Venturing into a Mechanized Kingdom:
After an overnight stay in Central Castle, the group consisting of Daisy, Bowser, Neva, Ramona, and Toadette departed from Sarasaland Castle Town early the next afternoon in the Bullet Blitzer. Toadette sped the aircraft east across the Pyrimies Ocean and into the Western Hemisphere to get them into Mushroom Kingdom territory by the time that longitudinal region of Earth had entered the evening. Upon reaching Toad Town, the group headed straight for Bowser's Palace to check in with Toad and Alden. Again, the toad and koopa duo were tinkering with a prototype robot in the palace's workshop.
"Hey! You guys are back quicker than I thought you'd be gone," said Toad. "And you got Bowser and Ramona over here! Where's Shady?"
"We didn't find him," said Daisy.
"Oh wow; you guys sure gave up on him without much delay," said Toad.
"We didn't give up on him!" snapped Neva. "We just can't do anything about it right now."
"And we might have something more pressing developing nearby," said Bowser. "Have you noticed anything strange around here about any of these MAE robots, technology, or anyone associated with MAE?"
"Not really," said Toad. "But man, they just kinda came outta nowhere, didn't they? I'd say that's strange enough."
"I didn't even so much as hear about MAE until I began noticing their emblem and all of their stuff start popping up here," said Alden. "Should we be worried about them?"
"No," said Bowser. "Not yet, anyways. But in my duties in Sarasaland, I did hear of some intel regarding a possible hostile takeover of the Beanbean Kingdom involving MAE. The reports I've gotten have been inconclusive, though. So since that nation is nearby, I was thinking you'd know if something fishy was going on."
"Nah, we didn't notice anything," said Toad. "And Peach didn't mention anything either."
"Actually, not much in the way of news has come out of Beanbean as of late," said Alden.
Bowser grimaced. "Alright, set us up with some tools. We'll have to go in and check things out ourselves. And if we run into some trouble, we need to be prepared."
"Certainly," said Alden. "You're probably familiar with our firsthand, top-quality productions by now, so take your pick of our current and upgraded inventory!"
"And clear what you're going with with us," said Toad.
Toadette hung around Toad and Alden while Daisy, Bowser, Neva, and Ramona split up and browsed through the workshop's ready and available elemental tools. Much of what they saw featured a highly-advanced, futuristic aesthetic; a sharp contrast from the more traditional elemental tools the Kruna Yura were used to seeing. Even their Ultima Staffs from their time eight years into the future did not have the kind of technological innovation that the tools they saw before them now possessed.
While the four Kruna searched among the tools, a new figure entered through the workshop's doors. This stone wielder was almost comparable in size to Bowser, and he possessed a hulkish, exaggerated amount of muscularity. The darker shade of his skin almost seemed to blend with the sleeveless brown shirt he wore, and his gunmetal-fortified dark gray boots, tan pants, and tan baseball cap over his dark brown buzz cut hair provided contrast. The Alkemei Odina he wore, Pendant of Strength, could double his already immense physical might on activation. Despite his imposing figure and appearance, he had the jolliest, most carefree attitude anyone in that room possessed.
When Daisy heard the door shut, she turned around and grinned at the newcomer. "Hey! Big Man Athelstan! What's up with ya!"
"Oh man, you would not believe the nonsense I've had to put up with in the past week!" Athelstan replied, walking up to Daisy to slap fives. "I'm glad you guys called me when you did, because I needed to get up outta Kallantown real quick!"
"What's going on in Kallantown?" asked Bowser.
Athelstan rubbed at his facial scruff. "Well, it went from a normal stretch of archival work to me receiving arrest threats, for one!"
"You? Arrested?" Neva said. "Pfft. Please."
"No, really!" Athelstan replied. "It was a super weird mandate they had approved earlier this week. The government there had ordered the abolishment of all forms of elemental wielding!"
Daisy grunted and gritted her teeth. "You can't be serious."
