"Thank you all for coming down here, I have something important to tell you," said Sally, holding somewhat of a meeting in the lobby. Yoshi, Birdo, and Diddy arrived at the hotel from the apartment building in the nick of time.
"Uhh, did you guys just now come from outside?" Toad asked.
"Yeah! We found something pretty interesting…but, um, this looks more important so we'll talk about it afterwards," Diddy answered.
"Wait! We're still missing a few people, aren't we? Koops and Mona?" Mario asked, looking all around the lobby.
"Koops…we really should just let him be for now, dearie. I'll tell him the news later on. As for Mona, she may have just fallen asleep, so I'll tell her too after this," Flurrie said.
"Ok, so, this is gonna be very brief. I wanted to let you all know that Amy's bachelorette party is happening tomorrow night at 7pm, here at the very top floor in the party room. For the guys, Sonic's bachelor party is happening at the same time but at Highlands Bar and Nightclub."
"Oh, how fun. A bachelorette party, because nothing could possibly go wrong there…" Kazooie sighed, still upset about Banjo's disappearance.
"Highlands? I think that's the same bar we were just at! Okay, there's no way that's just a coincidence!" Goombario noted in fear.
"I agree. They're definitely gonna try to pull some tricks at these parties. We all have to be prepared no matter what!" Daisy declared.
"Believe me, if I knew their hidden agendas, I would tell you guys straight away. My friends have been so out of character lately that I'm willing to believe that it isn't even them. This has to be the work of some evil yet wickedly smart person…someone who we probably won't even expect," Sally said.
"You mean…like Doctor Eggman?" Waluigi asked.
"Well, yeah, but remember, he's dead, so it has to be someone else," Sally quickly corrected.
"Come on Sally! This is DOCTOR EGGMAN we're talking about! You really expect any of us to believe that he just simply had a 'brain aneurysm' and died!?" Toad exclaimed, and some nods were seen too. Sally looked a little heated.
"You weren't there at the funeral! I saw his body! Now enough talk about this, okay? Please. I urge you all to attend both parties tomorrow to see what the hell is going on with my friends," she raised her voice. The others looked at each other with questioned expressions. "Now…I also have good news to tell. I got a call from Tails a few minutes ago saying that he found the gem in the Mystic Ruins for you guys! He's on his way here now," Sally informed. A look of relief was on everyone's faces.
"Awesome! Go Tails! Well, that's one thing that's going right so far in this world," Vivian cheered.
"Is that supposed to mean something!?" Koopie commented in a snarky way. Vivian gulped, not wanting her comment to come off in that way.
"Thank goodness for that. So, should we wait here for Tails to bring the gem then?" Luigi asked.
"You don't have to. I told Tails to bring the gem to me when he arrives here. Once he does, I'll bring it up to your room, Mario," Sally said.
"Sounds like a good plan to me. Alright, this is good. Now, we just have to worry about getting our friends back and figuring out what's going on with Sonic and his friends!" Mario said with a little joy.
"Hey! Didn't you guys say you had something interesting to tell us?" Kammy said, pointing to Yoshi, Birdo, and Diddy.
"Yes. Well…uhh…this is gonna sound crazy, but this person bumped into me, right? But, I felt like they did it purposely! I called them out on it and they turned around, stood there for a bit, and then turned back around and took off! This person was also wearing a black hoodie so I couldn't get a good look at them so I got a little suspicious and then I ended up following them with Diddy and Birdo tagging along!" Yoshi began to explain. Everyone looked at him dumbfoundedly.
"So…you followed a person because they bumped into you and acted 'strange'?" Bowser Jr. tried to figure the story out.
"I know, it sounds dumb, but wait till you hear the rest of it," Birdo assured.
"So, we follow this person to an apartment building, and we thought that they lived there. We follow them to the third floor, but guess what happens next? We find this person's hoodie on the floor in front of a room numbered 316! We assume it was their room, but then we hear Amy Rose's voice from the elevator so I grabbed the hoodie and we bolted to the stairwell. We look out the window of the stairwell door to see Amy and BAM! She enters room 316! That's HER apartment, not the person we were following! We think the person was leading us to her place for some reason that I hope someone else here can figure out?" Yoshi explained the rest of the story.
"Mamma mia! That is definitely weird! Uhh…the only thing I can think of is that the person wanted you to know where Amy lives for some reason? It kinda sounds like they're on our side though!" Luigi theorized.
