Brotherly Reunion

[Lemmy Koopa]

Along the outside of the forest came the blunette who had came out recently after deploying the Koopa Brothers to their duty of looking for the remains of his siblings as he searched out in Camelot, the very place that his adventure began after his arrival from the Nexus. Truth to be told, this was also where he had met his first acquaintance Kopaka who had saved him the trouble of handling with the rogues and with one of Camelot's own discriminatory warriors who mostly had reported him for having an alliance with the Koopa Kingdom.

What sort of individual would do that? Only a pathetic one, that's for sure.

He tsked at the thought of it bothering him, however he will reassure vengeance soon enough, especially with what the rogues did to kill off several good numbers of Koopa Troop members.

One way or another, they will pay.

On his way over, he saw the same tree he rested at from his memory, only to see a flyer with information for a bounty involving him; in absolute disgust, he swiped it clean off in his hands before he blew fire on it and letting it burn before letting it go in the breeze to burn up into nothing but ash.

He wasn't going to tolerate that blasphemy being made about him. Such uncalled nonsense!

Even so, he sighed a bit before he murmured,"This Kingdom..why such a pathetic society? They're no different than the Toads in the Mushroom Kingdom and yet.."

He looked up at the sky to see the floating island in the distance as he continued,"..there are so many mysteries that it has been left to see as open doors for a chance of opportunity for discovery,"

Ludwig for some reason had always wondered what was up there in the floating island in the sunset skies and to be fair, he has heard something about the place from Kamek before he left the Castle onto search effort. Something about mystics, mages and scholars residing up there who treat those who are like them with more respect than the people in Camelot.

Of course, those were Ludwig's type of people; being intellectual has always fascinated the eldest especially with long well-thought discussions exchanging their lessons and experiences with each other. Oh what he what he would give to have someone like that with him!

However, the only smart sibling in the family was Iggy, which was someone he hasn't seen in a good while and in a way, he does kind of miss him despite of his antics. It was a fact that he felt in his being and even he knows that as he lowered his head as he sighed,"All I can ask for is their safety, wherever they are,"
===
In the distance of the situation, out came Jr. Troopa along with the rest of the group as he said,"Alright we're here at Camelot,"

He looked around for a bit and noticed that they came out in time because it was getting dark at where they're at, however in the distance of the situation, he noticed a blunette right next to the tree as he thought what was that.

When Green came onscene, he panted a bit before he looked up to Jr. Troopa as he replied,"We're trying as hard as we can, we don't have bat wings like you do. Respect that,"

It was then and there that Green noticed a blunette and perked up as he grew happy before he turned around as he said to Iggy,"Yo Iggy. Good news! He's up ahead!"

[Iggy Koopa]

Iggy looked up, gasping at the sight of the blue ball of hair. He immediately took off running toward Ludwig, an expression as though he wasn't sure it was really him. As he got closer, his crazy grin grew, the Lime Green Koopa running faster and faster as his eldest brother came into view.

"Ludwiiiig!"

His shout was loud and raspy, alerting not just Ludwig, but anyone else near the portal of his pressance. Before very long at all, Iggy had caught up with Ludwig, moving at extremely incredible speeds. As soon as he tried to put on the breakes, however, he tripped, falling face first and rolling along, the crazed, rolling ball of spikes and glasses barreling straight toward Ludwig as Iggy gave a loud, garbly scream.

"HeLp m-M-m-MeeeEEEeeeEEEEeeeeEEEE!!!" he screamed, unable to stop himself at all.

[Lemmy Koopa]

"Iggy, is that-" he whispered to himself before the blunette immediately turned around and noticed a rolling Koopa coming his way in, screaming out his name. Without much time to react, the two brothers eventually crashed into each other, falling on the soft green grass together.

When the crash occurred, Jr. Troopa chuckled to himself as Green rushed over in a hurry to assist the others as he said,"Iggy! Ludwig! Are you alright there? That was a bad fall,"

Ludwig was struggling to got out and having Iggy on top of his shell wasn't helping out at all. He glared over to Green as he had his claw tapping the ground as he asked,"Well, what do you think the answer is? Can you not see what has just happened?"

Green hesitated for a bit before he asked,"Umm..no?"

The blunette's temper was rising but even as he was calm, his tone was direct and more serious as he replied,"Correct. Now..HELP ME GET HIM OFF ME!"

Ludwig's roar echoed through the forest that several birds flew off from a nearby tree and as Green went to work, eventually the blunette noticed the small Troopa in the distance and ordered,"You there. We need some assistance,"

The hatchling crossed his arms as he replied,"Me? Help you? Pft! No way, I rather do my own thing so I'm outta here. Besides, I have someone to find, you're on your own,"

Rebellious little brat.

