The Birthday of a Prince

I shot everyone a jubilant look as they popped up around the room. Luigi, Diddy, and Peach were here too! But where was Dad, Mario, Pete, Adam, DK, and K. Rool? I thought they'd be here?

I shook those thoughts. Maybe I'll see them at home. I wasn't gonna push my luck.

"Oh my god, you guys! This is amazing!" I wiped a tear from my eye. I hugged the nearest person to me, which happened to be Ludwig. He stiffened up, but then hugged back.

"Happy 15 buddy. Thought we forgot?" His joyous, vibrato tone danced in my ear. I grinned, miles wide.

I hurriedly squeezed everyone in the room, including King Boo, who was a bit behindhand.

"You thought us screaming happy birthday was all the birthday consisted of?" Iggy asked as I sat on the couch, processing everything.

"I'm not exactly used to it," I smirked. "What happens now?" I grilled, raising a brow.

He ran a hand through his shaggy viridian colored locks. The emerald sheen coiffure bounced about atop his head.

"There's always presents!" Lemmy butted in.

"And food," Larry, Roy, and Morton simultaneously uttered, fresh saliva pecking their lips, and caressing their snouts.

"Fatasses, " Wendy rolled her eyes, posing for selfies on a pink bean bag in the corner. "Love you too Wen!" Morton bellowed sarcastically in her direction.

"But they're right! There is food! Mario prepared something for us, " Luigi beamed, gesturing all of us to follow him into an open threshold which lead to a gorgeous kitchen that could bring any architect to salivation.

Two trays of some sort of pasta were sitting on the island, and looking behind me, there was an entire table full of wrapped boxes. What were those for?

"Hey, Morton?" I nudged the pudgy koopa's side to grab his attention as we were getting plates.

"Yeah?" He responded, scooping a bit of food onto his plate. Did I say a bit? I misspelled a lot. My plate wasn't even half as full as his.

"What are those boxes for?" I quiz, eyeing the mysterious parcels. I scratched my chin in wonder. He raised a brow. "Those are presents, man. Ever had on-" he shook his head, trying to correct himself. "Save it, " I cut him off before he said anything else.

"After we eat, you can open your gifts! Mario took an hour of preparing this, " Luigi informed, gesturing to the delicious smelling pasta that appeared to be seafood. We all situated ourselves down at the table and began to indulge in the savory meal. I was still getting used to meals of this caliber.

Not even two minutes later-

"That was good!" Morton and Roy announce simultaneously, earning an eye roll from the youngest one in the room. We all snickered as the food everyone else ate sat nearly untouched on my plate. I wanted to force myself to take a few bites, but I think I might throw it up later. I didn't want to throw this delectable meal up, but I didn't want to gain any weight. The lush, cushiony couch that we dined at was circular and had a table in front of it.

"So, taste it!" Peach beckoned happily, waiting for my reaction. As Roy and Morton scurry for seconds, nearly cleaning the second tray, I dip the small spoon into the Italian pasta. I bring it to my lips and nibble a small bite. My eyes light up as I go for a bigger one. Peach smiled, loving how I was enjoying the food. I gave her the thumbs up as I ate, earning a smile from her. Hot DAMN, This was good!

"How are you even eating?" I question boo as I put away my plate. He snickers and holds out his tongue, which was somewhat transparent, nonetheless still coated in food.

"Gross, I get the picture!" I grimaced, shutting the dishwasher tight.

"Come on! About time to rip open some gifts!" Peach exclaimed as everyone finished eating.

"Why'd you only give him a little bit?" As Roy roughly shouldered Lemmy warningly, King Boo's eye twitched and he snatched the smaller koopaling into his grasp. He began to sibilate roughly in his ear. Lemmy's eyes widened in understanding and a small "Oh!" Was mouthed at his lips.

Luigi rolled his eyes and grabbed one and handed it to me. I inhaled as all my brothers and sister crowded around me to see what I got.