"Yeah, I agree. Suspicious, but helpful! It couldn't have been one of us though in the hoodie because we were all going to the hotel when that happened," Rosalina said.
"So…who was it then?" Lakilulu asked. Everyone fell silent, all of them having zero clues for the person in question.
"I have an idea! Give me the hoodie so I can smell it, and then I can track the person via scent! It's the perfect plan!" Fire Bro excitedly spouted.
"Oh, hush! Look guys, whoever did it isn't the most important thing here, what's most important is that now we know where Amy lives so we can infiltrate her place whenever she's gone to figure out what's really going on!" Daisy exclaimed.
"Yeah, that's a good idea! We can do it during Amy's bachelorette party! You three should be the ones to go though, because you know where it is, and it's probably better that a large group doesn't go anyways so it'll look less suspicious," Goombario planned and others nodded.
"Sounds good to me. Also, we don't need this anymore so I'm just gonna chuck it into the garbage," Birdo said as she grabbed the hoodie from Yoshi and threw it into a nearby garbage bin.
"Hey! I kinda wanted to wear that, Birdo! It looked comfy," Yoshi pouted.
"So, looks like we've got a plan in motion for tomorrow. Good job, guys. Every step will bring us closer to the truth and saving our friends!" Mario exclaimed with hope.
"It's getting late now, so I really recommend you guys get to bed. Mario, you're the leader of this group, so remember, I'm gonna bring the gem to your room as soon as Tails brings it to me. I'll also let you know if anything else comes up," Sally said. Mario nodded with a smile. Everyone began to head back to their rooms. Diddy stopped Toadette in her tracks.
"Hey, Toadette! I need to ask you something very important. It concerns Dixie, and I need you to be honest about it, okay?" he asked somewhat frantically.
Toadette gulped in fear. The secret of Dixie kissing Fire Bro immediately ran through her head. "Um, o-o-okay, I will. What is it?"
"There's definitely something going on with her, isn't there? She hasn't been the same since we left the club. She's been acting so bizarre! Did she tell you anything? I have to know! It's gonna keep bothering me until I know!" Diddy pleaded.
Toadette sighed in frustration. She severely hated being told this secret from Dixie. Because of that, she was now caught in the middle. No matter what choice she would make, she would feel even worse than she does now. She didn't want to lie to Diddy, nor did she want Dixie to hate her for telling the truth.
"Toadette? Hello!? Are you okay?" Diddy asked, now looking worried.
Toadette looked at him and sighed again. She had to make a choice at that second.
"Dixie cheated on you with Fire Bro, Diddy. They both kissed. I think she might be falling for him too," she stated.
Diddy widened his eyes in horror. "Wha…sh-she told you all that!?"
Toadette sniffled as a tear fell from her cheek. "Yes. I…I'm so sorry Diddy…but I hate keeping secrets. I hate holding all this in. I'm so sick of the drama and the violence…it feels like I'll never escape it, no matter what I do…"
Diddy slowly clenched his fist and breathed in more heavily. "I see. Thank you for your honesty, Toadette. Is there anything else?"
"That's all she told me. If you wanna hate me for this…if that will make you feel better…then go ahead. I won't fight you on it," Toadette spoke with a sad tone while looking to the floor. She noticed a tear drop hit the carpet.
"I'm not mad at you, Toadette. You did the right thing by telling me. Dixie never should've had you keep it a secret in the first place. Now…if you'll excuse me…I have business to settle," Diddy spoke, clearly trying to keep his emotions under control as he still clenched his fists and had a look of hurt and anger upon his face. He stomped off towards the stairs.
Bowser Jr. slowly walked over to Toadette, not moving an inch after that talk. "Toadette? Are you okay? What was that all about with Diddy?"
"More drama. More pain. More stress. I don't know how much longer I can take this…" Toadette said, sobbing a bit more. She then gave Bowser Jr. a hug and sobbed into his shoulder. Bowser Jr. hugged back, coming close to crying too. Toad witnessed all of this within a short distance and felt their pain.
"As soon as I plop onto the bed, I'm falling asleep! I'm tired as hell but also scared cause my brother is out there somewhere with those assholes! UGH! If I just knew where he was, I would go over there, kick all their asses, and bring him back safe!" Waluigi grunted.
"Of course, dearie. I can understand your anger. However, may I ask you something? I couldn't help but also overhear you and Rosalina at the hospital. Um…is everything okay between you two?" Flurrie asked.
