AN: Hello, my beautiful readers! Welcome to another new story! Or, not a new story, cause this is a rewrite of one of my previous ones. Oh well; just because it's not new doesn't mean I can't be welcoming lol.

Now, this rewrite. Honestly, I had been debating whether or not I've wanted to do it. The original version of Runaway Reptile is probably tied for my most controversial story out of all the SK episodes (with the other being Princess of the Lake Kingdom). A lot of people couldn't stand what I did with the original, what with the way Junior acted and the way the story was structured. It was probably due for a rewrite anyway, but I didn't know whether I wanted to do that because I didn't have any real ideas for how to tackle something like that.

But after talking with one of my friends, I think I have a good way to do this project. Hopefully, this will be the improvement that the original story needs :)

Chapter 1 Sibling Dynamics

The door loomed in front of Bowser Jr. His heart pounded and beads of sweat formed all over his body as he looked at it, shut up tight. It was like it was issuing a challenge. The seven-year-old prince looked at the doorknob, whimpering as he did. He reached his hand toward it, hesitated, then pulled it away. This… this should be okay, right? This wasn't supposed to be a big deal.

And yet, Junior still hyperventilated. He put one hand on his chest and wiped his brow with the other one. He couldn't place why he felt so nervous. It was just a door! It was just a simple question he wanted to ask his adopted siblings! It's not like he had been tasked with dropping a nuclear bomb! He shouldn't feel nervous!

And yet, he did. Maybe it was because he didn't feel particularly close with his siblings. Every single one of them was older than him and were giants both in terms of personality and in terms of size next to him. They had their own lives, their own worries. Wouldn't it be kind of dumb to ask them to play with him? It seemed like it; they would more than likely tell the little prince no. Junior didn't like being told no, but at the same time, he wouldn't really blame the Koopalings for saying it to him in this scenario.

Taking a deep breath, Junior slapped himself on both cheeks. "You can do this, BJ," he told himself (no one else called him BJ, which was a shame because he liked the way it sounded). "I know you can; I believe in you." Summoning an extra large portion of courage, one that not even fights with Mario required, Junior opened the door. The common room that the door led to was packed, with each of the Koopalings fully present and accounted for. Morton stood next to the fridge, chowing down on a pint of ice cream. Larry, much to Junior's surprise, wasn't playing video games. Instead, he was playing Go Fish with Roy, Iggy, Wendy, and Ludwig. Lemmy watched this game, his eyes wide open and his mischievous smile brightening up the room. Junior took another deep breath before closing the door and stepping over to them, trying to get his nerves to stop giving him trouble as Larry chuckled.

"So. Iggy." Larry aimed his wicked grin over at the middle child. "I happen to recall a time last turn when you were hunting for an eight." Larry's grin grew wickeder. "Cough it up!"

Iggy's jaw dropped before his face fell. He growled as he handed over the card, and Larry looked as though he was going to yell from the rooftops how amazing he was. And he would be completely justified in doing so, considering he had only two cards left. Everyone else had at least four.

"I hate this," Wendy said as she looked over at the youngest, still drinking in the richness of a nearing victory. "How the holy hell are you so good at this, Larry? It's borderline ridiculous!"

"There's no borderline about it; it IS ridiculous!" Iggy glared at Larry, who pretended not to notice as he held his final two cards in front of his grinning face. "Statistically, this should be impossible! How can you win four rounds in a row when the rest of us are left to starve?"

Larry shrugged. "Well, you know what they say. Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to play Go Fish and he'll mop the floor with each of his family members four times over."

Junior snickered at that, drawing everyone's attention over to him. Their gazes shifting over to him caused the uncomfortable feeling Junior experienced in front of the door to return. As such, he shrunk back a little.

"He… hey guys."

"Hey, Junior," Wendy said.

"What's going on, little dude?" Roy asked.

Junior shimmied his foot back and forth as he held his hands behind his back. "N…not much." He looked back at the table, at the cards that everyone was playing with. "I was just… wondering if I could hang out with you guys."

The first one to respond to that proposition was Lemmy. He gasped out loud, giving Junior a look happy enough to be considered sparkly. "Really? You actually want to hang out?"

Junior nodded. "Yeah. I do."

"Uh… why?" Ludwig asked as he raised an eyebrow.

Junior shrunk back a little as he imagined all the judgy comments Ludwig and any of the others might be making in their head. "I… I don't know!" He held his hands in front of him now. "I just figured that it would be fun!"

Larry snickered. "Well, I must say that I totally agree!" He stuck his tongue out at everyone else. "Watching me kick these guys's butts is the most fun anyone could ever have!"

Iggy flashed Larry a glare. "And, with that, I think we've had enough Go Fish for one day." Everyone else nodded and put their cards back in the deck, all while Larry gawked at them. "I think it would be best for everyone if we try a more… mellow activity."

Morton snickered as he licked his spoon. "In this castle, there's no such thing as mellow."

"Yeah, and besides, mellow isn't fun!" Larry stood up. "Let's do something exciting! Let's all go outside and try to play some soccer! With Junior, there'll be eight of us; four for each team!"

Ludwig gave Larry a fake smile. "Wow, that would be a good idea if I didn't despise sports with every fiber of my being!"

"Yeah," said Wendy, "and besides, I just put on this really expensive mascara. Running around and getting all sweaty will cause it to run."

"Yes," said Iggy. "The thought of physical activity right now does not appeal to me."

Larry huffed. "Well. I can see that you guys are opposed to the very concept of fun." He made his way toward the door. "I'm going to the gym; I don't need to be on anyone's team in order to shoot a basketball."

