Fighting in the Streets

Chapter 9 – Koopa Troopa and Paratroopa

A/N: Chapter 7 has a list of all of the contenders and their selected karts, if you do not remember you can have a look there.

January 11, 2015 (1) – 5:30PM

Koopa Cape, East Résethal

Violence.

Several miles away from the disaster that struck Vurduresa, Koopa Cape still seemed rather pristine. Having the two notorious Koopa brothers return there, it all seemed very spotless and natural since its last use in 2011. Paratroopa returned back, overlooking the pipe along the circuit, still flooded.

"You know, I'm not sure how they're going to change this place for the race." He said to Koopa Troopa, who was relaxing in the shade of a tree near the edge of the waterfall drop.

"They might leave it as it is, with the water in the pipe and the glider ramp before the runway." KT replied. "I would've thought they'd alter it by now if they were to change it." The two had been chilling around at Koopa Cape ever since they returned here last night after the event discussion in Toad Town. Tickets have already sold out for almost every race; Koopa Cape had been sold out since 3:00PM today.

"Ever since Bowser had been captured, this place is now owned by the two of us, and so is most of the coast's stretch. You can even see the Spire from here." Paratroopa glanced at the surroundings and the endless sea to the east. The only thing that was in the way of the view of the sea was the giant stumped cliff to his left being the Powerhouse Peninsula. Koopa Troopa got up from the flat grass next to the tree, seeming alert of something.

"Do you hear that sound?" He felt a sense of footsteps, lots of them, slowly approaching the two in their owned property. Paratroopa flew up above the rocks surrounding the circuit and noticed a group of unfamiliar Koopas. None of them seemed to be ex-members of Bowser's army. Paratroopa counted about eight Koopas, none of them armed or looking aggressive either. Koopa Troopa dashed around the grassy plain and ran upward to notice Paratroopa confront the gang of Koopas, who seemed to arrive from the woodland to the west.

"How can I help you Koopas?" Paratroopa asked as politely as possible, not used to seeing company at the cape before.

"We need your help." One of the Koopas wailed. "We have fled Vurduresa and seek refuge elsewhere." The Koopa was female, but it did not seem to convince Paratroopa their innocent looks.

"This place is not a town, there is no residence here." Paratroopa responded.

"We also, need food, resources..." Another, manlier Koopa demanded.

"Urscan is only five miles south of here." Paratroopa suggested. "Go there; there is lots of shelter there." He pointed southwards, shortly after Koopa Troopa arrived to the situation. The crowd diverted their attention towards him, gasping at knowing that the two were Bowser's favourites.

"You're Bowser's two best Koopas." One of them stated, turning more aggressive.

"Servants of Tyranny!" The female Koopa's attitude completely changed as she yelled at them.

"Of course you have resources here you liars!" The crowd turned angry, slowly approaching the two, who became surrounded on the edge of the cliff looking down on to the grassland part of the circuit.

"Leave us alone, Hostiles!" Koopa Troopa ordered the group to back off, but they refused.

"Be gone! Like the rest of Bowser's treacherous army!" A hostile Koopa charged at the two, attempting to push them off the cliff. Paratroopa grabbed Koopa Troopa's arms and carried him off of the edge and flew him back to the other side where the aggressive mob could not catch them.

"This place is ours now!" A Hostile from the crowd yelled.

"You can't take this place from us, it's in the races! It's been announced already! Race 5!" Paratroopa shouted from the other side, the crowd looked at him with anger.

"Then it's ours until otherwise!" The leading Hostile taunted back. The crowd then began to make their way back down to the circuit, where there was flat space and flowing water for them to rest by. The two Koopas hoped the Hostiles do not find their food storages and shelter, situated on the other side of the circuit, just inside the waterfall. Having only themselves to attempt to stop the angry mob of Koopas from taking their shelter, their only choice now was to go back to Bowser's Castle to see if he could help at all. The direction to Bowser's Castle goes right through Koopa Cape along the coastline.

MEANWHILE...

All of the first races' tickets had been sold out by this point, seating 25,000 citizens in public booths and stands. Many other areas were organised to host public screenings of the races, it was said to become the most viewed tournament to date. Other people suggest it is also going to be the last tournament. Back at Mushroom City the level of violence had dropped back to their expected 'zero-crime' standards with the Toad Brigade now fully enforced into the giant city. Peach overlooked the skyline from her fixed top floor of the castle, with her head full of pride and power seeing the place look normal again. The revenue gained from all the tickets sold for the races amassed over a 15 thousand coins, the people were clearly hooked in to the excitement.

