Chapter 5 Ringtones

"Okay, everyone," Iggy said to his siblings once they were all outside. "We should start searching the Koopa Kingdom and the following areas. Junior could be anywhere, after all."

The Koopalings nodded. Bowser had called a state of emergency and had tasked all of the soldiers in the Koopa Troop with finding Junior. The Koopalings had offered to join the hunt as well. As Iggy gave his siblings instructions, they could not help but notice that fingerprints of worry plastered all over his face.

"Iggy," said Wendy, "are you alright?"

Iggy knew that there was no point in lying to the others. He shook his head rapidly.

"It pains me to report that I am not," he said. "My worries are on par with paranoia. If something happened to Junior, I do not foresee myself being able to recover."

Wendy went up and put her hand on Iggy's shoulder.

"Nothing is going to happen to Junior," she said. "You know that he is a tough little cookie."

"Oh, don't even talk about cookies in front of me," said Roy. "You know I get all drooly-mouthed when you do that."

Iggy grinned a little bit.

"I am grateful for your compassion, Wendy," he said. He let out a breath and pulled out something from the satchel he had strapped over his shoulder. "I have devised a method that we can put to use in order to stay in contact with one another."

The Koopalings looked at what Iggy had and their eyes grew wide. In his hands were seven cell phones. They were color coded so that they corresponded to the Koopalings' shells.

"Woah, you're giving us phones?" Larry asked in excitement. "I thought Bowser wouldn't allow us to have those!"

"I have conversed with our parental figure and he has allowed me to distribute them," said Iggy. He handed one cell phone to each sibling. "I constructed them myself, so I do not wish that you six do anything reckless."

Lemmy laughed.

"Don't you worry about that, Iggy," he said with a smile. "We can be very responsible when we choose to be."

Iggy was about to say something when Larry spoke up.

"Woah, you can customize ringtones!" he exclaimed. He laughed. "You know, I think that this would be the perfect ringtone for when Ludwig calls me."

Larry pressed a button and the iconic horror cord could be heard. Wendy, Lemmy, and Roy burst into laughter. Ludwig glared at his brother.

"Oh, is that the game we're playing now?" Ludwig asked with a raised eyebrow. He then started going through the ringtones on his phone. "You know, I have the perfect ringtone for you too, Larry."

Ludwig pressed a button and a yelling voice could be heard.

"THERE'S A LOSER ON THE LINE! PICK UP YOUR PHONE AND TALK TO THE LOSER!" Then the voice got quieter. "You should probably talk to them; they're kind of pathetic."

Wendy, Lemmy, and Roy's laughter grew louder. Larry looked astounded and angry.

"Oh, wow," said Lemmy. "That's awful."

Wendy looked through her ringtone selection and smiled.

"It is," she said. "But it isn't as awful as this."

Wendy then selected a ringtone, and a song to the tune of "Jingle Bells" started playing.

Annoying, annoying

Are you annoyed yet?

This song is your ringtone

And it is meant to annoy you!

Annoying, annoying

Are you annoyed yet?

If you don't pick up the phone

This song will go on loop.

Now a majority of the Koopalings burst into laughter. Even Morton gave a slight smile. Iggy, however, just stood there, looking horrified.

"Guys!" he said. "This is totally inappropriate! The more time we spend goofing around, the less time is dedicated to trying to locate Junior!"

The Koopalings' laughter instantly died. Morton came up to Iggy.

"Don't worry about it," he said. "They are just trying to make the best out of a bad situation."

"Yeah, Iggy," said Larry. "Honestly, you should consider lightening up."

Iggy sighed.

"My apologies," he said. "I just...I'm just a little on edge, you know?"

The Koopalings nodded in understanding. Paranoia came very easily to Iggy.

"It's okay Iggy," said Lemmy. "We understand."

Iggy smiled then looked authoritative.

"Alright," he said. "Larry and I will search the Koopa Kingdom. Lemmy, you get World 3. Wendy, you should take World 4. Roy and Morton, you get World 2 and World 6 respectively. And Ludwig, you search World 7. A majority of the troops already have World 5 and the Mushroom Kingdom covered. So, does anyone have any questions?"

Roy raised his hand.

"Yes, Roy?" Iggy asked.

"Uhhh….what does 'respectively' mean?"

Ludwig facepalmed and Morton shook his head. Iggy sighed.

"It means that you search World 2," Iggy said.

"Oh," said Roy. "Hey, isn't World 2 the desert?"

"Yes it is," Iggy replied. "You patrolled there before, remember?"

Roy's face light up with recollection. He nodded his head.

"Alright, if you find Junior or have any problems during the search, don't be afraid to call me or anyone else," said Iggy. "Do you comprehend what I am saying?"

The Koopalings all said yes in unison. Iggy smiled.

"Great," he said. "I wish all of you the best of fortune."

With that, the Koopalings headed off to their assigned worlds. Larry glanced at Iggy.

"So Iggy, where do we search first?" he asked.

"Well, the village of Stonebrim is only a mile's walk from here," said Iggy. "My suggestion is that we commence with our search in that area."

Larry nodded and the two headed off to the village.