Shell Game

Shell Game
(or, "Shallow Al-fredo". Get it? Like the movie? Yeah...)
by AladdinAbu
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~[PART 2]

The morning dawned cold and bright on the glorious Mushroom Kingdom, and Kootie Pie Koopa spent a few minutes simply watching the light make odd patterns on the ceiling. What in the world had happened to her yesterday to make her feel so weary-yet-content? That's right; a lot had happened. Lots and lots had happened!

She buried her face in the crook of Mario's shoulder and grinned. Oh, how happy she was! If anybody had told her simply getting her rocks off with a human could do this much for her, she'd have told them they were crazy - and attempted to gut them for insinuating something so vile. But it was true. She was swooning over an Italian working-class hero. What was wrong with her? Had her mind turned to mush?

Even if it had, big deal. A little insanity was worth it to feel this good.

"Mhhmh," he mumbled as he began to stir.

"Morning," she whispered, pressing her lips to his quite gently; it was too early for roughness. Mario kissed back, and all the feelings she'd begun to question came flooding back as strong as ever. It was so unbelievably RIGHT. Every single time it happened, it felt that fantastic. Didn't that mean something in and of itself?

"Wendy," he breathed sleepily as he drew back, a smile beginning to spread across his face. Then his eyes opened... and he screamed. "WAARGH!"

"YEEEEK!" Wendy responded in kind, clutching the sheets to her chest reflexively. Mario was backpedaling, and suddenly he thumped into the floor, having fallen off the side of the bed. Following that, Wendy scrambled to the edge and hissed, "Are you okay?"

"AAGH!" he yelped, crawling along the length of the bed and around the foot before scrambling to his own feet and dashing out of the room. She followed in a panic - they were being attacked! But by who, or what? Once she reached the living room, she spied him with his hands planted on the back of an armchair, gasping for breath.

"Mario-"

"You keep away from me!"

She glared at him and snapped, "HEY! What the fuck is your deal?!" Then again, the way he was gaping at her as if he'd seen a ghost jogged something in her memory. There were unusual circumstances that had brought the two of them together last night. She first glanced at the wine bottle on the coffee table, then at her high heels... and a suspicion began to creep into her mind. "Wait, I..." Her eyes dropped to her feet - and saw claws.

SHIT.

"What are YOU doing here?" Mario demanded, enraged. "And where is Wendy?!"

"NO, no, NOOO!" she wailed, now holding up her hands and gaping at them. Betrayed by her own body... or by the lackluster powers of the magic wand that could only TEMPORARILY transform her. Funny how when Cheatsy cast the spell she had hated being a human so much, and now she would give absolutely anything for it to have been a permanent change. "How could this happen now of all times?!"

"You better fess up!" he growled, suddenly holding her up by said hands, dangling her above the ground. She was once again short enoguh that he could do so. "What have you done with my girlfriend?"

"Girlfriend?" she gasped; it stunned her to be referred to as such for the first time in her young life. But then the reality of the situation crashed down on her anew and she groaned. "Oh God, what should I do?"

"ANSWER ME!"

Urgency crept into her voice when she saw the murderous look in his eyes; he was afraid for a fictional woman's safety, but as long as she remained real to him he would fight for her to the death. Kootie was nothing but an obstacle. "Mario, wait, please - you have to understand someth-"

"No, YOU have to understand! I... I need her to be here, and I won't let you Koopas do anything to her just because she tried to help us! Now where have you got her stashed? Koopa's castle? Pipe World? Desert Land?"

"Please, you're hurting me! We..." Tears rolled down her cheeks as her heart shattered. He didn't love the real Wendy. He might if she were human, but she wasn't; there couldn't be enough affection in the entire universe to make him desire a beast like her. So Kootie Pie wept, and she looked away, and she hated herself for having created this situation.

"Save your tears," he spat, even though he put her down gingerly. "I swear, if anything's happened to her-"

"Don't worry, she's fine."

"Then you DO know where she is. Tell me. Tell me right now!"

Kootie Pie looked to and fro, hoping for a sign, for inspiration to feed him any explanation that wouldn't give him a heart attack. Then she hit upon it; the lie. She had to maintain it for now. He'd never survive the truth, even though it was what she wanted to give him most. "She left. She won't be coming back... and I can't tell you where she is."

"I don't buy that. Point me toward Wendy, or I'll beat it out of you."

That put the chill back in her bones. "You would? No way you'd really hit me. Right?" He only glared, and she forced her throat to swallow. "You'd rough me up, even though I'm a girl... she's that important to you?"

Mario's eyes dropped to the floor as he thought. "Yes. Yes, she is; I really care about her. I think I might-" Then he glared up at her. "Why am I bothering to tell YOU this? Look, just just tell me what you've done before it's too late."

"Can't you just trust me when I swear she's safe?"

"Would YOU trust you?" he asked her, folding his arms.

"I see what you mean." She squirmed. She felt so naked in front of him - and seeing him naked as well caused every cell to become alive with need. But he was not at all aroused because he didn't find her attractive... and was worried about some imaginary human girlfriend. How could she fix this? COULD she fix this at all, or was it a lost cause?

