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Chapter Thirty-Five
Much to her own consternation, Peach never got that chance to act on her fleeting desires again; the scalpel that had been there and available had been taken back to the infirmary wing. All that was left were the creams and ointments and salves and bandages. Nothing she could work with. The princess lamented not taking action when she had the chance; it may have cost her many a night's rest, but the menace that was the Dark King might have been rid of the world.
That's if I wouldn't have lost my nerve, if I would've done it right, she knew.
Since the opportunity had passed, Peach let it go and vowed to be more vigilant in terms of seeking out a new chance to slight the king, should the moment present itself. In the meantime, she knew just what to do with the information she'd garnered; she had to get down to the kitchen and speak with that servant girl. But how? As it was, she hardly left the king's side. He had her cooped up in the bedroom with her as if she were on punishment or something. On the rare occasions that he did leave her alone, he wasn't gone long enough and made sure to leave guards in his place. She had virtually no privacy whatsoever. Right now, for instance, she was sitting at the edge of the bed with her captor reclined on some pillows a few feet away near the headboard.
Bowser sat up, without the aid he needed but would never ask for. The king scowled and struggled to stand. It was the second day of his rehabilitation and already he was hating this. If it were up to him, he'd have already gone back to finish that plumber by now. But even he knew that's be counterproductive.
I also know there's no way in hell the smiths can produce that many helmets before the week is out, he mused with a smirk, but a bit of pressure never killed anybody. Not really.
Suddenly he felt a sharp ache in his stomach. It was early in the morning and he'd still not had his morning meal. It wasn't that the staff were late, it was just that he was hungry and impatient.
"Where are you going?" Peach asked.
"Kitchens," He replied.
Watching him make his way over to the door was a sight to see. Each step clearly pained him, though he kept a mostly blank, mildly agitated look on his face. Peach was a little astonished that her fiance had done this to another person, but she was mostly proud. Proud to see that he had what it took to combat even his worst of foes. That pride bolstered her to make Mario proud of her, too. She didn't want to sit here idly, waiting for fate to do the work for her. She'd make a way for herself. Boldly, she stood and went over to him. She slipped her hand in the crook of his arm and stepped in front of him.
"Wait," she told him, "Let me!" She blurted.
He stopped, then looked down at her warily, "Let you what?"
Believable, Peach chanted to herself, make it believable; he's not going to trust that I want to do him any favors out of the blue, so I need a valid excuse.
One soon came to her.
"Your uh, morning meal," She told him, "It's just that, I've been in this room so long and I uh, wouldn't mind getting the food for you because, um, I need to fetch my own as well."
Bowser cocked a brow and drawled in bemusement, "I don't know, Peaches. I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to drop something in my drink after what I did to your pitiful kingdom."
Peach said, "I won't poison you, Koopa."
"What'd I say about calling me that?" He grinned, "If you really want to get out of here, go ahead. I'll have the guards escort you."
No! Peach thought frantically. She pushed her hands flat against his chest when he tried to walk out the door and fetch the guards. Again, he stopped and regarded her amusedly.
"What is it?" He smirked down at her.
She said, "Please don't send the guards."
"Why not?" He asked her with some more of that wariness.
"Because," She stammered, "they um, make me so nervous. Yes. They're quite formidable."
I've got to work on this; I can't turn into a stuttering mess every time he looks at me all under-eyed.
Bowser, though, believed her claims and remarked, "They're no more formidable than my heir."
He took her hands off his chest and used them to cup either side of his face. He then looked down at her solemnly.
"Since you're going right to the kitchens," Bowser spoke, "I suppose I can humor you. But the only one you need fear, my Queen, is me."
The kitchen got its own brand of surprise when the newly-crowned Queen of the Koopas herself decided to drop by. She'd caused the entire staff to take an enormous gasp of surprise; it wasn't often a royal stepped through and when they did, bad things happened; the last raid was proof of that. So as Daisy was finishing up some dishes, having already made the steak, she noticed the sudden atmosphere of discontent. Someone else had been delegated to bring the king his meals, so that begged the following question:
Why was it still there?