"That's crazy!" Neva shouted.
"I don't know what provoked it," said Athelstan. "But now, all elemental wielders are forced to either leave Kallantown within thirty days or face criminal punishment."
"That is so messed up," said Toadette.
"And so sudden too!" said Athelstan. "We didn't even get any warning or mention of the possibility of such a law beforehand, nor did we get to participate or even hear of any vote."
"Are you saying it was just forced on everyone there?" Toadette asked.
Athelstan's voice cracked to a near-comical but distressed degree when he responded. "Pretty much!"
"Athelstan, Kallantown wouldn't happen to be MAE-controlled, would it?" asked Bowser.
"Actually, yes," the Kruna Yura of Stone replied. "Well, I don't know. I just work in the archives. I'm not an official or political figure, but I think it just may be. I sure have seen a lot of that winged emblem all over the place in the past handful of months."
"Pick out an elemental tool and get yourself prepared for a trip then," said Daisy. "We're paying a visit to MAE Beanbean Kingdom, southwest of here."
"I swear, this whole MAE thing is really creeping me out," said Neva.
"Seconded," said Ramona. "Something can't be right if they abolished elemental wielding. I mean, why would they want to do something like that? It hasn't done any harm to anybody."
"Except for when it comes to the jackasses like Kokoro," said Daisy. "Speaking of which, we all need to make sure we stay alert for him, because he could pop up anywhere and at any time."
"Noted," Bowser murmured, hoisting a thick sword with a flame-contoured blade. "Place your bets now: who'll be more of an issue? Kokoro or MAE?"
Athelstan bellowed a hearty laugh. "What's the over-under?"
"If this were yesterday, I would've said Kokoro," Daisy grumbled. "Now, I'm not so sure. But I guess we'll see later on tonight. Or tomorrow morning?"
"Tomorrow morning," said Bowser. "Early. Let's make sure we're well rested. And then we'll have the whole day tomorrow to figure something out about what's going on in Beanbean and with MAE."
"Right," said Daisy, her eyes shifting among the earth wielder elemental tools.
"Another potential calamity has pulled us away from normal life, huh?" Athelstan commented.
"I'll take it," said Neva. " 'Normal life' has sucked hard for me."
"Weren't you just complaining about this whole situation creeping you out?" said Daisy.
"Yeah, so?" Neva responded. "I know what I said, mud-mouth! Nobody said you had to comment on the answer I gave rock-for-brains over there!"
"Good to see you haven't changed much," Athelstan stated after a chuckle.
The five Kruna soon had their tools picked out and reported to Toad. Bowser still had his Blazer claws, but he also decided to take the flame-contoured Flare Sword that had a constant fire flow inside a translucent column in its blade body. Arming herself with a spiritual successor to her old crossbow, Neva hoisted the Freeze Coil Sniper with its neon blue laser sight onto her shoulder. She also picked out a Chill Sickle, which featured a neon blue light pattern in its blade face. Ramona chose the Solar Greatsword – a large sword sporting a neon gold blade body – and the Sun Shield, which held an ornamental sun shape to its mold and neon gold outlining. Athelstan went with the huge Mountain Hammer that had neon tan heads. He also donned a pair of dark gray Crush Gauntlets and equipped to his left shoulder and upper arm the brown and heavily-textured Metamorphic Shield, both of which possessed neon yellow outlining. In addition to the joint weights she always carried, Daisy now had a Laser Drill Staff with neon teal shaft lighting. All of the neon components the new elemental tools had ran through metal-braced, translucent columns or sections within the equipment's build. Though not obtrusive by any means and not attention-grabbing, the design choice made the Kruna curious.
"What're all these bright lights and such for?" Daisy asked.
"Oh, it's a new and ingenious feature we came up with!" said Alden. "It's the first step in fusing modern technology with elemental wielding! All these new, special tools are part of our Energizer Series!"
"Or 'E-Series' for short," added Toad.
