A/N: Hey. Still made the deadline! As promised, it's a long one. 8k+ words ahhh. Enjoy!
Thank you WhiteasSnowyhills for reviewing!
Chapter 19: Sports tourney
Fawn
We arrived at Mushroom Castle, where I was quickly rushed in to avoid a swarm of people wanting to meet me. There was even a group of guards to keep them away. The situation was terrifying; I didn't need to be told twice to get out of there.
Once I got in, I let out a sigh of relief.
"Sorry about that..." Peach said sympathetically, patting me shoulder.
"It's alright..." I said, inhaling deeply.
She smiled before grabbing my and Cult's hands. "Come on, everyone's waiting! Let's get going!"
I grinned, eager to see Rosalina, Bowser, and all his kids. In fact, I was so excited that the fact that I'd escaped and they may've been angry with me didn't cross my mind yet.
We entered the meeting room where everyone one waited and I tried to identify them all. I saw Mario; Luigi; Rosalina; a girl that was almost definitely Daisy, considering how she's been described…and the fact that she's human; a Yoshi, who was probably 'the Yoshi'; a fat man with a purple nose, dressed in yellow…most likely Wario, considering he's human; a tall, lanky man with a face akin to a rat, dressed in purple…most likely Waluigi; and a Toad, most likely 'the Toad'. My eyes rested on Bowser and his family, all present.
"Fawn!" Bowser Junior squealed happily, rushing towards me. He tackled my legs, almost making me fall.
I still didn't remember that I'd ran away from them, as he seemed to as well. I chuckled and said, "Hey Junior! How are you?"
He moved back and happily said, "Good! We're going to cream the stupid Mushroom team! To bad you're not on our team!" He stuck his tongue out at me.
I laughed and said, "Well, you don't know that! I bet we'll do well..."
"U-um..." I heard someone stutter. I didn't pay much attention to whoever it was.
"Oh my gosh! How have you been? Anything interesting happen lately? Learn anything new? I'd love to hear! I learned a lot of stuff while you were gone that I'd love to share!" Morton said rapidly.
"I'd love to talk, if there's time," I assured.
"Ah, Fawn. Everything consistent? No changes to report?" Iggy asked curiously.
"No sir."
"Well, glad to hear that...I guess!" Lemmy said happily. "Can't wait to play against you; this'll be so much fun! I bet you're super good!"
I chuckled, noting that there were probably a few games I wouldn't know. "Well...I doubt I'll be that good."
"Uh…" I turned my head toward the direction of the gruff voice; Bowser. "Hey Fawn."
I smiled largely, happy to see my friend. "Hello Bowser!" I greeted happily.
"Ahem!"
I started paying attention to the other side finally. Everyone was looking at me and Bowser's family quizzically. I remembered that I wasn't on Bowser's team...and that my friendship with Bowser was frowned upon.
"Um...hello," I greeted awkwardly to all the others.
Thank goodness someone broke the silence quickly. "Hey there! You must be Fawn!" Daisy greeted energetically.
"Um...he-hello," I greeted shyly.
She laughed. "Well, Peach said you may be shy. No biggie! I'm good with shy; I'm with this lug right here, aren't I?" He slapped Luigi's shoulder, somewhat hardly from the sound of it.
"D-Daisy..." Luigi muttered, blushing and rubbing his shoulder. He nodded to me and said, "H-hello..."
"H-hi..."
"Hah! You two should be friends!" she said jokingly.
I chuckled a little at her joke, noticing the similarities and humor.
"Well, good to have another human girl in board! Always fun to get more!" she says cheerily, holding out her hand.
I took it gingerly. "U-um...yes..."
She squeezed my hand harder than I thought she could. I hear she's been called 'Warrior Princess'...
"Well, anyone else going to talk to her, or are you all going to stay strangers?" Daisy asked her group.
Toad chuckled and walked up to me, holding his small hand up toward me. "I'm Toad! ...Or that's what everyone calls me. Nice to meet you."
He had an air of niceness around him. "H-hello..."
"Yoshi!" Yoshi said happily, walking up to me.
I didn't know how I was how to greet him, since he spoke...um...Yoshi. "Um...hello?" He didn't respond right away. "...Yoshi?" I tried.
Rosalina laughed and held her hand out to me in greeting. "Don't worry, he can understand you. He just can't speak our language. Nice to see you again, by the way."
"Nice to see you too," I said kindly, shaking her hand.
The fat yellow man walked up to me and scrutinized me. I noticed that he smelled terrible. "Nyegh…I'm Wario. You should know!"
I was a little frightened by this man. I tried to remember my manners and stretched out my hand in greeting. "Um…Fawn. I'm Fawn."
"I know that!" he said rudely, crushing my hand in his. Not only did it hurt slightly, but it was disgustingly greasy. Guess the rumors about him are true…
The tall purple man walked up to me as well. "Hello, darling," he said exaggeratedly. "I'm Waluigi. I'm sure you've heard of me."
