CHAPTER
SEVEN: GRUDGES
What
happened that night was between Bowser Jr. and Yoshi until everyone
started to realize that Donkey Kong was missing. Unbeknownst to Jr,
Yoshi told Mario everything the next morning, and the story soon
spread throughout the whole group. Donkey Kong's calculations were
partially disproved, but only when Jr. was disconfirmed to be
Bowser's accomplice would Bowser's name be cleared, so everyone
decided that they should not be too sure about their suspects until
Jr.'s fate was revealed.
Diddy
was furious. Completely disregarding his own safety, he cornered Jr.
after breakfast with the intention of beating up his friend's
killer. Hardly a murderous person himself, he wouldn't want to kill
Jr, but at least teach him a lesson. The encounter took place in the
dining room.
"Come
here, Jr," Diddy said threateningly. Jr. looked over.
"What
do you want?"
Diddy
didn't answer. He ran over and tackled Jr. while he was in his
chair, causing the chair to fall onto Jr.'s head and bruise
it.
"OUCH!"
He picked up the chair and tossed it aside before punching Diddy in
the face. The chimp collapsed and took a moment to regain his
strength while Jr. stood over him, tauntingly. Suddenly, Diddy leaped
up and kicked Jr. in the face with both feet before landing, then did
a spring jump and tackled him again. Jr. struggled to free himself
until he located Diddy's tail and bit it with all his might. Diddy
yelped in pain and released his victim, which was a mistake—Jr.
took advantage of the situation and threw a chair at the whimpering
Diddy before jumping onto the large table and backing up, allowing
room for a full-fledged battle. Diddy understood and jumped onto the
table as well, taking his fighting stance and waiting for Jr. to make
the first move. After waiting several moments, he decided to throw
the first punch, but Jr. ducked and tripped Diddy, who then fell off
the table into an overturned chair. The legs poked his back and he
screamed in agony, loudly enough for Toad to hear from the kitchen.
Toad entered the room to find Jr. kicking the injured Diddy.
"Hey!
Guys!" Neither one heard Toad's shouts. "GUYS!"
They
looked up for a moment, dismissed him, and continued. Toad took
action by jumping into the fray and prying the kids apart for the
sake of holding their attention.
"Stop…
fighting…" He mustered all of his strength to push them apart.
They seemed to calm down after a moment.
"Alright,
so… what seems to be the pro—" Jr. and Diddy broke out of his
hold and clobbered each other, catching Toad in the crossfire. Toad
was thrown about while the children punched and kicked and
bit.
"He—killed—Donkey
Kong—" Diddy said between attacks. Jr. could not defend himself,
but continued to fight. Reluctantly, Toad forced himself to beat the
other two into submission so he could break them up, but it seemed to
make things worse. Diddy started picking up leftover silverware and
jamming it anywhere within reach while Jr. began using all of his
force to try to overturn the whole table. Diddy jumped out of the way
just as the dining table fell over on top of Toad, who crawled out
and found himself showered in chairs and used dishes. The dining room
was a complete mess. Unfinished breakfast covered everyone as they
thrust their limbs into the other's head. Bowser Jr. met a
face-full of soggy cereal as he mashed a blueberry muffin in Diddy's
eyes, obstructing his vision. Toad felt something squishy on his
large head—he picked it up and realized it was a fried egg. Tossing
the food aside, he cautiously made his way in between toppled chairs
and broken plates to the main battle. Wiping cold porridge off his
face, Toad picked Diddy up by his shirt collar and Jr.'s bandana
and pinned their arms to their sides. The commotion ceased; he wiped
the muffin out of Diddy's eyes.
"What—is—going—on?!"
he panted. The children were silent. "I don't want you two
fighting anymore, it won't do anyone any good."
Diddy's spirits did not raise, but he remembered to keep his temper. The three of them knew that Bowser Jr. deserved punishment, but there could be no stop to his behavior. He was a Koopa family member, and was not only expected, but praised by his father for any evil deeds that he could accomplish. In turn, he was much loved by his father, and this feeling was returned by Jr. This bond was what drove Jr. to commit his crime, and while some believed in Donkey Kong's actions, others knew that Jr. was just protecting his father.
