This chapter marks the halfway point of the Sonic arc.

Koopie was heading back to the lobby, collecting herself from her and Koops' meltdown in the bedroom, and almost bumped into Vivian.

"Oh! Koopie! Um…I'm guessing things went pretty bad?" Vivian nervously asked.

Koopie gave her a dirty look. "NO SHIT THINGS WENT BAD! Vivian, I have to ask you something, what gives you the right to poke your head into people's business!? What the hell were you trying to do exactly!?"

"I was being a good friend to Koops, unlike you and Kooper! I overheard you two talking about it on the balcony earlier, and I just…I HAD to do something! I knew about your guys' secret and it would kill me if I kept it hidden from him forever! I didn't want this to turn out like the situation with Mario, Peach, and Pauline, where people started spreading the word around and gossiping about it and no one would tell Peach directly until it was too late!" Vivian defensively cried.

"THIS IS NOTHING LIKE THAT SITUATION! Quit trying so hard to make excuses! Even if you overheard it, it's still none of your business because you were not directly involved in what had happened between the three of us!" Koopie got in her face a little bit, which made Vivian a little heated.

"YES IT WAS! Actually, how can you even say that? You weren't even there when it happened! And really? I'm the one making excuses? You're the one that's not taking responsibility for hurting Koops! You're just taking your anger out on me for no good reason!" Vivian backed away a tiny bit just in case things got physical.

"I AM TAKING RESPONSIBILITY, YOU IDIOT! I blame myself and Kooper for what happened three years ago and I already apologized to Koops, but it's not enough because my dumb ass wanted to keep it a secret all this time and I screwed him over! I'm not perfect…I fucked up…but you…you really thought you were doing Koops a favor by telling him of this now, of all times?" Koopie asked, really trying to control her temper.

"Yes, I do think that I was doing him a favor. He had a right to know. Wouldn't YOU want to know as soon as possible if your lover was cheating on you?" Vivian turned the question onto her. Koopie shook her head and sighed.

"That's not the point, Vivian. Kooper and I were going to tell him anyways, as soon as this entire mission was over. You told him the second you overheard us talking about it, all because you wanna be his lapdog or prove you have such a big heart or whatever," Koopie spat. Vivian rolled her eyes and held back from insulting her. "You told Koops this secret at the worst time possible, at a time where a few of our friends are missing and at a time where our world is in danger of being destroyed. This extra drama in our group was definitely not needed. You fucked it up."

"WHAT!? I f-fucked it up!? I'm not the one who cheated on my boyfriend twice and kept it a secret for so long! Besides, wouldn't it be better now to get it over with? The same situation would've happened even if you told him after the world was saved!" Vivian pointed out.

"Ugh, you're still not getting it! By you telling Koops the secret right now, you caused him to go apeshit on Kooper in front of EVERYONE in the lobby! Now, they're gonna all be worried and stressed over Koops's mental state and, not only that, but Koops probably won't even be able to focus right for the rest of the mission! This is all your fault. You caused this mess to happen. If I told Koops about the secret, I wouldn't be so stupid enough to do it in a time of grave danger, I'd do it actually AFTER the grave danger was gone, so at least it's one less thing weighing on everyone's minds," Koopie stated then stomped off. A tear rolled down Vivian's cheek. That heated conversation really made her rethink her actions. She wiped her tear away and went to Koops' door. She knocked on it a few times.

"K-Koops? It's me…Vivian…please…open up…p…please…" Vivian began to cry and slid down against the door to the floor. No response was heard, which made the shadow siren cry even more.


"OUT OF THE WAY! COMING THROUGH!" yelled numerous paramedics as they ran in with a stretcher.

"WOAH WOAH WOAH, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!? I'M THE MANAGER OF THIS HOTEL, SO SOMEONE EXPLAIN!" Sally screamed in fright.

"We received a call a short while ago about someone bleeding out from their wrists from this hotel in room 212, ma'am," said a police officer.

Sally and the hero group widened their eyes in shock and fear.

"Oh my god! W-Were they attacked!? WHO WAS IT THAT GOT HURT!?" Peach yelled.

"Ma'am, please, you must remain calm! We've got the situation under control!" said the officer.

"WAIT A SECOND! Who's all accounted for here!? Who are we missing!?" Mario loudly asked and looked all over the room.

"A few people. Koopie just came back, and I'm assuming Koops is…um…dealing with his own shit in his room right now, but Vivian, Luigi, and Jojora are missing!" Pauline answered.

"Vivian's fine. I just saw her," Koopie spoke with an attitude.

"Oh god…what if Luigi got hurt!? WE HAVE TO GO UP THERE AND SEE!" Daisy shrieked and ran to the elevators but Diddy pulled her back.

"STOP! LET THE POLICE AND PARAMEDICS HANDLE IT! We'll know who it was and what happened as soon as they bring the person down here!" Diddy yelled in her face. Daisy refrained from crying out.

"Oh no…wh-what if DK hurt someone? You saw how he was just a while ago…he's just like 'them' now…" Rosalina spoke in fear.

"I…I don't even know what to exactly think at this point…" Dixie replied, just as scared.

The elevators opened and out came running Luigi to the group. Daisy immediately embraced him.

"OH, LUIGI! WHAT HAPPENED!? I WAS SO SCARED YOU WERE HURT!" she cried.

"Luigi! Talk to us, man! Did you see what happened?" Larry asked.

"Jojora…she…" Luigi muttered, still in shock from what he saw earlier. Out of the elevators came a stretcher that had Jojora on it, unconscious. Everyone gasped in more shock.

"OH MY GOD, JOJORA! NOOOOOOO! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!? IS SHE DEAD!?" Bombette cried.

"No, she's unconscious! We found her with both of her wrists slit and she lost a lot of blood! But, you have to get out of our way, ma'am, she needs to get to the hospital ASAP!" yelled one of the paramedics.

"Her wrists were slit…? What the hell? And…they didn't find the person who did it or any clues to who did it?" Goombario asked in utter confusion.

"We should follow her to the hospital and make sure she's actually okay! Sally, where is the hospital that they would take her to?" Mario asked.

"Probably the Station Square Central Hospital. I highly recommend taking the train there though! It makes a stop at Kellton Street. Get off there and go left down one block and you can't miss the hospital. The train should take about 10 minutes to get there," Sally instructed.

"Thank you! Let's go everyone! We have to hurry!" Mario ordered and the group quickly ran out of the hotel.

Vivian ran to the lobby as she dried her tears. "H-Hey! Wait! Where are you guys going! What happened?"

Toad, the last one to leave, turned around after hearing her. "Jojora's been hurt! We're taking the train to the hospital! C'mon Viv, we gotta be quick!"

Everyone made it to the train in a panic and got on board. There was less people this time so there was more room for everyone to sit down.

"Luigi, what did you see? Do you know exactly what happened to her?" Yoshi asked.

"I…uhh…oh god…I found her lying in the shower…her wrists were cut into deep…blood was everywhere…she also spoke to me…and..u-um…she said that…A-Amy attacked her and cut her wrists and wanted to make it look like a suicide," Luigi revealed the half-truth. Gasps and shocked expressions were heard and seen from everyone except for Daisy who just raised a brow.

"God…THAT BITCH! I swear to fucking God, if Jojora dies, I will find Amy and I WILL END HER MYSELF!" Birdo angrily declared.

"Wow…that is so beyond fucked up. I can't believe they're going this far to try to break us down. First with our friends being captured, then with DK becoming like them, and now Jojora…this is pure hell. This is something we've never dealt with before. How are we going to get through this?" Waluigi questioned in grief.

"GUYS! We have to remember here that Sonic and his friends aren't the ones technically at fault here. They've been infected by someone to become evil and psychotic. Direct your anger towards the source here!" Mario pointed out.

"But we don't even know what this source is, though! It's apparently not Eggman so who in the world could it be now!?" Bowser Jr. redirected back to him.

"I still don't think Eggman is dead. That guy is way too smart to just die all of a sudden from a brain aneurysm…he had to have faked it somehow!" Kooper exclaimed.

