Downfall of the Mushroom Kingdom

by geddiknight

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

25. The Lost Koopa Kingdom

Downfall of the Mushroom Kingdom

The Lost Koopa Kingdom

A/N: Unfortunately, this chapter is rather OC-heavy, but by now anyone who has actually read all the way up to this point will not have a significant problem with this by now. Anyways, anyone who does and is still confused, feel free to write something to me about it. I'm happy to cue anyone in for more information. Worst case scenario is I alone benefit from this. I'm happy regardless.

Anyways, next chapter.

March 18, Midnight

Dargo, West Résethal

The corpse.

Shown on to the floor. Mario, the body of the Super Mario was thrown before Choban's feet, still decomposing and rotting away. This was surely Raiyon's greatest find. There couldn't possibly be anyone better in the world right now to present to him. Now all he waited for was the approval he was ever so longing for. Would his father finally look at him the other way and forgive him for his behaviour in the past? Always labelled as lazy, dangerous, almost useless at times; perhaps this was finally the time for him to erase it all away with this surprise prize for his father.

Choban looked back up to Raiyon after seeing the corpse. "To be violent and dangerous is one thing, but I never took you for an idiot." Raiyon stood back and watched as his father picked up Mario's body and let it go onto the table to the side. "You think this is a gift? What you have given me is an invitation to a war with the Mushroom Kingdom. I bet you felt so clever giving this to me." He looked up at Raiyon after seeing the body once again. It stunk, but it did have a lot of value to it. "Go on, say something clever."

"Without Mario, what hope does the Mushroom Kingdom have against us? They couldn't possible cross over the mountains and try and get us. This is our chance to take over the entire lands for people like us." Raiyon sniggered at Choban, cementing himself across the other side of the table, looking across back to his father. He laid both hands on the table and looked at the rotting corpse, smirking at it and being reminded of the fact that it was him who caused this.

"You want us to be at the top but you forget about the many new problems that lie in between us and the top, starting with the unrest you will have also caused across our own lands. Every tribe is going to go crazy when they see that the Mushroom Kingdom wants to go to war with us. You also forget that they have the power of the Wuhu Kingdom and the Delfino Kingdom on their side. Whatever your brothers and sisters are doing in Asterno won't be enough." Choban stressed with his deep voice. "Now bag this body before it reeks this entire room of its god-awful stench. Where's Nidelle I-." The doors of the building were being opened right at the same time as his speech continued, having interrupted it. His youngest walked into the room and stepped slowly down the hall to the table. "Good. You're still here."

"Beloved is the deceived feeling that my brother feels." Nidelle smiled, pondering over what remains of the bagged up corpse being poorly hidden from her sight.

"What would you make of this supposed gift that your brother has brought before me?" Choban asked Nidelle, now knowing that she saw what was inside.

She paused for a few seconds before speaking rather ominously. "The whole world will come together because of this. Where one dines with his adversaries, others dine with their murderers." Choban raised an eyebrow but brushed the thought away rather quickly.

"This has no regard to dinners and fancy meals. If we are to have any, then it wouldn't be about this but about trying to get allies. Thanks to this idiot over here, we're likely to be facing the full force of the Mushroom Kingdom, no matter how strong you think it is. With this in mind, we're going to have to act quicker than originally planned. I can't have either of you leaving Dargo any time soon."

"I thought you wanted me gone because of this?" Raiyon smirked.

"You're staying here." Choban turned to him, put his foot down and responded bluntly. "You may be stupid, you may be foolish, but you're not finished just yet. I will especially not have you go down to your pleasure house again either."

"That place burned down anyway, that's how that happened." He laughed at Mario's corpse, trying to show it to Choban again by putting it right up to him on the table.

"Raiyon."

"He chased me and he got what was coming for him for being an arrogant little shit."

"Raiyon." His father said again with his soft, quiet and blunt voice. Raiyon turned his head and felt a little bit of discomfort when doing so. "I don't care." He smirked seeing his son now feeling anxious. "Now, both of you sit down."

"The others will beach ashore in the morning." Nidelle informed him as he watched his youngest and his eldest sat equidistant from each other across the table.

"Good. I will need all of us here for what's going to happen. Nobody is to leave Dargo for the next week at least. I will be journeying east to the ruins of the Koopa Kingdom because while he may not be our greatest ally in terms of numbers, Bowser will be the best middleman for the rest of this month. Choban's gaze sharpened as he turned his attention to Raiyon, his voice low but commanding. "The destruction of the Red Martyrs has levelled the playing field. With that, we may finally bring our families together and achieve unity across the mountains. We'll have our own forces bolstered by whatever remains of the Koopa Kingdom. This alliance will also bring any defectors to the Mushroom Kingdom back to Bowser." Nidelle watched silently from the side, her eyes flickering between her father and brother as the weight of their situation sank in.

"That's a brilliant idea." Raiyon agreed, leaning forward in his chair, his eyes gleaming with a mixture of excitement and dark intent, as per usual. "They'll relish seeing what we've done to Mario."

"Happy with it?" Choban asked, receiving a sharp nod from his son. "Then you will wed Wendy Koopa."

Raiyon's eager expression vanished as if struck by a sudden blow. His back stiffened, and the colour drained from his face. Nidelle stifled a laugh, her lips curling into a smirk as she watched her brother's ego crumble. "That's not happening. There's got to be another way. What the fuck is marriage going to do for an alliance?" He appeared to Choban as a feeble beggar, pleading for answers as he was lost in confusion. Nidelle kept smiling at him condescendingly.

"Right now alliances are being made and broken quicker than anyone could ever imagine. Spies report to me saying that Moroq Kruboe is nowhere to be found and every tribe that he managed to unite have already turned on the Westfellers. Sooner or later they will all be turning on each other again and without Aypyidaw it won't be long until one idiot ruler from one of these other tribes accidentally so happens to cut off the head of an innocent Wuhu citizen and all of a sudden all three southern kingdoms are united against us leading to a what could make the Great Mushroom Wars look like child's play." Choban began pacing slowly, his hands clasped behind his back, the dim light casting long shadows across the room. "All of these people must be in check, and those not willing to communicate with this plan will be met with the full Dargovi force, and if not us then the spirits from the shadows below can suck their life away, destroying their dynasty along with it." He stopped and turned to Raiyon, his expression cold and unyielding. The message to him was clear. "The best way to put these chieftains and chieftesses in check is by securing an alliance with them through marriage. Whether you like it or not, you will marry Wendy Koopa."

Raiyon stood up with confidence, willing to attest to this order. "Why must you make me do this?" He retaliated. "If you cared about any of your children even in the slightest, you'd be sure to realise that Sheridan would be better suited to marry Wendy. Get him to do it." He leaned across the table, trying to meet his father's gaze with the same intensity or even trying to best him at it, but Choban's eyes were like cold steel, unwavering and unyielding.

"Oh brother." Nidelle smiled at him. "This is your chance to finally take upon a girl who won't forever be afraid of the monster you are."

"Sheridan will do his part. The Koopa Kingdom isn't the only place where we need an established alliance. You all will do your part." Nidelle sniggered at Raiyon, knowing that he wouldn't be able to evade this decision. "That includes you." Choban then looked to Nidelle, catching her attention off-guard.

"Excuse me?" She turned her head quickly.

"You will marry Ata of the Vilrusi." Choban declared, his voice leaving no room for debate. He saw her eyes widen in shock and distaste, but he remained unmoved. "You should be grateful I'm not giving you to someone worse."

"I cannot love anyone. I'm not fit to marry." Nidelle argued back.

"You will do as I say and you will marry Ata. Everyone must do their part for the good of the family and for the great future." He looked at her firmly, not willing to take no for an answer.

"I'm not ready to throw my life away!" Nidelle shouted, her voice cracking as she fought to maintain her composure. "I'm not a slave, and you will not have me—."

"You are my daughter!" Choban's voice thundered, cutting her off mid-sentence. His sudden outburst froze her in place. "You will marry Ata Endymion to secure the Takharim alliance. He's the fairest among the male chiefs, besides Moroq, but the Westfellers are collapsing from the inside. I will not waste Dargovi blood on that Lynne Fisadi girl. She's a façade—weak, and surrounded by broken fools who dare to call themselves a tribe. A tribe no longer."Nidelle was speechless. She couldn't say anything back as she had dreaded for this time to come. She was unsure when it would come but it would happen eventually. Her only mistake was thinking that Mario's corpse would have nothing to do with this.

"No more mistakes." She said quietly to herself as she refused to turn even an eye in Raiyon's direction, as she knew that now he was the one with the smirk on his face.

"And who will Sheridan marry?" Raiyon asked, his voice laced with a bitter edge. He glanced back at his father, knowing full well he was testing his patience.

Choban's expression remained unreadable. "He will find out when he arrives, just like everyone else." Silence coming from his son and daughter now filled the air. "See yourselves to your chambers. We will talk about this more in the morning."

