With Big Shells and Wings
Summary: Jerry manages to get Princess Peach outside the castle, but things still don't turn out as planned; Black is forced to do something that will scar him for the rest of his life; a familiar face comes by to help Wendy and Larry; Hooktail finally decides on what to do to prove herself to Kooper and Geno, and Bosley realizes just how badly everything has affected Eddard.
Run Turtle Junk (Part 10)
The koopatrol burst through the front doors of the castle, panting and breathing heavily. Peach and Twink quickly followed behind him, also out of breath from running so much. The trio encountered another group of dark koopas, but Jerry had dealt with them all single-handedly. They were finally free, finally able to escape from Bowser's domain without worrying about getting caught up in Trowzer's wrath. Jerry started to walk down the stone bridge leading up to Bowser's castle before they arrived to the volcanic surroundings a few yards away from the fortress. Jerry looked to his left and right, frustrated that what he was searching for was no longer there.
"No…there has to be one. I know they left one here!"
"Left what?" asked Twink.
"The koopa clown cars! Without them, we're stuck here!"
"Can't we just walk—"
"Look around, Princess! We're surrounded by a bunch of volcanos! There's no way we can safely walk somewhere else without getting burned alive or dying from dehydration!"
"But Mario—"
"You're not Mario, Princess. Sooner or later, you and everyone else needs to accept that you can't do everything Mario and his brother can do."
Princess Peach frowned and sighed dejectedly while Twink looked around, trying to find some sort of solution.
"So what do we do now?"
The trio didn't notice a little twinkle from someone around Bowser's castle. A wounded sniper who had been fighting with a clubba was standing on a balcony panting. Bleeding from his chest, he got on his knees and set his sniper rifle down on the edge of the balcony. Hands shaking, he looked through the scope and zoomed in on the princess and Jerry. If he was gonna bleed to death, he may as well take someone down with him.
"I'm not sure…there's a secret passageway on the other side of the castle; it's an escape route. There's boats designed to travel on lava and other koopa clown cars; I think they even have karts. We're gonna have to go back inside," said Jerry.
"What?! After all the hell we just went through?!" said Twink.
"I know it sounds tough, but we've gotten this far. Just stay close to me, and I'll prote—"
Jerry stopped talking when a shot rang out. Someone shouted after getting hit with the sniper's bullet. Twink's eyes grew wide and he stared at the body lying on the ground made of volcanic rock. Peach whimpered slightly, her face and part of her dress covered in blood. Jerry was on the ground, breathing slowly and bleeding from the chest. The wounded sniper intended to take out the princess, but the clubba he subdued wasn't dead after all. He grabbed the sniper and attacked him just as he fired, and the sniper hit Jerry instead. Peach crouched down beside Jerry's body, frantic.
"Oh my God, oh my God, just…don't move, Jerry!"
Jerry blinked and looked down at his chest. "I can't…I'm having trouble breathing…"
"Relax, Jerry. You'll be fine. Uh…Twink, you can heal him, can't you?"
"Err…I'm not that kind of Star Spirit."
"But you told me you've been promoted! You're a fully-grown star now; shouldn't you be able to do something?!"
"I'm not exactly a surgeon, Princess. Even if I heal him, the bullet's still in his body. It doesn't matter how many times I heal him; eventually he'll just bleed to death."
"But can't we just—"
"Peach…Peach, look at me," said Jerry softly.
Peach stopped talking and looked at the koopatrol again.
"I'm dying. You…you have to accept that. All I…all I wanted to do was serve Bowser…to do what he told me. I—" Jerry coughed up a little blood. "I did my part…now you have to do the rest. Get…get out of here, Princess. Find a way to get back to your home…"
"But you just said there are no clown cars here! How am I supposed to get back?"
Jerry smiled. "You'll figure it out…you don't always need Mario to protect you. Didn't you have to save him from Bowser once?"
Peach remembered her adventure where she traveled across the kingdom to Vibe Island after the Mario Bros. were captured by Bowser. Nevertheless, she still didn't know what to do.
"I wanted to thank you…"
"For what?"
"Calling me by my name."
The princess seemed confused. "It's just a name, Jerry."
The dying koopatrol shook his head. "Do you have any idea…how lucky some of us are to…to even get names? Do you know how special we feel…to get one? To have personalities? Everyone looks at us as nothing more than…than just a means of getting more star points and coins. If Mario was here, he wouldn't care about me, he wouldn't care about my name, he wouldn't care about my family," Jerry stopped so he could cough again. "…All that matters to that plumber is defeating us so he can reach his goal. It doesn't matter that all the koopas and clefts and goombas he takes down have names or faces or families…he doesn't care…"
"Jerry, Mario isn't like—"
"Yes, he is…and you know it. …But you actually treat me like a person…you called me by my name. The one thing that I wished for…was to be treated like a normal person from someone…other than my coworkers and to do whatever Bowser demanded from me. Because of you…I can die happy. Thank you…"
Jerry smiled as much as he could and took a few more breaths. He stared at Peach as she looked down at him before he sighed deeply and closed his eyes. The koopatrol's slowly rested his head on the volcanic rock, the slight smile still on Jerry's face. Peach stared at the koopatrol and all the blood that had poured out of his wound; part of her was hoping that the koopatrol would magically come back to life. But she knew in the back of her mind that he was dead. The princess sniffled and stood up, wiping some of the blood off her face.
"…So what now?" asked Twink.
Peach sighed heavily and shook her head. "I don't know…I guess now—"
Suddenly, the ground began to shake and rumble. Peach tried to stay on her feet, but she eventually shouted and fell to the ground.
"What's happening?! Did you call the Star Spirits or something, Twink?!"
"No! This has never happened before!"
A mouse cursor appeared and created five large squares in the background of the screen.
"…What?" asked Peach.
The squares flipped themselves over and a red-violet dragon with a blue underbelly and spikes over its body appeared still stuck halfway underground, roaring so loudly that Peach and Twink were nearly deafened by its voice.
"You can't be serious! After everything we've been through, we have to fight a dragon now?!" asked Peach.
"INTRUSION DETECTED. LEAVE IMMEDIATELY OR BE PURGED."said the dragon.
Twink blinked and looked at the dragon more closely. "Wait a second…I think this dragon is friendly."
A ! bubble appeared above the dragon's snout. It was quite obvious that the dragon didn't understand the whole situation.
"WAIT. SCAN INITIATED. GOLD CROWN DETECTED. PINK DRESS DETECTED. LEVEL 8 EARRINGS DETECTED."
"Um…I'm lost; Twink, what the hell's going on?"