She looked down, creating an image in her head on what the race track was going to be like again. Knowing each race would be 5 laps, the duration of the race would also be around 5 minutes, though those five minutes would become the first most important period of the year. Feeling so confident in herself with her superbike, biker outfit and her synergy with Daisy, Peach stretched her arms with a big smile on her face before looking back to the few Toads in the room fixing the window.

"Keep that small table there." She ordered the Toad to her right to stop amending. The Toad left it upright and in the corner of the room next to the new windows. By Peach's order, the centre of the old window was replaced with a small balcony, so she could openly walk out and overlook the city from the edge of the castle. Peach clicked her fingers alerting all the workers inside the room to leave despite the room not yet fully refurbished. As the last Toad closed the door Peach opened up the door to the balcony and looked back to the table. In her usual royal mood, she moved over towards the table and dragged it across the floor to outside the balcony. Typically after she turned her head towards the cupboard on the other side of the room and walked over. She used to be a massive fan of tea, but due to the atmospheric changes in the world her resort to alcoholic beverages mixed with wealth resulted into her craving champagne. All of the Toad citizens believe that there is storage of the drink kept safe in the castle though the truth remains hidden from them. Only few humans know of her secret of alcohol consumption in the near dystopian world. She poured herself another glass and stood outside on the balcony looking around and drinking some. Shortly after, somebody who did know her secret appeared at the back of the room by the door without her noticing.

"Can never see you for 24 hours without that drink in your hands." The human who showed up called from the other side of the room, frightening Peach and making her turn round in shock. She could already sense the magic dwelling in the room as she didn't hear any door sound; it still looked very sealed like how the last Toad closed it.

"Can never see you staying in prison." Peach replied to the tall ghostly-looking human. It was Rosalina's brother; she knew somebody must have set him free after him being locked in what is considered the most locked up place in all of the underground. "There's no point trying to detain Earth humans anymore, they've always got some sort of way to get out."

"And those humans are not trying to do harm to you or anybody that follows you. I however, am not an Earth human." He approached Peach slowly. "I could overthrow your 'empire'."

"In your dreams, fool." She commented.

"Give me a colourless pipe and three Koopas and your land can be overthrown within hours." Zane said out of spite, blinding Peach's mind with confusion. "That's not why I am here, if I came to conquer you'd be worshipping me right here. I'm here for... allegiance." He quickly clicked his fingers in front of Peach's vision, snapping her out of a thought lapse. "What did I say?" Peach began to think that she was being hypnotised and began trying to resist.

"You won't hypnotise me." She hesitated, turning her head quickly as Zane stopped in front of her.

"I'm not doing anything." Zane slapped Peach's face softly. "I'm being serious; I've seen the other side of the mountains and beyond Castelia. The hostiles are dangerous and have planned an assault within the coming months." She regained her focus.

"Yes, Yes! We're already trying to do something about that! We don't need your stupid ideas or 'help' as you would commonly use. I'm not going to have a direct treaty with you just like that."

"But I'm in your castle, not harming you at all and you haven't set your guards on me, what's the problem? What I did in Wuhu had nothing to do with you directly."

"Let me just sort this out myself." Zane grabbed Peach's hand and slapped the hand he grabbed with his other hand vigorously. Within a split second the surroundings morphed completely out of shape and shaped up to form a field on the edges of what seemed like the southern coastline, with a clear, normal view of the southern seas. The castle or any part of Mushroom City was nowhere near in sight.

"Why have you taken me here?" Peach yelled, shocked at the teleportation.

"I know what you're thinking, and no, this is not the southern coastline. This is the northern coastline." Zane pointed upwards to the sun which was setting to the west. Soon after looking down again he dragged Peach by the arm and crept up the sloping hill to overlook a small town on the northern edge: Anamar.

From what Peach gathered, it looked like a normal village in Résethal, perhaps hostile-free. However, in Zane's eyes he already counted 10 confirmed hostiles walking around the town, including 3 heavily-armed Koopas. Zane nudged her, telling her to focus her eyes on them and their weapons.

"What do you see?" He whispered.

"Koopas, evil ones." She replied.

"I see Mushroom military weapons." He pointed towards the logo of the rifle in one of the Koopa's hands. "How do you think they got those weapons? Aren't they the weapons that your military use? You know, for outer space usage only? You never see a Toad citizen owning guns."

"We've never distributed guns to any Résethal citizens. Only to Toads that serve the Galaxy military." She replied.

"And where do the guns that belonged to retired soldiers go?" He asked about one group.

"They stay back in our safe hands."

"What about those soldiers who are killed in action?"

"We collect those weapons too."

"What about those soldiers who are... missing in action?"

