Chapter 7 Intent

The lights in Roy's room were welcome to the young Koopaling, as they lit up his one true and only haven. Sure, this haven had a tendency to stink like a dog that just got back from a long session of dumpster diving, and ended up looking messier than the dumpster said dog took a dip in. But dang it, it was Roy's room. It was where he could unwind. It was where he could relax. It was where he could think.

Not that he did much of that last activity, but still. It was nice to have a place where he could do it in peace.

At this particular instance, Roy made a beeline toward his bed. As he walked across the plush, stain-filled carpet, he pondered the day he had just had. Celia's family sure was full of weirdos. Alicia and Albert had shown their disdain towards koopas in a way that would make neon signs look tame. Oh, that reminded Roy; he hadn't gone to Neo Bowser City in a while…

Oh dang it, his train of thought was going off track. Darn it, why did that happen so often? Roy was driving the train; manning its whistle, making sure it chugged along. Why was it so hard to keep it on track?

Ah well. As he sat himself down on the bed, which had no sheets on whatsoever, he took off his glasses and thought about this some more. Alicia, or Aunt Alicia as Celia had called her, made Roy feel angry. Really, both of them made Roy feel angry. Why did they hate koopas? Sure, they kidnapped Princess Peach before, the most loved person/ruler in the Mushroom Kingdom. But aside from that, what have they done? Honestly, what have they done? They had joined in on Mario Parties, Mario Sports games, Mario Kart…they had the friendly version of competition in spades! What was so wrong about that?

Was it because of the way they looked? If so…why? Koopas looked amazing! Their scales made the sun look dull in comparison. Their shells and hair were the definition of colorful. Seriously, if you didn't find a koopa shell pretty, then you must be as color blind as a dog. Were Alicia and Albert colorblind?

Or were they just unlikeable jerks who had nothing better to do than treat Koopas like garbage.

Roy groaned, sat up, and started picking at his toenail. He hated people who were jerks for no reason. If he ever started acting like that, then he should be knocked out with a club and dragged to a reformation center immediately. Why did so many people in the world have to be jerks? For that matter, why did they have to be jerks towards Koopas?

Oh man, all these thinky questions were hurting Roy's brain. He needed to stop before his head exploded. Fortunately, he knew the perfect way to prevent his brain from blowing up in a spewy mess: by lying down and going to sleep.

So, pulling up his magenta covers, he laid down on his backside. Within seconds, his eyes were closed. He felt so comfy; he wasn't going to get out of this bed for the next eternity.

"Master Roy? Bowser says its dinner time," a koopa troopa said from the hallway.

Roy perked up. Dinner? Oh man, now this was a bit of a conundrum. He loved sleeping, but he loved eating just as much. What should he do?

"Master Roy? Are you coming?"

Roy thought hard about this. "Uhhh…" It was while he considered his options that he noticed his brain hurting again, like someone was taking a sledge hammer to his skull. Grumbling, he pulled the covers back up.

"I don't wanna get up," he grumbled. He heard the koopa troopa walking away, causing him to smile. No more distractions were present; he could sleep like a corpse.

So he did. He kept his eyes closed for what felt like five minutes. Right as he was about to make that six minutes was when he heard the thundering footsteps that one could only associate with the King of the Koopas. He groaned. Darn it, this was the absolute worse time to have his Dad be concerned about him.

"Roy?" Bowser knocked on the door before opening it a tiny crack. "Is everything alright?"

Roy groaned. Now Bowser was going to get all worried and insist that he come down and spend quality time with his family. Like that was some sort of healthy way to deal with problems.

"Yeah, everything's fine." He grabbed his pillow and pressed it against his head. He had seen a lot of people do that as a sign that they didn't want to be bothered. If Bowser was smart, he would get the message.

"Oh, come on Buddy." Bowser made his way in and grabbed the pillow, ripping off of its rightfully place on Roy's head like a cotton stuffed band-aid. "What's wrong, Buddy?"

Roy sighed. Why didn't the pillow work? Oh right; he forgot that Bowser was an idiot.

"Nothing's wrong."

Bowser smiled. "Nothing, huh?" He placed the pillow at Roy's feet. "I guess that means that you wouldn't mind getting up and walking all the way to the dining hall to have supper with us?"

