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)

12. Enter, Ioreth

Downfall of the Mushroom Kingdom

Enter, Ioreth.

A/N: Looking back on what is written, I would give this chapter a rating of M or MA for what suggestions it contains. Please proceed with caution if you're sensitive to explicit writing.

March 14, Evening

Zeltarc West

(In The Narrator's Perspective):

"I promise you, I have nothing to do with those incidents that happened the other day in Cheep Cheep Beach. You have to help me with these orders!"

Days after the fiasco here in Zeltarc West, Ronald remained the only person residing in his and Jack's residence. At the moment, he was on a late night emergency meeting call with his business partners, experiencing several woes and doubts about whether he and Jack could be trusted to still work with them with everything going on recently.

"Are you sure? Because you told us that Jack would be absent today with a proper explanation." At the same time as the business partners were worried about Jack's whereabouts, Ronald received a surprising knock from the front door.

"Sorry, I must go for a minute. There's somebody at the door, and that's not a good thing." He got up from his seat and slowly walked over to the front door.

"We must hear an answer about Jack, because if he's in danger, than that poses a risk to our business!" He could quietly hear the voice from the other end of the phone call from his desk as he crept up to the front door. There were a few Wuhu police cars parked outside the house, with many Koopas in Wuhu police uniform just outside the door. He was the only person in the house, so he had nothing to hide, but the vast amount of Koopas he saw through the blurry glass windows next to the door made him know that something really draining was about to happen. He opened the door slowly, and the noise of the outside flew through the house and straight through his ears. The bright police lights span around into his face a few times and there were even cameras from some of the officers pointing to him. All of these Koopa police officers were part of different groups from different cities across the southern coast of the Wuhu Kingdom, all united and led by one Iker Koopasi.

"Excuse me, and correct me if I'm wrong, but is this the residence of Jack Akbal and or Ronald Rodriguez?" Iker spoke first, with some Koopas holding a microphone in front of him for Ronald to have the option to speak into. He noticed now that as he opened the door and looked at everything around him, that he was probably being recorded live and perhaps watched by thousands.

"I am Ronald Rodriguez, and yes, this is our residence." He replied swiftly after spending a few seconds to take all of the surroundings in.

"May I ask if there is anyone else at home, particularly Jack or even a name such as Tom, George, Toby?" Iker asked again, knowing well he was being watched by people from all across the lands.

"Nobody else is at home. It's just me." Ronald replied. "You also showed up at a really bad time because I was in the middle of a work call which I really need to get back to."

"Ronald, I'm afraid I cannot let you do that." Iker interrupted. "My name is Iker Koopasi and I arrive here along with my operatives on behalf of the Yagpar police department. Joined with me here are several other police forces from the southern coast and we're all here under the same suspicion. All the names I have mentioned above are wanted criminals, and you are heavily associated with them, so in order for you to get through this without having to be taken in by the Police, I recommend you let us in to have an inspection of your house under the assumption that you are lying about who else is in the house." Ronald looked around at all of the police officers and all the police cars. For the sake of his house and any more damage that could be done to it, he decided to give in.

"You can go inside, but don't damage everything." He moved aside and allowed several police officers to charge in and essentially swat the place. Ronald ran inside quickly afterwards, leaving Iker and more police officers with no choice but to follow him in. He quickly moved back into his office room first and got into the webcam camera view, relieved to still see his business partners still in the call.

"Ronald, is that the police?" The business partners asked as they saw him return, with a lot of noise from the movement of police swatters rumbling through the microphone to the other end of the call.

"Yes. This is what I have to go through because of what happened, hundreds of miles away that I had nothing to do with!" He yelled back at the police so that the business partners could hear him as well.

"There are weapons, everywhere in the back store rooms." He heard one of the officers call out to Iker as he also entered the office room.

"I'm literally a weapons manufacturer and distributor. I literally work with the company that I'm in a call with... before you rudely interrupted it." More police officers entered the office room as Ronald complained back at them. Now the business partners could see them all on the camera. "They can attest to this." Iker and a few other police officers looked through the computer screen and saw the business partners all in suits looking back at them.

"We're terribly sorry for this inconvenience." Iker tried to clear the situation up for everyone else. "You're clear of any suspicions for now. We would just like you to come with us back to Yagpar to be questioned about the recent events involving Enrique, Rosalina, and Princess Rose. You will also be meeting with Princess Éclair in Yagpar." Ronald looked back at the camera, knowing that the situation with his business partners was not looking good for him at all. Both Ronald and the business partners also knew that this situation could have gone far worse, as none of the Wuhu police officers assumed anything off about the weapons being stored here, not questioning once as to where and who these weapons would be going to.

"I'm sorry guys. I was not expecting this from these Baka Koopas over here. I understand if you want to call off the deal. I have to deal with this first." Ronald knew he was going to be escorted out of his house any minute now, so he decided to end the call abruptly with the business partners. "They were from the Wuhu Capital you know, Princess Éclair will be chasing you guys up when we meet her now!"

"You won't have to worry about that." Iker quickly said back to him. "Princess Éclair will be bringing a special guest with her to Yagpar tonight. Maybe Princess Rose might help you answer some of our questions tonight." The Koopa grinned as Ronald was escorted out of his house and to the police cars belonging to the Yagpar Police department. They, along with all the other local town police forces began to drive away onto the road heading southwest. All of the towns wanted to get onto this human case, seeing many meet up with them tonight within the hour.

...

Ronald sat in the back of Iker's police car for the entire duration of the journey, refusing to answer to any of his questions. He remained silent even as they arrived back at the station and during the journey. The weather went from a cloudy evening to a gloomy darkness filled with torrential rain. The temperature also dropped a few degrees on the journey, with winds coming from the southern coast. Ronald began to feel the cold and began to feel rather uneasy as the doors of the police car opened for him. He was guided quickly into the police station, still unrestrained, thankfully.

"Now, what do you want to do with me again?" He asked Iker as he followed the Koopas inside.

"Have you ever been here before? This beautiful city of Yagpar unfortunately ruined by a poor spell of rain tonight." He ignored Ronald, leading him through a surprisingly ran down set of hallways, though, only Ronald was shocked about what he was seeing.

"No, why would I? This place looks like a mess." He mocked Iker and the other Koopas. As they turned another corner, they were met with a larger group of both Toad and Koopa police officers and personal guards, surrounding a tall girl in a long beige dress standing in the centre.

"Princess Éclair." Iker and the other police officers surrounding Ronald all bowed before the girl, leaving only him standing up before her. Instead of paying attention to the princess, Ronald had a look at all of the other officers and guards in the room, noticing the level of seriousness this case entails from seeing not only Beanbean Kingdom associates, but government forces from the Wuhu Capital as well.

"Why's this one not bowing?" Princess Éclair spoke with an assertive tone, staring Ronald in the eyes and grabbing his attention. "Is this not the one you're looking for? He seems just as dangerous as the next one." Eventually, Ronald gave in and lowered himself down for Éclair. "Now, you may all rise." She grinned.

"The Yagpar police department requests to see Princess Rose." Iker stood forward into the open room that most of the others were inside. Deep to the far left, he was able to notice Rose being detained by the officers from the Wuhu Capital. "Ah, I apologise for my lack of awareness. It's getting far too crowded."

"You're right." Éclair smiled. "It is..." She paid a closer look to Ronald. "This isn't Enrique. Enrique's white, and blonde. Who are you?" It was a surprise to him that Éclair of all people wasn't able to recognise him. Initially, he thought it was a bad thing, but his privacy was there to some degree here.

"This is Ronald Rodriguez." Iker explained. "He's an associate of Enrique, and might know about his or Jack's whereabouts."

"I don't." Ronald quickly interrupted the Koopa.

"I think he's lying. We'll be able to question him here in front of you. That would be something he couldn't avoid, and he wouldn't lie to you. Nobody would lie to you, right, Princess Éclair?" Iker spoke louder, trying to show authority over Ronald.

"You'd be surprised." Éclair giggled.

"It's not that I'm lying. I'm not lying to you." Ronald looked back at Éclair. "It's that anything I do know is rather useless to you. You want the truth? I saw him, at my house, more than three days ago. I saw him, and I saw Rosalina, and I saw Duncan, too! But you know what I did? As a citizen of the Wuhu Kingdom? I kicked them out of my house, because I wanted nothing to do with them. Thanks to these Yagpar Baka I'm probably out of a job now because they swatted my house while I was in an emergency meeting with work." He ended his speech leaving a menacing glare at Iker and the other Yagpar police officers surrounding him. What followed was a few seconds of silence as Princess Éclair remained undecided on what to do with Ronald.

