Shards of Love

Princess Fled the Koopa Koop!

Shards of Love: REDUX!

Shard II: Revelations

Chapter VIII

Princess Fled the Koopa Koop!

"Geez, when's Dad coming back?"

Iggy paces around the laboratory as Ludwig ponders over his recent invention blueprints. In spite of their dad selling one of the doomships due to its defensives rather than its speed, both of them plan to create a product that will combine the two into a wondrous compromise. They plan on testing the product on Ludwig's, Roy's and Morton's doomships before putting it on everyone else's, Bowser's included.

"No idea, little brozzer," Ludwig replied, eyes glued on the page, "Anyvay, ze doomship's plating zhould be able to use tungsten, chromium and vanadium steel, but titanium vould be best."

"Due to its density," Iggy, who already knows what Ludwig's on about, adds on.

"Correct. Vanadium steel's a great metal to use in defence, hence mine, Roy's and Morton's doomships containing such compounds, but titanium's less zan half the veight of ze steel per cubic centimeter, and much, much less zan tungsten. Not to mention, pure chromium metal and koopas... don't necessarily mix vell in biological terms."

"Figured. That's why I want Dad to buy more titanium. Titanium by the ton, too! But Roy and Morton messed that up!"

Ludwig nods his head. Roy, and to a lesser extent Morton, struggle whenever any other sibling harnesses any sort of authority. Both of them foiled Ludwig's plans multiple times due unwillingness to share any sort of glory. Rather than pondering on the subject more, the eldest koopaling studies his notes and notices another issue.

"So, ze notes of mine here. Zink it's best ve just coat ze doomships in ze metal, zen just put vood over them? I like ze vooden structures; it makes ze doomships appear more auzentic, but if zat sacrifices ze full potential of ze metal, zen it's best not to."

"I agree with the authentic thing," Iggy nodded, "If stuff covers the outside, it should be fine. When I created the robots we used when we took over Jewelry Land, I put mainly paint and insulation on the outsides on all of them. Mine and Larry's bots, I made even fancier to make them fit in with the ocean since our bots were underwater, while I made Roy's fit the air more... Roy's bot, unfortunately, still worked. If anything, we survived longer than the rest of you guys."

"So you zink it should be fine zen?" Ludwig questioned, "Zen so be it. Ve should get started-"

"DINNER!" a voice called from upstairs. Their project halted, they both let out a large sigh.

"Interrupted, vunce again. Let's get ze Princess."

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The lavender fields passed Peach long ago; now only vast grasslands fill the area between her and the pipes. Relief overcomes the princess as she notices how close she is to being in her own kingdom. Not only that, but this moment may be the first time in her life that she rescued herself from Bowser, rather than having to depend on Mario, Luigi or Yoshi. Sure, she adventured before, such as the ill-fated trip to Sub-con, but even during those times, she depended, in one form or another, on the rest of the gang.

Curiosity causes Peach to turn around. Behind her, an almost-endless sea of purple fills the landscape, stretching all the way to the horizon; no sign of Ella's house or the lake. She's far from the woods; far from Bowser. The situation only gets better.