RECAP:
Junior arrived in Eternal Ember – the retirement village in the Koopa Kingdom where Kamek was said to reside. He soon found Kamek and also met Sergeant Blue Shell – a large, muscular, and well-decorated war hero Paratroopa and Kamek's personal aide. The Koopa Prince told Kamek about his quest to master the mysterious power of the crown enchanted by Kammy in order to defeat Contemno. After deliberation, Kamek agreed to train Junior to utilize the crown's power; but not before cautioning him of the grave consequences of misusing or underestimating it. With renewed resolve, Junior prepared for his new training regimen.
Elsewhere, Bowser reluctantly set out to begin consoling the troubled denizens of Dammerel under Morris's guidance. Devon – the town chef – opened up slightly about his past, but spontaneously invited Bowser to finish the story - and to meet a special friend - the following day. Later, Bowser and Mario encountered the handymen of Dammerel – who turned out to be O'Chunks, Lord Crump, and Tubba Blubba; three former enemies of the past. The Koopa King was skeptical of their ability to change and challenged Morris on the effectiveness of his efforts to help others. Yet Morris was persistently confident in Bowser's potential; urging him to attend the town hall the following evening.
Bowser had plans not only to be there, but to show up as his true self.
Goombella's weary pupils danced left and right against the glow of her laptop monitor as the night matured. True to her intellectual nature, she wanted to familiarize herself with the competition as quickly as possible before Roy's team jumped into the fray. Though her heavy head and fatigued brain lusted for sleep, Goombella pressed on. She combed through page after page; profile after profile comprising the fighter roster data. She meticulously cross-checked each one with a corresponding page in her Tattle Log.
Most of them were direct matches. So Goombella already knew just about everything about these foes. However, there were some new faces here as well; ones even she didn't recognize or have any data on. Those would surely prove to be more difficult adversaries for the team.
Although, learning the strengths and weaknesses of each enemy combatant wasn't the entire issue. There was also the critical importance of simply keeping them all straight and being able to recall and recite the facts at a moment's notice. This alone was keeping Goombella awake long after Kooper, Merlon, Toad and Iggy had all retired for the evening. Yet she studied on in spite of her colleagues' protests.
There was simply no telling how much prep time they really had. Goombella had no clue how much time remained before the tournament began or if their team would even make it to Pleasure City in time to sign up for the competition in the first place. Why hadn't Roy called Iggy yet for an update? Just what was going on over there?
The studious Goomba girl sipped at her coffee; desperate to suppress her mounting fears. She then froze as she glanced over the next fighter profile.
No…
There was no way. There was simply no way this was true.
Could this person truly be in the tournament as well?
Logically, it made enough sense. There were plenty of other fighters from Glitzville already in attendance. So it should follow that He would be here too.
Maybe…this wouldn't be as bad as they'd all originally thought. At least Roy and the others wouldn't be totally on their own over there. Not if He was going to show up. They just needed to cross paths.
He would surely be a valuable ally for them…right? It had been quite some time since Goombella had seen Him. It was fair to assume He probably had changed somewhat with time.
Hopefully He hadn't changed too much. Right now, they could use all the help they could get in Pleasure City.
Roy tossed and turned. Try as he might, he couldn't escape an annoying, low buzzing sound that persistently hovered close by. He swatted his hand around blindly both in front of his face and behind his shell; hoping to either squash or shoo away whatever annoying bug this was that insisted on pestering him.
No such luck.
With a frustrated huff, Roy turned and sat up. His body was unbelievably stiff and sore. Every muscle in his body was numb and heavy, as though filled entirely with vibrating sand. The Koopaling was well accustomed to the typical post-work-out soreness. But this particularly excruciating aching sensation was on a whole other level.
Roy blinked rapidly, tipped his glasses up, and rubbed his eyes until they stayed open. Yet, he wasn't sure if they were actually working or not. All he could see was pitch-black darkness in every direction. He felt what appeared to be a mattress, blanket and pillow directly beneath him, but he couldn't actually see any of it.
When had he fallen asleep? How did he get here?
Where was here?
What time was it? Was it night? Was that why it was so dark?
Why couldn't he remember anything that had happened before he'd woken up just now?
The irritating buzzing permeated his attention once more. Roy turned and saw a small blue light blinking a few inches away; poking a tiny hole in the otherwise all-encompassing shadows. The Koopaling reached out his hand towards the light and felt a smooth, plastic texture near it. It was repeatedly vibrating.
Curious, Roy grabbed the object blindly and pulled it close to his face until it was practically touching his snout. Squinting and forcing his eyes to work beyond maximum proficiency, he finally pieced it together.
This was the communicator Iggy had given him.
The buzzing sound was this thing vibrating on whatever hard surface it had been resting upon until now.
Roy quickly flipped the device open. He was temporarily blinded by a harsh light until his eyes adjusted. Seconds later, Iggy came into view on the miniature screen.
"Finally! There you are! Sheesh, I was starting to think you guys were ignoring me on purpose or something."
"Iggy…?" Roy muttered groggily.
"Aw, what's wrong? Did I interrupt your beauty sleep? Seriously, I can't believe you guys!" Getting yelled at was not the first thing Roy wanted to wake up to.
"Iggy, chill out. What happened?" the Koopaling asked with a yawn.
"You tell me! I've been trying to reach you guys all night! Are your communicators not working? I know for a fact the vibration feature works at least."
"Relax. Nothin's wrong with your toy, Iggs," Roy denied as he rubbed his eye with irritation.
"Then why hasn't anyone been answering my calls? Where the hell have you guys been?"
"I don't…remember…" Iggy rolled his eyes.
"Oh come on, Roy. If you're gonna lie, at least make something up."
"I'm not lying. I really can't…remember what happened. What time is it?" The brainy Koopaling's eyes then narrowed.
