Hey, anyone like Koopalings? They're more prominent now! ...If they weren't already.

...

[Bowser]

Junior jumps from a few mops and brooms falling from the closet he pushed open. I bite my lip a bit and move over to him while the Koopalings snicker.

"All right, that's enough," I growl at them, looking over my son to see if he's hurt.

The boy giggles, "I'm fine, papa. That was pretty funny."

Exhaling a bit, I wait for the laughter to quite down. I open my mouth to speak, only to have Iggy interrupt: "So, which room is he in? Do you want me to whip up a device to keep him locked in?"

"No, I have two guards posted," I comment, realizing the skepticism as the words fall out. Recovering, I add, "And I make sure that their very lives depend on how well they watch him."

Ludwig clears his throat. "Careful Lord Bowser," he advises, "you're…flirting with danger." What? …Not possible. Raising only an eyebrow, he mimics my reaction, but I've caught on to his test. No visible reactions kid, don't forget who trained you.

"Is there anything else you immediately require from us, your highness?" inquires Morton, taking my focus away from Ludwig. "If not, do you have any heads that need knocking?"

"Uh, nothing here," I muse. "You can check on the troops. In fact, all seven of you, go crack down on them. They should be finishing soon, which means they've got some heavy exercises to complete before stopping. Make sure they don't slack at the end."

"Right away, sire," Larry answers, with a bow. He then leads the Koopalings out of the hall.

Sighing, I shake my head. "It's strange how they seem to operate collectively." Junior nods in agreement. "Now son, you said that you were told to bring them back with you?"

The boy looks up at me, puzzled. "Yes, papa. Those were the orders."

"Were they?"

"Papa, you're not old enough to be losing your memory."

We share a laugh, but I'm still disturbed by his sincerity about what he thinks was my message. More frightening, however, is the possibility that I may have trouble brewing within my own ranks. It's not an entirely new concept, but it still—

"Papa? You ok?" I blink, looking back to my son.

"Yes, I'm fine, Junior," I force out with a chuckle. "Just…thinking."

The boy laughs again. "Losing your memory, getting lost in thought, geez, what are you're losing next?"

Scratching my chin, I realize that he may have a point, and that maybe I have lost my mind over…well, everything. And I'm only going to prove that once he asks where Mario is, so I might as well go ahead with that.

"Junior, son, listen" I gather his attention again. "Now, Mario's in that room over there," I speak and point to the door further down the hall.

He gasps. "Right next to your room?! Papa, that's crazy!"

"Maybe, but I need to keep him close," I explain. "If anyone tries to come looking for him, or if he tries to escape, we'll lose our biggest edge over the Mushroom Kingdom and we need that. The best place to keep him is nearest to me, like how I do with Peach."

And I think about the numerous times I've stolen the princess away and kept her in the dungeons until Mario would eventually reach my castle to claim her back. Even though it's early, I'm doing the same with Mario, so I don't understand why that seems so abnormal in everyone's eyes…well, besides the fact that it's Mario. Or is it because it's not Peach?

"Papa," comes the interruption of my thoughts, "are you torturing him anyway?"

Yikes. I forget where I live and enforce. "Not quite, son. We need him here, but we also need him alive." Scratching the back of my head, I decide to lay a new rule. "Junior, I want you to stay away from Mario, all right? The last thing I need is to give him the chance to hurt you or use you to escape."

Waiting for complaints or resistance, I'm shocked as I watch him nod. "I understand, Papa," he replies. "He could be trickier than Peach, huh?"

"He sure could, son!" More like he wouldn't want to, but that's not for him to know. And while Mario probably wouldn't use my son for an escape he's not planning, I still need Junior away from him. Torture…maybe my kingdom needs a bit more order…among various other changes.

"So, do you need anything from me, Papa?"

"Hm? Oh, not at the moment, son. You could help the Koopalings if you want, but I'm sure you could use some rest."

He shakes his head, keeping up his energetic front. "I'll be all right! I didn't sleep as much while I was out conquering, but I'm not sleepy now." He clamps his mouth shut and I watch him struggle to stifle a yawn, with his jaw lowering and cheeks puffed out. Tapping my foot and smirking, he groans, and trudges to the door across from mine, reluctantly retiring into his bedroom.

Letting out a sigh and a yawn of my own, I begin to unbutton my clothes. Resting is a great idea, and I begin to walk to my room. Pausing at Mario's door, however, I wonder if I should take a minute to…no, not now, that would come off…risqué. Yet, I can't help but ponder how Mario would react to me sauntering in as I peel my jacket off and give him suggestive looks and purr sweet nothings.