"I don't know." She stumbled into thought. "But how would they take the guns back to Earth?"

"That's not the point. How do they (pointing to the Koopas) get the guns?"

"I don't know, I can't think of any other way."

"Then the conclusion is there are people who sell the guns to the others." Zane confirmed. "We need to find that person, or those people who distribute these before attacking, that will stop the trade to them and their weapons, because once they plan their attack on the southern kingdoms, every soldier of theirs will be armed and trained and would kill any Mushroom, Wuhu, Delfino citizen in sight." He quickly warped Peach and himself back to her castle. "We can't afford this to happen. If it does, then the fates of most people you and I know are at risk."

"Most?"

Zane laughed. "Well, I won't be at risk, Marrec won't, the twins won't. Everyone else will be killed though."

"THEN WHY DOES THIS MATTER TO YOU SO MUCH?" She yelled across the room with anger, frightened at what she saw in the hostile village just seconds ago.

"It matters to the people." Zane stated.

"What are you asking for then? Me march my armies up north and wipe them out?" Peach froze shortly after saying those harsh words, changing her expression as if she had a bright idea in mind.

"That's possible." Zane agreed." Peach quickly removed that thought from her head, not bothering to march up north as it feels like she's not affected by the hostiles herself. Zane looked around the room to see if Peach was distracted by anything suspicious resulting in her period of silence.

"No!" She quickly yelled out again, speaking quickly before Zane could enquire. "I don't want your dark and daemonic ideas changing the course of this emp- government!" She grew furious.

"You don't care for the kingdom, only yourself!" Zane shouted back in anger, clearly not winning his suggestion. He sensed the sounds of marching footsteps of Toads rushing along the nearby corridors going towards the chamber.

He vanished.

After all the screaming stopped Peach noticed the arrival of many brave but also shocked Toads marching in the room. Her presumed panic seemed by the Toads had dropped to a silence.

"What's the matter?" The main Toad asked loudly, confused at looking around and seeing everything just as he expected.

"It was Zane; he escaped the prison and teleported here!"

...

"Zane's still in prison." One other Toad replied. "He can't escape the bottom cells of the highest prison.

"I want to see him then, escort me there now!" Peach yelled once again at the Toads who all looked clueless. She quickly stormed out of the room in a humph with all Toads abiding her and following straight after like slaves. All were silent as she left the room.

ABOUT AN HOUR LATER, AT THE BOTTOM DEPTHS OF THE MUSHROOM UNDERGROUND PRISONS...

Peach swung the doors open to the main prison doors. The Koopa standing at the front desk immediately pointed towards his right, indicating the direction to Zane's direction as he was told in advance of Peach's arrival. Lead by several guards, Peach arrived towards the stone-brick square cell where Zane lay cuffed at the centre of the room, looking heavily knackered and tattered.

"He's been here the whole time, my princess." A Toad Guard to her left informed Peach. Who looked at Zane twitchingly, full of confusion.

"I swear he was in the castle earlier today, everyone out!" She ordered. "I need to speak with him alone."

"What?" Zane queried. "Why? What use am I to you?" He wondered, though knowing that he was present in Peach's castle only an hour ago. As soon as the Brigade within the prison disappeared from the cell and the surrounding walls, Peach approached the cuffed Zane, still looking down on the ground keeping his face away from her. As she reached in front of him, he could spot her shoes from his vision, and looked up with an evil grin.

"Magic always prevails." Zane spoke to Peach, following up a smirk.

"Stop playing these childish games with me fool, I was right about you being in the castle, and your sorcery is ensorcelling." She confronted him with aggression.

"Are you representing your kingdom right now with those big words?"

"Dangerously." She pulled a heavy expression down on the cuffed captive. "Take me back to the north."

"Take you where? I don't know what you're talking about." Zane joked around with Peach. "All I know is that someone in your government deals with weapons and distributes them to the north. Guns are not for this world."

"Those hostiles had guns, but how? I can't think of anyone who would distribute them." She worried, sitting down next to Zane, who continued to stare at the floor. Zane smirked again.

"It's your doing, don't deny it, nobody else can. It would have to be a human so it narrows it down immensely anyway, it just explains why you have so much money. Now the hostiles are going to use it against you."

"What do you suggest in order to stop them then?" She leaned her head over towards Zane, staring up at his face, still focused on the floor.

"I say you join up with Bowser to stop them, your armies combined can defeat the forces of the north, if they haven't abandoned their guard and become radicalised to the north – which you may have done to like half of Bowser's army and a quarter of yours. Some people in your lands have considered having a human democracy, including all of the 'good' humans, especially the Earth ones."

