Chapter 23 Swallowed Whole

Yeah… there was no way in hell Ludwig was going to fight this piranha plant. Why would he? It had to be at least ten feet tall! Even though he was a special koopa, there was a good chance that a monster like this one would provide him a bit of a challenge. And that was the best-case scenario; it might just end up eating him and Lemmy alive.

So yeah, Ludwig was going to get out of here. Keeping a tight hold on his brother despite both of them shaking and sweating, Ludwig rose into the air. His plan was to go as fast as possible in order to get away from the plant beast much more easily. Unfortunately…

CHOMP!

Ludwig shrieked in pain. The monster had grabbed him by the foot. As the monster gripped it in his teeth, Ludwig seriously felt like he was going to come out of this scenario as an amputee.

Of course, it got much worse. The piranha plant, still gripping him in its jaws like a pit bull, pulled him downward and made him SMASH into the ground. THAT hurt! It could be argued that the snow helped lessen the blow at least a little bit, but even still… oh God, Ludwig had double vision…

"Ludwig!" Lemmy shook Ludwig, trying to get him to rise but… oh… There wasn't a single part of Ludwig's body that didn't hurt. His back felt as if it got hit by a train, his foot felt like it was on fire. He tried to lift his head, but even doing that was taxing.

"Ludwig, please," Lemmy said. Ludwig's eyelids fluttered open, and he saw Lemmy's face hovering mere inches away from his. "Please tell me you're okay!"

Realizing that Lemmy wasn't going to feel safe until Ludwig gave him that confirmation, he grunted and lifted himself to a sitting position. "I'm… I'm okay, but…" a shadow passed over the two of them. Looking up, Ludwig gasped. "LEMMY, LOOK OUT!"

Lemmy lifted his head. Now, Ludwig didn't know if this was just because of Lemmy freezing up or the piranha plant monster moving quicker than he (who was without a doubt dealing with a concussion) could follow, but before either of the two Koopalings could react…

CHOMP!

Ludwig's blood froze in its tracks. Oh… dear… God. L… Lemmy….

"LEMMY!" Now not giving a single fuck about his pain, Ludwig rose into the air. Flames sprung up around him, and they only got brighter as the sound of the piranha plant swallowing could be heard. Ludwig's breathing turned into seething upon hearing such a horrifying sound.

"SPIT MY BROTHER OUT RIGHT NOW!"

That was a stupid thing to say, as the only way that Lemmy had any chance of getting out of that piranha plant would be if said plant vomited him up. Or at least, that was one of only two ways. The other way would be Ludwig roasting this monster on a spit and cutting him open to get Lemmy out of his stomach.

Even though he was a major germaphobe and actually a lot more squeamish than most people would believe, Ludwig wasn't going to walk away from that option. That was the only way to get Lemmy back in one piece. That was the only way for both Koopalings to walk away from the snow world. That was the only way Ludwig could get his revenge on this HORRIBLE monster.

"YAAH!" Ludwig fired fireballs at the plant monster. It shrieked an ugly shrieking, surprisingly not bursting into flames the exact second of the fireball's impact. Ludwig heart pumped, and it only pumped harder as the monster set its sights on him. Even though it didn't have eyes, being on the receiving end of its hungry gaze was enough to intimidate Ludwig.

Or at least, it would be if Ludwig wasn't so overwhelmed with adrenaline.

"HYAAH!" Ludwig sent more fireballs at the monster. The monster shrieked some more, all while Ludwig charged up his next attack. He was fully prepared to launch a fireball big the size of a planet at this beast, but to his complete and utter shock, it spun around right before Ludwig could get to it.

THWACK! Ludwig didn't have nearly enough time to course correct. He fell out of the sky, landing face first in the snow. Once again, the possibility that he might have a concussion became known to him, this time amplified by ten. He lifted himself up, wobbling a little as he held his hand to his head. As he groaned, a shadow passed over him. He only barely had time to react before the piranha plant tried to squash him. He watched as the plant tried its best to pull itself out of the snow, to get itself back up before ruthless squashing the eldest Koopaling.

