A/N: I know I haven't said it in a while, so I'd like to remind everyone that I'm not affiliated with Nintendo, I don't own any characters, I'm not getting paid for writing this, I'm just goofing off, having fun, and posting it to a website; because I love the games and I love the storyline (and most of all, I love you.) I'm looking toward the future a little and I put up a poll on my profile, if you care. I have a few ideas flapping around in my head, and I just wanted to know where my reader's heads are at, as far as which they might like to see first. I don't intend to start writing another story until I'm done with this though so don't worry.
Also, I made several minor changes and updates to the other chapters. Little things like grammar and bits of dialogue that were a little OOC for my tastes; so it's not your imagination. By the way, I really do go back and correct other chapters that I've already posted, quite regularly. So, if you see anything wrong, bad, or clunky, tell me specifically. If I agree, I'll run and fix it! Despite my own preaching, I don't have a beta for this, but I do what I can to make it right. Enjoy!
Larry stood on the deck of his school's large, elegant airship and aligned his body in preparation. I've gotta practice my fire so it'll be perfect when I show King Dad. He squared his shoulders, straightened his spine, inhaled deeply and then--
"Boo!" screamed Iggy as Lemmy threw his ball to hit Larry in the back of the head. Immediately, Larry choked on his own fire and black smoke emanated from his mouth and nostrils.
"Whatcha doin'?"
"What is wrong with you guys?" Larry croaked. Regaining his composure, he explained huffily that he was trying to practice his fire breathing so he could impress King Dad when they got home.
"Well, it's a good thing we're here," began Iggy. "Because--"
"Yer doin' it wrong!" they chanted in gleeful unison.
Larry gave the twins a murderous scowl and reluctantly received tips from his elder brothers. After a few rounds of practice, Larry noticed a few snowflakes drifting through the air. "Guys. Guys!" he called to his brothers, a small wisp of breath appearing before his eyes. "Look, it's snowing! What's going on? It never snows at home."
Larry, Iggy, and Lemmy all looked over the edge of the railing and saw the familiar terrain of their kingdom covered in white snow and colorful lights.
"Something big must be going on down below," Iggy replied sagely. "It doesn't look dangerous but it smells like magic."
"Doncha mean it smells like smelly old Kamek who smells like old books and cabbage and electricity and—" The three brothers groaned as Morton stepped on to the deck. "Why the heck is it so cold out here? I hate the cold. Almost as much as I hate that dumb, stupid, fat, ugly, no-good, doo-doo head—"
"Morton, shut up and come look!" Larry cried.
"Hey! You don't tell me to shut up you stupid-face, dumb-butt, puny--OW!" Morton let out a cry of pain and then a gasp as Lemmy silently grabbed Morton by the back of his neck and forcibly turned his face to look over the edge of the airship. "What is it?"
"It's snow, you moron. It's been snowing since you've been out here, didn't you see?"
"Okay, what is the deal with all of this noise out here?" Wendy came up on the deck, heels clicking on the wooden planks. "Can't a girl get any beauty sleep without her obnoxious brothers wreaking--what, snow?" Her pink lips curved into a rare smile as she noticed the lights down below. "Oh. My. Stars! Do you guys know what this is?"
"What?" her brothers cried in unison.
"It's, like, a holiday celebration from the Mushroom Kingdom! Obviously, Daddy set it up to welcome us. You have no idea how tres chic this is! I didn't know Daddy knew anything about what was in style!" Wendy began taking pictures with her camera phone to send to all of her school friends who would inevitably consume themselves with jealousy.
The great airship creaked as it slowed and prepared for landing in the Darklandian Castle's hangar. The Koopalings chatted excitedly as the ship made its descent.
Peach smoothed her dress and straightened her crown for what felt like the hundredth time that day. For some inexplicable reason, she felt nervous at the prospect of meeting eight miniature Bowsers. Peach's upbringing had left her with a nagging desire for acceptance, even from the Darklandian royal family. She glanced nervously over at Bowser who was standing in hallway outside the hangar, waiting impatiently for his children to arrive. She smiled as she noticed his eager tail, swishing back and forth. What an odd sight to see Bowser so happy, especially when that happiness did not revolve around doing some kind of misdeed.
"Sire," said Kammy. "Airship number 2-2-3 departing from the Darklandian Academy has requested permission to land in hangar space number sixteen. Permission to land granted?"
"You know it!" Bowser grinned. The little brats were finally here!
