AN: I'M NOT DEAD! WOO-HOO! Seriously though, I'm sorry for the long absence. IRL stuff has been taking up some of my time and I've been constantly bouncing back and forth between multiple story ideas. I've also chosen to change my username to Purkso Livin. I hope that this shows since I'm not completely certain if I did the process correctly. Those of my readers who've been waiting for the next promised Beastars story, it's still happening, but it'll be a little while longer. For now, I'm putting up this much shorter and more light hearted story that contains characters I've always loved. Those characters being the Koopalings. They starred in the first ever Mario game I played, Super Mario World, and any other appearances they've made has always put a smile on my face. I just wish Nintendo would do more with them (like putting them in a fully 3D Mario game). So, here is this shorter story which will only be four chapters. I'll still upload every Wednesday and Saturday. Enjoy!

Ch 1: The First Day

Bowser, King of the Koopas, is standing in sight of the front doors to his castle. 'Wendy's guest will be here any minute. Why am I the only one here?' "Where is everyone?!"

Wendy O Koopa appears wearing a dark pink business suit along with her usual pink bow with white polka dots. As an adult, she became quite the capable fashion designer. "Sorry about that, King Dad. Had to look presentable for my guest."

The king lets a smile flicker across his face. 'Wendy and her brothers might not be blood, but they're still my kids.' "What's her name again?"

"Stephanie Koopa, but she prefers Stevie. We were pen pals for months before I decided to invite her to spend a week here. It's good that we just finished with another Peach kidnapping plot. Otherwise, she probably would've got caught in Mario's crossfire."

"Don't remind me." Remembering his latest loss against the hopping plumber makes Bowser grumpy.

"I'm here, Dad," says a new voice.

The king turns with a smile, but it quickly gets replaced with a frown. "Junior! Put your game away!"

Bowser's biological son doesn't even look up from his handheld. "In a minute. I need to finish this level." Bowser Junior (BJ to everybody besides his father) has changed so much from when he was a child. At fifteen, he looks a lot more like his father. He's built similarly and he's taller than most of the Koopalings. BJ has allowed his fiery red hair to grow out to his shoulders. He's also not an energetic spoiled brat anymore. The young prince is now a lethargic and snarky teen who always makes sly quips about his father's continued attempts to take Princess Peach for himself.

Bowser sighs over his son continuing to play his game. He notices someone else entering the room. "There you are, Ludwig."

Ludwig von Koopa, the eldest Koopaling, is in his best tuxedo. "My sincerest apologies, King Father. A guest at our castle compelled me to make certain I looked my finest." His claws run through his dark blue hair, then smooths it out.

"Careful," BJ says without looking away from his game. "Your pompous is showing."

Before Ludwig can retort in anger, Morton Koopa Jr (the third eldest) comes in carrying a struggling Iggy Koopa (third youngest).

"Let me go!" Iggy shouts at his brute of an older brother. "There's an attack bot that's in desperate need of completion!" The tallest Koopaling ends up being deposited unceremoniously in front of the others. He adjusts his glasses, dusts off his lab coat, and shakes out his green hair. "Also, Chompy needs fed."

Morton ignores his younger brother and salutes to Bowser. "Brought Iggy, King Dad."

The king nods to the bald (except for three hairs) brown skinned Koopaling. 'I just know your birth dad would be so proud of the great soldier his namesake became.'

BJ finally pauses his video game, then he turns to a nearby Goomba servant. "I want a soda."

"Right away, Young Prince," the Goomba says before rushing off.

Larry Koopa, the youngest Koopaling, walks in smoothing out his blue hair and carrying a tennis racket. "Can we hurry this up? I've got practice to get to."

"Stevie will be here soon," Wendy assures her little brother. 'Between these brothers, my boss/adopted father, and his son, Stevie might think I live in a fancy nuthouse…and to think none of them are the most eccentric personalities.'

"We're here!" a new voice shouts in a sing song tone.

Everyone turns and gets their jaws dropped.

