I can't tell you how long I've been trying to get at least part of the next chapter written. Feels like I've got a lot going on.

Anyhow, there are some changes that will be coming soon. I posted them in detail on my blog, but for a quick version on here, I'll be splitting some chapters apart to make it easier for new readers to join in. It's been something that I've debated for years, so I figured that I should get on with it. Starting with this chapter, I'm going to split the content that I write up a little better, and extend arcs a bit as a result. Also, chapter titles are going to be deleted coming up, which is why this one won't have a title. They may or may not come back. And I may eliminate some author notes, or do away with them outright too.

That's the boring stuff, so that you know when it happens. Oh, and so that you're not surprised if this story goes from 50+ chapters to 70+ instead. There won't be any new content added, just streamlined. So, if it bumps up suddenly at some point, or you get a bunch of emails about it, no, you're not missing anything.

But we're not here to listen to me ramble. We want to see Mario and Bowser crying over one another, right? Right! So, let's get to that.

Enjoy!

...

[Mario]

Feeling this…hollow? Not quite, maybe more like…gutted. Yeah, that sounded right. Regardless, none of it was really new to me, the pit in my stomach or the racing heart, but it still stung all the same.

Bowser placed the Recorder on the desk with the failed potions, and scratched his head, quietly looking them over. Maybe to give me an extra minute to take everything in, or maybe he was actually searching for something else. It didn't matter much, and my eyes fell back to the floor of the storage workshop.

The whole room was pretty messy, with boxes teeming from the lost artifacts of Bowser's Castle, and I wouldn't even begin to know where to focus my attention. My hands tightened my grip on the edge of the cardboard box that I sat on.

Nothing could distract me well enough from everything that happened…and everything that will need to happen next.

A heavy thud sounded before me, and I jolted up. Before me was a flattened cardboard box, and Bowser walked around to sit on it. He stared at me as I raised an eyebrow to him.

"What? I didn't want to sit on the floor itself."

"That's probably not going to be very comfortable."

"Neither will our ensuing conversations, but whatever." He leaned back, resting on his hand slightly. "We're staying in here for a little bit to start our talks."

"…Ok." I relaxed on my seat once more. "Where do you want to start?"

"With what we just went through makes as good of a place as any."

"Sure, that's fair." We waited for a moment, and I knew he had words on his mind, so I wanted him to let them out. "If you're ready to start, go ahead."

"Mario, I love you, so don't take this the wrong way, but…" Bowser inhaled for a moment and held it briefly, but then deeply exhaled. With just a hint of annoyance in his tone, he forced out, "Can you explain to me what in the hell that was all about? That insistence on the very public date, and then setting us on a collision course with people who would not react well to seeing us?"

"Well, I…it was pretty impulsive, wasn't it?"

"Very!"

"Guess I should leave that to you," I relented, holding my stomach. A weak smile formed on my face. "Don't take it the wrong way either, but you make impulses work well. So, part of me has been wanting to try that out, and…I picked a poor time to give it a shot."

"Impulsive choices that work well for me? Are you serious?" Bowser laughed. "Mario, none of my impulse decisions work out! You're usually the one that ends up beating those, or they blow up right in my face!"

"We haven't yet." A little quieter, I added, "Hopefully we won't…"

"Technically, we did a few times earlier on," reminded Bowser. "On top of that, we're also not exactly doing well, since we've still got the majority of the Mushroom Kingdom mostly against us." He shrugged. "My rasher choices don't pan out well, and we're both to stubborn to let this fall into that too."

"…Are we a mistake after all?" I hated asking that, but—

"Absolutely not."

Lifting my head, I stared into Bowser's bright red eyes, trained sharply on me. That kind of focus, the quick and clear tone…all the same as when we started this. Determination.

"One thing, the one thing that I refuse to give up on, is this relationship working." Bowser took my hands into his, yet kept his attention locked onto my eyes. "Every obstacle that we've hit so far, while not exactly how we've imagined, they are what we anticipated. I've feared a lot of this." He shook his head. "But in spite of that, I begged for it, begged to be with you."

