So this was the kingdom of the Lightning Queen? The Malevolent Mires were a festering midden. All the plants either clung to life or were dead and rotting in the murky sludge that passed as water. The earth was soft mud, making it near impossible to get steady footing. Sinking in the swamps were the ruins of ancient castles and cities. Once proud beacons of civilisation were now lost, half submerged in the putrid earth like stunned giants being consumed by quick sand. The trees were mostly withered husks studded with moss and fungi. Although he had never seen such mushrooms before in his life as they glowed with colourful bioluminescence. It was somewhat convenient given the late hour of the night and the darkness that only added to the inhospitable landscape.
A cloud of mist escaped his mouth as Ludwig hugged his shoulders. He could see the fungi dotting the various trees and shining far and wide into the horizon. Their natural light seemed to betray the ominous swamps. At least he had markers to guide him through the shadows. He suspected the stench of rotting plants that hung in the air would make any normal traveller gag and flee. But after years of living in Bowser's Castle, Ludwig was immune to most disgusting occurrences thanks to Bowser and the Koopalings. If Larry's tales were to be believed, he should be expecting monsters to ambush him at any second. A clawed and scaled hand went through his immaculately styled blue hair. He chuckled to himself confidently at the childish thought. The tales of the Lightning Queen were just a bedside story to make troublesome children behave and utterly terrified of storms.
Then again that was not why Ludwig abandoned the kingdom and betrayed Bowser. He jumped from partially submerged ruin to another as he headed deeper into the mires. His stocky body proving to be agile and capable of covering far distances with the aid of a flutter jump. His claws hooked over the edge of a shattered stone floor as he lost his footing. The slimy moss was growing denser the further he travelled. He could also swear he could hear people screaming with terror in the wind. Yet looking around himself proved that there was indeed nothing near him. A moment's pause, Ludwig sat upon a windowsill and looked out into the vast wilderness. It was rumoured that within this place was an enlightened city, Rhapsody. A place where unique minds and the greatest of thinkers could study and hone their skills to their heart's content. The idea made it seem like paradise to him.
Over the last few years, things at Bowser's Castle had continuously gotten worse. He was mature enough to know how monarchy worked. With the appearance of Bowser Jr, Ludwig knew he had to step aside in his claim for the throne and also his position as second in command. The very idea was quite pleasant, with less responsibility he could finally resume his passion for music and compose his symphonies. What was just a casual past time could now be trained and honed into a real talent. He could actually learn how to play other music aside from Koopa symphonies, which sadly were not overly popular anywhere. Nothing went to plan though as Bowser Jr quickly got on his nerves. The young prince's antics rivalled both Larry and Lemmy's in annoyance and were generally much more destructive. However Bowser never seemed to reprimand his son like he had done with the Koopalings. Ludwig was fine with stepping aside for a true blood heir and generally the diplomat who had to calm the other Koopalings when they were outraged by the prince. But Bowser Jr proved to be a dull witted, bothersome and obnoxious little koopa. The very presence of the royal brat was enough to make his blood boil and his usual calm demeanour vanish.
Now Ludwig was completely alone, he had ran off in the night with only his magic sceptre and left no trace of where he had gone. That had been a fortnight ago, he laughed to himself again, feeling idiotic to be reminiscing over such trivial problems. He had put as much distance as possible between him and any trace of the Koopa or Mushroom Kingdom. The Malevolent Mires were practically on the edge of the world near the Arcane Kingdom. A place Ludwig did not even know existed until he passed it on his travels. He did not stop though, at the moment the last thing he wanted was to talk to a bunch of backwater idiots.
A shifting ripple in the water caught his attention from his look out. Ludwig instinctively readied his sceptre, preferring to wait for the ambusher to emerge before deciding on a course of action. The rippling bubbled away and disappeared beneath the ruined building he sought refuge in. His moment of ease was quickly obliterated as the serpentine creature burst from the water and smashed through the floors of the half submerged building. Ludwig leapt with all his might to the next building, in the panic he dropped his sceptre into the water below. Cursing under his breath as he scrambled to his feet, he caught a glimpse of his attacker.
