Blackstone Tower: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Yoshi, DK, Dixie, Toadette, Goombella, Koops, Kooper, Bombette, Parakarry, Lakilester, Spike/Paper-Yoshi, Vivian, Bowser, Larry, Bowser Jr., Wario, Pauline, Mona, Jojora, Starlow, Luvbi, Grodus
Hospital group: Bleck/Blumiere, Tippi/Timpani, Toadsworth, Fly Guy, Toado, Morton, Lemmy, Ludwig, Kody, E. Gadd, Clawdia, Katia, Kenneth, Toodles, Petey Piranha
Mushroom Corps.: Toadari (Arfur's boss), Tadano
Island group: Tatanga, Beldam, Roy, Doopliss, Dimentio, Mimi, Diddy, Fire Bro/Konnor
Moon: TEC
Fort Koopington: Rosalina, Monty Mole
ST. TOADOFSKY'S HOSPITAL
"Do you think it's true?" Toodles asked Toadsworth, as the two were outside in the courtyard, sitting on the grass and drinking some Koopa Tea.
"Do I think what is true?" Toadsworth reproached, looking at her with a serious expression.
"About what Tippi said. That Arfur's psychotic boss has a psychotic right-hand man who may have actually killed Dr. Nokano for who knows what kind of sinister reason?" Toodles clarified as she took a sip. Toadsworth sighed a little and set his tea down.
"Oh…yeah, I think it's probable. I'll never understand the treacherous mind of someone who's so hellbent on obtaining power and control that he needs to kill random, innocent people just to scare us. Truly is the biggest downer there could ever be," he answered with an undertone of anger.
"You talking about Tatanga or Toadari there?" Toodles asked with a light chuckle.
"Was talking about Toadari…but the same could easily apply to Tatanga, of course," Toadsworth responded also with a chuckle.
"Right. Yeah, you're right when you said it was the biggest downer there could be. To think that there are so many power-hungry and murderous assholes out there, all getting off at making other people's lives miserable. Makes me wanna run away from this world and hide out in the basement of my Poshley Heights house. At least there I know I'll have some semblance of safety and comfort," Toodles said as she finished her tea. Toadsworth chuckled again.
"Ooh, there you go again, bragging about your wealthiness. Why do you do that? There's no need to brag if you've already got it all," he suggested. Toodles looked a little offended and confused.
"I wasn't bragging that time, I was just…stating a fact. All there is to it!" Toodles proclaimed.
"Riiiiight. Well, suppose I can't judge too much, I imagine I'd probably do the same if I was as wealthy as you. Maybe," Toadsworth teased and softened his opinion a little.
"Hmm? I thought you were pretty wealthy already?" Toodles questioned.
"Nope. A lot of people think that for some reason. I'm considered middle class. I suppose that's considered 'wealthy' to some folks. But you're upper class…or whichever level is above upper class, possibly," Toadsworth revealed.
"I see. Look, dear, I like to bring up my status often because it's what got me through so many hardships in my life. Paid off some debt, medical bills, and house repairs. Got to travel the world. Paid for my son's college expenses…" Toodles explained, but Toadsworth did a double take when she mentioned a specific word.
"Wait! You have a son!? I heard that you didn't have any kids!" he blurted.
"Uhh, you HEARD that? Wow. And I thought I loved gossiping! Man…word gets around so quickly and easily here. Kind of crazy!" Toodles rambled.
"Err, yeah, sorry…admittedly, our group is VERY secrecy-challenged. Deepest apologies, I didn't mean to bring that up like that…" Toadsworth responded, feeling a little ashamed and embarrassed.
"Oh, it's fine. It sounds messed up, but I pretty much identify as being a childless mother. I have just one kid, a son, and he removed himself from my life years ago. It was a constant battle between him and I. Always took his dad's side whenever conflicts arose. Used me for money whenever it was convenient for him, and I always gave into that, thinking that money would bring us together and get him to like me truly…but that never worked. The second he graduated college, he cut me out of his life. I begged and begged for him not to…but alas, he did. Used mine and my ex-husband's divorce as an excuse to officially cut all contact with me. Last I heard, he's working for some lucrative, high-tech company. I know I wasn't the perfect mother…but damn, did I try everything in my power to get that spoiled brat to succeed in life," Toodles unveiled as she played with her pearl necklace a little while staring out into the woods. After she finished speaking, she glanced at Toadsworth who looked very sympathetic towards her.
Toodles then looked away in embarrassment and continued, "My goodness! Sorry, I just rambled for a good minute there. Geez. That hasn't happened in a while…"
"No need to be sorry. I am, however, sorry that your son did that to you. That's not right to just use you only for money. What a selfish thing to do!" Toadsworth said.
"Yes, it is. But two selfish parents raised him. There's me, thinking I'm the biggest prize to walk the planet and deserve the best of the best. Then there's my husband, who thought he was a womanizer and also thought money solved every single problem. Ex-husband cheated on me for a significantly younger woman and I tried to be understanding of his commitment issues for two years too long. That's where all the blame originates. God…it's a miracle I didn't become an alcoholic after all that tragedy!" Toodles explained as she shook her head.
"Goodness me…again, so sorry for such terrible mistreatment! I'll never understand cheaters…if you're having problems committing to the one you chose to marry, the simple solution is to communicate properly to your partner OR, worst comes to worst, break it off entirely otherwise all you'll end up with is a filthy mess for everyone involved," Toadsworth scolded in disgust.
"Exactly. Damn, though…I just unloaded years worth of tragic family drama onto you. Sorry for that. I really have no idea why I rambled like that…I haven't drank any wine today, so that doesn't explain it!" Toodles said while laughing a little, which made Toadsworth laugh as well.
"You don't need to apologize, really! Sometimes it just feels nice and necessary to let that stuff out! Especially heavy stuff like that. I think it just means you're comfortable sharing that with me, and I don't mind you venting to me one bit!" he said in an uplifting and warm manner. This made Toodles smile, sparking a nice feeling within her.
"Is that right? That's so nice of you to say that…especially since you and I have had our little quarrels previously…" Toodles recalled with a chuckle. Toadsworth grinned and blushed a little.
"True. But you helped get me to the nurse's room after that awful fall, soooo I suppose you aren't all that bad," he teased, now making her blush.
"GUYS!" yelled a familiar voice from behind them. The two turned around to see Kody frantically down the stairs towards them.
"Oh great, has trouble befallen us yet again?" Toodles groaned.
"Um…not exactly, I think? Just, uhh, come with me! I saw the koopalings and Fly Guy drag Kenneth to the basement! I don't know what they're planning to do with him, but we gotta see this!" Kody explained. Toadsworth and Toodles looked at him in immense surprise.
"What in the world!? Are they planning to torture him!?" Toadsworth yelped.
"I mean, if he really is the killer, then by all means, they should go for it! I wanna see this show!" Toodles said in excitement, and then Kody led the way.
"WILL YOU FUCKING LET ME GO!? THIS IS INHUMANE!" Kenneth screamed as the Koopalings and Fly Guy dragged him into the basement and into one of the cell rooms. They threw him to the floor.
"Act like a psychopath, you'll get treated like one. Until we find solid evidence that someone else killed Nokano, you'll be staying in here for the time being!" Morton stated.
"I DIDN'T FUCKING KILL HIM! You guys are acting beyond ridiculous! You're just using this crap as an excuse because you can't stand the fact that Clawdia is happy being with me over your dad!" Kenneth angrily accused. This lit a flame in the Koopalings.
"SHUT UP!" Ludwig screamed in his face and punched him in the nose. Kenneth screamed in pain as he held his nose and it began to bleed.
"AAAAAGGGHHHHHH! YOU…YOU DISGUSTING PIECE OF SHIT! Treating me like a prisoner all over some stupid circumstantial evidence!? AND I'M THE ONE WHO IS SUPPOSED TO BE THE FUCKING PSYCHOPATH HERE!? FUCK ALL OF YOU!" Kenneth screamed in pure rage at the top of his lungs.
"I SAID SHUT UP! YOU'VE BEEN NOTHING BUT TROUBLE EVER SINCE THE SECOND YOU STEPPED FOOT IN HERE!" Ludwig screamed back and kicked him in the stomach. Kenneth cried out again.
"Ludwig, that's enough! No more!" Lemmy pleaded, now a little scared by how quickly violent this was becoming.
"Well, if he wants to keep hurling insults left and right like it's no big deal, then he should deal with the consequences!" Fly Guy yelled in Ludwig's defense.
"Exactly. You do not get to talk to us like that, especially after everything we are going through. You've shown countless times that you have no sympathy for us, nor have you even shown the slightest ounce of kindness or even respect! You are an apathetic punk who deserves to get their ass beat," Morton spat as he stood over Kenneth, his blood boiling. Kenneth glared at him as he coughed continually and held his stomach.
"Ugh…you might be right about that…but at least I was right about you guys. You're all fucked in the head. Don't try to deny that," Kenneth uttered in between his painful coughs and constantly wiping his nose.
"Wow. Being right over just being a decent person. Your morals are extremely misaligned!" Fly Guy commented.
"GUYS! What's going on down here!?" Bleck called out as he, Tippi, Petey, Kody, Toadsworth, and Toodles came into the basement to see what was going on.
"Oh, just the person I wanted to look for! Bleck, is there any way you can magically lock this door? I don't wanna have to search everywhere for the keys!" Morton asked. Bleck approached the room and gasped a little when he saw a battered Kenneth on the floor.
"Woah. Okay, do I even wanna ask?" Bleck said.
"You don't need to! This jackass had to have been the one to kill Nokano! And if it wasn't him, well, that still makes him a jackass who needs to be sent to a mental institution!" Fly Guy yelled.
"How'd you guys even know to find us down here so quickly?" Lemmy asked.
"I saw you guys drag him down here. It looked really freakin' intense so I rallied up the gang and got them all to come in case, ya know, one thing led to another and we'd have another dead body on our hands!" Kody explained.
"Wouldn't be such a big loss, though, if that were to happen," Toodles commented.
"FUCK YOU! YOU KNOW WHAT, IF YOU'RE GONNA KILL ME THEN JUST FUCKING DO IT ALREADY, YOU ASSHOLES!" Kenneth roared.
"Okay, no one is killing anyone! But, seriously, Blumiere, please lock the door while we figure out what to do!" Tippi demanded. Bleck nodded and waved his hand over the cell door and a locking mechanism sound was heard.
"Look guys, I know this all looks insane, and it probably is, but he's gone too far with his words. He knows what he's doing, he's going out of his way to fuck with our heads and make us feel like crap. But I'm tired of it! And if he actually killed Nokano, then that's all the more reason to kick his ass out!" Morton stated.
"We understand! Someone like that doesn't deserve to be here. But, um, we found something out from Arfur's cellphone. There's a chance that a different person could've actually killed Nokano…" Petey led on in a quieter tone.
"What!? How is that…hold on…over here!" Ludwig nearly yelled, but then motioned for everyone to move away from the cell door and into the filing room then into the hidden room to be completely secure from anyone listening in.
"What the hell do you mean someone else could've killed him!? How did you find that out!?" Morton angrily yelled.
"E. Gadd searched through Arfur's phone and there were multiple mentions of a man by the name of Paraklyde, who is reported to be Toadari's right-hand man, a guy who does whatever the big boss tells him to do. A glorified hitman or bounty hunter, if you will," Toadsworth explained.
"Our theory right now is that, since Spike killed Arfur, we think that Toadari sent out Paraklyde to kill Dr. Nokano as an act of 'retaliation' or 'vengeance' for killing Arfur. I know the theory is weak, but it honestly has some sense to it. Think about it, Arfur is sent out to kill Spike, but he ends up killed instead…then not too long after that, Dr. Nokano is killed for no legitimate reason. What are the odds of those two events happening so close together?" Bleck proposed. The koopalings and Fly Guy looked at each other with a little fright.
"Well…SHIT! So there's a chance we did all this to Kenneth for no reason then. What rotten luck!" Fly Guy cried and threw his hands up.
"What the hell…so…uhh…this Paraklyde, if he IS the one who actually killed Nokano…we're all in danger then, aren't we? I mean, IMMEDIATE danger. Because if he actually killed Nokano so swiftly like that, he could easily do the same to any of us," Morton pointed out with fear creeping in now since the stakes were raised once again.
"Exactly. And since this whole place is being watched, we could very easily be blindsided with a snap of his finger. We're not safe here, but we have nowhere else to go. We're gonna have to continue keeping up the appearance of sweeping all of this under the rug in order to remain safe!" Tippi advised.
"Man, if this is really true, this is so fucked up! We just can't win here!" Ludwig cried in pure frustration.
"Okay…where is E. Gadd, anyways? I feel like he should be here!" Lemmy asked.
"He's still looking through Arfur's phone. I didn't want to bother him, so I figured we'd just catch him up on this later on," Kody answered.
"So, what do we do about the nasty koopa guy who has no filter then?" Toodles asked.
"Keep him locked for the time being, because I have an idea. I'm gonna look for Clawdia and give her a choice: either her and Katia leave the hospital with Kenneth and never come back, OR just Kenneth leaves. I'm at the point where I don't give a fuck if I'm sounding like a dictator, he can't stay here with how he's constantly running his mouth the way he does," Morton stated.
"That sounds like the best course of action to me. This petty, childish drama coming from a grown man is honestly pathetic. He wants to continue acting like that, then he can do it somewhere else!" Toadsworth yelled in support with everyone else nodding in agreement.
"I'm surprised you don't mind Clawdia and Katia staying here. What's up with that?" Kody asked confusedly.
"Well, look, I'll never forgive Clawdia for what she did to dad all those years ago, but I realize now that she hasn't been the one causing the most chaos here, it's her deadbeat husband. Plus, Junior wants to connect with her for whatever reason so I suppose it's only fair that I give her that option. Of course, I don't expect her to have Kenneth just leave all on his own…but like I said, I have to give her that option so it'd be fair to her and Katia," Morton explained.
"That makes sense. But what if Kenneth refuses to leave?" Petey asked, slightly fearing for what the answer could be since he knew it would end up being something even more drastic.
"Well…we'll just have to cross that bridge when we get to it," Morton cryptically replied.
The gang exited from the basement and split off into various directions, trying to go about the rest of their day as normally as possible. The koopalings began their search for Clawdia and Katia, but once again, they didn't have to do any searching as they saw Clawdia and Katia exit the elevator coming from the second floor.
"Oh! Just the people we wanted to see!" Ludwig yelled across the hall and immediately walked over to them. Clawdia and Katia looked startled to see them.
"Oh yeah? Please say you know where my dad is because we've been looking for him everywhere!" Katia exclaimed.
"Yeah, I'm beginning to get worried! We were trying to find him to talk to him about what he's been doing, but I can't help but feel something's gone wrong. He would never be out of our sights like this!" Clawdia frantically added.
Morton stepped forward and prepared to lay it all down on them. "We found Kenneth. We locked him in a cell in the basement."
Clawdia looked appalled and horrified by that statement, whereas Katia gasped then nervously chuckled.
"Wha…y-you're joking, right? This isn't the time to be messing around with your sadistic jokes!" Katia yelled.
