The one where the gang tries to play friendly beach volleyball.

...Key word 'tries'.


"Allllllright! Here we go! Latest activity!" Daisy grinned widely as she slowly held something up with her hand for everyone to see. "That's right. It's volleyball time!~"

"Oh no..." Mario half-groaned. Volleyball with Daisy on the court was energetic, it was loud, and it was genuinely fun and pretty engaging when they really start to get into it. Though there was definitely one certain thing that is a constant throughout those matches.

...They were PAINFUL. Not even Bowser could be as intense as her during volleyball, at least when Mario wasn't currently playing. The only thing worse than volleyball was dodgeball, where they're given full consent to hit each other with heavy rubber sports balls.

When either Bowser or Daisy are on the court, said court turns into a battlefield.

"Heeeeeh? Whaddya mean 'oh no'? You're acting like me leading the charge in volleyball matches is dangerous for your health or something."

"Weeelll..."

"Mario..."

"To be completely fair..."

"Mario..."

"You can get a little bit intense...during any sport we play, really."

"Whaaaaaaaaat?"

Peach nervously twiddled her fingers. "It doesn't really help your case that other players get a little nervous whenever you start playing...they don't really match your...excitement for sports."

"What also doesn't help is your seeming inability to play the blasted sport with an indoor voice." Bowser grumbled.

Daisy scoffed with closed eyes. "Of course not! Pfft, what do you take me for?! Sports like these only need to be driven by one thing." Her eyes widened, and flames danced behind them. "The only thing you need...is SPIRIT!" To demonstrate, she threw the ball up and smacked her palm against it as a bit of practice running.

SMACK!

"...Why me...?" Kamek whined in pain as he was knocked over and fallen on his side, his hat knocked off his head and his leaf fan out of his hands.

"Oi! Kamek! You still alive over there?" Bowser said with a raised eyebrow.

"...I'm...alright enough...Your Muscleness..."

Bowser snorted, steam emitting from his nostrils as he folded his arms. "Good. Oi! Kammy, Wendy! Quit picking on Kamek for a while! He's on vacation too, ya know!"

"...Oh fine, I've had my fun with him for the day." Wendy hummed, snapping her fingers as Kamek was now upright and cleaned up as shapes surrounded him. A sack of coins appeared in his paws as well. "Daddy's decided to give you some leeway, Kamek. Go treat yourself to something nice, on me."

Kamek comically teared up at this, bowing profusely in gratitude. "Thank you for your kindness, Princess Wendy!" He sobbed before running off, leaving a trail of tears in his wake. He must have really wanted this break, and takes it as if his life depended on it, so takes it he shall.

"What a brave Magikoopa he is...so strong, so enduring, determined to survive until the next tomorrow..." Luigi said with tears running down his face.

"He'll be fine. Kamek's tougher than he looks." Bowser huffed. "Hey! Are we gonna play volleyball or what?!"

"Yeah yeah, let's do this!" Daisy pumped her fists. "Three on Three! I pick Mario and Luigi~" Daisy says as she swiftly appeared neck to Luigi, hugging him tightly and making him blush. "Say your prayers! This team is unbeatable!~"

"We're doomed." Mario sighed with a slight facepalm.

"Unbeatable team? Hmmm...if you don't mind, I'm willing to accept that challenge." Rosalina smiles with a gentle nod. She turned to Peach and Bowser. "Would you two do me the courtesy of being on my team? I promise not to slow you down."

"Oh no, you don't have to worry about slowling us down! If there's anyone I'm worried about being slower, it's me." Peach said as she stretched her arms with a slight grunt.

"Nonsense. I've seen you in competitions similar to this, I've competed against you in several of them, and with you in others. You're plenty capable." Rosalina smiled as she lightly stretched her legs.

Both of them were stretching in preparation of the incoming volleyball game...right in front of Bowser. He kept taking deep breaths and whistling, folding his arms and looking away from them with a huff. They weren't distracting, not in the slightest. There's no way they could distract him. Physical beauty couldn't enrapture him so much that h-

Dang it, he peeped. He's still peeping.

Shame, lots of shame filled the Koopa King's being. No regret, but plenty of shame.

