Fighting in the Streets
Chapter 49 – DK's Snowboard Cross
A/N: As the race started during a different scenario, positions and scoreboard have been removed in this chapter. Please refer to Chapter 47 / 49th release to see the updated scoreboard and results from Coconut Mall to determine who started in what position.
February 16, 2015 – 4:10PM
Shiveria
After a short delay caused by a lack of snow, the race was able to start. The track was coated with snow powder to amend this possible hazard to the racers. Some of the moguls in the field were unevenly shaped and the off-road terrain was heavily dumped by thick powder. Unfortunately the track hadn't been tested in these conditions, so it was up to the racers to determine the safest ways to descend the mountain.
Everyone went off to a swift start, seeing some of the pack slow down at the first item set. Many of the racers drove straight through the boxes they saw and headed in to the cannon going up the mountain. Racers at the back waited for the boxes to respawn before taking the cannon. As people got out, they were all disturbed to see a thundercloud already in play. Shy Guy and Lakitu landed with it already above their heads, swerving to the inside of the next big turn with hopes to pass it to anybody taking the half-pipe shortcuts. By the time they landed from it, the thundercloud was no longer above them. It went straight to Rosalina and Pauline, who slowed down a bit to pass it to somebody else behind them at the next set of item boxes. With the thundercloud's acceleration bonus, Rosalina drove to the side and managed to pass it to Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, who activated a mega mushroom as soon as it arrived to them. The thundercloud disappeared and the two drove through the thick powder shortcut without difficulty. They went out of their way to flatten Yoshi and Birdo and caused Tom and Enrique to swerve to the side. The lack of powder on the slope caused their kart to skid a bit as they reached the moguls. The two were unable to trick, and they were forced to use their mushroom to get up to top speed again.
All of the racers proceeded down the mountain, with many of them stopping at the end of the moguls to take a short cut during the two sharp chasm turns. A few of them drove straight across the first chasm and landed back on the track below, using the red holed fence to turn themselves back on to course, but a few of them, including Rosalina and Pauline, went down the gap slowly and turned around to go straight off the second turn across the second chasm. Rosalina and Pauline managed to land on the track successfully without falling in to the pit. Mario and Luigi and Toad and Toadette on the other hand, collided with eachother and both fell in to the second chasm. Rosalina managed to take the lead, but was only a second ahead of Bowser and Bowser Jr, who also took the double shortcut successfully, just after everyone else attempted either that or the single cut. The positions changed repeatedly every second as people descended the mountain. Rosalina and Pauline stayed on the right side of the half pipe, maintaining a constant boosted speed and with three bananas for defence. Carefully avoiding the Shy Guy snowboarders, Rosalina drove slightly down the right half pipe and drove back up to it at an angle to trick around the final turn. Her distance behind Bowser stayed the same, as he too was able to perform the turning trick on the half pipe. Their distance from the rest of the pack began to break away until they noticed Funky Kong driving on to the final stretch of the track. Bowser laid out a fake item box around the first turn in to lap 2, hidden from sight behind the fence. Since Funky Kong and Cranky Kong were using the Torpedo (Spear), they had to take a tight turn around the first bend anyway. The fake item box was too tight around the turn to be an issue for them. By the time Funky Kong got in to the lap 2 cannon, Rosalina had just exited it, driving down the mountain in this lap like she was on a time trial. She was in front of everyone else and Pauline had more than enough items for defence. They had three bananas at the back of their bike as well as a single mushroom in Pauline's hands. Even a blue shell wouldn't be able to stop them right now.
Further back was yet again another massacre. Bombs were dropped before the final turn of the first lap and racers were being hit by the snowboarding Shy Guys. The pack began to spread, and the back of it was filled with annoyed racers.
"Just get back on track!" Waluigi yelled at Wario, itemless.
"I want to pull it here." Wario passed the line in last place, hoping to get the shock at the first item box set.
"If we do, I'm just going to use it. We're probably so far behind." The two went in to the cannon and only got three mushrooms. "This won't do." He growled, using them all before the second set. They felt useless as they were used to them, still being in last. In front of him was the Koopa Troopas, King Boo and Petey, and Peach and Daisy, all seemed to be hiding items. Wario drove over the next box and acquired a golden mushroom. Waluigi started using it immediately, telling Wario to only take the single shortcut. The double cut looked like a bottleneck by the time the two arrived there. Their spots went up and down quickly, going from fifteenth to tenth to fifteenth again to twelfth. The two watched Tom and Enrique fall off the second cut and see the path of the bullet bill they just activated go all over the place, hitting Dry Bones and Kamek in the air in the process. Wario and Waluigi managed to overtake a few racers, but the gap they had from the top three was still too far. Looking at the front, Bowser and Rosalina seemed to agree to not interfere with each others' racing. Whether they did the same with Funky Kong was unknown. Bowser still foamed his items backwards, but Funky and Cranky were able to avoid them all despite being on the Torpedo. The raw extra speed it had over the Flame Flyer caused them to catch right up to Bowser's tail as they descended the mountain in lap 3.