There was a pause before Roy sighed. "Okay, I guess something is wrong." He sat up. "But it's a small thing; it's really nothing that a king like you would worry about or even understand."

Bowser blinked. "A king wouldn't understand it, huh?" He leaned in closer. "Okay, what about a dad?"

It was Roy's turn to blink. "Uh…I guess a dad would understand it?"

Bowser chuckled. "Okay. Well, I'm a dad, so why don't you tell me about it?"

Roy did a double take. Dang, Bowser could be really good with the logic when he wanted to be.

"Um…okay." With that, he jumped right into telling Bowser about Celia's aunt and cousin. By the time he finished, Bowser's brow was furrowed and his eyes were squinted.

"Hmm." He rubbed his chin. "These people sound like jerks."

Roy smiled. "That's exactly what I was thinking?" He giggled and elbowed Bowser. "Like father, like son, am I right?"

Bowser chuckled. "Oh Roy." He rubbed his head, bringing the Koopalings' joy up by tenfold. Roy giggled before his face fell back down.

"They just don't seem like good people to have around. Especially considering the history that Celia's had." A thought occurred to him, which caused his heart to skip a beat. "Oh, dang it! And I was the one who convinced Ruby and Singe to meet up with them!" He pounded his fist against his forehead. "Stupid stupid stupid."

"Hey now." Bowser gently pulled Roy's fist away from his face. "Don't be like that. It's not stupid to try and give family a chance."

Roy looked Bowser in the eye. "Even when that family are D mans from the Underwhere?"

"Even if that family is D mans from the Underwhere."

Roy lowered and uncurled his fist. "But…they hate the Marksmites. They have made it clear in every single interaction they've had with them! Is it really a good idea to have family like that around?"

"Hmm." Bowser wrinkled his brow as he thought about this. "Well…part of me wants to say no." His facial features drooped. "I mean, I know what it's like to live with family who isn't exactly the nicest."

Roy blinked. "Who are you talking…" He gasped. "Oh no, are you talking about me?" He put his head in his hands. "Oh darn it, and after I tried so hard to be a good little koopa!"

Bowser laughed. "No no, not you Roy. I'm talking about Grandpa Morton."

Roy let out a breath of relief and put his hand to his chest. "Ohhh! Grandpa Morton! That makes sense." Roy didn't have a lot of memories of his deceased grandfather, but those he had were not pleasant. That koopa just never seemed to wake up on the right side of the bed no matter how nice of a day it was.

"Yeah." Bowser grew a little misty eyed. "Your Grandpa Morton made life more difficult for everyone who had the misfortune of knowing him." Bowser put his hands on his knees. "I never got why. No matter how hard I tried, I could never seem to get in his good graces. I wouldn't say he outright hated me (I am his son, after all). But…every other time I saw him, he was grumpy with me for one reason or another." Bowser chuckled. "Honestly, Kamek ended up becoming more of a dad to me in the end."

Roy laughed. "Yeah, Kamek's great!"

"He is. Which, actually kind of leads into what I'm about to say next." Bowser rubbed his knees tentatively. "Kamek isn't perfect by any sense of the imagination. In fact, sometimes, he was even worse than Grandpa Morton. Especially when I was a kid." He shuddered. "I still can hear him yelling at me to clean my room late at night."

Roy shuddered. Yeah, that would not be a pleasant sound to have in the back of your mind.

"But…in the end, he just wanted what was best for me. The times where he yelled at me were times where he was trying to help me behave, and therefore bring out the best in me." Bowser smiled. "I guess that's what it all boils down to; intent."

"Intent?" Roy asked.

"Yeah. No, I'll admit, intent can be hard to pick up on; ESPECIALLY if you don't know the person very well. But sometimes…well, actually most times, there's more to people than there appears to be at a first glance."

Roy thought about this. "That…actually makes sense." He looked Bowser straight in the eye. "So…are you saying that we should all give Alicia and Albert another chance?"

Bowser shrugged. "It wouldn't hurt. Maybe they'll end up surprising you guys in the end."

Roy smiled. "Okay. Sounds good."

"Good. Glad that's sorted out." He patted Roy on the shoulder. "Now come on; it's pizza night."

Roy did a double take. "Wait, it's pizza night? I am almost missed out on pizza!" He zipped towards the door. "Why didn't you say so earlier; I definitely want some of that!"

Bowser chuckled as he followed Roy out.