This is the one in which a Koopa King and a Space Princess commence their second meeting. And the Koopa King feels cheated. Though not in the way one might expect.
Bowser was a very goal-oriented individual when he truly wills himself to become one. If he becomes weak, he strives to be strong. People call him a dumb brute? He shows that he has the brains to back up his brawn, time and again. Someone doesn't believe that he can be a decent person in a crisis that endangers everyone? Then he'll-reluctantly-put aside his pride and work alongside the enemy in order to combat and defeat a greater evil than himself. It was those particular moments-as well as him genuinely loving and caring for his son-that are crystal clear indicators that he wasn't nearly as bad as he portrays himself to be, even though he does come pretty close to meeting those vocal standards he placed on himself. Though because of that very last bit, he feels like he must do what he plans on doing next, no matter how much the darker side of him may believe otherwise.
"Your Hastiness! Are you sure this is what you want to do...?" Kamek asked, slightly unsure about this as he was aboard Bowser's airship, the Koopa King himself up front with folded arms and staring directly ahead without blinking. "I mean, I know that Rosalina said that she would attempt to council you whenever you wish, and you could visit at any time...but I didn't think you would actually take her up on her offer! There's nothing for you to gain!"
"Information, Kamek. For two reasons. I'm still wishing to learn what makes her tick. And since she's pretty much a cosmic goddess when it comes to power, I don't want her to turn on me at one point. A one on one fight with her...I'm not gonna win on my own." Bowser grumbled to himself. "I don't like having to admit that picking a fight with someone might amount to my loss, but accepting it as a possibility would work out better for me than arrogantly assuming that she couldn't do anything to me. She used that Observatory of hers to cut completely through my fleet like it was a knife cutting butter. I really don't want that kind of power biting me in the tail, because she won't fall for manipulation."
"So...you're learning more about her...so you can come up with a strategy to properly disable her if she were to come and be a detriment to future plans!" Kamek guessed in a very praising manner.
"...Sure. Let's go with that." Bowser would much rather avoid having to fight Rosalina in case she ever finds a reason to. Because again, regrettably, he has to admit that a one-on-one with her wouldn't really end in his favor. He'd rather not push his luck more than he already has. Though the deeper reaches of his mind truly did want to know more about her, his curiosity is the one thing that's keeping him from turning around and forgetting about her completely. He wouldn't just forget her, especially after she complied and told him what he needed to know. So in a rather weird way, this was his way of returning the favor...?
"Bah! That's a load of hooey, Kamek. You know Bowser wants to see this girl because he can!" Kammy huffed, tipping her nose upward. She has chosen to participate with them on this next trip, because the fuss they made over it was far too much for her to bear, she needed to see the interaction for herself. It was far too good to be true, with where her current mindset was going. She was guessing where this path was leading, and it interested her greatly.
"Shut up, senile old hag. You don't know anything about this." Bowser growled, shaking his head in denial.
SMACK!
"GRAGH!"
"Don't you tell me to shut up, and don't call me a senile old hag! I already told ya I wouldn't tolerate your blatant disrespect anymore, your Majesty." Kammy huffed, having smacked him upside the head with her wand, She then flew in front of him with her broom and waved her want in front of her nose. "Now you listen here. This Rosalina souds like a really nice and polite woman, and I'm interested in meeting her. I don't want you doing anything to purposely make her upset, and you will NOT do anything to inconvenience her or the Lumas in any way. Are we clear on this?"
"You can't tell me what t-"
SMACK!
"OW! Stop hitting me!"
