I made a mistake last chapter, I put Toado Nomaki (the kid that was with Wario, Mona, Pauline and the others during the shootout) in with the list of everyone that died in the beginning of Chapter 101 instead of Toady McToaderson Jr...should be fixed now.
Main group: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Yoshi, Toadette?, DK, Dixie, Goombella
Hospital group: Kooper, Bombette, Parakarry, Lakilester, Koops, Koopie, Flurrie, Spike/Paper-Yoshi, Vivian, Bleck/Blumiere, Tippi/Timpani, Toadsworth, Boshi, Fly Guy, Toadessa, Toado, Dr. Nokano, Bowser, Morton, Lemmy, Ludwig, Larry, Bowser Jr., Wario, Pauline, Mona, Jojora, Tadano, E. Gadd, Starlow, Luvbi, Clawdia, Katia, Kenneth, Toodles, Kody
Mushroom Corps.: Arfur
Island group: Tatanga, Beldam, Roy, Doopliss, Dimentio, Mimi, Diddy
Moon: Grodus, TEC
Fort Koopington: Rosalina
Elsewhere: Fire Bro/Konnor
"I WANNA SEE HER! I NEED TO SEE HER! I NEED TO KNOW IF SHE'S OKAY!" Dixie wailed in the ER. She was held back by a couple doctors.
"Ma'am, we need you to stay back! We are doing everything we can to help her!" yelled one of the doctors.
"WELL, PUT ALL YOUR FUCKING POWER INTO IT! I CAN'T LET MY BEST FRIEND DIE NOW TOO! WE'VE LOST TOO MANY FUCKING PEOPLE!" Dixie screamed and cried so loud that her voice was cracking and getting shot.
"Dixie, Dixie! Come here! You need to stay here with us!" Peach yelled and grabbed her, trying to drag away towards the others.
"Ohhhh god! She can't die! She can't die! Please...I...I don't think I can deal with this shit anymore…" Dixie continued sobbing and could barely stand herself up. Peach fell down a little with her and Daisy joined in to help her as well to get her to the chairs.
"Hey, what's going on? I heard it was something about Toadette!?" Vivian asked as she came into the waiting room.
Yoshi walked over to her, clearly having just stopped crying. "Sh-she overdosed on pills...the doctors are trying to pump her stomach now, I think. It's not clear if she's gonna make it…"
Vivian covered her mouth and hugged Yoshi as she started to cry too. "No! Not Toadette too! Why does this keep happening!?"
"HEY! Where's my son at!? DK, you said Junior brought Toadette down with you, so where is he!?" Bowser asked, frantically looking all around the room.
"Wha...oh! I don't know! I thought he was right next to me!" DK replied in surprise.
"WHAT!? YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE HE COULD'VE GONE!? HOW COULD YOU JUST LET HIM GO OUT OF YOUR SIGHT!?" Bowser yelled in his face and started panicking.
"Dad, calm down! We will go look for him, okay? It's gonna be okay!" Ludwig tried to assure him. Then, the remaining koopalings ran off to find their little brother.
Mario tossed his cap to the ground and ran his hands through his hair as he was on the verge of crying once again.
"I can't believe she tried to kill herself...no, what the hell am I saying? I CAN believe it. She just lost her brother and some of her friends. And she's been clearly depressed lately too. Damnit...I really don't wanna lose all of us...we've come way too far to just fall apart like this…" the plumber said while choking up.
"I think we're all past the point of falling apart now. We just put up a good front to cover it," Luigi cryptically said, arms crossed, staring angrily out the windows.
"JUNIOR! WHERE ARE YOU!? ANSWER ME!" Lemmy loudly called out while running through the hallways. No luck was happening so far. He was getting really scared now, because Junior almost killed himself the last time he was terribly distraught. He thought of checking the rooftop, but was scared of seeing him try to commit suicide.
"LEMMY! OVER HERE!" Morton yelled from the entrance to the courtyard.
"Morton!? Did you find him!?" Lemmy asked.
"Yeah. He's out here, laying in the field," Morton replied.
"H-He didn't try to hurt himself, did he!?" Lemmy nervously asked the one question that he was scared to know the truth about.
Morton's face looked as if he was gonna be sick. "No, I don't think so…, but we need to talk to him." He couldn't bear to imagine his little brother trying to hurt himself like Toadette did, especially so soon after they lost Iggy and Wendy.
The Koopalings approached their heartbroken little brother laying flat on his back in the grass, staring into the sky.
"Junior...hey. I know you like and care for Toadette so much...I can't imagine how hurt you're feeling right now," Larry said as he sat down next to him and put his hand on his shoulder.
"I know why she did it…" Junior responded all choked up, looking as if he was ready to burst into tears again. "I can't blame her. I would've done it too. But, I-I can't...it hurts so much to lose Iggy and Wendy...and now Toadette...but I can't just end myself like she did! I WANT TO BUT I CAN'T!"
"Junior, quit talking like that! There's a chance that Toadette will still pull through, okay!? Don't even think about going there...we need you here with us, okay!?" Morton said while on the brink of crying as well, and gripped Junior's hand. "And I know, it hurts like hell that those fuckers murdered our brother and sister, but us falling apart and wanting to end everything means that they may as well have killed us too! And we can't let them win. They did all this shit because they knew it would destroy us, make us more vulnerable. That's why I don't think their plan was to really massacre everyone here...no, they had to have known that they were easily going to be overpowered. Their plan was to kill some of our friends and family and leave the rest of us to deal with all the heavy emotional shit that came with it. So...don't let them win, okay!? We CAN'T let them win!"
Junior slowly nodded his head and lifted his back off the grass. "O-Ok...you're right, Morton, but...um...w-what if Toadette does d-"
"Don't say that. Don't even think about it until we know for sure. Just be here with us! It's okay to feel sad and angry...but don't lose yourself completely. We need you! We all need each other!" Ludwig said in encouragement and hugged Junior, who then hugged him back as Junior let out a loud sob. Lemmy, Larry, and Morton also joined in on the hug, sharing their pain, but also making the family connection stronger than it has ever been in a while.
Pauline rushed into the waiting room over to Peach and Daisy. "Hey, I heard what happened! How is she!?"
"Nothing yet, still waiting to see if she'll make it through or not," Daisy responded.
"Oh god! That poor girl...I hope she ends up okay. We just can't keep on losing people like this! This is so horrible…" Pauline exclaimed.
"Yeah. It's getting harder and harder to keep calm with more of our friends dying, and we're so close to getting this done…" Peach added as she wiped her eyes with tissues.
"Yeah...well, hey Daisy, did you at least get things worked out with Luigi?" Pauline asked, which piqued Peach's attention.
"No. We've been avoiding each other since that argument. I think we just need space to cool down and think things through more clearly," Daisy answered, looking at her lover from somewhat afar, sitting with his back turned to her.
"What? You and Luigi got into a fight!?" Peach shrieked, secretly surprised that she wasn't told about this first.
"Yeah. It was kind of about the decision to let Kody out, but also kind of about what happened yesterday. I think a lot of us are just not in the right headspace for anything right now. I'm tired of being fucked with," Daisy said then sighed while rubbing her eyes tiredly.
"Oh...yeah, I see. We're all on edge now, but there's some of us that can't handle it anymore, like Toadette I guess...b-but I know she can be strong! I've seen her be like that before. She's had to do so much stuff that a girl her age would never think of even doing!" Peach said in praise.
The same nurse from before had approached the group before.
"Excuse me! Does Miss Toadette have a family member here?" she asked.
"Uhh, well...n-" Mario was about to answer, but then Toadsworth suddenly chimed in from almost out of nowhere.
"Yes, she does. I'm her grandfather!" he stated. Some of them looked at him in surprise, since he wasn't actually her grandfather, but did play a grandfatherly role in Toadette's life.
"Okay, I need you to come with me real quick," she urged, and the two went into the hallway.
"Oh no, what does that mean!? Why did she want only a family member in there!?" Dixie began to freak out again.
The koopalings returned back to the waiting room. Bowser ran over to them and gave Junior a hug.
"H-Hey kiddo...I don't know what the hell I can say or do to make this feel better for you...but I'm always here for you. You don't know how badly I want to erase this mess that you're in and the heartache that you're feeling...but I'm here for you and love you with all my heart!" Bowser spoke while crying into his son's shoulder.
"I love you too daddy!" Junior cried in return, but that moment sparked just a tiny bit of comfort and happiness within him. The koopalings joined in on the hug again, and everyone in that room could sense the great amount of love that was restored unto the family.
