Downfall of the Mushroom Kingdom
Vilrus
A/N: Starting this one off with another rewind back in time, and then things are going back to present day.
This rewind back to 2010 leaves us right where we left off when the last of the Earth humans were recruited and sent through the great pipe. We now reside outside the cave in the fields north of Mushroom City, where Marrec and Rose split up, but keep contact with each other in regards to what to do with the third human, Jack Akbal.
January 14
It was a clear black night, a clear white moon and a silhouette of some structures in the sky could be seen. Marrec was left alone with Jack's passed out body in the fields while Princess Rose would return back to the castle for the night. He unlike Rosalina was starting to have second thoughts on whether bringing Enrique to Peach instead of Tarren was a good thing or not in the grand scheme of things. Marrec's past and reputation had hardly any affiliation with the Mushroom Kingdom, and Tarren was someone he had known for longer than he had known Peach for, but the respect she gave him in this period of time was more than enough to reward her with the priority of interest. Unfortunately, this will now lead to bad ties with both Taelin and Tarren, because he knows for damn well that the Koopa associate of Tarren will definitely be having spies on him and knowing that Enrique won't be delivered to Tarren. Fortunately, he did have another human in his grasp, and while he wasn't the exact one that was required for him to deliver, looking down on this human's body on floor before him, he did look very similar in both size and appearance.
The second thoughts of even this scenario started to get to him though as he spent more time alone in the fields. While the soft summer breeze and the calamity of the night in the fields made him feel very calm, it left him only with his thoughts and they were changing by the minute. To send Jack to Tarren, but what about what Rose said? She wanted to be in charge of this one, but why then would she abandon him without any proper instructions? He guessed that he did say to Rose that he would be the one to look after him, but what could he do with him? What if he wakes up? Perhaps Mushroom City would be the best choice for him for now, but not the city itself, only the castle…
He then remembered that Rosalina was still on Earth with Tom and he was unsure on her intentions with him yet. To his surprise, she actually came through the pipe while he was still in the fields. Tom however did not come with her; a shock to him. Marrec quickly looked at Jack's body and checked that he was still unconscious. He was unsure whether he would wake up soon though. What worried him more in fact was that Tom could wake up inside the van back in Brooklyn and the two wouldn't know about it.
"Rosalina? What about-?"
"Relax." Rosalina immediately calmed him. "He's under a spell inside the van. I'll take him out when I'm ready to." She climbed out of the cave and instead of walking over to Marrec she walked just along the slope next to the cave and sat down, resting her head against the surface. Marrec approached as she closed her eyes, feeling very tired and drained from this seemingly simple operation. "I just don't really know what to do with him. I'm sorry. This was probably a bad idea to do."
"Hey. Don't worry about it." Marrec smiled and sat down with her. "I thought of something earlier by the way… what if instead of getting all of these people to go and serve the princesses, why don't we get some of them to help them out and then we can just send Enrique or this one to Tarren? This one's called Jack by the way, if you didn't remember." Rosalina sighed, unsure if her opinion was actually worse to speak up about. She began to question in her mind whether her decisions were better than either the others', the princesses' or Tarren's.
"If we do nothing, then Tarren's going to find out eventually, isn't he?" She turned and looked at Marrec, keeping her eyes open slightly for just a few seconds.
"He will. Taelin's going to be on our case for the entire time. Whatever we do, he'll figure it out and report back to him somehow."
"What about Boom and Pom?" Rosalina remembered. "What are they going to do? With Bowser not that much in the spotlight at the moment, I feel like they'll do anything for Tarren to sort out the north. If not Enrique, then they'll be the chosen ones."
"Exactly. They're on the same level as us and the Dargovi Koopas. If we can't do it, they will, and they'll do it in their own way too." Marrec began to feel the stress as well. To make things worse for them, he noticed a slight movement from the body just a few metres away. Jack was starting to wake up. He probably hadn't sobered up fully yet, but the surroundings will definitely get to his inner mind. Marrec tried to get up but Rosalina grabbed him down.
"Let him get up himself." She whispered.
The two watched as Jack started to move around more. His body was facing away from them and as he started to get up he started to make groaning noises as well. The boy brushed some dirt off of his face as he leaned up and his first look was straight to the clear night sky, seeing the moon and gazing upon its reflective luminosity. More groaning sounds could be heard from him as he got up but he didn't utter a single word yet. He just kept looking around the fields in front of him, wondering where he was.
"Ugh… I'm never drinking again. Where the fuck am I?" The two heard him finally speak. Eventually, he turned around and finally noticed Rosalina and Marrec sitting against the side of the cave. Instead of speaking to them, Jack turned around again and tried to figure out where he was based on his surroundings. Rosalina and Marrec still did nothing to him and kept watching, but it was only once he turned around again to notice them a second time did Jack finally react. He started running for it in the opposite direction. He hopped over a low-rise cobblestone wall and dashed into a crop field, running for his life in fright.
"Alright, I'll go get him." Marrec stood up and started running. "He's mine after all." Rosalina sat and watched him disappear as well. Marrec, using magic, channelled his body to go much faster, catching up to him. Jack was soon reaching the other end of the field, so to stop him in his tracks, Marrec decided to teleport instead to the other side of the field. "Stop it! Don't make me sleep you again." Seeing Marrec reappear on top of the wall, Jack jumped with surprise and screamed. He slipped just before the wall and fell to the floor. He dirtied the soil in the field and flattened a few crops, but that was nothing to Marrec. His annoyance was at the boy running away from him and embarrassing him in front of Rosalina.
"Where the fuck am I? Who the fuck are you, and why did you just teleport?" Jack shook about on the floor, trying to back away from Marrec and making more mess in the crop field. Marrec stepped forward off of the wall and channelled magic with his wand to forcefully bring Jack closer to him. The more magic that was imposed on the boy, the more he grew scared and restless.
"You're coming back with me. I promise you, you'll be safe." Marrec pleaded, helping the boy up and bringing him afloat across the field. On the other side, the two saw Rosalina waiting for them to return.
"This is… hallucinations. You're a-… a cultist freak! Get off of me!" He fidgeted around the grip Marrec had on him, trying to get off of the ground once he was delivered to Rosalina. "Where am I?" He asked her.
"You're in the Mushroom Kingdom." She smiled back at him as Marrec set him free. Instinctively Jack backed away from Marrec who was behind him. "Some of your friends have been chosen by us as recruits to this world in pursuit of something greater than life on Earth-."
"So I'm hallucinating, great…" Jack looked around and noticed his surroundings again. After being prompted by the idea of the Mushroom Kingdom to his mind, it started to make a little sense to him. "…This isn't real. This is… fiction."
"So you're aware of it back on Earth?" Rosalina cued him in, and those words from her to his mind completely changed his view on it. While he still felt that he might be dreaming or on a glorified acid trip, the fact that someone else mentioned the Mushroom Kingdom to him only made things slightly more believable. The way she said that he's aware of it on Earth… it was like she too knew about it being in a game franchise.
"Hardly… I wasn't that into it. I know that there's-."
"There's Mario… and Luigi… and… Toads and Koopas! It's all real!" Rosalina started to successfully persuade his belief of the place. "Mushrooms and Question Blocks and all that." Jack walked on ahead for a few metres; the comprehension of all of this frightened him on the inside. "You and your friends have been chosen by us and given the privilege to see this new world."
"No." Jack interrupted. "Fuck no. I want out." He turned around. "I don't know how you got me here… but take me back the way I came."
Rosalina looked to Marrec to see his visual opinion on Jack's doubtful mindset. They both shook their heads together.
"Wait." Jack said again. "My friends? So when you kidnapped Tom and Enrique just like that in that club? What the fuck have you done to them?" Jack rushed towards Rosalina, jumping at her and aggressively pushing her. She jumped with surprise while being pushed to the ground. Jack started to attack her but he was levitated up into the air by Marrec. Rosalina got out her wand and struck Jack, freezing him in place and rendering him unconscious again.
"This one's tough work. I told you that it's your responsibility." Rosalina rested her head back onto the ground, letting out another sigh. She could only pray to the cosmos that Tom wasn't going to be as difficult to handle as this one. Marrec walked over to Jack's body and picked him up. He made sure that the boy would be kept asleep until the morning, with intentions to have Princess Rose make use of him then.
"I'm going to take him back to the city. Hopefully I can get Rose to do something with him. Otherwise… it's off to Asterno with this one." She watched him walk back down the path heading towards the metropolis to the south.
