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)

15. The Red Light District: Part 2

Downfall of the Mushroom Kingdom

The Red Light District: Part Two

A/N: This chapter is the second half of the Red Light District mini arc and will conclude the first quarter of the story. After this chapter and the following Interlude, the story will shift back in place going to the paths of other important characters.

Additional Note: This chapter would be given an MA rating for various reasons associated with discomfort. Proceed with caution.

Peach had arrived at Ellis' house in the early hours of the following day. The two had to sneak upstairs quietly and all the way into Ellis' bedroom. It was a large room with a lot of free space but only a single bed in it. Seeing nothing but good intentions from Peach, Ellis trusted her in letting her into the house and allowing her to sleep in her room with her. While Ellis got out of her clothes and into her nightwear, Peach only took off her coat and used it as a pillow. With some duvets given to her from Ellis' airing cupboard, she was able to make a makeshift mattress and a blanket to sleep with on the spare space behind her bed. Ellis was able to drift off to sleep very easily, but due to all the woes and worries spiralling through Peach's mind, it made it difficult for her to fall asleep. She couldn't stop wondering about what might be going in the castle at this time…

March 15, 2015 – Early Evening

Peach's Castle, Mushroom City

Rynmar returned to his spot inside his dormitory chamber on the Upper Guesthouse floor. He got out his phone and minimised the brightness to conserve power on it. He knew that he won't know how long he would be spending here so he needed to make sure he always had access to the note page on his phone. Heading outside, he was met with castle personal guard, standing tall and acknowledging the human's re-emergence.

"Hey." Rynmar waved anxiously. "I've got some information relayed from Queen Peach on my phone, so I need to operate very quickly here." He spoke to the Toad. "Where can I find Princess Daisy?"

"I will lead you to her now." The Toad nodded, beckoning Rynmar to follow him down the hallway and to the nearest lift.

"I must inform you that this is a very serious manner."

"I understand. From what we know, Princess Daisy is in the lounge, three floors above. If you have some information that is private, then we can arrange to have the room emptied for just you and Daisy." The Toad informed him as they got to the elevator.

"Thank you." Rynmar replied. He waited with the Toad personal guard as the lift went up the three floors. As soon as it opened, Rynmar rushed on ahead, hoping to find Daisy inside the deluxe lounge room. Opening the doors to it, he saw Daisy, sipping a cup of tea whilst talking to Toadasha and another female Toad of high authority. All three of them turned around and looked at him.

"Ah. You. I was hoping you would arrive sometime today." Daisy greeted him in a rather freakish tone of voice.

"Princess Daisy, may we speak in private?" Rynmar awkwardly gestured to her his intense need for this. After a few seconds of slowly lowering her head, Daisy looked straight up again at him and gave him a big smile.

"Of course." She turned around to Toadasha and the other female Toad. "I'm sorry ladies, but I believe this is a personal matter I must attend to. We'll… catch up another day." Both of them nodded and smiled back at Daisy, getting up from their seats on the sofas and started awkwardly walking out of the door past Rynmar. Toadasha gave him an awkward glare before leaving but Rynmar didn't really pay attention to her. His focus was all on Daisy for now. She watched the doors slowly close behind him. Once they were fully shut, she leaned up straight on her seat and beckoned Rynmar to approach her closely.

"Come here and sit down." She said with haste and slight aggression. "Where in the world is Peach? I haven't been able to reach out to her for hours!" Rynmar felt very nervous, seeing Daisy on her own and feeling very disappointed in him already. He had barely encountered time with her in his time here so far let alone her all on her own with him.

"I… I have some information about Peach that she told me to tell you and you only. She went back to Earth to try and bring me and my friend over in an attempt to start the mission to search for my old friends… but…" He grew more and more anxious, hesitating to finish his sentence to Daisy in the event she would unleash wrath upon him.

"But what?" Her interrogating voice frightened him even more as she got closer towards his face.

"The portal's been shut down. Peach believes it was Duncan who did it, meaning he was in town recently. You'll have to check footage of the portal if you can. He's probably nearby. Daisy…" He looked at her as she finally backed away, falling onto a nearby sofa. "She's trapped. He's the only way she can come back." He watched her cover her face. She didn't want to speak to him at all but she didn't want to cast him out of the room yet either. "I… have a few other things that I need to tell you as well. Would you like me to say?"

"No, shut up for now and let me just process this, please." Daisy was taking deep breaths, still covering her face with her gloved hands. Rynmar could only watch her slouch on the sofa and groan. His own hands were shivering as the nerves of letting Daisy down without a choice caused him to be very scared around her. He sensed a different personality to Peach's in Daisy and he definitely preferred Peach's over hers.

"Okay…" He said quietly, looking away to try and distract himself. "Oh and… she told me to tell you to not tell anyone else about this."

"How in the world am I supposed to keep this to myself? Eventually people are going to find out that she's gone!" She sighed, finally removing her hands from her face. "She's stuck in England, right? Tom's portal and the one she got you from?" She looked over to him, seeing a nod from him. "Okay so… Duncan's the only way we can get this back from him and he could be already in hiding. With everything else going on, it could be weeks even months before we find a trace from him again. Even if we find him and retrieve it in a week, so much chaos could happen without Peach in such a short amount of time."

"…That's why she also told me that you need to take charge while she's gone." She looked straight at Rynmar and froze. Her eyesight slowly lowered after a few seconds. She became almost as nervous as Rynmar was right now, but was far more vocal about it.

"Oh… It wasn't a one-off thing the other day then. Then… it could go on for a long time you say. If she never comes back… then… I can't… I can't manage everything in her place. I've not got the experience and the… and the destiny she has… I'm not built for being at the top." She sobbed repeatedly, half the time covering her face and half the time looking away. "What else did she tell you?"

Rynmar's shaky hands raised the phone so he could look at his notes again. "Another thing is… you need to take charge of the Webcapstow operation." Daisy moaned and sulked again. Rynmar kept looking at her face when she wasn't looking back at him and noticed lots of frustration. She didn't like doing this, especially doing it without Peach by her side. Eventually, she realised that perhaps she was made to lead this operation. Given her time with the Toad Brigade and Toadheim back in Mushroom Yards, it only made sense for her to manage the people she could assemble to lead them in to finding more information about the lack of security in getting into the capital. "She also wanted to apologise to the Koopa she brought to the castle today and that he needs to partake in the operation today… along with anyone else that you might have found during the time she's spent gone."

"That's fine I guess." Daisy said back to Rynmar. "Apparently Mario was able to find another Koopa to help us with this. That's two Koopas that aren't affiliated with the government, and maybe you could help out on this as well. It shouldn't be too dangerous."

"Dangerous?" She startled Rynmar.

"Well what choice have I got? This isn't an easy operation and indirectly thanks to you, Peach is trapped so the least you could do to earn your time in this world is to work for us as she would have wanted, right?" He nodded back to her. "We'll figure something out that works best for us all. Anything else?"

Rynmar looked at his notes. "Yes. She told you to speak to… Toadheim about surveying the area and to make sure the cave is monitored 24/7." Daisy leaned up with a bit of enthusiasm.

"Yes. That's good!" She got up from her seat and approached Rynmar in a better way than before. "If it is Duncan who shut the portal down then maybe we can find him through cameras. We do have some recently installed around the area. Come with me now." She reached out for his hand, smiling at him. "I've got an idea." The contact with Daisy's hand gave the kid a rush of adrenaline he did not expect from her. Hit with another wave of both excitement and anxiety, he wasn't able to think straight, only to follow Daisy and to try and listen to what she was saying. "We're going to see Toadheim right now. Out we go!" She opened up the lounge door and smiled at the guards standing outside. She escorted Rynmar to the elevator down the hallways and waited for it to be called up to them. They were out of sight of the guards and felt safe to speak to him about the issues again. "Is there anything else she said?" The boy was half-paying attention and only reacted after a few seconds.

"Uhh, yes." He shook his head a few times. "Sorry." He looked on his phone and retrieved the notes. "After that… is… Just simple things. If I need to recharge my device I need to speak to Toadsworth… and I need to be back in the dormitory room by midnight." He spoke quietly being in a public area now.

"Wait, are you able to go back and talk to Peach again?" Daisy wondered. "That would be very handy, actually. Was she not able to use the watch?"

"No." Rynmar replied. "While I'm able to use the watch, she can't, and she also sent me back home. She won't be anywhere near me if I warped back. She's gone somewhere else in the town with Ellis, the other girl."

"Right so a warp would mean you're at your house and no sign of Peach, fair enough." Daisy waited patiently for the elevator and then rushed inside as soon as the doors opened. Rynmar didn't know where anything was, but Daisy slammed the button for the department of security: the seventh floor. The time spent in the elevator was quiet, but as the doors reopened Daisy rushed straight ahead, expecting Rynmar to follow her. "Toadheim? Toadheim?" She shouted through the hallways. Rynmar tried his best to catch up with Daisy, eventually finding her through a series of corridors and in the main security department room. Toadheim was found at the back behind several screens, peering across them to notice Daisy's arrival.

"Princess Daisy!" He shot out of his chair and bowed before her. "And… friend." He looked down at Rynmar from the desk atop some steps.

Daisy chuckled. "We need to look at footage before we start this operation."

"Sure…" Toadheim stood out of the way. "Where's Peach, you seen her anywhere?"

"Doesn't matter." Daisy walked up the steps and sat down in Toadheim's chair, pulling it towards the desk. "I need you to get me the new cave camera set. I think we may have found somebody important today. We can trace his location if we can see recordings of the cameras today. Please get them up for me." She slid the chair slightly to the left so that Toadheim could squeeze in and manoeuvre the mouse to search for the cameras. Rynmar slowly approached from the other side, anxious from all the other Toads in the department staring at him instead of working. It was the first time they had seen another new human walking with some other royal in the department for a few weeks now. To some, it concerned them with the amount of new potentially unfriendly faces showing up to the castle.

