Yes, I know that I'm late. Last week was insane for me, so here we are now.
James Birdsong: Thank you!
Thank you too Shroom Of Doom for following and favouriting this story, and for following and favouriting me!
Chapter 5: Betrayal?
Within the The Dark Lands, inside Bowser's Castle, the great King Bowser Koopa sat on his throne. Kamek stood to his right, perpetually frowning face looking even more irritated than usual. To Bowser's left, Bowser Jr. sat on a much smaller throne. Before them, Bowser's adopted children, the Koopalings (1), stood in a line, nervously shifting around.
Well, all of the Koopalings except Larry, that is, which is the reason the Koopalings were gathered there that day.
"So, let me get this straight," Bowser grumbled. "The last time any of you saw Larry, was over three days ago?"
Ludwig, the oldest Koopaling, stepped forward. "Zat is correct, sir" he spoke.
"And for whatever reason, not one of you thought to mention this?"
"Ah come on, This is Larry we're talkin' about" Roy said. "I thought that he was probably just hiding out somewhere, planin' one of his stupid pranks."
"For three days straight" Kamek asked incredulously. He then paused. "Actually, I could see him doing that."
"Well then, how do we actually know that Larry's gone" Lemmy asked, an optimistic look on his face.
Roy shook his head. "Larry hasn't been ta supper the past few nights. There's no way he would skip supper, that boy does nothin' but eat."
Iggy laughed at that.
"So then, This goes back to none of you thinking it important to tell your King that Larry is missing" Bowser growled, a furious look in his gaze.
Lemmy gulped.
"It wasn't really our fault, you know" Wendy said, seemingly much more interested in checking her nails than in the conversation taking place. "We can't keep track of everyone all the time."
"ONE OF YOU COULD HAVE NOTICED!" Bowser Bellowed.
"Yeah, vell, vhere vere you, zen. To busy planing your next princess kidnaping scheme to notice one of your children vas missing" Ludwig shot back.
"That's a good point, your unmindfulness. You were at dinner with your children every night."
"I was preoccupied with important business!" Bowser shouted.
"Yeah, figuring out how to propose to your girlfriend this time" Iggy snickered.
Bowser turned back, glowering.
"Do any of you have something useful to say on this matter" Bowser asked.
The koopalings glanced around, shrugging. Suddenly, Morton gasped.
"THREE DAYS" He said loudly. "MORTON SEE LARRY LEAVE CASTLE THREE DAYS AGO!" Apparently, he had been struggling to remember this fact for the entire conversation.
"Yes Morton, ve already know zat Larry disappeared three days ago" Ludwig sighed. He suddenly perked up. "Vait, did you say zat you saw him leave?"
Morton nodded eagerly.
Kamek frowned. "Alright all of you, think, where was the last place you saw Larry that day" He said.
"LEAVING" Morton said proudly.
Kamek sighed. "Yes, thank you, Morton. Anybody else?"
"I remember him being in quite a hurry zat day. He ran past me in zee hall, I told him to slow down" Ludwig said.
"Hey, same" Wendy said, finally looking up.
"I saw him, ah, what was he doing… I don't remember…" Lemmy trailed off awkwardly. "But I'm pretty sure I saw him."
"He was at breakfast" Iggy spoke up. "He had eaten the last of my cereal, so I had to just have milk on its own, no cereal."
"Why didn't you just eat something else?" Kamek asked.
Iggy stared blankly at Kamek.
"I don't remember seein' him much that day. I think he was headin' ta train his troops, but it feels like that was all he's been doin' recently" Said Roy.
Ludwig frowned. "Yes, he has been training his troops a lot recently…"
Kamek turned to look at Bowser Jr. "When did you see him last, Young Master."
"Pfff, how should I know where Larry was" Boswer Jr scoffed. "I don't remember when I saw him last. Why would I remember that?"
"Young Master, please try to think."
"Well, I don't know" Jr. continued. "He was acting weird that day, I remember that."
"Yes, he vas acting veird" Ludwig said thoughtfully. "Come to zink of it, he has been acting veird for a couple of veeks now."
"So," Kamek began, "Iggy saw him at breakfast, two of you past him in the hall, Roy thinks he was going to train his troops, and Morton saw him leave. The other two of you can't remember anything."
The Koopalings nodded, some more sheepish than others.
"I can't believe Morton knew the most" Kamek muttered under his breath.
"Alright, that's enough of this for now, you are all dismissed" Bowser said. "You too, Jr." He added.
Bowser Jr. groaned, but slid off of his chair and angrily stomped to join the Koopalings who were filing out the door to the throne room.
"Kamek, go to your magic workshop or whatever it is, see if you can track Larry using magic" Bowser said as the door swung shut.
