Downfall of the Mushroom Kingdom

by geddiknight

As it feels like the worst is behind her, Now-Queen Peach resumes rule of the Mushroom Kingdom. Sadly, due to the costs of having upheld the Ultimate DoubleDash Tournament, everything seems to only be getting worse. With Rates of Violence reaching new highs and rates of approval dropping by the day, can Queen Peach handle her self-inflicted destruction? (Now rated M)

3. The Morning After: Rosalina's Day

Downfall of the Mushroom Kingdom

The Morning After – Rosalina's Day

A/N: We will begin in the Narrator's perspective again and we will also go straight into this one.

(In the Narrator's Perspective):

We've already seen how the next morning pans out for Peach in the Mushroom Kingdom capital, handling the new agenda having to put up with lost connections and making new decisions. However, the events of the night between March 10th and 11th saw several people disappear from the Kingdom and out of their sights. What we will see now is completely unknown to the government and seen as off-grid. Due to most of the Toad Brigade and Mushroom Kingdom government department of security not operating in the west, it has become a new safe haven for certain people. While we will be looking at the path of Rosalina today, she is not currently here, but she will soon come along.

The first town along the southern coastline that is beyond the Wuhu-Delfino border and out of most surveillance to the Mushroom Kingdom is the harbour-city of Zeltarc West, a sort of suburban paradise thriving off of being left out of the matters dealt in the hands of the eastern governments. Here the prices of things haven't soared up as a result of recent events, and the place isn't so overcrowded either. The little influence the Mushroom Kingdom has on places like these leaves the people to be at peace with themselves.

There is a specific part of Zeltarc West called the hill-roads: a series of roads spanning across the western slopes of the town, residing on the other side of the town where the border to the Delfino Kingdom is nearby. Here is where all of the big mansions are built and where a lot of land at the top of the slopes is owned by the residents. Here, there are large flat grasslands surrounding each house, and plenty of space for everyone. One of the houses here is owned by a couple of humans known to Rosalina, and funnily enough, in the early hours of the morning after, we saw some unusual magical activity here...

Rewind back the sunrise, all the way to the middle of the night.

The grasslands were empty and nobody was in sight... that was until the beam of light created at Toad Town finally appeared again a few metres above ground here. As it got to its greatest intensity, the light spat out several humans in different directions. Only being launched a few metres, they all landed onto the grass, with most of them having no idea where they were. Only one knew where they were, and it was not far from the nearest house which happened to be owned by him. Most were on the ground in pain, but not this one. This one knew where they were and was actually glad that they were now here.

"Is everyone okay?" He called out to the dark grass field in front of him. Since he knew where he was, he rushed over to the nearest wall to where he landed from the light portal. As a matter of fact, this place that he happened to be was his new house. He had no idea that he would be sent here, but it meant everything to him. The only light he had when checking the grass field was the light from the sun reflected by the moon. He couldn't see that many people either. From what was in front of him, he saw only three bodies moving about in the field. Two were trying to get up, and the third was moaning in agonising pain on the floor.

(In Ronald's Perspective – as he arrived):

Fucking hell, where are we- oh, really, that's good at least, but still. What the fuck? It's so late. I've got to get everyone in.

"Is everyone okay?" One... Two... Three. Oh Christ, that's the guy who was bleeding on the floor on the streets of Toad Town. Jaapayo... was his name, right? I've got to help him. The poor bugger's gonna keep bleeding after all that happened to him. Magic and wounds to the chest is no good for a human like him! I've got to get him inside.

"Luke? George? Toby?" That's Will over there. He's gotten up, and he's trying to look through the fields of grass to see if anyone else is here. I don't see that many, where the hell did everyone else end up? This is where all of us should be. Besides him, I see one other person: Enrique. He's silent, I'm not sure why, but it looks like he's at least looking around for any sign of others as well.

"GEORGE!... TOBY!... LUKE!..." Will looked very worried. I don't think they're here mate.

"Stop calling their names." Enrique finally turned round. His face looked red for the first time ever. I'm not sure currently if it's because of anger or upset, but I know for sure that he's definitely not happy. "They're not here... they've been displaced." His tone was difficult, like he was struggling to just speak. Is he holding back tears? What's up? If you have any answers Enrique, you need to tell me because I don't know what the fuck just happened or what the fuck is going on here.

"Hey!" I tried to get both of their attention. "I know where we are. Pick up Jap and we'll take him in here. We can stay here for the night." Well, not just for the night but for as long as we need, really. I feel like with that massacre just behind us, I say it's best we stay here off the radar for as long as we can, and if it means we might have to move further west towards somewhere like Yagpar or Oganesis then so be it. Whichever is away from the Toads.

"Is this that new condo of yours that Jack kept talking about?" I watched Enrique start carrying Jaapayo with Will towards me and then towards the front entrance.

"Yes, funnily enough. We have to be grateful that some of us ended up here." I just wish I knew how that sorcerer guy knew where this was. If he knew that he was able to send us here, then what happened? How did only four of like nine of us end up here? (*)

...

We now go back to the present morning of March 11, the sun had risen, and most of those inside the house complex had gotten some good enough sleep. Ronald unfortunately was not one of them, for he spent most of the remaining hours of last night trying to make sure that Jaapayo wasn't in too much agonising pain and that he could get to sleep without suffering.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

Ronald was far from the front door, sleeping away. The remaining three were downstairs inside the main house having breakfast when they heard the banging.

"I should best go and sort it out." Enrique spoke to the other two, heading out of the dining room and down the bright hallway to the front porch. As he got closer to the door, he slowed down, approaching it without making any noise. As far as he knew, nobody actually knew that he was here. What he would like on the other side of the door would be someone else that happened to be displaced from the glowing light of a portal last night, so that he could shelter them in with the rest of those that are here. What he did not want was anyone else frankly enough. To him, anybody that isn't a human is an agent working for the government; a 'fed' in his mind. Anybody obviously working with Peach that is human, such as Mario and Luigi were also considered feds and he wouldn't hesitate to attack them if he saw them outside. The only exceptions to someone he would attack that isn't either of the other things that were across his mind would be someone like Pauline or Rosalina. That's all he could think of right now as he grabbed on to the door handle. He couldn't see much from outside the tiny viewing hole, so he gave the door a go for opening anyway. What he saw on the other side was a fourteen year-old boy with dark brown hair and black short-sleeved clothes, looking up at him in surprise.

"Well, honestly you were the last person I expected to be on the other side of this door." The kid standing on the doorstep spoke first, but immediately received a gun pointed to his head to stop him from talking any more.

"Promise me that you're not having anything to do with the Mushroom Kingdom right now or I swear to you I will put a bullet in you right now, on this doorstep." Enrique spoke quietly but sincerely, holding the gun firmly on his forehead.

"Well..." The young boy gulped. "You wouldn't be the first person to shoot me today." The gun randomly sparked in Enrique's hand, despite him not pulling the trigger. He took it away from the boy's forehead and had a look at it. It appeared fizzled and no longer functioning. "Sorry about that." The boy added. "I've been... practicing while you've been racing."

"Duncan, what the fuck was that?" Enrique looked at the gun with a heavily confused look on his face.

"Sorcery." He smiled back. "You like it? I'm so good at it now that I don't even need a wand. Rosalina hasn't got anything on these hands." Duncan was there on the doorstep, and besides the movement of his mouth to talk, he had made no gestures whatsoever while Enrique stood above him clueless. Duncan seemed very happy and confident in himself now, but that wasn't enough to please Enrique blocking him from coming inside.

"So what's this about already being shot today?" He then asked Duncan. "Did the Mushroom Kingdom find out where you were and shot you, leading you to find us here? Because if that is true then I suggest you keep on running."

"Believe me when I say this but I must have found you here by accident. Where is Tom, anyways? I'd love to see him if he is there. And about the Mushroom Kingdom... it was Peach that shot me... wait... no, I tried to shoot her but she... stabbed me? My mind is a bit of a blur since I'm on little sleep, but basically, she melted down the Villa, she stabbed me unexpectedly, I had to disappear to heal myself, then... blah, blah, blah... sorcery and shit... I wake up on the grass over there like five minutes ago." Enrique didn't really know what to think of it all. The thing about Duncan is that because he is so young, he doesn't seem to take a lot of things seriously. He felt like Duncan was to him how he is to Peach, and somehow gets away with even more damage than what he would do. There was more to Duncan to think about as well, mainly the fact that this was the first time Enrique saw him this year, meaning that between then and now, the ENTIRE trial of Bowser had happened, with Duncan supposedly missing it all. So now that Enrique thought about it for a few seconds, the things Duncan had just said felt a little more believable to him. When he said Peach supposedly stabbed him, Enrique thought that he let her stab him since he was distracted by Peach's looks. Modern-day Queen Peach confronting a fourteen year-old boy, of course he would fall for her charm. He probably salivated over her, or even worse, aroused. As weird as it is for Enrique to think about these, he could see why. He has seen what Peach is like, after all.