"What do you mean democracy?" Peach wondered. "The political sense?"

"Yes, neutral people who can lead the world in to unity." She gasped. "I know it sounds ridiculous right?" She nodded. "Well there doesn't seem a better option; people are getting sick of you." Peach stared up in thought.

"This is all happening so inconveniently, right up to the start of the races. The Red Martyrs must do what they can to make sure they still go on, doing whatever it takes to stop hostile activity."

"Lock the door." Zane ordered. Peach, who seemed much more lenient about things, seemed confused instead of aggressive or wrathful. She turned her head back at the door of the prison, staring in thought of the future.

She closed the door, and sealed it up with the lock and key given to her by the Guards.

"I trust you here, knowing for sure you can escape." The two humans quickly warped out of the prison, distorting their surroundings mixed with the look of a void, eventually appearing back on land, though this place did not look like the north at all. Peach noticed a familiarity that she had ended up back in Bowser's Castle. She grew mad with rage and attacked Zane, who held her back and hushed her down. "Trust me here." He said softly, looking up at the corridor that they ported in to. Bowser's throne was not far from here. After quieting down the raging princess, he began to hear voices coming from the room on the other side of the right wall.

"And they ransacked us out of our home, now we have nowhere to stay but here." A familiar Koopa voice complained pessimistically.

"We need your help, you're all we have." Another Koopa begged.

"Help? I'm afraid I can't provide any help at the moment except the shelter part. I have no freedom anywhere outside the castle." Bowser's voice argued back.

"Mmmmmmm-mmm Bwzr..." Peach muffled having her mouth blocked by Zane's palm. He simply nodded back down at Peach.

"You can stay here." Bowser said back to the Koopas. "But I can't provide any food or drink, I only have enough limited for myself and my kids, and since they took their rations when they voyaged southwest, there's only enough food here for myself. You'll have to ask the Fisherman if he has any spare for you guys."

"The Fisherman?" Zane wondered quietly next to Peach, who soon removed his palm from Peach's mouth, allowing her to speak.

"Why are we here? And I have no idea who the Fisherman is."

"We will go down to find him, thank you Lord Bowser." One Koopa praised, all Zane could here after that was a sigh from the Lord. He quickly hoisted Peach up and took her round the corridor towards Bowser where they saw the two Koopas leaving through the same hallway. They were startled, just as extremely as Bowser, who almost fell off his throne. R.O.B was also in the room serving him, but he hadn't uttered a word since the two arrived from the warp.

"What are you two doing here?" Paratroopa, one of the two Koopas, with Koopa Troopa being the other questioned loudly.

"Ignore them." Bowser said back to Zane. "Now go to the Fisherman, or no shelter!" Bowser commanded the Koopas as they ran off in a fright.

"The Rhonaward is approaching, Master." R.O.B informed Bowser uselessly, as he had already noticed them.

"A traitor and an arch-enemy, appearing out of nowhere in my castle. Why shouldn't I slaughter you two right now? Nobody else is going to see it." Bowser got out of his chair and stood cross-armed.

"The overhyped tournament happening in a few days?" Zane answered immediately.

"That would make me not want to kill Peach, I could still kill you and both of us would be okay with it. Besides, it was you who caused this in the first place, Rhonaward." He glared directly into Zane's eyes fiercely, though Zane seemed untouched and unfazed by the Lord's look. Peach also stared directly at him, surprised about what Bowser said about the Wuhu events.

"This was the sole purpose of bringing you together." He said to both Peach and Bowser. "Your armies are weak now that one has trumped another, but there is a more serious threat arising from the north, and we all know who's responsible for that." Zane stared back at Peach, who sweated in anxiety as she looked back at Bowser. "You both need to protect yourselves in these upcoming events, for one of you to fall would result in complete anarchy and disaster for almost everyone else on the island. When the races end you must defend against the coming armies of the north and stop them together, provided that Bowser wins and gets his near-freedom at least." Both Peach and Bowser seemed confused, but also attentive and obedient. "After all, it's better if you two were only opposing forces than to have a completely free massacre affecting everyone badly."

"We don't know what we're dealing with here." Bowser questioned. "They have no leader."

"That's the problem." Zane replied. "It will be difficult to find the source of their armies and their violence. That is why you must pair together."

Bowser shook his head several times, snapping out of a supposed trance.

"WHILE I'M UNDER TRIAL? GET OUT OF HERE! TWISTING MY MIND YOU ARE!" He quickly changed his attitude and roared fire out throughout the room. "I'm not abiding to a mere witch!" Bowser chased Zane and Peach, breathing more fire. He thought he had roasted the two after ceasing his flames, but the two's bodies had disappeared quickly, escaping the fire.

