Junior slowly woke up once again late in the afternoon. He vaguely recalled Bowser transferring him from his shoulders to his arms sometime during the night. But something was different now. He wasn't in his father's arms anymore. The little Koopa sat up and realized that he was on the ground. He had been sleeping up against a tree. But where was his dad? What happened? Junior surveyed the land around him and his eyes immediately stopped when he spotted Bowser collapsed face-down on the ground several feet away. Junior sat up and approached him, but froze in his tracks when he caught a glimpse of something horrifying.

Bowser's shell was completely scorched with ugly black burns and thin red lava streams that were etched into the surface's grooves. The remaining spikes were cracked and looked to be on the verge of dissipating into ash. The rim of his shell was peeling and chipping away and the entire structure was still emanating steam from the remaining heat. The little Koopa had never seen a shell in such a ruined state and wondered how his father had managed to travel this far with such an atrocity unfolding on his back. Immediately fearing for the Koopa King's life, Junior shook his father's arm.

"Dad…? Dad!" he called. He continued to jerk his arm desperately. Slowly, Bowser faded back into consciousness. He blinked his eyes rapidly before finally sitting up.

"Uggghhhh…," Bowser groaned.

"Dad! Are you okay?" Junior asked worriedly. Bowser massaged his forehead with his hand.

"Yeah….I…,"

"What happened?"

"I set you down over there…because I needed a moment to rest," he explained at last. "I shut my eyes for a minute. Wonder how long I was out for…" Junior didn't reply. He was sure Bowser was suffering from the burns on his shell. But what could he do about it? The little Koopa wasn't in much better shape himself at the moment. All they could really do was keep moving forward until they found their way home. Regardless, Junior slowly began to realize that holding a grudge and being angry towards Bowser probably wasn't making things any easier. "Well…might as well get moving again," Bowser declared.

"Wait," said Junior. Bowser stopped and turned to look back at Junior.

"What is it?" Junior hung his head low and rubbed his arm.

"Thanks….for saving me back there." Bowser looked away. He cleared his throat and scratched the back of his neck; distracting himself in any way possible.

"Yeah well…," Bowser began. "If it hadn't been for me, you probably wouldn't have run off and gotten yourself into trouble in the first place." The pair fell silent for a moment. "Look, I'm sorry for being such a doofus before. I should've listened to what you had to say." Junior still couldn't work up the courage to face his father yet. "That was your wish to make, not mine. I was wrong to yell at you about how to use it. In fact, I should've been a little more grateful since you used it to help me..."

"Yeah…" Bowser walked over to Junior and kneeled before him.

"After everything that's happened between us, I wouldn't blame you if you can't forgive me," said Bowser. Junior's eyes widened as he looked at his father and processed his words. The thought was horrifying. After being stranded in that hole for so long, Junior never wanted to be alone again. He couldn't shun his father away now; no matter what might've happened between them before. "But I still want to keep my promise to your mother. I still want to protect and care for you." The little Koopa couldn't find the words to say anything. "But that's not the only reason I came back for you."

"It's…not…?" The Koopa King shook his head.

"I need you, Junior. I can't make it home without you." Junior's eyes began to water. He rushed over to hug Bowser.

"…I need you too, Dad!" Bowser embraced his son and held him closely to comfort him. A moment later, Bowser stood up and turned around to face the road ahead.

"Then let's finish this thing together," Bowser offered. Without waiting for an immediate response, the Koopa King took a few steps; trusting his child would follow. Junior looked down at the ground and kicked the dirt a little.

"Uhh…Dad?" Bowser stopped and looked back at him.

"What's wrong, Junior?"

"…..Can you carry me again?" the little Koopa requested bashfully. Bowser chuckled.

"Heh…so now you want me to, huh?" Junior nodded. Bowser sighed, but kept a smile on his face to show that his annoyance at the request wasn't serious. He crouched down and motioned with his claws for Junior to approach him.

"Alright. C'mere, kiddo." Junior walked into his father's arms and prepared to be lifted into the air. He hadn't failed to notice that it took his father three separate attempts to fully stand up. Undoubtedly, his shell was giving him back problems and making it harder to perform even the most basic of movements. Junior believed they would have to make it home soon. If Bowser laid down again, he might not be able to get up at all next time.

