Night approached Station Square. Most of the characters arrived back at the hotel, exhausted, hurt, and upset.

The characters gathered in the dining room, talking and weeping amongst each other about the horrific event at the church.

"God…I can't believe all of that happened while we were under some infection! I am so sorry all of this happened, you guys. I'm sorry you lost a couple of your friends. I'm sorry you went through so much hell. This is just unbelievable…" Sonic cried and gave Mario a hug who then hugged him back.

"It's not your guys' fault, you couldn't control what you were doing. I'm just glad that this is all over now…the big bad is gone and Station Square is safe from being taken over," Mario assured.

"'Glad'? You're seriously 'glad' right now, even though two of our friends are dead and we still haven't found the emerald gem!?" Koopie yelled in disbelief.

"Calm down, dearie. I'm sure Mario meant to say that he, and the rest of us, are all relieved that we no longer have to deal with that monster and that you guys are back to normal. Of course, we're all still upset that Kammy and Kazooie are deceased, and we're all wondering where on earth that gem could possibly be," Flurrie rephrased.

"You guys wouldn't happen to know where it is, do you? Or even have it on you!?" Dixie asked. The Sonic characters shook their heads.

"No, I'm sorry. We definitely would give it to you if we did, though! You guys have done so much for us and this city, that we would give it to you without question!" Blaze said sincerely.

"I'm wondering something here. You guys remember everything you did when you were infected, right?" Goombario asked. They all nodded. "So…do any of you remember knocking Tails out and swiping the gem?" They all shook their heads.

"I definitely would've remembered if that had happened, considering I remember everything else when I was infected. Sorry guys," Vector said.

"Okay, this is even weirder now. Who the hell knocked out Tails and stole the gem then!?" Kooper asked in frustration.

"I'll take a look around for the gem tonight. I'll go back to the church as well if I can, or, well, what's left of it," Sonic said.

"Yeah, we'll do what we can to find it. You guys have been through hell today. I must urge you all to get as much as rest as possible here tonight," Tikal suggested.

"We definitely will. Today was just absolutely horrible. Really makes me think if there are gonna be more days like this in the future for our mission…" Daisy sighed.

"Don't think about that. Just keep on doing your best to save your world! I know you guys will come out on top at the end of it all!" Amy said in encouragement.

"Thanks. That helps a little. But hey! Where are Bowser and Banjo at? I could've sworn they came back to the hotel with us!" Mona pointed out.

"Tails took them on a backway trail to the hotel here. They took Kammy and Kazooie's bodies with them because…well…you know, it'd be extremely awkward if we rode back on the train and people saw us bringing a dead body along," Rouge answered.

"I still can't believe Kammy is gone forever...she kept us grounded when dad couldn't. She was basically our mom. I don't know how we're gonna break the news to our brothers…" Wendy sobbed a little.

"She died right next to me…right fucking next to me. If I had just opened my eyes and saw what was going to happen…I-I could've pulled her away and saved her life! She'd still be alive!" Larry cried.

"Don't say that, Larry! Please don't blame yourself! PLEASE! You didn't know what was happening! It's not your fault!" Bowser Jr. pleaded and hugged him. Larry sobbed into his shoulder as Wendy joined the hug.

"First we lose Watt, now Kammy and Kazooie. Damn. No matter how prepared I thought I was for this to happen, this still really hurts. One minute our friends are here, alive, fighting by our side, and the next…nothing. Just nothing. They only really exist in our memories now," Parakarry spoke, choking up a little.

"What are you guys gonna do with your friend's bodies?" Charmy asked.

"I know for a fact that dad wants to bring Kammy back into our world. He wouldn't want her to lay in this world. I'm guessing the same goes for Banjo," Bowser Jr. replied. "As for them being buried or cremated…not sure. It'll be up to them."

Rosalina slowly approached Waluigi who was watching Wario conversating with Goombella and DK from afar.