"Well, no matter who it is, we have to remember, no killing of Sonic and the rest, okay!? Not until we find out what's doing all of this!" Mario repeated.

"What if the only way to get rid of this 'infection' thing IS to kill them though?" Kazooie asked. All eyes turned to her.

Mario paused for a minute in fear, desperately not wanting to think about that situation, because it would mean killing people he knew and cared about. "Well…then…I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

The train stopped at Kellton Street and the gang quickly got off. They ran outside onto the sidewalk of the city streets, took a left and saw the hospital loom before them. They went inside, got directions to where Jojora was, and went to the far right side of the hospital, her room being all the way at the end. A few doctors and nurses were seen over Jojora.

A nurse turned around and almost jumped when she saw the large group outside looking in in worry.

"Oh! Lots of friends this lady must have!" she spoke in surprise.

"Is she gonna be okay!? What's going on?" Bombette frantically asked.

The nurse nodded. "Yes! We've handled the situation. She's going to be okay. However, umm, I have to ask, was this a suicide attempt or an attempted murder on her?"

Luigi almost froze when she said that. "A-A-A-Attempted murder! I-I got there just in time."

The nurse looked at the group in horror. "Oh my…I-I'm very sorry you guys and your friend are going through this. But, anyways, the person who did this hit a major vein in her left arm, so we're doing our part to fix what we can. She'll have to stay a couple days in here, but I can assure you that she will be okay."

Everyone breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"Excellent! That was too close of a call!" Kammy rejoiced.

"Thank you so much for your help. When will we be able to see our friend, Jojora?" Vivian asked.

"As soon as we are done running our tests here and getting more information, you will be able to visit her. Please wait in the waiting area and one of us here will let you know when she's ready to be seen. However, since there's so many of you, I do ask that only a few of you visit her at a time in order to prevent overcrowding in the room," the nurse asked.

"Of course. Thank you again!" Mario said and the group began to head back towards the waiting area except for Daisy and Luigi.

"Luigi…I need to talk to you for a second. Stay here," Daisy softly spoke. Luigi became nervous.

"What is it, Dais? Is everything okay?" he asked.

Daisy checked to make sure everyone else was still walking away towards the waiting area.

"You were lying when you told us that Amy came in and slit Jojora's wrists, weren't you?" Daisy questioned, putting her hands to her hips. Luigi gulped.

"N-No I wasn't! Why the hell do you think that!?" he asked.

"Because I know you, Luigi! I saw it in your eyes and tone that you were lying. What really happened in there? She…did it to herself, didn't she!?" Daisy guessed. A part of her didn't want to really know if that had actually happened but she had to know the truth.

Luigi looked down and sobbed a little. "…She did do it herself…she told me…"

Daisy put her hand to her mouth then touched Luigi's shoulder. "God…wh-why? Luigi…"

Luigi looked back at her with a couple tears running down his cheeks. "Th-the story about Watt dying…she lied to us. What really happened, from what she told me, was that, after they fell off the ship, Jojora swam to shore but she ignored Watt's cries for help, because she couldn't swim. When…when Jojora got onto shore, she saw that Watt had already went underwater, so she went back for her. She managed to get Watt and get her onto shore and tried to revive her…b-but it was too late."

Daisy was almost speechless after hearing that and she was on the verge of crying too.

"I…oh my god. Jojora…she kept that from us this whole time…" Daisy whispered with a shaky voice.

"It was killing her, though. I saw it in her eyes and heard it in her voice. She felt so incredibly guilty for what she did that she was really going to kill herself…god, I've never seen someone like that in my entire life!" Luigi looked down again and rubbed his forehead.

"I don't understand why you lied though, Luigi! What was the point of that!?" Daisy loudly asked.

"Because, how do you think everyone else would react if I told them the truth!? You really think that all of them would sympathize with her instantly!? That…none of them would see her as a psychopathic killer!? That more questions and arguments would arise because of it!? No. It was too risky letting them know the truth. We're already dealing with enough shit as it is!" Luigi raised his voice while wiping his tears away with his arm.

"WHAT? So, you're protecting her then!? How do you even know she was telling the whole truth!? Luigi, think about what you're doing here! Jojora doesn't know that you lied to everyone about what happened! If she tells everyone the ACTUAL truth, it's gonna fall back on you and make everyone in the group distrust you! Can't you understand that!?" Daisy asked in frustration.

Luigi shook his head. "You weren't there, Daisy. She wouldn't go through all of that just to lie me some more. My gut tells me to believe every word she said. And please don't tell the others about this! Please, Daisy. I'm begging you!"

Daisy crossed her arms. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't."

"I just gave you one a minute ago. It will cause a rift in the group and everyone will get more distracted from the mission at hand," Luigi stated.

Daisy sighed in frustration. "…Fine. I won't tell them. But Luigi…I really do not like it when you have to lie to us like that. Please don't do it again."

Meanwhile, Waluigi went to go get a drink at the water fountain with Rosalina following.

"These guys are getting cocky pretty quick. God! I just wish I knew how to perform that locator spell so I could find Wario, Goombella, and Banjo and we could all rescue them and even find those guys' base of operations…" Rosalina huffed.

"Do you know if you're able to sense or do some kind of spell to check to see if they're alive at the very at least?" Waluigi asked.

"Hmm…not sure of a spell that could do that. But, let me think…oh! I've got it! It's kind of risky, but hear me out, I could conjure up a fireball that goes to directly to the person who I think about and want it to hit. The fireball flies away into the air and towards the target, and the rest of us could just follow it as quick as we can, so we can at least get a lead to their whereabouts!" Rosalina suggested in a little excitement. Waluigi looked at her dumbfoundedly.

"A…fireball!? Are you serious right now, Rosalina? We're trying to find our friends, not freaking kill them!" he exclaimed.

"That's why I said it's risky! But, wait a second, that does give me another idea! I could use it on Sonic or one of his friends, so that way, it hurts the bad guys and not our friends!" Rosalina said in excitement again.

"Ugh, no no NO! We're not doing it if it's going to kill them! Sonic and his friends are still in there, they just need to be rid of whatever it is that's taken over their bodies. If we kill them, then we're killing innocent people still. How do you not understand that? You know, I'm starting to think all this random magic you've been doing lately is messing with your brain…" Waluigi questioned her thinking capability about this subject. Rosalina got a little offended.

"Excuse me for trying to come up with ways on finding our friends. Don't get so worked up, Waluigi. I'm the one with the magic powers here so keep your degrading comments to yourself for once in your life," she angrily spoke. Waluigi was a little shocked at her attitude but then laughed a bit.

"…For once in my life? Wow. You're really gonna go there, then? Look…overall, I'm just worried about your increased use of magic at this point. You've been using it pretty relentlessly the entire day so far and I don't want you to go all crazy with it. Remember that story you told us before we went into Luigi's Mansion? About how you turned dark and evil after some monster killed your lumas and after you defeated that guy, you were afraid to use magic a lot in case you were to go dark again? That's my main concern for you," he said.

Rosalina chuckled. "I do remember that, but come on, Waluigi! I'm not gonna go out of control just because I'm using magic slightly more often! You don't have to be so overprotective. I can take care of myself just fine, alright?"

"Overprotective!? Well, excuse me for loving you so damn much! Maybe I should just back the hell off then from now on!?" Waluigi raised his voice.

"It'd be a good start," she replied and crossed her arms. Waluigi got a little red in his face.

"Fine. Screw me for trying to be a good boyfriend, right?" he grumbled and stomped off. Rosalina immediately regretted everything she said to him. She uncrossed her arms and sighed.

"Ugh…what have I done? Waluigi, wait!" she yelled and ran to him towards the waiting room, but stopped when Rouge walked in from the opposite direction and everyone in the group stared at her intensely.

"Wow! Did someone die? Is that why you're all here?" she teased.

"Nope. Your friend, Amy, tried it on our friend, Jojora, but she failed! Tell her to go play in traffic!" Lakilulu spat.

