A/N: The last scene ended up being totally different from (and way darker than) the play, and as a result I had to make this scene a bit less humorous than it was in Richard III. But I'll make it up to you later.
Act III. Scene i.
The Koopa Cruiser came into a graceful landing in the palace courtyard, coming to a stop right in front of Bowser Jr., Larry Koopa and King Boo (who was carrying an umbrella to keep himself out of the sun). After a moment, their brother Iggy came out. Unlike Wendy he paid no attention to his appearance and remained as disheveled as he had been all his life, despite the fact he was soon going to be King.
"Iggy, we're so glad you could make it," said Junior.
"Roy and Morton are dead, and I'm about to be King, I couldn't not have made it," responded Iggy, not sharing Junior's light-hearted mood.
"Yes, the recent goings on are very tragic," said Larry quietly.
"And from what I hear, you two are helping this tragedy continue," scowled Iggy.
"It was a necessity: Lemmy was holding secrets, and was more than likely using them to plot against you," said Junior.
"Why would he do that? He doesn't want to be King. You're the one who makes plots," pointed out Iggy.
"Against our enemies, not against my brothers," defended Junior. "But you're right, I shouldn't be saying that sorta thing about Lemmy. The truth is, I have no idea why he's keeping secrets or what those secrets even are. You wouldn't happen to know anything about it, would you?"
"I haven't the foggiest," responded Iggy.
"That's too bad," said Larry. "Morton was always good at this sorta thing: thinking like 'the other guy', ya know?"
"And Roy was good at weeding information out of people directly too. But he's gone now and he took Morton with him, and now Lemmy's turning traitor…" sighed Junior.
"I thought you said you didn't know Lemmy's motivations," scowled Iggy. "He could be preserving us by keeping his secrets. As for Roy, he was sick and dying. I managed to uncover some information on that purple Firebrand of Mario's: it was caused by an ancient curse. Only direct descendants of The Tribe of Ancients are capable of using the curse, and from what I gather, Mario knows a few of said shamans."
"If it's a curse, will it kill Dad too?" asked Larry.
"No, Dad's quite a sorcerer in his own right – or was, anyway: by the sounds of it, the curse robbed him of all his magic. But Roy… well, he was keyed to brute force, not magic, and the curse sucked him dry. But that's just a theory. It's more likely that he had a trace amount of some sort of potion in his body from past battles, or perhaps he was afflicted with a lingering spell, or something else."
Behind him, King Boo and Junior shared a quick glance. If Iggy couldn't prove it was a potion that helped the curse along, he'd never be able to link Kamek to the crime; just as nobody could link the Magikoopa to Morton's murder either.
While King Boo and Junior were priding themselves on covering their tracks so well, Iggy was busy scanning the garden, looking a bit irritated. "Where's Dad and Wendy? Shouldn't they be here? I understand that Ludwig and even Kammy have things to do, but not those two."
Just then the castle door opened, but the only people to come outside were Toadsworth, Toadette and a host of Toad Town citizens. They wandered over to the Koopa Cruiser and Toadsworth greeted Iggy. "Hello, your highness, lahvely day isn't it?"
"I guess," muttered Iggy, unsure of himself in front of all the newcomers.
"Yes well, I am just here to say 'Welcome to Toad Town!' And I want you to know that although we are still adjusting to your family's rule, we are quite pleased to have you as ahr new king."
"I'm not King yet."
"Yes well, you will be soon enough – then things will settle down, what what!"
Behind Toadsworth, the castle door flew open again and Petey Piranha fluttered into the garden, landing beside Bowser Jr.
"What's wrong?" asked Junior flatly.
"I tried to get Wendy to come and speak to you, but she's off having a kart race with your father, Kammy and a couple Hammer Bros.," explained Petey.
"A kaht race? Jolly good!" exclaimed Toadsworth.
"No, jolly bad," huffed Iggy. "I need to speak with Wendy, tell her I want to speak with her, Petey."
"Why?" asked Junior as Petey fluttered back towards the castle (the kart race was being held in the courtyard in the middle of the castle).
"I'd like a second opinion on the state of affairs," responded Iggy.
Junior made a face and refrained from talking as Iggy and Toadsworth engaged in pleasant (yet somewhat awkward) small talk for a few minuets. Eventually Petey reappeared with Wendy O. Koopa in tow.
"About time," muttered Junior under his breath as Wendy ran over and hugged Iggy in greeting.
"Nice to see you again," she said to Iggy, her voice almost a whisper.
"Likewise," he said with a grin.
"It's so nice to see ahr future king being so affectionate," commented Toadsworth.
"Indeed," said Junior, eyeing his brother and sister suspiciously as they quickly broke off their hug.
Wendy then turned to her other siblings. "Nice to see you too, Larry. I hear you and Ludwig were off in the Beanbean Kingdom getting a peace treaty signed, how did that go?"
"Not too well," said Larry. "Fawful doesn't like our family very much, except Ludwig – they got along great. Some sort of, um, shared appreciation of Cackletta and her secret, uh, magical stuff."
"Ugh. I know Ludwig gets along with everyone, but I'd never sing that witch's praises – I mean, she possessed Daddy and turned him into a girl," said Wendy incredulously before turning to Junior. "Hey kiddo, I see you haven't grown in those teeth yet."
Junior growled and Iggy hurriedly stepped in before things got ugly. "Uh, why don't we all go into the castle? I'm starving! Toadsworth, how about you and the citizens come too: we can have a small buffet."
"Oh, what a smashing idea, Your Highness!" said Toadsworth happily as the group walked away, leaving Junior, Larry and King Boo behind.
"What a heart-warming reunion that was," said Junior sarcastically.
"Yeah, I wonder what Dad – or rather, Kammy – was telling Wendy to make her so, um, snippy towards you, Junior," said Larry.
"Who knows?" mused Junior. "Who cares? What I care about is that secret of Lemmy's. I think I've got an idea of what it's about, but I'm still not sure."
"Well, Kamek will be back with the information soon enough," said Larry.
"Yup," said Junior absentmindedly, before snapping back to reality. "But in the meantime… King Boo, you're a friend of Petey Piranha's, do you think we can trust him with our plans?"
"Hmm, first of all, I wouldn't say I'm his 'friend'," responded King Boo coolly. "Secondly, I'm afraid I don't know. Petey can keep a secret if he wants too, and he'll follow almost every order he recieves. But I'm not sure if he'll support you, Junior. He was part of your Isle Delfino takeover way back when, but he's had a lot of history with Iggy too."
"Oh well, looks like we'll have to do this the long way," sighed Junior. "Talk to Petey tomorrow, before the Royal Council meets: find out if he will support my bid for the crown."
"Yes sir," said King Boo, giving Junior a mock salute.
"Oh, and King Boo," added Larry, "if he doesn't prove talkative, remind him that his 'friend' Lemmy is never coming back. If Petey doesn't have to worry about our brother and Kammy coming after him, he may prove more open-minded."
"Yeah, especially since we were the ones that got Lemmy locked away," grinned Junior behind his scarf. "It's almost as if he owes us."
"Too true," said King Boo. "You can count on me: I'll have your answer before the meeting starts." With that King Boo vanished into thin air, his umbrella falling lightly to the ground.
"So if Petey thinks you will be a good king, we will tell him our hopes for Iggy. But, uh, what will we do with him if he's against us?" asked Larry as he picked up the umbrella.
Junior looked down at Larry and answered him plain and simple: "we kill him."