The two had returned to the prison, Zane sat down on to the floor in his chains, and Peach stood a couple metres from him.

"You make no sense to anyone, stay here and stay out of everyone's way. You make life worse for everyone." Peach unlocked the door and escaped quickly, leaving a sudden sense of depression into the cell. Zane lied down and sobbed, looking at the floor again. He seemed that he cannot change the fate of anyone for what he sees in the future is looking all negative. All he pictured in his mind was a great war happening in the future, causing a mass decline in the world's population. More deaths than any war in the past ever. For one who has lived long enough to see generations of people pass away beneath him, he knew this would be the worst sight to see so far, to begin with a racing tournament as well weirdly enough.

He knew damn as a matter of fact that the peril he caused in Wuhu seemed like it caused the separation of the people in the land, though Zane thought he could evade being the one to blame for the downfall of each empire by emphasising the ignorance of Peach and the sympathy of Bowser, two things that are on the wrong people. Sadly Peach clearly had the more dominant side of ownership, pretty much owning three of the four quarters of the island and Bowser owning none. She had isolated Bowser within the cold steel walls of his castle and all those who used to serve him have turned neutral, and neutral for a citizen is the easiest place to be radicalised to become an enemy of both Peach and Bowser, to learn the acts of violence to inflict on the innocent citizens. As for those who serve the princess, some will not see the true purpose in serving their ruler, loyalty and honour. As the southern lands become more free and 'safe', people would be easily distracted by the hostile antics and not be stopped by their faith in the princess. Signs of a Great War approaching are becoming more and more obvious.

January 13, 2015 (1) – 6:30PM

Tigell, Northeast Résethal

The last town in the northeastern woodlands of Résethal seemed clear of any hostiles, lying a couple miles from the Powerhouse border, all surroundings seemed completely empty of activity. The humans were planning on making their journey back to Aypyidaw just after they find the connections back to the Powerhouse; the power seemed to be running perfectly to all of the towns they had inspected, despite the incident happening in Vurduresa, which Eoréc and his men should have sorted out by now.

The four had approached the gate out of Résethal, and in to the near-empty plane that was the Powerhouse Peninsula, unguarded and lifeless. Their trek in searching for endangered civilians and damaged houses to repair was over as they had arrived here. It was almost time to relax.

"Now what's this thing about a broken cable or whatever to do with Castelia?" Jack asked Tom and Enrique as they passed the gate. The surrounding grass appeared much lighter as the sun always shone over it.

"Rosalina said that there might've been a power cable cutting off the power to that region, but on all the cities we have gone by none of their power got affected by any explosions gone off." Enrique replied monotonously, his work further south had been full of effort and exhaustion due to there being more attacks than he thought. Vurduresa was not the only place attacked by hostiles on that day, but several other small outlying towns were hit too, resulting in several casualties.

"We just need to check the Powerhouse and Spire if there's any trip on the other end... or anything that may spark a trip in the cables." Tom noted as the travellers approached the smaller building of the island.

"Are the twins at home?" Ronald asked the others.

"Of course not." Enrique replied. "They're never at home, and besides, this isn't their 'home'." He went inside first, looking around at the ever-familiar chromic walls and the vibrant colours. Enrique claimed to know the two well, since he has met them in the past and not only in Muhu Delfethal but on Earth too. Tom knew the two as well, probably even more than Enrique does.

"They're probably asleep on Earth, missing out all of the events happening here right now." Enrique said again, searching around the place for any wires that might be out of place. The other three waited uselessly at the entrance of the building, with nearly no idea where to check for any power as the complexion of the Powerhouse was well above their heads. Jack and Ronald seemed rather confused after hearing Enrique's speech on the twins, looking at Tom to see if he had any idea.

"It's New Years Day on Earth, so they might be awake." Tom called to Enrique who had already strolled off into the other parts of the building. Ronald was still confused, mainly as he has never been to Earth properly; he is a human descendent from the first people of the land.

"Well whatever that means, the two brothers are still not around. My guess is that they are on the island, but definitely in hiding. They can't afford to miss out on the races." Ronald charged ahead from the rest, searching around for any cables that might be at risk of breaking.

