Another Chapter! In spirit of NaNoWriMo I wrote Chapter 9! I'm not terribly happy with this chapter. It's a weak point in the story, but it's definitely important as to where I want to leave off. I hope everyone likes it or at least bares with me hahaha. The chapters will only get better from here. Well enough about me onto the story! Chapter 9: The Game Is Over

Don't touch Maria. She is mine. ALL MINE. RAWR.

"Junior!" the amethyst princess cried out, "Wait for me!"

Racing across the gentle meadow, the six year old child met up with her koopa playmate who had recently turned seven years old. By the time, she had caught up to him, Maria was out of breath and was panting heavily.

"What took you so long?" he sneered, "I was waiting forever!"

"Sorree!" she giggled, "I was finishing a tea party with my Auntie Daisy."

"Whatever. Girl."

"I'm not a girl!"

"Yes you are!"

"Nu uh!

"Uh huh!"

"Fine," the koopa prince said, puffing smoke out his nose, "If you aren't a girl, prove it!"

"How?"

Suddenly a devious grin spread across, the boy's face.

"TAG! YOU'RE IT!"

With that, Junior quickly dashed across the grass, snickering.

"HEY!" she cried out in protest. But it was too late so Maria retaliated and followed him.

Running in his footsteps, the snowy hair girl chased him through the Mushroom Forest and across the shore. As they passed their usual sitting spot, Maria came to a startling halt. Junior had stopped running. As she was about to question his motives, she noticed his snout was in the air. He never did that.

"Junior?" she asked slowly, "What's wrong?"

"Run."

"What?" the girl said again, her eyes trembling with fear.

Suddenly the ground shook with a mighty rumble, and her question was quickly answered.

A very large chain chomp was rampaging towards them.

It was burning with anger.

Paralyzed with fright, Maria stood motionless and merely watched the red demon charging at her.

Then a pair of claws grabbed her and dragged her away.

"COME ON MARIA! RUN!"

As if instinct had taken over, she ran. It wasn't a game of tag anymore. It was life or death. And she did not want to die. She could heard her heart racing and her mind was drawing a blank. Maria barely realized Junior was leading the way. All she knew that death was following them.

But perhaps, life was over for her.

Maria tripped.

Smacking into the damp earth, the child did not move. She knew this was the end. It was over. No one could save her. She was dead.

Without warning, those pair of claws came back and pushed Maria into the bushes nearby.

Life slowly flowed into her pale face, and the reality came back to her.

She was safe.

...but where was Junior?

A blood-curdling scream pierced her ears, and the princess watched the greatest horror unfold before her.

The young koopa was fighting against the wild dog and was being tossed around like a chew toy. Blood was dripping from his arms and his shell was mauled terribly. Even the spikes he wore did not bother the beast. But somehow the boy kept getting up. Every time he was thrown down, he stood up, stiff as a board.

Stop it.

Maria could feel the tears falling down her cheeks. Something was building up inside her. A deep hatred...for the chain chomp.

Stop it!

Junior was starting to lose his grip. The wounds were wide open. Half of him was covered in red and a deep gashed crossed his right arm.

"Stop," she whispered.

The chain chomp bared its fangs at the koopa and growled, preparing to attack one final time.

"Sit!" the girl screamed.

Junior collapsed. Maria's mind turned black with pure hatred and crushed the chain chomp. Her bloodshot eyes turned a violent red.

"I SAID SIT!"

It was gone. The chain chomp vanished.

Her mind clearing, Maria looked at her hands.

They, with the rest of her body, was splattered with blood.

--

Maria woke up in a cold sweat. Her body shook with absolute horror. That nightmare was vivid. Too vivid. The incident had happened so long ago... yet the dream still occurred every so often, making the princess shake every time.

Slipping on a silk robe, the princess walked outside to her balcony, to calm herself. The cool air seemed to relax her and she began to breathe at a normal pace.