"I honestly have no idea; I haven't been this confused since that whole chapter where Mario and his friends went through those vortexes."
"INCREDIBLE. POSSIBLE SUBJECT IDENTIFICATION. BUT IT IS IMPOSSIBLE. HOLD YOUR POSITION. SEARCHING DATA BANKS…"
The dragon's eyes turned white with blue pupils and he began to roll them around repeatedly while he beeped occasionally like a sonar radio.
"Is he sleeping now or something?"
Another ! bubble appeared and the dragon's eyes turned to normal.
"SEARCH COMPLETE. ONE POSITIVE MATCH. SYSTEM OVERLOAD! LEGENDARY DAMSEL IN DISTRESS IDENTIFIED!"
"All right, I'm sick of this—who the hell are you?!"
The dragon blinked. "OH, THAT'S CORRECT. I HAVE NOT INTRODUCED MYSELF TO YOU YET. FORGIVE ME. MY NAME IS FRACKTAIL, AND I AM HERE TO ASSIST YOU."
"So you're not evil?" asked Twink.
"NEGATIVE. IN FACT, I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR HELPING THE LEGENDARY HERO MARIO IN THE PAST."
"But…but this doesn't make any sense. How'd you even know we were here?" asked Peach.
"ERROR! ERROR! ERROR! ER—"
Fracktail bashed his head against a large piece of tuff lying near the stone bridge. He shook his head and returned to his position.
"FORGIVE ME, BUT MY CPU IS UNABLE TO PROCESS THE QUESTION YOU HAVE ASKED. PLEASE ASK A DIFFERENT ONE."
"What—no! We're not gonna stand here and just let some random deus ex machina go unanswered! How the hell did you find us?!" asked Twink.
"ERROR! ERROR! ER—"
Fracktail banged his head on the tuff again. "PLEASE ASK A DIFFERENT QUESTION."
Peach blinked. "Why are you here?"
Fracktail blinked and stared at the princess and the golden star hovering near her. "IT SEEMS AS THOUGH I HAVE MADE A HUGE ERROR. THERE MUST BE A BUG IN MY SYSTEM; THE DAMSEL IN DISTRESS DOES NOT WANT TO BE RESCUED. PERHAPS IT IS BEST THAT I DEPART NOW."
Some of the squares began to flip themselves over, and parts of Fracktail began to go away.
"NO, NO, NO! COME BACK!" shouted Peach.
The squares flipped themselves back over, and Fracktail's entire body was visible again.
"OH, WHAT IS THIS NOW? THE DAMSEL IN DISTRESS HAS HAD A CHANGE OF HEART? DOES THE DAMSEL IN DISTRESS SUDDENLY REQUIRE THE ASSISTANCE OF FRACKTAIL?"
Princess Peach huffed. "Yes, yes…we need your help. We won't ask why you're here—"
"THANK YOU. I MAY BE A MACHINE, BUT I BELIEVE IT IS RUDE TO SCRUITIZE SOMEBODY WHEN THEY OFFER YOU HELP THAT IS NEEDED. NOW THEN, HOW MAY I HELP YOU?"
"…Just take me back to Mushroom Kingdom," said the princess.
"But, what about Trowzer? What about Bowser and the Mario Bros.—"
"Twink, I don't have time to figure that out now. I'll return to the kingdom and show everyone that I'm safe and sound. I'll tell everyone about this crisis and put everyone on alert. I'll…I'll figure something out."
"IF YOU WOULD LIKE, PERHAPS I COULD ASSIST YOU IN EXECUTING THIS…TROWZER, WAS IT?"
"No, not now. Trowzer has a bunch of dragons on his side; as big as you are and as strong as you look, I think it'll take more than just you to defeat Trowzer's entire army. Just focus on taking me home for now."
Fracktail lowered his body so Peach could climb onto the dragon's back. Twink floated beside her head as always, and the dragon slowly began to rise into the air. Before he took off, Fracktail noticed Jerry's body on the ground.
"IT SEEMS AS THOUGH THE PRINCESS IS NOT MUCH OF A DAMSEL IN DISTRESS AFTER ALL. TELL ME, HOW DID YOU SUBDUE THAT KOOPATROL OVER THERE?"
"He wasn't just some koopatrol, Fracktail; he was trying to assist me, like you are now."
"OH, I SEE. HOW UNFORTUNATE THAT HIS LIFE WAS ENDED IN FRONT OF YOU. WHO WAS HE?"
Princess Peach closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Jerry…just remember that his name was Jerry."
Trowzer's army was on the move again. At this point in the siege, the well-prepared and better trained army wasn't encountering any resistance now. Trowzer could already tell that it was almost over. Bowser and his army's morale had been shattered, and Bowser lost way too many soldiers to even try and attack them head on. Trowzer wasn't talking to himself anymore, but he couldn't stop grinning as he walked from corridor to corridor and moved up various stairs. He wanted to see the look on his half-brother's face when he finally bested him in combat. But Trowzer tried not to rush himself; he knew if he accelerated his plans too much that he'd make a mistake and end up losing half his team, something that Shannon had done with Team Beta. Trowzer's army arrived to a huge chamber with a long set of stairs leading up to another section of the castle. There weren't many places left to hide; Bowser's men were slowly getting backed into a corner. Instead of continuing up the stairs, Trowzer stopped and relaxed himself.
"Something wrong, sir?" asked Shannon.
Trowzer scratched his chin. "Let's face it: this castle's ours. We shouldn't leave other areas unguarded. And since Bowser's army has lost more than half their strength, I'm sure we should be able to proceed with only half our men."
"What are you saying, sir?" asked Drazzik.
"We take half the troops with us to finish off what's left of Bowser's gang. The rest of us can stay here, revisit areas of the castle we've taken over. The last thing we need is a third party trying to attack us, right?"
Shannon chuckled. "Sounds like a good idea, sir!"
"Hmm…what about you, Drazzik?"
The Fire Bro. shrugged. "I'd rather be over-prepared than overconfident, sir."
"Yes, well…let's do both. If a third of our army stays behind instead of half, then that should be enough."
Trowzer turned around and began to address his army with his loud booming voice. "I WANT HALF OF TEAM BETA TO STAY BEHIND AND PATROL THE AREAS WE'VE CONQUERED! THE REST OF YOU, COME WITH ME!"
Some of the members of Team Beta groaned. But everyone knew what kind of person Trowzer was, so no one vocally expressed their disproval over the giant koopa's decision. As his army began to walk up the stairs, Trowzer spotted Mel and held him back.
"I think you've done enough for now, Mel. You're the reason why I didn't lose everyone in Team Beta, plus you got wounded in the process. Stay behind; we'll alert you if we need backup."
