Twelfth grade has started for 17 year old Ludwig von Koopa, the oldest of his 8 siblings. All senior students have known this year to be their hardest year in high school due to the many exams and finals they needed to study on to get into their university or college of their choice. Ludwig was quite nervous. Very much so after his 11th grade report card.
It was the last day of school. Ludwig returned to his room, and opened up an envelope containing his report card. He felt a little sick when he saw his grades. They had dropped slightly from A+ to As and Bs. That didn't make any sense because Ludwig has a surprising IQ of 300; making him the smartest koopaling in his class.
Ludwig then felt terror as a scenario popped into his head. He pictured entering his father's room nervously. He seemed to be watching TV as usual.
His father is King Bowser Koopa, and he used to always plan to kidnap Princess Peach and marry her so his kids can have a mother. Although Ludwig usually addresses her as "Princess Toadstool". Sometimes.
Bowser turned to his eldest son with a smile. "Hello Luddy!" he greeted brightly. His smile then faltered when he saw Ludwig nervous. "What's the matter?"
"Well..." Ludwig said nervously; sweat coming out of his forehead. "I got my report card and—"
Ludwig was suddenly cut off by Bowser hugging him tightly. "Another all A+ year from my son the infamous Ludwig von Koopa!" he cried happily. "I wouldn't expect any less from you my boy!"
Ludwig broke free of the hug and handed the report card to his father. "Well, not this time..." he trailed off.
Bowser read through his report card, and his happiness turned to anger as he glared at Ludwig. "WHAT?! ONLY As AND Bs?!" the Koopa King shouted. "NO WAY! LET ME GET THE BELT!"
Bowser opened his drawer and immediately took out a belt while Ludwig slowly backed away.
"I-I'm sorry Father." Ludwig choked out. "I-I'll try harder next time."
Bowser then took a swing at Ludwig, and the eldest koopaling flinched at each whip. Tears threatened to spill from his eyes. "Like heck you will!" Bowser yelled. "When did you stop taking your studies seriously? Is school that boring for you? You think you're too cool for school? Or maybe you didn't try hard enough you disappointment!"
The scenario was popped out of Ludwig's head and he fell into a panic attack. He collapsed onto his knees and started sobbing. He gripped onto his bedsheets as if it were a lifeline. All the while he kept on mutter "I'll try harder", "I'll try harder" to himself through his sobs.
It was around dinner when Ludwig's panic attack ceased. By the time his sobs had reduced to sniffles he heard a knock on his door.
"Ludwig?" the voice of his grandfather and mentor Kamek spoke through the door. "Dinner is being served. Your family awaits you."
Ludwig's eyes widened in fear at the mention of his family. That means Bowser is there too. With fear on his mind still he grabbed a wand and casted a barrier around his room part of the castle. He heard a yelp; which probably meant the magikoopa was startled by the sudden barrier.
"No thank you Kamek." he sniffled. "I'm not hungry tonight. I'm gonna go to bed early. Tell everyone they can eat without me."
Ludwig shakily stood up and staggered to his desk. He felt his pulse going up. "I need to try harder. I need to try harder." he muttered again.
Eventually Ludwig calmed down a bit more. He looked at his laptop and books, then turned to his bed where his report card lay.
"Maybe I can." Ludwig said softly. "Maybe I can try harder. I just need to study during the last year of high school more than usual."
That was all Ludwig thought about. He could go into more detail, but he's gotten very tired. He decided to go to bed like he told Kamek. With that in mind; Ludwig changed into comfortable sleepwear and got into bed turning the lights off.
Normally he would read a book before going to bed, but this is a special occasion when he decided not to.
With his idea in mind the next morning, Ludwig came up with a game plan. To start he would study different things everyday in the summer at the castle's or local library in the Koopa Kingdom. Now that September came, he thought of something bigger. Something more drastic.
First he bought a coffee machine and a bunch of coffee and coffee mugs for his room from the local shop, then he set everything up. Next he bought a bunch of Monster, Red Bull, and ZOA energy drinks. He checked to make sure they're all high caffeine. Finally, when the coffee and energy drinks aren't enough, he sneaked into Iggy's lab and stole some adrenaline needles.
