A/N: A somewhat smaller update than usual, but it's fun stuff. Cookies for those who can guess the inspiration for the names and attitudes of Larry and Wendy's knights. (Hint: they each are formed from the names of two celebrities.) Also, this chapter has some extremely mild "themes". If you read something, do a double take, and then decide you're uncomfortable, your browser has a nice little "back" button you can push. Alternatively, scroll forward; I don't care. Don't bother flaming me about it; it's not arbitrarily thrown in and it's reasonably relevant to the plot. Other than that little side note, hope everyone enjoys the chapter.

"You're a smelly cheater!" Larry called down the hallway towards his little brother.

"Nuh-uh! You're just mad 'cause I was the only one who thought of asking King Dad and now I'm gonna win."

Larry slammed the door to his room, jarring awake his roommate who mumbled something incomprehensible, turned over, and resumed snoring.

Stupid cheating Junior, who does he think he is, picking King Dad as his knight? I didn't even know we could do that.

He looked up at a poster of his own knight. He had selected Khelps Koopham, the only Olympian in the world to have fourteen gold medals, each from a different sport. It seemed no matter what sport he was playing, Koopham always managed to play with style and grace. Renowned outside of the sporting world for his luxuriously chic lifestyle and his commitment to the environmental movement, Koopham was Larry's ultimate idol.

Naturally, no celebrity, no matter how big a name, would be foolish enough to turn down a request to play at the Darklandian New Year's Games. In the Darklands, there was no higher honor than to receive an invitation from a member of the Koopa royal family to participate.

Still, any judge in his or her right mind would have a strong incentive not to vote against the King. Larry sighed and climbed up into the top bunk, pulling the covers over himself as he snuggled in. Stupid cheating jerk.

Luigi looked up at Daisy wearing a worried expression on his brow. Shielded from the bright, hot sun by a green and white striped awning, it was hard to feel close to the problems at hand while lounging about with Daisy in the Sarasa Land desert courtyards. Luigi rarely went out of town without his brother and he had to admit, it was rather relaxing.

Daisy took a sip of her raspberry iced tea and took Luigi's soft hands in hers, tilting her head sideways quizzically. "So, what is it that you wanted to tell me about?"

"I don't know; I'm getting worried about Mario. I don't want to cause any trouble but, I need to tell someone. I don't think I can just stand by quietly anymore."

"Oh sweetie, you know you can always tell me anything, what is it?" She asked, sincere, but also trying to hide the fact that she was eager to hear the hot gossip.

"Promise you won't tell anyone?"

"Oh Lu, you can always count on me."

"Okay, well—promise you won't make a big deal out of it?"

"Weegie please, just tell me, you need to get this off your chest."

"Alright, well, it's kind of hard to explain—are you really sure you want to hear it?"

"Luigi!" Daisy growled threateningly.

"Okay okay, I'm sorry, I'm just nervous."

Daisy's eyes widened and she leaned in closer as Luigi recounted the story of Mario's lie to Mama, his disappearances, and late night mysteriousness.

"Oh my Stars, this really is serious! I'm glad you could trust me enough to say something."

"You really think it's that bad?"

"Hm, I'm not sure. Do you think he is really going to ask Peachy to marry him?"

"I don't know. He really hasn't been himself lately though."

"Well, there's only one thing to do" Daisy said mischievously, finishing off her tea in a single gulp. "We need to figure out what's going on!"

"We do? But Daisy, you promised you weren't going to make a big deal out of this. I don't want to cause any trouble…"

"Oh Lulu, stop that. We're not going to cause any trouble; we're going to be sneaky about it. Nobody will even know we are there."

"You mean we're going to spy on Mario? That seems sort of wrong, doesn't it?"

"Well, it does if you put it that way. Look, you care about Mario and Peach, don't you? You want them to be happy, right?"

"Well…I…"

"Right. So then we've got to look after them and make sure everything is okay!"

Luigi sighed and agreed to Daisy's plan. He rationalized that there was no intrinsic harm in hiding out in some bushes with her for a few hours, if that was what she wanted to do. It might even be fun. Once she got her mind set on something, it was usually better just to go along with it. After all, that was part of what he loved about her.

"Deal me in brothas," Roy growled to the twins, who were passing out cards from behind a mountain of clay chips. The school did not specifically prohibit gambling; however, administrators certainly frowned upon it and they probably would have put a stop to the activity if they saw it happening. Nonetheless, there were eight Koopa boys seated at the wooden, octagon table waiting to receive their cards.

Iggy eyed his larger brother suspiciously; he knew why he was here. "It's been a long time since you've come to our weekly poker night Roy."

Lemmy chimed in, "Yeah, we thought you were still upset from the last time."

The others chortled as they remembered "the last time." Roy had flipped the table after he had lost all his chips, proclaiming that all of the players at table were cheating somehow. In reality, Roy was unaware that the entire table could see his cards reflected in his sunglasses. The boys were delighted to see that Roy had apparently not caught on and would be making the same mistake tonight, ensuring a fine profit for the rest of the table at the prince's expense.

