"…The entire castle is shrouded in the vines. All that's unblocked is the front entrance, and even then it's heavily guarded by the watchdogs... the only way we could even get close to the castle is by a frontal assault."

"No. Impossible. The bridge would crumble almost instantly under our weight. We'd never be able to get to Ludwig's lab without being overwhelmed, never mind getting the machine out. And I'm not risking my little brother going in with us – if one of those spikes punctures him, it's game over. We need to get in and out undetected."

Matthias shook his head. "My prince, there's no other way. The lava motes are too high to climb under the bridge. Digging underneath from this side is futile as the entire castle rests on lava. We've scoured every hidden entrance you know of, and they're all blocked. A Swooper couldn't land on the turrets without hitting the vines. There's no way to quickly secure enough resources for an aerial assault with a large enough party without being detected, and even if we did we'd have to blast in from the ceiling and give away our position as the courtyards are completely covered in thorns as well. Too small of a party and we'd risk being overwhelmed. A bullet bill barrage would only open a wall behind the vines, and then they'd cover the entrance immediately. We'd never be able to get to the lab undetected, no matter what we were to try – it's simply too overrun. And we don't even know how thick the vines are close to the labs. It may be impenetrable. There's nothing else we could do."

They'd been at this for hours, going back and forth with roundabout ideas and always being stuck on the same conflict. Jarrod was past the point of being bored as his and Ishmael's dads debated the extremely limited options, having zoned out with his headphones long ago. His best friend still stood at attention despite the incessant repetitions in their arguments, silently going over his own potential options.

Larry slammed his hand down in decisive frustration from his place at his desk. "We'd need all of my siblings for even a remotely possible frontal assault. I can't leave the base without being detected, either by a watchdog or an infected, and the rest of the family hates me. They wouldn't even look at me if they saw me." The leader allowed a tiny pang of his youthful impatience to race through him as he clutched his head in annoyance. "This is the first actual shot we've ever had in decades. We have a chance to reverse everything, and we can't even get close enough to capitalize on it. But we can't wait, either, or risk Junior being discovered. Two dragon-koopa this close to the castle is already arousing suspicion – if any infected just so happened to catch wind of Junior on the way here, we'd be more at risk than ever before. Even now, the kid's been dragged into a situation that's worse than anything we ever could've imagined. If we could just get word out to them, we could actually have a chance to put your plan into action, Matthias… but they'll never listen to me if I were to attempt to contact them. It would have to be someone they could trust, and frankly, none of us have that. It's an impossible plan with even more impossible odds."

Silence punctuated the seriousness of his words, and they knew there was no more arguing.

And we don't have the tech, time, or intelligence to replicate Ludwig's experiment… We'd need to get the original machine, and who knows if that's even still functioning… I wish I'd studied more than simple computer programming…

Matthias began pacing the room once more, trying to come up with a new alternative that they may not have considered. His son's head was bobbing, the young adult practically falling asleep, while Ishmael poured over the castle's schematics displayed on the screens behind his father's desk. Large red X's crossed out every viable option, every potential passage. Talk about overgrowth…

Larry muttered to himself spitefully. "If I hadn't allowed everyone to break apart, maybe we could've stood a chance…"

That alarmed the room's other occupants and the third in command quickly tried to reassure the Koopaling. "No, my prince, you-"

"Enough." A raised hand silenced him, instantly quashing any arguments that could've been raised. "Don't beat around the bush, Matthias. You know what happened. You were there. I could've done more to keep us together and I FAILED. I failed my family just like I'm going to fail my little brother." He sighed is resignation. "…I suppose the best option would be to try to get him to Pi'illo Island with the others. At least there he'd be safe."

Jarrod seemed to stir at that comment, looking at the older ones worriedly. "…we can't just throw it out like that, though… can we? I mean, we didn't even try to-"

Though he remained seated, a rare surge of fury built up in the prince's body and, on instinct, allowed the fury to burst forth from his mouth in a focused blast. The fireball narrowly missed the bandit's already worn shoes, more than enough of a warning. "TRYING would result in his and everyone else's INFECTION!" He roared, seething from his place at the head of the room. "I am NOT throwing it out, I am being SENSIBLE! But if you'd rather DOOM everyone, go right AHEAD!"

A hand griped Larry's shoulder before he could rant any further, and he looked up into the eyes of his son, conveying more concern than any words would be able to.

"…Sorry." He took a moment to regain his composure, and glanced over at a frightened Jarrod with a look of remorse. "That was uncalled for. I did not mean to lose my temper."

"-s-s'no big, big blue…" Jarrod's fear slowly turned into exhaustion and discontent, though caution still lingered. Matthias did not move, knowing neither meant any harm to the other. "Just… I don't wanna give up on the kid before we even start, y'know?"

"No, I'm aware. Your intentions are good, and I want my brother to be safe, but…" He waved a hand back at the diagrams behind him. "…Like I said, we need everyone together to have even a remote chance at getting inside, never mind getting to the time machine, and I can't leave to get them myself."

As much as the group hated to admit it, they were stuck, and in a very emotionally trying situation, at that. Of course Larry didn't want to give up. Being unable to do anything for his youngest brother after having him missing for so long would make him feel worse than ever before. But unless they could effectively create a family reunion, the youngest prince would be stuck in the future, left to suffer the same fiery inferno of a disaster as his older siblings.