"Princess Rose..." She decided to direct the attention of the room to her. "Do you recognise this human, throughout your schemes and adventures in the Wuhu Kingdom?" Everybody looked at the girl as she slowly stepped up from her seat and walked over, brushing through the crowds of Koopas and Toads. She stood directly in front of Ronald. The two looked into each other's eyes for a few seconds. She then looked at other parts of him, remaining silent.

"No." Rose looked back at Éclair. "I didn't know this person had anything to do with Enrique or Jack. I've never seen a brown person before in my life." While she unintentionally insulted him, it only made it more reassuring to Ronald that this worked out well for him.

"Do you have any idea where Enrique and the others you saw may have gone to?" A Koopa police officer from Hillin Village asked Ronald as Rose was taken away from him.

"All I have to offer is what was already on the news. He and Rosalina, walking the streets of Cheep Cheep Beach, stealing somebody's car. It's nothing more than what you already know." He shrugged.

"It's useless to talk about Enrique anyway." Éclair realised. "He's already being taken back to the Mushroom Kingdom. He's in their hands now."

"Then what the fuck was this all about. Did you all bring me in here for nothing?" Ronald complained, angering many of the police officers.

"It's not just Enrique we're talking about here. We've been informed that you're a known associate to Jack as well, though you're telling us now that you did not see him with Enrique a few days ago?" Éclair tried to calm his anger down, making sure that none of the police officers get aggressive towards him.

"Where and when did you last see Jack?" Iker asked him, talking over Éclair.

"The day of the final race." Ronald replied after a few seconds. "He went off heading east to Mushroom City with his Lakitu-like friend from work. Jurah is his name I believe. They went to watch the final race, and I stayed here."

"Did you not go with them?" Iker asked quickly again, preventing Éclair from trying to ask anything back to Ronald.

"No. I don't tend to fiddle with the affairs of the Mushroom Kingdom. They're completely irrelevant to my work." He became very frustrated. "Can I leave now? You've ruined my evening and potentially my job. I think it's fucked up you brought me here assuming I had a part in any of this!" While he began shouting and letting out his anger in front of all of those in the large hall in the police station, most of them remained silent. Some stood back, some became frightened at him, but Princess Éclair stood firmly in the centre of the hall, trying to calm him down.

"Ronald, please come with me. The rest of you, deal with Rose, and make sure she stays with us, okay?" Éclair offered out her hand to Ronald, allowing him to move through the room passing through the crowds. She and her personal guards headed rightwards out of the hallway. Ronald moved past Iker, who had a frightening look on his face.

"What's with you?" He asked the now-scared Koopa.

"She's coming." Iker shrieked. His anxiety was hidden by the overflowing amount of people in the room from all southern towns. Ronald ignored the Koopa, feeling more annoyed at him for wasting his time.

Princess Éclair's personal guards halted anybody else who tried to step out of the hallway from the right-side exit, allowing only Éclair and Ronald to go through. She took him into a private room, which was amazingly soundproof, to his delight. As Ronald got inside, his heartbeat began to pace back to normal after hearing the loud voices of chatter come to an end after Éclair closed the door.

"I just want to speak to you in private and with reason. One human to another." She walked over to the desk and sat down on one of the chairs in the room, leaving Ronald left with the other chair on the opposite side. He slowly walked over to it and sat down letting out the greatest sigh of boredom and disappointment Éclair had ever heard from anyone.

"How much do you know about all of this silliness?" Ronald rested his head on his arms placed on the table, bored and frustrated out of his mind and now also tired. He didn't even make an effort to look back at Éclair. She knew from the way he acted that he had no regard for her authority around here, and since she didn't know him and that he was human, she knew that he wasn't a citizen of the Wuhu Kingdom for a very long time.

"Frankly, not that much." She kept her back straight on the chair and spoke very formally. "I don't often speak with the Mushroom Kingdom that much, and my main cause for concern right now is the acts of Princess Rose, but we have been affected by Enrique and his associates recently, and apparently that includes you." She watched Ronald rapidly lift himself up to sit more straight on the chair.

"I... I don't really want any part of what they're doing. I never really wanted to. I don't know him as much as everyone thinks. Just because we're humans in the spotlight, does not mean we all happen to know each other. Yes, I've seen him a few times in the past few months, but I was never really his friend." He began speaking confidently to Éclair now that he was alone with her.

"Have you lived in Zeltarc for long?" She asked back rather quickly. "You don't strike me as a Wuhu citizen."

"No, not really. I moved here for work last month. It was completely independent from anything most other humans were up to. You even get normal humans in these parts of the land, how comes they're not being questioned that often?"

"Oh, they are being questioned. It's a bit scary actually. I sometimes start to wonder if the Toad Patrol will show up out of nowhere and start asking me things about these Earth-boys." Éclair reached her hand out to Ronald's and held it softly. "I will try to compensate you with anything I can give if it helps you."

"Thank you."

"Anyways." She resumed. "Moved for work, from where, if I may ask?"

"Seven Farms."

"Right. So you're not really a Mushroom Kingdom kind of human either." She saw Ronald shake his head in response. "Anyways, your work, you said you were..."

"Weapons distributor, formally manufacturer. We used to get orders out to the Toad Brigade, but now we've gone private and working with a firm in the Wuhu Capital. Technically, we're providing for your officers now." Éclair smiled and grinned.

"My people are just concerned about unfamiliar humans, especially those in connection with Enrique and Tom. You know, those guys are all wanted, so we could reward them even more if you could find a part in your deep mind that remembers where they might be?" The room went silent. Éclair spent the next ten seconds looking at Ronald's eyes, watching as they went in all directions looking around the room as he was stuck in deep thought.

"I... can say this. If they were all last seen in the Mushroom Kingdom, and..." He scratched his scalp. "Enrique and Rosalina ended up at my house, if anyone else out of that bunch ended up near here, they probably would have came to my house by now... and they haven't. So my best guess is that wherever they are, it's somewhere far enough away for them to be heading somewhere else. They could be genuinely lost for all I know." He let out another sigh, followed by a yawn.

"Does it worry you knowing that some of those guys could genuinely be lost? We don't know the whereabouts of Jack, so... what if he's lost? Reports said that they were all teleported out by magic, presumably with the assistance of Rosalina since, you know, she's got that magic in her... so maybe they got teleported somewhere completely unknown. Does that bother you?" The two started to hear noise coming from the outside despite being inside a soundproof room, which was surprising and slightly concerning to both of them.

"Well it shouldn't bother you." Ronald replied quite quickly. "If they are truly lost then there's nothing for you guys to worry about... But..." The noise started to get a bit louder, and the room started to shake a bit as well. Ronald's train of thought became interrupted and both he and Éclair became more distracted about what could be going on outside.

"What's going on outside?" Éclair wondered.

"Should we go check it out?" Ronald suggested as Éclair stood up. She walked over to the door and held on to the handle, waiting for the noise to die down. Just before she was going to open the door, she heard a loud shout but was unable to understand the words being yelled. Éclair held the handle firmly and lowered it down, opening up the door. Through the hallway back to the main room, she could see the bodies of wounded police officers and the tall shadow of a human body approach from the other end.

"You!" The female voice at the end of the hallway called out to Éclair just as she was about to close the door again. Instead, she left it open and showed some bravery. She turned the door wide open and revealed herself to the figure that now approached. "Where is Rose Siracusa?" What Éclair saw across the room was a tall, cloaked, black-haired girl wearing almost all-dark clothing with only some details of green. Her face was partially covered and she was emitting a black haze of darkness around her.

"I may know where she is." Éclair confronted the taller woman. "Who's asking?" Ronald wasn't able to see much since Éclair had left the door ajar for him, but the intimidating sound of the other woman's voice bothered him. He tried to peek through the door to get a look of the other side, but was frightened to see the sight of the distant woman who looked like she had emerged from the shadows.

"You'll find out soon enough, Princess Éclair." The shadowy woman said back. "Hand the girl over." She began to approach Éclair, and as she got closer, Ronald opened the door again on her, pushing her forward.

"Is it Rose you're looking for?" Ronald stepped forward, getting the shadowy girl's attention. All she did was raise her head slightly. "She's back round there, with all those other Koopas. Trust me I hate them as much as you do."

"I've not heard about you before." She got close up to Ronald, just about matching his height. Her sharp nails tapped onto his arm and gave him an awkward discomfort. "You wouldn't lie to me, would you?"

"I'd rather go and find her with you." Ronald held his confidence high and tried standing up to the shadowy woman, miraculously being able to disposition her slightly. "I don't care how intimidating you are to the others. I hate being here. You seem to hate being here as well. Let's get what you want and leave!" The shadowy girl gave him back a half smile. With the top half of her face covered by a thick shadow from her cloak, that smile was all Ronald was able to see from her face. Éclair's bravery had clearly reached its end as she remained hidden behind him while the shadowy woman slowly turned her body to face the other way.

