As the characters eventually got settled into their rooms, some of them decided to explore either the city or hotel.
"C'mon guys! Wanna do the pool or the beach?" Peach excitedly asked.
"Daisy, go with Peach. I think me and my bro just wanna chill here, check some things out, and maybe even rest," Luigi gestured.
"Are you sure? A long walk on the beach might relax you even more than just simply resting in here. Remember when we used to do that occasionally on the beach back at home? It was perfectly romantic," Daisy happily reminisced.
"Honestly, I'm not really in the mood for a beach walk, but please, I urge you two to go and bring anyone else with you too. It will do you well," Luigi pleaded, and kissed Daisy on the forehead.
"Yeah, we'll be alright! Just don't stray too far, okay?" Mario asked and then kissed Peach.
"Oh! If you say so, I guess. Let's go!" Peach then eagerly dragged Daisy out of the room.
"I feel kinda bad for ditching them like that, but a long walk on the beach is not something I wanna particularly do right now, you know?" Luigi sighed and plopped on the bed.
"Well, what is it that you wanna do right now?" Mario asked.
Luigi sat himself up, having an expression of receiving an idea. "This is going to sound odd, but…I kind of want to hang out with Banjo and Kazooie!"
Mario looked confused, not expecting that answer at all. "What the? Um, okay? How come?"
"Well, we've only met them a few times, and we never really got to figure out why they came to the Mushroom Kingdom. Plus, I kind of always wanted to get to know them further. I like their games. Does that sound weird to you?" Luigi asked with slight insecurity.
"It kind of does, but I guess you do have a point. Hmm. Never thought about that before either…well then, let's go find those two, shall we?"
"Wait Mario! I have to ask you something. Can we trust Sally? I mean, she pretty much knows why we're here and we kinda told her stuff about Charmy and Amy that we didn't tell Sonic…" Luigi worriedly pointed out.
"I think we can. Her eyes weren't bloodshot like Amy's were. Plus, she genuinely seemed confused about the marriage like the rest of us. We can't tell Sonic anything because he's clearly involved with…whatever the hell this crap is supposed to be," Mario explained.
"Mmm…so comfy…" DK peacefully spoke to himself as he laid on his bed in his own hotel room. The soft sheets made him drift off to sleep easily.
That is, until, he heard his door open and suddenly slam shut, which made him jump up in fright.
"HEY! Who's there!? Diddy? Dixie?" he called out.
Neither answer was correct. Out from the mini-hallway came a feminine-looking bat creature that stood on two legs and had her hands on her hips with a seductive smile upon her face.
"Gosh, Sally really needs to fix these doors. They are so damn easy to get open, you know? What's the point of having a door if it isn't strong enough to keep locked?" the lady said, checking out the room while walking to the ape.
"Woah! You…y-you're….Rouge the Bat, aren't you? What do you want? What are you doing here?" DK asked, backing away a little.
"I just wanna check out what we're dealing with here. I heard that you're one of the strongest in the group…and dare I say, also one of the most handsome!" Rouge giggled with a wink. DK got more uncomfortable by the second.
"What the hell are you talking about? Wait a second, your eyes…you're involved with Amy and Sonic aren't you? Charmy too?" DK noticed.
Rouge giggled again. "Oh, calm down, you. It's not that serious. So, I take it you and your annoying friends are all coming to the wedding then? It'll be fun!"
"What's gonna happen at this damn wedding? Tell me! And who else is involved with you guys? Just what the hell are you all planning!?" DK angrily questioned.
"Wow, you sure do get heated pretty quickly, don't you? I won't lie, it's a bit of a turn on…all that aggression and rage building up inside of you…there's many ways to release it…and I can help with that," Rouge said as she walked slowly to the ape, still with that seductive smile on. DK got a little nervous and began to sweat.
"Ju-just answer the question! What's happening at the wedding? Please, enough playing around!" DK demanded and kept backing away till he hit the wall.
