The chapter in which Bowser beats on a giant flaming flower monster, Junior warms up to Rosalina, and the visit ends with a much warmer note than usual, which shares promise for the future. Short as it may be, it nonetheless bookmarks a rather significant jump of progress for the two of them.
Rosalina will humbly admit that she's very distressed right now. But to her great credit, which Bowser is admittedly impressed by, she is still mostly keeping her cool and not outwardly panicking. Her expression definitely shows how shocked and worried she is, but for the most part, she's very calm despite the circumstances of a giant flaming plant threatening her observatory and the Lumas aboard it. Obviously her amusement towards this event is otherwise utterly minimal, and she would have directly intervened and dealt with it and save Polari.
But she stayed back. Bowser simply told her to sit back and watch him do those things himself. She had no idea what he had to gain from this, but then she remembered that he is capable of unselfish acts if it's something he can get behind. Through these times, Bowser has been trying to learn more from her, and she can't focus on that if she's busy worrying about her home and the Lumas. SO the solution was actually pretty simple; get rid of the distraction as soon as he could.
He seemed a bit too eager about this though, as he grinned and cracked his knuckles a few times before gazing directly towards Fiery Dino Piranha. "Alright then, flame weed. You're interrupting important business of mine. The business of a King is serious business, so you're obviously gonna pay for that." Fiery Dino Piranha paid that no heed, however; a breath of flames was the only response he found worthy of Bowser, as he spun his tail around to smash into the King Koopa. Unfortunately for him, Bowser caught it easily enough, not even being pushed back that much. "Ha! That was weak! Are you really trying to be some semblance of a threat? You're pathetic!~"
Rosalina blinked a bit at his high eagerness to fight the giant flaming plant. He does seem intent on protecting the Lumas and rescuing Polari, so she supposed that this time, she would stay out of the way for the time being and hope that Bowser doesn't cause too much damage, because avoiding any damage at all just wasn't going to work. He was destructive like that, but he was definitely trying his best to pull his punches to avoid too much damage.
Rosalina soon blinked as she felt the bottom of her gown being pulled on. She soon looked down to the one responsible, and noticed that Junior was the one pulling on her gown, and he was staring into her eyes. "Oh. Junior."
"You don't have to worry at all. Dad's got this covered, no sweat!" Junior said confidently. Rosalina blinked a bit, though she did smile a bit at how confident he was in his father's strength. It was true, she didn't really expect Bowser to lose at all, since he's fought so much worse than a mere Fiery Dino Piranha. Still, she was worried about Polari. Junior tilted his head and pulled back a bit. "Hey, s you're the one that Dad's been constantly visiting."
"Um...yes." Rosalina blinked softly.
"Oooohhh...you're really tall." Junior pointed out with a childish blink.
"Oh. Um...yes. I am quite tall."
"Hm..." Junior tilted his head while holding out his paw. Rosalina wondered what he was doing, but she complies with the silent request and holds his paw. He gently holds onto her hand and tilted his head once again. "You're much prettier than I thought you'd be. Really pretty. Pretty like Princess Peach."
"Am I now...?" Rosalina thought with slight amusement. There was once upon a time, in which Junior referred to Peach as 'Mama' instead of simply Princess. The complications involving the actual truth had temporarily put a dent in his relationship with his father, and luckily for Bowser, Junior forgave him. It was significant in that Bowser completely threw aside his pride in order to fully and genuinely apologizing to his beloved son for lying for something so sensitive and important.
"Uhuh. I don't think I've ever seen you before, though. You're completely new to me, and yet you do feel a bit familiar..." Junior wondered. "Have we met before...?"
Rosalina smiled slightly, though it also hid a bit of sadness behind it. "In a way, we have met before. But you don't remember much about me. You could say that...we didn't really get along all that well when we first met. You could even say that we might have been enemies."
"Really? But...you look really nice. Why would we be enemies with each other? You don't seem like a bad person, why would we be fighting onr another?" Junior aked, genuinely confused by her words. Of course, she remembers that Junior also atangonized her simply because he was helping his father with his overall. Junior was still young, there was nothing t fault him for, especially when he just doing what his father asks of him and is trying to make him proud. There's nothing to blame him for, and yet she knew that if she told him, the guilt would be even more immense. And he wouldn't be able to handle it nearly as well as hs father because of the fact that he is still a child. So for his sake, she'll have to keep quiet about it. She doesn't enjoy deception, and prefers not to indulge in it. However, this is one of those few instances where it would be better that Junior didn't know. Whether Bowser agrees is his own decision to make.
