ZOMBIE HEARTBREAKER: RE-ANIMATED
Prologue: The Big Day
It was a warm summer day inside a bedroom. The room, with its red walls and beige wooden floor, had two doors, one of a finely crafted wood with a brass handle, and another of a standard wood with the facade crafted like a closed plastic curtain. A large window gave a view to a faraway volcano and a vast rocky plain as the sun rose from the background to enlighten the dark yet fiery plains. The room itself only had a bed, a tall oval mirror and a night table. The small table only had a lamp and a clock while the bed had a mass of blankets slowly expanding and retracting and then repeating these two movements.
Once the clock reached the seven with its small but thick needle, it rang non-stop. A moan could be heard from underneath the blankets as they moved. A small opening was made in the blankets by lifting them up thus revealing a golden scaled hand with white claws extending toward the table. The hand extended further to reveal the wrist as well as the front of the arm as it reached the table. Blinded, it tapped everywhere it could reach on the table though the clock was sitting near the other side of the table.
"Come on… Where's that darned noisemaker?" A voice from underneath the blankets mumbled.
The mass of blanket leaned toward the table giving the much needed range to the hand to reach the clock. By doing so however, the mass of blanket tipped too close to the edge of the bed and fell down on the floor.
"Woah!" The voice screamed.
Upon hitting the ground, the mass of blanket grunted in pain. It flailed itself in all directions until the blankets opened up revealing an odd reptilian creature inside.
This reptilian creature had the unique features of having a round green head setting it apart with the rest of its golden body along with a large feline mouth and two big fangs protruding from it. The head was ornate with sky blue long hair at the top and a big blue star tattoo on the back of the head behind the left eye. The eyes themselves were big, towering from the nose to nearly the top of the head thus leaving little space for a forehead. The turtle slowly opened its eyes to reveal them as blue as its hairs. This morning, it was wearing a t-shirt with some underwear.
The creature slowly stood up while grabbing its back. It slammed its hand on the top on clock to keep it shut for today. It grabbed its head as it looked around the room, sighing in nostalgia. The creature opened the door with the brass doorknob and left the room.
It entered a corridor of dark grey stone walls and floor along with many other doors. The seven doors around it each had a sign with the silhouette of a face of a quirky looking creature. The one the creature left from had hairs towering high but the creature itself had its hairs dragging down to the floor for now. It walked on the red carpet lied down on the floor toward one direction of the corridor toward a large double set of steel doors. Firmly grabbing the handles, he pulled back to open the door.
A stream of light steam escaped from the door and gently caressed the creature that entered the next room afterwards. It was a giant bathroom, one of those found in any commercial building. The creature headed to the locker room to take off its clothes and headed to the showers where the steam was denser. As soon as he could see the showers…
"Look, everyone! Lazybone Larry woke up!" A brutish voice laughed.
Five other creatures sharing similar traits with Larry already were in the showers. With all the steam inside, only the heads could be seen on most of them.
The first one had a large white head and a large grey star covering the left side of its face with a larger feline open mouth and four fangs coming out its mouth. It reached for the three hair strings on its dark arms. Its small round eyes only had black pupils
The second one was noticeably taller than the others, so tall its golden upper body was towering above the steam. Unlike the others that could be seen, it had a serpentine mouth with four fangs and eyes so small the eye color could not be distinguished. Long lime green hairs dragged down its green head.
Size-wise, the third one shared similar traits with the first one as well as in terms of mouth shape and fangs albeit only two fangs and the mouth kept closed. As for the rest, it instead had a pink bald head and was wearing pink shades barring anyone to see the eyes.
The fourth one has too small to have its head stand above the dense steam. It had to jump occasionally to reveal the traits it shared with the second one, be it the head color or the mouth shaped despite not a single fang being seen. While the eyes were big enough to see their color, they only had black pupils. Its head was ornate with tricolor hairs switching between yellow, magenta and blue, along with two orange lines tattooed on the back of the head behind the left eye.
The last one, nearly as big as the first and third one and sharing the feline mouth, only had a single pointy bucktooth coming out the middle of the mouth. Its small round eyes only had black pupils and the head had long deep blue hairs.
