Guest: Sorry I forgot to reply to you last chapter, but the reason why the wedding was happening was so it could draw some innocent civilians (and eventually the hero group, who no one knew was coming at that time) to the place and be 'gassed' with the virus so that the group of infected villains can become bigger instead of just having to go out and individually find random people. Vesper KIND OF explains this in the middle of the chapter, but yeah, I should've gone into it more lol. Honestly, I'm just glad that that arc is overwith cause I think I dragged it on for too long and it ended up becoming kinda jumbled towards the end, even with my outlining.
"They're coming back!" Arfur exclaimed, looking at the radar and surveillance system in his and Kylie's office back at Mushroom Corps.
"Boy, they were in that world for quite a long time. I can't help but wonder if a lot of bad things happened…" Kylie said in worry.
"With the way things have been going lately with that group, probably. But, it's to be expected. Trying to save the world always comes with so many prices and hardships," Arfur said.
"You say that like you've tried to save the world yourself before?" Kylie smirked.
"Nah, just an avid player of video games in my spare time," Arfur chuckled.
"Ah. Well…here's to hoping that they didn't suffer another loss. I swear, after this is all over with, I think a lot of us are gonna need a drink of strong alcohol," Kylie said as she and Arfur walked to the arwing room.
"Heh! I'm with you on that one. Or, even better, catch up on some well needed rest for a whole month. I've only gotten a few hours of sleep each night ever since this whole thing began. My mind just doesn't want to turn itself off for at least a short while. You think I should try sleeping pills?" Arfur asked.
"It's up to you. Though, it may not be the best thing to do just in case the you-know-what suddenly hits the fan in the middle of the night and you have to escape or defend yourself," Kylie suggested.
"…Damn, you're right! I just don't wanna end up getting sleep deprived and have it affect my work, you know?" Arfur said.
"I understand that. How about this then, just sleep in tomorrow. If there's an emergency, I'll wake you up, but if not, then get to work whenever you get up. I can take care of things by myself for a little bit," Kylie affirmed.
"Oh! That sounds pretty damn ideal. Okay, I'll take it. Thanks, Kylie. What the hell would I ever do without you as my co-worker?" Arfur graciously rejoiced.
"Many things, my friend!" Kylie winked and the two laughed. They entered the arwing room as everyone parked their machines. The group got out of their arwings and slowly headed to Arfur and Kylie. The pair grew a smile on their faces when they saw Mario holding the emerald gem in his hands.
"YES! You did it! You got the gem! Fantastic job, guys!" Arfur cheered. However, his cheery mood didn't last for long when him and Kylie noticed that everyone's expressions weren't remotely close to being cheery. It was the exact opposite. Kylie and Arfur's smiles quickly faded away when they realized that the mood of the room had suddenly gotten somber. It wasn't until the pair saw Bowser and Banjo carrying the bodies of Kammy and Kazooie that they finally realized why everyone looked upset.
"Oh no…" Kylie gasped as her eyes became watery.
Back at St. Toadofsky's hospital, Bleck, Toadiko, Mimi, Tippi, Professor Frankly, and Toadsworth were in the cafeteria eating lunch together.
"Do you remember anything now, Bleck? A glimmer? Something that stands out in this room? Even the tiniest thing!?" Toadiko drilled him for information based on his fainting from a couple days before.
"I'm telling you, Toadiko, I can't remember why I freaked out. You have to trust that I'll let you know as soon as I remember," Bleck responded somewhat impatiently.
"You don't know if it was a person that you saw, at the very least!?" Toadiko kept digging which made the others in the group annoyed with her.
"Young lady, your constant pressing on this poor fellow is more than enough, don't you think? It certainly isn't enough to be worried about at this moment in time either, since nothing unwelcome has happened in the days since his incident!" Toadsworth exclaimed. Toadiko shot a dirty look at him.
"I'm just…I can't help but worry, okay?" she grumbled.