The second youngest Koopaling, Lemmy Koopa, rolls in on top of his giant ball wearing a crimson tailcoat and a matching top hat. His entire performing troupe is walking behind him.

"NO!" Bowser bellows, making all approaching stop in their tracks. He stomps over to the large group. "No, no, no! We're not having any in your face performances!"

"Come on, King Dad!" Lemmy complains. "A guest at our castle should receive a show stopping spectacle!"

"It's not some dignitary or ambassador! It's just a friend of Wendy's!" Bowser points at Lemmy's entourage. "All of you! Out!" He notices a pair of Hammer Bros walking by. "Hey! You two! Put Lemmy's ball back in his room!"

"NO!" the shortest Koopaling screams out. He repeats the word over and over while he clings to the ball that the two Hammer Bros pick up.

Bowser comes over and detaches Lemmy from the ball. "Sorry, but I'd rather not have to explain that to our guest yet." He places the tiny Koopaling by Iggy (Lemmy's older twin), who quickly envelops the little guy in a comforting hug.

The Goomba servant returns with the soda for BJ balanced perfectly on his head (since a Goomba lacks arms). "Your chosen beverage, Young Prince."

The teenage Koopa grabs the soda and opens it. However, upon taking the first drink, he sees something that makes him do a spit take and start coughing.

Bowser and Morton check on BJ as the others look over at him with concern.

Once the teenager recovers, he points at the source of his reaction. "Roy?!"

Everyone else looks and they're completely blindsided.

Roy Koopa (the second oldest Koopaling and the brawniest of them other than Morton) is nearby wearing his usual sunglasses. However, there's one major difference in his appearance.

"Why is your body all glossy?" asks Lemmy.

"You noticed?" Roy asks with a smirk.

"How could we not?" asks Larry.

"Did you cover your body with oil?" asks Iggy.

"You bet I did," says Roy. "You think Wendy's friend will like?"

"No!" shouts the female Koopaling. "Don't dare try taking advantage of Stevie! You use her like all the other girls, I'll rip your dick off and force feed it to you!"

"Even if I thought you were serious, if she's hot enough, I won't be able to stop myself."

"You realize that this is Wendy O Koopa, the vainest of the vain?" asks BJ. "She'd never be friends with someone who'd ever possibly be considered prettier than her."

"I'm not that bad anymore!" claims Wendy.

"A lady Koopa uglier than our sister?" Roy asks rhetorically. "Almost impossible."

The female Koopaling sends her older brother a death glare. "I will kill you!"

"Enough!" Bowser shouts at the quarreling Koopalings.

Ludwig crosses his arms while glaring sternly at his younger brother. "Roy, what you're doing is vulgar and ridiculous. Wash that off before Wendy's guest gets here."

"Not a chance," says Roy. "Gotta give this girl a look at the goods." He flexes his arms. "These bulging biceps." He brings them down and puffs out his chest. "These godly pecs."

Iggy, Lemmy, Larry, and BJ all start laughing their heads off.

Ludwig, Morton, and Bowser face palm at how much of a dork Roy is being.

Wendy gags at her brother's display. 'I am the middle child in the most insane family.'

A Koopa Troopa guard pokes his head in through the front door. "Announcing the arrival of Miss Stephanie Koopa."

"She goes by Stevie," Wendy informs the guard.

"Yes, Mistress Wendy."

"Best behavior," Bowser quietly orders the men in the room.

Three Koopalings stand as straight as possible for their species (Ludwig out of his natural need to impress, Lemmy due to the showman in him always wanting to look good for audiences, and Morton because of loyalty and respect for his boss/adopted dad).

Two Koopalings and BJ do nothing since they don't care (Iggy wants to return to his bots and feed his pet Chain Chomp, Larry wants to get to his tennis practice, and BJ wants to get back to his video game).

Roy smirks at the door and does a slight pose. 'Come to Roy, Hot Stuff.'

Wendy takes a deep breath. 'Wonder how Stevie will take all this.'

