Vanilla Turtles

chapter 3

Chaos has no one true form, because it has eight. The Koopa children. "Roy give me my train back! Dad gave it to me so it's mine and not yours! You're too stupid to operate it anyways! You can't even work the microwave right!" Morton made another grab for his toy only to get sucker punched by his older brother,

"I'm not stupid snotface, I'm just keeping it so you can't have it moron!" Roy was the second oldest koopaling and definitely the meanest while Morton was a middle child and never seemed to stop talking. Jr managed to sneak past these two knowing nobody but dad could make them stop fighting.

Jr ran down the hall just wanting to get to Sugar Rush in one piece, but apparently the universe thought it would be funnier to make him bump into Iggy. Jr had to look up to meet his brother's eyes, well his goggles anyways. "Hello Jr, I'm fine, no I won't play with you, because I'm busy, no I won't play with you later, because I don't want to." Iggy answered the unasked questions as he did every time he ran into Jr then walked past him not waiting for a response.

Jr just ignored him and went back to sprinting down the hallways. The first time Iggy had done that Jr had actually asked questions. Then every time they ran into each other afterward Iggy would repeat his answers and walk away no matter what Jr actually wanted. It had made him cry the first time, but after so long he had become almost numb to it. Now it was just a brief sting in his chest.

When Jr reached the main hall his arm was grabbed by his eldest brother, Ludwig. "Jr, I have told you not to run around inside! You will break something and since I am in charge while father is working it will be on my head!" Jr collected drool in his mouth before licking his brother's arm, making him let go, "Ewww! Jr that's disgusting!" Ludwig screeched in revulsion, but Jr was already out the door of the castle.

In the front yard Larry and Lemmy were playing one on one soccer. Wendy, Jr's only sister, was filing her nails while half heartedly refereeing. None of them noticed him leaving, not that they noticed him normally. Larry and Lemmy sometimes let him play with them but they prefered just playing with each other, and Wendy treated him like he was two years old.

But that was Jr's family; An uptight eldest brother, an angry wad of muscle, a broken record on legs, a mildly demented scientist, a stuck up sister, two pranksters, and a busy single dad. Jr could understand why though. Ludwig had a lot of pressure on him to be a good leader to them but none of them made it easy, Roy didn't know any other way to communicate since he spent his early childhood getting tossed around before Bowser adopted him, Morton was attention starved, Iggy had never elaborated on his life before adoption and nobody who knew anything said anything, Wendy was as lonely as Jr was, Larry and Lemmy had only ever been friends with each other, and Bowser had to run a kingdom while taking care of eight hyperactive balls of destruction.

How did he know all this? He was psychic! No I'm kidding, he's just really good at eavesdropping. He sprinted through game central station causing minor havoc. Jr had acquired a new favorite target during his runs in between his game and Vanellope's. He was some sort of clown guy with a super annoying laugh, bad attitude, and psychotic tendencies. Jr had so far set the guy's pants on fire, placed several embarrassing signs on his back, tripped him while he was running from a guy in black, and taped his shoes together (the guy wore loafers). And Jr had never been caught thanks to his small size, fleeing abilities, and tendency to pull these pranks while a crowd was near. Also everyone who saw him commit the deeds gave him a thumbs up or some other sign of approval.

Currently the clown was holding a ridiculously large hat out of a shorter man's reach and taunting him. Jr couldn't do anything when Roy did things like that, but this guy was nowhere near family. There weren't enough people to hide him and all his plans didn't guarantee getting the hat back, he couldn't get it fast enough… Oh well duh! He skipped past the clown bumping him slightly, "Watch where you're going brat!" The clown kicked him harshly in the side, but his shell protected him so he didn't feel much.

Jr sped toward the big map of the station where he saw Sonic leaning against it looking bored, perfect. Jr made his breathing irregular and forced tears from his eyes before going up to the hedgehog sniffling rather convincingly. "T-the mean c-clown man kicked me!" Come on Jr, big fat tears and big puppy eyes.