At what he first thought was a skeletal serpent was actually a giant centipede. Its exoskeleton had mutated far beyond smooth carapace into elaborate armour. It shone beneath the moonlight with a metallic gleam as feathery gills fluttered between its long writhing legs. For a moment it paused, its tremendous mandibles clicked in the wind as it gazed over the landscape. Ludwig smirked, perhaps the giant insect was short sighted. The building he thought he was safe in shook wildly as another centipede surfaced from below. He let out a scream as he plummeted into the waters bellow. He felt his shell come into contact with more writhing bodies. There must have been a swarm of these creatures beneath the water's surface.
His mind stopped thinking logically as panic and fear took hold of his senses. His instincts told him to flee in any way possible. Ludwig threw himself upwards onto a bank, nimbly dodging the thrashing tails of the centipedes as he vanished deeper into the swamp. The further he ran, the quicker he learnt that the monsters were indeed real. Impossibly large arthropods emerged from below the foggy water and the sludgy earth, some fluttering out from beneath giant mushrooms. No matter what type of bug or crustacean it was, they were all mutated to giant proportions with twisted exoskeletons that glistened beneath the moonlight. The few varieties he saw that possessed wings appeared to crackle with lightning as they soared effortlessly through the air.
Usually, Ludwig was a horror enthusiast who to this day never recoiled from any gruesome ghost story. He only smirked while the rest of the Koopalings trembled and screamed at Iggy's elaborate tales. But never in his life had he heard of insects ever growing to this size. He never even realised they were so grotesque and horrifying to behold until he came face to face with them. An old mausoleum leading down into the earth appeared around a turn. Determined to escape the strange fauna, Ludwig fled into the darkness and down the stone stairs. In his panic he slipped on a patch of rotting moss and tumbled down. Quickly curling into a tight ball to avoid damage, but not nausea, as he felt every jolt and turn. When he finally came to rest, he emerged from his shell and looked around. The only light filtered in from the doorway overhead and it was near impossible to decipher where exactly he was.
His heart almost stopped as two firm hands grasped his shoulders. His breath was in shock as he could not even whimper. Someone breathed near his face, a feminine voice chuckled "Boo!"
The force of a lightning bolt shot through Ludwig as he finally screamed.
When his senses finally returned, all he could feel were pins and needles through his body. A sickening groan forced the taste of bile into his mouth. Ludwig moaned softly as he tried to roll over, at least now he was on solid ground. A slate floor greeted his eye sight. He wearily lifted his head to see a flickering torch mounted on the opposite windowless wall. He then forced himself upright as he realised something off, there were metal bars and a locked door obscuring his line of sight across the room. He was in a dungeon now, in all his years of working in Bowser's castle, he had never been locked in a cell before. Especially not one that decorated the walls with moss and the floors with bones chained with manacles. Ludwig recoiled with a screech as he realised these remains were previous guests. Whoever lived here had every intention of leaving him to rot.
Ignoring the protests of his body, Ludwig's mind went to work as he looked around for something, anything to aid his escape. His attention immediately set on the door, stumbling over to it to examine the lock and hinges. A smirk crossed his face followed by a chuckle, the hinges were set with pins and not welded directly to the door. At least that made this easier as he nearly tripped over himself to snatch a broken rib bone. Using the bone as a makeshift tool, he threaded his arms through the bars and proceeded to lever the pin out of the hinge. After a while of fumbling in the partial darkness and climbing up the bars to reach the top hinge he finally succeeded. He shoulder barged through the door, snatching the torch from the wall and running in whatever direction he thought led to the surface.
The tiny flame was not enough to cut through the inky darkness. However Ludwig felt it would best to reserve his flame breath for when he needed it. The small light it gave only revealed endless corridors of stone. A small snort of fire exposed them ending with a sudden drop into nothingness. He continued to comb the labyrinth for any way to escape, occasionally reigniting the torch when it dimmed until it eventually burned to nothing. Going solely by feel as he cautiously progressed, running his claws along the wall, he saw a light in an earthy tunnel ahead. Like a moth to a flame he instinctively pursued it, the walls closing as he advanced towards it. So close to the exit he found himself stuck in the narrow tunnel, his legs madly flailed and clawed at the loose soil. He thought he was going mad as he heard two people laughing behind him. This was followed by a strong shove as he was ejected from the tunnel and sent sprawling to the muddy ground.
