I actually had this chapter basically done when I posted the last one but forgot about it XD

XXXXXXXX

…one…

…two…

…three…

…four…

…fi-

"Uh… h-hi?" he finally managed to stammer out.

"Hi, Junior," came the reply.

Lemmy addressed him with such disinterest, as if he saw him every day. As if it was the most normal thing in the world. His casual tone and dismissive nod knocked the breath out of Junior, more than it would have if Lemmy had run and tackled him in a hug like he'd been expecting. He couldn't even think, his mind unable to process the fact that he'd been so easily brushed off. He desperately tried to think of something, anything, that he could say to break this strange disorientation. His mouth opened and closed a few times before he managed to regain his voice again.

"H-how are you?"

Junior grimaced to himself. Lame.

There was nothing but silence, as Lemmy turned back to… whatever it was he was doing. Just… standing there. Staring off into space. Slightly concerning, but… maybe he was too focused on his act to realize what as going on? Junior was unable to make out any indication of emotion. Not even the older's posture gave anything away. It honestly unsettled him, so much so that he found he couldn't even move. Lemmy was always so expressive, so full of life, so easy to read, even with his previously established decade on him, and now…

"I.. um… guess it's been a while… for you…?"

"Mm."

This was really starting to creep him out. Lemmy's lack of response in any way… this…

This wasn't his brother.

His brother… didn't act like this.

Lemmy wasn't answering, wasn't reacting, wasn't even looking at him. And it most certainly wasn't getting him anywhere.

Managing to shake his head and refocus, he concentrated on the task at hand.

"Look, I came to find you… we need your help."

No response, again. Maybe… maybe he was just in shock…? It WAS pretty unbelievable considering everything that had happened.

Junior continued to push forward. "I ended up using Ludwig's time machine and got sent to the future and we need everybody together again so that I can go back and fix everything!"

There. Simple, to the point, an easy-to-believe explanation. Lemmy would realize what was going on no problem and get his act together. Then they could get out of here and back to Larry and everything would be fine!

"…Sounds nice." Lemmy replied, as passive as before. Still keeping his back to him, still stoic and motionless and… unnerving.

The bright, cheery atmosphere of the circus tent was starting to become stifling. The vibrant colours seemed just a bit too harsh, the silence just a bit too loud. Junior felt his heart quietly pounding in his ears as a chill ran down his scales, as if he were being watched by something… someone… with ill intent. A quick glance around confirmed the two were still alone, but the feeling never dissipated. He subconsciously took a step closer to Lemmy, just in case.

"L-look, I-! W-we really need you to come with us! Don't you wanna see Larry again? And Ludwig, and Morton, a-and-! And Iggy!" Sure, Junior had no idea where the latter two were, but hey, that was Larry's job to find out. And if the possibility of Lemmy seeing his favourite brother wasn't going to motivate him, then he didn't know what would!

The older prince sighed, sounding almost fatigued. Disinterested. Bored. "I can't play today. I've got work to do."

"Lemmy what is wrong with you?" Junior snapped, desperately fighting the rising panic. This wasn't his brother, his brother didn't act like this, he didn't act all cold and distant and like he was upset, he didn't–

Realization struck and he gulped. "A-are you mad at me?"

"There's no one else here," Lemmy explained, finally turning to face him. His expression was as passive as his voice, blank and expectant and calm, but devoid of any feelings, his eyes the slightest bit hazy, not as vibrant as when he last saw him. His lazy eye seemed to be gone too, Junior noted idly.

Wait, was that supposed to be a yes, or–?

He didn't have time to think about it. He growled in frustration, shaking his head and stamping his foot. "Look, I didn't think you'd be mad, but there's no time for that! We gotta get back to Larry and find the others! Then I can get back home and stop that stupid parasite from ruining everything!"

"No, I'm not growing. It hasn't rained in years."

…

What?!

The young Dragon-Koopa was rendered speechless. It's like he wasn't even hearing him. And his reply didn't even make any sense!

"Lemmy, what are you talking about?! Did you get too many headbonks or something?!" More annoyed than concerned at this point, Junior stomped forward and attempted to scrabble up the stage, but it was too tall for his stubby little legs and arms to be able to efficiently climb. "Come… on! Stop being stupid and let's GO already!"

Lemmy's expression didn't shift as he watched Junior huff and puff until he managed to prop himself up over the lip of the stage. Junior glared at him the moment he had some semblance of a grip, mouth curled into what was most certainly a fierce snarl and definitely not a frustrated pout.

"Are you coming or what?!"

"It's time for you to go now," Lemmy stared at him calmly, a look of expectancy on his face.

"Lemmy I'm not just gonna leave! We really need your help!"

