You really thought it was over? It was 'The End…' for a reason ^^

Credit to LuigiWife1551 for this final chapter! You can thank her for this! ^^

Also. This chapter is called Group Encounter.

It was the day after the entire 'Poetry' incident. The children had gathered once again in Kamek's classroom, poems in hand once more, though the composures of each writer greatly varied from the day before.

At the far left end of the seats, Junior and Ludwig were happily chatting away about their gaming session from the previous day, while Wendy, sitting next to Junior, gave him a small smile, happy to have him around. Next to her, Roy and Morton were having a friendly arm wrestling match, with Lemmy cheerfully refereeing and Larry egging them on. The last seat held Iggy, his arms folded, who was oddly silent, and seemed to be deep in thought, an unnerving smirk dominating his features.

Kamek, whose robes were still slightly charred thanks to a certain Koopaling from the day before, cleared his throat for silence, which, of course, didn't work. Therefore, he did the only thing he could do to get their attention: he shot a tiny blast towards the ceiling, which created a loud popping noise. The sudden explosion caused most of the children to jump, and distracted Morton so that Roy was able to easily beat him, flipping him to the floor as his brother's arm weakened.

"Hey! No fair!" Morton whined, rubbing his arm and getting back into his seat.

"There're no rules in arm wrestling," Roy smirked in response, folding his arms, satisfied.

"Alright, settle down," Kamek called out, shushing them. "You're probably wondering what you're doing here today, considering that I said I had nothing planned the day before."

The eight watched him expectantly. He often pulled this trick, faking their expectations, and they'd grown accustomed to his lies.

"Well, I can assure you that I have no homework for you today–" this was, as one would expect, met with cheers from the majority of the children, "–however, there is still something that I would like you to do, relating to the events of the day prior."

His final words received mixed emotions. Some, such as Larry and Morton, seemed slightly nervous, both casting glances at Roy, who appeared nonchalant. Others, namely Ludwig and Lemmy, didn't particularly care. Junior and Wendy both seemed calm about the whole situation, while Iggy shot Kamek an intrigued glance, his disturbing grin slowly fading.

"Now," Kamek turned around, his back to the children, "while you may have chosen to speak to the writer of the poem you were given, this only means that you were able to have a greater understanding of only one or two siblings, as opposed to all seven. Which is why I request that you speak to each other about what you wrote."

The majority of the Koopalings cast each other looks of unease. Sure, confronting one sibling had been challenging enough, but all seven, at the same time, seemed a near impossible feat, and something that none of them really wanted to face. As if to intensify the permanence of the situation, Kamek waved his wand and the door slammed shut. Eight magic bars slide horizontally over the door, preventing any additional access.

"This is obligatory," he added sternly, knowing that some of them may try to skip out while his back was turned. "Whether you read your assignment aloud or not is up to you. But it is non-negotiable that you share your sentiments with your kin."

"But why? What does it matter?" Junior whined, "What if we don't want to?"

"Then you can stay here. All of you. Whether you express your emotions to each other or not. And, to prevent frustration, whispering your feelings will not work. Having all of your siblings ears plugged will not work. You must speak it to all, all must speak, and all must hear it." Kamek raised his wand, preparing to teleport.

"So even eef von of us does not speak up, every von of us must remain here?" Ludwig questioned.

"That is exactly right. Though, as somewhat of a leeway, I will not be in the room. Nor will I be listening in. The purpose is for you to understand each other and grow to work as a team. My presence is not required. And it isn't like you can leave, anyway." With that ominous thought, and a cruel smirk, Kamek, who planned to enjoy the self-given 'day off', warped out of the room, leaving nothing but irritation behind.

Larry groaned, tossing his head back. "You've gotta be kidding me."

Wendy turned to Ludwig. "You're the best at magic. Can't you get us out of here?"

Ludwig let out a sigh. "I left my vand een my room," he replied, "Undt I am not adept enough at using my abilities vithout eet as of yet."

Roy growled with a roll of his eyes. "Of course you're not. If you weren't so busy wasting your time on terrible music, if you can even call it that, we wouldn't be in this mess."

Morton and Ludwig exchanged a glance, and the older donned a smirk. "Oh, but I know zhat eez not how you really feel about it."

The pink-headed koopaling frowned. "If you're implyin' that I actually like those ear-grating sounds, you've got another thing coming."

Now it was Ludwig's turn to scowl. "I do not see vhy you continue vith insults vhen you're lying about zhem."

