Chapter 33 Building Chaos

The rest of the night was as peaceful as a night can get, despite the fact that Pom Pom had so many questions to deal with. Everything about Bink and Viv's friendship was so strange. Why did Vivian stick by the ape when she abandoned Pom Pom after only a month? What were the reasons she mentioned regarding having to leave Pom Pom? It all felt so dissonant, and it didn't make sense for even one second. Sure, the fact that Viv hadn't been the one to curse Bink was a relief, but still. It didn't sit right with Pom Pom. None of this sat right with her.

Thankfully, despite her questions, she managed to get to sleep. She had a dreamless sleep cycle, which was perfect considering how many nightmares she often had. And when she woke up, sunlight streamed in through the window. She laid in the bed for a few minutes, trying to process everything that she had seen, everything that had happened. She looked over at Wendy, still sound asleep in the opposite bed. Pom Pom smiled at her despite herself. She took a few minutes to breathe and collect her thoughts, running through all that the two of them needed to accomplish. She looked over at the clock and gasped.

"It's eight thirty!" She sprung out of bed and jostled Wendy. "Wendy, we overslept; we need to get out of here!"

It took some doing and a whole lot of moaning from Wendy's end to help the princess wake up. "Right, right." She rubbed her tired eyes, stretched her hands up to the ceiling, and got out of bed. "We'll get right to that." She went over to the vanity table and put on her bow, her necklace, her bracelets, and her makeup. She applied the lipstick and the foundation at a speed that was WAY too slow for Pom Pom's liking.

"Wendy, we really need to go!"

"I know, I know!" Wendy cringed as she did the mascara. "I'm really sorry; I just never feel pretty without my makeup."

"Looking pretty isn't going to do you any good if we're zombies!"

Wendy's cringe got deeper. She hesitated, holding the mascara tube a few inches away from her eye, before sighing and capping it. "You're right." She put on a determined face. "We can't waste time. We need to…"

"AAH!"

That scream actually made Pom Pom jump. Her stomach churned, dreading the possible reasons for such a sound. Especially since the last scream she heard while in the hotel room signified that Bink was attacking.

"Oh no, what's going on now?"

Wendy looked thoughtful. "That didn't really sound like it's coming from in the hotel." She made her way over to the window. "It kinda sounded like it was coming from outside." She pushed the curtain back and gasped. Pom Pom could practically see the shudders taking over her body. "Oh no." She pulled the curtain closed and turned to the cadet with wide eyes. "We need to get to the go-kart NOW!"

Pom Pom nodded, not even needing the reasoning. Both girls rushed out into the hallway, going at speeds that could compete with professional marathoners. They didn't even bother taking the elevator to the first floor, instead opting to go down the stairs like they did the night before. They took them two at a time. Pom Pom's heart pounded as they did, and her panicked mind only grew more and more worried. What was happening? She wanted to ask Wendy, but something told her she didn't have nearly enough time to explain.

And right she was. When they exited the hotel, Pom Pom gasped. The darkness had caught up to them. It wasn't quite in Hooville yet, in fact being about a mile or two from the border. But that was a mile or two too close. It was so expansive that blocked out not just the sky, but also the entirety of the path that Wendy and Pom Pom had traversed the day before. No one would be able to see even their own hand if they were standing in it. That made Pom Pom feel so small and scared. Just the mere fact that Pom Pom could see it at all made her want to scream in terror.

And she wasn't the only one. The beanish citizens of Hooville were running to and fro, screaming their lungs out as they ran away from the darkness. Pom Pom didn't blame them; if she were in their shoes, she would probably be doing the same thing. Of course, she and Wendy needed to keep level heads. They needed to get to the go-kart before the darkness crossed the border and before it swallowed them whole.

The two rushed to the hotel parking lot. When they were about halfway there, a terrible thought crossed Pom Pom's mind. What if someone had stolen the go-kart? Obviously, the citizens of Hooville wanted to evacuate as quickly as possible, and what better mode of transportation was there to do that other than the go-kart? Just that mere, awful question was enough to make Pom Pom queasy. She prayed that the go-kart was still there, that no one had stolen it. If they did, the whole Mushroom World was doomed. Not just Wendy and Pom Pom, not just the citizens of Hooville; EVERYONE. The two girls turned the corner…

And Pom Pom let out the biggest breath of relief ever. The go-kart was still there. Singing Hallelujah in her head, Pom Pom bolted over to it and got in the driver's seat. Wendy jumped in behind her, and Pom Pom scrambled to turn on the engine. It felt like it took a thousand years for her to do so, even if in reality it was only two minutes.

"Alright. Let's book it!"