"This way, you say?" Her voice became slightly less aggressive as she felt genuine willingness of cooperation in Ronald's mind.

"She was being detained by many Koopas in here when I was last in that room just over there." Ronald stepped aside, revealing Éclair in all her discomposure. He ran down another corridor and out of sight, desperately looking for other officers and her personal guards. In a matter of seconds, the alarms activated across all the hallways, Ronald and the shadowed woman re-entered the main room and became surrounded by many Wuhu police officers, all pointing guns towards the woman.

"Freeze!" A Beanbean Kingdom personal guard led the group of police officers. "Stop moving any closer now! Get out of this land back to the darkness you came from, witch!" Ronald's eyes widened at seeing all of the guns held by the police officers pointed in his direction. He quickly leapt out of sight around the corner and hid there, but the shadowed woman remained tall and stayed in her spot in the room. Most of the officers she had injured on her way here had already been rescued and recovered, resulting in little to no damage, but seeing all the guns pointed towards her only angered her more.

"If you do not present to me the Princess I require, then I will unfortunately have to resort to harsher methods. Nasty methods." The shadowed woman threatened the Koopas and Toads in front of her.

"There will be no blood spilled tonight, witch." The personal guard remained defiant. "Princess Rose is not for you."

"Then I will take her from here myself!" She shouted, stomping onto the ground and releasing a purple ray of energy around the room, forcing all those looking at her to lower their weapons and lose control of their bodies. In a matter of seconds, all of the police officers and personal guards were forced to kneel down before her on the floor. Everyone was looking down, trying to move their heads but all they could do was move their eyes. She heard the anger and stress from the guards as she stepped aside, ready to walk down the path created through the room made by the formation of the kneeling Koopas and Toads.

"Come, human." The shadowed woman pulled her hood on her cloak down, letting her pale face shine against the lights in the room, now for it was revealed. Ronald peered around the corner, seeing the shadows and dark clouds disappear around the woman. His eyes widened in reaction to not seeing her, but all of the restrained Koopas and Toads, seeing that they weren't able to move an inch. The room was still enchanted with a purple bubble of energy, keeping all of the officers bound to what must have been an enchantment or spell. Ronald stepped forward, following the woman across the room.

"Straight ahead." He believed, trying to remember where she was last. He entered the enchanted purple bubble and remained immune to its effects, slowly brushing past the officers. Some of them were able to look at him, but were still unable to move their bodies. Down the other end of the main room were more corridors and hallways. The two were able to hear more noise now that they had left the enchanted bubble from the other side. Alarms were still going off but there were far less officers in sight. Many closed themselves inside rooms on each side of the hallway, but to Ronald it seemed like the shadowed woman had a feeling that she knew where Rose was being kept. He kept following her down the hallway until she took the next right that wasn't towards a separate room. There, she saw exactly what she was after and with a bonus. Just up ahead, was Iker Koopasi, standing in front of Rose, and behind Rose was Saïnis, originally in doubt of the shadowed woman's existence this whole time.

"You've brought her to me... just in time." The shadowed woman smiled to see the Koopa she had bound to her bringing what she wished for all this time. Rose became more frightened, trying to hide away and run from her, but she felt the grip of Iker grabbing and holding her arm.

"Let me go, let me go!" She whispered to him but he didn't move an inch. His eyes were fixed on the shadowed woman, almost looking hypnotised by her. The shadowed woman began walking slowly towards her; the shadows and black clouds re-emerging around her body. Ronald could only stand back and watch the events unfold.

"Iker let her go!" Saïnis shouted at him, but knew nothing was going to his mind. "Fine, you'll have to go through me first!" The Koopa stepped forward, getting past Rose and Iker, pointing his gun at the shadowed woman. He hesitated to fire at her, and before he could, the woman reached her arm forward, making a movement with her hand which corresponded to lifting Saïnis up from the ground. He lost grip of his gun, seeing it fall to the floor. The woman quickly pulled her clenched fist back to her chest, forcing Saïnis flying towards her and beyond her, slamming head first into the back wall. His body fell to the floor and he hit the ground unconscious. Rose shrieked, fearing for her safety. She looked back at Iker and noticed strangeness to his eyes. His pupils were purple and unstable, shaking about in the centre of his eyes. The pupils kept repeatedly expanding like they were a beacon; even looking at the eyes gave her a slight bit of dizziness.

"Please, please don't hurt me!" She cried out to the shadowed woman, tears were pouring down her cheeks and her body was shaking and shivering. The woman raised a finger and immediately Iker's grasp on Rose dropped. Her body froze on the spot despite being free. Too nervous to move, she couldn't help but give in to the woman. "What do you w-want with me?" She looked up to the woman's purple eyes, feeling dizzy for the few seconds they made eye contact with each other.

"You will make a wonderful offering." She smiled, putting her hood back on and covering the top half of her face in darkness. She gripped onto Rose, holding her even firmer than Iker. The Koopa stood aside as the shadowed woman began to drag Rose across the hallway to the other end. Ronald began to hear voices from back in the main room and couldn't help but follow.

"S...stop!" Saïnis woke up from his unconsciousness but was barely able to move. Ronald moved forward and picked up his gun for safety. He and Iker followed Rose being dragged by the shadowed woman to the end of the corridor. They all watched her use more dark purple magic to destroy the wall in front of her, giving them an exit outside the Yagpar police station. The shadowed woman threw Rose out first, keeping Iker hypnotised and letting Ronald through. As the other police officers started to charge through, Iker, still being possessed, turned his gun towards his own people. Saïnis noticed the possessed Koopa pointing the gun at all the officers rushing into the room and quickly rolled back in pain. Iker repeatedly fired his pistol, striking some of the officers as he left the building.

"Stop trying to break away!" The shadowed woman shouted menacingly at Rose, frightening her into being less restless. Ronald hid behind the back wall, hoping for the shadowed woman to come up with a plan.

"Where are we going?" He called out to her as Iker began taking bullets from the police officers' response of action. The shadowed woman turned around and lifted up Iker's body, pulling him away as his body started to create wounds from the bullets that struck his thick Koopa skin. Ronald rushed forward, looking at the shadowed woman.

"That car. Hurry!" She pointed into the distance, seeing a parked car hidden behind some trees. "Take the front seat." She ordered Ronald as they began to approach it. As Ronald reached the door, he opened it up and quickly got himself inside. He looked out to see Rose thrown into the boot of the car, now bound by a magical purple coil to keep her mouth closed. The shadowed woman almost reached the front passenger seat, but seeing the officers approaching and constantly firing at the police car, she used magic with her hands again to send a purple ray of light back to the charging officers. Some of the bullets struck the car windows, shattering the glass in front of Ronald. As the shadowed woman entered the passenger seat, she threw the keys into Ronald's hand.

"Drive away!" She commanded. "Down the road and left!"

Ronald floored it, leaving Iker behind to eventually wear off the hypnosis posed onto his mind.

"You know, they're not going to stop chasing us now. We've still got that girl in the boot of the car. They won't give up until they've got her back." He kept switching the gears, driving through the dark woods as it rained, hoping to find a highway road any time soon.

"Get on the highways, head to Blue Lake, and do not slow down!" The shadowed woman cried out to him.

As he accelerated, he looked slightly to his left, noticing the shadowy aura around the girl disappear inside the car. She unravelled the passenger seat window in desperation and peeked out of the car, noticing police cars blasting their sirens further down the road.

"Why do you even need that girl anyway?" He shouted back at the woman after noticing the police emerging from the view of the car mirrors. "Who the fuck are you, anyway? I've never seen or heard of you before." He looked to his left again and noticed the woman had climbed out of the window and onto the roof of the car. The roof was vibrating frequently, distracting him from the drive, but for his own safety and for the fact that they now reached a highway road, he kept his eyes focused on straight ahead. The police cars were catching up with them, but the woman started sending beams of purple light back at the police.

"Hang on!" He overheard the woman shout from above as she used her arm and hand movement to create all sorts of magic. First a faint defensive shield bubble to protect her from the bullets, and then a compressed ball of purple energy which she sent straight into the front of the car, overworking the engine. Ronald noticed the car beginning to accelerate beyond its normal limits, steadily passing over a hundred miles an hour. He tried to keep his eyes on the road, but now the sound of rapid-fire bullets could be heard from outside, worrying him even more. The car's speedometer was now maximised, clocking at over a hundred and fifty miles per hour. The police cars were trailing behind, but not giving up. Ronald was now going so fast that he didn't even notice the signs on the side of the road guiding him to highway exits. They drove straight through a roundabout bridge in less than a second, speeding past the Palm Shore and Cheep Cheep Beach turnoff.

