Alex nodded, "If the guy says he has inside info, I say we let him aboard. Never a bad idea to get the skinny on your enemies, right? Besides, and extra hand, foot, or shell is always appreciated." Alex said, leaning against the railing. He looked up over Toad Town again, and saw Lucio and Princess Pomegranate running toward them. He let out a sigh of exasperation. Took him long enough. He casually lifted a finger and pointed toward the racing duo, "Ain't that Lucy right there?"

------------------------------------

Bowser III sat on his throne. Kiara hovered on her broom at his right side, giggling mischievously. Kory sat with his feet on the table, tilting back on the axis of his shell and the chair he was in. At HIS side was a large machine, covered by a tarp. He was tapping his claws irritably against the arms of his chair; They were wasting his valuable time. Bowser knew that his remaining siblings were busy, but he wished they put a little hustle into it. This was taking forever!

Marino smirked a bit, nodding over at Koop. "Alright, well, in that case, welcome aboard! Like Yumes said, it's always nice to have all the help we can get...especially if it's intel we can use, right?"

He had to admit, he did agree with Alex. Every possible lead that could possibly help them was always nice, but a part of him still told him to keep an eye on Koop simply because he was former Koopa Troop. Yet, somehow, he didn't feel he needed to worry himself. Turning his head around to follow Alex's lead--sure enough, as the two of them were racing down towards the docks--Lucio, who had been on Pomegranate's heels nearly the entire length of the dash...finally managed to overtake his sister as they were rounding the corner onto the dock. The dash hadn't taken them very long...they weren't all that far away, to be sure, but the race was giving Lucio thoughts to start running some more if his younger sister...who was wearing a fully primped-out dress was able to outpace him for nearly the entire distance.

"Yeah, looks like it." Marino said.

Sprinting onto the wooden pier, Lucio thrust his arms up with his eyes closed letting out a victory whoop...so caught up in his victory was he that he didn't even stop and subsequently found himself running right off the edge and taking a dive into the drink with a surprised shriek.

Once Marino had finally managed to pick himself off the rolling on the deck doubled over in laughter, he moved to assist Yumi in getting a rope and a lifesaver to toss down to his cousin.

---

Back over at the beach, Kaylin stared at her brother's blank, clueless stare. When she received no response, she sighed, before taking her thorn whip from off her belt and striking him across the shell with it.

"Hello!? Earth to Chunks!" She snapped. "Big brother Bowser's waiting for us for a family meeting! Are you listening to me? C'mon, you big brainless brute!" Without really waiting for a response she reached out to grasp his wrist to drag him off from the sandy shores of the beach up towards the grasses, underbrush and tropical flora of the jungle towards a large warp pipe she had used to get there in the fist place.

*(I apologize if this post makes it seem like I'm powerplaying here. I can revise if needed. x3)*

Alex hopped back down to the deck in time to watch Lucio come flying over the dock and into the water, "A bit of a dim bulb, that one." He said through his laughter, almost gagging on it once or twice. When he had finally regained himself, he grabbed the rope and helped the others to pull Lucio back on board, sopping wet and dripping all over the place, "I think Lucy ought to be the swabby, he's doing a fine job as of now."

He cast a gaze back toward land where Koop and Pomegranate were standing. He motioned to Koop, "So, we going, or are gonna beat around the bush all day? Name's Alex, good to meet ya." He returned his gaze to the Princess, "So, been a time and a half since we last saw each other, aye?"

----------------------

Chunk stared stupidly at Kaylin as she started telling him that Big Brother was holding a meeting. He didn't like meetings. Nobody ever asked him what he thought (not that he thought much) and everyone always just bossed him around, even that little runt of a sister, Kiara. Besides, there was never anything to mash at a meeting. He was broken from his "thought process" by a thump to his shell. Kaylin grabbed his wrist and started to lead him toward a warp pipe, "Chunk want mash, not talk." He grumbled rebelliously, but made no attempt to stop his sister.

