A couple of hours passed, and as the sun shone, the temperature cooled slightly, making it (somewhat) easier for Wario and Larry to clear out some of the snow around Bowser's Castle. However, they hadn't made much progress. Times were getting quite desperate, as neither had brought much to eat, but they tried not to let the fact get to them.

Larry wasn't as strong as some as his siblings were, being the youngest of the Koopalings, but he tried his hardest anyway. He would use his fireball powers to melt some of the snow, which made it more pliable for shoveling. He'd often stick his claws in the snow, feeling around for anything solid that the shovel didn't catch. For warmth, he'd retract into his shell for minutes at a time, something Wario got really jealous at. By this point, Larry was hoping that, if anything, Bowser would call him back inside the castle. There, he could cool down, watch TV, and get back to thinking about snooping on his fellow Koopalings. Not that Larry had any way of reaching the king, but most Koopa kids don't think rationally. And if he had to explain Wario… well, he could just wave him off or something.

"Get ready now!" said Wario. "I'm aiming for the kill!"

Larry scrambled to make another ball and lobbed it at Wario's hand. "Oh, you picked the wrong Koopaling to mess with!" Wario's eyes widened when he realized his snowball had been knocked away by Larry's.

"Alright… you asked for it!" said Wario as he stumbled around, looking for clumps to snow to toss. He lunged to throw the ball, but ended up throwing it on the ground, only a few inches away from him.

Larry laughed in Wario's face. "Well, this is quite a way to get rid of all this stuff!" he cried as he tossed a bit of slush over the platform he and Wario were on. "But we can't waste time playing around! Come on..."

"How about we stop and get some food or something?" said Wario, as he dusted snow off his coat. "I'm going to freeze to death and so will you eventually!"

"Right..." said Larry, who was unsure how he was going to go about this. Most of the windows in Bowser's castle were guarded by glass panels that could only be opened inward, not outward.

Wario noticed Larry's weariness. "Come on! I gave you some of that king-size energy bar I was saving for myself!"

"I know, I know."

"Well, what are you afraid of? You know, I'd walk away right now if you hadn't enticed me with that cash offer."

Larry shrank and turned away from Wario. The Koopaling's mind was swimming in all sorts of thoughts. What to do, what to do! Wario pulled his coat tighter as he waited for the kid to make up his mind. The weather wasn't looking so hot, and he was itching to go inside the castle.

"Can we go inside already!?" said Wario.

Finally, Larry turned around. "I don't want Bowser to think I'm not working, but I suppose if you want… "

"Good!" said Wario. "I think my body's had it! Carry me!"

"What!? Carry you? My body's aching myself! Not to mention I gotta find a window..."

"I mean, you don't have to go yourself. You can just push me inside or whatever or-"

"No way, man! I can see right through you."

Wario chuckled. "You're smarter than I expected, kid. " Larry smiled as if he were validated in some way.

For the next couple of minutes, Larry argued with Wario over the best possible way to get inside Bowser's castle. They couldn't decide which direction they should go in, whether they would stay to catch their breath and then leave, etc. Eventually, they agreed on a plan they were both satisfied with. They would hike around to the nearest window near the section of the castle where they were located. Any kind of window would do. Wario would throw Larry's shell at the window, and they could squeeze their way into the castle.

The hike was much shorter than the pair thought it would be, yet they felt like they were climbing Mount Everest the whole way.

"Man, oh man, how long did that take?" said Larry.

Wario glanced at his watch. "About five minutes."

"That's strange." The Koopa kid attempted to climb the wall, to little success. "It felt like a really long time."

"You get used to ambling through this stuff after a while," said Wario. "This is the biggest snowfall I've seen yet."

"Really?" said Larry. "What was the second-biggest?"

Wario thought of telling a "your mom" joke, but remembered what had happened the last time he had made one to a Koopa. Instead, he figured he might as well be honest. "I think it was about twenty years back, or so. I was in Mushroom City at the time..."

Larry suddenly retracted into his shell to warm himself up. Wario was annoyed with the kid's behavior, but felt at ease when he popped back out again a few seconds later.

"I was at a soccer game in Mushroom City. When I got there, the snow was coming down thick. It was around 23 degrees Fahrenheit-"

"Fahrenheit?" said Larry. "I don't know what that is, but it seems awful low."

"I don't know what Fahrenheit is, either," said Wario. "Tell the truth, I could never make sense of the different weather systems. Anyway, it was about the same temperature as it is now. The snow was a few inches on the ground when I sat down on the bleachers. The teams come out, they start playing. Then, about a half-hour in they had to call off the game because the field was entirely covered in snow, and no one could find the ball."

"That sounds wild. I take it the players weren't ready for that kind of weather?"

"No, actually. A couple of them broke some limbs running around, trying to see the ball. It was funny." Wario blew his nose on the sleeve of his coat, to Larry's disgust. He continued his story, telling the Koopaling about the trouble he got himself into trying to leave the soccer game. Larry grew entranced, forgetting about the plan he and Wario had come up with. Perhaps the cold was making his mind numb, or Larry had grown to accept it. The Koopaling didn't even mind when snowflakes began to fall from the sky.

"Hey, Larry, come on!" said Wario as he waved his hand in front of the kid's face. "Snow's falling again."

Larry twitched as he struggled to cope with the conditions. The winter clothes he was wearing could only protect him for so long before he succumbed to the cold. He was looking pretty ragged as well, from all the running around he had to do.

Wario started to panic, mostly concerned for his safety. If the Koopaling were to die on him, chances are he would probably be blamed for it, even if he didn't actually do anything. After kicking up some snow in frustration, Wario quickly refocused himself and measured the distance from where he and Larry was to the window. It looked possible that he could make a super-jump and throw himself at the window, given he had enough of a start...if the snow wasn't so hard to run in, that is. Still, Wario had to think fast, or else he might regret coming around to Dark Land.

To be continued...