Chapter 12 Moonview Play Place
World 7 was a place that Ludwig was all too familiar with. He had patrolled here so many different times that he might as well call it his home. And at times he actually considered doing that, because… wow. This world was the most beautiful world on the whole planet. His siblings might say otherwise, as he knew that Wendy preferred World 4 and Lemmy preferred World 3. But this was one of those times when Ludwig wasn't afraid to disagree with them. From the fluffy marshmallow clouds to the towns that were constructed out of the most beautiful materials imaginable… it was just indescribably breathtaking. Ludwig always enjoyed coming to World 7.
All the things he loved about the world didn't matter to him right now though. In fact, nothing really mattered. His guilt and shame were climbing so high that he didn't even want to take the time to enjoy the scenery. All he wanted to do was find Junior. He didn't know what he would say to Junior once all this was over, but… well, finding him was the only way that this would be fixed. Finding him was the only way to make up for all the strife that he caused. Finding him was the only way to help himself feel better.
And so, Ludwig flew to World 7. Usually, the higher he climbed with his flying powers, the freer he felt. This feeling was present this time around but to a FAR lesser extent than normal. When he arrived at the cloudy paradise, he stopped and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the closest town to the edge of the world. Moonview. A gorgeous town with some of the most jovial people and amazing sights to see. Ludwig descended toward this town, figuring that if Junior was anywhere in World 7, it was here. After all, who doesn't love Moonview? Plus, in addition, wouldn't the town that was closest to the Koopa Kingdom make the most sense as the most likely place the Koopa Prince was?
Ludwig couldn't think of a single reason why that wouldn't be the case, and he would DARE anyone to try to think of a counterargument. The only thing that may be counted as a counterargument was that Junior was most likely to be in the Koopa Kingdom still, especially considering how much time he had to run away and how short of a stride the seven-year-old had. But that argument, while good, only really applied to the Koopa Kingdom. When one was talking about World 7, Moonview was the first and most logical place to look.
He descended into the town. The first thing he noticed was the fact that it was decorated. Multi-colored lights hung strung up on all the buildings, flashing and twinkling. On top of that, there was a very noticeable star theme that went along with the decor. People wore star-shaped hats, the windows of specific stores had stars plastered on them, vendors in street stalls sold star-shaped goodies… Monnview was all about the stars. This intrigued Ludwig; was there some sort of holiday going on? Like, say, the Star Festival? That would make sense… no, no, wait, the Star Festival only happened once every century. And considering that Bowser was able to crash and ruin the Star Festival once during his lifetime… yeah, the idea of this being the Star Festival didn't really make a lot of sense. But that begged the question… what were the people celebrating?
"Hey! Excuse me?" Ludwig called to a blue-capped Toad walking down the street. Ludwig went up to him as he came to a halt and gave him a smile that was... honestly WAY too friendly given who Ludwig was. "I'm new here, so I want to know; what exactly is the town celebrating today?"
The Toad smiled. "Why the defeat of the Shadow Queen and Dark Prince, of course!"
Ludwig blinked. "The defeat of the Shadow Queen and the Dark Prince?"
"Yeah!" The Toad's smile grew brighter. "There's an ancient legend revolving around the Shadow Queen. She was a Goddess who was married to the God who created the Mushroom World, King Borealis. However, she fell in love with a human from the Mushroom World, cheating on her husband and getting pregnant with the human's baby. She was cast out of the Palace of Light, becoming more and more evil up until the day her child was born. By the time that happened, she was so consumed by evil and darkness that she was officially the Shadow Queen. And her child? They were the Dark Prince."
Admittedly, Ludwig was in awe of this story. "Wow. That's really interesting." He wanted to say more, but he was too busy trying to wrap his head around this legend. It… Holy Mama, was it cool!
"Yeah! The duo wanted to rule the world, as they believed they were the rightful owners of it! However, King Borealis was able to shut them in a pocket dimension prison using the power of all the stars in the sky!" The Toad's eyes glittered. "Thus, this holiday was born."
