Sorry, I kind of was slow updating the chapter I promised to be fast on. :3 Um, not much to say for this one. It was shorter, but I added some, including the Bowser's POV section and a bit of dialouge here and there...just regular additions. Oh, and cookie to whoever notices the little...reference thing to last chappie.
Disclaimer: (I keep forgetting to do these!) Only character I own this chapter are the two congress representatives.
Miles away, in the Volcanopalace, Roy was leaning back in his chair, tapping his claws on the desk as he stared at the math equation in front of him. He grumbled at the weekend math homework and peered harder through his heavy sunglasses at the numbers, wishing they would just get up and off the page.
In the background, the steady flow of words coming from the Toadstool Palace's telephone lines mumbled out. One of the palace's secretaries had been gossiping with her friend for going on two hours, taking up one of the four phone-line slots the interceptor had recording power for. The interception suddenly grew louder as another voice otherthan the gossipy secretary picked up on the reception.
Expecting it to be simply another toad, Roy rolled his eyes and kept thinking. The job was monotonous, but he couldn't turn down his turn at "listening" to any and all information that came out of the castle. The siblings' plan for their father's birthday couldn't, at any expense, be stopped, especially by any change of plans coming from the castle.
However, the voice wasn't that of a toad. Peach's high pitched voice caught Roy's ears and caused him to put the pencil down as he heard the princess plan her taxi ride. His eyes bulged behind the sunglasses and a maniacal grin crossed his features. Roy picked himself up and ran to the doorway, happily aware that, because his father was out on legal business, the palace was void of everyone but the kooplings and servants.
"LUDWIG-LARRY-LEMMY-IGGY-JUNIOR-MORTON-WENDY!" the koopling roared at the top of his lungs. Doors slammed and claws smacked stone floors as the kooplings ran in turn up to Roy's room.
In anticipation, the third oldest koopling turned back to the interceptor, happily spinning its tapes as Peach spoke with the Taxi operator. A second little red light blinked showing recordation, as it automatically did each time the phone was picked up at the castle.
Ironically arriving in the order of their summoning, the kooplings rushed into Roy's room.
"Yeah, Baldy?" Morton grunted.
In response, Bowser Junior gasped. "Listen," he squealed, hopping up and down, causing his tiny ponytail of hair to flip. "Listen, Mama Peach!"
Larry's eyes brightened behind his thick glasses as he pushed past his other siblings. "Yeah, but listen to what she's saying!"
Roy smirked and put his claws on his hips. "Toldja it was woith it, didn't I?"
The siblings quieted as the conversation between Peach and the taxi operator continued.
"So where should I pick you up?"
"Where Mario Track connects to the Toadstool Castle entrance path. At 9 a.m, sharp."
The operator sounded surprised. "The castle? Oh…alright then. We'll send our best drivers. May I have a name to mark on the records?"
"Yes, Peach Toadstool."
"Thank you, Miss Toadstool. Please remember this number as your account number to use for any cancellation, your bill, and ecetra. 187."
"One-Eight-Seven?"
"That's right. We'll see you tomorrow morning. Good bye!"
"Good bye." Click.
xxxx0o0o0o0o0xxxx
Bowser wrenched the door of the Darkland Congress break room open and marched in, heading for the JavaLava machine as he always did after an especially nerve-wracking Congress session. Usually they were worst when it seemed congress had actually agreed on something Bowser didn't. Unanimous votes, the only way Darkland could veto-over Bowser, were almost impossible, but they didn't exactly seem to like the National Finger Removal day Bowser had suggested. Luckily for them, he didn't exactly care for it either. Simply was bored and wanted to throw the idea out.
The sight at the JavaLava machine didn't brighten his day any. Trapped in each others' arms, the B Male representative from the Northern Cliffs and the C Female representative from Richton Fields didn't seem to see the KoopaKing well enough to have the sense to cease their, er, mating rituals.
Bowser gripped each head with his claws, and peeled their faces apart, then quickly rammed them back together by the foreheads. Bowser smirked at the shouts of pain and rubbing of foreheads that ensued. As they turned, forcibly respectfully to the king, he growled, "VolcanoPalace is the biggest building in the country. I'm sure you can find a better room for that kind of illegal…stuff."
