Chapter 25 The Storm is Here

Junior gawked. Ludwig and Lemmy gawked back. Ludwig's thoughts were in a cyclical, scattered mess. How could this be? Junior was here? Right here? This couldn't be happening, could it? This was too easy, wasn't it? This had to be some kind of dream. It had to be!

But… it wasn't. Junior was actually here. Standing in the doorway of a stranger's cabin, staring at his two eldest brothers in stunned silence. The scene was so still. Aside from the snowflakes coming down, it seemed like time stopped. The clock wasn't moving, and neither were the three brothers.

"Junior?" Lemmy asked, taking a step forward. "Is that really you?"

Junior didn't respond. However, Ludwig noticed a tear falling from his left eye. It was tiny, but it was there. It streamed down his face, the same face that showed too many emotions for any sane person to possiblly make sense of.

"Ludwig? Lemmy?"

Before either Ludwig or Junior knew what was happening, Lemmy let out a happy squeal and pounced on Junior. Shocked, Ludwig stepped into the cabin. He watched as Lemmy held Junior to the ground in a hug that was so tight and so happy. At least, happy for Lemmy. Junior still looked dumbfounded. He looked at Lemmy not like he was happy to see his brother, but rather like his brother had an infectious disease that he was petrified of catching.

"Oh Junior!" Lemmy began crying. "I was so worried!" He closed his eyes, the tears still escaping out the corners of them. "I was so scared that something happened to you! That you were hurt somewhere, or that someone was doing some awful things to you, or…" He let out a cry. "I'm so happy you're alright!"

Junior didn't say anything. His expression did change though, going from scared and shocked to… blank. Not happy, not angry, not sad, just… blank. What exactly did that mean? What exactly was happening within the prince's head right now?

"Junior…" Ludwig took a step forward before realizing he didn't know what to say. There were a lot of things he could say, but he didn't know where to start. Ludwig had to resort to an old cliche and say that trying to find the right words was trying to find a needle in a haystack. He stood still for a good two minutes, his mind so full of feelings and words that it was paradoxically drawing a blank.

"Ludwig?" Junior asked.

Ludwig continued to stand still before deciding to just not think about what he wanted to say. So what if he couldn't decide; there was no use thinking so hard about it! He needed to speak from the heart! He should just say the first thing that came to his mind, which was…

"Is that a fireplace over there?"

Oh God, talk about a fumble. Ludwig called himself stupid in his head over and over. If he had a nickel for every time he said it, he would be able to fill the Koopa Kingdom National Treasury TWICE.

"Uh… yeah, it is. You can warm up if you need to."

Now not trusting himself to speak ANY words, whether they be instinctual or premeditated, Ludwig nodded and made his way over to the fireplace. He put his hands close to the flames, smiling as he did. This was exactly what his fire powers lacked. Warmth, comfort, relief. The fireplace warmed not just his fingers, but his entire being. He felt like a phoenix, rising from the ashes as something entirely new.

Before long, Lemmy joined him. The two Koopalings held their hands over the fire, not saying anything. Ludwig did a deep breathing exercise, and while it did make him rise into the air a little bit, it at the very least helped him feel even better than before. It also helped him to gather his thoughts and finally wrap his head around the entire situation.

They had found Junior. After so much time, after so many days, they had located their brother. Now they could take him home, Ludwig could apologize for all that he did wrong, and they could go on living their lives in the most peaceful way possible. Did these facts make Ludwig feel warm and fuzzy on the inside? Well… as bad as this must be to admit, not really. He wasn't nearly as excited as Lemmy clearly was either. That wasn't to say he was unhappy; after everything both he and the rest of his family had been through, this was the lucky break that they all had been hoping for. They had located Junior in one piece. This SHOULD be celebratory.

Why then did it feel so hollow?

"Why are you guys here?" Junior asked.

Ludwig bit his lip and looked down at Lemmy. "Lemmy, text everyone else; let them know we found Junior." Lemmy nodded and got out his phone. As he did that, Ludwig took in another deep breath and turned around. He tried not to let the fact that Junior was glaring at him bother him. "Hey, Junior. I'm so happy we found you."

Junior sniffed. "I'm sure you are." He crossed his arms and turned his gaze away from Ludwig.

As he did this, Ludwig took a step forward. "We were all really worried, as you could've picked up from what Lemmy told you." He chuckled, only noticing how nervous the chuckle sounded after he did it. "And… everyone has been all up in a tizzy." He scratched his scalp. "The whole Koopa Kingdom is on alert, Bowser has deployed us Koopalings to search all the eight nearby worlds… the point is that we've all put in a lot of effort to find you."

An emotion flashed across Junior's face for a brief second. Unfortunately, before Ludwig could determine what exactly it was, Junior started looking angry. "Well. Don't I feel special."

Ludwig blinked. That… okay, was he stupid, or was that the… absolute wrong thing to say right now? Those words didn't feel appropriate. By any stretch of the imagination. Not only that, but the tone used to deliver them was also off. It sounded… bitter. Like, bitterness in its most concentrated form.

"And…" Ludwig's stomach started to churn and he couldn't pinpoint why. "Well… we want you to come home, buddy. We all miss you. We want you back safe and sound."

Junior finally made eye contact with Ludwig, and when he did… Oh God. That glare, that ire, that hurt. It was all sharpened to the finest, most lethal point possible. Ludwig felt like he was only ten inches tall. He legitimately felt scared looking into that face. Probably not to the point where he was worried he'd get hurt, but… actually, he was. He WAS worried he'd get hurt, emotionally at the very least.