Rouge looked at her peculiarly. "Huh? Amy hurt your friend? Damn. Had no idea about that. Too bad she didn't go in for the kill, though! I keep telling her to never hold back!"

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT, ROUGE!? AND WHERE ARE OUR FRIENDS AT!?" Diddy angrily asked, angrily running to her. Kooper held him back from getting any closer.

"Oh, quit it with the hero act. You really wanna start something in a hospital, with all these people around us…who could EASILY get caught in the fight? Tsk tsk tsk. Suppress your raging emotions, kid. It won't do you good in places like this," Rouge said, waving her finger tauntingly at Diddy, which ticked him off even more.

"Rouge, how did you know we were here? And DK, what did you guys do to him exactly?" Yoshi asked.

"And our friends, Banjo, Goombella, and Wario, where the hell are they!?" Kazooie angrily asked.

"Been flying around town, taking a break from all these plans that my friends and I have been conjuring up for a while now. I just so happened to see you guys down below, rushing into the hospital, and figured something interesting must've happened! As for DK…well, isn't it obvious? Haven't you all figured it out by now?" Rouge giggled. "As for your other friends, don't worry just yet, they're still alive. We don't plan on doing anything to end their existence until the big day."

"Th-the big day…you mean, the wedding?" Toadette stuttered in fear. Rouge nodded with a wink.

"END THEIR EXISTENCE!? Oh, believe me, that's NOT gonna happen! You and your pathetic friends wouldn't last a minute with all of us in battle!" Goombario shouted.

"Well! Looks like the wedding will be much more entertaining than planned then, won't it? Heh heh. Anyways, we'll be watching you all till then, causing the occasional chaos and drama. But…from what we've seen, you guys are doing just fine all on your own! See ya around!" Rouge gave another wink and left the hospital.

"Ugh…I'm so fucking heated right now. I just wanna smash their faces in already!" Bowser growled.

"The wedding though...I guess this confirms that something is definitely happening there. But what, exactly? It can't be just two psychopaths becoming husband and wife and taking over the world with their lackeys from then on. There has to be more," Mario said in curiosity.

After a few more minutes of gossiping and being annoyed at that encounter, the nurse came by and let everyone know that they could see Jojora now. Mario, Peach, Luigi, Daisy, Yoshi, and Birdo were the first ones to go in.

"Hey girl…how ya feeling?" Birdo asked.

"Tired as all hell…I swear, I closed my eyes just for a second and then I wake up here…" Jojora chuckled.

"Well, Luigi found you in the nick of time so we're all glad that you're okay! From what we were told, you lost a lot of blood…" Peach said.

"Yeah, I figured as much. I feel pretty weak right now. Any luck with finding Goombella?" Jojora asked.

"Unfortunately, no. And, in the process of finding her, we also lost Banjo and Wario. Rouge showed up here earlier and told us that they kidnapped them and are holding them somewhere," Yoshi explained.

Jojora became frightened. "Oh god! Those bastards! Ugh…as if things couldn't get any worse…any ideas on where they're hiding them?"

"None as of yet. Something is definitely gonna happen at the wedding though, and those three are gonna be involved somehow too," Mario answered.

"Oh! I see. So…looks like it's just another waiting game then. That's always fun," Jojora sighed.

"It's our only choice at this point unless we stumble upon something that'll ruin their plans before the wedding takes place…" Daisy shrugged.

"Yeah, that's true too..umm…guys? Is it okay if I speak with Luigi alone, please?" Jojora asked.

"Of course. Take your time," Mario politely responded. Daisy gave them both a look of worry and walked out with the others.

"Yes, Jojora?" Luigi nervously spoke.

"Did you tell them everything that happened?" she asked.

Luigi made a small gulp and then sighed. "In a way, yes. I told them that Amy came in and attacked you. She wanted to make your death look like a suicide so she slit your wrists. That's the version I told them."

Jojora lifted her head in confusion. "What!? Why would you tell them that?"

"Because, if I told them that you slit your wrists because you were feeling awful about Watt, it would cause so much more drama and questions within the group, and it would just be one more distraction piled onto us. I didn't want that. Plus…there's a chance that a lot of them would think that you'd be a psychopath for what you did," Luigi explained.

Jojora put her head back down, still looking confused. "Um…okay? Thanks, I guess? Wait…you don't think I'm a psychopath?"

"No. Jojora, the way you broke down to me and hurt yourself back at the hotel…if you were a psychopath, you wouldn't have done any of that. I felt the sorrow and guilt that you were feeling. It was all real. You are far from being a psychopath, trust me," Luigi said and ended it with a smile.

"Thank you. That's…um…very kind of you…" Jojora responded, a little surprised that Luigi didn't think she was crazy despite her thinking it on herself.

"You're welcome. Also, Jojora? If you wanna tell the others the actual truth of what happened, then I won't stop you. It's all up to you. Do what you think is best for you…but please, no more self-harming. You deserve to live," Luigi stated with another smile at the end and walked out of the room. Jojora sat there, deep in thought about the heinous act she committed upon herself and how she'd be dead by now if it weren't for Luigi. This was a huge wake up call for her.

Everyone else visited Jojora and eventually had to leave as hospital hours were coming to an end. The gang took the train back to the hotel, no one really saying much, as they were all still a little shaken from Jojora nearly dying and Rouge dumping that terrifying information about their friends being captured onto them.

"Bowser Jr…there is seriously something up with Wendy. Something more had to have happened to her at the club, more than someone just 'scaring her off.' It's making me worried!" Larry whispered to his brother.

"Yeah, I can tell something is way off, too. You think someone hurt her?" he asked.

"Something like that, yeah. I just wish she would talk to us. I'm so tired of people keeping secrets!" Larry grumbled.

"Dixie, are you sure nothing else happened at the club? I feel like there's something else you really want to say!" Diddy pushed in worry.

"Give it a rest, Diddy! I already told you that I just got claustrophobic and had to get out. Nothing else happened! Just stop asking me!" Dixie yelled and ran ahead of him. Diddy stood there, watching here, frustrated and surprised by her behavior.

"Ouch!" Yoshi spoke, walking up to Diddy with Birdo. "Someone clearly doesn't like to be questioned…"

"I know Dixie, she's not telling me the full story. You guys didn't see anything happen with her?" Diddy asked.

"Sorry, bud. Couldn't get much of a look of anything with all the people dancing like coke addicts," Birdo said.

"I hate it when she does crap like this…puts too much stress on me. Though, I feel weird saying that and feeling like this when there are more important issues at hand," Diddy pointed out to himself.

"I see a hot dog stand over there! Want me to steal some while the owner isn't looking, try to cheer you up?" Yoshi excitedly asked.

Diddy laughed a little. "Nah, it's fine, Yoshi. She'll come around sooner or later."

"She definitely will. Now, let's hurry up to the hotel. We're way behind everyone else and I don't feel comfortable being out here at night without our big group," Birdo said with slight fear.

"Hey! Shouldn't I be enough to make you feel safe!?" Yoshi cried.

Suddenly, a short figure wearing a black hoodie bumped into all three of them and walked past them without a care.

"OW! HEY, WHAT THE HELL MAN!? WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!" Diddy yelled. The figure stopped and turned to the three. They couldn't get a good look at the person's face.

"So, you just gonna stand there like a moron or are you gonna apologize for bumping into us rudely!?" Birdo aggressively asked.

The figure still made no response. He slowly backed away from the three and then kept walking forward.

"Well…that was VERY weird…was that one of Sonic's friends?" Diddy asked.

"Something tells me we should be follow that person…" Yoshi said, then immediately walked forward.

"Wait, what!? Why the hell should we!? Yoshi!" Birdo panicked and ran after her lover. Diddy sighed in frustration and followed along as well.

The three followed the hooded figure back into the city for some minutes.

"Yoshi, please! You really think following this guy is going to lead to somewhere important?" Birdo quietly asked.

"Yes, actually! That encounter seemed a little TOO suspicious, don't you think?" Yoshi answered.

