Chapter 30 Case Closed Again

The pride that Lemmy felt as he watched the cops drag Tack away, the rush of joy when he saw the cops locate Tillie and stuff her in the cop car too… it was almost strong enough to make him forget about the rocky journey that led to this moment. Lemmy smiled, hoping that the expression would trigger a strong round of joy and a better form of forgetting. He looked at Ludwig, standing right beside him and looking upon the criminals getting dragged away with a twinkle in his eye.

"Well. All's well that ends well." Ludwig looked down at Lemmy, the smile still on his face. "I don't know what we would have done without you, Lems."

Lemmy let out a breath. "I, uh, I… thanks." He wanted to say more; a five-paragraph essay's worth of more. But his tongue was so twisted and perplexed. On some level, he didn't know how he should be feeling. He didn't even know how he was feeling; there were so many emotions tumbling about like clothes in a dryer, with none of them more pronounced aside from the confusion.

"Guys!" Lemmy heard Larry call out. He lifted his head, and the others (who had also been watching Tack and Tillie get arrested) all looked at him as he rushed out of the house. "I found the stuff the clones stole!"

That admittedly made Larry perk up. Everyone rushed over to Larry, and he led them into the house. He led them to the basement, and once the light was turned on, Lemmy was ecstatic to see all the items. The time machine, Bob's missing shoes, and most importantly…

"My sock monkeys!" Lemmy rushed over and grabbed hold of them, giving them the biggest of hugs. "Oh, I was starting to think I would never see these again!" He giggled before picking up one of his favorites, Princess Ernesta. "Ernesta, you've been through quite the wringer over the course of the past few hours. Are you okay?" Lemmy put on a voice for this monkey. "Oh yes, Lemmy! Sure, I was scared, but the fact that Captain Calcetin was here to keep me company helped me feel better." Lemmy giggled. "That is just so typically you!"

Iggy beamed as he descended into the basement. "Well, this is certainly a relief." He came over and put his hand on his time machine, stroking the surface lovingly. "I was worried that such an amazing invention would be lost to the ages." He sniffled. "Oh, I had no idea I could feel this happy!"

"I don't blame you, Iggster," Wendy said as she too descended the stairs. "Now all that we need to do is get these items back to where they belong." She chuckled. "Once we do that, and once Roy and Celia are discharged, all will be right with the world."

Lemmy seized up a little bit. "Uh… not quite." Everyone blinked at him. "When I was… investigating, I accidentally got an innocent bandit arrested. And… well, now that we got the actual criminals arrested…"

Iggy chuckled. "I would not dedicate time to worrying about that, dear older brother. We can easily take care of that."

Lemmy nodded, letting out a breath of relief. "Good. That's good, I just… well, you know."

"Yeah, we do," said Ludwig. He came over and put his hand on Lemmy's shoulder. "Don't worry, Lems. Everything is fine now."

Lemmy paused for a minute. "Yeah. Everything's… fine."

…

"Ahh!" Lemmy snuggled into his bed, hugging his sock monkeys close to his body as he did. His bed didn't feel complete without the monkeys; it really didn't. With these, he felt more secure. He always felt more secure with the monkeys; ever since he was a little kid. Sure, he was getting older, but that didn't mean he was just about to get up and dump the monkeys in the trash.

That thought triggered a memory for the Koopaling. He remembered the talk he and his siblings had had after his breakdown. That had been nice admittedly, thinking about it did help his heart to feel more relaxed, less stressed about things. But, like before, thinking about his breakdown still brought him insurmountable pain. It didn't matter if the action was understandable or justified; it still happened, and caused everyone who knew Lemmy grief. The guilt Lemmy felt while thinking about this horrific part of his reality made him shed a tear. Would something like that happen again? And if it did happen again, would someone get hurt?

Lemmy whimpered when thinking about that. He never wanted to don the costume again. It was way more trouble than it was worth. Not only that, but if he hurt someone… if he hurt his siblings, all in the name of solving a case or "uncovering the truth…" then it wouldn't be worth it. Lemmy couldn't hurt his siblings; he just couldn't. That… that…

Oh no, he was crying. Lemmy hugged Ernesta close to his chest. He imagined he would always feel bad about this. Even though he was fine now, and even though everything had been sorted out, he was going to feel as though he committed a horrible, borderline unforgivable sin.

Right as Lemmy was starting to dwell on that horrid form of reality, Ludwig came into the room. When he closed the door, he let out a sigh and adjusted his cloak. There was a smile on his face, no doubt containing relief that everything managed to work out.

"Oh man." He smiled and turned to Lemmy. "I don't know about you Lems, but I think…"

He stopped. Lemmy reached up and dried more tears from his eyes. Ludwig didn't waste any time, he went over to his little brother and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Lemmy? Are you alright?" Lemmy shook his head through the tears, making Ludwig bite his lip. "Oh, Lemmy, there's no reason to feel bad. We solved the case! Everything is fine now! You're home, the stuff is back, Tack and Tillie are in jail, and Roy and Celia get discharged today. Everything is fine!"

