"OW! Careful!" Larry jolted back as he felt a sharp pain on his head. Kammy had applied alcohol to the cut and was grabbing a padded bandage to cover the cut. Larry always hated the hospital wing, he's never had good experiences being here. He has been whining and complaining ever since he awoke here and wanted to leave already, but Kammy in her strict nature, disallowed him from physical activity for the next few days.
"Now Lawrence, you've been out for a while, it's in your best interest to get some well earned rest." Kammy said as she stuck the cotton bandage on the side of his head, Larry winced before scoffing, "Haven't I already gotten enough of that while I was knocked out?" Kammy grabs an ice pack and wraps it in a paper towel, "Lawrence, you know that's not going to slide by me."
Kammy sets the ice pack on the bruise on the other side of his head, causing Larry to flinch, "Now, I want you to hold this ice pack on for the next two days." Larry started to whine, "Two days!? Oh come on!" Through her glasses, Kammy spoke sternly, "Lawrence, whining is not going to work either. Now, I want you to keep this ice pack with you. When it warms up, bring it back here and I'll give you another one."
"Yes… Kammy…" Larry said through gritted teeth as he looked down at his feet hanging off the dark blue examination table. Larry placed his hand on the ice pack as Kammy let go of it, "Alright, run along young man." Larry couldn't get off the table fast enough, and on his way out, he thanked her albeit, a very forceful one, "Remember, take it easy." Larry's face turned a slight shade of red, "She says after telling me to 'run along', very funny old timer."
Larry trekked down the castle halls for several minutes while reluctantly holding up the ice pack to his head. He wanted to get his mind off his injuries, but the pain from his bruise was making it difficult to do so. Eventually, he passed the entrance to the landing dock, where he noticed the weather outside.
He stopped and looked outside as he leaned on the doorway. For World 8, it was a surprisingly clear day, not that Larry complained, he more than welcomed the idea of nicer weather. Larry had always appreciated the blue sky and how his hair, eyes, and shell matched the shade nicely. If one were to zoom into the sky, you wouldn't be able to guess that this patch of sky was in World 8 of all places.
Larry's trance was interrupted when he heard a gruff voice behind him, "Well well well, look who finally woke up from the Mario bros' induced slumber." Larry turns around to find Roy standing smugly behind him. Larry rolled his eyes, "And our ego filled weightlifter makes his appearance." Roy, while beaten and bruised like Larry, seemed completely unfazed by the very obvious amount of pain these injuries would seem be, "First thing ya do after leaving the old coot's wing is coming here. Waiting for the little squirt to come back crying from his booboos are we?"
Larry placed his free hand on his hip and gave Roy an annoyed look, "I'll have you know, Roy, I was admiring the nice weather today." Roy scoffed, "Yeah, sure. So, how good was the sale for your new accessory?" Roy said as he smugly gestured to Larry's ice pack. Larry sarcastically replied, "Good enough that all the cool kids in town have one. Where's yours?" Roy pointed a thumb behind him, "Ya mean the one I grinded up for my snow cone machine?" Larry was caught off guard by that, "Dude, eww…"
Brushing that off, Larry then got smug as he pointed at his ice pack, "Are you finally admitting that you're not COOL?" Roy raised his fist slightly, "Watch it twerp, or else that pack aint the only thing you'll be wearing by the end of today." Larry narrows his eyes at him, "Would you like to have another talk with my wand before you give me my new look?" Roy stomped his foot forward a little, "You aint off the hook for that!"
"Neither are you, Roy! I'm sick and tired of you giving Lemmy a hard time whenever you see him!" Roy scoffed, "And what exactly is the problem with that? Besides, what are ya gonna do about it? Make me have a word with your wand and get in trouble with Pops again? Is that really worth it?" Larry points his thumb into his chest, "If it means taking you down with me, you bet your butt it is! You'll get yours someday Roy! Just you wait!" Roy snorted with a smug manner, "Ha, I look forward to it." Larry scoffed, "Hmph, like you'll even remember it. With your head being so full of muscles, I bet they leave no room for your brain."
Roy clenched his fist and gritted his teeth, "What's that supposed to mean!?" Larry raised his arm out in front of him, "See? You're so dumb that you don't know what it means!" Roy then grabs Larry's arm tightly, "Wanna repeat that? I'm more than happy to make the wing your new home!" Seeing red once again, Larry whips out his wand while letting his ice pack drop to the floor in the process, "Not if I make it yours first!" Roy raised his fist while Larry started waving his wand, both were ready to make it hurt.
"Enough!" Both of them stopped and looked to find Kamek arriving back via clown car, "You boys are to behave nicely. Anything physical will see Lord Bowser punishing you both accordingly." Larry and Roy both looked at each other for a moment before Roy begrudgingly released Larry and crossed his arms and Larry stashing away his gradually dimming wand while diverting his eyes away from Roy, both were still heated.
