Adventuring Group: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Yoshi, DK, Dixie, Goombella, Koops, Kooper, Bombette, Parakarry, Lakilester, Spike/Paper-Yoshi, Vivian, Bowser, Larry, Wario, Pauline, Mona, Jojora, Starlow, Luvbi, Kody
Hospital group: Toadette, Bleck/Blumiere, Tippi/Timpani, Toadsworth, Fly Guy, Toadessa, Toado, Dr. Nokano, Morton, Lemmy, Ludwig, Bowser Jr., E. Gadd, Clawdia, Katia, Kenneth, Toodles, Tadano
Mushroom Corps.: Arfur, Toadari (Arfur's boss)
Island group: Tatanga, Beldam, Roy, Doopliss, Dimentio, Mimi, Diddy, Fire Bro/Konnor
Moon: TEC
Blackstone Tower: Grodus
Fort Koopington: Rosalina, Monty Mole
ST. TOADOFSKY'S HOSPITAL
9 AM
The sun rose over the horizon as people woke up from their sleep to begin their day. For the heroes, however, their day was going to start with a rundown of everything that had occurred while the two groups were apart and to form a plan for what to do about Mushroom Corporations. That company was the one thing currently weighing on everyone's minds, apart from getting the last gem of course.
Luigi walked down the hallway going towards the hallway, looking annoyed at Mario and Peach who were following him.
"We're not talking about it, okay!? What's done is done! I didn't know that that was the situation I was gonna land myself in!" Luigi shouted, referring to the events that happened in the basement the night before they all left for Shiver City.
"I just can't believe that you wouldn't tell ANY of us! Why keep a big secret like that all to yourself? I really don't understand!" Peach cried, still wrapping her head around that event.
"What would be the point in even saying anything? Plus, I promised them I'd keep it a secret. Why would I break a promise?" Luigi responded in an obnoxious manner.
"You kept a secret to a bunch of kids…BOWSER'S KIDS at that!" Peach exclaimed and was getting irritated with him.
"I wanna say something real quick. Although I also do think you should've said something to at least Bowser…I wanna say…good job, brother. You didn't intervene. You did what was right. That man had to go, whether it was by the hands of Kody, one of Bowser's kids, you, or whoever," Mario spoke encouragingly, surprising Luigi and Peach by his polite words.
"Oh! Uhh…wow. Ok. You seemed like you were pissed off at me. But…um…thanks?" Luigi replied, calming himself.
"Mario…um, really?" Peach awkwardly spoke.
"Yes, really. Let's face it, Peach. If I was in Luigi's shoes, I would've done the same. I would've told Bowser, of course, but I would've done everything else the same. Like I said, that guy needed to die. He killed Kody's brother. Kody had every right to shoot him, and the koopalings had every right to tie him down and be killed. They know that someone like that can't be out in the world. It was no big loss," Mario sternly responded. Luigi smiled a little at his brother backing him up, while Peach looked at him, seeming to understand a little, then looked to Luigi.
"Y…yeah. Yeah. You're right. I would've done the same thing too. They would've had him killed no matter what. They may be kids, but they know that we can't take anymore risks, just like us. They were protecting us. That's…that's noble," the princess spoke more softly this time, now coming around. She then glanced to her left and almost got startled when she saw Arfur heading towards the three.
"Oh, there you are! Good morning, guys. I heard the good news about you all getting the second to last gem! Congrats are definitely in order!" Arfur cheered as he walked up to the trio. The three didn't look too pleased to see him, but they tried to now show their disinterest.
"Hi, Arfur. Thank you, it was, uhh, brutal of course, and really weird! But we powered through it like we always do," Peach spoke, attempting to sound delighted to converse at that moment.
"We lost a couple of our people though, so it wasn't a completely clean sweep through, unfortunately," Luigi added with distaste, not even looking at Arfur.
"By the way, where were you last night when we got back? You're always there everytime we fly back to the building," Mario questioned.
"Oh! I was having an awful migraine so I took my shift off early last night. That's all," Arfur assured with a big and clearly fake smile. The whole conversation was getting to be so awkward for everyone knowing that they didn't trust him. "Um, so, Mario! I talked with my boss, and he says you are free to come in at whatever time you'd like today to speak with him as long as it's before 5pm."
Mario smirked a little. "Perfect. We're gonna do a few things around here and get some food in our system, then we'll head on over. Peach is gonna come too."
Arfur widened his eyes a little, surprised at that addition. "Oh! Okay. That's fine. Whenever you're ready, just give us a call and someone will come pick you up to take you to the building."
"Sounds good. We'll be seeing you later then," Mario responded with a fake smile as well and the three walked past him down the hallway. Arfur stood there for a moment, clutching his chest as he became very nervous again.
E. Gadd turned a corner and found the three walking towards the elevators. "There you are! You guys seen Arfur yet?"
"We just did like a few seconds ago. He's just down the hallway," Luigi informed.
"Okay. Remember, we're going to a different room this time for the meeting. He can't follow us or know where we're going, because the room in the basement is soundproof, hidden away, and has no cameras in it," E. Gadd spoke discreetly, letting them know of the new spot last night before they all went to bed. It was the spot where all would be revealed about Mushroom Corporations.
"We know. We got it covered. Vivian's gonna follow him to make sure he doesn't try to follow any of us down there. She'll report back to us that he's gone, and then we can get started," Mario said.
"Excellent! So, in the meantime, let's pretend that we're going to the usual meeting room on the second floor. As soon as the coast is clear, we head down to the basement room. I need to show you guys this info ASAP about the company. It could very well change the direction that your guys' mission is heading towards," E. Gadd urgently revealed.
"Oh my…this sounds kinda scary…" Peach shivered.
Meanwhile, Vivian followed Arfur into the lobby. The doogan slowly walked towards the exit, as he looked in every direction possible. Vivian used her Veil ability to hide in the shadows to evade his watch. Arfur then decided to head back and power-walked towards the stairwell. Vivian rose back up from the shadows and quickly became nervous when she witnessed this sudden change.
She followed him into the stairwell and hid in the shadows again. Arfur was a couple flights up and looked down below because he felt someone follow him. No sign of life. He proceeded onward and entered the second floor. Vivian unveiled herself and started to panic as she bolted up the stairs.
She got to the second floor door and peered out from it. Arfur was heading to the room they all held the meetings in! She got out into the hallway and followed him, making sure he wasn't looking in her direction. He entered the meeting room and Vivian now ran to the door and peered inside.
"Oh! Hey, you guys, again," Arfur spoke to Mario, Peach, Luigi and E. Gadd who were already in the room.
"Yes? What's up?" Luigi asked with a suspicious look.
The doogan walked right up against the big table. "Forgot to mention one thing about my boss. When you meet him, just know that he's very stern and strict. I mean, he's the head of the company, so he HAS to be, but…um…don't let him push you over, okay? You have a right to air out your concerns!" he exclaimed as Vivian saw him stick something tiny under the table. The shadow siren gasped at this.
"I can't believe it. This guy is really just something else…" Vivian whispered to herself, now getting pissed at him.
"...Right. I mean, I figured as much that he would be. Thanks for the heads up," Mario responded as he narrowed his eyes at him, looking perplexed.
"Of course. Now, I REALLY gotta get going back. See you guys later!" Arfur happily spoke and walked out. Vivian veiled herself again as he headed to the elevators this time.
"So…um…that was totally weird," Peach commented.
"My goodness, could he BE any more obvious at this point!? Might as well walk around with a sign that says 'I'M A SUSPECT' for crying out loud!" E. Gadd exclaimed in annoyance.
Vivian walked in and grabbed the device from the table. She gasped again as it was the same kind of chip device from before, where they were being listened to with it. She showed it to the other four, who looked stunned from the discovery. Vivian put a finger to her mouth, making sure no one says anything incriminating.
Peach gulped and then hesitantly spoke, "Geeeeee…I wonder when the others are getting here? I wanna start this already."
"Y-Yeah, they were supposed to be here by now. But we can wait a little longer. We have the whole day," Luigi spoke carefully.
"Indeed we do. There's no rush at all," Mario added and then motioned to the others to leave the room. Vivian carefully put the device back where it was under the table and they all quietly exited the room.
"I can't believe this!" E. Gadd angrily said as he looked both directions in the hallway to see if Arfur was still present, but he was definitely gone. "He has the audacity to say that he's on our side, and he does that crap again. LOOK HERE!" The professor got out a device that looked exactly like the one Vivian had.
"Wait…hold on here…where'd you get that!?" Luigi asked with a gasp.
"I found this in this room right after we all had our last meeting. Arfur bugged it with the same device, and now he's doing it again! Which…god…which, if he's doing it again, he must somehow knew that we found out about it!" E. Gadd revealed in fear.
"My god. Fuck. That just confirms that Arfur can't be trusted at all. What a scumbag, pretending to be on our side, yet he's screwing us over at the same time," Mario angrily spoke.
"Vivian, please go see if Arfur is still in the hospital! He might be doing something else suspicious!" Peach hurriedly ordered. The shadow siren nodded and hurriedly went into the elevators and down to the lobby.
"Hey guys! We still doing, uhh, 'this'?" Parakarry cheerily asked as he walked up to the group with Jojora, Bombette, Kooper, and Lakilester.
"Hey. So, the second everyone gets here, we're heading down to the basement room. Arfur just did something that made him look even more scummy!" E. Gadd stated.
"Oh boy. The twists and turns just keep on coming!" Bombette tiredly responded.
Daisy was talking with Pauline, Mona, and Wario as the four headed down to the basement far ahead of the others for the meeting.
"Today's the day Luigi and I finally talk. We're not broken up, and I refuse to believe that we're gonna break up over practically nothing! He needs to quit bottling everything in and acting out of rage!" Daisy ranted as they went down the stairs.
"Why did you guys even 'break up' in the first place? When the hell did that even happen!?" Wario confusedly asked.
"It happened at Mayor Penguin and Penelopuin's house. It was awful. He was just so angry and not listening to me…then he dropped the bomb that we're done. B-But, I knew it was just a 'heat of the moment' kind of thing! He didn't truly mean it," Daisy explained as she became a little emotional over that experience.
"Wow. I know I'm probably stating the obvious here, but I think it's safe to say that he doesn't know how to handle the PTSD he's experiencing. Makes sense though, we've seen a lot of fucked up stuff and not everyone is going to process that the same way. It does sound like he's starting to come around if he's willing to talk, though," Mona said.
"I think it's also safe to say that no matter how much therapy we do, it will never fully heal us all," Pauline snarkily spoke. "THAT is probably the most depressing part about all of this."
"True. We've seen crazy shit that the average person will never get to experience in their lifetime," Daisy added frustratedly.
"I'm just happy to be alive," Wario spoke in a more upbeat manner. "I almost died back there, and I WANTED to die, but now that I'm not actually dead, it honestly feels pretty damn good to be here. Yeah, this is all depressing as hell and traumatic, but I'm really glad I didn't die and I'm here with you all. We gotta keep on trying to survive no matter how rough it gets."
Mona smiled at him brightly and nodded. "I feel the same way you do. That was really scary, on the brink of death. I'm still pretty shaken up by it, but I'm definitely happy that I get to have a second chance at life."
"Well, we're ALL glad as well that you guys made it! And we're almost done too, so this nightmare is about to come to an end finally," Pauline said with also a smile and a little bit of relief. Daisy felt the love and it made her feel a little better too.
The next to come down the stairs was Kooper. He looked to his right and nearly fell down the stairs when the flashback of him witnessing that little toad boy die in his arms in one of the rooms down there came to his head.