What did concern Enrique however, was the part where Duncan said 'blah, blah, blah, sorcery and shit'. He had no idea that Duncan was proficient enough in magical arts that he was able to stop a gun from working using only his mind. No wand, no visible spells, not even hand movement. It had been a few months since they last met, but for Duncan? Possibly decades knowing him.

"Well I'm glad that you ended up here. Someone like you would make a formidable asset to my team here at the moment. Unfortunately, Tom isn't here. He was displaced, like half of my friends last night, of which you probably have no idea about." Enrique walked down the steps of the porch and stood level beside Duncan, still not letting him in but making it known to him that he wants to talk with him more.

"I think in these days, it is better to be ignorant about everything. Having the knowledge of such a grim, dark future up ahead in this world would only bring more grief and sadness into me." Enrique frowned.

"Quit with the fake wisdom. I know you're just lazy." He responded back, sitting down on the doorstep and getting Duncan to do the same. "I hope you didn't leave a trail on how you got here. If you're clean, then we should have nothing to worry about here. This is actually Ronald and Jack's new house."

"Who else is inside?" Duncan asked back. "You told me that Tom and a few others aren't here."

Enrique took a deep breath, looking down at his shoes to distract himself from the intense brightness that was the land and the sun in front of him.

"So obviously Ronald is here too... Will is here, I don't know if you've ever spoken to him before, and... The Jaapayo guy is here. I doubt you've heard of him." Enrique spoke very slowly. Duncan sensed that there was something bothering him. Whether it was the sadness of the night gone by or the fact that he had been separated from most of his friends, he felt assured that something was distracting him a lot. "What matters to you is the fact that Tom is not here, Jack's not here, and George, Toby, and Luke are not here. They're the notable guys who you've probably met before." He couldn't quite tell whether Duncan was fully aware of everyone. Enrique didn't know him enough in recent days to know whether he knew about everyone else. It was like growing up with him and then not seeing him for years, to learn that they have had completely different lives and moved in separate ways up until they finally met each other again. Deep down on the inside, Duncan felt warm and full of joy to see Enrique, but he immediately knew upon first noticing him that things had gotten a lot worse. An immediate gun to the head was also a big surprise and one of the main factors of his assumption. Duncan saw his expression just looking more and more gloomy. It was also the first time in days like these where he wasn't able to contact Tom or know where he could be.

"I err..." Duncan thought about several possible things to say. "...knew when the tournament would end, and that would be when I would finally appear in the spotlight once again. What I didn't expect was such a depressing atmosphere I can feel even in the west. Hell, I don't even have the ability to teleport back to the Mushroom Kingdom. What sent me here was completely out of my power."

"Do you have any idea where Tobias is?" Enrique asked calmly, reminding Duncan of his best friend and partner in adventure through these lands.

"...Probably still back on Earth. It's best that he is. The last thing I want is for him to take a portal back to the Mushroom Kingdom and end up setting eyes upon a firing squad of Toads. Since you're all apparently hiding out here, who knows what they could be doing if they saw any of you on sight."

"That's what worries me." Enrique replied. "We're not that far away from the border here. All it takes is for some Toad Brigade mercenaries disguised as Red Martyrs to take us in for execution. Peach has gotten a lot crazier since you last saw her; something as cruel as that might be on her mind."

"I don't know about all that..."

"What do you mean, about Peach?"

"No... The Red Martyrs part." Enrique felt confused, wondering if Duncan knew anything about them in recent days more than he did.

"What about the Red Martyrs?"

"As soon as I got here, I noticed a familiar glowing ray of light coming from the direction towards Aypyidaw."

"Oh yeah, I remember seeing that back on Rainbow Road. What even is that?" That was all the talk for about fifteen minutes that night. Everyone up above saw it, but as soon as it was time for everyone to head back down to the city, it all fell out of people's minds. Peach worrying about Toadbert and Toadsworth, convincing everyone else to share their feelings for them did also interrupt the thought on the light. Enrique could only wish that he had inquired it to Rosalina at the time. She probably knew something about it.

"It's a sort of exorcism. You get that light when you are channelling the strength from a living person into the body of another, in attempt to fuel it for magical arts purposes. In simple words, it's one thing you can do to be able to create magic without the use of a wand or implement to channel it through. I know this because I had to do it once before. I bagged my powers off of some poor Takharim Hostile soul from Houeida or something. It was quite a while ago though." Enrique's eyes widened in surprise as he took them off of Duncan and faced back onto the ground. "The reason why this is so bad is because I believe that no Red Martyr council member has practiced any form of magic or sorcery. If it is not them, then it is probably a Hostile Koopa."

"Well, if they knew about it, then it would make sense for the Hostiles to attack Aypyidaw during the final day of races. They had all the security focused on Mushroom City, invited Archbarn and co down yet still failed to prevent any form of terrorism. Did you find out what happened to Toadbert?"

"No? Do tell."

"Some Koopas I think managed to get into what powers the Rainbow Road track... the G.C.N. one, and they shut off the power. The star-cannon didn't work and the Lakitus were disabled, Toadbert fell off of the track and went flat onto the roof of one of the skyscrapers below."

"No fucking way..." Duncan almost giggled, trying his best to keep a straight face. Enrique immediately noticed how little he cared for the Toads, seeing that he was about to laugh at the death of one of them. "That might be a factor as to why Peach is as crooked as you claim she is."

"Oh, trust me." Enrique grinned. "There's a lot you haven't heard about." He felt done with the front steps. It was surprising enough for him to see that nobody else showed up to the door to see who was there. "Anyways... you may as well come in and see the others... make yourself at home, you know... think about what we're going to do here."

Duncan proceeded first into the house. Enrique soon followed, checking everywhere he could see outside just in case there were any eyes in the distance staring at him. It seemed like every other neighbour on the plots of land nearby kept themselves very private too, as he saw nobody else outside along the slopes. When Enrique closed the front door behind him, he overtook Duncan in going to the lounge and then the dining area where the others were likely to be. Duncan had no idea where everything was here and felt like a guest even compared to Enrique, so he would only follow him when he got moving. Ronald was actually the only person present in the dining room when the two got there. He stood firmly ready to greet the new guest into his house.

"You didn't even make the effort to check the front door yourself." Enrique joked, moving over towards the nearest table to pull up a chair for himself and Duncan if he wanted to sit down.

"Oh I was watching." Ronald smiled back. "I'm not stupid, I've got cameras here... You must be Duncan." He turned his head and looked a little down on the teenager.

"Yes... Ronald, right? Have we ever met before?" Duncan shook hands with Ronald, becoming familiarised with his face and appearance.

"Not directly." Ronald recalled. "There have been a few group bumps last year, that's all I can remember."

"Right..." Duncan looked over to the chair and then the kitchen worktops, immediately feeling hungry for a rather late breakfast. "Am I allowed to eat here?"

"Sure. Grab some bread and the things are in the fridge. Make yourself comfortable, for I will be asking you quite the many questions while you eat." Ronald pointed at all of the things in the kitchen usable for making a meal then headed over to Enrique and sat on the chair that he originally pulled out for Duncan. There was a used chair left out on the other side for him to sit on when he was ready with making his meal.

"Are you sure there is nobody else spying on us outside?" He whispered to Enrique while Duncan was still by the kitchen.

"I couldn't see anybody-."

"Where are the others then?" Duncan called from the other side of the room. "You told me a couple others were here."

Enrique paused, and couldn't think of where the two were since the last time he saw either of them was in this very same room.

"They're by the pool area, I think." Ronald replied for him. "Will said he wanted a swim."

"Right." Duncan started making his way to the other side of the table, placing down his buttered toast and slightly-aged bananas.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"For fuck sake." Duncan sighed. "I swear to you I didn't leave any trace."