"Hey…" she shyly spoke. He looked to her.

"Rosalina. Hey. How are you holding up?" Waluigi asked.

"Oh, I'm doing my best. I'm trying not to get too emotional about me being infected and turning into a heartless creature. I remember everything that I did and said. I…I was so cruel to you, Waluigi…" Rosalina tried her hardest not to sob.

"Don't let it get to you. That wasn't you, Rosalina. I know it wasn't. It hurt like hell, yes, but you can't feel guilty for something that you had no control over," Waluigi urged.

"I know. You're absolutely right. But, it isn't just that. It's so many things right now. It's Kammy and Kazooie. It's the group falling apart. It's how we ended things between us. It's so overwhelming!" Rosalina sighed and plopped down in a chair.

"I agree with you. I'm still trying to process the fact that they're gone. As for us, Rosalina…I'm still in love with you. When I saw you infected, as someone completely different from the Rosalina I knew, I became beyond furious but also heartbroken again. I wanted you back so badly. I never wanna be that close to losing you ever again," Waluigi said as he walked to her, getting a little teary-eyed.

"Really? So, um, are you not mad about what happened before I got infected?" Rosalina asked in hope.

"Just promise me that you won't do anything like that ever again to me. I want us to be together for as long as possible," Waluigi said, holding both of her hands. Rosalina started to cry in joy.

"Oh, Waluigi! I love you so much!" she cried and they both hugged. Waluigi cried a little too. Despite everything that just happened recently, all felt well and stable for that moment.

"You were faking everything all along, and it didn't occur to you to get us out of that hellhole!?" Goombella angrily asked to DK.

"I had to keep the charade up. I wasn't confident that I could get you both out of there while sneaking past everyone so I had to lay low until the very end. I'm sorry…but I had to do what I thought was right," DK apologized sincerely but Goombella wasn't taking it.

"Do you have ANY idea what they did to me down there!? Do you have ANY idea how terrified and hurt I was!? I thought I was going to die! You had PLENTY of opportunity to get me out of there but YOU DIDN'T! Now I can't ever get rid of that awful memory where they tortured me for their entertainment! How the hell am I supposed to get over this!? How the hell am I supposed to sleep soundly at night, DK!?" Goombella angrily yelled. DK was a little taken back by her rage; it was the angriest he had ever seen of her. Wario so badly wanted to tell her that he played a part in the torture too, but he was too scared of revealing the horrible truth to her.

"I didn't know about that until after it happened, Goombella! I know what they did was traumatic, but you have to understand where I'm coming from too!" DK pleaded.

"You don't 'know' anything, DK! Traumatic doesn't even begin to describe the crap I went through!" Goombella spat and stomped away. DK sighed and got a little teary-eyed.

"You understand her anger, right? You understand why she's acting like that to you?" Wario questioned.

"I do. I'd be angry too. Perhaps I did play it a little too safe…but I don't wanna get hung up on any 'what-ifs' right now. What's done is done. She might never forgive me, but my goal was to always get you guys out of there alive, no matter what," DK said.

"I understand why you did it, DK. I really do. But, she'll come around on her own terms and I get some of her anger. I don't think she's actually angry at you, she just needs an outlet from all the horrible shit she went through. I saw it all for myself too…I wanted to puke. They were enjoying her being in pain. It felt like I was in some sadistic horror movie! It was absolutely disgusting what they did," Wario said, feeling very uneasy just by thinking back to that event.

"Yeah. By the way, Wario…that room I went into where I brought you from to the cell. What did they do to you in there, exactly? I didn't see a single scratch on you," DK asked. Wario almost froze.

"I…uh…um…I don't wanna talk about it. Not now," Wario said as he looked away.

Kooper approached Pauline, who was holding her head as if she was in pain.

"Hey, you doing okay there?" he asked.

"Oh! Yeah. Just a massive headache. Been having them a lot ever since the shooting," Pauline replied.