"Wow, would you look at that?" Goombella commented with a smile of their heartwarming reunion.
"That's so sweet of them. When I see my dad, I'm gonna give him the biggest hug ever too, and tell him I love him. I won't ever take it for granted!" Koops added with tears forming in his eyes. The reunion made him miss his dad even more.
Toadsworth came back out into the waiting room.
"TOADSWORTH! What happened!? What's going on with her!?" Dixie panickedly asked.
"Well...I'm just gonna skip all the details of her status and just put it straight...she's gonna be okay!" Toadsworth proudly announced.
Everyone rejoiced and let out great sighs and cries of relief. Dixie cried again but it was the happiest she had felt in a while and hugged Yoshi in celebration. Bowser Jr. let out a loud cheer while wiping his tears away, and his brothers danced in joy with him.
The heavy emotional weight from all the chaos lifted just a little from everyone's shoulders that night. For once in a long while, the day ended on a high note. Their friend was gonna be okay. This confirmed that the current state of the world they were all enduring was not 100% despair and tragedy.
9 AM.
The sun rose over the ocean from east of the hospital. Many people were beginning to awaken and grab their breakfast. Many others couldn't sleep much or even at all because of the treacherous and sadistic events that occurred the day prior.
Some of the people visited the graves of the befallen that morning. Starlow was one of them, putting gorgeous white flowers onto the graves of the innocents.
"That's kind of you to do that for these people," Larry spoke while walking over to her, who was at Iggy's and Wendy's graves now.
"Oh! Thanks. I know I don't know these people that well at all, but I just want them to know that there are people that still care and think about them, and respect them from beyond the grave. I'm a believer in that there's some sort of afterlife for these people and they're watching over us," Starlow replied.
"Yeah...I wanna believe in that stuff, but I don't really know for sure. It always boggles my mind thinking about it, because there's good arguments for it and against it," Larry said while touching his brother's gravestone.
"Yeah, it's not an easy thing to really believe in, but everyone has their own views on that. But, uhh...your name's Larry, right?" Starlow asked. He nodded, so she continued, "Your brother, Iggy, said something to me a couple days ago when we were having a meeting. He said that it's hard to stay positive when so many bad things happen at almost every minute.
I'll be honest, Larry, I didn't take all of this as seriously as I should've when I got here. I thought to myself...well, it's better to keep staying positive than drowning yourself in all these negative emotions. But, after seeing what happened yesterday, you know, I think I get it now. That was just horrible and frightening! How can anyone stay positive when you have your friends and family killed off by monsters? Especially since it wasn't the first time that this happened! God...I am so sorry to all of you. This is just beyond awful to go through."
Larry nodded in agreement and seemed to understand her sorrow. "As much as I wanna feel confident and content, and be hopeful for the future...it is really, REALLY hard, Starlow. We can't just suppress these emotions of, you know...anger, sadness, guilt, despair, and so on. I mean, well, I suppose we could, but that wouldn't be healthy for us in the long run."
"No, you're right, it wouldn't be healthy. I wouldn't want anyone to do that. I, um, I know I'm small and kinda useless, but I'll do whatever I can to help you guys win! As scary as it is, this is everyone's future we're talking about here, and I wanna fight for it so the future still happens for everyone!" Starlow spoke a little bit more in her usual upbeatness.
Larry smiled and chuckled. "You ARE useful, Starlow. You're helping out Professor E. Gadd, who is a very smart mad scientist, and you're here with us. That makes you useful, so don't think otherwise!"
Starlow smiled greatly. "Thanks! That really means a lot!"
Nearby, Spike was kneeling in front of Bow's grave, playing with a tall piece of grass with his left hand, staring blankly at her dirt pile.
"I have no idea what the hell I'm supposed to say, Bow, other than I'm sorry," the dino spoke while choking up a little.
Jojora walked over to him. "Hey you. I heard about what happened with Bow."
"Yeah? And?" Spike asked irritatedly, not exactly wanting company in that moment. "Did they tell you that I should've been more careful or smarter? Did they tell you that they can't even stand to hang around me?"
"Uhh, no, nothing like that. I came over here because I know how you're feeling about this. The guilt over accidentally killing someone eats you up inside and drives you practically insane. But, you can't let that get to you. It was an accident, and we all understand that. We don't look at you any different!" Jojora said, trying to lift his spirits with her empathy.
"Really? But...our situations are totally different. You could've easily saved Watt, but you didn't. Mine happened so quickly that I had no time to react or think. You did! The two aren't even comparable!" Spike snapped a little at her.
Jojora did her best to hold her temper in, because she was kind of disgusted by his response. "You know what? I know. I fucking know. I should've done better, I should've not been so selfish. But, guess what? I paid the price for that, and I accept that. I had to learn to forgive myself for my stupid mistake, because me hurting myself in order to deal with the guilt wasn't going to do ANY good! So yeah, our situations ARE comparable, maybe not 100%, but pretty damn close if you ask me!"
Spike turned his head back towards Bow's grave a little and his expression quickly changed from anger to sad again. "Damn. I'm sorry, Jojora, I didn't mean to be such an ass. You're right, I can't let this eat me up...but how do I not feel like total crap, then!? Plus...the last thing that Bow saw when she was alive was me shooting her...how am I supposed to just live on from that!? I'm not an evil guy! I-If there's an afterlife that exists, I don't want her to think that I purposely did that to her!" he started crying a little, gripping the dirt.
"It's just gonna take time for the pain to go away, Spike. That's all. And if there is an afterlife, well, I'm positive she understands. She has to. Look at the way you're acting and feeling now! It's obvious to anyone with a brain that you feel horrible and never meant to hurt her. You're just gonna have to find a way to forgive yourself and not go into that hole of self-destruction," Jojora said while putting her hand on his shoulder. She knew from experience that she truly didn't want Spike to go on a downward spiral because she knew how treacherous it was.
Spike sniffled and wiped his eyes and then stood up. "Yeah...yeah. You're right. I can't do that to myself. Thank you. Shit hurts like hell, but, um, I think I'll definitely be able to work through it."
Jojora smiled at his strength. "Of course! I know I can be a total cad sometimes, but I do come with pretty useful advice every now and then, heh."
Spike laughed a little, then looked over to his right, seeing Bombette sitting at Goombario's grave with Kooper, Parakarry, and Lakilester approaching her. "So...you and Parakarry, huh? You guys a couple now?"
Jojora blushed. "I think so. I mean...we haven't labelled it as such, but...it definitely feels like it."
"Well, that's pretty cool! I'm glad one good thing is happening out of all this crap," Spike chuckled.
Bombette saw the three walk over to her from the corner of her eye and sighed, having a feeling that she knew what they wanted to approach her about.
"Hey, bomb lady. Probably a dumb question, but, you hanging in there?" Lakilester asked.
"Feels like I'm barely hanging on. Everything now is just so...I don't know. Hopeless, I guess," Bombette replied.
"Yeah, I'd say hopeless is a good word to use for the moment. I'd say it's better to revel in hopelessness for a little bit then getting back on our feet later on. You know, one of those things where it's better to express than repress?" Parakarry said a little light-heartedly.
"Okay, psychology major," Bombette joked while snickering.
"But, seriously, Bombette, what's going on with you? Ever since that day Rosalina brought up that 'secret' of yours, you've been acting so distant and closed off. It's clearly affecting you badly now, and you know you can tell us what it is!" Kooper urged, sitting down next to you.
"Yeah, you mentioned a guy named Bruce, that's the bob-omb from Koopa Village that always tries to get with you, right?" Parakarry asked.
"Yeah...he's the secret. I did something bad to him and I've been pushing it so far down within me ever since it happened...to the point where I actually forgot about it until Rosalina brought it up and brought all those emotions back…" Bombette revealed, which brought her to the brink of tears.
"Oh wow. But, uhh, hey, Bombette? You didn't...you know...kill Bruce, did you!?" Lakilester asked in surprise.
Bombette looked to him distraughtly with a tear now falling down her cheek, but didn't say a word. Lakilester and Parakarry widened their eyes.
"Holy crap! Bombette...y-you actually did!? What the hell happened!?" Parakarry yelped.
"Guys! Just let her explain the story before we jump to conclusions!" Kooper shouted.
Bombette cleared her throat and wiped her tears away. "Okay. I'll tell you what happened. Yes, Bruce is the guy that keeps stalking and begging me to get with him. It's been going on for years. But...one night...it got to the point where I just couldn't take it anymore.