"I'll get it... again." Enrique got up quickly and turned the corner heading down to the front door. Ten seconds later he returned, with none other than Rosalina herself. Now she had arrived here, but nobody else knows how, or why. The boys in the room all looked straight at her. She was bruised, her clothes worn, and she looked very weak and tired. Duncan sensed something about her. Her energy was missing and her magic with it. He could tell that there was something important that she was missing too.

"I promise you, nobody followed me!" Rosalina quickly raised her voice from seeing the surprised and threatening reactions made by both Ronald and Duncan at the kitchen table. Her arms were briefly up, feeling very defensive.

"Tell us everything that happened after last night. I remember you were there so you better be accurate with me." Ronald clicked his fingers and pointed to the nearest empty seat. "I don't know if you knew already, but half of my friends are nowhere to be found, and part of it is your fault, so you better have some explaining to do, missy." She seemed a little confused at Ronald, since the last time she saw him or any of them for that matter was when Marrec lit up the glowing light to get them all out of Toad Town.

"I swear to you I don't-."

"Stop avoiding the question, God damn it!" Ronald got more aggravated. "Sit down and start talking."

(In Rosalina's Perspective):

Okay, okay, okay. There's a lot that I don't know about either. Ronald doesn't know about what happened after he left last night so he has no right to keep pressuring me like this.

"Alright, alright..." I'm slowly making my way to that seat he's pointing to.

...

So, from when you guys vanished, it kind of went like this... You should remember seeing me at the back, being taken behind you all by the others outside Peach's Castle. That's where I was when you all fled the area, got it? So if you didn't remember correctly, I was broken, damaged, hurt. I was frightened for my life on the inside once again... Everyone else had fled back into the castle, and my brother was taken away from something I still do not fully understand. I couldn't do anything to help you all, that was all of Marrec's and my brother's doing. If you have any complaints, then you'll have to find them, because I had no involvement of it all. Luigi and Daisy stole my wand and I was too weak to retrieve it. I would have fallen asleep on the grass outside the castle if it wasn't for Marrec still there. He asked if I was hurt, to which I said I was fine, but I wasn't. I just wanted to leave, and I wanted to vanish from the kingdom as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, without my wand, most of my powers have been removed from my grasp. More time had passed while Marrec tried to rescue me up from the floor, but the Mario brothers and their girlfriends had left the castle again. This time, they sort of ignored as he Marrec hid me well. They went straight for the streets, but I don't know why. Afterwards... it became a bit of a blur to me again. That was... until I woke up somewhere else...

South Woods, some hour in the middle of the night.

I didn't really know where we were until Marrec told me, but it seemed like he carried me all the way through the wilderness that is the woodlands during the night. I had fallen asleep, I must have. We weren't even near any town, but I was still feeling very sick and unwell. I can only remember the permanent paranoid look on Marrec's face while he sat down on his knees looking towards the brightness that was the town within the woods.

"I can't magically take you out of here. I can only take you on my back, and it looks impossible for me to get past this area. The roads are all occupied." He said to himself, but I was listening in. Despite me looking asleep with my eyes closed most of the time, with them only being open when I wanted to look up at the moon, I was still listening to him.

"You said you sent them to the west, where exactly?" I asked him back, making him realise that I was somewhat awake but still lying on the ground, barely movable.

"I don't know really." Marrec felt worried in himself. What he then said was something you lot will have to just accept. I know it is going to sound very disheartening but your friends must still be alive if what he said is in fact true.

He told me that when he was making the portal and figuring out the destination, he was using his mind to imagine the places he remembers in the west to send you there. He told me that he pictures two places in his mind, and made it so that they would be the two possible destinations for the portal's exit. He was kicking himself because he wanted to just picture only one place, but you know how the mind works. It can be annoying sometimes when you're trying to think of one thing but your subconscious just wants to ruin it for you and imagine something else too. The first place he mentioned was here: Zeltarc West. The second place however, is all the way to the north near a place called Norgalith.

"Norgalith? That's bad." I overheard Enrique groan while I'm trying to recall last night, please shut up. "That's so close to the mountains and therefore so close to possible police surveillance. Please, please, PLEASE can they head south if they realised where they were." Please can he stop talking?

"Yes, whatever. I can't change that. I'm not there, but hopefully Marrec is. I don't know where he and Zane are right now, so it would be nice to think that at least one of them met up with the others."

"Maybe your friend Tobias met up with them, since you're here with us." Ronald, stop talking please, let me think. I don't care that Duncan is here. He's not relevant right now.

"Ronald, please. Let me think."

Anyways, Marrec couldn't deal with the accident he made that night, so he wanted to get moving again. He kept taking me west from the southern woods of the Mushroom Kingdom, successfully passing through the main roads between each town. We went past the South Woods town, through the gaps of Medulis Dacarron, Rolpan, then past Sarasaland, until it was about six in the morning when we were heading towards the Delfino Border. We were somewhere between the town of Toads' Roost in the north and the coastline to the south. Just near the border was a train track, presumably the southern line. Luckily, we managed to get on to a cargo carriage heading towards Winnick on the other side of the border. We went unchecked, and found ourselves at Sutfort by seven in the morning.

...

"Uhh, I fell asleep again then woke up in this town, with Marrec... gone. Sorry. That's about all I know."

"So... You're going to assume that Marrec brought you here safely, without being seen? What about from when you woke up to when you got to the door?" Ronald asked me again. This I know, because I had to wait.

"Well, I woke up not long after Duncan did, I suppose." I found it funny how both Enrique and Ronald looked back at him. I bet he said nobody saw him coming.

"Wait, what?"

"Oh, I was watching you two together at the front door of here. That's how I knew to come here." Duncan seemed confused.

"I didn't see anyone around? Enrique, I'm telling you what I saw."

"Yeah, the grass is quite thick in these fields. Marrec must have taught me a thing or two about hiding in the grass." May the stars across the night sky bless this annoying little child, for he is so blind despite feeling like he sees all.

"But I... but." Duncan kept sighing, filling me with joy on the inside. Nobody else seemed happy about any of this, so I best keep these feelings to myself.

"I just can't believe that you two, yes, you two, Duncan and Rosalina show up here along with us at the same time." Ronald got off of his seat and looked fuming. Please enlighten me and tell me what you want to do about my sudden arrival here. (*)

Rosalina smiled, realising her worth to mere mortals to her. "We're supposed to assume that we're wanted shoot on sight for real this time, right Enrique? So surely, the best thing for us to do would be to head back to Earth? Sorry, Rosalina." Ronald kelp complaining. The others in the room watched him vent out all of his stress, ambling around the room and brushing past some of his delicate furniture, with each contact made with any leading him to be a little more careful for just another second, only for him to forget about his realisation of his anger afterwards.

"I don't think all of us could be able to get back to the portals. Those so-called devices we used to have have been pretty damaged over the months we've been using them. Besides, I think I lost mine a long time ago." Enrique sighed, trying to be realistic to Ronald. "We'd have to travel all across the Delfino Kingdom and a lot of the Mushroom Kingdom too to get there. All we've got is Rosalina without ninety-nine percent of her power and an idiot to my left who seems to break so many rules on the concepts of reality that it has probably somehow come full circle and made him as useless as the next motherfucker."

"Also, it would make pretty lame plot material if it were that easy." Duncan joked.

"Will you fucking shut up for once, young man?" Ronald slammed the table, jumping the teen. "Everything you've said so far has been useless to us."

"You know I kind of agree with Ronald here, Dunk." Enrique turned around to face the teen. "Why don't you tell us the truth as to why you're here? You're clearly on another level of sorcery to any of us, so if it were that easy, what should we do? Huh?" They all pressured him to the corner of the room at the end of the table. Even Rosalina kept staring at him, since she now felt just like the rest of them. All she could do was elevate herself a bit and some other things, but Duncan... she knew that he got a lot better than she did over the past few months. They all watched him take a deep breath, letting off some sparks of electricity in his hands at the same time.

"Uhh, so..." His face turned reddish, and he began stuttering a lot as well. They all knew he looked nervous and anxious, but to them, it was what he deserved. "...I've already told Enrique outside, but Peach destroyed the Villa that we made on Isle Port. The entire place was destroyed, and what she used to do it was something that kind of frightened me." He was moving his hands all over the table, gesturing randomly. "I... had her at gunpoint, man. I should have done it right there. I just... didn't know you know... I missed a lot, and I didn't know that what happened the night before was just so... bad for the world. She's... vile."