9:30AM

Peach's Castle, Mushroom City

Peach wasn't able to properly introduce herself to the people back in the castle yesterday, despite the announcement that was publicly broadcasted across the Kingdoms. At least now she was back, and finally able to have a good night's sleep after the long journeys, jet-lag, and stress from not being back in the Kingdom until now. She woke up on this fine cloudy morning and prepared herself for the day ahead as usual, doing so faster than Daisy was able to. There was still no sign of Luigi in the night, but despite the strong connection she had with him not only as a friend but as a trusted advisor, she felt that this time around it would be more appropriate to employ more reliable and more recently experienced individuals as councillors by her side.

The castle was full of people today. Journalists, reporters, fans, photographers, the lot. Most had flooded the ground floor and the halls, waiting for Peach to report to the throne room to make her addresses to the people. Joined with her today was Princess Daisy, happy to see her and ready to assist her. Additionally, Toadasha was there to answer some of the reporters' questions at the same time. While they were able to accommodate to the many questions, they still felt severely understaffed in the council aspect of the government. Toadheim was not present, for he was still busy working in surveillance, and there had been no sign of Tranko since her arrival. Daisy wasn't able to reach out to him either, and she still hadn't seen him since her incident at Mushroom Yards.

"Queen Peach, do you have plans for holding a funeral for the great Super Mario?" Daisy and Toadasha both overheard one reporter's question being asked and directed to Peach. They both stopped their other reporters and looked towards her, seeing the flashes from cameras in the crowds all around her.

"I do intend to… yes." Peach replied initially, wanting to say more about it though. "I want to make it good for him so it will probably be once we've finally sorted everything else out first. He will certainly not be forgotten."

"Agreed!" Daisy cheered from the short distance, just before going back to the other journalists. "Sorry, next question."

"Princess Daisy, what are your thoughts on the hostile activity reaching as far as Asterno and Blue Lake in the west? Do you think it might have anything to do with Princess Éclair's disappearance recently?" Daisy raised an eyebrow, and for a brief moment she blocked out all sound to her mind. She remembered the mention of Éclair having disappeared from the Wuhu capital, but she never assumed it to be a dire situation. Now with this being brought up as well – especially during a time like this – there was no way these two things would not have any link to each other.

"We've sent help… but… I think we should send more. It's probably got a link together. Forgive me I'm not trying to scare you with scepticism… but… this could be linked." She gulped and then looked back at Peach, her hands were starting to shiver and unfortunately Peach looked to be deep into other questions. "Sorry. I need to…" Daisy walked away from her position in the throne room and walked over to Peach, squeezing through the castle security to get to her. "Peach, Peach!" She grabbed her attention.

"What?" She asked back, looking at her and seeing her hesitate again.

"This… this interview session has ended now. No more questions!" Daisy raised her voice and spoke back to the people, only causing them to get louder and ask more questions. While many applauded them, the security still had to intervene, stopping those who were getting too loud for them all. "We'll be back soon! Please be escorted to the front gates." She took Peach away despite Toadasha still seemingly willing to take more questions. She too was a bit confused like Peach, and had no choice but to follow them up the stairs to the throne and the first floor.

"What's going on, why have you stopped this?" Peach asked Daisy as the three joined up together halfway up the steps.

"I've just heard some very bad news. Éclair's disappearance is clearly linked to some apparent Hostile Koopa activity all the way to the west. I heard some interviewers say that deep in the Wuhu Kingdom to the far west there was an attack in Blue Lake and Asterno, at the same time, Éclair goes missing. Those two have been linked together. While you were gone I sent some aid to the west but I feel like we're missing a lot of information about this." Daisy worried both the other girls. Stress came quick to Toadasha as she worried about the Toad Brigade's inconsistent leadership, but Peach showed mental strength.

"Where's Tranko? Surely this is supposed to be his concern!" Toadasha seemed frightened, and it only reminded Peach of her lack of numbers on the council. Something had to be done.

"Daisy, Toadasha, leave me to sort this situation out. I want you two to employ more people on the council while I'm busy. We need new representatives for the department of the people and for the department of royal affairs. Toad is no help to us any longer." Peach walked further up the stairs, indicating Daisy and Toadasha to go left together if they were intending to go up the floors, meaning to take the left elevator as Peach wanted to go to the right side one alone.

She rushed quickly down the hallway to the lift and waited for it to arrive after pressing the button. Her intentions were to go back to her room, having peace and quiet to allow her to conduct her intentions regarding the west Wuhu situation alone. She understood the severity of the lack of councillors to assist her, but she couldn't put in the short-term time to recruit more while she had other things to deal with. Somebody had to do this for her; considered a way of outsourcing work for the council. Besides, Peach wanted to keep her secrets from yesterday to herself for now, as the one person she wanted to speak to right now was Bowser. Returning to her bedroom after going up the floors with the lift, she quickly rushed to the wall, making sure nobody else was nearby before making any more actions. She had some of the secret things stashed in one of her drawers next to the wall opposite her bed, including the old portal devices. However, what she was looking for this time was a phone; one kept secret from others including Daisy. Peach searched the drawers, finding various things inside. Portal devices, crumpled notes, chains and empty-socket necklaces and most importantly, the phone beneath them all. She decided to move everything from before up to these drawers instead of having them kept in the headquarters or the Upper Storehouses as she couldn't risk anyone accidentally coming across them. Now that she had the phone, she waited for it to turn on. What Peach had in her hand was a phone purely for discretion. She had the means of reaching out to some specific people only during the direst of circumstances. Her contacts included some people including Donkey Kong, Bowser, Rosalina, Zane, Marrec, Tom and Enrique, and even Duncan and Tobias from Earth. While she was so engrossed in the idea of calling up Bowser, she had forgotten that she had some other important contacts on this phone that she could try calling. Bowser was the priority though, so she tried to ring him up first.

…

"Bowser?" Peach spoke first, clarifying to whoever was on the other end that it was her calling. She wasn't sure this was a registered number on his end as she had never properly used this as a means to call him.

"Yes this is me." Bowser responded. "You need to give me some time to find out more information about Choban and his family. It's not even been a full day yet." She was relieved to sense that he was calling her while alone. These matters were best kept in private and to be made sure that none of his children questioned it.

"I'm not asking about your actions yet. There's been something happening in Wuhu, Princess Éclair's gone missing and apparently there was an attack in both Blue Lake and Asterno. Am I correct in assuming that you once again have nothing to do with this? Daisy said it was a hostile attack."

"It's the Dargovi." Bowser responded quickly. "They're the only ones who have the facilities to travel by sea all the way down the west coast."

"Daisy also said that these attacks are probably linked with Éclair's disappearance."

"I can get behind that." Bowser agreed, but still showed concern. "But what's bothering me is why would they attack Asterno and Blue Lake? If they wanted to capture Princess Éclair, then why would they go there in the first place?" The two were as confused and concerned as eachother. Nothing in their short term memory was able to bring up a valid reason for such a place to go to. Unfortunately, there was no update for Peach as to what the situation is like at the moment. Peach went on her other phone in the meantime to check out any news and updates about the situation from online news sources.

"Attack at the Police Station, but no sign of any hostile activity in Blue Lake. Only reports of hostile activity in Asterno." Peach read from a news article. "Not much else other than a football venue change. All of our teams are out of that so that doesn't concern us."

"What's the exact situation in Asterno?" Bowser asked, raising his pitch slightly.

"Your guess is as good as mine, Koopa." She replied. "The government there is full of corrupt people. I wonder if they've been bribed to hide anything going on there."

"Well if you want me to help you with this situation the best thing you can do for me is give my boundaries a bit more space. I don't really know what I can do while confined to these castle walls. You'll have to allow some of my loyalists some space to work around."

"Fine." Peach sighed. "But don't step out of your new boundaries. Two weeks ago you were on trial for everything in the past. Don't let this new thing get in the way of what was previously between us." She remained confident and asserted herself over him over the call. Bowser took the reminder with ease and went silent for a few seconds.

"…We'll keep an eye out on anything that crosses the mountains. Other than that, we're on limited resources. I'll also do whatever I can to find out more of the family's intentions."

"Good, that will do for now." Peach hanged up the phone before Bowser could say anything more. There was little he could do, and given that he had nothing in the past day, there was no need to keep him on constant updates every day. Bowser was nowhere near a priority to have this much attention.

11:00AM

Dargo

The slow submarine journey all the way up the western coast had finally come to an end back in West Dargo. From the city's walls at the edge, Karisa stood and watched as some of her siblings returned from the long journey. She was excited, as it would mean that finally the business in Asterno was finished and there was hope that Tarren would finally come out of his slumber in that ragged old abandoned house and be of use to them all here, though after reading the look on some of her siblings' faces, this didn't seem to be the case.

"What happened?" Karisa watched as Sheridan and Vecheva were the first to return up the several flights of stairs. She did feel some relief, more than disappointment actually, as she saw some more humans come out of the submarine, but they were being escorted by several allies, including Sheridan's personal bodyguards.

"Don't worry about it." Vecheva sighed. "Éclair's dead, and this was all a waste of fucking time." She and Sheridan stopped at the top of the stairs, looking back at Karisa as if she had something important to tell them; regardless, neither appeared to be in a mood to hear about anything anyway.

