Roy gulped as he looked down to the earth from the rooftop. He never thought of hurting himself before on purpose, but now it seems justified to him.
"HELLO? IS ANYONE UP HERE?" Yelled a male voice.
Roy shrieked and turned his head around to find that old sailor guy coming onto the roof. He huffed a little, not wanting to be around anybody right now and not wanting someone to see his plunge.
"You over there! You're Roy aren't you?" Bobbery called out while he quickly walked toward him.
Roy gritted his teeth. This was possibly the worst time in the world to bother him, especially at a condition like this.
"GET AWAY FROM ME! Go back inside...I don't want you to see this..." He yelled.
"Now just hold on a darn second! I saw what happened back there. Your brother told me everything. Why on earth would you kill that poor woman?" Bobbery asked.
"I DIDN'T DO IT ON FUCKING PURPOSE!" Roy screamed, his voice echoing throughout the area. "Me and my brother...we got into a fight and...I lost so much control of myself that I didn't even pay attention to what was around me, so...I accidentally hit that lady and she...fell..."
"Oh my stars! An accidental death...I'm terribly sorry that happened to you, sir. I know the guilt that's weighing on your shoulders must be quite awful right now, but I'm telling you, killing yourself is not the solution to this problem! In fact, it's going to make everything much worse!" Bobbery shouted and got even closer to the koopa.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU KNOW!? YOU DON'T KNOW ME! YOU DON'T KNOW THE HELL I'VE BEEN THROUGH MY ENTIRE LIFE! MY FAMILY HATES ME! I KILLED THAT WOMAN AND NOW HER FRIENDS HATE ME TOO! EVEN THE ONLY GIRL THAT I HAVE EVER LIKED NOW DESPISES ME! THERE IS NOTHING TO LIVE FOR NOW!" Roy screeched so loud and powerfully that his throat was already starting to hurt.
"Roy...please, calm down just for a minute. I really doubt that your family hates you. Obviously, there's a lot of underlying issues between you guys but I really don't think that pure hatred runs in the family. As for that woman's friends...if it was truly an accident, then they will understand. They're just gonna need a lot of time to get through the grieving process. Trust me when I say that it's all going to get better within time, okay? You just need to have patience!" Bobbery stated.
"Oh, so you can see into the future now? GIVE ME A BREAK! How the hell do you know it will get better!? Do you not realize that there's also a fucking alien out there getting ready to take over the world!? DID YOU COMPLETELY FORGET THE FACT THAT THERE'S A CHANCE WE ALL MIGHT DIE!? I MIGHT AS WELL JUST GO AHEAD AND DO IT IF THERE'S A HIGH CHANCE LATER ON ANYWAYS!" Roy's voice started to strain at this point.
Bobbery shook his head, still appearing calm surprisingly. "No. I can't allow you to do that to yourself. Yes, this new villain is most certainly a threat to the world, but who's to say that he'll succeed in his plans? You simply cannot be pessimistic about this. Don't you wanna be there when he is defeated and the world is back at peace? Also, think of how upset your family will be if you died! You can't do that to them, leaving them with such guilt and shame knowing their sibling or son is gone forever, never to have a chance to rekindle things. And you mentioned a girl that you liked...what will she think when you're gone? If she liked you as well, then she'll be crying for days on end, knowing that there could've been a real chance at love! And Roy...if you go now...that's it. There's no coming back. You're too young to be wasting your life away like this when you have yet to experience the world and feel true happiness."
Roy wiped his eyes and stayed silent for a minute. He looked at Bobbery, then at the sky. The clouds started to disappear and move away as the sun started to shine on through. He thought about what Bobbery had told him and had to decide whether or not he should keep trying to live on or die and be done with it all.
Roy sighed and stepped back down onto the roof pavement. He walked up to Bobbery and then hugged him.
"I...I don't know how I'm suppose to go on like this..." Roy whispered.
"It's okay. Just take it one step at a time. I wanna help you, Roy. You don't deserve to live like this," Bobbery replied.
A FEW HOURS LATER...
