Mona slowly approached the police who had just arrived from Toad Town and who were speaking with Toadiana's mom and dad. Both of them were crying uncontrollably as they were still dealing with the news that their daughter had died. It made Mona want to cry again. She couldn't nor did she want to imagine the pain they were feeling.
"Um…h-hello? Excuse me?" Mona nervously spoke to the three. They all turned to her.
"Yes, ma'am?" asked one of the toad cops.
"Umm…I…have something to confess about the incident th-that happened with that Toadiana girl earlier…" Mona struggled to speak clearly.
The mother and father perked up immediately.
"What!? Young lady, wh-what is it!? You know more about what happened to her!?" the father frantically asked.
"Yes, I do. Those pills that Toadiana took…umm…I brought them here from another place…if I hadn't done that…y-your daughter still would've been alive…" Mona admitted while hanging her head low as tears began to fall down her face.
"Wh-what do you mean by that!? What the hell kind of pills did you bring here!?" the mother yelled.
"The pills I brought are called "Quick." They're a very bizarre kind of drug. You take them a-and…um…any kind of pain you're feeling goes away almost immediately, but it comes at a cost with these crazy side effects, such as hallucinations. I brought them here in case my friends needed them if they had gotten badly hurt," Mona explained. The mother and father still looked confused.
"Wait a second, "Quick" pills!? Ma'am, do you not realize that those are classified as ILLEGAL in the Mushroom Kingdom!? They're practically an equivalent to cocaine!" yelled the toad cop. Mona cried a little more.
"I…I'm so sorry…I didn't give it to her directly, though! A boy named Toado came in and tried to take the pills because his stomach was hurting but I took them away and lied to him, saying that they were pills for girls to help with menstrual cramps. He then must've told Toadiana and Toadessa about that, so the girls went in and took the pills, which caused Toadiana to….to…" Mona couldn't finish the sentence as she got more upset with the parents looking even more distraught at her.
"You…y-you brought THAT in here knowing there are kids around and knowing what it does!? WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" the mother screamed. Mona cried even further and fell to her knees.
"Ma'am, you're gonna have to come with me now. We can't let you get off the hook for bringing an illegal drug into here and having it connected to a little girl dying," said the toad cop.
It was very early morning. Dimentio returned to the black door and opened it slowly, letting the light from the hallway flood the dark and eerie room.
"Roy? Are you still alive?" Dimentio asked tauntingly.
He heard a soft groan. Dimentio opened the door all the way and saw the Koopatrol lying in the center of the floor with its eyes clawed out. The jester was shocked at what Roy did, but slightly impressed at the same time. He looked at the end of the room and saw Roy laying up against the wall, looking worn out and traumatized.
"Well well well! You killed useless Koopatrol #89 over there! Haha. My my, Roy, when it comes right down to it, you certainly do whatever it takes to survive. You've been stuck in here for over a day now in this dark, dank, depressing room with a rotting corpse mere inches away from you. How do you feel? Do you now see what happens when you betray your team, the same team you wanted to join oh so desperately?" Dimentio asked, still in his taunting manner.
Roy looked at the jester in the most evil, haunting way he has ever looked at anyone before. "I would like to go to my room now. Please," he coldly spoke.
"Hmm. I suppose you've suffered enough. Go on then. But, Roy…think of this as your FINAL warning. Strike one was attempting to sneak in those 'stay awake' pills to Tatanga. Strike two was knocking me out during that fight with Bowser. Do something like that again and I will tell Tatanga of it and I'll make damn sure that he gives you a slow and long, incredibly painful death. I own you now with this secret forever," Dimentio stated. Roy slowly stood up, and walked out while glaring at Dimentio the entire time till he got to the door.
Roy reached his room and shut the door. He clenched his fists so tight that his nails dug deep into his palms.
"I see how it is now. Dimentio wants to play it this way? Fine, I'll play by his rules. But, when the time and circumstances are right…I'll make sure his death looks like an accident," Roy whispered to himself, full of rage and vengeance in that moment.
Meanwhile, Tatanga and Doopliss walked into the same hallway where everyone's rooms were and knocked on Beldam's door. It opened and out came the tired shadow siren duo.
"Tatanga…Doopliss…what's going on?" Beldam groggily spoke.