"Aww, but playing around is the funnest part! Especially before things get too serious, you know? It's like having a friends with benefits. You wanna play around with your friend and mess around in bed but not take it any further than that because you and the entire universe knows that you and this person wouldn't last for one second as a true couple…just like that blonde girl, am I right?" Rouge spoke teasingly and kept walking till she was mere inches from DK and put her hand on his chest. DK gulped and widened his eyes.
"Blonde girl? Wh-what are you talking about?" he asked.
"My god, you're covered with her! All over! Do I sense an unrequited love? Does it hurt that much? Want me to take away the pain?" Rouge spoke more teasingly and seductively and brushed her lips against his face. DK breathed in and out harder than before and more nervous than ever.
"Stop. Get the hell away from me. It's obvious you're not gonna tell me anything so…please, just go!" DK growled.
"It doesn't have to be that way, sweetie. I can give you all the answers you need. All you have to do is join me. Give in to the beast inside. You belong with us in the darkness, Donkey Kong. It's your true nature…"
"ENOUGH!" DK roared, smacking her hand away from his chest. "You don't know the first thing about me. So go. All I really need to know now is that you're also a part of whatever kind of evil scheme is happening."
Rouge scoffed at him. "Pathetic. You're such a woman, Donkey Kong. I give you the chance to take me and give in to your true self, but you choose to push it all away like a whiny little bitch. I thought you were more of a man, but I guess I was mistaken."
"The only thing you were mistaken about is you coming in here and thinking you could seduce me to join your stupid gang. The fact that you think that I'd be dumb enough to fall for that makes you the biggest fucking idiot in the world!" DK yelled, clenching his fists.
This pissed Rouge off a lot so she screamed and punched him in the face. DK fell over on the bed and groaned a little, but quickly looked back at her and laughed.
"Great. I was hoping you'd do that."
DK got up, jolted towards Rouge, and punched her with double the power that she did to him. The punch threw her back into the wall and even cracked it a little.
"Aaaggghhhh….GRRRRRR! YOU FUCKER!" she screamed and flew straight into the ape. She knocked him down to the floor and the two began to practically wrestle. Rouge swiped her nails across DK's chest multiple times, making the ape scream in pain. DK headbutted Rouge in return and rolled over on top of her and punched her a few times until Rouge suddenly kicked him hard in the groin area which made him fall backward onto the nightstand. Rouge got up and ran to him until DK swiped the lamp and smashed it into her body, making her fall over again. DK then grabbed Rouge, held her up above his head and threw her through the window. DK collapsed on his knees, hurt and tired from the fight. After catching his breath, he stood back up and looked outside on the ground. No sign of Rouge's body anywhere.
"Thanks for tagging along with me. I haven't been to a new city in so long so it's nice to explore," Pauline said, walking with Vivian on the city streets.
"Yeah, no problem! It just felt weird being stuck in that hotel, not doing anything. Plus, I've never actually explored a city myself so it's a good opportunity to try something new, even though everyone is staring at me…" Vivian pointed out nervously.
"Don't pay them any attention. They're probably not gonna say anything anyways, because Sonic and his buddies roam these streets often so I'm sure people are used to seeing walking and talking creatures out and about," Pauline reassured.
"You-you think I'm a creature?" Vivian asked in confusion.
Pauline cringed at her mistake in choice of words. "Oh no! I, uhh, mean…like, a non-human being! I know you're of Shadow origin, I just used the word 'creature' as a general placeholder thing."
"I see…I guess that makes sense…" Vivian replied, trying not to overthink it. She looked all around her in amazement at the modern skyscrapers and stores that lay before her. It made her forget about all her worries temporarily.
"So, uhh, Vivian, it's not awkward hanging out with me, is it? You know…after everything that happened with Mario and Peach…and being a total hag…" Pauline shyly spoke about the topic.
"Not really. You apologized and owned up to your actions, plus I saw you save Peach and Jojora a while back. Also, when you told us of your life back in Hyrule, I saw the pain in your eyes and heard it in your voice…you were so broken. That was the real you. I've felt like that before when I was going through abuse with my sisters, wanting to be someone else, putting up a cover…I kind of knew what you were going through. I don't hold anything against you," the shadow siren sweetly explained. Pauline smiled at her, feeling better from what she said.
