Sorry for the late update. Just haven't found the inspiration to keep writing. But boredom is a cruel, yet effective, motivator, and I've had quite a lot of that recently! So I now bring you the next chapter. Please enjoy!

Death is but a Game

Koops glanced at Parakarry, but found that he couldn't meet the mailman's eyes. He sighed and looked away. In a voice that was barely audible, he whispered, "I'm sorry, Parakarry..."
For a moment, Parakarry was too shocked to react. But then his eyes grew wider, and his lips quavered, struggling to come up with something to say, anything to save his life. But he could not.
"No..." he said, and then louder. "NO!"
He started forward. Whether he was charging at Koops, or someone else, or attempting to escape, the Koopa did not know. And he never would, for an earsplitting crack filled the air, and the winged postman's body fell to the ground with a thump. A fan of blood spread out from around his head. He did not move an inch.
Alice lowered her gun, but did not holster it. "Let's go. We've wasted enough time here already."
One by one, the members of the group filed out of the kitchen. All of them had expressions of pure shock and disbelief on their faces. None of them made a sound, as if the sudden death of their friend had torn the ability of speech away from them.
Koops stood by the body, staring at the red halo painting itself around the Parakoopa's head.
Was it his fault? It had to be. He had literally just assented to killing the man. But...was it the right choice? Looking at the dead body before him, could he really believe that this was the only way?
"Koops," Mario was standing in the doorway. "Let's go."
Koops nodded and followed him, not taking another glance at the body. He had vowed to stick by his decisions. Now was not the time to harbor any regrets.

7Z7Z7Z7

"This way!"
Mario led the group down a flight of stairs. A small group of Infected were following close on their heels. For once, Alice and Erika actually started helping, shooting bullets and throwing knives at the zombies with excellent precision.
Koops struggled to keep up. He was near the back of the group, and he stumbled quickly down the wooden staircase. It creaked and groaned under their weight, and it was clear that their hadn't been much attention kept to up keeping this part of the castle.
"Come on, come on, in here!" Mario ushered the others through a door and, once the last person had crossed the threshold, slammed it shut. A moment later, several bodies slammed into the other side, and a series of scratching and banging ensued.
Koops panted, not believing that he would ever get used to such hectic escapes. It was a miracle that none of them had been injured.
"So far so good." Mario was slightly out of breath, but was in far better a condition than the others. He turned his attention back to the door they had come through, listening to the sounds on the other side. "We should keep moving. Now."
As they started marching again, Koops was suddenly struck with an idea that had not come to him earlier. What if Daisy was not disguised as one of the newcomers, but as Mario instead? Or one of the twins? So far he had assumed them innocent, but how could he be sure that one of them wasn't really an imposter?
He continued on, watching their backs with a careful eye. In fact, he was so intent on observing them, that he did not notice the hole before him until it was too late.
His arms windmilled and a scream of panic rose from his throat as his foot stepped off into thin air. Then he toppled forward and plunged down into the darkness.
A moment later, he grunted in pain as his body slapped against the cold, hard ground. It was still rather dark, and Koops struggled blindly in the inky blackness to stand on his feet. Luckily, he did not fall very far, or at least it did not seem so. Glancing above, he spotted a circle through the blackness, just a bit lighter than the other areas. Voices fell down to him from it, as if someone were shouting down the throat of a beast that had just swallowed him.
"Koops!" It was Birdo. "Koops, answer me!"
"I'm here!" he yelled, then a bit louder. "I'm here! I'm okay!"
"Really?" Now it was Diddy. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
"I say, chap, where the devil could you be?" Kolorado.
Koops took a look around him, but could see nothing. He squinted hard, but it was as if the darkness was intent on keeping him mystified of his surroundings.
"I'm...not sure. I must be deeper down in the basement."
"Can ya try to figure a way outta there, kid?" Kylie called. "Here, I'll lend ya this."
Koops wondered what she meant for a moment, but jumped, startled, as something fell in front of him.
"Did you get it?"
Koops stooped and searched the ground, his hands brushing against some object. He held it in his hand. It was small, long, and hard, and there was some sort of bump on part of it. He pressed down on it, and instantly a beam of light shot out from the end of the object and cut through the darkness like a knife made of light. It was a flashlight, miraculously undamaged from the fall.
"Koops?"
"Y-yeah, I got it. Thanks. I'll try to find you guys."
"Be careful, Koops." Mario's voice said. "There could be...dangers down there. We'll try to cover things from here, but if you happen to find what we're looking for along the way...you know what to do."
Koops was sure his vague message would have confused the others, but he knew what he meant. Koops nodded, forgetting that his ally could not see him, and continued on.

