Chapter 13 Cat Heads

As good as winning felt to Princess Peach, she couldn't let it go to her head. Especially this soon into the game; there were no doubt countless rounds that the group had to go through, so really, whoever was currently the winner mattered very little. Peach wasn't someone who counted their chickens before they hatched, so she was just going to jump back into the game without any comments.

With all that said, being the main winner at this point still felt good. And, somehow, the fact that she was in this position because of Bowser created quite an interesting emotional conflict in the princess. She felt ecstatic, yet sorrowful. Exhilarated, yet disgusted. Every time that she looked at Bowser as everyone gathered around the table, her heart did things that they had never done before. On some level, this filled her with the utmost contempt. On another level… well, she liked it.

But that mattered very little. The lot of them had a game they needed to play if they wanted to go home.

"Okay," Solar said once everyone was back in position. "So, let's see, Peach is currently the winner, and Daisy was the one who played the last card, so…" his eyes went from Daisy to the person directly next to her. He did a double-take before smiling. "Alrighty then! Looks like you're next Lemmy!" His eyes twinkled. "Do your worst, little man!"

Lemmy beamed. "Oh, I certainly will." He looked down at his cards, adorning a thoughtful look as he considered which was most worthy of being played. "So many choices, so little time. How can I be expected to…" he gasped. His face lit up as he looked at one card in particular. If Peach didn't know any better, she would've thought he ran across an ultra-rare treasure. "Oh, this is perfect!" He turned into a giggly mess of epic proportions. "I'm gonna play this card to the center!"

The second the card touched down on the table, a *poof* sound filled the room. A pinkish type of smoke accompanied the sound, causing everybody to cough and hack. For a second, Peach entered panic mode. Which card had Lemmy played exactly?

Well, she got her answer. The second the smoke cleared, and she was able to see the other players, she let out a gasp to end all gasps. She couldn't help staring at everybody, and she couldn't help but feel her face. It felt fuzzy, with whiskers and an odd-shaped nose. Peach didn't know whether to panic or laugh at this.

Everybody around the table now had cat heads.

"Lemmy!" Iggy exclaimed. He glared at his brother, who laughed his little butt off. "Why? Why in the world would you do this?"

Lemmy, who had his own cat head, tried to get his laughter under control. Clearly, he was failing. "Oh, I just couldn't help myself!" He grinned, looking at everyone around the table with an expression Peach could only describe as giddily greedy. "You all look adorable!" He felt his face own face. "And it looks like I'm adorable too! It was the perfect card to play!"

Daisy glared at him. "You know, I have half a mind to cough up a hairball and chuck it at you."

"Hey!" Bowser said. "It's not that big a deal!" He grinned, stroking his chin. "In fact, I think that this makes a lot of us easier on the eyes."

"Speak for yourself," Aqua said with a snort and a roll of the eyes.

"Alright, alright!" Solar said, holding his hands up. "Let's not fight right meow!" Lemmy burst into laughter while Solar's cat face had the proudest of smiles. "This is only going to last for two turns, according to the card." He looked around the table again. "Now, we should continue the game. I believe the next turn is…"

"Mine!" Bowser exclaimed. "Oh baby, now I have the perfect opportunity to do some real damage."

Peach had to use all the self-control she had at her disposal to not say "You already cause enough damage just by existing." The only reason she didn't say it in the end was because it would start a fight, and that was the last thing that anyone needed. Everyone clearly wanted to go home, and fighting with the Koopa King would just prolong that.

So, she allowed Bowser to look through his cards. Like numerous people who sat around the table, Bowser's cat ears twitched and his nose quivered as he looked through his selection. If Peach were to be honest, as much as she… didn't get along with the Koopa King, she would readily admit that she thought the sight was adorable. It made her wish for a cat of her own. In fact, why didn't she have one; she loved those little animals to death!

"Hmm," Bowser mused. "Hmm hmm hmm." He looked through his cards, stopping when he came across one particular (similar to his son with his cards). He smiled, showing off his new cat teeth. "Well, this one probably wouldn't be so fun under normal circumstances, But since we all look like cats…" he smirked and placed the card in the center of the table. "I think this is perfect."

Everyone leaned forward. Peach and her sisters blinked when they saw what the card required. The Koopalings' reactions ranged from groaning to giggling; there wasn't any in-between. Solar just looked confused.

"'Take the silliest selfie you can. Whoever takes the silliest wins two hundred points." He stared. "Uh… what's a selfie?"

"You don't know what a selfie is?" Wendy asked. She chuckled and took out her phone. "It's a picture of yourself that you take with your phone. I take them all the time; it's pretty fun."

"It is indeed!" Bowser chuckled. "I think this would be the perfect way to make use of our 'cat curse.'"

"I… actually agree," Daisy said, surprising everyone. "It does sound fun." She looked at everyone. "But who's going to decide which of our selfies is worthy of the points?"

