Chapter 1 The Ice Cream Issue

Bowser Koopa Jr. The heir to the throne of the Koopa Kingdom and the only biological son of King Bowser Koopa Senior. Bowser Jr, or simply Junior as the Koopalings like to call him, has a reputation for being quite the character. This is because his father loves him. One could even say that he worships the ground he walks on. That, unfortunately, is not a good thing.

Junior has a snobby and spoiled attitude that is hard for many to overlook. Even Bowser himself will admit that his son is spoiled like a carton of unrefrigerated milk. This is one of the reasons why the Koopalings tend to avoid him as best that they can. The other reason is the fact that Junior does not see them as equals. If he were to interact with them at all, he would treat them as nothing more than servants.

This was showcased on the one fateful day that is unlikely to fall out of the Koopalings' memories anytime soon.

The day got off to a pretty normal start. Iggy and Lemmy were in Iggy's lab, and Iggy was showing something to his orange shelled brother. He was pouring different types of liquids, such as honey and laundry detergent, into a test tube. The honey sank to the bottom while the water, dish detergent, and other liquids rested on top of it. Lemmy stared at the tube with wide eyes as Iggy explained what was going on.

"It is due to the greater density of the honey," he said. "It is very rudimentary science, but it still makes for an intriguing display."

"Cool!" said Lemmy. He started to giggle. "You know Iggy, I'd say that is really 'tubular.'" Lemmy's giggling accentuated. "Get it?"

Iggy considered this. Tubular? The word sounded slightly familiar, but it certainly wasn't present in his vocabulary.

"Not really," Iggy said after some brief consideration.

"Yeah me neither; I was hoping you would," said Lemmy with a frown. It was then that the door to the lab burst open. Iggy and Lemmy looked up the stairs and saw prince Bowser Jr at the top, looking rather cross.

"Good morning, Jr!" said Lemmy with a warm smile. "How are you feeling today?"

"I'm hungry," Jr said. "I want you guys to get me some ice cream."

Lemmy and Iggy exchanged a look.

"Oh," said Iggy. "I don't...I don't believe we have any."

Junior's scowl narrowed.

"Well then why don't you go out to the store and get me some?" he asked with an irritated tone.

Iggy gulped. Junior was infamous for throwing temper tantrums when he didn't get his way. Iggy knew that in order to avoid that, he would have to explain himself as best he could.

"Well, I was just taking a break from my research so I could show Lemmy something," he explained in as easy a tone he could muster.

"It's actually really neat, Junior!" said Lemmy. "When you pour honey and dish detergent into a test tube, the honey sinks to the bottom and the water floats on top!"

"I don't care about the stupid honey, you midget!" Junior said.

The smile fell from Lemmy's face. Junior only called him midget when he was really cranky.

"All I care about is the ice cream!" Junior stormed. "Now, are you going to get it for me or not?"

"I'm sorry Junior," said Iggy. "But Lemmy and I are preoccupied at the moment."

The angry scowl on Junior's face became dark and foreboding. It was as if a thunder cloud was brewing above his head. Then, Junior took the test tube full of liquid in his hands and smashed it to the floor. Iggy and Lemmy stared at the damp, gooey mess of liquid and shards as Junior ran from the lab.

Junior walked down one of the hallways, looking for the other Koopalings. If Iggy and Lemmy wouldn't oblige to his wishes, surely someone ought to, right? Suddenly, he heard shouts of joy coming from Larry's room. He looked in and saw that Larry, Morton, Wendy, and Roy were sitting in front of Larry's TV, playing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. As Junior entered the room, Larry gave a whoop of delight.

"First place! Again!" he said. Roy scowled.

"It's only because we're playing on Electrodrome," he said. "You're obsessed with that course."

Larry only chuckled.

"Say what you want," he said. "The results screen speaks for itself."

Roy playful lunged at his competitive younger brother and gave him a noogie. Wendy laughed while Morton just sat there stoically.

"Why don't we switch to battle mode?" Wendy asked. "We've been racing for a while now."

Larry smiled.

"Good idea," he said. "That way I can kick your guys' butts in not just one mode but two!"

Junior, who hated being ignored, cleared his throat. The Koopalings turned toward him. Larry and Roy did their best to hold back groans while Wendy gave Junior a smile.

"What's going on, crown prince?" she asked.

Normally, Junior would've been ecstatic that one of the Koopalings had called him "crown prince" in a respectful way. Right now, though, he was feeling agitated.

"I've been wanting some ice cream for the past...gazillion hours!" he said. "I want you guys to get me some right now!"

"Oh, sorry bud," said Larry. "But we're in the middle of a game."

"Can't your stupid game wait!" Junior said, his rage boiling over. Roy felt appalled.

"Um, excuse me," he said. "But are you calling Mario Kart 8 Deluxe stupid?"

"Yeah," said Junior. "It's as stupid as you are, Fatty!"

