Chapter 3 Hero Girl
The Koopalings all listened with keen interest as Larry described his meeting with Fiery Tempest. His face fell and rose throughout the explanation, mostly because he couldn't help but focus on the mental image of the mysterious hero girl. He made sure to take extra time describing what she looked like, and exactly how she made him feel. By the time he was done, all of the Koopalings possessed an excitement that would've been completely foreign to them just a few moments earlier.
"Woah!" Lemmy exclaimed. "So there's a new superhero? That's awesome!"
Larry chuckled. "Yeah, it is." Once again, he focused on Fiery Tempest, as well as the fight that both of them participated in. "She was awesome, let me tell you. Thanks to her, I was able to defeat that giga goomba." He chuckled. "Not to mention, she saved me from getting crushed."
"That is incredible. And very fortunate," said Iggy. He put his hand to his chin. "I wonder though; how is a new superhero being present even possible? Could…" he paused. "Could they have made a wish on Fortune's Comet as well?"
Larry blinked. "Uh… maybe?" He scratched the back of his head. "I'm not really sure, honestly."
"I'm not either." A smile grew on Iggy's face. "Still, it would be interesting if it was the case."
"Or," Ludwig spoke up, "maybe they're a special!" He chuckled. "How crazy would that be? It'd be pretty neat if there was another special in the world."
Larry snorted. "Cause, you know, we all love the first one SO much." This statement got him a glare from the oldest, causing him to shrink back. "Sorry. Sorry, I just…" he pulled out a chair and took a seat, all while letting out a heavy sigh. "I'm just more than a little shocked by what happened. I mean… it was incredible. I never in a million years would've seen it coming, so the fact that it did…" He leaned against his hand. "I just wish that I could've gotten to know more about Fiery Tempest before I left."
The other Koopalings' faces fell. They all looked at each other, appearing like they were fishing around in their heads for the exact right thing to say. If the dragging silence was any indication, they were having some trouble doing so. Larry didn't blame them though.
Eventually, Wendy cleared her throat. "Well… maybe you'll run into her again?"
Larry perked up when he heard that. "Yeah…" A smile grew on his face, but just as quickly fell. "But… but how will that happen? This first time was more or less completely by chance. For all I know, this could be a one-time thing."
"I sincerely doubt that," Iggy said. "Based on what you told us, Fiery Tempest seemed really eager and excited about doing hero work. This is especially the case when it comes to hero work that involves coming to Captain Metal's aid." His eyes glittered. "I hypothesize that the likelihood of you coming across her again is higher than you think."
Despite Iggy's excitement and enthusiasm, Larry just frowned. "I… I guess. I mean… sure. She did seem really eager to help me. But that doesn't necessarily mean anything."
"I think it means everything," Wendy said. All eyes turned toward her. "Someone that eager isn't going to just do one hero mission and then abandon the idea. She'll show up again, Larry. I know she will."
"And how could you possibly know that?"
Wendy shrugged. "Call it a hunch." She smiled. "You'll run into her again, and you'll be able to ask her all the questions that you have about her. I just know it."
A smile slowly grew on Larry's face. "Yeah. Yeah!" He stood up. "You're right; I probably am going to see her again! And it's a good thing too." He snickered. "One of the most important things I want to ask her is if she's trying to steal my thunder. I mean… come on! Saving my life one time is good, but trying to hold me back is exactly the thing I want to avoid." He snickered again. "But then again, her trying to hold me back would be a pretty difficult task on her part."
Morton sniffed. "You're so humble."
"I try." Larry thought about this some more. "Hmm. Maybe if I were to go back out… I'm sure if I start beating up some bad guys, that'll get her attention and she'll come over." He chuckled and grabbed hold of his cape, brushing his hand down the length of it while the purest form of anticipation built up within him. "It's a good thing I kept my costume on." He turned and started making his way toward the exit. "Well, see you guys!"
"Wait!" Wendy called out. Larry stopped, seeing that she had a furrowed brow when he turned to her. In fact, it seemed all of his siblings had furrowed brows. "Larry, I'm not sure if it's a good idea to go back out right now. I mean, you need rest just as much as anybody else…"
"Oh, that'll be fine. I already charged up for an extra long time." He stepped forward. "Besides, this is probably the single most interesting development that's occurred since I became a hero. I can't wait; I need to find out more about Fiery Tempest as soon as possible!" He wore a devilish grin. "And that's exactly what I'm going to do!"
With that, he left.
…
Wendy told herself not to worry. As she readjusted her position in her seat, she told herself over and over not to worry. Larry would be fine. Heck, if he ran into Fiery Tempest again, the probability of him getting injured or killed in battle would be significantly smaller. So, there was no reason to worry.
Except that she did. She was Larry's big sister; she supposed it was only natural.
"That guy…" Roy shook his head. "That guy is something else."
"You're just figuring this out now?" Ludwig asked. He stuck his fork into a bite of his supper. "Still, I can't say I entirely blame him." He bit down on his food. "I mean…" he waited a second just to swallow. "One kid with superpowers being around is unusual enough as it is. But now that there's two…"
Lemmy giggled. "Don't you mean three?"