"You want me to fast forward through the one out of the cave from today's tapes then, yeah? It's still collecting but I'm assuming he's not there now if he was there." Toadheim looked at Daisy whilst scrolling through the footage.

"Go back an hour on camera two and then speed through." Daisy suggested. Her eyes were fixed to the centre screen. Toadheim put the footage back to 5:30pm and began rolling through very rapidly, monitoring an area outside the portal cave area and the surrounding fields from just outside of a bush. It had a great view of the entrance, and for just a split second, Daisy noticed a blob appear and then disappear on the screen. "Stop!" She ordered Toadheim and then beckoned Rynmar over. "Rewind it and then play it slowly." As the footage played slowly, both Daisy and Rynmar were able to see a human figure walking out of the cave wearing maroon-coloured tracksuit clothes and trainers. The figure's hood was up but a close zoom in to a frame that showed his face and a re-render to sharpen the image, they were able to see the face clearly. "Is that him?" Daisy looked at Rynmar. His eyes squinted, trying to get the best look at the image. His heart rate rose in suspense of what he was seeing. He couldn't believe his eyes. "Rynmar?" Daisy tried to get his attention, but he mind was mentally blurred by the shock. He slowly turned his face towards Daisy and then nodded in agreement to confirm.

"It's him." He said. "That's definitely him. It couldn't be anyone else right?" He slowly backed away from the desk and rested his body against the wall, looking away from Daisy. "Oh goodness."

"Toadheim." Daisy turned back to him. "Track that figure. I want to know his whereabouts. What about the outer cameras? Do we have a match?"

"On it." Toadheim sat down in his chair just given to him by Daisy. She decided to stand now and watch over the other workers in the department.

"If we can trace his location, we might need to be here for a while." Daisy whispered back to him. "I'm getting you all pizza dinner. Will have it shipped to this floor."

"Oh, thank you Daisy." He smiled back at her while searching through the cameras. "I've got an outer camera footage right here. He's heading… west… into the capital." He showed a look of surprise. "It looks like he's heading to… to Webcapstow." Daisy's eyes widened. She rushed back to the computers and had a look at the screens. Hearing that word turned her into a crazed, desperate and savage leader. She held on to the side of the desk and blocked half of Toadheim's view of the screens with her head.

"He's on the inside." She quickly turned her head back to Toadheim, showing a crooked smile. "We're starting this operation and we're doing it my way. Ryn! We're leaving! Off to the Mario brothers! Follow me now." She danced her way down to the end of the office room. "Stay focused, Toadheim! Your pizza will be here soon. Make sure your communications stay open." Rynmar followed her out of the room after she made a final curtsy to all of the security department workers. Now the two were heading to the seventh floor: the department of Mushroom Accords. Once operated with the elect of Toad, now under management by Mario, it was where Daisy last heard from them and it was where Manes was sent to following Peach's sudden department from the castle.

Daisy and Rynmar arrived into Mario's new headquarters and were met with Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Tranko, Manes, and a few other Toad castle workers all in a deep discussion, but their voices stopped and they all raised their heads upon noticing Daisy's arrival. Tranko gave the biggest nod to Daisy, being the first to greet her.

"How did the meeting go?" Tranko walked over and bowed before Daisy, surprised to see the human she led in with her.

"Cut short." She replied. "Peach is very busy on private business now so I will be leading the operation tonight. We've got a new accomplice here to help us too. Everyone, meet Rynmar." She introduced Rynmar to the others. Most of the people in the room were concerned for his presence here, but Tranko, always feeling boastful around a royal took no hesitation to introduce himself to Rynmar.

"I'm Tranko. I'm the new Toad Captain." He smiled, leaning forward to offer a handshake to which Rynmar proudly accepted. "Ooh, that's a mean shake!" He boasted, glorifying the teenager.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." He replied. "I'm glad you think so. I mean business."

The Mario brothers and Yoshi approached next, yet both Rynmar and Daisy were confused as to why Yoshi was here tonight. Due to Daisy's presence over the teenager, only Luigi stepped forwards to him to greet him.

"I'm-a Luigi. You probably already now me." He offered a handshake and received the response from Rynmar.

"A pleasure Luigi. Truly, they speak great things about you." They both smiled, but Luigi's didn't look as sincere. The sight of Mario just before him filled Rynmar with adrenaline and excitement. All of the games he played in his childhood were based off this man, and yet… he didn't show any sign of majesty or bravery in his sights. He only gave an awkward nod and smile before looking back to Daisy. He sensed that he wasn't very happy to see him.

"Yoshi told not to trust new humans." The anxious green dinosaur spewed out embarrassing words for everyone else to hear. Both Mario and Luigi cringed at him and tried to shut him up indirectly, feeling bad for Rynmar to hear that.

"He didn't mean that." Mario spoke and gave Rynmar an awkward smile. "I'm-a sorry."

"Anyway." Daisy spoke over them all before anything would break out. "No time for chit-chat, we're leaving now. Mario, where's the other recruit?" She looked at Manes, hoping he was ready. She didn't expect anything from him at the moment as she thought that all he did during this time was wait here with the others.

"He's already downstairs." Mario replied, wanting to leave first. "We've got the secret Toad truck for use and all of the gear's been put in there. We did some of that work today already."

"Good. Toadheim's got communications with us set up in his department. Come on everyone." She walked out first with Mario and Luigi to her left and right respectively. "I may need you two on the ground for an emergency scenario because we've got a big name that we could possibly encounter tonight." What followed was Yoshi clumsily following them, and then Tranko, Manes and Rynmar beside each other after him. All three at the back were confused as to why Yoshi was invited along.

"Might this have anything to do with Peach being busy?" Mario asked, showing open curiousness about her frequent disappearances. The group reached the elevator first and noticed an immediate size problem with Yoshi in the way.

"Right, this isn't going to work." Daisy turned around and noticed the dinosaur breathing over her. "Yoshi. I'm sorry but this is just…"

"Yoshi." Mario apologised. "We have something important to do." He stroked Yoshi and tried to comfort him, but the dinosaur showed eagerness to play with him and follow them wherever they were going.

"Yoshi come join you like in the good old days!" He bopped on the spot in excitement. "We go stomp Bowser again." Mario shook his head.

"It's more complicated than this." He apologised again as the elevator arrived. Daisy sighed, also confused as why he was here.

"Look, Luigi, take Manes Rynmar and Tranko down. Mario and I will come after or take the other elevator." Luigi beckoned everyone over quietly whilst Daisy shoved Mario out of the way gently. "Can we just go over here for a second?" She whispered to him, making him go far away from Yoshi so that he wouldn't be able to hear them if they whispered. The two watched Yoshi staring at the elevator as it closed in front of him. The other four began to descend the floors.

"What's wrong?" Mario whispered, looking indirectly at Yoshi to check if his body turned their way.

"What is he doing inside the castle?" She shouted quietly, most likely alerting Yoshi anyway. "He's essentially been living under a rock for so long now. Did he even see the point behind all the races or was he just there thinking it was another major series? He's a great friend but everything about him is just sunshine and good times! These are not good times, Mario." Yoshi had raised his head and watched the two from the distance, but showed no sign of approaching them. In her head, Daisy began to question if he was even listening.

"He's not going to be here for long. He only came back with us because he was at Toad's moving in party. We said we had to leave early and he decided to come with us. Even Birdo decided to stay for a bit more time." Daisy still didn't look happy with Mario's excuse of a reply. "He won't come with us. I promise."

"You and Luigi have got to learn to say no to him sometimes. Don't be fooled by his cuddly personality. He can be a bit annoying." Daisy was still frustrated on the outside, but the elevator was coming back up. Unsure what to do with Yoshi because Mario and Luigi seemed useless and would offer no help to her, she had no choice but to be truthful to the dinosaur, even if it did upset him. The three would enter the elevator together, going down to the ground floor.

"Yoshi, we've got some important things to do now. I'm afraid we've got to go without you." Mario took a few seconds to brave up and speak to the dinosaur whilst the lift was going down.

"Yoshi not know what to do now. Do you want Yoshi to stay here?" Yoshi asked, not even being able to see Mario directly in front of him in the lift due to his nose covering most of the view.

"Go home, Yoshi." Daisy spoke as she noticed Mario hesitating. "Go back home to Birdo. Go back to Poochy. Take good care of your family, and stay out of the city. Things are getting a bit unsafe around here. It's better to stay out of it."

"What… what about Yoshi friends? Yoshi want friends to be safe too." His voice sounded slightly less joyful.

"We'll be fine." Daisy smiled, stroking him.

"You'll come back, right?" Yoshi felt worried.

"We always come back." Mario smiled at him.

"Now, you two head out. I'll be with you shortly. I've just got some business to deal with down below. Run along now." Daisy remained inside the elevator when it opened, pressing the button for floor -4. She was now on her own and heading to the maximum security prison floor. There was one more person she wanted to visit before beginning this operation, just to see if there was any more information she could get from this area.

The maximum security prison floor was almost completely empty. Following the days of the racing tournament, the floor housed only one person now and he wasn't even in the special cell at the far end. Daisy walked through and opened up Enrique's cell door, seeing him lying on the floor in the middle and staring up to the ceiling.

"You." She looked down at him with disgust. "When was the last time you saw Duncan?" He groaned, not being able to reply. Daisy shook her head and kicked his body with as much force as she could throw out. "Come on. I'm not falling for this act." She knew he was weak but after being nourished for the days he was here, she didn't expect him to be as weak as how they found him. He choked and vomited a little from his mouth after the kick but he eventually spoke.

"Why… do you ask? What have I got to do with him?" He spoke slowly and with a whisper. He rotated his body slowly on the floor, rolling towards the bed. "I don't remember anything…" Seeing him in this state gave her no choice but to take out something she had kept in her pocket from earlier today.

