A story that I am working on. Hopefully having multiple chapters. Follow the story of our shy Koopa and see what happens in Eclipse University.

Special cameo appearance by and maybe we'll see more of him

(Also thumbs up for anyone who gets the reference with Mario Kart)



A New Beginning

The bell had already ringed for class and Arthur was running late. He

rounded the corner and ran as fast as he could. “Crap! How could I let the

time get away from me?” He said to himself as he rushed to the next

building. “Only my first day and I’m about to be late! I gotta stop

oversleeping!” He said talking to himself. Finally he managed to make it to

his class with only seconds to spare, room 3-105; Psychology. Arthur

huffed and panted, trying to catch his breath. He always made it a habit to

sit in the front of the class since it helped him focus. He mostly stayed

quiet, not one to make or start conversation being the shy individual that

he was. It wasn’t until he felt a slight tap on his shoulder that he shivered

and straightened up suddenly. He turned to see who it was trying to catch

his attention. “Hey there, mind if I sit here?” The boy asked making a

hand gesture to the empty seat next to Arthur. “Oh umm…sure, be my

guest.” He said, giving a nervous chuckle. The boy smiled and sat next to

Arthur and got out his Psychology book. Class had yet to start since the

teacher was currently out of the room. “Are you okay? You look like you just

saw a ghost.” The boy said to Arthur. Arthur rubbed his cheeks and shook

his head, finally calmed down from running all that time. “I’m fine…I was

just worried I was going to be late so I booked it all the way from building

1.” He rubbed the back of his head. “My name is Arthur, what’s yours?” he

held out his hand towards his new companion who happily obliged in

shaking his hand in return. “The name’s Miles, It’s my second year here.

What about you?” He asked Arthur, pulling his own hand back. “First year

for me, just a little nervous.” He said dropping eye contact and looking

down. “That’s understandable, the campus is pretty big and it’s a pretty

hard place to get into. Just relax and you’ll be fine.” Miles said, patting

Arthur’s shoulder. Arthur responded with a soft nod. After some time the

instructor returned to the class, putting her purse on the front desk and

getting out some folders. “Good Morning everyone, my name is Ms.Saya

and welcome to psych class.” She said, giving everyone in the room a

smile. “I’m sure you've all been through orientation but allow me as well to

welcome you all to Eclipse University. Beyond these walls lie a plethora of

information that can help you succeed.” She said going through her

introductions. Arthur looked around the room at the various students,

noticing the different species they were from all fields of life. “Alright then,

your first assignment albeit simple but important is this; just come up to

the front and introduce yourselves. It will help me remember your names.”

She said, taking a seat. This made Arthur a bit nervous again. He was

always a shy person and was never one to like public speaking. Already

several students gave their name and what it was they were studying. A wolf

studying art, a Lugia studying business, the list went on. Arthur counted

down the seats before his turn and then Miles got up. “Hello everyone, my

name is Miles Christiansen and I am a Dorumon, a species of digital

monsters. My profession is becoming a cook and I also enjoy wrestling

from time to time.” He said as he walked back to his seat smiling. Arthur

gulped and tried to keep calm as he walked to the front of the class. He

took in a breath and began talking. “Hello everyone…my name is Arthur

Belington. I am a Koopa Troopa and I come from New York City and I am

studying Video game design and computer engineering. My hobbies are

playing games and swimming.” Arthur quickly went to go take his seat. He

still felt the jitters of being up in front of everyone. He soon calmed down

and listened to the other students. As time passed the bell rang and class

had ended. Arthur made his way out of the room; a voice stopped him in

his tracks. “Hey Arthur, hold up a sec.” Arthur turned to face his caller, it

was Miles again. “Do you have a class after this?” He asked, giving Arthur a

smile. The Koopa just shook his head. “Not today. Just psych actually. I

was going to go check out my dorm room. I haven’t had the chance to

really see it yet. I unpacked everything and all, but then I went to the

answer center to get information on financial aid and scholarships. Before I

knew it I was late for my first class.” He rubbed the back of his head and

sighed out a bit, still glad that he wasn’t late. “Great, wanna come to the

lunch room with me? I was going to go have a bite with some pals.” Miles

offered, already walking out the door to building three. It was true that

Arthur didn’t have any further obligations to do and he was always a

worrywart when making friends. Perhaps he could tag along and try to

socialize better with the Dorumon. He nodded and followed his new

companion towards the cafeteria. When they entered it was pretty lively,

most social groups already congregated to their natural places. Jocks at

the jock table, popular kids with popular kids, and the list went on; Miles’

