Guest: Yes, the Dark Web/Net/Deep Web/whatever you wanna call it, is very much real and I strongly recommend that no one goes into it. Heard nothing but horrifying things about it!

Guest: The crystal gem will be the world after Shiverburn Galaxy. I switched the world order cause there's a certain event that happens in the Shiverburn arc that I want to get out of the way asap and would fit the overall story better.

Grodus entered the room where Peach was held captive. Everything was just how it was when he last came in there years ago. He could almost smell Peach's perfume wafting in the air just as he smelt it everytime he came into the room prior. He became a little upset as he remembered something from that dark time…

FLASHBACK

"Hello princess! How are we feeling today?" Grodus spoke in a taunting voice, entering her room casually.

"Oh! Grodus! I'm…I'm feeling miserable! You are an awful person to keep me here against my will! At least tell me exactly why you kidnapped me for!?" Peach cried from her bed.

"GAAACK ACK ACK ACK ACK! My lady, that's gonna have to be a no. I'm keeping it a secret for a reason! I wanna see the look on your face when I finally reveal it to you at the PERFECT moment. It's gonna be a fucking blast!" Grodus maniacally laughed which made Peach even more upset.

"Oh, you are just the WORST! If you won't tell me anything about why I'm here…then at least tell me why you're doing this? It's totally obvious you want to try to take over the world, but why!? What would your family think of what you're doing!?" she yelled.

"My family!? Really, Peach? You're really gonna go that route of exploring my past and trying to get me to turn things around? PAH! Not gonna work! Nothing you do or say will get me to stop! GAAACK ACK ACK ACK ACK!" Grodus manically laughed yet again.

Peach accepted this defeat. "Fine then. At least just tell me what made you wanna do all this, so at least I know why you are the way you are."

Grodus sneered at her. "Hmm. Let me ask you something. Why does there need to be a reason for why I am the way I am? Why can't I just BE this way and that's it? Hell, better question is, why the hell does anyone need a reason to do things like I'm doing!? Why does there HAVE to be all these underlying reasons or background history that connects to the present moment!?"

Peach was incredibly confused by his questions. "Um…well…there's a reason for everything, isn't there? You can't just BE bad just because! That doesn't make any sense!"

"Does it have to make sense, blondie? No, really, does it? I'm not gonna sit here and tell you about my past, give you the details on some fucked up life I may or may not have had, make it into a sob story and BAM! All the reasons right there. Not gonna happen. Wanna know why? Because firstly, it doesn't matter, and secondly, I'm doing this simply because I want to and have the resources to do so. That's it. Sorry if that wasn't the answer you wanted, princess, but not everything in this world has to have a whole history that makes it the way it is," Grodus spat and then left the room, leaving the princess even more confused and upset.

END FLASHBACK

Grodus got so pissed off at remembering that time. He was so awful to Peach and paid no mind to her well-being. He hated himself so much for what he did to her. He got so angry that he flipped over the bed, threw the lamp at the wall which smashed it into many pieces, and kicked the nightstand across the room.

"Sir Grodus? What are you doing?" TEC asked.

Grodus heavily breathed and grabbed at his head. "God, just, why did I do all of this!? WHY WHY WHYYYYY!? I want to take it all back, but I can't, can I!? This is the life I have to live now. But…I can't do it anymore, TEC. I'm constantly haunted by the past and it's never going to stop replaying in my head! M-Maybe…maybe it'd be better if I just died with you when this fortress detaches and crashes into the island…"

"What? Sir Grodus, please don't say that. You have much more to live for than I ever will. You did your mistakes, yes, but you can't let them define who you are," TEC advised.

Grodus shook his head at him. "No. I disagree. TEC…I almost took over the world. I treated Princess Peach like she was some worthless prisoner! I treated my minions like crap! I treated YOU like crap! I'm just as bad as Tatanga. Oh god! Did I just compare myself to that monster?"

"Sir Grodus, you must calm down. You are nothing like Tatanga considering you're turning over a new leaf and are trying to stop his plans. That puts you miles ahead of him in my book. Destroying Tatanga is you trying to make up for your wrongdoings," TEC said.

