Chapter Twenty:
Shady Business
Darkness.
Stretching out into the mysterious horizon of infinity, darkness surrounded Bob. This was nothing in comparison to when he'd been down in the sewer for years, before meeting the Mario Brothers for the first time, and after all of that time growing up in Canada. Then again, dreams often rose from the darkness in the subconscious mind.
But this dream was far different. No other backgrounds appeared. It was just darkness. And Bob was alone. However, there was still ground for him to stand on. Even in the shadows, within a dark and mysterious dream, one's feet always found something to stand on.
An ominous silence carried across the void, and Bob could just barely hear his own breathing. The silence seemed to stretch on forever, leading to him interpreting the dream as a representation of him being alone without his friends, abandoned by them, just like at the end of his rap career. And then, he could hear it, the silence fading as frightening whispers began to carry through the void.
"You cannot avoid it forever..." A grim voice intoned, "...I can see you, we all can..."
Something began to take form in the darkness, coming in Bob's direction. It looked faint, but the Garo could make out a vague white outline. It slowly came closer, and he initially saw a glowing yellow light. And then, as the object got closer, the yellow light faded until it was replaced by a shade of red.
"The end of your world will soon draw near..." The voice said, "...and your friend, the Avatar, is the key to bringing forth a new world that is perfect. I am unavoidable in what is coming..."
Before he knew it, the mysterious object had gotten closer, taking the full shape of a large eyeball with red veins and an eerie blue pupil. The eye stared at Bob, and something flashed above it. A red light glowed and Bob saw a zero symbol. The eye got closer, closer, and closer, and the voice became more terrifying, until the eye seemed to fade into the darkness.
"It is time to accept that the end is inevitable, you cannot protect the one you call 'Mario'. Your world will fall and perfection will be achieved." The entity went on, "Very soon, the ending of your world will be at hand and you shall witness. Witness the end, witness the beginning, WITNESS MY POWER..."
The eyeball faded into the shadows in a flash of red light, Bob saw the zero symbol again, and a tall blue creature with menacing blue hands, a lean figure, and a red eye with a white zero sign appeared for a split moment. And then, the creature shape-shifted into a red-eyed monster that snarled at the Garo in a threatening, menacing manner...
"SwEeT mOtHeR oF GoD!"
Bob sat up, his eyes widening with terror. It took a couple seconds to compose himself, seeing that he was safe and there was nothing sinister around. The Garo was in a relaxing bedroom at the hotel, which used to just be Meggy's house. And, aside from him, the only other individual in the room was a shapely woman in a revealing short blue dress with hay-colored hair tied back in a long ponytail.
The Garo lay back down, taking a few deep breaths, then he found himself looking into the jade green eyes of the girl who was in the room with him. And that was when he noticed that her arms were wrapped around him.
"Bob, are you okay?" The woman asked, she looked concerned.
"JeNeTaLiNe?!" Bob blinked, "Oh, YeAh. I-I'm FiNe. LoL..." He blinked again, feeling confused, "WaIt, HoW dId We EnD Up SlEePiNg ToGeThEr AgAin?"
"You serenaded me by the pool." Jenetaline replied, picking up a flower from the bedside desk.
"NoW I ReMeMbEr." Bob remarked, "I mUsT hAVe GoTtEn DrUnK tOo AnD wE hAd A lOt oF fUn, DiDn'T wE, JeN?"
Jenetaline changed her current position, laying down atop Bob, and staring directly into his eyes while she locked her arms around his neck. "We certainly did, Big Bobowski." The sultry hotel guest told the Garo, "And, for someone with a... shady reputation, you are the cutest, the silliest, and the most fun person a gal like me has ever had fun with."
"CaN yOu TeLl Me ThE tIMe, BaBe?"
"Look at my watch and see for yourself." Jenetaline held up her wrist, allowing Bob to see her watch, which showed the current time. It was 3:00 P.M. in the afternoon, and on a busy hotel day. How many guests had showed up while Bob was sleeping with Jenetaline?
"CrAp!" Bob exclaimed, he climbed out of bed, taking the attractive yellow-haired woman by surprise.
"What's wrong, Bob?" He heard her ask, "Got some hotel business to catch up on?"
"A GuY CaLlEd Me A FeW HoUrs AgO, BeFoRe I SeReNaDeD yOu..." The Garo told her, "...I'm GoNnA bE vErY lAtE fOr A bUsInEsS mEeTiNg aNd ThIs IsN't ReLaTeD tO tHe HoTeL. I'lL sEe YoU lAtEr WhEn I gEt ThIS tAkEn CaRe Of."
"It's alright, you busy handsome hobo boy." Jenetaline said, standing up and stroking his face, "If you want... I can give you my number... if you want to see me again when your business is concluded."
"Ok, nO pRoBlEm, BaBe. LeTs MaKe ThIs FaSt." Bob held up his phone, "I DoN't WaNt To WiNd Up TiCkInG sOmE nOoBs OfF aNd RiSk ThE cHaNcEs Of SoMeOnE tRyInG tO tAkE dOwN mY hOtEl BuSiNeSs."
Jenetaline took the Garo's phone, which was on the phone app menu, then she started typing down her phone number in the call list along with her name. A moment later, she kissed Bob and gave the Garo his phone back, allowing him to see her number. He nodded to the very attractive hotel guest, then Bob departed the room and made his way down to the lobby as fast as he could.
Thankfully, the ex-rapper didn't have to worry about any newly-arrived guests. He stepped outside, finding a pair of Koopas in black suits waiting for Bob by a black-gray limo. And those Koopas were not working for Bowser.
Bob looked around, made sure that nobody was watching, and then, he slapped on some shades and hurried to the limo. A window rolled down, and a tall man in a dark suit stared at the Garo behind a pair of thick black sunglasses in a menacing manner. The Koopas opened the door, and Bob climbed inside, sitting next to the man he was meeting with.