Shaking my head hard, I toss the notion out of my head. Another yawn slips from me and I continue on to my door. My hand rises, but as my claw reaches for the knob, it slumps back down. Lowering my eyes, I feel my head hit the door and for a moment, my eyes are shut. Forcing them open again, I rub my arm against my eyes. Picking myself up, I reach for the door, but stop at the sound of another one opening.

Turning, I look down the hall and see the Koopalings return. That was…too quick.

"What?" I snap. It's curt and unjustified, but I'm not in the mood for their usual mind games they play.

"Sire, it appears you have an…uprising on your hands," Ludwig muses as he uses a claw to comb his hair.

"What?!" I growl.

"It's not the whole castle, sire," Morton explains, "but some of the Koopa Troop isn't thrilled about Mario still breathing when they can kill him…well, now."

Snorting, I answer, "I've been over this. He needs to live for now, to give Peach hope that she'll be able to save him. Mario needs to stick around until I have full acquisition of the kingdom."

"Well, given our winning record, I think there's some skepticism over that happening," Larry puts in. "There's a group ready to come here now, actually."

"And you're allowing this?!" I roar.

"Absolutely not, sire," Wendy recovers for the septuplet. "That would be treason. We simply needed to come ask you for what we do next."

Grinding my teeth and ready to spew fire any second, I pause for a breath. After exhaling, I move closer to them and murmur, "Set an example."

"You want us to punish them?" Lemmy asks. "In front of everyone?"

"I'm not going to have my orders questioned. This is an unorthodox situation, but as easy as it would be to slice Mario to pieces, to burn him down bit by bit, and to ultimately give the utmost satisfaction to my army, we need him." Pinching my forehead in between my eyebrows, I add, "I've made that clear to you, and I've told the troop repeatedly. There's nothing more I can say and if they're still acting up, I need them to have it drilled in somehow."

"Oh, we'll get it into them, all right," Roy chuckles, taking a little too much delight in my orders. "Hey, Iggy, ya got anything we can use to…help them out?" They're more twisted than I realized.

"I'm sure I have some non-lethal equipment that should aid with their correction treatments," Iggy ponders, practically undeterred by what he's saying. "I'll go grab a few things on the way over to publically decry them. Maybe I can test a few new devices as well." They're a lot more twisted.

"Will that be all, your highness?" Larry inquires.

"Yeah, but don't completely break them down," I hastily return. "No more rebellions, but I still want them to be battle ready. It's not like—"

"Lord Bowser!" thunders a new voice and I look past the Koopalings to see three Koopas, seven Goombas, a Hammer Bro., and two Fire Bros. waiting in the doorway to the stairwell.

"Oopsie," Wendy giggles nervously. "Did we leave the door open?" I'm tempted to fry her for that.

"Sire," a red-shelled Koopa steps forward and speaks, "would you truly keep us from our justice? He's killed our families, our friends, good Koopas and—"

"Have you only been half-listening?" I interrupt. "I've said multiple times that he's needed. I want revenge as much as any of you, but that's not the only thing that I can focus on. Mario is too useful to kill right away over our grudges. Any other time would have been fine, but this is useful right here and now to us."

"The longer you keep him alive," a Goomba with green eyes starts up this time, "the more likely it will be that he escapes, or that he comes after us again! Everyone in the castle knows this!"

"There could be ways that we can fake his appearance to the Mushroom Kingdom," a Fire Bro. joins the others. "The Magikoopas have spells, we can pull his clothes from his corpse, there are other ways we can pull off this charade."

It takes quite a bit for me not to shudder or spit a fireball at him. "For the last time," I repeat myself, "no, we are keeping him alive."

"Then forgive us, sire," a green Koopa speaks up this time, "but we're going over your head on this. We don't want him for political gambits, especially if we can end it here and dominate the rest of the Mushroom Kingdom by sheer force. The Toads won't rally over his death; they would fall into despair."

"You're severely underestimating them if you truly believe that," I blink as the words come from my mouth.

"They're not clever enough to handle us," the Hammer Bro. cries out now. "We can take them all down! We're the Koopa Troop! They will perish under us, that's how we work!"

"Enough!" I roar. "Leave now, or—"

"No!" a red eyed Goomba shouts out. "We'll go right past you if we have to!"

Letting out a heavy sigh, I realize that they will try. "Roy, Morton," I turn to the Koopalings and the two called step forward. "Discipline them."

