This chapter is going to be a little bit longer than the rest. I want to thank my loyal readers for still caring about this story despite it took me a long time to upload last time. Enjoy :)
Chapter 4: Departure
"Where the hell is Flavio?" asked a concerned Torque as he took a bite of his Koopa Bun.
"Talking to a wall, probably," said Goombella sadly, sipping some of her Fresh Juice.
"If he's not eating that, I will," stated Rawk Hawk hastily, eying hungrily the Koopasta that was still wrapped around aluminum foil.
"You already get to have two portions, you, pig!" howled Jolene angrily at the big eagle.
"Why does he get two portions in first place?" barked Goombella, suddenly realizing that fact.
"Because I need to keep these in shape," replied Rawk Hawk conceitedly, doing a double bicep pose, making Goombella and Jolene frown heavily at him. "And because I weight five times more than you do!"
Luigi couldn't help but to agree with him in his mind. He did weight a lot more than all of them, and he needed more food than them to survive. Jolene, Gombella and Rawk Hawk were still arguing between them, while Torque was attempting to calm them. Koops was merely looking at them, eating silently his food.
"I'm gonna look for Flavio," Luigi informed, although no one seemed to hear him except for the Koopa Troopa.
The green-garbed plumber stood up from his seat and headed to the adjacent room. He truly despised the fact that the rooms didn't have doors between them, as sounds easily traveled around the place and it was hard to avoid hearing the discussions. There were plenty of them lately. Luigi inferred that it was due to the fact that they saw each other day after day, minute after minute, and they couldn't go to the surface except for a little while at night. Despite the constant uproar among the inhabitants, Luigi was sure that they cared for each other a lot.
Luigi crossed their "living room" and went through the opening that led to Rawk Hawk's and Flavio's room. There was the short entrepreneur, contemplating one of the walls of the room with deep interest, pretty much like Goombella had predicted. Flavio noticed Luigi's presence, and he gave him a childish smile before returning his attention back to the wall.
"Don't you think the sea looks wonderful today?" he said dreamily.
Luigi stared at him with pity in his eyes. Flavio had completely lost his mind. At first he was just imagining things that were not there, but now he was living in his own invented world, claiming that they were in some kind of island, living happily. Flavio was really testing the patience of the group, and Luigi was pretty sure that if he wouldn't have been the one to bring them to this shelter, they would have already got rid of him. It didn't surprise Luigi at all that he was that weak-minded. He was used to a life of luxuries, and most probably he never had to try hard to get what he wanted. His life had been the one that was more abruptly changed, and that must have shocked him a lot.
"Yes, indeed," uttered Luigi faking excitement, pretending to gaze at the supposed sea.
It was best to go along with his hallucinations. Last week, Rawk Hawk got fed up of his babbling, and he started yelling at him, trying to make him return back to his senses. That didn't go well at all, as Flavio shifted his pacific mood to a hysterical one, running around the place like a madman and breaking things. He even punched Jolene in the face, making her cry.
"Would you like me to bring you your Koopasta here?" offered Luigi gently to him.
"Ah! Yes! Flavio is hungry!" exclaimed the entrepreneur heatedly, "Thank you, Mario!"
Luigi cracked a smile at him and left the room. It had been a while since Flavio had started calling him Mario, but he was sure that it wasn't because of his last name, but he actually thought that he was his perished brother. Luigi shook his head in an attempt to make his brother's thoughts vanish as he reentered the dining room.
Koops was strolling alone around the docks, watching the red sun slowly hide behind the Koopernican Sea. Koops pitied his friends that couldn't go outside freely like he did. He at times wondered if he did the right thing by hiding at Flavio's shelter. He could have easily been living the life of any other Koopa, going to Krepford University (the one nearest to Petalburg), doing military service, sleeping in a comfortable bed by night, eating a wide variety of foods, having a girlfriend…
At this last thought, Koops remembered his ex girlfriend, Koopie Koo. After they had been dating for over a year, Koops discovered that she had an affair with Koopedro, and he broke up with her immediately after that. The first months after their breakup Koops felt depressed and missed her like crazy, but then he decided to move on. He wondered what his father was doing that precise moment back at Petalburg. Koops wanted so bad to go there and tell him that he was okay, or at least send him a letter, but now that the mail was being monitored, he couldn't risk telling him that he was hiding with non-Koopas. Several times he was on the edge of leaving the gang and going back home, but he just couldn't abandon them. They needed him to find food, plus, he would never forgive himself if he left Goombella behind.
