Fighting in the Streets
Chapter 54 – The Blockfort Convicts
A/N: This chapter is a little different to the other normal ones. There will be a race in the next one though.
February 19, 2015 – 3:30PM
Delfino Capital Security Prison
"Bring in Convict One."
Tom and Tori sat inside a small separate room, with nothing but a table with a set of documents, pens to write with, and a chair on the other side for the convicts to sit on as they came in. The security guards and prison workers had given them both fact files and documents for each of the arrested Koopas. Here they waited for the first one to be sent in to the room. As Tom watched the convict enter the room, he skimmed down the page in front of him, taking note of all the important things to know about him.
NAME: Curley Morgins
AGE: 23
PLACE OF BIRTH: Blockfort, Delfino
CURRENT TOWN OF RESIDENCE: Blockfort, Delfino
SKIN COLOUR: Yellow
SHELL COLOUR: Red
CHARGES: Minor Vandalism, Burglary, Illegal Melee Weapon Possession
NOTES: Found alone, threatened to attack the police when they attempted arresting him, no recorded use of violence against other citizens involved.
The Koopa didn't talk much after being put on to the seat in front of him. Tori waited for the security guards to head out of the room and close the door behind them before speaking to the detained Koopa.
"Born in Blockfort..." She began. "I take if you've been living here your whole life?" The Koopa leaned forward on his chair and tried to slide it to sit a little closer to the table. He spent a few seconds having a look at what was on the table before looking back up to Tom and Tori.
"Yeah... why does that matter to you?" Curley replied, giggling a bit after noticing Tom sitting next to her and saying nothing.
"From what I've gathered from these arrests, you're actually one of few to be from there." Tori added.
"You know... I didn't recognise a lot of people that were there. They're the people you should have arrested. Not someone like me." Curley fidgeted about on the chair, annoyed to be here.
"I'm going to ask you a few questions now about your arrest, as well as a recollection of memories of yesterday." Tori opened up one of the folders that was in front of her, and reviewed several papers written out by the Intel about the invasion on the Rovin Estate. "From what I have seen, you have been arrested on accounts for vandalism, burglary, and 'Illegal Melee Weapon Possession'. Could you please explain to me what they mean here by that?"
"He was caught wielding a sword." Tom put his hand over his face after a few seconds of hearing nothing back from Curley. "The pictures show it here." He passed one over to Tori, letting her have a look at it.
"Why were you taking a sword in to the Rovin Estate? I can understand that it was open, but what were you doing there?" She asked Curley again.
"Am I the only one who's seeing this?" He complained. "Literally everyone was there. They were vulnerable and they had been shitting on us for years. Everyone was taking things from their house, blowing things up, breaking the windows. I used that to protect myself whilst I went to take what they stole from us back to me."
"Can you describe to me what you saw when you were there?" Tom asked, hoping to get any useful information specifically for his own wants now.
"The entire front drive was full of people." Curley began. "People were covered up in masks and overalls to protect their identity. Petrol bombs were thrown in to the windows, the front door was raided, glass shattered from the out and in. It was basically a riot gone wrong. Then, it became a scramble for what was left. People were fighting eachother for riches and shiny stuff. The amount of coins they kept in their rooms was enough to make any person rich... well... before the economy went to shit, but it helped! I just had to take what I needed and fend off anyone else who tried to stop me, which I did. That was until the Brigade and the retards from the capital came along and ruined it all for me."
"Word had it that Pom Pom was actually there, same goes for Enrique Calaghal, and the two head Rovins Taur and Shysta yesterday. Did you happen to see any of them in your travel to the estate and inside?" Tom asked again.
"I didn't notice anybody unusual. There were only people like me, and masked people like me. We just wanted what we were owed from them. I was against the whole vandalism of the windows and shit anyway." He looked at Tom, who turned disappointed from not hearing what he wanted.
"But you were charged for vandalism anyway. Can you explain that?" Tori prompted.
"That must be a mistake. I'll happily confess for my attempts on burglary and theft, but I did not break anything. That would make everything be worth even less."
"This Koopa is useless to me." Tom looked back to Tori, insisting on dismissing him back to the security guards.
"Come on..." He pleaded in front of the two. "I may have committed burglary but it was against the most hated people in the town! If anything we're just taking back what they stole. Now that they are gone, it was almost convenient."
"Why the sword though?" Tori kept asking. Tom felt like he was going to have to wait a bit more time.
"I've had it for ages."
"Could you tell me where you got it from?"
"No comment."
She sighed, and slouched in her chair for a few seconds, making Curley confused on what was going to happen next. She began writing several notes on her pad, hiding it away from him and Tom. Tom frowned and looked back at the papers and pictures in front of him. Curley sat awkwardly on the other side and waited for the two to be finished.
