(A/N: The Koopalings have readied "The Seven Challenges For Jr.", but he still needs to know about them. If I start this chapter, we shall see what's going to happen!)
The Koopalings met up in the entertainment room after lunch, and Ludwig said, "Okay, how many of us can't get their mind off of the plan we have?"
All of the Koopalings raised their hands.
"Yeah, I was afraid of that." Ludwig muttered.
"It's going to be a little odd watching him play "Super Mario" games for a whole week. I know that he'd much rather play "Super Koopa", but the idea is that he helps Mario through the challenges to atone for what he did to him and Peach on Isle Delfino." said Iggy.
"Yeah, but the thought of telling him about the whole thing now is really tempting. It's hard to keep quiet." said Lemmy.
"I know that waiting isn't going to be easy, but we've got to keep from spilling it now. We'll tell him tonight, after dinner, so he'll be ready for it when tomorrow comes." said Ludwig.
"And don't worry, Ludwig. I won't tell him anything about the challenges that we're going to put him through." said Morton.
"Great." said Ludwig.
"However, I was thinking about the challenges on my way back to my room after the meeting, and I bumped into Kamek. He realized that I was lost in thought, and he asked me about it. I almost told him, but I bit my tongue to keep myself from telling him what we've been planning." Morton told him.
"Hey, good for you!" Roy said, slapping him on the shoulder.
"I don't know, you guys. Can we really keep quiet about this until after dinner, once Jr. is alone with us?" Wendy asked as she started going over her pictures from Smash Mansion for the umpteenth time, intently studying Mario's cute face on her phone's screen. She had to do something to keep from thinking about the challenges.
"We will. We have to. And I know the best way to keep away from Jr. until it's time. The best way to do that is to play some video games!" said Larry.
"Sounds like fun, but you have to remember..." Ludwig began.
"ABSOLUTELY NO CHEATING!" the other Koopalings yelled at Larry in unison.
"I won't cheat." Larry promised, heaving a heavy sigh.
"Great! So what do you wanna play?" asked Roy.
The video games kept the Koopalings preoccupied for a while, and then they decided to cool down by watching some Nicktoons. They were watching a marathon of "The Loud House" when Kamek came in and said, "So that's where you kids have been! I'm sorry to disturb you, but dinner is served."
"Wow! It's that time already?!" Iggy asked, looking at his watch.
"Time flies when you're having fun!" said Lemmy.
"Let's go!" said Larry.
So the Koopalings turned off the T.V. and hurried to the dining room. Kamek, seeing this, quickly teleported back to the dining room, where Bowser and Jr. were already sitting at the table, waiting for the arrival of the Koopalings. Kamek took his place and said to Bowser, "The Koopalings are on their way right now, Sire."
"Good. What was taking them so long?" Bowser asked.
"They were watching T.V. in the entertainment room." Kamek said.
"What were they watching? Did you see it?" Jr. asked.
"Kind of. I believe they were watching that show about the family that has 11 kids in it, and almost all of them are girls." Kamek replied. The Koopalings watched so many different cartoons that he couldn't remember the names of all of them. He did, however, know some details about them, and that was enough for him.
"They were watching "The Loud House" without me?" Jr. asked. That was one of his favorite shows. It almost seemed like life at their castle, even though Wendy said that she could easily relate to the main character in a way.
"I guess so." said Kamek.
"Why didn't they invite me to watch it with them?" Jr. asked.
"Maybe they were preoccupied with something else and forgot?" Bowser said.
"That's right. We kinda were." said Roy's voice from the entrance to the room. The 3 people at the table turned to see the Koopalings walking in. They nonchalantly made their way to the table and sat down at their proper places.
"And don't be upset, Jr. They weren't airing any new episodes, or either of the movies, for that matter, so you didn't really miss anything." said Wendy.
"So what? I still don't mind watching the reruns." said Jr.
"All right. Next time we decide to watch the show, we'll call you to come see it as well. Sound good to you?" asked Larry.
"Okay..." said Jr. He wasn't happy that they left him out, but he might as well accept it.
After they had eaten, Lemmy caught up with Jr. as he was leaving the table.