Karisa on the other hand, only wanted to ask more questions about her concerns. "Where's Bertram?" It was obvious to her that something was amiss considering she knew very well that three of her siblings were in Asterno and other parts of Wuhu. The young and big one however, didn't seem to be anywhere from the steps all the way to the entrance of the submarine hatch.

"Nevermind about him." Vecheva said again with frustration. Karisa was still deeply concerned. No Tarren and now no Bertram. "If you want to ask more questions, ask Sheridan." Her fists were clenched as she stormed past her sister and into the building to the left. Sheridan stopped at the top of the stairs, compelled to look Karisa straight in the eyes and disappoint her.

"Well don't stand there and sob at me." Karisa sighed. "Father wants you inside. He wants all of us inside, in fact." Luckily, they weren't required to travel all the way through the city to reach their father's headquarters, for he was only inside the nearby building with a few other servants and allies. As the others walked into the building, they were all redirected to a private room where they saw their father talking with a few trusted advisors. When Choban made the signal, all of them got up and left, making way for the others to come in. Only one Koopa stayed with Choban in the room, and that Koopa was their eldest sibling, Raiyon, whom they haven't seen for weeks. All three were surprised to see him, as this was the first time all year that four of Choban's children were in the same room as each other. With this reaction of surprise coming from all of them, they walked forward and all sat on the other side of the table to him. All conversation and speech was spoken in Old Koopish.

"I thought you were done with us, brother." Vecheva taunted him, noticing that he had been restrained a little by his father. The only thing the siblings were sceptical of now was a large sack placed next to Raiyon's feet. Raiyon said nothing back to them and waited for his father to start speaking once everyone was seated. Even Sheridan nudged Vecheva to tell her to stop talking after she made that remark.

"I've been told that your voyage to Asterno led to more bad things than good." Choban began his speech, speaking so thoroughly and clearly. "It was as I expected. Tarren is less use to us than a barrel of defective banana skins."

Sheridan beckoned with the desire to speak up. "It wasn't completely useless. We do have some more of those humans that the Mushroom Kingdom abandoned. It seems easy for us that we can have them all defect to the north before things in the Mushroom Kingdom get any worse." Choban raised an eyebrow; this wasn't something his advisors told him today.

"How many of them do we have now?" He asked, aimed at both Sheridan and Karisa. At the same time, he picked up a booklet he had on the table and looked through a list of names.

"From Asterno, we were able to bring over Will and Jaapayo." Sheridan answered first, watching his father's eyes look down his list in the booklet, going all the way to the bottom.

"Good… and Karisa?"

"So far my group have called for Tom, Toby… and Tobias… and…" Everyone else in the room looked her way as she paused. "Duncan is on his way." Both Sheridan and Vecheva were surprised at her, also a little confused as to how she had gotten hold of all these people, whether it was intentional or not.

"So we've got both of the Powerhouse boys, one of the time machine mercenaries… and three others. That's more than half in count and almost everyone of importance. The only one missing is Enrique. I would have expected him to show up in Asterno if you had anything to do with Tarren."

"We don't have him." Vecheva stated. "But we do have Ioreth."

"While we have her… Tarren remains rotting away in that house. The further away she is from him, the better. I can't trust him working with us when he is healthy. It's no guarantee he won't turn on us either." Choban stated, nodding to the three in confirmation of satisfaction of their returns to him. "Now… You might all be a little confused as to why this one's back with us." He watched attentively as the three siblings on his right nodded in unison. Choban then turned his eyes to his one son on the left. "Would you like to show your brother and sisters why you decided to come back here?" Raiyon still said nothing but got up from his chair. He carried the sack up onto the table and placed it down, untying it and releasing the rotting stench of what was inside. The three were all disturbed by the smell as it hit them by surprise, but their surprise was multiplied as Raiyon poured the remains out of the sack. Some parts were starting to break apart by now, and the flesh was decaying even more, but the clothes were intact enough for everyone to realise what it was. Just like their father, none of them were particularly excited to see what was dumped onto the table. The skin was completely pale and the hairs were dried and white. Some parts of the body were yellow. Vecheva started to feel squeamish and looked away, but the other still had their eyes – maybe not their noses – concentrated on the corpse. "Apparently, this was his doing, but not what he intended. Are you happy now?" He finished looking back at his eldest.

"This is gross." Sheridan spoke finally in New Koopish, completely shifting the language of future conversation. "Why are we being shown this? We already know that Raiyon's a sick fuck."

"Watch your mouth, Koop-vrapim." Raiyon glared at his brother.

"Because…" Choban stressed the red and blue denim clothing, pointing at it but daring not to tough it as it was probably still stuck to the decaying skin of the body. "Your brother has indirectly started the war with the Mushroom Kingdom, and we need allies, fast. When the Wuhu Kingdom finds out about this and what you've done in the southwest, they will flock over to the Mushroom Kingdom and all three will come together to assault the north."

"Allies…" Sheridan insinuated. "Are you saying it's time we send our people out of our bounds to consult with other tribes?"

"What we need is a proper, genuine alliance. Means to unite all the strong tribes of the Résethal lands and have them finally fight the real threat of the south as one, and I don't mean alliance for the day like the Westfellers did. We need a true alliance. Want to know the best way to maintain a healthy alliance?" Choban deliberately held his speech, but it wouldn't be for long. Sheridan sighed and knew what he was asking for.

"You don't need to say it." He said quickly. "I'll do what I must in order to secure these alliances, no matter which it is you want me to be with." He stood up as the two siblings sitting beside him turned and looked up to him with shock. "I'd be better than it than him, so I can understand why you've asked me to uphold this task." Choban chuckled, unintentionally humiliating him. He felt confused and tilted his head to the side looking back at his father.

"Not just you." Choban smiled for only a second before his expression turned serious again. "All of you. Even him." Vecheva and Karisa reacted with even more shock than Sheridan. It wasn't a surprise to their father that he was the only one willing to go forward with this idea. "I will have none of you speak about this until I am finished, but your assumptions are correct; you will all go off to marry to hold alliances with the north. You will all take governance and authority over whoever you marry regardless of whether you are a son of mine or a daughter of mine. I have raised all six of you up to be the most fearsome Koopas in the entire world. Now is your time to rule without my back to keep you up straight. Hell, whatever you do with them after this war is entirely up to you." The three all sat down and stayed quiet, listening to Choban, though they were all still very concerned for their own fates.

"Does Nidelle know about this yet?" Karisa asked.

"Nidelle does indeed know, in fact she took it the worst out of all of you… and she's on her way east to Vilrus with her advisors. She has accepted that she will be marrying Ata Endymion of the Vilrusi and Takharim to secure an alliance with them. It comes with disappointment to have been told that Bertram would not be meeting with us today back here. I suggest that wherever he is now, that he returns very quickly, as I will make it so that all of your weddings will be done and out of the way by the end of the month. We're that short on time." His other four children were now fully clear of his intentions; they just weren't sure who they would be marrying. There were plenty of tribes in the Résethal lands, but some are more important than others. Choban looked to his right and saw the girl sitting closest to him, Karisa. This was his fourth child and second daughter, one he knew to be very fierce, independent and definitely one who wouldn't hesitate to get their hands dirty. "Karisa, I'm afraid I will need to have you get rid of any possible thing you may already have with any of the Jorters and instead send you to Karbût and marry Tall Toki to bring an alliance with them. You will go with a hundred of mine and as many of yours as you are willing to take. With this marriage we will have full control of the near east and access to Vurduresa. Trust me, the Karbûti will abide, and Tall Toki will not lay a hand on you."

"I'm not afraid of him." Karisa interrupted her father in case he was insinuating that. "I'm not afraid of anyone. I'll bring my followers and the Dargovi to the near east, they will thrive under me." She nodded to him. "I won't let you down, father."

"Good." Choban nodded, but spoke quickly after stopping Karisa from getting out of her seat. "Now stay here, as I want you all to hear what all of you will be doing. With you securing the near east, and Nidelle securing the far east, I will have Vecheva off to the Marshi tribe in the north east. With these three alliances in place the Amuruni will be surrounded. King Amur and his followers can either surrender to our unified alliance or meet their demise. Four major tribes for the price of three." While Sheridan was visibly agreeing to this idea, his sisters either side of him didn't seem to like this idea.

"There's a problem with your proposal to me, Dad." Vecheva asked Choban, getting an expression of concern from him. "The leader of the Marshi is a woman. Her name is Millianne Rukishan." Choban sniggered.

"I'm well aware that she is a woman. I'm also aware of her… alignments. Make of that whatever way you will." Vecheva went silent, to which Choban took that as an agreement to his plans. "Now, I'm aware of some decisions I made yesterday and I have to inform you all that I have changed my mind on one intention. Raiyon, for the sake of the Koopa Kingdom, you will be spared from this task. This now goes to you, Sheridan." Everyone looked at him again. "You will be marrying Wendy Koopa."

"What?" He was in disbelief, and unfortunately for all the wrong reasons. "I thought we hated that family."

"Not anymore." This controversial decision by Choban made not only Sheridan oppose this idea but also his two siblings next to him.

