Luigi threw water on his face. It was hard to believe, but they had
actually made some progress after their grueling adventure. No one was in
the mood to laugh, and Wednesday night was turning into Thursday morning.
Toad sat in a seat at the table, glazed over, while Mario tiresomely
thumbed through the pages for about the fortieth time. Mallow and Geno sat
at the computers searching through every database they could find. The
only information that they had come up with before then was that they had
seen Ninjis on the island before they met up with the Marios. It wasn't
exactly useful information. Yoshi sat on an old futon, with a telephone in
one hand, and a joint in the other. He was calling everyone he could think
of. Anyone besides Boshi that could give any information. Everyone's mood
had grown dark as the sky had done the same. Everyone had been working for
the past four hours, trying to figure out what to do next. Though, they
weren't the only ones. Every agent employed by the Sarassaland
Administration was exhausting every method of investigation. Mario thought
of it all as just a really bad episode of Law & Order. No one had received
word from Peach, Daisy, Wario, or Waluigi. They were a little more than
worried.
When Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Geno, Mallow, and Toad left Blooper, Toad had brought with him an envelope of what looked like a detailed plan involving plants. It was also marked "CONFIDENTIAL." Some of the papers were miniature blueprints, some were lists of names, the rest looked like computer code. But, none of them explained what or where anything was happening. The vines, leaves, buds, and flowers were now swinging around almost half of the Mushroom Kingdom. The situation had only gotten a lot worse, and looked to be even more devastating by the end of the week. The group needed to stay somewhere, and since Luigi knew people at the Sarassaland government headquarters, he explained the situation to them, and they checked the group into a nearby hotel. They also contacted the Mushroom investigators and exchanged information with them. Geno and Mallow were trying to come up with anything from the press that would reveal something tied to the black flowers from a while back. When Mario's head almost hit the table, he noticed a name that shot him right back up. Scojum. Scojum from Mushroom? Rose? Tadpole? Nimbus? No. It was Scojum from Blooper. Mario wouldn't have noticed it if there were a last name. It was only listed as Scojum, so it hit in nerve in Mario. He pushed himself up and jumped out of the seat.
"Scojum! Scojum! Bar on Blooper. The guy that Waluigi knew! The ex- Ninji!" Mario was astonished he saw that very man on the list stolen from King Boo's base. The others slithered out of their half-asleep states. Luigi and Toad knew who Scojum was, but not Yoshi, Mallow and Geno. Yoshi asked about Scojum.
"So, what's so important about a guy that Waluigi knew?" He expected no result.
"He's on this roster." Mario explained his way through the narrow turn of events. "It's a list that's only marked 'Agents Removed Before Operation: Shy.'" Mallow was still having trouble with it.
"So... I still don't get how that connects." Mario added more detail to the tapestry.
"Some of the papers here are biological reports on the black flowers, and others are blueprints for what looks like a pyramid-shaped stone structure." He flipped back and forth to confirm his thoughts. "Yeah. Yeah, that means that the Shy Guys are the ones producing these damn things, and Ninjis were helping the Shy Guys on Blooper that Mallow and Geno saw earlier."
Luigi couldn't be convinced of this at all. "Now, isn't that a real stretch...?" Mario plainly ignored him, and continued with the realization in which he was so engrossed.
"I think there's a connection. "Operation: Shy" is probably their codename for selling their services to the Shy Guys on Shy Island and on Blooper." Mario wrapped his opinion tightly.
Luigi was still sure this was impossible. "Well, wouldn't there be Ninjis going to Shy in baboom-numbers?" It was what convinced him that the Ninjis wouldn't go to Shy Island. Just then, Geno stripped that away. He was the only one that still hadn't looked up what he was doing. He and Geno had looked back in the news and kingdom reports for as far as the first time Tatanga invaded Sarassaland. But what they were looking for was right under their nose, and in their own time. All six of the men had been gone overnight. They hadn't seen the latest daily headlines that even the coastline sources see. Still staring at the screen, Geno read the title:
"Ninji Troops Head for Shy Island In Large Numbers."
"Oh..." Yoshi rocked back and forth. He was high at the time, but knew exactly what was wrong. "Urrrgh..." he complained, "SHIT! He's right. I just wish he wasn't."
"What's wrong with Shy Guys? Remember when Wart came? Even I knocked a few out. This should be a piece of cake if they're the ones makin' these things!" Toad then coughed loudly. His throat was still sore from Boshi's torture on Yo'Ster. His mind was also slightly tired from his long and deadly nap. Yoshi clarified the problem.
"Shy Guys are no good at fighting when they're over here. When they're at their base, Shy Temple, with their weapons and their resources and their booby-trapped temple..." Yoshi trailed off in a frustrated and tired voice.
"I'm not going there." Mallow made up his mind instantly. "I've got a kingdom to protect when my folks need to pass it to me." Geno also did the same.
"This wooden doll barely got me through repairing the Star Road, and it's the only thing I could still use all my powers in. I won't make it if I go with you guys up against both assassin groups."
"Alright," Mario reluctantly accepted their resignation. "But you guys are still gonna need to gather information. We need all the help we can get."
"Anything." Mallow agreed. Luigi finalized the situation. He seemed desperate.