"OK, I will forward all of this to the Brigade and the security team. You might be brought in by others for more questioning another day, but for now you need to return to the other chamber with the others." Tori got up and pressed a button the wall of the room creating a beeping sound and bringing in the security guards to escort Curley back out. The Koopa didn't say much; he just hoped he wouldn't be detained for long. His sword was kept with the Intel until further notice.
"So he just wanted to steal stuff." Tom looked back to Tori as she sat down on her chair.
"He pretty much showed up on his own terms, and he was probably one of the last to show up. He said everything was damaged when he got there." She waved her arm up in the air. "On with the next one."
"Bring in Convict Two."
The two watched to see a female Koopa being detained and brought in by the security guards. Her appearance stood out greatly and significantly, as if both of them knew of this person already. They could tell that she was relatively famous based on the appearance. Both of them were surprised to see such a dressed-up Koopa being arrested for similar things to Curley Morgins. Tori passed the next folder to Tom and opened it up for him, showing him the important attributes of the next arrested Koopa.
NAME: Kylie Koopa
AGE: 38
PLACE OF BIRTH: Falcon Park, Mushroom
CURRENT TOWN OF RESIDENCE: Munhraw, Delfino
SKIN COLOUR: Yellow
SHELL COLOUR: Red
CHARGES: Misinformation, Racketeering, Inciting Violence
NOTES: One of the first to show up, supposedly responsible for most of the vandalism caused by others, encouraged more people to break in to the Estate, Former Koopa Kronicle Journalist.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" Tom asked immediately after looking up from reading her fact file. He checked the pictures associated with her one more time, noticing her wielding a megaphone in many of the photos.
"Wouldn't you like to know, loser?" Kylie taunted him, putting her feet up on the table, not feeling any sort of guilt from what she did yesterday.
"Yes, that's exactly why I asked." Tom frowned and got up from his seat, pushing Kylie's legs off of the table. "Wait... Koopa? Do you happen to know... Bethel Koopa?" She smiled upon hearing the name. "I knew it." He looked back down on the fact file as she put her legs back up on the table again. "Originally from Falcon Park..."
"Us Koopas are everywhere, and we move often. Shitters like you guys are why life is so difficult for us sometimes."
"I take it you moved to Sarlan... after the Accords?"
"Fuck the Accords." Kylie said with pride. "I've been to a lot of places in my work, and thanks to Peach, I lost my job and I was also banned from the Mushroom Kingdom. I couldn't even move back home, so I was forced to get a place in Munhraw. Thankfully I managed to get a nice place before the price of everything skyrocketed."
"Despite all of this stress, you still manage to look this good." Tori complimented Kylie, making her blush a bit.
"Coming from you, sister." She smiled, trying to go off-topic.
"Anyways..." Tori moved on. "Born in Falcon Park and residing now in Munhraw... It says here you've lived in Teleney, Wakehill, Leaf Town, and even Sarasaland. What made you decide you'd be in Blockfort yesterday?"
"Uhh, thanks to everything being expensive and me being out a job, I'm now broke. Hearing the fact that everyone was arrested in Uldersal, it made me think. Maybe I can actually get some money if I just take it from the Rovins while they're all gone!"
"So, your intentions are true?" Tori glared back at Kylie, wanting to go back on that compliment she gave her. "You wanted to steal from the rich."
"Are you even a fed?" Kylie laughed, not paying attention to Tori's clothes. Clearly she had no idea about the Red Martyrs at all. "Nobody should be that rich. The Rovins have so much money they got from committing crimes anyway. They're the ones that should be arrested. Not me."
"But they are arrested." Tom reminded her. "Almost all of them are in this building behind bars. Don't make us put you there to. You need to work with me here." He signalled to Tori that he would like to take over with the questioning. "Do you remember seeing anybody notable when you were there? How long were you there for?"
"Oh hours." Kylie replied immediately. "Weren't you there yesterday as well?"
"I was there at the very end, after the races."
"Anyway, there were a few notable people I saw there yesterday. There were a lot of Koopas wearing masks. They were armed and dangerous; I just had to work with them so that I could protect myself. I wanted a lot from there, but it looked like those guys and girls would be the ones to get the most out of it."
"How many masked Koopas were there, are we talking Shy Guy-type masks or are we talking about something else?"
"These Koopas looked different, nothing like Shy Guys. They had dark masks, and their clothes were very mysterious, none like I had ever seen before."
"Interesting..."
"More on that, I don't know where they came from. I just know that they all sort of worked with eachother, and most of them ended up escaping. There were way more of them there than the amount of arrests the police made."
"Fair enough. I take it you didn't see Pom Pom, or Enrique, right?"