"Thanks, Viv. That means a lot. Being cold to everyone is so tiring and unhealthy. In a way, and I know it sounds weird, but I'm kind of glad things happened the way they did because I didn't realize how horrible I was being till Mario came back from the spell. It was a huge wake up call for me," Pauline said.
"Good! I'm glad it was! So, are you and Peach best friends now? I saw you guys getting close after we defeated Grunty!" Vivian asked in excitement.
"Well…I think we're JUST friends at the moment, but that's fine. I kind of want to give Peach and her closer friends like Mario, Daisy, Luigi, and Rosalina some space at the moment because I don't want to overdo anything. I'd rather just let things happen naturally from now on with things like that," Pauline answered, then immediately looked at a small retail store called "Tally's Clothing Store."
"Hmm! See the dresses at the store over there? Super cute! Wanna window shop there?" Pauline asked with a laugh.
"Sure, why not?" Vivian laughed in return and the girls went inside. The two looked around, checking out the clothes that people in the Sonic World wear.
"I didn't realize that purple blobs like yourself wore any clothes!" yelled a high pitched and familiar voice to Vivian. The shadow siren looked to her left and shrieked when she saw Charmy standing a few feet away from her.
"Oh! Charmy! You…w-what are you doing here?" she nervously asked.
"I should be asking you that! How's the adventure going anyways? I'm surprised you of all people made it this far because of how wimpy and whiny you are," Charmy scoffed and degraded her. Vivian's feelings got hurt.
"S-stop it! Leave me alone you jerk!" she cried and turned away but the bee flew right back in front of her.
"Aww, does the truth hurt? You do realize the only reason you have so many friends is because they all feel sorry for you, right? You're nothing. Useless. Go back to whatever dark and dank dimension you came from and spare the world of your whimpering face!" Charmy continued his insults. Vivian tried her hardest not to cry.
"HEY! What the fuck do you think you're doing!?" Pauline yelled from behind him. Charmy turned around and smirked as soon as he saw her.
"Hey you! What's up? Still making Mario cheat on his girlfriend for you?" he obnoxiously asked.
"Shut it. You're gonna leave me and her alone and buzz off, like you bees usually do anyways," Pauline put her foot down.
"Oh snap! Did I strike a nerve? Should you really be so offended though, Pauline? After all, you are the world's biggest slut!" Charmy snickered. Pauline got red in the face.
"Charmy…get the FUCK out of this store before I kill you," she threatened.
"Oh? You're going to kill me? Is that a fact?" he taunted.
"More like a bet!" she replied.
"Wow! Okay then! Looks like we're just gonna have to test that, won't we?" he continued to taunt and suddenly spat onto Pauline's face. Vivian shrieked and was grossed out.
Pauline became furious at this point. "You…YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" she then punched Charmy and he rolled onto the floor.
"Yow! Nice hit though! Bet I can hit harder!" he laughed and flew towards her and punched Pauline in the jaw, also knocking her onto a stand of clothes. The people that were in the store saw the commotion and quickly ran out while shrieking.
"JUST STOP ALL OF THIS! Why are you doing this, Charmy!? What's going on with you? This isn't you!" Vivian cried.
Charmy turned to her and gave her an expression of disgust. "This isn't me!? Are you kidding me? This 'me' right now has never felt more alive and powerful! I feel like I constantly have energy surging throughout my body every second of the day! But, I figure you'll never understand cause you're just a plain, boring, and weak shadow thing who needs to do what you do best; just being a shadow on the ground and staying out of people's busi- OOH!"
The bee got knocked to the ground from Pauline hitting him with a chair.
