Disclaimer: I don't own Mario or any of its characters. Impacto belongs to deviantart's Mloun, I'm just borrowing him (with permission, mind!).

Moley Koopa- Oh, don't worry, although this does have the potential to be an endless fic, it does have a plot, and an end...and a sequel! :D
Elemental Queen- Yay, I managed to succeed in making the scene a suspenceful one! I be thanking you for your review!
Virgofox28- Indeed! Yay for Rattles! I was actually surprised you reviewed again as most new reviewers don't bother, but I'm certainly not complaining! *glomps!* Thanking you!

Chapter 9

"You know, I'm starting to notice a trend with you, Pip," Kops started as he, Pip, and Rattles walked down the hall, each carrying cleaning supplies. The Paratroopa looked over at Kops questioningly as he continued with his 'discovery'. "When I tell you not to do anything stupid, you do something stupid. When I tell you not to make any escape efforts, you try to escape. When I tell you not to run towards bloodcurdling screams, you run towards the bloodcurdling screams. When I told you to leave Rattles alone, you somehow managed to make friends with him."

At this, both Pip and Rattles grinned, both knowing exactly where this is going and they weren't disappointed when Kops finished his train of thought. "I think you function on reverse psychology. Either that, or you're unbelievably stupid..."

Okay, that last part wasn't exactly expected and Pip seemed quite insulted. "Hey!"

"Face it, kid. You're not exactly the brightest bulb in the..." Kops trailed off as he stiffened, staring at a door. The other two looked over as well and their beaks fell open. Crash's room, with the 'Do Not Disturb' sign removed. Sighing in preparation, Kops muttered as he began to turn his attention back to Pip. "Okay, kid. We need to remain calm and... What the-?"

His eyes were met with an empty space where the Paratroopa used to be. Dumbfounded for an instant, the Koopa Troopa facepalmed as a mumble came from his beak. "And I should've just told him to make a run for it, huh?" Rattles merely shrugged, staring in the direction Pip took off as Kops dropped his supplies and began to dart after the retreating figure. "Quick! After him! He's still too fat to fly!"

Stupid waffles! Pip thought to himself, his wings flailing in a vain effort to take off. He knew trying to see how many waffles he could stick into his stomach during dinner was a bad idea, and yet he did it anyway. Maybe Kops was right with that stupidity comment... Casting a look over his shoulder, he saw his companions giving chase and he tried to go faster, feeling his still-full stomach slowing him down considerably. Making a sharp turn, Pip yelped as he slid to a stop, Kops crossing his arms in front of him. How did-? Within an instant, he spotted the answer to his unfinished mental question: an adjacent hallway that was no doubt a shortcut that Kops took advantage of. Looking back, Pip saw Rattles sliding into view from behind the corner and blocking his way back. Groaning, Pip slumped in defeat as his guardian took his arm and led him back towards the room.

"Do we have to, man? He tried to kill me the other night!"

"He tries to kill someone every night," Kops responded in a strange combination of annoyance, nervousness, and boredom. "Don't think that excuses you from working."

"But...but can't we take a break?" Pip tried to stall, to which Kops merely shook his head.

"We just got off from our dinner break fifteen minutes ago, remember?"

"Rattles! Help me out here!" Pip squeaked desperately, to which the Dry Bones gave a look that basically said: 'Sorry, buddy. I would love to help, but you have a job to do and I can't stop that'. Whimpering as they arrived back to the room, Kops looked to him and some genuine sympathy grew on his face.

"It'll be fine, kid. He can't hurt you and he won't hurt you." He gathered the supplies, handing them to the frightened youngster. "Let's just get this over with." He glanced to Rattles. "You don't have stick around. We'll completely understand." After all, Rattles was only volunteering to help and had no obligation to go any further. The undead turtle certainly seemed a bit hesitant about going into the room of a mass murderer, but seeing the obvious fear in Pip's demeanor prompted the skeleton to gather his own bundle of cleaning utilities. Smiling in appreciation, the Koopa Troopa hesitantly knocked on the door and announcing himself in as calm a manner as he can pull off.

