The hour before sunset in the Mushroom Kingdom always brought with a bustle of energy, especially when a bazaar was in town. Merchants scrambled to make last-minute deals with pensive Toads, whose purse-strings were never looser than in that small window of time between dinner and bedtime. It was a time well-known for good deals, and worse decisions.

Of course, Croco was no stranger to the rush of interest at the end of a day of bartering. Many a frugal denizen of Peach’s prosperous Kingdom had been relieved of their hard-earned coins by the silver-tongued reptile. With the mysterious Bowser doll off-loaded from his inventory, though, and plausible deniability for when the King’s army came looking for him, Croco felt justified in simply rolling up his blanket of trinkets, gadgets and power-ups, stuffing it back into the depths of his bottomless sack, and getting out of town as quickly as his spats would carry him. 

“So long, kid.” 

The young Koopa was, of course, oblivious to the reptile’s concerns. Where the majority of the Mushroom Kingdom had avoided the toy, strictly because of its resemblance to their eternal tormentor and monarch-abductor, Shade was drawn to the likeness. As a Koopa himself, he had something of a healthy admiration for the King, despite the tyrant’s penchant for destruction and mayhem.

Something about Bowser just struck him as really, really cool.

“I can’t wait to get you home.” Shade grinned at the grumpy face on the toy, holding Bowser under the arms and flinging him a few feet up in the air before catching him again. He shifted his grip to hold the stuffed toy by the hand, humming merrily under his breath as he made double-time to get back home before dark. Last thing he needed was to get grounded for being out too late. 

It was only after dinner that the little Koopa got another opportunity to play with his newest toy. With freshly washed hands, particularly under his claws, and dishes put away, Shade hurried to his room to find his Bowser toy sitting exactly where he’d left him, right in the middle of his appropriately Koopa Troop-themed bedspread.

The menacing look on the big doll’s face made Shade giggle as he picked up a couple of other toys to join in on the fun; as usual, a smaller Mario doll featured prominently, as well as a couple of non-descript goombas and a Princess Peach that he picked up from the market near the castle over the Summer. He could barely contain his excitement as he flopped down on the floor with all his toys, hauling Bowser down off of the mattress and placing him front and center in the middle of the spread of figures.

Koopas, even more amiable, well-adjusted ones like Shade, liked to play out the perpetual battle between hero and villain in a much different way. And with an actual Bowser toy now, instead of hand-drawn on paper, he finally felt like he could do the Koopa King justice in his eternal rivalry with the ace plumber.

“Bwahaha, I’ve got you this time, Mario!” Shade bellowed in his most convincing impression of the mighty Bowser, using both hands to make the toy slash the air with his plush claws. The boy giggled to himself between his recited lines, pleased with his impersonation, and also with the size of the toy in comparison to his diminutive Mario figure. 

How fortunate he felt to have gotten such a nice, well-made toy for only five measly coins. 

Reaching over, Shade grabbed the Mario toy in one hand and gave it a couple of quick bounces. A quick bout of shuffling ensued, in which the plumber tried to sidestep the mighty Koopa King and reach his beloved Princess, perched precariously on an end-table. Of course, laughing brutishly, Bowser moved repeatedly to block the approach of the overmatched plumber. 

“Brawrr-! Did you think I was gonna just GIVE her to ya? You’re always in my way!” Shade roared, almost as if he was channeling the King himself, and it felt as if energy coursed through the fabric and plush stuffing of the doll in his hands. The Koopa kid grinned hugely as he played; this was definitely the coolest toy he had ever gotten his hands on. “This is IT! I’m gonna take you out, Mario!” 

Still feeling energized from the strange toy, Shade had Mario bounce once more, then take a flying leap at Bowser, only to be knocked forcefully out of the air by a sideways swipe of a mighty claw. Even coming from a stuffed toy, plush and full of padding, the impact was enough to send the hapless plumber spinning completely across the room to land amidst the Kingdom of Dirty Clothes near the closet. 

“Bwa ha ha ha! Victory at last!” The toy felt like it was fulminating with weird energy, and Shade almost recognized the sensation. It was the same short pulse of power that the purple crocodile had passed through his body when giving him the toy. The stuffed Bowser was teeming with it now, though as the young Koopa held the toy on his lap and stared at it, the energy started to dissipate as quickly as it had come. 

“… Let’s play something else for a little while.” 

In Bowser’s Keep, a couple of Hammer Brothers patrolled the hallway just outside of the King’s bedroom. They both stood nervously, shifting their mallets from hand to hand and occasionally glancing at each other as they listened to the huge Koopa snoring in his luxurious bed. It was no secret why everyone else was doing their best to keep absolutely silent as they went about their duties.

Another of his best laid plans, foiled by bad luck and overconfidence.

Following his latest setback, Bowser had been in a particularly foul, violent mood all day. While the lower-ranking members of the Troop tended to repairs of the Keep, a few of his more immediate subordinates had managed to stave off further destruction by coaxing the grumpy King into an evening nap. 

The Brothers flinched from a noise behind the closed door, a deep thud as if Bowser had struck the bedframe. Neither one of them wanted to be the one to open the door and peek inside, lest they risk the King’s fiery wrath, but the entire Koopa Troop would suffer if someone had managed to infiltrate Bowser’s private chambers. 

“Yo, Mac, how about you see what’s going on?” 

“No way, you heard it first. YOU do it.” 

“I looked last time, I still got burn marks on my shell!” The bickering continued unabated for a few seconds longer before another thud echoed from beyond the door, causing the brothers to flinch reflexively, the arguments drying up in their throats.