----------------------

Bowser drummed his fingers on his chair as Kaylin and Chunk came into the room via Warp Pipe. He nodded at Kaylin, not even bothering to acknowledge his idiot brother. Kiara, in the other hand, immediately floated over and began to pester Kay, "Where was the big idiot, anyway? Did he lock himself in the bathroom again?"

Chunk grumbled something inaudible and Kiara turned her attention to him, "What's that, dummy? Did you try to play with the pretty water in the shiny white bowl again? Get stuck again?"

"Chunk mash you." he said threateningly, swinging a sluggish fist at his youngest sibling. She easily flew out of range and laughed, "Aw, poor fatty, can't even hit little old me!"

"Chunk think Kia is afraid of Chunk. Otherwise, she wouldn't run away like coward." Chunk said, his feeble brain practically bursting into flames as he came up with a somewhat clever retort.

"What!? You big, fat, dummy head! I'll show you afraid, won't I!" She said angrily, raising her wand a preparing to cast a spell Chunkward. Bowser rose from his chair and bellowed, "ENOUGH!"

Kiara nearly fell off her broom and Chunk simply stared at his brother. Kory lost his balance and ended up sprawled flat on his back on the floor. Bowser simply sat back down, glaring at his two younger siblings. Kia hid behind Kaylin and Chunk took his seat.

"Wow, somebody is grumpy, huh sis." Kiara whispered, fear clearly present in her voice.

"Awsome choice, Mario-dude! You won't regret it." said Koop, flashing up a thumbs-up sign, "Last I remember, Kaylin and Chunk were the Koopalings hanging out on Yoshi's Island. I even heard rumors going around that Chunk O'Koopa liked to eat Yoshi eggs. Disgusting man... that's for sure." said Koop as the other Mario and a Princess boarded. From there, Koop simply found a comfortable spot and sat down. He wasn't exactly tired, but he needed a moment so he could try and recollect as much as possible about what was going on at Yoshi's Island before he left. The Yoshis were being captured for some reason, but Koop couldn't recall why.

--------

While he usually stood out among his siblings, Rife MacKoopa had actually remained unnoticed in the little meeting chamber the whole time. He found it irritating when they started bickering, and his blood boiled with memories of trying to referee them in days past. Rife wanted nothing more than to chuck a Bob-Omb in their faces. Maybe that would shut them up. Of course, Bowser quieted them before Rife had the chance. At this, Rife began laughing, now being the only one making some kind of sound. He was laughing at Bowser, but at the same time, he was laughing at their pathetic excuse of an assembly. Honestly, the Mario Bros. could have attacked at this moment and the Koopalings wouldn't have stood a chance.

"Ha ha... What's wrong Bowser, can't even keep a couple of babies quiet? Some leader you turn out to be." said Rife, intentionally goading Bowser. Rife was the only Koopaling who questioned Bowser's ability to lead, and this was simply another instance of such, "If it's too much for you, I'd be glad to take over and bring some organization back to this family. Whaddya say?" of course Bowser would refuse. No Koopaling in their right mind would give up the throne. But what would Bowser do if Rife attacked at this very moment? If he started throwing handfulls of Bob-ombs and started shooting Bullet Bills with his favorite Bonzai-Zooka. Would the others help him? Leadership in the Koopaling family was about strength, so the siblings would likely follow whomever proved to be stronger.

The concept of fiery battle against Bowser, of seeing his leadership burn to the ground in blaze of fire and smoke... it was very tempting each time Rife about it. However, he remained seated, "You wanted us here for a reason. Now get this meeting over with. The sooner you start, the sooner I can get the hell out of this dump." there were other things to worry about than petty sibling quarries. They still had the Marios to worry about. Once they were gone, then maybe, just maybe...

Marino nodded, heading over to help Yumi haul Lucio out of the water. Smirking over at Alex's comment, he helped Lucio get to his feet as Yumi trotted off to go fetch some towels and a change of dry clothes for Lucio.