Larry joined the others and began taking his shower.
"We all woke up at the same time. I don't see why I'm the one being called lazy." He joked.
"Always late…" The dark skinned creature sighed.
"Morton's right. You always take more time to get out of bed." The tall one laughed.
"Today's an important day, shrimp! It's the one day ya don't wanna be late!" The one wearing shades scolded.
"Very big day!" The short one reminded loudly.
"I can't believe zis is happening!" The other blue-haired one exclaimed, struggling to contain its excitement.
Even though Larry hit the showers later than the others, he did not take much time to wash his body. A few seconds after the others left, he was clean and ready to leave his turn. He joined the others again in the locker room to get a towel to wrap around his lower body. As they walked to the sinks, another creature entered the bathroom.
It had feminine traits like the thinner legs, the big pink lips and the pink finger nails. Its orange bald head housed two large eyes she kept shut to avoid eye contact with anyone. It was wearing a towel around its body, covering even the upper body, and sandals.
The other paused for a moment as they stared at the feminine creature walking to the showers.
"Pfuh! Girls! Always have to wait when the boys are done!" The pink-headed creature joked.
Larry noticed a bar of soap flying out the shower. It was too fast for him to catch so he instead warned the others.
"Heads up!" He screamed.
The pink-headed creature turned around and got hit by the soap on the forehead which then bounced away and fell on the floor dented by the impact.
"I heard that, Roy!" A feminine voice shouted.
Save for Roy, the others laughed which prompted the pink-haired creature to leave the bathroom angered, not like he needed to stay any longer with no hair to groom. The male ones who remained headed to the sinks to give themselves the finishing touch to their look.
Larry used a comb to put his hairs straight and towering high above his head to give himself a wave-like punk look.
The dark one, with only three hair strings, just used its fingers to clean them and left shortly after.
The tall one also combed its hairs to tower high above but gave itself a palm tree look with three leaf-like hair patterns at the end.
The short one had to first bring a stool to reach the sink then the mirror. It stylized its hairs in a punk-like fashion but instead had its hairs like six spike altering between the three colors with a yellow ponytail.
The other blue-haired one gave itself an odd hairstyle, shaping its hairs with the help of gel and a comb to put them like two sets of large thorns toward the back of its head.
Done with their hairs, the creatures put their underwear back on and left the bathroom.
They headed back to the corridor and then to the other side of it to reach the door. It led to a small dining room that had a table big enough to seat eight guests and the adequate number of chairs. Roy was already sat at one end of the table, tapping his finger and looking like he was bored out of his mind.
"Bout time y'all showed up!" He let out as he stopped tapping and sat accordingly.
"We have hairs, baldy. Maybe you'd understand if you had any." The short one joked.
Roy just grunted and the other creatures sat at the table. Shortly after, the female creature entered the dining room to sit between Larry and Roy. Her open eyes revealed they were blue.
"You sure took little time to shower, Wendy. You do remember what today is? That's unusual of you." The tall one asked.
"We were told to all meet the royal advisor at the same time. I can't waste time to perfect my look." Wendy replied.
"More like…" Roy began.
Wendy stared daggers at Roy who quickly shut his mouth and rang a bell in the middle of the table. A golden colored and red shelled turtle with an orange beak and wearing red shoes as well as a chef's hat entered the room holding a notepad and a pencil. He did the round table to take the order of each guest at the table.
"Good morning, Sir Larry! What would you like to eat today?" The chef asked.
"I'll just take a large bowl of fruits with milk and, please, you can simply call me Larry." The punk ordered.
"Would you like you fruits diced?"
"Keep them whole, please."
The chef left the dining room. It did not take long for the food to arrive, around fifteen minutes. It was impressive that no two guests ordered the same thing: Fruits for Larry, a ham sandwich for the dark skinned one, French toasts for Wendy, cereals for the tall one, eggs and bacon for Roy, pancakes for the short one, and oatmeal for the other blue-haired one. Before anyone else could reach for their utensils, Larry already grabbed the fruits in his bowl and began gobbling them one by one. Shocked, the others stared at them without even touching their meal. Some even struggled to not blink to not miss out on anything. In a minute, Larry was already done with his fruits and downed his milk glass in one gulp. He then left the dining room back to the corridor.
