Cascore's Note: FINALLY! After over two months of unexpected hiatus, I finally finished the long-awaited Chapter 23! I had the hardest time figuring out how to work out this part of the story, but, oddly enough, after all this time, the last two-thirds of this whole chapter was actually written in one night. Inspiration is an odd entity. But thank you all so much for being patient with me. You have no idea how relieved I am to finally get going with this story again. But now, without further ado, I hope you enjoy.
Chapter 23: "Departure of Vigilantes and Thieves"
"Daddy, you really shouldn't be talking on your cell phone while you're driving," Mona complained from the passenger seat with a sigh as her father blazed down the road, one hand on the steering wheel of the car, the other on his cell phone.
"Calm down Mona, we'll be fine," his father assured, keeping his eyes firmly glued on the dark road before him. "The highway's straight forward and we haven't seen a car for miles." Mona promptly groaned in disapproval as the man her father was speaking with over the phone spoke up. He was on speaker so everyone in the car could hear him.
"We can just talk more when you get here John," the man suggested, taking Mona's worry into consideration. John was quick to insist that the phone conversation would be fine though.
"No, it's okay. Has anyone gathered at the castle yet?"
"Not yet. It's a bit too early for that. But I know at least a few people are coming out to protest. When do you think you'll get here?"
"About eight A.M. your time," John responded, glancing at his car's clock. It displayed the numbers "2:54", but time in the Mushroom Kingdom was two hours behind Sarasaland. He'd be arriving at the castle town in a bit over three hours.
"Great. I think things'll liven up a bit by then."
"How the hell are we supposed to get in the castle if it's gonna be swarmed by protesters?" Waluigi muttered almost inaudibly in the passenger side back seat as he gazed out into the darkness of the outside world whizzing by.
"We'll figure somethin' out," Wario assured him with a yawn. Waluigi had previously believed the boy to be asleep, for his eyes had been closed for the entire trip so far. Apparently though, it was simply a ruse. Wario had been keeping track of every word that had been said since the four of them entered that car a couple hours ago after hearing the surprising news of the abduction of Luigi and Daisy.
Information about the happening spread around the town like a wildfire after Toad Town's news station discovered that their "eye in the sky" Lakitu cameraman had picked up the struggle that took place between Daisy, Luigi, and their Nokobon assailants. Mona's parents caught the story on the news only moments after the orphanage's scheduled movie had come to an end. They didn't make a big fuss about it upon first seeing it to avoid alarming the children, but Mona happened upon the story as they were watching it.
"We have breaking news from our eye in the sky; it appears that, earlier today, two teenagers were assaulted by a group of the very Nokobons I'm sure many of us have been seeing prowling around the town today," the anchorwoman announced as footage of Daisy knocking aside one of the Nokobons that attempted to bring her to the ground played out. Luigi simply stood on the sidelines, his hands cuffed behind his back as he watched the scene before him playing out in shock. "The struggle seemed spontaneous and didn't last long, but it's very evident that damage was done to the overwhelmed teenagers, as well as a third passerby who attempted to break up the fight, but received a hit of his own."
As she spoke, Toad could be seen approaching the scene from across the street. It wasn't apparent whether or not he actually saw Luigi or Daisy, but it was obvious that he was trying to talk down the fighters without attempting to get physical himself. The footage showed him being met with a slam to his gut delivered by the shell of one of the Nokobons. All three of the observers in the orphanage winced as they saw this, but were even more shocked at what came next.
The cameraman began to zoom in his camera, and, as he did so, the sight of Daisy being blindsided from behind by a particularly powerful shell slam was openly viewable. She fell to the ground immediately and blood could be seen spattering on the ground as she made her descent. Mona and her parents couldn't help but let out a collective gasp and a quiet "Oh my God..." as the cameraman zoomed in as far as he could.
The camera followed the Nokobons as they quickly hefted the apparently unconscious Daisy into the limousine, and an utterly stunned Luigi was pushed in soon thereafter. The doors of the limo slammed shut and began to zoom off.
"From what we can gather from the footage, we can see that the Nokobon group involved in this instance is from our neighbor, Sarasaland," the anchorwoman announced to her co-anchor as the scene of the studio reappeared on the screen. "If you look closely, you can see the silver 'S' symbol on not only the Nokobons' sunglasses, but also on the license plate of the limousine."
"Yes, I spotted that," the co-anchor responded solemnly with a shake of his head. "I can't help but wonder what prompted such a hostile attack on a pair of teenagers. And it's even more disturbing that law enforcement hasn't been involved in this matter in the slightest. What is the world coming to when people can be assaulted on the street and nothing is done about it?"
What was the world coming to indeed. First, the story about that poor Toad girl from last week, and now this. It was understandable that Mona's parents were quite upset about this. Having to care for children with troubled pasts on a daily basis, the stories struck a chord with the two of them. They both immediately felt the urge to do something about the situation, but what exactly they could do simply eluded them.
