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Enjoy!

Chapter Forty-Nine

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Mario or its franchise; it belongs to

Nintendo and their affiliates. I just am really grateful to its creators for giving

me such a wonderful game and media series to write about!

I also don't own anything related to Harry Potter, all that belongs to J.K. Rowling,

but thanks go to her as well because, using her wonderful work, I can expand this

story to make it more interesting.

I also don't own anything related to Naruto if you see me throw a little of that in, too

This wasn't my first stakeout by far, but it was giving me the distinct impression that it'd be the most boring one by far. Four hours of absolutely nothing was one thing, four hours in the heat was another. I was starting to think we and the map had been wrong and that this other palace in the city was abandoned. Every hour I got a report from some of my other troops, the ones I'd made captains over different areas. And every hour they'd had the same thing to report; nothing to see on either the east or west side, nothing out back near the courtyard, and as for me, nothing was going on in front of the palace, either. It was dead out here.

"Let's go inside."

That brilliant idea came from my second-in-command, Daisy. She was right next to me and was even more irritated than I was. But I didn't know if making contact was the right thing to do.

I glanced at her and asked, "What, do you wanna' just go walking up to the front door?"

The girl rolled her eyes and said, "No, Luigi. We could go through the back. There's a set of doors by the courtyard."

I sat back on my heels and thought about it. Right now we were all concealed by either the bushes or trees or other natural obstructions. We were hidden. She wanted to go out and expose ourselves and I wasn't ready.

"Alright," I said. "Come on."

It was her and me going inside. I left my troops to guard the perimeter in case anything happened. Hopefully nothing would happen.

What, so you're hoping he isn't there now?

I had to ask myself this because sometimes my old cowardice would rear its head. I was working on that. This was the point of the mission. I told myself that as I walked around back with my fiancée and took a page out of her book. As soon as we reached the courtyard, she cut across the stone expanse with a confident swagger in her already bold gait. She was so fearless.

If she can walk tall after everything she's been through, why can't you?

I straightened up and figured it was true. Besides, we had our guns and other weapons and a shield and we were good. We were totally prepared.

"Luigi."

"Yeah?"

Daisy had stopped halfway to the palace and told me, "You keep stepping on the back of my shoes."

"Ah, sorry." I apologized and gave her some space.

How pathetic, I thought, you're supposed to be a Commander, so act like it man!

I swallowed my embarrassment and strode beside not behind Daisy the rest of the way to the back entrance doors. We both took out our guns and held them at the ready and shared a glance before approaching those doors. They were already a little open so all it took was me nudging it the rest of the way with my foot. Daisy saw me and looked like she didn't know whether to roll her eyes or laugh.

'What?' I mouthed, whispering, 'A lot of noise'll give us away'

She shrugged as if seeing my point and fell into step behind me as we filed into the palace. It was dimmer but much cooler inside and that was a relief. But, also like the outdoors, it was nearly silent. I heard a few noises every now and again as we walked cautiously, keeping to the corners, but nothing I heard led me to believe there was anyone present with us.

"You hear that?" Daisy whispered.

I did, if in fact she was referring to the pattering noise that sounded like someone coming down the stairs. I knew it couldn't be Bowser. He would be making a lot more noise and hurrying wasn't really his thing. I remembered from my time in his prisons and he'd come sauntering down the hall every other day.

Daisy stiffened and we waited for the noise to let up. After the running stopped, there was a loud smack, like bare feet hitting the stone floor, and then a familiar voice.

"That's Bowser Junior," I murmured.

Daisy whispered, "Maybe he knows where his father is."

"You don't think he's here?"

Daisy shook her head and said, "I'm pretty sure we'd know it by now."

I shrugged but remained on high alert as she crossed in front of me, heading towards where we'd heard Bowser Junior. He was talking again so it wasn't hard to track him down. Daisy put her gun away and so did I—reluctantly and only because I didn't want there to be any accidents around little Junior.

He saw us coming and it was cute how his whole face lit up and his jade eyes widened in surprise. That was Lemmy I'd heard and he, too, turned his multi-color haired head around and grinned.