"I'll admit, it was one of the more bizarre things we've seen here. Plus…that person matches the height of Sonic and his friends. It has to be one of them!" Diddy pointed out.

They kept following the hooded person into a skyscraper apartment building. The trio was reluctant to go in, having some second thoughts that this could be a huge misunderstanding, but they decided to head on in since they came this far anyways.

The figure reached an elevator and pressed the up button. The doors opened immediately and the figure rushed in.

"HEY WAIT! WHO ARE YOU!?" Yoshi yelled, running to the elevator. The doors closed the second he reached there.

"Crap! We were too late! Oh well…guess it was just a fluke then," Birdo grunted in disappointment.

"Wait, look! That person is going to the third floor! If we go up there now, we may just make it! COME ON!" Diddy shouted and led the two up the stairwell. They reached the floor and went into the hallway, looking in all directions.

"I see the elevator over there, to the right, but…oh! Look over there! That's the person's hoodie!" Birdo pointed to the black hoodie some feet away from them on the floor, in front of a person's apartment door numbered 316. The three ran over to it and Yoshi picked it up.

"Hmm…there's nothing in the pockets…just a regular old hoodie! What gives?" Yoshi said.

"Why would that person just drop there hoodie right here, in front of this door? Is this their apartment?" Birdo questioned.

"What should we do now? Should we knock on the door?" Diddy asked.

Suddenly, the three heard the elevator open and also heard a very familiar voice. It was Amy's. She was speaking to someone.

"OH SHIT! BACK TO THE STAIRWELL, BACK TO THE STAIRWELL!" Yoshi screeched and the three ran back in there, taking the hoodie along. They opened the door back up a tiny bit to spy on Amy and see what she was doing.

"Stop freaking out! It's all under control. Everything at the wedding will go according to plan. We've been over this like a thousand times, you know! Yeah. Uh huh. Oh! That'll be fun! Mess with his head as much as you can, hehe! He's in for some hell tonight. No no, you guys do that without me. I'm gonna hit the hay early tonight so I can prep for tomorrow's bachelorette party, that will also be a blast! We'll figure out what we'll do at the bachelorette party, but I really wanna save the big stuff for the wedding, you know? Make it super climatic! Haha, yeah. Alright. Have fun! See ya," Amy spoke to someone on the phone and hung up. She walked over to apartment 316, unlocked the door, and went inside. The three gasped.

"What the hell!? That's Amy's apartment!? Then why the hell was that person's hoodie in front of it!?" Birdo shrieked.

"I think that person was leading us to her apartment…but why? What do they want us to see or know?" Diddy questioned.


Kooper was hanging out by the pool, laying on a chair, and drinking wine straight from the bottle. Pauline came outside and walked over to him.

"Hey you. How are you doing after everything?" she asked.

"Still feel like dirt. Still feel like I'll be paying for all those mistakes I've made in the past for the rest of my life. The pain and guilt never stop…" Kooper spoke depressingly, taking another drink.

"Woah! Almost halfway done there. Here, give me some, I don't want you to get super drunk. Haven't had some good wine in a long time anyways," Pauline offered. Kooper reluctantly handed the wine bottle to her and she took it. She took a sip and sat on a chair near him.

"Anyways…I know what you're going through, Kooper. I've been there. Not a day goes by that I don't think about all the crazy shit I did when I was younger…" she said.

"But, did you ever betray your friend though by cheating with his lover?" Kooper asked.

"Actually, yes. I was a total boyfriend stealer back in high school. My best friend was going out with this guy who I also had a crush on. I got super jealous so, well, I pretty much manipulated and took him from her. That ruined 7 years of friendship and rumors spread throughout the school so I was shafted pretty quickly…" Pauline explained with a hint of sadness in her tone. She took a bigger sip of the wine.

"Oh. Wow…that's awful. Yeah, I was pretty bad in high school too. One day, they were doing a drug search at my school, and that was also the day I just so happened to bring some marijuana to get high with my friends during lunch. I panicked so I snuck the marijuana into my friend's backpack. They caught him with it and was suspended for an entire week. His parents found out about it too and they grounded him for the next three months. I, myself, never came out to the school and told the real truth that that was actually my marijuana," Kooper told his story and then snagged the wine bottle to drink some more.

"Yikes! But…you never told your friend that you put it in his backpack?" Pauline asked.

"Nope. He accused me of doing it, but I denied it. He had no proof so he let it go. God…that was such a shitty thing to do. If I told you all the other shitty things I've done in my life, we'd be here till Christmas," Kooper grumbled, rubbing his head in his tipsiness. Pauline grabbed the bottle from him.

"Alright, that's enough wine for you tonight! But, I get you, Kooper. Same with me, if I told you all the horrible things I've done…ugh…the thing that makes me mad the most is that I didn't realize how horrible I was being to everyone till I realized how devastated I made Peach and Mario when I did that spell to make Mario fall for me. It reminded me of when my friends confronted me for my out of control behavior back in high school, but I blew them off because I thought they were trying to be my parents or whatever. It was at that moment that I realized that I can't keep doing the same old high school shit for the rest of my life. It has to end at some point. I have to grow up and be an actual adult eventually, you know?" Pauline said, taking another sip, and rested her head against the chair.

"Yeah…I'm glad you realized that, Pauline. And…I'm glad I realized it too. I just wish I had a time machine to take me back and undo all those mistakes, especially the one where I betrayed Koops. God…do you think he'll ever forgive me?" he asked.

Pauline shrugged with a sympathetic smile. "Hard to say. You have to give it time, Kooper. All this stuff takes time to get through. Believe me, I know. The karma that I received for the stuff I did…took years to get over, especially because no one believed me when THAT happened…and I STILL didn't change for the better until recently…"

"Huh? When 'what' happened?" he asked.

Pauline looked at him in slight fear, then looked away. "Oh! Um, nothing, n-never mind. Nothing important."

"Mmm. Say…you know, I just realized something. Fire Bro! What's up with him?" Kooper spoke with his words a bit slurred.

"What do you mean? Aside from the fact that he belongs in the loony bin?" Pauline scoffed.

"There's something about him, Pauline…ever since he told me this story that night after the shootings. It was so weird!" Kooper became a little freaked out.

"What was the story?" she asked.

"It was about these two twin boys. One twin was jealous of the other twin and hated him because he was a bully and popular in school, so the jealous twin stabbed him with a butcher knife and killed him. The parents came home, saw what happened, and was sent to an insane asylum for the rest of his life," Kooper explained.

"Creepy. But, why would he tell you that story though? And why the hell did he tell you it right after a freaking gun shooting!?" Pauline asked in disbelief.

"Well, here's the thing, Pauline. Something very similar happened to me a long time ago, like in that story. When I was 15, one day, my little brother, Konnor, suddenly went berserk and stabbed me with a knife. I called the police and then my parents. The police took Konnor away into an insane asylum and he pretty much wanted nothing to do with our family. It's been years since we've seen him. Fire Bro even got the same location of the story right too…Star City, in Sarasaland. That's where I grew up with my family. I moved out right after I graduated high school to Koopa Village and did a bunch of construction jobs and lived on my own since. God…I can't believe it's been that long already…" Kooper explained even further, freaking both himself and Pauline out.

"Woah, that's horrible! I'm sorry that happened to you. But, I had no idea you had a brother," Pauline said.

"I try not to talk about him because of what happened. Sometimes I forget I even have a brother…but, I DID mention him to my paper friends one night when we all had a reunion a few years ago. I think I was kind of drunk and venting about his craziness," Kooper recalled.

"I see…so…uhh…what are you trying to say exactly about the story and Fire Bro?" she asked.

"I'm saying that Fire Bro…he has to be…no…i-i-it's impossible…it can't be him…can it?" Kooper lowered his voice in fear.


"Dixie, what's going on? You're really scaring me right now!" Toadette frantically asked as Dixie dragged her into her room. Dixie shut the door and locked it in a panic.

