Chapter Sixteen: Life
Was it worth it...? Good DAD, was it all worth it? Lying on his bed, he sighed and stared at the ceiling. His face was vacant of all emotion and a bit of drool ran out the left side of his mouth.
Did my life matter? So much he could have been. So much he could have done. So much potential, and yet it was all wasted. He had lived such a happy life, content with his loving, understanding parents, parents that any other kid would've killed for. And sadly, he couldn't even remember their faces. It wasn't fair. And it wasn't fair that life wasn't fair. Instead of going to college and getting a job and a family, he had been sent out on the streets, had been found by some strange man. Alkeron, to be specific. And since he was given shelter, food, and a place to sleep, he had to obey him. He remembered the blade he had pushed through that Mushroomer.
He remembered that horrible squish that had been brought to his ears as a result of it. Blood, on his hands, blood all over the ground.... and how the body fell lifeless to the ground like a ragdoll. It was amazing really... he became so skilled in only a couple of years. How did he do it? Alkeron didn't seem all that surprised.
What do you think? He's Alkeron, evil genius extraordinaire. I'm sure he can do just about anything... wine from water, anyone? He became a hitman, killing a lot of people. Some were innocents. He killed a mother and father, quite possibly opening his personal path to the kid. Then there would be two Slimers in the world.
DAD, no. The last thing we need.
As awful as his life was, it got better. Why? Because he eventually got used to it (not to mention, he chose a pseudonym from an old cartoon, "Slimer Man", even though he could hardly qualify as a superhero). Once that happened, he got smarter too (he still couldn't do complex math problems, but he knew more about the world), and with that knowledge, he got sick of playing number two to some creepy guy in a cloak. After years, Alkeron sent him on a mission of great importance, to retrieve the eggs of the "Shreok" or whatever they were called. That was his chance. He planned to keep the eggs for himself, and if he used their power, he could easily deal with the sorcerer.
He hadn't thought that maybe Alkeron would've expected that, but at the time he didn't care. But what he really hadn't been ready for was Mario. The brown-haired Koopa never had a chance, because Mario always had someone there for him. He always had allies. He was known the world over, and ninety percent of them were on his side! How could you stop someone like that? He was invincible. Even if he was killed, there would always be some other hero to take his place, and even then they'd probably find a way to revive him (Slimer had been revived himself; now, he almost wished he hadn't been). The big villains of the world were few, while the heroes stood tall.
Mario had the stars on his side, the freaking Star Spirits themselves. Eldstar had heroically given his life to power up Mario's mortal body to the point where he could- and did- kill Slimer. Then there was death. He couldn't remember it at all; it was like when you went to sleep in the night and woke up in the morning- just a big gap. What would it be like if the gap was endless? Would it be like anything at all? About a year later- he wasn't sure- he was revived by a green, furry alien with three tails. The bizarre creature was named after a child's television character, so later Slimer would nickname him Mewt. He was living with a female Boo named Bow who happened to be a princess. She was certainly attractive. The three became friends even though Mewt's lack of knowledge (common sense, not intelligence) got them in trouble sometimes.
What was this? He had been living a calm, peaceful life, everything was nice. He had even discovered that his brother was still alive. Slimer had almost forgot about his brother, who had gone to war and shortly afterwards been captured, thought he was dead. It turns out he wasn't dead... yet. Bowser still had him prisoner, and this was where the peacefulness ended. The three of them went on a mission to get him back. Along the way, they found a girl and Mewt wanted to release her, but for some stubborn reason, Slimer yelled at him. It was ridiculous, and so was he. He couldn't even remember his reason. He guessed it wasn't too good. In the end, Mewt had let her out anyway.
Then there was the whole drawn out battle with Bowser, the chase, all of them landing in Peach's castle and causing utter chaos, Bowser using some kind of drug or potion to increase his power greatly, and finally victory. He remembered them trudging back to Bowser's Castle and finding his brother Brian, only to reveal that he was being possessed by Cackletta's ghost. They were sucked into a nightmare world of her own creation, where they had a big climactic battle and finally rescued Slimer's brothe.
Man, the great creator must have some sense of humor, huh?
