Trial and Error (UNDER REVISION)

FAILED

Life was hard. It was even worse for Larry, being the youngest in the "family". His adoptive father, King Bowser, frequently yelled at him for failing. It wasn't his fault that the stupid plumber had gotten past him! But they sat at the brown mahogany table, with Larry at one end. Sitting across him was Dry Bowser. He scared him more than, well, "old" Bowser.

"You've failed me again," hissed Bowser.

"We should just kill him right now!" roared Morton, banging a fist on the table.

He opened his mouth to continue, but Roy snapped, "Shut up, Big Mouth!" Larry watched, his eyes wide in horror. He looked around desperately, hoping that one of his siblings would speak up for him.

"I tried, Dad," he said fearfully. "I really, really did. I didn't mean to—"

"Oh so that makes everything so much better!" Ludwig glared at him. He sat next to his father, on the left side of the table. "On a normal basis, I'd stick up for you, Larry. But our Father's right. You failed."

"It's not like you didn't too!" yelped Larry. "I failed just as bad as you did! Why am I the only one getting yelled at?"

Bowser roared, "Because you were in charge of World One, Larry! You were supposed to guard the key and stop Ma-him from getting to World Two!"

"Then why was Roy put in World Two? Mario has to get past me to get to World Two and he has to get past Roy to get to World Three! It's not fair that you're only yelling at me, and not at the rest of them!" Larry countered, his voice rising and getting more shrill with every passing second.

"You're nothing more than a failure," growled Bowser. "I wish I had a more satisfactory son. You're worthless." Larry's world came crashing down—metaphorically, that is. His heart was shattered. I'm a failure? But I tried so hard. Tears welled in his eyes. He hung his head miserably.

"I'm sorry Dad. I'll—"

"Sorry doesn't cut it! Because of you, I'm not even myself anymore! I'm just skin and bone, but without the skin!"

"I-I—" his voice hitched in his throat.

"Although," he mused, "this is better. With bones, I am less vulnerable. But still!" he thundered. He looked around, then gestured to Roy. He flicked a claw at Larry. "Kill him.​​"

"No!" he cried as Roy pinned him to the cold tile below. His claws flexed, glinting menacingly in the light. His back claws pinned him down as he readied himself, preparing his claws to dig into Larry's soft underbelly. His shell pressed against him and Larry thrashed, trying to free himself. "No, no, no! Please! Dad, please! I-I'll do anything!"

"No!" shouted Ludwig. Hope rose in his chest. "No. Don't—" Ludwig cut himself off. "Wait, that's fair. Never mind. Proceed."

"NO!" he screamed, his voice unnaturally high. "Please! NO!" There was only one way to escape this. Larry slid his back legs up against Roy's underbelly, and then kicked. He didn't have enough strength or bulk to fling Roy away from him, but he did get him to stumble backwards and then fall on his own purple shell. Larry leaped to his feet, his eyes darting to the door. He prepared himself to leave, but Bowser stood up. No, no, no, no, no! Please don't make me fight Bowser! Please!

"Hmm," he growled softly. He lowered his voice and hissed something to Ludwig. Then, abruptly, he said, "All of you, leave. I need to have a word with Larry alone."

"A-alone?" he croaked. This is it, he thought. Bowser's gonna kill me himself and he's going to make it so gruesome that he doesn't want anyone else to see.

"Yes," rumbled Bowser. "Alone." The other Koopalings tramped out, claws clicking against stone. Larry caught them muttering in distaste, but most of them were incoherent to his nonexistent ears. The intricate doors closed behind them.

And so his doom begins.

. . .

Wendy, Ludwig, Lemmy, and Iggy listened.

Bowser was raging and storming at Larry inside. For a moment, Ludwig wished he could burst in and tell Bowser to stop.

"You know," said Lemmy after a moment, "Larry had a point. We all failed. He shouldn't be the only one getting yelled at."

"I know, but Bowser expects so much of him. It was kind of like a slap in the face to see that he failed. What I don't understand is why Bowser thinks he's 'destined for greatness'. He's still young—for goodness's sake, he isn't even thirteen yet!" Wendy frowned, her golden bangles clacking against each other as she pressed her head against the door. "Larry's one of us. I'm surprised at Roy for jumping him like that."

Ludwig and Iggy shared a glance. "Roy's more brawl than brains," Ludwig replied. "He wouldn't have stuck up for Larry."

"Funny you should open your mouth, Ludwig. I'm a little surprised, and really, I'm very angry at both of you! Well, Roy, I can understand because he's a congested snot-head, but you? Luddy, shouldn't you care at least a tiny iota that Larry's gonna get killed? You were about to stick up for him, but then you were all, 'Nope! I don't care, it's fine. Kill him. Proceed. Blah, blah, blah, yadda, yadda'—you didn't do anything!" Wendy's bright cyan eyes bored into his.

"Larry needs to be strong," he snapped back. "Why Bowser treats him like a child all the time, I have no idea. In fact, his weakness is probably the very reason why Mar-that person got past him."

"Larry is a child," sighed Wendy unhappily.

"Wendy's right, Luddy. Bowser expects so much of him. Lemmy's right too. If Larry's gonna get yelled at, then the rest of us should be yelled at too. But Wendy, if you're so concerned, then why didn't you stick up for him?" Iggy had hit a sore spot. She glared at him.

"That's true," realized Lemmy.

"Lemmy, no." Wendy sighed.

"I—" Lemmy began.

"Wait, shut up a minute." Iggy listened intently.

"Get back," hissed Ludwig. "Bowser's done." Wendy led the way to a room where the four of them talked with hushed voices. They heard a door swing shut and heard mutters. The sound of stomping talons made Ludwig's heart pound.

"... stupid, ungrateful, two-timing little..." Larry's angry, hissing voice broke off again. "...no appreciation... worked so hard to please him... when I'm king... dopey, freaking father..."

"Oh Larry," said Wendy, rather alarmed. "Please don't be king. And please don't say that kind of stuff."

"He can't hear you," Iggy pointed out.

"I know that, but still." Wendy scowled. Her bow sagged and she prodded it with sharp claws.

"You know how he is when he gets yelled at," Lemmy replied. "He's probably going to fester in his room, plotting against Bowser."

"He's not that evil." Iggy rolled his eyes.

"Oh puh-lease! Did you hear him? He called King Dad... wait, what did he say again? He said, 'dopey, freaking father', right? What's dopey mean?" Lemmy tousled his rainbow hair thoughtfully.

"It means stupid or idiotic and, in any case, Larry's not that kind of Koopaling. If anything, that sounds a little like something Iggy or I would do. But maybe something that I would do if Bowser really pushed me over the edge. And we all know that Iggy's a maniacal genius—"

"A mechanical genius," Iggy put in.

"—so it seems more likely that he'd be hovering around in a dark putrid corner, plotting against our father." Ludwig continued, as though he hadn't heard Iggy's interruption. "He's probably going to sleep and have extremely violent dreams of dismembering him. That's all," he added.

Wendy frowned at them. "Well, if you don't mind, I'm going to go to my room. I'll see you guys later."

And with that, Wendy opened the door and left.