Chapter 12 Classic Games

Roy bit his lip as he clacked away on the buttons on the Nintendo Switch controller. He currently sat on a beanbag chair in front of the TV in the common room, playing video games with Larry. They were playing none other than Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, a modern classic if Roy had ever seen one.

Of course, just because it was a classic didn't mean it wasn't infuriating. Roy pressed his finger down hard on the button, determined to go as fast as possible. He had to pass Larry. He just had to. Otherwise, Larry would emerge victorious, and that wasn't a situation that Roy wanted to find himself in.

"Come on, come on." He smashed into an item box. "Blue shell, come on, gimme a blue shell."

The roulette took forever to spin through the options. Roy held his breath as it did this, unwilling to move for fear that he might accidentally impact the laws of the universe. His spirits soared when he saw a blue shell in the roulette, but they crashed right back down when he saw what he actually got.

"A banana!" He cried. "What kind of game is this if it gives you a banana in second place?"

Larry snickered. "Roy, the rules of the game are programmed in to make it so you have weaker items in the higher positions."

Roy sighed as his shoulders slumped. "I know." He put on a pouty face. "It's still unfair though."

Just as Roy feared would happen, Larry ended up coming in first. The youngest Koopaling whooped, dropped his controller straight down on his beanbag, and did a little victory dance. This particular iteration of his victory dance was extra obnoxious, as it called for him to wave his butt in Roy's face.

Roy groaned and pushed his brother to the side. "Stop that; no one wants to see your big fat butt."

Larry laughed. "That's not true. A lot of ladies want to see it."

"Oh yeah? Well, do I look like a lady to you?"

Larry smirked. "Do you really want me to answer that question?"

Roy turned away from him and stared at the screen. "No."

Larry laughed up a storm. He shimmied and sidestepped, belly danced and moonwalked. He was still rubbing his victory in Roy's face when Celia and Wendy came into the room. Wendy wrinkled up her nose at the sight of her dancing brother.

"Let me guess." She turned toward Roy. "He won again?"

Roy sighed and leaned against his hand. "Unfortunately."

"Yeah-hah, WHOO!" Larry exclaimed as he jumped up and did a fist pump. "I am awesome!" He turned toward Celia and smiled. "A true gentleman who would want to date, eh pretty lady?"

Celia's face turned crimson. She turned away from Larry, embarrassment seeping into her countenance.

Although, Roy hadn't the slightest clue why she was embarrassed. Just like Larry said, she did look beautiful, gorgeous even. Her hair and all of its fiery colors had clearly been brushed out, making it look like a lava waterfall. The dress she wore really complimented her figure. Roy smiled at her.

"Looks like Wendy really helped you, your highness."

Celia nodded and turned toward Roy, the embarrassment disappearing. "Yes. She did."

Larry raised an eyebrow. "Wait. Your highness?" He took a step toward Celia. "Are you a princess of some Kingdom that Bowser decided to sign another treaty with?"

"Well…" Celia said.

Before she could finish speaking, Larry let out a groan. "Oh, darn it! You totally are, aren't you?" He shook his head and let out a frustrated breath. "Why does Bowser always forget to tell us really important stuff?"

Celia shook her head. "Stop. You're misunderstanding." She smiled. "I am actually Bowser's daughter."

Larry blinked his eyes out upon hearing this. His face adorned a fun look as snickers escaped from his mouth. Before anyone knew it, he was laughing.

"HA HA HA HA HA!" He wiped a tear from his eye. "You're Bowser's daughter?" He put his hand to his chest to ease himself. "You're Bow Wow's little girl?" He snickered. "I'm sorry, but that's hilarious!"

Celia's face turned vermillion as she glared at Larry. "It's true!" She shouted. She gripped her hands into fists and stomped up to Larry, her eyes shooting daggers. "If you think that this is funny, maybe you're just stupid!"

Larry and Wendy's eyes grew wide. Roy cast Celia a concerned look as she stared at Larry through gritted teeth. "Well, that was a little uncalled for."

Celia turned toward Roy, veins looking like they were about to pop in her forehead. "Uncalled for? Everybody who I have run into today says that I'm not Bowser's daughter! They ask how it's possible. Why can't anybody believe me when I tell them the straight up truth?"

Larry and Wendy exchanged a look, seemingly frightened by the extreme emotions that the hybrid was showing. Roy shook his head.

"That isn't an excuse to call my brother stupid. I'm the only one who gets to call Larry names. If anything, what you did was super mean. I could kick you out of the castle if I wanted to for that. Do you want me to?"

Celia seized up. "No!"

"Then apologize to Larry."

Celia hesitated, her face simmering down to a neutral expression. She turned back toward Larry. "I'm sorry, Larry."

Larry nodded. "That's fine." He turned toward Wendy. "I'm starting to see the resemblance between her and Bowser given how bitchy she is," he whispered.

Celia cast him another glare, this one sharper than the last. Roy sprung to his feet.

"Do you want to get a knuckle sandwich, Larry? She said she was sorry!"

Larry held up his hands. "Hey! I'm just saying!" He turned toward Wendy. "Come on, let's get out of here."

With that, both of the Koopalings left. Roy turned toward Celia as she took deep breaths. He approached her, curiosity taking over his mind.

"Hey, can we talk about that little episode you just had?"

Celia took another deep breath and turned toward Roy. Her eyes shimmered, as if they were just seconds away from spilling out the tears they contained.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what got into me."

Roy nodded. "You can say that again."

Celia shook her head. "I just….I know Bowser's my father. I mean, he has to be. If he isn't, then…" she shook her head again. "You know what? It's not important." She turned toward the TV. "Are you playing video games or something?"

"Hmm?" Roy turned back toward the TV, which still showed the results screen. "Oh. Yeah, we are. Or, rather, we were." He sat back down. "Do you want to play?"

Celia seized up and curled a lock of her hair over her right ear. "I don't...I'm not good at video games."

Roy chuckled. "That's fine. I mean, we all have to start somewhere." He handed her the controller Larry had been using. "It'll be fun, I promise."

Celia hesitated before taking the controller and sitting down. Roy clicked the next button, allowing the game to transition to a different track.

"Oh sweet; Bowser's Castle." He turned toward Celia. "This is my favorite track; its music is awesome."

Celia nodded, her eyes looking a little apprehensive. Regardless, she still turned back toward the TV when the race started. Just like she had said to Roy, she turned out to be awful. She bumped into walls, drove backwards on the track, and barely had a grasp of the control scheme. If it wasn't for the surplus of bullet bills she had gotten from the item boxes, Roy and the computer players would have lapped her at least a dozen times. In the end, Roy came in first and Celia came in twelfth.

"Darn it," Celia said. She chuckled. "I told you I sucked."

"Eh," Roy said with a shrug as he looked at the results screen. "It could have been worse." He turned toward Celia and extended his hand. "Good game."

Celia took it. "Good game."

Right at that moment, the door opened up. Roy turned, expecting to see either Larry or Wendy coming back into the room. Instead, he saw a dark skinned Koopa with a star shaped birthmark on his face. Morton.

"Hey, buddy. Haven't seen you all day."

Morton nodded solemnly. He made his way over toward the mini fridge and pulled out a bunch of food items. Pickle jars, cheeses, yogurt, chocolate; if it was in the fridge, it was in Morton's hands. The second youngest Koopaling closed the door and made his way back out of the common room, all while he had a gloomy expression on his face.

Celia turned toward Roy once he was gone. "Is he okay?"

Roy looked back at the door, all while his concern grew. "I'm not sure." He stood up. "Let's go find out."