The younger Ludwig hurried back to his room before a small part of his mind could convince him to go back and get his questions answered. Karma was still awake when he returned.

“Well, at least you’re alright. Did you learn anything down there?” she asked.

“Well...” he paused, and looked at The Night Defender he was clutching in his hand. “I think they might be real. They might really be us... from the future.” Ludwig shuddered at the thought, but was temporarily delighted at the fact that he would be able to invent a working time machine.

His thoughts were quickly interrupted. “Kooky, what’s that?” Karma tried to get a better look at the silvery object her Met was holding.

“N-Nothing! Go back to sleep.” He quickly slipped the medallion back into his shell and jumped into his bed. Well... at least the lights were already off. The last person he wanted to show his little charm to was probably Karma. He heard his hybrid Met grumbling about something, and soon realized the she was asleep.

Why can’t I sleep? Ludwig pondered this for a while and decided to pin the blame on the older Ludwig. After thinking further on the subject, he realized that there were only a few Koopalings he could trust when it came to matters relating to him and his Met.

One was Larry, whom he constantly talked to and usually ended up dumping his insecurities upon. The other was Lemmy, whom after a short period of poking fun of the two decided to accept the thing as a big, elaborate joke. He found their arguments hilarious but sometimes did seriously listen when Ludwig had problems.

Even though he was on pretty good terms with Iggy and Roy, neither of them liked the Half-Yoshi much. Fortunately, or not, Karma felt the same way towards them. Ludwig shuddered, remembering the last time he woke up Wendy during her “Beauty Sleep”. Talking to Wendy at this time was definitely NOT an option.

Ludwig crawled out of his bed and quietly left the room, closing the door behind him and quickly heading for Lemmy and Iggy’s room. “I hope Karma doesn’t wake up...” he silently thought to himself as he, for a second time that night, snuck out of his room.
 

Chapter Six: Getting Allies

Lemmy was dreaming of ice cream when he was suddenly pulled off his bed. “Dear DAD, Iggy. It can’t be morning already!” he whined until he realized two things. One, it was definitely NOT morning. And two, the big mess of blue hair showed it wasn’t Iggy either.

“LUDW- mmph!” Lemmy felt his brother’s huge claw covering his mouth. Oh man... Did he realize I switched the bonding glue with honey when he was fixing the kitchen?!

“Lemmy, keep your voice down!” Lemmy noticed the hint of panic in Ludwig’s voice and decided his brother was still quite unaware of his role in their oven’s destruction.

“Alright alright,” Lemmy whispered back. “But did you have to push me off my bed? You hurt my arm!”

Ludwig looked clearly exasperated. “Well, you wouldn’t wake up! You endlessly talked about chocolate chip and vanilla ice cream, I had no other choice!” the older brother retorted. “How does Iggy wake you up anyway?”

Lemmy had climbed back into his bed. Returning to his thoughts to the ice cream, he completely blocked out his brother’s ranting. Ludwig noticed this and yanked Lemmy to the floor again. He landed with a thud and before Lemmy could complain anymore, Ludwig had grabbed his arm and was forcibly dragging him outside. The small Koopaling decided that if King Dad caught them sneaking around after hours, he could always pin the blame on Ludwig. He quickly grabbed his famous green and yellow ball before he was completely pulled from his bedroom. Looking back, he wondered how Iggy managed to sleep through the whole incident.

Larry had finally summoned up all his courage and left his room. “This shouldn’t be too hard,” the youngest Koopaling whispered to himself. “I’ve snuck out of my room before...” He tried to convince himself that spying on his siblings and sneaking into the dungeon to talk to... well... his family was essentially the same thing. “Yeah. Only difference is that I have to sneak past many, many guards!” Larry stopped, suddenly realizing he wasn’t alone. After years of spying on others, he could tell if someone was doing the same to him.

“AHHHH!!!” Larry screamed as a light object was bounced off his head. “What in the-” Larry quickly turned around and saw Lemmy in a fit of giggles. “LEMMY! What in Plit-” Larry stopped again. A glare from Ludwig had silenced them both. All three Koopalings realized the trouble they would be in if they were caught.

“Okay guys,” Larry whispered to his older brothers. “What are you doing out here?”

“Well, Ludwig here,” Lemmy pointed to his older brother “decided to drag me here. So I really have no idea. Of course, Larry, I could ask you what YOU’RE doing out here.” Lemmy grinned. “If we get caught, I'm not going to get in trouble!”