"Ah. I see. Well…okay, I really need to get this out right now. Do you remember a couple nights ago when we were talking and drinking wine at the pool?" Kooper asked.

"Yeah, why?" Pauline responded.

"Do you also remember when I mentioned how Fire Bro told me a story about two brothers where one stabbed the other and was sent to an insane asylum, and how I said it sounded almost exactly like what happened to me when I was younger?" Kooper continued.

"Uhh, yeah. Kooper, where are you going with this, exactly?" Pauline was now confused.

"This is gonna sound fucking crazy, but I think there's a high chance that he may actually be my brother, Konnor! He said something last night to me, about how I was mad at him because he almost killed me a long time ago. Although, he said it when he was drunk, but there's no way that's a coincidence!" Kooper exclaimed.

"Woah! Holy shit. So, uhh, wait a second here. That doesn't make any sense. He's a FIRE BRO. You're just a regular Koopa. How would that even work?" Pauline questioned.

"Easy! He could've stolen another Fire Bro's outfit for himself and kept it like that. Fire Brothers are literally just koopas wearing admittedly pretty cool outfits. As for him breathing fire and not me…I know you have to be born with that ability, however, I have heard of koopas using magic spells involving fire flowers that will make them permanently able to breathe fire just like a natural born Fire Bro. He could've done that," Kooper explained.

"Okay…I think that makes sense. But, what is he doing all the way in the Mushroom Kingdom then when you said that he was sent to an insane asylum in Sarasaland?" Pauline asked.

"I have no idea. This is too much of a weird coincidence for me to just shrug off. But, how the hell do I even confront him about it? I wonder if I should have a weapon on me in case he goes berserk again…" Kooper wondered outloud to himself, being slightly nervous as the memory of his brother stabbing him flooded into his mind again.

"There's something else, though. How did you not recognize him when you first saw him before?" Pauline further questioned this bizarre realization.

"You see, that's the only thing that's making me not 100% sure that he's my brother. He looks totally different from what I remember of him. Now, obviously, it's been years since I've last seen him so obviously he's not gonna look the same but he looks so radically different that…well…I don't know. I just don't know," Kooper was at a loss at that question because it's true, Fire Bro doesn't physically remind Kooper of his brother, Konnor, but he refused to believe that everything so far had been just a coincidence.

"Toadette!" Toad yelled from afar, seeing her walk away. He ran up to her and touched her shoulder. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to bed. I'm exhausted, Toad…today was just way too much. Once again, we were so close to dying, and once again, we lost people close to us. I really don't think I can handle much more of this…" Toadette's voice cracked a little as she tried to hold her tears back.

"I know, it's horrible what happened and what we've been through. My mind is still trying to process everything that happened today! But, Toadette, please don't push me away. We need each other now more than ever. I don't know if I'll be able to make it through this thing without you!" Toad cried.

Toadette glanced at him then looked down. She opened her mouth but then closed it as a tear rolled down her cheek. "…I'm sorry I yelled at you yesterday…" she then walked off towards the stairwell. Toad began to sob but stopped when he noticed Lakilulu stand beside him.

"You know, Toad, you're such an amazing brother. You love her so much and would do anything to help her. So many people would be extremely lucky to have you as a brother, or even as a friend!" Lakilulu spoke heartfeltly. Toad smiled through his tears and gave her a hug then cried into her shoulder. She hugged him back and his raw emotions made her wanna cry too.

"Hey Koops. Are you doing okay? Were you hurt at all back there?" Koopie asked. Koops looked a little annoyed now.

"I'm fine. I'm just angry and sad about Kammy and Kazooie dying. I just wanna get the heck out of here and go back to our own world already. It's been nothing but hell since we've got here," Koops stated. Koopie knew exactly what he meant.

"Yeah. I, uhh, couldn't agree more with you there. Okay, look, this not may be the best time to talk about this, but I AM really sorry about everything that happened between us, Koops. There's no excuse for what I did. Do you wanna, like, talk things out when we get back or…?" Koopie asked, feeling the awkward tension between them. Koops looked a little more annoyed now.

