C/N: I don't really know what to say. I have writer's block. So read on.
"An Accidental Murder"
"I think it's about time you introduce some serious conflict in your story; you know, just have something happen that affects everyone," Koops suggested as he handed Korey a chocolate ice cream cone. Deciding against going on another walk out of town like they had last time writer's block struck Korey, the two settled for gallivanting about Petalburg that day.
It was a particularly hot afternoon; Spring was coming in with some impressively intense force it seemed, and the pair of Koopas quickly made sure to find a shady tree under which to continue their conversation.
"Yeah, I think so too," Korey agreed as he took a seat, careful not to spill his ice cream as he did so. "And I know what I want to do, I'm just stuck when it comes to actually writing it."
"Hm, don't think I can help there," Koops admitted. "How you write is all up to you."
Korey nodded in silent agreement as both Koopas took a bite out of the chunks of ice cream resting atop their cones. It was a rather boring day so far. Nothing very exciting was going on, there was hardly anything to talk about...everything was completely normal. The Koopas racked their brains in an attempt to come up with something–anything–to talk about.
Fortunately, Koops seemed to come up with something that might be of interest.
"So, I think Koopie Koo might be mad at me again," he spoke up.
Okay, maybe it wasn't anything actually surprising or interesting, but it was better than nothing at least.
"What'd you do this time?" Korey asked with a lazy glance over to his friend.
"She wanted to go see some horror movie with a friend of hers and wanted me to come along. And I said I didn't want to go," Koops answered with a sigh.
"Why not? It's just a movie," Korey commented before taking another bite from his ice cream.
"Horror movies always make we queasy though," Koops said, holding his stomach uncomfortably at the mere thought of what went on in such movies. "And I always have nightmares for weeks after seeing one. But, even though Koopie Koo knew that, she seemed to get mad at me anyway; she hasn't spoken to me since I said I didn't want to go."
"Eh, girls, what are you gonna do?"
There was a silence.
"Koops?"
"Huh?"
"What are you gonna do?" Korey repeated.
"Oh, I thought that was a rhetorical question..." Koops muttered as he began to look around. Observing the colorful garden nearby, an idea shot into the Koopa's mind. "I guess I could get her a nice flower and take her out to dinner to try and make amends."
Just as Koops said this, a large, pink flower suddenly emerged from the ground right in front of the two Koopas. Both of them stared at it for a minute as they took a simultaneous bite out of their ice cream cones.
"That's a pretty nice flower," Korey commented, prompting Koops to look up into the air for a moment. A white bubble appeared where he directed his gaze and it displayed a small list of pictures, evidently items that were being kept in Koops's pockets.
Sorting through a few coins, his normal jacket that he wasn't wearing at the time, and tickets for the blimp to Glitzville and the train to Poshley Heights, Koops rested on a pair of gardening clippers. The bubble then disappeared and the clippers promptly jumped out of thin air and landed in Koops's free hand. Why in the world he carried a pair of gardening scissors on him Korey would never know, but it was convenient for carefully cutting the stem of the beautiful flower in a neat fashion as opposed to ripping it out by the roots like a savage.
And so, Koops strolled over and neatly clipped the flower midway down its stem, quickly tossing the scissors into the air so he could pick up the flower as they disappeared into his pocket. The Koopa could hardly turn back around to begin to head back to the tree before a blood-curdling scream could be heard though. A jolt coursed up both Koops's and Korey's spines so quickly that they nearly dropped their ice cream cones as a Bub-ulb emerged from the ground, eyes wide and mouth agape as its shriek filled the air.
"OH MY GOSH!! OOOHHH MYYY GOOOSH!!!" the creature cried out at the top of its lungs as it proceeded to run around in small circles. "MY BEAUTIFUL, GORGEOUS FLOWER!!! IT'S BEEN CUT OFF!!!" It soon came to a sudden halt and began to cry profusely on the spot. "This is it!! My game is over!! Goodbye!! Goodbye you cruel, heartless world!! And may we never...meet again!!"
With that, a pair of "x"'s replaced the poor plant's eyes and it soon slumped onto the ground, its tongue rolled out on the ground before it to complete the horrendous scene and there were several moments of silence before either Koopa seemed to figure out what just happened. But once he did realize what he had done, Koops couldn't have possibly felt more sorrowful and guilty if he tried.
"I killed Bub-ulber..." he muttered as he dropped his ice cream cone and brought both of his hands to his forehead, trying to come to terms with the fact that he just took away an innocent life. "I killed Bub-ulber!"
Remembering that he held Bub-ulber's flower in his hand, Koops quickly dropped it and watched it float to the ground as water began to fill his eyes.
"I-I didn't mean to do it!" Koops continued as if the flower were accusing him of the murder. "I-I didn't know it was attached to Bub-ulber!! Oh my gosh, I'm a dirty, stinking, life-stealing criminal!!"
