The pale man closed his mouth, stopping the beam of light from zapping Rosalina. She lay on the floor, gravely hurt and barely able to move. She felt like a car had ran over her body.

"My dear Rosalina...I'm going to give you one last chance to help me in cleansing the universe. This is your final chance to save yourself. Just think about it...you were gifted with powers beyond anyone's imagination! Why would you want that to go to waste? If I were to kill you right now...it'll all be gone forever. You wouldn't experience the glory I have to give to the worlds. You wouldn't experience the true power that lurks within your soul. Believe me, I truly don't want to kill you...but if you refuse once more, I will do it, because you being on the opposite side of me provides a great threat to my existence," he said in an almost pleading manner.

Rosalina sobbed a little as she barely managed to stand herself up. She leaned her back against the wall and tried to control her breathing. "L...listen to me right now...I've felt what it's like to be someone like you. Recently, I was infected with a type of 'virus' that took over my whole identity. I was not me. I was someone who craved chaos and inflicting pain onto others. I knew what was going on and what I was doing, b-but...I had zero control over it all! Do you have any idea how horrible it was, saying and doing these treacherous things to the people I love but having no control in the matter?

So, I'm not going to do it. Go ahead and kill me. I would rather die than hurt everyone I care about because I would NEVER be able to live with myself. Don't you understand where I'm coming from? Isn't there someone you love that you know would be devastated with what you're doing?"

The pale man remained silent for a minute, staring at her coldly. Rosalina had no idea what he was thinking.

"I...no! I'm not going to let you see through me, get me to crack down and cry like a weakling. I gave you your final chance, you refused to take it, so now YOU MUST DIE!" he roared.


"Okay, here is the plan now," Mario began as everyone paid close attention to him. "Gekikara is going to do her spell to get us out of these cells. The second these doors open, we run out there and we're gonna have to split up. Me, Luigi, DK, Dixie, Birdo, and Gekikara will go find wherever that guy has Rosalina, Waluigi, and Yoshi held at and will take care of business there. The rest of you will go out and find a way out of here back to the arwings. Wait for the rest of us to arrive there then we'll leave. However, if that guy's henchmen follows you all over there and you don't see us...then just leave without us. We have to have some people survive this which is why I don't want all of us going in to save those three. Is that clear to you guys?"

"Well...no! I don't like the idea of leaving you all here while we're escaping! There has to be a better option!" Toad cried.

"There is no better option, Toad! I mean, I don't like this plan either, but there's no other way for us to get this done!" Dixie said.

"Sometimes we gotta do stuff we don't like to get what we want. We can't waste anymore time! We're doing this now!" Goombella demanded.

"Mario, you sure you don't want me to come with you!? I-I wanna help save our friends too and I just don't know what I'll do if you get…" Peach got a little emotional as Mario grabbed her hand.

"It's going to be okay. The princess of the kingdom needs to survive at all costs so she can rule again once this is all over. The people aren't gonna know what to do if you're gone...same with you, Daisy!" Mario said in encouragement.

"Well...okay, but, going out trying to save the people you love, that's just as honorable though…" Daisy commented, having the same mindset as Peach in that moment.

"Wait, what about the gem though!? Does that guy have it with him or did he put it somewhere else?" Toadette questioned.

"The gem...I feel it's energy...it's to the east of these rooms...opposite of where that man is...someone's gonna have to go get it if you truly want to complete this mission…" Gekikara spoke.

"I'll do it! A quick search for it and I'll be done in no time!" Daisy immediately volunteered.

"I'm coming too! I can't let Daisy go by herself and I'm NOT taking any objections!" Peach stood her ground. Mario smiled at her courage.

"Okay, fair enough. So...do we need to add anything else to the plan then? Or are we good to go?" DK asked.

"I just want to add one more thing. If those Octoombas show up and try to stop us, then we HAVE to kill them. So guys, don't hold back no matter what!" Luigi ordered. Half the group still looked apprehensive to this but they all nodded anyways.

"YEAH, LET'S KICK SOME BOOTYHOLES!" Fire Bro jumped up and cheered.