"Rose, dear, come here." Mistress called, then added, "And bring the king's morning meal."
Oh no, Daisy thought in distress, don't tell me I have to go near him again.
She carried the plate in one hand and the goblet of wine in the other. At the double doors was Peach, a long metal tray in front of her on the counter. There was her oatmeal, the raisins fashioned into a toadstool as usual, so Daisy supposed she should put the steak and wine on that tray as well. After she did so, she glanced up at Peach.
"I bring you terrible news," The princess whispered urgently, "I hate to speak of it here, but this is the only time I've been out without my guards."
Daisy nodded quickly and peeked her head over her shoulders. For once, the magicians weren't around. Daisy had a feeling that wouldn't last long so she silently implored the princess to continue.
In a hushed voice, Peach said, "Koopa's sending two scores of troops to the Mushroom Kingdom without him. He's having his blacksmiths produce these special helmets for them to wear; I don't understand why this is important, but I felt I should add that."
Daisy frowned, helmets? For what? Why would those nearly-indestructible beasts need helmets?
Peach also said, "And there's something else I think you should know; the king, he's sent his magicians away to Sarasaland to investigate your background."
So that's why I haven't seen them around, Daisy mused.
"They're due back sometime today, in which case they'll continue to pry for information about you. Be careful, alright? I'd hate to see something happen to you," The princess stated.
Yeah, me too, Daisy thought dismally.
That had been two days ago. She no longer got word from Peach, although she saw her at every meal since then. Because the magicians weren't even being subtle about their overbearance, Daisy could do no more than use her eyes and facial expressions to vaguely ask of the princess if things had change. In response to these tacit inquiries, Peach would most often shake her head and give her this sad expression.
Thankfully, it was on this night two days later that Ludwig had shown up. She was in the habit of spending a bit of time alone in the kitchen after everyone had gone to bed, making sure to take extra long in sweeping the floor or doing the dishes. It was all just in case Ludwig decided to pop in. And tonight, he did.
"You're not dead yet."
That was his oh-so-affectionate greeting. Daisy had gotten used to his impromptu visits, so with her back to him at the sink, she merely rolled her eyes.
"Hello to you, too." She muttered, "Bowser's sending two scores of Koopas out to the Mushroom Kingdom in a few days."
"Very good," The young man praised, "Straight to the point; you're learning at last."
Daisy turned around and crossed her arms. "Gee, thanks. I have a question, though."
"When do you not?"
"Peach told me Bowser's equipping his Koopas with these special helmets; why do you think that is?"
"Well considering what happened at that last confrontation, I'm not surprised." Ludwig drawled.
Daisy asked, "What do you mean? What happened?"
"You haven't heard?" He sounded genuinely surprised.
She explained, "News doesn't circulate as fast now that the Magicians have cracked down on their surveillance."
He shrugged and told her, "Well, the plumber got smart and brought over some weapons from his world, some like these."
Ludwig took her hand, closed his fist over it, and then dropped some black, conjured metal object into her waiting palm. She blinked down at the strange item and tried to find a way to properly hold it. It felt foreign and heavy in her unskilled hands.
"What is this?" She asked.
Ludwig snapped and made the thing vanish in a puff of black and blue shimmering light. Daisy wiped her now-empty hands on her apron.
"That," he stated, "is called a gun. It's a small weapon that can do a ton of damage, especially at close range. Just look at what it did to the bastard."
"I haven't seen," She admitted.
He said, "Anyway, one shot from one of these in the right place will kill a Koopa. Mario knows this, and so does the bastard."
"That's why he's made them helmets," Daisy breathed in realization, then asked, "Do you think they'll work against these...guns?"
Ludwig stared at her. "Maybe. Maybe not. But why take the risk?"
"Huh?" The girl frowned.
"How are you, then?" Ludwig inquired, abruptly changing the subject.
Daisy tilted her head but answered, "I'm alright. For right now. But Bowser is having his magicians investigate me."
"I see." He noted, "Hold out for as long as you can."
"You say that as if they'll catch me."
"They might."
