Fighting in the Streets

Chapter 25 – South Port

Starting this on the 24th. I may not have as much time on weekends but hopefully I can finish this within the week.

January 26, 2015 – 8:30AM

Peach's Castle, Mushroom City

As she woke up, she finally began to realise that the recent days had been good to her for sleep. Just this past night and the night before in Aypyidaw Peach's sleeps were peaceful with no wakeups in the middle of the night and no pain in her back. When she got out of bed she didn't leave the room. First she checked her back with the mirror in the bathroom and with delight she noticed a significant decrease in the size of the mark. She smiled to herself before leaving the room, beginning to get dressed for another race-less day.

The movement around her room by her seemed to have alerted someone else. Daisy had appeared at the front doors. She looked just as happy as Peach was this morning. From the window there were some clouds towards the northwest, more into the island, but the sun was still up and risen, shining down onto the city, setting out another good day to both of them. Peach smiled openly to Daisy, and she did the same back in response.

"You seem much better and happier!" Daisy dashed over, still in her pyjamas, and gave Peach a big warm hug. With her excitement she hugged back, instead of not moving her arms.

"We will get things done with no stress today." Peach cheered. She had not felt this much exciting positive energy ever since last year, for she finally felt like she had her control back, knowing that anything she wouldn't know about would be reported back to her. "I have not yet heard anything back so all sounds good. We have much to talk about today besides that anyway. Shall we change?"

"Yes!" Daisy agreed. "I'm happy seeing you like this." Daisy felt so affectionate on the inside, knowing that she could give Peach all her care again from what she could see in her. "I'll be quick!" She joked before heading out of Peach's bedroom. Within a few minutes Daisy was about to head out of her dormitory after putting on her dress, but was stopped by Peach, standing by the door looking at her slightly unimpressed.

"Not quick enough." She grinned. Daisy began to laugh but her enjoyment was quickly disrupted by the sound of a phone call coming from Peach's phone. It was coming from Toadsworth.

"This will be interesting." Daisy moved closer to Peach and put her ear towards the phone. Peach beckoned her to go back inside and to close the door.

"Peach here, what do you have to report?" Peach said as she picked up the phone call.

"We're letting you know that we are on our way to the South Port. Suspicious activity was reported by Kugen." That was all Toadsworth responded with. Peach and Daisy looked at each other confused, expecting more.

"What is the activity? Did he say?" She was waiting for Toadsworth again.

"He didn't say what it was." The vague answer provided both of them with nothing useful. Daisy sighed.

"Just tell him to be more specific." She raised her voice over the phone, surprising him. "Let us know when you can."

"Yes, I will keep you informed." Daisy quickly pressed the end call button and lowered Peach's hand. She looked back at her confused, and then offered Daisy her phone. She refused and then looked back at Peach.

"You don't have time for silly responses. Important calls only!" Daisy tucked the phone into the palm of Peach's right and wrapped her fingers around it. "I'm sure they can report it back to you in full once they see what actually is going on. They should know that we addressed all six of them before they left the factory."

"You're right." Peach felt less confused. "But you shouldn't hang up on someone like him. He'll get worried now." The phone buzzed once, meaning there was a text. Toadsworth wrote to her: 'he told me to see for myself so I can work around it'. Peach rolled her eyes, knowing it was just someone's lack of common sense. Peach quickly texted back, telling him not to tell her every detail, only the important things about what they're looking for to her. Afterwards, the two headed over to one of the guest dormitories where Tom or Enrique would usually rest, to check on Rosalina if she was currently awake.

The room was empty. The duvet however was not made up. The two thought she must have left the room not long ago. Peach walked over towards the bed as Daisy asked where she had gone to. The bed was warm, but only a bit warmer than the edges where she didn't sleep.

"Hey, I'm in here... do you mind?" Rosalina called out from her bathroom. The door was ajar and the two hadn't noticed. "Are you like this to your other guests?" She asked them as she flushed.

"Oh my, I'm so sorry!" Peach giggled as she heard the flush of the toilet. "Are you dressed?" Both Peach and Daisy stared at the door, looking at the shadow coming from the bathroom move around the small space between the door and the wall.

"Uhh, no, can you leave my room please?" She indirectly forced them out of her dormitory after getting out of the bathroom. Peach and Daisy waited a few minutes before Rosalina was ready. She also told them to meet her elsewhere, since she would prefer to go outside of the messy dormitory and talk about matters elsewhere.