"Yes, your highness," Morton bows his head.

"Aw, I've been waiting for this!" Roy laughs and cracks his knuckles.

For a moment, there's stillness in the air and no one moves. Roy breaks that by taking a step forward and the Fire Bros. are the first to launch attacks, shooting fireballs at us. Morton whips out his wand, fires a spell, and blocks both shots.

Roy rushes forward, punching the closest Koopa and knocking him back onto his shell. Two Goombas and the Hammer Bro. attempt to retaliate, but Morton leaps into the air and crashes down, sending a shockwave that knocks the trio away.

The black-shelled Koopaling then grabs one of the Fire Bros. and tosses him into the other. After that, the remaining Goombas gather close together and try to create a tower formation for a counterattack, but Roy shoulders the stack and they fall to the floor. With only two Koopas remaining, Morton and Roy close in on them.

"We'll give you one last chance, so try not to anger us," Morton's low-voiced offer sounds. "Stop and admit you're wrong. Continue your opposition and suffer the consequences."

"You know we're right!" cries the red-shelled Koopa. "We can't leave Mario alive when we have him weak and at our mercy!"

A blue fireball whizzes through the air and knocks the defiant Koopa back against the wall. I turn my head to watch Ludwig cast another one at the remaining Koopa, who slams into the wall and crashes down next to his comrade.

"Apologies, my King, my brothers," Ludwig lets out with a light laugh. "I grew bored with their constant declarations of vengeance."

"It's cool," Roy laughs. "Morton and I got enough punches in."

Ludwig pats the end of his scepter on his hand, looking up at me. "You're right, sire. They're clouded by a thirst for Mario's blood and refuse to see this logically." He pauses and studies the rebels before continuing. "At first, I had doubts of my own, but hearing it come from you again, Lord Bowser, it's begun to make sense."

"It's crafty and sneaky, just how I'd do it," cackles Larry. My head nods in response, but I'm awed that they're finally consenting to my plans. Not that the Koopalings are ones to disobey, but I was worried they wouldn't this time around.

"They live, sire," Morton's voice echoes my mind back into focus. "Shall we continue their punishment now, or…?"

"No, that's enough," I shake my head, part response, and part disbelief. "Bring these thirteen to the dungeons. If anyone attempts this again, and I'm sure they will, this group will be used to set examples of what happens when you question my orders. Their names will be known for their foolishness."

Nodding, the seven Koopalings move to gather the group and drag them away. Some stir and shout cries for Mario's blood. They're knocked out soon after that. Within a minute or two, the Koopalings have taken the rebels away.

Part of me waits for the stairwell doors to pop open again, and I'm not sure what I expect, but I stand still for a while, uncertain of what to anticipate next, and unable to do anything else. A door opens behind me and I turn to look at my son.

"Papa," he starts but I shake my head.

"Go back in, Junior," I whisper, walking over to push him back in. He hugs me and I freeze for a minute before hugging him back.

"I know you know what you're doing," he quietly cheers, and then walks back into his bedroom. I feel a smile creep onto my face and I'm filled with warmth knowing that my son is back in the castle.

It dissipates when I think about it for too long and I go back to watching the doors.

[Mario]

The shouting from the hall outside has quieted down, swept away by silence. My heart races, pounds against my chest, as I reflect on what I had heard. That group of soldiers, enemies, would defy Bowser and risk their livelihood, just to kill me. A pang hits my stomach and I clutch it, wincing.

It's not the traitor-soldiers themselves that terrify me; I've fought many bigger and stronger adversaries. How close they were was unsettling, but the fact that they went against Bowser and probably would have came in here without their king blocking the way frightens me, haunts me. A shiver passes through me, rebounding from the top of my head down to my feet, back and forth for a bit.

And while the idea of death is horrible enough, Bowser losing control on his troops is almost equally shocking, rivaling my personal fears for survival.

Tugging my torn glove, I try to shake things off a little, breathe again. My suit is back on its hanger and I had just enough time to switch back into my ragged clothes. They smell a bit better, but I'm not sure who would have cleaned them a bit, let alone cleaning anything of mine at all.

Glancing at the walls, I scratch my head. Even though it's morning, the room doesn't look any brighter; I've grown used to it, but I still wonder how sunlight simply refuses to shine through the blackened skyline, even if it just passes through a crack.

Yet, it's not enough to keep my attention, however, and I'm back to worrying about Bowser and myself. I try to think of Luigi and Peach, but the two of them worrying about my wellbeing only turns into another punch at my gut.