"I guess I'll go deal with Tom alone then…" She called back to him, and as she expected, he said nothing back. He and Jack being carried by him disappeared into the horizon.
8:30AM
Marrec had taken Jack all the way south into the city and out the other side on the edge where the castle was. With Tom sent to Sarasaland briefly and Enrique sent to the castle as well, Jack's position was confined to only a guest room, slipping under the radar of Princess Peach and Mario. Jack was put inside a bed to sleep in the castle, and with the other princesses that stayed in the castle still asleep at this time Marrec could only wait inside the room having slept on the floor for most of the night since he arrived. Marrec would have thought that Zane would have gone back to the castle with Enrique during the night, but it turned out that he tasked the boy to go alone. Somehow Enrique had made it all the way to the castle, with Mario, gracefully still awake at the dire time of three-thirty in the morning, being the one to let him through the guarded Toad Town gates. He too was told to rest for the remainder of the night inside a guest room in the castle. Everyone was still asleep, but soon many would be waking up, including Peach who would get ready to greet Enrique. Marrec was hoping that Rose would do the same for Jack, only in a much quieter part of the castle.
He started to hear footsteps coming from outside of the room. Presumably Toad castle guards, he went to check on it. In fact, it was Princess Rose, showing up early to see to Jack herself.
"Oh, hello sir." Rose smiled, greeting the man beside the door. "I presume that the journey back was a successful one?" Marrec nodded, letting her inside and closing the door behind him. Jack was still asleep in the bed, looking completely crashed out.
"What's happening with the others?" Marrec asked quietly, trying not to wake Jack up yet.
"Tom's gone off to Sarasaland with Daisy. As for Enrique, Peach is seeing him now. I left just before he arrived with Mario back to the Toad Town bounds. The two are with each other… and she decided to hold her meeting with him… in her bedroom." Both Rose and Marrec chuckled, leaving to the same suggestive thoughts. "I hope Mario doesn't get jealous." The two went silent for a few seconds. With Jack being still asleep there was very little left for Marrec to do. The boy was now in the hands of Princess Rose who felt confident enough to take it from here. Marrec walked over to the window just outside the chambers and stared outside. He could see the view of the south-western side of the castle and looking across the lake. Unfortunately, the word of their plan had somehow escaped and travelled faster than they could, for Taelin the Koopa was standing ominously across the lake. Nobody else could see him, but he had a clear view of Marrec from his position next to the trees.
"I think… my work is done here." Marrec said softly so that Rose could hear him. "I must depart."
"Sure." Rose said from the inside of the chambers room. She walked out past the door and wanted to say her goodbyes to Marrec, but he had already disappeared. She checked to her left and right down the corridors but he was nowhere to be seen from where she was.
…
Marrec had in fact jumped out of the window, using his wand to negate most of the force from falling and landing on the ground beside the lake rather smoothly and safely. Taelin was still present from the far side of the lake and Marrec rushed forwards to investigate why the Koopa was here. Neither of them were happy at all.
"You had all night to get him." Taelin stated. "Not only did you fail to present the boy to the wise ancient, but you managed to fuck things up and bring two unwelcomed over and have them partake in the same activity as Enrique. The wise ancient will be most displeased." Marrec knew he wasn't doing things in Tarren's best interests in the short term, but he was yet to explain the long term to the Koopa.
"Taelin, please. Don't go and tell him yet. You don't know what we're doing with this one here. I've seen Enrique. I've seen all of them. There is no true blind loyalty amongst them yet, especially this one I've just seen. Jack is his name. We can bring him over to Tarren."
"Don't say his name like that!" Taelin snapped back at Marrec. "The wise ancient demands his grandson, not this… filth from Earth! Not even a Galaxyë I assume… these princesses must pay." Taelin started to chuckle, getting Marrec's immediate attention. The man followed the Koopa's eyes and looked across the lake. Taelin was watching some castle guards delivering a box through the Toad Town street all the way up to the castle. Toadette walked out of her house on the street and waved to the two Toads that were carrying the large box. They stopped to greet her.
"What's going on?" Marrec was unsure of what exactly Taelin was looking at. All he could see across the lake was Toadette coming out of her house to greet her two sons that worked as castle guards. She smiled back at her boys as they started to take the box back to the castle entrance.
"You'll see." Taelin whispered. Marrec was confused and kept looking. Toadette was still looking at her sons, but after a few seconds, her happy facial expression changed and dropped very quickly. Toadette screamed, and a second later, Marrec and Taelin watched as the box carried by the two castle guards blew up a large area just before the castle. The explosion caused four casualties. Two were the castle guards by the front entrance, suffering non-fatal injuries, and two were Toadette's sons carrying the box, both unfortunately fatally wounded. Marrec leaned back in surprise of the explosion. Both he and Taelin started to hide behind the bushes of the trees close to the lake. The explosion went up in smoke outside the castle and many Toads rushed to the scene. Toadette screamed and cried before her two dead sons. The Toad-doctor eventually arrived to the scene to declare the sons dead. At least they were able to save the other wounded, but it was Toadette's worst day in her life. The two watched as Peach soon arrived to the scene accompanied by Enrique. Instead of tending to Toadette in her sorrows, she ordered Enrique to just take the bodies of the sons and take them away, discarding Toadette's cries for help.
"If you do not help the wise ancient, we must play both sides." Taelin warned Marrec. "Look, there is his grandson now."
"This is your plan?" He asked, to which Taelin nodded. "Very well. It is his first test. Though, I do feel very bad for Toadette."
"Fuck Toadette." Taelin smirked. "She's no different to any of them. Loyalist to Princess Peach."
Taelin's work in the Toad Town was done. Water under the bridge for the princesses in their grand scheme, but Marrec knew that there was more reason behind it. He knew that this wasn't something Taelin would willingly do on his own. This was the work of someone else using him to execute it. The work of the wise ancient. Marrec knew where to go from here. He knew from Peach and Daisy from yesterday that their possible intentions with these boys from Earth had everything to do with the north…
March 17, 2015 – 10:00AM
Zurlon, Northeast Résethal
It had been six days since the events of Aypyidaw and Rainbow Road. For those that are here now that witnessed what happened in Aypyidaw, their experience was nothing like the suffering of the Red Martyrs. In fact, it wasn't all delightful either. While all of the captive prisoners were freed and all the tribes of hostile Koopas had their common interest of setting the town ablaze and feasting on their victory, the tribes still showed subtle strife with each other. What made things worse is that life back in the Takharim bounds didn't seem that much better compared to how it was prior to the invasion. With Nikola being one of those rescued from the prison cells in the Red Martyrs headquarters, he thought that he would return to Zurlon to the sight of reunion with his sister, but he never knew about her disappearance weeks before.
The current governor of the Takharim in Zurlon, still Illias Fonavan, had no time for Nikola's worries about his sister. He remembered that she deserted them with intent to move on in life. Illias' priorities were with the Takharim, and this morning, he mustered the other hostile Koopa allies in Zurlon to his house for a meeting. Here, he was met with Dirrug and Johan, as well as Koopreme and Malcolm, both living a better life now compared to the imprisonment in Aypyidaw. Nikola was invited as well, but he didn't show up. His house was actually looking worse now than it was when it was abandoned. Even though the morning meeting was still underway, Koopreme had left it early. He went out of the local road where most of the hostile Koopas left and went to visit Nikola, who also wasn't at home. The Koopa was sitting atop a large rock on the edge of town, overlooking the woodlands to the southeast and the bright morning sky. The weather here today was mostly clear with some clouds; no signs of rain.
"Hey." Koopreme called out to Nikola. He turned around and acknowledged Koopreme's presence but said nothing back. He remained seated and stared ahead into the distance, trying to be at peace with himself. "Nikola, you can't just sit around and sob all alone. Be happy that we're out of here. I'm sure your sister is out there somewhere. Did Illias say anything to you about it? Did you even ask him?" He knew that Nikola wasn't going to cooperate with him so he decided to sit down just a few feet away from him. He made sure that he was behind him and out of his sight, hoping it wouldn't annoy him or provoke him to move away.
"I heard something on the news recently." Nikola finally said something to Koopreme, speaking quietly. "They released the names of the Koopas involved in the Rainbow Road attack." He turned around to face Koopreme. "Verida was one of them."
"What?" Koopreme's eyes widened. "Are you serious? Don't lie to me, brother."
"I'm not lying." Nikola looked back at his friend straight in the eyes. "She's detained in Mushroom City… want to know who else is on that list? The Takharim fuckers. Unudhu and one of the Blackley brothers. She's fucking cooperating with them. I thought we hated them." Koopreme grinned, happy to see some optimism in his friend, but he knew that there were a lot of key things that Nikola was still missing out on.