"...then that's what we'll do."

Larry, Ishmael, Jarrod, and Matthias all started at the new arrival staring up at them with determination. Though he still looked exhausted, he seemed to have come to terms with the situation… and there was something… different about him.

Choosing his words carefully, in case the youngest was still volatile, Larry looked over at his little brother, silently hoping that he hadn't been privy to his little outburst. "Junior... what are you saying?"

He paused for a moment, mentally debating on how to word his suggestion. "…You said you'd need everyone for an attack, right? But you said you can't leave the base, and I don't think the others would listen to your bandits." He took a deep breath. "…But I know they'll listen to me. They'll be so happy to see me that they couldn't possibly say no! So all I have to do is get everyone to meet up for an attack and we can beat this Fuego parasite!"

To say that the group was flabbergasted at Junior's ingenuity and sudden willingness to help would be an incredible understatement.

Unwilling to burden the youngest more than necessary, Larry shook his head. "Junior... no. It's incredibly risky and we don't even know where half of them are."

But, stubborn as always, Junior swung his paintbrush over his shoulder and Larry spotted the white travel pack tied to it, ready to go. Instead of his usual fanged bandana, he wore his blue one, with a golden pin attached to it.

"Bring it on! I'll take it down myself if I have to!" His normal bravado and complacent attitude that one would expect with such a comment was gone, and he seemed almost… angry. At what, no one knew. Presumably the parasite, but… it couldn't be said for sure.

Still, Larry decided to take that route as it was the most plausible explanation. "It's not about Fuego. If it wishes to cause chaos, that's its instinct." He stared intently at Junior. "It's about you. Getting you home so you don't have to suffer through this and risk becoming a mutant. It's about making sure you're safe. And this is everything BUT that. We can get you to safety in this time, at least, far away from all of this chaos, and you can live comfortably without having to worry about it."

He was catering to his selfish tendencies, and it was so tempting to agree. Make the others do the work for him, but...

No. I can't. Not after what I realized.

With a firm shake of his head, Junior stood his ground. "I don't care. I wanna help. They'll listen to me... I hope."

"I..." Though Larry didn't want to admit it, the thought of using Junior to try and collect the others had crossed his mind as well. He simply hadn't voiced it because of the fact that it would be unfair to the youngest. But if Junior got home, it would prevent Bowser from leaving, the family from splitting up, and Fuego would've been unable to harm them, especially if Junior knew about the possibility beforehand.

But there was a catch. There was always a catch, and evidently the youngest hadn't realized that yet.

…Good. Then he won't have reservations and we should be able to at least get him to the machine... even if only one or two of them agree to it. If we can get a bit more muscle on our side, we'd just have to get him into the machine, safely and free from harm, and take the chance.

So long as he gets in, it doesn't matter if we get out.

While he mused to himself, Junior had activated his scarf and pin and stood disguised as a perfectly innocent green Koopa Troopa with a blue scarf.

"I'll be fine, promise. I just need to know where to go."

A sigh escaped the lips of the leader. Junior was just like their father - pigheaded, stubborn, and full of pride. Once he got an idea in his head, there was no backing down.

"I... suppose that, if you're completely determined to do this, the first sibling you could try would be Roy... he's got the most firepower, and that would be very useful to getting you inside the castle." Larry turned his chair so that it was facing his monitors, and gestured to the screens. A map appeared of a nearby city. "He can be found in New Koop City, under the alias of Roy Rumble. He should be fairly simple to find, but I don't know how easy it'll be to talk to him." Blue eyes flashed with hidden pain as he struggled to push the memories away. "I'll contact some of my team so that they'll have a spare room for you. Do not, under any circumstances, lose that disguise. Ishmael and Jarrod will lead you out of the village via underground tunnels that we engineered ourselves."

Jarrod lit up at the mention of them. "We designed 'em inside huge water pipes so if Fuego's roots try to break 'em they get a wet, soggy surprise!"

"But once you hit the city, you're on your own until my team reaches you. I can't risk the two of them getting caught in such a populated place. While you're gone, I'll attempt to locate more of our siblings. I know Lemmy's general whereabouts, but the others will take a good amount of time to pinpoint." Larry reached into a drawer and pulled out a small pendant, which he passed to Junior. "Keep this on you at all times, as well. It's a small communicator that you can use to reach me at any time, should you need to. Use it cautiously."

While Junior affixed it to his scarf, he spoke up, trying to lighten the mood a little bit. "It probably sounds bad, but… at least I'll get to know my new relative!" Ishmael glanced over at Junior and nodded as the boy tried to smile.

Jarrod shot a wide, encouraging grin at his teammates. "Man you're gonna have the best time, little bro! I've got ALL the best tunnel travel tunes."

That comment sparked a bit of curiosity in the youngest Koopaling. "I wonder what future music sounds like…"

"Oh yeah you've only got retro on the brain. Just WAIT until you hear these beats!" He pointed a thumb at himself proudly. "Before you go back I'mma burn you up a KILLER playlist."

"Okay." With a determined nod and a deep breath, Junior tightened his grip on his paint brush. "Let's do this then!"

Now, with a plan in mind, things are starting to look up!

Next time, the journey begins...

^^ Thanks for reading!