Roy stood up, cracking his knuckles. "Who's lyin'? I dare ya to say that to my face again."

Ludwig got to his feet, and stood snout to snout with his brother. "Simple. Morton told me zhat –"

"Morton?" Roy snarled, looking past Ludwig, "You little blabbermouth!"

The Koopa in question held up his hands. "W-wait a minute Roy! I didn't say anything about you at all to Ludwig! Not a thing! That's not what he's talking about!"

The musician looked between them, confused. "…vhat did you zhink he said…?"

Roy ignored the two of them. "I'm gonna pound you into DUST!"

Larry stepped between the two of them. "Okay, okay, just calm down, guys. The more we fight, the longer we're gonna be stuck in here."

Wendy scoffed. "Oh, of course, you've always got to be the little peace-maker. Just get off of it, Larry. You're the one who always steals our things and is sneaking around!"

"Speakin' of…" Roy turned his attention to the light blue-haired brother, rage emanating from his glasses. "I saw you two snickering and looking at me last night. You told him what I said, didn't you?"

Larry shook his head. "Roy, you're overreacting. We weren't talking about you."

Morton tilted his head in confusion. "Yeah we were…"

"MORTON! Why don't you ever just shut up?"

Roy attempted to leap at them, but was held back by Ludwig and Junior. "I'm gonna destroy you both!" The two of them squeaked and hid behind the chairs as Junior attempted to calm him down.

"Roy, relax, I'm sure that they didn't say anything rude about you!"

"Oh shut up, ya clone!"

"Hey!" Junior growled, infuriated, and chomped down on his hand, which did next to nothing to his tougher brother.

Iggy simply held his position, smirking at the entire scene, but not bothering to look at it.

"LEMME AT 'EM!"

"Roy, calm DOWN."

"I am NOT a clone!"

"Yeah you are, shrimp. No wonder Daddy loves you best!"

"Seriously, Morton, just keep your mouth shut for once!"

"Hey, you were lying! I was just trying to be honest and clear things up! Because honesty is the best policy!"

"I'll break your FACES!"

"ENOUGH of zhis alvready!"

"Hey it's not my fault I'm the favourite and you can't get whatever you want, you drama queen!"

"Ooooh you little BRAT! That is SO it. I'm SO telling Daddy on you when we get out of here!"

"Yeah, well, lying would've prevented our lives from being in danger! Why do you even open your mouth?"

"Hey no need to be mean! I just wanted to help!"

The arguments continued, and the tension in the room rose and rose, right until the moment when one tiny voice overpowered them all.

"I WANT MY FAMILY TO BE HAPPY!"

All arguments ceased, and all eyes turned to look at the source of the voice. It was none other than Lemmy, who stood on a chair facing his family members, with tears streaming down his face, and a startlingly ominous anger in his eyes.

"I know we can't always get along, but that doesn't mean we always have to fight!" Lemmy bawled, allowing his eyes to close most of the way in order to see in a clearer fashion through his tears. "You're always fighting and it makes me sad! That's why I made my poem so happy! Everything's sad and mad and bad all the time and I'm just so sick of it!"

Lemmy allowed himself to collapse into the chair, and he hugged his legs, allowing the sobs to rock his body as he rest his head on his knees.

One by one, the others slowly allowed their angry emotions drain out of them, replaced by a sense of guilt, for the most part. It was Larry who allowed himself to approach the smallest first.

"…hey…" He kneeled next to Lemmy's chair, and placed a hand gently on his shoulder, a small, sad smile on his face. "I know we fight a lot… it's not right… but that's why we need you around. You're the one who always brings a smile to our faces. So where's that smile, big bro?"

Lemmy tilted his head up a little to look into Larry's eyes. "It's gone forever. You b-broke it with all of y-your arguments."

Larry looked over at the others, alarmed. They exchanged looks, unsure of what to say, but to their surprise, it was Wendy who spoke up first.

"Just think of all the things you like," she suggested, offering an encouraging grin. "Penguins, bombs, ice worlds, your hair… and… what's it called… your citrus mall?"

Lemmy let out a little giggle at her mistake. "No, silly… circus ball." He sniffled and wiped his eyes on his arm. He smiled a bit, ever so slightly, and nodded at his sister. "Thanks, Wendy."

Behind them, the orange beam that was second from the top vanished with the sound of a deactivating laser.

