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)

27. All Roads Lead to Dargo

Downfall of the Mushroom Kingdom

All Roads Lead to Dargo

A/N: Going straight back into it with this one, hoping to finish within the next two weeks like previously scheduled.

Note: The reason this chapter took so long to finish and upload was because of the chapter after it being written at the same time (and also finished earlier).

March 19, 2015 – Noon

The Ruins of Aypyidaw

Where there are no shadowy figures lurking around the bounds of Aypyidaw, it meant there was no Phoelix to be found either. Archbarn remained against the window in the room that Neodjan barricaded himself in during the invasion, looking outside but really he was recalling his memories while the others just looked at him. Neodjan knew about Phoelix and the shadowy figures now, but he was still unsure why Archbarn intentionally kept this hidden from everyone else. Neodjan wasn't a member of the Appointed Seven until only after the passing of Attilo in 2010. Even though he was on the Appointed Seven from then onwards, any question or interrogation he made to the main three resorted into being told it wasn't real.

"I was always afraid of what those things unknown to us could actually do, especially given what they did the royal families. The Dargovi Koopa kept to his word and for over ten years Aypyidaw had never seen any of those dark shadows." Neodjan listened to Aypyidaw, being reminded again of Dargo. This was a place that the Red Martyrs always labelled to be off-limits and never to be touched. Was this the reason, or were they always as scary as they were made out to be? Neodjan had never been there himself, and he was now unsure what Muji's take was on it. He remembered Muji always mentioning the idea of scouting around that area to check for possible answers as to how the Hostile Koopas got all of their weapons.

"What really happened to Attilo then?" Neodjan asked about this instead. He knew he got on the Appointed Seven to replace him, but he wasn't sure exactly how Attilo died. He was even there when the news broke out; the memory came into his own mind now…

It was 2010 and the night of the Princess rescue, just before the Years of Peace. Neodjan wasn't tasked for an out-of-city skirmish operation or part of the team to help rescue the princesses, so he mainly resided in Aypyidaw on the watch patrols that night. He watched as the trucks and cars parked up outside the walls of the Red Martyrs headquarters, emptying out all those inside. It wasn't just the two new humans and the group they were with that were returning, but also the other groups from their respective skirmishes. Lumpy and Attilo's group arrived last, unsurprisingly as it was the one that was supposed to survey Dargo. It was actually the group that Neodjan wanted to get involved in because he always wanted to visit there, even if it was the outskirts. The mystery behind why it was always so dangerous and off-limits had been in his mind for many years, even as far back as here. One thing he noticed about this group returning, is that they were returning with a few less than what they left with. What Neodjan did know is a few that were missing.

"What happened?" Neodjan asked Lumpy as the few in his group were offloading supplies from their vehicle. "Where are Attilo and Unudhu?"

Lumpy partially ignored him, barely making an effort to turn his way. "I don't want to talk about it." It was a very poor response from him. Usually Red Martyrs would be explaining things in depth to each other. Neodjan wasn't even a new person around here, so being sidelined like this felt very insulting to him. He was worried about both of the names he mentioned, especially since the latter was usually on the watch patrol duties instead of him, and they decided to let him go on this skirmish operation. Perhaps it was better in hindsight for Neodjan not to go considering there was no coming back for either Attilo or Unudhu.

He followed Lumpy inside, staying at the back of his group since he wasn't technically part of it. There was some joy and pride among those inside, but he was shocked to see so few Princesses back here. There were quite a few people here that he didn't recognise at all, but this was business he only learned about later. It was the first time he saw Tom, but he only got to know him properly nearly five years later.

"Mission failed." Lumpy's voice went from frustration to sadness in the time between him arriving at the courtyard to him going inside the main headquarters building. "Very few of us managed to get out of that mess alive, there were really skilled Koopas there and even a blonde human, we don't know about him and it was definitely not Enrique or any we know about." That was another name he would properly know about until much later. Everyone in the room looked Lumpy's way, understanding his weeping expression.

"What happened to Attilo?" Eoréc asked, with Neodjan expecting him to give a better answer to him than what he received just moments ago.

"He… didn't make it." Thinking about this in the present day, Neodjan wondered if shadowy figures or their influence in Dargo might have had a factor in Attilo's passing. "He was among the many that died on that plain outside the town; they had Koopa shooters, dangerous people. Are the princesses ok?" Tragically, though obviously, the topic of Attilo's passing would be completely put aside as the discussion about the fate of the other princesses took place now. Only Eoréc would go on to properly acknowledge his passing since he asked about it. What's worse is that nobody asked about the others that didn't make it back from Dargo, even Unudhu. It was a very sad day for all parties, especially the Princesses and the Red Martyrs, but it seemed at this time the care was only being focused on that of the Princesses.

…

The name Unudhu started to ring a bell in Neodjan's head now, as he thought he could also recall hearing it more recently, as if it was mentioned to him only this past week.

"Attilo…" Archbarn sighed.

"Lumpy never told me what happened to him… only that he didn't make it. I couldn't go with him to Dargo on that day because for some reason you lot didn't let me. Was this because of the shadowy figures as well? More stuff that you tried to hide away from us?" Neodjan would go on to learn why he had heard the name Unudhu more recently.

"That had nothing to do with shadowy figures. It was more so of a problem from within our ranks. It was the last major issue we had before you became a proper member of the Appointed Seven so we did not choose to share it with you. The same applied to any other major issue you had been involved with while you were on the upper council. We all followed the code to keep certain matters to ourselves to prevent any possible fear spread in the ranks. If you want the truth, it may be hard to come by nowadays, but what Lumpy told me in private was that it had nothing to do with shadowy figures, Choban, or any Dargovi group. All we know was that he was murdered. Killed by a deserter, killed by Mywithe Unudhu, who as far as we know is dead." Maybe that did conclude the arc of investigation that is what really happened to Phoelix and Attilo. It sounded like such a shame that those who invested so much time into understanding and uncovering the deepest problems in the darkness could have their lives cut short by some outcast betrayer.

"So… the Dargovi never had anything to with… anything?" Neodjan asked one last thing, his voice raising near to the end of his speech. Archbarn turned around and looked back at him, with Muji also looking his way.

"No." Muji replied softly. "One could say that the Dargovi were our greatest allies in the past fifteen years, as without that leader in charge with them, the shadowy figures could have terrorised the north or perhaps caused more internal conflicts, which would have been the death of all of us. Unfortunately, we're still unable to figure out what caused this invasion, and thus the death of most of us." Neodjan realised now why Eoréc decided not to meet with him inside the building. He could still remember his careless words and mindset towards him when he called him up begging for help.

"Well it looked like they weren't involved at all. It was everyone else. Somehow they all decided for one night only that they would unite together and bring this place to ruin… conveniently while none of you lot were here. Thank you very much." Neodjan spoke condescendingly to the other two. He had a much better thought on why this all happened, especially considering that he was there.

Archbarn wasn't a fan of Neodjan's tone. He was already enduring enough shame from him not being here when he was needed the most. He decided to leave this room and search a few more rooms, ultimately leading himself lastly to the basement. Neodjan obviously followed him, wanting to know all of his secrets. Everywhere about this place could be exposed to him under proper knowledge, but it was ultimately up to him to get a general understanding of it all. The books were down there, and he dared not go in there since the last time he felt freaked out from there. Now that the others were here, perhaps he could question everything there was to question about from the things lying deep within the basement rooms.

The three entered the rooms silently, still seeing darkness like before. The power systems here had been completely broken, so they had to make do with the natural light from the hatches above as well as light from their own sources such as phones and torches.