Every single second of waiting was filled with the sound of his pounding heart in his ears. Pip tried his best to stay strong and he kept in a whimper as the door creaked open and Crash glared out at them. "About time," he snarled, opening the door wider. "Get in here and make it quick!" All three of the other Koopas nodded and Kops hurried in, followed by Rattles, and finally-

Pip yipped as his wings were grabbed in a familiar hold just as he was rushing to his friends. Unable to keep back a shiver, it took everything he had to remain calm and convince himself that he would be alright as Crash sneered.

"Ah, so you're the new cleaner for this section," he growled before smirking. "How unfortunate for you." Not releasing his hold on the child's wings, he turned his attention to Kops. "Think you've trained this little brat well enough?"

The Koopa Troopa paused, sensing a note of threat within those words. Keeping himself together, he gave a firm nod, hoping his answer wouldn't backfire. Unfortunately, his hopes weren't enough and the Hammer Bro. snickered maliciously.

"Let's just see about that, shall we?" Crash taunted before looking back to Pip, his smirk never dying even when he gave a low dominating growl. "We're going to play a little game, Paratroopa. Clean my room on your own and without mishap, and you'll be fine. Make a mistake, and you'll earn yourself a small bit of pain. Three strikes, and that small pain becomes anything but."

"You...you can't hurt me," Pip tried to put on his act of defiance as a mask, his shaky words not helping much in that department. "I-I'm not breaking any rules, a-and Bowser didn't order you to..."

"Ah, but you're in my room. My rules." Crash hissed before shrugging dismissively. "And we all know you're going to die anyways, so what's a few little instances of abuse going to do?" Chuckling darkly at the teenager's look of fear, he pushed the Paratroopa away, Pip stumbling to keep balance. "You got 30 minutes to finish, so I suggest you get started."

"Hey!" Kops finally spoke up as Pip shakily began gathering his supplies. "You know Pip has a point, Crash. You can't just-"

"And who are you exactly?" the Hammer Bro. sneered, glaring at smaller Koopa. "Oh, yes. You're a lowly, expendable little Koopa Troopa, whom nobody would notice go missing if such an unfortunate thing were to occur."

At this threat of death, Kops forced his beak shut, glaring back at the elite soldier even as he backed off a few steps, pushing Rattles into doing the same. Having reminded them of their place, Crash returned his attention to Pip, who tried to ignore the tense atmosphere and treat this like any other room he's worked on. Organizing his stuff quickly, his thoughts weren't nearly so prepared and he mentally scrambled to remember what his first step was supposed to be. The bedroom, of course! Hurrying towards the connecting corridors, Pip could hear Crash following at a leisure pace, trailed by Kops and Rattles.

However, Pip hesitated when he reached the rooms, glancing back and forth between them. Which one was the one Kops told him not to open? In his currently stressful situation, he couldn't remember and he casted a nervous glance over his shoulder towards his two friends. Both Kops and Rattles casted glances towards the right-side bedroom, trying to communicate that that was the correct room to enter. However, Pip misinterpreted the message and thought that it was the room to avoid.

Going to the left-side room, Pip started to open it when a powerful force slammed it shut with such violence that Pip's arm felt a jolt of pain. Nor was that the only pain he was going to feel when he felt a small slash on that same arm. Crying out, he jumped back and gripped the now-bleeding injury, his terrified gaze on Crash as said Hammer Bro. snarled at him. In his hand was a hammer, the sharper end dripping a bit of blood.

"First strike." the elite Koopa barked maliciously.

"But," Pip started, feeling a strong need to save himself as much of these strikes as possible. "But that shouldn't count!"

"My room, my rules," Crash emphasized. "First strike. Now get back to work."

