With the Koopalings:
The Koopalings were all standing on the upper deck, Bowser standing behind the wheel and steering his airship towards Cloud Land.
Bowser had a perpetual scowl, having expressed no other emotion since they left Dark Land.
Everyone had been silent, the Koopalings whispering amongst themselves while Bowser flew the airship.
“Oh man...I can’t believe you guys found him!” whispered Larry, making sure to speak quietly.
Iggy nodded.
“Yes, it was….unexpected…” whispered Iggy, not talking too loud.
The Koopalings had been told by their father to be quiet, having been talking earlier just after they left, so now they were speaking quietly by whispering.
Roy sighed, his arms crossed.
“I kind o' wish yo' didn't leave Junior, though. Dude’z just a kid, so I can only imagine seein' our eldest brotha tied up wit' chains n' locked in a cell would traumatise him” whispered Roy, frowning.
Lemmy raised an eyebrow, confused.
“But...that’s exactly what you did two months ago. Junior was there with us” whispered Lemmy, frowning.
Roy scowled, sighing.
“I know, but we didn't tie him up wit' chains” whispered Roy.
Wendy scowled, resting a hand on her hip.
“No, but you DID grab his hair and smash his face into the bars” whispered Wendy blankly.
Roy’s eyes widened in realization.
“Oh...yeah….I did….” muttered Roy, now feeling a new wave of guilt for what he had done.
He had been OBSESSED with proving to everyone that Ludwig had killed those ten guards, and he had no idea why.
Roy shook his head.
“Well dat doesn't matta. What matters naw be dat we git our olda brotha back” whispered Roy, grinning in determination.
The other Koopalings nodded in agreement.
“MORTON HELP GET BROTHER BACK!” shouted Morton loudly, causing everyone to flinch.
Everyone glanced over at Bowser, seeing that the Koopa King was glaring at them, having heard the largest Koopaling shout.
With Junior and Ludwig:
Junior was pacing back and forth in the cell, trying to think of some way to get out.
He sighed in annoyance when his mind blanked.
“Can’t you just use one of your spells, like teleport us out of here or something?” asked Junior, turning to the oldest Koopaling.
Ludwig sighed, having been sitting on the floor with the back of his shell resting against the wall.
“I kan't. We voult hafe to vait until I regain all of my energy before I kan, ant zat koult take hours since I hat been hangink upside dovn for nearly zree days vith no foot or vater” explained Ludwig weakly, clutching his ribs, having fallen on them after Junior had lowered the lever.
Junior sighed, nodding in understanding.
“Yeah...that makes sense. I just hope it doesn’t take too long, since the king said he’s going to send someone down to take away our wands” said Junior, muttering the last part.
Ludwig winced in pain, clutching his head, causing Junior to fear the worst.
“What is it? Are you ok? Are you hurting?” asked Junior, quickly rushing over to Ludwig and grabbing his shoulders.
Ludwig sighed, nodding.
“Yes, I beliefe I am. I zink it's just an after effekt from no longer hangink upside dovn. All of my bloot hat ruschet to my head, ant vhen you droppet me dovn, it allovet my bloot to flov zrough ze rest of my body. I'm unsure if zere's any damage to my brain after hangink upside dovn for so lonk. Kamek voult hafe to determine zat vhen ve get out of here” explained Ludwig weakly, nodding.
Junior nodded in understanding, the feeling of worry not going away.
“Ok...just....promise me you’ll get better and go back to being your old self. I miss having you all serious and mature...before we came back from our last mission two months ago. I just wish I never mentioned your hair…” said Junior, frowning and muttering the last part.
Ludwig was confused by this.
“Vhat do you mean?” asked the oldest Koopaling, tilting his head to the side.
Junior sighed, glancing away.
“It’s just….this all started because I mentioned that your hair looked a mess, and then papa said that you looked like your younger self, even recalling your old nickname….Kooky. I just feel like it’s my fault, since none of this would have happened if I hadn’t” admitted Junior sadly.
Ludwig frowned, grabbing Junior’s shoulder, albeit with difficulty because of the fact that his entire body was still hurting.
“Junior, listen to me. It's not your fault. I let myself zink too much into it, ant it drofe me krazy. I schoult hafe just let it go ant ignoret it, but I didn't bekause of ze fakt zat I tent to oferthink zings too much. Don't blame yourself, you vere just makink an obserfation. You hat no idea zings voult get zis bat” said Ludwig, looking Junior in the eye.
Junior was speechless, not knowing what to say.
He then startled the oldest Koopaling by tackling him in a tight hug, refusing to let go.
“Junior-?” began Ludwig, confused, but was interrupted by the youngest Koopaling.
“Just shut up and enjoy the moment” muttered Junior.
Ludwig sighed, nodding as he hugged Junior back, the two falling silent.
With the Koopalings:
They were approaching the King of Cloud Land’s castle, passing over the town, causing the citizens to all run and hide in fear of what the Koopa King and his Koopalings were about to do.
Normally they went straight to Peach’s castle, located in Grass Land, but this time they were heading to the King of Cloud Land’s castle.
The Koopalings had all fallen silent after Morton had accidentally yelled too loud, causing Browser to just glare at them for five minutes straight before they got the hint that he wanted silence for the entire trip.
Bowser had his airship hover above the king’s castle, pulling a lever beside the steering wheel that dropped the anchor.
Instead of the anchor landing on the cloud layer that made up the ground, it broke right through it.
Because the airship wasn’t supposed to drop anchor at that high of an altitude, the anchor was left hanging about halfway to the ground, causing the airship to get pulled down roughly, but it managed to stay hovering where it was.