I tried to recollect what I knew of him, but I was blanking out under the pressure. "Um…"
"Oh…surely you've heard of me," he said, sweeping down to kiss my hand. I shivered, feeling very uncomfortable. Cult's talk flashed through my mind, I realized what he was.
"You're a pervert, aren't you?" I asked.
Everyone chuckled a little, especially Wario and Bowser's family. Waluigi's eyes flashed angrily as he threw my hand away. "Shut up, I am not!"
I frowned. Was I wrong?
"Well then!" Peach intervened, stifling a laugh. "Now that we're all acquainted, why don't we get started?"
Everyone cheered, and started throwing commentary around. I, on the other hand, noticed a problem. "Wait..."
"What is it, Fawn?" Peach asked.
"Aren't the teams unfair?" I asked.
"Hm? Why?"
"Well...there are nine of them and eleven of us..." I observed aloud.
Peach considered this. "Oh...I suppose you're right. I hadn't really thought about that."
"So…doesn't that mean that one of our team has to go to there's?"
Everyone grew deathly silence. I didn't know that it was an awkward silence, instead identifying it as a thoughtful silence. "Who will go to their team?"
Nobody responded, with Cult eventually muttering, "It's probably better like this…"
"Humph. We'll beat you guys even with less people, easy!" Bowser proclaimed, laughing evilly. It felt weird to hear him laugh like that.
I frowned and said, "I don't think that's fair…someone needs to, otherwise it's not a professional game." I turned to everyone on my team. "Anyone?"
"No, none of us-a would ever work-a with him," Mario seethed.
"Easy Mario…these are supposed to be friendly, remember?" Peach soothed.
I shrugged, remembering everyone's animosity. "Okay, I'd be more than happy to myself." To be honest, I actually preferred this.
"Um…what?" I heard Bowser say.
I smiled at him. "Of course, I'd love to be on your team."
Junior, Morton, and Lemmy immediately lit up. "That sounds great!" they all said, proceeding to plead with their dad.
"Well, uh…" he stuttered.
"Listen…I know I'm not very good. But the teams need to be even, and I'd love to be a part of your team!"
"You…want to join me?"
"Well, sure. We're friends, aren't we?" I said cheerfully.
Something crossed his face, but I couldn't quite tell what it was.
Bowser looked like he was about to say something, but Cult dragged me away by the arm. He took me to the other side of the room and looked at me sternly. "What do you think you're doing?" he said softly.
Peach joined him by his side. "Yeah...do you think this is alright.
I frowned in slight annoyance. "You know, if he's this bad, why would you invite him to play with us?"
Peach scratched her cheek. "Well...it's sort of an old tradition..."
I continued to frown. "Well, he never does anything. Why would he start now?"
"Well-"
Cult was interrupted by Rosalina, now joining the conversation. She chuckled and said, "Cult, as I said, she's a big girl. She can make her own friends now. And besides, I bet if Bowser just had a friend, he'd be nicer! He seems to respond well to Fawn."
Cult looked away from her to observe me. He was observing me very oddly, almost as though he were realizing something. "I suppose she's right...you're a big girl, you can make your own decisions. If you think this is the right one..."
I nodded assuredly. "Yes."
He sighed. "Okay."
I immediately brightened and stooped to hug him. "Oh thank you!" I exclaimed.
He hugged back and whispered, "Damn, they grow..."
Peach sighed and said, "If that's what you want..." She quickly clapped her hands and brightened her tone, now addressing everyone. "Okay! So, let's begin!" She gestured toward the exit to the meeting room. "Follow me in your teams to the front, everyone!"
Everyone began to follow her out the room.
"Let's go Bowser!" I said, turning to him. However, I stopped when I noticed that he seemed upset about something.
"Yeah...can you hold on one second?"
Bowser
"Yeah...can you hold on one second?" I asked, stopping her.
I was a little upset, as I didn't need to hear her conversation to know that Peach and Cult disapproved of her being in my team.
But what bothered me most was how cheerful she was, despite that she ran away. She was acting like everything was normal...like everything was fine! But it wasn't, was it?
I guess I knew that I was at fault, keeping her captive and all...but not only was my pride hurt, but the Clown Copter Mach 20 was destroyed, and I was at least pissed at that!
...And maybe I was a little worried about what she thought of me, if she still was my...friend. The word still felt weird to use.
"Oh...what's wrong?" she asked concernedly.
"What's wrong?" I asked, somewhat incredulously. How is she just ignoring it? "What's wrong with you?"
"Hm?"
"You escaped from me!"
She looked at me, almost as if thinking, before her mouth made a 'o' in realization. She began to grow nervous. "Um...I had forgotten about that..."
I gaped. "...That's why you haven't addressed it? You forgot?"
"Um...yeah."
"How do you forget about something like that!?"
"I-I'm sorry...I just was so excited to see you and your family..."
I calmed down and raised my eyebrows. "You're...excited? You want to be on my team?"
She looked at me quizzically. "Well, yeah. You're my friend and I haven't seen you for a month!"
A feeling of relief washed over me. She...still considers me her friend. I realized this whole time that I was really just worried that my first friend in a long time escaped because she'd stopped considering me that.