"Oh…THAT. Hmph. Nothing you need to worry about. Let's just say that she pushed my buttons the wrong way entirely and I also have that shit on my mind. You know what? I don't even know if I'll actually even sleep tonight, now that I think about it. Too much crap is happening and it's giving me a headache," Waluigi ranted in frustration.
"Oh! I see. My apologies, dearie. If you need anyone to talk to, or…erm…rather vent, I'm always free for you," Flurrie sympathized.
"Thanks, Flur. But, I think I'll be okay…well, I'll try to be, I guess…" Waluigi shrugged.
"Hey, did you just see that with Sally!?" Toad asked to Goombario.
"I'm assuming you're talking about her raising her voice after you asked her about Eggman?" he responded.
"Exactly! The way she responded…she definitely knows something, Goombario. Even if she isn't 'infected' like her friends, there is something up with her," Toad said.
"I agree. But, if she does know something, how would we coax it out of her? I'd feel bad for trying to pressure her to reveal something just in case we're wrong…" Goombario asked.
"Yeah, let's not do anything like that just yet. We really should be cautious of Sally, though, from now on. I just can't help but feel like something is up with her…" Toad replied with worry.
"Parakarry! Over here!" Bombette waved the paratroopa down and he flew to her.
"Hey! What's happening?" he asked.
"So…now we know that Goombella never entered the basement based on what Vector said. However, it still makes me wonder what's actually down there, Parakarry. The story and that old lady rambling on about it earlier…there's no way it's a coincidence!" Bombette exclaimed.
"Wh-what are you saying, Bombette!? You wanna go down there and check it out!?" Parakarry asked in fear.
"Well…yes! Come on Parakarry, aren't you the least bit curious to know if something really is down there?" Bombette asked in slight excitement.
"HELL NO! Bombette, come on! This is completely pointless! This doesn't even have anything to do with what's going on anyways! We already found out that Goombella never went down there so let's just drop it and get to sleep!" Parakarry demanded.
"How do you know nothing down there is connected to what's going on? Parakarry…think about it! That basement is the ONE place around here we have yet to check. What if something down there connects to this whole mystery with the wedding and Sonic and his friends!? I mean, basements usually hold very important things sealed from the general public so it's not a stretch to say that SOMETHING noteworthy is down there, yeah?" Bombette explained. Parakarry groaned at her.
"Ugh…you've already decided to go down there and check it out, haven't you?" he asked.
"You betcha!" Bombette snickered. "And this would be a lot easier if I had your help too!"
Parakarry rolled his eyes. "…Fine. But, ONLY because I don't feel comfortable having you go down there all by yourself. So, how are we gonna do this then? And when do you wanna do it?"
Bombette grew a smirk. "Don't worry, I've got a plan."
"There you are!" Diddy yelled, entering his and Dixie's hotel room. He made sure the door was shut.
"Uhh, yeah? Where else would I be?" Dixie asked confusedly.
Diddy sighed and slowly walked to her. He then stared at her intensely. "So…when you were at the club…you were feeling claustrophobic…and that's why you left, right?"
Dixie raised a brow. "Um, yes. I already told you, remember?"
"…And nothing else happened? Is that correct?" Diddy's look and voice grew more intense.
Dixie became nervous. She knew something was up. "D…diddy…I…"
"…You kissed Fire Bro, didn't you?"
Dixie stepped back in shock. She was literally about to tell him the truth too.
"Wha…D-Diddy…Toadette told you, didn't she!?" she yelped.
"WOAH WOAH WOAH! DON'T YOU DARE FUCKING PUT ANY OF THIS ON HER!" Diddy exploded, scaring Dixie. He did his best to calm his anger and pain. "I don't fucking believe this, Dixie! How could you!? W-Wait a second! He…he didn't try to manipulate you into kissing him, did he!?"
Dixie began to sob. "N…no…it was my mistake. There was no manipulation…"
Diddy shook his head and groaned angrily. "THEN WHY THE FUCK DID YOU DO IT!? Are you not in love with me anymore!? Dixie…did I do something wrong!? Did I somehow hurt you in any way and this is payback!? And how the hell could you tell this to Toadette and make her keep it a secret!? ARE YOU IN LOVE WITH FIRE BRO!?"
The constant questioning from Diddy made Dixie sob even more. She backed up into the wall, feeling devastated and disappointed with herself at what she did. "I…I'm so sorry, Diddy…for everything…I made a mistake! IT WAS A MOMENT OF WEAKNESS! I KNOW, I'M SUCH A FUCKING IDIOT!"