"Woah! You guys are the best!" I emit joyously. I got a bike, a skateboard, a few posters, a card with a ton of money, and some keys that I think may have been accidentally dropped into the presents.

————

The boat came to a brief halt, and king boo's eyes hurriedly drifted to me as he floated to the exit. He motioned for me and Roy to follow. We both followed him out and stepped onto a boardwalk. As we kept going, I noticed a huge stone mansion that looked really old.

"That's where I died. That's why its where I live now," King Boo informed while chortling.

"How'd you die?" King Boo looked down. "I got shot," he floated ahead, leaving Roy and me to get there on foot.

"Y'know, he shot himself," Roy picked at the corners of his shades. "I kinda figured. No one would come all this way to shoot him,"

"He really didn't have a life going for him as whatever he was before. He became our uncle as a ghost. So whatever happened back then, he doesn't really tell anyone that," He said. I nodded, praying to every religious figure known to man for a subject change, then a shit-eating grin captured his muzzle.

"Let's swim for it, walking the boardwalk is boring!" Roy said, a dangerous glint in his eye. I rolled my eyes, as he'd already seen me shirtless anyways, so why not? Wait, either way, my clothes would be wet. How would I carry them and swim at the same time?

"What about out our shirts?" I quiz. He haphazardly swung a hand through the air as some sort of reassurance. "Come on!" He urged. "Live a little!" He says, and noticing my non-conforming facial expression, he continued his assurance.

"I'll call Iggy to pick the stuff up, it'll be fine," he assured. I rolled my eyes, and plucked off my shirt, and set my phone on top of the rail on the boardwalk. The house did look more fun to swim over to than to walk to.

"Fine," I said, hopping onto the railing. It wasn't a far jump off.

"That's the spirit!" Roy said, patting my back roughly. I lost my footing and fell into the dark waters. "Shit, are you alright?" he asks, laughing from above. I nodded. I watched as he stuffed his shades into the pockets of his undershorts, clipping them there.

"AHH! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" I shriek from below, a giant cheep cheep fish circling the waters. Roy jumped in with me, creating a big splash and soaking my hair. "Oh, calm down, that there is Toby, Uncle Boo's pet cheep. It's been around ever since he was alive,"

"Why's it so big?" I quiz, looking at the creature as it swims under us, frolicking through the plants in the water. "He LOVES food. Fish here don't get fat and die. They sort of inflate the more they get fed. Boo feeds the thing so much" He explains, throwing something from his shorts out into the air. The cheep bounds high out of the water to catch it, air surfing over the boardwalk. He lands on the other side with the candy, enjoying his tasty treat.

He offers one to me, and I shakily toss the candy bar into the air. Toby swept the sky, capturing the bar within its lips before splashing on the other side of the boardwalk, enjoying another tasty treat. I smiled at Roy and he roughly patted my back. I began to swim toward the large waterside manor. Roy follows, and as I reach the end, I scale the ladder the connects the house and the boardwalk.

I walk through the large dark oak doors to find a huge open room, to find a huge box that had a flatscreen on top of it. Wires spilled out of the box. A red carpet tarped the dark oak floor. Nice furniture coveted the large, abundant space. "Up here, fellas!" King Boo shouted from upstairs.

We made our way up the stairs, where uncle floated in front of some boxes. "I'ma grab the long ones, since I have two nubs for arms, and you get the ones that won't fit. Grab what you can, it shouldn't take more than one trip," we grabbed the most we could and toted it all back to the yacht. Roy called Iggy to get our shirts as promised.

Once we got on, we sat the boxes down in the hallway. Peach was walking down the stair and saw us soaking wet. Water leaked out of Roy's shell. She beckoned us to go downstairs to shower and she'd come back to give us fresh clothes once we were done. Roy agreed to show me where the bathrooms were. I followed him as Peach returned upstairs to find spare clothes.

