A/N: Let me warn you right now, this chapter contains subject matter that isn't easily accessible for everyone. It talks about a serious crime and I advise you to be prepared. After reading a couple reviews about the chapter, I thought I should put a stronger warning since this is something that isn't very easy to consume for most. Now then, with that in mind, please read on and I hope you enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 6: "Dismal Interruption"

With a deadset look in his eye, Toad was little more than a blur as he sped down the fortunately empty streets of the city in his small, white, two-person convertible. By now, nightfall had spread across Toad Town and most of the normal traffic rush after the work day's end was over. And Toad was just lucky he wasn't caught as he pushed roughly thirty miles per hour over the speed limit. But in a time like this, the law felt like a simple suggestion. He wouldn't allow signs on the side of the road to dictate how quickly he made his way to his destination.

Toad slowed down just enough to safely careen around a corner and narrowly avoid ramming into the sidewalk. He knew that later he would look back at his reckless driving and curse himself for being so openly careless, but right now wasn't the time to think about it; he received a phone call just minutes ago. From Tess. And she was crying. Every word she spoke was dripping with her tears as she ran and talked with her jumping voice.

"I can't stay here Toad," she spoke tearfully through her phone immediately after her boyfriend answered. "They came home drunk again, a-and they tried to-" Her voice was cut off with a muffled scream and the phone dropped to the ground. Hearing this, Toad didn't waste any time at all. Grabbing his jacket and the keys to his car, he rushed out of the house, yelling the usual excuse to his parents that he was going to see a friend and that he would be back later. Tonight though, he felt he had to tell them the truth when he got back. Things had gone too far.

Every second that Toad didn't see Tess felt like an eternity that she was left to suffer. He just knew this day would come eventually. He only wished he could have known when so he could prevent it.

Nobody knew why things were the way they were. Why were Toad and Tess a couple? How did such an evil girl as Tess ever manage to get together with him? Why did Toad put up with all the crap that Tess put him through? Well, when you boiled right down to it, Toad was her only way to escape. He was her only salvation from what was otherwise a dismal and pitiful existence that she was unfortunately subject to against her own will.

Tess was the only child of a very dysfunctional family. They lived in the slums, which, when compared to the rest of the calm, almost heavenly town, were probably some of the worst, most impoverished locations in the entire world. Those neighborhoods even gave Rogueport a run for its money as far as crime, both petty and major.

Living off of money leeched from the more successful members of their families, Tess's mother and father never seemed to know how to spend the funds on anything more than drugs and alcohol. It was actually up to Tess to steal some of the loaned coins (a task that wasn't really that hard to do after a little practice) in order to go out into town and purchase food for everyone. And if she wasn't successful at sneaking away with the coins and having the pleasure of walking down the dirty, shifty streets of her neighborhood to reach the worn down corner store with oddly high prices for groceries, she was caught and often beaten by her father for trying to run off with the money. It all just seemed like a lose-lose situation. And for a long time, she wondered why she even bothered trying at all.

Growing up in such a family where her father was rarely sober enough to walk a straight line and her mother was often so high off drugs that she became a virtual vegetable when she wasn't injecting herself with something, Tess began to believe that life simply could not be lived happily. She couldn't trust anyone thanks to the many times she was conned on the streets and she was often in a state of paranoia about those close to her.

That was why she was so viciously strict with Toad all the time.

Toad was the first person to care about her, despite the way she was raised and the hard shell she'd developed over the years. Really, it was Toad that pursued her in the beginning, much the opposite of what most people believed; that Tess somehow tricked Toad into dating her and kept him trapped in the relationship.

At first, all Tess ever did was push everyone away. She ignored people, she insulted, she humiliated, whatever she had to do to keep herself safe from anyone getting too close to her. She didn't want to end up with the betrayal that she'd grown so used to her entire life. And then Toad popped up.

He was so freaking persistent. Tess couldn't get rid of him no matter what she tried; he just always came back, undeterred. And he did it because he knew. Somehow, some way, Toad found out about her and the life she led. And, for whatever reason, he actually cared. He actually wanted to help. He wanted to ensure Tess that not everyone was out to get her, that there was a world full of decent people, and that some people actually wanted to lend a hand. But, given their surroundings when they first met, during middle school, where everyone began to feel that popularity was the most important thing in the world and kids were starting to become sexually active, hidden intentions and backstabbing was aplenty. And despite her attempts to reject the rest of the world, Tess took notice of this. It only served to further support that people in general could not be trusted and that relationships, whether friendly or romantic, were all meant to corrupt in the end.

But...freaking Toad! He completely destroyed everything Tess ever firmly believed to be true about society. He was kind. He was true. He was trustworthy. He was the utter opposite of what Tess expected out of people by this stage of her life, and he managed to find her and get her to open up for the first time ever. Toad was the first and only person in the world (besides her own parents) that ever saw her cry. He was the only one that she actually felt comfortable around and the only one she could share her feelings and deepest thoughts with. And he always listened and he always completely understood. Toad was the only person in the entire world that wanted to help and try to ease her pain, and Tess felt an emotion she'd never experienced before and never expected to experience in her life. She loved him.

