2004

3:18 PM

Vivian and Goombella made it to Beldam's abode. On the way, they picked up some food from a low-quality, probably unhealthy fast food place.

"Honestly, it's been so long since anything exciting has happened. There was that entire adventure with Mario, but after that things just... Got boring." Said Goombella.

"Well, it's pretty hard to top the Shadow Queen trying to destroy the world, but this whole Omanipo deal is pretty interesting at least, right?" Vivian replied.

"Yeah, but, it doesn't make any sense. If they're so powerful they can do anything to anyone that isn't them, shouldn't the adventure have already happened?"

"What do you mean?"

"They can do anything, which means controlling people's thoughts, so shouldnt Omanipo just make everyone try to kill Maonipo? But then you get a paradox, where Maonipo tries to do the exact same thing, and they have the battle in every living thing's head."

"Honestly, I don't think the story is true. But it still put Beldam up to something, and once she has a goal she almost never stops. An admirable amount of ambition, but last time she had this much hope for something, it was the Shadow Queen. Even if Omanipo isn't real, she'll still strive to create chaos."

"Hmm... Why does Beldam want chaos so badly? You knew her for most of your life, do you know why?"

"Well, Beldam wasn't always open about her motive. She wanted to resurrect the Shadow Queen because the Queen created the Shadow Sirens, maybe as some sort of debt Beldam thought that she owed. It never made sense to me. She wasn't as wicked when the Shadow Queen died... She kind fell into a depression, I guess. She was losing control over her life and she knew that."

"That's kind of sad..."

"Actually, now that I think about it, this might be the reason why she's doing this new plan. Maybe I'm looking too much into her actions, but maybe she wants to go back to the way things were, say, five years ago. The three Shadow Sirens, roaming the planet to find a way to revive that Queen. Well, I don't know. Maybe that's what she wants, I can't say for sure."

"Well, you sounded pretty confident."

"Ugh, I'm starting to second guess myself again. Honestly, I think Beldam is the reason why- no, not 'I think'. I KNOW that Beldam is the reason why my entire personality was shaped in such a self destructive way. She was always telling me to reconsider and second-guess every decision I made. Especially about, uh... My gender and all that."

"What an asshole."

"I wouldn't call her that..."

"Well, you wouldn't call anyone an asshole, ha."

"I guess. Is there a trash bin anywhere?" Vivian said, scrunching up the fast food litter. She wandered for a few moments before she found one. Vivian noticed a Koopa that she had sworn she had seen at the fast food joint. The koopa was standing against the wall, looking in her general direction. Vivian looked around carefully. It seemed nearly everyone was vaguely observing the the conversation. Vivian wandered back to Goombella. "Hey, look around. Don't react too much, either." Vivian said, in an urgent tone. Goombella looked around and realized that they were being watched. "I think it's that group, Hinatura" Goombella whispered. "We can't stay here much longer, they're realizing that we know." Vivian said. Goombella stood up, and the two of them carefully walked in the general direction of their apartment. A burly-looking Koopa approached them. "Where the hell are you goin', lady?" He said, in such a manner that the sentence would be interpreted as a threat to the recipient, but saying that it was a threat out loud would seem ridiculous. "Who are you? Why do you care?" Vivian said, deflecting the question. The Koopa narrowed his eyes. "I asked first. How about we do a little trade of information?" He offered (If you could call his threat an offer).

Vivian didn't like the idea of giving away the existence of Omanipo to everyone she met, so she lied about her business in town. "I'm just picking up some instant noodles for dinner". She answered. "Oh yeah? What flavour? What brand? What's the expiration date? Where is it imported from?" The koopa asked, along wIth several other useless questions. "How am I supposed to know? When I get to the store I'll figure it out." Vivian said, using that sentence to try and jump out of the conversation. But she didn't jump high enough, because the koopa was insisting the conversation continued. "How about we go there together and we get to know eachother along the way, how does that sound, huh? C'mon, let's go!" He urged. Vivian grabbed Goombella and turned the other way. She was confident in herself to leave this forced, tense conversation. "Hey, HEY! Where are you going?!" The koopa yelled. Everybody observing the two looked like they were ready to do more than just observe. The two girls stopped in their tracks, as seemingly everyone began to form a circle around them. The koopa stood inside this circle as well, with his fists placed firmly on his hips. "Heh heh, you two ladies don't know WHATCHA dealin' with, now you better cooperate or else- What?" The koopa, in the midst of his monologue, failed to notice that both Vivian and Goombella were out of sight. "What... Where... How.. Okay, how did- WHERE THE HELL DID THEY GO!?" He Yelled, and it seemed he somehow glared at everyone in the circle at once. "They just... Disappeared into the ground, dude." Someone in the circle said. "How is that possible? Ah well, the point is, they're SOMEWHERE, so find 'em!" The koopa demanded. The circle exchanged glances. Everyone knew that it was going to be impossible to even find a place to start looking, but they had to follow orders. "Let's GO!" The koopa demanded, once again. the circle disparged.

Vivian popped out of the shadows, clutching Goombella in her hands. They quickly retreated a few blocks, this time making sure they weren't being followed. "So much for finding Beldam." Goombella remarked. "Ah, yeah. I got so distracted trying to get away from that aggresive guy I forgot why we were here in the first place." Vivian said. However, to Goombella, something about the way Vivian said that sentence made Goombella suspicious, and then concerned. Vivian wasn't a bad liar, but Goombella noticed her voice was a little shaky. Come to think of it, her body was trembling a little, too. "Vivian..." Goombella started. "What?" Vivian said, a little earlier than how it should have been said. "I know you don't like to talk about this stuff, but, like... How much of an effect does Beldam have on you?" Asked Goombella.

