Chapter 8 A Burning Temptation

"Ahh!" Iggy took a deep breath in, drinking in the atmosphere and scent of his beloved Soda Jungle. The southern end, which was where he set up camp last time as well as this time, had a wet, earthy scent. It smelled of life, beauty, and nature. It was a floral paradise, a place where animals and plants alike lived in perfect harmony. Honestly, Iggy loved jungle worlds. If he had the opportunity, he would break out a notebook and take notes on each and every single organism he found here.

Unfortunately, he couldn't do that right at the moment. His airship slowly encircled a castle, just like it had done years ago. Iggy took note of all the soldiers, working on the deck of said airship as the morning sun shone through the trees. They were so busy with their tasks. Did that mean they were being productive too? Iggy really didn't know.

And, if he were to be completely honest, he didn't care. This whole kidnapping mission outline just rubbed him the wrong way. Sure, he was happy to be back in Soda Jungle; that could be considered a silver lining. But it was a very weak silver lining. Just thinking about what was going to happen made him sick to his stomach. Could he handle facing Mario under these conditions? Could he handle seeing a rookie get beaten up by Mario? Armando was fresh off the boat, as they say. He had just joined the Koopa Troop, so was it even fair to make him face Mario so soon? Iggy didn't think so, and right now, he regretted the fact that he hadn't voiced his concerns to Bowser during the initial meeting. He wanted to back then, but he stopped himself on the basis that Bowser would more than likely not listen to reason. As much as Iggy still believed that he wouldn't… well, he should've at least TRIED to make him listen to reason. He should've gone down fighting before giving a half-hearted surrender.

Alas, he hadn't, which made him hate himself beyond all reasonable comprehension.

Excusing himself, Iggy made his way into the cabin. He saw Armando looking out the window, a sight that almost made him whimper. Seriously, he was so young and had so much life to live. Would his drive and enthusiasm be snuffed out if Mario were to stomp on his head?

Iggy sighed. Shaking his head, he went to sit down at one of the tables set up in the cabin. Once he took a seat, he took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. His regrets and negative thoughts climbed toward the ceiling, climbing so high that, eventually, Iggy had to put his head down on the table. His stomach became even more upset, and he started to develop a headache. Maybe he should try to rest? Soda Jungle was the fifth world in Mario's path, which meant it would take a while before the portly plumber arrived. This was especially true considering that, as far as Iggy was aware, Bowser hadn't actually kidnapped Princess Peach yet. Yeah, it was definitely going to be a while before Iggy and Armando saw any action. Maybe… maybe he should get some sleep…

"Master Iggy?"

Iggy jerked his head off the table. He squinted toward the door, wondering what the fuzzy outline was supposed to be before he remembered that he had taken off his glasses. Putting them back on, he saw a boomerang bro with a serious expression.

"What is it General?"

"We just received word from King Bowser," said the boomerang bro. "He has successfully captured Princess Peach and thrown Mario toward Acorn Plains."

Iggy sunk a little into his chair. "Dammit," he muttered under his breath. Sighing for what was possibly the thousandth time this day, he stood up. "Okay. That's great news, General. We will prepare for battle."

"Of course, Your Majesty." The bro gave the salute before exiting the room and closing the door. Iggy bit his lip, tapping his fingers on the surface of his table as he did. Mario was already coming this way. He was going to fight each and every one of the new recruits first. Who was it who was patrolling Acorn Plains right now… oh right, Lemmy. Just like last time. Lemmy was currently training a recruit named… uh… what was the soldier currently working under Lemmy called? Billy? Arthur? Napoleon? Iggy couldn't remember for the life of him, and really, it didn't matter. That poor recruit was going to be on the receiving end of a pretty nasty whooping regardless of what his name was.

What a hopeless scenario. Actually, that didn't even scratch the surface of how awful this was. As much as Iggy didn't like to use vulgar language, he would be the first and the loudest to declare that this whole thing was a shitshow. A messy, bloody, horribly hopeless shitshow.

"Oh man." Iggy took his seat back down and looked up at the ceiling. He then looked at Armando, his brain making him imagine what the rookie's face would look like if it was bruised. Cringing at the mental images, Iggy had no choice but to look away. "Are you looking forward to this, Armando?"

"I think I am, sir," Armando said. "I feel I am more than capable of fighting Mario."

Yes, Iggy thought, but are you capable of WINNING? That was the million-dollar question right there. If Armando was capable of winning, maybe they stood a sliver of a chance. But he wasn't. Iggy knew that deep down in his soul. He was a rookie, a newbie, a novice. How could anyone with absolutely nothing on their resume even stand a chance? Not even Iggy himself stood a chance and he had been fighting in the Koopa Troop for years!