Shortly after inspecting all areas of the Powerhouse, the four would soon have to have a look around the Spire, the second, much larger building on the Powerhouse Peninsula. It spanned over a hundred metres in height but looked far less futuristic on the outside. The inside was immense however, several cylindrical beams of plasma stretched out from the top directly into the ground. They presumed it would be where all the power was generated from; underground. All the power would then be distributed in protected insulated cables scattered all along the walls of the building, to then too go underground protected by the earth leading straight back to the operating centre of the Powerhouse. None of them knew how it worked, as it was unused for many years only the twins were the people who claimed to understand its impeccable operating power. Nobody in the lands knew how they came about knowing it either. With all its delicacy, any sudden trip in the mains or a successful attempt to destroy either the Powerhouse or the Spire would lead to a mass power cut in the whole land, causing immediate disaster. Thankfully nobody is stupid enough to attempt this.

After a few hours of searching, night had arrived and there were no wires or cables susceptible to short-circuiting. The problem Rosalina had mentioned may have just been a foolish lie and a waste of everyone's time. They all sat down on the grass plain outside the Powerhouse after they had confirmed they had searched everywhere on the peninsula, including the soils of the grass leading from one building to another.

"What a waste of time." Ronald mentioned. "All of this for nothing, that girl's gonna pay for wasting our time one day or another."

"She can pay us by winning those races." Jack said back to him as he stared up at the moon in the night sky.

"Shame there's no beds around here to sleep." Tom stated joyfully. "I'm kind of getting used to this place."

"All you've been doing is walking around looking at wires all evening. There are clearly better things to do than that, such as getting ready for your races which start in two days time!" Jack growled at the other two, who giggled at each other.

"I'm sure that's not a big problem to us." Enrique chuckled. "Besides, Mushroom City is the first race, anything can happen in that."

"Like coming last." Ronald assumed. "It's a shame we're not going to be there to watch, thanks to Jack being banned there, we couldn't get tickets to see the race." He sighed.

"Not to worry." Tom cheered brightly. "I'm pretty sure Enrique and I can sneak you two in to the race, Jack and I go back a long time so it should be ok for both of you two. Are you banned in the Mushroom Kingdom?" He stared back at Ronald, who tried to recall.

"I might be." He replied, but before he could say anything else Tom interrupted quickly.

"Nothing to fear then, even if you are, you're sticking with us!" He smiled. "Now let's wait for another night to go by, we will practice tomorrow." He looked back at Enrique, who had already dosed off in the moonlight. There was no strong breeze on the Peninsula tonight, so it seems like they would all get a good night's sleep...

4:30AM...

Tom's eyes slowly opened, beginning to hear footsteps coming from the gate to the Peninsula. Although he was still half-asleep, he could sense an approach of several Koopas coming his way in the distance. As his eyes began to widen Tom actually noticed all of the Koopas were wielding weapons, dangerous ones. He counted about six Koopas so they were outnumbered, and these Koopas did not look like any that would serve Bowser. His eyes were fully open now, and he shot up being wary of what's yet to come. He kicked Jack, who was sleeping outside next to him, nudging him to wake up as well.

"Guys get up!" Tom called out to the three loudly enough to get to their ears but quietly enough so that the approaching Koopas could not hear him. They nudged around and slowly got up, unbalanced and with eyes still closed.

"Seize them!" The main Koopa called out, forming a defensive line with the others and arming their weapons up, pointing at the four humans. By this time Enrique and Ronald were alert and stood firmly still. "Stop moving you humans!" The main one ordered again.

"Red Martyr scum!"

"Princess Protectors, don't belong up north!"

They all called out their insults and taunts, but Tom slowly crept towards the middle of the bunch and kept his hands up in the air.

"Koopas, we aren't princess protectors, nor Red Martyr 'scum', and besides, what brings you six fighters out to the Peninsula? You don't want to be messing around with any of its contraptions do you?" He negotiated, trying to spot a fault in their plans.

"Yeah and what are you guys doing here then? Who sent you? Besides,we saw you humans in Vurduresa trying to help save those foolish citizens! Somebody must have sent you to do that, either the Princess or the Council! Ready up your weapons boys!" Five of the six Koopas armed their weapons to shoot at the humans whenever called on. Tom looked at the sixth and noticed he seemed unsure. That Koopa had his eyes focused on Enrique, with his gun laid down. Ronald was slowly creeping towards the main entrance to the Powerhouse to try and escape, he couldn't lay any big step to creep behind though, and it was not worth the risk.

"I don't care if you're a government scum or a Martyr scum, you humans don't deserve to be up here." The head Koopa laughed as he was ready to fire.

"Wait!" The unsure Koopa called out, stopping the others from aiming to fire. "These humans, they're not Martyr scum, nor government scum."

"And how do you know that?" The head Koopa turned his head to the unsure one.

"Yeah." The Koopa on the far right also questioned.

