XXI

It seemed much colder outside when the group of adventurers left the Item Shop. Shivering, Jimbrey wrapped his arms as tight as he could around his body.

"Is it just me, or is it really cold?"

Frankly gave a sarcastic snort.

"Yes. I believe it's cold when it snows."

"Shut up," Jimbrey mumbled. "You know what I mean."

Meanwhile, King K had re-engaged in conversation with Katelyn.

"So… how many people exactly have gone up Shiver Mountain?"

Katelyn gave a puzzled look up at the mountain. "I'm not sure. Never did keep count… but the only one noteworthy was a fat plumber man."

"Gonzales…" King K said to himself. "Man, I'm probably crazy or something, but for some reason I keep getting reminded of that guy."

Katelyn cast a curious glance at the koopa.

"Who?" she asked.

K shook his head. "Nothing."

"Are you guys mountaineers?" Katelyn asked. "Those seem like the only kind of people who'd bother going up here. I heard Crystal Palace was ravaged recently."

It was K's turn to be curious. "Ravaged? What do you mean?"

Katelyn stopped for a moment. "I mean, it's been emptied out. I guess I might've used the wrong word to describe it," she added with an innocent laugh.

They stopped at the base of a large icy wall with a single hole in it. It was shaped like a large doorway, big enough to fit an averagely-sized boulder. Lined in two rows of three were snowmen, each wearing identical red and orange striped scarves and pans atop their heads that most likely resembled hats.

"This is it," Katelyn said, indicating to the opening with her head. "That opening appeared a while ago. It happened around the same time as the plumber man, I think… come to think of it, I don't think anyone else ventured up there until after the plumber man left."

Before any of the group could say a word, she suddenly made a snapping noise with one of her fins. "Oh! Before I forget! There's also Starborn Valley thataways."

She pointed down the path with her fin. "It's a little bit of a walk, but you'll be there in no time. Lovely place."

"Will it help us out with our treasure problems?" Frankly asked.

"Not sure," Katelyn said uncertainly. "Can't really help you with that, I'm afraid. But there's a chance it could be there too, I suppose…"

"Foolish," Bandy Andy muttered. "I mean, come on, a Crystal Palace is more likely to…"

"We don't want to take that chance," Frankly said sternly. "We'll have it better off if we split up."

"Again?" spat K irritably in the bitter cold. "Dude, do you remember what happened last time we did that?"

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that," Frankly responded, turning towards the mountain opening.

"It's no problem," Jimbrey said quickly. "Me, Andy and K will just go for the Starborn… thingy… and we'll leave the mountain to the rest of you."

"Sounds fair enough," said Serge. "Come on… we should get moving."

"Wait a minute," protested Grubba, out of spite from the cold. "How come all the fighters get teh go the ol' easy route?"

"Uh…" Jimbrey paused. "You know what? You'll be fine."

"Good luck, all of you," Katelyn said, as cheerily as possible, as the group parted and again formed two separate groups. After waving she turned and headed back in the direction of Shiver City.

"Hey, K," Andy spoke up after a minute. "Is it just me, or have you been speaking more and more like a regular person recently?"

"Uh…" King K hesitated.

"He's right, you know," Jimbrey said. "You've become more civilized lately. Or were you just trying to impress the young lady Katelyn?"

"Uh… er… I… well…" K sputtered. "Well, why didn't you guys go up the mountain? Huh? Answer that!"

"Nothing to do with fear, really," Jimbrey claimed. "We just want more of those Maple Syrup drinks. Right, Andy?"

"We did? …oh, yes. We did. Not very tasty, but rather addictive, that stuff."

-

The single, twisting pathway that lead the travelers farther up the mountain was packed with random stairways that went either up or down – but so far they had only encountered one that went down. They were quickly relieved by two more that went up, and then a third one that appeared before them upon reaching the top of the second.

"I'm already tired," Jr. Troopa whined. "Can somebody carry me or something?"

"Sure, hop on my back and enjoy the ride," Serge snapped.

"Really?" Jr. Troopa asked just out of all his hope and tiredness.

"No," Serge snapped, throwing bitter reality back at the small baby koopa. "Just haul it on. We'll only carry you if you collapse."

As Jr. Troopa slouched back behind them with Grubba, Frankly stepped up beside the firey-tempered yoshi.

"Come now, I can't say I approve of that."

"What?" Serge raised an eyebrow. "Come on, I'm just making the kid a man… at an early age… well, to be honest, I don't really know all the facts about koopas when they grow up."

Giving out a sigh, Frankly just trudged along.