"LU!"

"Weegie!"

They both came at me and only the sight of them squeezing the life out of my lower body made a smile come to Daisy's face. She nudged me and looked at them pointedly and I stooped to their level.

"Hey," I greeted them, ruffling both their heads. "I missed you two."

"I missed you, too Weegie!" Lemmy declared.

Junior wrapped his arms round my neck and claimed, "I missed you the most!"

Lemmy looked at his friend and shook his head.

Of both boys I asked, "Have you seen Bowser?"

"Um, you mean my Daddy?" Junior started to frown. He said, "He not here no more."

Daisy came over and crouched and asked him, "So he was here?"

Junior nodded, looking even poutier. Lemmy seemed to be consoling him with the way he was rubbing his back.

I asked, "How long ago did he leave?"

"He um," Junior began, "he left a little while ago. Like some minutes—"

"No, more than minutes." Lemmy insisted. He told me, "He left with Ig and Larry and MJ and that was a real long time ago. Like almost a whole day."

Junior nodded and said, "They left in the morning, when the sun was up. Not up like right now, the sun was just coming up in the sky, like um…"

"I get it," I said, realizing they had a horrible sense of time. I then asked, "Do you know where they went?"

"Yes!" Lemmy exclaimed, then frowned and said, "Uh. Well I forgot the name of it. But they were gonna' go see my big brother Roy."

Daisy and I shared a glance.

She was the one to ask, "Junior, baby, did your daddy say what he was gonna' do there? Or when he'd be back?"

"My daddy said he was gonna' visit his son." Junior mumbled. "He always want to go and be with his other family and not me." Junior looked at me sadly and said, "I think my daddy don't like me no more."

Daisy asked persistently, "Did he say when he was coming back?"

Junior shook his head.

Lemmy told me, "MJ said they were gonna' come right back but they didn't come right back." He then told me, "They were fighting real bad before they left. Iggy came and he was all mad and stuff at B-Jun's daddy and they were arg…arguing and then—"

"What were they arguing about?" Daisy asked.

Lemmy hunched his shoulders and said, "Uh, I don't really know. B-Jun's daddy was saying things about Igg's mom and I think that made him mad."

Daisy rose and narrowed her eyes. She was patting herself down and didn't stop until she drew the map from her hip. Opening it, she frowned.

"No wonder," She huffed, "The dot's moved. It was here this morning but I should've checked it again!"

"Where is it now?" I also stood and stared at the blinking light with her.

She tapped the dot twice and the area around it expanded and inky black letters spelled out, 'Arid Desert'.

"Chances are he's not in the desert," I guessed.

Daisy nodded and said, "Arid Kingdom is nearby, that's probably where he is."

"Oh yeah!" I just got a flashback and asked, "You remember when Peasley told us Ludwig was putting his brothers and sisters in different places?"

"You think he's king?" Daisy asked.

I said, "It would make sense; I mean, why else would Bowser want to up and visit Roy out of the blue? He's probably gonna' try and take Roy's place."

"No," Daisy shook her head, "He's more likely to try and get inside the kid's head."

"Wouldn't it be easier for Bowser to just take it from him, now that he's got his power back?" I reasoned.

Daisy said, "No, he likes it more when people give him what he wants." She frowned and further explained, "He likes to manipulate people into doing what he wants one way or another instead of just forcing them to. It takes longer, but it's like he gets more satisfaction that way."

I blinked and said quietly, "Well. You um, seem to know his methods."

Daisy shrugged and said, "I was locked up under him, remember? I learned a thing or two about the way he operates."

"Yeah," I said. "That's a good thing, too. Now we know his angle."

Daisy wiped her hands on her pants and said, "He's without a palace right now. If he doesn't stay here, chances are he'll make a temporary home in Arid Kingdom. I'm banking on there because," She inclined her head towards the children and said, "if the picture those two finger-painted to us is correct, then Iggy may have found out about the snake's true nature and if that's the case, he may convince his brothers not to have any dealings with him."

"Well if that's true you don't think Iggy will warn Roy?" I brought up.