"Worse than modern-day Bowser, right?" Rosalina felt like he was finished, taking a minute to do so.

"At least you agree with me on that one, and you're a good moral ground. That shows that she really is crazy."

"Why did you even miss out on all of this? You were gone for more than the entire duration of the trial. Tom was gutted when he told me that you vanished a few days later in January." Enrique asked him, putting him on the spot of guilt once again.

"I had to leave as an emergency because they knew that I vanished from the scene in the southern woods that day. Peach wanted to have me arrested because I refused to bow down to her."

"You can't say that as an excuse." Enrique replied immediately. "I saw you in the stands of the first race in Mushroom City. Peach found out that you were there that night as well."

"Wait... so you're telling me that you had Peach right there at gunpoint, and you didn't shoot her? Ronald leaned over the table, questioning Duncan once again. He hesitated to reply, only angering him even more. "Oh BROTHER!" He shoved the table aside, causing everything on it to slide off, including Duncan's breakfast plate. It smashed into many pieces on the floor, making a loud noise and jumping him for the second time. "And then you let her stab you?" He got closer to Duncan, watching him cower on the chair. He grabbed onto him and lifted him up from his seat. Enrique quickly got out of his and backed away from the two. As far as he cared, he didn't mind at all that Ronald wanted to fight Duncan, the kid only deserved whatever it is that was coming to him. Ronald threw him aside on the floor.

"Ron, this isn't the time to be making new enemies." Rosalina cried out. She was too afraid to stop the fight herself since she felt too weak to intervene. No wand meant no magic and no means of interrupting them.

"Shut up, bitch!" Ronald snapped back at her before looking back to the floor where he threw Duncan to. "Look at you. Strong enough to have it all..." He grabbed Duncan by the leg and pulled him closer towards him, ready to give him a mean swing to the chest on the floor. "...TOO WEAK TO-"

"Yaa!" Duncan swung back at Ronald, pushing him up from the ground and giving him a light shock from his electrical pulse unleashed from his magically-enhanced fist.

"Was that it?" Ronald threatened him back as he tried to quickly recover from being sent upwards and onto the table. Before either of the two could attack each other again, both Rosalina and Enrique seized the opportunity to hold them away from each other. Rosalina grabbed onto Duncan and kept him on the floor, and Enrique held Ronald on the table, causing it to topple.

"I'll show you what my fists do if it's a fight you want!" Duncan badmouthed Ronald while being held back. He knew that Rosalina was doing her best despite her weakness to stop a fight from breaking out, but he thought he could easily break free from her. He was panting, and second-thought about breaking free. Enrique did his best against Ronald, but unlike Duncan, he was being held back with strength, and tried to get out of his grasp.

"You don't deserve whatever that thing is you have!" Enrique tried to silence Ronald by covering up his mouth, but Ronald went so low as to spit in his hand to stop him from doing so. "Nobody does! You don't deserve to walk these lands because of it. Fucking hell, get off of me, Enrique!" He was now more aggravated at him than he was mad at the teen. He bit onto Enrique's other hand to break the restraint he had over him. "All three of you have fucked my life over here now. I had so many aspirations and plans for my new work and life here, and your stupidity with the Mushroom Kingdom is going to ruin it all for me!" Everyone else in the room was silent but him, even Will finally showed up, slightly damp from using the pool and with slightly dampened clothes, surprised to see the messy look of the kitchen room area. "Just get out... all of you! This is all because of you." He pointed back at Enrique. "Getting Jack to go all the way just to cover for you in the races you never attended because you got yourself played by a bunch of not-even hostile Koopas! They were a bunch of fucking low-life Asquias! How dare you be so selfish? Maybe Peach is a little right in that you walk this land as if you're the God here." Duncan crept over to the doorway going towards the front entrance to the house, wishfully being the first to go. Enrique and Rosalina were still inside, and Will was on the other side. "All of you, now!"

"What about Jaapayo?" Will questioned.

"Fuck Jaapayo!" Ronald reached out for one of his back pockets, pulling out a pistol. "I'll sort him out later, now go to the front door and get the fuck out of my house."

BANG!

He shot the ceiling, his own kitchen room ceiling, provoking both Rosalina and Will to rush past him and out of the house from down the corridor.

"I'm not going anywhere. This is just ridiculous." Enrique mustered his confidence and remained in position in the room. All that stood before him was Ronald, with a working pistol unlike his, since Duncan defused it by accident. Ronald now pointed the gun directly at Enrique's chest. He was standing a few metres away, and both could tell that he wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger.

"I suggest you do. You're nothing but a menace to these lands."

"You'd never shoot me." Enrique remained on the spot for as long as he could. He felt like Ronald would go to the extreme and shoot him, but if there was just a slight chance he could convince him not to, he would take that chance. Ronald started taking a few steps backwards, getting himself into a corner of the room that wasn't near any corridor going to somewhere else. Enrique still remained still, but now started to feel confused. He lost some of his confidence, and was now starting to consider leaving.

"Either I will now and you die today, or the Brigade will find you in the future... OR you can be sensible and find a way around this. I'm sorry, but I'm not helping you on your quest anymore." Ronald tilted his arm a little bit to the right and opened fire, narrowly missing Enrique and making him flinch.

"If I find Jack, I'm telling him everything. I hope he never finds you again." Enrique slowly treaded forward and to his right, finding the corridor.

"I hope the Brigade find you before you find him." Ronald led him to the door, at least seeing him out. Rosalina stood on the street with Will, waiting for Enrique to go down the steps. Duncan was nowhere to be seen. "Wait here, actually." The three outside watched Ronald go back inside; they all thought the same thing and knew why he was telling them to wait.

"Do you think we could take the house from him?" Will whispered to Enrique and Rosalina while they stood outside.

"No..." Enrique replied. "...Ronald told me that he would shoot me, and frankly, I don't want to bet against him on that." Some time went by, and the three eventually saw Ronald dragging Jaapayo down to the front step. Rosalina's eyes widened as she was the first to rush over to him to check on him. It was a surprise to her that he was here since she never saw him or Will when she arrived.

"There he is. You can probably fix him, now clear off." Ronald held the gun while gesturing to the others. Rosalina grabbed on to Jaapayo and held him tightly, whispering to him and checking on him to see if he was still in pain or not. Thanks to Ronald, he had most of his injuries plastered up, but it didn't stop the interior bruising pains that still lingered.

...

For the first time in what felt like years here, the sun was finally blocked by a few clouds, dimming the light in the surroundings. Rosalina noticed first and looked up to the sky, frowning back at it. With a body to tend to, she wanted to move fast and with the others. She still couldn't see Duncan anywhere, so it was up to her and Enrique to find out where to go next since she doesn't think Will would have the leadership or experience in him to travel anywhere. The front door to Ronald's house finally slammed shut, just as the four finally encountered someone else that wasn't a human or known to them. It was just a normally-dressed Koopa walking down the same road as the one they were on. It looked like he was wearing earphones, and as he strolled down, he paid almost no attention to the four of them even with Jaapayo looking very weak and injured still.

"Which way should we go?" Will asked Enrique and Rosalina, hoping for a plan from them since he had no idea where on a map they were. He got his answer from Enrique's arm, pointing up the road and facing southbound.

"That way..."

The southward journey lasted for hours. This was the Wuhu district that the four were in now, and distances between cities were far greater than the likes of the Mushroom Kingdom and the Wuhu Kingdom. Most people that lived in these boundaries were rich enough to always be driving cars or taking trains, so there were almost no paths going in between areas. There were highways and train tracks, but no major pathways. The more south and west they got, the more they would have to tread through the thick grass to keep moving. What mattered the most to them was the need to stay near to the cliff-edge and coastline but not too close to risk falling below. The coastline was the best measure for the four to know where they were so they would not get lost in the forests here. It was also best to stay away from the main roads in case someone did spot them and call the Brigade. Despite not being in a linked zone to them, they all assumed that Peach would have spies in the area.

Nothing in the area sprouted any interest, it only took about two hours of walking through dense woodlands that the four could finally notice something beyond the cliff-edges. Far into the distance at sea was the edge of another island. Nobody made notice of it, except for one person who was still being carried by both Rosalina and Enrique.

"Oh goodness, don't tell me we're near there." The others got a better look of the view beyond the cliffs. The mountain slopes to the dormant volcano were enough for them all to realise whereabouts in the world they were right now despite it being at least a few miles away at sea.

"You been there before?" Enrique asked him.