There was a knock on my door and I answered it. No one was there, but some flowers and a box of chocolates were on the ground with a note on the box. I knew who it was from, so I just rolled my eyes and was about to shut the door...but then Bruce jumped into my sight from out of nowhere and scared the crap out of me. He asked if I liked the gifts I got him, and...a-and I just got so pissed off at him because this was never ending even after I told him off before so many times...and the police weren't taking me seriously either so I could get a restraining order on him, so...umm…"
Bombette stopped and started to cry again while shaking a little. Kooper put his hand on her to calm her down a little.
"Hey. It's okay, Bombette. It's all okay. We're not gonna look at you any different," he assured.
Bombette gained control of her composure and continued. "I practically blew up at him. I called him every name in the book...I told him that no one will ever love him because he's a creepy, obsessive stalker who doesn't even know how to properly love a woman and that he's a poor, deranged psychopath who will never get far in life because his own parents couldn't stand him who ended up moving across the country away from him since he was always freeloading off of their money and blamed all of his problems in his life on them.
After I said all that...I think I broke him. He started crying and then ran away. I felt horrible for what I said, but I also said it because I thought it would get him away from me finally. The next morning...I, um, saw on the news that...th...that...Bruce's body was found in the nearby river...he...he drowned himself! If I hadn't said what I said, he wouldn't have done that...I-I-I may as well have murdered him! I've never told anyone about what really happened that made him go drown himself!" she then started to fully cry and leaned into Kooper's shoulder.
"God, Bombette...I'm so sorry. That must be so horrible to deal with!" Kooper said.
"Oh wow. Bombette, I had no idea you were holding in something so tragic! But...like Kooper said, we don't think of you any different still! If you thought that we would think of you as some psychotic killer, then you're wrong! We absolutely don't!" Parakarry reassured her.
"Yeah! I remember you telling us of what a creepy stalker Bruce was a long time ago, and the dude definitely had some huge mental and emotional issues going on! He was bound to break at some point, you weren't responsible for his well-being or being obligated to be with him! He refused to take 'no' for an answer, and, well, you can only put up with someone's shit for so long before you end up breaking yourself!" Lakilester added to her defense.
"Th-thank you. But, still...it's a life that was taken away. I know I couldn't stand him and all, but...he still deserved to live...he just needed help…" Bombette said through her sobbing.
Parakarry and Lakilester joined in on the group hug. There was nothing more to be said.
"What do you think they're talking about over there? It looks very serious," Spike asked.
"I know what it is. It's some personal secret of Bombette's that she's been holding in for a long time. Looks like she finally let it out, and her friends still care for her the same," Jojora said while smiling at the heartwarming event.
"Oh! Awesome. Looks like another good thing that came out of this. You know, at the risk of sounding inappropriate, I think an upside to this chaos is that I got to know some more pretty cool people," Spike said with a smile while looking at the ice fairy.
"Yeah. Same here! It's like a second family. I don't think I would've stayed completely sane through this without you guys," Jojora said while smiling back.
"Kody!"
The teenage koopa woke up to the sound of his name being called. He quickly got up from the floor and ran to the bars to see what was up.
"Yes!? Hello!?" he frantically yelled. He saw Count Bleck, Tippi, Mario, Peach, and Koops walk over to his cell.
"Good morning. So, we're gonna skip to the point here and tell you that we came up with our decision. We're gonna let you out, but we're gonna keep close watch on you for a while. Nothing personal, we just need to be cautious for our own sakes," Bleck spoke. Kody couldn't help but smile profoundly at this.
"Oh! SWEET! YES! THANKS SO MUCH! I swear I'll behave! I-I mean, uhh, not that-that I'm a bad person or anything, I just, uhh, I won't do anything to, uhh, make you regret this!" Kody cheered awkwardly.
"Right. We also might take you on the next mission with us. You probably learned a few things from those koopatrols you were with, so you might be useful in helping us," Mario added.
"Um...y-yeah! That's fine. I mean...they tried to teach me to kill people, but like I said before, I never did any of that! But, uhh, I'll totally kill or hurt whichever bad guy you guys want me to! I'm pretty fearless!" Kody tried to cater to their needs, which just came off as a little laughable and bizarre to them.
"Ooookay then! So, we're gonna let you go now, and we'll have Koops here show you around and hang around him okay? Plus, you two are close in age, so I'm sure you'll bond easily!" Peach said while unlocking his door.
"Uhh, Peach? I'm almost a decade older than him," Koops clarified.
"Oh...well...umm, I'm sure you'll find things in common still!" Peach replied awkwardly.
"Okay! Thanks guys so much for letting me out and believing me! I won't let you down! Put it here, bro!" Kody cheered and made his hand into a fist for Koops, so they could do a fist bump.
"Uhh, what!?" Koops had no idea what he was doing.
"I think those are what the youth calls these days a 'fist bump'," Bleck clarified for him, although having felt pretty aged by that comment.
Kody snickered, then grabbed Koops' hand to make him do the fist bump. "Yeah, we'll, uhh, work on that, bro! Now, show me where the cafeteria is because I'm starving!"
"Alright, just follow me. But, wait, are you guys letting 'him' out too?" Koops asked the four, referring to Tadano.
"Not sure yet. We gotta know what he knows about Mimi and why he went to Tatanga's fortress with her. That story he gave us last time didn't seem to make much sense, but he was also in a panicked state, so we'll see what he says this time," Tippi answered.
"Oh wow! Just, uhh…" Kody seemed surprised, then made his voice into a whisper. "...guys, be careful with that dude. We talked a little yesterday, and the dude seemed REALLY freaky. Like, serial killer vibes!"
Mario raised a brow and looked suspicious at this. "Huh. How so?"
"Just...we started talking about being in these cells, and he actually seemed scared at first, but then...he got, like, REALLY creepy instantly! Talking about how if you guys wanna play this game of yours, then he'll play, but he 'plays hard,' and I ask him what he meant by that and he said that 'You'll find out soon enough'," Kody reported. Everyone else looked discomforted by this.
"Woah. That's...what the heck is up with him!? Should we be worried!?" Koops shrieked.
"No. You two, go on. We'll handle Tadano and see what's going on," Mario commanded. The koopas nodded and headed on up out of there.
"It kind of sounds like Tadano wants to threaten us…" Peach whispered.
"Even so, it's not as if he can do anything. He's in a cell and doesn't have anything on him," Bleck responded while peering through the bars of his cell. Tadano had his back facing them, huddled up.
"Tadano! You awake? It's time to talk!" Mario shouted. No response.
"Tadano? Hello? If you want a chance to get out, now's the time to share your side of the story!" Tippi yelled.
Tadano finally moved. He slowly stood up with his back facing them still. He then spoke, "I already told you everything."
"No, I don't think you have, actually. We're all pretty sure here that there's something missing from your story!" Mario shouted in frustration.
"Well...I think...that that's what YOU think," Tadano harshly responded.
"You're really not helping yourself here, Tadano! Just tell us the full story and we'll take things from there! I refuse to believe that Mimi would just go and try to get some troubled boy back here, let alone someone she doesn't know that well! It just doesn't make any sense to me!" Bleck exclaimed in a pleading way.
Tadano made a weird growl and jumped around, now facing them, and screamed at them angrily, "I TOLD YOU ALREADY! I WANTED TO GO TO TATANGA'S STUPID ISLAND HIDEOUT BECAUSE I WANTED HIM TO STOP HIS BULLSHIT! MIMI WANTED TO COME TO TRY TO SAVE ROY, SO I LET HER! THAT WAS HER FUCKING DECISION SO I LET HER COME! WE GOT TO THE HIDEOUT AND I FAILED AT MY GETTING MY BROTHER TO KNOCK HIS SHIT OFF, AND MIMI ENDED UP GETTING CAPTURED BY TATANGA'S KOOPATROLS WHILE TALKING TO ROY! SHE TOLD ME TO GO AND SAVE MYSELF SO I FUCKNG DID! AND THAT IS THE END OF MY MOTHERFUCKING STORY! SO THERE! ARE YOU SATISFIED NOW!? HUH? HUH!? HUUUUUUH!?"
"Good god…" Tippi said in horror at his neurotic outburst.
"Don't yell at us. That's not necessary," Bleck stated, unphased by his tantrum. "But...if we are to assume that everything you said is completely true...and assuming that teleporter is still working at that castle...and also assuming that Mimi hasn't been killed yet...should we take the chance of using that teleporter to try to save her? While doing so, it may also give us a chance to kill Tatanga!"