"But um...I'm sorry that I destroyed your Clown Copter..." she said ruefully.
"I uh..." I stammered. To be honest, I felt like I should be getting mad, but I didn't feel like it to be honest.
I sighed. "No, I'm sorry, and I missed you so..." I felt incredibly sappy saying all this. This girl's ridiculous… But then she beamed and walked up to me and did something very unexpected. She wrapped her arms around my shell, as much as she could reach, in a hug. I looked down at her in shock, her head stretched back awkwardly to avoid pressing itself against my carapace. My face flushed at her actions. Wh-what is she doing!?
She pulled away quickly, and rubbed her head. To my misfortune, she must've seen my red face, as she quickly grew nervous.
"I-I'm sorry!" she said quickly, possibly mistaking my redness for anger. "My dad said that if I did something wrong to somebody, I should hug them and say sorry...I just remembered he'd told me that a long time ago, so I thought it'd be appropriate."
I continued to gape at her, hoping my blush was fading. "Did your dad tell you to do that when you were five?"
She looked puzzled. "Why yes...how'd you know?"
I only stared on for a second longer before sighing. Geez, her social skills suck even worse then mine. "Just a hunch..." I paused to rub my neck awkwardly, not sure what to say next.
The bad part was I knew what I wanted to say next; I was just to scared and conflicted to say it. I was thinking of just leaving now, but then I thought about how we might be playing sports with this hanging over us. We wouldn't be playing as friends. That compelled me to just say it. "Um...it's okay. I forgive you…"
She beamed at my words and practically jumped. "Oh thank you so much! Now...let's get going!" She quickly ran out the door.
I stared after her, slightly dazed, before snapping to. "Uh...hey wait!"
Fawn
We all followed Peach in to a carriage, where we were transported to some sort of race track. "Okay!" Peach projected cheerfully. "The first game we agreed upon is...racing!"
I grinned in excitement. Wow, racing? I've only rode a kart a few times! I was very excited to get behind the controls of another kart.
"Okay, it'll be team Darkland versus team Mushroom. It'll be a rather large race, with twenty people...but Mushroom circuit is big enough! So let's do this!" Peach said cheerily.
The Mushroom team cheered, while the Darkland team booed them. I shrugged, deciding it was best to let them do what they felt like.
Peach cleared her throat to silence everyone. "Your karts are in the garage. We can also change there too, if we want."
Peach turned to me and smiled, saying, "I actually picked out an outfit for you, Fawn."
I rose my eyebrows in surprise. "For...me?"
She nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! I just thought it'd be cute if you were in a sports outfit like Daisy, Rosalina, and I. What do you say?"
I blinked. They went through the effort of making sportswear...just for me? Just so I could be matching with them... I smiled brightly. "Thank you."
She smiled and nodded. "Okay everyone, follow me to the garage!"
She took us around the side of the track and took us to a simple structure near what I assumed to be the garage.
She led us inside, and it appeared to be a simple hangar with a bunch of karts and bikes lying around.
"Okay guys, here are your vehicles. Feel free to make any preparations you see fit before we start." She turned to me, Daisy, and Rosalina. "Come on girls, I'll show you the changing room."
She led us to a little door that led to a spacious women's bathroom. On the wall hung four clothes bags.
"Okay, they're in those," Peach said, gesturing to the bags.
She walked up to them and started handing them to us. "Here's mine, Daisy, Rosalina, and Fawns," she said, giving them to us respectively. I took mine and held it carefully.
Peach smiled at me. "I remember your favorite color is brown. So I hope you like it!"
I smiled and nodded. "I will."
"Okay, change in the stall," she said, gesturing to a stall.
I nodded, and we each went in to a separate stall to change. I locked to door and carefully pulled the clothes out. I began to carefully inspect the new clothing, which was a tank top and short shorts. They were brown, with a Tanooki leaf brooch on the chest. They seemed comfortable, easy to play in...and kind of cute, actually, which I usually didn't care about. Plus the idea that she had gone through so much planning in to it, all so I'd match to, made me feel very...happy. I changed in to the new clothing, which felt comfortable and easy to play in.
I stepped outside, to see the other three standing there in similar attire. The only difference was the color and brooch.
Peach turned to me and beamed. "Oh, you look great! I wasn't sure what to think of when you said brown was your favorite color, but it looks great on you! Also, I thought it'd be neat to add the brooch since your forest is Tanooki forest. Do you like it?"
So...she did put a lot of thought in to it. I beamed at the kind act.
Daisy whistled at me. "Damn girl! You look great!"
Rosalina smiled and added, "You look stunning, I'm sure you'll do great."
I was grinning at their kind words, and felt a little overwhelmed by their kindness. "Th-thank you..."
Peach smiled once more before Rosalina reminded us it was time we got back. So we walked back out in to the hangar to greet the others.
Bowser
Hah...I'm ready to annihilate these losers. I patted the side of my kart in satisfaction, finishing my inspection. I've been waiting for a while...how long are they going to take?