As he and his siblings walked back down the hall, Ludwig's mind raced. He was the eldest Koopaling, arguably the smartest Koopaling (though Iggy would debate that); how had he not realized Larry was gone sooner. Being gone for a few days wasn't that unusual for a Koopaling, they often had to carry out odd jobs for various reasons, but the fact that no one new where he had gone, that was strange, to say the least.
And there was more to it than that. Larry had been acting weird for days, weeks even. Always going to train his troops, or work on some sorts of projects. That wasn't like him at all! Larry didn't work on any projects that weren't related to video games, cooking, or pranks, and the others would have known by now if that was what he had been doing. And training his troops! Larry never wanted to train his troops, not for this long, at least. What was going on?
Ludwig stopped in the hall way, and turned around, deciding to head back to the throne room. He was sure that there was something strange going on here, stranger than just Larry vanishing for a couple days. And if he told Bowser and Kamek just how weird Larry had been acting, maybe that could help them figure out where he could have gone… besides, he had to do something to help. He couldn't just sit there.
"Hey, Ludwig, where are you going" Lemmy called. "King Dad told us to leave, remember?"
"I just need to tell him somezing" Ludwig said. "You go on, now."
Ludwig pushed the throne room doors open, and walked in. Bowser glanced up from where he sat on his throne.
"Ludwig, I told you to leave" he glared.
"Yes, I know, but-"
The doors on the left side of the room, which led deeper into the castle, suddenly slammed open and Kamek ran through.
"Lord Bowser, you need to see this!" he cried.
Bowser stood up and ran towards the door that Kamek was already running back through.
"Go to you room" He barked at Ludwig.
Ludwig did not go to his room, and instead took off after Bowser.
Bowser, Ludwig, and Kamek ran down several hallways, until they reached Kamek's magic study. Inside, a crystal ball sat on the table, and over top of it, was a shimmering vision of Larry.
"Oh good, you found him" Bowser said.
"No." The three jumped and turned towards the shimmering form of Larry, who was smirking at them. "I called him myself."
"What, what on earth…" Bowser trailed off.
"You see, I wanted to talk to you, but it seems that you can't think of anything better to say than 'what'" Larry mocked.
"You- you- " Bowser shook his head to clear his mind, and then looked back up fuming. "Listen here you disrespectful little brat! No body talks to the Koopa King that way! When you get home you're going to be in for the biggest punishment of your life!"
Larry yawned. "It's a good thing I won't be coming home then."
There was silence for a few seconds after that. Ludwig looked closer at the shimmering form of his brother. Maybe it was just the lights, but he looked… different, somehow. His eyes seemed glazed off a distant, and though he spoke in a calm tone, his outward appearance looked dissolved and haggard.
"That's what I called to tell you" Larry was saying. "I will not be returning to the castle any time soon."
"You can't be serious, Master Larry" Kamek finally spoke up. "Now, whatever it is you have done I'm sure that it-"
"Whatever I'm doing, Kamek" Larry cut in. "I still have plenty of work to do with the plan."
"What Plan?!" Bowser demanded. "What are you doing?!"
"I'm afraid I can't say, but you'll see soon enough. Until then, Bowser."
"Hey, I'm your dad and the King! Show some respect!"
"Larry," Ludwig said, finally speaking for the first time since entering the room. "Vat are you doing, vy did you leave?" He hesitated for a moment, then added "Ve are vorried about you."
Larry turned to smile at him coldly. "Don't worry about us, Ludwig. We are in a much better place now."
Then, the image of Larry vanished from view.
There was silence for a solid minute.
Finally, Bowser turned. "Kamek, figure out where he is. Use your magic to pinpoint his location or whatever. You," he turned to Ludwig, "Not one word about this to the others, got it. I don't need more panicking children for no reason."
"Sir, let me help" Ludwig said. "I'm sure I can help find Larry."
"We'll see" Bowser said after a long moment. "Now, to your room."
Deciding not to push his luck, Ludwig turned a began the track back to his room. As he walked, his mind reeled with what happened, replaying the conversation over and over in his head. He could not figure out what was going on; why did Larry leave, what was he doing, where did he go?
Ludwig felt inexplicably certain of one thing though: whatever they had just talked to was not Larry. Not truly him, at least.
(1): I know that the Koopalings are apparently not Bowser's children, but I have always head cannoned them to be his adopted children, so that is what we are going with in this fic.
So, a few quick things. First, I want to note that Ludwig's accent is based on how I've read it in other stories. Please correct me if it becomes inconsistent. Second, if Larry seems OOC in this chapter, don't worry, that's intentional. You'll see why later.
Until next time!