"E-Series elemental tools..." Bowser said, giving his Flare Sword a closer examination.
"What's so great about these?" Neva asked. "Yeah, they light up some; but how's that supposed to do anything?"
"So elemental tools have always made it so that wielding an element is easier and less energy-consuming, right?" said Toad. "Well, now, we went above and beyond that! These tools can actually store energy that you can use instead of your own or draw from if you yourself are out!"
A sly smirk crept on Neva's face. "That. Is. Totally. Sick."
"Totally!" Daisy hollered. "I didn't ever imagine something like that ever being possible!"
"It is now," said Toad. "So whenever you feel like you have a ton of extra energy that you need to burn off, just channel it into your tools. The tools'll hold them indefinitely. I mean, we're assuming that they can't hold them forever, but I'm pretty sure you could charge one up and then leave it alone for, like, a year or something. Think of it as a naturally rechargeable battery, and you're all chargers."
"How much power can these hold?" asked Bowser.
"Hard to say," Alden replied. "They're all scaled according to element; so the ice, light, and shadow ones'll generally hold more, and the stone and water ones'll hold less. And then there's more variance between individual tools too. But I'll tell you what; Marut was here a couple months ago when he was on a break from his Wario Ware job, and we had him test out the Energized Air Saber. He put in a pretty good amount of power before the saber stopped accepting it into its storage and released the excess. We can't show you that one, because we let him take it."
"Hey, yeah – Marut!" said Daisy. "We haven't even heard back from him yet! And we tried to reach him around the same time we got in touch with Athelstan!"
"He's probably just really busy at Wario Ware Inc., I'm sure," said Toad. "They usually have a heavy workload over there. You'll hear from him soon."
"Unless he's missing too," mumbled Neva. "Andrew's gone, Warra's gone – oh, what's going on, why are people going missing, don't tell me you're all gonna disappear too, the team's falling apart-"
"No, Neva, no," said Daisy. "Everything will be fine. This'll be back to an eight-man party before long! Don't you worry."
Toad jumped upon remembering something. "Oh, this ought to be a big help too!"
The five Kruna, Alden, and Toadette watched Toad hurry to a large metal drawer and pull out a long case. Toad brought the case over to the Kruna and opened it to reveal eight circular handheld devices. The gadgets were color-coded to each individual Kruna and had a stylized "KY" emblazoned on the front. Small and stubby protrusions projected off the upper-right portion of each device.
"We were working on these for when you guys went on your next trip," said Toad. "They're your KY Communicators! Just flip them open for instant video and vocal communication! Although, you gotta make sure the battery's charged."
"Take them all with you!" said Alden. "That way, as soon as you run into any of the others, you can give them theirs!"
The five Kruna each took their respective KY Communicator. The devices were small enough to fit into just the palm of everyone's hand. While the other Kruna clipped their communicators to their Hammerspace Belts, Ramona took the extras and put them inside of her own belt.
"Thanks for the equipment, guys," Daisy said to Toad and Alden. She then turned to address the other Kruna. "We're all set to go now, right? Let's try to leave as early as possible in the morning."
Neva made a heavy exhale. "I don't know if I'm ready for this, but I'll try my best."
"You don't have to be perfectly ready in order to do something," said Daisy.
"To be fair, we don't really know what we'll be walking into," Ramona said.
"Hey, as long as we don't have to face another freakish monster deity or whatever again, I'm good," said Athelstan.
"If we do end up having to face a hellspawn again, I'll be bloody pissed-off," muttered Ramona. "Well, maybe more terrified, but still mad."
Neva frowned. "You know what – just because you two said that..."
"I doubt this'll turn out to be anything more than a bunch of tech nerds trying to promote their toys," said Daisy. "And if they're evil tech nerds, then I don't see us having much of a problem taking them down at all."
"Agreed," said Bowser. "This'll be over quick either way."