"It's 6:15 am. You guys were supposed to call me when you got in to New Donk City last night, remember? The hours flew by and when I hadn't heard from anyone, I tried calling each of your devices multiple times. But nobody has picked up even once until now. I was seriously getting worried you might be in some sort of trouble."
"Well, it hasn't exactly been a cake walk getting here." Iggy's eyebrows rose curiously; the anger quickly vanishing from his face.
"Why? What happened after you left Rogueport?"
Roy proceeded to fill his brother in on the events that had transpired since their last communication; about the train ride, the Blooper attack, and the abandoned city streets of New Donk. By now, his eyes had adjusted to the dark just enough for Roy to make out that Daisy and Larry were both out cold on bunk beds across from him. Surely that meant Diddy was asleep on the one just above him.
That was one little mystery solved, but it hardly made Roy feel any better as the gravity of his situation was quickly coming back to him. He paused just before reporting on what was perhaps the most important detail of all in his story.
"So you found Wario, Waluigi, and the others," Iggy reiterated. "Then what? Did you fight them? You must've turned out okay since you're still in one piece."
"Iggy…," Roy started again solemnly.
"What is it? What's wrong, Roy?"
The eldest Koopaling took a long, sharp breath before continuing. There was no easy way to say what was coming next. But it had to be said. Lying or trying to hide it was pointless. That would only make Iggy's reaction worse than it was already bound to be.
"They got us…"
"Huh? What do you mean they 'got' you? Did they capture you? Are you in some kind of prison cell right now?" Roy shook his head.
"I don't know where we are. But I wish it were that simple…" By now, Iggy's face had scrunched into a serious expression; matching the severity in his brother's voice.
"Roy, you're not making any sense. What aren't you telling me?" Roy took a deep breath and steeled himself for his sibling's reaction.
"They injected us with Essence, Iggy."
The other end of the line went dead silent. Iggy looked just as frozen on the device's display as Roy imagined he was in real life on the other end. He wished this was just due to a poor connection.
"W-what? What did you just say?" Iggy stammered.
"Essence. They got us with needles filled with the stuff. Now we have it inside us," Roy answered. Iggy shook his head in disbelief; looking utterly dumbfounded.
"H-HOW?! How the hell-"
"It happened when we were registering for the tournament. As soon as we agreed to sign up, we got jumped. We fell right into their trap."
"Are you absolutely positive it was Essence they gave you and not just some sleeping serum to knock you out?"
"Even if I wasn't, Wario said it out loud." Though his body didn't show it, Roy winced at the audible, frustrated sigh that crackled through the device's tiny speaker.
"How could you just walk into their trap so easily?"
"They gave us a chance to walk away."
"And you didn't take it?! What the hell is wrong with you?!"
"We didn't have a choice, Iggy."
"No, it just sounds like you weren't thinking clearly! You could've gotten out of there first. You could've called me so we could re-group and come up with another strategy. But nooo! Instead, you let your ego take control like usual and look where it got you!"
"Leaving would've only made it harder for us!" Roy exclaimed; now matching Iggy's aggression and volume. He couldn't care less if he woke up Larry and the others at this rate. "If we didn't join the tournament, then there's no way we'd ever get close enough to them again to do anything about this tournament! Security would be on high alert from then on and-"
"I WOULD HAVE FIGURED SOMETHING OUT!" Iggy exclaimed at the top of his lungs. This stopped Roy in his tracks. It was rare to see his normally calm and collected brother matching his anger blow for blow. And it was unsettling, to say the least. "I would've come up with another way. But now…" Iggy's anger fizzled out as quickly as it had arrived. "Now I…I don't know what to do." The heartbreak in his voice melted Roy's defensive stance.
"Iggy…"
"Now you're all the way out there and…you're at their mercy…" Roy could feel his own heart breaking along with Iggy's voice as the latter choked to hold back a sob. "Now I don't know how to help you."
"Well…you could at least trust us to find a way out of this mess."
"Oh, like how you trusted me?! Why didn't you call me sooner, Roy? We're a team, remember? Or did you just completely forget that the second you guys took off for Rogueport?"
"We didn't forget, Iggy. Honest. It all just happened so fast. We didn't know what we were getting into until it was already too late." Iggy forced out an incredulous laugh.
"That's putting it mildly. I knew it. I had a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. It's been there since the second you guys left for the train station. I just knew this whole mission was a bad idea. I knew you shouldn't have gone off on your own like this. We should've had Junior go with you, and-"
"Stop. That kind of thinkin' won't help us now and you know it. We can't change what happened. It's a waste of time to beat ourselves over the head; wonderin' about what we should've done differently. All we can do now is figure out where to go from here."
"But I don't know where we go from here, Roy! That's the problem! You're all in serious danger now and if you die, it'll just make Contemno even stronger. And after Kammy, I…I can't afford to lose anyone else." Iggy pushed up his glasses with his arm and rubbed at his eyes.
"Then don't give up on us so easily."
"What? I haven't-"
"You have every right to be mad at us, Iggy. You're right. We were stupid, and we jumped head-first into this mess without thinking. If we die, yeah, we would make Contemno stronger. But we aren't dead yet. We've still got a chance. So don't count us out just yet."
"I know, I know. You're right about that," Iggy agreed softly. A heavy, audible sigh hissed through the speakers. "But from here on out, let's do this together, okay? Promise?"
"I promise."
"Good," Iggy cleared his throat. "Look…I'm gonna go splash some water on my face. You wake the others up and see if you can at least piece together where you're at right now. Call me back as soon as possible, okay?"
"You got it."
"Good. Now, please be more careful. I love you, Roy."
"Love you too, Iggs. Talk soon."
Daisy, Larry, and Diddy each stirred awake not long after Roy's call with Iggy ended. As if on cue, a dim yellow light from the ceiling strobed for a few seconds and came to life; illuminating only a small sliver of the waking world.
