I'm over a year late to the party, but I just loved the concept of Bowsette to the point that I had to write something about it (It just took me ages to actually do so...). Then, I had to pair her with Peach, because they're such a cute couple!

I haven't finished writing the story yet, so I'm uploading this to try and motivate myself to do so.

T rating is for violence later on.

"Your Majesty!"

Kamek's familiar voice rang through the wooden door, accompanied by his persistent knocking.

"WHAT!" Came the Koopa King's angered reply, his booming voice shaking the room.

There was a moment of silence from the hallway before the magikoopa's – now more hesitant – reply came through, "W-well, My King, it's just you haven't left your room in a week, I just want-"

"I'M FINE!" Bowser yelled, interrupting the same spiel that the old koopa had been using for the past six days.

"Of course, but-"

"LEAVE ME ALONE! Before I decide to throw you into a volcano, you old coot!"

That seemed to dissuade Kamek for now as, after a few hesitant mutterings, the hallway fell quiet once again.

With an irritated huff Bowser lowered his head back down onto his pillow, his gaze returning to the small picture clutched in his claws.

"Peach..."

The princess's soft blue eyes were looking directly into the camera when the photo was taken, her beautiful smile immortalised in the frame; a smile that Bowser had rarely seen in person – and never directed at him.

Normally – even after some of his worst defeats at the hands of that pesky plumber – the sight of Peach's blissful smile was enough to soothe him enough that he didn't snap at the next unfortunate soul to cross his path. This time, however, the smile only seemed to mock him; to remind him of those lonely hours he spent alone on The Moon, before finally working up the willpower to return to Earth.

Perhaps the knowledge that Peach turned down Mario as well as himself should lessen the pain, but the pity he received and the literal kick to the face moments later simply made him feel more pathetic than usual.

To Bowser, sometimes it felt like the only source of joy in his life was his son; Peach's smile made him feel like he could hope to one day find some more happiness with her.

Now... now it just reminded him of just how lonely he truly was...

From any citizen's perspective, the Mushroom Kingdom had returned to normal following the return of their princess following her kidnap and then her trip around the globe.

Those especially close to Mario or Peach, however, might disagree.

Though the two still got along and would still be present for important social events, there was a subtle awkwardness between the two; an unaddressed strain in their relationship that – though only noticed by those closest to them – drove a rift between them.

For Mario's part, he was still feeling the sting of rejection; though his proposal was impulsive, he was smarting at the harshness of the princess's dismissal. In addition, that Peach seemed to ignore the matter completely left him confused as to where he stood with her and what exactly he had done wrong.

Peach, on the other hand, was hurt that the plumber seemed to see winning her hand in marriage as some sort of competition with Bowser – not to mention that the tyrannical koopa seemed to be the more crestfallen of the two when she rejected them both. Mario was a good friend and ally, but these recent events and his apparent lack of realisation as to what he did wrong, made her question whether he was truly the type of person she wanted to be involved with romantically.

Princess Daisy was the only person whom Peach had confided her thoughts on this, however, and she whole-heartedly supported her and was quick to reassure her that she should only be with someone who would propose out of love and nothing else.

Now if she could only find that someone...

King Bowser came back from The Moon two weeks ago. In that time, he had rarely emerged from his room; he had only come out to deal with issues that absolutely required his attention, or to spend time with Bowser Jr.

He was just returning to his room from doing the latter, when Kamek rushed up to him with one of the former.

"Your Terribleness!" His adviser called after him, evidently having hurried to try and catch his king while he was still out of his room.

The larger koopa grumbled in irritation, "What is it, Kamek?" Bowser wasn't quite ready to bury his self-loathing and face his responsibilities yet; just a few more days and he'd be able to effectively bury his feelings behind his usual rage and indifference.

"I have been experimenting with technologies that we could use for your next scheme; there are some that I think you will find quite interesting!"

Bowser mentally sighed. His next scheme was currently the furthest thing from his mind; the events on The Moon had sent him spiralling down into a dark place that he was struggling to crawl back from. Feelings of loneliness, self-loathing and depression – some new, some resurfacing after having been long repressed – were his constant companions in the darkness of his mind. His only respite was the time that he spent with his son.

However, Kamek was clearly concerned about him and was eager to show him something positive; the koopa king couldn't find it in himself to refuse him.

"Alright, let's see what you've got."

Kamek's lab was impressive. The Koopa King would never admit that, of course, but he still couldn't help but acknowledge it. Desks and workbenches were loaded with notes, books, vials and equipment and large devices – many with purposes unknown to Bowser – filled large work areas, some tall enough to almost reach the room's high ceiling. The staff of magikoopa that usually manned the lab was currently not present; likely at Kamek's prior request.

Bowser rarely came here; usually the king would think of a scheme then the magikoopas would present him with tools to aid it, so seeing all the cool things that filled the room piqued his curiosity.

Kamek led him further into the room, passing a large pod-like machine and a table with some power-ups that Bowser recognised, the closest being the super crown that Toadette could use to become Peachette. The sight of it brought back unpleasant memories of one time when they tried to trick him into abducting Peachette instead of Peach. 'Hmph. I'm insulted they even thought that I'd fall for that; her eyes aren't even the same colour!'

Kamek stopped just past the power-up desk. With a mix of annoyance and curiosity, he picked up the crown and plopped it on his head.

He waited...

...

Unsurprisingly, no change came. Though, there was an unplaceable feeling of slight hollowness in his chest as he took the crown off. Before he could think on it, however, Kamek cleared his throat.

"Ah, yes. The Super Crown." He gestured to the object still in the king's claws, "We've been studying and reverse-engineering it to try and find something that could disguise someone as a toad." Kamek placed a strange patterned box with a large red button on it on the desk in front of his liege. "We still have a lot of work to do; the form taken seems to be random from person to person – no toads yet – and the switch comes with a huge energy spike, however-"

The magikoopa was interrupted by a loud guffaw. "Huge?" Bowser picked up the proto-power-up with his other claw, "I bet I could take it."

Kamek's face dropped, his eyes bulging to be the same size as the rims of his glasses – not that Bowser could see. "NO, Sir, I highly advi-"

The following explosion cut him off.

The shockwave sent them both flying back, followed by a surge of electrical energy.

Kamek – who wasn't the target of the powerup – was simply sent sprawling across the floor some distance away.

Bowser, however, was propelled into the pod of the mysterious machine behind him, the energy of the surge powering up and overloading it.

The pod quickly harnessed the energy, activating in a blinding flash that consumed the koopa king.

The light died down after a moment when the circuitry of the device started to spark and smoke.

Kamek looked up from his position on the floor, to try and assess the situation. His gaze settled on the form slumped in the smoking pod. He breathed in to call out, but as his eyes focused, that same breath released in shock.

Bowser groaned in pain, but the noise sounded foreign to his ears. As he picked himself up to a sitting position, he couldn't help but notice that his weight distribution felt different. What really made him stop, however, was the sight of his hands. Where he expected to find thick yellow hands with claw-tipped fingers, he saw instead slender tanned fingers and smooth hands.

Human hands.

Feminine hands.

The last thing his brain registered before blacking out was his startled yell.

Hope you enjoyed it so far! I'd love to hear what you thought, constructive feedback is welcome!