Chapter 8 A Room Full of Clowns

The Smoothest Suite Hotel, like most hotels, had a dining room down on the first floor, and it was packed! Dragon Koopas, Koopa Troopas, Goombas, and even some humans were gathered in this room, to the point where it looked like there was barely any room left for the Koopalings. As he stood in the doorway, Lemmy studied all these people. All of them looked relatively normal, which in his mind made sense. People wouldn't be dressing up in clown suits simply to come down to eat lunch. This was a time of rest, of socialization. Everyone here had the perfect opportunity to relax and unwind.

A practice that Lemmy was definitely going to take part in. Giggling, he looked back at all his siblings. "Look at all these people!" He giggled again, his giddiness and excitement blowing up like a balloon. "Within this room are some of the funniest people in the Koopa Kingdom. Everyone here is looking to prove their worth, to show everyone that they can be drop-dead hysterical."

Wendy nodded. "I see. And does that make you nervous?"

"Me? Nervous? Please!" Lemmy felt a pang when he said that, realizing that the answer he gave to his sister wasn't one hundred percent accurate. He was nervous. These people were his competitors after all, and he would be required to go up against some of them. He was nervous about that, but logically that there was no real reason to be. Again, this was a time where he and everyone else could relax and rewind, so… yeah, he wasn't going to be nervous. He was going to go intermingle with some of these people, and he was going to treat them like… well, like friends. Everyone in here was friends with him, they just didn't know it yet.

So, pushing his nerves to the back of his mind where they belonged, Lemmy made his way into the dining room. He skipped over to the brunch buffet, licking his lips when he saw the collection. Scrambled eggs mixed with cheese. Grilled chicken cooked to perfection. Fluffy pancakes, salads greener than emeralds… everything here looked scrumptious. Gesturing to his siblings to join him, Lemmy got in line. When he grabbed a plate, he noticed a koopa troopa standing in front of him. He had a purple shell, and had this wide-eyed, innocent look. Lemmy smiled and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hello!" Lemmy said as the koopa troopa. He didn't turn around as he was still piling eggs on his plate, but that was okay. "Are you here to compete in the Ultimate Laugh-Off?"

The troopa smiled. "Yeah, I am." He turned to Lemmy. "I have a feeling things are gonna be…" He stopped upon making eye contact with Lemmy. He dropped both his plate and his jaw. He couldn't take his eyes off Lemmy, couldn't turn away.

"Uh… are you okay, sir?" Lemmy asked.

The troopa's face rose immediately. "No way! No way, no way, no way!" He looked between Lemmy and his siblings. "You guys are the Koopalings!"

Lemmy smiled. "As a matter of fact, we are!" He extended his hand. "Lemmy Koopa."

The troopa took Lemmy's hand and shook it violently. "Benjamin Tate. You can call me Benny though." Benny giggled as he went up and shook the other Koopalings's hands. "I love you guys! I am such a big fan of ALL of you! I have a copy of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and you better believe that I play as you ALL the time!"

"Oh, neat!" Larry said. He grinned wickedly. "Which one of us is your MAIN though?" He wiggled his eyebrows. "Do you take yours truly on a daily race? Do you burn rubber with me and kick everyone's butts?"

Benny laughed. "Well, I do play as you pretty often, Larry. But as for which one I use the most…" With a gentle and reverent step, Benny went up to Wendy. "It is our one and only koopa princess." He smiled. "You are a very underrated character, Wendy. Like, severely so."

Wendy giggled and blushed while Larry put on a pouty expression and crossed his arms. "Thanks. That's very nice of you, Benny."

Lemmy chuckled. Was it bad that he felt bad that Benny didn't say that he was his main? Was it bad that he was sad Benny wasn't calling him an underrated character, that he wasn't saying that loved to play as him and watch his clown acts?

"Anyway…" Lemmy turned back to the buffet and started piling things on his plate. "It's very nice to meet you, Benny."

"You too!" Benny's eyes glittered as he got another plate and stood in between Lemmy and Ludwig. "I gotta say, I wasn't expecting the Koopalings to compete in this."

"You and Rouge," Lemmy said with a snort. He flashed Benny a smile. "Actually, it's only me who's competing in the competition."

"Really now?"

"Yeah. I mean, I am the Clown Prince of Koopas after all."

"Right, right." Benny put a pancake on his plate. "I have heard you be called by that title, and if it's fitting to you and your skills at all…" Benny flashed him a warm smile. "I have a feeling that you're competing is going to make the Laugh-Off more interesting."

Lemmy, like he did with his nerves, pushed his disappointment and sadness to the side. Or, at the very least, he tried to. "Thanks, Benny."

"You're welcome." Benny turned back to the other Koopalings, specifically Wendy. "So, what's life like as the children to the King?"