"Well… If you weren't living these past couple of days without engaging with anyone, you'd be happy to know that the Takharim were overthrown some weeks ago. Those that remained had surrendered to the Vilrusi who are in an alliance with us. We are the Takharim now. Mywithe and the Blackley brothers deserted the north. The answer to where they are is now obviously… Mushroom City." Nikola stood up from his spot on the rock and looked ahead into the horizon.
"Apparently she was one of three that brought the entire Mushroom Kingdom down to its knees. For just a very brief moment… I could have been with her had I not been rotting in those Red Martyr cells. We could have gone down in history as two that dismantled the Mushroom Kingdom."
"Hold yourself together, brother." Koopreme halted his speech. "Don't let yourself get carried away. I don't know what the situation is with her. I know no more about it than you do… Do we even know if she is still alive?" Nikola snickered.
"If Verida met her fate at the hands of the Toads of the Mushroom Kingdom, then her legacy will live on. She would go down as a hero of the north in our ongoing war against them." He smiled and turned around to look back at Koopreme again. "If she is alive… then we must go to her and bring her come. We must welcome her back a hero. Fuck the other two. I want her only."
Koopreme sighed, hesitating to speak about the complications this would entice. "We cannot just go to the Mushroom Kingdom capital and make it out back to here alive. If she wasn't able to do-."
"She's my SISTER!" Nikola shouted back at Koopreme. "I'll go down south myself if I have to!"
"Why don't you be civil and bring it up to Illias and the others? Maybe ask Ata the next time we pay a visit to Vilrus." Koopreme kept shaking his head at Nikola's stubbornness. "You are more than welcome to ask for help. We're a family, remember?" Before he was considering leaving, Koopreme noticed that Johan was walking down the road after his meeting with Illias in his house. The third Koopa noticed and walked over to them, meeting up with Nikola and Koopreme to see how the agitated brother was feeling.
"Would you go to Mushroom City and bring Verida back?" Nikola called to Johan as he arrived onto the large flat rock.
"Verida's in Mushroom City?" Partially blinded by the sunlight, Johan covered his eyes as he looked back at the other two.
"Nikola claims that she was part of the Rainbow Road fiasco." When Koopreme told Johan the news and facts, he leaned back in surprise. "So we don't even know if she's alive or not but it's likely it's that or she's arrested somewhere… So what do you say?"
"No." Johan replied almost immediately. "She did not treat us well in our bad times. She didn't respect the alliance we developed with Ata and the Vilrusi in order to stop Mywithe, and she deserted us as a result."
"Well that explains why she might have partnered up with them then." Koopreme looked back at Nikola and shook his head. "Still, go ask Illias and Ata. They're your biggest sources of help. Not us. If not them… well… you're on your own."
"The best thing you can do for now Nikola is wait." Johan informed him. "Wait for new news to pop up. I'm sure with the way a lot of people acted last week in the rescue that they weren't settling with just Aypyidaw. A lot of the chiefs were very ruthless, some seemingly more selfish than others. We should see how Moroq is doing. Maybe he'll conjure up another idea." Johan patted Nikola and left him to stay on the rock alone. Koopreme and Johan walked back off of the rock and on to the road, heading back to the houses on the road. Nikola took a few steps forward onto the rock and fell to his knees, looking at the distant clouds in the morning sky. He would have thought that freedom from the wretched grasp of the so called 'freedom fighters' would have put his life back at peace, but without his sister and anyone that genuinely cared for his aspirations, he felt empty inside. Everything he did in Zurlon he did with Verida, even if it was dealing with petty feuds between Takhar-townsfolk or Vilrusi or Unhalvalorians or any other group that resided within their supposed hostile tribe boundaries. Unfortunately, Illias and Ata would be the only ones to talk to regarding this matter. With Mywithe evidently out of Takhar and Bursk most likely not interested in this, it was best to deal with them. All he could wish for was to be on the other side of the battle last week, to be the one to fight the Red Martyrs instead of being rescued from them. If there was one thing he would strive to do without the need to be with his battle-crazed sister for it then it would be for another waged war. These past five years haven't been the greatest either. It wasn't just the Red Martyrs that prevented their freedoms, but the Mushroom Kingdom's influence. Bowser's influence too. Nikola clenched his fists, but for now there was no action. Only stress…
10:30AM
Vilrus, Northeast Résethal
This place too endured peace and quiet, though the group of Koopas here involved in the hostile activity and the invasion of Aypyidaw were much greater in number. The notable hostile Koopas that returned back to Vilrus were as expected. Ata the team leader and now chieftain of the Takharim as a whole, with Mac and Ratharmas being recruited from the south, Koopo and Koopiz the two brothers, Tyro and Zuba, lovers, and Marley. There were others that followed them, but none in the same circle as these. Like Zurlon, life here was very quiet and peaceful, but with a sense of struggle amongst those that resided here. It was a feel of incompleteness, like there was something more to still achieve. Yes, they had routed those who watched over them for nearly twenty years, but some too felt like this wasn't the instance to stop at. Where there were some who were more than happy with being left alone, there were still some who felt like they wanted more out of it. After all, there were still disagreements with other hostile tribes that were yet to be sorted. It was actually now of all times did other tribes that did not take part in the invasion of Aypyidaw start to emerge from hiding. Not just the Dargovi. Two hostile tribes that started to give Ata a bother were the Tammans in the southeast, and the Marshi in the far northeast. Both were happy that the invasion happened and were now considering offering assistance to a greater cause, but this was not in Ata's interests at all for he was one who preferred living in peace and quiet for now.
The problem with the Tammans was that there were a few prisoners from their tribe that were rescued from Aypyidaw that night and their tribe were never involved in the rescuing process. It was actually the chieftain of the Tammans tribe – known as Kuiwe – that paid a visit to Ata this morning. The two held talks quietly inside Ata's house. Kuiwe went to see him alone, and the two talked under a brief truce-pact.
"…Definitely feels a whole lot better not having to talk to an actual Takharim for once. That lot are a bunch of runts and shits." Kuiwe was a big and fat Koopa, who spoke very informally despite being under the house of a new leader of the Takharim tribe. "You lot here aren't so bad." Ata felt obligated to take those words as a compliment, for he did not yet know about Kuiwe and the Tammans' true intentions.
"Cut with the small-talk already." Ata replied quickly, bored of the fact that he had been here for nearly five minutes without the Tamman Koopa actually providing anything of value. "What are you really here for?" Kuiwe chuckled and pulled out a chair from Ata's meeting room. He sat down on the chair trying his best not a put a crack into it with his weight. Ata sighed as he knew exactly where this was going.
Last week, I saw the return of one of my lost friends. An idiot he is, but a lost friend regardless. A good member of our group came back from Aypyidaw, and he only looked at us all in disgust. It was like we had abandoned him when he needed us the most and now that he's returned, he's only sought to leave again. I said to him that we are so happy that you have returned and we are so grateful that he is alive. "What can we do to pay you back for your suffering?" I asked him as he told us about his horrible, almost traumatic experiences in the Aypyidaw prisons which I'm sure a fair few of your own may have endured too… and what did he say? He wanted more. I don't know how we could ever repay him, but if there ever was another attempt of unification or another attempt to bring all of us together? I know that we've all had our disagreements, like this whole thing in the first place, but not going to Aypyidaw when the rest of the tribes did was the biggest regret I've had in many years… Let it be known that if it is in your best interests to go back to the south and show them that we're the ones who rule this land, the Tammans will unite with the rest of you.
All of us in our lands, Pelesc, Amuria, our boys and girls in Arnuran… we just watched as the biggest moment in recent days unfolded before us. We should have been there, and I cannot go on thinking that what we did was a good thing.
Ata sat and watched Kuiwe story to him about the return of one of his brethren, but it was too late to make big decisions like that. To Ata, the opportunity had come and gone.
"You know that if you said this to any other tribe, they'd probably have your head for it." Ata smirked. "What Moroq managed to do with I don't know how many leaders agreed to it, but it never should have been possible. Getting three chiefs and leaders to co-operate together was something we all thought to be impossible… let alone six or seven that ended up joining us… and you think just like that, it can happen again? Do you know what Moroq's up to nowadays? From what we've heard, his tribe's gone belly up ever since. It imploded from the inside! It ceases to exist!" He slammed the table in frustration. He understood Kuiwe's regret and his new intentions but he just wouldn't believe it would ever be possible. "I was there. I saw what everyone was like. I saw Rugai and Josibi and the King Amur… trust me, Moroq and I were the closest thing you'd get to a negotiable leader. Everyone's already gone back to hating each other, and I'm sure there were conflicts amongst ourselves during that night. If you want someone to unite the tribes again, I'm afraid it's too late." Ata watched Kuiwe putting his feet up on another chair, making himself at home despite Ata giving him the impression that he was done with him now. "Now before I turn into-."