Now Roy was really mad. He stormed over to Junior. Before he could get to him though, Morton stood up and held his hand in front of his brother.

"Alright, alright," Morton said. He then turned to Junior. "Junior, why don't you go ask someone else?"

"Yeah, I think that I will," Junior replied. "I wouldn't want lazy pigs like you guys to serve me, anyway!"

The Koopalings gawked at their adopted brother as he stormed out of the room. Junior marched down the hallway, his anger growing with each passing moment. Why wouldn't the Koopalings listen to him?

Oh well. At least there was still one Koopaling who Junior hadn't asked yet.

…

Ludwig was in his and Lemmy's room, cleaning. As much as he loved his brother, Ludwig thought that Lemmy was a complete slob. This was a stark contrast to how Ludwig usually liked to keep his room; neat and orderly. So, he was folding up a blanket and cleaning up the trash telekinetically. All the while, he was listening to his TV, which was tuned in to a game show.

"Alright, now this question is worth ten million points, so if you get this, you win the game," said the host. "Who is Mario's brother?"

"Luigi," Ludwig said instantly.

The contestant hesitated.

"Uh...um."

"Remember, you only have a minute to come up with an answer," said the host.

Ludwig sat down on his bed.

"You...cannot be serious," he said.

"Uhhh….wait, wasn't it that goomba?" the contestant asked himself.

"Oh, come on!" Ludwig yelled at the screen. "You live in the Mushroom Kingdom; this is like general knowledge!"

"You've got ten seconds; you'd better think fast!" the host said.

Ludwig leaned forward on his bed. The camera zoomed in on the contestant's face. Ludwig could see beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

"Princess Peach?" he asked. The buzzer went off in the background.

"Oh, sorry, better luck next time," said the host.

Ludwig turned off the TV. He sat there, shaking his head and chuckling.

"What an idiot," he said with a grin.

Suddenly, Ludwig heard a knock on the door. He got up and opened it, only to be run over by Junior's screams.

"LUDWIG!" Junior bellowed. "I WANT YOU TO GET ME ICE CREAM, AND I WANT YOU TO DO IT NOW!"

Ludwig stared at the seven year old prince in his doorway.

"Oh hey Junior, nice to see you too," he said sarcastically.

Junior scoffed and entered Ludwig's room, much to the latter's chagrin.

"Oh, sure you can come into my room," Ludwig said. "Just make sure you stay off of my…"

Ludwig turned around and saw that Junior had plopped himself down on Ludwig's bed.

"...bed."

"Ludwig, I am so hungry right now," Junior whined. "I want ice cream. Will you get it for me? None of those other rotten koopas that you have the insanity to call siblings said they would."

Bright blue flames started to dance around Ludwig's hands. Ludwig was unique in that his pyrokinetic and electricity manipulating powers always made themselves known whenever he was angry. Ludwig let out a small breath.

"Junior," he said as calmly as he could, "I'm kind of busy at the moment, in case you haven't noticed." Suddenly, Ludwig's eyes grew wide. "Hey, leave those alone!"

Junior had a bunch of papers in his hands. They were some of Ludwig's songs.

"What do we have here?" Junior asked. "'Symphony Number 33?' I'd be ashamed to be assigning numbers after ten."

"Put. Those. Down. Right. Now." Ludwig growled as electricity started to crackle around him.

Junior gave his blue haired brother a look.

"Make me, Poofy," he said.

Ludwig lunged for the songs and grabbed a hold of them. He tried to yank them out of Junior's hands, but Junior wouldn't have any of that. He tugged back on the papers, and they tore. A look of horror came across Ludwig's face.

"You ruined them!" he shouted, his voice breaking.

"I don't give a mouser's tail about your stupid songs!" Junior said. "Because there is one thing that I want you to understand. I am the prince here! I am the heir to the throne of the Koopa Kingdom! So you had better do what I say, or you are going to be mighty sorry. Do you hear me, Ludwig Vanessa?"

Ludwig, who absolutely hated it when people used his real middle name, gave Junior a scowl. Then, he picked up the young koopa prince and threw him out the door. Ludwig would admit this this was unlike him, but with people like Junior sometimes force was the only way to get the message across. Once Ludwig slammed the door, Junior started to pout.

"Ohh, will no one get me ice cream?" he asked. That was when he sprawled himself out on the floor and started to have a massive temper tantrum. He kicked and screamed and created quite a ruckus. Everyone in the castle was able to hear him, and he was not producing a pleasing sound. Bowser in particular was not happy with this. So, he stormed into the hallway where his son was, anger prevalent on his face.

"JUNIOR!" he yelled. "THRONE ROOM! NOW!"

Junior swore under his breath, got up, and followed his father to his throne room. The Koopalings, who had heard Bowser's thunderous shout, all left their rooms to see what was going to happen. Bowser only called them into the throne room when they were in trouble, and Junior was never called into the throne room. This was something that the Koopalings just had to see.