She saw the strange koopa emerge in her holding pit, he appeared to be on the cusp of the adolescent phase and almost into the final growth spurt of his species. Dragon Koopas were an interesting species, one of the only reptiles to naturally have evoglobin. However there was something about his hair and his bucktooth that roused her curiosity. A distant memory lingered on her mind as she approached the metallic edge of the pit. She looked down upon the stocky yet pudgy koopa, his wild blue hair was parted into two waves. His scales varied in shades of green and yellow. Although, the blue shell on his back revealed his true age as it was still smooth between the spikes, signifying his body still had growing to do. The most curious part of his appearance was the large fang that poked between his lips like a beaver, most likely caused by an incomplete cleft palate.
Ludwig noticed someone finally looking down on him from the top of the pit. She looked human with jagged white hair that was shaped like lightning bolts around her face. She appeared to be wearing a lab uniform studded by large gold buttons and shaded with dark greys. A hefty pair of safety goggles obscured most of her face. A thick leather belt hugged her waist while tight sleeves striped black and purple covered her arms to vanish beneath leather gloves. Her smile revealed a missing front tooth and seemed more cruel than kind. She laughed, her voice was almost melodic "Good morning or is it evening now? I spend so much time in my lab I barely know these days."
Ludwig roared back "I demand that you let me go, right now. Enough of these sick games!"
"Or what? I'm not scared of your flames kid, and one shock from me and you'll drop like a rock. Just like you did earlier." she flicked her long hair with a chuckle "Besides, you're the one trespassing on private land and riling up my pets!"
"Pets!? Those giant monsters are your pets."
"Well… yeah. I mean, I was the one who provided the necessary catalyst to turn the bugs around here in giant, hulking monsters."
"And why would you do that?"
"Because bugs are cute and I wanted to make the hug sized."
He fell silent and lowered his head, feeling like an utter fool for making such threats when he was in no position to. Then again, judging by the steam powered machinations writhing over the ceiling and the echo of electricity crackling from shoddy wires. It was clear that this woman had been electrocuted a few too many times. Even now her fluid movements were restless as she moved around the mouth of the pit like an organic clockwork doll. Ludwig shook his head and perished the metaphor, he really was not thinking clearly now.
"So… is that your natural hair?"
A curious eyebrow was raised, he snapped abruptly "Yes?"
"And that tooth? Born with it or the result of stupidity?"
"Born with it… why?"
"Dunno, you just… remind of a couple I used to know… but that was a very long time ago."
He noticed her take pause and tap her chin as she carefully eyed him like an interesting specimen. Having dealt with Iggy's own variation of curiosity border lining madness; Ludwig attempted to make an arrangement "Clearly, you're all about scientific pursuits, right?" She nodded with a crooked tilt "How about you run some tests on me? You know, use me as a test subject? If I cooperate and participate in a few experiments, then you let me go."
She was clearly intrigued, her lips pursed as she responded with a shrug "Maybe. Let's just see how it all plays out."
"A maybe? That's not good enough," Ludwig folded his arms over his chest "How would you amend this deal?"
"I perform an autopsy to get my answers, you're smart enough to know what that means. It's win, win for me regardless. The only thing that changes is whether or not you cooperate."
He let out a sigh of defeat "Very well, I'll cooperate. But if we are to be civil I should at least know your name."
A pause faltered her momentarily, before she could answer "Call me Diabella, most idiots think of me as the Lightning Queen." She snorted "It's ludicrous, and what do I call you?"
"Ludwig von Koopa." He lowered his head, seeing that his body was caked with filth and rotten moss. Perhaps he had overreacted to Bowser Jr's latest prank? It was unforgivable, but was it really worth all this? It would take time to learn of this place and formulate an exit strategy.
"Seriously?" Diabella looked him over again "With your face I thought you'd be Bucky McFloofyhair… Ludwig? Really!? More like Chubwig." She shook her head as she vanished from view, but he could still hear her rambling to herself. "Von Koopa? VON Koopa!? VON KOOPA!?" She was walking by dragging her feet on the ground and chanting with step "Von. Von. Von. Von. Von. Von. Von."
"What is wrong with you? And let me out of this festering pit at once!"
"Nope, you said you were going to be a test subject which means I get to treat you like one. Be careful with your words Luddy."
"My name is Ludwig." He corrected "And your obsession with my name?"
Diabella paused like the cogs in her brain were still whirling. She cackled to herself and bounded deeper into her laboratory. Ludwig let out a despondent sigh; she was completely insane.