"You know, you call her completely false crap like whiny, nothing, useless, blah blah blah…yet, that's exactly what you are. Ever wonder why you're one of the most hated characters in the series, Charmy? Ever wonder why no one takes you seriously? Because you're just a little, bratty, immature kid who belongs in a fucking nuthouse!" Pauline shouted in pure anger and was ready to pummel him further with the chair until Charmy zoomed right to her and stung Pauline in her right leg. Pauline screamed for dear life and fell to the floor in agony. Vivian immediately ran over and used her Shade Fist move on Charmy, which threw him into a mirror on the wall and cracked it, hitting his the back of his head. Vivian quickly grabbed the chair and threw it at Charmy, but he barely dodged it and the chair hit the mirror instead, smashing it into pieces. Vivian ran over to the mess, grabbed a large shard, and ran over to Charmy who was trying to get himself up from the ground.
"Oh! Look at you! Are you going to kill me? C'mon Vivian…do it! I double dog dare you! Because the minute you stab me with that, you become me. You become everything that you annoying heroes hate. The darkness inside. The thirst for violence and chaos," Charmy spoke in a way that intimidated Vivian again. She backed away and dropped the shard.
"Hmm. That's what I thought. This didn't go as well as I wanted, but eh, I guess it happens. See you around!" he gave her a wink and flew off.
"Vivian…" Pauline groaned.
"Oh! Pauline! Are you okay? My god, you're bleeding from your mouth and your leg!" Vivian shrieked, running to her side.
"Yeah…it all hurts like hell…I think I can stand up though…I just need help…" Pauline said, putting her arm over Vivian's shoulders and attempting to stand up. "Ooh…okay…looks like you're gonna have to walk me like this back to the hotel…"
"It's fine, let's just go already! Wait…should we go to the hotel or hospital?" Vivian asked.
"Hotel. I'll be fine with my wounds, I just need a first aid kit. Trust me on this," Pauline insisted.
"Since everyone's off doing their own thing, I figured this would be a good chance to lounge in the pool, or heck, even sunbathe. Anything to take my mind off of everything for just a little bit!" Bombette cheerfully spoke while walking to the pool area with Parakarry.
"I guess…it just feels weird trying to have 'fun' while our world is in danger, you know?" the mailman said in concern.
"Um, we're not having fun, Parakarry. We're just…uhh…doing some leisurely activities until the wedding. In what universe is that considered to be fun?" Bombette scoffed, clearly in denial.
"The universe of logic and reasoning," Parakarry responded with a blank stare. Bombette sighed at him.
"Look, there's nothing else we can do until then, so we might as well enjoy what we have here, okay? I personally think it's good that we have more time to relax and ease our way back into action because I definitely didn't think that one day at the hospital was enough!"
"Bombette…the reason why I voted to leave once Tails found the gem is because of exactly this. What if we get so into relaxing and recharging that we're not gonna be as ready to face off whatever dangers lie ahead compared to before? What if we just get lazy and accidentally let a slip up happen?" Parakarry questioned in worry.
"Huh! Okay, you need to take a chill pill. I really really really doubt that we're gonna get 'lazy' all of a sudden on this adventure all because we're taking another break. And that's actually the reason why I voted to stay, because relaxing at this beautiful hotel will do us wonders for our strength in the end, that way, we aren't totally burnt out by the time we complete the next world or the one after that. I don't have to remind you that we completed three worlds in one day, do I?" Bombette said in contrast.
"Well, no, but I guess you do have a point there…I don't know, I suppose we'll just leave it up to fate then…" Parakarry said, still worried but tried not to be overdramatic.
As they kept walking down the hallway to the pool, they saw Sally escorting an older fox woman who kept frantically rambling on about something.
"You must believe me, my dear! That green pest is down there just waiting to devour us all! Ooooooh…its eyes, so full of hunger and hate! Don't you remember that time I got my little puppy out of the basement and saw that creature just standing there, wanting to chew him down? I could never get that thing out of my head after that awful time! And please, I beg of you, tell that green rodent to stop coming into my room at night and trying to petrify me! What does it even want from me exactly? I don't have anything to give to him!" the old lady cried, constantly looking behind her.
"Melinda, I've told you plenty of times, there is no green animal rodent guy thing or whatever in the basement. You must calm down. Take your pills and rest, okay?" Sally assured and led the old lady back to her room.
