Bowser and the Koopalings: An Origin Story (UNDER HEAVY REWRITES)

Four

"Are- are we there yet?" A small voice peeped?

"We're in the middle of nowhere. Do you think we are?" A deeper one retorted.

"Cut it out, Roy. He's just as tired as you are." A third one chided. "We're getting close, Iggy."

"Yeah, what did I ever do to you?" Iggy demanded.

"Ignore him, Iggy." A little girl's voice stated, a bit of venom in her tone. "You know Roy gets grumpy when he's hungry."

"Wendy..." Roy growled.

She gave him a pointed look.

Roy sighed. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? I'm just mad. None of us have eaten in forever and I'm tired of worrying we might never eat again."

Wendy's stomach growled, almost to prove his point.

"...it ain't just me who's hungry."

"We're NOT going hungry." The third voice said sharply. "We're going to make it to the next village. We're really close."

"Ludwig been saying... for hours. Almost nighttime. So long, smallest brother fall asleep." The tiny Koopa child in his arms breathed softly, in a rhythm.

"I know, Morton. But I mean it this time. We'll be right on it any minute now. Lemmy needs the rest, anyway." In the light of his lantern, Ludwig raked his ragged hair out of his face for the hundredth time.

"...still don't know if I like the name Lemmy." Wendy mumbled. "It sounds dorky."

"You'd know, wouldn't you?" Roy smirked. She gave him the evil eye in response.

"You tried to name him Justin." Iggy snipped.

Morton and Roy snickered.

"What? It's a nice name!" She replied, looking around at her brothers.

She scoffed. "Look, I'm the only girl, so Ludwig should compensate for that by giving me future naming rights."

"With Justin as your best material? Unlikely." Ludwig replied.

"But you think a goofy name like Lemmy is better? You just think your idea's better because you're the oldest."

"Anything is better than Justin. Ick." Iggy made a face. "I'm sure glad you weren't around when I was born."

Roy tried and failed to suppress his laughter, earned a swift kick to the back of his shell.

Ludwig chuckled. "I admit, Wendy, it's pretty out there." He looked over at the tiny Koopa's face. "But... I think it fits him."

Morton piped up. "Ludwig...how know? Barely one year."

He was silent for a moment. "I just have a feeling."

"You named him after another music person we've never heard of, didn't you?" Roy asked.

Ludwig smiled to himself.

But before he could respond, a loud, mechanical chopping sound filled the air. Like the blades on a helicopter.

A wind began to whip around the children, their panic growing as the noise got louder and closer. A bright spotlight suddenly shone on them, instantly causing them to wince.

Instinctively, the other five kids gathered behind Ludwig.

"W-what's going on?!" Wendy cried, panicking.

"I think... it wants us!" Iggy replied.

"Want us? Not get us!" Morton stated, grasping Lemmy tightly. The noise was now drowning out the tiny Koopa's panicked crying.

"Do you think they found us?" Roy asked, addressing Ludwig. "Should we run?"

"No. It's not them." He replied, listening intently. "There's only one."

"Then what do we do?!" He demanded, ready to grab his little siblings and bolt at a moment's notice.

Ludwig peered around the spotlight, trying to identify the aircraft approaching them.

"Ludwig!! Answer me, or I'm running!" Roy threatened.

Just then, the spotlight flicked off as the aircraft neared the ground and began landing.

No longer blinded, the Koopa kids could finally see its pilot.

Ludwig's jaw dropped.

Iggy squinted, trying to focus his vision. "Guys, guys! Who is it!? I- I can't make out his face!" He exclaimed.

Ludwig was speechless. "It... It's..."

For once in his life, the eldest Koopa sibling was truly afraid.