The dark koopatrol hardly remembered getting a long chain chomp tooth stuck in his gut after being ambushed by Croco. "Okay, sir."
Shannon spotted the Koopa Bros. walking towards the stairs and scoffed. Determined to get back at Green, he walked over to Black and promptly held him back from the stairs.
"You stay behind. The rest of us can handle it."
Green and Red looked down at Shannon from the stairs. "(Censored) that. We've spent all night worrying our asses off about Green; we're not getting separated again," said Red.
"Not to mention that the last time we split up, one of us didn't come back," muttered Black.
Shannon scoffed. "There's no one down here! I'm just asking you to stay behind and hold down the fort with Mel and the others, Black."
"What for?" asked Green.
"Because I said so!"
"Did you say it, or did Trowzer say it and you're relaying the message like a little…errand boy?" Green made sure not to say "bitch-boy" again.
"Doesn't matter who said it. I gave you an order, Black, so stay down here and do what you're told! And you," said Shannon, facing Green.
"Yes, Dad?"
"I don't wanna hear any more of your goddamn backtalk! We're on a mission here; take it seriously! Something…unfortunate may happen if you don't."
Green and Red could already tell what Shannon was implying when they saw a smug grin on his face. Green grumbled to himself before he nodded.
"Okay, sir. Let's get going."
Black was actually relieved to be away from Trowzer. As much as he wanted to be with his brothers and Shelley, Black was glad that no bullets or chain chomp teeth were flying past his head. For once, everything in the castle was calm and quiet. All Black could hear were a few soldiers commenting about how the mission had gone so far. The ninjakoopa saw an opportunity to get some sleep and took it. Sitting beside a busted pedestal, Black slowly closed his eyes and started to doze off. He only got three minutes of sleep before Mel kicked him and woke him up.
"You can sleep after the mission's over. Go check the rooms near the staircase; someone might be hiding in them."
Black sniffled and rubbed his eyes. "Fine."
The ninjakoopa was in no mood to argue, especially with someone like Mel. So Black slowly got to his feet and started to check the rooms around the stairs. One of the rooms was nothing more than a storage closet. Black grumbled and walked down a small corridor near the staircase, which revealed five different metal doors all colored dark gray. Black walked to the door straight ahead of him and opened it. It was a bathroom—empty from what he could tell. Black shut the door and opened the one to his left. Judging by all the weapons and dormant bob-ombs inside, it was probably a small armory or storage unit. Just as Black closed the door, Black heard a soft thud from the room behind him. Black turned around and approached the door, his handgun ready. Black breathed heavily for a moment before he opened the door and pointed his weapon inside. A Hammer Bro. with blood running down his head was inside, carrying what looked like a meat cleaver. Both koopas gasped and froze, their eyes wide at what they saw. Black didn't know if he should shoot the Hammer Bro.; the Hammer Bro. didn't know if Black was really his enemy.
Black panted and looked left and right. No one had seen him open the door and no one else was nearby. Black quickly walked into the room and shut the door. The Hammer Bro. took a few steps back and sat down on a chair; the room he was in looked like a small bedroom Bowser's troops slept in. A few chairs, a glass table, some beds and a closet were inside.
"You traitor," said the Hammer Bro.
Black huffed. "Sanders…this-this—I didn't know this would happen. My brothers—"
"Shut up. You know damn well what kind of koopa Trowzer is."
"…Drop the cleaver."
Sanders blinked. "What?"
"Just…just drop it."
Sanders could see Black's hands shaking, but he didn't push his luck, so he dropped the meat cleaver and put his hands in the air.
"You gonna kill me, Black? You gonna kill someone who used to work alongside you, someone who fought with you in battle?"
"Just shut up, Sanders! Do you really think me or any of my brothers wanna be here?!"
Sanders scoffed. "You're not gonna shoot me. If you were, you would've blown my brains out the second you saw me."
Black inhaled sharply and kept the gun pointed at Sanders. Black's hands were shaking so much that the gun was making a small rattling noise. Sanders smirked slightly, knowing that Black wouldn't be able to do this. And he didn't. Black lowered the gun and huffed with frustration. He shook his head and started to pace around the room.
"I'm sorry, man. I don't know how this all went wrong; I didn't know it'd get this out of control! No one told me I'd be running around this castle killing my friends!"
Sanders blinked. "Maybe you're right…perhaps I'm being too hard on you."
"I just want everything to go back to normal! I don't want to be surrounded by all these killers running around slaughtering people I care about! I want my brothers to go back to doing the things we used to do together! I want…I want Yellow back," he said, his voice cracking.
Black had his back turned. He didn't see Sanders grab the wine bottle from the table, nor did he see the Hammer Bro. get off the chair. "I know, Black. I know this must be hard for you and your brothers."
Black shut his eyes and forced himself not to cry. "Sorry…I-I know you don't like hearing people whine."
"It's okay, Black. Your brother's dead and you're still not past it. I understand," said Sanders, as he crept closer to Black.
"I don't think my brothers are either. They try to act like it, but they—"
Black shouted when Sanders bashed him over the head with the bottle. Black stumbled forward and turned around; he shouted again when Sanders bashed him in the head a second time. Instinctively, Black raised his handgun. Sanders knocked it out of Black's hand before shouting and shoving the ninjakoopa onto a chair. Both of them fell forward and the wooden chair broken into several pieces with a large crash. Black, unfortunately, landed on his shell instead of his stomach. Panting, Sanders quickly got up and ran for the gun. Black grabbed a broken chair leg and tossed it at Sanders' head. The Hammer Bro. shouted when it hit him in the face and Black quickly rolled over so he was lying on his torso again. The ninjakoopa stood up just as Sanders bent down and grabbed the handgun. He grabbed Sanders' arm, panting and swearing as he tried to force the gun out his hand. He bit down on the Hammer Bro.'s wrist, causing him to drop it. Then he punched Sanders in the face twice before the Hammer Bro. punched Black in the throat.
Sanders grabbed Black and shoved him onto the glass table like he was a rag doll. He landed on the table, shattering the glass with a loud crash and cutting various parts of his body in the process. Black moaned weakly and tried not to move, praying none of the glass got in his eye. Sanders growled and got the meat cleaver off the floor. Just as he was about to attack, Black grabbed a few shards of glass and chucked them at Sanders' face. The Hammer Bro. shouted and covered his eyes; Black was glad he and his brothers wore green gloves. The ninjakoopa grunted and winced as he forced himself off his shell and got to his feet. But despite bleeding in the face, Sanders managed to open his eyes. He shouted and slammed Black against the wall before he put his hands around his throat. Black started to gag and cough as Sanders gritted his teeth and began choking him.