"We're ALL worried, Toadiko. But what you're doing isn't helping, trust me. You need to let this go," Tippi urged.
Awkward silence ensued at the table after that. Bleck sighed, stood up, and walked away. "I'm gonna go outside for some fresh air." Tippi followed him.
Mimi rolled her eyes. "What the hell is wrong with you? You've been on his case about whatever the hell happened in here ever since he woke up from hitting his head!"
"Oh, don't act like it hasn't been bothering you too! You really expect me to just push aside Bleck screaming then fainting at someone or something that was in this cafeteria?" Toadiko said.
"No, I don't, but the way you're going about it is annoying and clearly stressing him out. Just lay off a little!" Mimi said.
"I agree with you, Mimi. Actually, if anything, we should be worried about the fact that our group of heroes hasn't returned yet. It's been a few days since they left for their next world, which is the longest they've been gone!" Frankly pointed out.
"Wow. You know…to be honest, I didn't even realize they've been gone for that long. Holy crap! You guys think someone else may have…you know…died?" Toadiko asked.
"I hope not, but, such is the reality of adventures like these. I'd even go so far to say that it's preposterous to believe that no one else will die for the remainder of this mission," Toadsworth sternly stated.
"Damn, that's a bit dark, don't you think?" Mimi commented.
"It IS dark, my dear. But, with the way things have been going lately, and with such a large group to keep track of, and with so many dangers lurking out there in these worlds that all of us have no clue about…we have no choice but to prepare for the worst, unfortunately," Toadsworth said.
"Toadsworth is absolutely right. When Mario and his friends went on that adventure to obtain the Crystal Stars and stop Grodus many years ago, there was always a fear in the back of my mind that at least one of them would most likely die. It's a miracle that none of them didn't back then, but, adventuring to so many unknown territories is vastly different than just living through life day by day. You put your own life at a much higher risk than the average being. It's horrible to even think about…but, I don't know about you all, I'd rather stick with a horrible truth than pretend to be living in a serene lie," Frankly added to the argument.
"Blumiere, are you okay?" Tippi asked. He was sitting on the hospital stairs in front of the entrance, watching people in the lot talking and comforting each other.
"I don't know if I am okay, Timpani. This looming feeling of darkness is constantly residing over me. I can't get it out of my head no matter how hard I try," Bleck said.
"What do you mean by that exactly? Please explain because I'm worried now…" Tippi pleaded.
"I mean…I have this feeling that this place isn't safe. Maybe that's why I fainted suddenly, because I had another bad vision and it overwhelmed me?" Bleck shivered.
"I don't think that's it. You would've remembered if you had a vision, right? Like the one with the cafeteria going up in flames? You remembered that one easily," Tippi said.
"True, but…Tippi…what if that vision I had…what if that was for THIS hospital, not the previous one?" Bleck nervously asked.
Tippi didn't respond for a minute. The silence between them made Bleck even more uncomfortable.
"Blumiere…do you remember what the cafeteria looked like in your vision? Does it look like the one here?" Tippi asked.
"Both cafeterias honestly look the same. They have the same layout, same objects inside, same…wait a second…" Bleck made an expression that Tippi immediately recognized. Bleck had realized something VERY significant.
"Look at that! Are those the heroes?" Dr. Nokano yelled from the entrance with a proud smile on his face. Bleck and Tippi looked onto the street and saw a few black vans park at the sidewalk. The doors opened and out came the aforementioned heroes.
"Oh! That's definitely them! So glad they all made it back safely!" Tiny Kong yelled as she ran out the entrance to go see them.
"Wait a second. Not all of them made it back safely. Look…" Bleck pointed to where some of them were carrying two covered bodies from the vans.
"Oh my god! NO!" Tippi cried.
Iggy, Morton, Lemmy, and Ludwig were by themselves on the rooftop.
"Morton, where did you get those cigarettes from?" Lemmy asked.
"Someone left a pack of these in the cafeteria. I was eyeing it for a few minutes, but no one came to get them so I grabbed it for myself. Managed to find a lighter too!" Morton cheered.