"Kaylin and Chunks, eh?" Marino mumbled. "Hmm. I wonder what precisely they're doing down there. I remember a rumor hearing that Yoshies were disappearing around the area. You don't suppose they could be kidnapping them to gang press them into slave service of some sort?"

Not really waiting for a reply, he turned over to Pomegranate with a grin. "Hiya Poms! Been a while since I last saw you!" He paused, really not sure what to say. Had long had it been? "How have you been holdin' up?"

---

Kaylin sighed, as Chunks found his way to his seat. Placing an arm lightly around Kiara, she snorted lightly as she headed over to her own seat next to Kory--pausing only to help him back up off his shell.

"I suppose. It would be wise not to upset him any further." Kaylin spoke, trying to hide her own irritation. "And you," she directed at Rife, "Mind your own manners."

She had to admit, while she did care for her family, she did not care for their squabbles, even if she had to resort to violent means to get her point across...especially in Chunk's case. Much like Rife, she sometimes partook in a mediation role, but usually left that up to him as she didn't like getting between her siblings and was normally content to let them sort it out while she stood back out of harm's way. Out of the family, she was generally the lone wolf and often preferred to do things on her own, but she just as liable to help out the family simply because they were family.

It wasn't to say she didn't hate them. Kiara did slightly irritate her, but that was only because she was still the baby of the family and was quite immature. While she did mainly look up to Bowser, Kiara was her only sister, and thus felt a special kinship with her that she felt with no others...even if she was an annoying brat.

Chunks was certainly strong of arm, he was of little else. All he cared for was smashing things. Aside from a viable powerhouse, the only things Chunk was actually good for was if something needed demolished or they needed raw brute strength for whatever purpose. Even then, though, if that raw brute strength wasn't precisely aimed at wrecking something it was generally pointless as Chunks rarely followed directions well, either. He was a fun wrestling and sparring partner, but that was it.

Bowser...she felt indifferent about. He was her eldest brother, and as such she did respect him in that regard but he was far too much like their father and grandfather. Bullheaded, impatient, and cocky, the only real difference aside from their father and grandfather was that Bowser III decided that teamwork was more vital than ever and had stressed they needed to do things as a family. While Kaylin was content to be by herself, she knew she would rather work with him than provoke his wrath...unless she saw a very good reason for doing so. Currently, that reason hadn't yet presented itself, so she saw fit to help him out. She honestly didn't care for his overall goals, so long as she had fun in the process.

Kory was likely the only sibling she was the closest to. True, he wasn't a fighter at all...but his intelligence more than made up for it. And while he was certainly chatty (to the point of annoyance), at least he was mature enough not to fly off into wild rants or into a rage...and was the only brother she felt she could be civil with. Being quite smart herself, she was always fascinated with Kory's inventions and ideas and loved contributing to his projects...offering and suggesting a few ideas of her own. Just as much as she liked brawling with Chunks from time to time, Kaylin liked matching wits with Kory...sometimes through wits, either verbal wordplay or a few games. Aside from his tendency to ramble and his generally sloppy appearance, Kory was actually rather level-headed and rather nice (in her opinion) if easy to startle and Kaylin honestly enjoyed his company.

...As for Rife...she had to admit she felt rather conflicted about him. Rife was good with weapons and was no slouch in battle himself--but she didn't truly trust him. To her, at least, it was quite obvious that he felt he should be in charge and he was definitely planning something. While she had no evidence to support her theory, and while she did partially feel that Bowser could have been a better leader (feeling she could be an effective leader herself), she felt no desire to take the throne. Rife, on the other hand...

She had to agree, she didn't much care for working under Bowser, but she internally questioned if Rife would be any better. Despite his skills as a mediator, he didn't seem very trustworthy to her. His short temper did little to help, too. Still, she figured she shouldn't say anything and simply play the field to her own advantage whenever possible. Events would play themselves out eventually.

