Chapter 1: A Troubled Bunch
The two brothers made their way towards rogueport, which surprisingly became much cleaner after all this time. Luigi felt a bit concerned about his brother; he was so excited about going on this trip, but he seems quite shallow and dull at the very moment.
"Bro, are ya sure you don't want to talk about it?" The taller younger brother in green asked.
"Yes, Luigi, i'm sure. I told you what you need to know and that's it." The shorter brother in red responded. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. It's just ironic that had to happen as soon as we leave."
"Well, I bet this is something you truly need. To just get away from the Mushroom Kingdom for a while."
"Yeah…... I bet it is."
Meanwhile, Vivian was several feet away from the dock. The one thing she hoped for is that the rest of her friends decided to come as well, considering what occurred the previous time they've gotten together. To her surprise, she spots a blue cloud spirit, a mouse with a red mask, and a female goomba with blonde hair, wearing a minor helmet, hugging each other. Vivian ran up to the three girls very ecstatically.
"Goombella! Flurrie. Ms. Mowz!" She shouted joyfully.
"Vivian!" The three girls responded in unison. Vivian then took part of the massive group hug, which had to come to an end eventually.
"I can't believe we're actually going on another journey again." Goombella said in excitement. All of a sudden, groaning can be faintly heard from the distance.
"Good blimey! That sure was the worst breakfast i've ever had. Next time I choose where to eat, boy!" It certainly was everyone's favorite sea bomb, Bobbery, alongside the odd ball Koops walking towards the group
"Hey, don't get mad at me for not knowing that goombas are terrible at making pancakes." He replies as he rubs his aching stomach.
"First of all, racist." Goombella annoyingly stated. "And second, It's good to see you goofballs again!" They all came in for a hug as Bobbery roughly pushed them away.
"Hold up. *gulp* The Goom special didn't sit in so well." He explained as he looked for the nearest trash can.
"Oh come on, now you're just being dramatic, it wasn't th-" Koops was interrupted by the loud roars coming from his belly. "Nevermind!"
"Oh boy! You two are sea sick already?" A familiar iconic voice shouted from behind all the commotion. "We haven't even gotten on the boat yet!" They all turned around to see the famed plumber hero in red, along side his tall lanky brother in green.
"Mario!" They all shouted in unison as another huge group hug was formed, except for Bobbery and Koops of course.
"I'm assuming you all know Luigi of course."
"Certainly! I just so happen to have read your..'interesting' Super Luigi novel series." Flurrie added.
"It's always a pleasure to meet a fan!" Luigi proudly stated while lightly pulling on his overalls. "If you thought the Paper Mario play was good, wait until you see what's in production next, Super Luigi: The adventures of the Waffle Kingdom."
"Oh yeah, I thought they were going to cancel that because your story was a hoax." Ms Mowz stated.
"My story was a what?" Their conversations were interrupted by the trembling sound of the ocean waves as the Cruise began to slowly arrive.
"Oh no, looks like little Verdugo isn't going to make it." Goombella sighed in disappointment.
"He's got a family now, he can't just ditch them like that." Vivian added. "Sure it won't be the same without him here, but he's still in our hearts." She tried to cheer everyone up.
"Or he's running from Rogueport square all the way down here." Koops pointed as the little green rascal hurried his way towards the dock.
"You…*huff* weren't thinking about *hoof* leaving without me, were ya now!? Boy, i'm beat!" The baby dinosaur Verdugo made it to the dock as he could not breathe the slightest.
"Verdugo!" Mario picked up the little guy and gave him a huge hug.
"Hey come on now, i'm not that tired." He placed him back on the floor as he flew his green hand through his spiky dino hair. "I'm gonna take a guess that we haven't met before." He pointed to Luigi.
"We sure have not, the name's a Luigi, the famous younger brother of good ol Mario over here." Luigi placed both of his fists on his hips with a slight grin.
"Not sure about the 'famous' title, buut I'll take your word for it." Hearing this erased the grin off of his mustached face.
"Oh….well then..nice to meet you too." He rubbed the back of his neck.
After finishing his vomiting routine, Bobbery walked up to Verdugo.
"So Verdugo, I've been meaning to visit you on Precious Island, but of course Cortez has me working quite a ton now."
"Oh yeah, how's your parents? Were they alright with you leaving them behind like that?" Koops asked.
"Ehhh, it's a long story, I'll tell guys later." A loud horn was made as the boat began to dock near Rogue Port. Someone stepped on the dock to take everyone's tickets
"All aboard the Ela-" He immediately stopped himself as he saw the party. "Well, fancy meeting you all here again."
"You remember us from the last cruise?" Mario asked.
"How can I forget the same people who were actually almost banned from the Elation for all the commotion you brought?" They all looked down awkwardly. "Now then, may I take your tickets please?" As they walked up, handed their tickets, and stepped onto the boat, the Elation took off into the seas.
"Who would've thought we get on the Elation again." Vivian thought to herself. "Here's hoping the commotion doesn't happen until we get to the actual place this time."
"Seriously? We got 3 rooms again when there's, once again, 9 of us?" Ms Mowz complained.
"Hey I don't assign the rooms ma'am, I just show you to them. You'll be staying in rooms 1034, 1035, and 1039. We tried to get you rooms as close as possible, but we've been so packed with travelers. Anywho, here are your card keys, and we hope you enjoy your delightful cruise on the Elation." The employee began to walk away, until he stopped. "Also….please don't have us receive complaints from other guests again."
"Wait, what happened last time?" Luigi asked looking puzzled.
"Oh you know, loud commotions, almost getting banned from the pool, super wedgies, and Vivian getting possesed by her mom from time to time." Goombella informed the brother in green, until she realized what she just said at the end. "Oh, uh, sorry Vivian."
"No worries" She smiled. "...I hope.."
The party checked out each rooms to decide who gets what. One room had 4 beds, one had 3, and the last one had 2.
"I feel like the girls should get the 4 bed since there's 4 of us." Goombella suggested. Koops peeked into the room and his eyes widened.
