Chapter 20 Life's a Beach

"Bowser, are we almost there?" Larry asked. As he sat in the back of the Koopa Clown Car with the rest of us. I had to admit that I too was growing impatient. We had been told that we were all going to the beach, the funnest place to end all of the other funnest places. Unfortunately, as we flew, it felt as if the hours were dragging by at a snail's pace.

Then again, that might have been happening because I was six at the time. Time is such a...fascinating concept to children. It doesn't seem to move as fluidly or as quickly; it just seems to come by in spurts. That's something that I often like to think about nowadays.

Bowser let out a groan. "Will...you...shut...UP! We'll get there when we get there!"

Ludwig sniffed as he sat right next to me. 'We'd better." The way he said that almost sounded like a threat. Almost.

Lemmy giggled. "We don't have to worry, guys! There are so many fun ways to pass the time!"

"LIke playing I Spy!" Larry said. He smirked at the littlest Koopaling. "I spy with my little eye something small and dumb."

Lemmy looked hurt. "Hey!"

I sighed. Even back then, sibling brawls were common. And even back then, I wanted to be the peacekeeper of the family. "Guys…"

"You calling big bro dumb, little bro?" asked Roy.

Larry laughed evilly. "Why do you care?"

"Cause Lemmy ain't dumb! If you're gonna call any one of us dumb, it should be me!"

Wendy shook her head. "He shouldn't call anyone dumb, Roy."

"Yeah," Iggy said. "That is very uncouth." I snickered at his use of words, as did Larry himself.

"Well, either way," said Roy, "he shouldn't be calling Lemmy dumb." He approached our youngest sibling. "Not unless he wants to receive a nasty bruise."

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Bowser roared. "No one is going to be giving anyone any bruises! Not today, not tomorrow, NEVER! Do you understand!"

Roy sent a distraught look over to Bowser. Larry blew a raspberry to him, if for no other reason than to just add insult to injury. The burly brute went to sit back down.

Meanwhile, I buried my nose in a book I had been reading. Books were a great way to escape from the real world every once in a while. I especially placed value on them whenever I was in a less than stellar mood. Which...yeah. I was feeling that way right then and there. Maybe it was due to the fights that my siblings had just gotten into a fight; I'm not sure. Either way, I had a reason to escape into the world of fantasy for a little bit.

"Huh. That's strange."

I looked up at Iggy, as did the rest of us. He was leaning over a device of sorts, tapping on its screen. I shifted position, wondering what wonderful things his inventions were telling him this time.

"What's strange?" I asked.

Iggy looked concerned as he stared at the screen. "It appears that we might be entering a tropical storm if we head to the beach."

Bowser turned around. "A tropical storm?"

"Yes."

Bowser scrunched up his brow. "Why didn't anyone tell me this before?"

Ludwig snickered. "I don't know; maybe because no one knew about it before?"

Right at that moment, the sound of rumbling thunder occured. It wasn't a crack so much as a low grumble, but either way, it ignited concern in the lot of us. Especially me. I hated thunderstorms. They scared me.

Bowser growled, the sound escaping from his throat matching the sound escaping from the clouds. "Damn it."

Larry chuckled. "Yeah. Damn it." This got him a good smack in the head from our adopted father, much to Roy's delight.

"It looks like we'll have to cancel our trip to the beach," said Bowser.

Wendy let out a little cry. With her new, sparkly bathing suit strapped over her body and her new diving goggles, she was clearly looking forward to going on an underwater adventure. I too was looking forward to the beach; it was an experience that I very rarely got to enjoy.

"Well, I do not believe that heading home in this weather would be the wisest choice, as the wind speeds are picking up," said Iggy. "We might have to land somewhere and take shelter."

Wendy cried even more than before. "No! No no no!"

I sighed and slapped my hands over my ears. I did not wish to lose my sense of hearing that day.

"Oh shut up, Princess," Bowser said grumpily. Right when he did was when another rumble of thunder occurred, this one louder than the last. Bowser pinched his brow with his thumb and forefinger. "The storm's getting worse." He scanned the area below and noticed something. I too looked over the side of the Clown Car and saw a hotel. With its glittering lights and pearly white paint job, it looked like one of the more fancy types of hotels.

"Bowser, maybe we could stay there?"

Bowser nodded and directed the Clown car downward.

…

I sighed as I crossed my legs on the bed. Another thunder crack occurred, causing me to feel even more frightened than before. I shivered like I was in the middle of a blizzard. My heart pumped like I had just run a marathon without any breaks.

"Well, okay," Bowser announced. He clapped his hands together, signaling to the lot of us to sit down, shut up, and listen. "Since we are stuck here with one another until this whole shebackle clears up, I might as well set up some ground rules." He cleared his throat. "No fighting, no kicking, no punching, no crying, no biting, no spontaneously combusting, no bragging, no choking, and most of all...NO LEAVING THE ROOM WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!" He narrowed his eyes at us. "Does that make perfect sense?"

"Yes, Bowser," we all said. While I wasn't allowed to leave the room, I honestly didn't mind. This meant that I could just relax and take a nap. I needed a nap at that point; I had woken up really early for the flight and was exhausted out of my mind.