Sighing heavily, Koops started walking back to the shelter. Tomorrow was the big day. After two months of heavily planning their escape from Rogueport, they were finally going to do it. From what they knew, Bowser still hadn't conquered Dinosaur Land, or at least not completely, so they were heading there. The plan still had plenty of risky parts, but they were running out of money to buy food, so they had to do it.
Koops grabbed the doorknob with a shaky hand and turned it. With the other hand he adjusted the fake mustache he was wearing and pushed the door open. Koopai bar was packed with sailors, like Koops had expected. He stepped inside the gloomy place, attempting to look as casual as he could. Luckily, none of the Koopa Troopas inside had noticed him, as they were busy laughing out loud and drinking beer like there was no tomorrow. It was hard to look around in such a dark environment, but it took Koops less than a minute to find the guy he was looking for. Sitting all by himself in a lonely table by a corner of the bar, Koort was drinking silently a Chukola Cola.
Five weeks back, Koops had decided to go to that place to check it out. Koops had told the rest that he was just curious to go there, but what he actually wanted was to drink alcohol as he was feeling very melancholic. He sat at one of the tables and immediately ordered a Koopa Brew. On the table beside his, two Koopa Troopas were talking very quietly and secretly, and the loud music aided them in that task. Koops moved his chair closer to them, pretending that he was just adjusting in his seat. One of the Koopas was telling the other one that he was feeling very depressed because he missed his girlfriend so much. His girlfriend was a Toad, and she had been sent to a concentration camp, destroying him completely. Koops in that moment knew that this guy would be able to help them, as he too seemed to hate this new regime. Koops decided to assist that place regularly to see if he saw him again, but from what he had learned these past weeks is that he only went to that bar on Friday nights, and so did the rest of the sailors. After doing further research, he discovered that this was due to the fact that they disembarked every Friday in the afternoon at Rogueport's docks, transporting cargo from Mushroom City (now named Koopa City) to Rogueport, and then heading back the next morning. They planned to use that small cargo ship to get to Dinosaur Land, with the help of Koort. They didn't know for sure that Koort would agree to help them, but they didn't have any other option.
Luckily for Koops, the friend that used to seat with Koort hadn't appeared during the last two weeks, so he had a better shot at talking to him. He wondered if something bad had happened to him, but he was grateful that it was now easier to approach Koort. Sighing heavily again, Koops walked in his direction with a decisive step.
"Hello, Koort," Koops greeted him politely, sitting at the chair next to him.
"Uh?" mumbled Koort in confusion, staring at Koops with an eyebrow raised. "Who are you?"
"My name is Kolorado," lied Koops, offering him a hand. Koort hesitated for a moment before shaking his hand.
"Can we please go outside?" asked Koops in a serious tone, "There's something important that I need to tell you."
"What?" exclaimed Koort confusedly, frowning at him, "I don't even know you!"
"It's about Toadelle," insisted Koops, lying to him once more.
"Toadelle?" mumbled Koort incredulously, getting closer to Koops. "How do you know about my girlfriend? Have you seen her?"
"Please, let's go outside," urged Koops. "There's something that I want to show you."
Without asking something else, Koort immediately stood up from his seat and headed to the bar's door, glancing back at him. Koops quickly followed him.
"Please tell me, do you know something about my girlfriend?" asked Koort urgently once Koops had closed the door behind him. A soft drizzle was falling outside, and the smell of wet soil reached their nostrils. The crescent moon up in the night sky didn't illuminate very well Rogueport's streets, and the city wasn't known for its abundance of lampposts.
"You'll see," said Koops, failing to hide his nervousness. Luckily, the reigning darkness didn't let Koort see Koops sweaty face.