"What?"
"In the event that they do-"
"Hold on a minute-"
"Keep your mouth shut, no matter what."
"But Ludwig, can't we just-"
"And if they do make you talk-"
"Can't we just get Peach and-"
"Make sure you stick to the story we discussed."
"Ludwig, wait! You think I'm gonna' get caught?" Daisy panicked, "In that case, Luigi was right. We really need to get out of here and come up with a new plan."
"That's simply not possible," The young man told her callously.
Daisy glared at him, "Not possible? Or not convenient for you?"
"I'm thinking in the best interest of this operation," He assured her.
"Forget the mission," She hissed, "Do you know what'll happen to me if I get found out?"
"At the most, you'll be arrested."
"And would you let that happen?" She snapped.
He said, "It's not a matter of me letting that happen, it's a matter of how well you handle your own situation. Be careful and you won't get caught."
He then vanished.
Daisy never wanted to slap someone so hard in all her life, and that was saying something for her, who ran a shop back in the Mushroom Kingdom and often had to deal with less-than-pleasant customers. Not to mention her cousins. Again she thought of them, and if they were still safe. If she got caught, she'd not ever see them again, that was a guarantee.
I can't believe Ludwig, she frowned, it's like he's been blinded by seeing this mission through, no matter the cost.
She blinked.
Not that that's a bad thing, but still. He should take into account the purpose of an operation; how successful are you if your teammate perishes in the process? But...I guess if he gets Peach out of here, that still counts as a successful mission. Why hadn't this occurred to me sooner?
She knew what she was getting herself into when she agreed to the mission. She knew there was a chance she might not make it out of the palace. But now that the danger was upon her, she was losing her nerve.
As I predicted, the kids ended up running with me a few minutes before they all started to crash. It was okay, though, because I found an overturned tree trunk that covered a shallow grassy depression, and we hid in there the first night. Then, the next day Iggy told me his GPS ran on batteries and those batteries had died. Wendy suggested we use the batteries from the radio, but no, we couldn't do that; we'd lost the radio back when the plane caught fire and exploded. Even so, we couldn't go back there. That's where Bowser's guards were staked out. So for the remainder of that day and the next one as well, we'd been wandering through the enormous Black Forest.
I was ninety-nine percent sure we were lost as all hell.
Right now we were just sitting here, under the high noon sun that was obstructed by the thick treetops. None of us knew what to do from here on out. We were running low on food and water and morale. That's what traveling aimlessly through the woods with no confidence of where we were going did to us all. For all we knew, we could be going in giant circles or in the complete opposite direction to the palace. It was a disheartening reality, this turn of events.
"I'm hungry." Lemmy spoke quietly.
He was sitting on the ground like all the rest of us, tucked into my side with his stringy, multi-colored hair next to my ribs. The boy's green eyes tore at me, and though I hated to say it, I told him the truth.
"We ran out of food this morning."
"Oh." He murmured, "Okay then."
"So what do we do now?" Larry asked.
"I don't know about me," I answered, "But you guys are going home."
"Huh?" Wendy asked, dropping her knees from her chest.
"That's right," I said, "As soon as you guys build your strength up, you're teleporting back to the bunker."
"But Weegie," Larry argued, "how are we gonna' build up our strength without food?"
"And we've been walking for hours!"
"And I'm hot!"
"And I gotta' go pee!"
"Then go ahead, Bigmouth!"
"Yeah, nobody's stoppin' ya, yo."
"Ew, you guys are so gross!"
"You do the same thing, Miss Priss!"
"Yeah, but I don't go announcing it to the world!"
Just when I was about to break things up for the sake of my growing headache, Iggy called out to us.
"Hey, you guys!" He hissed in a whisper, "Come check this out! But you gotta' be quiet."
"Why?"
"Yeah, why?"
"You're not the boss of me!"
I sighed, "Be quiet, everybody. He wouldn't be saying it for no reason."
That silenced the bunch. I knew it was because of their hunger and their discomfort in the heat and their restlessness, that was why they were arguing at every turn.