"You're seriously gonna smoke those? Just…why!?" Iggy asked, astounded at his decision to do something detrimental to his health.
"It helps me de-stress! I need it badly, okay!? Like, what the fuck else am I gonna do!? I haven't smoked in months but I've been craving it recently and since we're in a situation where we're likely gonna die, I may as well satisfy my craving!" Morton yelled and lit his cigarette up.
"I see you're being positive about all of this…" Lemmy rolled his eyes.
"The hell is that supposed to mean? Do you not remember dad yelling at us and him SMACKING me before he left!? Even if the world is saved, our family is still going to be torn apart at every edge so I'm doing whatever I want now," Morton said.
"I know, Morton. Dad had no right to hit you. But, other than that, some of it was deserved. We handled the Roy situation totally wrong. And now…he might not ever come back to us again…" Lemmy started to sniffle towards the end of his sentence.
Morton gave him a dirty look as he blew smoke out from his mouth. "You know what…I'm gonna refrain from commenting any more otherwise I'm gonna end up yelling again."
"I didn't even know you smoked at all till now! Geez, any other secrets you've been hiding?" Ludwig asked.
"I'm good at hiding things, what can I say? Dad caught me one time and grounded me for a whole week for it. Peh. He's such a fucking hypocrite. One habit that's bad for me and I'm punished for it, yet we do bad shit to other people all the time and he doesn't even care for them," Morton scoffed.
"Well…I'm good at hiding things too. One time, I wanted to get this video game called MarbleBlast Gold for my computer, right? It just released and it costed 30 coins to get it, but I had no coins on me! I didn't want to wait for our allowance, plus, our allowances were crappy anyways, so I figured I would steal 30 coins from dad and hope he wouldn't notice. I bought the game, but dad found out that coins were missing from his room and demanded to know who took them. No one was saying anything, and he was getting pissed, soooo….uhh…I ended up lying and said that I saw Roy take them. I didn't want to face whatever punishment he had planned. Then, you, Morton, for whatever reason, jumped on board with my lie and said Roy did it too. Roy was grounded for a week and dad took all his TV and video game privileges…all because I was too cowardly to tell the truth…" Iggy explained. Ludwig and Lemmy looked at him in shock.
"My god! How selfish of you! You too, Morton!" Ludwig yelled.
"What? It was years ago, we were stupid kids back then, trying to fuck with each other! Yeah, it was fucked up, but I'm not gonna hold on to any dumb mistakes I made back then!" Morton scoffed again.
"Does that really excuse it, though? I mean…Roy was always the target for a lot of our 'dumb mistakes' you know…" Iggy said with guilt inflecting his tone.
"He really was, honestly. I want to reveal a secret too. Do you guys remember that time when dad was trying to build a huge robot of himself so he could try to ruin the city with it? Well, Roy and I were told by dad to go buy some tool thingies from a hardware store. Once we got there, we were yelled by a couple managers there to leave because we weren't allowed there due to us being the sons of Bowser. Roy got in their faces and yelled at them back, calling them every name in the book, while I snuck around the store, grabbed what I needed, and ran out of there without Roy. I got back home, took credit for retrieving the tools, and lied about Roy. I said he was trying to flirt with another girl while I was buying the tools and told me to leave him alone so he could get her number, so I just left him. Roy finally came back some time later and dad went off on him! Roy tried to explain himself but dad wouldn't hear it. He got grounded and I never ended up telling the truth or apologizing to him for it…" Lemmy told his story.
"Holy shit! Why the hell did you do that for?" Morton asked in shock.
"I honestly don't know. I guess I wanted to look good in dad's eyes. But yeah, what I did was horrible. Roy really has gone through some undeserved crap because of us…" Lemmy sighed.
"Damn, Lemmy. What about you two? Any secrets involving Roy you wanna share since we're all being open right now?" Iggy asked.