She smiled wryly and said, "You know, he really never struck me as the type to heed a warning. I think it'd be best if we head to Arid and see if we can intercept the snake while he's coming back or plan an ambush if he decides to stay."

"What if we go all the way to Arid and find out he came back here?" I frowned. "You saw how quickly he moved from here to there, we might make a blank trip and have to come all the way back."

Daisy scowled and said, "…I know." Glancing at me she asked, "So what, you want to just loaf around here?"

"That's not the way I'd put it," I remarked, "but yeah. We should give it a couple days, see if he comes back. If not, we can set out for Arid Kingdom."

Daisy frowned still and folded her arms and said, "I think that's wasting time."

"Two days won't make much of a difference." I told her. "We can't cross the desert in two days."

"Still, this isn't how I'd do it." She was teasing me now, I could tell when she moved her hands to her hips and looked at me with a smirk tipping her mouth.

I told her dryly, "Well you're not the one in charge, so…"

"Did you just pull rank, Commander?" She raised a brow and stepped over to me, then poked me in the chest and said, "Because two can play that game. As your Princess—"

"Didn't you pass executive authority over to Zair?" I cut in, hoping she wouldn't hit me for that.

She just laughed and said, "Ooh, Luigi, I think the power's starting to go to your head."

I shrugged and she put her arms around my neck and I could count on one hand how many times I'd gotten to kiss her like that in the past couple weeks. She had to lean on her toes and only lowered herself when our pint-sized audience expressed their revulsion at our display.

If they were hoping for inconspicuousness, that went completely out the window the moment they appeared out of nowhere in the middle of a crowded marketplace where dozens of people started staring and questioning if their eyes had deceived them.

"I remember this place!" Larry cried excitedly.

MJ did, too, but instead of wearing a smile like his brother he wore a frown. He was already getting some looks, curious ones at first, but then people started shooting him dirty ones. They obviously remembered who he was and were still under the impression that he was a murderer and a vandal. He grimaced.

I thought Roy would've set the record straight, MJ scowled, growing more irritated the closer they got to the palace.

Larry stuck close to his black-haired brother and thought nothing of MJ's frown; in his eyes, MJ was always mad about something these days. He looked over at Iggy and wondered what was eating him.

He really doesn't like our dad, Larry surmised, glancing up at their father where Iggy was sending a hard frown.

Bowser walked with his sons through the city beaming from ear to ear. He even tipped his head at some of the residents of Arid Kingdom. That didn't make them smile back. For the most part they seemed to fear him without even knowing why.

"Look," Iggy stopped the group and stared at a poster on the wall.

Bowser asked, "Is this him?"

"Yup!" Larry answered, then made a face and asked, "How come somebody drew and chain around his neck?"

"That's not a chain, dummy." MJ replied grimly. "It's a…"

He didn't want to say what it was for Larry's sake, but the rest of the males knew what it was. Iggy was confused. The poster obviously declared Roy king, but someone had come along and, in contradiction to the cheerful tone of the painting, had drawn a noose around his neck.

Interesting, Iggy thought, not knowing what to make of the sight.

The group walked further on and noticed a few more things. There were paintings of Roy, or Rex as he was known here, everywhere. They even passed a fabric store with a sign that boasted its stock of pink dye the same shade as 'the Champion's' infamous mane.

MJ snorted at all the hype and thought, it's like he's a celebrity or something.

Contrary to his distaste, Bowser was highly amused and was thinking of how he couldn't wait to meet his second eldest son. Iggy was developing a growing sense of dread because that poster wasn't the only one they'd seen; there were others that had 'x's scrawled over his eyes and some with his entire face ripped off of the paper. On the other hand, there were also some with valentine hearts and kiss marks scribbled all around the edges.

It looks like the people are divided, Iggy assessed, not sure what this meant for his older brother. He'd been wrapped up in his own affairs, he hadn't even thought about what Roy was going through. Now he was anticipating a visit with the young man as much as everyone else.

Before they could get out of the square, a portly older man in a white suit jacket and white slacks yanked MJ by the arm into an alley and put a hand over his mouth. Alarmed, Iggy rushed over with Larry on his heels. Bowser sauntered over as well, captivated with the new proceedings.