"You goddamn mother(censored) TRAITOR! You and your brothers deserve everything that's happening to you! You're the ones who deserve to die, not us!"
Black gasped twice and let out a whine as he tried to pry Sanders' hands away. But Sanders continued to choke him, squeezing the life out of the unfortunate ninjakoopa. Black whined again; Sanders could tell by his eyes that he didn't want to die now, and certainly not in such a brutal fashion. Black tried prying the hands away again, but it still didn't work. With no other option, Black began to reach around the room for anything he could find. The ninjakoopa grabbed a picture frame hanging on the wall and slammed the corner of it in-between Sanders' eyes. Sanders shouted and let go of Black; the ninjakoopa grabbed his neck and coughed violently as he dropped the frame. Sanders had fallen to the floor; he was lying on his shell, groaning and holding his forehead (which was currently bleeding). Black coughed a few more times before he slowly began to walk away. He didn't want to kill Sanders; he shouldn't have to. All he had to do now was walk away and leave Sanders to himself. But the Hammer Bro. wouldn't stay down. He quickly got back to his feet and tackled Black to the floor again. Sanders snarled and started choking Black again, wringing his neck and banging his head against the floor. Sanders looked to his right and noticed that the cleaver was lying in a pile of glass.
"You son of a bitch! DIE!" he shouted as he grabbed the meat cleaver.
Black flicked his eyes to his right and saw the gun lying on the floor a foot away. He punched Sanders in the face, reached over, and grabbed it. Just before Sanders could split Black's face in half, Black lifted the pistol, pointed it at Sanders' head, and fired, shooting him clean through the left eye. Sanders dropped the cleaver and his body collapsed on top of Black instantly. The ninjakoopa breathed heavily before he grunted and shoved Sanders' body off of him. Black slowly rolled over onto his stomach, still breathing and whimpering, feeling all the blood that had splattered on his face. Black stood up very slowly before he stared at Sanders' body and the giant hole in his left eye socket. The ninjakoopa shuddered and whimpered, not sure if he should burst out in tears or vomit. Black dropped the gun and took a few steps away from Sanders before he stopped and kept his mouth shut. It was definitely vomit, not tears. Black leaned forward slightly and some of the bile began to drip from his mouth. Then he lowered his jaw and expelled a horrible gurgling noise as he puked all over the floor.
The ninjakoopa fell to his knees, coughing and whining as vomit spewed from his mouth. The ninjakoopa felt more bile soaring up his throat and Black found himself puking even harder than before. The poor ninjakoopa's body was under so much stress that he didn't even notice he was wetting himself and creating a small puddle on the floor. Black took several deep breaths and spat on the floor as a few tears rolled down his cheeks. He was just getting on his feet when Mel kicked the door open with a gun in hand. The stoic dark koopatrol glanced at Sanders' body before staring at the distraught ninjakoopa. Mel put his gun down and sighed after seeing the puddles of puke and the small urine stain on the floor.
"I take it you've never killed anyone like this before."
Black shook his head before two more tears came out his eyes.
"Well, don't worry. After your first kill, it gets much easier. I should know; I went through the same thing you're going through."
"…Shut the (censored) up. Don't compare me to you; my brothers and I are nothing like you! We don't enjoy doing this!" said Black, pointing to Sanders' body.
Mel blinked and stared at Black for a long time, his red eyes glowing menacingly. "You're right. I'm not like you or your brothers. Because I'm not a hypocrite."
"What?"
"Here you stand, your chin covered in vomit, your face covered in tears, your underwear soaked in your urine, and all because you killed one koopa—in self-defense, from the looks of things. Yet a couple days ago, you and your brothers bombed a facility full of innocent KP koopas, and you had fun doing it. Surely you must know that you killed or critically injured everyone who worked there?"
Black couldn't say anything. He just shook and whimpered quietly.
"Innocent koopas, Black. Koopas who were just doing their jobs. And you, Green, and Red are directly responsible for incinerating most of them. In fact, it's because of you that our forces are currently massacring every Yoshi on Yoshi's Island—that or making them slaves."
"But…that's not fair, Mel," said Black meekly.
Mel shrugged. "I tell it like it is. You knew in the back of your mind that Trowzer planned on killing most of the Yoshis there. So, no, Black, maybe you aren't like me. But you're not a saint either, and you never will be."
Mel and Black stared at each other for a while again before Mel's radio emitted a loud burst of static. The dark koopatrol took the walkie-talkie out of his shell and answered it.
"We're in trouble! We need backup right now; get some men and get up here!"
"I'm on my way."
Mel put the radio back in his shell and sighed. "Stay here, Black. Get yourself cleaned up. …From what I've seen, you're not cut out for this line of work. If I were you, I'd get out as soon as I could. But you better make your decision fast before it becomes too late to back out of this army."
Mel left Black shortly afterwards. The ninjakoopa walked towards the wall and slowly sat down, mulling over what just happened. Mel was right; things were out of control now. As soon as Trowzer was finished with his mission against Bowser, Black and his brothers were gonna leave this army and never look back.
Larry and Wendy's troops had finally come across Junior and the rest of their forces. Like Bowser, a majority of them was in a chamber waiting for Trowzer to come attack them, as opposed to being on the offense. Larry and Wendy were glad to see Junior, Kammy Koopa, and General Guy once again, but they were frustrated at the same time.
"Damn! You guys look like hell," said Junior.
Wendy huffed. "Thanks for stating the obvious. Has your team found Wario or Roy yet?"
General Guy shook his head. "No, we haven't made contact. Although Tutankoopa burst into this chamber about an hour ago. Ever since the first attack, my shy guys have relocated back to this quadrant."
"And you've been sitting here doing…what, exactly?"
Junior shrugged. "Waiting for Trowzer to attack."
Wendy sighed exasperatedly. "We've been losing soldiers left and right and you guys thought it would be a good idea to sit here and wait instead of going out and actually fighting?!"
"Uh, news flash, Wendy: Dad does that all the time when Mario's after him to go rescue Peach. Hell, he's doing it right now! He's just sitting in his personal chamber waiting for Trowzer to come by!"
Wendy rubbed her head. "About that…we need to get Dad out of here. I don't think we can hold the fort for much longer; we've lost too many soldiers already."
"Not necessarily. We have several senior members in this chamber alone. If we hold the line here, we might be able to push Trowzer back," said General Guy.