Ludwig blinked before chuckling. "Right, three, my bad."
"Actually, it's four," Iggy said, wearing the "I'm so smart" look that the Koopalings as a whole had come to despise. "Remember, your clone Bob?"
Ludwig turned to Iggy and sniffed. "Right. You're right; I shouldn't forget Bob."
"OOH!" Roy slammed his hand down on the table, jumping up as the biggest smile ever appeared on his face. "That's it! It's Bob! Bob is Fiery Tempest!" He grinned. "I can't believe we didn't realize that before!"
Ludwig gave Roy a raised eyebrow. "You know, I can't believe it either." He took a sip of his water. "I mean, we all know that Bob is a woman with orange hair, don't we guys?"
Lemmy giggled as Roy's face fell. "Yeah. Orange you glad that Larry told us that?" Lemmy laughed like a hyena as almost everyone else at the table rolled their eyes.
Roy, meanwhile, looked like he wanted to crawl back into his shell. "It… it was just a thought…!" he said, sinking a little into his chair like he was melting into it.
"It is quite alright, Roy," Iggy said. "I mean, in reality, we have no idea who Fiery Tempest is. It could be anyone. It could be any random Koopa, and we would be none the wiser."
Wendy nodded. The whole thing regarding Fiery Tempest was strange to the nth degree. She didn't know if she would necessarily use the word "confusing," but… well, there were just too many unanswered questions. Like Larry, Wendy really wanted to know more about this mysterious hero girl. She decided that, when Larry got back, she was going to ask him all the questions she could ask. She wouldn't leave a single leaf unturned; she would find out more about this woman. She would find out more if it was the last thing she did.
"Yeah, you're right Iggy." She remembered something, and it caused her to gasp. "Oh!" She reached into her hammerspace, pulling out her phone. "I completely forgot; I need to make a phone call!" She got up from the table. "I'll see you guys in a little bit."
"Okay," Lemmy said with a nod. He chuckled. "Maybe you can ask whoever you're calling if they're Fiery Tempest!"
Morton snorted. "If they're Fiery Tempest, I'm the Sprixie Princess."
Wendy rolled her eyes and made her way out of the room. She didn't start looking through her contact list until she got to the common room. Once she arrived, and she took a seat in the most comfortable chair available, she went to find the number of one of her friends. The first one she came across was Stormy Aozora. Admittedly, Wendy hesitated before pressing her particular button. Not because of any specific sin Stormy had committed, but more because nervousness made itself known within her. After all, it had been a while since she had spoken to Stormy (or Peppy and Lilac). Would she be mad? Would she refuse to talk? Or, worse yet, would she even remember Wendy? The thought of her not remembering Wendy was so terrible that it made the princess whimper.
Of course, the desire to talk with one of her friends ultimately proved too great to ignore. She pressed the button and put the phone to her ear, holding her breath as she did. The ringing of the phone was the most unbearable sound Wendy had heard in recent memory. She felt like she was going to pass out just listening to it.
"Hello?"
And now that Stormy had answered, the possibility of collapsing right onto the floor grew even more likely. Wendy took deep breaths, telling herself she needed to talk. It would all be okay; she could talk to Stormy. If Stormy did remember her, maybe she would be happy to talk with her! After a round of vehement anger, that is.
"Hello? Is anyone there?"
Wendy let out the breath she had been holding in. Here it was; the moment of truth. "He… hey Stormy! It's… it's Wendy."
Stormy gasped. "Oh my gosh! Wendy!" She laughed on the other line. "I haven't seen you in forever! How have you been?"
Wendy let out a breath. Oh man, Stormy remembered her! What's more, not a single drop of anger was present in her tone. This… oh this was the sweetest feeling Wendy had experienced in a long time.
"Oh, so much has happened since we last talked, Stormy." She chuckled. "I got turned into a human, my brothers have been turned into various things… it's been crazy."
"I'll say! Seriously, you got turned into a human?"
Wendy chuckled. "Yep, seriously. It was… well, it was an interesting experience." She paused. "Sure, it was also disorienting, discombobulating, and terrifying, but…" she shrugged. "Hey, that's a typical Monday when you live in Bowser's Castle."
Stormy laughed out loud. "I can believe that. On some level, I envy you, Wendy." She snorted. And on the other, I don't envy you at all."
Now it was Wendy's turn to laugh. "I don't blame you. A hectic life can be just that: hectic. It can be quite exhausting if you don't exactly know how to handle it."
"True. Very true."
Wendy smiled. Oh man, this seemed to be going really well! Better than she ever imagined, even! And… wow, she hadn't realized it until now, but she had missed talking with Stormy. She had missed talking with all of her friends, but Stormy most of all. There was a sort of quality to Stormy. She couldn't quite put her finger on what it was, but she could sense it, at the very least.
"Anyway…" Wendy cleared her throat. "What have you been up to?" She leaned forward in her seat. "Spare me no details; I want to know everything!"
"Everything, huh?" Stormy chuckled. "Well, okay. Well, my Dad's company has been running smoothly. So smoothly that he has decided to show me how things are taken care of. It… it was quite the learning experience. I got to interact with a lot of workers, and I got to see the ins and outs of how the job of a CEO works."
