AN: Well, here we go guys! The last chapter I'll publish during the year 2023! I hope you guys enjoy :)

Chapter 11 A Villain's Victory

Jasper leaned back on the bench he sat on. He found that wasn't as comfortable as he wanted it to be, so instead, he decided to put his feet onto the bench and get into a lying position. Aww, perfect. While nowhere near as cozy as an actual bed, it was still good. Heck, it beat the cot that Jasper had been forced to sleep on in the Castle Dungeon. That thing felt like it had thumbtacks and needles sticking up in it, biting into Jasper's body and threatening to make his shell bleed.

No, a hard and cold bench was a much-needed improvement.

He snuggled deeper into the bench. After sighing, he looked up into the vast, expansive blue sky. It really was the limit, wasn't it? The only thing that could prevent Jasper from doing incredible things was his own imagination. He could do whatever he wanted! He could open doors for himself that had previously been untouchable. Just thinking about the possibilities made his tummy tingle and his heart leap.

This thought pattern inspired Jasper to get out his gem. He held it high above his head, turning it this way and that. Man, the sun shining down on it made it look amazing. Other-worldly, Jasper supposed the right word was. The shimmering and twinkling made it look like a star, which was appropriate given the origin of the gem. It was unlike any other jewel Jasper had seen in his entire life. Even the shade of purple that it was… now that he saw it in the afternoon light, it didn't look like any other shade of purple. It looked like a color unseen in this world, a color that no photo, painting, or verbal description had the chance of capturing. It was gorgeous.

And it was all his.

Beaming, Jasper lowered the gem and held it to his chest. He felt a warmth inside him, spreading throughout his body as the gem touched his skin. Like the color, it was unlike anything else that he was familiar with in this world. It felt as though all the sorrow, all the horror, and all the gunk that had been resting in his soul was melting away. Disintegrating, in a manner similar to the people Jasper shot in the coffee shop.

That thought caused Jasper to pause. He looked up into the sky, all at once feeling uncertain. With a furrowed brow, he held the gem back up into the air again. He looked to the sparkles to explain, the glimmers to console. He felt all sorts of emotions, emotions that conflicted with each other in the most insidious, most discombobulating way possible. He thought about the people he had encountered in that shop. Their lives, the very existence of each one of them… all gone, just like that.

These feelings and these thoughts rested with Jasper for the better part of six minutes. On the seventh, however, he laughed. It started small, nothing more than a chuckle under the breath, but quickly turned into more. He laughed and laughed, much harder than he had in years. The way that his gem sparkled almost looked like it was doing so in rhythm with him like it was laughing right alongside him.

He didn't need to worry about this stuff. Those people who he had killed were people who hadn't known, and people he would never know. The lives they led meant absolutely nothing. They were… what, eleven out of the billions of people who populated this wide world? There was no reason to get hung up on this. Even if there was, what Jasper did was deserved. Not so much because of what those people had done, but rather, because of what the universe and fate had done. Jasper's life had been permanently messed up. It was about time that he got some proper retribution.

So, he pushed his feelings to the side. He pushed his guilt to the side. He pushed away that little voice in his head that told him that he needed to do something to right his wrong. Instead, he just looked back at his gem. His power source. His gateway to a new life. He had been wishing for a way out of the dungeon. He had been wishing for a fresh start. The fact that he had gotten exactly that had been nothing short of miraculous.

"*Ahem.*"

Jasper tore his eyes from the gem, going stiff when he saw a Koopa standing over him. They wore both an extremely grumpy face as well as a navy-blue outfit that not even the stupidest of people could mistake.

Trying his best to ignore the pit in his stomach, Jasper got back into a sitting position and looked at them. "Is something wrong, officer?" He sweated like a pig. Did they know? Had they figured out what Jasper had done? That… how in the world had they done that? There was no trace of the people who he had killed left, and the barista had been hypnotized. How would it be possible for the police to discover Jasper and track him down?

"You aren't allowed to sleep on park benches in this city."