"Sheesh, if you two ruled your own kingdoms, I bet you would be in a constant feud more fiercely then with the Mushroom Kingdom." Wendy said as she arrived behind Kamek. She, like Larry, was bruised up and had a few cuts, but unlike Larry, she wasn't knocked out cold and had fewer injuries. Either way, it looked like her next stop was Kammy's hospital wing. She scoffed, "Hmph, I almost had Mario. I'll really give him a good ringing next time!" Larry picked his ice pack off the floor while she was saying that, "You said that last time Wendy." Wendy places her hands on her hips, "And I will keep saying it until it happens."
"I guess that means Lemmy had to fight Luigi. I hope he wasn't hurt too badly." As if on cue when Larry thought about it, Lemmy arrives in tow. When Larry saw him, he gasped and recoiled with shock. The front of Lemmy's body was almost entirely covered in black dirty soot. Larry ran up to him, "Lemmy! What happened to you!?" Lemmy responded through gritted teeth, "Bomb…" Larry stood there dumbfounded, "B… Bomb?"
"Yes…" Lemmy said once again through gritted teeth. Larry was confused by what he meant, "Uh… what do you mean by 'bomb'?" Lemmy then snapped, "I mean my bouncy bombs, Larry! I had an accident with them!" Larry held up his hands a little, "Woah woah, sorry! I just… are you hurt?" Lemmy sighed and calmed down, "Sorry Larry, I didn't mean to snap at you." He turned his eyes away from him and towards the ground in what looked like embarrassment, "I'm okay, it's just… My battle with Luigi was really short."
"Did he… do the three jumps on your head that quickly?" Larry asked with a worried look. Lemmy shook his head, "He didn't have to. I already lost before he had the chance to do even one." Larry didn't like the sound of that, "What happened, Lemmy?" Lemmy still refused to make eye contact with him, but still answered, "I was casting my first few bouncy bombs at him and he dodged them like normal. But then I thought I'd summon one more to catch him off guard. While I did spook Luigi a little bit, it… backfired." Larry scratched his head awkwardly, avoiding the patched up cut while doing so, "Dare I ask, how?"
Lemmy sighed, "When I startled him, he accidentally kicked the bouncy bomb and… well…" Lemmy finally looked back up at Larry, "Guess where it landed?" Larry's eyes widened a little when he put together what happened, "Oh…" Lemmy however, was not finished, "The explosion knocked me off my ball and I guess I hit my head and blacked out. I came to later with a small headache and covered in soot. The room was empty and the exit door was open, so..."
Larry was at a loss for words, and during his silence, Roy finally spoke since they arrived, "Jeez, and I thought you couldn't be any more pathetic." Before Larry could respond with another wand bashing, Lemmy beat him to it, "Honestly, I agree with you Roy." His response caught both Larry and Roy off guard, but Lemmy didn't seem to care. Lemmy clenched his fists in frustration, "I can't believe that happened! Sure, I wasn't injured. But I lost in the most embarrassing way possible!"
Larry looked down at his brother with empathy, "Wow, you're really upset about it, aren't you?" Lemmy groaned as he bitterly crossed his arms and looked down and away, "I'm just glad no one else saw that." Larry felt really bad for him, it was totally unlike Lemmy to be mad like this, so he knew just how bad it was, "Are you going to be okay?"
Lemmy's tone softened as he looked back up at Larry, "I don't need to go to the hospital wing this time." Lemmy then smirked, "No point in getting a bandage over some soot." Larry smiled, feeling relieved, "At least you're okay." Lemmy smiled back at him.
"Alright, I'm going to go and shower." Lemmy placed a thoughtful hand on his chin, "I wonder how difficult it is to clean off soot?" Everyone silently looked at each other waiting for an answer until Lemmy just shrugged, "I'm going to be in there for a while anyway, so I'll soon find out."
Lemmy walked in through the door with Larry in tow. As they passed Roy, he ruffled Lemmy's hair and shoved him forward. Lemmy stumbled a bit, but didn't fall. Before Larry could react, Lemmy snickered. Larry looked at him all confused until he pointed at Roy, "Have fun getting the soot off your hand!" Roy's grin was wiped off his smug face as he looked down at his hand, now completely black. "Didn't think that one through, did you big guy?" Wendy said as she walked past him inside.
Upon returning to their room, Larry climbed onto his bed to relax, "Maybe watching some TV would get my mind off…" he winced, "… this stupid bruise." Lemmy stopped outside of their bathroom and looked at Larry, "You took a beating didn't you?" Larry nodded, "Double yes." Lemmy then remembered what happened in the throne room the other day, "Oh right, you had to fight both of them." Larry shrugged, "Yeah, I was knocked out cold, but since I dragged Roy down with me, I'd say it was worth it."
Lemmy then smirked, "By the way, don't forget to keep your ice pack on that bruise." Larry whined a little, "Aw come on, not you too!" Lemmy gave him a stern, yet playful look, "Larry... Ice pack!" Larry grumbled as he set the ice pack back on his bruise, wincing in the process, "Fine, but I'm only doing this for you." Lemmy smiled, "At a boy. Now, I'm going to see how long it'll take to wash all this soot off." Lemmy said before closing the bathroom door behind him.
