Chapter Text
The key members of the Koopa Troop filed into the ballroom of the Blitz Snarlton in an orderly, but unsatisfied manner.
“Did you see the prices that Lady Wendy is charging for this establishment?” Baron Burr brought up.
“I know! It makes me so MAD! We built this hotel and all of the other Koopa hotels and still they walk all over us!” The Whomp King fumed.
“Perhaps if you did a better job, we would be having this meeting at the HardBrick.” King Bob-Omb pointed out.
“It’s not OUR fault Roy’s bad with power! GRRRR!”
“I still say they should’ve held it in Thump Castle.” King Boo argued.
“Of course the ghost bats for the haunted house.” King Lakitu muttered. “The High-Ate Regency is the best hotel and that’s just a fact.”
“I stayed at the WoodDoor-Hysteria once. It was ok.” The Goomboss quietly added. Petey Piranha gave a thumbs, er, ‘leaf up’ and grunted in agreement.
Elsewhere, the seven Koopalings were seated in the first-class section.
“And that dance! That dance! If I ever set foot in a forest ever again, it’ll be too soon!” Larry finished his rant to his fellow Koopalings. “I’ll even take the desert!”
“That’s why you speak with your co-workers, Larry.” Ludwig said, almost but not quite keeping the ‘I-told-you-so” smugness out of his voice.
“So, who called this meeting again?” Lemmy asked.
“It was Captain Goomba. He said it was urgent.” Wendy said.
“Not to be doubtful, well not really, but are we sure this is ‘urgent’? Bowz could stub his toe and the Cap would call it a national emergency.” Roy sighed.
“Sure, but I dunno. I got a feeling a couple days ago that this year was different.”
“Hey everyone! Thanks for coming!” Everybody shifted their attention. There on the stage, backed up by his fellow Captains was Captain Goomba. He is a character of great respect and fierce loyalty to King Bowser, of such impressive lengths it made up for his key physical characteristic being a flag that he wore on his head. “I’m sorry to call you all for this while we’re on vacation. I’m sure you were having such great times-”
“I nearly got killed by boos, man! It sucked!”
“But I found out about something happening to King Bowser! Something bigger than even the biggest guy here! Maybe even bigger than him!”
“And that is~?” Iggy asked
“Lord Bowser is getting MARRIED!”
The crowd responded with silence and blank stares.
“To someone who ISN’T Princess Toadstool!”
A fierce uproar broke out among the minions. Bowser? Marrying someone other than Peach? Impossible. Unthinkable.
“You’re jokin’, right? Lord Bowz has been tryin’ to marry Peach practically forever. It’s why we’re always attackin’ the Mushroom Kingdom!” Roy pointed out.
“Maybe he finally realized that there were more fish in the sea~.” Iggy theorized.
“Maybe he’s being forced to marry someone else?” Lemmy also put forward.
“If that’s true, then Lord Bowser could be in danger! And even if he’s not, we’ve gotta support him!” Morton banged his fist on the table out of rightousness.
“There’s only one way to be certain, I suppose.” Pulling out some keys and clicking a button, Ludwig’s airship blasted a hole in the hotel, the rest of the Koopalings’ airships tailgating after.
“Come! Let’s hurry to Bowser’s Castle!” Ludwig turned to look at his fellow Koopalings… and was met by an irate Wendy. “...Uh… I’ll pay for that.”
“Oh, you’ll pay, alright!” Wendy hissed as she attacked.
Bowser’s Castle was decorated yet again. This time, the castle was painted with whites and purples. Fanciful banners decorated the outer walls and inner halls. It wasn’t as extensive as it could be; Five Bowsers, One princess and a gaggle of Koopa Kids were far from enough to cover everything, but it was still fanciful enough.