Bowser, Athelstan, and Ramona stayed overnight in Bowser's Palace, Neva returned to Peach's Castle for the night, and Daisy went to catch some sleep in her own house. At the first break of the summer morning sunrise, the five Kruna departed for a short flight to Beanbean Kingdom. Bowser took the helm of the Bullet Blitzer this time, so Toadette did not have to come along.
When the Kruna flew over Stardust Fields and into Beanbean's outskirts, the mechanization of the MAE-controlled Beanbean Kingdom was easily apparent. The Kruna could see all the mechanical and technological structures spread throughout the land below them in addition to the active construction sites they soared past. An equal amount of natural features and machinery made up the landscape, as did some instances of fusion between the two. The whole sight of the mechanized fields below inspired a sobering sense of unsettling melancholy. The lands looked ill and lifeless, as if downcast over the forced integration with the abundance of technology. Even the region's clouds appeared sickly, tinted a dirty gray as opposed to a healthy, clean white.
"This is horrible," said Daisy. "How are ya supposed to get flowers growing when most of the ground is either metal or covered with metal?"
"I'd like to know what the purpose of bracing trees with metal is," said Athelstan. "But hey, I got a lot to work with here if we run into trouble!"
"There's so many antennae and transmission towers all over the place," murmured Ramona. "And are you seeing all the wind turbines and solar panels?"
"They could have at least done a better job at concealing all the pipelines and cables," said Athelstan. "This all looks cluttered and untidy."
"I wouldn't expect everything to be neat with as fast as these guys seem to be working," said Bowser.
As a precaution, Bowser picked out a relatively remote location in the outskirts to land the Bullet Blitzer. The MAE officials, workers, and robots that spotted them spared a few glances their way but did not try to initiate contact or communication. That was a good sign, as far as the Kruna were concerned. No one bothered them on their way to Beanbean Castle Town either. Some of the MAE officials and robots even gave the Kruna pleasant, down-to-earth greetings when they walked by.
Upon reaching Beanbean Castle Town, the Kruna saw titanic buildings and towers sticking out from within the city walls. Some of the skyscrapers, both completed ones and ones still under construction, projected high over the lands to staggering heights. They could even see dozens of hovering vehicles soaring overhead in the skies over Castle Town.
"There's been some renovation since the last time I was here," murmured Bowser.
"I'm gonna assume that this place used to not be this built up," said Neva.
"Not nearly as much," said Bowser.
The group followed Bowser's lead into Beanbean Castle Town, en route to the kingdom's castle itself. So many buildings occluded their view, but Bowser's previous familiarity ensured that they would get to their intended destination. Along the way, they saw much of what they had seen in Mushroom Kingdom and Sarasaland as far as technological and mechanical advancement was concerned. However, the degree of modernization they observed there in Beanbean Castle Town trumped that found in Sarasaland and Mushroom Kingdom combined. Whereas the now hovering vehicles in the other kingdoms at least resembled what the Kruna had acknowledged as normal, the ones in BCT held a chrome, ultra-streamlined appearance akin to something out of a science fiction movie depicting a world several decades into the future. Robots ranged from simplistic machines to disconcertingly life-like androids. In fact, Athelstan had to get a second look at a Beanish couple that walked by to notice that the female was actually not organic – or at least, not fully organic.
In addition to the mass amount of artificial robot intelligence on the streets and the array of native Beanish residents, plenty of MAE-uniformed humans, koopas, and other beings – including other Beanish – marched throughout the town. The MAE officials clad in shiny combinations of white, grays, browns, blues, and golds with their winged emblems displayed on the shoulders, pants, and headwear of their uniforms stuck out from the rest of the crowd. The coloration seemed odd to the Kruna, for the MAE officials did not adhere to the uniform code for any of the elements.
"White, gray, brown, blue, gold – what does that mean?" asked Daisy. "That's combining stone and water, and probably light."
"I bet we can assume that MAE has no elemental affiliation," said Bowser.
"And no one working under MAE seems to be an elemental wielder either," said Neva.