"I'm not even involved with them, but you've made us hate them for twenty years. Why are you having us go back on this now? All of this is because of what this… piece of shit on your left, did." While Karisa and Vecheva both stood up to defend Sheridan with comments made at their father's decision, Choban still remained calm and collected as he explained his reasoning.

"Bowser used to command the world's largest air fleet. When this war happens, we have the numbers to get them running again, despite his major losses suffered from his surrender to the Mushroom Kingdom. We take the Koopa Kingdom, we take Bowser's Castle, we take Koopa City. I will not go through all that I did to raise you only for you to say no to one simple request. You were friends with them before, you can be friends with them again. Besides, I'll do my part and make it so this guy doesn't go anywhere near any of them on the special day." His words reached the three on the right side of the table, sitting them all down and making them obedient again.

"What's his job then?" Sheridan pointed across the room to his brother still sat on his own, slumbering about. It appeared to them that even he didn't know what his new duties were.

"Why he's got the hardest job of you all!" Choban raised his voice slightly, the others sinking in their seats. "With Bertram intending to go off to the northwest to marry Ashitiwa to secure our already allied tribes, Raiyon will be tasked with creating an alliance with the only part that's left: the near west." Choban turned his head one last time to focus on his oldest son. "You will marry Sasha Shellex."

The room erupted with mixed reactions from all of his children in the room with him. Laughter and joy from the girls, concern from Raiyon, and Sheridan struggling to contain himself. Choban slammed his fist on the table to shut the others up but focused his attention on Raiyon.

"I've been beset by you all. This sounds like a sort of joke in the ears of the idiots across the table. I see what you're trying to do, father." Raiyon stood up and leaned over the table. "Sasha Shellex won't be a problem. She's actually a formidable force like us and unlike those Koopa Kids."

"I don't even know now if it's the Karzonians, the Zarkans, Zerkhen, Rath Navoda, all of them. That are has the biggest populace and I want you to bring it all together. Sasha Shellex has many lovers and many Koopas that want to be with her as well. You will bring her to your knees and give us all the tribes that follow her, even if it means killing anyone to get there. Do you understand what I am asking you to do?" Choban's speech alone was enough to put his son in his place; back down in the chair. He didn't need to stand up; it was clear that his authority was being well-expressed to everyone at the table. The firm look he gave to his eldest son even intimidated those looking at it from the angle across on the other side. "You claim to me that you're the best of the best, the most dangerous Koopa in the world. Not even Bowser could have the guts to actually kill Mario, and yet here you are, claiming this as your own doing. You say you're the best? Prove it to me. Prove to me that you're fit to be the son I wished you always was. Bring the near west to ally with us, and I will entrust you to lead our people to your greatest intentions… Muhu Delfethal will be ours." None of the three across the table wanted to spoil the moment. This was perhaps the only opportunity they could get to have their older brother perhaps change his violent and lazy ways. All of them wanted this to happen for him, even if it meant him throwing away his old ways of fucking anything that walks or looks at him. Sasha Shellex may show resilience, leadership, and sovereignty, and they all hoped that Raiyon for once might not think to fuck her at first sight.

"Easy." Raiyon's last remark was.

"You'll all set off today. Take your friends, your followers, whatever you need; your men and women, my men and women, anything for them, except you, Sheridan." Choban tilted his head slightly to the other side of the table, the son leaning in to listen. "I want you to go to the Koopa Kingdom alone, but you will be carrying my message with you. Bowser's Castle is not safe for a large group of people, so if he King Koopa wants to speak to me, have him call me." He then looked to everyone. "Girls, you may leave now. Set off by tonight. You can even journey together until you get to the Eastfells… or Taniskri, or wherever's close to both places. Remember not to kill any civilians." Both girls got up at the same time, bowed down to Choban and quickly left the room, vanishing within seconds. Raiyon and Sheridan stayed, both now looking again at the rotting corpse on the table.

"Can you put that back in the bag?" Sheridan said to his brother in Old Koopish. "None of us want to smell this anymore. We get it, you killed Mario." He watched as Raiyon finally picked up the body and re-disposed of it inside the sack, throwing it into the corner and away from them so the smell wouldn't be as bad. "If you want us all to go today, then what's going to happen to the humans?" Sheridan then asked his dad.

"Don't worry." He said in a higher pitch than usual to his monotonous commanding voice. "They will be taken care of. Rumiko has met half of them already. She and the others can keep them well-catered until you return. Even I might check up on them." Choban gestured for Sheridan to change seats, sitting in the one that was closest to his father on his right. "If not for me having to manage all of this, I would have personally sought to make my own way to the Koopa Kingdom. Your duty isn't only to bring this family together by bond, but for Bowser's sake. When the Mushroom Kingdom starts waging war on his people OUR people, whatever belief he has that they're not enemies anymore will be completely tossed out of the window no matter what side he takes. Do you think that because he won a couple of karting races against her means she will just spare his life like that? Oh, she wants him dead still. How will that make him feel?" Sheridan nodded and listened well. He was desperately attentive and wanted to do everything right for his father like he and all the other children always did.

Sheridan eventually stood up, walking in the direction to the way out at one end of the room, walking past his father's chair. He put his hand on his shoulder and gave a final nod. "I will get it done for you, father." Choban nodded back as his son walked out of the room, leaving him now with only Raiyon, his eldest, most stubborn and most dangerous of the six.

"I don't care how you do this. As long as you marry Sasha Shellex and bring the tribes or at least the majority of them to be our allies, you can do it in any way you wish." Raiyon smiled back at his father, happy with his words and keen to prove himself to him properly this time.

"You don't mind then if I happen to kill the other tribe chiefs to get to her? I will not let anyone get in my way." Choban listened to his words completely, nodding every so often. For once in what must have felt like years to Raiyon did he and his father start to finally connect with eachother.

"Even if she has a boyfriend or even a spouse, it will be all the more for you to prove yourself to me. Don't let anyone get in your way. You will not let me down." Raiyon chuckled, for there was one thing that he knew that his father didn't rather surprisingly.

"Sasha Shellex yearns for someone else, but it is not Rugai… or Josibi or Feanun… not even any of her own. I heard that her heart is attached to a footballer… who isn't quite a hostile either. A Zerkheni, named Zenitsu Sophiane… and he's been in prison down south for over a year now." Both he and his father chuckled after a few seconds, with Raiyon not sure if it was genuine or not.

"He won't even need to know what you'll be doing to her." Choban laughed even more, reassuring his son, because while he may say that he hates him and calls him an idiot so many times, Raiyon is still his son, his blood.

"The north west will be at my feet. Believe me. The others… they may see me as stupid… but this… this I can do." The two smiled at eachother after their period of laughter had ended slowly. "There's one more thing I want to mention by the way… if you think I could do this to Mario, why not let me get it over and done with and do the same to Peach?" Choban quickly pulled Raiyon closer to him. Any vibe that Raiyon got of being relaxed with his father quickly disappeared.

"Peach is my business. You will do nothing to her." Choban replied quietly but in a commanding tone. Raiyon nodded quickly, feeling tense discomfort by his upper neck and lower chin, quietly begging to be released from his father's grasp. "You can take Mario with you to the north west if you want to, if it helps." He then said after letting go of his son.

"Fine." Raiyon got up. "I'm going now."

"Good." Choban remained seated in the room for a few more seconds, taking in the thought of his son finally amounting to something better. The same went for all of his children though; five of them were now off to various parts of the Résethal lands to bring everyone together for something that he thought was inevitable. To him though, all these actions were just for a backup plan. His intentions were never truly to start or partake in a war. With the other papers he had from before with his councilmen still on the table, Choban picked up a pen and one of the papers. This was a blank page and he stared at it for half a minute, deep in thought, before finally writing on it. He wanted to create a letter of some sort, to send to someone else, but he had started writing the main passage before knowing who to address it to first…

…

About an hour later, Choban ventured his way out of the main town area of Dargo and visited Iltan, further to the south. Not too far away from the coast either, it was here that the humans were being held at to stay in the Dargo area. Only a few knew about their existence here, and it was deliberately kept this way. None of the major Dargovi populace knew about any human activity here. Only Karisa and some of her associates from before in Jort… and now the rest of her close family, knew about their arrivals. This was the same town that Choban used as a getaway place every once in a while to relax and make use of the warm weather. He used to live here at first as well when his children were younger before moving officially to Dargo after the Great Mushroom Wars. Even the same resort from before had hardly been changed; only that it was privatised for their family now, and it was here where the humans were taken to. Karisa's friend Rumiko had them all under supervision, and Choban knew that at least one visit to them would help give him their trust in him.

This town looked just how he remembered, the rustic, but modern white marble housing gave everywhere a good warm summer feel, just how he always loved it to be, though the weather wasn't as desirable as he hoped it would. This week brought in a relatively cold spell for the month of March here as the days started to enter the autumn season. Still with his own set of the keys and the locks never being changed over the past 25 years, he was able to invite himself in, being met with Rumiko first before any of the humans. He was glad to see her, just as she was happy to see him.

"Rumiko…" He smiled. "How are you doing?" The girl, about the same age as Karisa, but looking younger in appearance walked delightfully over to him, almost blushing trying not to feel intimidated by his presence.