"Not one bit. We tried to talk it out with him, but he just continued hurling his nasty insults our way, so we had to get physical and lock him up. We're fucking done with him. Do you understand me!? DONE," Morton aggressively stated, trying not to get too heated up since it would make things more dramatic.
"YOU LOCKED HIM UP IN A…WHYYYY!? THIS ISN'T THE WAY TO GO ABOUT THINGS!" Clawdia screamed and began to cry, drawing attention to the group. "You guys…th-this is just escalating the situation! How is this supposed to be a viable solution to the problem at hand here!? AND ALL BEHIND MY BACK TOO!? THIS IS JUST INSANE!"
"Oh, knock it off! We've already explained how horrible he's been to us, and he continued to run his little bitch mouth, so this is his consequence! You all seem to conveniently forget that we're still GRIEVING over losing our siblings and friends! Kenneth knows that yet he continues to be hurtful!" Ludwig spat.
"Which is why he needs to go. Like, NOW. If he continues acting the way he does towards us…it really isn't gonna end pretty," Lemmy said in a defeated tone.
"I-I understand but, you guys, locking him up like some animal is just pointless and absurd! All you had to do was wait for us to come together then we could work something out! But you took it way further than it needed to go!" Clawdia yelled as she turned red in the face.
"Mom, please take a breather for a sec! You're literally shaking right now!" Katia pleaded.
"No, I think this was the perfect amount for how far we needed to go. So now, we're giving you one of two choices: Kenneth leaves and never comes back here and you two can stay…OR, all three of you go and never come back. That's it. No other options because we're done with all this nonsense," Morton stated. Clawdia tugged on her hair as she cried further and shook her head.
"Y-You're asking us to leave and be completely vulnerable to whatever kind of awful things are out there!? What would your father think about you guys doing this when he isn't even here to weigh in his opinion!?" she asked.
"Don't talk about Bowser. At all! You lost that privilege the moment you decided to sleep with some jackass all because he seemed more exciting than dad!" Ludwig scolded.
"Exactly. So, Clawdia, it's about 1:30 right now. I'm giving you exactly one hour for you to make a decision. Either way, he's being thrown out. All up to you if you wanna stick with him," Morton affirmed, but Clawdia continued crying and shaking her head.
"NO! NO NO NO! I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS EVEN HAPPENING RIGHT NOW! I'M JUST SO…UGH! I CAN'T EVEN DESCRIBE HOW ATROCIOUS WHAT YOU'RE DOING IS!" she frantically shrieked and ran off towards the courtyard.
"Mom, where the hell are you going!? You can't just run off!" Katia yelled and was about to chase after her, but she turned around to speak to the Koopalings first. "Okay, this is absolutely insane what you guys are doing! And sick!"
"We don't care. You know we're right about your dad being an apathetic asshole. And I really gotta ask this…does he physically hurt you at all?" Morton asked the question that everyone was thinking about. Katia's expression showed major nervousness from that question.
"No…no. Not physically. The most he's, um, ever done is grab my arm really hard…but that's it," she admitted as she began to sob.
"Ah, okay. So, not so much physical abuse, but rather verbal and emotional abuse. Geez! I'm so sorry you have to live with such a shitty dad and that our mom is such a doormat to him. You deserve better than that crap," Ludwig said in a supportive tone with Lemmy nodding in agreement and Morton just simply shaking his head at the whole situation.
"I…um…better go find my mom…" Katia muttered then ran off to the courtyard.
E. Gadd exited the men's restroom and got out Arfur's cellphone, continuing to search for anything else that stood out as noteworthy. As he was walking and looking at the phone, a noki nurse stopped him.
"Excuse me! You're Professor Elvin Gadd, correct?" she asked with a sense of urgency.
"Oh! Indeed I am. How can I help you?" he said in surprise and quickly put the phone away.
"I've seen you around Doctor Nokano quite often. Do you have any idea where he is right now?" she asked. E. Gadd nearly froze.
"Oh. Uhh, no, I don't know where he is at the moment. Why do you ask?" he asked as innocently as he could.
"So odd. It isn't like him to just not be seen for so long…a lot of us have been searching for him for about the past hour or so. We're getting worried!" she elaborated with now clear urgency. E. Gadd's nerves rose a little, hating that he had to keep them in the dark about what's really going on.
"Wow. That is…indeed very worrying. I'll be on the lookout for him and I'll let my friends know too!" E. Gadd responded with an attempt to sound as urgent as she did as well.
"Thank you. But please, the second you find him, send him to any of our staff. I have a really bad feeling that something is very off here. Maybe it's because of all the crap that's happened to us and I'm just being extra cautious or maybe it's just nothing…but, I can't help but think the worst," said the nurse with a clear panic upon her face. E. Gadd felt for her.
"Very understandable. But I promise that my friends and I will do our best to track him down!" he stated.
"Alright. Thanks again. I have to get back now…let's hope this ends up being nothing!" she said, then quickly walked off.
E. Gadd let out a great exhale and leaned against the wall. He so badly wanted to give everyone the answer about Nokano, but it's already known what would happen if it got out. There was no correct path here.
"Damnit. Damnit! We tell them the truth…everyone goes berserk and there's no way of coming back from it, because this is the goddamn director of this hospital we're talking about here. We hide it from them…everyone panics and questions where the hell he is and we may get vilified for eventually coming out with the truth later on.
That son of a bitch did it. Toadari. He knew this would lead to even more chaos…that's why he had Nokano killed. He wants the people to freak out and cause a shitstorm. It's…it's genius…for a psychotic corporate runner like him."
BLACKSTONE TOWER
Mario was in the dark room, having just entered from the door with his figure etched upon it.
Total silence. He could hear his breath and heartbeat. It was so silent that it terrified him more than being in the dark.
Mario slowly stepped forward, fearing for something to jump out at him any moment. His eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness and he saw another door ahead. He kept slowly walking, trying not to let his fears get the better of him, and eventually reached to grab the door.
He readied himself for whatever was waiting beyond the door. He knew to expect the unexpected at this point, especially in a place like this.
He quickly flung the door open and rushed on in.
What he saw before him was a graveyard.
"What the!? How is this…" Mario stammered, nearly frozen at the eerie sight. He looked behind him and saw what looked like the back of Blackstone Tower looming over him. But the area itself didn't look like the one they were in prior to entering the tower. The setting beyond the spiked fences surrounding the graveyard looked as if it was a dark void, like the graveyard was the only thing that existed in this 'place.'
Mario slowly walked forward, extremely on edge as he glanced at the tombstones. He nearly froze in terror when he saw that all the gravestones he was seeing had all too familiar names on them..along with disturbing descriptions.
HERE LIES LUIGI MARIO - BROTHER, BEST FRIEND, BOYFRIEND - DIED DUE TO A CARELESS BROTHER
HERE LIES PRINCESS TOADSTOOL PEACH - THE KINDEST RULER ANYONE COULD EVER ASK FOR - DIED DUE TO HER NEGLIGENT LOVER
HERE LIES KING BOWSER KOOPA - THE MOST POWERFUL KOOPA TO EVER EXIST - DIED DUE TO THE KINGDOM'S HERO FINALLY ENDING HIM AFTER TOO MANY YEARS
"Wh-wh-what is all this!? HELLO!? WHERE THE HELL AM I!?" Mario screamed, nearly breaking down from seeing these sick gravestones. He couldn't believe the atrocity he was reading. He knew all of this was fake, yet it struck him to his core as if it were actually real.
He noticed towards the back of the graveyard there was a larger gravestone than all the rest. He walked quickly to it and gasped when he saw what was written.
HERE LIES MARIO - THE HERO WHO COULDN'T SAVE OUR WORLD…SO HE ENDED HIMSELF
A tear fell down Mario's eye when he read that horrid description. To make things more disturbing, there was an open hole right underneath the gravestone with an open coffin, as if somebody just dug it and exhumed the body that lay in there.
"O-Oh my god…WHAT IS HAPPENING!? TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON!" Mario shouted, hearing his voice echo into the darkness.
He heard the sound of footsteps behind him. He spun around, ready to fight but his heart just about stopped when he saw what was making the footsteps.
It was a figure he had seen a few times, but years ago. The body was a dark purple-ish color and the eyes were red. And it looked just like him.
This was Shadow Mario.
"Hello. I see you're surprised to see me," Shadow Mario spoke in a deeper and huskier tone compared to the true Mario's.
"What the hell!? What is going on here!? Why are you here!? Why am I in a graveyard with my name and my friends' names on these gravestones!?" Mario frantically questioned.
"I see you're soooo lost and scared and…angry. Hooooooo. Understandable. The tower shows you your fears and traumas and regrets…I would label this as a fear…if you WERE to put a label on it, that is. Heh heh heh…" Shadow Mario tauntingly explained.
"A fear!? This place…I-I don't understand still…am I still in Blackstone Tower!? And why are you Shadow Mario? Bowser Jr. used magic to be you so many years ago…so why is it specifically you I'm talking to?" Mario asked, feeling more lost than ever.
"In a way, yes. The tower is the ultimate trial for one to test their strength to overcome the darkest parts of their minds…what, did you really think you'd climb the tower, beat up some enemies, fight a silly boss, then get the gem just like that? As for me being Shadow Mario…I mean…come on. It makes the most sense. If you MUST know the specifics, I represent the darker part of you," Shadow Mario said teasingly.
"No, of course not. I knew it wasn't going to be that simple…but I wasn't expecting it to be like this either. And where are my friends!? Are they going through something like this as well!?" Mario questioned further.
"They are. Just like you, they're on their own journey to work through the darkness that lingers in their minds. The parts that are repressed in their subconscious, the type of thoughts, fears, and memories they would like to keep locked away for as long as possible. This graveyard is a fear. You fear that you would lose ALL your loved ones…and then you fear that losing them would cause you to lose yourself. You fear letting the world down. You fear letting the wicked ones win. Don't be ashamed or sad or angry…it's the most natural fear ever for someone like you," Shadow Mario explained as he slowly walked towards Mario.
"B-But the descriptions on my friends' gravestones, they make no sense! It's implying that I purposely let them die, but I would NEVER do that! I would sacrifice myself to let one of them live if it ever came to it!" Mario proclaimed while getting more torn up about it.
Shadow Mario got incredibly close to Mario now and he leaned in to whisper something in his ear.
"No, you wouldn't sacrifice yourself."
Then, Shadow Mario shoved Mario into the hole and right into the coffin. The coffin door closed shut on him as Mario screamed for mercy.
"NOOOOOOOOO! LET ME OUT! YOU BASTAAAAAAARD!"
Mario gasped for air and closed his eyes for a few seconds as he cried and truly was at a loss for what to do now. He opened his eyes and he shrieked again when he saw that he was in a different setting now.
"Mario! Are you okay?" Peach asked, coming into his view. Mario was immediately relieved to see Peach, but he was even more confused as he observed where he was at now. He quickly recognized the place, it was Peach's castle's large dining room. There was a large Christmas tree in the corner with a lot of gifts under it, many guests joyously conversing amongst one another, food and drinks spread out on numerous tables, and jolly Christmas music playing from a stereo.
"Um…sorry…I…um, spaced out for a second there," Mario spoke, attempting to act normal now.
"Oh! Okay. You looked like you were thinking about something suuuuper serious there! You should drink some more apple cider. Excuse me while I go use the ladies' room!" Peach insisted and kissed him on the cheek then walked off.
Mario looked around the whole room and saw so many familiar faces. He felt a feeling of relief and even some happiness upon seeing the formerly deceased back to life…
…even if it wasn't actually real.
Mario walked over to Watt and asked, "Hey, Watt! How are you? Been a while since we've talked, I think."
"Oh, hi Mario! Yeah, it's been so long! I know you're busy with Peach and, like, saving the world from crazy Bowser all the time, so I totally understand though," Watt cheerily said.
"Right…yeah. Um, have you seen Luigi at all? I don't see him around right now," Mario asked.
"I think he went to go talk to that weird blue dinosaur guy, they went to the kitchen. What was his name again? Voshi?" Watt answered in confusion. Mario felt nervous from that response.
"His name is Boshi. And…okay. Thanks. Um, see you later…" Mario uttered, choking up just the tiniest bit from seeing her again.
"Alrighty, bye! WOAH! Who's that!?" Watt suddenly shrieked at someone from across the room. Mario spun around and saw Jojora come into the hall, clearly observing the entire scene.
"That's Jojora. Why, what's wrong?" Mario said.
"Uhh…nothing. Wow. I don't know why I jumped like that! That was so weird. I don't even know her! Super strange, hahaha," Watt nervously chuckled at the random, gut-wrenching feeling in her body. That just made Mario all the more emotional, as he realized right then and there that he just talked to Watt so naturally. He didn't even mean to do that. It was as if he had to physically replay this memory that he was clearly in. But, he wanted to get out of there before he started breaking down. He searched for the kitchen and began to full on cry when he saw others who were previously deceased back to 'life.'
"Mario, what's wrong? You look really upset!" Toad called out.
"Did you have too much to drink? You should probably take a breather and lay down!" Bow suggested.
"Mario, is something troubling you? You look very distressed!" Flurrie yelped.
"NO NO, IT'S…I JUST…" Mario scrambled to form a sentence as he frantically continued forward, but stopped when he bumped into Boshi.
"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY!" the dino screamed, holding a beer bottle, and pushed past Mario.
"Boshi, seriously, STOP! You've had too much to drink! Let me just take you home!" Luigi pleaded, the situation grabbing the attention of everyone close by.
"NO I HAVE NOT HAD TOO MUCH TO DRINK! YOU GUYS DON'T EEEEEEVER LET ANYONE HAVE FUN, LIKE, I MEAN, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S THE POINT OF THROWING A PARTY IF YOU DON'T LET LOOSE JUST A LIIIITLE!?" Boshi shouted while slightly stumbling on his words and attempting to stand straight, drawing further attention from the crowd as he took another swig of the beer bottle.
"Oh great, it's the blue blowhard. Think it's safe to say we should stop giving you chances to come to these parties since you clearly don't know how to behave like a sane person!" Diddy spat. Boshi looked at him enraged from this.
"EXCUSE ME!? NO ONE WAS EVEN TALKING TO YOU, YOU DUMB PRICK!" Boshi roared and punched him in the face. Diddy fell backwards and hit his shoulder on a table on his way down to the floor. The crowd shrieked at this atrocity.
"NO! YOU ASSHOLE! MARIO…please do something! This is…not real?" Dixie spoke in a bizarre manner that felt so out of place with what he was currently experiencing.
"What!? Dixie…" Mario shrieked as he and Dixie locked eyes. That was the moment he knew she was experiencing the same thing he was.
Then the lights dimmed and the room fell silent. Boshi slowly turned to Mario and laughed at him.
"Yesssss, Mario…do something. Oh! Wait a second. You already know what you're gonna do. The both of you! Dixie plants fake evidence of drugs in my car…then YOU, Mister Legendary Hero of the Ages, come up with the plan to keep this a secret forever among your inner circle…you're FAKE," Boshi roared as he stepped towards Mario. Mario clenched his fists and prepared for a potential fight. Bosh' continued, "You disrupted the natural order of things! You couldn't just leave it all alone…noooooo…you had to go the extra mile to make sure someone who needed help with their life would sink lower into their own personal hell! You're fake! FAKE! FAAAAAAAAAAAKE!"