"Alright alright, come on woman! Do your witchcraft stuff and let's get out of this space prison!" Toadim yelled.

"Stellas...dare me satis est potentia ad auxilium amicis meis epularer conteram infernum a quo! RELEASE!" Gekikara chanted and suddenly the doors from both cells flew open.

"SHE DID IT! LET'S GO!" Dixie yelled and everyone ran out of there but froze briefly when they saw mass amounts of Elite Octoombas heading straight for them.

"H-Holy shit, there's so many of them! Can we really do this!?" Toadim yelled in fright.

"Don't let them intimidate you! Like Luigi said, do NOT hesitate to kill them, especially since they may kill you first! HERE WE GO!" Mario commanded and everyone charged into the hoard going into their respective direction. Mario, Luigi, Gekikara, Dixie, DK, and Birdo went down the west corridor, Toad, Toadette, Goombella, Fire Bro, and Toadim went down the north corridor towards the exit, and Peach and Daisy went down the east corridor to retrieve the gem.

"AGGGGGHHHH! GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY!" Birdo yelled in pure rage, punching and bashing through the Octoomba crowd. Nothing was going to stop her from saving Yoshi.

"Hahaha, you bunch of freaky losers! Taste my fireballs!" Fire Bro maniacally laughed and unleashed fire in every direction, scorching various Octoombas.

"WOAH! Fire Bro, watch where you're aiming at, you almost hit me! And slow down, you're too far ahead!" Goombella yelled, but the maniac didn't listen as he got further away from the rest of the group.

"AHHHHHH!" Toad screamed, falling over to the ground. A bunch of Octoombas surrounded him and began kicking him everywhere. "OW, STOP IT PLEASE!"

"NO, TOAD! GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HIM!" Toadette cried and punched every Octoomba there with all her might. Goombella also helped by headbonking multiple Octoombas in a row, knocking them out.

"Ugh...god...it hurts so...uggghhhh…" Toad whimpered and cried along with coughing up a little blood.

"T-Toad! It's gonna be okay, grab on to me, we're getting out of here!" Toadette cried with him and got him up on his legs with Goombella's help.

"Damnit! I think Fire Bro already left, we seriously could've used his help! COME ON!" Goombella yelled and the three pushed their way through the hoard towards the exit.

"Ah...AGH! Why is there so fucking many of you!? DON'T TOUCH ME! Disgusting creatures!" Toadim shrieked and ran around all over the place, not paying any attention to where he was going and missing the exit.


Peach and Daisy ran to the end of the corridor where there were no Octoombas around, thankfully.

"This is the only door down here! Get ready for whatever could be guarding the gem!" Daisy said in preparation. She kicked the door open and ran in first, preparing to beat down anything in her way. The room looked like a large storage room as boxes and trash were everywhere.

"I don't see anyone in here...but I do see the gem! It's on that shelf!" Peach pointed towards the back.

Daisy led the way but was suddenly ambushed by two wild Octoombas who were hiding behind a stack of boxes and had knocked her down.

"AH! PEACH! GET THEM OFF OF ME!" Daisy screamed, completely pinned down.

Peach shrieked and panicked at the sight, but knew she had to save Daisy somehow. She kicked both of the Octoombas off of Daisy and threw a box filled with debris at one of them, crushing them against the ground. Daisy managed to find a lead pipe and roared in anger as she bashed the other Octoomba in the head multiple times till it was clearly no longer moving. Peach was a little frightened by Daisy's violent beatdown.

Daisy calmed herself down and looked to Peach. "What? Do I got blood on my face?"

"N-No, it's, um...nevermind! Grab the gem so we can get out of here!" Peach said. Daisy snagged the gem and the two quickly made it back to the corridor.

"Okay, that wasn't too bad. I hope the others are having as much luck as we are!" Daisy said, holding tightly to the gem.

"Daisy...is it bad that I feel kind of awkward about killing these guys? I know they're trying to kill us as well but...I don't know, I just don't feel good when doing it!" Peach exclaimed.

