Chapter 9 Powerful Part 2
Iggy took a deep breath and approached the gang with the rest of his siblings. He took tiny steps, on some level wanting to prolong this encounter for as long as possible. He had a hunch that his siblings felt exactly the same way, as their steps were skittish too. They had the same energy as rabbits, ready to bolt away if the predators they now faced decided to make one move to step toward them. The only person who didn't seem to have this attitude was Ludwig (which was ironic given that Ludwig was the one Koopaling who had the most reason to be nervous out of any of them).
Regardless of how anyone felt though, they still walked toward the gang. Once all seven Koopalings were close enough to the three thugs (huh, Iggy just now noticed how favorable those odds seemed), Iggy cleared his throat. All three of their faces lit up in the most haunting, most wicked, most devilish way possible.
"Well well well!" said the goomba, smiling as he did. "Look who finally decided to show their hideous faces!"
From right by Iggy's side, Roy let out a growl. "Hideous?" he said. "Man, you guys wouldn't know what good looking was if it punched you right in the face!" He did the punching sign. "Which is what I plan to do!"
Iggy smiled, appreciating his brother's newfound bravery. This was especially impressive when he recalled what his siblings told him after the first fight, about how the gang had teased Roy mercilessly. and beat him up first.
Even with that said, the paratroopa still laughed. "Guys, look! I think we've come face to face with the rarest moron ever: the moron in shades!" He giggled. "Oh man, I feel like Koopsmas came early!"
"Especially seeing how we're gone give him bruises so red that he'll turn green," the sledge brother sneered. The three thugs laughed, which made Roy whimper and back up. This, more than anything else, pissed Iggy off. These guys were turning one of the most confident Koopalings into a jittery, uncertain mess, and Iggy wouldn't stand for it!
So, he took a step forward, hoping to exert his authority on the gang members.
"Gentlemen," he said, trying his best to sound peaceful and diplomatic. "We would appreciate it immensely if you would disperse off the premises."
The sledge brother smirked. "What? Is one of the seven Weaklings telling us what to do?" The others laughed as Iggy's face grew as hot as an oven. The contents of his stomach zipped up his throat as the sledge bro approached Iggy. He towered over him, even needing to get on his knees in order to be level with the tallest Koopaling's face.
"Listen, Pineapple Head," he whispered. "We don't take orders from anyone. Especially not some incompetent losers like you guys."
Iggy whimpered. Sweat poured down him in buckets. "I... I..." Any attempt at speech ended in embarrassment. The Koopalings might as well have come out carrying bright neon signs that said "Beat me up please!" The images of the other Koopalings' wounds came back in his mind's eye, and they almost made him collapse.
Before he could do that though, a smoky scent flooded his nostrils. He looked to see Ludwig, engulfed in flames so blue they almost looked white. Iggy could feel their heat from where he stood, and it only grew hotter as Ludwig approached and glared at the thug.
"If you think that you guys can get away with making fun of us like that…" Steam shot out of his nostrils, his eyes turned white. "You've got another thing coming."
The gang looked at Ludwig. They blinked before bursting into what was probably the most condescending round of laughter so far.
"Oh, I remember you!" The paratroopa giggled. "It's nice to see that your voice finally changed!" He literally slapped his knee as the others tried to stop themselves from falling on the ground.
Ludwig wasn't phased by this though. In fact, he sneered at the troopa. "Oh, you're going to see that more than my voice has changed.."
Before anyone even had time to think, Ludwig shot a fireball. The paratroopa shrieked, the force of the projectile sending him smashing into the wall. The goomba and the sledge bro's jaws dropped. They gawked at Ludwig, who blew on his finger like it was a smoking barrel.
"Oh, that's how you want to play, huh?" The sledge bro reached into his hammerspace, pulling out the sledgehammer his kind was known for. "Well, so be it."
He threw the hammer at Ludwig, hitting him directly in the face. The sledge brother cackled as Ludwig fell to the ground like a domino. As the special pushed it off his face, he growled. The sound was similar to an angry pit bull, and it made chills run up and down Iggy's arms.
As he got up, not even the black eye was enough to make Ludwig look any less threatening. "You guys..." he chortled, the sound dark as the light in his eyes changed from white to yellow. "You guys don't even know a fraction of how much trouble you've just gotten into."
The thugs didn't even give that statement a response. They just rushed at Ludwig, their fists out. The goomba was the first to reach him, and they aimed their foot right at his black eye. They yelped when their foot made contact, and the black mark on the bottom told Iggy of the reason why.
The sledge brother gritted his teeth. "Why you..." he jumped in the air and ground-pounded, stunning the Koopalings. He seemed to have completely forgotten about it, considering he did nothing to take advantage of the opportunity and beat them into the ground. No, he only had eyes for Ludwig. He wouldn't stop until he saw his blood run.