After that whole ordeal, he began to feel guilty. He had done horrible things, yet after all that, he never got punished. No one had done anything. Jail? The death sentence (with no possibility of "parole"), or at least a good pummeling?! Nothing? There was something, all right. He had gotten two great friends, a normal life in a nice town. People liked him because he wasn't "Slimer", killer of dreams and people; he was Miles, "that nice Koopa boy who lives down the street and won't you get him a nice fruit bowl I'm sure he'd like that frank I'm sure he would." Garbage. What would they think if they knew? What would they think then? Gee, maybe they had given him a punishment. The constant-freaking-guilt that was worse than death, the kind of guilt that made you want to jump out of a plane with an anvil instead of a parachute.
So, in order to remove his guilt (at least a little) he had to be purposely obnoxious and cruel, even though sometimes he felt that was taking the easy way out. He had ticked off many an individual after that. He remembered the time where he joined a dysfunctional team lead by a giant chicken from another planet on a mission to save some far off galaxy. This was his "vacation" from life, right after the Brian incident. He got almost everyone to hate him, and even hated someone himself. What appeared to be a young girl with white hair turned out to be a ruthless, despicable demon. Finally, someone he hated more than himself. He did make one friend on that trip out of weakness. His name was Walter, and he was a Paragoomba.
He was an average guy, and nice too. When Slimer broke down emotionally and tried to spill out his life story to everyone, he almost forgot he was trying to make them hate him. He became self piteous, and the Paragoomba seemed to be the only one with sympathy and understanding. Walter reminded him of his two friends back home. He couldn't bring himself to be a jerk to such a nice guy. There was a tournament or something, and they finally reached some planet and fought some guy.... Most of it was a blur. Then (Flame? Flan? Flim?) came back and most of the members came back (with a few new and annoying exceptions, including that white-haired guy who just seemed to vanish).
This time they had to close portals to prevent some terrible disaster. In between portal duty, there were numerous schisms in the entire team, making it one of the worst Slimer had ever seen. He was angry at the girl and fought her. But that wasn't all. Some Hammer Bro jumped in on the action, the strange white-haired dude jumped on Sue's side, and Walter joined him. And there might have been more involved in the fight if that was imaginable. And now he realized he had been lucky to live. Even with all his gadgets, he was nothing compared to the demon girl and had his tail kicked. He just never wanted to admit all this time that she was better....
As if the girl herself wasn't enough, she had an annoying demonic boyfriend named Fwipp. He would've thought that a ridiculous name if it didn't make him a hypocrite. The two knocked him out, and Walter backed out before he could get seriously hurt. After all the conflict and bloodshed was over, they made it to Twilight Town, where they were attacked by some strange man. He escaped, and (Flame?) told them to go home and get ready, then meet him at the Rogueport train station in three days. He suggested that they bring a second person. He told Bow about it, then asked her if she wanted to come. She was a bit skeptical at first, but she agreed in the end. The night before the trip, he had a strange dream about being tortured by a Pianta named Sunshine and some horrifying figure. There were also a bunch of people who hated him (even in your dreams, man).
They all headed to Twilight Town, where everything happened in the blink of an eye. A helpless person tried to ask Sue for help... and was answered with a crystal arm blade to the throat. He and about five other people lashed out and attacked her, him being the first one. This time though, it wasn't to prove some stupid point, or to try to act tough, he really wanted to kill her. As they all pounced on Sue, people all began fighting each other. Slimer couldn't remember why. And in that moment they had all reminded him of himself.
Not exactly like him, but they all had similarities. A bunch of little Slimers running around in the world. A bunch of hims. No one wanted to be a Slimer. He was breathing heavily and he got up off his bed. He looked out the window. He couldn't believe it was night already.
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"So. You miss her?" Bow asked. Mewt sat across from her at a small round table. They were sitting on comfy lawn chairs.
"Yes. I suppose I do. But not too much. That would be silly. She'll be coming back soon. It is not as if she is dead. And when she returns, I will have much joy." The alien smiled briefly, but then frowned. "He has guilt, correct? This emotion is a silly, childish thing as well. He cannot change the things he has done. We all evolve and change. Everything does, and change is a constant. Some may not believe it, but people do change."
Bow laughed at this.
"Yeah, I guess that's true, but Slimer isn't even close to being a super-intelligent alien being. That, and the fact that he's really stubborn. It takes a really long time for him to change his mind about something." At this point, Nick came out onto the deck and yawned. Bow turned and had a look of disbelief and amusement on her face.