'Technically it's only borrowing.' Ludwig thought. 'I'll give the leftovers back.'
He planned on studying 24/7 in his room, and cut all communications with his family. When he told them by text, none of them were happy about this.
"What the heck Ludwig?!" That was all they said before Ludwig blocked them.
'It's only temporary.' Ludwig thought to himself. 'I will unblock them at the end of June. I just need to focus on my studies.'
Finally, Ludwig installed locks on his bedroom door, and even used his wand to create a barrier. Everything was all set. Ludwig took out a deep breath and took in his setup. As Ludwig would study, he would only take 5 minute breaks to either write in his journal or take a quick shower.
As expected, Ludwig would always carry a ton of homework in his backpack up to his room. Yet he found it no trouble. He would start with drinking coffee like he planned. The energy drinks and adrenaline shots are both the next resort. He would always make sure the coffee is strong. Any one of his siblings would try to knock on Ludwig'a door to get their older brother to come out, but the barrier was a problem, and Ludwig made sure to ignore them. On weekends, Ludwig would drink his coffee three times a day. In the morning, afternoon, and evenings. It even helps as Ludwig would prepare for any upcoming exams.
However, Ludwig's health wasn't doing any good; aside from not eating much of anything. It was more of lack of sleep due to drinking too much coffee.
During his lack of sleep, he would feel fatigued beyond belief. He was even nodding off during his classes, which resulted in his teachers getting angry with him and giving him more homework than usual. No detentions though; thank god. As if that's not bad enough, his digestive system would be in distress, he gets tension headaches, his irritation mainly towards his siblings, he feels dizzy, and he has difficulty focusing on his studies due to blurry vision.
One particular December night he found out what's happening. Before Ludwig took a quick shower during one of his breaks, and he looked at himself in the mirror. His eyes widened a little.
He has gotten bags under his eyes.
He traced his fingers over the bags. How did he not notice this before?
The oldest koopaling shook his head. He needed to focus on getting a quick shower done.
When he returned to his room, he quickly dressed back in his conductor's outfit, then quickly. opened his phone to look up his symptoms. He had a feeling, but he wanted to confirm it. When he looked up his symptoms, he had gotten an answer many dread.
Ludwig von Koopa, the oldest son of Bowser Koopa and heir to the throne (A/N: In this story, Bowser Jr. isn't the heir to the throne), has insomnia. He's an insomniac. His family would bother him even more.
He was stressed and anxious at the very beginning, and he has developed an obsession of caffeine and adrenaline shots. All this makes a lot of sense. However, there is no turning back now. He was adamant to keep on studying. Ludwig would set up a recovery plan after he aced his exams and finals in the last school year. Right now, he got a Monster energy drink ready, and continued on studying. He would have to keep his insomnia a secret.
For the rest of the school year, Ludwig wore some makeup he "borrowed" from his only sister Wendy to cover up the dark circles in his eyes. Everything was still going according to plan. He still got A+s in every single assignment he did despite his tiredness. This year, Ludwig is valedictorian. He has the best grades out of EVERYONE. All is going so far so good. Whenever Ludwig returns home, he would always be asked if he was alright. He never answer the question.
Still Ludwig wasn't fairing well.
He looked at his supplies, and wondered how long it'll be until they'll all be ineffective. He didn't want to find out. Ludwig would drink his coffee or energy drink and carry on with his homework.
At school during lunch breaks, he would only go to the vending machines and get himself an energy drink. Mainly a Red Bull.
On February, the coffee and energy drinks no longer worked. They had become ineffective. No matter how much Ludwig drank, nothing seemed to work. It was time to use the adrenaline shots. He even started hallucinating some things. Mainly different strips of colours that floated in his vision.
The first time with the adrenaline shots weren't easy. Not that Ludwig was nervous; it was getting the shot in. He first did it in his bathroom. He took off his shirt and directed the needle on his shoulder. He needed to get the shot in just right. When the needle touched the skin, he slowly jabbed the needle inside his bloodstream, and the adrenaline set in. It worked.
Now fast forward to two weeks before the end of the school year. That's when things changed.