Rosalina smiles softly and gently rubbed his head. "It was simply...a conflict of interests. It was nothing too personal, I assure you, young one. We are certainly not enemies anymore, we have no reason to be."
"Oh. I guess, that's pretty good. I don;t have any reason to not like you..." Junior said honestly as he lightly smiled at her touch. He felt rather nice and calm around her, she was alright with him. He then looks back towards the Fiery Dino Piranha fighting with unior, and beamed with pride. "You've got nothing to worry about, Papa's gonna give that thing a super smackdown and give your star buddy back!~"
"I...I see." Rosalina smiles softly, though she ws still just a bit worried about the Lumas, and Polari.
Bowser grinned smugly as the Fiery Dino Piranha breathed a ball of fire into the Koopa King's face. it did end up scorching his face just a bit, but the most that did was irritate him. And even with that slight irritation, it only lasted a moment. He grinned quite madly as he glares at the enemy before him.
"Hehehe. That actually stung a bit. Is it me, or have you actually gotten a little bit stronger? Not that it would have mattered much." Bowser grinned. "Regardless, that wasn'tto bad a fireball. Unfortunately for you, you're dealing with a pro when it comes to fire-breathing. Wanna see what I mean?~" He taunted as he takes a deep breah and blasts a stream of fire right into the Piranha's face, making it scream out in pain and step back a few feet. Though since it's leafy arms weren't that big, he couldn't even reach out and out them out. Though in a moment of stupidity, he remembered that he was already made of fire. So with a shake of his head, he immediately shook his head and roared loudly. "Ah. Finally realized that your situation isn't nearly as bad as it seems when it's only fire you're dealing with..."
Fiery Dino Piranha immediately roars in outrage as he breathes fire of his own once again. Bowser smirked as he opened his maw, and inhaling nearly all of the flames headed his way, rendering it useless. Bowser clenched his fist. "Now lemme ask ya again. Are ya willin' to spit out the Luma yet, or do you want to continue? I do advise against it, because you're not doing so well as it is."The creature refused to sumbit to surrender. Bowser shook his head with a sigh. "Still choosin' to defy a King? Very well then. I might as well get rougher with you." At this, he clenched his fist and jumped towards the creature and pucnhes him right in his face, knocking him on his back. He grinned again and glared at him. "Alright, fine. If you won't cough up the geezeer Luma willingly, then I'm just gonna force it outta ya. Hope he can take a bit of pressure!" Bowser jumped up with a mighty leap as the Fiery Dino Piranha was still down. He then withdrew into his shell, and hurtled down onto the plant monster, smashing him right in his belly. The immense pressure from the blow was more than enough for the creature to cough out Polari, who was covered drool.
"Oh!" Rosalina gasped as she held her hands out to catch Polari safely in her paws. She didn't mind the drool at all, so long as he was alright. Polari, however, looked quite bothered by his experience, shaking rather violently. She sighed in relief as she smiles at the slightly traumatized Luma. "Thank goodness you're alright, Polari. How are you feeling?"
"I...experienced the insides of a Fiery Dino Piranha...it was boiling hot...and it was so suffocating..." Ploari said, clearly shaken by what's happened, shivering in Rosalina's arms. "I...I would rather I never have to experience such an uncomfortable experience such as that ever again, My Lady...and I quite mean, never again..."
"Ah quit your blubbering, will ya? You're alright, be glad for that!" Bowser muttered with irritation, as he turned towards Fiery Dino Piranha. "As for you..." He picked the creature up by the tail, and then tossed him up in the air. Then he pulled his paw back and clenched it tight. "TAKE A HIKE YOU OVERGROWN FIRE WEED!" He punhed the large fire creature hard in the head, sending him flying far into space, until he disappeared into a twinkling star. Bowser grinned as he relaxed a bit and stretched his arms. "There, and good riddance. Don't bother the Space Princess again, or I won't be going so easy on you."