"Hold on, Jr." Lemmy said.
"What's up?" Jr. asked.
"The seven of us have something we need to tell you." Lemmy explained.
"You're going to watch more episodes of "The Loud House" and have decided to invite me to watch them with you?" Jr. excitedly guessed.
"Well, no..." Lemmy replied.
"Then forget about it." said Jr.
"Oh no, you're not getting out of this one. You're coming with me, and we're going to your room." Lemmy said as he pulled out his wand, causing Jr. to halt. Lemmy then walked over to his frozen baby brother, grabbed his arm, and dragged him up to his room, where the other Koopalings were waiting.
When they arrived, Roy shut the door, and he and Morton were blocking it so Jr. couldn't escape when Lemmy undid the spell.
"All right, Jr. You're probably wondering what this is all about." said Ludwig.
"And you're right. Does that mean I get a cookie?" asked Jr.
"We'll see." said Wendy.
"The reason we're here is because we talked about it, and we decided that no matter what you say, you still have to atone for what you did on Isle Delfino." said Iggy.
"I should have known you guys were going to say something about going back to Isle Delfino! But I'm telling you right now that you can just forget about it, 'cause I'm not going back there! I'm never going to tell the people the truth about Mario! So there!" Jr. said as he stuck out his tongue and blew a raspberry at his older siblings.
"If you don't put that tongue back in your mouth right now, you're going to find it wrapped around your neck!" Roy threatened.
"Roy, don't do that! Jr. can't atone for what he did if he's dead!" Ludwig reminded him.
"Okay, I won't wrap his tongue around his neck. But I will rip it out if he doesn't put it away!" said Roy.
Jr. quickly put his tongue back in his mouth to avoid having Roy do anything to it.
"So, what does it mean to 'atone'?" Jr. asked, unfamiliar with the word.
"It means 'to make amends'." said Iggy.
"Okay..." said Jr. Then he said, "But you're not making me go to Isle Delfino."
"We're not letting go of this idea, Jr. You're gonna have to go back there sooner or later, no matter how much you hate the idea of going. You're not a baby anymore, and sometimes you have to do things you don't necessarily like or want to. Unless..." Morton started.
"Unless what?" Jr. asked.
"You complete a series of challenges!" said Larry.
"If any of them involve playing a game against you, then I'm not gonna do it! I'm not stupid! I know why the others call you 'Cheatsy'!" Jr. said to Larry.
"Actually, you can rest easy; you don't have to play against him." said Lemmy.
"I don't?" Jr. asked.
"No. We're going to have you do something kinda like The Twelve Labors of Hercules." said Iggy.
"Twelve Labors? Ohh, I don't like the sound of that." said Jr.
"Neither did Hercules. But he still completed them, no matter how difficult they were. And guess what? He had to do them to atone for doing something far worse than what you did on Isle Delfino." said Iggy.
"What did he do?" Jr. asked.
"You really don't wanna know." Ludwig said.
"That bad?" Jr. asked.
"Yup." said Iggy.
"All right. So what are my twelve labors going to be?" Jr. dully asked.
"Don't worry, Jr. You're only going to have seven of them, and we can promise you that they won't be as difficult as the things Hercules had to do." Wendy told him.
"Seven, huh? And there's seven of you. Does that mean each of you will give me something to do?" Jr. asked.
"Hey, he's on the ball! Okay, someone give the boy a cookie. He earned it." said Ludwig.
"All right, Jr. Here you go! One cookie!" said Larry, using his wand to conjure up a jelly cookie for his baby brother to enjoy.
"A jelly cookie?! Awesome! Thanks!" Jr. said, and he took a big bite out of the cookie.
"So, Jr., you're not going to have labors. You will have challenges, which are going to be set in video games." Ludwig began.
"I get to play video games? Sweet!" said Jr. with his mouth full of cookie.
"Don't talk with your mouth full." Ludwig told him.
Jr. swallowed the mouthful, then said, "Sorry. But the fact that I get to play video games sounds good to me!"
"Not so fast! Each of us has picked out a game for you to play, and we have also decided on what your challenge in these seven games will be." Ludwig said.