"Killing ISN'T supposed to feel good, Peach. Even when they're trying to kill us. Feeling that way just means that we haven't completely lost our humanity," Daisy assured.

Suddenly, there was a blood-curdling scream that sounded exactly like Mario. Peach made another shriek, knowing immediately that something bad had happened to him.

"MARIOOOOOOO!" Peach screamed and ran the fastest she ever ran down the corridor with Daisy following behind.


Gekikara led the way down the corridor, pushing through and narrowly avoiding the Elite Octoombas.

Mario tripped on his feet, which gave the Octoombas a chance to swarm him.

"SHIT! MARIO!" Luigi yelled, who had looked back in time and ran back over.

"NO! KEEP GOING! I'll be fine, I promise!" Mario demanded and began punching and kicking at every Octoomba closest to him.

"Luigi! What do we…?" Dixie yelped, hearing what had happened along with Birdo and DK, and felt conflicted on going or staying to help Mario.

"Just...you guys go ahead! NOW!" Luigi yelled, going against his brother's wishes but he was beyond determined to not see his brother die.

"Oh god oh god OH GOD! I don't know where I'm going!" Toadim cried as he pushed through the Octoomba crowd and unintentionally bumped into Mario.

"WOAH! Toadim!? What are you doing here!? Why didn't you leave with the others!?" Mario asked.

"I-I-I don't know what I'm doing, man! There's so many of them! I DON'T WANNA FUCKING DIE!" Toadim screeched and looked like he was going to lose it.

"YOU NEED TO CALM DOWN! Now stay behind me so I can fight these guys off so I can make a path for you to get out of here!" Mario ordered. Toadim paid him no attention as he stood petrified at the circle of Elite Octoombas enclosing in on him and Mario.

"H-Holy shit! There's so many of them! I-I-I CAN'T FUCKING DO THIS!" Toadim screamed yet again and shoved Mario into the Elite Octoomba crowd and made a break for it back towards the exit. Luigi dropped his jaw at the impulse action that the neurotic toad did and ran towards the crowd.

Mario tried to get himself off of the Elite Octoombas as quick as he could, but then a pain so sharp and sudden hit his right shoulder that made him scream incredibly loud.

"AAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Luigi stopped running, frozen at that horrifying scream from his brother.

"Mario…!?" he uttered.

Mario punched away all the Elite Octoombas that were closest to him in one scoop and ran towards Luigi, falling again at his feet.

"OH MY GOD! M-MARIO, WHAT DID THEY DO TO YOU!?" Luigi shrilled. He saw a deep wound on his right shoulder that was letting out a lot of blood.

"Aggghhh...one of them bit me...ohhhhh fuck! I feel like they tore a chunk out of my shoulder!" Mario cried.

"NO NO NO NO NOOO! STAY WITH ME, MARIO! ARE YOU ABLE TO STAND UP!?" Luigi started to cry.

"WHAT'S GOING ON!?" Peach shouted from across the corridor behind the crowd. She immediately saw Mario with a bloody wound, struggling to stand up.

"PEACH! Mario, he, uhh, one of the Octoombas bit him! He's losing a lot of blood! That bastard, Toadim, shoved him into the crowd and ran off to save himself!" Luigi yelled.

Peach and Daisy were horrified and furious at this news.

"What the hell!? How the hell could he just do that!?" Daisy yelled.

"YOU GUYS NEED TO GO!" Mario shouted, hanging on to Luigi. "Peach and Daisy, leave with the others! I'll be fine! You need to get the gem out of here safely!"

"But...but…" Peach teared up, knowing that this could very well be the final moment that she sees her lover.

"GOOOOOO! I MEAN IT!" Mario screamed.

"Peach...we...we have to…" Daisy was also in the same state of emotions as Peach but knew they had to listen to Mario. She tried to grab Peach's hand but Peach suddenly ran back towards the exit as fast as she did before and Daisy went after her.

"Mario...come on...hang on to my shoulder! You're getting out of here alive!" Luigi declared.


The door to the room where Rosalina was held hostage slammed open just as when the pale man was about to destroy Rosalina.

