(Laughs maniacally)
I am truly evil! I have made you wait not one day, but TWO days to receive Chapter Seven!
Why?
I don't know.
You don't know.
Let's leave it at: "I felt like it."
Oh, and I don't own anything.
Anyway, here is Chapter Seven!
Darkness covered everything, and it was basically impossible to see. As quick as a gunshot, Morton, Ludwig and Roy were transported back to the castle grounds.
"Home sweet home," Ludwig sighed.
"You took the words right outta my mouth," Roy remarked happily.
"I'll catch up with you guys later," Morton shouted while running back into the castle. Although Morton was the only one who was making his way back into the castle, both Roy and Ludwig were even happier about getting back home than he was.
"So, what now?" Roy asked Ludwig as the sunny sky bloomed above them.
"I have to return to my laboratory," suggested the Koopa with the wacky blue hair. "I still need to install the hologram projector in the dungeons."
"Huh?" Roy seemed confused. "What hologram projector?"
"You forgot already?" Ludwig asked him impatiently. "Remember when I told you that we had to set up that hologram projector in the dungeons so that King Dad does not notice that you aren't there?" (Author's Note: Yay, I finally found an excuse to make an authors note! erm Excuse me. If you have no idea what I'm talking about when it comes to "the hologram projector", check back to Chapter Two. It shall explain everything… again.)
"Oh, that's right," Roy remembered, smacking himself mentally. "You'd better hurry up," Roy added.
"Wait here," Ludwig told him. He ran back into the huge, towering bastion and Roy stood outside, patiently (well, actually impatiently) waiting for him to return.
Meanwhile, in the castle…
"Morton, wait up!" Ludwig wheezed towards the would-be talk show host. They were inside the main entrance of the huge castle, so nobody had seen them come in yet.
"Yes, Ludwig? What would do you want, desire, covet, yearn for and crave?" Morton quizzed him.
"I would like it if you'd keep our little escapade secret," Ludwig advised him. "I vow, I'll listen to at least one of your world-renowned speeches this week if you keep the secret a secret."
"Seriously? Truly? Definitely? For sure? Sincerely? Earnestly? Honestly?" Morton blathered, thinking of every synonym for 'really' that he could possibly imagine.
"Yes!" Ludwig snapped with irritation. "Now skedaddle, and don't tell anyone!"
"You can count on me! One, two, three, four, five, six!" Morton shouted while running away.
Ludwig rolled his eyes, then, making like Larry, began to sneak up the stairs, trying to be unnoticed. He was about to enter his room, when he met a rather unpleasant surprise.
"Ludwig!" Iggy greeted happily. "You're finally back! I was getting worried about—"
"Shh!" Ludwig silenced. "I can't let anyone see me. I'm about to go on a top secret mission."
"That's what I thought," said a voice, and it wasn't Iggy's. It came from the ceiling. Ludwig and Iggy's heads bolted up, and saw none other than Cheatsy himself, Larry Koopa. He was in a black criminal-type suit and was sticking to the ceiling via suction cup.
"Larry!" Iggy shouted. "You're back! Did it go well?"
"You betcha," Larry replied while suction-cupping his way down towards the floor. "I finally managed to steal a box of treasure from those dim-witted Mushroomers."
"What happened?" replied Iggy while focusing his glasses excitedly.
"Well, I raided Peach's Castle's vault and managed to snatch away two treasure boxes. There were only two there. I guess the others must be kept in another top-secret area, but I'll find them yet. Either way, I should get back to my room to flower my plants—I mean—count my earnings. I'll meet up with you guys later." With that, Larry swept into the shadows, ninja-style.
"He's so cool," Iggy pointed out. "I wish I was more like him."
Ludwig, who was temporarily distracted by this interruption, continued talking.
"We have got to get to my room. I need to make sure Roy doesn't get spotted," Ludwig told him while beginning to walk into his room. Iggy, however, stay rooted to the spot.
"Aren't you coming?" Ludwig asked him.
"No," Iggy said icily. "I don't want to know anything about what's-his-name."