"I-I guess so. I don't know. It's just…after this is all over with, if we DO succeed with this plan of ours, then what? I don't have anyone left to go to. No one's gonna wanna be around me because of what I did. All I'm gonna do is just…exist. That's it. I may as well die with you, TEC. That's my karma for everything I've done," Grodus said and dropped his body to the floor in defeat.

A minute of silence went by. Grodus expected TEC to say something by now.

"TEC? Are you still there?" he asked.

"Yes, I am. Sir Grodus, I can't make you choose to live or die, as I am just a computer. But, what you're doing is a mistake. By you accepting death as the only option for yourself, you are letting Tatanga win still. If you live and he dies, you get to say that you helped defeat the man that's going to kill everyone in the world and you will carry that pride with you for the rest of your life, and it will inspire you to do better for the world. I know it will. You will keep living and make a better life for yourself and you're going to grateful every single day that you chose the path to live rather than the alternative," TEC tried his best to get Grodus to see the brighter picture and he genuinely meant all of it. Grodus acknowledged how kind-hearted that was from TEC and it sent goosebumps down his spine because it was possibly the nicest and well-intentioned thing he had ever said to him.

"Thank you, TEC. That was…um…very heartfelt of you to say that to me. Wow. You meant every single word of that," Grodus said.

"I did. Every single word. Now, do what you want with what I just told you. The detachment process of the fortress is currently at 25%," TEC said.

Grodus got out his book of the dark arts magic and smirked. "Let's see if we can speed this up and strengthen my skills."


Kooper paced back and forth in the cafeteria while drinking some water, being more nervous to talk to Fire Bro than he thought he would be. A few others noticed his odd behavior and gave him weird looks.

"What? What the hell are you looking at!? Stare at something else for pete's sake!" Kooper yelled at the few strangers staring at them which freaked them out.

"KOOPER!" Koopie shouted from the entrance and ran over to him. "Mind coming with me for a little bit!?" she then dragged him out of there to avoid causing a scene.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!? Let go of me!" Kooper yelled and tugged his arm away from her hold.

"What kind of stupid is that!? What is up with you right now? You look so tense!" Koopie pointed out.

"I'm just…agh! It's too complicated to explain! By the way, why are you still here? I thought you were gonna run away?" Kooper asked.

"I-I was, but, this Tadano thing happened and…um…that's actually pretty complicated to explain too…" Koopie nervously admitted. Kooper gave her a confused expression.

"Uhh, okay? Now I'm curious to see how it's complicated for you. I'll tell you my situation if you tell me yours," Kooper offered. Koopie gave him the side eye and huffed through her nose.

"Fine. Let's go out in the parking lot. I don't wanna be inside here right now anyways," Koopie said then led the way out. The two went down the steps and walked to the side.

"Alright, here's what's happening. Everything that I'm gonna tell you is gonna sound pretty fucking crazy but it's 100% true! Well, maybe 99% true. Understand?" Kooper asked.

"I'm really beginning to dislike the word 'crazy' or some other similar word being used in any sentence because it usually means that something scary or tragic happened, but go ahead," Koopie snarkily replied.

"To put it simply, I'm nearly positive that Fire Bro is actually my brother, Konnor. See, my brother was sent away to a mental institution when he was a kid after he tried to kill me. I haven't seen him in years after he wanted nothing to do with his family. But now…Fire Bro has told me stuff that happened in my life that no one knows about except for a select amount of friends and my parents. He said it so casually to me before, as if it was something he had already known so well! I confronted him about it yesterday, asking him if his name was Konnor, then he started to freak out and screamed that he WAS Konnor, and then ran away. I have no idea where he went cause I couldn't find him for the rest of the day, but then…he just pops up with the rest of the group, acting completely normal. Well, until I confronted him again this morning and asked if we could talk. He finally came through and said to meet him on the sixth floor at 12, but now…I-I don't know! I'm feeling so nervous for some reason!" Kooper explained. Koopie looked incredibly perplexed.

"Um, WHAT!? Fire Bro is your brother!? Okay, I didn't even know you HAD a brother in the first place! But wait, that doesn't make any sense! He's a fire brother, you're not! Plus, don't you think it's too much of a coincidence that you meet your brother here, on a mission to stop Tatanga, of all places?" she questioned.