"Oh…fuck…fuck!" Kooper screeched and gripped onto the stair railing as he felt intense anxiety creeping up in his body.
"Hey! What's wrong? What is it?" Bombette asked in concern.
"Damnit, damnit, damnit! Ohhhh…uhh…one of the rooms down that hallway there…that's where I saw that little boy die…a-and I couldn't fucking save him…th-then my brother was here and I chased him up the stairs…god, someone that young didn't deserve to die! Especially in that way!" Kooper explained as he began to cry. Lakilester gave him a side hug while Bombette nodded and leaned against him.
"Hey, man, the last thing you wanna do is blame yourself for that kid dying. Don't do that to yourself, okay?" Lakilester softly spoke.
"I-I know, I just…he was in so much pain, a-and I wanted to help him…what a fucking cruel world we live in…" Kooper angrily said as he wiped his eyes with his arms.
"I agree, Kooper. This is a miserable planet we live on. Being with you guys, though, helps make it just a tiny bit less miserable," Bombette added with a sympathetic smile as her eyes also teared up.
"Hugs all around! We got you, Kooper!" Pakarry cheered and tried to lift the spirits by hugging the group, with Jojora joining in too. The five ended up laughing a little while also joining in on the crying.
Larry walked down to the basement floor and saw Kody standing there, waiting for the others to arrive. Larry waved at him in a friendly manner and spoke, "Hey Kody! Good morning. You sleep ok?"
The teenage koopa gave him a dirty look, then he walked off towards the meeting room without a response.
"Ouch. Can't say I'm too surprised, though…" Larry whispered to himself in disappointment.
"He'll come around eventually. Don't be too sad about it, last night had to go the way it did so we could, like, finally figure out his backstory because his was so vague right from the start," Goombella said sympathetically. Larry glanced at her then sighed in frustration.
"I know. I agree that it needed to be done. I just hate that it hurts, you know? Why is it that doing the right thing for us has to still hurt in the end?" he questioned.
"Because we're good people with feelings and emotions. If it didn't hurt at all, well, like, I'd be concerned for our state of mind!" Goombella explained and then continued, "By the way, how's your dad? Is he, like, also doing ok? Well, as ok as he can be doing?"
Larry shrugged. "No idea. The only thing he told us this morning was to get up and start heading down here. His eyes were kinda scary though. I don't think he's gotten ANY sleep since…you know, the shootout. I mean, I absolutely can't blame him, of course! I've had so much trouble sleeping since that day and I know my brothers have too…but my dad, man, he's crumbling apart so much. I don't know what to do to help him."
DK saw Yoshi coming down the stairs and waved to him. "Hey, Yosh. Where'd you sleep last night? I was trying to find you to wish you a good night's sleep and see if you wanted any company."
Yoshi nearly stopped walking down and looked away from the ape, but still replied, "I just wanted to be left alone last night. Sorry."
"Oh…that's ok. I understand. But you don't have to go through this alone, you know. Don't let what you're going through just fester up inside," DK advised.
Yoshi nodded a little, then got to the floor and just walked ahead.
"That's so scary. I've never seen Yoshi like that. So, last night you told me he shot Boshi…because, uhh…you guys were in some underworld dimension and you needed a sacrifice to leave?" Toadette asked concernedly.
"Yeah. Sounds beyond crazy, but that's really happened. We'll go over it fully in the meeting…but yeah. Boshi said that he manipulated Birdo, when her memory was still wiped, to basically cheat on him. Now THAT is messed up beyond words, but then again, that's Boshi for you," Dixie explained.
"Wow. You know…I think the right choice was made. I know that sounds awful of me to say it like that, but…one of you had to go, so…it makes sense…" Toadette replied a little guiltily, surprising herself from saying something so dark.
"Oh yeah, I agree that the right choice was made, I'm just more upset of HOW it got to that point in the first place. Poor Yoshi…I don't know what we could do for him…" Dixie added as she truly felt sad for him.
"Oh, Toadsworth! You don't have to join us if it's too much for you right now. That head injury looks kinda serious…" Peach commented out of concern.
"Nonsense! I feel just fine and want to be a part of this. I demanded the nurses to let me be just for this while because THIS is very crucial!" Toadsworth stated as Toodles helped him walk down the stairs.
"Yes, he was a true warrior through the pain and the incident itself. Ooh, princess, if you were here when those impulsive little animals were being ravenous and hurt Toadsworth, you would've been livid and demand for their executions!" Toodles recalled overdramatically.
Peach narrowed her eyes in disgust and discomfort. "Um…well, no, that'd be taking things too far…but yes, you're right, I WOULD be livid if I saw that! Well, I'm actually getting kind of angry now that we're talking about it!"
"I WAS ALSO PUNCHED IN THE FACE! ALL BECAUSE OF THOSE BITCHES WEREN'T LISTENING TO ME WHEN I TOLD THEM THAT THE CAFETERIA FOOD WAS MAKING THEM IRRATIONAL AND LOONY!" Fly Guy screamed as he zoomed into the basement.
"Uhh…WHAT!? Okay, rewind a little, I feel like THAT was a whole set of information we somehow missed!" Spike shouted in confusion.
"Please don't tell me Mr. Propellor Head is joining this meeting too…" Luvbi groaned.
"If he really wants to, then he can. He's been…umm…well, SOMEWHAT of a help while you guys were gone," Tippi said.
Bowser was one of the last to enter the basement. Everyone looked back to see the koopa king stomp down the staircase, looking like he was just done with everything. He had bags under his eyes, his face looked unkempt, and his eyes looked a little red.
"If we're all here, let's get into this so-called secret room and get this shit done," Bowser angrily stated, prompting others to dread the koopa king's attitude.
"Err, yes, let us begin. This will probably be the most important meeting yet!" Dr. Nokano added.
Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Yoshi, DK, Dixie, Goombella, Koops, Kooper, Bombette, Parakarry, Lakilester, Spike, Vivian, Bowser, Larry, Wario, Pauline, Mona, Jojora, Starlow, Luvbi, Kody, Toadette, Bleck, Tippi, Toadsworth, Fly Guy, Dr. Nokano, Morton, Lemmy, Ludwig, Bowser Jr., and E. Gadd filtered into the secret room hidden inside the room with numerous files, records, and documents. Nokano closed the door to the secret room once everyone was in.
Mario started it off by describing everything that happened from the moment they stepped into Shiver City until the moment they left after the Crystal Queen was defeated and the door to the Mirror World was closed for good.
"...and that's how we won the gem and how we handled discovering a whole other world just like this one and managed to work together with our counterparts to get it through. Yeah, all that crap happened within 24 hours. Any questions or comments?" Mario asked, finishing the lengthy story.
The ones that stayed at the hospital were in huge shock at that wild story. No one spoke for almost a minute because they had to take in all that craziness.
"What…the…fuck. So…you're saying…there's another dimension out there with people who look exactly like us? And they're going through the same shit we are? WOW. And to think that I've seen it all already!" Morton responded in a daze.
"Goodness me! All of you dealt with such horrors and, uhh, bizzarities. I'm so sorry for all of your losses as well. I know each place you all went to to get the gems wasn't easy at all, but this one had to have been the most difficult to navigate through," Toadsworth said with a sympathetic tone.
"I had no idea there was even such a person as a Crystal Queen! And I had no idea there was so much history to the Crystal King and the Crystal Palace. Wow. And then there's a Mirror World…geez, this has been one enormous rollercoaster all around," Toadette exclaimed, feeling incredibly overwhelmed just from that story.
"How weird was it seeing your own selves in person? Did it feel like a trip? Did they have a weird scent!? Did I have a romantic partner!?" Fly Guy over-excitedly asked.
"Uhh…yes, it was VERY weird. It wasn't anything like looking at yourself in the mirror. My 'other' voice sounded different than how I hear my own voice. No idea if you were with someone, because the only people we saw was just 'us' the ones who went on the mission," Daisy responded, nearly snickering at his odd choice of questions.
"Speaking of romantic partners…there were some of us that were paired up with different people in that world," Bowser spoke with a dry and heavy voice. Others looked to him and became nervous, because it seemed like he was going to go on an angry rant. "For example…Goombella was with Koops. Kooper was with Koopie. I…I mean…the OTHER me…was with my damn ex-wife…of all fucking people. Don't ask me how in the fuck there's another version of me in some parallel dimension who has the emotional weakness to get back with the same woman who left me and my kids for some douchebag."
Silence struck again, this time definitively more awkward and tense than it was the first time. Goombella dropped her jaw a little, shocked that Bowser would even bring that up, then glanced at Koops, who looked pissed off.
"That's…that's really not necessary, Bowser," Koops spoke with a harsh undertone, clearly holding back from getting too angry.
"How? How the hell is it not? Tell me! Because I'm about to go fucking insane here! I almost died back there, I found out that there's another me that's with my ex-wife, I'm still grieving from Wendy and Iggy being gone, and, here's the best part, my kids and two other people kill one of those sadistic koopatrols and keep it a secret from me! How in the HELL I haven't gone completely ballistic by now is beyond me!" Bowser raised his voice with his face noticeably getting red.
DK looked down in shame and nodded. "I AM sorry, Bowser, that we didn't tell you right after it happened. You're the father, you should know everything that's happening with your kids."
"You're damn right I do. But that's it. That's all I wanted to get out there. Carry on with whatever we're talking about next," Bowser stated as he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, giving a dirty look to Luigi, who didn't seem affected by that situation. The koopalings looked at each other a little guiltily and were speechless.
"Uhh…sorry, but, what on earth just happened here? Can someone fill us in on the context?" Toadsworth asked, feeling totally out of the loop.
"I'll tell you afterwards, Toadsworth," Peach softly responded.
"Okay. Umm, if no one wants to add anything else…we'll move on to us now," E. Gadd spoke delicately, a little on edge from Bowser's intense venting. "So, I will give you guys the abridged version of what happened after you all left.
The first thing that happened was that Tadano escaped his cell. We found out that it was a green-spotted toad boy named Toado who let him out of the cell. He did it because, well, his mind was all sorts of messed up after seeing his parents get killed from the shootout. Tadano used Toado's extremely vulnerable and fragile state of mind to take advantage of him to get him out. Not only that, but Tadano started filling Toado's mind with all kinds of insane stuff, about how it was better to be a villain because all the good guys have died.
So…Tadano, unfortunately, ends up escaping after Bleck and Tippi find him. Bleck ends up falling down the stairs outside chasing after him, which leads to him getting hospitalized, but looks like he's mostly recovered now. Toado goes berserk and nearly kills another girl named Toadessa. Katia found Toado strangling Toadessa in the woods, so Tippi and myself went over there, and I stunned Toado with my taser to knock him out. I had him sent to the mental ward and he is in solitary confinement for the time being. I was going to kill him, but…well, Toado is a prime victim of being manipulated. He's still a kid, there's still hope for him to get better. From my point of view, he's the exception to the rule of killing anyone who threatens harm to us.
There is a bit of a happy ending, though. Tadano came back to the hospital to send Toado a note about how he was wrong in the end about how he couldn't help Toado and that Toado was doomed to die, just like everyone else, because he was a 'good guy.' Well, that idiot ended up getting captured, knocked out, and was also put in solitary confinement in the mental ward. So far, he hasn't regained full consciousness yet, but when he does, we'll talk to him and see what the hell his intentions are now, because quite frankly, my mind is just boggled by his motivations!"
The adventuring group stared in horror at this reveal, but none of them were TOO horrified as, thankfully, Tadano was caught and no one ended up dying.