Koops started walking along the streets of Rogueport, leading Koort to their secret shelter. Koops wondered what would be Koort's reaction when he found out that he didn't really know anything about his girlfriend. Koops didn't even know why he had said that, as that wasn't part of the plan.
"We are almost there?" asked Koort's voice behind Koops.
"Yes," confirmed Koops without glancing back him, hearing their shoes splashing water with each step they took. The drizzle was starting to intensify.
Koops had to take the same route he took every time he came back from Shelley's as the steep pathways were too dangerous to take with the drizzle. After a minute of walking, Koops finally turned around a corner and into the alley, with Koort following closely behind him.
"What the…?" whispered Koort to himself in shock as he saw Luigi, Goombella, Rawk Hawk, Jolene, Torque, and Flavio standing near the green pipe, and a big rectangular shipping container with wheels behind them.
"Hello, there," said Goombella, taking a step forward and smiling politely at Koort.
The sailor opened his mouth but no sound came out of it, still staring at them awestruck. He still couldn't believe what his eyes were seeing that moment. For months, all he saw was people of his own race, and maybe a Toad servant or two, day after day. But that instant he had two humans, a Goomba, a Spike Top, a Toad, and a weird-looking yellow creature in front of him. After recovering from the sudden shock, he carefully approached Jolene.
"You…you… know something about my beloved Toadelle?" asked Koort hopefully to her.
"Toadelle?" asked Jolene with an eyebrow raised, looking at Koops over Koort's shoulder.
"Well, about that…" said Koops staring at the floor, scratching the back of his neck. "You see… we don't really know anything about your girlfriend."
"What?" exclaimed Koort staring at Koops with a trace of anger in his eyes. "But you told me…"
"Yes, I know," uttered Koops guiltily, still not staring at him in the eye. "But you wouldn't have come otherwise."
"So why did you make me come all the way here?" asked Koort angrily, his arms slightly shaking at the sides of his body.
"We need your help," replied Luigi, getting closer to him.
"My help?" barked Koort. "You made me come here by telling me that you knew something about my girlfriend's whereabouts, but it results that you don't know shit and you want me to help you?"
The gang couldn't help but stare at Koops crossly, but the Koopa Troopa already felt guilty enough about the whole situation.
"I'm out of here, you can all go to- "
But Koort didn't finish his sentence, as Rawk Hawk's left fist hit Koort's right cheek mightily when he attempted to leave them. The Koopa Troopa's body was sent backwards due to the impact, and he ended up on the ground, motionless.
"What are you doing, sick bastard!" yelped Jolene, running towards Koort and kneeling beside him.
"This dude wasn't going to help us at all," Rawk Hawk justified himself. "Even worse, he was going to turn us in."
"Yes, Rawk Hawk is right," admitted Goombella in dismay.
"But what are we gonna do now?" asked Torque completely clueless.
"Flavio, come back here!" suddenly Luigi yelled, racing after Flavio who was just disappearing behind the corner.
"But I want to go to the jungle!" complained Flavio like a five year-old kid, staring pleadingly at Luigi, who was dragging him by the shirt back to the alley.
"He's breathing," informed Jolene in relief, her right ear just an inch away from Koort's mouth. "He's just unconscious."
"I have an idea," enlightened Goombella smiling slightly, looking at Koort's attire and then at Koops. "We can still continue with this plan."
"Keep your hands away from me, you, creep!" shrieked Jolene, slapping the air aimlessly in the darkness.
"Hey, calm down, bitch!" roared Rawk Hawk, moving a few inches away from where he thought Jolene sat. "It was an accident!"
Luigi, Torque, Flavio, Goombella, Jolene and Rawk Hawk were inside the big shipping container, surrounded by absolute darkness. Koops was pushing the container from the outside along a deserted street, wearing Koort's white sailor outfit. Despite the rain helped reduce the friction between the container's wheels and the pavement, they were still making a very slow progress. Koops had to avoid the downhill paths that were too steep, if he didn't want to lose control of the container.
"Koops is moving way too slow," said Rawk Hawk.
"Then go outside and move it yourself," suggested Goombella, getting tired of his complaints.
"You know I would if I could," objected Rawk Hawk.
