AN: Hey guys. Fun fact; even though I'm only eight chapters into this rewrite, I've already surpassed both the word count and the number of reviews I had on the original. I don't know about you guys, but I think that's pretty cool :)

Chapter 8 Out and About

The sun shined down on the little Koopa prince. It was almost bright enough to make him smile and distract him from everything that was going wrong right now. The day was so warm; it was the perfect temperature for a summer day in the Koopa Kingdom. The only thing was that the warmth wasn't doing anything to counteract the feelings bubbling over in Junior's heart.

Not that he should be focusing on those right now. The whole point of running away was giving himself the option to not focus on his troubles, to start a new life and possibly turn over a new leaf. Thinking about the life that he was leaving behind kind of missed the point of everything.

So, he wasn't going to focus on that. Forget the past; the here and now was where Junior should be putting most of his attention. And in the here and now, he was currently in between Koopa Kingdom towns. He had already passed through Stonebrim, which was the poster child for gray and drab. Nothing in Stonebrim really caught his interest, but hopefully the next town Junior visited would be at least somewhat pleasant? Now that he thought about it, which town was closest to him? He honestly couldn't say for sure. Of course, he had been taught the Kingdom's geography in his lessons with Kamek, but thanks to the fact that he hadn't been going in any one specific direction, he couldn't in full confidence say where he was.

At least, that was the case until he spotted a town on the horizon. It looked smaller than most towns, but Junior didn't mind. Sometimes, a small town without anything calling attention to it was exactly what someone needed (especially when they were running away and didn't want to call attention to themselves). He sprinted toward the town, hoping to see any landmark or sign that could tell him which town this was. He eventually got close enough to see the welcome sign.

Welcome to Generica.

Junior stopped and sniffed. Generica, huh? Honestly, the town was aptly named. Junior had been there about three times in his life to fulfill some kind of royal duty, but he often forgot about those times due to the fact that nothing stood out about Generica. Sure, it had a big bridge passing over one of the larger ditches in the Koopa Kingdom, but that was pretty much it. The most remarkable thing about Generica was exactly how unremarkable it was.

It was perfect. Again, Junior's mission was to stay out of the way and to hang out in places where anyone who wanted to find him couldn't. Generica certainly filled that quota, so Junior was going to take some time and hang out here.

Well, not so much hanging out as opposed to resting. He had been walking for almost six hours straight; he needed to relax before his feet fell off and he passed out.

So, Junior entered the town. Every person who lived in Generica was as generic as the town, and they all seemed so preoccupied with their daily lives that they failed to notice Junior. Good; if they didn't bother the prince, the prince had no reason to bother them. He looked down the simple streets and at the colorless buildings. He didn't see any place where he could rest. That is, until he saw a bench situated next to the aforementioned bridge.

"Oh, perfect!" Junior exclaimed. He rushed over to the bench, going as fast as his aching feet would allow him. Setting his butt down in the seat was the most comfortable and relaxing thing Junior had done in a while. Sure, the bench was cold and stiff; it didn't hold a candle to the bed Junior had back home. But even still, this bench was a godsend. He could rest here for hours. He could take deep breaths and just allow his poor sore body time to recover. All without drawing attention from anyone or anything.

Junior let out a sigh. As he did, his stomach rumbled, reminding him that he hadn't eaten since leaving the castle. And, of course, Junior hadn't raided the Koopalings's fridge for no reason, so Junior dug into his hammerspace to find something to eat. He ultimately found a peanut butter sandwich, being stored in a plastic bag. Roy's name was written on the front, marking it as Roy's personal property.

The sight of that name made Junior stop, blinking at the sight of it. For a brief minute, his mind traveled back to his siblings. What were they doing right now? Were they looking for him? Did they even know he was gone? How would they react if they found him; would they be happy, or angry?

Junior shook his head. There was no use dwelling on that. It didn't matter what the Koopalings were thinking. Again, his goal was to forge a new path and find a new destiny. He couldn't do that by thinking about what he had given up. Sure, it stung that he left behind his family. But… they weren't really his family. They came from a completely different place than Junior. They came from a mother. He didn't.

Deciding that was where he was going to stop this train of thought, Junior opened the plastic bag and took a bite of the sandwich. Oh man, it was delicious. Junior loved PB & J as a general rule. Sure, it was a simpler dish than most, which meant that it often wasn't the first thing the cooks and servants in Bowser's Castle chose to serve the prince. But even though it was simpler and eaten more often by the common folk, Junior didn't care. There was something about peanut butter and jelly, something that just couldn't be topped.

In fact… Junior almost wanted to try to buy some ingredients for more PB & Js. If he recalled correctly, he did have some money stashed somewhere in his hammerspace. He could make his way to the nearest supermarket and buy the materials; it would be so easy. And once he was done with that, he would have PB &J coming out of his ears. Was there a better state to be in than that?