Back in his room, Larry opened the other door inside. It was a closed with a suit hanging on a laundry rack among many other clothing pieces and a turtle shell. The shell was beige on the front and sky blue on the back with seven spikes layered in a hexagonal pattern with one in the middle and each spike surrounded by a blue ring. The punk first wore the shell by sliding down into the largest opening then sliding out each limb in each opening one by one. He then took the black suit and put it on. Looking at himself in the mirror, the suit was a black vest with black pants. Inside the suit, he was wearing a white buttoned shirt and a red bowtie. To finish his look, he wore black shoes.
(This should do. It's not every day I look this sharp.) He thought before leaving his room.
He headed back to the dining room then a few doors and found himself in a vast room covered in more red carpets and tall open windows on the wall at the other side of the room. Many turtles suited like guards stood still or walked down the room with the nearby ones saluting Larry who returned the salute. Near one end of this vast room, a huge throne sat there with another corridor behind it. The punk walked to the middle of the room where he spotted a turtle wearing a blue robe and bonnet along with round glassed. The turtle was holding a parchment he read.
"Archmagister Kamek." The punk greeted as he stood in front of the turtle.
This caught Kamek's attention who raised his head to look at Larry.
"Sir Larry, I wasn't expecting you to be there before anyone else." He commented, surprised.
"I was told today was an important day." Larry said.
"Don't tell me you already forgot what's about to happen today!" The archmagister exclaimed, annoyed.
"Don't worry. I'm not the kind of guy to forget things easily, especially not your attitude." The punk laughed.
Kamek was infuriated and about to scold the punk for his insolence but the other creatures just entered the throne. He quickly readjusted his attitude and cleared his throat as the others joined him and Larry. Like the punk, they were all wearing a black suit save for Wendy who wore a red dress with golden rings around her wrists. They were also wearing a spiked shell each with different color: Black for the dark one, pink for Wendy, lime green for the tall one, purple for Roy, orange for the short one, and deep blue for the other blue-haired one.
"All the koopalings are here. That's great. The king has summoned you to his office. You will meet him one by one to receive your orders for the day." He briefed.
The koopalings followed Kamek to the corridors behind the throne. On their way to the king's office, they saw another turtle sharing similar traits with the koopalings. This one was barely taller than the shortest koopaling but looked like a child. It had small black eyes and a single fang coming out of the left side of its mouth and only enough hairs on its head for a ponytail. It was wearing black bands and a bib with an open fanged mouth drawn on it along with a green spiked shell. It was holding with both hands a tablet-like device that played sounds and music.
"Prince Bowser Jr." Larry saluted, bowing to the child-like reptile.
While the child did not say anything back at the punk, a jingle could be heard then all sounds and music from the tablet-like device were silenced. The child waved a hand at Larry then continued its way away with another jingle bringing the sounds and music back. The koopalings arrived at seven chairs placed along the hall facing a door.
"His highness will call you one by one. For the time being, you can each take a seat." Kamek explained before he entered the door.
They all took a seat and waited. It did not take long for the first one to be called.
"Ludwig B. Tobin!"
The other blue-haired turtle stood up and entered the door. Larry looked around and saw the short one, sat next to him, holding his should like he was in pain.
"Are you okay, Lemmy?" He asked.
"Oh, don't worry about that. I got vaccinated last week. It still itches but it's no big deal." The short one replied.
"Huh? Ya got vaccinated for what, shortstack?" Roy bumped in.
"It's a tetanus shot. It's a new thing I need for my job since I work a lot around rust." Lemmy explained.
The door opened again and Ludwig left. By the look on his face, he was not happy with what unveiled behind the door.
"Did ya already lose yer excitement today, buddy!?" Roy laughed.
"If zere vas vone place I did not vant to go for ze big day, it vas Pipeland and of course I am ze vone sent zere!" Ludwig lamented.
"I thought ya got used to the place. Ya've been living there since the peace treaty." The purple-shelled koopaling reminded.