"That is something to think about. Trust me, I wanna save Mimi as well, but we don't know how risky it's going to be searching through that place to find her. We can't lose anyone else!" Mario said.
"But, Mario! Bleck has powers to easily kill and protect himself. I'm not saying it's not risky to go there, because it is, but Mimi could still be saved! I guess we just gotta figure out if we should really go there, and WHO will go!" Peach exclaimed in hope.
"Only I will go. No one else! And I want no argument about this either. If there's a chance to save my friend, then I am taking it. I'll do my best to protect myself too," Bleck declared.
"Blumiere! B-But, we also can't risk losing YOU either! I don't know about this!" Tippi cried.
"It's gonna be okay. If I see that I'm outnumbered by those Koopatrols, or if Tatanga finds me and I'm unable to kill him for any reason, then I'll retreat. But, I have to at least try to find her," Bleck insisted to her dismay.
"Okay. Are you leaving right now? Do you know how to get there or can you just teleport there?" Mario asked.
"Yes, I should leave right now because there isn't any more time to waste. I'll have to find a map or something to guide me there though. I've never been to that place before so I'm unable to teleport there," Bleck answered.
"You'll need this…" Tadano said as he slipped the map he printed out from the computer room through the bars. Bleck took this and looked at it. "I printed out a map to get me to that castle and kept it in my pocket ever since. You'll need it."
"Thanks! This will be very useful," Bleck said as he folded it up and put it in his pocket.
"You're welcome...NOW LET ME OUT! I'VE PROVEN MY INNOCENCE NOW LET ME THE FUCK OUT BEFORE I END UP SCRATCHING MY EYEBALLS OUT!" Tadano suddenly went back into screaming mode and banged on his door.
"You know, you're not gonna get ANYWHERE with that kind of attitude! Enough!" Peach yelled.
"What's going on? Is another bad guy trying to kill us?" Toado Nomaki spoke as he approached the four, startling them all.
"Oh! Uhh, sweetie, what are you doing down here? Where are your parents?" Peach kindly asked as she knelt down to the little boy.
"My parents...umm...died yesterday…" Toado Nomaki said as he quickly got to be on the verge of crying.
"Oh no! I'm so sorry, sweetheart! That's horrible! Umm, do you have any other relatives that are also here?" Peach said while giving him a hug.
"N-No...it's just me…" Toado sniffled.
"Oh! Well, um, you can hang around us then, if that makes you feel safe! Come with me, we were just about to go back up!" Peach spoke gently and held out her hand for him to grab.
"WHAT!? NOOOOO! LET ME OUT! HEY KID, YOU CAN BE A HERO AND LET ME THE HELL OUT OF THIS PRISON CELL! THESE PEASANTS HERE DON'T KNOW WHAT THE FUCK THEY'RE DOING CLEARLY!" Tadano screamed again.
"Did...did you just call us 'peasants'!?" Mario was weirded out by the bizarre insult.
Bleck rolled his eyes. "We'll decide on what to do with you later, Tadano! Now, I must go while it's still morning, just in case it takes me a long time to go there, try to find Mimi, and get back before you guys leave tomorrow!"
"Okay. I know you already know this, but be very careful," Mario warned.
"I will. Oh, and Mario? I want this to be kept between us. No one else can know what I'm doing because I don't want our friends to get even more shaken up than they already are," Bleck requested.
"Roger that!"
Bowser was outside in the courtyard, sitting up against the back of the building, crying his eyes out over Iggy and Wendy.
Larry saw him from the stairs and then ran over to him. "Dad? I thought you said you were going to use the bathroom?"
"Oh...son! Y-You scared me," Bowser yelped as he wiped his eyes with his arms. "I did, and then I just...I dunno, I started crying a-and I didn't want anyone to hear me so I went out here…"
Larry felt his pain so much and was about to cry himself now. "Yeah...I still can't believe they're gone forever, dad...I woke up this morning, and I expected to see them to tell them 'good morning,' but then I remembered…"
Bowser nodded. "I know. There'll be moments where I forget that they died and…" he paused and looked down to his lap. "...and I hope to god that it gets easier than this. I'm tired of crying, but I don't wanna stop crying because I miss them so much!" He cried into his hands.
Seeing his dad devastated like that shattered Larry's even more than it already was. "Dad...umm, maybe we shouldn't talk to Clawdia about why she left us. This might be too soon because we're all still really emotional, a-and-"
"No no no," Bowser interjected and wiped his eyes again. "It's fine. It's fine. I need to know because it's gonna drive me crazy with her and her family here and not knowing her reasons, s-so let's just get this shit overwith." He then got himself up, took in a deep breath and started heading back inside with Larry in tow.
The two headed to Clawdia's patient room, and saw the kids hanging outside the room.
"Dad, you okay? Are you sure you're ready to do this?" Ludwig asked, noticing that he'd clearly been crying.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm ready. Are you guys ready? If you don't wanna be in there and hear what she has to say, I'd understand. It's probably gonna be rough to take in," Bowser advised.
"I think we're as ready as we'll ever be," Morton said with a shrug.
"Yeah. Let's do this," Lemmy added nervously. The family went in and saw Clawdia on her bed with Kenneth and Katia next to her. Morton and Ludwig were noticeably disgusted at seeing Katia, whereas Bowser did his best to hide his disgust at Kenneth.
"Hey, Clawdia. How are you feeling?" Junior nicely asked. He was almost going to say 'mom' but he wasn't sure how everyone else in that room would react to that.
"Hello guys. I'm feeling a little better. But, everytime the nurses and doctors come in, they always keep saying that it's a complete miracle that I survived the elevator crash...as if I don't need to be reminded of that," Clawdia scoffed a little. "So, otherwise...are we ready to begin this?" Clawdia asked as she sat herself up in her bed.
"I think we are. You two are gonna be here for this too?" Bowser asked with clear disdain.
"Yes. I think it'd be important for us to know what's being said as well, along with how to move forward afterwards," Kenneth answered professionally, which still irritated Bowser to the core.
"You gonna be nice about it if you got anything to add?" Morton teased towards Katia.
"Depends if you piss me off, like you are now!" Katia spat.
"ENOUGH," Kenneth shouted. "Let's just get this done without trying to kill each other, okay?"
"I agree," Bowser commented, not wishing to kill Kenneth, but imagining ways to knock his ass out because he just truly couldn't stand the sight of him. "Alright, Clawdia...tell your story."
"Okay. I'm just gonna dive right into it. Bowser...we were each other's first loves. We got together when we were both 18, and then began having kids two years later, and by the time Lemmy and Iggy were born, we finally decided to be officially married. Do you remember when you told me that, in your royal family, that the wife of the prince koopa, which was you at the time, must give life to many children in order to keep your royal family bloodline going for generations? I suppose it was like a requirement. It was very...well, I suppose the word would be 'traditional' but also kind of 'Middle Age-like,' because I also had to be a stay-at-home mom.
At that time, I was okay with this. I didn't mind because I was head over heels for you and it was impossible for me to imagine my future with anyone else. So...we had Roy. Then Morton, then Ludwig, then Larry, then Wendy, then Lemmy and Iggy...and then Junior. All kids I birthed in about one year of each other. At first, I was ecstatic! I get to build a family with my husband, who had become a king by the time Lemmy and Iggy were born, since your poor father had died of a stroke.
But, as the years went by, I realized how confined I was being. My whole life was just raising the kids and loving you, and...that was it. Now, those aren't horrible things of course. I don't want to make it seem like I didn't enjoy doing those things, because I definitely did. I just wanted more from life. I gave up everything to be with you, Bowser. You know how my family objected to your family, right? They viewed your bloodline as...well, poisonous and a whole lot of other nasty words they used. But, they only saw what they wanted to see, and I took that risk of marrying you and being a mom. It was a huge risk because my family threatened to disown me if I were to marry you...but I married you anyways because everything about you seemed just like it was in those fairytale romances...and so, my family did end up disowning me. I still haven't heard from them in years, even though you and I haven't been together for a long time.
So, yes. I was feeling confined and restricted, and over the years, I slowly came to the realization that this life may not be for me. I wanted more. I wanted...I don't know, more freedom, I guess? Yeah. I wanted to explore and see what it's like to have fun and not be a housewife for a day. So, there were times when I would sneak out of the castle late at night and explore Mushroom City. It was only for a few hours each time, but it just felt so nice and free to be out just by myself! I visited a few places, and one of them was a bar. I've never been to a bar before, but I've been curious to check it out and try some drinks. So...I went in. Then I went a little overboard on drinks one night and just, well, poured my heart out to the bartender there…" Clawdia told her story then made a side-eye towards Kenneth.
