CHAPTER 1 - Ignatius

LOCATION: KPT Health Services, Neo City, Darklands Kingdom

TIME: 42 minutes ago

"Well, Mr. Koopa, I must say I'm impressed with your progress - only ten months and I'd say you're almost ready to get rid of the cane. Remarkable that you've been with this injury for nine years and not have had any issues with it, despite your reluctance to seek recovery until now."

"Doc, it wasn't really my choice."

Iggy didn't really like it when people judged him, no matter how much he covered it up with a layer of sarcasm and wit. Any quack with a psychology degree would say that he was insecure, which was the point of why he acted the way he always acted. Of all the days to question him on his life choices, now was the day? He was almost done with this therapy shit... although he had to admit that it was great that he could walk more freely without a big limp in his step.

"That's fine, it's just that you have recovered so quickly it is a bit baffling."

"If it helps Doc, I didn't walk around a lot."

His doctor nodded. "Potentially. You could also have a very strong system as well. Either way, I'm not one to count my chickens so to speak, but by my estimate, you're due for one or two sessions left and then we'll do follow-up appointments once every few months or so."

"Fantastic. Then I can get rid of this thing?" He swirled the walking cane in his hand before thumping the end of it onto the floor. "I feel like an old man."

"I would caution against not using it after our final appointment, but if you feel confident enough, yes, you can put it aside."

Iggy stood up, helped by the cane that he was just talking smack about. "Good, because I have to attend a friend's wedding next month and if I can walk in there without this thing, that would impress the pants off of everyone."

"We'll see what we can do, Mr. Koopa," His doctor chuckled. "But for the time being, take care of yourself as always and use the stick if you intend to walk very long distances. I suppose you will be heading to work now?"

"Yep, as always."

"Then please, use the stick."

Iggy always used the stick when making the train journey to the police station, if only for the benefit of taking the best seating and having a makeshift weapon in case anyone annoyed him.

"I gotcha." He slid on his jacket and thought about the walk to the subway station down the road in the pouring rain as the doctor continued to talk.

"Your insurance is still valid for another two sessions, then you will need to get in touch with them and see if they can cover follow-up appointments, otherwise we will have to charge you the full fee."

Of course - doctors and their money. Iggy knew a thing or two about the feeling of getting a bit of cash, but he'd always had a weird feeling of irony crawl up his back whenever he thought about how much he was getting ripped off to have people tell him he can walk properly again, but slowly.

A wry chuckle escape through his parted lips. "But the usual today, right?" He pulled out his coin card.

"Yes, the usual. But hey, you've been making good progress, Mr Koopa," The doctor patted him on the shoulder and looked at him with a warm expression and a pointed finger. "You keep this up and we'll both have something to brag about, huh?"

"Glad I could make you so proud, doctor..."

Once he got his card back, he simply stowed it in his wallet, tucked it into the inside of his jacket and walked outside into the rain. Neo City awaited him.

The rain had slowed to a light drizzle, just enough to not irritate him too much (since he didn't have an umbrella), but the city still went on. Cars passed by, people huddled underneath their own little portable shelters and the neon soaked streets lighting up in an array of pink, yellow and other garish colours. The routine had become so familiar to him that he didn't even think when he made a right from the office and walked down towards the end of the road.

Two years... it had been two years since the whole ordeal was over. Two years since he'd seen Bowser, two years since a cult tried to murder him, two years spent as a truly free man. It had been a few long decades, but Iggy had settled into a comfortable rhythm that almost made him forget the ten year hiatus that he struggled with before. Moving back into Neo City was a tough order, especially since he had to sell his old car to make ends meet with the rent on his apartment but once his new job started to pay him well, he never looked back.

It was strangely relaxing to just walk everywhere. Not drive or run, but just walk. Listen to the splashing of the shallow puddles he stepped in without a second though, his normally super heated breath puffing out in small clouds of steam and smoke as he crossed the roads, looked into all the shops he passed by and just thought about work.

How normal and boring. How much he missed it.

How strange things changed in two years.

Peach Square was right next to him, with the subway station in sight. Soon, he wouldn't have to stop here ever again, exceptions being his own choice, obviously. After all there was so many good places to eat around the Square. But if there was one thing he hated more than anything right now, it was stairs.