The first shock was activated, narrowly missing Rosalina from falling in to the first chasm. The shock dodged Yoshi and Birdo and the Hammer Bros in the cannon, letting them overtake a few racers without any struggle. Rosalina's position upon landing was heading straight for the second chasm as she was originally planning on taking the double shortcut. She stopped her vehicle on the edge of the chasm, aligning herself to attempt making the rest of the double shortcut whilst tiny. Bowser drove down the first chasm shortcut as it was easy to do so whilst tiny. Bowser Jr watched Rosalina take off in the air, going straight across the second chasm and just about landing on the edge of the other side, causing her and Pauline to have another massive breakaway. His eyes widened in surprise, but his expression soon turned to laughter as the sound of a blue shell came racing down the mountain to go straight for them in first.
"That's fine. She'll take another." Bowser said to his son whilst drifting around the sharp left turn around the second chasm. He kept his speed up after resizing, heading in to the final half-pipe section. Bowser kept his kart on the trick-able part of the right half-pipe, giving him a permanent boost and always out of the way of the Shy Guys, lowering himself down a bit to line up to trick on the turning point at the perfect angle, smoothly finishing the third lap right behind Rosalina and Pauline. Funky Kong and Cranky Kong were still on their tail, and behind them was a bullet bill that had just ended. The Hammer Bros had managed to catch up to the top three, creating a top four that was several seconds ahead of everyone else. Funky Kong dropped a banana as he took the first turn in lap 4, hoping to hit them with it. However, they saw it coming and took an outward turn to go around it.
"You're not getting us this time!" Fire Bro yelled across the beginning section of the track, hoping that the two Kongs in third would hear them.
As the front-runners came out of the cannon, rest of the racers crossed the line to finish lap 3. There were two racers who were still a few seconds back, but everyone else was all within three seconds of eachother. A POW block was activated, two bombs were dropped, and Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong used another mega mushroom when surrounded by several other racers. The crowds in the stands by the start lines cheered on at the action taking place, making more people further behind from the front. Some of the racers desperately tried to get a break from the pack in the middle, but all the racers around them happened to be filled to the brim with items. Three racers all had green shells deployed around their vehicles and two others had triple red shells in defence. By the time they passed the moguls, the middle pack turned the double shortcut in to a warzone. Kamek and Dry Bones fell off after being hit by one of the reds, Yoshi and Birdo got struck by the shells and sent backwards beside the right-side fence, King Boo and Petey attempted to do the double shortcut but narrowly missed as their angle was disrupted by the other racers, and Mario and Luigi managed to avoid everyone else's items after doing the single cut. After getting out of the chasm section, the two's position jumped up to fifth place, surprising all of the spectators as the Hammer Bros in fourth had just crossed the line, heading in to the final lap.
"Luigi, we need a box." Mario called out from the back of their B Dasher. "I don't know how many people are ahead of us, but it looks like this is the best we can get for now." Luigi nodded and went up the half-pipe to grab an item box. Mario waited out the roulette time and the item they acquired as a thundercloud.
"Mamma Mia." Mario and Luigi panicked.
"We can outrun this one to the cannon. Quickly now!" Mario ordered his brother, going past the bananas that were littered beyond the start line. The thundercloud kept flickering, but the two were able to get an item box and pass through the cannon before it was about to strike and shrink them. "Luigi, mega mushroom!" The two came out of the cannon with the new item and started to descend the mountain.
"Chain it here... now!" Luigi ordered, turning the kart slightly to the left, heading in to the thick powder cut. "Mushroom, hold it. We'll use it after the double shortcut. Swap with me!" The voices got significantly deeper as the two passed the thick powder cut. The mega mushroom rewarded them even more, as the sky darkened once again. The two shrank down to normal size and headed straight for the double shortcut. Things did not look so good for the racers up ahead. Both Rosalina and Bowser were struck during their flight over the second chasm, causing them to fall down and be lifted up by the holographic Lakitus. Funky Kong and Cranky Kong took first, taking a few more seconds to resize. The Hammer Bros were right behind them, and both of the racing duos were itemless. It looked like Funky Kong and Cranky Kong had this one as they cruised along the half-pipe. Mario and Luigi were still in fifth, despite dodging and taking the double shortcut. All of the racers in the top five were itemless for the final stretch except for Mario and Luigi, who still had their mushroom. They crept just behind Bowser and Rosalina as they got to the final turn. A blue shell was sighted heading around the turn quicker then they all drove. It headed for Funky Kong but they had just passed the line. The blue shell's target changed, completely ignoring the Hammer Bros as they also crossed the line. It locked on to Rosalina and Bowser, both next to eachother in what looked like a tie-third.