"Get off me!"

"Mj, no!" The portly man cried before letting the teenager go and dodging out of the way.

He was 'this' close to getting his face smashed in. luckily, his reflexes kept him out of harm's way and the alley's stone wall got the brunt of the damage instead. Larry stood behind Iggy and Bowser rose both brows, again impressed with MJ's power. To all their surprise, the portly man glowed bright pink and then morphed into a leaner, more familiar form.

"Roy?" Larry asked uncertainly.

His hair was longer and shaggier and he looked a little more vexed than usual, but that was Roy alright. He didn't speak a word to them, just looked beyond his brothers as if checking for onlookers before opening a portal and all but shoving them through it. He didn't notice nor care that Bowser stepped through it as well.

On the other side was his room at the palace and two young women sat on his bed waiting for him to return. When he came through the portal after his brothers, Eriana got up and hugged him as if she hadn't seen him in ages.

Ariadne remained on the bed and asked, "Rex, what are your brothers doing here?"

"I don't know," Roy said, turning with his arm around Eriana's waist and asking MJ, "What are you doing here?"

MJ jerked his head towards Bowser, who grinned, and Iggy sighed. He adjusted his cloak and stepped forward, separating himself from the group.

"Our father here is trying to drag us all into a life of tyranny and evil," He stated dully. "He wouldn't leave us alone until we brought him to see you."

"What?" Roy frowned. He looked at Bowser and asked, "You're our father?"

Bowser nodded.

"Man, where the fuck have you been?!"

"Rex!"

Eriana put her hand against Roy's chest and he ran one of his own across his face and frowned.

Impatiently he said, "Look, I don't really have time for this. Not now." To MJ he said, "You need to get Ig and Larry and go back to where you came from and just lay low."

"Why should we do what you say?" MJ challenged, folding his arms.

Roy lifted a mauve brow and asked, "What?"

"Where do you get off telling us what to do?" MJ questioned.

"I ain't telling you what to do," Roy frowned. "I'm just looking out for you."

"That's what Ludwig used to say." MJ said accusingly.

"What?" Roy looked at him, tilting his head and appearing bewildered.

MJ was fully planning on doing as Roy advised but he was just irritated at the principal of the matter. While walking to the palace, he was starting to see his brother in a new light, or perhaps just in a light skewed by his own insecurities.

"I don't know what's up with you," Roy said slowly, "But you can't stay here. It's too dangerous."

"Is it?" MJ asked, narrowing his eyes, "Or do you just want us to leave?"

"What? Both!" Roy replied, still confused with his brother's suspicion.

"Right," MJ nodded sardonically. "I guess us being here would ruin your little fantasy life, now wouldn't it?"

At this point Roy wasn't the only one in the dark. Like he usually did, Larry was standing back, watching things play out.

I knew MJ's been grouchy lately, the younger brother mused, but why is he taking it out on Roy? Is he trying to get Roy to blow his fuse or something?

Iggy was also clueless as to why MJ was so moody but agreed with Roy about it not being the best time to do this.

And Bowser was just observing.

"What are you talking about, yo?" Roy stepped up to MJ and the two of them were nearly in each other's face.

MJ said dryly, "I saw the posters, man; you're king now."

"So what?" Roy scowled, not even feeling any merit in that.

"So you got what you wanted!" MJ replied, giving his brother a scowl and a once-over. "You probably want me and Larry to leave because everybody still hates us from the last time we were here because you let me take the fall for whatever you did—"

"No I didn't!" Roy denied. "I told them it was me who killed that asshole, it ain't my fault the people believe what they want!"

Iggy frowned and had the same thought as his blue-haired brother: Roy killed someone?

"Yeah, okay." MJ rolled his eyes. He asked snidely, "If it's so dangerous, why don't you leave, too?"

"I can't," Roy responded, his jaw tightening. "Trust me, if I could I would—"

"Sure."

"WHAT, YOU THINK I'M OVER HERE LIVING THE GOOD LIFE?!" Roy finally snapped, irritated with his brother. He shoved MJ a little and said, "You have no fucking IDEA what I have to deal with over here!"