That was the first time she had ever used her powers on such a great level. At that age, she could barely bend spoons, yet she had annihilated a living creature. The stress had been too much for the six year old, and Maria had mentally broken down. Even the doctors considered about placing her in a mental asylum. She, at that time, had refused to let anyone touch her and would not talk about what happened. Maria had been so...afraid she would kill the people she loved. It had been too much.

However, Junior made her realize her brutal attack was not in vain.

"You saved me," he had said, quietly in her room one night, "There will never be a day when I will regret what you did for me. Thank you."

"...my powers... hurt people..." she had replied sadly.

"You have an incredible talent and you make a mistake. We all do. Some are greater than others, but we learn and get stronger. That's what my papa says. Get up when you fall down. So Maria..." he had held out his bandaged hand and said, "Be strong for me."

"Be strong for me," she whispered to herself.

The princess had prayed for strength for the past two weeks. These weeks had been so tiresome for her. After waking up in the hospital again, Maria was heavily questions by doctors on her recent attack. Lying to them, the girl told them that she had no memory of collapsing or when it even happened. Because of this she had to remain in the hospital while the doctors ran stupid tests.

During this time, her father decided to visit her, but not to make sure she was fine. He wanted to know if any koopas harmed her at all. His reason? He was going off to fight another battle with Bowser. Rumors were that the Koopa King was furious because a part of his castle had been annihilated, and he blamed the Mushroom Kingdom. Her father needed any pathetic excuse to counterattack. In one of the few rare moments of her life, Maria utterly had lost her cool. She had blown up at him and told him to leave.

"I feel bad enough as it is! I don't need you bringing your stupid military tactics into my life! GET OUT!" she had hissed.

Mario, needless to say, was stunned. Saying nothing more, he left the princess to rot miserably in her bed.

The white hair princess pressed her hands to her face. She felt more tears trickling down her cheeks. This war was getting old.

"There has to be some way to end this," she muttered softly, "Junior is tired of it too."

Junior...

The light bulb clicked above Maria's head. Everyone must be tired of this war... even the Koopa Kingdom. What if Junior and Maria...revealed their relationship and wanted to achieve peace? Surely some people would be mad...but the war would have to end. Luciano proved to Maria that he didn't care as long as Junior was a gentleman to her. Maybe the Mushroom Kingdom would feel the same way.

Dashing to her closet with excitement, the girl put on a slim purple dress. She needed to see Junior right away and tell him her idea. Kissing her star necklace, she ran out of her closet to grab a jacket when she had the familiar click at the door.

"Perfect!" she thought to herself, "He's here!"

As she was ready to glomp her boyfriend with all her might, she noticed the solemn expression on his face. Taking a deep breathe, she greeted Junior as calmly as she could.

"Hi Junior," she whispered.

"Hey," he replied softly, "How come you are awake?"

"I couldn't sleep."

"Me either."

An awkward silence fell upon them. Maria knew something was desperately wrong, but for the first time in her life, she was afraid to ask. Something in her gut told her Junior did not bring good news and it wasn't exactly about the war.

"Junior...you ok?" she asked gently.

Running a scaly claw through his flaming hair, the prince sighed, "I need to tell you something important. You should probably sit down."

Sitting silently on the edge of her bed, Maria watched as the koopa prince pulled out a black scroll.

It had Bowser's mark on it.

"What is that?" she asked.

"This is an order from my father: In three weeks the Koopa Kingdom will invade the Mushroom Kingdom."

"So? This has happened before."

"Maria, my dad is bringing his entire army."

The girl's eyes widened in horror. The entire army? There were over a million men in Bowser's armada! Her kingdom had 900,000 men that included the navy, the military and the air force. The koopa king was using everything he had. This was going to be Bowser's final attack. To win or to die.

"W-why are you telling me this?" she stuttered, "I'm sure I would have learned of this sooner or later."

Junior said nothing. He simply stood where he was, and gazed at the floor. Another long silence descended upon the couple. All that could be heard was the uneasy breathing from the koopa. Finally after a few moments, Junior let out a deep sigh and ran another claw through his hair. When he spoke to Maria, it sent chills down her spine. His voice was serious and cold.