There was another stretch of silence, with Lemmy refusing to break eye contact. The two brothers maintained this staring contest for a few moments, before something changed in Lemmy's expression. It was just the slightest thing, so brief that if he hadn't been glaring so intently he would've missed it. A flash of panic…? Junior's brow furrowed and he blinked in confusion. "…Lemmy?"

"It's time for you to go now." Lemmy turned to walk off, a bit of distress on his face as he repeated himself, voice slightly more strained than before. It the first inkling of emotion he'd gotten from him.

"Lemmy, wait, just listen to me–"

Like a switch, the acrobat suddenly became so emotive it nearly gave the younger brother whiplash. He clutched at his head, shaking it back and forth as quickly as he could. "No no no, you're supposed to be gone now! You don't stay this long! Go away, go away, go away!" His breath was ragged, voice cracking with desperation. His eyes were shut tightly as he staggered about the stage. "Go! Leave! Get out! Get out! Go away, go away, go away! Get out! Go away already!"

He kept repeating it over and over, for him to leave, to just get out, to go away. Junior didn't know what scared- er… alarmed him more. The stoic, emotionless introduction, or this panicked spiel of hysteria and distress.

He couldn't find it in himself to do anything more than to sputter out: "B-But! Lemmy–!"

"Just GO AWAY!" he whirled on the smaller of the two and screeched, shouting almost directly into his face, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes and rage overwhelming his panic.

Who… who are you…?

Junior reflexively shrunk back, his mind screaming at him to reach out to Lemmy, reason with him, get him to stop, to calm down, to listen, come on just do something already! But before he could, something sounded behind him that made him freeze.

"Ah! What is–?!"

There was a gasp. Junior dropped from his perch at the edge of the stage and spun around, horrified, as Lemmy ran off. Someone had seen him, without his disguise – had they realized he wasn't where he was supposed to be?! Why hadn't Matthias done anything?!

And then it was his turn to gasp as his eyes landed on the newcomer. He'd expected a Goomba or a Circus Bro. or something, not…

Not this.

Staring at him, eyes wide and mouth agape behind her right hand, was another Dragon-Koopa.

XXXXXXXX

A different kind of tension filled the room, one that neither of them knew how to handle as they both cautiously sized the other up, taking in each other's appearances.

She was taller than he was – taller than Lemmy, too, actually – by about a head. She had medium-length, dark brown hair, and lighter brown eyes. Her head was light green, similar in colour to his own. There was a small, pink, heart-shaped necklace hanging around her neck, vibrantly standing out against her yellow scales. He noticed, as she allowed her hand to drop, that her white claws were rounded and dull. A quick glanced confirmed the claws on her left hand and her feet were in the same state, blunt and – in his opinion – effectively useless. She didn't have any fangs, either.

"You… are new circus?"

Jolted out of his random thoughts, he quickly refocused himself and shook his head. Her voice was soft-spoken, hesitant, timid, but with a hint of curiosity and kindness behind it, a tinge of a Russian accent peaking through.

"Uh… n-no, I… I, uh…" Jeez, what was he supposed to do? This wasn't part of the plan… She wasn't gonna rat him out, was she…?

She cautiously stepped forward, her hands coming up to fiddle with her necklace, her gaze cautious and somewhat shy. As she drew closer, he could barely see tiny spots of darker green on her cheeks, little freckles that streaked across her face, just above her muzzle. He'd never seen a Koopa with freckles before…

Startling a bit, he realized he had been staring and she was still waiting for an answer, so he cleared his throat and met her gaze. "I, uh… won the contest, so I'm… I get to see the acts and the show and… stuff."

"Ohhh…" She nodded in understanding. "Da, make sense. But…" She tilted her head, worry in her eyes. "You… here alone, and Papa upset. Why?"

Junior rubbed the back of his head. Where to start?

"I-I actually… wanted to talk to Lemmy about something," he began, "It's really important, but I think he's mad at me." His hand moved to the side of his head as he looked away. "I wasn't very nice to him last time I met him…"

"Hm…" She didn't seem suspicious of his words – if anything, she seemed quite concerned. "May I tell?"

"It'd… be better if I told him, I don't think you'd believe me if I explained it. He'd be more likely to listen to me. Plus, he's not exactly–" And that's when what she said before hit him like a ton of bricks, and his eyes shot to her once more. "W-wait, did you call Lemmy 'Papa'?!"

"Da?" She tilted her head, confused. "He is… he find me in woods when I was infant and became my Papa. Is problem?"

Immediately the tension dissipated from his shoulders and he lit up. This was perfect! It was just like with Ishmael! He could trust her, no problem!

With a grin at the newcomer, he jerked his thumb into his chest and puffed up proudly.

"I'm Lemmy's little brother! Bowser Jr.!"

Her eyes widened in surprise, and she silently mouthed his name.

After a few seconds of silence, her face fell, and Junior subconsciously gulped. Another reaction that wasn't the positive, happy family reunion one he'd been expecting.

