Chapter 3 Screaming Sensations

Not even the greatest TV shows, video games, or comic books brought Larry out of his funk. He played Newer Super Mario Bros Wii to death in the common room, so much so that he got a cramp while holding the Wii Remote. When he got bored with that, he watched Meeting Myself for the billionth time. It was through doing this that he came to the conclusion that watching something he had seen so much was even less stimulating than studying paint drying on a wall. With his frustration reaching catastrophic levels, he went up to his room to try and read more Titanium Man.

But it didn't help. Despite how awesome, cool, and powerful a superhero such as Titanium Man was, he couldn't save Larry's heart from feeling backed into a corner by his own emotions.

So, he threw the comic down on the bed, picked up his pillow, and screamed into it. He screamed for what felt like an eternity, only coming to a stop when he felt his throat growing sore. He pulled the pillow away, his breathing coming out hard, steady, and yet heavier than a boulder. He put his hand to his forehead, trying to logic himself out of the rut his circumstances had so rudely and coldly pushed him into.

It wasn't that big of a deal, really. He had no reason to compare himself to his siblings because he had some really great qualities too! He could beat anybody in any video game under the sun… but that wouldn't really serve him well in the real world. He was great at sports… unless he made a fool of himself by tripping over the ball. He could… he could… oh goodness gracious, what else could he do? He… he… oh! He could hold his breath for eight minutes! That was really good… when swimming. On land though, that skill was more useless than the Nintendo Virtual Boy.

That thought made Larry's heart ache. He collapsed onto his bed, staring up at the ceiling and wishing for something better. Why couldn't he be a good cook, like Morty? Why couldn't he be skilled in science and learning like Iggy? Why couldn't he be a special koopa like Ludwig? Any of those attributes, along with dozens of others his siblings possessed, would help Larry stand out and shine. But as he was? He didn't shine at all. He was like a broken light bulb amidst dozens of shining ones on the same chandelier.

Now, Larry would never in a million years admit this to anyone… but he sniffled a little. A tear threatened to fall out of his eyes as he stared up at his ceiling. They say that everybody is special in unique in their own way… but right now, he was having the hardest time in the world actually believing that. He didn't know if there was anything that could possibly convince him otherwise.

Knock knock.

Larry seized up, all at once becoming painfully aware of the fact that he had been crying. He wiped the tear off of his face, telling himself in his head that only wussies cried. He wasn't a wussy, and he wasn't going to give whoever was standing on the other side of the door a reason to believe he was. He marched over to his door, ready to show his sibling(s) that he was a tough guy and that he could stack up against them and their endless talents.

When he opened the door, Larry felt surprised to not see just one of his brothers, but rather, two. "Um…" Larry tried to decide what to say. He wanted it to be something cool, something that would knock Morton and Roy off their feet better than any sort of punch or injury. He ultimately decided on saying: "What do you bozos want at this time in the evening?"

Morton sighed. "Larry… please."

The way he said that sentence made Larry's heart hurt. He looked at Roy and Morton, becoming acutely aware of the facial expressions they wore. Both of them had furrowed brows. Both of them frowned as they looked at the youngest, and there was that special kind of shine in Morton's eyes that only ever indicated the presence of brotherly worry.

Larry swallowed a lump. "Wh… what's up?"

"Do you mind if we come in?" Roy took off his sunglasses, showing Larry that he felt the same kind of concern Morton was. "Please?"

"Uh…" Larry felt so small under that gaze. He scratched his head, coming to the conclusion that not letting them in would only create more problems. "Sure, sure."

They both nodded and walked in. Larry closed the door behind them, turning on the overhead light due to the disappearing daylight outside of his window. "Um… don't you guys want to watch Fortune's Comet with Iggy?"

"Oh, we will," Roy said as he put his shades back on. "But Iggy said that won't be happening at least for another three to four hours, so we can wait. Besides…"

"You are more important," Morton chimed in.

Larry's heart skipped at least one beat. "I am? How so?"

Morton approached him. The frown from before looked so much stepper, the concern in his eyes that much more potent. He stopped just a few inches from Larry, not saying anything for a few seconds. Larry looked into his eyes, feeling awkward doing so. The only reason he didn't stop was because he knew turning away would be even more awkward.

"You seemed a little down in the dining hall," Morton said.

"Yeah," Roy said. He too approached, getting even closer to his youngest brother than Morton was. "I mean, I know that you are the last person to turn down seeing someone shove a sword down their throat. We… we wanted to check in on you; make sure you're okay."

