Chapter 2 War for Toppings
The Koopalings, along with Bowser Jr, entered the throne room in a single file line. Bowser was sitting on the throne, and he had a green cellphone in hand. When his children arranged themselves in front of the throne, Bowser smiled lovingly at them.
"Okay everyone," he said. "What toppings do you want to get for the pizza?"
"Pizza? Singular?" asked Wendy. Bowser chuckled sheepishly. Morton hypothesized that if he were warm blooded, he would be blushing in embarrassment.
"Yeah. I am kind of light on cash tonight, so I can't get you guys individual pizza like we usually do."
The others all exchanged looks of disappointment. Morton, however, did not see this as that big of a deal. There were eight of them, so that meant they would each get one slice. Besides, they were still getting pizza. Zesty, delectable pizza. Morton saw no reason to complain.
"So," Bowser said, the smile returning to his face, "what toppings would you guys like to have?"
"I don't know," Iggy admitted. "I mean, obviously we need to get a topping that everyone can enjoy…"
Morton mumbled an idea from his spot in the line. Everyone turned to face him.
"What is it Morton?" Bowser asked.
Morton felt uncomfortable with everyone facing him. Nevertheless, he knew that he could not stay quiet. He took a deep breath, pushing his discomfort to the side.
"Why don't we just get a plain pizza? None of us like the same toppings, so just trying to choose one would lead to an unnecessary argument."
Bowser looked at Morton, his smile growing brighter.
"That's a very good idea Morton." He started typing a number into his phone. "One large, plain pizza coming up."
"What? No!"
Bowser stopped typing onto the keypad and glanced at his biological son.
"What's the matter, Junior?"
"I don't want a plain pizza!" Junior said. "We always get toppings!"
Bowser was about to speak up when he saw that tears were starting to form on the eight year old's face. He sighed.
"Alright. We can get toppings."
The tears in Junior's eyes seemed to evaporate. He smiled.
"Good! I want hamburger."
"Hamburger!?" Roy asked. "Are you crazy? We should get poison mushrooms! Everyone likes those!"
Junior's facial expression turned sour.
"Yeah, if your name is Roy."
Anger and frustration settled onto the face of the third eldest. He glared at his adopted brother, the heat in his eyes making them visible even underneath his shades.
"I know!" Lemmy said in an attempt to prevent a full-out rumble. "Why don't we get pineapple?"
"Oh yeah, I love pineapple!" Ludwig said as he licked his lips. "We never get pineapple pizza."
"Yeah, because it's nasty!" Larry said. He snickered. "I think a better name for it would be gross apple pizza."
Ludwig growled as electricity crackled around his body. Iggy decided to step forward.
"How about pepperoni? You can't go wrong with a classic!"
"No, I don't want pepperoni," Wendy said. "How about we have olives instead?"
Everyone turned to Wendy with wide eyes.
"OLIVES!?"
"No way!" said Larry.
"I am not getting olives!" said Roy.
"I"d rather have Ludwig set me on fire," said Iggy. "Come on guys, let's just get pepperoni."
"Olives!"
"Hamburger!"
"Poison mushrooms!"
From there, the conversation fell into chaos. Everyone was shouting on top of each.
"Okay guys; that's enough," Bowser said.
His efforts were futile. The Koopalings kept on yelling at each other.
"Why do you always think that your opinions are the say-end all?!" Ludwig yelled at Iggy. "They aren't!"
"Well, you are no better than I am!" Iggy yelled back.
"I am not getting pineapple on a pizza!" Larry yelled at Lemmy. "That's like putting ketchup on a birthday cake!"
The longer they argued, the louder they got. Morton stood to the sideline. He didn't want to engage in a fight. He hated fighting with his siblings almost as much as he hated seeing them fight with each other.
"Guys, stop."
The yelling just kept getting louder. Morton's anxiety levels were going through the roof.
"Why can't we just get poison mushrooms?" Roy yelled. "I like poison mushrooms!"
"EVERYONE STOP!"
A silence fell upon the room. All eyes fell on Morton. Once they saw that body was shaking and that he was breathing a little too quick for comfort, they all became concerned.
"Morton? Are you alright?" Bowser asked.
Morton looked back and forth between his adopted father and his siblings. He took one big breath. Once he let it out, all symptoms of anxiety disappeared, and his face became impassive once again.
"Yes." he said. "I just need some time to myself."
With that, Morton turned and went to his room. He could feel his siblings eyes on his back, but he didn't care.
They shouldn't be worrying about me, Morton thought to himself. They've all got enough on their plate already.