"WOW. Looks like you guys dealt with a rollercoaster almost as bad as we did! Geez…there can't ever just be ONE day without any kind of trouble…" Dixie responded irritatedly.
"Okay. So, uhh, do we just kill Tadano then? Because I feel like keeping him alive at this point is just pointless! He's the one who poses the biggest threat here. The dude is literally insane and can't be trusted. Why are we even keeping him alive in the first place?" Kooper asked.
"I think the main reason we kept him alive is because we still need to know the details of Mimi going over to Tatanga's island, like if Tadano somehow forced her to come with him and if he purposely left her there," Bleck answered, but then made an expression as if he just had a huge epiphany. "But…you know what? In the end, that…that actually doesn't matter, does it? The only thing that matters is that Mimi's over there, and that Tadano can't be trusted. That's it. Point blank. We should kill him."
"He's right, there's literally no point in keeping him alive anymore. We brought him here to see if he could influence Tatanga to stop, or at least, slow down his plans, but since that's no longer in the cards…we should do that," Yoshi added firmly.
"Either that, or send him back to the mental institution in Sarasaland where Bow and I got him out of. To be honest, I think I'm leaning more towards that option. The dude is very mentally unstable, and the only place that'll restrict him from doing whatever kind of zany shit he plans to do is that mental institution. I remember reading a document from that place which said that one of the doctors thinks he has Dissociative Identity Disorder. Now, I'm not too knowledgeable on stuff like diagnoses and mental disorders and whatnot, but having that kind of severe disorder isn't his fault, for the most part," Spike informed. Dr. Nokano looked baffled from this.
"Wait wait wait. You found a document from that institution…and it said that a doctor THINKS that Tadano has Dissociative Identity Disorder!? The document in question wasn't some official diagnosis sheet, was it!?" the noki doctor questioned in an interrogating manner.
"Umm…no, I don't think it was. Why?" Spike responded, weirded out by how intense Nokano seemed.
"What on earth kind of doctor puts in a document that they THINK someone has a particular disorder? You either believe and confirm it 100%, or you say nothing until you know for sure either way. Sorry, I didn't mean to come off as angry, that just really dumbfounds me by how incompetent certain doctors can be towards patients who are in dire need of care," Nokano explained his irritation.
"Well, Tadano DID come from Northern Chai Mental Institution, and that place, from what I've heard, is pretty run down and the staff there does some pretty shady stuff. But…I…actually agree with Spike. Sending him back there is probably the better option. He'll be kept on surveillance 24/7 and they'll make sure he's kept in check. Not only that, but they're definitely looking for his whereabouts. If we send him back now, the authorities will take him in and will make sure he'll never escape again," Daisy said, observing a few others nodding in agreement.
"What is Dissociative Identity Disorder anyways? I know that's kind of going off topic, but I'm really curious to know, especially if Tadano actually does have that disorder!" Lemmy asked.
"To put it simply, it's a disorder that occurs when severe trauma happens at a young age, like molestation or being brutally injured. The mind tries to find a way to cope with the trauma so it 'splits' the person's personality into multiple separate personalities as a way of protecting the body from harm. So, essentially, one individual could have 2, 3, 4, or sometimes even more separate personalities. The individual in question usually doesn't know when they 'switch' personalities either, so it's an unconscious or maybe even subconscious event that takes place," Mona explained.
"Yeah, that's indeed putting it pretty simply. But, I just want you all to know, if Tadano truly does have that disorder, that doesn't mean everyone with Dissociative Identity Disorder is dangerous like him. I'd even argue that the vast majority of people who have that disorder don't even pose the smallest type of threat to anyone. The only literal way he could ever get better is if he is sent back…or we kill him. Those are the two options here. Nothing more," Nokano clarified.
"All in favor of sending Tadano back to the mental institution in Sarasaland?" Mario asked and raised his hand, along with most of the others. The only people that didn't raise their hands were Morton, Bowser, Koops, Kooper, and Toodles.
"I personally don't see why someone so unhinged as that boy should be living in the world, mental institution or not…but whatever," Toodles commented.
"So, when are we gonna send him back then?" Starlow asked.
"If we can find a way to do it soon without the help of Mushroom Corporations, then we'll get to it ASAP. If not, then he'll have to remain in solitary confinement until we're done. Eyes should be on his room constantly, and if he somehow breaks out and even lays a finger on someone…then we can kill him. This is his final chance to live," Mario answered confidently, with others nodding in agreement.
"What's the second thing that happened while we were gone, E. Gadd?" Bowser tiredly and impatiently asked, steering the conversation back to its origins.
"Right. The second thing was, well, a lot of the people here became fed up again with this hospital not being as 'safe' as they envisioned, due to word getting out that Tadano escaped which, naturally, caused mass hysteria. Some of us tried to calm down the people, but things took an ugly turn when a lot of them just became out of control…which is how poor Toadsworth ended up falling, hitting, and bruising his head and how Fly Guy was knocked out. A big group of those same people decided they were going to walk to another hospital in Rose City, since it was advertised as being another safe location to stay for anyone affected by the crisis. So…they did. They walked there. We didn't stop them because they were clearly hellbent on leaving," E. Gadd continued the recap.
"What the hell? So…those dumbasses walked a shitload of miles to go to another hospital…even though this hospital is the biggest one in the kingdom with the most resources? I mean…wow. I know this place has gotten attacked, but…come on. Walking to Rose City is gonna take almost a full day!" Lakilester criticized them dumbfoundedly.
"Yeah, I find it funny how they're freaking out about this hospital being unsafe…yet, they choose to walk such a long way to another city, which puts them in an even more unsafe and vulnerable position. Be angry all you want about what's happened here, fine, but putting yourself out in the open like that for such a long time is extremely dangerous," Mona added while rolling her eyes.
"Yeah…but, uhh, you're gonna be okay, right Toadsworth!? Was the injury really bad?" Vivian asked.
"Somewhat bad. I went into unconsciousness because of that and they had to stitch my wound, but nothing more than that happened. No crack in the cranium. No internal bleeding. All jolly good!" Toadsworth assured, giving relief to others.
"Glad to hear it! We're sorry you had to even deal with that, though. Probably for the best that those same people left. Things would get TOO tense if they had stayed," DK said happily.
"Can't say I'm too surprised. A lot of people weren't exactly happy with us with how the state of things were before we left. But, if they were that determined to seek shelter elsewhere, then that's on them. Nothing we can do about it. Anything else?" Mario shrugged with a slightly annoyed expression.
E. Gadd shifted his glasses then exhaled deeply. "Yes. This is the last point I wanna discuss, and it's the most important one of all. It's about Mushroom Corporations, and how they can't be trusted along with Arfur, but I'm sure you all know that by now. For those that don't know, Arfur bugged the room we usually have the meetings in. I found it after we all left that room the last time we were in there. And then…he did it again earlier in that same room. They're spying on us to check our every move.
But, their shadiness goes deeper than just that. For those of you who went on the mission to the Shiver Region, I revealed this to the ones who were here. The secret is that I used to work for Mushroom Corporations for a short time. I found out so many shocking and horrifying things during my short stint there, and I was able to put copies of the proof in my lab and on my handy phone!" E. Gadd spoke as he got out his giant cellphone. The ones that were in the adventuring group weren't too surprised from this reveal, as they had discovered that E. Gadd was working with Mushroom Corporations from the Dark Web video Mario found when they were at the Mayor and Penelopuin's house.
"Yeah, that's something I left out when I recapped everything that we went through," Mario spoke, drawing all eyes to him now. E. Gadd looked at him confusedly. Mario continued, "E. Gadd…I found out you were working with them a while ago. It started when Banjo handed me a flashdrive the day he left. The reason him and Kazooie came here in the first place was because they stumbled upon something when they were going through the Dark Web. It was a video of me being experimented on by Mushroom Corporations. I was so terrified seeing this because they took me in without my knowing and consent and drew out my blood and my DNA samples. Then they did the same thing to Pauline. My blood and DNA…they injected it into a koopa…and that made him go absolutely berserk. Like it turned him into a wild beast. They did that because my blood and DNA are 'different' compared to other human beings.
I had to know more, though. I had to figure out what else there was to this. So, I took the Mayor's laptop and searched the Dark Web for anything else related to that. Then I found another video…and you were on there, E. Gadd. It was a video showing Professor Fungi talking to his camera, saying how he's going to expose everything about Mushroom Corporations, then you show up and come down on him for what he's trying to do. Right after that, a man named Toadari shows up, the one who's the head of Mushroom Corporations and Arfur's boss. He shoots Fungi and asks you to clean up the mess.
Of course, we were all so surprised and confused to see you there, E. Gadd. We didn't think you would have any involvement in a company like that, but now, you need to owe us an explanation. What were you doing with Mushroom Corporations? And be honest. No beating around the bush."
The room fell silent again as all eyes turned back to E. Gadd, anticipating his answer to that loaded accusation. E. Gadd didn't look frightened or even taken aback from it though, he seemed completely calm and understanding of what Mario was saying, almost as if E. Gadd was already prepared to give his side of the story.
"Okay. I know exactly what video you're talking about. Well, both of those videos. I was the one that uploaded them onto the Dark Web," the professor began, providing some surprised expressions. He continued, "The reason why I uploaded them onto there, and not on any other sites like YouTube is because the Dark Web is one of the few places on the internet that Mushroom Corporations doesn't monitor. As I'm sure you've seen already, that place is a cesspool of illegal and heinous activities, like selling organs, advertisements for a hitman, drug exchanges, and so on. Mushroom Corporations know about that place, but don't care to crack down on it, because their mentality is essentially 'We don't care, let them do whatever they want to their lives.' They're not gonna focus on a bunch of shady people doing shady stuff, rather, their focus is the general public, the mainstream circles. Which leads me to this…" E. Gadd then got out his phone and was seen opening up a file on there.
He continued talking, "I mentioned to some of you here that I worked on a project with Mushroom Corporations. For those of you that weren't here when I mentioned that, let me give you some info that will lead up to the project I was working on. I'll sum it up like this: There were 12 people kidnapped at the beginning of this mess. Those 12 people were Peach, Daisy, Luigi, Toad, Toadette, Yoshi, Birdo, DK, Dixie, Waluigi, Goombella, and Rosalina. The reason for those being captured is because Merlon worked with Mushroom Corporations for a brief time too, and he foresaw this apocalypse we're in. In order to combat this apocalypse, he also foresaw that those 12 people were connected via bloodlines to the 9 gods from centuries ago that put their power into the 9 gems which helped seal the legendary Crystal Star Rod, and that they needed to be protected before Tatang could begin his reign.
So, what they did was this: They took those 12 people a few days before the apocalypse, and got samples of their blood and DNA. Why? Well…for cloning. Simple as that. Mushroom Corporations is cloning people who society deems the most 'desirable' and they will be powerful and revered using your guys' blood and DNA to make them 'superheroic' and turn society into an authoritarian type of state. These 'desirable people' are going to be humans, koopas, and toads. All other species are non-existent to this company practically. People will be watched constantly, moreso than they are now, and the common citizens will become powerless in their ways of living as poverty levels will rise, so these 'desirable clones' will thrive and make them appear to be more important and influential than they really are. They've already cloned objects. The process has begun with living beings.
Now…this is the project I was working on. On my phone here, you will see a bunch of blueprints, equations, and diagrams that me and other scientists drew up. I know it looks complicated, so I'll just say what it is in simplest form: it's a machine that clones living beings. They were able to build machines that cloned objects, but the real test was when it came to living beings. I helped create the machine to clone people…and I wish I hadn't.