"Karisa never told me you were paying a visit to here!" She kept her distance from him but remained very energetic and proud to be able to show him inside. "What brings you back here… and alone? The humans?" Choban nodded as he took off his dark shell and placed it on top of one of the tables inside the main lounge room of the first building. Through some of the large clear windows, he could already see some of the humans. "Don't waste your energy. I will get them all inside for you."

"No, it's okay." He insisted, halting her movement. "I'll meet them outside. I'm not here as much on business. I want to… get to know them." Rumiko stopped and nodded her head back at him, allowing him to walk out into the pool area where a few of them were. Out here was Tom, Toby and Will, all doing their own things, but they all stopped and noticed Choban's arrival at the same time. The three reacted badly and moved very defensively towards the pool. "No need to get defensive. I own this place, so consider this my hospitality that I am giving you all." He calmed the three down, allowing them to sit back down on the sun loungers they were previously occupying.

"…You're Choban, right." Toby spoke first. "Karisa never told us that you would be seeing us here."

"She also said that you were dangerous." Will added.

None of them moved, but what they didn't realise was that Choban could take on all three at once if he wanted to, but obviously his intentions were to make friends with them all.

"The strongest men are all dangerous, would you not say so? If a man has to fight people to protect his family… that makes him dangerous to some extent." Choban stood straight and exhaled, trying to show some relaxation to himself to make the others feel better about their presence here with him. "Believe me, I'm not allowing you all shelter and safety here with the intent to harm you in the future. You're all welcomed guests in the Dargovi lands. If it helps, forget anything anyone in the south or in the Red Martyrs told you about this place. This isn't the nineties." None of the humans were happy yet to engage with him under good circumstances. He knew that none of them could trust him yet, but what choice did they have?

"Why are you letting us stay here? Why are we even here?" Tom finally spoke up to him, asking him questions that all three wanted to know the answers to.

"Humans from far distant worlds should be kept under safety. They should not be imposed to danger, especially not to be killed in the crossfire of petty battles between two alien species to them." His words radiated wisdom to the three, surprising them all. Tom in particular could easily understand why this Koopa had the status that he has.

"I can agree with you on that!" Toby cheered, prompting Choban continue.

"You people should not be in this world. I don't know where you come from and I have no intentions of ever finding that out, but what I do know is that you came here because of the Mushroom Kingdom. I will not have you all brought here to die at the hands of the Mushroom Kingdom. While you are in the boundaries of the tribe of Dargo, you will not be threatened, you will not be harmed, and you will certainly not be killed. You are free from harm or whatever the Mushroom Kingdom wants with you. As far as I am aware you are all wanted by them… wanted for execution." Tom started to see sense to this Koopa's words. He liked the way he talked, he liked his confidence and he definitely liked his mannerisms. Toby started to catch on as well, but felt a little less assured of him. Will however, found it most difficult to accept him, as he was still very speculative.

"You're the one with many kids, right? Just like Bowser?" He asked, to which Choban nodded.

"Yes."

"The other night, one of them shot a friend of mine right in front of me. He killed him right there, shot him in the head, gone." Choban nodded, but his expression changed slightly. "While we're here, are we supposed to feel safe knowing your children could kill any one of us? I fought another one of your kids on the top of a fast moving prison truck… and won, admittedly, but I came back in the submarine with him. What else can I really say?" He nodded a few more times in agreement, understanding his question.

"I tried my best to raise my children, for their mother left us when they were young. I tried to create six of the seven strongest Koopas in all of the lands, teaching them everything I could. One thing I wasn't able to teach them was how to be righteous. I cannot control all of their actions, and I confess that not everything they do can be justified… but believe me there will be none of that in these boundaries. Nobody has been slain in Dargo for nearly twenty years. You are safe, trust me." Will felt slightly reassured now, but he wasn't utterly convinced for his safety. "Are you able to tell me which Koopa killed your friend, and tell me of this friend of yours…?"

"Sheridan was the Koopa I wrestled on the prison truck, and the one who killed Nuto, I don't remember his name."

"Bertram." Choban stated. "My youngest son. He's a violent one… he didn't come back with you, correct?" Will shook his head.

"He was held back by… his rage. He was very angry at me because I did what I thought was right." He began to feel a slight sense of discomfort when recalling the events of the night in the Aster stadium. "I'm sorry boys… but…" He turned away from Choban and looked back at Tom and Toby, both starting to look worried about him. "…I killed Princess Éclair." The two were surprised but didn't force anything on him. Neither of them moved and instead they wanted to hear what he had to say about it. "They wanted to sacrifice her to this crooked old man, saying that her life would restore his, allowing him to be powerful and strong again… but something didn't seem right about it. This man… I could tell that he wasn't a good man, and that he was very dangerous to be effective. I knew that Éclair was going to die anyway no matter what happened, so before the black and green girl could sacrifice her to him to restore his powers… I put Sheridan's axe through Éclair, killing her before they could."

Tom and Toby were speechless. Will wasn't sure whether they were mad at him, proud of his honourable act, or just straight up confused. All three of them felt sad about it regardless, but the noise of slow clapping coming from Choban made them know that his emotions weren't unconfirmed. All three of them looked his way and looked at him as if he was happy for what he did. Will was most confused, as he was looking at someone who was happy about something his son was most certainly furious about.

"The interests of my own and the interests of my children are not perfectly aligned." Choban began again. "Tarren Galaxyë is the only human I've come across that happens to be both of the categories of humans I mentioned before; both a descendant and a pain in the back to deal with. I don't care what my children think of him, I don't like him one bit… and I will not have him ever come here again. He can stay rotting in his abandoned house in Asterno for the rest of eternity. What you did was brave and honourable, and I commend you already for doing what you did, because it means he stays like that." Tom and Toby were still very confused about what the two were talking about, but only now was Will starting to feel assured and comfortable being in this Koopa's vicinity. "Some of my children are under the illusion that because he was once our ally back in the Mushroom Wars, that he might one day prove useful to us if he ever wanted to come out of his hiding place. Twenty years is a long time for most people, but when you have lived for thousands of years and spend all of that time in the same place without learning new things… you don't change, you're still the deceitful, low-cunning cutthroat you were during the wars. Now… I hope my son doesn't spend too long with that half-life. I need him here before things get worse down there."

"Are you going to bring all of us here?" Toby asked Choban. "All of our friends."

"Well I'm yet to see the other two that I was told were brought here. I was also told that one more may be joining you soon. The Powerhouse kid. One of them even, the other's already here." Toby sighed at Choban's statement. While the more humans would mean the better, he still wasn't able to get in touch with anyone else that mattered to him.

"The Powerhouse kids… they're not really our friends…" He uttered. "The rest of our group… we don't know where they are really."

"You're not the ones in power here. Unfortunately you can't have everything you want, though I'm sure if they appear on the radar we won't hurt them to bring them here." Choban broke the news to him, keeping his status high above the others with him. Despite standing so close to the pool, his clothes were perfectly dry and no mess would ever get close to him. "Regardless of how much you miss your friends… it will be in your best interests to… comfortably stay here." He finished with a slow speech, asserting his authority and command over them. "Enjoy yourselves. I'm going to see the others." They all smiled back at him, after now getting a sufficient level of confidence in him. They let him pass and watched him as he overlooked the beach area to the far west, seeing the two other humans at the rocky area of the beach. Choban sighed, for the sight he saw before him reminded of when he used to see his oldest son as a young adult always spending time over there whenever they came here as a family. Over at the rocks, he saw Tobias sitting in a similar position that his son would used to sit. Legs bent, both feet planted onto the smooth rocks, his bottom not touching the ground and almost squatting. He was well-kept in balance, and he was watching the last human, Jaapayo, sitting against the sea with his feet bare and partially in the waters. What surprised him was what the man was holding, a large fishing rod, which must have been either one of Choban's or a spare one left in the village complex. The surprise was not only in the fact that he was in possession of and using one, but he went out of the way to look for one. He had only been here for a little while longer than he had arrived here, for Jaapayo arrived to Dargo at the same time as Choban's other children.

The formidable Koopa descended the steps and walked across the sandy part of the beach before getting to the smooth rocks further up shore. Once he got to them, he channelled some magic along his outer body and magnetised the grains of sand that stuck to his legs and feet, separating them from his skin, essentially cleaning his legs. He walked up to the two as they were fishing and immediately grabbed the attention of Tobias on his way there, but Jaapayo looked too engrossed in his fishing. Seeing Tobias as the first human with a smile on his face upon seeing him gave him some feeling of relief.

"This must be the Koopa man himself. The one they all keep talking about." He offered out his hand to shake. Choban grinned and shook.

"You flatter me, Powerhouse boy." Choban replied. "How does it feel to not have the Mushroom Kingdom chasing after you anymore?" The conversation between the two turned very jolly. It was a surprise for both of them that they would get along with eachother so well. While Jaapayo was fishing, Tobias raised his voice a few times in entertained excitement, and for once Choban wasn't sounding so monotonous.

