AN: Hey, everyone. So, I decided that I was going to publish this now. I hope you all enjoy it :)

Chapter 1 Lonely in a Crowd

"You wanna know how I feel today, Larry?"

The youngest Koopaling didn't respond to his sister addressing him at all. He just bit his lip and leaned in closer to the TV screen, blissfully unaware of anything and everyone in the real world. Wendy O. Koopa sighed and leaned against her hand. If this display from her blue mohawked brother didn't accurately depict her feelings, she didn't know what did. Her heart sank as she watched Larry playing video games on the screen. He was right in the middle of a Smash Bros tournament.

"Come on," he muttered. "Final Smash, Final Smash…." He whooped when his avatar got their final smash, thus decimating all other characters on screen into piles of smithereens. "Yeah, baby; that's what I'm talking about!"

Wendy shifted position so that she was leaning against her other hand, letting out a long, drawn out sigh as she did so. She looked down at her nails, which had recently been done by a professional to be a mauve in color. She squinted at them.

"I swear, it seems these things keep changing color depending on the lighting." One minute, they were a light pink, the next they were a tan. Even though logically Wendy knew that they didn't change color, it still seemed like they did, which was….quite frankly, incredible.

Larry button mashed on his control, sending attack after attack toward DK. Once he pushed the humongous gorilla off the stage, he whooped and cheered as the victory animation for the character he was playing as (Bayonetta) played out. He did his typical victory dance, not even fully aware of his sister sitting in the armchair.

"Yeah baby, I am the best! I'm number one!" He laughed and got in close to the screen, observing the dark woman who took it up. "I must say, Bayonetta, you are on fire!" He licked his thumb, put it on the screen, and made a sizzling sound. "Ssst smoking!"

Wendy cringed in disgust and got up off the chair. She hurriedly made her way out of the room and ran up the stairs to the east wing's second floor. When she got there, she shuddered. Larry could be a goober sometimes, but there were some things he did that were borderline creepy.

Suddenly, Wendy heard whistling coming from someone. She looked up and saw her brother, Lemonade "Lemmy" Koopa, strutting down the hall. The tune he was whistling was none other than the Super Mario Bros theme.

Wendy smiled when she saw him. "Hey, Lemmy."

Lemmy smiled back at her and nodded his head. "Hey, Wendy." He resumed right with whistling and made his way down the stairs.

It was then that Wendy realized, if she couldn't talk to Larry, she could definitely talk to Lemmy. After all, Lemmy would be understanding and responsive to her problems. He would definitely be a good person to talk to.

"Hey, Lemmy, can I talk to you?"

Lemmy continued making his way down the hallway, not stopping as he shook his head. "I'd love to, but I've got something that I want to do with Ludwig really quick. We can talk afterwards, alright?"

Wendy bit her lip to contain her frustration. "That's fine! That's...fine." Her voice trailed off. She couldn't even keep up with the lie.

So, she continued her way down the hall. She passed by Iggy's lab, and she heard the sound of talking coming from within. She peeked her head in and saw Iggy talking to Morton. In his hands was a fish bowl, and in that fish bowl was a purple, spiny cheep cheep.

"These are quite a fascinating species," said Iggy. "Hostile, yes, but they have a very interesting way of living deep within the ocean. Plus, on top of that, they provide a meat that is of a very unique flavor."

"Hmm," Morton said as he nodded his head. "That sounds delicious. I wonder what we can cook with..."

Suddenly, the cheep cheep slanted its eyes at Morton. It leapt out of its fish bowl and attached itself to Morton's face.

"AHHHH!" The dark skinned Koopaling screamed.

Iggy looked at this display in awe. "Fascinating." He adjusted his glasses. "It appears that it is somewhat cognisant of our plans." He leaned closer to the creature, which still ate away at his brother's face. "Intriguing marine life indeed."

Wendy shook her head and closed the door. She wouldn't talk to Iggy or Morton. They were preoccupied, and besides, Wendy didn't want to start the day with a fish suck on her cheeks like a lollipop. She put way too much money into her makeup to have it ruined by a cheep cheep (no matter how cute and pretty said cheep cheep was).

So, she made her way to her room. She groaned as she did so. "Man. All of my brothers are either occupied or drooling over some weird demonic angel lady. Is there no one I can talk to today?"

"Uh, you can talk to me if you want."

Wendy nearly jumped out of her skin. She looked and saw Roy, holding his hand up in a raised position and giving her a small smile. Despite his offer, Wendy didn't know if she really wanted to take him up on it because...well, he was Roy. But then again, what choice did she have.

"Fine. You'll do." She gestured for her pink headed meatwad of a brother to follow her into her room. She locked the door behind her so that no one would interrupt as she spoke to Roy about her conundrum. Roy looked at the door in curiosity.

"What's going on?" He raised an eyebrow at her. "You aren't gonna kill me, are you?"

"No," Wendy said with a shake of the head. She went over and flipped on her bed. "I just.." she sighed. "The past few days have been rough?"

"Rough?" Roy came over and set himself down on the mattress. "Did your favorite makeup get recalled?"

"No."

"Did a boy you like reject your love letter?"

Wendy leaned up and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "No."

Roy then gasped. "Oh no! The price for your favorite coffee was raised by two cents, wasn't it?"

Wendy gave him a bewildered look. "How...shallow do you think I am?" Roy opened his mouth to answer, but she stopped him. "Actually, don't answer that."

Roy nodded and closed his mouth. He titled his head, expectantly waiting for his sister to continue explaining. Wendy got the message and rubbed her chin.

"I've been feeling lonely over the past few days."

Roy blinked. "That's it?"

Wendy cast him a glare. "'That's it?' What do you mean that's it?"

"Well, with the whole locking of the door thing, I was thinking you were going to tell me something big. Like, you laid an egg and needed to hide it from Bowser."

Wendy shook her head. "No, I didn't lay an egg." She put her hand to her chin. "Although, a baby could potentially stave off my loneliness."

Roy gawked at her. "What! No, Wendy! You can't lay an egg; you're only fifteen!" He leaned in close to her. "Promise me that you'll wait until you're a little older! Promise!"

Wendy looked at him in shock before nodding. "Don't worry. I was joking."

Roy breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, okay, good." He laughed. "Trust me, you don't want a baby as a teen. Changing diapers, not getting sleep, not getting to spend as much time with friends; it's really a mess."

"So, I've heard." Wendy slumped back down in her bed. "I just wish there was something I could do about this. I am literally surrounded by people every which way I turn, but none of them seem to be people who I can talk to. Even you guys are like this. I mean, you don't really understand...girl problems." Roy opened his mouth again, but before he could say something, Wendy sat up. "Nor would I force you to have to deal with girl problems! No. I did that once; I don't want to do it again."

Roy nodded as a relieved smile appeared on his face. "Oh. Okay, good." He put his hand to his chin. "Man, this is a really complicated problem you have, Wendy." His eyes roamed around the room. When he saw Wendy's clock, he gasped. "Oh! And I don't have a lot of time to help you solve it!" He jumped out of bed. "Sorry, I just remembered that I have a date with Celia! I should have been at Cafe Koopa...what time does the clock say again….HOLY SHROOMS, I NEEDED TO BE THERE AN HOUR AGO!" He ran for the door. "Don't worry, Wendy; we can talk about this later, okay?"

With that, he bolted out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him as he did so. Wendy sighed and slumped back into her bed.