There was only one way out. The saddest, most pathetic way out. "If..."

"If?"

"If you let me go now, I'll go find her."

"Yeah right," he snapped, clearly underwhelmed. "Not really a great compromise, Kootie Pie. I trust you about as far as I can throw ya."

"Here!" she blustered, yanking off her hairbow and her the other bow on her tail and throwing them next to her shoes. "Collateral! I'll go find her and bring her back here if you promise not to follow me! Because if you do, I swear I'll just lead us both into the desert and we'll both never come back alive!"

"Why would I even want your worthless crap?" he scoffed.

She gave a slow nod as her eyes filled with tears, then threw her pearls and bracelets into the pile. "It's all I've got on me."

This time Mario actually took a long look at both her and the small collection of goods. His furious expression slowly gave way to a confused one. "Something's weird here. What's the matter with you? How do you even know about Wendy, and why did you switch places with her?"

"Would you rather hear me explain it, or her?" Joke was on him; they were both the same person.

"Her, of course. But I'll take one from you now if you would." He took a hesitant step forward, but when she literally cowered in fear he stopped short. "Come on, out with it. What's really going on here? Is it that bad?"

"Sorry, Prince of Pasta, but I don't have it in me. I'll be back soon, okay? I promise."

He didn't stop her, too wrapped up in his own thoughts to do so. The moment she opened the door, however, he blurted after her, "You did promise! I'm gonna hold you to it!"

Then she was off and down the street, ducking into shadows and bushes, avoiding the mushrooms as they went about the daily grind. Finally she made it to the outskirts, and hopped, skipped and jumped her way through warp zones until she found Dark Land.

As she reached its border, she began to panic. Here she was about to do the stupidest thing possible: turn herself back into the object of his desires and return to his side, prolonging the agony of rejection. Because sooner or later, he WOULD figure it out, and she WOULD find herself at the wrong end of a cannon.

Why was she doing it? He was the enemy! She should just go home to daddy and forget the whole thing! But that was wishful thinking; she could never go back to hating Mario for being who he was. They had shared something truly wonderful, and she was filled to the brim with his goodness, wanted to sink into it and drown. And he had promised to love her... a promise she might, just might, be able to get him to keep.

If she could only transform one more time...

~~~~~~

"CHEATSY!"

It took her almost an hour to dig him up, but there he was in the basement, lazily using his wand to bewitch Goombas so they would bump into each other. "Where have you been, Kootie Pie? King Dad's royally ticked at you."

"Nevermind him! I've got a delightful plot brewing." Here she put on her best evil-genius grin. "But it's not finished. I need my wand back first or the whole thing's gonna blow up in my face."

"It's over there on the table," he told her in a bored tone. "You'd better go upstairs and let King Dad know you're back so you can get grounded and start serving your time as soon as possible... before he makes it any longer."

She gulped. "How long is it now?"

"Two weeks."

"AAACK! I gotta get outta here!"

"Good luck," he told her while glancing up. "Hey, wait - what happened to your hairbow?"

Then she sped back up the stairs... but, of course, did not find her father and ask to be disciplined. There'd be plenty of time for that later, if later even occurred. Right now, she had a plumber to placate.

~~~~~~

The hut was dark when the door was eased open. At first, one might think no one was there and that the wind had blown it open, but that wasn't the case. In realty, someone was already there, and someone else was opening it. But the near-total blackness didn't make it easy to discern that.

A sudden flare of crimson approached one of the candles, lit it, and extinguished itself as the candle took over the job of illuminating the room.

"Hey, handsome."

Mario looked up at her from where he was seated on the couch, face drawn and pale. "K... Wendy?"

She began strolling casually through the room, but that didn't last for more than a second. By the time she reached him she had been running, and then she was throwing herself into his arms, squeezing with all her might. "Oh, I missed this feeling! You have no idea how much my arms have felt empty..."

After a few seconds spent simply enjoying their reunion, he pushed her back and stroked her face, breath coming faster. "Where did you go? I- I didn't even know where to start looking, what I was going to-"

"It's all because of the Koopas," she supplied. "But... but things are better now. We can be together again."

"Kootie Pie told me she was going to help find you." He looked seriously at her. "I didn't think I could trust her, but... did she do anything like that, or was she full of shit?"

At that, she felt her heart constrict. What should she do? If she told him that "Kootie Pie" was helpful, he might not buy it. She was playing a role and for her character to come off as believable, she had to stick to the script. Lying blatantly to the man she was so enamored of didn't sit right with her, however, so what she said was, "No, she kept her word. She found me and got me to come back here, and... and she has a message for you."

"Really?" he asked, eyebrows knitting.

"Kootie wants you to know she's sorry for everything... and that she hopes you can forgive her someday. And she also wishes you all the happiness in the world." With a shrug, she stared down at the floor. "Really, I guess that's up to you, though. Forgive her, don't forgive her... I'm just glad I can touch the man I love again."

"I'll never forgive her. Or you."

"That's what I thought you'd s... wait, what?"