"Yeah," said Iggy, "On what occasion are we receiving the honor of your presence?"

Roy furrowed his brows, roughly aware that the boys were making fun of him. He would have liked to pound them immediately, but he decided that he would have to keep his cool for tactical reasons. "Ah, ya know, jus' gettin' out, tryin' tah get away from homework, spend some time with tha boys, see how my little brothas are doin'."

"See how my little brothers are doin'?" Now Iggy knew Roy was up to no good.

"Hit me," said the Koopa with blue hair and glasses.

The old joke about punching someone in the arm whenever someone said "hit me" had gotten old after the second game night so Lemmy dealt him a card nonchalantly and snuck a glance at Roy's cards via his sunglasses.

"Can't believe Junior picked Dad as his knight," Roy said, hoping to spur the intended conversation for the evening.

I knew it! Iggy narrowed his eyes and replied coolly, "Yeah and everyone knows who Larry and Wendy picked."

"Bah, I fold." cried one of the others, looking into Roy's glasses.

Roy's attentions were piqued. He knew all about Larry's choice by bribing his little brother's roommate, but he had no idea about Wendy's pick. "Yeah, well, Big Mouth couldn't keep his trap shut, as usual, so I guess we know his pick too."

The twins looked at one another, "Actually…"

"We don't."

"Well, I might be able to help ya out there, ya know? You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours."

"What do you want to know?" asked Iggy blankly, dealing new cards and placing his initial bet, "We obviously won't be telling you our picks, but we have information on Junior, Larry, Wendy, and Ludo."

"I wanna know about Wendy and Ludo, everyone knows about Junior and Larry."

"You expect us to give you the scoop on Wendy and Ludo and you're only going to tell us about Morton? No deal, we'll tell you about Wendy for Morton.

Roy growled lowly, he had hoped to hear about Ludwig. As the oldest, he was usually a major threat. "Fine. Morton picked that big weenie Tutankoopa as his knight. What an idiot."

"Wendy's backing Konas Koopinson, you know, the 'teen sensation'? She's trying to get a role in his next movie."

All the boys at the table moaned in unison. "That guy makes me sick."

"Have you seen his movies? I wrote a letter asking for two hours of my life back."

"I hate that guy."

"Why him? Wendy can be in any movie of mine that she wants!"

Lemmy, Iggy, and Roy all turned and glared at the boy with blue hair who turned his eyes down and gulped his contraband drink. "You thinkin' our sister's a hottie?"

"Uh, well…"

"Because if so," Lemmy said, "we will gladly trap her in a cage and ship her to your house free of charge. No returns or exchanges though."

"Really?" he asked hopefully. "Deal."

All the boys at the table shook their heads and sighed, "Marcus, you're sick, you know that? What kinda pervert are you?"

"Well," Roy interrupted, "looks like competition on King Dad is turnin' out to be pretty light so far."

"Don't count your Yoshis before they hatch, Roy. There's still mine and Lemmy's picks, also Ludwig's and presumably your pick will be a suitable challenge?"

"Oh, wouldn't ya like to know?"

"Only about as much as you want to know what we've got on Ludo."

Roy growled again; he was losing the card game and hated anyone knowing anything he did not which, unfortunately for him, happened frequently. "Fine, I'll tell ya my pick if ya tell me what ya know about Ludo."

"Deal," the twins said in unison.

"Koolani Kai," Roy said in a deadpan voice.

"Dude, isn't that—"

"Yeah, tha only fighter who was so good she didn't need tah fight her way through the ranks o' tha Glitz Pit. I told ya mine, now tell me whatcha know about Ludo."

"Well…"

"We know he hasn't chosen anyone yet."

Roy had an immediate sinking feeling that his brothers had cheated him, which quickly gave rise to anger. "What! You've gotta be kiddin' me! That's not information!"

Iggy and Lemmy began protesting and explaining technicalities as Roy collected his meager pile of surviving chips. "And ya wonder why I don't play with ya cheatin' punks. I'm goin' tah bed." With that, he stomped out of the room and slammed the door behind him.

"Looks normal to me," Daisy whispered to Luigi. "Almost a little too normal."

Peach had decided to use her lovely day off to get together with Daisy and the Mario Brothers and spend some time at a natural history museum. As they walked past the enormous fossils, Mario and Peach talked pleasantly and casually, like old friends and decidedly not like lovers.

Daisy and, to a lesser extent, Luigi had hoped to have a good opportunity to find out what was going on between Peach and Mario. However, they were disappointed to find that they were unlikely to make any discoveries if the couple detected their presence.

"If we want to find out anything, it's going to take a little more elbow grease," Daisy asserted.

"Um, what do you have in mind?"

"Espionage."

Luigi grimaced; sometimes Daisy could be a little scary.

"Oh don't look at me like that, it'll be fun."