"You have to check again! If you can't find him, then it's a demon haunting this place! Call an exorcist! Just get that thing outta here!" Melinda cried again and went into her room. Sally shut her door and gave a big sigh of relief.
"Woah! What the hell was that all about exactly!?" Bombette asked in surprise.
"Sorry you had to see that…that's the third time this week that crazy old woman, Melinda, has tried to go into the basement. She's convinced that there is some green animal ghost thing down there because she supposedly saw it when her puppy ran down the basement while storage items were being moved into there and she went after it and swore on her life she saw it try to attack her and her dog. She also swears that she sees the green thing sometimes late at night, peering at her over her bed, but she's clearly having nightmares," Sally explained the story.
"Yikes. Sounds very urban legend-y to me. But, you know for a fact that there is no…err…green monster thing down there?" Parakarry asked.
"Yes. I've had security check down there several times and even checked it myself once and there is absolutely nothing down there. She probably got the idea of this green monster from a newspaper story that came out like 2 or 3 weeks ago. A green raccoon teenage boy named Vanko was declared missing from his parent's place and the last he was seen was around this hotel area. But, even then, I've had security check around the entire premises during that time and no sign of him was found. So, Melinda probably just wants to believe it's real so she's seeing stuff that isn't there. Probably has to do with the fact that she really likes kids too," Sally explained further.
"Oh, that's horrible! I feel bad for the parents…and I hope that boy is okay and safe somewhere out there…" Bombette sympathized.
Peach, Daisy, Birdo, and Mona were walking together on the beach, taking in the sweet breeze and gorgeous beach scenery.
"Ahhh…this feels so nice, just being here in a normal and nice place for once. I felt like it's been forever since we've actually enjoyed something like this, you know?" Mona said in a relaxed voice, stretching her arms into the air and feeling the winds even more.
"Definitely. This whole adventure has been making me feel like, since Mushroom City is destroyed, that anywhere we go will be just as depressing and hopeless. But, even though these past worlds have been just that, this one is different, cause it reminds me of how the city used to be before Tatanga came and ruined it all," Daisy agreed.
"You guys are acting like the entire kingdom is destroyed! Come on, there's still plenty of places in our world that are still great and beautiful. Plus, the city will be restored eventually so it's not like all hope is lost forever," Birdo exclaimed.
"Totally true. We just need to have patience, guys. Good always wins against evil, don't you know?" Peach happily spoke.
"Good always wins against evil, eh?" Mona repeated, kicking some sand. "While also true, how much longer until that saying becomes, well, not true? Plus, it's not like the 'regular' bad guys of the world are always captured or defeated like serial killers, terrorists, thieves, etc."
The other three girls gave her a look of despair.
"…Sorry. Didn't mean to sound depressing. I was overthinking it. Let's just talk about something else," Mona cringed at herself.
"It's fine, girl, but we don't HAVE to talk about anything. We can just keep walking and take in this amazing beach as much as we can," Birdo reassured.
"Wait! I wanna talk about a certain thing. It's about…umm…gosh…uhh…ok, I'll just come out with it. Have I, um, forgiven you guys about the whole secret keeping thing that happened with Mario and Pauline?" Peach nervously asked. The others stopped and looked to her.
"Oh, y-you wanna talk about that? Peach…" Mona sighed, remembering that awful and terrifying moment when Peach had a mental breakdown after finding out everyone knew about Mario and Pauline except for her.
"Uh…well, I-I don't think you explicitly said it, but it's fine, Peach. You don't have to forgive us. We did a stupid thing by keeping that from you. One of us should've said something from the beginning," Daisy said in a guilty tone.
"But, I do forgive you guys. I forgive all of you. I know it's kind of random but…after having forgiven Pauline and wanting to be her friend, it made me think that I never actually forgave you all for what you did. I just feel icky with myself if I don't say it and get it off my shoulder, you know?" Peach explained sweetly. Daisy looked like she was about to cry and hugged Peach and the other two quickly joined.
"Th-thank you…it means so much to me…" Daisy said between sobs.