"Keep going, we're not free just yet!" He heard the woman call from on top of the car. "Don't let go of the gas!" He assumed this car belonged to her now, and that she had somewhat planned an escape like this. The road was immaculately paved and never bended once so far. Still, the ridiculous speed was faster than he had ever driven before and what frightened him more was it felt like more than a hundred and fifty now and that the speedometer couldn't go any further from having none of it left to use.

"They will keep on us even if we reach Blue Lake!" He called out, barely hearing anything from outside now, not even his own voice. He knew now at this speed that having any part of his body out of the frame of the car would likely lead to immediate death. He tried to slow down the car now that it seemed the police were so far behind now, but he could no longer feel his leg. Ronald briefly looked down by his feet, and noticed his right shoe was left glowing purple, locked onto the gas pedal. "Fuck." He gasped, now unable to hear the woman on top of the car even if she was saying anything. He couldn't even tell if she was still up there now. Everything looked hopeless, dangerous, and full of terror. The only thing he could do to stay alive right now was keep the car straight on the road and pray that there were no bends in the road. He had never been this far west in his life, zooming straight past the next highway exit which would be going to Hillin Village. Just in a matter of minutes they passed two different exits, tens of miles apart.

What he could see now however, were beams of light shining down on the road ahead, going at the same speed forward as he was. Looking up, he could see helicopters in the night sky, flying forwards with him. The lights shining on the ground slowly reached the car until they were now shining brightly onto his face. He was partially blinded and couldn't see where he was going now, but he was still being gripped by the imbuement of magic onto the gas pedal. Ronald partially covered his eyes, completely out of control of the car. Looking at the helicopters, he noticed flashes coming from the sides of it and dents on the car being made by bullets fired from them most likely.

"Holy shit!" His hands began to shake as he watched a series of purple projectiles get fired from above the car aiming at the helicopters. The first few had narrowly missed the helicopters, but eventually after a few more seconds one struck the side of the nearest helicopter, causing it to set alight and start spinning in the air, bending to the right and eventually crashing in the nearby trees just metres away from the road, creating a large fiery explosion. His heartbeat was racing, his body was shaking, and he still couldn't move his legs. He was barely able to catch a glimpse of the explosion site as the car was still going unbelievably fast. There were more projectiles in the air that he could see, heading in the direction of the shooting helicopters. Eventually, one of the purple beams stuck another helicopter, causing it to spin more rapidly and land directly onto the road this time. The car sped through the flames, lighting up Ronald's vision, the sheer speed of the car smashed through any debris that remained in their way. The next exit was coming up, and it was for Hyglon, the last exit before the road would begin to bend slightly rightwards in about fifteen more miles. It was around then would they have to get off and head underneath the highway road, to follow on into the direction towards the town known as Blue Lake.

As the shadowed woman started to climb back into the passenger seat of the car, Ronald began to feel his legs again, having more control of the car now. The speed also started to slow down greatly, but going so fast to begin with, he didn't seem to notice the sharp drop. The car was beginning to glow purple, still enchanted by the shadowed woman's power, but it the speedometer was still showing beyond the maximum speed the car would be able to manage normally. Ronald couldn't do anything even with control over his legs, all the shadowed woman could hear was him repeatedly panting, full of anxiety and worry.

"Swap seats." The shadowed woman asked once at first, realising Ronald was barely able to listen. "Let me drive!" After another second Ronald snapped and turned his head to the left. His hands were still shaking and it took him a lot of difficulty to put his foot off of the accelerator. She grabbed onto Ronald and started dragging him across the passenger seat, throwing him on there as she took the wheel. Ronald slowly tried to put his seatbelt on, even knowing very well that it would have no chance in saving him from a direct crash. All he did now was to stare at the woman as she pushed hard down on the accelerator.

"Why are you s-still going so fast?" Ronald stuttered. "We've g-got to slow down soon... r-right?"

"No!" The woman shouted back immediately.

"The helicopters are gone! The police cars are gone! You can stop the car now!" He complained, trying to regain his composure after feeling on the brink of death for so long in the front seat.

"Look." The woman pointed to the rear view mirror. "Tell me again if it's over." She then kept her eyes glued to the road ahead, zooming past all the trees, hills to the side and the darkness that surrounded the road. Ronald looked through the mirror then immediately turned his head to look through the back of the car. The sight of another driver brought fear to his eyes...

What he saw was a smaller vehicle, almost looking like a kart, leaving a trail of flames behind. Ronald leaned up to get a closer and sharper look. It was a larger, magically imbued, mechanically modified, black Aero Glider driven by a tall man with soaking navy blue hair and dressed in black robes, and it looked like the vehicle was appearing bigger and bigger, getting closer and closer, and accelerating harder. The kart, the design, the appearance meant it could be only one person: Zane.

Scorching flames lit up his eyes, and an unholy burning desire to catch up to the car fuelled his strength. What was causing the kart to go so fast was a mixture of enhanced engineering, powerful sorcery, and a dangerous level of pure willpower. Even the shadowed woman was starting to look scared while driving.

"He's too strong." The woman feared. "He's going so much faster." She looked through the mirror and saw him approaching from behind. His acceleration came to zero now that he was right behind the car. The woman knew that any swerve at this speed would lead to a crash, but the sight she saw behind the car was what she was dreading this entire time on the highway. Both she and Ronald heard a loud thud sound as the boot of the car was busted open. They could hear the screams of the gagged Princess Rose just a couple metres away.

"EXIT IN FIVE!" Ronald called out, just about able to see the sign for it as they sped by.

"Fuck!" She looked forwards and started to decrease the car's speed slightly, hearing another thud which was the collision between cars.

"Come, come on!" The two could hear Zane's voice calling out to the princess in the boot. "I've got you." He was looking at a head shaking back him, refusing to make a jump from one car to a smaller kart.

Both vehicles began to decelerate rapidly as the turning for Blue Lake was approaching. From previously going at a speed of over two hundred miles per hour, the two cars were now going at slightly less worrying speed of eighty. Ronald kept his eyes facing backwards, trying to see what was going on at the back but unable to see most of it was the boot was moving up and down blocking his vision of Zane. As the turning came up, the vehicles veered slightly to the right, driving onto the exit lane. The shadowed woman's eyes widened upon seeing a '50' sign in the midst of the thunderstorm while she was still going at eighty upon exiting the highway. She slammed the breaks just for a second to decrease the speed a lot more, and quickly swerved left to follow the road around as it went underneath the highway. Roads from different directions met together to create multiple lanes, and the road met up with the lanes going back onto the highway, straight ahead now was Blue Lake, a town of two halves separated by a large dam with a bridge connected to it going from one side to the other. It was in distant sight, hard to see due to the torrential rain but still in sight nonetheless. Both Zane and Princess Rose were being drenched in the storm, but it didn't stop him from trying to pursue trying to get Rose to jump across. Most of the town of Blue Lake was composed of area built up around the large body of water that they called the lake with the dam and bridge at the southernmost tip. The road was to follow around to the right, going towards the eastern side of the city, but Ronald and the woman sped on straight ahead towards the dam.

"Oh fuck." The woman began to notice sirens and lights from police cars on both sides of the bridge. Now that they had escaped the woods of rural southern Wuhu, they noticed several more helicopters in the sky and more and more police cars coming from all directions.

"It's too late!" Zane had given up trying to get Rose to jump into his Aero Glider and pulled up next to the woman's front seat. He was able to speak to her now as the speed of their cars made it so it wasn't so difficult for them to hear each other. "You're not getting across the bridge. Hand over the Princess, and you can get out of this. I know you can!" He called out to her but there was no sign of her slowing down.

"It's too late to go back. I can't go back!" The woman shouted back to Zane. He began to drive a bit further in front of her, noticing Ronald still in the car, looking like had now fainted and was possibly asleep.

"You don't have to do this!" He tried to persuade her, now shocked to see another passenger in the car at risk of death. "There are other ways you can undo everything. You don't need the princess' life for this!"

"I'm not stopping." She finally looked at Zane while driving. "I have to get back to Tarren in Asterno. His life... depends on her."

"You're not killing a royal for his life!" He shouted.

"Get away from me!" The woman tried to send a purple projectile beam at Zane, distracting her from the road. She screamed and kept both hands locked on the steering wheel, regretting her action. Zane, without a choice, took a deep breath and let go of the gas pedal. He quickly got up from his seat as the Aero Glider was beginning to slow down and leapt up in the air with a burst of dark blue magic, plunging him onto the roof of the woman's car. The lights of all the helicopters shined down on him as he stood up and used his powers to send a red flare of light into the air. She still didn't show any signs of slowing down, and the police cars on the eastern side of the dam were coming up very soon. They were now being chased by at least five different police departments, the Wuhu Capital, the Beanbean Kingdom, and almost likely the Toad Patrol as well. Zane saw the blockade of police cars up ahead and knew to act fast. First, he leaned down on the left side of the vehicle and forcefully pulled Ronald out of his seat, destroying the passenger seatbelt. The shadowed woman ignored him and magically put more force into the accelerator. Zane started wobbling on the roof of the car, trying to regain his balance whilst holding onto Ronald. Next, he got onto all fours, holding on to Ronald's body and crawling down to the boot of the car where Rose still was. She was still bound by the shadowed woman's mouth restraint and was unable to say anything. All she could do was scream for help, to which Zane answered to. He pulled the boot all the way open and held it.

