Iggy trudged down the shoulder of the Supa Koopa Highway. His attempts at hitchhiking to Sarasaland hadn't been going well, despite his status as prince of the Darklands. He was getting tired, as he hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, due to both waking up so early to initiate the invisibility serum plan and the nightmare he'd had. He was close to collapsing right there, but he knew he had to keep going. Lemmy was still in trouble and Iggy's conscience wouldn't let him sleep until he knew that Lemmy was safe and sound.
Just then, Iggy tripped. He hadn't noticed the large tire shred in his path through the darkness and had stumbled over it, landing face-first on the unforgiving asphalt. Tears began to stream from his eyes. How was he ever going to catch up to Lemmy and his captors at this rate? He then screamed, putting all of his anger and desperation into the action. Afterwards, he collapsed to the ground, letting his racking sobs overtake him. He was hopelessly lost and he was no closer to rescuing Lemmy than when he was back at the castle. His father was probably worried sick about him and Lemmy was probably terrified to know that Iggy was out here like this.
Suddenly, he felt someone's presence right next to him. He pushed himself up off of the ground and looked up to find none other than Princess Daisy herself standing right next to him. She was holding her hand out to him in order to help him up, which he quickly accepted.
"Wh-what are you doing here?" Iggy stuttered, marvelling at the princess' presence. He barely stopped to think that he was completely unpresentable as he was now, especially in front of a princess.
"I heard about Lemmy's kidnapping," Daisy explained, "I'm here to help."
"You are?!" Iggy exclaimed.
"Come on!" Daisy said, heading back to the car she'd come from, "We don't have time to lose! We've got to hurry if we want to head them off before they get to Sarasaland!"
Iggy immediately followed, hopping into the small car just behind Princess Daisy. Once inside, he found Larry sitting there as well.
"Larry!" Iggy marvelled, "You were behind this?!"
"I sure was!" Larry said with a smirk, "I escaped the castle and managed to find Princess Daisy and get her to agree to help!"
"Princess!" a voice suddenly called. Iggy quickly noticed that the front part of the car where the driver was sitting was separated from the rest of the car by a screen. Iggy guessed that the voice must have been said driver.
"What's up?" Daisy replied.
"They've figured out the license plate number of the criminals' truck," the driver replied, "Should I converge on where the reports say the truck was going?"
"Go for it, Pionpi," Daisy said. Immediately, the car roared to life and sped off down the highway in search of Lemmy Koopa.
Bowser was completely enraged. At the same time, though, he was both terrified and baffled. He'd just received the news that now, not only was Lemmy missing, but Iggy and Larry were missing as well. He'd also been told that Larry had been returned, only to have him escape again. Bowser couldn't believe what he was hearing at first, but, when Ludwig told him the story he said Larry had told him, he didn't know how to feel.
"We tried to stop him, father, I promise," Ludwig explained, "But he just took off without so much as a warning."
All of a sudden, a Koopatrol guard burst into the room.
"King Bowser, sir!" the Koopatrol said, "You have an incoming message from Princess Daisy!"
"Princess Daisy?" Bowser repeated in confusion. The Koopatrol handed Bowser a phone before bowing and taking his leave.
"What is it, Daisy?" Bowser snarled, "I don't have time for a lot of nonsense right now. I'm in the middle of a crisis."
"I know your son was kidnapped, Bowser," Daisy said, "I'm on my way to find him right now."
"What?!" Bowser exclaimed. How could Daisy possibly know?
"I have two of your other sons with me: Iggy and Larry, I believe," Daisy continued, "The three of us are going to find Lemmy and bring him home."
"Iggy and Larry are with you?!" Bowser repeated, stunned by the revelation. Just then, he realized the gravity of the situation and he quickly collected himself and focused his attention back on the situation at hand.
"Bring my sons home right now," Bowser snarled.
"I can't do that," Daisy replied.
"You do know that, if you don't return them, you're technically guilty of kidnapping them, don't you?" Bowser growled, growing more irritated with the Sarasaland princess by the minute.