"I can't keep this in anymore, Toadette, especially not after what happened with Koops…oh god, what the hell have I done!?" Dixie began to sob and covered her face with her hands as she sat on the bed.

"Wh-what do you mean? Are you saying that you…ch-cheated on Diddy!?" Toadette gasped.

Dixie nodded, slowly moving her hands away from her face. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she looked at her best friend in embarrassment.

"I cheated on Diddy…with Fire Bro. We kissed in the club. I…I'm such a bitch…" she whispered.

"Oh no! Dixie, how could you do that to Diddy? Ugh…so, are you gonna tell him anytime soon?" Toadette asked.

"I have to. I did the one thing that I thought I would never do in a relationship and this guilt will kill me if I don't tell him. I'm not going to wait for years to tell him like Koopie and Kooper did!" Dixie declared.

"NO! WAIT! I don't think that's a good idea! Dixie, there's already enough side-drama happening as it is! We don't need something else to pile on to all of this stress!" Toadette urged.

"WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO THEN!? I can't hold this in, Toadette! I have to tell him what I did! I'm a huge slut! Oh god…d-did I really just call myself that?" Dixie gasped at her own words.

"You're not a slut! But, Dixie, why did you kiss Fire Bro anyways? He didn't manipulate you to do it, did he?" Toadette asked.

Dixie looked at her with a confused expression, noting her odd question. "Um, no! I just…we just…ugh, it's so complicated to explain. We've connected ever since Luigi's Mansion and there's something about him that makes me feel so alive when he's around me. He's exciting and entertaining…"

"Dixie, do you hear yourself right now!? You're practically fawning over Fire Bro, you know, the crazy guy who ISN'T your boyfriend!? Are you in love with Fire Bro? Be honest!" Toadette demanded to know.

Dixie stood there, unable to answer the question for a minute. "I-I don't know."

"You sure about that? Dixie…I'm not gonna judge you if you are, you just have to be honest with yourself and me! Please!" Toadette pleaded.

Dixie let out a big sigh and rubbed her temples. "I'm still hot and sweaty all over. I need to take a shower to cool down and think some things through. When I get out, I'm gonna tell him. Don't try to stop me," Dixie stated.

Toadette got a little frustrated with her. "…Fine. Don't say that I didn't warn you, though."

"I'll deal with the consequences, okay? Just please, keep this a secret between us. Don't tell anyone anything till I tell him myself," she stated and headed to the bathroom.

"Wait, Dixie! Don't you love Diddy? Don't you wanna be with him forever?" Toadette asked, stopping the monkey gal in her tracks.

"Of course I do, Toadette…it's not even a question…" she responded in guilt without looking at her.

"Then why did you let it happen? Why would you hurt Diddy like that?"

Dixie slowly looked to her best friend as another tear fell. "Because, Toadette…I haven't changed one bit. I'm still the same old, bitchy and selfish monkey chick that you know. I thought I was getting better with my behavior and attitude…but clearly not because I managed to make the biggest mistake of my life. I don't deserve him…"


Mona opened her eyes. She immediately gasped in fear when she realized she was lying outside on the grass. She slowly got herself up and saw two figures in the distance chatting intensely with each other.

"Wait a second…is that…FIRE BRO!? TATANGA!?" she called out. The two figures whipped their heads to her in surprise. Mona shrieked and fell backwards back on to the grass.

"AH!" she shrieked again, opening her eyes to see that she was lying on the floor of her own hotel room.

"Ugh…god, my head hurts like hell! When the fuck are these side effects going to wear off!?" Mona grunted and stood up. She paced around the room, thinking about the 'hallucination' she just had.

"Why do I keep going back to that night three years ago in these hallucinations? That's just so random! Plus, I don't remember seeing Tatanga and Fire Bro after I escaped Bowser's basement. Or…or did I? I remember being very tired that night…I-I think…" Mona said to herself in worry. "Should I even take it seriously? I mean, Sally DID say that the side effects included hallucinations, and everything else I saw in here earlier today was definitely a hallucination. But…why am I seeing Tatanga and Fire Bro on that night twice now? Did they actually meet before? Tatanga DID say that he had a connection in the past with most of us…"

Mona tried her hardest to figure this one out. She came to the conclusion that she wasn't sure if she could trust Fire Bro now. Well, it wasn't as if he was super trustworthy in the first place, but Mona had to play it on the safe side in case there really was some truth to that 'hallucination.'

Mona stopped pacing and noticed someone in the corner of her eye. She immediately became scared and her body started to tremble. She slowly looked to the figure, preparing for anything that could happen. The minute she saw the figure, she screamed.

It was DK, except, he had no eyes and his body looked slightly decomposed.

"O-oh my god! No…it's not you…IT'S NOT YOU!" Mona shouted. DK roared ferociously, which hurt Mona's ears. He then ran straight for her. Mona screamed again, then she jumped through the window behind her and landed on the grass below.


SMACK!

"OH!" Wario yelped, feeling pain in his cheek. He slowly opened his eyes. He gasped in horror as soon as he realized he was in a dank, dimly-lit room with a huge, black screen screen in front of him and a metallic table with various colored buttons on it. He looked all around and screamed when he saw Sonic, Knuckles, Shadow, Espio, Charmy, Blaze, and Rouge all there with him, giving wicked smirks to him.

"Finally you wake up! Took about a hundred smacks!" Blaze groaned.

"Sorry about that, I guess the spike in his drink was a lot stronger than I first thought," Knuckles chuckled.

"Don't apologize, Knux. We got this guy exactly where we need him!" Sonic proudly said.

"Wh-where the hell am I!? Knuckles…YOU DRUGGED ME! YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" Wario raged and moved about in his chair, but barely. Both of his legs were tied to the chair he was on, along with his right arm, but his left arm was free for some reason, however, he couldn't do much with it as the ropes were tied on very tight and secure.

"Oh, pipe down! He could've done a lot worse to you! You know, I'm surprised that chair hasn't broken yet considering how morbidly obese you are!" Rouge spat.

"Ha! Yeah, there's these things called liposuctions. I'm sure you can afford one considering you and your dumbass brother steal from the banks all the time anyways!" Sonic added to the insult.

"Him and his brother are robbers?" Shadow asked.

"Yeah, I know all about this guy. I met him at the Olympic games and researched him afterwards along with hearing stories from his friends. He's definitely compensating stealing money and being a wannabe villain given how fat, ugly, and worthless he is!" Sonic answered, getting into Wario's face. He then spat onto Wario's face. Wario now became more scared than pissed off. He was terrified of what they might do to him.

"You…I'm going to kill you…" he whispered angrily, with his body shaking in a mixture of terror and rage.

Sonic got closer to Wario's face and chuckled again. "I'd like to see you try."

"Seriously!? You really think you can kill THE Sonic!? Ha! Even if you weren't all tied up, he'd slit your throat before you even make a step to run, tubby!" Charmy scoffed.

"Alright, enough fucking around. Let's get down to business," Shadow stated and got out a handgun. Wario saw this and became even more terrified. Sweat was dripping down his entire face.

Rouge turned on the tv in front of him and it was some kind of security cam that showed Goombella in a prison cell.

"GOOMBELLA! NOOOOOOOOOOO! YOU FUCKERS BETTER NOT HAVE HURT HER!" Wario screamed.

"SHUT IT!" Blaze yelled and smacked Wario. "We're starting this game now! I'm getting very impatient."

Wario cringed from the pain and muttered, "G-game…?"

"You see these four buttons on the table? Each of these buttons will do something to torture your ugly friend over there in the cell. Failure to press each button in 5 seconds will result in one of your body parts being shot," Espio explained as Shadow cocked the gun.

Wario widened his eyes as heard the explanation. No way. He couldn't believe he was in such a disgusting, terrifying, and traumatic predicament. He didn't want to hurt Goombella. But, he didn't want to be shot either. A million things were running through Wario's mind and he felt like he would have a massive panic attack at any moment. He wanted to be back at the hotel with Waluigi, safe sleeping in bed, along with Goombella being safe as well.