The four found themselves sprawled out on bunk beds tucked into a cramped, stuffy dorm room not much larger than a walk-in closet. There were no windows or other pieces of furniture. A single strip of disgusting stained carpet lined the lone square that was floor of the room. On the opposite wall in between the two sets of bunk beds was a wooden door. There was no way to tell if it was locked. But even if it was, everyone was confident Roy could bust through it…provided his strength ever returned to him.
Not a soul moved from the beds; be it due to their lingering exhaustion, the cramped quarters making it impossible for anyone to situate themselves anywhere other than squarely upon their beds, or the heavy realization of what had transpired slowly weighing down on them with gradually increasing force. Any of those reasons alone would suffice.
"So…it wasn't just a nightmare then," Larry said hoarsely as he rubbed his neck.
"No, it really happened," Daisy confirmed solemnly.
"And now we've got….Essence inside us," said Roy. No one said a word as the horrifying truth settled in.
"So, what now then?" Larry asked, breaking the silence.
"We should get the heck outta here and come back with more help. That's what!" said Diddy. "We're in way over our heads here." Daisy shook her head.
"We can't. They gave us an out and we chose to stay. Now we have to stick by our decision. Even if we tried to leave, Jolene said we can't. We're stuck in Pleasure City for as long as we're competing in the tournament"
"Well, they also told us we'd be signing a contract, not getting a shot!" Diddy argued as he gingerly rubbed his neck.
"That was the trap, Diddy," Roy explained. "They wanted us to say 'yes' to being here so we'd let our guards down and they could get close enough to put Essence in us. If we knew that was coming, we would've never agreed and gotten the hell out instead."
"Yeah, I doubt there's any real contract," Larry agreed. "But now that we have Essence, we are kind of locked in when you think about it. Even if we were to escape somehow, no matter where we go, we're always in danger of giving our power to Contemno if we die."
"So...what, we're supposed to just go along with all this now?" Diddy asked, dumbfounded. Roy, Larry and Daisy all nodded together.
"Yeah, we need to see this through," said Daisy. "Fighting in the tournament like we were planning to do from the start is the only way out; the only way to even start trying to save ourselves. Not to mention it's the only way we'll ever get close enough to save Luigi and DK. Like it or not, there's no turning back."
"Hmph, well I definitely don't like it…," Diddy replied as he folded his arms.
A small knock at the door interrupted the conversation. Roy shuffled to climb out of bed, but stopped when he saw the door slowly open on its own. A large bronze cart with trays of food wheeled itself into the narrow center of the cramped room; just barely managing to sandwich itself in between the two sets of beds. It was packed with an impressive variety of delectable breakfast items. Once it had fully entered, the group was able to see Jolene was the one pushing at the other end of it.
"Good morning, future champions," she greeted with mild enthusiasm. "I trust you all slept well?"
Her question was met with utter silence and icy stares from each of the tiny room's occupants. The Toad didn't appear bothered by the cold reception, however.
"I took the liberty of bringing you all breakfast from the restaurant," she continued. "You shouldn't get used to it though. After today, I'll expect you all to be capable of feeding yourselves."
"Thanks, I guess…" Daisy hesitated.
"I suggest you eat quickly. We have a big day ahead of us. It's your orientation, after all."
"Just curious, did you by chance lace this stuff with any other weird chemicals you want us to put in our bodies?" Larry asked facetiously as he eyeballed the plates of eggs and bacon with heavy suspicion. Jolene turned to him and adjusted her glasses.
"I understand you're upset about what happened last night. But in my defense, you can't say I didn't warn you of the danger. I was trying to help, believe it or not."
"Why should we believe you'd ever be of any help to us when you're obviously siding with those maniacs?" Roy countered.
Jolene quickly shoved the food cart further into the room and slammed the door shut; locking it. Everyone jumped slightly when all of the plates rattled at once from the sudden force. She paused before continuing once she assumed the coast was clear.
"Because I'm not siding with them," said Jolene. "I'm here for the same reason you are."
"Really? You don't strike me as much of a brawler, lady," Diddy joked. Jolene rolled her eyes.
"I'm not competing, obviously. But I'm here to put a stop to these idiots. The only way I'd ever get close enough to do anything would be to earn their trust so I could shut this operation down from the inside. That's why you wanted to join the tournament so badly, isn't it? To get close to your enemies?"
"I don't see how that's any of your business," Daisy retorted as she folded her arms.
"You can deny it all you want. I know it's true. You may not realize it, but I've registered dozens of fighters and proctored hundreds of organized matches throughout my career. Doing so has given me a certain intuition about people and their ambitions. I can speak with the utmost confidence when I say that you four are the first attendees who came here seeking something other than fame, fortune, gaudy prizes, or bragging rights. Well, aside from one other person anyway. But I'm glad you're here. It means you see the same evil in these people as I do, and that you're willing to get your hands dirty if it means tearing them down."
"It's cute how you think you know anything about us," said Larry.
"I don't expect you to trust me, much less take me at my word after I played a part in deceiving you so that you would be administered Essence," Jolene conceded. "What I do expect is that you'll still honor your original commitment."
"And what would that be?" Roy asked.
"That you will obey any and all direction that is given to you while you're here in Pleasure City," she reminded. "I warned you that joining the tournament means giving up your free-will, after all. Harbor whatever doubts or grudges you wish against me, but that much is still true."
"You said that would happen once we signed the contract. We never signed an actual contract," Daisy contested.
"Not a traditional one, no. But in a manner of speaking, receiving Essence is like signing a contract," Jolene elaborated. "I trust you already know what Essence does, yes?"
"Yeah, we do," Roy admitted. "Question is, how do you know about it?"