Ludwig folded his arms, taking his place once more. "It appears zhat von of ze beams is gone. Now only seven remain."

They each took their seats again: Larry sat on the far left, next to Lemmy, as Wendy sat on the smallest's other side. Morton took his place next to her, followed by Ludwig, Roy, with arms folded, Junior, and finally Iggy, who hadn't moved since they had begun.

It was silent for a few minutes, until Larry finally spoke up. "So… who's gonna go next…?"

"Lemmy's the only one who wanted to go," Roy shrugged, "Why should the rest of us speak up if we don't want to?"

No one was willing to volunteer. Lemmy had gone back to his happy state, though still in the fetal position on his seat, looking from one Koopa to another.

A reluctant sigh finally made its way into the room. "Fine. If no one else is willing to go first, I'll do it."

The others looked up to the owner of the voice, who had their head down, arms folded, and eyes shut. Larry looked up at them with a small sense of resentment for having to go first out of the seven. But he knew deep down that if he didn't go, they'd be stuck here for a very long time. So he might as well get it over with.

"This kinda has to do with Lemmy's comment, but I'm also sick of us fighting all the time." He held up a hand to prevent them from speaking up, most notably Roy and Ludwig. "I get that I don't always cooperate with you either, and I'm gonna try and work on that. I just… want us to be more of a family, ya know? I want us to be united instead of fighting all the time and falling apart." He turned to Roy. "It's like one of those times that you shattered one of Iggy's inventions. We're kind of all broken apart… but with some care and time… we can work together again."

"That sounds really corny, Larry," Wendy scoffed, "…but… I guess you kinda have a point…"

Larry nodded. "I know why Kamek's doing this to us. We'll work better together if we understand each other more. Right now, we're practically strangers… related strangers. I know it sounds weird, and stupid, but it's pretty much true. Even just once in a while if we take the time to get to know each other more… our bonds will be stronger."

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard," Roy snarled, "These 'bonds', or whatever, don't make ya stronger. Training does. Why do ya think I can whip your sorry tails no problem? Because I train so hard."

"Sure, training plays its part," Larry countered, "But without bonds, we're not united. Why do you think Mario and Luigi beat us all the time? Because they're united, and they can work together, because their bonds are so strong."

"Still sounds real stupid…" Roy spat, becoming silent once more.

The second lowest beam, a light blue, vanished, the same as the first.

"Well, that's two down," Junior noticed, looking behind them, "So who's next?"

"Not me," Wendy drawled, looking down at her nails, "I don't want to go second."

"Technically third," Iggy finally spoke up, causing some of them to jump. They had almost forgotten he was there.

"I guess I'll go!" Morton nodded, straightening in his chair. The others groaned. They'd prefer to sit in silence.

"Oh just stop it!" His positive mood quickly vanishing, he bared his teeth at each and every one of them. "Why are you always telling me to shut up and getting mad if I talk? I mean, seriously! Don't you realize how frustrating it can be to constantly get shot down when you want to voice your opinions? Like, Ludwig, what about when you're playing your music at three in the morning and you get frustrated when we tell you to stop? Or Iggy, when you start acting like Chompella to get a sense of how she feels about things, how do you feel when we call you a freak? And Wendy, what about the time that you sent your 27th so-called boyfriend 58 text messages asking about a date and he never responded until the last one where he broke up with you?"

Ludwig and Iggy seemed surprised that he would mention these things, while Wendy looked down in embarrassment.

"You know that those can go both ways, right?" Junior cocked an eyebrow.

"I'm just saying that it's frustrating and it really hurts. It makes me feel like I'm never allowed to express myself and that you don't care about me."

There was a moment of uncertain silence, and Morton filled it with a quiet but audible mutter:

"…mom always wanted to hear me talk…"

The levels of awkwardness skyrocketed after that comment, and no one knew what to say to him.

Finally, Lemmy spoke up. "Well… there's always too much of a good thing… like chocolate cake! So it's good you talk, Morton, but not good if you talk too much. It can hurt your throat, too, but you must be able to hold your breath for a really, really, long time!"

His siblings stared at him, dumbfounded. Had Lemmy just said something… intelligent?

Lemmy laughed at their expressions. "I'm happy, not stupid! I don't always know what to say, but sometimes I do!"

Morton nodded. "Thanks, Lemmy! I guess I can try to talk a little less. My throat does hurt sometimes, anyway."