"Two vords, Roy: Petey Piranha!" Ludwig brought up, pointing his finger at the other koopalings.
"I could've sworn the lad grew on him." Roy chuckled.
"Forget that, Ludwig doesn't have a sense of humor." The tall one laughed.
"Lemmy K. Mason!"
The short one left his seat and entered the office.
"So, who else got their tetanus shot?" Roy asked to the others still here.
"I got mine at the same time as Lemmy." Larry brought up.
"Me too." The tall one added.
"Three years ago." The dark one mumbled.
"How come I wasn't approached with that?" The pink-headed koopa asked again.
"Well, I don't have mine and you don't see me make a big deal out of it." Wendy brought up at her turn.
"If ya did care, you would've torn up the whole…"
The door opened and Lemmy left the office proud.
"Yay! I got Iceland!" He said.
"What's so great about that place? It's stupidly cold." Roy complained.
"If I have time before, I'll get to play in the snow… Or maybe after." The short koopa said before leaving the hall.
"Can y'all believe he's the second oldest among us? Did that kid ever grow up?" The purple-shelled koopa joked.
"He's a child at heart, Roy. Age doesn't make your mindset." The tall one answered.
"Oh yeah, nerd? Next, yer gonna tell me about aliens and stuff?" Roy joked again.
"You do know they exist, right?" The green-shelled koopa asked back.
"Roy Orion!"
Roy left his seat and entered the office.
"Hey, Larry! Who did you vote for on that poll Kamek made?" The tall one asked.
"I would've picked everyone but, since Kamek only allowed one choice, I picked Ludwig. What about you?" Larry answered.
"That poll nearly broke me. I was hesitating between Lemmy and Morton but, in the end, I picked you." The tall one said.
"Hold up, Iggy! You picked me over anyone else even though you had no reason to?" The punk asked, confused.
"Well, I also picked you, Larry-o." Wendy brought up.
"Me too." The black-shelled koopaling added.
The door opened again and Roy left with a big grin.
"Let me guess. You got Skyland?" Iggy asked.
"Bullseye! I get to ride the Hurricane to the sky!" Roy boasted before leaving.
"That's not fair! It had my name all over the hull." The nerd lamented.
"Iggy Popinski!"
Iggy stood up and entered the office.
"Why would you three vote for me?" Larry asked to those still around.
"You changed for the better the most, Larry-o. That's all that matters." Wendy replied.
"Yeah." The dark-skinned koopaling simply added.
"That's it? Each one of us pretty much have a favorite koopaling and you all ditch that to pick me? That was just a poll to ask about your favorite koopaling." The punk reminded.
"We all do, Larry-o, but no one among us has become kinder and more dedicated than you." The girl said, smiling at Larry.
Iggy left the office excited.
"I take it was worth more than riding some plane." The punk guessed.
"I got Woodland! I couldn't have asked for anything else! Forget the plane! This here is the real deal!" The nerd yelled as he left the hall.
"Which doesn't leave us many choices. I hope I don't get Sandland." Wendy said.
"Wendy Owen."
The girl stood up and entered the office.
"You're doing well over there, Morton? You barely spoke to us this morning." Larry asked, concerned.
"I'm fine." Morton just answered.
"I know there aren't many people around for you speak this morning and you already said everything this weekend. I just wanted to check on you." The punk reassured.
"Thanks." The large koopaling concluded, smiling slightly.
The door opened and Wendy left smiling.
"I got Sealand." She said.
"You heard Cathy is also attending the meeting there?" Larry asked.
"That better be true. At least I'll have someone to talk to if things get boring." She girl giggled before leaving the hall.
"Morton Dawn Jr!"
Morton stood up and entered the office. Only the punk was left sitting in the wall anxiously waiting his turn to enter the office. The door opened a few minute later and Morton left the office.
"I guess that leaves Grassland for me then." The punk guessed.
"Yeah." The dark-skinned koopaling only said before leaving the hall.
"Larry Mulan Jr!"
It was now Larry's turn who left his seat and entered the office. Inside, an imposing koopa was sat behind a large desk reading papers with Kamek standing next to him.
