Siph: Has anyone seen J? The new chapter's starting, but the totally awesome writer and dad is gone. Maybe he's in the bathroom. While I check, enjoy the chapter. This is another interlude. Wait, I think there aren't gonna be any more interludes because they're all gonna be together now. Unless we cut back to Bowser or do another flashback. I don't know if those will happen because J never tells me anything!

Disclaimer: Yes, I'm gonna knock and not just barge in.

Chapter 55: Fateful Reunion

Mario braced himself as their destination rose to greet them. Bowser Jr. landed in front of him and quickly got out of the way for the plumber to bring up the rear of their cannon flight to Peak Land.

Mario looked over and saw Roy and Morton were already in a tight hug. Morton babbled a mile a minute to him, but Roy didn't seem to mind. In fact, the burly Koopaling was even crying. Mario clearly saw his shoulders shaking.

On the end of the clearing, he saw Ludwig, Wendy, and Pauline exiting an airship, along with two Koopa Troopas he didn't recognize. Luigi and Peach waved at Pauline, who waved back.

Peach in particular ran up and hugged their friend. "It's so good to see you again!"

Pauline hugged back. "It's great to see you too! But I wish it wasn't in a crisis." She looked down. "And my dress was in better shape."

"I noticed that, but I wasn't going to say anything," Peach admitted. "What happened to it?"

"Fell down a storm drain in Big Ape City, but it's how I found these two." She pointed to Ludwig and Wendy. "So what's a few tears at the hem?"

Mario saw Ludwig staring at a point near the plumber. A small turn of the head revealed he and Bowser Jr. had locked eyes across the clearing. Despite the conversations around them, the heavy silence between the eldest and youngest princes was deafening. Mario put his hand on Junior's shoulder, startling the Dragon-Koopa.

"Sorry," Mario apologized. "You ready to talk to him?" he asked.

Bowser Jr. looked at the ground. "I… I wanna. But I dunno what we'd even say."

Mario gave him a small push forward. "Then don't talk. Just be together. Whatever it takes to make up for lost time."

Junior finally looked at Mario and nodded. He marched across the way to Ludwig, Mario walking beside him.

"Bowser," Ludwig began, "I—"

Bowser Jr. did not stop walking until his snout touched Ludwig's chest. He wrapped his arms as far as they would go around his estranged brother. "I missed you, Luddy." Small sobs escaped the smaller Koopa. "I miss you, Luddy," he corrected himself.

Ludwig frowned. How much of this is the Umbra and how much of it is my own conditioning? He shook his head and hugged Bowser Jr. back, tears pricking his own eyes. "I miss you too, little brother. Stars, all these years I stole from us."

Mario looked down at Ludwig's raging shadow. "I thought it was the Umbra that stole them."

"It may have influenced my thoughts, but my actions are mine and mine alone," Ludwig affirmed. "I refuse to give that abomination any credit."

"Well I don't care who I'm supposed to blame," Junior sniffled. "I just want you back."

"You will have me back, Bowser," Ludwig shushed him. "I will more than make up for the lost time." Don't make promises you can't keep, brat. The scales on Ludwig's back bristled.

Bowser Jr. felt his alarm. "Did he say something?"

"Yeah… I heard that too," Wendy said, walking up.

"So did I," Larry added alongside her.

"I think we all did," Lemmy guessed.

Everyone looked up to see all the Koopalings' attention was on Ludwig and Junior.

"So that was a challenge, right?" Roy said. "Well we ain't afraid of him anymore! We know what he is, and we can beat him."

"The only issue is how," Ludwig pointed out. "The Umbra will not make this easy."

"And the more we talk about it, the more of our healing item stash I use up," Iggy complained, massaging his sweating forehead.

The others looked at him in surprise, other than Lemmy and Morton.

"Wait, you got healing items?" Roy asked. "I thought those weird Bullet Bills dusted 'em all."

"You can thank Flurrie for that," Goombella explained. "She blew all that yellow smoke away from Keelhaul Key because she was shooting a film there, so everything survived."

"Flurrie?" Wendy repeated, then turned and saw the wind spirit. "Oh my gosh, how did I not see you?!"

Flurrie chuckled, "Oh, don't fret, dear. You're the stars of this adventure. Let's not lose our focus."

"Can we lose our focus just a little so I can tell Roy that the Great Gonzales Jr. is in our presence?" Morton asked wearing his biggest smile yet.

"Say what?!" Roy's eye darted around the clearing before settling on the Mini-Yoshi. "Why didn't ya tell me that from the get-go, lardmouth?" He pulled Morton into a headlock and gave him a long overdue noogie.

"Because telling you how much I missed you and worried about you was super duper extra way more important, lugfist!" Morton teased back. "And he already knows we're big fans because Lemmy told him when he met him, so nyeh!"

Laughter resounded from the Koopalings at the display between the two musclebound brothers.

Unfortunately, Blue Koopa interrupted the moment. "Uhh, guys? Your shadows."

All the Dragon-Koopas looked down in panic, paused, then looked back at her.

"What about them?" Larry asked. "They're not doing anything."

All of them straightened their stances after he said that.

"Exactly," Blue explained. "With this wholesome family moment, don't you think he'd be throwing a tantrum right now?"

"An impotent one, to say the least," Bobbery noted.

Iggy scratched his head. "The headache's not as strong, either. What's happening?"

Kraig's eyes widened. "Wait!" he exclaimed, prompting everyone to look at the doctor. "Can it really be that simple?"

"What's simple, Doc?" Blue asked him.