"So, I wanted to say again, very good work on getting that hole sealed! Now then, ever since that was accomplished yesterday, it's really gotten me thinking…we can't have something like that happen on this island again, so Beldam, I'm going to put you on watch in the north tower, the highest tower that overlooks the entire island! You'll be there for three hours, then it will be Marilyn's turn, then Dimentio's turn, and wash, rinse, and repeat," Tatanga ordered.
"Guh!?" Marilyn shrieked.
"…Is there a problem with that?" Tatanga sneered.
"Tatanga, I'm not sure how putting us up there is going to help exactly…" Beldam spoke.
"What do you mean!? If one of those bastards comes in through the force field again, you can easily spot them and throw some magic blasts at them to shoot them down! Bowser doing what he did just proves that our security needs to be tighter than ever! Nothing is going to stop this weapon from happening!" Tatanga yelled.
"Yeah! Thought that was pretty obvious, slick! Need another more sleepy time there, granny?" Doopliss joked.
"Shut it, sheetface! I just wanted clarification!" Beldam spat.
"Okay you guys, if you're gonna duke it out, at least don't make a huge mess! I'm gonna go down to check on the weapon and see to it that progress goes a little faster because what happened recently is definitely a sign that we need to get this started sooner than planned. See ya!" Tatanga said then went off.
"Hey, Beldam! I'm getting this vibe from you that your heart isn't as in it as before! What gives, slick?" Doopliss asked.
"You have what's called PARANOIA, dumbass! I'm still in this 100% and so is Marilyn! Quit trying to start a problem that doesn't exist!" Beldam yelled in major self-defense.
"Guhhhhh!" Marilyn loudly added.
"Fine fine, whatever. I just have this tiny little thought in my mind about your sister, Vivian. You do realize that once this plan gets underway, she will either be destroyed or under control of Tatanga, right?" Doopliss said.
Beldam paused for a moment, looking at the white sheeted menace with a more upset expression than anger.
"You…y-you think I haven't thought of that already, bonehead!? My sister is a complete weakling who will never amount to anything! She's an embarrassment to the shadow species! She thinks she's all that all because she helped Mario and her stupid friends defeat the Shadow Queen years ago! SHE'S NOTHING TO ME!" Beldam yelled as her anger increased, getting into Doopliss' face. The duplighost backed away a little.
"Woah! Okay! I get it, geez. Sorry I even brought it up…" Doopliss yelped and walked away to his room, a little overwhelmed by that interaction.
"Guhhh…" Marilyn muttered.
"I know. That was a little overboard. But…whatever. Time to do my shift, I guess," Beldam replied and walked towards the north tower. She couldn't help but sob just the tiniest bit.
It was approaching 9am in Mushroom City now. Everyone was beginning to gather outside to see the 14 heroes off for the next mission to Shiverburn Galaxy.
Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Daisy walked down the hallway together, somewhat nervous for the new mission.
"Do you really think this next mission is actually going to be as short and simple as Arfur made it out to be?" Peach asked.
"Knowing our luck with the past missions…probably not. But, Shiverburn Galaxy is not nearly as big and complex as the places we've been to previously, so it should be at least a little quicker," Mario answered.
"The main thing I want to happen is for us to just go in, find the gem, no dawdling around, no drama, no gossip, and get out. That's partly what screwed us over in the last world because we were too caught up in our own drama to do investigating of our own which would've gotten us out of there quicker," Daisy firmly stated.
"I agree with you, Daisy, but more than anything else, I just don't want anyone else to die. There's been so much loss around us that it hurts to move forward sometimes," Luigi said. Daisy put her hand on his shoulder, knowing exactly how he feels.
"Mister Mario!" called out the same security koopa that he talked to last night about checking the security cams to see if Kooper actually fell down the stairs or was pushed.
"Oh! Hey! You…uhh, don't know your name, but what's up?" Mario exclaimed.
"You can call me Kallan, haha. Anyways, it's actually good that I caught you four right now, because I wanted to give you all an update on the Toadiana situation. So, the police from Toad Town came very last night, I think at about 1am, to investigate Toadiana's death and just as they were almost finished here, a woman by the name of Mona Mallis, who I think is a part of your guys' group, came and confessed that she played a role in what happened with Toadiana. To put it short, she brought an illegal prescription of Quick pills to the hospital which somehow Toadiana snuck into and took it, which led to her acting out of control.