The front door opens and the sight leaves the male Koopalings staring with all their jaws hanging open. Iggy and Roy even lower their glasses to see if what they're witnessing is real.

In walks a slender female Koop with a white spiked shell, matching hair which is set in a single long braid draped across her right shoulder, emerald green eyes, and a bright smile.

"Stevie!" Wendy calls out as she runs over to give the other female Koopa a hug.

"It's great to finally meet you in person, Wendy."

"Ditto. We'll have a great week together."

Stevie notices the giant Koopa standing nearby. "You must be King Bowser." She bows to him. "Thank you for allowing me to stay in this amazing castle for the week, Your Majesty."

"You're Wendy's guest," the largest Koopa says with a shrug. "Call me King Bowser."

Stevie turns to the teenage Koopa beside the king. "That makes you Bowser Junior. Oh, I'm sorry. You prefer BJ."

"Yeah," the prince says with a nod.

Wendy gestures to the other guys in the room while grimacing. "These are my brothers."

"It's nice to meet all of you," Stevie says with a smile.

Roy is in front of her instantly. "Yo. Name's Roy. I'm obviously the handsome one."

Stevie giggles.

While the other male Koopalings have experienced Roy saying something just like this to girls before, it just felt annoying before. With Stevie, it fills them all with anger.

"Hi, Roy. Wendy told me about you."

The sunglasses wearing Koopaling freezes. 'Oh shit.'

"Did you go swimming?"

"Huh?"

"You look shiny. Almost wet."

'She's naive. Spelling out that it's oil would be awkward since it was all done for the sake of hitting on her.' "I did. We've got our own pool."

"Wow. I'd love to use it, but I never learned how to swim."

"I can teach you."

Wendy places herself between the two, glaring at Roy. "As the family's best swimmer, it really should be me who takes care of that."

Ludwig finally decides to come over in order to sop a fight from starting between the two siblings. "Hello, Stevie. Welcome to our castle home. I am Ludwig von Koopa."

"Right," the guest says with a smile. "You're the musical composer of the family. I'm so amazed to meet an artist like you."

Ludwig blushes at this praise. "An artist? Well, I do have a constant stream of ideas and many I have yet to even begin writing down. Perhaps you're right."

"I look forward to hearing one of your songs." Stevie turns to the next Koopaling. "That racket you're carrying tells me you're Larry."

"That's right," says the youngest Koopaling.

"You're the athlete."

'Glad somebody recognizes that. Morton and Roy might look more fit than me, but those two are just workout freaks. Morton does it to be more of an effective enforcer for King Dad and Roy does it because he feels more muscles on him means more girls. I actually play most sports, especially tennis.'

"It's wonderful you found a calling after all the years of struggling." Stevie places a hand on Larry's shoulder before that sentence can send his mind to its darkest places. "You will show the world that you're someone to be reckoned with." She walks away, not knowing she's leaving the youngest Koopaling staring after her.

The tallest Koopaling adjusts his glasses as Stevie approaches. "Greetings. I'm Iggy."

"Right. You're the tech genius and inventor. What an amazing mind you have."

Iggy, of course, beams with pride.

"I also heard you own a Chain Chomp. I've always wanted one, but my mom has a weird phobia of them."

"Chompy's only aggressive to those that have bad intentions towards us…and Roy."

Stevie has a sudden look of concern. "I have to know. You don't…perform experiments on Chompy, do you?"

"Absolutely not! I'd never risk his life like that!"

"Good. Sorry, but I had to ask. Anyway, I'd love to meet him while I'm here."

"I'll set something up," Iggy says with a shy smile.

Stevie turns to the tallest Koopaling's very fraternal twin. "You must be Lemmy."

The shortest Koopaling, despite having performed on stage for thousands before, feels so self conscious with this girl looking at him. 'She's so pretty. I'm short, have a lazy eye, I waddle when I walk, and my mohawk is naturally every color of the rainbow. Compared to her, I'm just a freak.' "Hi."

"I hear you're the showman. I could never go up on a stage like you do all the time. You are so brave."