Larry's mind went into overdrive, operating at incredible speed as he tried to think about how to respond to that. He knew that if he were to admit to any sort of weakness, then Morton and Roy wouldn't leave him alone. They would probably grill him, asking WAY too many questions in order to get down to the heart of the issue. And honestly, the idea of going through that sounded more agonizing and painful than dealing with any kind of negative emotions by himself.

So, he laughed. "Me? Down? You guys are in crazy town right now!" He put on a smile. He fixed his posture to make himself look taller, bigger. "I'm perfectly fine!"

Morton blinked. Roy probably did too, but it was difficult to tell with his glasses on. Larry hoped that their surprise and his reassurance would be enough to make them lose interest, enough to make them leave him alone.

"Larry…" Morton paused, an action that made Larry sweat. He hesitated, going so far as to bite his lip. "Larry, if you're hiding something, something that we could potentially help with, I don't think that's a good idea. I mean, not talking about your problems will only make them get worse…"

"I'm fine, Morty," Larry said. Despite his smile, he used a serious tone when speaking, annunciating each syllable carefully and intentionally. "There's nothing to worry about." He patted Morton's shoulder, an action that made the dark-skinned Koopaling blink again. "I just wanted some time to myself. Sure, I missed Lemmy's show, but that's okay! It's not the end of the world."

"You missing the show isn't what I'm most concerned about," Morton said. "Your emotional state…"

"Is perfectly fine. Great even; I feel as though I could conquer the world when I roll out of bed tomorrow." He chuckled, patting Morton's shoulder once again. "Believe me Morty, the only thing I feel at this moment is excitement over seeing Fortune's Comet." He chuckled. "That, and a little bit of sleepiness. As soon as I make my wish, I'm gonna sleep for the next hundred years." He puffed out his chest. "Sleeping Beauty's gonna look at me wish that she could've slept as comfortably as I'm going to."

Morton raised his eyebrow for a second, causing Larry to sweat even more. Just as he felt that he couldn't take anymore, his brother thankfully nodded. "Okay. If that's the case, I trust you." He smiled himself. "I suppose I was reading things into a situation that weren't there in the first place. So… I'll go wait with the others for the comet."

"Good idea," Larry said. He patted Morton on the shell as he made his way out of the room. Once the door closed, Larry let out what was probably the world record for loudest breath of relief. He chuckled to himself, turned away from the door…

And saw Roy, still standing right there. Internally berating himself for forgetting about him, Larry looked into his eyes. He once again tried to appear strong, tried to not show any sign of weakness.

"Larry, why did you lie to Morty?"

Larry blinked. "What makes you think I lied?"

"I can tell when you lie." He took a step closer to him. "Larry, something is bothering you!"

"No, it's not!"

"Yes, it is!" Roy took another step closer. "Please Larry, I'm here to help. You don't need to shut me out. I'm your brother." He smiled. "I'm here for you if you need me."

Larry almost collapsed onto the floor. The sincerity in that sentence… for a split second, he felt like fessing up. He felt like he should tell Roy all about his internal struggles, reveal the deepest secrets of his heart and ask for his help. It was just something about Roy's demeanor that made Larry want to trust him. In fact, he didn't just want to trust him; he felt like he already did.

But even still…

"That's great Roy." He took in a breath. "But I'm doing great." He paused. "I'd be telling you if I wasn't."

Trying not to cringe at that lie was probably the hardest thing Larry had ever done. It felt as though his entire body was screaming at him to correct his sentence, to tell Roy the truth, and ask him for his help. His heart screamed too, but did it with such a strong sense of anguish. It felt as though every part of Larry, from the physical to the mental, was at war with himself.

The way Roy looked at Larry certainly didn't help either. He opened his mouth, looking ready to say more. However, before he could, he stopped himself. Despite looking like he wanted to wrap Larry in a hug, he nodded. "Okay then." He made his way to the door. "I trust you."

This was the same sentence Morton had said earlier, and somehow, hearing it be said a second time was all the more painful. "Th…thanks Roy."

With that, Roy left, closing the door behind him. Larry stood still in his empty room, now not sure what he wanted to do. He felt like going down to look for Fortune's Comet… but that didn't appeal to him right now. There was no wish he could make that would be worth hanging around his siblings right now.

Maybe…maybe the best thing to do would be to go to sleep. He hadn't really settled on a wish anyway; sleeping on his problems would probably be the best move. So, he shut off the lights. He made his way over to his bed, putting Titanium Man on his nightstand and pulling up his covers. Within seconds, he fell asleep.

