Chapter Text
Residents of the Mushroom Kingdom gather around Madrid Drive for the latest kart racing tour where they cheer for Princess Peach to win the gold trophy. Among others participating in this race was Rosalina and her younger half sister (Your Name) who had Lumas on the sidelines cheering them on.
Rosalina and (Your Name) were the first to arrive at the track, so they were able to talk about what they were going to do after the race since they rarely ever get to spend time together. Their conversation was interrupted by a loud revving sound.
Approaching next to (Your Name) slowly was Larry Koopa on his Blue Badwagon.
He turns to her and says, “Hey Princess, check out my sweet ride. Isn’t it cool? I even installed a radio that plays music from the real world.”
Larry turns on the radio and the song that plays is Lovesong by The Cure.
(Your Name) rolls her eyes at his attempt to impress her, feeling less than amused. She says to him for the millionth time, “Look Larry, I am not interested in you. So for the last time, just leave me alone.”
Larry chuckles at her statement, not taking what she is saying seriously. He turns off the radio and says, “Deny it all you want, but I know deep down that you like me, and we’re going to be together forever (Your Name).”
(Your Name) rolls her eyes again and mutters loud enough for him to hear, “In your dreams.”
Rosalina intervenes, “Just ignore him (Your Name), and let’s continue talking about our plans for later.”
As (Your Name) listens to Rosalina with interest, she cannot help but think to herself how badly she wants to build a relationship with her half sister. The only reason that they do not have one is because of their father.
Ever since Rosalina’s mother died, her father wanted nothing to do with her, as looking at her face only reminded him of his deceased wife. He kicked her out in her preteens without any preparation for the world she was about to enter. Fortunately for her, she had met the Lumas when she was a child so they could look after her as she would look after them, like a new mother.
That is when her father remarried into a loveless marriage and had (Your Name). He never mentioned Rosalina to (Your Name) once in her lifetime, the only reason they met is through the Star festival when (Your Name) was old enough to attend.
Rosalina made an appearance to ignite the shooting stars and noticed (Your Name) looking up at the sky with wonder. Rosalina saw the child and could not help but think she looked familiar.
That’s how Rosalina and (Your Name) ended up here, they would meet only through kart races, parties, and tennis matches. All of the other racers showed up by the time they wrapped up their conversation.
Everyone starts their engines as the Lakitu floats to the starting line with a 3-tier light in his hand. The first red light pops up, then the second, then the third, then all lights turn green and the racers take off.
Mario takes the lead, only to be stopped dead in his tracks by a red shell, leading Peach to first place for now. (Your Name) has been getting the bad luck of the draw due to being hit by various items which leads her to last place.
“Please get a good item, please.” (Your Name) said when she breaks an item box. She gets a blue shell and throws it without hesitation.
Rosalina is in second place until she gets a mushroom and drives right past Peach thanks to the boost. As the final lap creeps up, Rosalina feels like her luck is in her favor, until she glimpses at the menacing blue shell above her which fills her with dread.
Rosalina gets hit, disorienting her for a second. Passing her suddenly is Larry Koopa who has a golden mushroom giving him the boost he needs.
Larry passes the finish line, securing first place as he makes a pose and the Koopa Troopas cheer for their winner. Rosalina and (Your Name) may not have won the race, but that was okay for them since they had a lot of fun racing against each other.
“Hey Rosa, how’d you do?” (Your Name) asked.
“I almost won but I got hit by a blue shell on the last lap, so I got 5th place.” Rosalina explained. (Your Name) gasps and covers her mouth with her hands as she realizes she ruined Rosalina’s chance at winning.
“I threw that blue shell, I am so sorry. If I had known you were up there, I would’ve never thrown it.” (Your Name) apologizes, Rosalina only smiles at her.
“There’s no hard feelings (Your Name), that’s the point of the race anyway.” Rosalina responded, (Your Name) smiled back at her and they embraced each other for a short hug.
“Hey (Your Name),” Larry shouts, ruining their moment. “Check it out! I won the gold! I won it for us! Surely you are impressed with me now… just a little.”
(Your Name) groans, Rosalina has decided enough is enough. She looks at Larry dead in the eyes and threatens, “Harass my sister again, and you’re going to regret it.”
Larry gets angry and says to her, “That’s a lot of talk for someone who has never been a part of (Your Name’s) life. Just go back to your lumas and change their diapers, why don’t you?”
“Wait, how did you know that about Rosa and me?” (Your Name) questions.
Larry has a wide eye look on his face, as if he is petrified. “Uhh, gotta run.” Larry wastes no time driving off and leaving right away.