"CAREFUL!" Luigi called out to Mario, using the mushroom as the blue shell went down. Thankfully for them, the speed of the mushroom saved them from the blue shell explosion, but Luigi could see behind him the two other racing pairs heading up in to the air just inches from the line...
...And as they land, a bullet bill's path sets course right in to the two. All the other racers started to show up, and the bullet bill struck both Bowser and Rosalina. The bullet bill finished immediately after, revealing the users to be Toad and Toadette. Bowser and Rosalina fell down the ranks, slowly going to the finish line to end their race. It still took ten more seconds for everyone else to finish and for the results table to update.
RESULTS:
FIRST: Funky Kong and Cranky Kong: +20
SECOND: Hammer Bro and Fire Bro: +17
THIRD: Mario and Luigi: +15
FOURTH: Toad and Toadette: +13
FIFTH: Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong: +12
SIXTH: Shy Guy and Lakitu: +11
SEVENTH: King Boo and Petey: +10
EIGHTH: Wario and Waluigi: +9
NINTH: Dry Bones and Kamek: +8
TENTH: Koopa Troopa and Paratroopa: +7
ELEVENTH: Rosalina and Pauline: +6
TWELFTH: Bowser and Bowser Jr: +5
THIRTEENTH: Toadbert and Toadsworth: +4
FOURTEENTH: Yoshi and Birdo: +3
FIFTEENTH: Peach and Daisy: +2
SIXTEENTH: Tom and Enrique: +1
UPDATED SCOREBOARD:
FIRST: Bowser and Bowser Jr: 201
SECOND: Rosalina and Pauline: 201
THIRD: Funky Kong and Cranky Kong: 195
FOURTH: Mario and Luigi: 183
FIFTH: Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong: 174
SIXTH: Yoshi and Birdo: 161
SEVENTH: Peach and Daisy: 158
EIGHTH: Wario and Waluigi: 156
NINTH: King Boo and Petey: 155
TENTH: Toad and Toadette: 154
ELEVENTH: Hammer Bro and Fire Bro: 153
TWELFTH: Dry Bones and Kamek: 150
THIRTEENTH: Tom and Enrique: 141
FOURTEENTH: Shy Guy and Lakitu: 138
FIFTEENTH: Koopa Troopa and Paratroopa: 128
SIXTEENTH: Toadbert and Toadsworth: 126
BACK IN DELFINO CAPITAL...
The cameras that were recording the race on the TV went up in to the sky and the results were shown on there in full screen. Most of the security guards in the room felt disappointed after seeing Peach and Daisy score so low. Some of them started to throw objects around the room to relieve their stress. Luke stared at the screen for a few more seconds, seeing what the last things shown on it were. After the updated results disappeared, the cameras pointed at two commentators who must have been casting the race from a part in the stands. The television had sound on to a minimal level, so he wasn't able to hear anything from it.
"That was rather disappointing to watch... for a Peach and Daisy fan." Manes kept looking up to the screen.
"Could you imagine being a Bowser or Rosalina fan though?" Luke turned his head back to Manes.
"Yeah, that ending was really sad for them. A lot of people are going to hate DK and Dry Bones now. It was Dry Bones who threw that blue shell."
"Yeah... Nasty." Luke looked around the room to see the Toad security guards still very annoyed, and the Koopa ones only feeling awkward. "I wonder... do you think people can freely support anyone or do they have to always be rooting for Peach and Daisy?" He asked Manes.
"No you actually get a large variety of fanbases across these kinds of things. It is actually socially acceptable to support Bowser despite the case he is in at the moment. It's a sport."
"Fair enough." Luke turned around and started heading out of the office, thinking of going to see Mikey now.
"Do you support Tom and Enrique?" Manes made Luke stop in the hallway.
"I unconditionally support them. Like, I know that they are nowhere near as good as the others. Those two are lucky even to be in this trial slash competition. It would be amazing if they were to win but we all know that would never happen. This seems to be between Bowser's pair, Rosalina's pair, and Funky Kong's pair. I don't want anybody specifically to win, but I feel like Bowser could be able to walk away with this alive if he manages to get his game together later on. There are a lot of skill-oriented tracks up ahead. He drove this one amazingly. If he is able to race like that and not get struck by the blue on the line, he would easily score high in the next races." The two got to Mikey Clagbo's confinement door. Through the tiny gap they could see the Koopa sitting on his bed behind the cell bars with his eyes closed. From where the two stood, it looked like he was meditating.
"See that blue shell wasn't even going for Bowser." Manes remembered.
