Chapter 2 What You Are

The suspense… oh man, the suspense! Bowser refused to talk to Junior as he led him to the throne room, which just made the prince more nervous. His dad had never been this silent around him. Usually, he would've said something at this point, but right now… nothing.

"D…Dad?" Junior forced on a smile, even though he knew Bowser couldn't see it with his back turned. "Everything is okay, right? I'm not in trouble, right?"

It took a solid minute for Bowser to respond to that question. "You're not in trouble, Buddy. I just…" he didn't complete that sentence, which made Junior's anxieties climb through the roof. What was going on here? Why was Bowser acting so strange? Why was he refusing to talk to him, refusing to look at him? Junior's stomach twisted and turned, churning like never before. The prince wanted to throw up. The only reason he didn't was because something told him his Dad wouldn't be able to deal with it right now.

Finally, the two of them got to the throne room. The silence in there was maddening; even as Bowser lugged his enormous self over to the throne, he barely made a sound. Junior wanted to whimper, wanted to say something to break this horrible silence. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. No matter how many times he tried to force conversation, the words got stuck in his throat. Once again, Junior battled the ever-increasing urge to throw up.

This battle only got worse when Bowser sat down on the throne, allowing Junior to see his face for the first time. The look he gave… wow. Could he look more miserable? Could he make himself look more like he was in pain? Junior swallowed a lump, knowing that whatever Bowser wanted to talk about wouldn't be fun. Junior might not be in trouble, but things still weren't going to bode in his favor.

"D…Dad?" Junior once again tried to say more, but couldn't. This forced him to wait until Bowser spoke up, which took forever. Bowser ran his hand through his hair, still looking at Junior with that same pained expression.

"Junior… it's time."

Junior blinked. "Time for what?"

Bowser bit his lip. "You remember how you keep asking me to tell you about your birth story, right?" Junior nodded, his anticipation growing. "Well… it's time I finally tell you."

When that statement sunk in, Junior's nerves transformed into anticipation. "Wait, really?" He smiled. Oh man, his birth story! He had been wanting to hear that for years! He could remember asking his dad about it as a three-year-old! Specifically, he had asked his dad about his mom; who she was, what she was like, and how exactly Bowser fell in love with her. The fact that Bowser was FINALLY going to reveal information about her…

"You're finally gonna tell me about Mom!" Junior ran up and put his hands on Bowser's knees. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I've been… I mean…. I don't know why you decided to take so long, but the fact that you are…" He giggled and hugged him. "Thank you, Dad! Thank you so much!"

Bowser sucked some air through his teeth. "Yeah… I wouldn't thank me if I were you."

Junior blinked, pulling away from Bowser and looking at him in bewilderment. "Why not?" A horrible possibility popped up in his mind, making him gasp. "Dad, did you do something bad to Mom?" He started to shake. "Did you… did you hurt her?"

Bowser sighed. "No, Junior, I didn't hurt her."

Junior let out a breath. "Oh, good." He felt confused. "So… what exactly happened? Why isn't Mom here today? What happened to her?"

Bowser bit his lip once again. Right as Junior was worried his lip was going to bleed, Bowser spoke up. "Nothing happened to her… because she never was."

Junior blinked. "Never was? What do you mean?"

"I mean she never existed."

Junior blinked once again. Bowser might as well have been speaking in gibberish with how unclear he was being. "How could Mom never exist?" Junior took a step forward. "Don't you need both a Mommy and a Daddy in order to get a baby?"

"Under normal circumstances, yes. However, that wasn't the case with you." Bowser looked his son right in the eye. "You see, Junior… you're a clone."

Those words… what could possibly be said to describe how confusing they were? They sounded like a joke! They sounded like Bowser was trying to make light of this situation by saying something too ridiculous to be true! There was no way Junior was a clone! There was no way!

As such, Junior snickered when he heard those words. "Be serious, Dad!"

Bowser's face made it clear that he was being completely serious. "Junior… I know it's hard to believe, but it's the truth." He scooted forward in his chair, putting his hand on Junior's shoulder. "You're a clone of me."

That statement slowly sunk in, making Junior's heart pump. "How… how is that possible?"

"Well…" Bowser sighed. "Seven years ago, I decided that I wanted to bring my heir to the throne into the world. So, Kamek and four other magikoopas took me into a secret chamber in the castle." Bowser patted his knee. "They took a scale off Daddy's leg, and they used it to perform an old, ancient magic ritual. It took a few hours, but they were able to create a baby using the scale as a blueprint. And that baby… was you."

Silence. The silence in the throne room now was worse than the silence when the two of them initially walked in. Junior stood stock still, his jaw dropped as he looked at his Dad. Bowser gave him no sign that his was joking, no indication that he was going to reveal he was just kidding. As such, Junior's emotions were all over the place. His breathing grew heavy.

"Dad…. how…. why…. that's impossible!"

"It's not, Junior." Bowser reached into his hammerspace, pulling out a picture. He gave it to his son, who looked at it while blinking. "That looks like you as a kid, does it not?" Afraid of where this was going, Junior nodded. "Well, it isn't you. It's actually me. I was five when that picture was taken."

Junior could barely stand up now. He turned the picture over, feeling like he was going to vomit when he saw what was written on the back in pencil. Prince Bowser Hortensia Koopa, 1994. There was no "the second" after the name, and the handwriting was so legible that there was no mistaking what the date was.