"I'm not having this." She approached Enrique and pulled his weak body up against the bed inside the cell. In her hand now was a tiny vial of plum-coloured liquid. She opened up the cap to it and leaned over towards him, going on her knees in front of his body. "Here, drink up. This will make you feel better."

"What…" She forced the liquid through his mouth while he was speaking. It tasted well in his mouth and he didn't react towards consuming it, showing no attempt at spitting it out. "…is this?" He swallowed. "Why are you giving me… this?"

"Well you're no use being this weak to us." She got up. "Now, do you know anything more about Duncan?"

"What? No." He still remained slouched against the bed, useless to her.

"Fine." She started to leave, still disgusted with him. "I'll be back in six hours." She closed the door to his cell and locked it, storming out of the hallway and back to the elevator.

…

Daisy walked through the outer woods of Toad Town and saw the others standing outside a large white van that they were all going to use. Mario and Luigi noticed Daisy first and showed her some of the equipment they would be using today, with Rynmar standing with Manes and Tranko being told what they were going to be doing tonight. There were two other cars parked just outside the back entrance to Toad Town, not currently in use but presumably belonging to other people here.

"Did you give it to him?" Mario whispered to her as they approached. She nodded back and looked at the other three from a distance, overhearing Tranko lecturing them about the equipment they would be using.

"I said I'll be back in six hours. We'll see how he's behaving then." She then looked to the van. "Have you got your other Koopa recruit you were on about earlier?" Mario turned around and walked back to the van, looking to open the slider door.

"He's been asleep for ages, but he'll be ready to go in no time." He slid the door open, waking the Koopa inside up. Daisy watched as from inside came out a Koopa she had never met before, but judging his appearance, he didn't look at all intimidating. He crawled his way out, covering his eyes from the brightness of outside.

"How long have I been asleep for?" The Koopa rubbed his eyes, looking at Mario and Luigi before turning his attention to Daisy. "Oh… my apologies."

"What's his name?" Daisy showed no regard to the Koopa.

"Mirano." Mario looked back at him. "Mirano… I don't remember. Doesn't matter." He chuckled.

"What's so special about this one then?" She walked over to Mario, expressing even more concern about the operation tonight.

"He lives in the area. He probably knows everything about the underground." He walked slightly away from Mirano as Tranko redirected him to his group. He leaned in to whisper to Luigi and Daisy, expressing uncertainty in the Koopa's level of trust, but sure of his personality. "He looks like the next Koopa sucker, but for a few coins he's going to give us his best."

"He's going to have to get used to Manes. I know nothing about either of them." Daisy was worried, wishing Peach was here to help bring all the people together and find their best connections. "I'm sure two ordinary Koopas will be able to get along though." She subtly looked over at the Koopas and felt some relief seeing some obedience to them when talking with Tranko.

"They're our best shot at people who don't work for the government. If we asked Troopa then we'd easily be found out. We had to search very low for someone for this. He's all we've got." Mario also whispered and had a look, sensing that they were done.

"Toadheim's relayed me something new for you guys." Daisy mentioned. "I want you two driving the cars outside. They're for you and he wants you to drive them to the rally point marked here." Both Mario and Luigi got a closer look at her phone screen where she showed the point. "It's a closed car park on the outside. There will be Toad Brigade meeting you there for standby. Tranko and I will be taking the van all the way into the town. We'll have it on a quiet road for when we can drop the three out." She received nods from both of them.

"Let's go now." Luigi decided. "We can communicate with you on the way and when we get there." Daisy agreed.

"Alright!" She raised her voice to get the others' attention. "Time to go. Let's get into the van." She watched Mario and Luigi walk away to the cars outside and then turned her head to see the Koopas going up the slider door. Tranko moved around the other side to get into the driver's seat, leaving Daisy outside with only Rynmar left to get in. She looked across to him and smiled. "Hopefully we'll try and find your friend tonight as well. Make sure to get along well with the Koopas. You'll be spending most of your time here tonight with them."

"I promise." Rynmar replied. "For Peach's sake." He gave Daisy an affirming relief, allowing her to get into the van without any worry on her mind. After everyone was secure inside, the crew began to split up. With Mario and Luigi leaving first, they were able to ride a wave of fast traffic straight through the city, with Daisy and the others taking a quieter route through the outskirts of the city, traversing anticlockwise through many suburbs…

9:00PM

The journey through the city and all the delays meant it was pitch black by the time the van crew reached the bounds of Webcapstow. In a scenic area with far less skyscrapers than usual, Tranko and Daisy could easily notice many changes in the environment here. The streets were less lit up, the people appeared less formal, and neon lights were scattered across all the shops and their front entrances.

"Open the hatch." Tranko asked while driving. "Let the local have a look at where we are." Daisy took off her seat belt and leaned around her seat, opening up the small hatch to get a look through the back. It seemed like the three had never stopped talking to each other and were getting on very well.

"Mirano." Daisy called out. "Come and have a look, are we anywhere near where we could find Gaishō?"

"Gaishō?" Mirano couldn't hold himself and immediately burst out laughing. "Sorry it was so funny the way you said that." He rubbed his eyes and peered through the hatch to look out of the van's front window. "Alright let's see… Oh, we're really close. Pull up on the side and let us out. You're bound to get some of the girls out on the streets around here." Tranko managed to find an empty parking space surrounded by more cars further up ahead and pulled in. Daisy felt a chill going through her body from the van upon seeing the streetlights being red around here instead of the usual white or yellow.

"It absolutely smells around here." She was disgusted at not only the sight but also the smell of the place. Tranko managed to reverse the van into the parking space and stopped the engine, taking a deep breath afterwards.

"Right. Time for us to get into the back." He took off his seat belt and rushed over to the back entrance of the van, wanting to open it from there for the others to leave.

"Wait a second." Daisy grabbed onto the Toad's hand before he could open the back doors. "I want to brief them on everything first." The three inside the van were told on the journey to wire themselves up. They had a microphone inside their clothes, an earpiece for each of them tucked inside one of their ears, and new Muhu Delfethal phones for if they are able to take any photos of high-conclusive evidence. Daisy opened the back door herself, seeing the three not looking ready at all. Only Rynmar was somewhat wired in, but some nerves got to him on the journey.

"Hurry up. You're making us look bad out here." Tranko scolded the three whilst looking around the area. The street-walkers all gave him cheeky looks, even tempting him to be distracted on the job.

"I'm not a massive fan of all of this wiring." Rynmar spoke to Daisy. "You're making me look like a real fed. What if they want me to take my shirt off? We're in this place after all."

"Relax…" Mirano laughed at him, wiring himself up in the process. "You're a human. Nobody's going to touch you. Trust me. I know what it's like around here." He kitted himself up very quickly which even surprised Daisy. Manes on the other hand was struggling to sort out his microphone and tiny camera.

"Is everything OK there Manes?" Daisy leaned into the van to try and help the Koopa sort the wiring out from inside his vest beneath his shell.

"It should be sorted now. Alright." The Koopa was happy enough to get out of the van.

"Remember." Tranko warned them all. "Mirano's the guy who knows things around here. You, you're human. You can be egotistical, you can be boastful. You can even lie to people if you want. Manes, act quiet, act tough, act fierce and don't let anyone fuck with you, ok? That's my advice." Everyone swapped positions now. Tranko and Daisy were inside the back of the van, activating their communications with both Mario and Luigi, and Toadheim and the security department back in the castle. This led the two remaining Koopas and a nervous Rynmar out in the nightlife of Webcapstow, surrounded by red lights.

"Go and find the guy who watches over the girls, and find out what he's doing tonight." Daisy whispered, slowly closing the back door of the van.

"You've got it mistress Daisy Sarasa madam!" Mirano gave a quick salute and wave, channelling his awakened energy to lead the two others across the road. "Onward we go!" He started dancing through the busy road, disregarding the cars that were going by, with Manes and Rynmar waiting until it seemed clear enough to run across. The two were always behind Mirano in front, seeing a side of him they hadn't seen before in the van on the journey. They had no idea where they were going but it seemed like Mirano did, so the two made sure to stay up with him on the street. Mirano made a left turn on the pavement to go towards an alleyway that looked like it had no end to it. All the lights down here were red and neon and the building colours got darker. It was down this alley did the population of the town seem far more dense, and all the noise was coming from here.

"Walk fast." Mirano whispered once the two caught up to him at the alley's entrance. "The slower you walk, the more likely people will grab you and tease you and try to sell you in on something nasty." The smell was at its worst here and the sight started to match it. Down this alley bared sights that normal citizens would find most distressing. Drunk Toads, drunk Koopas, naked Toads, naked Koopas, Koopas making out with each other, Toads making out with each other, Koopas making out with Toads. There was a reason for the lack of policing around here. Nobody in the Toad Brigade would ever want to maintain watch on an area like this considering how disgusting it looked and smelled to them.

"This is absolutely revolting." Manes whispered to Rynmar as they were brisk-walking trying to catch up to Mirano.

"It's making my eyes water." Rynmar replied. "I hope it's not as bad indoors." Overhearing the sex-talk made him cringe, especially given how young he still was, but none of the Koopas and Toads realised that. None were used to human consent and morals.

Eventually, Mirano found what looked like a restaurant on the outside, but Manes and Rynmar still questioned it. The first Koopa went inside, and the others followed on after him seeing the place looking less red-lit and with more space to breathe. The place looked like a traditional dragon-themed restaurant. The place had wooden walls, painted green white and red, with lots of lanterns hanging from the outside. Rynmar started to look confused as maybe Mirano was actually leading them into a restaurant. Mirano waited for them as they entered through the glass door. The sound from outside was mostly blocked after the door closed. The smell also went away, relieving all three of them.