"Awww, what's wrong? Don't like the rules? Don't like the game? Well, why would you judge it before even trying it out first?" Rouge taunted.

"Let's start. Espio already explained the rules. I'm counting own. 5," Shadow spoke.

This was really happening. Wario had to make a choice immediately.

"4."

"PLEASE, JUST STOP THIS! AAAHHHHH! I DON'T WANNA DO THIS!" Wario cried.

"3."

"Look at this guy, crying like a little girl. I thought you were supposed to be all macho and manly?" Knuckles teased, bringing laughter to the others.

"2."

Wario didn't know what else to do. He screamed again and pressed the far left button.

"OH! Wow, I honestly thought he wouldn't do it! Good job!" Sonic complimented.

"Ooh, this should be VERY interesting! Check out the screen!" Charmy excitedly yelled.

Wario made a big gulp. He felt severely guilty for not taking the shot. He could only pray that what he did wouldn't kill Goombella at this point.

In the cell, Goombella stood up as she heard a loud noise that sounded like rushing water within the walls.

"What the…? What's going on?" she asked herself. She walked over to the wall where the noise was the loudest. She kneeled down as she saw a wide pipe sticking slightly out of the brick wall. She looked close into it to see if anything was coming out.

There was.

Boiling hot water shot out of the pipe like a geyser and threw Goombella backwards as the water sprayed all over her body. Goombella screamed for dear life as the water singed her entire body.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHH! OH MY GOD, IT BURNS! SOMEONE PLEASE HELP MEEEEE!" she yelled, attempting to move away from the pipe on the opposite side.

In the room, the Sonic gang laughed in entertainment from seeing Goombella writhing and shrilling in pain. Wario began to cry again, the guilt crushing him more than ever now. He couldn't believe that he just hurt Goombella instead of taking the bullet for her.

The water from the pipe eventually stopped shooting out and it came to an end. The water went down a tiny drain that was in the cell so it was eventually all gone. Goombella was huddled in the corner, terrified and in pain with her skin peeling a bit all over her body.

"Excellent. Ready for round 2?" Shadow said.

"No…no more…you guys are absolutely disgusting…" Wario whispered through his tears.

"Okay, and? We take good pride in our 'disgustingness.' We really just don't care. Now, count it down!" Sonic ordered.

"5," Shadow began.

Wario looked back at the TV screen and saw Goombella still huddled in that corner, completely defenseless and stricken with fear.

"4."

This was the most horrible he had felt in his entire life. He wanted his and Goombella's pain to end.

"3."

He had to choose whether to have him endure the pain, or her. Both terrible and immoral choices.

"2."

Wario screamed again and slammed his hand on the next button to the right. Wario gasped and whipped his arm back, realizing what he had done.

"Ooh, what a selfish bastard you are! Choosing to hurt your friend again? Tsk tsk," Knuckles taunted.

"No no no! NOOOOO! I'M SO SORRY, GOOMBELLA! PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!" Wario cried again. His tears and sweat were mixing into his eyes so things became blurry a bit.

Back in the cell, one of the ceiling panels in there opened up and out came a green gas that quickly flooded the cell.

"Huh? Wh-what the hell is this now!?" Goombella spoke in fright. The mist made Goombella cough nonstop to the point where she had trouble breathing.

"AAAAAHHHH! CAN'T…BREATHE…HELP…WHAT…IS…THIS…" Goombella shouted between coughs. She stumbled across the floor and banged on the cell bars for any kind of help that could potentially come her way.

"Why does she think someone's gonna come and help her? That's so pathetic yet funny at the same time!" Blaze giggled.

"What's happening!? What are you doing to her!?" Wario yelled, not able to take his eyes off the screen of seeing Goombella struggle for dear life.

Goombella couldn't stop coughing and was finding it nearly impossible to breathe through her mouth and nose. She started coughing up blood onto the floor now. She made a scream of terror before coughing yet again. Goombella began to cry as she lied on the floor, beginning to accept that she may die now.

The gas eventually faded away into nothingness as it stopped coming in from the ceiling. The ceiling panel that the gas came from closed back up. Goombella rolled over on her back, being able to breathe again. Her stomach and chest hurt like hell from coughing so much.

"Hmm, I liked the first torture method better, but this one was well done too, especially since it seemed like she was close to dying!" Charmy complimented.

"You're all fucking sick…" Wario spat through his sobbing, still staring at the screen.

"Hmm…this coming from the guy who was watching the entire time?" Espio questioned.

"Don't even deny it, Wario. You're a lot more like us than you want to admit. I mean, come on! You used to rob banks and cause a shit ton of trouble to your supposed 'friend' Mario back in the old days! What the hell happened, man?" Sonic recalled.

"I…I don't do that anymore…I've changed…" Wario replied, now looking at the ground and temporarily stopped crying.

"Oh please! People don't change. They NEVER change. They just repress their 'flaws' and 'dark side' till they lose the strength to keep up the façade. Quit kidding yourself, you were meant to be a villain," Rouge stated. Wario didn't respond as he still stared at the ground. He wanted this all to be overwith. He was so tired, scared, guilty, angry, and sad all at once that a part of him wanted Shadow to shoot him in the head to get rid of this pain.

"Alright! Ready to go again? C'mon, you have to admit, this is getting pretty fun," Shadow said, aiming the gun at his leg again. "5."

Wario knew at that point that there was no way out of this. No other alternative between hurting himself or hurting Goombella.

"4."

His crying and whimpering officially stopped. He tried to think about just letting Shadow shoot him twice, to make up for hurting Goombella twice, but would he be able to handle the pain? A bullet shooting through him and dealing with a damaged arm or leg for potentially forever…was it worth it?

"3."

Wario looked back up at the screen. The footage of Goombella crying and whimpering on the floor made his heart break, which made him cry again.

"2."

He had to make another decision fast. It was now or never.

"1."

Wario hit the third button as if on instinct but then immediately retracted it.

"NO WAIT! I DIDN'T MEAN TO DO THAT!" he shrilled.

"What the fuck do you mean 'you didn't mean to do that'? Did you or did you not smash that button in front of all of us?" Knuckles laughed.

Rouge laughed as well. "I told you, you were meant to be a villain, Wario. You're choosing yourself over your friend yet again. That's good. Give in to your dark side."

"Take responsibility for your actions, man! You knew exactly what you were doing!" Charmy yelled.

A different ceiling panel opened up this last time, much like the previous one. Goombella shrieked when she saw this happening. A silver rod slowly popped out from the now open space.

"Oh no…wh-what now!?" Goombella prepared for the worst to happen.

Suddenly, the rod blasted an electric bolt to Goombella. It zapped her, jolting her entire body. She screamed in agony and pain once again.

"Ouch…that's gonna leave a lot of marks…" Espio commented.

"STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT STOP STOP IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!" Wario roared, crying again, seeing Goombella hit again by another electric bolt.

"Can you shut your fat mouth already!? When is it going to sink in for you? You're the one that caused this to happen, not us!" Blaze said. Wario was so disgusted and repulsed by everything that it got to the point where he vomited a little on the floor.

"Oh gross! Who the hell is gonna clean that up now?" Sonic asked.

Goombella was zapped a few more times, trying her best to avoid the bolts that shot out from the rod, but they were too quick for her to dodge. Goombella fell to the floor and gave up trying to evade it now. She cried loudly with her body aching in pain all over. She thought that this was going to be the end for her, right then and there. She received one last jolt from the rod before it finally stopped and the rod moved back into the ceiling and the panel moved back into its place.

"Aaaaaaauuuuugggghhhh….WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!? WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME!? IF YOU'RE GOING TO KILL ME THEN JUST FUCKING DO IT ALREADY! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" Goombella screamed through her crying.

"NO NO NO! PLEASE DON'T KILL HER! DON'T LISTEN TO WHAT SHE'S SAYING!" Wario cried.

"I won't lie, that girl is tougher than she looks! She doesn't look that bruised," Rouge complimented.