As disturbed as she was by the report, Mona couldn't help but focus her mind on a different matter after realizing where exactly that scene had taken place. It was near the cemetery. Right at the place where she found that cell phone on the sidewalk. She didn't notice as she watched the video, but she quickly pieced together that the phone was most likely dropped by somebody on the site during the scuffle.
Mona knew right then and there that she had to return it. She'd already felt quite apprehensive having the thing in her possession in the first place, but now, having seen that footage, she simply couldn't allow herself to hold on to it any longer.
Without a word, she left her parents and hurried to her room upstairs. Closing the door behind her as she entered, making sure to lock it just in case, she headed over to her nightstand and slung its drawer open. Sitting atop the various items contained within was the cell phone in question, and, after grabbing it and opening it, she realized that there was actually a missed call that had come in quite recently. Only a few seconds ago as a matter of fact, according to the display on the phone's screen.
Before she could see who it was that called, the phone suddenly began to vibrate. Her nerves tensed immediately as she nearly threw the thing across the room, but she managed to restrain herself and look to see who was calling.
It was Peach. Princess Toadstool. Mona's heart nearly beat right out of her chest as she contemplated answering the call.
Oh my God. It's Princess Toadstool. The princess. And she's calling this phone. That I found on the street, Mona thought nervously, staring down the phone as if it were going to spring to life and attack her at any moment. I can't just answer it, can I? What would I say to her?
"Hello?" Mona answered before she even realized what she was doing. Half a second couldn't pass before she started regretting her involuntary action.
What are you doing!? God Mona, you can't even freak out properly! How am I gonna explain-
"Hello?" Peach's voice rang out from the other end, obviously confused by the unfamiliar voice that answered her. "Daisy? Is that you?"
Well, that answered it. The phone belonged to Princess Daisy. Who, apparently, had just gotten beaten up and kidnapped by a bunch of Nokobons. And Mona, the idiot, just strolled up minutes later and stole her phone.
It probably wasn't possible for her to feel like any worse of an excuse of a human being if she tried.
"...No," Mona squeaked after a few seconds of self-loathing silence. She hated herself so much at that moment, she could barely bring herself to say a single word after that. She wanted to just hang up, crawl underneath the covers of her bed, and let time slowly and cruelly carry her away to a cold, isolated death. She probably deserved it. But, in spite of herself, she soldiered on with the conversation. It wouldn't help anything if she'd simply left it at that and did nothing. At the very least, she could return the phone. And, if she couldn't take it back to Daisy directly, handing it over to a friend of hers was the next best thing she could do. "My name is Mona... I...found this cell phone on the sidewalk."
When Peach didn't say anything in response, Mona began to feel even more panicked. Her wildest of fears began to run themselves through her mind as she thought about why Peach would just grow silent like that.
She's probably gonna have me arrested, she thought, staring down toward the floor as she began to feel overwhelmed by the situation. Oh my God, she's gonna throw me in jail for this. I'm gonna spend years behind bars because I couldn't keep myself from being a 'rebel' and picking up this stupid cell phone. I didn't know it belonged to Princess Daisy! And I certainly didn't know she'd been beaten up just a little while before I found it! I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking! Please, you have to forgive-
"Mona...tell me, have you heard anything about Princess Daisy of Sarasaland today?" Peach suddenly asked rather slowly, sounding a bit apprehensive as she spoke. "I know it's an odd question, but please, have you heard anything of her?"
"Yes, I have, just now," Mona answered speedily, her mouth seeming to outrun the rate at which she could even think about what she was saying. "Oh my gosh, if I'd known that that had happened to her, I would have never picked up her phone, I didn't know it belonged to her, and I especially didn't know that she was assaulted like that just moments before, I was planning on returning it as soon as possible because I felt guilty about finding a stranger's phone and-"
"Please, calm down," Peach cut in calmly, though still with a hint of anxiety as her fear was confirmed. She'd hoped that news of what happened to Daisy and Luigi hadn't gotten out so quickly. Her father was already on the case, but now it seemed inevitable that, now that the townspeople were informed, there were only going to be more problems with citizens getting themselves involved in the matter. And, sure enough, as she looked out of the window of her bedroom, she could already spot a small number of townspeople gathering at the gates of the castle. This wouldn't be good.
"Don't worry yourself about the phone. I simply ask that you return it to the castle as soon as you can. Could you do that?"
"Of course," Mona responded simply with a sigh, calming herself down as she controlled her urge to apologize profusely. With a "thank you", Peach promptly hung up, leaving Mona to hold the phone to her ear for a few additional seconds before finally removing it, closing it, and burying her forehead in the palm of her hand. Even though she wasn't in any trouble, she still felt absolutely terrible about the whole situation. All she wanted to do was be a bit more like Wario; to inject a bit more excitement and lawlessness into her very tame, safe life. And, the one time she managed to do something of any noteworthiness on her own...this had to happen.