"What the…!?" the man jumped in surprise at the impossible appearance of Gekikara.

"GAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Gekikara screamed, using the last of her powers to blast the pale man across the room and smash into the wall, leaving a large crack.

"Aggh...h-how did you…" he muttered in pain, still taken back by the completely unexpected appearance of Gekikara. Her powers also temporarily immobilized him.

"Gekikara! What is going on!? How did you get out? Where are the others?" Rosalina questioned.

"The others are coming, they'll tell you everything! You all need to get Waluigi and Yoshi out of here this instant!" Gekikara quickly stated. Right after that, Dixie and Birdo ran into the room.

"Rosalina, you and DK go get Waluigi, we're gonna get Yoshi!" Birdo ordered. Rosalina nodded as DK came in next, knowing that there was no time to spare.

"Ugh...what the hell did you do to me!? Am I immobilized!? HOW DID I NOT SEE THIS COMING!?" the pale man cried, unable to move from his spot.

"I had one last trick up my sleeve that I was saving for this moment. You lost your chance at destroying these people and preventing them from saving their world. How does it feel to be blindsided?" Gekikara teasingly asked.

Dixie and Birdo opened the door to the red room and shrieked at Yoshi lying on the floor not moving at all, and how hot the room was.

"OH GOD, WE NEED TO GET HIM OUT NOW!" Birdo screeched and ran in with Dixie, propped up Yoshi on both their shoulders and ran back out.

"I feel his heartbeat, he's still alive, but...god! His skin is so red and I think he puked all over himself before we came! He had to have heat stroke!" Dixie exclaimed as the two went back into the corridor.

DK and Rosalina entered the blue room and saw Waluigi huddled in the middle of the room, sitting upright in the fetal position, also not moving at all.

"Shit! Rosalina, get Waluigi's clothes and I'll grab him! I can't believe that sick bastard did this!" DK ordered and lifted up Waluigi over his shoulder. He ran back out towards the corridor and Rosalina followed behind with his clothes. Gekikara closed the door with her mind.


Fire Bro, Toad, Toadette, Goombella, and eventually Toadim used the launch star to get themselves back on the large ice path that led back to the parked arwings.

"Fire Bro, can you PLEASE slow down!? We don't want you slipping off!" Goombella pleaded as her and Toadette still held on to Toad.

"Hey! Wouldn't it be super cool if I rode my shell on this ice all the way to the arwings!? Who thinks I can do it!?" Fire Bro excitedly asked.

"NO! Can't you be serious for one minute, please!? Let's just take our time on this path. It's better to take it slow and easy than fast and risky!" Toadette said.

"What if we're the only ones who made it out alive!? What are we supposed to do then?" Toad questioned.

"Don't think about that! Just focus on getting to the arwings. We've all made it this far, there's no way so many of us are gonna go down that easily," Goombella assured.

"AHHHHHH!" yelled a voice from behind them. They turned around and saw Toadim frantically screaming and running toward them.

"Hey! Slow down, you're going to-" Goombella was cut off by Toadim bumping into her, which made her and Toad fall over, which then made Toadette fall and slide towards the edge.

"AHHHHHHHH! SOMEONE HELP!" Toadette screamed, feeling her body tilting over the edge.

"I'M NOT LETTING YOU DIE, SIS! GOOMBELLA, HELP ME!" Toad cried and grabbed her ankles along with Goombella and slowly pulled her away from the edge.

"Woah! What's your deal, man? You on drugs or something?" Fire Bro asked.

"OUT OF MY WAY! I NEED TO GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" Toadim screamed, zooming right past Fire Bro, who looked as confused as ever.

"STOP HIM!" yelled another voice from behind everyone. It was Peach who was running quite fast with Daisy not too far behind her. She had fire in her eyes. It was a look that everyone else noticed and was taken aback in fright because Peach had never looked so enraged in her life, perhaps except the time she found out Mario was 'cheating' on her for Pauline and everyone else knew about it except for her.

"Wait, what's going on!?" Toad asked. Peach didn't respond and ran past them.