"Vivian! Hey, my room is a total mess right now still. Any chance I could sleep in your room tonight? I don't mind sleeping on the floor," Koops suddenly turned to the Shadow Siren. This surprised her and she seemed a little excited.

"Oh! Of course. Actually, my room has two beds, so you don't have to sleep on the floor at all!" she exclaimed.

"Cool. Can we go there right now? I'm really tired and just need space from all this," Koops said, giving Koopie the side eye. She looked at him in shock.

"Oh, sure! Let's go then," Vivian said and led him out of there. Koopie stood there, still shocked at how he just did that in front of her.

"This is extremely awkward right now…" Wendy said.

"Why, what's wrong?" Bowser Jr. asked.

"It's Shadow. They all remember what they did when they were infected, and that includes him raping me. How the hell am I supposed to deal with that when it technically wasn't his fault that he did it? How am I supposed to move on from it exactly?" Wendy asked.

"Ooh, uhh, I'm really not sure, Wendy. I mean…we got our revenge by killing the guy who made Shadow do that, so I guess there's that, but, um, hard to say what else you can do on this one," Bowser Jr. responded awkwardly.

"Oh! He's coming this way! What should I do?" Wendy freaked.

"Uhh, just act natural, I guess!?" Bowser Jr. also freaked.

"Hey. You're Wendy, right?" Shadow asked.

Wendy felt the most awkward she's ever felt in her life. "Y-Yeah. Hi. How are you holding up?"

"Doing my best. I'm sorry about your friends that got killed. You guys shouldn't have to go through that," Shadow said.

"Thank you. You guys shouldn't have gone through what that vicious asshole of a creature did to you. He basically made you guys his slaves. Ugh, just even thinking about it still disgusts me!" Wendy shivered.

"Yeah. If your dad hadn't killed him, I definitely would've. But, listen…I remember everything that happened at the nightclub, when both of us were in the room and…you know…" Shadow stopped himself and looked away. He couldn't bear to go deep into that subject.

"Yeah. You don't have to explain anything. I know it wasn't your fault, Shadow," Wendy said.

"I know, but, it was still treacherous and the most disgusting thing I've ever had to experience in my entire life. Me forcing myself onto you…that's something I would NEVER do to anyone. I know I come off as 'evil' sometimes, but I could never make anyone go through something so traumatic like that. That crap sticks with you for the rest of your life. It fucks with your mind," Shadow said, getting emotional and stressed about the experience now. Wendy started to feel the same too.

"It really does. I couldn't sleep the night that it happened. These villains…god, do they not have any emotions themselves!? Look at what they put us through. I'm surprised more of us here haven't had any mental breakdowns yet. When I was helping my dad do his dirty work, I didn't think about the other people I was hurting in the process. I was just focused on getting the plans done and getting joy out of people's suffering. But now…I can't do it anymore. Not after what happened to me at the club. Not after what's going on in our own world. I finally understand what it means to be on the other side of it. I guess that's my karma…" Wendy explained and wept a little.

"Hey. Don't you dare start pitying yourself! You didn't deserve that and you know it. Trust me on this," Shadow stated. Wendy wiped her eyes and smiled at him a little.

"Thank you. You're right, I didn't deserve that. But, Shadow, still don't think that it was in any way your fault. The guy who caused all this is gone and I'm gonna try to move on," Wendy stated in return. Shadow nodded and also smiled a little. She thought it was cute, especially since Shadow rarely smiled and tried to hide her blush.

Daisy walked up to Luigi who had a fixed stare on Vector and put her hand on his shoulder. He gasped and jumped as he turned to her.

"Woah! Sorry, should've given a warning next time," Daisy said.

"N-No, it's fine. I'm just…I don't know," Luigi sighed and hugged Daisy.