While of a far lower key than the King’s previous wedding, there was still an impressive turn-out, especially considering that it was all willing participants. Of course, the guests were less happy for Bowser and more curious as to who he was marrying if not Princess Peach. Most had been personally victimized by him in some fashion; King Fret and Prince Pine spoke of how Bowser split their Jewelry Kingdom in twain while Princes Florian and Haru discussed how Bowser used Wonder Power to transform Haru and their Flower Kingdom. Prince Dreambert talked about how Bowser almost utilized the power of the Dream Stone to conquer his kingdom as the Sprixies added that Bowser attempted a hostile take over of their own kingdom, abusing their power to create a garish amusement park. For Pauline’s turn, she described Bowser’s theft of the Metro Kingdom’s power and the effect it had on the economy and such and Rosalina admitted that, even if she’s on somewhat more amicable terms with Bowser these days, he still put her Comet Observatory in peril. One by one the various royals spoke of how Bowser impacted them, almost always negatively.
Princess Daisy of Sarasaland sheepishly coughed.
“He, uh, threw a red shell at me and cost me the kart racing trophy.” Daisy said surprisingly quietly. “Woah, what do you mean ‘surprisingly’?!”
“Princess Daisy has a point. Even if King Bowser hasn’t threatened us directly, it’s still wise to keep notes on him.” King Harkinian advised.
“Father, I understand that,” Princess Zelda said in response, “But did we have to bring him?” ‘Him”, of course, referring to Ganon, who was bound in chains and kept firmly at the pointy end of Link’s magic sword.
“He’s been on good behavior recently. He can have a little treat.”
“I’m here for the food! WAHAHA!” Wario said as Waluigi sat beside him, having long since fell asleep.
As the guests pondered their relationship with Bowser, and perhaps why they even bothered coming to begin with, the King himself was getting dressed with the help of his Koopa Kid underlings.
“You look fantastic as always Mr. Bowser” The normal yellow and green Koopa Kid gushed.
“Yeah. It’s a drag that you’re getting married to that Princess Drupe lady instead of Princess Peach.” The red one lamented.
“Oh, I’m getting married to Peach. Drupe just doesn’t know it yet.” Bowser chuckled.
“Wow! Really?!” The blue Koopa Kid asked.
“Duh! It’s like the movies! We both exchange our vows. The head honcho asks for everyone to speak now or hold their peace. Then WHAM! Princess Peach jumps through a window or barges in through the doors and says ‘No! Stop! I want to be with my beloved Koopa stud! And then we get married and everything is awesome!”
“Great galoombas! Is that how it works?” The breen Koopa Kid asked.
“Of course it is! It worked for Mario!”
“Smart thinking, Mr. Bowser!”
“As always!”
Princess Drupe pouted as she waited for the Koopa Kids to finish her dress. The dress in question was one of Bowser’s many spare dresses for Peach to be married in, though when the time actually came he decided that only the best was necessary for his darling Princess. He never bothered to ensure that Drupe would fit the dress and while it was a largely suitable fit, there were parts of it that needed to be resewn or redone to add more detail or account for Drupe’s clawed feet and unusually large hands.
This entire situation only magnified the annoyance that Drupe felt towards this entire debacle. Prior to actually meeting Bowser again, at the claim that he wanted to marry, Drupe would’ve… Well, in all honesty she still would’ve doubted it, but some part of her might’ve given Bowser the benefit of the doubt. But with the forbidden knowledge locked away in the King’s diary, she knew better. Sh knew that she was the silver trophy. Or perhaps, given Bowser’s sheer determination, the participation ribbon. She was just a stand-in and nothing more.
“Oh Princess Peach. If I had just five minutes with a monkey wrench…” Drupe muttered as the Koopa Kids finished up her dress.
“There it is!”
Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach looked on at Bowser’s Castle in the distance. Having made the trip to the Badlands so many times in the past, the Bros and Princess knew that it wouldn’t be too long before they reached it.
“We have to hurry! It won’t be too long until-” Princess Peach paused and looked up at the sky. “Look out!”