It took a minute for that statement to sink in, but when it did, a bucketful of relief filled Jasper. "Oh. Right right." He put his hand to his chest, putting his jewel back around his neck. "I am very sorry, officer. I will try my best to not do that in the future."

The police nodded, but for some reason, they looked at Jasper with a raised eyebrow. The sweating Jasper experienced got worse. He felt as though a spotlight was shining on top of him, a spotlight that exposed every secret he had wished to keep in his life.

"Um…" Jasper put his hand to his gem and squeezed it. "I'll… um… I'll see you later." He turned and started walking away. He took deep breaths as he did, hoping that the cop would just leave him be and let him go about his day.

"Wait."

Jasper said the vilest of curses in his head at max volume. Cringing, he turned back toward the cop. He went out of his way to smile, hoping that the expression didn't look forced or pained. "Uh… yes?"

The cop walked up to him. However, they didn't have their eyes on him. Instead, they had their eyes on the jewel. "That's one pretty necklace you got there."

Jasper chuckled nervously. "Oh, you think so?" He looked down at it, even going so far to stroke it. "It is one of a kind, let me tell you that."

"Hmm." The officer sniffed before looking back at Jasper. "Now, how in the world would a homeless person have a jewel like that?"

The sweat at this point was unmanageable. "Oh, it's my mother's."

"Your mother's." The officer's eyebrow rose even higher. He stared into Jasper's eyes, the heat in his own reaching searing levels. "What's your mother's name?"

Jasper wiped his brow. "Uh… Edith… McMoneyBags?" Even before he said it, Jasper knew that it was bad. He almost collapsed in on himself, cringing the mother of all cringes at such an uncreative, stupid lie.

And, unfortunately, the officer agreed with him on that account. "I see." He got a pair of handcuffs out of his hammerspace and strapped them around Jasper's wrists. "You're coming with me."

Jasper almost squeaked. No! He was going to prison? Again, so soon after getting free? This wasn't fair! He was a Koopa, which meant he had rights! And one of them just so happened to be the right to let go of the past and live is life in a new, better way!

As he thought about this, and as he hung his head while the officer led him away, a new feeling grew in his heart, taking root and sprouting like a poison oak. He gripped his hands into fists. He looked back at the officer, growling when he saw their no-nonsense, authoritative face. I wish they were dead, he thought to himself. No wait, actually, I wish they could suffer. I wish they could suffer for the rest of their life!

It was then that he noticed his gem glowing again. The police must've noticed it too, because they came to a complete halt. Jasper's spirits rose as the yellow glow grew brighter. He slowly turned toward the cop, a smile growing on his face as he did.

The cop backed up a little bit. "Wha… what what what?"

Jasper giggled. Holding his hands up, he made the handcuffs disintegrate. His giggles grew more frequent (as well as darker) as he approached the cop. The poor cop looked scared enough to crap his pants. However, Jasper wasn't about to feel sympathy for them.

"You need to learn," Jasper said with a grin, "that there are some people you just shouldn't mess with."

He held the jewel and pointed it at the cop. A bright yellow light shot out of it, hitting the poor, pathetic koopa. As the light enveloped them, they screamed blue bloody murder. It sounded as though their face was melting off, as though they were exploding at every joint. But that, as satisfying as that was, wasn't the main thing that brought Jasper glee. That honor belonged to the fact that he could see the officer's form shrinking and morphing.

After a little bit, Jasper turned off the light and gleefully observed his handiwork. The officer was no longer a koopa, but a dog. A mangy, skinny dog whose ribs were visible through its fur. The officer whimpered as they examined their body. With horrified eyes, he looked at Jasper and barked, the sound one of the most pathetic in the world.

Jasper chuckled. He approached the officer, still wearing the grin from before as he got into a crouching position and put his hand on the dog's head. The creature whimpered and trembled, just adding to Jasper's satisfaction.

"I believe there is a lot for you to learn in this new form." He patted their head. "Now, why don't you be a good little mutt and go look for food on the streets? You're mere minutes from dying of starvation; I think that is the least you could do for yourself."

