A/N: After realizing that my other story was a little on the broad side and I have had a writer's block with that story, I've decided to write another one. I'm much more comfortable with this usual, none of the characters belong to me, they belong to Nintendo. Warning!: Character death at the end of the story!

The Fall of a Crown Prince:Chapter 1

It's another dark, gloomy day within the Valley of Bowser. In the center of it resides one of many of the Koopa King Bowser's castles. Now old King Bowser had children which he had to take care of. Eight children. Right now, we are going to put the focus on his first-born child, his eldest.

The fellow, Ludwig von Koopa, named after the famous composer, Ludwig van Beethoven, was currently in his room upstairs, composing Koopa symphonies on his grand piano. He found comfort in his love for classical music, and he was deeply involved in his composing at the moment to keep his mind off of a situation that has been bothering him lately.

You see, Ludwig being the oldest koopaling, he was declared at a toddler age, by his dad, to be the crown prince, to become the next King of the Koopas when his dad kicked the bucket. The thought of such an enormous responsibility filled Ludwig with such anxiety and nervousness, but after a while, he also began to realize that being king would also be an exhilarating experience. As King of the Koopas, he would rule over everyone in the Darklands, he would do a much better job than his dad did at trying to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom, and after that, possibly have the whole world succumb to his authority. With his sophistication, arrogance, high intelligence, and malicious nature, he fit the part of a good evil king perfectly. For many years, Ludwig had been preparing for his future occupation: researching history of the royal Koopa family, has already graduated from a major university at the age of thirteen, and has been leading his siblings on major plots to take over the Mushroom Kingdom. Everything seemed to be going so well… until Bowser Jr. came along.

Ever since he helped his dad on the attack on Isle Delfino, Bowser has seemed to be favoring Jr. over the rest of his children, which has made Ludwig worry. After all, Jr. seemed to mirror his dad in many aspects. Physically, he looks just like Bowser did when Bowser was just a little kid. Personality-wise, Jr. shared a lot of his dad's traits: he's tough for his age, short-tempered, loves to cause mischief, and especially loves to fight against Mario, his dad's archrival. When Jr. led his older brothers and sister in one of their latest plots to kidnap Princess Peach, which involved a birthday cake, Ludwig already knew that his dad has replaced him, with his youngest sibling. But it wasn't officially confirmed until Ludwig overheard his dad, Jr., and Kamek talking about how Jr. was the spitting image of his dad and was perfect for the role of King of the Koopas, and Bowser told Jr. that he was officially the new crown prince.

When Ludwig overheard this, it severely broke his heart. All his years of preparation for the role of king that was rightfully his, only to be replaced by his bratty, whiny, spoiled youngest brother. Oh, how he felt so betrayed! Every time he thought about Jr. becoming the new crown prince, it utterly repulsed him. He absolutely WAS NOT going to take being ruled over by his little brother. If he must rebel against his father, he would.

As he was putting the finishing touches on his latest symphony, he thought about the many approaches to his situation. I could take the classy approach and talk to Father about it, maybe even show him the horns I've developed over the years, he thought to himself. Out of all of Bowser's children, Jr. was the only one that appeared to ever have any sort of horn development. Wendy, Roy, and Morton were bald, so they couldn't hide horns, and Lemmy and Larry had Mohawks, which were on the center of their heads and couldn't hide horns growing on either side of their head. Iggy, who used to have a rainbow Mohawk, now had lime-green, palm tree-style hair, but even his new hairstyle couldn't hide the growth of horns, considering his hairstyle was still in the center of his head and stuck straight up. Ludwig, on the other hand, had dark blue, wacky, puffy hair that was parted perfectly in the center of his head. It was the perfect hairstyle for hiding any signs of horn development, which was the main reason he wore his hair that way. Actually, at a toddler age, he already began to develop his horns, but because of the way he wore his hair, his father never suspected it and just assumed that Ludwig would never develop horns, like his other siblings. The truth was, Ludwig really would've told his father before, but he was embarrassed of his horns; he believed they made him look like a monster, just like his father, and that everyone would begin to have an immense fear towards him and never pay attention to the sophistication of his ways. But if he showed his father his horns now, then maybe his father would see that he truly had the potential to be king and let him become crown prince again. But he won't listen, Ludwig told himself, He pays too much attention to that little twerp to even consider anything I tell or show him.

I could be like Wendy and throw an enormous temper tantrum until Father gets so annoyed that he decides to make me crown prince again to shut me up!...But, look how immature that makes me appear…Why Father would lose all respect for me, seeing his eldest child having a fit like a mere four year old. Why even Kamek and my siblings would lose respect for me, seeing me act in such a way!

Ludwig then thought about bribes, but his dad wouldn't listen, wouldn't care. He thought about threats, but he knew what his father was capable of, so he knew that wasn't the intelligent thing to do. Then, he thought to himself, he could always just leave the situation be, just let his youngest brother get to boss him around, and he would have to be little Jr.'s slave and let Jr. gain everything that HE desired. And he probably would rule over the kingdom in a similar fashion that Father does. After all, he IS Bowser JR., Ludwig chuckled to himself, then became serious again. But we would be doomed to another reign of poorly done ruling, and I can't let that happen! But I've run out of options. What to do?!

Ludwig got up off of his piano chair and paced back and forth, pondering over his possible options. Finally, one option struck him like a bolt of lightning, but he silently cursed himself for even considering going that low to get what he wanted. But if I go through with this without being found out, then Father would have to make me crown prince! Besides, was it right for Father to replace me with bratty Jr.? ABSOLUTELY NOT!

Ludwig walked over to his nightstand and rummaged through the top drawer. He pulled out a rather large, very sharp kitchen knife. He guiltily scrunched up his face in anguish, "This feels so wrong…" but then his face turned up in a sadistic smile, and his eyes glowed with a devious aura. "but it feels so right!" He slowly slid his nightstand drawer back to its original position, placed the knife in a pouch to keep it from slicing him as he placed it inside his shell, and walked out of his room, keeping that same sneaky look on his face, closing and locking his door behind him.