Ludwig's temper rose even further as he scowled,"Insolent little brat. Get over here now and assist! It is required for someone part of the Troop to assist the Royal Family whenever possible. Now, bring yourself here!"

"You can't make me!" replied the younger as he stuck his tongue out to Ludwig and from that, Ludwig's temper reached it's point, causing Ludwig to grasp the ground with his sharp claws as he struggled more. As Green panicked at the sight of an angry Ludwig, he said,"Ludwig, first thing to note, he's not one of us, we found him in the forest back there and second thing, please calm down. We don't want a fight to break out and besides, he assisted us in case there was another attack,"

Hearing those words resulted in the blunette calm down as bit before he stopped and knitted his eyebrow as he asked,"He assisted you? When?"

Green lowered his head as he confessed,"I-it's complicated, but I've met him before and to be honest, he's a tough kid. He's knocked aside all four of us Bros. and his magic is rumored to be strong. He acted as the bodyguard of the group, just please, I beg you, please bear with him,"

The blunette looked at Green for a long moment before he return to looking at the brat and back to Green before he huffed smoke from his nostrils as he calm down a bit as he replied,"We will see about that. Many can claim that they're strong but in the end, they're weak. He will need to prove his worth, not claim it, understand?"

Green nodded nervously as the little tyke in the distance thought about what happened recently. Things have gotten a bit interesting as it will mean that there would be a challenge from the blunette that he's sure to beat.

After all, it could give further reason to prove how strong he is.

[Iggy Koopa]

Iggy's eyes were reduced to spirals in his glasses, the koopa stomach first on his brother as everything blurred around and around him like there was no tomorrow. "Can I have my ice cream sundae with sprinkles?" he asked, being flipped off of Ludwig moments later as his palm-stalk of hair flailed. "Just the lime ones- those are my favorite~"

Clearly, the crazy koopaling conked his coconut in the completely crushing crash.

[Lemmy Koopa]

Eventually being freed of Iggy's weight, the blunette was able to move around again as he got up. The first thing was the blunette looking at his claws and how dirty they got.

The blunette tsked again before he looked down to the knocked out Iggy on the grass as he said,"Argh, count on Iggy to mess things up. I can see why Wendy would be mad everytime she broke a claw. This will not certainly do; I'm due for a clean up when we get back to the Castle. However, I'm hoping for is that he doesn't have a concussion from that rough fall,"

In concern, Green asked,"How are you holding up from the incident?"

"Somewhat injured but I'm fine overall," the blunette responded. "However, it's not as bad as it was with Iggy there, he'll be needing an ice pack however, the locals aren't exactly friendly of my presence, which makes it harder to approach,"

Green scratched his head as Jr. Troopa eventually came along with the others and landed as he retracted his wings before looking around his surroundings for a bit.

Ludwig sighed as he continued,"I wish Iggy didn't come at me like that. I barely met him again and he goes with his reckless attitude; I can appreciate what he was trying to convey his feelings for but he did it in a way that he harmed himself in the process,"

Green perked up and suggested,"Maybe the little guy over there could get something for Iggy?"

Ludwig looked around the area and since it was getting dark, it could be an advantage as he nodded and replied,"If he goes, you must go with him as well. Even though I don't know if there's ice around here, there's no harm in looking for something; I will remain here with Iggy,"

Green gulped as he looked to Jr. Troopa and looked back to Ludwig as he replied,"Are you sure that's a good idea? We don't-"

The blunette glared at him as he growled,"Just do as you were told. I will not tolerate otherwise,"

[Iggy Koopa]

It seemed like days. Possibly even weeks, but it had only been a few hours. Iggy was still knocked out, dizzy and confused as his eyes finally opened back up again. All he could really see was a big, shadowy thing over his head as he looked around. "Mmmmm... who's there?" he asked, trying to right himself. His head throbbed, the tall Koopaling wincing. "Everything looks all blurry..."

[Lemmy Koopa]

The sun had already set by the time that Iggy awoke and it was dark as the skies had a few stars out above while Green and Jr. Troopa had gone off together, despite Jr. Troopa mentally bickering on the way to nab some ice for Iggy to which they succeeded and with some luck from not being caught.

Once they returned, Ludwig was the one that put ice on the other's head to help with the injury.

Seeing the other had finally awaken from his accident, the blunette brought out his wand to lit the area around Iggy as in a soft tone, he replied,"Who do you think it is, brother? I had been here watching over you for hours while you were out. We're going have to return to the Castle to get your head checked; in the meanwhile, take it easy and don't rush yourself,"

Ludwig didn't want his brother to injure himself more. That's the least thing he wants.