He was in his last class for the day; Music class. It was his most favourite class out of everything he did. He usually plays on the piano. He would close his eyes and get lost in the music. It's like he'd be in his own world with no worries at all. Just music and peace.
"....wi..."
He was right now picturing he's in a forest at night with the piano being played.
"...ud...ig..."
He was so lost in the music he couldn't hear any voices calling out to him.
"Ludwig."
"LUDWIG!"
Ludwig opened his eyes with a gasp. He looked around wildly. All his classmates are staring at him. Even his music teacher is looking at him funny. Had he fallen asleep? Did he play a wrong note by accident? He hoped none of these were the case.
"Uh, I-I apologize sir." Ludwig apologized quickly. "I must've zoned out a bit there."
"Von Koopa, where have you been?" Mr. Kennedy, a Hammer Bro who teaches music, asked in a stern tone.
"Uhh, I've been places. I-" Ludwig stammered.
"You've missed the announcement." the teacher continued. "You're being sent to the nurse's office for a checkup. Said something about enough being enough I guess."
The nurse's office? Enough is enough? How auspicious. Ludwig shrugged and decided to go along with it.
"Oh, and you'll need to take your stuff with you just in case." Mr. Kennedy pointed at Ludwig's books. "And some homework."
The homework was then loaded on Ludwig's other books as the oldest koopaling exited the music classroom and walked to the nurse's office. The hyperactive energy came back. During his time trying to keep from nodding off, the hyperactive energy from so much caffeine in his system would go up and down.
'Well, at least nothing else bad happened.' Ludwig thought to reassure himself. 'Let's see what the nurse has to say.'
As Ludwig arrived at the nurse's office, he was about to open the door, but he paused. He strangely felt weird about all this for no reason. Why was Ludwig so nervous?
He eventually snapped out of it, and opened the door and entered inside. He looked at the paper on the wall next to what the oldest koopaling guessed was the waiting area.
Please wait here for nurse
Approximate time: 5 minutes
Ludwig sat in a chair then. He opened up his notebook, and decided to get a head start on his homework. He figured he'd do something while waiting.
Today just feels weird. Something is not going right here. He has never been sent to the nurse's office the previous months. Did his other teachers do something? Or the principal?
His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the sound of a door opening; then closing. A female paratroopa entered the room. She wore glasses and a sweater. He looked up, and the two made eye contact.
"Ah, your majesty." the nurse said with a warm smile.
"Ludwig. Just Ludwig is fine nurse. So, you wanted me to come over for an appointment?" Ludwig asked. "This all feels so sudden."
"Oh yes. Follow me." she instructed.
The nurse led Ludwig to one of the few beds, and he sat down.
"So Ludwig, I just need to ask a few questions if that is alright?" the nurse asked holding a clipboard and pen.
Ludwig nodded slowly.
"Alright, so how have you been doing?"
"Aside from the...tiredness I guess, I suppose I'm doing alright."
"Have you been sleeping well lately?"
"..."
"Don't worry, I only want to help you. You have nothing to be nervous about."
"...No, I unfortunately forgot how to. I just spend time on my homework."
"Why do you not sleep anymore? Sleep is important for the body?"
"..."
"Ludwig?"
"...I'm...afraid..."
"What are you afraid of?"
The oldest koopaling thought of what would happen if he showed his father his dropped grades, and shuddered.
"I'm afraid my grades are dropping, and I would be...a failure."
"And what keeps you from sleeping?"
"I...keep myself awake by...drinking coffee and energy drinks."
"And how long has this been going on?"
"...This...has been going on throughout almost the whole school year."
The nurse wrote everything Ludwig told her in her clipboard. When the questions were done, and she finished writing her notes, she stood up, and asked Ludwig if she could do some tests. He nodded slowly again. After the quick tests, she looked at Ludwig with a serious and worried face..
"Ludwig, all these things you told me are leading you to danger." she said in a worried tone.
"Huh?" Ludwig asked dumbly. "What do you mean?"
"Well for starters, those symptoms you told me say you indeed have insomnia." she stated.
Ludwig's eyes widened a little. So it was official. He didn't want to believe it the first time he looked it up, but Ludwig is truly an insomniac.