"There have been a plethora of rumors about Essence floating around the kingdoms and cities recently. Those rumors even spread as far as Glitzville – which is where I'm from. You see, I primarily work in another organized fighting arena similar to this one called the Glitz Pit," she explained. "Many of the fighters there heard talk recently about people obtaining an unbelievable power in Pleasure City. I conducted my own investigation, but I had to get close to see it for myself. When I came here, I found that not only were the rumors true, they were every bit as awful as I'd imagined."
"What are you so worried about? You're not competing. Unless…did they give you Essence too?" Daisy asked with discomfort.
"No. But I know exactly what will happen to those who have it in the event they're killed," Jolene answered matter-of-fact. "In case the events of last night were not already a clear enough indication to you, this tournament – and all of Pleasure City for that matter – is run by a group of complete psychopaths," the Toad explained. "Don Frankie, Alpha, Omega, and Grubba are all extremely powerful and dangerously violent men with very short tempers. In other words, if the competition doesn't kill you, blatantly crossing any of these men certainly will."
"Right, and we're going to stop all of them," said Larry. "So you telling us to obey them is pointless."
"I'm not telling you to obey them. I'm asking you to obey me," Jolene clarified. Roy, Diddy, Larry and Daisy all exchanged puzzled looks.
"What do you mean?" Roy asked.
"Look, you have the choice to view me either as just another enemy, or as an ally. I'm not telling you to submit to the wills of my superiors. I'm simply asking that you don't do anything stupid to anger them while you're here. If you listen to me and follow my directions, I can get you into just the right position to accomplish our shared goal of shutting this whole operation down."
"You're saying you wanna help us? Why? What do we need you for?" Diddy asked. Jolene adjusted her glasses once more.
"As I told you last night, I am the Match Proctor and Logistics Manager of Pleasure City. I oversee all of the operations within this entire park. I have all the insider knowledge you could ever want about the goings on here. But above all else, I've already earned the trust of the ringleaders in this glorified circus. If you play along and help me keep my cover, I'll be more than willing to turn the other way when you inevitably take actions between matches that would obviously break the rules."
"Why would you put your neck on the line for people like us?" Roy asked. Her eyes met his own and the off-putting intensity of her stare struck him.
"Because I can already see your potential. You have the power to tear every lunkhead and monster lurking in this place apart; which is exactly what they deserve. If my role in making that happen is to give you support from the shadows, I'll gladly do it."
"Trust is earned," Daisy argued. "And after last night, you can't just expect us to-"
"I'm not expecting you to trust me right away," Jolene cut her off. "I intend to earn it in time. But for now…" she reached into her pocket and pulled out a rolled up piece of paper; handing it to Roy.
The Koopaling glared at her, then un-rolled the parchment slowly. He realized before even reading the contents of the note that the bottom half was missing; as evidenced by obvious tear marks.
"What's that?" Daisy asked.
"Yeah, what's it say?" Larry probed.
Roy skimmed over the contents of the note and digested as much of it in one reading as possible; though it was overwhelming. His lower jaw couldn't help but drop open slowly. It was immediately obvious what this paper was about, but truly taking it all in would require multiple readings at least.
"It's…all about Essence," he said aloud. "What is this? Where did you get it?"
"All I know for certain is that this paper was written by someone by the name of Contemno," Jolene answered. "He was researching Essence quite extensively, and that paper details some of his most valuable findings. He passed this knowledge off to one of his subordinates here. I snatched it off him. Hence how I got it. I'm sure you realize that this is highly confidential information. Absolutely no one should know you have it; much less that you got it from me. I trust that you will use it wisely."
"Why's it ripped? Where's the rest of it?" Roy pressed.
"Consider this a partial payment; an incentive, a showing of good faith, whatever you want to call it," Jolene bargained. By now, everyone in the room had their eyes squarely fixed on her. "Don't scrutinize this more than you need to. All I'm asking of you is this: help me drive those monsters out of here and shut Pleasure City down. Once that's done, you'll receive the other half of Contemno's report."
"H-hold on, this is a lot to take in at once!" Daisy said. "We need to-"
"I don't need your answer right now. Just think about it. Can you please grant me that much, at least?" The four of them slowly nodded in unison. Jolene sighed and her lips curved slightly into a small, relieved smile. "Good. Now then, your breakfast is getting cold so you'd better dig in. Like I mentioned, you have an orientation today."
"What do you need us to do?" Larry asked as he slowly took a slice of bacon and took a cautious nibble.
"Originally, Don Frankie wanted you to jump right into your first match today. But I managed to convince him that you needed time to get your bearings first. So for today, you're getting time to recover from last night's ordeal and let your bodies adjust to the Essence. That way, you can re-gain your strength. But they fully expect you to be in fighting shape by tomorrow. So for the time being, I'll give you a tour of the facilities, explain the rules of the tournament matches, and give you a good idea of what to expect during your time here."
"Sounds fair," said Roy.
"I'm glad to hear it," said Jolene. She stepped back, unlocked the door, and proceeded to slip out of the room, but not before poking her head back in the doorway one final time. "By the way, there's a locker room with showers down the hall to your left. I'm giving you an hour to eat and freshen up. When you're ready, meet me in the lobby at the other end of the hallway and we'll begin the tour." The door was quickly shut before anyone could respond further.
Larry and Diddy scarfed down their breakfast while Roy and Daisy looked to one another.
"So what's our next move?" the princess asked. The Koopaling glanced down at the note in his hand.
"Let's go along with her plan for now," he answered; retrieving his communication device from the night stand once more and flipping it open. Roy punched a few buttons and stared at the note in his other hand. "But first, I gotta get this info over to Iggy asap."
Contemno's Report # 3 – Basic Characteristics of Essence Part 1
From the moment I formally made a pact with Bastierge, he has continuously stressed to me the importance of the Essence he will be supplying for our operations. It is at the very center of all that I will do from here on out. My success or failure will be determined entirely on how I make use of Essence.