Because of this confession along with the dusting for fingerprints and DNA in the bathroom, that Boshi guy has been cleared since his alibi checks out and Mona's story fits what the hell happened last night. The police have been grilling her all night long and they're just about to send her off to the Toad Town Jail Center, as the one in Mushroom City has been destroyed. She would've been sent off earlier, however, the van that the police came in to investigate Toadiana's death ended up getting a flat tire so back up had to be called along with a tow truck," Kallan explained. The quartet looked horribly upset at the news of Mona being arrested.
"Oh no! Poor Mona, b-but she can't serve that long of a sentence, right!? She did confess after all and she wasn't directly involved!" Peach shrieked.
"I'm less sure about that, princess. I don't know too much about the factors of how long one can be in jail for, I'm just telling you the facts of what I know," Kallan said.
"Damn…this means she can't help us now…can just something positive happen to us for once!?" Daisy miserably groaned.
"As much as this sucks, there's nothing we can do for Mona now, so we have to just keep on with this mission, you guys," Luigi said.
"Yeah, we have to. We'll visit Mona once we're done with Shiverburn. Thanks for telling us, Kallan. We really appreciate it," Mario said respectfully and the four began to walk towards the main lot. However, Kallan stopped Mario by tapping him on the shoulder.
"Hmm?" Mario turned around again.
"By the way, Mario…about what you asked me last night, to check the security cameras to see if that Kooper guy was pushed or not…I want to tell you this just between you and me, because, well, you're the only person I've talked to about this and I don't want to freak more people out with this information.
The security room was attacked last night. While me and my other security pal, Toaden, were tending to the police last night, there was a third security noki guy named Nokley, watching the room while us two were busy with the police. Someone came in and destroyed the screens where we see the cam footages of the entire hospital. Nokley tried to fight this person off, but the person knocked him out cold, and he just woke up and told me the story 30 minutes ago. He said that it all happened so fast, and that the person who attacked him was disguised in a black hoodie wielding a fire axe and completely overpowered him. I tried to find nearby witnesses at the time who may have saw anything but no luck so far."
Mario was, again, horribly upset and shocked at this even stranger piece of news.
"What the hell!? Someone just…actually did all of that and no one had a clue who it was!? Why would they destroy those footages!?" he yelled.
"Look, Mario…here's what I recommend you do: go on that mission that you're supposed to do today. Let us handle things around here and figure out what the hell is going on. I don't want you to take this on right now, you already have enough things on your plate as it is. I promise you, if I find something significant by the time you get back, I'll let you know the second you step back in this hospital. Okay?" Kallan tried to calm the stressed out plumber down a little. Mario so badly wanted to solve this mystery right now especially because he had a suspect in mind, but Kallan made a great point about having too much on his plate right now
"I understand. Thank you for this. Just…please be careful. I really don't want any more incidents happening here," Mario deeply sighed and Kallan nodded.
Lakilester woke up, yawned, then shrieked a little when he realized he was on top of a couple blankets on the floor in an empty patient room. Well…almost empty.
"What the hell? I don't remember falling asleep in here…" he said in total confusion.
"GOOD MORNING!" yelled Tadano from the bathroom, startling Lakilester.
"WOAH! Uhh, morning? Hey, did you sleep in this room too?" Lakilester asked, which caused Tadano to giggle.
"Wow! You must've drunk a lot more than I thought last night! We slept together, silly!" Tadano continued to giggle. Lakilester dropped his jaw.
"WHAT THE FUCK!? You mean…slept as in, s-sex!?" he yelled.
"No no! Not that! We just, um, you know…made out and cuddled…" Tadano explained and couldn't stop giggling.
"ARE YOU SERIOUS!? Look man, I'm NOT gay! I must've gotten REALLY wasted last night for me to do that crap! If you are gay yourself, then that's fine, but I don't swing that way at all, so you BETTER not tell anyone about this!" Lakilester threatened.
"Oh, hush! It is SO not a big deal! Now, if you'll excuse me, Lakikins…I have to be off now," Tadano flirtatiously spoke, dressing up in a white t-shirt and gray sweat pants that he found earlier.