Just before Rosalina was ready, Peach received another text from Toadsworth. He informed her that Kugen was attending a society conference situated in the southeast area of the South Port, and that he would be investigating it for any cultist activity. Toadsworth and Toadbert had arrived to the southern entrance to the port via the train station. The town was divided into two sections, an eastern side which was very close to the sea and a western side that was situated above a high cliff, the two being separated by the cliff but linked together by series of slopes, stairs and roads. The station's train tracks and platforms were underground on the western half, with the entrance steps facing away from the cliff. At the same time Peach and Daisy met up with Rosalina again, Toadbert and Toadsworth had just left the train station. Under shelter, they were against the low fenced walls along the cliff edge. From there they could see the entirety of the eastern side of the town, including the town's harbour. They could both see several docking boats and ships, and some further out of sea heading further south towards Sirenna Beach, Mar Island and beyond. Tori was still investigating the northwest of the town, and they had heard nothing back from her. Toadsworth could identify from his view the building near the coast where Kugen must have been searching in. Toadbert began looking for ways to get down. There was an elevator behind them and the nearest road leading down the cliff was lacking a walkway on the side, and still a good walk's distance away. The two decided to take the elevator back down. They travelled down thirty metres and four floors in between them; the station bathrooms, the station tracks, the private operating floor, and lastly the bottom floor, leading outside and opening the doors on the eastern side of the elevator. The sun hit their faces as they walked out of the elevator tunnel out of the cliff. A few seconds after they started heading over to the farthest building, Toadsworth was stopped by Toadbert.

"Wait a minute." He began. "People can easily recognise our faces... we don't know what we're dealing with here." Toadbert got out his phone and texted Kugen quickly. 'We're in town. Let us know if you need anything.' They both didn't know if anything serious or suspicious was there yet. Kugen told them previously that he's gone inside and is with the society at the moment.

"I have a genius idea. Take off your sunglasses." Toadsworth said to Toadbert. "You'll look far less noticeable, you're always seen with them on, even in the races."

"You're right!" They smiled. "I don't know if you can disguise though." The two slowly proceeded onward through the southeast section of the town. The further towards the sea they progressed, the less people they could see wandering the streets. They were only about three blocks down to the last building and nobody was in sight. On the southern edge the cliff wrapped around and was separated by the buildings on the other side of the road. This area was not the lowest point in the city, so there were no boardwalks at the end of the road. There was only another fence separating the drop to the sea. The door of the last building was in their view, and an alley was on the other side of the road in between two buildings against the cliff.

"There it is." Toadsworth hurried over to the alley and hid within it, grabbing Toadbert to follow him also. The place looked isolate, but they both had to very quiet in case they were spotted by anybody. Toadbert peered around the alley to keep his eyes focused on the front door. They received another text: 'The people here are clearly anti gov.' Toadsworth shared the text over to Toadbert. As he was reading the message the two were jumped by the sound of an opening door. It was coming from the last building. They saw a Koopa with a dark shell, much broader and bigger than the average Koopa. He began walking down the road heading westward back to the main part of the town but he quickly turned around to face the alley noticing something suspicious there. A second, smaller Koopa left the building shortly after. That one stopped at the first Koopa confused. "What are you looking at?" Toadbert and Toadsworth overheard the second Koopa ask.

"Go inside, get everyone else." The first Koopa replied. He began staring directly at the bins in the alley that the two were hiding behind. The second Koopa rushed back indoors, frightening the two Toads.

"I think he's seen us." Toadbert whispered to Toadsworth.

"I didn't think he would have seen us that easily. We were so quiet!" The first Koopa began walking over, crossing the road and onto the pavement next to the alley. Toadsworth quickly got out his phone and texted Peach back as quickly as he could. He sent 'HELP US, S P' to her then quickly sent another message to Toadant, the head manager of the race production: 'CODE ORANGE'.

"Hey, hey!" Toadbert was dragged out from behind the bins.

"Look what we have here!" The Koopa shouted at the Toads. "A couple of spies? You don't get past me." The Koopa still shouted at them for a few seconds and then eventually lowered his voice quickly. "Wait, what are you two doing here?" He asked them, knowing who they were. "Somebody must have been really stupid to send you two here!" Eventually, a large crowd of Koopas appeared outside the building and on to the road. "Regardless, our cover has been blown. We can't keep these two." The Koopa shoved Toadbert back down against the bins, pushing them down and dirtying the two Toads on the floor in the alley. Toadsworth quickly jumped up from the bins and casted his magic wand at the Koopa's shell. The Koopa was launched back into the crowd, knocking several people over. The rest of the Koopas rushed into the alley and beat up the two briefly. Toadsworth was not able to hold off the huge crowd nor was he proficient enough in the magic arts to escape. He counted at least twenty Koopas from outside that building, and that doesn't include any that might still be inside. The two became restrained and presented to the dark-shelled Koopa once again.

