented snarkily. "Just look at her. What a wuss." He wrinkled his nose at the glossy page that Wendy had held up to show them.
Princess Peach was wearing a comically puffy pink dress, long lacey white gloves and delicate high heels. Her blonde hair was perfectly arrayed with each strand tucked into place. In one hand she carried a prop parasol that would offer little protection against the sun or rain. In the other hand she carried a fluffy white kitten. She smiled innocently at the camera with her big shining eyes. The caption read "Peach Isn't Kitten Around."
"Don't be mean Roy," Wendy chastised, pulling the page away from their view. "I think they could be perfect together."
"Now that we've found out who Brin Cessbeach is, there isn't much more that we can do. Even if we send her a letter, I'm sure that she receives tons of fan mail every day. There's no way that she would read it." Ludwig reasoned logically.
"She might be able to ignore a letter, but she won't be able to ignore a public visit. Especially one sent from the King of the Darklands," Wendy smirked. "She'll be expecting to see Bowser but instead she'll meet me and I'll tell her that he still loves her and that she should go back to him."
"That's a terrible idea." Roy argued.
"I think it's a good idea," Morton chimed in.
"No one cares about your opinion," Roy retorted.
"I agree. Not with "no body cares about your opinion," but the other thing Roy said." Ludwig specified. "Wendy, your plan is both risky and illegal."
"I don't want Wendy to go to jail!" Larry cried.
"Nobody is going to jail." Wendy soothed. "Instead of a visitation with the King of the Darklands, it could be with the Prince of the Darklands." She offered slyly.
"But that means Junior will have to be the one to deliver the news..." Iggy pointed out.
"What if Princess Peach knows that he's not even in elementary school yet?" Lemmy asked mildly.
"That's a gamble we have to be willing to take." Wendy admitted. "Plus, he won't go alone. We'll be with him as moral support."
"It's still a dumb plan." Roy pointed out. "Bowser is going to notice that we're all gone without a chaperone. We won't even get out of the Darklands before Kamek catches us."
"That's where Morton comes in," Wendy smiled, clearly ready for this question.
"Me?" Morton asked, flattered.
"Yes. You have a very special, very unique job." Wendy enthused. "You'll stay behind and if anyone asks where we are, say that we're playing hide-and-seek and that you haven't found us yet."
Roy laughed loudly. "Really? You're going to leave Morton behind? He messes up everything!"
"Which is why we can't take him with us to the Mushroom Kingdom." Wendy said matter-of-factly.
Morton frowned, realizing that he was the first element of the plan that Roy and Wendy agreed upon.
"Your job is very important, Morton," Ludwig attempted to cheer his brother up.
"I'm scared," Junior admitted, drawing attention away from Morton.
"There are still a few wrinkles to iron out," Wendy conceded, "but overall I think that this could work."
"You're crazy." Roy shook his head. "There's no way we're doing this."
"If something goes wrong, I'll take all the blame," Wendy offered. "None of you will get in trouble, only me."
"Why didn't you say so in the first place?" Roy grinned. "I'm all in." He would take any opportunity to watch Wendy get punished for something he did.
"I'll mail the letter this evening," Wendy beamed. "This is so exciting guys! I have always wanted to meet Princess Peach in person."
"Me too." Morton frowned.
"You'll have plenty of chances to meet her when she gets back together with Bowser." Wendy smiled, thoroughly assured that her plan would work.
"I guess so." Morton agreed, placated. "And," he continued, "this is a good chance to get better at lying."
"You're going to do great!" Wendy feigned confidence, though internally she was praying that for once Morton wouldn't ruin the plan.
For the first time in what felt like eons, it was delightfully quiet in the Koopa castle. Bowser heard no screamed arguments in the hallways on his way to the throne room, and after meeting with his advisors he received no urgent notification that his children were trying to light each other on fire. It was magical. After his meetings Bowser cautiously slipped away to his study, taking great pains to keep from being spotted. He began to read through all of the proposed legislature that he had been putting off for weeks. It was far easier to concentrate when he didn't hear a chorus of voices complaining outside his door. The afternoon flew by as he read. By the time he finished his stack of documents it was almost dinner time.
Bowser whistled he strode through the castle toward the dining area.
But when he sat down at the table, Morton was the only one who joined him.
"Do the others know that the food is ready?" Bowser asked conversationally.
Morton squinted as if he was concentrating very hard.
"They aren't coming." He answered finally. He seemed to laboriously spit out each word.
"Why not?"
"We are playing hide-and-seek. I haven't found them yet." Morton pursed his lips and his eyes darted around the room away from Bowser's gaze.
"I noticed that it was unusually quiet. I guess that explains it." Bowser commented casually. Morton had always been a little socially awkward. Maybe he felt embarrassed because he hadn't found any of his siblings, Bowser reasoned.
"It's quiet because they are hiding. For hide-and-seek." Morton repeated nervously. "They are still here. In the house," he added.
"I guess they're pretty good at the game, huh?" Bowser remarked, unsure of what else to say.
"You can say that again!" Morton exclaimed heartily with a swing of his arm. He laughed loudly before gulping down the water in front of him.
Although Morton had the least social graces of all the children, he was acting especially strange. Bowser became suspicious. His kids had been quiet for far too long. Something was off.
Bowser went over to the panel in the wall which contained the speaker system.
"Attention all Koopalings," his voice boomed throughout the entire castle, "you have ten minutes to get out of your hiding spots and come to the table. First one here will receive a special prize." Bowser promised, although he hadn't thought far enough ahead to determine what the reward was going to be.
Ten minutes ticked by and Morton was still the only one present.
Bowser was concerned. His children had never missed a meal before, and the prospect of defeating each other in a game had never failed to enticed them. Although he tried to give them as much privacy as possible, Bowser decided to use Kamek's tracking powers as a last-ditch effort to locate them.
"Kamek, can you find where all the Koopalings are?" He whispered covertly into the walkie-talkie that he carried with him at all times.
"Certainly," his advisor obliged through the radio with a crackly static voice.
Bowser stared at Morton while he waited for Kamek to get back to him. He couldn't shake the feeling that Morton wasn't telling him everything.
"Are you sure that you don't know where your siblings are?" Bowser asked.
Morton said nothing.
"This is very important. I need you to help me here," he probed. Morton had never been very rebellious. Bowser knew that he would crack eventually.
But before Morton could answer, Kamek's voice crackled through the walkie-talkie.
"I have some bad news, my King," he began. "Aside from Morton, the Koopalings are not in the castle."
"Well, where are they then?" Bowser tried to keep his panic under control.
"I do not know. They are outside of the range of my powers." Kamek informed him. "I will let you know if anything changes."
"Thank you." Bowser muttered, overwhelmed. This was the first time that Kamek was unable to find them. The children had to be very far away.
In an instant Bowser felt like his world was crashing down around him. He forced himself to breathe deeply and slowly. His heart beat wildly in his chest as he imagined what terrible things could have happened to his children.
"Attention all staff." His voice sounded strong and commanding in the loudspeaker. "All of the Koopalings except for Morton are officially missing. Report to Kamek in the conference room in three minutes. He will organize search parties and assign areas on a grid. We will find my children." He finished.
"And you," Bowser said, turning to Morton, "are not leaving this table until you tell me everything you know about where your siblings are."
Morton swallowed nervously, hoping that he wouldn't foil Wendy's plan.
A/N: I'm so incredibly grateful for all of the feedback that I have received for this story so far! Thank you for the comments. And of course thank you for reading. I hope that you have a superb week! Much love, Guardian