Lemmy's knees are shaking. 'Brave? I never really thought about it, but I guess I am.'

Stevie walks over to the last remaining Koopaling. "And you're Morton, the soldier who always follows orders."

The big brown Koopaling nods. "Yeah." He doesn't offer anything else.

"Wendy told me about some of the things you've done for King Bowser and your family. You're caring and very loyal. I admire that a lot."

Morton's heartbeat quickens at those words, but he doesn't allow anything to show.

Stevie turns to Wendy. "Sorry to ask, but can I see my room now? My bag's getting very heavy."

Larry rushes over and takes the bag. "I'll carry it for you."

"Thank you so much."

Roy walks over and scowls at Larry. "Don't you have practice to get to?"

The youngest Koopaling scowls right back. "I have time to spare."

Stevie has an idea. "Can I watch the practice? I've never seen anyone play tennis before except on TV."

Larry grins. "Sure."

All his brothers have the same thought. 'I need to be there too.'

Wendy catches on to what's happening and has to keep herself from groaning out loud. 'I don't just have Roy to deal with now. All of my brothers want Stevie, so I'm going to have to be a buffer between her and every single one of them. This week's going to suck.' "I'll show you the room you're staying in."

Stevie starts following her friend with Larry beside her smiling at his apparent luck.

Roy suddenly is with them. "I'll be your bodyguard, Stevie."

Wendy turns to her older brother and glares. "I really don't think that would be necessary to do, Roy."

Larry quietly growls.

Roy shrugs. "We never know when some professional assassin could get past our guards. Larry, you'd be held back by Stevie's bag and your racket. Wendy, you'd succeed, but then there would be hours of complaining about your claw polish getting chipped or a scratch on your face. I can keep our beautiful guest safe without complaint."

Stevie giggles at the compliment. "Thank you for this offer, Roy. It's appreciated."

So, Roy joins the little group. He sends a smug grin back to his remaining brothers.

All four Koopalings are pissed and jealous.

Ludwig stomps off to his room. 'I shall compose a romantic masterpiece for her! It will make all of Roy's attempts to seduce Stevie pathetic by comparison!'

Iggy heads for his lab while deep in thought. 'I can't impress Stevie with physical labors since almost everyone else is stronger than me. Lemmy can leap and climb around as if he were a monkey. That leaves my intelligence. I need to show off inventions that would be appealing to her specifically. Then there's Chompy. I must groom him to perfection before Stevie meets him!'

Lemmy rushes off to find his troupe. 'We have to perform this week! No time to create a new one! We'll just have to rework an old one with adjustments so no one'll notice! One of them has to be good enough for Stevie!'

Bowser looks over at Morton. "Feel free to court her just like the others."

The brown Koopaling blushes and shakes his head. "No. I'm good."

"You know you want to," says BJ. "It'd help if you finally spoke more than a few words in a sentence again."

Morton remains silent, but his eyes look down at the ground and his fists tighten.

BJ sighs before turning to his father. "Fifty coins says no one ends up with her."

Bowser smiles. "I think at least half of them can be charming if they put their minds to it. Someone will win her over, just like I've done with Peach."

BJ rolls his eyes. "Sure. I'll ask her how you did it. Oh wait, I can't. She's not here."

"Peach is busy with the Mushroom Kingdom. Besides, she loves playing hard to get with me."

"Right. That's why she's engaged to Mario."

"It's a ploy! She'll leave the ceremony at the last minute and run right into my arms! It's the greatest scandal that'll ever happen! Peach is dramatic like that!"

During this whole back and forth, Morton has been mentally talking himself out of trying anything with Stevie. 'She's not for you. You don't deserve her. A soldier's all you are or should be.'

Later…

The whole family (except Bowser who has kingly duties to attend to) is at the tennis court with Stevie and Larry. Ludwig and Lemmy changed out of their suits, Iggy took off his lab coat, and Roy washed off the oil before coming here.

Stevie has taken the front row with most of the other guys surrounding her.

