With Ludwig:
The two Koopalings had made it to Ludwig’s lab, the door being locked.
Junior gasped, remembering that Roy had the key.
“Ludwig, Roy has the key, how are we-?” began Junior, but blanched back when Ludwig swiftly took his wand out of his shell, using a spell to blast the handle clean off the door.
Ludwig swung the door open, quickly rushing into the blood and organ filled room, seeming unbothered by this.
Junior could only stand in shock, unable to believe what he had just witnessed.
Ludwig saw this.
“I didn't vant to hafe to do zat, but hopefully Roy vill be blamet for it. He has ze tendency to break zings vhen he's angeret” said Ludwig, muttering the last part.
Junior nodded in understanding glancing away.
“If you kan, go get my journal vhile I klean zis up. It'll take me a vhile. Are ze others sleeping?” asked Ludwig, taking notice of Junior’s hesitation, turning on the hot water in the large sink and letting it fill up with disinfecting soap.
Junior perked up, nodding.
“Yeah, I was hiding in the library and heard them talking about going to bed. I don't think they said anything about grabbing your journal, so it’s probably still there. I’ll be right back!” exclaimed Junior, grinning.
Ludwig nodded, grabbing all of his surgical equipment and tossing them into the sink, allowing them to soak.
“Goot. Come bakk here once you get it. You kan force ze draver open, if you vant. Doesn't matter right nov, anyvay” said Ludwig, quickly grabbing a bottle of ammonia from the shelf, twisting the cap open and dumping it all over the blood stained floor.
Junior nodded, rushing off to retrieve the journal.
Ludwig sighed, grabbing a broom and using it to forcefully scrub the dried blood off the floor.
With Junior:
The youngest Koopaling was smiling, actually excited about what the two were doing.
He felt like he was in a murder mystery movie, or even a movie about spies, sneaking around secretly and trying to help his eldest brother clear his name.
He knew this was a serious matter for the oldest Koopaling, but he couldn’t help but compare this to something that one would typically watch on TV.
Or one of Morton’s fiction novels that he enjoyed reading so much.
Junior shook his head, focusing on the task at-hand.
He quickly and silently ran up the stairs, heading to the second floor.
He gasped silently to himself once he had reached the second floor, quickly hiding behind the corner when he saw Roy talking to two Hammer Bro guards.
He waited a solid minute before the second largest Koopaling walked away from the two guards, heading down one hallway as the two guards turned and went down the opposite hallway.
Junior sighed, peeking around the corner and seeing that it was all clear.
Silently sneaking down the hall, the youngest Koopaling continued his way to Ludwig’s room, slowly opening the door and peeking inside.
It was exactly how he had seen it the first time he had been inside a few days ago.
He quickly entered the room and closed the door silently, looking around and seeing that nothing had been disturbed.
At least the other Koopalings had the decency NOT to touch or move anything around, knowing that Ludwig would surely murder them regardless if he’s Ludwig or Kooky.
Junior then turned his attention to the desk, recalling they had been talking about a locked drawer when they had antagonized Ludwig down in the prison.
Junior gasped, unable to believe what he was seeing.
He quickly rushed over to the drawer, seeing that it was completely empty.
The locked drawer had been forced open, probably lockpicked into since the lock was still intact.
Biting his bottom lip nervously, Junior backed away from the drawer, the thing having been left open.
None of the Koopalings knew how to lockpick, as far as he knew.
Iggy would probably have used a corrosive substance to melt the lock, Roy and Morton would probably force it open which would surely break the entire drawer, Wendy would refuse to do it because she didn't want to ruin her perfectly manicured claws, and Lemmy wouldn’t want to to it because he was too scared of angering their eldest brother.
Junior then gasped in realization.
Larry had disappeared sometime while they were still in the prison talking to Ludwig.
He knew every single hiding place and secret passage in the castle. He was basically like a ninja or spy, and would constantly eavesdrop on others’ conversations.