"Not properly." Jaapayo replied before coughing a few times. "Uh, it was just the worst days of business..." He slumbered while still being carried through the grass. It became more and more difficult for Enrique and Rosalina to keep up with his weight going through the thick, dense greenery. More time passed, and the other three saw no sign of an exit from the packed woodland. Their view of the distant island to their left had eventually disappeared. Maybe they had passed the nearest town because it's not by the cliffs. Maybe it is so far down below that the height above blocked their view of the streets at the sea level.

It would eventually take until just after midday that the four would discover civilisation beyond the border and the boundaries of Zeltarc West. Further south, the land curved westward, and the cliffs would start to go downhill again until they reached the edges of Yagpar, the southern port-village for Wuhu Island. It had felt like a long journey to all of them, and hopefully this place would be somewhat safer to be in than anywhere more to the east. The first stop for Rosalina would be to find a place to sort Jaapayo out since she was unable to deal with him herself without her wand on her.

"Are you sure it is safe?" Will still felt sceptical about arriving into the new stranger-city. Finding themselves high up on the slopes of the town's outskirts, none of them could find the easy way down and in. The roads going out and in were much further down, with some only coming in through tunnels and heading even further west.

"No." Enrique replied after a few seconds. "I've never been here before. Frankly, I haven't been to any of this entire district or kingdom before either, only through it by trains. We'd have to split up or something; you'd find it easy so I suggest you go in first." He looked back at Will before seeing the way down. The dense woodland somehow managed to keep its shape despite there being a significant incline up ahead. The drop in elevation only made it more difficult for Jaapayo to be carried down.

"Go on ahead now, Will." Rosalina assured him. "Enrique and I have this guy covered."

"What if I can't reach you guys?" He asked back, safely trekking his way down the first few metres of sharp incline.

"Give us a bit of time, and we can meet by the docks later. Maybe we can get a speedboat or something. Enrique, you've got coins, right?" Rosalina looked back at him, seeing him pull out a few pieces of junk from his pockets.

"...Heh." He wasn't even counting coins; just the number of pieces of fluff and hair found in his right trouser pocket. "All this has done is remind me to change my clothes every once in a while."

"Just go now, Will." Rosalina re-ordered him to descend the grassy slopes. "Excuse Enrique."

"I know what he's like. Don't worry."

Rosalina really wished that she explored more of this place. It is a shame to her that everybody notices her when she's in her usual outfit. As much as she loves her dress, she knew that it was time for her to change up her look, and that she really needed to look a lot less noticeable.

Everyone seems rather inclusive here though. Nobody's staring at other people on the streets. They're just moving about their days and only paying attention to themselves and their friends. For Will on the other hand, he seemed to fit right in going through the streets and further south. Although there were no humans to be seen other than himself, there was a large diverse mix of creatures here. Koopas, Toads, Piantas, even Goombas and other species he wasn't aware of. Things seemed rather peaceful here, but his confidence to stroll down like he was just another regular here came to a fast stop when he first saw a group of Wuhu Police officers walking down the opposite side of the busy public road. He quickly dashed towards the nearest alley and hid out of their sight... even though they didn't bat an eye at him. The quick panic that filled his mind made him question his purpose here. Is he supposed to keep heading west and south? Is he meant to be finding someone? Does he want to stay in this town? He wasn't quite sure of anything at the moment. All that seemed fit for him was that they go so far from the Mushroom Kingdom that it has no influence on the lives of those living there.

"Hiding from Éclair, are you?" Will jumped in fright, hiding behind a large green garbage container outside the back end of a nearby building. What he heard was a voice that he thought was familiar; another female, another human.

"I've never heard of her. You're mistaken." Will replied to the voice. He knew that it was coming from the other side of the bin, but he had no idea who was speaking.

"It's okay. You can come out. I'm not Éclair, and I'm not affiliated with the Mushroom Kingdom either." This female voice had quite a husk to it, not like the typical high-pitched 'princess' voice he was used to. Was she old? Will couldn't think of any particularly old person he had ever met in these lands.

He got up and turned around, looking over the metal garbage container. What he saw on the other side was a girl who wasn't actually that old. She seemed in her prime, no more than a few years older than Peach or Daisy. She was taller than both of them, but not quite as tall as Pauline or Rosalina. This girl was a bit more tanned than any of them, but not compared to him. The woman he saw wasn't in any sort of fancy dress either. Instead, she was wearing regular clothes in a mixture of red and green, looking very convincingly low-key. At this point, she was just a stranger to him, perhaps one of the few other humans out there. Most likely one that had been here her whole life too.

"Who are you?" He asked as politely as he could under the circumstances. He hoped that nobody else would enter the alley and get in his way. "Am I right to ask that? You've gotta help me. The Mushroom Kingdom wants to kill us all and I just want to get back home!" He seemed more pissed off about his situation than afraid of it, for he was never one to openly express cowering. The woman approached him and grabbed hold of one of his hands.

"You're one of those boys from Earth, and I can tell that home seems a bit out of the question right now. For that, I am sorry." The woman comforted him, and held him around his shoulder. "Please, come with me. This town is too dangerous for you. Although it might be seen as safe. We're not quite deep into the west yet." She grabbed his arm and yanked him with some force, trying to bring him out of the alley quickly. Will was surprised, but still didn't move much. "Come on, let's go!"

"Get off of me." Will pulled his arm away from her.

"I'm... I'm sorry." She froze on the spot. "I've heard a lot about what's happened, and I just want to help."

"Well I don't trust you already. I'll find my own way out of this town, thank you very much." He turned away and slowly walked towards the way he came in to the alley. The streets were still busy, but since he got all this way without being stopped, maybe he would be able to get to the other side unharmed or uninterrupted by others. This woman seemed to be the only thing getting in his way now. He was eventually reminded by his thoughts that he had to head to the docks and get a speedboat with the others. That was at least what he remembered. Taking a left out of the alley seemed to be the way towards the southern coastline. While walking down the street, the woman still followed. Quiet and out of his awareness, but not very alarming. He knew that she wasn't undercover as she would have told others about his presence by now.

The town was relatively small. One long road down the centre was able to get him all the way to the dockyards. There, he saw only one other person: Enrique. Will was unsure how Enrique got here first, but since nobody else was nearby, he knew best to not question it and just be grateful that he was able to do so quietly.

"I got stopped by this girl." Will spoke first, getting his attention as Enrique rested against a post on one of the wooden platforms. "A human one too. I never thought I would see many more here."

"Yeah there's apparently quite a few in this district. Ones like the Mario brothers too, born and raised here." Enrique replied, well aware of their existence. "What did she look like?"

"Uhh... white but tanned, late twenties, somewhat good looking? Basically the appearance of that of a princess but without the clothing."

"If she looks like she would be a princess then she probably is one." Enrique stopped resting on the post and walked along the platform back towards land. The dockyards were filled with people. No humans, but still heavily occupied, making it difficult for him to spot someone in particular.

"She can't be Éclair. She wouldn't just be here... unless, she knew we were here?" Will followed him. "Is it Éclair?"

"No... Someone else." He peered around and watched the Koopas, Toads, and other species walk along the port. It was still a nice summer day, so most were out for leisure. He got a few stares, including some people asking for his name or whether he was the guy they thought he was. Nobody pressed to get him or instigated anything; they were thankfully very careless about his current state with the Mushroom Kingdom.

"I thought that all the other princesses died in that disaster you had when you first came here?"

"Not all of them..." Enrique replied to Will again. "Are you sure she wasn't Pauline?" He looked back to him.

"Definitely not Pauline."

"Right..." Enrique managed to spot a figure amongst the crowds coming towards him. It was Rosalina, and she was looking completely different. No dress or biker outfit, but instead, casual clothes, including a cap and sunglasses to blend in even more than he was.

"You're going to burn in that coat that you keep wearing. Throw it into the boat you want to steal." Rosalina nodded to both him and Will, and now he felt a little safer united with the others. "Where's Jaapayo? I thought I left him here with you."

"He's..." Enrique looked around to see nobody else on the platform. "...Probably inside one of these boats. Wait..." The three noticed one no longer towed to the dock, and slowly floating away. The boat didn't rock much thanks to the quiet tide, but it was still slowly getting further away from them.

"Don't tell me he's-."