Ludwig crossed his arms.
"His name is Roy," Ludwig told him angrily. "And I'm sure you know that. And if you think I'm playing a game right now, then so be it."
Ludwig reentered his room. Iggy stood in deep thought for a long time. He was mad at Roy, yes, but he had never complained about it. It seemed that it had finally hit a nerve.
Iggy stood in silence for a few seconds. Then, he followed Ludwig into his room.
Ludwig was busy rummaging his desk when he saw Iggy come in.
"What?" Ludwig shot at him.
"We need to talk," Iggy answered. Ludwig stopped what he was doing.
"Have a seat," Ludwig said to him while pointing at his bed. Iggy sat down. "What would you like?"
"It's about Roy," Iggy told him. "Why is he always this way to me?"
Ludwig stood in silence for a few minutes.
"That, Iggy, I cannot answer. If I could, my best answer would be this: everyone in the world is different. We all have different personalities. Roy is a bully. Wendy is a snob. I'm a philosophical mastermind—" (Iggy sighed) "—and Lemmy is a clown. We're all different. We react differently to other people's actions. I have no idea why Roy acts this way, whether it be because he has a rough personality, because he hates your guts… or maybe even because he has had a traumatic experience," Ludwig explained lucidly. "I cannot quite explain this to you in the way that I would like to. I do hope you understood what I just said, as it may be a lot to absorb in one sitting."
"So what you're saying is," Iggy said unsurely, "that Roy may or may not be acting like this because of his personality?"
"You may say that," Ludwig agreed. "I suggest you ask him, if you really want to find out. Or, if you want, you may continue avoiding him and getting nowhere."
Iggy stood in thought for quite a while. Ludwig continued to search his cabinets until he finally managed to find his handy hologram projector. It looked a lot like a bigger version of a mechanical pencil sharpener; the only difference was that it had a big hole that ten pencils could fit in.
"Well?" Ludwig finally asked. "Are you coming or not?"
Iggy reflected on what had just happened, then nodded his head.
"Yes," he answered.
"All right then," Ludwig said, clutching his hologram projector and leaving the room. Iggy shortly followed.
Roy was just about sick of waiting. Finally, he saw two familiar siblings running over to him: Ludwig and Iggy.
"You're back," Roy pointed out. Then, he sneered at Iggy. "And so are you."
Iggy glared at him, but said nothing. Ludwig realized that he had to butt into the frowning contest before it started to get violent.
"Let's go make a hologram of you, Roy," Ludwig told him. "Dad may be going into the dungeons any moment now." He rushed off towards the dungeons.
Roy and Iggy glared fiercely at each other before following Ludwig into the murky chambers.
Ludwig entered through the hole that he had blasted when Roy had escaped from the dungeons, though it was hard for him, because he was heavier and taller than Roy. Roy managed to get in through the hole with only a bit of a strain, and Iggy easily slipped through it.
"Okay. Now, stand here, and I'll make an identical, holographic copy of you," Ludwig told him. He put Roy into position and took out his projector.
Ludwig pressed a tiny button on the bottom of the projector, and a shiny, blue light shot off from the hole in the projector and was fired at Roy. Iggy and Ludwig covered their eyes (though Roy didn't need to, thanks to his shades) because of the blinding light. Finally, the light died down, and they could reopen their eyes.
"Success," Ludwig said triumphantly. Roy looked to his right. A mirror image of him was standing next to him. It looked so realistic that Roy reached out and touched it; it was like touching a ghost; he felt absolutely nothing.
"Hey, watch it!" Roy's holographic clone shouted. "Don't even try to touch me, or I'll punch your lights out!"
"Excellent!" Ludwig cheered. "Nobody will tell the difference."
"What's going on?" a voice commanded; it came from the entrance to the dungeons. Ludwig, Roy and Iggy shot their heads to the entrance.
It was Bowser.
Uh-oh! Yet another cliffhanger!
Read and REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! I CAN'T STRESS IT ENOUGH!
Chapter Eight shall be brought to you sometime soon.
I shall return...