Junior thought for a moment before shaking his head.
Surely Larry wouldn’t steal the journal for his own selfish, greedy gain.
Maybe the other Kooplaings managed to find him and he had opened the drawer for them?
Junior didn’t have time to think too much into it.
He silently slipped out of Ludwig’s room and made his way back to the stairs, going down to the basement to tell the oldest Koopaling what he had discovered.
With Ludwig:
Ludwig had managed to clean the dried blood off of every surface he could find.
He had stored the cleaned surgical tools, dismantled the murder machine, and had put all of the organs, body parts, and corpses in black garbage bags for disposal.
And in record time, too.
The youngest couldn’t have been gone for more than fifteen minutes, Ludwig hearing the sound of Junior’s footsteps as he ran down the hall towards the lab.
Ludwig lifted his head and glanced over at the doorway, confirming his thoughts when he saw Junior leaning against the doorframe, catching his breath.
“Vell? Dit you get ze book ant leafe a note for father?” asked Ludwig, dragging the final bag he had, having dumped the others in the underground lava pit.
Junior caught his breath, gasping when he saw how clean the lab was.
“Wow...it’s like you didn’t even murder anyone in here…” muttered Junior to himself, clearly impressed.
He then shook his head, regaining himself as he frowned.
“No...apparently someone broke into the locked drawer and stole the journal before I could. I don’t know if it was the others, though...I’m sorry…” admitted Junior, telling the truth as he looked down sadly.
Ludwig growled, feeling his eye twitch, but shook his head and cleared any angry thoughts of who could have taken him journal.
“It’s fine. Ant father?” asked Ludwig, dragging the final bag out of the lab, making sure it didn’t leave any blood trail.
It was too late about the previous one from a few days ago, when he murdered the Hammer Bro. He wouldn’t be able to clean it all up, so he opted to just leave it, seeing as how it’s slowly fading anyway. All he did was grab some dust and dirt and covered it up, hoping it would be enough to conceal the marks left over. It looked natural enough at first glance, too, and the marks were fading away anyway.
Junior nodded.
“I left a note for him on his chair in the dining room. He’ll be able to read it first thing in the morning” said Junior, smiling as he followed Ludwig just down the hall, the oldest Koopaling dragging the final bag to the large underground lava pit.
Upon entering the large room, the two immediately felt the heat difference, a large rector generator having been built into the center of a large lava pit.
The rector generator was fully operational, spinning and generating electricity with the intense heat of the lava, feeding it to a large power distributor built into the ceiling that distributed power throughout the castle.
With one mighty heave, Ludwig managed to toss the final black bag into the large lava pit, the two brothers watching as it caught on fire and sank into the lava, disappearing under the surface.
Junior glanced up at Ludwig and saw that the eldest had a blank look on his face, seeming to glare at the bag as it burned up in the lava.
“Luddy, we should get going, before the others find out” said Junior.
Ludwig nodded in agreement.
“Yes...let’s….” said Ludwig.
Junior nodded, the two turning and leaving the large room.
As they walked down the hall, Ludwig made sure that the door to his lab was closed, ignoring the fact that the door knob was completely blasted apart.
They made their way down the hall and up the stairs to the first floor, the two being sure they were silent as they made their way to the hanger.
Junior knew that his airship was small enough to sneak away on, and he can easily pilot it, having been taught by the Koopa King recently.
“HEY! WHO GOES THERE!?” called a guard from behind.
The two brothers halted, frozen in horror.
They both turned and saw a Koopa Troopa and Hammer Bro at the end of the hallway, the two guards having just rounded the corner and spotting the two figures.
From the guards’ view, they had no idea that it was Ludwig and Junior, the two hidden in the shadows as they were about to round a corner that had no torches or lights.
Ludwig and Junior both exchanged glances before making up their minds.
The two bolted, making a run for it as they made their way to the hanger.
