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Enjoy!

Chapter Fifty

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Mario or its franchise; it belongs to

Nintendo and their affiliates. I just am really grateful to its creators for giving

me such a wonderful game and media series to write about!

I also don't own anything related to Harry Potter, all that belongs to J.K. Rowling,

but thanks go to her as well because, using her wonderful work, I can expand this

story to make it more interesting.

I also don't own anything related to Naruto if you see me throw a little of that in, too

It was too hot to be inside but the places they could go were limited. Every time the trio dared to venture outside of Roy's bedroom they got attacked, either by the Slavers or Rex's rabid fans. The population at large still adored him, which was good for keeping down nefarious activity, but if it weren't for the protective barrier he would erect around himself and the girls, all three of them would probably get trampled or smothered. Not to mention that, although ideal, public places were the worst. Thanks to the constant heat, spots like the pool and the fountain park stayed packed; they were open to the community and it looked like all of Arid City showed up faithfully to claim their 3x3 section of reprieve from the boiling sun. Honestly. It defeated the purpose of having a pool if everyone jammed into every inch of it like fried sardines.

And if they're sardines, Roy mused, we gotta be starfish or something.

He thought of that because he and Eri and Ari were stretched out on his bed like a bunch of spread-eagle corpses. No, corpses didn't sweat like they'd just gotten out of the sauna.

All the blankets and comforters had been tossed on the floor, leaving one layer of cool white sheet above the mattress, but even that wasn't enough. Because he was king, it wasn't hard to commandeer some standing fans but they were the type you had to crank every five minutes and about fifteen had passed. Which reminded them.

"It's your turn to wind the fans." Eriana pointed out.

She had her eyes closed but Roy knew she was talking to him. He didn't have the energy to even blink, let alone get up and wrestle with the contraptions around his bed. He let a grunt be his response to that, the sound was muffled because, unlike the girls, he was laying on his face and stomach.

"Rex." Eriana whined.

Maybe she wasn't whining but her voice aggravated him nonetheless. It had to be the heat. It was absolutely unbearable. What was it about today that made it hard to even exist? Why was it so especially hot today?

"Rex—"

"I'll do it."

Ariadne had volunteered and was thus unofficially allowed to move as slowly as she pleased in peeling herself off the bed, sitting upright, and then standing onto the once comfortable carpeted floor. She fanned herself as she swayed a bit on her feet, the heat making her a little dizzy, and walked over to the closet fan. It was near the door and she had a hard time winding it up, what with her own waning strength. The heat just sucked all the life out of her.

"Ahh," Eriana sighed as soon as the blades started whirring and made a significant difference in the lavish but steamy room.

Ariadne also sighed softly and stood there, letting the cool air dry her damp skin and golden, sweaty hair.

"Ari, you're in the way." Eri moaned from the bed.

She tried rolling over to get closer and was unsuccessful the first time. The blonde realized after a couple seconds what her friend had said and sank down onto the edge of the bed. That way she was still in line with the stream of refreshing air. That wasn't good enough for Eri because she groaned again and crawled like she was close to death, her arms quivering and her face dragging the mattress. She miscalculated the distance somehow and ended up on the floor and just stayed there. Digging her elbows into the side of the bed, she lifted herself so that she was at least upright and then reached for the fan pole. Its height was adjustable, so she brought it down to blow right in her face.

"Mm, that's better," She slurred, throwing her head back against the bed.

Ari frowned and thought about raising the fan again but instead joined the other girl on the floor. Neither cared about Roy and it was only seconds before the stagnant air got to him.

"…What the…"

He frowned against the mattress before pushing himself up with his fists and glancing around. He had a bit more strength than the girls and when he saw them on the floor, he frowned but did the same thing as them and sauntered over to where they were, then dropped down across from them. He turned the fan so that they all got some air and leaned back on his hands.

"Damn, it's hot."

"You're stating the obvious, Rex." Ariadne pointed out, using her moist hand to fan herself.

Eriana said, "We need to get out of here."

"And go where?" Roy griped, the heat making him extra irritable.