Boshi then swiped a steak knife and lunged at Mario. Mario tried to jump out of the way, but Boshi managed to slice at Mario's rib a little. Mario yelped in pain and made a dash for the nearest door.
"MARIO, WAIT! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE ALONE!" Dixie cried out as Mario exited the dining room and into a long hallway.
"Ow…SHIT! DIXIE!" Mario realized his impulsive mistake and opened up the door he just came through…but this door led to the front yard of the castle. Mario saw a few police cars along with a police guy escorting Boshi into one of the cars. Some feet away, Mario saw himself, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Yoshi, Birdo, DK, Diddy, and Dixie discussing what just happened.
"I know what I did was the most fucked up thing ever…but I hate Boshi. He had no right to hurt Diddy like that. He has no right to act as crazy as he does and yet keeps getting chance after chance," Dixie whispered in anger, watching Boshi wail at the policeman and be forced into the car.
Peach sobbed and hung her head. "I'm so sorry, guys…I was just trying to be nice by inviting him…I wanted to give him a chance…"
"It's okay, Peach. I think we ALL wanted to believe deep down that he would be different. Just goes to show you that some people just never change," Daisy said in comfort.
"Hard to believe that's the same Boshi I grew up with. I mean, he was always kind of a wild child, but man, it's honestly a little sad to see him go so far down the drain," Yoshi pointed out with an undertone of anger and a hint of sympathy.
"Don't feel too sad, though. He did all of this to himself," Diddy harshly spoke as he held an ice pack to his nose. "And he wonders why he always gets himself into trouble. That's why I had planned for this- I mean…that's why I had, uhh, not felt sorry for him this entire time. He's an adult. He has responsibilities for all his actions and how he handles the consequences."
Mario caught that Freudian slip of Diddy's and wondered the meaning behind that.
"Still though, planting drugs in Boshi's car is a little extreme. That's a crime in itself. Obviously, I won't tell a soul of this, but man…this went too far!" Luigi exclaimed.
"I agree. Too far. But Boshi went too far too. Man…this whole thing sucks!" DK added.
"So, we keep this a secret then. Take this to the grave with us," Mario stated, looking at everyone firmly. Peach, Daisy, Luigi, Yoshi, Birdo, DK, Diddy, and Dixie all turned their heads towards him with surprised expressions over his words. He continued, "What's done is done. Boshi already has a record on him so this was an easy arrest for him and an easy way to get Dixie out of this. Outside of this circle, we don't tell ANYONE what we did. Do you guys understand? If this was anyone else, I'd say we do the right thing and come clean with what really happened…but this is Boshi we're talking about. The guy who just causes crazy shit to happen just because he's bored. So, we keep quiet. Because protecting and saving each other is just what we naturally do anyways."
The real Mario from afar saw this event happen. He remembers clear as day what had occurred at Peach's Christmas party. It felt weird hearing his own voice say those words. It felt wrong somehow.
Then, everyone turned to the real Mario. His heart nearly stopped as they all shot him a nasty glare. The other Mario suddenly turned into Shadow Mario.
"Lookie here! Well played, Mister Hero…you protected your friend by sacrificing another all because you didn't like him…but, can you really call yourself a hero if you let someone take the fall for another person's actions?" Shadow Mario spoke as he walked towards the real Mario.
"I-I wanted to protect Dixie! I thought I was doing the right thing by preventing my friend from getting in big trouble!" Mario cried as he backed away.
"Really!? Is that what you wanna tell yourself to make yourself sleep soundly at night!? YOU FOOL! The right thing would've been to CONFESS! FAIR IS FAIR WHEN IT COMES TO HELPING PEOPLE, NO MATTER WHO THEY ARE OR WHAT THEY'VE DONE!" Shadow Mario screamed, then charged at Mario, shoving him backwards. Mario screamed as he fell into the door he came out of previously then hit the floor, also hitting the back of his head.
"AAAGGGHHH….DAMNIT! YOU…where did you go!?" Mario cried, cringing from the pain and holding his head. He closed his eyes for a few seconds then opened him to find himself in a kitchen that wasn't the castle's kitchen.
He recognized it the split second he opened his eyes.
This was his family's kitchen. The hardwood floors, the pure white cabinets and drawers…and the dining table where he saw himself and Luigi as little kids and their mother and father were sitting with them. Little Mario was crying. Mario slowly stood himself up, catching his breath, nerves on edge, knowing full well what was happening in this situation.
"Wait, so, tell me again what happened exactly? A dog died because of Mario!?" his father said in shock.
"No no, honey! I guess the storm from last night blew a small tree down and it kind of crushed a stray dog. Mario found the dog about a block from here while riding his bike and the dog was still alive. He tried to get the dog out from the tree, but of course, it was too heavy for him so he rode back here and used the phone to call the police, that's when I saw him and asked him what he was doing. He told me about the dog and the police and firefighters were already on their way by the time I learned of everything. But, when they came to the scene, it was too late. The dog had already perished, and poor Mario has been upset ever since then!" his mother explained, feeling deep sympathy for her heartbroken son.
"I should've been faster, mommy! That poor doggy…why did it have to go!? I shouldn't have tried to lift that stupid tree, I should've just gone to get help f-first and then…it would've lived and…and…" Little Mario yelled, tugging at his hairs and pulling on his face. His mother gave him a side hug and Little Luigi put his hand on his shoulder, feeling deeply for him.
"Son, don't put this on yourself. You did all you could for that dog. It's definitely unfortunate that the poor dog went out like that…but that's life, sometimes. Can't save everyone!" his father said, also feeling for his sadness but had to put the truth out there.
"That's stupid, though! Why does it have to be like that!?" Little Mario screamed, startling his mother and Luigi.
"Hey! Lower your voice. Don't talk to me like that," his father responded strictly.
"It's okay, Mar. You're still a hero for trying," Little Luigi said in an attempt to uplift his spirits.
"I don't feel like one, though…that was soooo scary to see…" Little Mario said as he wiped his eyes with his hands, his mind being stuck on the image of that dog barely breathing and immobilized from the tree.
Mario felt a tear fall from his eye and backed away a little, also struck by the sight of his parents whom he hadn't seen in years. The longing for their love and comfort came back to him hard.
Shadow Mario stepped beside him and spoke, "Ahhhhh, yes. This is where the savior complex began. Your heart just couldn't bear to see the dog die. You couldn't bear to not have it saved. But, when that failed…it felt like the world came crashing down around you. You beat yourself up soooo much for it. That's why you felt like dirt when Tatanga first came through and started destroying things. You felt like you let the world down. You hated that feeling sooooo much that you wanted to just die. You can't stand people being mad at you for not saving everyone!"
"JUST STOP! STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!" Mario screamed and ran out the back door.
But the door led to Mario's bedroom in the house he and Luigi shared in the Mushroom Kingdom. He saw himself and Luigi talking about Bowser's recent takeover.
"I'm going and you're staying, that's final!" Mario demanded to a pleading Luigi.
"MARIO, COME ON! Why do you keep wanting to take Bowser on by yourself!? There's nothing wrong with having help along the way!" Luigi cried.
"BECAUSE YOU'RE MY LITTLE BROTHER, LUIGI! I CAN'T RISK HAVING YOU DIE!" Mario screamed in frustration and impatience. "You're the only family I have here in this place and…and, it's just better if you stay, okay!?"
"And what if YOU die, Mario!? You're out there risking your life, beating up so many enemies and going through these dangerous places to save Peach for, like, the hundredth time now! The fact that you haven't even died yet is a miracle!" Luigi exclaimed while on the verge of tearing up. "Have you ever thought about YOU dying and me being all alone!? Wouldn't it make more sense for both of us to go that way we'll be able to protect each other more easily with whatever we're facing!?"
Mario hesitated to respond. "I…just…look, Luigi, I'm begging you to stay back and protect yourself at all costs. Please! I don't wanna argue anymore about this! And what the hell is that comment about saving Peach for the hundredth time!? What's that supposed to mean!?"
Luigi rolled his eyes and furiously scratched at his head. "Mario…Peach is getting kidnapped constantly. Have you ever wondered why she doesn't have ANYTHING to defend herself with, considering she's the richest person in the kingdom!? Are you not tired of having to save her all the time!? I'm not saying that because I have anything against Peach, I'm just saying that it's gotta be draining being the only person to keep doing this!"
Mario looked and felt personally attacked. "She…she's a pacifist, okay!? I'm not gonna ask her to change the way she is, plus, I love her! Of course I'd do anything for her. How could you even say this!?"
Luigi shook his head. "The way I see it, brother, you have 3 choices here: One, take me with you and let me help so you can quit taking it all on. Two, just kill Bowser once and for all so he could stop doing this. Or three, tell Peach to get her own defenses. Make this easier for yourself!"
"LUIGI, PLEASE! I'm going now, and you better not follow me! I'll be back as soon as I can!" Mario brushed off his advice and then ran out.
The real Mario saw Luigi's distraught expression as the green brother started to cry now. The house then began to shake and then an explosion was heard. The real Mario screamed, covered his ears, and closed his eyes.
Then all was silent.
Mario opened his eyes slowly again and he was at the rooftop of St. Toadofsky's hospital with Bowser. Peach was at the opposite end of the rooftop, her hands and legs tied together with rope as she lay on the edge. Mario saw smoke coming from everywhere.
"Wha…HEY! WHERE AM I!? WHERE'S LUIGI!? WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM!?" Mario screamed.
"He died, of course! You should've brought him with you. That's what happens when you try to take ALL the glory for yourself! BWAHAHAHA! That's the REAL reason you wanna be the hero of the kingdom, so you can hog all the fame and your brother gets nothing. Pathetic excuse of a brother you are!" Bowser taunted. Mario felt his heart break as he gasped from that reveal.
"NOOOOO! Y-YOU'RE LYING! AND…THAT'S NOT WHY I WANT TO SAVE PEOPLE! I DO IT BECAUSE IT'S RIGHT!" he raged.
"Really? And how's that working for you? Because…ouch. All the people in the hospital die due to you overpromising and underdelivering. Then the world will definitely be taken over by Tatanga because you underestimated his power…and that's because you grew to be an overconfident fool overtime! This is what happens when you save the world by yourself too many damn times, Mario! Your ego gets big, you become holier than thou, you dictate what's right and wrong, then you become a hypocrite by not following your own rules and the rules you tell the people! Shit, at this point, you may as well become the opposite of a hero…A VILLAIN! A MURDERER! A FUCKING CRIMINAAAAAAL!" Bowser roared and Mario's blood began to boil as he couldn't stand any of this anymore.
"SHUT UP! SHUT UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUPPPPPP!" Mario screamed at the top of his lungs. Suddenly, Bowser lunged for Mario, clawing Mario in his left arm. Mario cried out but then quickly recoiled and leaped to Bowser's tail. He grabbed on to his tail as hard as he could and did the infamous spinning move that whirled Bowser around and around until Mario released him and threw the koopa king into the distance.
Mario fell to the ground and caught his breath, gripping onto his left arm as blood poured out from the great wound.
"MARIO! PLEASE HELP MEEEEEE! SAVE MEEEEE!" Peach called out.
The sound of his beloved took his attention from the pain and he dashed towards her. He made it to the edge and started to untie her.
"I'm here, I'm here! Don't worry, it'll be okay! He's gone now! I got rid of him like I always do!" Mario shouted, out of breath.
"Oh, Mario, thank goodness you came just in time! I'm so sorry you have to keep doing this over and over and over…you deserve better…" Peach sobbed.
"HEY! Don't say that! It's fine, Peach! Really! It's what I was born to do, and I'm the only one who can do it, and-"
Mario caught himself when he said that. So did Peach, who looked at him with shock at those choice of words.
"I…I mean…I'm sorry…I'm NOT the only one who can help people and…and…" Mario couldn't believe the words he just spoke out into the world. He refused to believe he thought that highly of himself…but perhaps there was a tiny part of him, very deep down, that actually did?
"Mario…how could you say that!? So selfish! Do you look down upon the rest of us!?" Peach cried in horror at this revelation.
"WHAT!? NO! PEACH, I JUST…look, I don't know what's happening here, but we need to get out now before-"
"You're not the man I thought you were! A hero is supposed to be selfless and fair! YOU'VE BEEN LYING TO US THIS WHOLE TIME ABOUT WHO YOU ARE! GET AWAY FROM ME!" Peach screamed and pushed herself off the rooftop.
"WHAT!? NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! PEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAACH!" Mario screamed, feeling his heart break even further as he saw her disappear into the smoke below.
"That was aaaaallll your doing, plumber boy!" said a familiar voice. Mario steadied himself and slowly turned around. It was Tatanga. Mario blinked and the setting changed back to the graveyard.
"N-No! NO, IT WASN'T! I…I always try to save everyone!" Mario cried, holding his left arm in pain again.
"Oh, knock it off. We all know that it's just a front. You save everyone because you like the feeling of being celebrated and acknowledged for your accomplishments. You like the euphoria that it gives you. You're addicted to saving people, Mario. It's a rush that you can't stop chasing. Why do you think you try to convince yourself that you're okay with saving Peach all the time? And just saving the world in general so many times?" Tatanga asked with a creepy smirk.
"STOP IT! I know what you're trying to do. You're not gonna best me, so quit this weak attempt at getting me to break down!" Mario angrily yelled.
"NO! You're the one that needs to stop. You're here for a reason. You're seeing all of this for a reason. I have the answer for you: You like the feeling of being needed. You like the drama that comes with it. You like the destruction of everything you need to ruin in order to achieve your goal. You can't live without it. It's a drug that gives and gives and gives and the stakes get higher and higher and higher…and you LOVE that, Mario.
And you know what? It's okay to love the rush of saving the world. It's okay to want to take command. It's okay to think you're the most important person when it comes to these situations. But quit standing there and pretending as if you don't love all this. It's fate that you came to this world in the first place. This world attracts a type of danger that your original world doesn't. A type of danger that you thrive in defeating over and over again. A type of danger that you love to seek out and blow up at your whim."
"You've gotta be kidding me. You think I get a high off of doing this!? Are you serious!? I was GIFTED with these abilities and I use them for good! I save people because I have the advantages to do that in the first place!" Mario said, dumbfounded at the lunacy he was hearing.
"Why are you acting like it's such a horrible thing to love the rush of it all? It's not…it's not…it's…not…" Tatanga said as he stepped forward to Mario. Mario prepared for another potential fight. He blinked again and nearly jumped when he saw Shadow Mario in place of Tatanga now.
"Please…just stop all this. This is all ridiculous nonsense!" Mario pleaded.
"No. Have you not seen what this place is trying to tell you? If you take things too far…and you lose your people…whether or not you save the world…you become me. The very thing you swore to be against. A shadow of your former self. A loner. A selfish being who thinks too highly of himself. Someone who thinks his only destiny is to save people. But, tell me, have you ever wondered what would happen if you never succeeded at saving the world? I mean…you can only keep winning and chasing that high for so long until the chase becomes too much and you just…burn out entirely.