With the children behind me and Lemmy's hand in mine, I strode over to where Iggy was. He must have wandered off alone. He tended to do that when his siblings started arguing. A few feet away, he was on his knees, peering through a thick bush of vegetation. The rest of us joined him in a similar stance.
"What is it?"
"I can't see?"
"What are we 'sposed to be looking at?"
"Hey, be quiet."
"You be quiet."
"Enough of that," I whispered, "If you can't keep silent, go back to where our stuff is."
"I see it!" Lemmy cried, then clapped a hand over his mouth.
The rest of us saw it, too. It was about a dozen or more Koopas. They were gathered in the clearing about ten or fifteen feet away and by some great miracle, they obviously hadn't heard or bothered themselves about the kids' noise. They all stood in front of a huddled mass of white. I squinted my eyes and tried to get a better look.
Wendy suddenly pulled back with a soft gasp. Her clear eyes widened and her pale pink lips parted in surprise.
"Ludwig."
And that was all it took to stir her brothers into a panic. They scrambled away from the bush and hurried back to where we'd camped out. Their haste was in vain, for their eldest brother was already there. Their packs, however, were gone.
"What happened to all our stuff?" Larry wondered.
"Back at the bunker, where you all should be," Ludwig replied curtly.
Now that the kids knew they were caught, they all seemed subdued. Morton was speechless for once, tough-guy Roy had his head down, Larry quieted and stood next to an even quieter Iggy while Lemmy hid behind my leg. I stared at the calm young man silently.
He was mad, I knew that much, but he hid it so well behind those cold, passive green eyes and those crossed arms. He was alone, and that worried me.
"Where's Daisy?" I asked.
He glared at me and asked, "Is that all you care about?"
"What are you talking about?" I frowned.
Ludwig asked harshly, "What's the matter? Did you miss you girlfriend so much you had to exploit my brothers and sister?"
"No?" I replied uncertainly.
What was he talking about? Exploit? These brothers and sisters of his had basically kidnapped me in my sleep; how was that my fault?
"This," Ludwig continued brusquely, gesturing with his arms at the expanse of wood.
"This is why I didn't want anyone, especially you, knowing about their powers."
"You think I took advantage of them?" I dead-panned.
"Clearly," Ludwig remarked impatiently.
It was Wendy who spoke next, saying "Well you're wrong."
"What?" Her brother rounded on her.
She admitted, "We tricked Luigi into leaving the bunker."
"Really?" Ludwig asked flatly, "And I'm supposed to believe a bunch of kids tricked a grown man?"
"We teleported him," Larry stated.
"To the Jungle," Iggy added.
Ludwig stared at me real hard. He looked over his siblings critically and then back to me.
"I see." Was all he said.
Wendy felt the need to also say, "Don't be mad at him, Ludwig. It was my idea. Luigi didn't want us to leave in the first place and after we got here, he kept trying to send us back. "
"We all wanted to help, though." Lemmy spoke. "We wanted to save Weegie's friend."
"So we teleported him with us to the Jungle with my inventions," Iggy then stated, "And we headed for the Badlands."
"But then we got shot down, yo."
"Right out of the sky! A horrible crash it was! The fire burned up the plane wing and then we had to teleport away at the last second!"
"And then we had to run away from the people who was chasing us!"
"Then the Directions-Giver ran out of batteries and-"
Ludwig raised a hand and put an end to his siblings' outbursts. He beckoned them near and gazed at them all, pacing back and forth. I knew that they were in trouble and I sort of felt bad for them. At least they had the decency to own up to what they'd done.
Maybe they're more mature than I thought.
"You're lucky." Ludwig stated, stopping in his pacing. "All of you are. Lucky that I'm not the type of older brother who beats the shit out of his siblings for doing something so damn stupid."
"But-"
"Quiet!" He demanded. "This was a foolish idea, and all of you are to blame. But like I said, you're all so, so very lucky; I'm so caught up in this mission I don't have time to deal with you right now."
"So what are you gonna' do, then?" Wendy was brave enough to ask.
Ludwig leveled her with a look that had her glancing away. For all her rebelliousness and spunk, she was still humbled before her older brother.