"Besides, this is personal for Dad, Wendy. You know he won't leave even if we try to force him too. He thinks if he can defeat Trowzer himself, then maybe this will all be over," said Junior.
"That's ridiculous; Trowzer's army is gonna gun him down the second Trowzer is killed!"
Junior shrugged. "Honestly, I'm not too worried about Dad. He survived getting frozen solid and then crumbling into several pieces; I think he can take a beating from someone who looks like him."
"…Good point."
Junior looked to his left and saw Larry leaning against the wall and looking down at the floor. "What's up with him?"
"A lot of stuff's happened in the past few hours that I don't want to get into. Just be careful when you talk to him."
While Bowser Jr., Wendy, and General Guy were talking to each other, Larry was standing by himself and sulking. To make matters worse, Murray had decided to approach the blue-haired koopaling, probably to get into another fight. Larry couldn't see his face, but part of him guessed how Murray felt. Larry sighed.
"What is it now, Murray? Come to wish that I was never born?"
"I came to apologize."
Larry raised an eyebrow. "You're joking."
Murray shook his head and sighed beneath his helmet. "Don't get me wrong; I'm still angry at you. You still left my wife to get slaughtered by Trowzer's butchers."
"But I'm not the one who pulled the trigger! I didn't point a shotgun at her face and blow her brains out!"
"Which is why I'm apologizing. I've thought about it recently and saw you break down crying back on that walkway. You're obviously upset about the whole ordeal, and you didn't even kill her. Some goon or sadist working for Trowzer did, and I've been treating you like you're the one who killed her yourself, and you didn't. …You didn't, right?"
"NO!"
"Oh. Okay then."
"Why does this even matter now?"
"Because we both need to know what the true problem is so we can get over it. You need to accept the fact that if you had helped my wife, she might still be alive. I need to accept the fact that even though you didn't help her, you're not the one who killed her. I shouldn't be mad at you; I should be mad at the guy who 'blew her brains out,' as you said. Regardless, you need to figure out a way to step up, Larry. There might be a situation where you have to choose to save someone—maybe a bunch of people—or save yourself. If you're gonna be one of the top leaders of this army, sooner or later you need to realize that your single life isn't more important than several lives."
Larry exhaled and rubbed his head, still unsure of how he should deal with the situation at hand. "You make it seem as though I don't already know that. I just—"
There was a loud bang from the metal double-doors leading into the chamber. Everyone got their weapons ready and took cover.
"CONTACT! Guess they found us again; everyone get into position!" shouted Henson.
Larry huffed. "We'll talk about this later!"
Murray nodded, and the two reptiles gathered their weapons and took cover behind different crates. The double-doors leading into the corridor shuddered twice as a powerful force slammed itself into them. Trowzer was on the other side, using his oversized body to try and break the doors open. Everyone was prepared now though, on both sides. The three koopalings had their wands and slingshots ready; the shy guys had their weapons equipped; the magikoopas were grouped around Kammy Koopa, slowly twirling their wands so they could fire a burst of magic as soon as possible. They still had a chance. It was a slight chance, but if they defended themselves right her and now, Trowzer just might start retreating. Everyone waited, panting heavily as Trowzer kept pounding on the door. They heard the beast roar from the other side, and then the doors burst open. Everyone fired before Junior and Larry had time to finish saying "ATTTAAAAAAACK!" Two shady koopas standing right beside Trowzer were hit in the eye with chain chomp teeth. Ilnyash, the blue koopatrol, shouted when Kammy Koopa hit him with a burst of magical energy.
Trowzer had once again underestimated the enemy; he dove towards his left and slid across the floor, shouting when a large pebble bounced off his forehead. The giant koopa quickly got up and started shooting at the troops with his handgun, hitting two shy guys in the head. He ran over to a large pillar and took cover behind it, narrowly avoiding another barrage of chain chomp teeth. Some of Larry's troops were going down, but they had decent cover to hide behind in this chamber. Tutankoopa crouched behind a metal crate before he stood up and lifted his arms in the air. The infamous colorful aura hovered in the air again, just above most of the troops. Green and Red noticed the chomp being outlined and shouted as they ran for cover. Several other troops were too busy shooting and failed to notice the massive shadow hanging over them. Tutankoopa shouted and lowered his arms; the chomp crashed into the floor, flattening about a dozen troops. Trowzer growled viciously before he revealed himself from his cover spot. Trowzer quickly ran forward, shooting at Larry and the others while simultaneously dodging the stones and chain chomp teeth.
Trowzer hid in his shell just as two stones were launched his way. They bounced off his shell; Trowzer came out of hiding and shot the yellow magikoopa standing beside Kammy Koopa in the chest twice. Trowzer tried to take out Kammy herself, but she quickly spun around and vanished, warping herself to a different area of the chamber. Trowzer glanced to his right and saw Kammy Koopa standing beside a pillar waving her wand. She shouted and fired a burst of energy at him. Trowzer quickly rolled out the way, and the magic energy hit an unlucky Boomerang Bro. instead. Meanwhile, Drazzik was busy demolishing the crates. He tossed and spat fireballs at the giant blocks of wood, causing them to explode into several pieces. The three white magikoopas hiding behind the crate didn't have time to stand up and relocate before Drazzik pointed a submachine gun at them and slew them. Drazzik shouted and hit the floor when Wendy released her deadly rings from her wand. He rolled around on the floor as four shy guys tried to fire chain chomp teeth at him simultaneously. Drazzik got back to his feet and returned fire, hitting two of the four green shy guys.
One of the koopa troopas on Larry's team got lucky and hit the Fire Bro. in the face with a long chain chomp tooth. Drazzik shouted and quickly sat down behind a metal crate, swearing and growling with a tooth protruding from his cheek. Elsewhere, Shannon was fighting as smugly as possible. Whenever he noticed someone was about to shoot at him, he'd take cover behind a large object and wait for the firing to stop. Then he'd pop up, shoot at a few of Bowser's troops with his assault rifle, and then find more cover. Shannon slid across the floor and immediately sat beside a large and chubby dark koopatrol who was panting and holding a shotgun. Shannon looked up at him and blinked.
"When I say 'go,' we both go out shooting until we get to the other side of the chamber! Ready?!"
The dark koopatrol nodded. "Ready!"
Shannon peeked behind a corner of the column they were hiding behind and blinked. "GO!"
