Chapter 26 Ring MIA

Within the next half hour, all the present Koopalings were in front of Benson's house, just like Lemmy had been not too long ago. They got right to work scouring the ground. Even those who were usually averse to getting dirty, like Wendy and Ludwig, helped out with the search. The search of the front yard was underway, and Lemmy hoped beyond hope that they would find the ring.

Of course, right now it was very difficult to hold onto hope. The ground outside of Benson's house was more or less spotless; dirty and ashy, yet spotless. A few hours crawled by, and Lemmy felt tears grow in his eyes the longer he searched through this spotless yard. After all, a golden star bit ring would probably stick out like a sore thumb amidst the obsidian. Sure, there was the argument to be made that it probably got dirty, thus making it more difficult to spot, but…

Lemmy couldn't help but sigh. This whole thing was just horrible. He had put in so much effort into solving the case the night before, and yet, he might as well have been sitting in a chair back in Bowser's Castle with how stuck and clueless he was. Ignoring the fact that the search itself had made him go off the deep end, there was still such a large gap between Lemmy and the answer to all his questions. It was depressing.

"We're not gonna find it," Lemmy said. He lifted himself into a kneeling position. "This is hopeless."

"Damn, who are you and what have you done with my brother?" Ludwig asked. "Lemmy, we'll find it; we just need to search harder."

"We've already been searching for hours!" Lemmy exclaimed. He bit his lip. "If it's not here, then it's probably not anywhere."

"Or we just haven't spotted it yet," said Wendy. She gave him a smile. "It'll be fine."

"Yes, very much so," said Iggy as he too got into a kneeling position. "Besides, we're a stubborn family. If we want to find something, we won't stop until we've acquired and…" he stopped, turning as his face fell into a scowl. "Uh, Lawrence, may I ask what you are doing?"

Lemmy looked over at Larry. The youngest Koopaling was waving his behind in the air, and one look upward told Lemmy of the reason why. Above Benson's door was a security camera, looking straight at Larry. To say he would be taking advantage of an opportunity would be a gross understatement.

"Nya nya nya nya nya!" Larry stopped waving his butt in the camera and blew a raspberry at it. "I hope you tools are entertained, cause I sure am!" He gave the camera the middle finger, waving his hands around in the most obnoxious way possible.

All the other Koopalings exchanged incredulous looks before getting up and going over to their brother. "Larry, is that really necessary?" Morton asked, being the first one to talk.

"Of course it is!" Larry turned around and started patting his butt in a rhythm.

"Larry…" Iggy grabbed Larry by the arm, pulling him away. "You need to stop."

"Aww!" Larry groaned. "Whhyyy?"

"Well, for one thing, you're making a fool of yourself." Larry gave Iggy a glare, but the scientist didn't even flinch. "On top of which, we need you to aid us in the search."

Larry groaned again, this one more drawn out than the one that came before. "But we've been searching forever! We've already covered every inch of the yard!" Larry groaned and gave all of his siblings a scowl. "We're not gonna find it! We're just not! It's not here, and the faster we realize that, the faster we can…"

Larry didn't finish his sentence, as Lemmy burst into tears. Everyone turned to him as he wiped at his face, as he sobbed in the most dejected way possible.

"We… if we… we can't… I don't…" It was hard for words to come out of his mouth. The only thing more concerning than the syllable spaghetti was the fact that his tears made it much wetter than it would otherwise be.

Ludwig sighed and flashed Larry a look. "Nice going, bro. Nice going." He walked over to Lemmy and put his hand on his shoulder. "Lemmy, calm down. It's going to be okay."

"No, it's not!" Lemmy wiped at his face. "Larry's right! If we haven't found the ring yet, then we're not going to! We've already searched anywhere it could possibly be!"

Now the Koopalings had furrowed brows (with the exception of Iggy, as he gave Larry another glare). They didn't say anything for a while, probably because they realized Lemmy was right. They were running around in circles. They were on a wild goose chase. They might as well go back to the castle and tell Roy and Celia that the ring was gone forever. Oh, that would be heartbreaking news to wake up to…

"Come on, Lems, it's going to be okay." Ludwig smiled. "It'll work out in the end."

"You don't know that!"

"No, but things usually do work out for us in the end!" said Wendy. "Every time we've been put through the wringer, we always come back out on the other side. Why would that be different now?"

"Precisely!" said Iggy. "Besides, even if we do not locate the ring, that doesn't mean that everything is for naught! We can still solve the case! I'm sure once Celia wakes up, she'll be able to give us some information that can give us vital clues."

"Yeah, there's no reason to worry, Lemmy," said Morton. He elbowed Larry, prompting him to clear his throat.

"They're right. I was just being overly negative, and I'm sorry about that."

Lemmy sniffled and dried his eyes. "Thanks, guys. That's really sweet." Unfortunately, he didn't know if those words were the encouragement he needed. He still felt stuck, like he was backed into a corner. He still had no idea where the ring was, or if it was even possible to find it.

But even with that said, he couldn't give up. The others were right; they could still solve the mystery. Even if they didn't find the ring, they would still be able to piece everything together.

Of course, finding the ring would be really good right about now…

"Let's get back to searching."