And right now, she really needed him. All Toad knew was that he had to find her. Fast.

Toad brought his car to a stop as he reached Tess's dark street, hardly illuminated by the dim lights that flowed from the abodes lining the road, for there were no streetlights installed in the area at all. Taking note of this, Toad popped his trunk and quickly fished out a flashlight, flickering it on before he slammed the trunk back down and began running off into the neighborhood.

"Tess!" he shouted as loudly as he could into the relatively quiet community. Right away, a nearby group of three young adults all gathered together, one Goomba and two Bandits, took notice of Toad's call. "Tess! Where are you!?"

"I think the chick you're looking for is over here kid!" the Goomba answered. Without a second thought, Toad immediately dashed over to the group. The two Bandits that stood in his way separated, revealing a sight that Toad wished he never had to see.

Tess lied there on the gutter at the edge of the sidewalk, motionless, stripped down to her underwear. As Toad flashed his light down on her, he could see that she had a black eye and blood was still wet on her lips, inside her mouth, and on her cheeks. Toad simply couldn't believe his eyes, and, inspecting that there was also blood on her panties, he immediately turned to the Goomba that called him over.

"Did you call an ambulance for her?" he asked with an incredibly shaky voice. The Goomba looked up at the two Bandits, who shook their heads rather solemnly.

"None of us have phones," he responded. Without hesitation, Toad grabbed the cell phone out of his pocket and dialed the emergency number as he knelt down next to Tess, his heart ripping apart as he took in her broken, beaten figure.

"This is the Toad Town Police Department. What is your emergency?" a calm female voice answered from the other end of the conversation.

"We need an ambulance on Prospect Avenue in front of, uh-" Toad muttered quickly as tears began welling into his eyes. He glanced at the address of the nearest house. "Thirty-two, sixty-four," he concluded. "My girlfriend has been...raped and left out in the street..."

Toad could hardly keep his composure as he imparted this information. As he let out the final word, he couldn't help but break down and let tears overcome him. His cell phone slipped out of his hand and collided with the ground rather softly as he hunched over Tess, wondering why this had to happen to her.

"We're sending an ambulance out right now," the phone operator informed to deaf ears. Nobody on the site heard the response. All three of the bystanders looked on in silence, witnessing this Toad boy weep over his tattered girlfriend. They had to admit, they'd done some pretty bad stuff in their day, but this...this was a little much.

One of the Bandits felt the urge to step forward and give Toad a pat on the back, but the sound of sirens in the distance prevented him from performing the action. He glanced over at his fellow Bandit and the two soon nodded. They ran off into the night as quickly as they could, for they simply couldn't let the fuzz see them at the site. The Goomba stayed however, for he knew that an eye witness would be in order for proper questioning.

–

"Daddy!" an excited Ilys shouted as she rushed over to the opening front door to be greeted by her father, who scooped her up into his arms.

"Hey there baby girl," Jeff returned as Julie leaned in to give her daughter a kiss on the cheek.

"Hi Sweetie."

"Hiya Mommy!" Jeff closed the door behind them before stepping further into the house. He took in a deep, satisfied breath as his empty stomach let out a low rumble.

"Man, dinner smells great," he commented, looking over at Daisy, who was sitting on the carpet facing the coffee table in the living room. Luigi sat to the side of the coffee table. The television was on and a board game was splayed out over the table's top, set up for three players. Noticing the guest, Jeff set his daughter down and stepped over, putting his hands on his hips. "Well, looks like we have a visitor. What's your name pal?"

"Luigi sir," Luigi answered as he stood, extending his hand to shakes Jeff's.

"Should we be concerned that you had a boy over without us knowing?" Julie asked nonchalantly. Daisy shrugged while remaining at her spot on the floor, looking at the television.

"No, not really," she responded. "Ilys kept an eye on us."

"You didn't catch them doing anything naughty did you Ilys?" Julie asked as her husband made his way to the kitchen, growing too eager to begin dinner.

"Nope," Ilys confirmed happily. "We cooked, read, and played games together all day."

"I'd say that story checks out," Jeff called from the kitchen, having witnessed the set-aside books resting on the arms of the couches before leaving the scene. He continued to take in the delectable smell of the spaghetti and rubbed his stomach expectantly. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm actually looking forward to Daisy's dinner."

"Way to boost my confidence Uncle Jeff," Daisy called back sarcastically. "But I actually didn't cook that."

"But it's your night to cook," Julie stated as Jeff reentered the room, raising his eyebrow in suspicion. "If you didn't make it, who did?"

"Mister Luigi did!" Ilys spoke up, causing Luigi to awkwardly chuckle as both parents turned their heads to him.

"Is that true?" Julie asked, prompting a nod from both Luigi and Daisy, who now looked up at her aunt and uncle as commercials invaded the television screen.

"Yeah...I did," Luigi admitted. Jeff gave him a small pat on the back as he gave him a rather sympathetic smile.