"Fucking stairs..." He mumbled under his breath as he tucked the stick under his arm, gripped the hand rail and slowly hobbled his way down. Although there was little to no pain anymore when he did so, it was just a force of habit more than anything. Whenever anyone came over to help him, Iggy just waved them away. He appreciated the thought but he was in his late thirties now - he was a big boy.

The station was noticeably more busier - people of all shapes and sizes buzzing back and forth, to and fro, departing and arriving, all with their own places to go. The same announcement in English and Japanese blaring overhead constantly, reminding everyone to watch the platforms and to report any crimes if seen. Occasionally it would actually tell everyone when the train was arriving. He approached the turnstiles, pulled out his public transportation pass and buzzed himself through.

Go over to station C, wait for the train, jump on and ride it all the way to Federation Point where it stopped right at his destination.

The slender male stood outside the official checkpoint of the Neo City Police Department, his walking cane under his arm as he looked up - he hadn't been here long, but the sight of the neo-classical koopa inspired architecture never ceased to amaze him.

And he worked here.

Iggy hummed to himself and joined his fellow co-workers at the checkpoint, buzzing himself through with his ID card that signified that he was part of the police force that he once opposed two years, and let himself be whisked away up in the elevator to his floor.

Just another day at work, but he felt extra good about this.

It was a gut feeling he had and those rarely went wrong.

"Iggy, good morning!" One of his co-workers greeted him with a cup of coffee in his hand. "How'd the doc appointment go?"

He shed his jacket and slung it over his chair, revealing his unbuttoned, sleeves-rolled-up plaid shirt. "Pretty good. Will be able to get rid of this thing soon." He leaned the stick against a little indent that had been there on the desk since he started working here. "Anything happen today?"

"Nah, business as usual; security flaws in NOKO-NOKO have been addressed and the major incident has been toned down now, we'll be getting users back onto it once we get the accounts back up and running. Getting a lot of requests for non-standard software that you'll need to review and we've been getting some calls in about KuP reports failing - nothing to worry about, but I've advised the team that we need to keep an ear out."

Iggy smiled - this particular co-worker, Kyle, was new but was sharp as a tack and smart as all hell. "Good, that's awesome. Thanks for that update. Is there anything that needs my priority or can I just jump into these requests?"

"Nope, go ahead. The rest of the team has got things covered."

And with that, he sat down at his desk and began to work.

The security desk was buzzing alive with his co-workers sitting at their desks, typing away, chatting to each other - they weren't dressed in the stuffy formal wear that everyone else wore. After all, they technically weren't cops. They were just a bunch of office nerds who just so happened to run all of the software and hardware in the building. That was a lot of power that Iggy loved to have at his finger tips, seeing that he was the head of security and all that. He hadn't worked a bit of IT in his life, having been self-taught but that was enough for everyone to accept that he was skilled enough to take on such a big role.

It wasn't that he didn't slip into being a leader; in fact, it fit him like a glove. He still remembered the hesitation of everyone when Ludwig had bought him on board personally but when he proved himself, that was when he gained the respect.

Funny, that. Same thing, different job. It didn't feel all that long ago that he had to prove himself to Bowser before he would take him onto his personal team of criminals.

Back to work, he thought to himself, as the desktop wallpaper of one of his favorite video games greeted him with its bright colours and angular lines. When he saw the things that everyone had emailed him and left in his queue for him to sort through, Iggy just cracked his knuckles and got down to it.

It didn't feel too long though before he got his first visit.

"Mr. Koopa."

Iggy looked up and he smiled immediately at the stranger. "Detective Nishimura! How are you today?"

Henry pulled up a seat with his badge dangling from his neck. "Oh, not too bad. Have a bit of an issue though..."

"Case stuff?"

"No," He looked embarrassed. "User error."

"Ah, I see. Locked out of your computer again?"

The detective threw his hands up in frustration. "I don't know why it does this! I swear I've been putting in the password correctly!"

"You're as sharp as anything, so I don't doubt it. Things have been a bit weird lately with some of the accounts," Iggy pulled up some programs that Henry looked like he wasn't too familiar with. "We've been trying to damage control the migrations over to the new systems. Honestly though, I'd rather have to unlock everyone's accounts than to deal with lost files and synchronization issues." He paused and typed for a moment before hitting a key. "Aaaand done. It was locked... actually..." He stood up and grabbed his walking stick. "Walk me over to your computer. I can do a few things to make sure this doesn't happen again."