"And that's not all. According to the tests, you have too much caffeine in your system. That's very dangerous. It could possibly lead to a heart attack." she continued.
Ludwig's heart stopped. He shuddered and clutched his chest. Had he gone that far? How is he still alive after all this caffeine?
"It's...obvious this is extremely bad, am I right?" Ludwig asked.
"Yes. It's very very bad. There is something you can do about it." the nurse said as she stood up. She walked over to a cabinet and opened it up. Ludwig raised an eyebrow as his eyes follow her. She took out a bottle of medicine, and walked over to her computer. A label was then printed out. She took it out and sticked the label on the bottle. The nurse walked back to Ludwig, and handed out the bottle. The now prescribed bottle has Ludwig's full name in it.
"May I ask what this is supposed to be?" Ludwig asked suspiciously.
"I'm prescribing you some sleeping medication." the nurse told him. "I would recommend that on a school day, you take a pill once before you go to bed. On the weekends, and for summer break coming up, I would recommend two pills a day. One after lunch, and another before going to bed. It does have some side effects though."
"And they are?" the oldest koopaling asked.
"The side effects are dizziness, dry mouth, you might gain a bit of weight, and headaches. That's all you have to watch out for." the nurse warned. "But it should help with your insomnia."
Ludwig nodded, and took the medication bottle. The final bell rang. It was time to go home. He stood up and thanked the nurse. He opened the office door and left.
'I should probably notify the principal and the king.' the nurse thought with worry.
Meanwhile inside Bowser's castle, the soon-to-be retired king Bowser Koopa was in his bedroom laughing at the TV. A new episode of Charleyyy and Friends is on.
"Oh Charleyyy, that's not how you brush your teeth boy." Bowser laughed.
On the Laugh Box TV channel, Charleyyy was making chicken noises while holding an egg. Bowser laughed again.
"Charleyyy you're killing me! Oscar! Oscar!" Bowser shouted as his phone rings. He went from happy to angry at that moment and screamed. "Who is calling me while Charley's on? It better be important." He picked up the phone and answered the call. "Hello?"
The caller on the other side groaned before speaking. The caller is wearing shades and a nice shirt. "Yes, is this the father of Bowser Koopa Jr.?" he asked.
"Yes I am, and who is this?" Bowser asks. "And why are you interrupting my show?"
"I'm sorry for interrupting your show sir, but I'm calling to notify you about your son FAILING all of his classes." the mysterious caller informed.
Bowser's face at that moment turned red; like he was about to explode with rage. He exploded in rage. "WHAT?! He's failing?!"
"Yes, he's failing all of his classes, and it's been happening almost the whole school year. He even has a final exam this Friday. If he fails that exam, I'm..." the caller made a choking sound and messed with his glasses, which fell off. When he put his glasses back on his face, the caller fixes the phone. "Hello?"
"I'm still here." Bowser said.
The caller spoke back to that voice again. "I would-I would fail him. I would kick him out of the school! Do you got that? So i would recommend," he continued while pounding his fist into his hand. "that you encourage him to study."
"Oh I'll make sure he studies and passes it." Bowser said.
"Good." the caller said. "Have a nice day." He hangs up.
"Alright bye." Bowser hangs up as well. He steps off his bed. "I can't believe he doesn't wanna study. I'll show him—"
He was cut off by his phone ringing again. He picked up his phone quickly.
"Who is this now? I already had one phone call?" Bowser asked angrily. He answered the call. "Hello?"
Ludwig's principal Ms. Harris — a Koopa Troopa — is the caller. "Hello. Are you Ludwig von Koopa's father?" she asked.
Bowser choked on his saliva, and swallowed it back down. "Uh, yes yes. I'm sorry about that. I am Ludwig's father. Is my son alright? Is he hurt?"
"Oh no, he's not hurt...at least physically. We do have a problem." she answered.
"What's the problem? What's happening to my boy? Tell me!" Bowser pleaded.
"Well, it's not pretty, but a nurse told me that your son apparently has insomnia." Ms. Harris informed.
"What?" Bowser asked worriedly. "He has insomnia?"
Ms. Harris sighed. "Unfortunately yes. That's not all though. He has too much caffeine in his system. Yet, he's still alive."