"Toadim shoved Mario into that Octoomba crowd and almost got him killed! I think they bit into his shoulder, there was blood everywhere!" Daisy answered as she ran past them.

"WHAT!? How could he do that!? FIRE BRO, STOP THAT ASSHOLE!" Goombella yelled.

Fire Bro, surprisingly, listened and ran after Toadim with Peach close behind. He suddenly got into his shell and did a dash move that sped him up and knocked into Toadim as soon as he reached the arwings. He fell on his back and let out another scream.

"Wooooo looks like you're in tremendous trouble my friend!" Fire Bro evilly laughed and cracked his knuckles.

Peach arrived at the scene and set her right foot onto Toadim's chest to make sure he doesn't get up. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!? You...you bastard! If Mario ends up dying...I...I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR THIS!"

Daisy arrived next with the others shortly after. "Peach...what should we do with him?"

"You still have that pipe on you? Give me it!" Peach demanded and swiped the pipe from Daisy's hands before she could even respond. She aimed the pipe at his neck.

"Peach, are you going to kill him!? Is that the right thing to do!?" Toad asked.

"It may as well be at this point! He almost killed your sister too, Toad! If we hadn't grabbed her in time, she could've fallen off!" Goombella pointed out.

"How could you do that, Toadim, just shove us out of the way like that!? And you getting Mario hurt...you're a monster!" Toadette shrilled.

"Haha, this should be really fun! Can I take out his eye sockets?" Fire Bro giddily asked.

"LOOK, IT'S EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF, OKAY!? I JUST WANNA GET OUT OF HERE BACK TO MY FUCKING HOME! I DIDN'T ASK FOR ANY OF THIS TO HAPPEN!" Toadim yelled as he cried a little.

"Are you fucking serious right now!? Every man for himself!? Wow. That's NOT how our group works. You fucked up big time. If Mario dies of blood loss because of you, you can bet your ass that you'll suffer the same fate he did!" Daisy threatened.

"I-I-I just wanted to escape and make damn sure I was going to be alive, okay!? FUCK! I don't know any of you so how the hell am I supposed to know about your group dynamics!?" Toadim cried more.

"Well, for one, any rational person would, you know, not purposely knock people out of the way to get them killed just so they can save their own asses!" Goombella said.

"Like...like I said...I don't know any of you...I wanted to make sure I was safe and sound so bad...I didn't know what else to do…" Toadim's voice quivered and got choked up.

"My god, do you even feel bad for what you did? You haven't even apologized!" Peach said.

"YOU GUYS!" DK yelled from far behind. Everyone gave a great sigh of relief when they saw everyone else heading back to them in, mostly, in one piece.

"Woah! What happened to Yoshi and Waluigi!? And Mario! What did they do to you guys!?" Toad frantically asked.

"That motherfucker was gonna boil Yoshi and freeze Waluigi to death! We saved them just in time!" Birdo answered, still holding onto Yoshi with Dixie, who was moving a little now.

"Bi...Birdo...I need to...get out of...we need to…" Yoshi muttered, his energy being completely zapped from being in that scorching hot room for so long.

"You're gonna be okay, Yoshi! We'll be back at the hospital in no time!" Dixie assured.

"I'm glad you guys weren't there to see what he did to them...he made Waluigi strip down to his underwear and made him go in that ice room...if I had my powers back…" Rosalina said with a hint of vengeance in her voice.

"Did we essssscape that son of a fu...ugh…" Waluigi spoke slurredly and collapsed off of Rosalina but DK held him before he could hit the ground.

"You're okay, Waluigi! I got you. We're all okay now. We'll fly back to the hospital and get everyone treated and it's all gonna be fine. Right?" DK questioned, noticing Peach still aiming the pipe at Toadim's throat.

"Uhh...so, what the hell is going on here now?" Dixie asked.

"This bastard right here shoved me into that Octoomba crowd and one of them bit into my shoulder, all so he could save himself," Mario spoke with such anger as he pressed down on to his wound with part of his shirt that he ripped off.