"I knew that Enrique was missing yesterday, but I didn't see him there. I didn't see Pom either I'm afraid, for that I am sorry. Am I going to be detained here for long? I'm sure what I did was nothing compared to what the actual raiders did."
"You incited violence." Tori interrupted the conversation Kylie was having with Tom. "You caused the violence to happen more or less."
"But they didn't show up because of me. Those Koopas all came together. They all came out with weapons too. I had to run and hide when they started using them on others." Kylie kept pleading as much as she could, trying to avoid a proper sentencing. It seemed that she also showed up to the estate for the reason of taking something back from her that they had stolen.
"I am going to have to deal with your case later." Tori replied to Kylie. "See yourself out and you will await your trial. Further questioning with the security team will lead to the type of punishment you deserve for your actions. Your charges are not what you speak about, so I will have to speak to others about this."
"Before you go, I need to ask you one thing." Tom interrupted Tori by speaking to Kylie one last time. "You said in regards to the Rovins that nobody should be that rich. What about Princess Toadstool?"
"Fuck Princess Toadstool." Tori pressed the button again and the guards came in to bring her out.
...
"Bring in Convict Three."
Tom and Tori were now met with someone completely different. As he was being seated by the guards, Tom flicked through his files before speaking to him.
NAME: Rufus Cynewinn
AGE: 24
PLACE OF BIRTH: Bedlam, Wuhu
CURRENT TOWN OF RESIDENCE: Westfells, Résethal
SKIN COLOUR: Pale
SHELL COLOUR: Dark
CHARGES: Vandalism, Armed Theft, Attempted Murder, Possession of Illegal Firearms, Possession of Illegal Melee Weapons
PREVIOUS CHARGES: Burglary, Theft, Power-Up Laundering
NOTES: Possibly radicalised, has previously been convicted for charges by the Wuhu Police force, possibly hostile, possessed a black mask, clothes changed to be examined.
Now this was certainly something that Tom and Tori were waiting for. This Koopa possibly turned out to be one of the few that were labelled as hostile. As the security guards dropped the Koopa to the seat where convicts always sat, they passed a clear bag of items over to Tom and Tori. Inside the bag were a black mask, a curved, dull dagger, and a small gun that looked to operate like a semi-automatic rifle. Tom examined them all and placed them on to the table, looking back at Rufus. The Koopa had said nothing at all since he arrived.
"Rufus Cynewinn..." Tori began. "You've been held accounted for more serious crimes compared to the people we have already questioned today. Could you perhaps cooperate with us today and give us a reason behind your actions? Do you have a motive for what you did yesterday?" The Koopa frowned, and said nothing back. His eyes moved all around the room, trying to distract himself and avoid the conversation starting in front of him. Tom passed the bag across the table to Tori, letting her open it up and get a feel of what was inside. The gun was unloaded, possibly already emptied by the police. As the knife was also dull, she believed that it may have not been used to kill.
"Why the mask?" Tom asked, reaching out and taking it from Tori. "Is this some sort of way to cover up your identity? Because you unmasked has managed to get us to know all about you." He thought that he could mock Rufus, shame him, embarrass him, any means of getting him to speak. "The notes we've received from the Intel here suggest that you have Hostile connections. Since you also reside in the Westfells, is it? There is sufficient evidence to declare that Hostile activity was involved during the ransacking of the Rovin Estate." He leaned over the table, putting the mask aside. "I think we have to ask you all what you did yesterday. It's true that these people are all the same, right?" He turned to Tori, who nodded back at him. "Good. Perhaps one of you will be useful for us. Once we're done with handling these guys we'll be sending them off to Aypyidaw. Hostiles like you would be much better treated by them."
"Moroq will not be happy." Rufus muttered under his breath.
"What was that, sorry?" Tom looked back to him, slightly gladdened by the fact that Rufus actually spoke.
"The Westfellers will come for you."
"Sure they will." Tom got up himself and walked over to the button to dismiss Rufus. It seemed to him that Tori had had enough of the hostile Koopa as well. Perhaps another of them would be more useful.
"Bring in Convict Four."
...
NAME: Kooble Nester
AGE: 25
PLACE OF BIRTH: Suhen, Disputed
CURRENT TOWN OF RESIDENCE: Westfells, Résethal
SKIN COLOUR: Yellow
SHELL COLOUR: Blue
CHARGES: Vandalism, Armed Theft, Attempted Murder, Possession of Illegal Melee Weapons
NOTES: Possibly radicalised, possessed a black mask, clothes changed to be examined.
This Koopa also didn't seem like a talker to Tom and Tori, but they tried anyway.
"Let's get straight to the point." Tom began before Tori could. "Hostile relations, moved up there for reasons such as disbelief in the government, wanting freedom, hating the southerners, all of that stuff. You've got illegal weapons which you probably bought from black market dealers. You were converted to hostile activity by other people and probably have some sort of hierarchy amongst them. We know all of this, OK? Let's talk." Tom flicked through the files all about Kooble. "They'll probably give all of you guys longer sentences because of the connections you have."