Of course, maybe that wouldn't be the best idea. Again, Junior wanted to lay low. If he went into a grocery store, people would spot him. Not only that, but security cameras would see him too, meaning he was ripe for the finding. Maybe… maybe going to the grocery store wasn't the best idea. But at the same time… oh, Junior wanted those sandwiches! He wanted those sandwiches so badly!

Hmm. Maybe he should do a compromise? Maybe he should go into the grocery store with a disguise on. He didn't have any clothes in his hammerspace, but he could probably find a thrift store. Those types of stores were out of the way, right? They also didn't really have any security cameras, right?

Junior smiled. Yeah, that was a good plan! He would buy something like a hoodie to cover himself up, and then he would go into a grocery store! No one would suspect him, and no one would care enough to look for him. It was a perfect plan!

So, his smile growing bigger, Junior got off the bench and started searching Generica. It didn't take him long to find a thrift store; it rested right on the corner where two streets intersected. He went in, making sure to be as sneaky as a sleuth. He was so sneaky, as a matter of fact, that he even enacted a plan when it came to purchasing the hoodie he wanted. That being, he found a hoodie and put it on in a changing room. He exited the changing room with the hood pulled over his head, and then he went to go buy it. The store employee didn't even bat an eye at him; they just let him buy the hoodie without any trouble. They didn't require him to take it off, they didn't require him to remove any tags, nothing. It was the easiest purchase Junior had ever made in his life.

As a consequence, while he walked out of the store, he felt more confident about buying the PB & J materials. Like, he felt as though no misfortune would befall him whatsoever. Smiling an even bigger smile than before, Junior dug his hands into his hoodie pockets and sprinted to the nearest supermarket. Like with the thrift store, finding the supermarket wasn't that hard. In fact, given how big the building was, spotting it was actually easier than the thrift store. And as such, Junior was all smiles as he entered it.

He was also all smiles as he got his own cart. Being a seven-year-old, he never went to the store by himself. This was especially true considering he was a prince; most of the time, the job of going shopping fell on the koopa troopa servants. But now that he was doing it himself, Junior felt… nice. He didn't want to use the phrase "it made him feel like a big boy," because… well, he already was a big boy. But at the same time, he felt much more adult now that he was going shopping all by himself. He felt like he was the man of his own house. He felt like a grown-up in the best way possible.

These feelings only grew more pronounced as Junior went to find the ingredients. Navigating a grocery store was much easier than he thought thanks to the signs that hung over the aisles. Keeping a good eye on those helped Junior to find the peanut butter, the jelly, and the bread without much trouble. In fact, he also found something else without any trouble: candy. He found the candy aisle like it was nothing, and boy howdy was it glorious! There were so many colorful treats sitting on the shelves, ripe for the taking. Junior wanted to buy all of them, but… eh, he should hold onto his money. Never knew when he might need it. So, he only bought one candy; a pack of peanut butter and chocolate bars. That would be a good treat to eat while he was going through the kingdom, as he traveled to… well, he didn't have a set destination in his mind quite yet, but that was okay.

With a smile bright enough to blind someone, Junior made his way to the checkout counter. A few people gave him weird looks, possibly because he was really short and looked like a child. Admittedly, this did dampen the adult feeling he had when coming into the store, but he decided he didn't want to let that bother him. It didn't matter what the people felt. What mattered was that he was able to make his purchase without anyone giving him any trouble. What mattered was that he would walk out of this store with the ability to eat his candy and his peanut butter and jellies.

So, avoiding eye contact with the other shoppers, Junior placed his stuff on the conveyor belt. He walked to the end of the row, and the cashier immediately took notice of him.

"Hey, buddy. You look awfully young to be shopping by yourself."

For a split second, panic filled the prince. "Uh…" he shook his head and cleared his throat. "I'm not by myself. My mom is out in the parking lot; she, uh… she broke her leg and couldn't come in."

The cashier's eyes grew wide. "She broke her leg? She should be in the hospital!"

Junior cringed. "I… I know. That's why I'm going to be taking her there as soon as I'm done shopping." The cashier raised an eyebrow, causing Junior to shrink back a little bit. "Just let me pay for my items okay?"

The cashier still had a raised eyebrow, but they didn't question anymore. Junior paid for his items, the grown-up feeling from before returning as he did. He smiled; overall, this was going very well.

At least, until he heard the next person in line talking to the cashier. "Hey, did you hear the news? Apparently, Prince Bowser Koopa Jr. is missing!"

"Really?" the cashier asked.

"Yeah! The whole kingdom's on alert looking for him!"

Junior's eyes grew wide and his heart sank at the exact same time. Dang it! Dang it, dang it, dang it! He REALLY needed to be careful now if the whole kingdom was on alert.

Without any more words, he took his bag of groceries and scurried out of the store with his tail between his legs, ignoring the suspicious feeling that everyone in the store was looking at him.