"Hey wait a minute, no fair, you guys get a mini fridge and a tv!"
"Oh what's the big fuss dear, I'm sure it's not that big of a deal." Flurrie stated." Verdugo stepped out of the room from across the hall.
"What gives!? This 2 bedroom doesn't have big fluffy blankets like the other one."
"Look, it doesn't matter, we're not on a vacation, so let's just get settled in already and just choose a room" Goombella commanded as she started bring her belongings into the 4 bed.
"Woah woah, if it doesn't matter, then why do you get first choosing and get to stay in the nice room?" Koops stopped her tracks, as she sighed and dropped everything. "Yeah nice try, I'm not falling for that crap."
"I must say dear lads, since I'm still suffering from food poisoning, it's only fair if I get one of those nice fluffy beds" Bobbery stated.
"Oh gimme a break, coming from the old geezer who stepped near death like 7 times years ago, I'm sure you'll be fine just because you have a tummy ache." Ms. Mowz scolded him.
"Food poisoning?" Verdugo asked. "Wait, did you assholes eat without me?!"
"Alright enough!" Mario shouted as everyone stopped arguing and focused their attention to the brother in red. "Since everyone wants to complain about the stupid rooms, we're gonna decide this by luck." Everyone groaned. "Oh whatever, you all brought this on yourselves!"
Meanwhile,down the hall peeking out of their room was none other than the shape shifting sheet freak himself.
"Heh, things never change I guess." Doopliss said to himself while stepping back into his room before shutting the door. He flopped back onto the singular bed and sighed very loudly. "What am I even doing here; I wasted my entire life savings just because of my stupid inner feelings. What am I, insane?! And that..shadow creature, what was his deal?" Doopliss picked himself up with his legs dangling off the bed while looking up at the ceiling. "Well, it was dark, and he didn't seem real honestly, perhaps I was just hallucinating. Oh god, maybe I am insane."
"Oh boy, something we can agree on." A voice echoed through the room, making Doopliss jump from his bed and fall to the ground. "Relax, it's not like this is the craziest thing you experienced."
"W-where are you? Show yourself!" Doopliss got into a fighting stance.
"Please, spare me, I wish not to be so violent with my partner in crime."
"Oh trust me, we sure as hell aren't partners! You're just some stupid voice in my head."
"Well that's very rude." The voice pouted. "Well, I guess since you did what I told you to do, I believe i should show you my gratitude." The shadow that Doopliss formed behind him on the wall began to crawl out, revealing the purple shadow creature himself. Doopliss turned around a jumped a little by the sight of him.
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't impressed by that." Doopliss sat back down on the bed.
"How flattering! Anywho, allow me to now properly introduce myself, I am known as Delirious, please to meet you pal."
"Huh, fitting name. So can you also explain to me why you're creeping on me while im sleeping?" The shadow creature stretched his arms, while his body began to float upwards and flip upside down.
"Oh that's easy, you're a fun target to mess with with." Doopliss raised an eyebrow at him. "You see, it is my goal as the prince of delusions and shadows to choose specific creatures, or humans, or...whatever you are, to be my disciple and guide them through their dark paths, and face the horrific reality, helping them reach what evil hearts they truly contain."
"Prince of shadows?" The shape shifter mumbled. "Well you're wasting your time, i've already had a change of heart, even after all that stupid junk you told me in Twilight Town." Delirious floated towards him while still in his unusual position.
"If that were true, then why are you on this cruise?" The shadowy creature smirked at Doopliss, who's confident stern expression started to look a little concerned.
"Well...I...I'm here to watch out for Vivian." He stood up from the bed. "Y-yeah, after all that mumble jumble with the weird dream she had, which was oddly similar to what I experienced, I had no other choice but to look out after her. Especially after you showed up being all weird about her and I being an evil couple."
"Ahh, but if I were to not show up that night, you would have stayed home and not be worried at all." He flipped right side up and got closer. "Face it, you're curious about what I said, and I can see you still raise questions. There's some interesting trivia about that dear Vivian you may not know, but yours truly does." Delirious began to float towards the door.
"Woah woah woah, what do you know exactly? And what's this so called 'Prince of shadows' title you gave yourself."
"Oh, I didn't give myself that title, my dear mother did, before she perished unfortunately." He turned around with his arms behind his back. "And if you're that curious about my history, Vivian's hidden secrets, and not to mention wanting to protect her and the rest of those party members on their journey, then you'll do exactly what I tell you." Doopliss wasn't sure if he should trust this creature, he seems extremely suspicious, but he's desperate for some answers.
"Ok fine, but as long as we keep her safe."
"Hmm, just her, you say?" Delirious smirked at his demand. Doopliss realized what he just said, it goes to show he's mostly concerned about Vivian, he could care less what happens to Mario and the rest of his companions, but he refused to admit it.
"You know what I meant." He he shut his eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them once more. "Now what do you want me to do?"
"It's simple really, try to keep a good eye out for Vivian, scope out any suspicious activity around her, and make sure she doesn't notice you at all. In other words, do what you're truly best at, stalking her." Doopliss' eyes widened at the insult, but couldn't think of anything to fight back with.
"And what about you?" He asked while crossing his arms.
"Oh me? I'm going to enjoy myself, I heard this cruise ship has many surprises in store. Now you be a good boy, ok Doop? I'll be watching." The shadow gave one last devious smile as he sunk into the floor. Doopliss plopped back onto the bed letting out a huge sigh.
"Why do I do this to myself?"
After a mysterious conversation, and a round of luck based stick drawing, the 3 rooms were decided; Koops, Ms Mowz, Luigi, and Flurrie got room 1035, Mario, Bobbery, and Goombella got room 1034, and Vivian and Verdugo got room 1039.
"I still believe all girls deserved this room." Ms Mowz complained as she sorted through her belongings.
"Can't you be a little grateful that you at least got the room?" Koops scolded her while falling back onto the bed. "If you ask me, Bobbery and I deserved these beds more than any of you. Ugh, that food still isn't sitting in well."