"What!? That's it! I'm sick of Joker! I don't care what bat-brain says he's going down!" The clown guy was annoying but he could be hilarious, if he was the one being teased. Jr made himself scarce to avoid suspicion and ran, giggling maniacally, toward S.R. knowing that justice would be served.

"And so Larry put it in the microwave, Ludwig was so angry he couldn't form words!" Vanellope laughed at Jr's story, they were finishing up their icecream monster by adding solid green peppermints for teeth.

"So did it explode?" She asked excitedly,

"Nah, violins don't explode very well, but it did burst into flames! The microwave exploded right after." Jr stepped back to admire the horrifying dairy treat, it was an octopus with two mouths and had a lot of eyes made out of red gumdrops.

"Then what did he do?" Vanellope glitched next Jr waiting for the ending.

"They started fighting and made so much noise dad heard and came down. He was pretty mad, not as mad as when Roy put itching powder in Wendy's makeup, but mad. For punishment he made Larry take violin lessons." Jr snickered remembering the mortified look on his brother's face,

"Didn't Ludwig get in trouble for destroying his ball?" Vanellope asked, confused.

"Of course, he had to teach Larry how to play." They broke out laughing.

"So what do you guys do for fun when you're not pranking each other?" Vanellope questioned while rolling up icecream balls for their next activity.

"We do our own thing I guess. The only time we really get together is for attacking the Mario brothers." Jr tried to make it sound like it didn't bother him, by now he had joined Vanellope in ice cream ball making.

"But you guys are family, don't you want to spend time together?" Vanellope looked concerned and confused,

"Of course, they're my family! It's just complicated. Like, Ludwig is so focused on being the responsible one he never lets himself have fun." Jr sounded almost bitter, but mostly just sad.

"Well maybe he just needs to be told he's doing a good job. It sounds like you guys don't appreciate him much." Vanellope reasons,

"Maybe, but what about Roy? He only knows how to push people around." Jr mumbles,

"He's trying to be tough, it's a guy thing. Just point out how your dad's tough but he shows he loves you without punching you in the face." Vanellope pointed it out like it was obvious, seriously how did she get this smart?

"Ok, how about Iggy? He won't even give me a chance." Jr willed himself not to get teary eyed,

"He thinks he's alone, you just need to remind him he's not. He's that "Nobody can understand me! Nobody cares about me!" kid, he needs someone to smack some sense into him." She mimed smacking someone upside the head,

"And Morton?" Jr asked not expecting an answer,

"Ask him a question and listen for a while, he's attention starved uh doi." She she added a ball to the growing pile.

"And Wendy just needs someone to play her dumb games with her?" Jr asked sarcastically,

"Pretty much, or you could play to the whole little brother thing and have her read you stories or bake cupcakes with her. I think that's what you do with a big sister." Vanellope shrugged optimistically,

"What about Larry and Lemmy? They'll only play with each other!" Jr was starting to get sick of this conversation,

"How should I know? I specialize in individual lonely weirdos." She tried to sound like a professor even sticking up her nose and talking in a british accent.

"Wow, thank you Dr. Phil, you've really opened my eyes. I don't think embarrassing myself will bring my family together though." Jr quipped,

"If you don't race, you can't win." Vanellope stood up and noticed how conflicted and upset Jr looked, she looked at the huge pile of ice cream balls then back to her friend.

"But enough of this sappy junk, you wanna go pelt Taffyta with ice cream?" Despite everything that had happened Vanellope and Taffyta still despised each other, and they were still kids. It wasn't that they didn't try to be friends, it was just hard to forget the past. Plus their personalities clashed in every possible way.

Jr managed a smirk, "Can I melt some so they get stuck in her hair?"