"You have to jump!" He shouted to Rose as she was squatting inside the boot. "Or you will die!" She gave one look in his eyes for a few seconds, noticing the dread sight that was before them at the bridge, and prepared herself to take a leap. The ground on the sides of the road was very rocky, so the road behind the car was the safest bet to jump. At the same time, Rose took a leap from the boot of the car and Zane jumped from the roof carrying Ronald's body. All of them tripped and rolled onto the ground as the car kept speeding by. Zane got up first and looked straight towards the dam, seeing the woman still drive the car ahead to the blockade. He started to run... soon sprinting, trying to catch up with the car's journey... and in just a few seconds after running, the car crashed through the blockade going at over a hundred miles an hour. Zane ran away from the road after witnessing the crash and headed leftwards, going towards the dam as the shadowed woman's car kept driving after ploughing through the police cars. It was her purple force bubble coating the car which kept it from getting destroyed by the collision. A few police cars had been damaged and repositioned just before the bridge, but now the shadowed woman was making a speedy journey across it... eventually realising that Rose was no longer on board. Zane stopped at the cliffs of the land, seeing an entire view of the bridge just beyond the dam. He stared at the car along it until eventually it slowed down to a stop. He took a deep breath on the edge, still being heavily rained on.

Zane closed his eyes and looked up to the sky; the lights of all the helicopters moved and shined around him. Without opening his eyes he pointed to the bridge, and after a few seconds the lights left him. Further back on the road, most of the police cars had stopped to deal with Princess Rose and Ronald's body, but some kept proceeding towards the bridge. When he opened his eyes and saw the cars enter the bridge, whether or not they were part of the Blue Lake police department, his eyes began to widen.

"Stop!" He shouted. "No, no no no no no no no!" He sprinted back onto the road, trying to catch up with the police cars. "GET OFF THE BRIDGE!"

...

"Please get out of the vehicle and put your hands in the air! We have you surrounded!"

The shadowed woman had the lights from the police helicopters shining on her, police cars blocking both sides of the road, and more vehicles slowly driving along from both sides coming towards her. She heard a Koopa call down to her from above using a speaker, threatening arrest. She got out of the vehicle, with hands making clenched fists. The absence of Princess Rose in the boot of her car sparked hatred that fuelled into more anger every second and even more as the police got closer. What she also saw on the eastern side of the dam was Zane. He had boosted himself up into the air to reach the dam from the cliffs and once again to get back onto the bridge.

"Don't you dare, Ioreth!" He finally spoke her name, filling her mind with fury. "Give up, now! You have done enough already. You've killed several Koopas today, were their lives nothing to you?" She held up her arms in the air but kept her face hidden with her cloak. The dark clouds surrounded her despite having so much light shining on her.

"I needed her for this!" She shouted but only loud enough for Zane to hear as he approached first. He raised his arm in the air, indicating the Koopas and Toads approaching to lower their weapons as they approached.

"You killed at least ten tonight, just so that you could kill another of somewhat more importance so that you could maybe heal that old man?" He confronted the shadowed woman, known to only few as Ioreth.

"He's not old!" She turned to face Zane. "He was just like you, just like Rosalina, just like the rest of you all."

"Ioreth, the self-proclaimed Lady of Asterno, who killed innocent civilians and servants of the Wuhu Kingdom, just to undo what she had done to him. You do realise that no sacrifice would be able to undo what you did, no matter the importance."

"Did you tell him?" She asked him as the Koopas got closer, ready to arrest her. "Did you tell Enrique that he was alive?" Zane stopped, despite the police officers getting closer to her. As he stared at her, some recollections of memories with her and who she doomed flashed before his eyes...

He said nothing back to her.

"He would be here now if he knew that his grandfather was here." Ioreth said to Zane again.

"It's better he never gets told."

"Does he know he's one of you then?" Zane refused to respond. He just watched as the Koopas and Toads surrounded her.

"Tarren would never ask you to do anything for him, even if you could do anything." He looked at Ioreth being restrained and pinned down to her car, no longer enchanted by magic. "He would certainly not ask anyone to make a sacrifice. You're clearly capable of wand-less power."

"We do not know your name but we are arresting you on suspicion of multiple accounts of murder and damage and destruction of police property. 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, should you be given the opportunity to be trialled in court for an arrest such as this. Should charges go as expected then you will be likely detained and facing execution within a month under the new Wuhu order of law." There were guns pointed to her, and surprisingly not at Zane. The Koopas and Toads pulled her up from the car and all of her shadowy clouds disappeared from her outer body.

"He will come to save me." She gave one last look at Zane before being taken towards the police van that drove onto the bridge.

"He can't do anything. He's powerless." He said back to her as she walked away.

"The demons will save me!" She chuckled, unable to look back at him. Zane watched her be taken into the police van from the back, with the Koopa officers closing and locking the door afterwards. He watched the van drive off the bridge to the western exit.

"Hey." The same Koopa that performed the arrest on Ioreth called for Zane's attention. "You saved Princess Rose from that evil woman tonight. The Wuhu Kingdom owes you something massive. We're in debt to you." He had a look at the Koopa, seeing that he was part of the Blue Lake police force but working alongside various other departments and with the Capital.

"I'm the one who should be paying off debts. Consider this a debt paid to you all." He wasn't happy on the inside, but he gave the Koopas a half smile of gratitude "Where is she?" He asked the Koopas on the bridge.

"She's being taken in to the capital, where hopefully she'll be safe for now should we be able to deal with this crazy one."

"Where are you taking her?" He looked back to the van.

"She'll be with us for now." The Koopa replied. "We'll be able to handle her. We're way more advanced than the other guys and can handle stuff like this. We've even got magic-friendly officers working our forces too."

"Then you'll need me. I can come to help out and give you any information you need." Zane smiled. "What's your name, anyway?"

"Nuto." The Koopa replied. "Nuto Forznik. Yes, a police officer and also a football player... and thank you. What's yours?"

"Hmm..." He smiled. "Zane." The Koopa's eyes widened, but after a second he just smiled again.

"Maybe you're not as bad as the east say." He started heading back into the car. "Just get in the back, you're not arrested obviously." Zane smiled and obeyed the Koopa, hoping to see Ioreth in cuffs and locked inside a room the next time he sees her.

...

Peach's Castle, Mushroom City

The Queen of the Mushroom Kingdom was unable to fall into deep sleep, with so much on her mind her thoughts occupied her conscience and didn't allow her to freely relax. The more she thought about everything, the less tired she became. It was less than an hour since she said her goodnights to the teenager a few floors down and in that time she couldn't keep her eyes closed for longer than a minute at one time. She knew she couldn't sleep just yet and decided to get out of her bed. With the curtains still closed, she moved over to the other bedside table and switched on the television in her room. It was previously set onto one of the news channels, and before she thought to change the channel she was immediately distracted by what was being shown on TV. The incident at Blue Lake town had already reached the news and was being broadcasted live. The TV showed the dam at the bottom of Blue Lake and from the distance. Recorders caught footage of the shadowed woman being arrested and Zane standing amidst the Toad and Koopa police officers on the bridge.

"What the heck?" Peach whispered to herself, keeping her eyes focused on the TV. She turned the volume up to hear the reporters better, now knowing the whereabouts of Zane at least. The footage no longer became live and the news channel started to show pictures of the destroyed helicopters on the highway that led both Zane and Ioreth to the town, with also footage of Princess Rose and Ronald being rescued.

"Oh my goodness." Peach quickly leapt out of her bed and rushed out of her room, heading over to Daisy's bedroom. "Daisy?" She knocked on the door twice, hoping she was still awake.

"What is it?" Daisy opened the door with her eyes barely open. Half-asleep, she was annoyed to have her sleep disturbed, even if it was by Peach.

"Come and have a look at this in my room, quick!" She held on to Daisy and rushed over back to her room, getting her to look at the TV.

"What?" Daisy looked at Peach before staring at the screen. Eventually, she could see all of the footage of the bridge, the helicopter crashes, and the rescued humans from Ioreth's possession. "Where is this?" She asked Peach. "Is that Princess Rose?"

"It's Rose, and one of Tom's friends. We've found him at least..."