Ludwig made a sad expression and looked to the ground. "I…I do. I really should get zis out before it eats me up inside. You guys know zat parakeet zat dad got for Roy on his 15th birthday? Vell…I wanted to play with it, so I opened up ze cage door and ze parakeet flew right out! I tried catching it, but it was too late as it flew out one of ze windows. When Roy found out he was gone, I convinced him zat he must've not shut the cage door all the way and ze parakeet was smart enough to find its way out. Morton, I remember you backing me up on that one too."
"What the!? That was YOU who let his parakeet go!? Man, I remember him being so upset about that! He had that animal for like six months and seemed so attached to it. Hell, I even think I heard him talk to it a couple times!" Iggy exclaimed.
"Yeah, I definitely remember that one. I don't get what the big deal was, it's just a stupid animal that has half of a lifespan of an average person and can't communicate at all. He was totally being overdramatic," Morton groaned while rolling his eyes.
"Wow, Morton. A stupid animal? Some people develop closeness with their pets, you know! They treat them like they're a part of the family!" Lemmy was stunned at his heartlessness.
"Why are you so uptight about that? I'm entitled to my own damn opinion. Lay off me," Morton spat.
"Well, what about you then, Morton? Any secret involving Roy that no one else knows about?" Iggy asked.
"Why the hell are we even talking about this shit? It's so unnecessary! Roy's gone forever, so stop dwelling on dumb shit from the past that we did to him!" Morton yelled.
"Is it really necessary to yell and swear like that!? We're talking about this because Roy really WAS treated horribly in this family! The fact that we've all done something horrible to him and lied to his face just says it right there!" Lemmy pointed out.
Before Morton could respond, Tiny Kong was seen entering the rooftop from the door.
"Oh, here you guys are! Lakilester told me he saw you guys head up this way," she spoke.
"Hey! You're, uhh, Tiny Kong, right? What's up?" Iggy asked.
"They're all back from their mission. Larry told me that he wanted you guys down there to see them asap," Tiny informed.
"Why, so they can tell us how much of a screw up we are?" Morton groaned.
"Can you go one freaking minute without complaining, Morton!?" Ludwig hissed.
"Guys, please…it's urgent that you come down there to see them," Tiny said in a very serious manner.
"Tiny…something bad happened, didn't it? I can see it in your face!" Lemmy said.
Tiny didn't say anything. All she did was just sigh and looked away from him. "Please. Just follow me to the first floor. Don't make this hard."
The four koopalings looked at each other in worry. They knew something was up. They followed Tiny back into the stairwell to the fifth floor and went into the elevator. Tiny pushed the button for the first floor and the doors closed.
"Tiny, tell us, did our dad die? I don't know if I can handle any more suspense!" Iggy exclaimed.
"I was told not to say anything while I'm bringing you guys to them. I'm sorry…" Tiny responded with a hint of sadness in her tone.
"Well, shit! Someone in our family had to have died then! Why do things keep getting worse for us!?" Morton cried.
The elevator reached the first floor. Tiny led them to a day room where they saw Wendy, Larry, and Bowser Jr. standing in the middle. No one else was inside.
"Thanks, Tiny. We'll take it from here," Larry said. Tiny nodded and exited the room.
"Vat is going on!? Someone please just tell us SOMETHING already!" Ludwig impatiently yelled.
Wendy inhaled deeply as it looked like she was about to cry. "We'll begin with the good news. We got them gem from the world we were in. But…the bad news…"
She stopped. The room was dead silent, as the clueless four brothers waited for her to reveal something that must've been devastating.
"…Two people died when we were in this world. One of them was Kazooie…" Wendy continued.
"Oh no! That's Banjo's friend, isn't it!? How did she die!?" Lemmy asked.
"Someone shot her. No one even knew that she got shot until way after…" Bowser Jr. answered.
"God…poor Kazooie! She didn't deserve that. Fucking monsters that killed her..." Iggy growled.
