A/N: Just a fair warning, it gets a bit graphic in this chapter. Nothing too harsh, but I should still do the content warning.

CHAPTER 11 - The Next Morning

LOCATION: Neo City Police Department, Neo City, Darklands Kingdom

TIME: 5:09AM

Something swirled restlessly in his head. It never made shapes or patterns or anything recognizable; it was like the wind, never there and never seen, only its presence could be felt. That was what he felt. He felt the longing of family, the gentle love of friends and a simple life. It ached at his core. Something that he knew now was not attainable. It never would be. The demon that called it his shadow cackled in his ears, blaming him for all the death that he had caused. He couldn't see it, but it was there.

It simply laughed at him until it faded away into his ears and replaced itself with something else.

"Oh," Henry said. He was holding two coffee cups. "You're awake."

In the broadest sense of the term. Junior mumbled something and rolled himself up from the couch, his body aching and heavy and his joints screaming for a proper bed. The coat that he had been using as a blanket slid off uselessly to the side - it hadn't helped much, but it had kept him asleep long enough.

The bitter smell of coffee took over him. "I didn't know if you drink it, but I got you something anyway."

"Thanks..." He murmured, taking the cardboard cup and grasping it between his palms. The warmth washed over him and made him feel a little bit better. Blinking away the sleep, he watched as Henry slid over to his desk and began typing something on his computer. His eyes were less focused than the night before. He didn't seem to have the same sort of demeanor as he did and his typing movements were slow. "Did you sleep at all last night?"

Henry looked up. "Not really. I'm a night owl anyway. Took a nap a bit ago, maybe that's what you're seeing?" He gestured to his face. "I'm not really classy when I wake up."

"You and me both."

He took the time to get up, stretch and survey his surroundings - Henry's office was lived-in, that was for certain; the police issued desks and computers were apparent, but Henry had his own knick-knacks and other things lined around his desk. Junior observed a flag for one of the local racing teams and a few pictures of what he presumed to be his family. The detective must have noticed him looking, because he was right behind him. "Those are my folks." He said, pointing to the picture that he was looking at. Junior looked closer - it was a fairly old photo of an elderly couple and, standing in the middle of them, was a younger Henry. He looked like he had just graduated high school.

"You still talk to your parents?" Junior asked absentmindedly.

Only a sigh came out of Henry. "Not really. They didn't really take to my police work..." He didn't sound convinced. "Anyway, I'm sure you didn't come here to hear about parents."

"It's weird... I can't believe what happened, happened just last night. I'm still kind of thinking that this whole thing is a dream."

He patted him gently on the shoulder. "Hey, we all deal with grief in our own way. No matter how you act, it's still sorting through it. Eventually you'll come to terms with it, move on as best you can and make the best out of it. Unfortunately, I'm not a therapist but I can give you some support numbers to help you through your father's death?"

Junior shook his head. "I... I don't think I'm ready. Not yet."

"That's fine. I'm just letting you know that policy dictates that we give witnesses, survivors and next of kin trauma counseling for homicide, burglary, arson and all that."

"Can I leave?"

The detective paused and chewed his lip. "Unfortunately, I cannot let you. The Chief... well, Deputy Chief, has authorized me to be your handler because you're an important witness. You know, the whole Sutaoda thing? Considering your father's close proximity with them she believed it was necessary for you to be under my care, at least temporarily."

"I'm an adult," Junior's expression was not amused. "I can take care of myself."

"With all due respect Mister Koopa, your home is still under thorough police investigation. We cannot legally let you stay at the residence until we have confirmed it is safe for you to return and, considering you haven't given us any line of contact with any next of kin, I was authorized to be your handler until such time."

If he wasn't so tired, he would probably be able to feel the pin-pricks of irritation coursing down his neck.

"... Fine," He conceded, sitting back down on the couch and sipping his coffee like a somewhat annoyed kid. Henry said nothing and instead sat back down at his desk. He immediately went to the phone, which had been blinking for quite a while. He pressed it and began to drink his coffee as well.

"You have, one, new message. One message, received, today at, 4:34AM."

"Detective Henry Nishimura, this is Will down at the morgue. We have just finished examination of the deceased perp and while we haven't been able to have a confirmation on the identity, there are a few areas of interest that might be helpful to the Ashwood Estates homicide investigation. Please call me back as soon as possible, thank you."

Junior swallowed and felt his stomach twist into knots. They got one of them on ice?