Diddy walked up to her and started to cry too. "YOU DIDN'T ANSWER ANY OF MY QUESTIONS! PLEASE…JUST GIVE ME A REAL REASON WHY YOU WOULD DO THIS, WHY YOU WOULD FUCK UP OUR RELATIONSHIP!? I HAVE BEEN NOTHING BUT FAITHFUL TO YOU FOR ALL THESE YEARS AND…oh…oh god! That time I accused you of having feelings for Fire Bro…you were lying to me about that, weren't you!?"
Dixie couldn't bear to look at his hurt face anymore. Especially after what she'll say next.
"I…I do have feelings for him…I'm sorry, Diddy…I took it too far…"
Diddy scratched hard at his temples as he cried even more at that statement. "Wh-who the hell are you, Dixie? Seriously, I just…don't know you anymore. How the fuck do you expect me to trust you again, knowing that you were unfaithful and even LIED to me about having feelings for him!?"
"I know! Diddy…I'm an awful person for what I did! I fucked up…and I was going to tell you…I really was…I just didn't know the way to do it!" Dixie said in between sobbing.
"I just can't fucking believe this. Any of it. All those years together…planning our future…down the drain, just like that. And I was being 100% serious before when I told you that I wanted to get married right after this mission was over…but I guess that's gone too…" Diddy calmed his voice down, but still sobbing a bit.
"No…no no no! PLEASE, DIDDY! WE CAN WORK THIS OUT! I'M SO SORRY! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME!" Dixie screeched, running over to him and hugged him. Diddy pushed her off of him.
"Work this out!? Dixie…you can't fucking fix this! YOU CHEATED ON ME! HOW THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO JUST GET OVER THAT!? I CAN'T TRUST YOU AGAIN, ESPECIALLY WITH THAT JACKASS STILL AROUND!" he yelled in her face. "You…you ruined everything. We're done. You wanna be with that lunatic so bad, then be with him. But, I refuse to stay in this relationship with you having another guy on your mind. It's over. I'll sleep in some other room."
Diddy then slowly exited the room while trying to compose himself and slammed the door shut. Dixie dropped to her knees, now crying louder than before. She didn't know what to do. She loved Diddy with all of her heart but she was legitimately developing feelings for Fire Bro. She was a complete wreck with her emotions and wished, at that moment, she had never gone onto the adventure at all so she could have avoided all of this.
Vivian nervously approached the door to Koops' room. She knocked a few times and waited for any kind of response from him.
The shadow siren sighed. "Koops…it's me, Viv. Please come out and talk to me. I know you're hurting badly right now but you can't keep shutting yourself away from everyone forever! Please…just talk to me…"
She waited a full minute for his response, but none came. She sighed again and got a little teary.
"Vivian, dear, what are you doing?" Flurrie asked as she approached her.
"Oh! Flurrie…I-I'm trying to get Koops out of his room so we can finally talk. It's not healthy for him to lock himself away from the world!" Vivian cried.
"I see…but, Vivian…I certainly don't think this is a good time for Koops right now. He's still in deep pain and he will come out when is ready. It's better not to force it," Flurrie tried to comfort her.
"What!? You really think that? But, Flurrie…this is partly my fault…I have to fix this! What if he never gets through the pain!? I can't lose another person close to me…I've already lost my sisters…again…" Vivian sobbed and the wind spirit gave her a hug. Vivian cried into Flurrie's shoulder.
"I know you don't wanna lose Koops, dearie. I know you care for him with all of your heart. But, he will come out once he's ready. These things take time. You can't force it nor rush it. You have to let it go for now," Flurrie assured comfortingly, stroking Vivian's hair and stared at the door to Koops' room.
Rosalina returned to her hotel room and found Waluigi laying on the bed with an irritated expression, watching TV.
"Hey…look, I'm really sorry about earlier. I think I got a little too heated there for no good reason. You know I still love you, right?" Rosalina said while twiddling her thumbs in nervousness.
Waluigi rubbed his temples and sighed. "Can we talk about this tomorrow? I'm exhausted and you really hurt my feelings. I'm in too cranky of a mood to talk this out with you."
Rosalina got a little down from that harsh response. "Oh…okay. I understand. Sorry again. I'm gonna use the bathroom real quick and then we can get to sleep." She then walked to the bathroom, shut the door, and looked in the mirror. She was on the verge of crying but she breathed in and out and controlled herself.
"Make my love's pain go away, let it be erased from today," Rosalina chanted. She heard a slight 'whoosh' sound, indicating that her spell worked. She then exited the bathroom and went over to the bed.