"Heh, I'm feeling pretty much the same right here. No idea what to think or even say right now with everything that just happened…" Daisy also sighed and then kissed him on the cheek.

"It's not just with what happened at the church, though. I did something to Vector at the apartment last night when we were trying to save Yoshi, Birdo, and Diddy. I smashed a vase over his head which clearly knocked him out. I thought I had killed him for a second too, but obviously not," Luigi said.

"Wow! But…okay? I'm not sure what the problem is here. You attacked Vector in self-defense. From what I heard, he was close to killing those three!" Daisy replied.

"No. I know that! It just made me think of how far deep we've gone into this adventure. The fact that we're now killing people or close to it to get what we need just makes me feel dirty. I get that it's all in self-defense, but I just hate how this is what it all has come down to now…" Luigi said as he tiredly rubbed his eyes.

"Oh…well, I see what you mean. But, this adventure comes with many prices, Luigi. I know it's not ideal, but we have to do what we gotta do in order to survive these worlds. If we don't fight back at all, more of us would be dead by now, most likely," Daisy said.

"I know that too. I even expected stuff like this to happen on our adventure. I guess I just never really thought about it in depth until now," Luigi responded and made yet another tired sigh.

Bombette noticed Goombario sitting down and looking very deep in thought.

"Hey. What's up with you?" she asked and sat down next to him.

"I'm just thinking about something. Kazooie dying. We know she was shot with the handgun that was used to shoot Kammy and that raccoon guy's son. But, who the hell shot her? Everyone that was infected or already a villain was up on the main floor with us," Goombario said.

"Hmm. Are you sure about that? So much crap was happening at once during that fight! Plus, I know I saw Shadow down there too," Bombette questioned.

"Yeah, but I overheard Wendy talking with her brothers on how Shadow came down there to try to assault her again and she almost killed him. So…unless he had the time to grab the handgun, find Kazooie and shoot her, then go to Wendy, all before everyone returned back to normal, it wasn't him," Goombario said.

"Uhh, okay then? So, uhh, what are you trying to say then!?" Bombette nervously asked.

Goombario paused for a minute then looked to Bombette, looking slightly afraid. "That handgun in the church, did we leave it there or did someone grab it and take with them before we escaped?"

"I don't know. I didn't see any handgun on anyone when we were coming back so I'm guessing it was left back at the church, but I'm not sure. Why, Goombario? What's wrong!?" Bombette looked a little scared now too.

"…Don't take what I'm about to say too seriously because it's just a theory right now, but…there may have been someone else that killed Kazooie. Someone that WASN'T part of the villains that we fought," Goombario revealed.

Some time later…

Tails helped bring Banjo to Diddy's room along with the help of Larry, Fire Bro, and Diddy.

"So, you guys are seriously putting the dead bodies in the basement!?" Diddy asked, completely weirded out.

"Yes, we are. I mean, what else should we do with them? They don't want them buried in this world, so we have to keep them somewhere safe overnight so Banjo and Bowser can take them back to your guys' world tomorrow," Tails said.

"Ugh…my body hurts so bad…I'm so thirsty too…" Banjo tiredly spoke.

"Get him some water from the bathroom sink, I'll go set up the bed for him!" Fire Bro ordered. The other three got him into the bathroom and poured him a cup.

"So, where is Bowser at then?" Diddy asked.

"He ran ahead of us suddenly with Kammy's body right before we got here. I told him about the plan to put the bodies in the basement, but he insisted that he can do it himself and rushed ahead of us. I figured I shouldn't stop him considering his emotional state right now," Tails explained as he poured the water down Banjo's throat.

"Yeah. I even checked the room we stay in to see if he's there, but it's locked shut. I'll try again later, but I really hope he doesn't just ignore us forever. I know he's devastated about Kammy, and I am too, but our family needs each other now more than ever! And we still have to deal with breaking the news to our brothers too," Larry said in immense stress and worry.