When they reached the top of the third stairway, they found themselves in a more open area – there were two separate paths, one that had a downwards stairway that seemed to lead to a dead and, and another that was connected by a large portion of ice. They walked over it, careful not to slip, and climbed up another upwards stairway. Only this time, when they reached the top, a surprise was waiting for them.

As Serge (who reached the top first as he was in front) climbed the last step onto more snowy ground, a mace swung out of nowhere and smashed right into his snout.

Letting out a single cry, the red yoshi was flung crashing back down the stairs. The only one who wasn't able to get out of the way in time, which in this case was Jr. Troopa, was hit by his body and they both collided with the ground at the bottom.

Goombella, who had been right behind Serge, screamed "It's an attack!"

At the top of the icy stairs stood a large and bulky white clubba. Brandishing its mace, the huge creature raised the weapon over its head with both hands in an attempt to flatten the young goomba student, but she was already a step ahead wiser. Dodging to the left, she leapt up and gave a nasty headbonk move against its forehead.

With a grunt, the clubba blindly swung the mace this time, but with the assistance of Frankly Goombella was able to trip it with her small foot. It flung backwards, its hands grabbing the air feebly as it dropped its mace, and landed on it's back with a thud.

At this point Grubba had reached the top of the stairway himself, leaving no sign of regard in caring if Serge and Jr. Troopa were okay. As the white clubba stood, its eyes locked on grubba and it seemed to freeze at the sight of him.

Goombella cast a suspicious look between them both.

"Do you know each other?" she asked.

Grubba didn't move for a moment, but then shook his head.

"No. No. I don't. I think maybe he's just choked to see a different kind of his people here."

"Well, that's that," said Frankly grumpily, as if he didn't care. "What do you suppose we should do with it?"

Something was different about the clubba now. Its eyes no longer showed anger. They showed fear. Noticing this, Goombella spoke again.

"Is it… afraid of us?" she asked.

Meanwhile, at the bottom of the stairway, Serge and Jr. Troopa were struggling to get one off of the other. They weren't harmed physically; just in pride.

"Get off me, you little freak!"

"You get off me!"

"Let go of my saddle!"

"Stopstopstopstop! You'll break my shell!"

"You'll have more broken things than that if you don't get off my back!"

"Shut up, you stupid reptile!"

At last they rolled apart from each other. Jr. Troopa was angry, but compared to the look on Serge's face he was enjoying his time up on the mountain.

"What was that freakin' thing?" Serge snarled, furious. Looking up, he saw Grubba at the top of the stairs and began stomping up. Jr. Troopa, realizing how angry the yoshi just was, decided to keep his distance.

When Serge reached the top, he saw the clubba sitting surrounded by the rest of his partners. Standing beside Grubba, he glared at it menacingly.

"So, this is the little freak who decided to jump me," he spat. "A clubba. Not only that, a white clubba. I've heard they're really rare."

And then he noticed the fear in its eyes. It was nothing like he had seen before. Serge froze for a moment. And then, he began to laugh.

"It's afraid! It's freakin' afraid of us! What a hoot! Not so tough now, are ya?"

He began approaching it mercilessly. By then Goombella was beginning to see the wrong that was soon to come.

"Wait a minute," she said. "Come on, now, Serge, relax…"

Serge turned on her, his eyes burning.

"Don't tell me to relax!" he screamed. "I was hit in the face! That… that thing hit me in the nose! I think he broke it, too!"

Grubba hadn't moved at all. He couldn't stop looking at the white clubba, helpless as it was, its watery and fearful eyes gazing sadly at its surrounded enemies. It cowered at the sight of Serge as he came closer.

"Yeah, that's right," Serge mocked. "Scared now, ain't ya? Just like the little children of our village, when they were attacked by vile slime just like you!"

"Don't be an idiot!" Frankly said loudly. "I've never read of such nonsense –"

"You can't figure out everything from a book, you four-eyed old-timer!" Serge retorted. "What I'm talking about happened three months ago! And nobody had written anything about Lavalava for almost four years running!"

He turned back to the clubba. "I saw it. Three months ago. A band of those jungle monsters raided our village and went for our children. Me and Oliver and the other guards were only able to save four of them."

The clubba looked up at him, saying not a word.

"That's not so bad," Goombella said in an attempt to calm him down, or at least cheer him up. "I mean, there never were that many more –"

"We lost two kids," Serge said, his eyes now filled with tears. "Two. That may not seem like a lot for Toad Town, but for Yoshi's Village that's a price we couldn't afford. And all because some rotten scum wanted to have some fun!"