She wasn't so sure she wanted to try so hard to change herself anymore.
After taking a deep breath and tucking the phone away in her pocket, Mona exited her room and hurried back downstairs. She went into the television room to inform her parents that she was going to head out for a while, only to find her father on the phone with somebody. Her mother wasn't in the room, but her father seemed to be having quite the spirited conversation with someone about what he just saw on the news.
"I can't believe it either," John muttered into his phone rather angrily, sitting on the couch and keeping his eyes glued to the television for any further news about the situation. "Toad Town's always been a pretty peaceful place, and now, all of this violence is suddenly breaking out. And it keeps involving adults attacking teenagers. I just don't understand what's going on."
A few moments passed wherein John simply listened to whoever he was speaking to and Mona approached him silently, catching his attention, but staying quiet in respect for her father's conversation.
"Really now? Gathering at the castle?" he spoke up, interested. He waited a few more moments for his conversation partner to say their piece before he talked again. "Trying to get the king out to explain things himself huh? Well, that'd make sense. It wasn't like this last attack was an isolated event. A group from Sarasaland took the time to come over here and take them away. If something's going on between our kingdoms, the king owes it to us to let us know what's happening, and why nothing was done to prevent something like this from happening."
Mona didn't exactly need a crystal ball to see where this conversation was going. Shortly after her father hung up the phone, he looked over at her expectantly, waiting to see what she wanted to talk about. Luckily, what she had to say went along with his own new plans quite perfectly.
"Are you about to go to the castle?" she asked, receiving a nod from her father in response. "Could I come with you?"
"Sure Honey, we'll walk over together," John replied as he stood from his seat and made his way to the kitchen, the next room over, to inform his wife of his departure. Mona watched after him for a moment before heading out of the room and into the building's lobby. As she approached the front door, she noticed Wario and Waluigi coming downstairs. She smiled at the two of them and waved. Wario raised a hand in recognition, whereas Waluigi simply walked by her without so much as a glance as he and Wario headed for the kitchen. Mona was on the verge of grabbing the boy by the overalls and making him at least acknowledge her existence, but her father soon emerged onto the scene and grabbed two jackets from the coat hanger next to the door.
"Ready to go Mona?" he asked, handing her one of the jackets as she nodded in response and slipped it on. "What do you need to do at the castle anyway?" he continued casually as he and his daughter exited the building, closing the door behind them softly before walking down toward the sidewalk.
Mona wasn't entirely sure how she should answer that. The reaction she could get from her father was unpredictable, all things considered. He could be angry that she found a phone on the street and decided to keep it instead of try to figure out whose it was immediately. He could be glad that she was going to return it at that moment. He could be astonished that she'd found the phone of one princess and, using it, had a conversation with another. She didn't know what he would say, but, regardless, she told him everything that happened, and, when asked, explained what was going through her mind when she made the decisions that she did.
Honestly, though she was speaking to her father of all people about wanting to be more rebellious, more unpredictable, and just do something that was a little less than safe for once, it felt nice to finally be able to get things off her chest. Sure, she was wary of the possibility that she could very well be getting herself into trouble by telling him all this, and, judging by her father's silence, it was pretty likely that she may just get some punishment out of it, but she was thankful nonetheless.
"Now that I've actually done something though, I really can't imagine doing it again," Mona continued, coming near the end of her monologue about her internal struggles as of late. "I mean, it was pretty thrilling at first, but I just felt so guilty after the fact. Even if it didn't belong to Princess Daisy, I don't think I'd have been able to keep this thing for very much longer."
Her voice finally trailed off into silence after roughly ten minutes of speaking, time throughout which her father never said a word. As she concluded herself, she almost felt as if the honest truth about how she felt guilty about the phone was more of a plea for levity than anything. She knew she wasn't just trying to butter her father up so he wouldn't be too harsh on her though. And, apparently, so did he.
"Well, I'm glad that you came to your senses," he responded. Not exactly the best way of saying that everything was okay, but better than nothing. "Can't really say I blame you. I'm pretty sure most everyone goes through a phase like that at some point in their lives."
Unexpectedly, he reached over and rubbed the top of his daughter's head with a smile, messing up her hair as she failed to refrain from smiling at the sudden gesture herself. "I'm just happy my little girl's got such a guilty conscious. At least I know you won't grow up to be a career criminal."
"Gee Daddy, thanks," Mona replied with a playful scoff, unsure of whether or not she should take that as a compliment. Nevertheless, she was happy her father was taking this so lightly. He always managed to surprise her like that it seemed. At times, he was a very no-nonsense kind of guy, doling out punishment anywhere it was rightfully deserved. And, other times, he was like this, smiling and laughing the incident off like it was nothing. It was a confusing process, if it was any kind of process at all, and Mona could only be happy that she was lucky enough to receive her father's more lighthearted side. Especially considering the situation they were currently walking right into.