“Oh yeah?” Larry shot back. “I’ll tell King Dad what you and Iggy snuck out to do last Wednesday!”

Larry watched his ball-riding brother’s smile fade. “Oh no you wouldn’t!! That would mean you snuck out too!” Lemmy quickly reminded him.

Ludwig’s brain was spinning. He wasn’t aware of just how blatantly his younger siblings disobeyed father’s orders. He realized, once again, that he was being hypocritical. Maybe they were following his bad example? Ever since Karma entered his life, Ludwig had disobeyed many of King Dad’s orders. His thoughts were quickly cut short when he heard footsteps approaching.

“Yeah? Well-” Lemmy and Larry stopped arguing as well. All three Koopalings quickly looked around, trying to find a place to hide.

“Into my room!” Larry grabbed his door and ushered his brothers in. He silently slipped in himself and quietly closed the door behind him.

The three Koopalings waited until the footsteps got louder. They almost seemed to stop in front of Larry’s room. They held their breath and waited, not moving a single muscle. After an excruciatingly long second, the footsteps got fainter. They all sighed in relief, quickly forgetting what they were saying outside in the hallway, just seconds ago.

Lemmy was the first to speak. “Ludwig, I’ll get you for this! You almost gave me a heart attack! And you still haven’t explained why we’re here!” Larry agreed, nodding his head. Before he could speak, Ludwig quickly explained that he believed his older self’s story.

“...Look guys, we can’t let that happen! Really, what’s there to lose?” Ludwig finished, closing his eyes and giving a small, confident smile.

“I dunno, bro,” Lemmy stated in a matter-of-fact way. “I kinda thought you didn’t really believe them either.”

Before Larry could add anything, Ludwig explained his previous trip to the dungeons, conveniently finding a way to leave out the part about his Night Defender.

“Well...” Lemmy was quickly interrupted by his ignored little brother.

“We do have something to lose!” Larry found it hard to keep quiet any longer. “King Dad and the Marios found some gold on our land!!!”
 

Chapter Seven: Collision

Bowser worked feverishly on his plan. He suddenly laughed to himself, almost waking up his wife, Clawdia. So... those silly mushroomers thought that Dark Land was useless, huh? He couldn’t believe it, a gold mine, right underneath his castle! He stared at the gold-speckled rock sitting on his desk. Oh, there was going to be more where that came from... a LOT more...

This plan was to eliminate the princess and the Marios when they came to claim the gold. That gold was rightfully his, and no silly Mushroomer Orphanage was getting it! Fortunately or not, the Koopa King had completely forgotten about his futuristic prisoners.

“Alright, you guys get the plan, right?” Ludwig looked at his two brothers. Lemmy and Larry nodded in the darkness. Both knew the full consequences of what they were about to do. Even so, not doing anything would be even worse.

“Good luck...”

Three of the occupants in Peach’s Castle knew it was very late. Still, neither of them would back down from their positions. Luigi thought they could easily get the gold, and put it to good use. Princess Peach didn’t want to slink to Bowser’s level and STEAL the gold from his land, even though she'd admitted that holding talks with Bowser would amount to nothing or possibly worsen the already weak relationship between the Koopas and Mushroomers. Mario thought that the whole incident should never be mentioned again.

“Come on, guys!” Mario was really tired of this argument going nowhere. “It’s so late! Can’t we go to sleep, and talk about this later?!” Before the other leaders of the Mushroom Kingdom could respond, they heard a loud, desperate THONK from the window.

Luigi cautiously opened the window and got a green and yellow ball thrown in his face.

“SORRY!!!” came a high-pitched, easily recognizable voice from outside.

“Lemmy Koopa...” Luigi muttered to the floor.

The star ball rolled innocently towards Mario and Peach. Expecting it to blow them to pieces, Mario hurriedly grabbed the princess and headed towards the door. “Hurry, Luigi!” he warned his brother, who was already up and running towards them.

Mario, Luigi and Peach watched from the doorway as Lemmy managed to climb into their window. “Dear DAD... Three floors!” he joked while he retrieved his ball. “Hey, I thought I saw Luigi here...”

“FREEZE, KOOPA!” Mario and Luigi heroically shouted, jumping back into the room, Fire Flowers in hand.