"I can't tell how sorry I am for your guys' loss. It's gonna be hard, no doubt, getting through this. But, you have your friends with you to help along the way. Never forget that friendship always prevails!" Tails said in encouragement.

"That's enough water for me…" Banjo said, tossing the cup into the sink, cracking it. "I'm so exhausted and tired of crying…I just wanna go to sleep, please…"

"Of course, we'll get you to your bed!" Tails urged.

"Hey! Shouldn't we get him to a hospital instead? They covered up his stab wound but I'm pretty sure the wound needs to be stitched up too!" Diddy pointed out.

"No! Not in this world. I'll deal with it when I get back to the hospital in your guys' world, but I just need to sleep, PLEASE. Anything to make me just forget about what happened to her even for a little while…" Banjo demanded. The others completely understood and helped him over to the bed. They tucked him in.

"Alright, if you need ANYTHING don't hesitate to call Sally, okay? Just press 9 on the telephone and you'll be directed to her. And if you also want water brought to you instead of just sink water, or other amenities, there's a list of numbers for you to contact in your drawer next to you for any of the hotel services," Tails instructed. Banjo slowly nodded.

"Thanks guys for your help. I'll be here too to take care of whatever he needs so I'll take it from here," Diddy said.

"Hey! I also stole some Ibuprofen pills and put them in your drawer too, just in case you feel any more pain! It's in the bottom one! Oh wait, or did I put it in the top one? How could I forget so easily!?" Fire Bro exclaimed.

"Wait, you STOLE those pills!? Seriously dude!? Ugh, whatever. I'll make an exception this time around cause it's a special case," Tails rolled his eyes in annoyance along with Diddy.

"We should get going now. See you guys in the morning," Larry said and waved goodbye.

"CHECK THE DRAWER FOR THE PILLS!" Fire Bro yelled right before he and the other two exited.

"Hey man, I'm here for you if you need absolutely anything at all. Don't be afraid to ask," Diddy said.

"…I've known her for most of my life. We've been through so much together, and to have her ripped away from me so quickly…this isn't fair…none of it is," Banjo spoke while tears formed in his eyes again.

"I know. It's beyond unfair. I'll never understand people who kill loved ones for their own personal gain. It rips people apart and makes the world just that much more of a hellhole to live in. It disgusts me," Diddy said as he laid in his own bed.

"It's so weird. I don't think I can fall asleep because of Kazooie…but at the same time, the emotions that I'm going through have made my whole body exhausted," Banjo said.

"Just try your best to sleep. But, I understand if you can't…the shit that happened earlier today keeps replaying in my head constantly. It's giving me a fucking migraine at this point," Diddy said.

Banjo turned over to the open his drawer and suddenly gasped.

"Banjo? What's wrong?" Diddy asked.

There was a short pause in silence after that.

"…Nothing. Sorry. I'm gonna try to get to sleep now," he stated.


Bowser was in his hotel room, all by himself…with the dead body of Kammy lying on the bed. Bowser stared intensely at her, trying his hardest to come to the reality that Kammy is never coming back.

"You're gone. Just…gone. Everyone close to me…all they ever do is just leave me or get taken away from me…Clawdia, Roy, you…and my sons back in Mushroom City probably won't want anything to do with me now. I'm poison, Kammy. I can't save anyone in my life because all I ever do is just fuck things up even more, no matter if I'm trying to do a good thing or not.

This is all because of Tatanga. Everything that we've been through…everything that's happened in our world…all of this is because of that monster. When I get back to our world, I'm going to kill him. That's a promise I'm going to make. And once he's gone…I'm done forever. I'm done fighting for no reason. I'm done being angry at the world. I'm done hurting people. No more," Bowser said to Kammy and got out her backup wand. "It can't be a coincidence that I found this on the floor at the church. This is going to help me kill him. This is it."


"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!? GET BACK TO WORK YOU MORSELS!" Tatanga screamed at a couple of Koopatrols.