That was the last thing she knew before the blow struck her in the side of the head and she saw blackness.

~~~~~~

The room swam bizarrely when Kootie Pie's eyes opened. Nothing was right. Up felt like down, and sideways felt like straight ahead, and what was she even thinking?

"You're awake."

"Oog..." She looked over to see Mario sitting in a chair by the side of the bed. His bed? Yeah, it was - and she was sprawled on her back atop it. "Mario... wha- ooh, my head, my goddamn head..."

"Sorry about that, but I wanted to make sure you fell unconscious."

That brought some clarity back to her enfeebled brain. She tried to sit up - but couldn't. Something was holding her down... something heavy and strong, but not Mario. He was sitting still.

"I chained you up," he told her with a hollow voice. "Hope you don't mind."

"What's this about, honey?" she asked in a sweet, innocent voice. "Are we playing a little game?"

"No game. No fun going on here, just... hate. Hate and regret."

Kootie Pie tried to move her arms and legs again, and felt the manacles holding her in place. She certainly wasn't running away anytime soon, that was for certain. And it was then she noticed her clothes were missing.

"I spent a long time pacing the floor, worrying about what might have happened to you," he began as he stood, walking around to look out the window. "Worrying about Wendy, my one true love - my soulmate. She was out in the world somewhere, being held hostage, being tortured. For helping us in the sultan's palace? For being close to me? It would be all my fault if she was hurt, or worse. All because of those damned Koopas."

"Mario, you're scaring m-"

"On my umpteenth trip around the living room, I finally took a good look at the pile of junk on the floor, and it hit me; Kootie Pie piled her hairbow and jewelry on top of Wendy's shoes. Now, it could have been a coincidence, I guess; they could both own identical pairs of pink high-heels... except for another coincidence. Wendy has a tail. Who else do we know that's been loitering around here with a tail?"

Slowly but surely, her heart sank right through her back and into the bed beneath her. This was bad news. He'd found out before she could tell him. Now it would never, ever be okay. "Oh."

"Oh?" He whirled, glaring at her even while his eyes watered. "You jerk me around, playing yo-yo with my heart, impersonate a human, take advantage of me... put me through the torture of waking up next to your evil face, and all you can say is 'oh'?"

"That's not exactly how it happened," she told him in a frenzied rush. "Please, I- the whole thing was Cheatsy's idea, he said if I-"

"Your BROTHER told you to bang me?!"

"NO! It wasn't supposed to go this far! But, well, we started to get pretty, uh... and by then it was too late, I couldn't stop!"

"I gave myself to you," he growled, advancing on her. An accusatory finger wagged in her face as he shouted, "You and I drank together, slept together... I took you to my bed! I felt you!"

"You did! You felt me, the REAL me, beneath this body! I'm still in here, too!"

"NO!" Mario took a few calming breaths, then said in a deadly voice, "No. No, Wendy is dead. How many stupid names can you come up with for one fake girlfriend? Lady Fettuccine Alfredo, then Wendy..."

"That was the truth."

"Nothing that ever came out of your mouth was the truth, you disgusting-"

"IT WAS!" she shouted, tears rolling down her cheeks. "For fuck's sake, you really think Kootie Pie is my actual name? Of course not, it's a nickname - like Big-Mouth, and Bully!" Heat was rising in her face. "Just because nobody calls me Wendy anymore d-doesn't... doesn't mean I forgot."

Incredibly, his face fell at this news. "Thank you. Now I can't even keep that name separate from you and keep it with the memory of her. You had to jumble it all up. Thanks."

"But you don't understand! Last night, I wanted to tell you, I tried, but you were too-"

"You want to trick people into banging you, huh?" he asked, kneeling next to her on the bed. "You like to play games of lust. Well, here they come, baby. Prepare to have it done right back to you."

Wendy stopped breathing entirely when she saw him picking up a wrench. Slowly, as if in a fog, it moved from the bedside table and toward her, where he passed the cold metal along her abdomen. It was only too obvious what was about to take place, and she felt a rush of nausea so strong that she nearly lost her lunch from it.

"Mario, please don't," she begged, writhing against her bonds. "You're going to regret this if you do it, just you wait!"

"What are you going to do for revenge?" he said in a hollow voice. "Take the one I love away from me? You already did that."

"But I AM the one you love!"

"No, you are NOT!" he raged, face inches from hers, fury in his eyes - fury and sorrow and resentment and betrayal and everything, blazing like the sun. "You created her for me and then you destroyed her! And... and I have to hurt you, I have to hurt you so bad that you know what you did! I can't live if I don't - and don't think I'll regret making you pay for ruining my heart!"

"YES YOU WILL!"

"WHY?! Why would I ever care if you've been hurt like I have?!"

"Because you're hurting the one you love!" Her sobs blurred her words together, but she strove onward, she took in breath and forced language out. "Because I do love you, I really do, this is no game, I'm not kidding around!"

"That is something I could never believe."

"Kiss me again!" she begged, rivulets of saltwater streaming down her face without reservation. "Just do it and you'll see!"

The menace in his voice was frightening, especially from someone who claimed to be a do-gooder. "I will never... EVER kiss you again."

"Just one more! This one last kiss, and if I can't change your mind with it then I'll let you rip me apart, a-and hurt me, and kill me from the inside, and mash me into a smear and hate m-my memory for as long as you live - or forget all about me forever. The ultimate revenge!"