The dark koopatrol appeared in front of the chamber shouting with pride as he blasted some of Bowser's troops with his shotgun. Junior swore vehemently and dove to the right when the crate he was hiding behind was shattered. He quickly slid his way towards Wendy and hid behind the metal crate lying beside her. The dark koopatrol kept firing until he shouted and was hit in the eye with a small tooth. Instead of helping the koopatrol, Shannon hid behind his large frame. He even grabbed the dark koopatrol by the neck and used his body as a shield. Grinning, Shannon fired at General Guy, nearly hitting him in the head. General Guy retaliated by launching four chain chomp teeth at him at once with an improved slingshot that held more ammo. All the teeth hit the husky dark koopatrol, killing him instantly. His shield now useless, Shannon sprinted across the room and crouched down beside Trowzer. Shannon glanced over at Trowzer and noticed he was scowling at him.
"Don't give me that look, sir! You know damn well you would've done the same thing!"
Trowzer grinned. Shannon suddenly gagged when Trowzer grabbed him by the throat. Given that Shannon weighed much less than Trowzer, the giant koopa had no problem hauling him right off the floor. Using Shannon's body as a shield, Trowzer walked into the middle of battle while simultaneously shooting at a few magikoopas. Shannon shouted when he was hit in the leg and felt a stone bounce off his head. Trowzer reached the other side of the chamber and threw Shannon's body to the floor. The giant koopa crouched behind another pillar, smirking when he saw Shannon holding his leg wound.
"You're right! I would have done the same thing!"
One of General Guy's chief lieutenants went down. Two seconds later, one of Junior's koopatrol's had three ninja stars stuck in his body. Another crate was destroyed; Bowser's troops began to move backwards. Larry and General Guy glanced at each other and grimaced. They were being pushed back toward the stairs. If they retreated now, they'd be finished. Larry shouted and ducked when someone threw a large knife at him. Harry and Barry were getting in on the action now, shooting down General Guy's shy guys and Larry, Wendy, and Junior's koopa troopas. Harry hid behind a pillar and peeked around the corner slightly, shooting at a couple of koopatrols. Then he dove to the left, shooting at the magikoopas near Kammy Koopa at the same time. He rolled around the floor, stood up, and fired off a few more shots. The red Yoshi immediately took cover behind a pedestal so he could reload; his brother Barry took over for him. The blue Yoshi snarled as he threw four knives at Larry and Wendy. They dodged each knife (just barely), but some of the koopa troopas behind them got hit. Frustrated, Larry and Wendy wildly cast their magic spells at their foes, determined to defeat them. But Barry was too quick; he ducked, spun, and dove his way to safety.
Harry had finished reloading and came out of hiding again. Wielding two pistols, the red Yoshi grinned as he mercilessly fired at Bowser's troops. The dinosaur lost track of how many bodies dropped, but he knew that Larry's team was suffering heavy damage. Just as Harry ran out of bullets, he noticed a large shadow on the floor. Harry looked up and his eyes grew wide. A massive chomp was hovering above his head. Before it could crush him, Barry shouted and tackled his brother to safety. However, Tutankoopa's chomp still flattened three other soldiers. General Guy's troops and Kammy Koopa's wizards combined their attacks to make them deadlier. Yellow magikoopas were electrifying stones just as the shy guys were launching them. The troops getting hit were either knocked out by the electric stone or killed when the large amount of electricity made their hearts stop. Even worse, some magikoopas were setting chain chomp teeth on fire, so when they hit their target, the fire started to internally burn the enemy. Drazzik had finally gotten the tooth out of his face and was back in the action. But just as he began to shoot, one of the fiery chain chomp teeth hit him in the stomach. He would've died right then and there if the koopa's element wasn't fire already.
"We're in trouble! We need backup right now; get some men and get up here!" said Drazzik after taking out his walkie-talkie.
Larry and Junior heard the Fire Bro. and were crestfallen. This wasn't going to work; once reinforcements showed up, they'd slaughter everyone in this chamber. Junior lowered his head and shook it slowly, knowing that they couldn't win.
"Fall back," he said quietly.
Larry couldn't hear him over the gunfire. "What?!"
"FALL BACK! EVERYONE RETREAT!"
General Guy was surprised. He knew their side was suffering more casualties, but part of him thought they could make a comeback. Unfortunately, as General Guy looked behind him, he noticed that his army did not feel the same way. Most of the troops were slowly retreating toward the stairs. Trowzer had heard Junior and grinned widely. He reloaded his gun and started to advance on the enemy. He aimed at the koopaling closest to him, which happened to be Wendy. The giant koopa fired at the female koopaling over and over again, but Wendy kept backing away and hiding in her shell in hopes that it would shield her from the gunfire. But as she was backing away, she tripped over a dead shy guy and landed on her shell. A dark koopa quickly ran forward, gun loaded, and approached Wendy before Trowzer could kill her himself. He aimed right for her forehead, ready to blow her brains out.
"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM MY SISTER!"
The dark koopa looked up, seconds before he was shot in-between the eyes. Wendy quickly rolled over and stood up. Roy had finally found them; he heard the gunfire from one of the adjacent corridors and burst into the chamber from one of the side doors. Panting, Roy continued to fire at the enemy, aiming directly for Trowzer. The unhygienic koopaling and massive blue-shelled koopa fired at each other. But both of them were equally savvy with their guns; even Roy had managed to get the hang of using a pistol after he and Wario ran into more shady koopas. By the time both of them ran out of ammo, they were taking cover behind metal crates.
"NOW, WARIO!"
The fat biker entered the chamber through the same door Roy appeared in. He drove his way inside, on his giant motorbike. Snickering, Wario revved his bike a few times before he accelerated at top speed. Wario slowly turned the bike sharply so that it would slide along the floor horizontally. Wario quickly jumped off the bike before it fell over and watched as the motorcycle plowed through several of Trowzer's troops. Those who weren't knocked out were either knocked down or had several bones broken when the bike slammed into their legs. Wario stood on top of a metal crate and quickly turned around, bending over. Acting quickly, Wario grunted and made two fists before he let out a humongous cloud of flatulence. Everyone was deafened by the juvenile sputtering noises; a few koopas screamed when the yellowish fumes burned their eyes and blinded them. Almost the entire room was clouded by the yellow gas, which was exactly Roy and Wario's intention. Even Trowzer was having difficulty breathing and noticed that he was coughing a few times.
"Hehehe, now it'll be easier for us to fight!" said Wario.
Wendy coughed and waved a hand in front of her nose. "It's too late for that; you guys didn't show up in time! Backup for Trowzer's team is gonna show up any minute! We're already retreating!"
"WHAT?!" Roy snarled.
Wendy coughed a few more times and plugged her nose. "Don't argue with me! Just follow the troops up the stairs; Wario's gas cloud will buy us enough time to escape! GO!"