Eriana had no answer for him. She was busy drawing the sweat from her face and neck and arms and wiping it on her lap. She was barely wearing any clothes as it was, just a pair of blue shorts and a cropped top of the same color, so if she was hot Ariadne was definitely suffering. Her clothes were white but she wore more of them; a blouse that covered all of her and a pair of loose but long shorts that hit her knees. And Roy had on the Arid equivalent of a pair of boxers. Usually very prudent, Ariadne hadn't made a single remark about this. Maybe they were all getting more comfortable around each other. Or maybe it was just too hot for her to care.

She also didn't care about the consequences when she suggested, "We can go to the pool."

"And sit in that nasty, dirty water that everybody's already stewin' in?" Roy complained. He tilted his head back and said, "You know, some of those people don't even take a bath or nothin' before they come there?"

Ariadne made a face and said, "I wasn't talking about that one. I was talking about the one in the palace."

Roy snorted and asked, "You tryna' to get us all killed, Ari? You know those cowards probably put acid or some shit in the water. That's why ain't nobody usin' it."

"Couldn't you use your magic to fix that?" Ari was nearly pleading now.

Roy shook his head and rubbed his mauve hair from where it stuck to his forehead.

He said, "I can't even think straight, anyway."

Eriana ran her fingers through her wet curls and smiled a small bit at the feel of the air cooling her scalp. She looked over at Roy and thought about something.

"Where's your father?"

"Who?"

Eriana rolled her eyes and gave Roy a moment to think before he next spoke. Sometimes he didn't do that and what came out his mouth was…well, it was better to just give him a second.

"Oh, yeah." Roy murmured, "He left."

"Left and went where?" Eriana asked.

Roy shrugged.

It'd been a while since he saw the man. Yesterday he arrived with MJ and Larry and Ig and then he'd said he was going to tour the kingdom and Roy hadn't seen him since. Here it was a whole new day and the man still hadn't been back.

"Is he really your father?" Eriana asked, growing more curious now that she was cooling off.

Roy shrugged again.

Ariadne said quietly, "He certainly looks like you…or vice versa."

Now that she was cooling off, too, she was getting a bit embarrassed at being so close to the young king in such a state of undress. He had his whole athletic body on display, from his tanned, lean arms and hard, muscular torso. His legs were bare from his feet up to his thighs and what she didn't see, she could probably use her imagination for.

Wow, and this is coming from my own perverted mind, the girl thought, looking away from the handsome eighteen-year-old. She wondered if she was really any better than some of his depraved fangirls.

"You should go find him," Eriana told Roy.

"For what?" The boy dropped his head and gazed at her.

Ari was right; he and his father possessed the same shade of hypnotic jade eyes. But Roy's were less intimidating.

Eriana worked her arms as she knotted up her hair and she replied, "To see what he's about. Or how long he plans to be here."

Roy thought about that and nodded, then stood and went over to his mirror. He knew he couldn't keep henging as his retainer. Someone was bound to catch on that the man seemed to be in two places at once. And it'd be devastating if he ever ran into him. It'd be even worse if, somehow, the man ended up hurt because of all this.

Roy stared at himself in the mirror and started to alter his appearance. First his hair turned black from the roots, a rather common and unsuspicious color. Then his eyes washed out from the bright green hue to a more faded brown color. And lastly his face and body became chubbier and his height decreased until he looked like an average little ankle-biter, like the many that ran around the city unnoticed.

"That's good, Rex." Ariadne praised, having shut out her previous thoughts. "They won't suspect you now."

Eriana nodded and threw him a positive smile, trying not to worry for once. He'd told her to be less worrisome and she'd taken his words to heart.

"I won't be gone long." Roy told them and they both frowned.

"What about your voice?" Eri asked.

Roy told her, "I'll just keep my mouth shut."

That bothered the girl so much but she refused to fret and instead bit her lip and hoped he'd be alright.

"Keep this door closed," He called to the girls as he shut it behind him.

