Chapter 3 Proving Your Worth

By this point, not only did Pom Pom shake, not only was her breathing fast and shallow, but for whatever reason, a wicked case of Imposter Syndrome overcame her. It was like her brain was teasing her, telling her all the ways that she wasn't worthy of the position of soldier. She was weak. She was frail. Not so much in terms of her physical stats (she had always been big and beefy in comparison to other girls), but more so in terms of her spirit. She was too scared of failure, too scared of not being everything that people needed her to be. In other words, she was scared of everything.

But she couldn't let that get the better of her, and she knew that. Gripping her pink ninja star in her right hand, she closed her eyes. She needed to focus on a GOOD outcome in all of this. She needed to think about all the ways that this could go well, as well as all the ways that she WAS worthy. She had been training for this moment for years, ever since she was ten years old. Just because it was her first day as an official member of the Koopa Troop didn't mean that she was going to fumble the ball. She was ready for this, and she had people who believed in her. Her mother, brother, father… they all knew that she could do this despite her challenges.

Letting out a breath, Pom Pom wiped some sweat off her forehead and looked toward the other recruits, who all stood in front of the throne room door with her. She felt a little bit better to see that they also looked a little nervous. That meant it was a normal emotion to feel, a normal situation that she found herself in. And hey, maybe the recruits could have each other's backs! Maybe they could form a little support group for each other, keeping each other safe and happy!

That's what Pom Pom wanted most, honestly; someone who was present and had the ability and drive to support her.

Drawing in a breath, Pom Pom stepped forward and opened the door to the throne room. She turned to the various koopa troopas who accompanied her and smiled. "Well… let's do this."

The troopas nodded, and together all seven of them stepped into the room. They walked down the long red carpet leading to the throne, and… oh wow. The throne room was… intimidating. It certainly felt like an appropriate place for someone as big and scary as King Bowser Koopa to frequent. Telling herself that she couldn't be intimidated, that she needed to be tough, Pom Pom just marched toward the throne. Bowser and the Koopalings were already there, looking at the recruits with an expectant look. You had better believe that Pom Pom was going to meet their expectations.

When they finally got to the front of the room, they all stopped. Pom Pom looked up into King Bowser's red eyes, ignoring how terrifying the rest of his appearance was. She got into a bowing position, and the troopas followed her example. Pom Pom willed herself to speak, impressed with how strong and brave her voice managed to sound.

"King Bowser Koopa I. We are ever so honored that you have allowed us such an amazing opportunity." The troops chimed in with their agreements, and Pom Pom raised her head back up. "As Koopa Troop soldiers, we promise that we will serve and honor you and your kingdom with all the strength we have at our disposal."

"Yes, we will," said on troopa.

"Very true," said another.

"You are our king, and we will not let you down."

Bowser smiled, an expression that helped to make him look at least somewhat less scary. "Thank you, my soldiers." He gestured for all of them to rise to their feet, with Pom Pom being the first to complete said task. "I have no doubt that your contribution to the Koopa Troop will be invaluable."

A warmth could be felt both on Pom Pom's face and in her heart. She pushed her blonde ponytail back, hoping that she could be all that her king wanted her to be.

"Now, I haven't made this news official yet," Bowser said, "but my plan is to start another Princess Peach kidnapping mission in about three days." Pom Pom heard various different sounds coming from the Koopalings, ranging from groans and moans to snickers and snorts. "I believe that such an important mission would be an amazing way to see what you guys are capable of."

Pom Pom tried not to frown. They were going to participate in a kidnapping mission THAT quickly, huh? She didn't think she should be surprised, as she knew King Bowser was infamous for this particular practice. But even still… yikes.

"But before we do that, you guys obviously need to go through orientation and training." Bowser smiled. "Which is exactly what we're going to do right now." He gestured toward the Koopalings. "Since there are seven of you in total, I will assign each of you to one of my children. You will train with them outside in the training field, just to get you at least somewhat used to the field of battle." Bowser looked back at the recruits. "Now, I will warn you, my children are VERY experienced when it comes to the field of battle. They have fought Super Mario himself."

Pom Pom raised an eyebrow. She found it interesting that Bowser was saying that they FOUGHT Mario. Not WON AGAINST Mario.

"As such, you need to be at the top of your game when going up against them." Bowser's eyes glittered. "And just from what I'm seeing right in front of me, I have a feeling you guys won't do anything but."

Pom Pom smirked. Oh, he didn't know how right he was.

…

Pom Pom cleaned her ninja star out on the training field. Around her, the various koopa troopas were also getting ready for battle; doing push-ups, sit-ups, squats, stretching, etc. Some of them were even hyping everything up, saying how well they were going to do and how awesome they would be in terms of their fighting skills. Now, Pom Pom wasn't one to judge people but… she hoped that her fellow recruits weren't all bark and no bite.

She also couldn't help but hope that about herself too.

Once she had finished polishing her weapon, Pom Pom saw the Koopalings coming out onto the field. She rose to her feet, her heart pounding. She watched as the male Koopalings went to the various koopa troopas, asking their names in order to figure out who got assigned to who. Pom Pom watched this right as Wendy, the only girl, came up to her.

"Are you Pom Pom?"

Pom Pom turned and nodded. "Yes ma'am."