"I know that one." The unsure Koopa pointed his finger towards Enrique. "Far right. From years back, now come to think of it, you as well." He then pointed his finger to Tom, whose eyes widened as much as Enrique's just did.

"Well, who are they?" The head Koopa yelled at the unsure one.

"They're no ordinary humans; they're Tom and Enrique, part of that grand tournament! We can't afford to kill those two." The group of Koopas lowered down their weapons.

"And the other two?" The far right Koopa questioned.

"We're banned in the Mushroom Kingdom, so there's no relation there to us." Jack informed. "I'm Jack and this is Ronald. We're neutrals."

"More neutrals?" The far left Koopa wondered sarcastically.

"Yes, we are, we have no business with the south. Now tell us, why are you six up here?" Tom redirected the attention to himself.

"To see if the twins were home." One replied immediately.

"They're never home." Enrique replied. "You should know this."

"We tracked you four on your way here and knew you were going to the Powerhouse." The unsure Koopa revealed the truth, making the other five stare back at him angrily. "Best idea was to attack at sunrise. But now I know who you guys are, it's not worth the effort to get you guys in danger." The Humans and Koopas both calmed down now. "But why were you four here?"

"We were checking if there were any power cables that might've been loose, rumours said that there would be one that could cause a mass power cut for all the towns in Castelia, but it was a lie all along." Ronald showed the group his wrench, as some sort of evidence to prove that they were there for that reason. They seemed convinced, nodding and agreeing in unison.

"Well I guess we better go back to our homes, you stay here however, you don't want other people attacking you from out of nowhere, not thinking that you're neutral." The unsure Koopa warned as the rest turned back and headed home. The four humans stood and watched them as they trekked out of the Peninsula and back into the woods that they came from.

"Hostiles." Jack mentioned. "As soon as I saw their weapons." Ronald agreed with him.

"That was Illias right? The unsure one." Tom wondered to Enrique.

"I think so; it would be odd for anyone else to be so nice to us..."

The sun began to rise fully in the sky after a while and the four humans had no idea how to get back down south. Now without any weapons or defence, their deeds in the Peninsula were finished and now they had no other choice but to return south. Résethal appears too dangerous for even Enrique's liking. Tom thought that if they traced along the coastline they would eventually meet up at Koopa Cape and perhaps see Koopa Troopa and Paratroopa, then hoping to get back into the Mushroom Kingdom through the edge of the mountain range via Bowser's Castle. Whether they would bump in to Bowser or not would not matter, Tom's top priority now was to go back to Mushroom City to find his kart and train for the races.

One whole day left...

As the four ventured down the coastline opposite the Peninsula, Koopa Cape was appearing in the distance, though with several lit campfires and tents down by the racetrack, the two main Koopas did not seem to be around. They all noticed as they approached forward that Koopa Cape had been heavily controlled by hostiles, far more than there were before when they appeared the first time. Jack looked ahead and counted at least 20 within the areas he could see from atop the cliffs.

"Guys." Jack began. "This doesn't look safe, aggressive Koopas everywhere, even some Toads." He pointed down towards the running river towards two Koopas conspiring with a Toad, who looked armed to the teeth.

The weather did not seem right either, for once at this time of the year there was heavy cloud, natural cloud too. As the four stopped to hide behind rocks, trying not to be seen, Ronald began to feel a slight bit of raindrops, gradually increasing in quantity. Thunder shortly approached and then the rest of the rain began to bucket down. The Hostiles put out their campfires and moved towards their tents which were based under the shelter near the beginning of the race track, all of the grassland surrounding the track looked abandoned. More campfires were lit up underneath the shelter however, and many Koopas stood against the wet patches of the rain on guard.

"Come on now, let's move." The four humans slid down the cliffs towards the river-running zone, where they hid underneath a thick tree to try and not get wet.

"These guys will have to clear off soon." Ronald stated. "Koopa Cape is the 5th race, and that will start on the 23rd, they have 9 days at most to clear off."

"The more important question is." Tom agreed and carried on. "Where are Koopa Troopa and Paratroopa, I have a feeling this is one of their preferred races."

"What are your preferred races?" Ronald asked both Tom and Enrique. Enrique hesitated and looked at Tom, to see if it was worth revealing their races. Tom shook his face back at Enrique.

"We'll tell you when it gets picked." Enrique replied informatively, mainly focusing on what the Koopa and Toad Hostiles were doing further down the track.

"Let's go along the track and look for any other clues, the cliff before the pipe drop will be a good place to spy from." Tom suggested, slowly getting damper from the water dripping from the thick-leaved tree. It was raining heavily, and on the inside nobody really wanted to get out of the tree as they feared they would get drenched. Enrique sprinted out of the tree leaves quickly towards another.