Before long, Green went over to assist as the other was more concerned with eventually fighting Ludwig. Looks like that's going to have to be postponed because of Iggy and that annoyed him more than anything, but still..

Looking over to Green as he approached him, the blunette turned his head towards him before he mentioned,"Ashen Steppes shouldn't be far from our location, it's past the Tangled Green. Once we are past the forest, we should be fine,"

Before long, he looked at his surroundings from nearby, to which he noticed some lights within the dark forest over there; looks like unwanted company were looking around and that's bad news.

Furrowing his eyes and with great distaste in his tone, he continued,"Argh. Those Camelot pests! Even at night, they're still as annoyingly persistent as usual. The nerve of those idiots,"

Green shrugged,"I dunno. They could be after someone else,"

The blunette shook his head and replied,"Did you not look at the posts while on your outing? They want me for setting foot in this Kingdom. Since I have ties to the Koopa Kingdom, I am treated as a criminal for a crime I did not commit. Such blasphemy!"

Green thought for a moment and brought out the flyer that he snatched as he replied,"You mean by this?" At the sight of it, the blunette nodded and Green put it away as Ludwig continued,"Keep it with you. It could serve as useful later,"

Green nervously chuckled as he replied,"It's a good thing I came along,"

Ludwig nodded. "This is true, but then again, I sent your four to locate my other siblings and do as you are told and the little one over there came on his own means to assist. Unfortunately, unless we are transported out to the Castle right away, we are going to have to traverse back into the forest and remain on high guard. Things are more dangerous at night and due to this new realm of reality, I'm limited on my power and I can't even use my most powerful spells like I could before,"

If only Kamek was around to assist them because as of now, they're in some serious trouble if they get spotted.

"I'm still sore from injuries myself," sighed Green before he looked to Jr. Troopa in annoyance, causing the other to perk up and exclaimed,"That's because you were in my grounds, that's why!"

Ludwig interrupted the argument as he narrowed his eyes and scowled,"Enough. I will not sit here and listen to another argument from you two; we're in a tight situation and we will need to work together through this. Now, if we are to make a move to get out of here without getting caught, we're going have to remain low-key,"

Green and Jr. Troopa looked at each other before they looked away from each out in disagreement before the blunette sighed in annoyance..again. This is going to be a doozy of a time.

[Iggy Koopa]

Iggy slowly wobbled on his feet, following after ludwig as everything blurred around him. "You guys either agree for a few minutes and make sure we get out of here unscathes," Iggy began, huffing and puffing. "Or I blow you guys u-"

His mind clicked, Iggy straightening his posture. "...Ludwig, how strong's your throwing arm?" He asked, getting out his Boombox. "I have an idea- if we can get a Bob-omb to explode as far from us as possible, we might mislead them into going the wrong way!"

He then thought a moment. "Or better yet- Jr. Troopa, you got wings! You could easily make a few of these explode further away from here! You'd easily show those goons who the true Master is!" He opened the boombox, revealing its contents.

[Lemmy Koopa]

Ludwig thought for a moment as he crossed his arms and ponder. Of course, he would want those who were looking for them to be distracted, but then again, there is a chance that Iggy's explosive plan could cause a forestfire within the wake of the situation. Of course it would be a risk, but it's a risk he'll take for the safety of the others especially for his crazed younger brother.

"Very well, we could try that then," the blunette replied as he looked to Iggy with the usual seriousness. "However, it's only to lead them off, not attacking. If so much as a single Bob-omb injures their group, they will assume that we're terrorizing them and will result in them growing more suspicious of our presence,"

Jr. Troopa, by being addressed by Iggy, had his ego stroked by the Koopa as he spoke up,"Yeah, I can handle that! I can carry anything with no problem. Just leave it to me!"

The little tyke immediately went to Iggy and took a couple of Bob-ombs with him, but not all. Just enough to be able to scatter around the forest so he could drop them in a decent spot.

Green mentally rolled his eyes as the little tyke was being addressed as 'Master', the truth is that he's no 'Master', he's just a little ragtag brat that came along with the duo while they were in the Tangled Green as their extra security in case someone was to attack them. However, like Iggy, he only decided to go with the flow is so that he'll be happy and not attack them further.

"This is going to be fun," the tyke chuckled as the blunette sighed,"As long as they're off of our case, I'm happy. Besides, we don't want a single one to be lead to the main Castle. You know how much Father hates sudden intrusions by outside forces trying to take him down,"

Jr. Troopa just ignored Ludwig and went on with what he was told.