7Z7Z7Z7

Trudging through the dank basement was certainly not the highlight of Koops' day. Sure, the zombie attack had been frightening and unpleasant, but this had to be worse. Every step echoed throughout the darkness, reminding Koops just how vast the underside of the castle must be. With only his thin beam of light to cut through the dark, he had to constantly be on the alert. However, alertness had morphed into paranoia. The shadows created illusions in Koops' mind and the Koopa jumped every time he thought he saw something.
Eventually, however, Koops reached a large area.
He seemed to be at the pipe system. Hundreds and hundreds of pipes wove their way in and out of walls, were stacked like hills on top of each other. It looked similar to the one underneath Peach's castle.
Koops continued on, listening for any sound besides the steady drip, drip sound of a leaky pipe and the continuos hum of the machines at work, even during this turmoil.
Then there was a scream. A startled, anguished cry. Then another one, but it was more of a grunt. It sounded as if someone was struggling with something.
And the voice sounded familiar.
Koops sprinted ahead. He clambered over a stack of pipes, nearly tripping over a slippery spot. His flashlight caught the area and illuminated what had hindered him. A splatter of blood. Koops' heart beat quicker, and the Koopa hurried on.
As he climbed over the top of the pipe hill, he caught sight of where the sounds were coming from.
It was Luigi. Somehow, by some will of fate, Luigi was before him. Koops was not sure whether to feel elated, fearful, worried, or anything. Who was Luigi to him now? An enemy? A friend? He had no idea.
But the man was being attacked by three Infected. How they had made their way down here, Koops did not know either.
Without thinking, Koops teleported to the bottom of the hill and behind one of the zombies, catching it by surprise. He whipped out his knife and stabbed it in the back of its' head, ending its' undead life as it gave out a low groan.
Luigi's eyes widened, but he did not pause. As Koops tackled the second zombie and wrestled with it to get in a good stab, Luigi swung an old plank at the other one, knocking it to the ground.
Once they were both finished off, Koops exhaled in relief. He slowly rolled off of the infected body...and saw Luigi standing over him, his plank held up, ready to beat him.
Koops gulped, cursing himself for not sneaking past the skirmish, for not abandoning Luigi. What did he expect would happen? He left the alliance with Cheryl and Luigi. Even if the two still weren't cooperating, Luigi was still his enemy.
For a while, they both stood there, the man in green poised to attack, and the Koopa in a defenseless position.
Slowly, Koops stood, and Luigi made no move to stop him. Then, the man asked, "What are you doing here?"
"S-same reason as you, I-I suppose." Koops stammered.
Luigi shook his head. "No. I'm not here to kill somebody. I'm not here to kill a friend."
The words stung and left Koops speechless. His eyes drifted down to the floor.
As if knowing he had beaten Koops there, Luigi changed the subject. "Cheryl is really mad, you know."
This caught Koops' attention. "With me?"
"No. She's mad, but it seems that she's angry at everyone else. Ever since you left, she's been working tirelessly to find the other players. To kill them."
Koops didn't say anything, so Luigi continued. "Do you know what she said to me once? I asked her why it had to be you. I had asked why she had chosen you to be our 'assassin'. Then she quite simply told me, 'Because he's innocent. He's not the type of person who would ever do such a thing. And because he would have mercy upon his victims, where as I would not.'"
Koops was stunned by his statement. "She...she said that...?"
"Yes. I can kind of understand what she meant by that now. We launched an attack on one of the players that we found recently. It ultimately failed, but she sure left her mark. All of the people she killed...it was terrifying..."
His voice trailed off, and Koops tried not to imagine the horrors he must have witnessed.
Luigi took a shaky breath. "Anyways, things have been hectic since you left. I've sort of had to replace you, but she's insisted to join me on missions. I've advised against it, but she refuses to listen. I think, at this point, she just wants to shed as much blood as possible. I just barely convinced her to help me take Daisy alive instead of killing her."
"Are you trying to make me feel guilty about leaving?"
"No. But Koops...let me ask you something..."
Koops waited as Luigi pondered, searching for the right words. Slowly, he asked, "Do you really think it will be easier this way?"
Koops' eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"
"We know Peach and Yoshi are players, and we know you joined with them. But aren't they your friends? Can you really handle killing them when the time comes? Can you really take it if they were to betray you?"
This froze Koops. When was the last time he had worried about that? It seemed as if the threat of betrayal, the reality that the alliance was only temporary, only surfaced occasionally. When it did, it had a great impact on Koops, until it faded into the shadows once more, allowing him to fool himself with false beliefs that his allies were actually his friends.
"I..."
Luigi nodded, as if confirming that Koops could not come up with anything to say.
"Let's go, then."
Abruptly, Luigi turned and continued on into the darkness. Caught off guard by the sudden end of the conversation, Koops followed. "Wait...y-you're not going to kill me...?"
Luigi sent him a sidelong glance. Koops noticed that there was no longer a friendly warmth to them when they settled on him. "No. Cheryl made it VERY clear not to kill you if we saw you. I'm not sure why...but it may just be because she wants to do you in herself."
This sent chills down Koops' spine, but he did not back down. "So you're going to capture me?"
"Yes. After you help me."
"What makes you think I'll do that?"
Luigi laughed a humorless, dry laugh. He shook his head as if talking to a foolish child. "What do you think you're doing now? Saving me from those monsters and not having have attacked me yet? You haven't done anything yet, so I'm sure I have nothing to worry about from you."
His spiteful, slightly mocking words infuriated Koops. He drew his knife and pointed it at Luigi's back. Luigi walked on, not even sparing a glance back.
"Like you'll really use that on me." he spat. "Now come on. We've got to go."
Koops sighed, frustrated, but he knew Luigi was right. The plumber certainly wasn't fully on his side, but he couldn't bring himself to stab him. Plus, the display of overconfidence left the assassin unsettled. What tricks did he have up his sleeve?
After a moment, Koops sheathed his weapon once more and followed after the man in green.

I apologize for cutting it off at such a moment, but I didn't want to let this chapter get too long. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed, and please review!