O'Chunks lifted Nastasia's body on to a metal stretcher and pressed a green button on the near wall. The stretcher slowly moved into the fiery pit and O'Chunks closed the small doors, as he knew no one would want to see her burn.
"I'm so sorry about what happened, you guys. I can't imagine the pain you must be going through..." Toadiko said.
"Why are we cremating her, again? Wouldn't it be more honorable to bury her instead of letting her burn?" Tippi asked.
"I remember me and Nastasia having a conversation about death a long time ago...she mentioned that if she ever died, she would want to be cremated..." Bleck answered, staring at the doors to the fire room.
"It's not fair that she had to die! Why did it have to be her!? I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY THIS HAS TO HAPPEN!" Mimi screamed and cried onto Toadiko's shoulder.
"Maybe...maybe heaven just couldn't wait to receive her soul? Maybe it was her time to go and the stars saw that her journey of life was done?" Tippi tried to answer as best as she could.
Toadiko turned to Tippi and her expression immediately turned frustrated. "What a stupid thing to say. This has absolutely nothing to do with spirituality or any of that crap. Get out of here with that bullshit."
Tippi frowned and lowered her head. "I...I'm so sorry...I have no idea how to deal with this kind of situation...I've never had a close friend die before..."
"It's just the way life is, sometimes, Mimi. There are times when things out of our control come at us and all we can do is just take it for what it is..." Bleck blandly responded.
"EH!? Are ya hearin' yourself right now, ya idiot!? Don't even DARE start on that bullshit with us! Nastasia was MURDERED because some stupid bloke went all psychotic for no damn reason!" O'Chunks yelled.
"O'Chunks, stop it! This is definitely not the time to be arguing about such trivial things! I understand that you're mad, but please, can we not do this right now!?" Tippi pleaded.
"NO! I'm telling it like it is! Bleck, ever since you got back, ya been nothing but a boring and depressing drag! Hell, you haven't even expressed any kind of emotion about Nastasia's death whatsoever! Just face it, Bleck, you've become a robot! A WALKIN, TALKIN COMPUTER!" O'Chunks continued. Bleck glared at him for a few seconds then stomped out of the room.
"O'Chunks...please...stop. We don't need any more drama. Nastasia wouldn't want us to be angry at each other for no reason," Mimi sniffled while wiping her eyes. Toadiko followed Bleck out the room and saw him sitting against the wall.
"Bleck, don't listen to what he said back in there. He's obviously just emotional about what happened. He'll calm down sooner or later!" Toadiko assured.
"No, he's right. Ever since I got changed back into this form again, I've been nothing but an emotionless idiot! Even when I faced Dimentio, I still couldn't feel the anger and rage I had such a long time ago...it feels like the life is drained out of me, like I've become a zombie..." Bleck explained.
"You're not an idiot, Bleck. We both know that's not true. As for emotionless...well, you've been through a lot lately so it's really understandable why you're like this. Just don't let his words get to you, okay? You're fine just the way you are and you don't need anyone to tell you otherwise," Toadiko said in comfort with a smile. Bleck could feel that her words were genuine, which made him feel warm inside.
...
"...you really believe that guy actually saw a vision of this place getting torched?" Sushie asked. Paper Yoshi had just finished telling her, Ms. Mowz, Boo, Dry Bones, Shy Guy, and Wiggler about the 'vision' that Bleck talked about earlier.
"To be honest with you, I'm not too sure. But the thing is, the dude has magical powers, well, based off of what I've heard of him. So I really doubt he would actually lie about this consider how serious his tone was. But of course, he could just incredibly paranoid but either way, it's something to think about," Paper Yoshi responded.
"How would Tatanga even find this place anyways? I mean, it's hidden deep in the forest, far away from Mushroom City. And even if he DID find us, what exactly would be the point in burning the place down if he's likely going to kill a lot of people anyways when, and if, his world domination plan starts?" Dry Bones questioned.