"After all, I wouldn't die for the sake of you two's deaths. So we should find something else to do with these two." The first Koopa threatened the two. "What should we do exactly?" He turned around to the rest of the crowd, recovered from being knocked down.

"Take all their belongings, they could be tracked first." One of the Koopas in the crowd suggested. Toadsworth could confirm that this group was full of Hostiles, but he had nobody to confirm it to. Their phones were taken away and the wand was also snatched from Toadsworth.

"I'll take that." The Koopa took it and distanced himself from the two Toads. These Koopas seemed to be much smarter than the average to him. He watched the Koopa dispose of it carefully into a bag he pulled from his shell, being extra careful with it.

"Mac, we got some bad news." One of the Koopas who handled the Toad's phones spoke from the side of the crowd. He emerged from the group and presented Mac, presumably the dark-shelled Koopa, with the phone. It was on and flashing in his eyes. There was a notification of a text from Peach.

"Our cover's blown; we need to get out of here." Mac looked into the phone more and tried to configure it. Toadsworth cried and watched him press buttons on the phone. He texted her back, but the Toads were unsure what he said back. He kept both the phones and commanded the group of Koopas to evacuate the town. They were still unsure on what they were to do with the two Toads. Toadbert turned his head to the edge of the crowd and watched one Koopa stare at him. He winked briefly before turning his head into the crowd. Kugen was still amongst the hostile Koopas. The crowd eventually turned around and looked back at the Toads and the few Koopas who had them restrained.

"You six, stay here. Keep them tied up in the building then follow us to the other hideout. You know if you know." Mac smiled before leading the other twenty or so Koopas out of the road. "Split up into groups on the way." That was the last the two would hear from Mac as they were taken away back into the building. It was filled with even more Koopas, as well as some Toads who didn't look like the average citizen. Their clothes were worn and the sleeves were cut. Some even had their hats painted with different designs than the usual. Toadbert and Toadsworth tried their best to break away from the Koopas and Toads, but were then tied up against a wall and had their mouths taped up. The Koopas dealing with them locked the window of the room they were kept in on the third floor and closed the door as they left.

As for Mac, he separated the large group of hostile Koopas into groups of five, moving through different roads throughout the eastern side of the town. His ideal destination was another building in the northeast, closer to the boardwalks. Unfortunately, there was no passage out of the city there, so the only way they could escape would to be going up the roads to Upper South Port or leaving completely by boat. From the roads he looked up to the top of the cliffs near the train station. He could already see some Toad Brigade looking out from the cliff edges. Instead of blending in with crowds and making his way to the northeast edge of the town, he decided to stop moving and stare up to the Brigade, crossing his arms and resting against a wall of shop on the street he was on. He despised the Brigade, having multiple brawls with them in the past, even before he became hostile. Mac then looked surprised as he was staring up to the west. He spotted a familiar Brigade he always hated talk with what looked to be a human to him. The girl was pointing down to the city, getting the attention of other Brigade members. They listened in and began looking down as well. Some of them even stared back at Mac. He couldn't tell their expressions since they were so far away. To blend in, he checked his watch and then walked into the shop. As for the other Hostiles, they all made their way northeast and eventually disappeared from the roads. From inside the shop Mac still watched the human talk with the Brigade, and he smiled after seeing the girl point towards the southeast, where their first building was. Within minutes he saw several Brigade members heading down the slopes and Brigade trucks driving down the roads.

"May I take your order sir?" The lady Toad at the till of the shop asked Mac as he was conveniently standing just before it.

"Double cheese sandwich and a bottle of water please." Mac smiled back at the Toad...

Within the next hour, the Brigade filled the Lower streets, asking citizens on the whereabouts of Toadbert, Toadsworth or any large groups of suspicious looking Koopas. There were about four other people inside the shop at the time Mac was eating his food there, and he had already made discussion with the Toad working there about his 'surprise' seeing the Brigade infiltrating the town. Mac was sitting at a table on his own eating his sandwich and looking on his own phone when the two Brigade soldiers entered the shop, looking around.

"Mac Gabilarzon." An unhappy looking Brigade soldier addressed him shortly after they closed the shop doors.