"Exactly." Luke added. "Mario and Luigi would have been hit by it too but they had a mushroom. Bowser just made a mistake to not stay too close to Rosalina. Take the fourth or fifth place instead of gambling for third on the line."
"He would have gotten at most fourth, if not third. The blue shell removed Rosalina from play." Manes recalled. "Did she even swerve in to him on the line?"
"I don't know. The broadcast was terrible... At least we were able to watch the race anyway." Luke looked back to Manes. "Are you ready?"
He opened the door, disturbing Mikey. The Koopa on the cell bed opened one eye and noticed the two enter the room slowly and quietly. He closed his eye and remained in his spot, sensing the two approaching the cell bars.
"You're not the human from before, who are you?" Mikey asked, still with his eyes closed.
"What are you doing-?"
"I don't care about you." The prisoner interrupted Manes. "I'm talking to the human."
"I'm Luke Loggins, not quite Enrique." Luke spoke in turn, getting right up to the bars and kneeling down in front of Mikey. "Could you tell me why you gave that order to kill all of those Toad Brigade soldiers in the courtyard of the Asquia Manor?"
"One death is a tragedy, one hundred is a statistic."
"I've heard so many people say things like that." Luke laughed, knowing he shouldn't have.
"Even you think death is funny. You should be ashamed of yourself." Mikey quickly snapped back at him. "We warned them not to cross the Asquias. The Clagbos kindly sent their regards to the Toad Brigade that evening. What is done cannot be un-done."
"Let's put this aside for now. That wasn't my main question." Luke sweated a bit, pulling his collar forward. "Do you have any information that you could provide about the whereabouts of Boom Boom or Pom Pom?" Mikey finally opened his eyes.
"That's an interesting one. Boom I have not seen for over a month, but Pom... She has the bigger connection with us. I think I know where she might be. Does she know that she is being looked for? You know, more than she normally would be?"
"No." Luke said, straight to the point. He watched Mikey move his head and look at all parts of the room. His body kept still on the bed but his head was unusually all over the place.
"Perhaps I can help you fill the cell in between mine and Lujun's."
"Oh really? That would be brilliant. Where is Pom then?" Luke watched as Mikey's head movements finally ended and the Koopa stopped, staring right back to Luke.
"Up yours." Luke frowned, disappointed with Mikey.
"Ok, next person." He got up and led Manes out of the room. "Time to ask Lujun."
INTERROGATING LUJUN ROSKIV...
"Lujun." Luke entered his cell room and addressed him.
"Fuck off." Lujun responded immediately.
"Nevermind... On to the last person."
INTERROGATING TAUR ROVIN...
"Taur..." Luke opened the door to his chamber, seeing the muscular, blue-shelled Koopa stand up in response to seeing him arrive. Manes stood carefully behind Luke and watched from a distance, for some reason he felt a sense of unease being near this Koopa. Taur's appearance looked scary to him. The Koopa seemed to have a few scars which looked very visible from a distance. They possibly were caused during the siege, and he would have had to have seen a medic or doctor to have him healed before heading to prison. "My name's Luke-."
"I know. Luke Loggins, I've heard you from other rooms. You're here to ask me questions about Boom, Pom, or Koopak and the others." Taur looked both agitated and frustrated, but he was probably feeling this way before Luke and Manes showed up anyway.
"Could I be given any useful information from you or are you going to be like Mikey and Lujun over there and be completely fucking useless to me?" Luke asked for the forgettable number of time.
"I can tell you everything." Taur replied, leaning towards his cell bars. "Come closer... I'm serious." Luke and Manes didn't seem to believe him at first.
"Don't bother Luke. He's just going to screw us around again. These people are useless." Manes called from the back of the room, standing next to the security guard that stayed in Taur's chamber.
"I'm not lying like the others would." Taur pleaded. "If I lie to you, I give you permission to kill me."
"Why though? Why would you put your life on the line to prove to me that you will be giving me useful information?" Luke seemed misunderstood at Taur. Something just didn't add up to him.
"Because it's good to see more happening! Also, you're asking about Pom and Boom, not Koopak or Joharnés." Luke looked around to see the security guard looking disappointed back at him. Luke shook his head and turned back to Taur, ignoring what the security guard might be thinking about him.
"Excuse me, security guard?" Luke called out from right by the cell bars.
"Yes?"
"Could I ask you to leave the room until Manes and I are satisfied and come out of the room ourselves?" The security guard nodded.
"Very well, but don't spend an eternity in there." She turned around and opened the door to the chamber, walking out and closing it behind her, guarding the room from the outside.
"Tell me everything." Luke leaned in again. He watched Taur go right up to his ear and he began whispering.
