Castle Sweet Castle

[Lemmy Koopa]

The trek through the Tangled Green was long and challenging in the night with the fact that not only it was night but even with Green leading the way, he was getting exhausted from travel as his stamina was drastically taken down due to the run-in with that pain in the shell from the past, Jr. Troopa, during their first walkthrough in the thick, jungly forest.

Once the duo reached the harsh atmosphere and environment of the Steppes, they were close. The scorched ground, the darkened skies, the bubbling lava pits, the lava flows from cliffs afar, it was a relief to see this landscape again..well maybe for some people..and in a sense, it would hopefully keep Iggy preoccupied with getting too concerned about Ludwig departing the group due to personal reasons, but instead of telling it directly, Green played around with his words on purpose.

Upon reaching a turn, Green said,"The castle is located in the subterranean levels, however, if we are to get lost, the other members of the Troop will aid us out. They've been all over this place as of recently due to several incidents that has been threatening King Bowser and well, for looking out for the rest of the siblings,"

Mostly castle intrusions from outside forces..

"Though, soon enough, you'll be resting in your own room," he continued with a smile. "..well while I get patched up at the Medical Ward and recover for awhile. Nothing new much for someone like me after all, but hey, King Bowser will be more than happy to see you around, so when you can check up with him or perhaps Kamek. Who knows,"

He nervously chuckled afterwards. After all, the thing he could do for now is to keep the situation as upbeat. Of course, there was that small chance that Iggy could be wondering..

Remembering Ludwig's words, Green felt kinda bad for Iggy, after all, the two brothers were recently reunited but Ludwig, it's almost like a part of him doesn't want to leave Iggy but he had to set things straight before he could return. Granted that Ludwig is the reasonable one, he was also very vengeful, especially to the fact that he acted this way around the youngest, being Bowser Jr., the most.

Now those two were a nightmare to break up sometimes..

As they traverse deeper in the Steppes to the cavern where the main castle is, Green warned,"Watch your step. The least thing you want is a slip-up somewhere that would result in..well, you already know. Once we're inside, the main castle is dead ahead and you should be able to see it,"

Afterwhile, Green was reminded and he asked,"Oh and before I forget, how's your head doing so far?"

[Iggy Koopa]

Iggy gently patted at his noggin. "Oddly, not half bad," he replied, shaking his head a bit. He was looking around, seeing the lava caked mountains and ash choked environments, the whole area giving him the biggest sense of Deja Vu. "...This is what home was like, right?" he asked, images of the old Bowser Castle popping up in his mind. A smile appeared on his face, the koopa following green down the tunnel.

On the way down, a few koopas and Goombas made their presence known, most hiding behind scenery in the cave, likely to act as lookouts.

"Is that Iggy?" one asked, sparking a conversation among the rest. Iggy just watched and chuckled nervously, waving his hand a bit to all the onlookers.

[Lemmy Koopa]

"It is Iggy! The middlechild has been located!" exclaimed the Koopa as he was happy, cheerfully waving back at the tall Koopa. "King Bowser will be very pleased!"

Green kept going but there was nothing wrong with waving back at his comrades as they trekked down the tunnel, soon to be followed by the small group of Koopa Troop members. However, they stopped from going far from their positions as instructed by King Bowser and at the end of the tunnel, there it was, the main Castle, standing proudly within the harsh, volcanic depths of the caverns.

This was a big area that Koopa Troopers would have to watch out for. Since heat exhaustion plays a big risk and the only chance they would get cool is to head outside the caverns before coming back in and being slammed with the ripples of heat waves that would cause anyone to fall over. It's that dangerous especially with the various members having to look out around the area to protect the main Castle.

Of course, knowing King Bowser, he enjoys his Castle to be laugh and at charge. With it's huge, threatening structure and sheer amount of the members of his army patrolling the place in outposts all over, it was always heavily guarded. However, the Koopa King has been on guard about outsiders coming on his turf as of recent, but then again to which Green was kinda debating about is there was the opportunity of him feeling the opposite in terms of welcoming newcomers to join the Koopa Troop.

However, Green isn't a mind-reader, just a servant.

"Main Castle dead ahead!" replied Green as he saw the Castle in the distance of the duo. "Isn't it great? You're finally here!"

Despite of retaining his injuries from an earlier incident, Green can feel himself sweating, just a bit but not much, however he has to keep pressing onwards towards the Castle to be able to get Iggy there as told.

Just a bit more there Green, just a bit more. Don't succumb to the heat, just keep yourself cool and you should be fine.

[Iggy Koopa]

Iggy stared up in awe, a large smile on his face as the heat warbled around. "Mmmm~ I always did like it scalding!" he offered, walking with Green. "The castle looks just like the old one did!" He stopped, thinking to himself. The old castle? There was another castle?

Come to think of it, that did sound right... This clearly wasn't the area he was familiar with, was it? It didn't feel right, honestly, but with the massive castle sitting far in the massive cavern, part of him thought it was fitting. "Hmm... when was the last time King Dad had a castle underground," Iggy thought aloud, trying to recall.

"Oh, I know the answer to that!" A goomba offered. "Dinosaur Land!

"Dinosaur land..." Iggy kept thinking to himself, unsure of whether or not that was an acceptable answer.