"Oh darlings, it's honestly no big deal, we're all here for an adventure, not fight over some silly beds." Flurrie explained as she slowly laid upon one of the bunks. "Oooh, but I must say, this definitely feels luxurious." Flurrie looked below her and observed the younger brother in green sitting on the bottom bunk, writing on what appeared to be an old torn book. "Say Luigi, what do you happen to be writing there?" He didn't take into account that he wasn't in private and threw the book back into one of his suitcases.
"Oh uuuhh, just writing an autobiography." Luigi stuttered out. "Yeah uh, one of the publishers that helped bring out my story to the world to read wants me to work on this and basically talk about my life before my adventures in the Waffle Kingdom."
"What kind of life would that be?" Koops asked from across the room.
"Tennis, golfing, board games, ghost hunting, occasionally assisting Mario in saving the princess. I know it sounds bland, but trust me, it's pretty exciting once you actually read the final product."
"Speaking of which, I wonder why Mario chose not to invite Peach this time around." Ms Mowz wondered.
"To be fair, she kinda just invited herself and paid for her own ticket last year." Koops added on.
"But if that's the case, why didn't she tag along again?" Flurrie asked. "As much as it hurts me to say this, but he cannot keep his hands off that girl." While everyone was speculating and theorizing about Peach's absence, Luigi kinda backed up a bit and pretended he didn't know anything. That is until he was asked. "Luigi darling, you're his brother, i'm sure you must know what's this all about."
"I dunno if it's my place to talk about this, and if I were you three, I probably wouldn't worry, this is a matter that Mario wishes not to talk about. Heck, he hardly wanted to talk to me about it." They all had bit of an idea of what could be the reason, but they chose to just leave it be.
In the room right next to them, Mario was unfortunate enough to hear exactly what they were talking about while he was getting situated on his bed. Goombella was pouting on the bunk above Mario, wishing she would have gotten the nicer room. As for Bobbery, he was too occupied in the restroom (this seems familiar).
"You know Mario, it was really nice of you to bring your brother along this time." Goombella looked below at the plumber in red. "I know we bumped into him several times on our search for the crystal stars, but I feel this'll be a good time to get to know him better."
"Luigi really is a lovable goofball, I feel bad when I just leave him behind on most of my adventures. I figured it's time he should be with me in the spotlight this time around." Mario explained, following with a smile. Goombella felt the need to ask Mario about Peach's absence, but she chose to keep it to herself.
"Well that's good, it's a shame he couldn't come with us last time to Morteva, he would've been super helpful during certain encounters." There was an awkward pause after her statement, with Mario following it with a huge sigh and a slight grin.
"Alright alright, I'll address the elephant in the room." Mario put both hands on his knees, Goombella climbed down to listen to him. "Yes, Peach isn't here, and there's a good reason behind that, her and I haven't been on good terms recently. I haven't been able to just be myself, I feel she's holding me back on a lot."
"Is it from rescuing her constantly?" She asked while sitting on the bed paralel from Mario.
"Kinda, but it also has to do with a couple things, like how she pretends that we're not a thing in front of the residents in the kingdom. But of course if we're behind closed doors, or on a so-called vacation to Morteva, making sure 4 of my friends, ahem, 'keeps their paws to themselves'." Goombella's eyes widened as she finally caught on.
"Wait, is that why she-"
"Came last year?" Mario finished her question. "Yup, doesn't wanna go public with our relationship, but be damned if a group of friends who've saved me from death so many times on our adventures tries anything unthinkable."
"Well at least she brought that riddle map, otherwise that entire journey would've been pointless."
"Yeah, but we both know she thought it'd lead her to some treasure. Another reason behind our fights is she's been trying to get secrets out of me from Luigi, thinks that I'm keeping stuff from her." Mario flat on the bed with his arms behind his head. "I'm not even scratching the surface, but I rather not get into it. The last thing I wanna do on our reunion is talk about my lady problems."
"Well it's good to get these things off your chest, i'm surprised you told me of all people though, I figured you would've told someone else instead." This statement made Mario poke his head up towards Goombella.
"Well why wouldn't I? You were my first partner, and you happened to be the biggest staple of our party. Besides my own brother, if I had anyone to speak to about this kind of nonsense, it's you." Hearing this put a smile on the young girl's face as she got up from the bed.
"That really means a lot, seriously. Sometimes I felt like i've been pushed out of the way on our last 2 adventures cause everyone else was so much stronger and dependable." (I actually used her more than Flurrie and Ms Mowz in TTYD lol) "With that being said, why don't we make this 3rd adventure a memorable one, no matter what bumpy obstacles lie ahead." The enthusiasm in Goombella's words reprinted that iconic smile on Mario's face, putting his worries to rest.
"Wahoo! That's what I like to hear!" Mario exclaimed jumping from his bed. A loud explosion suddenly went off, deadly smoke slowly spreading from the bathroom.
"OOOH, FINALLY!" The old sailor cheered without leaving his spot.
"Ugh, why couldn't I have gotten the nicer room?" Goombella rolled her eyes as they widened once the deadly smoke reached her nose. "Think i'm gonna go take a dip in the pool before I completely pass out, you coming?" She asked while reaching into her belongings for a bathing suit to change in.
"Yeah I'll join you in a sec, I just need to check something."
"Sounds good! I don't think Bobbery is coming out for a while, so i'm just gonna go change in their restroom." She got out as quick as possible before she got another whiff of the stench. Mario sighed as he reached into his suitcase for something to change into when he found a crumpled up envelope that he has yet to open.
Yesterday
"You can count on me Mario, I'll get these taken care of right away." Mario exited the office and was about to make his way back to his home where his brother will be waiting for him, but was stopped by a certain someone.
"Mario wait!" Parakarry called out for Mario, who turned back to face him. "I almost forgot, I actually have something. I figured I might as well give them to you now." He handed Mario the single envelope. "Now if you excuse me, I have some letters to deliver." He gave the plumber a wink as he took off flying.
"Wonder what this could be." Mario could already tell the letter's from the princess, but dread to even bother opening it.