"I said...ARE. WE. CLEAR?" Kammy reinforced, her eyes glaring directly into Bowsers, through her glasses. She dared him to defy her again, her wand crackling with magic. Bowser thought about simply scorching her...but she had her ways to make that completely useless. So he wouldn't push his luck; he growled again, folding his arms and turning away from her with a huff. She smiled as she gently floated back while gazing in the airships current direction. "There. Now that wasn't so hard, was it?~"
"Tch." Bowser didn't say anything more, not wanting to be humiliated by Kammy any more than he already has. Kamek wisely kept his mouth shut so he could avoid the same hostility from the older magikoopa, it really wasn't worth the hassle to argue with her. Though he did wonder if what Bowser was doing right now was worth the hassle right now, because Kammy was adamant about this whole trip NOT being worth the trouble. But alas, he would follow Bowser anywhere he would go, sometimes disregarding his own thoughts on the situation because of that loyalty. Sometimes he reveled in it...other tie, he curses it deeply, because it sometimes causes him to make foolish decisions that derail both of their progress. He didn't want this to be one of the times that NOT stepping in would result in something bad happening. He didn't know if he coul take the humiliation, or the fallout that would result from it.
His thoughts were eventually interrupted as the airship begins approaching it's destination: The Comet Observatory. They were really back here again, surprising Kamek, and pretty much all of the Lumas that were suddenly backing away from the airship with various about of anxious looks. Though the one that they came to see, Rosalina herself, was standing in front of the m all, and she didn't seem bothered at all. Instead, Rosalina spotted Bowser and sported a serene smile.
"Bowser. It quite nice to see you here again. I would have expected you to wait a while longer before you eventually make your way all the way up here." Rosalina said with a soft smile. All Bowser did was huff as he hopped off of his airship, landing on his feet. "Are you doing well, Bowser?"
"Yeah, whatever." Bowser rolled his eyes a bit at her rather warm greeting towards him He really didn't know how she operated on a mental standpoint. Here she was, saying that it was nice to see him again and asking how he's currently doing. He definitely wasn't going to show just how shaken up he was over finding out the truth from both survivors of the universe being destroyed. No, she shouldn't have to see that moment of utter weakness; he already showed it to Mario and Peach, and they weren't likely to forget it any time soon. There was no need for him to spread that any farther than it already has. "Alright, so I'm here. What are we gonna be doing?"
"You're quite straightforward, aren't you? Very well. Come with me." She says as she moves away from the platform and heads for the main rooms. Bowser huffed and followed her with folded arms. Polari eventually comes up to her side, looking between her and Bowser with grave concern for her safety. She could sense this worry for her, and softly shook her head. "Polari, Bowser is not here on antagonistic terms. Everything will be fine."
"That's right! We're not here to cause a ruckus! And I'm gonna make sure that it stays that way!" Kammy huffed, her glares bearing down on the two boys. It definitely had the intended effect, both of them suddenly shivered and made sure not to say anything that might make their situation worse. She nodded affirmatively at having made her point, while she turned to Rosalina with a kind smile. "It's nice to meet you, Dear. Oh just look at you! You're so beautiful, and so tall! No seriously, so tall and so beautiful! The gown, your eyes, your brooch, your blonde hair..." Kammy sighed softly while landing on the floor, holding onto her broom. "And you seem to have quite a peaceful face on ya. Well, not exactly peaceful in that sense of the word, but you look much calmer than I imagined you to be."
"I sometimes get that from friends down below. They can be rather stunned about my appearance at times. I tend to attract quite a bit of attention sometimes."
"I bet you do. I certainly bet that you do~" Kammy chuckled softly, which made Bowser huff in grave annoyance. "Though of course no one tends to notice you very easily, you're spending most of your days kooped up in this little observatory of yours." Bowser and Kamek inwardly groaned at the unaware pun she made. "Honestly, coming down more often will do you a lot of good I'd certainly like to think so."
"Your thoughts are appreciated. I do tend to come down more often ever since Mario recruited me to stop Bowser from antagonizing the Sprites." Rosalina says while turning to Bowser, who grumbled about things such as 'dumb luck' and how his tiger-like form due to the Bell power up certainly should have been the victor. "Hopefully he doesn't hold a grudge against me for helping Mario. I don't really know Bowser as much as I would like to."
"Great Koopa, someone actually wants to know Bowser better!" Kammy gasped in surprise. She then swiftly flew next to Bowser and bonked him on the snout. "You'd better not do or say anything to offend her, mister! She's actually making an effort to understand you beyond your egotistical mayhem within your thick skull!"
