"Yes. No more freak outs. Well, we're gonna TRY to have no more freak outs..." Vivian said.
"Um...so what the heck are we waiting for right now?" Koops asked.
"Koops, I just told you. We're waiting for Kylie and Arfur to come here and then we're gonna go see someone who knows everything about why people are committing suicide." Goombella said.
"This better not be some sort of set up!" Parakarry complained.
"What do you mean?" Goombella asked.
"I mean that, this better not be a trap where we follow along with you into some mysterious house and we all got killed by mutants or psychos." Parakarry clarified. Everyone else just shook their heads.
"Parakarry, just shut up. Quit being paranoid." Goombella ordered.
Kylie and Arfur came running to the group.
"Hey guys! Thank god we made it just in time!" Arfur yelled.
"Yeah, we came here as fast as we could. So are we off to see this person now?" Kylie asked.
"Of course. Follow me, everyone. And stay close." Goombella said. She lead the group by walking into Central Rogueport. Everyone tried to ignore the dead bodies laying about. The group then went into East Rogueport.
They noticed the dead body of Jocelyn.
"So you WERE telling the truth..." Koops whispered.
"What? You actually thought I was lying?" Vivian asked.
"Not really, but I had the slightest doubt you were." Koops admitted.
Goombella lead the group down the warp pipe that lead to Rogueport Sewers. She then walked to the right, down the stairs, to where you get to Petalburg.
"This is it, right here." Goombella said.
"Um...I don't see anything..." Bombette said. Suddenly, Goombella yelled as loud as she could.
"DAKAI LE!" She screamed.
"Woah!" Bamma shrieked.
Suddenly, a blue warp pipe popped out of the ground right in front of them.
"How...how did you do that?" Asked Kylie, amazed.
"Let's just say that I've known this person for a long time..." Was all Goombella said, along with a wink.
She got into the warp pipe and the others followed suit.
Some minutes later, they all exited the warp pipe and were in front of some cottage near the woods.
"Um...where the heck are we?" Parakarry asked. Nobody except Goombella was really familiar with the location.
"We're on the outskirts of Mushroom City. This cottage right here...Lucky, the big brown bob-omb, lives in here." Goombella said.
"Wait a second, LUCKY? The bob-omb that runs the lottery? You're joking, right?" Vivian asked.
"Does it look like I'm joking? No. Now let's get in." Goombella demanded.
The group went up to the front door and Goombella knocked on it. Nothing seemed unusual about the outside so far.
The door opened.
"Oh, Goombella! You came back so soon! And I see you brought some friends? How lovely!" Lucky cheerily said. Everyone except Goombella were weirded out by how happy he was sounding.
"Yep. I brought them here so you can explain to them why these suicides are happening all over the world." Goombella explained.
"Ooh...I had a feeling that's why you came again. Alright, come inside!" Lucky gestured. Everyone quickly went in and Lucky shut the door.
The living room they were in was very small. It was definitely old-fashioned. The living room led to a small kitchen and a small hallway.
"Um...so then Lucky...you know why people commit suicide?" Kylie asked.
"You bet I do!" Lucky happily answered. "Here, let's all sit down first so I can explain everything." Lucky sat down in a rocking chair while everyone else sat down on his comfy couch.
"Alright then. Here's the explanation: People simply aren't connected to themselves as they were long ago. And what I mean by that is, some people like to live for someone else. Some people like to follow all the trends in order to achieve popularity or respect. Some people would just do anything to impress the one they love or have a crush on. The people that aren't connected with themselves usually depend on others for happiness. The people that aren't connect with themselves, like to follow the next biggest thing so they can feel worthy or special or...controversial. You see, the whole world is a Suicide Circle. Each day, people commit suicide and there's not much others can do to stop it. But the reason they do that is because they are not connected with their true selves, not for their family or friends or even idols. There is no TRUE Suicide Cult or Club in the world, just an IDEA of what a Suicide Cult or Club might be. In order to be connected with yourself, you have to be proud of who you are. You have to accept the fact that you'll make mistakes for the rest of your life. You have to realize that you shouldn't try so hard to impress someone you like. You have to accept the body you were born in and not change it by taking drastic measures. All of you here have a role to play in this world. And that...is the role to love yourself. To accept that you were put here on this earth to live a life filled both happiness and sadness. Other people view there 'roles' in life, as taking on other roles, being a completely different person. However, what these people do not know is that being a different person from who you truly you are, disconnects not only yourself, but from everyone else and reality. And that, my friends, is why people commit suicide." Lucky explained.
Everyone, except Goombella of course, was speechless. Parakarry's jaw was dropped. They have never heard anything like that before in their entire life.
"Wait...so...that's why more and more people are committing suicide now? It's because certain people want to follow this suicide trend so they feel 'in'?" Kylie asked.
"Well, that's the much, MUCH shortened version of it but yeah." Lucky said with a smile.
"Oh my god...that's so crazy...so, how are we suppose to stop these mass suicides then?" Bombette asked.
"Simple, we don't. We're unfortunately just gonna have to live life like we do everyday before this chaos started to happen. See, the more we worry about people dying, the more likely we will succumb to that feeling of dread and die too." Lucky explained.
"I see! So, the answer to the suicides was right in front of us all along then! Well, for how to deal with it of course." Arfur said. Lucky nodded.
"Umm...excuse me, Lucky? I've...I've lost the connection to myself. A long time ago. I tried to change myself into a different person so I can become more confident about who I am, but it's only ruined my mentality and self-esteem..." Koops sobbed, but tried to stop. "I want to re-pair my connection. Please. Is there any way to do that?"