Once he was inside, he got on a stepping stool to look at himself in the mirror. Lemmy smiled before pumping his fist, "YES! It worked!" Lemmy was so overjoyed and relieved that his plan had worked.
He was so worried about the others getting suspicious about his lack of injuries, that he attempted to bluff his way through, and it worked so well that even Larry fell for it. He felt incredibly relieved that he managed to hide what really happened in that tower. For comforting him, he repaid Luigi by letting him through without a fight and got away with it.
Well, not entirely, as he would quickly find out just how hard it was to wash that soot off. "Okay, maybe I should've tried something else." But oh well, he might as well spend a long time in there. After nearly an hour, Lemmy had finally managed to get himself cleaned up and soot free. After drying off, he finally left the bathroom as clean as a whistle. He noticed that Larry had left the room and was now by himself. "Huh, I guess Larry got bored." Lemmy shrugged, he needed some quiet time after what happened earlier.
Lemmy climbed onto his bed and leaned back on the wooden wall where his pillow is. He gazed around the bedroom, tv was off, balcony door was closed, it was silent. Lemmy was alone, all that accompanied him was his thoughts.
He still couldn't believe it, Luigi supports him in his long running troubles. On the one hand, he was not sure how to feel about the enemy having his back. But on the other hand, knowing that more than just Larry supports him was incredibly relieving to him, he's really happy that there was finally some kind of change after years of being stuck. There was one thing he knows for sure, and it's that absolutely nobody can ever know about what really happened in that tower. Lemmy was certain that he would land in massive trouble if word got back to his father and he didn't want to find out what kind of punishment he would get. Especially the fact he let Luigi through without a fight would be something he would tightly keep under wraps.
Lemmy then thought back to Luigi's advice, talking to people who know about his problems and do it often. Not including Luigi, there's only one other person who knows, and it's Larry. Unsurprisingly so, considering it would be impossible to hide it from him, especially since they have shared a bedroom for his whole life and with how close they are.
Even so, Lemmy was not entirely sure about this, if he starts talking to Larry about his issues with the Koopa Troop and the kidnapping missions all of a sudden, he would almost certainly catch on that something was up. Larry may be very young, but he's also very crafty.
This fact reminded Lemmy of when they were younger, Larry had always been really good at eye spy and their play detective games. Even back when Larry was five, Lemmy could not beat him. He smiled at the memories, "Heh, Double-O Larry." He giggled at the nickname his brother had whenever they played those games together.
Larry was so sweet and innocent back then, Lemmy remembered just how much time they spent together, truly inseparable. They did everything together and most of his fun memories were with him. Lemmy has never known a bond stronger than theirs. Not bonds he has or any other bond between two people for that matter.
While snarky and a bit competitive now along with being shy and a little timid, Larry was still a really kind and a stand up kid that Lemmy can always rely on. Anyone who laid a finger on Lemmy should expect a "word" from Larry. While Lemmy could not be happier to have him, he couldn't help but wince when recalling what happened a few days ago when Larry whacked Roy with his wand. It's times like these where Lemmy felt like Larry might be a little too protective. He was hoping their conversation afterward knocked him into place for at least a little while.
Turning his thoughts back to Luigi's advice, he knew that if he was going to be talking to Larry about this more often, he would have to tell him about what really happened between him and Luigi. There was absolutely no way Lemmy would start talking to him about this without a good reason. Since Larry would absolutely catch on to his change in behavior, Lemmy had decided that he would tell Larry when he gets the chance too. Since he already knows how Lemmy felt about his role in the Koopa Troop and the possible repercussions he would face if outed, Lemmy was confident that Larry would keep his conversation with Luigi a tightly kept secret.
After all, why wouldn't he? Larry would do anything he can to keep Lemmy away from harm or trouble. While he doesn't know how Larry would take it, he knows that he would definitely keep it a secret, because they both know that if revealed to anyone that would alert Bowser, there is a possibility that there would major consequences for Lemmy. This fact alone would absolutely scare Larry into keeping quiet. He wanted to make it known to his father on how much it takes a toll on him, and if he was going to tell him, it's on Lemmy's own terms and his terms only.
Relaxing against the wooden wall of his orange bed, Lemmy let his mind wander, and eventually, his thoughts drift back to a time when Larry showed one of those brave moments. Albeit, it was a long time ago, back when Larry was an adorable little toddler and the situation was not at all dangerous, just childish fantasies that created good memories. Thinking back on that memory, Lemmy closed his eyes and smiled as he reminisced on that night.
In case you are curious about what that ending meant, it's time I reveal that there are going to be flashback or memory chapters that pop up every now and then! And the first one is coming up next! Most of them I plan to be happy moments between Lemmy and Larry when they were much younger, to serve as some cute moments, as you'll soon see. I already had the first one done for months and was looking for a good time to drop it in, I'll be posting it tomorrow because right now, I need to go to sleep, NOW. (That and to also comb through it to make any edits if need be.)
Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow with the first flashback!