This koopa was much taller and larger than any other koopa. Much like most koopalings, he had a green head and golden scales for the rest of the body. Like all koopalings, he was wearing a spiked shell but green. He was also wearing a white suit and glasses. Its orange hairs were combed sideway to his left.
The room itself was an office big enough for the massive koopa to navigate around. A few bookstands also stood by the other side of the office with numerous books and papers about to fall off. The large desk only had a white top hat sitting at a corner near the koopa.
"Please, take a seat." The koopa ordered.
Larry sat on the only chair available in the office. The koopa stopped reading the papers and put them on the desk.
"You remember today is the day we meet the Federation Force, right?" The koopa asked.
"Yes, your highness." The punk replied.
"I have already sent your fellow koopalings to each of the seven lands between our kingdom and the Mushroom Kingdom to represent me there." The king continued.
"From what I heard, I'll be representing you in Grassland." Larry guessed.
"That would be correct. However…" The big koopa began.
"However?" The koopaling asked, losing his optimism little by little.
"I have made the decision that you will not be representing me for the big day." The koopa declared.
This shocked not only Larry but also Kamek who looked at the massive koopa in confusion.
"But why? Surely, there must've been some misunderstanding we can clear out." Larry begged.
"I have made this decision because you are too young to be representing me to the Federation Force. It would not be well seen by them if I let a child represent me." The koopa pointed out.
"A child?! Even though he's only eighteen, he's the captain of your royal guard!" Kamek reminded.
"And, I know a lot more about the world's politics than the other koopalings." The punk added.
"The Federation Force does not come from the Mario World but form outer space. And my decision is final. The person that will represent me in Grassland should be waiting for you at the royal garage. It is your duty to escort him." The koopa concluded.
This angered Larry who bolted out of the office and back to his room. He only took time to take off his fancy suit and toss it on the bed. For the day, he chose to wear spiked bracers and a sky blue hoodie along with a pair of headphones around his neck. He then made his way to the garage where he met two new koopas.
The first one was built similar to Roy. Despite this, it was wearing a round orange shell with no spikes on it and had eyes shaped like Wendy's along with an orange head. It was also wearing a white short-sleeved buttoned shirt and the other koopa was tying a bowtie around the shirt collar.
The other koopa looked more feminine with the slimmer arms and the eyelashes. It had a red hair and was only wearing its red spikeless shell.
"Do I really have to wear this, Pom Pom?" The orange-headed koopa asked, embarrassed.
"Hush, Boom Boom. You look great wearing this." Pom Pom reassured as she put the finishing touch on the suit.
Larry approached them and the two of them saw him.
"He's ready to go, Larry. Take good care of him." The female koopa presented.
"Then let's get the show on the road." The punk said, having lost morale for the day.
Larry's mood being unexpected for her, Pom Pom only waved goodbye at the two before leaving. The two others embarked in a pickup truck and set off through the futuristic looking city. Neither said anything as they drove between the tall and slick buildings. They took the highway leading onto a bridge then a region filled with green large pipes.
"So, how was your weekend?" Boom Boom asked.
"It was fine." Larry simply said, looking through the passenger's window.
"You know, I wasn't expecting to be representing the Koopa Kingdom today. I was shocked when the king called me early this morning. Why wouldn't he choose you for that?" The orange shelled koopa asked.
"He said something about me being too young to deal with space politics. That's all I got." The punk brought up.
"That's not fair! You're captain of his royal guard! Couldn't you…"
"Already tried. He didn't listen."
Boom Boom did not feel like he had anything else to say as they drove though the region filled with pipes so he kept quiet. They then drove through another region filled with large and tall trees. With all the leafage, barely any light brightened the region. It was almost as if it was already night.
"I hate driving through the woods. This place gives me the creep but it's the fastest way to Grassland." Boom Boom admitted.
Larry was too focused looking through as something caught his attention. Though the trees, he saw two magenta dots in the darkness far away like they were staring at him.
"Stop the car." He ordered without taking his sight off of the dots.
"In the woods!?" Boom Boom asked panicked.