"Did you just wake up?" she asked. He grinned and yawned again.
"Yup."
"It's eight PM."
"Why don't you sleep during the day?"
"I'm a weird Boo. And I can do what I want."
"I guess I'm a weird Koopa then."
Bow looked around, until she found what she was looking for. She awkwardly pulled a lawn chair over and held it in front of him. "C'mon, sit next to us."
He unfolded it and lay down, stretching and yawning. "Man, Slimer has some issues, doesn't he?" Nick asked.
"I don't think any of us know the half of it," Bow replied. She sank below the floor. Mewt smiled at him.
"So, when we first met you at that convenience store, what was that little device you were fiddling with? The blue one?"
"Ah. Dual Screen. As in, it has two screens. It's a portable game console manufactured on Earth. Really cool stuff. The visuals aren't that good, but this thing is really fun. Interactive to the max. Speaking of which, I tricked my computer into thinking it was a DS, so now I can play those games full screen." Nick placed a look of false modesty on his face.
"So, how did you ever accomplish such a thing?" Mewt asked, leaning forward, now very interested.
"Oh that's easy. All you need is-" he said, and tapped his head twice with his finger. "If you have the knowledge, you can do pretty much anything."
"Really? Can you move through solid objects?" Nick nearly fell off his chair. After recovery he looked around for the source of the voice. Bow came out of Nick's stomach and winked. He jumped about five feet in the air. She laughed and set down plates of some kind of hot pastries. He was on his feet and glaring at her.
"Please, don't do that." He brushed himself off and sat back down shakily. She looked at him with a smile.
"Oh, I'm sorry," she said sincerely. "Here, have a toaster pastry. Apparently, this ship actually has a microwave."
As she took her own plate, he saw that they were strawberry-flavored. Yum. He broke one in half, drooling over the filling. He bit into it and sighed. He looked around, seeing the sparkling ocean and the beautiful night sky.
"Man, this is really nice," he said, with pastry stuffed in his mouth to the point where it was hard to tell what he was actually saying. "I'm so glad I left home to come with you guys."
Bow took a bite herself. "Not bad," she said. "Yeah, I suppose it's nice now, but like our 'leader' told you, it's going to get rough eventually. Some epic battle will occur, and we'll all be in the middle of it." Nick looked down at his plate as he returned to his pastries.
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Skye sighed. Her hair was a bit messed up, but it was nothing she couldn't fix with a comb. She felt frazzled in general. She looked around her room in hopes that maybe someone would jump out and invite her to a birthday party or something. With no such luck, she reached down and touched a pouch on her leg. She opened it and brought out a small book. It was a red book with white text reading "The Ghostly Girl". It was about a young girl who no one ever seemed to notice. When she went to extremes to get people to, she didn't like the results. Skye's eyes teared a bit, and she read. When she was younger, reading would always take her away from the real world, to some place better filled with magic and wonder. She smiled-as the same effect occurred now.
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He glared at himself, in the mirror.
"Hey, Punk," Slimer pointed at his reflection. "Yeah, you. You stink. I sure wouldn't want to be you... Oh. Right." He laughed.
"You're pathetic. An insult to the Koopa race. A letdown to your friends… and especially to your parents, if they are still around."
"But it wasn't my fault," he said, speaking in a slightly different tone. "Everybody's just so mean. Why can't they understand me?"
"Oh, just shut up! Self pity doesn't do anything for you." He slumped. He banged his head on the wall, and then lit up a cigarette. It made him feel relaxed, just a time to chill. Then, after lying down, he heard a voice that was not his own.
"Aww, why'd you stop? I was enjoying that." In a split second, he saw a barren wasteland and a giant pyramid, and standing atop it, a shadowy figure with blazing red eyes. The picture disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. Those eyes chilled him to the bone. He was unable to think about it, as a shout from the upper decks startled him. It was Bow. He rushed up in time to see Skye standing on the ledge of the ship, back towards them. She turned.
"Hi Slimer!"
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I'm useless. Don't know what the point is in living, I screw everything up anyway. Skye turned away, preparing to leap over. She had a large rock in her hands.
"Well, yeah. I'm just gonna go now. Sure you guys won't miss me," she said in a casual tone, one that completely denied the severity of the situation.