"I guess I'm guilty then," Daisy said, "I made a promise to them, though, that I'd help them find their brother, and I don't intend to back out of that promise now."
"At least let me talk to them," Bowser ordered. ~Things were silent on Daisy's end for a minute before Daisy finally replied.~
"They told me they don't want to."
"What?!" Bowser yelled, "I don't care what they want! Let me talk to them now!"
"Sorry! You're breaking up!" Daisy said, making a weak excuse before hanging up. Bowser growled, almost crushing the phone in his grip.
"I want Princess Daisy found at all costs!" Bowser shouted, "I want my sons brought home and I want Princess Daisy brought into custody! She'll pay for doing this to me!"
Lemmy was being shoved along by Dagger, who didn't seem to happy with the job he'd been assigned. Occasionally, Dagger would curse under his breath, these usually including strong profanities aimed against the little Koopaling. Since there wasn't anything left to tie Lemmy up again with, Lemmy was being led along with Dagger's pistol pointed at the back of his head. The little Koopaling was terrified to make a wrong move because he knew it would result with a bullet being embedded in his skull. As a result, Lemmy didn't dare to even speak. He just let Dagger lead him along as the group made their way toward the bridge spanning the waters between the Mushroom Kingdom and Sarasaland. He occasionally glanced over at Chaos, but she seemed extremely melancholy. She also seemed to be trying her best not to look back at Lemmy, which made Lemmy feel sorry for what had happened.
"How much longer do we have to go?" Poison whined, "My feet are killing me."
"You're not the one who had to make their way through a *** forest and get absolutely *** lost last night." Dagger pointed out, seeming to be growing more and more testy.
"Lay off Poison," Arrow warned Dagger.
"Why should we?" Chaos spoke up. Arrow seemed shocked by Chaos' snide remark
"Because," Arrow explained, "She's a member of this gang just like all of the rest of us and she should be treated with the same amount of respect."
"Ugh," Chaos groaned, "Do I look like I care? That *** *** can kiss my ***."
Both Arrow and Poison immediately stopped. Dagger stopped shortly after, surprising Lemmy, who halted so quickly he almost fell over. He was terrified that Dagger would call him out for it, but Dagger seemed too preoccupied with the fight getting ready to occur to care that Lemmy hadn't stopped moving when he was supposed to. Bruise, not getting what was going on, almost went on ahead before realizing that everyone else had stopped.
"What did you just say about me?!" Poison exclaimed.
"You heard me!" Chaos shouted, "I called you a ***! Are you going to lift a finger to do something about it, or are you just going to let Arrow do all your dirty work like you always do?!"
"What is your problem?!" Poison snarled.
"My problem is you!" Chaos spat, "You don't belong with us! You're just some prostitute Arrow picked up off the street who's been ruining us from the inside out!"
"Chaos!" Arrow yelled, "What the *** has gotten into you?!"
"What's gotten into you, Arrow?!" Chaos retorted, turning Arrow's question back on him, "It used to just be you, me, Bruise, and Dagger, and I was okay with that. After you let that prissy *** join, though, you began to care more about her than anyone else! It's *** annoying, Arrow!"
"You never brought this up before!" Arrow retorted.
"Well, I guess I decided I'd finally had enough." Chaos said with a huff. Arrow was about to make another remark, but decided to hold his tongue. He then turned and continued on, Bruise following close behind. Poison shot Chaos a nasty glare before continuing on as well. Lemmy and Dagger were the last to advance. Dagger, for whatever reason, seemed to be in a better mood.
"Finally," Lemmy heard Dagger mutter under his breath, "Finally, someone gave that *** a taste of her own medicine."
Iggy stared out the window at the streetlights whizzing past, leaving blurs of dim light in the darkness of the night, as Princess Daisy's car sped down the Supa Koopa Highway. His eyelids felt heavy, but he was kept awake by the fear of having another nightmare like the one he'd had the night before. Beside him, Daisy and Larry were talking about various things he didn't care about.