We tested this machine on a homeless woman. The pictures on my phone are of this poor, homeless toad lady, who I think was just in her mid 20s. The company had captured her and made her unconscious. She was then forced into the machine and we activated it in hopes of having this be the successful test. And…well…it was. Almost. We made an identical clone of the homeless woman! Everyone was in awe!
However, here's where the 'almost' part comes in now. I had mentioned to you guys, the ones who were here when the others went to the Shiver Region, that they hadn't done cloning of actual people yet…well, I sincerely apologize, but that was a bite of a lie. I should've said that they hadn't SUCCESSFULLY cloned living beings yet. What happened to that homeless woman's clone…it was as if it was a vicious, ruthless creature, as if it had no mind of its own. I say this because it attacked everything in sight on pure impulse. No one was killed by her, but there were injuries. We locked her in an isolation room and studied her. Turns out, the 'clone' was missing vital parts to its DNA and the brain was different compared to the original woman's brain. We discovered that, in the process of cloning, bits of the woman's DNA and brain got 'eroded', basically causing her to behave like some cavewoman, very abnormal-like.
The experiment was considered a failure, but it was the closest the company has ever gotten to a successful cloning of a living being. Shortly after this, when I realized what the full agenda was and what they were going to do once they were going to carry out cloning on actual people, I backed out. I didn't know of the entire plan until the very end of my stay there, but as soon as I did, I had to make an excuse to end my work with them. After I ended it, I had to sign some form saying that I cannot speak a word of this to anyone outside of Mushroom Corporations or else I will be found out and severe consequences will be made. I've kept my mouth shut from then until now. I'm not saying all of this just because I want to be honest with all of you about my past with them and to clear my name, I'm also saying this because they absolutely can't be trusted and are our enemy as well.
Now, if you're wondering why I even worked with them in the first place…I was contacted by them and went through a very lengthy back and forth conversation on the phone and in person and all of that hullabaloo. They knew about the work and experiments I've done with things like the Poltergust 3000, the Hydrogush, and the F.L.U.D.D machine and wanted my help for a project. The monetary payment they would give me for my help was in the high 6 figures, and I'll be honest, I truly needed the money for my own experiments as I wanted to go even further with my creations. The only information they gave me was that they were trying to develop a chemical for women who want to bear children to accelerate the pregnancy process. They didn't allude to much else prior to me joining them. I found out everything else from when I started working there and I did my best to keep all my recordings as secret as possible.
And that, my friends, is my explanation for me working there. I'm not proud of helping to contribute to what they're doing. I'm not proud of having my greed get the better of me when I worked for them. But…you guys can trust me. I've known some of you for years and I've helped you on your quests. I am your ally and will fight with all of you until all of this is over. I will help you destroy Mushroom Corporations because they are just as bad as Tatanga. I didn't say anything about them until now because I feared I would be killed if I so much as made a passing mention to someone, because as I said, they have eyes EVERYWHERE. They're waiting for us to get the Crystal Star Rod to destroy Tatanga, then they'll no doubt seize it for their own personal gain. When we get the Crystal Star Rod, we must use that to stop them. Whew…I'm really out of breath now from that grand storytelling…"
Silence struck again, this time with a look of terror on some of their faces. The reality officially sunk in that Mushroom Corporations had to be eliminated with Tatanga.
"God almighty. That is…this is…inhumane. And this is all happening right in front of our faces practically. That's just horrifying," Toadsworth responded, seeming the most terrified of them all.
"So…that's another place to clear through on our list. Another place with corrupted assholes who are only in it for money and power. It never ends, does it? One bad guy is crushed, another one pops up. What a fucking cursed world we live in," Morton angrily commented.
"So, what you're saying is…they want to create a race of manufactured 'perfect' people? And they want to use those people to watch over societies and take control of everything!? That is unbelievably insane and…like, it's also so much like Tatanga's plan! They're practically one and the same!" Goombella shrieked.
"And they want to use our blood and DNA for those manufactured people!? No! NO! I refuse to let anything from my body be used for evil!" Yoshi shouted and got red in the face.
"Not only that, but they're only having human beings, toads, and koopas be the ones that get cloned! That just sounds like a genocidal replacement of other species with extra steps!" Fly Guy pointed out.
"Goddamn. After all this time…from the start, we thought they were helping us with Tatanga…but now, I see that we were being used the entire time for their own agenda. I'm gonna…goddamnit…I feel like I'm gonna go ballistic at any time now…" Daisy spoke as she hyperventilated a little and rubbed her temples, appearing very ticked off.
"What happened to that woman and her clone after all of that? They didn't, um, kill her, did they?" Toadette nervously asked.
"I honestly don't know. By the time I left, as far as I knew, both of them were still alive. Those poor women are basically prisoners and test subjects," E. Gadd answered.
"I remember when we first woke up at Mushroom Corporations, there were a few toads in some green tube things, Kylie said they were clones in there. I thought it was pretty impressive, but I didn't really give it much thought after that. But now…if those clones ARE successful clones…then maybe they've figured out how to perfect the cloning process!?" DK pointed out in a major epiphany, which brought chills down everyone's spine.
"Yeah, I remember that! So, this has all been happening right in front of our eyes since the start!" Yoshi exclaimed.
Mario stepped towards E. Gadd and spoke, "Professor…out of all the years we've worked together, you've never given me a reason to distrust you. Even now." He then faced everyone else and continued, "Some of you here don't know E. Gadd, and that's fine. You can have whatever opinion you want on him after hearing what he just told you all. But, I trust him. I know we're all jaded from being fucked over and witnessing our friends and family die…but please don't let that cloud your judgment on this.
And, if anything else…this gives me a great idea. We have one gem left. After that, we get the Crystal Star Rod. As much as I want to immediately go off and destroy Tatanga the second we get the rod, I think it's best we destroy Mushroom Corporations first. They're likely going to swoop in and steal the rod from us so they can quicken their own plans and be unstoppable if we deal with Tatanga first. So…we deal with them first. E. Gadd knows the place inside and out, so I want him to lead on that part. Does this sound like a good plan to you all? Raise your hand if your answer is yes."
One by one, everyone slowly raised their hands and some even nodded, agreeing with everything Mario was saying. The plumber and professor smiled at their group being supportive. It was very endearing and heartwarming.
However, Mario noticed two people who didn't raise their hands: Luvbi and Bowser. Mario looked to Bowser directly at first, and the two locked eyes. Bowser exhaled through his nose and closed his eyes, looking annoyed and defeated, but he ended up raising his hand.
"Professor Elvin Gadd…you are one of the wackiest people I've ever met in my life. But…I know you've helped Mario and his friends for a long time, so I will TRY to trust you and this plan," Bowser said with a harsh undertone.
"That's why I don't mind coining myself as a mad scientist, Bowser!" E. Gadd responded with a chuckle.
"Luvbi? Wanna voice your thoughts? The floor is yours!" Mario offered.
Luvbi frowned a little and shook her head. "I'm sorry…I'm still adjusting to the fact that some of you guys covered up a crime. If you guys were willing to go THAT far for one of your friends, it really makes me wonder what other dark stuff you're hiding. I've always seen you guys as being above the law, but now…it's honestly been a struggle to adjust to that. If Dixie hadn't been any of your guys' friends, would you still have covered for her? It just makes me so sick inside!"
"Back to that crap again…" Yoshi grumbled.
"Luvbi…like we said last night, we're not proud of what we did, but it's done. It's in the past. We ALL have dark stuff we're ashamed of, and I'm sure you do too. We're not perfect role models that you hold up to on a pedestal. We're not saints, nor did we ever claim to be," Daisy said.
"Yeah…I know you're not saints, but…I don't know, maybe I just came into this with the wrong expectations. It certainly messes with my mind, you know, having THE Super Mario, Super Luigi, Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, and a few others of a similar social status cover up a crime. It sounds so unbelievably surreal when you think about it!" Luvbi pointed out.
"Wait a second here…a CRIME!? Hold on, you gotta give us the details now! This sounds juicy!" Toodles oozed at this new piece of info.
"Yeah, what in shooting stars' name is this about covering up a crime!? Someone explain!" Toadsworth demanded.
"I'll tell you about it after the meeting…" Peach said, looking embarrassed.
"Luvbi, I understand your concerns and all, but you shouldn't let this deter you from helping out! It's ONE bad thing they all did years ago! That shouldn't have any effect on what is happening now!" Starlow said, but Luvbi still looked unmoved by things.
The meeting ended and everyone's nerves were somewhat high due to Mushroom Corporations' watchful eye being everywhere along with having to eventually take them down. Everyone began to go back up stairs onto the main floor.
"Hey, Kody, can we please talk!? I really wanna smooth things out with you!" Larry pleaded as he ran up to the koopa, who began walking faster.
"There's nothing to say. Leave me alone," Kody stated without even looking at him and went up the stairs. Larry stopped at the foot of the stairs and became more upset.
"Come on! Please…fuck…you know what!?" Larry yelled and turned around to face Morton, then continued, "None of this would've happened if you kept Kody out of killing that koopatrol! You should've just dealt with it on your own or tell dad about it and let him handle it!"
"Oh, don't start that shit with me! The kid was shady as hell, so I did it as a test to prove his innocence. It's done now, so get over it!" Morton spat.
"GUYS! Can we please not argue again!? We just need to let this go and carry on!" Ludwig pleaded.
"Hard to let this crap go, when you have SOMEONE here who acts like they don't care about keeping things a secret from me when it comes to my kid!" Bowser commented as she shot an angry look at Luigi.
"Excuse me? What the hell is that supposed to mean!?" Luigi angrily responded.
"You're acting so apathetic to what you did! You kept a secret from me involving my kids and you just stand there and act like it doesn't even fucking matter! When the hell did you lose all of your emotions!?" Bowser yelled in his face.
"BECAUSE IT DOESN'T FUCKING MATTER!" Luigi yelled back, surprising some of the others. "Bowser, by the time I got down to that room, they already made that choice to kill him! What was telling you going to do!? What would it change!? Oh, the fact that you KNOW what they did? Just knowing!? They wanted me to not tell anyone, so I kept that promise. Just deal with it and move on!"
"YOU ARE MISSING THE POINT, YOU PRICK!" Bowser roared, now getting red in the face and teary-eyed, scaring some of the others now that Bowser would beat him down. "Anything that happens with my kids, you tell ME about it! Is that crystal fucking clear!? I don't understand this fucking line of thinking with you after I've lost two…three of my kids! How in the FUCK could you be so insensitive!?"
Luigi looked away, still looking mad, but his expression then softened a little. "I…I'm not insensitive. I just…thought that was the best way to handle things at the time."
Bowser scoffed and rubbed his eyes as he was on the verge of crying. "Really. That was your thought process when it came to my kids? My god. Look…I get it…we're all going through some fucked up trauma right now. The worst kind of trauma. But, that doesn't excuse me being in the dark with what happens with my kids. Is that understood by all of you!?"
Peach cautiously stepped forward towards the koopa king. "Of course it's understood, Bowser. We're all a team here, so we should all support each other however we can. We're all fighting for the same goal. You can trust us!"
Bowser looked to Peach, whom he could tell was being genuine, then looked to Mario who seemed sympathetic towards the koopa king, then looked over to Luigi whose expressions softened a little more as the green brother sniffled and also got teary-eyed. Bowser so badly wanted to be livid with all of them and yell out every expletive and death threat in the book, but he couldn't. He grew a bond with these people that was genuine and natural, and even reliable. He never thought in a million years that he'd be feeling this way towards these people…but here he was.