For a moment, his eyes trailed down, and his form slouched. My fingers interlaced with his, a bit worried that he might pull away, but he didn't. Instead, he rearranged his hands around mine and held them closer together.

"I'll admit that maybe we didn't go through a lot of this in the best possible way, and dealing with everything that has come, and everything that will come…it's a lot, and it's very challenging." His grip tightened on my hands, and he lifted his head. "But as long as you go with me on this, then I'm not quitting. And we're not losing this, not here, and not now." That sharp gaze into my eyes…it's piercing, and yet reassuring. "We are not any kind of an accident, you and I, together like this. I don't care how many people try to damn us along the way, and I don't care who wants to hurt us for it." He lifted our hands up, and smirked as he cupped them together. "After all we've been through, we really do belong together."

When he spoke like that, with such passion and confidence for both of us, I couldn't help but let my hopes rise. Once he saw my lips curve up, his face lit up even more than it already was.

…But…

"What's wrong?"

My face really fell that quickly, huh? The worry flooded his face, smile gone and eyes a bit more crestfallen as they lowered.

"Nothing that you brought up, because from all of that, I actually felt better for a moment," I admitted. A small smile returned to me. "You inspire me to keep going too, whenever you talk like that."

"So, what is it then?"

"We still have a lot to go over between us." I sighed and released his hands. Though he hesitated for a moment, he eventually allowed mine to fall away from his. "To start, I probably should've brought this up earlier, but…I didn't." My eyes fell as I set my attention to the floor. "Before Peach's address, I got a call from Merlon."

"Right, I remember." Bowser lifted an eyebrow. "It was important, then, wasn't it?"

"Yes. He's made progress on the cure for my curse." As his body rose, my eyes returned to his face and his mouth had opened to add something in. Seeing my expression, though, he quieted down. "To test his solution properly, though, he'll need to use it on me, which means that I have to go back to Star Hill."

"Now?"

"Not yet, but likely soon." Dragging my hand over my cap, I tugged it around my head. "I wasn't trying to hide it from you, not at first with the address, but…I should have told you about it earlier. And…I'm sorry."

This was definitely going to set him off, and I shouldn't be rushing into it after he literally just told me about not letting my impulses guide me. But I didn't want to delay that from coming up, especially after putting it off earlier. He had every right to be angry about it.

Forcing my attention up to him, I watched as his brow furrowed, and a bit of annoyance flickered on his face. Exhaling through his nose and closing his eyes for a moment, his shoulders dropped, and once he opened his eyes again, his face relaxed. My eyes widened and my eyebrows lifted from how quickly he had calmed himself.

"Peach's little chat with the kingdom threw us off for the most part," he rationalized. "It took my mind off of the important topics that I wanted to go over too." A smile formed on his face and my mouth dropped open. "I got a little worried that we would have to leave right away, but that's no big deal."

"But I…wait, you're not…?" I scratched my head. Wasn't he angry with me? He lifted an eyebrow to my perplexed mutters.

"Were you trying to keep that from me?" He waited as I shook my head, and shrugged as a response. "Then, why would I be mad at you?"

"Last time that I wasn't forthright about my plans—"

"Was the last time we had issues at Seaside, mostly created by yours truly," reminded Bowser as he pointed to himself. "And that happened because I didn't trust you, when I should have."

"Hold on—"

"Are you seriously going to argue that?"

"Well, no, but I wasn't great either," I admitted. "If I had been honest back then, we might have avoided all of that."

"…Possibly, but probably not." Bowser sighed as he dragged his claw through his hair, and I lifted an eyebrow at him this time. "Back then, we were still figuring us out, and I think a breaking point was unavoidable. Coming to blows may not have been necessary, but…well, you and I tended to get into that over the years."

"True, but we're trying to get past that."

"Yeah, now we are." He chuckled and beamed at me. "You can't even practice against me without protesting now, and that's honestly adorable." My face burned, but a little blush formed on him too. "I'm the same way now too, and I don't want to hurt you anymore either." Another sigh escaped him, as Bowser frowned, dropping his head. "I think that might've happened eventually, but we were able to get there faster because we fought earlier. And we both hated getting back to that too." He lifted his head back up, lowered eyes settling on me. "I was afraid you'd never forgive me, and I never want to push you to that limit anymore."