As if on cue, the four girls walked out of the bathroom, all clad in their sportswear. My eyes instantly zoned in on Peach, reveling in one of the few times she was in anything other than her gigantic dress. Don't get me wrong, the dress looks great on her and all. But it was nice to see her a little more...exposed. I observed her exposed skin, pale and beautiful, her toned legs, her breasts that were never visible with that damn dress, and-
"Bowser? What are you staring at?"
I tore away to look down at the voice. It was Fawn, who had walked up to me in my trance like state. My face heated up a little.
"Uh...what do you mean!?" I said, hopefully not to nervously.
She frowned before her face dawned in realization. "Oh...you were staring at Peach, weren't you?"
My face was only barely heated up before, now I was sure I was blushing. I looked around quickly to see if anyone heard. Thankfully, she had enough sense to speak in a whisper, so no one heard her. I sighed in relief, and looked away until my blush subsided.
"Humph...it's not like I'm that crazy for her..." I muttered, clearly lying.
She actually giggled, which pissed me off a little, but not as much as I thought it would. "Uh...that's denial again, isn't it?"
I growled softly, but not menacingly. She laughed in response. "Okay, I guess I understand if you're embarrassed. I'll go pick out a kart now."
I heard her leave and I sighed, finally turning back on her leaving form. But when I looked at her, I noticed something was...different.
"Fawn!" I heard Cult greet Fawn happily. "You look great in those clothes."
She smiled at him, and I think I was beginning to notice what was different. "Thank you dad."
"Hey Fawn!" I heard Daisy greet Fawn enthusiastically. "Need any help picking out a kart?"
Rosalina joined in, adding her input. "Well, you don't have much choice, unfortunately. There's only a standard bike and kart left, one for you and one for Cult."
"And I call the kart," Cult said teasingly.
"Hm...hope you're okay with it. Bikes can be pretty hard to control..." Daisy murmured.
Fawn shrugged, and said, "I'm fine with it actually...I think I may prefer it."
"Really?"
"Yes. Maybe there'll be more room for flexibility...which will mean more flexibility for a game plan, maybe."
"Hah! My game plan is to get in a kart and ram and nail the bejesus out everyone!" Daisy exclaimed, laughing.
"Oh...that may work too..."
"Well, I'm glad you prefer this Fawn," Rosalina said kindly.
"Don't think I'll go easy on you, honey," Cult said smugly.
Fawn laughed, almost getting in to that insane laugh of hers, and replied, "We'll see."
I continued to observe Fawn, now realizing that the change was simply her clothes. She was now in a mere tank tops and short shorts. I think the change in clothes made me focus on her more, especially since more of her was revealed.
"Okay, here you go!" Daisy said, leading her to a standard bike.
"Oh...thanks," Fawn said awkwardly, stumbling on to the bike. Once on, she carefully gripped the handlebars.
"Do you know how to use this?" Rosalina asked.
"Um...sort of. We have a bike at home...I think this is the acceleration."
She pressed on the acceleration and throttled forward.
"Fawn!" the three collectively yelled. I found myself growing very nervous for her, and was about to call out to her.
"Ah! Sorry!" she yelped, slamming the brakes. I closed my mouth, no longer needing to call out. I found it odd how worried I was over such a small thing, but choose not to dwell on it. I continued to observe her, with her now getting used to the controls.
She started driving around the hangar slowly, getting the hang of turning, before breaking in to a smile and going a little faster.
"Hah! There you go!" Cult called.
"Yeah! You go girl!" Daisy called as well.
Fawn laughed and continued to circle around the hangar as I continued to watch her.
She seemed so...happy. With her hair flowing, and her face bright with joy. I observed her legs, which were displayed very finely with her position on the bike. They were a light tan, like the rest of her body, and slightly more toned then Peach's legs. They held decent strength, as well as her arms that were gripping the handlebars. There was still something different about her, but I couldn't place what it was.
She drove past me, her body now raised and bent over. I noticed the back of her legs and bottom as she drove by in her bent over position over the handlebars. My eyebrows rose. Why would I notice something like that? That's...weird. I noticed that I was looking at her in a different light. What is it that I can't place that's...different about her?
Fawn
Peach eventually led us out of the garage and to the starting line, where a Lakitu waited on his cloud to be the referee. He held a little flashlight that would tell us when we would go.
Everyone began revving their engines, preparing to go. I was both excited and nervous at the same time. I knew this would be fun, and that was what this whole thing was supposed to be for anyways. But I also felt like I shouldn't drag my team down, as they had done so much for me…
The red light on the Lakitu's light turned on, signaling us to get ready. As everyone began to rev up, I gulped.
I'll have to do this the best I can...
It turned yellow.
I'll have to play completely safe, and remember to hold nothing back...
It finally turned green.
I've got to be smart about this!
With that, we all took off. We started driving all in a sort of group, and a few managed to gain the speed and had the handling to make it past the herd of people. I deducted that getting past the herd was the hardest part.
I cut a corner and ran in to some block with a question mark. A green shell materialized on my lap. I remembered there were items that could be used in this game, and that it was impossible to hurt anyone on your team. I took it and aimed it at the person directly in front of me; Wario.