Henry looked happier. "Good. I'm not blaming you guys, by the way, in fact I think you're a godsend. I'm just not that savvy with computers." They walked out onto the tech support floor and headed towards the elevator, passing by everyone in a haze of beige flooring and coffee smells. "There is a reason why I came up here instead of actually calling though..."

"What's that, my dude?" Iggy pressed the button. "I figured you didn't just come up to be social with me."

"It's about Bowser."

He paused briefly before realizing Henry was referring to Junior. "What about him? I haven't heard from him for a while, how is he doing?"

"Just fine. He's... hm, how can I say this without sounding creepy? He's matured quite a bit..."

Iggy tilted his head in thought - he supposed having your father try to murder you would accelerate the process significantly.

"...and we've been together for a while. He invited me to Wendy and Katy's wedding but I'm not sure if I should go."

The doors opened and they stepped out. "Why? Don't think you'll get along?"

"No, not that. It's just that... well... I'm just worried that people will judge us."

"You're going to a lesbian wedding." Iggy said with a deadpan tone.

"Funny, Ignatius, but you know what I mean."

"Henry, for fucks sake, you're only four years older than him. My mom and dad were six years apart. It's not creepy at all," He pointed at him. "If he was younger though we'd have a problem."

The detective argued back gently as they walked into his office. "Fine, but I worry about the ethics of it all."

"Is it against the law to date someone you once had dealings with?"

"In medicine, yes."

Iggy slid into Henry's chair and turned on the computer. "But we're not in medicine, we're in law. Look I know you're freaking out, but you two started dating six months after we raided the cultist compound, it wasn't like you two were all over each other after Bowser 'died'. The Chief knows as well and if he had a problem with it, you would have seen that displeasure by now."

"That is true..." Henry conceded hesitantly as he leaned over to put in his password. "My parents are fine with it too so I guess... I am just freaking out."

"You are. Calm down and be thankful that you have him. Even if he's not going to follow his father's footsteps of being a maniacal-crime-lord-turned-god-of-destruction, Junior knows his stuff well. If you two are still going strong I say keep at it, go to the wedding and enjoy yourself." Once Iggy was in, it didn't take long for him to navigate to the security department's network drive where they kept all of their programs (with administrator access required, of course) and open a few files. One made a window appear and sit there doing nothing, but Iggy waved it off. "That will be running for a while. It's gonna clean all of the junk off your computer. When was the last time you got it cleaned, anyway?"

Henry shrugged slowly as he deliberated in his head what was the least embarrassing thing to say to the Head of Security.

Honesty was the best policy in this case. "Since I was promoted to Detective." He wasn't sure how to feel when Iggy just laughed.

"That's it? There's a lot worse, believe me."

He shuddered at the things he'd seen from some of the other officers. 'Why is it so slow?' Capacity at the hard drive was 99%. These computers could hold a lot. He didn't want to think about it.

"How long is it going to take?"

"I don't know. How old is the computer?"

"I don't know, that's why I'm asking you, Iggy."

"Judging from the look of it, I'd say it's been here for a while. It's not one of the newer models I'll tell you that for free, but give it about ten minutes. If something goes wrong a big error will come up and you can call myself or one of the guys to take a look at it. But it should be fine. I'd wager that some leftover information is still on there and it's saying that you're putting in the wrong password."

Henry huffed. "But I'm not."

"Look, think of it like this; you're trying to tell the guard what the secret passcode is to this super exclusive club but he didn't get the memo so he's got the old passcode on his brain and he won't let you in - it's like that. You get me?"

"... Ooh. Okay, gotcha."

Iggy patted the detective's shoulder with a chuckle. "Good man. I know you're not good with technology but you'll get there. If the detecting thing isn't working out for you, I can pull a few strings for you to sit up with us in security."

"Appreciate it, but I'm good," Henry returned the gesture. "Besides, if anyone's trying to hack us, give me the info and I'll track him down for you."

"Yeah you do the heavy lifting."

Henry grinned as he sat down at his desk. "See? Teamwork!"

"Speaking of teamwork, how's Lucas?"

"He's doing fine. Apparently, the Investigator is giving him plenty to do anyway so he'll be pre-occupied. Still it's pretty barren here now without those two barging into my office, arguing and then laughing it off with some coffee after."

