Chapter 20 Our Search is Fruitless

The search was underway. Ludwig and Roy hopped from one show to the next, keeping their eyes, ears, and whatever other body parts necessary peeled in order to find Iggy. They had originally surmised that locating their younger brother wouldn't be the hardest task in the world. Sure, it definitely wouldn't be the easiest either, as they wouldn't be able to identify him based on physical appearance alone. But still, they kept their hopes up high. Surely, they would locate Iggy lickity split. Surely, they would find him and be out of the television set within no time at all. Right?

Well, that's what they thought, anyway. Unfortunately, the search wasn't going so well. The two of them had already been through a total of fifty shows. Yes. Fifty. Those fifty shows had varying degrees of quality, but that was beside the point. They had searched each show from stem to stern, pilot to series finale, but still came up empty handed (or whatever the equivalent that the bodies they possessed had).

Now, Ludwig himself wasn't going to let this bring him down. If there was one thing he had learned in life, it's that sometimes you've got to keep your head and your hopes up. They would find Iggy. They might have to search one more show, or ten more, or even bring the total of shows they visited up to a whopping one hundred. He didn't know, but really, it didn't matter. There was nowhere that Iggy could hide that would be impossible for him and Roy to find.

Unfortunately, Roy didn't exactly share that sentiment. As they had just about got done combing through a spy thriller movie, Roy decided to vent his frustrations.

"Dude." Even his tone of voice sounded like it was going to collapse. "This is taking forever. Where the flying paragoombas is Iggy supposed to be?"

Ludwig let out a breath. "Don't worry. I'm sure we'll find him eventually." He put his hand up to the necklace, ready to say the incantation and open a portal right back up. Before he could do that, however, Roy let out a frustrated growl.

"This is freaking ridiculous!" He punched one of the brick buildings whose alley they were in. He shrieked and held his hand, which Ludwig noticed throbbed like it had its own heartbeat.

"You alright?" he asked.

"I'm perfect," Roy said through grit teeth, battling a round of tears as he did. After a minute of gripping his hand like it was about to fall off, Roy shook his head. "Wait no! I'm not perfect! Iggy's still nowhere to be seen, and we haven't even come across any shows I'd be willing to watch in my free time!"

Ludwig snickered. "I don't know; you seemed really interested in that X rated flic earlier."

Roy flashed him a glare. "Okay, first off, I watch movies like that for the plot.'

Ludwig snorted. "Riiiight."

Roy stood up straight and tall, making himself about level with Ludwig. "Second of all, fifty shows are about fifty one too many! We should have found Iggy by now."

Ludwig sighed and rubbed his temple. "We'll find him eventually. We just needed to keep looking."

"Right. Keep looking." Roy let go of his hand, which looked like it had finished with its painful pulsating. "I'm just about two more rom coms away from saying that we're on a wild goose chase."

Ludwig bit his lip. He was halfway tempted to agree with his brother. On some level, he was right; it seemed like they weren't making any progress. Statistically speaking, there were at least a million shows and movies that were possible locations for Iggy to be located at. It would take an eternity to search through all of them. Heck it was possible that they wouldn't even find Iggy at all, considering that they could be enter the show Iggy was in, but be in a location far far away from where he was located. Not the most thrilling or relaxing of prospects, that's for sure.

But still. Ludwig didn't want to give up. He WASN'T going to give up. Thanks to sharing a room and several experiences with his immediate younger brother Lemmy, Ludwig had learned that even when all seemed lost, a little drop of hope could be enough to bring you right back up and get you out of your predicament. And if there was one time where that philosophy applied, it was right now. They would find Iggy. They absolutely would.

"Shut up," he told his brother. He muttered the incantation and opened the portal. "Iggy will be found. We just have to keep looking."

"Sure. And I'll be accepted into Dragonbite University," Roy grumbled. Regardless of his reservations, he still jumped in the portal. Ludwig jumped in right in after him, uttering a prayer to Grambi that his positive outlook and searching wouldn't be in vain.

…

Ludwig took in a big breath as they entered the next show, the fifty-first one, to be exact. He examined his body; he looked to be an adult human man with blonde hair and height to last for days. He quickly found out that Roy was in a body that was almost entirely the opposite; short, brunette, pudgy, and definitely female.

"Wow," Roy said as he examined himself. "This is…what, the thirtieth time I've been a girl?" he smiled. "I think this means I'm getting the hang of being a woman."

Ludwig snorted. "Keep dreaming, buddy." He looked around. They stood in a grassy meadow, with crystal blue skies and grass that smelled of new beginnings. "Let's get searching."

Roy sighed in frustration. "Oh goody. More searching. Yippe."

"Shut up; this time we could be close."

Roy scoffed. "You said that last time. And the time before that." His shoulders slumped. "And the forty two times before that."

"That doesn't make it any less true," Ludwig replied. He grabbed hold of his brother's hand, practically dragging him through the meadow.

Soon enough, the scenery changed. What was once a meadow now looked like a bustling town. People from all walks of life walked down the street, so preoccupied in their own little worlds that they didn't pay th Koopalings any mind. Ludwig was fine with this; it meant no distractions. He and Roy searched throughout the town, keeping their eyes wide open. They didn't find Iggy.

However, there was something about this town. It stirred in Ludwig's memory, alerting him that something about this place was familiar. He didn't know exactly where he had seen it before, but he knew he had seen it before. More than likely he had seen this show before. The only question was…where?

"Hey Roy," Ludwig said, "does this place seem familiar to you?"

Roy paused before nodding. "Yeah. it does. I've definitely seen these buildings before. Like that bakery." He pointed across the street. "And that barbershop."

"Do you think you might know what show this is?" Ludwig asked.

Roy hesitated. "Darn it, I wasn't ready for the hard questions," he muttered.

"So I guess that's a no." Ludwig kept on pressing on forward.

After a while, they came across another meadow, this one with a pavilion resting right out in the sunshine-filled open. Two people stood at that pavilion, looking deep into each others' eyes like they were the only people in the world who mattered. Ludwig didn't pay them any mind as he and Roy walked past the pavilion.

"Oh Derek," the woman said. "I will love you forever and a day!"

The man chuckled. "I will love you as long as the stars shine, Bunny."

Ludwig froze, his heart skipping a beat. He swerved over to get another look at the man who had spoke.

"Roy," he said. "Did you hear that?"

Roy looked confused. "Hear what?"

Ludwig pointed to the man, who chuckled as he wrapped his arms around the woman called Bunny. "Now let's kiss to celebrate your sixteenth pregnancy."

Roy's eyes grew wide as the two lovers locked lips. "Holy crap! That man is Iggy!"