It was difficult to tell what was going on in front of them. They'd reached the foot of the castle before they even realized it, but couldn't recognize the grounds at all due to the sheer mass of the angry crowd that was suddenly gathered there. It wasn't rare for there to be heavy footwork near the castle; it was the town's main attraction and visitors were openly welcome inside after all, but this mob easily outsized any number of people either Mona or her father had ever seen before.
It was impressive how quickly the entire town came to arms at the foot of the castle, united in opposition of the fell news that was delivered to them not longer than a mere thirty minutes ago. Dozens of the castle's guards had to appear on the scene in order to make sure things remained civil as the gathered citizens angrily shouted for their king to show himself and explain.
Why would he allow such a thing to happen to those innocent teenagers?
Why hadn't he done anything to prevent or counteract such a happening?
Why had Sarasaland suddenly shown such malevolent force against individuals of the Mushroom Kingdom's own capitol?
The people wanted their leader to come out and face their questions. And they would not draw back until they were satisfied with the answer.
"John! John, over here!"
Mona and her father turned in the direction of the voice immediately as they noticed a middle-aged Toad man, probably in his late forties, with light blue spots on his cap waving over at them. The two of them made their way over immediately, withdrawing around to the back side of the crowd as the Toad made his way around as well.
"Man John, can you believe this?" the Toad asked, sounding rather shocked yet excited as he gazed over at the huge crowd causing the ruckus nearby. "It looks like the entire town is out here because of what was on the news. I'm starting to worry there's gonna be an outright riot soon."
It certainly did seem that way. People shouted angrily, some occasionally pumping their fists into the air as if to demand that the king finally present himself and talk to them. A few citizens even went so far as to challenge the guards stationed at the front of the crowd, yelling at them and making attempts to push by, only to be repelled by the long handles of the guard Toads' spears. It was definitely a worrisome sight, and Mona felt incredibly apprehensive about being in the heart of the mess. Her father almost seemed to want to join in though.
"Well, if the king would just show himself," he began, though he seemed to have no intent of imparting what exactly would happen if King Toadstool actually did come out before his people. It wasn't doubtful that, no matter what explanation he tried to give, there would be no easy way to settle the anger and fear of his subjects though.
Distracted by all the activity around her, it took Mona a fair while to remember exactly why she was there in the first place. Digging in her pocket, the presence of Daisy's cell phone made itself known once more and demanded Mona to figure out just how she was going to get it delivered to Princess Peach. At the moment, it seemed simply impossible though. Even if she managed the unlikely and actually did make it all the way through to the front of the crowd, there was no way she'd be able to get past the guards.
However, the phone was quickly thrown to the back of her mind once more as the man the people demanded finally made his appearance. Coaxed out of the castle by the immense ruckus outside, and convinced by his daughter and his steward to just go out and explain, King Toadstool stepped out onto the castle's balcony, overlooking, for the first time, the incredible mass of agitated peoples that had stormed his grounds.
It was hard to discern individual shouts heading his way, but the overall tone of the voices seemed to meld into one clear message: "We're angry, and we want information. Now."
Toadstool had to admit that he wasn't prepared for this kind of situation. He'd anticipated the possibly of such an event happening in the past, but never once had the idea ever grown into an actual realization. Never had his people held so much general disdain for him, never had they jeered in his presence and so demanded, with such ferocity, to be told what was going on behind closed doors. And all it took was one incident too many to bring them to such an agitated rally.
"Everyone, please!" Toadstool spoke up with a commanding voice in an attempt to control the crowd's massive volume. Most people in the crowd took the hint and quieted down to hear just what the king had to say for himself, and it soon became a difficult, precise balancing act of explaining the situation and easing the fears of the people.
"I understand why you are all upset," he began. "The detaining of the two children, and the injury of a third who just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, was a most deplorable act indeed. I can honestly tell you that I was not aware of the methods used against them, nor was I aware that they were both taken away.
"I must tell you, though, that I was informed about the act of the detaining," he added, much to the crowd's chagrin. He completely understood why they would be so upset about this detail, but he began to explain immediately. "You see, the young woman that the Sarasan group retrieved is, in fact, Princess Daisy. The daughter of King Sarasa."
The crowd suddenly went into a storm of hushed whispers, not having known anything about Daisy's origin. The reaction to the news seemed to be a mixture of shock and disgust, not only from the fact that Daisy turned out to be the king's daughter, but also because of the excessively violent way in which she was subdued to be taken away. A think, a king would actually allow his underlings to treat his own daughter in such a fashion...
"This is why I did nothing to intervene in the proceedings. I was informed of the search by Sarasaland's ambassador, Kamarillo, and granted permission to find the princess and retrieve her. However," he continued, drawing his people's attention back to himself after their whisperings had come to a close, "the young man who was taken away alongside her, Luigi Segale, had nothing to do with the agreement. He is an innocent who has been forcefully and unlawfully taken away from my kingdom, without my permission. And I assure you, I will have him back home as soon as possible. He will not be forgotten."