"How was the swim?" He asked as we trudged down the hallway. I felt the boat begin to move.

As we conversed, we soon hit the bathrooms and went our separate ways to shower. Peach brought us clothes as promised. I got dressed and went out to get my phone from Iggy. Roy arrived and soon later, we all started to play Mario Kart. I beat everyone except Luigi and came first almost every single time. The boat came to a stop, and we all piled into the Tahoe, as Peach and Luigi got in a green Lexus.

We cruised rather calmly down an unfamiliar highway as we conversed lightly amongst each other. Morton was in the back by himself, as Iggy and Lemmy were crouched in the middle so they could talk to everyone more easily. Morton was on his phone, and his snout was closed. He looked kind of sad to me. I navigated from one of the middle seats to the back. His face brightened as soon as he saw me. I started a conversation with him, and since there was so much space for each of us in the back row, I put my feet up in the seat as he talked to me. I quickly learned that he loved to talk and babble about things from his perspective. I learned a lot by talking with him. I started to mess around with my presents from the back as we talked. How generous of them to do this for me!

"Have you ever been on Toad's turnpike?" Morton asked. Oh, so this was a new route! I love exploring! "That's what this freeway is called!" I voiced excitedly.

"Mhmm!" He nodded happily. We took an exit and turned into a neighborhood I've never seen before. We turned into a magnificent looking property. "Taemin, this is Mario's place. Run this in there and you can look around a bit. Door's unlocked, be quick!" He said, tossing me a small box. I nod and hurriedly climb out of the truck and hurry inside.

The place scents of the Italian pasta Mario had Luigi bring to the boat. I look around the exquisite property, and notice how pleasurable the graciously sized rooms were just to stand in. Adam and Peter must love it here. The space was never ending, but I found my way to the front door, and ran across the ample driveway crafted with intense chunks of rare stone.

"Woah, this neighborhood is insane!" I exclaimed to Larry as he joined us in the back. "I agree, I'd never been this way in Uncle Mario's neighborhood. The houses are even better than the ones in our neighborhood!" He says. Either way, these houses best anything I could've dreamed of living in back at the home.

"We have arrived," King Boo says, entering a black gate that was slightly opened. There were spikes on the top to prevent break-ins and two small Bowser statues lined the entrance of the gate.

"Who's hou- wait, what?!" All the koopalings faces melded into confused expressions, as did mine. What confused us, even more, was our father motioning us out of the car.

"Where are we?" Iggy questions.

"Home," Bowser confirms. Mario, K. Rool, Two Brothers, another alligator that looked like K. Rool, but slightly different, Kamek, and Peter and Adam filed out of the house behind him. They all waved at us, getting in their cars and driving off.

"So you mean to tell me, that this insane piece of property is ours?" Lemmy asks, snout draped open. "You ready to see inside or what?!" Bowser roused, earning cheers from all of us. "You bought a house! You're insane pops!" I hung back with Bowser, clinging to him. He had his arm around me and I was pressing myself gently into his side as we walked.

"You like it?" He asks. "Hell yeah!" I exclaim excitedly. I cover my mouth and look at him innocently. "If my other kids can cuss, you can too. I don't care," he laughed. I nodded. The others were inside already. "I already designed all the rooms. I'm surprised no one asked about the old house," He said. I wanted to, but I didn't wanna sound ungrateful by any means. "Speaking of, what happened to it?" He asked. "I sold it," he put it simply. "I sold most of the furniture. But the ones in your rooms, we spent the whole day moving them. That's why it took all of us, Mario's truck, and 9 hours," Jeez, nine hours?!

We reached the front doors and as he opened them, I instantly waltzed the stairs into heaven.

The colossal sandstone house sported vaulted ceilings and brightly colored walls. The furniture compliments the expensive features of the home as nothing could. The formal dining held 10 seats. First thing I noticed was the extremely articulent staircase into a massive hallway: the focal point of the two-story high vaulted kitchen. "I'll show you your room, then you can do whatever the hell you want, I need a nap," he yawned, motioning me down a hallway. I followed quickly.