"The best answers for whatever you want to know are down here if they are still preserved that is. I don't know yet if any idiot Hostile Koopa came down here and destroyed anything." Archbarn went down first, with Neodjan seeing the darkness with him as he came down afterwards. "You can get whatever you want down here and take it up to the light, but believe me, there's not that much you don't know about really. It seems like your beliefs are pretty much accurate, only that the Dargovi have done a phenomenal job at keeping them at bay." While Muji remained on the ground floor, standing close to the hatch, Archbarn kept to one side, giving Neodjan all the room and as much light as he could provide for him. "I can see why you hardly went down here. It's quite scary without working lights." Neodjan nodded back to Archbarn but then realised he probably wasn't seen without any good lighting in the room. He decided to press onwards slowly, searching for everything he could find using a torch. It was all just books in the end, even past the dark hidden walls. It was at this point after more searching did Neodjan realise something very grave. Books wouldn't be any use to him any more in this day and age. Specifically, books wouldn't be enough to give him what he wanted in terms of answers. It wasn't the time for worrying about these and what they could do; there had already been enough damage to Aypyidaw to bring it to ruin. He also wasn't under the restrictions of being a Red Martyr. Technically, they were no more; he saw enough of the bloodshed from last week that his identity of being a Red Martyr had vanished. As a light came on in the distance, Neodjan was able clearly see some of the books, but they were not of much use to him at the moment.

"Thanks." Neodjan still acknowledged the light and appreciated Archbarn's assistance; however, he soon realised that it wasn't Archbarn creating the light. It lasted only a few seconds and it was coming from further into the dark rooms. "Wait what was that?" He pondered, looking ahead and still seeing darkness.

"That wasn't any of us." Archbarn grew paranoid and stood ahead of Neodjan, looking into the distance and slowly approaching further. He shined a torch and saw nothing, but he was confident that someone or something was lurking behind the things in the basement. "Zbulojeni veten! Show yourself!" He thought it could be a shadowy figure. He thought it could be a hostile Koopa. He thought it could be anything more unknown to him, regardless, he presented himself and wasn't afraid of the darkness ahead. "You're at a dead end here!" Archbarn was unsure how further he could go until something could jump at him menacingly. As he reached the end of this room however, he saw no trace of anyone's activity here.

"We did see a light, right?" Neodjan confirmed with Archbarn. "You're sure that wasn't you."

"It wasn't me." Archbarn nodded.

Whatever it was, there was no way they could identify it as it seemed to have disappeared. There were no cracks in the floor whatever it was could have squeezed through to escape and where this light came from had no entrances or doorways to other rooms. It was a dead-end behind so many bookshelves. Archbarn shone his light around all bookshelves and tried to find any gaps, and it was as he expected; nothing. Whatever created this light must have done so magically and left quickly without leaving a trace, almost as if the creation of this light was unintentional and definitely not threatening – relative to what he is used to. Archbarn sighed, leaving the torch to Neodjan's responsibility. Neodjan now realised that there was no point being down here as there was nothing of value for him to retrieve.

"Was this something you would have hidden away from us in the past?" He patronised, walking back to the hatch to climb out of the basement. Archbarn said nothing and instead stayed in the basement. There were memories from down here that he had that wasn't shared with Neodjan, as many things took place down here during the end period of the Great Mushroom Wars. A lot of executions, body disposals, and unfortunate deaths happened in the empty rooms down here, which led to its semi-abandonment all those years ago. The main memory he got from this other room just past the dark room with all of the books was the death of Koopak Asquia I.

The room he arrived to was a basement prison. Back in the nineties, the structure of the Red Martyrs headquarters was a lot smaller but more intricately designed. The basement was where most prisoners would be kept and there was less of a need to house them back then as they were usually not Hostile Koopas but traitors to all sides of the war. It was over the course of time in which did the Red Martyrs go from being a fortress that prevents war from all sides to becoming a defensive barrier for the southern kingdoms. All he found in this room was a time-worn sheet of paper from a time period long gone by. The writing on it was faded and thus unreadable, but it did remind him of the ways people would write notes here. Looking at it more, he became reminded of what this sheet of paper could be for, and then it hit him. It was notes concerning shadowy figures written many years ago. As this part of the headquarters was never really used in modern times, nobody would ever go here so this sheet was left unattended. Sadly it was just a sheet of name ideas concerning who could be a traitor or a shadowy figure, as it was what Archbarn remembered from his former colleague John. Archbarn shined light onto the paper, hoping to read any of the faded text that was still there. All he could see were a few names, unfortunately only ones he remembered from before.

Inuki Misoko

Saber Puki

Ioreth Schaeffer (?)

Tony Barron – CONFIRMED

Gunther Tobin – CONFIRMED

"What an odd thing to be left around here." Archbarn chuckled to himself… and then he realised. He didn't remember that last name ever being mentioned. Not only was it written here, but it was also marked as confirmed, the same goes for Tony Barron whom Archbarn still remembered. This was a question left unanswered for almost twenty years, but from this he now knew who that other shadowy figure was from that day he last saw Phoelix, disappearing into beneath the world. Archbarn took the sheet of paper with him and made his way out of the basement chamber, assuming nothing surprising could be left here unintentionally.

2002 was the last year that he saw John. Just on one random night in the warmer months at the end of the year, the human set off from Aypyidaw, never to be seen by Archbarn again. According to Muji, he went back to the portals to Earth to live his life there instead, essentially giving up on anything he ever pursued with the Red Martyrs. While he essentially broke his oath in this way and was seen as a deserter, he still respected him for all of his efforts with the Red Martyrs. It was December 17th, very late at night but still warm outside. Archbarn was walking through the halls and out to the courtyard after hearing quiet voices coming from near the entrance. In this period of time there weren't many employed on watch-duty as Aypyidaw rarely faced threats from any side, let alone the Hostile Koopas. They sort of lived in peace in this period.

"I know. I cannot be living these two lives alongside eachother. My responsibility in the other world is growing too much to handle with this at the same time. I have a family as well. I have to give this up. Give Archbarn and the others my best; I'm sure they'll be just fine without me." He saw in the distance and overheard John speaking to Muji by the courtyard entrance. John was packed with his bags and prepared to head for the train station, heading southeast to the Mushroom Kingdom.

"Since you're going back to the portal, do check up on the Princess of Mushroom City. She'll miss you." Muji said back, smiling at John but also emotional from seeing him leave the establishment after so many years.

"Ah, she's an adult now Muji, you know how they're like on Earth. She's deep into her responsibilities now. Besides, it's better that she doesn't know about it until I'm already gone, if she wants to know about it that is." Archbarn watched Muji look down, feeling rather miserable, but John was still very happy despite his emotional departure. "Cheer up Muji. Remember, you're a human like me too! You can come and visit me any time, I'll be in England. You know where that is, right?"

"I have been to Earth before you know." He made Muji chuckle. "I've been to America and I know about England." There was a brief period of silence where John picked up his belongings and gave one last nod to Muji.

"Parliament awaits…"

…

Archbarn walked back outside the main headquarters building and returned to the courtyard, seeing Muji still with Neodjan as they prepared to make their way out of here and through the tunnels back to New Donk City. Some had already left, including Eoréc, seeing as he didn't want to be anywhere Neodjan purely out of the idea that Neodjan would be spiteful to him and wouldn't want to be anywhere near him either.

"Is he ready?" Archbarn looked from the steps above to see if it was time to leave.

"What are you going to do about the basement?" While seeming ready, Neodjan asked back. The three were ready to go, but to leave Aypyidaw completely abandoned might not be the best idea.

Archbarn exhaled and shook his head. "There's nothing to this place anymore. The best thing to do is… nothing." He walked back to the remaining vehicles with Muji and Neodjan, ready to head back to New Donk City. Just before Archbarn was about to start the car however, he realised one thing about remembering all of those past memories. Perhaps it might be safe to investigate Dargo one last time. It would likely be very dangerous, because not every Hostile Koopa knows the truth about Choban's deal with the Red Martyrs. With the Red Martyrs no longer being a thing, the deal might have completely fallen through. Would Choban still care about Archbarn knowing that his establishment was no longer in existence?

"What's up?" Muji was sat in the passenger seat, noticing Archbarn hadn't yet started the vehicle. "Something bothering your mind?"