She turned away a bit, rubbing her arm and looking rather despondent. From this angle, he could see that her shell was brown in colour, with a white encasing and light pink rings surrounding her shell spikes. Like her claws, her spikes were also rounded and dull.

"Papa speak of you much," she murmured, unable to look him in the eye, "He say you visit every day, and you say things that make Papa sad…"

"That's a lie!" Junior bristled at the implied accusation. "I just got here today! I didn't even do anything!"

"Da, agreed," she hummed softly, "If Papa speak true, then why we not see you? Still, strange… I ask circus, but no one tell me…"

"Ughhhh!" Junior groaned. This didn't make any sense, and it was really starting to get on his nerves. "This whole thing is stupid! It's making my head hurt!"

The female Dragon-Koopa tilted her head thoughtfully. "Wish to help, but cannot leave. Circus may know, should ask? Why hide if you are same as me?"

With a sigh, Junior pointed to his bandana. "I can use this to make a disguise, so nobody can tell what I really look like. No one knows I'm like you, so they probably wanna keep you and Lemmy safe, right?"

"Da, is sense."

Maybe Matthias would have an idea… they'd need to take a minute to talk about it, but if the bandit had the answer, he could probably also figure out a way to get Lemmy to snap out of… whatever it was he was going through…

"So… what's your name, anyway?"

She placed a hand on her chest, giving a smile filled with warmth. "I am Rhonda. I love tightrope, even if I still learn, and want to be trapeze!" She giggled. "Acrobat, like Papa!"

It was… so weird. Her personality was like nothing he'd ever really met before. She was… warm, soft, happy… timid yet kind… so unlike he and most of his siblings, but… so similar to Lemmy, in a way. Less boisterous and chaotic, for sure, but… it was kind of… nice, to be honest. He could see himself being friends with her when this was all over.

"I didn't expect there to be more of you."

Matthias' voice drifted out from next to one of the unused cannons, his gaze curious as he looked over at the female Dragon-Koopa.

Immediately Rhonda tensed up, frantically looking for a place to hide despite having already been seen, taking a few steps back.

"H-hey, it's okay!" Junior protested, reaching out a hand to her but pausing when she shrunk back, her gaze locked onto his claws. "Th-this is Matthias! He's with me – he already knew about Lemmy and he's one of the guys who helped me get here!"

Rhonda regarded them both fearfully, her accent getting stronger as she began to panic. "I-I-! I… nein… not supposed to…!"

"It's alright, young one," Matthias spoke calmly, slowly, holding up his hands to show he meant no harm and motioning for Junior to move closer to him. "I simply came to find Junior." He glanced over at the prince as he reached his side. "The circus folk were starting to ask about you. I've bought us a few minutes for now, but we can't dawdle in here for very long. What happened with Lemmy?"

"He was acting super weird and then freaked out and yelled at me to leave. I don't know if he even heard what I said." Junior jerked a thumb at Rhonda, making her flinch. "Rhonda here told me he talks about me visiting him all the time and that I say mean stuff to him."

Matthias frowned at that, folding his arms in thought. "That's not good…" he sighed, "Sounds like he's potentially experiencing hallucinations. You said this happens every day?"

"Da… what is?"

"It's like… a dream, but you're awake. You see things that aren't actually there." Matthias paused, thinking intently. "Sometimes it can happen because the brain isn't working properly and makes stuff up, and sometimes it can happen because of stress. There's more reasons behind why people experience them, but these two seem to be the most likely in Lemmy's case. His mind could creating these encounters, perhaps as a way to avoid the reality of the situation and as a coping mechanism for everything's he's been through."

"So…" Junior prompted, not wanting to dwell too much on that, "…what do we do? How do we convince him I'm real?"

"…I'm not sure we can, Junior. Lemmy seems to think that you're fake, probably because he's been dealing with a fake you for a long time now." Matthias sighed. "Let's head out for now. If we get the chance to meet with Lemmy again, we'll see what we can do. But if not…" The bandit gave Junior a solemn look. "We may have to leave him behind."

"What?! But–!"

"Lemmy may not be mentally fit to help us," came the firm reply, "Getting you back home is the fastest way to solve this problem, and there's no point in putting him in danger if he can't take care of himself."

"We don't know that! He's an acrobat, right? He's probably super good at balancing and dodging stuff! We could totally use him!"

"Junior." Matthias' hands came to settle on the young Prince's shoulders. "At the end of the day, we don't know. And it may not be safe to take that chance, especially if it can put someone at an unnecessary risk. We need to leave it for now, okay?"

Junior wanted to yell in protest, shout at him, object to everything he was being told. He just… he just needed to prove he was real! How hard could that be? He just… he just needed a bit more time-!

"I… I may try?"