From his room he skulked out to the gardens because he could get in and out of the palace surreptitiously that way. Even as a child, it'd look a little strange coming out the front doors.

What the, Roy scowled as his foot caught on something and saw that a little thorny stem got lodged in his heel. A minor infliction but it brought awareness to the fact that he wasn't wearing any shoes. Or pants.

Oh well, he kept walking. It's too hot for that anyway.

Besides, he was a child. No one would care.

I knew Daisy wanted to throttle me but I had to stop. I mean, didn't she see what I was seeing? Ahead of us was a huge, huge, huge expanse of sun and sand and nothing else and I wasn't so sure about this.

"What is it?" Daisy asked when she rode up beside me.

I glanced out at the desert ahead and then back at my troops. Something told me this wasn't a good idea.

I told Daisy, "I think we need to head back."

"What?!" Daisy balked, "Luigi, you can't be serious!"

I said, "Daisy, look at that!" I pointed out at the treacherous, arid wasteland and said, "You really think we should go into that right now?"

Daisy rolled her eyes.

"We should go back to Sarasaland and restock all our water and supplies," I suggested, which was unnecessary since I was commander and all.

Daisy gave me a firm look and said, "Luigi. Sweetie. I love you and I see where you're coming from but trust me. We can get through this."

"What if we go out there and get stranded?" I frowned. "What if we all start passing out and dying of heatstroke and—"

"We're going to be fine!" Daisy insisted. "If you just keep making us stop and turn back every five minutes—"

"I'm just trying to keep us all alive." I sighed.

She asked, "What good is being alive if we never accomplish what we set out to do? The snake'll end up taking over and we'll all be done for anyway." Daisy gave me a beseeching look and said, "Please, let's just keep going."

I frowned and again stared out at the desert, knowing we should turn back and try again, but maybe Daisy was right. Maybe I was too cautious and it was slowing us down. I just didn't want to rush into deadly situations and the desert was a dead ringer for one…but…

The girl should be ashamed of herself, I thought as I stared at Daisy's beautifully imploring expression.

"Alright, fine." I frowned, forcing the words. "Let's keep going."

Roy made his way into the city and started his search for the tall redhead and was unfruitful at first. But then he thought in logical terms. It was hot out, so he figured he'd better check the cool spots first. On his way to the fountain park, though, he got derailed.

Just ignore him, Roy told himself, but he couldn't help it. A bunch of law enforcement agents hanging around a shop corner, laughing and standing around: he could ignore that. But Nicky Carrow? No. Not that.

Roy stopped in the middle of the street and glared at the slaver, noticing he was without his brother. That led the undercover king to wonder if he really did kill the other Carrow twin.

"You got an eye problem, kid?"

Roy glared harder at the red-eyed agent and Nicky arched a black brow. He remained sitting on a stack of wooden crates and didn't come lunging for him, so Roy knew his henge was doing its job. But he knew he better get away from the crooks before he did something to expose himself.

He made it in the oppressive heat to the fountains and didn't see his father anywhere. There were a lot of people gathered around but none of them had red hair. Or any shame, for that matter; he saw much more than he thought he would of some of his citizens and couldn't look away fast enough to spare his poor eyes.

"Come play!"

A little girl grabbed him by the hand and dragged him under the spray of the numerous showers and he let her for a little while, because the water felt good, but then he had to pull away and get back to his original task.

Which was, he blinked and recalled it after a second. It was just too hot to function today.

Yet another thing sidetracked him as he headed to the pool, and it came in the form of a poster. He saw plenty of them, the ones with his face both besmirched and decorated, but this one was different. It was part of many that were covering up a hole in the side of a building, one that'd been closed for a while. That wouldn't intrigue him so much if he hadn't heard his name come from the other side of the hole.

Let me just check this out right quick, he thought, walking over to the hole. The posters acted as a flap and he ducked under it and stepped into the dark room. There were tons of people there and none of them he recognized.

These aren't slavers, he realized, dismissing his instinctive assumption. The people gathered were men and women and looked like ordinary people. They stood around, blocking his view and facing the front where a man's voice was booming. This was some kind of meeting.