"Who was it that compared the Umbra to PTSD?"

"That was Pom Pom," Wendy answered. "Where are you going with this?"

Kraig nodded. "Blue, Pauline, do you remember the mental health seminars the hospital sponsored for companies like yours?"

"Vaguely," Blue answered while Pauline nodded.

"One of the main points was that depression's biggest adversary is not happiness," Kraig explained, "it's warmth. The joy one feels just by being with and supported by beloved companions."

"You don't mean to suggest the Umbra might work similarly?" Ms. Mowz asked.

"Yeah and if Iggs isn't getting a headache, then we're probably way off the mark there," Gonzales Jr. pointed out.

Iggy held up a finger. "No no no, it's still there!" he corrected her. "I can feel him trying his hardest to make it really hurt. I don't know how I can tell that, but it's just really obvious in here." He pointed at his head.

"So just being together and loving on each other is enough to make him lose his hold on us?" Lemmy asked, beaming.

The other Koopalings laughed.

"That is such a Lemmy solution." Ludwig shook his head.

Iggy hugged him. "The real Lemmy."

"So that's how Mama helped Papa fight it off!" Junior exclaimed. "He was just so happy with her! But then…" He looked down.

"No." Ludwig knelt and cupped the youngest's face and looked him in the eye, piercing blues meeting red-orange lava pools. "Don't you dare go blaming yourself for the Umbra's resurgence."

"Genius is right, Squirt." Roy put a hand on his little brother's head. "All that means is we gotta start lovin' on Pop just like we do each other. Do what Mom did."

"Yeah," Larry hugged him. "I wouldn't be surprised if the Dumbra wanted her dead before passing his hatred on to you."

Iggy gasped suddenly. "He did!"

Lemmy turned to him. "Did he just try to up your headache again?"

Iggy nodded. "Yup. Still not working, but points for trying."

Wendy sneered. "No, don't give him points! Points are too good for him!"

"I totally agree with you Wendy," Morton started.

"Oh, here we go," Goombella sighed.

"But there's something that I'm worried about now. Why would the Umbra try upping the power of Iggy's headache just for guessing that he just wanted Mom dead? If he wasn't somehow involved. Because that's the next logical step to wanting someone dead. But if he never took that step, then he wouldn't worry about us identifying his motive if he didn't actually have anything to do with it. But if he did, then he wants to keep us from finding out because then we'd realize that while Mom died laying Bowser's egg, she didn't die because of it. This motivating Bowser to isolate himself out of guilt and make him easy to pick off. Iggy, how'd I do?"

Iggy wiped a little sweat from his forehead. "Right on the money, Morton. I'm actually starting to feel something."

"SO I DIDN'T KILL MAMA?!"

Ludwig couldn't help himself. He wrapped his arms fully around the little Dragon-Koopa. "You didn't! You don't have to feel bad anymore, my cherished baby brother! Oh thank the Stars, thank the Stars!"

"And he had us all thinking you did!" Larry clenched his fists. "Oh, he is so gonna get it!"

Iggy cursed and held his head. "I think he's gonna make sure we can't hold back." He squeezed his eyes shut, tears forming.

Bowser Jr. wrestled free from Ludwig's grip. "We're not gonna have to kill Papa, are we?"

Gasps and murmurs went around the entire gathering. Mario, Luigi, and Peach exchanged looks of concern.

Iggy nodded. "We might have to."

"Iggy, no!" Lemmy argued. "We'll fight and win and still have King Dad, you'll see!"

Iggy gulped. "I sure hope so. But with all the Umbra's cards now on the table, it's now or never for him to get what he wants." He looked at Junior. "Whatever it takes."

Wendy stepped between them. "Well he's gonna have to go through us first."

"All of us!" Toad volunteered, resulting in a triumphant cry from the other allies the royal Koopas had made that day.

"It's gonna hurt. A lot." Roy sighed. "But if he even looks like he's about ta make a move on Squirt, I swear ta the Stars…" He pounded his fists together. "He'll be dead before he hits the ground."

Ludwig brandished his wand, eyes narrowed. "Agreed. We'll take whatever he throws at us and send it back tenfold."

Suddenly, something struck the back of his head and fell to the ground. He growled and turned around, looking at the ground where the object lay. His breath caught in his throat as he dropped his wand.

"What happened?" Junior asked.

Roy and Lemmy stepped beside Ludwig and looked down. Their eyes widened and they looked at each other.

"Kamek's book of forbidden spells."

A shadow passed over the Koopalings, who looked up to see Mario leaping over them, Super Hammer at the ready as a very familiar laugh echoed through the clearing.

All eyes fixed on the imposing figure in front of them.

"Come on, kids, is that any way to talk about your dear old dad?"

Siph: Man, J missed the whole chapter! Things are about to get UGLY. But it's so cool that the Koopalings all figured out what happened with the Umbra killing Clawdia, and also how they can fight it like she did. Eat the power of love, loser! And wow, J really captured what four whole years of being shoved away by Ludwig did to poor Junior, all in just two sentences. Heck, it's the same sentence, just two different tenses. J better be proud of that one.

*wanders off* NOW WHERE ARE YOU, J?! Oh hey, a coin! *picks it up* Oh wait, it's not a coin. It's just a thing with the Koopa Kid Space from Mario Party 7 on it.

Wait.

OH NO! THEY GOT HIM!

*zips away, comes back holding a yellow flashlight* Okay, uh, please read and review. I need to go rescue my dad.

HI-HO, FLASHLIGHT! AWAY!