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Author's Note:

I originally had the upcoming chapters planned and semi-written out. But after over three months, I looked them over again and decided to rewrite and take a different route. I also going to try and post longer chapters in hopes to finish this ACT sooner. My goal is to start ACT 3 some time next year.

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Disclaimer: This following FanFiction story is a fan-based parody. "Mario" and all of its respectable characters are all owned by Nintendo and created by video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Please enjoy; favorite and review whenever you want.

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Chapter 73:
The Terror Twins

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Music filled the air around the castle as a party went on its way. Koopas and Goombas of the castle gather around the castle courtyard to celebrate what was the eighteenth birthday of Iggy and Lemmy.

Like last time, everyone was allowed to participate so the courtyard was filled. Unlike yesterday, the party wasn't as big as Junior's but it was what the two birthday Koopas preferred.

"Yes, score!" Larry cheered after scoring a point.

He was playing a game of badminton with Morton, Lemmy and Roy. Roy was his Lemmy's partner while Morton was his. On the sideline, Ludwig and Luigi were watching them play. Whichever team loses have to give their spot to them.

"Larry's taking this game a little too serious," Luigi commented.

"Yes, I have notice that," Ludwig said. "I also noticed that he's wearing a beanie,"

Taking the plumber's advice to heart, the lighter blue koopa was now wearing a black beanie hat to cover over his hair. Luigi nodded,

"Yes, I managed to convince him that the hairstyle didn't suit him,"

"In other words it was stupid,"

He shrugged. "Yeah, but I said it in a nicer way,"

SPAT!

"What da shell?"

Luigi and the others turned to Roy who yelled out. He was rubbing his arm for some reason.

"Are you okay, Roy?" He asked.

"Yea'," The purple Koopa responds. "Except somethin' hit me,"

He retracted his claw. To his and everyone around him surprise, it was stained a red color.

"Are you...?" Luigi asked out of concern that he might be hurt.

Roy frowned, "It's...paint?"

Laughter draws their attention. Looking over they saw Junior laughing his green shell off. The older koopa growled,

"Junior,"

The koopa heir smirked, "Ah, tag... you're it,"

"Grgh, I'll show you whose 'it' you little runt,"

"Ah oh,"

Realizing the problem he was in, Junior quickly hightail it out of there. Roy growled and chased after him, intending to get back at him for that stunt.

"Get back here!"

Lemmy blinked as he watched Roy run off. He turned to the others and shrugged. "I guess I'm out,"

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~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~

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Bowser groaned as he watched Roy chase Junior around the courtyard. After a few minutes of debating in his head, he decided not to intervene. Whatever problem the two were having, he was going to let them settle it themselves.

"Lord Bowser,"

Glancing to his side, he saw a guard saluting him. "What is it?"

"There is a visitor in front of the castle,"

"A visitor?" He questioned. "I'm not accepting any visitors at this time. Kenneth knows that,"

Kenneth, his Chief of Security; he was now the castle's temporary Security Director. Kenneth was known for being very paranoid and it was because of that paranoia that he was very effective at his job. He was hoping the blue Koopa could provide some new security measures and changes to prevent a repeat of last time.

As of now, he was not disappointed. Kenneth had made some sufficient changes to the castle's security, all of which have met his approval. One of those changes required all visitors first needed to meet with the Security Director soon upon arriving. The Director then needs to inform the king of their presence and gained permission on whether or not they're allowed in. If they are allowed, they are assigned a guard who will be accompanying them throughout their visit.

"Indeed sir; however, she insisted that Master Lemmy invited her over for the party,"

"Lemmy, uh?" He thought as he took a sip of his drink. If he recall correctly, Lemmy told him he made a friend in town the other day. Perhaps this visitor was the same one he talked about.

"Very well, let her in,"

"Yes, sir,"

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Junior laughed merrily as he ran around the court yard. Roy was chasing after him and he was red…literally. He managed to hit him a few more times and now he had red paint all over.

"Woah,"

He stumbled slightly but quickly regained his footing after nearly collapsing into someone. Fortunately, that person had good reflex and flight abilities so he could continue running without much delay. Roy, however, slowly came to a halt; no longer chasing after him.

"Grgh, I'll get dat kid," He growled annoyingly.

"Hehe, it sounds like you're having fun,"

"Uh?" Glancing over to the side, he noted the figure Junior almost bumped into. His eyes widen slightly as he realized her swirly colored hair.

"'Ey, aren't you Kelly or somethin' like dat?"

"Yup, that's me," she smiled warmly.