"Oww…" Ludwig groaned; even touching his head felt excruciating. He looked at the monster, imagining Lemmy frantically scrambling to find a way out before he was digested. Honestly, that mental image was the exact kind of motivation Ludwig needed. He took a deep breath, rose into the air, and fired more fireballs. Once again, the monster merely deflected them. They might as well have been dandelion fluff with how much damage they were inflicting.

Ludwig's breathing rate sped up. Putting one hand to his head and the other on his chest, Ludwig tried to formulate a plan. The concussion was his main enemy when it came to doing that, as it provided him with a horrible roadblock. Said roadblock only got more problematic as the monster finally found a way to lift itself out of the snow. It roared a fearsome roar. Ludwig tried not to whimper, tried not to let the mental image of Lemmy almost drowning in its stomach acid become to overwhelming.

"What… what do I…" Through the haze, Ludwig realized that there was an ability of his he hadn't used, an attack that could potentially end this fight right here. Sure, it was risky, but… well, what choice did he have? Lemmy only had minutes left if the two of them were lucky.

So, he closed his eyes. Humming a D note, he channeled all of his anger, all of his ire, all of his hatred. Electric currents crackled and sparked around him. He opened his eyes and looked at the piranha plant, trying to decide where to strike. The head looked good. It was soft, squishy, and most importantly, vulnerable.

The electric currents circling the eldest Koopaling grew in intensity. He took in a deep breath and shot towards the piranha plant. The beast growled, looking like it wanted to swallow him whole like it did to Lemmy. Still channeling his emotions, he pointed at the monster and…

BZZT! The scent as the beast got zapped was… oh god, was it terrible. It smelled like someone had taken a head of moldy lettuce and roasted it over the stove. Ludwig could barely handle it, but thankfully, it seemed like he wouldn't need to for long. The beast shrieked loudly upon initial impact, but the sound fizzled out and grew weaker and weaker. It wobbled around before…

CRASH!

Oh, what a satisfying noise that was. It was a sound of victory, a sound that meant that Ludwig had accomplished the goal that he had set out to accomplish. Letting out a breath of relief, he descended down toward the plant monster. As he stood on its belly, he could both see and feel the monster's breathing rate. Clearly it was still alive. Just as clearly, it wasn't going to be for long.

Readying his claws, Ludwig tore through the skin on the piranha plant's ultra soft belly. Rip, tear, rip, tear… he spent the next five minutes tearing his opponent apart like some sort of serial killer. Thankfully for him though, he eventually ripped enough skin to reach the beast's interior. And once he ripped open the stomach…

"Lemmy!" Ludwig fished his brother out, trying not to cringe at the slimy green substance that he was covered in. "Oh, Lemmy." Ludwig rose into the air with Lemmy in his arms, setting him down on the ground. His breathing speeding up again, he examined Lemmy. On top of being coated in the most disgusting-looking stomach acid of all time, Lemmy was also knocked out cold. Checking his pulse revealed to Ludwig that his brother was still alive, but…

Oh… Ludwig didn't even have the strength to celebrate anything. He couldn't celebrate his victory, he couldn't celebrate freeing Lemmy… Oh, the adrenaline was wearing off, and wearing off BADLY. Ludwig's body screamed at him, screeched at him, shrieked at him. The concussion could no longer be ignored. His stinging foot, which by this point was bleeding, couldn't be ignored either.

"Ohh…"

…

Beep.* *Beep.* *Beep.*

Ludwig began to stir, wondering first a foremost what that beeping was. He tried to open his eyes, but the first thing he saw made him wish he hadn't. A bright light surrounded him on all sides, making his retinas feel like they were on fire. Sucking some air through his teeth, his mind tried to piece together what was happening. He was… where was he? Was he… Oh God, was he dead?

"I think he's waking up."

That voice was… distorted, unclear. It wasn't a voice that Ludwig recognized either, which made his heart pump. Seriously, what was going on? The last thing he could remember was passing out in the snow with Lemmy by his side. Which… that didn't line up with his current location at all. Why wasn't it cold? Why wasn't he wet from the snow?

Maybe he was dead. Maybe his injuries from the fight with the piranha plant monster had gotten the better of him. Maybe… if he was dead… he honestly didn't know how to feel about that. All he knew was that he hoped it wasn't the case. He had a mission right now, and he didn't want to die before he could complete it.