“AHH!!!” A temporarily surprised Lemmy dropped his ball and reflexively took out his Freeze Gun. Before making a joke out of the pun and shooting them, Lemmy suddenly realized he had a job to do. “Ahhh... Sorry, reflex.” Lemmy slowly placed his Freeze Gun on the floor, trying not to alarm the Marios and get burned. Mario and Luigi exchanged glances, but didn’t put down their weapons. As an afterthought, Lemmy took out his wand and placed it next to his Freeze Gun. Mario, Luigi and the princess were even more confused by this gesture.

“Alright Lemmy, what are you doing here?” Luigi demanded, waving his Fire Flower threateningly.

“Pleasedon’thurtmeIdidn’tmeantohityousorry!” Lemmy whimpered. This was going to be harder than he thought...

Meanwhile, Ludwig and Larry managed to sneak back into the dungeon and find the older Ludwig and Karma’s cell. The older Ludwig was still awake, thinking about how he ever expected this plan to work.

“Hey! Ludwig!”

Ludwig heard a sound from outside the cell and crept towards the bars. “Larry?!” he shouted in surprise.

“And Kooky! You guys came back!”

“Of course I did!” After hearing Larry’s story about how King Dad and the Marios found gold under Castle Koopa, there was no doubting that the events his future self had told were true. “Look, you guys were right! We gotta get you guys outta there!”

Larry noticed that the older Karma was waking up as well, but something told him that they weren’t the only ones awake and listening.

“Uh... Guys? I think someone might be listening...” Larry wondered if they would be able to take down a guard and make a break for it when all the lights in the dungeon suddenly turned on.

“LUDWIG! LARRY!!!” a voice roared from the top of the stairs. It was Bowser, with many guards behind him.

Bowser felt very powerful. He had just caught two of his children disobeying orders; punishing them would be very fun indeed. Bowser ignored the bit of doubt and uneasiness trying to enter his mind; he gave a big, toothy grin while looking down at his cowering sons. “Iggy, good job, alerting me about these traitors. I’ll give a reward tomorrow. Guards! Throw those two into the dungeon!” Bowser walked away, satisfied. The guards hurriedly maneuvered around their king and Iggy.

The younger Ludwig couldn’t believe this. None of them could. “Iggy! How could you do this!? You have no idea what you have done!”

“Oh please.” Iggy watched Larry and Ludwig struggle against the guards. “How could you believe those fake losers?” He gave them a smug grin. “Whatever.”

“Ludwig, how did Iggy find out!?” Larry screamed.

“I don’t know!” Ludwig yelled back. Wait... he DID know! Iggy must have woken up when he was talking to Lemmy. Maybe it was his footsteps that they heard! Iggy might have even heard their whole conversation. “No! WAIT! Iggy! Whatever you do, don’t tell King Dad about Lemmy!”

The guards had finally managed to subdue Larry and Ludwig. For the sake of convenience, they shoved them into the older Karma, Ludwig, and Aislynn’s cell.Iggy walked down the steps and in front of their cell. “Why not? What’s he doing?”

The older Karma was trying to calm down Aislynn. “Why?! Because he’s your brother! You’re twins! Or sort of... I have no idea what he’s doing, but don’t you guys care about each other at ALL?!”

“Ah shut it, you half breed!” Iggy glared at her. “What kind of stupid morons would dress up as Ludwig and that stupid Yoshi anyway? And how could you two fall for their little act?!”

“Well, since he’s not going to listen to reason...” Larry gave a sly smile, “we’ll just have to blackmail him!”

“Blackmail?! What are you talking about, Larry?” Larry noticed a hint of panic in his brother’s voice.

“Hehehe... Remember last Wednesday?” Larry gave a smile that showed all his teeth.

The younger Ludwig buried his head in his hands. How did all of this happen?! How did he not notice that Iggy woke up?! How- Wait...

He looked up and noticed that Iggy’s smug face was replaced by blank, wide eyes. Maybe this could work out after all...
 

Chapter Eight: Choices

“So Lemmy...” Luigi started. “What you're saying is, Ludwig and Karma and a BABY came back from the future, to tell you that King Koopa is going to kill Mario and the princess, and then later you guys all die too?”

“Well... yeah.” Lemmy realized that the story sounded crazier with each passing minute.