"That's the thing that's stopping me from FULLY believing him. I don't have any fire brother lineage in my family so…I need to figure out how the hell he knows about me. Like I said, Koopie, this is pretty crazy stuff here. I don't know why I'm so nervous though! I meet with him in an hour!" Kooper said.

"Hmm…Kooper, bring some kind of weapon with you just to be safe. You said he was sent to a mental institution, right? AND he tried to kill you!? Well, even if it was a long time ago, you have to prepare yourself in case he does something extreme. I don't know much about Fire Bro, other than he's crazy, but, it's a matter of HOW crazy he is. It's better to be safe than sorry," Koopie advised.

"A weapon? Well…okay, good point. I mean, I wanna believe that he's changed for the better and is not dangerous, but you're right, I can't be TOO careful with him. I'll just grab like a knife or something from the cafeteria before I head up there to see him. Alright, that's my spiel. What's your complicated story now?" Kooper said.

"My story is, honestly, just as crazy and almost unbelievable as yours is, but it happened, and that's why I'm inclined to believe your story too. I interacted with Tatanga a few times when I was younger. We went to the same school in Chai City, Sarasaland and I visited his brother, Tadano, in the mental institution a couple times with Tatanga. From what I saw and remember back then, Tadano was all over the place. He would have these massive mood swings out of nowhere and talked as if he was someone completely different. It's hard to explain, but he was obviously very messed up in the head! The final straw came when Tatanga baited me to come to the mental institution to see Tadano with him, but Tatanga wasn't there. I saw Tadano anyways, but he nearly attacked me upon seeing me! I got so scared and mad that I went over to Tatanga's place and yelled at him for getting me to do his work for him. He kicked me out of the house and I never talked to him after that. A few months after that happened, my family and I moved out of Sarasaland to Petalburg because my dad scored a better paying job deal there and my family was tired of the city life, including myself," Koopie told her story. Kooper became just as perplexed as she did minutes ago.

"What. The. Fuck!? Okay, you KNEW Tatanga AND Tadano as a kid!? That is pretty fucking wild right there. Damn Koopie, I'm really glad you didn't become further involved with their crap! My god. That is so weird…knowing someone casually when you're just a kid then years later, they become a famed monster. Wow. So, when Tatanga saw all of us the night of the shooting, how come he didn't call you out or anything like that?" Kooper asked.

"I'm not sure. Maybe he didn't recognize me? I mean, I was kind of overweight, had shorter hair, and had really bad acne in high school so I'm pretty sure I look really different from before. Same thing with Tadano. But, Kooper, the main reason why I'm freaked out about Tadano being here is because I know how unstable he is. I've seen it myself! Why the hell did they bring him over here!? Why did we even bring him here without a plan set in stone!? This is absolutely nuts!" Koopie frantically exclaimed.

"Yeah…I agree with you, Koopie…but, that's not the only thing that's nuts. Do you remember the name of the mental institution that Tadano was in?" Kooper asked.

"I think it was Northern Chai Mental Institution. Why?" Koopie asked back. Kooper looked a little horrified at that response.

"That…th-that's the exact same institution my brother was sent to after he tried to kill me," Kooper revealed. Koopie widened her eyes in total surprise.

"WHAT!? Holy shit! Okay, this couldn't possibly get ANY weirder! Kooper, do you think that Tadano and Konnor knew each other there? Do you think we should ask them?" she asked.

"I-I don't know. This IS getting pretty weird and too coincidental. I…um, I have to get going now, Koopie. I need to think and I have so many more questions to ask Fire Bro when I see him later," Kooper's mind was all over the place at that point with all these mysterious and random connections that he never thought would've been made in the first place.

"WAIT! So, what are we supposed to do about Tadano and Fire Bro, knowing everything that we know now!?" Koopie asked.

"Just, um, keep your eye on Tadano and I'll keep my eye on Fire Bro! And, if you're going to talk to Tadano, be very careful. Like you said, I really don't like Tadano being here as well, especially after what we just figured out," Kooper said then walked back into the hospital.


"Yo, Koops! Wait up a sec!" Spike called out to the koopa who just exited the men's restroom.

"Oh, hey Paper Yos- I mean, Spike. Um, sorry, I'm still trying to get used to that name now," Koops said.