"Haha! You sure showed that puny plant who's boss, Papa!~" Junir cheered, jumping up high in the air for a few moments and pumping his fists.
"Yeah, I sure did! But, uh..." Bowser rubbed his neck while loking around for a bit. "It seems that I've trashed a bit of the place in the process..."
"It's no trouble, Bowser. It's all easily fixed when given enough time and energy." Rosalina said as she gently releases Polari while Junior returns to Bowser's side. "But, it seems that I will be taking quite a bit of time in order to comfort and reassure the Lumas here. So...I'm afraid that this visit will have to end early. Do forgive me for that."
"Nah, don't you worry about that. It wasn't your fault oor anything like that." Bowser waved off while folding his arms in a bit of irritation. "Once again, I've been kept away from getting most of what I've wanted from you, which is more information. But now we've gotta wait even longer for all of that stuff, and it's seriously getting on my nerves."
"There's no need to be angry." Rosalina smiles softly. "You've helped protect the Lumas and the Observatory. And for that, we all thank you for doing so. In return...I do promise that I'll tell you much more, and you tell me more as well. And this time...I'll go visit you next time. How does that sound? That way, you won't have to exert yourself by coming all the way into space just to see me. I can simply teleport to you."
"Wow, saves me a lot of trouble! That's a lot less effort for me to put out just to visit somebody. Thanks Space Princess!" Bowser laughed haughtily. Polari sighed a bit. The King was strong, he was menacing, and he was deadly...but he was also pretty lazy when he can afford to be. "Alright then, I guess we'll be off. You'd better not forget that you're coming to ME, this time. I ain't comin' to get you, so you'd better not keep me waiting." Bowser stretched his arms as he began making his way back to the teleporter. "Alright son. We're done here. Let's go home and try to burn the rest of the day with something like kart racing."
"Kart Racing!~" Junior hopped with glee as he began following his dear father to the teleporter, so they can actually make thei way home. "Bye pretty Rosalina!~"
Pretty...hmph. Bowser smirked in slight amusement.
"Wait. Bowser." Rosalina briefly stopped him before he could fully leave. Bowser hummed a bit while raising an eyebrow towards her. Rosalina slowly walked up to him, and looked up towards him. She lightly raised herself up and kissed his cheek. Bowser's eyes widened comically at this. She pulled herself back and clasped her hands with a nod. "Thank you for helping us, Bowser. I do indeed mean it. I'm grateful fr your cmpany, and I'm grateful for your help." She tilted her head and flashed a bright smile. "And more than that, I do look forward to seeing you and your son again. I do admit, these interactions...they're becoming quite fun. Aside from a few hiccups of course, but we'll work around those as we go along. So do get some proper rest and I'll see you next time. Okay?"
"...Um...sure. I guess...whatever..." Bowser mumbled softly as he turned his back on her. There was no wayhe would allow her to see the blush on his face. He briefly scooped up Junior and went for the teleporter, being sure that the others would take the airship home. It appears that he was feeling far too hasty and lazy to ake his airship, and would be leaving the others to park it for him.
Rosalina smiles softly as she watches them leave. Polari floated beside him with a bit of worry. "Rosalina...you actually...are you sure you wish to continue this?"
"Absolutely." Rosalina nods calmly while patting his head. She would soon begin cleaning up the observatory and calming her beloved Lumas.
I'm more sure than ever. Bowser can boast all he wishes, but in the very end, he really isn't as bad as he tries to be. I'm looking forward to seeing him again.
And she knew that Bowser would be a bit too prideful to admit it...but she was sure he was looking forward to their next interaction too.
Oh. Oh. Rosalina gave our Koopa King a bit of a cheek peck as thanks for genuinely helping her out! And Junior is beginning to like her a bit! Quite nice!~
Wonder what misadventures they'll have next after Bowser was a bit shellshocked by her method of thanks. Heh. Bad puns. So clever. Probably.
Oh, and to answer the comments wonders, the Koopalings will definitely be in the next chapter. The mischief will truly begin there, and Rosalina may just stroll light through it like the cool-headed Princess she is. Still, she might let out a giggle or two.
Until next time, readers!~