"Why of course there is! There's one in every city, it's just VERY well hidden and exclusive." Lucky said. Koops smiled a bit.
"Yeah I wanna re-pair my connection too. I just feel like not myself sometimes, you know? It's like I wanna be bad and do all these dangerous things to impress people and gain popularity but at the same time, I'm afraid to and I sometimes even call myself weak sometimes." Arfur confessed.
"Of course, of course! You can have every opportunity in the world to re-pair yourself! Now, follow me, people. We're driving to the center of Mushroom City to get these two nice young men a repaired connection!" Lucky said then quickly went out the door.
"Wow. That Lucky guy is REALLY weird..." Vivian said.
"Yeah, but he's a total sweetheart though. I'm glad I found him during all this mess." Goombella happily said.
The gang got in Lucky's shiny, silver van and he drove them to Mushroom City.
10 minutes went by and Lucky parked the van in a parking lot, in front of the Mushroom Theatre building.
"...A theater? What? This is where you repair your connection at?" Bombette asked.
"Yep! We have to go in through the back way. It's much faster." Lucky said. He lead the gang over to the backside of the building and unlocked the back door. Everyone went inside and they were on the stage with the curtains closed.
"So...this is it?" Parakarry asked.
"That's weird...they should've...Oh! Silly me! They're in here!" Lucky laughed as opened a nearby door. Everyone went in the room and gazed at how beautiful the room was.
Inside it was a fountain of crystal clear water. Everything in the room was sparkly and glittery. It almso felt like you were entering paradise.
Suddenly, a large Toad guy with a devil's mask on came over to the group.
"These kids need some repairing?" He asked in a very deep voice. Everyone immediately got nervous of him.
"Just this Doogan and this Koopa here! Don't be afraid guys, this Toad here is EXCELLENT at connection repairing." Lucky explained.
"Hmmhmm. You, Koopa, come with me." The Toad asked. Koops hesitantly followed him over to a part of the room where some tools were. "You have any tattoos anywhere on your body?"
"Yes. On my back." Koops replied. He was confused as to why he would ask him.
"And are you proud that you got that tattoo?" He asked.
"N-no. No I'm not. I got it because I thought it would make me look cool and I could feel more confident. Guess I was totally wrong..." Koops sadly said.
"I see. Take off your shirt." Demanded the Toad.
Koops jumped in nervousness but he did it anyway. He threw his shirt to the ground, feeling uncomfortable that half of his body was exposed to his friends.
"This is gonna feel weird for a moment." He warned. The Toad then sprayed some kind of dark blue liquid on Koops' tattoo.
"WOAH! TH-THAT'S C-COLD!" Koops shrieked.
The liquid on the tattoo freezed over it a bit. The Toad then got out a large rotary abrasive instrument.
"This is gonna hurt. Are you ready?" The Toad asked.
"...Just get it overwith!" Koops cried.
The Toad dug the rotary abrasive instrument under the frozen layer a bit, and began peeling away the tatto area.
"OW OW OWWWWW! OH MY GOD!" Koops screamed.
"I can't watch!" Bombette shrieked and looked away.
"Almost there..." Said the Toad, almost done with the peeling of the tattoo.
"THIS IS TOO MUCH!" Koops screamed.
"THERE!" The Toad yelled, getting the tattoo area off of Koops' back. The Toad then put a big bandage over the mark where the tattoo was.
"Keep that bandage on there for a week, and you'll be good." The Toad said.
Koops nodded and quickly put his shirt back on and headed back to the group.
"Uhhh, that's seriously how you repair your connection?" Vivian asked.
"Well, there are many different ways of repairing. Koops' tattoo was the one of the things that made him try to be someone else other than himself. It was holding him back, so to say." Lucky said.
"You, Doogan. You're next." The Toad said. Arfur gulped and followed him to the fountain.
"I want you to take off your shirt, well, if you want, and put your body in this fountain." He said.
"W-why? And how am I suppose to put my body in there if it doesn't even look that deep?" He asked.
"Trust me, it's deeper than it looks." He said.
Arfur sighed and took off his shirt. He stepped in to the fountain and immediately, his feet felt so relaxed and refreshing.
"Woah! This feels really good!" Arfur said in amazement. He suddenly plopped his body in the fountain and his entire body felt so refreshed and new.
"Wow, this fountain is amazing! It really makes me feel like I can do what I've always wanted to do with ease! Haha, I actually feel totally unstoppable right now!" Arfur laughed. "I feel so rejuvenated and strong now. It really feels like all my worries disappeared just like that!"
"Jeeze, what the heck is in that water?" Kylie asked.
"It's a secret." Said the Toad with a nice smile. "Hey, Koopa boy, wanna join him?"
"Oh, s-s-sure!" Koops hesitantly said and took off his shirt. He jumped in the fountain and was immediately relaxed by the nice waters.
"Looks like the repairing is working well for them. When they get out that fountain and go into the real world, they're gonna be feeling more confident than ever." Lucky said.
"Wow! This is absolutely amazing! I mean, this will SURELY get the top story on news broadcast stations all over the world! I smell a big raise!" Bamma said. "Well, um, if you don't mind at least, Lucky..."
"Hmm. I don't want you to tell the media about places like THIS, but you CAN tell them the story I told you." Lucky said.
"Sweet!"
"So, the mystery of the suicides...heck, suicide in GENERAL has amazingly been solved. I never would've imagined something as great as this would actually hold the light. I'm never gonna forget this as long as I live." Kylie said.
EOC.
Sorry guys it took me longer to upload this. I've been getting to be really busy now so it's gonna ruin my update schedule. But please review as the next chapter is the last one!