Bowser became speechless. "Wait, he's supposed to die from having so much caffeine?" he asked.
"Yes." Ms. Harris answered. "It's amazing he's alive. But the nurse gave me some news. She prescribed him some sleeping pills."
Bowser sighs in relief. "That sounds good." he said. "I'll make sure Ludwig takes these pills and make sure he rests easy."
Ms. Harris sighed in relief. "Thank you very much. If you need to, you can call me again to request a few days off for your son."
Bowser smiled and nodded. "I'll consider it, and thank you again. You have a nice day." he said and hung up. He puts his phone down and opens up a drawer; pulling out a belt. "That's two kids I have to deal with today. What are the odds?" He then exit the bedroom and stomped downstairs. Before he left, he grabbed his phone quickly. He thought he should make a pit stop to see his royal advisor Kamek. At least to take care of the caffeine issue.
When he arrived at Kamek's spell room, he opened the door startling the old magikoopa.
"KAMEK! WE GOT A PROBLEM!" Bowser shouted.
Kamek turned to Bowser quickly. "Ah, y-your majesty. What can I do for you?" he asked maintaining his composure.
"Well, long story short Ludwig hasn't been sleeping lately, and he uses all caffeine products such as coffee and energy drinks to keep himself awake." Bowser explained the best he could. "What I need you to do is go in his room and get rid of anything related to caffeine, and hide it somewhere where he wouldn't think to look at. And make it quick. The kids will be home from school at any moment." He then ran quickly to thee front door.
Kamek stood there nodding. "Yes your majesty." He summoned his broom and zipped to Ludwig's room.
Moving on to the front door, Bowser stands in front of the giant doors waiting for his kids to come home. He went on his most frequent social media platform Twitter, and posted something.
Does anyone have any tips on sleeping? Not me, but my oldest son hasn't been sleeping at all lately. I think he forgot how to.
He added a picture of Patrick Starfish from SpongeBob Squarepants with bloodshot eyes, thinking of the cartoons he would watch with Lemmy on Saturday mornings when he puts his show aside. Then he put his phone away and picks up his belt.
"I'll teach him how to study and get him to sleep." Bowser grumbled to himself. He whistled as he swings the belt around and chuckles. "Come home. Just come home. I bet you won't walk through that front door."
The school bus arrives close to the Koopa Castle, and the door opens. Ludwig steps off the bus with a tired sigh. As the bus leaves, Ludwig looks at his sleeping pills he kept in his hand. He shook his head, and walked home.
However another bus came to a stop, and Bowser's "legitimate son" Bowser Jr. stepped off; carrying his backpack by the top strap. While struggling he looked up and saw Ludwig walking slowly towards the castle yawning. The youngest koopaling smirks and with all his strength runs to the castle passing Ludwig.
By that time Ludwig was close to the gate. Just when the guards let him pass; Junior ran past him shoving him.
"You snooze you lose slowpoke!" Junior shouted.
Instead of just yelling back; Ludwig sighed and kept on walking. He didn't want to be involved in any nonsense today. He just wanted to go to his room and continue studying. 'Sorry nurse, but my studies are still on the line.' Ludwig thought to himself.
Ludwig paused his walking when he saw Junior open the door, and to his fear Bowser started beating Junior while yelling at him. This brought the eldest koopaling to another panic attack. He clutched the straps of his backpack tight as he watched Bowser beating his clone; thinking in that scenario it was him. His breathing became uneven, his pulse is going up and his heart is hammering in his chest so hard the eldest koopaling was sure it wanted to pop right out of his chest.
Ludwig looked at the pill bottle again, and this time threw it away. It bounced along the bridge towards Bowser and Junior; however neither noticed. With his magic; Ludwig teleported himself to his room...
...only to see Kamek try to steal his supplies.
Kamek froze and stared at Ludwig. The magikoopa could tell of two possibilities. One: he had a bad day at school. Two: based on the yelling downstairs he heard that and is probably falling into a panic attack.
"M-Master Ludwig, I..." Kamek spoke.
That was when Ludwig in a blind rage through his panic grabbed Kamek, took his stuff back and shoved him out of his room.