Wendy is on her immediate left to attempt to ward off some of her brothers.

Roy is trying to be suave by flirting with Stevie and "accidentally" touching her, but both Wendy and Morton (on his right) keep him in check.

Lemmy (right behind Stevie) is holding up some banners and cheering for Larry. This is half genuine and half a ploy to ingratiate himself to Stevie.

Ludwig (on Lemmy's right) is staring down at the blank music sheets in his lap. 'Why is it now, when I need inspiration, that it leaves me. I need something before Stevie has to depart at the end of the week.'

Iggy (on Lemmy's left) is using his phone to record the practice match as future reference for possible attack bots' movements. He's currently also informing Stevie of something. "Don't worry about getting hit by a stray tennis ball. I created a force field that protects those who sit in the stands. Go ahead and put your hand out."

Stevie does as instructed and meets resistance. "Wow. Invisible too."

Iggy smiles. "I did the same for all our sporting venues. All except baseball."

"Why not baseball?"

"Catching fly away balls is part of the baseball experience," Lemmy informs Stevie.

"Something we had to let Iggy know," says Roy.

The tallest Koopaling sends his older brother a glare. "Forgive me for not being the great all knowing sports fan."

BJ is sitting in the back row recording the match with his phone just like Iggy. This is so he can include Stevie and the other Koopaling in the shot. 'Have to let Dad know how our bet is turning out. Looks like it's in my favor already.'

Larry feels frustrated. While he likes that Stevie is there for him, his brothers practically surrounding her has him on edge and worried about his chances at dating her. Not to mention his tennis partner is giving him more of a workout than usual.

The opponent, a red shelled Koopa Troopa, is putting a lot more effort in this time due to Wendy's presence. Like many Koopa Troopas in the kingdom, he has a major crush on her. He's hoping that by winning against Larry, he'll impress Wendy enough for her to go out with him.

"You got this, Larry!" Lemmy shouts to his little brother.

The youngest Koopaling is more annoyed than encouraged by this.

Stevie cups her hands around her mouth. "I believe in you!"

That makes Larry look over with a big smile. Unfortunately, this makes him miss the ball entirely.

"Come on!" shouts Lemmy. "You're better than that!"

"Really?" asks Roy. "I always suspected Larry was full of it. His tennis skills aren't any special thing."

Morton elbows him.

"Whoa!" Lemmy exclaims in disbelief at the statement.

Ludwig looks up from his music sheets. "Roy," he says sternly.

Wendy gets up and places herself in front of her older brother. "That was just completely uncalled for!"

Iggy's the only one still watching the court. "Uh oh."

Stevie, the only one to hear him, follows his eyes and becomes concerned.

Larry's fists are clenched and he's glaring down at the ground. 'Nothing special? Is that what I am in their eyes?!'

Worried, Stevie feels the need to talk the Koopaling through whatever is bothering him.

Larry notices Stevie leaving the stands, but he misreads the situation. 'She's leaving. She didn't like what she saw and has written me off!'

The red shelled Koopa Troopa, blinded by his own desire to have Wendy notice him, does not notice Larry's distress. "Hey! It's your serve!"

The youngest Koopaling is consumed with rage. He picks up the ball and smacks it with as much force from the racket as he can. His intent is to maim.

The Koopa Troopa wasn't expecting such power or speed, so he flails to avoid getting hit. Luckily, it sends the ball away from him.

Stevie just exits the stands when the ball goes right at her head, knocking her down to the ground.

"STEVIE!" Iggy screams, alerting the others in the stands what happened.

Seeing what his anger led to, Larry drops his racket and runs over to check on Stevie with everyone else.

Though he's no doctor, Morton has learned how to make basic assessments of someone's condition. "No damage. Just dazed."

There's a collective sigh of relief.

Stevie blinks a few times and shakes her head. "Wow. That was a rush."

"You okay?" asks Wendy.

"Yeah. Just a little out of it."

Larry goes down to his knees in front of Stevie. "This was my fault. I let myself get mad and served the ball way too hard."