"Hey." Mirano walked over the Toad working behind the counter in the restaurant. To their left they could see lots of rowdiness going on but it seemed pretty tame considering it was surrounded by lots of food and tables. "A table for three… err… in the back." He winked to the Toad. Mirano smiled and looked back at the other two he was with. The Toad also looked at them, not recognising either of them.

"Your friends don't look like they're from around here." He leaned over the table, looking especially at Rynmar. Rynmar couldn't help but play along with the Toad's glare and stared back at him more menacingly, trying to appear more intimidating than the Toad.

"Nah." Mirano agreed and rested his arm on the desk. "You're right about that… Why does that matter to you exactly? That's right. It doesn't." He clapped his hands twice.

"We've had a lot of people not from around here recently…" The Toad whispered to Mirano, leaning back to pull a lever to open up a slider door nearer towards round the back corridor inside the restaurant.

"Life's hard." Mirano conversed with the Toad whilst showing the two others the way through. "Life's depressing now too. Let my friends have their problems taken off their mind for one night."

"Don't give them your habits." The Toad joked, making Mirano let out a loud fake laugh.

"Alright guys. This way." He led them through to another corridor with a long set of multiple staircases down to deep underneath the streets. The neon red lights would soon return to their sights as they descended through the darkness of the staircase corridors. They soon arrived to the entrance to another lounge area. "This is it." Mirano whispered into his microphone, informing the communications outside about their locations. The area looked a lot fancier than the streets and the restaurants. Not only were there more neon lights, but there was also a large glass chandelier lit up in the centre of the room. Rynmar sensed that this place resembled that of an old casino.

"I have a feeling this place looks like a brothel." Tranko spoke through their earpieces, looking at the screen showing the view of each of their miniature cameras attached on their clothes.

"I'm not old enough for any sort of pleasure like this." Rynmar whispered quietly through his microphone. "Please don't get me involved in any of this."

"You're not here to take part in any pleasure, Rynmar." Daisy reminded him, quietly giggling through his earpiece.

Down the steps the three went and what they saw before them was the part of Webcapstow which was as underground as you could get. Drinks bars on both sides of the large lounge area, private booths in all corners and corridors, and everyone except for those who wasn't working or was at the bar, was half naked. Thankfully, the sight of near-naked Koopas and Toads gave no feel to Rynmar.

"Right. Let's get a drink first." Mirano rushed off to the bar on the left side, hopping onto one of the stools and securing two more seats for the others. His eyes were full of excitement upon seeing his favourite server walk over to him.

"I'm surprised to see you here!" The Koopa behind the bar felt cheer to see a friend of his seeing him at work today. "I thought you said you were going to stop this so-called bad habit of yours." He smiled and started to prepare Mirano his favourite beverage for when he was here, expecting that would be what he wants.

"It's good to see you, Adama." Mirano grinned. "That's exactly why I'm here actually. To see you! Oh, no thank you. I don't want anything hard tonight. I'm sticking to my word. I'm not actually going to get into bad habits again." Both Rynmar and Manes looked across awkwardly, seeing the nametag on the server, which was indeed just 'Adama'.

"So you came to see me…" He chuckled. "I see you've even brought friends. Surely this wouldn't be what you'd get them to do if you were trying to recover from said 'bad habits'?"

"Oh they're the ones in the mood." He grabbed Manes by the neck as he was next to him and hugged him close. "I just gave them the recommendation. I never said I hated this place! It's my own issues that made me stop." He pleaded his excuse, indirectly introducing both Manes and Rynmar to his friend here.

"Mirano, I never knew that you were a regular here. I thought you just said you only live near the area?" All three of them heard Daisy whisper through their earpieces, with Mirano trying his best not to be distracted by it.

"…Anyway, are you able to offer us a list for tonight? For them, of course." He smiled at Adama and watched him turn around and fetch one of the pamphlets for all of the private booths and workers tonight.

"Just give me a minute." Adama walked off, ignoring the others if they wanted drinks or not.

"If you have been listening to a bit of what I've been saying, then you'd know that I'm trying to give up this habit so would you please respect that?" He whispered quietly but down to his microphone so it came out loudly on the other side.

"Hey, I didn't sign up for any girls tonight." Manes nudged Mirano. "And neither did Rynmar. We're only here to speak to the guy in charge of the Gaishō girls."

"Sorry just sorry just sorry will you please just listen to me here." He kept hesitating and trying to interrupt Manes' complaint. "I know what you said. I'm not stupid, but I know what it's like here, so we're going to do things my way. You want to speak to Watana? You play along with me, okay? He tried to lower his voice as much as possible to try and not make any attention from others directed back to him.

"Alright, sorry." Manes remained patient and obedient on his seat. "I should really face the other way…" He turned around and made it so his camera inside his clothing was facing the room.

"Are we getting ourselves a view of the others that come here?" Daisy spoke through the microphone, having a look at all of the sex-workers as well as the clients waiting across the other bars and in the central seating area.

"I can already spot several people that used to work in the Brigade. Disgusting." Tranko also added. "Curse them all for quitting. Look at how their lives have turned out, only finding worth through short-term pleasure."

"Hey… Mirano?" Rynmar whispered across the two seats. "Do you know where the toilets are down here? I'll just be quick."

"Oh. Over there." He leaned back and pointed to behind the steps they came from, seeing the sign to indicate the Toad shaped figures to represent male and female toilet facilities. "Must be confusing to you." He joked.

"Funny." As Rynmar got up and walked off, Adama arrived back with two pamphlets on the private booths and their prices for tonight.

"Here you go." He said. "I'll be in the back. Just call me if you need anything."

"Yeah, actually." Before Adama turned around to go back down out of the viewable bar area, Mirano called for him immediately. "Do you know where I could find Watana tonight? He's working, surely?"

"He's around… somewhere. It's all been on the go tonight." Adama replied.

"Yeah I figured. The guy upstairs said that there have been a lot of people not from around here coming in recently. What's that all about? Is it expected for a place like this? Wouldn't think so." Manes was only able to listen in to Mirano go on and on with this person behind the bar. He could definitely tell that they were friends and that Mirano used to be a regular here.

"Yeah he's not wrong. We've had a lot of people from all over the lands in recently. Actually, we've had a really big name come in over the past few weeks. He's called Raiyon, I think. Came all the way from Dargo!" The last parts of his speech were whispers as he leaned in to be quiet to Mirano. "I wonder if that's who Watana's been attending to recently. He's done a good job managing all the girls that work here, especially when this Raiyon fella basically wants to fuck them all every night. Deservedly so for someone like him. He comes in with his bodyguards and hundreds of coins and every time he just gets five or six girls in and I can't tell you the rest because that's what the private in private booths is all about. We must be the best brothel in the entire world if we're bringing in people like this guy."

"Write that name down, write that name down, write that name down!" Mirano and Manes overheard Daisy repeatedly order Tranko while they were talking with Adama. "I need Toadheim on the line. He better be hearing about this. You two boys… I need a picture or footage of this Koopa!"

…

Rynmar walked into the men's bathroom wanting privacy. "I'm just going to temporarily disable this." He said through the microphone as he switched off both the camera and the microphone, meaning he was still able to hear through to Daisy and Tranko. The bathroom was currently empty, and the door he came through had a 'PRIVATE' sign on it. He made sure to remember that for when he was finished. On the opposite end of the toilet facilities was another exit door, instead going back to the restaurant. With nobody seeing or hearing what he was doing, he felt privacy again, going up to one of the public urinals and using it. Almost done in here, he then went back to wash his hands. He turned on the tap and took some soap to give his hands a scrub, looking down at the sink. With the tap still running, he looked back to the mirror in front of the sink, only just realising a figure rushing towards him, but it was too late. He felt the grasp of human arms trapping his neck and his body, getting him into a head lock. Whoever was behind him came at him by surprise and put the plug into the sink, letting the soapy water start to rise. Rynmar tried to break away, but the arms wrapped around him felt too strong to push, shove or break away from.

…

"Say. Rynmar's been in the toilets for quite a while now." It had been just over two minutes since Rynmar had disconnected his microphone and camera. Manes showed concern to Mirano after not hearing back from him yet. While Mirano was deep into his first drink that Adama eventually served him, Manes couldn't stop looking over to the door to the men's toilets.

"Maybe he needs a cubicle." Mirano wondered. "I don't know how long humans take when they do their business in there." He was looking in the other direction away from the bar, specifically the centre-most private booth doors in the room. Just then, out came a half-naked female Koopa, looking anxious, scared and bruised. She started rushing over towards another door that led to the private quarters for the workers, but following her and coming out of the booth next was Watana, the procurer of this establishment, dressed in purple.

"Hey, come on girl!" Watana called out to her from the middle of the room. "Remember what you signed for!" He rushed over across the room, making all the other clients in the main area concerned for the girl. Some kept staring their way but the other female workers inside ordered the clients to remain calm.

"Ah, that's Watana there. He's the pimp." Mirano nudged Manes and pointed to him as he was rushing through the room.

"Ah, Mirano. I'll deal with you in a second ok?" Watana noticed him before heading out of the room.

"Sure." He nodded.

"Could one of you two check on Rynmar for me while you're waiting for that guy?" Tranko asked through the earpieces.

"Yeah, I'll go." Manes decided to leap off of his seat, walking over to the toilets, leaving Mirano to wait back for both Adama from the bar and Watana from the girls' room. He watched around the room and saw a lot of noise coming from the centre private booth which was situated on the opposite side of the room to the stairs going up. Inside was what he presumed was the booth occupied by Raiyon and his bodyguards. Adama walked back to the bar counter and noticed that only Mirano was left.

"Have your friends decided on something yet? Where did they go?" He asked Mirano, confused about the change of atmosphere he just noticed upon arriving.