"And that's... Zane?" Daisy's eyes widened, looking for confirmation from Peach.

"In Blue Lake."

"That's... a thousand miles away, at least. How did they get so far away?" She looked back at the screen. "Wait, who's that woman? That's not Rosalina, is it?"

"It isn't." Peach said back. "I have no idea who that is..." Regardless of all the big names that came into her head when seeing them on the news all the way across the lands, and perhaps clues to finding the rest of the humans, the footage of the destroyed helicopters scared her, as another major incident has happened in the south just days after the final race of Bowser's trial. More innocent lives were being lost over people being able to commit harmful acts of violence.

"Should we send somebody over there?" Daisy also appeared very worried, still watching the screen.

"I'll get Tranko and the others over there. I want a large batch of the Toad Patrol heading over there to be there by tomorrow night." The two kept watching and learned more about the news story. They were eventually informed that the person responsible for all of the police officer deaths on the helicopters and the wounded Koopas and Toads all the way back in Yagpar was this woman unnamed to the public, but it was the known to Peach and Daisy and all viewers watching that it was the same woman that was seen filmed on the bridge being arrested.

"Another human." Daisy looked back to Peach.

"I don't know if she's genuinely from here or another person from Earth. We can't have people secretly coming in to commit these crimes."

"She couldn't be from Earth." Daisy realised. "Nobody coming from Earth would be able to use magic, nobody that well at least."

"She's a wand-less sorceress. The worst kind." Peach began to feel increasingly worried. "We have to find Rosalina, and we must contact Princess Éclair to see if she knows anything about this."

"Speaking of Éclair." Daisy nudged Peach to get her to pay attention to the news, which switched to another series of reporters interviewing Éclair a few minutes ago from the Yagpar police station. Daisy and Peach both tried to listen carefully.

"We know that there is an ongoing investigation in the search for Tom, Enrique and his friends, which is why we had Ronald brought in here tonight for questioning, but it seems like what happened here tonight was something completely different and independent. While the human Ronald interacted with this woman and escaped the city with her, there were clear signs that he was doing it not because he knew her, but because he just wanted to leave Yagpar. Earlier in the night, we declared that he was innocent of any affiliations with Enrique, and unfortunately this has interrupted one of his business meetings which we are still going to compensate him for." There was a pause in the interview as she was being asked another question by the reporters. "Rose... well, we all need to be informed right now that she's not exactly the most innocent person either. She was here for her own reasons, but this woman that showed up, she had all these purple beams firing from her hands, and she wanted to capture Princess Rose, shouting things like 'THE PRINCESS IS MINE' but not saying why."

"We also learned that Ronald was found unconscious in Blue Lake when the united authorities had caught the woman on Blue Lake south bridge, is there anything you could say about this?"

"Well I'm going to assume he was used as a distraction or something? I'm not sure what she did with him after he escaped but from when I questioned him, all he wanted to do was leave and obviously she wouldn't let him."

The news channel briefly cut back to their studio where they mentioned that the full interview was on their website. Peach quickly rushed over to her castle phone and tried to dial up the department of security and tried to reach out to Tranko if he was still operating inside the castle at this time of night. There was nobody able to pick up the line on the other end.

"How did they get from Yagpar to Blue Lake so quickly?" Daisy called over from across the bed where she was watching the TV.

"It's magic, and this is why it's worrying because we've got a new threat on our shoulders." Peach responded, trying to call up the departments in the castle again. Due to her dismissing almost everyone in the castle for the night, there was nobody to respond to her urgent calls. "No... I don't want to miss another night of sleep over this."

"What's happening?" Daisy seemed very worried. She crawled across the bed and got closer to Peach, sensing her anxiousness.

"Tranko's obviously left the castle for the night. We need to send some people over there to survey what's going on."

"What about Toadheim?" Daisy suggested. "Doesn't he live in the castle? In the upper workers' chambers?"

"Nevermind..." Peach put the phone down, shaking her head looking away from Daisy. "We don't need to rush this. I hate to put it like this, but I hope the Wuhu government can deal with this before they get help from either us or Delfino. Maybe they'll help out with this as well." Unsure on the whole situation, Daisy decided to agree with Peach anyway, hoping there would be some sort of aid or intervention that didn't have to be initiated by them.

"Everyone is asleep I guess." She thought. "I just... hope we're right on this."

"They've got all the towns helping on this. I really just want to sleep anyway because I hate doing work when I'm shattered." Peach's eyes felt very heavy now, and all she wanted to do was lie back on her bed, not even making the effort to get herself comfortable.

"I'll turn off the TV and head back into my room for tonight." Daisy gave Peach a kiss on the forehead and eventually returned back to her dormitory to give Peach silence...

March 15, 3:00AM

Back in Blue Lake

"Mister Zane, could you now help us in this room?" Nuto called for the man's attention as he was sitting alone on a chair outside one of the offices of the west Blue Lake police station. Separated from Rose and Ronald, he was the only one to assist the Koopa police officers with Ioreth who resided cuffed up in chains. Not only were her arms chained together, but her fingers on each hand were chained together. She wasn't able to bend her fingers. This woman had no dark clouds surrounding her figure this time she was visited by Zane or the police officers, and her hood was pulled reveal all of her face to the police officers. While there was a chair inside the room she was to be questioned in, she decided to sit on the floor in the farthest corner in the room from the door. Nuto entered first with a few other police officers who stood around the room, one of which was armed with a magic wand as well. Zane arrived in last, standing behind the rest as Nuto approached the table. He exchanged looks with Ioreth, who showed no sign of cooperation so far. She still remained in the corner, looking like a complete mess. She didn't want to move, and because of her cuffs, she wasn't able to use any magic without moving her hands.

"So... we've miraculously got some documents about you shared with the Wuhu records. However we're going to keep this information within this department for now until we feel ready to share it to the public." Nuto began, accompanied with two of the guards by his side. "Could you confirm with us that your name is in fact, Ioreth Schaeffer?" The woman nodded after two seconds, still keeping herself huddled up in the corner. "And could you confirm to me that your place of residence is in Asterno?" She paused for an even longer period of time, but eventually she nodded again.

"Do you mind actually cooperating and sitting on the chair so you can speak with us clearly?" Zane asked just as Nuto was looking through his notes and documents. Ioreth looked at him and obeyed, surprising the others in the room. She sat down on the chair and kept her hands forward on the table. She said nothing, but the Koopas were impressed with Zane's assistance.

"Thank you." Nuto smiled at Zane. "Anyways, Miss Schaeffer?" He looked back at the woman. "Do you confirm or deny the use of dangerous magic such as mind-control on others to pursue capturing Princess Rose?"

"I confirm." She replied sharply and promptly.

"Do you confirm or deny that you may have harmed or perhaps killed innocent Koopa police officers on your pursuit in your car while capturing Princess Rose?"

"...I... confirm."

"And do you confirm or deny that you were taking Princess Rose with the intent to kill her?"

"I deny." She immediately looked at Zane as he called her out.

"That's a lie." He said, moving over to Nuto's side. "You needed a healthy human heart, and what may be an honourable sacrifice in your eyes is still blatant murder. Even I would never do such a thing."

"You're a murderer." Ioreth snapped back at him.

"My way to this was an act of euthanasia. It was not murder. Your attempt would have been murder if it weren't for him being like one of us." He leaned across the table and confronted Ioreth before being held back by the guards.

"Please!" Nuto called out. "I will not have a bad-cop situation inside my room, thank you very much! I'd have to ask you to explain everything in a much calmer tone because you've probably confused everyone in this room, mister Zane."

"I know what he means." One of the Koopas at the side spoke over everyone else. It was the Koopa in possession of a magic wand. "He's talking about a ritual sacrifice." The Koopa stood forward and stared at Zane, showing him the wand. "My name is Kranju, and I too am familiar with magic and sorcery." The two exchanged nods. "What he means is to perform a ritual sacrifice it involved taking the life of someone else, to power your body to be able to perform sorcery and magic without the use of a wand. Though, only the strongest are worthy and ready to be able to perform such a thing, and to almost all, it is still seen as murder. I don't know what he means by a healthy heart though."

"Ioreth wanted a human, because the person she performed the ritual on was of my bloodline: a Galaxyë. I will never forgive you for this... what did you even think to do?" He glared at Ioreth, who strayed away from Zane and refused to comment on it.

"So she committed murder on her attempt to commit more murder?" Nuto asked Zane.

"Pretty much." He replied back to him quickly.

"Then we're done here." Nuto folded up all of his notes and documents and immediately stood up. "Lock her up until we call for a date." The guards in the room held Ioreth by her arms and escorted her out. She gave a stare back at Zane before leaving. He was the last to leave, and was called over by Kranju while Nuto walked with the officers carrying Ioreth around the corner towards the back entrance.