Alas, even after all this time of study, the finer details of its exact properties are still foreign to me. Is it a chemical? A concoction? A potion? An organic substance? I cannot be certain. The only reliable resource of knowledge available to me about it is Bastierge himself, of course. However, the man speaks in riddles and has made it quite apparent that he is around only to serve as an advisor of sorts to me. In his words, he is here merely to "keep me steady" - whatever that means.
It only made sense then that I would have to conduct a series of experiments on my own to unlock the secrets of Essence; to understand what it is and how to best utilize it within a militaristic context. I have since performed studies on a large assortment of test subjects, and documented each of my findings in separate reports.
What follows is a summary of everything I have come to understand about Essence from Bastierge and my experiments thus far:
1. Essence is like a living liquid parasite. It feeds on the natural life energy that exists in all people – the kind that is most commonly used to perform magic.
2. When a subject carrying Essence within its body dies, the Essence leaves the subject's body behind; taking the natural energy with it, and returning to the Originator. For our intents and purposes, the Originator is Bastierge.
3. While everyone has the innate ability to perform magic, not everyone realizes their potential. This is due to the efforts of the Forbearance Society. In fact, some individuals live their entire lives without ever knowing they had the ability to perform magic. Injecting Essence into subjects who have little to no inherent belief in their magic potential rarely produces desirable or practical results. I believe there may be some exceptions, but it stands to reason that Essence only has a noticeable effect on "special" people – or those who have recognized their magic ability and worked to capitalize on it.
4. When people train, practice, and use magic, it enhances their natural energy in ways that differ from person to person. Since Essence feeds on natural energy, it too receives these unique enhancements and benefits. As a result, after the subject dies and the Essence leaves the body to return to the Originator, the Originator's magical power and abilities are increased exponentially and sometimes in unique ways. It is therefore my suspicion that the more Essence that is collected with these exclusive magic enhancements, the greater the potential versatility the Originator can expect to cultivate.
5. There are two forms of Essence: Base Essence (BE) and Enhanced Essence (EE). BE is Essence that has not absorbed any natural energy from a subject. It simply lingers within the subject's body and often goes completely unnoticed. On the other hand, EE is Essence that has absorbed natural energy from a subject and will therefore enrich the Originator with strength, knowledge, memories, increased magic power, and other benefits when the subject dies.
6. There are currently three known methods for successfully injecting Essence into a subject:
6A. The first is through direct consumption of the liquid. BE can be mixed with other common ingredients in order to disguise the taste, texture, or appearance. This mixture can be served at any temperature. I believe that this is therefore the most subtle and therefore effective way of injecting a subject with Essence. I'm confident this method would prove most useful against particularly dangerous or cunning adversaries.
6B. The second method is through direct physical injection into the flesh, similar to a vaccine. Although it lacks the subtlety of the beverage method, this one does have the advantage of variety in possible entry points. The needle can be injected into the subject's body from just about anywhere, and there appears to be no difference in the BE's potential through these means in comparison to the first method.
6C. The final method of transferring BE into a subject is through prolonged exposure to a large body of Essence such as in a pool or other large containment chamber. Gradually, the subject will absorb Essence through the flesh. The exact amount of time required in order for BE to completely enter a subject's system through this method is still to be determined. This is the most time-consuming method of the three and it is limited in application to only organic subjects, but it does ultimately allow for much larger quantities of BE to enter a subject's body at a time than the other methods. This method should be reserved for subjects of lesser intelligence or significantly larger size.
"This is just…wow…," said Iggy; shaking his head incredulously as he finished reading his computer's scan of the note Roy had called him about minutes ago.
"I know. It's a lot," Roy agreed.
"It certainly is. I can't even imagine what more could be written on the other half of the report that you're missing."
"So what do you think? Could this all be true?"
"I don't see why not.
"Well, Jolene just dumped all of this into my lap so easily. There's gotta be some kind of string attached, don'tcha think? What if some of this is info is actually wrong and it's meant to throw us off Contemno's trail?" Roy theorized.
"I understand your suspicion, and I certainly appreciate you actively taking my advice about being more cautious," Iggy replied. "But…somehow I don't think that's the case here. The way this is written so openly and in such honest detail, I think Contemno genuinely wrote this report under the assumption that people like us would never see it. For all we know, the second half of the report that Jolene is supposedly keeping could even hold the answer we need for how to remove Essence from the body."
"You think so?"
"It's the best theory I can come up with right now. Regardless, this is still an incredibly valuable find, Roy. It could be just the start we need to come up with a real strategy to turn the tables on Contemno."
"Yeah, I'm feelin' the same way," said Roy with a small, optimistic smile. "So you think it's safe for us to trust Jolene then?"
"For the time being, yes. Don't entirely let your guard down, of course. But she's given you far more reason to trust her than anyone else there obviously. So I'd say you have my blessing to follow her lead for now. Play your cards right, and if Jolene is true to her word, you just might all make it out of this mess with even more information about Essence than we could've dreamed."
"Not to mention we could kick some serious butt along the way," Roy added, slamming his fist into his hand.
"Yes, that too," Iggy agreed with a chuckle. "Alright well, you probably shouldn't keep Jolene waiting. Give me a call later with everything you learn about the tournament today. In the meantime, I'll pass this information along to Merlon to see what he thinks since he was the one to tell us about Essence in the first place. Stay safe, Roy."
"You too, Iggs."
The visual of Roy disappeared off the screen as the video call disconnected. With a few clicks of his keyboard, Iggy's computer scanned a screenshot of Roy's note from the video call. A printer hummed loudly nearby and spat out a paper copy of the report Roy held. Iggy swiveled around in his chair. The Koopaling stood up, stretched, snatched up the paper from the printer, and headed towards the staircase.
In her cage, Hariet turned over in her sleep. She waited until she heard the click of the door shutting above her before opening her eyes. It was much easier to rest on a real, plush bed of the perfect size – which had recently been provided to her. Iggy installed it shortly after their last conversation when she opened up about the first phase of Contemno's plan to him.