Peach straightened her dress one more time and made an effort to stand taller. She took a deep breath and heard the airship land. Bowser ran inside the hangar to greet his kids leaving Peach behind, standing in the hallway in anticipation.
Because he was the smallest Koopaling, the older Koopalings repeatedly pushed Junior out of the way and so, despite being the first Koopaling to the door, he was the last Koopaling to leave the airship. He tripped as he disembarked, tumbling down the ramp to stop at his father's feet. "King Dad!" he squealed and gave Bowser's leg a mighty hug. "I missed you."
Bowser shook his head. What was he going to do with his little weakling? He smiled and picked up his little son. "Of course you did! Well, I'm here now, so you can just forget about all of that!"
Goombas and Paratroopas began working to unload the Koopaling's luggage and prepare the ship for its return to the academy.
"Listen up!" Bowser called to his kids. "I've got a surprise for you guys. I know you love being mean and, normally, I'd say that's a good thing; but for a little while, you're gonna have to be good."
All the Koopalings looked at their dad as if he had gone insane. Be good?! Why!?
"You'll know more when we get inside, but seriously…please?"
Now the Koopalings knew it was officially serious. Their dad never ever asked nicely or said "please" to anyone except when it was very important. "I'll be good, Daddy, just for you!" said Wendy with a conceited smile.
"Ew, shut up, Wendy. You'd neva be any good even if you were sleepin'" Roy scoffed, disgusted by his annoying little sister.
"Oh yeah? If I can't do it, then you like, don't have a prayer because you're nothing but a royal pain in the ass!"
"Enough!" Bowser yelled. "Both of you haven't even been here for two minutes and you haven't managed to stay good for even that long. Do as I say or I will feed you and your luggage to the Piranha Plants."
All the Koopalings were quiet after this, as they walked towards the door, waiting to see what surprise awaited them.
Bowser Jr. trotted happily by his dad's side, happy to be home. To keep up with his dad's longer stride he had to jog a little, but it was well worth it to be next to his ultimate role model. As they opened the door, his little stomach was full of butterflies.
Maybe it's a rocket ship, or a room full of ice cream sundaes or maybe-- Junior's thoughts were interrupted as the door swung open to reveal the surprise. The familiar pink dress, blond hair, and the best smell he had even known. It was Mama Peach!
The other Koopalings were similarly shocked, having never seen Mama Peach so close before in real life. Ludwig quickly stepped to the front and began introducing himself and the older Koopalings began to follow suit.
Junior was terrified. This was both the best and worst surprise he could think of. He wanted to rush out and give her a hug right away, but he was worried that she might be mad at him for ruining her vacation with Mario the last time he saw her. He stared up at her with his frightened blue eyes. She was smiling and she did not look mad, but he still could not be sure.
Amidst all the commotion of introductions and greetings, Peach glanced down and looked into Junior's identical blue eyes with an expression of wonder. Is it possible that we are somehow related?
Mistaking Peach's quizzical glance, Junior panicked and ran from the hallway. She looked at me funny! She doesn't like me anymore! What am I gonna do? The wand!
Junior ran up to his room and fetched the handmade wand from his bag. It was not quite as pretty as the Star Rod and it did not have any real powers but he hoped his Mama Peach would like it anyhow and might accept it as propitiation.
His eyes shone as he suddenly thought of another idea. Wand in hand, he ran as fast as he could to Kamek's office. He burst through the old wooden door only to find Kamek was not in his office. He pulled Kamek's rolling chair over to the bookshelf and stood on it to reach a large instrument that looked like the bell on a phonograph.
Junior shouted into the horn as loud as he could, "Kamek!"
Kamek appeared in a puff of purple smoke, looking half annoyed and half charmed. "Welcome home, Little Prince, and may I take the time to remind you that, while it may be hard to believe, it is not necessary to yell into the communicator."
"Little?" Junior replied, the unintended insult temporarily causing him to forget his mission, "I'm not little! One day, I'm gonna be big and strong like King Dad! Look at how big my muscles are!" He said with a little flex and a serious look on his face.
"Yes, yes, my mistake, Sire. I'm old and don't see very well, but now that you've called it to my attention, I can indeed see that you've grown! Why, you're almost taller than I am! Now that we've gotten that cleared up, what can I help you with this afternoon? I'm surprised you're not out seeing your Mama Peach, aren't you excited to see her?"