"We understand, Peach. I'm so glad I have you as my friend…and of course, you both too, Mona and Daisy," Birdo said.
"Same here. This adventure really brought me closer to all of you, so in a way, I'm glad I came," Mona added.
The four eventually stopped hugging and looked at each other and laughed awkwardly.
"So Peach, speaking of Pauline, you do realize that just because you've forgiven her, doesn't mean you HAVE to be her friend, right?" Mona asked.
"I know, but, I can tell that she's been lonely and afraid for a long time. I don't know what it's like to be like that, but, I can imagine that it's painful, you know? There's no harm in trying to be her friend and trying to understand her. I just feel a need to help her…" Peach said with empathy.
"That makes sense. She's definitely a very broken person. I still don't fully trust her, but, she does seem to be coming around," Birdo pointed out.
"I get where you're coming from, Peach. I'm glad you wanna be there for her. She needs all the help she can get, and, well, after all this stuff is done with Tatanga and all, I think I'd like to try to be her friend too," Daisy said with a smile.
"Hey! That person over there! Isn't that Blaze the Cat?" Birdo asked. The other girls turned to where she was pointing and saw a purple-ish furred, tall, and feminine-figured walking cat go into the parking garage.
"Yeah, that is her! I recognize her from the Olympic games, why?" Daisy asked.
"Don't you think we should talk to her about the wedding, see if she can help us out in trying to figure out what's going on?" Birdo asked.
"Hmm, good point. It'll help us know if she's on their side or not too. Let's catch up to her!" Daisy commanded and the four ladies ran to Blaze on the first floor of the parking garage. They finally caught up with her just as it looked like she was about to get in, what was probably, her car.
"BLAZE! Hey! What's going on?" Peach shouted.
"Huh? Oh! Peach! Daisy! And, uhh, two other girls! What are you guys doing here?" Blaze asked, a bit caught off guard.
"These are our friends, Mona and Birdo. Sorry to completely surprise you like this, but we're on a 'save the world' kind of mission, you know how that story goes," Daisy said.
"…Huh…I see…well, sorry to hear that, but I can definitely relate. But, what does this world have to do with your world?" Blaze asked.
"This world contains some kind of gem that will be useful in gaining access to a powerful weapon to defeat this guy who is trying to destroy our world. Tails is out looking for it right now so we're just here chilling until then," Mona explained.
"Oh! How, uhh, awful? And what kind of gem is this? It wouldn't happen to be a chaos emerald, would it?" Blaze asked.
"That's the thing, we're not exactly sure. But, I guess it doesn't matter. The important thing is this; all of this is what led us to finding out that Sonic and Amy are getting married. You know about that, right?" Birdo asked.
"Yeah! Pretty crazy, isn't it? It's been all the rage with everyone and their mother since the announcement," Blaze confirmed.
"We also think it's crazy! But that's not all of it, we can't help but think that they're planning something bad. You see, Amy and Charmy started this adventure with us too, but then all of a sudden, they went 'psycho' and almost killed two of our friends. Then, we see Amy with Sonic, and she acts like none of that ever happened! But, she was definitely hinting at something happening at their wedding. Blaze, have you noticed anything else weird about Sonic, Amy, Charmy, or even your other friends? Do you know anything suspicious that we don't know yet?" Daisy asked.
Blaze dropped her jaw and took a step back. "Wh-what!? That's insane! Charmy and Amy would never do that! Are you sure it was actually them!?"
"Well, technically it wasn't, because we know that something had to have taken over them to do that. We obviously know that the real Charmy and Amy wouldn't do that, but we have to know everything we can about what's going on," Birdo demanded.
"L-Look, I'm sorry guys but…um…I don't know anything suspicious. This is all a lot for me to take in. I have to get going right now. I'm sorry, but I don't have any info that can help you…" Blaze frantically said and hurriedly got into her car. The other girls sighed and walked away.
"Something tells me all of that information was just too much too soon…" Mona commented.
"It definitely was. But, I think she's in the clear, I didn't notice her eyes being bloodshot and she seemed pretty 'Blaze' to me," Daisy said as she watched Blaze pull out and drive off to the right.
