Fyras14: Fyras here! Man, new year already!? Damn! Why is this story not yet finished!? Argh!! Well, I can't say I'm not angry...I did wanna finish this story before the new year, but, ugh, here I am, updating when I'm suppose to be done with this story by now...well...it did turn up longer than what was originally expected(about 25 chapters only), but phew...it went past the 25 mark, and close already to thirty...it kinda feels like I'm counting birthdays here...

Anyway, nothing much for this chapter, but it concludes what happened in the last one, and also, Ludwig's...something...something...well, you have to read it to believe it, because if I told you now, it would just ruin it...well, this chapter was expected to be super...duper, super, long, but, alas, I decided to shorten it a bit, expect an Epilogue chapter, and well, something bad will happen there, too...as I probably would be posting this story's sequel sometime in August or later on, I still need to work on the storyline a bit, but that is until I decide if it would either be time travel or not...hmm...too hard.

Please read and reveiw or criticize, whichever comes first. Flames are not accepted, frowned upon, and possibly deleted.


Not to forgive is to be imprisoned by the past, by old grievances that do not permit life to proceed with new business. Not to forgive is to yield oneself to another's control... to be locked into a sequence of act and response, of outrage and revenge, tit for tat, escalating always. The present is endlessly overwhelmed and devoured by the past. Forgiveness frees the forgiver. It extracts the forgiver from someone else's nightmare.

- Lance Morrow

Chapter 29: A Last Performance

It was impossible; an illusion, a trick. No….no…NO!! This couldn't be happening…his power, his godhood, gone? It just couldn't be…could it? But, it was true. So true…and Ludwig could hardly believe it. His eyes just stayed glued on the fallen hammer, the hammerhead already releasing the many dark stars from within its belly, sending them to the heavens were they exploded into black dust. This…this can't be!! The koopa overlord mentally cried, his eyes still on the ruined hammer. NO!! NOO!!! NO!!!! Raising his head up, the koopa gave a maddening cry, as he spit flames into the sky, "NOOOOOO!!! THIS CANNOT BE!! NO! NO! NO!! MY POWER!! MY POWER!!" The two brothers only watched the mad beast, unable to move due to their weakening bodies, blinking with exhaustion and watching their backs just in case the crazy koopa before them decided to attack them once more. But, instead, Ludwig went on with his madness.

"IT JUST CANNOT BE!! MY CREATION! MY POWER! MY RULE!! GONE! GONE!! GOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNEEEE!!....YOU!!" Both brothers suddenly paled when the wild koopa turned his fiery eyes on Luigi, who still struggled to stand, grabbing his stomach in pain, the marks of the koopa's claws still clearly seen. The green plumber looked back at Ludwig's eyes, were he was met with pure murder intent. "I…I AM GONNA….GONNA….KILLLLLL YOUUUUUUU!!" Before any of the brothers could move, Ludwig struck Luigi hard in the side, sending him to the other side of the roof, where he crashed against another wall.

"LUIGI!!"

"YOOOOOOUUUUUU!! I WILL KILL YOUUUUUUUU!!" Ludwig ran towards the small green plumber, and before the latter had any chance to recover from the last attack, the koopa grabbed the man's small body with his claw, and then, send him crashing to the floor, claw still enveloping his small body.

"Ugh…"

"NO!! LUIGI!!"

"BWAHAHAHAHA!! YOU GONNA DIE, YOU GONNA DIE!!" Ludwig cried, repeating the action he had done before, and slamming Luigi hard against the concrete floor. "YOOUUU!! ARE!! DEAD!!!" Raising him up once again, Ludwig and Luigi shared a glance; the green plumber covered in dirt and blood, while the mad koopa's eyes were bloodshot and wild, both sharing the same message: death, one to receive it, the other to dispatch it.

I...lost…I never made it…Luigi thought, as he felt the claw tightening around his body. …I lost…and he wins…its always the same…second best…He closed his eyes, and waited for the blow, his light quickly turning into shadows. Daisy…Mario…Peach…please…forgive me…I couldn't win…goo-good-bye…

"YOU WILL DIE…YOU WILL DIE…" came the maddening voice of Ludwig, his breathe making it hard for Luigi himself to breath. "DYING ALONE…WHAT A PITY? IS IT NOT, MR. L?"

will I really die alone?

"LUIGI!! NOOOOOO!!!"

I lost…so…I will just die...? There's no light for my way…

"GOOD-BYE!! MR. L!!!!!"

"NO!!!!"

.crack….crack…crack….BOOM!! Drip…drip…crack….drip…

And before his final breath, it began to rain(1)…thunder bloomed in the skies above them, uncaring at the scene below them, as the lightning bolts crashed against each other in the clouds, catching the koopa overlord off-guard, before looking back at the defenseless plumber in his grasp.

