Chapter 6 A Great King

Ludwig flew toward World 7. While the worries he had about finding Junior were on the forefront of his mind, he couldn't help but feel a slight sense of peace. He loved using his flying power. Using it always made him feel so….free. He was grateful that he was given an excuse to use it outside of a combat scenario.

Ludwig could see World 7 in the distance. World 7, or Sky Land as it was creatively called, was a place that Ludwig knew like the back of his hand. Seeing how he was the only member of the Koopalings who was one of the super powered koopas called specials, Bowser often made him patrol that area when they went on kidnapping missions. Ludwig absolutely adored World 7; sure, the air was a little thin at that altitude, but it was also very cool and clean. The paratroopas who populated Sky Land were also some of the nicest people that Ludwig had ever met.

Ludwig knew exactly where he was going to search first: the town of Moonview. It was on the border between World 7 and the Koopa Kingdom and was the most likely place for Junior to be. As Ludwig flew up to the town, he noticed that something was off. The place was eerily quiet. It was as if Moonview had turned into a ghost town.

"Yeesh. I know I didn't shower yesterday, but I don't smell bad enough to make everyone duck for cover," Ludwig said to himself. "Where on the Mushroom World is everybody?"

That was when Ludwig detected the sound of cheerful music. He followed the sound and found that the whole town had gathered for a fair. Ludwig racked his brain, trying to remember what exactly they were celebrating.

"Hey, look! It's Ludwig von Koopa!"

One male koopa paratroopa and a regular female koopa came up to the blue-haired special. That looked overjoyed to see him. The girl examined Ludwig from head to toe.

"Wow. I've never met any of the Koopalings before!" she gushed. "It sure is an honor to meet you, your highness."

Ludwig smiled.

"Well," he said with a chuckle. "I think I've found two new people to add to my fanclub."

"You have a fanclub?" asked the paratroopa.

"No, not to my knowledge." Ludwig thought about this. "Although, that would be a nice idea to officialize. I can only imagine how much money I would make off of merchandising alone."

The paratroopa and the koopa girl laughed. Then the koopa girl went over to a cotton candy stand and brought back a humongous glob of blue fluff.

"In celebration of Sky Land's Independence Day, I would like to give this to you," she said.

Ludwig gratefully thanked her and started eating the cotton candy. It wasn't a treat that he got to consume very often.

"We are having a fireworks display this evening," said the paratroopa. "Will you be staying for that?"

"I wish I could," Ludwig said with his mouth full of spun sugar, "but I have an important job that I need to take care of before I can even consider relaxing."

The paratroopa and the koopa girl nodded in understanding and blended back into the crowd. Ludwig then realized how difficult it was going to be to find Junior among these people, if he was even among the people. Ludwig flew above the crowd and started calling out Junior's name.

"Junior! Bowser Jr!"

Ludwig didn't know if the music had gotten louder or if it was the crowd, but his voice was lost in the sea of noise. Ludwig began to grow frustrated.

I'm going to be here all night, aren't I?

That was going to be a problem. There were a generous number of towns in World 7. And as Iggy had said, Junior could be anywhere. Ludwig needed to use his time wisely, otherwise something could happen to the young prince.

WIth this in mind, Ludwig started flying above the fair, scanning the crowd for the unmistakable appearance of Bowser Jr. He had just about come to the edge of the fair when he spotted a little koopa boy being picked on by two young sledge brothers. Ludwig decided that he needed to see what was going on, so he flew within earshot of the group.

"You are such a baby, Haddock," said one of the sledge brothers to the kid. "Why can't you go steal something?"

"Because stealing is wrong!" shouted the koopa boy.

"What does right and wrong have to do with this?" asked the other sledge. "You know what else I think is wrong? The fact that you are nothing but a penniless wimp he can't even recognize an opportunity when it comes up and bites him in the snout."

The koopa boy, apparently called Haddock, hung his head and started to cry.

'You know what?" asked the first sledge brother. "If you aren't going to steal something, then I guess we'll just have to beat you until you say yes."

Haddock looked absolutely horrified. The sledge brothers started to come up to him, looking menacing.

"HEY!"

The sledge brothers looked behind them and saw Ludwig seven feet off the ground. He was completely surrounded by blue flames.

"You leave that kid alone or you're going to answer to me!"

The sledge brothers ran away terrified. Ludwig flew down to Haddock.

"You alright?" he asked. Haddock nodded his head.

"Thank you," he said.

"Don't mention it," said Ludwig. He then held out the leftover cotton candy. "Here. Take it."

Haddock hesitated for just a minute before taking the cotton candy from Ludwig. He pulled little pieces of it off and started to chew on them.

"I can't believe that sledge brothers would feel the need to pick on a little kid," said Ludwig. "Where are your parents?"

"Don't have any," Haddock said. "They left me on the side of the road before I was born."

Ludwig felt a pang of empathy. He knew what it felt like to be abandoned by his parents.

"I used to live in an orphanage before it shut down," said Haddock. "People weren't giving us enough money."

Ludwig nodded in understanding.

"I believe I might be able to do something to fix that," he said. "I can talk to Bowser about donating some money to World 7's government."

Haddock smiled.

"Thank you, sir," he said. "You know, I think you're going to do a great job when you become king."

"Oh, I'm not going to be king."

"Why not? Aren't you Bowser's oldest son?"

Ludwig sighed.

"Yes and no," he said. "My siblings and I were adopted by Bowser, and only a biological child can inherit the throne."

"Oh," said Haddock. "That's a stupid law."

"It's not that bad," said Ludwig. "It does make sense."

Haddock nodded.

"I guess," he said. "But still, I wish that adopted children could become king. Because I can already tell, that you would be a great one."

Haddock walked away while munching on the cotton candy. Ludwig thought about what he said.

"A great king…"