"Shit! Um…okay…so…who's the second person then? I-It has to be dad or Kammy since neither of them are here, right!? If not, then where are they!?" Morton nervously raised his voice.
Wendy closed her eyes for a few seconds, beyond scared of telling them the truth because they knew it would break their hearts, but it had to be done.
"It was Kammy. She was shot too," she uttered through her quivering voice, but they heard her well enough that they dropped their jaws.
"WHAAAAAAAAT!? KAMMY…SHE…NO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Ludwig screamed and dropped to his knees.
"I'm so sorry, guys…I really am…" Larry started to cry with them.
"Wh-wh-who the hell shot her!? Is the person dead!? IS THE PERSON FUCKING DEAD!?" Iggy yelled and stomped towards the three.
"YES, THEY'RE DEAD! I'M SORRY IGGY, SHE'S GONE! WE TRIED TO SAVE HER BUT WE FAILED!" Bowser Jr. shook Iggy by the shoulders and cried into his chest. Iggy held his head as he cried with him.
"Oh god…I…I feel…" Lemmy covered his mouth and held his stomach, and then ran out the room.
Morton repeatedly shook his head. "No. No! Y-You're lying! She's not dead! SHE'S NOT DEAD!"
"YES, SHE IS! ACCEPT IT, MORTON! I HATE THIS AS MUCH AS YOU DO, BUT YOU HAVE TO ACCEPT IT!" Wendy screamed through her tears.
"NO! I DON'T WANNA FUCKING ACCEPT IT! YOU HEAR ME!? I DON'T ACCEPT THIS! I…AAAAAGGGGGGHHHH!" Morton screamed in pure agony as he fell to the floor and never cried so hard before in his life. Wendy and Larry picked him off the ground and hugged him.
A large group from the hospital, including the heroes, went out the back of the hospital and through a large courtyard.
"Can someone tell me where we're going exactly?" Lakilester asked.
"We're going to bury those two poor souls that have deceased at the request of their beloved. See those woods right there? Right past that is a cemetery where they will be laid to rest," Dr. Nokano answered.
"They're not gonna be cremated? Wouldn't that be easier to do?" Fly Guy asked.
"The beloved of the deceased specifically didn't want them to be cremated. We must honor their wishes in this time of dread," Dr. Nokano responded.
Arfur was walking with the group, when suddenly, his cellphone buzzed in his pocket. He took it out and answered it.
"Hello? Hey, Spike. Yeah. You did? Great. Okay. I'll see you there then. I'll start heading out right now. Bye."
"Those guys you sent to Sarasaland, they're back?" Kylie asked.
"About to be back. They're about to board the plane now, and good news, they got Tadano with them. I'll head over there now so they'll be at the Moonview Airport by the time I get there, and I'm gonna have to tell them about what happened to Kazooie and Kammy. See you later," Arfur said and headed back.
"Bye…" Kylie softly spoke.
Some time after that, various people helped dig up the two graves in the cemetery and laid the respective bodies to rest in the ground.
"Thank you guys for helping us do this. It's only appropriate that they are buried in this world, where they belonged, in this cemetery," Larry said.
"Kazooie doesn't belong in this world, though. She never has and never will," Banjo harshly added.
"Wait, then why did we bury her here then? Where are you guys from originally?" Toadiko asked.
Banjo paused for a minute and looked at Kazooie's grave, then back at her. His expression was blank yet somehow vengeful-looking at the same time.
"Nevermind. It doesn't matter," he spat, then walked back to the hospital.
"Banjo, dearie! Come back!" Flurrie yelled and went after him. Bombette followed too. Everyone else murmured and gossiped about Banjo's odd attitude.
"Oh dear…should we do something?" Peach asked.
"No, we should leave him be for now. He's still recovering from the trauma, so we have to give him space," Mario said.