MJ scoffed and cut his eyes to the side and that just aggravated Roy even more.

"You said you saw those posters," Roy suddenly recalled. "Well did you see all of them? They wanna' KILL me MJ—"

"REX!"

Eriana pulled on Roy's arm but he shrugged her off and started pacing again, tugging and scratching at his hair in frustration.

He glanced angrily at MJ and said, "I got people over here breaking in the palace and shit, trying to take me out, so what the fuck do you think they're gonna' do to you and Larry once they find out you're back?!"

MJ was silent.

Iggy was, too as he thought, it makes sense now; the posters were probably done over by the same people who's after him, but why are they after him in the first place?

MJ started to abandon his own anger in favor of examining the tick in Roy's jaw and the clear anxiety present in his entire disposition.

Something is really wrong here; he's not joking or lying. He really is in way over his head, MJ thought, feeling a bit guilty but not really ashamed of his earlier emotions. He understood now that the situation was a bit more complex than he'd originally thought.

Maybe I was overreacting a little, he allowed, but it's just because this is starting to get to me; not fitting in or belonging anywhere. First at home where Roy was always better at…most everything, then at that stupid kingdom Ludwig dumped me in, and then here where it didn't even take a month for people to start hating me.

MJ frowned over at his father and thought, and he just wants me around because he thinks I can use my abilities for his benefit or something. Typical. When is this ever going to end? Why can't I be around someone who actually gives a damn about me for who I am and not what I can do for them?

The black-haired teenager sighed and said, "Alright, Roy. I get it." Turning to Larry he said, "Come on. We better get out of here."

Roy stopped pacing and looked relieved to hear that. He opened a portal and as his two brothers started walking towards it, the young king addressed his female friends.

"You both should leave, too."

"WHAT?!"

Roy winced and his concentration broke, which led to the portal closing early. MJ and Larry were gone but Iggy and Bowser remained.

Iggy was thinking, Roy's really matured a lot since I last saw him. Aside from all the foul language, that is. If it's true and he does have people trying to kill him, he's handling it better than I would've thought. The old him would probably go looking for a fight and wind up getting himself killed.

Iggy then looked over at Bowser, who was studying the teenaged royal. Roy was walking over to Ariadne with Eri at his side, the girl looking anxious and fretful.

"I can't keep protecting you," Roy told them. He said, "You know it's gotten bad here. I gotta henge as my retainer just so we can eat these days and none of us are getting' any sleep."

Eriana shared a frown with Ariadne as the young king continued.

Roy said, "At my brother's palace you'll be safe. Won't nobody mess with you because they won't even know where you are. It'll take some stress off of me, too, since I won't have to watch all our backs all the time."

Eriana frowned and told him, "We're watching each other's backs, remember?" The girl's dark eyes grew wetter as she reminded him, "If it wasn't for me you wouldn't have even known the food was poisoned that morning and you would've died!"

Ariadne nodded and said, "You also don't know much about the law, Rex. I do. That's why I'm your advisor." She then asked carefully, "Do you really think you'll be able to find another one if you send me away? If not you'll have to let the Elders come back."

Roy scowled.

Eriana held Roy's face and told him strongly, "We're in this together, okay?"

Ariadne nodded in agreement but Roy pushed Eri's hands away gently and frowned harder.

"Stop it, both of you." Roy told them. He said, "It's me they're after, not you two."

"I'm the one who got you into all this so that's not true!" Eriana refuted. "But even if it were, do you really believe that sending us away will solve anything?"

Ariadne wrung her hands and said, "Rex don't you see? They want to get you alone and vulnerable so they can—"

"I don't care!" Roy shouted, "I don't care about what happens to me! I don't! I really, really don't." He was uncharacteristically quiet when he admitted, "I just wanna' make sure you two are safe and away from all this because if I don't send you away, one of these days I'm gonna' slip up and lose one of you and I can't have that."

Ari and Eri shared another long look and a silence ensued. Over to the side, Iggy was doubly certain about his earlier observations on Roy's maturity while Bowser was shifting his focus from Roy to the two girls.