"What's up, law-breakers." Mac replied to them in a jokey way. "Are you going to blame me for something again?" The Brigade looked back at him surprised.

"Do you happen to know or have seen where Toadbert or Toadsworth might be right now?" One of the Brigades asked him.

"No, why are you guys here, and why would they be here?" Mac looked back at them just as unhappy as they were looking at him, giving the impression that it straight up has nothing to do with him.

"Stop playing tricks with us Mac. We were sent here on the orders of Queen Peach herself. We were also given reports of large groups of Koopas, said to be hostile." The other Brigade interrogated him further. "Surely you'd know about these, otherwise we will take you in for further questions." Mac sighed, trying harder to evade being caught.

"And you think I know about this?" He began to complain. "Just because I heavily dislike you guys and have had a bad past with you, you think I have connections with the idiots up there? If you're looking for Hostiles who are trying to be here in secret, surely they'd be hiding." He took a huge bite into his next sandwich. "Now get out of my sight." He threatened them. The Koopas and Toad also in the shop gasped and looked towards him. The Brigade moved closer towards him, but in retaliation Mac got up from his seat and leaned over the two Brigade soldiers. "Believe me, if I knew anything about them, I would... already have disposed of you two."

"Just leave the guy alone." Another Koopa in the shop persuaded the two Brigades to stay away from him. "He's just a regular here like the rest of us." Mac had recognised that Koopa from when he was here the last time. He felt saved on the inside but still looked aggressively at the Brigade on the outside. He sat back down on his chair and carried on eating his sandwich.

"Very well, does anyone else here know where they might be?" The Brigade soldiers asked the room. Immediately after, a message came through their pagers, so they received no answer from those in the shop.

"We've found the building, everyone move towards the southeast edge now!" A Toad from the other end shouted through the pager piece. Mac looked back at the Brigade and started waving at them.

"Go, do your job." He watched the two stare at him and hurry outdoors at the same time, heading left outside.

"Are you actually involved with anything to do with that?" Another Koopa in the room asked him after the door closed. He laughed in response.

"But no." Just to be sure that he wouldn't be turned in, Mac responded, convincing them that he was innocent on the matter.

The last building to the southeast ended up having several Brigade and trucks outside. The end of the road became barred off with fencing. Rosalina showed up late, making her way through the fences and arriving within the crowd of Brigade. They moved around eachother to make way for her getting across the door to the building. It was locked. The window next to the door's glass had already shattered but the Brigade couldn't fit through the metal bars that went across, and the curtains on the inside stopped them from looking through. Rosalina stood in front of the rest of the brigade and casted her wand to the side of the door. She broke through the lock and broke the door's pivoting parts, letting it fall forward. She stormed in, with the Brigade following in behind her. She headed up the first flight of stairs on the right hand side with some Toads going upstairs also. Other Toads began searching the first floor of the building. It looked to be a shared apartment building... but nobody seemed to be at home. All the Koopas had already escaped. To waste time, the Koopas had managed to lock every door in the entire building, including the doors at the top of each floor and the doors to every apartment room. Rosalina blasted through every door on the second floor, only for all of them to be empty. It looked like the building didn't belong to any hostile either; there were no traces of them or anything belonging to them found on the first and second floor.

As she got to the third floor started knocking down doors, until she eventually found the small bathroom where Toadbert and Toadsworth were trapped and cuffed.

"Oh my goodness!" Rosalina rushed over and broke the chains and ropes that held the two against the bathroom wall. They fell onto the ground quickly and thanked her for saving them. Some other Toads from outside cheered after seeing the two rescued.

"They're all on the run." Toadbert informed Rosalina after she removed the tape from his mouth. "They're going to another hideout, and he said. If you know, you know." Toadsworth added, telling everything he knew to Rosalina.

"How many of them were there, and where is Kugen?" She asked them back, now standing in front of many other Toads watching them in the room.

"There were about twenty-five, and as for Kugen, he's still with them as far as I know, but our phones were stolen. So we don't know where he will be. Hopefully he's not sending any texts or he would be in trouble." Rosalina looked back at the Toads and signalled them to leave the building.

"You two will stay with me." She informed them, waiting for the Brigade to leave the building. She had agreed with them to only look for them in the building and leave once they were found. As they left, she headed upstairs to the next floor. There were five floors to the building before the rooftop. All there was on the fourth floor was a corridor with several locked doors on each side. She repeatedly opened the locks and told the two Toads to check for anything inside them. Besides the sounds of movement from themselves they heard nothing from the rooms and the floor above. The entire fourth floor was empty; it only had a few empty compartments of shelves and drawers. As she walked over to the stairs to the fifth floor she began to hear sounds of movement from above. Rosalina slowed down and checked on the other two; they were still searching in the rooms.