"Head down the hall and go in the laundry room. The only door in there is yours," he instructs. I head into the hallway, not after glancing at the unrealistically large laundry room space.

I open the door to my room, and was instantly blown away. The baby blue lights encircling the crown molding was spot on, and the fluffy bed had a homey feel like no other. The same desk and computer setup was setup nicely tucked away where the huge window juts out, making for neatness and more space overall. My TV and consoles were setup nicely in the corner of the room and my fuzzy blue carpet laid in the middle of the room. The window was vaulted into half my ceiling, and took up the entire right side of the wall. My face contorted into a huge grin. Every day is Christmas with this guy.

This was my dream. And I'm finally living it. I feel like I could wake up any second.

I swung around and threw my arms around my dad.

"You're honestly the best soul out there!"

"Awe, son! Anything for your birthday! Don't mention it," he smiles. "Feel free to explore around. Presents on the kitchen island by the way, and here. To add to the one grand I gave you," he gives me five one hundred dollar notes. "You sure?" I ask. He rolled his eyes, smacking my arm. Ow.

"Hell yeah, it's not even that much. Put it in that pocket before you lose it man," I nod and follow his instructions.

"I'll be in my room taking a nap. You better enjoy yourself, Trooper. You need me, call me," he says, shutting the door.

I sit on my bed, sitting all my cash on the nightstand. I have ¥1,500 in my name. I never thought I'd have ¥15.

I rest my hand on my temple, processing all this information. This was by far the best day of my life. A few minutes of happy thoughts later, Larry walks into my room.

"Man, can you believe this place?!" Larry asked in astonishment. I shook my head slightly, expecting to wake up any second.

"I feel like I'm gonna wake up any second," Larry scoffed in disbelief. "That's exactly what I was thinking! How bout you come play video games with me in my room?" I prepared to nod until-

"Actually, he was coming to play with me," Morton raised a brow as he stared Larry down from my door.

"ACTUALLY-" Oh my god.

"-he was coming to take pics with me! The pool here is insane and would make all my girls jealous!" There was a pool here?!

Growing kind of sleepy, I decided to sneak past them and out the door. I wasn't gonna nap in front of them while they bickered endlessly.

I hurried up the steps and tried to find my dads room. I turned a corner and came across a huge closed door. I quietly open it, revealing my sleeping father. I slip into his bed and sleepily drape his arm around myself. He was so passed out, he didn't notice a thing as I put my back against him and fell into a much needed afternoon slumber.

—————

I arose to an evening glow draping my face. The sun cascaded over the hill, slowly drizzling the cul de sac in an orange hue. The koopalings could be seen indulging in the warm weather outside in the pond pool, speakers blasting with music that careened in waves throughout the neighborhood.

Meanwhile, in the room, I rubbed my eyes. My father still had one arm draped around me, but was propped up slightly, reading glasses equipping the bridge of his nose as he read a book.

"You read?"

"aAhH!!" The book sailed out of his hands and hit a nightstand across the room. The reading glasses tumbled off of his snout and hot embers and ashes pitched through his lips, sending fire through the air.

"Jeez, is my morning breath that bad?"

"It's 5:41,"

"So, you're scared of me?" I smirked. "No! Of course not," he says. I roll my eyes. His face got serious, and it made me kind of nervous.

"Son?" He twiddled his claws aimlessly. "Yeah dad?" I ask, heart racing a bit faster. I peek out the window as Bowser reaches in his bedside drawer for something. I hoped I could join them in time.

"You're part of the family now. You know that right?" He asked me. I nodded, unsure where this was veering off to.