"And with the ban on all elemental wielding in Kallantown, it doesn't seem like they're trying to single any particular element out," said Athelstan. "If a similar ban pops up here or somewhere else, then MAE must have something against elemental wielding."
"Actually, I do remember talking to one of those police bots when I first got back with the Vranzer," Daisy remarked. "The bot said that elemental wielding is archaic and flawed, but it didn't even say why."
"Then I think we can say for certain that MAE really doesn't like elemental wielding," said Bowser.
"At least they're not being hostile towards us," said Ramona.
"Right now," said Neva.
"And that could change with minimal warning," said Athelstan. "Remember – I didn't get any warning about Kallantown abolishing wielding until after they passed the mandate. They're benign now, but if they think we're up to something, I'll bet they'll be on us like a horde of Chain Chomps."
"Hold on a minute," Daisy suddenly said. "I just thought of something! Let's go find a Patrol Bot!"
"For what?" asked Bowser.
"They had information on me when I mentioned my name to them!" Daisy replied. "I was in some sort of database they had! I bet if we mention Andrew, they might have him on file!"
Neva gasped. "Let's hurry up and go get that one up ahead!"
"Wait – are we all in whatever that 'database' is?" asked Bowser.
"Maybe," said Daisy. "They somehow had me in it."
"And it's a MAE database?" asked Athelstan.
"I don't know – could be," said Daisy. "I'm assuming it is."
"Oh-kay! Wow," said Athelstan. "That just made this whole situation even more disturbing."
Neva rushed ahead of the group to the Patrol Bot marching away in front of them. "Hey! MAE Patrol Bot dude!"
The Patrol Bot stopped its movement and turned around. "Hmm? Oh! Hi, smaller-than-average human!"
Daisy and Athelstan both burst out in laughter at the remark. Neva shot an icy glance their way when she heard them and growled, but that did not stop either one of them from laughing. Interestingly, the Patrol Bot seemed lacking in patience.
"We all know that I'm short, alright?!" Neva snapped at Daisy and Athelstan.
"What can I do for you, young and short lady?" the bot asked. "If you don't mind, I'm on shift right now; so if there's nothing you need from me, please do not try to grab my attention, than-kyou!"
"Whoa, these robots can voice crack like that?" said Athelstan.
"I think that was just its way of showing its irritability," said Ramona.
"Yes, I am irritable today!" the Patrol Bot said. "I was supposed to have today off, but Model LDU-01265 was malfunctioning, so it is in the shop for maintenance and repairs. Really, I think that model is faking it so that it can get out of patrol duty for the day; but you didn't hear that from me."
"I didn't think a robot would complain about its work schedule," said Bowser.
"Yes, artificial intelligence needs days off too," the Patrol Bot replied. "What makes you organic lifeforms so special?"
"Look, never mind that," said Daisy. "Can you tell us where Andrew Mitchell is? Kruna Yura of Shadow, Andrew Mitchell."
"Andrew Mitchell, Kruna Yura of Shadow," the Patrol Bot said. "Computing... Loading... Andrew Mitchell, native and resident of Christmas Village. Age, twenty. Height, five-ten; weight, 184 pounds, athletic build with prominent muscular development. Hair, black; eyes, light brown. A shadow wielder possessing very high strength, speed, power, and agility along with an aggressive combat style – but control and technique are otherwise subpar and limiting. Reported missing seven months ago. Last known location: Christmas Village."
"Well, that didn't tell us anything we didn't already know," mumbled Ramona.
"Okay – first of all, why is there data on stuff like strength and speed?" asked Bowser. "Second, how could they have even assessed his technique? That's kind of a subjective thing, isn't it? It's at least something they'd need to analyze."
"I guess that depends on how they gather their data," said Athelstan.
Neva frowned. "Are we being watched?"
"Hey, yeah – are we?" Daisy asked the Patrol Bot.
"Admin code has blocked access to such information, sorry," said the Patrol Bot. "MAE guidelines prohibit distribution of classified information to those other than registered and qualified MAE personnel."