"This place is empty, but then again the other floors were empty of things when we were taken here." Toadbert informed Rosalina. She shushed him and began walking up the stairs. After blasting down the door she took a view of the room before hiding back down the stairs. The fifth floor was one entire large room with windows on every side. There was broken glass on the floor of all the broken windows that Hostiles may have smashed to escape from. Curtains were torn and thrown on the floor as well. At the end of the room was the hatch leading to the roof. Rosalina rushed to one of the windows facing back to the town. The hatch to the roof was on the east end of the room, facing the sea. When she looked down she noticed around three Koopas heading into another building nearby from the roof below of the building next to the one she was in. None of them stood out, so it gave her no leads. The last place for her to inspect was the rooftop. The hatch looked unlocked, so she put her wand down and approached it slowly and quietly. She thought for a few seconds on how to approach any possible threat from the rooftop. Rosalina had to be sure if there wasn't any Koopa hiding on the rooftop.

She charged up the steps and punched the hatch open, quickly standing up and turning back around to check the rooftop, forgetting to look straight ahead of her at the edge. She got kicked down the steps of the rooftop entrance by what felt like the foot of a Koopa to her. Rosalina quickly turned around after falling to the floor only to see a Koopa firing a crossbow bolt straight for her arm, surprisingly not at her head for her.

"Ah!" Her life flashed before her eyes in a second, quickly she used her other arm and blasted the Koopa with her wand off of the roof, sending him airborne with his crossbow far and into the sea over a few seconds.

"AH!" She screamed a second time, much louder than the first. Her left arm started bleeding quite quickly, and she was unsure whether she could handle taking the bolt out. She quickly got up and was attended by the two Toads rushing over to her.

"Rosalina!" Toadsworth gasped. He got out bandages and quickly removed the bolt for her, putting her in much more pain temporarily. She screamed again and breathed very loudly. Toadbert received a set of bandages from Toadsworth and placed them over her wound. She began to wail in pain a bit less and started to feel a little dizzy. The bolt looked like a regular one; it didn't seem to be injected with any sort of poison, so her dizziness was just a reaction to the terrible pain. Rosalina got up and sat on the steps to the rooftop, trying to ease off the pain by holding her arm straight.

"Is there anything you can do magically about this wound?" Toadbert looked at Rosalina's worried face.

"Not yet." She looked frightened. Toadbert felt sad for her also and tried massaging the area around the wound to see if it would help. She gained her confidence back and shook her arm telling him to move off her.

"What happened?" Toadsworth finally asked. "I would be able to heal you slightly but a, you seem to have a serious injury and b, my wand was also taken from me."

"Koopa shot me with a crossbow, hiding on the rooftop." She replied. "He's in the sea now though." Toadsworth moved past her and looked up on the rooftop to see if he could see the Koopa at sea. There he was, still staring towards the building, floating in the water on his shell and still holding the crossbow. He lied on the shell and leaned his head forward to aim at Toadsworth on top of the building. He gasped and watched the Koopa fire another bolt. He felt the fast blush of wind go past his right ear. The Koopa missed by a few centimetres. Toadsworth ducked and looked back down on the others from the rooftop. "He's still there." He let them know. Rosalina got up and peeked through one of the windows on the floor. The Koopa began swimming away towards one of the docked boats tied to a buoy. The Koopa was both unrecognisable and undistinguishable. She took a photo of the Koopa while it was swimming. It was backstroking so she couldn't see the colour of its shell, and it didn't seem to have any distinguishable facial features either.

"That phone looks so big and advanced." Toadbert mentioned to Rosalina, looking at her on it, sending a text back to Peach.

"It's not from around here. Duncan got it for me a few months ago." The Toads watched her use the phone's camera outside to record the Koopa still swimming. They were amazed to see her zoom in so much and get a more accurate picture of the front of the Koopa. She uploaded the image to her chat with Peach and waited for a response from her. She sat back down on the steps and let her arm relax a bit more.

"How does it feel?" Toadbert asked her another question. She looked straight and moved it around a bit.