"Everyone in my household has one, and now, it's your turn. Your sign of premium royalty. You may not be a koopaling, but you're still my son," he presented a pretty velvet box. My hand shook as I covered my mouth in shock with it. I grabbed the mystery parcel and flip the magnetic lid open, and in it's unfastened state, I inspect the item inside. It was a pair of spikelettes! Everyone of the koopalings had them on their wrist, and Bowser had a pair on his wrist and shoulders.

"Happy birthday son," he smiled, the sunset glow shining on himself.

"Thank you dad! I- I don't know what to say!" I hugged him. That's all I could really do to show my significant gratitude toward this man. He legitimately made my life worth living. "You've got more coming tomorrow. Just you wait," he said. I nodded, severely concerned as to why I haven't woken up yet. Was this the coma still?

"Dad, I'm gonna go swim with my siblings, is that okay?" I ask. He nods, "Why the hell would I say no? Get out there son!" He gently and playfully shoved me off the bed. I giggled and stumbled out the door. I ran across the huge manor into my room and through some boxes with my clothes in it, quickly hanging everything up. I hastily set the box of the spike-pelted wristlets on my nightstand, and put them on. The padding felt so smooth and natural on my wrists. After that, I stripped of everything but my phone and put my pair of trunks on, and through the laundry room and through the back door within it.

"Hey guys!" I yell out, holding my arms up, showing the wristlets, once they realized, they cheered obstreperously. Roy gets out, and kneels in front of me. I climb atop his large shell, and get on his neck.

He runs to the pool and jumps in, sending me soaring in from the air. I crash in the water. Confusion swept through my veins as I didn't come back up.

- / -

"Rick! Help me! Please help me!" My voice bubbled as water flooded in and out as I struggled to surface in the dirty pond I fell in.

"Oh my god!"

He jumped in and hurriedly wrapped his arms around me. The sloshy, murky water invaded me as he pulled me to shore. However, I fell into deep unconsciousness.

"Please!"

1, 2,

"I need you!"

13, 14, 15

"Please wake up! Don't give up on me!"

28, 29, 30

"I love you, please!"

- / -

"Please get up!" Morton pounded on my chest mercilessly. He broke down and cried on me.

I gasp and cough up so much water. My throat raved with pain. "He's alive!" Wendy yelled in astonishment. Morton gasped and pulled me into a bone-crushing hug.

"What the hell happened?!" I croak, the warm water was fresh out of my throat, and gosh it hurt to speak. "You didn't come back up, buddy," Iggy knelt beside me. They both stood up and helped me up. Roy caught me before I could fall. He held me up due to my extreme state of lethargy.

"I'm back with the wand!" Ludwig yelled, running from the opulent castle

After a while of splashing, we all migrate in the house, where Bowser was absolutely slaying the kitchen for dinner.

The smells that wafted through the halls were like no other. We all filed downstairs into the basement and everyone instantly began arguing about what video game to play. Roy stopped the clamoring, and suggested we do a little challenge. Since we know that the bar beside the ping pong table was where the beer was stored, we do a game of beer pong, and I wanted absolutely no part in this.

"Pfft! How do you even know what that is you newbie?" Ludwig scoffed.

"Maybe it's a fun idea! Being drunk is fun," Iggy backed Roy up.

"How do you know? Ya never got drunk ya metal head!" Wendy rolled her eyes and continued to take selfies.

Fuck this, "Nope. Bye!" I bound off toward my room. Morton grabs my arm, and picks me up and sets me down back at the ping pong table. My lips were pressed into a thin line.

"Don't you think this is a bit stupid? Dad will know if we're drunk OR tipsy since he does it all the time," Ludwig says.

"He has a strong point. Bye!" I say, scurrying up the stairs before anyone caught me. I flicked my hair to the side since it was falling over my face. I ran a hand through it as I brung myself into the living room.

"Oh, hi Kamek!" Kamek waved me over and patted the seat next to him. He wore the same blue button up that he wore the day of the cook out.