The trio dodged the clown-faced hovercraft just in time. Quick as a wink, a line of graffiti was drawn on the ground, spawning monsters, and half dozen Mechakoopas stood on the ground, activated and at the ready. And in front, armed with his Junior Clown Car and his Magic Paintbrush, was none other than Bowser Jr. himself.
“No, no NO! Dad and Mom are finally getting married! You may have beat me all those other times Mario, but there’s NO WAY, I’m letting you chumps crash Dad’s wedding for the umpteenth time!” Bowser Jr. ranted.
Mario and Luigi stood ready to tussle as per usual, but Princess Peach gestured them back. Alone, she approached Bowser Jr.
At last, Koopa Kid began playing the organ, signaling the imminent arrival of the soon-to-be-weds. The first to enter was Princess Drupe. As she walked down the aisle, she gave the overall vibe and effort of the wedding a solid 8/10. Certainly top shelf, but she knew that Bowser had a tendency to go above and beyond. He certainly did for Peach. What was a ‘good’ wedding by normal standards was practically a shotgun wedding by Bowser’s standards. These thoughts haunted Drupe as she made her way to the front.
Then came Bowser. The Koopa King was clad in his tuxedo and had his hair fancied. Compared to his conflicted bride, Bowser strolled down the aisle with full confidence and an arrogant swagger, like someone who had beaten their rival and earned 1 million coins, the love of their childhood sweetheart and a new car all at once. To those who didn’t know any better, it seemed like Bowser truly intended on going through with the marriage. To those who did know better, it sent up more red flags than a Charging Chuck hungrily eyeing a ball held by the opposing team during overtime.
When Bowser reached the front section of the hall, a Koopa Minster (ordered online through the ever convenient “Rent-A-Minister” service) appeared from behind the podium.
“Dear guests and soon to be subjects of the Koopa Kingdom,” The Minister started, earning much unsatisfied mumbling from the audience. “We are gathered here today to witness the union of Bowser, King of the Koopas and Drupe, Princess of Iron together in holy matrimony. Princess Drupe, do you take Bowser to be your lawfully wedded husband, for until your games may end?”
Drupe looked at Bowser. The King of the Koopas didn’t seem to be paying much attention to the proceedings, as noticed by how he kept glancing back at the main door. Drupe had an idea of what Bowser was attempting, and considered her options. Upon realizing the sheer lack of them, she decided to gamble.
“Sure.” She said bluntly.
“And Bowser, do you take Drupe to be your lawfully wedded wife, for until your games may end?”
“I…” Bowser stole yet another glance back at the door. Nothing. There was only one chance remaining. After weighing his options, he decided to gamble. “...I do.”
“Very well.” The Minister looked into the crowd. “If there is anyone who believes that these two should not be wed, speak now, or forever hold your peace.”
*CRASH*
The ceremony was interrupted by the Junior Clown Car crashing through a window, although Junior made a conscious effort not to go through the awesome painstakingly made stained glass windows that Kammy helped him to make. On board the craft was Junior, as expected and Mario, Luigi and Princess, which was somewhat less expected.
For everyone else, anyway.
“BINGO!” Bowser cheered as the Clown Car came to a stop right in front of the bride-and-groom-to-be. “I knew it! I knew it!”
“I knew it! I knew it!” Drupe hissed in realization.
Peach and the Bros got off the Car and approached the duo. Princess Peach looked serious, almost regretful. It was then that both Bowser and Drupe realized that the wedding, as it was planned, was over.
As they watched from the front row seats, Mama Bowser discretely signaled to her remaining children. Blue and Bookworm nodded and stayed ready for anything.
“Bowser, I’m here to-”
“Marry me! Of course! I knew you couldn’t keep away once you heard the news, Peachy!”
“Bowser-”
“Go on! Say it! Say “Bowser, I’m here to marry you!”
“Eh, Bowser-”
“Butt out, Mario! Nobody asked for your opinion!”