Ludwig smiled. "That's really cool!" He chuckled. "Man. You know, I've been to World 7 before, but never heard about this holiday or this legend." He chuckled again, shaking his head as he did. "I guess there's a lot I don't pay attention to when I'm so focused on…" he stopped, hesitating as the Toad gave him a questioning look. "Uh… other things."
The Toad beamed. "Well, now that you're here this time, I'm sure you'll have all the time in the world! You'll be able to celebrate the holiday with us!"
"I will…" Ludwig sighed. "But I have something I need to do instead."
"Oh." Wow, this Toad looked genuinely disappointed. "I see." He cast Ludwig a smile. "Well, that's okay. If you do get the time, Moonview is always welcoming to visitors."
"That's good to hear." With one last wave from Ludwig, the Toad gave him one more smile and walked away. Ludwig took a deep breath, rising a little bit into the air. As appealing as the idea of celebrating an important holiday was, it sadly had to be ignored.
"Junior?" Ludwig called out. He flew down the streets, passing by more people of varying species who also wore star-decor. "Junior, where are you?" When he got the opportunity, he looked in various stores and restaurants. He checked what he assumed were most of the public places in Moonview, but he paid extra special close attention to the places where he KNEW Junior would find the most appeal. Like one Goomburger that had a play place in it. Ludwig went into the play place, flying around the structure and calling Junior's name. He didn't find him anywhere from the outside, but that didn't mean anything. Junior could and probably would hide himself in there in a remote, secluded part if he wanted to keep himself hidden from his older brother. So… that meant if Ludwig wanted to find Junior… he had to…. to…
"UGGHHH!" Oh Dear Lord. He hated play places even as a kid, but now as an adult… oh goodness, he was gonna have to swallow ALL his pride in order to do this. ALL of it.
And that's exactly what he did. Swallowing every last bit of pride the eldest Koopaling had accumulated over the years, Ludwig went into the play structure. To say it was cramped would be an understatement; Ludwig almost got himself stuck in the first tunnel leading upwards. Thankfully, the rest of the place wasn't nearly as bad, but… well, who wouldn't feel incredibly claustrophobic in a tunnel where you could very easily get yourself stuck, in a tunnel where you felt like the walls were closing in on you? Yeah, Ludwig felt more than a little stressed crawling through the rest of the play place. It didn't help that it was unbearably hot in the structure. That did make sense, as there wasn't proper ventilation, but having a reason for it to be like that didn't change the fact that Ludwig felt like he was melting into the tunnel. That alone was enough for Ludwig to want to get out, but… wait. Was that… urine he smelled?
Gagging as the germaphobe part of his personality took over, Ludwig cringed and continued crawling through the tunnel. He didn't even bother calling out Junior's name, mostly because he didn't want to draw anyone's attention to the fact that he, an eighteen-year-old koopa, was crawling through a structure designed for toddlers. Icky, gross, disgusting toddlers.
It felt like a miracle that Ludwig managed to crawl through all the structure, and as such, he couldn't help but let out a breath of relief. Sure, the fact that Junior wasn't anywhere to be found in here essentially meant that this whole escapade had been pointless, but… actually, there was no but; this whole escapade had been pointless! But hey, at least that meant that Ludwig could get out now. As he started crawling toward the exit, he tried to look at the positives. At the very least, he hadn't encountered any kids in here. That was good, that was far less embarrassing than…
Before he could even finish his thought, Ludwig saw a little girl, no older than four, crawling up into the play structure. She blinked at him, and Ludwig blinked back. He started sweating bullets as the girl screamed.
"MOMMY! THERE'S A CREEPY MAN IN HERE!"
Oh goodness gracious, Ludwig wanted to die. He REALLY wanted to die. He tried pushing past the little girl to get out of the structure, but her crying, tiny self was just big enough for her to block the way for Ludwig to get out. That meant… that meant Ludwig had to take the slide. Swallowing even more pride, he made his way over, trying to ignore the little girl's cries. He took a deep breath and went down the slide. He had gotten through about three-quarters of it and was close enough to the exit to see the way out, but the worst thing of all happened right before he could reach it.