“Has he been stalking me?” (Your Name) said in confusion.
“Don’t worry Starlight, I will make sure he doesn’t get to you no matter what.” Rosalina reassures her.
~~~
Rosalina and (Your Name) decided to go to the vibrant and hip Toadstool Cafe where they would get a bite to eat before heading to Coconut Mall to do some shopping.
Rosalina orders the Teriyaki Chicken & Super Star Rice while (Your Name) gets the Fire Flower Spaghetti & Meatballs. While they were waiting for their food, they took the time to update each other about their individual lives.
“So (Your Name), has dad ever mentioned good or bad things about me?” (Your Name) pauses.
“He never talks about you at all.” Rosalina was not surprised but felt a little disappointed that he had not changed.
20 minutes later, their food arrives and they dig in.
After they finish their meals, Rosalina excuses herself to go to the powder room. Rosalina had the powder room all to herself as nobody was present. She washes her hands first, then looks in the mirror for any food stains on her dress. She sighs in relief when she sees none.
By the time she looks away from the mirror, a
Chloroform cloth is quickly placed over her face. She tries to scream but she passes out quickly from the smell.
30 mins has passed, (Your Name) plays with her silverware waiting for Rosalina to return. She gets frustrated from the long wait so she gets up to check the bathroom.
“Rosalina, are you still in there?” (Your Name) said. She enters inspecting the entire room slowly hoping to find any trace of her. When she sees Rosalina is not there, she begins to realize something might be wrong. She pays for the bill and hurries out of the restaurant.
When (Your Name) goes outside, she sees Rosalina’s Comet Observatory sitting on the ground next to the cafe. “The observatory is still here, she didn’t leave me behind.” She climbs up the observatory and searches for Rosalina.
The Comet Observatory is dead quiet, not a single luma to be seen. (Your Name) is checking every room in no particular order, just wishing she could see if she was alright. Her vision is quickly obstructed and is picked up by the inside of a burlap sack. As she struggled to get free, she could hear the sound of a wand being waved. (Your Name) passes out due to the lack of oxygen.
~~~
(Your Name) slowly opens her eyes and finds herself in a dark cinder block room surrounded by lava. “Oh no, am I in Bowser’s castle?” She said to herself, feeling scared.
“No princess, you're in my castle, my home sweet home.” (Your Name) knew that voice from anywhere, she turned to Larry, looking as angry as ever. As (Your Name) emphasized how much she does not want to be here, Larry’s mind wanders to the day they first met.
It seemed like yesterday when Bowser was teaching Larry to kidnap, and the unlucky person happened to be (Your Name). They crossed paths in Grassland when Larry was searching for a girl to kidnap, but he did not expect to fall in love with the girl of the same age as him, fishing at a pond.
After he kidnaps her by grabbing her and bringing her to his tower, he was trying to get to know her, but not without some resistance on her end. Therefore, after her escape, he resorted to stalking her until he got the information he wanted.
Now he has her right where he wanted her. He has the love of his life in his grasp.
“Are you even listening to me!?” (Your Name) shouted, snapping him out of his trance.
“I told you that we would be together forever, unless you don’t want anything bad to happen to your sister.” Larry threatens. A cage then descends revealing a distressed Rosalina.
“Rosa!”
“Starlight!”
“Once and for all,” Larry continues, “Be mine or Rosalina gets dipped in scorching hot lava.”
(Your Name) desperately thinks of a way to save Rosalina without giving in so easily. She thinks about the time Larry bragged about how good he is at sports and competitions. She thinks of how she could use that against him.
“I have a better idea, we can kart race for it instead.”
“Go on…”
“If I win, you let the both of us go,” (Your Name) continued, “if you win… you can take me instead.”
“No (Your Name), don’t do this...” Rosalina said while shaking her head.
“I love the way you think (Your Name), I accept.” Larry responded a little too joyfully.
~~~
(Your Name) and Larry take their positions for a one-on-one race in Rainbow Road.
While they are starting their engines, Larry blows an air kiss to (Your Name). She grabs it, then throws it on the ground and pretends to spit on it. Larry only winks at her, unfazed by her action.
Lakitu shows up to initiate the race. He counts down with his fingers down to three, two, one, then waved his hand down, and the two racers take off. The first lap was pretty slow with Larry and (Your Name) being neck to neck.
The second lap is where things start getting intense. (Your Name) gets a Bullet Bill, but it gets stolen by Larry’s Boo item, and he uses it for himself. Larry holds onto the lead, leaving behind a stressed (Your Name). The next time she receives an item box, it gives (Your Name) a triple Mushroom. With that item, she decides to take a chance by taking a risky shortcut. She uses the mushrooms and launches to the air, she was so close to the edge but missed it and fell.