"Boom Boom is... like a sycophant to the Asquias and the Rovins... like a lackey. He knew that working with us would be the safest way for him to stay alive. Even though Koopak cut off his arm, it was like the price he had to pay for his life. The Asquias could easily have handed him over to the Mushroom Kingdom as the Accords put up some sort of arrest for him to be given the death sentence." Luke turned around and picked up the white bag containing the arm, opening it up and revealing it to Taur.
"That must be this arm then." Luke joked, showing it to him.
"I sure hope that's cleaned. You should clean it every day so it doesn't rot as much. That's probably one of the most precious things in all the lands at this point in time; probably third to Peach's crown and the original copy of that letter involving the trial of Bowser."
"What about Rosalina's wand? I heard that was stolen from her once." Luke became reminded of something else. "Oh, do you know what happened to Rosalina during that time she vanished?" Taur paused for a few seconds, figuring out the best way to explain it all to him.
"Joharnés claimed that he shot and killed her in his bedroom. I can believe that he shot her because Jenna somehow became in possession of the wand. However, she is clearly not dead. He did say that she was dead but her body disappeared overnight."
"I don't really talk to her so I wouldn't know." Luke added. "Anyways... Boom was held at ransom to some point during January to which he..."
"We don't really know about it. He probably went in to hiding. Pom doesn't want to talk about it either."
"Where is Pom?"
"She lives in Blockfort with us, but good luck trying to get to her. My men have her well-occupied and guarded as she is an actual use to us."
"Thank you for the information." Luke nodded, feeling slightly cheerful that he was able to get so much from the prisoners. "I do have one question to ask though."
"What's that?"
"On the night Boom's arm was cut off, Pom and Koopak were fighting eachother, using dangerous weapons. How has their relationship between eachother changed over time?"
"That's a good question." Taur paused, only giving fillers and taking some time to answer. "I don't know why Koopak did it there and then. We were supposed to have him pledge to us afterwards; however, because of that, Koopak's not really liked by most of us. We have to show our respect to the Asquias though, but if you want something that's really worth knowing... Joharnés was and always will be the better son to Koopak I. That other Koopa influenced him so much to be more soft and nihilistic. What was his name again... Bethel Koopa. You might want to ask around about that name. He's also somebody who hasn't been seen since New Years' Day." Luke stood silent in the room for a few seconds, Manes stood at the back confused and waiting for him to do something next. Taur began to move back to the bed, feeling a little sleepy.
"Why was it you wanted to tell me all of this information again?" Luke looked back to Taur.
"Because I want to be updated on what happens with my family, and the Asquia family. You will come back to update me, right?"
"I can do that, but I'll do you one better." Taur looked back to Luke.
"I'm listening."
"If you can allow me to bring Pom to justice, and perhaps Boom as well, then I could possibly speak to Queen Peach in regards to an early release for you and Kromark." Taur froze on the spot, looking straight without turning his head an inch. "I would need you to allow me through your ranks somehow. Either like a codeword or a way to prove to them that you mean it, in exchange for your and Kromark's freedom. It would be some sort of parole though; where your activity would be somewhat monitored, just so that you don't go up to no good again." Taur got up from his bed and walked slowly around the sell, thinking to himself in front of the other two. Luke and Manes had time, and waited patiently to hear what he had to say next. It looked like he was giving a lot of thought in to consideration.
"I don't know if I can guarantee that. Besides, my freedom wouldn't be well-liked among everyone else that lives in the Delfino Kingdom. Why do you want Boom and Pom anyway?"
"Because the two need to be brought to justice after what they did to the princesses five years ago-."
"No not that." Taur interrupted. "Why do you want them? Why you, of all people, to be the one to arrest those two?" Luke said nothing back for a few seconds. "Are you trying to win Peach over?"
"Because I have his arm." He tried to make an excuse on the spot. His true reason for it was unknown to anyone else but himself. "I personally think he has done too much for this world and now should be his time to rest."
"He is probably resting now. Do you think he would still be in pain forty days after he lost his arm? All of this talk and him not being dead clearly indicates that he is probably alive and well."
"So you would rather have me leave you here, until further notice? You really don't want me to find him, despite telling me the whereabouts of his sister?" Luke began to realise why what he was being told was too good to be true. "Something's not right..." He looked back to Manes. "We're done here."
Luke got up and headed out of the chamber, leaving with Manes and taking Boom's arm in the bag with him. Taur said nothing as he watched the two depart, being greeted back with his personal security guard afterwards. Before leaving, the two headed in to the office to see some of the other guards who were watching the race still being there.
"Keep an eye out on these four prisoners." Luke informed the guards in the room. "Some of the stuff they've said to me is a bit too unusual. Think of the possibility of a rescue or a breakout sometime soon." The Toads and Piantas nodded and thanked Luke for his advice.