"Yeah. Lost another one."

It wasn't uncommon for detectives or officers in general to transfer between departments in different kingdoms, especially those who were exemplary in their field. Henry was offered the opportunity personally by Ludwig, but he had rejected it politely. The Chief understood and instead offered it to Lucas. For the koopa who grew up in Neo City all his life, the chance to head over to the Mushroom Kingdom with Toadogan was something he couldn't pass up. It was funny, considering how prejudiced Lucas was in the past about toads but from all accounts he had practically gone native.

"Just a few months to go," Henry said. "Then he'll be back and we'll annoy each other again."

He didn't know how they operated at all but there wasn't anyone else he'd rather work with.

"Have you heard from anyone?"

Iggy blinked and leaned on his stick. "Aside from the Chief, Roy and Junior? Not really. Lemmy was calling me, but I was at the doctors and I didn't see it until when I arrived. I'll have to call him when I'm on break. I'm kind of 'persona non-grata' at Larry's."

"How come?"

"His wife. She still doesn't like me. Thinks I'm a weirdo or something." He twitched and scratched the back of his neck. "I tolerate her for the sake of my friend but man, does Larry know how to pick 'em."

The detective leaned back and folded his arms with a smirk. "And you know all there is to know about love?"

"Love and women are overrated."

"Riiiight..."

The lanky male spun on his stick and headed towards the door. "Anyway, keep an eye on that computer. If your account gets locked out again, just call us so we can look at the logs. Ciao, Detective N."

"Otsukaraesma deshita."

"Mata ne."

He made the walk back to the elevator alone this time, happy that he could step away for a small time and chat to Henry. If he could be honest with himself, out of everyone in the group, he probably knew Henry the least. But still it was reassuring to know that they got along well enough and he held no judgements about his past as a criminal. It also helped that they were both acquainted with Junior as well and the whole cult thing... now that he thought about it, he shouldn't be so surprised.

The rain was starting up again as he approached his desk. He could hear the droplets tapping incessantly outside the window as the sun tried to shine through the rain clouds, but it was fighting a losing battle. Mother nature would never win against an active volcano just outside of the city limits.

Hours passed by and he had just sent through the last approval for the non-standard software applications when he heard a familiar voice at the entrance to the office.

"Is Ignatius in?"

"Yes he is, Chief."

Iggy leaned up and waved over Ludwig. Immediately his expression brightened up and he walked over to him clad in his nice blue suit with a black tie loosely fastened around his neck; formal, but still a bit casual. Ludwig looked like he'd had a busy morning. He tutted and leaned against the desk.

"Mister Ignatius Koopa, how dare you come dressed with that attire? I expected you to be a bit more casual than that."

He wrinkled his nose at the Chief. "What do you want? I'm very busy making sure your officers don't install malware onto their systems."

"Und ich preise dich dafür." Ludwig clapped with a hint of sarcasm. "Aber ich muss mit dir über etwas anderes reden."

"I- what?"

The Chief simply laughed and smoothed back a part of his hair. "Your work is appreciated around here, but I didn't come to tell you that. I need to discuss something else with you."

"Regarding...?"

"Wendy and Katy's wedding. You are able to drive up to the Seaside Kingdom, yes?"

Iggy almost threw his hands up. "Yes, I will be there! I don't need you on my back about this too Chief!"

If Ludwig was put out by his tone of voice, he didn't show it. In fact, he laughed again and regarded his co-worker and friend with a devious smile. "Has Lemmington been bothering you too?"

"He tried, but I was at physical therapy. Henry and I talked about it though. I'm surprised Wendy hasn't called me and barked my ear off about it as well. It seems like ever since they decided to finally get this wedding planned we've all been fearing our cell phones."

"I'm sure you're prepared, Ignatius. You have really turned a leaf around these past few years."

"I'm flattered, Chief."

"How will you get there though? Last I heard, you sold the 'Iggy-mobile'."

The urge to pull out his walking stick and swing it onto his kneecaps was rising. "I don't know. Roy and Junior will drive me."

"Hah!" Ludwig exclaimed. "You, stuck in a car for that long with Roy and Junior? I think they would drive you insane! No disrespect to them, of course; from what I hear, ever since that whole cult business everyone has really turned around and gone legitimate."

He knew what he meant though - Roy was a bit messed in the head. Well... they all had to be in some way.