Lakitu lifts her back on the track and she grinds her kart against the floor to gain a boost. Larry drives smoothly on the track and feels enthusiastic as he holds a comfortable lead, he fantasizes about having (Your Name) as his girlfriend but suddenly gets struck by lightning and shrinks down in size. Larry drives very slow for a while with him being small, by the time he goes back to his normal size, (Your Name) passes him and taunts him as she passes the finish line, triggering the third and final lap.
They are neck and neck again, suspensefully waiting for their item from the box. Larry receives a coin and gets huffy, while (Your Name) gets a Crazy Eight. She uses it right away, she turns invincible briefly and hits against Larry’s kart causing him to crash temporarily. (Your Name) now holds the lead and retains it for the rest of the last lap.
She starts celebrating a little early when she gets close to the finish line. However, she hears an alarm which could only mean one thing, her heart stops metaphorically as the accursed Blue Shell rushes to her. It swirls around her in the air, as it pauses, it hits her, right when she is a few inches away from the finish line. Before she could get her kart to start back up, Larry passes the finish line. Larry has won the race that compromised her life.
“This can’t be…” (your Name) said to herself.
“Yes! I won!” Larry cheered, he pressed on the brakes to his kart to strike a pose so (Your Name) could see him when she stopped her kart.
“You know what this means Princess? We will be together forever.” Larry said, putting more emphasis on the forever part. (Your Name) just hung her head low.
‘At least Rosalina will be safe.’ She thought to herself. To her, it felt like hours returning to his castle.
~~~
It was a long and hard goodbye for (Your Name) and Rosalina, but Rosalina promises her that she’ll visit as much as she can. As Rosalina leaves, (Your Name) slowly turns her head to look at Larry and he looks at her for a second. He notices her expression is glum, he did not like seeing her like that.
“Why must you be so sad? I can make you really happy.” Larry said.
“I could never be happy being with you.” (Your Name) retorted.
“Ouch.” Larry looks down, looking defeated. He looks back up to her and says, “I wish you could see me for who I really am, not just as the villain Bowser made me to be.”
“You mean Bowser made you this way?” (Your Name) asked.
“Yeah. Deep down I’m just a guy who loves to play sports and video games.” Larry said.
“No way, I didn’t know you loved to play video games. I was practically raised by them myself, mostly because my dad didn’t love me and didn’t want to deal with me all the time.” (Your Name) vented.
“Wow, I did not know that. I’m sorry that your dad didn’t love you. I never knew my real dad. I was raised by Bowser and he wasn’t always around that much either.” Larry explained.
“I’m so sorry Larry.” (Your Name) sympathized, “Maybe we have a lot more in common than I thought.”
“So… sorry for kidnapping you and for the blue shell, I just really like you a lot and I didn’t want to lose you.” Larry apologized.
“It’s okay, no hard feelings.” (Your Name) said.
~~~
Four months later, Rosalina finally has the time to go visit (Your Name). Her head gets wrapped around thinking of the mental state (Your Name) could be in. She wouldn’t be surprised, but would be upset if she ended up depressed.
Rosalina and (Your Name) are to meet with each other at Electrodome. Rosalina politely moves past the dancing patrons, getting stopped by large crowds a couple of times. She looks up to the main dance floor and finds (Your Name) and Larry dancing with each other, seeing that they seem to be genuinely having a good time.
(Your Name) sees Rosalina and waves to her, running to her to give her a hug. Larry follows behind (Your Name) and greets Rosalina to which she returns the greeting.
“Oh Starlight, you have no idea how much I missed you. Are you doing okay?” Rosalina said.
“I missed you too Rosa, and I’m doing great, never been better.” (Your Name) said.
“Larry hasn’t been giving you any trouble has he?” Rosalina asked.
“No, not at all, Larry and I are doing great. Turns out we have a lot in common and we make a great team.”
“He’s not forcing you to do anything you don’t want to do is he?”
“Of course not. In fact, my biggest regret was not giving him a chance sooner.”
“I assure you Rosalina, your half sister is in good hands.” Larry said, “Why don’t you come dance with us?” Rosalina accepted and when the next song played, she danced with them.
When the slow part of the song plays, (Your Name) gives Larry a kiss on the cheek and he blushes.
“I’m having a good time with you tonight, and P.S., I love you (Your Name).” Larry professed.
“Me too, and I love you too Larry.” (Your Name) said.