"No biggie. I know it's a big change to adjust to. Anyways, I need to tell you something really weird that Bow and I found out while we were getting Tadano," Spike said.

"Uh oh, okay. Wait, speaking of them, where are Bow and Tadano actually?" Koops asked.

"They went to go get something to eat in the cafeteria and Tadano was freaking out about how people are gonna react to him being there cause they'll confuse him for being Tatanga but Bow assured me that she'd handle it. Whatever, less work for me! Haha. Also, I wanted to talk with Mario about what happened in the last world after that meeting cause I wanted to catch up on all the news I missed. Man, I'm sorry to hear about what happened to Kazooie and Kammy, and also about Koopie cheating on you for Kooper. That must bite real fucking hard!" Spike said in sympathy. Koops awkwardly looked away for a second when he mentioned Koopie's name.

"Uhh, yeah, that happened but I'm over it now. I'm with Vivian now and I'm never talking to Koopie or Kooper ever again. That's the end of that story," he harshly stated.

"Eh? You're already with Vivian? So…quickly? I mean, I completely get not talking Koopie and Kooper, but don't you think that it's too soon to be with someone new? You and Koopie literally broke it off like a few days ago!" Spike pointed out. Koops got a little irritated at his poking around of the issue.

"Um, why does it matter how soon I'm with someone? I feel good when I'm with Vivian and she feels good with me, so it makes sense to be together!" Koops said in frustration. Spike wasn't buying it still.

"…Uh huh. Alright, well, we're veering off topic here anyways! So, the weird thing we found out was this: the mental institution we got Tadano out of was the same one your mother, Kayla, was killed at!" Spike revealed. Koops backed away a little.

"Oh! Really!? Wow…and Tadano was there too…what a weird coincidence!" he shrieked.

"That's not all, though. Koops, do you remember the name of the person who DID kill your mother? It was one of the patients at that institution," Spike asked. He hoped Koops could piece together what he was unraveling to him.

"Oh, um, I-I can't remember. I think his name started with a K though. When I first got the news that my mom died, and my dad and I flew over to Chai City, the police and staff told me his name but I think it just flew over my head because I was so sad and angry and in my own thoughts," Koops described and got a little emotional.

"I understand that. But, Bow and I know the name based on some documents we read. The one that killed your mother was Konnor Korpus. Anything about that name sound familiar now?" Spike asked. Koops' expression slowly turned to horror.

"W-W-W-What? K-Konnor…KORPUS!? As in, uhh, Kooper Korpus? Potentially Kooper's brother!?" he squealed.

"Not potentially, he IS his brother. Bow told me the story about how Kooper got drunk one night and told his crew about his brother, Konnor, and how he went insane for some reason and stabbed Kooper. Konnor was sent to the same asylum Tadano and your mom were at! Konnor killed your mom and tried to blame it on Tadano, and according to the document, this made Tadano second guess himself and gave him severe depression because he has a huge guilt complex!" Spike said. Koops got more horrified at this and became a little angry now.

"Woah! Okay, this is way too much right now! Well, I mean, I guess it explains how sociopathy runs in their family now. Honestly, after hearing all this, Kooper is ALMOST as bad as his brother is! Does Kooper even know what his brother did to my mother!? I need to go talk to him right now!" Koops gradually got angrier and began to stamp off till Spike got in his way.

"Woah woah woah! Calm down there, buddy! You have a right to be upset at your mom dying at the hands of Konnor. But, don't be mad at Kooper for this! Just because he's Konnor's brother doesn't mean that he's like him in any way!" Spike tried to calm him down.

"Kooper may not be a murderer, but he's definitely a narcissistic jerk and I'm talking to him about this NOW. Don't stop me!" Koops demanded and brushed Spike off as he quickly walked away. Spike groaned in frustration.

"This is NOT going to end well…"


Tadano walked through the main hall of the hospital to get to the cafeteria with Bow in tow. Everyone else in the hallway looked at him in fear or anger, or both. Various loud phrases were heard from the shaken up people.

"Why is Tatanga in this hospital!? WHO LET HIM IN HERE!?"

"OH MY GOD, IT'S HIM!"

"Did he give up on his plans!?"