"GET OUT!" Ludwig yelled as he slammed the door shut. Kamek glanced from the hall to Ludwig's room as the magikoopa summoned his broomstick and hurried towards Bowser.
The eldest koopaling then casted another barrier around his room, turned off the light in his room and closed his blinds from his windows; leaving him in pitch black darkness. This would possibly make the guards, his siblings, his mentors and father think Ludwig hadn't come home.
He didn't think that wouldn't work considering Kamek saw him before kicking him out until now. If Ludwig stayed here; there's no doubt Kamek and Bowser would find a way to get inside. The eldest koopaling spotted his bathroom door and decided to hide there for the time
Ludwig hurriedly unplugged his laptop, grabbed his remaining adrenaline supply and barged into his bathroom. He shut the door quickly and locked it; then entered his bathtub, closed the curtain and tried to make himself as small as possible.
The eldest koopaling felt his eyelids start to drop again, then let out a gasp. 'Gotta get another shot.' Ludwig thought with fear as flashes of Bowser beating Junior flickering in his head.
He quickly undid his cape, took off his pendant and two shirt layers as he picked up another adrenaline needle and once again injected the liquid into his bloodstream. He then put his shirt layers and cape back on as well as his pendant.
Ludwig opened his laptop to work on his usual long homework. He dimmed the screen so that it isn't too bright that he wouldn't give himself away.
Before Ludwig even got started on working on his assignments, he heard a knock on his bathroom door. His eyes widened and turned to the sound of the knocking.
"Ludwig!" his father called. "Me and Kamek know you're hiding in here. Come on out! We need to talk."
'There's no way.' Ludwig thought fearfully. 'How did they know I was in here?'
His fear dissolved to anger when he remembered Kamek was in his room earlier. The eldest koopaling clenched his fists tightly. He had forgotten to force Kamek to keep this a secret in his panic. Ludwig decided to still keep quiet, and hoped that Bowser and Kamek would go away. He held in his breath. He heard hushed voices, then his bathroom door being unlocked, and finally he heard one set of footsteps leaving. They weren't heavy like Bowser's; so it's most likely Kamek leaving his room.
Ludwig felt panic rising. Holding his breath wasn't helpful either; he even started to feel light headed. His heart was pounding harder and harder and the one memory of Bowser whipping Junior in front of him repeats over and over again.
He barely heard Bowser say anything, but when he heard his door opening; Ludwig turned away and shut his eyes waiting for a beating with his own to finally arrive. He just wanted this to be over with; that was all no matter how painful it was going to be.
When Bowser saw his eldest son in a panic attack when he entered his bathroom and pushed the curtain open; the koopa king sighed worriedly. He put his laptop aside and picked him up; taking his son to his bed. He sat Ludwig down and the koopa king sat next to him.
"Lud, I'm here Lud. Focus on my voice." Bowser instructed. "I'm not going to hurt you. No one is going to hurt you here, I promise. I don't even have a belt in my hands."
Ludwig shuddered at the mention of the belt and hid his face with his knees again. Bowser carefully and gently hugged Ludwig; rubbing circles on the eldest koopaling's back. Best to not mention the belt around Ludwig again.
By that time Kamek had returned with a pill and a glass of water. This pill isn't Ludwig's prescribed sleeping pill from school, but it was from the medicine cabinet in the medical ward of the castle which wasn't used that often but for checkups and prescriptions stored. The pill is actually a sedative drug called lorazepam. It can also help relieve panic attacks.
"Here are the pill and water Your Carefulness." Kamek said as he handed Bowser the water and pill.
Bowser sighed before taking the pill first. "Thank you Kamek. You brought what I asked for." Bowser said as held the pill in front of Ludwig's face. "Here Lud, I need you to take this pill. It'll help you!"
Ludwig stopped his sobbing and wiped his tears and snot with his sleeve. He glanced at the pill, then his father - who is nodding at him - and back at the pill. With shaking hands Ludwig took the pill and put it in his mouth without chewing it.
Bowser then hands him the water. "Here. Use this to swallow." Ludwig drank the water about half the cup.
