AN: Oh, there is one very important thing that I forgot to mention back in the Chapter 1 Author's Note. This story takes place in a different canon than the ones that I have already written starring Aqua, like Le Tour de Shroom and Aquatic Timestream. I bring this up so that it does not cause confusion down the road.

Chapter 2 One Smart Koopa

Celia felt disappointment creep into her stomach. She stared at Roy, then back at his family. They all looked extremely guilty, including the Koopa King. Celia swore that they would break out into a chorus of uncomfortable laughter at any second.

"What?" she asked. The word came out like a whimper, a puppy-like sound. She stared into Roy's shade covered eyes. The gray outlines that the black made around the irises seemed to be shining.

"I am so sorry!" Roy said. "I literally had no idea it would happen until…." Roy counted down on his fingers. As he did, notable distress and confusion were blossoming like an invasive ivy. "Well, I don't really know how long ago, but believe me when I say that it is recent."

Celia nodded, crestfallen. She looked toward Bowser. He looked the guiltiest, like a teen who had crashed their mother's car. She stepped toward him, her bead studded dress dragging across the royal carpet.

"Your majesty," she said, approaching him with reverence. "Would it at all be possible that you could cancel this mission?"

Bowser shook his head.

"Sorry Cecilia." Celia felt a surge of anger when Bowser called her the wrong name. She was about to correct him, but he spoke up again. "I'm afraid not. You see…" Bowser's eyes seemed to glow. A smile spread across his face and he rubbed his hands together giddily. "This is a very important kidnapping mission! I have legitimately been planning it for months!"

The other Koopalings looked up at their adoptive father in confusion.

"Really? Because you just said that you thought about it right before you went to sleep last night," said Wendy.

Bowser waved his hand as a sign of dismissal.

"You said tomato, I say potato. The point is, I really cannot wait for this!"

Celia nodded, feeling a little bit of bile rise to her throat. She curled her fist, her thoughts raced. The fact that Bowser was so dedicated to this today of all days could only mean that he forgot about the arrangements that he had made with her and Roy. At least, that was the best case scenario. The worst case scenario (at least, the logical worst case scenario) was that he did remember, but thought that his arrangements were more important. She looked down at the ground, her dress feeling extra tight around her bone slim figure.

Of course, she wasn't being over the top with her anger for one simple reason. The last encounter she ever had with the Koopa King was still fresh in her mind. At least, fresh in the sense that a pile of dog poop was fresh. She could feel shame overtaking her, causing her to back up.

"I can see that," she said. She couldn't force on a smile, but she could look Bowser directly in the face. "Kidnapping Princess Peach is a very special occassion."

Bowser grinned.

"Oh, we aren't kidnapping Peach this time."

Celia blinked and almost reeled back. The Koopalings looked up at Bowser with equal amounts of surprise.

"We're not?" asked Lemmy.

Bowser shook his head, the grin still on his face. Celia didn't know if it was her imagination, but she thought it appeared a little smug.

"Nope!"

"Well, then who are we kidnapping?" asked Ludwig.

"You'll see," Bowser said. He chuckled and started to waltz toward the left exit. "Okay! Everyone, to the airship!"

The Koopaling followed after Bowser. Roy grinned sheepishly at Celia once all his siblings were gone.

"Sorry," he whispered. Celia sighed.

"It's...it's fine. I wasn't very hungry anyway." At that moment, her stomach let out a growl. Roy chuckled.

"If you want, you can ask the cook to make something for you. He is the best cook in the land!" Roy's face fell. "Except with waffles. And turkey. And anything that doesn't come out of a box…"

Celia laughed.

"It's okay. If you live with my mom, you develop a taste for pretty much anything." She leaned in close to Roy, this time putting on a genuine smile. "Have fun."

Roy beamed adorably.

"I will." He kissed her lightly on the cheek. "For your sake."

…

Roy grinned as he proceeded to beat down a punching bag hanging from the ceiling of the cabin. The sound of the propellers was hardly a distraction, nor were the other people in the room. He sent a barrage of punches toward the bag before turning to Morton lying on a hammock.

"Hey Morton, you want to have a go?"

Morton cast a half closed eye in Roy's direction.

"No."

"Hmm," Roy said with a shrug. "Okay, your loss." He yelled triumphantly and sent an extra meaty fist sailing toward the maroon colored bag. It went swinging backwards, hit the wall, and went flying back toward Roy. Without any time to react, Roy was hit in the stomach and sent flying toward the ground. He groaned as he struggled to get up.

"Oww! That hurt!"

Morton chuckled.

"Hence the no from before."

"Screw you," Roy said as he stretched out his back. He heard the bones in his spine crack. He was just about to get his revenge on the punching bag when Bowser came into the cabin with an extra large grin.

"Well, kiddos! We're almost there, so you had better be prepared!"

Roy glanced out the window. He was surprised to see that a sparkling lake took up most of the landscape below. It was surrounded by light blue cliffs, and cheep cheeps swam around speedily inside. At the bottom of the crystal clear lake was a castle of sorts. It was in an airtight dome, and it appeared to be made out of coral.

"Woah," Roy said as he pressed his face up against the glass.

"What is the name applied to our current location?" Iggy asked. Bowser grinned.

"The Lake Kingdom."

"The Lake Kingdom?" Larry asked. He glanced down at the lake below and snickered. "Gee, I wonder why it's called that!"

Bowser rolled his eyes and approached the window. He pointed down toward the castle.

"That castle is home to Princess Aquamarine. She is the youngest of the Toadstool Princesses. Since this Kingdom was a Mushroom Kingdom colony, it was set aside for her by her parents, King George and Queen Rosemary." He laughed giddily. "And since Peach is her older sister, I think I can take advantage of that."

Wendy's mouth gawked open in comprehension.

"Oh, I see! So you want to do a hostage negotiation." She smiled. "Pretty smart."

"Thank you," Bowser said as he ruffled Wendy's nonexistent hair. "Now, I want you guys to use the warp pipe on the cliff to get into the castle and receive the Princess. Can you do that?"

Ludwig smirked.

"Can a banker get you better interest rates?"

Bowser smiled.

"That's the spirit! Now go on guys, chop chop!"

With that, the Koopalings made their way out of the airship.