No Such Thing
Chapter 15 - Authority
So I ended up finishing the previous day before typing this, since I apparently have enough motivation to type the whole chapter in one day right after chapter 13 was posted. Really feels good to write again if I do say so myself.
Like I said before, this fic is still barely getting started. However, I believe that after this chapter, the adventure will officially start, so from that point there's going to be a lot to cover.
Enjoy your reading experience!
Curiosity got the better of siblings Morton and Larry as they were both standing right outside the double doors of the dining hall, attempting to hear as much as possible from the other side. At that point, nobody knew what to do with Bowser's minions, but the fact they everyone was still uncertain was beyond the two Koopalings.
Out of frustration, Morton heaved a heavy sigh and started pacing around shaking his head anxiously. Hearing him, Larry turned in response. "...?"
"We're not going to make it..." He started. "...We're not gonna make it."
"Morton-"
"Don't Morton me, Larry!" He stopped to glare. "We're in so much crap right now! We were dragged into this mess that we didn't even ask to be apart of. It's not fair! We're not that bad are we?"
"Well, we gotta do something!"
"Okay, what the heck are we gonna do, huh?" He put his hands up in the air. "Don't you get it? It's like the whole universe is gonna be at war thanks to King Dad! We were right all along! Friday the 13th is real and bad luck exists! Ludwig wouldn't listen, and now look what happened!"
"This is not the time to think about that right now!" Larry swiftly shook his head. "We need to figure out what we're gonna do because we all need to be on the same page, here! Even Mario and Princess Peach don't know what to do!"
"Well, I don't know what we're gonna do either!" Morton placed both hands on his chest. "We're helpless! Dad is gonna take out every world one-by-one! And what are we doing right now? Nothing! Nothing at all!"
"Okay, well it wouldn't kill just to wait a little more, will it?" Larry suggested. "They're still talking in there."
"But I'm already impatient here!" Morton held his hands up again. "What else can we do?"
"...Maybe we can just see what everybody else is doing and just walk around until something comes up." He thought out loud. "Hopefully that'll buy us some time. Let's see Iggy."
-/-
"What's up?"
When the two younger siblings of the royal family finally reunited with the person they were looking for, they found him leaning on a wall near Peach's room. Clearly he did not look happy at all.
"Everything, obviously." He answered. "I've been told that Peach was crying a little. Ludwig's losing it, Roy's losing it, and Lemmy won't stop talking about everything. I can't even say I blame him, either."
"...Wendy and Jr.?" Larry raised an eyebrow.
"...They haven't said anything in a while..." He sighed shaking his head. "I have never been so scared in my life. At this point, we have no idea what's going to happen anymore. We don't know what to do, we don't know where to go, we don't know what to do about the castle, and people from the Dark Lands are worried sick about us right now..."
With a couple moments of silence passing by, one-by-one, the three kids realized that it was their first time taking a second to think about their home land since the big incident. "...Wow... We forgot all about home, did we?" Larry remembered.
"We were just too busy thinking about the castle itself." Morton recalled. "Who knows what everyone's thinking right now? ...Wait a minute..."
"...What?"
"Nobody from the Dark Lands even showed up to check up on us..." Morton eyes widened. "No one... ...They could've at least try to pass Peach's guards... Oh, please don't tell me they're in danger, too..."
"I wouldn't say that exactly. Best case scenario is that they probably heard that we're sticking with Peach... I dunno..." Iggy gave up guessing.
"So, that's three home lands that are in danger..." Larry counted. "The Dark Lands, the Mushroom Kingdom, and Dinosaur Land. Great..."
"But the thing is, unlike the latter two, the Dark Lands was the only place that was not attacked." Iggy realized. "Sure, the castle back at home, but that was burned down, and we don't even know if dad even intended to do that or not. He was trying to burn us alive when we were running away after all... But in the end, I think it's safe to say that Dark Lands itself was never the main target. ...It actually makes sense, too. He's probably smart enough to realize that it's where he's from."
"... ... ..." All three brothers shared no words after that statement initially.
"Wait..." Larry interrupted the silence. "...So dad was the most threatening in Dinosaur Land, right?"
"Definitely..." Iggy replied. "Out the three lands, Dinosaur Land was hit hard. That was where dad was actually attacking the citizens searching for us. All he did here was attack the castle door and that was it... And people were talking about the possibility of King Dad coming back here and making everything worse for everyone, right?"
"Right..." Morton nodded.
"...We need to keep him away from here... For now at least..."
"But isn't he already back at the castle?" Larry asked. "And now that we're talking about it, he's gonna find out that we aren't there. Then what? Is he gonna come here again? The castle will be the first place he'll look, unless he somehow goes back to Dinosaur Land..."