Present Day
Mario moved the letter out of the way and reached for some boxers to change into.
"Mama Mia! Bobbery, what exactly did you and Koops eat?!" He shouted.
"You tell me old boy, oof, I'll meet you youngins at the pool side eventually."
"Just..please don't push yourself too hard." Mario requested from him as he quickly exited the room.
"No promises!"
While the 2 partners made their way to take a dip into the pool, the remaining 2 party members across the hall in room 1039 were still getting situated.
"Man, im telling ya Viv, if anyone needed this vacation, it's definitely me!" Verdugo exclaimed while flopping backwards onto the top bunk. "I mean, sure it's supposed to be an adventure, but it's better than what i've been doing." Vivian was sitting on the bottom bunk twirling a finger through her hair, not saying a word. She seemed to be too focused on her inner thoughts.
"The key that will risen the dark ones. I can't stop thinking about those words, it's really bothering me." Verdugo flipped over onto his stomach and poked his head down under the bed to be face to face with Vivian.
"Yo Viv, you alive?" The little yoshi caught her by surprise and made her jump a bit.
"Oh uh, sorry Verdugo, I just have a lot on my mind." She grabbed her right arm and turned away. "Plus, I...feel a little uncomfortable." This statement made the yoshi raise an eyebrow.
"Uncomfortable that i'm this close to your face while all the blood boils down to my head?"
"No, not that, it's because of what happened last year." This made Verdugo jump from the bed and onto the floor.
"Last year? What do you mean?" Vivian was too embarrassed to even bring it up, she refused to make eye contact.
"Well, you know, me being possessed by the Shadow Queen and absolutely terrifying you every time I was being controlled."
"Pffft! You kidding? I wasn't scared at all, nooooo biggie!" She slightly turned to him in misbelief. "...ok fine, I was a little scared….or perhaps very frightened…whatever, shut up!" Vivian giggled at Verdugo's attempt of denying the truth. "So, what, is that it? Cause I know that wasn't you, that was the evil shadow chick whose ass we kicked long ago. You ain't gotta worry about freaking me out again, I know she's gone for real this time."
"Well, that's not the only reason." The young yoshi titled his head in confusion as Vivian once again looked away. "I...still feel extremely awful, for not only what my possessed form did to all those innocent people that were slain by my hands, but the secret that slipped out on how I wanted to get close to you guys, all just to snatch the crystal stars. When that was revealed to you guys, I felt I was going to lose all of you, and that my heartless life was meaningless." Verdugo's confused grin turned into a concerned frown as he got a little closer towards the bed. "When you guys walked right past me, I thought it was just over, where would I go to now if I didn't run into my f-..." Vivian closed her eyes and clenched her fist. "...if the Shadow King had never revealed himself to me."
"Well, everyone was just in the heat of the moment, we still cared about you despite all that. Besides, all that junk is in the past, there's no need to fret about it. We're a team and we're destined to stay together, no matter what." Hearing these words put a smile on Vivians face as she looked straight at him with a more delighted tone. "Woah, I sounded a little like Koops there, man i need to do something stupid and dangerous, fast!" Verdugo shook his head and went straight for the door. "I'm gonna go see how many rich weirdos are on this cruise, lemme know if you're down to hang later Viv!"
As the young yoshi made his way outside the room and through the hallway, Vivian gave a big sigh in relief.
"I know I didn't have to worry, but I still wanted to make sure." Vivian got up from her bed and kept her smile the way it was. "Let's make this journey another blast to remember."
Vivian exited her room and made haste down the hallway, when she suddenly noticed Mario, Goombella, and Bobbery's room was left right open. She simply checked to see if anyone was inside, but not a single member was in sight, even Bobbery who finally managed to make it out of the restroom.
"Man why does it reek in here?!" She exclaimed while covering her nose and mouth with her hands. Mario's suitcase suddenly slid off the bed, spilling all of his belongings on the ground, making the shy siren's heart race just a little. Vivian quickly began scooping everything back where they originally were, until she stopped to notice the crumbled up envelope. Somehow, it was torn up a little, with a small letter peaking its way out.
"Is this from Peach perhaps?" She wondered. As curious as Vivian was, she knew it would be wrong for her to invade anyone's mail, especially her own party leader. She decided it would be best to just put it back so it doesn't get anymore damaged. Unfortunately, her self conscious was preventing her to place the letter back into the suitcase.
"No no no, this wrong! This is not something I should be inv-" Vivian stopped herself when she began to wonder why Peach isn't with him, and why has he been so keen about not wanting to talk about it. Even though it wasn't her place, she still cares dearly about Mario and wants to make sure he won't let this torture him, because whatever Peach wrote him may make things worse. Vivian turned to close the door behind her and began to pull out the letter. She softly read to herself, the princess must've written at least 3 to 5 paragraphs, front and back.
"Oh my god.." Is all Vivian could mutter. She was extremely lost for words. "I can't believe any of this." A soft beep rang from the door, with the handle turning slightly, causing her to panic. She hid the letter behind her back when opening the door was none other than Goombella in a small swimsuit.
"Ugh I knew I should've gotten a smaller size. Oh Vivian, what brings you here?" She asked the guilty girl.
"Oh uhhh, I was actually looking for you guys, was wondering if you wanted to meet at the pool. Guess you beat me to the bunch though, hehe." She nervously laughed. Luckily, the young archeologist was oblivious to the whole.
"Hey, I know I shouldn't be saying anything, but try not to bring up Peach around Mario, they're going through a rough patch at the moment."
"Really? Oh that's bit of a surprise honestly, I thought they were the famous princess/hero couple."
"Trust me I know, but I guess there's some sides of her you don't normally see. Mario says he's fine, but I know he's struggling. I just hope he doesn't let this affect his enthusiasm for our journey." Vivian sighed as she realized what she did was wrong, and couldn't keep secrets from Goombella if she's sharing a big one as well. After hearing more of the story, this letter would break Mario apart.
"Ok, Goombella, I did something bad, and I need you to promise me that you won't tell anyone."