"My god, Skye! Don't do this!" Bow screamed. She may have disliked her, but this was too much.
"We would miss you..." Slimer said slowly.
"Yeah, right," she scoffed. "I screw things up constantly. Before you, too. Everyone I come into contact with hates me!" Her face was red and teary.
"I'm tired of it," Skye said. "This is the end."
"That would be most unwise. This means that there is no going back. If you die, that's it. While you are alive, you can manage your life. You can get it back on track. You cannot if you are dead." Mewt walked forward and frowned at her. She looked at them all, bewildered for a moment.
"You don't want me dead?" she asked, gesturing towards herself. This was a new concept to Skye that completely baffled her.
"But... but... but... Why?!"
"Because," Slimer said a bit impatiently, "you're a good person, and we like you."
"Yeah," Bow said, forcing a smile. "We like you..."
Skye stared for what seemed to be a good five minutes. At the end of this long period of time her eyes teared a bit and she said, "That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me."
"I'll bet." Bow muttered under her breath.
"Well, I guess I don't need this rock!" she said with a sudden unexpected smile that completely betrayed her previous state of being. She tossed the rock over her shoulder with surprising strength. There was a thud, and an "unh".
"What was that?" Slimer looked over the edge wonderingly.
He was hit in the face by something hard. He flew backwards on the deck, dazed and confused. The others turned, horrified to see several hookshot-like devices clamp on to the ship's wall. Figures dressed in all black leapt onto the deck. They had black suits, gloves, and boots. They had some sort of goggles over their faces from which two glaring red eyes shown. Slimer, getting up groggily, could tell that some were Koopas, and others were human.
"Miles Hashenwhack, age twenty-five. You have committed horrible crimes against Plit. You have no rights. You will have no lawyer. We are here to kill you, and we will not stop until it is done." He snickered. "But enough of that garbage. Personally, I'm going to enjoy watching the blood seep out of you. And what do you know, after all these years, we thought you were dead. Good thing we got a hint from a reliable source. This time, we'll burn your body. Shred it- whatever. You're not going to be revived this time."
Slimer glared at him for a moment, then laughed cruelly.
"Fine. You do have to kill me first. And good luck trying to take me down. If it weren't for a certain Star Spirit, Mario would be dead today."
"We have it on record that you were being assisted by mystical items- the Shreok eggs, no?"
Slimer hesitated. "Well, I-"
They tackled him and held him down as the speaker came down to his face level.
"Not so tough now, are you buddy?" he asked, pulling out a wicked-looking dagger.
"I hope you rot." Before he could plunge the blade into Slimer's heart, the heels of his boots ignited. He flew out from under them, sending them flying into the air and back again, crashlanding on the deck. As for Slimer, his head was sticking through the wall. He pulled it out, got up, and shook himself.
"That could've gone better..."
The man got up and stared, his comrades standing with him.
"Do you pull those things out of your aft end?!" he roared.
"You'd be surprised." Slimer grinned and rocketed into the air. He threw some small orbs down that exploded into a big fog of black smoke. Impatiently, he shot his gun, and the chain-hook slammed into the cloud and through it. There was an "urk" as it clasped Slimer's face. He yanked on it, bringing Slimer around, then hauled it back like a fishing line before slamming the captured Koopa through the wall and into the ship's interior, more specifically, the galley, and onto the floor. He got up, then stumbled like a drunk man. He fell once more, and got up again, his vision blurring a little.
He shook it off, and watched them jumped down. He produced two multi-barreled auto-guns and fired wildly; smoke rose from the spot. When it cleared, the men were unharmed, and there was a shimmering place in front of them. A multicolored shield appeared, and then it vanished. Tossing his ammoless guns aside, he rushed the one who seemed to be the leader. He swung a wild right hook that caught him in the jaw. He half-smiled and swung a left, but this time, the man caught it-and bent his wrist back. Slimer went down on his knee in total agony. With his other hand, the man took the same dagger, and ripped off his mask. Underneath was the face of a Koopa with red-orange hair, and blue eyes. He had a beard and wild-looking eyes.
"This is for my family." Five spikes drove through his stomach, and he looked down, surprised. Blood leaked out of his mouth and he fell over. Slimer's hand was released, and he shook it in pain. Bow hovered above the man's corpse, her fan blades covered with fresh blood. She turned to the others and licked some of the blood off for effect. It seemed to work, but they didn't run. Probably unwise. Bow threw her fan and it spun, decapitating one of them. Mewt, who was standing behind her, used psychic energy to cut the other man in half.