"Just…ok. Okay. You guys will understand my point of view when you have kids. And when you do…I hope you never have to face the tragedy of losing them," Bowser spoke in a softer voice as tears finally rolled down his cheeks.
"Some of us won't get to have kids, Bowser…" Pauline commented. Heads turned to her in confusion.
"What do you mean by that, Pauline?" Bowser asked.
Pauline also looked like she was ready to cry as she spoke, "You guys remember when I told you all about me being raped? Well…the asshole who did it gave me an STD. Gonorrhea, to be exact. I didn't know I had it until about 6 months after the incident. I checked with my doctor and, umm…well, because it went untreated for so long…I'm…infertile. The disease basically corroded my fallopian tubes to the point where I won't be able to conceive. I'm cured now, but…I won't ever get to know the feeling of carrying a child and giving life to it…"
That story shook everyone to their core. Just when they all thought that Pauline's life was tragic enough, it gets worse.
"Oh my god, Pauline…I am so sorry for that! That is just inhumane what that guy did to you!" Daisy cried and hugged her. Peach and Mona joined in on the hugging, while Mario and Luigi were brought to a sob from that.
"I…shit…I'm really sorry, Pauline. I just…guys…just..please let me know about anything that happens with my kids. That's all I ask," Bowser spoke more softly as he choked up, then walked slowly walked off with his kids.
"There you are," Goombella called out to Koops, who was wandering around the graveyard. Koops glanced towards her, but then looked back at the graves, looking as if he just finished crying.
"Oh…hey. If you're wondering why I'm out here…I just didn't wanna be in the hospital. But I also don't wanna be out here because I'm getting really emotional again seeing all our friends buried here…so, I don't know where to go. I was gonna wander the woods, but I'm afraid some random bad guy is gonna pop out of nowhere and gun me down," Koops responded while playing with the grass with his shoes.
"I get that. Everywhere is pretty much dangerous for us now. Like, how the hell do we even manage to sleep still!?" Goombella scoffed as she observed the graves and immediately welled up again. "Umm…I just wanted to know how you were doing after…you know, like, losing Koopie…and Flurrie…and what Bowser said about us…"
Koops heavily sighed and crossed his arms. "Can I be totally honest with you about something?"
Goombella looked at him very curiously now. "Of course! What is it?"
"So, uhh, I'm definitely very sad and heartbroken over Flurrie…and Koopie. A part of me still loves Koopie, but, um, another part of me is still angry with what she did to me. I still feel betrayed. I know that sounds bad because she's gone now, but…I-I just can't get rid of these feelings! I know it's so soon after her passing, but I HATE feeling like this! I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!" Koops yelled in anger and more tears. Goombella truly felt his pain and frustration.
"You're grieving, Koops. It's not supposed to be, like, a rational and linear process. You need to go through the emotions otherwise it's all gonna bottle up and make things worse!" Goombella advised.
"I don't want to, though! IT HURTS SO MUCH! I JUST…I JUST WANNA FUCKING EXPLODE AND TELL KOOPIE HOW MUCH I LOVE AND HATE HER! I WANNA SAY EVERYTHING THAT I'VE BEEN WANTING TO SAY TO HER!" Koops screamed and started to cry hysterically now.
"THEN SAY IT! DO IT! Imagine she was right here and she wanted you to get everything out of your system! LET IT ALL OUT, KOOPS!" Goombella encouraged.
"O…okay, I will! I WILL! KOOPIE…you fucking betrayed me TWICE and kept it a secret until it all blew up in yours and Kooper's faces! I HATE YOU BOTH! YOU WERE MY FRIENDS AND YOU STABBED ME IN THE BACK! YOU TWO ARE THE REASON WHY I CAN'T TRUST PEOPLE! YOU TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ME BEING A QUIET AND KIND PERSON SO YOU CAN USE ME UNTIL I'M NOT NEEDED IN YOUR LIFE ANYMORE! WELL, FUCK YOU BOTH FOR THAT! I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU, I HATE YOOOOOUUUUUUUU!" Koops raged and screamed at the top of his lungs and then collapsed to his knees as he cried further into his hands. Goombella was a little frightened by his outburst, but she truly wanted to be there for him.
Koops continued, "I-I-I-I…I'm…s-sorry…I didn't mean that…I'm just s-s-s-so angry and s-sad and…I…um…never got the chance t-to…f…forgive you for…doing that to me…ohhhh…Koopie…I still love you and it should be me in the ground right now, not you. You're so much tougher and braver than me…b-but…you're, um, gone forever…fuck…forever…I'm…gonna miss you so much…we have so much history together, a-and, um, nothing can ever erase that, s-so..um…I…hope that, if you're out there…I hope you're in some place beautiful. And I hope my mom is there too."
Chills were sent down Goombella's body with that heart wrenching speech. She cried a little more and walked over to him, then sat down next to him.
"I'm grieving deeply as well. Not just for Koopie and Flurrie…but my parents too," Goombella said while staring at Koopie's and Flurrie's graves. "I've never told anyone about this because I hate talking about it…well, I told Bowser when we were at the Mayor's house. Um, but, my father died when I was younger. Car crash. Another driver swerved into him, but they never caught the guy who did it. Mom fell into a severe depression and hasn't gotten out of it since. We don't talk much because she's still in that dark state.
So…when we were in the Mirror World, I got my hopes up that my dad was alive in that world and I could see him in the future if I tried to go back again. Well…my counterpart confirmed to me that he WAS alive, thankfully. But, then, like, the downside is…my mom is deceased in that world, also due to a car crash. And my father is in the same zombie-like state. So…that's where I'm at right now. My mom is alive in this world, my father is alive in that world…but they'll never get to meet…and it's better that they don't, because it wouldn't be genuine. But…it just really sucks that there's nothing I can do to make her whole again. Nothing."
Koops wiped his eyes with his arms and looked to her. "I'm sorry, Goombella. That's just unfair. Why does shit like this happen to people like us? WHY? What the hell did we ever do to make this happen!?"
"It's just life, Koops. Life is brutal and unforgiving. If we try to understand it, we'll get upset and end up driving ourselves insane," Goombella responded as she looked to him. The two locked eyes for a few seconds, then Koops leaned in to kiss her. Goombella jumped a little, but didn't pull back. Koops pulled away and locked eyes with her again.
"Wha…what the hell did you do that for!?" Goombella shrieked.
"I just wanna feel good for once. Even if it's just for a few seconds. We can make each other feel better. Can we do that? Please?" Koops pleaded.
That idea sparked some excitement in Goombella's mind. She also desperately wanted to feel good and was tired of drowning in constant misery.
"Well…like…we can do that…but, if we ARE…it'd be best to do it away from a graveyard…" Goombella answered with a tiny chuckle. Koops smiled and nearly chuckled himself. He stood up, extended his hand for Goombella to grab, she then got up, and the pair walked into the woods so they could try to have even just a glimpse of a good feeling.
Parakarry walked over to Jojora who was sitting outside the courtyard and handed her a coffee.
"I hope it's to your liking! I specifically told the barista chick to make it decaf with an espresso shot and to make it steamed hot, but not EXTREME hot," Parakarry said while chuckling.
Jojora took a drink and nearly chuckled as well. "It's perfect. I used to get this type of coffee drink almost everyday before I went into work. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I almost MISS my job. Feels weird not having been in for so long."
"Oh yeah, I know what you mean. I miss delivering letters. Sounds silly, but it was a passion of mine to go around and make sure everyone gets their letters! If Toad Town Post Office is destroyed, I'll have to get another job somewhere else, but hopefully that other job will have the same benefits and retirement…I refuse to work until I'm, like, 90!" Parakarry stated and chuckled some more.
"I know what you mean. And I also liked having that order in my life too. Wake up, go to work, do my thing at work, come home, wind down, sleep…do that 5 days a week and then do all the other important errands on the weekends. If that isn't the most modern day working adult lifestyle, then I don't know what the hell is!" Jojora exclaimed and chuckled with him.
"Yeah. Hehe. But…no adults do what we do. You know, save the world and deal with assholes who kill our friends and other innocent people…and then deal with mega rich people who clone people in some New World Order scheme," Parakarry said as he stared out to the woods, his cheeriness fading away as he was reminded of the bodies being hung up on those trees.
"Yeah. Not many people can handle what we've handled, which makes us pretty damn unique, don't you think? Once the world is saved, we'll be renowned for what we've done to help. Hell, we may get SO famous and wealthy from the international attention that we might not even have to work again! That's honestly kind of exciting," Jojora said in an upbeat manner and drank more of her coffee.
"I, uhh, guess so?" Parakarry stammered, not exactly comfortable with the idea of being so infamous and rich from these events. He liked having his life be in more of a private manner. "Say, I wanted to talk to you about something kind of related to this."
Jojora turned to him. "Yeah? What's up?"
"Last night, it seemed like you agreed with Luvbi with what she was saying about Mario's inner circle covering up a crime and breaking their image. Is that true? Do you feel the same way she does?" he asked.
Jojora slowly set her coffee down, making a nervous expression as if she didn't want to talk about it. "So…yeah. I mean, it was pretty shocking hearing that our famed leaders of the kingdom have done such a shady thing to someone. And it DOES break their images, because we've always viewed them as outstanding citizens who have always done good. Then THAT was revealed and, to be honest, that sounded like something Bowser and his family would do."
"Well, yeah, it was for sure shocking hearing all that! But, I don't see how that breaks their image? I've never viewed Mario and his friends as perfect people. None of us are. We all have our dark secrets and stuff that we regret doing from our past. Mario and his friends doing that one bad thing doesn't mean they're villainous people now, nor does it discredit all the good they've done for the kingdom!" Parakarry exclaimed.
"I never said it makes them 'villainous' or that it 'discredits' them," Jojora sneered and rolled her eyes a little. "I'm just saying…THEM, of all people, to do something as heinous as that is mind-blowing, and not in a good way. Makes you think how the public would perceive that if it were to be released to the news outlets."
This made Parakarry perk up. "What is that supposed to mean? Why would that be released to the news outlets?"
Jojora drank more of her coffee as she looked even more nervous. "I-I'm talking hypothetically. A scandal like that would warp some people's looks on those guys."
Parakarry gave her a suspicious look now. "Jojora…you're not thinking of telling that to your job once this is overwith, are you!?"
"Excuse me!? What the hell compels you to say that!?" the ice fairy yelled.
"That's what your job was before this. To dish on the gossip. It sounds like you're hinting that you're gonna tell this to your job and have that spread to other news outlets. That doesn't need to happen!" Parakarry shouted.
"Oh, stop! I never said ANYTHING about doing that!" Jojora shouted and slammed her coffee cup down. "The whole thing just frustrates me because it just shows how they have the privilege to cover that crime up. They're part of the upper class, the elites, the ones who have other people cater to their whim. That's not their fault, they're just being rewarded for all the good they've done for the kingdom.
BUT! It really makes you wonder if they've done anything that's just as shady considering the power and influence they have. I'm not at all against them in any manner, but it frightens me a little to know that they've done that to someone who already has a history with the cops. Yeah, Boshi may have been an obnoxious twat, but he didn't deserve that. And like I said…also makes you wonder if they've done anything else of that nature and used their positions of power to cover it up."
Parakarry couldn't believe what she was spouting and started getting ticked off. "Okay, now you're just sounding like a conspiracy theorist right there. Those are my friends you're talking about there, people who I've known for YEARS! Yeah, I may not be as close to them as they are with each other, but I've never gotten any kind of bad vibes from them, ever. Do you honestly think that someone like Princess Peach, of ALL people, would do something else that's just as heinous? Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds!?"