You'll either die. Or…you'll eventually become so bitter and angry towards the prospect of saving everyone that you fade away from the world. Because you can only keep doing something for so long until you burn out entirely. That's what the other you in the Underworld was trying to tell you. He accepted that he was tired of being the hero everyone needed so he hid away," Shadow Mario said, making Mario think back to when he saw the disturbing Underworld version of himself. Mario had just now realized that the Underworld version was the exact opposite of who he is in this world.
"That…that'll never happen…and if it does…I knew what the risks were when doing things like this. Yeah, I may be lucky that I've succeeded all this time, and that luck may run out. But it might not. I'm willing to keep trying for the sake of everyone's future," Mario exhaustedly spoke.
"Future? Hmm. I'd say the future looks pretty damn bleak for you right now. Considering this is the biggest ordeal you've ever had to encounter…yeah, it's not looking good at all. So, how about-"
"Okay, I've had just enough of this bullshit talking! GRAH!" Mario suddenly roared, picking up a rock and smashing it into Shadow Mario's face, knocking him to the ground. Mario smashed the rock into his face again, and then a third time as he saw purple-ish blood ooze from the wounds.
Mario then threw the rock in the distance as he saw a door all by itself beyond the graveyard. Mario walked over to the door and opened it.
He saw in a dimly lit hallway with wooden floors, walls, and ceiling. He breathed out a great sigh of relief when he got out of that hellhole.
He leaned against the wall and couldn't help but think about everything he just experienced. He hated having to go through all those hurtful memories and fears of his…but he also knew that he couldn't lie to himself about the points that were made during that whole debacle.
There was a little bit of validity to it.
The door Mona opened had revealed a staircase that led down to what looked like a large, dimly-lit basement. She gripped the railing and slowly made her way down, feeling beyond nervous for what she could potentially encounter.
The stairs creaked loudly with each step she took which certainly made her presence known to anything that could be hiding in there. But as she made her way to the bottom, a sense of familiarity came to her as she observed the basement in a better view. Numerous broken robotic parts and machinery were seen. Dusty, old furniture, books, and portraits. A few kids toys. A bunch of cracked koopa shells. After scanning the room for a minute, it finally hit her.
This was Bowser's basement.
"What the fuck!? Why am I here!? HOW did I even get here!? I'm so confused…" Mona screeched, her mind not comprehending how all of this was working.
"Somebody…please…help me…" whispered a feminine voice. It was just loud enough that Mona could barely hear it.
"HELLO!? Who's there!?" Mona called out and walked toward the west end of the basement, thinking that's where the noise came from.
"Over here…please!"
"Where are you!? Do you know what's going on here!?" Mona shouted, now running and jumping over the various objects that were placed in a disorganized manner.
"In the corner…hurry…"
Mona darted her head to the corner nearest to her and saw a wood door and a figure slouched next to it. She walked slowly to the person and when she got a better look, Mona shrieked.
"WOAH! WENDY!?" Mona was in shock at seeing her, mainly due to the fact that Wendy had second-degree burns all over her body.
"What…you're…alive…I-I mean, no. Sorry. This has gotta be some kind of trick. Why am I here!? Why this place specifically!? TELL ME!" Mona demanded to know.
"You know why. You did this to me. To us. Killed us in that fire," Wendy spoke.
"WHAT!? I don't know what you're…" Mona was about to object, but then she remembered that she started the fire in Bowser's basement all those years ago, and also remembered the hallucination she had about Bowser's kids being scorched and tormenting her when she was on that black market drug in Sonic's world.
Mona continued from her epiphany, "I…I never hurt anyone from that fire. I-I'm sorry that I did it! Really! But no one was hurt!"
Wendy slowly stood herself up and said to her, "You go to such extremes to get what you want…it's saaaaaad…"
Mona was taken aback by that comment, striking a nerve. "Excuse me!? What do you mean by that!?"
Wendy shook her head and entered the wood door. Mona followed her and she entered her childhood home, specifically, her living room. Mona froze when she saw the setting and saw her mother, father, and her middle school-aged self.
"I did it, mom! I aced the biology exam! I was SO worried over nothing!" Middle school Mona cheered and handed her mom the exam. Her mom took a few seconds to finish polishing her nails, then took the paper. She looked over it and laughed a little.
"Oh, honey! You got a 91%...that's good, of course, but you could do just a LITTLE bit better!" her mom responded not to Mona's hopes and expectations.
"Yeahhhh, I wouldn't call a 91% exactly 'acing' something either," her father commented while he was reading the newspaper. Mona took the exam back in disappointment.
"Right…yeah…sorry, acing is only when I 100% something. I was just really struggling with this class, so I'm glad I got as high of a score as I did, you know?" Middle school Mona said, trying to make her parents understand, but neither of them made any response as her mom went back to polishing her nails and her father kept reading the newspaper. Mona felt saddened by this.
"Oh! Uhh, Mona dear…before I forget to tell you, your mom and I will be at a work conference all weekend again. So, you know the drill. No more than two friends over at the house and money will be left for pizza," her father said, still not even looking at her.
"Oh! So, wait, does that include Friday night!? That means you'll miss my soccer game! You guys!" Mona cried.
"Oh honey, we're so sorry! But we'll for sure make it to the next game! This is just a VERY important conference that we must attend so we can look good to the big bosses and boost our chances of getting a promotion. That way, we can afford to keep this house looking spick and span, and we can get you another puppy if you'd like!" her mom said in assurance, but it didn't work as Mona had a pouty expression and plopped on the couch as her other puppy jumped up next to her.
"You said that last time…whatever…" Middle school Mona grumbled as she pet and played with her puppy in hopes of making her feel better.
Mona saw all this as she teared up, remembering full well the emotional pain she endured throughout her childhood from her parents being gone so often and not feeling appreciated enough.
"What the hell…wh-why am I seeing this!? WENDY!? WHAT'S GOING ON HERE!?" Mona yelled with tears rolling down her eyes. Wendy came from behind her and touched her shoulder.
"You…always wanting to be the best and being so aggressive in getting what you want…it all started here…" Wendy said.
"Uhhh…ooookay, but WHY am I seeing all this!? WHY!?" Mona wailed.
"Don't you remember? This place shows you your darkest memories…the most uncomfortable events you've experienced…the ultimate test of bravery and determination comes from all of this…" Wendy answered ominously as she headed to the front door.
"Oh god…no…god, I don't wanna fucking relive through my darkest memories! But I have no other choice now, do I!? If it's the only way to escape…" Mona groaned and cried more from seeing her younger self play with her puppy. The pain of missing her dog hit her deep. Mona followed Wendy out the front door and it led to her college dormitory room. Mona saw herself crying and yelling at someone on her cellphone.
"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN YOU JUST PUT LILY DOWN!?" Mona screamed as she was hysterically crying. "WHY DIDN'T YOU GUYS CALL ME AND WARN ME OF THIS HAPPENING SO I CAN GO OVER THERE AND SEE HER ONE LAST TIME!? SHE'S MY DOG! AND I…okay, yeah, you may have BOUGHT her for me, but you said she was all mine! YOU DIDN'T EVEN THINK ABOUT ME DURING ALL THIS! NO, I'M NOT BEING SELFISH! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU TWO! YOU'VE NEVER LOVED ME AS A DAUGHTER! I HATE THE BOTH OF YOU!" She then threw her phone at the wall and collapsed to her knees, crying more.
The real Mona winced and looked away as she cried more herself. "Damnit…I remember this…during finals well…I was so livid at my parents for telling me they put my dog down without me at least saying goodbye…and…oh god…I can't watch what happens next…"
"Watch. Look how you ruin yourself," Wendy stated as she gripped Mona's arm.
Mona saw herself wipe her eyes and nose then she got out a bottle of Genso pills from desk. She spoke, "I…I need to distract myself…I need to study…I can't let this…ruin my future right now…" She then got poured out 5 pills and downed them all with water.
Mona cringed when she saw that. "GOD! I could've hospitalized myself…I…I put myself through so many sleepless nights…"
"You may as well have hospitalized yourself…look at you! LOOK!" Wendy shouted and tugged Mona closer to the scene. It was as if she saw her past self in a fast-forward motion like in a movie. Mona from the past was manically pacing around the room, mumbling to herself, then furiously scratched at her head, then was crying on the floor, then was shaking in the fetal position, then she ripped up some of her papers, then threw a few family pictures at the wall and went back on the floor crying again.
"STOP IT! I DON'T WANNA SEE THIS ANYMORE!" the real Mona screamed and pulled away from Wendy and exited through the door she came in, ending up back in the basement, which was now on fire. Mona stopped in her tracks, horrified at the sight of everything ablazed.
She then screamed again when she saw a scorched Iggy drag himself out of the flames and towards her.
"You did this! YOU DID THIS! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO KILLED US! YOU DESERVE TO BURN!" Iggy screamed in a high-pitched voice, making Mona cry out and cover her ears.
"NO! NOOOOO! I DIDN'T KILL YOU IN THE FIRE! STOP THIIIIIIIS!" she yelled and started coughing from the smoke. She then remembered there was a small window in the basement that she got out of previously. She ran over to it, but something pulled her back which made her fall to the floor. She rolled over on her back and screamed again when she saw a koopatrol standing over her.
"You killed them all. Your intrusion was what led to the hospital shootout! YOU DID THIS!" the koopatrol raged and headbutted her, nearly breaking her nose with his headgear. Mona screamed in raw pain and kicked the koopatrol in the stomach, knocking him on his shell. Mona held her now bleeding nose and headed for the window. She opened it and scrambled to get herself out, but she felt hands grip on her ankles pulling her back in. The hands also singed her skin.
"COME BACK! YOU BELONG HERE! YOU BELOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG HEEEEEEEEEERE!" Iggy roared in a deeper, unrecognizable voice.
"STOOOOOP! LET FUCKING GO OF MEEEEE!" Mona screamed, pulling herself away with all her strength and tugging on the grass. She eventually got fully out of the basement and pushed herself even further away as smoke came from the window. Mona exhaled greatly in relief as she cried, still holding her bloody nose and seeing both her ankles had burnt hand marks on them. She slowly stood herself up, aching from the pain, and looked to her left where saw woods…and two familiar figures.
"W-what the…? Is that…Tatanga and Fire Bro!?" Mona shrieked, witnessing the two talking in a serious manner to each other. Fire Bro and Mona locked eyes, which made him gasp in surprise, which then made Tatanga turn around and gasp as well. The pair then darted off into the woods.
"No! GET BACK HERE!" Mona shouted and ran after them with her adrenaline now at its peak. She ran for a full minute before stopping when she ran into Wario who was hunched over a tree stump.
"Wario!? WARIO! Hey! Are you okay!? Did you see Tatanga and Fire Bro!?" Mona frantically asked and rushed over to him. She widened her eyes in fright when numerous bottles of alcohol came into her view. Wario turned his head slowly to her, looking a sickly green in the face.
"It's ooooover, Mona…let's escape this world and just end it all already…one more drink and I'm…good to gooo…you should too…" Wario spoke in a defeated and croaked voice.
"What!? No, Wario! You-you can't just do this to yourself! We…we NEED to escape from here and…and…oh god…I-I don't know what to do! I'm so lost!" Mona broke down in tears again, never having felt more confused and afraid than she did at that moment.
Wario slowly stood up and revealed to her a pill bottle in his right hand. "All the pain will be over, Mona…just take the pills…and I'll take the last drink…we can escape together…pleeeeaaase…"
"Stop it! This isn't the way! I-It can't be the way!" Mona shrilled and shook her head.
"It's the only way. Take the pills, Mona! Take 'em!" Wario said in a more demanding tone and grabbed her by the wrist.
"No! Please get away! PLEASE!" Mona cried as she felt his grip tighten.
"I SAID TAKE THE GODDAMN PILLS, MONA! TAKE THEM! TAKE THEM! TAKE THEEEEEEEEEM!" Wario roared as he then shoved her to the ground, got on top of her, and tried to shove the pills down her throat. Mona grabbed a whiskey bottle just within her reach and smashed it over Wario's head. He rolled over and groaned in pain as Mona screamed in pure rage and stabbed him several times with the now broken bottle.
After Mona was finished with the deed, she threw the whiskey bottle behind her and cried again, wiping all the blood on her shirt. For a second, she caught something out of the corner of her eye. She wiped her eyes and looked to her right and saw a door in one of the trees. This was the most out of place she's seen yet, but she figured it had to lead someone better than here. She stood up and walked over to the door in the tree and opened it.
She entered a dimly-lit, wooden hallway that stretched for yards left and right. She felt a little less terrified now since it didn't seem as threatening as the previous places she was in, and that terror lessened further when she saw a familiar person far to her left.
"Peach? Peach, is that you!?" she called out.
The door Yoshi entered led to a hospital room. The dinosaur was beyond confused, but he clouded that out when walked in further and saw Birdo behind the curtain in the hospital bed with Vivian sitting next to her, looking as if she was comforting her.
"BIRDO! HEY!" Yoshi squealed and ran to her bed, immediately getting teary-eyed from the sight of his beloved.
"God, Vivian…I thought the blood was never gonna stop coming out…I…I can't believe it…first chance at starting a family with Yoshi and it's just…gone. I never thought I'd ever miscarry. I-I didn't think something so unlikely to happen would ever happen to me," Birdo said while sobbing and Vivian held her hand and cried a little with her.
"I can't imagine the pain you must be feeling, Birdo. Not just with your body, but all the emotions coming with it…it'll be okay, okay? You'll get another chance of starting again," the shadow siren spoke as comfortingly as she could.
"But, what if it happens again!? What if I lose it a second time in a row and…w-what if this is a sign I'm not mean to be a mother!? Oh god…this is all my fault! I don't know why I didn't tell Yoshi! Maybe the stress of keeping it a secret till after the first trimester stressed me out more than I thought it would a-and that's what caused it to happen and…" Birdo rambled and cried further.
"Don't say that! Birdo, I know this is SO rough right now, but you mustn't think like that. You're going to be a great mom, and Yoshi will be a great dad! Don't give in to those thoughts, it'll just make you more upset," Vivian advised.
"I know…I know. I'm so sorry I dragged you into this, it's just…I-I knew you were in town, and then Yoshi was OUT of town and the others I called wouldn't pick up, so…I just didn't wanna be alone…you know?" Birdo said with a guilty tone.
"I understand! No one would want to be alone during this awful time. Don't apologize! There's nothing to be ashamed of!" Vivian adamantly stated.
"Right…thank you…umm…Viv? I know this is gonna be a burden to put on you, but…can you please keep this a secret? I don't want anyone to know about this. I will tell Yoshi eventually…but I want this to be kept hidden. Can you do that for me?" Birdo asked in a more serious tone now.
Yoshi, witnessing the tragic scene, cried and felt his heart break all over again. He realized what he was seeing. It was the miscarriage secret that Birdo had kept from him for so long. It was the secret that Grunty revealed to everyone during that awful quiz she forced them to do. It was something so personal and dark that should've never been exposed to so many people. He understood the need for it to be kept secret…but he couldn't understand Birdo never telling him. That was something he'll be wondering for the rest of his life.