Picking himself back up, Pip hurried to the other room, trying to ignore his pain to keep focus on NOT messing up again. Nervously fixing the bed, he allowed a curious eye to scan the room. If he was shown this room out of context, he wouldn't have guessed that it belonged to a psychopath. He expected a dark room, with all sorts of morbid imagery and slashed up pictures of the things the Hammer Bro. hates. But instead, it was a well-lit, unassuming room with a red color scheme. He could possibly link the red to the color of blood, but that was stretching it.

Finishing the bedroom and bathroom without incident, he felt a spark of confidence through his nervousness as he hurried to the living room. Cleaning quickly, he then hurried to the kitchen, cringing a bit when Crash spoke up.

"You got five minutes left."

Pip's heart skipped a beat and he sped up his work, washing and drying what dishes there were before wiping the counters as fast and as thoroughly as he could possibly pull off. In the vague part of his frantic mind, he hoped that not every visit here would be like this; he didn't know if he'd be able to handle it.

"Ten seconds." Crash hissed, a smirk spreading on his beak as Pip scrambled with the finishing touches, rummaging through his supplies for a paper towel. "Five...four..." Found it! Pip tore at the plastic wrapping in a panic, almost ripping the paper roll itself in his desperation. "Three...two..." He hurried to the counter to put it up, the task completed just as the last word was uttered. "One."

"Done!" Pip exclaimed, feeling as though he was about to collapse. Backing off as Crash wandered to the counter, he held his breath as the Hammer Bro. examined his work. Mentally crossing his fingers, he hoped with every fiber of his being that he did well enough to satisfy the murderous Koopa. Although he only had one strike against him, he knew his fate and this "game's" rules were not in his own hands. After a tense moment, Crash growled and turned to him with a snarling glare.

Oh, no! Pip's thoughts panicked. I messed up and I don't have time to fix it! I'm so dead! He backed up a few paces into his friends' company, and the two stood by him protectively. However, Crash merely shoved them aside and Pip shut his eyes tight in painful anticipation. He felt an extremely tight grip on his arm and he yelped as he was dragged towards the door and literally thrown out. Fluttering his wings to make a safe landing, Pip blinked and looked back. He saw Kops and Rattles show themselves out and the door slammed shut behind them.

Realizing that he won the game and was safe once more, Pip sighed in relief as he finally fulfilled his body's wishes and collapsed in an unceremonious heap, as if content to spend the night sleeping right then and there. His heart was still pounding hard enough to pain his chest and he startled when Kops walked over to help him up.

"You alright, kid?" the Koopa Troopa asked as Rattles busily went through their First Aid kit. Wincing as the skeleton carefully treated his arm, Pip could barely manage a mutter, his voice completely wiped out.

"Can I go to bed now?" It was a bit earlier than the usual time he turned in, but given what just happened, he was surprised he was still functioning.

"Sure, kid. And look at the bright side: you're still alive and tomorrow's my day off, so technically, it'll be your day off too." Kops informed him, glad to see a soft smile come to the youngster's tired face.

"That's a relief..."

"Yeah," Kops continued. "I'll let you out of your cell tomorrow morning, but I have to run some errands. You can meet Rattles in the Lunch Room." He grinned a bit, the lingering feelings of discomfort fading completely as he jokingly 'tested' his reverse psychology. "Try to get yourself completely lost and please abuse my trust in you by trying to escape while you're at it."

"I'll try my best..." Pip joked back before attempting to fall asleep as he was led back towards his room, leaving that insane Hammer Bro. and his stupid room far behind...

Tonight could possibly be the night he ends this whole thing. Although the time read 1:38 AM, he felt not the least bit tired as he got out of bed and restlessly wandered to the bathroom. Turning the sink on and splashing water onto his face, he paused as he turned his attention to the mirror, his own image looking back at him with sharp, glaring, almost self-loathing eyes. Was this really what his existence amounted to? Taking the only amount of joy that existed to him exclusively in the misery of others, in some vendetta that was ultimately going nowhere under King Bowser's restraints? Yup, this was certainly going to be one of those nights.