I missed by a small amount, and it bounced around a bit before destroying itself. As I was preoccupied, I ran in to a wall. Wario laughed strangely and drove off. I was now in 16th.
Okay...I need to remember that my aims good, but not phenomenal...
I began to panic that I would fail, but I received another item. This time it was three banana peels. I grinned, already knowing what to do with these. They were traps, something I preferred.
Using the banana peels, I placed them in places people would fall for them. Some were hidden in the item boxes, or the grass, or a lane people traveled down a lot. Three people fell for them, allowing me to get ahead.
I was content, now in 10th place, almost at the finish line, until I felt my bike shake.
"Move bitch!" Roy yelled as he bumped his car pass me. I swerved a little from the impact, his kart being much heavier. Peach passed by too in my swerving.
I frowned as I regained myself and passed the finish line. That wasn't nice...why would Roy do that?
I sighed as I passed the finish line, where I stalled to a finish, waiting for everyone else to finish. It wasn't long until Lakitu held up a sign that had the results.
1. Mario
2. Rosalina
3. Bowser
4. Luigi
5. Bowser Junior
6. Lemmy
7. Daisy
8. Larry
9. Yoshi
10. Peach
11. Roy
12. Fawn
13. Toad
14. Iggy
15. Wario
16. Morton
17. Ludwig
18. Waluigi
19. Wendy
20. Cult
Hm...12th. I know I shouldn't expect much better, considering in new...but I let them down. I was feeling down on myself, but I contented myself that I did better than Cult. I could hear him swearing in the background about his place.
According to the final scores, Team Mushroom won. Bowser looked very angry about this. I instantly felt guilt for ultimately dragging him down, considering I was the one who insisted on joining him. Oh...I'll have to do better in the last game!
The next game was baseball, so we were transported from the race track to a baseball field. Once we got there, I observed what a baseball field looked like. A large field with a diamond shaped area on front, and a bench and shack on each side of the field.
"Okay then!" Peach proclaimed, everyone gathered together on the field. "Toadsworth over here will be the referee." She gestured toward the old Toad, who bowed a little to the lot of us. "He'll flip a coin to decide who bats first; heads us, tails is Darklands."
Everyone nodded and Toadsworth flipped his coin, the result coming out with our team batting first.
Before starting, we had a break to ourselves. We went to our bench where we sat and listened to Bowser's game plan. He seemed energetic, and motivated to win.
"Okay you guys, before I can make the line up, I need to know something." He turned to me. "How much experience do you have with baseball?"
I considered this. It was a game that a few kids played in the village, and I was able to join a few times. But as I never had many friends, and was never all that interested in the game anyway, I wasn't to experienced.
"Um...I've played, and know the rules. But I'm not to great..." I said carefully.
"Anything you're good at it?"
I tried my best to remember my experience playing. "Um...I think I was good at making bases." I continued to consider this. "I remember I didn't really need to do much to make a base..."
"Hm..." he drawled. He paused to think before he said, "Okay, I think I've got the lineup."
He cleared his throat. "Okay, first will be Ludwig. Then Junior, then Morton, then Wendy, then Lemmy, then me, then Fawn, then Larry, then Roy, and finally Iggy." He sighed and looked down, before looking up at us with determination. I could tell how much he wanted to win. "Alright...let's win this, and destroy those fungus losers!"
Everyone cheered, and I sort of clapped awkwardly, not wanting to slander anyone.
We finally began to play. Ludwig grabbed a bat from the bat rack. He sighed and muttered, "A quaint game of golf would have been preferable..."
Ludwig and Junior made bases, and Morton now went up. He hit the ball after two swings, hitting it far outfield. Ludwig actually made it home with the distance Morton had made with his shot, but Morton got out at first, since he wasn't fast. Everyone yelled in cheers. "YEAH! Go Luddy!" Bowser cheered, clapping Ludwig's shoulder.
Ludwig looked away, although he was grinning. "Yes, well...tis my duty as clergy to serve my country in all customs."
Junior, however, was not as fortunate. Despite his speed, he got cocky and going for home as well, this tagged out, thus ending our turn.
Wendy went up, and couldn't hit the ball, sending her in to a fit on how 'totally jank and gross baseball is.'
"Dang it!" Junior whined, pouting.
I jogged to him and patted his shoulder.
"It's okay," I comforted. "You just were a little careless is all."
"Yeah, nothing wrong with going for the win," Bowser said, slapping his son's shoulder, who stumbled a bit. "We just won't let them score!"
And so we swapped sides, Bowser now positioning us. Wendy sat out, complaining that she was hot. Iggy did as well, saying he had things to contemplate. I noted our teams placement was a little…scrambled.
Waluigi actually went first, but he was unable to hit Bowser's lightning fast speed balls.
"Hah! That's what I'm talking about!" he cheered.
Next came Toad, he bunted it and bolted to first. Then came Mario, who hit a powerful hit that got him to first, and Toad to third. Peach went next, but Bowser threw it easier than usual. She hit it and made it to first, sending Toad home.