"What about Choban?" Kuiwe spoke over Ata after finishing with his thoughts.
"Excuse me?"
"Choban. The Dargovi." Ata raised an eyebrow. It sounded ridiculous at first but there was no reason for that group to ever be in supposed hiding any more. Everyone was afraid of them before when the Red Martyrs used to watch over the lands, but now that they were gone, maybe it was finally time for that group of hostile Koopas to emerge with their intentions, that is if they want anything to do with the other tribes. Still, in Ata's opinion it was a risk not worth taking, but for someone who wasn't a Takharim or associated with him, by all means he would be happy to let someone risk their life heading to the far west and expect death right on the doorstep.
"Ha. Go for it." Ata chuckled. "I'll be right here in my house making myself comfortable. You let me know if you get back on what their plans are." Ata walked around his room and reached for his chest in the meeting room while Kuiwe was contemplating the idea.
"It's a good shout if you ask me." He thought to himself. "Though we'd need a reason and the only reason I can think of is war with the south and the Mushroom Kingdom and for that I think we'd need every tribe to unite against them and that includes the faggots in the far northwest-." Kuiwe jumped in panic and nearly fell off his chair as a crossbow bolt flew right past his left ear and landed in the floor by the corner of the meeting room.
"Get the fuck out of my house, Tamman." Ata pointed the crossbow directly at Kuiwe. "I wasn't serious as you clearly didn't sense the tone… but by all means, go crazy." He pointed to the way out and the fat Koopa got up, walking away anxiously. Kuiwe was grateful that nobody else following him was here or he'd look weak, but thankfully Ata was merciful. This would be an embarrassing place to die. Kuiwe nodded as he left, not to be seen again by Ata today. "That's one dealt with today at least." He said to himself.
…
Later in the morning, Ata visited the others in the centre of town. They were all living life as normal, almost to the point where the hostile status amongst them ceased to exist. These Koopas were easily connecting with the other citizens in the town and without the influence of the Red Martyrs above their shoulder all the time, everyone started to feel safe. The weather was good, people were outside, there was no fuss about money or resources as the Mushroom Accords and other fuckups from the Mushroom Kingdom indirectly boosted the northern economy. Within a park in the centre of town, Ata went to see Marley, a captive of the Red Martyrs set free by him on that night. Here, he stood before a gravestone beside some of the bushes, one set by him in memory of Kriega.
"I never properly did this beforehand." Marley mentioned to Ata as he arrived.
"It looks wonderful." Ata added, standing close to the Koopa but realising that his look wasn't a very happy one.
"I didn't know that we made amends with his killers." Marley looked back up to Ata, even noticing the crossbow in his grasp that he didn't expect to see him bring in to town. "You gonna let me borrow that so I can go to Verida's and fuck her up? Or am I gonna have to get my own stick so she can see me before she dies." Ata spent a good few seconds looking at the tombstone. There was hardly anything on it but they both knew that it was for Kriega. Again, with the Red Martyrs no longer being an influence it was like the Koopas could go back to their own lives and that includes their problems. Some had still yet to adjust to the new change of circumstances.
"Apparently that girl isn't even in the north anymore."
"I know." Marley held Ata before he would go on to keep talking. "I know what you're gonna say. I know she's in the south. I know what she did. That fucker conspired with other people we don't fuck with. The Blackley shits and the deserter fucker Unudhu. I don't care what they did. I want 'em all dead… and I'll do it myself if you're gonna sit here and do nothing like you've done all week." Ata watched as Marley was done by the gravestone. He walked away and headed back to the park centre, presumably going across the park and heading back home. Ata then turned his head to look back at the gravestone. Kriega was one of his own, under his following, and it disheartened him to see his friends still have disagreements and knowing that they cannot live happily together as the Takharim or now appropriately governed as the Vilrusi if there is still so much inside disagreement. He thought that perhaps the idea of a hostile tribe was coming to an end. He didn't want to wage a war with the south and with the Red Martyrs gone there was no need to appear hostile to anyone anymore. He did realise that it was a bit ironic; being grouped as the Takharim despite the ruler of the tribe being from somewhere else. Is it even worth being a tribe anymore?
Bzzzzzt!
Ata's phone started to ring in his pocket. He picked it out and checked the number. The location and line was unfamiliar, but only someone who knew him would genuinely be calling the number.
"Ata speaking…"
"…Are you alone?" The voice on the other end wasn't that suspicious. In fact, it was quite familiar, but the voice sounded very worried and anxious.
"This is… a Westfeller?" Ata assumed. "And yes, I am alone. You've imploded."
"I'm in a terrible mess. I need your help." Ata was confused. Why him of all people being asked to help Moroq?
"You want us to go back to the Westfells to help you? With what? Your silly implosion business? Great that you were able to bring us all together, but I don't think we're going to come back just to deal with some small cases of domestic disagreement." Ata said, waiting for the response on the other end. There was a slight feeling in his mind that this wasn't to do with a simple matter.
"I'm not in the Westfells. I'm not even in Résethal. I'm in the south." Moroq on the other end of the phone was standing on a road just outside High Hill Hospital in Ulontis, using a public payphone to reach out to him. "I need an actual phone. I need money. I need help."
"I know… Fergus told me the other day. You're a little too far for any of us now." Ata wondered and realised what the implications of any activity with him now could be. The Koopa responsible for the destruction of the southern kingdom's greatest line of defence was now allowed to freely walk their lands. "I can't help you from this side of the mountains. I'm sorry. You're on your own." Ata abruptly ended the call, leaving Moroq stranded across the street feeling hopeless. At least he still had his nurses. He wasn't quite released from the hospital and there were Toad nurses across the road waiting for him to come back. Moroq gave her a wave and walked across the road slowly.
"Did the call go OK?" The nurse still took him for a mentally and physically ill patient; an asylum seeker from the north. Moroq shook his head and showed a visibly upset expression for her to feel a slight bit of passive sadness for him, even though she was unbeknownst of him and his true past.
"They're all dead." He uttered under his breath as the Toad nurse took him back to the hospital.
Moroq was able to explain his situation to the Toads and Koopas in the hospital the other day. To them they see him as a deserter of the north, fleeing from Aypyidaw because of the invasion, seeking refuge in the south and taken here via services from Castelia. He still had his frequent mental breakdowns and panic attacks which they blamed on trauma caused by the invasion. Somehow, no information regarding his background was ever mentioned or assumed from his state. They took him as a genuine Résethal citizen fleeing as a result of the invasion and that he had nothing to do with any hostile activity. Ayetta, the nurse and his designated carer, bonded with him well and treated him right, hoping that she could stay in touch with him even after his discharge. Luckily for her, his mental state, despite not being related to what they believe it's from, was nowhere near good enough to warrant a discharge.
"Would you like me to put the television on for you, Mr Kruboe?" Ayetta asked Moroq as they arrived back in his hospital ward. Moroq walked over to the bed, wearing his patient gown, and sat on it, resting his head on the soft comfortable pillows. Unfortunately, during his questioning, evidence from previous incidents led the questioners to determine that his name was in fact Moroq Kruboe. Luckily for him the name showed no plausible evidence that he had any relations with hostile activity. His name was kept under the radar for the past few months and had no mention in anything to do with the invasion of Aypyidaw. To the people in the northeast of the Mushroom Kingdom, he was still just an innocent refugee.
"Yes, please." He said back to Ayetta. "Could you pass me the remote?" The nurse picked up the remote as she pressed the button to turn on the television and walked over to the bed to give it to Moroq. The television channel was currently set to one showing past reruns of a fictional series, nothing of his interest. He flicked through the channels, showing things such as football reports, sports, reality shows, news, and finally a channel that caught his attention. It looked like an independent newsreader or journalist involved in his own show, but it was the big and possibly misleading words on the screen that caught his attention.