The two guards chased after them, but had immediately lost them right away, being too slow to chase after the two Koopalings.
With Larry:
Larry had been pacing back and forth in the hanger office, having made his way all the way to it, knowing it would be the last place the other Koopalings would find him.
He was holding Ludwig’s journal, having lockpicked into the locked drawer.
The reason he hadn’t done it earlier was because the drawer lock was smaller than door locks, and he needed smaller lockpicks in order to do so.
He had been planning on getting a smaller pair of lockpicks, but had decided to just use a bent paper clip, having been in a hurry to get to Ludwig’s room.
Making up his mind, Larry left the hanger office, not wanting to accidentally set anything on fire.
He knew how hard Iggy had been working on creating new blueprints and schematics for new robots. He didn’t want to be the cause of all that hard work to be lost.
Leaving the hanger through the main doors, Larry went outside, knowing that the ashes would be masked by the dark, blackish soil of Dark Land.
He had already read through the more recent journal entries, horrified by the slow decline of his eldest brother.
He had no idea what compelled him to do what he did next, unable to control himself.
He began ripping out the recent pages about Ludwig’s decline into madness, making sure no pieces were sticking out of the spine.
Once doing so, he closed the journal and stored it in his shell, if only for a second as he held the ripped out pages.
Taking a deep breath, Larry closed his eyes as he breathed a small puff of fire, setting the pages alight.
He tossed the burning pages onto the ground, watching as they burned and became nothing but a pile of ashes, scattering in the gentle breeze that blew past him.
He sighed, feeling a weight lift off of his shoulders, knowing he had done the right thing.
He was startled and confused when he heard the sound of the side castle doors burst open, turning and seeing Ludwig and Junior out of breath as they shut the door closed behind them.
The two turned and were startled, not expecting Larry to be just outside of where they needed to get to.
“Junior…? How did you let Ludwig out? Only Roy has the key to the door leading to the prison, and the cell keys are with Morton” said Larry, confused as to how Junior managed to help Ludwig escape.
Junior chuckled, shrugging.
“I snatched the key to the prison while those two oafs were distracted trying to help a dying Boomerang Bro. Roy didn’t even notice. As for Ludwig….” explained Junior quickly, smiling at first, but then frowned and glanced up at the oldest Koopaling.
Ludwig frowned, glaring at the second youngest, not wanting to let his guard down. He didn’t trust Larry, seeing as how the second youngest had been one of the Koopalings who had been willing to lock him up.
“I managet to bent ze bars by usink a shpell zat gafe me extra shtrength for only a fev sekonds. Zat vas schortly before Junior kame ant unlokket ze door separatink ze prison from ze kastle” explained Ludwig, clenching his fists, growling slightly.
Larry nodded.
He then perked up, slightly confused.
“Wait...you used magic without your wand?” asked Larry, having processed what the eldest had said.
Ludwig sighed in annoyance, nodding.
“Yes, yes, big surprise. It vas my first time, ant it drainet a lot of my energy quikkly vhen I dit. I'fe been meanink to shtart learning, but I doubt I'll be able to master it” said Ludwig, getting impatient as he pinched the bridge of his snout.
“I think they went this way!” called a faint voice, sounding like one of the Koopa Troopa guards.
Ludwig and Junior both panicked, the two quickly rushing over to the hanger and entering.
Larry was confused by this, quickly following them as they made their way to one of the smaller hanger rooms for the airships.
“Where are you two going?” asked Larry.
Ludwig opened the hangar door leading to Junior’s airship, the thing having had repairs recently on one of the propellers.
Junior turned to Larry, glaring slightly.
“Me and Luddy are leaving Dark Land. I’M actually doing the right thing and helping him so he could overcome his Kooky side because I believe he wasn’t in control of his own body when he committed those murders. Now, if you excuse us, we have to get going” said Junior quickly.
Larry gasped.
He then shook his head, taking Ludwig’s journal out of his shell, glaring down at it slightly before tossing it over to the eldest.