"Okay, OW! Are you really gonna keep smacking me?! I already said I wouldn't do anything you-" Kammy raised her wand threateningly. Bowser growled and folded his arms, turning away rom her. "This doesn't mean you won, you know."
"Sure it doesn't." Kammy smiled while putting away her wand. Kamek and Polari both sighed at this. While Rosalina...she actually chuckled a bit.
"What are you laughin' about? Ya laughin' at me?!" Bowser gritted his teeth.
"No no, that's not it at all. It's just amusing how much your guardians act so much like my own sometimes. Always caring for me and trying to lead me in the proper direction. Kammy is certainly doing her part, but she's a bit more eccentric about it than I might have expected her to be. It's very obvious that she cares about you." Rosalina explained as they finally made it into one of the main rooms, notably the kitchen. This was quite a surprise on Bowser's part. Because she actually did prepare plenty of snacks for the soft and friendly occasion. Bowser turned to Rosalina for a few moments, who was still smiling towards him for a few moments. He huffed again, before begrudgingly sitting down and accepting her slight offering. She obviously took the time to remember what food he liked during their brief encounter for the very first time.
Kamek blinked owlishly. "That's quite a bit of meat and drumsticks...when did she find the time to prepare these...?" He then mentally smacked himself; she had plenty of Lumas around to help her, of course she could prepare then decently quickly. A better more understandable question, then: "Why would you take the time to prepare all of this?"
"Why? I've already said that I wish to be hospitable to Bowser whenever he chooses to visit. I sensed him coming this time, so I was able to prepare a bit more accordingly this time. Remembering that he's very much a meat-eater certainly helps." Rosalina says to him before turning to the Koopa King, who was quite busy eating a few drumsticks while semi-blocking everything else out. After such stress on his mind, he could use a break to simply eat. But not too much. "So...Bowser."
"Yeah...?" Bowser mumbled while holding a drumstick close to his face, nonchalantly focusing one eye on her and the other on the meat in front of him.
"I hope I'm not intruding on personal business when I say this...but are you sure you're okay? I can sense a bit more turmoil within your heart than usual. Did you do something that got you hurt?"
"Physically hurt? Kinda. But in that regard, I can tank pretty much anything below universe ending. Emotionally hurt...that's a bit of a different story." Bowser sighed while briefly putting his food down. "I did a few things after our chat. Had a bit of a crisis of conscience while thinking back on what you said to me. Then after that, I decided to relieve some of my stress by beating up Mario."
"That's a rather odd way to relieve stress..."
"We all have our ways. Anyway, it was a pretty intense encounter. I didn't use gimmicks, he didn't use gimmicks. I simply wanted to beat him up so that the bad feeling in my chest would go away. But no. It only got worse when he confirmed that my plans did result in the universe being destroyed. It doesn't matter if he didn't exactly say anything g. The silent acknowledgement in his eyes, the surprise they held that you actually told me about something like that...it really messed with my head and my heart. I actually apologized to him after our fighting stopped."
"You apologized. That sounds like a perfectly reasonable action to me. I don't see anything wrong with it."
"Lady. Ya don't get it. I'm a King. KING Bowser. I burn things, punch things, cause a ruckus, est everyone's food, and don't feel the least bit bad about it. Heck, I sometimes laugh straight to their faces! I don't apologize. Yet...this is the second time I've done so throughout much entire life. To worsen things, I actually apologized to my top rival, of all things. I apologized to Mario. You have NO idea how difficult that was for me to do."
"Ah yes. You're a very prideful Koopa King." Rosalina nodded in acknowledgement. "Dome day that I sign of true royal maturity is knowing that you've done something wrong, and have enough humility to apologize for it. Even if it's towards someone you don't particularly like. In this case, Mario." She nodded. "It's quite easy to tell, if one looks at it long enough."
"What do you mean?"