"It's… you're telling the truth."

"I am." Bowser sighed. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, son. I wanted to wait until you were at an age where you could better understand."

Junior couldn't tear his eyes away from his Dad's photo. With a shaking hand, he gave it back to Bowser, who looked at him with pain in his eyes. It wasn't a small amount of pain either; it was an ungodly pain. It was almost as if Bowser was in Junior's head, feeling every horrible emotion right along with him.

Tears started to fall from Junior's eyes. He wiped them away, thinking about everything this bit of news meant. Bowser, without saying any words, pulled him towards him and sat him down on his lap. The little prince cried and cried, all while Bowser did his best to comfort him.

"I know, son, I know. I know it's difficult to accept and wrap your head around. I know I had some trouble when my Dad told me."

Junior's eyes grew wide. "Wait, what?" He looked up into his father's face. "You… you mean you were a clone of your dad too?"

Bowser nodded. "Yes, I am. You see, Junior, it's actually a tradition in the Koopa royal family." Bowser hesitated as if he was trying to figure out the best way to explain this. "Almost one thousand years ago, the Koopa Kingdom was ruled by this King named King Cosmo III. He… he was a piece of work." Bowser chuckled, but Junior didn't have the strength nor the desire to join in. "He wanted things the way he wanted them; anything that was less than that was worthless in his eyes."

Junior turned his head away from Bowser, unsure how to respond to that.

"When he was of age, his royal advisors told him that it was time to choose his bride so that he could produce an heir. However, none of the women who were brought before him were worthy in his eyes. 'None of these are fit to be my wife,' he said. 'None of them are worthy enough to be the mother of my child!' He must've gone through at least one hundred women, and he kept the same opinion for every single one of them. Whether it was because he thought they were either too ugly or too weak, he felt that a member of the royal family being the child of one of these women would be a recipe for disaster." Bowser sniffed. "One of the many ways he showed off his rotten personality."

Junior finally found the strength to look into Bowser's face again. "So… what happened?"

Bowser hesitated. "Well… even though he wasn't satisfied with any of his potential suitors, he still needed to produce an heir. And there were only so many women in the kingdom; sooner or later, he would run through all of them. And his magikoopa advisors didn't want to do that and risk even more women being rejected, so they put their heads together and thought of a solution."

"And that solution was making a clone of him."

"Yep. They pulled him into the same secret chamber I went into seven years ago, and they made a clone baby of King Cosmo III. After that, it just became a tradition in the family." Bowser squeezed Junior's shoulder. "Every Koopa King after Cosmo III has been a clone of the previous one."

By this point, Junior didn't know how to feel about this. Looking into Bowser's eyes felt wrong, even though he knew it shouldn't. Thinking about King Cosmo III felt wrong. Thinking about the fact that his mother, the same mother he had been craving the attention and affection of all his life, didn't exist…

"Hey, Buddy." Bowser pulled Junior close to him as the prince began to cry again. "It's okay. It's all going to be okay."

Junior sniffled. "How can it be okay?" His voice wasn't even violently defiant; it was flat and monotone. Junior supposed he should summon the strength in order to be more upset by this revelation, but honestly, all he felt was emptiness. Emptiness and hurt.

"Look, I know it's difficult." Bowser patted him on the shoulder. "But everything's going to be alright. This news will get less and less hard to think about the more time goes by; trust me on that one." Bowser patted his shoulder again. "And, when you're old enough, you'll have choices. You can continue the tradition, or you can decide it's time to put it to a stop and marry a nice girl." Bowser chuckled. "Either thing you choose will be a good choice."

Bile rose up in Junior's throat. "Then why didn't you make that choice?"

"Why didn't I? Ehh… well, it mostly had to do with my father. He was very passionate about me following the tradition, more so than was necessary. He died before I got the chance to do the ritual, but I still went through with it because… well, despite how difficult he could be sometimes, I wanted to honor his memory."

The bile in Junior's throat grew more bitter. "So you decided to honor the memory of someone you didn't even like as opposed to doing what was best for your child?"

Bowser seized up as he gawked at his son. "Junior…"

"I could've had a mother, dad! I could've had a mommy who loved and took care of me! A mommy who I could love and spend time with! But instead, I get nothing! I have no mom; all I have is a dad who made the worst decision possible."

"Hey!" Now Bowser looked mad. "Junior, if I hadn't gone through with the ritual, you wouldn't have existed at all!"

"Well… maybe that would be for the best!" The tears flowing from Junior's eyes were boiling hot. "Maybe it'd be best if another genetic freak wasn't brought into the world!"

Bowser's pain was so difficult to look at now. "Oh, baby. Don't say that!" He tried pulling him closer. "I know it's hard to process, but just because you're a clone doesn't mean…" Before Bowser had a chance to pull him back towards him, Junior dismounted his lap. The tears hot enough to make his eyes hurt, Junior took a few steps away from his father. He sniffled, telling himself to stop crying like a wimp.

"Junior?"

Junior gripped his hand into a fist. "I just… I need some time to myself." With that, while still battling the tears, Junior ran out of the throne room to his bedroom. He couldn't remember the last time he felt this miserably broken.