"Jap! Wake up!" Enrique and Rosalina rushed to the end of the dock platform, with Enrique calling out hoping for him to hear if he was across. Eventually, they saw a head peep up from inside the boat, and the human on board realised where he was. While Rosalina and Enrique were at the edge of the dock, hoping for Jaapayo to start paddling the boat back to them, Will began to hear quick footsteps rushing down the platform. He turned around and noticed the same woman before sprinting down alone. He was filled with confusion and quickly stepped out of her way as she missed him, grabbing Enrique instead and pushing him off of the dock with her. The two created a loud, visible splash that jumped Rosalina, causing her to back away from the edge a bit. Will didn't understand any of what was going on, but now Enrique was soaked, underwater, and in the woman's grasp.

"Hey! What just happened?" Rosalina questioned Will as she assessed the waters. On the bright side, Jaapayo was no longer distancing further away from the dock, but now she couldn't see Enrique. After a few seconds, the woman rose up from under the surface.

"Oh my goodness." She panicked anxiously as she noticed Will was still on the platform.

"Rose?"

"Rosalina?" The woman swam back to the dock, embarrassed with her actions.

"Fuck, Enrique's not coming up." Rosalina ignored Rose for a brief moment and dived into the water with her current clothes on. She swam straight down to search for him while Will grabbed Rose from the edge of the dock and lifted her up by the arm, holding her against the edge but not letting her back on.

"Look what you've done! You've got a lot of explaining to do." He looked ahead while Rosalina was still deep beneath the surface and saw Jaapayo rowing the boat against the other side of the dock, knocking it into a few other boats. They all looked into the water, hoping Rosalina would come up soon with Enrique. A few seconds passed, and Rose became gripped from her leg and pulled back beneath the water in front of the dock. Will tried to keep hold of her but stopped at the point where he would fall in with her. Now three of them were deep under, and Will and Jaapayo only saw a blur of their clothes colours. Rosalina eventually emerged above the surface a few metres away, panicking.

"I can't find him." Rosalina cried. "I can't see anything underwater!"

"I'm not going in. I'm a terrible swimmer." Will shook his head, jumping onto Jaapayo's boat. "I'm not getting out of this boat from now on."

The waters splashed again as sound was heard from the other side of the dock, including a reach out for air followed by an agonising wail in the tone of a male voice. Panting was also heard, and as Rosalina swam to check it out, she saw Enrique restraining Rose with his arms. Both were desperately trying to stay above the surface, but only Enrique was making an effort to head back to the dock. Neither of them said anything for the moment, but they weren't able to multitask that way.

"Enrique, let her go!" She called out to him. "We're done with killing people, alright?" She swam closer to them, helping the pair get out of the water and back onto the dock platform.

"Wait, you're not-. Aah!" Rose went underwater whilst talking.

"What kind of a bitch tries to push me into the water and then try and keep me down? Only a faggot fed that wants me dead! Don't act like you think I don't know you!" He shoved her aside along the platform, gracefully quiet enough so that nobody else further down the port area would notice them.

"Aggg-." Rose choked on some water, spitting it out to the side, trying to talk back to him. "I didn't mean to push you. I promise you I'm not a spy! I don't want any part of the east as much as you." Enrique let her go, allowing her to take heavy, loud deep breaths, getting her breathing cycle back.

"Then why did you push me into the water?" Enrique asked her back. "Is that some kind of sick attempt of a flirt?"

"I... thought you were someone else... I'm sorry. I... thought I saw Jack again."

"Jack?" Enrique looked back at Rosalina, getting out of the water, and Will, who was still in the boat controlled by a nearly-recovered Jaapayo. "How do you know about Jack?"

"Did... he ever tell you?" Rose grew concerned and looked down to the floor.

"I don't trust her, 'riké." Will shook his head. "This the girl I thought was following me, and she told me she could take me out of the city and to a safer place."

"If she knows of his name then maybe she does know him." Enrique looked back at Rose, giving her some more space to recover.

"I... I-."

The five at the dock were interrupted in their conversation after hearing a scream and the word 'murderer' cry out from a Koopa voice further down the dock. Enrique was the first to turn his head to see the female Koopa panic and run away from them. "There's a human murderer on the western dock!" She called out the attention of others.

"Fuck." Enrique slapped Rose in the face out of anger and stress. "This is all her fault!" He looked back at Rosalina.

"Now what are we supposed to do?" Jaapayo complained, just about able to speak now. "So much for a quiet sneak through this stupid town.

"You told me you could get out safely out of this town, so now's your chance to do so." Will grabbed Rose's attention after she finally got up on her legs on the platform. "Quickly, before that Koopa brings everyone else to the docks."

"Or worse... the police." Jaapayo worried.

"Oh no, everyone's showing up now." Rosalina stressed, noticing a horde of mixed species rush down onto the dockyard. More Koopas, Toads, Piantas and other creatures started gathering up at the other end of the dock, waiting for something else to happen. She believed that the police were informed.

"I hope you're taking us west. There's no way you're sending me back to Wuhu Island." Jaapayo spoke back to the others. He remained in the boat, trying to make room for others if they were to come on board. While Rosalina stood up and remained in front of everyone else to speak to the others on the platform, Jaapayo looked around and started hearing and noticing other speedboats emerge in the waters, all turning around to face them. "Ah, they've surrounded us."

"I didn't want to go by sea out of here. The main Wuhu port is more to the west, and the Island is to the east." Rose spoke back to Will just before becoming officially surrounded by the Wuhu police force that emerged from the crowds. Sirens were played from some of the speedboats at sea, locking them from all sides.

"Sorry sir, I can explain." Rosalina pleaded for the police officers' attention as they walked down the board.

"Not you, now move out of the way." The police officers went straight past her and went over towards Rose, getting her arms behind her back and cuffed her, ready to take her off the premises. Enrique was also handcuffed, but everyone else was just asked to leave the scene.

"Your highness." Another officer sarcastically addressed Rose, surprising both Will and Jaapayo before taking her away with Enrique.

"Wait... this is all a big misunderstanding." Rosalina rushed away from the platform and tried to catch up to the others going through the crowds. Enrique was still cuffed but tried his best to break free from the others. Surprisingly, these Wuhu police officers seemed better trained than any he had seen in the Mushroom Kingdom, and an attempt of escaping seemed highly unlikely with these guys.

"Rose Siracusa and Enrique Calaghal, you are both hereby arrested for opposing danger and national unrest to our lands. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. Do you understand?" Rose simply nodded and walked on with the police officers whilst Enrique looked back at them all with a confused look. The head police officer waited for him to start moving with them, but he was still surprised at the speech.

"How long have you been saying that for?" He started moving with them, but was still confused.

"It is the Wuhu Kingdom's statement of arrest. While I cannot give the date of implementation, it has been used since before either of us were born." The officer replied back to Enrique, taking him through the quietened down crowd and further into the centre of the town.

"Interesting..." Enrique thought to himself.

...

Rosalina became quickly ignored by everyone else in the police force, and as they left, the crowds went with them too. Will and Jaapayo were left abandoned at the dock, and Rosalina felt clueless and, for once, in defeat, seeing everyone leave in front of her. Without her iconic light turquoise dress, she looked unrecognisable and thus was completely ignored by everyone else, and without her wand and most of her magic not usable without it, there was almost no way she could grab everyone's attention and convince to them that she was Rosalina. Becoming part of the crowd that followed the police through the streets, she wasn't able to make her way through quickly and reach Enrique or Rose before they reached the police cars. The main van was where the two were taken to, and she could only just about grab his attention while he was already inside.

"Let me through, damn it!" Rosalina yelled at the people compressing her in the crowds. While she stood out in terms of height, the shuffling didn't help her get through any more quickly. The citizens of Yagpar took photos of the two being taken inside the van, and journalists with their cameramen managed to get some flashes in. Rosalina's eyes widened, noticing the consequences of this. She needed to find her way to the nearest police station, or at least track and follow the cars on their journey away from here. The roads became packed with people, just like the scenes she saw the night before in Mushroom City. She never thought that such big of a crowd of citizens would be attracted by Enrique... or what if it is because of Rose.

She had completely forgotten about Will and Jaapayo at the docks. The two were still there and now able to move with the boat elsewhere. Enrique was on her mind right now. Despite catering for Jaapayo's injuries for the past few hours, he had gone out of the window of her thoughts, for this human from Earth seemed to matter a lot more. What she saw ahead was the police van taking the two northwards. The roads became occupied with people trying to get more photos of the scene. It was a surprise to her that those two were so well-known even here. Hopefully the reasons for this weren't bad or at least not to do with the Mushroom Kingdom.