"WHAT!? You...you are DAMN lucky that Mario is still alive you asshole!" Birdo yelled.

"PLEASE STOP! I'M SORRY, OKAY!? THERE, I SAID IT! JUST PLEASE DON'T EXECUTE ME OR WHATEVER! I HAVE TOO MUCH TO LIVE FOR AND I'M SURE YOU ALL DO TOO!" Toadim cried more.

"Are we actually thinking of executing him?" DK asked, just as pissed off as the others for what he did to Mario but wasn't sure if killing him would be justified.

"No. I got an idea. He's going with me and Peach in our arwing. Let's go everyone!" Mario stated and forcefully grabbed Toadim and dragged him into the arwing with Peach.


"You little bitch. How in the world did you suddenly get all this power to...to…" the pale man spoke with a shiver, still overwhelmed by the sudden rescue and still immobilized.

"Gotta love the magics. Helps in every situation, wouldn't you agree?" Gekikara tauntingly asked.

"Yes...most certainly…" he replied in the same taunting manner. He clenched his teeth and seemed to be in intense focus. He roared loudly, making the room shake, and freed himself of the immobilization.

"Wow. Definitely didn't see that one coming…" Gekikara sarcastically said.

The pale man breathed in and out heavily. "Why did you come here and do all this!? You know damn well I could easily destroy you! This was a suicide mission for you!"

Gekikara shrugged at him teasingly. "And…? You're not telling me anything I don't already know."

The pale man made an expression of realization then smirked at her. "Ah...I see it all now. This wasn't a mission to come here and try to destroy me. This was a distraction so you could get those fools rescued and leave with my gem. I can't believe that an inhuman being like yourself would go to such lengths for such flawed individuals! You're not part of their world, why the hell would you care if they save it or not!?"

"Because I've been watching them from almost the beginning of it all. Their determination to win...love and care for each other...such power and strength used by every one of them...it makes me feel something that I've never felt before. They could easily sit back and let the usual heroes do their thing, but no...they all work together and fight to the death to save one another and their home...that's the way of the world right there. There is no doubt in my mind they will be successful in saving their world so I lent a hand to help. They've sacrificed too much to get to this point, so I refuse to let them be destroyed by some psychotic fiend like yourself," Gekikara explained.

"Wow...I see. Hmm. Everything you just told me...makes me think that you're just as pathetic and foolish like they are! BEGONE!" the pale man roared and shot a beam of light from his mouth once again. Gekikara braced for the hit, not screaming or in fear of what was about happen, as she knew her job was done and well worth it. The beam evaporated Gekikara into nothingness.


"WE SEE YOU!" roared a rough male voice from the monster truck. Mona shrieked at the sight of, what looked like, some koopatrols jump out of the monster truck, and run into the alley.

"OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIT!" Mona cried and ran for her life, trying to ignore the pain in her back and legs. She kept running towards the exit of the alleyway which lead to another street. She looked back and saw a few koopatrols hop over the fence and saw the monster truck drive off. She panicked even more. These people were trying to kill her for whatever reason and she was still far away from the hospital.

Mona got onto the street and had to make a break for a hiding spot because it was only a matter of time before she collapsed due to the pain and exhaustion. She saw a novelty store nearest to her and decided to hide in there. Luckily, the door was unlocked so she went in, grabbed a boxcutter she spotted on a table in order to defend herself if she had to, and hid underneath the table which had a long cloth over the sides to protect her from sight.

Mona calmed her breathing as to not be heard and she listened carefully to the outside. She heard the monster truck roll up near the store and also heard some talking.

"YO! Where did that bitch go!?" yelled an urban, edgy-sounding koopatrol.

"I dunno, but she couldn't have gone far! Let's look in these stores!" yelled the same rough, male voice from earlier.

"Why are we wasting time looking for that girl? Can't we just go already? We did enough by ramming into the police car and killing those guys!" said a younger-sounding koopatrol.

"Do I need to punch some sense into you again!? We're taking over this city and if you don't like it, then we could easily put you in the ground like we did to your brother!" said the edgy-sounding koopatrol.