As the Richton Fields rep was about to bow and follow the king's advice, the Northern Cliffs representative spoke up. "It's not illegal for two members of the congress to express personal affection while on duty, I checked, sir."
Bowser growled. "What's your name?"
The koopa representative stuttered his answer. "Mar…Marcus Levston, sir. Of the North…northern cliffs…si..sir."
"Well, I never liked you in the first place, Barkus Chevston. You're really pushing it. You and Miss pink hair over there find some other room."
'Miss Pink hair', as Bowser called her, self consciously touched the pink bangs on her head, thus touching the bruise from her and Marcus' crash at the same time. She let out a tiny "ow", cueing Marcus to step over to the Break Room's freezer.
Bowser glared at Marcus. "What do you exactly think you're doing?" He spat.
Marcus lifted a small ice-pack out of the freezer and showed it to the king. "Getting ice…for…you know…Tia's head."
"How charming," Bowser snarled. "I'm sure she'll thank you for your chivalry in ANOTHER ROOM."
Marcus hurried over to Tia and the couple rushed out of the room, Tia giggling as Marcus gripped her hand and showed her out.
Bowser poured himself a cup of steaming JavaLava, a creamy drink with a bit of MagmaSpice mixed in to give it its famous kick. Bowser downed the cup in one slurp and slunk into an oversized chair. He smiled as his mind wandered to what it would be like if he were in the two koopas' place, he and his princess…
Bowser snapped himself out of the day dream and scowled at the door that Tia and Marcus had just raced out of. Furious, he chucked the empty cup at the door. The ceramic cup burst into shards when it connected with the steel, not quite drowning out Bowser's infuriated roar.
"Stupid Love!"
xxxx0o0o0o0o0xxxx
The recording fizzled to a stop and the interceptor automatically lowered its own volume, one of Larry's brilliant features on it. The kooplings almost seemed silent in wonder at the new report Roy had uncovered.
Roy continued to smirk at the other kooplings as Ludwig wrote notes as fast as his claws could move his quill.
Wendy even smiled. "This sure makes it a heck of a lot easier."
"Psh, Yeah. Donchu know it!" Roy told them with a waving claw.
Lemmy stepped over to the interceptor and looked at his siblings with his lazy eye. "May I do the honors?"
"Oi! I found it, rainbowhead! Don't you go takin' my glory."
Lemmy rolled his good eye. "But you've got a voice even the interceptor can't mask." Lemmy patted the machine lovingly as Roy sighed and nodded. Thrilled, he pressed a few buttons, selected a few clips, and finally clicked the blue 'redial' button. The kooplings heard a single ring before the phone at the Toad Town Taxi Emporium was answered.
A slightly different voice from the one that answered Peach's call said, "You've reached Toad Town Taxi Emporium, and how may I help you?"
As Lemmy calmly spoke into the interceptor's microphone, his voice suddenly sounded just like Peach's. "Yes, I'd like to cancel an appointment I just made to have a taxi come to my home at nine tomorrow morning. My account number is one-eight-seven."
The other end could be heard clicking a few buttons on a computer and replying, "Is this Peach Toadstool?"
"Yes, I've found other means of transportation."
A few other clicking noises were heard before the operator spoke again. "You're appointment has been canceled, Miss Toadstool. Have a nice day."
"You too. Goodbye!"
The operator replied with a click and the siblings turned back to one another.
"I've got my license, you know," Wendy hinted to her brothers.
The kooplings grinned at each other. There was no better time to, er, help Peach slip out, unnoticed. It was as if fate had planned it for them…
Author's Note: There you go. Hope you enjoyed it somewhat. Thanks to you all for the reviews, especially Kari, Blastos X4, and Casiana1. I was really pleased to see all the wonderful reviews for last chapter (even without Casi's double review.;)) and look forward to some more for this one! You know the deal- R&R for more. Next chapter's a nice one, Peach FINALLY leaves her house. :)