Jojora narrowed her eyes at him. "How the hell is it ridiculous to think of whatever else kind of weird crap they could've done in the past after all that was revealed last night!? And you're seriously underestimating how good some people are at keeping secrets. You're not part of their inner circle, Karry, so logic will denote that you won't have access to their more personal secrets!"
"Well, guess what? People are allowed to keep their own personal and dark secrets! There's dark stuff about my past I haven't told Kooper or Bombette or Lakilester, and I've known them for years, and I talk with them way more than I do to Mario or Luigi or Peach…or whoever! You're only looking at this from one angle!" Parakarry stated, looking around and noticing other people were staring and murmuring at the arguing couple.
"No, you're the one that's looking at it from just one angle! But, I get it. You're their friend and you've known them for way longer than I have. So, of course, you'd be more biased towards them. But, if you're not willing to even acknowledge anything that I've just said about them, then, that's a very black-and-white view you have," Jojora retorted.
"No…no. I heavily disagree. You're looking SO far deep into it that it's coming off as crazy, honestly," Parakarry replied while shaking his head in pure frustration.
"Oh! Good to know that I sound crazy. Well, this has been fun. I need to go clear my head," the ice fairy spat and quickly got up and went back inside. Parakarry just sat there, incredibly ticked off that the girl she had feelings for made so many wild accusations towards his friends.
Bowser went to the cafeteria to fetch his kids some water bottles. He got the bottles and exited, only to almost bump into Kenneth of all people.
"Oh! Excuse- oh. It's you…fuck…" Bowser growled, already feeling his nerves tense up.
"Hello, Bowser. We haven't talked in person yet, have we?" Kenneth casually chatted him up, which ticked off Bowser big time already.
"No, we haven't, and it's better off being kept that way!" the koopa king quickly yelled and was about to storm off, but the next thing Kenneth said made him stop.
"I actually wanted to apologize!" he shouted. Bowser immediately looked puzzled.
"A…apologize? For what?" he stammered.
"For your kids. You know, everything that you're going through. I'm sorry it's been extremely difficult to manage all of that," Kenneth clarified. Bowser still looked puzzled and wasn't sure how to comprehend that weird 'apology.'
"Uhh…right. Thanks. I'm hanging in there the best I can, but, you know, you don't need to apologize for anything. Really," Bowser assured.
"Oh. Okay, well, I just felt like I should because, you know, we got off on the wrong foot previously. I know this is as unbearable for you as it is for us," Kenneth said, still in the most casual manner which really irritated Bowser right to his core.
"Unbearable!? Ha! That's quite an understatement. And how exactly is this unbearable for YOU? You're with Clawdia and you have a daughter. Boohoo, you have to deal with seeing us. Call me up when your own kids die, which I honestly hope doesn't happen to you, AND you have to see your cheating ex-wife here which brings up all these memories and feelings that I thought I buried so fucking long ago!" Bowser angrily ranted.
"Hmm. You wanna know why it's so unbearable for ME? Well, it's not as simple as seeing you and your family. It's because everywhere you and your kids go, you bring drama with you. Because of your kids, my damn daughter is acting out more than usual and I constantly have to keep putting her in check. How in the hell they let you guys in this hospital after everything you've done to this kingdom is beyond me.
That's why I apologized. Because your kids keep getting themselves involved in matters they shouldn't and keep trying to mess with my daughter. While you were gone, they kept trying to insult her at every chance they could get! It's to the point where they're practically obsessed with her! You tell them to leave us the hell alone!" Kenneth spat, quickly dropping the casual tone and revealed his true intentions.
Bowser saw flaming red. He couldn't believe the audacity of this bastard coming down on his own kids like that. He squeezed the bottles and nearly popped into them with his claws.
"You…you have 5 seconds to get the fuck out of my face. NOW," the koopa king whispered as he clenched his teeth and breathed in and out heavily.
Kenneth rolled his eyes and walked away as he said, "Go back to your castle with your kids if you're that bothered by just being here."
Bowser tried his absolute hardest not to scream and throw everything in this path at the walls. He power-walked upstairs and onto the 2nd floor, then went over to the room his kids were staying in.
"Here! Take the fucking bottles!" Bowser yelled, throwing the bottles to the floor, surprising them.
"Woah woah woah! Dad, what's wrong!? Why do you look like you're about to kill someone!?" Ludwig frantically asked.
"Yeah, what the hell happened!? Tell us, don't keep it in!" Larry demanded.
"It's…it's fucking Kenneth! GRRRRRRRRRAAAAAHHHH! I SHOULD'VE FUCKING BASHED THAT FUCKER'S FACE IN WHEN WE WERE IN THAT ROOM WITH CLAWDIA! FUUUUUCK! NONE OF YOU WILL GO NEAR HIM OR HIS FUCKING FAMILY! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME!?" Bowser roared in pure rage, scaring the kids.
"O-Okay, okay! I mean, we don't really go out of our way to be near them anyways, but okay!" Lemmy shrieked.
"Junior does. Because he wants to reconnect with mom," Morton pointed out snarkily and crossed his arms. Bowser darted his eyes to him.
"OH! Well, uhh, I-I'm only trying to connect with mom! I honestly don't care about Kenneth and Katia, I swear!" Junior cried in defense.
"That doesn't matter! Wherever Clawdia goes, Kenneth and Katia are gonna follow! You need to stay the hell away from them because they're just gonna cause more fucking chaos for ALL OF US! IS THAT CLEAR, JUNIOR!?" Bowser angrily stated. Junior started feeling some anxiety run through from how angry he saw his dad, reminding him of the time when Bowser first saw Clawdia again.
"I…um…o-okay. Okay! I promise I won't go near mo- uhh, I mean, Clawdia anymore," Junior very nervously answered.
Bowser saw his son's anxiousness and tried to calm himself down because he truly didn't want to scare him and make him cry again. "Thank you. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get so mad, I just…grah! That Kenneth guy…what the fuck does Clawdia even see in him!? He's been nothing but fucking vile and devoid of any kind of emotion since we first met him! I seriously don't see how she fell in love with him!"
"Probably because Clawdia's more like Kenneth than how she appears, or wants to admit," Morton said confidently.
Mario and Peach were being driven to Mushroom Corporations by Arfur. The entire car ride was in an awkward silence as Arfur tried his hardest not to show his anxiety. They reached the building lot and got out then went inside.
Mario immediately began to heavily observe the setting as Arfur guided them. It was just a lobby they were in, but many workers there noticed him and Peach and murmured amongst each other, some of them looking concerned. Peach felt a little nervous being in there, now knowing what she knew, but she had to keep up appearances of being fearless.
Arfur went into the elevator and Mario and Peach got in.
"His office is on the top floor. You two ready?" Arfur asked as he pushed the button and the doors closed.
"You make it seem like we're going on another mission," Mario joked as he looked at the elevator button numbers for the floors. There were 6 floors in total. Mario somewhat dreaded having to comb through 6 floors when the time comes to stop Mushroom Corporations.
"No no. I just, uhh, you know, he IS the big boss and all, so…he can be pretty intimidating. But I'm sure he'll be nothing but kind and understanding to the princess and the kingdom's hero," Arfur responded delicately.
"I mean, I certainly hope he would be, especially at a time like this!" Peach pointed out. Arfur looked away and made no response.
The elevator reached the top floor and the three went out. Arfur led them to a black and sleek door to their left and he knocked on it.
"Sir! It's Arfur. Mario and Princess Peach are here for the meeting!" the doogan called out.
"Come on in!"
Arfur slowly opened the door and in they went. The office was surprisingly plain. Small room, big windows on the opposite side, a couple filing cabinets, and a black desk with a large computer on top. At that desk was a tall, buff, and yellow-spotted Toad who looked eager to chat with them.
"Welcome in! It's a pleasure to meet the honorable Super Mario and…Princess Peach! Oh. I didn't realize the princess was coming too?" Toadari questioned and looked to Arfur.
"Err, yeah, sorry, last minute addition, but I figured it'd be okay since, ya know, she IS the princess and is with Mario," Arfur nervously pointed out.
"It's…not a problem at all. It's also just as big of an honor to meet the princess in person!" Toadari responded with a slight hesitation. "Thank you, Arfur. I'll take everything from here."
Arfur nodded and quickly exited the room, closing the doors.
"So! Super Mario and Princess Peach, first things first, I must congratulate you and your friends on getting 8 out of the 9 gems! The kingdom is eternally in your debt. Just one more, and that's it. This nightmare can finally be over." Toadari praised. Mario and Peach put on a fake smile. "Oh, and I'd like to formally introduce myself…I am Toadari, CEO of Mushroom Corporations."
"Nice to meet you, Toadari, and of course! It's been so crazy and hard, but we're glad to finish this once and for all. It's just awful so many people had to lose their lives in all of it," Peach responded solemnly.
"Oh, absolutely. Quite possibly the biggest tragedy our world has ever seen since the Great Mushroom War of 1940. I wasn't there for that, obviously, but I imagine it must've been similar to what we're going through right now," Toadari said as he sat down at his desk.
"Okay. I don't want to sound rude, but I really wanna get to why we're really here, Toadari," Mario urgently spoke. Toadari perked up at him.
"Oh, of course. That's why you came here in the first place! Yes, we can get straight to the subject of this meeting, no problem. So! What is it you want to discuss?" he asked.
"I want to discuss…well, things that just don't add up with you guys ever since everything with Tatanga happened. Why did you guys kidnap Peach and the other 11 three days before Tatanga struck? Why did you guys have Fire Bro here, when he snapped and tried to kill us recently? He actually killed Birdo, one of our closest friends! Why did you just send off guns to some of our people at the first hospital like they were toys? I don't think any of them even knew how to properly use guns! Plus, why don't you guys have security protecting our people at the hospital? If you had sent more of your guys out to our hospital, less would've died!" Mario shouted, not in anger, but it was pretty damn close to it. Peach winced and looked away in embarrassment, wishing that Mario hadn't come at him full force like that.
Toadari raised his eyebrows and nearly chuckled. "Woah there. Damn! Those are…quite the loaded questions you got there. Okay. Can I interest you in some water before I answer these? I really want this to be a proper and professional conversation. No heated tension. No raising of voices. I can answer everything, but all I ask is that you sit down and relax. This doesn't need to get argumentative."
Peach looked over to Mario, who then looked at her, and she gave him a certain demanding look. He knew what she wanted him to do without even saying it. He slowly looked back over at Toadari and faked another smile.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to come at you like that, Toadari. Yes, I would love some water," the plumber politely responded.
"Water for me too please!" Peach asked just as politely.
"Absolutely. And please, sit down, both of you. Make yourselves at home. I try to make this environment as welcoming as I can," Toadari said as he fetched water bottles from his mini-fridge for the two. Mario and Peach grabbed the water bottles from him as the two sat down in the leather chairs in front of his desk.
"Alright then. So, Mister Super Mario, I will address each of your concerns one by one. Your first concern is about us 'kidnapping' 12 of your friends before Tatanga officially struck. As I'm sure you remember, Merlon was with us for a period of time when Tatanga first struck. He was of a big help with his psychic powers when he was still alive. He used his 'psychicness' to reveal what was going to happen and when, and that the 12 needed to be saved no matter what before the you-know-what had hit the fan.