Although Rife did have a bit of a point...."Indeed," Kaylin spoke up, sitting down herself after she saw Kiara back to her seat. "Why did you call us here, brother?"

Bowser shook his head at his siblings idiocy and impatience. He turned to Kory, who gave Kaylin an appreciative nod. When he saw that his brother's eye was on him, he gave him a thumbs up and Bowser nodded, "Well, I'm giving all parties involved with the plan a situation report. Kaylin and Chunks, as you know, have been kidnapping Yoshi's and bringing them back here. From this point, Kiara has been brainwashing the things."

"There's almost nothing in there to control!" Kiara interjected with a cruel smile as she tapped her own skull.

"From there, Kory has been fitting them with his latest invention, which he has been working on in conjunction with Rife's weapons. We all know that the Mario cousins won't be hurting any innocent Yoshi's. Even that stuck up punk Alex wouldn't. Kory has the whole nine yards worked up on it, including a kill switch, so we're going to give a little demonstration. Kory, do it."

Kory smiled as he unveiled the abomination. It was a robotic creature in the shape of the Koopalings Grandfather. The Mecha-Bowser, which was being piloted by the Brainwashed Yoshi, stood at attention as it waited for orders. Kory also revealed a set of mannequins under a separate tarp, and began placing them about in various spots, making sure they were distanced from his siblings at the table. Amongst the dolls were a few of the Heroes, and the two Princesses. Also among the toys were a few toadish shapes and two shapes that looked suspiciously like Bobber and Yumi.

"As I am about to demonstrate, the Mecha-Bowsers will follow commands from any of us. For now, however, I am just going to show off the basic features. The MB 2.3 is equipped with incredible strength, speed, and maneuverability, despite its rather clunky appearance. It is fit with razor sharp claws and teeth, which are capable of cutting through a Thwomp."

To demonstrate, the MB bit through the Lucio Mannequin's neck and the head came off easily, "Just so you know, those "dolls" are made of Thwomp Powder and Koopa shell paste, not an easy combo to destroy. Other than that, there is also the ability for the MB to breath fire on it's target. The flames are hotter than even we can produce, being able to melt metal."

The MB breathed a huge flame on the Alex Mannequin, leaving nothing but ashes behind. Kory continued, "Finally, I've incorporated some of Rife's Banzai Bill Launchers into the shell, giving an explosive arsenal to the MB."

The monstrosity's shell opened up and launched it's payload, leaving nothing but a crater where the Marino Mannequin had been standing. Kory began going into all the technical aspects of the Mecha-Bowser and Bowser III ignored him, turning to Rife, "Despite your constant criticisms and overactive ego, you make a good explosive. Good work." he wasn't going to give Rife the pleasure of retaliation. The day that flaming headed, ego balloon took the throne was the day that Monty Moles flew. But any day he decided to try and take would be an eventful day indeed.

Kaylin watched the demonstration with a combination of slight repulsion and ecstasy, clapping and cheering with a huge grin on her face the entire time the Mecha-Bowsers did something particularly impressive.

"Oh, wow!" She nearly squealed, clasping her hands together. "Kory, you've really outdone yourself!"

As the mannequins went to pieces, however, the Koopaling had to fight down a slight uneasy feeling in her stomach. She would never admit it to her siblings, but Kaylin only wanted to fight the heroes for the sake of simply fighting them. She had no desire to kill them...even if they had extra lives. She ought to know...she had several extra lives in stock in just case such an emergency were to occur herself. Death was never a pleasant experience.

...even more so, she mentally conceded....she had remembered actually seeing (or rather, spying on) them once. For humans...they were actually kind of cute. Especially the blond one, she mused. Although she would rather die a thousand times before she ever divulged her true feelings on the subject.

Turning to Kory, she smiled as she listened to him rattle off the technical specifications...actually find them rather intriguing and wondering if perhaps she should have some of the armaments installed on her own personal doomship...