With that, the MAE Patrol Bot turned and continued on its way. Neva would have charged full-steam at it had Daisy not caught her and held her back. Angered with the restraint, Neva growled at Daisy.
"What are you growling at me for?" said Daisy. "You were about to do something stupid and attack a cop!"
"A robo-cop," corrected Athelstan.
"Yeah, so?" snapped Neva. "That heap of metal was hiding answers!"
"If you had attacked that bot, then however many else there are nearby would've swarmed us," said Bowser. "And then, we're automatically labeled as enemies to MAE. And if they are watching us somehow, then that would just make them watch that much closer. And that probably gives us a bad reputation to the public both inside and outside of MAE jurisdiction. We don't want any of that."
"And, we could still ask one of those bots about where Warra is too," Daisy added. "I don't think they'd share that information if they think we're enemies."
Neva sighed as Daisy let go of her. "Fine, whatever," the ice wielder grumbled.
"What we need to do is get to the castle," said Bowser. "If the bots don't want to give us answers, somebody over there better. It's too bad we couldn't figure out where Andrew is, but we need to get to the bottom of what happened regarding this kingdom's joining with MAE."
The five Kruna met an alarming surprise upon crossing over the bridge to Beanbean Castle's entrance. A massive set of metallic, bolted doors barred them from progressing inside. The doors had no hinges, instead featuring gears along its frame. Just seconds after the Kruna stepped near the doors, the lone MAE emblem centered at the top of the door frame lit up with a bright golden hue. Twin cameras positioned at either top corner of the frame activated and angled their sights at the five assembled elemental wielders. Even though the sun was out, a pair of spotlights on either side of the MAE emblem also turned on.
"Big, ominous doors don't seem like a good sign, if you ask me," said Ramona.
The Kruna then learned of speakers in the door frame when a distorted male voice spoke to them. "Civilian access into MAE Beanbean Castle is prohibited. Have a nice day. Goodb-"
"How about you prohibit my fist from your face before you try to prohibit us?" snapped Neva.
"Excuse me?" the voice responded.
"This castle is not MAE's!" Daisy barked. "This is Beanbean's, and Beanbean Kingdom doesn't belong to you! You need to tell us how you people got in here, and you better do it fast!"
"Ah, you must be tourists or have returned from some extended vacation," the voice said. "Beanbean Kingdom is in fact an established MAE territory now."
"Can we see Queen Bean?" Bowser asked.
"For what reason?" the voice asked.
"So that she can tell us herself what's going on," said Bowser.
"I'm sure that Queen Bean is too busy with something important to concern herself with conspiracy theorists," the voice said.
"You've got the Princess of Sarasaland here and Sarasaland's Prime Minister alongside of her," Bowser asserted. "Let us in or send Queen Bean out. Prince Peasley or Lady Lima would suffice as well if she's truly busy, but we need some answers here. And we're not leaving until we get answers. Or else, you're gonna have to face heat from Sarasaland, whether that be investigations, sanctions, or otherwise. And then, you're gonna have to deal with the Koopa Clan; because I'll alert them all to be suspicious of you, and you'll have them on standby in case you overstep your boundaries and try something funny. And then, I'll have the Mushroom Kingdom ready to act; because I've got plenty of connections with them too, and they're right next door from here! Didn't take us very long to get here, now did it?"
"Nope," Daisy said.
"So send somebody out here who can tell us what happened that turned Beanbean Kingdom over to MAE control," said Bowser. "Three options – Queen Bean, Prince Peasley, Lady Lima. Don't make this any harder than it has to be."
The voice speaking to them remained silent for a while, mulling the whole situation over. "Alright. Stay there, and I'll see what I can do."
"Nice, Bowser," said Athelstan. "Fantastic job handling that guy!"
"I say we just bust in there and start tearing the place up," stated Neva.