8:30PM
Peach's Castle, Mushroom City
After a long journey home and a nice filling evening meal, Peach reached the entrance to the castle with her Toad friends and Daisy. All of them were given personal transport to and from Shiveria. Thankfully, Wild Woods tomorrow isn't that much further than Shiveria. Instead it would just take an easy train going through the mountains and then off at the first stop. Before Peach and Daisy were going to say their goodbyes to the Toads for the night, she noticed a figure on the other side of the river, heading down to the path and making their way over to her. Luke had returned from his journey in the Delfino Kingdom. He was not with Manes, but he still had his white bag.
"Thank you all for your company." Peach addressed the Toads she was with. "I now need to see to this friend of mine. See you all tomorrow." She waved them off after all four of them bowed to her before leaving. Luke waved to them as he went past, going straight up to Peach and Daisy by the bench outside the castle doors.
A/N: In case people want a sense of surroundings. The Toad Town / Peach's Castle in this series is based off of the design in Super Mario Galaxy. The only differences are is that there are woodlands on the other side of the river and the Mario Circuit track from Mario Kart Wii is further within it. Surrounding it all is a tall hedged fence and the northern strip borders with the rest of Mushroom City.
"Pom is in Blockfort, but Boom is unknown. I spoke with Lakitu before he left today, and also with the highest ranking prisoners in the Delfino Capital if they knew about anything. Commiserations about the race today as well. I watched it there." Luke went straight in to it and explained what he learned today to Peach and Daisy.
"Is that the bag with the arm you were telling me about?" Daisy whispered to Peach as she was looking back to Luke.
"Yes." Peach quickly replied to Daisy. "Pom is just as guilty as Boom. It is good that we know exactly where one of them is. Is there anything else that is useful for me to know?"
"Pom is heavily guarded in Blockfort. The rest of the Rovins who didn't go to Uldersal are probably still there, keeping her safe. As for Boom... they don't really work with him anymore."
"I can send a Brigade squadron to go and collect her. Perhaps after something like Dry Dry Ruins, Enrique and Tom could also go and take her out of the city as well. We cannot let these families be a threat even after they have been seized." She sat on the bench on the opposite side of Luke. He placed the bag on the floor and put his legs through the gap to sit down on the other side. Daisy began to sit next to Peach, noticing that Toad was starting to walk back to them from outside his house.
"Yeah there's something I need to let you know about in regards to that." Luke got Peach's attention. "I have suspicions that there may be an attempt to rescue some of the prisoners in the Delfino-."
Peach's attention on Luke was short-lived as she too noticed Toad coming back to the entrance to the castle. Luke turned around after noticing that Peach was looking away from him.
"Queen Peach." Toad called out, handing over his phone to her. "It's from Stan. He's found Koopak's son."
"What?" Peach looked at Toad's phone. Sent to him was a photo of the infant being taken on a train, surrounded by several other Koopas. None of them were recognisable, and they all were going on to the train with him. It was unknown where the train was going, but the location Stan took the photo was in Donut Fort Station, just southeast of Donut Plains, in the far north of the Mushroom Kingdom.
"He thinks the Koopas that took him on the train were hostile. Stan is on the train, but he needs all the help he can get to retrieve the child." Daisy and Luke went around the table to have a look at the picture as well, but Toad and Toadette began to feel worried about their potential call to service despite having one race a day now.
"Where is Rick?" Peach asked the two Toads.
"I don't know. The last mention of him was when he was in Trent, dealing with border concerns." Toad shrugged his shoulders and started panting. "What would we be able to do with Koopak if we can't even find his family? None of them are in Uldersal anymore."
"That's a good point." Peach wondered, sitting back down on the bench. "I will have to let Archbarn and Muji know. Those two will know what to do. Koopak III being taken beyond the mountains is a massive concern though, but if he meets his fate in the hands of hostiles then that is not our fault. Koopak II would have to intervene somehow."
"I say we ignore Koopak, let the Red Martyrs deal with him." Daisy suggested, standing right beside Peach. "What we should do is focus on bringing Pom and Boom to justice. That will make everyone here happier."
"You're right." Toadette cheered. "Those two need to go!"
"Toad, go inside and address the order." Peach turned her head to the guards standing by the castle doors and nodded her head at them. Shortly, the doors of the castle began to open slowly, letting Toad inside.
"May I say what I wanted to say before on the matter?" Luke asked politely. "Two things. One, the Capital might have an attempt of a rescue on the prisoners. We need to prepare in case such a thing happens. Two, we need to be prepared to face a large amount of defence when it comes to finding Pom in the Rovin Estate in Blockfort.
"Very well. I will go with the Brigade and meet them outside Blockfort in the afternoon after the race. It's at midday so we will have plenty of time to assault the town. I would like to not create a mess like we did with Uldersal though. No vehicles, no evacuations. This will be a quiet coup." Peach then looked back to Luke again. "Luke, I want you to go back to your home. Let Tom and Enrique know in advance about it if you see them there." She nodded.