"Yeah…" He was in deep thought about whether to approach Choban properly. "Weren't you in contact with some of the humans?"

Muji nodded. "I am, or was. That's why we're here." He reached out for his phone again, going from the messages he exchanged with Queen Peach to the ones he received from Tom. He had forgotten to reply to his messages and wasn't properly messaging him for a few days now, but Tom had still sent many back. Besides the messages about him being held captive by the Dargovi, there were messages of him stating that things are fine now and that the Dargovi aren't so bad, but perhaps that might be because he's human. The last message he had received from Tom was a large paragraph accounting for the arrival of other people, including Choban as well as Duncan and Tobias. Muji knew that at least half of the humans that are part of Tom's friendship group were now residing within the bounds of Dargo and likely in safety as well.

"Call him." Archbarn was reaching over, reading the messages as well. "They're in Dargo? I want to know EVERYTHING. How he knows about Choban is a mystery beyond me but I need answers. Is it safe? What side are they on? Are they helping out Hostile Koopas? What are we supposed to do?" Everyone in the car watched as Muji tried to call Tom over the phone. They waited for the ringing noise and sat patiently hoping that he would answer.

There was nothing for almost a minute.

"I never thought I'd have to ever step in those areas ever again… but here we are." Archbarn undid his seatbelt and almost opened up the door of the car, but had another thought in his mind.

"You're not just going to walk there yourself are you? Do you think they'll let you in? Besides, what if there are other hostile tribe Koopas lurking around these parts? They'll not hesitate."

"That is the problem." Archbarn agreed with Muji. "It's not the best idea. Damn it. I'm not used to doing these things myself now. It's usually some other group that's doing it.

"Wait, who's that?" Neodjan pointed into the distance as the other two reacted, staring westwards into the fields just outside of the ruins of Aypyidaw. It was a Koopa emerging from the tall grass, not one that Neodjan recognised, but Archbarn and Muji had some sort of familiarity towards this one approaching.

"No way…" Archbarn squinted, finding it hard to believe that it was in fact the one he was thinking it was.

"Well I'll be damned." Muji grunted. "There'll be no stepping into the bounds of Dargo for you any time soon then, Archbarn." The three watched from the car as the Koopa they assumed it was kept walking towards them through the grassy fields. Eventually, the Koopa stopped as he too noticed them inside the car.

"Be on alert. I wouldn't trust him to walk here alone." Archbarn opened up the car and stepped out. It felt almost too shady for this to be a coincidence. The three were just talking about him and now he ends up showing his face – alone – not too far away from them. As the Koopa remained on the spot for a few seconds, he raised his arms up in the air, indicating the others of no intent to harm and a truce to be made between them.

"That there Neodjan…" Muji leaned over and whispered to the Koopa. "That's Choban."

Archbarn still couldn't believe it. What was he doing here? What reason could he possibly have to leave Dargo? Archbarn gestured to the others to stay back and let him walk here himself. He was the only one with some sort of connection to the Koopa which went back so many years. He felt that he would be the best person to speak to him, assuming Choban even wants to speak with them. The two walked towards eachother in the fields, stopping two metres apart, both respecting their space and boundaries.

"What are you doing here?" Archbarn asked monotonously and seriously, intending to cut any small talk and get straight to the point. While these two had a connection that went back many years, for the years since the two were always seen as enemies purely based on the sides of the pre-existing conflicts.

"I didn't know you were still alive." He didn't give Archbarn time to interrupt him in case he was going off-topic to small talk, but he remained focused and straight to the point. "I was on my way to the border on a very serious matter. I have a letter to deliver to the girl in the Mushroom castle. It's not to be opened by anyone until it reaches her." At the same time, Archbarn noticed the letter in the Koopa's hands, sealed in an envelope obviously not to be interfered with by anyone as he just stated.

"Yes. I'm still alive. A few of us are, we simply defended ourselves or weren't there at the time due to other reasons." Archbarn kept a serious expression, showing no niceness to the Dargovi Koopa.

"I'm very sorry for your losses. You'll probably know by now then that we weren't involved in it at all. In fact, I had no idea. I learned that it was a Westfeller who managed to muster all of the tribes together." Choban walked a little closer and whispered a name into Archbarn's ear. "Moroq Kruboe."

"Is he still alive? What do you know about this Moroq Kruboe? Any idea how we could find him?" At least the two still had respect for eachother, and Archbarn appreciated being received possibly vital information from the Dargovi Koopa.

"This is the strange thing. Apparently nobody knows. According to the other Westfellers, he was overthrown and this… Fisadi girl took power, but she's lacking the numbers. As for Kruboe himself… well… if we don't know where he is… then…"

"Then he's either dead by unknown means or… he's snuck across the border and blending in with the southerners…" Archbarn sighed, knowing he felt compelled to deal with this matter as soon as he gets back to New Donk City. Pauline's not going to hear the end of his new business there as with the way things were going, that city would become the new Aypyidaw. Archbarn then looked towards Choban again and got reminded of the envelope and questioned it.

"What's the letter about then?" He asked, still unconvinced by it. "You said it's not to be opened until it gets to the Mushroom Kingdom. What is it, a bomb? How should I trust your word on this?"

"It's not a bomb…" Choban frowned.

Archbarn realised something from the Koopa's expression. He clearly wasn't here to play games, and while he was a Dargovi… maybe the idea that they were considered hostile isn't something that should be on his mind anymore. Maybe his intentions were true, whatever they were, and that they were actually for prosperity for all. Maybe he really did want to be left alone. There was no way to prove this though; he hadn't seen him for years. Archbarn took the envelope and felt along the surfaces, creasing and flattening it whenever he could with his fingers. There was no part of the surface that was thicker than the rest.

"Don't open it." He reiterated. "Don't have me put an enchantment over it. That would really make things boring. You will do as I ask you to do and you will get the envelope delivered to Peach by one means or another. I don't care if it's you, Muji or a random Toad that delivers it to her. It must go to her and her only. She will understand why when she reads it, but if you do want some context, it does concern the safety of all the lands." Archbarn hesitated to give his approval of taking it and delivering it.

"I'll see what the others think." He raised his hand and beckoned the others to come over, knowing that they were still watching him from the car. Without turning his head, Archbarn could hear movements behind him as the others started to approach. He kept his eyes locked on Choban as Archbarn held the envelope out from his arm and allowed Muji to take it. "Choban's envelope. He wants us to give it to Peach. He claims there's a letter inside concerning the safety of the lands, but nobody's to open it except Peach herself." Muji had a brief examination of it. The fact that Archbarn brought him over to explain this to him made him understand why he did such a thing.

"Not convinced?" Muji assumed.

"No." Archbarn replied. "I have a feeling there's something amiss here." Choban said nothing in response.

"Well I know just the way to tell if he's serious about this or not." Muji became Choban's focus now. "Do the names Tom and Toby come into your mind?"

"They do." Choban replied almost immediately. "Two boys of many residing under my people's hospitality. They're well-looked after, especially concerning their wanted status. What do you think of all that? Do you think those humans should be killed for their… acts of defiance against an unstable government? What acts of defiance? Existing and having bad impressions over an angered unruly Princess?" He grinned, almost disgusted at her actions, making him question whether he should be doing this anyway.

"That's not my position to say. Besides, if you can tell from her attitude how she is then you'd know why she's in such a position! It's groups like you lot that are giving her this stress! She's clearly troubled with a lot of things, and you're trying to get in her influence? What a joke… Wait a minute…" Archbarn looked to the ground for a second then raised his head straight up to Choban as he looked back his way, swinging with his fist right into Choban's face. Archbarn punched Choban straight to the ground. "Raiyon? He's your firstborn son!" Archbarn shouted, pulling out a weapon from his shell and getting ready to fire straight at Choban's body, but he rose up too quickly and swung back at him, with his legs. He kicked the gun from Archbarn's grasp and propelled himself back up to standing balance. Archbarn quickly got back up and grabbed on to Choban's hands, locking on to them and wrestling both Choban and himself to the ground. Muji and Neodjan tried to help him out but as they got close, their feet became rooted into the ground by something unknown.

