The guard left the room to go get the foul man that had us locked in here. I didn't care about that. I couldn't stop staring at my father's dead body.
I'm pretty sure we were crying. No, I was sure we were both crying. I couldn't hear anything. During the past ten minutes staring at our father, I've had constant flashbacks of happier times.
They're all washed down the drain.
"Daddy I'm sorry," Junior wept from beside me. My hearing suddenly revolves within my veins. Turns out we were both crying. I felt pain and sorrow for the 7-year-old who watched his role model father be executed.
Oh my God! I have fire breath!
I quickly blew a soft, small flame into the wrist cuff, holding my hand upside down so the dripping metal wouldn't burn my arms. I ripped the metal to let myself free. I did the same to Junior, burning my hands slightly. I quickly went over to my dads body and with all my might, said my final goodbyes, murder heavy on my mind. They would pay for this. I wrapped my arms around his lifeless cadaver. I allowed Junior to say his goodbyes. But then I noticed a b-
"Hey!" The guard and the man burst through the door. I grabbed Junior's claw and ran back. As they chased us, I would burn them. I heard their footsteps but then they stopped.
Flames.
Screaming.
Me and Junior were bewildered.
"Dad!"
"Just Run!" He yelled as more guard pile in. We crawled into an open air duct. It lead to a room in the abandoned building. A few rifle shots were heard. Then silence.
"Damnit!" I kicked the wall to the empty building we were in. They must've shot him more and more. There was like 7 shots. He was really dead this time. I lead the crying prince out of the side of the building.
"Look! It's the king's sons!" People from around the public began to recognize our bloodied selves as we emanated from the alleyway.
"Junior, stay here. I'm going back for dad,"
"But he's dead," the small boy cried. "I'm going to kill whoever did this to us. I'll get revenge for us, okay?" He nodded as the public rushed to get Junior into the open to help him.
"Hey!" You can't go in alone!" I didn't turn back. "Oh yeah? Watch me. I'm saving my father,"
"No," he spun me around. "Tony?!" He hugged me briefly. "Let's get in there and save the king," he said. "I can't have you getting hurt,"
"I'm not letting my absence be the reason you're hurt. Not again,"
I huffed, hoping I could protect him too. "We don't have much time," The public watched as we crawled through the window. Sirens could be heard in the distance. Heavy flames could be seen within the building.
"Dad!" I coughed. "Dad!"
The building raved with smoke. We tried to stay away from the fire as we navigated through the halls.
"..Son!"
"Dad?!"
The room where the sound was coming from was engulfed in flames. The basement. Where we were held for hours.
"I'm gonna have to go into the flames, Tony," I said. "No way! You'll burn!"
"I'd rather burn now trying to save him than committing suicide later for doing nothing. You're gonna have to trust me, Tony," he hugged me and nodded into my shoulder. I patted his back and pulled away.
I hurried down the stairs and into the fire-filled basement. I ran through the flames.
"Dad! Daddy!" I yelled, not seeing him.
"Son!" I couldn't feel the flames burning my clothes. My body isn't burning in any way. I felt a faint sting though. Just because this device is implanted into me doesn't mean I'm invincible. Ludwig told me that we're not invincible to fire. We just burn much slower. I felt the pain creeping up on me.
"Dad! Where are you?!" I said, tripping over charred bodies and guts.
There he is! I quickly ran over to him and put myself under his arm. I guide him up the stairs and out of the room. "Oh my god are you guys okay?!" Tony frantically knelt as my dad collapsed against a wall. "Can you get us water? Please?" Tony nodded and rushed out of the window we came in. I unzipped Bowser's hoodie, and he helped me take it off.
"Son," he ululated weakly. "You shouldn't, dad. Let's get you water first," He nodded and held out his arms. I crawled into them, my stomach pain killing me. "I love you, trooper," he croaked. "I love you too Dad,"
"Is Junior safe?"
"I escorted him to safety," I assured, he nodded, too dry in his throat to speak anymore.
"I got the water!" Tony fumbled through the window, nearly falling. He knelt beside us. Bowser put an arm around the boy.
"Thanks. For keeping my son safe and helping save my life,"
"No problem, King Bowser,"
Bowser drank the water and nearly instantly showed immense signs of health improvement. He guzzled the bottle in one swig.
"Let's get out of here," I noticed the scars on his face. "They shot me in the face again, don't worry. It won't penetrate past the skin," he caught me staring.
"So you survived two headshots?" Tony quizzed. "It's easy for a koopa. Not so much for a human," he said. Tony nodded.
"Is everyone else okay?" Bowser asked as we prepare to climb out of the window.
My heart sank as I remembered them running home to get help. They raided the house with my siblings inside.
"We gotta get Junior and get home now! They went for the safe, remember?"
"Here's my number, Tony. I need you to call me in one hour, got it?" He nodded. We all hurried out of the window, going our separate ways.
—————
Bowser had his tank top sling over his shoulder, and I had his hoodie on, which almost went down to my knees as we sat in a koopa troop security car. The matte black dodge was draped in silence as no one uttered a word.