"I could do all that anyway; I caught you, you're my prisoner. Give me a better reason to even hear a word you say."

"Because you did love her." A sudden ferocity entered Wendy's words that hadn't been there before; one that overrode her sorrow and shame, which had been unbearably strong before that. "Because you promised that you'd try to work things out with me, even if you want me dead - which you do right now. Because no matter what you say, she IS me; human angel-face or not, I AM the woman you fell for... and if there's any chance at all that I'm not lying, then a quick lip-lock is a pretty low-risk test with a LOT riding on it."

He hesitated, sputtering, staring down at her in disbelief. Then he turned toward her pelvis and said, "NO! No, this is what you deserve!"

"It is!" she agreed as the metal advanced on her. "But think about this: if you go through with doing this to a woman - ANY woman - you will never, EVER be able to forgive yourself! Because I know your heart, and it won't survive a blow like that! It's too open and empathetic, and this WILL kill it!"

Finally, he sat back and really took a look at the wrench in his hands, at her fragile flesh that he wanted to invade. He pressed it into her slightly, heard her hiccup and squeal - and threw it across the room.

"M-Mario?!"

"You're right," he whispered, eyes blank. "You're right, I... no matter how bad what you did to me was, or if you tricked me into banging your brains out, it's not... it's not like this. Not like tying you down and violating you. That really is about as low as I could ever stoop." Then he glared at her. "I bet you love that. I bet you love knowing how weak I am, such a sappy good guy. Probably tickles you pink."

"I do love it. I love how big your heart is and that it won't let you hurt me." When she saw him looking more and more confused, she chanced a smile. "Sure, I made a big mistake. Cheatsy told me to seduce you and keep you out of the way until we could steal all the oil, but I'm the one who didn't try hard enough to made myself scarce on the way back to your house. I'm the one who got plastered and made out with you, I'm the one who didn't spurn your advances - well, I did, but then I reconsidered. So blame me, that only makes sense, but... but I couldn't let you ruin your kind, compassionate nature just to get back at me for it. You're worth more than that."

Mario's mouth was hanging open as he stared at her, just stared at the woman on his bed. "You... you're really in there, aren't you? My Wendy..."

One brief instant flared where she lit up like a christmas tree. Then her face fell as she looked away, cursing. "Shit. I just realized something that's going to undo all that progress I made: you deserve better than me."

"Huh?"

"I spent all this time trying to get you to remember how much you loved me, but... but I'm an evil Koopa brat. So, um, so stop. Stop remembering that stuff. You should kick me out pretty quick."

Mario thought about that for a long moment. Then he shook his head out and folded his arms, unable to look at her naked form for the moment. "S-so... about all this. How'd you do it, anyway? A magic wand?"

"What else?" she half-laughed. "But it wore off this morning. Man, I probably should have paid better attention to whether or not I was still a mammal, but I was so happy in your-" Her breath caught, and she whispered, "Sorry. Disregard that."

"This just seems like such a whopper. Are you sure Kootie Pie didn't put you up to this, hire you from out of town?"

"Hey, you were the one who finally realized it was more likely I was a Koopa in disguise than a human with a tail. So tell me, do you believe I'm really two people or don't you?"

They sat in silent thought for a long moment. Wendy knew she was getting wetter and wetter; even though she was afraid for her life and hated her predicament and what was happening between them, she was still lying in the nude in front of him, legs forcibly spread, her slit exposed to the open air - and a woefully fragile human slit, at that. Couldn't he see what it was doing to her? Couldn't he SMELL that? She certainly could, and it made her feel queasy. Finally, he said, "Where is the wand now? I never saw it."

"I stashed it in your bushes before I came in," she admitted with a shrug. "Wanted it closeby in case I needed a fresh coat of paint."

"I'll be right back."

Several minutes and several moans of sheer terror passed as Wendy waited for his return. She was afraid. She was so afraid of what he might do to her once he reversed the spell. Oh, sure, now she had got him to calm down and refrain from assaulting her - while she was cute and human, with long waves of hair and glistening pink skin. What would he do when she had fangs and claws and scales again? Beat her senseless? Or would he finally pick up that wrench and...

Mario stepped into the room, staring at the wand. "Sorry I took so long. I had to think about some things."

"It's okay."

"I'm going to use this to cancel out magic - not turn you into Kootie Pie intentionally, but end whatever spell it's pointing at. That way, I'll know for sure if you're really from the real world or a turtle with a human slipcover." She nodded. "Don't you have anything else to say?"

"No."

"You're just going to let me put an end to this?"

"I can't stop you," she whispered bleakly. "And since you deserve to know anyway, I wouldn't even if I could. Just promise that... no, go ahead. Do it."

He did; there was a warm glow, and then she was herself again. Her hideous, slithery, repulsive little self. There could never again be a time where she and Mario would join together, not now that his eyes had borne witness; Kootie and Fettuccine were not separate beings. Both pseudonyms applied to Wendy O. Koopa, of which she was the one and only.

"You're..." A long time passed. Wendy did not look at him, did not turn, only squeezed her eyes shut and waited. "You're so... so wet."

