Bowser Jr.

Junior woke up in the old throne room, the one that had belonged to his dad.

"Why am I back here?" he whispered.

"Because, you have a choice to make." There on the throne, sat his father, looking down at his son.

"Dad..." Junior was fighting back tears, but he refused to cry. "Why are you here?" he finally asked.

"I've been watching you. My spirit has been unable to pass on to the Underwhere due to King Boo possessing my body. With him gone, however, I am free. You, however, are on the brink."

"What do you mean?"

"You have two options. You can stay here and die, leaving the mortal world forever. Or..." Bowser stomped the ground, and the door to exit the room opened, revealing a bright, white light. "You can leave, and return to your body."

"But, what about you?" Junior asked.

"I made my choice a long time ago, and now it's your turn. The opportunity won't last forever, I'm afraid, so you must choose quickly."

"But, I don't want to leave you..."

"Son, look at me." Junior looked into his father's eyes, and was surprised to see tears welling up in his eyes as well. "Like the professor said, this is your chance to start over. I never let you be who you wanted to be, and I will forever regret that. You have a full life ahead of you, and I am begging you to take advantage of this opportunity." Finally, Junior nodded.

"Alright...but...I miss you so much..." Now he really was sobbing, and Bowser placed a hand on his son's shoulder.

"I love you very much, son, and I will always be with you." Junior turned to leave, but couldn't stop himself from giving his father one final hug. Bowser flinched at first, but eventually returned the embrace. "Good luck out there, son." He slowly began to fade away, and Junior had just enough time to leap through the door before it closed.

Back home...

Junior awoke to find himself lying on some sort of table. There was what seemed to be medical equipment surrounding him, and he quickly sat up.

"Ah, you're awake." Junior turned to find E. Gadd watching him, which he should have expected.

"How long have I been out?" he asked.

"Not too long, about a day or so."

"What happened?"

"I think I should let Mario explain that." The professor left the room for a moment, allowing Junior a moment to process his thoughts. He was alive, for starters, but he couldn't stop thinking about that weird dream he had had. Had he really seen his dad? Or was it just his imagination? He was interrupted when Mario entered the room.

"Glad to see you up, kid," he smiled as he took a seat.

"So, what happened after I lost consciousness?" Junior asked.

"Well, after you jumped from the observatory, Rosalina used her powers to send you down to Earth faster. Immediately after, she summoned a Luma that would transform into a Launch Star that would send us to the castle. By the time we arrived, however, the ship had already crashed. We found wreckage and paint everywhere, along with your unconscious body. You were still breathing, so Luigi ran you over here so the professor could nurse you back to health," Mario explained.

"Is that castle safe?"

"Yep. I suffered a little damage, but your shield took the brunt of the impact. I managed to get the princess and the Toads out safely."

"Good. Hey, before you go, I want to tell you something." Mario raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. "I still don't know if I can forgive you for killing my dad, but I'm willing to start over. I think I can give you a second chance." Mario nodded.

"Believe me, if I could have defeated Bowser without killing him, I would have, but at the time there were no other options. I appreciate you giving me a second chance though."

"You know, you're not so bad after all. Anyway, could you go get the professor? I want to talk to him some more."

"Sure thing, kid." Soon after Mario left, the professor returned. He was holding an envelope in his hands.

"This just arrived in the mail. I believe it's for you." Junior took it and opened it to find a letter from the princess.

"I wanted to thank you for saving me and the Toads. Mario told me what you did, and honestly, I didn't think you had it in you. Maybe I was wrong about you. So, I've decided to give you a second chance. You are being pardoned of all of your crimes, on one condition. As much as I hate to say it, I must ask that you never come to Toad Town. Unfortunately, the Toads are not as forgiving as I am, and I don't think they would be happy to see you, despite what you did for us. I hope you understand, and I wish you luck on your new life." Junior didn't know what to think. He was pardoned, but could never visit the castle. Granted, he didn't expect them to forgive him so easily, but it couldn't be helped.

"So, what do you want to do now?" the professor asked. Junior looked up from the paper, raising an eyebrow in the process. "You can start all over now. Do you know what you're going to do?"

"Honestly, I want to stay here and work with you. I want to help make new gadgets, and make the world a better place." The professor grinned.

"I thought so. Well, here." He tossed a white object to Junior, who began to unfold it. It was a lab coat, made specifically to fit Junior. He couldn't hold back his smile as he looked back at the professor.

"So, when do we start?"

Author's note: Alright, this fic is finally done. As much as I got burnt out halfway through, I kind of like how the ending turned out. I've always thought that Junior wasn't really that bad, and have always wanted to make some sort of redemption arc for him. Anyway, I'm done with Mario fics for now. That being said, I have a few ideas of what to do next, but I have to decide which one I want to do. I'm going to be busy for the next few days, so it will be a while. If you want to know when I post next, make sure to follow me so that you get a notification. Anyway, thanks for reading, and I'll see you all soon!