friends were sitting in the middle, a small group of friends all just chatting

and smiling. Arthur was a bit nervous in meeting and seeing new faces, not

being the social butterfly that Miles was. The digimon smirked and egged

the koopa on to come sit with them. “Everyone; meet Arthur, he’s my

classmate.” He said, taking a seat next to a rabbit girl. “H-hey there

everyone, it’s nice to meet you.” Arthur said, having a slight red hue across

his face. Everyone seemed happy to meet the still shy koopa. Soon Miles

started going down the list of who they all were. “This is Jacob.” He said

pointing to the humanoid figure with pixie like wings. Jacob held out his

hand for Arthur. “Nice to meet you, like Miles said I’m Jacob, I’m a fairy.”

He chuckled. “He’s got this whole ‘faith, trust, and pixie dust’ thing going

on.” Miles said, elbowing Arthur a bit and laughing at his own bad joke.

Jacob just rolled his eyes. “Oh ha…haven’t heard that one before. I’m a

light fairy.” He said, pointing to his mostly yellow attire. Arthur was

intrigued by this. “Light fairy? Does that make you different from every

other fairy?” He asked, wondering if there were other types of fairies. Jacob

nodded and replied. “Well I can touch light and actually bend it to my will.

I can also make a rainbow with it but that’s just for fun.” He smiled and

twiddled his fingers to shave off some pixie dust that was on him. Arthur

smiled and nodded. “That’s still pretty cool, being able to have power over

light.” Soon Miles moved onto the next friend on their list. He was referring

to the cute female by his side. “The girl sitting next to me is Cindy. She’s

a Zoanthrope.” He said explaining it to Arthur. Arthur was shocked when he

heard that. He looked at Cindy. “You’re a human?” She nodded and

smiled, winking at him. “You bet I am. I just can transform into this at will.”

With her words she morphed back into her human form. She was a blond

haired girl, green eyes and white skin. She wore winter type clothing with a

scarf to match. “Of course I’m not always in my beast form. Gotta know

how to control both sides.” She smiled, having clear mastery over her

bestial abilities. Arthur nodded and smiled. “And last but certainly not least

is our very own Indiana Jones; Ket.” Miles said, over dramatizing his last

friend. He pointed to the green shelless turtle looking creature with

glasses. He smiled and looked up at Miles. “What can I say; I love me a

good adventure.” Ket said, giving Miles and Arthur thumbs up and

chuckling. “Ket here is the smart one of the group. He’s good with

chemistry and alchemy.” That caught Arthur’s attention. “Alchemy? Like

‘Law of Equal Exchange’ and stuff?” Ket shook his head and chuckled. “Not

exactly, I don’t get a robotic arm by sending my ‘brother’ to the far

reaches for my mom. No, alchemy is like changing iron into gold, brewing

the elixir of life, that kind of stuff. It also helps to be an adventurer too.”

He smiled and took off his glasses; his scarlet irises glistened in the pale

light of the cafeteria. Arthur nodded and sat down next to him. “So what

brings you to Eclipse University?” Arthur asked, wondering what an

acclaimed seeker of freedom was doing at an educational location. “Well, I

heard that this school teaches quite to array of extra-curricular activities

and I thought it’d be nice to have some down time.” He said, cleaning his

glasses on his inner shirt. Arthur nodded. “I see…well it is very nice to meet

all of you. I’m Arthur, like Miles said. I am a Koopa Troopa from a faraway

village east of here. I had finally been accepted to this school after

studying hard. I’m a student of computers and I also love playing video

games.” He blushed, wondering if playing video games was even a good

thing to say for a guy his age at a place like this. Everyone seemed to

smile though. “Awesome, what games do you play? I really love playing

Super Smash Bros.” Jacob said, interested in hearing Arthur’s answer. “Oh…

well…I play a wide variety from smash bros, to street fighter, to mortal

kombat. Gimme a game and I’ll probably play it.” He chuckled out and

smiled at everyone. It was a fun moment for Arthur, actually making

friends that seem to have common interests with. He had lost track of time

just enjoying the company of his new friends. Soon minutes turned to

hours and the bell rang for the next time frame. “Well that’s me boys so

I’ll be heading out now. It was really nice meeting you Arthur.” Cindy said,

rising from her seat and giving her new friend a hug from behind. Arthur

blush softly at this, not used to getting close contact like that. Miles just

laughed silently to himself and Jacob pushed the Dorumon gently. They all

waved goodbye and saw her exit. Arthur soon got up as well. “This has

been very fun. Thanks for introducing me Miles. It was wonderful meeting

you all. I’m going to go check out my room.” He said, getting his backpack

and adjusting his shell. Miles got up to see his new friend off. “Where’s

your room? Maybe we can come over one day and chill. Maybe play some

Marlio Kart?” He patted Arthur on the back and chuckled. Arthur smiled; he

was glad that he was making some fast friends. “I live over by building

one my dorm is on the ground floor. Room 131. Hope we can hang again.”