All of a sudden, the car jerked to a stop. Iggy almost fell out of his seat, but he managed to hang on.
"Pionpi!" Daisy called, "What's going on out there?!"
"I'm so sorry, my princess," Pionpi answered, "But I've spotted the truck."
"What?!" Daisy, Larry, and Iggy all exclaimed at once.
"Unfortunately," Pionpi continued, "It seems to be completely abandoned."
The three passengers were struck speechless. Upon exiting the car, though, they found Pionpi's statement to be true. The only things left in the back of the truck were a few unimportant papers, some shreds of what used to be rope, and a scattered deck of playing cards.
"They must have continued on foot," Daisy deduced, "We might be close."
Those words immediately brightened Iggy's mood. They were definitely close. Iggy could feel it.
"There's only one bridge to Sarasaland in the near vicinity," Daisy continued, "We can head them off and catch them there."
"That's a great idea!" Larry chimed in, "Instead of trying to catch up to them, we wait for them to come to us!"
"I'll get some backup to come and support us when Lemmy's kidnappers arrive," Princess Daisy said. She then went to talk to Pionpi about the matter. Iggy was ecstatic. Lemmy would be found soon. All they needed to do was bide their time and wait for him to come to them.
Lemmy found himself once again staring at Chaos. No one in the group had said anything since Chaos, Arrow, and Poison's argument, so things were tensely silent. It made Lemmy feel extremely uncomfortable. Of course, having Dagger's pistol constantly pressed against his skull didn't help the matter much.
"We're almost there," Arrow suddenly said, breaking the silence. No one said anything in reply, though. After a couple more moments, Arrow suddenly reeled back.
"Dagger!" Arrow called, lowering his voice to a hoarse whisper, "Make sure the kid will stay quiet!"
Dagger, keeping the pistol pressed to Lemmy's head, immediately slapped his hand over Lemmy's mouth.
"What's wrong?" Poison asked.
"It's Princess Daisy and her entourage," Arrow snarled, "They're just sitting there in front of the entrance to the bridge."
"What in the world are they doing there?!" Poison exclaimed in a whisper.
"I don't know," Arrow said, "All I know is that we won't be getting past them any time soon."
"***," Dagger cursed. Lemmy's hope began to rise. Could this mean he'd be found soon?
"We'll sit here and wait. We'll see if they leave any time soon," Arrow said, "If not, we're going to have to find another way into Sarasaland."
Iggy sat beside his brother on the hood of Princess Daisy's car. The two of them said nothing to each other. Instead, both of them were deep in thought. Iggy was trying to think of exactly what he'd say to Lemmy when he saw him again. It wouldn't be long now.
All of a sudden, there was a roar in the distance. Immediately, everyone's attention turned to the mass of soldiers marching toward them. At the forefront of them all, though, was Lord Bowser himself.
"Oh no," Iggy muttered. Larry immediately grabbed Iggy's hand and squeezed it tightly. Iggy would have loved to have been able to have another dose of that invisibility serum in that moment.
"Stand your ground!" Daisy ordered her own troops.
"We're dead," Larry said, beginning to panic, "We're so so so dead."
"Not as dead as if those criminals show up and King Dad's temper flares up and out of control," Iggy replied with a shudder.
"What's all the commotion out there?" Dagger asked. Lemmy's kidnappers had managed to find a long vine hanging from a tree nearby and had used it to tie Lemmy to a tree. For a gag, they'd decided to use Arrow' shirt. Lemmy felt very uncomfortable, but still held hope that Daisy would catch on that he and his captors were in the brush nearby.
"Is that Bowser?!" Arrow exclaimed in shock. Lemmy perked up. Now, not only was Daisy here, but his own father was as well. He wanted so badly to scream for them, but the gag prevented him from doing so. Knowing, though, that they were right there frustrated the poor little Koopaling so badly that he could barely stand it.
"What are they doing out there?" Poison asked confusedly. Lemmy really wanted to see what was going on, but he couldn't from where he was, so he had to rely on his captors to tell him what was happening.