Has he been carrying that burdening guilt after all of this time? Even after we made up with the letters? …Of course he is. I've been doing the same. My shoulders slumped as I realized.

"Fighting with your partner is inevitable, I suppose," came my admission. "And you're right, considering our history, it only made sense for it to happen." As Bowser's head started to lower, my hands held his face up. "But, what's important is not only recognizing that we were wrong, and not only correcting our behaviors to be better with one another, but…we should remember to move on." I smiled to him as his eyes lit up a little more. "It did suck at the time, but we can't change the past. We worked through that, and we improved ourselves around one another too."

"Exactly, we've grown." Bowser cupped his hands over mine. "And maybe we're still getting ourselves to better places, but we've made plenty of progress." I think he needed to convince himself as much as he wanted to do so for me. Still, he was steadfast with advocating for us. "We should be happy about that, and proud too."

"Yes, you're right." …So why didn't that make me feel better either…?

"Doesn't matter how much you agree with me; we're not leaving until you're in at least a slightly better frame of mind." I'm glad he can read me well again. "What else is really hitting hard?"

"Would you consider it silly if I feel as though everyone hates me?" My hands dropped from his face and I kicked my feet a little bit against the box. "I don't feel as though anyone likes me much, not from the Mushroom Kingdom, and not from the Koopa Kingdom either."

"Besides me?"

"You're a given."

"Junior?"

"Given by proxy."

"Kamek counts then too, even though he left."

"Almost everyone," I corrected.

"Are you sure?" Bowser smirked as he rubbed his chin. "Let's see…all seven Koopalings don't seem to hate you, even if Ludwig and Larry pretend they do. Wendy definitely enjoys you around. King Bob-omb definitely likes you." He tapped his cheek as his tail wagged a bit. "That means Whomp King probably does too. Prince Bully finds you curious. Petey wanted to be your friend. Dry Bowser, but we're not talking about that. King Boo…well, he doesn't hate you."

"Fine, so your closest and strongest minions like me," I relented, sinking back. "Others around here don't like me that much."

"A good bunch of them don't like me either, but you gained popularity by helping me rescue the Koopalings," reminded Bowser. He shrugged. "But, fine, let's go wander outside of the castle. Since we're talking about Star Hill, you've got the Shamans that all like you a lot."

"They're just helping—"

"Wow, are you really going to lie about at least Merlon?" Bowser tightly balled up his fists and lifted them up a bit. "Not that he should be, but he's absolutely delighted to keep in touch with you. And if I didn't know any better, he seems particularly connected to you." He clenched his teeth, and I think he tried to hide his irritation behind a forced smile.

"Well…ok, Merlon does like me."

"Of course." Fake smiles don't hide annoyed tones, dear Bowser.

"Maybe Merle and his daughters find me interesting, though I think he liked you more in the end," I pointed out.

"Hm? You think so?" Bowser relaxed and scratched his head, looking up as he thought. "Guess we kind of bonded, since we're both single dads trying our best with our sons." He shook his head and waved his hand. "Whatever. The Shamans past their family also liked you. Like that Chief guy that I fought with."

"…Chieftain Vi?"

"Yeah, yeah, him. He counts, because you two were kind of polite by the end." Bowser shrugged. "Probably means you'd befriend a bunch of the sheet freaks out there."

"Do you really have to call them that?" He grinned as I scowled. "Also, let's not forget that one of them likely cursed me."

"One of bunch still means that a bunch like you," contested Bowser.

"Debatable, but I'll give that to you," I caved, much to his delight. "That still…I mean, not many—"

"At the very least, you have friends and allies in two Mushroom Kingdom territories, and the two that know you're dating me, not faking mind control or whatever," pointed out Bowser. He folded his arms, still grinning. "So, you've got a lot less than 'everyone' hating on you."

"But I didn't mean everyone entirely."