"Yeah..." Iggy had to agree. "He's gonna think we're gonna go there since he thought we went there before, but of course that's not true. I don't see him attacking anywhere else... or at least, not yet..."
All of a sudden, the door to Peach's room finally opened, startling them a little because they were deep into their discussion, they even forgot that Peach was still inside said room.
"...Are you three okay?"
"...We're trying to be..." Iggy answered, hanging his head down to stare at the floor. "We... were trying to figure out King Dad's next target since it's only a matter of time before he stops looking around the castle for us. ...He could either go here, or back to Dinosaur Land..."
"Hmm..." She had to think for a moment. "If he shows up here, it's common knowledge that we need to be anything but unprepared. We need to make sure the cannons are ready and everything..."
"That's what we're thinking." said Morton. "I mean, I don't think he's gonna go after the whole kingdom. He's just gonna target here instead because he's gonna know that we're still here. But if he goes back to Dinosaur Land, he's gonna target the whole place! There is no castle there! And if anyone, Yoshi's the leader! If King Dad attacks there again, who knows what's gonna-"
"Morton..." Iggy glared at him crossing his arms. "Enough... Although, you are right. If he attacks there again, then Dinosaur Land would be even more off its feet than ever before... Yet with all this in mind, the Dark Lands are the least likely place for an attack, if we don't count any other world..."
"So, what's the best move for the people of Dinosaur Land?" Larry asked.
Individually, all four of them exchanged glances.
"So even though we still have no idea why Bowser of all people would attack Dinosaur Land of all places in hopes that his kids are there, we think that the inhabitants are going be in grave danger if he goes there a second time. That being said..."
"..." Yoshi and Luigi just stared, still not knowing where Peach and the others were going with their explanation. They were back outside where Luigi and Yoshi were. Ludwig had returned as well as he promised earlier.
"...We were considering on sending the injured from Dinosaur Land to the Dark Lands for the time being if they have no other option." Peach asked.
The three that were not part of the conversation before all either raised their eyebrows or widened their eyes, especially Yoshi for obvious reasons.
"...That is... kind of a lot to take in, princess..." Ludwig stated hanging his head down slightly. "It is a move, indeed it is... But,..."
"I understand what you're thinking." Peach nodded before he could finish. "But if we find out that Bowser is going after Dinosaur Land again and we already know that there are people there that are hurt. What if they need extra help? Transporting them Dark Lands would be the best way to go. Even if there are too many casualties, we can simply split them up between there, and here in the Mushroom Kingdom. He's not going to attack the entire land, just this castle by itself. All we would have to do is to try our best to defend."
"Um..." Yoshi unsurprisingly did not know what to think. "I don't know, guys..."
"Well, you're basically the one they'd look up to." Iggy said. "Wherever you go, they would follow. They would completely understand. All we have to do is to make sure dad's not planning on going anywhere else in the Dark Lands besides our castle."
Ludwig finally sighed. "I agree with Iggy. We can't just tell the Dinosaur Land inhabitants to stay indoors, since we know some homes are destroyed, anyway. That would be completely pointless if we tell them that. If the Dark Lands were in danger, I know father would make a move like this, anyway. Dinosaur Land could very well have too many people to accommodate. I think it'd be necessary to pull this off and transport the injured to hospitals and such in the Dark Lands, and possibly here, anyway."
"But what about the non-injured?" Luigi brought up. "So if they can't just stay inside, what can they do?"
"...Hmm..." Iggy pondered. "...I guess we can just act like it's a tornado drill or something and tell everyone to head for their basements..."
"...Okay." Luigi concluded. "I guess that'll work. ...But since Yoshi is basically the 'unofficial' leader of Dinosaur Land, we have to have his word."
"What does that mean?"
"We have to get him to agree!" Iggy glared at Morton.
All eyes were then locked onto the green dinosaur, who had a mixture of confusion, worryness, and anxiety.
"...Um... I-I'll... ...I'll do it..."
Alright, so based on the last part of this current chapter, one should predict of what the next chapter will bring. Don't be surprise if there's some sort of confrontation and emotion next chapter. Just a warning to get the crowd ready in case anyone needs some tissues. ;-)
So anyway, as said in the previous chapter, if you want to join the forum you can! It's called "Bowser's Castle".
Questions:
1. Why was Yoshi hesitant in the final decision?
2. How would the people of the Dark Lands react to Dinosaur Land residents entering the kingdom?
What do you like/dislike? I encourage all fans of the Koopalings and Yoshi to review!