(A/N: So Bowser left the castle, and Kamek believes he's on his way to the Mushroom Kingdom. All the Koopalings can do is hope that he's not about to nab Princess Peach. The only way to find out is to start this chapter!)
Bowser was riding in his Koopa Clown Car, en route to the Mushroom Kingdom, home of the fair Princess Peach. He had been here at least a million times before. It was all so he could see Peach, but he was usually there to either kidnap her, or do something to really upset her people, like turn them to stone. He'd threatened to do that once before... if she refused to marry him.
"Maybe I can get Peach today as a surprise for Jr. With his cute face, he can help me convince her to stick around and leave Mario forever." Bowser said to himself as the familiar castle came into view. Now that he was in the Mushroom Kingdom, it was time to activate the new cloaking device on his Koopa Clown Car. The vehicle, as well as everyone and everything in it, would be invisible as long as the cloaking device worked.
Before long, Bowser was hovering over the courtyard at Peach's Castle. He looked down below and saw Princess Peach sitting quietly by the fountain. This would be the perfect opportunity for him to simply swoop down and grab her, and he probably would have done it if Mario and Luigi didn't show up at that moment and sit down on either side of her.
"Darn it! The stupid Mario Bros. are with her! They always have to ruin everything for me! Why does the princess have to like them so much, especially that pesky Mario?! What does he have that I don't?!" Bowser asked himself in anger.
"Isn't this a lovely afternoon?" Bowser suddenly heard the melodious sound of Peach's voice ask from below.
"Hmm... maybe I'd better go down there and listen in." Bowser said to himself. He flew down to listen to the ensuing conversation between Peach and her heroes.
"Spring days are always lovely, Peach. But I think they're even lovelier when I'm able to spend them with you, the loveliest and sweetest woman in the Mushroom Kingdom." Mario replied, looking at the princess with love in his eyes.
"Oh Mario, you're so sweet to me. I love you so much." Peach replied, giving him a kiss on the nose, which had him blushing like crazy.
Bowser wanted to gag when he saw Peach kiss Mario's nose. How could the princess sit there and do something like that to a plumber, someone who spends most of each day with his head inside of a toilet?! (A/N: His opinion, not mine!) It was unthinkable, because plumbers were beneath her!
"She'll learn to enjoy kissing with me once I get her in my clutches!" Bowser promised himself.
"You know, it has been a while since Bowser's last attack. We haven't seen any sign of him since you boys defeated him." Peach pointed out to the Mario Bros.
"Makes me wonder what you would be thinking if you knew that I was here right now, listening to you say such stupid things about me. Or maybe you just miss me." Bowser thought, chuckling to himself.
"That's true. I think his last attack was about a year ago." Mario recalled.
"It was. Because you can't count the Bowser I dealt with last fall on the fake mansion's roof as the real thing. It was just a stupid costume King Boo was using to try and kill me." Luigi said.
"I'm really sorry you boys had to suffer like that." Peach said, feeling bad. She had been horrified when they told her all about what they went through on that horrible night. Then her face brightened as she added, "But I think I know of the perfect cure for such trauma!"
"What's the cure?" Mario asked.
"Having a little fun, of course! I've been thinking, how about we take advantage of Bowser's absence and go on a little vacation?" Peach asked.
Bowser's eyes widened at the sound of this.
"A vacation, you say? Sounds like fun! Where do you want to go?" Mario asked, intrigued.
"Are you going to try visiting Dinosaur Land again?" Luigi asked. He believed a make-up visit to that particular place was in order.
Bowser remembered that place well. He and the Koopalings had been there before, but Jr. hadn't. He might enjoy going there.
"No. I know that we should try going there again sometime, but not this time. I was thinking we should visit somewhere more tropical..." Peach said.
"Like where? Hawaii?" Mario asked.
"No, I've already been there." Peach said. (A/N: See "Reign Storm", an episode of "The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3" for details.)
"Okay, what did you have in mind?" Luigi asked.
"I was looking up interesting vacation destinations on the internet, and I found a really good one called 'Isle Delfino'. It looked and sounded a lot like the sun-drenched tropical paradise you see in the movies." Peach said.
Bowser quickly produced a notepad and pencil and began to take notes. He wasn't sure how much he was going to hear, so he had to write it all down, to make sure he didn't forget.
"Did you say 'delfino'? That's the Italian word for 'dolphin'!" Mario exclaimed.