"I… I know that." Lemmy sniffled. "But… I can't stop thinking about things." He wiped his nose with the back of his hand. "I never want to go off the deep end again. Sure, this time was relatively harmless, but what would happen the next time? Or the time after that? Would someone get hurt? Would I severely injure someone? I just… I don't…" he shook his head as the tears flowed again. "I don't know. I don't know, and it scares me."

Ludwig's brow furrowed as he took a seat beside Lemmy on the bed. "There's no reason to be scared, Lemmy. You have us; your family is going to put a lot of effort into ensuring that you and everyone else are safe." He smiled. "If you do go off the deep end again, we'll grab you with all our might and drag you right back to the shallow end of the pool."

Lemmy snorted. "Okay. Okay, that is a good pun." Lemmy giggled. "When it comes to stuff like this, you are certainly a deep thinker, Ludwig."

Ludwig chuckled right alongside Lemmy. Something about this instance, where the two eldest Koopalings were laughing with each other over some silly jokes… it admittedly made Lemmy feel better. Not perfect, and not even that great, just… better.

"And, again, I suppose I should address the reason why you went off the deep end in the first place," Ludwig said. He smiled, the expression warmer than most. "When it comes to growing up, you don't have to worry. You don't have to turn into a cynical, pessimistic shell of your former self. You can still be positive. You can still approach life with the same level of optimism and cheer that you normally do." Ludwig chuckled. "That'll make the trials of life easier for everyone, not just you."

Lemmy smiled as he digested these words. "You're… yeah, I think you're right." He hugged the sock monkeys closer to his chest. "It's a scary world, but that doesn't mean I have to be scared twenty-four-seven."

"No, you don't." Ludwig scooted closer to Lemmy. "Life can be crazy sometimes, especially when you're an adult. It can be scary too; there's no doubt in anyone's mind that it's scary. It can and well try to break you. But that doesn't mean you let it succeed. There's so much that life has to offer in terms of good things. Sure, the bad things are really bad, but the good things…" Ludwig smiled. "They're really good. They're downright amazing, as a matter of fact. And one of those good things just so happens to be a positive attitude and the ability to have a good, innocent heart."

The smile that Lemmy wore as he listened to these words was unparalleled. Thinking about those words, as well as thinking about the koopa who was delivering them…

"You know Ludwig, if this was only a few years ago, then you would never be giving this advice. You'd probably even dismiss it as stupid."

Ludwig snorted. "Well, that's the thing. I've grown. I've matured, and in the process, I've seen the light." He made direct eye contact with Lemmy. "And you were a big component of reaching this level of maturity." Lemmy blinked, prompting Ludwig to explain. "You always approached hard tasks with optimism and compassion, whether it be the time we switched bodies or the time when I told you about Frostwall. You were always so innocent about the way you approached things. Some might view that as you being naive or childish, but in my opinion… I think that shows how truly mature you were." Ludwig beamed at his brother, the amount of love and appreciation in his eyes doing amazing things to Lemmy's heart. "You aren't like other people, who decide they want to be broody and down in the dumps when they become adults. You… you're amazing. You really do deserve the title of 'The Amazing Lemmy.'"

Lemmy felt tears form in his eyes again, but for a completely different reason. "Wow." He chuckled. "I had no idea you saw me like that, and…" he didn't just chuckle this time; he full-on laughed. He looked his older brother in the eye. "Thank you. That… that makes me feel so much better; you would not believe."

"Nah, I think I can believe." Both Koopalings laughed before Ludwig cleared his throat. "Anyway, Roy and Celia are getting discharged, so we were planning on going down to the hospital. Do you want to come with us?"

Lemmy immediately jumped out of bed. "Uh, yeah! You don't even need to ask!"

"I figured," Ludwig said with a smirk. Together, they made their way out of the bedroom. As they walked, Lemmy thought some more about the words Ludwig said. Growing up is scary, but… it could also be a beautiful thing. You have potential to become the best possible version of yourself as you grow up. You can soar to new heights, and you don't have to sacrifice your innocence to do it. The world might try to take it away, sure. But when that happened, you could always look the Earth in the eye and laugh at how silly it's being.

Yeah. Growing up wasn't going to be so bad after all.

AN: It's… this is finished. Holy crap. Like… holy fucking shit. I NEVER thought I'd finish this story. Considering it's been on hiatus for such a long time… oh man, I feel great. Thank you Souldatafmab for giving me this request! I had a lot of fun writing it, and I hope everyone enjoyed it.

Thank you for tuning in. Stay safe and stay awesome :)