"Sure, I know that." His tail swayed a bit, as he reached forward and picked up my hand. "But, I wanted to make sure that you knew that. You're not alone, Mario, not at all." I couldn't help but smile at that. "And, I wanted you to know that it wasn't just me, or just my family, but a few others that also like you." Bowser kissed my hand and winked at me. "Though, I still love you more than anyone else."

"All right, you made a strong argument." I kept my hand in his and smiled at them. But, then I closed my eyes. "Still…a lot of the people that usually support me…"

"They'll put themselves back together when they hear it from you, and when they get over the initial shock," insisted Bowser. "Maybe I'm just trying to make you feel better, but they might still like you, at the very end of it all. And, if they don't…" His arms wrapped around me, and I felt him tug me close into him. "Then, that's their problem, and they're missing out on loving the best person in the entire Mushroom Kingdom."

"That's been a thing," I brought up, forcing my tears back. "They haven't been nice to you at all."

"Don't try being smooth with me; we both know I meant you, and I'm right." He took his hand and ruffled my hair under my hat. "You're the sweetest and nicest guy in this whole land, and if everyone got along like you've always wanted them too, everyone would think you're the greatest out there." Bowser kissed my head and nuzzled his closer. "You don't need to be a hero for that kind of love."

"Do you really think so?"

"Absolutely. And even if they didn't, it doesn't matter." He pulled me closer and hugged tighter. "No matter how everything ends, you will always have a place with me. Even if we bizarrely stop dating after all of this, I'd still want you with me."

"Well, yeah, I'd make conquering the Mushroom Kingdom easier for you," I deadpanned.

"Hey!" Bowser tugged back. "That's not the reason at…all…" His annoyance vanished as he saw the tears slip from my eyes. "…I promise I'd never make you fight anyone from there." He gently brushed beneath my eyes and rubbed at my cheeks. "You'll never have to, really. I'll just keep you safe here."

"You can't promise that forever, and I can't hide from them either." I lifted my hands against his. "But…I am afraid of that. What if…what if I have to…?"

"They won't. None of your friends will hurt you."

"Technically, they already have."

Bowser paused and bit his lip, as he sank back from me, his box sliding back. I don't think he had put that together, and now it looked like I gave him a solid punch to the gut. Opening his mouth, he stopped himself short, getting on a slight grunt out. He searched the floor, looked to my eyes, but then slouched further. Still, he wouldn't drop his hands away from me.

"Your friends suck," he let slip.

"To be fair, I kind of stabbed one of my closest ones in the back," I pointed out. "It's not every day you wake up and learn that one of your best friends is dating the guy that you absolutely despise."

"Felt like that for me," debated Bowser. "Spent years thinking that she was with you, and that actually made my blood boil." He snorted and bitterly chuckled. "Nice to know that I won out after all, though."

"Are you ever not competitive?"

"When it comes to you, nope, everyone is an obstacle," teased Bowser. He stuck his tongue out at me. "You're my boyfriend, so no one else gets to enjoy you as much as I do."

"That's overly possessive."

"Don't care. You're mine, and I'm yours, so that's that on that." Bowser placed his hands on his hips. "You wouldn't want to picture me running around with someone else, would you?"

"Nope, and that's not allowed."

"Then…!"

"Ok, ok, fair enough." I paused and scratched behind my head. "…Is there anyone else you're into, though?"

"Didn't think you'd get insecure over that too," teased Bowser. He winked and tilted his head away from me. "Why? Worried that I might have a wandering eye?"

"I mean, you did mention still finding others attractive, earlier," I specified. "So, kind of, yes."

"Huh, I forgot about that." He deflated, wincing from his guilt, and turned right back to me. "Look, even if I did have anyone else that I thought looked hot, or if I found someone later on, doesn't matter." Bowser grinned. "You're the one guy that I want to share my life with, because no one would risk it all for me the same way that you do." Shoulders slumping, he glanced away. "And…I really, really appreciate that, more than I let on."

"Glad that you do, and thank you for telling me." I leaned into him and kissed his lips, perking him up again. But…I got a mischievous grin. "Besides, it's not like I'm going to find any other big handsome Koopas around, right?"