Bowser stood behind the two graves and faced the crowd. "I wanna say something about Kammy. She…she helped me get through so much chaos in my life. She was basically like a second mother to my kids. She kept everyone grounded and told it how it is whenever I couldn't. She was there for me when my wife, Clawdia, left me years ago and I had no one else to turn to for comfort. I owe Kammy so much, and…and…now that she's gone…I can't ever give her that. I can't ever truly tell her how much she meant to me and my family, how much we needed her in our lives…and…I'm sorry, Kammy. I know I've told you that you're a big part of the family before, but…I've never told you how much more you meant to me than that. I'm sorry…and to my kids…I'm sorry you have to go through this too…I'm sorry that I've been such a messy father…Morton…I…I'm sorry that I hurt you before I left…please…don't leave me too…" Bowser became more choked up and teary as he continued his speech. After he finished, Bowser cried his heart out and plopped onto the grass. Everyone else was speechless for a moment since they've never saw such a soft side to Bowser before.
"Um…e-everyone? Could you, um, give our family some space, please?" Bowser Jr. spoke to the crowd. They all respectfully obliged and walked back to the hospital, leaving the koopalings and their dad there. Bowser Jr. walked to his dad and hugged him dearly. Next was Larry, who knew that nothing more needed to be said at that moment, and that they all just needed each other. Next was Wendy, then Lemmy, then Iggy, and then Ludwig. The only one that was left was Morton, who just stood there, staring at the rest of his family holding each other, still speechless.
"I'm going to make it up to you guys…I promise," Bowser spoke through his crying.
Banjo went into the men's bathroom and stood at the sink. He glared at himself in the mirror as he held a tight grip onto the sink. His whole body was shaking.
"Banjo? Dearie? Is it okay if I come in?" Flurrie called out from the hallway.
"…Fine…" he said, not taking away his stare in the mirror.
Flurrie came in and made a sympathetic expression as she put her hand on his shoulders. "Dearie…what you're going through must be so horrible and terrifying. I know she was your closest friend ever, and I know it hurts horribly. But, please, you mustn't shut yourself out from everyone. It's what I did when my mom died many years ago, and I cut myself off from people close to me for a whole year and did some tragic things that I truly regret, until I eventually realized how detrimental it was to my well being and connections with my friends and family. If you wanna vent or do whatever makes you happy, I'm gladly here to help along the way!"
Banjo lowered his head and stared at the sink. All was quiet for a minute which made Flurrie slightly nervous.
"Can you…uhh…can you get some water from the cafeteria, please? I feel dehydrated," he finally spoke.
"Of course! I'll be right back, dear," Flurrie happily obliged and went off. As she exited the bathroom, she saw Bombette standing right outside.
"Hey. How is he?" she asked.
"I feel like he's barely hanging on, but it's understandable. I just don't want him to go down a dark path because of this. It happened to me a long time ago and I don't want it to happen to him, especially because he's new to this world, he's not too close with anyone, really," Flurrie replied.
"Yeah, that makes sense. I'm glad you're being there for him, Flurrie. It's really sweet of you!" Bombette complimented.
"Thanks, dearie! Now, I'm gonna go get him some water. Could you watch him for me so he doesn't go anywhere?" Flurrie asked.
"Sure. We'll be here!" Bombette said. She saw Flurrie off and then went into the bathroom.
"Banjo? Hey. Flurrie's an awesome friend, isn't she?" Bombette asked.
"Yes…" Banjo quietly replied.
"Well, ALL of us are here for you, not just Flurrie, so don't forget that, okay? You have a good support system here," Bombette tried to cheer him up.
"Right…" he quietly replied again.
"But, I do want to talk to you about something though. It's kinda been bugging me and I need to let it out to you. So…Goombario thinks that someone that wasn't part of the villain team back in Sonic's world killed Kazooie," Bombette revealed. Banjo perked his ears and quickly looked to her attentively.
"What? Why?" he asked.
"Well, he somehow ended up deducing that all the people we were fighting was on the top floor and the only person that was on the bottom floor, which is where you and Kazooie were at, was Shadow, but he only went down there so he could try to assault Wendy again. Plus, the handgun that was used to shoot Kammy must've been the same one that was used to shoot Kazooie too. You definitely didn't see who it was that came in and shot her?" Bombette said.