[Lemmy Koopa]

"Yeah, it is Dinosaur Land," replied another Koopa with a nod. "I remember because I was in the Troop at that time that the Koopa Kingdom took over,"

Green nervously chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head with his hand. "I came along when King Bowser came in with the Star Realm incident so yeah. Don't know much on that end,"

He continued,"..but we really should get going, Iggy. After what Red mentioned, I'm sure that King Bowser would want to meet with you, if not Kamek and the others. In fact, they're waiting for you so we can't keep them long,"

Next to worrying about Bowser, he really wanted to get out of this heat to be honest, well next to getting to the Medical Ward and he was hurrying along nervously ahead of the other. Looking up to the gates ahead, they were close especially with the two Koopatrols guarding the gateway to the Castle in the distance.

[Iggy Koopa]

Iggy nodded, hustling forward with green as the rest all cheered and waved.

"Glad to have you back, Iggy!" one koopa called, happily waving as the koopaling departed.

[Lemmy Koopa]

Before long, the duo had arrived at the front gates of the Castle where the two Koopatrols stood guard. The moment they saw the Koopaling, one of them said,"Ah! Lord Iggy, it's good to see you again sir!"

The other replied,"This means a lot for the Koopa Kingdom! King Bowser will be very pleased. Oh and by the way, have any of you come across Lord Ludwig earlier?"

Green nodded as he replied,"Yeah, we did in Camelot. He's been acting strange lately,"

The first Koopatrol nodded as he mentioned,"Hmm, that is odd, but then again we could only hope for the best for him, but then again, you look badly beaten. What happened?"

Green replied,"I don't want to talk about it man, let's just him get inside. I'm beat,"

Before long, the two Koopatrols opened the gate to the Castle for Green and Iggy as they went onwards inside, only for Green to say,"Well, looks like this is where we split up. It's good to have you back Iggy and hey, I'll catch you later,"

He smiled at the other and left towards the direction of the Medical Ward before Kamek came around from the other end of the Castle hallway and noticed Iggy as he said, "Ah, welcome back Ignatius. Your arrival was expected, hehe,"

The elder was relieved and happy at best; first Ludwig, now Iggy. That's two of the eight children that has arrived so far and even so, he could tell that King Bowser was already restless with finding the other six children. However he reassured that they will come in due time and will be found.

[Iggy Koopa]

Iggy tilted his head, still a bit taken by his amnesia. However, in a sudden fit of happiness, he gave the elder koopa a light hug, smiling. "Kamek! It's great to see you again!" He cheered, hopping back. "Boy, how long have I been gone for?"

[Lemmy Koopa]

"For quite some time however rest assured, you're back and that's what matters," he replied before he suggested,"If you like, I could take you to your room so you could rest up..well, if you're tired out, but knowing you, you could still have that spark of energy left. It's hard to predict when you are truly exhausted,"

This was true. Whenever Iggy was up and abound, he takes the longest time to tire out. However, the hug gave to him was something that made his day better. One by one, the Koopalings were making their return and that's wonderful news.

"How was your journey here? Did you had any difficulty getting to the Castle?" he asked out of curiosity. "I hope you didn't run into too much trouble like Ludwig did,"

[Iggy Koopa]

"I guess I ran into some kind of trouble," Iggy admitted. "I found this jungly place, and it was all cool and big looking, and I really wanted to explore it!" He waved his arms about, happily smiling as he wobbled himself about. "I was found by those ninja guys, I think they're called the koopa bros. I didn't even go that far when I got there, just kinda walked toward the river and never got much further.

"Then I met this little guy in an eggshell, who was really, reaaally bossy, that wanted to prove he was super duper tough, but honestly I kind of believed he was anyway, you know? So I convinced him that he was the only one suited to accompany me to find Ludwig, and he totally believed me! Then we went to that, uh... camelot place, and I kind of... bumped my head going to Ludwig..."

He blushed, not sure how he'd be taken with that last bit out and said. "Um... I guess I could do with a nap or two," he chuckled, sucking in a massive yawn. "Or three..." He pushed at his glasses, rubbing at a bit of sleep on his remarkably tiny black beads for eyes. "Which way was my room again?"

[Lemmy Koopa]

The elder nodded as he replied,"I see, how interesting. However, I'm glad that you made it safely back here,"

Looking over to Iggy, he can tell that the Koopaling was exhausted and to assist him, he lead the way to the Koopaling's room where there were seven colored doors represent by each Koopaling. "The Prince's room is down the hallway nearby your Father's room as you would expect,"

He pointed out to Iggy's room which are the green doors. "Due to recent attacks, I had to magically seal away the rooms for safety, but since word of your arrival has came, I already took care of ridding the seal away for you. I assure you that everything you remember about your room is just as is from the time we were back at the other Castle,"

Looking to Iggy, he smiled a bit as he was reminded of the time Ludwig had arrived at the Castle and continued,"You know, Ludwig was the same way when he came here. He was tired out much like you are right now,"

[Iggy Koopa]

"Is that so..." Iggy gave a light giggle, but it was soon replaced with a groan as his spine bent backwards. He walked in, caring little for all the doo-dads and devices present inside of his room, caring more for the bed off in the corner. He hopped into it, drowsily yawning as he cuddled in, sleeping.