"Oy, I say we teach them Sarasaland blokes a lesson!" one Bob-Omb individual shouted out immediately, prompting a number of the members of the crowd to agree heartily, obviously blinded by their rage toward the neighboring kingdom. "Who do they think they are, waltzin' in on our town an' harrassin' our people like that!?"
"Yeah! I don't care if they did have permission to find their princess! What they did to her and those two boys was downright despicable!" a Doogan woman chimed in as the crowd began to rile itself into a second uproar.
"We're actually allies with people who would attack their own princess and kidnap an innocent bystander!?" a third voice, this one belonging to a Toad collegiate. "It doesn't sit well with me knowing that we're partners with a nation of barbarians!"
What seemed like a decent speech that was succeeding at its task of calming the masses down quickly turned into the inspiration for the mob to simply raise its voice yet again. Only now, their anger wasn't directed so much at the king himself as it was at the land that served as his strongest ally. This had twisted out of control at an alarming pace as the crowd continued to berate Sarasaland, its people, and its ethics with more energy and more scathing criticism.
It wasn't long before Mona found her own father subtly joining in on the mob mentality, recounting a particularly negative experience he'd had with one particular Sarasan in the past to his Toad friend. Mona herself was quite scared about just what all of this protesting would escalate to in the end, and she hated to see that her father was actually jumping onto the bandwagon along with everyone else. All she wanted to do at that point was escape. Just get back to her home and drive all of this out of her mind. The negative energy surrounding her seemed to choke her with its overwhelming animosity, but, thankfully, King Toadstool finally managed to get the crowd back under control.
"Everyone, please, we cannot judge the whole of Sarasaland based merely on the actions of one isolated group," Toadstool spoke up, trying desperately to find a way to defend Sarasaland while still keeping his people calm. "What that group did is inexcusable, but we should not revert to slandering our strongest ally based solely on their actions. It was a mistake, and they will pay for it, but we cannot allow ourselves to believe that their kingdom as a whole is a foul establishment."
"If they're not so bad, why would their own princess fight against them!?" one Koopa challenged, prompting several mutters of agreement in response. He did have a bit of a point. The footage clearly showed Daisy fighting tooth and nail against the group of Nokobons. It was hard not to wonder why exactly she'd do such a thing if she was going to simply be escorted back to her home.
As the negative interaction between the crowd and King Toadstool persisted, Mona couldn't help but overhear her father's friend imparting something to John. She lent him an eavesdropping ear to see what he was talking about.
"You know my older brother that lives in Sarasaland right? Toadster?" the Toad asked, receiving a nod from John in return. "Well, according to him, the place actually seems to just be going downhill lately," he explained. "He moved over there back when Sarasa the Second and Queen Lilly were still in power. Ever since they died in the war and Sarasa the Third took over though, the place hasn't been the same. And, apparently, he heard in the news a few years ago that Princess Daisy actually left the castle after a pretty violent falling out she and her father had gotten into. It's led a lot of people to believe she was being physically abused and that's why she left, for her own safety."
"Oh my gosh..." Mona whispered under her breath, her guilt climbing to all new heights as she took in this information. It seemed like karma was coming around and treating out just desserts with force as Mona nearly teared up thinking about just what exactly Daisy had to be going through.
As Mona's spirits plunged to a low she'd never before experience, her father, infuriated by what he was just told, obtained a look of determination and sheer anger. The thought of the princess, or any child for that matter, being forced back to their home to endure a relationship with their abusive parent sent him over the edge. It was exactly the sort of thing he had to deal with day after day when it came to the children at the orphanage. And he couldn't just sit back quietly and hope for the best while Daisy was being dragged away to suffer.
"I'm going to Sarasaland," he spoke up firmly, now ignoring the crowd and their back and forth with the king. Both Mona and the Toad looked at him, shocked.
"Daddy..." Mona muttered, not entirely sure what to say. Thankfully, the Toad spoke immediately after her.
"John, don't tell me you're actually gonna-"
"I've seen this kind of thing happen so many times in the past Toadbert," John cut him off, turning to walk back toward the orphanage with a determined march. Mona and Toadbert began to follow him immediately. "Children who are forced to live in a turbulent household. The effect is the same for everyone, whether you're royalty or not. If we simply let her stay there without trying to do anything, she's not going to turn out well. She'll end up being miserable, resentful... I don't care that she's the daughter of a king, I have to try and get her out of there somehow."
"Do you even listen to yourself John!?" Toadbert asked, hardly able to believe what he was hearing. "This is royalty we're talking about here. Yeah, you're right, the effect on the princess would still be the same, but what could you possibly hope to do over there? Do you really think you're gonna be able to get her away from her father, and actually keep her away!?"