There were two left, and one rushed at Bow. She merely turned intangible and went inside him. The man paused, then put a gun to his head, and fired. He fell to the ground, and Bow came out of his body. The one man who was left looked terrified, although it was hard to tell with the mask covering his face. Mewt and Bow looked at each other. Mewt sighed and his eyes opened, glowing a pinkish color. A rock fell on his head, and he was knocked unconscious. Mewt put a life preserver around him, and went up on deck. Then, he tossed him into the ocean. Then he joined them again. The others- Nick and Skye- were watching from above.
"Woah," Nick said, stunned.
"You're merciful tonight," Bow said grimly.
"I had the opportunity to be," Mewt said. "He had clearly surrendered."
Slimer looked around at all the blood and bodies on the ground. "Bow, you know how they say cigarettes screw up your life?" he asked.
"Yeah?"
"Well," he laughed, "I don't really have to worry about that now, do I?"
Chapter Seventeen: Who's Steering This Thing?
Bowser stood in the middle of a huge coliseum with thousands of people surrounding him.
"So... my evil plan screwed up again. I have this one minion who's so obnoxious. I have this trap set up...a nd Mario's about to fall right into it. Then, the moron shouts at Mario,
Ha ha, loser! You're going to fall into our cleverly planted trap! Mario looks, and he sees the Thwomp above his head. He laughs in that oh-so-annoying Mario laugh. I turn to the Koopa.
He wasn't supposed to see that Thwomp, you know. I said to him," Bowser raised his voice into a high-pitched annoying mockery and said, "Gee really, Bowser, I didn't know that! You should really tell me these thin-
SHADDUP!" The King of the Koopa opened his mouth and let out a stream of flame breath on a Koopa-shaped dummy. The audience erupted with laughter, and Bowser smiled, chuckling to himself. He held the mic up to his large, spike-filled mouth.
"Hoo-boy." He wiped his head as if sweating. "But seriously. People call me dumb, but sometimes I just don't think. This guy made Donkey Kong look smart. The guy just didn't have any common sense. So I'm sitting on my throne later, trying to enjoy a smoothie- the slackers didn't put in enough sugar, when the guy came up to me again! Doesn't he realize he's an annoying jerk?" He raised his voice again.
"Gee King Bowser, I'm certainly sorry about earlier- that was rather stupid of me, huh?' Apparently not." They laughed again, then applauded as Bowser did some fancy bows.
"But all jokes stop now," he said with an evil grin. "I will takeover the Mushroom Kingdom someday. It will be mine!" The audience laughed harder than ever.
"No! No! I'm serious! I'm not joking." They roared, applauding him greatly.
"I can do it! Really I can! All I have to do is strengthen my army and I'll-" He lost the strength to talk. They were all laughing at him. One woman up above snickered to her husband.
"Yeah, right. All this guy ever does is kidnap Peach, what a total loser."
"I know, but he's hilarious! He's an inspiring loser!" They all cheered and whistled. Even though he was being praised, Bowser felt abused and alone. The big softy cried.
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Ludwig and Karma are having the same vision, but they cannot tell this fact. Everything feels natural to them. As much as it is not happening, it feels like it to them, since their senses are intact. Vividly, they talk.
Sitting outside on the grass, a butterfly floating past, Ludwig and Karma kissed for the second time that day.
"I've always thought you were a good kisser." Karma said, sighing and stretching out.
"Yeah, but you actually kiss back. That's what I like about you."
"I'm allowed to be aggressive. I'm not letting you have all the fun," she said, laughing.
"Strong girls were always hot to me. Something that I respect in them, unlike some of those stupid bimbos you see on TV." Ludwig got up and put his hands on his hips. "Like, my grandfather just gave me five hundred dollars! Now I'm going to buy another car! I never want to be rich, because I'm not sure what it would do to me."
"You'd probably be like one of those guys who go around, giving millions of dollars to the homeless and stuff. Kinda like that guy who made the Internet."
"Aww, that's sweet," Ludwig replied, stroking her hair. "Race you to my room." He tried to get a head-start but she jabbed him in the gut lightly and he doubled over for a second.