“But-”
“THE ONLY WORDS I WANNA HEAR ARE ‘BOWSER, I’M HERE TO MARRY YOU!’ NOTHING ELSE!”
Mario and Peach exchanged glances. Peach stepped forward. The crowd held their breath. Bowser looked hopeful. Drupe looked heartbroken. All was silent as Peach began to speak.
“Bowser-”
“Yeah?”
“No…”
“I’m here-”
“Yeah?! Yeah?!”
“No. No.”
“To warn you.”
“NO!”
“YES! YOU’RE HERE TO WARN ME! YES, I KNEW YOU’D-Wait, huh? What, NO! Peachy, you’re here to stop the wedding and marry me instead, right? RIGHT?!”
“No Bowser. I had no intention of stopping your wedding. In fact, I’m here to make sure that it happens.”
“NO! This isn’t how this was supposed to go!” Bowser groaned.
“Oh really?” A far from amused Princess Drupe asked.
“Of course not! Who barges into a wedding just to hand off a warning?! You’re supposed to be here to marry me!”
“Bowser, I’m sorry but-”
“But nothing! Wedding’s over! Go home, all of you!” Bowser snarled. Bowser’s family, seated in the front row, collectively groaned. A hand shot up from the audience. “WHAT?!”
“What about the reception! And the food! Is that still happening?”
“NO!”
“Bah! What a waste of time! Come on Waluigi! I saw a steakhouse on the way down here.” Wario got up and dragged Waluigi out of the hall.
Bowser crossed his arms and huffed, turning away from the heroes and Drupe, whose expression remained unreadable.
“Mama? You and Dad are still getting married, right?” Junior asked. Drupe gave no answer or even a sign of acknowledging his question. “Mama?”
“Honestly! The NERVE of you to get my hopes up like that! What are you even warning me about, anyway?!” Bowser growled, pointing at Peach.
The door leading into the great hall, which was currently doubling as a wedding chapel, was blown wide open. Quickly, an army of Toads, decked out in power-up related gear, filed into the room. At the very front were Toad and Toadette with adorable little soldier outfits and Toadsworth who had to lift the cannon box off of himself to properly address the relevant parties.
“Stay as you are you gruesome gallivanter! You shall not be concluding your sinister ceremony!” Toadsworth barked.
“...”Bowser looked at the sight before him, utterly baffled. He couldn’t even bring himself to feel angry or begrudging respect towards the militarized mushrooms by virtue of not really comprehending what he was looking at. Peach moved in front of the not-quite-weds.
“Toadsworth, please! There’s no need to do this!” Peach pleaded.
“I’m afraid not, Princess. For too long, we have allowed the Koopa Kingdom to run roughshod on us and our neighbors. However, it was all tempered by the fact that King Bowser’s infatuation would result in him targeting you. For all of the horrors he has visited upon our fair kingdom, his desire for your happiness was always a tempering factor in stopping him from laying waste to it entirely.” Toadsworth explained.
“Hey, I’m sure I’ve laid waste to it before!” Bowser argued.
“So if Bowser were to lose interest in you, he would lose interest in preserving our kingdom as we know it!”
“Well, you don’t have to worry about that. Bowser called off the wedding.” Princess Peach said. “So there’s no need to-”
“Now hold on! I’m not about to sit here and let some tiny mushrooms decide who I can and can’t marry! And I’m DEFINITELY not gonna let them think that I’m only a threat when I’m not chasin’ Peach!” Bowser stated.
“Then we will have no choice but to stop you ourselves!” The Toads behind Toadsworth readied their weapons. Bowser growled, but looked somewhat conflicted.
Around the confrontation, sides were quickly being drawn.
“The Mushroom denizens have a point. If Bowser is as destructive as he is with Princess Toadstool as his top priority, then the world may be at risk even further if he has other targets to pursue.” King Fret pointed out.
“If Bro doesn’t marry Drupe, then he’s never gonna get over Peach!” Blue shouted as he, Bookworm and Mama Bowser stood up.
