Chapter 6 My New Powers

Larry practically buzzed as he followed Iggy out into the hallway. With his imagination going into overdrive, he thought about all the cool new powers he potentially had. Oh, there were just so many! He had already experienced some of his powers, like his super jump and his ability to scan the room, but there was no way those were the limit to what he could do! Just from reading Titanium Man alone, Larry could already picture countless abilities that he might have in his repertoire. Laser vision, super strength, flying… oh man, flying! That ought to be cool! Larry always did wonder what it was like to have flying powers. If his new body came packaged with them, there was no doubt that he was going to completely and utterly flip out!

Even still, as excited as he was, he couldn't just run off all on his own. He still needed to go with Iggy, if for no other reason than to see his siblings' reactions when they revealed the news to them.

So, Larry allowed Iggy to lead him through the hallway. The first person they found was Roy, which Larry felt was a good thing as he had been extra concerned about the situation in the gym. And, fittingly enough, when they retrieved Roy, he immediately went to Larry's side.

"Is everything okay, Little Bro?" he asked. He looked in between Iggy and Larry. "There isn't anything wrong, is there?"

Larry laughed. "Nope! Everything is perfect!"

"Ehh… I don't know if I would utilize the adjective 'perfect,' but…" Iggy paused before shaking his head. "I will explain in due time."

Roy donned a look of confusion, but Larry didn't mind. That look was gonna be wiped clear off his face the second he found out about what happened to Larry, and Roy was going to be just as excited as he was. There was very little doubt in Larry's mind regarding that; after all, how could somebody not be excited over learning their little brother now had superpowers?

After that, it didn't take long to find the rest of the Koopalings. This was mostly because they had all been hanging out in their rooms, probably appreciating the objects or items they had wished for on Fortune's Comet the night before. Iggy gathered all of them into the hallway, making them stand in a row right in front of the wall. Once they were all situated, Iggy took a deep breath. He then cleared his throat before looking at everyone in the most authoritative way.

"So…" he hesitated, looking back at Larry with an emotion that was impossible to read. Larry's face fell for a brief second before Iggy continued. "As you all know, Fortune's Comet passed through our skies last night. And… well, Larry made an… interesting wish on it."

"Uh oh," Wendy said, clutching at some kind of blue necklace that no doubt came from her own wish. "That doesn't sound good."

"Yeah," Ludwig said as he raised his eyebrow. "Knowing Larry's taste, I bet he wished for the destruction of all his enemies or something."

Lemmy shuddered. "Oh man, I can already see the bodies…"

Despite their fear, Larry burst out laughing. "What? No! I might be sick, but I'm not that sick!" As everybody breathed a collective sigh of relief, Larry put the smile back on his face. "No, I wished for something much better. I wished…" he paused for effect, causing his siblings to look extra tense. "I wished to be a robot!"

Silence. The others exchanged looks with one another, looks ranging from confusion to questioning if Larry was all alright in the head.

"Uh… I'm sorry, what?" Morton asked.

Larry chuckled. "Well, to be more accurate, I didn't wish to be a robot specifically. I wished to be like Titanium Man, who is a robot superhero in this comic book I read. I wished to be like him, and in turn, I got turned into a robot!" His smile turned into a grin. "Is that awesome or what?"

Most of the Koopalings' jaws dropped. Larry kept smiling at them, figuring that they just needed some time to let this information sink in. When three minutes had passed, and they still hadn't responded positively to this new development, Larry's face fell. "Uh, guys? Is this awesome or what?"

The first Koopaling to gather their bearings was Wendy, and she looked at Larry with wider eyes than most. "Why in the world would you wish for that?"

Larry hesitated, unsure if he should reveal this. "Um, well…"

"He has explained to me that he was tired of being the weakest member of the family," Iggy said.

Larry seized up. "Dude!" He turned toward Iggy. "Don't tell them that; it sounds so much worse coming from you!"

While Larry was busy staring Iggy down, Lemmy took a step forward. Like Wendy before him, he had wide eyes, as well as the slightest drop of… apprehension in his face. "Larry… you really felt this way?"

Larry seized up, feeling like his insides were constricting. He looked among all his siblings, now staring at him with furrowed brows. "Um… well…" eventually, he sighed and shook his head. "That doesn't matter! What matters is that something really cool happened, and I want you guys to see it!" He stepped toward them, but to his surprise, most if not all of them backed up. "Come on guys; stuff like this doesn't just happen! So, the fact that it has is really, really sweet! Right?" His eyes traveled between all of the Koopalings. "Right Lemmy? Ludwig? Wendy?" His eyes traveled to Roy, standing on the outside of the line. "Roy?"