"Uh…ha, yeah, no." Bowser glanced behind himself, and I think I spotted a little sweat escaping him. "Just me."

"…Hey, wait, didn't you mention the Koopalings having a bad dad—?"

"Ew, no, don't even consider him!" The disgust on his face was actually hilarious.

"That's not where I was going with it."

"Then what?"

"Is he a big Koopa like you?" I folded my arms and raised an eyebrow. "Does that mean there are more outside of here?"

"…I'm not answering that." He turned away, folding his arms.

"Aw, come on." I poked at his stomach. "You've seen plenty of humans, and I don't think you're attracted to all of them."

"Well, you've seen loads of Koopas!"

"Koopa Troopas. And there is a difference, isn't there?"

"Whatever!"

"Don't be so mad," I soothed, rubbing his sides. "Just like you, I'd only want to be with you too." My hands slipped from him, as I lowered my head. "Not everyone would risk their status among their people for their greatest enemy. And…I highly doubt many would sit in a storage closet trying to help him feel better."

"Ha, ok, fine." Bowser turned back around and enveloped me back into him. "I did start that one, after all. Plus, I'm kind of curious what else you might like in other Koopas." He leaned back, but pulled me into him still. "Doesn't matter that much, though. I'd stay with you wherever you want to be, as long as I can make you happy."

"Makes two of us, then."

"Well, aren't you just a sweetheart?" He tugged on my cheek and I laughed as I tapped his nose, getting a giggle from him too. "Feeling a little better, then?"

"Yeah, I think so." I reached up and kissed his cheek. "Thank you."

"Always. Whenever you need." He blushed as he grinned. "Now, we should actually get out of here, huh?"

"Probably a good idea." He lifted us up and I brushed myself off a bit. A few flakes of sand slipped away, and I didn't realize they were on me.

"Oh, but, if I can ask something of you, Mario?"

"Hm? Of course."

"If you're worried about it being an issue, then, can we just both be more honest with each other, about anything?" I blinked as he smiled to me, but then lowered his head. "I know that I need to work on my reactions still, and…I don't want you to think that I'll blow up over everything. But…even if you're worried about how I'll react, can you still just tell me what's going on with you?" He lifted my head up by my chin and brought his back up as well. "The Star Hill news made sense, because that actually slipped away, but still. We shouldn't feel like we have to hide anything from each other, not by this point."

"Good point. And I don't want to hide anything from you, so I will work on that." He smiled as he caressed my face. "You can do the same too, you know. I'm not the best at sharing what's going on with me, but…I want you to know that you can share whatever you're feeling with me too."

"…About Kamek?"

"About anything or anyone." Lifting up slowly, I wrapped my arms around his sides. "I know you've gotten a lot more open with me than anyone else, and I know that you need time to get there, so that's fine. It's just that I don't want you to hide what you're feeling either, even if you think it makes me afraid or makes you seem weak."

"Ha…you got me on that." He lifted his hands up. "Fine, I'll work on that too. We'll be more open about what's going on and what we're feeling." Bowser lowered his hands around me again. "Doesn't mean we're going to be perfect for a while, but we can at least work on it."

"That sounds perfect to me."

"Then, that's settled." Bowser sighed and glanced down at the floor. "…I guess I should talk about Kamek for a bit, huh?"

"We can go to your room first, if you'd like." My hands slipped from him. "Actually, I still have more that I should talk about too."

"Wait, what else?"

"About the trip to Star Hill…I'm…I'm actually pretty scared." His eyes widened a bit from that. "Considering all of the dreams and nightmares that I had about the place, and after what we've been through…it's been a little overwhelming, and I'm afraid of what could go wrong."

"Tell me, then!" He moved to plop down, but I forced him up.

"Not yet." I drummed at his chest. "We've talked a lot about me, and you've already helped alleviate a lot of my problems." He frowned as I smirked. "My turn to help you for a bit, so, let's head out and help you first."

"…Fine…that's fair." Bowser snorted as he scooped me up. "But, we're going over that part for you too."

"That would be great."

"Good!"