“ATTACK!” The Queen of the Koopa shouted and the three Royal Koopas charged at the Mushroom folk right as the other royals decided to get involved.
The Great Hall exploded into chaos. In theory, one would assume that an army of toads and miscellaneous royalty would be enough to quickly subdue three people. However, there were two factors that made it a closer fight than it seemed. First, the Great Hall’s gargantuan size made for a lot of maneuverability, even for someone as girth-y as Bowser. And second, the opponents in question were effectively three Bowsers: slightly less durable and powerful, but formidable nonetheless.
Thus, Blue Bowser attacked with his unique blue fire balls (which had absolutely no unique characteristics outside of color) and an endless supply of hammers while the Bookworm used a variety of rare spell books that she had to order off of ‘Lakituzon’ and “eBoo”. However, Mama Bowser outshined them all, creating dragons out of flame and using spells and fire-related skills that nobody even realized existed.
Bowser, Drupe, Peach, Mario and Luigi watched the explosions of fireballs, iceballs, statues, hammers, magic and whatever else with sheer disbelief on their features.
“AWESOME!” Bowser Jr. shouted with glee. “I didn’t know Grandma could do that! Oh wow! Get ‘em Uncle Blue. Aunt Bookie just toasted that guy! Oh man, I gotta get in on this!” Quick as a wink, Junior sneaked about the room, leaving a trail of graffiti as he went. The Graffiti gave rise to Shadows of Mario, Luigi and Peach, along with a mess of other baddies. His work done, the prince entered his Junior Clown Car and joined the scuffle himself.
“So, is that it? I’m just not allowed to be happy?” Bowser muttered.
“Bowser, it’s not like that. I didn’t intend for-”
“GRAH!”
Princess Peach was buffeted by a gust of wind and slammed into the wall. She looked up to find herself at the business end of Princess Drupe’s fan.
“This is all your fault!” Drupe tried to hit Peach with her fan yet again. “If it wasn’t for you, Bowser and I would have conquered the world by now! But no, he had to fall for you!”
Drupe tried yet again, and this time, Peach had had it. Pulling out her umbrella, she parried Drupe’s attack effortlessly and sent the other princess careening into a pillar that had an axe conveniently attached to it. The sheer frustration of the past few days - of the son she never knew existed, of the farce of a wedding that she just went through - caused Drupe to finally blow a gasket. Blinded by rage, she turned around and tore the axe off of the pillar before charging at Peach. Despite the clear increase in threat, Peach did not have too much more difficulty in fighting Drupe. In fact, Drupe’s fury led her to become more sloppy and leave herself open more for Peach. Before anybody could factor in the two princesses entering the fray, however-
“FOR LORD BOWSER!”
The windows shattered (including the stained glass ones, prompting a groan from Bowsy). Through them, the entire Koopa Troop leapt in. Seeing the Prince and several Bowser-adjacent figures battling with the Mushroom Kingdom folk, it didn’t take long for them to put two and two together and enter the fray. King Bob-Bomb threw bombs at Toadbert, who replied by using a fire flower to detonate them prematurely. King Boo, spooked Toadiko, who was manning a Lakitu’s Cloud and attacking the Goomboss, to distract her from Petey Piranha. Ganon broke free of his chains, but Link quickly put a stop to any wrongdoing he attempted to do. Baron Burr and King Lakitu fought with the Yellow and Blue Toads. The Koopalings summoned Bowser’s Koopa Clown Car and had a fierce duel with Toad and Toadette. Boom Boom and Pom Pom fought the royals (mostly Prince Peasly). The various Goombas and Koopas and Boos and Rocky Wrenches and so on and so forth fought with the swarms of Toads.
The Whomp King did not enter the fray, as he was still trying to find a way inside the building.
“It makes me so MAD! How can these doors and windows fit King Bowser, and yet not me! Nobody thinks about us, I tell ya! Nobody!”