Sighing, Henry picked up the phone and began to punch in the number - with how flawlessly he did it, it was obvious that the detective had made many calls to the morgue before. Being a cop seemed pretty depressing, seeing a lot of dead bodies all the time.

"Hey Will, this is Henry... yeah, I got your message just now. Is the body still there? Yeah... yeah, good. I'm going to drive down there, probably will drop by in about half an hour. Can you prep any personal effects for examination? Great. Oh, and..." He looked up to Junior, his face changing through several expressions before he looked away. "I might have a witness potentially coming in. Is that okay...? Y-yeah, okay. I'll see you there." He stood up and put on his jacket. "I'm sure you heard all that, sir."

"It's one of the Order?" Junior asked.

Henry shrugged. "Maybe. He looked different from everyone else, but I can't confirm that. Stranger things have happened. Look, I'm not going to lie to you - if you'll come with me and witness the corpse, I can't guarantee it will be smooth sailing. You do not have to do this. This is just part of procedure for me, however, if you feel you can accompany me down to the morgue and shed some information that would be most helpful to the investigation. But I'm not going to force this. If you want, I can bring some copies of evidence back for you to-"

"No. I'll come with you," He stood up. "If it's a chance that this is the guy who killed Dad, then I want to know."

The detective remained stern. "Please, Mister Koopa, I don't need you there to exact revenge. I'm just hoping with this and your cooperation, we can have a breakthrough on this. But if this is going to take a toll on your mental health, then I will strictly advise against it."

"Detective, I appreciate you looking out for me, but I need to do this. I know I'll regret it if I don't," He took a deep breath. "I need to be courageous."

The drive down to the morgue was uneventful - although the detective seemed hesitant to put the nineteen year old out in public, he reasoned with himself that it was a potential lead in the investigation. The outcome could be good or it could be worse. He was taking a big risk, but it might just pay off.

"If you have any second thoughts, you can tell me." He had assured him all throughout the drive, but Junior seemed convinced. But his courage faltered as they pulled into the parking lot, and it didn't go unnoticed. "Are you alright, Bowser?"

"Y-yeah... I mean... how do you deal with seeing a dead person?" He asked, his mind thinking back to last night when he had shot the security guard and how this could potentially be the second time he's now seeing a corpse. It didn't help him at all. Henry patted his shoulder again.

"The first time is a weird feeling. And the second, and the third, and the fourth... it's something you get used to."

Nodding, they both walked into the morgue quickly from the rain, which had begun its daily downpour. The interior of the building was cold and sterile, and it sent shivers down his spine. It smelt somewhat of death, but the clean kind where everything is washed down and made sure that nothing could infect anything. But he said he would do it, and do it he would. For Dad, he thought to himself over and over in his mind. Henry approached one of the doors that was open.

"William?"

"Come on in."

Nodding, Henry directed Junior and stayed by his side as they walked into the room. A wave of anxiety washed over him as the first thing he saw was the body. It was sitting in the middle of the room on top a metal table, everything but the face covered. It looked pale and asleep, but there was no denying it. The first thing he thought of was the body suddenly coming to life, the eyes springing open and ready to pounce on everyone. He swallowed the bile in his stomach and stood a bit further away as Henry took over.

"Hey Will," He shook his hand. "This is the witness, Bowser Koopa II. Mister Koopa, this is William Zehm, the coroner for the NCPD."

Junior braved stepping forward just a second to shake his hand as well. William was an older looking koopa with a stone-faced expression that never seemed to change. However, he could see the sympathy behind his eyes - no one Junior's age should have to deal with this.

"Pleasure to meet you sir, although we all wish it was under better circumstances." William drawled. Henry rounded the table and stood next like it was nothing.

"So William, what can you tell us about the perp?"

William pulled out a clipboard. "Identity still unknown, but the cause of death was a punctured artery caused by a bullet wound to the heart and he bled out on the spot. Time of death I would say was around... 11PM last night."

The detective nodded. "That corresponds with the time the reports came in. Any evidence of an exit wound?"

"No. The bullet was low caliber, stuck straight in one of the chest cavities. I pulled it out and sent it down for examination."

"What kind of round was it?"

William shuffled some papers. "It seemed to be a common 9MM, usually discharged from handguns."

Junior spoke. "The security guards at home carried Pinrita 9MMs."

"Usually used by private firms as a sidearm," Henry nodded, satisfied with the information. "Makes sense then."