"Now we already know about Peach Toadstool's leave of absence resulting in her supposed disappearance… but as the Queen of the Mushroom Kingdom, would it not make sense to have at least some way of helping the general population be assured of her safety? Does anyone really know where she is right now? That brings us to our hot topic of the day: her beloved Super Mario. I'm sure most of our viewers already know about the fire incident in Webcapstow, giving us all leading evidence towards the reasons behind the tragic Rainbow Road terror attack, but coincidentally, we too have not seen Mario for at least a day ever since. While Mario is not on the same level as the Queen of the Mushroom Kingdom, he is still up there and fairly close… so my question to the fans is what's happened with him? Is this another leave of absence… or is this the work of something else that the deep state is hiding from us?"
Moroq and Ayetta listened in to the Koopa journalist and understood what looked like political commentary from him. To some, the words were nothing but a conspiracy theory, but both people in the room were interested. The Koopa kept talking on the screen, talking more about evidence that could suggest the more controversial reasons for their absence.
"Ayetta, what do you think of all of this?" Moroq noticed that she was looking at the screen as well. "Do you follow this stuff to do with the humans?" Ayetta kept watching, but she shrugged in response to Moroq's question.
"Not really. I prefer to be ignorant about it. I know that they're not the ones who dictate the things that matter to me." She replied.
"…I'm sure that if anyone ever went to the great castle now and asked about the whereabouts of either of them, they'll not be told the truth. That's for sure. This begs another question for us citizens though, why are they hiding the truth from us? Are they concerned that people are now speaking up and coming out with their concerns? The truth we know at least is that the people are seeing behind the lies. They've been going on ever since the races! We saw what happened to that Mr Enrique and his abrupt disappearance. We saw what happened to Rosalina and her disappearance. It's not the first time something sketchy like this has happened. Soon we will find out. The people will take to the streets of the capital again."
A possible protest right outside the streets of Toad Town, possibly hundreds of Toads gathering up in one small crowd again, and possibly the reappearance of Peach and Mario. It was such a good opportunity that it was almost frightening to Moroq. If someone from the north found out about this and the Mushroom Kingdom's vulnerability, some tribes would be bound to capitalise on it.
"I don't like the look of this." Moroq said to Ayetta as the political commentator changed his camera to footage of protests and speeches happening in various parts of Mushroom City. There were scenes of Toads and Koopas calling for abolishment of the crown, some carrying signs showing their concerns for the absence of Peach, and some simply worrying about a poor state of the kingdom.
"It's not rare this happens. Nothing to worry about." Ayetta smiled as she turned back to him. "Your only worry should be you getting better sooner. Don't want my taxpayer money being wasted on you sitting here all day." She joked.
"No. I'm serious about this." Moroq almost spoke over her. "Hearing all of this stuff about how poor the kingdom looks… imagine someone who was part of the attack on Aypyidaw finds out about this?" He started to breathe louder and quicker. "We're not safe here. They'll be coming for us next!"
Ayetta rushed to his bed to try and calm him. "Shh. It's ok." She said. "They're not going to come for us. You're safe down here. Maybe that's enough television for you today mister. Do you want me to bring you the map book? I know you like that."
"Yes please." Moroq leaned back on the bed and started to be calmer with his breathing.
"I think I just saved you from having another episode!" She smiled as she handed him over a big book of maps. Moroq nodded back and gave her a half-smile as he opened up the book, seeing a layout of all of the Mushroom Kingdom across several pages. Ayetta turned off the television and started to leave the room, leaving Moroq on his own. This book of maps wasn't just something for him to occupy his time and mind with, it was genuine knowledge for the future. Moroq understood these to gather his bearings. He knew that one day he would be discharged from the hospital and perhaps given a place to stay under Résethal refugee asylum seeking. Everyone who spoke with him in his time at this hospital saw him as an innocent person whose house was destroyed in the invasion, and now the Ulontis council is set to give him the freedom to go wherever he wants in the three southern Kingdoms. Unfortunately it was all at the expense of Fergus and the ransacking of his former friends in the Westfells. He had no idea how things were going in that place.
While it was unknown to others if Moroq's mental state was fully recovered or not, he appeared physically patched up from the last incident with the police and anything possibly before that. It was expected that he would be released from the hospital today. Later in the morning, Ayetta returned to his room to what he thought would be bringing him the news about the discharge, but it appeared he wasn't quite ready for that according to the doctors.
"Not ready yet?" Moroq wondered to Ayetta. "Me being concerned about you all wasn't a sign of a breakdown. I was just genuinely worried because I don't want you all to be fine with what's happening in the north and then be surprised if they ever come. Maybe you should let a governor know about what this absence of Peach and Mario might mean to them?" Ayetta smiled, showing nothing towards his words, and sat on his bed with him.
"I'm not in any power to contest things like this with them. We all know that they won't listen to us." She said back to him. "We've got to trust that our borders are strong and that our people defending it for us will remain strong. I personally don't like it… but what can I say? I'm just a nurse." Moroq started to wonder if this nurse had the same mindset as the average citizen; feeling powerless and unable to do anything on a larger scale and would most likely let anything swarm over them. If there were protests on the streets about the government, they wouldn't be here of all places. While this area that he was in was technically part of the Mushroom Kingdom, its government in the area was heavily Koopa influenced being relatively close to Bowser's Castle. Moroq had never been there himself, but he knew that there was some influence it had over the way people lived around here. These lands had a Koopa-heavy population but with the morals of the Toads and zero interest in any hostile activity or anything similar.
"Well, let's just hope that they stop with it… I wondered a few times if that was what their intention was. Aypyidaw and nothing else. I should have moved out sooner. Castelia is where to be if you're someone like me." Moroq looked back at Ayetta and lied down on the bed pillow. He moved the curtains just across the bed and looked out to the view of the Ulontis streets, seeing normal life around here. It was far more developed than anywhere in the north besides maybe Castelia, but obviously Moroq didn't really want to live there.
"I don't think you should be thinking about there while you've just had people ransack your home. These lands are not safe for you and it's best that we've been able to bring you to here."
"Alright." Moroq nodded and agreed with Ayetta to stop her from going on and on about the whims and worries of the north. He had to accept that he would be staying here for an unknown amount of time and even if he was released early, he would have no phone, no money, no way of contact and a lot of difficulty trying to get around everywhere. The best he can do is to wait for the Ulontis government to either find him hospitality and a job and a way to live in this city… or send him to somewhere else like Koopa City.
…
Back in Vilrus, Ata had returned back to his home. The contemplation of changing his mind on ignoring Moroq of the Westfells was always in his thoughts. Everyone was living normally and there was for the time being nothing to worry about, but the question was still whether they would be happy settling for just about enough to keep life going. His doubts and wonders about whether the people should pursue this would be tested again, for he was expecting another visitor today. This came in the form of a group of people, and a large one too. The Marshi tribe from the far north of Résethal came to visit Vilrus knowing that the Takharim leader was now based here. The Marshi Koopas had a chieftess who lived in the town of Marghosa, situated off an island off of the northern coast of east Résethal. The Koopas here were completely different to even what the Résethal hostile Koopas were used to. They were paler and larger and most didn't wear shells. Some of them didn't even have a hint of yellow in their skin. Some were so pale that it was white and some even had some green to their skin colour. The Marshi Chieftess that came with her band of Koopas was as white as snow. In advance, Ata told his friends about the arrival of the Marshi Koopas, mustering them to his side to meet them on the fields just outside Ata's own house. It would be here that they would meet with the Koopa known as Millianne Rukishan, or 'Milly' as the other tribes refer her as. Ata stood with his friends and watched the girl emerge and approach in the field. He had never properly met with her before, and she wasn't that tall or intimidating either. Some began to wonder how she got such a role within her people.
Ata placed his crossbow tucked inside the back of his shell and walked in front of everyone else. Milly also walked a little more forward. Her clothes were thin and dark, and she wasn't even wearing a shell. Her makeup was heavy and full of dark shades as well. It looked very prominent on her white skin.
"So, do we call you Milly even in these parts?" Ata spoke first, standing alone in front of the Marshi Chieftess, also alone in front of her crowd of at least twenty. The Marshi came as a collective and massively outnumbered the Vilrusi Koopas. Ata was almost scared on the inside; if a fight broke out, they would most likely not survive this. He knew he had to proceed with caution. Milly giggled from Ata's first words.
"I'm happy to be called Milly anywhere; from the Spire to the Night Woods." She smiled back at him. "Let my status not dictate what people are allowed to call me professionally."