"Where the hell are you going? A-And did you just call me Lakikins!? What kind of nickname is that!?" Lakilester said in complete disgust.
"You don't need to worry about where I'm going!" Tadano suddenly spoke with a harsh and loud tone, shooting him a glare. "And don't you dare follow me either. I'm out of here now." The alien then exited the room and slammed the door shut.
Lakilester was surprised at his sudden change in attitude. "Wow…why the hell would I follow him after THAT anyway?"
A lot of people gathered in front of the hospital to see Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Yoshi, Birdo, Toad, Toadette, Dixie, DK, Waluigi, Rosalina, Goombella, and Fire Bro off.
"Hey, Goombella! You know, you don't have to go back out there if you don't want to, after everything that happened to you. I'm sure the rest of the gang would completely understand your situation!" Goombario said sympathetically as Vivian, Koops, Flurrie, Spike, Bow, Parakarry, and Bombette walked on over as well.
"No, it's okay, I'm gonna go. If I don't…I'll just keep thinking about what happened and I just need something to keep it out of my mind. Professor Frankly helped a little yesterday, he got me to realize that pushing away my feelings from what happened to me was doing more damage than anything else," Goombella said, looking to Vivian.
"Um, yeah, sorry that I had him talk to you and make you confront your feelings…I was just really concerned about how you were handling things, Goombella, and didn't know what to do…" Vivian shyly said.
"It's fine, Viv. You don't need to feel guilty! If anything, it helped take some of that emotional weight off my shoulders. I mean, like, it doesn't make the pain and memories go away of course, but it's a start," Goombella said appreciatively with a smile, which made Vivian smile in return.
"So glad to hear that, Goombella! You always have a support system here so don't ever feel like you have to hold back on anything!" Bombette cheered.
"Yeah, no matter what happens to us, our friendship won't ever be broken!" Koops exclaimed and touched Vivian's shoulder. The shadow siren made a forced smile which came off as a little awkward, which Goombella definitely noticed.
"Okay, this is sweet and all, but do we really have to start pulling out the cheesy empowerment one-liners now?" Spike half-joked.
"You should be used to it now! Adventures are always overdramatic, ergo it makes sense to be overdramatic and cheesy when you're supporting your friends!" Bow teased.
"My my, drama is definitely unavoidable when it comes to these enormous quests! But, dearie, you will be just fine, I know it. I have a gut feeling that this mission will be much quicker and simpler than the last few we have done!" Flurrie added with her typical dramatic flare of course.
"Why does everyone keep thinking this mission will be quick and simple? It could be long and hard, you know! Well, I mean, not that I want it to be that way, but it's better to keep the perspectives balanced," Parakarry said. The others laughed a little at him.
"DK, how are you feeling?" Diddy asked.
"Just okay, why?" DK replied.
"Just checking. Another mission awaits and who knows what surprises are hiding this time around…" Diddy sighed.
"Yeah, I know. But, it has to be done. We must roll with whatever this place hurls at us," DK said. "But…how are you? How are you feeling since, you know?"
"Oh. You can say her name, DK," Diddy chuckled. "I'm fine. Still hurts like hell and my head still pounds at the concept of being cheated on, but it's something I'll get through. It's actually probably a good thing I'm not going with you guys, though, so I don't have to see her and have feelings come up again while I'm trying to focus on the mission."
"Sis, I'm kinda starting to regret not coming on these missions with you…" Tiny grunted.
"Why? Are you worried for me?" Dixie asked.
"Uhh, YES! These past worlds you've been in…you're very lucky to not have gotten gravely injured so far! And what happened with Kammy and Kazooie, I just can't imagine you being out there and not knowing what's going on till you guys get back!" Tiny freaked out a little.
"I understand your concern, but you gotta stay calm! I'm tough, my friends are here by my side to help, and I can look out for myself if need be. I promise, you don't have ANYTHING to worry about. I'll come back here alive just like all those previous times!" Dixie confidently declared.
"So, you and Dixie are for sure friends again?" Toad asked.
"Yeah, well, we're trying it out at least. I know it might sound crazy, Toad, but Dixie's been there for me for practically everything in the past and she's the only person I would consider to be my best friend!" Toadette explained.