"Of course! You can trust me to keep it a secret till the day we die. Especially because…heh…well, you'll be dying sooner than me," Vivian spoke in a more sinister tone. Yoshi caught this and was horrified at what she said.
"What the!? How could you say something like that!?" he yelled.
Vivian turned her head and faced Yoshi now. She stood up and slowly walked over Yoshi while speaking, "Your relationship was a joke, Yoshi. All a farce. Been together so many years, yet never officially married…couldn't carry a baby to full term…Birdo keeping such a huge secret from you…letting Boshi get to her…your foundation was never strong to begin with if you're holding back such ordeals from each other."
"S-STOP IT! NONE OF THIS IS REAL! PLEASE STOOOOOP!" Yoshi screamed and ran out of the room.
"Wait…wait! Yoshi! WAIT! I…I don't know why I said that…something made me say that! YOSHIIIIII!"
Yoshi ran into the hallway and saw that the hospital hallway stretched for what seemed like miles down each direction. All he heard in there was silence as well. He knew he was all alone in this place. He then heard a weird, mechanism-like noise behind him so he spun around and saw the ceiling lights go off one by one towards his direction. Yoshi became even more spooked and ran the opposite way as fast as he could.
"SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME! MARIOOOOO!" Yoshi cried as the lights shutting down began to catch up to him. He saw something up ahead that stood out amongst the bland hallway. There was a door open on the right side of the hallway and there was a red light shining from it. Yoshi dashed into the room and instantly shut the door before being engulfed in darkness.
Yoshi caught his breath and held his chest, trying to calm his mind and body so he could focus on escaping whatever kind of hellhole he walked into. But then, something distracted him from that. He felt heat. An overwhelming sense of heat. He turned around to face whatever was in this red room and then jumped and shrieked at what he saw.
It was the pale man from Freezeflame Galaxy who was standing over a lifeless Luvbi who had her neck sliced open.
"Look at what you did, you reckless fool. You murdered her. Your grief was no excuse for what you did!" he said in accusation as Yoshi stood there, frozen in shock from the scene. The memory of him nearly dying in that red room at Freezeflame came right back as it seemed like he was about to suffer the same fate.
"No! NO! I-I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING! STOP TRYING TO MESS WITH MY HEAD! AAAAAGGGGGHHHH!" Yoshi screamed in agony and held his head while collapsing to the floor.
"Just accept your fate and it'll all be over, my dear Yoshi. The madness, the pain, the trauma…don't you want to be with Birdo again? This is your perfect opportunity to give in to the dangers that constantly befall you, so you can be at true peace with your beloved. Doesn't that sound heavenly to you?" the pale man spoke in a more delicate and softer tone while walking towards him. The heat began to really get to Yoshi as the dino scrambled to get back up and tried to open the door, but it wouldn't even budge.
"Stay…away from me! You're not gonna get me!" Yoshi cried as he kept pulling on the door.
"Yoshi! Please stop!" yelled a voice that indeed made him stop moving. Yoshi slowly turned his head and saw Birdo now next to the pale man with a pleading expression.
"Birdo? No…it's another stupid trick…" Yoshi said while shaking his head and began to cough while feeling more faint.
"This isn't a trick. Just stop struggling and we can be together forever, my love! Please…I love you so much, Yoshi. I don't wanna exist in an afterlife without you. Your friends will be just okay when you're gone! They'll manage. This adventure has done too much to your mind and body. You need to escape the constant chaos…and this is the only way, sweetie," Birdo spoke endearingly and walked over to him, facing him close. Yoshi breathed in and out heavily as sweat began dripping into his eyes, blurring his eyesight a little. He shook his head again as he cried some more.
"No, Birdo…please stop…you…you're not Birdo. Please stop this! PLEASE! I…I can't die…not yet…please…"
"Listen to her, Yoshi. She's real. This place called you here to tell you to go with her. It knows what you truly desire deep down. Don't reject it! It'll only make the struggle that much worse," the pale man advised.
"You…shut up. You don't know what I really desire! You don't! YOU DON'T FUCKING KNOOOOOOW!" Yoshi roared then used his remaining strength to leap at the pale man, grab him by the neck and smash his face into the wall repeatedly. Blood splattered everywhere and Yoshi eventually threw him to the ground, the man now lifeless. Yoshi looked behind him to see 'Birdo' now gone along with the deceased 'Luvbi.' He heard a lock mechanism sound from the door and he quickly went to it and managed to open it much to his relief.
Yoshi was back in the hallway, but it was now pitch black. The only thing he could see was a red EXIT sign some feet away, the glow showing some of a door below it. He quickly walked over there, trying his best not to collapse as he still felt weakened by the extreme heat. He made it to the door and opened it.
He was now in a stairwell that looked exactly like the one from St. Toadofsky's. He took another couple of steps forward, but then jumped in fright once again when he witnessed the godawful sight of Birdo falling to her death right in front of him.
"AGH! BIRDOOOOO! DAMNIT! PLEASE STOP THIIIIIIS! PLEEEEEAAAAAAASE! THIS IS TOO MUCH! I CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE!" Yoshi cried as he collapsed to the floor again, grabbing ahold of Birdo's shoulder. If whatever haunted this place wasn't going to kill him, then his death would surely be one of a broken heart.
Footsteps were then heard which echoed throughout the stairwell. They became louder with each step. Yoshi slowly looked up and terror struck him again when saw Fire Bro walking down the stairs, staring at him with a wicked smirk.
"Man, would you look at this mess!? I feel like that's the ultimate trauma right there; having a loved one die right in front of your eyes. That's something you can't unsee. Something you can't unfeel! Haunted by the memory, the visuals, the sounds, the 'what-ifs' your mind plays through constantly…that is true, raw pain right there. Pain that I caused. Pain that I do not regret afflicting upon you. Because look at you…you're just seconds away from killing yourself. You WANT the torture to end. And that's okay! It's nothing to be ashamed of," Fire Bro tauntingly spoke, which filled Yoshi with all the rage he felt when he witnessed Birdo's death.
"Y-You bastard…you killed the love of my life! AND ALL FOR WHAT!? JUST TO GET A SICK HIGH OFF OF IT!? JUST TO MAKE ME GO INSANE!? WHYYYYYY!?" Yoshi swore and trembled, unable to move his body too much due to the near-heat stroke and strong emotional pain.
"That's pretty much the answer right there. Hey, man, look, at least I'm forward with my batshit insanity. You know what to expect, and you get what you see. BUT…hehe, I'm not the one who took advantage of her mental state when her mind was wiped. That guy over there…that's the one who did the ultimate betrayal. That's a feeling that's just as bad as what I did," Fire Bro responded so casually cruel and nonchalantly while pointing to somewhere behind Yoshi. The dino turned his head and cried out again when he saw Boshi standing in front of the door.
"NO! NOOOO! PLEASE STOP THIIIIS! I'VE HAD ENOUGH!" Yoshi yelled and let his head drop to the floor, not wanting to see any more of the two guys who brought him the most pain in his life.
"He's right, Yoshi. I'm the guy who has ALWAYS wanted everything you've had. A stable family, close circle of friends, a long-lasting love…that's why I did what I did with Birdo. And I'd do it again! She was supposed to be mine and you took her away from me! The ONE good thing I had in my life and you took her! Why couldn't you have thrown me a favor just that one time!? Why!? WHY!?" Boshi angrily questioned.
"BIRDO NEVER BELONGED TO YOU! PLEASE JUST STOP IT! I CAN'T FUCKING TAKE THIS ANYMORE!" Yoshi screamed and continued cowering his head.
"I can answer that question for you. It's because you're a selfish twit who doesn't know when to quit while he's ahead. Face it, no one takes you seriously. You're too much of a goof to be relied on. End it now while you have the chance! We're doing this for your own good!" Fire Bro spat as he and Boshi got closer to the emotionally wrecked Dino.
"Exactly what he said. Selfish. That's why you left me in that underworld to be tortured for an eternity! You're just as bad as me! YOU'RE JUST AS POISONOUS AS ME!" Boshi yelled down to him, now inches away.
Yoshi then snapped.
"I SAID FUCKING STOP IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. He kicked Boshi down then punched Fire Bro in the face. He then jumped at Fire Bro and shoved his thumbs into his eye sockets, prompting a blood-curdling scream from the koopa as Boshi put his hands around Yoshi's neck in an attempt to strangle him. Yoshi struggled for a second as his airway was now blocked, but used his arms to pull Boshi's left leg out from under him and made him fall over to the ground again. Yoshi got on top of Boshi and punched him repeatedly while roaring like a wild animal. Blood eventually splattered onto Yoshi as Boshi's face was getting more bruised with each punch. Yoshi then stood up and then stomped on Boshi's neck as hard as he could, crushing it and making him gurgle and cough up blood. Yoshi then turned around and saw Fire Bro was still moving about, aching from the pain in his eyes, so the dino grabbed him and bashed his head into the staircase railing. Both of them stopped moving altogether.
Yoshi collapsed again, feeling the most drained and exhausted he's ever felt. The rage within was slowly going away as he knew he had killed whatever the hell these two imposters were exactly. He dragged himself to Birdo's body and touched her face, too tired to even cry again.
He softly spoke to her, "Birdo…I…wanna die a-and be with you so badly…b-but I can't. I have to…to…keep going and help my…our friends…and save everyone. I'm s-s-s-sorry I did all this…but this place…I don't know…I had no idea this was gonna happen like this…I'm so tired…but I gotta keep going not just for our friends…but for you…I know that's what you'd want. I love you always."
He kissed her on the forehead as another locking mechanism noise was heard from the door he came through earlier. He weakly stood up and dragged himself over to the door and opened it.
He entered a hallway which was slightly different to the one before. Same length of the hallway, but wooden architecture this time around and the area was dimly-lit. Yoshi felt a little safer being in here. He closed the door and slid to the floor, not having much strength to stand for too long.
"Yoshi? YOSHI! Hey! Are you okay!?" A familiar voice yelled, along with footsteps running over to him as Yoshi felt like he was gonna pass out.
"Ma…rio…we need to…escape…please…"
Goombella opened the door and entered into a living room that she immediately recognized. She was stunned for a moment. It was her home she grew up in until she left to go to the University of Goom.
But what stunned her even more was when she saw her mom sitting on the couch, sobbing to herself.
"M-Mom? Hey…mom! This…is real!?" Goombella spoke in a soft voice as she already got choked up and emotional herself.
Her mom dried her eyes with a tissue and then looked to Goombella. She looked surprised to see her.
"Oh! Honey…when did you get here? I didn't know you were coming to visit! How long are you in town for?" she asked.
Goombella didn't know what to say for a second there. She was still processing this surrealism.
"Uhhhh…well…like, not for long. Umm, is there anything new going on with you?" she attempted to fit herself in whatever kind of situation she just entered while sitting down on the couch.
"Not for long, huh? I feel like that's the new normal for you and I. Talk on the phone once a month for like 10 minutes and spend only Christmas together. It's never the same like it used to be…feels like…your father's death was the catalyst of all this mess…" her mom responded frustratedly and sobbed a little more. Goombella looked away in shame, knowing her mom was right about how limited her efforts were in keeping in touch with her mom.
"Um, yeah, that was definitely something that turned our world upside down. Mom, I'm sorry I don't talk to you more, I just…" Goombella tried to find the best way to be delicate with her words because her mom was clearly in a fragile state at the moment.
"You just what? Honey, there's no excuse. But I get it. You're an adult now. You've got your own things going on. Your hometown's no longer the place where you need to be in life. I just…I always wish things were back to the way they were…before the incident. Really feels like everything was going perfect in our lives until that happened. That's why I'm so upset right now…today's the anniversary of when he died. You…you didn't remember that, did you?" her mom asked. Goombella made a confused expression.
"What!? Hold on here…dad died on October 2. We're, like, in the middle of the damn summer right now! Okay, what the hell is happening here!?" she yelled, now knowing something had to be up.
Her mom shook her head. "There you go again. Denying your true feelings. Honey, when dad died, you were so sad for only a short time. Then, somehow, you pushed the grief aside and excelled in school. How you did that was beyond me! Losing someone who has been a staple in your life since the second you were born…you should've been devastated. Why is that?"
Goombella now got frustrated with her and leered her eyes. "Seriously!? You really have to ask it like that!? Mom, OF COURSE I was devastated! I couldn't sleep properly for weeks after he passed! But, I had to move on somehow! I knew I couldn't, like, be down in the dumps forever. So, I distracted myself with school from that point onward and aced a lot of subjects. I had to do it for my mental health, Mom. It's what dad would've wanted for me…"
Her mom shook her head again and seemed even more agitated. "No no! You don't know a damn thing about what your father would've wanted for you! You moving on so quickly like that and just pushing your old life away like it meant nothing to you makes me think that maybe the wrong person in this family died!"
Goombella felt pure disgust and horror when she heard those treacherous words.
"WHAT!? I'm sorry, like, what in the hell are you trying to say here!? That I should've been the one to die instead!? THAT'S…no…that's not something my mom would ever say. Even in her most depressive state of mind," Goombella changed her tune, as it hit her with what was really happening now.
Her mom now looked livid. "You selfish little bitch. Only thinking about yourself and never considered what I wanted. I needed help to get out of my hell! BUT YOU DID NOTHING! YOU JUST RAN AWAY LIKE AN UNCARING WITCH!"
"SHUT UP! YOU'RE NOT MY FUCKING MOTHER!" Goombella screamed and smacked her across the face. Her mom cried out in pain, then gave her a death glare.
"HOW DARE YOU HURT YOUR OWN MOTHER!? ESPECIALLY AFTER EVERYTHING THAT I'VE BEEN THROUGH!" her mom roared in a deeper, hoarse voice and she pushed Goombella on the floor. Her mom smacked her multiple times as Goombella screamed and struggled to escape her grasp. She thought of a quick move. As soon as she was about to get smacked again, Goombella grabbed her by the wrist and bit as hard as she could into her hand. Her mom let out a bloodcurdling scream which gave Goombella the opportunity to kick her away. The goomba gal was now free and bolted to the front door.
"YOU HORRIBLE EXCUSE OF A DAUGHTER! YOU GO OUT THAT DOOR, DON'T YOU EVER THINK OF COMING BACK AROUND HERE AGAIN!" her mom yelled in that same eerie, deep, and hoarse voice.
Goombella put her hand on the doorknob and turned back to look at her and said, "You know what? Fine by me! Because I know you're not my real mom…but, even if you were…also fine by me. I can't help save anyone who doesn't wanna try to save themselves."
She opened up the door, seeing darkness with a hint of light, took a step forward, and fell some feet down onto a cold, hard floor. Goombella cried out from the hurt of the fall while trying to observe where she was at now.
The setting also looked familiar. She was in what looked like a jail cell. She looked up to see how she could've fallen in here and saw that the door she came in was about 10 feet off the ground in the wall. The door was now closed and the only light that lit up the vicinity was from a bulb a little far down the hallway outside her cell.
"Aggghhh…oh…oh god. No! This is…NO NO NO NOOOOO!" Goombella cried when she realized where she was. It was the same cell she was put in by Sonic's infected friends when she and the gang were in their world. She started to hyperventilate and sob, trying her best not to remember all the torture she went through.