Lemmy's grin widened, happy that he had helped. The tension in the room lowered, and everyone was curious to see who would speak up next as the brown beam vanished from the door.

There was a little bit of silence, and finally Roy let out a moan, getting to his feet and facing the door. "This is so pointless. I'm outta here."

Ludwig frowned and stood up after him. "Eet's pointless to try to escape. You know very vell vhat Kamek reqvires of us."

"Oh forget that senile moron!" Roy retorted, standing in front of the exit, "This whole thing is just a huge waste of time. We're not gonna get any stronger by sitting around and talking about our feelings." Roy attempted to turn the knob, but the metal singed his hand.

"Roy, zhat eez enough. Come back and sit down so zhat ve can continue zhis and leave zhis place in ze vay zhat ve vere instructed."

The strongest Koopaling tried to break down the door, to no avail, as expected, and he only ended up burning his shoulder. "Oh, what-EV-er. Just because you're the oldest doesn't mean you get the right to boss us around, and it definitely doesn't mean that we have to listen to you!"

The others slowly sank in their seats as they watched Ludwig's face darken intensely, and braced themselves for impact. Smoke poured from his nostrils, and any attempts to calm him down were futile. As Roy was reading a fireball, Ludwig charged, throwing him away from the door and pinning him onto the ground. Roy shot the fireball in surprise, and narrowly missed melting Ludwig's marvelous mane. The musician's face was twisted into one of utmost fury, and though he bared his teeth he said no words. Taking a moment to assess the situation, the pink-headed Koopaling gathered his strength and kicked the oldest off of him, and readied himself to fight after rolling to his knees. Never one to take the first hit, Roy charged at his brother, who had backed up considerably from the initial hit. Ludwig, narrowing his eyes, slid his right leg behind the rest of his body, and moved so that his left shoulder would be the first place of impact. He didn't move from this position until Roy was nearly upon him, and when the pink bullet train was close enough, he tilted his body to the right to avoid contact, and, grabbing Roy's left shoulder in one fluent motion, he spun his brother and forced him to slam head first into the wall. Dazed, Roy turned around so his shell was against the classroom wall, and moved to put a hand on his forehead, but his motion was cut off by Ludwig slamming into him, left arm pressing hard against his throat, forcing him to be still, besides him moving his hands up to Ludwig's arm in an attempt to remove the restraint.

"Now. You vill listen to me," Ludwig hissed, putting his face mere millimetres from his brother's, and showing his fangs once more. "I am tired of your challenges. Undt do you honestly zhink zhat I vant to be zee eldest?"

Roy stopped struggling against his brother. "…well… yeah. You get all the perks… I thought it was great being the oldest!"

"NO! Eet eez not 'great'! I am tired of ze responsibility and expectations, even zough I am not reqvired to become King! Should Junior perish, I vould become next in line for ze zrone! And I do not vant zhat responsibility!"

Larry, and Morton exchanged nervous glances, while Lemmy looked like he was about to cry again. Wendy, who had left her seat to be next to Junior when the tussle had begun, gripped each his hand, out of the fear created by Ludwig's rage, and the reassurance that she would protect him if he went out of control. Iggy's face darkened slightly at his comment, though no one seemed to notice.

"I may have been fine vith eet at ze beginning," Ludwig continued, noticing Roy's endeavor to argue with him as the younger sibling tried to open his mouth, an angry yet pained expression on his face, "But after I became of greater age and expectancies vere placed on me, I realized zhat I vould not be able to handle everyzing. Even now I struggle to balance my schedule. Vhen I strive to follow orders and lead us in battle, you insist on fighting vith me every step of ze vay! Zhen vhen ve return vithout victory, who eez ze von who eez roared at for failure? Definitely not you! Zerefore, take your pride and svallow eet. Because I am done vith you and your criticisms. Go see Kamek undt ask for him to change our birth orders again. I vill most certainly be relieved."

His fury spent, Ludwig slowly released Roy, the latter falling to the ground and rubbing his neck in a coughing fit, glaring under his shades. Ludwig took his place once more, refusing to glance at anyone, and Roy stayed on the floor, not wanting to see or be seen.