"As you wish. Thank you for yesterday and today." Luke took the bag and started heading back to the path in Toad Town leading out to Mushroom City.
"What was that bag he was holding?" Toadette asked Peach and Daisy.
"A priceless piece of evidence." Peach replied.
9:30PM
Luke's Penthouse, Mushroom City
The keys were heard from the outside. Luke opened the door and was met with Toby, sitting with Will on the sofa, and only Enrique, lying on the opposite sofa bed. Tom and George didn't appear to be in at the moment.
"Evening everybody. Where're the others?" He asked around.
"Tom's out of town... and George..." Enrique shrugged his shoulders, watching the TV. Will seemed to be drifting off to sleep as well. His body was weakened due to the effects of the scabs and marks all around his body. Toby spent most of the day with him, but also worrying about whether or not he was doing enough to help him.
"I don't know." Said Toby. "How do you manage to have no trouble with looking after people?" He asked Luke back.
"Here, let me take over. Go and get yourself dinner if you haven't already had." Luke took the bag and moved it in to the bathroom. "Once I've dealt with this arm I'll hold the sick bucket and sit with him. Perhaps what he's vomiting up is some of the substance inside him."
"I have no idea what it is that's causing him to be like this." Toby got up and headed in to the bedroom. He had already eaten for the night. "The news has been talking about the race all day today. I thought it wasn't that entertaining if you ask me." He said from inside the bedroom.
"How was your day out?" Enrique asked Luke, seeing him come back from the bathroom leaving the water taps running in there. "Did you hear that me and Tom took a beating today?"
"Yeah." Luke laughed. "I kind of hoped that he would be here tonight. There's something you two need to do tomorrow."
"Tomorrow, like after the race?"
"Yep. Peach wants both of you to go with her to Blockfort tomorrow."
"Where the Rovins came from?"
"Precisely. They think Pom is there."
"Who's 'they'?"
"The Rovins... well they say she's there."
"And what makes you believe that?"
"It's kind of hard to explain." Luke scratched the back of his scalp. "The head of the family was taken to prison and when I spoke to him he seemed pretty honest. I felt like he was a little strange though. He claimed that he was telling me the truth and I even offered him a chance of early release and he denied it."
"Wait a minute." Enrique stood up from the sofa bed. "You spoke to the Rovin chief. Taur Rovin, right?"
"Yes." Luke nodded.
"And he was willingly giving information to you regarding Pom, the rest of the Asquias... all that stuff?"
"Yes." Luke nodded again.
"And he didn't want to be released?"
"Yes." Luke nodded for the third time.
Enrique got up from the sofa and looked for Toby inside one of the bedrooms. "Toby!" He called quietly in to the bedroom. "You're going to have to look after Will for the rest of the night as well." While Enrique was seeing to Toby, heading to the drawer by his bed and taking something out of there as well. Luke got up and left Will who seemed to be fast asleep and not feeling any pain anymore. He checked on the arm which he had put in the bath in the bathroom and had it filled with water. He got some soap and a damp cloth and gave the rotting arm a clean, keeping it still fresh and not contagious in any way.
"Text me what you'll be doing in terms of coming back home later on, yeah?" Luke overheard Toby and Enrique talking in the other room as he was washing the arm. Since it seemed to be used a lot, it would be best to keep it preserved.
"Leave that here tonight." Luke watched Enrique leave the bedroom and look back on him.
"T-tonight?"
"We're going to get Taur." Enrique turned to the front door. "If he doesn't want to be released, then we'll release him anyway. I don't care what Peach has to say on the matter." Luke turned around to keep cleaning the arm. Leaving it to stay in water for too long would not be the best option for it. Toby headed in to the bathroom to see what the two were doing.
"I'll do my best to keep good care of Will. If he stays like this for the rest of the week then we'll have to see if we can get him checked on Earth. The Toads will probably do something nasty like what they did to him last time if we ever told them about it." He checked on him to still see him lying asleep on one of the sofa beds.
"Thank you, Toby." Luke cheered after getting all important bits of the arm. Making sure the muscle and veins and bones connected by the joint that was cut was most important as he did not want them to get infected and turn dirty or fungal. "I think I should be done with this now. Could you wrap the arm in one of the spare towels and leave it by the bag to dry? Wash your hands after as well." Luke instructed Toby, proceeding to wash his own hands at the sink as well.
"Sure." Toby replied softly, looking down at the arm and taking it out from the bathtub. Even for an arm, it sure was heavy for him. "This thing's quite weighty, Jesus Christ." He headed out of the room and searched for a towel. Once Luke was finished washing his hands with soap and water, he turned to Enrique, signalling that he was ready to depart.