She saw Banjo widen his eyes a little and breathed in and out pretty deeply. "No. I didn't see anyone. S-So…Goombario…he thinks it was someone in our group that did it then?"
Bombette paused awkwardly and looked away from him. "Um…well…you know what? Nevermind. I'm sorry. I-I don't know why I even told you all of this, it's horrible timing! I'm so sorry!" She then quickly exited the bathroom.
Banjo stood there in shock at her revelation, then clenched his fists hard. He knew what he had to do now.
The koopalings went back into the hospital after sharing a long but touching moment with their dad. They were approached by Mario, Peach, Luigi, and Daisy.
"Hey. How are you guys holding up? Where's Bowser at?" Daisy asked.
"We're trying to hang in there the best that we can. Bowser wanted to be left alone outside with Kammy for a bit," Iggy replied.
"I'm so sorry that you guys have to deal with this, especially after losing Roy. You guys don't ever have to feel like you all need to deal with this by yourselves, we're here for whatever kind of help you need as well!" Luigi said in encouragement.
"Thanks, Luigi, but…it doesn't take any pain away unfortunately…" Ludwig sighed.
"How are we going to cope as a family now? How are we gonna live like this now? Roy's not in the picture anymore, Kammy's gone, and dad…I don't think he can handle it all by himself after everything he's been through…" Lemmy asked.
"Might sound odd, but we can help in any way we can! I mean, um, I know we're not exactly family to you guys, nor have we ever been close but I'd hate to see you guys fall apart any further!" Peach exclaimed.
"Seriously? No. You saying that isn't "odd," it's disturbing. Our dad has kidnapped you and put you through hell all these years, and now you just wanna help the family out like some kind of maid?" Morton questioned her intentions.
"I-I…um…okay, look, Bowser has done horrible stuff. I realize that. He even recently beat Mario up when we were back in the previous world. It wasn't right at all and I'm still furious at him for that. But, um, I'm just putting it out there that if you guys need help in any way, then I…or, uhh, WE will gladly be of service!" Peach responded while being somewhat put off by Morton's aggressive remark.
"Woah! That was DAD that did that to your face, Mario!? What the hell happened between you guys!?" Iggy asked in shock.
"I'd rather not go into depth about it, honestly. Let's just say that it was a huge misunderstanding. But, Peach is right. Forget about all the past crap that's been done. This is now. If you need help with anything, or just need someone to talk to, then reach out to us, or, hell, anyone else that's traveled with us. There's nothing wrong with doing that, and during this time of chaos, we pretty much need to lean on each other more than ever now!" Mario said.
Bowser Jr. smiled at him. "Will do! It feels weird saying this, but, I'm really glad we have you guys by our side. All of you! It helps a lot."
"I guess it does…" Morton murmured. "But, okay, I need to know now, what the hell else happened in this world that you guys went to? It really feels like so much other crazy shit happened to you guys!"
"I'll tell you everything, Morton. Let me do the story, I can handle it," Wendy proposed.
"Are you sure? Wendy…" Daisy spoke with worry, referring to her rape and whether she could stand to tell that part of the story.
"I'm positive. Don't worry about me. Come on brothers, let's head to the day room. This is gonna be a loooong story!" Wendy said, then led the brothers away.
Bowser was staring at Kammy's grave. He finished crying and managed to stand himself up.
"I told them I was gonna make it up to them, and I'm going to live by that promise. I will avenge you too, Kammy. That's another promise that I will go through," Bowser spoke and got out Kammy's backup wand that he concealed in his shell.
"Bring me my clown car right now," Bowser spoke into the red sphere of the wand. "Bring it to me. I know you have the power to do so. You have almost as much power as the legendary Star Rod. Bring it to me. Bring it to me! BRING IT TO ME! BRING IT TO MEEEEEEE!"