"Wow...so, that bartender was Kenneth then?" Lemmy asked in shock at what she was saying so far.
Clawdia nodded. "Yeah. Bartender and manager there. I started meeting with him not too long after Lemmy and Iggy were born. When we talked, it just felt so nice to share things with someone out in the world, you know? Everytime I went there, we'd talk all night till closing...and then some more afterwards…"
"God!" Morton yelled in disgust. "So, by 'afterwards,' you mean that you went to his place and 'did stuff?'"
Clawdia nodded, looking a little shamed. "Sometimes. Kenneth seemed so 'liberal' and carefree and it just...everything about his personality and his way of life...it really clicked with me. It excited me. So...essentially, I lived a double life for two years. Being with Bowser, and then sneaking away to be with Kenneth. I wanted to tell you the truth, Bowser, but I was just so terrified of what would happen afterwards, because I was so deep into your life, a-and I just didn't know what the consequences would be!
Plus...I had no family to go back to if we split, so...I just felt lost for so long. But then...I...I just couldn't hold it in anymore. It was seriously killing me not to tell you everything that was building up in me. So...that night when I spilled everything to you...and I remember it so specifically because I had never seen you so livid before...and also because that was the day of Junior being six months old...that was the last time you saw me and I've been with Kenneth ever since. So...that's everything summed up with what happened with me. I am not proud of how I handled it all, and I am so sorry for all the pain and messes that I left you guys with. I just wanted you all to know that. You still have every right to be angry with me. But...please, take your anger out on me. Not on Kenneth. Not on Katia. It was my choice to do what I did."
"It may have been your choice...but YOU also knew what you were doing!" Morton yelled to Kenneth. "You knew that she was married to one of the most powerful people in the Mushroom Kingdom, and you STILL went through with it! You both are fucking disgusting and screwed in the head!"
"What do you want me to say...two broken people found each other and was just, well, meant to be, I suppose," Kenneth said with a bit of a shrug, not seeming at all bothered by what he did. This enraged Bowser and he did his absolute best to keep himself from exploding and yelling every swear word in the book.
"All you had to do was talk it out with dad! Seriously, like...all of this could've been LITERALLY avoided if you had just talked things out! Yeah, dad would've been upset at you feeling like that, but it would've saved so much pain in the long run! I just don't understand what the hell you were thinking by just dumping this all on dad one night, then running away and never seeing us again for years!" Larry yelled with his eyes tearing up.
"And speaking of dad...dad! How could you not have been suspicious of mom when she was sneaking out all those times? You must've known something was up, or at least one of the guards at the castle!" Lemmy pointed out while also tearing up.
Bowser started crying. He wanted to scream and destroy everything he could, but he knew that it wouldn't solve a thing. He felt a mix of such intense anger, despair, pain, confusion, and loss that he felt his whole body was going to implode. He held himself against the wall and felt short of breath.
"I...I...don't know, son! I didn't want to think that she'd do that! I didn't want to think of anything bad, okay!? I just wanted shit to be perfect for you guys! I-I-I...FUCK!" Bowser cried and punched the wall, leaving a crack.
"Dad!? What's wrong, are you gonna have a panic attack!?" Junior asked, grabbing his hand.
"I was scared to hurt your father. He had been so kind and caring to me. I mean, I was never that much on board with him wanting to rule his own kingdom, but I took it as a compromise because he was passionate about that. We were each other's only love in all the years we were together. We didn't know anything else. He had the rest of our lives planned out and I just didn't want to ruin it all! But then...I did anyways…" Clawdia continued, now crying a little.
"Yeah, you did. Because of what you did, dad spiraled out of control and became addicted to terrorizing the kingdom and kidnapping Peach. It all started with you!" Ludwig accused.
"You're going to blame your father trying to rule the kingdom on one person?" Kenneth questioned.
"Well, gee, it wouldn't have happened if she hadn't done what she did! I mean, FUCK! People think that our family lineage has been cruel for generations, but that's not true! We wanted our own kingdom, a state separate from the Mushroom Kingdom, but also within the same country of the kingdom since we figured it'd be easier that way. But then this shit happened with our mom and now...here we fucking are!" Morton explained.
"It's no excuse, though...I thought by taking over Peach's kingdom I could finally get back control of my fucked up life. But, Mario bested me...but I also loved the power that came with it. So I did it again. And again. And again...and fucking again till this shit with Tatanga happened! Now I don't want to ever do it again!" Bowser cried as he leaned against the wall and held his chest.
"Um, I have to ask something," Katia spoke. "How old are you guys? It looks like we're pretty close in age!"
"We're all around one year apart in age. The oldest one is Roy, who is 21. Next is me, I'm 20. Next is Ludwig, who is 19, then Larry, who is 18, then Wendy, who is...was 17, then Lemmy and Iggy who are fraternal twins...both are 16, then the last is Junior, who is 15," Morton clarified.
"And I just turned 14...wow. So, mom, that means you were pregnant with me when you left Bowser?" Katia asked, who seemed a little freaked out at that point.
Clawdia nodded, looking shameful still. "I was 2 or 3 months pregnant with you when it happened."
Ludwig dropped his jaw. "HOLY SHIT! YOU ARE SICK! So, you were still with dad and had another man's baby in you at the same time!? That is beyond fucked up!"
Bowser tried standing himself up. He started to sweat all over and was breathing pretty heavily. "Okay...that's enough talking. I think that clears everything we needed to know. We're done here," he said as he stumbled out of the room.
"Dad!? Wait!" Junior called out and he and the kids started going after him.
Bowser ran into the nearest bathroom he could find, kicked open a stall door, and puked into the toilet. He couldn't handle all the overwhelming emotions anymore, along with how massively screwed up the entire situation was. Bowser screamed and cried his heart out once again. The kids came in and saw the disastrous state he was in, so they went over, hugged and held him, and cried with him.
Boshi was laying on the trunk of a car out in the parking lot, drinking a beer, and staring into the sky.
"Are you really just laying on some random person's car? You're not afraid they'll come out here and yell at you?" Yoshi asked teasingly while walking over to the blue dino. Boshi was startled a bit and lifted his body up to look at him.
"Oh...uhh, no, not really. Well, I mean, I wanted to be alone and I thought about just going to the rooftop and drinking...but then I also thought that there's a chance I may end up killing myself so that was crossed out. I then thought about going to the courtyard and laying in the fields, but that's too close to where those six were killed and it'd just give me the creeps so, that was also out. So...yeah, here I am. Been in trouble for a lot worse," Boshi bluntly responded with a shrug.
Yoshi cringed a little at his senseless attitude. "...Riiight, well, can we talk real quick?"
Boshi got a little nervous now. "Oh. Uhh, well, sure, but if you're gonna yell at me and try to beat me up then...well, shit, just go on and get it over with then while I'm buzzed!" he then took a big swig of the beer so he could handle the torment a little better.
"That's not what I'm gonna do, Boshi. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm still pissed at you and wanna punch the living hell out of you, but it's not gonna do me any good, now is it?" Yoshi admitted.
"No, probably not...but no one would blame you," Boshi said and then finished his beer and threw the bottle at the ground, cracking the sides. Yoshi looked underneath the trunk of the car and saw 3 other beer bottles around there.
"...I suppose," Yoshi sighed, not liking the fact that he's talking to a nearly drunk Boshi. "Look, Bosh, I need you to answer me this now. After you told Birdo all that crap about my friends and I...did you do anything further with that?"
Boshi froze briefly, but quickly suppressed his feelings of surprise and guilt. "Uhh...elaborate?"
"Like...did you try to manipulate her further into being with you instead of me or anything like that? I need to know, Boshi. Please. If you tell me 'Yes'...I...I'm not gonna hurt you or blow up, I-I just NEED to know because it's gonna drive me insane! You have a history with Birdo, so you can't blame me for jumping to conclusions! I mean, I'm REALLY trying not to, but it's hard as hell! Just PLEASE tell me the truth!" Yoshi pleaded and started crying now.
Boshi could feel his pain, sorrow, and desperation. It was beyond intense and it made him nearly cry himself. He wanted to tell Yoshi the truth. He wanted to give him the clarity he needed and deserved.
But, he couldn't.