"Alright, Wario. This is the last one. You know the drill. 5," Shadow spoke, aiming the gun at his leg again.

Wario saw Goombella lay on the ground, barely moving. She had been through so torture and it was all because of him. He felt so selfish and vile for choosing himself over her three times already.

"4."

He couldn't press the final button. If he did, Goombella would most likely die. He would never live with himself if that were to happen.

"3."

He so badly didn't want to be shot and endure the massive pain that would come with it, but, there was no other choice for Goombella to be safe.

"2."

Wario breathed in and out very deeply, knowing what he had to do now.

"1."

Shadow pulled the trigger.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Wario screamed and closed his eyes.

Silence.

Wario slowly opened his eyes. He didn't feel anything. He looked at his leg, no bullet hole wound. What happened?

Wario looked to Shadow, who was smirking, still having the gun pointed at him.

"D-did you not shoot me?" Wario asked.

Shadow chuckled deviously. "Did you not hear me pull the trigger?"

"I-I did but…umm…" Wario wasn't sure what to say at that point. He was more confused than ever.

"Wario…the gun I'm holding never had any bullets in the first place," Shadow revealed.

Wario's jaw dropped and his eyes widened in horror. He couldn't believe he went through all that stress and trauma for nothing!

"Woah! Talk about a total mindfuck!" Knuckles said in shock.

"Wait a second…you DIDN'T put any bullets in it on purpose!?" Rouge asked.

"Nope. What better way to fuck with someone than make them think they'll get shot if they don't hurt their friend? Hehehe. Oh, Wario…you did ALL of this for nothing," Shadow laughed further and mocked him.

Wario had enough of everything. It was all too much for his mind to bear at that moment. He entered into somewhat of a catatonic state, losing all control of what to say or do.

"What's wrong? Can't handle it anymore? Aww…you're no fun," Shadow teased and slammed his hand down on the final button. This made all the ceiling tiles collapse and fall down in Goombella's cell. Some of them fell onto Goombella herself as she made another scream for mercy.

Wario saw this in his state and shed more tears. That was the final price.

"Huh. Well, if he's not gonna do anymore shouting and whining, I guess we're done with him. OH DK! GET IN HERE!" Sonic yelled.

"D…DK…?" Wario uttered.

The ape came in the room, slamming open the door. Wario looked to him and he looked back. Another shocking event that fucked with Wario's state of mind in that moment.

"Be a dear and take him to his prison cell. We're all done here," Rouge instructed.

"Uhhh…what the hell happened in here?" DK asked.

"Nothing important. Now do what you're told!" Shadow demanded, cutting Wario from the chair. DK went over, picked Wario over his shoulder, and carried him out of there.


"Wh-who are you people!? I've never seen you before in my entire life!" Tadano spoke, getting up from his bed.

"Well, uhh, that's because you haven't! My name is Bow and this is Spike. Tadano, your twin, Tatanga, has gone off the deep end. He destroyed Mushroom City and is currently planning to take over the world. Did you know about this?" Bow asked.

Tadano widened his eyes and gasped. "WHAT!? Okay, this is some kind of joke, right!? Who are you people exactly and how did you manage to find me and how do you know about Tatanga!?"

"Calm down, we're not your enemies! Look here, Tadano, us and more of our friends were involved in a bunch of crazy shit that Tatanga did in Mushroom City. He captured a lot of us but a small group managed to save us and now what's left of the inhabitants of the Mushroom City are taking refuge in a hospital. There's another large group of our friends that are out on some adventure to collect some mystical item that will help defeat Tatanga and his army of fiends. Sounds like a badly written sci-fi movie doesn't it?" Spike explained.

"And we found you via Princess Daisy. According to the story we were told, Princess Daisy, the princess of this kingdom, was kidnapped by your twin brother years ago and he told her that he had a twin who was in a mental institution in Chai City," Bow added.

Tadano still looked shocked and confused. "Uhh…what!? N-n-n-no way! I…oh god, he's gone back to his old ways…"

Spike raised a brow. "So, you DO believe us then? Look, I know this is a lot of information we're suddenly throwing here at you, and you barely know us, but everything we are saying is the truth and this is a dire situation we're in!"

"I…um…I think I believe you. I remember hearing about Tatanga kidnapping Princess Daisy a long time ago, I saw it on the news here at the institution and everyone was talking about it. But, he's really taking it further and trying to conquer the world this time? God…why isn't HE in here instead of me…" Tadano said upsettingly.

"That's actually a very good question!" Bow exclaimed in agreement. "But, yes, he really is trying to rule the world and we think there's a chance that you can help stop it."

"How exactly can I stop Tatanga, though? If what you're saying is completely true, then I have no power in stopping him! He hasn't even visited me in years, he doesn't give a shit about me. I'm still not sure why exactly you guys came here. Even if I wanted to stop him, I obviously can't, because, you know, huge mental institution with guards and security cams everywhere?" Tadano said in frustration and got back on his bed.

"Uhh…I guess he has a point, Spike. What would Tadano even do if we were to get him out of here? I highly doubt Tatanga seeing his twin brother would make him stop his plans all of a sudden," Bow said.

"Hmm, uhh, Tadano! What about your parents? You think they could provide any kind of help?" Spike asked.

Tadano looked from them to the ground with a look of sadness. Spike and Bow immediately knew that the answer wasn't gonna be good.

"Both of them are completely out of the picture. Years ago, Tatanga visited me and told me that our mother had enough of my father's bullshit and just up and left. She didn't leave a note where she was going nor did she ever come to visit me. As for my father…he's dead. Police and detectives came into the institution about a year after my mom left and told me that my house burnt down and found the body of my father in the rubble, but no Tatanga. I always assumed that Tatanga started the fire, he was way more dangerous than I could ever be…" Tadano explained. The explanation left the two in shock and sympathy.

"Oh my god! I am so sorry, Tadano! That's absolutely horrible. No one deserves to go through anything like that," Bow shrieked.

"Yeah, I'm very sorry for your losses, man. But…how exactly long have you been locked up in here?" Spike asked.

Tadano rubbed his eyes and looked back at them. "A very long time now. I stopped counting the days…I'm completely fine now, though. But, this is going to sound completely crazy, I don't want to leave this place. Because if I do, where would I go? I have no family nor friends I could stay with. I'd be homeless, begging people on the street for money and be even more miserable than I am now. So, I just pretend to act 'insane' occasionally and they extend my stay. I'm pretty much stuck here permanently."

The two felt even worse for him. So far, from what they've seen, this guy didn't deserve to be sent away to this place. He deserved so much better.

"Oh…wow…but, Tadano, that's no way to live! I'm sure there are homeless shelters all around the area you can go to. They'll provide you with a more comfortable room to sleep in, better food to eat, friends you can connect with, and possibly job opportunities," Bow tried to lift his spirits.

"Wait a second here. Tadano, if you don't mind me asking, why exactly are you in this mental institution anyways?" Spike asked.

Tadano made a deep sigh and walked to the window. "It's a long story, but I'll tell you everything as shortly as I can. Something makes me wanna trust you guys, so here it goes…

It all started when Tatanga and I became teenagers. My father had a drinking problem for a long time and him and our mother would often get into very heated arguments almost daily. It bothered the both of us because we didn't want to see our family torn apart. So, I did something about it. I pleaded for my father to stop drinking because I wanted to see him and my mother together forever. But…he hit me. And yelled at me. Called me awful names. From that day forward, that's when my father took out his anger onto me constantly, especially when he was drunk. I told my mother about this and she pleaded for him to stop, but he would physically abuse her too. My brother, Tatanga, did nothing to help at all. He ignored everything as if nothing was even happening.

A couple years went by and the abuse slowly went away. My father's drinking problems had subsided and everything seemed to be going back to normal…or, well, so I thought. I approached my father one day and told him a secret I've been keeping for a long time. I told him that I've been having certain 'thoughts' and 'feelings' towards males, and not 'females'. You know what I'm talking about, right? My father got angry at this and smacked me across the face, calling me more awful names and that he threatened to kick me out if I don't 'change' these thoughts and feelings. That was my breaking point. I had it.