"Ah! Well, this is the best place to be with everything going on, right? One thing I learned while being here recently that this isn't about one side versus the other, but all of us versus the threat to peace in the lands." Tobias said back, intending on introducing Choban to Jaapayo, but after a brief look behind, he noticed the man engrossed and concentrating on his fishing.

"It wasn't safe for you being in the Mushroom Kingdom. You're very precious to the people in the north and I can't have you even getting yourself mixed with the wrong people up here. There are many types of people up here and not all of them are as kind and as forgiving as us."

Tobias smiled back at him and then laughed. "I definitely appreciate the hospitality! This place is great!" While they were talking, Choban decided to walk over to Jaapayo. The way he approached him made Tobias think that the two had met before somehow, as Jaapayo wasn't even turning his head despite clearly hearing his voice.

"I'm glad you think so, Tobias." Choban nodded. "Why don't you go back to the others for a bit? I need some time alone with Jap." Tobias immediately saw the understanding in this and gave Choban a nod back.

"Of course." He said, backing away and walking back off of the rocks and on to the beach, collecting his shoes that he had taken off from before and journeyed his way back barefooted. Choban watched him briefly before turning back to Jaapayo.

"Here, let me try." Choban noticed quickly what Jaapayo was trying to do at the edge of the sea. There was one particular fish he wanted but was hesitant on whether it would take any bait on the hook. Jaapayo said nothing back but instead slowly handed the rod over to Choban. The two watched as the fishing rod now went slowly and silently into the water, descending down. Some fish ignored the rod but the bait was still intact. The fish that Jaapayo originally wanted circled around the hook for some time before eventually it sadly swam away. "Don't say anything." Choban whispered as he kept his eyes on the fish. Jaapayo sighed and watched, tempted to get up and walk away, but the fish started to come back around, heading straight for the hook. He then watched Choban slowly move the rod up and down, moving the hook in the water gently. The fish caught onto the hook and now he started to pull and unwind. Jaapayo stood up and looked into the waters, seeing the fish fully attached to the hook. Choban managed to get it out of the water, whirling the rod all the way up. Jaapayo waited for the rod to get close to him before picking up the fish, not the most happiest person to collect it considering it wasn't his doing. Instead of taking it anywhere, he took the hook off of the fish and threw it back into the sea. "You'll learn eventually." Choban said to him again.

Jaapayo walked away from the shore, looking away from Choban but was followed by him anyway. It was Choban's fishing rod after all, but Jaapayo had no regard of wanting it anymore. He was done with the shores for now as he made a quiet remark. "The Princesses have turned him against you."

Jaapayo knew what Choban wanted to hear from him first; there was no other explanation as to why he came to visit him last. A week through the mountains and then another week spent at Bowser's Castle gave him enough information on the way Bowser had changed.

"Bowser's not getting a choice. He will side with us. We all knew that these days would soon come. There would soon come a time where the family of Dargo announce themselves." He responded back to Jaapayo, remaining a several feet away from him on the smooth rocks.

"The arrest made him soft… and I was only there for a week. It's like… their personalities have sort of… swapped. Peach is the ruthless one. The people of the Mushroom Kingdom are yet to see the cosmic nightmare that is her rage." Jaapayo's voice dropped, for he was reminded of the dreaded suffering that he endured also only a week ago.

"Only for a week?" Choban was confused. By his knowledge he thought that Jaapayo spent most of the past two months under Bowser's hospitality. This clearly wasn't the case.

"I stayed with the other Earth humans… for most of the time at least. I didn't need to see much of Bowser up close. I saw enough of him on television at the races. They've taken everything away from him. He has no power… and he wouldn't hurt anyone. Peach and Daisy are the evil now." Jaapayo turned around, undoing his shirt and taking it off in front of Choban. He saw many scars and bruises that were scattered across his torso. Most of the muscles looked slightly irregular from the wounds… it was just over a week this had happened. "This was their work. They did this to me… all because I refused to tell them where the other humans were. Bless them." He began to raise his voice at the end. "They could have killed me man! What's worse if they've got one of them. They got Enrique! They got the one that not only we want but Tarren wants too."

"You don't need to worry about Tarren for now." Choban spoke over Jaapayo at the end of his speech. "I've been told that he's still rotting away in his abandoned house. We've got my children back, we've got Ioreth back, and now we've got you back."

"You've not got all of them back." Jaapayo also talked over his last few words. "Bertram didn't want to leave. He still believes that he'll be useful and that he's the one to lead us to a new world. He's so dim that he genuinely still believes that we need a royal princess to cure Tarren, and that he said that he'd do the ritual himself. He's not coming back to Dargo any time soon." Choban felt concerned, dreading the possibilities. How could it be such that even with most important people now under his safety that nothing feels better? Conflicting opinions on somebody who should not be trusted by anybody, and now signs showing that the Mushroom Kingdom are even more dangerous than them? Perhaps he was the nice guy after all.

"I know everyone is wondering if we're being led to an inevitable war again and yes… I have prepared for this, but I am also prioritising a solution that doesn't involve a war, because while it goes against most of the north's interests… such dangers on both sides could lead to only one thing… annihilation." Choban sighed. "Go back up the steps and meet up with the others. I'll be with you this evening." Jaapayo shook his head, keeping his doubts in the Dargovi Chieftain. The place and hospitality was amazing but everything felt nomadic and temporary to him. There was no certainty to the days ahead anymore, and this feeling – perhaps shared with most Earth humans now that a way home was difficult to find – was going to stay lingering in the back of his mind. Everyone in the getaway home was seen to now, and the interactions only filled his thoughts with more concerns and worries. With Tarren still being a rival to some degree and the Mushroom Kingdom princesses perceived to only be getting worse, many other factors popped up in his mind. This led to Choban resorting to travel elsewhere, and not by normal forms of travel either. He magically vanished on the spot, warping elsewhere…

…

Choban's new location was underground, filled mostly with darkness. The only light that was present was minimised through distance and turns in the path leading to it. There was nothing to be worried about or sceptical about as he could already hear voices. He was not alone here.

"I didn't expect it to happen. It's nothing I have ever seen before… even from my experience. What happened must be truly phenomenal." The voice he heard was recognisable. It was a husky, shadowy variant of that of a human he had met many times before over the years… though it was unclear whether this 'figure' was naturally a human who could shapeshift into darkness and shadows, or in fact a shadowy dark entity that could take up a human form. What he did know was that he took the name Tony Barron. The theories behind what this figure actually was went back decades, for he has been around since the nineties.

"I would have gone back to that exact point in time by now if it didn't take so long for me to get here." This was a voice he was also familiar with but with far less confidence. He had never interacted with this person and he had only been around for no more than eight years, but he knew his name and his reputation. This could be their first time actually meeting each other. Choban walked through the darkness as the second voice kept on speaking. "Everything just turned white and then it was like… I was in a game save from something out of Shigeru's curiosity." The voices stopped as Choban made his entrance. He saw exactly what he expected. To his left was the shadowy figure of Toby Barron, taking its normal form which Choban believes… and to his right was Duncan, sitting in the shallow waters before the Pensieve that lit up the cave.

"I come in peace, as I intend to wherever I go nowadays. The Dargovi intentions hold peace as a priority." Duncan gave him back a nod of acknowledgement, and for formalities' sake, the shadowy figure took its human form to better present himself to him. "I had a feeling that at least one of you two would be here. Your friends are waiting for you in Dargo, Duncan." To his surprise, Duncan's expression of acknowledging Choban disappeared and turned into a plain look. He turned his head back to Tony Barron, almost ignoring Choban's words completely now.

"As I was saying, am I then able to get a free teleport to the Comet Observatory if I just go to here first and pull up a memory and just hold on to her? What happens if I touch someone else? But usually I just phase through everyone. How comes I didn't phase through Rosalina? How comes her making slight contact to me led to this? You weren't secretly intervening were you? You were dealing with your own business at that period of time. I wasn't anywhere else as I wasn't born before then." His voice was quite loud, so much that it echoed a little bit through the cave. Though, nobody else was here presumably; they could be as loud as they wanted to.

The shadowy human didn't directly reply back to Duncan and instead looked up to Choban for they were both sitting on the floor before the Pensieve. "You should not be here, Koopa. Your presence will awake the beast beneath the world."

"Not before Tarren does it first." Choban stated quickly. "I've finally figured it out. The old man says he wants to help our purpose, help our plans, yet how he wants to do it is by waking up the underworld. All the Galaxyës have been toiling with it. They need to stop it before it's too late, and that's why I'm here. I need you to-."

"No." The shadowy human refused. "Get out of this plane before you make things worse." Choban hesitated and looked back at the teenager; surely he could help him out.

"Duncan…" Choban's voice weakened. "Your friends are safe in Dargo… they miss you… but they won't be safe for long if the Mushroom Kingdom wage a war on the north. We're talking weeks… a few weeks at most. You need to come above ground. They need your help." His intentions and plans had seemed to vanish from his mind. Choban was becoming clueless, almost running out of reason as to why he wants Duncan to begin with. This cave made him start to lose focus. The darkness of the surroundings and the distorting aura of the Pensieve wasn't something everyone could handle. "Tony Barron." He wasn't getting anything back from the teenager, so he resorted to persuading the shadowy figure again. "You know everything already. You don't need to be here anymore. Help your friends out." The shadowy human spoke over him, frustrating him even more. The area distorting his mind and the refusal of cooperation from both the teenager and the shadowy human made him almost go berserk.