"That's the thing though. If that guy's vision is true, Tatanga is somehow going to come over here whether it be by chance or someone here will attempt to screw us all over by drawing him and his stupid army to us. I would honestly rather have the first option happen than the second because of how unnerving it would be to think that someone here would deceive us all and have us be killed," Shy Guy said.
"So, um, let's say that this vision does come true...how do we stop it from happening? And should we let anyone else know about this?" Wiggler asked in concern.
"To your first question...honestly, I have no clue. Tatanga seems to be incredibly powerful so just blocking him from coming over here is going to be extremely tricky. It also wouldn't help if he brings his Koopatrol army over here. As for your second question, that's a definite NO. The less people that know about this, the better. First off, it would cause panic, and secondly, like Shy Guy said, there could be a deceiver among us that would try to draw them over here. We need to keep this as low-profile as possible," Paper Yoshi answered.
"I have a suggestion! Why don't you tell Kylie and Arfur about this? I mean, that Mushroom Corps. building isn't that far from here, and if they actually believe it, they could get us some serious protection over here because I assume they have powerful weapons. It's better to be safe than sorry," Ms. Mowz said.
"Hey...that's actually not a bad idea! It could definitely work...yeah, I'll try it! In fact, I'm gonna go right now and tell them what you said! It's better than nothing, right?" Paper Yoshi said with excitement.
"So what should we do in the meantime then? Should we keep a lookout for Tatanga? Because the vision that guy had didn't exactly state when it will happen..." Boo asked.
"I would definitely prefer if at least a couple of you would do that. If the vision isn't actually BS, then we need to be as prepared as possible. I'm gonna go walk over to Mushroom Corps real quick and tell them everything. I want one or two of you to go up on the rooftop and check for any signs of dangerous activity. I'll be back as soon as I can," Paper Yoshi stated then walked off.
"I'll take the first shift then! No way in hell am I letting a purple freak-a-zoid blow this place down!" Sushie yelled.
"I guess I'll go right after you. Let's make each shift about an hour, okay?" Shy Guy asked and everyone else nodded.
Daisy walked Peach back into the main lab. Everyone turned to them and gasped when they saw Peach's hair.
"Oh my god, Peach! Are you alright? You didn't hurt yourself, did you?" Mario asked.
"Why do you care?" Peach coldly responded.
"She didn't hurt herself. Luckily, I got there just in time to stop her before anything worse could go down..." Daisy responded. Everyone else wasn't sure of what to say, since they felt so sorry for her. She never deserved to be screwed over so badly.
"Peach! I...um...I had no idea it would go this far. I'm really glad you didn't actually hurt yourself and I wanted to apologize for me and Mario being together all in secret from you," Pauline nervously spoke. Peach gave her a blank stare then walked right past her, bumping her shoulder.
"So...um...are you sure everything is okay now? You don't wanna go to the hospital and rest for a while, Peach?" Arfur suggested.
"No, I'm fine. Let's move on to the next world, shall we? Where do we need to go next?" Peach asked while crossing her arms. Everyone else raised their eyebrows, confused as to why Peach now seems to be calm again so soon.
"I swear, the rest of this mission is going to be soooo awkward. How are we so sure she's mentally stable to do this now? It might lead to more drama down the road..." Amy whispered.
"Obviously Peach isn't as 'fine' as she says she is, but we have to continue on with the mission no matter what. I wish I could think of something to help comfort her, but it's going to be hard since I'm pretty sure she's still mad at all of us. Ugh, we already have to deal with enough drama from enemy and boss fights!" Toadette replied.
"Well, if you say so. Okay, once again, good job guys on getting the third gem. The next world is a place you all should be familiar with. The diamond gem is located in a sandy place called the Spirit Temple in the land of...wait for it...Hyrule!" Arfur suspensefully described.
Toad fan-girlishly screamed. "OH MY GOD, WE'RE GOING TO HYRULE!? YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY! THIS IS GOING TO BE SO MUCH FUN YOU GUYS LIKE OH MY GOD I CANNOT EVEN CONTAIN MYSELF!"
"You better contain yourself unless you want to get bitch slapped!" Wendy threatened.