"Woah man! W-We were just taking a quick cigarette break!" one of the Koopatrols shrieked.

"I DON'T GIVE A FUCK WHAT YOU WERE DOING! This weapon needs to be completed ASAP! NOW GET BACK TO WORK BEFORE I BLOW YOUR FUCKING HEADS OFF!" Tatanga manically screamed. The two Koopatrols scurried off in fright.

Tatanga rushed around the site of the weapon being created and ran up to the lead professor Koopatrol.

"YOU! Tell me right now, is everything going according to plan!? ARE THERE ANY HICCUPS, WORKERS SLACKING OFF, ANYTHING AT ALL WRONG!?" Tatanga screamed in his face. The Koopatrol backed away, freaked out by his frantic rage.

"Umm, everything is going accordingly, sir! No problems at all, although, the damage done by that oddball Koopatrol recently DID set us back about a day or so worth of work, but other than that, the completion of the weapon is perfectly on schedule!" he stated.

"A FUCKING DAY!? SERIOUSLY!? Anything could happen in a day, man! Those bastard heroes could come wooshing in and bombing the crap out of everything that I've been working so hard to achieve! GET. THIS. SHIT. DOOOOOOOOOOOOOONE!" Tatanga shrilled, shaking the Koopatrol's shoulders.

"Tatanga, ENOUGH!" yelled Doopliss and pushed him off of the professor.

"Who gave you permission to touch me, slimeball!?" Tatanga hissed.

"Holy shit dude! Have you checked yourself in the mirror lately!? Your eyes…have you not been sleeping recently?" Doopliss pointed out.

"I don't need to sleep! I'll sleep once my plan is accomplished! I don't even know how long I've been awake but who cares!? It'll be worth it in the end!" Tatanga yelled as he headed back towards his room with Doopliss following behind him.

"C'mon, slick! You NEED sleep! Let us take over watching the workers and island completely! You deserve a long rest!" Doopliss said.

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! If this plan fucks up, then there has to be a backup plan! See these papers!? I've been drafting a backup plan that will work with magic! SEE! SEE! SEE! CHECK THE PAPERS!" Tatanga threw the papers in Doopliss' face. He grunted and grabbed a few of them.

"Uhh, what the!? Tatanga, I can barely read your handwriting on these papers! That's it, get in your bed! You're going to sleep!" Doopliss demanded.

"Pah! You're not my mother! Screw off!" Tatanga flipped him the bird. Doopliss growled at him and punched him in the face. He landed on his bed and was immediately knocked out.

"I'm probably going to regret doing that later on, but it needed to be done. He's gone completely out of control," Doopliss sighed and then noticed the Genso pill bottle on his table. "…Fuck! He's been ODing on those pills, hasn't he!? Alright, I'm taking these away from him!" he then swiped bottle and turned to exit only to see Roy standing in the doorway.

"Hey. Is everything okay in here? I heard yelling," Roy spoke worriedly.

"Nothing important, just the big doofus over there going all hysterical cause he didn't get any sleep due to these things," Doopliss said and showed him the Genso pill bottle.

"Oh? Those pills made him stay awake?" Roy asked.

"Yeah. I don't know why he needed them, shit's gonna get done with or without him being awake at all times," Doopliss shrugged.

"I see. Any chance I could borrow the pill bottle? I get tired very easily, and if I'm gonna be helping you guys, I need to be more alert," Roy asked.

"Sure, knock yourself out, I guess. Just don't take too much like the purple idiot did!" Doopliss said as he tossed him the pill bottle. Roy smiled a little as he looked at the bottle then at the knocked out Tatanga. He had something planned with this.


Spike slowly opened his eyes and screamed when he saw Tadano hovering over him closely.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!? BACK AWAY, MAN!" Spike yelled.

"What!? You were making weird noises in your sleep and I just wanted to see if you were okay!" Tadano innocently explained.