Well, okay, it could be argued that was because he stopped caring a long time ago, but the point still stood. Armando was going to be put through hell when Mario arrived at the castle. Speaking of which, how long would that take exactly? A day? A week? Iggy hadn't the slightest clue. It entirely depended on the pace that Mario followed as he journeyed across the first four worlds. It didn't really matter either; whether it be a week or a month, that was time out of Iggy's life that he would never get back.

"Master Iggy?"

Iggy raised an eyebrow and saw Armando, looking at him with a furrowed brow. "What is it?"

"Are you alright? You seem a little… blah."

Iggy chuckled at the funny adjective. "Well… when you've seen as many Mario fights as I have, you start to become a tad bit cynical." Iggy smirked, making the sign with his hands that he was talking about something small. "Just a tad."

"I see." Armando put his hand to his chin. "Do you think we stand a chance against him?"

"HA! Nope!" Iggy laughed. "If we stood a chance against him, we wouldn't be doing this song and dance. If we stood a chance, Bowser would've married Peach and made her his queen a decade ago!"

"I see." Armando started shaking, an action that didn't go unnoticed by the Koopaling.

"But… who knows? Maybe something will change this time around." He got up from his chair. "Maybe the four thousandth time will be the charm. I mean, you're here. You're a new variable added to the tried and true formula, so maybe we'll get lucky."

Armando sighed. "I hope we do, sir. My goal as a soldier is to serve both my Kingdom and my King. And I want to do that to the best of my ability."

A warmth spread through Iggy's heart as he smiled. "A very admirable goal, Armando." He stepped forward. "If you keep your optimism, I'm sure that'll do wonders in terms of taking you through life."

"Thank you, Sire." Armando looked around the cabin. "So… what do we do now? Do we just… wait?"

"Yes, more or less." Iggy went over to the window, looking south to the Soda Jungle's entrance via Rock Candy Mines. "We can't make Mario speed up in his world quest, so we just wait until he arrives at our castle and just go from there."

"Huh." Iggy could see Armando's shoulders slumping through his reflection in the window. "Well, that's not very exciting."

Iggy laughed. "Oh, trust me Armando, when it comes to a kidnapping mission, you don't WANT things to be exciting."

Armando chuckled. "Yeah. I suppose that's true. Still, though, I wish there was something fun we could do while we wait."

Iggy nodded. He turned his attention back toward the window. Thanks to the circling of the ship, he now faced north, which allowed him to see the haunted portion of Soda Jungle. Honestly, that place didn't bother Iggy as much as it would probably bother some other people. Some might view it as scary, a place to be avoided, but… he didn't know. He didn't think a place that resembled a painting by a Renaissance artist could really be that dangerous. Even the spirits that haunted that section didn't do much to terrify Iggy.

Wait. Didn't he think about going into that section of the forest earlier? Frowning, Iggy got his dark magic tracker out of his hammerspace. It was currently turned off, which was why it wasn't currently beeping. However, if he pressed the power button, the machine came to life. In fact, the beeping was louder and more frequent than it had been when he was in Bowser's Castle, which made perfect sense.

"What's that, Your Majesty?"

"A dark magic tracker," Iggy said without taking his eyes off of the device. He looked back toward the haunted forest, wondering about a lot of things. He remembered discovering the temple. He remembered the words his sister had said to him a few days ago. Should he… or shouldn't he? Should he do what he had originally set out to do, or should he follow Wendy's advice and just leave stuff like this to the ACTUAL demon hunters?

"Prince Iggy?"

Iggy whimpered. Maybe he should leave well enough alone. That made the most sense to do, as he had responsibilities right now. He had to get Armando prepared for battle, he had to make sure that the part of the plan he was responsible for carrying out went smoothly. Logically, staying put in his airship made the most sense. Especially when he considered the conversation he had with Wendy about this very subject.

But at the same time… he wanted to do this. He wanted to do it so badly. And… maybe fate was pushing for him to do it? After all, Bowser had decided to enact a plan that allowed him to patrol Soda Jungle again. Not only that, but he had made that plan NOW of all times. Now, when Iggy was just learning about what lay in this forest. That couldn't be a coincidence. Maybe some kind of God was intervening to make it easier for Iggy to do this.

Of course, that could also be an incredibly egotistical thing to think about. Maybe he was just grasping at straws, trying to find justification for doing something that was potentially dangerous.

"Prince Iggy? Are you alright?"

Iggy looked over at Armando, seeing concern in the koopa troopa's eyes. Hmm… the plan COULD be dangerous… if he decided to do it alone. But what if he took back up with him?

"Prince Iggy?"

A smile slowly formed on Iggy's face. "Armando, get your weapons ready." He started making his way toward the door. "I'm gonna tell the guys up on deck to stop the ship."

"Why? What do you want to do?"

Iggy just turned and gave him a grinning wink before exiting the cabin.