"No, Yosh. I didn't go any further with her. When she mentioned me to you that morning of those assholes coming here...she wanted to talk to you about what I told her the day before. That's it. I stopped myself from doing anything more after I told her all that shit, because I regretted trying to meddle in your guys' lives again. And...so, I'm just really, REALLY sorry for that. I fucked up big time, and I stopped myself from fucking up even more because I knew it would ruin you and I just...you know, I didn't wanna be that kind of person anymore," Boshi revealed as sincerely as he could.
Yoshi let out a huge breath of relief and held his knees as he cried out a little. Boshi hopped off the car to try to give him a hug, but Yoshi stepped back and shook his head.
"No no! Stop. I'm...n-not there yet. But, um, thank you, Bosh. It means a lot for you to tell me the truth!" Yoshi exclaimed while rubbing his eyes.
Boshi nodded. "Yeah. Look, Yosh, I know I do pretty stupid shit without thinking sometimes, but I promise you, I'm not an evil person like your crew thinks I am. I just...I dunno, I just don't want people to see me as some softie, because being a softie never got me anywhere in my life."
Yoshi nodded and laughed a little. "It's also not how my uncle and aunt raised you. They were a very strict, stereotypical, hard-headed, early 20th century kind of oppressive environment. No wonder why my parents didn't want to ever be around them!"
Boshi laughed as well. "Yeah! I haven't talked to them for a long time either. They probably think I'm dead from a drug overdose or a gang-related incident. Who the fuck knows. All I know is, I'm better off without them."
"Yeah. So...alright. Bosh, since you were so honest with me, I'll be honest with you. I'm gonna tell you something, but can you promise to keep it a secret?" Yoshi suddenly revealed.
Boshi couldn't help but get immediately intrigued. "Oh! Yeah, of course. What is it?"
"So...you know how yesterday you talked to me about how my group of friends look out for each other, but are also kind of...I guess 'corrupt' in our own way? And how you think it was one of us that planted the cocaine in your car?" Yoshi brought up that touchy subject again. Boshi got even more intrigued.
"Yes...wait, are you gonna tell me who it was!?" he asked with a little excitement.
"The person who did it was Dixie. She went through a brief period of drug use that some of us kept hidden from everyone else as best as we could. Do you remember what happened at that party the night you were arrested for the cocaine? You were getting pretty drunk and was criticizing how bad the food was tasting pretty loudly and obnoxiously. Diddy told you a few times to knock it off and you got so pissed off that you ended up throwing your drink in his face and started a fight with him! That night, Dixie was planning to get high, but then THAT happened, so...she decided to get back at you for that by putting her cocaine in your car, and then calling the cops. She told us this a while after it happened, and we laid into her for it, but also swore to keep it a secret because...well, all of us really didn't like you," Yoshi revealed. Boshi dropped his jaw at that story, but also looked a little impressed for some reason.
"Holy. Fucking. Shit! Wow. So...blondie chimp likes petty revenge much more than she lets on, huh? AND she was a former druggie, just like me! Fuck. Who the hell thought we would have THAT in common? As for you guys laying into her...pah! Apparently you didn't lay into her enough to make a police report on her!" Boshi laughed and furiously wiped at his nose.
"I'm sorry, Bosh. I know that was a horrible thing that we did...but, I don't wanna hide the fact that you were right about me and my friends not being as...I don't know, 'goody two-shoes' as we like to present ourselves?" Yoshi shrugged in shame.
"Oh, no! No need to apologize. I've done plenty of shit that's even MORE fucked up. I respect you, Yosh, for telling me that, and don't worry...I won't tell a soul. But, man oh man, I KNEW I was right about your gang being a lot more twisted than you all let on! Goddamn. Makes me curious to know what other secrets you're all hiding?" Boshi asked with a mean smirk. Yoshi scoffed at him in disgust.
"Alright, you got your answer. So, just...I don't know what to really say now. But, I'm still mad at you for what you did, but I promise you, I WILL get over it, I just need you to not be around me for a while, okay? Please," he annoyedly said.
"WAIT! Okay, I get that, but Yosh...I wanna join you guys on the next mission! I think I can be of REAL help! You know how tough and crazy I am! I could use that to my advantage against the slimeballs out there!" Boshi exclaimed.
"What!? Boshi, did you not just hear a word I said!? I-"
"I know, I know! I understand why you feel that way! But...come on! I wanna help! I've got experience in kicking asses and taking names! Plus, it'll help make up for me being a gigantic jackass! Right!?" Boshi pleaded with a little excitement.
Yoshi rolled his eyes and sighed, but also managed to chuckle just a bit. "I mean...I guess I can't stop you. I'll talk to Mario about it because he's technically the leader, but...I guess it wouldn't be fair to not let you on and use your strength to help us."
"YES! Fuck yeah! You won't regret it! And don't worry, I'll leave you alone however I can the whole time! You won't even know I'm there!" Boshi cheered.
Mario and Peach were out in the lobby, watching Toadessa comfort Toado Nomaki over his parents dying.
"I'm so sorry about your parents, Toado! Do you have any other family here with you?" Toadessa cried a little with him.
"N-no...it's just me now...I don't know what I'm gonna do...the bad guys won again…" Toado sobbed while hanging his head.
"We won't let the bad guys win, though! Here, you can stay with me and my parents. They'll be okay with it! It's gonna be okay! It has to be!" Toadessa tried to cheer him up.
"I don't think it will...b-but thanks…" Toado said while still sobbing. Toadessa held his hands in sympathy.
"Gosh, that poor kid...he has no family now! At least that girl is kind enough to stay with her family. That's so nice to see some kindness around here," Peach said while viewing the scene from afar.
"Yeah, I'm glad some people here haven't completely given up on humanity yet. I know many people view this situation as very bleak and hopeless, but we still gotta have at least a shred of hope to make it through this alive," Mario added while smiling a little and held Peach by her side. The princess felt a little happy that there was a tiny ray of light shining through such a dark and depressing time.
Unfortunately, this happy moment didn't last long as Flurrie and Vivian frantically ran over to the pair.
"You guys!" Flurrie shouted, drawing their attention. "You would never believe who is here again: it's Goombario's family! They just came in and saw us and asked if they could see Goombario, because they brought some stuff for him!"
"Yeah, we just told them that we'll be right back, but how are we supposed to break it to them that he's dead!? Should we just be upfront about it or…" Vivian worriedly spoke.
"Oh god...here, let's go over to them and talk with them," Mario sighed, truly not wanting to break the awful news about their son, but it had to be done.
Koops saw Goombario's family and saw Mario, Peach, Flurrie, and Vivian head over to them, along with Spike, Kooper, Bombette, Parakarry, Lakilester and Jojora walking to them coming from the courtyard with noticeably concerned expressions.
"We should probably be over there to help sort that situation out," Goombella spoke as she walked up next to Koops, startling him.
"Ooh! Goombella...um, yeah, crap. You're right. Who knows how they'll react to it," Koops commented and made a gulp, scared of the family will say or do.
"Uhh, is everything okay? Who are those people? More enemies!?" Kody asked.
"No no. Just, um, it's something that I really should help take care of…" Koops nervously responded and looked around for something to distract Kody in the meantime. He saw Bowser Jr. heading towards the cafeteria and quickly dashed to him.
"Bowser Jr.! Have you met Kody? You two are the same age, I think!" he frantically spoke, dragging Junior over to Kody.
"Uhh, no. Hi?" Junior awkwardly spoke.
"Hi. You're Bowser's son, right? Don't worry bro, I'm not gonna judge on stuff like that!" Kody greeted.
"Uhh...judge on what exactly?" Junior responded in confusion, not having a clue as to why he was being involved in this.
"Bowser Jr.! Kody is the boy who our friends found during that battle yesterday who was with those guys, but wasn't, um, really WITH them if you know what I mean? We let him out of the cell in the basement because we think we trust him," Koops clarified.
"Oh, okay. So, uhh, what does this have to do with me?" Bowser Jr. repeated, still confused.
"Well, uhh, like I said, you two are the same age, so you'll have a better bonding experience! Go with him into the cafeteria and talk about...umm, teenager stuff! I gotta go, I'll be back later!" Koops said in a huge hurry and headed off towards the entrance with Goombella.
"Oooookay...well, this couldn't be more awkward…" Junior said in discomfort.
"Nah, it's cool. Do you know if the cafeteria got any fries?" Kody asked excitedly.
"Oh, Mario! Such a pleasure to see you again! Oh, and of course, you all too, Goombario's friends!" Goomama said in excitement.
"Yes yes, great pleasure! But, now, where is he? We brought him some stuff from home that'll surely put him in a better mood!" Goompapa cheered.