"What do you want from me?" Kooble interrupted Tom's lecture about things he already knew about himself.
"Oh, we actually have a talker." Tom chaotically smiled back to Tori. "Tell us why you were there then. What does a group of hostiles have anything to do with the Rovins? What did they do to you?"
"Why should I tell you that?" Kooble grunted. "I know that I would get a long sentence for this. There's nothing I can do to get myself out. Life's no good for me anymore anyway. I'll happily rot in my cell away than be a law-abiding citizen in these forsaken lands again."
"Why's that? Why do you hate it so much?" Tori asked. "I bet you haven't lived up north for three months. Do you know how dangerous it is up there?"
"It's still way better than down here. Your tyrannical Princess doesn't see through to the lives of us regular people. Up there gives us a sense of freedom and not having to do everything for her."
"So you want to shoot up and steal from other people who live here? I'll admit that the Rovins have a bad reputation but at least they mostly conformed to the laws of the land."
"If we stormed a house full of criminals in Résethal we'd be rewarded for it, not punished for it. Why are you protecting the very same people who killed Captain Toad and the others?" Tori grew angered at Kooble, thinking everything he said was utter nonsense and without purpose.
"I give my life to protect those from people like the ones you now serve. You're nothing to the true hostiles. Radicalised Koopas are nothing but puppets. How does it make me feel knowing that every day there are more and more of you idiots moving up there?"
"You should feel amazed. It's only a matter of time before we all come back." Tori was really trying to resist the urge to assault Kooble in the small room they were in. She had completely had enough of him; all she could do now was dismiss him and hope the next person would provide more use to her. Every single person she saw today had only made her more depressed and drained.
"Bring in Convict Five."
NAME: Harriet Ajam
AGE: 30
PLACE OF BIRTH: Mozortavo, Disputed
CURRENT TOWN OF RESIDENCE: Bluchest, Résethal
SKIN COLOUR: Orange
SHELL COLOUR: Green
CHARGES: Vandalism, Racketeering, Attempted Murder, Possession of Illegal Firearms
NOTES: Possibly radicalised, possessed a black mask, clothes changed to be examined.
"This one's another radicalised Koopa." Tori whispered to Tom as they watched the female sit down on the chair after being brought in the security guards. The two were given pistols that appeared to be the same make as the ones used by the Toad Patrol. Very few of these had been in circulation, possibly being an answer to why there was a lack of some.
"Where do all of these Koopas get their guns from?" Tom said back to her, examining it.
"Anyway, let's get straight to the point with this one." She began. "What were you doing in Blockfort?" Harriet looked far less intimidating than anyone else they had spoken to today. Instead of appearing aggressive or uncooperative, she appeared very cowardly and guilty.
"It was... a task." She said something, and it was enough for Tori at least.
"How many of you were there?"
"More than ten." She replied immediately to her. "The operation was led by someone else. He got away, along with many others. I didn't know what I was getting in to." The Koopa appeared very innocent and easy to work with, but Tom didn't seem so sure about her. He wanted to be fully convinced of her actions and wanted as much as he could get from her.
"Why were you tasked to for such an event?" Tori asked again.
"It's like these hostile Koopas are part of a sort of team, and they work together scheming about." Tom added.
"Oh, I used to deal with these types of people all the time when I was doing the skirmishes up there with the rest of the Red Martyrs." She turned her head back to him.
"Hold on a second." Tom leaned forward and held Harriet before speaking. "Go back to Tori's question later and answer me this: when did you first move to Bluchest. I assume it wasn't too long ago."
"Early January. I knew that I would have it worse off with everything happening to us so I was stuck between the choice of keeping my life down here or joining my friends where I would be more free and welcome. Governments and money just wasn't for me... perhaps I was wrong."
"It's the Mushroom Accords." Tom whispered to Tori. "Anyway, since you are being so nice with us, we might look in to giving you are nicer sentencing. Depending on whether you are moved to Aypyidaw or not, I'm sure we can have a say in this. Could you please describe to us your task there, and whether or not you saw anything unusual there?"
"I did notice a really large Koopa. She was tied up and rigorously trying to break free. It wasn't our intention to do so but some of my friends thought freeing her was a good idea. I personally don't think it was."
"Did you see any humans there?"
"I'm afraid not. I wasn't there for too long, it was well in to the afternoon when I arrived. By then, a lot of it was a mess anyway."
"Would you say you are anti-government then, since you've become what is called Hostile."