"Okay," Bowser said. He sat back on the couch that the hotel was letting us use and reclined it all the way forward. He sighed and shut his eyes, looking like the most happy and content Koopa in all the world. "Larry, get me a soda, will you?"

Silence. Larry did not get up nor did he even respond to his father's call.

"Larry?" Bowser said. "I asked you to do something; I expect that you do it."

Still nothing. We all lifted our heads and looked around the room. There was no sign of our youngest brother.

"Where's Larry?" Lemmy asked.

"Maybe he's in the bathroom?" I suggested.

Ludwig shook his head. "No." He gestured toward the door, which was hanging open with the light inside shut off. "He's not."

Bowser's eyes grew wide as he stood up. "Larry? Where are you?"

No response. Upon Bowser's command, we all got up and started searching each and every corner of our hotel room. We checked under the beds and behind the furniture. There was no sign of him.

"He's not in the room, Bowser," Iggy said.

"Yeah, I noticed that, genius." Bowser growled and sprung to his feet. "Ludwig, stay with Morton and Wendy right here. Lemmy, Roy, and Iggy, you all come with me. We're going to search the hotel."

With that, the search party left, slamming the door behind them as they did so. I honestly didn't think that it would take them that long to find Larry; it never did. Sure, he was a master sneak, but not even he could hide from the sight of Bowser and his angry eye. So, I just yawned and got under the covers.

Unfortunately, Wendy's cries kept me up. I tried putting the pillow over my head to drown out her sobs, but that did absolutely nothing to help. I bounced up and glared at her. "Why are you crying?" I demanded to know.

Wendy dried her eyes. "First we're stuck inside when we should be at the beach, now Larry's gone missing! This day just keeps getting worse and worse!"

I sighed and looked over at the oldest. "Ludwig, tell Wendy she's being a baby."

Ludwig shook his head. "No. She's allowed to feel upset Morton." It was then that I noticed that flames had ignited around him. "This day is the suck."

CRASH!

I shrieked and bolted under the covers. The thunder was so loud that it shook the window panes. Now it was my turn to cry. I cried and cried. Without Bowser there, I felt so alone. I felt so scared.

"Hey."

I lifted my head and looked at Wendy and Ludwig leaning over me. They both looked concerned.

"Morty, it's gonna be okay," said Wendy.

"Yeah. If anything, I'm more likely to hurt you than a silly tropical storm."

I swallowed my tears. "I...hate thunder." I shivered as I said that, shook actually.

Wendy chuckled. "I guess I'm not the only one who's a scaredy cat."

"Wendy!" Ludwig snapped at her. "Don't say that!"

I sighed. "No, it's okay." I sat up and wiped my face. "I was wrong to yell at you, Wen." I sighed. "I deserve to be yelled at."

I really did. I was...I was a horrible excuse for a koopa. Even these two koopas who were with me, Wendy and Ludwig...there was so much more that they had to offer than I did. At the very least, they had more good things to offer than I did. I had nothing.

Wendy placed her hand on my shoulder. "You don't deserve to be yelled at. No one does."

I sniffled. "But…"

"Morty, we forgive you," said Ludwig. "We can just let this go and move on now, okay?"

I blinked. "You...you're willing to forgive me just like that?"

"Yes!" Wendy and Ludwig said in unison.

I smiled. This...actually made me feel a little good. "Thanks guys."

"No problem," said Wendy. She chuckled. "We all have flaws. That doesn't mean we have to stop that from allowing us to form relationships and friendships with people."

I grinned. Friendship. That really did sound like something Rainbow Mare would say.

"And for what it's worth," Ludwig said. "Just because you can be a little...off sometimes, it doesn't mean that you're any less of a koopa. Like it or not, you're gonna be our brother for all eternity."

I laughed. I really didn't deserve my siblings. But by jove, was I glad that I had them.

…

Junior smiled. "Aww, that's sweet! You didn't actually go to the beach, but you at least had your family by your side."

Morton nodded. "Mmhm. They're...they're cool."

Junior laughed. "Am I cool too?"

Morton beamed. "Like ice."

Junior and Morton laughed together at the horrible pun. Once they finished, Junior wrote down the last few details of the story.

"I imagine they found Larry eventually?"

"Well, he's here today, isn't he?"

Junior rolled his eyes. "Well, yeah, duh." He tapped his chin with his pen. "I guess I'm going to have to ask Larry to tell me how he was found and where he went."

"Good idea. Grambi knows I don't remember it."

Junior nodded and bounced off the bed. "Well, it was nice talking to you, Morty. Enjoy Rainbow Mare!"

"I will."

It was only once Junior was out in the hallway and was looking down at his notebook that he realized something. "Holy crap." He flipped through Wendy and Morton's stories. "I only have one more sibling left to visit." He smiled. "Might as well make the most of it!"

AN: I'm not as confident about this chapter as some of the others, but I am glad I managed to update this story again before the end of the month (even though it is technically the last day of the month hehe). Hopefully, I'll be able to finish this story in November.