"Did something happen here while we were gone? Why are parts of the ceiling and walls missing? Why are there black marks everywhere?" Goombaria questioned, noticing the changed environment from last time they were here.
"Umm...well...yesterday, a group of koopatrols came by and tried to blow up the place. They killed so many people, but we managed to get rid of them all," Parakarry answered.
"Oh my word! That's awful! So...please don't tell me Goombario was one of those people that was killed!?" Goomama shrieked.
The group fell quiet for a minute, which nearly confirmed the goomba family's fears.
"I'm so sorry, you guys. He was killed...along with Bow and my girlfriend, Lakilulu…" Lakilester sadly revealed.
The goomba family now became quiet as they stared at the group in horror as their eyes began to well up.
"N...no...that's...that's not possible. You...Kooper! You told me that he was so much stronger than he's ever been before! How could he have died!?" Goompapa raised his voice.
"Uhh, y-yes! I DID say that! But, that doesn't mean Goombario was immune to dying! Yesterday was completely chaotic and terrifying! So much crap was happening, those koopatrols were everywhere, and they had so many weapons! We did our best, but it just wasn't possible to keep everyone alive!" Kooper defensively spoke, also welling up from having to tell them the tragic news.
"Noooo...NO! I can't believe my brother's dead! And we finally get to see him after all these years, but now he's REALLY gone forever!" Goombaria cried and hugged her mom, who cried with her.
"We are so sorry for your guys' loss! But, like Kooper said...yesterday was a nightmare. It was like a warzone over here! Grenades were going off constantly, and they had guns, and they were just EVERYWHERE!" Parakarry added with sympathy.
"Right...warzone...sure...is he buried o-or...did you cremate him?" Goompapa asked, his voice becoming angry and tense now.
"We buried the bodies out back. There's a cemetery behind the courtyard and woods here," Mario answered.
"S-So, you just put our baby in the ground with all those worms and other disgusting bugs!? You could've had the decency to even put some thought into taking care of his body!" Goomama yelled through her crying.
"W-We thought it'd be best to bury them so we can always go back to their graves and visit them! We didn't mean any malice by it!" Spike yelped.
"Show me where he's buried. NOW," Goompapa demanded.
Peach nodded at this, trying to be understanding of their anger. "Okay. Follow us."
They led the family out into the courtyard, into the woods, and into the cemetery, towards the section where they buried the deceased.
"This is where he's buried," Vivian said, showing them the gravesite. There was a cross made from two pieces of wood planted near the soil, with Goombario's name written on it in black marker.
"Oh my...G-G-Goombario! Son! You're really...ohhh…" Goompapa cried out and fell into the dirt while he choked up and looked as if he was going to puke.
"My baby! MY BABY! God...how did he die!? TELL US!" Goomama demanded.
"Goombario...umm, he...was hung by rope off of the trees in the woods, along with a few others," Bombette revealed, still disturbed by that memory of seeing all six of them hung by their necks.
"OH MY GOD! HOW COULD THEY DO THAT TO HIM!? THIS IS JUST...AAAGGGHHHH!" Goombaria screamed and cried.
Flurrie cried a little with them. "We can't possibly tell you how sorry we are. Goombario was such a great friend to us all, and he proved himself of being able to help us out tremendously more than once."
"Ooh...but see, if he was such an amazing friend...THEN YOU SHOULD'VE DONE MORE TO PROTECT HIM!" Goompapa exploded at the group, throwing everyone off.
"What do you mean by that!? We told you guys that we couldn't save everyone! So many of us barely got out alive ourselves!" Jojora exclaimed.
"Heroes are supposed to save everyone, though, right!? That's what YOU proclaim yourself as always especially, Mario! We trusted you to look after our teenage son and now he's GONE!" Goomama screamed through her tears.
Mario looked a little pissed at this. "Hold on now. I'm not some miracle worker here. I may call myself a hero sometimes, but I can't always do it all! I can't save every single person, especially when there's an army of koopatrols attacking us from every corner! It's unbelievably difficult sometimes!"
"Oh, is it really!? Because you sure as hell had an easy time taking our son through that journey to save the Star Spirits all those years ago! We heard the stories from our son, he went through so many places with you and survived, but now, some deranged koopas show up and try to shoot the place down and he just DIES!? How exactly does that work!? PLEASE EXPLAIN IT TO ME!" Goompapa angrily yelled. Everyone gave each other confused expressions because none of them were sure at what he was trying to get at.
"Listen, Goombario's dad, this mission we're on is COMPLETELY different from the one we went on years ago. The stakes are higher and more dangerous, and the enemies we're facing are a lot more lethal. This is a hundred times harder than that quest! And as Mario said, we cannot save everyone! I tried saving a little boy yesterday when that crap was happening, but I got there too late...okay!? We're not gods! We can't do it all!" Kooper spoke, getting a little emotional when talking about the boy.
"Oh, don't start making this all about you! You know what!? The only people that we really should be blaming for this...is Mario and Peach!" Goomama accused. This shocked everyone.
"WHAT!? What the hell did they do wrong exactly!?" Lakilester shrieked.
"Yeah, please explain THAT to us, because wanna know something!? I'm a little tired of people giving Mario and Peach shit for just trying their best in a situation where the average fucking person wouldn't even know the FIRST thing to do!" Spike came for their defense.
"Well, for one, Princess Peach...for someone who is the richest and most powerful woman in the kingdom, you sure do a lousy job at protecting us! You always let Bowser kidnap you and destroy parts of the kingdom, and now you let THIS happen! Why aren't you paying for better security!? Better weapons!? WHERE IS OUR MILITARY IN ALL THIS!?" Goompapa started to rage at this point, which made Peach beyond peeved.
"I...I beg your pardon!? I do my absolute best in trying to protect you all! You think being a princess of an entire kingdom is easy!? Well, surprise, IT'S NOT! There have been times where I sacrificed myself for Bowser's sake because I wanted to protect the kingdom! I am a pacifist at heart, but when push comes to shove, I WILL fight! Yeah, maybe I should've prepared better for his attacks! Maybe I should've been more on guard! But, guess what? I'm a being that makes mistakes! I'm not perfect! Don't you dare put me on that kind of pedestal because that's not the kind of person I am!" Peach angrily defended herself.
"And, by the way, Tatanga actually destroyed the Mushroom Kingdom's military! Don't ask me how the hell he did that, but he did! So, the only ones that are able to save the kingdom, and, hell, the whole damn world is US! So, you know what? Show some respect! I know you just found out your son was killed, but don't turn this around on us!" Bombette added.
"Hmph. Fine. But, what about Mario then? You were a huge influence on our son when he was younger. Ever since he went on that adventure with you, it was all he talked about when he came back! If it weren't for you...he would've NEVER agreed to join you all on such a dangerous quest! Not only that, but after all the times you saved the kingdom without any major deaths and damages...suddenly THIS happens and loads of people die, INCLUDING OUR SON!? WHY IS THAT!? Are you starting to lose yourself!?" Goompapa turned the attacks towards Mario now, which made everyone even more ticked off at him.
Mario was doing his best to not blow up at him for being all irrational but also grieving. "In case you haven't noticed...this is something far beyond ANYTHING that I've ever had to deal with before. The entire world is in danger here, and I know it's not the first time for THAT either, but this is different. We have someone who has hundreds, possibly thousands of people doing his bidding and killing for him. We have someone who has a thirst for blood and has so many resources that he can use to kill and get what he wants.
You could've stopped Goombario from coming on that adventure with me. He was in elementary school then! But, you didn't. He's told me stories about how you guys neglected him constantly and made him always feel inferior to Goombaria. How he always tried to work these problems out with you all, but you just shut him down everytime. So, that led to him running away to Mushroom City...and now here we are. Look, we all make mistakes and fuck up sometimes. I hope I'm not coming off as blaming you for your son dying, because I'm not.
But...the matter of the fact is, we all chose to fight to save the world. We all went into this, knowing the risks, and even seeing that this was going to be so much more dangerous than anything we've been through before. No one EVER said that this was going to be a breeze. No one EVER said that nobody would die during this. Goombario took that risk and he died a hero. For someone his age, to do what he did...it is VERY honorable and courageous. Your son was an amazing, strong, and brilliant friend.
As for me losing myself...I am doing my damn best to hold it together here. Really. It feels like I'm constantly on the verge of going insane or just having a total breakdown and crying my eyes out...but I'm trying so damn hard not to. My friends and I had to witness so many people die and almost die ourselves, that isn't something you get over so easily! So, you can be mad at us all you want, go ahead, we won't stop you...but you're mad at the wrong people. We're all fighting for the same cause and we're all practically family here."