"Of course. I don't like the way life in the south is now. Everything has become expensive and if you're not living in the Mushroom Kingdom you are pretty much unable to have proper living standards. Everything became so expensive and a lot of work was regulated." Harriet leaned in to whisper to the two, knowing that they were third-party questioners. "The Toad Brigade has gotten so much worse since the start of this year. Also, thanks to Peach, I had to pay even more to her for everything I earned when I was working. I don't wish death upon anybody but she has gotten so evil!"
"You've been arrested for attempted murder as well you know." Tom laughed, presenting the fact file over to her.
"Bullshit!" Harriet argued. "It was because of those other idiots at the Estate. There were hundreds at that place when we were there, getting in our way for what we needed."
"And what was it you wanted? If you hate money, why rob a rich person? It sounds a bit stupid if you ask me."
"It wasn't the money we wanted. It was the weapons. Boss' orders. The place was filled with them, and now that they were all gone, it was the perfect time to get them."
"Who's 'Boss', is it Moroq?"
"How did you know that?"
"Someone else dropped his name." Tom leaned back down on his seat, feeling like he was done with this person now. "Anyways, thank you for cooperating with us. Your information provided will not go to waste. I must ask you one question though. If you were given the opportunity again to decide on whether you'd move to the north or stay in the south, what would you do?"
"The same damn thing." Harriet replied immediately. "In hindsight I should just be more careful with how I live up there. Not everyone who's a northerner is hostile. It's just when those other Koopas came down preaching their better lives up there, I thought it was the only way I could see my friends there. I just... didn't know what I had signed up for." She began to look to the floor, a tear slowly descended her face, and then another appeared on the other side.
"She's misunderstood." Tori looked at Tom. "Harriet, there's no such thing as a good Hostile. You're a good person, and not a Hostile. I will happily take care of you and help you recover from this choice you had made. If you are having problems with living under the new standards in the south, I can do my best to see to someone who can help you with it." She nodded to Tom and went around to comfort the crying Koopa. "I'll see you once we're finished here."
...
"Bring in Convict Six."
NAME: 'Dave'
AGE: N/A
PLACE OF BIRTH: N/A
CURRENT TOWN OF RESIDENCE: Westfells, Résethal
SKIN COLOUR: Yellow
SHELL COLOUR: N/A
CHARGES: Burglary, Armed Theft, Vandalism, Racketeering, Attempted Murder, Inciting Violence, Possession of Illegal Firearms, Possession of Illegal Melee Weapons, Possession of Explosives, Arson
NOTES: See charges above. Not radicalised; most likely a proper hostile, convict has no previous background, and no other aliases.
This Koopa looked completely deranged and demented. Tom and Tori were already sick enough of reading the fact file. Seeing the giant bag of everything the Koopa possessed despite not even having a shell made them both go crazy.
"This some fucking joke." Tom slammed the table. "I don't even want to talk to this one. Get him out of here." He turned to Tori right after the security that brought the Koopa in had left. "NEXT, PLEASE!"
"Bring in Convict Seven."
Tori gasped upon noticing this Koopa. Tom quickly checked her fact files to keep him up to date with this one.
NAME: Lynne Fisadi
AGE: 31
PLACE OF BIRTH: Koron, Résethal
CURRENT STATUS OF RESIDENCE: Uchast, Résethal
SKIN COLOUR: Pale
SHELL COLOUR: Pale
CHARGES: Inciting Violence, Racketeering, Possession of Illegal Firearms
NOTES: Gathered knowledge suggests convict was there for the longest time, non-radical; reputable for frequent visits to Wuhu and Disputed towns.
"I actually recognise this person." Tori stood up from her seat, glaring down at the Koopa. "We've got you in our own database."
"I can never get away from people like you!" The seventh detained convict tried to lean over the table and argue in a threatening way back to Tori, but was stopped after seeing Tom raise a few inches from his seat. "What do you already know then?"
"I want to know what happened to my friend." Tom asked.
"The human? The blonde boy?" Lynne laughed whilst maintaining her aggression towards the other two. "He was dealt with well before we arrived. Word has it that somebody put a bullet in to his back and took him out in the morning. Getting rid of him and dealing with the other big Koopa should have given the entire house to our own! But then the retard southerners showed up, and then you guys." She noticed that Tom's body began to shake. His mind crippled with fear and anger. He became fully enraged on the inside, and what she thought would happen to him upon hearing it was nothing compared to how he actually felt.
"That's a lie." Tom said quietly, shaking his arms. "That's a dirty lie!"
"Tom, control yourself." Tori whispered to him as he got up from his seat.
"Stay back Tori." He started to stutter more; the pitch in his voice going up slightly. He lost it, moving around the table to stand right in front of Lynne. "Tell me where he actually is. He's not dead. I won't believe it!"
"They said he's dead! Don't you get it human?"
