Happy New Year! I hope you all are enjoying the first few hours of 2014! To celebrate, let's get another chapter in, shall we?

Nearly all night and well into the next morning, Bowser lay awake in his bed, staring at the ceiling and tears streaming down his face and soaking the areas of the pillow on the side of his head. He was surely going to be dehydrated from tearing out his body's water. When the Koopalings were getting impatient for their father to come down for breakfast, they voted to send Bowser Jr. up to check on him.

"Papa?" Bowser Jr. said, knocking on the door to his father's bedroom, "Are you in there?"

There was no answer. Slowly, Bowser Jr. opened the door to find his father still lying in bed with bloodshot eyes and a thoroughly soaked pillow underneath him.

"Papa, breakfast is being served!" Bowser Jr. said urgently, "You're gonna miss it!"

Bowser turned to face the other way, "…Not right now, son." He said.

The young Koopa Prince was surprised; his father thought of almost nothing but food! How could he turn down a buffet of over 19 different kinds of meat?

"Daddy just needs a little time alone right now…" Bowser said.

Sighing in disappointment, Bowser Jr. shut the door and returned to the Dining Hall to tell his siblings about his father's denial to the offer.

"Why is papa still lying in bed?" Larry asked, completely lost, "He would just come here every morning and suck all the meat down like a black hole!"

Ludwig shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know, but hey, it leaves more for us!"

"NO!" Lemmy chimed in, "We gotta find out why papa's acting all sad!"

"I know what can get him on his feet…" Roy suggested, before being cut off.

"Nuh-uh!" Wendy exclaimed, "You are not going to use dynamite outside his window again!"

Roy sighed, "Fine…" he muttered, disappointed, "…hey, Morton!"

"S'up?" Morton replied.

Roy clasped his hands together, "I'll need you to get me some…um…'boom-boom sticks'." He said, emphasizing the last part of the sentence.

"That's secret slang for dynamite!" Ludwig said, "I do not want to risk getting into trouble for destroying the stained glass window again!"

"Oh-oh, I know-I know!" Iggy said in his usual hyperactive tone.

The Koopalings all sighed, "What, Iggy?" they said simultaneously.

"We could-we could lift up papa's bed like a forklift, carry it out under the sun, like a tanning bed, and papa will get out when he starts baking like a slab of beef!" Iggy said, really fast.

All of the children of Bowser stared at Iggy Koopa awkwardly.

"That will just piss papa off!" Larry said.

"I think we should all just take time to think about doing something good for papa. We'll take out anything we don't agree with from the plan, and do something that we all think will help him feel better." Bowser Jr. suggested.

"The first thing, though," Wendy began, "is to find out why he's so down in the dumps."

(XXXX)

Kamek and Kammy Koopa, two elite magikoopa sorcerors, both tried to console their king.

"Your laziness?" Kammy said, knocking on the door, "Are you still in there?"

"…Go away!" Bowser's voice came from inside.

"Your stubbornness!" Kamek intervened, "I am well aware that Princess Peach has caused some…well…complications for you."

"Yes," Bowser's voice came, "I don't need to be reminded of it!"

"Well, see," Kammy began, "we might be able to help you get her to like you, Your Loneliness."

"Yeah, how? Can you just wave that wand and make her see me as some hot, hunky human?" Bowser asked, getting irritated from being disturbed.

"I'm afraid it won't be like that, since there is no spell that can alter desires…" Kamek said, "…but there is something that could possibly assist in you winning her affection."

Instead of a grumbling reply, the magikoopas could hear Bowser stand from his bed and rapidly make his way to the door. Sure enough, he opened it up.

"There is?" Bowser asked, instantly amazed, "What is it? Give it to me!"

The magikoopas looked at each other with uncertainty.

"See, Your Eagerness," Kammy said, "the thing is…this magic is ancient, beyond our comprehension. We are familiar with its properties, but the chances of surviving exposure to it could be…quite slim."

Slowly, the big smile on Bowser's face drooped, "What? What does that mean?" He asked, confused.

Kamek cleared his throat, "We don't know for sure, but we can sense something about the energy from the relic we found to be quite…intense. It seems to be more than the average koopa could handle, at least in most cases."

Bowser rubbed his chin, "Well, could you show it to me?" he asked.