"That was dirty!" he yelled as she ran up the stairs. She made it to his room and leaned against the door, holding it open for him.
"Ladies first." She bowed low. He scowled at her, ruffling her hair.
"Oh great, now it looks like yours!" She slugged him in the shoulder and he shook it.
"Jeez Karma, lay off. I'm a wimp, remember?"
"Yeah, but you have that big brain of yours. That's helpful too. It's nice that all your inventions have actually been working for the last couple of years. So why are we up here?" she asked. Ludwig popped Melee into his GameCube and punched the power button.
"You know I've always been better at this game than you." Karma stated, matter-of-factly, picking up her controller. She picked Gannondorf, and Ludwig picked Zelda.
"So when has Zelda ever been able to beat Gannondorf?"
"Today," he said, grinning. They had decided on a stock battle with three lives each. The battle was over in about a minute, with Ganon laughing maliciously.
"Aww man," Ludwig said, dropping his controller. She looked at him deviously.
"I win." She tackled and kissed him. He smiled and kissed her back. The ballance seemed to be working fine.
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Kamek half-opened his eyes. He sat up, looking around. The lights on the Koopa Cruiser were out. He was aware of the faint crackling of electricity coming from somewhere behind him. What had happened? He tried to remember. He had been talking with Clawdia, and then... blank. He must have passed out. He looked out one of the ship's windows and saw pitch blackness. He was surprised. Had it really been that long?
"Hello? Your lordship?" When he got no response, he became worried, and felt a little guilty. He had been rather harsh, even if the overgrown reptile had deserved it.
"Anyone? Kids?" What had happened to them? Then a terrible thought occurred to him. If something happened to King Bowser... who was driving this giant war-machine? Had they crashed? Were they on the ground? It was too darn dark out to tell. He ran down the halls, extremely worried.
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Roy woke up in his room. The power was out. He sighed and pulled out his knife. He walked out and looked around. Whatever had happened, there was no one around. The guards were laying motionlessly on the ground. They must've been killed in the crash, because it didn't seem like they were moving. He smiled and slid the knife into his shell, hiding it. Well, now was as good a time as any. He started to walk down the hall.
"Roy? That you?"
"What?" Roy spun on his heel, and saw Ludwig from across the wall. "Oh. You're okay?"
"Yeah," he said. It was hard to see him clearly in the dark, yet there were small shafts of moonlight coming from some vents in the ceiling that revealed that Ludwig had a sort of a relieved smile on his face. "I made sure that Teela was all right before I left my room. What are you doing out here?"
"Me?" Ludwig couldn't see it, but Roy's face looked a bit guilty. "Oh, I was just looking for the others." That was true, after all.
"I'm glad to see you concerned," Ludwig said. "You may be a jerk sometimes, but you're still a good brother." Roy was a little surprised as his brother came up and gave him a hug.
"I hope this is over soon," Ludwig said, with a pitiable expression on his face.
"King Dad really isn't helping anything. He just seems to screw everything up. You know... I think Mario's a pretty decent guy. I mean, we are the bad guys. People look up to him, he's a hero. Why can't we be like that? Just because we're his children?! You know, all this time, I think we've just been trying to make him proud. But he doesn't seem to care about what we want. He wants us to be tyrants when we grow up. I don't want to be a tyrant... I want to be... a... a writer!"
Roy laughed.
"Or a director, or something- a scientist even- but I want to be someone helpful." There wasn't much the bald Koopa could say to that. He felt some pity for Ludwig. Then he remembered the two older Koopas- the ones that had always picked on him- when he was young. He had turned to his father and he had told him that the world was a cruel place and in order to survive it, you had to be cruel too.
Well sorry, Kooks. Things don't work out that way in real life. And soon, it won't matter what you want to do when you grow up. And Father, I will keep your words in mind as I push this knife into your throat.
They walked together in silence towards the rooms near the end of the hall. Roy knocked on the doors one by one. Lemmy and Iggy came out, followed by Morton, Wendy, and Larry. Roy went into Lemmy and Iggy's room, which was the largest. They followed him into the room. Roy was turned away from Iggy.
"So... what should we do now?" he wondered, having as much of a clue as anyone else.