“Ha! I told you, Luigi! Next time, we don’t play in Koopa’s backyard!” Mario turned to face the princess. “See Peach?! We have to leave that gold alone!”

Luigi glared at the rainbow-haired Koopaling. “I still don’t believe you! You really expect us to trust you?”

“Not really...” Lemmy admitted. “But I guess it was worth a shot, huh?” Luigi’s expression didn’t change. “Guess not...” Lemmy sighed.

“I believe Lemmy!” Luigi head snapped towards his younger brother. “How else could he have known about the gold? It wouldn’t be the first time Larry was spying on us and King Koopa anyway,” Mario stated, confident in his reasoning.

“Lemmy, what are you really trying to tell us?” Princess Peach asked.

“I dunno...” the short koopaling replied. “Ludwig just told me to warn you guys. And maybe not do anything rash or freak out if you see two Ludwigs walking around,” he joked.

“GUYS!” Luigi was clearly exasperated. “Lemmy is probably here to convince us not to take the gold! Or tell us not to go after the princess if Bowser kidnaps her again!”

“No I'm not!” Lemmy yelled back. “I-” He suddenly stopped and looked out the window. “What was that noise?”

They didn’t have to wonder long. A loud BOOM signaled that Peach’s Castle was, once again, under attack.

“Dear DAD! It’s King Dad! I'm SO GROUNDED!” Lemmy panicked while Luigi and Mario ran outside. Peach grabbed Lemmy and dragged him out of the room, closing the door behind them. Seconds later, a large explosion was heard from inside. Lemmy opened the door to find it completely demolished. “Ahhh... how did you—”

“Previous experience,” the princess answered simply. “I'm going to check on Toad and the other Mushroomers, you'd better get out of here!”

Lemmy would have thanked her, if he hadn’t noticed Bowser behind her, with a small army of Koopa Troopas and Hammer Brothers behind him. Wendy, Morton, and Roy were also nearby, tieing up the Marios. The small Koopaling clutched his ball and felt a sinking feeling; Ludwig and Larry weren’t there. “Fancy meeting you here, King Dad!” Lemmy nervously joked.

Princess Peach looked behind her and screamed as Bowser effortlessly lifted her up with one arm. “Freeze her,” he ordered Lemmy.

“Sir?!” Lemmy was genuinely confused.

Bowser was quite pleased with what had happened. His plan had worked perfectly! It seemed that his kids didn’t need Ludwig and Larry’s help to subdue those nosy plumbers. In his good mood, he had simply forgotten that Lemmy wasn’t with them on their long trek to sneak attack the Mushroom Palace. “Freeze her with your Freeze Gun, son; it’s not nice to tie up princesses.” He laughed at the horrified princess and gave the tied up plumbers a sneer.

“Sorry,” Lemmy whispered. While everyone in the room heard him, only few knew who it was really directed towards. He picked up his Freeze Gun, and remembered how he was originally thankful that he had managed to salvage his favorite weapon from the now-demolished room.

Princess Peach was only a few feet in front of him. Lemmy carefully aimed his freeze gun at her, closed his eyes, and fired.
 

Chapter Nine: Consequences

The older Karma couldn’t believe that the old, “Oh my stomach hurts!” line still worked. Of course, seeing what time period she was in, that was probably an incorrect choice of words. After alerting a nearby guard’s attention, the occupants of her cell, save Aislynn, all jumped him. When they all ran out of their dank cell, she could have sworn she heard Iggy mutter, “How come I never thought of that one...?”

“Ahh! It’s King Dad with a lot of guards! Hide!” Larry announced to his family members behind him. They hurried down the stairs and ran back into their cell, closing the door and pretending it was still locked. The two Ludwigs hid the unconscious guard behind them.

Iggy loitered near the top of the stairs. “So King Dad, how’d it go?” he innocently asked.

“Perfectly!” the Koopish King proudly announced. “Guards, throw them into the dungeon!”

The older Karma and Ludwig, the younger Ludwig, and Larry watched in terrified awe as some Rocky Wrenches dragged a tied-up Mario and Luigi down the stairs and into a nearby cell. Lemmy was at the top stairs, and mouthed “Sorry” to them when a frozen Princess Peach was carried down as well and thrown into a separate cell.

The last thing they heard was Bowser asking Iggy, “So, where were you during the attacks?”