With a deep sigh, I sit on the bed for a minute and tug my cap back into its rightful place. My hand slips from the top of my head and I press my cheek against it, leaning over and trying to quell my anxieties, become calm.

When I fail to do so, I jump back up. Moving to the door, I slowly, carefully turn the knob and pull the door open. Hearing just the slightest creak, I grasp the edge to reduce the sound, just a bit. Peering out, I see Bowser whirl his head to look at me as I try to look down the hall where he was gazing.

Noticing some scuffle marks and what might be charred walls, I glance back to Bowser, who moved closer and waves his hand at my room, his lips wording, "in." Huffing, I give him an annoyed look and tap my foot. He grumbles before swiftly slipping to my door, pushing both of us back into my room, and closes the door behind himself.

"What are you doing?!" he hisses at me. "The Koopalings and my son were just out there, they could have seen you!"

"Well, they already know that I'm here," I whisper, trying to sound a little nasty to him, but it sounds more like I have a cough I'm holding in.

His eyes widen regardless. "Then you…heard everything," he starts out asking, but finishes it as a fact. I nod and he pulls on his fallen face with his hand.

"To be fair, it was difficult not to," I protest, but he shakes his head, drops it, and sits down on my bed.

"I'm sorry. Yesterday, when you said they wouldn't care, you were right," Bowser replies, with his voice cracking a bit. "I didn't think they'd be this quick about it though, and I should have done better with protecting you."

My face twists a bit and I feel my grimace; I shouldn't need his security. Suddenly, I imagine myself as weak and it frustrates me to be even remotely powerless.

"You did protect me though," I state, holding back on the edge, self-loathing that's now brimming in my mind. "You were there and Koopalings managed to fend them off. I did call it, but you didn't allow it, just like you said."

He turns to me with a smile and his face picks up, but his mouth drops back to a frown when his eyes meet mine. "Um, Mario? Are you all right?" My brows are lowered over my eyes and I must look angry.

"Fine," I lie, but Bowser lowers his eyes, signaling that he's not oblivious to my thoughts. "Ok, I'm annoyed at myself for needing you." His eyes pick back up and he raises an eyebrow. "I shouldn't have to depend on you to keep me safe. I can take care of myself against your troops."

Bowser laughs. "I don't think I'd want you to do that. You can be…a bit forceful, I should say." Biting my cheek, I remember that he has more than me to keep safe. "You're not helpless, Mario. If you think that you haven't proven that countless times, you indeed are a moron. Fighting your way out of my castle doesn't solve anything though. Unless you want to break my heart." He stops and gives me an exaggerated sad look, pushing his bottom lip out and trying to make his eyes tear up. I softly kick him and he laughs again. "You know, you're a lot calmer than Peach. She would have hit me several times over if I tried even moving this close to her. And she hits harder than I like to admit." He winces at the memories and I smile.

"Yes, you're right," I relent. It doesn't make me ok with things the way they are now, but he understands how to make me feel better.

"Of course I am! I'm allowed to be too, you know," he grins and presses his foot on mine, grinding it a bit.

"Only when I need you to be, sure," I jest and laugh at his shocked face. Moving closer, I lean on him, pressing my hands against his unbuttoned shirt and jacket. He wiggles his eyebrows and I bop his nose for it. "I think you need to go get some rest," I mock him, trying to mimic his voice a bit.

He laughs at the attempt and pulls me in for a hug. "What have I been doing without you for so long?"

"Trying to beat me up, for starters," I tease as I hug him back. His laughter vibrates against me and I feel his belly bounce.

We break from embrace and wait for a bit, just looking at each other. Bowser sighs and gets back up. "I'll have Iggy work on something. He can whip something up to keep everyone else away from you."

Grabbing him for a second, I squeeze his hand and he squeezes back. I want him to stay, but he's been in here too long already. With his son right across the hall now, it's only become increasingly dangerous to be together. Letting that sink into my mind, I wince as my stomach takes another blow. Releasing Bowser, my hand drops down and back to my side.

"Hey," he beckons me and I look back up. "Hang in there. You keep me going too." He leaves before I can reaffirm his words, but I realize that he knows.

There's a little jolt of hope in me, that in spite of increasing obstacles, we still have a chance.

...