"Hey! Ready to head to sleep?" Waluigi asked in a completely different mood from just a minute ago.
"Definitely. I'm tired and hopefully tomorrow will yield better things for us," Rosalina said as she got into bed.
Waluigi smiled a little and reached his arm over to cuddle her. "Yeah. I still can't get my mind off of Wario, though…I really hope they're not torturing him right now. I just wish there was an easy way to find him!"
"We WILL find him, Waluigi. I promise. But, there's nothing we can do for him right now because we're both tired and must conserve our strength for tomorrow," Rosalina swore.
"You're right. My gut tells me he's still alive so…I guess all I can do is just hope that he's unharmed at the very least. Hmm. You always know how to make me feel better," Waluigi said with a glint of hope and kissed her on the cheek.
Rosalina blushed. "It's what I'm here for, Waluigi. Oh, and by the way…you're not still mad, are you?"
"Uhh…mad about what?" he asked confusedly.
"Oh! Nothing. Nevermind. Let's just go to sleep. Sweet dreams!"
Wendy felt hot breath on her face and neck along with a heaviness that pushed her body down. She found it hard to breathe and couldn't open her eyes for some reason. But, she felt terrified not knowing what was on top of her body, holding her down so she couldn't move.
She then felt pain below her waist. This person was inserting themselves inside of her against her will. She opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. The pain became worse and worse, and Wendy started to shed tears from her eyes because she felt like there was no escape from this monster who was forcefully penetrating her.
With all of her might, she opened her eyes and saw the face of evil staring back at her in glee at his horrid act. Her body froze in terror. The man on top of her showed no guilt with what he was doing. He knew she was in pain. He knew she didn't want it. But, he didn't care. She was helpless. There was no saving herself. At the very least, she wanted to scream, in hopes of someone hearing her. She opened her mouth and tried and tried and tried and tried and tried and tried…
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Wendy blinked. She was back in her hotel room with her family sleeping around her. She was sweating all over and panted a little, thanking God that it was just a nightmare, that HE wasn't back again for more. She then started to cry and got in a fetal position.
"I have to tell someone…I can't keep this a secret anymore…this is killing me…" she whispered to herself.
It was now past midnight. Very few people were in the lobby as Bombette and Parakarry slipped by into the hallway that led to the basement door.
"I still can't believe we're doing this…" Parakarry nervously groaned.
"Oh stop! We're gonna make this quick, so don't worry. As soon as we get the door open, we're gonna run in, check the place out, and if there's nothing, we run back out. Simple as that!" Bombette reassured.
"I guess…but, I'm honestly not sure what I'm more nervous about; getting caught or the possibility that that raccoon boy is actually down there…" the mailman shivered.
"Dude, you gotta stop freaking out. It will be okay. We'll handle whatever comes our way. Now come on! We're almost to the door," Bombette hurried to the end of the hallway. Parakarry sighed and got into position. He looked around him to make sure no one was looking at them. Then, he did his Shell Shot move and busted the door open.
"Nice! Now let's do this!" Bombette cheered.
"Wait! I ripped some of the wall off! They're gonna notice!" Parakarry cried.
"We'll worry about that later! Now come on, this is our chance!" she yelled and dragged Parakarry down the stairs onto the basement floor. From what they could see, due to the single dim light, it was large, dust, and dank.
"Woah…this is a completely different atmosphere…" Parakarry shivered again.
"Uhh…yeah, definitely. Alright Parakarry, stay close to me. I can't see much so we'll have to search together," Bombette said. The two then looked around the area for anything of significance.
"Wait, over there! That newspaper!" Parakarry pointed to a newspaper that was up against the wall. Bombette grabbed it and saw the headlines that talked about Vanko, the missing raccoon boy.
"Woah! This is practically the same article about Vanko that we read online! What the hell is this doing down here?" Bombette asked.
"Better question is…what is this food doing down here!?" Parakarry gestured to some feet away from the newspaper. There were a few plates of unfinished moldy food, mostly bread, and some water bottles and pill bottles lying about.
"Yikes. Okay, this is getting even freakier now. Was someone living down here at one point?" Bombette questioned.
"What do you mean 'was'!? I think they still are!" Parakarry shrieked.
"We have to keep exploring. I really am curious now…" Bombette demanded and the two kept searching through the basement wherever they could see.