She was still wet, that was true. But she didn't think Mario would bother to notice now that she was reptilian. Then she felt a hand on her thigh and she gasped. "W-wait, Mario, I- what are you doing?"

"Just taking a look," he told her firmly, though his tone was uncomfortable. "That's all, I... I never even noticed you had lady-parts before."

Her upper lip curled. "What a rocket scientist you are."

"No, I'm serious," he breathed as he passed a hand over the closed slit. "This is so different from us, I didn't- but it's so wet, I know that's what you have here..."

"Stop," she asked of him weakly. His touch was so gentle now, but the way he was marveling at her like she was some kind of circus sideshow only felt terrible instead of thrilling. Then, when his finger dipped inside one of the lips holding it closed, she trembled and cried out, "Mario!"

His hand jerked backward as if her cunt was an electrical socket. Then he stared at his fingers, at her again, and up into her eyes. "Wow, was I- listen, I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be s-"

"No, I'm really sorry. I'm still doing this to you, I-" He whipped his hat off and swept a hand through his hair, then turned back to her. "I'll let you go. It's time I unlocked those-"

"OOooh..."

Mario glanced down and saw that what they were talking about, his touching her, had conspired to make him hard again. "Crap, that wasn't supposed to happen. I swear to you, Kootie Pie, I wasn't trying to start- it was never my intention to take you and, and-"

"We already have, stupid," she sighed impatiently, squirming. At long last, she loosed her tail from where it had been trapped beneath her and whipped it upward, at least partially covering her vunerable, dripping self. "And I th-think I want you to keep calling me Wendy, not Kootie Pie. I like the sound of it when you say it."

"But you're not Wendy. Not really..." Then he blanched, fidgeting with his fingers. "I mean, obviously you are cause that's your name, but you're not the Wendy I slept with last night. I m-mean, you're her, too! Damn, this is crazy."

She laughed at him, and it felt so much better to be laughing about this. "You're cute when you're all up in arms like that."

For a brief instant he returned her smile, then pulled at his hair. "AGH! This is beyond crazy - it's certifiable! I'm lookin' at you and thinking I wanna..." His voice dropped to barely a whisper as he leaned in closer. "There's things we did before that I still feel like doing, but looking the way you do now, it makes it..."

"I know I'm ugly, Mario. But maybe, if you give it a chance-"

"Ugly? No, that's not what I..." He took a deep breath and sat down next to her, facing out toward the window. "Don't get me wrong, I was totally attracted to that other, fake you. She was everything I wanted, and she's who I'm still all hot for, definitely, but that doesn't mean I think you're UGLY. It's more like... I guess it's like if you thought you were going to be eating gelato, and suddenly you got pizza in your mouth. Nothing wrong with pizza, obviously! But you were expecitng something else."

Her cheeks bunched as she grinned. "You know, even though I think I just got called 'pizzaface', I'm still going to take it as a compliment."

For a while, he sat there looking out the window. Even from his profile Wendy could tell he was thinking hard, trying to sort out the jumble in his head. Then he placed a hand on her hand, fingers wrapping around the manacle. "I'm not sorry I knocked you out or chained you up, but... I do admit that I regret stripping you, and the other terrible thing I almost-"

"Please don't," she told him flatly. "Don't ever bring it up again. It was one weak moment, you... I know I really betrayed your trust by masquerading as an eligible human bachelorette. But if it's any consolation, you're the one who walked away with my virginity."

"I did?!" he cried out, turning to gaze into her eyes.

"Yes." She teared up again, trying to fight off the weepy feelings of a little girl in a big girl's world. "You have no idea how freaked out I was, how scared I got, b-but- but once I got past that, and past the way it got started..."

When their eyes locked again, something passed between them; an unspoken remembrance of their tryst. How magical it had been, how transcendental. Everything about Mario's posture and bearing changed, and a look stole over his face of love, of adoration - but then the confusion overtook it again. "You know what's funny?"

"What's that?"

"You and she... well, I'd never have looked for it since you're a Koopa and Wendy - I mean, Lady Fettuccine - is human. But damned if I can't see the resemblence clear as day now."

"Really?" Wendy fidgeted. "Cheatsy's the one who turned me into one of your people, so I didn't really think about how. Guess he just said 'What would my sister look like as a human girl?' and went from there."

"Then I guess... yeah. Like I said before, you're not anything like ugly. Nowhere near." Then he cleared his throat. "You had said... that I could kiss you again, if I needed proof you were the same Wendy."

She nodded. "Go ahead. Grab the wand and turn me back. I'm sure you won't be disapp-"

"I don't need the wand. That would kinda defeat the purpose of comparing your kiss to hers, wouldn't it?"

Wendy's heart started pounding so loud she worried the neighbors would hear. "Mario, are you for real? You'd kiss a Koopa? You'd kiss me when I'm not even humanified?"

He shrugged, but his breath was coming faster and faster. "I live for adventure. Besides, I'll try anything once."

"Okay, then," she cooed, licking her lips. "Experiment with me."

It was just as sweet as before, though she could feel the difference in her own lips now that they were reptilian. The first ten seconds he was severely nervous, and she could feel him trying not to retch or recoil. It was unsettling... until THEN. There came a metamorphosis where he got used to how it felt and decided it wasn't so bad and his hand went to her cheek, starting the process over again as he got used to that as well. Both breathed harder and more often until they broke apart.