She then heard footsteps. It echoed throughout the hall. She quieted herself as the footsteps became louder and closer. She shook in terror at what could be coming for her now.
Someone came into her view. She gasped when she saw the person clearer. It was Sonic, who had a wide smile on as he stared directly at her.
"Well well well, back in the old rotting cell, huh? Scream all you want, little girl, but no one will hear you. Looks like your adventure ends here!" Sonic chuckled and mocked.
"No no no no no no no…this isn't real. This isn't real! You're not real! YOU'RE NOT REAL! NONE OF THIS IS FUCKING REAL!" Goombella angrily shouted.
"Quit saying that! There you go again, wanting to run away from your troubles! That's not how any of this works. Can't run away from something that you're trapped in!" Sonic yelled in hopes of shutting her down. For a second, it worked as Goombella sobbed a little more and continued hyperventilating. But she tried her hardest to calm herself as she thought of something that could help her.
"Hahaha! Look at you…so weak and defenseless. Remember the time we tortured you in here? With you being zapped, scalded with hot water, and the ceiling came crashing down on you? Good times, weren't they? I bet you'd like to do it all over again! I know that'd be a sight to see for me!" Sonic recalled while heartily laughing, which fueled the anger that Goombella needed at that moment.
She steadied her breathing and opened her eyes, glaring at the hedgehog now.
"Shut up. You're the one who's weak and defenseless. I know you're not really Sonic…just like I knew that that wasn't my mom back there. So, why don't you show me who you really are? C'mon. If this tower really is as dark and twisted as we were told it was…bring it on. You couldn't possibly be any scarier or more dangerous than anything else we've faced so far!" Goombella boldly stated as she walked to the cell bars. Sonic looked heated now.
"Don't tell me to shut up. If anything, you should be the one to shut your trap because you ARE fucking with the wrong person," Sonic said as his eyes turned a darker shade and his voice got deeper and hoarser while also approaching the cell bars.
"Oh, am I? Really? Well, if THIS is the wrong person I'm supposedly 'fucking with' then this whole thing is a joke. You're not scary. You're not threatening. You're just an annoying and pathetic obstacle in my way to get where I need to go!" Goombella spat, still looking at him straight in the eyes the entire time. Sonic became visibly more livid.
"I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP! QUIT PRETENDING LIKE YOU KNOW YOU'LL WIN, BECAUSE YOU WON'T! YOU'RE A WEAK, WHINY, MISERABLE LOSER!" Sonic screamed at the top of his lungs, clenching at the bars now.
"OH YEAH!? WELL PROVE ME WRONG! COME IN HERE AND FIGHT ME YOU ANNOYING LITTLE BITCH!" Goombella matched his screaming, ready for a takedown.
Sonic made a loud, wild animal-like roar and proceeded to break the bars apart and lunge at Goombella. She screamed as she was shoved to the floor, then Sonic clawed her at the side of her neck. She cried out in pain as Sonic laughed maniacally, but she made a quick recoil, biting as hard as she could into his right arm. Sonic made another wild animal-like roar and shook her off. The adrenaline in Goombella's body peaked to its absolute max as she jumped as high as she could and headbonked, knocking him down to the floor. Goombella immediately then bit into the side of his neck, tearing into his flesh as Sonic made another roar of pain. Goombella tore out the flesh from his neck, and then spat the flesh and blood into his eyes. Sonic was briefly distracted by the irritation in his eyes, which gave Goombella the opportunity to repeatedly stomp on his face. Goombella screamed in pure and raw rage as she kept stomping until she saw blood spew everywhere. She eventually stopped and fell to the ground, breathing heavily as she saw the shattered face of Sonic, flesh exposed and facial bones broken.
Goombella stood up, spitting on him again to make sure all the blood was out of her mouth and then walked out into the hallway. She saw a door at the end of the hall and ran to it. She opened it and walked out into another dimly-lit and wooden hallway. This one felt a little safer somehow.
She closed the door and leaned against it as she caught her breath, still processing the violent act she had to do to survive. It all happened so fast that she felt both horrified but also impressed with herself that she went to such extremes.
She then saw something out of the corner of her eye to her left. She looked over and saw figures that confirmed the feeling of safety.
"Mario? Yoshi? That you guys!?"
Bowser Jr. entered a room that startled him for a split second. He was in his bedroom with his mom and dad looking over a crib. Junior slowly approached them and saw the baby in the crib. He quickly added it all up and realized they were looking over him as a baby.
"Mom? Dad? I…uhh, I don't know what's going on here…" Junior nervously said, attempting to process this bizarrity.
"Wow. This is gonna sound weird, but he looks like me the most out of all the kids. I mean…I know he's only three months old, but man! When the other kids were babies, they definitely looked different from me, but him…no contest! It's undeniable how much he looks like me!" Bowser said in excitement as baby Bowser Jr. was slowly nodding off to sleep.
"I agree. That's so interesting how that ended up working out…can only imagine how he'll look, say, 15 years from now! Or maybe I shouldn't look that far ahead…don't want time to move too fast. Gotta appreciate the day by day moments, I suppose," Clawdia added nonchalantly. Bowser looked at her with a confused expression.
"Why are you saying it like that for? Geez, Clawd, that came off as such a depressing statement," the koopa king pointed out a little annoyedly.
"What? I was just saying that…um…looking too far ahead sounds scary right now. These are the moments that we'll never get back, so we gotta, you know, focus on and embrace the present moment. It's already happening with the older ones. They're no longer toddlers…look at how fast THAT went by," she clarified a little nervously.
"Hmm. That's true. Yeah, look at where we're at now. 8 amazing kiddos! We're all set for life. One big, royal family that'll be ready to take on the world in the future, haha," Bowser cheerily said, staring longingly at the now asleep baby Junior.
"Well…not necessarily. 7 amazing kiddos. This one…not gonna last. I've got a feeling he's gonna end up becoming overly-attached to us to the point where he'll drive us mad and we'll get sick of him," Clawdia spoke in a changed tone that threw Junior off, a tone that was harsh and relentless.
"What the? What is that supposed to mean!?" Junior yelled.
"You're right. He'll turn out to be a whiny, useless crybaby. He may end up looking like me…but he'll be the one that I'd regret most bringing into this world. He'll end up doing the things that'll give me the most rage and stress. I can't have that for my family's future," Bowser spoke also in a changed tone, one that was as harsh and cruel as Clawdia.
Junior couldn't believe the atrocious words coming from their mouths. His eyes began to water as his feelings were deeply hurt. "Wha-wha…I-I don't understand! How could you guys say that about me!? WHAT IS THIS!?"
"He'll be nothing but trouble and a nuisance. We'll have to get rid of him for the sake of our sanity, because if we don't, Bowser, I don't think I can be a part of this family anymore," Clawdia stated as she reached for baby Junior and grabbed him.
"WHAT!? NO NO NO! THIS CAN'T BE REAL! THERE'S NO WAY…WHY IS THIS HAPPENING!?" Junior screeched.
"I don't want you to leave, Clawd! That'll ruin my life. So, you're right. It has to be done. Out the window right there…we'll tell everyone it was just an accident. Maybe pin the blame on one of our servants! Yeah. We'll get away with this easily!" Bowser said with excitement, breaking Junior's heart further.
"Perfect plan! Alright Junior…time for you to sleep forever now. Trust us, this'll be for your own good. We already know how your future is gonna go…and it's not gonna be pretty. Everyone would just be better off," Clawdia said as she rushed on over to the window and held the baby out.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? NOOOOOOOOO!" Junior screamed and leaped to the window, knocking Clawdia aside, and he ended up falling out the window. Junior screamed further and closed his eyes bracing for the treacherous impact as he was falling from a great height…so he thought, at least, when he suddenly landed sooner than he expected.
Junior landed on what felt like a sandy ground and rolled a little. He let out a cry as the fall hurt his entire body, but the impact wasn't as brutal as he thought it would be.
"Ugggghhh…god…wait…where am I!? MOM!? DAD!?" Junior said in confusion as he opened his eyes, revealing that was now on a small beach next to a flowing river.
"What!? I-I'm so confused! What is going on here!? They were gonna kill me as a baby…that…that couldn't have actually happened…" Junior said to himself, trying to make sense and process the illogical insanity he just witnessed. He then heard someone run up to him. He turned his head to the left and got the shock of his life at who he saw.
"WOAH! WENDY!?" Junior yelped.
"Hey, are you okay? I told you to stay on the trail! Unless you're trying to dip your toes in the river…but the Mushroom River is always freezing cold no matter the weather outside!" Wendy said as he helped him stand up.
"What? Wendy…how are you…wait a second…I…um, remember this…" Junior said, recognizing the setting.
"Remember what? Did you hit your head!? Do I have to take you to the hospital!? Ugh, dad's gonna be SO pissed at us!" Wendy groaned.
"Mushroom River…why are we here? Is this place trying to tell me something? Or is it just messing with my head!?" Junior asked himself in a daze.
"Ooooookay, seriously, you're starting to freak me out right now! What's the deal with you, Junior? How hard did you hit your head?" Wendy questioned.
"Holy shit, it's the psycho koopa king's kids!" yelled a male's voice. The two turned to where the voice came from and saw a male koopa who was fishing and who also looked like he was in his teens walk towards the two.
"Did you just call our father psycho!?" Wendy yelled, already getting heated up.
"Yeah, I did! What of it? I mean, your father has tried to kidnap the princess and destroy our kingdom like a hundred times now, sooooo ya can't blame me!" the koopa taunted with a wicked smile.
"SHUT YOUR MOUTH! If you don't have anything nice to say, then just don't say it! Not that hard!" Wendy yelled as she walked towards him.
"I can say whatever the hell I want! Your stupid father has been nothing but a danger to everyone here! I don't understand why you guys just don't move far away because you're all nothing but a laughing stock and nobody likes you! I'm surprised you haven't been ran out by an angry mob yet!" he spat and clearly enjoyed seeing them get their feelings hurt.
"Stop insulting our dad! Just leave us alone, we weren't even bothering you!" Junior shouted.
"Seriously! There was never a problem until YOU decided to yell at us for no damn reason, you jackass! You better stop or else you'll regret it!" Wendy added, now only a mere foot from him.
"Or what!? You're gonna sick your dad on me!? You two are such losers! In fact, I ALMOST feel sorry for you, because your dad raised you to be such stupid, ugly psychopaths with no successful future JUST LIKE HIM! YOU GUYS MAKE THE ENTIRE KOOPA RACE LOOK BAD!" he yelled even more viciously.
"I SAID SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOOOUUUUTH!" Wendy roared and shoved him into the river, but he managed to grab on to Wendy's wrist on the way down. The two fell into the flowing water with Junior standing there, struck by that sudden, shocking moment.
"OH! WENDYYYYY! Oh god…uhhhh…" Junior shrieked and then he went into the river carefully but couldn't see much below the water's surface. He began to panic more as seconds went by and neither of them were rising to the surface nor were any bubbles seen. He tried to feel around for a body so he could grab one of them out.
"WENDYYYY! Crap! Ohhhh god…uhhh…wait! WAIT! That's not what happened! I-It was just the boy that fell in a-and I revived him…what's going on here!?" Junior said to himself, just as freaked out and confused as previously.
He then felt something grab on to his leg and nearly pull him down. Junior cried out and reached down to grab what had caught on to him and helped pull up the boy to the surface.
"Ah! Hehehe…yeah…weren't expecting THAT, now were you!?" the boy snickered menacingly. Junior widened his eyes and pulled away from him towards land.
"Wha…where's Wendy!? WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!?" Junior cried. The boy laughed at him again.
"Do you really not understand it now? Your fears and traumas have come together all in one…oh look! THERE is Wendy, and her brother, Iggy!" he pointed behind Junior. He turned around and screamed in horror when he saw his sister and brother hanging by a noose on a tree branch.
"NOOOOO! PLEASE STOP THIS! LET ME GOOOO!" Junior cried and tried to get back onto shore, but the boy tugged on him.
"That's not how any of this works, little boy! You're stuck here. You have no future! All of Bowser's kids have been doomed to die since the second they were born! Chaos is what that family brings upon each other and into the world! Bullying, cheating, deaths, betrayal…I'm surprised you haven't killed yourself yet because you've lived such a miserable life! Maybe I should do it for you!?" the boy threw all the past troubles upon Junior, and shoved him underwater. Junior screamed below the surface, losing air quickly as he couldn't manage to push himself back up. He had to think fast. He clawed the leg of the boy as hard as he could, immediately releasing blood into the waters. The boy cried out in pain, releasing Junior, and he quickly rose to the surface.
"OWWWWW! YOU DISGUSTING PIECE OF SHIT!" the boy screamed and punched Junior in the face. Junior cried out and tried to crawl as quickly as he could onto shore, but the boy caught up to him, flipped his body over and started punching him repeatedly. Junior cried out once more but then managed to reach over and claw his other leg, making the boy cry out and fall back in the water. Junior had to finish him off. He got up as quick as he could, got on top of the boy and pushed his head underwater. The boy scrambled for a minute as Junior held his ground and ignored his own pain and bleeding nose as best as he could. The boy slowly stopped moving. Junior slowly took his hands away, still reeling from the chaos that just ensued so quickly.
"He…he's dead…I…I just…I want my-my dad and brother…" Junior weeped to himself and got up to get out of the water. He looked ahead through his teary eyes and saw a door engraved into a massive rock. He knew that wasn't there before. He walked over to the door, frightened by the constant weirdness of where he was, and turned the doorknob.
Through it, he saw an entry to a dimly-lit hallway. This defied all logic, but he was realizing that logic clearly didn't apply to this tower of terror. He stepped in and closed the door, feeling a sense of relief from being away from the madness.
"Dad!? Larry!? ANYONE!?" Junior called out and looked to his left and right. He gasped when, from afar, he saw someone wearing what looked like a pink dress that stood out amongst the dark.
Dixie entered and she had immediately stepped into a fancy party at the dining hall of Peach's castle. She stood there, frozen in complete confusion, knowing quickly where she was, but not understanding how exactly she got here and why she was at this specific place and time.
"Uhhh, what in the hell is this? I'm…at one of Peach's Christmas parties? What? God, I'm already more annoyed than confused! How is some party related to anything traumatic from my past?" Dixie asked in frustration.
"Dearie, who are you talking to?" Flurrie asked, approaching her with a glass of red wine.
"Oh! Uhh…just…myself. Yeah. I get, uhh, anxious at parties. Sometimes," Dixie replied, trying to play it cool.
"Oh, I see! Well, sometimes a little alcohol takes that edge off! Plenty of red wine on the table over there next to the foray of cheeses. This is my second glass, I better stop myself right now otherwise I'll start acting out the Thousand Year Door play!" Flurrie heartily laughed. Dixie faked a laugh, seeing Flurrie 'alive' again all too surreal and awkward.
"Hehe. Right. Yeah. Um, if you'll excuse me, I…um…gotta go…find Toadette! Yeah. See you later!" Dixie came up with an excuse to leave the strange conversation so she could figure out what's going on here exactly. She moved past various people, but then stopped when she saw Diddy not too far away chatting with Tiny. Her heart skipped a beat, seeing him in person again. She knew this wasn't actually real, but she also knew that this was the closest thing she could get to seeing Diddy right now. Then she looked at Tiny and she started bawling, missing her sister so deeply.