"Hell Toadbert, I don't know. I doubt it," John responded with an aggravated sigh, though he didn't slow his walk down in the slightest or show any sign of backing down. "But I'm damn sure not about to just sit around while something like this is going on. If there's anything I can do, you bet your ass I'm gonna go and do it."
"Then take me with you."
Mona had taken a few hurried steps forward and remained still directly in front of her father, facing him with pleading eyes as both he and Toadbert gazed at her incredulously. Inspired by her father's bullheaded determination, however idealistic and misguided it may have been, Mona, with her watery eyes, had resolved herself to going to Sarasaland as well. Not just because she felt endlessly guilty and she wanted to return Daisy's phone, but because she wanted to try and help, in any way she possibly could. Like her father said, it was doubtful that anything could really be accomplished, but she wanted to try. She simply wanted to try.
When it was evident that Mona wasn't going to budge on her decision until her father agreed to take her, John finally gave in and granted her permission to come. Though he didn't want to get her involved in the situation at all, deep down, he couldn't deny that, at that moment, he was immensely proud of his daughter. Knowing that doing this could easily end very badly, she still stood by her moral convictions and pledged herself to doing what she felt was the right thing.
Toadbert, on the other hand, wasn't quite so moved.
"So that's it?" he asked incredulously as the group continued to walk, Mona now comfortably wrapped under the arm of her father. "You're gonna try to go to Sarasaland and retrieve the princess right from her own kingdom, and you're bring your own daughter along?"
"Yes Toadbert. That's it," John answered simply, his mood having calmed after Mona's plea. He couldn't remain fired up when his daughter was on the brink of tears over everything that was going on. He had to remain calm if he hoped to help her regain her composure.
"But you do realize what you're about to walk into don't you?" Toadbert asked, beginning to tire John with his resistance.
"Yeah, it looks like a patch of grass. Seems harmless enough to me," John countered wittily as he and his daughter scaled a curb and, sure enough, they walked through a bit of grass. Toadbert let out an exasperated sigh.
"I'm not joking John. You can get in some serious trouble if you do this!"
"Really? Hey, Mona, did you know we could get in trouble for trying to take a princess away from a castle?" John asked with a sickeningly sarcastic voice, receiving a simple giggle from his daughter in response as Toadbert groaned yet again. Before the Toad could get out another word though, John turned his head over to him and adopted a slightly more serious tone. "Toadbert, we know what we're getting ourselves into."
"And you still wanna go!?"
"There are some things you just gotta do," John replied simply, looking forward once more. "There are consequences, and there are rewards. Among the rewards is knowing that, at the very least, you tried. Even if we fail in the end, knowing that we tried will be enough."
Even though it was obvious that Toadbert still disagreed with John's decision, he finally quieted down. There would be no deterring John and his daughter as they finally reached the orphanage and headed up for the door. He dearly wished that there was something he could do to keep them from carrying out their decision, but, knowing there was no way they'd turn back now, he figured, at the very least, he could let them know that he would wish them the best.
"Just be careful out there, okay?" he asked, the fire absent from his voice as he looked at John and Mona for what felt like the last time. "You're one of my best friends John. I don't want to see anything happen to you or Mona."
At this, John removed his arm from Mona's shoulders and knelt down to give Toadbert a pat on the shoulder and a warm smile. "Thank you."
It wasn't long before Mona found the two men sharing a brotherly hug, saying goodbye to each other as Toadbert obviously strained to lock a few tears away from his eyes. With a couple pats on the back, they released each other and John stood once again.
"If you need a place to stay out there, just give my brother a call," Toadbert advised. "I'm sure he'll be happy to keep you two if you're going to be there for a while."
"Will do," John replied just before Toadbert took a step back. Suddenly feeling slightly awkward, the Toad gave a small nod before lifting up a hand.
"Well...good luck out there then," he imparted, obviously still wishing that the two of them would change their minds and just stay. He soon turned away though and headed off back into the town. John and Mona both watched him for a while before turning to each other. They had smiles on their faces, though Mona's eyes were still threatening to overflow while John had a look that gave away his own uncertainty about their decision. They were both obviously nervous, but they couldn't just back down now. They'd committed themselves to doing this. And they were going to follow through.
"Well, I have no idea how Mom's gonna react to this," John spoke up lightheartedly, prompting a chuckle from his daughter. Yes, her mom was certainly going to put up a fight against this. A much bigger one than Toadbert just did. "But...are you absolutely sure you want to do this Mona?"
"Yes Daddy," she answered, her voice sounding a bit weak, though it was obviously convicted to the task. "And don't ask me anymore okay? You're making me nervous," she added with a weak chuckle, causing her father to smile even wider and rub the back of his neck.
"I'm more nervous about what your mom's gonna do to me when I tell her about this. But, while I'm talking to her, you go and pack some clothes. I don't know how long we'll be over there, so we should be prepared."
