A/N: Hello! I started writing this story a couple of years ago, but I never finished it. Just this year, I decided to do a rewrite of what I had (part of it, anyway), and take it in new directions, since I thought it had some potential. I hope to finish it soon. Be on the lookout for new chapters every so often.

King Bowser Koopa sat upon his throne, giving orders to one of his children/minions, Larry. As of recently, it had been snowing in Dark Land. which was a rare sight in and out of itself. Although it was wintertime, it wasn't very often that the area was beset by a blizzard.

Bowser sang a brief poem to the Koopaling in a slow, creepy tone:

''Larry, Larry, Larry, go shovel the snow,

I left there a bomb and it's gonna blow.

I lit the fuse and now it's steaming mad,

Go get rid of it, my young little lad.''

Larry was mildly irked at Bowser waxing poetry out of nowhere. ''King Dad, King Dad, why are we rhyming?" the young Koopaling asked. "It dosen't make sense, and we might lose our timing! And if I mess up and die in the 'splosion, what will you do to me when I... What rhymes with explosion?''

Bowser growled at his son. ''Larry, you moron! Get out or die! I'll turn up the thermostat to watch you fry!''

''Ok, ok, ok, ok, I'll get out.'' Larry said. ''Hopefully you won't hit me in the snout!''

Bowser got up, walked over and poked him in the nose.

''Oh, #$&%*!'' Larry caressed his nose to ease the pain; thankfully, he wasn't hurt. He took a jacket from the coat rack near the door and put on over his sweater. Larry then opened the door to see that snow had piled up overnight and completely blocked the entrance, with some of it spilling out onto the floor.

''What the heck? What the heck? What's going on? I think-''

Bowser held up his hand to stop his son from talking. ''Okay, this rhyming thing's getting a little old. There's a sudden draft in here and it's very cold!''

Larry grew irritated. ''No kidding! THE ENTIRE DOOR'S BLOCKED OFF WITH SNOW!''

The Koopa king did a double-take at the sheer amount of snow on the ground. ''Ohhh, yeahhh! I gotta tell my Koopalings about this!'' he said, as he bolted out of the throne room. Larry was dumbfounded, but could do little about the situation he was in. Once the almighty Bowser said you had to do something, you were obligated to do it unless you wanted to get sent to the dungeon. Larry retrieved a shovel from hammerspace and dug his way outside, cursing the king under his breath.

Not a few minutes later, Larry found himself completely encased in snow. He started to call out for help from anyone who could hear him, despite the fact that he didn't know if he could reach anyone.

Above ground, a familiar-looking stocky man with a yellow cap was out on his morning walk. He had come from miles away to visit Bowser's castle, without regard for weather. Although the man had trouble ambling through the thick snow, he had a determinedness about him spurred by having consumed four energy bars and a 1up Mushroom. As he approached the castle, he heard a small, muffled voice beneath his feet.

''Help! Help! I'm stuck! Help! Help! I'm the king's son! Someone help meeeee!''

The man paced around until he found the source of the noise. ''I think I can help," he said.

Down below, Larry was excited to hear the news. ''REALLY? Please tell me how! I'll give you lots of money!''

''Oooh! That sounds delicious! I think I CAN do it!''

The mysterious person burrowed himself into the snow, spraying it everywhere. He grabbed the Koopa kid by the top of his hair, and flipped him onto the top of the snow like it was nothing. Larry tried to catch his breath as the short, fat figure climbed out of the hole.

''Wow! Uh... Thanks for rescuing me," said the Koopaling. "Say, are you that Wario guy I've heard about?"

Wario, who was freshly dressed in a set of thick winter clothing pilfered the day before, tipped his hat to the Koopa kid. "Yes, I am him," said Wario. "Now, where's my money?''

Larry couldn't believe it. Here was this guy who had decided to come out all this way in all this snow… What a (bad) guy!

"Oh wow… Hey, what are you doing here? Didn't you say you were going to travel around the world, or something? What the heck happened?"

Wario was suddenly taken aback, as the memories of his failed panhandling world tour came back to him. ''Um, we didn't… really… succeed… I don't care now," said Wario. He looked at the snow around him. Both he and Larry were directly facing one of the castle windows, although they happened to be about twenty feet up or so above the entrance. Wario rubbed his hands together as he tried to shoot the breeze with the Koopa kid. ''So, Larry, my man, did you see the new Koopatraz episode last night?''

Larry was getting impatient already. ''I don't care about that!" he said. "I need you to help me track down this... time bomb or something my dad dropped someplace! It's hidden somewhere beneath all this snow and I have no clues or anything to help me find it."

Wario was confused by the Koopaling's predictament. ''Who hides a bomb in the snow? Would it even go off in the first place?"

Larry smacked his head. ''Nobody, that's who. Now listen!'' The young Koopa grabbed Wario's coat. ''There's gotta be at least 50 feet of snow here and it could be hidden anywhere. You think you could help me out here?"

''Hey-hey-hey-hey-hey! Who am I? A police officer or something?" Wario pushed Larry away from him. "There's no way I would be able to find the bomb in this weather. And I don't have super-hearing either! The least we can do is ask your father.''

''Oh, I wasn't able to ask. He wanted me to leave the castle immediately." Larry started shivering, not used to the blistering cold. "Agh! Why does it have to be so cold?"

Wario started to grow suspicious of the kid's motives, not being able to tell if Larry was sincere or trying to play a game. If Larry was trying to trick him, did he realize who he was messing with? Wario may not have been a completely honest person, but he could back up the physical and mental prowess he claimed to have had if he had to. Or at least, if he chose to...

"Is this some sort of trick or something? I mean… Wario doesn't like to over-exert himself! I only came here to infiltrate the castle on my day off is all!"

Larry started to laugh. "Oh, man! You're a really funny guy!"

"Yeah... I get that a lot," said Wario. He sniffled and rubbed his nose. "So.. why are you so desperate to get rid of this bomb?"

"I don't know. It must be some kind of mission. Anyway, it's impossible for me to get this snow all cleared up. Can you help me?"

Wario sat down in the snow to think about the situation. On one hand, he didn't feel like going through all that trouble to end up seriously hurt. On the other, he had received an award for Best Snow Clearing nearly two years prior, which he treasured and kept in his bedroom. Why not put that ability to good use? On second thought... maybe he wouldn't do it. Or maybe he would, he had no business to attend to for the moment. He asked Larry, "What's the catch?"

"Hmm..." Larry wondered how he was going to get Wario to help him. Suddenly, he had an idea. "How about this: You help me clean out the snow, I'll recommend you to my father for a job!" said Larry.

"It's a done deal!" said Wario.

The snow remover pals, satisfied with their new alliance, stood around doing nothing for a couple of minutes. Apparently, the ordeal had tired them out.

"Uhh... where's your shovel?" said Wario.

''I'll go get it!'' Larry said as he jumped in the snow pit Wario made. He retrieved the shovel, and after a bit and handed it in Wario. ''Here! Dig!"

''Aren't you gonna dig as well, Koopa kid?" Wario asked.

''My name is Larry.''

''Well, Larry... I didin't come here just to clear out however many inches of snow by myself."

''I only got one shovel. And I don't feel like getting another one," said Larry. "King Dad might get mad at me again if I came back to the castle."

''Fine. I'll see about getting another shovel.'' Wario started to waddle away, then stopped. ''If you won't get it, then I might as well do it for you. Wait a minute... How are we going to get in the castle? He glared at the boy Koopa, who could only shrug. Neither of them wanted to stay outside, but the snow was so thick that just looking at it made the duo overwhelmed.