"Okay, so what are the games I get to play, and what are the challenges in them? Can you answer me that?" Jr. asked after he finished his cookie.
"Sorry, Jr., but that's for us to know and you to find out." Roy told him.
"Until tomorrow morning, after breakfast. That's when the first challenge begins." Wendy assured.
"You'll be playing at least one challenge each day, so this will last a whole week. But there's a catch to it. If you can complete the challenges, then you won't have to go to Isle Delfino. We'll keep your guilt a secret for you." Morton began.
"All right! Now you're talking my language!" said Jr.
"Hold it! If you fail the challenges, then you're going to have to go to Isle Delfino, and you're going to tell the people what you did." Morton finished.
Well, Jr. didn't like the idea of going to Isle Delfino, so he said, "Bring it, then! I can take it! I'll beat your challenges so I won't have to tell anybody anything."
"We'll see what happens when tomorrow comes." said Lemmy.
"All right. I'll be ready for whatever you're going to throw at me." said Jr.
"You mean it?" asked Roy.
"Yup. I can do it." said Jr.
"Very well." said Roy. Even though Jr. was accepting the challenges, he had a very good feeling that their brother was going to forfeit once he saw the first game that he would be challenged to play. He wouldn't like what the 7 challenges involved as soon as he started, so he would have to think of a way to make him come to a decision with no problems.
"Are these challenges going to be hard, or impossible to do?" Jr. asked.
"No, we made sure that they're doable, at best." Ludwig assured him.
"Okay, thanks." Jr. smiled at his oldest adoptive brother.
"If you knew what games you're playing, you'd take back that last word before we could say 'you're in trouble now!'" Ludwig thought.
"Okay, it's time for you to start getting ready for bed. We'll see you in the morning." said Larry as he and his siblings began to leave the room.
"Hold it!" said Roy.
"Did you forget something?" asked Jr.
"Yes. There's something we need to tell you..." said Iggy.
"You are not allowed to breathe a word about our challenges to King Dad, Kamek, or anyone else in the castle, or the kingdom! Do you understand?" asked Wendy.
"I promise to keep quiet." said Jr.
"Great! See you in the morning!" said Lemmy as they walked off.
"So where are we going now?" asked Morton as they made their way down the hall.
"To the entertainment room, of course. We need to gather up the chosen games and turn them into their "Super Mario" counterparts." Ludwig reminded him in a quiet voice.
"Oh yeah." said Morton as they reached the stairs.
Jr. sighed as he exited his room, walking in a different direction than his siblings. He really hated the fact that he had to go to bed earlier than his older siblings did. They got to stay up later than him, and that just wasn't fair.
"I really gotta think of a way to get Papa to allow me to stay up with the rest of them sometime, and not just on New Year's Eve." Jr. muttered to himself as he walked to the bathroom so he could have his bath and brush his teeth. Not surprisingly, Bowser was already in the bathroom, running warm water in the bathtub for Jr.'s bath. And he made sure to add a capful of bubble bath to the water.
"Hey, I didn't have to wait until the tub was filled to come and get you! That's a first!" Bowser said in surprise when he saw Jr. walk into the room.
"Well, I know that it's time for me to start getting ready for bed, so I thought I would come in here now." Jr. said.
"Smart boy." said Bowser.
When the tub was full enough, Bowser turned off the water and said, "All right, Jr. Get in the tub so I can wash you." Jr. obliged, and once he was in the tub, he found the toy submarines that Bowser had put in there beforehand.
"Wow Papa, you're the best!" Jr. grinned as he picked up the toys and began playing "Undersea Warfare", which was something that he liked to play when he took a bath. It showed as he played, humming war music, making all the sound effects, and saying things that one might say during a battle that takes place between submarines.
But Bowser was thinking that putting those toys in the tub was a very bad idea, because it wasn't very easy to scrub Jr. when he played this game. And Jr. was constantly splashing him whenever the submarines dove under the water. Still, Bowser figured that it was part of being a parent, and he loved Jr. He wouldn't trade being his dad for anything.