"You continue to portray yourself as this being of pure selfishness and evil, and you go out of your way to try and live up to those claims. While it is very true that you can be a genuine and competent danger...it's not to the extent that people can't look past it. As you said, you apologized to who is essentially your arch-enemy. That's a very clear sign of how guilty you feel about what had happened. How you're not as evil as you think you are. How horrified you are to learn that Bowser Junior was also a casualty in your plan: You were absolutely horrified when that became evident."
"...Yeah. I was. I didn't think too much about how these things might affect him...I got too eager. Too greedy. It nearly cost me...no. It DID cost me. I'm just fortunate enough to know what NOT to do again. And that's put Junior in that kind of danger. No plan of conquest would be worth letting him get hurt to satisfy my greed."
Rosalina smiled softly towards him. "And this is one of those moments. Those moments which bring the suspicion of you not being nearly as evil as you claim. Your status as a father proves it wholeheartedly."
"What?! How?!"
"A good father puts his family before his pride for the times that truly matter. You wouldn't have ever apologized to Mario if you didn't feel genuinely remorseful. A true, cold-hearted villain wouldn't do something like that. Not even for family. And you've come across people like that, haven't you?"
Bowser stared at her in silence for a while. Then he growled and shook his head. "You're a complete weirdo, tryin' to reading me like a wide-open book. What makes this frustrating is that I don't know that much about you in return. I don't like being outdone like that!"
"We're just getting to know each other well, Bowser. It shouldn't be a competition."
"Yeah. It shouldn't. Because I would have won by now!"
Rosalina softly shook her head and smiled. "Very well. I suppose I can, how you say...'back up' a small distance. It is a bit unfair that I'm figuring you out so easily while you can barely understand me. So here's a thought: The next time you come over, I promise to tell you a few things about myself. Things that I'm sure you will find somewhat interesting. At least interesting enough to catch your attention."
Bowser thought about her offer, as Kamek and Kammy stood by with wandering gazes, while Polari was by Rosalina's side looking extremely anxious. With some consideration, Bowser sighs. "Alright. Fine. This wasn't a complete waste of my time, but I still feel cheated. You cheated me without actually cheating. That's a new one." Bowser stood up straight and pointed st her determinedly. "Next time, don't go talking circles around me. Next time, YOU'RE the main focus. Ya got me?!"
"Crystal." Rosalina nodded affirmatively with a soft smile.
"Good. This meat is kind of okay. I expect to have more when I come back! Ya know what, forget it. I'm not that lazy. I'll bring my own food."
"That's acceptable."
"Great, we have an agreement!" Bowser huffed as he takes the plate of meat and lifts it upward, letting all of it slide into his gaping maw without a care in the world. He then sets the plates down, then rudely and loudly belched. Yeah...I'm definitely gonna bring more next time...more for me.
Usually, when Bowser acts in such a way, which includes such poor table manners, females would be quick to admonish him. Even right now, Kammy was giving him the stink eye. But Rosalina...she simply giggled. It was a low, more controlled giggle than either Peach or Daisy's, but it was still unmistakably a giggle. This surprised Bowser a great deal. He had thought she was simply some super mature super serious guardian of the cosmos who doesn't have time for any form of nonsense. Though her reaction to Bowser's blatant rudeness was amusement. Not in the condescending way, either. As in, she found Bowser genuinely funny.
Bowser mentally huffed. Hmph. Guess she isn't so stoic after all.
Rosalina's giggling...it definitely wasn't cute. Nope. Not cute at all. Not even a little.
...Though if she were to giggle more often... he supposed he could be fair and learn to tolerate it, to some extent.
He's shocked that her laughter isn't condescending or critical of his rude table manners. She genuinely finds Bowser's brief lapses into complete immaturity funny, in a charming way that few others bother to take time to discover past all of his villainy.
Kammy can clearly see that this is leading down a positive path, and doesn't want him messing it up. He needs to know more about Rosalina. He shall in time...while eating lots of meat.
Meat is his personal power up.