"And that's this guy's fault?" Goombella yelled, shocked. "Get some common sense, Serge! He's probably only here because –"

"Because what?" yelled Serge, as if expecting an answer. "He's still here even though his little Crystal King was defeated and he had no purpose in life other to loot and plunder every person that came along here?"

"Not that many people came along here," Frankly protested. "Don't be stupid. It's not his fault. He's probably stupider than those goons who attacked your village. He doesn't even look like he can talk, for goodness sakes!"

"Maybe not," Serge breathed. "But I'm not taking any chances."

Jr. Troopa was at the top of the stairs now. He was looking up at Grubba, who had moved his eyes to face Serge now.

Grubba then knew pity. He knew it the moment his eyes laid on that clubba. And not only that, it was one of his own kind cowered there at the mercy of a ferocious yoshi. One of his own people.

All of the recent past events, combined with what was going on now, was too much for Grubba's mind. Grubba was indeed driven very well near insane. He just didn't know what to think anymore.

"Forget about it, champ, huh?" he sputtered, on the verge of crying. "Just let him go."

Serge had stopped moving. Panting, heavily, he towered over the clubba, who in returned stared back up at him with beady eyes. They still showed fear.

Slowly, Serge began to turn away. He began walking slowly.

"Come on," Frankly said softly. "It's okay. Come on…"

For a single moment there was a hint of relief in Grubba's feature. But it wasn't to last.

Letting out a wild yell, Serge suddenly turned back around and charged the clubba, driving his foot directly into its face. As it was smashed back against the ground, Serge began kicking it senseless, each time with another scream, screams that made him seem almost like a different person… almost like a demon.

After the fourth kick, Serge stepped backwards. He was breathing heavily.

The clubba was on its side now, motionless. There was a single, bloody lump on its head, which was slowly oozing down its face. The mace lay forgotten a few feet away.

"My Lord," Frankly said. "Is it… dead?"

"It isn't moving," Goombella said weakly.

The cubba's foot twitched. Serge snorted.

"Serves him right," he said. "Villians like this one are never up to any good. Good rid…"

He stopped.

Standing there, farther down the path, was a small clubba infant, its skin also white. It couldn't have been any bigger than a slightly overgrown mushroom.

"It's a kid," Serge said slowly. "That thing was protecting its kid."

Nobody moved now. Nobody could say a word but Serge, who then fell to his knees, the realization of what he had just happened coming to him.

"Oh my God," he cried. "What have I done?"

Nobody could move. Not Frankly, or Goombella, or Grubba, or even Jr. Troopa, who only stood silently watching expressionlessly.

"It was protecting its freakin' kid!" Serge sobbed. "And I killed it! All because… all because of…"

He fell silent, and then buried his head in his arms. His world was slowly falling apart.

When Frankly finally moved to comfort him, Serge wrestled him off and staggered over to the fallen clubba.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please forgive me, I didn't know…"

Frankly went over to him again. This time, Serge didn't protest.

Grubba had gone over to the baby clubba. It hadn't moved from its spot. All it could do was stare up at the massive form that stood before it. Then, slowly, it waddled up to his leg and did something nobody was expecting by then.

It hugged him.

Yet again Grubba froze.

"Daddy," it squeaked.

After this everybody else froze.

Serge looked up slowly. He had stopped crying. Instead, he stood up and brushed himself off.

"We should keep moving," he said.

Frankly looked at him as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"What?"

"I said," Serge repeated. "We should keep moving."

And without another word he began continuing down the path. He didn't even look at Grubba or the small clubba child.

Frankly looked hopelessly around.

"Well… I guess…"

And he and Goombella were on their way also.

Grubba was still looking down at the infant. When it let go of his leg, it stepped back and looked up at him.

"Daddy," it said again.

"No," Grubba told it.

And then he picked it up and nestled it in his arms. Soon enough it had fallen asleep.

Grubba looked up at the sky as he had done after leaving Forever Forest. And then he slowly followed the rest. Jr. Troopa was in his wake.

"This is a whole pack of nuts," the koopa kid muttered to himself, shivering. "What the heck did I agree to?"

But, seeing as he had no other choice now, he continued along his way after Grubba.

Maybe it was just her, or maybe it was based on facts, but deep down Goombella personally thought that out of all the people to have a breakdown, Serge was the one with the least amount of reasons to.

Author's Note: I noticed several days ago that it was this story's one-year anniversary, so on a five-day weekend I figure I may as well get off my ass and do something productive with it. Enjoy the new chapter, folks. Also, don't forget to keep checking my profile for Important Info updates.

Thanks again, and still not dead,

- SFR