It took a while, but Jr. was finally clean, so Bowser let the water go down the drain, and he wrapped Jr. in a towel as he lifted him out of the tub.
"Papa?" Jr. asked as his father dried him off.
"Yes, son?" Bowser asked.
"Can I sleep with you in your room tonight?" Jr. asked.
"I suppose so. Why do you ask?" Bowser asked.
"I just feel the need to be close to you tonight." Jr. replied.
"Oh. Well, okay. I don't see any harm in that." Bowser said. Even though Jr. was a big boy, Bowser didn't care. If his son felt the need to be close to him that night, he wouldn't complain. After all, this was something that he never really got to do with his own parents. They died when he was just a toddler.
After Jr. finished brushing his teeth, he skipped on over to Bowser's room, hopped up onto the big bed, and crawled under the covers, getting comfortable. When Bowser entered the room, he asked Jr., "Would you like to hear a story before you go to sleep?"
"You know it, Papa." Jr. smiled.
"Okay, what kind of story do you want to hear tonight?" Bowser asked.
"Hmm..." Jr. thought for a moment, then asked, "I got one. Can you tell me a story about my real mama when she was alive?"
Bowser smiled and said, "Well, I think I can do that. In fact, I can tell you lots of good stories about your mom because she was someone very special when she was alive."
"Great! Tell me about the day you first met her." Jr. suggested as his father got under the covers next to him.
"Can do. That was a day I'll always remember." Bowser smiled. And so he told the boy about the day he met Clawdia. A dreamy look came over the Koopa King's face as he remembered that day. It was one of the happier moments in his life, and Clawdia was as sweet as honey, especially when she kissed him.
"Eww! Cooties!" Jr. hollered, disgusted.
"Hey, no complaints! Your mom was a woman, which means that she didn't have cooties, and that kiss was a good thing, because after that, I knew I was madly in love with her and wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. My heart never really beat that fast or that hard whenever I looked at Princess Peach, and it still doesn't beat like that. Kamek thinks that maybe I'm just infatuated with Peach." said Bowser as he finished the story.
"What does that word mean?" Jr. asked.
"'Infatuated'?" Bowser asked.
"Yeah. I've never heard it before." said Jr.
"I have an idea, but I'm not entirely sure about the definition. Let me check." Bowser said, getting out of bed and walking over to the bookshelf so he could get the dictionary. He opened it, looked for the word, and said, "Okay, I found it! Now let's see... It means 'to inspire with intense, foolish, or short-lived passion'. But if that's the case, then how come I want Peach so bad?"
"Because she's a real princess, and Mama wasn't of noble birth?" Jr. guessed.
"Hmm, you're right about that." Bowser muttered. That was one of the things he liked about Peach. And she was very easy on the eyes. That was important, too. Oh crap... Now that he was thinking about it, he couldn't help wondering, what if Kamek was right about his feelings for Peach? What if he really was just infatuated with her?
Then he banished that thought, for he suddenly remembered Mario. Oh yeah. He reminded himself that Mario was the one who was infatuated with Peach. Bowser just wanted to give Peach a happy future and the big family that he felt she deserved, and there was no way that Mario could give her something as good as that. He wasn't really in love with her; he just saw her as a way to get power.
"Papa, are you okay?" Jr. asked, snapping his father back to reality.
"Huh?! Oh yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking, that's all." said Bowser as he closed the dictionary and put it back on the shelf.
"All right." said Jr. He yawned and said, "I'm feeling sleepy now. Good night, Papa."
"Good night, Jr. I'll see you in the morning." Bowser said, planting a small kiss on his son's head before getting back into bed and turning off the lights so he could get some sleep. As the Koopa King made himself comfortable for the night, he placed an arm around Jr. to keep him safe and sound, and to prevent him from having any nightmares. And Jr. snuggled up close to his papa, careful not to hurt him with his spiky shell.
Looks like Bowser's a pretty good dad, but that's the only thing we can really give him credit for. With Peach, he's nothing more than a raving monster who has a bloodlust for the man she loves more than anything. This sweet moment brings Chapter 3 to a close, so stay tuned for Chapter 4!