Larry stepped toward his brother, and much to his horror, Roy let out a little gasp. He backed up, pressing his shell up against the stone wall. This made both Larry's heart and mind race. He looked at Roy, feeling so many emotions tumbling about inside of him that he didn't even know which one to listen to. So many of the thoughts in his head pained him, making him feel like something… no, everything was seriously wrong. But that wasn't the case, was it? Larry had made a wish, and it had been granted. This was something worth celebrating! It wasn't something worth pitying Larry over and it certainly wasn't something that anybody needed to be scared of!

And thankfully, Iggy came to the rescue when Larry couldn't speak for himself. "Look, everyone, I know it might seem a little 'out of the ordinary,' as they say. But this is something that Larry wants. And he has expressed immeasurable joy over the results of this wish. We might not understand it, but I believe this is something that we need to support Larry on." He smiled. Larry thought he saw a twinge of negative emotion (possibly sadness) in the expression, but if it was there, it was discreet enough to not be too prominent. "Do you all not agree with this sentiment."

The others exchanged looks once again. Larry's new robotic heart pumped, and he couldn't quite describe why. He bit his lip, feeling the suspense in the air in the worst way possible. It was almost like someone was holding a knife straight to his throat.

Eventually, though, the others all came around. Wendy was the first to do so, as she stepped forward with a nod. "I… agree."

"Me too," said Lemmy.

Ludwig and Morton also stepped forward. They didn't say anything, but they both looked at Larry with strong, brotherly expressions. That was all the support Larry needed from them.

"Thanks," Larry said with a smile. He looked back at Roy, who he sadly noted was still pressed up against the wall. "What about you, big guy?"

Roy stood still. He looked at the others, then back at Larry. It was hard for Larry to read his face due to him wearing shades, but he at the very least could say he's never really seen Roy wearing a look like this before. It… it kind of hurt him.

"Roy?" Iggy asked.

Iggy saying his name with that specific inflection seemed to be the push that Roy needed, as he stepped forward and nodded. "I'll… I can support Larry."

"Splendid!" Iggy exclaimed. He clapped his hands together. "Well, now that we are all on board with this, I suggest we do something that Larry no doubt has been immensely looking forward to." His eyes traveled over to the youngest. "Let's go outside and see what powers this new, robotic body has granted our youngest brother!"

"Oh yes; let's!" Larry exclaimed, almost jumping up into the air as he did. Without much need for conversation, the others started heading down the hallway. Larry followed them, feeling almost happy enough to break into song. That is, until he noticed that Roy hadn't moved a muscle.

"Roy, come on!"

Roy swallowed a lump before joining Larry. Larry's face fell as he looked at him; he just looked so… off.

"Roy?" He reached out and took his hand. "Are you okay?"

Roy paused, shivering as he looked down at Larry's hand in his. "Your… your hand is so cold…"

Larry blinked as he pulled his hand away. "Dude, are you okay? Whatever it is, you can tell me."

Roy stared right at Larry. A silence, with an atmosphere as thick as pudding, rested in the air. Larry's insides squirmed once again, and he didn't know what the right thing to do in this situation was.

"I'm doing great, Larry," Roy eventually said. "I'd be telling you if I wasn't."

Larry felt a pang when he heard that, feeling like his heart was splintering. Regardless, he nodded. "Okay."

…

"Alright then!" Iggy exclaimed once everyone was outside. He looked at Larry, who stood in front of everybody else. Despite his interactions with his siblings earlier, Larry still tried to smile. After all, this was going to be a pretty awesome event, and nothing really should get in the way of that. "Are you ready for this, Larry!"

The way Iggy said this was able to turn Larry's smile into a grin. "Oh, heck yeah!" He chuckled. "I've been waiting for this… my whole life!"

The other Koopalings chuckled at that, much to Larry's delight, before Iggy spoke up once again. "That's the spirit!" He looked upon his younger brother. "So, you probably know more about this 'Titanium Man' that you wished to be like more than any of us. What powers do you believe he has that you might have now?"

Larry stopped to think about this. "Hmm… well, he does have this ability to turn his hand into a laser cannon." He looked down at his hand. "So, maybe I can do the same…?"