"Well, you could just poke me or shake me to wake me up instead of scaring me to death! Geez…where's Bow at?" Spike groggily asked.

"She's in the bathroom. Do you know where Toadie's at?" Tadano asked. Spike quickly became uncomfortable again.

"H-How would I know? You've been up way longer than me apparently…" he awkwardly replied.

"I've only been up for 10 minutes! I checked the hallways after I got up, but there's no sign of her! I really hope she didn't back out of escaping the asylum…" Tadano became a little upset.

"Uhh…well, what if she did? Would that stop you from coming with us?" Spike questioned.

Tadano stared at him for a whole minute, which freaked Spike out. Tadano then rapidly shook his head.

"No! Nooooooo! She would never leave without telling me at least! I'll go check the hallways again!" Tadano then ran off.

"Thank fucking god…" Spike sighed in relief. He then stood up and stretched, getting another good amount of sleep in.

Bow exited the bathroom. "Oh! Good morning, sleepyhead! You sleep okay on the floor?"

"Surprisingly, yes. How was your sleep?" Spike asked.

"Not as good as it was last night. I'll be honest…I think I was kinda uncomfortable with Tadano sleeping in the same room as us…" Bow shyly admitted.

"Join the club, sweetheart. I'm surprised I slept soundly, but the dude fucking scared me beyond belief when I opened my eyes to see him staring over me!" Spike exclaimed. Bow couldn't help but chuckle.

"Wow! I hope I never have to experience that. Also, are you sure you slept okay? You seemed to be quite firm last night with Tadano taking the other bed and you sleeping on the floor…" she said in concern.

"Trust me, I'm fine. I slept on the floor cause I'm not taking any chances," Spike assured.

"Fine. Where is he now anyways?" Bow asked.

"He's out there looking for his imaginary friend. By the way, are we ever gonna tell him that his friend is actually, you know, imaginary!?" Spike asked.

"No! Not yet at least! It'll make him upset and screw this whole plan up probably! Look, as soon as Tadano comes back, we're heading straight for the airport and getting out of here. That's the main thing we need to focus on right now, because the police are definitely going to be looking for him still. Once we're out of Sarasaland, we'll be in good shape," Bow exclaimed.

The opening of the door was heard. The pair turned to the door to see Tadano walking in with a giant smirk on his face.

"Good morning, Bow and Spikey. Sorry if I gave you guys a scare, I was just walking around the motel, getting some fresh air and checking out these dangerously handsome men in the parking lot," Tadano chuckled.

"Did…did you just call me 'Spikey'?" Spike cringed.

"What the!? Tadano, you can't just walk around in the open like that! The police are gonna be looking everywhere for you!" Bow yelled.

"Did…did you just call me 'Tadano'?" 'Tadano' cringed in the exact same way that Spike did.

"What?" Bow asked, now confused.

"My name is Toadie. Why did you call me Tadano?" he asked.

Bow looked to Spike who looked at her. They were now both confused and extremely uncomfortable at this bizarre exchange.

"…We gotta get going. On our way to the airport, I'm gonna buy you a black hoodie so you can stay somewhat hidden when we get out in public. Understand?" Bow asked.

"Avoiding my question, I see. Don't make me get testy now, Bow. I don't like it when people hide things that are so obvious in plain sight," 'Tadano' stated somewhat aggressively. Spike and Bow started getting really nervous now.

"…I'm sorry. I-I just wanna get this overwith, okay? I'm in a rush, that's all. Come on, we need to get going right now," Bow apologized and quickly headed for the door.

'Tadano' looked to Spike and smirked again. "After you, Spikey."

EOC.

Next chapter will have the hero group finally leave the Sonic world, but, for once, something good manages to happen before they leave. It will also feature the villains along with Grodus and TEC. The chapter will be uploaded on April 6, 2018 to commemorate the 5 year anniversary of this story's publish date. See you guys next time!