"Oh the trials of being oldest," Iggy taunted suddenly, once more startling the rest of the group. "I'll have you know, I couldn't care less for birth orders. In fact, it may come as a surprise to you, but I don't care. At all. I didn't care when Junior became the favourite. I didn't care when our birth orders were switched. I didn't care about being middle child. And I still don't. It's all so frivolous to argue about something that you have no control over. Who cares who the oldest is? I've got more important things to do than waste my life complaining about where I am in the line for the throne, or who's in charge. So while you all argue about favourites, and being loved, and becoming ruler, I've been focusing on my inventions and bettering ourselves for battle. Because that's the only thing I really care about."

When it came to Iggy, everyone always approached with great caution. You could never know what he was thinking, or planning. This was no exception. And while there was still an air of unease about him, hearing him say that he didn't care put a good amount of relief on the others. Probably not as much as it should have, given the circumstances, but still enough for them to feel a bit more comfortable around their eccentric brother.

Simultaneously, the light green and dark blue beams disappeared from in front of the door. Only the forest green, pink, and purple beams remained. The room once again fell silent. Roy stood up and took his seat again, this time forcing Larry to switch places with him so that he wouldn't have to sit next to Ludwig. Junior took Wendy's seat between Lemmy and Morton, while Wendy stayed next to Larry and Iggy.

"It's… nice to see that you don't hate me because of becoming the favourite, Iggy," Junior spoke up timidly, "I get really nervous that you all just hate me and don't really view me as part of the family."

"Whaaaaat?" Morton gawked at him, "Why would we ever think that? Once a Koopa, always a Koopa! All for one and one for all, and all that jazz!"

"I know… I just don't feel as close with you guys as the rest of you do with each other," Junior admitted, disappointed in himself.

"You're only five," Larry shrugged. "We've all put up with each other for over six years already. Plus you don't get a lot of time to hang with us, what with all the things King Dad takes you on, like sports and adventures."

"We love you though, Junior!" Lemmy grinned widely, hugging him.

"It just feels like I've sacrificed being closer to you with spending time with Papa, and I want to be close to you all."

"Junior, ve don't hate you. You know zhis. Undt ve're becoming closer right now," Ludwig was calm enough now to speak up, and even smiled at the youngest. "Eet vill take time. Eet alvays does. But zhat eez somezing ve have a lot of."

Junior smiled softly, until Wendy voiced her opinion. "…actually, Junior, I have a confession to make…"

The others turned to her curiously, but none were prepared for the next words that came from her mouth:

"I do hate you."

There were a few gasps in the room, and everyone looked at her, wide-eyed. She looked down at her lap with a sad smile.

"Or at least, I did, until yesterday. I was so mad that you'd taken my place as the favourite, and that you basically had everything I wanted. I guess I was just… jealous of you, of the fact that you had so much of Daddy's love, and it wasn't even conditional, or done to avoid a headache from a tantrum. But… yesterday Lemmy taught me to be happy with all that I have, and what I've lost is so small compared to what I've gained. I lost being Daddy's favourite, but I've gained a brother…" She looked him in the eyes pleadingly, "I wouldn't trade you for anything, Junior. I just hope you can forgive me for feeling the way I have."

The youngest stared at her, but quickly nodded. "Of course! I just hope that you want me in your family!"

Wendy grinned teasingly, "Of course I do! You're so much fun to dress up!"

Junior facepalmed, and the others, minus Roy, let out a small peal of laughter. Just as the ones before them, the pink and forest green beams ceased to block the doorway.

Only the purple remained.

The laughter died down, and everyone soon shifted their gaze to the only Koopaling that hadn't yet spoken their emotions, the one who sat stubbornly in his chair with a defiant look upon his face.

"…it looks like you're the last one to go, Roy," Larry began.

"I'm not saying anything. You can get that thought out of your head right now."

"Come on, Roy…" Wendy coaxed, "The sooner you express yourself, the sooner we can get out of here.

"Forget it."

"You're zee only one who hasn't vanted to go," Ludwig shrugged, imitating what Roy had said earlier towards Lemmy, "Vhy should ze rest of us stay here eef ve don't vant to?"

"Oh shut up."

They fell into another long lapse of silence. There were no clocks or windows in the room, so it was impossible to pinpoint how much time had gone by since this whole situation had begun. Some fidgeted in their seats; others watched Roy in hopes that he would give up soon and let them out. Iggy even tried to exit the room, figuring that they didn't need to eliminate all of the beams in order to leave, but to no avail.

The minutes passed, and soon what felt like an hour had dragged itself by. Roy was the most stubborn out of all of them, and it wouldn't be long until they needed to eat, drink, or relieve themselves. They couldn't stay in here forever, so the seven other Koopalings each nodded to one another and proceeded to stare intently at Roy, hoping that he would crack under the peer – or rather, sibling – pressure.