Junior shuffled his feet and looked down as he remembered why he had come. "I think Mama Peach is mad at me," he said sadly
"Why do you think that? Whatever for?"
"When she went on vacation with that bad man Mario, I tried to rescue her, but I think I messed up and spoiled her fun." He produced the wand from behind his back. "I made this at school for Mama Peach but I want it to have real magic powers, not just pretend ones."
Kamek smiled in his grandfatherly way. For a Koopaling, Junior was exceptionally tenderhearted, almost considerate. Kamek thought this made him decidedly pleasant to be around, especially compared to his siblings. In his old age, Kamek often felt he just could no longer deal with the Koopalings constant antics. He looked the wand over carefully.
"Hm, polymer clay, light wood from a young tree, silk ribbons, and glass jewels; a fine piece of art, Young Lord, but I'm afraid even if I imbued it with magic, the materials couldn't hold the magic, and it would all seep out before you had a chance to give it to Her Highness." Kamek gave an apologetic smile to Junior who looked crestfallen and on the verge of tears.
"You mean there's nothing we can do?" Junior cried woefully.
Kamek's heart went out to the little monster. This was obviously very important to him. "Well now, let's not give up hope," he said, rummaging through an old treasure chest. He located his target, a small box full of round cut crystals that were slightly smaller than coins. He pulled out a bright blue one and showed it to the hopeful prince.
"Since you came in so earnestly, I'm going to give you one of my old treasures. If we put this crystal in the middle of your wand it'll hold a little bit of power, mind you, it has its limitations."
"What's a limitation?"
"They're kind of like rules. A rule for this wand will be that it can only do nice things. I think your Mama Peach would agree with that rule, don't you?"
"Yeah."
"Another rule is that it can only do small things, because it's only a small crystal. The last rule is that your Mama Peach has to really want the wish to come true, otherwise the wand won't respond."
"Why?"
"Well, because your Mama Peach really has some magic of her own, and the wand will need to tap into that magic to make it work. I don't think she knows how to use her magic but, sometimes when she really needs something, it works anyhow."
"Wow, really? That's neat!" Junior said brightly, watching eagerly as Kamek grafted the crystal onto the wand. "Thanks for helping Grandpa!"
Grandpa? Kamek watched the littlest prince bolt down the hall. None of the Koopalings had ever called him that before, but he liked it, quite a lot.
Peach sat quietly, enchanted by all of the conversation she heard around her, as the family was finishing lunch. She was worried about Junior, whom she had not seen since he ran off in the hallway; however, it was difficult to focus amidst all the chatter and cries for her attention.
"Mama Peach," Morton yelled. "You have to hear my super awesome, super funny joke I made up yesterday!"
At this, even Bowser groaned. One listen to the auditory torture that were Morton's jokes would surely have her instantly dialing the Mario Brothers for rescue. Instead, he decided to be her savior by suggesting that everybody gather around to open presents. The Koopalings whooped, cheered, ran to the giant tree, and waited to shred the carefully wrapped parcels.
Suddenly, Junior appeared in the doorway, gave Mama Peach a shy smile, and joined his siblings, ignoring his father's frown.
In the living room, a Goomba maid started a fire in the fireplace as Bowser gave Peach the honor of handing out the presents.
"Here you go, and here's one for Roy and one for Lemmy, and one for Junior," she said smiling softly as she gently handed him his present.
He cast his eyes downward and mumbled, "Thank you, Mama Peach."
"And this last one is for Bowser," she said brightly.
Hearing his name, Bowser, who had been watching Peach gracefully interact with his children, snapped out of his daydream and looked surprised. "For me? Who's it from?"
"The tooth fairy," she said teasingly, as she handed him the package.
She--she got me a present! He had never received a present from the princess before. He could barely keep his tail from wagging frantically and impatiently waited for his turn to open his gift.
Knowing the Koopalings would only bicker if asked to take turns, Peach wisely opted to have everyone open their presents at the same time. "Okay, everybody open!" Peach cheered.
All at once, the room was loud with the sound of ripping and tearing and throwing box lids, shouts, and laughs. They tossed ribbons and paper everywhere. As the commotion stopped, all the Koopalings sat in admiration of their gifts.
It certainly was not the case that they did not have enough stuff. Bowser was correct when he mentioned that the Koopalings often got whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted. The fact was that the Koopalings had never received gifts from anyone they liked so much as their Mama Peach and they knew that these gifts must be very special.