"Well, the island is dolphin-shaped, so I guess the name makes perfect sense!" Peach replied with a giggle. Then she told them, "I was thinking that spending a couple of weeks in tropical paradise would be fun."
"It does sound like fun." Luigi said.
"But I think we should go there in July, when the summer is in full swing." Peach said.
"In July? As long as we're still here for the 4th." Mario said. He didn't want to miss the 4th of July festivities.
"Don't worry, Mario, we're not leaving at the beginning of the month. I was thinking maybe around the middle of the month. Like the 10th." Peach suggested.
"Okay, so that gives us time to finish working on the mansion." Luigi said. After saving his brother from the haunted house he won in a contest he never entered, the treasure he found was used to build Luigi a new mansion, but he wanted Mario to live in it with him. However, it was not ready for them to move in just yet.
"I'm sure it'll be ready before then." Peach replied.
"It should be. It's-a nearing completion." Mario said.
"That's good." Peach smiled.
"We'll see how ready it is by the time you want to go. But if we haven't yet turned it into a home, then I'm not leaving it." Luigi said.
"I understand. After what you went through to save Mario from King Boo's wrath, you more than earned that mansion." Peach said.
"You sure did." Mario added.
"However, I can't make the reservations at the hotel on the island until both of you have decided if you're staying here or going with me." Peach said.
"Will anyone else be joining us on this vacation?" Mario asked.
"Like Daisy?" Luigi asked. He might be more willing to go if Daisy went along.
Bowser blanched at the mention of the flower princess. If she was going to be joining them, then he might not want to follow Peach to the island, after all. Daisy was a strong woman, and could very easily mess up his wonderful plans.
"I asked her about it yesterday, but she told me that she's going to be very busy in July. She won't be able to come." Peach replied.
"Oh." said Luigi, sounding a little disappointed. Seeing Daisy and being able to enjoy paradise with her would make him feel a lot better about what he went through.
"However, Toadsworth and five of the Toads will be joining us. But that's only because Toadsworth doesn't want me to leave the Mushroom Kingdom without him, and the Toads were begging me to allow them to come along on this fun vacation. They even made puppy-dog eyes at me, which was the killer punch. I wimped out and said they could join us." Peach added.
"Well, I know that I want to go, so at least we can still spend time together. Sound good to you, Peach?" Mario asked Peach.
"Yes, Mario. I'm really looking forward to that." Peach smiled.
Bowser hated seeing Mario and Peach looking happy together. But at least he was learning that they were going on a vacation to paradise. However, he never heard of Isle Delfino until now. He was going to have to do some extensive research on the place and figure out a way to beat Mario there and ruin his vacation.
"All right. I guess it's time for me to go home and do my homework." Bowser said as he rose into the air and flew back to his kingdom, deactivating the cloaking device when he was far enough away from the Mushroom Kingdom.
When Bowser got back to his castle, he found that Kamek was waiting for him as he got out of the Koopa Clown Car.
"Hey, Kamek." Bowser said as he saw his parental figure standing there.
"Where have you been?" Kamek asked, even though he already knew the answer to that question.
"Out." Bowser casually replied.
"Well, it's a good thing you're back, 'cause you're in big trouble, mister." Kamek told him.
"I am? What happened?" Bowser asked.
Kamek turned to the doorway and yelled, "He's back! Come in and tell him!"
"KIIIIIIIING DAAAAAD!" 7 very angry young voices yelled out.
"You've got some 'splainin' to do!" said one of the 7 voices.
The Koopalings came barging in, and boy, did they look mad!
"Okay, what's going on here?" Bowser asked, not sure what had caused them to act this way.
"What were you thinking?!" asked Lemmy.
"Have you forgotten all about Queen Mom?" asked Larry.
"Did you really love her, or was it all an act?!" Iggy asked.
"How could you betray her memory like that?!" Wendy asked.
"She was the greatest good we ever had!" Morton said.
"And in spite of that, you refused to tell Jr. about her!" Roy added.
"You proved that you don't care; you really don't care!" said Ludwig.
Bowser looked at Kamek, wondering if he told them about his plans to lie to Jr.
"Don't look at me, Sire; Jr. told them what you told him." Kamek said.
"Because we asked him to." Lemmy said.
"And he told us that you lied right through your teeth!" Wendy said.
"He couldn't say I was lying! He doesn't even know that I was lying! And I hope you didn't tell him that I was!" Bowser said.