The action made the blunette grow annoyed as he knows that sudden intrusions like that were a big subject with the Koopa Kingdom. The Mario Brothers were a majority but there were others. However, none was more threatening than a certain Beanish punk that briefly escaped Ludwig's thoughts since it was been so long. Everything leading to that incident was still a blur. However, he did remember of him having an unusual set of vocabulary in his tone..

What was it now?

Agh, who matters. It was in the past and this is now. They're no longer in their own world but in a multiverse of worlds brought together all lead under by Omni or by Ludwig's standards, Mysterious Smiley Face.

Even then, he it urks him just by remembering that one face. As if, it's hiding something behind that happy mask, much like how Iggy likes to hide behind his happy smile. The thought of it makes Ludwig's shell tingle as it would put him off in so many different ways that he would do anything to just make the thought stop.

He knows what he's doing once they get back to the Castle.

Green was looking over to the blunette and asked,"Ludwig? Are you okay man? You've been awfully quiet there for a while,"

Ludwig snapped out of this pondering mindset as Green asked and answered with,"I was just thinking about some things, however, I am well,"

"Okay, just..checking on you to see if you're still in the program," sighed the other.

Of course Green can't read minds but he can tell by the look of things that the blunette has a habit of overthinking. It was a thing that was brought up by King Bowser on their early days when he and his brothers were in the Koopa Troop.

Even so, the only ones that was in the now was Iggy and Jr. Troopa as well as Green to a certain degree as the little tyke eventually flew into the forest and would toss a Bob-omb aside, causing explosions.

"BOMB! BOMB!"

The resulting action caused the onlookers within the forest to become wary and soon enough caused the resulting search party to run in a direction away from the Koopas, according to the lights, or namely torches.

"What was that?"

"It came from this way. Hurry men!"

The search party brought it and this was a chance for Ludwig, Iggy, Jr. Troopa and Green to escape at the distraction.

"They're certainly not the brightest bunch that Camelot has sent out, are they? What a pity," tsked Ludwig moments before Jr. Troopa came back out of the forest, rejoining the group.

[Iggy Koopa]

Iggy gave an excited smile, slowly stepping closer to the portal before taking off toward it, smiling. He waved his arms, hoping the others to understand his signal as he took off toward the portal. Gotta find our way back to the Castle, Iggy thought, stopping just short of the portal and looking back, making sure the others followed him. Once they got close enough, Iggy stepped through first, feeling displacement as he warped through dimensions.

[Lemmy Koopa]

Ludwig followed through with the group, but before he entered the Gate, he stopped in place, remembering something. He wasn't done with this area, no something else must be resolved.

Green stopped in place as he felt like something was off and looked back, noticing the blunette didn't go any further for some unknown reason.

"What is it?" asked Green as he noticed Ludwig was thinking for a bit. Upon this, he was curious if not concerned for the other.

The blunette looked to Green as he replied,"The rest of you go ahead and get Iggy to the safety to the Castle in the Steppes. I have some loose ends to tie up before I make my return,"

"What if you get caught by them?" replied Green. "Are you sure that it's a good idea to stay here by yourself?"

Ludwig nodded. "I know how to defend myself from harm. All I care now is finishing what has been started here. If Iggy asks, tell him to not worry. I know he'll would want me to come back but I will not be at rest unless what is done is done,"

Green asked,"But he's your bro and you just met up. Don't you want to spend some quality time with him?"

Ludwig looked down as he replied,"I know. I am more than aware of the situation but.." Eventually, he looked up with a serious look in his eye as he continued,"I cannot let this pass by without retaliation. For what they done, I swear revenge. They will pay, every single one of them,"

The blunette felt strong emotions of anger and sadness in his being. On one hand, he doesn't want to leave Iggy alone again but on the other, the deaths of the Koopa Troop members left him the assurance that this must be done and without Iggy being in danger. Of course, being the eldest of the family, he would watch out for his siblings by any and all means.

"Please look out for Iggy on your way back to the Castle," he softly replied as he placed his hand on Green's shoulder with a sympathetic look. "Until we meet again, this is farewell for now,"

Eventually, the blunette left into the darkness of the night as Green went ahead to catch up with Iggy, however for Jr. Troopa, who was there watching the discussion the entire time, instead of going with Iggy, he went his own route with following after Ludwig to watch out for him in case.

Green sighed as he murmured,"Man, tonight isn't my night but then again, all I can hope that Iggy would be able to take the news. However, I also wish luck on whatever Ludwig's doing,"

Afterwhile, he hurried on but soon noticed one thing.

"Where the shell is Jr. Troopa?" he asked as he looked around. "Huh, he disappeared on us..man, that's a bummer, but atleast he won't be bossing us around anymore. Geeze, this is bittersweet,"

With a shrug, he hurried on to catch up with Iggy. Looks like it's back into the forest they go!