Chapter 42 Breakfast in the Society
"Good morning, Starbite Society," a voice said over an intercom that Roy hadn't even noticed was there until now. "We would like you all to come together in the dining room so that we can partake in having breakfast. We would also like to welcome our two newest recruits: Roy Koopa and Celia Patch. Please treat them well and remember to make them feel welcome into our ranks. As usual, no running in the halls and please respond to what Kamark says to you respectfully. Yes, that means you, Aric."
With that, the intercom was cut out. Roy yawned and stretched, rubbing his eyes. He realized that he was pretty hungry. He wondered what kind of food that the Starbite Society served. Maybe they had pizza? Ooh, that would be cool; pizza for breakfast. Thinking about this, Roy leapt out of bed and made his way out of his room. The sight of the bed headed Celia greeted him when he stepped out the door.
"Hey," she said, rubbing her eyes as she did so.
"Hey," said Roy. He snickered. "Is that your hair or a tumbleweed?"
Celia made a face and ran her fingers through her unruly mane. As she tried to tame it, Roy noticed that a lot more people were exiting their rooms too. They all groggily made their way toward the dining room.
"We should follow them," Roy said. Celia nodded, and the two followed the Society members. Honestly, the way that they limply dragged themselves down the corridors reminded Roy of zombies. Perhaps they didn't have pizza for breakfast, but rather, brains.
They got to the dining room within no time at all. Everyone took their assigned seats, including Roy and Celia. They sat down in the places that Marcus had pointed out yesterday. Roy got himself as comfortable as he could possibly get, which is to say, as snug as a bug in a rug. Once he was all settled, he examined the other Society members. Maybe it was due to the fact that he wasn't immobilized this time around, but they didn't look as tough as they did yesterday. They looked...normal.
"Hey."
Roy blinked when he heard a voice addressing him from the right hand side. He turned toward the owner; a Dragon Koopa with black skin similar to Morton's. Also like Morton, she had a generously sized starbite plastered across her left eye.
"I'm Lei. It's nice to meet you."
Roy nodded. "Nice to meet you. We're new."
"So I've heard." She laughed. "I was there in the room when Kamark dragged you in unconscious. I've gotta say, you two really shocked him."
Roy snickered and patted Celia on the shoulder. "Yeah. We're a shocking duo of dudettes."
Lei laughed, as did Celia. "You're a dudette?" Celia asked.
Roy felt his face grow warm when he realized what he said. "Oh! No, that's not what I meant. I was just...since Celia is a dudette…." His face grew warmer. "Ignore me. I'm dumb."
There was silence. Lei nodded as Celia moved on from her laughter. The dark skinned Koopa turned toward the table in the center, and her blue eyes lit up. "Oh look! There's Kamark now!"
Roy glanced at the center. The magikoopa who had tortured him was now settling down in his seat. Roy could see a sort of...offness to his features. Like most of the society members, he looked groggy, which made sense. However, what didn't make much sense was the fact that he also looked grumpy. And not just the type of grumpy you feel when you roll outta bed, oh no. He looked aggravated. He looked like he didn't want to be here, like he had a million other and better things to do. His eyes met Roy's for a brief spell, and he turned away. His mouth also moved, indicating he was muttering something under his breath.
Roy blinked. What was this guy's deal?
"Oh man," said Lei. "Kamark must be having a hard day." She faced Roy and Celia. "He wouldn't even come out of his room at all after he met you guys."
Celia nodded. "It's because he knows my dad."
"Yeah, it appears that way," Lei said with a nod. "I'm relatively new to the society, so I don't know what happened. However, I do know that it left a big enough impact on Kamark for him to want to keep Singe's room around. Seriously, I have never seen him do that before!"
Roy nodded. "Yeah. Marcus told us that during the tour yesterday." He looked over at the center table. He saw Marcus settling down in his seat. He waved at the Koopa troopa, who gave him a nod. Roy then turned back toward his group. "It's strange."
"Yeah," Lei said. She put on a smile. "But that's probably not worth dwelling over. What did you think of the hideout?"
Roy's face lifted. "It was cool! The bedroom hallway in particular is really sweet!"
"Yeah. It's enchanted. From what I hear, Kamark is really talented in comparison to most other magikoopas, and a whole heck of a lot more powerful. Not as powerful as, say, Kamek, as they are the magikoopa advisor to the king."
Roy laughed. "Oh yes. I am very much aware of that fact."
Lei laughed. "Yeah. But Kamark is pretty strong." She gestured for Roy and Celia to lean in closer, and she whispered to them "I've heard rumors that he has figured out how to travel back and forth between the Underhwere and here."
Roy's eyes grew wide. "What? Woah, that's cool."
"It is. I don't know if it's true though; I've never heard of another magikoopa doing that. But considering how powerful he is, it is a pretty believable rumor."
Roy felt his heart pump. He looked over at Kamark, who was in the middle of a discussion with Marcus. It really was no wonder why the Starbite Society didn't want to defy him.
"Breakfast!"
Roy perked up. Breakfast! Finally! He turned toward the door and saw a group of Koopa troopas carrying the plates over their heads, not too dissimilar to how the koopa troopa waiters in Bowser's Castle did. They set plates in front of each of the Society members. Roy licked his lips when he saw what was on the menu; a veggie omelette with a side of strawberries. Considering veggie omelettes were his favorite breakfast dish of all time, he gladly dug into his meal. As he took his first bite, he noticed Celia sipping into her food as well. Her eyes lit up as soon as she tasted it.
"This is pretty good."
"Yeah!" Roy said. "Trust me, veggie omelets are the best things ever; bar none." He took another bite.
Celia laughed. "I'm just glad that I'm getting an actual meal that wasn't stolen for once."
Roy felt uncomfortable when that was uttered. Stolen. So that was how she got by in the sewer. Man. He didn't know whether or not he was disgusted with her, sad for her, or if he understood why she did it. After all, she had been all by herself. Perhaps he felt a little bit of all three?
Either way, he cut into his omelet. The flavors blended together in a fluffy, nutritious mixture. Roy's taste buds felt like they were going on their honeymoon as he ate up the dish. By the time he was done, he turned back to Lei.
"Man, you guys have a good cook. And considering the food I'm used to eating is tailored made for royalty, that's saying a lot."
Lei laughed. "Yeah. Marshall is pretty talented. Kamark selected him specifically because he wants to make sure that all the nutritional needs of the society are met."
Roy beamed. "Well then, mission accomplished!"
Just then, Kamark stood up at his table and cleared his throat. Marcus did the same thing, clearing his throat so that the whole hideout would turn toward him. They did just that, and once the place was silent, Kamark spoke up.
"As you are all aware, today is Monday. That means that we all have important duties to fulfill. After breakfast, we are going Monty mole hunting."
Roy blinked. Monty mole...hunting? Like, hunting with rifles and guns and power ups? Uhh… why did the Society do that?
"So, hurry up and finish. I wish to be out the door within the next ten minutes."
With that, Kamark left, his face just as grumpy as when he had come in. Roy blinked, still confused, when Marcus came over to the table.
"You two will be attending the hunt," he stated. It wasn't even an offer; it was a command. "You will be staying with me so that I can train you and show you what you need to do."
Roy swallowed a lump. "Uh. Okay. Great." With that, Marcus left, leaving behind a pit in Roy's stomach.