"I'd be careful now." Choban grinned as he spoke softly to the agitated and aggressive Archbarn.

"Your firstborn son killed Mario!" He snapped back, trying to restrain his hands. "Boys, help me!"

"We're stuck!" Neodjan shouted out to him, but Muji said nothing. He was dreading what was going to happen and was frightened. He chose to stay silent and restrained his own upper body from moving any closer. Archbarn's expression on his face became less angry and started to become more anxious just as Choban kept smiling at him with eyebrows dipping inward. Even without the use of magic, Choban was still physically stronger than Archbarn. He threw him aside and got himself up. The ground beside them all started to turn black and Archbarn began to feel weaker and weaker. The dark shadowy figures he had always dreaded to see return finally emerged from the ground to protect Choban's path.

"I was never alone." Choban grinned as shadowy figures emerged from the ground, standing by his side as he recovered the letter from Archbarn. Only a few of the shadowy figures appeared and retained their shadowy form. There were none that Archbarn recognised. His body was still weak; he could barely move his hands and the effect of the darkness shrouded his vision.

"Choban, please." Muji tried to get his attention. "We won't tell anyone." Neodjan tried to break from his restraints but the shadows started to lurk over his feet now. He was confused at Muji as well, as the shadows were barely affecting him. The only thing affecting him was the roots trapping his feet in the ground.

"I could have brought them back at any time, but I never did. I kept them at bay for you… for twenty years almost… TWENTY YEARS!" He shouted at Archbarn's weak body, taunting him in the process. "Twenty years… I kept my promise… and you still don't trust me? My firstborn… that boy is beyond helping. I had nothing in it though! He's not my business anymore! And… mister great Tanski… it is you who seemingly can't be trusted! I can't trust him!" He then looked at Muji. "Forget this letter!" Choban magically set alight the envelope, burning whatever was inside it. "Alfimaaq, Tarasin, what should we do with Archbarn for attacking me? Eternal chains of torment? Horrors worse than death?"

"No! Don't hurt him!" Muji shouted at Choban in defence of Archbarn as the Koopa looked to the shadowy figures that didn't reveal their true faces. "We won't speak of this… unless of course, you want us to." Muji couldn't keep his eyes open seeing Archbarn being visibly tortured and weakened by the aura of blackness. Both he and Neodjan were still restrained and couldn't do anything.

"I could summon the Ancient One if I wanted to for him to suck the life out of this Koopa's body to fuel his ritual sacrifices…" The shadows however, eventually dispersed around Archbarn and the roots around Muji's and Neodjan's feet delved back into the ground, freeing them both. "…but I stand here to prove to you that I am here on serious business." He nodded to both of the shadowy figures around him, sending them back underground.

"Thank you so much." Muji rushed to Archbarn's body as he gained the colour back on his skin.

"I'm sorry." Choban said. "I'm sorry for what my son did. I have not seen him for… a very long time. He doesn't answer to me anymore. Regardless, I suppose this won't work out anyway with the way I am." He started to turn around and walk away as if nothing ever happened here, leaving Muji on the floor with the petrified body of Archbarn, slowly recovering. "I'd leave these lands if I were you. Not everyone is merciful." The shadows were completely gone and the ground was no longer dark. Choban parted ways with the others, disappearing from the horizon down a hill. The two assessed Archbarn; he was completely petrified and barely able to get words out.

"You make me not want to ever to go to wherever that guy lives." Neodjan mentioned to Muji. "That guy's frightening."

"The other hostile Koopas are frightened of him too." Muji added. "We can't make him an enemy to us. Never. Those humans are a valuable resource to us, and they will help play a key role in finding out what's really giving the hostile Koopas such an unrest and hate for the south." The two picked up Archbarn and held him together over their shoulders. His feet dragging across the grass as they slowly walked through the field back to their vehicle. "The thing is… my original task I gave Tom and Toby was to survey the local towns to see if they could find any clues as to who is distributing the hostiles all their weapons. Perhaps all roads lead to Dargo."

2:30PM

New Donk City

The others finally returned back to the south, escorting Neodjan safely through the tunnels. It was the first time since before the Invasion of Aypyidaw that he actually entered the south and immediately he felt relief; a sense of freedom and clarity in his mind. He didn't have proper freedom yet though as he was being escorted by the other remaining ex-Red Martyrs all the way to the main government building within the city. The doors to Pauline's quarters were closed as the three approached them, seeing two bodyguards standing outside guarding the entrance.

"We would like to request access to see the mayor. We have delightful news to share with her." Muji spoke first on behalf of the three, hoping to get inside quickly.

"She's occupied on other matters at the moment." One of the bodyguards standing outside responded back to them, remaining resilient… even for a few seconds after the doors opened. They all reacted and noticed Zane leaving quickly.

"Fine. Don't want my help, do exactly what she did and look where that got her." He said to himself, only catching on after a couple of seconds that others were standing outside and listening in to him. He stopped with his eyes widened, noticing the others. "Archbarn, Muji." He acknowledged them just before walking past them and leaving.

"Wait… stop, Zane!" Muji grabbed his attention quickly just before he disappeared around the corner. "What do you mean don't want my help?"

"Well did you hear about Princess Éclair?"

"Yes, we all did. What's that got to do with you though?" Before Zane was about to reply back to him, voices of other girls inside the headquarters grabbed his attention instead.

"Mr Kuti. Don't listen to him. He's misunderstood. Come inside quick." Pauline was who he came here for with the others. Pauline's voice was what was being heard by them and it was her who needed to know about the situation now concerning New Donk City and their position close to the northern threats. As he, Neodjan, and the recovering Archbarn arrived through the doors, they were met in the large room with Pauline, Rosalina, and a third well-dressed girl, all sitting beside eachother at the large circular table next to the western windows. They had a clear but distant view of the tunnels from all the way up here. "What's the latest? Let me know everything." Pauline was very demanding, catering to Archbarn at the same time. "Is he ok? He doesn't look too well."

"He's fine, he's just recovering from some-."

"Magical curse." Rosalina spoke over Muji. "I've seen this before. I'd sort him out and rest him up but… my wand…"

"Rosalina doesn't have her wand." Pauline also spoke over, showing that she was in charge and wanted to speak for everyone. "It's still in Mushroom City, kept by the authorities there. Apparently she's on bad terms with them, as is this girl here. Why couldn't we all just be friends?" She complained at the other girl, who Muji and the others still didn't know about.

"Sorry, what have I done that's so bad?" The girl complained, getting out of her seat.

"It's not about what you've done. It's about what you haven't done… and that's not being there when we all needed you to be."

"Oh, so sorry I wasn't needed!" The two got off into an argument which the ex-Red Martyrs did not anticipate. All three felt guilt as well as Rosalina who was embarrassed to see the two shouting at eachother. Rosalina walked over to Archbarn to assess him properly. She might be able to do something if she examined him closely. Perhaps time might be the best healer for their case as they were now without someone who could deal with this magical curse Choban had put on him. At least while this was happening, the two other girls were able to lower their anger at eachother and pay attention to the others in the room.

"My apologies for getting so rash while you're here." Pauline spoke again, trying to comfort the others tending to Archbarn. She looked up and noticed Neodjan, someone she didn't recognise. "You must be… Neodjan? The honourable Koopa that the others mentioned. Where's Eoréc?"

"Let's not talk about that." Muji quickly wanted to divert the topic of conversation to stressing out Archbarn's wounds. "This happened because… we've got some problems concerning the north. Ever wondered about what happened to most the earth-humans? Well, half of them are across the mountains in Dargo, and according to them they're better off there than down here, out of sight of Peach and the others." Rosalina looked up at Muji and started to feel frightened on the inside. This magical curse was something she had seen before in the past. Now with Dargo circulating her mind again, she started to worry for the earth-boys being there.