Mario looked at the occupants of the nearby cell. Luigi ranted on about how Lemmy had tricked them when his brother suddenly interrupted to point out their imprisoned neighbors. “Hah, looks like Lemmy wasn’t lieing after all!” Mario watched his brother’s surprised face and smiled.

“Yeah... Well, that means you and the princess are going to DIE SOON!” Luigi shot back. Both of their faces sobered when the full meaning of his words sunk in.

“Not exactly...” Larry gave a sly grin as he demonstrated to the plumbers that their cell door was not as locked as it appeared...

Lemmy and Iggy were both back in their room. Even though both were lieing on their bed, neither was sleeping. Lemmy noticed that Iggy was, interestingly, not present during the secret attack. Iggy realized that Lemmy was out warning Peach, but was eventually forced to freeze her.

“Alright!” Lemmy announced, getting out of his bed. “So we both sorta know what has happened, and what each of us has done. Problem is, what are we going to do now?”

“Hey, Lemmy? You really know what I did?” Iggy looked down from his bed. Ever since they were little, he and his “twin” had shared a bunk bed.

“Not really...” Lemmy admitted. “You weren’t at Peach’s castle, and you were with Ludwig and Larry, that’s for sure.”

“Uhm...” Iggy hesitated for a second, then quickly explained exactly why neither he nor Larry and Ludwig were at Peach’s Castle.

“You WHAAAAATTTTTTT?!”

Meanwhile, in the dungeon, Ludwig, Larry, and the small family from the future had managed to steal the keys from a guard and free the two plumbers. “King Dad’s gonna freak when he learns about this!” Larry moaned.

The younger Ludwig calmly replied that their dad should have already known this would happen, given their current track record.

“Hey, Kooky,” the older Ludwig addressed his younger counterpart. “I was wrong; I guess you weren’t a stubborn rockskull after all.”

“So, any of you see where the princess went?” Luigi asked the group, now fully realizing the danger they all were in.

“Someone’s coming!” Larry didn’t know there were THIS many guards in the dungeon.

“What? But the guards aren’t supposed to make another round for at least five more minutes!” the younger Ludwig panicked.

“Tell that to my ears!” Larry quietly shot back as they all huddled behind a wall.

“Awww... Come on, guys! I know you’re still here!” a high-pitched, easily recognizable voice floated down the dank hallway.

“Hey! It’s Lemmy!” Mario left the hiding spot to greet the Koopaling. “And... Iggy?!” he was suddenly on guard. Larry had told him that it was Iggy that ratted them out to Bowser.

“Yeah. Me,” Iggy tiredly replied. “Lemmy, why did you drag me here again?”

“Because you’re going to help us find the princess, right?” Lemmy stared at his younger “twin”, waiting.

“Ok, fine!” Iggy sighed. “Oh, and I'm sorry about... that, thing... ok?”

“Oh really?” the older Karma grinned, as the group slowly followed Iggy down a hallway. “What, thing are we talking about here?” Larry snickered.

“Don’t push it,” he grumbled.
 

Chapter Ten: Irreversible Destiny?

“King Koopa! King Koopa!” panicked voices followed panicked knocking.

Bowser groaned as he had to cut his victorious story short. “I’ll get it, dear,” Clawdia sleepily announced as she opened the door.

Many Rocky Wrenches and Hammer Brothers rolled in, tangled together, their garbled shouting giving the Koopa King another headache.

“ARRRGGG!!! YOU!” Bowser pointed to a Hammer Brother. The mob grew silent. “What has happened? And it better be good!”

“Uhh.. Sir? The prisoners have escaped...” He closed his eyes, waiting to be fired. Literally.

“Which, prisoners?” Bowser’s voice was eerily calm.

“The Mario Brothers, Prince Ludwig and Larry, and two we caught this morning sir...”

None of the underlings wanted to stick around for what was probably going to happen next.

In the dungeon...

Lemmy quickly unfroze the princess and apologized many, many times. Larry opened the door with the keys he stole from one of the guards. “Look, you guys better get out of here! And fast!”

“Actually, none of you are going anywhere,” came a snarl from behind them. Larry already knew who the voice belonged to, but somehow, just seeing his father’s sneering face made him regret even getting up this morning. How did I not realize he was behind me? Why why WHY did I even bother looking out the window. Hooking up my spying tools... If only that frisbee didn’t grab my attention! the youngest koopaling thought, mentally kicking himself.