"How've you been?" He quizzed as I sat next to him. I played in my hair as I thought of what to say. "I've been really good these past couple days, and besides school, I'm the best I've ever been!"

"That's great! I see your sporting the family's wristlets," I showed them off proudly. "But I heard you've been having trouble at school,"

"Yeah, I had to leave early because people were messing with me,"

"WHAT?!" Bowser roared from the kitchen. I could hear the triage of flames erupting from his mouth. He rushed into the living room.

"King Boo didn't tell me that!"

"He didn't? Dude, he told me,"

"Some cheerleaders were messing with me, and I tried defending myself, but one of their boyfriends decked me in the face and slammed my head into the table. Some of my siblings got hurt defending me. The nurse even called you, dad," I explained vaguely, the guilt of my siblings getting hurt creeping up my back.

"Ugh, I know exactly who you're talking about," Kamek sputtered blandly.

"You do?!" Me and Bowser voiced contemporaneously. "Yeah, Bowser knows I work there!" Kamek flung an arm up in his direction. "How was I supposed to know?! I hardly remember anything- I'm in my 40's dad!"

"It's must be the oh-so inauspicious reason you forgot dinner was on the stove, son!" So kamek was my grandfather? He's only like- wait, he's stuck in his 30's. He's magic! He DOSEN'T age! Right..?

"Kamek, how old are you?" I asked as Bowser lobbed his arms up in defeat.

"31," he responded. "How old is Bowser?"

He scratched his chin before answering.

"42," So ho- what- but-

"If you're his dad, how does that even work?" I interrogated curiously. The damp swim shorts I wore sloshed slightly as water dried slowly inside of them. Kamek grabbed the tv remote off the coffee table and flicked through the channels boredly.

"Bowser isn't my REAL son, he was just put into my care after his parents both kicked the bucket," he settled on the HGTV channel. "Ah, I see, but how are you younger than him?"

"Ever since I was about 6, I've been practicing magic. I got my own wand when I was 13, so I didn't use my dad's wand anymore. I eventually became very experienced when I was about your age. When I was 20, I looked into time travel, and freezing time. Eventually when I turned 31, I learned to freeze my age. Meaning that I arranged the chemical composition in my body around so that decomposition isn't possible, and I don't get old. It took me twenty years to convince Bowser to let me do it to him," he chuckled.

"Can you do that to me?!" I asked in wonder and astonishment "Yeah, when you graduate. Ludwig gets his age frozen next year," Kamek explains. "If I froze you now, it's gonna be pointless because you'll be stuck in the same grade forever.

"Ah, I see," I wafted in the beautiful smells of dinner.

"Which is why everyone has to graduate at least high school," Kamek concluded

"Let's go see what dad is cooking!" I say, tugging on Kamek's sleeve. He rolled his eyes away from the oversized television and allowed me to drag him into the kitchen. We plopped ourselves down into the leather cushioned barstools. Looking to my right, I noticed more of those colored boxes. They most likely weren't for me.

"Those are yours, go over to the table and open them," Bowser said, catching my stare.

"I wonder if leaving the kids downstairs was such a good idea," Kamek stated as I carried all the boxes to a nearby circular dining table.

"Ludwig is 18. And Lemmy is turning 17 in 5 months, they're fine," Bowser shrugged.

"I wouldn't trust it," I snicker, ripping through my presents as if I were five. I'm only ten years off so...

"Fuck, me neither. I'm gonna go see what they're up to," I watched as he turned back through the living room and down the stairs. I heard him slightly groan on the way down.

"How do you like your gifts, little man?" Bowser says, cutting off the stove and perambulating over to me.

He didn't have shoes on so I heard the clacking of his claws among the floor as he bounded over.

"These are really nice gifts! I love them so much," Games for my consoles, more phone cases, clothes, more money, a rug, some family photos to put up, some cards with even more money, a lot of stuffed animals, and lastly, some small device that I wasn't sure about what exactly it was.