Princess Pomegranate doubled over laughing at her brother to find herself very restricted by her full dress. She smiled as she replied to Alex's comment. "Indeed it has, Alex," she said. "You boys wouldn't mind if I came with you, would you?" she continued sweetly. She smiled slightly more. In her head, she had backup plans that she was runing over. "I mean," Pomegranate started to dare them, "unless you are afraid to be beaten at anything by a girl. Especially a race." She broke out in a full grin as she flopped herself on the side of the boat, leaned foreward with her hands on her seat, and waited for their reply.

Marino shrugged himself, as Pommy asked if she could come along.

"I don't really care, myself." He admitted. "Would always be nice to have someone along...but..." He paused, crossing his arms. "Yumi!"

"Master?" She spoke up, as Lucio was heading downstairs into the hold to properly dry off and change clothes.

"....how are our supplies?"

"We have enough here to comfortably feed four adults." The Yoshi admitted. "Of course, this was assuming it was going to be you, me, and Master Lucio. Although, if Sir Alex is going to be with us as well as Sir Bobber and...Koop, I believe it was?" She gave a quick glance to the Koopa. "Our supplies will be running a little thin as is. If the Princess comes aboard--"

"So we'll have enough food for part of the trip. We have fishing poles, right? We'll just fish for the rest!" The Sarasaland prince smiled. "It was what we was planning on doing to begin with, right? Problem solved."

"You have a point, I guess." The Yoshi conceded, crossing her arms.

"...Although," Marino paused, glanced over at Pommy. "...You...did let the Chancellor know that you were going to be coming along with us, right? I mean," he raised up a hand to rub along the back of his head. "I don't mind you coming with us, really, I just wanted to make sure somebody in charge at the castle was informed so that we don't inadvertently start a massive panic."

"No, we didn't." Lucio called up from below deck. "Although as I recall, you didn't seem to have that concern when you left Sarasaland."

"Don't be nuts." Marino snorted. "I always leave some sort of message for Ivy, whether I tell a servant or a leave a note on her door or something. I don't just up and leave without telling her where I'm going. Might not stick around to say 'see ya' or anything...but at least I make sure I inform her!"

Pomegranate smiled. This had gone even better than she had hoped. "Five minutes more," she said. She raced to the castle and told a toad to deliver the message that she was going on a vacation, and not to expect her back for at least a month. Pommy ran up to her room to get her already packed bag. She had planned for something to come up in which she would need comfortable clothes and fast. She double checked that she had everything needed before speeding back to the port with a minute to spare. "Fastest there is," she whispered to herself with a grin.

"Five..." Marino blinked, as if to ask her for clarification but she was already off before he could say anything. "...minutes?"

He, Lucio, and Yumi all shared a glance with each other.

"...." mused the prince of Sarasaland. Lucio simply smirked, and Yumi just shrugged. However, as stated and promised, the Mushroom Princess arrived not at, but actually before the time limit she had given herself.

"...." Yumi was herself quite stunned, not really expecting the Princess to move as quickly as she did.

"...." Lucio said nothing himself, still having that smug smirk-like grin on his face as he knew all along this would happen.

"...Damn." Marino finally found his voice. "That was quick."

"We may be in a ship on the ocean, but that doesn't mean I'm going to tolerate a sailor's mouth, Marino" Pomegranate replied with a frown. "I'm sure," she continued, "that your mother would not be happy, or is not happy, that her son has a potty mouth." She went below deck to change into more comfortable clothes. To add the finishing touches, she pulled her hair back into a ponytail and hung a small, intricately jeweled dagger in a belt around her waist. As she ascended to the deck, the feeling that her parents and Marino's parents were still alive grew stronger. But most of all, Pomegranate wanted excruciatingly to take after her father in the way of adventure.

Marino looked slightly taken aback, glancing over at Lucio.

"It was just one simple word--" He began.

"Don't even." Lucio warned. "You know how she is."

"...Man, whatever." The blue clad Mario sighed. Upon seeing his younger cousin come back up from below deck, he smirked a little. "Won't tolerate a sailor's mouth but has no qualms dressing like a pirate." He grinned. "Interesting."

