Not What I Expected (Bowser x reader)

Chapter 11

       All of Bowser's officials and advisors had gathered in the meeting room, which consisted of a large elliptical table with a hole in the center that held a map of all of the kingdoms, and chairs of varying sizes all around. I was sat next to Bowser with Lia and Luigi to my right, a Kamek on the opposite side of the table, generating and controlling the map. Quiet murmurs filled the room as everyone patiently waited for Bowser to call the meeting to order. Bowser stood, his eyebrows furrowed, fists clenched, years of pain, guilt, and rage flowing through his eyes. "I have let this go on for too long, and it's high time I tell all of you the truth." The room suddenly fell silent, the tension weighing down on all of us. "I... never loved Princess Peach. I needed to marry her to properly form a treaty so we could have easier- legal- access to resources, and I lied about it because I didn't want to worry anyone or appear weak. I'm sorry, and if any of you think less of me for this, I understand." 

Everyone's eyes were on him, these people were seeing their king being openly vulnerable for likely the first time during their servitude. "With all due respect, your majesty, I think I speak for everyone when I say we thought you were a wuss for wanting to marry her for 'love'" A voice speaks up from the far side of the table. A mumble of agreement ripples through the room and I can't help but stifle my laugh at Bowser's bewildered expression, shifting from embarrassed to angry to amused in a matter of seconds. He sighs defeatedly and chuckles to himself. "I appreciate your honesty, Captain Spike, but call me a wuss again and you'll be out of here before anyone can yell 'blue shell incoming!'" the awkward silence was broken as everyone erupted into familiar laughter. It was clear to me that these people were more than just military officials to Bowser, they were his friends and everyone here seemed really close. The room quieted again, and Bowser turned to me and extended his hand to me, silently asking me to join his side as we both go over the plan for a coup. I took his much larger hand and raised my other to call everyone's attention. "The Mushroom Kingdom has had an extremely unfair advantage over us for too long, but we can easily wipe them out and give that bratty princess a taste of her own medicine, with your strength." 

"And your big brain, slugger." Lia chimes in, her presence giving peace of mind. "What's the plan, y/n?" Luigi presses, anxiously leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees. Bowser and I had briefly discussed it on our way to the meeting room, so there were definitely some kinks to work out. I turned my attention back to the rest of the room, addressing everyone while I speak as confidently as I can even though I'm still not one hundred percent sure this is even going to work. "Luigi would return to the castle, acting all frantic and playing the part of the terrified lunatic while Bowser, Lia and I and the majority of his foot soldiers waited atop a hill out of sight. Luigi, you'll lead Mario to Toad Town where everything will be in chaos. The bob-ombs will be deployed there to set the stage, and make everyone think this'll just be another kidnapping mission. Then, while Mario is preoccupied with the evacuation, I'll go in for my final showdown with Peach." Bowser paused. "Hold on, that's not what you said in the hallway. You said we'd send a banzai bill to destroy the castle and, if she survives, make Peach surrender. I can't just let you go in and-" "and what, Bowser? I need to do this. I need to have closure and make her feel remorse for her actions. Obviously I'm not going to charge in with my current skill set and get myself killed, Kamek and Lia said they would train me." I stop myself from rambling again and take a deep breath, tracing the carvings in my staff to soothe my nerves. Bowser puts a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, she hurt me too. If we do this, we do it together." I nod and put my hand over his, giving it a reassuring squeeze. 

We spend the next hour and a half hammering out all of the details for our attack on the mushroom kingdom, and Bowser sent out his generals to inform their respective troops of the plan and start training, leaving me, Bowser, Luigi, Lia, and Kamek in the meeting room. Bowser, Luigi and Kamek were discussing something off to the side while Lia and I were trying to make up for lost time. 

"So as I understand it, you've had it pretty rough at Peach's castle, huh?" 

"Yeah, Peach turned into a real bitch after she became the sole ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom. All that power went to her head." Lia snickers.

"You say that like she wasn't a bitch before all that. Do you remember what a nightmare she was when she was little? Always running around and breaking things. Oh! You remember that one time she was on her usual destruction spree and ran into Aunty Crystal who was in the middle of cleaning the Queen's urn?! If Crystal didn't have such fast reflexes, she would have totally dropped that urn." She smiled and laughed to herself, but I was confused. I don't remember that happening. In fact, I only noticed a shift in her behavior until after... "Slugger? You feelin' alright? Yer face went really pale all of a sudden." I reached up to my head, and felt around, and I noticed a small dent where my two skull plates fused. 'strange, I don't remember that being there.' 

"You don't remember what being where, y/n?" Kamek pipes up from the other conversation. I glare at him, "Dammit, Kamek! Stop reading my mind without my consent!" He rolled his eyes. "Alright, fine. But since I already did, why don't you just save us both some time and me my dignity, and just tell us what you were thinking so I don't have to beg." I feel around my head again, looking for the dent. "I noticed a very faint dip in my head where my skull plates connect. I have a feeling that it might be connected to the gaps in my memory." I gently pressed down on the dip and... everything goes black. Last thing I hear is Lia's voice. "Slugger! Wake up, please!"

Lia's P.O.V.

Y/n collapsed right in front of my eyes. They were find for a moment, and then their eyes rolled into the back of their head and they fell forward. I caught them just in time before they face planted and broke their nose or chipped a tooth or something. I rested their head in my lap and gently slapped their cheek. "Slugger! Wake up, please!" I shook their shoulder, nothing. I slapped them a little harder, nothing. Kamek tried to wake them up with magic, nothing. There was nothing we could do. Luigi and Bowser were panicking beside me. Luigi was clutching his hat to his chest, clearly trying to not hyperventilate again. Bowser was crouched on the other side of y/n, gently stroking their face. His face was unreadable except for the tears slowly welling up in his eyes. "C'mon slugger, I just got you back, I can't lose you again." tears rolled down my cheeks and landed on theirs. Their chest slowly rose and fell, and their lips parted slightly before one word left them.

"RUN." 

                                             (1296 words)

AN: oOoOoOohhh plot twist! I wanted to try and move the story forward a bit more in this chapter, so you'll probably get half story progression and half fluffy stuff in the next one. Also I just want to thank all of you so much for well over 10 thousand reads! I quite literally couldn't have made it here without you and I just hope all of you know just how much each and everyone of you mean to me. I try to be more consistent with my publishing schedule, but y'know, life happens! Hope all of you have a wonderful next 24 hours and stay safe, stay healthy, and stay happy.

                                                                    Love you all!

                                                                                  -Author Shed <3