"No, because we knew that if we did that, then he'd call us the liars and be a little tattletale. The worst part is that you would deny lying." Ludwig said.
"Okay, seeing that he doesn't know the truth, I guess I'd better tell you guys the reason why I did this." Bowser said.
The Koopalings weren't sure if they wanted to hear his excuse, because they knew it was gonna be really weak and super lame. But they decided to humor him and listen anyway. They still needed him to know that lying to Jr. was the wrong thing to do.
Later, Bowser gathered the Koopalings in the throne room, and he got ready to speak to them.
"All right, before I tell you why I bent the truth for your little brother, can any of you guess the reason why I decided to do so?" Bowser asked.
"Because you didn't really love Queen Mom?" asked Iggy.
"What?! No! That's ridiculous! I loved your mother to the moon and back!" Bowser said.
"Not if you couldn't tell Jr. about her!" Roy said.
"I would have told Jr. the truth if he was old enough to understand what happened to his mother. At his too-young age, he's not going to understand what death is! He wouldn't be able to handle the truth!" Bowser told them.
"He could if you explained it in a way that makes handling the truth a little easier." Ludwig said.
"All right, how do I do that?" Bowser asked.
"Well, first you have to... have to... um... no, that wouldn't work. You have to tell him that... I got nothing." said Morton, speechless for once.
"We get it. No kid wants to hear that their mother died before they were old enough to remember her, but surely you remember that you and Kamek have told us time and again that life isn't always fair. Keep in mind that he's gonna have to learn that sooner or later." Iggy said.
"I know. But if anything, he's a little kid, and he deserves to have a mother in his life, and I still believe that Peach is the perfect candidate." Bowser said.
"You can think that all you want, but you do realize that she's going to vehemently deny Jr. if she hears him calling her 'Mama', right?" Wendy asked.
"She won't deny him." Bowser said.
"What makes you so sure?" Wendy asked.
"He's cute as a bug's ear, and princesses loves cute things." Bowser told her.
"King Dad, it doesn't matter if Jr. is cute as a bug's ear. Peach knows her body better than you or Jr. ever will. She'll know that she didn't have a Koopa child. She would never be able to produce one." Ludwig told him.
"I'm aware of that, but I also know that she hasn't got much of a family. She'll be happy to be in this one, since one of the members in it thinks of her as their mom." Bowser said.
"He only thinks of her as his mom because you lied to him. She'll tell him the truth." Lemmy said.
"He won't believe her." Bowser said.
"Why not? Isn't she his 'mother'?" Roy asked.
"I'll tell him she's crazy so he won't take her words to heart." Bowser said.
"Oh, so you're going to play dirty, eh? Then I guess I'll tell you that while you were gone, we've been talking about your big, fat lie, and our decision is unanimous. We really don't want Peach to be our mom anymore." Larry said, folding his arms.
Bowser gasped and said, "Take that back!"
"No way! Not if you're going to be a lying liar who lies! If you want to lie to her and Jr., as well as yourself, then we're not going to help you out with your plans anymore. We'll help Peach get away from you if you bring her over here." said Morton.
"How can you kids plan to betray me like this?! I'm your father!" Bowser asked.
"You may be that, but unlike you, we're still loyal to Queen Mom's memory." said Roy.
"I told you kids that I didn't hate your mother! I still love her, but the pain of losing her is still fresh! The main reason I bent the truth was because I don't want to reopen the old wound in us, and open a new one in Jr." Bowser said.
"Don't worry about us! We're fine! We're adjusting without her! But Jr. is going to figure out the truth sooner or later, and the results are not going to be pretty." said Ludwig.
"Fine, then. I want each of you to give me a reason why I should come clean now." Bowser said.
"If you tell him the truth now, then you won't have certain problems to deal with later on in life. Jr. won't be a little kid forever. He's going to grow up, and as he does, he's going to learn some things. Things that will make him realize that your little story about Peach being his mother has some inconsistencies that don't add up too well, and he'll question them." Iggy said.
"What do you mean when you say my story has inconsistencies?" Bowser asked.
"For one thing, Peach is a human, and we're not. He's going to learn about the birds and the bees when he gets to a certain age, and then he'll wonder how Peach managed to birth him. What are you going to tell him when he asks you about where he really came from?" asked Morton.
"Add to that Peach's title. She's still a princess. She'd be a queen if she really was your wife. And you're royalty, so guess what? That means you can't have children out of wedlock. Everyone knows that if you're royalty, you have to be married before you can start a family." Wendy added.