"Well then, Milly, what brings you and… many others to here? I hope you're not coming to ask for favours regarding the south now. I already had an earful from fat Kuiwe this morning about 'wanting to pay us back for the people rescued from Aypyidaw' and I told him to go and ask someone else about that, especially not Moroq. You heard about him recently? Apparently he's in the south and sounds like he's in a mental hospital." Ata's words somehow caused Milly to burst with laughter. For one it gave him some relief that she was in a good mood to be speaking with him, but the laughter went on for quite some time, giving him a slight bit of concern.
"Don't worry Mr. Ata sir." Milly smiled and nudged him gently as a friendly gesture. "There'll be nothing about this to do with the south or the Tammans or anyone that bothers you specifically. We ask you for your assistance yes, that's a given, but our concern lies to the west." Ata raised an eyebrow and watched as Milly leaned in closer. "The Zarkans are growing restless with us. It seems that Sasha Shellex is still unhappy about twenty-fourteen, so much so that our spies say that he wants to stage a coup in the south to free the Zerkheni footballer. You can already tell what that means to us. They won't ever stop their feud… all because of football. What do you say… will you be there when we need you?" She gave him a forced smile, hoping to win him over with her charm, but Ata was examining this the whole time. He knew that there needs to be a reason to do this for them.
"What are you willing to give us for this help?" He asked, looking back at the crowd of Marshi white Koopas behind her.
"An alliance for the future… we can give you discount on all of our water plants and our foods. Anything you want from us, we'll give you good rates. You know how better we are compared to anywhere else. Besides, if you ever need some real allies… or just some safety from the unknowns… the Marshi people will help. There're more of us than you from what we've gathered, I think it's better for you to take this in the long-term." This made him slightly anxious. He could tell that there was a slight attempt of intimidation from Milly despite her still looking so innocent and charming. At least what she is asking for is dependent on a time frame. There was a coup needing to be staged first involved in the south before anything else related to the matters in the far north. With the way the world is at the moment, this could take weeks at least.
"Eighty percent off." Ata remained firm and kept up a demand from her. "All future trades… until the end of the year."
"Fifty?" Milly tried to negotiate, but Ata remained unfazed by her attempts.
"Eighty."
"Fine."
"We can provide you with cars should the day come. Obviously we don't work with boats along the northern coast. It's too much work to get them going out of the river and all the way around the peninsula." Ata then stated, for Marghosa the town was on an island off of the coast, but most of the Marshi tribe territory was on the mainland surrounding the island.
"We'll let you know when the inevitable day comes." Milly smiled. "Now don't forget about this. Remember who your allies are." She giggled and waved him goodbye as she hopped and danced back to her white-skin friends in the tribe. Just like that, business was over. No conflicts, no meetings with more people, just a one-to-one chat about a possible conflict in the future and nearly thirty people standing behind them wondering what in the world was going on between them.
"Thankfully that didn't get any worse." Zuba said to Ata first when he returned back to his friends. "It was stressful just looking at all of them and making sure they weren't plotting anything." All of his group were there with him for the meeting except for Marley, including the recently recruited radicals from South Port and a few other followers.
"They want us to be on the northern roads on a specific day, giving them all the help we can. In exchange, they've made an ally pact with us for the rest of the year… and we can buy cheap from them." He said back to his followers.
"Need us on a specific day… what, what do you mean specific day?" Koopiz brushed past his friends in the crowd and stood right in front of Ata. "You telling us we've got to go to war again? We literally put our lives on the line for what should have been freedom and now you're asking us to go at it again… for a bunch of people who weren't with us there the first time?"
"Hey, I don't want us making a scene out here. If you want to talk about it then come back to my place. I'll explain everything. Trust me, it's not as bad as it seems." He knew that there would be some of them that would be against this plan and this cooperation. For the ones that wanted peace and relaxation, having to be aligned with a different tribe and their conflicts is something they want to stay away from.
"Fine." Koopiz backed away, kicking the ground on his way back to the paths into town.
The Koopas followed Ata back to his house where he gave the addressing message to them all about the new alliance with the Marshi. Many were appealing to the discounts that the Marshi were supposedly offering and the request they asked for didn't seem as bad to them as it first sounded. One day of a possible fight and then that would be it. They all knew the reasons for it too. It wasn't just the Marshi that were affected by it.
While Ata wasn't a Takharim elected representative at the time, he knew about the past involving the Zarkans and the Marshi all too well. The two tribes were always at a conflict with each other and the reasons for causing it didn't even originate from anything on a hostile level. In fact, it came from football. Marghosa football club, at the time under the name of Olympic Marghosa as formerly part of the Olympic Football Group, was and still currently is one of the best football clubs in the ERCF, the Eastern Résethal Confederation for Football. The confederation usually has at least one berth in the MDC1, the Muhu Delfethal Champions' League and in 2013 they won it for the first time and were also the first ever team in the ERCF to win something on the highest level stage. Whenever these highest stage tournaments would take place, there would also be at least one team from the FUWR, the Football Union of Western Résethal. This confederation included teams from cities such as Castelia, the Westfells, and particularly Zarkan and Zerkhen. In the 2013-14 equivalent of the tournament – so last year's – there were two qualified teams from the FUWR; again, Zarkan and Zerkhen, both territory to the Zarkans tribe. When these tournaments happened were the only times there was any possible interaction between teams across both domestic leagues, and it would always lead to bitter rivalry. With the increasing level of threat from hostile tribes in the north happening at the same time, the feud between both teams from the FUWR and Marghosa were becoming increasingly concerning. Fortunately, the three teams were all put in different groups for the group stages, but all three advanced to the knockout stages. Again through the luck of the draw none were put against each other in the round of sixteen, and also the rule of no two teams from the same league would be matched against each other in this round or the quarter finals…
However, in 2014, despite Zarkan being eliminated from the tournament at the hands to a team based in Sarasaland, both Marghosa and Zerkhen made it through to the quarter finals, beating Sutfort and a team based in Yoshi Valley respectively, with Zerkhen beating the team in a very controversial manner. The draw unfortunately pulled these two teams together, creating the first ever matchup between two Résethal-based teams in a quarter final in history.
Ata knew at the time that Sasha Shellex, the chieftess of the Zarkans tribe, was in love with the Zerkhen football club's team captain: Zenitsu Sophiane. An unfortunate series of events involving rallies, rioting, and hostile Koopa tribe battles prior to the fixture in Marghosa led to the abandonment of the two-legged tie, also leading to Sophiane's arrest. His crimes of staging and inciting violence especially as an established footballer had led him to a prison sentence in the Delfino Capital, still being served to this day. It was what Sasha Shellex's intended coup was all about. Should that be successful, it would lead to another inevitable conflict between Sasha's band of Zarkans and Millianne Rukishan's family and friends in Marghosa. Ata spent the morning explaining this to Koopiz, Zuba and the others, citing that it was an inevitable event that could be weeks into the future. With all the benefits Milly would be offering the Koopas in Vilrus and the other areas under the Takharim, all they needed to do was be there for them and provide the help and assistance they need to hold off whatever force would be coming to them. Sasha Shellex also used to be part of the Zarkan football club, but had retired from the game at the turn of the year due to the increasing level of responsibility she had as the chieftess of her people and how much the sanctions imposed on the two northern leagues by the Mushroom Accords affected their time playing the game. Due to both the Mushroom Accords and sudden changes implemented since the incidents of Rainbow Road, all teams involved in the MDC1 or MDC2 have been banned from the tournament until further notice. While the 2014-15 tournament is still in its knockout stage, the last round played before the events of Rainbow Road were the quarter finals, but by then there were no more teams in the ERCF or FUWR left in the tournament as A.S. Arnuran, a team in the Tammans territory in the ERCF, were eliminated in the round of sixteen of the MDC2 by Zeltarc West in the WFC, and Neposeda FC, another team from the Marshi area, were eliminated from the MDC1 at the hands of a team based in Sarasaland formerly managed by Princess Daisy when she used to play football. It was in fact the same team that eliminated Zarkan the year before in the same round. This meant that there was no influence of the north in the tournaments that remained, and while there have been several concerning incidents, football still went on. For people like Ata, Milly, and Sasha Shellex, there were clearly more important things than football to be concerned about. This time around, there would be no MDC1, MDC2 or Red Martyrs' influence in the lands to prevent another conflict from happening. With true freedom in the north, there comes the price of a lack of true authority and governance. On the other end of the spectrum of the ERCF, Vilrus and Zurlon had football teams but the hostile Koopas had nothing to do with them. Neither of the clubs were in the top flight and the entire area was extremely poor at the sport. The closest club in the top division at the time was surprisingly Vurduresa.