"But—"
Larry and Junior were still in the chamber. Coughing and trying to see through the fumes, they both grabbed Roy by his arms and began to haul him towards the spiral staircase, with his protesting the entire time. Wario on the other hand could not risk winning this battle on his farts alone; he already spent a long time building up just this one fart. He growled with frustration and jumped off the crate so he could follow Wendy and everyone else up the stairs.
Larry and Junior finally let go of Roy once they reached the long corridor upstairs. The rest of the troops were running and heading for a safer area whilst a panting Roy stood near the stairs, wondering what was going on. Junior started to head for the army as well to go check up on General Guy and Kammy Koopa.
"I demand an explanation! What the hell did me and Wario miss out on?! When did Trowzer and his men turn against us and start trying to kill us?!"
Larry sighed. "He's cleaning house, Roy. Trowzer doesn't need us anymore, so he's gonna kill everyone in this castle and take it over."
"He's responsible for killing Iggy, Roy. Every bad thing that's happened since Iggy died was because of him!" said Wendy.
Wario's eyes grew wide. "…Huh. I guess that dark koopa you tortured back in that corridor was telling the truth Roy."
"But that can't…WAIT A MINUTE! He's the reason why we caught the Mario Bros.! Why would he—"
"Damnit, Roy! We don't have time to explain all this right now! We have to go before they catch up to us!"
Before everyone could run away, they heard someone hastily coming up the stairs. Wendy huffed while Roy came up with an idea. He grinned and slowly pulled something out of his shell.
"Roy, what are you doing?" asked Larry.
"Remember this, guys?"
Wendy and Larry stared at Roy and noticed that he was tossing a football up and down in his right hand.
"DON'T YOU DARE THROW THAT AT ME AGAIN!"
"THINK FAST!"
This time, Wendy was fast enough to dodge it. She ducked, immediately when a shady koopa arrived at the top of the stairs. The shady koopa shouted as the football hit him in the mouth, knocking out a tooth in the process. He staggered and yelped before he tumbled down the staircase, grunting and shouting as he rolled, unable to stop himself. However, everyone in Trowzer's army was running up the same staircase; it didn't take long before the shady koopa knocked over two dark koopas, who then rolled down the stairs and knocked over five Hammer Bros., who then rolled down the spiral staircase and knocked over even more soldiers. The mass of falling soldiers got so bad that a few of them broke their necks while rolling down the stairs. When everything finally stopped, over half of the soldiers (Trowzer included) were back in the gassy chamber, lying on the floor, groaning and trying to get back on their feet. The three koopalings could hear the groaning from the top of the staircase and imagined what it must've looked like down below. Wendy, somehow, managed to smile and start chuckling.
"See? Anything painful or abusive is always funny!" said Roy.
"…I'd be on the floor laughing if I didn't have impending death to worry about. Can we go now?" asked Larry.
Wario shrugged. "He's got a point, Roy. We're still in a dangerous situation."
Roy huffed. "Fine! Let's get out of here…and tell us what the hell's going on!"
The three koopalings and Wario started to run down the long hallway, hoping that the staircase incident would put them at least five or ten minutes ahead of Trowzer.
"NED, NOOO!" shouted Bosley.
Bosley and the others began to run after Ned just as the yellow Yoshi pointed the gun at a guard's head and fired. Eddard shouted after firing the gun, the loud noise making him deaf for a moment. The guard Eddard shot went down instantly; blood splattered all over his partner's head. Ned, in shock over what he just did, could only stare at the body, his hands shaking and his eyes wide as dinner plates. It took a moment for the other guard to register what happened before he looked at Ned and saw him holding the gun. He charged right for him, and Ned broke out of his trance. He tried to shoot the guard, but even after hitting him in the stomach, the shady koopa still tackled Ned to the ground. He punched him in the face four times before wrapping his hands around his throat. Ned coughed and gagged as the shady koopa started choking him to death. He tightened his grip as each second passed, cutting away Ned's supply of oxygen. Then Bosley snarled and tackled the guard off of him. Still on top of him, Bosley started to punch the shady koopa in the face over and over again until he grabbed him by his neck and started to choke him instead. In a fit of rage, Bosley wrapped his hands around the guard's head and violently snapped his neck.
Eddard coughed and rolled over onto his stomach so he could crawl away from the burning building and the two bodies in front of him. Bosley got off the guard he just killed and approached the small yellow Yoshi, who was starting to sniffle.
"You happy now, Ned? Does it feel good to blow someone's brains out?" asked Bosley.
Eddard didn't try to hold in his pain anymore. He started to sob out loud, tears streaming out of his eyes. "They ruined everything, Bosley! They-they invaded our home, they killed our friends, they burned down my village—what did you expect me to do?!"
"Not to shoot someone in the face! Goddamnit—this is why I didn't want him here, Tallard! This was bound to happen!"
"Listen, kid, I know it must be hard—"
Eddard turned around and faced Kooper. "No, you don't! You don't know what I'm going through—stop trying to act like you do!"
"But—"
"Is your mom dead? Did your dad leave you when you were growing up? Did someone burn down your village? Did someone destroy the home you live in? Did someone you briefly knew get crushed to death?!"
"No, but—"
"THEN SHUT UP!"
Eddard suddenly fell to his knees and shut his eyes. He started to let out a horrible wailing noise as he cried louder than before, tears rolling down his face. The Yoshi was crying so hard that he could barely see when he opened his eyes back up.
"Kid…now unlike that turtle over there, I do know the pain you're going through. I know it hurts and I know you feel angry and sad…but it's okay. You did the right thing. Eventually, you'll just…accept it. It'll get easier," said Tallard.
Eddard slowly shook his head and sniffled. "I don't want that…I'm not like you, Tallard! I actually have feelings! I actually care about someone other than myself!"
"No one's saying you shouldn't care—"
"So-so…so, all that matters," Eddard sniffled again, "is that we kill the enemy, right? You said it yourself earlier; we shouldn't mourn now! So I shouldn't care that my friends are in danger, that my mother's dead, right?!"
"Ned, you still don't know that she's—"
"IT'S OUR VILLAGE, BOSLEY! WHY WOULDN'T SHE HAVE BEEN THERE!?"
"Okay, this is getting uncomfortable," said Hooktail timidly.
"Shut your mouth; you're not helping," said Kooper.
Hooktail, naturally, did not listen to Kooper and walked towards Ned. "Listen…I won't stand here and say I know what you're going through or that it's okay to bottle up your feelings or that it's okay to kill people so long as you get the job done. Don't think about any of that. Just…think about your mom, kid. I never saw her body; she-she might be hiding somewhere. She might still be okay."
