"Aw come on, there has to be a death potion in here somewhere," said Larry Koopa while tossing another vial across the room. He was rummaging through Kamek's laboratory, looking for something to keep him occupied. Little did he know that while he was causing havoc in the lab, Bowser was right down the hall.
"Stupid Kamek, making me take all his stuff all the way up here," said Bowser, carrying a whole lab's worth of books and vials. He walked along the castle balcony towards the lab, where Larry was still causing trouble. When he reached the door, he fumbled with the knob until he managed to get it open.
"Uh oh," said Larry, only now realizing that Bowser was right outside the door. Bowser, still oblivious to Larry's presence, set the pile of lab equipment on the floor in front of him, giving him a clear view of Larry and the destruction behind him.
"Larry!" he shouted. "How many times do I have to tell you not to play up here?!"
"But I wasn't doing anything, I swear!" he lied. "I was just looking for-" Larry was cut off by the sound of another vial falling to its death from the highest shelf.
"That's it! You're grounded!" Bowser yelled, almost hopping with anger.
"But-" Larry was cut off again, this time by his father.
"No buts! Go to your room, NOW!" he roared, shaking the walls of almost the entire castle. Larry knew better than to question his father when he was mad. He stomped off past him, mumbling all the way to his room.
"Why's he always pickin' on me?" he said as he slammed the door to his room. "He doesn't ground any of the others, and he always grounds me." Suddenly he felt a breeze from his open window. "Maybe if I run away he'll appreciate me." He peeked through the keyhole of his door to make sure nobody was coming. After making sure the coast was clear, he looked out of his window to the Goomba Guards watching the door below. He jumped right out of his window and onto the guards' heads, knocking them right out. He gave the castle behind him one more look before setting off into a nearby forest.
"The Mushroom Kingdom is on the other side, maybe I can stay there for a while," said Larry as he hopped over a fallen tree. After a few hours of walking, he decided to find a tree to rest under.
"Jeez, this forest goes on forever," he said, sitting down under a tall tree. By now it was night and it had begun to rain, but he wanted to keep going until he got to Mushroom Kingdom. "I wonder how long I should stay. Maybe a week, that'll give Dad a good fright." After sitting for about ten minutes, Larry set off again. He walked for a while until he was on top of a tall, steep hill, about thirty feet high. The bottom of the hill sloped down to a road that lead into a town. Even though it was dark, from the top Larry could see the tops of buildings of the nearby Mushroom Kingdom.
"Maybe I can stay there for a while," Larry walked on, being careful not to slip on the grass that was wet from a rainstorm the night before. But the darkness kept him from being able to watch where he was going. He tripped on a large tree branch. He tumbled and rolled right into a small pile of rocks, causing him to yelp in pain. He kept rolling until he fell off a small ten-foot cliff. When he hit the ground, there was a sickening crack of bone. He was in too much pain to move. He just lay there, sniffling and wishing he was back home.
Meanwhile, Bowser was checking his other six children before he went to bed himself. He checked off on his fingers who he had checked on as he walked down the hall. "Lesse, that's Wendy, Ludwig, Iggy, Lemmy, Morton, Roy," Bowser walked up to Larry's door, "and Larry." Bowser quietly opened the door before him and peeked in. When he did, however, he saw that there was no one in the room and that the window was open.
"ARGH!" he yelled as he stomped out of his son's room and out into the main foyer where he grabbed a lantern, put on a raincoat, and left the castle, where he found the front guards just waking up from being knocked out.
"You stupid guards! How could you let Larry escape?!"
"That was him?" said the left guard. "He could've killed me!"
"Yeah! How could you let him-" said the right guard before Bowser looked like he would kill him. "I mean, how could WE let him escape?!" The two guards cowered before Bowser's emmence gurth.
"I'm going to look for him. If he comes back, lock him in his room and LOCK HIS WINDOWS!" roared Bowser.
"Yes sir!" they both said, moving into a military stance. Bowser set off into the forest after his missing child.
"Larry? LARRY?!" he called. "If you
come out now, I PROMISE I WON'T HURT YOU!" His yells went
unanswered though as he walked deeper
into the forest. He wandered for three hours, mumbling the whole way. By
now, he was more worried than angry. He kept walking, intent on finding
his son when he stopped dead in his tracks. He strained his ears to listen
more carefully. He could hear the sound of someone sniffling.
"Larry?" he asked. When he spoke, he could hear that the sniffling silenced itself. Larry froze, half hoping that his father would find him, half hoping that he wouldn't. He stayed perfectly still, not moving an inch, not that he could though.
"Larry, is that you?" Bowser asked. "Where are you?" He continued walking until he happened to spot something quivering at the botton of a steep hill.
"Larry?!" Bowser rushed over to his
son's side. Larry closed his eyes as tight as he could so that he
wouldn't have to look at his father.
"Larry, what happened?!" He didn't speak. Bowser didn't have to look twice
at the hill and his son's broken arm to realize what happened. Knowing
Larry, he wasn't going to say anything. Bowser took of his raincoat and
wrapped Larry in it. He then scooped Larry into his arms, still sniffling,
and half expecting his father to slap him. Bowser carried him all the way
back through the forest, back to the castle (where the guards were asleep),
through the halls, and right into Bowser's own room, where he laid his
son down on his bed. Larry watched his father walk off into a small closet
on the opposite side of the room. His face was stern but expressionless
at the same time.
"He's probably just getting a stick to hit me with or something," he thought, still not believing that his father actually cared for him. He managed to stop crying some time during the trip home. A moment later, Bowser returned with a bowl of warm water and a rag in one hand, and a roll of medical gauze and a small piece of wood in the other. His face was still stern, but he didn't speak. Bowser pulled a chair to the side of his bed after setting the items on a nearby table. Still silent, he put the rag into the warm water and gently began wiping away the dirt on Larry's left arm, being careful not to disrupt the bones and hurt him. Larry was surprised that despite the obvious fact that his father was angry with him, he was being so gentle. After all the dirt and mud was gone, Bowser placed the washcloth back into the bowl of warm water. He picked up the piece of wood and set it under Larry's arm. Then he took the gauze and started wrapping it around his son's arm, again being careful not to hurt him.
"Why are you doing this?" asked Larry, the first to break the tense silence between them. Bowser looked up at him and smiled.
"I'm your father," he replied. "Let's just say it's in the contract." He tied the ends of the gauze, creating a make-shift splint. Bowser then got up and took the rag and the water back into the closet. He came back with an extra pillow and blanket and placed them on the floor.
"I want you to stay in my bed tonight," he said while pulling the covers on his bed up to Larry's neck. "If you want to get up you can, but try not to move your arm." He lay down on the floor and pulled his own blankets over him.
"And by the way, you're grounded for a week," he said before turning over and falling asleep. Larry watched him for a moment before falling asleep himself.
The End
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