Although a small pit of remorse over betraying her brothers and superiors still sat squarely in her stomach, this past night of the deepest, most restful sleep yet had been totally worth it.
Make no mistake, Hariet did not consider herself as having officially switched sides yet, but the pendulum was definitely in full swing now in another direction.
Despite her on-going status as prisoner, Iggy and his crew had still shown Hariet far more mercy so far than Contemno or even Topper ever did. Iggy kept her fed, he had not once punished her physically, and her escorts to the bathroom upstairs in handcuffs held the promise of soon evolving into daily showers in exchange for her continued good behavior - as hinted at by her captor.
Obviously, it was still not ideal to be locked up here as a captive. But the situation had gotten noticeably better. Hariet couldn't help but admit it to herself deep down. It felt…good to do something good for once.
Yet, she still found herself extremely hesitant at the idea of becoming a full-blown traitor for some reason. Why? After all, it would be such an easy switch to make. Who was Hariet really leaving behind from her current alliance? There wasn't a soul in Contemno's army who knew or cared about her. Even her so-called brothers didn't love her the way real brothers should. They'd left her behind after all. What kind of family does that?
Perhaps her hesitation came from the fact that Hariet truly didn't know if Iggy's team could stop Contemno. She had no idea if they were strong enough. Sure, they seemed like they'd seen their fair share of battles. But trouncing the Broodals wasn't exactly an impressive feat. How could Hariet so confidently jump ship when she wasn't sure if the one she was reaching for wasn't just as capable of sinking?
Iggy made it clear that he needed time to fully trust her. But the truth was, Hariet needed just as much time to trust him. Strides needed to be made by her regardless if she wanted to trust Iggy, or give him reason to trust her.
Merlon was silent for several minutes as he scanned over the printed copy of the Essence report Iggy had received from Roy.
"So, what do you make of it?" Iggy asked as he crossed his arms.
"Mmmmm…it is certainly quite thorough…," Merlon replied.
"Yes. But do you think this is all true? You were the one who told us about Essence in the first place. Does any of this line up with your knowledge of it?" The mage considered this, then nodded.
"It does, and I agree with your suspicion," said Merlon. "I believe this was written in such candid detail because said information was never meant to be seen by our eyes. It would seem you have stumbled upon a tremendous, forbidden discovery."
"I was afraid of that…," Iggy said, shaking his head.
"You are troubled by this news? Are you not elated to have obtained such valuable information?"
"No, no. I am. It's great that we know this much about Essence now. Really. But…"
"It is disturbing to learn what barbaric lengths Contemno is willing to go in order to achieve his ambitions, no?"
"Of course it is," Iggy affirmed. "But what I'm worried about the most right now is…where do we even go from here? You warned us to be careful and not get injected with Essence, but that's exactly what happened. I feel like I let them all down. How could this happen so easily?"
"Yes, it is truly upsetting that Roy and the others now have Essence in them," Merlon agreed. "However, I believe Roy is correct. There is no good to come from fretting over it now. What matters most is what action will be taken going forward."
"For the others, I guess that means competing in the tournament like that set out to in the first place. But what about me? What action am I supposed to take, Merlon?"
"As we have just established, you now possess a valuable piece of information about Essence, do you not?"
"Yes, but how am I supposed to use it to benefit us? It's not even the complete report, apparently. It sounds like this Jolene lady has the rest of it. And I have no idea if we can trust her or not, given the group she's reporting to." Merlon placed a hand on Iggy's shoulder.
"Have faith, Ignatius. I am certain Roy and the others will do all they can to overcome this trial and obtain the remaining information. When they do, I believe you will do all you can to guide them forward. You too must believe."
"I know they'll do their best. But I'm supposed to be part of their back-up. And I don't feel like I have enough answers right now to properly guide them anywhere. It seems like all I can do is sit here and wait for them to call me again when they have the other half of the report. Who knows how long that will take? Not to mention what they'll have to do to get it. Am I supposed to just sit on my claws and wait? I haven't even told them about Phase 2 yet and…"
"We must all play to our own strengths in these trying times," said Merlon.
"I know that," Iggy affirmed flatly.
"Do you?" the mage pressed.
"What do you mean? Of course I know-"
"Ignatius, you possess a brilliant mind. Intelligence and reasoning are areas you excel at where your brothers and allies might occasionally fall short. However, like most others, there is a caveat to such a gift."
"Caveat?"
"When you think as often and as quickly as you do, you run the risk of over-thinking. In doing so, you convince yourself that you must consider every conceivable possibility before taking any action whatsoever. When you choose this path, you are choosing inaction, hesitation and paralysis. You will never act out of fear of making the wrong decision. Thus, you ultimately make no decision at all."
"Of course, that's so obvious."
"Perhaps. But when our minds are so clouded by fear and worry, the obvious tends to become less obvious to us." Iggy paused to consider this.
"Wow…I guess that's a pretty easy trap for me to fall into, huh?"
"It is easy for all of us," Merlon corrected. "You must let go of your fear of making the wrong decision. You must do what you think is right, even if you do not have as much knowledge or confidence as you'd like to possess."
"I don't think…I even know what I think is right," Iggy confessed.
"That does not mean it will be so forever. You must do what you can to seek out an answer. Instead of trying to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, play to your strengths. Contribute to your team in a way that only you can do. In the meantime, be patient and wait for the answer to come to you as you work. Then make a choice when the time is right."
"But where do I even start?"
"Why not begin with Hariet? You have intended to rely on her as a source of information about Contemno, yes?" Iggy nodded.
"Yeah, but so far it seems like she only knows so much; and not nearly as much as I thought she might."
"Then perhaps you will not arrive at your answer purely from what you learn from her. But rather, what she can do for you," Merlon suggested. "With the proper motivation, of course."