"LIES!" He reached for Lynne. She tried to defend herself but Tom managed to grab the neck of her clothes and drag her off her chair. The security guards viewing from the outside made an attempt to get back in to the chamber to stop Tom from assaulting the Koopa but Jack was watching too, and his disheartened self stopped the Delfino security guards from getting in to the room. Stan and Rick couldn't help but watch what was going on from outside the chamber.
"Stop, please." Jack, taking several deep breaths defended himself from the guards, using only his hands to stop them from reaching the door or moving him.
"LOOK IN TO MY EYES AND TELL ME YOU'RE WRONG." Tom held Lynne up to the wall and raised her up from the ground. She looked down on him from being raised up and spat on his face.
"He was in the way of our plan. He had to go. We had to get rid of all the humans that crossed our path." She grinned.
Tom grabbed her neck, pulled her off of the wall and slammed her body straight back on to it, several times. He screamed out his rage in the room, tightening his grip on the Koopa's neck. Tori would try and stop him from doing so to anyone else, except she knew this hostile and knew of her previous crimes. She just let him take his toll on her. One bash to the wall, another bash to the wall, a third bash to the wall. Lynne stopped smiling at Tom and started to shout and scream from the pain she was getting. Her neck trapped within Tom's hand caused her to gag and reach her arms out to try and save herself. Tom just couldn't do it. He showed mercy, and released his tight grip on the Koopa's neck. Lynne fell to the floor, only a few seconds away from suffocation. She breathed heavily, and crawled away from Tom, hiding by the side of the table in the room away from him. Tom made a punch to the wall, trying to relieve his anger. He was far from getting rid of it all, but he just couldn't end someone else's life as a way of venting his rage.
"More humans." Lynne coughed. "The Big Koopa... freed." Tom looked back to her, feeling the slightest chance that he could still be alive, but what other humans could have possibly been there? He was feeling too many emotions at once for him to handle. Tom leaned against the wall, and the doors finally opened to show him the security guards rushing over to him. He could see Jack behind them, his face was as red as Tom's, and tears were present too. Tori got out a tissue from her pocket and handed it over to Tom, helping him wipe the tears off his face and get rid of the spit stains made by Lynne.
"Leave Tom alone." Tori halted the guards. "He's endured enough today. I want Lynne to be separated from the rest. Send her to the Mushroom Kingdom. Everyone else but Harriet will go to Aypyidaw. Let me deal with those two."
"There's still one more left." Tom reminded her. She dismissed the security guards and Jack out of the room. She knew that Stan and Rick were still watching from the one-way window outside.
"Get Lynne out, now." Before the guards left, they went around and grabbed Lynne without caution, dragging her out of the room. Her evil glare from before had completely disappeared from her face. She was now petrified, and possibly staying that way for the rest of the night.
"Bring in Convict Eight."
NAME: Hurka Doghir
AGE: 27
PLACE OF BIRTH: Westfells, Résethal
CURRENT TOWN OF RESIDENCE: Westfells, Résethal
SKIN COLOUR: Yellow
SHELL COLOUR: Blue
CHARGES: Burglary, Armed Theft, Vandalism, Possession of Illegal Melee Weapons
NOTES: Hostile, has a record with the Red Martyrs.
Tori and Tom were both sick and tired of having to deal with these Koopas. It was getting to their head. The stress and pain of handling all the different views, opinions, and hard facts from them became too much to handle. Thankfully only one of them was left.
The Red Martyr in the room also recognised this Koopa, but she only knew him through connections. She had never encountered this Koopa herself. All she knew about him before was that he was actually not very threatening. Instead of imposing violence, he was just known for stealing. He was nervous entering the room. Tori believed that he possibly overheard the sounds coming from the chamber with Lynne inside. He had also seen the battered and bruised Koopa get taken away before he entered. When he sat down, he noticed the two with very stressed and tired looks on their faces.
"I don't want to look like Lynne." The last Koopa convict said since there was complete silence in the room. "Should I begin then? I can tell you everything." Tom and Tori slowly turned their heads towards eachother. A second later they turned their heads back to face Hurka and nodded.
"First, tell us what happened to Enrique." Tom asked.
"I was also one of the first to arrive. I know this because Lynne was too. We were not the first out of our group to arrive. We all had masks because we needed to distinguish ourselves from the rest. We came to take all of the weapons we could find because we needed to match ourselves against worse odds. You have to believe me here when I say this, but you're not our only enemies. You're nothing compared to the other things we have to deal with."
"Wait... what?" Tori's arms dropped. "Are you... joking?" Hurka shook his head. "I'll get back to you on that. Keep talking." She placed her arms on her forehead and held her hair above her eyes, awkwardly looking around the room.