"A Pinrita was retrieved at the crime scene, so that collaborates with your explanation, Mister Koopa. It seems that whoever committed the homicide though were using different kinds of weapons," The coroner picked up a bag with a shell in it. "We found several of these in the main foyer."

"Looks like a rifle round."

"Look closer, Detective, the round isn't modern."

The detective blinked and twisted the bag around to get a better look. "Huh... you're right. This looks old. What the heck were they doing with cheap ammo?"

"If I had to guess, they were probably using old rifles. It isn't uncommon for criminals to have older models. I would probably guess a Nokorinko Type 52."

Henry laughed. "You can't tell me that Will, those things are decades old. I thought they'd all rusted away or become collector's items. But what we can deduce from this is that either the criminals are collectors of old antiques and happened to use these or they're running low on options."

"It's just a guess, Detective. We don't know for sure," He wondered over to the table where Junior was sitting at, where several items were laying about. One of them were standing out so obviously it was hard not to notice. "I suppose these are personal effects?"

William joined them. "Yes. This was what he had on him."

Putting on some gloves, Henry gingerly picked up the first item and scrunched his nose at it as it unfolded. "What the hell was he doing with a black cloak?" He looked up and saw that Junior was staring intently at it, his eyes flicking back and forth before he caught his gaze.

He had recognized it. There was no lying on the look of recognition and fear that was apparent across the young man's face.

"Beats me," The coroner said with a shrug. "If I didn't know any better, I would say we're dealing with our old friends across the line."

"The Order, yes. Evidence and eyewitness testimony is heavily leaning towards that line of thinking."

"Well, aside from his clothes and the bullet we pulled out of him, he was carrying nothing," Junior dared to look at the body again while William talked. "No ID, no wallet, no money... which would push the explanation further into 'Order of the Star' territory."

"I would say we can nearly confirm it then." Henry said, before looking over to Junior - all that was left to do was discern the motive. So far, everything was lining up into nice puzzle pieces. Henry should have been glad for that... but there was something that was bothering him. His instincts were telling him something was wrong in the overall picture.

But in the end, all that the detective could do was shrug. "But we have a lot of testimonies and other things to pore through back at the office," He took off the gloves and adjusted his jacket. "Be sure to contact me when you get the results back and find out who the perp is. If this poor bastard left a family behind, we'd have to get in touch with them."

Will nodded. "Will do, Detective. Thank you for coming down so early in the day. I hope the investigation is a little more closer to being solved."

"That's what they always say, until someone throws you a curve ball. Anyway... Mister Koopa sir, are you ready to leave?"

Junior looked up. "Yeah, I'm ready to go Detective."

"Please, call me Henry. See you around, Will." He waved back as they left the building and back into the rain - Henry was about to enter the car when the sound of dry heaving came from behind him; Junior was bent down and clutching his knees, looking like he was about to throw up.

Poor kid... no, the kid was only a few years younger than him, but Henry got the distinct impression that this was someone forced to suddenly grow up... well, it was either that or seeing a dead body for the first time. The optimistic part of him wanted to favor the latter.

"Fucking... shit..." Junior coughed, although he hadn't thrown up just yet. But he looked up at the detective having gone completely green in the face. Henry tried to resolve the situation the only way he knew how.

"If you are going to throw up, do it in the garden," He said. "I have some water with me if that will help you...?"

The kid waved it off. "No, no... I-I'm fine. I'm just a bit... overwhelmed," He panted. "I don't know what... I was expecting."

Henry gave a light chuckle and lead him towards the car. "It's never easy your first time. Honestly, people hear the possibility of a dead body and they faint on the spot. All things considering, you've done very well at this point."

"Y-yeah... t-thanks Henry." He was already downing the bottle of water by the time they were out of the parking lot.

"We'll go back the police station and I'll need to log what we've just seen and then, when you're feeling like it, I would like to chase up a few things with you, Bowser."

"... Like what?"

"What you said to me last night. How you have seen them before. They dealt with your father?"

"They... they did. That black cloak... I remember it... they were at home before."

Henry looked ahead. "When we get back, I want you to recover - go rest on the couch or walk around the station. Have something to eat or drink if you can, and when you're ready, I want you to give me every detail you have. I'm not going to lie, Bowser; your words could be the biggest breakthrough of this investigation. I want you to clear your mind and remember everything."

"I'll try, Henry. I promise."