"We have to get out of here! He's gonna shoot up the place like he did last time!"

"Why is that chick walking besides him and not scared!? WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?"

"Everyone, calm down! Follow me to the cafeteria if you want to hear the explanation for why this guy is here!" Bow announced. The people followed her orders and made a huge crowd following her into the room. Bow went up on one of the tables and Tadano stood up there with her.

"ATTENTION EVERYONE! SHUSH! Now, you're all probably freaking out and have loads of questions right now. I get it. However, this guy right here…he is NOT Tatanga. This is his twin brother, Tadano. We brought him here to help the fight against Tatanga," Bow spoke to the crowd. Everyone talked in concern amongst themselves and no one seemed to be relieved.

"How are we so sure that that isn't Tatanga!? What if him and his twin brother are in cahoots?" asked a koopa.

"They're not! We found Tadano in Sarasaland and me and my friend Spike told Tadano about what was going on with his brother. Tadano had no idea about any of it until we told him!" Bow clarified.

"She's telling the truth! I haven't seen my twin, Tatanga, in years because he left me all alone in Sarasaland! He's a sociopath who did nothing to help me when I was going through trouble with my asshole of a father! I HATE HIM! He deserves to die which is why I desperately wanted to come help!" Tadano screeched. Some of the crowd looked at him sympathetically.

"Can he REALLY be trusted, though!? He may not BE Tatanga, but twins usually have very similar personalities and traits, don't they!? We can't take any chances!" Boshi yelled in complete protest. Some people nodded and shouted in agreement.

"Where else am I gonna go, though!? I don't wanna get kicked out! You guys CAN trust me, I wanna stay and fight the big fight! If I have to do oddball stuff to prove my trust to you all, then so be it!" Tatanga pleaded.

"Please, everyone! The reason why I'm telling you this is so when you see Tadano walking down a hallway of this hospital, do not freak out. He is NOT Tatanga. He is nothing like his brother. Do we all understand?" Bow asked. Nods were seen throughout the crowd but it was obvious that some people were still uncomfortable with it.

"Yes, thank you Bow! Please be kind to me! I hope to fit in with you all here and make some friends if possible!" Tadano politely spoke. Bow cringed at his niceness.

"Okay, you can all disperse now! Show's over! Message gotten! SHOO!" Bow yelled and the crowd separated, still murmuring to each other in concern.

"That was great! Thanks, Bow. I was really worried about how others would perceive me being here with, you know, looking like my psychotic brother and all!" Tadano cheered.

"It was nothing. Just be normal and you'll fit in here perfectly," Bow quickly responded and got down off the table.

"Wait, what do you mean by 'normal'? Bow?" Tadano asked. Bow cringed again but this time at herself, doing a total Freudian slip.

"I-I mean…just be yourself, Tadano! Don't worry about what others think, we got the message across to everyone here. If anyone gives you trouble, just let me or Spike know! K? Good! See ya later!" Bow quickly responded again to save face and got out of there.

"Hmm. Someone's a little jumpy, I see," Tadano chuckled and jumped off the table. The alien spotted Goombario in the hallway and ran over to him.

"Hey, you! You're the one that talked about the castle and the teleportation thingy earlier, right? What's your name?" Tadano cheerily asked, surprising Goombario.

"Oh! You! Tadano! Hi! Uhh, my name is Goombario and yes, that was me talking about that stuff. What can I do you for?" Goombario awkwardly responded.

"Do you remember where that castle was located, the one you guys were all captured at?" he asked.

"Uhh, kind of. I remember it being on a hill and would probably recognize the streets leading to there if I saw them. Why?" Goombario asked back.

"I was wondering if you could take me to that castle? I really wanna try out that teleporter thing so I can talk to my brother and make him come to his senses," Tadano said. Goombario looked at him with fear in his eyes.

"Oh no no no, absolutely not! Sorry, but that's WAY too dangerous for you to do that all by yourself! Do you not remember Bowser telling his story about his time at the fortress? Or us telling you that it's way too risky to have you go there, considering that place is guarded from head to toe? If you go there and you get caught and killed, bringing you over here will have been all for nothing!" Goombario exclaimed.