"You have no business here." The shadowy human spoke over him. "You endanger the cave, disturb the abyss below, all for some nonsense happening between yourself and the Princesses."

"BROGADAN!" Choban lost it and shouted out the unspoken name. He thought that shouting this name might actually get the shadowy human's proper attention after he kept dismissing him. Duncan's eyes widened and finally the shadowy human stopped talking over him. "You're not the only one of your kind awake at the moment. You think me being down here has got anything to do with disturbing what lies below? Three more of you walk the lands' surface, and one of which lies under the obedience of one of my daughters!"

"Six is a funny number." Duncan smirked and spoke cryptically. Choban watched the teenager stand up and smile at him. Instead of following him though, he walked right up to Choban and drew something from his mind. Choban's mind became distorted and he fell to the floor, barely able to operate. All he could see was Duncan magically holding something with his hands, putting it into the Pensieve. He tried to retaliate but he felt an immediate loss of the feel of his body, losing his senses.

"Watch your expectations." Choban's hearing also became distorted and blurred. It was like he was underwater and most noise was being blocked and made unclear. He knew from the sound of the voice that it was the shadowy figure talking. "You may be surprised."

Choban couldn't look any longer. The vision became too distorted and hazy… and after a few more seconds, he fainted, falling into the shallow waters and closing his eyes. The last thing he saw was Duncan's face plunging into the small waters of the Pensieve.

…

Ponder through the past. Learn what this big name of a person has to do with anything you are investigating. You dwell in these deeps for ages questioning all about these few years that matter so much to everyone. You want to know the truth? You must see every witness's perspective of what happened. While some were involved much more or much less than others, the name Choban Dargovi echoed throughout history to the lives of those who did not live past the end of the wars.

Duncan didn't see anything yet. All that his vision showed was a dark abyss with glowing white and blue lines circling around both clockwise and anticlockwise; the shadowy figure's voice echoing through his mind. This time he did not appear in any sort of dark circular court-room, but outside and seemingly in the middle of nowhere. He thought at first that it was night time, but the sky didn't look real. It was pitch-black, almost vantablack actually. The lights coming from the glows of other ghostly figures resembling people from the past were the only sources. It helped him bear with his surroundings. There were some trees, very tall trees, and bushes, but what mattered were these figures. He recognised almost everyone. Choban was here, but so was Tarren, as was Zane, Marrec, and even Rosalina. All of these people stood opposite Choban, confronting him about something. It was only after a few seconds where things still seemed to be 'rendering in' for him that he began to notice a few other Koopas and humans. Phoelix Barron, in some rendition of a figure that was improperly human… and Tony Barron, but this wasn't the Tony Barron / shadowy figure that he was used to seeing. This was Tony Barron from the past. Tony Barron from before any court case it seemed. There was one other human that was here but Duncan didn't recognise him. Along with this unfamiliar face, the remaining unfamiliar faces were all Koopas. Four to be exact. Duncan hoped that the Tony Barron / shadowy figure from the present day would join him here, but there seemed to be no sign of anything amiss. He was alone… technically.

So where was this place? What year is it? Is this during the war, after the war, before the court hearing of Koopak I or after? At least… now that this thought crossed Duncan's mind, did he get a slight sense of time. Eventually he realised that one of these unknown Koopas was in fact Koopak Asquia I, though he was looking more presentable and… cleaner, much cleaner. So this meant that it was at latest 1996 before the court hearing. With all of these people in one place, the war must definitely be underway as well. This could possibly also be 1996, just a different day or week or month to the hearing. When Duncan arrived to this point in time through the Pensieve, he merged his mind's intentions of searching for relevancy between Choban and the Great Mushroom Wars – specifically connections to Tony Barron and the Red Martyrs – and Choban's own memories. There had to be something about this specific event in time that linked the two together. Now that Duncan knew what he was looking for, he was able to resume time and play through this memory of Choban's.

"It was very brave for you all to come out here whilst knowing the possible implications this could have. We could slaughter you all here and it wouldn't even be fair." The unfamiliar human was the first to speak as it seemed like there were two parties here. With the way everyone was standing, all the humans were standing together except for Phoelix Barron, who stood directly opposite Tony. Was it confirmed yet that these two were brothers or not? Duncan struggled to remember every little detail. One thing Duncan did notice about the unfamiliar human was that he had similar characteristics of Tony. They both looked a little distorted and again improper, almost as he expected: shadowy.

"This is where you become impressed with me," Koopak spoke next. "…for if you expect us to hold a peace treaty between you lot and the Red Martyrs, you'd have thought wrong. I'm talking something better." This Koopa seemed much more confident and ambitious here than during the court hearing sometime in the future.

"Do you think the ancient one has any regard for schemes and tricks? If you want to share something with us, say it. Don't lead us on into anything. You have nothing against us, fealty-to-none." The unfamiliar human threatened Koopak, though from the way he turned his head to everyone else it was like he was threatening everybody against him.

"We have all of the details you want." Koopak decided to continue, knowing what was at stake. "We have details of all of the Kings and Queens of the south. Every single royal freak is marching northward to put an end to this mess they've created up here. They want to destroy all of the north, all of the Koopas. We can give you the keys to the lock that when opened will end this war. Asquia will be overrun by tomorrow. Let us go free, annul our oaths, and you too will be able to fly night skies a free spirit. All of you." Duncan wasn't entirely sure what any of this meant, but whatever it meant, it scared many of those here on both sides. Rosalina and Zane looked worried, but Tarren was not, he was only more interested in it. The Koopas next to Koopak were frightened, both Choban and the other three unfamiliar. What he did learn from this was at this point in time, any royal Kings or Queens, including the parents of Peach and Daisy, were likely still alive, but with how things played out told from the accounts of the south and the Red Martyrs, they would all soon be slaughtered.

"You keep the Galaxyës out of this." Tarren spoke on behalf of Zane and Rosalina. Perhaps these three were some sort of third party, and both they and the Koopas were here to negotiate with the shadowy figures. Two of the three remaining unfamiliar Koopas nodded to the idea and stepped forward. They were happy for everything to go underway, and where they moved to next was beside Rosalina and Zane. These Koopa stood behind Tarren, happy with the negotiation. Duncan then turned his eyes to Choban, who followed next. It seemed that these Koopas would join Tarren, Zane and Rosalina after this deal, being those to assist them in hiding.

"Phoelix?" The shadowy figure of Tony Barron confronted his own sibling next, expecting him to eventually give in to this. He was hesitant at first, but he decided to step forward after receiving permission from both the other shadowy figure and Koopak Asquia.

"What other choice to we have?" He sighed and whispered out loud, looking at the ground as he walked over towards Tarren. He wasn't overly optimistic about this, and Duncan still wasn't sure what Koopak meant by the details, but Phoelix proceeded anyway, receiving a smirk from Tarren as he stood behind him. With Choban and Phoelix now behind the other humans, and receiving nods from both of the shadowy figures, the only one to step forward in front of Koopak was the last unfamiliar Koopa. This one gave Duncan a slightly different feel. Deep in his mind he felt like he had seen this Koopa somewhere before, but unsure when and where.

"Attilo? What about you?" Thanks to Koopak stating his name, Duncan now recognised this one. This was strange as Attilo ended up becoming part of the Red Martyrs, doing so all the way until 2010. Now things started to seem very different, as from what he remembered, Attilo was a very loyal Red Martyr. To be here in the midst of a rather evil scheme felt so strange to him.

"I'm not against it. I just abstain." He said back to everyone, remaining in his place for a few seconds and then actually moving aside to stand equidistant to Koopak and the shadowy figures. "I'm not going to do anything. There is no blood on my hands, Koopak."

"Very well…" Koopak acknowledged Attilo's decision. The Koopa remained distant from the others as Koopak stepped forward and confronted the two shadowy figures. He mainly stood before the one taking the name that wasn't Tony Barron, and began to magically conjure an enchanted tome, presenting it before the shadowy figures. Nobody besides Koopak was sure of what this tome had on it; considering it was the size of one A4 sheet of paper it didn't look like much information. Perhaps there was more to it than just what was visible on the sides. The second shadowy figure snatched it from Koopak's channelling orb surrounding it and held it in his own hands. While not escaping with it, everyone watched the shadowy figure examine the paper. Tensions arose as everyone anticipated his verdict of it. Many were anxious to know what he would do with them all next. Would the shadowy figure keep his end of the deal or would this be another alternative ending to Koopak I's life? Choban's perspective started to feel blurry, seen noticeably through the surroundings turning more distorted, affecting Duncan's vision as well as his own.

"What's going on?" Choban in the past felt very uneasy, falling to the ground alongside Attilo and a few other Koopas.

"Koopak! You told me you were just going to buy us some time! You sell-out!" Attilo shouted.