"They've gone to the bathroom. Something seems off about here." Mirano pointed to the centre private booth entrance. "Any idea what's going on in there? We all just saw a girl walking out crying and Watana coming out afterwards to try and calm her down." Adama's facial expression turned woeful as he leaned in to whisper to Mirano.

"Oh, that must be Raiyon's booth. He's been in there for over an hour now." Adama looked at the entrance with Mirano. "He's probably got a fucked up mind if he's spending so long in there and if girls are coming crying out of it."

"Not just crying." Mirano whispered. "She looked hurt, bruised." The two reacted to see Watana walking out of the girls' room along with three other girls. They were already feeling sorry for them all.

"Come on now. Into the middle room. Don't disappoint the client! He'll be paying you all loads!" He turned and noticed Mirano and Watana, walking over to them after he saw the girls off into the middle private booth. "Seven thousand coins in one night. I've never seen a Koopa with that much free cash on him." Before Mirano could say anything back to Watana boasting on about the coins the middle booth client was giving to the establishment, Manes grabbed his attention on his return.

"The men's toilets door is locked." Manes pointed out and told the three Koopas at the bar. "I tried calling out to Rynmar from the outside and then tried to open up the door but it didn't seem to budge."

"What do you mean the toilets are locked?" He and Mirano overheard Daisy questioning them through the earpiece.

"There are no locks on the main doors." Watana looked back at him confused, but it only made Mirano and Manes more anxious.

Mirano got out of his seat this time and followed Manes back to the door. "What do you mean the doors are locked?"

"If this is some kind of silly joke you're about to pull, I'm not buying it." Watana said. "If you're serious about it, I'll be in the back, dealing with these girls." While both Adama and Watana became occupied, Mirano had no choice but to follow Manes to the toilets. The walk with him made him feel embarrassed due to other clients in the court room looking at him confused. The two went inside together and Mirano observed the door that didn't seem to open. At first he was unsure why Manes brought him in because the door didn't have a lock on it, so he thought it would be best to just simply open the door.

"Oh. That's odd." Mirano looked at Manes after attempting to push the door open. Nothing was moving.

"I'm not crazy. Now, he's also unresponsive because I was shouting at him earlier." Manes tried find a way to look underneath the door but there was no gap at the bottom. He was stuck for ideas. "Daisy, are you able to see what Rynmar's up to at the moment? Has he turned anything back on?"

"He's not reacted to anything I've said to anyone yet." She replied from the van. "He hasn't turned his camera and microphone back on either." Unsure what to do, the two were going to walk out of the small room in between the toilets and the court room, but were blocked from doing that as both Watana and Adama arrived to assess the situation.

"Alright, what is going on here? Nothing looks off, just open the door!" Watana brushed past the two wired Koopas and shoved himself into the door, making no progress. "It's… blocked or something. That's weird. You'd have to check the other side. The restaurant above shares the toilets."

"Rynmar are you in there?" Mirano shouted. "I guess I could try shouting again." He then said quietly before raising his voice again, realising something subtle on the middle of the door that he didn't notice previously. A small magical glow tied around the handle. "We're trying to get you out but the door seems to be enchanted." He hoped that Rynmar was on the other side so maybe he could hear them if they shouted loud enough.

"Enchanted door." Manes sighed.

"The door is enchanted with a magical lock? That's probably Duncan in there. The Brigade are on their way to bust him out!" Daisy shouted through their earpieces after Mirano put his body close to the door, giving Daisy and Tranko the best view of the door's magical glow. She took of her headset that she was wearing in the van and spoke only to Tranko. "I'm sending the reinforcements." She stood firmly inside and grabbed another phone in use.

Daisy called up Luigi first. When he saw his phone notifying him of Daisy's call, he immediately waved a signal to the Toad Brigade that were with him and Mario at the rally point, and then he answered the phone.

"Yes?" He spoke anxiously, getting into the car with Mario driving.

"Check your messages for the new waypoint. The place they went is called the Red Sands Restaurant, but we've lost contact with the kid. High chance that Duncan's involved too because there's magic separating the Koopas from the kid." While the two were armed with weapons just like the Toad Brigade, he had found special power-ups kept in bags inside the passenger compartment. He had a choice between fire flowers and ice flowers, hoping to use one of them against Duncan should the two come across each other. He looked at Mario whilst he was driving, receiving a nod from him in agreement to the power-up usage. The phone was also on speaker, so everything Daisy said was also heard by Mario and the two Brigade soldiers in the back of the car with them.

"We're-a on our way now." Luigi replied. "Is there any more details we should be aware of?"

"Yes." Daisy replied immediately. "Underneath the restaurant is a brothel, and there's a secret way in through the back door near the front bar. Where you want to go is the toilets and from what I'm hearing from the reports from the Koopas, the toilets are shared by both the restaurant and the brothel, so either way is fine." Mario nodded listening in to the phone as well. "Oh and keep your eyes peeled for a stand-out Koopa. Apparently there's a big name Koopa there all the way Dargo. He's called Raiyon and he's probably the link we're all looking for."

"Alright give us a run-down on all the top priority things we've got to do when we get there." Mario asked, nearly approaching the inner streets of Webcapstow.

"Infiltrate the brothel, find Duncan and rescue Rynmar, track down and capture Raiyon, and look for any ways this place could be linked to a breach of security."

"Maybe there's some secret underground ways through; tunnels or something like that." Tranko added after Daisy's orders.

"Search the entire place then." Mario concluded. "We're almost here. Luigi, turn on the sirens."

"Yeah. We'll be able to speak to you through communications when you get there." Daisy mentioned. The two then heard her speak quietly or further away from her phone before hanging up.

"Alright. I'm going outside." Tranko readied up his equipment and started to get out of the van.

"Good luck!" Daisy smiled, waving at him on his departure.

…

Just after Daisy started ringing up the Mario brothers, Mirano and Manes were still at the door, unsure of what to do next.

"Hang in there boy!" Mirano called out again, but also getting nothing back from inside. He turned around to look at Adama, wondering what to tell them, but it seemed that both he and Watana had already caught on to what was going on.

"Is that an earpiece?" Adama asked.

"It might be." Mirano replied anxiously.

"Is that really why you're here then?" Adama looked at Watana, who was also just as crossed with Mirano as he was.

"Are you guys undercover cops or something?" He considered kicking the two straight out so that the underground floor would have nothing to do with the incident in the toilets.

"It's not why we're here. Duncan's in there, damn it!" Remembering what Daisy said, Mirano snapped back at the two other Koopas from the brothel, hoping it would work as a better excuse.

"Duncan?" Adama looked at Watana confused, not knowing or recognising the name.

"One of the twin humans in the north. The spire-boy!" Mirano yelled.

The two others looked at each other, with Adama hoping that Watana knew something about it.

"We didn't even know he was here. He's got nothing to do with us!" Watana was about to leave, seeing this as a useless means to call out the brothel. He knew that they did nothing wrong or against the law, so having the Brigade invade here was completely stupid all because the doors are jammed in his eyes. "I should have you out of here anyway. That human doesn't even look that old." He said quietly leaving the small room.

"The Toad Brigade are gonna be coming in here thinking they're in the restaurant." Adama reminded him, hoping that they weren't going to get involved anyway. Watana turned around and walked back up to Mirano and Manes against the locked door.

"Go out and round then." He instructed the two. "The toilets are shared. Leave us out of this mess and don't come back until later."

All Koopas in that small room made their way out of it, returning to the brothel's court room. Watana was the most frustrated, feeling like the Brigade entering here on assumption that something bad has happened here might lead it to be shut down. He wasn't happy with the situation and the possibilities that could affect this place. He had no other choice but to close the place down by the time the Brigade get here.

"Alright every client that isn't being served, please head upstairs and out! The Toad Brigade are coming! All girls head back into your rooms." Chaos occurred in the court-room, and Watana was more aggravated than ever at the others knowing there were some important people to still deal with. "Ugh, I've gotta deal with Raiyon now!" He ran across the room, going through the curtains before the middle private booth entrance. Manes and Mirano rushed up the stairs with the remaining clients, heading up to the restaurant. Adama grabbed Mirano before he could do so, stopping him from travelling up with the rest of them.

"How could you lie to me again?" He yelled at the Koopa. "I never took you for an undercover Brigade cop!"

"Look, it's a long story. We should get out of here." He tried to go up the steps again but was pulled back by Adama.

"Oh you ain't going anywhere."

"Hold on." He whispered to Adama. "Uh, Princess Daisy. We've got both leads on this. You better pay me double for this." He made sure that Adama was able to hear the earpiece.

"Sure, Mirano. Whatever. Make sure you're able to find Duncan." Mirano looked back at Adama and turned off his microphone.

"You're getting half if you let me out of this." He persuaded Adama to let him up from the brothel courtroom.

"You better, or I'll tell Watana about this!" Adama watched from below, letting Mirano escape up to the restaurant floor.

"They won't check down here!" He yelled from above before heading out of the staircase entrance. Adama slowly started to back away and run back behind the bar, heading in to his own private quarters.

As for Watana, he slowly crept through the doorways and into the private booth, hoping to see Raiyon on the other side still. He was extremely nervous approaching the room before him, and because he didn't want to disturb his time of pleasure.

"Tell me… do you like it like that?" He overheard the Koopa's voice speaking so subtly and seductively to the girls he had in the room with him. "Very good." Before Watana could go any further, he noticed all four of Raiyon's security guard's standing outside the bedroom, looking away from it and wearing shaded sunglasses to cover up their eyes. All of them looked at Watana, but seeing that it was him, the procurer of the establishment, they stepped aside and allowed him through. Past the guards, Watana was able to look through the curtains and observe Raiyon and the many Gaishō girls that were accompanying him tonight with service. Raiyon looked menacing. He was slightly larger than the average Koopa and was almost fully naked on top of the bed. There were three more naked Koopa girls on the bed with him. Two were by his side with their legs wide open and faces looking full of discomfort as the Koopa had one of his spiky fingers on each hand deep inside their vaginas. The third female Koopa was right against his chest, currently in the middle of deep but gentle intercourse. Her face was buried into the Raiyon's right shoulder, trying to cover up the tears she was creating from the amount of suffering and pain she had been through. Upon seeing Watana's arrival, Raiyon quickly slid his fingers out of the girls, causing them both to shriek.