Fun. Right. At this point, Luigi was not even sure if he really wanted to know what was going on. He hated surprises and had no idea what to expect; what if he saw something he did not want to see? He looked again at his brother, who was looking at exhibits and only halfway paying attention to the princess. He shook his head, I hope you know what you're doing bro.

Ludwig tapped his claws on the wooden desk in front of him and rubbed his temples with stress. Everything was going wrong. His latest composition was, in his estimation, utter garbage; he had not chosen a knight for the upcoming Darklandian New Year's Games; an A minus in his number theory class was threatening his status as valedictorian. The slip in grades had everything to do with his clandestine obsession, who was also in his class. The Koopa sat halfway across the room and distracted Ludwig enormously. Of course, Ludwig was also lamenting that another quarter had come and gone and he had not so much as made eye contact.

He buried his face in his claws and groaned. At what point did my existence become such horrible shit? Ludwig shuddered with a perverse pleasure in his self-pity. He made an effort never to swear, not even in thought, as his considered swearing the sole province of the uneducated and uncreative. Oh, how low he had sunk.

Ludwig heard someone cough softly, closely in front of him, apparently trying to get his attention. His slowly drug his claws down his face as he raised his head with his eyes closed in a venomous expression. He was secretly looking forward to ripping into some poor sap for interrupting his pensive moment. He opened his eyes slowly, eyebrows raised, simultaneously opening his mouth in preparation to say something nasty, when he saw a pair of azure eyes in front of him. Those eyes, that hair, he recognized them immediately!

He froze up and clamped his mouth shut respectfully, looking into the eyes of his beloved, terrified.

Running a hand through his raven hair, the Koopa looked mildly uncomfortable. "I apologize for interrupting your personal time. I was wondering if I might temporarily borrow your textbook for number theory as mine has been…partially destroyed." He threw a dirty look towards his friends, who had fed part of his textbook to the Piranha Plant they were raising for a biology project. "I will only need to copy a few problems down, and then, rest assured; I shall be on my way."

The Koopa shrunk at the horrified expression on Ludwig's face. He knew it was a bad idea to follow his friends' advice and pretend he needed help to get the prince's attention. Rumor on campus was that Ludwig liked others to leave him alone and was particularly nasty to anyone who did not. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked, I'll go to the library. Sorry to have disturbed you."

"No! Ahem, please, excuse my silence, I was merely trying to discern where I had seen your face before," he lied, instantly realizing how flimsy the excuse was, given that the Koopa had just asked about the class they both attended. Ludwig flipped through the pages frantically, hoping that he had not drawn any revealing doodles in the chapter, as was his usual practice during class. He cleared his throat nervously. "Please, have a seat. My name is Ludwig Von Koopa."

The Koopa ran his claw through his hair again nervously, "Yes, um, I was aware. I'm Lawrence."

He was aware of my existence? By what fortune is this that I am graced with such a presence? Of what shall I speak? Quick Ludwig; even now, he is nearing the completion of his intended goal and you have accomplished little more than an unnecessary introduction. Think!

"So, apart from number theory, what other courses do you attend?" Ludwig asked as casually as possible.

"Oh, this quarter I'm finishing up biology, a visual arts course, an engineering class, and a music theory class."

Music Theory! "Do you enjoy your music theory class?"

"No. Not at all, it's horrible. The lecture is dry and the examples are bad. I'm afraid I'm not learning much at all. I do enjoy music though; I've played the woodwind for many years."

Ludwig's eyes shined brightly as he continued to talk to the perfection before him. How in the world had there come to be such a perfect match sitting right next to him? Lawrence even shared his perceived inadequacies of the school's music department. He quickly realized that his greatest wish was to spend more time talking to Lawrence, getting to know every fascinating detail about him. He had not been this excited about something since he first discovered composing.

Lawrence smiled sheepishly as he looked up, indicating that he had finished copying the problem set from the textbook. "Well, I suppose I am finished here. Thank you very much for allowing me the use of your textbook. It was a great pleasure talking to you and perhaps I will see you around sometime."

"Wait!" Ludwig panicked, not ready for this golden moment to end. He could not bear the thought of another school vacation, another period without seeing him in his classes every day. Seeing Lawrence "around sometime" was not good enough; he wanted something concrete. "I would like to formally invite you to participate in the Darklandian New Year's Games on my behalf."

Lawrence dropped his books in surprise and fear, papers flooding across the floor. In a split second, Ludwig, the eldest son of the Koopa King and heir to the Darklandian throne, had just bestowed an incredible honor upon him, a mere novice student. He would be competing against the Darklands' best and brightest. He would be humiliated in front of Ludwig and the entire kingdom. He shook his head frantically. "I—I can't…"

"Will you deny my royal request?" Ludwig generally abhorred using his political influence for any kind of personal gain; however, he saw this as an extreme circumstance.

Lawrence looked down and whispered in a barely audible voice, "No Ludwig, I shall not deny you. I shall do my best to serve in your honor."