…

Larry stirred. Consciousness slowly returned to him, as it so often did. He sat up, expecting to see the light so commonly associated with the morning. However, the only light coming in through his window was the light of the moon. He checked his alarm clock. 10:45.

"Damn it," Larry said. He supposed that's what he got for so foolishly thinking that he could go to sleep early. Shaking his head, he sat up and put his feet down on the floor. The second he did, he hesitated. Did he really want to get up now? There wasn't really much of a point. He didn't know if his siblings had seen the comet yet, and honestly, he didn't want to know. He wanted to stay as far away from them as possible, at least for the time being.

So, he sighed and put his legs back in the bed. As he did, he assessed whether or not the sleep had worked for its intended purpose. After about a minute of considering this, he came to the conclusion that no, it didn't work. He was still upset over everything that was happening. He still felt bad recounting his siblings and their accomplishments. He still felt embarrassed and ashamed over how he didn't really have any skills that could be considered special. But most of all, he felt like a nobody. A nothing, a mere grain of sand that slipped through the fingers and blended in with the background.

Sniffling, he turned toward the window. He shifted position a little, and as he did, his eyes locked on his comic book once again. Blinking, he picked it up. He looked at the cover, with Titanium Man's silver skin looking heavenly under the silver light of the moon. He opened up to the back of the book, to a picture of Titanium Man flying over the city that he had just saved.

Despite himself, Larry sniffled. "Life is just so much easier for superheroes, isn't it?" He looked back out of the window. "Superheroes don't worry about how they stack up to their siblings. They get along all by themselves, without anyone or anything telling them how unimpressive their skills are." He frowned. "What I wouldn't give to live a life even a smidge like that."

Right as he said this, he saw something flash across the sky. With a tail that stretched on for miles and a head that held only the most beautiful type of light, it lit up the sky in a way that no words or pictures could adequately describe. Larry's jaw dropped when he saw it. His heart hummed, and it felt as though he couldn't tear his eyes away. He sat up, kneeling in front of the window this time.

It hadn't been too late. Larry now could wish for anything under the sun. And right now, there was one wish he wanted to make more than any other.

He folded his hands. "I wish I could be like Titanium Man," he whispered to the comet. "I'm so sick and tired of being the weakest member of this family; I want a power that can't compare to anyone else. I want to be strong. Indestructible. I want to be… special."

The room stayed silent for a little bit. Larry kept his eyes on the sky, not entirely sure what to expect from this. After a solid minute of absolutely nothing happening, the worst case of disappointment Larry had ever experienced set in. It seemed… it seemed Fortune's Comet was a hoax. How stupid was Larry, to think that all his problems could be resolved through one simple wish? Looking back, believing in a comet that could grant wishes seemed stupid, even coming from the mouth of someone like Iggy. He started to get back into bed, preparing a long rant he was going to give Iggy in the morning…

When something caught his eye. Unsure if he wasn't seeing things, Larry sat up and squinted out the window. His heart skipped a beat when he saw a stream of sparkles. He lifted his head, seeing them falling down from the night sky into the room. Gawking, he looked around and saw more streams of sparkles coming down from the ceiling. Glowing brighter than the stars in the sky and displaying many different colors (some of which Larry hadn't even SEEN before), it felt as though Larry was in the middle of the greatest dream ever. Except… this was actually happening, right?

"What exactly is…?"

Before he knew it, the sparkles began to circle him like planets in a solar system. Larry's breath caught in his throat, and the circling sparkles got faster. Right as he thought he couldn't possibly get any more astonished, the sparkles lifted him into the air. Larry shrieked, doing his best to get back down in his bed. However, the hold the glimmers had on him couldn't even entertain the idea of letting him go.

"WHAT'S GOING…!"

Before he could even finish his sentence, a larger sparkle shot towards him and hit him in the chest. He gasped, feeling the air being completely and utterly knocked out of him. A tingly feeling overtook his entire body. He didn't know quite how to describe it; it felt as though every part of him, from his bones to each individual drop of blood, was screaming. Not in pain, and definitely not in the same way they had when he had been talking to Morton and Roy earlier. Larry gasped again. The sparkling only got brighter, threatening to blind him if he were to look at it for too long.

And then… it stopped. He slowly floated back into bed, and the sparkles faded from existence. Larry's eyes were wider than ever. Had… had that actually happened? Had any of that been real? It didn't seem to be. This all seemed like a dream, like an event that no one could possibly experience. Except… how could every sensation he felt possibly be fabricated by the mind?

Confused, Larry pulled his blanket back over himself and fell back asleep.