The dog whimpered again. They barked as Jasper got up and started walking away. They barked and barked and barked, the sound not too dissimilar to the screams that the barks no doubt substituted. After a while, once Jasper was far enough away, the barks stopped. Jasper looked over his shoulder, his heart leaping when he saw that the dog was completely gone.

Jasper chortled and held onto his gem. Talk about a sweet victory.

…

Roy frowned as he leaned over an adult coloring book that had been loaned to him by Lemmy (Roy was ninety-five percent certain it came from Fortune's Comet). As he colored away, a crapload of emotions brewed inside of him, threatening to come out of him in the most embarrassing and least manly way possible.

He backed away from the coloring book for a minute so he could get a better idea of what exactly he was doing. The blues and the purples mixed together well. They probably would've looked perfect if it wasn't for the gray Roy had put between them without thinking. Muttering a curse under his breath, he turned the page. He picked up a scarlet crayon, pressing it extra hard into the paper as he gritted his teeth. This had to look good. There were a lot of scary things happening right now, and Roy wanted to feel like he was in control of at least one thing.

"Hey, Roy."

Roy blinked. Putting his crayon to the side, he sighed and looked up at his dark-skinned brother. "Hey, man. What's up?"

Morton chuckled, closing the door as he came into the room. "Not much." He wrinkled his nose as he made his way over to Roy's bed, looking like he was just minutes away from vomiting at the sights. "I mean, I've mostly been trying to keep my pets from eating my cake."

Roy snickered, surprising himself. "I take it that's been going well?"

"I mean, for the most part." Morton shrugged. "Toasty licked some frosting on the bottom layer, and Wiggles ate a tiny nibble out of it too. This means that Topaz is the only one who hasn't even attempted to do that." He giggled. "And let me tell you, Roy. If Topaz is the most well-behaved of my pets, you know that things are royally fucked."

Roy laughed at that. "Hey, Topaz is a good girl!"

Morton snorted. "Clearly you haven't tried to go to sleep while in the same room as her."

The two laughed at that. Once the laughter died down, Morton scratched the back of his head before smiling. "Well, all I really wanted to do was check in really quick. I'll let you get back to your coloring."

"Thanks, man." Roy looked back at his coloring book as Morton walked away. He debated whether or not he should go back to working on it. It was fun, and it was a good distraction for the most part. However… well something was bugging him. Really bugging him, to the point where a simple distraction wouldn't be enough to get rid of his worry.

"Hey Morty?" Morton turned back around. "I've… I've been wondering about something."

Morton blinked and took a step closer. Roy struggled over how to put this, feeling like it would be an odd problem to try and explain.

"I've…." he nearly cursed again; this had the potential of completely blowing up in his face. "I've been thinking about Larry…"

"Oh," Morton said. The emotion that was attached to that sound was impossible to identify. Morton came over and sat on the bed, giving Roy a face that was also impossible to identify. "How come?"

Roy let out a breath. "I… I've been…" Man, he was such a baby! He should be able to talk about what was on his mind! If it bothered him, he shouldn't have to deal with it alone. He knew that, Morton knew that, everybody knew that.

"Um…" Roy took a very long, very deep breath. "Have you found his wish to be… concerning?"

Morton did a double take. "Concerning?" Morton frowned. "I don't know if I would use that word specifically. I mean, I would certainly describe it as weird, but concerning? Probably not." He looked back at Roy, surprise growing on his face. "Why, is that how you feel?"

"A little bit." Roy hesitated. "I mean… it's such a big change. A weird change."

"I guess." Morton adjusted his position on the bed. "But it's what Larry wants."

Roy hesitated again. The question that was on the tip of his tongue was the main reason why Roy felt so conflicted, the main reason why nothing that was happening or had happened in the past twenty-four hours made any sort of sense.