Bowser didn't look too good as his kids pointed out details he hadn't thought of. Things Kamek probably would've said to change his mind about lying if he hadn't been so shocked.
"He'll wonder if he should ever trust you again." Roy said.
"'Cause we're already doing that." said Larry.
"He'll also wonder if you ever loved Queen Mom at all, like we're wondering." Lemmy said.
"And then he'll put two and two together, which will convince him that he's been lied to. When he realizes that, he's going to demand the truth from you! He's also going to have trust issues. So if you want to avoid those problems in the long run, then you need to sit him down and tell him the TRUTH! You'll also have to explain why you lied to him. And if you're going to do it at all, you'll do it NOW!" Ludwig yelled.
Bowser appeared to be weighing his options. He really wanted Peach to be a member of his family, as well as Jr.'s loving mother. But the Koopalings let him know that they were really mad at him for betraying their adoptive mother's memory, and they didn't want Peach to be here. She wouldn't be happy, and she'd never replace Clawdia Koopa. No one could.
After thinking about it for a few minutes, he looked at his angry kids (who were impatiently waiting for him to answer), and he said, "Okay, I'll make a deal with you. Just let us come up with this plan. If it doesn't work-"
"It won't work." Iggy interrupted. He didn't know what his father was planning, but already he could see Bowser's plan falling apart in a miserable mess.
"You don't know that for sure, Iggy. But if it fails, I will tell Jr. the truth." Bowser finished.
"The whole truth?" Wendy asked.
"The whole truth, and nothing but the truth." Bowser said.
"Cross your heart and hope to die?" asked Morton.
"Yes." Bowser replied.
"That's a promise?" Lemmy asked.
"It's a promise." Bowser said, his hands where the Koopalings could see them.
The Koopalings looked at each other and nodded before turning back to him, and Ludwig said, "All right, King Dad. We'll keep your secret safe... for now."
Bowser felt the need to have a lie-down after that, for he hadn't expected the Koopalings to confront him the way that they did. But then again, he didn't count on them asking Jr. what he'd been told. They were smart to ask him about it, but he was wishing that they hadn't stuck their noses in his business.
The following day, Bowser began researching Isle Delfino. Peach was right about it being paradise. It looked like an amazing place to visit. Peach and the Mario Bros. were in for some real fun if that's where they were going.
"But what can I do to mess up this place for Mario?" Bowser asked himself.
Then he was learning about the Shine Sprites, how they are the island's source of power, and the islanders were pretty happy people. He figured the best way to muck everything up over there would be to drive the Shine Sprites away. But how was he going to pull that off? He spent the rest of the month trying to come up with an idea, but no really good ideas came to him.
Bowser decided that another quick trip to the Mushroom Kingdom was in order. So he jumped in his Koopa Clown Car and activated the cloaking device when Peach's castle came into view. He wasn't really all that surprised when he saw Mario and Luigi in the courtyard with Peach again, but they weren't talking about Isle Delfino this time. They were talking about some house warming party at some mansion the following weekend, and they wanted her to attend.
"Hmm... I guess I'll come back the following weekend. Chances are I'll get some idea of what to do." Bowser said. So he went back to his castle and told Jr. what he found out about Mario's vacation destination, and how he needed a plan.
"So you say the Shine Sprites are the source of power on the island? Hmm... If we could think of some way to scare the Shine Sprites away and trick the people there into thinking that dumb ol' Mario did it, maybe they would hate him, and that would ruin his fun. I know I'd have fun watching that." Jr. said.
"Now there's a great idea! It would be really fun to watch those morons blame Mario for something that he would never do. But how are we going to convince them that Mario is a bad guy?" Bowser asked.
"I was hoping you might know, because I haven't figured that out yet." Jr. said.
"If we're going to mess things up, we'd better hurry and think of a way now, because your mama is planning on going there in July, and it's already June." Bowser said.
He also showed Jr. some pictures of Mario. Jr. thought he looked like a nice guy, but Bowser told him not to be fooled; that looks could be deceiving.
"He may look nice on the outside, but you have to remember that on the inside, he's pure evil. Why else can't I get your mama back from him?" Bowser reminded Jr.
"Oh, right. We'll just have to make his evil side come out so everyone knows that this Mario guy is not a good person!" Jr. replied.
What are they going to come up with? I'm not going to tell you anything... except to stay tuned if you want that question answered!