Tiny glanced over and saw Dixie crying. She tapped Diddy on the shoulder and motioned over to Dixie. The pair went over to her.
"Hey, sis! What's the matter? Why are you crying? Did something bad happen?" Tiny kindly asked.
"Yeah, you look seriously upset. Was one of the guests here rude to you? Do I have to beat someone up!?" Diddy half-jokingly asked.
Dixie chuckled as she rubbed her eyes. "No no, nothing like that, you guys. I just…love you both. I'm glad I'm here with you guys and…this is just really nice. That's all."
Tiny smiled at her and gave her a big hug, which hurt Dixie's heart more. She wanted them both back more than anything in the world and it killed her that this was the closest she'll ever get to her boyfriend and her sister again.
Dixie suddenly broke off the hug when she heard a familiar scream intrude the room.
"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY!" the dino screamed, holding a beer bottle, and pushed past Mario.
"Boshi, seriously, STOP! You've had too much to drink! Let me just take you home!" Luigi pleaded, the situation grabbing the attention of everyone close by.
"NO I HAVE NOT HAD TOO MUCH TO DRINK! YOU GUYS DON'T EEEEEEVER LET ANYONE HAVE FUN, LIKE, I MEAN, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S THE POINT OF THROWING A PARTY IF YOU DON'T LET LOOSE JUST A LIIIITLE!?" Boshi shouted while slightly stumbling on his words and attempting to stand straight, drawing further attention from the crowd as he took another swig of the beer bottle.
"Oh great, it's the blue blowhard. Think it's safe to say we should stop giving you chances to come to these parties since you clearly don't know how to behave like a sane person!" Diddy spat. Boshi looked at him enraged from this.
"EXCUSE ME!? NO ONE WAS EVEN TALKING TO YOU, YOU DUMB PRICK!" Boshi roared and punched him in the face. Diddy fell backwards and hit his shoulder on a table on his way down to the floor. The crowd shrieked at this atrocity.
"NO! YOU ASSHOLE! MARIO…please do something! This is…not real?" Dixie said as she locked eyes with Mario. She immediately knew that he was also the odd one out in this memory.
"What!? Dixie…" Mario shrieked.
Then the lights dimmed and the room fell silent. Boshi slowly turned to Mario and laughed at him.
"Yesssss, Mario…do something. Oh! Wait a second. You already know what you're gonna do. The both of you! Dixie plants fake evidence of drugs in my car…then YOU, Mister Legendary Hero of the Ages, come up with the plan to keep this a secret forever among your inner circle…you're FAKE," 'Boshi' roared as he stepped towards Mario. Mario clenched his fists and prepared for a potential fight. 'Boshi' continued, "You disrupted the natural order of things! You couldn't just leave it all alone…noooooo…you had to go the extra mile to make sure someone who needed help with their life would sink lower into their own personal hell! You're fake! FAKE! FAAAAAAAAAAAKE!"
'Boshi' then swiped a steak knife and lunged at Mario. Mario tried to jump out of the way, but 'Boshi' managed to slice at Mario's rib a little. Mario yelped in pain and made a dash for the nearest door.
"MARIO, WAIT! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE ALONE!" Dixie cried out as Mario exited the dining room and into a long hallway.
Boshi slowly turned around and made a creepy grin at the monkey gal. Dixie felt terrified and backed away from him.
"Well well. Look at that! The hero of the ages left you all alone to deal with me. Pffft! Some fucking savior," Boshi taunted as the others in the room stood still as if they were frozen in time.
"Leave me alone! I know this isn't real! Why am I here!?" Dixie yelled.
"It's simple, blondie: to make you face all the awful shit you put people through. Shall we begin?" Boshi said then snapped his fingers. Diddy slowly approached Dixie, now looking dead in the eyes.
"Remember how I was the one who came up with that plan to frame Boshi? I did it all to protect you. And what do I get in return? You cheating on me for some fucking maniac. I did EVERYTHING in my power to love you and be with you forever. And you just tore it all up. You're a druggie. A cheater. A fucking wreck! I should've dumped you when I had the chance! Now I'm locked up in a cell on Tatanga's island…and you know what? I'd rather be there than anywhere near your pathetic self ever again. You disgust me!" Diddy viciously spoke. Dixie teared up again and shook her head.
"NO! PLEASE STOP THIS! I KNOW THIS ISN'T REAL! DIDDY WOULD NEVER SAY THIS CRAP TO ME! I'M BEGGING YOU TO STOOOOOOOP!" she screamed as she backed up against the wall.
Suddenly, Diddy was stabbed through the back with a butcher knife. Diddy screamed for his life as blood spurted on Dixie who also screamed in terror. Boshi slid Diddy off the knife and kicked him to the floor.
"OH MY GOD! YOU SICK SON OF A BITCH! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS!?" Dixie frantically cried and fell to the floor, seeing that Diddy was already lifeless.
"You see what happens when you're just a fucking wreck in all areas of your life? The people around you get hurt instead of YOU being the one who should get hurt!" Boshi responded in a scolding manner and snapped his fingers. Tiny walked over and knelt down to Dixie, who was still reeling from Diddy's sudden kill.
"Everyday, I wish you had never been born. You had it all, Dixie! Amazing boyfriend, great circle of friends, living the city life, all this popularity…and you waste all of that by being a selfish, crazed bitch who does nothing but damage the people she relies on for support. You should've been the one killed in that hospital, NOT ME! I SHOULD BE LIVING THE LIFE YOU HAVE! YOU DON'T DESERVE IT ONE BIT!" Tiny screamed in her face, making Dixie all the more worse. And just like before, the butcher knife stabbed through Tiny's back and out her torso, spewing more blood onto Dixie.
"OH MY GOD STOOOOOOOOP! TINYYYYYYYYY! PLEASE JUST STOP THIS!" Dixie screeched, crawling away from the horrific site of her sister dying in front of her for the second time. Boshi pushed Tiny off the knife and laughed at Dixie's misery.
"You really think I'm just gonna stop? C'mon, Dixie…you're not dumb. The moment you walked in here, you knew exactly what was going to happen. And we're not done yet!" Boshi said and snapped his fingers once again. Dixie rubbed her eyes, unable to stop crying, but then stopped moving when she now saw Toadette approach her.
"Dixie…you're the worst friend I could've ever had in my life. We told each other secrets and shared so many stories that I considered you the sister I never had. Well…that's gone now. You got angry at me and smacked me for telling Diddy about YOU cheating on him for a maniac! How could you get mad at me for something YOU did!? You're absolutely the worst kind of person among us! YOU DESERVE THE PAIN THAT WE ALL GOT BECAUSE OF YOU!" Toadette shouted at her and smacked Dixie.
"AAAAGGGHH! PLEASE JUST STOP! I CAN'T DO THIS! PLEEEAAAAASE!" Dixie cried further, holding her cheek in pain.
"Quit being a crybaby! If I can handle the pain, then you can too!" Toadette spat and smacked her again. And again. And again. And again…until Dixie had enough.
"STOP! AH! I SAID FUCKING STOOOOOOOOOOOOP!" Dixie screamed at the top of her lungs and kicked Toadette in the stomach, throwing her backwards which made her fall and hit the back of her head on one of the tables then fell to the floor.
Dixie stared in total shock at what she just did. She stood herself up and slowly turned to Boshi.
"My god, Dixie! Look at what you did! Not only are you a cheater, druggie, and a total bitch, you're also a cold blooded killer! Wow! You're just trying to win the award for the worst person to ever exist, aren't you!?" Boshi yelled in a mocking manner. Dixie knew she had to take her fears and crying and turn that into fuel for rage.
"Shut up…shut the hell up. I know what you're trying to do, and it's not gonna work! I know I've done so many fucked up things in the past, but I'm actually trying to be better now! I AM!" Dixie yelled as she walked towards Boshi.
"Keep telling yourself that, little girl. You'll always be a horrible, selfish person. It's in your nature. That's why I'm here! That's why all of this is here! THIS IS ALL FOR YOU!" Boshi yelled and that was the point Dixie had had it.
"SHUT UUUUUUUUUPPPPPPP!" she blew up, charged at Boshi, swiped the butcher knife and stabbed him in the neck with it. Boshi cried out, holding his wound and fell to the floor, gurling on his own blood.
"Wicked! You did that without any hesitation whatsoever!" said a familiar voice that stunned Dixie for a second. She spun around and her fears were confirmed.
Fire Bro.
"Well, damn. Should've known you'd be here too," Dixie said annoyedly.
"Glad to see you too, missy. Damn, though…look at the mess you made. You wanna know something? I think that's what drew you to me. That you're more like me than you realized, and me connecting with you opened up your eyes to that in some way," Fire Bro said as he began to slowly circle her.
"Please! I am NOTHING like you! Whatever kind of place this is, it sure is doing a horrible job at trying to convince me that I'm some kind of monster!" Dixie protested. Fire Bro snickered at her.
"Who's trying to convince who here? I mean…look at the facts, Dixie. You got someone innocent arrested for drugs you possessed…you cheated on your lover…you smacked your best friend…yeeeaaahhh…you see, there's this part of you that just wants to blow everything up. To cause chaos. That's why you fell for me, Dixie. That's why when you kissed me at that nightclub, you wanted more, but you tried so hard to stop yourself. You wanted me aaallll over you. You like how crazy and unpredictable I am. You've never liked the boring, traditional life that Diddy was gonna give you. You wanted ADVENTURE! You knew I was gonna give you that, so you kept pursuing me until you couldn't hold in your true feelings anymore and you laid your lips upon mine!" Fire Bro connivingly stated as he kept circling her. Dixie began crying again and tugged on her hairs in pure frustration.
"NO THAT'S NOT FUCKING IT! I WAS A MESSED UP PERSON IN THE PAST! I'm trying to be better for my damn future! Ooooh…you better just quit this right now. Everything you're saying is wrong!" she yelled.
"Then why did you kiss me, huh!? Why did you betray your long-term boyfriend!? Why are you so horrible to people you supposedly love!? ANSWER THAT!" Fire Bro got in her face. Dixie clenched her fists and seethed.
"I…I WAS SCARED, OKAY!?" Dixie screamed at him. "I was scared I wasn't going to be the perfect wife for Diddy! I fucked up so many times with him a-and…he kept forgiving me and being with me, and…and…there was just a part of me that didn't think we were gonna last because of how much I fucked up…so…god…I became my own worst enemy and…kissed you…and…Fire Bro…you're right. I DID develop feelings for you.
But, you wanna know something? I realize now that I really need to grow up and own my mistakes. I know everything I've messed up on was wrong. And just because I did develop feelings for you…doesn't mean I should've acted upon it. My true love is Diddy, but if he doesn't want to be with me after everything I've done…then…I have to accept that. It'll hurt like hell, but that's the consequence of my horrible decision making.
And one more thing. You were right about something, you know. About a part of me wanting to blow everything up. That part is correct. But, guess what? We ALL have major flaws about ourselves that we try to improve upon and avoid doing. I'm no different!"
Fire Bro stopped circling and looked at her in surprise. "Huh! Quite bold with your words there."
"Damn right. Now get the fuck out of my way!" Dixie shouted and stabbed him in the heart with the butcher knife. Fire Bro screamed and fell backwards onto the floor. He slowly stopped moving and breathing as his head rolled to the side and his eyes fixated on Dixie.
"I wish I could've done that to you in real life. Bastard," Dixie whispered in anger, trying not to look at the other dead bodies of her best friend, sister, and boyfriend. Even though it wasn't real, it still hurt to see them like that.
The front door of the castle was heard creaking open a little. Dixie turned to the door and prudently walked to it. She opened it up, revealing a dimly-lit hallway. She entered and closed the door and observed the new setting.
"Am I back in the actual tower? God…that was all just…this place...how exactly does this place even work? And WHY does it work this way!?"
Lakilester opened the door and entered an apartment that looked a little dilapidated. He saw various family pictures on the wall and saw the messy living room from the doorway.
"You've gotta be fucking kidding me. This is…where I grew up. Why the hell am I here!?" Lakilester groaned and quickly became anxious.
"Ohhhh, Laki honey! Dinner is almost ready! Come on out here, don't leave Lakilulu all on her own!" his mother merrily called out from the kitchen.
The sound of her mom's voice and the hearing of Lakilulu's name made him all the more frightened and saddened. The lakitu tensed up greatly and hesitantly moved forward, scared for what this place had in store for him.
He came into view of the kitchen where he saw Lakilulu and his father sitting at the dining table. His mother was at the stove finalizing dinner. His heart ached at the sight of all of them.
"Son! You just gonna stand there looking like that? Come and sit down! You can be so awkward sometimes," his father lightly demanded.
"Right. Yeah. Of course," Lakilester muttered and headed to the table. He sat down next to Lakilulu, who looked a little uneasy. He caught that, but felt very emotional being this close to her now. All he wanted to do at that moment was hug and kiss her.
"Um, thanks again for having me, you guys. It's always fun catching up," Lakilulu shyly spoke.
"No need to thank us! We consider you a part of the family, sweetie. Especially since Laki raves about you constantly," his mother exclaimed heartily.
"Yeah. Even though you two seem to break up and get back together every month it seems like! But, I suppose that's young love these days for ya," his father passive-aggressively added. Lakilester was immediately peeved at this.
"Dad, what the hell is that supposed to mean?" he asked defensively.
"Okay, you two. Not here, not now. Let's just enjoy the meal I've prepared for you all!" his mother tried to cool the situation as she put out koopasta, salad, and mushroom bread.
The smell of the dinner pleased Lakilester's senses. It took him way back further into his childhood, where his mother made the best tasting meals. It almost made him long to be a kid again.
Almost.
Lakilester slowly took his eyes off of the delicious-looking food and looked at his father, who was also giving him a dirty look in return. Lakikester's body tensed up even further. Lakilester knew something bad was going to happen.
His mother sat down and cheerily spoke, "Alright everyone! Feel free to dig in before it gets cold!"
"WAIT!" his father shouted suddenly. "Before we dig in…let's do a prayer. We haven't done that in a while."
"Really? What for!?" Lakilester shouted, becoming more irritated by the second.
"Honey! Just let him do it for crying out loud!" his mother demanded. Lakilulu looked to Lakilester, nodding in agreement while still looking saddened.
"This is…crazy…why am I here? I just don't understand!" Lakilester whispered to himself and then his mom and Lakilulu forcefully grabbed his hands to begin the prayer.
"Blessed Stars, we thank you for having the opportunity to eat this wondrous food and for providing us a home to come to. We thank you for us being alive and healthy and…and…and…and…" his father began to slow and slur his speech, now weirding out Lakilester.
"Uhh, dad? What's wrong!?" Lakilester shrieked, getting an awful feeling in his gut about this.
"And…and…what I DON'T wanna thank the stars for…is having one disgrace of a son in our lives. THAT is a burden that we're gonna have to live with till the day we die, unfortunately," his father harshly stated in a deeper, hoarse voice. Chills ran down Lakilester's spine as he was horrified at what he just heard.