"It may be difficult to race, but I'll keep it secret. I don't want Peach to act greatly on it." What she sent to Peach was only another photo of a lead of a Koopa and the fact that he had a crossbow, nothing to do with her being shot by a bolt. "It's at six tomorrow, hopefully something will heal by then. It didn't go that far in either." She felt a little relieved, but didn't feel like walking back out of the building. "You two go back to the Brigade and I'll let Peach know that you're both safe. Leave me here for now." She ordered the two. They nodded and thanked her for rescuing them again, and then eventually headed back out of the building.

A few minutes later, Rosalina crept up to the rooftop again and looked at the boat that the Koopa had climbed on to. It was a speedboat, and it looked to be one that he could operate, since the buoy chains were removed and the boat began to move. It slowed down and stopped straight after moving. The Koopa looked directly back to the building again. He frowned and went over to pick up his crossbow. Rosalina ducked behind the parapet and waited for a few seconds. She decided to crawl over to the hatch and climb down the stairs to check through the window. The Koopa was still looking towards her but it didn't seem direct. He was only looking at the building to her. He had the crossbow in one hand and the steering wheel of the speedboat held with his other, eventually he noticed her and almost fired instantly when he did. The bolt went straight past Rosalina and landed on the wall at the back of the building. She moved her head away and then rushed back up to the rooftop and faced the Koopa from the top of the building. He began to reload but watched Rosalina at the same time. She held her wand in her right hand and charged a moving blast heading towards the speedboat. The Koopa stopped reloading and began to drive the speedboat leftwards, dodging Rosalina's projectile. He looked at him angrily, driving off and heading northward, hiding behind a larger ship that was docked at the northern harbour. She clenched her fists and backed away from the parapet. Rosalina then turned her head northward to look at the rooftops of other buildings, to see if she could see any suspicious Koopas out of place. The roads had cleared of Brigade and most of them began to stop patrolling and meet further to the north. Rosalina could see taller buildings ahead and at the bottom, a street full of Brigade outside another building. Behind the crowd of Brigade were crowds of citizens, barred off by built-up fencing. It seemed that the rest of the Hostile Koopas must be found inside the building. Rosalina levitated herself atop the parapet and got a closer look, she then floated her way down the building onto the roofs of other ones on her way north. On her way she received a text back from Peach, after being let known that both the Toads were safe and rescued and there were no injuries.

'Let the Brigade sort it out, come back to the City'.

Rosalina was being summoned back, but she didn't want to, seeing the look of that building. The Hostiles had barricaded themselves in the north-easternmost building and couldn't see beyond it due to the large ships docked up. The Brigade began to break the door down, for the windows seemed to be chained together just like the first building. Rosalina responded back to Peach quickly, telling her that the Brigade seemed to be dealing with the issue too slowly. Neither of them nor the Toads knew anything about the group yet, only that they were labelled as Hostiles. Kugen had no contact with Rosalina, so he could not text her. She was unsure if he would have sent any messages to Tori either. That was until she noticed Tori in the crowds of the citizens and Brigade soldiers. She watched the Brigade attempt to break down the door, eventually they got out their better equipment at solving the issue. Within seconds, Brigade soldiers charged into the tall building. It looked to have just as many floors as the first one and was shaped in the same sort of way: square-shaped and made out of bricks.

Rosalina received another text from Peach. She asked for what the problem was, but now it was not a problem anymore. Rosalina replied telling her not to worry, the Brigade had gotten through the building entrance. Just before she began to walk towards the building again, her phone buzzed again. Peach was trying to call her, making Rosalina pick up the phone.

"What's going on?" Peach asked from her castle.

"The Brigade have busted into a second building, presumably the one where most of the Hostiles would be." Rosalina watched them all and Tori move about the building, searching for anybody inside. She then noticed something strange appearing from the east side of the area.

Rosalina dropped her phone. It dropped onto her dress and shoes, so thankfully it didn't get damaged. What she saw from the east was the same speedboat emerging from behind the building and a ship docked on the port. However, the speedboat was overfilled and compact with all of the Hostiles that made it from escaping the buildings, all led by the same Koopa with the crossbow. Rosalina counted about twenty. They drove quickly past the cliffs and began to head out to sea, heading north and leaving the town.

Not knowing about Mac, Rosalina didn't know if he was on the boat with all the other Koopas. As for Mac himself, he was not on the boat. Instead he was still undercover in South Port, looking for a small boat to escape with in the central harbour.

"Rosalina?" She forgot that Peach was still on the phone to her and quickly picked it up to respond back.