"Well…okay…but, just know that I'm keeping a close eye on her. She slapped you, Toadette. I was pretty close to yelling and threatening Dixie a few times to stay away from you, but, I had to stop myself because I knew I would get out of control," Toad said.
"I understand. It'll take a while for me to build up that full trust I've had in here before…but I'm a big believer in second chances," Toadette said.
"Yo! Yoshi and Birdo, did you hear the good news!?" Boshi shouted, running up to the pair, which startled them.
"Woah! Boshi! What is it that you want?" Birdo irritatedly asked.
"I've been cleared of the charges from that little girl's death! Yeah, apparently that smoking hot Mona chick had something to do with it. Proved your asses wrong again! HAHA!" Boshi rubbed it in their faces. They both rolled their eyes at him.
"Yeah, we know, jackass. We heard it from some of the police when we came outside. They just drove off with Mona to the Toad Town Jail a few minutes ago. It sucks and it's shocking, but nothing we can really do about it," Birdo shrugged.
"So, when am I getting that apology then for you guys wrongly accusing me?" Boshi obnoxiously asked.
"When you quit acting like a douchebag! Seriously, Boshi, just quit trying to cause trouble and drama around here, and maybe people will start liking you," Yoshi recommended.
"How the fuck am I acting like a douchebag!? You guys are…you know what, fuck this. So not worth wasting my time with you two numbskulls who can't even apologize for getting on my ass about a dead girl that I had no involvement in," Boshi angrily scoffed and walked off, putting up both his middle fingers directed at the two.
"So, this will be a piece of cake, right!? You, Rosalina, know what Shiverburn Galaxy is like so finding the gem will be a snap!" Wario wishfully said.
"That's the vibe I'm getting. I must admit though, it'll be quite odd visiting the stars again…it's been months since I've been there, visiting my lumas. I've grown so accustomed to living here on this planet and exploring so much of it…and being with special people," Rosalina said as she held Waluigi's hand. He blushed a little.
"Heh, yeah, we'll be okay though. No more drinking when I'm gone, though! I mean it, brother. I can't have you self-destruct when someone else is trying to destruct the world himself!" Waluigi demanded.
"I know, I know. I won't drink again. I mean, I'll have a celebratory drink for when you guys get the gem, but that'll be it!" Wario heartily laughed.
"WOOHOO! I am sooooo excited for this mission! It's gonna be the old gang plus Mario at it again, so our dynamic will still be intact and as crazy cool as ever!" Fire Bro cheered while dancing around. Mario gave him a dirty look the entire time, suspecting that it was him who destroyed the screens in the security room.
"Hey! Mario! I just wanna say…good luck to you on this next world. I know it'll probably be fast and easy cause you've been there before, but still, be careful, cause I don't wanna lose anyone else," Bowser spoke as if he was Mario's longtime friend.
"Oh! Thanks Bowser. That means a lot. I think we'll be fine, though. Shiverburn is practically nothing compared to all the worlds we've been through!" Mario scoffed and really appreciated the fact the conversation between him and Bowser felt completely natural.
"Now princess, are you absolutely positive that you wanna go on this mission? I just can't help but worry after how disastrously the last one ended, plus, assuming we do win this fight against Tatanga, the kingdom is still gonna need a ruler, you know!" Toadsworth spoke like a worried parent.
"How can you ask me now after all the other missions I've been on, Toadsworth? I'm going no matter what! I want to help and, as princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, I really feel it's my duty to participate in these missions. It would feel totally wrong of me to just sit back and let everyone else do it all!" Peach slightly pouted but meant well.
"Of course, of course. I just care for your well being. But, my oh my princess, you've certainly grown so much so quickly…your parents would be beyond proud of you," Toadsworth complimented in true genuine fashion. Peach smiled at him as her eyes got a little watery.
Pauline walked over to Luigi. "Hey you. You look nervous for this one."
"Hey. Well, I'm just more on edge than ever because of what happened in the last world and the one before that. I really REALLY don't want anyone else to die," Luigi admitted.