"Mister Raiyon sir, I have an emergency to bring to you. We've heard reports that the Toad Brigade are coming to Webcapstow, because somebody else of danger has been reported spotted in the area. We are going to have to ask you to pause what you are doing and prepare for any action taken against this establishment." Raiyon glared down at Watana from the bedroom and slowly moved his penis out from being inside the girl in the middle of the bed. He used the bed sheets to clean his hands and his penis. All the girls looked back at Watana and watched him nod at them, allowing them to get off the bed and get their clothes back on. All of them rushed away to get themselves clean. Raiyon remained on the bed for a little while longer though feeling down in himself.

"Sometimes the average girl can't handle such a great figure." He boasted, getting his clothes back on. "The girls tonight… I apologise for… role-playing a little too much. I'll make it up to them. Even though we had to cut this session early, put eight thousand coins onto my tab. Make sure they all get a fair share." He put a towel around his lower body as he got off the bed, brushing past Watana forcefully. "You won't want me to nick one of them when you're not looking." He joked. "Now, what exactly have I got to worry about then? Do the feds know that I'm here? I don't want to have to add to the killing tonight."

"No I believe they're after someone else. Duncan was his name… but they're bringing lots of the Brigade over."

"Spire-boy?" Raiyon shot up with excitement. "I wanna see him!" The Dargovi Hostile rushed out of the private booth with his bodyguards following behind him. Watana was forced to follow…

…

Mirano arrived on the upper floor, meeting up with Manes and seeing the Brigade starting to arrive quickly and forcefully. The same soldiers were met with the clients and half-naked girls running out of the building. Watana's message was relayed to the restaurant supervisor, meaning an evacuation of the upper floor was also in order. Tranko eventually arrived amongst the first wave of Brigade soldiers, disgusted at seeing some of the recognisable faces of clients leaving the building. Some people he used to know and some people who used to work for the government with their lives turning for the worst after resigning from their posts. He immediately rushed to the Toad at the foyer who was preparing to leave, stopping him in his tracks.

"Stop what you're doing! Show us how to get to the brothel." While some Brigade soldiers helped escort the clients and people at the restaurant out of the building, Tranko noticed Manes and Mirano just after holding the Toad working at the front desk at gunpoint. The Toad had his hands in the air and pointed to the sign that led to the toilets. Mirano and Manes rushed first after being ordered by Tranko, with some Brigade soldiers following them. They too had to descend a staircase that would lead them to another entrance to the toilets, also locked.

"This one's no different." Manes growled. "How are we going to get them out this time?" The two watched as the Toad Brigade marched through with a metal enforcer.

"Out of the way please." One of the soldiers asked as the two watched them walk past. They assessed the door and the two Koopas also noticed the magical bounds locking the door tight. The Brigade soldiers stood around the enforcer and launched their first forceful shove onto the door. Nothing significant happened to the door. Only a loud noise was created from the enforcer.

"Lean it back again. Stronger and harder this time!" Another Toad Brigade soldier ordered, causing the two other Koopas to stand even further back to give them all the space they needed. The next attempt to batter down the door was louder, but it was not having any impact on the door.

"It's not going to work." Manes pointed out. "Brute force won't do anything against magic." The soldiers carried the enforcer back and placed it down onto the floor. To their delight, Tranko had finally arrived, ready to assess the situation as well.

"Get the drill." He decided. "Or if anyone here knows handle magic please step forward."

While the Koopas and some of the Toad Brigade were dealing with the door to the toilets, Mario and Luigi finally arrived to the restaurant. With their group of Toads, they moved to the front desk being told of a secret way in to the underground brothel through Daisy in their earpiece. Many Toad Brigade soldiers guarded the place and the restaurant area was now completely empty of people.

"Alright, where can I find the button that opens this door?" Mario asked Daisy with his microphone, leaning over the front desk.

"Check somewhere around the back. Click and press anything. The door down should be on your left afterwards." Daisy had so many screens in the back of the van, all showing cameras of everyone she gave one to of importance. The Koopas and Tranko were still seen downstairs outside the toilets and Mario and Luigi's cameras were at the front desk searching for buttons.

"Did this do anything?" Mario flicked something whilst on the other side of the desk. A noise came from the wall nearby, and a door frame moved out slightly.

"Yes, come!" Luigi noticed a doorway appear in the wall. He was able to open it and it revealed the dark staircase leading all the way down to the brothel court-room. Mario held Luigi back, waiting before going down.

"Wait." He reminded Luigi about the power-ups and took two out of the bags. One fire flower for Luigi and one ice flower for Mario. "Power Up, brother."

…

Downstairs in the toilets, the Toad Brigade were ready with the drill, but before turning it on, Mirano noticed a significant chance to the locked door.

"Hey! The glow's randomly gone!" He tried pushing the door open now and all of a sudden it worked. The door swung right open and he fell forward not expecting the easy push. Manes entered quickly after and Tranko signalled the Toad Brigade soldiers to stop operating the drill.

"Move! Move! Move!" He ordered as the men's toilets were now filled with soldiers. The place looked in a complete mess. Ice shards on some of the walls, most of the floor covered in water, taps constantly on and sinks overflowing, and on one side were broken wires and equipment and on the other side was a human looking unconscious resting against a toilet seat.

"It's Rynmar!" Manes rushed over to the human, worried sick of the sight he was seeing.

"The poor kid…" Daisy cried from inside the van. She could only watch the Brigade soldiers and two Koopas rushing over to tend to the boy, hoping he was still alive.

"The boy shows no injuries." Tranko assessed him, just as he conveniently woke up at the same time. "He's alive."

"Rynmar, what happened?"

"Magic!" He panicked upon waking up, breathing heavily and acting very anxious.

"It's okay. Stay calm." Tranko tried to ease the stress the kid was bearing. "Was Duncan here? What happened?" He signalled the other Toad Brigade soldiers in the room to search the area, including the retrieval of Rynmar's broken equipment that lay wet on the floor in the middle of the room.

"I tried to consult with him about coming back. I didn't even know he was here to begin with. He kind of just spawned in out of nowhere. I just wanted to go to the toilet none of this I was expecting." He was still extremely anxious, shaking and trying to get himself up from the toilet seat.

"It's ok. We've got you now." Tranko looked back at Manes and Mirano. "You two stay here. It's this door that leads to the other side, right?" Rynmar nodded as Tranko pointed to a door with 'PRIVATE' written on it.

…

Now, Mario and Luigi were starting to descend the stairs down to the court-room together, and at the same time, Tranko and the Toad Brigade soldiers were approaching the way into the same room via the men's toilets. Like the previous door, there were magical locks on this one, but they all hoped it wouldn't last very long. As for the Mario brothers, they were armed and could finally see down below. The court-room was looking very dangerous, as there were several Koopas with guns pointing their way before they could see them. Fortunately for them, there were some Brigade soldiers behind them to assist. With this in mind, Mario and Luigi rushed down together with the soldiers following them. Mario didn't count exactly how many people there were in the room but he knew there wasn't many. The Brigade could easily outnumber them.

"Everybody freeze!" He shouted upon descending and jumping off the stairs. "Drop your guns and put your hands in the air where we can see them!" Coming to Mario's aid by surprise were another squad of Toad Brigade soldiers emerging from his left, out through the toilets. Tranko walked in front of most of the soldiers, standing next to Mario in the room. He noticed a figure hiding under one of the tables to the far left, calling him out.

"You! Under the table, stand up!" He shouted, pointing Mario and Luigi to the human figure that emerged. Everyone around them gasped. It was the first time they had sighted this wanted human in a long time. They were all whispering his name: Duncan… and they started to point their guns to him instead.

"I was wrong to doubt the Queen in bringing the new kid over to here. Who would have thought that he would so easily have been able to lead us straight to you?" Mario taunted, taking a few steps forward to him. Even Raiyon and his bodyguards were surprised at Mario's engagement with the teenager; however, his time in the spotlight would soon end as Mario turned his focus back to the Koopa. "Then there's you. Raiyon is it? That's what others have said. All the way from Dargo. Are you the reason behind the security catastrophe? Are you the person who's been funnelling all these hostile Koopas into our great city allowing them to spread their violence?" This could be the first ever major find in fixing the security issue in Mushroom City. Mario wanted to know how this Koopa ended up here and who gave them access. This brothel area already looked abandoned besides Raiyon and his bodyguards being here.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Raiyon said back immediately after. Mario didn't buy into his lies. If a Koopa was coming from Dargo, surely he'd have been stopped somewhere along the way. "I'm actually doing the city a favour. I come here with all my coins and I give it back to your people, and what do I get for it in return? I get held at gunpoint by a bunch of elitist Toads and two measly men with a saint complex. There's a reason so many people turn away from you." He made himself sound so innocent, pretending that he was doing something good for the city. Mario felt more threatened and humiliated by him than ever.

"Ha! That's rich." Mario's face turned angrier. "Look at you, big and cocky on the outside but tiny and frail on the inside. Besides, I've fought Koopas bigger and tougher than you!" His rage finally reached Raiyon, and he too was now intimidated. The two set their guns aside and instead walked right up to each other in the centre of the room.

"Oh really? You think your fights with Bowser meant anything? It was obvious he was playing you on easy mode." The Koopa bodyguards and Toad Brigade soldiers could only become distracted seeing Mario and Raiyon square up to each other. Surprisingly, the two were now looking less dangerous than before as they both put their guns down on the floor and just focused on insulting each other.