Most enchanted of all, was Bowser himself, who sat transfixed, turning the pages of his photo album. The cover of the book was a beautiful black with gold embellishments and every page was made of thick creamy parchment, lovingly stitched into the binding.
Peach gasped in astonishment as she discovered that on the first page, the first photo was already present, a picture of the Koopalings tearing into their gifts, little shreds of paper floating through the air, a red ribbon stuck in Peach's hair.
A note from Kamea fell from inside the book. It read:
Dear Peach,
We hope the book is to your liking. So that Your Highnesses never have to be bothered with remembering a camera on your adventures, we have placed a spell on the book to record pictures automatically.
Sincerely,
Kamea and Kitty
Before Peach knew what was going on, Bowser had scooped her up into a big hug. She felt her body stiffen, but also found his warmth and overflowing happiness to be strangely pleasant. "Thanks... this is the most awesome present I've ever gotten from anyone ever."
When Bowser finally let go, Peach sat down, confused about her strange reaction to the hug. "It was nothing." she replied softly, slightly dazed.
However, she did not have much time to ponder as Junior suddenly piped up, "Mama Peach? I have something for you too!"
The other Koopalings stared in disbelief and jealousy as Junior handed the wand to Peach. "It's a Star Rod, like the one King Dad used to have, except I made it, but it has real powers."
"Oh?" Peach asked quizzically, holding the pretty trinket in her hand, "What does it do?"
"It's a Star Rod, so it grants wishes!" He asserted, as if it should be obvious.
"Oh, I see, well maybe I should try it!" She gave the wand a graceful swish and said with a laugh, "I wish for chocolate pudding!"
She stared at the empty spot where she pointed the wand. As she expected, no chocolate pudding appeared but she smiled broadly. To the confusion of the Koopalings, she grabbed an imaginary bowl of chocolate pudding and pretended to enjoy a big, exaggerated bite.
"Mm, this is great pudding, thank you so much Junior!"
"No, Mama Peach, no! I know you're just pretending, okay! It really has magic powers but Kamek says it has lemon-tations!"
"Well," proclaimed Bowser. "The wand might have, uh, lemon-tations, but I don't! If Mama Peach wants chocolate pudding, I say we have chocolate pudding!" The Koopalings cheered and grabbed their presents in preparation to run back to the dining hall. "But first, what do you twerps say to Mama Peach?"
The younger Koopalings spun around in confusion.
"The magic words," he added, offering a glare to anyone who would dare to say "Abracadabra".
"Thank you!" The Koopalings chanted in unison, coming over to give hugs.
When the Koopalings had run out of the room to go claim their chocolate pudding, Peach noticed Bowser was still sitting, tapping his fingers nervously as he fiddled with a white envelope.
"Uh, is everything alright? Are you coming too?" Peach asked softly, recalling her pleasantly awkward hug.
"Yeah, everything is fine. Better than fine, it's really good." He looked up into her concerned blue eyes and he felt like his stomach leaped into his throat preventing him from talking properly. He turned red, looked down, and extended the envelope to her, "Uh, for you."
"Oh!" She gingerly opened the gold foil-lined envelope to reveal two tickets to a theatrical performance later that evening.
Bowser quickly stammered, "It's the same as that book, you know, the one you were reading the last time you were here. I-- I got two tickets 'cause I didn't think you'd wanna go alone. I thought maybe you'd like to go, um, with me but, you can take anyone, 'cause they're yours and, you know."
Peach smiled shyly; there was that weird feeling again. Perhaps he was so nervous because he had probably never given anyone a present before, only received presents. She was not sure how she felt about spending yet another night alone with the Koopa King, but it would certainly be rude to refuse to go, or to go without him.
She looked into his eyes and smiled carefully, causing his stomach to flip all over again. She slowly said, "I would be honored to have Your Highness accompany me at the theater."
Her reticent manner of acceptance was not exactly what he was hoping for, but the general fact was that she accepted his invitation! He could barely focus on the conversation while everyone was eating chocolate pudding. She said yes, she said yes! He daydreamed, trying to imagine what the evening would be like, a difficult task, since he had never been to that kind of theater before.
Soon, everyone had finished their pudding and Peach was ushered away to get ready for the evening's activities. As Peach entered her room, she noticed a Koopaling with a giant polka-dotted bow slammed the door shut behind her.
"Hello Mama Peach," Wendy said with a devious smile.