"So…what now? Should we try to find more of Sonic's friends and see if they know anything else?" Peach asked.
"I don't know. It feels kinda pointless because everyone we talked to has about as much knowledge of it as we do…that, or they don't wanna reveal anything," Daisy groaned.
"Wait…what is she doing?" Mona spoke, pointing towards Blaze's car, who made a swerving U-turn, still in the parking garage, and headed back towards the girls.
"Uhh…is it me or is she speeding up a lot now?" Peach asked, becoming nervous.
"What the hell is she doing!? This is a parking garage, not a fucking freeway!" Birdo shrieked.
Daisy then realized what Blaze was trying to do. "HOLY SHIT! EVERYONE, GET OUT OF THE WAY!"
The girls literally jumped to evade Blaze's car that was speeding at least 50mph. Everyone successfully got out of the car's path, but not all got out unharmed. Mona unknowingly jumped towards another parked car and banged her upper right arm against the back of the car.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHH! FUUUUUUUUUUUCK, MY ARM!" she screamed in dire pain.
Bowser Jr. laid out in the pool area on a chair. His eyes were closed as he lay on a long pool chair, soaking up the warm sun. At that moment he felt at peace and he felt safe. Everything was mostly quiet aside from the sound of traffic in the distance and faint kids' laughter, but it wasn't enough to disturb him from his rest.
Until something hit him…literally.
"AH!" Bowser Jr. shrieked and fell to the ground. He panicked and got back up and looked all around him.
"I am soooo sorry, mister! I was trying to hit my friend with my BB Gun but he was super quick and jumped out of the way as soon as I pulled the trigger!" a little boy exclaimed.
Bowser Jr. caught his breath and then got pissed off immediately. "Watch where you're shooting those! Better yet, don't play with those pieces of crap at all! They're fucking annoying and useless!" He then stomped off as the boy and his friend just stood there in shock at his rage.
Bowser Jr. slammed open the pool door and angrily stomped back into the hallway, having no clue where exactly he was going. His mind started going back to that night at the hospital, with all the guns and noises and screams and blood…
"Ugggghhh….god, why can't I get this out of my head!?" Bowser Jr. cried, holding his head in pain and began to sob.
"Hey! Bowser Jr.! You okay?" yelled a familiar voice. He opened up his eyes to see Toadette standing there, looking worried for him.
"I…no…I'm not…far from it…" he replied depressingly.
"I see…wanna talk about it?" Toadette asked.
The two eventually moved to Toad and Toadette's room to speak privately.
"Where's Toad at?" Bowser Jr. asked.
"I think I saw him hanging with Yoshi. It's probably better that he's out now anyways, so there are no interruptions," Toadette answered and sat on the bed.
"Yeah, I agree with that," he responded and also sat on the bed close to her.
"Alright, so out there, you look very distressed. Did something happen?" she asked.
"I just…I keep thinking about that night that Tatanga and his group came over to the hospital. I can't even go a full 5 minutes without thinking about it. I keep thinking about what if we were shot in that room…we were so close to being killed…" Bowser Jr. began to sob again and looked away from Toadette. "Everyone else seems to be coping as if nothing happened that night. How are they doing that so easily? How can they not be in pain right now, Toadette? How were they able to sleep so soundly last night and the night before? I just don't understand any of this!"
A moment of silence ensued as Bowser Jr. calmed himself a bit and wiped his eyes.
"Not everyone," she spoke. "I think about it all the time too, Bowser Jr. Somehow…I managed to sleep for eight hours last night though…it was peaceful…but...that was until I realized I was having a nightmare. I thought I woke up. Everything was still dark, but I could see you a few feet away from me. I knew where we were. I was in that closet, back in that room with the two Koopatrols. I could hear them taunting us to come out. They didn't open the closet for some reason, but they wanted us to come out. We were in there for what seemed like the longest time and they were there the entire time. I was scared to death…so were you. There was no hope for us to escape. So…I had enough of waiting. I stood up and opened the door. I heard the sound of a gunshot and everything turned white for a few seconds. After that, I woke up. My heart was pounding and I was sweating all over. For a split second, I actually thought I had died…"
Bowser Jr. slowly looked to her in sympathy. "I-I'm so sorry you had that dre- no, not dream…nightmare."