"…already fired the Elders, what more will he do?" The voice demanded to know. "He's a tyrant, I tell you! And this kingdom doesn't need the likes of him around!"

Most of the people seemed to agree with this.

One of them shouted, "he's gone and brought that hellion of a brother back, I saw 'em walking through the city yesterday morning!"

People got riled up and Roy got defensive.

The original speaker said, "He's a tyrant, I tell you! A tyrant!"

According to the sensational orator, Roy was a lot of things and none of them good. A murderer, thief, arsonist, fraud, and his most recurring charge; a tyrant who planned on running the kingdom into the ground. Roy scoffed and elbowed and shoved his way out of the building.

Good, he frowned, now I got more people against me. As if these slavers weren't enough. I didn't even…

Roy started having second thoughts about his decision to stay and rule here. He truly just wanted to help this country but he was starting to adopt a, 'fuck em all' attitude.

I mean, what's the point of going through this shit? Nobody cares what I'm trying to do, don't nobody want me here anyway, he scowled.

He was getting so sick of protecting himself and the girls and looking over his shoulder all the time and he was seriously considering packing his stuff and just leaving with Eri and Ari and never looking back.

Let these people solve their own damn problems, he thought as he arrived at the pool.

At the sight of all the people his mood worsened. He didn't care that not everyone hated him, he just heard the hole-in-the-wall's speaker calling him all kinds of names and got madder.

But he did see his father.

He wasn't in the water but he was soaked from head to toe and was sitting on the edge of one of the smaller pools. There were several, molded out of stone and surrounded by raised benches and tall plants. Roy saw the redhead was joined by a few women in less clothes than they should have been wearing and headed over to him. He nearly slipped on all the water on the ground and made a face.

This place is so unsanitary, Roy grimaced. He knew the people probably came here because there was literally nowhere else to go to get out of the sun and stay relatively cool.

When he got to his father, he locked eyes with the man and jerked his head towards the dressing rooms. The older Koopa quirked a brow in confusion and was probably wondering why this child was bothering him, but he got up and left the women and went over towards the changing rooms.

Once they were there, Roy led his father into a stall and dropped the henge. His father didn't seem too shocked to see him and Roy hurried up and opened a portal back to the palace before someone, male or female, saw him and started tearing what little of his clothes off.

The portal led the two of them to the gardens and Roy walked through them in silence. They were further away from the palace so it would take a couple minutes for them to get indoors. At least it was cooler among the hedges. While they walked, his father stared down at him.

"Something on your mind?" The Koopa patriarch asked quietly.

Roy glanced over at the drying redhead and still didn't speak. There was a lot on his mind. He ran a hand through his hair and rubbed his neck.

"Are you really my father?"

"Of course." Bowser smiled. "And I'm proud of you."

"What for?" Roy frowned, "You just got here. You just met me."

"I've picked up a lot in the little time I've been here." Bowser assured him. He said, "For one, you're very young to be a ruler. Almost as young as I was when I first became king."

"That ain't nothin' to be proud of, yo." Roy muttered.

"Sure it is." Bowser grinned.

Roy just frowned. He really didn't even feel like he was qualified enough or even deserved to be king.

Bowser said, "I've been all over the city. The people adore you."

"Not all of them." Roy mumbled, watching his feet as he walked. He looked at the ground when he asked, "Didn't you see those posters?"

"Yes." Bowser said slowly, thinking, I remember the days they did that to me. They stopped sometime after I started the public executions.

"Who do you think is doing this?" He asked his son.

Roy frowned. "A bunch of cowards who like to do their dirt in the dark." He looked over at Bowser and said, "You know, they're the ones who's supposed to be protecting people but all they do is prey on girls."

"Like your concubine?"

"How did you know that?" Roy stopped, blinking at his father.

Bowser stopped, too, and shrugged. "I heard some things in the city. And I see the way you act around her and the other one." He then asked lightly, "Are you fucking them both or just the consort?"