"I shouldn't have left the stands in the middle of your match, but I was worried for you."

Larry looks at Stevie in shock. "Worried about me?"

"What Roy said upset you and I wanted to help you through it."

Hearing this just makes the youngest Koopaling feel more guilt.

"Forget what Roy said," Wendy says to her little brother.

"Yeah," agrees Lemmy. "You're a great player."

"I was just talking shit," Roy reveals with a shrug. "Didn't really mean anything by it."

Larry sighs. "It just reminded me of when I was younger. I felt generic compared to you guys. Thought I didn't bring anything to the table, so it wouldn't matter if I…wasn't there."

All his siblings look between each other feeling concerned by this mindset.

Ludwig steps forward and takes a knee. "Larry, I hate that you've felt such lack of worth, but within it comes your greatest strength. It's something none of us have to the extent you do."

"What's that?" asks the youngest Koopaling.

"Drive," says Iggy. "You were always looking for ways to stand out from us and doing a bunch of new things, like that time you tried to learn how to be a DJ."

"I still hang out at clubs to unwind," Larry reveals.

"Then you got into sports. Your energetic ways and competitive mentality just happened to mesh perfectly."

Morton smiles at Larry. "We're glad you're here. You're our family's fire."

"Huh?" asks the very confused youngest brother.

The red shelled Koopa Troopa chimes in. "It sounds like he means you're the passionate one, the one whose desire to prove himself inspired the others to give their all too."

Seeing all his siblings nod and smile at him, Larry feels encouraged.

Stevie finally stands up. "See? Your family loves you, Larry. They'd all be devastated if you were gone."

The youngest Koopaling stands too. He's smiling with determination. "Stevie, I like you a lot. Would you go out with me?"

All the other Koopalings and a nearby BJ gawk at Larry's confession.

The red shelled Koopa Troopa admires Larry's bravery.

Stevie blushes at being asked for a date. "Really? I…this is all so sudden."

"You don't have to answer now," Larry assures her. "Why don't I use this week you'll be staying here to make a case for being your boyfriend. Maybe by the time you leave, you'll have an answer."

"Uh…that works."

Larry looks over to the red shelled Koopa Troopa. "Let's end practice for the day. I need to talk to Kamek."

"Sure," the other tennis player says as Larry leaves.

Wendy places a hand on Stevie's shoulder. "Let's hang out in your room for awhile."

"Okay," the other girl says with a nod.

Watching them leave, Roy feels angry, but not at them. 'Shit! Didn't think getting Larry out of his funk would have him be the first to make a move on Stevie! I'll be the next one! There is no way I'll let it be anyone else!' He stomps away.

Ludwig is mentally panicking. 'How could I be such a fool?! I never thought somebody besides Roy would actually do…anything! I could lose that divine woman to any of my brothers at this point!' The eldest Koopaling softly gasps. 'Inspiration. A tune. I must get to my piano!' He sprints off.

Lemmy also starts running. 'I need to get to the troupe ASAP! The performance needs to be kicked up so many notches!'

Iggy walks away deep in thought. 'Larry has opened up the possibility that every brother is a competitor. I can't rely solely on Chompy to impress Stevie. I need to invent something. It'll need to be simple to accommodate the short time frame, but also something to appeal to Stevie's kind and considerate nature.'

Morton sighs. He knows that all his brothers are going to try even harder to win Stevie's heart. 'This'll be a crazy week.'

BJ chuckles to himself. 'Dad's gonna want to see this.' He sends the video to his father.

AN: A lot has happened just on the first day. Kind of sets the tone for the rest of Stevie's stay, doesn't it? My choice to have Larry be an athlete came from his little tennis mini game from Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga. I also made reference to Mario Kart 8's Electrodrome course with Larry's time trying to be a DJ. You know how there's a screen showing him as a DJ? That's why. Only time will tell what will happen with the rest of the Koopalings and Stevie. Will BJ or Bowser win the bet? Find out next time!