I snapped. I hit my father back and trashed the entire place. I was screaming and went totally out of control. I couldn't take anymore of his abuse. It got to the point where I grabbed a butcher knife and threatened to kill him with it. My brother intervened and tried to calm me down but I threatened him too. I yelled at him, saying that he's just at fault because he didn't even try to stop the abuse. He tackled me to the ground, trying to grab my knife, but I stabbed him, kind of by accident. I didn't mean to do it…it just…um…happened.

I realized what I had done. My father became furious again and called 911. Obviously, my brother turned out to be alright. However, my father was VERY determined to get me to a mental institution, because he blamed all of his problems and stress on me, and that he was scared to be around me. Heh. Irony sure is a beautiful thing, isn't it? He accused me of having severe mental problems and eventually got me admitted into here.

Now…this may shock you, but, I somewhat acted the part of a psychopathic nutjob. I faked having a split personality. I faked seeing and hearing things that weren't there. I told the psychiatrists and therapists so many crazy things that they believed me and, well, I've been here since I was 15 years old. Honestly though…I don't know how exactly long I've been in here. I stopped keeping track of the days after my first few years here. But, I just didn't want to go back home, you know? Where my father and brother were, and I couldn't stand being around them anymore. I wanted nothing to do with them.

After I was admitted, both my parents visited once, then after that, it was just my mother that visited a few times with my brother. The excuse for my father not visiting me was always that he was busy with work. Of course, I didn't buy it. He hated me for no good reason. But, it didn't bother me anymore, because I was finally free from him. My brother and I talked about the stabbing, and he actually forgave me for what I did to him. I was a little shocked, but it made me view him in a better light.

One day, my brother visited me, telling me the news that my mother left the family to who knows where and she didn't leave any kind of contact info for her sons. I broke down and cried for the entire day. How could she just…disappear without, at the very least, saying goodbye to us? To this day, I still can't wrap my head around why she would just up and do that.

My brother visited me a few more times after that, but then he just stopped as well. Ever since then, I've had no one to visit me. But, it doesn't bother me anymore. I've made some good friends here. None of them, in my opinion, are actually dangerous nor completely insane so I feel very comfortable around them, moreso than I ever did with my dad. Well…there WAS this one koopa kid a long time ago who I befriended as soon as I got admitted, but he had severe psychotic meltdowns for no reason sometimes, and one time, he stabbed one of the koopa nurses in the eye with a pen and she fell down and bashed her head into one of the tables, so she was dead on the spot. But, he blamed me for it, trying to convince everyone that I told him to do it! And…oh…sorry…I'm getting a little off topic here.

So…like I said before, I heard about my brother kidnapping Princess Daisy on the news here a long time ago. It was at that moment that I knew he was also a lost cause and I reverted back to hoping to never see him again. However, hearing that he's kind of doing the same thing again just disappoints me…and makes me want to talk to him."

A brief moment of silence occurred as Spike and Bow took that whole story in.

"Wow…you've had such a rough life. I am so sorry for everything that you went through!" Bow sympathized further.

"Yeah, man, talk about an evil father you had. Guess his genetics passed on over to Tatanga, eh?" Spike spoke somewhat jokingly.

"But, Tadano…it seems like you ARE interested in seeing Tatanga and trying to stop him. Am I right?" Bow asked.

Toadwin entered the room. "Visiting hours are over, folks. Time to go."

"You two, if you can, come back tomorrow. We'll discuss this further, but I'm leaning towards a yes," Tadano said. This put hope into Spike and Bow.


Count Bleck slowly opened his eyes and all he saw was concrete. He immediately wondered how in the world he wound up outside on the ground. He then smelled smoke and even saw it in the air from his view. He quickly became frightened and slowly looked up in front of him to see St. Toadofsky's Hospital up in flames. He heard the screams of men, women, and little kids inside being scorched to death.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! WHAT HAVE I DONE!? THIS IS ALL MY FAULT!" Bleck cried and pounded on the concrete.

"It is your fault."

Bleck stopped crying when he heard that familiar voice. He slowly looked back up and screamed when he saw Dimentio, entirely in flames, standing before him.

"You couldn't save them, Bleck. You couldn't even save me from going back to the dark side. This is all your fault. All of it! You failed us! YOU FAILED ALL OF US!" Dimentio screamed.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! GET AWAY FROM ME!" Bleck cried and kicked Dimentio in the stomach, which immediately disintegrated his body. Bleck screamed again, not knowing that would happen. The hospital then exploded, engulfing Bleck in the wave of fire.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!" Bleck screamed.

"WAKE UP, BLECK! YOU'RE HAVING A NIGHTMARE!"

"….."

"Bleck?"

Bleck opened his eyes. He was in a stretcher in one of the hospital rooms. Surrounding him was Mimi, Toadiko, Tippi, Toadsworth, Frankly, and Dr. Nokano.

"Oh thank goodness you're finally awake! You were making some odd noises for a while there," Toadiko said.

"Wh-what happened?" Bleck asked.

"Good sir, we all heard you screaming then you fell to the floor and hit your head quite hard! But, everything seems to be alright, right Doctor?" Toadsworth explained.

"You're a pretty lucky guy, Mr. Bleck! Hitting your head did cause some bleeding, which I managed to stop, but it doesn't look like anything else was greatly damaged. No internal bleeding. However, I do want to keep you here for the rest of the day to run more tests just to be 100% safe," Dr. Nokano said.

"Whew! Dodged that bullet," Mimi laughed.

"Hrrrm, if you don't mind me asking, Count Bleck, what exactly was it that you were you, uhh, 'screaming' about?" Frankly asked.

Bleck took a bit of time to think. His memory for recent events was still pretty blurred. He remembered feeling frightened by something though.

"I…I don't remember, I'm sorry. I don't even remember hitting my head…" he replied with disappointment.

"It's okay, Blumiere, it'll all come back eventually. Just rest up for now, okay?" Tippi said.

"Okay…right…thank you all for being here…" Bleck said with a little smile, still fearful in the back of his head of why he got so terrified. Everyone else said their goodbyes and left the room.

"Can I ask you all to follow me real quick, please?" Frankly proposed. Everyone nodded with unsure expressions. He led them all the way to the entrance of the cafeteria.

"So…this was where Bleck screamed and then fainted, correct?" Frankly asked. The others nodded. "I'm probably overlooking this, but…I truly am curious to know what it was that scared him so much. Anyone have any ideas?"

"Not a clue for me. He had to have seen someone or something though. Does anyone here know if Bleck has a fear of a certain person?" Toadsworth asked.

"Uhh…probably Dimentio? He's the only one I can think of that Bleck would be scared of. But, there's no way he was here! People would've freaked out and word would've spread around about his appearance!" Mimi pointed out.

"You're right, it couldn't have been him. Honestly, we're just gonna have to wait for him to regain his memory back for him to tell us, because all we can do right now is just simply guess at what happened," Toadiko said.

"Very true. It still makes me a little uncomfortable though…something in here really made him scared…" Tippi said with a shiver. She examined the entire room and literally nothing was out of the ordinary. People were talking to each other, eating, drinking, and laughing…almost a contrast to how people were at the previous hospital.

Something had to have been off.

EOC.

Deeply apologize for the later-than-usual chapter update! Now, since we are officially halfway through the Sonic arc, there will be a mini-hiatus going on for now. School started back up again and the workload seems to be more intense than ever so I HAVE to put my focus towards that. Please look at my profile for more information. However, I'll be working on the next chapters here and there so need to panic. I'm gonna try to upload the remaining 6 (maybe 7) chapters of the Sonic arc in a weekly format like I did with this one, but it'll really depend on how quickly I'm progressing through each chapter. Next chapter will show Wendy dealing with her rape, more of Spike and Bow, more of Wario, DK, and Goombella, more general drama within the group, and two characters proceed to check out something that puts them in high danger.