"Oh, that's easy!" Iggy said. He got the bottle from before back out and placed it on the table. He spun it, and it landed on… "Peach! It appears that you have been selected to perform this important duty!"

Peach smiled. At least, until she saw Bowser's face fall. "Aw, man. This means she can't get points this round."

"Hey, she's winning; I think she can afford that," said Aqua. She looked at everyone. "Well, let's go take our selfies guys! The sooner we get this done, the quicker we can return to the actual game."

Everyone nodded except for Solar, who just looked more nervous than everyone else. The fact that he was the last person to leave the table only supported Peach's observation. The others all went to different parts of the void, holding their phones up above them and in front of them. As the snaps and flashes occurred throughout the room, Peach couldn't help but think about how normal this display was. Taking selfies was something normal teenagers did on a fairly regular basis, after all. Seeing such monstrous people like Bowser and the Koopalings taking them… it struck Peach as odd. They were doing something so normal and mundane as opposed to kidnapping her. They were giggling and having fun with the different pictures they took of themselves, like any normal kid. Was it appropriate to say that this made them seem more human to Peach?

No no, she shouldn't be thinking that. The Koopalings and Bowser were responsible for her parents' deaths. Well, okay, Bowser was responsible more than the Koopalings were, but the point still stood. They were her enemies. They were people who she wouldn't want to be in the same room as normally. She needed to screw her head back on straight because this thought pattern was delving into dangerous territory.

Right as she was worrying about her own state of mind everyone came back. They placed their phones down on the table with their pictures open. Just based on the way they looked during the initial scan of them, Peach knew that she was in for a treat when it came to judging them.

"Okay…" she picked up the phone closest to her. She blinked when she saw what the photo was. Or rather, what it wasn't, because it certainly wasn't a selfie. Instead, it was blurred and seemed to focus on empty space. A person's furry face could be seen in the left-hand corner, but only barely.

"Uh… whose selfie is this?"

"Oh, I think that's mine." Solar's posture looked so sheepish he might as well have had a sheep head. "Sorry, I couldn't exactly get the hang of these phone thingies."

Peach looked at him. "That's fine, sweetheart. But I can't in good conscience have you be the one to win the points."

Solar sunk a little in his seat. "Yeah, I expected that…"

With that, Peach went through the rest of the selection. She had to admit, there were a lot of interesting contenders for the winner. Daisy was sticking her tongue out and doing the peace sign with her free hand, making her look like a feline rockstar. Roy had his trademark sunglasses tilted downward and was leaning so close to the camera that he looked like he was going to kiss it. Larry wore the grumpiest face ever seen on a cat, and he pointed right at himself. While there weren't any words on the screen, Peach theorized that he was trying to say "you'd better select me as the winner" coupled with words that Peach never wanted to think or say out loud.

The others were pretty good too. Aqua touched her nose with her tongue, Wendy was doing duck lips, and Ludwig twirled his whiskers like they were some sort of evil mustache… they all were fun, cute, and most of all, humorous. Peach actually snickered on multiple occasions at these photos. But there lied the problem; they were all equally funny to her. All of them were good (except for Solar's). None of them really stuck out as the true winner.

She sighed as she put down Morton's phone. "Oh man, this is a tough one." She saw that she had only one more phone to look at. "Whose is this?"

"Oh, that's mine," Bowser said. He chuckled and placed his hand down on Junior's shoulder. "My little Buddy and me took our selfie together in order to achieve maximum cuteness and hilarity."

Peach sniffed, slowly reaching for the phone. Yeah, she couldn't imagine a world where Bowser could be considered cute. She also couldn't see why she would ever award him the points. It would just seem wrong. She was halfway tempted to not even look at the photo.

But, remembering how Bowser had given her his purple coins, she picked it up. When she saw the photo, she did a double-take before bursting into laughter. She had to hold onto her hurting sides, and she felt like she was going to pass out.

"You like it?" Bowser asked with a grin as everyone else gathered around to see the photo.

Peach nodded, unable to speak. Both Bowser and Junior's eyes were as wide as could be, so wide that it showed every last bit of cuteness that the two had within them. Junior's hands almost made it look like he was kneading the air, and Bowser had his hand on top of his son's head. It kind of looked like one large, meaty hat.

Everyone else laughed when they saw the picture too. "Well. I think we found a winner," said Aqua, chuckling despite herself.

"You think so?" Junior asked, his voice rising high with excitement.

Peach nodded, only now getting the strength back to speak. "You two knocked it out of the park." She looked between the father and son duo, smiling as she did (somehow). "I hate to say it, think you both deserve the points."

Junior did a fist pump while his father patted him on the back. "Well, that's great to hear!" the Mighty Koopa King said. He grinned, the expression the very definition of "cheeky." "And with that, Junior and I are in the running!'

Peach nodded before giving everyone back their phones. As everyone gathered back around the table, Peach couldn't help but feel boggled. This game. Oh, Mama Mia this game. This was turning into something special. She didn't know how in the world it managed to do this…

But she kind of liked it.