It was with a silent nod of understanding that the pair accepted their obligation. Clutching their hammers tighter, one stood at the ready while the other carefully, quietly twisted the knob to open the heavy door and peer into the King’s lavish, torch-lit bedroom. One on top of the other, the Hammer Bros heaved a collective sigh of relief at the sight in front of them.

Bowser was still asleep, flopped out on his stomach atop the mattress, mouth open, and a snore bubble over his broad snout. Hovering near the door, the soldiers could see that the bedpost nearest the King’s huge, clawed hands had been snapped in half, and the deep claw-marks in the material was indication enough that the napping tyrant had been the culprit. 

“Guess he’s dreamin’ again.” The Brothers nodded at each other in confirmation, the stress of the moment having passed, and spared another cursory glance around the spacious bedroom to make sure the King’s hoard of coins was intact, his night-light torches lit, and his chambers free of prankster Boos looking to disturb his much-needed slumber.

“Bwa ha ha ha… Victory at last…” Bowser mumbled in his sleep as the Brothers slowly, carefully closed the door, leaving the King to his triumphant dreams.

Shade sat with Bowser on his lap for a couple of minutes, occasionally hugging the toy, examining the stitching on his short tail, or admiring the softness of his belly ridges. After the King’s handy routing of that pesky plumber, the young Koopa spent a long moment thinking about what he wanted to play next. The possibilities are always endless with a new toy.

A quick glance across his room, though, at an open package of his disposable diapers sitting atop his dresser, was enough to get his imagination working again. 

The Bowser doll was pretty big, after all, and it had Shade thinking. Maybe one of his diapers would be able to fit the mighty King. Giggling to himself at the fun idea, he got back to his feet, shifting his grip to hold Bowser under the arms, before laying him down on his back, like a baby, atop the mattress. 

“You just stay right here, baby Bowser. I’m gonna get you taken care of!” 

It wasn’t long before Shade stood over the prone toy, still with its menacing expression and fierce eyes, holding a disposable diaper and a bottle of baby powder, blithely unaware of just what he was about to put in Pampers.

“Guards! GUARDS!” 

Bowser’s thunderous roaring echoed throughout the keep, sending Goombas scurrying and Paratroopas to cower in their shells. The Hammer Brothers outside the door, lulled back into a sense of security by the brief reprieve, burst through the door to be met by a most surreal sight.

The King was obviously awake, by this point, and he had been rolled onto his back. Spectral hands, crackling with red energy, held the mighty Koopa by his ankles, hoisting them up in the air to lift his big bottom off of the bed. Another pair of hands worked to unfold a huge, disposable diaper, backed in soft plastic and printed with playful pictures of Bob-ombs and Bullet Bills.

“K-King Bowser…” The Hammer Brothers stammered in unison, eyes wide as saucers as they watched the tyrant manhandled like a vastly oversized Koopaling. Hammers clattered to the floor and jaws trembled, both guards scarcely able to believe the scene playing out in front of them.

“DO something, you idiots!” Bowser boomed in displeasure, fire coalescing at the corners of his mouth, eyes wide as he kicked and thrashed on his back, his big rump shaking from side to side. Try as he might, though, he was unable to free himself from the steady grip of the ethereal hands that bound him. Impassively, the hand holding his ankles lifted him higher, raising his butt up in the air so that the huge diaper could be pushed under his body, centered under his hips, with his stubby tail fed through the appropriate hole in the padded seat.

“W-What can we do, your Majesty!?” The Brothers were hugging each other by this point, cowering by the open door, clearly intimidated into total uselessness by whatever strange power was at work. Bowser continued to writhe and struggle as another hand materialized from nothing, holding a large bottle of baby powder with the King’s likeness across the front label. 

“No! NO!” Like a big baby, the King kicked his feet in the air, bouncing on the mattress, but he was helpless to free himself as the bottle was uncapped, and he felt his wide behind thoroughly dusted with baby powder. His cheeks grew red, both from fury and embarrassment, as he was so easily handled. Despite his great strength, all the King was doing was making the disposable diaper crinkle underneath him.

“S-Sir, we don’t—we c-can’t…” The Brothers stammered, unable to look away as Bowser was routinely diapered in front of them. With his bottom baby powdered, the King’s sweet-scented behind was lowered into the soft padding of a clean diaper. The hand holding his ankles split cleanly into two to carefully spread his legs, and two more popped into existence only to lay gently on his beefy inner thighs and spread them apart. 

“I am the KING, I will NOT be treated like some…BABY!” Bowser snarled, but attempts to grab the hands, or swipe them with his claws, resulted in his more hands taking him by his wristbands to pull his arms up over his head, binding the King helplessly to his bed. More powder puffed between his legs, softening his inner thighs, his package, and the lower parts of his ridged belly before the powder-wielding hand disappeared with a crackle of dissipating energy.

Bowser continued to spit and curse as he struggled against his spectral bonds, easily securing him in place. The gentle hands on his thighs moved to take the front of the diaper and fold it up between his legs, the bulk hugging his thick thighs, padding snuggled up against his privates, and the printed front panel smoothed across his baby powdered belly. 

“YOU IDIOTS!” A flash of realization hit the King even as he squirmed, twisting his hips from side to side in an attempt to avoid his inevitable diapering. The hands were patient, though, carefully adjusting the bulky diaper before wrapping the helpless Koopa up nice and snug. Each side pulled tight around his considerable hips, delicate fingers peeling the tapes off of their backing before sticking them comfortably to the soft plastic. 

With the baby sufficiently diapered, hands gently turned Bowser onto his belly, bottom pushed up in the air, and gave him a firm pat on the seat of his diaper, resounding with a muffled, crinkly thud, and a puff of baby powder from his legbands.

“IT’S THAT STUPID DOLL AGAIN! GO FIND IT!”