"ALRIGHT! LET'S DO THIS!" Daisy cheered with her arms up and the ball in her hands. "Our tesm goes first! SEEEERRRRRRRVE!" Daisy shouts again as she throws the ball up and slams it over the net, and watching it soar past them...smacking a Paratroopa out of the sky. They both fell down back to the ground, with the ball landing on the sand and the Paratroopa landing facefirst. "Alllright! First point goes to us!"

"I'm fairly sure that's not how this works..." Mario deadpanned.

Bowser snarled as he clenched his paws. "Alright then, Miss Golden Flower. Now it's my turn."

"Y...Your turn...?" Peach smiled a bit nervously.

"Oh dear. I do believe that Bowser is about to get serious." Rosslina smiled in amusement.

"The competitive beast has finally reared his flaming head. This is something that I must observe for myself." Ludwig smiled, sitting back with one leg crossed over the other.

Bowser glared as he tossed the ball up and smacked it towards the other side with ferocious force. Daisy glared back as she jumped up and smacked it back. Bowser jumps up and returns the strike ones again, with the ball gaining a bit more momentim this time. Daisy gasped as the ball soared over her head, bounced off a tree, bounced back, and smacked her upside the head, making jer stumble forward and fall facefirst into the sand.

"Oohhhh noooo..." Luigi whispered in despair as he hid his face under his hat.

"Oooh! This is gonna get ugly! I like it!~" Kammy cackled while sipping a new smoothie a Goomba brought her.

Daisy lifted her head from the sand, her face covered in it as she glared at Bowser with glaring intensity. "You wanna play rough, huh? Fine!" She jumped up, ball following her, and slammed the ball downwards with her palm.

BAM!

"OW!" Bowser roared as he stumbled back while holding his snout. He lifted his paws a bit to see the damage. He gasped and glared at Daisy, steam leaving his nostrils. "You stupid desert cactus! How dare you mess up this handsome mug?!"

"I consider it a lovely addition to your face. Now it's just as big and stupid as the rest of you. It's a wonder that maidens tend to run away from you really fast.~" Daisy giggled menacingly.

"Big and stupid, huh?! I'll have you know that I have a very intelligent brain-thing that helps me come up with great schemes all the time! None of which involves you, stupid yellow cactus, since you're always lying on the backburner compared to Peach!"

Daisy's eyes twitched violently. Bowser glared and growled. Sparks ignited between them as flames gathered around the makeshift court.

"Oh dear..." Peach said slowly while stepping back with the others, who were simply waiting for the fireworks to start.

"This getting exciting! We'd better watch from a safe distance, though..." Iggy chuckled as he and the other Koopalings stepped back.

"I'M GONNA BEAT THE CACTUS/KOOPA OUTTA YOU!" Bowser and Daisy shouted in unison and sharing comical razor teeth, which soon turned into an intense struggle for power as they were serving the volleyball so fast between them that it appeared as a blur.

"Oh my, how intense.~" Rosalina giggled. She was worried at first, but she sensed no genuine malevolence between them. Intense annoyance, but no hate. They both just REALLY hated losing.

"P-Please, you two! Settle down! This is getting way out of control very quickly...!" Peach attempted to placate them, sadly to no avail, as she and Rosalina were both being 'observed' by various passerbys for how beautiful they were, and others watched Daisy because her intensity had it's own allure to it.

"...Yep. I'm gonna just hide. Lemme know when the rampage is over." Luigi decided calmly as he quickly dug into the sand and them buried himself in it, leaving only his nose so he could breathe.

Meanwhile Mario sighed with folded arms as he observed the intense volleyball battle between Daisy and Bowser. On one hand, he was annoyed that they somehow got into another fight through volleyball, and wanted to stop it. On the other hand; the hot-blooded, competitive side of him couldn't help but think:

We didn't get to play...that looks really fun, too...


Daisy and Bowser just cannot help but press each other's buttons. Relentlessly.

It's one of their favorite means of communication, really. Peach, Mario, and Luigi are exasperated. Rosalina's having a blast.

Welp, next time we'll move away from the beach and onto other things.

...Prepare yourselves. I'm gonna try and up the cuteness a bit, and try and feature the other Koopalings a bit more. And the Lumas too.

Until then!