That was all he could promise, at least for now. Closing his eyes and trying to will the nausea away, he tried to clear his mind and let him think back to that time...

LOCATION: Ashwood Estates, Neo City, Darklands Kingdom

TIME: 10:29AM, One year ago...

"Welcome home, sir." The driver had said to him with a smile, leaning over the back of the seat and looking at the young man - he was excited to finally be home. Summer vacation had started and getting out of the boarding school in the mountains was the best thing to happen currently. Even as he waved his friends goodbye and he knew he'd miss them, there was no denying that Junior was ready to roll into his own bed and sleep it all away. No more learning, no more books, no more rules... the excitement was palpable, even to the elderly driver who had picked him up and driven him from the airport.

"Thank you!" He said happily, jumping out of the limousine as the driver rounded to pull his bags out. Just as he was about to bound up the steps to the front door, the driver caught his arm.

"Just a fair warning Bowser sir, your father is currently in a meeting inside, and has asked for me to let you know."

Junior sighed with a smile - that was his father, always working, even when he was coming home. "That's okay. Thanks for letting me know."

The driver tipped his hat and wandered back to the limo. "Safe travels."

True to his word, the foyer and the mansion at large was completely silent. It wasn't anything Junior wasn't used to, but if he could be honest, he had expected a little bit more fanfare than this. Not even the security guards were on shift... maybe they were just swapping out. Shrugging, Junior dumped his bag at the foot of the staircase - unpacking could come later - and made a beeline straight to the kitchen. If his father wasn't there to greet him, then he should have made it up to him by supplying some of his favourite soda.

Score! There was a six pack sitting in the corner of the refrigerator waiting to be opened.

But, just as he grabbed a can from the cardboard packaging, he got the feeling that something was behind him. Cautiously, he turned around and, despite anticipating it, almost had a heart attack at the sight; a lanky person shrouded in a dark cloak was standing right behind him. How the hell did they even get in here? He hadn't heard him!

The figure chuckled at his reaction and pulled the hood down immediately; the angular features of the koopa was all too apparent, as was his striking heterochromatic eyes, one blue and one brown. Despite it, it was hard to discern the figure's age... or even if he was a he. "Apologies if I startled you," They spoke in a smooth tone of voice, although the accent didn't match his appearance. "I was curious as to the noise in the kitchen. I was assured that the mansion would be empty, after all..." They held out a hand. "You must be Bowser's son, correct?"

With his own shaking hand, Junior took it hesitantly and shook. "Y-yeah. Bowser Koopa II."

"Niko Ito..." They smiled a weird grin. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance finally. Your father speaks very highly of you." The way that they looked over Junior made him very uncomfortable, even though he knew that there was nothing that he could do to him... it was that weird predatory look that he couldn't make heads or tails on whether it was malicious or he was just eccentric. Either way, he didn't like it. "What do you have there?" They asked, looking down to the pink can that he was holding.

"Uhh... soda. It's my favourite..."

Niko chuckled before his head snapped up at the sound of a voice.

"Niko! Where are you?!"

"In the kitchen, Bowser."

The tall and muscular koopa walked in quickly, looking quite worried, but upon seeing his son, his smile widened. "Junior!"

"Hey Dad." Junior tried to smile, but the whole situation had put him off. Nonetheless, he was happy to wrap himself into a hug with his father. Bowser chuckled that low rumbling laugh that always seemed to put him at ease. It was a way of assuring him that things were okay.

"Don't mind Niko here," He said. "He might be a bit weird, but he's harmless."

Niko feigned offense. "Oh, on the contrary, Bowser. We're all never not harmless. We just choose to make ourselves that way. Some of us give in..." He looked down to Junior again, causing Bowser to cough and interrupt him.

"Yeah well... next time you go wandering off like that, let me know at least."

"As I said to your son, my apologies for my curiosity. I heard him in the kitchen and, as you assured me, we would be alone today."

Bowser grunted. "Eh. Yeah, sorry about that. I didn't think on that." He had his arms wrapped around his son more protectively now, something that didn't go unnoticed by the strange figure. Nonetheless, if he was offended, then he wasn't showing it.

"Well I was finally able to meet your son."

"Yep," He tried to beam above the awkwardness. "I told you - he has the stunning looks of his father and the brains of his mother."