Enrique and Rose were still very wet from their time spent over the dock. Water dripped and poured slowly from both of their clothes, creating puddles in the small space at the back of the van where the two were kept. Enrique's blond hair was soaking, and Rose's had grouped up into one thick giant collection going down her right shoulder, leaking more water down the rest of her clothes. Neither of them spoke to each other. One because of mass confusion and still not being able to understand anything about the other's purpose here, and the other was out of fear and anxiety for the one's presence. It was a quiet journey in the van, but a short one. The police station journey involved the van going further along the high street and then taking a left turn down another road. They had arrived in a matter of minutes. As they arrived, the entrance was already closed off so citizens couldn't get through to the security access. These two were taken in via a special entrance, kept away from the public. Before being taken somewhere for questioning, the two were instead placed into a quiet, empty room, with only themselves inside. The police officers that escorted them left rather quickly, closing the door behind them.

"Jack Akbal..." Rose began the conversation with the mention of he who was not Enrique now clear to her after seeing more of his face. "...I was his mentor... like Peach was to you all those years ago." Now Enrique started to pay attention to her. At first, he couldn't care less about Rose. He knew that he was a princess from the past; he recognised her from Rosalina mentioning her name, but like all other princesses he was used to with the exception of one, they were all associated with evil and ties against him. Although Enrique never spoke to this person, he only remembered her name being mentioned by Jack a few times, but not enough for him to believe that she actually existed let alone have any sort of connection with him. She was totally unrecognisable compared to what he thought she would look like too. No dress, no expensive looks, no makeup. It was almost like she had completely given up her royalties... oh wait, he remembered now, she did, a long time ago, but what confused him the most now was why was she here and why is she resorted to this? Was she so excited to finally see Jack again and find out that she is safe? He isn't even safe. Enrique had no idea where he was right now.

"And that gives you an excuse to push me into the water? What if I couldn't swim? Would you happily take responsibility for my death?" He finally replied to her, trying desperately to put the guilt on her for his appearance here. As far as he knew, he was here solely because of her. He is just a bonus resorted from her own self being captured by the Wuhu police force operating here.

"This was not at all how I wanted this to go. I told one of your friends that I was able to get you all safely away from here. There are spies from the Mushroom and Delfino Kingdoms everywhere here. We needed to get you further west." Rose sobbed, getting down on her knees and looking straight at the ground before her, not even sitting on the chairs that were available in the room. Enrique just stood up, watching her begin an episode of tears.

"And now you've gotten my presence here made to the public, since apparently, you're a threat to the peace of the Wuhu Kingdom. What's that all about? Actually, I don't care. Can I just fucking get out of here? I've done nothing against the Wuhu people. You've just arrested me because you associated me with her!" He started banging the walls, hoping that somebody else was listening on the other side. "You've singlehandedly told the Mushroom Kingdom that I'm in Yagpar, and they're after me now." He growled, and thought of something even more cunning. The police never searched his pockets before putting him in here. "Do you want me to do this to you?" He pulled out his gun that he still had kept, and aimed it at Rose. Immediately, the door to the room opened up again, and many police officers stormed in. He realised that he was being watched and heard from the outside; just what he wanted. Rose's eyes widened and she panicked, backing away to a corner in the room. The police officers threatened Enrique and pointed guns back at him. "Hey, chill out! I'm not going to shoot her!"

"The put the gun down!" One of the officers commanded.

"I'm not going to do that either." Enrique turned back to them. "This gun is from Earth. It's got twelve bullets in its magazine, and they can all travel faster than yours, so if you do shoot me, then I'll just get her and all of you before I fall." The police officers lowered their weapons. Though not fully understanding the reasoning behind Enrique's threat, they still took it as an act of possible negotiation, and tried to reason with him instead. They watched him put the gun back in his pocket and waited for him to resume with Rose. She was cowering in the corner, rapidly switching who she was looking at between Enrique and the other officers.

"You were put here to collect information to us about your connection with Rose and whether it has anything related to the current issues going on in the Mushroom Kingdom." The officers resumed. "It's not often that we get not one but two big names in this town, and based on recent events, we know that can only lead to grave danger. Thus, you are both equally a threat to our people."

"So if Mario and Luigi were here, they'd get arrested? What kind of fucking retarded logic is that?" Enrique snapped back at the officers, provoking them to draw again.

"You're not Mario, you're Enrique. Clearly, there's a difference. As for Rose, in these lands, she's posed a more dangerous threat than you ever have." The officer tried to reason with him. Now Enrique realised why they were doing more talking with him than doing anything with the cowering girl in the corner of the room. "Let's just say that the two remaining princesses in the Wuhu Kingdom don't get along well with each other. Especially considering while Éclair may say she does not affiliate herself much with royalty, she refuses to offer any of the share to Princess Rose, for obvious reasons. Éclair was given it five years ago, and Rose was not found out about until afterwards, so it became very difficult."

"That's a lie." Rose finally spoke, showing more anger than sadness and fear now.

"I remember. everyone in the Wuhu Kingdom does." Another officer replied to her. "Mona gave up royalty when she fell in love with Wario, leaving no previous ruler in the lands. Pauline refused. Éclair accepted it at the time. You at the time were presumed dead."

"You're clearly not fit to rule the lands if you're disagreeing with the police." Enrique laughed back at her.

"Éclair isn't either. Thanks to her lack of influence, we've heavily thrived off of it."

"That's great and all..." Enrique found a spot to start talking over the officers as they sounded like they were going off topic and only wasting his time. "...But when do we get to the part where I'm set free? You love to brag about how different you are from the Mushroom Kingdom and Wuhu Kingdom... clearly you must have some of it in your heart to realise that I did nothing wrong? Maybe let me out of here so I can get away from the real feds here?"

One of the police officers moved forward, standing out amongst the others. It was a Koopa officer who had removed his security cap. "I apologise for having some of your time spent here. On behalf of the Yagpar police force, I take full responsibility of this wasted time of yours. My name is Iker Koopasi, and I will happily help guide you to a safer, hospitable town where the spies will not be able to reach you." Enrique nodded with gratitude and smirked at Rose, angering her even more.

"I'll tell Peach about this. She'll find out where you'll go thanks to me. Maybe she'll give me what Éclair fails to use for her own!"

"Thank you very much." Enrique smiled. "I finally feel like I'm getting the help I need. They treated me like a slave over there."

"We all witnessed the races from here. We saw what it was like. Such a horrible agenda." Iker felt some pity for him, even though he seemed like a criminal to everywhere else in the lands. For Enrique, besides the fiasco in Zeltarc West, he was starting to like the people in Wuhu. Maybe they're more like those in Yagpar and not like the princesses. Now, he couldn't trust any attractive human female his age. Odds are they're working for Peach.

"Boss, pick up." Iker's radio had a voice come through, grabbing his and the other officers' attention. "We have a tall, blonde female on the premises, heading your way."

"Come back here, Ma'am!"

"Iker responding, we'll sort it out." Everyone in the room heard the sound of someone chasing someone else down the corridors outside. Iker signalled the other officers to head out and investigate what was going on, but as they turned to their left, the chase was seen to have come to an end. Enrique was shocked to see Rosalina supposedly come to his rescue, even though he began to feel safer around the other officers. Rose seemed to be the only threat to him, trying to expose his location somehow. He felt like she would somehow get released, even if the officers here tried their best to detain her for any reason they could think of.

"Enrique!" Rosalina called out his name while she was being grabbed and held back by several other officers, with a few trying to pin her down. She still looked unrecognisable to many, but thanks to Iker and Enrique, the officers stopped and let her go.

"Do you not know who this woman is?" Iker tried getting everyone else nearby to listen to him, raising his voice to do so. "This is the mighty Rosalina of the cosmos. She has clearly seen better days, and is not looking her best, but still, if she is here, then it is for a good reason. I'm so sorry. My officers must have mistaken your new look for someone else trespassing into the private area of the station. You could be any other human immigrant from Earth, and frankly, we don't want that here..." Iker turned back to Enrique. "...But for you, we'll make an exception. You see, humans... are very over-privileged, hence..." He looked at Rose again.

"I get it." She growled.

"Enrique, we've got to go. The east knows about our location." Rosalina, surrounded by officers in the tight corridor space, got his attention once again.

"I can help you with that now follow me. Deputy, see to Rose, and make sure that Éclair knows what she's been doing if you know what I mean."