"What?!" Roy blurted, flushing and demanding, "Why would you ask that?!"

Bowser explained, "You seem so close. And they're…very loyal to you."

"That ain't because we're fucking!" Roy denied loudly, "It's 'cause we're friends!" He calmed and added, "We got each other's back like that, yo."

"…How interesting." Bowser remarked, continuously staring at his son.

Roy didn't like the way he was studying him so hard so he started to walk again. Bowser did, too, and kept silent. Roy didn't know what kind of conclusions the king was jumping too, nor did he know why it bugged him so much.

He really thinks I'm sleeping with both of them? Is that what everybody thinks?

Feeling compelled to straighten this out, Roy said, "Ari and Eri are all I got. Even with them I sometimes feel…"

"Go ahead," Bowser encouraged, lowering his voice to match Roy's honest tone.

"I just feel like I'm fighting this all by myself and nobody even cares," Roy admitted, feeling weak and frustrated.

"Don't you have any allies in the Kingdom?" Bowser asked.

"I don't know." Roy answered, then recalled that meeting he walked in on and muttered, "I don't think so. I mean, all I know is that there's some evil shit going on here and too many people don't want it to stop."

"What are you doing about it?" Bowser then prompted.

"I…" Roy didn't mention his most recent thoughts of bailing out, instead he replied, "I been thinking about going 'round, finding out who's on my side and just, like, starting a rebellion or something."

Bowser frowned faintly and stated, "Rebellions are so messy. Lots of people end up dead and there's no real guarantee you'll be successful." He looked over at the boy. "Especially if you don't know who's really on your side."

Roy didn't need to hear that.

Bowser also said, "Another thing is, if you end up getting killed before you get your way, the whole thing might fall apart because you are the hero, the leader, and what's a cause without a leader?"

"So what do I do, then?" Roy snapped, rounding on his father.

Bowser said coolly, "You need to show your conspirators that you're the one in control. You're king now. Assert your full power over them and I promise you they'll never challenge your authority ever again."

"How do I do that?" Roy asked, thinking his father made it sound so easy.

Bowser smirked and said, "Oh, I can think of a few ways."

That evil smirk, coupled with the malevolent way he phrased those words made Roy pull back and give his father a cursory once-over.

He asked cautiously, "Where have you been all this time?"

"Does it matter?" Bowser asked. "I'm here now, and I want to help you."

"Why?" Roy narrowed his eyes.

Bowser told him simply, "You're my son. What more reason do I need?"

"…Right." Roy didn't believe him. He asked bluntly, "Man, are you here to take over?"

The teenager had half a mind to just hand over the kingdom at this point. But Bowser shook his head and smiled in a way a real father would at his son, which was very concerning.

"I don't want to take over." Bowser assured the boy. "I'm very impressed with what you have going here. You're talented and have the potential to be one of the greatest kings I've ever known, and I've been around for quite some time."

Roy was quiet. On the one hand, he wanted to believe that this really was his dad and he was coming to help him out the kindness of his heart—goodness knows he needed it right now—but he couldn't shake the feeling that his 'father' was full of shit.

I mean, who just comes out the blue and does this? Maybe word got around that the king was dead and he came to take advantage of that, Roy suspected. I wouldn't be surprised if he's someone on the slavers' side, trying a different tactic since they ain't have no luck killing me outright.

"I can see you don't trust me," Bowser stated. "And I'm not asking you to. I just got here. You don't know me. But I'm not lying; you really are my son and I really do want to help you become as powerful a king as I was."

"Was?" Roy caught onto that and asked, "You're not a king anymore?"

"No," Bowser smirked. "I'm onto bigger things."

Roy stared at his father and went over everything again and again in his head. He thought about what he should do regarding the newcomer and figured he had nothing to lose by hearing him out. The alternative was sending him away and handling this on his own, or just ditching the kingdom and running away.

"Alright," Roy sighed. "You wanna help? Fine. What do I have to do in exchange?"

Bowser grinned at his son and said, "Just tell me what's going on. Start from the beginning and spare no details."