Roy raised a curious brow. "What are you doin' here?"

"Lemmy invited me,"

"He did?"

"Kelly!"

Kelly and Roy turned in the direction her name was called. She smiled when she saw Lemmy coming towards her. "Hi Lemmy,"

"Kelly, you made it,"

"Of course, I never miss a party," She said. "Here, a present for you and your brother,"

"Thanks," Lemmy accepted her gift.

"I like your home; it's the perfect place for playing hide,"

"If you want, I'll give you a quick tour around,"

"Sure,"

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"Iggy, is that the girl that Lemmy was discussing about the other night?"

"Uh?" Iggy looked up from his drink when Kanary spoke to him. He glanced over to where his twin was. Lemmy was currently introducing Kelly to their father and Kamek. He swallowed and answered Kanary's question.

"Oh yeah, that's her."

"Hey, she's sort of cute," Larry commented.

"Sure," Wendy rolled her eyes. "If you're into colorful hair,"

"What do you know about hair? You don't even have any,"

"I don't need hair to know that perm you got was a bad idea,"

"Well, at least I can get a perm," He mumbled under his voice.

"What was that?"

"Nothing,"

Wendy narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"You know," Kanary perked up. "Lemmy often talks fondly of Kelly; I'm beginning to think that he might like her more than he leads on."

"No surprise there," said Roy, wiping the paint off him with a towel. "They practically hit it off da first time they met. The way I see it, Kelly's here gonna to be part o' da group long before Iggy here could make a move,"

Iggy did a complete spit-take, coughing out any fluid stuck in his throat. Wendy and Larry laughed at his comical expression while Kanary chuckled to herself.

"Wo – (cough cough) – would you leave me alone already? (Cough) – I said I was working on it,"

"Yea', but fo' how much longer?"

"Obviously I don't want to rush in things,"

"Rush in things? You two have spent days talkin' in front o' a monitor."

"I just want to make sure we're comfortable around each other,"

"You known each other fo' years now, how comfortable can you get?"

"Quit it you two," Kanary intervened. "We have company heading this way,"

True to his words, Lemmy and Kelly were seen heading towards them. Iggy and Roy parted ways, mumbling under their breaths.

"Hey guys," He greeted them. "This is my friend I told you about."

"Hi, I'm Kelestia, but you could call me Kelly; nice to meet you all," She cheered.

Kanary bowed in greeting. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Kelly. Lemmy here has told us so much about you,"

"Really? I hope they were all good,"

"Oh, they are," Roy smirked while Morton snickered.

Lemmy blushed slightly at Roy's statement. Kelly, however, didn't seem to notice.

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"So, that's the friend you were talking about?"

"Yup," Lemmy responded to Ludwig's question.

"Uh, for some reason I pictured her to be older," said Morton.

"She should be about 16 at least," Ludwig guessed.

"I seen her around town before," Luigi said. "She seemed friendly and well known,"

"She is definitely a playful individual; it's no wonder you took to her so fast,"

"W-What do you mean?" Lemmy stuttered slightly.

"Come on, Lemmy," Morton teased. "We all know that you like her,"

"Of course, I like her; she's my friend,"

"I think he means, like like her," Luigi told him.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about,"

The others rolled their eyes. "Yeah right,"

"I'm serious," Lemmy pressed.

Suddenly, Junior appeared beside them. "Hey, who's the girl? Lemmy's girlfriend?"

The others laughed, leaving Lemmy blushing and Junior frowning in confusion.

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~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~

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Sometime later, it was finally time for cake. Everyone gathered around and started chatting 'Happy Birthday' as the chef and his staff brought out the large size cake.

The birthday Koopas were in standing in the center of the crowd when the pastry was placed in front of them. The cake was nicely decorated; half of it had red frosting and the other had blue. Written in green and yellow icing were the words, "Happy Birthday Ignatius and Lemuel,"

"Their full names are Ignatius and Lemuel?" Luigi had asked Wendy.

"Yup,"

Once the candles were blown out, the cake was cut and divided. Kelly sat next to Lemmy on a bench as they enjoyed their red frosted slices. Roy and Morton weren't too far from where they sat, making kissy noises and such.

Lemmy blushed at their teasing while Kelly continued with her cake, unaffected. Iggy and Luigi were watching them, both enjoying a slice with the blue frosting.

"Hey Iggy,"

"Uh?" The glasses wearing koopa turned to the plumber next to him.

"If you don't mind me asking…what was your and Lemmy's life like before Bowser took you in?" Luigi asked.

