Chapter 5 Aftershock

The journey home was one that Lemmy spent in a state of shock. Every time he blinked, he could see the magikoopa standing over his brother's transformed body. He could hear his breathing if he tuned out all other noises too. Each image, clear as crystal in his mind's eye, made him want to retreat into his shell and hide there for hours. Regardless, he still pressed on. The journey home was long and dragging since he was without Ludwig to fly him back home, but that fact only made the little Koopa's determination even stronger.

Please oh please oh please, he repeated in his head. There's gotta be something that Kamek or Bowser or anyone can do in order to save Ludwig.

When he finally got home, his feet ached like they had just been broken. His legs stayed stiff as boards, his breath shallow like a tidepool. His body screamed at him to take it easy and stop for some rest, but Lemmy ignored the pain. It was almost three in the afternoon. Soon, it would be sunset, meaning that locating Ludwig and the magikoopa who abducted him would be ever harder. He tightly gripped Ludwig's cloak in his fist, pushing himself through the door toward the throne room.

I can do this, he thought. I have to do this. I won't stop until my task is complete.

His eyelids felt like ten ton weights. Dehydration set in, leaving him with a dry mouth and a real desperation to drink something, anything. His stomach growled as well. Still, Lemmy ignored his physical needs. Somethings were just more important than physical needs.

He finally arrived at the throne room. Bowser sat on the throne, leaning against his palm as Larry and Iggy stood before him. They talked at a very loud, very quick pace, their words lost over the sound of the other's voice. Lemmy imagined that Larry had done something to screw up one of Iggy's inventions. Why else would the two of them be so heated and angry?

He approached the throne. As he did, he noticed Kamek, hiding in the shadows near the door. Lemmy debated whether he should tell Kamek first or Bowser first. Eventually, he settled on Kamek, mostly because the walking distance to get to him was much closer. He didn't ignore his exhaustion completely.

When he got over to Kamek, the magikoopa took immediate notice to Lemmy's physical state. "My God, Lemmy! You look like you're about to drop dead!"

That sentence inspired Larry and Iggy to stop arguing. They turned toward Lemmy, as did Bowser. After getting a good look at his little older brother, Iggy came over with a furrowed brow.

"Kamek's words are indeed factual," he said. He turned Lemmy toward him, examining him thoroughly. "You have noticeably exerted yourself beyond your physical limitations!"

Larry, instead of displaying sympathy, rolled his eyes. "There Iggy goes again, using sentences that are WAY too complicated. Why can't you just say 'you look exhausted' like a normal person?"

"Larry!" Bowser snapped. "Not now!" He got up off the throne, his fatherly concern visible in every aspect of his stance and expression. "Lemmy!" He picked up Lemmy, cradling him in his arms like he would a hatchling. "Are you okay, Buddy? What happened?"

Bowser's arms were so warm. Heat emanated off them, making them a far more effective source of comfort than any blanket ever could be. Lemmy's already heavy eyelids drooped, threatening to cast the Koopaling under a spell of a deep long sleep.

"I…I…" he tried to talk. He could feel the words he wanted to say on the tip of his tongue. Speaking them and actually letting them out, however proved to be a chore. "I…I…"

Bowser leaned in closer; he practically breathed into Lemmy's nostrils. "What's wrong, Lemmy?"

Lemmy cleared his throat. He fought off the enduring threat of sleepiness just long enough to say what he needed to say.

"Ludwig…needs our help…"

This alerted everyone present in the room. "What's wrong with Ludwig?!" Bowser exclaimed.

"What are his current whereabouts?" Iggy asked.

"Why isn't he here?" Larry said.

"Is he alright?" asked Kamek.

Lemmy couldn't even answer any of these questions, as he fell asleep right there in Bowser's arms.

…

Lemmy woke up in his bed. He guessed that he had been asleep for a long time, as the outside of his window displayed a nighttime scene. The moon shined bright, the stars twinkled, and the land itself looked gorgeous in the radiant silver light. Lemmy, however, didn't appreciate it. He didn't have time too. Once he was awake enough, the first thing he did was get up out of his bed.

When he got to the hallway, he made a beeline for Iggy's lab. He figured, since Iggy had been present in the throne room earlier, he more than likely would be there waiting for Lemmy to wake up. Sure enough, Iggy was in the lab. In fact, Bowser and Kamek were in the lab too. The only one not present was Larry, but Lemmy wasn't surprised by that at all. He walked down the lab stairs, his breathing becoming shaky and shallow again.