"Hey, mister Zane. Do you have a few minutes to spare?" The Koopa asked him as he walked out and stood alone. He turned to the Koopa and approached him, noticing the wand still in his grasp.

"You're curious aren't you... more for you to learn." Zane looked around and whispered to Kranju, knowing this was to be kept between only those proficient with magic.

"That woman, she could do it without a wand, and what did you mean by needing a human heart?" The Koopa looked back at Zane, watching him let out a deep exhale.

"She's trying to keep someone else alive." He eventually said. "Someone who... depending on who you ask, may or may not deserve to still be alive right now... Somebody long thought dead as well. As someone living in Blue Lake... one of the westernmost towns in all the lands, you would know about how outlandish everywhere more to the west becomes. To most people who are educated, they'd know that here isn't so strange, but when you get on a train heading west, then when you get to Nightwood... everything becomes super strange... and then you get to Asterno."

"I will admit to you, I've never been to Asterno myself, Zane." Kranju remarked. "I wasn't born here either. I'm a Delfino Koopa, born and raised in Marhad. Some may say here is strange, but I think this is one of the most beautiful places to live."

"Though not so safe nowadays."

"Well... with whatever's going on in the north happening, surely the more south we are, the safer we are?"

"I don't really know what's happened recently with the north."

"Really?" Kranju seemed very surprised, expecting Zane to be well-educated on all matters across the known lands. "Aypyidaw has fallen. The Red Martyrs have been destroyed." The Koopa used his wand to lift up a newspaper that was left on a desk further down the hall on a table to bring it closer to him and Zane to have a look at. "Have a brief read through this." As Zane scanned through the first two pages, he became aware of the increasing hostile activity throughout all of Résethal, and now Mozortavo and New Donk City monitoring the tunnels, he wondered if an attack would soon be imminent at the tunnels.

"They've effectively got control of the entire north now." With a slight look of stress, he handed the papers back to Kranju.

"I'm okay with fighting crime and doing actual police work..." Kranju uttered. "...but actual war, actual conflict... that's too frightening to me. I'd rather work in smaller numbers, that way I don't end up becoming part of a statistic. My dad said that to me about his granddad, about not wanting to become part of a statistic... until he became one in the Great Mushroom wars. I still remember him saying that to me more than twenty years ago... 'If you die as one then you die with honour and respect, but if you die as one amongst many... then you're disregarded'."

"That's quite the deep statement." Zane grinned.

"It means a lot to me, but I bet it means more to those who aren't blessed with the ability to wield a wand. I think... deep down... we're all becoming a little more worried, perhaps a little more scared of what's to come... and if you think about it, even if it might seem dark and scary to live on the other side of the great Blue Lake, why would a hostile Koopa ever come here? If they're after something, it will be in the Mushroom Kingdom. That's if they want something from the south that is..." The two walked out of the main corridor of the station booths and returned to Kranju's office. Here, he would be alone at this time of night, with Nuto working with Ioreth and her documents and everyone else normally in his sector either at a different sector or not working a night shift, there would be nobody else inside when Kranju arrived with Zane.

"I could use some of your advice actually. Everything big that's happening is usually in the Mushroom Kingdom. Only once was something I knew about happening here. I should probably stay here for a bit... stay out of the spotlight." Zane sat on a chair inside Kranju's office, slouching and closing his eyes but remaining alert and still listening to Kranju.

"Well you may be on the news tomorrow when this hits the mainstream audience, but somebody like you wouldn't struggle adapting to somewhere like Nightwood or Asterno." Kranju laughed at Zane's final words, as if he wasn't a public enemy to the Mushroom Kingdom anyway.

"I'll end up heading that way anyway while I'm here. Once we've sorted out this whole Ioreth thing, I'll likely want to put an end to this so-called arc before it gets any serious." His eyes opened as he heard the noise of another Koopa entering the room. It was Nuto, finished with the girl's documents and done with his work for now.

"I didn't know we allowed outcasts into our office." Nuto looked at both of them before giving them a cheeky grin. "I'm just kidding. Thank you for your help today. Ioreth's detained in one of our anti-magic cells, so bad luck to both of you if you think about freeing her. Anyways... what have I missed since you two must have been talking about something for you two to both be in here."

Kranju looked at Zane then spoke first. "Just talking about ending this Ioreth situation before it gets any worse. How's Rose?" He asked.

"I don't know. That's not my business I suppose... probably shipped back to become Éclair's bitch again." Nuto shrugged. "What do you mean about ending this Ioreth situation. She's going to be executed. I couldn't care less if she has any loved ones. She's a mass murderer from our perspective."

"When's the date scheduled for?" Kranju asked again, with both him and Zane looking back at Nuto, eyes open this time.

"April twelfth. Four weeks from now. Could be sooner if she rots in her cage." Nuto replied. "So Zane... is there unfinished business about this then?"

"Yeah." He spoke quickly. "Eventually I'm going to head to where she intended to go, in Asterno. Hopefully I'll be able to put an end to this case myself."

"Hopefully?" He looked back at Nuto, who quickly caught on. "If you were a good person you'd be able to sort out this mess, right?"

"Oh it's not a matter of if I will or not. It's a matter of if I can alone or not. I haven't been to Asterno in quite some time..." Eventually, Zane got out of the chair and decided to leave, saying his goodbyes to the Koopas. They would remain in office for the night in Blue Lake, covering their night shift. As for Zane, he stepped out of the police station and looked for the train station. He remained under cover from the rain as he searched for directions to it. The thunderstorm was still running its course throughout the night, and train was definitely the only safe way to venture onwards, but whether there was a train running to Asterno at this time of night was a different story.

...

It was nearing four in the morning and the streets of Blue Lake were empty. Only the street lights were lit up as Zane rushed through the pouring rain and sounds of thunder to head towards the station entrance. As it was on the far northern side of the town, he had to venture through what looked like a ghost town to get there. Most of the built-up area of the city was either in the southeast on the other side of the dam bridge, or in the northeast where the business sector resided. Most of the western side was filled with darkness, the few lamp posts lit up on the streets and the flashes of lightning guided his way to the train station.

It was almost completely empty. Only those working the night shifts at the station were seen by him, and in a secure place like this, a ticket or card pass was required. Even the mightiest of sorcerers still had to obey by the rules and present a ticket to get through the booths. Zane reached out for his pass in his pockets to present to the security guard by the station entrance. Now that he was inside, the place actually got brighter. The inside of the station went underground and was lit up throughout all the hallways. There were four platforms, two heading east and two heading westwards towards Nightwood. He looked to the nearby screen to check for times.

3 min – Asterno (W) – P3

47 min – Wuhu Capital Central via Zeltarc West (W) – P2

Only two trains were operating through Blue Lake at this hour, and luckily for Zane there was one coming in at just the perfect time. Everywhere he walked from the entrance down to the platform was empty of people. As this developed city had a very bright looking train station, the atmosphere around Zane felt not so much as a desolate space, but certainly very much a liminal space. The white tiling on the walls and the curved surfaces made the place look like it should be day time, or at least very busy. The train eventually showed up as expected, but it was also very much empty. Nobody got off, and only Zane got on. Being inside one of the middle carriages, he could look both towards the front and the back and see through all the windows right to the very end of the sitting spaces on each carriage. He sat down and waited for the train to depart, awaiting this very long journey to Asterno that awaits him. Zane began to feel tired, and on the journey he started thinking more and more about his recent memories with this so-called Tarren.

He was another human of Galaxyë descent, one of the few that remain, yet the link between Tarren to him and Rosalina went back too many generations for him to remember, spanning possibly thousands of years. While they both shared a lot in common in through mutual blood, it did not mean they would be the best of friends. In fact, almost all of Zane's experience with Tarren was at best being neutral to him. The last time he saw Tarren was nearly three months ago, only on a small visit to Asterno where he had been living in hiding ever since the Mushroom Wars in the early 90's. It was his last encounter with Ioreth as well, and she looked like a regular human being. She wasn't like them. She was not of the bloodline. In fact she was more similar to the simple kind... Mario and Luigi may have gotten along with her if they had ever met.

What was most important about Tarren was that to the Mushroom Kingdom, Delfino Kingdom, even in Wuhu he was known to have died in the 90's, along with all the princes and Kings and anybody Royal who wasn't a princess. A life enclosed in the shadows of Asterno, seen by only a small few people to provide him with life updates of the outside world.

"One thing I can tell you... is that the Koopas of Résethal might not be dormant for much longer." He remembered saying to Tarren inside his dark house on the other side of the great hill in Asterno. Ioreth would always be by his side, like she was his maid, his accomplice... his apprentice. If not for Tarren then Ioreth would have never been influenced by magic and she would have never been taught how to be so good at it. It would be Tarren that led Ioreth to where she was now in fact.