"So you think I'm not that much of a fight, do you? Let's do it then! You and-a me, right now!" Mario went right up to Raiyon's face.

"Oh so you want a fight, yeah? Nobody else interfering. Tell your Toad Brigade bozos to lower their guns and let's have it then!"

"Oh yeah?" While Mario and Raiyon were still arguing with each other, the Brigade soldiers and Koopa bodyguards were unsure what to do and started to lower their guns.

"Yeah!"

"Alright, I warned you!" Mario stretched out his gloves, ready to start his first punch right at the Koopa's face, but while looking up he and Raiyon noticed a loud but quick noise strike a chandelier that was hanging just above both of them. Mario was able to quickly strafe and roll backwards, avoiding the falling chandelier, but Raiyon reacted a little slower and unfortunately banged his head on the side of it as it came crashing down, lighting up in flames in the middle of the room. Catching on to the cloths of the nearby tables, the flames began to spread quickly, causing everyone to remain alert from this newfound danger inside the room. Some of the Brigade soldiers and bodyguards saw that the strike on the chandelier came from magic created by Duncan from the far side of the room. They all held up their guns and started firing towards him seeing him leap away behind the bar on the left side. As the Brigade soldiers felt bullets going their way, they decided to retaliate and start shooting at the bodyguards across the room. Raiyon started to back away, hiding behind the curtains opposite, leading back to the private booth. Seeing the Koopa run and hide away, Mario grew frustrated.

"Come back here!" He shouted across the ongoing gunfire in the background. Mario, with his ice flower power-up consumed, briefly doused the flames before him where the chandelier fell, allowing himself to rush forward while avoiding the flames. Some of the bodyguards had already been shot as he ran through the curtains in an attempt to chase Raiyon. Luigi tried to join him, but the flames re-emerged soon after and he felt afraid to follow his brother. As well as that, the gunfire frightened him, and with his own one, he started joining the Brigade and shooting down the remaining bodyguards. No casualties from the Brigade side were seen, but there were a few injuries.

"Put out the flames and find that human!" Tranko ordered the Brigade, seeing them try to climb over to the bar and open up the door that led to behind the bar. Once again however, it had been enchanted with magical locks.

"Find Mario!" Luigi shouted, trying to get past the flames in the room. He couldn't see an easy way to the other side as the flames got worse. They started to catch on to the curtains and this was something the Toad Brigade weren't prepared for.

"This is too much!" Tranko called out, hoping to find water in the bathroom but even filled sinks worth of water wouldn't be enough for the increasing level of flames in this room.

"Daisy, where's Mario?" Luigi spoke through his microphone. "It's getting too dangerous in here!"

"I've called the fire department. They should be on their way quickly. Mario seems fine for now. He's just trying to find the Koopa on the other side." She was still inside the van, feeling extra worried for Luigi over everyone else. "You've got to get out of there. Both of you!" Luigi shook his head and started to run up the stairs with the other Toad Brigade soldiers. Mario on the other hand thought and said otherwise.

"No, I must find this Koopa. He's our only lead to this problem!" He was well over his head and sweating like anything. He searched the private booth and tried to find traces of where the Koopa may have disappeared to. If the Koopa came this way then the only way he would have gone is through the same way he arrived. "If I find him then I find how he got here." He was far enough away from the flames where he could start to search all places. There were corridors with red curtains on both sides and doors that led to other places on this floor. The flames were starting to spread into the area, but tracking the large Koopa's path led Mario to another set of curtains. He pulled them aside and found another door that led down more steps into a very dark passage. Daisy was looking at his camera on the screens in the van and noticed the dark cave tunnel that seemed to go on for miles. On one end of the tunnel were a few doors that all led to the same underground floor, but it was the other end that made her gasp. Near darkness at the other end, but it was so far away that the two couldn't even tell how far away it was. "Daisy, are you getting this?" Mario faced towards the far end of the tunnel and threw a snow ball with his ice flower, watching it bounce against the walls of the tunnel to light up some of it, going for quite a distance before eventually breaking on contact with a puddle somewhere along it.

"It just goes on and on… for miles."

"There's no way the Koopa ran all this way. He's injured from the chandelier so I doubt he could have got very far." Mario walked briefly in the cave for a few seconds and then looked back to the light coming from the corridors, seeing the large Koopa moving really fast. "Ah."

Mario took a large punch to the face as Raiyon was appearing in front of the door.

"Mario! Are you okay? Get up!" Daisy screamed in the van. Mario was hit with such force that it took away his ice flower power-up and sent him backwards onto the floor in the tunnel. Raiyon jumped down from the doorway into the tunnel and grabbed hold of him.

"Wires, disgraceful." Raiyon growled whilst having Mario in his grasp. He ripped out the camera and microphone from his clothes and threw them aside, breaking the connection. Daisy now could only see the screen facing the ground, looking almost entirely black. "It's a fight you wanted? Come then, show me what you're really capable of. Show me what Bowser was so generous to put up with for all those years!" He threw Mario aside, waiting for him to get up.

Back in the van, Daisy changed communications to Luigi, begging for him to go back down, but he was already upstairs and out of the restaurant. She could hear the sounds of fire trucks driving down the road, and Toad Brigade firemen were ready to rush through the alleys of Webcapstow to meet up with him and put out the fires.

"Luigi, Mario's camera and microphone's disconnected. You've got to go back and find him at the hidden tunnel. He's in great danger!" She cried through her communications. Luigi was listening in, with Tranko overhearing as well.

"We've got to go back down when the firemen arrive. Mario's one on one with that Koopa and we've lost contact of him!" The two could only wait for the water supply. It was the only way they could get through the fires to get down to the lower levels. They seemed to have stopped spreading from the floor above as only smoke was coming from up the stairs and the bathrooms prevented the flames from spreading to the restaurant. The place started to smell of hot steam, but visibly, standing in the front desk room was as close as they could get in terms of nearby safety.

…

"Get up then!" Raiyon walked over and kicked Mario again. "You've never fought a real Koopa in your entire life!" He mocked Mario as he didn't reply back to him. Instead, he lay injured on the floor looking away and at the ground, hat off and silent. "What Bowser did to those Koopas was an act of weakness. That's not how the Koopa race is meant to be. We're superior to Toads, superior to you! We aren't supposed to mix together, we're supposed to step on and stand above all. The frailty of the race of Koopa was at fault in its destiny, and that's thanks to Bowser, and the Bowser before him and the Bowser before him! If Choban was King you'd all have been slaughtered many years ago!" He started to walk towards Mario slowly. "…But it's not too late. The north will side with us once we truly emerge from the shadows… every single last Toad and Pianta… and human will burn before us!" As he was standing just before Mario he raised his foot up, ready to stomp on top of Mario, but just as he was about to land it, Mario rolled out of the way, revealing another gun he had on him in his pocket, shooting straight at Raiyon in the foot, going straight through his shoe. The Koopa squealed and tried to kick Mario on the floor but only managed to make him lose grip of the gun. Mario tried to rush for it but Raiyon in the tunnel did the same. As Mario picked it up and turned around to try and shoot him again, Raiyon leapt forwards and collided with Mario, with the two falling onto the side of the tunnel and the gun falling from Mario's grasp again.

"You fiend!" Raiyon shouted, grabbing on to Mario whilst suffering from his new foot injury, preventing Mario from being able to reach the gun only a few metres away. "You knew you were no match for a real Koopa, and yet you would try to kill me anyway! Just accept defeat Mario. You're washed!" Raiyon using his strength and size was able to pull Mario towards him punching him in the face again as his body was pulled back. Mario shrunk again, his heartbeat was racing and his body was shaking. His face was damaged and his leg had a few cuts to it from Raiyon's claws digging into him.

"You're the worst kind of Koopa." Mario groaned, looking away from Raiyon as they were both staggering and crawling through the tunnel. "The kind of Koopa I cannot let live. Unlike Bowser and his army, they were at least able to integrate, but people like you have no place in this world." Mario leapt up after gathering his remaining strength and hurled his fist straight into Raiyon's chest. He knocked the Koopa back briefly and started to run towards the gun, tripping once in the process. He managed to reach for the gun, knocking it and getting ready to turn around swiftly to fire at Raiyon again as it seemed to be the best way to injure and perhaps kill him. Raiyon was already right at his feet, and before Mario could fire, the Koopa grabbed hold of the gun and pointed it upwards. Mario fired and the bullet went straight into the air. Mario held grip of the gun with two hands whilst Raiyon seemed to be able to match Mario's strength using only one hand. Mario looked anxious and straight into Raiyon's eyes, who glared and smiled mischievously at him back. He prepared another fist punch and tried to swing at Mario but Mario had to give in. He leaned backwards and jumped away from Raiyon, letting go of the gun and doing a flip in the air, avoiding the oncoming fist swing. Mario landed just further away on both legs and one arm, looking up at Raiyon. With no other choice, he dashed forward to attack Raiyon while he was turning the gun towards him. He leapt up to strike Raiyon in the face in an attempt to get on top of him in the tunnel.

BANG!

Raiyon fell backwards with Mario on top of him. The body landed like it was frozen. Raiyon started to breathe heavily as he shoved him off the top. He got up and looked at the mess made on the floor, and blood starting to bleed from Mario's chest. Raiyon could only limp from now on, but he felt grateful not to be the other person in the tunnel right now. Seeing Mario silent and bleeding onto the tunnel floor, the Koopa retrieved a phone from his trouser pockets and quickly took a picture of Mario's body before getting ready to pick Mario's body up. Unsure if his heart was still beating, Raiyon held Mario's body with him facing down, walking down the tunnel slowly…

…

Fifteen minutes had passed since Daisy had called for the firemen to arrive to the alleys of Webcapstow and she had met with Luigi, Tranko and the other Toad Brigade soldiers at the restaurant, withdrawing any access to the wired up cameras. Rynmar, Mirano and Manes were all relieved of their duties and tasked to wait just before the yellow tapes that were plastered on the walls next to the restaurant block. The Toad Brigade firemen went downstairs and extinguished the fires rapidly, taking some time due to how quickly it spread. As soon as some of the areas became safe to go to, Tranko led Luigi and Daisy and the other soldiers through. Tranko led one group of soldiers towards behind the bar area, searching for Duncan and wherever he went, with Luigi and Daisy going straight ahead into the private booth area in attempts to find Mario. One of the Toad Brigade firemen had a novice level of magical proficiency and was able to remove the magical locks bound to door behind the bar, allowing Tranko to lead on.