Upon reaching the neighborhood, we didn't have to look far to see the house absolutely swatted with military.
"Fuck yeah!" Bowser whispered. "Koopa Troop?" I asked. He nodded. I noticed there were no humans, hence the name 'Koopa' Troop.
"Hey! Lord Bowser!" A few of the armed men rushed over and opened our front gate to let us in. I flinched at their artillery, and clung to the back of Bowser's shell, gripping his spikes.
"Guys!" I saw my siblings and ran over to them, they wrapped me in a group hug, glad I was okay. It was so relieving to be reunited with my family.
———
"Thanks.. for letting me come here, Larry," I laid in his azure bedspread, curling myself in his sheets as he played on a Minecraft server.
"No problem, I could use the company anyways. Besides, you don't make fun of me for playing Fortnite, or Minecraft," he says.
"I'm sorry we had to run," he scratched the back of his neck, lifting his clawed hand off his Air 58.
"I wasn't expecting you guys to stay and get shot in the head," I rolled my eyes.
"Roy and Lemmy got shot in the raid, and I felt so powerless. It's just without my wand I'm not much use to anybody. Even using our fire breath couldn't stop them," he sighed, running a hand through his hair. He propped his feet up on his gaming chair and hugged his knees to himself.
"Don't feel that way, and I know. I saw them being treated when I first got here. They're both okay. Lemmy got hit in the shell, and Roy's arm is beefier than the steak I ate earlier today," I joked. I took a peek out of Larry's huge glass wall. The blue shifted into grey as it began to drizzle lightly.
He glanced at me from his setup. Seeing as I was looking out of the window, he gulped a pill from his drawer dry. He really thought I was blind huh?
"Can I have some?"
"Some what?" He blushes, pausing Minecraft. "Candy," I motioned to his drawer innocently. "That was my last one. I'll buy you some more," He almost actually convinced me with that lie even though I watched him do it.
I went to open his drawer, and he hurriedly grabbed my hand, piercing his claws into my skin.
"Ouch!" Light drops of blood trickled from my veins. I rolled my eyes and got up from his bed.
"Dude, I'm so sorry," he apologized. "It's fine," I muttered while exiting his room. I go down the hallways and up the stairs into the kitchen. I clean my hand and rummage through the drawers, desperately trying to find band aids before my hand bled again. I let out a groan as it inevitably started to bleed again.
I look up the staircase worriedly. I halt my shameful, pitiful anxiety and show myself up the staircase.
"Dad," I groaned as I approached his door. I knocked gently and waited. He opened the door in a freshly tailored suit.
I thought about all those inappropriate VHS Tapes Rick showed me.
"I-," he snapped me out of my inevitable stupor by dragging me into his bathroom. He cleansed my hands as I stared at his suit the whole time.
"Why are you so fancied up?" His suit dazzled in the dim haze from the bathroom window. Geez, his bathroom was so nice. It even had a really small sink for Junior, at least that's what I thought it was.
"Because son, I'm going to work," he said as he grabbed some bandaids from his medicine cabinet and patched up the scratch.
"Work? At 8:00? Really?" I asked, skeptical. He nodded. "I was supposed to go in this morning. I have certain days I need to be in buddy, but I'm going in earlier to work with king boo on some things," he explained.
"Wait, King Boo? Isn't he an actual king of something?"
"Yeah," he tightened his cuff links as he guided me out of the bathroom. "He's the king of a monarchy on an island called Greyland, it's like the South, but smaller," he explained, digging through a box on the mantle of his fireplace. I observed him through the door.
"This is weird, so we live in the North Islands, but you govern the South?" I questioned, fidgeting with the bandage on my hand. He raised a brow. "Look outside," he motioned me to stand next to him as he pulled back the curtains.
It revealed the dazzling, twilight sky.
"Duh, it's 8:00. It's nighttime, dad," he huffed, encircling his phone within his claws as he dialed a number. "Sunset isn't until 9:30," I nodded confusedly. I wasn't even paying attention to where we lived? I have got to get out more.
He put an arm around me as he walked me down into the kitchen. "Let your siblings know I'm ordering tonight," he pats me on the back before heading out of the kitchen and out of the front door. He hastily got into a black muscle car all the way at the back and hurriedly drove off. Even down the street I could still hear the engine.
Hearing noises down in the basement. I walk down there to see what was going on. Sure enough, Larry was there playing Mario Kart with Wendy, Ludwig and Lemmy. Morton and Roy were playing some sort of iPad game, a beer in between them.
Larry catches my gaze and smiles slightly, patting the side beside him before returning to the game. He scooted closer to Wendy because there was barely any space.
Completely vaporizing my plans to turn and walk away before he saw me, I situated myself on the couch beside him, watching the game intently. Our arms touched because three of us were squeezed on the love seat. I could've sat anywhere else.
As the game played out I let my mind drift, to worlds unknown. I can't fathom the trauma that just happened with the ransom. My mind swiveled into perilously endless circles. But I let it, content in my own circle of headspace.
A/N : (Sorry for typos, It's been a month and I have to get something out. I hope you guys can forgive me)