"Yay, I did it!" Peach cheered happily.
Bowser was smiling faintly at her, and I could tell why he threw it softer. The thought was cute, and made me grin.
Yoshi went next I recall, as I tried to analyze their battle strategy for the sake of the team. Mario made it to third, and someone fumbled, allowing to Yoshi dash to second. Someone else went next as I stared up in to the sky, doing my best to figure out how to win.
Hm...our placement's off...and...shiny...ball...
Something white was falling from the sky slowly, white and shiny. It was pretty, so I absently reached out my glove to catch it. It landed in it perfectly, and I looked down on it. It's...the ball...what?
"Fawn! The ball!" a voice called. I yelped and threw the ball in the direction of the voice. I looked ahead to see Yoshi tagged out, who had almost made it home.
"You did it Fawn!" Junior cheered, hugging my legs. I blinked before I realized what happened.
"Oh...thank you," I said, happy I did my part.
Bowser ran up to me eagerly, grabbing my shoulders. "You did it Fawn!" he yelled happily.
I smiled eagerly, enjoying the warmth on my shoulders. "Thank you!"
He held on a second longer until his mood seemed to change. He quickly retreated to the shack, muttering, "Good job."
I raised an eyebrow at his odd treatment, but shrugged in the end, looking forward to the next round. They unfortunately made two points, now beating us.
We batted and placed a few people, who Bowser brought home with a single home run. It was quite amazing to see him bat; he swung with such amazing force that they ball disappeared in to the sky. We all rushed and tackled him in joy, not that it was enough to make him fall. All his kids were gathered around him, hugging and cheering for him. "Go King Dad!" "You're awesome!" "I can't even see the ball any more!"
He laughed heartily and roared in victory. I felt like I was supposed to do something, but I couldn't get to him because of all his kids around him. So I did something on instinct; I launched up past his kids in to his arms. He caught me with a surprised look on his face
"Uh...good job Bowser!" I congratulated from my place in his arms, his giant hands suspending me with ease.
He looked down on me, and there actually may've been a slight blush. He quickly put me down and muttered, "No problem..."
We eventually struck out again, making three points by the end of our turn. After they went, they had unfortunately made four points. Bowser was none to pleased. "Damn! What are we doing wrong!?"
I frowned, feeling as though I was failing him. I'll have to do better for him...maybe if I share my defense plan, they'll score less points. I feel as though he thought more about our offense, not defense…
Finally, it was my turn to bat. I gulped, slowly walking to the home plate as a few people cheered me on. I put my hands in what I remembered to be the way to hold the bat and stared down Mario, who was pitching.
Okay...think...when the ball comes, I need to swing. That's the important part. So all I need to do is foc-
The ball whizzed past my ear.
"Strike!" Toadsworth called.
I blinked dumbly, trying to gather myself. Damn! Come on, focus!
I focused intently, but even then the ball flew by faster than I could hit.
"Strike two!"
"Come on Fawn!" Bowser cheered.
I gulped, steeling myself. I stared down Mario with determination. I can do this...I can do it! I'm going to hit the ball no matter what!
He reared back his hand and finally threw the ball. My eyes flashed as I swung the bat. I've got it! I've-
The ball hit me smack in the forehead, and I tumbled over. I was lying on the floor, dazed and confused. I could hear yelling and heavy footsteps.
"Fawn! You alright!?"
I felt a pressure on my chest. I looked up drearily to see Junior sitting on it, his face looking worried.
I blinked and rested my head back down. "Um..."
"You okay Fawn?"
I looked to my side and saw Bowser standing with his arms crossed. He looked worried.
I blinked. "Um...I guess..." I remembered something important. "Did I hit the ball?"
Bowser inspected me, as if looking for a wound, before losing his worried look and chuckling. "With your face, yeah."
"Oh...did I do good then?" I asked, confused by what that meant.
"I guess...you get to take a base. But only if you're okay-"
"Oh, that's good," I said, sitting up. Junior got off me and I slowly walked to first.
So it was just like I remembered...I made a base without really doing anything.
After I made my base, Larry struck out. But Roy made a home run, so that gave us two points. But in the end, Ludwig and Junior both got out.
Bowser was very worried. "Damn...time to change."
We started changing positions, but I walked up to Bowser before going to mine. "Um...Bowser?"
"What?" he said gruffly.
"If you like, I think I may have a better defense position."
He turned to me with a suspicious glance. "Oh really?"
"Um...yes, I think."
"What do you know about baseball?" I could tell he was grouchy now form losing.
"Well um...not much, but I think everyone's talents and teamwork aren't being utilized correctly. And we're losing now, so a change must be made."
He considered this before sighing. "Fine, we'll try it for this inning. Let's see if it works."
And so I organized everyone to my liking. Bowser pitched, Ludwig catching, Lemmy on first, Junior on second, me on third, Morton in left outfield, Roy in middle, and Larry in right.