He smiled. Miles nodded and gave Arthur thumbs up to his response and

bid his new Koopa friend a fond farewell. Arthur walked down the path and

looked around at the other buildings and then to his schedule, seeing that

his first class tomorrow was one of his favorites; swimming. He had always

felt more comfortable in water, despite being a Koopa that kept his feet

rooted to the ground. As he entered his building he counted down the

numbers on the doors to get to his room, seeing that the door across from

his was already open and had a light coming from it. It didn't hurt to check,

Arthur thought; he could make new friends as well if he entered. With the

thought in his mind he knocked on the door and looked inside his

neighbor’s room. The place was similar to his, boxes piled up in the corner

and some clothes lying on the floor. He could see a room towards the left

that had a small light, maybe someone was inside. As he walked in he

found his neighbor, on the computer and not noticing the voyeur that

entered his room. “Umm…Excuse me?” Arthur asked shyly knocking on the

door once more. The figure jumped up and gasped, just now noticing the

Koopa in his doorway. Arthur himself reeled back from this sudden motion.

The figure looked to be a Pocket Monster, and a boy considering the

posters akin to what males would prefer. He was a Dewott, his hair unkempt

and not straight up like a normal creature in his line of evolution. He was

wearing a white over shirt and nothing under it and had some shorts on.

“Whoa! Dude, don’t scare me like that!” He said haphazardly, trying to

catch his breath from being startled. Arthur rubbed the back of his head

and gave an unsure look. “Sorry…Didn’t mean to startle you. Just wanted to

drop in and say ‘hi roomie’. We’re neighbors.” He said, putting his claw out

for a shake towards the Dewott. The otter shook his head and got up from

his chair; he smirked and shook that claw in his own paw.” Aww no harm

done friend, just unexpected is all. The name’s Xander. It’s a pleasure

friend.” He said rubbing the back of his head. Arthur smiled, happy to know

he didn’t upset the otter. “Arthur, nice to meet you too Xander.” Xander

formally invited Arthur inside and the two started chatting it up. “So you’re

into computers huh? That’s cool. I’m a drama kid myself, I have this thing

about being on stage and possibly making a fool of myself in front of

others.” He chuckled and made a silly face one would expect from a

toddler. Arthur genuinely laughed though; he found it amusing that

someone could have such charismatic energy. “That is awesome Xander, I

hope to see you on stage sometime. It’d be cool to be recognized for your

talents like that.” He said, really engaged into the conversation. Xander

nodded and smiled. He looked over to his watch and rubbed his eyes.

“Damn…that’s the time already? How time flies I tell ya.” He smiled and

showed Arthur that it was already 11:30 PM. “I would love to chat more bro

but I have class in the morning.” Xander said, getting up off his chair and

stretching. “Me too, I have swimming first thing too. So I’ll need all the

energy I can get.” Arthur soon followed suit and headed for the door. “Wait,

you too? With Mr. Boris?” Xander asked, stopping Arthur in his tracks for a

moment. Arthur turned to face the otter and nodded. “Dude! We have the

same first class! How awesome is that?” He said jumping up excitedly.

Arthur smiled and chuckled. “That’s cools; well I’ll see you first thing

tomorrow then. Good night Xander.” And with that, Arthur waved goodbye to

his new neighbor and went to his room, an audible ‘click’ was heard behind

him from his own room door closing. Arthur saw his own boxes piled up on

the floor in the empty room. He had some serious work to do to make this

place his new home for this semester. He simply undressed and got into

his pajamas for the night, and headed to bed. It wasn’t much but he would

make it better by tomorrow. He was mainly happy to meet so many new

friends on his first day. Miles the outgoing Dorumon, Cindy the sweet

Zoanthrope, Jacob the light fairy with a spring in his step, Ket the

adventurous alchemist and finally his own neighbor the theatrical Xander

Dewott. Only time would tell where his new life would go and he was happy

to have friends on his new journey. He closed his eyes with a smile on his

face and fell into a peaceful slumber, resting until the activities of the next
day.

TO BE CONTINUED…