"I picked them all out this time. I'm sorry you didn't get all of it today,"

"Humma..?" I asked, confused. "Don't worry about it man," he paused. "King Boo brought your presents from the boat in right?"

"No, he didn't," I shook my head. He facepalmed, clearly mildly perturbed.

"That means the bike and shit is still in there, the dumbass," He growled. "I'm going to the garage, I have the plates set. Just can you arrange the table? Oh, and grab an extra chair for Kamek,"

"Sure thing!" I said, saluting with a goofy grin.

"Thanks little man," he voices gratefully as he slides some flip flops on, and walks out the front door. I grab the plates of scalding, beautiful supper and carry them over to the formal dining room. I grabbed an extra chair off of the stack of exorbitantly ornate chairs in the corner.

After I was done setting silverware and napkins down, I went and put all my new things into my room. On my way down, I look over the railing, not surprised to see Roy and Iggy passed out on the floor. Ludwig was watching the news at the bar, typing something on his iPad, Wendy and Larry were having a conversation on the couches on the other side of the basement, and Junior was playing with toys on the rug. Lemmy was bouncing on the trampoline in the backyard.

Morton and Kamek were playing some sort of fighting game on the flatscreen. Morton blubbered on about something that I didn't quite hear. I began to arrange things in my room, and put the money in my wallet, saving it for when I needed it.

"Hey, bro," Roy peeked into my room, scrubbing his eyes. He let the pink lorgnette fall back onto his eyes.

"Hi, I was just coming back out," he nodded, and allowed me space so I could leave, and I closed the door behind me.

"How're ya feeling? I saw you and Iggy passed out earlier," I quizzed. He stroked his chin as if there was nothing else to do with his hands. "Yeah, Ludwig dropped his iPad on him on purpose. Lemmy also used the talons on his feet to poke my face. I was ready to rip his feet off and put them into the pool filter, but that wouldn't be smart," he concluded. I snickered at his sense of humor. He saw me laughing and joined in.

"Dinner's ready, guys!" At that, everyone except me and Kamek hurried to get a spot. I sat at the end, and we all conversed until dad walked through the front door. He kicked his flip flops off at the front door and sat down at the other end of the dining table. We all began to dig in to our meal. The scorching, steamy, ornate flavors of happiness danced within my lips in each bite.

"So, I've been told why you came home with bruises," Bowser says from the other end of the dinner table. I look up from my food, as did everyone else.

"Use your fire breath next time,"

"But daddy- we'll get in tro-"

"I'm the KING! You're princes and princesses! Royals, god-damnit! Anyone got shit to say, they can fuckin' look to me," Bowser growls protectively over his children. I was morbidly confused.

"Yes sir," they all agreed.

"So, you guys can breathe fire?!" I asked. They all nodded, and made sounds of approval. "Soon, you can too," Bowser speaks up.

"What? How?!" I asked in intense discomposure. I was fully human. How was I supposed to breathe fire?!"

"In a small box, did you see a really small device about the size of the fingernail of your pinky?" Kamek asked.

"Yeah, why?" I asked. I had placed it back in the box and sat it next to the velvet wristlet case on my nightstand. The device was no bigger than a wedding ring.

"It's a DNA Strike, do you know what it does?" Kamek pursuited the onslaught of questions. I shook my head. "You'll see. After dinner," He said, going for his last few bites of supper. I reluctantly nibbled on my food. "Go get that DNA Strike and meet me in the backyard," Kamek asked, wiping his snout for any mess with a napkin and continuing to eat.

I sneakily slid the rest of my supper to Morton, too subconscious to eat. He raised an eyebrow but I knew he wouldn't deny the food. "I'll be out there too, son," Bowser smiled before going back to his meal. I pushed my chair in, and stepped down into the basement. I headed right, and into my bedroom, pulling the meager, but significant box from the nightstand.

I sighed heavily. What the hell was I getting myself into?

Only one way to find out.