After regaining themselves from the rough drop, the Koopalings quickly followed Bowser, the Koopa King using the anchor chain to slide down to the cloud-like ground, knowing that jumping down would probably end up with him falling through the cloud layer.
Once they were all on the cloud-like ground, Iggy and Lemmy exchanged glances.
“Junior should be waiting on the other side of the castle with Chomperette” said Iggy.
Lemmy refrained from nodding.
“Yeah! Me and Iggy will go get them” said Lemmy, smiling as he hopped up onto his circus ball, having dropped it down from the airship. It was light enough so it didn’t break through the cloud layer.
Bowser crossed his arms, nodding.
“Good. We’ll wait for you, and then we can all head inside and demand he let my eldest son go” said Bowser, scowling.
The twins saluted, the two quickly turning and running around the corner to retrieve Junior and Chomperette.
Bowser sighed, shaking his head as the other Koopalings stood nearby, Larry, Wendy and Roy exchanging worried glances while Morton smiled innocently.
Several citizens were coming out of hiding, watching from a distance, curious to see why Bowser and his Koopalings were at the king’s castle.
With Iggy and Lemmy:
The twins quickly ran around the corner of the castle, halting when they only saw Chomperette napping by the cell window where Ludwig was being held in.
“Chomperette!” called Iggy, catching his pet’s attention.
Chomperette was startled awake, barking happily when she saw that her owner was back.
The twins rushed over, worried for the youngest Koopaling’s safety, seeing he was nowhere to be seen.
“Where’s Junior? I thought I told you to keep an eye on him and protect him!” exclaimed Iggy, sounding a little angered that Junior was gone.
Chomperette whimpered, hopping over to the small cell window, sniffing around it before turning and barking at the twins.
The two exchanged confused glances, deciding to walk over, Lemmy hopping down from his circus ball to get a better look.
They gasped when they only saw a pile of chains on the floor where Ludwig used to be hanging.
“Oh my GOSH! They took him away and now he’s probably dead!” exclaimed Iggy in dramatic horror.
Lemmy felt his eyes tear up, turning away so he wouldn’t have to look inside the cell anymore.
“Iggy!? Lemmy!? Is that you?” called Junior’s voice from within the cell.
The twins were startled by this, Lemmy quickly turning around and smiling in relief when he saw the youngest Koopaling.
Junior had gotten up, he and Ludwig having been sitting just under the small cell window, so they had been out of sight.
When Junior had heard the voices of the twins, he had gotten up so they could see where he was, having heard what they said.
“Junior, are you alright? Did they catch you and throw you in with Ludwig?” asked Lemmy, now worried.
Junior frowned, shaking his head.
“No, I managed to sneak in. Chomperette helped by getting me in through a window that was high up. I guess I should have waited for you guys, but I just had a bad feeling that Ludwig was in more trouble than I thought. But I suppose we would have gotten out if I hadn’t gone to retrieve his wand first….” explained Junior, muttering the last part and glancing away.
The twins were shocked to hear this, the two exchanging glances.
“You managed to get his wand back!? How did you do it?” asked Lemmy, having SEEN the King of Cloud Land polishing the wand a while ago.
Junior chuckled.
“He was falling asleep, so I snuck into the throne room and took it back” said Junior.
He then sighed, glancing away, now feeling embarrassed.
“I then came down here, got the cell open because they left the keys hanging on the wall beside the dungeon door, and...I left the keys in the lock when I rushed into the cell to help Luddy down. The king woke up, found the wand missing, came down here and locked us both in” said Junior, shrugging.
“And Ludwig?” asked Lemmy, now feeling worried for the safety of the oldest Koopaling.
Junior smiled.
“He’s fine. He’s just down here. His nose was bleeding, and I thought he was dead at first after I got him down, but he said he’ll be alright and should be back to his old self in no time!” exclaimed Junior, smiling proudly.
The twins were shocked when they saw Ludwig standing up from where he had been sitting, coughing and struggling to stay on his feet, Junior quickly helping by grabbing his arm, keeping him standing.
“I dit not say zat, but I zink you get ze point. I don't knov if I vill be alright kompletely, since I vas hangink upside dovn for nearly zree days. Zat voult be up to Kamek to determine, once ve get out of here” said Ludwig, frowning.
The twins exchanged worried glances, knowing that Ludwig was probably hiding the fact that he was in much more pain than he was letting on.
“Don’t worry, dad and our other siblings are waiting outside the castle” said Lemmy.
Iggy nodded.
“Yeah, they’re waiting for us to return with you, Junior. But since you’re in there, too, the king will most likely be in more trouble now” said Iggy, scowling.
Junior nodded.
“Alright. You guys rough him up and get us out of here. Luddy needs all the help he could get” said Junior, taking notice that Ludwig’s head was hanging, the oldest Koopaling looking more exhausted than he had ever looked before.
The twins nodded, Lemmy taking a moment to regain himself after his eyes stopped rattling around their sockets, quickly hopping up onto his circus ball and quickly following Iggy and Chomperette.
Junior smiled, knowing that the two would get out for sure.
He then gasped in fright when Ludwig suddenly collapsed, the oldest Koopaling falling to the floor hard.
“Luddy!? Luddy are you alright? Come on, it’ll be alright, dad and our siblings are here to help get us out. Just hang on, alright?’ said Junior, now feeling a new sense of worry creeping up his spine, kneeling beside the oldest Koopaling and trying to wake him up with little success.
Junior glanced around the cell, but knew that there was no way to get out.
He sighed.
If only he knew the teleportation spell, they would have been able to teleport out with ease, but he hadn’t gotten that far into Koopa magic, yet.