Yes, he would pay. Oh, yes. He would pay with the only price acceptable; his life. And when that was done with, Ludwig would once more recreate his world, his power, and his life as the King of the Many Worlds, a king whose power was unmatched, unquestioned, undeniable. He would be the ruler of them all…and the only things that stood before his path were a pair of weak humans, and his atrocious little brother, but, today…today…they would pay. "IT WAS NICE KNOWING YOU…MR. L," he calmly whispered, before raising his hand higher up in the air, the blow he was about to deliver the final and definite blow. "YOU SHALL HAVE THE PREVILAGE OF DYING BY MY HAND!!" And then, he let his giant hand fall, fast. Everything seemed to go slower for Ludwig, but in his mind, everything was perfect. It was great. He was going to win, and savor victory, and then, crown himself the King of the Many Worlds, his supreme rule taking over all…his perfectionism would be spoken up in legends, he would be a legend, a myth, and he would be a god. So, he laughed, spitting lava spit all over the sky, crashing against the dark cloud, who still ignored its neighbors below. Yes…he would win…he would be king…he would be the universe…a god…a god…no one could beat him…no one. But then, a strange chorus of voices shook his laughter, and he had minutes to process what was happening down below, and why Luigi had yet to reach the floor.

"GOTCHA!!"

Holding up, far away from the floor, four koopas glared back at their elder brother, with one of them, finally prying Luigi off of the koopa overlord's large claw. "YOU!?"

"Ludwig!" Lemmy cried, giving the larger koopa a hard glare. "ENOUGH!!"

"YOU DARE STOP ME!?" asked the koopa overlord, showing his younger brother all his ugly teeth.

"You have come far enough as it is! Look around you!! You already lost!" Ludwig only laughed at his sibling's words, finding it to be a very funny joke.

"TO LOOK AROUND ME!? HAHAHAHAHA!! BUT…IT IS I, WHO HAVE WON, MY DEAR LEMMY!! I HAVE WON, AND YOU," he leaned closer so that his brother's could taste his horrid smell. "ARE NOTHING." Lemmy and the other Koopalings only stayed silent, before, the second oldest, spoke again, giving Ludwig a wicked grin.

"…But, it is over…already, isn't it, Ludwig?"

"OVER? HOW DARE YOU--" But, he had began to feel it…the changes, the strange changes that were taking over the koopa overlord's body, causing him to flinch and twitch suddenly. (2) Then, everything seemed to grow smaller and smaller…Ludwig's figure changed, his mind and body twitched with the movement, but, as he did, no one moved, not even his brothers, who were still glaring at the transforming koopa before them, unable to get their eyes off the traitorous one as he changed back to normal. Before long, the great Ludwig's monstrous form stood no more, but plain old Ludwig, who breathed in slowly, unable to take the pain of the transformation. He could feel all eyes on him, as he finally stood up.

"…this…this isn't over!" He cried, getting up. The koopa glared daggers at everyone, but neither one of them made a move. "I will return…!! I…I…I shall not be defeated, not by you, not by anyone!!" He turned to leave, only to be stopped by a larger body standing on his way, glaring at him with furious eyes.

"Hey there, big bro, wanna fly up, butterfly?" Before Ludwig had any chance to defend himself, or even attack, his face met with Roy's fist, sending the koopa down, before he had any chance to attack. "Too busy on your coronation speech, ya forgot about good old me? Ah…you shouldn't have,"(3) Ludwig met another punch from the large koopa, before he was lying face down on the floor, spitting a bit of blood and muttering curses.

"…Bastard…you…you shall pay for this!!" He felt someone grab hold of his tail, with Roy leaning close to his face so he could hear.

"You first…" And then, the pink shelled koopa send his brother spinning and spinning, finally letting go of the koopa, as he was sent flying out of the tower, far away from the koopa's home, far into the distance, where he was lost to his other siblings, who finally gave in a sigh of relief.

Luigi and Mario exchanged glances with each other, small smiles forming on their tired faces.

The nightmare was finally over.


Some things to point out!!

1-Remember the earlier chapter, well, let's just say that Luigi literally created a cloud and it stayed there until the very end, so that's why this scene, sorry if it doesn't make any sense...

2-remember that Ludwig said that the hammer was the source of all of the koopa's power, so naturally, he would run out of it sometime, and well, Lemmy began to notice the changes before the latter could say anything about it, it just took a while for it to lay off...

3-I suppose this sentence does the explaining, right? I thought it would be strange if I added, "And suddenly Roy turned back to normal", I just wanted to add a bit of of suspense to the scene...to say, I gotcha, to Ludwig.

And...tada! Finally, the end is approaching...sorry to end the chapter so corny and dumb like that, but, hey, it needed the right closure...and well, there it is...the epilogue would be extra long, explaining how things went on after this, and eventually what happened to both Ludwig and Wendy O., and their fates, and the fates of the other characters...

Hope you all enjoy this chapter, and leave a review!!