"Maybe in the near future," said Daisy. "But not yet. Not right now. We'll have to see what whoever comes out says about what's been going on here."
The Kruna waited for a short while at the doors before they noticed the gears around the door frame start churning. The two doors split down the middle and pulled away under the force of the gears, revealing a set of five figures standing within the castle doors. None of the new figures resembled who Bowser had asked for.
"I gave that guy three options," mumbled Bowser. "What the hell is this?"
A cute and pleasant human girl of black hair and fair skin stepped out of the doors, flanked by two Patrol Bots and a pair of Shy Guy associates. Like the two Shy Guys, the girl had on some sort of imperial uniform predominantly colored white, gray, and brown. Unlike the ones the Shy Guys wore, hers was more complex in comparison. The fronts of their uniform tops and hats sported the MAE emblem, but neither the girl nor the Shy Guys seemed at all malevolent in appearance or mannerisms.
"Greetings, friends," said the girl. "My name is Sydney Buinton. I am a MAE ambassador and the head of the project for MAE's expansion into the Beanbean Kingdom's lands. Through recent diplomatic relations, Beanbean Kingdom is now an official MAE territory. There is no need for hostility or aggression. The negotiations made here were peaceful."
"I'd like to hear that from Queen Bean herself," said Bowser. "I asked for Queen Bean, not some ambassador."
Sydney chuckled. "Per the mandate that allowed for the assimilation of Beanbean Kingdom into MAE sovereignty, I am now in charge of these lands. Please direct your gripes with MAE Beanbean towards me."
"I want to speak with Queen Bean," said Bowser. "That's who I asked for."
"I have superseded Queen Bean's role," said Sydney. "She now has a different position in the government here. There is no need to speak with her. I am here to converse with you and assure you of the mutual agreements made between Beanbean and MAE."
"I don't care – just take us to her," said Bowser. "If she's busy, then take us to either Prince Peasley or Lady Lima."
Sydney nodded. "Hmm...yes, well, they're all actually quite busy at the moment, so you can not speak with any one of them. I apologize for the inconvenience. How about instead, would you like to take a tour of the new-look Beanbean in progress? You can get a sneak peak preview of what to expect in the coming months out of the enhanced addition to MAE."
"Listen – we don't care about some stupid tour, ya hear?" Neva snapped. "Just give us who we asked for!"
"We want to know what went on during this supposed 'mutual agreement,' " said Daisy. "We have reason to believe that something violent or otherwise underhanded went on here, so let us talk to the people who were actually here before you MAE people showed up."
"Or, like I already said, we're gonna have a lot of issues," added Bowser. "Again, I've got connections that can make life for you guys hard, so you better give us what we came here for – and that's answers. And your answers aren't good enough."
Sydney bent over to let one of the Shy Guys next to her whisper into her ear. Her expression blank, she nodded in full understanding after he had finished speaking.
"Very well," replied Sydney. "It's probably for the best. You're right." She then stood upright and addressed the Kruna. "We certainly don't want to cause any more of an uproar than we may already have. We apologize for any ill feelings you may have developed towards MAE. As you requested, we will direct you to where you can find Queen Bean. Please do respect her and her duties if you catch her at a busy time."
"Thank you," Bowser said.
"You may find Queen Bean to the north of here," said Sydney. "She is currently overseeing the urbanization project in Download Desert, formerly known as Teehee Valley. If you really would feel better hearing the same information from her that you heard from me, then venture there to one of the many construction sites scattered throughout the desert. She will be out there all day, so you'll surely run into her at some point before sunset."
"Alright, then we are done here," said Bowser. "Thank you for your cooperation, Sydney."
"Finally," Daisy added.
"Yes, you're welcome," said Sydney. "It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I hope your experience in MAE Beanbean is a truly memorable one. Goodbye."
Neva scowled at Sydney, but Daisy urged her on and away from the castle with the rest of the Kruna. As Sydney watched the Kruna depart and begin their quest out to Download Desert, she pulled out her phone to make a call.