"Oh wow, Hyrule! That's quite a nice surprise. Hopefully we will get to see Link and Zelda there! It's been such a long time since we've seen them!" Luigi cheered.
"Actually...about that, Luigi...a lot of crazy stuff has been happening there lately. I checked up the reports online and it seems that there has been a lot of destruction going around for unknown reasons, especially in the Gerudo Valley area. Someone or something has made the Gerudos flee from their land and forced to stay in Castle Town and Kakariko Village because apparently it's that bad. I've tried searching and delving more into various sources to see if I could find any more info concerning this unknown threat, but I had no such luck. So, once again, be careful out there. Also, just for safety precautions, we're gonna need you guys to park the arwings in Hyrule Field, just in case the unknown threat manages to destroy the ships as well," Kylie explained.
"Okie dokie! Come on you guys, let's go get nostalgic!" Watt cheered and everyone started to head towards the arwing room.
"Wait a second, are we seriously gonna let those two idiots come with us even after what happened!?" Jojora yelled as she pointed to Mario and Pauline.
"But...but...I still wanna help, you guys...it wouldn't feel right if I didn't go! I really want to do this!" Mario pleaded.
"S-so do I. Um...I know it might not seem that way, but...I feel the need to help as well..." Pauline shyly spoke.
DK shrugged. "Just let them come, I guess. I mean...as much as I feel like I have to, I can't hate either of them. If they wanna come, then we can't stop them."
"Are you kidding me right now!? If I did something bad to one of your friends, none of you would allow me to go! You guys are showing your biasness again!" Bowser accused.
"That's ENOUGH. Please. We've had more than enough drama for one day. Just forget about it and go already," Vivian said.
"Hey Daisy...this might sound odd but...don't you think it's weird how quickly Mario fell in love with Pauline?" Luigi asked.
"What do you mean by that exactly?" Daisy asked.
"I mean...I can't believe I'm just now thinking about it, but, don't you think it is SO unlike Mario to cheat on Peach for a woman that very few people like? Especially considering he has never showed tendencies of being a player ever before and that he always talked about wanting to marry Peach?" Luigi specified.
"Hmm. Actually...yeah. It does make a lot of sense. I seriously never even took notice of that until you just said it! I mean...Pauline DID hang around Mario's room a lot while we were gone, but I don't think it would've been enough for him to fall so madly in love with her. You're right, it doesn't make sense. Something is very off here. I knew Mario couldn't just cheat so easily. He's a lot smarter than that," Daisy replied and started to rub her chin.
"So, how do you think he fell in love with her then? There's obviously something else at work here. I refuse to believe it is actual love!" Luigi declared.
"Do you think magic might be involved in this? I know that sounds crazy but it's literally the only explanation I can come up with!" Daisy suggested in frustration.
"Are you guys coming or not!?" Birdo called out from her arwing.
"We better go right now. We'll talk about this later," Daisy said and the couple ran off to their respective arwings. The arwings blasted off back into the sky.
"Alright you guys, you're gonna go to the same route like you did before, towards Exploding Banana City. However, the portal to Hyrule will be higher this time so make sure to greatly ascend once you approach the city!" Kylie informed.
Everyone else was quiet during the ride, which made it all very awkward. Too much tension was happening which made the ride even more uncomfortable since everyone was curious to know what everyone else was thinking. However, most of them knew one thing for sure. If things don't calm down soon, the mission could possibly end in failure in their own hands.
A few minutes passed by and they all reached the portal. Everyone braced for the crazy ride and held on tight to their seats. A bright light flashed for about a minute and it slowly faded out. As everyone's vision adjusted back to normal, they all couldn't help but smile in excitement as they saw the green lands below.
The land of Hyrule.
EOC.
The next few chapters will go back to being comedic and slightly random like before so there won't be any heavy drama for a while. Next chapter will have the characters land in Hyrule Field and meet a princess who will be more than relieved to see them. Also, the next time we get back to the hospital, someone who knows about Bleck's vision is going to attempt to draw Tatanga over there and deceive everyone.