"I BEG YOUR FUCKING PARDON!?" he yelled while standing up from his chair. "YOU…you are the last person to ever fucking call me that! I don't have to remind you how you abused mom and ALWAYS put me down too, do I!?"
His father also stood up from his chair. "Don't you fucking talk to me that way, you ungrateful little boy. I raised you however I saw fit, you're supposed to obey your parents in whatever we do! That's how it should be!"
"No! This is…w-what the fuck is this!? I don't understand why I'm here! HELLO!? WHY AM I BACK IN THE PAST!?" Lakilester shouted, trying to make sense of all this craziness unfolding before him.
"Laki, honey, your father is trying to tell you what you need to hear. I know it might not be what you WANT to hear, but I think it's necessary in order for you to get your head on straight," his mom spoke in an attempt to soften the blow. Lakilester cringed and shook his head.
"NO NO NO! THIS IS ALL BULLSHIT! MOM, HOW THE FUCK COULD YOU SIT THERE AND SAY THAT!? AFTER EVERYTHING DAD HAS DONE TO YOU!?" Lakilester screamed as his eyes became watery. "Y-You know what!? This is exactly why I left home! Because you, dad, are a fucking monster and you, mom, are a fucking doormat and keep letting him do this shit to you! I've tried to get you help so many times, but you keep giving him chance after chance!"
"SHUT YOUR MOUTH! You little fucker…just because you're no longer a little kid, doesn't mean you get to talk to us however the hell you want! Ever heard of a thing called tough love? You just still don't understand any of this, don't you!? After all these years…still not smart enough to get that, you act out of line, you get the consequences!" his father shouted, becoming red in the face.
Lakilulu stood up and spoke to Lakilester, "Your dad's right! Laki…have you ever noticed that ever since you left your home, things became even more chaotic between us? The constant back and forth was SO exhausting! It's like, one day you were all lovey and wanting to hang with me all day, but the next day, you acted like you're disgusted to be with me. I never knew which version of you I was gonna get! I was hoping it'd be the charming, romantic version…the version I wanted to be with forever…but it never got consistent…
Lakilester's lips quivered as tears fell down his cheeks from hearing her say that. He spoke, "L-Lakilulu…I…god…I just…I'm s-so sorry! I treated you like crap a-and…I just…I don't know, Lulu, I just get so angry sometimes…and blow things out of proportion, a-and…"
His father snickered at him, saying "Well! You know what they say…the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. And you wanna talk about ME being a horrible person?"
Lakilester looked to him with rage. "YOU…FUCK YOU! I HOPE YOU FUCKING ROT IN HELL WHEN YOU DIE! YOU'RE A DAMN DISGRACE OF A FATHER! I'M ASHAMED TO BE RAISED IN THIS FUCKING FAMILY!"
His father saw red, charged for Lakilester, and pushed Lakilulu aside, which made her hit the back of her head on the wall. His father punched him in the face, knocking him down.
"UNGRATEFUL ASSHOLE! SHOW SOME FUCKING RESPECT FOR ONCE IN YOUR PATHETIC LIFE!" his father screamed, now standing over.
Lakilester yelled out in pain, holding his nose as it started to bleed. He started to get up to retaliate, but then froze in horror when he saw Lakilulu in pain, holding the back of her head.
"LAKILULU! LOOK AT WHAT YOU FUCKING DID! YOU'RE FUCKING INSAAAAANE!" Lakilester screamed.
"No. That was all you, son! You got me all worked up, and now look what you did! Always blaming me for shit that was your fault to begin with!" his father deflected, which made Lakilester all the more rageful. Lakileste roared and punched his father in the jaw, sending him backwards onto the dinner table and breaking it down. His father quickly retaliated and threw a dinner plate at Lakilester, hitting him in the arm and shattering the plate upon impact. Lakilester cried and tried to escape, heading for the front door. His father chased after him and shoved him, making him fall forward and hit his forehead on the doorknob.
"AAAAAGGGGHHH! FUCK! Oh my god…please…stop…" Lakilester cried as he rolled over on his back and his father got on top of him to punch him a few more times in the face. Lakilester screamed and cried more, begging for mercy as blood flew everywhere.
His father then started to cry as well while he wiped the blood off his face and grabbed a picture off the wall, threw it to the ground, shattering the glass covering. He grabbed a shard and aimed it at Lakilester.
"You made me do this, son. You made me. You thought you could escape…but family is forever. No matter what!" he spoke while sobbing.
"NO! PLEASE…daddy! STOP THIS! LET ME GOOOOO! I WANNA GO BACK TO MY FRIENDS!" Lakilester screamed as he cried, wishing in that moment that he never stepped foot inside the tower. He truly thought he escaped his past. He truly thought he wouldn't have to deal with the chaos at home ever again.
"I can't let you go now. Like I said…family is forever," his father whispered then stabbed Lakilester in the heart. The lakitu let out another cry, feeling almost immobilized by the massively sharp pain.
"OHHHHHHHHHHH! GOD…DAD…YOU…WILL…BURN IN FUCKING HELL…" Lakilester yelled, already feeling his life slip away now.
His father made no other reaction to his son's suffering. He took the shard out of his wound, making his son scream again in pure pain, and just got up and went back to the kitchen, as if it was no big deal.
"GRAAAAAAAHHHH! Damnit…damnit! Owwww…I can't…fucking move…" Lakilester cried as blood trickled out everywhere from his wound, forming a puddle underneath him.
He then saw Lakilulu crawling over to him. She approached his face and stroked his hair.
"It's okay, Laki. Don't fight it. At least now you and I can be together forever. Nothing will ever separate us again," she whispered soothingly.
"No…no…Lulu…what about my friends…I need to…help them…please…" Lakilester whispered back, slowly fading away now.
"Don't worry about them. They'll be just fine. At the end of the day, Laki, it's always been about us. We were never meant to participate in their heroic acts. We were always meant to be spectators…and that's okay. It's all okay now!" Lakilulu reassured with a smile.
Lakilester shook his head a little as he felt himself fade more. "I…no…I don't…wanna…go…"
As darkness slowly formed in his eyes, memories of him laughing and playing in the snow with Koops and Spike came to his mind, along with kissing Lakilulu, bonding with Parakarry and Bombette over their love lives, and cheering on the gang in times of victory.
One final tear rolled down his cheek as he stopped moving and breathing.
Jojora walked through the door and found herself in the Channel 64 News building. She was beyond confused as she saw employees working on the floor at their desks and cubicles as if it was a regular day on the job.
"What the hell!? How is this possible!? Did I just go back in time or something?" Jojora said to herself in a freaked out tone. She tried going back the way she came in, but the door had just vanished. It was just a plain wall there now.
"Crap! What the hell do I do now!?" Jojora shrieked and started to panic.
"JOJORA!" yelled a man's voice from afar. The ice fairy whipped her head to her left and saw a tall, middle-aged toad standing in a hallway. "Come to my office now. I need to speak with you about something important."
"Oh…uhhhh…sure. Okay," she responded nervously and then walked down the hall following him to his office, not knowing what else to do.
"Sit down please. Glad I caught you because this is pretty urgent!" he said in a strict voice as he sat down at his desk. Jojora began to sweat as she felt her heart pound faster and faster.
"What is this about? It sounds bad!" Jojora said, hoping that that wasn't actually the case and sat down.
Her boss looked as if he was trying not to smile. "Well…your piece on Zip Toad's alcoholism was a hit! It was the most viewed article of the entire month! Man, the way you managed to get his ex to confess about all the bottles of Vodka he was sneaking in to their home and verbally abusing her when he'd get wasted, then that piece about the time he arrived to set intoxicated and vomited on one of the makeup people…BIG YIKES! Man, that went viral!"
Jojora couldn't help but smile at her accomplishment. "Oh! Yeah…that's right. I mean, what can I say? I have my ways to get the dirt that I want, especially when it comes to everyone's favorite celebrity boytoy, Zip Toad. That's awesome I got the most viewed article this month. Definitely won't be the last time, I can promise you that!"
Her boss chuckled, then his expression turned into a very serious one where he looked at her dead in the eyes. Jojora noticed this and felt creeped out.
"Uhhh…okay, seriously, IS there a problem here!?" she yelled.
"Well…yes. There is a problem. And that problem is you," he stated. Jojora felt hurt by that harsh statement as she felt even more unsettled.
"Excuse me!? What the hell is that supposed to mean!?" she shouted.
"You know exactly what it means. What you fail to realize is the fallout you cause by reporting these horrific gossip tales to the entire world. How it hurts people. Do you know what happened to Zip Toad after your article went viral? He had a mental breakdown and was found in his house with both of his wrists slit in the shower. You're damn lucky this new girl he's dating now found him just in time before he succumbed to blood loss. Look what you've done, Jojora…you've nearly taken a life. You put someone in the spotlight to be laughed at and mocked by the millions. That was all because of YOU!" her boss explained in an angry tone. Jojora felt frozen to her chair in total shock. She remembered having a very similar conversation to this at her work years ago…but this conversation was worse.
"WHAT!? I-I can't control what other people do and how they react! P-Plus, Zip Toad is a mega famous celebrity, he of all people should know that his dirty laundry will be aired to the public because that's just how the press works! IT COMES WITH THE DAMN JOB OF BEING A MAINSTREAM ACTOR!" Jojora shouted and was on the verge of tears.
"My god. Look at you…deflecting the blame once again. You're a selfish bitch who only cares about the money and the rush of popularity. No wonder why you have no friends. No wonder why your romantic relationships fail. All you are is a virus plaguing people's minds with your hurtful words and treacherous gossip and your whiny, pipsqueaky voice! The entire world would be better off if you just DISAPPEARED!" her boss spat, pounding his fists on the table and stood up before her. Jojora cried at his vicious language.
"STOP IT! Th-this can't be real! I'm hallucinating this! GET ME OUT OF HERE!" she screamed and got up to leave the room.
"This isn't a hallucination. Or an illusion. Or something conjured up by black magic. This is all real. You don't wanna believe it because you're a coward, unwilling to face the consequences of what you've done to people! YOU'VE HURT PEOPLE!" he raised his voice further, striking more terror into the ice fairy.
"FUCK YOU! I'VE NEVER HURT ANYONE SO QUIT TELLING ME I HAVE!" Jojora screamed from the doorway and ran back into the hallway. When she reached the main area of the floor, all the employees were facing and glaring at her, making her freeze in her tracks.
"Wh-what the!? WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!?" Jojora screamed, feeling the most perplexed she's ever felt.
"They know what a snake you are," said a man's voice as he walked around the corner into her view. It was an adult koopa whom she immediately recognized.
"Oh god, n-no! What do you want from me!? WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT FROM MEEEEE!?" Jojora roared and started to shake.
"I told them about how you chose your job over me. How you cared more about the money and reputation over a long lasting love. I'll never understand why! We were each other's firsts, Jojora. First everything…and you threw it all away so you can be a sociopathic bitch for a job. Exposing people's personal business and making a mockery of them. Then you made ME look like the bad guy by telling everyone I turned into an asshole once we became more serious. No no…that was ALL you. You couldn't stand the fact that I knew what I wanted when it came to our relationship. You were threatened by me. You hated that power imbalance so you tossed me to the side…and now you're gonna do the same thing to Parakarry!" her ex angrily stated while walking to her.
"NO I'M FUCKING NOT! YOU BETTER STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ME! AHHHH!" Jojora screamed when she backed up and suddenly fell backwards through a door. She cried out in pain from hitting the back of her head on the floor and slowly got herself up. She saw that she was in a bathroom and she heard the shower running. She also recognized this bathroom, which brought a horrifying chill down her spine.
"What the…h-how did I end up here now…" she whispered to herself, turning around again to find that where she fell in from led out to a hotel bedroom, and not her workplace now.
She turned back around and slowly walked to the shower, scared beyond belief of what could be in there. She opened the curtains and screamed when she saw herself, pale as can be, and much blood trickling out of slit wounds in both her wrists with the shower running down on her.
"NOOOOOOOOOO! OH MY GOD OH MY GOD!" she screeched and ran to the door in hopes of escaping this insanity. She threw open the door and screamed again when she saw a wrinkled, dripping Watt standing there.
"Not so fast, murderer. Did you really think you could escape here without seeing little ol' me first?" Watt asked tauntingly in a deep and hoarse voice with a wide, creepy smile.
"W-Watt! No no no no no no! P-Please…just let me go! I'M SORRY FOR EVERYTHING!" Jojora hysterically cried as Watt walked towards her and she walked backwards towards the bed.
"No, you're not. Otherwise, you would've come for me the second you heard me scream for dear life! YOU DESERVE TO BE IN MY PLACE!" Watt raged and zapped Jojora, blasting her onto the bed. Jojora cried out in raw pain but then quickly recoiled, grabbed a lamp from the nearby nightstand and threw it at her. Watt yelped and fell to the floor which made Jojora attempt to make a break for it. She hopped off the bed, over Watt, reached the door and was just about to exit until Watt used her Mega Shock move and zapped Jojora more violently than before. The ice fairy screamed again and fell to the floor, now feeling paralyzed as well.
Jojora could barely move herself. Her entire body was reeling from the electricity and it felt like a million needles poking inside her body all at once. She very slowly turned herself over and terror struck further when she saw Watt standing over her.
"Hehe! Well well, what have we got here? A fairy who is stuck and is mere seconds from dying. Gee, does that remind you of anyone?" Watt mocked as Jojora let out a barely audible cry.
"Oh! What was that? Haha. Sorry sweetheart, no final words for you. But MY final words for you are this: You did all of this to yourself! GOODBYE!" Watt mocked further as she dragged the fairy into the shower, where her identical body was now gone. Watt put the shower on full blast, covered the drain, and gave a Mega Shock to the water, electrocuting and drowning Jojora at the same time. Her body jolted as she began to blacken all over a little, her eyes began to bleed, and her mouth began to foam.
Jojora's life flashed before her eyes as she began to fade away. Her getting with Parakarry, Luigi saving her from her suicide attempt, Pauline advising her with her relationship problem, talking things out with Bombette, Lakilester, and Kooper, and helping to save the gang from so many troubles…
Then it turned dark as she breathed her last breath, sinking underwater.
EoC.
For those that haven't checked out my profile, I got Covid earlier in the month, so that's why I pushed this chapter submission back a week. Seriously, I was able to escape never getting it till very recently, and when I DID get it, it was a nightmare! Fever, fatigue, sore throat, stomach aches…was bedridden for three days straight! I'm all better now, but man, just goes to show you that no one's invincible from this virus.
Next chapter, Tatanga turns things around in his favor by giving Dimentio his just desserts and finalizing everything to get his weapon ready to launch. The past traumas of Luigi, Larry, DK, Pauline, Kooper, Starlow, Bombette, and Vivian are also shown. And don't worry, the gang WILL find out about anyone who dies in the 'tower' towards the end of this arc, so they won't be unaccounted for. From this chapter until the end of the story (there are approximately 20 chapters left!), a lot of characters are going to die. Also, this is my longest chapter yet at almost 26k words. Wowsers! Next chapter will be uploaded on or before Sunday, July 24. Thanks for reading!