"You took your time." Bob heard him say as the Koopas entered the limo.
"I hAd SoMe HoTeL bUsInEsS tO tAkE cArE oF." The Garo replied, just as their ride started rolling away from the hotel, "So, HoW cAn I hElP yOu, MiStER CrUkLiFe?"
"We'll discuss it in my office, once we're at my mansion." Billionaire gangster boss Dochshade Cruklife told the Garo, "But I will say this right now, Bobowski. You owe me big time, really big time..."
Bob had met with many gangster bosses and criminals at shady run-down locations, even in basements, but never did a billionaire/secret gangster boss set up a meeting between them at his own estate. Now, Bob got the chance to see the whole place, and it was breathtaking with marble statues by the entrance, clear fountains, and a somewhat grandiose hotel lobby-like foyer.
A dark suited Inkling with red hair escorted the shady ex-rapper and Cruklife to the latter's office upstairs. Once they were inside, Bob could smell steam coming from another corner of the room, and he figured that it smelled like a hot tub. Dang, Cruklife was one rich criminal billionaire.
The Garo didn't take too long to regard the room. Cruklife sat down at his desk and had one of his guards pull up a chair for Bob. The Garo gulped nervously, and he slowly approached the tall man who doubled as the kind famous rich CEO of Cruklife Enterprises and the head of the Shroom Boom Gangstas, one of the Mushroom Kingdom's most infamous gangster groups.
He sat down in the chair, and faced Mr. Cruklife, who stared at him ominously. And looking into those eyes, Bob knew he meant business.
"You know why we're meeting, Bob?" The rich gangster asked the Garo in a rhetorical manner.
"ItS BuSiNeSs As UsUaL." Bob replied, "BeCaUsE I oWe YoU tOnS oF mOnEy."
"Like I said in the limo..." Cruklife leaned over the table, staring menacingly at the Garo hobo, "...you owe me BIG time. And this is not money we're talking about, way more than money, so you better open your ears now. Remember our heist in Brazil, which happened during a 'family vacation' that the public thinks I was having?"
"LOL, tHaT wAs FuN. AnD, lAsT I hEaRd, tHe BrAzIlLiAn PoLiCe ArE sTiLl TrYiNg To TrAcK dOwN tHe MaSkEd GaNgStEr 'ShRuBeRt KoOpStAr'."
"Would you call it fun AFTER YOU LEFT MY BABY BEHIND?!" Cruklife slammed his fist on the desk.
"PiSs!" Bob exclaimed, "To Be FaIr. ThE cOpS wErE aFtEr Us AnD tHeRe WaSn'T mUcH tImE. AlSo, WhO bRiNgS a BaBy To A hEiSt?"
"You did, you idiot! I told you not to leave him at the hotel, I told you to keep an eye on the baby, but you dropped the ball, and he's probably stuck in an orphanage somewhere. Or, worst of all, KREAHP WAS PROBABLY ADOPTED BY SOMEONE LIVING IN BRAZIL AND ITS BECAUSE YOU CAME TO THE HEIST!"
Bob shook, terrified by how angry the gangster billionaire was. And then, seconds later, Cruklife sat back in his chair and choked. He placed a hand over his face and started to sob. Bob saw a photo on the desk, showing a baby Octoling in the arms of Cruklife and a red-haired Octoling girl. He heard a splash and turned, seeing a shapely female Octoling sitting in the hot tub and watching the scene.
"You already know my wife, Jilinia..." Cruklife croaked.
Jilinia stood and walked out of the hot tub, wearing a black string swimsuit. She picked up a towel, dried off, and walked to the desk, then she sat next to Cruklife and hugged his shoulder. Bob looked at the human gangster's Octoling wife, his eyebrow slightly raised.
"I tHoUgHt InKlInGs aNd OcToLiNgS dIdN'T mIx WeLl WiTh WaTeR." He remarked.
"My, my. Looks like you never knew about Sub-2015..." Cruklife held up a vile showing a substance that looked like red medicine, "Funny that we never discussed that, Bob. You see, me and many others have discovered and made a formula that makes Inklings and Octolings immune to water, allowing them to interact with it without getting dissolved."
"ThEn HoW cOmE yOu HaVeN't ShArEd It WiTh ThE cItIzEnS oF InKoPolIs or OcTo VaLlEy?"
"Lets just say it never agreed with certain Inklings and there is a law against the creation of making substances, even if it was helpful for certain causes." Jilinia explained, "But underground dealers have sold it and there are a few Inklings who have found use of similar substances..."
"Thank you, my love." Cruklife kissed the Octoling on the hand, "But this isn't the main focus of this... 'business meeting.'" He turned back to Bob and pulled out a gun, pointing it at the Garo as his heart pounded and Jilinia yelped with concern. Luckily, Cruklife didn't pull the trigger on him. Yet. But the guards in the room were following their leader's actions, pointing their guns at Bob too.
"You're going back to Brazil..." Cruklife told the Garo, "...And you're getting my son back..."
"Our son." Jilinia corrected.
"...and if you fail this." Cruklife went on, "I will contact certain parties about shutting your hotel down, and you won't be alive to see what becomes of your hotel business, especially when I pull this trigger. Now, I'm not going to be paying with my money for you to get a flight to Brazil. You're going to have to get tickets yourself, and I know a good place for you to get them."
The dangerous businessman clicked his fingers and a Toad guard approached Bob's side with a piece of paper in hand, showing a picture of Jeeves holding a golf club. Bob looked at the advertisement, seeing it was for a golf tournament, and Cruklife said, "Looks interesting, doesn't it? You know what to do, and we will be watching."