Bowser Jr. is awake! And he heard stuff he wasn't supposed to! What will happen?

Siph: You're going to post this faster than you did the previous chapter.

I mean, that does technically answer the question of "What will happen?" but I was thinking more in the context of the story.

Disclaimer: It's getting harder and harder to come up with these. ¡Huy!

Chapter 40: I'm Not Stupid

Roy's eyes were wide as looked over at his awoken baby brother, who was sitting up. "You heard that?! How much did you hear?!" Roy asked. "How long have you been awake?!"

Idiot! the voice roared. You ruined everything!

Bowser Jr. looked over at Larry beside him and took his hand. "I woke up a little before Mario healed me with whatever he used," he answered Roy's third question only, knowing it would answer the others. "I didn't wanna open my eyes yet, so I just pretended to be asleep."

"So you heard everything," Mario concluded, still seated.

Roy cursed, then shut his mouth when he remembered his five-year-old brother was awake now and shouldn't hear that kind of language.

Junior looked straight at Roy. "A lot of stuff makes a lot more sense now." He let go of Larry's hand and pounded the mattress beneath them. "I knew Luddy was avoiding me!" he shouted, starting to cry. "I'm happy he doesn't hate me, but he doesn't have to protect me! He should avoid me because he hates me, not himself!" He covered his eyes and sobbed.

Roy stumbled off his own hospital bed and approached the crying Koopa. He took his sunglasses off and tossed them to Mario, who, while confused at the action, caught them. Roy stopped by his brothers. "Hey," he said gently, but sternly, "Lud has no reason to hate you. He told Pop to give you the throne, so he doesn't think ya stole it from him or anything."

Bowser Jr. gasped and screamed, "THAT'S NOT IT!" He sniffled and looked up at Roy, bitter tears and snot still flowing down his face. "I thought he hated me because of that, too, but he should still hate me because I KILLED MAMA!"

Mario scrambled to his feet, Roy's glasses left on the floor beside him. What?

Roy's jaw dropped, and his eyes widened as before. "What?! No!" He grabbed Junior by the shoulders. "Stars, why would you say that?!"

Junior stood on the cot, which allowed him to look at Roy on eye level. "Because it's true! Mama was there, and then she wasn't because she died laying my egg!" He pointed to himself. "I'm the reason she's gone!"

It was Mario's turn to drop his jaw.

"Squirt—" Roy tried to offer some comfort, but Junior interrupted him.

"Everyone loved Mama…" he began again, "She played dress-up with Wendy. She wrestled with you. She taught Larry how to count coins and Lemmy how to walk. She listened to everything Luddy played. She read with Morton and Aunt Kammy and Uncle Kamek. She told Iggy to study everything!" He spread his arms out to emphasize the word everything. "Mama and Papa took long walks around the castle, and she said hi to every minion they ran into! Every! One! She and Morty had their own secret meeting spot way out in the mountains where they went once a month, and now he takes me there on my birthday because that's the last day they did it! Mama had dark blue hair just like Luddy's, and she always had it in a ponytail that looks just like Peach's and that's another reason Papa think's she'll be like Mama!"

His little hands were clenched into fists at his sides. "All that's gone because of me, and I know you all spoil me because you don't want me knowing this! But I'm not stupid! I know Papa hid everything about Mama before I hatched! I know he and all of you miss her so much, but all you have is me! Just looking at me reminds everyone who I took away from them, I just know it!" He grew quiet, shaking. "But you all love me anyway. I thought Luddy hated me because of it, but you said he doesn't. He loves me, too… I wanted him to love me. I always loved him…"

Bowser Jr. suddenly wrapped his arms around Roy's neck and cried harder than ever into the bigger Koopa's shoulder. Roy instinctively wrapped his strong arms around his little brother.

The runt has hope now.

Mario stood still, unsure as to whether he should approach. This was the worst way for him to find out. I'd be crying too if I thought Luigi hated me all my life, and suddenly learned he actually loved me the whole time instead, but he might be dead. And his mom… "Mamma mia…" he murmured, taking off his hat and running a hand through his hair.

No one spoke for a long time. The only sound in the operating room was Bowser Junior's sobs and occasional sniffle. Once his cries started quieting, Roy found his voice again.

"How'd you learn about Mom, Squirt?" he asked. "Like you said, Pop hid away everything related to her."

An intake of breath was heard. "That's my fault."

Bowser Junior broke away from Roy and turned around. "Larry!" He nearly fell on top of his immediate older brother to hug him.

"I don't believe it!" Roy ran to the other side and joined in on the hug. "Baby Bro! You're awake!"

Mario finally found it in himself to approach the brothers. He didn't join in on the group hug, but he did stand at the foot of the bed, smiling and sighing in relief. "Mamma mia, thank the Stars!" Now we just need Luigi to wake up.

Without breaking away from the hug, Roy asked, "So you told Squirt about Mom, huh?" He didn't sound angry or even upset.

Larry sighed, "Bowser is my only little brother." He tightened his grip on Junior. "I wasn't going to keep his mom a secret from him. That's not fair. Just because he could never get to know Mom, doesn't mean I wasn't going to help him know about her. He lost her just like we did, but he lost even more because she already raised us. Heck, I was five years old! That's literally half my life that I got to spend with her. Bowser didn't even get that."

"I got you, though…" Junior argued quietly.

Larry nodded. "And that's why I had to tell you." He paused. "Can you guys get off me? I wanna sit up."

"No," Roy said. But he chuckled and let go anyway, as did Junior.

The moment Larry stood up, he looked at Mario suspiciously. "So, now you know a bunch of our dirty little secrets."

Before Mario could defend himself, Roy surprised everyone by doing it for him. "Relax, Baby Bro. I don't think he the kinda guy who'd use a family moment against somebody."

"Yeah, he healed us, Larry," Junior added. "Mario doesn't blackmail people for that. He's not you."

"Hey!" Larry scoffed. "I'm not that bad! I don't use healing for blackmail either! That's messed up. And for the record, Roy," he pointed at the Koopaling in question, "I don't secretly like being called Baby Bro."

Roy wrapped his arm around Larry and noogied him. "Yeah, you do."

Larry growled at the noogie and the contradiction. "No, I don't!"

"Do to."

"Do not!"

They went back and forth like this while Bowser Jr. laughed at the argument, while Mario just shook his head in amusement at the brotherly antics. There was one thing they all knew, though: if they could bounce back to acting like this when it was just the three of them, then there was hope for the rest of the royal Koopa family, too.

This isn't over, the voice rumbled, but Roy couldn't hear it this time. Clawdia's brat will not get in my way again.

Siph: I'm not crying. YOU'RE crying!

We're all crying on this blessed day. Such an emotional chapter to write, and I loved every moment of it.

Siph: WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS. I think we went through all the tissues in the entire house.

Okay, everybody. Now that all three Koopas are awake, we're done with Roy's section for this act.

Siph: What? Already? It was only three chapters…

Yup. This act is going to fly by, and after the next interlude, we're finally going to make some real progress in bringing the family back together!

Siph: Dude. Spoilers.

I know, I hated having to write that, too. But I felt like I had to because of some complaints I got about the pacing.

Siph: Oh yeah, you do get a few of those. Always from guest reviewers, too. You think you should turn those off?

I really don't wanna have to do that. Feedback is important.