Ok, I don't think I've mentioned it before, so for those of you that don't know, Nintendo's current story for the Koopalings is that they're not Bowser's kids. And that comes from Miyamoto himself, from a 2012 interview I think, which makes it hard to go up against. It's really confusing, but the only actual game they were referred as Bowser's legitimate children was their debut in Super Mario Bros. 3, and it's never been said in the games, so they are allowed back pedal on it and say that only Junior is Bowser's kid, since he's the only one with that confirmed in-game (Sunshine).

For this story, no one's really brought it up, but if there's anyone who's wondering why the Koopalings aren't getting the same degree of love as Junior and are addressing Bowser as their king instead of their father, that's because I'm trying to keep up with the current continuity. Watch them pull a fast one tomorrow and claim that they are still his kids? Ah, that's going to make this awkward. What's also confusing is if there's supposed to be a leader of the Koopalings (most say Ludwig, but some say Larry), so now I understand why they were left out of games for so long (not really, that only made it worse). At least they're still siblings! Can you imagine if they weren't related to each other at all? I mean, it's got potential and could provide another fresh look at them, but I like them related.

Anyway, I'm now satisfied that each of the Koopalings have dialogue and fairly established roles. In the games, they don't really have established personalities either, so I may be caving a little and going with what's stereotypical of them. Ludwig is the brainy one, Larry's sneaky, Roy's the cool/tough guy, Lemmy's childish, and Wendy is snooty, but also likes to be on Bowser's good side. Recent games, I think, note that Iggy is kind of the gadget guy on the team, so I'm working that in alongside with a dose of absentmindedness or apathy. I like to think the difference between him and Ludwig is that though Ludwig is smarter, Iggy does more work, but possibly at the cost of his emotions.

The most difficult Koopaling to work with is Morton. In the old cartoons, he's portrayed as a motor-mouth, which I don't really picture him as anymore, despite the huge mouth. In the Super Mario Bros. 3 manuals, he was kind of grouchy. However, in the Japanese manuals for the same game had a little quote from him that makes him seem more clever about things. So, I decided to go a bit along that route, making him more level-headed, but also tough like Roy, since they are the biggest and strongest amongst the group. In a way, Morton may be the strongest, but just lets Roy think that he is.

To help with the concept of their strange absences within the series timeline (because Mario totally has one, right? not really, I know), I decided to make them not undyingly loyal to Bowser. Do they usually follow orders and cooperate with him? Yes. Do they like him? Sure do. Do they agree with every scheme and comply without second thoughts? Eh...that's where I decided to cast some doubt, which is why Bowser's surprised that they're with him on this (for now?). He doesn't use the same units for every battle, which plays more into switching up tactics than into lack of cooperation, but I like to imagine that sometimes, Bowser's army isn't always 100% compliant with his demands. Hence the currently unnamed rebels! There's 13 total, so I might try to be clever on naming them with numbers. (Kidding, I'm only weird with colors...or am I?! Ok, I'll stop.) And, like too many characters in this story, they'll be back! ...Maybe!

And, of course, more Bowsario fluff at the end, because this is still a Romance story. (No, Drama must tip the scales! More Action! More Fantasy! More Comedy! BLAHAHAHAHA! ...What?) And there were no letters in this chapter as well, how tragic...but don't worry, they'll come into play. Mario and Bowser writing isn't just a stress reliever...or, it won't be for the whole story. (But that would be spoilers, so no more for you!) Nothing much to comment on there, unless you didn't find it cute and you're somehow still not shipping this couple, in which case, I'm failing. Now that would be tragic indeed.

Oh, and I did try to make Bowser a caring dad and I'm not planning to neglect Junior for shipping funs. He comes with the territory and hopefully that's prominent enough. Maybe I should devote a chapter to father/son bonding stuff. (Family genre too? HOW MANY DO I USE IN THIS STORY?!)

All right, I've talked too much, so I'll just cut it off here. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter! If you'd like send me a review or message for comments and criticisms, because they are welcome. And I say it a lot, but I really mean it, so thank you again for reading!

P.S.: I just wanted to shout-out to and thank someone from Tumblr who reblogged and wrote about this story around a month, give/take, which was really exciting and made me feel extra special, especially because I don't go on Tumblr a lot and have no idea how to post a lot on there. And I'm not sure if this is more embarrassing than grateful, so I'll leave that person anonymous, but I'm going to degrade you and thank you on here anyway because you were the first, so thank you so much again! I'm really happy that this story has had enough of a following to branch out and really love that readers enjoy it! ...I'm probably making a bigger deal than I need to, but there it is. Thanks again! (And if it's too much, I'll take this down, so let me know and sorry too, my bad.)