Mona nodded, and, with a brief sigh, John opened up the front door and allowed her inside first. The ruckus and the intoxicating aroma of cooking food met the two of them as they entered. Dinner would be starting in just a little while.
John immediately headed over to the kitchen to speak with his wife. It probably wasn't the most opportune time to give her such news, while she had to focus on cooking a large dinner, but, if he waited, he wouldn't be able to get a spare moment with her alone before it was quite late. And imparting the news in front of all the children during dinner or during the after-dinner movie would simply not be a good idea.
Meanwhile, Mona had made her way to her bedroom and began to pack away her belongings at a lethargic pace. Shirts, jeans, her diary, that pair of earrings she's had since she was six, a picture of her as a toddler, smiling with her parents in front of the newly bought orphanage...
Why was she packing those things? Her old earrings? That photo? These things that would really be of no use to her over in Sarasaland. These things that, by now, she'd taken for granted and, honestly, began to completely forget about. Why was she choosing to take such sentimental items with her? And...why was she suddenly feeling like things were going to be so different now? Like she was never going to return to Toad Town, or the orphanage, or her own room. It wasn't guaranteed that things would end in the worst possible way...
So why was she so scared?
The sight of Mona in the side of his eye stopped Waluigi in his tracks as he and Wario walked by the open door of her room. Both of the boys backed up a little bit and gazed inside at the girl as she cried, slumped over on the floor in front of her half-filled suitcase.
The boys looked at each other briefly before deciding to step inside and see what was going on with her.
"What's up with you?" Wario asked, surprising Mona a fair bit as she jumped slightly and looked up at the two boys, tears streaming down her cheeks. She immediately looked away from them and attempted to wipe the streams away as quickly as she could.
"It's...It's nothing," she stuttered, though she obviously wasn't fooling either of them with the weak answer. When it was apparent that neither of the boys were going to leave her alone until she coughed up some information though, she appeared to think rather deeply about the entire situation. And, after several moments, she finally spoke up.
"Daddy and I are going to Sarasaland," she began sniffling a bit as she tried her hardest not to let tears overcome her again. "That Daisy girl you two have been following around was taken back there by force, and Daddy and I are going to try and bring her back... But...I just don't know what's gonna happen when we get there."
"So, what, the princess was kidnapped and now you're gonna go kidnap her back?" Waluigi asked bluntly before folding his arms. Honestly, Mona hadn't thought of the idea that way, but, now that she reflected on it, Waluigi was right. She and her father were going to go and kidnap the princess...
"Basically," Mona muttered.
"Why the hell would you do that?" Waluigi asked, obviously not bothering to show any sympathy for Mona or her situation at all. "She's the freakin' princess of Sarasaland. Who cares if she's not here anymore?"
"But her father abuses her Waluigi!" Mona spoke up, a bit of strength gathering in her voice as she stood up and stared at Waluigi with fire in her eyes. "Didn't you see the news story at all? She was taken back only after she was knocked out by those Nokobon guys that took her. And the only reason she even came to Toad Town in the first place was because her father physically abuses her! Do you think I could hear something like that, having been raised in an orphanage, and just say 'Oh, whatever, it doesn't have anything to do with me, so why should I bother?' That's just not something I can do."
Without warning, Mona suddenly threw herself forward toward Waluigi and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face into his chest before either of the boys could figure out what was going on. She was crying again, harder than she was before, drenching Waluigi's shirt as worries of the possible consequences of her decision and thoughts of Daisy being forced to endure her situation overwhelmed her.
"I'm just scared Bro," she muttered into Waluigi's chest as the boy winced at the sound of the affectionate nickname. "I'm scared about what might happen to me and Daddy, but I'm scared for Princess Daisy too. I want to help her so much, but...I'm just so scared..."
Wario and Waluigi looked at each other again, surprised by the sudden outburst of emotion from Mona. This was the same goody-goody, happy-go-lucky girl who never let anything get her down, no matter what it might be. And now, she was crying. She was completely vulnerable, letting tears stream down her face freely. And, really, Waluigi never expected to see anything like this from her.
This was Mona.
This was little Miss Sunshine.
She wasn't supposed to cry. There was no such thing as a crying Mona. There was "Look-On-The-Bright-Side Mona", and there was "Everything-Will-Work-Out Mona", but "Bawling, Fearful, Uncertain Mona"? That girl wasn't supposed to exist.
Before Waluigi knew what he was doing, his arms slowly began to enclose around the crying girl. The crying girl who, before this moment in time, he made of point despising. The crying girl who had grown to love him as if he were her older brother, and who he, though he would never openly admit it, had taken to think of as a younger sister. The crying girl who, at that moment, came to him to lean on, and made him feel like, for once in his life, he was actually being of real help to someone.