"Anyways. I'm going to tell you what I can, but I need you to listen to me here. Anything in regards to the reason behind our raid there, you must leave the Hostiles alone. What we did is not for any purpose down south. The Rovins are a weapons bank, and we robbed it. We need them for ourselves to deal with a couple of other people beyond the mountains."
"Fine whatever." Tom felt like he was already done with this Koopa. "Tell me what you know about any human activity you found there." Hurka got himself ready to continue his story. Hopefully he could keep Tom and Tori entertained, despite knowing that both of them hated him already.
"Apparently someone shot him, but his body didn't stay. I don't know if he died either. There were two other humans that showed up and they took his body away. We also found out that the Rovin leaders – or the heads of the family – were on the run. We had to take what we can and run. The other Koopas showed up, trying to take their riches and wealth but that wasn't what we came for. We had to hold them back so we could leave with what we got. Some of us started evacuating the town and hunting the last of the Rovins as well as the humans with the other one's body. Those two humans that we saw, we've seen them before. They've got all sorts of stuff that we want as well. Before I was able to get out with what I had, the feds showed up. What I would have done had I escaped was chase after both of them, not for the body. He wasn't supposed to be shot or killed. I'm sorry if he was." Hurka couldn't tell if Tom was listening or not. They all just looked defeated in the room, and it looked like the Koopa was ready to give it all up, despite giving everything he knew to them. "Everyone's a different person up there. They can give you lies, they can give you truths, but all opinions are different. Please, trust mine. I don't want to do anything to the southerners, especially the innocents."
"Well you would still be sentenced and moved to Aypyidaw like most of the others. I'm going to make another exception to you though." Tori finally responded after Hurka was finished. "Do you know a Koopa called Harriet?"
"Yes, bless her she did nothing wrong." Hurka slid on his seat. "Such a sweet heart."
"I'm going to deal with you two separately."
"Could you tell me one more thing though?" Tom asked Hurka. "Do you know anything about Pom Pom?"
"She was freed. Wasn't our doing." The Koopa was finished with his confessions, and finally the two were done with questioning the Koopas. Tom got up from his chair, holding the slightest belief that Enrique was missing and not dead. What annoyed him so much was the fact that the races were still once per day, and that being bound to these laws frustrated him as he couldn't spend consecutive days with others searching for his friend. He headed for the door and opened it, letting the security guards in to deal with Hurka. Tori stayed in her chair for some more time, dreading about having to deal with all of these convicts with the others. She was now finished with investigating the eastern coast for any suspicious or hostile activity within the towns. Now she would spend the next few days with Stan and Rick on this matter. She would have to let Eoréc or Archbarn know about everything, and let Toadbert and Toadsworth know that they are officially dismissed. The same goes for Toad and Toadette. Although Stan and Rick were not able to cover everywhere on their search, they had other priorities now and they felt it was safe to say that everywhere they hadn't checked would be safe anyway. The Toad Brigade and the Kingdom police forces will have to check the remaining towns themselves. The ones most likely to have hostile activity would be the ones closer to the mountains or in the disputed area.
Tom was met with a big hug by Jack, turning him towards the elevator of the floor. It was super late at night, and the two were starving after spending the whole evening here. The two needed to prepare for tomorrow, another race without Enrique.
"They mentioned other humans. Who could those be?" Jack asked, escorting Tom to the lift.
"I don't know." Tom replied. "I'm not in the mood to talk. Let's just head back to my place.
...
Tori would go on to spend all night at the police station. Stan and Rick were there to accompany her as well. They had contacted Eoréc and Neodjan about their new tasks, and went to see the remaining high arrests. The three Red Martyrs met with the security guards working on the same floor and categorised the remaining eight convicts in to three categories. Their first category was the non-hostile prisoners. This included Curley Morgins and Kylie Koopa. They were dealt with very quickly, being sentenced to four and eight weeks in prison respectively. The second category they were going to discuss amongst themselves with was the innocent Hostile Koopas. This covered Harriet Ajam and Hurka Doghir. They were sent to a separate room and left with eachother there until Tori would be finished with the remaining four. Those four would be put in to a third category for hostile criminals. Among these were Rufus Cynewinn, Kooble Nester, 'Dave', and Lynne Fisadi. All four of them behaved very differently when they were sent to their grouped cell. They were all handcuffed to a different corner of the room, and the three Red Martyrs spoke to them all from the entrance. Rufus was sitting still, but looking all around the room and being silent. Kooble couldn't stop talking to them. All he wanted to do was to annoy the three and stall their progress as much as he could. He would later be gagged with tape whenever the Martyrs were talking to others. Dave the Koopa couldn't control himself whilst being cuffed. He didn't say anything, but he would still be a nuisance to the others. Lynne was still affected by the harsh wounds given to her by Tom, and so she sat in the corner and did literally nothing. Stan and Rick would go on to spend the next half hour getting final bits of information before being ready to send them off in to a police truck up to Aypyidaw where they would spend their days behind bars until further notice. Tori was just concerned from hearing the name 'Moroq Kruboe' get dropped another time whilst overhearing the others on her way to the chamber she put Harriet and Hurka in.