The already anarchic arrangement turned into a chaotic kerfuffle. Nobody was able to tell anybody from anybody else anymore. The only factor in who to shoot or punch or smash or bash or crash or whatever else may strike your fancy was whether the individual in question was vaguely toad-shaped or not.
As all of this mayhem took place, Kamek suddenly ran in.
“Your weddedness, I have perused the results of my research and I must inform you that Princess Drupe is-”
“My sister?”
“What? No! Of course not! She’s not related to you at all. Rather, she is-”
“Me from another dimension?”
“No! No! Your highness, please let me speak!” Kamek took a deep breath. “I felt that you should know that Princess Drupe is-”
Before Kamek could finish his words, a stray bob-omb exploded next to him, launching him into the scuffle. With his far more fragile physical health, it did not take long for Kamek to get blasted into another room in the castle, knocked out cold. The paper that held the results of his research floated through the air, miraculously avoiding all of the attacks before flying out the window and inconveniently into the lava moat surrounding Bowser’s Castle.
Bowser couldn’t bring himself to feel shocked. Without much of his usual bravado or his fiery temper, the Koopa King quietly walked out of the hall, ignoring all the destruction and devastation around him. Mario and Luigi watched on.
“I’m gonna go after him!” Mario decided.
“Uh, sure Bro. You mind if I go back to the castle and get some wheels for us to get out of here with?”
“Of course, Bro!”
Luigi nodded in thanks and used a Raccoon feather to fly out of the castle while Mario pursued Bowser.
At that moment, someone new entered.
“I’m here, you brute. You are an annoying rival to me, King Bowser. You’ve stolen my minions and heaped insult after insult upon me at the Royal Roasts. Still, even I can’t help but be intrigued by the news. Thus, I have arrived to witness this spectacle for myself.” King Wart announced. He opened his eyes to the sight of mass mayhem as almost all of the occupants waged war on each other. The lone exception was Rosalina, who was seated in the back alongside one of her Luma children, yet another spot that the carnage seemed content to ignore. Rosalina looked back and smiled politely.
Without comment, Wart turned around and walked out of the castle.
Bowser stood on the roof of his castle, looking down at the badlands around it. The outside felt strangely peaceful. It spoke to the size of the Great Hall, and castle itself really, that the fighting had yet to spill far out of it. Outside of that particularly noisy sector, the castle remained as calm and still as it had been for the period between the army’s departure and the family’s arrival. The badlands themselves were in a rare state. The volcanic smog had finally thrown up its hands and relented. While the smog still remained in the air, it could no longer block the view of the sun, which was now setting. The orange and violet sky combined with the Badlands’ depressive nature made for a striking image that few got to appreciate outside of this time of year.
Mario also arrived at the roof and gingerly walked up to him.
“Hey! You ok?” Mario asked.
Bowser sighed as he continued to watch the view.
“Mario I… I dunno. I guess everything back there was just getting’ to me. I don’t get to marry Peach, but I don’t get to marry anyone else. They’re afraid of me. As they should. But they’re afraid of me marrying someone other than Peach.” Bowser grew contemplative. “Is-is she really holding me back? I always gun for her, but I attack other places too, right?”
“Until recently… not really.”
“Yeah, but now I’d doing it recently! Is it really that much of a handicap?!”
Mario, perhaps out of politeness, said nothing. Bowser felt uncharacteristically distressed. Did Drupe have a point? Did everyone have a point? No! It has to be something else! Gas! Yeah, it’s just gas
Bowser looked to his ego for advice, but his ego had checked out sometime during the wedding fiasco. He turned to his rage, but his rage didn’t know who to get angry at anymore or even what to get angry about. He turned to his hopes and dreams, but those were still reeling from having their expectations shattered. And without those, Bowser was forced to seriously consider for the first time: Dare he give up on Peach?