Waluigi felt that he never had anyone at his side as he made his lonely trek through life. But, as he stood there, holding this crying girl in his arms, who clung to him even tighter now and buried her face deeper into his chest as she let her emotions flow, he finally seemed to actually realize. He had someone who could smile and laugh when she wanted to, and who could break down and cry when she needed to. He had someone who came to him for support, even when said support was often delivered in a mask of hostility, and he had someone that actually not only respected him, but wanted desperately to be an important part of his life. And it took one vulnerable moment, where she needed him the most, to make him realize that there was really someone else there, willingly traveling at his side through the lifelong journey.
And so, Waluigi stood there, in a position that he never believed he'd actually find himself in. Voluntarily hugging Mona as she cried into his chest. It felt slightly awkward at first, but, at the same time, he could feel as if his heart were lifting ever so slightly. The thought of being a comforting pillar of warmth for someone was one that never before crossed his mind as something even remotely desirable. But now, he'd only wished that Mona had some kind of mental breakdown earlier.
As he regained his bearings and remembered that he was acting drastically out of character though, he glanced over at Wario, who simply smirked at him, obviously amused by the sudden change in Waluigi's demeanor. The lanky boy in purple simply rolled his eyes and proceeded to pretend that he wasn't happy to give Mona the hug, though he continued to hold her until she finally spoke up again some time later.
"Will you two come with me?" she asked quietly once she found her voice, surprising both of of the boys with the sudden question. They both remained quiet for a while as they thought about it, and Wario was the first to speak, presenting a simple question.
"Why?" he asked. "You got your dad right?"
"Yeah but...I just want you two to be there with me," she responded, knowing she was being incredibly selfish. "I mean, if you don't want to, I'll understand..."
"If we come, what's in it for us?" Waluigi asked, reverting back to his indifferent personality briefly as Mona reared back her head and looked up at him. Surprisingly, she shed a weak smile for him.
"Don't you ever want to help just for the sake of helping?" she asked jokingly, obviously poking fun at the fact that Waluigi was still holding her, even though he wasn't getting any kind of reward out of it in return other than a feeling that he eased Mona's emotions. He disregarded that fact completely though.
"If I'm gettin' paid for it, sure," he answered sarcastically. Mona giggled. Waluigi actually made a joke. Now that was rare.
Mona released Waluigi, cuing him to release her as well, and she took a step back. Her face was relatively dry now, the majority of her tears now residing on Waluigi's shirt. "Well, we're going to a castle after all," she began to reason. "There has to be all sorts of valuables in there right?"
She need say no more, for Wario was instantly sold on the idea. If they were planning to get into the castle at all, there would obviously be all sorts of expensive stuff all over the place. They could get tens of thousands of coins out of this venture if things went well.
Thinking solely of the motorcycle he'd finally be able to afford after the mission was carried out, Wario ran out of the room instantly and began to pack his stuff. Mona and Waluigi watched him leave in earnest, and silently agreed that Wario was certainly on board with the idea. And, again silently, Waluigi figured he may as well come along too. It sounded a lot more exciting than sitting around at the orphanage after all.
He began to leave the room, only to be stop by Mona just as he was halfway out the door.
"Waluigi," she spoke up, halting the boy and causing him to turn back around to give her his attention, yet another action he'd rarely actually done in the past. "Thank you," Mona said simply, the smile on her face persisting.
Waluigi simply looked at her for a moment before turning away and walking down the hall. If she was expecting "You're welcome", she wasn't getting it. Waluigi had already performed several firsts that day. Adding another was just overkill.
She didn't need one though. Waluigi had already spoken volumes to her, and she was grateful nonetheless.
And so, hours later, after dinner, isolated spats between Mona's parents over the decision to go to Sarasaland, Mona convincing her father to let Wario and Waluigi join them, and an hour of alone time for the parents, the four vigilantes set out at midnight on their journey to rescue Princess Daisy and Luigi. And now, they were practically flying across the empty highway at two forty-five in the morning, John speaking with Toadster over speaker phone as Mona complained at her father for focusing on his cell phone and driving at the same time.
The lively conversation between the car-mates and their cell phone companion would soon be cut short however as John suddenly swerved into the opposite lane, narrowly avoiding what looked like a dead animal lying in the middle of the road.
Stunned and curious about what they just saw, the car was turned around pulled over to the opposite side of the road from where the lying heap rested.
Asking for his flashlight from the back seat, which was handed to him by a now fully awakened Wario, John stepped out of the car to see just what it was that he narrowly avoided moments earlier. And, to his great surprise, he found that the object he was observing was not an object at all, but, rather, a body. A purple shell covered its back, and short, straight black hair drooped to the pavement as it laid there face-down.
John was almost convinced that it was dead, but, startling him, its right arm moved ever so slightly as a weak whisper escaped from its lips.
"...Your Highness..."
It was Lakilulu.
Footnote: Argh, cliffhanger! I'll try not to make you wait two months for this one!