"This is what I'm gonna' do," He spoke, "I'm sending you back home and this time..."
He settled a hard, meaningful glance over all his familial charges before finishing.
"This time you better stay there. Understand?"
It wasn't a real question but the children replied anyway with a chorus of 'yes's and 'whatever's. Lemmy, however, had one more thing to ask.
"But Lu," He chimed, "What about those scary people over there?"
"What?" The young man asked shortly.
Larry answered helpfully, "He's talking about the Koopas over there."
"Ah." Ludwig nodded, "Bowser Junior and his squad."
"Junior?" I parroted.
Ludwig gazed at me and said, "The bastard gave his son a starting army. He must have sent the boy and his little squad out here to capture you all."
"Then we gotta' attack them first, yo!" Roy declared, pumping his fist in the air.
"Yeah!" Morton agreed.
"But how?"
Iggy suggested, "We could set one of my bombs off in their camp."
"No," Wendy said, but to my surprise she added, "That would cause too much attention. We need to do something that won't attract more guards."
"We could fight them off." Larry put in.
Iggy said, "If they start losing, they might call in for back-up."
I cut in with, "They don't even know we're here, do we really need to do anything?"
Resounding shouts in the affirmative ensued, much to my dismay.
"No." Ludwig interjected tersely, "You've all done enough, don't you think?"
No.
No, they did not think so, and they let him know. It would seem they were quickly getting over their fear of him in light of this new, exciting situation. I sighed.
"Ludwig is right," I told them, "You all have helped a lot, so thank you. But it's time you listen to your brother and get out of here."
More protests followed.
"Hello."
"Hi."
All our heads swiveled over to where Lemmy had spoken to someone around his age. Both boys had smiled upon greeting each other and now the younger of the two caught sight of me.
"Lu!" Junior exclaimed, a wide grin growing on his face.
The boy had not changed since I'd last seen him, in his navy silk pants, plain white t-shirt, and sleeveless navy vest. He lost the crown out of his top-knot as he fled towards me. The boy was real excited to see me again; he jumped from the ground right in my arms and nearly knocked me off-balance.
"Lu, how come you are here with all these people?" The boy asked me with his arms round my neck.
"Weegie, you know him?" Lemmy asked with...was that jealousy in his tone?
Wendy tilted her head and said, "He's so small."
"This little runt is the big bad king's son?" Roy chuckled.
Junior acted around them the same way he acted when he first met Daisy; shy. He blinked and shut his mouth in the face of all these strangers.
"Where's his squad?" Ludwig asked.
I had to ask the boy the same question because right now he'd only speak to me. He extended his finger to where we'd been spying on the Koopas earlier.
"I left them over there!" He told me.
Ludwig stood staring at the child for several seconds that soon turned into many minutes. Junior kept his arms tight around me and stared right back. I guess with someone like Bowser as his dad, he was used to being scrutinized.
Finally Ludwig said, "This is what we're going to do."
He conjured a quill and parchment from thin air and scribbled something down onto it, then handed it to me.
"First off, I want you to take you take this note and take that boy back to his squad. Convince him to give this to the creatures and have him send them on their way, straight to the king."
I took the paper and glanced over it; it was a ransom note. In befuddlement I stared back up at Ludwig.
"Just trust me on this," He said, "When they've gone, bring the kid back here. He's going back to the bunker with these little monsters."
Ludwig turned to said little monsters and said, "You wanna help? Here's how. Stay at the bunker and make sure the kid doesn't leave. Can I count on you all not to screw that up?"
The kids nodded.
This seemed like a decent plan of action. Take Junior for ransom and hide him away where no one could find him? The only thing that worried me was Bowser. Junior was his only son and heir, his pride and joy, his protege and the future ruler of the Badlands; he would not be taking the news of his disappearance well. But for now it was a plan that would distract the king from Peach and Daisy, who were on the inside. As long as the boy would be safe and away from harm, I saw no problem going through with it.