This silenced the goomba family. The others were impressed by his speech and liked the fact that it shut them down.
"I also just wanna say that, umm, we've all been through so much that so many other people never get to go through in their whole lives, and I'm pretty sure we all wish that you three don't have to experience anything like that. Your son dying is enough for you to handle, we wouldn't want you to experience your other family members or friends to die as well," Koops added.
"Because that's what we went through. And, like, sorry to say this, but there's a good chance we may lose more, but I hope to the stars that I'm wrong! I also hope that you guys can eventually understand us, or at least try to. We shouldn't expect it now because you just lost your son, but in time, you might," Goombella continued.
"Mmm! And I also truly believe that, if we weren't so close to each other as we are now, we ALL would 'lose ourselves!' How does that saying go...we're all the glue that holds each other?" Flurrie said with a chuckle.
The goomba family was still silent. They rubbed their eyes while still sniffling.
"Well...um, we should get going now. There's nothing else for us to do here," Goompapa said, and took one last look at the grave. The three began to head back without even saying goodbye.
"Damn. As pissed off as those guys made me, I know they're just grieving. I bet it doesn't help that they regret not getting Goombario to come back home before Tatanga happened!" Lakilester commented.
"Yeah. I'm trying not to be mad at them...but I'm also tired of the ignorance that some people have about us. They don't know what it's like to try to save everyone," Peach huffed and crossed her arms.
"The way I see it...let people think what they want. We know what we're doing and what our intentions are. If people have a problem with that, then just forget them. Let them live in their own world," Jojora stated.
A couple hours passed by and Mario was heading to the usual meeting room to meet with Arfur. He saw Luigi on the way.
"Oh, Luigi! I haven't seen you all day! Where you been?" Mario asked. Luigi gave him an annoyed shrug.
"Around," he blankly responded. Mario was clearly annoyed at his snark.
"Ooookay, well, what's going on with you and Daisy? I heard you two got into a fight and-"
"Look, I'm not in the mood to talk. I'll see you tomorrow," Luigi interrupted and quickly walked off.
"LUIGI! Come on, just talk to me!" Mario shouted in concern, but Luigi just kept walking. Mario sighed in frustration and stomped on into the meeting room and slammed the door shut. Arfur wasn't in yet, so he had to wait. Mario inhaled deeply, then exhaled. His head was hurting a lot, trying to process so much trauma and worry but without spiraling out of control. His brain wanted him to just scream and let out all his anger, but he had to hold himself back for the sake of his sanity and for leading the group.
The door opened. Mario looked over and saw a koopatrol coming in.
"WOAH! WHAT THE FUCK!?" Mario screeched and immediately sprinted to him and pinned him up against the wall by the throat.
"AAGGGHH! MARIO, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Arfur screamed.
Mario blinked and he realized he had Arfur in his grip. He let go and backed away in horror at the madness that just occurred.
"I-I'm so sorry...I thought you were…"
"Mario, what's wrong? Why'd you do that for?" Arfur questioned.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I just...I'm trying not to lose my mind here. I thought you were a koopatrol and I just reacted on impulse!" Mario explained and tried to calm himself down.
"Oh...ok. I think I understand. You've been through so much in such a short amount of time! I get it. Don't stress about it," Arfur assured.
"Believe me, I'm trying not to," Mario sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Alright, so, I'll make this quick. Your company, Mushroom Corporations, has done a lot of bizarre crap. Hiring Fire Bro on despite his crazy past, your company not getting more reinforcements and security to help defend us, simply handing over guns to people who have no experience in using guns, holding some of my friends hostage at your company when this all started with Tatanga because of some weak excuse from Merlon, and I also know about the Blood Experiment video, the one where you took samples of mine and Pauline's blood and examined our DNA."
Arfur's expression turned into pure horror after he said that. Mario got him right where he wanted him.
"H...how do you know about th-the blood experiment video!?" he nervously asked.
"Doesn't matter. I saw what was on it and the fact that you guys used mine and Pauline's body to run your tests or whatever the hell else you guys were doing is a total violation of our rights. That video confirmed to me that you guys must not be up to any good," Mario angrily stated. Arfur was sweating profusely now.
"Sh-shit...Mario, umm, look, I can't explain everything, but I-"
"I know you can't explain everything. Which is why I wanna talk to your boss. I'm sure you can allow that, right? After all...I am Super Mario. There shouldn't be any reason why someone like that wouldn't want to meet with the kingdom's hero," Mario said very connivingly, which was a rarity for him to do, but he needed to get to the bottom of this mystery.
"My-my boss...oh...umm, s-sure! I can arrange for that to happen! But, um, listen Mario, he's a very busy man, so, uhh, you probably wouldn't be able to meet him today, or even tomorrow because you guys are leaving for the Shiver Region…" Arfur was getting panicky now. Mario did his best to not smirk, because Arfur getting like this made him even more sure that his company has to be up to no good.
"That's fine. I can talk to him after we get back from the Shiver Region," Mario obliged.
"O-Okay...I'll see what I can do!" Arfur replied with a forced smile.
"No no. You're gonna MAKE it happen. You understand? Because if you don't…" Mario started walking closer to him now, which made Arfur go back up against the wall again. "...the consequences are gonna be pretty severe. I've got a whole, powerful team behind me that will make things pretty ugly for you and your work. Do I make myself clear?"
"Y-yes. Crystal clear! I-I'll make it happen! You have my word!" Arfur obliged, now visibly shaking.
"Good. Well...see you tomorrow then," Mario said with a satisfied smile and exited the room. Arfur let out a huge sigh of relief and held his chest.
Outside, Arfur walked towards his car and got out his phone to call his boss.
"Hello?"
"Hey, boss. Um...we have a bit of a crisis here."
"Oh boy, what now?"
"Mario knows about the blood experiment video! He saw the whole thing!"
"WHAT!? How could he have possibly known about that!?"
"I have no idea! He wouldn't tell me! And, not only that, but he's also getting VERY suspicious of us! He thinks that there's something more to us having Fire Bro work for us, and doesn't buy Merlon's story about why we needed those 12 people at the beginning!"
"...Shit. Well, this is definitely a conundrum, isn't it?"
"That's an understatement. Mario also wants to meet you personally after him and his friends finish the Crystal Palace. He wanted me to 'make it happen.'"
"Uh huh. I'm assuming he wants to meet to talk about this stuff?"
"Yeah. I'm telling you, boss, he's on to us, and it looks like he's getting his friends to think the same too!"
"I see. Damn. Alright, well, tell Mario I'll meet him when he gets back then. I'll handle this."
"Okay. Anything else you want me to do?"
"..."
"Boss…?"
"Arfur...you haven't been telling anyone about the stuff that goes on behind the scenes here, have you? As in, the stuff that we take VERY seriously, like the experiments we conduct?"
Arfur froze for a second. He instantly remembered him telling Spike and Bow some of that when he was driving them to Moonview Airport.
"No...no, I haven't."
"Arfur...please tell me you're not lying to me."
"I'm not, I swear! I promise you!"
"...Okay. Because you do know what will happen if you tell anyone that kind of confidential information, right?"
Arfur gulped and started feeling panicky again.
"Yes, I know. But, I swear, I haven't told anyone anything."
"Okay. I just find it weird how Mario was somehow able to know about the blood experiment video."
"Your guess is as good as mine, boss. Maybe Kylie told him something about it and that's how he knew?"
"Hmm. Maybe. But, Kylie's dead so we can't get any info out of her. Very inconvinient."
"Yeah, I know. I just can't think of anything else for how he'd know about that!"
"Me neither. Well...like I said, I'll handle him. Mario may be a superhero, but he's nothing when it comes to us."
EOC.
Next chapter will actually have a few scenes still at the hospital, but then the focus will be on the villains. Morton discovers something shocking in the hospital's basement, Bleck attempts to infiltrate the fortress to save Mimi, Doopliss' backstory of how he got with Tatanga is explored, Grodus shows up again, and as always, much more! The Shiver Region arc will also begin at the end of Chapter 104. Also, bit of a side note: I know it's been confirmed by Nintendo that the koopalings aren't actually Bowser's biological kids (apart from Junior of course), but my headcanon has been (and always will be) that they ARE his bio kids. Also, I think I messed up on the official ages of the koopalings from who's oldest to youngest, but we'll run with the ages I presented here for the sake of the story. The next chapter will be uploaded on or before July 4 (Independence Day for us Americans!). Thanks for reading!