Niko laughed. "Please. I think we can all agree that you are very well educated and intellectual, Bowser. A man of your stature and power wouldn't have gotten to where you are today without your brains. I would believe that your son will follow in your footsteps... or maybe outdo you."

"I couldn't be any more proud of him than I already am if that were the case," Bowser let go of his son finally. "Hey kiddo, go and unpack your stuff. Niko and I are just going to finalize some details."

"About what?" Junior asked.

"Just some prices about some valuables that your father is looking to acquire," Niko replied, adopting a casual stance - hand on his chin, elbow in his other hand. "He's been driving a hard bargain, but that's fine. I like the challenge."

Bowser subtly pushed him away, nodding towards the stairs. "Yeah. Don't worry about it son. Just my hobbies. We all have our hobbies."

"Yeah, sure..."

Just as he walked out, Niko called out again. "I bid you adieu, Bowser II. We shall meet again." That made him shiver more than anything he had experienced in life so far... man, Dad knew some kooky people. Trying to push the thought of the creepy cloaked man out of his mind, Junior lugged his bag upstairs to his room. The safety and familiarity of his room greeted him like an old friend and he began to unpack his clothes...

"Interesting..." Henry said, typing away at his computer. "And you never saw him again after that?"

Junior shook his head. "Never. Dad always made sure I was out of the house whenever he had one of those meetings. I'm very sure that it was with the same person..." He looked up at Henry - he was neutral in his expression again, which he had quickly learned was just his thinking face. With a few clicks, the detective seemed to be focused on something.

"Niko Ito..." He said to himself. "Let's see if there's a bit of history here..."

Typing away into the database that Junior was now witnessing, Henry simply typed in the name.

Only one result came up.

Opening the file, there wasn't much on there. Not even a photo. But despite that, Henry noted two important details on the file.

"So... while he hasn't been arrested here, it seems that there's a warrant out for him in the Darklands Kingdom. Says here that he was born in the Mushroom Kingdom and the name that we have on file is an alias... ugh, if we had a photo, we could confirm... hold on a second, Bowser..." Stepping back, he watched as Henry picked up the phone and tapped in a few numbers. "Yes, I would like to speak with the Deputy Chief regarding the Ashwood Estates homicide... thank you... Deputy Chief Shiramune? This is Detective Henry Nishimura of the Homicide Department, I would like to request an authorization to open the line with the Toad City Police Department regarding a natural born citizen of the Mushroom Kingdom and his outstanding warrant here... yes, it could potentially be a prime suspect. Okay... okay, thank you Deputy Chief."

Junior was standing back with his arms hugged around his body. "So?"

"She's given me the authorization," He picked up the phone again and tapped in more numbers. "I'll be patched through now and hopefully we can get something... yes, hello? Henry Nishimura, badge number 2-9-0-4... yes, thank you... yes, is this the Toad City Police Department? My name is Detective Henry of the Neo City Police Department and I would like to request a copy file of a natural born citizen... yes, he has outstanding warrants here and in the Mushroom Kingdom. He goes under the alias 'Niko Ito', physical description is yellow scales, tall height, heterochromia iridum... great, can you send it to the file server? Thank you very much. Take care of yourself. Okay, bye."

It took no time at all for the file to be retrieved. Before Junior knew it, Henry had the file up on the computer, looking much more focused now that the full information was right in front of him.

The picture of Niko stared back at Junior - it was an older file, but he still had the same features as before. Of course, there was no denying the eyes.

"That's him?" The detective asked. Junior confirmed with a nod. "Okay... this is our man then. Let's dig in deeper... As said before, 'Niko Ito' was a confirmed alias. Born in the Mushroom Kingdom to immigrant parents around thirty years ago under the name 'Christopher Tanaka', his first stint with the law being when he robbed a store when he was 17. Since then, he'd had outstanding warrants for aggravated assault... burglary... arson and disappeared from his hometown shortly thereafter. Seems like Tanaka here has been involved in the Order for quite a while then..."

"I don't know where he is though." Junior said.

Henry shook his head at this. "That's okay. This is a big step... however, the only thing that's not making me jump out of my seat is that Tanaka might not even be connected to the homicide case, at least directly. He is part of the same organization though so I would be very eager to track him down and question him, if we knew where he was..." He tilted his head, his eyes looking over the details of the file again. "Hm... says here his address is in the Mushroom Kingdom, but it's his parents' house. I doubt he would be there... but assuming his parents are still alive, I think it would be prudent to check this out."

"What are you saying?"