"Do you know which of them are in the north? Is Enrique there?" Muji shook his head back at Rosalina.

"Tom, Toby, the twin-teenagers… a couple others." He recalled from memory. "My phone's about to die but he texted me an update. Tom, that is. I tried calling him back but he didn't answer. He's deep into their territory now. We can only hope that he and the others don't get themselves into an irreversible mess." One dreaded thought led to another with him, as he remembered what just happened earlier with Zane stomping out of the chambers. "When we arrived… Zane said under his breath something among the lines of 'do exactly what she did and see where it got her'. What did he mean by that?" As he finished his sentence, all three girls in the room sighed and looked to the ground in unintentional unison. The girl unknown to him had the saddest look on her face and was the one who least wanted to talk about it.

Pauline, typically was the one to speak first about it. "He was talking about Princess Éclair. Apparently before she got captured on that night, he and Rosalina were there with her."

"I'll explain it, since I was there." Rosalina, more suited for this job of explaining, eventually decided to step up and speak about it, interrupting Pauline but with good reason. Pauline looked slightly offended but eventually felt understanding as to why. "The people who wanted to capture her were working with the Dargovi. Zane had found out about it through that witch-girl, and we came straight to the Beanbean Kingdom to tell her about it. We should have been more forceful; she wanted to stay but we shouldn't have let her. We were going to take her away and keep her out of their sight but she thought she could take them on whenever they showed up to the castle. She was wrong." Muji and Neodjan then looked at the other girl to see if she would comment about it while the others went silent, but she said nothing. Her face was starting to turn red instead. Rosalina then went on to speak again. "That's why I fear for the earth-boys. I fear for Tom and Toby and the others. The Dargovi are not to be trusted. Did you not hear the news about Mario? The Dargovi were behind Mario's disappearance. The Dargovi were behind Éclair's disappearance." She began to speak once again, reflecting on her memories with them in the past.

I met some of them before in the past many years ago. I'm guessing you have as well. They seem so resilient and serious and generous on the outside but deep down they are all psychopaths. The entire family, seven psychopaths. What they did in the Great Mushroom War was unforgivable and ultimately resulted in the deaths of most of those I hold close to me. If you remember the name Tarren then you'll know about what happened to him. You'd know of whom and what corrupted his mind into betraying his people. It was them. It was ALWAYS them.

Whatever you could think of that was bad for these lands during the wars… anything that led to something worse, they were always involved. If it wasn't the Dargovi chief then it was his advisors, his children, or the dangers that lurk in the shadows… or it was Tarren after what they did to him. There was a deal made between the Red Martyrs, us, and the Dargovi just before the war which took a wrong turn and ultimately led to the death of all of the royals. The hostile Koopas and the Dargovi had done enough pillaging and murdering of my people, and yet even when we thought it was over, Tarren was manipulated by them, switching sides and betraying the rest of his people. They all perished. The only survivors besides him and me are my brother and Marrec. Nobody else. I wouldn't count those who turned into the shadows, for they are no longer people in my eyes.

Bowser isn't the most evil creature in all of these lands. He doesn't even make the top three. That would go to Tarren, Choban, and Koopak the first. You want to know why hostile Koopas exist? You want to know why there's never-ending conflict with the north and the southern lands? Want to know why the shadowy figures exist? It's those three people. On the night that the deal made between the Red Martyrs and the Choban fell through, something worse happened concerning those three people. We were all meant to flee from their influence, but strangely enough, Tarren disappeared from us in those caves within the mountains and he wasn't to be seen again until we found out later through typical Dargovi fashion.

"I don't see where you're going with this." Pauline interrupted Rosalina's story of a memory from the past.

"Let her get to it." Muji gave her the benefit of the doubt.

Anyway, the biggest hidden conspiracy that the Dargovi were involved in happened no less than five years ago. With Tarren being isolated in Asterno and Choban supposedly keeping a threatening border with the rest of the north, they conspired about many things in secrecy. How did I find this out? We simply had one of our own on the inside. Tarren wasn't the only one like me to conspire with the Dargovi and the Asquia families, but Marrec and my brother did as well. The location of him at the moment is currently unknown, but what I do know is what he told me was complete truth and I could tell it was truth because of what I also remembered.

The Dargovi and the Asquias were plotting their involvement in Tom, Jack and Enrique's… inauguration to these lands. While most of what was going on was concerning Tom and Enrique's involvement in the north, Jack was being prepared to go up and join him. Unfortunately, due to Tarren's heinous demands… he and the Dargovi too wanted use out of them, so he conspired with Zane and Marrec to use Jack as a fodder for making it look like they were the ones to secure the north back in 2010. We knew what we were up against, and we tried to satisfy both parties' desires, those parties in question being the princesses and Tarren's secret group, so we tried to balance everything we could. Marrec and I first went to Asterno to assess what the plans were with Tarren and the Dargovi. There were many people there, but we couldn't stay close or we'd be snitched by their maid-at-the-time, Ioreth. That's when Zane suggested that he go alone with Jack the day after us. All of these instructions we had to go through were under joint orders of Princess Rose and Princess Éclair, but it was the former who was taking the most out-on-the-field decisions. We waited in a different empty house further up the hill, and it was there where we awaited Marrec's return after the meeting.

"What's the latest?" I asked him as he arrived, making sure nobody else was following him up. It wasn't just the Dargovi that were involved with this by the way, but the people on Tarren's council, the inner council that is. We're talking Boom and Pom in particular, as we know all too well about their involvement in this.

"Tarren's sending me beyond the mountains." Marrec went on to explain everything to us. "He's already sent Boom and Pom up to Castelia. Taelin's brought word to us that all of the princesses are heading up there to work with the sprixie princess in putting the riots to a cease. We all know what he really means though. Tarren always leaves out a small but crucial detail which comes to us all as a surprise. Watch over the boys; make sure they're doing the right things." Little did we all know what that surprise turned out to be. Obviously Marrec was watching over Tom and Enrique one way or another, being a supposed bartender in the inns such as the Old Bluetoad, but nothing could have made them anticipate the second return to Castelia. What Marrec told me after the events was that he believed that the Dargovi were told something separate, to which they then told Boom and Pom to act on their behalf. It was the Dargovi that initially plotted the assassination of all of the princesses, at least the others returned in time to save some of them. Sadly, there was no way we could have seen this coming.

"Oh there was." The other girl interrupted Rosalina, but she didn't mind about it considering she basically felt done. Muji and Neodjan looked at the girl, still grieving this moment. It was at this point did the two realise that this other girl was in fact Princess Rose. It wasn't just Princess Éclair that she felt at guilt for, but also all of those other forgotten princesses. "At the time I didn't want to risk my own life in letting the others know about it, since that could have meant I'd be put in the same room as them. It was me who in fact saw it coming." It was Princess Rose who now wanted to story a dreaded memory of hers to the others in Pauline's headquarters. She first looked at Pauline, for she was the only one out of them who witnessed the events firsthand.

I'll tell you how it happened. I'll tell you it all, how I avoided death. I… guess you could say I cheated death. Just before we were all going to be trapped underground at the expense of Boom and Pom… I wondered to myself. Bowser would never have ordered them to do such a thing. We know all about Bowser. He's not a true enemy, he's a rival. A political rival. Bowser would never have done this to us. Boom and Pom would never have done this. There was someone else there that held some responsibility to the Koopas' actions. Before it all happened, I saw them readying up a lot of dangerous weapons being sent into the underground beneath Castelia. Besides the hostile Koopas that were operating with Boom and Pom, there was one that stood out… it was him. It was them. It was the Dargovi you claim about. What they had in their possession, what they had in their ranks… it frightened the life out of me. I was too scared to go and tell the princesses about it. I couldn't… I…

Princess Rose began to cry, covering her own face and unable to speak for any longer. The other girls in the room comforted her, knowing they all shared some similar stresses over that period and also in recent days.