Iggy paused for a second as he thought about the question. "Pretty rough, actually… In fact, I don't really remember much about when Lemmy and I hatched, other than living on the streets of Koopatropolis."

"Koopatropolis? The capital?"

"Yup, we're big city Koopas. We were actually quite famous back when we were younger,"

Luigi had some doubt in that statement. "Really? Famous?"

"Well, okay, more like infamous,"

"So you were already causing trouble by the time we met. So what did you do?"

"Pretty much the only thing two abandoned five year olds can do just to survive on the streets – we got involved into crime."

"Judging by your 'famous' status, I can only guess that you were successful,"

"Most of time, yes… Theft, pick-pocketing, and shoplifting was our main thing. We only turned to robbery if we were really desperate. We were pretty good at it too. On the streets, they called us The Terror Twins."

"The Terror Twins, uh? You two must have been a pretty good team to earn yourselves a title,"

Iggy smiled gently. "We were…Lemmy and I may have appeared identical when we were younger, and from our knowledge, we probably were. But our 'talents', you might say, were completely different…

"I always was the bright one between the two of us, but Lemmy was always the athletic one. That was proven the night we sneak inside a circus tent for food and Lemmy became hook on their show…

"I wasn't all that interested but Lemmy managed to mimic some of the show's acts. From there, we soon began our criminal career as The Terror Twins; I was the idea guy and Lemmy was the action guy."

Luigi could relate to what Lemmy was feeling. He and Mario were the same way, a great team, long before they had became heroes. So similar yet also different, they made up where the other was lacking.

"In a way, we had a great time. For two kids, we did manage to build quite an impressive reputation. Even got some attention outside the city,"

"Bowser?"

He nodded. "He sent Kammy to retrieve us. We were suspicious at first, thinking she was just another undercover cop wanting to take us in. It wasn't the first time they tried to deceive us; the orphanage was just not our thing and it didn't take me long to figure out that juvenile detention center is just a fancy way of saying kid prison. We eventually found out she was legit when she saved us from that mob."

"A mob?"

"Oh yeah, word of advice – never steal items from a mob boss, especially if that mob boss just happen to be the number one criminal mastermind in the city. Lucky for us, Kammy came along and saved us. Then the next thing we know, he was sent off to prison while Lemmy and I were being introduce to our new family."

"What a happy ending,"

"Yeah, it is," said Iggy. "Now, it's my turn to ask you a question,"

Luigi glanced at him. "Okay, shoot..."

"Do you think I'm moving too slow with my relationship with Hali?"

The plumber blinked; he wasn't expecting that sort of question. "Oh, uh, well, personally, I'm a fan of moving at your own pace. However, if you based of my last relationship, that didn't really go so well."

"I heard but I don't know much of the details through,"

"Yes well, long story short, I took my time when approaching Princess Daisy only to find out she had no interest in me."

"At all?"

Luigi shook his head. "Not even the slightest. I took my time... because I really thought that she was 'the one', I guess I didn't see the need to hurry." He turned his gaze slightly sideways. "But she wasn't 'the one', something a part of me deep down inside always knew but I didn't pay any mind. And all that time I spent fantasizing our lives together, I could have been out there finding 'the real one'."

He glanced back at Iggy. "I guess my advice to you is to talk to her; see where the two of you stand. If she feels the same, then you can start from there. If not, then you could start moving on."

"Hmm... It seems communication plays an important role in relationships," Iggy commented.

"It seems that way, does it?" Luigi smirked. "Good thing for you, that doesn't seem to be too much of an issue,"

Iggy blushed slightly. Before the topic could be change into something else, they music suddenly stop and a female voice came on the microphone.

"Hello everyone... "Kelly stood in the center, drawing everyone's attention on her. "Are you all having fun?"

It was a low reply as everyone was confused on what she was going.

"I said are you all having fun?"

"Yeah," The replies was a bit louder than before but not loud enough for Kelly.

"I can't hear you~" she sang. "I said, are you all having fun?"

"YEAH!"

"That's good, that's good," She said satisfied. "My name is Kelly, and I need your help to turn this party upside down by having… a dance competition!"

Everyone turned to each other, looking a bit puzzled.

"Everyone will dance to the music as best as they could. Our judges..." She pulled Lemmy beside her. "...the birthday boys will pick out the ones that catch their attention. The last one left is the winner,"

The rules were simple enough, but not a lot of people seem willing to take part.

"Did I mention I have prizes to give out?"

That seemed to work as people started making their way to the dance floor.

"That's more like it," Kelly cheered, "Now, let's get this competition started,"

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No Ending Note:

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