"I do remember that, but come on! I can't just sit here knowing there's a way for me to go see my brother! Plus, I can easily walk around the place with everyone thinking I'm Tatanga. I'll be just fine!" Tadano urged.

"Dude, you don't know what you're getting yourself into. Let's say, hypothetically, you do get to the island and see your brother. Then what? You think he's just gonna stand there and talk everything out with you? You think he's not gonna try to kill you? Or, if not him, his goonies at least? I mean, I know you're his brother and all, but it's safe to say that he doesn't care about anyone except himself at this point," Goombario made a point so he could not do something stupid and put his life in jeopardy. Tadano started looking pretty pissed right now.

"Then…then what the hell was the point of bringing me here!? Why are we standing here and not trying something!? Why are we practically waiting to die!? WHY WHY WHY!?" the alien started melting down and backed Goombario up against the wall.

"Woah woah woah, calm down there for crying out loud! Take it easy. We'll figure out something for you, okay? Look, the teleportation route IS a good idea, in theory. We'll definitely do something with that, but we'll need a thorough plan so it can be done as safely as possible!" Goombario tried to assure him.

"…Okay. I understand. See you around then!" Tadano oddly exclaimed, completely regressing from his agitated state in mere seconds, then jollily walked off.

"Good god, that was a little scary. I think he's a little more like his brother than he realizes," Goombario noted to himself.


Mario led Luigi, Peach, and Daisy to an empty storage room and immediately shut the door as soon as they all got in.

"Okay, Mario, now you're getting me a little worried. What's this all about now and why are you only telling us?" Daisy asked.

Mario fished into his pocket and showed the three a flashdrive. "This is what Banjo gave me before he left. He said that what's on here is the main reason why him and Kazooie came here in the first place. They wanted to show me what was on here because, according to Banjo, it's something potentially life-changing and will shock the hell out of me."

"What!? Seriously!? So, when we talked to Banjo and Kazooie at the hotel that one time, they were lying to us when they said that they just wanted an excuse to vacation and see us!?" Luigi questioned.

"Not exactly. Banjo said that he was planning to see us anyways and the flashdrive was just a good excuse to add to it. Now, if he's lying about THAT then I'm not sure, but I can't see why he would lie, honestly," Mario clarified.

"Oh gosh! Did Banjo say what's exactly on there then? Did you already look at it?" Peach asked.

"No, and no. Well, the only thing he said in regards to what's on it is that it has to do with me and Tatanga's plan to take over the world. Honestly, I'm a little scared to look at it because, if Banjo wasn't exaggerating, then this may potentially change everything that's happening right now," Mario said.

"Wow. But, how is Banjo so sure that what he got on there is real? Where did he even get this stuff from?" Daisy asked.

"It's called The Dark Web. Have you guys heard of it?" Mario asked. Peach shook her head while Luigi and Daisy looked at him in fear.

"What!? He got it from THERE!? Why was he even there in the first place!?" Luigi shrieked.

"Wait, what is this dark web thing!? Sounds creepy!" Peach exclaimed.

"It's basically an 'underground' part of the internet that you don't have regular access to. You have to go through certain channels to get to it, but there's a lot of creepy and illegal stuff happening in there, like drug trades, black market things, trafficking, hacking, counterfeiting, and so on. Never been there myself but I've researched it and have heard nothing but horror stories about people checking it out!" Daisy explained.

"Oh my! Wow…so…if Banjo got this stuff from THAT kind of place…Mario! This seems really scary!" Peach yelped in worry.

"I know it does. But, it has to do with me only, which is why I'm going to view it myself later tonight. I have to know what's on this that is so important," Mario said.

"You really wanna view it all by yourself, brother? I mean, shouldn't at least one of us be there with you in case whatever is on that flash drive is too much for you to handle?" Luigi asked.

"No, it's okay, brother. That's actually exactly why I want to view it myself. In case things get too disturbing, I don't want to subject anyone else to what I'm viewing. This is something that I should do alone. I'll tell you guys the gist of it afterwards," Mario stated.

"Oh, um, if you say so, Mario. Just, um, try not to let whatever is on that flash drive get to you!" Peach nervously advised.