With that, he headed up towards the helm to take the wheel. "Alright then! Everybody's aboard, supplies are good, skies are clear and blue! Are we all ready to shove off?!" With that, he pumped his fist outwards. "Let's go, then!"

Alex chuckled as the speedy princess beat her five minute time limit, "Hey, while we're picking up royalty, why not pick King Pine or King Mallow. Hell, while we're at it, we might as well go get the last Mario kid too. Good lord." He said sarcastically, "We've got a congregation here. All I'm saying is that I ain't being the deck swabby. I'm going up into the crows nest and I'm gonna try and catch a nap." He started to climb the rigging up towards the nest and watched as the sea sparkled as far as he could see.

Bobber wandered back on deck, "Ugh....We're not even moving yet, and I feel like I'm going to....to...." He gulped down the last word and hopped overboard back onto land, "I'm sorry guys, but I gotta get offa this thing... I'm going to...to...hurk" He tried to hold it in, but this time the sentence was completed, and there was the sound of splashing water, "Eew. I'm going home. If Alex asks, tell him that for me...ugh..." He bobbed away, back into the crowd.

------------------

Kory smiled triumphantly as Kaylin marveled over his invention, "Thanks sis, I try. Hey, you wanna finish up that chess game later, or should I put it away?" He asked, removing his goggles. Bowser sat back in his chair and looked out over the table at his siblings.

He cleared his throat, "Kaylin. Some of our men stationed in Toad Town send word that the Mario cousins may be heading your way. I'm going to send Kaira with you. I want them dealt with however possible. Capture them, kill them, I don't really care. I'm also going to send our first group of Mecha-Bowsers with you as well. Try not to break them, alright?"

"But....but..." Kiara protested, giving her brother big eyes, "But I wanna stay here! I don't want to go to the stupid island with fatty!" She said, pointing at Chunks.

Bowser glared at Kiara and she relented immediately, "Are. We. Clear."

"Yes sir..." She moped, floating over to Kaylin, making sure to keep her sister between herself and Chunks, who was also glaring at her.

"Chunks not fat." He mumbled before shuffling toward the warp tube.

"Alrighty, Bobber!" Yumi smiled over at him as he walked off. "We'll be sure to let him know!"

"'Ey? What's that? We got a mutineer?" Marino grinned from the helm.

"No, just a dropout." Yumi called back. "Bobber's too seasick."

"Eh. Landlubber!" Marino snorted. "Ah well..."

"It's too bad," Lucio sighed. "We could have used a Bob-omb on the team."

"True...although, I hate to admit it, Alex had a point. ...I'm sure Ivy would like to come along. So long as somebody's holding down the fort back home..." Marino mumbled.

"Awesome! Be nice to see her again." Lucio grinned.

The Mario cousin in blue nodded. "Yeah. But Yoshi's Island first! It's closer. Anyway, if nobody has any other issues, everyone get ready to shove off!"

---

Kaylin smiled slightly, nodding over at Bowser while throwing her arm around her baby sister, mainly to dissuade either of them from starting another fight.

"That chess game's gonna have to wait, brother." She smiled over at Kory. "As much as I'd love to continue it, we've got preparations to make and work to be done." Turning her attention down at Kiara, she gave a rather toothy grin. "Besides, you can show me that magic you've been practicing, and we're gonna need it to combat those pesky Marios!"

With that, she began walking off behind Chunks. "Now, let's not fight each other, you two. We're gonna need each other if this is gonna work..." She sighed, feeling this might be harder than necessary. To a certain extent, she seemed worried that Rife wasn't coming along to keep them in their place, but at the same time was relieved. She didn't really want Rife to worry about something he didn't need to...and she didn't want to have to bear with his attitude about how he should be leader. She figured she could handle them both relatively efficiently. If nothing else, she could at least send Chunks to go rampage somewhere if need be...