"I abandoned them. I abandoned them all." She tried to speak again after cleaning up her face a little. "I refused to show my face in public for so long because of it."

"So it's them." Muji realised a possible truth about the Dargovi family. "It's ALWAYS them."

"It's them and Tarren." Rosalina corrected him. "Two of the three most dangerous people ever to have lived in these lands… the third being Koopak the First. Hmm… I don't even know if Koopak the Second is still alive; hardly heard anything about him recently." While she and Pauline were still comforting Rose, Muji and Neodjan reassessed Archbarn, seeing how well he was recovering from the wounds that the very same Dargovi in question inflicted upon him. Muji's thoughts came together into one generalised assumption. The Dargovi were responsible for everything. It would be centred around them as to how they would now plot their next move against them.

After some time where the Red Martyrs who remained went with Pauline to discuss New Donk City's position regarding the possible Dargovi threat, Rosalina remained in the city for a little while longer to comfort Princess Rose. With Zane seemingly missing, she was the only person she could talk to about the past.

"I've never recovered from it, Rosalina." Rose looked at her as she approached her inside one of the empty offices in the building. "Five years… and I still can't stop thinking about it. Not only have I been unable to move on, but I can't stop thinking about all those who still live that I let down. I let all the boys down too… not just the girls…"

"Rose… you can't keep living your life that is in shame of what happened. We need to move on from it, as everyone else has." Rosalina too had shame in what she did over that week in 2010. She wasn't the only one who suffered guilt for her actions.

"You don't understand Rosalina…" Rose looked back at her, still upset. "Not a day goes by where I think: I could have saved the princesses. I could have intervened. I let everyone down. I let the princesses down, I got them killed!"

"You didn't get them killed. Snap out of it!" Rosalina was shocked that this girl held on to so much guilt after so many years. "For the sake of the cosmos, it's making you sad all the time."

"I let down the Earth boys too… I let down Jack…"

…

Rosalina paused. While she had seen him several times in the years between his inauguration to this world, she forgot about Rose's influence with him. She forgot about the very first encounter she had with Jack… It was only then did she remember how much Rose mattered to Jack…

The memory flashed before her eyes. Out of those who lived through that week in January 2010, Jack was by far the one who suffered the most. She remained in Aypyidaw with him at the final end of the unrest in the north. Both of them had seen all the dead bodies of the princesses getting taken back to the south, but his mind was full of confusion because he never saw Rose's body. He had confronted Rosalina that evening, threatening her and demanding her to return Rose to him. It was also the very first night where Jack didn't have someone ordering him what to do. He was given full freedom to do whatever he wanted in the lands. He even had the choice to go straight back home, but he refused.

"You!" She remembered him confronting her. "Tell me everything! Why was I taken everywhere? Why was I offered up to strangers?" The only person that was with her in the room they were in was Marrec, but he refused to say anything about it. He too was full of shame from what happened to him.

"It was never originally meant to be you." Rosalina began.

"Don't tell him." Marrec tried to stop her, but she felt like she had to tell the truth to him.

"That person you were going to be given to…"

"I said don't tell him!" Marrec shouted this time, but Rosalina ignored him.

"It's… Enrique's grandfather." Rosalina burst into tears. It was then did Marrec finally intervene, but instead of stopping the conversation, he resumed it from his own perspective.

"You three were brought across. It was originally just going to be Enrique, because his real family… his real grandfather… is from this world. He's like one of us. Fortunately, things clashed between those who demanded you three. The princesses of the Mushroom Kingdom wanted to use you three for bringing peace to the northern lands. Tarren, Enrique's grandfather, had the same interests… we were responsible for bringing you over… but we were responsible for the orders of both parties. As the princesses wanted Enrique mainly, Zane came up with a plan to offer you up to Tarren pretending that you were Enrique… we just couldn't do it." Jack began to break down mentally inside that room and that was all Rosalina remembered from that night.

She had no idea where he was today, and in all the years that passed, Jack never returned to Earth and always kept a passion of hatred towards Zane. With Rosalina, Marrec and Jack never finding Rose initially, he went on to believe that she did die, for she never returned to him one way or another.

"We let down Jack." She added, indirectly easing Rose's sobbing and weeping. The frightened former princess looked back up at Rosalina. "I know how we can make you move forward from this. We put an end to one of those responsible for it. She was getting into areas of knowledge outside what Rose knew about the situation, but whatever it was she was going to say, Rose was going to be on board with it. "Tarren has to go… and there's only one place we can find him. First, you and I are going to go on another trip. We're going to Mushroom City."

"Really?" Rose actually dreaded hearing that. She shivered in her seat, wishing she would never have to see Peach's face again. "Please… not with her."

"You've got to overcome these things… and so do I. You're not the only one out of the two of us she hates. In fact, I think she'd be happier to see you than to see me after all that's happened." Rose grinned. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all…

Nightfall

Peach's Castle, Mushroom City

With the day mostly spent on figuring out any suspicious activity from her newest member of the council, Peach gave up on her findings, ruling nothing of any significance. What she found out Wallace wasn't completely clean though. The things she found him doing throughout his business history include some shady business, but it was technically just abuse of loopholes and exploits through the Mushroom Kingdom's legal system, something outdated and created well before her time. At least there was nothing significant about Wallace; there was nothing for her to deduce that he was some sort of spy or secret operative, just a typical… selfish businessman turned selfless benefactor. This cleared a lot from her mind, and now she was more than happy to look forward to seeing him at the Mushville stadium for the football match in the international tournament of the Muhu Delfethal Captains League, or MDC2. It's going to matter a lot more to Wallace and the fans than the regular league matches, as it's another chance of a major trophy for the club. It also wouldn't be the first time that his club were so close to a major trophy, as from her research, she also realised that Mushville had won the same tournament two years ago as well, though it was unfortunate for Wallace as that was the year before he purchased the club.

Peach was now very excited for her meeting at the club at the weekend. Before going to sleep tonight, she pondered through the many web pages about the history of Mushville FC in recent times. From looking at the pages, she found out that they were always a club that participated in the MDC1, the only exception to this was when they were playing in the MDC2 in 2013 which they went on to win the whole thing, and that didn't even include dropping down to the MDC2 from the MDC1 via finishing third in a group there. The previous year they had finished ninth in the domestic FCM league, finishing six places below Peach's former team the Royal Squadron. It's a shame her old club which she was no longer affiliated with had any success on the land's biggest stage. From the web pages she got lost in her original focus of Mushville and looked at her own former club's history in the major Muhu Delfethal tournaments, especially the one that was still ongoing this year. She had stepped down from football early last year and did not participate with her team in this recent tournament. All she heard from others was that the Royal Squadron's performance dropped massively without her or the team's previous manager. She never really saw how the team did though. The club came third in the group stage, being the highest seeded team in Group C which consisted of them, the previous year's winners of Nightwood, Sarasaland United, and the Eastfells in Résethal. They finished on six points out of a possible eighteen. One win, three draws, and two losses. Nightwood had topped the group with thirteen points, and Sarasaland United came second with ten. Only the Eastfells finished below them with four points which meant they had no MDC matches going into 2015. This eventually turned out to be a good thing as ever since last week, all teams based in Résethal were banned from any more tournaments until further notice. There were two teams from Résethal that still had matches in early 2015 which was when the knockout stage took place, but none got to the semi finals, which were going to happen this weekend. With the Royal Squadron finishing third in the group stage, they transferred to the MDC2. Unfortunately, they couldn't continue a knockout campaign like Mushville did in 2013, as they were knocked out in the next round of games, losing to Koopa City 1-0 on aggregate in the middle of January. The beginning of the Double-Dash tournament happened around this time so Peach wasn't able to pay any attention to what was going on in the world of football at the time. Koopa City wasn't still in the tournament either, as they were eventually knocked out by Elhelm in the quarter finals. She remembered hearing about Elhelm the last time she visited the stadium to inquire about Manes the other day. They were to play Zeltarc West on the other side of the bracket, with the winner of that tie to go on to face the winner of the tie between Mushville FC and Super Bell FC.