Wendy smiled. "It's really nice to meet you." She adjusted her bracelets. "I'm Wendy. Bowser assigned me to fight you."

Pom Pom frowned. She… didn't know how to feel about that. While Wendy was strong, Pom Pom knew for a fact that she wasn't the strongest of the Koopalings. On the one hand, a victory against someone like her could potentially be super easy to obtain. On the other hand… wasn't it more than a little eyebrow-raising that Bowser decided to assign her to someone who didn't have super high power levels?

Pom Pom pulled that train of thought back. No, no, she was probably overthinking everything. For all she knew, Bowser assigned her to Wendy simply because they were the only girls present on the field right now.

"That's…" Pom Pom put on a smile. "That's good!" She stepped closer to her. "I look forward to showing you what I can do."

Wendy beamed. "And I am looking forward to SEEING what you can do." She gestured toward the edge of the field. "Let's go over there so we aren't caught in anyone else's crossfire."

Nodding, Pom Pom followed the princess. She looked back down at her ninja star, hoping that it wouldn't let her down now. This was it. This was her time to shine, her time to come out on top. She once again thought of her father, who was probably praying to the Seven Star Spirits for them to protect her and guide her.

She got into position. Letting out a breath, she turned to Wendy. Wendy took one of her bracelets off her wrists, an action that actually made Pom Pom squirm. She had heard rumors about those rings. They were supposedly enchanted, both to make the metal stronger as well as to make them more… unpredictable weapons. If that was true, this would mean that Wendy was more of a wild card than most of her brothers.

That wasn't going to make Pom Pom turn away though.

"Okay." She got into a fighting stance. "I'm ready."

Wendy grinned. In a blink-and-you'll-miss moment, she hurled the bracelet at Pom Pom. She only barely managed to backflip out of the way, a fact that made her nervous. She landed feet first on the ground, her breathing rate speeding up. Wendy got her other ring ready, but this time, Pom Pom decided that she was going to offer a counterattack.

"HYAA!" Pom Pom aimed her ninja star at Wendy. The Koopaling shrieked and ducked out of the way, ducking and throwing her ring at the last possible second. Pom Pom jumped out of the way of the ring, debating with herself in her head. Should she go into her shell… no, no, she should save that for later. That was more or less her trump card; if she showed her hand to early, then she was potentially setting herself up for failure.

The rings came shooting back to Wendy. Catching them, she charged toward Pom Pom, gritting her teeth and sweating as she did. Pom Pom remembered hearing how the Koopalings typically got turned around when Mario jumped on their head, so… might as well, right?

"HYAA!" Pom Pom jumped on Wendy's head. A CRUNCH sound rang out, which honestly turned Pom Pom's stomach sour. What did that mean; that wasn't supposed to happen, was it? She only grew more nervous when she landed on the ground, seeing Wendy groaning with her cheek pressed against the dirt.

"Uh… Your Highness?" Pom Pom stepped towards her. "Are you…"

THWACK! Pom Pom screamed as she got pushed back. It happened so quickly that she didn't even know what caused it at first. She landed on her back, wondering what the heck just happened to her. She got her answer when she lifted her head and looked back at the princess. One of her rings had UNCURLED itself and had shot toward her in the form of a lasso-like device.l

"What the fuck…AAH!" Wendy shot the uncurled ring at her again, hitting her square on the cheek. The place she had been hit stung so much, and when she put her hand to the wound, her fingers came back with blood on them. Her eyes wide, she looked back at Wendy, grinning wickedly as she held her lasso… no, her WHIP.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Come on, get up!"

Pom Pom gritted her teeth. Wendy was right; she needed to get up. Koopa Troop soldiers put their all into their battles. They couldn't and shouldn't let a simple injury get in their way. Grimacing, Pom Pom rose to her feet. No sooner had she done that was when Wendy lunged at her. She only barely got out of the way in time. She held her arms in front of her face as Wendy aimed a boatload of fists at her. This makeshift shield helped, but it wasn't going to help forever.

I think it's time, she thought to herself. She took a deep breath, and…

FWOOMP!

She retreated into her shell, taking a deep breath, she sucked in as much air as she could and…

"WHAT?"

Pom Pom grinned, looking down at Wendy through the head-hole in her shell. Wendy gawked at her as she floated in the air, looking like she had just witnessed a miracle. "H… how…?"

STOMP! STOMP! Pom Pom made her shell land on the ground, so hard in fact that she left little impressions in the dirt. Princess Wendy shrieked and tried to run away, but Pom Pom wouldn't allow that. She stomped and stomped until she was right over Wendy, and… STOMP! Just like a Thwomp.

Satisfied with her work, Pom Pom landed back on te ground and got out of her shell. She went over to Wendy, rubbing the top of her head and grimacing. "So… how'd I do?"

Despite her injuries, Wendy smiled. "You… I've gotta admit, that was impressive." Wendy rose to her feet. "I can't say I've ever seen a koopa use an attack like that before."

Pom Pom smiled. "I've been trying to perfect it since I was ten." She took a step forward. "Think it would help out during the kidnapping mission."

Wendy grinned. "Of that, I have no doubt."

Pom Pom couldn't help but grin at that. She was doing it, she was proving her worth. This… oh man, this felt amazing.