"OOoh, more gossip, im game!" The foolish girl shut the door behind her. "What did you do? Steal from a shop? Cut in front of a line? Give someone a wedgie? Make someone wet the bed?!
"Whu-..what, no, I don't mean like that." Vivian shook her head in both confusion and frustration. "Did...did you make someone wet the bed?"
"That's not important, tell me what you did." The eager goomba jumped on her bed.
"Ok…" She finally revealed the item she's been clenching in her hands hiding behind her back. "I found this letter in Mario's suitcase from Peach….that I may or may not have read." Before Goombella got a chance to judge her actions, Vivian immediately went into defensive mode. "Now hold on, I originally did come here looking for you guys, but instead I got distracted by...whatever the hell that god awful smell was, and Mario's stuff spilled all over the floor and that's when I found it. I was putting everything back and was just going to leave it at that, but I couldn't help it. I guess I really am related to Beldam." The poor girl sighed as she looked down at the floor, slightly tipping her hat to cover herself.
"Well I can't be too mad, you see a piece of writing on the ground, it's kinda hard to not read it, no matter who it's from, or whom it's for." Vivian grabbed her right arm while looking even more guilty.
"Actually… the letter was in an envelope...that I happened to open." Goombella jumped from being understanding to almost having a meltdown.
"Vivian!"
"I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself!"
"This is absolutely worse than you stealing from a shop."
"I have to be more honest though..I'm kinda glad i did read it."
"You're not really good at defending your case Viv."
"No, I mean, Mario's already dealing with a lot right now, if he even reads this letter, who knows what he'll do. He might not want to go on another adventure ever again." Hearing this concerned Goombella graciously.
"Are you for real? How can you be so sure?"
"You're gonna have to read it yourself."
"No! I'm not known for pulling stuff like this, my level of commiting bad deeds is forced wet bedding on another peer."
"So you did make someone wet the bed!"
"Stop getting off track!" Goombella got off the bed and started pacing around the room until she finally gave in. "Uggggh! Who am i kidding, give it here!" Vivian slowly handed her the letter, as she began to look even more embarrassed. Goombella's frustrated expression slowly turned into a shocked one as she read about half way. She stopped to look at Vivian who looked just as worried.
"Keep reading...it gets much worse." She continued to let the young girl finish the dreaded letter from the princess. Goombella took a seat next to Vivian and wasn't sure how to react.
"Mario doesn't deserve this." Is all Goombella could spit out.
"But we can't just take the letter and throw it away. He'll get suspicious."
"Well then, how about we just put it back in his suitcase until he's ready to read it himself, and we'll be there for him when he does." She suggested.
"No because the letter was in a crumbled up envelope, and this one it torn up thanks to me. He'll know we dug through his stuff." The two worried girls began to think hard.
"Why don't we just find another plain empty envelope and put it in that? I'm sure he wouldn't notice the difference."
"Where are we gonna find envelopes on a boat?" Vivian asked. "We might have to wait until we're boarded.
"That's not gonna be easy when Mario comes back when it's time for bed and notices it's still not there. Look, i'm sure we'll find something, we just gotta make sure he stays away from his room until we do."
"And we swear not to say a word to anyone?"
"Well I mean, you're the one who roped me into this, so I don't really have a choice." Vivian rolled her eyes as a sudden knock was made on their door.
"Helloooo! Goombella! Heard you yelling in there! Everything all right?" Koops asked from outside their room.
"Uh yeah! Vivian just uhh….."
"Yeah I walked in on Goombella while she was in the middle of..uhh-"
"Naked! I-I'm naked and I'm ashamed, and she's trying to calm me and my nerves.
"Oh, ok...wait aren't you always na-...nevermind." He quickly stopped himself as he walked away and towards the main lobby.
"We need to work on our improv skills." Vivian suggested.
After the two party members planned their quest to find an envelope (as lame as it sounds) , the rest of the gang met up by the poolside.
"No cannonballs! Ah, come one!" The young yoshi cried in annoyment as he read the big sign.
"Doing so may lead to losing cruise activity privileges. Huh, I guess they do remember us from last year." Koops read the rest of the small text.
"Man what's the point of swimming when you can't have any fun?"
"You boys don't need to jump into a giant case of water to have." Ms Mowz poked fun while her and Flurrie began to adjust the chairs they brought and slowly got into position for vacation mode to fully commence.
"Exactly darling, just enjoy the nice sun and get a tan with us." The cloud spirit suggested.
"Do..clouds get tans?" Luigi confusedly asked poking his face up from the water while wearing a barely functioning snorkel.
"Only when you're wearing the right lotion." She explained while beginning some time of sunscreen on her arms while Ms mowz took off her red mask to wear her big triangular red sunglasses.
"Hey, has anyone seen Goombella and Vivian?" Mario asked coming from the food bar with a plate of mini sandwiches in had.
"Last I heard, they were screaming about something in your guys' room." Koops informed while slowly stepping into the pool and laying back on his shell, drifting away to the other side.
"What could they have been yelling about?"
"Oof, I might have something to do with that?" Bobbery sadly admit while dipping his feet in the water.
"I'm sure they'll join us soon, we're gonna have to enjoy this while we can until we arrive at our destination." Ms Mowz suggested to the group. Koops felt something shaking from underneath, when he suddenly flipped over face side into the water.
"Woaaaghh!" He exclaimed gargling up the pool water. The trouble maker poked up from the water with an evil grin on his face.
"Hehe! Yeah, and then it's kicking butt time!" Verdugo cheered while getting water splashed at him by a frustrated koopa. The two continued to retaliate back and forth, disturbing a couple on the other side of the pool who immediately marched out.
"Hoo boy, i'm stepping out before we get in trouble again." Bobbery shared the same idea with the rest of the standing by party, except for Luigi, who had no idea what was going on as a long green straw poked above the pool.
Meanwhile, in the casino lobby, Goombella and Vivian made haste to find anything that may have any resemblance to an envelope.