"Oh God, I can't believe I really did that," he grunted as he swiped at his mouth with the back of his sleeve.

"It's pretty gross," she affirmed. "I know you hated it. Wanna do it again?"

"You bet!" Instantly he was on top of her, devouring her mouth and passing his hand up her abdomen, twitching every time he felt a ridge or bump that was typical of an amphibious body like hers. But he kept at it, and slowly began to flinch less and moan more, until it was like he was with Wendy. Because he was. "MMH!"

"What?!" she gasped when he drew back, now on all fours above her. "What's wrong now?"

"Oh, I'm so glad!" he said, tears running down into his mustache as he stared into her eyes. "It feels like you, it really feels the same - you move the same ways and gasp at the same things, and it's really you, Wendy! The scales are a little weird, I can't front, but everything else is... it's the way I want it. It's you in there."

"Thank GOD!" she sobbed aloud, unable to hold any of it in any longer. "You have no clue how much I hated myself, I wanted to die, I- every second was telling me that you were only interested in HER body, HER looks, and that you could never like me, even though down in my guts I knew that if only we could get rid of those pointless details that you could love me, really love the real me!"

His hands passed along her chest, and he managed a watery smile. "The only part I'll really miss is the tits. Yours were fantastic as a human, but... other than that, y'know, everything else is kind of academic, right? I..." His hands slipped around the sides of her head. "It's too early to say how I feel completely, but there's a lot of it. And I'm not gonna let a tail or a spiky shell trip me up. Not on your life."

"Please tell me you forgive me," Kootie Pie pleaded with him as she leaned into his touch. "Because I did deceive you, I'm not denying it's something I did that was awful and mean, but when we made love... it was all you and me!"

"Don't worry, I know," he laughed, eyes full of astonishment - mostly at himself. "I mean, I tried to convince myself for a while that you had taken advantage of me, but all you needed to do was remind me how I felt during the act and I knew there was no way. We connected so solid that I can't even question it."

"Take me again," she moaned as she arched her back. "Do it now, try this body out. If you... don't like it, you have the wand. Whichever Wendy you desire, she's yours."

At once, Mario shed his clothes like they were on fire. Then he moved to one of the manacles around her ankle, but Wendy whispered, "Don't do that."

"What?"

"I want to be tied up." When he blinked up at her she turned a deep red. "J-just this once, and not because I have a thing! But... but I think... I want this to be my pennance. You let me have control of you the first time. Let's switch it up for your first time with the Koopa version of me. I want to put my welfare in your hands, if... if you make an effort to not hurt me too badly."

"Of course I won't," he assured her, kissing the sole of her foot - and prompting her to blush even more than she already had. "Not TOO badly."

His pale body slid on top of her slick, rugged one, and the moment she felt the soft caress of his balls on her slit she let out a squeak of surprise; it wasn't as intense as when she'd been scale-less, but still enticing - maybe even more, knowing that their types of outer skin were not meant to caress one another. The next kiss was wholly given over to passion, and she leaned up into it as much as she could. Somehow, though she'd never have thought it might work that way, when his hand passed over her featureless chest she felt her heart quicken; that had set her off so much when there were nipples attached. But it was STILL setting her off... because of sense memory? Or because it was Mario touching her?

Then his hand was between her legs, and she almost lost all ability to think anyway. "Hmnahah!"

"Sorry," he told her shakily. "I- I mean, you're not human, I don't even know if this hurts, or if I'm doing it right, or-"

"It hurts more," she rasped out, feeling every muscle in her body screaming; truth be told, it was like being sliced open with a knife, then burned, then frozen. But she knew why; her anatomy was completely different than it had been the last time. She'd have to either get used to his touch as soon as possible or give up on enjoying this part of the relationship forever. "B-because... because I can feel everything like it's new."

"Maybe it's because you're sober." Two fingers were inside her now, and they slowly widened, opening her more fully, breaching her defenses. "I... I don't know why. I don't even know what I'm doing, or why I am, or..."

And when his mouth met the area above his fingers, her tail wrapped around his neck and clenched - but she slowly fought it back down, gasping, "SORRY! I... it was a reflex, I th-think I can keep it at bay next time!"

"Right," he choked, rubbing his poor throat. "Guess I didn't realize that thing was as strong as all that."

"I feel like I could do it right now," she said throatily. "Finish. Just from how close you are... from what you did already."

Mario lowered his face until he was panting directly onto her semi-exposed cunt, and Kootie Pie seemed to really appeciate it in a dozen different ways. His lips found her again and began pushing, suckling, kneading into her raw, quivering inner flesh, and she thrashed against her restrains, only barely able to keep from swatting at him with her fifth appendage. The unwelcome scratchiness of his mustache even set her off; it was so at odds with the gentle insistence of his lips that the contrasting sensations were like being pulled in different directions... each one a desired goal in and of itself.