"It looks like they're getting ready to fight," Arrow said. Lemmy was baffled. Why did his father want to fight against Princess Daisy?
"Bowser's pointing to the car," Poison said.
"Wait a minute!" Dagger exclaimed, "Those two! Those are those two *** that attacked me and Chaos in the forest!"
Lemmy was in shock. He couldn't possibly be talking about Iggy and Larry, could he? It was the only logical explanation, but Lemmy couldn't believe it.
"You're kidding!" Arrow said.
"No," Dagger said, "I'm telling the truth. They're two of those other Koopalings, the tall, green one and the short, blue-haired one."
It was true. That was undoubtedly Iggy and Larry. Now Lemmy was more convinced than ever that they were there to find him, but why the fighting?
All of a sudden, Dagger let out a grunt, snapping Lemmy out of his daydreaming. He quickly realized that Chaos had grabbed a heavy tree branch and swung it at Dagger, knocking him unconscious. Before the other gang members had any time to react, Chaos grabbed Dagger's pistol and fired a shot into the air.
"What are you doing, you *** idiot?!" Arrow shouted in a panic. Chaos didn't reply, but, instead, proceeded to punch Arrow in the face. She then turned and pointed the pistol at Poison, still keeping her gaze fixed on her brother.
"Bruise! Do something!" Arrow called, holding a hand over his bleeding nose. Bruise seemed baffled at what to do about the situation and, as such, was able to do absolutely nothing. Lemmy was baffled as well. What exactly was going on?
Everyone had heard the shot that had just gone off and everyone was struck silent because of it. Bowser and Daisy had stopped their arguing and Iggy and Larry marvelled. In an instant, the criminals had given away their location. It seemed almost too good to be true. Iggy immediately began to run toward where the shot had come from, but was quickly stopped by Bowser, who went on ahead of him. Larry followed just behind Iggy and the three went to investigate what exactly the sound was.
Lemmy stared in shock at the scene unfolding in front of him. Was this actually happening? Could Chaos actually be trying to help him?
All of a sudden, the brush spontaneously burst into flame. The criminals all immediately lunged backward, Arrow grabbing Dagger before he could be hurt. As the brush burned away, a large, menacing figure emerged from the ashes. Lemmy knew that figure from anywhere. It was his own father...So why did he feel even more fear than before?
Iggy watched as his father went after the criminals that had kidnapped Lemmy. Suddenly, he noticed Lemmy tied to a tree off to the side. He immediately raced toward his twin brother and began to try to work the gag off of him. He eventually managed to undo the knot and pull the gag off. He then began trying to untie the knot on the vine that secured Lemmy to the tree.
"Thank you so much, Iggy," Lemmy said with a weak smile.
Iggy smiled back at his twin brother. They were finally together again.
"Thank you so much, Iggy," Lemmy said with a weak smile. He saw Iggy smile back, but his thoughts wasn't fully there. All of a sudden, he heard Chaos scream. She, Arrow, and Poison were backed against a tree. Dagger lay at their feet, still unconscious, blood trickling from an open wound where Chaos had hit him. Bruise stood in front of all of them, trying to defend them. It was obvious, though, that he stood no chance, as Bowser towered over him. Bowser immediately knocked Bruise aside, sending him tumbling to the ground with claw marks raked across his face. He then began toward Chaos, Arrow, and Poison.
Lemmy began to struggle against his bonds. Iggy seemed surprised, but finally managed to work the knot loose. As the makeshift rope began to come loose, Lemmy stood and broke into a run. He immediately ran in front of Chaos just as his father was about to strike her. The blow that was meant for Chaos instead came down on Lemmy and it sent the little Koopaling collapsing to the ground.
"Lemmy! No!" he heard Iggy scream. It was also the last thing he heard as he slipped into a state of unconsciousness.
Bowser reeled back. He hadn't meant to hit Lemmy. Now, though, as his son lay in front of him, struck unconscious by his own hand, he was absolutely horrified at himself.
"Someone! Anyone! He needs a doctor! Someone help him, please!"