"Ooh! Maybe they have some at the gift shop." Vivian pointed at the small store right behind the roulette table. While the two began to search, Doopliss sneaked around and found his way to the food lounge.
"Ugh! Thank god, something to eat." Before he even got a chance to grab a plate, he heard a familiar voice in the distance.
"Ah come on, we weren't even doing cannonballs!" The dripping wet yoshi kid yelled at the ship officials dragging him, Koops, and Luigi. Doopliss immediately recognized Verdugo's nazaly voice quickly decided to hide underneath the table.
"Pretty sure that also includes wrestling and tipping each other over." Koops pointed out.
"Well they should've put that on the stupid sign!"
"Maybe a little time in the detainment quarters will teach you boys a lesson about disturbing our Elation cruise passengers." One of the officers stated while continuing to escort the 3 out of the casino.
"B-but I didn't even doing anything, I was swimming I swear!" Luigi pleaded, but was unfortunately ignored.
"Man, day 1 and they're already getting in trouble? And I thought I was gonna get kicked off." Instead of worrying about the deeds the 3 party members committed, Doopliss slowly began to reach his left foot out when he heard their voices gradually decrease as they exited the area. He quickly pulled it back in once he heard once again another familiar voice.
"Poor Luigi, I take him on an adventure and Verdugo and Koops gets him tangled in a huge mess." The older brother in red sighed while plating himself yet another meal to consume. Doopliss wasn't sure how to act, part of him was excited to hear his voice again, but another small part of him wanted to snatch up his body again for some unknown reason. This caused a small twitch in the doppelganger's left eye, and immediately snapped out of it once he saw Mario's feet leave the table. He finally found his opportunity to get from below the table, grabbed himself a paper plate, and began collecting as much food as he can fit on his platter; subs, mushroom steak, cheese, meatballs, and so forth. "This should definitely hold me over for the rest of the day." Before he even got a chance to sit down and enjoy his abnormally large meal, sure enough, he recognized yet another voice.
"I can't believe we managed to find one, I just hope it's big enough for the letter to fit into." That was definitely Vivian's voice he heard.
"Here lemme trying inserting it real quick." Hearing both Vivian and Goombella's voice caused him to panic, making him retreat back to his room while dropping food in the process. "It's a little tight, but I can just fold the letter up, no biggy." Vivian was looking around admiring just how big the casino is compared to last year. Doing so, she managed to spot at the roulette table a mysterious shadowy figure among the crowd holding a tall wine glass. She only managed to get a good look at his face, taking in account how unusually familiar he looks. The figure notices Vivian staring and simply gave a devious smile while taking a sip of his wine. Suddenly, the entire table was casted entirely in bright blue flames, with the shadowy suspect's eyes turning fully white, growing a huge bright evil smile as the fire began to reach to the floor. Vivian stepped back and began to panic, causing her to fall to the ground and was on the urge of screaming.
"Vivian, you ok?" Goombella asked her paranoid partner. She looked at the concerned goomba, while reverting her attention back at the roulette table, which appeared to be perfectly fine, this time excluding the mysterious man.
"I...think so...I dunno what that was all about.."
"You're probably just stressed over this." Which obviously wasn't the case, she was certain for a fact that the ship was about to catch on fire. "Come on, we need to get back before Mario, or even anyone else does."
"Ok, i'm right behind you." Vivian and Goombella quickly traveled back to their room, with the same devious monster studying them carefully from the very ceiling of the casino, while slowly disappearing into the walls.
Doopliss bumped into a bunch of employees, causing him to spill all of his steak, but manage to make it back to his room with half his food missing on his plate. He took a minute to catch his breath and felt like passing out.
"Wait, why didn't I just copy someone's body?" The shape shifter came to the realization while flopping lazily on the bed while tossing a meatball into his mouth.
"I really gotta be more careful next time, I gotta find some new persona. Someone that no one will notice." While he began to think, the two girls passed by his room with the envelope in hand.
"Goombella, I'm really sorry I got you involved in this. I just didn't what got over me." Vivian apologize while looking down at the floor.
"Ehh, don't worry about it!" She smiled at her. "I was only giving you a rough time cause I was worried about Mario as well. I wouldn't leave you in the dust like that and set you out on your own." Hearing this made her even more ecstatic about this new adventure; first Verdugo's trust, and now Goombella's.
"Well i'll be sure not go snooping ever ag-" Before she got a chance to finish, Mario cam around the corner of the hallway and almost bumped into the two.
"Mama-mia! There you girls are!" The heroic plumber in red exclaimed while finishing off his own plate of food. "Holy moly, you have got to visit the buffet table, they outdid themselves compared to our last visit." Vivian quickly hid the envelope behind her back before Mario even got a chance to spot it.
"Uhhh, I gotta go to the girl's room, i'll be right back!" Vivian unnecessarily shouted while quickly making way to her was confused at first, until she realized that she can sink into the floor and sneak her way into Mario's room; this seemed like a cue for a distraction.
"Well anyways, I'm beat, i'm surprised that the sun is already close to setting." Mario pulled out his key card and was just about to insert it into the door, causing Goombella to panic and smack it out of his hands. "Uh, what was that for?"
"Uhhhhh.." Goombella had trouble of thinking up fake stories on the spot. "I wanna hear what you guys did today?"
"Well I was about to tell you once i got comfortable." He explained while bending over to pick up the key card from the ground. Goombella spotted a purple arm poke out of the door in front of them, giving a thumbs up, quickly pulling back as Mario picked himself back up.
"Oh uh, yeah I was thinking the same. I uhh, just had a weird spasm is all." She gave a guilty smile, which Mario quickly believe, mostly due to the fact that he was too tired and full to give his full on attention. As he unlocked the door, he began to tell how he spotted Luigi, Koops, and Verdugo being taken by the officers.
"Oh man, I hope they're ok." Goombella stated while carefully climbing onto her bed.