"I have a question."

"Shoot," she managed to reply.

"Sorry if it offends you or anything, but I was wondering: can you use... your tail to..."

In response, she allowed it to creep up to her reluctant lips as Mario backed off to watch. Even though she was controlling the action herself, Wendy couldn't help but get hit by a prickling of abject horror at the sight. It wasn't quite the same as when Mario had thrust his hard rod inside; this was a writhing tendril that would ooze its way into her, changing effortlessly WITH her curves and shapes instead of moving them aside. But he was watching, so she pressed on - and pressed in.

"HMNUUUH!" she shouted, back arching anew as she invaded herself. "Oh GOD it's disgusting, I hate it, I HATE IT!"

"Then stop!" Mario yelped, unsure of what else to say.

"I c-can't!" she panted, hips twisting this way and that as she pounded her own pussy, in blessed agony. Mario's eyes on her only heightened her pleasure, driving her through the roof and into the stratosphere. "It hurts s-so good, so GOOD!"

"My turn."

While he was watching her, Mario had finished stripping, his erect member perfectly horizontal and leveled in her direction. The sight of it only made her tail speed up, coaxing more reaction from every movement, and Kootie Pie even began to enjoy how the manacles were cutting into her wrists and ankles - she wanted to touch with her hands, to draw her legs together for some momentary relief, and it was being denied her. If they had set up a "safe word" she would probably have used it by now, but they hadn't... and she couldn't bring herself to kill the mood by pleading to be set free. It would just sound like she was really into bondage play anyway.

On the other hand, the loss of control set her off so much that she got worried. She worried that she'd never be able to enjoy normal sex again.

"Here," he urged as he withdrew her tail. "Use this here."

"No!" she gasped when she felt its tip against the opening of her other hole. "That's just plain sick!"

"Well, you seem to really like boinking yourself," he said with a slight smile. "But I can't join the party with your tail in the way, so it has to move to someplace else, right?"

"Not THERE, though! Yuck, I c-can't believe any women would do that!"

Mario shrugged as she positioned himself in front of her. "Just an idea." As Wendy slowly withdrew herself, he began to look more and more worried. "Jesus... I'm about to screw a lizard. Is this going to even work?"

"It'll be fine," she soothed, panting, the tip of her tail twitching against her lips as she waited for him to find his resolve. "We've done it once before, and it can't be much different now from then, can it?"

But she saw him gazing down at her, swallowing, looking at his own cock... and she knew what was going through his mind. She wasn't human. Last time it had been different because he thought she was - and anatomically that had been the case. There would be no deception or illusions on their second go-round. He probably didn't even really find her body attractive, so he was standing there, deciding if he wanted to go through with this, or if he'd be able to stomach it, or if he could live with himself afterward. Any one of these.

And then he was falling onto and kissing her with so much abandon that she nearly screamed in alarm - before giving herself over to it, before her tongue sought his out and wrestled with it, pinned it, enveloped it. So GOOD... and what she needed most. They both needed it, apparently, because she felt so much happier after he'd done it, and the look in his eyes was a lot less uncertain.

"Here I come, ready or not."

Kootie Pie grinned. "I was born ready, stud. Unclog my drain." In he leaned - and they both gasped in shock. "YAAAI!"

"OONF!" he grunted, eyes flying open. "You're so... oh GOD, so tight! What the fuck?!"

"I d-don't know!" she gasped, clenching her teeth against the pain of his entry. It still felt good, absolutely, but it was somehow yet more overwhelming than their first time. Perhaps humans and Koopas were NOT designed to cross-breed together! He felt a lot bigger than before, and she could only conclude that there was less room inside her now or that human vaginas were more elastic or something. Indeed, it felt like he was ramming a baseball bat up there. "AAH! W-wait, you- WAIT, DAMMIT, YOU CAN'T!"

"It feels s-so good," he panted heatedly as sweat poured down his face, trying to stop from thrusting and failing. "I mean, it hur- it hurts a little, because it's TOO tight, but it's setting me off all over! You're amazing!"

"You gotta wait," she sobbed, head thrashing to and fro as she attempted to distract herself from the intensity downstairs. "My cunt... my cunt is so full, I... you gotta let me open up a little more!"

So they both held still, Mario gritting his teeth and closing his eyes, Wendy staring down at the base of him and where their organs became one. It was too much; she was going to break open, she knew it. But then, gradually, she felt herself stretching out to accomodate his girth, felt not just how tight she was around it but more, felt it throbbing, felt her muscles twitching. Then, when she was clenching down, she discovered something else.

"WHOA!" Mario yelped, eyes wide as saucers. "Wh-what did you just do?!"

"I... I dunno." She gulped, tried it again, and got a similar outrcy. "Sorry! Does it hurt?"

"No, not hurt exactly, just... NNNH! Lemme tellya, I am not gonna last long if you keep doing that!"

"Really?" She grinned wickedly and did it a third time - and in response, his hips bucked involuntarily, and she whimpered. "OW, AHHH, ooh... Mario, you're too big, you're ripping me to shreds!"

"Wendy, I have to!" he said feverishly as he began thrusting - and she shrieked every time he pushed in to the hilt. "I- I need it, I can't make myself stop any longer, it's too amazing!"