"We would be moving faster if you weren't so fat," pointed out Jolene sharply.
"FAT?" burst Rawk Hawk in astonishment.
"Shut up, already!" exclaimed Torque, losing all of his patience. "Someone's gonna hear us!"
But that was very unlikely to happen. Rain was pouring heavily over Rogueport, and Koops could hear some lightning too. He finally left Rogueport's central area and reached the docks. Luckily, no one seemed to be there as well. Koops hurried to push the container along the pier, finally reaching the small ship he had been spying for over a month. He pushed the container over an inclined plane that connected the pier with the ship. Because the cargo had been unloaded that afternoon, the deck had plenty of free space.
"You can come out now," said Koops completely out of breath, opening the big metal doors of the container.
"Finally," uttered Rawk Hawk as he hurried to get outside the container.
"Thanks a lot, Koops," Luigi told the Koopa Troopa, patting his shoulder. "You did great."
"Goombella, are you okay?" asked Koops worryingly as he helped his friend came out of the container. The Goomba girl looked very pale.
"I'm fine," she assured him, holding onto a bulkhead of the ship. "I'm just a bit claustrophobic."
"Koops, hurry, give me the keys so that I can get inside the cabin and start this thing!" exclaimed Torque to Koops.
"Uh?" mumbled Koops in confusion, rummaging inside the pockets of his pants.
"Please, don't tell me you lost it!" pleaded Jolene.
"I must have dropped them in the way!" he said with shaky voice, covering his face with a hand.
"Fuck!" cursed Rawk Hawk out loud, punching one of the ship's walls.
"I'm gonna look for them," said Luigi decisively to the gang. "You guys look around the ship to see if there are other keys we can use." The rest nodded heavily. "And Torque, look around and see if you can access the engine room to check that everything's fine."
The gang started walking around the deck in different directions while Luigi went back to the docks. He was searching desperately for the keys on the ground, but the lack of light and the puddles of mud were making it very difficult. It was like finding a needle in a heap of hay. He wondered how much time it would take Koort to wake up from his unconsciousness and advice an authority that they were not dead or enslaved.
"Hey! This door is open!" cheered Goombella as she opened a door of one of the structures around the deck. It had a long stairway that led to the interior of the ship. She hastened to climb down the stairs. A long narrow hallway met her at the end of the staircase, with plenty of doors at both sides. Goombella started walking along the hallway, looking at the signs that were hung on the doors. They had Koopa names written with a marker.
"These are their dormitories," whispered Goombella to herself, opening one of the last doors of the hallway.
A small, but comfortable-looking room with a bunk bed revealed before Goombella. It also had a wooden nightstand.
"They look nice," said Goombella as she smiled to herself, and closed the door again. Her smile suddenly faded.
"What the hell are you doing here?" asked irritably a Koopa Troopa in his pajama pants in the middle of the hallway.
"I can't believe I found them!" exclaimed an astonished Luigi as he picked up a silver key ring with four keys from the muddy ground. "Now, back to the ship!"
Luckily he wasn't that far away from the ship. He found the keys by the big archway that divided Central Rogueport and the docks. He was now running in the ship's direction, the sea roaring madly behind it.
"A Goomba disobeying the great Bowser?" uttered the sailor to himself, taking out a sharp knife out of his pajama's pocket. "I don't know where you came from, but this world has no place for traitors."
"P-…please don't hurt me!" yelped Goombella pleadingly, backing away as much as she could, but she quickly met the wall at the end of the hallway.
"Oh, believe me, it won't hurt," assured the sailor, holding the knife with a tight grip and smiling creepily at Goombella. "I'll make it quick."
The Koopa was getting closer and closer to Goombella. The pink Goomba closed her eyes in fear. She suddenly heard a loud thud sound, and when she opened her eyes, she saw Rawk Hawk holding firmly a metal tube in his hand, the sailor Koopa lying at his feet.
"Oh! Rawk Hawk!" exclaimed Goombella joyfully, jumping at him and hugging him tight. "You saved me!"
"Well, that dork was going to kill you," said Rawk Hawk, not hugging her back. "I had to do something."