"You don't need to apologize. None of it is your fault. It makes me wonder…when is it all gonna stop? The pain…the nightmares…the sounds…the fear of what's gonna happen next. I want it all to stop so bad…b-but…it feels like it'll be here forever…" she begun to sob too and looked to the ground.
"Toadette…a-are we talking about the bad guys…or the memories?" he asked.
Toadette slowly looked back to him. Him seeing her face in such pain and hopelessness made him feel worse, but at the same time, connected, because they both went through the same thing.
"Both."
"Ooh, a computer room! Haven't been on the internet in a while, I wonder how many major media outlets are covering Mushroom City right now…or would that not work because we're in a different world?" Goombella questioned to herself as she headed to the room. She stopped in her tracks as soon as she saw a familiar Sonic character walk off in the distance, talking to someone on the phone and carrying a satchel.
"Oh! That guy…he's…uhh…Espio the Chameleon, I think? Maybe he knows something…hmm…wonder who he's talking to…" Goombella said to herself and decided to follow him. She tried to be as silent in her tracks as possible while also not making herself totally obvious that she was following him. She listened closely to what he was saying on the phone.
"Calm down, it's all going to work out just as we planned. Yes, yes, I know, they will be taken care of, but it's not like they can do anything about the plan because they won't know what's coming, so they shouldn't be top priority," Espio said, continuing to walk out into the parking garage. Goombella got more suspicious of him, hearing everything.
"Yes, I've done that. Definitely. Good, I can't wait for this to happen already. It will be the most shocking thing that the world will ever know. It will be better than any plan that that fool, Doctor Eggman, has ever done. I'm glad he's out of the picture now," Espio continued to speak and walked to a black van that was presumably his. Goombella behind a car from some feet away and kept watching him.
"Heh heh heh, you're sure right about that. No one can stop us from this point forward. And also- wait a second…shit! I forgot something back in the hotel. Ok. I'll be there in a bit. See you," Espio swore, throwing his satchel into the van and shutting the door then immediately ran back to the hotel.
Goombella had to know what was being planned. This was a 'now or never' moment so she quickly ran to the van and opened up the driver's door.
"Let's see what you guys are up to…" Goombella whispered, reaching for the satchel and opened it up. In there, she found tons of paper documents, some with writing, others with drawings, and some with both.
"What the hell is all this!? My god…" she slightly shrieked. One of the documents caught her attention the most. She read it outloud, "Chemical X, the big one, is nearly complete. Should be ready to go during the wedding. After numerous tests and calculations, I can confirm that this will go through, as already have been seen with Sonic and some of his friends. All of Station Square will be infected and the next step is infecting the country."
Below the text was a drawing of what looked like the city of Station Square. There were big, red dots on certain spots of the city with a small text next to each of them saying "see page 12."
"Woah…holy crap! Those drawings look like bombs. But, I don't get what's happening here. Are they trying to bomb the city? But…that can't be, because the paper talks about 'infecting' everyone. Are they trying to do the same thing to everyone in Station Square like they did with Charmy and Amy!?" Goombella exclaimed, feeling very panicked at that moment. She had to know more.
"Hello there."
Goombella looked up and shrieked. It was Espio, who had opened the passenger door and saw her digging for info.
"I'm afraid you know too much now. Can't let you go now!" Espio said with a wicked smirk.
"No! AAAAAAAHHHH!" Goombella screamed in horror and tried to escape but Espio was too quick. He punched Goombella in the face one…two…three times, knocked her out, and she fell to the ground. Espio shut the passenger door, walked to the driver's door, picked up Goombella's unconscious body whose face was now bleeding, and threw her onto the passenger's seat. Espio turned on the ignition and then drove off.
EOC.
Next chapter you will find out what happened to Goombella and more drama with the group continues!