"What I'm saying is..." The detective sighed and rubbed his temples. "We need to talk to his parents. But I'm not allowed to take you out of the city..." He picked up the phone. "But... I have an idea though."

LOCATION: The Koopa Bros Fortress, Acorn Hills, Darklands Kingdom

TIME: 9:09AM

As far as he knew, Larry was the first to have woken up. The castle was quiet and no one, not even Yellow, could be found within the big empty halls. Sometimes he wondered how the hell that supposed four brothers could live in a big place like this all to themselves. First of all, every room and hallway he went into it was clean. No sign of dust, grime, dirt or mold in sight. It was as practically clean as a hospital. That just bothered him so much that it made him quite annoyed. The company that Lemmy keeps...

... that statement could also apply to him. The irony was not lost.

Bundled in a coat he took from his bedroom closet and limping, he tried to remember where the kitchen was. Last night was a muddied haze and his memories had big gaps. All that he remembered was being shown his room and the bathroom and he just rolled into bed and fell asleep.

It was the shower that reminded him of his foot. Morton hadn't done a bad job with stitching it up, but the hot water had intensified the nerves and almost made him scream in agony. But aside from that, it was a pretty nice morning. He didn't have to wake up in a crappy stiff army bed, so that was a plus.

But his thoughts went back to Bowser and Junior... the mourning period now that things had calmed down was starting to set in, and he felt his heart become a little more heavy, at least for Junior. Bowser, he wasn't feeling so generous towards. As far as he was concerned the man had it coming for a very long time especially knowing the company that he was keeping. But Junior? The kid didn't deserve that.

He tried to push the regrets out of his mind - the time was now and he had to focus on what to do next - and finally found the kitchen.

It was a lavish part of the castle that stood tall with multi-story windows overlooking the wonderful view of the backyard. It reminded him of home. Back home, sitting in the yard with Liza and Nick... he sighed and wondered if they knew about the robbery. If they thought he was in police custody. No doubt Nick had been told a lot of venomous things by his mother... he hoped that she was a bit more decent then that. But that was the mistake of falling in love; sometimes you had to risk having that love shared and being thrown back at you.

He opened the refrigerator and retrieved some orange juice (Yellow had cheerfully said that they were allowed to take whatever they wanted from the kitchen) and had poured himself a glass when Ludwig had suddenly appeared. He was standing in the hallway looking a bit ragged and tired under the eyes, but didn't tread onto the threshold until Larry had noticed him.

"Fucking..." He sighed, rolling his eyes. "How long have you been there?"

Ludwig shrugged. "Not too long. I just figured I'd take in the scenery, same as you."

"Yeah, I bet you were..." He wandered over and stood in front of the window. The rays of the morning sun shone onto him, filling his body with a nice warmth that complimented the heat from the morning shower. After spending so much time in the eternally storming dump known as Neo City, the change of location was nice.

Ludwig eventually joined him, holding a mug of tea. "... Is this what it's like for you?"

"Back home? ... Yeah, it is," He murmured. "A part of me regrets it though."

"Regrets what?"

"Leaving everyone behind... a part of me is happy that it happened, that we went through with it because... because Liza and Nick deserve so much better than me. They deserved so much more than worrying about whether I'd come home alive or not. Nick needed a father and Liza needed a husband. I don't regret that. I just regret... I regret the collateral damage. Roy... Lemmy, Iggy, Morton, Wendy... and now Junior," Larry looked into Ludwig's eyes properly for the first time since they had met. "Every day I wonder how big of a mistake it was. I blamed you and Iggy every day just to convince myself..."

"We both got what we wanted Lawrence; you got to be with your family and I got to where I wanted to be in my career. I have no regrets of being undercover in the gang," He took a sip. "It all worked out fine for us, didn't it?"

Larry shook his head. "You knew that the rest of them were on the run. You full well knew where they were, and you didn't even try to hunt them down."

"They have all their outstanding warrants. Believe me, I fought hard to keep my superiors at the time from chasing after them. Only two members when I had an extra four in my grasp? That was practically grounds for turning in my badge... but..." He didn't finish his sentence, but it was enough for Larry to get the picture.

"You actually cared about us."

Ludwig shrugged and tried to seem nonchalant. "The sense of comradery and pushing through the odds, not knowing what lay around the corner, I'll admit, it was an intoxicating time. I suppose getting to know you all personally didn't hurt either. Knowing who the criminals are and how they act, the thoughts and feelings and aspirations they have... it was hard not to feel a bit attached."