Come on you big chicken, say something! Jr internally berated himself as he stood in the doorway of Ludwig's music room, the older koopa was so focused on the unfinished composition in his hand that he hadn't noticed his little brother. Ludwig loved music, it was his escape, his only way to relax and forget his responsibilities. He hummed as he wrote another line of notes, satisfied with his work so far, he placed the music sheet on his grand piano's stand.

"Hey Ludwig?" Jr finally called, "Can I talk to you?" Jr tried not to sound nervous.

"You are talking to me." Ludwig turned and gave his sibling a withering look.

"I'm sorry I licked you, it was pretty jellynile." Jr projected honesty wanting his brother to believe him.

It didn't seem like it with Ludwig's face contorted in shock, but he recovered quickly, "I believe you meant 'juvenile' and I am hesitant to forgive you." Suspicion replaced the shock and Ludwig sat up straighter subconsciously attempting to be intimidating.

"If you weren't I'd ask if you had a fever, I've done some pretty rotten stuff." Jr approached his increasingly confused brother.

"This is a trap right? You have a stink bomb behind your back don't you? Why else would you be nice to me?! I'm not stupid Jr, I know you're up to something!" Ludwig loomed over Jr, trying to stare him down. Maybe it was because he was trying to project honesty, maybe it was because of something Vanellope had said, but Jr was pretty sure it was the built up frustration of being alone when he didn't have to be. But whatever it was, it made Jr snap.

"You have got to be kidding me! Only Lemmy uses bombs! And the only thing that stinks around here is your attitude!" If anything Jr had definitely inherited his father's innate ability to bellow, Ludwig was momentarily stunned by the outburst but rallied and attempted a comeback only to be aggressively interrupted. "Shut up and listen to someone else for once! I was being nice to you because nobody else seems to get that the only reason you're so uptight is because nobody listens to you! And now, the one time I really try to be a good brother, all you do is correct and yell at me! You're not the only one who's lonely you know! So quit locking yourself in your room and acting like you're the only one with feelings! I get sad when you ignore me or get hurt! I get angry when you yell or try to control everyone! And I get ridiculously happy when you actually talk to me! Because you're my brother, and despite everything you put me through I still care about you and I try to show it! I don't know why since all you ever do is show you hate me! Well I'm sick of it! lock yourself up forever and see if I care!"

Don't you dare cry Jr, don't- too late. Jr tried to leave but his shell was grabbed and held tightly by Ludwig. "I don't hate you." He said it quietly, but that didn't mean the guilt was any less prominent, "I could never hate you Jr, it's just hard to keep everything together when nobody will listen to me, I'm supposed to be the leader and I can't even get Lemmy to follow a single order. And I take it out on you because nobody else would talk to me. I'm sorry Jr, I-I didn't realize how much it hurt, I didn't try to-" Hugs were rare in the Koopa castle, showing affection was traditionally seen as a sign of weakness in koopa culture. But Jr gave one to Ludwig anyways, because it felt right.

"I forgive you."

Author's Note:

I think I got cavities from writing that last scene, they are just too sweet when they get along! :D So to answer some questions, take a peek below!

All the Koopa kids had a life before Bowser adopted them, none were happy. I will probably elaborate on that at some point in the future.

The Joker is back! And yes that was Jervis Tetch aka the Mad Hatter that Joker was teasing. In my mind the Joker is constantly annoying others and even putting people in danger for his amusement. Batman is supposed to handle all Joker related situations, but as you saw Sonic got pissed. Sonic is fine but after his fight with Joker he is a bit shaken up.

Vanellope knows what it's like to be lonely, bullied, betrayed, targeted, and restrained. Hence her wisdom.

Admit it, you hated Taffyta and didn't believe for a second she was truly sorry for her actions. I know I didn't. In Vanellope's and Jr's minds, Taffyta is a bully with no redeeming qualities. At least Roy doesn't destroy things that really matter to his siblings.

Ludwig was a bit OOC in this chapter but I wanted to show that he truly loves his brother and has reasons for his behavior.