Before he even finished his sentence, his hand morphed and changed. Larry's eyes grew wide at this, and the other Koopalings let out one big, collective gasp. Fortunately, when Larry's hand was done shifting, his excitement rose to Godly levels. He actually jumped up and down at the sight of his new laser cannon.

"I did it! I did it!" he exclaimed. He puffed out his chest and laughed. "I'm a super robo, baby!"

The other Koopalings still stared at Larry's arm in shock. "Larry!" Lemmy exclaimed. "How'd you do that?"

Larry smiled at him. "It's because I said the words 'laser cannon!' That's how Titanium Man summons this power."

"Oh, okay," Lemmy said with a nod. "So… how does he cause it to fire?"

"Um… I think he just says the word 'shoot.'"

When he said that, a barrage of sonic blasts came out of his cannon. Larry shrieked, not just because of the recoil, but also because the blasts were dangerously close to hitting his siblings. The others put their hands to their head, ducking (or in Ludwig's case, flying) out of the way just before they got blasted to smithereens.

"LARRY, MAKE IT STOP!" Morton of all people yelled.

Larry's mind raced to remember how Titanium Man stopped the shooting. "Okay! Uh… 'hold your fire!'" Thankfully and fortunately, when he said those words, the barrage of cannon fire stopped. Larry, as well as everybody else, tried to get their breathing back under control as Larry said the word to turn the laser cannon back into a hand.

"Well…" Iggy said. "That was… interesting."

"Interesting? He could've killed us!" Roy exclaimed. He looked back at Larry, the uncertainty from before coming back. "He could've killed us all!"

"Uh… yeah," Larry said. "But… I didn't, so that's a plus!" He ran his hand over his mohawk. "I think I just need to get used to that particular power. After all… well, it is a doozy."

Iggy snorted. "That is a smidge of an understatement." He adjusted his glasses and walked up to Larry. "Regardless, it is fascinating how you were able to do that." He walked up to Larry and took his hand, studying it in such a thorough way. "Without a visible place to keep the components of a laser cannon. It's… it's incredible! This technological body that you have found yourself in is arguably the most advanced technology the world will ever know!" He looked into Larry's eyes. "It's almost like science fiction has been brought to life!"

"Yep!" Larry said with a laugh. He turned his head up to the sky. "Thank you, Fortune's Comet!"

Iggy beamed while backing off, all while Wendy walked forward. "So… oh man, I have a feeling I'm really going to regret asking this, but…" she took a deep breath. "What other superpowers do you think you have, Larry?"

Larry took the time to think about this. "Hmm… well, I was able to robotically scan a room, earlier…" he thought and thought, his new robotic brain hurting somewhat. "But what other powers does Titanium Man have… oh, I know! He's able to access the internet wirelessly!"

"Ooh!" Iggy exclaimed. "That's interesting!"

Wendy breathed a sigh of relief. "And far less life-threatening." She looked at Larry. "So, how would you do that, Larry?"

"Well, Titanium Man did it by tapping the back of his head, so…" Larry tapped there, and before his very eyes, a projection of the Koople search engine appeared before him. "Oh sweet!" He laughed before issuing the search engine a command. "Koople, take me to WarpTube and show me the funny cat video where a cat takes a bath in hot mustard!" The search engine did just that, causing Larry to giggle uncontrollably. "Oh man, this is great!" He shook his head and smiled as the video finally finished. "Man, that video never gets old." It was just as he had made the video go away when he noticed Iggy raising his eyebrow at him. "What?"

Iggy crossed his arms. "You have the power to look at any part of the largest collection of data ever compiled on the planet… and you decide to watch a cat video?"

Larry blinked. "Yeah, what's your point?"

"I… I…!" Iggy sighed and dismissed the statement with the back of his hand. "Oh, never mind. What other powers do you think you might have, Lawrence?"

Larry thought about that. However, he didn't need to spend a lot of time thinking about this, as one of Titanium Man's powers he completely glossed over appeared in his mind. A power that was arguably the best one in Titanium Man's arsenal, a power that he couldn't believe he'd forgotten about due to it being one that every person dreamed of having at least once in their life.

"I think I might be able to fly!" Larry exclaimed.

"Ooh, flying!" Ludwig exclaimed. He chuckled. "Looks like you could be just like me!"

"Yep!" Larry laughed, the sound cackle-like. "I might finally be able to take you down a peg in an aerial battle! Talk about a dream come true!"