The two magikoopas nodded, and Kammy pulled out a small chest from under her robe. She opened it, and a glowing, humming red stone the size of a half-pint water bottle emitting aura particles in random directions hovered upwards out of it. Kammy "held" it by keeping her hand a few inches under it as it floated.

"This is the ancient relic that was dug up in an abandoned ruby mine." Kamek said, "It has…a power…a force."

Kammy added on: "It is capable of altering living genes to suit the user's desires, all the while keeping track of the original genetic code. Once its powers are infused to a living thing, it can take the form of another creature…even a human."

Bowser stared at the glowing stone, "Really? Why don't I just try—"

Kammy pulled it away, "No! You can't risk it!" she exclaimed, "It's been known to work similar to a virus and that it can make some DNA become cancerous, which, even for the stone, is irreversible. On top of all that, drawing too much energy from it to infuse to your genes can kill you…instantly."

Bowser darted his eyes around with uncertainty. Would he go on living the rest of his life alone, or would he take a risk and attempt to have a chance with Peach, that is, if he were to survive?

Kammy passed the stone to Bowser, "The choice is yours." She said, "But I hope that, if you choose to use it, you will still live to reign over the Dark Lands."

"Yeah, me too." Bowser said, staring at the floating stone in his hand.

With that, the two magikoopas left, both with worried expressions on their faces. Bowser shut the door to his room, and pondered on whether or not to use this power. If it was beyond the understanding of the wisest sorcerers in the land, then this was going to be like running through a forest blindfolded without hitting a tree.

But he longed to be human so he could be with Peach (and, naturally, he was always curious about what it would be like to be a human). After spending hours and hours of thought, pacing, consideration, possibility, and other factors, Bowser made his decision…

He took out a sheet of parchment from his desk, and wrote a note in the nicest handwriting he could:

Dear Princess Peach,

I just wanted you to know that I have taken your words into consideration and that I have learned my lesson about attacking and kidnapping. In an attempt to make it up to you, I am going to use a magic on myself to turn human, but Kammy and Kamek have told me that it is very unstable. If I die, please understand that it will be for you. I really wish you would not have to read this letter in the event that it does happen. But, always remember…I have loved you, always. Even when I have been a complete asshole, I still love you.

-King Bowser Koopa.

After finishing his note (which was now damp due to the teardrops that had splashed onto it), he folded it up and wrote "Give to Princess Peach in the event of King Bowser's death", and set it on his bed.

He then proceeded to pick up the glowing relic, close his eyes, and channel his life force through the stone. The stone began to glow brighter, and Bowser began to feel a strange sensation spread through his body like rushing water. His temperature rose, his muscles felt sore, his heart rate elevated, and he was sweating bullets. A glowing red triangle with a vertical line going through it appeared on Bowser's chest, almost like a fluorescent tattoo.

I want to be human… Bowser thought.

After finishing channeling the relic's power, Bowser let the stone fall to the floor as the symbol on his chest began to glow brighter.

"Ugh…my head…" Bowser moaned, pressing his palms to his temples, "…I don't feel so good…"

His skull felt like it was melting from heat. Slowly, it spread down throughout his body. He felt movement within his bowels like he had eaten something alive. The feeling was making Bowser nauseous, but he was in too much discomfort to worry about it.

Before Bowser could even begin to comprehend what his body was doing, he saw that his claws began to shrink and become transparent. His skin changed from yellow to a pasty peach color. He could feel his spiked wristbands gradually getting looser until they fell off and clattered on the floor. Weight from his shell was steadily decreasing. He could feel the skin on his belly tighten and his abdomen shrink. A strong tingling feeling on the base of his spine told him that his tail was slowing shrinking, and the same thing happened on his head, which meant his horns were gone. Prickling across his neck and face appeared as his mane began to get longer and cover his entire head. He could also feel his legs and arms slowly becoming thinner and longer, but at the same time, it felt like the room was getting larger.

As Bowser felt his face changing shape, like it had turned to clay and someone was molding it, he passed out for an unknown reason.

I really hate to end right as Bowser completed his transformation, but this chapter seemed pretty long to me. Anyways, everybody enjoy your break from school! Check back soon for the next part, which will hopefully flow into the story well, I hope. Keep holding on…