"Lemmy!" Bowser made his way over and put his hand on Lemmy's shoulder. "How you feeling?"

Iggy gasped. "How are you feeling! Just because this is a tense scenario does not excuse someone from the duty of using proper grammar!"

Bowser sent Iggy a glare. "Just because you're a genius doesn't excuse you from being a pain in the ass either." Iggy shrunk back from this statement, allowing Bowser to look back down at the second eldest. "So, how are you doing, Lemmy-loo?"

Lemmy let out a breath. "Doing better." He saw Iggy nearly faint at the improper sentence structure, so he cleared his throat and tried again. "I'm doing better." He paused. "Relatively speaking, of course."

Kamek approached. "You were in really bad shape when you came into the throne room." He adjusted his glasses. "What happened?"

Lemmy shook, the memory of that magikoopa teleporting away with his brother nearly enough to cause him to burst into tears.

"L…Ludwig was taken."

Bowser, Iggy, and Kamek all blinked. "What do you mean?" Bowser asked.

"Ludwig was taken!?" Kamek exclaimed.

Iggy approached. "By whom? Where was he taken to?"

Lemmy took in a breath, one meant to calm his nerves, before explaining. He explained how they had gone to Sparksville, how the magikoopa in a magenta robe lured him into the alleyway, how Ludwig had taken the hit for him and ultimately ended up getting turned into a cat and teleporting away with the magikoopa. That last fact caused nearly everyone's eyes to grow even wider than before. The only exception to this was Kamek, as he pressed his lips into a serious line.

"Unbelievable," he said. He shook his head. "It is looked down upon by the magikoopa community…VERY MUCH looked down upon, might I add…to use your spells to transform someone against their will." He took out his wand, frowning as his eyes remained locked on the glittering red gemstone. "It's borderline illegal, as a matter of fact." He gestured to Bowser. "The only reason it isn't is because a certain king doesn't think it is as harmful as it sounds."

Bowser looked angry. "Well, that changes as of right here, right now!" He gripped his hand into a fist, smoke escaped from the corners of his mouth. "Someone is willing to transform MY son…their PRINCE into a cat?" He shook his head. "Oh, when I find out who they are, they are in for a world of pain!"

Kamek patted Bowser on the arm. "We'll make sure that magikoopa is severely punished, I promise." He looked back at Lemmy. "You didn't happen to catch their name, did you?"

"No," Lemmy said with a shake of the head. "They never mentioned it."

Iggy snorted. "Of course they didn't; they might be willing to do something morally reprehensible, but they are statistically speaking unlikely to be an idiot." His face fell. "Unfortunately, that leaves us with very little to work with."

Lemmy sniffled. This was true. They were left without any leads, any real ways or methods of tracking down Ludwig. Oh, what if they never find him? What if he is lost to them forever?

"Wait a second," Iggy said. "On second thought, that may not entirely be true." He looked right at Lemmy. "You said that the magikoopa teleported away with Ludwig in his arms, right?"

Lemmy nodded. "Right."

Iggy's face broke out into a smile. "Well then, we have ourselves a lead."

Lemmy and Bowser blinked. "How so?" asked the Koopa King.

Kamek sported a smile not too dissimilar to Iggy's. "I think I see what Ignatius is getting at." He looked at Bowser. "When teleporting, the spell we magikoopa's use requires us to say the location to where we want to go."

Lemmy's heart skipped a beat. "Oh man, you're right!" He smiled. "I remember now; he said where he was taking Ludwig! He said 'teleportus Aida's house!'"

Iggy beamed. "That's perfect!" He made his way over to his computer. "Then that means, in order to track down Ludwig, we will have to look into exactly how many Aidas there are in the Koopa Kingdom." He typed something into his keyboard. "Okay…and we…are all…set." He pressed enter. When he did, a long and I mean LONG list of names popped up. The sight of this caused Iggy's face to visibly fall. "Well. Looks like we have our work cut out for us."

Kamek nodded. "Indeed." He looked serious. "Well, I suggest you start searching as soon as possible."

"Yeah!" Bowser said. "I want my son back, and I want him back now! No resting until Ludwig is found!"

For the first time since he saw Ludwig be taken away, Lemmy felt hopeful. He didn't care how long it would take; at least now they had a lead. They were going to get Ludwig back.