DK, Yoshi, Birdo, Toad, and Toadette were sitting on the hospital front steps.
"I really REALLY hope we're not jumping into the next world tomorrow. It feels like it would be too soon," Birdo said.
"Yeah, we could use another day break! Today was so stressful with the funeral of Kammy and Kazooie today, and seeing Bowser like that too. Gosh, I've NEVER seen him so devastated in my entire life!" Toad exclaimed.
"It's not surprising to see him like that, though. Bowser's had to deal with so much crap that, sooner or later, he would eventually meltdown because one person can only take so much. He's not the evil, heartless jerk that we originally thought he was," Toadette sympathized the most with him.
"Eh, he's still kind of a jerk, but deep down, I think he has a big heart, he just doesn't like showing it because of whatever bullshit he's had to deal with in his life. Not an excuse for being a villain though, but it explains some stuff!" Birdo said.
"Seeing Bowser like that today, though…even though I didn't know Kammy too well, it still hurt. I can't imagine how much more it'd hurt if I lost someone closer to me. We all really need to take care of each other more than ever from now on. You guys are family to me!" DK proudly stated.
"Awww, come here, DK! If I had a brother, you would totally be him! Well, ignoring the different species thing of course!" Yoshi cried and hugged him. The others laughed and joined in on the hug, except for Toadette, who stared blankly at DK.
"But, doesn't family tell each other everything? Doesn't family trust each other with their secrets, no matter what?" she asked, referring to DK keeping being falsely infected a secret from everyone but Mario.
"Sometimes family does what they think is right in order to protect others at all costs. I meant everything that I did with the best intentions for you guys," DK answered so truthfully that Toadette immediately could tell that it came straight from the heart. She joined in on the hug.
"This feels nice. I don't want this feeling to go away," Toadette whispered with a smile upon her face. It's the first time she felt this good in a while.
"Hey! That guy looks familiar!" Toad yelled suddenly, which made everyone break off the hug. He pointed to a blue dinosaur with shades walking towards the hospital from the sidewalk.
"Yeah, he does! Who is he?" DK asked.
"No way, how could it be!?" Yoshi gasped.
"That's Boshi, isn't it? It's your cousin, Yoshi! I can't believe he's here! I didn't think I'd ever see him again!" Birdo shrieked.
"Why do you two sound so freaked out? Is he bad news or something?" Toadette curiously asked.
"Why, hello cousin Yoshi! Isn't this an interesting coincidence?" Boshi asked and then made a wide smirk.
"Diddy?" Banjo called out to the chimp, who was eating a banana by his lonesome in the cafeteria.
"Oh, hey Banjo! Wanna sit with me and eat something? You must be starving, man!" Diddy gestured.
"I actually need to talk with you privately. Can we go somewhere quiet, please?" Banjo asked.
"Oh! Uhh, sure! Lead the way!" Diddy obliged and tossed his banana in a nearby bin. He followed Banjo all the way down one of the hallways on the first floor and into an empty examination room.
"Alright. So, what is it that you wanna talk about? Well, first of all, how are you doing? You stormed off today during the burial, but I understand that you're still furious about things," Diddy said as Banjo closed the door and locked it.
"I didn't come here to talk about that," Banjo coldly spoke.
"Wait…why did you lock the door? What's going on here?" Diddy got a little nervous now.
Banjo got out the same handgun that was used to kill Kazooie and Kammy from his backpack and aimed it at Diddy.
"Why did you kill Kazooie?"
EOC.
Finals are coming up very soon, so focus must be put to that, which means the next update will be on Friday, May 25, 2018. After that update, I'll be putting out weekly updates again for a while. This new arc will be about 8 or 9 chapters total (including this one) and it will focus on the characters at the hospital for a while. Next chapter will explain what Bowser is up to, the continuation of the Diddy and Banjo scene, Yoshi being conflicted with Boshi coming onto the scene, a character's internal injuries comes to light after ignoring it for so long, and much more! See you next time!