Leaving the bathroom and his bedroom entirely, he walked across the corridor to another door, a door forbidden from prying eyes. Without hesitation, he took the knob and opened it, stepping into the room without even flipping the switch on. At times like this, he much preferred walking in darkness. Casting his gaze around, everything was exactly the way his brother left it, dusted clean in the last five years by his own hands, but nothing rearranged in the slightest. Every time he came in here, it felt like his sibling never left him at all and will return at any moment now. Walking to the nightstand by the bed, he gently picked up a picture frame, holding it like it was the most delicate thing in the world.

Staring at the photo within, he saw the happy expressions of he and his twin at a much younger age with their helmets still too big to fit their heads properly. They were clearly in the middle of a play-fight, but they nonetheless took time from their rough-and-tumble game to make faces at the camera. These were much more innocent times, before the concept of losing each other even began to form in their minds. He would do anything to recover that sense of naïveté, if just for a moment. He felt tears sting his eyes and he made no effort to hold them back, knowing that his resistance would be futile.

Choking a bit on his breaths, he eventually forced himself to remove his eyes from the picture and place it back down in its original spot, turning his attention to the window. Taking a look outside, he stared off at a particular point in the horizon, feeling a sense of beckoning as was usual whenever he gazed out this particular window. Looking about the room one last time, as if ingraining its image in his head, he walked out without a sound, but not back into his own room. He left his unit altogether and traveled the silent halls that he knew so well from his nightly patrols for curfew violators. But tonight, he held no such interest as he made his way out of the castle and into the world outside.

His path was a predetermined one, a journey made many times in the past. It wasn't too long a trip, fifteen minutes if he bothered to time it. Nearby was an abandoned Koopa village, but he paid it no attention as his eyes focused to a soft patch of earth by the base of a large tree. Such a thing wouldn't draw the attention of a passer-by, unless they were curious of the two hammers positioned in an 'X' by some rope. Once that has been taken into account, one would quickly understand the importance of this site.

Silently walking towards the grave of his brother, he lowered himself to his knees and gently ran a hand over the ground. The tears had returned at full force, streaming down his cheeks as soft sobbing noises rose from his throat. Despite the obvious distress this place brought to him, he felt content to stay here for all eternity, which was something he contemplated doing on multiple occasions before this one. It's obvious his alternative solution wasn't working; the others were much too cowardly and weak to get the job done. If he wanted peace, he'll have to do it himself...

Pulling out a hammer, he stared at it long and hard for what felt like hours. It would be easy; this weapon has taken many lives and his would be no different. Just a single slash in a well-placed spot would do it. Already, he was beginning to dig the sharper end into the scales of his wrist before he stopped himself. No, this wasn't the way he wished to go. It would bring him great pleasure to reunite with his sibling, far greater pleasure than any he would get in spilling the blood of his lower-ranking enemies, but not this way.

Dropping the blood-tipped hammer, he closed his eyes with relative calmness and laid himself down on the bed of earth. If just for tonight, let him join his brother in this spot. For hopefully, Crash will spend his eternity in this place of bliss... Someday...

Sad ending to the chapter, hopefully to build up some sympathy as I like my villains to have some character other than evil sadism ;) ! The scene's inspired by the song Even in Death by Evanescence. I recommend checking it out, as it pretty much sums up the grieving sorrow still residing within Crash (along with Like You by the same band). And oh look! Yet another tense meeting between him and Pip; will it ever end? But hey, tomorrow's Pip's first day off, so how much trouble could he possibly get into... *coughcough*

Oh yeah! And I also have drawings of some of the characters posted on my profile. If you're interested, you can check those out, but be sure to only stay with what's linked if you don't want too much spoilers.