"Argh it's dreadful!" He yelled from across the river, knowing for sure that summer clothes were inadequate at the moment. He already looked soaked as the others watched him run from tree to tree and then after a while ignoring all trees and running straight to the cliff. Jack soon sprinted next, ignoring every tree in the green, with Ronald and Tom soon rushing on afterwards. All four of them approached the cliff drained and drenched. As they looked down from the top of the cliff, the pipe appeared to rise in water quickly. As for the Hostiles, they could only catch a glimpse of a few orange flares of campfires and a couple of people looking around on guard.

"Guys, get back!" Jack yelled to the other three as he noticed a change in expression of a Hostile Toad Guard, getting out his weapon and beginning to fire, spreading bullets across the top of the cliff but missing all four humans. All hid against the rocks to their left, avoiding the Guard's vision. Ronald appeared frightened, much more than anyone else afraid of gunfire.

"Those are real guns." He shivered as he spoke. "How did they get those? If they're going to attack we are screwed!" He sobbed to the floor. "We gotta get out of here!" Ronald over-panicked but was silenced by Jack, quieting him down.

"Don't worry Ronald, we won't be affected. Let's just get out of here quick." Jack held his arm and ran off from the cliff, back along the river, finding a slope to get out of the Cape. Tom and Enrique looked at eachother and knew what to do; follow on immediately. Through the rain they dashed, heading further south towards the city of Urscan, rather unaffected by any Hostile activity.

Ronald had never seen proper guns before as someone who lived in the Delfino Kingdom for his entire life. Guns were an Earth thing to him, and he only knew that they were very easy to kill people with. Throughout his life he has rarely seen people die, mostly relatives through old age, and old age in this land is a very long time. Even though all of the humans were shocked to see armed Koopas and Toads with guns, Ronald seemed scarred from the risk of death. As the four approached Urscan, they tried to find the nearest building with shelter; it had not rained like this before in January for several years. Aside thunder, they gathered that a storm decided to hit the northern lands appropriately before the races begin. Tom only begged that it didn't rain down south too, potentially spoiling the track if it continued on tomorrow. Due to the rain, Urscan looked abandoned as nobody was outside. The four rushed into the nearest big building which happened to be the main pub in Urscan. It was packed.

The four soaked off and noticed several tens of Koopas and Goombas, mostly ex-servants of Bowser himself. They all turned immediately to see the humans arrive into the pub, though none seemed aggressive. It was still silent, with all the people inside staring at them. Each had nothing to say as they were scared of what could happen if they did speak. Even the bartender was focusing his eyes on the humans.

"Four humans?" One Goomba eventually questioned. No other voices were heard. Tom slowly began to move from being frozen by the look of the dense crowd.

"Yes..." He slowly replied and just as that happened most of the citizens inside ignored them and resumed back to what they were doing before, the ambient level of sound went back up again.

"Normally this place would be empty at this time of day." One Koopa stated near the others. "But because of such a storm that we're seeing outside everyone's coming in here." The humans faced towards the Koopa paying attention. Ronald peeked through the nearest window and saw nobody outside, nodding in agreement.

"I don't know if you've heard the agenda recently, but people from all other small towns come to Urscan to meet up because it is safe and return to their homes only at night. There are no evildoers here." The Koopa continued. "We all used to serve in Bowser's army but now we are able to live free lives here, but it hasn't been as safe as before; the evil ones come over from the north and occasionally raid homes, they take the children and convert them, they hurt our wives and make them serve them. We do not simply have any power to fight them as they have those 'weapons'." They all felt bad for the Koopas and Goombas in the pub, unable to fight back and fight for their family because of Hostiles possessing guns which can easily win a battle between one Koopa and another. The four only began to question now how these Hostiles may have got those weapons. Unfortunately, there was not enough time for Tom – who considered it the most – to go out and investigate, for the races would commence tomorrow evening. Mushroom city is always based in the evening after sunset he thought.

He and Enrique have 36 hours...

EOC: I'm still getting lots of DMs on this so I will try and update the lorebook with some enquiries people have asked about. One of the main questions was how many humans actually inhabit the land? The rough answer would be about 50 (8 or so families) these are mostly the families of that of Ronald, Ledro to name a few, the Canon human inhabitants, and the humans that had arrived from Earth (Tom, Enrique, George etc).

Another main enquiry was about the map of the land, I am ever expanding on this adding canon and non-canon areas within the four main districts and outlying islands (non-canon is 99% towns such as Frinméy).

A/N: The end of the next chapter will be the start of the first race.

See you soon.