"There's something I need to investigate." The punk answered, still not taking his sight off the dots.
"But we might be late for the…"
"The big day can wait. There's a potential national threat lurking in the woods." Larry declared, finally looking back at the driver.
Without hesitation, the big koopa slammed the brakes. The tires screeched, the truck slightly flailed left and right but Boom Boom managed to keep control and park it on the side of the rood.
"Got a light?" The koopaling asked.
"Yeah, it's in the glove box." The driver said as he reached the compartment in front of Larry and opened it.
As he opened the glove box, a small square box fell off which prompted him to try and reach for it but his seatbelt prevented him to bend over forward. The punk did not care as he grabbed the flashlight and opened the door.
"Keep the engine running. In case something's about to happen, I'm gonna need a quick getaway." He ordered as he jumped out the truck.
He opened the flashlight and ventured into the darkness of the woods. He ran to where he last saw the magenta dots but found nothing. He looked around him, waving the light toward where he looked, but he still could not find those magenta dots.
"He must've run off." He muttered, sighting in frustration.
"What ran off?" A mocking voice asked him.
Larry's first reflex was to look behind him and that was when he finally saw the magenta dots. Those were in fact a pair of eyes bathing in darkness from a spectral and spherical being wearing a big crown ornate with a bigger gem of the same color as the eyes. It stared at the koopaling and at a gaping smile revealing its pointy teeth.
"Good morning to you, Lawrence." The ghost cackled.
"Stop calling me Lawrence! And what are you planning now?" The punk asked, already annoyed by the ghost's presence.
"Me? I, King Boo, am simply taking a stroll through the woods. It's always a lovely time with all its darkness, don't you think?" The ghost arrogantly said.
"You better be. You're not worth the trouble today." Larry warned.
"So I've heard but why aren't you properly attired for the day?" King Boo mockingly asked.
"This doesn't concern you. We're done here." The koopaling finished as he walked away to the truck.
"Oh, but it will." The royal ghost taunted.
Larry looked back at King Boo with the flashlight but the ghost was gone. Only laughter stayed behind in an attempt to provoke the punk. He returned to the truck and sat down.
"What happened back there? Was that King Boo?" Boom Boom asked.
"Just hit the road. We're done here." Larry sighed as he buckled his seatbelt.
The truck took the road once again and, after another moment of silence, it left the woods and entered vast plains covered with grass and a few smaller trees. They could see a city with a castle in the horizon.
"Hey Larry. I need your help with something." The driver brought up.
"What kind of help." The punk asked with little interest, staring at the countryside.
"You saw that small box I had on the glove box, right?" Boom Boom asked.
"Yeah, and?" The koopaling asked back, still showing little interest.
"I've been with Pom Pom for two years and I'm about to propose her. The thing is I don't know when, where and how I should propose to her. You got some ideas?" The big koopa shyly confessed.
"I guess you could keep it tame. Don't overextend your proposal as it might make things awkward." Larry suggested.
"Alright. I'll keep that in mind. Thanks, Larry."
They finally reached the city. Its medieval styled buildings make it look like they travelled back through time. The city was inhabited by brown mushrooms with feet, large eyes and fanged mouth. All of them looked serious on their best behavior. The truck reached the castle that was separated by a drawbridge and crossed it to reach the courtyard. The truck was then parked along with some other vehicles. Since they arrived at destination, Larry unbuckled his seatbelt and grabbed the handle.
"Hey, Larry." Boom Boom began.
"Come on, big guy. Today's your lucky day. You wouldn't want to keep them waiting, do you?" Larry said.
"Have you ever dreamed of a Mario World in ruins where our heroes aren't there to save it?" The driver asked.
"No." The punk simply answered before leaving the truck, with Boom Boom following him shortly after but surprised by the reaction.
"Come on! I'm serious, Larry! I once got this dream not long ago and I've been wondering: If neither Mario nor Bowser is around to save us, then who will?" The big koopa pressured, catching up to Larry's pace.
"Not my problem. We already have enough people for that." The punk replied as they entered the castle.
"Like?" The big koopa asked again.
"Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Donkey Kong, Gonzales Jr, Wario…" The koopaling enumerated, the two walking up a set of stairs.
"Okay, I get your point. Say no more." Boom Boom reassured, embarrassed he asked in the first place.
The two reached a door where a mushroom on feet with a flagpole on its head stood guard. It was holding a sheet of paper in its mouth and looked at the koopas.
"I guess this is my stop. You know where to find me." Larry bid to Boom Boom.
"Not so fast, Sir Larry! I got a letter for you." The mushroom announced.
As the big koopa entered the door, the punk took the letter from the mushroom's mouth and read it:
"To the authority of Grassland,
The aforementioned individual, Mr. Larry Mulan Jr, must not leave the premise of the Grassland Fortress for the duration of the meeting. As long as violence is not used, you are hereby free to apply any method you deem necessary to do so.
King Bowser of the Koopa Kingdom."
"And there goes the rest of my day." Larry sighed, exasperated by the circumstanced.
"As you may have read in the letter, we have deemed putting you in custody to be the best way you ensure your stay on site." The mushroom said.
"Just when I thought it couldn't get worse." The punk complained.
"Please, Sir Larry, we beg you to not take it the wrong way. We have thought of escorting you to one of your luxurious bedrooms first but we feared you could escape. Now, if you would please follow me to the dungeon." The mushroom reassured.
With no other choice, Larry followed the mushroom back downstairs then another set of stairs leading into the dungeon. He was escorted to the cell at the end of the corridor where a table and a chair were standing by the wall.
"Before I put you inside, I must inspect your belongings to make sure you're not carrying with you anything that would let you break out." The mushroom said.
Larry emptied his pockets which contained his wallet, his cellphone and his keys. He also took off his headphones and put everything on the table. The mushroom examined his belongings and only took the keys.
"I'll keep those in case you have one of those that open everything. You're free to keep the rest with you in your cell." The mushroom concluded.
With that, the punk retrieved his belongings that were not taken and entered his cell. The door closing behind, he sat down on the bed and opened his wallet to look at some of the photos he kept with him. Most of them were photos of him with the other koopalings. Though, looking at photos would not pass the entire day so he lied down and closed his eyes.
"I can't believe how fast time passed by… I still remember my time… At the orphanage…" He muttered in his sleep.
"Come on, Baby Boy! Ya gotta speak up if ya want yer stupid toy back!" Roy laughed.
In the backyard of a fairly big house, a shorter Larry with orange scales, no star tattoo and four fangs coming out his mouth instead of just two, was being bullied by the other koopalings. The others would mockingly wave a plush of one of those mushrooms inhabiting Grassland at Larry who tried to take it back. Though, as soon as he got close enough, the koopaling holding it would throw it to another and the cycle would repeat. Then, when Morton caught the plush, he threw it far away. Larry wanted to believe he could get it this time but Roy was quicker and caught it. The pink-shelled koopaling then moved aside and let the young punk trip on a rock then fall into a mud pool, one left after a rainy day. The others laughed at the poor koopaling covered in mud who began crying.
"That is quite enough!" An adult's voice shouted.
An adult koopa just arrived on scene to notice everything he needed to know. She took away the plush Roy was holding.
"Hey! That's mine!" Roy lied.
"The six of you will go to detention right now! Mr. Shelldon will give you your punishment." The adult declared.
"Yes, Ms. Shelldon." The other koopalings said, head down, and heading to the house.
The adult took Larry's hand and dragged him inside the house. The little punk was brought to a bathroom and Ms. Shelldon poured a bath for the child. Once clean, the child was brought to a large bedroom with seven beds and put on the furthest bed where he was given back his toy.
"Poor child. I hope one day they will treat you more fairly. For now, they are gone doing chores." Ms. Shelldon as she hugged the child before leaving.
When the adult left the room, Larry looked at his toy and put it on the table next to his bed. He curled up crying again. He then heard cackles and raised his head to see a shadowy silhouette standing in the doorframe. It approached him and, as such, darkness engulfed the room. The silhouette extended its arms toward the child who was paralyzed by fear so he could not move. The darkness then engulfed the child as the laughers intensified.