We tried this new tactic, and it worked even better then I hoped. Everyone was close to someone I noticed they'd work well with, and I noticed power throwers were more important to be put in outfield, so I placed stronger people there. In the end, these tactics plus the element of surprise prevented the Mushroom team from scoring a single point.
Bowser walked up to me at the end of the inning. "Wow...impressive. Didn't realize you were so good at baseball."
I smiled shyly. "No I'm not. I just took what I knew about your kids and tried to make a better defense. You made a very good offensive strategy with your line up, but your defense was lacking was all."
He raised a brow. "Yeah...uh, you knew that much about my kids?"
I shrugged. "I guess..."
He nodded thoughtfully and walked away. I heard him mutter, "How about that..."
We played the next two innings, our good playing staying true. In the end, we won 12 to 10.
Bowser ran up to all of us and somehow found the might and reach to hug half of us and pick us all up.
"Ah, we did it! We beat those little bastards!"
He promptly dropped us and walked to the other team. He laughed and yelled, "In your face!"
Mario frowned angrily at Bowser's taunting. "Shut up-a! We-a still won-a the race!"
"Well...actually..." Peach drawled, looking down. "They beat us better in this one, and gained more points total. So overall...they win by a margin."
Bowser's eyes widened and he broke out in to a giant smile. "YEAH!" he roared.
Everyone except for Wendy, Ludwig, and Iggy joined Bowser in roaring. Even I awkwardly yelled in cheer too.
Bowser quickly turned to me and grabbed me in an air tight hug, pressing me against a plastron. I laughed at his friendly, happy gesture. It made me happy he was so happy…although he was hugging me pretty tight.
"You played great! Damn, you know baseball!" he said happily, looking down on me in his arms.
I chuckled, despite the fact that he was crushing me. "I told you...I know you...and your...family..."
His face looked reflective. "You sure do. "
I coughed a little. "Um...sorry...but...you're choking..."
He realized he was crushing me and released me, letting me gasp for air.
"Woops. Sorry." He chuckled.
I chuckled too, and the whole team was laughing and having a good time.
Peach walked up and began to address everyone. "Well, thank you Bowser and your family for coming to compete with us. And thank you Fawn and Cult for coming as well!" She quickly said, "Sorry you got hurt Fawn..."
"No worries, I'm fine," I assured.
She nodded before continuing. "Congratulations for winning the competition Team Darkland!"
"I-a suppose you can-a win at least one," I heard Mario mutter.
Bowser growled. "Want to speak up, plumber!?"
"Now, now, you won and did great," Peach quickly soothed. As expected, Bowser relaxed. "Thank you for coming out! The carriages are waiting outside, and that'll take you back to the castle so we can all go home. Thanks again everyone for coming!"
We all said a few things and exchanged a few words before we all climbed in to the carriages. I felt a pang of sadness in my heart now that I knew the day was over. If only I could see everyone a little longer...
Bowser
I sat in the carriage with Fawn by my side. There were four carriages, and everyone on my team split in two different ones. I went in to one with Fawn, Junior, Roy, and Ludwig.
I looked at her, sitting by my side and staring out the window. She seemed upset about something.
I frowned, as I felt upset too for some reason. Why am I upset? I won the tournament! I should be happy! I should...
I took another glance at her. It was a really fun day, yeah. But not because I won...because I spent the day with my friend and family. I was sad that it was over. And soon I was back to my old life.
"Are we there yet?" Junior whined.
"I swear to Stars, ya keep up dat whinin and I'll beat da crap outta ya!" Roy seethed.
"Why must the chemistry of this family be so vulgar and dysfunctional?" I heard Ludwig mutter.
I sighed, remembering that my whole family was going to be home for the next few days, which meant we would try to find a nanny to prevent them from destroying the castle. And we wouldn't find any nanny so the castle would be destroyed.
Why can't any of the nannies just do their damn jobs? Seriously, the only good one was...
I looked to my side to glance at her. Though I didn't want to admit it openly, her love for my kids made me happy. She really is impressive. She's the only person that understands my kids and can sort of take care of them...I don't want to leave her, we didn't get to talk much! I blushed when I thought that. She's my friend... I blushed harder when I remembered the three times I'd hugged her. She felt so warm...and it was nice to hold someone... I looked over at her in her new apparel. She looks really good in that...I didn't know she had all that! My eyes widened and I forced myself to stop thinking. What are you thinking!? You can't think like that, it's...weird! She's just my friend, who I'm going to miss, unless there's a way to-
My eyes flashed as an idea came to mind. Wait...what if I...?
"Hey um...Fawn?" I said hesitantly. Not that I really had any reason to be hesitant, it was no big deal!
She turned to me and cocked her head. "Hm?"
"How would you like...a job?" This isn't weird! I'm simply hiring the only nanny that can actually work!
"...Hm?"
"Well...the Koopalings respond well to you, so I figured that maybe you could come to the castle to take care of them for a while..."
"What?" everyone said, the three others were now paying attention.
"I'm offering you a job to take care of the Koopalings for a while. I guess you'd stay for a few days, until some of them go back home," I said irately. "I'll pay you a hundred coins per hour, all living expenses paid," I quickly added.