He leaned down and kissed my cheek, and rubbed his nose against my mustache. We laughed as we ambled from the room, heading back into the hall.

As we were about to head back, however, I slowed by the next door near the storage, looking at the gallery door.

"In there, that's where Junior and the others went," I pointed out. "But you didn't want them in there, or to talk about it, because of…family history."

"Not you too…"

"Huh? Oh, no, sorry." I waved my hand dismissively. "We don't have to talk about it. I was just commenting on…"

Bowser glanced back at me over his shoulder, and words failed me as he turned fully to me. There was this forlorn weariness in his eyes, one that seemed somehow strange, foreign to me. It was as though the weight of the world was just dumped on his shoulders in an instant, and he wanted nothing more than to drop it. I walked over and placed his hands into mine.

"Don't think about whatever bothers you in there," I insisted. "Come on. Let's keep going."

"…Just before, we talked about being honest, didn't we?" That hollowness in his voice, it's as though we traded moods. He gazed down, not at me, but past, to the floor…though, not quite fixated on that at all. "It's not fair if I ask that of you, but fail to follow suit."

"We can still take time to decide when we're ready to talk about different topics." His hands were heavy in mine, and I patted them. "What I've brought up, what you wanted me to share, those are part of pressing matters." Bringing our hands together, I gently squeezed his. "Whatever is in there can wait for another day, and it doesn't impact our immediate futures at all."

"…But it does relate to me…" Bowser's eyes shifted, and met with mine. They were glassy, wavering a bit, but nothing fell yet. Stars above, how did I cause so much pain, such despair…? "And I want you to know me better still."

Before I could protest further, his arm lifted and roughly pushed the door. I think it was supposed to be locked, judging by the scrapes in the frame. Bowser trudged inside, and I hesitated for a moment.

"Come on," he beckoned, with some effort to sound like himself, and to cover his pained tone. Glancing back, he forced up a smirk. "I've already made up my mind."

Damn my curiosity.

Shuffling in after him, my eyes lit up a bit from the size of the room. I was expecting this room to be similar to the previous storage space that we had been in, but given how much was within it, that had to be wrong. There were several different Koopa figures that were lined on different parts of the room, many that I didn't recognize. They weren't like the normal Koopa Troopa forces, but appeared more like the Koopalings, Junior, and Bowser himself.

"Tradition for the Koopa Kingdom is that we clear out our predecessors' possessions when we take control for ourselves," disclosed Bowser, his tone somewhere between nostalgic and weary. I turned to him as he studied armor on a statue of another Koopa. "The point of doing so is that you want your subjects to have complete and total focus on their current objectives, and not be caught up with the past, or be reliant on memories. I think that's a general thing for the whole Mushroom Kingdom, for royalty and whatnot, but it's especially true for the Koopas." Lightly tracing the helmet with his nail, Bowser's eyes narrowed. "We're not supposed to get rid of anything salvageable, however, as that's considered bad luck." He snorted. "Probably explains why I haven't done well for years."

"What did you get rid of?"

"A good amount of crap that I never wanted to see again."

"But…who are all of these Koopas then?"

"My predecessors. Not necessarily family by blood, mind you, but royals of the Koopa family line." He shrugged. "The ruling family isn't always related, since power struggles across history have changed who holds control." Stepping away from the armor, he studied a stained glass portrait of a Koopa in an elegant dress. "Though, I'm related by a few generations back, so…I guess that counts as somewhat stable."

"There are a lot, and…I didn't realize how far back this kingdom went."

"The entire Mushroom Kingdom is very, very old, Mario, if Star Hill didn't teach you that already." He turned to me and smiled. "You and I have a very storied life together, but this land has many more that date back centuries and millennia."

"Wow…"

"If I ever really wanted to, I could probably spend ages in here, teaching you and Junior about how lengthy the royal line alone is," revealed Bowser. He pointed to a section of a uniformed Koopa with a stern but dignified expression on most art of him. "Those Ryuji, who was a good authority figure for a lot of his people. A good and strong boss, great fighter."

"He's pretty handsome." A lot of his uniforms were rather form fitting too.