"Hmm!? Bombette…look at this wall right here…" Parakarry spoke and walked to a specific section of the wall. He felt around for a few seconds then gasped. "Woah! There's a slit in the wall here!" He opened the slit with all his might and saw that it led to a passageway within the walls of the hotel. Bombette dropped her jaw.
"What the hell!? Okay, this is beyond creepy!" she shrieked.
"Not only that, but, do you remember when that old lady was freaking about seeing some raccoon boy in her room at night? I don't think she was dreaming! I think Vanko used this passageway to sneak into her room to try to get out of the hotel!" Parakarry deduced.
Bombette kept staring at the passageway in fear. "That…that makes sense. But wait a second! Does that confirm that he actually WAS here, though!?"
"How could it not!? Seriously Bombette, the newspaper, the food, the old lady rambling about him, the online article…it has to add up to that poor kid being stuck down here!" Parakarry exclaimed.
"You're right. It's too much evidence to consider it a coincidence! But…does that mean that Sally knows about him being down here?" Bombette questioned.
Suddenly, a low and disturbing growl was heard that echoed through the room. The two almost froze in fear.
"Wh-wh-what the fuck was that!? Please tell me you heard that!" Parakarry freaked.
"I did! Hello!? Who's here with us!?" Bombette called out.
"Bombette, we need to get out of here! We have all the proof we need about Vanko being here!" Parakarry desperately urged.
SMASH!
They heard the light bulb being smashed, which caused total darkness in the basement. The two screamed and jumped around to the noise.
"HOLY SHIT! THERE'S SOMEONE IN THIS FUCKING ROOM!" Parakarry screamed in terror.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!" Bombette screamed as she was knocked down into a pile of junk.
"BOMBETTE! WHERE ARE YOU!? WHAT'S GOING ON!?" Parakarry shrilled.
"GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME! PARAKARRY, HELP MEEEEEEEEE!" Bombette screamed again as more sounds of struggling and growling were heard.
Parakarry's eyes adjusted to the darkness a little bit and he could see the shadow that was attacking Bombette. He did another Shell Shot at the shadow and knocked him down.
"COME ON, WE'RE GETTING THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" Parakarry screamed and dragged Bombette out of the basement and slammed the door behind them.
Wario groaned while he slowly opened his eyes. His vision became unblurred as he saw nothing but moving ground. He became confused and disoriented. He wasn't walking. He quickly realized that someone was carrying him over their back.
"Wha…hey! HEY! Where are you taking me!?" he yelled. Right afterwards, the person threw Wario onto the ground, provoking a yell of pain from him.
"YOWCH! Ugh…you piece of shit…I'm going to fucking kill you!" Wario threatened, struggling to stand up. He looked up and fell back to the ground as soon as he saw who it was that carried him into the cell.
It was DK. The ape turned around, shut the cell door, and locked it. He gave an intense glare to Wario.
"Oh my god! DK!? Th-they got you too!? Are you…one of them now?" Wario asked in fright. DK didn't respond. He just kept staring at him, although his look got noticeably less intense. DK opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it, prompting a curious look from Wario.
"DK…?" Wario whispered.
The ape then stomped away quickly. Wario tried to take this all in but his head hurt so much from what happened earlier that he started to cry from all the trauma he had to endure.
"Wario?" called out a familiar voice.
Wario wiped his tears and saw across from him was another cell. In that cell was a badly bruised Goombella. He widened his eyes, knowing that it was fault how damaged and hurt she was.
"Goombella! Oh my god…are you alright!?" he asked.
Goombella shook her head and sighed in frustration. "I'm hurting all over, Wario. I'm actually surprised they haven't killed me yet. And…was that DK I saw!? Is he one of them now!?"
"I-I think so! Yeah. I wonder if they got anyone else…" Wario said.
"Ugggghhhh…I can't move without my body feeling pain. This is so fucked up! You know what!? I don't care if these guys are infected or not, when I get out of here, I'm gonna make sure all of them pay for what they did to us!" Goombella angrily declared.
"Huh!? Goombella, wait a second here! Remember, these guys are INFECTED with something! We have to figure out how to get rid of the infection in order to bring these guys back to normal! You can get your revenge on the person who started the infection!" Wario tried to reason with her.
"And what if we can't bring them back, huh!? What are we gonna do then!? I'm not taking any chances! These people deserve to burn in the deepest pit of hell for what they did to us! YOU HEAR THAT!? WHEN I GET OUT OF THIS CAGE, I'LL MAKE SURE TO DESTROY EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU!" Goombella screamed in pure rage.