Ludwig managed to catch it, looking down at it, clearly shocked.
“So...it vas you....vhy voult you shteal it from my lokket draver?” asked Ludwig, scowling as he returned his attention back to the second youngest.
Larry sighed, shaking his head.
“Honestly, I don’t know what compelled me to do it. It just crossed my mind when Roy grabbed your hair and banged your head against the cell bars. I didn’t want to see him hurt you...so I snuck off and went straight to your room, lockpicked the drawer with a paperclip and took your journal. I came here afterwards and read through the entries about...Kooky...and then I ripped them out and burned them…” explained Larry, crossing his arms and glancing away.
Ludwig and Junior were both shocked, the two clearly not expecting the second youngest to do this.
“Larry...I-” began Ludwig, not knowing what to say, but was interrupted by the sound of some guards who were about to enter the hangar.
Larry thought quickly pushing Ludwig and Junior both into the airship garage before closing the garage-like doors, leaving them open for just a second to address the two.
“Go, I’ll distract them and tell them that I saw two figures running out the back doors” said Larry, not even giving the two the chance to respond, having quickly shut the garage-like doors before turning and cracking his knuckles.
“Alright Larry, time for some clever acting...hope I can pull this off…” muttered the second youngest, mentally preparing himself for what he was about to do.
Just before the guards came in, Larry dramatically screamed and threw himself to the floor, pretending he had been pushed.
He heard the sound of two guards gasping, blinking his eyes in fake confusion as he looked around.
“W-What…?” asked Larry, pretending like he had no idea what was going on.
“Prince Larry!? What are you doing here so late at night?” asked one of the Koopa Troopa guards, rushing over to help him up.
Larry rubbed his head in fake pain, groaning in fake pain.
“I-I don’t know...I was just finishing up with checking my airship for damage...since it took a lot of hits from our last battle with the Mario brothers...I was on my way out when two large figures ran past and nearly knocked me out...oh man...I-I think they were the murders...but I can’t be certain, for sure…” explained Larry.
Two of the guards gasped, while the other three ran over to the back doors to see if they still had a chance to catch the two figures.
“Two large figures? The two figures we saw weren’t too big” said the Hammer Bro.
Larry growled.
“Ever heard of the difference in size depending on how far you’re standing away from them? That’s what I thought too, but they were bigger then I thought when they nearly knocked me out” said Larry angrily.
The Koopa Troopa nodded.
“That’s true, and they were partially hidden in the shadows when we spotted them” said the Koopa Troopa.
With Ludwig and Junior:
The two Koopalings were listening intently, clearly impressed with Larry’s acting abilities as the second youngest managed to convince the guards of what he was saying to be true.
Once they heard the sound of the guards and Larry leaving the hangar, the two were able to breathe a sigh of relief.
“Wow...Larry helped us...he’s helping you escape! See, you don’t have to deal with this all on your own! You have siblings who are willing to help you!” exclaimed Junior, smiling excitedly.
Ludwig was still in shock, a million thoughts running through his head.
He closed his eyes, nodding.
“Yes, I suppose you are korrekt…” said Ludwig.
Junior smiled and nodded.
“Now come on! Let’s wait a little while before we head out, that way anybody still outside wouldn’t be able to see us leave. Where do you want to go for a while? I just mentioned in the note that the mission we’re going on is secret and that you came up with it to assist in taking down one of our enemy kingdoms” said Junior, smiling.
Ludwig thought for a moment before nodding, knowing exactly where he wanted to go.
“Yes...hov voult you say ve go to Clout Land?” asked Ludwig, frowning.
Junior nodded.
“Yeah! I can’t wait! Let’s hope Larry manages to help clear your name while we’re gone” said Junior, excitedly walking over to his airship.
Ludwig sighed, nodding as he glanced away.
He hoped so, too.
He just felt like he was...forgetting something...he just couldn’t put his finger on it.