It was interesting to Peach reading up about all of this data in her spare time. It actually made her feel a little giddy while she was sitting in her bed. Now it was time to go to bed though, so she put the government laptop down beside her bed on the left side and she got up to turn the lights off by the door to her bedroom. She switched them off and let out a yawn, ready to go back to her bed before closing the curtains.

…

Peach freaked out looking at the curtains however, as she saw the silhouette of a tall Koopa staring back at her plainly. She quickly turned the lights back on to see the face and body of the Koopa. He was just standing there, looking intimidating but seemingly posing no threat.

"Who are you, what are you doing here?" She asked the Koopa while fearing or her safety and privacy. She couldn't believe that some Koopa was able sneak all the way into her room somehow; the windows were closed as well. As she got a closer look at him, she noticed that he was holding a sheet of paper folded up like a scroll.

"Queen Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom, I come here alone and in peace." The Koopa spoke softly but his voice was already deep and serious enough. Peach was still massively afraid of his presence; not simply because he was trespassing, but because of her recent history of trespassers. The shadowy figures, the shapeshifters, and the darkness that caused her dangerous wound earlier in the year; all of these things put her mind and emotions on edge. "I am Choban of the Dargovi."

"Get out of my-." She spoke aggressively and anxiously over him but stopped upon realising what he had just said to her. "I'm sorry?"

"Yes." The Koopa walked slowly towards the bed and sat down facing away from her. He had no intention to harm or touch her, only to talk to her. "I am the Koopa at the very end of all of your concerns. I am the one supposedly behind everything that is a threat to the Mushroom Kingdom. I come here to talk and to deliver this message to you. I am not here to harm or hurt you. I am here to negotiate the future of Muhu Delfethal with you."

"Would you have at least had the courtesy to show up well-attended and by entering via the castle doors?" She snapped back at him, but all he did was shake his head and grin.

"How scared would the world be if I appeared in Mushroom City?" Peach realised that just now. It was probably better he discretely showed up here for whatever it was he wanted to do.

"…I apologise for my outburst." She was also realising now that he was here for an evidently serious matter. He seemed like a very serious person despite never really knowing much about him. He clearly wanted to talk in an orderly manner and she would have to meet this manner.

"I understand. It must be… a lot… for you for someone to just show up unexpectedly in your bedroom. Anyway…" He dropped the note on Peach's bed. "I was going to have this delivered to you but I felt it would be best for me to do that myself. I couldn't trust anyone in the world to make sure any business between you and I remained a secret, not even my most reputable advisors." Peach quickly jumped onto her bed and crawled across to grab the note while Choban idly remained sitting on the far side facing and looking out the window.

"You wanted to talk." Peach said to him quietly as she grabbed the note and leaned away from him to keep a safe distance. She had zero trust in this person despite how feeble he was appearing to be. Anyone who says they are from Dargo or anywhere close to it is not to be trusted, especially with what she had heard from the place. "Let me ask you a question first. Someone close to you murdered my fiancé. Why don't you explain that to me first?" Her anger started to rise as that reminder appeared in her mind. This could be a first chance she could inflict her frustration over to someone who could be responsible for it; a first act of justice.

Choban sighed and said nothing for a few seconds. Peach watched his back and saw it not more for the same amount of time. She was unable to read the expressions on his face though; it remained a mystery to her as to how he felt upon hearing her words. "You're a very clever woman." He shook his head. "I ventured here with that bother in my mind the entire time. 'What if she doesn't want to talk with me due to the unforgivable and untraceable actions of my own firstborn?'."

"He must die for his actions if you want anything out of me. No exceptions." She began to realise how much power she had in the bedroom. Even her greatest unknown enemies felt some sense of bending their own will towards her. She felt confident enough to use her power in her own favour to get what she wanted over anyone else getting something out of her. Choban didn't say anything back at first, which prompted her to speak again. "What is it that you want from me anyway? Don't try and bend your intentions with me now that you're here. Tell me what you wanted to tell me. Tell me what was going on in your mind when you were making this journey."

"It's difficult." Choban replied. "Trying to threaten you in any way would not make the chances of me getting what I want any higher."

"Well maybe you can't get what you want all the time." Peach replied quickly, standing up from the bed now. Choban tried to turn his body slightly to face her but Peach began to feel more and more dominant. "Don't turn your head and look back at me! You stay facing that window. If you want any chance of getting what you want, you will do what I say!" She now started to like this engagement with this Koopa, despite not knowing what it was he wanted yet.

"You want to know about my son Raiyon?"

"Yes that was the name I heard."

"Raiyon is almost forty years old… and yet he still has the brain of a retarded child. That boy is a liability and a disappointment to my family!" She didn't expect Choban to get angry. Perhaps his thoughts are getting to him. Regardless, she still felt safe and powerful for none of this anger appeared to be inflicted upon her. "Want to know why I'm here? I wanted to talk about a peace treaty between the north and the south. Since you're the Queen of the Mushroom Kingdom, you hold the greatest power out of… well… everyone that exists in these lands. Me? Think of me as the second greatest." What he ended up doing next was something she did not anticipate, but with good reason. He ended up turning around, but he seemed a completely different person now. He appeared to her not in an intimidating way, but as if they were now level with eachother. "For every one Koopa, Toad or other creature that dies from actions of violence, committed by northerner or southerner, there are five more that die in the north for the same reasons. Twenty years ago, I made a deal with the Red Martyrs to keep the world's most dangerous creatures at bay in exchange for the safety of my people, and in all of those years I stuck to that deal. I'm still keeping it to this day despite the perishing of that group. The Dargovi were not involved in the invasion of Aypyidaw, and we certainly had no intention to be. It was the other tribes of hostile Koopas… all those-."

"Why didn't you stop them?" Peach retaliated. She felt that she was always a step ahead of him. "You claim to have all the world's most dangerous creatures within your reach… and yet… you just let these 'other tribes' cause one of the greatest massacres in modern history? Something doesn't add up Mr. Choban." Her confidence only kept rising.

"There's a phrase I learned about from the other world regarding something like this: A lion doesn't concern himself with the opinions of a sheep. And I believe a lion is-."

"I know what a lion and a sheep are." Peach saved him some time.

"Right. Well… let's say that, only the sheep managed to come as a collective to destroy… well… they destroyed the Red Martyrs. The fault of my own lies in the fact that I never expected them to coalesce like they did that night. I never thought that one could unite all of those Koopa tribes together… except one did. The only problem is… he's vanished… but it gave me an insight."

"I'm listening." Peach's confidence was still there but in this small brief moment with the Koopa, she now addressed him as an equal to her, seeing him level-headed with her.

"If he could unite the tribes, then surely someone of my calibre could do the same. The only difference between him and I is that he supposedly saw himself as equal to them. I'm above them. The Dargovi are above them. You know who else are above them? The Mushroom Kingdom. The reason I came here is I wanted to tell you about how I am planning to keep all of the north under my watch, how I'm having them by my side, how I'm watching over them. That would make me the equivalent of the King of Résethal. That is why I wanted to come all this way to you, so we could talk about true peace in these lands." She heard his true intentions. Now it was time for her to revert the situation; to put him in his place and remain above him in power and confidence.

"You're wanting to do something with me based on probability. You're assuming you'd be able to unite all of these groups of Koopas together. I don't do chances. I don't do promises. Whatever it is you want to talk with me about, I will not listen to until you can deliver me your promises in your words." She made him sit down again, facing the window. "I don't even want to hear it yet. I'm sure it could be a very good thing, but I don't trust you. You still haven't explained to me the reason behind Mario's unjust murder!"

"Raiyon was disowned. He's no son of mine. Killing Mario is a crime punishable by death, yes. It's not-."