"We're going to be okay. We don't need to live this life anymore." She overheard Hurka trying to calm Harriet down. In the distance, Tori could see that Harriet was crying, and that she couldn't control her emotions and her guilt for being arrested. She always knew that if there was one situation she would never want to be in, it would be being under arrest by both the Toad Brigade and the Red Martyrs. Hurka noticed Tori approaching and turned his head to face her. He was still comforting Harriet, trying to stop her from sobbing. Tori entered the cell that the two were placed in and closed the door behind her, trusting the two she put her with to not hurt her.
"Can you see how I've made a massive risk here?" She softly mentioned to the others. "I've come in to this cell unarmed and you two could have attacked me already. You two are genuine, aren't you?" Harriet still sat and stared at the floor, covering her face with her arms. Hurka looked up to Tori and nodded.
"We just want peace." Hurka replied.
"How did you two get to know each other? I'm assuming you knew each other before today." Tori went down and sat with the two. "I'm here to help you two. Anything that you two need, I can get you. I know you've seen my people as your enemies before, but know that I'm here on my own and here to help."
"Harriet was one of the new recruits to our tribe. Originally she moved up here to a town not too far from mine to live freely away from the presence of the three Kingdoms and Pauline. I read up and learned that the Mushroom Accords severely impacted people living in that area. She had to move. One month in, I met her through the community. She's a very innocent girl, but she needed some friends. Little did she know what some people I know get up to. What happened today may be seen as another day at work for me. But I could tell that Harriet was scared." Hurka explained to Tori what things were like being someone who was born and raised in the Résethal district. She became more interested in Harriet's lack of interaction with her.
"Is there anything you want to say?" Tori asked Harriet, hoping to see what she was thinking about.
"I want to go back home, but I don't at the same time." She tried to make a sentence, wiping the tears on her face. "Life was just perfect for a few years, but I guess this year I learned that Bowser is kind of needed in this world."
"What do you mean by that?" Tori asked. "Are you telling me... that things were better when Bowser was still a threat to the Mushroom Kingdom?"
"Of course!" Harriet replied in a very high pitch. "Her finally winning the war against him didn't give her any right to infringe upon the other Kingdoms. My life before this year had nothing to do with any of the actions she made. But now, everywhere was regulated. I was discriminated against because I was a Koopa. The humans moved out of Donk City and in came the Toads." She kept looking back at the floor. Tori could start to piece one thing with another and realise why Harriet decided to move up north. "They took away my friends and replaced them with racists and police." Harriet finished.
"I know where Harriet's coming from."Hurka began to speak again. "Bowser's defeat displaced thousands of Koopas. Toad Brigade came to the other towns with them and they can't distinguish anybody. They just assume everyone is somewhat evil."
"Everything's expensive now as well." Harriet complained. "Everything's become unaffordable. I couldn't even afford a couple of tickets to the tournament races. Lord please, let Bowser win. Let him live." Tori could understand everything now. Being from a neutral perspective, she could tell that these people would prefer living a life with Bowser still imposing on the Mushroom Kingdom, because with this outcome, about 99% of the Koopa population would be better off at a cost of a small percentage of Toads safety.
"What's your name?" Hurka asked.
"Tori."
"Listen to me, Tori. Peach is corrupt." She paused for a few seconds.
"I'll see what I can do with you two. For Hurka, I can quietly return you back to the Westfells. I want you to stay in contact with me though, as I want to spend some time with you getting to know more about what things are like where you live. You told me that you had other enemies to deal with. If you can tell me more about that then I will be able to relay this with the Red Martyrs and we will not intervene with the Westfells ever again. There are some conditions with this that I will tell you about later." Tori turned her head back to Harriet, trying to check if she would listen to her. "As for Harriet, I will speak to the Toad Brigade and the high-council of the Red Martyrs about her current state of affairs. She is probably not the only one who moved because of her reasons. Hopefully we can try and make a change to the way life is in the south and get everything back to normal. I wouldn't bet on anything immediate, but if Bowser wins, perhaps that could help us massively."
"He's doing very well at the moment." Hurka added. "He just needs to break away from everyone else."
"I could have asked Tom and Enrique to help him win, but then I remember... one of your friends put a bullet in Enrique so... we can't have all what we want." Tori got up and headed back to cell's entrance. "I've got to see the rest of the convicts off. Make yourselves comfortable in the beds around you. I'll see you tomorrow."
EOC: This was a bit of an unexpected chapter to write. I hope it helps you all see more of the way others are handling these times.
See you next chapter!