Eriana stepped in front of Roy and this time when she took his face in her hands she was firm and made him look her right in the eyes. First he avoided them, but they were incredibly hard to ignore and he locked onto them, seeing and feeling all the emotions within them. It was almost like magic. He saw the fear and worry—that was normal for Eri—but he also saw how sure of herself the girl was. She meant what she said next.

With conviction she told him, "There is nothing you can say or do that will ever make me want to leave your side and if you send me away I will never forgive you."

Roy cut his eyes from her to Ariadne. The blonde nodded with her hands clenched in her lap, wholeheartedly agreeing with the bolder girl and Roy sighed.

"…Fine. Fuck. Do what you want." He muttered gruffly, "But if we all wind up dead—"

"We won't." Ariadne cut in. "Not if we stick together."

When Bowser let out a small, intrigued hum he brought awareness to his and Iggy's presence. Roy looked back and blinked, having forgotten about them for the moment. He stretched his hand out and recreated the same portal he'd opened earlier and nodded at Iggy.

Iggy looked at Roy and said, "You'll be alright."

"I really don't know, Ig." Roy replied.

"That wasn't a question," Iggy told him, surprising his older brother. He glanced at their father and told Roy, "Just stay true to who you really are and you'll be alright."

"…Yeah," Roy muttered, thinking nothing of the advice. His mind was somewhere else.

Iggy stepped towards the portal and then looked back at Bowser. The old king remained stationary.

"You're not coming?" Iggy asked, frowning.

Bowser tilted his head and said, "Coming back to the palace? Oh, but I thought you wanted me gone so badly? No, I think I'll be staying here."

Iggy narrowed his vivid eyes, not liking that answer for what it may have implied.

If he stays here, I can bet he'll try and manipulate Roy, the adolescent thought, and all previous inner musings on the elder Koopa's maturity went right out the window. Iggy then worried for Roy, but what was he to do? If he argued the case, Bowser would likely do something even shadier or be encouraged to go after Roy even more and it wasn't as if Iggy had the time to guard over his older brother. He had his mother to take care of now. She wouldn't survive much longer in that palace if left to her own devices.

As if knowing this, Bowser smirked at Iggy and said, "You go ahead without me and ah, send your lovely mother my regards."

Iggy glared at his father but left nonetheless.

I think about an hour or so passed before something happened. It was mid-afternoon so I could clearly see the doors leading out to the courtyard opening and revealing someone who hadn't been there before; or maybe he had been there and I just didn't notice. He's a pretty quiet kid.

Iggy looked around the way a bloodhound does when it's sniffing the air and then glanced over to where my troops and my fiancée and I were staking out some yards away. I knew he couldn't see us.

Well he's not normal so maybe he can, I recalled.

The adolescent came walking over towards us like he could and put his hands in the pockets of his black pants. He was walking casually and no one was coming out of the palace with him, so I glanced at Daisy meaningfully and we both met the kid halfway. He wasn't surprised to see us so much as he was the thing in Daisy's hand. She'd been watching it like a guys at a bar watched mini-screen football and had it next to her hip as she walked.

"Could you see us?" I asked the lanky Koopa.

He shook his head, his shorter green hair whipping, and said, "No, but I knew you were there."

"How?"

"I sensed my invention."

"Right," I looked over at the map then back at him. "Were you here the whole time?"

"How long have you been here?" Iggy asked, then changed lanes with, "Are you here for the Dark King?"

"Right." Daisy echoed my earlier response and asked, "Have you seen him?"

"He was here before." Iggy told us what we already knew, "But now he's in Arid City. He's planning on staying there for a while." The youth's eyes hardened when he stated, "I know he's going to try and take over or add the kingdom to his so-called empire."

Daisy rolled her eyes and said, "I figured as much." She looked at me and asked, "Can we leave now, Commander?"

"Hold on," I entreated, asking Iggy, "Are you alright? I mean are you gonna' be?"