"Do you think he's dead?" Goombella asked, letting go of the big eagle and staring at the Koopa Troopa on the floor.
"I don't think so," replied Rawk Hawk, eyeing him too.
"What are we gonna do with him?" asked Goombella worryingly.
"Let's throw him to the sea," suggested Rawk Hawk coldly. "Or let's leave him at the pier; someone's going to get him tomorrow."
"Yes, that's a good idea," agreed Goombella as Rawk Hawk lifted the Koopa Troopa above his shoulder.
"Here are the keys!" yelled Luigi triumphantly to Torque, who was walking around the deck. Once the Spike Top saw his green-garbed friend, he started running in his direction.
"Awesome!" exclaimed Torque, his heart beating very fast. "Now, let's get this thing moving!"
Luigi watched his friend sprint toward the cabin at top speeds, and then he noticed Goombella, Koops and Rawk Hawk running in his direction, an inert body hanging on the eagle's shoulder.
"Who's that?" asked Luigi in horror as he saw that it was a Koopa Troopa.
"That asshole tried to kill me," Goombella explained, catching her breath. "Rawk Hawk saved me just in time."
"I didn't find anything," suddenly said Jolene in disappointment, catching up with them.
"Luigi already found the keys," Koops pointed out.
"Oh, great!" said Jolene, smiling slightly.
"Hang on a second, where is Flavio?" asked Luigi concernedly, looking around the deck. There was no sign of the entrepreneur.
"What?" exclaimed Goombella in disbelief. "I thought he was with you!"
"No!" said Luigi, starting to panic. "I went looking for the keys by myself."
"There are people coming!" yelled Rawk Hawk, looking at the archway a mile away from them.
Despite the pour and the darkness, Luigi saw a lot of moving figures in the distance coming from central Rogueport, heading in their direction.
"What the hell is Torque doing?" asked Rawk Hawk angrily, looking at the cabin.
"Calm down, he already turned on the engine!" said Jolene completely stressed out. "I was able to hear it as I came in this direction."
And Jolene was right, as Luigi felt that the ship was starting to slowly move.
"Wait! We cannot leave without Flavio!" complained Luigi, looking around in every direction with the hope that he might appear out of nowhere, playing with a rock or something. He saw Rawk Hawk throwing the Koopa's body out of the ship. Luigi got closer to the edge of the ship and glanced down to see the motionless body lying on the pier. The stern of the ship was reaching the end of it.
"They will catch us!" panicked Goombella, looking at the big group of people that had reached the docks. Judging the heavy weaponry she was able to recognize, they were Koopa Troop members. She also identified Koort in his underwear among the group, pointing at them with a finger and screaming something that Goombella wasn't quite able to hear.
"Mario!" suddenly someone shouted from the pier. They all started running in the direction of the voice to get a clear view of the pier. To their horror, they saw Flavio sitting calmly on it, caressing what seemed like a wooden barrel and staring at Luigi. "I found this beautiful creature in the jungle! Can we keep it?"
"FLAVIO!" shouted Luigi in desperation, waving his hands like a madman. The Koopa Troop was getting closer. "Get over here, now!"
"He won't make it," sobbed Goombella, shedding some tears and watching the soldiers approaching Flavio.
"Flavio, quick-"
"NOOOO!" shrieked Jolene piercingly as she saw a Koopatrol thrusting his spear inside Flavio's ribs.
Luigi made no sound as he saw Flavio's blood splatter the Koopatrol's armor as he took out the spear of his body, but he felt like he was screaming madly on the inside. The young human still had a wide, kind smile on his face, but there was emptiness in his eyes. The man who had saved them all was dead.
Damn, I don't know why I had a hard time writing this chapter. I had the idea very clear in my mind, but at the moment of writing it I had trouble describing the events. Anyway, I did the best I could, I hope you liked it. I'm leaving to Puerto Vallarta (a very cool port here in Mexico) next week. And three days after I return home, my school semester begins. So, it's very likely that I'll upload next chapter in about a month. :/ I'll do my best to upload it before, though! Thanks for reviewing btw! They really inspire me to continue this story.