He had been chasing after Peach since they were both in diapers. It was his biggest dream to one day marry the Princess. He had come close a couple times, but inevitably Mario or Peach herself or the fabric of reality would go on to ruin the whole thing. And then Bowser’s tuxedo would have to sit in the back of his far larger-than-necessary closet, awaiting that rare day once again that it would see use.
And then there was Princess Drupe. A woman back from his earlier days, Bowser had considered her a fling and nothing more. An attempt at filling the Peach-shaped hole in his heart or perhaps, more honestly, just a means of justifying to himself that replacing Peach wouldn’t work. It’s possible that he gave her a fair shake but decided that she lacked something, but is that more likely than him setting his expectations higher than the Clash House and then immediately attempting to find a way out when she faltered in any way?
There’s only one way to be certain.
Bowser looked at Mario one last time. Mario looked at him and gave him a smile.
“Whatever you pick, Mario will respect it.”
Bowser nodded and then walked back downstairs.
“STOP!”
Immediately, everything ceased moving. Even the fireballs and other assorted projectiles hung in the air where they were. Such was the power of a command from the King of the Koopas. And indeed, King Bowser stood at the long since decimated doorway, a look of determination in his eyes. He marched over to Princess Drupe, who had her axe in preparation for another swing, and got down on one knee.
“I’ve made my decision.” Bowser held out a hand and gently grasped Drupe’s. “Princess Drupe, consider yourself lucky, for you are going to be the lucky wife of THE King Bowser.”
“Bowser…” Drupe frowned and pulled back her hand. “This is another trick isn’t it? Another ploy to make Peach jealous.”
“Nah. Look, I’ve been thinkin’-”
“King Bowser? Thinking? Never thought I’d see the day.~” Iggy joked lightly. Bowser growled, but refused to get sidetracked.
“And I’ll admit it. Maybe I did get too blinded by Peaches. I was so focused on havin’ her that I never thought about anyone else. But maybe… Maybe there was somthin’ here. So I’m givin’ it another shot. I got a place in Shroom City. We can head there for a week to see if there was something to this. And if so, then we’ll throw a spectacular wedding at my Seizures Palace. We’ll have the mother of all parties with buffets and everything!”
“I’m excited for you Koopa!” Wario said, having suddenly returned. “Especially if buffets are involved! WAHAHA!”
“We really need to change the name of that hotel.” Ludwig said quietly.
Drupe turned away from Bowser. Everybody watched with bated breath.
“Bowser. If you think, that after everything, that I will take you seriously at this moment and gree to this.” Drupe turned back to face Bowser once more. “Then you’re smarter than people give you credit for.”
“Wait, huh!? Who says I’m dumb!? Was it any of you!”
The audience said nothing. Daisy slowly raised her hand, but lowered it at Peach’s discretion.
“She’s just taking him like that, eh? Guess Big bro isn’t the only desperate one.” Blue whispered.
“I can believe it. Bro’s jealousy plan blew up in his face. Not much room for doubt after that.” Bookworm explained.
“My little Gukbap’s getting married for real this time!” Mama Bowser’s welled up with tears as she hugged Blue. “I’m so happy!”
“...Well, he isn’t guaranteed that he’ll get married yet.”
“Don’t ruin the moment, sis.”
The Koopa Minister had hidden behind his podium as the fighting broke out and now emerged once more to complete the ceremony.
“You may now kiss the bride.”
Bowser planted a large smooch on Drupe’s cheek. Drupe planted a comparatively small one on his. Most of the Koopa Troop “aw’d” in that cliché unison way. Some of them “ew’d” in a similar way. Iggy laughed. Roy and Larry shrugged.
Bowser pulled out a set of car keys and clicked a button on them. Smashing through the wall came Bowser’s muscle car, now with a white paint job, airplane wings, a ‘just married’ sign and a bunch of cans tied to the back. By this point, most of the wall had been destroyed, leaving a gap large enough for King Whomp to finally enter.
“GRAH! I’m too late! Next time we rebuild this castle we’re installin’ Whomp-friendly doors!