"I don't want to see you anymore."

"Why?!" Maria whispered loudly, her voice slowly rising to a panicked tone. Her plan was going to backfire!

"Because even after knowing each other for so long," he said bitterly, "nothing has changed. Our families still hate each other. Our kingdoms are still dying."

"But Junior! There has to be another way! I don't want it to end like this. Junior, I l-"

"I hate you."

That was it. Maria's mind went blank. Absolutely blank. Her life was a huge lie. She had nothing. Nothing. Her mind reeled for a response. Something. Anything to get Junior back. Instead, she spit out the most hateful thing she could muster.

"Then what are you waiting for you spineless bastard? Get out."

Then Junior left. Left without a good-bye. Without a kiss. Without his love. Without his necklace.

Realizing she still had the star piece jewelry on. Maria ripped the gift from her neck, threw harshly against her door, and broke down into a long and painful sob.

The game of love was over, and she had lost.

--

Roaring at the guard, who had barged into his room, Junior snarled that he would be there in a moment. He had another sleepless night, and was furious that his father dared to summon him at such an early hour. Not to mention, breaking up with the one person that made him smile, did not make him any happier.

"Damn, bastard. What the hell does he want now?" he grumbled to himself.

Walking into the throne room, Junior sneered a chair that was made for his father. As a koopaling, he loved to sit in, dreaming of some day how he would become king. Nowadays, he hated to look at it. He dreaded the day he would become the ruler of this war-torn kingdom.

And there was his father. Still as strong and scary as he remembered. While he now had some wrinkles and grey in his hair, Bowser could strike fear into the heart of anyone he wanted to.

Clearing his throat, Junior stood inches from the steps that led up to where his father sat who had his eyes closed.

"Mornin' Sir," the koopa prince rumbled.

Bowser simply nodded his head. His brows were knitted together, a sign he was in deep thought.

"Junior," the king finally said, "We have been at war with the Mushroom Kingdom for a long time. Yes?"

The prince grunted in agreement.

"As king, I have guided this country through this war, and I have overseen every single aspect of it."

"What are you saying?" Junior asked, getting slightly irritated because he no clue as to where his father was going with this.

"Tomorrow will be my last day as ruler of this kingdom."

"What?" the prince cried out, "What are you talking about dad?! Have you gone mad? You are in perfect health, and we aren't going to invade the Mushroom Kingdom for three weeks."

"That's where you are wrong," the king said sternly, "One of our soldiers intercepted a letter from the Secretary of War in the Mushroom Kingdom. They are marching to the border and by tomorrow they will invade the Koopa Kingdom."

"Dad...what do you mean?"

"Junior...if I go out to battle, and I don't come ba-"

"Don't talk like that," the boy replied harshly, "You will come back."

"Not if that bastard Mario is bringing over 2,500,000 men."

"2-2-500,000?! That's twice the size of our army! They didn't have that many people before! How could they possibly gain over a million soldiers? Did they impose a draft on the kingdom or something?"

"No," Bowser grunted, "Everyone is joining on their own free will. Something happened last night at the Mushroom Palace and the entire kingdom is in an uproar. We don't know who did it, but the Koopa Kingdom is being blamed and now we are preparing for battle tomorrow."

"What happened last night? What is making everyone so upset?"

Bowser finally opened his eyes. He stared directly at Junior. Sadness dwelled in his eyes, and he spoke very softly.

"The Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, has been kidnapped."

YESH! I'm done Chapter 9. As I said ,this chapter was shorter than the other ones. I hope you guys liked it. One or two plot twists make the story fun! You will see why Junior said what he did. Also, to make sure everyone understands the dream Maria had, basically, with her mind, the chain chomp exploded. But I didn't want to say that. I tried to make that scene not over the top. I hope everyone is okay. haha Umm that's it for now. I hope to work on Chapter 10, but it's probably gonna be while. Oh well I'll try! I can't wait for Chapter 10: MORE PLOT TWISTS OHHHHHHH lol.