"Watching me isn't gonna work," Roy spat.

Larry was quick to change tactics. "Well, since you're too scared to express yourself, I guess we're stuck here."

"I'm not scared," Roy hissed, "I don't do what I don't want to."

"You're right," Iggy shrugged, "It takes a real man to be able to express himself."

Roy cracked his knuckles. "You tryin' ta insult me?"

"Guess you're not manly enough to be able to do what we did," Morton commented, "Oh well. Not everyone can be men like us."

"I suppose ve vill just have to grow accustomed to your cowardice," Ludwig added.

"Nice try. If you think you're gonna make lies to try to make me defend my pride and give in to what you want, you've got another thing coming."

It was quiet for a few more minutes, until Larry spoke up once more.

"They won't judge you, you know," he stated quietly, "I didn't."

The other six turned to look at him, stunned, as he addressed the hothead.

"You don't need to feel embarrassed, Roy. I know that this sort of thing can be really hard, especially to someone who's not used to it. But we can wait as long as you need us to until you're ready. Don't rush yourself if you don't want to."

There was no reply. Silence reigned once more, and they were out of ideas. As Larry had made note of, Roy wouldn't talk until he was ready, of this they were certain, so they simply sat, bored out of their wits, and some on the verge of dozing off.

Roy finally let out an exasperated sigh. "I just wanna keep you guys safe, alright?"

Everyone was extremely startled when he finally spoke up. Morton nearly tumbled out of his chair, but managed to catch himself.

Ludwig replied first, cautiously, as if stepping on eggshells. Or, in this particular instance, active mines. "Vhat… do you mean, exactly?"

"You'd think someone as 'smart' as you would've figured it out," Roy grumbled, "But I'm tough on you cuz I want you to know I'll keep you safe. Happy now?"

The others, minus Larry, of course, weren't sure how to respond to this. But the purple beam was still glowing strong, much to Roy's frustration, so he kept going.

"Even if you don't think it, I view it as my job to keep you all safe. That means you too, music-for-brains."

Ludwig was taken aback by his words. Here, the one who irritated and argued with him to no end, actually felt the need to protect him. He felt somewhat touched.

"I can sacrifice myself just fine. But I won't let anything happen to any of you."

"…wow, Roy," Junior confessed, "We never thought you'd… care so much."

"Yeah, well… someone's got to…" Roy looked away, embarrassed, as the final beam vanished, and the door opened on its own accord.

Despite this, no one moved.

"Roy…" Larry began, before he was quickly interrupted.

"If any of you even think about using this against me, or start thinking I'm a sap, you're in for a world of hurt, understand?" He showed his fist to each and every one of them.

"…why would we?" Lemmy questioned, tilting his head, "That's probably the bravest thing you've ever done, Roy!"

"Eet eez not a simple task for von to express themselves in such a manner, especially somevon of your caliber," Ludwig added, going forth and putting a hand on his shoulder, "But do not feel zhat you cannot speak to von of us eef you need eet. Much as you are zere for us, ve likevise are zere for you. Perhaps not in ze same respects, but neverzeless, my point still stands."

"Yeah yeah. Let's just get outta here." Roy flung his arms behind his head and sauntered out of the room, with the others soon to follow, one by one, each going their separate ways, yet more united than they had been prior.

Only one remained.

It was none other than Iggy, who'd maintained the same position for the entire period of time that they had been trapped there.

…it appears that I've got more than one thorn in my side, he mused, but these will be dealt with in due time. A cruel smile spread over his face. For now, I wait. They're satisfied with my words… evermore so now that everyone has spoken… we will let time play its part, then I will play mine. And I shall play it well… that, for now, is certain.

Yet while the crafty Koopaling schemed – against who, it is at this point uncertain, whether his family, or someone else – there cannot be denied that he, too, felt a particular closeness with them because of this event.

And the bonds will continue to grow, until the day they become so potent, that nothing short of destruction will be able to rip them apart. Whether this growth takes a short, or extended, period of time, is up to those that form them.

The End… for realsies.

So what'd you all think? I hope this chapter was a pleasant surprise. Again, you can thank LuigiWife1551 for giving me the idea for this. Tell me what you thought, what you liked, what you were disappointed in, whatever. I love reading reviews ^^