Merlon told us that your 12 friends had a 'special connection' to the gods that put their power in the 9 gems and sealed them away from centuries ago. So…as wild as it looks, we had to find your locations, put you into a temporary sleep and get you into our headquarters so you could be protected before the time came. I know, I know…it was a very extreme thing to do, but this was an apocalypse that we've never dealt with before. We had to take all necessary precautions if we wanted to increase everyone's chances of survival and success," Toadari explained calmly. His answer outright ticked off Mario since he knew he was giving such a vague answer, but he had to keep his temper in check.
"Yes, we know about that. But, my friends and I were in here for 3 days! That's what Kylie told us. What were we doing in here for 3 days? Just…sleeping!?" Peach asked, a little perturbed.
"Yes, I know how it looks. What we did was very invasive, but unfortunately, drastic times call for drastic measures. However! Nothing drastic to you guys was done. The only thing we did was take blood samples from you 12 to figure out your lineage. We cross-referenced a whole bunch of data from long ago, and we found out that you guys have blood lineage dating back to the 9 heroes who helped save this world in a similar apocalypse back in the 17th century, and who made the gems. We had to be sure of what Merlon was telling us, and we were fascinated by the results!
I deeply apologize for using you while you were unconscious, but it was for the sake of research and clarity. To think…the princess and her friends, connected to heroes from centuries ago, heroes who saved the world from a similar apocalypse…talk about going full circle! But, please rest assured, that's all we did. Nothing else happened to you during your 3 day stay here. We made sure you had the upmost comfort and security before you woke," Toadari continued his calm explaining and made it seem like it was all for the greater good. Mario was just DYING to call him out on his bullshit but he bit his tongue. This reflected in his body language where he crossed his arms and started tapping his right foot. Peach glanced over at him and tried not to roll her eyes since he was making it obvious that he was peeved.
"You're right, that IS invasive. But…I can understand why you did what you did. Plus, we've all known Merlon for years, so we trust his words, which means that we can trust you guys," Peach kindly responded and took a sip of her water.
"So, that's all you did with their blood? Just…research it? Where're the blood samples now?" Mario questioned, uncrossing his arms to make himself look less hostile.
"In our database. We only use blood samples for research purposes, and we don't make that research public. So, the information you're getting here is top secret. You can tell your friends and family of course, but please, don't let this stuff be leaked to the media," Toadari kindly pleaded.
"Okay. Well, weren't planning on telling the news media anything anyways. I mean, they already have so much to report on after we save the world, hahaha!" Peach laughed heartily in an exaggerated manner. Mario nodded a little and played with his water bottle.
"Oh, absolutely. We'll be hearing about it for probably the rest of our lives! Now then, on to your next concern, Mister Super Mario, about Fire Bro. Yes…I can definitely see why you'd be worried about THAT for sure. I sincerely apologize for what happened to your friend with what Fire Bro had done. If we see him before you guys do, we'll make sure he's killed and his body will be disposed of.
Now, if you're wondering why we had him here in the first place…well, he's a lot more powerful and sneaky than he appears to be. We hired him on as a bounty hunter first, and he succeeded in his job greatly. He was dependable and capable of whatever task we assigned him to do, and he executed those tasks flawlessly. That's why we had him join you guys, we figured it'd be perfect for you guys to team up with him and put him in check in case he were to get too zany.
So! I'll be upfront about his past. We knew he was in an insane asylum before this. However, he had been out for so many years by the time he joined us, and as I said, he's strong and smart, so we decided to give him a chance but also keep a close eye on him in case he were to try anything. In all the years he's worked here, he has never done anything that would make us suspicious of him or be cautious of being around him. As zany as he acts, he's been completely loyal and reliable for his entire duration here. That's why I was so stunned when I heard he had killed your friend! I couldn't believe he would turn on you guys like that. He's smarter than we took him for. He's been hiding his ulterior motives all this time, and he hid it so well. He outsmarted all of us!" Toadari continued on and seemed sad towards the end, but Mario wasn't buying it of course.
Mario leaned in a little and really tried to not give any kind of attitude. "But, Toadari…you had to have known that there could've been even a SLIM possibility that he would do something like that!? He faked his identity too, because he's actually not a real Fire Brother, he's a regular koopa, he's Kooper Korpus' brother for crying out loud. You..you had to have known that!?"
Toadari sighed and looked down at his lap in despair. "We did. And it was for that reason that we kept him on. He was the perfect bounty hunter, everything we wanted. We knew there was going to be some risk taking him on, and if he acted out towards us in any way, we'd put him down with ease. But, as I said, he was so good in all his time here. Nothing was ever an issue with him. He kept his inner thoughts and behavior so well hidden all those years. Hell, he'd give Tatanga a run for his money!
I really am sorry for what happened with him, though. I know that doesn't change or help things, but we really thought we were helping out however we could. You have every right to be angry at us, but just know, that what we're doing doesn't come out as any kind of malicious intent. It's not as black-and-white as you or your friends may be telling yourselves it is. And the more you feed those stories to yourselves, the more you're gonna act on pure impulse and not listen to reason."
Mario smirked a little and leaned back into his chair. Mario knew what Toadari was trying to do, trying to get him and Peach to think otherwise about their company.
"You're right. Nothing is ever that black-and-white. I understand that now," Peach replied understandingly.
"Yes. We're all just angry that it even happened and…you know…I think we're angry at the wrong people. Fire Bro is the one who committed that act, not you guys. I guess, for us, when it comes to Birdo dying, since we can't direct our anger at Fire Bro for that since he's escaped, we kinda take it towards you guys now…but that's not gonna do us any good," Mario added calmly and also understandingly.
"Of course! I completely get it! Grief is never a rational thing. You guys are true warriors for dealing with so much death and violence. Now…I'll address your last two concerns in one, Mario, as they both kinda connect to each other. Those guns were given out because we wanted to give you guys the opportunity to defend yourselves. We didn't know if there were people there that knew how to use guns or not. But, the reason why we did it so willingly, was because our staff of 'soldiers' is the lowest it's ever been. A group of them arranged a walkout a few months ago because they felt like they weren't getting the pay they thought they deserved. And it's been a hell of a hard time hiring anyone who wants to fight in the frontlines, understandably so. So, we've been 'rationing' what's left of our guys. I know that's probably not the best way to go about helping you guys, because after all, you ARE the ones who are helping save our world…but, I also have to think about MY company and its future. Believe me, I want to be as selfless as I can towards this cause, but I helped build this company from the ground up and have taken too many sacrifices to get where we're at today. We ALL have a level of selfishness, even in times like this," Toadari explained some more, but with a little more firmness this time.
The room was quiet after that. Peach wasn't sure how to respond so she glanced over at Mario, hoping he'd say something, but the plumber just sat back in his chair, fiddling with his water bottle. Peach sighed a little and looked back to Toadari.
"So…are you underpaying your employees then? Why pay so little if they're at risk of being hurt or even dying?" Peach questioned.
"Underpaying…oh no no. Well…okay. They were definitely underpaid…but only compared to everyone else who works here. All the employees here make six figures, if not, then close to it. Financially, everyone pretty much lives a comfortable lifestyle here. But, some people got greedy. They wanted more. We couldn't give them that much more, so they left. That's what happens when greed takes over, all rational thought goes out the window, and you become ungrateful for the opportunity you've been given. That's what they did," Toadari revealed shamelessly.
Silence again after that. Peach glanced back at Mario again, who was pursing his lips and tapping his right hand on the water bottle. He was really starting to get under her skin now.
"Um…so…is there anything else that needs to be addressed? Well, before you say anything, I just wanna say, I know how we look. We're suspicious. In these times, your guys' worries are justified. But, we're fighting the same battle here. I really don't wanna let a few bad events tear up our alliance. That's letting Tatanga win and us hurting each other for no viable reason or cause," Toadari said eloquently with a small smile.
Mario's face turned a little red as he was now scratching the leather chair's armrest. He breathed in and out quickly and leaned forward again, saying, "There's one thing that bothers me the most about you guys. Something that I haven't mentioned yet."
Toadari looked intrigued rather than concerned or frightened. "Oh? Tell me, what is it?"
Peach became very nervous since she didn't know what Mario was planning to throw at him.
"It's about Arfur. He told one of our friends about me, about how I was also kidnapped on a separate occasion and used by you guys to examine my blood and DNA. How my blood and DNA were used on a koopa to test out to see if my blood and DNA made any other person a 'superbeing' because of how different my DNA was compared to other human beings. So, I was kidnapped without my permission, during a time when NO apocalypse was happening, and my blood and DNA were used on some koopa that made him go berserk and kill a bunch of people. So yeah…THAT is the biggest reason why we're suspicious of you guys!" Mario shouted, but held back a little to not show too much anger. Peach made a gulp, fearing how Toadari would react since that was top secret info.
Toadari's expression slowly turned into a horrified one. He took a second to respond as he was clearly gathering his thoughts.
"My…what…A-Arfur said all of that!? Really!?" he stammered.
"Yes. And it really makes me think if you just 'kidnap' others and do the same things to them, all without their permission!" Mario continued, feeling satisfied since he got him where he wanted him.
Toadari pulled on his face, still clearly gathering his thoughts. He spoke, "I'm sorry, Mario. That was very private info that Arfur knew he shouldn't have let out. Mario…I can explain everything. When you first came into this world, we were ASTOUNDED by your abilities to save the princess from Bowser. You moved about so fluidly and were so much stronger than you appeared that we HAD to know more about you, especially since you appeared from nowhere pretty much! You have a blood and DNA so unlike other human beings, something so special and unheard of. It was an opportunity we had to take advantage of. We wanted to test something and see if your blood and DNA could make others just like you, a superhuman if you will. The reason we did this, was because we hoped that, maybe, if we're able to replicate your blood and DNA into willing participants, we could create so many powerful people that would be able to stop people like Bowser from ever attacking our kingdom again. We'd be invincible, practically, from evil forces like him. You wouldn't have to do it all on your own anymore! It was the perfect solution!
But then, yes, THAT happened with Kris, the koopa in question. As soon as we saw what happened, we stopped the experiment. We canceled everything. We didn't want people to get hurt, although, of course, people did anyways…and we regretted crossing the boundaries like that. That was our karma for using your body without permission, Mario. We paid for it big time. Lawsuits were done and we paid our sums to the grieving families. I don't usually regret doing anything in my life, but that…that, Mario and Princess Peach, was one of the few things in my life that I regret doing. That violation of human boundaries should've never happened and it's a miracle that this business is still running today.
After hearing this, Mario, I truly am sorry for…well, everything. This company's goal is to develop technological advancements and be the running force in the world when it comes to technology and biological discoveries. We've made so many amazing efforts and accomplishments, and I'm afraid that was the time it was taken too far. Heh…you know…it was the lust for greed that did it. The same damn greed that those soldiers got. No wonder why it's considered a deadly sin among certain religions.
Mario…and Peach, I don't expect you to forgive me for all the questionable stuff that we've done. It's invasive and frightening. But, we've all done questionable stuff that we regret later in life. Stuff that makes us really think why on earth we did something so scandalous, so criminal, at that time. Stuff that might seem so 'out of character' so to speak. And, for my company, I wanted it done because I want this place to be the innovator of future technology. That's what any company would want, to be successful and in charge of things."
Silence yet again. Peach smiled sympathetically and spoke, "Thank you for explaining everything, Toadari. It helps put things more into perspective now. You're right, we've all done crazy things in our pasts…that shouldn't matter right now since we do need to be aligned to beat Tatanga."
Mario's redness went away and he also smiled a little. "Yes…it does. I'm sorry I got so mad, Toadari. I was…jumping to conclusions there and it was unfair of me to try to be neutral to hear your side of the story."