I pocketed the note and shifted Junior to my other hip before striding towards where his team was said to be. There they were, I saw as I swept the brush of vegetation aside and stepped into the clearing. They seemed conflicted; here I was, this stranger in a land where strangers=enemies, and I could tell they wanted to have at me as was their nature. But because the prince was in my arms, they all just stood there.
"Okay," I told Junior, swallowing my apprehension in the sight of these fearsome creatures.
"What's happening?" He asked me curiously.
I lowered him until his small, bare feet hit the grass, then I crouched down to his height.
"Now listen, Junior," I spoke gently while glancing over at the Koopas. "I need you to give this to your uh, squad and send them back to their father."
"What is this?" Junior asked when he had the paper in his hands.
I told him, "It's a letter."
"For my Daddy?" He guessed.
"Exactly," I told him. "It's a letter for your daddy and I need you to make sure they give it to him."
"Alright!" He chirped, then moved away.
I grabbed at him and added, "But you can't go with them."
He was confused. "How come?"
"Because you uh," I fumbled, "You're going on a trip."
"A trip?" He repeated, "To where?"
"To a fun place." I said.
"Is it far away?" He asked.
"Not too far," I answered, though I really had no clue.
"Are you coming with me?" He asked eagerly.
I reluctantly admitted, "No. I'm sorry."
His face fell into the most devastated expression for a five-year old. He was awfully melodramatic.
"But don't worry," I said, "You'll have plenty of boys your age to play with."
"Those boys over there?" He spoke hesitantly, "I don't think I like them."
"You will." I promised. "Now, go ahead and give your squad the letter."
"Alright." He agreed.
The boy walked over to his squad and they all stood at attention. He waved his arms in a downward motion and they all kneeled so that they were closer to his height. Then he began to speak.
"Take this letter to my daddy," He ordered in his babyish voice, full of solemnity.
"Don't tell him this," He stated, "But I have to go on a trip. I will come back and see him, so tell him don't miss me too bad. Make sure you go straight to Daddy as fast as you can, kay? I mean, Unner'stand?"
After some reservations, the Koopas did the unthinkable and took the letter, then marched off in rows of three by five. It was almost laughable, really. The only thing keeping the sight of a little child having such power over warriors several times his size was the sobering fact that this was a parallel of the Dark King's sort of power, an example of the unwavering loyalty his troops had towards him.
Junior came back to me and took my hand. I led him back to where Ludwig was waiting and gave the boy a nudge in the kids' direction.
"Go on," I told him.
He glanced up nervously at me and I stroked his hair back. Lemmy, who'd caught on to the boy's tentativeness, came over and offered his hand. Without a word, Junior took it and the two of them stepped behind Ludwig.
The enforcer asked me, "Did he do it?"
"Yeah."
"Excellent." He remarked. "Come on."
I shook my head, "No."
"What?"
"I'm not going back." I told him, "I can't."
Daisy needs me, I can just feel it. And those nightmares I've been having are like an omen; I just know she's in some kind of trouble.
"It's okay, Ludwig." Wendy spoke up, "Me and Roy, we'll keep everybody in line."
Ludwig considered her words, as did I. I guess this trip had put things in perspective for them. They had a taste, a small lick from the spoon that stirred the boiling cauldron full or stress and danger and turmoil that was this war and I suppose it burned their mouths. All for the better. Ludwig seemed to think so, too, because he nodded.
"Fine. See that you do." He told her, then he said to me, "Stay here. I'll be back."
"What are we gonna' do about Daisy?" I asked, "And Peach?"
"Don't have a clue," He shrugged honestly, "But from now on, you'll have to stick with me."
A/N: And now Ludwig has saddled himself with Luigi and B-Jun is with the kids. What else is in store for this story? Who knows? Well, I know but leave your guesses anyway!
Also, tell me what you think so far and if you've found anything wrong or if you liked anything in particular. I'll have another update tomorrow but tomorrow I do have to start going to school again so forgive me in advance if updates aren't daily throughout the week.
There are big things coming; you'll soon see why this story is rated 'M', I'll say that much. As always, thanks for reading and I'll see you next chapter!
~DymondGold~