Ata did his best to make it known to the other Takharim towns about the request that was given upon them by the Marshi. Bursk and Basher in Unhalvalor soon found out and were happy to supply their forces for the day as well as a few vehicles and armed weapons. Illias also found out later in the day when receiving a call from Ata. He gladly accepted the proposal, but he warned him that there wouldn't be much to provide as there was a lot of uncertainty amongst the Zurloners. Nikola was still refusing to speak with him, even though Koopreme and Johan tried to suggest getting him to help out.
Ata also summoned most of his friends back to his place for a lunch that would be on him. It was there that he would be making those calls, and all of his friends would be able to hear the other end of the phone calls with Basher first and then Illias. The end of the call left them slightly worried.
"It sounds to me like they're not going to be of any use to us in the end." Mac suggested his opinion first, despite it being the least educated for he was the recent-most recruit. "We've got less people behind you." He looked at Ata across the table.
"Let's not get too disheartened by it." Ata spoke before anyone else tried to voice their opinion. "I don't think we're the only ones who are affected by something like this case of disheartenment. I'm sure since last week there have been many tribes who have had people who have decided to fade away. After all, what's to compete for, really?"
"Are you suggesting that we stop then?" Koopiz stood up, causing many to speak over him. "We're not done with the other tribes you know. We still don't know what's going on with the Dargovi. Now is the worst time to fade away into the shadows!"
"We're not going to have conflicts with other tribes anymore." Tyro contested. "That is if we just leave ourselves out of it. Ata's right!"
"No! It's not going to be like that. There're still some idiots out there who would attack us just out of spite of numbers. We still need to keep up our strength and our image!" Koopo also spoke over everyone at the same time. Many didn't have their voices and opinions listened to, but it was until Ata raised his crossbow in the air, tempted to fire, did he get the voices in the room to quieten down.
"I'm not saying this is us saying let's give up. We are the Takharim, and most importantly we are the Vilrusi. It doesn't take a lot of effort nowadays to remain resilient and alert for anything that may come at us. We stand strong with our friends and our families in these towns… The only difference now is that… life is easier." Everyone was silent, deeply listening to his speech. "We got what we fought for and now we can live peacefully with it. This plea of aid that the Marshi are giving us is nothing on the level of what we've faced before when we used to have disputes over Vurduresa and who runs the stations. Besides, the problem that the Zurloners are having is nothing to do with us. They've been struck hard in recent times and we don't need to ask much from them anymore." It looked like most were happy with Ata's statement. This was nothing big to worry about. Many of those in the room started to realise that there wasn't a need for conflict all the time and that there was no point in creating one for the sake of it. "I will obviously keep us updated on this coup situation that the Zarkans are trying to do but rest assured that it will leave them potentially weaker, significantly weaker hopefully. I mean, we don't even know if it's going to be a success. They're just as struck for damages as any other tribe is." He continued despite some not fully listening. It seemed to him that the case was settled and that there was nothing to worry about. He could finally put this matter to rest.
…
Later in the afternoon, Zuba was heading back to her house in the western edges of the town. There, she saw Koopiz in a truck parked up on the road and seemingly with the engine still on. She raised an eyebrow and approached the car, wondering what he was doing here.
"What are you planning on doing with this?" She had her doubts on the Koopa, knowing that he was acting very strange and suspicious in front of everyone at the discussion at lunch. She knew that he was against most of Ata's current intentions but didn't expect him to go out of his way to desert them. Koopiz couldn't hear her initially and didn't respond whilst inside the car. Upon noticing Zuba, he pulled the window down.
"What?" Koopiz asked.
"I said what are you going to do with this truck?" She rested against the door.
"…Going for a… drive…" Koopiz looked back to the road ahead and was prepared to start moving again, but Zuba remained roughly on the edge of the truck, obstructing his movement.
"Mind if I join you?" Zuba asked, suspicious of his intentions but not giving her concerns away just yet. Koopiz shrugged and allowed her to walk across the front of the truck to climb up inside. "You're not going to back out on us, are you? What would your brother think?" She questioned him as she got inside and closed the door.
Koopiz wasn't paying full attention to her at first. "…What? No. Of course not." He spoke a few seconds after, stuttering a few times. "I just have my own concerns." He started the car and accelerated quickly, giving themselves a brief bumpy experience on the dirt paths before heading on to a main road out of the town.
"We're going for more than just a drive, aren't we?" Zuba looked back at Koopiz after realising where they were going. The truck they were in was heading straight out of town and going westward, at a rapid speed too.
"Yep."Koopiz responded bluntly without turning his head. "I'm going to address my concerns… to put it plainly with you." Zuba nodded a few times when looking ahead, processing his possible intentions. She knew the guy; he wasn't going to do anything too drastic. As concerning as he might have appeared recently, Koopiz was one of the Koopas in the Vilrusi to think with common sense.
"So… what are your main concerns exactly? Are you worried that there will be something going on between the other tribes even if we do nothing to them? Because that's the impression I'm getting from you right now." The conversation between Zuba and Koopiz in the fast-moving truck was a very slow one as Koopiz always remained focused on the road, not only with his eyes but with his brain too. The two approached a highway road and remained at a constant high speed now going south and Vurduresa-bound.
"I want to know what the Dargovi are up to right now." He replied around half a minute later than Zuba's last words. "They've been this bloc we're supposed to believe are dangerous to us all but even in the most impactful times in the north we've seen almost nothing from them. Perhaps while I'm on my way to them we might be able to catch some things along the way to do with the Zarkans. Who knows, maybe they are up to this coup after all." Most of this journey composed of complete silence between them and only the radio, the engine and the sound of the shimmering breeze from outside made up any noise to pay attention to. Koopiz took a turning exit off of the southward highway to avoid going through Vurduresa. Now they were on a much smoother highway road going directly west towards Castelia, with several exits on both the left and the right for other settlements and towns in the Résethal wilderness. Zuba didn't want to question much since she didn't know exactly what Koopiz wanted to do on this journey, but she was assured enough it wouldn't be too ridiculous since Koopiz was allowing her to accompany him. What she didn't realise was how long this journey was going to be.
Zuba would be doing everything in her seat to keep herself occupied, whether it was slouching, singing, looking around, fidgeting with things in the truck, she wanted to find something to do for what turned out to be almost four hours of constant highway driving. During this time, Koopiz somehow remained fully alert and focused, barely breaking a sweat or moving an inch. They had passed so many turns off of the highway to go to other towns, hostile-housing or not. They passed the Eastfells, Castelia, even the Westfells, but it was in between the Westfells and Konhip did things actually start to appear interesting for Zuba. The highway came to an end and they were resorted to a more scenic but significantly slower set of roads. They started to see a lot more cars, and in some roads going in and out of Konhip there was actually traffic. Unfortunately, things started to appear boring for Zuba again, for the traffic meant less scenery and time being wasted. More hours passed, and the two were starting to feel a little hungry for dinner. Zuba repeatedly asked Koopiz on the journey if they could get some food for dinner but he refused. He remained fully committed on the journey, and it seemed to Zuba that perhaps he was doing something ridiculous as at this rate they would be heading towards Dargo by midnight.
Leaving Konhip, the roads started to clear, but there were still no more highways. As the sky was getting dark and the few streetlights were turning on, the two approached a junction with traffic lights.
"Oh, wonderful." Zuba showed more visible frustration as the lights turned red as they approached it. "I never thought there'd be functioning traffic lights here but here we are… in these primitive parts."
"Don't worry, almost there." Koopiz stared right up to the traffic light showing red. "We'll get food on the way back home too. That will help you."
"Can't we just go? What's the point in waiting? There are no cars around here and nobody's going to punish us for breaking the law. There's not even law enforcement here anymore!" Zuba's impatience was showing in full force, even to the point where she tried to nudge Koopiz to make him drive past the light.
"It will go green soon. Get off of me!" The two were fidgeting with each other over the gear stick as Zuba tried to get him to drive.
"It's late enough already, just drive."
"Zuba, stop! I don't want to-." She stuck her foot on his side of the car and pushed down on the gas pedal, causing the truck to shake about and accelerate while the light was still red. "-Look at what you're doing!" She pushed his leg away from the clutch pedal as well, making it go significantly faster. "You're making us… oh fuck-!" While the car was moving across the junction, Koopiz became partially blinded by some headlights as he turned his head to the right, seeing a speeding truck narrowly miss them after swerving to the right. The smaller pickup truck knocked the front of Koopiz's car pushing them a bit, causing the two to shriek and remain silent. Just ahead of them they saw the pickup truck swerve so much that it skidded across the junction road and flipped onto its side, causing it to crash and spill out several objects that were in the back all over the road. The two had screamed as the vehicle narrowly collided with them and now they were both silent and anxious as they watched the objects scatter across the junction. "You fucking idiot. You could have got us both killed!"
