Hey, there. I wanted to thank you all for giving your opinions and thoughts on my story. I also wanted to thank Future Fantasy Writer and Verran for making me notice my grammar mistakes which otherwise I would have never noticed (I have already corrected those mistakes in chapter one). A few of you might have also noticed that I changed the rating from M to T. I would appreciate if you give your opinion, and say if this should remain T or should I change it back to M. Well, without further ado, here's chapter 2.
Chapter 2: Serving the Devil
Koopenia was a housewife in her middle twenties living in the village of Petalburg. Not much had changed for her since the evil king rose to power, in fact, things were slightly better for her. Her husband was the chairman and the chief executive of the telecommunications company Koopatel, the biggest and most dominant one in the region which once was the Mushroom Kingdom. She, her husband, and his son had moved from the luxurious city of Poshley Heights to Petalburg about a year ago. Of course, Koopenia had complained exhaustively to his husband, to the point of threatening him with the divorce. But now that she had been living here for a while, she became fond of the small village. She found Petalburg's tranquility very peaceful and pleasing. On top of that, she was easily the richest housewife in the whole village, while at Poshley Heights she usually engaged in fierce competitions with other housewives of who was the richest one. She couldn't help but smirk broadly when she remembered the morning when Toodles was taken out of her house by the Koopa Troop, humiliated in front of all the other housewives, and sent in a smelly train with other Toads to an unknown destiny. Koopenia had always hated her, and there used to be a strong rivalry between both of them. She was more than glad that just when she was visiting her friends in Poshley Heights she had to presence Toodles being humiliated and abashed, taken away from all her pride.
One thing that still disappointed Koopenia was that the troop hadn't found the arrogant and hypocrite Princess Peach. She deserved to be punished for pretending to treat all of the races equally, when she clearly favored the Toads. Koopenia was disgusted of Toads and she was happy that her son wouldn't be having contact with any of them at school. The only Toad that she would be seeing constantly was her servant at home. Todlerina's presence at home caused Koopenia nausea but she knew she was too lazy to clean the house herself. She would rather spend her days at the front yard getting a tan and reading magazines. Of course, that was when Koopedro couldn't come over.
Back at Poshley Heights, there weren't almost any young attractive Koopas, and the few of them were already married and were very respectful to their wives. But here in Petalburg things were a little bit different. Koopedro was a young Koopa in his late teens who lived a few blocks away from Koopenia's house. All morning he had to do his military service at the Hooktail Castle, and in the afternoon he assisted the university. However, by six he was free. Koopenia would take her two-year-old son to the day care by telling him that "Mommy needed some time alone", and pick him up before her husband arrived from work by nine.
But today that wouldn't be the case. Koopedro had told Koopenia that he needed to finish some homework for tomorrow, and that he wouldn't be able to come that day. Koopenia read once more his text message on her mobile with bitterness, and put on her sunglasses as she lied down on her beach chair. Her neighbor, Lilkoopa, a Koopa around her forties, went out her house to take out the trash, and she politely saluted Koopenia with a hand before going back inside. Koopenia didn't even bother to move a muscle in response, and she closed her eyes in an attempt to nap for a while.
Markoop came back from work at evening, as usual. He greeted his wife, Koopenia, with a kiss on the cheek as he met her in the kitchen. Markoop sat at the kitchen table, hungry and eager. Koopenia with clumsy hands served him a bowl full of leaf soup in front of him.
"I made this especially for you, honey," said Koopenia, faking a smile. "I know is your favorite."
Markoop perfectly knew that his wife didn't know how to cook, and that Todlerina prepared dinner everyday, but he merely nodded with a grin and started eating.
"So, how was work today, honey?" asked Koopenia as she sat down at the opposite side of the table with a bowl of soup.
"Not much," said Markoop before eating a spoonful of soup, but then he remembered something important. "We had a visit from our governor."
"That Wendy O. girl?" asked Koopenia, amused. She kind of liked her, as she identified herself very well with her. "What did she want?"
"In short, they want to infiltrate in the company," explained the husband. "Under king Bowser's order, the troop is allowed to register and check phone calls and text messages from anyone they want whenever they want."
"And that wasn't done before?" asked Koopenia surprised.
"Maybe, but not legally," answered Markoop, shaking his head. "We are committed to protect our clients' privacy."
"Or used to," he corrected himself before Koopenia could reply.
"That's awful," said Koopenia, not really meaning it. "But look at the bright side: they will find those traitors who are helping Toads faster!"
"Excuse me, but, I have finished doing the laundry," suddenly said a shy, soft voice coming from the kitchen's entrance. It was Todlerina.
"How dare you interrupt us!" yelled Koopenia indignantly at the young teenage Toad and standing from her seat. "Don't you see that we are talking, you filthy piece of trash!"
"I'm... I'm very sorry, ma'am," apologized Todlerina in a mumble, staring at the floor.
"You should be glad that Markoop and I accepted to take you in this house, or you would be working at a concentration camp, you, ungrateful kid!" yelled Koopenia louder than before and taking a step forward towards her.
"There, there, easy, darling," said Markoop trying to calm down her wife, taking her by the hand and inviting her to seat down again. "You can go to sleep, Todlerina."
"Thank you, Mister Koopchamp," said Todlerina, glancing fearfully at Koopenia before leaving the kitchen.