Iggy nodded and said, "I'll be fine. I'm more worried for Roy honestly. I don't know what will happen to him now that our father is with him." He looked down and said softly, "I probably should've stayed with him but I have to take care of my mother. She really needs my help and…I want to be with her."

"You shouldn't feel bad," I told the boy. "I'm sure Roy's gonna' be alright."

Daisy snorted.

"Well he'll live." I amended.

Iggy didn't seem to feel any better.

I sighed and said, "The point is, we're all responsible for our own fates," I said, drawing from what I'd been told by my troops. "You have to live your life and be confident that your brother will make the right decisions in his." I paused and added, "Besides, it's not like Roy's inept or anything. He's bound to see through Bowser like you did."

"I guess so." Iggy still didn't sound so sure.

"Well we better go." I said, knowing Daisy was ready. I clapped the boy's shoulder and told him, "Be careful and good luck with your mom."

I wanted to know more about her and about how he even caught up to her but we just didn't have the time for that.

"Luigi." Iggy suddenly looked up at me remorsefully. He said, "When I…did what I did for my father, I didn't know it'd lead to all this. I didn't even think about the consequences." He said in an even lower tone, "I mean to say I didn't care about them and... I'm sorry."

"I understand," I replied, because saying, 'it's okay' just didn't seem appropriate; He may not have meant to, but he pretty much doomed the entire world.

Suspense was its own brand of torture and, though inadvertently, Callian subjected his victim to it well. He paced the four corners of the small metal room, his arms folded across his broad chest, and just stared at his child-sized enemy with hatred and malice contorting his features. He wasn't intentionally doing this to get under the boy's skin, he honestly had no idea what to do with him. He'd wanted this for so long that now that he had it, he didn't know what to do first.

I know I'll give him the mark, Callian thought bitterly, and I should do that soon.

He knew he had to do that before he began exhausting every ounce of cruelty in his particularly extensive arsenal of torment on the boy. And speaking of that.

Callian stopped behind Ludwig and sneered, "I hope you don't have it in your mind that I'll go easy on you just because you're in that form."

Ludwig didn't respond.

Callian walked so slowly, dropping his arms along the way, until he was in front of the boy again. He leaned onto the table with his hands flat and his head bent so that he could glare directly in the boy's face. Well, if he were looking up, that is.

"Look at me, you demon."

Ludwig did, but at his own pace. He drew his slightly larger emerald eyes from the chains around his wrists in his lap, up past the table, and eventually settled them on…the wall to the left of Callian's head.

The sorcerer growled and pushed himself off the table and made this horribly distorted face, like someone had taken a mixer and stirred his facial features around. He shook his head and held that dour expression.

"You miserable, insipid…" Callian snorted and that snort evolved into a silent chuckle as he smiled and said, "No, keep it up. It makes this all so much better."

Ludwig sat there and thought, I made up my mind; I'll face my fate, but I won't give this savage the satisfaction of getting a reaction out of me.

"You still have that arrogance, don't you boy?" Callian jeered, stony blue eyes narrowed as he scrutinized his baby-faced captive.

Backing this up, Ludwig told him, "Maybe." He rolled his eyes up and said whimsically, "I mean, I am in chains, without my magic, without the ability to defend myself at all."

Callian scoffed and said, "You're a fool if you think that matters."

"It does," Ludwig forced a fourth of a smirk and claimed quietly, "This is the only way you can get the better of me. If I had my own body or my magic—"

"But you don't," Callian interjected tersely. "You can go on and on but the fact is, kid, you've always overestimated yourself and that's your real problem."

Ludwig blinked slowly like, 'here we go'. He was sick of others pointing out his supposed flaws. Soul searching notwithstanding, he was still conceited and he wasn't about to change over the span of a few hours.

Callian walked around the room again and told him, "If you were smart, you'd have known not to seek me out. Being the son of Koopa and all, we were bound to cross paths; your father's had a long-standing alliance with me for ages."

"Do I look like my father to you?" Ludwig asked, his voice dragging as if bored.