"Anyway I am just asking if you wish to travel with myself? I am not taking anyone with me so it will be just us two."

"... You know that sounds gay as hell, right?"

"Oh grow up. I suppose if you don't want to be in a car that will actually have working air conditioning that is okay by me," He straightened out his sleeves and stood up. "I will make the journey up to the inn myself and you will have to deal with it yourself."

Iggy let out a small scream in frustration - he knew that Ludwig was just messing with him, but it was still so grating! "Okay, fine! I'll sit in your stupid car."

"You're so easy to persuade, Ignatius."

He narrowed his gaze and looked into the Chief's eyes. "You drive a hard bargain, Ludwig."

"Hm-hm," He smiled. "It is a date then. We will speak about this later, but for now," The Chief donned his hat and pulled out his reading glasses - Iggy was sure that he was saying his words in 'that' tone of voice to get a rise out of him. "The public awaits me. I hate these damn press conferences. Why can't the criminals just behave themselves for once?"

"Maybe because you're running things."

"If we weren't best friends Ignatius, I believe I might just have you jailed for speaking to me like that."

"Tch. Get back to me once you've read the Mushroom Kingdom constitution."

"Yes I am fully aware of the constitution since I had to study law, Ignatius. For now though, adieu, my friend. Speak later."

Iggy smirked and gave a short salute. "Talk to you soon, Chief. Good luck with the sharks."

The annoyed grunt that the older male gave when he disappeared around the corner said it all. The joys of being the boss - he'd seen it with Bowser and now he was seeing it with Ludwig. Having to deal with people way too stupid for your time, but you have to because it's the right thing to do.

What did that make him though?

Iggy fancied himself as someone stuck in the purgatory where he was just smart enough to be above the rest, but lazy and not really interested in anything but living his life. The roller coaster had run its last loop. His hand hovered over his cell phone - he hadn't gone on his break yet, but did he really feel like talking to Lemmy about weddings...? No, he would be talking to Lemmy. It was worth it.

He stepped outside of the security office and walked into the kitchen area. It was empty and quiet with nothing going on except the low humming of the vending machine to his right. Standing in the corner of the room where the window showed the east side of the city, he scrolled through the contacts and picked Lemmy's number.

It didn't even ring three times before he picked up. "Iggy! Where have you been?!"

He blinked and looked uncharacteristically startled. "Uh... I've been at work, dude. I work now."

"O-oh, shi- sorry Iggy. I was just freaking out because you didn't reply this morning."

"I was at the doc's. What's wrong with you?"

"Are you coming to the wedding, Iggy?"

"As far as I'm aware, yes I am." He rolled his eyes - he couldn't wait for this wedding to be over with. That was all they talked about now, it seemed. He cut Lemmy off when he was about to speak. "Yes I'm still wearing the white tuxedo with the green bow tie. I aim to please and I wouldn't wear anything that didn't have the approval of Wendy."

Lemmy went on like he was having a very energetic panic attack. "How are you getting here? Are you coming to the inn like everyone else?"

"You have the reservation. Yes, I am. I will be travelling with Ludwig."

"I... good..." He breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm sorry bro... I've been annoying everyone because y'know, they want this thing to be perfect and it's up to me to make sure that you guys have got everything together."

"Sounds like we all do, except you." Iggy grinned.

"... That bad, huh?"

"What are they threatening you with?"

"Nothing!"

"Then what is the big deal?"

"When you get married Iggy, I will adopt your attitude and see how you like it."

"Ooh, spicy."

Lemmy sighed. "Well, you're being a smartass so I'll take that as everything is good there... good. You're the last person I've had to call... now I can go back and tell Wendy that you're all good. Maybe I can actually sleep well tonight..."

"Are you okay, Lem? If I didn't know any better I'd say you're the one who was getting married."

"It's a big responsibility that my two friends have given me, okay? I've never done anything like this before and I don't want to ruin a pretty special day for them."

"Lem, I love you but this shit is pretty milquetoast compared to what we did. We went from robbing banks to stopping a dangerous cult to planning weddings."

Lemmy paused for a moment. "You've never known true fear until you've seen Wendy mad. I'd rather deal with the cult."

"Well, you can't. They're all long gone. Royal Knights made sure of that, but you didn't hear it from me."