"Hell, let's do it right now! I got a gun right here! Haha!" laughed a crazed koopatrol.

"NO NO NO, PLEASE DON'T! I'm sorry, I-I just don't see why we can't let that girl go? She'll probably, uhh, die of blood loss from her injuries anyways!" said the younger koopatrol.

"Man, you are no fun at all! I'll let it slide though considering you're still young so you still got much to learn." said the rough-sounding koopatrol. "There's a reason why we didn't want to listen to Tatanga's orders. While he's over there building some weapon that probably won't ever work, we're over here making this city ours while it's still abandoned. The problem with Tatanga is that he just doesn't go all out like he should. Instead he's wasting him and so many other peoples' time by doing world domination bullshit, when realistically, he'd be better off taking over a city then working his way up. Damn moron really missed the bullet there!"

One of them kicked the door to the novelty store open, which made Mona nearly jump. She gripped the boxcutter tightly, ready to attack in case they found her.

"God, what a boring store. Who the hell buys this hipster shit from the 70's? And old romance novels? Hmm...this would be a good place to burn down! It's not like anyone important would miss it!" said the edgy-sounding koopatrol.

Mona widened her eyes at what he said. She had to find a way out ASAP if this guy and his buddies were really going to burn it down. She heard the koopatrol rush back outside the store.

"Hey guys! Forget that chick! Wanna blaze this shithole down with me?"

"Hey, I like that idea! You know, if we REALLY wanna make this city ours, we need to make a landmark to show everyone else that we're not to be fucked with. Check this out!" said the crazed koopatrol.

Mona panicked again at what they were saying. She had to do something quick or else she'll burn down with the store. However, she also couldn't make a run for it back outside because those guys will catch her easily. There had to be another way out.

Mona then shrieked when she heard something crash through the glass window. She peeked under the table cloth and saw that it was a wine bottle that had a flaming rag attached to it that set a bookcase on fire. She heard the cheers of the koopatrols outside. It was now or never.

She dashed out from under the table and headed towards the back as one of the koopatrols threw another flaming wine bottle into the store, hitting the same table she was hiding under. She went in through the back door.

"WOAH WOAH WOAH! You guys saw that, right? That was that chick from earlier!"

"Well, we can't let her get away! LET'S GET HER!"

Most of the koopatrols ran into the store, evading the fire, and headed straight for the back.

Meanwhile, Mona was in an office-like room and she heard the koopatrols barging in. She ran to a window and opened it, revealing an exit to another alleyway. She climbed out, but as soon as she got her whole body out, one of the koopatrols grabbed her shirt and tugged her back.

"HAHA! Too bad, so sad, pretty lady! Now then, you will kindly come with us or I will-"

The koopatrol was cut off by Mona slamming the window hard down on his wrists. He made a bloodcurdling scream, feeling his wristbones crack and feeling the massive amount of pain that shot through both his whole arms. Mona ran down the alleyway as one of the other koopatrols pulled him back from the window.

"Holy shit dude, are you okay!? Come on, let's get out of here already! She ain't worth it!" said the younger koopatrol.

"FUCK NO! I AM GOING TO MURDER THAT FUCKING BITCH! GET OUT OF MY WAY!" said the edgy koopatrol and smashed the window open with one of the chairs then leaped out into the alleyway, dashing after Mona, adrenaline running high through his veins.

Minutes upon minutes passed by, although it seemed like an eternity for Mona as she kept on running and running through the city, going through the alleyways to make sure the koopatrols from that monster truck didn't see her. She was so tired and dehydrated, but she had to keep going to the hospital to make sure that she would be safe. She passed by desolated stores, abandoned cars, all kinds of debris and trash...but all her mind was set on was making it to the hospital. Her whole body was hurting and aching and the beam from the sun wasn't helping things either.

But, finally, after what seemed like miles, Mona finally made it to the street that the hospital was on. She laughed a little hysterically and felt beyond joyous. She was going to be alright. She ran just a little more as the hospital loomed closer and closer…

But then it all went away when the koopatrol from earlier ambushed her from the side and knocked her onto the grass. He got on top and smacked her.