"I know, I will. I think I'll be okay, you guys. Now, there's something else I wanna discuss. Banjo is also convinced that someone that wasn't part of the infected group killed Kazooie back at the church. He thinks that someone from our group did it. I know you guys kind of heard this when you all saw him yesterday, but he also said that Goombario told Bombette who told Banjo that someone from our group slipped out from the big fight and killed Kazooie," Mario revealed.

"Hmm? Really? Why would Goombario say that then? I mean, he's one of the smartest people in the group, so there's no way he would've just said that for no reason!" Daisy said.

"Yeah, but is Goombario confident that someone slipped out and killed Kazooie? There was so much going on in that fight so there's no way that he could be 100% sure that that happened! Right?" Luigi guessed in total confusion.

"I'm not sure, honestly. The reason why I'm telling only you three about the flash drive and the potential killer in our group and not the others, is so that everyone else doesn't start getting paranoid about each other. I don't know how accurate the whole 'killer' theory is, but to be on the safe side, we should be a little cautious of others in the group," Mario said.

"I don't know about that, Mario. There's literally no evidence to prove that someone from our group DID go out of their way to kill Kazooie. Come on, you're totally going off of someone's memory during a massive and chaotic fight! Don't you realize how ridiculous that sounds?" Daisy pointed out.

"Plus, it's not like we can keep track of every single person in our group! We don't know where every single person is, what they're doing, and who they're with at any given time. It's not enough to be worried about, in my opinion," Luigi added.

"Well, it does sound a little strange no matter what though! I think it makes sense to be on guard with others in the group. With everything we've been through, some of them definitely aren't going to be completely normal acting you know!" Peach also made a fair point.

"I'm just letting you guys know what I think and what was said to me. Take it as you want to. Like you said, there's not much evidence to go off of for someone being the killer of Kazooie, but it's just something to think about in the small chance that someone is actually causing trouble," Mario said.


"This is the room?" Toadiana asked, shyly peeking into a random patient room.

"Yeah, this is it! Toado showed me this earlier. This is where he got that pill from some lady to help with my menstrual cramps! It worked like such a charm, I felt soooo much better after, like, an hour!" Toadessa cheerily explained and skipped on in.

"You sure it's okay to be in here? There's someone sleeping on the patient bed!" Toadiana whispered.

"So? We'll be quick and quiet!" Toadessa said and began to look through the cabinets for the pills. Toadiana kept looking to the sleeping patient to make sure he wasn't going to wake up and question them.

"Ugh, come on! It has to be here somewhere," Toadessa said in frustration while looking through the drawers.

"Do you remember what they looked like?" Toadiana asked.

"It was an oval, bright yellow pill I took, and Toado said the pills were in a plastic bag. Hmm…" Toadessa said and looked up at the higher shelves. She got one of the chairs and stood on top of it to look there.

"Come on, this is getting so…oh! I think I found them!" Toadessa squealed in joy and showed Toadiana the bag of yellow pills.

"Oh, awesome! Gimme gimme!" Toadiana cheered as Toadessa tossed her the bag. Toadiana ripped into the bag, snatched two pills, and downed them both immediately.

"WOAH! You're taking two of them!?" Toadessa shrieked.

"Yeah, my sides are hurting sooo bad! Why?" Toadiana innocently asked.

"Well, I mean, those pills do seem pretty powerful. When I took just the one pill, I remember feeling a little lightheaded and my vision was getting a little blurry at times. Plus, I think it gave me a nightmare cause I went to sleep like an hour after I took it! It was SOOOOO weird, I was dreaming about how this witch with these big, black eyes came to the hospital and tore the place apart and set everyone on fire! I woke up screaming and sweating and stinking really bad!" Toadessa exclaimed.

"Oh wow! That's really scary! But, come on! Do you really think two pills can have that kind of effect? I mean, it's not like we're taking really bad drugs like cocaine or heroin!" Toadiana scoffed.

"Yeah, I know, it's just that the pill made me feel so weird, but it made my cramps go away so I guess it did its job!" Toadessa shrugged with an awkward chuckle.


Kooper made his way up to the 6th floor via the elevator. The doors opened and right in front of him was a clock on the wall. It read 11:58am.

"Okay…here we go…" Kooper braced himself for whatever craziness Fire Bro was undoubtedly going to bring. He walked out and headed towards the stairwell.