"He's also very dead."

"…Were you worried that he was going to be competition?" I raised an eyebrow, while Bowser snorted and turned away, not fast enough to hide his red cheeks.

"No. Not like you'd care for him anyway."

"Then why—?"

"This one over here is Bibimbap," carried on Bowser, taking my hand and guiding me to the next set of Koopa memorabilia. "A lot of her subjects just referred to her as 'Bibi,' though. Pretty popular for her day." In spite of how strong she looked, most art had her in extravagant, regal dresses. "She's known for her grand balls and also her very skillful tactics in battle. Subterfuge was synonymous with her."

"Huh." You wouldn't expect it by just looking at her.

"Over there is Claudius," pointed out Bowser, to a smaller section across the room. There was a damaged statue of this leaner Koopa, chipped away on his face and abdomen. One portrait had him with a chalice and a dark look in his eyes as he looked it over. "He was cunning and deceptive, though that didn't work well with his nephew."

"What about her?" I pointed to one a little further into the room, of a Koopa with a confident grin on her face.

"Ah, that's Yuuckwei." He grinned looking over this powerful queen. "She was great. Strong leadership, full of confidence and charisma, versatile in battle, and helped establish a good number of races that would cooperate with the Koopa Kingdom years later." Bowser chuckled. "She's a little bit of an inspiration to me."

"Oh yeah?" I smirked. "Did she fall in love with her enemies?"

"Not exactly, since she persuaded some to her side," unveiled Bowser. "She was very popular among ladies, however, and not just because she was a badass." He winked at me after that.

"Your favoritism makes more sense."

"Ha, thought you'd enjoy that."

"This is all pretty interesting history, Bowser." I scratched at my head. "Is there a way that you could change the rules? I think Junior and the others from earlier would've enjoyed learning more."

"Junior will, eventually. Knowing history of our predecessors is what he'll deal with as he gets older, and I'll have Kamek help him out with it." Bowser dragged his claw through his hair. "It would be a little overwhelming at his age now, though. As for the others, like I mentioned, they're not supposed to focus on these relics."

"Would you really not want to change that?"

"It's not a total secret," insisted Bowser. "They can come in here. History books mention the older monarchs."

"But the details in here, if we look through all their records, then…won't they learn more, from more credible sources?"

"…Maybe…" He sighed. "Don't really want to go over all of them, though. Claudius isn't great, for example, he was a jerk."

"Right, and Ryuji was a little too handsome," I joked, to which he nodded, but then blushed as he clamped his mouth shut. "Come on. It wouldn't be all bad."

"…Some are better left to the pages of history…"

As Bowser turned, he folded his arms, strolling a little further to the back. I followed and stopped once he did, watching his fists tighten. Slowly looking at the messy collection before us, I stared at the very fierce, powerful Koopa depicted before us. Unlike the others, his memorabilia lined up with more recent castle decorations that Bowser currently had. Even in the portraits, the Koopa King snarling back at me looked fairly close to the one that I was dating. Only two of them had another Koopa standing beside him, and only one of those depicted a baby with them, though even still, the king wanted to stand apart from both. Something was darker about him, though, with scenes behind him engulfed in flames and fallen figures as well. Even his broken statues had fireballs carved with him. Just looking at this king, though, it made me feel pretty terrified.

"Perhaps one of the most powerful and yet most dangerous rulers of the Koopa Kingdom," came Bowser's hollow reading. "The others that I mentioned dealt with wars during their reigns. This one lived off of conquests and crusades, starting almost all of them himself, and from a time when he was very young, which is why it feels like his reign lasted so long." Bowser's eyes narrowed as his eyebrows lowered. "Ruthless in his ways, he claimed that his efforts were for the betterment of all, which is how so many Koopa forces ended up widespread across the Mushroom Kingdom and beyond, but also led to many defectors too. And he wasn't pensive about dealing with friends similar to how he handled enemies." His shoulders dropped, but his fists remained balled up. "A lot of folks want to forget about him these days, thanks to the efforts of the ruling family from the Mushroom Kingdom, including wiping a lot of memories clean. Those that still remember him though, they still fear bringing him up." Scratching at a broken statue, breaking into a crumbling claw, Bowser shuddered. "He was known by a wide variety of names, usually basic insults, but all pertaining to him. Tyrant Ruler. God of Fire and Death. Wrath Incarnate. Great Demon King, which I inherited. Monstrous Emperor. He did prefer being called an 'emperor' too, made him feel stronger, more powerful, and so a lot of his subjects called him that, the Koopa Emperor, if they weren't calling him the Great King of Koopas." He snorted out steam, still shaking. "Me, I just called him 'asshole' when I could, but I think it bothered him more to be called 'father,' in a twisted enough sense."