The two looked up to Rhonda, who was timidly doing her best to maintain eye contact.

"I… perhaps not work, but… I say I meet you, Papa listen? If Papa listen, he help you, da?"

"…it's worth a shot, if you want to try."

"Wish to help," she told them determinedly, before gesturing to Junior, "You is family, da? I am circus, circus is family, and family help family. So I help, too!"

Junior nodded dumbly. If anyone could help Lemmy see the truth, maybe it was her. She… likely did know him better than he did, given the circumstances.

"Thank you, Rhonda. We're very grateful for your help." Matthias turned to Junior and nudged him towards the exit. "Now put on your disguise. If we don't hurry, the others will start getting suspicious."

XXXXXXXX

After a quick donning of the disguise and a hand-wavey explanation that Junior had gone in the wrong direction from the washrooms – he was questioned as to whether or not he'd made it in time and if the crew had to worry about a mess, much to the others' amusement and the prince's chagrin – the preparations for the show resumed. Thankfully, Junior was allowed to take a break – he was far too busy thinking about what had happened with Lemmy to focus on anything anyway.

It wasn't long before Dash gathered everyone around, the Circus Bro. cheerily commending them all for their hard work.

"We're gonna be heading into the main tent now that our acrobat is done with his practice! There's still lots to do before the big show tonight, so let's keep it moving, everyone!"

Junior cast Matthias a sidelong glance, frowning as the group made their way towards the entrance, some pulling along supplies and equipment. If they were heading into the tent, it'd be harder to sneak away due to the confined area and higher risk of getting seen. Sure, Rhonda said she would try, but how was he supposed to know what the answer was if he was stuck with everyone else? It's not like she could just waltz over to them and let them know, especially not if she was supposed to stay hidden. Why couldn't he just-

"Be patient," Matthias whispered softly, tone understanding and reassuring and not a hint of irritation evident, "Focus on the task at hand, and let the opportunity come to you."

Huffing in annoyance, but having no other choice, Junior reluctantly nodded and glanced over at Dash, who was approaching the pair.

"I hope you guys are excited for the big show! There's lots of stuff you can do to help out!" He gestured over to the various acts. "Feel free to pick whatever you want!"

"What's left to do?" Junior asked, trying not to sound too bored at the prospect of more chores.

"Well…" Dash began to tick off each task on his fingers. "The clowns need to set up all their equipment, make sure everything is ready, the circus balls need to be inflated, the safety gear needs to be inspected, the lights and sound system have to be tested, we have to make sure the trampolines aren't loose, not to mention the safety net–"

Words that felt like he'd heard them years ago came to the forefront of his mind, Iggy's angry face popping up into his head.

He didn't mean to forget.

"You had promised to assist him with the emergency net!"

It wasn't his fault.

"Someone had used the wrong rope for his trapeze act! Thus it broke and he fell!"

He didn't want to take the blame.

"Now that wouldn't have been a problem had someone assisted in preparing the safety net! As a result, he fractured his arm and nearly broke his neck!"

Lemmy tried to be understanding.

"These things happen. I'm sure you didn't mean to forget!"

But… it really was because of him, wasn't it?

"And I'm sure he didn't mean to let you fall and get you put into the hospital for a week."

If he'd just kept his promise.

"I never said I forgave you… And you never apologized for what you did anyway… so how could I?"

After everything… this was the least he could do.

"-and the jugglers need to make sure all their stuff is accounted for! So, little guy, what to you wanna do?"

"I wanna help out with the safety net," Junior blurted out, catching Dash by surprise.

"…wait, really?" The Circus Bro. blinked, glancing over at Matthias for a quick second. "…That's not exactly a fun one, y'know. Are you sure?"

The disguised prince nodded resolutely. "Yeah, I'm sure."

"…okay then, suit yourself. I'll let the safety crew know you're gonna be helping them out. Now, Matthias, we could really use you–"

The corner of Junior's mouth quirked wistfully as he followed the two adults over to where some Monty Moles were busily inspecting the safety net. If I can't get you to believe it's really me, at least let me make it up to you… big brother.

And as he got to work, doing the best he could to make sure the net was as secure and as safe as possible, he didn't notice movement from the right side of the tent, from an exit leading off into an unlit pathway, nor did he see a pair of eyes narrowing at him from the darkness.

XXXXXXXX

Rhonda having faint 'freckles' was kind of a new addition to her character design, and I thought it was an adorable idea ^^

I'm hoping to have the circus arc finished by the end of the month - there's one more chapter to go, and then it's on to the next leg of the journey. I think the reason why this has taken so long is because MUE is written in such an old format for me, which makes it hard for me to work on it. I'm hoping the circus arc will be the end of the 'old' style of storytelling simply because pretty much everything after this has been conceptualized but not actually written out beyond a few scenes/snippets.

See you all soon, hopefully!