Vivian thought about that question for a bit before answering. "I've been travelling with her for most of my life..." Vivian started to answer, but was hesitant to continue. "... I wasn't strong enough to stand up for myself, I guess, so she made me reconsider everything, in whatever way benefitted her the most. She also made sure that she had both me and Marilyn wrapped around her finger. I noticed that she also had Grodus under her complete control. I don't know if there's anyone she CAN'T manipulate." Goombella thought about that answer for a while. She didn't often hear about Vivian's past, as Vivian didn't like her past very much. Goombella also thought about Vivian's last sentence. Maybe Beldam was manupulating the Hinatura, or some other group to get power.

Vivian stopped Goombella's train of thought right in it's tracks, as there was something more urgent at hand. "Goombella, look! She's here!" Vivian whispered. Beldam had noticed them as well. But she didn't alert any of the gang members. Goombella started to wonder if they were affiliated after all. "Vivian, don't you know I've been looking for you? You stole that scroll, don't try to hide it!" said Beldam. Vivian was about to apologise, but she caught herself. "Don't you have anything better to do?" Vivian asked. "Idiot! This is how I plan to spend the next era of my life! And you're taking that from me!" Beldam cried. Vivian thought she was getting desperate. Was her plan really that easy to stop? If so, then they could just go home and forget this all happened. Vivian liked that plan. "Well, bye Beldam, good luck on-" Vivian was interrupted by Beldam before she could finish. "Ha! You aren't just gonna go home and forget that this all happened!" said Beldam. She grabbed the attention of the nearest shady person and said "Hey, look! It's that girl!" Beldam pointed at the two. Not much after, the chase had begun. Every corner of the city seemed to have some member of the Hinatura creeping in it, so no matter where Vivian and Goombella went, someone was waiting for them. It wasn't long until they were surrounded once again. But this time, it was Beldam who was in the circle. "Your shadow veil won't work on me, Vivian. Not only that, but I know how you fight, I can read your moves like a book, and beat you. It would save me time and you pain if you just handed over that scroll." Beldam said. Vivian knew the first sentence was true, but she wasn't so sure about the second. Vivian was pretty sure Beldam was just trying to manipulate her.

Vivian wasn't sure if she could beat Beldam, but she wasn't about to give back the scroll so easily. She would still have to fight. Goombella would also be fighting Beldam, so Vivian decided that the odds were in her favour. Beldam struck first, with no warning, sending a freezing pain through Vivian's body. However, as Vivian used fire magic, the chill had left her body by the time Vivian attacked, with a sharp line of fire. Goombella kicked Beldam with all her weight, and sent the hag a few feet backwards. Beldam regained her balance, and stood glaring at Vivian. Suddenly, she urged all the gang members to attack Vivian, demanding that someone get that scroll from her. Vivian flinched, but other than that, nobody moved.

"What?! What are you waiting for!?" Beldam shouted. The members of the gang looked disappointed, and kind of angry at Beldam. "Do you want the scroll or not? Get her!" Beldam shouted, once again. "Do it yourself." A voice from the crowd said. "Who said that?! More importantly, who do you think you are?" Beldam said, demanding an answer. A simple goomba walked forward. "Well, I said it, but we were all thinking it." He answered. Murmurs of agreement sounded throughout the circle. "We have honour here. It would be stupid and boring to send so many people after these two girls. It isn't fair, and if you think otherwise, go away, but watch your back. We don't like our time wasted by idiots who think they own the place." The goomba was finished. Beldam wasn't. "How do you expect to find all the scrolls without me, then! I've led you to one, and I can lead you to the other two." She claimed. "What? Shouldn't you only have to find one?" Burst Vivian. Beldam turned to Vivian, with eyes full of anger and fear, fear that she might be wrong. "There are three scrolls. You have one and the other two are completely unknown. Simple as that." Beldam stated. "I have one, and I know who has another." Vivian corrected. "That... Is impossible!" Beldam said, her voice rising. The crowd started to laugh. "The girl in the red hat's right, the second scroll... It belongs to us!" Said a member of the circle. "You WHAT?! Why didn't you tell me, you idiots?" Shouted Beldam. "Why would we? You didn't have the scroll when you came to us, so we wouldn't really gain anything." Explained a gang member, through his laughter. "AGH! IDIOTS!" Beldam shouted, one last time, before fleeing into the shadows.

After the crowd had settled down, the goomba who approached Beldam in the circle this time approached Vivian. "So what's with her?" He asked. "She's not the kindest lady- Wait, aren't we enemies?" Vivian asked. "It would be stupid to be enemies at this point. You have the scroll, and that person who hates you is now our enemy. We both need all three pieces of the scroll, and according to the one we have, putting them together shows the location of the last one. So now, you two and the Hinatura are friends." The goomba explained. "Really? Well, we should definetly go to where the scroll is then, right?" Vivian said. "Yeah, that's true." The goomba turned to the crowd. "Hey! Everyone! These two, the shadow girl and the goomba in the ponytail, they're with us now! Let's show them the base!" The goomba called. The rest seemed to have no objections to this development, and they began to head to the Hinatura's base.