"Funny, criminals are sentient beings like every one else."

"Except criminals commit illegal acts. You're always taught to never sympathize with a criminal."

Larry chuckled. "Guess you failed that part of school, eh Chief?"

The Chief smiled. "Yes, I guess I did."

"The hell are you two talking about?"

They spun around - Roy was standing in the doorway with a look on his face, clad in a tank top and his usual sunglasses. Larry stepped away immediately, looking a bit awkward.

"Nothing."

Roy narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, that's what they always say..." He poked his head into the refrigerator as well, the silence in the kitchen overwhelming to the point of Ludwig deciding it was the perfect time to exit.

However, before he could even step back to leave, Yellow and Lemmy had entered as well.

"Good morning, early birds!" Yellow greeted. "How did we all sleep?"

Roy grunted in response, Larry rolled his neck and said it was nice, Ludwig said it was 'adequate' and Lemmy was just happy that he wasn't sleeping outside.

"Well, we'll all have breakfast, introduce you to everyone and then we can leave you guys to whatever is up."

Breakfast was cooked all by Yellow, who insisted, since they were having guests over. When Morton and Wendy had appeared and Morton had tried to help, Yellow had slapped his arm with the spatula and told him to go sit down and get himself something to drink. Food was served by the time Iggy had appeared - it was plates of eggs and bacon, nothing too fancy, but everyone was secretly thankful they weren't eating takeaway for once. The table was in silence for a few passing moments before they were interrupted.

"Yellow!" A sharp voice shocked them all. "Who is this?!"

"Ah! Red!" Yellow scurried over. "These are some guests that I took in."

Red furrowed his brow at them before turning to Yellow, looking like he was going to explode. "What?! Why didn't you consult me on this? Does anyone else know?!"

Yellow, however, was as cool as a cucumber. "Red, relax. These are Lemmy's friends. See?"

"Hey Red!" Lemmy waved. "Nice to see you!"

"Nice to see you too Lemmy..." Knowing that Yellow hadn't just invited some randoms off the street, he calmed down noticeably. "I just wish you had told me or Green or Black before they came here. I wake up and I see a helicopter outside my window... how do you imagine I feel?"

Yellow rolled his eyes and shoved a plate into his brother's hands. "You were asleep and I know if I woke you up you'd be screaming at me. This was just easier."

"Did they really come by helicopter?" A younger voice called out. Red rolled his eyes.

"Seems so, Green," He replied. "Where's Black?"

Green began to scoop some eggs onto his plate. "Dunno. He's probably still asleep," He saluted to the table with his fork and sat down next to Yellow. "Greetings, fellow friends of Lemmy. Yellow bought me up to speed with everything and while I agree with Red and wish he had told us before, I'm glad to have you over as our guests."

"We appreciate it," Morton said graciously. "Last night was a bit stressful."

"Hey, we're not dumb. We know what you folks get up to. As long as you can get it sorted and if you need our help in anything, I'm sure any one of us will be glad to help."

Yellow laughed. "Except Red."

The eldest brother grunted and chewed on a piece of bacon in silence.

"He'll come around. He just hates it when I do things without his permission, even though we're all adults here."

"We live under the same roof, for your information," Red shot back, pointing his fork accusingly at him. "So if our guests can keep things neat and tidy and quiet, that's fine with me. It's the least I can do under the circumstances."

Yellow motioned to Red. "As you can see, he's a bit neurotic."

"Well, you're a bit annoying."

Lemmy laughed at this, while everyone just watched awkwardly as the family spat happened in front of them. If Larry knew anything about siblings, it was that it was possible that this was a daily occurrence. Considering the faux pas of dropping by to someone's house unannounced at whatever time in the morning it was, Larry was surprised that they were getting off as lightly. Usually if a group of friends decided to stay at his house, he'd end up kicking them out after a few hours.

Maybe that was just him though. Looking around at everyone else, he knew that a majority of them would let them stay at their place. There was just no reason to.

"Huh, good morning Black," Red said. "About time you got up."

Black blinked at the table full of strangers, still seemingly trying to shake the sleep loose from his eyes. "Uhm..." He murmured, a deep voice compared to everyone else. "Who are these people?"

"They're Lemmy's friends!" Yellow said with a grin. Lemmy stood up on his chair again and waved to his friend, who had woken up at the sight of him.