"You're so full of shit," Junior spat out. He took a step forward, causing Ludwig to take a step back. "You expect me to believe you? After everything that's happened?"

Sweat beads formed on Ludwig's skin and they had nothing to do with the fireplace. "What are you talking about?"

Junior gritted his teeth. "I heard what you said to Wendy, Ludwig." Ludwig noticed Junior gripping his hand into a fist, which just increased his anxieties. "You hate me. The only reason you care about me at all is because you have to." He sniffled. "It's inconvenient not to, isn't it."

Ludwig's eyes grew wide. Lemmy stepped away from the fireplace and turned to Junior looking stunned. "Junior…" Lemmy had to pause before speaking again, possibly to process everything. "Junior, what are you talking about? You're our brother! We love you!"

Now Junior looked like he was in pain. "Why? What about me is lovable?" He started to shake as tears streamed down his face. "I'm a monster! I know that, you know that, everyone knows that! That stupid cloning process that Dad went through… he shouldn't have done it! It was a stupid decision!"

Ludwig frowned. "Junior, if he never did it, you wouldn't be here."

"I KNOW that!" Junior looked away. "I'm not stupid…"

Ludwig felt a pang, a pang that felt like a spear impaled his heart. Did Junior really think that? Did he really feel that way; did his birth story impact how he saw himself that severely?

"Junior…"

"Besides, what does a birth story like this one even tell people? It tells people that I don't have any other purpose aside from doing what Dad wants me to do!" He whimpered. "He only wants me to rule the Koopa Kingdom! That's it! He has no other reason to care about me."

"Junior, that's not…"

"And if my own father has no reason to care about me, why should you guys? You aren't even really my siblings! You live under the same roof, but you don't actually give a crap about me! Sometimes you guys can go for months without talking to me!"

Ludwig felt as though all this pain was gonna suffocate him. "Junior, I'm really sorry. I didn't realize you felt that way…"

"Why should you?" Junior wasn't yelling anymore, his voice was much softer. "You have no reason whatsoever to care about me." He bit his lip. "And I know that you don't."

Ludwig frowned. "Junior, don't. We care about you!"

Junior glared at him again. "You care about someone who's so hard to love?" He shook his head. "Don't lie to me. Don't pretend. Especially since I have found someone who DOES care about me!" He looked close to screaming at the top of his lungs. "Someone took me in and actually treats me like a person! They love me for me! They treat me with respect and dignity! Somethings that YOUR sorry selves never even considered as being something I need!"

Ludwig's fingers started to smoke. "Junior…" He took in a breath. "Look, I'm sorry we made you feel unloved, but you're wrong. You're dead wrong."

"Oh REALLY?" Junior took two steps toward Ludwig, who didn't even bother backing away this time. "AM I REALLY?"

'YES!" Ludwig's breathing got deeper and heavier. "You're SORELY mistaken! There has never been a day where we didn't care about you!"

Junior sharply exhaled. "You did such a crap job of showing me that…"

Now Ludwig's hands were covered in flames. "Well, we aren't perfect, Junior! We're just regular people! We make mistakes, just like everyone else on the planet!"

"Mistakes, huh? You mean how the cloning process was a mistake?"

Ludwig felt like pulling his hair out. "Oh for the love of God, WILL YOU LET THAT GO? So what if your birth story was unusual? It doesn't matter HOW you got here; it just matters that you are!"

"Really? You guys never seemed to care that I was here!"

Steam shot out of Ludwig's nose. "Junior, stop it!"

"No, YOU stop! Stop lying to me! Stop trying to convince me that my old life was a good one! It never was, and you trying to tell me otherwise just shows me how stupid you think I am!"

The flames were creeping up Ludwig's arms now. "Well, maybe you are stupid! You're giving up a good life and ignoring the people who love you… and for what? So you can get the affection of a stranger? A stranger who you don't even know for sure you can trust? Yeah, that's a big brain decision right there, Buddy!"

"Ludwig…" Lemmy said, stepping close to him despite the risk of getting burned.

"Oh, so you FINALLY admit it! You FINALLY admit that you think I'm an idiot! You finally admit that you don't care about me! Your true colors are so bright that they're flashing neon!"

Ludwig gawked. "WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU GETTING THAT…" He shook his head. "You know what? FINE! Have it your way! Live with your stranger! Live with someone who you don't know! Live with someone who hasn't sacrificed a large chunk of their time to find you and try to make sure you were okay!"

"Ludwig, please!" said Lemmy.

"Oh, I will!" Junior exclaimed. "And every night, before I go to bed, I'll thank all the Gods in the Mushroom Pantheon for helping me dodge such a massive bullet! I'll pray to them and say thank you not just for ME, but for you guys! I'll thank them that you are no longer burdened by my presence!"

Ludwig was so angry that he didn't even have the willpower to argue against that. "FINE!"

"FINE!"

"FINE!" Ludwig gestured to Lemmy. "Come on Lemmy, let's go!"

"But Ludwig, there's a storm…"

"So what?" He stepped toward the door, noticing that he left singe marks on the floor. "We're clearly not wanted here!"

Lemmy hesitated. He looked back at Junior, who wasn't even looking at him anymore. He looked at Ludwig, gesturing at him to come with him out into the snow. After whimpering, he followed Ludwig. They closed the door, and as Ludwig stood on the stoop in the snowstorm, he took multiple deep breaths to get the flames to recede.

"Ludwig, I don't think that…"

"Don't Lemmy. Just don't." Ludwig looked into the distance, the snowy, unclear distance. "Let's just go to the nearest town so we can find a hotel to stay at tonight."

Lemmy stood frozen in place before sighing. "Okay."