As Benny and the others talked, Lemmy sighed. Deciding that he was satisfied with how much food he already had on his plate, he made his way over to the table. Pulling up the chair, he sat down and started poking his eggs. This… this hurt. It probably shouldn't, but what Benny said hurt. The fact that Benny managed to do that without saying anything mean or malicious at all was just…

Lemmy whimpered. He was overthinking things, he knew he was. Given how Lemmy didn't perform in public very often, it would make sense that Benny wouldn't be nearly as enthusiastic about seeing him. Or… did it? Benny, if he was competing in the contest, was most likely a comedian himself. And comedians more than likely studied other comedians, getting a feel for each other's style and sense of humor. So, maybe the fact that Benny hadn't been so excited about Lemmy meant…

Lemmy groaned. Okay, seriously, he was REALLY overthinking things. Like, there was no way around it; he was overthinking things that he really shouldn't. Again, Benny said nothing mean! He didn't trash Lemmy's work, he didn't even put it down verbally. If anything, he encouraged Lemmy and expressed that he had faith in him. That was good! There was no reason to worry and there was no reason to overthink. Especially now, when Lemmy should be focusing on eating his food and/or talking to the other competitors."

So, putting on a smile, Lemmy delved right into eating his eggs. He had to say, for someone who didn't eat eggs very often, these were downright delicious. He would gladly eat them again if given the opportunity. Taking another bite helped to make his anxiety go away. Yeah, this was going to go well. This whole thing was going to be the best competition in the world; he was going to make sure of that.

"You look happy."

Lemmy swallowed and looked to his right. A goomba girl, with glasses and purple-dyed hair done up in a ponytail, stood beside him. She smiled at him, the expression brimming with mischievous energy. Lemmy smiled back.

"I am happy. This whole competition is right up my alley!"

The girl laughed. "Maybe Rouge Albertine planted some cameras in your house in order to gather intel on you." She laughed again, sounding like very much like a clown.

"Well, considering that I live in a castle that's guarded all day, every day, she would more or less need to be a literal God in order to do that." Both Lemmy and the girl laughed before Lemmy cleared his throat. "I'm Lemmy Koopa."

"Luanne Porta." Luanne hopped into the seat next to him. "You one of the Kooplings, I take it?"

"Yep!" Lemmy took another bite of his eggs. "Not only that, but I am the FUNNIEST Koopaling. Like, there's no denying it; me being the funniest is an objective fact."

Luanne snorted before laughing. "If that's the case, then me being a goomba is only someone's opinion." She chuckled and shook her head. "You like to do stand-up?"

Lemmy felt another pang, this one very similar to the one he felt when talking to Benny. "Uh, no actually, I more so do slapstick clown acts."

"Oh!" Luanne did a double-take. "Well, that's… that's actually pretty cool. I think it's safe to say that most of the people competing in the Laugh-Off mostly do stand-up stuff, so the fact that you're doing something like a clown act would at the very least add some variety." She smirked. "Who knows; you might just win the contest simply for your uniqueness and nothing else."

Lemmy frowned. "I don't want that to be the only reason I win. I want to win on my own merits." Lemmy picked at his food. "I have confidence in my own style, and I want to express that on stage. I want to woo people with those skills, I want to show everyone that I'm worth watching."

Luanne nodded, which for a goomba meant that her whole body moved. "Well, I'm sure you can do that." She paused. "I mean… you've practiced your comedy acts, right?"

"Only every day!" Lemmy said as he turned toward her. "I live and breathe the stuff!" A little voice in his head told him that if that was the case, more people should know about him. He pushed that voice away. "You are bound to be impressed if you see me on stage!" He paused. "I mean… I know that sounds egotistical, but it's the truth."

"No no I get it." Luanne smiled. "There's nothing wrong with being confident in your skills." She had this almost dreamy look in her eyes. "I know I do!" Her excitement very visibly rose. "I've been going to open mic nights at a local restaurant every Saturday for the past six months, and I think it's safe to say that I've been getting more applause and laughter with each time I go." Her eyes glittered as she turned back to Lemmy. "No joke." Wow, that was such an ironic thing for a comedian to say. "The last time I was there, I went off the stage and someone in the audience came up to me. They told me that they've been seeing me from the very beginning, and that they were proud of how far I've come. That…" Luanne sniffled. "It was just… it was so cool. I never would've imagine I'd have a diehard fan like that."

"Y… yeah." Okay, forget Lemmy pushing his anxieties to the back of his head, he wanted to straight up push them off a cliff. "I don't know what that's like, but I want to!" He forced on a smile. "And I know I can! I'm going to put on a clown act that's going to bring down the house! I'm gonna make so many people laugh, and I'm gonna do it without so much as breaking a sweat!"

"Huh. Is it even possible for Koopas to sweat?" Luanne chuckled as Lemmy raised an eyebrow at her. "I kid. I think you're gonna do really good Lemmy." Her eyes scanned over the room. "In fact, I think everyone in here is gonna do well. Which would make deciding who the winner of this Laugh-Off a real challenge for the audience."

Lemmy nodded. "Possibly." His siblings came over to the table with Benny, who still spoke to them in the most animated way imaginable. As Lemmy looked upon all of them, he realized something. He really did want to win. He had said to Ludwig that he didn't care if he won, but now he realized how great that would be. He wanted to show everyone in this room, including Benny and Luanne, that he was something special. He WOULD prove that. He would prove it, and he would stop at nothing to do so.