Disclaimer: Some of the names and locations in this story are purely created by me. You have been warned. I actually own something! Muahahaha!
(pause) Anyway, back to normal.
Chapter 4
The four of them wandered around in Flower Fields, although Lakilester clearly had a sense of purpose in this place.
"We're going to find someone to replace me, that's what we're doing," Lakilester declared, his voice gaining a steely edge.
"Can't I get a souvenir first?" Yoshi complained. "Like a Bubble Berry or something?"
"You can get them afterward!" Lakilester cried. "And I think I know someone who'll gladly take the job…he's this way."
The quartet finally stopped wandering and headed for a pair of Lakitus with spiky hair. One of those Lakitus had hair exactly like Lakilester's.
"You heard of the new castle security at Bowser's?" one of the Lakitus whispered to the other. "We have to sing the first movement of Ludwig's newest sonata, dang it! I wonder what they'll do next…"
"I wonder whether I should work there," the other one replied just as the foursome interrupted him. "Hey! Hi! Haven't seen you for a while!" he greeted, a bit flustered by Lakilester's intrusion.
"Haven't seen you too, Pierce!" Lakilester responded.
"Any beef?" Pierce, the one with hair like Lakilester's, asked.
"Actually, yes," Lakilester answered. "Listen, this is very important. You remember hearing that I took the executioner's job in Bowser's service?"
"Yes," Pierce murmured in reply.
"Anyway, I've decided to take a little bit of a vacation break. Killing's a bit stressful, after all. You think you can sub in for me for that time?"
"Could. But for how long?"
"I'm not entirely certain. I haven't checked with the airlines yet, but it'll take at least a few weeks."
"A few weeks? That's at least three people I'm going to kill…but I'll accept."
"Good. You know the directions to Peach's castle?"
"Yes, or at least Blitz here knows."
"All right. Sorry for telling you, Pierce."
"I don't personally mind at all."
After Lakilester got that over with, Toad asked him, "Did you overhear what that Lakitu said about Bowser's security measures?"
"No," Lakilester replied. "Is it important?"
"Yes," Toad answered. "I'm pretty sure he said that someone has to sing someone named Ludwig's newest sonata in front of Bowser's security system in order to enter. Can anyone here carry a tune better than I can?"
"I've been in the Lakitu Academy Choir," Lakilulu replied.
"Well, she can, but that's not the important part," Yoshi pronounced with conviction. "The important thing is that we need to actually hear this Ludwig's newest sonata. It could be the catchiest song in the kingdom, but we need to hear it in order to have a clue of what it sounds like. We better get concert tickets."
"There's some brochures in the Mushroom City Ticket Station. We could investigate those," Toad suggested.
"All right, but after that, are we just marching over to the Koopa Kingdom?" Yoshi badgered.
"Yes. It'll take a long time, anyway," Toad responded.
"Now where's this Mushroom City Ticket Station?" Lakilester asked.
"I'll get over there," Toad replied.
After crossing the thorny crevasse, passing through the tree, and running out of the garden, the four of them hopped into Toad's and Yoshi's karts and drove to the Mushroom City Ticket Station.
At the building's entrance, there was a collection of flyers. Those flyers were from all over the Mushroom Kingdom, be it Mushroom City, Lakitu Valley, or Petalburg.
"Hey, it's even got the Lil'Mak concerts!" Lakilulu exclaimed.
Meanwhile, Toad was ploughing through the brochures, pamphlets, and flyers. He didn't have much luck at first. "Pop…rock…Impressionist…the Alphard Art Museum…jazz…rap…Baby Park…Waterville…Lavalava Tourist Agency…the Excess Express…here's the classical music!" He then quickly scanned through the brochure. "Nope, none of them are from this Ludwig. More Impressionist…Imported Baroque…Neoclassical…Romanza…ah, yes, Ludwig's music!" He then picked up the pamphlet and skipped through it. "Hey everyone, look at this!"
As everyone gazed at the pamphlet, Toad began to read. "Koobert, one of the three Classical Masters of this era, is playing on May 8 (that's in three days). He will play a selection of recently composed Classical pieces. These include Felix T.'s Finale in A minor, the same Toad's Minuet and Trio in D flat major, Koobert's own Rondo in D minor, Ludwig von Koopa's Theme and Variations in B major, and—get this!" Everyone gasped at what was to follow. "Ludwig's newest piece, his Sonata in A flat minor!"
"I can't believe it's this easy!" Yoshi cried incredulously.
"Ludwig von Koopa must be popular," Toad replied, saying the Spikoopa's name as if he's just learned the full version. "And we better get the tickets. At least the offices are still open."
They all rushed to the ticket booths, each of whom were handled by a Goomba clerk.
"Welcome to the Mushroom City Ticket Station," the Goomba proclaimed in a friendly voice. "May I take your order?"
"Yes," Toad confidently answered. "We'd like a ticket each for the Nova Classical Masters concert. The May 8 one, please."
"All right," the Goomba replied, businesslike. She ran to the back and soon came back with a pile of tickets. "Here are the tickets for that show. Now, what are the ages?"
"Two youths and, I presume, two adults?" Lakilester started, but his voice trailed off by the end.
"Two youths and two adults, please," Toad assured.
The Goomba tore out tickets from two of the stacks and handed them to Toad.
"Four multi-coins and thirty coins, please," the Goomba declared.
Toad took out his wallet and handed the Goomba the requisite currency.
"Thank you for your business," the Goomba declared as the foursome left the booth.
Toad quickly scanned through the tickets as soon as he got them. "All right, we're seeing this show in…the…Fortress Estates in the Azure Concert Hall. That place is in Bombastica, which is about fifty kilometres from here. That's fairly nearby. We can reach there in an hour. Now we have two days of absolutely nothing to do. What do we do then?"
"Do we know the route we're taking to the Koopa Kingdom?" Yoshi asked.
"Sort of," Toad replied. "We're taking a plane to Tratsvilla, which has the only airport in the Koopa Kingdom with traffic to and from the Mushroom Kingdom. After that, we're going to the capital city, which is Koopital, and when we get there, we're going to Bowser's castle. Thing is, we can't even rent a kart and drive to Koopital, since much of the Koopa Kingdom doesn't have any roads. We need to figure out how to get from Tratsvilla to Koopital."
"And we need airplane tickets," Yoshi stated.
"We'd better buy them, then, but when?" Toad asked.
"How about tomorrow?" Yoshi proposed. "We've already driven enough."
"Okay then, we're going home for now. You two want to go to a hotel or stay at our place?"
"I'm sticking it safe and going for a hotel," Lakilester replied.
"Me too," Lakilulu agreed.
"Okay, which hotel do you want to go to?" Toad asked. "There's the Sky High Tower, the Red Road Hotel, the Golden Inn, the Stately Mushroom…"
"Are any of them for us Lakitus?" Lakilester asked.
"The Sky High Tower's perfect for flying species, or so it says," Toad replied.
"Think it's a good idea?" Lakilester asked Lakilulu.
"Could be," Lakilulu responded.
"We're going," Lakilester told Toad.
"All right, we'll drive you there. Yoshi, you know the directions?"
"Yes. We keep on having to drive Paraki there…"
"Okay, we're driving to that hotel."
The four them went back to Toad's and Yoshi's karts and drove to the Sky High Tower. After dropping the two Lakitus off, Toad and Yoshi drove back home.
"We're going to the airport tomorrow, right?" Toad made sure.
"Yes," Yoshi confirmed.
"Okay. I'm getting tired. Are you?"
"Yeah. It's nighttime. I can't believe it."
The two of them headed for home and prepared for bed, looking forward to the various events that would happen in the days ahead.