Kamek retrieved the cup. "I think that should do it." he said. "I'll go wish the other children a welcome back. I believe you both have something to discuss real quick before the pill kicks in. I would advise this to be quick." He left the room.
Bowser nodded at Kamek, then turned back to Ludwig. The eldest koopaling had started to calm down by this point and came back to reality. He blinked a few times before his gaze turned to Bowser's with shock.
"F-Father...I..." Ludwig gasped out.
"Ludwig, may I ask this one question?" Bowser asked with worry. "What on earth were you thinking avoiding sleep like that?"
Ludwig looked away, hesitating like he did with the school nurse earlier.
"Ludwig, I did say I wouldn't hurt you. You're a good kid. You're like a super genius. You had no reason to worry about a whole ton of homework being done in a rush and whatnot." Bowser explained.
Ludwig stood up slowly with wobbly legs. He crouched under his bed and pulled out his 11th grade report card and showed it to him.
"This." Ludwig answered with a hoarse voice. "I saw my grades dropped to all As and Bs, and I pictured...that...with Junior...happening to me. I already saw it earlier that day. I...I don't want to be a failure with no A+s in every single class. I...I'm sorry father."
Bowser didn't say anything. Ludwig at this point developed a huge lump in his throat that he couldn't swallow. The koopa king let out a chuckle much to Ludwig's confusion; then he let out a laugh. The eldest koopaling was speechless. He had no idea why his own father was laughing at either him or the grades he got on his 11th grade report card.
When Bowser finally stopped laughing, he patted on the bed gesturing for Ludwig to sit net to him. Ludwig hesitated, but sat next to his father nonetheless. Bowser spoke again.
"Ludwig; this is nothing to be worried about." Bowser reassured. "Ludwig, it's okay if you got As or Bs. I would never get mad at you. Sometimes we all have our little bumps; it happens." His smile turned to a serious expression. "This wouldn't be something to push yourself over. As and Bs are still really good grades. Your siblings had those marks and they were happy; well Larry only got Ds for cheating, but that's besides the point.
"And I'm sorry if you thought I was going to beat you." He then whispered to himself angrily. "I bet it was that stupid clone's fault. That b*****d. I'm really going to beat Junior again once he finishes his homework. Maybe I'll even give him the extension chord twice. I'm one hundred percent sure I'm going to do it now." He turned back to Ludwig. "That was not towards you Lud. I would never hurt you or your siblings. If you were to fail your classes Lud; I would just ground you for how long I decide it to be. It's that simple. Have you forgotten that?
"However; getting As and Bs is no excuse to ruin your health by skipping meals, not sleeping and only drinking coffee. I can now see after your panic attack you have bags under your eyes. So what we're going to do is have you take at least tomorrow off school so you'd have more of a long weekend to have some self care and get your health back on track."
"B-But what about my homework?" Ludwig asked with a yawn. Once he realized what he did; he quickly covered his mouth.
Bowser however heard his yawn. He smirked; seeing his eldest son start to become tired with the pill kicking in. "We'll work together on the homework. Heck; you could even teach me things I haven't even learned from in my school years. We're also going to make sure that during this we take longer breaks. I'd say 10 minutes would work out instead of five, am I right?" he asked. Bowser then stood up. "Well, we'll talk more about this later. Right now you gotta take a nap, and I'll save your homework. I'll call your school tomorrow morning and I'll tell them our plan. Sound good? Good. Now better get changed into sleepwear and quick." He left the bedroom and closed the door behind him.
Ludwig - too tired to protest - stood up from his bed and changed into his sleepwear; which consisted of a royal blue t-shirt with his emblem graphic on the front and pyjama pants with music block patterns. By the time Ludwig returned to his bed, his knees collapsed and he had to climb onto his bed with the covers forgotten. When Ludwig's head finally hit the pillow after so long; his exhausted eyes closed and the eldest koopaling was ready for a long overdue nap.
The eldest koopaling didn't know this, but as soon as Ludwig fell into a deep sleep Bowser returned and lifted him up carefully to pull up his covers. Once that was done, the koopa king put Ludwig back in bed and moved the covers over him; tucking his eldest son in. Then he finally left the room; holding up two report cards with Ludwig's name on both of them.