"They should be fine, just a little bit longer until it's bedtime." Mario rolled his eyes while falling on this bottom bunk. A sudden noise then alerted the two, alongside everyone on the ship
~BONG BING BING BONG~
"Attention all passengers, we hope you have enjoyed your first day on the lovely Elation cruise. We shall be arriving in the beautiful Meteor town docks of Segosa City the first thing tomorrow morning." The captain carefully ended his message as Goombella grew so much excited in her tone.
"I can't wait to check this place out, it seems pretty luxurious."
"Well just remember, the mayor did say that the town's population has been decreasing due to 'evil acts'." Mario informed the eager girl. "Just don't get your hopes up if this place isn't what you hoped it to be."
"You're saying this to someone who spent most of her studies in a garbage of a town such as Rogueport. I'll take anything, really!"
As the two laughed away, the sun began to slowly set in the distance. Some time passed after the envelope fiasco, Doopliss found himself where he was the last time he set foot on this ship; just leaning off the top railing and staring at the deep blue ocean waves, only this time he's not spying on poor Vivian.
"This is stupid, why am I doing this again, I thought I actually changed. I'm sure Vivian wouldn't mind me being here, but Delirious clearly doesn't want me being seen." He got a strong grip on the railing and closed his eyes. "I still don't know if I can trust him, but I also can't just ignore what he wants; what if he's planning to hurt Vivian."
"Oh man, I really hope the dining hall is still open." This sudden voice caught Doopliss off guard, but it wasn't any particular voice he's heard of before. "Excuse me, but would you happen to know if the buffet is still going on?" He turned to see the lanky brother in green rub his eyes.
"Uh, I think they closed off the casino for the night; I guess some huge mess happened that forced everyone to turn in for the night."
"Aw man, just my luck! First i'm thrown in boat jail soaking wet, and now I don't get to eat? This adventure is such a bummer so far."
"Heh, you're telling me, I can't even show my face around half the time without freaking out." Doopliss added on.
"I know how you feel, it's like for me back home, but that's mostly because they want to know what my brother is up to, and it's like that every day constantly."
"Ya know a lot of people suck, they just continue to push you around and throw your face in the dirt, yet they don't realize how much we really do for them. But nope, there's way more important people out there in the world, celebrities and all."
"Yeah, but even not being in the spotlight or shoved to the side, I still like doing good things for people, regardless of if they're grateful or , I've cleared out an multiple haunted mansions with getting no recognition for doing so." The green brother joined in and put his hands on the railing.
"So then, why do you do it then? Seems like a lot of work, not to mention dangerous. I would know, I live in a haunted house."
"Like I said, I enjoy helping those in need of saving. Besides, who else would go out of there way. The 'true heroes' are busy saving the other side of the world, it's only fair if i throw in my two cents and protect my part."
"I guess that makes sense. That's actually pretty admirable; doing all these deeds even though you don't receive any reward or fame. You're like a superhero, except no one recognizes you and doesn't care to. Uhh, no offense." The tall mustached man chuckled at the accidental insult.
"Well, you're than welcome to call this superhero none other than the green thunder himself, Luigi!" He proudly stated while giving a thumbs up.
"Well it's an honor to meet you Luigi, the name's Doopliss." The sheeted freak shook the man in green's hand. "I feel like more people should know about you and your acts."
"I don't intentionally keep it on the down low, but I don't mind it too much." The sun finally full set, revealing the dimmed night sky. "Well it's getting late, I should get back to my friends and let them know that I survived the big house."
"Was it really that bad?" He asked with a worried expression.
"No, we just sat in a chamber for a couple hours, but they don't know that." He have the dopple ganger a wink, causing the two of them to chuckle. "I'll see ya around Doopliss, hope our paths cross again sometime soon."
"Same to you Luigi." He waved goodbye as Luigi made his way back to his cabin, Doopliss decided to return his attention back to the ocean at least for a little bit longer. "Huh, what a funny fella."
It was finally night time, and the entire party decided to spend some quality time together in the nice cabin before it was time to head to bed, since they didn't get a chance to catch up on each other's lives. Koops was just in the middle of showing pictures of his new daughter Koopessa.
"Aww, Koops she's adorable!" Vivian awed at the baby koopa pictures.
"Thanks, she's finally starting to walk. Koopie Koo just loves telling her stories about how her dad went on so many adventures and dangerous missions. She can't even properly talk and I already feel like dad of the year."
"Well at least now she can hear about how her dad did some time behind bars." Verdugo joked around.
"That wasn't a prison, it was a small storage room behind the kitchen, and we were only there for like an hour and a half."
"Well it felt like a century." Luigi pouted as Mario patted his shoulder.
"It's definitely absolutely terrific to do this again, it almost feels like an annual tradition with us." Flurrie exclaimed among her fellow peers.
"Well here's hoping we still got that same fire inside each and every one of us." Bobbery expressed.
"Oh you bet we do!" Goombella cheered. "But we definitely have got to keep our heads in the game this time around. I'll just go ahead and break the ice and say last adventure was a little tricky, not to mention a couple mishaps occured." Vivian began to twirl her hair and grow worrisome. "And i'm not just talking about what happened with Vivian." This caught everyone off guard.
"What do you mean then?" Ms Mowz curiously asked.
"Welll...we didn't really act like much of a team like our first journey together. I personally felt we kept drifting apart and didn't completely cooperate like we should have." Everyone nodded in agreement and looked at each other with worried expressions. Mario got up from the left bottom bunk, catching all the party members' attention.
"Goombella's a right, we need to stick together and remember to always have each other's backs, no matter what. Can we do that?!"
"Yeah!" Everyone cheered in unison while high fiving one another, when everything suddenly stalled once several aggressive knocks were placed on the door. Since Mario was the only one standing up, he walked up and opened to see who this late visitor.
"Do I really have detain every single one of you folks if you keep the noise up?" A ship officer annoyingly asked. Every one took this as a sign to head back to their cabins to get some shut eye.
A few hours passed, and everyone is completely knocked out counting sleepy sheep, all except for one; not Mario, not Vivian, but Verdugo. The poor yoshi kept shaking around on the top bunk trying to get some rest, but just couldn't. He then jumped off and paced around the room, rubbing his eyes and flowing a hand through his hair. The constant footsteps woke up the sleepy siren, who slept with her witch hat hanging on the door hook, revealing her messy hair.
