Hi, everyone. I had really hoped to get this chapter out before school restarted. That never happened. And then the musical happened. It was fun, by the way, but it took a huge chunk out of my free time.

Siph: Yelling in his ear didn't work. Can you believe it?

I had this really funny author's note all planned out, too! Siph was going to be singing to the tune of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" the whole time. Even the disclaimer!

Siph: Wait, really? I didn't think you'd let me do any more disclaimers after the one I did two chapters ago.

No no, I liked it. It was funny. I probably would have worded it the same way if I'd thought of it earlier.

Siph: Really? Awesome! Does that mean I can do it again?

Maybe another chapter. I've already thought of one.

Siph: Aww, fine.

Disclaimer: Didn't get any rights for Christmas. Lots of lefts, though.

Chapter 28: Finding Kindness

Lemmy froze as all eyes suddenly focused on him. Uh-oh.

There was a heavy silence as both sides stared each other down, as if one were daring the other to make the first move.

The first movement did not come from Lemmy, or from the doctors. It instead came from the Koopa who had just entered.

"You're actually awake," Koops said, amazed.

Lemmy immediately smiled. "Of course I am," he replied cheerfully. "Why wouldn't I be?" Keep your feelings in. Let them see what everyone always sees: the smile.

There was a murmuring among the medical staff while one of them spoke up. "Our diagnosis had us thinking that you shouldn't have woken up for another seventy-three minutes."

Koops walked toward Lemmy with a pleasant smile on his face. "It looks like Sweet Feast did a better job than we thought."

Lemmy blinked in confusion. Cocking his head, he repeated, "Sweet Feast? What's that?"

"It saved your life," the doctor from before stated simply. "Without it, we would have never been able to bring you out of surgery."

The Koopaling's eyes widened. Why weren't they able to bring me out of surgery?

Koops nodded towards the doctor, then looked back at Lemmy. "Something… um… happened… and they… or rather, everyone lost Life Shroom Extract, Mushrooms, all healing items. My friend, Admiral Bobbery, happened to show up just in time with an artifact that has healing powers."

Lemmy froze again, staring at Koops. "You're out of healing items?"

The same doctor nodded and spoke again, causing Lemmy to look at him, "Yes, unfortunately. It's all turned to dust."

The mass of medical staff parted to give Lemmy a clear view of the table and, more importantly, what was on it.

The Koopaling stared in disbelief at the pile of dust on the table. That pile is as big as a Spiny Egg!

"Is that all of it?" he asked, unable to keep the worry out of his voice. Try to keep the same demeanor. Fool them with the bright eyes. "All that's left, anyway?"

"No," the doctor replied, shaking his head. "That is just the supply we had stored in this room. But the rest of the town has suffered the same fate."

"What?!" Lemmy leaned back against Morton's cot. "But what about my brothers?"

Koops walked up to the Koopaling and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Relax," he said. "The doctors were able to heal them before they lost the items."

Lemmy sighed in relief. "Oh, good. You had me worried there for a moment!"

The doctor picked up a clipboard and walked over to Lemmy.

"Mr. Lemuel Koopa, correct?"

Lemmy giggled, genuinely amused. "Just Lemmy. Nobody ever calls me Lemuel."

The one known as Koops murmured something to himself. Lemmy couldn't quite decipher it, but he thought he heard something about updating a book.

"We'll remember that," the doctor replied. "Now, because you're awake long before we expected, we would like to run some examinations, in order to create a new diagnosis."

Lemmy shrugged. "That makes sense. Do I go back to the other room, or can I just stay here?"

"If it isn't any trouble, we would like to head back to the other room."

The doctor put his hands on Lemmy's shoulders to usher him away.

Lemmy's breath caught in his throat at the sudden motion. "N-not too fast!" he stammered. "I can't walk very fast."

"His legs are underdeveloped," Koops quickly added, remembering the information from earlier.

The doctor quickly eased up on his applied pressure. "Sorry about that, big guy."

Lemmy almost snorted in haughty derision. Big guy? Does this Koopa know who he's talking to? But he was more interested in another subject. Looking at Koops, he asked, "How did you know about my legs?"

"Well, um," Koops stuttered, feeling awkward about his sudden reveal. "My friend has this book about stuff from all over the world, and you and your brothers and sister were in it. We used the book to find out about you. Mainly your names."

The doctor at Lemmy's side urged him forward, albeit much more gently. "Come along, now."

As Lemmy was led into the first room, he heard Koops add, "We all really wanted to meet you, Lemmy."

Meet… me?

*J*J*J*J*J*J*J*J*J*J*J*J*J*

"I found something!"

"Me too! Over here!"

Goombella and the Great Gonzales Jr. held up their respective prizes for each other to see, both grinning. They tossed the items into the ever-growing pile by the main path.

"That's quite a bounty you made."

The duo looked down the way to the owner of the voice, who was walking towards them, lugging a Strange Sack behind her.

"Ms. Mowz, you're back!" Gonzales jumped out of the shrub he was in and scampered over to badge hunter.

Goombella right behind him. "Did you get anything good?"

Ms. Mowz nodded, opening the Sack to reveal many Mushrooms, Coconuts, Keel Mangos, and even…

"Is that a Whacka's Bump?" Gonzales stared at the gruesome item. "Ms. Mowz! What did you do?"

"Calm down, G. I'm not responsible for this. The poor thing got hit by a falling rock after one of those Bullet Bills hit the cliff above it," Mowz explained.

"Oh." The Mini-Yoshi relaxed. "But then how did you get that?"

"He gave me this after I gave him a Mushroom for his injury."

Goombella smiled. "That's how the world seems to work. Kindness gets returned for kindness." The Goomba gasped. "Omigosh! I just said something totally deep! Quick, write that down!"

G scrambled to find something to write with.

Goombella stopped him, laughing. "I'm kidding! It's already been said by someone else."

"Dude, not cool," the Mini-Yoshi deadpanned.

"If you two are quite done," Ms. Mowz interrupted, chuckling. She gathered the collected items and added them to the sack. "I suggest we head back."

"You're probably right," Goombella agreed sheepishly. "Vivian and Flurrie are probably done in the tree by now."

"I can't wait to see her again!" G said excitedly. "Now let's get out of here before we get attacked by a Flower Fuzzy or something."

"Meoork."

Gonzales Jr. jumped and dashed away at that sound, with Goombella and Ms. Mowz following at their own pace.

As they left, a Flower Fuzzy hopped out of the bushes, letting out the laughter it was suppressing.

"That couldn't have been timed better."

Siph: You didn't let me disclaim just so you could say THAT? And what was with that chapter ending? Is that supposed to be a cliffhanger or a joke? You're breaking tradition!

What? It was good. *to you* Wasn't it?

Siph: Crush him, guys. Crush him HARD.