“See you in a week, boy!” Bowser told Junior as he and Drupe got inside the vehicle.
“Wait, huh?!” Junior realized.
“Mama and Papa need some time to make things work. Take care of the castle while we’re gone!” Princess Drupe clarified.
And with the thrusters activated, Bowser’s Car flew off into the sky, cans clattering behind it. Junior watched as his mother and father left, unsure of how to feel. Mario cleared his breath.
“You know, we could have a holiday get together here. Together.” Mario offered.
“What? Pal around with you guys? Just because Dad’s gone doesn’t mean…” Bowser Jr. looked at Mario and Peach’s inviting expressions. “...FINE. But I’M in charge of it and you’re gonna leave this place lookin’ EXACTLY as it was when Dad and Mom left!”
“Even this place?” Luigi asked.
“You know what I mean!”
“Y’know, we were just gonna head back out right away. But a party at Bowser’s Castle sounds fun.” Wendy admitted.
“Sure! I’ll take it! I’ll take anything at this point!” Larry added hurridly.
“Calm down, Larry.” Ludwig said simply.
“Well, you kids can have fun with your party. As for me, I think Bro used up the rest of my ‘family togetherness’.” Blue got up and stretched.
“At least stay with Me and Mom for a few more days.” Bookworm asked.
“Fine, but you ladies can leave me out of your book club.” Blue walked towards the door, followed by the Bookworm. Mama Bowser was the last to leave.
“Goodbye Bowsy! See you next year!”
The various royals, lower level Koopa Troop members and the Toad army were leaving Bowser’s Castle now that it was over. They were all in varying degrees of apprehension.
“How could you, Princess?! Gambling the safety of the kingdom on that brute’s happiness?!” Toadsworth huffed.
“That is enough, Toadsworth! Everyone deserves to be happy. Even Bowser.” Princess Peach scolded.
“As it is, all we can do now is wait. Both for the results of Bowser’s union and of the fate of our own kingdoms.” King Fret muttered.
“No Problem! Me and Bro will be there to stop him when he gets mean.” Mario vowed.
“I certainly hope so, Sir Mario.” King Fret concluded. Prince Pine called for him and the father and son left for the Jewelry Kingdom once more. Daisy and Rosalina approached shortly afterward.
“Look at you, with not even a hair out of place.” Daisy lightly teased to Rosalina. “Explains why I didn’t see you in that scrap.”
“You are correct. I stayed out of it, entirely.”
“So, why didn’t you get involved?” Daisy asked. “Weren’t you also concerned about the whole ‘Bowser will stop kidnapping Peach’ thing?”
“Part of it was simply that it was not necessary. The way Bowser reacted made it clear that his expectations were ruined. Though, even I did not expect him to change his mind afterwards.”
“‘Part of it?’ Something else?”
“Yes. Bowser and Princess Drupe may dream of world domination now, but Bowser has proven himself to be rather complicated. Even the Stars aren’t entirely sure what to think of Bowser. Perhaps part of me hopes that Bowser, and I suppose Drupe, will eventually change their ways. Or perhaps Mario and Princess Peach’s optimism is simply getting to me.” Rosalina gave a small smile.
“Bowser’s a roulette wheel.” Daisy summed up. “You never know what you’re going to get.”
“That sums it up nicely.” Princess Peach said. “I just hope that some day we get nicer side more often. I doubt Drupe can make him worse. She seems to love his more bombastic side.”
“Eh, he’s already harassing other kingdoms more often these days. I don’t think much will change. Maybe he’ll stop asking you to join his dumb kart racing team.”
“That would be nice.” Peach mused as Luigi drove up in the Royale.
“Lord Bowser! About Princess Drupe, she, uh…” Kamek looked around the long-since deserted and destroyed Great Hall. “...Oh well. It wasn’t that important anyway. I doubt I’ll even remember it once I finish cleaning up this mess anyway.” Using his Broom as a broom, Kamek began begrudgingly sweep up the rubble.