Her eyes bulged. "What?"
Crap, she's not biting! "One hundred fifty."
"Yes!" she said quickly.
"Really?" I said, a little to hopefully.
"Yes! Um...I mean, I have to ask Cult..." she said, calming down.
Argh, I hate that guy. That may be a problem. I quickly looked her over. Hm...I can always kidnap her... I considered this, but shook my head. Nah...that feels weird for some reason.
"Fawn is taking care of us!? Alright!" Junior said excitedly, bouncing in his seat.
"Ugh, I gotta deal wid dis bitch again? Man…" Roy muttered
"Oh heavens. Don't use me to rationalize your own agenda, father," Ludwig muttered. I ignored him.
I internally growled at Ludwig's comment, knowing that he was right. But I still ignored it. I hope her dad approves…
Fawn
Once I got out of the carriage I ran out to meet Cult. I was incredibly excited to take care of Bowser's family again; and for so much money too!
I could make so much money, and help out Cult! Maybe even the whole village if I did it enough!
I was very excited, so I ran to him as he got out of the carriage himself.
"Cult!" I called enthusiastically, reaching him.
He, Peach, and Rosalina climbed out with him.
"Hey Fawn!" he greeted. "Good plays out there!"
"Thanks. Listen, Bowser just offered me a great job!" I said eagerly, cutting to the chase.
He frowned. "What?"
"He offered me to stay at his castle to nanny his kids while they're home!"
His eyes widened. "What!?"
"Yeah! Can I do it, please?"
"What...n-no! No, of course not!" he said, gaping.
I frowned. "But why not?"
"Because! He's...he's evil! He's no good, I'm not voluntarily letting you stay there!" he insisted intensely.
"B-but...it's my first job! Please!" I pleaded insistently.
"I have to agree with your father, this is a bad idea. I've told you, Bowser is dangerous..." Peach added.
"No he's not! He's nice!" I insisted. "You all must not know him like I do..."
"Fawn, I've known Bowser longer. I know what he's capable of," Peach insisted.
"Now wait, what's the problem?" Rosalina asked, joining the conversation.
"My daughter seems to think it's okay to live with tyrannical kidnappers!" Cult huffed.
"Bowser offered me a job to nanny his kids!" I explained.
"Oh...well, why not?" Rosalina asked.
"Because he's evil, and who knows what could happen if she goes!" Peach said.
"Seems the only thing we do know is if anything goes wrong, she can just be rescued like usual. Or, as she's been able to do, escape," Rosalina reasoned
"Yeah, but-"
"Fawn, how much does it pay?" Rosalina asked me.
"Um...one fifty coins per hour."
Cult's eyes bulged. "Really!?"
"Yes!"
"You see? This would be a great opportunity for her; she could make a lot of money, experience a job, and maybe even soften Bowser up a little. He has gotten nicer," Rosalina reasoned.
"But-"
"And let's not forget she's twenty one. She can make her own decisions."
Cult finally calmed at this. "I...suppose..." He turned to me. "Is this...what you want?"
I nodded. "Yes, very much."
He waited a long time, contemplating. He finally sighed. "Ugh...alright..."
I squealed in happiness and hugged him. "Oh thank you!"
"Oh, you can't be serious!" Peach persisted.
I turned to her and grabbed her hand. I was a little irate that despite how much Bowser clearly loved her, she still treated him so. "Listen. Bowser's not as bad as you think. Let me do this...please."
She stated in to my eyes before softly saying, "Okay..."
I smiled and let go of her. Rosalina chuckled and said, "Well, time to run along dear."
I smiled as I looked at her. I was feeling very grateful for everything she'd done today. "Thank you for helping…but why are you being so nice and defending me? Don't you hate Bowser?"
She chuckled. "I don't hate him. I know as you do that he has good in him. I just believe you have the right to do what you want. And also…let's just say I think you're good for him."
I noticed her odd statement. But once again I was overcome by that feeling of déjà vu. I ignored it, as I feel like the day was catching up to me. "Okay...bye Rosalina. Thank you..."
"My pleasure," she said kindly.
I turned to Peach and Cult. "Bye! Bowser said he'll drop me off at the village in a week at the latest! Love you!"
I took off toward Bowser's family, eager to take off. Or as eager as I could be in my steadily increasing rate of exhaustion
"Just be careful! Remember what we talked about!" I heard Cult call.
Oh right...I've got to remember that. "Okay."
I finally made it to Bowser's family, although now I was stumbling. I was very tired by now.
"Did he say yes?" he asked.
"Yeah." My energy was draining out.
He seemed happier than his usual nonchalant self, but he still retained it. "Cool."
"Oh Fawn this'll be so fun!"
"More games!"
"More tests!"
I heard several voices calling, but I was to tired to process any of them. I stumbled vaguely in to a machine of some kind and stood on some floor.
I remember wind going through my hair.
I remember the vague excitement of leaving.
Well, looks like Bowser's finally taking some interest in her! Look forward to the next ch! Lol review/fav/whatev! Byee