"Where… where…"

"It's okay." Ludwig felt someone placing their hand on his arm. "You're safe now." Ludwig's heart rate sped up, which made the beeping he heard upon initially waking up much faster. So… wait. Was that a heart monitor?

"Just try to take it easy," said the unfamiliar voice. "Allow your body to wake up on its own. Don't force it; just go slow and steady." The voice chuckled. "You're a turtle; remember that slow and steady wins the race."

Ludwig chuckled. He managed to open his eyes, and thankfully, the light wasn't nearly as overwhelming. He blinked and turned his head, blinking when he saw an unfamiliar human woman standing over him. That was confusing. At least, until he saw that the woman was wearing scrubs.

"Am…" he rose up into a sitting position. "Where am I?"

"You're in Snowlodge Medical Hospital," said the woman, or rather, the nurse. "Someone found you and another Koopa lying unconscious in the snow next to Petey Piranha and brought you here."

Ludwig blinked. "So… I'm not dead."

The nurse laughed. "No, not quite. And I must say, I think you should be extremely thankful. A lot of people have tried to hunt Petey Piranha in the past, and every single one of them had been unsuccessful. Sure, you got injured, but the fact that you are alive while HE isn't… it's impressive."

As all that information sunk into Ludwig, he couldn't help but smile. "Wow. That's…" Suddenly, he remembered something important. "Wait." His eyes grew wide and is heart rate picked back up. "Where's my brother! Where's Lemmy? Is… is he okay?" If he wasn't okay… if was…

"He's fine," the nurse said with a smile. "He was knocked out cold and covered in goop, but he recovered rather quickly." The nurse's eyes glittered as she backed up and grabbed hold of a curtain next to Ludwig's bed. "In fact…" She pulled the curtain back, and…

"Lemmy!" Tears welled in Ludwig's eyes. "You're okay!"

Lemmy smiled. "Yeah, I'm okay." He sat up in bed. "And you are too! That…" he sniffled and wiped a tear from his eye. "Oh, I'm just… I don't even know."

The nurse laughed. "Yes, you two have a lot of things to be thankful for right now." She let out a breath. "Now, we were able to treat all of the injuries that you two sustained. You responded well to the treatment, so I think its safe to say that you two can be discharged tomorrow."

Ludwig let out a breath. "That's great to hear." He wanted to get up and go hug Lemmy out of pure relief, but stopped himself when it occurred to him he was currently hooked up to an IV. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome, boys. Just try not to get into any more fights with giant plant monsters, okay?"

"Aww, there go my plans for the weekend," Lemmy said. All three people in the room laughed. "But yes. We'll make sure to not get into anymore trouble."

The nurse nodded and left the room. Once she was gone, Ludwig felt his head with the arm that wasn't hooked up to the IV. It… it didn't hurt AT ALL. There weren't even any bandages on it. Grinning, Ludwig pushed his blanket back. He breathed in relief when he saw that his foot was good as new. Moving it and wiggling the toes only served to support that observation.

Feeling satisfied with his current condition, Ludwig turned to look at Lemmy. "I'm so glad you're okay." He paused. "I… I thought that…"

"That you were gonna lose me?" Lemmy nodded, his face forlorn. "Honestly, I thought the same thing about you." He put on a smile. "I guess both of us need to be reminded that Koopas can take quite the beating."

Ludwig chuckled. "Ain't that the truth." He paused before frowning. "Now, when the two of us are discharged, we need to resume with trying to locate Junior."

"Right, right, that is a big thing on the to do list." Lemmy seemed to consider this. "I have a feeling that that won't be too hard."

"No, it won't be." Ludwig turned to him with a smile. "Especially since I'm gonna be joining you."

Lemmy blinked. "Really?" When Ludwig nodded, he gawked. "But… weren't you searching World 7 before…"

"I was. But I wasn't making any progress there. Call it a hunch, but I think I'll have better luck with you." He sat up. "Plus, I'll be able to keep you safe."

Lemmy laughed. "Yes, cause Grambi knows I need protection!" He thought about this before smiling. "You know what? I think you joining me is a great idea!"

Ludwig smiled.