Todlerina had been living in the Koopchamp's basement since the Koopa Troop captured her in April. The concentration camps were getting too crowded that Bowser had to come up with new ways to enslave the remaining Toads. Now, Koopa families were allowed to have one Toad slave at a certain cost. However, they were not allowed to treat them "right": Toads weren't allowed to own a bed, and they had to sleep in the basement or in a closet (in the case that the family didn't own one) and locked up until the next morning. They had to be doing house chores almost all day, the official schedule being from 6 A.M. to 10 P.M. The Koopa families were allowed to feed them only two times a day. If a Koopa family broke any of these rules, they would be labeled as "traitors" and they would end up having the same fate as the mushroom creatures. Markoop had hidden a small mattress in the basement, and had told Todlerina to use it by night but to hide it early in the morning so that his wife wouldn't notice. He would also go downstairs in the middle of the night while his wife slept and leave some food taken from the fridge in the basement for Todlerina to eat.
Todlerina thought that she was falling in love with Mr. Koopchamp. Or maybe it was because he was the only male she saw in the entire day aside from the lover of Miss Koopchamp? She wanted so bad to tell Mr. Koopchamp about his wife's affair, but Koopenia had threatened her with her life if she dared to say something. If only Mr. Koopchamp knew how bad her wife treated her when he was not home. She would beat her with a bat just for fun. The bruises in her back and arms were proof of it, but Todlerina hid them as she could every time Mr. Koopchamp was around. She knew that he would never believe her, as he seemed to love his wife very much.
Todlerina still thought that her life was relatively good compared to the one of the Toads in the concentration camps. She had the painful bruises and a pale skin due to the lack of sunlight exposure but she was otherwise healthy and well-fed thanks to Mr. Koopchamp. Sometimes he would let the basement door open on purpose, and Todlerina would sneak out of the house to take a night stroll. She wouldn't dare to escape, as she knew that she wouldn't be getting any far. But it was nice to breathe cool fresh air once in a while. She could swear she saw a Toad lurking in the shadows near a trash can the other day, but she hadn't seen them again. They had a senile look, walking slowly with a cane in one hand. She tried to convince herself that it had been her imagination. How could an old Toad still be hiding from the troop? She sometimes wondered how many Toads were still hiding from the Koopa Troop, and how long it would take them to find them.
Koopenia woke up late next morning, as she usually did. She would have stayed longer in bed, but her son's cries coming from the next room didn't let her.
"C'mon, Todlerina, are you really that useless!" complained Koopenia as she pressed a pillow against her ears. "Shut him up!"
"I'm trying!" exclaimed Todlerina.
Koopenia swore loudly but her voice didn't reach Todlerina's ears as the weeping of the tiny Koopa she had in her hands was very noisy. However, she was able to hear clearly when the doorbell rang.
"Great! Now what!" shrieked Koopenia, sitting on the edge of her bed. But then she remembered. Today was the Magikoopas' weekly inspection. "I'll get that."
Once a week, or every Monday to be precise, Magikoopas were sent by the evil king to hypnotize the people living in every house and force them to spit any type of relevant information. Toad servants weren't usually hypnotized, except when they were suspected of having contact with a free Toad. As the inspections were done by midday, people who worked until late also escaped from the hypnosis. Housewives were the ones who were usually inspected. Koopenia hated deeply being hypnotized, but she didn't have any option but to greet the Magikoopas at the door with her well-practiced fake smile and let them in.
"Good morning," said the Magikoopa doing that day's inspection in Petalburg in a professional tone to Koopenia.
"Morning," greeted Koopenia boringly with her trademark smile. "Please, come in."
Koopenia led the Magikoopa to the living room, and invited him to seat on a couch, while she sat on one across him, separated by a small table between them.
"Well, by now you should now the procedure, Miss," said the Magikoopa in the same serious tone.
"Yes," nodded Koopenia with a gulp. She still felt a little nervous during the inspections, even though she had done them several times. The Magikoopas also scared her a little bit, not knowing what was hidden under those mirror-like pair of glasses. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
Todlerina was spying the two of them silently from the kitchen, peeping out her head from a wall. The Magikoopa had taken out a yellow wand from his pocket, a red orb glowing at the top of it. He shook it vigorously and then pointed it towards Koopenia. A red glow came out from the orb and reached Koopenia.
"Now, I'm going to ask some questions, Miss, and you're going to answer them with the truth only," instructed the Magikoopa. The hypnotized Koopenia nodded, her eyes still closed.
"Have you seen a Toad in Petalburg or near Petalburg this past week that is not your servant?" asked the Magikoopa.
"No," answered Koopenia.
Todlerina thought that it was pointless to hypnotize Koopenia, as if she ever saw a Toad walking down the streets she would voluntarily tell the troop straight away. She was glad that she wouldn't be getting hypnotized, as she would have to tell the Magikoopa that she might saw a Toad a few nights ago.
"Have you being having contact with a Toad this past week that is not your servant?" asked the Magikoopa.
"No," answered Koopenia once more.
"Have you fed your servant more than you should, or have you been giving her services that she shouldn't have?" interrogated the Koopa wizard.
"Not at all," said Koopenia.
Todlerina knew that she was being completely honest with this one.
"Do you think that your servant might be having contact with a Toad this past week?" asked the Magikoopa. Todlerina felt a chill running down her spine. This question was new.
Koopenia didn't say anything for a moment, like if her small brain was processing this new question carefully. But then she finally responded.
"Yes," she uttered.
Todlerina's eyes were wide open in shock, and attempted to return to the kitchen, but her body didn't respond her.
The Magikoopa waved his wand once more, and Koopenia got out of trance.
"Okay, Miss, we have finished with your inspection," said the Magikoopa as Koopenia shook her head in discomfort. "Now I would like to proceed with your servant."
Todlerina's heart skipped a beat.
Do not think even for a second that Koopenia or Todlerina is our main character. This chapter is still used to set the background of the story. Thank you for reading!