"Wario and Waluigi are missing, which is... bad, I guess. Peach and Daisy are missing, which is horrible. We've been captured by Goomba AND Boo, the virus flowers are still running amok, and the only way to uncover anything else is for Mario, Yoshi, Toad, any spare soldiers, and myself to go to Shy Island and go up against the Shy Guys and the Ninjis." He stood frozen, at 2 A.M., his hair a mess, and his life already on the line. Toad looked across the table at the equally drained Mario.
He slid him a bottle, and offered. "Whiskey?"
When Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Geno, Mallow, and Toad left Blooper, Toad had brought with him an envelope of what looked like a detailed plan involving plants. It was also marked "CONFIDENTIAL." Some of the papers were miniature blueprints, some were lists of names, the rest looked like computer code. But, none of them explained what or where anything was happening. The vines, leaves, buds, and flowers were now swinging around almost half of the Mushroom Kingdom. The situation had only gotten a lot worse, and looked to be even more devastating by the end of the week. The group needed to stay somewhere, and since Luigi knew people at the Sarassaland government headquarters, he explained the situation to them, and they checked the group into a nearby hotel. They also contacted the Mushroom investigators and exchanged information with them. Geno and Mallow were trying to come up with anything from the press that would reveal something tied to the black flowers from a while back. When Mario's head almost hit the table, he noticed a name that shot him right back up. Scojum. Scojum from Mushroom? Rose? Tadpole? Nimbus? No. It was Scojum from Blooper. Mario wouldn't have noticed it if there were a last name. It was only listed as Scojum, so it hit in nerve in Mario. He pushed himself up and jumped out of the seat.
"Scojum! Scojum! Bar on Blooper. The guy that Waluigi knew! The ex- Ninji!" Mario was astonished he saw that very man on the list stolen from King Boo's base. The others slithered out of their half-asleep states. Luigi and Toad knew who Scojum was, but not Yoshi, Mallow and Geno. Yoshi asked about Scojum.
"So, what's so important about a guy that Waluigi knew?" He expected no result.
"He's on this roster." Mario explained his way through the narrow turn of events. "It's a list that's only marked 'Agents Removed Before Operation: Shy.'" Mallow was still having trouble with it.
"So... I still don't get how that connects." Mario added more detail to the tapestry.
"Some of the papers here are biological reports on the black flowers, and others are blueprints for what looks like a pyramid-shaped stone structure." He flipped back and forth to confirm his thoughts. "Yeah. Yeah, that means that the Shy Guys are the ones producing these damn things, and Ninjis were helping the Shy Guys on Blooper that Mallow and Geno saw earlier."
Luigi couldn't be convinced of this at all. "Now, isn't that a real stretch...?" Mario plainly ignored him, and continued with the realization in which he was so engrossed.
"I think there's a connection. "Operation: Shy" is probably their codename for selling their services to the Shy Guys on Shy Island and on Blooper." Mario wrapped his opinion tightly.
Luigi was still sure this was impossible. "Well, wouldn't there be Ninjis going to Shy in baboom-numbers?" It was what convinced him that the Ninjis wouldn't go to Shy Island. Just then, Geno stripped that away. He was the only one that still hadn't looked up what he was doing. He and Geno had looked back in the news and kingdom reports for as far as the first time Tatanga invaded Sarassaland. But what they were looking for was right under their nose, and in their own time. All six of the men had been gone overnight. They hadn't seen the latest daily headlines that even the coastline sources see. Still staring at the screen, Geno read the title:
"Ninji Troops Head for Shy Island In Large Numbers."
"Oh..." Yoshi rocked back and forth. He was high at the time, but knew exactly what was wrong. "Urrrgh..." he complained, "SHIT! He's right. I just wish he wasn't."
"What's wrong with Shy Guys? Remember when Wart came? Even I knocked a few out. This should be a piece of cake if they're the ones makin' these things!" Toad then coughed loudly. His throat was still sore from Boshi's torture on Yo'Ster. His mind was also slightly tired from his long and deadly nap. Yoshi clarified the problem.
"Shy Guys are no good at fighting when they're over here. When they're at their base, Shy Temple, with their weapons and their resources and their booby-trapped temple..." Yoshi trailed off in a frustrated and tired voice.
"I'm not going there." Mallow made up his mind instantly. "I've got a kingdom to protect when my folks need to pass it to me." Geno also did the same.
"This wooden doll barely got me through repairing the Star Road, and it's the only thing I could still use all my powers in. I won't make it if I go with you guys up against both assassin groups."
"Alright," Mario reluctantly accepted their resignation. "But you guys are still gonna need to gather information. We need all the help we can get."
"Anything." Mallow agreed. Luigi finalized the situation. He seemed desperate.
"Wario and Waluigi are missing, which is... bad, I guess. Peach and Daisy are missing, which is horrible. We've been captured by Goomba AND Boo, the virus flowers are still running amok, and the only way to uncover anything else is for Mario, Yoshi, Toad, any spare soldiers, and myself to go to Shy Island and go up against the Shy Guys and the Ninjis." He stood frozen, at 2 A.M., his hair a mess, and his life already on the line. Toad looked across the table at the equally drained Mario.
He slid him a bottle, and offered. "Whiskey?"