"Does he want me to wait outside the door or inside the actual stairwell?" Kooper spoke to himself. He pondered for a minute, then decided to wait inside, until he heard a familiar voice yell his name.

"KOOPER!" yelled Koops from the elevator and rushed over to him. Kooper was very shocked to see him all of a sudden.

"Oh, Koops! What are you doing up here?" he asked.

"I need to talk to you about something important. I saw you head in to the elevator on the first floor but I didn't make it in time, so, uhh, now here I am!" Koops explained.

"O…kay then. Here, let's talk in the stairwell where it's more private," Kooper gestured and the two went on in.

"So, I'm gonna come right out with it. I spoke to Spike earlier and him and Bow found out something very shocking when they found Tadano. Northern Chai Mental Institution is the place they found him and it's also the place that my mom worked at. They found some documents that said that someone named Konnor Korpus, the same last name as you, killed MY mother years ago and tried to blame it on Tadano! That's your brother isn't it!? You have a brother!" Koops aggressively spoke. Kooper dropped his jaw.

"WHAT? Fi- I mean, Konnor k-k-killed your mom!? What the fuck…okay, I had no idea about ANY of that!" he screeched.

"How could you not know about that!? He's YOUR brother! I didn't even know you had a brother till Spike told me that Bow told him about you telling everyone your story about how your brother almost killed you one day! When the police told me the name of the person who killed my mother on that day my dad and I found out, it just went right over my head because I was so upset!" Koops yelled.

"Koops, hold on! Please let me explain! You see why I tell very few people about my brother!? He was a psychopath! He wanted NOTHING to do with us once we visited him after he was sent to the institution! And so, I wanted nothing to do with him! My family practically disowned him after that and pretended like he never existed! Koops, I swear on my life, I had NO idea about him killing your mother and I am SO sorry for that. I really am! No one ever told me about him committing a murder! I was never given a call from the institution or the police or anything! They may have called my parents about it, but if they did, then they sure as hell didn't let me know for whatever reason!" Kooper sympathetically explained.

"Hmm. I see then. At least now I see where you get your narcissism from!" Koops accused. Kooper dropped his jaw yet again.

"WHAT? What the fuck do you mean by that!?" he yelled.

"Murderers like your brother have narcissistic traits, right!? Well, that definitely explains you getting with my girlfriend behind my back TWICE! Kooper, face it, you don't care about ANYTHING! You never cared about how I would feel if I found out about you two! You enjoyed it, didn't you!? Sneaking around with her, taking away the ONLY person I have EVER fell in love with my entire life! Being with the ONLY person to make me feel like I wasn't a total loser! YOU TOOK THAT AWAY FROM ME!" Koops raised his voice and got in his face. Kooper got heated at this.

"Oh, no. Koops…don't you DARE compare me to that monster. Just because we're brothers doesn't mean that I am ANYTHING like him. He is a killer who cares about NOTHING and hates EVERYTHING. Me? I care! I know I fucked up big time and that's something that I can't ever take away and there are no excuses for what I did, but I care! I care about how you spiraled down after you found out the truth! I care that you're upset about my brother killing your mom! I wanted to help you when you were having your breakdown, but I knew you wouldn't accept it so I had to back off! No amount of my apologizing will ever make up for it, I know that, but don't ever compare me to the likes of a psychopath. That's NOT me, and I think you know that deep down as well, but you're blinded by your anger!" Kooper laid it out. Koops got red in the face and was breathing hard, but then quickly exited the stairwell. Kooper let out a big exhale and turned away from the door.

"Holy hell…Konnor actually killed someone in that institution…the same place Tadano was at. And he even tried to blame it on Tadano!? What in the actual fuck!? Okay, this changes everything now. I don't think Konnor can't be trusted. If he killed Koops' mom, then I wonder if he's killed anyone else? I don't know what the hell I'm gonna do now…" Kooper said to himself, immensely stressed out at the point.

Suddenly, Kooper felt himself being pushed hard from behind and ended up tumbling down the stairs. Everything went black.

EOC.

Next chapter will show the aftermath of Kooper, Yoshi discovers something horrifying, Mario views the contents of the flash drive, and as always, much more! See you next Friday!