He got stuck.
"Oh, dammit." Ludwig tried to wriggle free, or maybe even climb back up the slide. But he couldn't. Even when he tried to suck his shell in, he was still stuck (mostly because he already sucked his shell in pretty hard in order for his cloak to properly fit on his shoulders, so it was impossible to suck it in anymore). That meant there was only one thing to do.
"HELP! SOMEBODY HELP ME!"
…
The fact that Ludwig managed to get through the entire Goomburger Play Place scenario and NOT get arrested was perhaps the most astonishing thing that had happened in Ludwig's entire life. And while he was grateful that the employee who helped him out of the slide didn't end up calling the cops on him, Ludwig honestly was way too embarrassed to want to continue with the search for Junior. Seriously, that was so humiliating, so demeaning, and scary from his perspective. He didn't even want to imagine what this was like from the perspective of the employee who freed him, let alone the four-year-old girl and the mother he ended up meeting (and apologizing to) when he got free.
So, he just sat on a bench. He sat on a bench thinking about everything. Honestly, as degrading as the experience in the play place was… it was probably the least he deserved. After what he said to Junior, what he said about Junior, and the way he made his brother feel… well, he more or less learned his lesson through that experience. And now, sitting on the bench while the sun started setting over Moonview, he was more than willing to say sorry to Junior. He had been hesitant to do that right before Junior left, but now he was fully ready to do so.
He only wished he could do so…
Frowning, Ludwig whimpered and leaned back into his seat. He looked at the pink and purple clouds, praying to the Gods he knew to help him. If what just happened to him was any indication, if left to his own devices, he would NEVER locate Junior. He needed all the supernatural, Godly help he could get.
"Hey."
Ludwig blinked when he heard someone addressing him. For a split second, he wondered if the Goomburger employee changed their mind and actually DID call the cops on him. His heart pounding, but thankfully, when he saw that it was just a street vendor talking to him from a stall right beside his cart, his heart slowed down. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt SO relieved.
"You look a little tired," the employee, who happened to be a goomba with purple skin, said. "Would you like to try some star corn?"
"Star corn? What's that?"
"It's a type of sweet corn dish made when we celebrate the defeat of the Shadow Queen." The goomba smiled. "It's really good."
"Oh. Well I'm sold." Smiling, Ludwig got up and gave the vendor some money. The very first bite of the Star corn… it was… "Oh my God." Ludwig looked down at the dish. "This is incredible!"
"Thanks," the vendor said. "I used my mother's recipe to make it."
"Well, it's amazing!" Ludwig took another bite. "It's too bad this holiday only lasts for a single day because that means less people can try this."
The goomba burst into laughter. "Actually, the holiday lasts for an entire week. So I have more than enough opportunity to sell this stuff."
"Oh!" Ludwig chuckled. "Well, just goes to show what I know." He took another bite. "Thank you so much."
"You're welcome. Don't be a stranger; Moonview LOVES to get visitors."
"So I've heard." Ludwig was about to turn and walk away when something caught his eye. "Wait. You sell toys too!"
"Oh! Yes, I do!" The goomba, without any need for hands whatsoever (which REALLY impressed the Koopaling), picked up a star toy that had a smiling face. "These are especially special because they glow in the dark."
"Ooh, that's neat." Ludwig hesitated, feeling a little embarrassed to be asking this… until he realized that there was NOTHING as embarrassing as the Play Place fiasco. "May I buy that one? I think my little brother would like it."
"Of course!" Ludwig paid for the toy, and as the goomba took the money, they gave him a glittering smile. "Pleasure doing business with ya!"
"You too. Have a good night!" With that, Ludwig finally got a chance to walk away. He looked down into thre star's peppy, happy face. Junior would really enjoy it; he loves toys like this.
"Oh Junior, I hope I find you soon…"