The pair continued to trek through a forest as the sun was beginning to set over the ridge. Bowser was starting to get worried. He hadn't seen any familiar landmarks despite traveling for so long. He still didn't have the slightest clue where they were or how far away they were from the Mushroom Kingdom. Bowser tried to ignore a particular worry about whether or not they were even going in the right direction.

Regardless, the sun was setting and it was inevitably getting dark. Traveling in the dark was impractical without the ability to see where they were going, but Bowser didn't want to stop and make Junior have to endure his untreated injuries for a whole night. Bowser was confident the kid wouldn't be able to sleep a wink with a broken arm, a collection of cuts and bruises, and a large bump on his head. Not to mention how cold it was getting. Yet another problem immediately struck him.

"Dad…I'm really hungry…," said Junior.

"Yeah, I am too, pal," Bowser replied. "Don't worry. I'll find us something to eat," he assured his child even though Bowser had no faith behind such a statement at all. They were stranded in the middle of nowhere. What was there to eat besides tree bark and blades of grass? There were no bushes with berries, nor any sources of water either. But just as Bowser was about to admit defeat, he received a merciful gift from the gods. Bowser's eyes squinted when he saw something protruding out from the ground up ahead at the forest's edge. His eyes widened when he realized what it was. "No way….I don't believe it!" Bowser exclaimed. He ran up towards the sight as quickly as his legs could carry him. It was a wooden sign that read "Scorched Rock Road ahead."

"What is it, Dad?" Junior asked curiously.

"A stroke of luck, that's what it is!" Bowser responded cheerfully.

"Huh?" Before Junior could process what his father meant by this, he found himself bouncing and being jerked around in the Koopa King's grasp as Bowser sprinted. He voiced his complaints about the rough ride. "Daaad! Slow down! What's goin' on!?"

"Sorry, kiddo!" Bowser apologized. "But I wanna get us there as soon as possible now that I know we're so close!"

"Get us where? What are we close to?" Bowser stopped abruptly before Junior could receive an answer to his questions. He looked ahead and caught a glimpse of some kind of building in the distance. Although, it was too dark for him to tell what it was. "Are we almost home?"

"Not quite," said Bowser. "But this'll make for a good plan B!" Bowser slowed down and came to a gradual stop as he reached the structure. It was a small, beige cottage made out of some kind of smooth rock-like material with two windows and a wooden front door. There was no light shining through the windows, so it didn't appear as if anyone was home. The sound of the ocean's waves rushing up towards the shore could be heard from here as well.

"What is this place?" Junior asked.

"This is our getaway home," Bowser answered.

"Getaway home?" Junior repeated. Bowser nodded.

"That's right. This house was built by your mother and me." Junior's eyes widened.

"Really?"

"Yup. See, back when we were still dating, her parents didn't like me very much. So we weren't supposed to be spending any time together," Bowser explained. "But your mom knew about this secret patch of land by the ocean near Scorched Rock Road. Nobody knew about it except her and…eventually me. We spent so much time hanging out here in secret where no one would find us that when our relationship got more serious, we built this house so we'd always have a safe place we could come back to and be together." Bowser tried to turn the door knob. It was locked, as he expected.

"How do we get in?" Junior inquired when he noticed this himself. "Do you have a key?"

"I sure do," Bowser responded smugly. "Right here." He set Junior down so he could perform a trick he had up his sleeve. Bowser inserted his index claw directly into the lock. He was able to twist it within like a key and unlock the mechanism. "We made this door with a little bit of magic. Any old chump would look at it and think there's a key somewhere to get inside. But in reality, it only works with my claw." As he expected, the door was now open and the pair were free to step inside.

The air from within was immediately freezing and with no immediate light sources, Junior was hesitant to enter the pitch black darkness. The little Koopa could feel his legs trembling.

"A-are you sure it's…s-safe in there?" he asked timidly. Bowser laughed.

"Course it is, Junior! This home belongs to us. There's not gonna be anybody else living inside." Junior wasn't thoroughly convinced. Bowser kneeled down and placed his hand on his son's shoulder. "If there is, I'll scare 'em outta here. Promise," he proposed with a confident smirk. Junior returned a positive look at last.

"Okay," he accepted. Gripping tightly to Bowser's hand, Junior followed him into the unfamiliar abode.