"Verdugo, is everything alright?" She asked with a concerned tone.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm just getting a little workout." This response confused Vivian. "Yeah yeah, i'm just getting pumped for whoever's butt I gotta kick, that's all."
"Verdugo…, you know you can talk to me."
"I am talking to you! Now get some sleep, I gotta get back to my um..workout session." Vivian obviously didn't believe him, she got up from her bunk and flickered on the lights. "Viv, i don't mean to be a sour sport, but I do better when i'm in the dark."
"Alright , come on, tell me what's wrong? Something is obviously bothering you, I even heard you squirming on your bed several times." The young yoshi finally caved in and crawled onto the bottom bunk, refusing to face Vivian who was still standing by the door.
"Promise you won't say a word." He mumbled to her. Vivian simply nodded and approached him. "So, a while back, I said I was gonna reunite with my family on precious island."
"Now that you mention it, I was wondering why you didn't bring that up when everyone was talking about their new lives."
"That's because my new life..wasn't so great." Vivian started to grow even more worried. "My parents...weren't really my parents. When I got to the island, they weren't even a Yoshi breed.
"B-but then who told your parents was on that island."
"They did..it was a scam apparently. They knew about me, my time in the Glitz pit, my adventures with Mario, and so they lied just so that they can use me to fight off some monsters off their island."
"When did you find out you weren't actually their son?" This question made Verdugo begin to scratch his head and grow even more paranoid.
"...After I took out the inhabitants of the island. It wasn't even their island, I was fighting for the wrong people. In return, they asked me if I'd help them with more tasks like this. But they actually didn't really ask, more so threatened to eat me if I said no." Vivian covered her mouth and backed up a little. Till then, it took me some figuring out to do on how to get off this island without getting caught, which was impossible; that's when parakarry came with the letter." Vivian walked up to the stressed yoshi once again and took a seat next to him. "Luckily he came during the night when everyone was already asleep, and I begged him to take me to Rogueport, I even offered to pay him my life savings from fighting in the ring. Of course, typical Parakarry couldn't take my money, but simply gave me a lift regardless. That's why I showed up late to the dock this morning." Verdugo fell onto his back and stared at the top bunk with his head spinning. "I'm stressed they'll come find me somehow and take me for good. Spending an entire year on that island was a nightmare, even before I knew they lied to me. I was harassing innocent people and didn't bother to listen to them. When this journey ends, I dunno what i'm gonna do?"
"Verudo I...i'm really sorry." Vivian shook her head in embarrassment. "Ugh, I'm such an idiot, why did I force you talk about this, you must be traumatized now. Doopliss was right, talking makes things ten times worse." Verdugo picked himself up sitting next to the shadowy girl.
"While I would agree, this kinda helped actually." Hearing this gave Vivian a little more confidence.
"Well you know you always have us. And don't worry, I won't speak of this anyone; no one has to know that you of all people needed to have a serious talk." This surprisingly made him laugh a little, clearing up a bit of the tension and fear. "And if you ever need to talk or anything like that, even if you just want me to shut up and you vent, i'm all ears. Let me be your brick wall to talk to." Verdugo couldn't contain himself and bursted out laughing at what she described herself as.
"I dunno why I find that so funny, but I definitely needed it." This made Vivian smile at what she accomplished. To her surprised, she was suddenly greeted with a grateful hug from the young scared Yoshi. "Thanks Vivian, really.." She of course returned the favor and hugged him back. Once the embrace ended, she turned to ask Verdugo the million dollar question.
"Now do you think you'll be ok to sleep tonight?"
"I'll try, still kinda scared, as embarrassing as it is to admit." He still gave it a shot and climbed back up to his bunk. He got under his covers, faced the wall and tried his best to fall asleep. Vivian went to go turn off the lights and was about to climb into her own, bed, but was still worried about Verdugo getting a good night's rest, still listening to him squirming around. She poked up and saw him constantly adjusting his blankets in his sleep. To her best judgement, even though he may not like it, she decided to slowly climb up onto the top bunk and snuggled the yoshi kid against her. This suddenly caused him to stop freaking out in his sleep, his self conscious basically alerting him that he's safe and protected by somewhat of an angel. Verdugo had a feeling it was Vivian holding him and would normally kick her off, but just this one time, he really didn't mind. She was like a big sister to him, he knew she would be there by his side always.
The rest of the night was peaceful for everyone, including Doopliss. Outside the halls and main lobbies of the ship was Delirious himself coincidentally standing where Doopliss stood.
"What a quiet night it must be, even with these waves pushing by." He spoke to himself. "If only I had someone to share this time with, someone who knows how to behave and listen when I speak." Rising from the floor was none other than the same monster that Vivian thought she hallucinated. He looked similar to Delirious, but instead had white hair with a black streak, his eyes changed color every time he blinked, but no mouth.
All he can respond in is grunts and creepy growls, which Delirious was capable of understanding.
"Look, I was enjoying a nice fine glass of crappy wine, and you had to go all bzerk just because I looked at her. I told you what your job is and you're just going to have to wait, alright?" The beast simply growled and fell back into the floor.
"It's so difficult attempting to tame two beasts at once." The same wine glass reappeared in his hand. "In due time though, the real party shall begin, hehehe." HE gave a devious laugh while consuming a sip of the of the wine, immediately spitting back into the glass. "Ecchh! I forgot this stuff tastes like shit."
To Be Continued…
Sorry this took so long, im only like, what, 3 and a half years late? For those who stuck around for that long, this story is not abandoned, I took a long hiatus to focus on school and other stories. From now on this will be getting my full attention. I'm also not used to writing long chapters like KholdStareV. This chapter alone ended up being roughly 10,000 words, despite there not much action taking place in my opinion, just a lot of talking. No worries though, this is just a start, just you wait! How frequent you will be getting updates is beyond me, but I'll do my best. I'll see you all in the next chapter :)