"Will do, boss!" The deputy in the crowd replied. The room shuffled its occupants around as Enrique and Rosalina were led safely out of the area thanks to the orders of Iker Koopasi. He took the two out and led them straight to his own police car. He started up the sirens after the two got seated and buckled up inside at the back.

"Where are Will and Jaapayo?" Enrique asked Rosalina as the vehicle revved up and started moving. Iker drove quickly and mercilessly, heading fast out of the station car park.

"I... I... lost them. I forgot about them trying to catch up to you." She took a deep breath and sighed, looking away from him and staring out of the window. She began to grow sad on the inside, feeling tired and anxious for letting him down. Without her powers, she also felt useless, like a total letdown.

"I can get them before we head out of town, do you know where-."

"No, forget it." Rosalina spoke quickly back to Iker. "They're long gone and lost by now." She sighed again, this time with a little more frustration.

"What do they look like? Maybe the team can help them out if we do find them in town."

"One's dark-skinned, and the other has dark red hair. Both male, early twenties, tall." Enrique spoke on behalf of Rosalina, trying to assist the head chief of the Yagpar police force.

"I'll forward it to them through the radio." Enrique and Rosalina rested in the back as Iker swiftly drove westward towards the edge of town. He was speaking quietly over the radio, trying to pay attention to the road at the same time. They reached a highway turning, with a sign on the left showing the distances to nearby cities. Assuming they were measured in kilometres or miles, Enrique started to notice the sheer size of the Wuhu district. The closest 'town' was Palm Shore with a high seventy-two miles or kilometres away. The other areas being Dionymoor, a hundred and five, the Wuhu Capital, a hundred and eighty-three, and Calidae desert, two hundred and forty-one. Thankfully the police car was able to get through any possible traffic, but as they got to the highway roads and stuck to the leftmost outer lane, the perk of being in a police car became useless.

"Where are you taking us?" Enrique asked Iker as he noticed he was done with speaking through the radio at the front.

"I can take you to a few possible areas. The more west we go, the fewer immigrants we get, and the less influence of the east you get. If you want complete peace and quiet for the rest of your days, I can take you to Blue Lake. A very quiet place, but for you two, peace." Iker kept looking through his front mirror while driving down the highway. There was virtually no traffic going west, so he was able to multitask. Rosalina noticed that he kept looking at her, specifically her outfit.

"Blue Lake is probably best for you, Enrique." She looked back at him. "I know it might seem really far from where the fun's at right now, but you're a big figure, and it's definitely going to help you later on."

"May I ask... Rosalina." Iker spoke again before Enrique could reply without being interrupted. "Sorry if I sounded rude back there earlier, is everything okay with you?"

"It's alright." Rosalina scratched the back of her scalp. "I have seen better days; you're right about that. I'm wand-less, and powerless."

"Right... I wish you a swift recovery and hopefully you can recover your wand one day. I heard about this thing where-."

"No, I'm not doing that, thank you." She interrupted him, knowing well what he was going to talk about. "Just get Enrique to Blue Lake."

"Will do. Sorry for asking too much." Iker replied rather awkwardly, now fixing his eyes on the empty, dull road ahead. Everyone else remained quiet for some time while they were driven westward along the highway. The further they travelled, the more their views started to change. Closer towards Yagpar, most of their surroundings were plain, green fields with a few trees, but as they took the turning to head onto another road due south, they started to travel through more woodland areas. The sun would often become hidden as the view above became filled with clouds. Rosalina had her eyes looking outside the car all the time now, and the weather seemed to be the most interesting thing she could look at on this journey.

"Say... Iker, did you ever have any Red Martyrs visit your town within these past few months?" She heard Enrique speak across the seats while he too was looking out the windows.

"Red Martyrs? You mean those guys in robes and red? Can't say I have at all, I'm afraid." Iker replied slowly. "Why do you ask?"

"I had some business with them while I was racing. They told me they would be surveying these areas for danger, including some in the Wuhu lands, but they never called me for help when they were here."

"I don't think we've had any Red Martyrs throughout any of East Wuhu for years. I think if they were here for any important business, we would all know about it in the police department." Enrique didn't seem happy with a lot of what he just heard from Iker. Not only did he start to think that the Red Martyrs never bothered to patrol here in the past, but that Iker referred to this area as 'East Wuhu'. He didn't know that there was such a place called West Wuhu, if there even is a place.

"Would you say Blue Lake is in East Wuhu? Why would you call it East Wuhu anyway? We're in the south, right?" Rosalina noticed concern in Enrique's emotions; the way he gestured in the car. leaning forward and getting closer to hear on Iker showed he felt rather paranoid about where he was being taken. Not for the possibility that the place he was going to could be dangerous, but the fact that it was unknown to him.

"We are in the south, but we're also in the east if you know what I mean." Iker replied. "Wuhu's about the same size as the Mushroom Kingdom, but far less dense. Most of the towns and cities are along the east and the south, everywhere else is quite desolate and quiet in the west. Blue Lake... is, kind of west. It's like in the middle... the middle of the south." The road followed a rightward bend, now due west again. Enrique leaned back and sat on his chair properly. He waited a few more minutes until he noticed the next sign coming up for more towns and their distances away; all of them on a left-side exit. 'Palm Shore' was marked with a number six on the side, so they were very close to its turnoff. Then was 'Cheep Cheep Beach / Hillin Village' with fifty-eight, 'Hyglon' with a hundred and ten, and lastly, 'Blue Lake' with four hundred and three.

"Is that four hundred miles?" Enrique pointed at the sign as Iker drove past it. "You're being silly, Rosa. I'm not going all the way there 'cos you're going to leave me there and abandon me."

"I'm not going to abandon you." Rosalina tried to calm him down before he was going to get furious in the car. Iker tried to mind his own business and fixate on the road ahead. He didn't bother replying to Enrique as it would only stress him out even more. Maybe when he got closer to the other turnoffs, would he consider taking a closer one so that he wouldn't trek all the way to Blue Lake.

"I don't have any power in my device. I told you I can't get back to Earth so what use am I here? I don't even know if I still have it chipped in me? Knowing Peach, she probably had it removed in my sleep one time." Enrique complained.

"Relax, will you? I don't have my wand so I can't exactly fast travel anywhere either. I'm not going to leave you." She reassured him, getting him to stop panting and stressing out in front of her. "Everything's going to be fine. Maybe, just in case, we don't have to go all the way there. Coming to think of it... Blue Lake sounds rather ominous to me. Iker, can we stop at Hyglon instead? What's that place like?"

"Just take the next left. We're going to Cheep Cheep Beach." Enrique interrupted Iker before he could say anything, noticing the turning they just drove past was the one going towards Palm Shore.

"Are you sure you're confirming your destination with me?" Iker finally replied. "It will save me a lot of hassle by not going all the way to Blue Lake."

"Yes, I'm happy with it. We'll sort ourselves out once we're there." Enrique sunk in his seat, hoping that his Koopa driver would listen to him. Now all he and Rosalina had to do was wait another thirty minutes or so to arrive at their destination. There, would they get out of the car and hopefully never have to see Iker, Rose, or anyone related to any sort of government again.

...

The thing is this area on the southern coastline of the Wuhu Kingdom was very different to that one would see in the Mushroom Kingdom or Delfino Kingdom coastlines. The landscape of the southern belt of the Wuhu Kingdom consisted of a mix of white, sandy beaches and palm trees, and large patches of heavily dense forest, just like at the end of the Cheep Cheep Beach race track. Speaking of there and Palm Shore, the resort, the respective race track and battle courses are small islands just off of the mainland coast. The Palm Shore and Cheep Cheep Beach area consisted of much more land just like those, but also part of the mainland. Where there would be two Islands with a few palm trees making up the Palm Shore , there would be hundreds and metres of white sandy beach, hundreds more trees, and a large bay-side town as well, and with Cheep Cheep Beach, the same in terms of expansion. Unfortunately, peak season for both of these exotic destinations had recently just happened, and the weather there would be turning out to be a lot different from what one would expect typically from these places. January and February were high-season summer here, but it is now March. With this change though, one will see a large drop in the population of tourists. Everywhere will soon seem relatively empty, just what these two travellers were hoping for.

EOC: Here we have just witnessed the events of the morning after in the eyes of a few other characters. There are plenty of important people to get through, so hopefully we will see some crossings very soon. Thanks for getting this far.