"I get that. I don't want anyone else to die either. But, Luigi, can I ask you kind of a personal question? I feel weird asking this cause it has nothing to do with the mission, but I really need to know the answer to this. Are you and I, like, on decent terms? I'm pretty much close with Peach, Daisy, and Vivian now and as for Mario…well, that's still gonna take some time for me to actually interact with him and have it not be awkward. But, you're his brother, and so…I just wanna know if we're okay, because I definitely do regret trying to get with Mario and I know that you bothered you too," Pauline said genuinely.
Luigi smiled a little. "Yeah, we're cool. Don't worry about the past stuff, Pauline. You apologized and owned up to it. If Peach and Daisy can accept your apology and be your friend, then I don't see why I can't either." Pauline felt joyed at his response.
The black van arrived at the lot to take the 14 to Mushroom Corps.
"Alright, looks like we're off! We'll be back very soon, you guys!" Daisy yelled to the small crowd and they all cheered and waved at them.
"TOADETTE, WAIT!" Bowser Jr. yelled, rushing over to her. Toadette stopped and turned around, looking surprised but happy to see Bowser Jr.
"Oh, hey! What's up?" she asked.
"I just wanted to tell you good luck on the mission and, um, you're incredibly brave as well for being so young and taking on all these challenges!" Bowser Jr. spoke a little nervously. Toadette giggled and blushed at him.
"Aw, thanks, that means so much to me," she said then hugged him. They slowly broke off the hug and looked at each other's eyes, feeling something that just sparked inside of them.
"Wow…um…I should…" Toadette struggled to find her words.
"It's okay. Go. We can talk more when you get back," Bowser Jr. said. Toadette smiled brightly at him and went off in the van.
"Wait wait wait! Toad! Just a second!" Lakilulu called out, floating over to him.
"Lakilulu!" Toad yelped, being surprised yet excited to see her.
"Hey, I just really wanted to ask before you go…is your sister doing better? She seems kinda more vibrant now," Lakilulu asked.
"You know, I think she is! She made up with Dixie and now, she's seriously crushing on Bowser Jr., who I can tell is also helping her be in a better mood!" Toad excitedly said.
"Oh, that's just great! I was just curious to know because I care about you both and, um, if you need help with your sister's depression and stuff, don't be afraid to ask me! I've dealt with it with Lakilester. I know it doesn't seem like it, but he has depression as well, he's just good at hiding it," Lakilulu revealed.
"Okay! That would help a lot! Thanks so much, Lakilulu!" Toad happily replied and hugged her. He then hopped into the van with the others and the van rode off as everyone still waved goodbye.
Koopie rushed out into the front just as the van left.
"Oh shit! Did they leave already!?" she shrieked.
"Yeah, you just missed them by a few seconds," Jojora said.
"Damnit. That's what I get for being too lazy to get up…oh well. By the way, have you seen Kooper? I need to talk to him about something," Koopie asked. Jojora gave her a confused look.
"Um…do you not know what happened to him?" she asked.
"Huh? What the hell do you mean?" Koopie responded with equal confusion.
"Wait, did no one tell you!? Last night, Kooper fell down the stairwell from the sixth floor and hit his head which put him into a coma! Fire Bro found him and got Kooper into a patient room, but we have no idea when Kooper will wake up," Jojora explained. Koopie's expression turned into horror.
"WH-WH-WHAT!? KOOPER IS...no…oh my god…Fire Bro…um…Jojora…when you say Kooper 'fell' down the stairs, do you mean that he actually just tripped over himself or something like that, or that someone pushed him down?" Koopie questioned.
"Um, well, most of us think that Kooper just accidentally tripped down the stairs but that druggie asshole, Boshi, thinks Koops pushed Kooper down the stairs all because Koops pushed Boshi down some stairs like a long time ago, but that's such a stupid reason to believe that Koops did that!" Jojora explained. Koopie was still in horror.
"What the fuck…so…why did no one tell me about this then!? Why am I just now hearing about this!?" Koopie yelled.
"How should I know!? Fire Bro told some of the group about the incident, so I guess we all assumed that he told you later on about it," Jojora said.
"No, he definitely didn't tell me. But…I think I know why he didn't tell me. Kooper falling down those stairs was definitely not an accident, and it wasn't Koops that pushed him down either," Koopie spoke with fear in her voice.
"What the hell are you trying to say exactly?" Jojora demanded to know.