Wario was stunned by Goombella's anger. He had never seen her so vengeful before. He wanted to tell her so bad that it was technically him who did all those horrible things to her, but he couldn't. It would be yet another stressful thing to pile onto the unfortunate situation they were in. Neither of them could handle any more bad news.
"We're leaving, we're leaving! You don't have to stand two inches behind us and rush us out!" Spike yelled while he and Bow were leaving the mental hospital. The two got outside and sighed.
"So, it looks like we've got something going concerning Tadano. If we get him to come with us, then this wouldn't have been a total waste of time," Spike said in hope.
"Yeah…but…hmm…do you think we can fully trust Tadano, though? He's been in this institution for who knows how many years now and I highly doubt one can stay sane in this place for that long," Bow spoke with concern.
"Good point. Plus, he's been through a lot of abuse, and that can fuck anyone up! I guess we're just gonna have to take our chances with this one. Now come on, let's get a taxi to the nearest motel. Jetlag is no joke!" Spike said.
"Yeah, I'm getting pretty tired too. Oh! Over there! Ask that person over there if you can use his phone to get us a taxi!" Bow demanded.
"Alrighty. Damn, I keep forgetting that we don't have our phones because Tatanga's stupid goons took them all when they captured us…" Spike said and went to talk to a koopa to use his phone. A few minutes went by and Spike made the call for the taxi and thanked the koopa.
"Hey Bow! Taxi is on its way! We managed to contact one super close by, so we should- wait…Bow!?" Spike stopped when he turned around and saw no sign of Bow anywhere. He looked all around the area and still did not see a trace of her.
"BOW!? Where did you go!? BOW!? BOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!" he yelled and started to panic.
"Something the matter, sir?" asked the koopa.
"My friend, Bow! She was JUST here behind me! Did you see where she went?" he asked.
"Uhh…isn't that her right there?" the koopa pointed behind Spike. He turned around again and saw Bow floating quickly towards him carrying some papers.
"What the fuck!? Where did you just go!? And…what are you holding in your hands!?" Spike yelled in confusion.
"I see the taxi over there! COME ON!" Bow yelled and dragged Spike towards the streets. Bow waved the taxi down. It stopped for them and then they hopped in.
"Hello! Take us to the nearest motel please!" Bow quickly said.
"Uhh…Bow!? What the fuck just happened!? Where did you go and why do you have those papers!?" Spike demanded an answer.
"You're not gonna believe what I just did…I turned invisible and managed to find the room where they keep records on every patient there, and guess what? I found Tadano's! However, they also had a Boo guard floating around and he saw me, so I booked it, that's why I rushed us out of there!" Bow whispered.
"WHAT!? Those are his records!? Uhh…I don't know if I should congratulate you or yell at you for breaking the law and getting the cops called on us," Spike said, having mixed feelings about this.
"You should congratulate me considering we MUST know everything we can about Tadano. It's like we said earlier, he's been in this place for so many years so he may not be as fully sane as he likes to think he is," Bow assured.
"…Well, I guess you're right on that one. But, Bow…how can we even go back there after what you did? That Boo guard saw you and will remember what you look like! We're supposed to come back there tomorrow for Tadano!" Spike said.
"Simple. It will be just you who goes in there and speaks to him. I'll return these papers to the institution in some secret, undercover way tomorrow AFTER we go through them tonight!" Bow said with a cheesy smile at the end. Spike groaned in annoyance, not completely liking this plan.
The taxi stopped at a motel. The two paid the driver and went inside to get a room. Once they got settled into their room, they began to look through the papers.
"Geez, this guy's definitely been here for at least a decade. So many papers and notes! Should we even take any of this writing seriously? He DID say he would act insane so they would extend his stay…" Spike said hopelessly as he skimmed through the various papers in front of him.
"We should, so we know what to expect from him. Wait a second! I found this paper here…woah! Check this out!" Bow shrieked and showed Spike the document she was looking at. She read it out loud:
Patient's behavior has been somewhat unpredictable these past few years. Still unable to find a connection with what triggers his random and violent outbursts. Very closed off, but I can tell he's opening up every now and then just the tiniest bit. Always brings up deceased nurse, Kayla Kooprine, in our sessions with mentioning how he's so sorry that he killed her, despite the fact that it's already been proven that former patient, Konnor Korpus who escaped the institution a long time ago, had killed her. Most likely the reasoning for his guilt about Nurse Kayla is because Konnor Korpus blamed her death onto Tadano for no logical reason and told everyone that Tadano forced him to kill Nurse Kayla or else Tadano would "set his body on fire," according to Konnor's words. Judging from previous sessions, Tadano has quite an immense guilt complex, so that encounter made him second guess his actions. The abuse he endured from his father still affects him quite heavily, always being blamed for every problem in his father's life, so that encounter with Konnor must've reminded him of the way his father treated him.