"Hey dude!" Black exclaimed. "Long time no see! What are you doing here?"

"We... we got into a bit of trouble," Lemmy replied sheepishly. "And I asked Yellow if we could crash here, and he said it was okay."

"So it isn't a leisure visit then? That's fine Lem, we all know what you get up to. Didn't think you knew this many people from the circus though." He looked over at them, narrowing his eyes - they didn't look much like circus people. Lemmy laughed and sat back down.

"No, these are my friends from the old days. I told you about them."

Black poured himself some coffee. "Oh yeah, the robbers. Heard a lot about you guys from Lemmy here."

"So we've heard." Wendy said - she didn't mean anything bad by it, she trusted Lemmy. Still, it was pretty amusing to be casually talking about it at breakfast. Ludwig was poking his eggs silently next to Larry. He wasn't eating much... maybe there was something on his mind?

Eventually, he spoke. "We need to talk about it."

"About what? Here?" Larry asked. He was feeling very self-conscious about talking about this in front of the four brothers.

"They deserve to know. I won't be accountable for anything that happens while they're unaware... so," He put his fork down and linked his hands together, deep in thought. "Red, Black, Yellow, Green; your generosity is very much appreciated in our time of need and I believe it's necessary for us to disclose why we are here."

He tried to ignore Larry rolling his eyes - at breakfast? Ludwig, please. That was probably the thoughts rolling through his head at the moment.

"Go on..." Red said.

"We have run afoul of a cult called The Order of the Star. Have you heard of them?"

Black shook his head. "No, we haven't."

"The Order of the Star, the Sutaoda, is a cult dedicated to worshipping a deity in mythical folklore called the Dark Star. The roots of the Dark Star go way into the reign of the first Toadstools, when they were at war with the Koopas. To make a long history lesson short, the Koopas tried to harnass the power of the Dark Star to win the war. They summoned him into our dimension once, but was defeated by the Toadstools, who harnessed magical energy to lock the Dark Star away. The royal family split the Dark Star into three artifacts, scattered across the various kingdoms where no one could unleash the wicked power of the Dark Star again... that is, that's the story that goes," He paused and drank the last of his tea. "It's pervaded in our culture for quite a while the legend of the Dark Star and the artifacts and a cult dedicated to bringing back the Dark Star has been doing rounds all over the kingdoms. They believe three stones will achieve what they want and they will murder anyone to get it."

Closing his eyes and wondering if it was a good idea, Ludwig nonetheless reached into his pocket and pulled out the two artifacts. "We are in possession of the two, which has made us targets to them."

Green blinked, trying to comprehend what he had just heard. "So... why do you have them?"

"One of these was trusted to me for safekeeping and the other was robbed by... well, the group you see before you. I think at this point it would be prudent to obtain all three of them and destroy them. Personally, I don't care much for kooky cults but when they start harming others, that's where I draw the line. We've been chasing these guys for ages, but just now they're showing themselves now that the artifacts are in danger of falling into the wrong hands."

"... Lemmy, what have you dragged us into?" Red asked with a slightly annoyed face. All of it just sounded like dumb fairy tales and, if he could be honest, he wasn't exactly happy about all this on his doorstep.

Lemmy looked genuinely guilty. "I'm sorry Red, but we had no choice."

"What do you want from us then, Ludwig?" Yellow asked. "Is there anything that we can do?"

"Just be yourselves. This is our mess and we're going to focus on getting out of it," He tilted his head in thought. "So... I think our next plan of action... do any of you have a cell phone?"

Black nodded towards entrance to the kitchen. "There's a landline phone there. We don't use cell phones."

"That's fine," Ludwig stood up. "If I believe the outcome of this phone call to be true, then we need to really plan ahead."

"What are you doing?" Larry asked as he watched the Chief quickly pick up the phone and begin to dial numbers. Ludwig shot him a look back, telling him to be quiet. Keep your comments in you, it said to him. Whatever. Larry leaned back in his chair and watched as Ludwig stood by, head tilted with the corded phone to his ear.

"Ah!" He stood more attentive when the line picked up. "Yes... hello? This is Ludwig Von Koopa, Chief of the Neo City Police Department. I would like to speak to Chief Royal Knight Mario at once."

A/N: The obligatory sort of exposition dump chapter, but believe me, a new heist is coming up. Thanks for reading and reviewing and stay cool, everyone!