“Well well well,” Junior tutted in front of the captives, putting his knuckles on his hips as he sneered at them. He was quite a bit older now than when he had first kidnapped Princess Peach on Isle Delphino, although she was still about a head taller than he was. With age came less and less of a size difference between him and the princess, but he still had that young boy's smarminess that he'd had since he'd first started assisting his father in his kidnappings.
“I think you know the drill by now, Peach. Help yourself to some refreshments and what not— it’s not like you’re in any hurry to be anywhere right now.” He gestured to the significantly more frightened mayor bound by her side. “And would you tell her to pipe down? I can barely here myself think with all that racket she's making." He gave an evil, self congratulatory smirk. There was nothing as satisfying as a well executed kidnapping. Even after all the times the damn plumber always ruined he and his dad's schemes, nothing ever really diminished that thrill of having successfully kidnapped the princess of the mushroom kingdom yet again.
Junior puffed his chest out proudly and smirked at the angry princess as he heard her comments aimed at the kongs.
“Hah! Be as disappointed as you like, princess. These two dingbat lab chimps have to do whatever we say, or else their little brat Kiddie Kong is gonna get it.”
He strolled casually by Diddy, who was looking at the ground with a look of intense distress. ‘Man, he’s really selling it!’ Junior thought, proud of the kong’s acting chops. All they’d need to do is act like someone the kongs cared about was in some kind of danger — Kiddie Kong couldn’t talk and therefore wouldn’t dispute his claims, so he made the most sense— and the princess would forgive whatever Dixie and Diddy ended up doing here.
Junior turned his back to the princess to look at Diddy, but not before giving the girls a nod. Wendy's driving had been outstanding, and Dixie and Flurrie had been right on point as soon as they had arrived. A far better performance than what he normally got out of the bog standard goombas, for sure. When he turned back to Diddy, he kept speaking in his usual bad guy voice, but for the second time that hour he flashed Diddy the same kind of toothy grin he’d given the kong on the night he’d first asked him out.
“And besides, its not like we're planning to hurt either of you two, are we, Diddy Kong?"
The kong's lip trembled.
“… I can’t do this…” Diddy muttered softly.
Junior gave a villainous chortle. “Hah! Glad to see you’re so miserable, knuckle dragger. You don’t wanna go through with this? Well that’s too damn bad. As long as me and Wendy have your ugly little baby captive, you both have to—“
Diddy gritted his teeth and walked away from Junior, one arm wrapped tight around his body and the other pulling the brim of his hat down.
“No. I mean I can’t do this, Junior.”
Junior’s well practiced evil sneer melted briefly. He looked over his shoulder at Peach and then to Wendy, Flurrie, and Dixie for a moment before trying to regain his evil facade. He gave an intolerant scoff and shook a finger in Diddy’s direction. “Listen, you stupid monkey, I know you think you’re hot stuff, but me and Wendy here are calling all the shots, and we say—”
Diddy turned around and grabbed the shaken finger. The kong looked him right in the eyes. Bowser Jr. had never seen his boyfriend with such an anguished look about him. It cut right through all the bullshit he was about to act out in front of the princess and the mayor.
“Junior,” Diddy husked. “I. Can’t. Do this.”
Junior’s façade slipped away. Naked concern lingered on his face.
“Dids, I—"
“I feel wretched, Jay,” Diddy said imploringly. He was fully aware he was ruining their cover by saying this, and he didn’t care. The guilt was at breaking point and he didn’t care much about anything other than freeing himself from it. “I didn’t think this was gonna hit me this bad. I was not ready for this—I was not ready at all for all this mayhem.”
Junior took a step towards the kong with an expression that was a mix between irritated and concerned. The two feeling warred with each other for a moment before irritation won out. The koopa’s face twisted into a impudent snarl.
“I thought you liked mischief!” Junior spat. “Ever since I knew you, I knew you liked it. You even said so yourself!”
“Mischief, yes!” Diddy admitted, stepping a bit closer to Junior. “But we nearly ran over people today, kidnapped political leaders and aimed a bunch of weapons at cop cars. That's a hell of a lot more than a little mischeif!”
“Aww come on, that’s like Tuesday for me, not even the big league villain stuff!” Junior whined, ignoring all else around him in that moment. He looked almost as distraught as Diddy. Hearing all this out of the kong’s mouth felt like being stabbed in the chest. “From the very beginning, I have ALWAYS gone out of my way to make sure I wasn't rushing you into things, haven't I? I've ALWAYS wanted you to be comfortable with how we've paced things between us. I only did this because you said you were willing to give it a try. Am I wrong?”
Diddy balled up his fists.
"Yes, I know you have! I'm not saying you haven't," Diddy admitted, looking Junior in the eyes. "And I WAS ready to try it for you because I saw how excited you were to have me a part of this, but I expected you to still respect my boundaries when things got too much for me,” Diddy said, his voice growing heated. “THIS,” he said, pointing to the bound women, “Is too much. I really, truely tried, but I'm just... I'm not a villain. You HAD to have known I might not like this, Junior.”
Junior’s distraught irritation morphed into indignant anger.
“And YOU had to have known that I’d eventually be taking you to do things like this when you said yes to me for that movie that night. This is a big part of who I am, Dids.” Junior gestured to his own chest emphatically. “I am a villain! You KNOW I’m a villain. You’ve ALWAYS known I’m a villain! It's who I am, it’s who my dad, my people, and who I myself expect me to be, its not something I can just change willy nilly! Are you not able to accept that?”
“June, come on.” June. It was a name Diddy rarely called him except in their most personal moments. He said it with a note of desperation now. "Please, I know this means a lot to you, but just listen to me--"
“NO!” Junior roared, stamping his foot like the brat he still was, as much as he tried to mature for the sake of someone other than his father and himself. “No, no, no, no, I want an answer, do you hear me?! After all that's happened, after all we’ve been through together, and for all the time we've been dating each other, are you saying you can’t accept me for who I am anymore?”
Diddy froze, staring at Junior with wide, horrified eyes. It took Junior a moment to realize what he had done, and he slapped a hand over his own mouth, looking over to the bound women. The mayor didn’t look one way or the other, mostly confused at the spectacle going on between the two boys she barely knew. But the princess looked on with wide eyes full of thunderous comprehension. 'Shit. Shit shit shit shit', Junior thought. Diddy grabbed the fur on his bangs in disbelief and began to walk away.
“Diddy!” Junior called out, looking positively miserable as his boyfriend walked away. “Dids, please, I’m so sorry! I-I didn’t mean to—”
The kong walked out of sight, leaving Junior alone with Wendy, Flurrie, Dixie, and the two captive women.