"Yes, I'm still here." Rosalina replied. "Close down all the eastern ports north of South Port. Tell the Brigade to search the harbours again. We need to make sure we can capture any Koopa who hasn't left the Port yet." Peach let out a big sigh over the phone. Rosalina began to head eastward to the docks, searching for any suspicious Koopas along there.

"How many were there and how many escaped?"

"About twenty-five... and about twenty." She responded.

Rosalina eventually came across the last building on the road of blocks she was running across. The small parapet of the rooftop allowed her to look down carefully at all of the smaller boats docked up. There were indeed civilians walking around the place, but not many. It was going to be easy for Rosalina to spot any.

Unfortunately she noticed one just about to depart from the docks. Two Koopas were seen by her, getting inside a smaller looking speedboat. One Koopa had a blue shell and the other bigger Koopa had a much darker shell. The blue-shelled Koopa began to operate the speedboat and got it moving slowly. The other one looked up and noticed Rosalina peeking down at them. He shook his fist at her as the vehicle departed the dock. She growled and jumped down the building and headed over to the end of the dock, but the two Koopas had escaped the port and headed north to follow the other speedboat. In defeat, she watched the boat disappear before her, everything felt silent until she heard movement of another Koopa rushing onto the dock behind her. The Koopa noticed her first and began to run along the harbour to another dock of boats to escape. Rosalina then reacted and turned around, watching him try and hide from her. She also saw a few Brigades rush down the steps to the central harbour. The Koopa ran down another dock and jumped into a boat and attempted to untie it from the harbour, but Rosalina quickly launched herself across the water and onto the next dock. She landed on the speedboat that the Koopa was on, scaring him back and stopping him from operating the boat. The Brigade began marching down the dock they were on, trapping him on the boat.

"Stop where you are." Rosalina casted her wand towards the Koopa, trapping him on the back seat of the boat. His arms were tied together behind his back, making him eventually stop trying to break free. He gave up, and remained on the seat, staring at Rosalina with a disappointed look.

The Brigade approached, including Tori, Toadbert and Toadsworth, pulling him out of the boat and throwing him back onto the dock. The Koopa said nothing; he only stared at Toadbert and Toadsworth. The two had both recognised the Koopa; it was the same one that alerted all the others when the first one they saw found them in the alley.

"Bring him in for questioning." Rosalina ordered the Brigade soldiers that were with her on the dock. They grabbed the Koopa by the arms and dragged him along the walkway.

"You'll get nothing out of me... I know nothing." The Koopa said in a spiteful tone. Rosalina turned around and looked directly back at him.

"We'll get you talking really soon." She threatened, escorting the Toads out of the central harbour and later out of the eastern side of the town. On the way, Rosalina looked back at the docks. With upset she saw another boat leave the harbour, with two more Koopas on board. Having known about at least twenty Hostiles gathered in the town, Rosalina and the others only managed to capture one for questioning. She hoped that Kugen would be able to return soon with more information on the inside of the matter...

6:30 PM

Mushroom Yards, Mushroom City

Situated in the northeast of the city and bordering the suburb of Kalinka lied one of the Toad Brigade Police stations, close to one of the roads heading out on a highway towards South Port. The highway filled with the return of the Brigade, including Rosalina, Toadbert and Toadsworth. Tori separated from the group, heading further north towards Toad Harbour, in a mission to inspect the town quickly as it was one of the safest and most peaceful towns along the coast. Most of the Brigade split up when they entered the northeast district. Only a few others along with Rosalina and the rest took the Koopa in for questioning. He was blindfolded as he was taken in to an interrogation room within the station, and then placed onto a chair in front of a table, where Rosalina stood opposite with two other Toads behind her. Rosalina sat down and ordered the Toads to take off the Koopa's blindfold, and then leave the room. The Koopa looked around the room before looking directly back at her, saying absolutely nothing. She got up from her seat and walked over to each wall, knocking it with her fist on each one she went around, creating the same sound on each wall. There was no one-way glass in this room and nobody was able to hear them from the outside.

"You probably know who I am, and I will be asking you a few questions in here before I let you go." The Koopa looked confused at her when she mentioned the end part. He kept watching her as she walked over to the chair opposite his and then sat down on it. "Let's start simple shall we?" She smiled at him, leaning over the table, holding her hands together. "What's your name?" The Koopa gazed into her eyes, saying nothing back to her. "You know the less you talk the more suspicious we will get into this case."

"Ratharmas." The Koopa finally replied to her question.

"That sounds like an interesting name. It gives me a Résethal-esque dialect, where might you be from?"

"Why does that matter?" The Koopa replied again quickly.