"How did Daisy trick you into doing that?" he asked jokingly, making Daisy scoff.

"I wouldn't trick Luigi into cooking for me," Daisy said as she stood, placing a hand on her hip. She gave Luigi a smile, causing him to look downward at the ground as everyone focused their attention on him. He wasn't used to having groups of people talk about him like this. At least, not while he was standing right there. It felt awkward. "He was kind enough to spare us the suffering and just offered to do it. He insisted that he do it actually."

"Yeah, and the pasketti tastes really good too!" Ilys added, immediately sparking Jeff's attention.

"Well Daisy, I guess I'll give you your punishment for not making dinner tonight based on just how good Luigi here cooked," Jeff mentioned playfully as he headed for the dining room adjacent to the kitchen, making Daisy scoff once again.

"Good. I won't have any chores for a while." Daisy now gave Luigi her own pat on the back as she headed for the dining room herself. Ilys quickly ran off after her and Julie and Luigi were about to leave as well before something on the television caught their attention. Luigi, Daisy, and Ilys let the news play on the television as they played their board game and right now, something displayed that caught the attention of the pair left behind in the living room.

"Thank you Johnny," a female Toad reporter talked to the camera as she stood before a scene showing someone being lifting onto a stretcher in the background. "We are here live from Prospect Avenue in the south side of Toad Town on the scene of what appears to be the aftermath of a rape."

"Oh my..." Julie muttered as the camera closed in on the Toad girl on the stretcher, who was covered with a blanket up to her head, still revealing her bruised and bloody face.

"What's up?" Daisy asked as she poked her head into the room. Seeing that both Julie and Luigi were fixated on the television set, she decided to step in and see what the commotion was about. Ilys followed at her heels and Jeff soon entered as well.

"This Toad girl was raped and left on the street on Prospect Avenue..." Julie explained as the reporter continued, surprising Jeff and Daisy quite a bit. Luigi was more shocked than any of them though, for he seemed to recognize the girl on the stretcher.

"That's...I think that's Tess..." Luigi muttered gravely, causing everyone in the room to look over at him. Daisy was particularly surprised to hear this, having remembered Tess on their one encounter, but none of her family members were informed.

"You know her?" Jeff asked quietly as Luigi's mouth fell open slightly.

"Yeah...Tess is my best friend's girlfriend," he answered. That explained why he took the news so seriously.

"Yeah, I saw the whole thing," a Goomba on the scene spoke into the reporter's microphone. "She was being chased by two older Toads, a man and a woman. She had a cell phone in her hand and it looked like she was talking to someone, but when the two other Toads caught up to her, one tackled her to the ground and the other broke the phone. Then...well, it happened. Afterwards, they left her behind, and about a minute or two later, the Toad boy appeared, calling out here name."

"Do you remember what the girl's name was?" the reporter asked.

"Yeah. He called her Tess," the Goomba answered.

That proved it. Luigi was right. The girl on the stretcher was indeed Tess, and, as they peered into the background at the opening of the back of the ambulance, they could see a Toad boy talking with one of the transporters. That had to be Toad. According to the Goomba, Toad arrived right after the event took place...

"This is terrible..." Julie whispered quietly as she looked on at the event with horror. "The poor girl..."

"I hate to ask, but could you take me to the hospital please?" Luigi queried, a look of sadness occupying his features. Jeff glanced over at him, looking rather awestricken himself as he realized that the victim of this crime was an acquaintance of his guest.

"Sure sure," he responded as he left to retrieve his jacket that he draped over his chair by the dining table.

"I wanna come too," Daisy spoke up suddenly. Everyone in the room looked over at her as she said this, for nobody really expected her to want to go as well. And, of course, being the little mimic that she was...

"Then I wanna go too," Ilys stated, though she didn't know what was going on. Julie quickly knelt down and scooped her daughter into her arms.

"No honey, you can't go," she said softly as Jeff reentered the room, pulling on his jacket.

"Why not?" Ilys asked, causing Julie to shoot her eyes to the television once more before returning them to her daughter.

"Because this is only for grown ups. You and I will stay here and wait for Daddy and Cousin Daisy to come back, alright?" Ilys looked over at Daisy with a confused expression only to receive a nod from her older cousin, silently telling her to listen to her mother.

"Okay Mommy," Ilys responded, accepting the fact that she would not be going on this expedition.

Holding Ilys close, Julie looked up at her husband, who let out a small sigh before turning to Daisy and Luigi.

"Alright, let's go kids," Jeff announced, headed for the front door. Daisy followed closely behind him while Luigi quickly stuffed his copy of "Clemante" into a pocket of his backpack before hurrying out to join them.

The door closed, leaving Julie and Ilys in silence for several seconds as Julie sat herself down onto the sofa, continuing to cradle her young daughter. It wasn't long before Ilys pushed herself away from her mother though, standing on the couch as the two peered into each other's eyes.

"What's 'rape' Mommy?" she asked.

The question froze Julie stiff. She could have had an easier time answering where babies came from...

What is rape...?

How could she answer that to her four year old daughter?