Unfortunately for him, Ludwig rose into the air before he came in contact with the ground, thus avoiding the ground-pound's effects. A wicked gleam appeared in his glowing eyes. In his stunned state, Iggy wished he had the strength to pull his gaze away.
"Nice try." Ludwig held out his hands and closed his eyes. "Now it's my turn."
Ludwig hummed a low C note. The hands he held out glowed with a blue aura, and the ground the sledge bro stood on replicated that shine. In a blink-and-you'll-miss moment, the ground shot up out of the earth, sending the sledge bro slamming into the wall. As his opponent tried to recuperate, Ludwig kept his hold on the chunk of earth and shaped it into a ball. He threw it right at the sledge brother, hitting the already injured opponent right in the stomach. A tear appeared to be forming in his eye as he grimaced. He tried to move, but every time he did, a look of insurmountable pain flashed across his face.
The goomba glared at Ludwig. He stood on top of his scorched foot, not even wincing. He charged and jumped up, kicking Ludwig across the face repeatedly. Ludwig flung multiple electric bolts, but the goomba was surprisingly quick and managed to dodge. They grew cocky, landing on the ground and blowing a raspberry at Ludwig. Unfortunately for him, this was the opening Ludwig needed to shock him in the face.
Surprisingly, the paratroopa had managed to recover. Grunting and lifting himself out of the hole in the castle wall, they flapped their wings and zipped towards Ludwig. Ludwig caught him, wrapping his burning hands around his neck. The koopa gasped for breath and couldn't even shriek as Ludwig dug his scorching fingers right into his scaly neck.
"LUDWIG!" Iggy shrieked, his concern growing. "Ludwig, stop it!"
Ludwig didn't answer, nor did he let go. He probably would've killed the troopa right then and there if the sledge bro hadn't recovered and shot his hammer flat-first right at him.
"Have you had enough?" the sledge bro said while Ludwig rubbed his face while on the ground.
Ludwig looked at him. He spat on the ground, and his eye-color changed from yellow to orange. "Not a chance."
He rose into the air. The whole earth seemed to quake, and it knocked the terrified Koopalings right off their feet. As Iggy tried his best to recover, the sledge bro threw his hammer at the special once again. Ludwig put his hands to his jaw to try and mitigate the pain, and the sledge brother charged at him again. He hit him multiple times in multiple areas, including the stomach and the groin. When he got hit in the chest, Ludwig flew back, his feet digging into the ground as he got into a starting position.
His eyes changed from orange to red.
"That's IT!" The blue flames around his body grew even stronger, so much that they could cook someone if they got too close. He aimed a fireball at the sledge brother, pushing them back with a new burn mark in their chest. He aimed a fireball at the paratroopa, incinerating their wings. The poor koopa was in tears because of this, and the goomba looked as though he was about to start bawling when Ludwig hit him with another blazing projectile.
With that said, the gang must've finally realized how the fight was going. Or, perhaps, their survival instincts finally kicked in, because they bolted away from Ludwig (the increasingly tyrannical Ludwig). Despite how cocky they were, they way they breathed and the looks they had on their faces made Iggy feel sorry for them. Despite that, Ludwig wasn't content. He flew up into the air and generated a humongous electric bolt. It built up for a solid minute, growing bigger and bigger. Iggy's stomach flip-flopped. He actually, legitimately wondered if someone was going to die today when Ludwig threw it. He struck the ground on which they stood, causing all of them to wail as they lay in a heap, on the ground. Ludwig flew down to them, his eyes the most threatening shade of red as his body glowed with the fire. He telekinetically picked up the gang members. The practice that normally would've caused him insurmountable pain didn't even make him wince now.
"You guys are dead," Ludwig growled. His voice, gritty and demonic, almost didn't even sound like his. He closed his hands into a fist, squeezing the thugs. They gasped for air, struggling against his hold. The life was draining out of them. They were mere inches from death, right on its doorstep, as a matter of fact.
This was enough to make Iggy snap out of his trance. "LUDWIG, STOP!"
Ludwig's gaze travelled over to his brother. Iggy stared into his glowing eyes despite his own fear, looking deep into that terrifying red glow. He hoped there was still some humanity left in there. He prayed there was; he would've got down on his knees and begged if he needed to.
Much to Iggy's immense relief, this sight helped Ludwig finally come back around. The red light in his eyes died, and when it did, he grimaced in pain. He let go of his telekinetic hold on the thugs. As they gasped for air and groped for breath, Ludwig wore a face he had never worn before. Terrified couldn't describe it. Horrified couldn't describe it. He looked as though he just witnessed the murder of every single last person he loved mere seconds ago.
Ludwig looked over at Iggy, the terror enough to cause Iggy pain. "Iggy…" He started to cry. "I…"
Before Iggy even had a chance to respond, horrible guilt appeared in his expression. He stared down at his hands in horror before rising into the air and bolting for his bedroom.