"NAH!" she yelped, back arching as she was rammed into, back arching and eyes pointed up to the ceiling. "Yeah? Well... well I'll make it even sooner!"

Mario literally came very close to falling off the bed when she again used her inner muscles to stroke him. His eyes were nearly bugging out of his head, it was so much. At least they were both feeling overwhelmed! Then Kootie Pie had another idea of how to accelerate their love-making...

"HOOH!" he yelped when he felt her still-sticky tail against his taut sack. "Whoa, wh-what is that, what are you doing?"

"Stroking you," she giggled, though it came out sounding more like a mad cackle due to her being reamed by the plumber. "I... I like how you feel there."

"God, that's so weird! D-do you have to- WHOOIEE, I'm gonna do it soon, I'll be done soon if- HEY, STAY AWAY FROM THERE!"

Wendy was panting with heat as her tailpoint danced around his rear oriface. It had been bad enough when he suggested she use this on her OWN, but using it on his? That was preposterous, absolutely... enticing. It enticed her, piqued her interest - set her slit aflame. She wished so badly that she could use her arms and legs to do things, but she was helpless in that regard. "Kiss me!"

"Wha... I ca... I can't, it's too..."

"Please!" she gasped while arching her back again. "I'm trapped, I can't hug you because I'm... I'm a prisoner." The thought bowled her over momentarily, and her lip was quivering when she whipsered, "I'm your slave, Mario; you can do whatever you feel like doing and I'm powerless to fight you off, and you don't have to give me anything in return. So I'm asking; you have to be the one to do it, and I'm begging you to kiss me right now!"

So he did; his lips came down hard on hers, and she threw everything she had into it - before she thrust her tail into his ass. Not far, not even an inch, but enough that he felt it and came very close to biting down on her tongue. There was pain in his eyes and in his screams, muffled through her cheeks, but the way his cock throbbed inside her belied his true feelings; it wasn't completely unenjoyable for him. Maybe he even LIKED it.

They both came immediately, screaming into the kiss, clenching and sweating and convulsing and spurting and blurring into one being for such a fleeting instant of time that it was almost over before it started... and yet lasted for eternity. In some way related to the space-time continuum, they would always exist within that climax.

He fell sideways, slipping out of her - and she out of him courteously. When she glanced down at herself, she saw there was quite a lot of wetness all over them both. Had that all come out of HER? It glistened in the low light, and she wanted to touch it, to feel herself, to feel him... and still she couldn't. She was a disconnected observer. Presently, Mario stood shakily, and Kootie Pie felt a tinge of worry. He might just run off now and leave her there to rot. But then his hand dipped into the drawer in his bedside table and came up with a key, which he inserted into the manacle holding her right wrist.

"You... are you really-"

"It's the least I can do," he slurred, movements sluggish from lack of energy as he barely managed to turn the key and pop the lock open. "God, I feel like I could pass out and sleep for six days, but you should at least be free in case you need to use the can."

He made good on that. When he got around to unlocking her ankles, he kissed one of her feet again, and she her cheeks filled with color; why was he being all romantic? Didn't they both already get what they wanted? But as soon as he sprawled out next to her, exhausted, she reconsidered; they didn't get all they wanted. There would be much, much more.

"I love you so much!" she urged as she snuggled up against his body. "And... and I don't even care if you were just horny and you wanted to screw the nearest breathing thing, or if you hate me forever for wh-what I did with the tail, which I know was beyond wrong... but either way I want you to know what you mean to me. Everything, okay? EVERYTHING."

Mario nodded weakly, breath slowing more and more. "Yeah... we... that's fine..."

Wendy petted his chest hesitantly. "If you want me to, I could get the wand and change. You could wake up next to her. W-would that maybe ease the transition?"

"I never wanna see her again," Mario told her seriously, waking up just enough to glare into her eyes. "Okay? She's a beautiful lie, but you're a beautiful TRUTH. Given the choice, I'll gladly settle for the truth, thanks."

"But you don't like me," she stated baldly. "Not really; you think I'm ugly, and I have a weird little body and I'm too tight. And everybody knows my personality ain't gonna win me any bonus points."

He shrugged weakly as he lay back, letting her rest her head on his shoulder. "Don't know how I feel about you exactly, Kootie, but... you being too tight? Something we can work on, which I don't really mind in the meantime. But how can I convince you that I don't think you're ugly? I never said it, I don't think it! Get a grip."

With that, she drifted off. As much as she wanted to think of a quirky response, or something profound, the fact of the matter was she felt so contented to hear him claim she wasn't completely hideous that she instantly felt peace rush over her and pull a blanket of sleep tight about her shoulders. Mario's body against her only helped speed her along to a night's rest and recuperation.

All her dreams featured scenes of what their future together might bring. Maybe they were far-fetched, but they still brought her a modicum of happiness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Be Continued (?)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Note: Okay, this time I'm really not sure if I can do a part 3... I want to write more because I'm loving these two together but I'm running out of ideas for where else I could take them. Feel free to chime in with suggestions, meanwhile I'll see what I come up with.