“So, Iggy, Lemmy, you have decided to join your traitorous brothers, huh?” A large army of underlings and guards came up from behind the Koopa King and started to surround them. “THROW THEM BACK INTO THE DUNGEON!” he roared, temporarily paralyzing everyone in the room.

Mario and Luigi fought back with every bit of energy they could muster. Finally, Roy, Morton, and Wendy joined the fray and the two heroic plumbers were once again behind bars.

Roy sneered at his imprisoned family members, the two plumbers, and Princess Peach. “So King Dad, I think we three deserve a reward now, huh?” he cheerfully reminded his dad.

His father’s response made them all shudder. “Of course... Throw them in the dungeon as well!”

“WHAT?!” Wendy was about to throw a tantrum. Morton rattled on and on about the unfairness of it all. A glare from their father silenced them all. “I can’t risk you all turning on me too, now can I?” Roy, Morton and Wendy watched hopelessly as their father’s evil, scary laughter echoed down the hallways. “You guys! Go grab that... mutant hybrid and throw her in the dungeon too!” he announced to a small group of Troopas, who hurriedly rushed upstairs.

In a few moments, a younger, sleepy yet defiant Karma joined the Koopalings, her older self, the Marios, and Princess Peach.

“ARRRGGG!!!” Roy yelled out of frustration.

“Oh shut it, you big baby!” Wendy punched her brother “And you guys think I'm the whiney one.”

“Not to mention you’ll wake up the baby!” the older Karma added.

“Look, you freaks,” Roy glared at the older Ludwig and Karma, “it’s your fault we’re in this mess! If you hadn’t come up with that crazy story, none of this would have happened!”

“Look around, Roy!” The younger Ludwig couldn’t stand it anymore “You’re blind! We’re all blind! Don’t you see? This is going to end up being that “crazy story”! King Dad’s already gone mad, he’s got a perfect reason to attack the Mushroom Kingdom, and Peach, Mario, and Luigi are captured here along with us! The stage is all set, those “freaks” were right all along!!!”

“So... That means all of that was for nothing...” the usually optimistic Lemmy whispered. “Nothing we did changed it. Everything’s going to happen, exactly the way they said it would.”

Even Morton was quiet. No one could think of anything else to say. Slowly, they each drifted off to sleep.
 

Chapter Eleven: All According to Plan

Bowser was very proud of himself. Finally! A quiet breakfast! Clawdia had made him all his favorite foods. Without eight other mouths to feed, he could eat exactly what he pleased. He had just given his victory speech to the Mushroom Kingdom, and his guards had caught the Mushroom Retainer, Toad, sneaking around the castle. He ordered some Troopas to set up a camera in front of the lava pits, so all of the kingdom could watch when the princess and the Marios were finally pushed in. He had already hired some miners to dig out his gold, and Goomba chefs were going to finally prepare that perfect dinner.

“Just me and Clawdia...” He leaned back in his chair, a wide grin spread across his face. “Then the next day, those pesky plumbers and the princess will finally be out of my hair! And for good this time! Maybe after ruling the Kingdom for a few weeks, I’ll let those brats out of the dungeon...” He gave a maddening laugh, and returned to his plans to rule the kingdom.

The thirteen inhabitants of the cell slowly awoke after a long, fitful sleep. No previous methods of getting out of the dungeons had worked. None of Roy and Morton’s crazy ideas helped them either. The agitated Koopalings, Hybrids, Mushroomers, and Humans could only sit and wait, either until a meal, an idea, or nightfall came. It was getting dark outside when someone finally spoke.

“Hey, Iggy, Larry.” It was Roy. “I'm sorry for all the times I beat you guys up.” Iggy and Larry exchanged glances. Roy had definitely cracked under all the stress. “You too, Yoshibutt. I mean Karma,” he hastily added.

The older Karma smiled. “Hey, I guess that wasn’t a completely useless trip, right poofball? Maybe things can change this time after all!” She was obviously joking, but suddenly everyone knew they still had a chance. A very tiny one, but maybe... Just Maybe...
 

Chapter Twelve: Fate’s Ruling

When the younger Ludwig awoke the next day, he realized that the Marios and the princess had already been removed from the cell. “Guys! Wake up! We gotta hurry!”

“Way ahead of you, Kooky!” His older counterpart was already out of the cell, holding the unlocked door for the rest of them.