With that, Larry left. Junior kept his eyes on the door he just exited, a feeling of guilt overcoming him. He didn't know why; after all, Larry acting in such a way was definitely not his fault. But still, he felt as though he had done something wrong. He felt as though he had shaken things up in a way that wasn't appreciated by anyone. Sure, the only one who had expressed disdain at the fact that they needed to do something different was Larry, but… oh, Junior still didn't feel good.

"Well, now that Mr. PITA has left the room…" Ludwig looked over at the prince. "Is there anything you'd like to do, Junior?"

Junior blinked. "Oh. Well… I dunno."

"Well then, maybe I should make a suggestion." Iggy smiled. "Why don't we read through the Where's Willis books?"

All of Junior's hesitance and discomfort instantly went away. "Yes!" He jumped into the air. "That would be great!"

"Totally!" Roy smiled. "The Where's Willis books are, like, the only books I'm able to enjoy! And the only books I can read all the way through!"

Junior giggled. Oh man, this was turning out to be enjoyable. A far cry from the horrible, sinking feeling he had earlier, that everyone and everything would turn out horrible. He rushed over to the common room couch and took a seat while Iggy got the second volume of Where's Willis off the shelf. Roy took a seat alongside Iggy as he took a seat alongside Junior, sandwiching him between the biggest Koopaling and one of the smallest Koopalings (although, whether or not Junior was a Koopaling was still up for debate). Junior's eyes lit up as Iggy instructed him to find Willis, the elusive red-shelled koopa troopa whose bold colors seemed to make him blend in with everything around him.

After five minutes of looking, Iggy spoke up. "Have either of you located him yet?"

"Nope," said Junior.

"Nu-uh." Roy hesitated before looking at Iggy. "Have you?"

Iggy beamed, the expression dripping with pride. "Why, of course, I have! Finding Willis is one of the easiest things in the world to do! Even the smallest of infants can do it!"

Junior's nose scrunched up as he glared at Iggy. "Hey! Don't be mean! Some of us really struggle with that!"

Iggy smirked. "True, but my cognitive abilities far exceed…" Iggy didn't even get to finish his sentence, as everyone in the room groaned. The bespectacled genius blinked and looked at all of his present siblings, who all looked like they wanted to strangle him. Junior wasn't even paying attention to the book anymore, as he glared at Iggy with a scorching hot gaze.

"So help me, Iggy. If you try to brag about your huge brain one more time, I'll scream so loud that my Dad will think you hurt me."

Iggy gave him a sideways glance. "You're bluffing."

"You think so, huh?" Junior closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and screamed at the top of his lungs. He had only made the sound for a minute before Iggy, in a fit of panic, covered Junior's mouth with his hand.

"Okay! Okay." Iggy sighed. "I promise I won't brag about my achievements anymore. Just… please don't scream, okay?" Junior nodded, causing Iggy to smile. "Thank you." He removed his hand from Junior's mouth, and immediately he cringed. "Did… you didn't lick my hand, did you?"

Junior just smirked. The silence was all the confirmation Iggy needed, as his eyes grew wide and he jumped out of his chair cringing.

"EWW! EWW EWW EWW!" He looked down at his hand like it had been infected with a zombie virus. "Are you aware of just how much bacteria is in saliva!" He bolted out of the room, all while everyone else laughed their heads off.

"Oh man, that was awesome!" said Lemmy. He directed his happy gaze toward Junior. "Now I know that, if Iggy is giving me a hard time, I just have to spit in his face and all will be well!"

"Yeah," Ludwig said with a snicker. He came up and ruffled Junior's hair. "You are way smarter than you look, Buddy. You certainly have a lot to offer."

Junior smiled, so pleased with those words that he didn't even bother worrying about them possibly being a backhanded compliment. He looked at all five of his present siblings, looking at him with… wow, was that pride? Was that pleasure? Were they pleased with what Junior had managed to do? Did he manage to bring the happiest emotions out of them? Was it really him who got them all to smile?

"Thanks, guys." He giggled. "I have to say, you guys are pretty cool too."

"He he, thanks Junior." Wendy beamed at him. "I mean… we don't really try to be cool. It just… comes naturally!"

"Totally naturally!" Roy flexed his left arm. "Just like how I got my big huge muskles naturally!"

Junior and all the Koopalings gave him a dry look. "Sure you did, buddy," the said in perfect unison. Roy, of course, had no idea that they were making a jab at him, so he just leaned back in his chair with a smile.

All the while, Junior couldn't help but feel relieved. This was way better than he expected. Heck, this was way better than he had hoped. Being with the Koopalings… it was such an amazing feeling. They weren't picking on him, they weren't going out of their way to make him feel bad. They were just acting like normal siblings to him. Sure, they were all adopted but… eh, Junior was still willing to call them his siblings. If not for the fact that doing so helped him to feel included in their little group.

"Hey guys."

Junior blinked as everyone turned toward the door. The Great Koopa King himself, Bowser, stood in the doorway. When he saw him, Junior's whole face lit up.

"Hey, Dad!" He rushed over and gave him a hug (or at the very least tried to; Bowser's frame was so huge that it was more than a little difficult). "I'm so happy to see you!"

Bowser's face fell, which in turn caused Junior's enthusiasm to vanish. Looking up into his eyes, staring at him like their owner had committed a horrible sin against him…

"Dad, is everything okay?"

Bowser stayed silent for a little bit before sighing and wiping his brow. "I'm actually glad I found you, Junior. There's something I need to tell you."

Junior blinked. "What? What is it?"

"You'll see." Bowser took Juniorr's hand and led him out of the common room. As they walked away, Junior looked back at his siblings. They all looked as confused as he felt. What exactly was going on?