"I'll explain everything, I just need your help in rounding everyone from the group up and finding a private place so I can give you guys the whole story," Koopie said.
Bleck and Tippi had watched the scene of the gang leaving from the entrance stairs.
"Do you think we should have told Mario about your vision of the hospital burning being at THIS hospital and not the one we were previously at, Blumiere?" Tippi asked.
"No. Not yet, at least. It would put one more thing in Mario's mind to worry about and distract him from the mission. If this event occurs while Mario and his friends are still gone, it has to be up to me to stop it from happening. And I'm fine with that. I think I have the power and determination to prevent it. But, Timpani…I think I know why I received this vision in the first place," Bleck said.
"Yeah? What is it?" Tippi asked.
"Have you ever heard of the Star Spirits?"
The 14 arrived at Mushroom Corps. and quickly headed to the arwing room, wanting to get straight to the world with no lollygagging around.
"Alright, guys! Get yourselves settled into your arwings, and we'll direct you where to go immediately!" Kylie instructed. Everyone split off to get into the arwing of their choice, except for Mario who stared at Kylie, desperately wanting to ask her about why he and Pauline were brought here as test subjects without their knowledge or permission.
"Mario? You okay?" Kylie asked.
"Uhh…sorry, I…actually, no, I need to ask you about-"
"Mario, come on! Let's go and get this overwith!" Peach called out, distracting Mario. Mario sighed frustratingly then ran to her arwing.
"Huh. Wonder what that was all about…" Kylie said confusedly, but shrugged it off.
The walls opened to the outside and everyone blasted off into the sky.
"Alright, everyone! So, I need you all to just fly into outer space directly above, but keep close together! As soon as you reach into orbit, let me know, and I'll direct you to where to go next," Kylie ordered and everyone followed suit.
"Woohoo! Flying into outer space is gonna be so much you guys! We'll get to see all the planets and aliens and stars and intergalactic wormholes and meteorites the size of Bowser which can destroy a whole continent! I'm so happy I'm gonna sing a song about intergalactic galaxial travel! IN THE GALAXY THREADED SCALE, WE ARE NUMBA ONE! AND WITH ROLLING BASSLINES IT'S ALL LIKE SHOOTING STARS, WE'RE COMING! DO DO DO DO DO DOOO! AWESOMEST! DO DO DO DO DO DOOO! BESTEST! DO DO DO DO DO DOOO! IN THE GALAXY, GALAXY, OH!" Fire Bro wildly sang, making everyone else cringe.
"Okay, do we really have to listen to this!? What did I tell you before about you being crappy at hitting high notes, Fire Bro!? We all remember the nightmare that was when Grunty had us all sing for some stupid reason!" Birdo groaned.
"I actually forgot about all that cringiness till you mentioned it, which made me remember it all now. Cool. Thanks, Birdo," Dixie pouted.
"He seriously needs to stop. This act of his is going to be blown eventually…" Mario whispered in frustration.
"What was that, Mario?" Peach asked.
"Nothing. Look, we're about to hit outer space," Mario replied in a serious manner, trying to change the subject. He just couldn't get Fire Bro off his mind about having some kind of ulterior motives after what Daisy told him about what happened with him and Mona, and then the incident with the security footage.
EOC.
This chapter had to be cut a little short because I didn't expect to get so immensely busy this past weekend. Before that, I had a bit of a 'cool down' period with school so I was able to finish up to Chapter 7 of Saturday the 14th, and some of this chapter, but man, this weekend really threw me for a curve. This chapter was going to include a lot of random humor bits from the main gang as they travel to Shiverburn Galaxy, but that will be saved for the beginning of next chapter.
So, this Shiverburn Galaxy arc is going to be pretty fast paced compared to the Sonic the Hedgehog arc, and this chapter is the beginning of the arc. This arc has 7 more chapters to go and this is also the arc where a character from the original 13 is going to die. Next chapter will have the gang reach the actual Shiverburn Galaxy, but of course, trouble occurs. Koopie tells everyone else from the adventure crew about Fire Bro, and something happens to Mona on her way to the Toad Town Jail. The next chapter will be uploaded on November 27, because school is beyond crazy difficult this semester so that's why there's another long gap in between uploads, but I hope you guys understand. Stay cool!