The others nodded and got right back to doing that. They searched for another hour, being extra thorough this time. This would've been good, but there was one problem. One big, blazing problem.

The sun. It kept climbing higher in the sky, and the higher it got, the hotter it became. Lemmy felt like he was marinating in his own sweat. He must've wiped his brow at least five different times, with each time revealing that he was only getting wetter. Not only that but since the temperature was rising, it felt as though the Koopa Kingdom had turned into an oven. This wasn't necessarily a problem, as koopas had better heat resistance than most, but it was still FAR from pleasant. And to make matters worse, the Koopalings didn't have immediate access to a source of water.

As such, at around noon time, they were forced to stop. They all stood, panting, in front of Benson's house, all while they tried to decide on their next move.

"Maybe we should head to a restaurant," Iggy suggested. "None of us have eaten today, so getting food and water there would be a good way to let off some steam."

"I think you're right; it could relieve some of our stress," said Wendy.

"Ooh, you know what else could relieve some of our stress?" asked Larry. "Ice cream! We could get some after we all get rehydrated!"

Lemmy immediately perked up (it's almost impossible not to when ice cream is mentioned). "Ooh! Yeah, that would be perfect!"

"I second that motion," said Ludwig.

"So do we," said Morton and Wendy.

Iggy grinned. "It's unanimous then!" He started walking away from the house. "Come on, guys!"

"Mmm." Holy moly, caramel ice creams sundaes were amazing. Lemmy liked them even more than hot fudge sundaes. Sure, those were good too, but caramel really hit the spot. Sometimes, there's nothing better for a stressed mind than pure sugar.

"Well," Iggy said as he licked at his pistachio cone. "Is everyone feeling better?"

"You bet!" said Morton. He chuckled. "Maybe I should learn how to make homemade ice cream. I'm sure we'd all like that."

"Homemade ice cream?" Larry raised an eyebrow. "Why would you do that when you can just run down to the store and get a whole tub of ice cream!"

Morton smirked. "Oh please. Homemade anything is always better than store-bought stuff. Always."

"Yeah," said Wendy as she stuck her spoon in her mouth. "That pretty much goes without saying."

"Plus," said Iggy. "Making ice cream ourselves would mean that we don't have to spend money every single time we want to eat something sweet." He smiled at Morton. "I think that's an excellent idea, Morty."

Lemmy beamed. This… this was nice. Honestly, spending time with loved ones really helps you out when you're in a stressful situation. It was therapeutic in all the right ways. Not to mention, the sweet taste of ice cream was also very therapeutic. Overall, Lemmy was really grateful he got to partake in this; he felt significantly better than he did an hour ago.

So, he leaned back. He observed the people sitting around him, as well as his siblings engaging in playful banter. A smile graced his lips as he did, a smile in its purest form. He could find the ring. He could solve the mystery. He just needed more time. He just needed to…

"Huh?" All of a sudden, something caught Lemmy's eye. It was hard to see, being situated right in between the alley of two buildings, but…

"Guys?" The Koopalings stopped what they were doing and looked where Lemmy was pointing. It took a minute for them to realize what it was, but when they did, they all gasped.

"It's a phantom!" Wendy yelled.

Iggy hopped out of his chair. "We need to go after it. NOW!"

Nobody at the table needed to be told twice. All six of the present Koopalings jumped up from the table and bolted toward the phantom. That stupid phantom; that stupid, worthless phantom. It stayed still as they ran towards it (probably because its back was turned), but right before Lemmy was able to catch it, it bolted away.

"OH NO! You aren't getting off that easily!"

All the Koopalings put on a burst of speed. The phantom ran down alleyway after alleyway, going in a sort of zigzag path around Stonebrim. Lemmy didn't care though. He was going to catch it. If he couldn't find the ring, then the least he could do today was catch this phantom.

"COME HERE!" Lemmy put on a burst of speed. Even though he was the shortest of the Koopalings, and thus had the shortest stride, he still ran so fast that he out paced all of his siblings. His heart pounded in his mouth, and sweat covered his body. He didn't care.

"Come on…" Closer and closer and closer he got. He was just a few feet away from the phantom. If it flew away like one of the other ones, he was going to stop it. If it had some sort of weapon and shot at the Koopalings, Lemmy was going to walk off every single hit. This ended here. This ended right here, right now. Too much bullshit had ocurred with these phantoms for Lemmy to just let this one go free.

"Come on, come on!" He was running out of breath. He was running on fumes at this point. But he didn't care. He was just a few feet away from the phantom. Now he was a couple of inches away, which meant he had perfect opportunity to…

"YAAH!" He jumped toward the phantom and pinned it to the ground. It struggled, but Lemmy kept a firm grasp on it. "Stay. Stay!" The others caught up to him, with all except Ludwig completely out of breath.

"Nice work, Lems," Larry said in between pants. "I think… some football teams… could really use someone… that fast."

"Thanks, Larry." He sent a glare down toward the phantom, the phantom that decided to stop struggling. He reached for its hood. "Now, to finish this once and for all…."

He removed the hood. When everyone saw what the phantom was, they gasped. Even Lemmy did; out of all the things he expected, he certainly didn't expect this.

"No way!"