Has also recently opened up about an imaginary friend named Toadie. Well…I assume this friend is 'imaginary' because no record of a patient named Toadie exists in this institution. This 'Toadie' keeps him company and he vents out his problems and stresses to her outside of these sessions. This 'Toadie' most likely stemmed from his childhood abuse, where he had no one to turn to and has told me that he never had any friends, so 'Toadie' must've shown up for him during that time, as a coping mechanism for the abuse. Possibility of him having DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder), because whenever the subject of 'Toadie' comes up, he changes attitudes and becomes agitated, cold, and distant very easily, and when I bring this subject up to him, he notes that he can't control certain emotions sometimes and has also attempted suicide a few times in the past, both of which are indicative of DID, but must have more proof and sessions to classify a diagnosis.
That was the end of the document. Bow and Spike sat there in horror and in silence.
"What the fuck…just...what the fuck!? Okay. This is a little TOO much to take in now!" Spike spoke with shock.
"Yeah! So, we're bringing along a person who is severely depressed and may have DID!? That has 'DANGER' written all over it!" Bow cried.
"Oh…uhh…are we freaking out over the same thing here?" Spike asked confusedly. Bow looked just as confused now.
"Wait, what? You're not freaked out by the fact he has DID!?" Bow asked.
"Well, I am, but it's something else. Something that I never expected to see…Kayla Kooprine. I recognize that name. That's Koops' mom!" Spike yelled in revelation. Bow dropped her jaw.
"WHAT!? How…how do you know that!? Are you positive!?" she asked.
"Definitely! I know that because Koops and I caught up with each other on stuff a few months ago. We ended up telling each other stuff about our families and secrets from long ago, and one of them was that, right before the Hooktail incident happened with his dad being eaten and all, his parents divorced. His mother, Kayla, moved to Sarasaland because that's where she had family at and wanted to go to nursing school. Koops said she ended up getting a job at this mental institution, but ended up getting killed there by this patient! I felt so bad for him…this is such a weird coincidence too…" Spike explained, leaving Bow in even more shock.
"…WOW. Talk about a small and very fucked up world! Poor Koops! But Spike, there's something else that's weird here. The name 'Konnor Korpus'. Why does that sound SO familiar!?" Bow pointed out.
"Uhh…I'm not sure why that would sound familiar? Wait a second, isn't 'Korpus' Kooper's last name?" Spike said.
"It is! How could I forget that!? Yes, I remember it now! Us, the original partners, had a reunion a few years ago at my place. We were drinking a little and Kooper kinda exposed a little too much about his life, more than we wanted. When Kooper was a teenager, his brother, Konnor, suddenly went ballistic and stabbed him with a knife. He was sentenced to an insane asylum, the one we were just at. Konnor refused to have anything to do with his family from then on," Bo explained, now leaving Spike in more shock as well.
"What. The. Fuck. So, this Konnor, he's the same one mentioned in this document!? Seriously!? AND HE ESCAPED!? Well shit, he could be anywhere! We're in some seriously dangerous territory here, Bow! This is all too much of a weird coincidence for me to keep going through with this!" Spike yelled, throwing all the documents away from him.
"Look, I know this is all fucking weird, okay!? But, we came this far to get Tadano to help us so we may as well keep trying for more answers tomorrow," Bow said, picking up all the documents he threw.
"More answers? What do you mean by that? You DO mean try to get him to come with us, right?" Spike asked.
"Well…how would we do it, though? Helping a patient escape is far more dangerous and risky than me just stealing some papers! And like I said before, you know, the DID? How are we gonna manage that?" Bow asked.
"We'll figure it out with Tadano tomorrow, okay? Look, I'm exhausted from the jetlag still, and it's been a long day. Let's just get to sleep and we…or rather, I, can go back to Tadano tomorrow while YOU return those papers," Spike ordered.
EOC.
The next 5/6 chapters will be uploaded every Tuesday. I'm gonna try not to let myself forget to do weekly updates, like I forgot last time *awkwardly laughs* 0_0. Next chapter will involve the never-ending heavy drama that will continue to split the group further and further apart. Hope you guys had a wonderful Christmas!