"Is… is the other driver okay?" Zuba gulped, hesitating to open her car door but her body was shaking from the nerves induced by the narrowly-close collision. Koopiz held on to Zuba, preventing her from opening her door as he watched a very large Koopa emerging from the far end of the truck from them. He came out of the vehicle with minor bruises but nothing too problematic. "I'm sorry. I have to apologise." Zuba knocked Koopiz's grasp off of her and opened her door.
"Zuba, wait!" Koopiz shouted as she got out of the car. He looked ahead at the wreckage and examined all of the things that fell out of the back of the truck.
"I am so, so sorry about that." Zuba pleaded to the Koopa that appeared twice her size. "I'm the passenger and it was my fault. We were hesitant to go because we've been travelling all day…" Koopiz kept looking at the items on the floor as Zuba pleaded to the Koopa. What really caught his eye was one of the objects; it looked like a body bag with something filled inside it. Upon further inspection, he also noticed something extremely surprising to see in the mess. Koopiz gulped.
"Really fucking great this is." The large Koopa groaned. "Don't get anywhere close to me. I'll sort this out myself." Zuba tried not to be intimidated by this Koopa's appearance. The sheer size of him was bad enough, but it was his clothing all full of spikes and heaviness was what frightened her on the inside. His fists were clenched and the Koopa's body also had stains of blood on it which looked to have completely dried onto his skin. Koopiz also got out of the car and rushed over to Zuba as she watched the Koopa pick up the things that fell out of the swerved truck. "Move out of the fucking way." The Koopa ordered the two to get away from the car. Within a few seconds he magically managed to flip the truck back up to normal. Now all he needed to do was put everything back inside the back compartment, including the suspicious objects that the two were looking at the floor. Zuba screamed as she noticed something else on the floor, a red plumber's hat. Upon noticing her reaction, the Koopa quickly turned back towards them and threw his hands forward, sending beams of magical energy to their legs, freezing their feet and lower legs on the road floor. The Koopa then went back to picking up everything, including the hat and the body bag as Koopiz and Zuba both became speechless and anxious. Their heartbeats were racing and they couldn't do anything but watch and see what the Koopa might do to them once he was finished with the objects. When he was finished, he turned back to the two and looked at them closely.
"…Northeast?" He questioned.
"Vilrus." Zuba admitted without hesitation.
"What the fuck are you doing in these parts then? Don't you get the memo? Stay away from Dargo."
"Is that body who I think it is?" Koopiz anxiously spoke quickly and over the other Koopa while he was addressing Zuba. He stopped and walked over towards Koopiz, leaning directly over him and indirectly cutting into his shoulder using one of his spiky bracelets.
"Did I say you could speak? Faecal tiny Koopa." The Koopa turned around and looked at the body bag. Koopiz and Zuba, still massively afraid of him, watched as he searched the back of the truck and picked out the hat from before, presenting it to their faces. "Yes, it is who you think it is." He wiped the red and partially bloodied plumber's hat in both of their faces. "This was my doing." He smiled almost devilishly. "Now, would you care to tell me why two… Vilrusi are driving towards Dargo? I'm assuming you were heading that way. It's not like you two would unironically go to… Anann or Iltan now. What's it going to be? You here to spy on us or are you coming to us begging for help? It's okay, you can answer to me." The Koopa leaned down, leaving his bracelet away from the cut made on Koopiz's shoulder.
"You… you'd rather me tell the truth right?" Koopiz stuttered, speaking with a lot of anxiety in him. "I… came all the way because I wanted to know what the situation is like over there. So much has happened recently and without Aypyidaw bothering all of us, maybe you lot would be doing things now?"
"Doing things?" The Koopa raised his voice at Koopiz. "What things would us Dargovi be doing?"
"I… don't know. Killing Princess Peach hopefully. I mean… look at you, you're halfway there since that's Mario in that bag, right?" He made the Koopa chuckle.
"Ha. Maybe I won't kill you two tonight. If I do let you two free, then I must ask one thing of you two… you don't speak of this until the rumours spread from Dargo to the world. Peach will know one day that it was Dargo. That's what's really coming." He started to walk back to his car. "Anyways… Maybe I'll kill just one of you tonight."
"No, please, no!" Zuba and Koopiz panicked, trying to get off of their restraint but the icy shards surrounding their feet kept them locked in place. No matter how they tried to move their feet, they were frozen in place. "Don't kill us, please!" The two's crying and pleading made the Koopa burst into hectic laughter. "I'll do anything, please." The Koopa's eyes widened and he stopped laughing.
"Anything?" He leaned closer to Zuba, grabbing her by the chest and tucking his giant hand grip around her body, holding her firmly and pulling her up with such strong force that it destroyed the ice shards, freeing her from the magical trap but giving her legs intense pain. "I'll take your word… and you. You're coming with me." The Koopa magically gagged her and held her on his shoulder, walking back to the truck. He threw her into the front of his truck and closed the door, looking back to Koopiz still frozen in the road. "Don't jump a red light, retard." The Koopa walked around the vehicle and got back into the driver's seat, closing his door and driving off westwards towards the way to Dargo, leaving Koopiz alone in the middle of the road still frozen. He tried screaming to the Koopa and begging to him as he started to drive off, but he was left abandoned here. All that he could see around him as the sky was now pitch black were the traffic lights still flickering and their car parked only a few metres away on the junction. Koopiz could only pray that cars don't come down this junction going fast to run him over, but he felt like this could be it for him. A sad, silly way to die that wasn't technically his fault. Luckily as he looked down one last time he could see wet patches from the ice at the bottom by his feet. He couldn't feel his lower legs and feet, but it looked like the ice might just be melting. It may take a while, but he knew that with the weather still being relatively warm, this would be all melted soon, or at least melted enough to the point where it was weak enough for him to break from.
This still meant a long unknown amount of time…
EOC: This was quite interesting to do since most of the content was based on things happening in the north. Additionally there is a note I would like to say regarding some things in this chapter…
I have done a lot of hobby-based background lore in these fanfics regarding football and how all of the leagues and tournaments work. I tried to develop some of it in the form of a prequel on my page titled "The Years of Peace" but unfortunately I do not have the willpower, mental ability and time to produce what I would have hoped to be a 10-chapter, 10,000 words per chapter, saga showcasing four major events across the four years that spanned between the official Era of Peace and the implementation of the Mushroom Accords. That being said, the modern tournaments of the MDC1 and MDC2 were also originally implemented alongside the new Era of Peace, so the first MDC1 and MDC2 tournaments (explained in more detail in the Cheep Cheepers chapter) occurred in the 2010-11 season. This sort of OC-based feature documents hundreds of Koopa and Toad names playing for various teams and football clubs across all leagues and also explains the football impact in Canon characters, such as Peach and Daisy creating their own teams in the past and teams were being owned by people such as Yoshi and Bowser.
Something important to note is that Peach's team that did exist in such a time used to include Peach as a player and a player-manager, but after the 2013-14 she resigned from her position, with more important and obvious things happening at the same time that she must adhere to. The same goes for Daisy. Her team, the Daisy Squadron, were the team that knocked out Zarkan in the 2013-14 MDC1 Round of Sixteen, and Zerkhen had knocked out the Yoshi Squadron in that same round based on the data I had designed as a pastime hobby. In the 2014-15 season, the Round of Sixteen and the Quarter Finals of the MDC1 and MDC2 occurred during the period of the Double Dash tournament, so Peach and Daisy and Bowser and other people formerly involved in such football clubs had no mention of it as they were too busy with the tournament, but yes, the Daisy Squadron did knock out Neposeda in the Round of Sixteen, though, the Daisy Squadron were knocked out in the Quarter Finals by Sutfort. As of the current date in this chapter, March 17, the semi finals are yet to take place, and Sutfort are matched against Blue Lake FC, but for obvious reasons regarding the convoy incident and the police, these matches have been postponed. With the other semi final being Mushroomheath of the Football Confederation of the Mushroom Kingdom (FCM) versus Ambozia of the Sarasaland Football Confederation (SFC), despite the events of Rainbow Road having a disastrous effect on Mushroom City, this tie is still scheduled to go on normally.
Anyway, that's a little bit of side lore for you, see you next chapter!