"What Luds didn't know was that his report card with As and Bs was mixed up." he said to himself. "He had gotten it confused with another student last year." He then sighed and looked at the second report card. "He had no idea he ACTUALLY got all A+s in his classes last year. Nothing changed." He glanced back at the direction to Ludwig's room which he walked past to get back to his room. "Sleep well son. You really need it by now." The koopa king continued walking back to his own room.
The next day is a Friday. At 7:00 in the morning, Bowser called Ms. Harris this morning and requested a day off for Ludwig. The request went through. It seems Ludwig REALLY needed a day where he takes care of himself.
So while his other siblings are at their schools, Ludwig stayed in Bowser's room getting some rest and just relaxing. Bowser even worked with Ludwig on his homework the easy way like he promised. That took Ludwig's mind off of all the stress and worries he had. Bowser even managed to tell Ludwig his report card was mixed up with someone else's and that he got all A+s in his classes as usual. That left Ludwig shocked. He kept telling himself he's an idiot, but Bowser would always stop him from calling himself that. It was a mistake being made, and it tends to happen.
Ludwig was working on the last of his homework on Bowser's tablet while eating more drugged cookies Chef PP and Bowser insisted he have, and Bowser was laughing at yet another episode of Charleyyy and Friends. He thought his eldest son got the last of his homework covered. Bowser's phone rings, and Bowser growled at the interruption. He took his phone and turned to Ludwig. "I need to take a phone call. I'll be right back."
Ludwig looked at his father and nodded before continuing with his homework. Bowser stepped out of his room to answer the call. "Hello?" he greeted angrily and annoyed.
"It's Stienbeck again." Mr. Stienbeck informed. He was the same guy who called about Junior yesterday. "I'm calling to notify you that I caught your son cheating on my test."
"What?" Bowser asked angrily.
"On the final exam; with a cucumber!" Mr. Stienbeck shouted. "So I'm going to have to fail him. Good day sir." He hung up the phone.
Later on that day after the other kids returned from school and doing their after school activities and Ludwig was taking another nap after all of his homework was complete, Bowser beat Junior and Chef PP with an extension chord for failing the final exam and not doing a good job with tutoring. The other koopalings were completely oblivious. When Bowser was finished and left Junior and Chef PP in pain, Bowser smiled at himself. Not because of what he had done, but because he would do anything to make sure his other 7 adopted kids are happy and healthy. He will continue taking care of his non-legitimate children until he has taken his last breath.
And hopefully he will cure Ludwig's insomnia for good.
THE END
-BONUS-
Inside a small house were two Boomerang Bros. Carlos and James. They had an older brother named Kent, but he's in Bowser's koopa troop; so they don't get to see him anymore. Carlos is playing his guitar; happy that for the very first time he had gotten A+s in his classes even though he usually gets As and Bs.
Loud knocks interrupted Carlos' personal celebration and he stopped playing his guitar. He opened the door to see James leaning against the door frame.
"What's up lil' bro?" James asked. James is a pretty chill boomerang bro.
Carlos shrugged. "Not much. Just celebrating by myself with my guitar. Can you believe how crazy it is that I got all A+s?" Carlos asked excitedly. "I'm not even a super genius!"
James glanced away. "About that; your school called me and told me your report card was actually mixed up with someone else's."
Carlos' excited smile turned to a worried frown. "So...I actually failed?" the boomerang bro asked; feeling his heart sink.
James shook his head. "No no. You didn't actually have A+s in your classes," he said holding up an envelope. "but you can have a look. I doubt you failed. You've gotten As and Bs and that's always good."
Carlos took the envelope and opened it up nervously. When he looked through the paper which is to be his actual report card; he was relieved. The boomerang didn't fail; he got the usual As and Bs. He jumped around excitedly and hugged his brother.
"Thank goodness!" Carlos said. "I thought I was failing or something."
James chuckled and hugged his brother back. "You are all good little bro." he reassured. "How about we get pizza tonight as promised on me? I'll pay for it."
Carlos nodded and the two brothers left the house to celebrate Carlos' great marks from his actual report card. Today had been a very good day for Carlos either way it seemed.