"So then, this is…?"

"…By his officially recorded title, he's known as Emperor Kojin Koopa."

For someone that I've never met, it was odd how much I felt like I hated him; just seeing the way that he tore into Bowser by memory alone both broke my heart and angered me. Someone as strong as Bowser, shaking at the mere sight of the very one that never wanted to raise him…

"Mario, I've terrorized and destroyed a lot in my reign, but my father killed and crushed his adversaries, and that wasn't even the scariest of things that he did, at least in his prime." A slight smirk formed on Bowser's face. "He got a lot slower and weaker as he grew older, though." Shaking his head, he turned. "But, we've wasted enough time in here."

Still shaking, and not able to look at me, Bowser twisted around, making his way from the room. Glaring at his father once more, I hurried after my boyfriend, leaving this hall of past Koopas behind.

...

Deep story lore! Wow, look at that!

After years of passing mentions about Bowser's daddy issues, I decided to push that out a little further. No, don't expect his dad to suddenly burst in with a kind of, "Bwahaha, it was all me behind everything all along! I wanted to make Bowser absolutely MISERABLE, and went right for his heart to do it, ahahahaha!" I'll drown you in clichés, but the "evil parent behind it all" isn't one that I'm using here. Well, not during the story itself, anyway. Background development is fine, because parent problems.

Oh, but don't go scouring for news about new Koopas that you missed, though, they're original story elements. There's no Kojin Koopa...or equivalent. ...Yet. Uh.

The name comes from a Japanese god of fire by the same name, Kōjin, who was also a god of the hearth and/or kitchen. I chose that name because Bowser was named after Gukbap, a Korean dish called "Kuppa" in Japanese, and somewhere in my brain, I was like, "Oh hey, why not have his dad be named after something that gets used for cooking?" So, yeah. Though, the kami in Japanese myth isn't meant to be a malicious one, unlike the Koopa that I made here. However, Kōjin does use violent forces to blight impurities in the land, for the betterment of humanity. That didn't seem to hard to blur the lines for, hence why Bowser's dad is...not nice.

If you're wondering about the other names, "Yuuckwei" is based on "Yukke" and "Bibimbap" is based on "Bibinba," both Japanese names of other Korean dishes that were originally considered for Bowser. I was thinking about making the former "Yoockwei" as well, like how "Koopa" came from "Kuppa," but "Yuu" looked cooler to me. Claudius was used because it sounds like "claw," similar to Claudia used before, and because I wanted to put in a silly Shakespeare reference, because why not? As for "Ryuji," that's just a name that I like, and it relates to dragons from "Ryu," so, close enough.

Well. Before all that, things seemed to be getting better, huh? Bowser did his best helping Mario feel better, and they seemed like they were establishing how far they've come along! That was nice stuff, good fluff, and we love to see it. Mario's going through a lot, huh? But, so is Bowser, so, he'll be sure to touch on that now that his boyfriend had a slight breakdown going on there. Fun!

This chapter should feel shorter than usual, since it's being split up from what I would've made it, and that's to help make the chapters a bit shorter for newcomers to tackle. So, there is more to this arc, unlike how I intended earlier this year. All that means is more Bowser and Mario crying together, whoo! Oh, and with hurt comes comfort, that too.

Hopefully you enjoyed some fun takeaways from this one. Feedback would be lovely, so if you can, I super appreciate it. And, more to come later, so, as usual, please stay tuned. Thank you for reading! Take care.