"Silence!" The second shadowy figure holding the tome blasted a wave of magic straight at Attilo, pushing him backwards and causing him to fall to the floor. "Promise is kept, Koopak." After his last few words followed a devilish laugh which echoed through the area. While everyone's vision started to become less blurry, the second shadowy figure's laugh turned louder and even more hectic. His body starting to glow with darkness as the figure started to turn back into shadows, taking the tome with him. The final sounds were chants of black incantations unknown to anyone else there as the shadowy figure rocketed up into the sky, disappearing quickly.

"Tony…" Phoelix spoke softly but with disappointment across to the other shadowy figure that would only stay for a few more seconds.

"I'm sorry." The shadowy figure said as he too vanished into shifting darkness. Everyone who was still present in the area watched with their heads looking high as the night sky still looked normal. Unfortunately, nobody here knew what would go on to happen next.

"That's it!" Tarren shouted.

"This is our cue." Koopak said to the rest of the Koopas. "Quickly, make way to the Wuhu Kingdom!" Through quick responses, Koopak, Choban, the rest of the Koopas and the three Galaxyë humans started running through the plains in this area still yet unknown to Duncan, all afraid for some reason. Duncan followed from the back but noticed Attilo re-emerging from the place he fell to the ground from. The sight of Attilo was hidden from the rest, and he was speaking through some sort of communication device.

"Get a hold of Archbarn's team. We've been betrayed, I repeat, we've been betrayed. Mark Koopak Asquia and his party as a threat and a wanted target. The same applies for the humans he's with. They're heading for the west tunnels. Shut them down!" Instead of going to the foothills of the mountain range on the western edges of the Résethal lands, there was a system of tunnels that were previously used by the likes of the Koopalings' Uncle and his allies for underground protection. Duncan was now starting to piece roughly when in time this event was. It was definitely in the later times of the Mushroom Wars, for the alliance of the three southern Kingdoms had occupied most of the mountain range anyway. This location wasn't too far away from the old town of Asquia, which would eventually be overthrown and renamed to Aypyidaw, but old Koopa tunnels were established not too far away. That was where everyone was heading for. With the location of Choban being the centre of this dream-like event, Duncan was being forcibly moved in his direction, following everyone in this new sort of chase. Attilo was running at the back, though while he was running alone, it was expected that there would be a set of reinforcements to aid him somewhere on the way. None of the others knew that they had been identified and tracked now.

Time went by and they had all reached the tunnels, but at this time, another band of forces had arrived from the west. This was where things started to get worse for all of them. Phoelix was one of the first to notice this group of forces. Some of them were wearing the same clothing as those seen inside the court room, similar to that of the Red Martyrs in the present but of a slightly different variant. He was also the first of the fleeing party to stop, saying nothing and putting his arms up in the air. The rest ran on ahead towards the tunnels, but it was here did things start to change. Voices of these chasing forces came from the hills before the tunnels, making themselves heard to the runners. Duncan watched as Choban also stopped and started running westwards. While there were united forces coming for Phoelix as Attilo caught up to him, the rest of the Koopas and humans took to the tunnels, heading underground. Duncan stopped and from beside Phoelix and Attilo he watched Choban flee back into the hills, unseen by the rest.

"Koopak betrayed us." Attilo told Phoelix, lightly gesturing to him that he won't be prosecuted for running away with him, given that he surrendered so quickly.

"How could Tony have done this?" Phoelix said back. Duncan now learned that this was just days before the court-room event witnessed before. There were still a few things left unanswered in this event. Now that Choban was gone, none of what remained in this vision was remembered by him, for he could only remember fleeing from the foothills. Duncan now resided in the location of this area from the past, now in some sort of simulation.

"The Red Martyrs will capture the rest. We'll close in from both sides." Attilo watched as marching parties of their forces stormed into the tunnels and caves in search for the rest.

"The humans… The ones with Tarren, they used to be with us. Not on the council but… but citizens and workers."

"We'll take them back to the new city." Attilo acknowledged. "Archbarn and the Appointed Seven will see to them."

"You're damn right they will." Phoelix nudged Attilo. "I'm part of the Appointed Seven!" Phoelix already felt guilt for raising his voice, considering how much he felt he let everyone else down for being partially responsible for allowing this to happen. "I'm sorry… This is going to look really bad on me. Should we capture Koopak and trial him, he will name me."

"Don't worry. I'll make it clear to the others on the council that you have always been working for us, regardless of what he or your… brother? might be doing."

"Yeah, yeah…" Phoelix replied rather assertively. "You know, yeah, you will. You'll speak nothing of me with this and as far as we're both concerned, this had nothing to do with me. This was Koopak's doing. All of it."

Those two watched as the soldiers from the Great Alliance rushed into the caves. Duncan followed them in travelling much quicker than the rest as time escalated through this memory. With the soldiers having the knowledge of the paths some of the fleeing Koopas and humans were taking, Duncan was able to catch up to them very quickly, magically sprinting at unnatural speeds through the lower depths of the cave systems. Most of the tunnels were lit up, but the path they were taking was mostly dark, with Tarren and Rosalina using their magic to light the way. Duncan had overtaken the searching soldiers and reached an area that the fleeing people became stuck at. A means of a dead end except for a part of a cave that was much higher up to continue the path. Tarren reached it first, and with his magical abilities, he was able to propel himself into the air to reach a high cliff face. Once he reached the top, he sprinted ahead, distancing himself from the others.

"We're trapped." One of the Koopas shouted in the cave. "Not all of us can use magic. How are we going to get up?"

"I've got you, don't worry." Zane was approaching the cave wall next, and instead of following in the exact movements that Tarren did, he held on to one of the Koopas and launched himself up with his wand, taking the Koopa up with him. Zane was now up at the top and told the Koopa to try and catch up to Tarren, looking back to the rest, he noticed the Great Alliance soldiers catching up with them.

"Zane you've got to come down and get Koopak and Mr Clagbo!" From where Zane was standing up the top of the cave, he was able to use his magical source of light and shine into the distance, seeing the Great Alliance soldiers approach through the caves, they were armed. Rosalina was able to see down the many yards of distance that was still between them and the soldiers to see their armed weapons too. "We can't all escape like this, Zane." Rosalina turned back and called out to her brother. "Get the others. I will buy you some time."

"Rosalina, no!" Zane watched from high up in the cave to see her sister put her arms up in the air and surrender to the Great Alliance. She walked slowly to them and Zane could only watch in despair. This was one of the many times that Duncan knew that these two would become separated for a long period of time, hence their… strange sibling relationship.

Zane jumped down the cave, magically slowing down upon landing. He grabbed on to both Koopak and Mr Clagbo, trying to lift himself up from the ground with his wand still in one of his hands. It was extremely difficult to create the magical enchantment involving levitation when he had a Koopa in grip in each of his hands and arms. "I've got to do it one at a time." He said. "I don't think there's enough time."

"Take Durlin." Koopak insisted, getting Zane's hand off of himself. He then held his wand properly and had full grip of Mr Clagbo. Duncan now learned that this Koopa was called Durlin Clagbo, father of Mikey Clagbo, a well-known ally to the Asquia family.

"But Koopak!"

"Go now. Make way to Uldersal. There you'll be able to find my children, Joharnés and Koopak Junior. You'll know what to do with them. You'll make a great father to them. Promise me you will."

"We don't have much time!" Zane cried out.

"Koopak no… I… I promise." Durlin nodded and signalled Zane to bring him up the cave to head to safety. Rosalina had already surrendered to the Great Alliance and now Koopak raised his arms into the air, being grabbed with force and pinned down to the floor. Zane was narrowly avoiding some gunfire from the soldiers but as he made it to the top, he and Durlin were able to escape through the cave systems. Duncan watched from the edge of the cave as Koopak and Rosalina became detained by the Great Alliance, soon to be escorted back to Aypyidaw. Surely at this point in time that city was called that name now instead of its old name.

With those two captured, and the others escaped, Duncan tried to figure out what happened with the remaining escapees. Unfortunately, after checking up to the top of the cave, he was met with a black wall of emptiness. Someone or something must have sealed this cave up, preventing Duncan from being able to proceed forward. At least, he was able to see what he wanted to see through this memory. Choban had some partial involvement in the Great Mushroom Wars, but sadly his only direct and last involvement with Koopak and the Great Mushroom Wars was a means to ransack the northern lands by allowing those shadowy figures to perhaps be the ones to slaughter all of the Kings, Queens and Princes right at the end of the war. That part was still a mystery to Duncan and unfortunately something Choban wasn't involved in either. Each little memory from someone who survived the Great Mushroom Wars could help piece the truth of the history of what really happened during that war. Maybe there was something else that Duncan could find through Choban to detect more involvement with Koopak, but for now that was all. He couldn't warp anywhere else, and in fact, with Choban being so far away from the cave systems now, there was nothing more to this memory. With a period of time between this and the court-room memory – with said period of time possibly involving the slaughter of the royal families – played the series of events that led up to Koopak's trial and death. This only left him with more questions about the shadowy figures' involvement, in particular the one that wasn't Tony Barron…

EOC: Quite a chunky one, but it took a while. I am still trying to keep consistency. Alas, life gets in the way sometimes.

On to the next chapter!