"Are you suggesting I let her out of the cage? You think that'll make her more helpful to me?"
"That sounds like an answer you have already arrived at on your own," said Merlon.
"But what if she tries to escape the second I let her out? How do I know I can trust her?"
"Trust is earned, young one. If you want Hariet to prove herself to you, perhaps you must start by extending a branch of trust of your own."
"A branch of my own, huh?" Iggy gripped his chin to ponder this.
His gaze wandered back toward the door leading to his lab in the basement.
An hour later, Larry, Roy, Daisy and Diddy met Jolene at the end of the hallway; feeling nourished and rejuvenated. Still, they each felt a persistent numbness in their limbs. If there was an ounce of truth in anything Jolene had told them this morning, then they were admittedly relieved that she'd managed to earn them an extra day to rest before jumping into their first tournament match. Even if it were to turn out in the end that they could not trust a word Jolene said, the group was still getting a prime opportunity to scope out the tower in the meantime.
Jolene turned and smiled as she watched them approach.
"Welcome. I trust you're ready for the tour now?" Roy nodded on the group's behalf. "Good, then let's get started. This is the first residential floor called Rookie Hall. The tower has seven floors in total. The first floor – which is directly below us - is the ground floor. There you'll find the restaurant, casino, bar, and theater. It's the only floor that the general public has access to; aside from the spectator stands in the arena itself, of course. Only registered fighters are permitted on the higher floors of the tower. Which reminds me, you'll need these." Jolene handed out four bronze plastic cards with magnetic strips on the back.
"What're these for?" Larry asked.
"They're elevator cards, which you'll need in order to reach the other floors," Jolene answered. "The tournament functions on a ranking system. Since you've just started, you're currently sitting at Rank 1: Rookie."
"Shocker," Daisy commented sarcastically as she rolled her eyes.
"The cards are designed to give you limited movement around the tower. In other words, you can't use the elevator to access floors that you're not supposed to be on at the moment. For example, with your current cards, the elevator will only take you down to the first floor, back up here to Rookie Hall, and directly to the arena on floor six."
"Hold on a sec, lady. I thought you said you would let us bend the rules if we agreed to your little alliance," Diddy reminded. "Shouldn't we get access to all the floors right away then?"
"I only asked you to think about my offer first. I don't expect you to have agreed to it right away," Jolene corrected. "But even if you do decide to accept my offer, I can't just give you unlimited access to move around the tower right away."
"Why not?" Roy asked.
Jolene cranked her head to scan the room, then she suddenly shoved Roy with slight force out of the lobby and back into the hallway where they'd come from. The others immediately followed with slight bewilderment.
"Because Don Frankie and his accomplices have eyes almost everywhere," Jolene said in a hushed tone. "I'm talking hidden cameras in the elevators and hallways on every floor. So we need to be very careful about what we say out loud and where. If you're going to strategize, do it in your sleeping quarters where they can't see or hear you. Once you set foot out into the hallway, they'll be keeping tabs on you almost everywhere you go."
"The same goes for you too then, I take it?" Roy pressed.
"It applies to everyone here; myself and every registered fighter in addition to you four. If any of my superiors spotted you snooping around on any of the other floors before you're given official authorization to be there, they'd immediately know I was in leagues with you because I'm the only one who can upgrade your key cards to get you there."
"Fair enough," said Daisy. "So how do we get official access to the other floors then?"
"By winning matches and increasing your rank, naturally," said Jolene. "I trust you're not exactly thrilled with your current living conditions, correct?" It was then that the group immediately noticed their less-than-pleasant surroundings; the ugly, faded wallpaper peeling from countless angles, the disgustingly stained and dated carpeting, and the tiny pockets of mold growing in various corners near the ceiling. For a building part of an amusement park that magically appeared recently, this place was already in shockingly bad shape.
Of course, there was also the matter of their living quarters being just large enough to fit their beds and having zero room for anything else.
"Are you kidding? This place is disgusting!" Daisy exclaimed.
"Precisely. That's how they want it to be," Jolene affirmed.
"What? Why?" Diddy asked.
"It's to motivate you. As I mentioned before, you're currently sitting at Rank 1: Rookie," the Toad explained. "As you win matches, your rank will go up. There are five other ranks above you: Novice, Intermediate, Serious, Seasoned, and of course, Champion. There is a hall with fighter's quarters on each floor. The quality of the rooms increases as you move up to higher floors, with the champion's floor practically being the stuff of royalty. So if you want to get off this bio-hazard of a floor as quickly as possible, I suggest you do everything you can to win matches so you can move up."
"I'm guessing your 'superiors' are up on the champion's floor?" Larry asked.
"They're not far from it. The only way you'd ever get close enough to them without immediately raising suspicion would be to advance your rank to Champion and take the fight to them from there."
"But won't they just immediately get suspicious anyway when we shoot to the top of the ranks in record time?" Daisy asked. "What if they run away, or try to stop us before we get up there?"
"They already know who we are, Daisy," Roy reminded. "They know we're here for them, so it shouldn't be much of a surprise to any of those idiots to see how fast we're gonna claw our way to the top."
"Roy is correct. They can't just disqualify you for being talented," said Jolene. "As long as you play by the rules, all they can do is sit back and wait for you to come to them. Although, given the nature of whom we're dealing with here, that doesn't mean they won't try to find ways to slow you down or sabotage you. So you should stay vigilant at all times. Once they see that the competition isn't killing you, Don Frankie and the others are sure to start trying under-handed tactics to dispose of you. After all, the drama of seeing a rising star meet a tragic, sudden end does wonders for our ratings, as much as I hate to admit it."
"In other words, they'll be waiting for us. And even though they want us to reach them at the top, we shouldn't expect them to make it easy for us to get there by any means," Larry surmised.