"Shut up." Callian barked. "You listen to me now. If you ever used your head and not your ego you'd know there was no place for you in the League. Amateur." Callian came up behind him and laid his heavy hand on the boy's head, putting pressure on his neck as he said, "You think you're strong enough or powerful enough to be one of us? That's almost as funny as it is pathetic."

Callian shoved Ludwig's head and spat, "You are weak and insignificant and short-sighted and you should have never crossed me—"

"So what are you going to do to me?" Ludwig asked plainly. "Torture me? Give me the mark and make me live forever, shoveling shit and carrying out your every humiliating, demeaning demand for the rest of my immortal life?"

That is, if I don't find a way to kill you in time, the younger sorcerer thought, and also considered just killing himself if worst came to worst. But only if he absolutely couldn't find a way to undo or nullify the mark.

Callian kicked his chair leg, rocking it to the side, and yelled, "Stop acting like you're so unaffected. You're a coward, and you fear your fate. I know it."

He sounded so sure of himself that a coil of unease slithered around in Ludwig's gut. He swallowed and looked away from those piercing eyes and he made sure to keep the unfazed look on his face as an added preventative against the sorcerer getting in his head.

"You speak of the mark as if you can overcome it but once again, you overestimate yourself." Callian denounced. He boasted, "I came up with it. It's not something you can just weasel out of. Once I've bound you to me, you're bound forever."

"So do it and get it over with." Ludwig shrugged.

"No," Callian frowned. "You don't get to sit there and give me orders. That ends right now."

The hairy-armed immortal marched forward and grabbed the chains at Ludwig's wrists, dissolving them like sugar in a glass of water. He yanked the boy out of his seat and clutched a fistful of the boy's navy hair, gripping right down to the scalp. He bent Ludwig's head all the way forward, straining his neck, and with the other hand he used his index fingernail to scratch at the skin right near the boy's nape. Rather than use a blade or other incisory tool, Callian was going to use his dirt-caked, dull fingernails to scratch and scratch until he started drawing blood and crude runes in the boy's ivory flesh.

This is it, Ludwig thought. It was strange because he felt a mix of panic and terror inside, making his heart race and his stomach churn like he was about to throw up and he had the strongest urge to cry, to just bawl like the child he appeared to be. But at the same time he felt an overwhelming sense of calm, of acceptance. Why fight it if this was inevitable?

What am I gonna' do? It's not like I can stop this. And it's not like anyone's gonna' come bursting in to my rescue, he felt more grief than he should have at that part.

"CALLIAN!"

"What?!"

Okay, so maybe he was wrong. The door had burst open and someone was there, interrupting this soon-to-be gruesome and binding act, but that someone was a League member and could probably care less about what his leader was about to do.

"Sir it's your son. He's come back."

A/N: In this story, a lot of people are gonna' do a lot of stupid things. Please just bear with me.

I'm not trying to redeem anyone by the way. Just offering insight on what makes the characters tic. I personally love Ludwig (in the games) but in this story he's an…asshole. Yeah. Let's not dance around it. Circumstances weren't ideal in his youth but ultimately our choices and actions define who we are and he's made a lot of terrible, selfish choices.

Anyway

How do you guys think Roy will fare now that Bowser's with him? Do you think it was a good idea to listen to Eri/Ari and let them stay rather than send them away? Will they be a light or a liability, I wonder?

He's only five but Junior feels the way I feel about my mom and dad sometimes; having seven brothers/sisters means I don't get much alone time with them so I get jealous :P I know I'm twenty one but still…something tells me he's going to get over that real soon though. Little ones don't tend to hold onto to things as long as we do. Well, it depends.

Daisy and Luigi are so great, I had a dream about them. They were in the car; Lu was driving, I was in the backseat and Daisy was beside him and they were just the cutest. Man I've got to add more scenes with the two of them. This mission is definitely putting a damper on their relationship.

As you can see, too, Munson has come back. Why would he do that? Well, like I said; sometimes people make stupid decisions and it doesn't help that he's a teenager. I'd rather not think of the things I've done, thinking I was so right and that things were going to be different when I did them my way, haha. We'll see how that goes.

Hope you readers are still enjoying this and I'll see about updating again soon.

Until next time!

~DymondGold~