"How?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

That made Lemmy laugh just a little bit which lightened Iggy's expression - it was the little victories that made it worth it. "Okay, well at least today is all wrapped up then. A few more weeks and we'll all be together again."

"It's been a while... almost a year now?"

"Yeah, a year."

"Well shit, you gotta catch me up on what you've been up to." Iggy said with a excited tone.

"Nothing much, believe me, but maybe we'll get drunk when all is said and done and I'll tell you everything."

"I'm going to hold you to that, Lemster."

"Lemster... geez, I haven't heard that in a long time. Everyone just calls me 'Firebug'."

"Ooh I like that!"

Lemmy chuckled. "Oh damn it, not you too..." Iggy imagined him face palming on the other end of the line. "Anyway I won't keep you. I'm sure you have important police things to do."

"I'm fighting crime by making sure the Neo City police don't install custom cursors on their computers, whoopie-doopie-freaking-doo... but it pays well."

"Hah. See you later Iggy, hopefully at the wedding."

"I'll be there, geez, get off my case. I feel like I'm talking to my dad."

"Love you too Ignatius. See ya round."

"Later, Firebug."

That was worth it. Humming to himself, Iggy spun around and was just about ready to grab some more coffee and sit down at his desk when his cell buzzed again. He was surprised again to see Larry's name lit up on the screen and he answered it immediately.

"Iggy here."

Larry's gravelly voice sounded relieved. "Iggy, hey bro. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. How are you?"

"Just fine as well... actually, I need to cash in a favour. Is my credit good?"

"Depends on what you're asking for." He grew suspicious of this, but decided it was best to let Larry continue.

"I need to find someone."

Iggy wrinkled his nose - what was this? "I'm not good at finding people, Larry. And who do you want to find, and why?"

"No, I mean... is... uh, Henry still working there?"

"Yeah, he's still here."

"Awesome. I need you to drop a line to him if you can. I need him to help me track down someone..."

The male began to pace around the room, more agitated now. "Larry, he's a detective with the NCPD, not a private investigator. What the hell are you on about? Who do you want to find? If this guy committed a crime I'm sure there are better people you can tell than myself or Henry."

"Iggy, it's my fucking father okay?!" That made him pause. His father...? He felt like he shouldn't be making a big deal out of this but Larry never spoke about his father and, even when he did (which was rare) it was always badmouthing him. As far as he knew, Larry had never known the man at all and was going on assumptions. "It's my fucking father and I need Henry to help me track him down so can you please approach him when you can and ask him if he can put aside some time for me to come over to Neo City and sit down at his fucking desk and talk to him for five fucking minutes - can you do that for me? Is that good enough credit?"

He was silent for a moment, only hearing the annoyed breathing of his friend on the other line. After a few seconds he dared to swallow his shock. "S-sure... you're good. I'll see what I can do."

"... Thank you... and sorry, Iggy... I didn't want to say anything but you forced it out of me... look, I'll explain it to you later. I just need to get this over with and Henry is the only one I can trust who can really help me with this... no offense."

"None taken. Look... don't stress about it. I'll chat him up and see if he's keen."

"If you can do it I'll owe you big time for this, bro. Keep me in the loop, yeah?"

"Of course. What are friends for, right?"

Indeed, he thought to himself. "Thanks... see you around."

"Yeah, you too."

Iggy stared at the phone when Larry hung up, watching as the letters of his name recede into the digital landscape, his heart beating slightly faster than normal at this. All he could think of how this shouldn't be such a big deal for him but it was and he couldn't shake the feeling that something was horribly amiss about the whole thing.

But still, he owed Larry that much for dealing with his shit two years ago. He grabbed his freshly brewed coffee from the kitchen, just as a few officers came in chatting casually to themselves, and headed straight towards the elevator.

He could be on his break for a few more minutes.

A/N: I honestly hope this turns out to be a lot more personal, grounded and conflicted because that's what every sequel needs after something like a cult using magic in the first story. Also, my Japanese and German are limited so I've probably messed it up. But the loose translation goes:

'Otsukaraesma deshita (Thank you for your work)

Mata ne (See you later)

Und ich preise dich dafür. Aber ich muss mit dir über etwas anderes reden. (And I praise you for it. But I have to talk to you about something else)'

Feel free to give me heck for it if it's wrong and as always, thank you for reading and have a good day!