Clawdia stared in disbelief at her children.
"You all were actually going to go off and fight Mario?" said Clawdia.
"We were gonna tell you..." said Lemmy nervously.
"When?" asked Clawdia.
"... Once Dad got back-"
"So you're saying once your father got back and gave your plot two thumbs up, not caring about if I thought it was safe or not, then you'd tell me?!"
"Take it away, Morton," said Lemmy nervously.
Morton shot Lemmy a hateful glare and said, "Yeah..."
Clawdia shook her head. "Why?"
"We were afraid you'd wig out and say no..." said Morton, staring at his large feet.
"Oh, I'm beyond wigging out and saying no!" Clawdia said angrily.
"What's that mean?" asked Lemmy nervously to Iggy.
"It means we'll be pushing up daisies in a matter of hours, dear brother," said Iggy, who was also fearful.
"You can't go on that little quest of yours," said Clawdia. "And you're all grounded."
The Koopalings were about to argue when Clawdia swiftly spun around and walked out of the kitchen without another word.
"All that hard work is all for not as of now..." said Iggy sadly.
"No it's not," said Lemmy determinedly. "I'm gonna convince Mom to let us continue working!"
"Don't waste your time," said Morton. "Mom won't change her mind to a little runt like you."
Lemmy, who was utterly determined, said, "You give up too easy, Morty. You have to-"
"Keep on trying, I know," said Morton, rolling his eyes. "If I've learned one thing from all those assemblies in school, it's that you have to keep on trying."
"I don't," said Wendy. "I only have to try once to get something that I want."
"We know…" said Ludwig.
"So? Who's with me?" asked Lemmy.
Everyone, even a reluctant Morton, raised their hands.
"Good," said Lemmy. "Now I'm gonna go talk to Mom, you guys get to work on the bots. Dad is comin' home in three weeks!"
The Koopalings all did as instructed, even Jr, who was still ticked off about how his siblings forgot him. Lemmy made his way up to his mother's room. He knocked on her door and heard a voice. "Come in," said Clawdia's voice.
Lemmy cautiously entered and found his mother on her jumbo-sized bed reading a book. "Hello, Lemmy," said Clawdia, not bothering to look up from her book.
"Mom, can I talk to you?"
"Not if it's about those robots."
"But Mom! We've poured our blood, sweat, and tears into those robots!"
"How long have you been working on the robots?"
"Almost two hours now! It's our hour and a half bot-a-versery as it is!"
"If you think jokes'll persuade me, I'm afraid not."
"I'm not joking! Please, Mom! We just want to please our daddy!"
"There are other ways to please your father rather than going on a destruction spree as giant robots!"
"How?"
"Bake him some cookies or make him a card."
"What? No! Our dad won't like cookies or homemade cards! He loves mass destruction! And these gargaguan robots are our way to earn his affection!"
"... It's gargantuan, Lemmy."
"Same difference!"
"And your father's love is not something you earn, Lemmy. Bowser loves you more than anything already, believe it or not."
"We want him to love us more, Mom! Why are you so totally against us making robots?"
"Because I don't want you to feel like you have to earn you're dad's love!"
"... Really, Mom. Why are you really against us making robots?"
Clawdia sighed. "Because I'm afraid you'll hurt yourself."
Lemmy stared in disbelief. "That's why?! Come on, Mom!"
"I hate seeing you all hurt! Like when you and your siblings tried to take over Dinosaur Land!"
"We didn't get hurt that bad!"
"Or that one time a vase fell on Ludwig when you were all six?"
"Iggy made a potion that healed his wounds!"
"Or when Morton pushed you down a well and left you there for three hours!"
"Larry found me and he gave me ointment!"
"Or when you nearly blinded Roy with Iggy's ray gun, his first invention?"
"We took Roy to the hospital and got him sunglasses!"
Clawdia sighed. "But what if all those positive things didn't happen?"
"They did, Mom," said Lemmy. "Ain't that what matters? Please let us finish the robots! We just want to please Daddy!"
"Lemmy, fighting Mario has taken a good ten years off your father’s life. I don't want you to die early because you got hurt," Clawdia said.
"Dad isn't gonna die early, and neither am I! Koopas can live to be two hundred years old, you know. Besides, with all that chocolate Ludwig's eaten, he's probably already lost fifteen years off of his life, and you don't worry about him!" Lemmy said.
Clawdia knew Lemmy had a fair point there. "But the robots could easily explode and kill you all!"
"Mom, Iggy is building the robots. They aren't gonna explode," Lemmy said.
Clawdia was about to reply to Lemmy's confident statement, when the door creaked open. Morton stood in the hallway.
"Oh, Morton... How long have you been there?"
"A while..." said Morton, as he walked up to his mom.
"Mom... All my life... I've been trying to prove myself to Dad... and impress him... But I've always failed in doing so. I have full confidence in my siblings that this plan will work, and we'll finally make Dad proud. I truly believe this can work if you'd just let us try... So please, let us continue."
Clawdia stared at Morton. This was the first time in years that Morton had spoken to his mother so truthfully... and without trying to act tough or anything. Clawdia stared at her sons, and their facial expressions both said the same thing: Please.
Clawdia sighed, but said, "Okay. Go ahead."
Lemmy smiled broader than ever before. "Thanks Mom!"
Morton merely smiled and said, "Thanks Mom."
The two brothers walked out, but when they reached Iggy's room, Morton jabbed a finger at Lemmy's chest. "If you tell anyone about what happened in there," Morton growled, "I assure you you'll be in too much pain to make one of those stupid joke of yours ever again!"
Lemmy smiled and merely said, "Okay. Sure!"
Morton wasn't sure how Lemmy wasn't afraid, but Lemmy knew Morton had a soft spot all these years that he'd never shown.
"We'd better get to work if we want to finish the bots!" said Lemmy cheerfully as he and Morton entered the laboratory, where all his siblings were at work.