Eddard wiped a few tears from his face before he sniffled and walked away from Hooktail.
"Stay away from me…you're the reason why this is all happening."
Hooktail felt like snapping at the Yoshi, but she calmed herself. "I had nothing to do with what Dracolin did. I was trying to save those Yoshis!"
"You dragons are all the same; you get off to torturing people and burning things with your fire breath. There's no reason behind you creatures; you just want to see everything burn until there's nothing left!"
"That's not true! Not all dragons are evil!"
"Is that why you spent a majority of your life kidnapping and eating koopas from Petalburg?" asked Kooper.
"Shut up, turtle!"
Eddard sniffled. "You're no different from Dracolin."
"Don't you dare compare me to that monster!" she snapped.
Eddard noticed Hooktail's angry behavior and exhaled. "You…you see? You dragons are all the same. You get angry for…for no reason, you enjoy killing others, you enjoy burning things to the ground…and for what?"
"No, kid. I-I'm not like Dracolin; I never will be."
Eddard nodded. He wasn't crying so hard now, but tears were still coming out his eyes. "Yeah, you will. Some…sometimes I hear the phrase 'people can change,' but rarely do I ever see it happen. You're an animal, Hooktail. An animal that likes to kill. Animals don't change; they don't have the will to. Animals do what they're always destined to do. And you're a dragon…dragons kill and burn, nothing more. You make think you've changed, but one day…one day you're gonna be just like Dracolin."
Hooktail could only stare at Ned, breathing softly and visibly hurt by the Yoshi's words. Bosley walked over to Ned and hugged him; Ned promptly stuffed his face into Bosley's chest, sniffling and wrapping his arms around the blue dinosaur.
"He's got a point, Hooktail. What's stopping you from getting so angry that you turn into another Dracolin? What's stopping you from devolving into a demented sadist who only cares about burning and crushing others?" asked Kooper.
Hooktail stared at Kooper before she lowered her head. "I…I won't…I'm not like him," she said, her voice almost breaking.
Bosley looked down at the sniffling Eddard and sighed deeply. "We're done here. I'm taking Eddard someplace safe until all this blows over."
"Bosley, you know—"
"(Censored) you, Tallard. I told you Ned shouldn't be exposed to this. Now look what's happened. I'm not letting this kid lose the small amount of innocence left in him. He doesn't deserve any of this."
"Where are you going?" asked Geno.
"There's a small village about a mile from here. It's surrounded by thick trees and there are a few large caves to hide in; we'll be safe there."
"I don't think—"
"Tallard…I don't care what you think. We're not staying here any longer, and that's final. …Let's go, Ned."
Eddard didn't feel like talking or fighting anymore. He just nodded his head and sniffled again. Everyone watched as the two Yoshis walked into the forest, disappearing into the darkness and the large trees after a while. Tallard glanced at all the rebels standing around him and scoffed.
"Good job, guys. I really (censored) appreciate you backing me up!"
"It was a personal matter, Tallard. We felt like we shouldn't intrude," said the female red Yoshi.
"What-the-(censored)-ever. Everyone around me is so goddamn useless."
Geno noticed that Hooktail still had her head lowered. In fact, she looked like she was about to start crying herself.
"Are you gonna be all right, Hooktail?"
Hooktail sighed. "Nothing I ever say is good enough for you. I thought you'd be at least a little happy that Dracolin was dead, but that seems to have made everything worse."
"Maybe if you hadn't slaughtered him in front of a bunch of kids…" added Kooper.
"Kooper, stop exacerbating the situation! If you're not gonna help out, then keep your mouth shut!" shouted Geno.
"No, he's right. I knew those kids were there. I knew what I was doing. The way they looked at me after I killed him…" Hooktail shook her head and sighed. "I have to leave."
"What? Hooktail, you can't—"
"None of you believe I'm on your side, no matter how hard I try. But I'll show you…I'll make you believe me."
"By leaving us all here to die?" asked Kooper.
"That's not what I mean. There are hundreds of dragons scattered across this world—thousands, maybe. There's no way they're all aligned with Trowzer; most of them probably don't know his name. And after seeing what's happened on this island, what damage a single dragon can do…it's become clear to me that we'll never take over this island unless dragons are helping us instead of hurting us."
"So even after what Ned told you, you're still gonna go around killing and burning stuff, even if it's for a 'good' reason," said Kooper.
Hooktail huffed. "If the kid hates me, then the kid hates me. All of you know that if we had a bunch of dragons on our side, Trowzer's army would scatter like cockroaches and they'd be driven from this island in a heartbeat."
"…She does have a point. Maybe some of you are useful after all," said Tallard.
"So you're just gonna leave us here while you go out looking for more dragons?" asked Geno.
"I know it's asking a lot—"
"It's asking too much!" shouted Kooper.
Hooktail shut her eyes and sighed deeply. "You weren't there when Dracolin crushed that kid. You didn't hear her scream before she died. You didn't see Dracolin smearing her remains beneath his foot. You didn't see what was left of the body—I can barely even consider what was left to be a 'body.' …I don't ever want to see that happen again. I have to do anything I can to prevent something like that from happening in the future. If that means leaving this island for a few days—weeks even—to recruit a bunch of dragons, then so be it."
"Is there nothing we can say to stop you?" asked Geno.
"I'm sick of trying to persuade you guys why you should trust me, so I'll just make you trust me. I'm going to find help. I'm going to come back. You just wait and see. It might be a while, but…just wait. I'll come back. I swear."
Kooper huffed and folded his arms. "Fine, go. It's not like I care anyway," he lied.
Hooktail looked at Geno, Kooper, and the rest of the rebels before she slowly flapped her wings and took to the skies. Everyone watched as she ascended high into the air, and then started to fly away from the island. Once no one could hear the beating of her wings anymore, Tallard sighed and shook his head.
"Let's just go back to camp," he said, frustrated.
"Right now? I thought we—"
"We'll make more plans in the morning, Denny. I'm tired. I know the rest of you are tired. Let's all get some sleep and figure out how to sort this mess out at dawn."
None of the rebels felt like arguing, especially since they were equally tired. So they all followed the orange Yoshi as he began to walk into the forest. Geno and Kooper remained where they were though, feeling quite sullen over everything that had happened. Kooper looked to his left and right and noticed that no one else was standing beside them. None of Kooper's friends who traveled with Mario to find the Star Spirits were there. Not even Mario or Luigi, the two people he had been traveling with since this adventure started, were backing him up.
"I guess it's just us now," said Kooper quietly.
Geno nodded, feeling just as much pressure and emptiness as Kooper.
"Yeah…it's just us."