Ludwig snorted. "You one-upping me is your dream come true?" He paused before lowering his head. "Why am I asking; I know the answer is yes."

Larry giggled. He could already imagine what it would be like for him to fly up in the sky. Looking down upon the world, hanging high up with the clouds and the birds… The way the Titanium Man comics had described flying, as well as the way they drew it, made it seem like not having the ability to fly was a crime against nature. And now that he had superpowers, Larry could stop committing that crime and take to the skies, in a way that only his older brother was capable of doing (and the Mario brothers when they acquired flying power-ups, but that was neither here nor there). Oh man, he was going to walk away from this experience with an incredible story to tell, wasn't he?

"That does sound appealing, Larry," Iggy said. "Just how are you supposed to do it?"

"Hmm…" Larry puzzled over this, trying to think about the exact conditions that Titanium Man was able to fly in. Normally, at least to his recollection, the Metallic Hero was able to summon rockets in his feet, in a way not too dissimilar to how Larry had summoned the laser cannon. So, it seemed Larry would have to do the same thing. The only problem was…

"I don't think I remember how to do it," he said, his heart sinking.

Ludwig laughed. "HA!" Everyone looked at him, causing him to shrink back. "Sorry, but with him talking about taking me down a peg earlier, I just couldn't resist."

"Understandable," Iggy said with a nod. He looked back at Larry. "Well, do not fret, dear brother. Once you figure it out, you are more than welcome to show us."

"Yeah." Larry racked his brain for answers. "I just… I just wish…" he gasped. "Wait a minute! I think I remember! Titanium Man had to get a running start before the rockets in his feet came out!"

"Oh!" Iggy beamed. "Well, that certainly works! Why not try that!"

Larry nodded as he got into the starting position on the ashy black ground. He took a deep breath, feeling the gaze of all of his siblings resting on him. The tension in the air would've made the hairs on his body stand on end if he had any. He realized, with his pumping metal heart and this new power waiting to be unlocked, that this was his chance to impress. This was the start of a new chapter in his life, a chapter that would be absolutely awesome in every way possible.

So, he opened his eyes and put on a burst of speed. He ran straight forward, not waiting for anybody or anything. He gasped upon realizing exactly how fast he was going now. Everything around him was a blur, the world faded away as he ran at a pace faster than he had ever hoped to match before. Everything fell into the background as the wind rushed around his ears. All there was was the here and now. A moment of speed, speed so intense that it made one feel indestructible. Larry smiled, not wanting to stop for a single, solitary second.

And then… it happened. He jumped into the air, and he felt a shifting sensation in his feet. He looked down, grinning the biggest grin in the world when he saw the rocket boosters. He stopped for a millisecond before changing directions. He zipped up into the sky, shooting up like he was the fastest rocket in the world. He closed his eyes again, now feeling the wind rushing around him in a completely new, tantalizing way. He never wanted to stop. He wanted to keep going; he wanted to break through the Mushroom World's atmosphere and explore the farthest regions of the universe. This new power opened up that possibility to him. This new power turned him from a pathetic little koopa into a new, greater and better creation.

Alas, he couldn't keep going forever. As he opened his eyes, it became obvious to him that he needed to go stop and go back down. For a split second, terror filled him; how could he stop? Was he doomed to keep shooting upwards? Well, he soon discovered that the answer, thankfully, was no. When he screamed the word "stop" in his head, he stopped moving. He let out a breath of relief…

Before looking down. His jaw dropped. His eyes grew wide. Floating here, so far above everything… it looked so different. He could see his siblings, but he had to squint when he did because they were mere pinpricks down on the ground. The whole Koopa Kingdom stretched out below him, with each town revealing to him a side of its existence that the youngest Koopaling had never seen before. This place, his home, looked like a city that a little kid had built with blocks. So little, so miniscule. From up here, every place Larry had been to throughout his entire life looked like it could fit into the palm of his hand.

And honestly? Never before had Larry felt so… liberated. The whole world seemed open to Larry like it never had before. All the stories that it had in store, all the journeys Larry could go on all laid below him, were all miles below him. Every problem he ever had was now a tiny blip on a tiny radar, so insignificant that Larry no longer worried about them. These new powers… this new body… this new life… everything about this was perfect. Sure, nothing really could fit the definition of perfect before, but now? Now, it did. This did, this very moment.

Never before had the youngest Koopaling smiled so hard.