"YOU LITTLE TRASHY BITCH! You fucked up my wrists...so, you know what? I'm gonna fuck up your entire face!" he raged. In that moment, Mona remembered she had the boxcutter with her still. She made a motion to stab him in the neck, but he caught her just in time and threw the boxcutter aside.

"Awww, your little plan didn't work! Too bad, so sad bitch! Sucks because you're really hot and all...but I'm not letting you get away with what you did to me!" he mockingly spoke and proceeded to dig his nails into her cheek, but was immediately knocked away by Bombette with her body slam move. She then stabbed the koopatrol in the eye with the boxcutter, releasing another bloodcurdling scream from him, and then stabbed him in the neck. Bombette backed away and fell onto the grass in complete horror.

"H-Holy shit...I...just did that…" Bombette said, somewhat traumatized by her own actions, since she had never done something so grotesque before.

The koopatrol stopped moving and breathing. Mona took the boxcutter out of his neck and looked to Bombette. "You saved my life, Bombette...y-you saved my life!"

"Y-Yeah...umm...good thing I saw you guys otherwise...yeah, so, uhh, who the hell is this guy, Mona? Is he one of Tatanga's?" Bombette asked, helping her up.

"I think so. I heard one of them mention that they broke away from Tatanga because they didn't like what he was doing and so some of them decided to cause havoc in the city and take it for themselves," Mona explained.

"What the hell!? Seriously!? It sounds like they're supposed to be rebels then! So...uhh, there's way more of these guys then? What should we do!?" Bombette frantically asked.

"I...ugh…" Mona collapsed to the grass from total exhaustion. Bombette went to get help to bring her in.

EOC.

The heroes have retrieved the gem and are on their way back, and Mona has finally made a return to the hospital, mostly safe and sound, albeit discovering a new group of enemies along the way. However, it looks like everything is now going smoother for these heroes as no one died and they can rest easy for a bit.

...Right?

Next chapter will begin the darkest arc I have ever done for this story. Thanks for reading! Also, thanks for your guys' patience on me having to rewrite this chapter! It's not as long as the original draft, which was close to 10k words, but in a way, I think that this is actually better cause I think I put in too much filler dialogue and description in the original so I suppose it worked out for the best.


Now, on a slightly separate note, I think I should make a character chart for everyone who's alive so far, so people remember who's still in the story. Everyone I'm going to list are characters that have spoken at least one line of dialogue and are still alive as of this chapter, and I think I should probably put this in every chapter from now on lol. (Note: This is only counting characters who are only relevant to the overall story right now, which is why I'm not putting in Banjo, the Sonic characters, the ghosts from the mansion, etc.)

Adventure group: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Rosalina, Waluigi, Yoshi, Birdo, Toad, Toadette, DK, Dixie, Goombella, Fire Bro, Toadim

Freezeflame Galaxy: The pale man/shapeshifter

Monster truck group: Koopatrols/Rebels

Hospital group: Goombario, Kooper (comatose), Bombette, Parakarry, Bow, Lakilester, Lakilulu, Koops, Koopie, Flurrie, Spike (aka Paper-Yoshi), Vivian, Bleck/Blumiere, Tippi/Timpani, Mimi, Toadiko, Toadsworth, Professor Frankly, Boshi, Fly Guy, Tadano, Diddy, Tiny, Toadessa, Toado, Toady, Dr. Nokano, Kallan, Bowser, Iggy, Morton, Lemmy, Ludwig, Larry, Wendy, Bowser Jr., Toadiana's mom and dad, Wario, Pauline, Mona, Jojora

Mushroom Corps.: Arfur, Kylie

Island group: Tatanga, Beldam, Marilyn, Roy, Doopliss, Dimentio

Moon: Grodus, TEC

Elsewhere: Professor E. Gadd (he's coming back very soon!)

Yeah, I know, still an overload of characters LOL. However, a lot of these characters are going to be dying kind of soon. You'll see what I mean eventually. ;)