"Don't apologize, Mario. I completely understand where that anger is coming from. You have every right to be upset. But, as Peach said, the goal is to be aligned so we can take down Tatanga. That's all that matters, for the sake of our beloved planet!" Toadari responded kindly.
Peach stood up and spoke, "Well! I think this meeting really helped clear the air a little. Thank you so much for explaining your side, Toadari! I hope we didn't take too much of your time away from your job."
"No no, not at all! It's an honor to meet with the princess and Mario anyhow. Thank you so much for coming!" Toadari exclaimed and shook Peach's and Mario's hands.
"It was an honor to meet you too. We'll have to meet again, so we can…talk about our life stories! I'd love to hear the history about you and how this place began," Mario cheerily spoke.
"Absolutely! Once Tatanga is eliminated, call me up, and we'll chat over drinks! Haha, bye bye now!" Toadari responded in equal cheeriness. The princess and plumber waved him goodbye and exited the door. The second they left, his smile immediately went away and he went to his phone. He dialed a certain number and it was Arfur who picked up.
"Hey, boss. What's up?"
"Arfur…I need you to come to my office. Urgently."
Mario and Peach walked back to the elevators.
"God, Mario! Could you be any more obvious with your attitude!?" Peach scolded as the elevator opened and they went in.
"Are you kidding me!? That guy was so full of shit!" Mario whispered and hit the lobby button. "Pretending like he felt soooo bad for what he's done and that he's fighting the same side as us. Give me a break."
"Well…uhh, I KNOW he was full of it, but you could've been more subtle about it! Geez…" Peach said while shaking her head.
"I don't care. We met him in person, we see that he's just as scummy as Arfur is, and we got Arfur in trouble. That'll shake things up a bit," Mario responded in a quiet and accomplished voice.
"Wait…how come you didn't mention some of the other stuff, like, you know, with the cloning and Pauline being tested on as well?" Peach quietly asked.
"Because if I threw all that at him, he would've known for sure that we were onto him. It's best to keep it subtle, that way there's some room for deniability. Plus, I don't want him sending anyone after us in retaliation," Mario replied.
"You really think he would do that?"
"It wouldn't surprise me one bit."
Yoshi entered the stairwell from the 1st floor and stared at the center of the floor. Flashbacks of Fire Bro shooting Birdo and her falling multiple floors down flooded his mind immediately. He cringed and tugged on his head as he began to cry while backing up against the wall.
"AAAAAGGGGGHHHH! Y-YOU FUCKING BASTARD! I WILL KILL YOU! YOU TOOK MY EVERYTHING AWAY FROM MEEEEEEEEE! I GOT HER BACK AND YOU TOOK HER AWAY! BURN IN HELL YOU PIECE OF LOWLIFE SHIT!" Yoshi roared and threw his shoes at the wall.
The stairwell door opened and in came DK, Toadette, and Dixie.
"Yoshi! Hey, hey! It's okay! We're here, we're here!" DK calmly spoke and hugged him.
"Oh my god! Th-this is where she died, wasn't it!? Birdo…" Toadette shrieked.
"Yes. That bastard, Fire Bro, shot her from down here, and she fell all the way down! Ohhhh, I swear, Yoshi…when we find Fire Bro again, we will make him SUFFER. I promise you that!" Dixie spoke and felt his rage as she went in for a hug with Toadette as well.
"I'm just so angry! I've been trying so hard to hold it in so everyone can focus on the task at hand, but I can't do it anymore! And it doesn't help that Boshi, that fucking traitor, FUCKED WITH HER HEAD WHEN SHE LOST HER MEMORY! AAAAAAGGGGHHHH! I FEEL LIKE I'M GONNA FUCKING EXPLOOOODE!" Yoshi screamed through his crying.
"THEN DON'T HOLD IT IN, YOU UNDERSTAND ME!? LET IT OUT! LET YOURSELF EXPLODE AND SCREAM! Be angry! Let yourself feel those emotions! Don't push it down, don't hold it back!" DK demanded and encouraged.
"Uhh, should we all explode and scream with as well? It seems like an odd yet satisfying way to release everything!" Toadette hesitantly asked.
"Yeah, it IS odd…but who cares!? AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHH! FUCK THAT BASTARD BOSHI FOR BEING A FUCKING DRUGGIE SCUMBAG LITTLE NARCISSISTIC ASSHAT! THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN HIM ARE THOSE FUCKERS WHO RAIDED THE HOSPITAL AND KILLED MY SISTER AND THE OTHERS!" Dixie screamed ragefully and enjoyed the release.
"Don't forget to put Tatanga on that list too! WHEN WE SEE HIM, WE'LL TEAR HIS LIMBS APART! OOOOOHWOOOOOAAAHHHHH!" DK roared and pounded on his chest like a true ape.
"Okay, as much as I wanna scream at the top of my lungs too, perhaps we should do it somewhere more private!? People are gonna hear us and think we're being attacked!" Toadette warned with a chuckle at the other three's over-the-top antics.
"Crap. She's right. I wanna get out of here and…be somewhere else…" Yoshi said then looked as if he was conjuring up a plan.
"What do you wanna do and where do you wanna go? Tell us and we'll do it with you! As long as you're not harming anyone or yourself, of course!" DK enthusiastically asked in hopes of making Yoshi feel better.
"I wanna…I wanna break a bunch of shit!" Yoshi shouted. The other three looked at him in total confusion, not expecting that kind of answer.
"Uhh…okay!? You mean, like, just, uhh, throwing a bunch of objects at the walls and ground?" Toadette questioned.
"Yeah. Yeah! I don't know why I just…I wanna go fucking awol and smash a bunch of stuff! I know that sounds crazy, but I really don't wanna just hang around and do nothing for the rest of the day!" Yoshi confirmed eagerly. DK smirked at him.
"You know…I think I know just the place for that! Follow me, you guys!" the ape cheered and was about to lead the way out until a familiar pair walked into the stairwell.
"Oh! Uhh, is everything okay in here? We heard a bunch of screaming and rambling!" Starlow asked in fear.
"Yeah, what in the hell is going on!? I got frightened by the screaming, thinking we were under attack again!" Luvbi added.
"Oh! Uhh, yeah, sorry about that. We were…uhh…'venting' our emotions and thoughts!" Toadette awkwardly explained.
Luvbi narrowed her eyes in confusion. "Uh huh. Well, it's probably not the best idea to 'vent' in a stairwell of all places."
"Yes! Which is why we were just about to leave and do our venting elsewhere! See you later on!" DK cheerily spoke and was about to lead the others out, but Dixie stopped him.
"Wait a second. Luvbi, I wanna ask something real quick. Are you still feeling hesitant about being with us?" she questioned. Luvbi looked a little annoyed and turned her head to Starlow.
"Honestly, yes, especially because there's another thing that's been bothering me. I was gonna mention this right after the meeting, but I figured so many people's emotions were still high, so I kept my mouth shut. But…here it is: You all seem to have accepted E. Gadd pretty quickly after he explained himself when he worked at Mushroom Corporations. But…when Starlow and I told OUR side of the story when we were in Starborn Valley, a lot of you still were hesitant about believing us. Why the double standard? Why even have us around when it's clear that at least some of you don't fully trust us?" Luvbi questioned as Starlow looked away from everyone out of nervousness since Luvbi seemed a little heated.
DK seemed understanding of her feelings and spoke first, "Well, I can see how that comes across as a double standard, and it probably actually is. With E. Gadd, we've known him for way longer. The trust is already built there. We know how he is. And we kind of explained in Starborn how our thought process is towards people outside of our group. We're all jaded from all the mess we've had to trudge through. It's only natural that we're gonna be very hesitant on letting people in who we don't know as well."
"But, you guys don't know him as well as you guys know each other, right? Gadd's told us how he only sees you guys once or twice a year, and that's only at big gatherings like the Christmas parties at Peach's castle. I'm sorry if I'm coming off as argumentative, but I'm struggling to wrap my head around your guys' dynamics," Luvbi countered.
"Luvbi…put yourself in our shoes," Yoshi spoke as he stepped forward. "This adventure we've been on is nothing like the ones we've done before. You don't even know half of the crap we dealt with to get to this point now. We lost soooooo many people close to us, friends, siblings…l-lovers…" Yoshi started to get choked up at that part and felt himself wanting to cry again, but he continued, "Saying we're jaded is an understatement. MASSIVE understatement. And…I'm sorry for nearly killing you back at the Crystal Palace, it wasn't on purpose! But, you have to understand, enemies were everywhere and I just lost my fiancee…AND I was backstabbed by my cousin, Boshi, AGAIN. So, to say that I'm a little fucked in the head is also an understatement! Hell, we're ALL fucked in the head by everything! What do you expect?"
Luvbi looked even more flustered by Yoshi's growing attitude. "I expected…well…to be quite frank, I wasn't expecting it to be THIS messy! All these secrets coming out and the trauma everyone has…I don't know how to comprehend it! We came in the middle of this hoping to help however we can, but we've certainly got WAY more than what we bargained for."
"That's okay to feel that way. And it's okay to feel the way we do as well. For what it's worth, I trust you both. You haven't given me a reason not to yet. But this is how things are with us. You can choose to still help, or stay behind," Toadette said in a sympathetic manner.
"Yeah…that trauma can't be easy to handle…I…I think I would be the same way too…" Starlow commented, thinking about her mirror counterpart, how she behaved very similarly to how this group was.
"It's something I'll have to think about and decide upon before you guys get the last gem. I'm not saying I'm going against your guys' cause, but I can't help but feel a little alienated with how stone cold so many of you guys are being," Luvbi said.
Yoshi, DK, Toadette, and Dixie merrily ran out to the entrance of the hospital, only to run into a familiar figure.
"Oh! Merle! Uhh, hey, what are you doing here?" DK asked in surprise.
"I'm here to do the ritual for you guys of course! You know, to see how some of you are connected to the 9 gods of yore?" Merle answered.
"Oh, that's right, I almost forgot about that! Well, uhh, alright, come on in! How was the memorial?" Dixie asked.
"It was unbelievably sad, as you'd expect. Lots of mourning, lots of tears, lots of grieving…the entire Shiver City, and even some Starborn Valley folks were quite downtrodden, naturally," Merle informed.
"Man, that's just awful. He was the mayor there for so many years, so it's like losing an important piece to the city's history!" DK exclaimed.
"Yeah, VERY awful. So awful. Extremely awful. As awful as us waiting to break a bunch of things later on now! But that's ok. I'll try to be patient," Yoshi erratically commented.
"Uhh, what? What was that about breaking stuff!?" Merle spoke in confusion.
Peach ran up to the small group. "Oh, Merle! Glad you could make it safely! Are you ready to do this?"
"Ready! Just show me where to go and I'll begin!" Merle said with excitement.
EoC.
Next chapter, Beldam and Doopliss attempt to escape the island, Monty shows Rosalina something important before she makes her final decision on going back to the hospital or not, Merle performs the ritual and leaves a bizarre after-effect on the entire hospital, Luigi and Daisy have a major heart-to-heart, and as always, much more!
I also wanna say this right now: Chapter 119 is going to be a purely comedic and zany type of chapter. It'll be a 'throwback' to the humorous elements that were quite prevalent in the beginning of this story. Let's face it, this story lately has been depressing as all hell, so I figured a fun and comical chapter would do the trick to balance it out. It's also why I moved Merle's ritual to next chapter, because the 'magic' in the ritual will have a direct effect on everyone at the hospital, which leads directly in to Chapter 119's events. Thanks for reading! Next chapter will be uploaded on Saturday, January 1 to kick off the new year.