"I've got my keys. We'll probably be back before morning. We'll try our best not to disturb you. Tell George and Tom this as well." Luke followed Enrique out of the apartment and closed the door behind them, saying their goodbyes to Toby and Will. The two proceeded down the building and headed on to the eastern street where Luke had parked his car. The course for the Delfino Capital was set again.
February 17, 2015 – Midnight
Delfino Capital Security Prison, Central Delfino
The doors to the top floor opened up, and in the main hallway there were only two guards seen at the end in the office. Even the chambers belonging to each cellmate no longer had a guard operating on the inside. The lights were out in all of them, and the only light they could see was the one showing the guards at the office at the end. Luke led Enrique down the hall quietly, trying not to make any noise. He eyed through Kromark Rovin's chamber, and he was seen fast asleep. Mikey Clagbo in the chamber opposite was also sleeping, but his position made it look like he was meditating. Perhaps he was meditating, they couldn't tell. Taur was awake. Luke caught a glimpse of what he was doing as he passed by. The Koopa was lying down but his eyes were open. Taur hadn't noticed that Luke was here; he was only too busy at staring up to the ceiling, moving his body slightly every now and then. Lujun at the furthest cell was asleep. It was almost a coincidence that Taur, the Koopa they wanted to take out of prison, was awake and the rest were not. Enrique and Luke's footsteps became heard by the two guards inside the office by the time they arrived. They were both snacking on simple food and sitting on some of the chairs, trying to pass time on a supposed night shift they were having.
"Luke... and Enrique?" The two guards got up from their seats upon noticing them. "Why are you two both here at this time?"
"It is a bit late to be returning here don't you think?" The other one said in turn afterwards.
"We have been given further instructions on behalf of Peach." Enrique spoke first, standing in front of Luke. "As part of a rescue mission, we will need to release Taur Rovin from his chamber and have him cuffed, and occupied by us."
"Ideally we would like his legs and arms cuffed together so that he has zero chance of escaping. Our purpose for this is for important business regarding the capturing of Pom Pom and perhaps Boom Boom as well if we are lucky. Peach has allowed us to conduct this mission which is sort of using him as means to retrieve them for the Mushroom Kingdom." Luke stood up to say his part, hopefully convincing the two guards.
"Are you asking us to release the prisoners?" One of the guards said with a panicked look.
"Just Taur." Luke replied sharply. "Once we are done with him, we will send him back here where he can spend the rest of his days."
"We know that he would be no use at the northern borders."
"Exactly. We're just going to borrow him and then bring him back to you."
"I don't normally trust humans that aren't from here." The security guard who seemed to have more authority over the other one, held up a pair of keys, which had six of them on it. one for each cell door. The keys had the same lock for the cell door and the chamber door, but each individual cell had a different lock. "How long do we expect you two to be gone with him for? You have a race tomorrow, Enrique." The guard headed out of the office, having the two humans follow him right up to Taur's chamber.
"I will be racing tomorrow, but Luke will have him kept safe and secure." Enrique stood by the chamber door as the guard opened it up, getting Taur's attention.
"You got that right." Luke laughed as he entered the room first. Taur got up from his bed and saw the three people walking over to his cell door. He frowned upon realising who showed up. Luke was there again for him, but this time he brought Enrique, whom he recognised.
"You will need these." The security guard pulled out two pairs of handcuffs from his pockets and handed them over to Enrique and Luke, showing them how to lock them on and unlock them. "Don't lose this and don't let him have it." He handed the keys to the locks over to Luke and then proceeded to open the cell door.
"What's going on?" Taur questioned. "You're... oh." He sighed, and sat back down on his bed, only to be forced up by Enrique and have both his arms and legs cuffed together. "I can barely walk like this."
"Are you sure cuffs to the legs are the most practical solution to this?" Luke turned to face the security guard. The chains linking the leg cuffs together were rather short and easy for Taur to trip up on them.
"Don't put them on now." The security guard suggested. "But take them with you anyway in case you need to." Luke nodded and stopped with cuffing the legs. The arms were tightened and cuffed together and that was enough for them for now.
"That will do." He got up, pushing Taur out of the cell. He said nothing, knowing exactly what was happening to him. "Thank you." The security guard led the two out, and they began to head out of the hallway to the stairs down to the lower floors of the security prison.
"Let's head up there now." Enrique suggested as the three were heading out of the building.
"Are you not going to be tired for the race tomorrow?" Luke wondered, opening up the back doors of his car to throw Taur in.
"I'll be fine." Enrique headed around to the other side of the car, getting in to the passenger seat and ready to depart from the Delfino Capital...
EOC: Another good chapter. More to come for sure.
See you next chapter!