"Now...?" Roy asked. "Well I dunno..." Ludwig, out of the corner of his eye, saw the glint of steel. He charged with his head down and caught Roy in the gut. He carried him into the wall, where he fell over and Roy fell on top of him. Roy raised the knife high over Ludwig like a character from a slash film.
"... Why?" Ludwig asked.
"Oh, just think about it, big brother, it'll come to you." He stabbed Ludwig in the arm, he in turn yelling in agony. He used his other arm and punched Roy in the face. He rolled off Ludwig and got up, holding his mouth. Ludwig stood up, and the others ran out. The blue-haired Koopa held up his fists and glared at his younger brother.
"Let's see if all those sparring matches paid off." Ludwig swung with a savage right hook, sending Roy stumbling. It was the last good blow he'd get. Ludwig wasn't much of a fighter, and that became apparent as Roy knocked him for a loop repeatedly. Ludwig ducked one, swung, missed, ended up with a fist in the gut, then a kick across the face as he doubled over. Roy hovered over Ludwig's barely moving body with the knife, seemed to think it over, then left the room.
"I'll kill you later." He looked down the hall, where the other Koopalings were running. He chased after them. When they reached the end of the hall, the only thing there was an elevator. Roy was closing in; his glasses had been knocked off, and he now had a feral look in his eyes. His teeth were dagger-like and drool flew out of the left side of his mouth. They got in the elevator and realized too late that it would not work. Strangely, it still closed. Roy banged upon the door when he got there.
"You always thought you were better than me, you little punks! Well forget you!" He pried a claw in between the two doors, and with incredible strength, started to pull the doors open. He used his other hand, and pushed both completely open. The group inside screamed. He glared at them with a deep, loathing hate and raised his knife high above his head. They had always been his enemies. They remained speechless as he approached them. He stared into their terrified faces... and his arm grew limp. It fell to his side, and he turned, his mouth hanging open. He walked to the outside of the elevator.
They were all staring at him as he turned to face them. There were tears in his eyes- the first time since that day- and he said in a whisper, "I'm so sorry." He plunged the knife into his own chest and fell over. They stared, speechless. Roy didn't move.
"... Roy?" Larry asked. No answer.
Kamek came out of the darkness and looked at Roy's limp body, then looked at the rest of the horrified Koopalings. Ludwig limped out of a room behind Kamek, and he turned to see the eldest son with bruises and a bloody nose. Kamek looked at him, then back at the others. Everything was silent. And as it turned out, when Bowser was young, what he had said to Roy was the same exact thing that was said to him.
Chapter Eighteen: Date of Doom
Summer opened her fridge, looking for something good. Most of the time there wasn't, as if her appliances simply didn't like her. So she took a box of cereal, pouring it into a bowl with some milk. Crunch. It was fruity, but a bit bland. After breakfast, she went to go see Kelly, who was doing laundry. Anastasia was away at work.
"Hey Mom," she said, smiling. "I was thinking of asking Yoshi out tonight."
Kelly turned from her work briefly and smiled. "He seems like a very nice young man, and I'm glad you like him. Whatever you choose to do in life, we'll respect you." Summer gave her mom a hug.
"When I met your mother, I made sure I was making the right choice, that she was the right person. I trust your judgment."
"Thanks, Mom," Summer replied. She went outside into the beautiful, understanding paradise of Yoshi's Island.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Luigi and Daisy walked through the immense Forest of Illusions, breathing in the fresh air.
"You see, Daisy? You don't need drugs for a psychedelic experience. You just come here." She laughed as a disembodied head floated past. The path in front of them was blurred, as if to trick them into believing that their eyesight was bad, but Luigi had been warned by his brother about this place. The sky appeared to be a strange mix of colors- purple, red, green, yellow, and pink- quite beautiful.
"Although it's not half as dangerous as it was since Bowser was kicked out." A large Wiggler reared up in front of them and bared sharp fangs before scuttling away.
"Still not a place for four-year olds. Either way, don't worry. I know how to get out of here," Luigi said, pulling out an abnormally big golden key.
"Right," Daisy replied. "Luigi, promise we'll never have children. I personally couldn't stand it. Seriously, If I'm ever pregnant, just shoot me." Luigi sighed.