"What news of Rosalina, is she well? What about Polari?" He was much older than both Zane and Rosalina, always keen to hear about how both of them were doing. With Zane repeatedly visiting him, he would rely on him to inform him about Rosalina since to her she never wanted anything to do with him.

"She is well." Zane replied. "As for Polari, well... I do not involve myself with the cosmos. Lumas... they can tell when one of us is pure-hearted. They still answer to her, never would to me, but as far as I'm aware, Rosalina does not visit the cosmos much now, more so she has docked the spaceship not far from the local flying islands. She knows what's going to happen here, it's why she's never left on her voyage." He knew that anything he said about her was at least somewhat interesting for him, but anything about himself that he would say to Tarren would go straight through one ear and out the other.

"I take it she still doesn't want to see her old friend." Tarren grinned as he was having something delivered to him by Ioreth. She looked so innocent back then.

"She's not visited in twenty years. I doubt she'll change her mind now." Zane watched Ioreth deliver Tarren a drink. It seemed that even though he had this 'haunted' house to himself, all he would do is sit on that chair and imagine magic with his mind.

"Have you met Ioreth by the way?" Tarren slapped her arse after she stood up from giving him his drink. "What do you think of my new bitch?" Perhaps it was many different women he was seeing throughout his twenty years of hiding, with complete uncertainty to Zane as to where each subsequent one would end up at. Some of them probably in the sea, some probably in the basement, he didn't know enough about it to care frankly, for his business elsewhere with the public was far more important. Besides Marrec, Rosalina, and perhaps Enrique now, Tarren was the only other person he had left in the end. The difference he had with the others is that Tarren had a history with the true darkness. The shadows, the spectral figures, the terrors that took human, Koopa or Toad form, and they are still out there ever since the wars. His last update about the whereabouts of one of them was from Rosalina's word, and it was affiliated with Koopak Asquia, another dangerous person.

"Could she maybe be the special one?" Zane joked with him, shortly after recalling the sight of many bruises the woman had on her thighs and arms. At the time, it didn't look like she would become the special one, at least in Tarren's eyes.

"This one's familiar with a wand, you see!" Tarren cheered with delight. "I've been teaching her all I know, as she's vowed to pledge herself to me, so long as I stay alive!" He looked back to her as she left the room. "You're mine forever!" He laughed, not impressing Zane in the slightest.

"You do realise, that when the day comes that the north has had enough of the south, even as far as here will be affected. You can't imagine what's happening there now." He tried warning Tarren about a possible future where his cover would be blown and eventually his crimes would come back to bite him in the heart, but Tarren was one to disregard most warnings.

"Oh, tell me. Are the shadows going to come out of the ground again? I was the one who banished them down there, not you! The Red Martyrs should have thanked me for what I did for them. They wanted me dead, and now they see it that way and took all the credit for saving the north from the darkness in the depths away from me." He didn't seem worried at all about news of an increasing level of threat in the north. That was because he was somehow one step ahead. "Their fate will come to them soon enough."

"What do you mean?" Zane was confused when he was talking with Tarren, but now he began to realise what he was saying this whole time.

"The threat of the hostile Koopas is nothing but a boon for me; a chance to escape the darkness of this wretched ghost-town and return back there where I would be hailed like their King. The Dargovi are a ruthless bunch, but the wise chief of Dargo and his spies have informed me of their strength rising above all else in the north. Soon they will be able to overthrow the Red Martyrs, and I know exactly what they need. Even Blumiere would bow down to me if he wasn't hiding even more than I am." Zane's belief in present day was that the Dargovi were responsible for the fall of Aypyidaw, only being informed about this, only hours ago.

"What do you mean... you think you'll be able to sail around to the north and be welcomed to Dargo like it's your home? How do they know that you're here?" He knew that something was wrong with Tarren; his greed and his pride and his lies to Zane's face, thinking all this time that he was the only outsider of Asterno to still keep in touch with him.

"As I said, the Dargovi are a ruthless bunch. They are strong, they have spies, and they are the best out there. If anyone is to take down the Red Martyrs, it will be them."

What happened after Zane's last conversation with the crooked man was his horrible memory of witnessing Tarren beat Ioreth continuously, forcing him to watch for some time until he was allowed to leave. At the time, Tarren was much more powerful than Zane in terms of how educated in magic one could be, so it wasn't like Zane was able to just leave the abandoned house willingly. It was also that night that Zane thought that Ioreth would genuinely be trapped there forever. Obviously that turned out to not be the case, and seeing her able to perform magic without the use of a wand made him know that she must have committed something very dangerous to him. Since he knew that the ritual sacrifice would normally lead to killing someone, unless Tarren is dead, the ritual sacrifice could perhaps affect a Galaxyë quite differently. Again, recalling her wanting to get back to him in the first case implied to Zane that he was still alive... but how is he?

Zane woke up from his thoughts as the speakers on the train announced that they were soon arriving in Asterno and that the train terminates here. His thoughts and recalling memories may have made him fall asleep for a bit, so he didn't know how much time had passed. This train journey from Blue Lake to Asterno was quite a very long one, certainly not to scale with train maps, but it didn't feel long at all to him. Briefly the train became overground, letting Zane get a view of the city of darkness before it would eventually go under the hill the city was built around and spiral halfway up there to the station. This city had a very intricate design which unfortunately Zane couldn't see well because of the thunderstorm. It was built in layers, going from the very bottom of the giant hill and tiering all the way up to the top where there was large, ancient building that had been locked for longer than he can remember. This was not a city for families either. The streets were almost always empty, even during the day, and the weather was either stormy or gloomy all the time. Being significantly further away from any other major city, it was so far away from the rest of the Wuhu Kingdom that the weather patterns were different to some degree of significance. It would be bright or clear about three days a month, with the rest of it being dark and cloudy, though to the other parts of the land it was unknown to them whether it was because of magic influence here. Still, it behaves like a normal city. It has its council, its residents, and it even houses one of the best football teams of modern times. The biggest downside to this city was that while it was so big, it had no roads, and given it was shaped like a massive spiral, it could be rolled all the way out to stretch out for miles. Thankfully, Zane has his experience here in descending the levels of Asterno to skip the spiral a few times. The train tracks went underground for the remainder of the journey, and the station resides about two thirds up the spiral. He knew where to go to visit Tarren; his abandoned house was two spirals down and he recognised which one it was. Most buildings in Asterno were built against the hill, but Tarren's was one that was on the other side of the road, built against the edge of the spiral. Every time Zane walked through these streets, he realised why he was able to stay hiding for twenty years. Nobody sees anybody outside on these streets, and nobody willingly goes to visit others here. Most people who live or go to this city are here for special business or to become more educated with magic, so even if people lived in all the houses, they would all look abandoned anyway.

Asterno train station was completely empty, just like Blue Lake's. As he left he checked the time, it was nearly five in the morning, so anywhere else in the lands it would look like the sun would be rising soon. Not quite now, but at least the horizon would appear brighter. Here, the night sky was always either black or grey, and completely covered in clouds. As Zane got to the entrance of the station, he stopped, hating the idea of having to leave. The weather was horrendous. Not only was there rain worse than the average thunderstorm, but it was coming almost sideways. There was a prominent gale blowing to the northeast. This was also the part of his journey where the lights would end, as since there are no proper streets in Asterno, there are no street lights. An umbrella would be completely useless here too as the gale would likely destroy it. Screw walking, Zane knew that it would be pointless to walk to Tarren's house in this weather. For the few minutes he had to to get there, Zane decided to fly. Channelling his magical powers with his body, he elevated himself through the storm and flew over the building opposite the train station entrance, now descending the city's levels until he got to the area where the house was. He recognised the right one and slowly flew down to the balcony entrance, since the front was obviously locked. He let hundreds of rain drops in from both his clothes and the weather outside after opening the slider doors to the balcony to let himself inside, but now that he was inside, he quickly dried himself, magically channelling all of the water on his clothes and hair away from him and onto the floor, creating a much bigger puddle than what was made upon arriving.

Everywhere in this house was dark. Now that Ioreth wasn't here to babysit the man, he knew that this place would be a dark heaping mess, but he didn't expect it to be this bad. He tried switching on the lights in the lounge room that he entered, but the power was out. Zane sighed, knowing he would have to resort to using his own light, creating a light blue flame in his palm. He raised it up and walked through the house, searching for Tarren. The chair that he remembered him being in was the only possible place he could be in and that was upstairs. Zane slowly walked through the house and up the stairs, searching for that last room... and there, after this long journey through the rain and wind, he saw him...

EOC: Yes, I will be keeping it M. It seems more fitting to write in this way.

I like the pace I'm writing at now. Hopefully I can pump out a few more chapters at this rate.

See you next time!