"Is he though?" Roy took off his shades to polish them. "I mean, I know that's what he says. And I have no reason to think he's lying. But… I'm scared for him." A silence hung in the air, heavy and painful. "I don't want him to wake up one day and regret this. I mean… I've made a lot of decisions that I thought were good ideas when I first made them, but afterward, I really regretted them." He held onto his shades, holding them in his hand as he struggled over what to say. "And some of those decisions were small, sure. Some of them were medium, some of them were big… but none of them were… 'transform into a robot' big."

Morton put on a thoughtful expression. "I get that." He looked back at Roy. "But he's happy right now."

"Yeah, but will he stay that way?" Roy put his glasses back on. "He's just a kid, and kids want what they want when they want it. They don't think about stuff in the long term. Not completely at least."

Morton directed his gaze down toward the bed, still clearly deep in thought. "I can understand that." He looked back at Roy. "I guess we'll just have to take this day by day?"

Roy cringed. "Sure. Or at least, we can do that if Larry doesn't wind up injured or dead in his fights as Captain Metal."

Morton snickered. "He's not going to die, Roy. He was a tough cookie before he got powers. With powers, the likelihood of something bad happening is significantly lower."

"I know, I know." Roy adjusted his sitting position again. "But I… well, you know…"

"You're looking at this from the perspective of a worried older brother," Morton said with a nod. "I get that. Heck, I kind of feel the same way about him. But… I don't think this is something too bad."

Roy bit his lip. This next part… oh man. The next thing he was going to say was what had been plaguing him right from the beginning. It was the main reason why he was scared for Larry's sake. Everything else had been valid concerns, but next to this? They were all secondary worries.

"Even when we take his reason for making the wish into account?"

Morton went stiff. He opened his mouth but didn't say anything, instead opting to look off in some corner of the room. It was this display that really ramped up Roy's emotions.

"He said he felt like the weak link in this family, like he couldn't stack up against us. And…" Roy wiped his eyes. "I don't know how to look at that. I mean, what if that feeling doesn't go away? Sure, he's got powers, but powers don't really fix people's problems. If anything, they create more."

"As displayed with Ludwig and Frostwall," Morton piped up.

"Yeah, exactly, as displayed with Ludwig and Frostwall." Roy rubbed his temples. "And… I hate the thought of Larry feeling like this. Especially seeing how I haven't heard about it until after he made the wish." Roy removed his hands from his temples but still didn't feel like he was at one hundred percent. He didn't even feel close. "I mean… I'm his older brother. And Larry is my best friend. How is it that something like this went right under my radar? Am I a bad older brother?" He sunk into the bed. "Am I not smart enough to give Larry what he needs?"

A silence hung in the air. Roy didn't feel like he had the strength to look Morton in the eye, so instead, he looked into his own lap. All the emotions that had been brewing inside him now felt like they were suffocating him. Roy wanted to do so many things in this moment, yet at the same time, he wanted to do absolutely nothing at all. He felt… stuck. Stuck because of Larry's wish, stuck because of Larry's reason for making the wish.

Stuck because his stupid, pea-brained self couldn't pick up on the fact that something was bothering his baby brother.

"Roy," Morton said, "I wouldn't beat yourself over this. You can't read Larry's mind, after all." Morton scooted in closer. "And besides, if a person wants to hide something, more often than not, they are really good at doing so. That's probably what happened with Larry; he just wanted to hide his true feelings. It's not your fault. You're not dumb for not noticing something he wanted no one to notice." Morton scooted even closer. "You know what I'm saying?"

Roy hesitated. "I… I think I do…" he shook his head. "But even still… I don't know; I just don't feel really good about it."

A silence hung in the air again, this time feeling heavy enough to paralyze Roy. Morton thought about everything he was told for a little bit before a smile appeared on his face.

"Tell you what. Why don't we get everybody in the dining hall so we can have my cake? I'm sure that will help all of us feel better."

A tiny smile appeared on Roy's face. "I… I like the sound of that." He looked into his brother's eyes. "Thanks, Buddy."

"Of course." He got up. "Just let me go get it, okay? You text everyone and tell them about this."

Roy nodded. He got out his phone just as Morton left the room. Once he had sent the message, he took in a big breath before following after him.