"You know, I didn't take you out here for no reason. There's a nice restaurant over in the Vanilla Dome. I wanted you to meet someone there." He held the key out in front of him, and Daisy held his hand. There was a bright flash of golden light and they reappeared outside the forest, right in front of the small dark entranceway to Vanilla Dome. They went inside, and it got lighter. There was a long, winding road that went on going down for quite a while. There were large, shining crystals that jutted out of the walls at awkward angles, and small homes placed at different places on the road.
Daisy followed him up for a bit, and they eventually came upon a larger structure. It was medium sized and white, with a large sign that read "The Good Restaurant".
"Clever name," Daisy said. They walked in and immediately she was impressed. They had a red satin carpet on the floor, and brown walls. There were some Yoshis and Rexes sitting at tables, and a tall, blue, female Birdo with short, spiky, black hair. When she saw him she waved and came over.
"Oh hey," she said, smiling- well, her eyes were smiling, you couldn't tell with her mouth- with a menu in her hand.
"Daisy, this is Sarah. Sarah, Daisy." Luigi introduced them, and the two women shook hands.
"Nice to meet you."
"So this is the lovely, strong woman that Luigi married. It's a treat to finally meet you after hearing so much."
"Me?" Daisy asked, taken slightly aback. "Oh come off it. I mean, yeah, I got into some fights in high school, but I'm still just a normal person- when a large percentage of this planet is populated by super-powered heroes." Sarah just eye-smiled again.
"Well, if you say so. By the way, did you just come here to talk or did you guys want to order something?"
"Well, I'm starving," Daisy said, rubbing her hands together.
"Guess that settles it." Luigi and Daisy sat at a small, square table, looked at their menus, and thought of what to eat.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So it's that good?" Yoshi asked over the phone. He could hear Daisy in the background shouting "Yes!" Luigi chuckled.
"Listen to that enthusiasm," he said. "The food was great, take our word for it and take your date there." Daisy pushed him aside and took the phone.
"Get the ravioli, or the chicken salad. They're both really good, but I just can't choose between them."
"Thanks, guys. I'll see you later." Yoshi hung up and went outside. Her house was close. On the way he saw a light blue Yoshi with medium length blond hair. He was outside, tending to his garden.
"Hey James!" the blue Yoster waved back.
"Hey Yoshi. Garden's coming along good- I might just win the prize this year."
James and Yoshi departed after a quick goodbye, and soon Yoshi was at Summer's door. He knocked, and she came out. She wasn't wearing anything tonight because it was cold- and Yoshi never really wore anything anyway.
"So, where are we going?"
"My friends suggested a place up in Vanilla Dome," he replied. "They say the food is great."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Vanilla Dome was glowing. It was dark, but illuminated by the glow of the gargantuan crystals. They opened the door and walked inside. They sat down at a table and looked at the menu. Sarah came up and held up a pad.
"Can I help you?"
"I'd like the ravioli," Yoshi said.
"And I'll take the chicken salad," said Summer.
"Okay." The Birdo flipped a page and went into a door marked "Employees only". So, they sat and waited.
"This place is really nice." She smiled. "Hope your friend is right about the food."
"Me too. So... Where did you live before you moved here?"
"Well, I lived over in Toad Town. When I was young, it wasn't nearly as nice as it is today. Peach was practically a bratty little dictator, and the whole place was screwed up with gang violence. I've heard the stories about you. If it wasn't for you, Super Mario would've never been the great hero he is today,"
"Don't forget Luigi," Yoshi said.
"Right. It's kind of scary to think about it. If you hadn't found him as a baby- or if Morton's advisor hadn't dropped baby Mario... neither of them might be alive today. So, is that fate? I mean, we have free will, but if God already knows what I'm going to do before I do it... is that really free will at all?" Yoshi looked disturbed by what she had said.
"Yeah, I'm not really sure I want to talk about that during dinner," Yoshi said, a little uncomfortably.
"Well, I think it's coming." Summer smiled as a black Rex came out and handed them their respective food.
"So, where did you go to college?" Yoshi asked, forking a couple of noodles and eating them.
"Me? Well, I actually went to the University of Goom- I studied under Professor Frankly a couple of times. He was quite brilliant."
"Get out." He put his fork down on his napkin and looked her in the face. "I went there too."
After a nice meal and conversations about childhoods and family, Yoshi left a ten-coin tip and they left. They walked home together and waved goodbye. Life was good.
To Be Continued...
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