"Why were you in South Port?"

"Because I live there. It's obvious I moved there. You wouldn't think someone looking like me would be born and raised in the Mushroom Kingdom. Would you?" Rosalina seemed more interested in talking to this Koopa now.

"Why were you in the harbour when the Brigade soldiers were patrolling the town?"

"Because I was trying to escape from you guys, idiot." He gave a proper answer back to her, making her unsure if he was being sarcastic or not despite his sarcastic tone. "And of course I would be trying to escape from them. You Toads are always searching and not letting us be ourselves."

"Then why did you lot have Toadbert and Toadsworth captured and tied up in one of your community buildings?"

"What buildings?"

"Don't play games with me, Ratharmas."

"You thought I was with one of those Hostiles?"

"It's guilty until proven innocent around here, not the other way round." Ratharmas knew he couldn't confuse her any further, so he gave up.

"Whatever, we aren't all the same. Those two shouldn't have been on our street."

"Answer this question then." Rosalina began to close. "What were you all in that building for?" She grinned at his lack of immediate response. "Since you can't escape this room, I can tell you that we have someone on the inside with them, a Red Martyr."

Just before Ratharmas could give his response, Daisy entered the room, opening the door quickly and closing it straight after.

"Kugen to Tori to me, they're heading up the Cape to Vurduresa... and have abandoned South Port." Rosalina looked at Daisy, showing her the phone she had in her hand. "Wait, Rosalina, are you ok? What happened to your arm?"

"Don't worry about it." Rosalina replied. "Just a bolt to the arm."

"A bolt?" Ratharmas laughed at the two. "That would probably be Ata E's doing. He's the one with the crossbow. He'd have killed you if he wanted to. Trust me when I say that."

"He ended up being the one to save almost all of you lot in the process. Let's put him on our hit list, Ata E." She looked back at Ratharmas, thinking about what to do with him now. Rosalina led Daisy outside the room, leaving the Koopa in there alone. He sat on his seat alone, knowing the room was soundproof.

"This person in there seems to be a very useful lead for later on, but I want him to be under my supervision and in my control." Rosalina stated to Daisy. "I don't want Peach handling him, he's mine. Would that be ok with her?"

"I'm sure of it." Daisy nodded. "If you could at least report back any information to me first instead of Peach, that would also be very nice. The more she is involved, the more the Brigade soldiers are involved and sometimes that isn't as good as it sounds."

"We will have to get word to Muji and Archbarn to see if they can handle anything over the search for Ata E. Perhaps he could be a link to something bigger." Rosalina then went back inside the room where Ratharmas was idly waiting and sat on the chair opposite him again.

"The thing is." Rosalina started. "You would be perfectly fine joining your society with those other Koopas if you were back where you belong up north. We have no real supervision there." This made her think of any possible reasons why such a large group of Hostiles would be quietly based in such a town as South Port. All she could think of was spreading propaganda about the north to the citizens of the town. But it didn't seem as logical to her since all those that were in the building ended up escaping the town except for Ratharmas. It had to be something else she thought. "If you're telling me the fact that you live there is true, why are all the others heading to Vurduresa?"

"Because that building your stupid Brigade has now trashed was the building I lived in. A few others lived there as well, and some in the houses of the neighbourhood. Others did live in villages up north." The Propaganda box was ticked off in her head. It must be a gathering of northern supporters in the town.

"So you had spies in South Port, trying to convince these innocent citizens to join you lot."

"Innocent citizens? Nobody who follows the tyrant of the south is innocent. I never cared for Bowser, nor did I support his idea of rule, but having him completely removed has turned Peach for the worst." Rosalina could see why some people would agree with Ratharmas on that one, but regardless, convincing citizens to side against Peach would only make it more dangerous and unsafe in the Mushroom Kingdom. She got up and began heading to the door to leave the room. As she opened the door she turned her head back to Ratharmas and asked him one last question.

"Is this the only town you lot are spreading to?" The Koopa shrugged, providing her with no useful answer. She closed the door behind her and locked it this time. She headed down the corridors to find Daisy again, eventually the two met looking for eachother.

"Daisy!" Rosalina called. "We need to address something to Peach.

"What's that?"

"We need to not only have the tunnels to the south guarded, but also all ports." She addressed. "Nobody is to come here from the north illegally, in any way possible." Daisy nodded in agreement and the two headed out of the station together.

EOC: This took me a week to do, with about 80% of it being done on the weekend. It's good that I am now making consistent progress on this. The next race will be in the next chapter.