The tires screeched as she swerved out of the parking lot onto the main road. She pressed her foot on the gas, making Wendy gasp and cling onto the support railing as tightly as possible. Pom Pom bit her lip as they surged through Hooville. She didn't bother looking over her shoulder. She didn't even need to in order to know how close the darkness was. It was practically on top of them, bringing with it a biting chill as well as innumerable screams. The screams were ghostly wails of agony and sorrow, and they pierced Pom Pom's soul. Were they the screams of the people the darkness had already claimed? She didn't know, but just the fact that that was a possibility at all made her sick to her stomach.

She pressed even harder on the gas. Despite her speed, she made sure to be as careful as possible. The last thing that anyone needed right now was for her to accidentally run into someone. She even uttered many prayers to Grambi under her breath just to ensure that that didn't happen. And thankfully it didn't, but that brought Pom Pom very little comfort. The people she passed had no idea what was going on. They were running on pure survival instinct, but the truth was them evacuating would be in vain. The darkness would claim them. It was going to eat the whole Mushroom World eventually, and there was literally no haven safe enough for the people to escape to.

Pom Pom whimpered. She couldn't focus on that; she needed to focus on getting out of Hooville. Pressing on the gas so hard it was a miracle she didn't break the pedal, she and Wendy shot through the town at top speed. Wendy let out a yell with how fast they were going, but Pom Pom couldn't slow down. She could see the southern Hooville border now. They just had to reach it.

"Hang on, Wendy!" The go-kart went at top speed now, traveling at speeds that were appropriate for 200cc in a Mario Kart race. Wendy screamed again. Pom Pom's breathing just got more and more unmanageable. She saw the people, running around like chickens with their heads cut off, and that gave her an idea.

"Don't worry, everyone!" She honked the horn, making the runners turn their heads toward her. "We're going to fix this! We'll stop the darkness; you don't have to worry about a thing!"

Of course, the citizens didn't have any way to know the validity of that statement, nor did Pom Pom have any proof she could present to them. But that didn't matter. In a time of crisis, people needed to cling onto hope. Maybe Pom Pom's words would be enough. Small as they were, she hoped that the people who heard her calling out would accept that she was telling the truth, accept that everything would turn out okay.

Finally, Wendy and Pom Pom exited the town of Hooville. Pom Pom let out a breath of relief and allowed the go-kart to slow down. She didn't slow down by much; she still went at a considerable pace. If one were to compare her speed to a Mario Kart race again, they would say she was traveling at 175cc instead of 200cc. But even still, it was a speed that was a lot more manageable than before.

"Okay." Pom Pom drove for a little bit more, gripping the steering wheel before addressing the princess in the back. "You want to take over for a little bit Wendy?"

"Sure." Nodding, Pom Pom switched places with her, all without missing a beat. Just like she did with the steering wheel, Pom Pom gripped the support bar as tightly as she possibly could. She also didn't bother looking back either. She definitely could because she was no longer in the driver's seat, but there was no point. She knew she wasn't going to like what she would see. There was no point in making herself more anxious when her anxiety was already going through the roof.

Speaking of which, Pom Pom should probably do something to combat that. "Wendy, can you slow down just a little bit more?" Wendy did so, meaning Pom Pom could take her hands off the support bar safely. She dug into her hammerspace and pulled out one of her pill bottles and a water bottle. She worked fast to uncap both, put the pill on her tongue, took a sip of the water, and swallowed. She did all of this in under a minute before putting the pill bottle back in her shell. "Alright. You can speed up again." Wendy gave her a questioning look over her shoulder. "I took a rescue med. It helps with my anxiety."

"Oh. Okay." Wendy let out a shaky breath as she turned back around. "I wish I had one of those right now." She paused again. "That darkness… it's moving really fast."

"Yeah." Pom Pom felt chills running up and down her spine. "I wouldn't be surprised if it's speeding up." She and Wendy stayed silent as they both considered the implications of that statement. Pom Pom did a deep breathing exercise, telling herself that she couldn't let her anxiety overcome her. Not this time.

"Well… we'll beat it," Wendy said, her voice halfway between hopeful and unsure. "We'll get to the Flower Kingdom before it."

"I know we will," Pom Pom said. She smiled. "We've come this far. We're not gonna let anything stop us."

"That's absolutely right." Although she couldn't see her face, Pom Pom was sure Wendy was putting on a hopeful smile. "We can do this."

"Yeah." Pom Pom bit her lip. "We can." It was a tall order, possibly the tallest order Pom Pom had ever have to fulfill. But she had faith. She and Wendy would get through this. They WOULD save the Mushroom World, they WOULD defeat the Shadow Sirens. If anything, them beating the Shadow Sirens would help Pom Pom deep down in a very personal way. She had spent so long thinking she was weak, which was part of the reason why she had decided to become a soldier in the Koopa Troop. She had been fighting the very concept of personal weakness for all of her life, and she would fight it now. She would prove her weakness wrong. It wasn't the boss of her. It never was.