“Wait, how?” a sleepy Wendy asked.

“When they dragged out the Marios, I held the door closed. So they thought it was already locked!” the older Ludwig quickly explained.

“Come on, guys! Move it or lose it! And I mean that literally!” The older Karma ran out the cell, carrying her baby and following her Met.

“I gotta try that door thing sometime too...” Iggy muttered, to no one in particular.

The Koopaling and the two Karmas rushed to the Lava Pits, and stopped on the ramp just in time to see their father holding the princess over the lava pit, giving a nearby camera a big grin.

“MARIO, HELP ME!!!” Peach cried, kicking her feet uselessly in the air.

“No! We’re too late!” the younger Karma screamed. Then she felt a small bundle being shoved into her arms.

“No we’re not, not again!” Her older counterpart rushed down and noticed that her blue-haired Met was already much ahead of her.

“Father, you can’t!” the older Ludwig pleaded. “Can’t you see? This is exactly what we warned you about! Almost EXACTLY!”

“Look boy, I don’t know who you are, but no one tells me I'm wrong!” snarled the enraged Koopa King.

The older Karma took this opportunity to free the two Marios and knock out the Troopa managing the cameras.

“Alright Koopa!” Mario announced. “This ends here!” Mario and Luigi jumped up and were just about to cross the narrow strip of land to the platform when a large burst of fire stopped them.

“MAMAMIA!” Luigi screamed as he dodged the blast.

Mario managed to avoid being burnt as well. “How are we gonna get to that platform, Luigi?!” he yelled.

“By running RIGHT NOW!” the elder Ludwig answered, giving the Koopa King a taste of his own medicine.

“ARRRGGGGG!!!” A mad and burnt Bowser glared at them. At Mario and Luigi, who were almost on the platform. At the older half-breed, who had managed to save the princess. And last at his defiant, oldest son. “No one speaks that way to ME!” he roared. With anger clouding his judgment, he let loose a huge blast of fire. It hit the older Ludwig squarely in the chest. The force of the blast pushed him backwards, and everyone watched as Ludwig fell off the platform and disappeared into the lava below.

“Ludwig...” Time seemed to pause slightly, while the bitter reality sunk in. Ludwig, who had come back from the future to stop an event of the past, had futilely died trying.

“No.” Mario growled. “It wasn’t futile. He helped us get to the princess, he helped us stop you, Bowser!” And with that, the plumber charged at his archrival.

The brief tussle ended when Bowser gave Mario a powerful kick, propelling him backwards a few feet. He took this time to grab Peach by the shoulders and push her to the corner of the platform. “This ends NOW!” he roared, pulling back his arms and giving a push.

Princess Peach gave a loud scream as she was roughly shoved sideways. She looked up just in time to see an older Karma falling into the burning lava below. Bowser and the others were temporarily confused. Did that half-breed just sacrifice her life to save the princess? And... then there was Ludwig...

Bowser stopped. The little doubts that were plaguing his mind had suddenly transformed into full-blown regret. They WERE right after all. The Koopa King sunk to his knees. He had just killed his eldest son and a daughter-in-law. If he didn’t stop now, the rest of his family would die as well...

The Koopalings on the ramp above couldn’t believe what had just happened.

“This can’t be happening... I must be dreaming!” Roy’s voice cracked. Aislynn’s crying was a harsh reality for everyone.

“Get out of here,” Bowser muttered.

Mario, Luigi, and the princess looked up in surprise. They couldn’t believe their ears! Not needing to be told twice, they hurried away.

When they passed the Koopalings, both groups shared a look of common understanding, and regret.
 

Epilogue

Karma and Ludwig had decided to raise Aislynn. Of course, there really was no other option. “Hey, beats going through the trouble of having and raising an egg, right?” Lemmy had joked.

The gold proved to be mostly fake and worthless. The Koopalings and the Marios had no further contact after the incident. Roy threatened to beat up Larry and Iggy or anyone else that brought up what was said or done that night in the dungeon.

“KOOKY!!!” Karma screamed, throwing her greasy, purple shirt angrily on the floor. “I can’t believe you used my shirt as an OIL RAG!”

“Oh please,” Ludwig von Koopa retorted. “You can’t keep leaving your articles of clothing in the same place I leave my cleaning materials and not expect some sort of mix-up!”

...

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