"That's awesome!" Wendy said. "I do remember you saying that you wanted to become a CEO yourself, one day."
"Yeah! Yeah, I did. And that display only made me more eager to do so. I know I could handle it well if I was given the chance; I just know it."
"I know it too." Wendy leaned back. "You are just… perfect for the role."
"Well… I don't know if I would say perfect, but… thanks Wendy." Wendy could practically see her smiling through the phone. "That really means a lot to me."
Wendy let out a breath. Somehow, hearing a friend say something like that to her was the most satisfying thing in the world. It made her… happy in the most special way possible. She almost couldn't even describe it; the happiness filling her was one of the most unique that she had felt in a long time. Was this typical for people who hung out with their friends? She didn't know, but she was certainly going to chase this feeling.
"You're welcome." She crossed her legs, leaning back even more so that she could really feel the softness of the chair. "Anything else been happening with you?"
Stormy paused. "Well… this…" she hesitated. "You're not going to believe this, but Lilac and I became a couple."
Silence. Wendy blinked a few times, unsure if she had heard that correctly (or at the very least, unsure if she was interpreting those words correctly). She sat there, her mouth hanging open like a fish as she tried to wrap her head around Stormy's words.
"You… what?"
"Lilac and I are a couple now." A certain level of excitement was in Stormy's voice. "We're girlfriend and girlfriend now."
Wendy blinked before gasping. "Oh my gosh!" A smile grew on her face. She bolted upright, feeling her heartbeat accelerating. "That's amazing!"
Stormy chuckled. "Thanks. We've been dating for about half a year already. And the relationship is going strong; it seems that it keeps getting better with each passing day."
Tears actually grew in Wendy's eyes. She wiped them away, all while trying to find the words she wanted to speak. "I… I can't believe it." She smiled. "Stormy, that's amazing! I…" she chuckled. "If I'm going to be honest, I did see that you and Lilac always had an eye for each other in that sort of way. But… but I never thought it would actually happen." She adjusted her position in her chair again. "I mean, you two were just friends before…"
"Yeah. Just friends." Stormy let out a breath. "And yeah, we did always have an eye for each other. But… but we were always a little hesitant to do anything. Because you're right; we were just friends before. And we had a nice friendship too, so we didn't want to do anything to really jeopardize it." She let out another breath. "And I'll admit, it was a pretty big leap. We still to this day can't fully wrap our heads around the fact that we did it. But even with that said…" She paused again, and Wendy imagined that she was probably smiling. "We are so glad that we did. It just feels right, you know?"
Wendy nodded. "I do. And I mean that in the most sincere way possible." She thought back to the last time she had seen her friends. "Especially for Lilac. She has trouble opening up to people in general, so the fact that she was able to find that level of comfort with you is…" she wiped another tear from her eye. "I'm so happy for you! Like, you would not believe!"
"Thanks, Wendy," Stormy said. "The two of us have been having an absolutely wonderful time."
Wendy sighed, smiling as she did. "Man. Make me wonder what it'll be like when I find love." Something occurred to her all of a sudden, something that made her seize up a little bit. "Wait. What does Peppy think about all this?"
There was a pause. "Peppy?" Another much longer pause occurred, one that Wendy could definitely sense was quite awkward. She squirmed in her seat, unsure if it was even a good idea to ask that question in the first place.
"Stormy?"
Stormy sighed. "She's… she's happy for us. She has said that much." Wendy imagined that Stormy was probably squirming in her seat too. "But ever since Lilac and I got together, she's been… well, she's been…"
"Distant?"
Stormy paused. "Well… yeah. It's really hard to explain what exactly I mean by that though. I mean, she's always happy to hang out as friends like we used to do. But I noticed that she became a lot less… enthusiastic." She paused again. "I think she might feel like a third wheel."
Wendy's heart sank. "I can imagine." Her heart ached as she thought about her friend, sitting on the sidelines as the friendship that she had valued for so long withered away from her. "Man, poor Peppy."
"Yeah. It's… if there's one downside to the relationship, it's been seeing that."
Wendy nodded before something occurred to her. "Hey, maybe I should start hanging out with Peppy! I'm sure doing that would make her feel better!"
"Hey, yeah! I think she would really like that!" This was another example of Wendy being able to sense Stormy's smile through the phone.
"Yeah," Wendy said with a nod. "If that's the case, I'm going to end our talk here and call her. Talk to you later, Stormy."
"Good idea. Talk to you later, Wendy."
With that, Stormy hung up. As she looked for Peppy's contact button, a giggly, giddy feeling welled up within her. She could already imagine what it would be like to see Peppy's mood rise, and it made her excitement climb exponentially high. She pressed the button and put her phone to her ear. Unlike when she was waiting for Stormy to answer, she was actually excited to hear Peppy's answer.
"Your call has been forwarded to an automated voice messaging system."
Wendy blinked. She exited the call and pressed the button again. She held it to her ear, hoping Peppy would answer this time. Still, the phone went right to voicemail.
"Huh." Wendy exited the call and looked down at her phone. "That's… odd."