"Yes. Although, I wouldn't discount the competition so thoughtlessly if I were you," said Jolene. "Remember, the fighters here are already pretty serious about combat as it is. But in this tournament, everyone can also use Essence. I'm assuming you four have been in your fair share of fights until now. But please trust me when I say that the people here on a completely different level."
"We already got that lecture," said Roy. "Besides, we've got Essence now too. So these chumps better watch out for us." Jolene couldn't help but smile at that.
"I admire your tenacity. Now then, let's get back to the tour."
What followed was a brief stop on the ground floor – where the group had a fleeting chance to admire the spectacles of the dazzling sights, bombastic sounds and stimulating smells all coming from the many attractions all around. Although delicious scents wafted from the nearby restaurant, the casino and auditorium were arguably just as noisy and bustling as the rest of Pleasure City. Jolene explained that all registered fighters had free, unlimited access to the buffet all day every day for as long as they remained in the tournament. This only served to make the team hungry again despite having just eaten an hour ago.
On their way to the arena floor, Larry only caught quick peeks at the other fighter floors their host had alluded to from the full length windows of the elevator as it rocketed upward with blurring speed. He was only half-listening at this point as Jolene softly answered his comrade's miscellaneous questions during the ride. It wasn't as though the discussion warranted Larry's full attention. After all, Jolene was just confirming a lot of the suspicions they'd already held about Pleasure City's conception thanks to Professor Frankly's theories. There was little to no uncertainty about Contemno's plan or Don Frankie's involvement at this point. All that remained now was focusing on the goal.
At last, the group arrived at its final destination of the day. As the door swung open, a tidal wave of noise flooded the cramped elevator room. An overwhelming explosion of cheers and hollers filled the area beneath the half a dozen spotlights. Jolene led the group through the shadows of the sidelines until they reached a massive, dodecahedron-shaped chain-link cage in the grand hall's center. The towering structure rattled and shook loudly as unseen forces clashed within; obscured by a thin layer of artificial smoke. Cutting through the fog of spectator riots were the frequent booms of feet shifting across the arena floor.
"Well well, it looks like we're just in time," said Jolene.
"There a match goin' on?" Roy guessed.
"Not just any match. This one involves the Glitz Pit Trio," the Toad corrected.
"Who?" Daisy asked; having to now shout over the rumbles and roars of the crowd.
"A team consisting of three of the champions of the Glitz Pit. I've proctored for them for many years. You should watch closely. They're a sight to behold."
Roy, Larry, Daisy and Diddy stood side-by-side together against the edge of the arena's fence and peered inside.
A furious three on three battle was underway and it wasn't hard to tell the teams apart.
One team consisted of three Koopa Troopas with different colored shells; one red, another white, and the third black. Each Koopa had a headband and belt matching their respective shell color. Despite their attire giving off an appearance that these Koopas were proficient in martial arts, the match itself immediately told another story. The Koopas were getting beat and tossed around mercilessly by their opponents.
On the opposing team was a Toad, an abnormally large yellow humanoid bird, and a Yoshi.
The Toad had magenta spots on his head with a tuft of blonde hair sticking out in the front. He was wearing a dark blue martial arts gi with white outlines, a belt and polished white shoes. A composed, yet self-assured confidence radiated in his basic smile and beady black eyes.
The Koopa in white withdrew into his shell and rocketed towards the Toad. Unfazed, the Toad widened his stance. When the Koopa shell reached him, the Toad stopped it immediately in its tracks with the palm of one hand. He then sent the shell racing in the opposite direction with a single, clean punch from the other.
The towering, muscular hawk sported an almost all-gold appearance; from his wild, rock-star mane all the way down to his polished golden boots. His plethora of yellow feathers couldn't conceal his extremely toned upper physique; even though this clearly came at the expense of his rather scrawny-looking legs.
The Koopa in black raced towards the hawk from within his shell. In response, the hawk folded his arms, performed a gravity-defying back-flip into the metallic wire wall of the arena behind him, and pushed off the surface with his less-defined legs. This maneuver sent the hawk barreling down diagonally with impressive speed. As his full body clashed with the black Koopa shell, the latter was sent flying and tumbling backward with equal velocity.
Meanwhile, the white-shelled Koopa approached the rather unique-looking green Yoshi. It had the usual white spots on its chest, stomach and chin that one would expect to see on the species. But what set this one apart was the large, slightly-unkempt tuft of red hair jetting out along the backside of its head behind the eyes and matching red boots. Unlike the rest of its species, this Yoshi did not have a saddle on its back for riding. Instead, the Yoshi wore a large, somewhat gaudy belt across its waist with an orange, star-shaped crystal on the front; radiating in the stadium's spotlights.
The white Koopa's shell reached the Yoshi, but the Yoshi snatched up the shell with its long, trademark tongue. Then, the Yoshi leapt high into the air and twirled in place like a blurred tornado of green and red. The tongue with the shell attached at the end spun faster and faster until it was released from the stranglehold and careened back down towards the solid, unforgiving mat.
In an impossibly choreographed stunt, all three Koopa shells collided together simultaneously with a loud crash. The Koopas emerged and sprawled out on their backs in unconscious unison.
The crowd went absolutely wild with thunderous roars of cheers and applause. Smiling, the Toad, hawk and Yoshi all stood together and raised their arms high; basking in their glory. Smoke, confetti and artificial lights rained down in all directions; coalescing into a spectacle of widespread adoration. Diddy and Larry applauded modestly while Roy crossed his arms.
"They're pretty good, I guess," Daisy admitted with a dismissive shrug.
"There's yet to be a team anywhere near as strong as them in this competition," said Jolene.
"Then they haven't met us," Roy argued as he cracked his knuckles.
"Your power remains to be seen," the Toad contested. "But if you're as serious as you claim to be about climbing to the top of the ranks…" she turned back to face the current champions still enthralled in their standing ovation in the ring. "Then you'll have to get past them to do it."