"We should get someone with magic on the team. We've never really had to deal with problems like this before." He said to the other soldiers as they searched the areas. Eventually, they got to a door that looked like it had complete darkness on the other side. When Tranko busted open the door, he saw the same dark tunnel, spanning for miles.

"Dark tunnel reported." One of the soldiers stated. "This could be the way in." She informed Tranko.

"We need lights in here!" He shouted. "I want to have a look at all of this." They already saw some light coming from the other doors that led to this tunnel on this side, but a few metres ahead was all darkness. They couldn't see any of the walls, only a tiny speck in the distance being the end of the tunnel. The Toad Brigade soldiers prepared flashlights, checking all parts of the tunnel.

"Captain, you might want to come and take a look at this." One of the soldiers grabbed Tranko's attention, beckoning him to swoop over her shoulder and look down on the floor below in the tunnel. Not only could they see traces of lots of both human and Koopa blood, but the infamous red hat with an 'M' on the front was found dirty and tattered on the floor.

"Oh dear…" He sighed quietly. "Keep searching the tunnel for any more traces. Collect up a sample to verify it's his."

"There's blood everywhere." Another Brigade soldier mentioned as he walked further up the tunnel. "Blotches everywhere." Tranko felt ashamed, unsure of what to say or make of it all.

Seconds later, the other nearby door opened. Daisy came out from the other side with Luigi shortly after.

"This is the place!" Daisy mentioned, looking around all sides and seeing Tranko. "Where is he?" She and Luigi looked at Tranko, whose face was looking down in distraught and shame. The two looked over to see the hat on the floor and the large amounts of blood stained against the floor and wall of the tunnel, having light shined on it to see how much was there.

"No…" He fell to his knees, crawling onto the floor to reach out for Mario's cap. He saw the blood stains and his body could not stop shaking. While he held onto the cap, grabbing it as tightly as he could, he started to cry. Daisy too went down on her knees next to Luigi, trying to hold him tightly as Luigi screamed out Mario's name as loudly as he could, hearing it echo through the tunnel for miles. Tranko was the only other person to fall to his knees. He felt that a lot of this was on him and he didn't know what to do next. Some soldiers watched with their helmets off, some kept searching the tunnel, and some just simply walked away. Everyone knew the colour of it meant it was human blood, but the only other possible person this blood could belong to was Duncan.

"We're having the blood checked." Tranko quietly mentioned to Luigi and Daisy while they were mourning. "With no body nearby, we can't guarantee that it is his. For all we know, it could be the teenager's." Another Toad came back to the three mourners, presenting them with some wires and a microphone.

"You might want to check this out as well. I don't know if it's still running but maybe we can trace some of it back at Intel." Daisy grabbed it first, holding it close to her.

"I'll… have Toadheim check this out." She sobbed. "Nobody outside the Brigade hears about this until I say so!" Both she and Luigi were red-faced with sadness, and didn't feel like standing up at all. Tranko decided to leave the two be and proceed onwards through the tunnel, following the Brigade soldiers that were shining torches through the tunnel. The blood marks became less frequent as the tunnel became littered with tiny, dirty water puddles for much of the remainder of the tunnel. Some parts had blood sprayed out as if a body was dragged against the floor. Sometime during the walk down the tunnel, Tranko stopped, realising that he wasn't feeling the walk down any more. He saw Luigi and Daisy back at the beginning of the tunnel now appearing very small in his vision, yet there seemed to be no change in the perceived size of the end of the tunnel. It looked like Luigi and Daisy were making their way back inside the brothel floor, not wanting to be in the tunnel anymore. Tranko thought that it would be in the best interest of everyone to accompany them, leaving the Brigade soldiers already further in the tunnel to finish investigating it.

He spent a few minutes getting back inside, seeing Luigi and Daisy being escorted back upstairs to a restaurant that had been almost entirely abandoned.

"We've made one arrest." A Toad Brigade soldier whispered to Tranko as he tried to follow Luigi and Daisy out of the restaurant.

"I guess it's going to be a long night for me." He walked up the stairs and out of the room with the other Brigade soldiers, noticing Rynmar and the two Koopas with another group of soldiers, unsure what was going on. "Oh, I might be a bit late back actually."

"Hey! Mr. Tranko!" Mirano was calling out his name, distracting him from Luigi and Daisy trying to walk out of the restaurant while being surrounded by Brigade soldiers. The entire alley had been cleared out for them as well. "When will we be getting paid for this?" Tranko walked over to them and tried to quieten Mirano down.

"Please remain quiet…" He whispered back to them, looking at the last Toad Brigade soldiers coming up from the lower floor taking Watana as a detained associate. "…Somebody has been killed. Rynmar, please come with me. You two, go back with the Brigade to the castle. Someone will sort out your rewards there." Mirano could only watch in embarrassment seeing Watana looking at him as he was taken out of the restaurant building. The Brigade walked off down the alley with the two Koopas and Tranko led Rynmar out all the way back to the van. He checked to see if anyone was looking their way before entering the van. "Get in the front." He told Rynmar. Without saying a word, the boy rushed around the front of the van and hopped into the passenger seat, buckling up and waiting for Tranko to start the vehicle up. Instead of going back with the other Brigade police cars southwards to the castle, Tranko turned the van around and went in the opposite direction north.

"Is… is everything ok?" Unsure what to say, Rynmar tried to get the Toad's attention while he was driving faster than the speed limit on the roads out of the city suburbs. "What happened?" He asked again because Tranko wasn't saying anything. His eyes were focused on the road and he was driving quickly but rigorously. They were leaving the city lights and now outside of the city, getting closer to the Open Green woods.

"You did great out there tonight, but we cannot have you for any longer. Have you still got that wrist thing on you?" He turned to his left and saw the teenager's wrists. "Good." Tranko got to a place that was quiet enough and stopped the car. To his left was a dark forest, darker anyway due to how late in the night it was.

"You… want me to go back?" Tranko turned off the car's engine, nodding at the kid.

"Go into the woods and get out of here, before Daisy and Luigi find out." Rynmar refused to get out of the car, confused as to why he was being asked this.

"You want me to go back? But why? Who's been killed? Is that too much for me to handle or something?" He complained but Tranko was still firm with his instructions. Since Rynmar showed no sign of listening to him however, and that he hoped this would be the teenager's last time here, he felt like he had no choice but to reason with him.

"Mario has died." He looked at Rynmar, watching his expression drop. "Things escalated way worse than we all thought because we found our lead and it was not what we expected at all."

"What about Duncan?" Rynmar said back. "I can still… actually, never mind. We failed them."

"No, don't go back thinking it was your fault because it wasn't. The problem you will face is Peach, Luigi and Daisy will never stop chasing after you now that Mario's been killed."

"Are… are you saying Duncan killed Mario down there?"

"He might have. We cannot confirm that yet. It was either him or the named Koopa you guys heard about down there."

"Duncan would never. I've known him for years. He's not like that. I saw him today and when I did, believe me he had no bad intentions. He just didn't want to surrender."

"I don't care what you have to say about it right now!" Tranko raised his voice. "I'm telling you to do this for your own sake! When Peach comes back and finds out, she will probably blame you for this once we find out what really happened. Besides, Duncan got away and we'll probably be unable to find him. For your own safety, you should go home and never return. Life here is only getting worse and it's not going to be good for people like you. If Duncan was smart, he'd probably do the same…"

"But Peach is-."

"Get out!" He shouted again, silencing the teenager. He quickly took off his seatbelt and opened the van's passenger door.

"Fine." He sighed. "I will…" He started walking to the forest and didn't even turn back at Tranko from the van. He watched as the teenager kept going further and further into the woods, eventually warping out of the world plane using the portal device.

…

Rynmar was back in his bedroom. Everything seemed normal here. He turned around to look at the clock he had on his bedside table to see that it was almost five in the morning here and the night sky was still dark. Everything else in the house was completely silent. His tiredness was catching up to him as well for he had been up for almost twenty hours non-stop today. School was tomorrow as well, so there was a chance he'd be able to meet up with Ellis in only a few hours. It was going to be a very tiring day for him as well as he would have to be up and awake in just over two hours. He changed clothes for bed quietly and got inside, debating to send a text to Ellis to let her and Peach know when they wake up that he got home safely and quietly, but instead put his phone aside and on charge, ignoring that possibility and deciding to wait until he sees Ellis next.

As for Tranko? Rynmar had no idea what would happen next for that Toad. While he knew that Peach wouldn't attack him for what he did today considering that she's here and she'll probably meet up with him and Ellis tomorrow after school, apparently her lover of many years is dead. She will want to ask him about what he got up to yesterday, but he was unsure if it would be appropriate to let her know about Mario. This was what he got from Tranko's word too, and since he hardly knew him, he wasn't sure whether to believe a hundred percent of everything he says. Even if Tranko was right in his eyes, he still wouldn't believe it. Only a day in to coming to this world and the person behind all of the games… dead? Completely absurd!

EOC: First quarter complete. After the interlude, the story will follow the paths of other major characters as well, so don't expect immediate things after what's going in Mushroom City just yet.

The downfall begins…