"Get a hold of yourself man!" Korey shouted as he approached his weeping friend, only causing Koops to round on him with fearful eyes.
"I'm gonna have to skip town Korey!" Koops retorted as his eyes darted about maniacally. "I'm gonna have to live under an assumed named and get a paint job for my shell and grow a beard and-"
Korey promptly slapped the hysterical Koopa across the face as hard as he could.
"Calm down Koops!! You're not gonna have to do any of that okay!? It was an accident!!" Korey yelled in returned, only causing welled up tears to fall from Koops's face.
"Who cares if it was an accident!!?? I KILLED BUB-ULBER!!" he screamed as loudly as he could into the heavens, causing the earth around him to tremble as he did so.
Mere seconds later, another Bub-ulb made its way onto the scene and stared at the two Koopas with a rather confused gaze. Koops and Korey both looked at the Bub-ulb simultaneously as a moment of silence prevailed.
"I'M SORRY!!" Koops quickly shouted before letting out a high-pitched yelp and quickly turning tail to flee.
"STOP ACCUSING HIM, IT WAS AN ACCIDENT FOR GOODNESS SAKE!!" Korey followed up before looking around nervously and turning to run just as his friend did, dropping his ice cream cone in his panic.
The Bub-ulb simply watched the two run off for a short while before approaching the deceased Bub-ulber, bending its own flower over his head, and releasing a small shower of pollen on top of him. Almost immediately, the "x"'s that served as Bub-ulber's eyes disappeared and he soon stood erect once more, the bud of a new flower protruding from his head thanks to the pollination.
"Say, thanks Bud," Bub-ulber said with a smile. "I thought I was a goner for sure that time."
"This is the last time I pollinate you man," Bud answered as he turned to leave. "That's the third time this week you've gotten your flower cut off."
–
Just outside of the eastern town gate, Koops and Korey ended their run and stopped to catch their breath and figure out what they were going to do about the situation.
"Whatever we do, we cannot turn ourselves in to the authorities!" Korey spoke up after looking around to ensure that nobody was eavesdropping on them.
"But I won't be able to live with myself if I don't!" Koops responded, nervously rubbing his hands together as his eyes darted about. "I killed Bub-ulber Korey! I killed him!"
"Just think about it Koops," Korey began, "What did you really kill? A flower! You killed a flower that was attached to a giant bulb! That's not a crime!"
"But Bub-ulber was a living, breathing thing Korey, how can you even say that he was just a flower!?"
"Look Koopa!" Korey growled as he suddenly grabbed Koops by the shoulders and his eyes narrowed menacingly. "I am not going to jail for being an accessory of a crime okay!? You are gonna keep your mouth shut about this and we're gonna forget it ever happened. You got me!?"
Hesitating for a brief moment, shocked at the sudden evil tone in his best friend's voice, Koops finally nodded.
"Okay, okay..." he muttered just before taking in a deep breath to try and calm himself down. "I'll pretend...that none of this ever happened..."
"Good...good..." Korey said as he released Koops from his tight grip, calming himself down as well. He glanced down at the ground for a moment before speaking up once again. "So let's just go back to our houses...pretend we never-"
"Hey guys, what's up?" a passing Koopa called out with a smile.
"IT WAS ALL KOOPS'S FAULT!!" Korey blurted out immediately, bringing a look of disbelief to Koops's face.
"I-IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!" Koops rebounded. "A-AND YOU WERE THE ONE WHO TOLD ME THAT THE FLOWER LOOKED NICE!!"
"BUT IT'S NOT MY FAULT THAT YOU MANAGED TO GET KOOPIE KOO MAD AT YOU AGAIN!!"
"I GET QUEASY!! I CAN'T HELP THAT!!"
"Whoa whoa whoa guys, calm down," the Koopa interjected, succeeding in quieting the shouting friends. "Now, what's going on here?" Koops and Korey gave each other a sorrowful glance as their eyes began to water. Both of them broke down into tears and fell to their knees simultaneously.
"We killed Bub-ulber!!" they both cried out at the Koopa's feet. The Koopa stared at both of them for several seconds in confusion before finally deciding to speak up.
"...So?" he said, causing Koops and Korey to gaze up at him with questioning looks on their faces. "Bub-ulber's flower gets picked at least four times a week and he always makes a big show of 'dying'. But then one of his Bub-ulb friends always comes by and pollinates him so he just grows another flower. He never actually stays dead."
"Hey fellas!" Bub-ulber called over to the group as he nonchalantly strolled by with a cheerful grin on his face.
The Koopa decided to walk away from the scene as Koops and Korey stared at Bub-ulber... He was perfectly fine... After leading both of the Koopas to believe that they killed him... For good...
…
"Well, I better go find Koopie Koo and apologize," Koops said as he stood up and wiped himself off. Korey soon followed suit.
"Yeah, I should get back to writing," he added.
And thus, the pair of Koopas headed back into town. And promptly forgot about everything that just happened.