"Kill him then." Peach demanded, stopping Choban's speech and freezing him in place. "If he's disowned… if he's no son of yours… then kill him. If your intentions are true about peace, then do as I say. Unite the tribes and slaughter my fiancé's killer… and maybe then we can talk about peace." She put him on the spot and made him feel powerless. He even felt it magically as he couldn't seem to channel anything within the boundaries of the room. He could tell there was a magical suppressor barrier inside this room, preventing him from using any until he was well and truly out from the window. "Before you go, I will tell you one more thing." Peach kept on speaking. "Turn around and look at me for this." Choban was starting to feel humiliation inside, but luckily for both of them he still had no intention just jumping at her by surprise and killing her by any means. First there was Bowser as a political rival but now he felt like he had taken his place in that. He got up from the bed and slowly turned his body to face her. "I think you're yet to realise how dangerous it is – regardless of its practicalities in doing so – that you snuck your way into my bedroom, the bedroom of the Queen of the Mushroom Kingdom. For an outsider like yourself… or worse, a possible enemy, punishment for this could be death by execution, but you've made me learn a few useful things. One being more about yourself and where your intentions lie should they be genuine, the other is that I need more security because I don't want this to ever happen again. I will let you off, but never come back. Don't even step into Mushroom City until you are assured that you have completed both of these tasks I have set upon you. Okay?" Choban only nodded. He said nothing else to her, as the humiliation he felt was still ever-present in his mind. "Good. I will keep my promise to you as well: I will not tell anyone about this. The two most powerful beings in Muhu Delfethal, talking one to another and making promises to eachother. We can do this, surely?" He nodded again. "Good. Now go. Go back to where you came from… or I will have the guards arrest you." That scare now seemed to be dealt with. Peach felt like she handled this really well, able to confront this person with ease and avoid any possible violence in her bedroom. The newly-installed magical suppression barrier provided to her by Toadsworth in the week gave her an extra layer of safety as well. There was another paranoid thought in her head now though. The fact that he was able to get here without anyone noticing meant somebody else could and perhaps for worse reasons. Hopefully this was just a rare anomalous exception, as nobody else in the world would have a reason to show up like that.

Peach shook her head, trying to forget the worst about that situation and went back to her bed. She had a sip of water at her bedside and sat up straight in her bed, thinking about the best way to approach tomorrow. She didn't trust Choban one bit. She couldn't actually believe that it was for certain that the person who visited her today was in fact Choban. Whoever this person might be in charge of all of the Dargovi, him going all this way didn't seem like something the real Choban would do. It just didn't feel right in her head and actually made her uneasy. For someone who is supposed to be the person behind every threat to the Mushroom Kingdom as he claimed, he seemed too guilty from the way he reacted to the way she was treating him. She shook her head as she thought she was feeling rather sympathetic to him. He's not to be trusted, no matter what he says. Peach reassured this to herself several times before eventually falling asleep…

March 20

Peach woke up naturally and surprisingly early today. It wasn't even seven in the morning and it was looking bright outside. That's only due to her realising that she forgot to close her curtains. The natural light from the sun shone into her room and partially onto her bed, bothering her slightly. Peach got out of bed and yawned, walking over to the curtains and debating whether to close them or keep them open and just start the day. She opened up her bedroom balcony and peeked over to all that she could see of the Mushroom City skyline from this angle. It was actually rather cold; there must have been a drop in temperature in the night, or she realised that it was still very early in the morning. Additionally, in the time it took her to get to the balcony from her bed, the sun had gone back into the clouds in the sky, dimming the landscape slightly and making the sky look mostly white. It was the latter half of March now; it can't be sunny with blue skies and warm temperatures every day. Well, at least she got some good sleep and that the surprise visit from a complete stranger didn't make her lose it. What the Koopa said really made her think about the whole situation though. Even if the Koopa is able to muster up all of these so-called tribes in the north, there was no guarantee that he would use them for a good cause. It only worried Peach a little more actually, as it led to the prospect of unification for another attack, possibly on the south. She desperately wanted to avoid even the chance of this happening, because with a few things that happened recently, the talks with Wallace and Salma, the new people from Earth she brought across, and a chance of peace, true peace, she was actually looking forward and excited towards a future of prosperity for not just the Kingdom but all lands. Subtle researching on football teams in the MDC tournaments reminded her that there were good people up in the north too. Not everyone was a hostile Koopa, and because of this unrest going on there and what happened in Aypyidaw, those teams that she remembered always participating like Castelia and Urscan have always been banned. It's not fair on those teams to not be included in the big stages especially if they are to go on as planned for next year, she didn't want them to have a chance of missing out. Peach actually realised just now that her old team never played any team in the north during those big tournaments. The only time they did was against Eastfells a few months ago when she had already stepped down…

…

…Maybe peace between the north and south could be achieved, but at a different cost to what Choban claimed it would take. The more Peach thought about it, the more she wondered if she could just launch a full-scale invasion on Dargo. Choban didn't even look that massive and intimidating. He wasn't as dangerous-looking as Bowser and while he was magic-suppressed, maybe she could have taken him on in a fight. Hindsight didn't help her though, it only made her wish of the many ways she could enjoy a normal life while still being the Queen of the Mushroom Kingdom. Less threats and concerns would mean fewer responsibilities which would mean more time to go back to the things she loved. Karting, Football, great times with her loved ones… great time with her… loved ones… only that… not only Mario but Éclair was supposedly gone too. She couldn't afford to lose any more if she wanted everyone close to her to be around when this was all over. She knew that this is going to be a difficult process, but she wanted it to be as short as possible. Choban's visit only benefitted her now as it provoked her to act more on Mario's death. She believed that the connection between Choban and his son Raiyon may not be as 'disowned' as the Koopa claimed it to be. There was no chance of trusting his word. Besides, if she wants peace, then it's not just Raiyon that has to go, it's all of them. The Dargovi were her biggest problem.

Peach also noticed another thing upon returning to her bedroom and closing the windows to the balcony. While she was almost shivering from the colder breeze that was no longer inside the room, she noticed that the scroll of paper Choban brought in to her bedroom was still left unattended on the floor just next to her bed. She had forgotten about it last night after sending him away and never actually opened it. She let out a loud 'Hmm' and walked over to her bed, picking up the note to read it.

Peach Toadstool,

I am writing this letter to you on the basis that nobody reads it except for you, not even the courier assigned to it. I understand that there has been a difficult stalemate between the allegiances of the south with the Hostile Koopa tribes of the north, and I want to tell you that as the ruler of Dargo, I am making an official attempt at properly keeping the peace between the tribes in an attempt to negotiate a deal of peace between the Kingdoms of the South and the Résethal lands.

With that being said, I am trying to use the wealth of Dargo to distribute order and prosperity to these free cities and bring a new sense of safety among those who are or aren't affiliated with any of this tribal activity. I have many associates to assist with me on this, but I believe the biggest way I can guarantee this to be successful is with aid of the Mushroom Kingdom. I know that Dargo has a poor reputation with the Kingdoms of the South, but I ask a plea to you all to assist me on this endeavour and perhaps it could lead us to true peace.

I also want to note one more important matter and this concerns the humans from the land called 'Earth'. Many of them have defected to the bounds of Dargo and are being looked after with good hospitality. The names of these humans – as I do not house all of them – are as of this point in time of me writing this: Tom or Thomas, Toby, Will, Jaapayo, Duncan and Tobias. I know of the existence of a few others, namely Enrique and Jack in particular, but their location to me is unknown. I believe these humans can be a key to ensuring the peace in these lands, just as they were five years ago.

If this message does not get delivered to you successfully, or I change my mind on it, then I may visit you myself to discuss these matters in person, but if that ends up being the case, then forgive me for any surprises. I heard the security in Mushroom City is paramount to your safety.

Kind regards,

Choban D.

…

She admired its structure, and there was a lot of this that wasn't stated by him last night. Why would he have left out so many important parts out in their conversation yesterday? Things felt missing in both things; there were perhaps things not included in either. Known unknowns. She knew now to keep this within the walls of her bedroom, so that nobody could be able to see it. That part about him she could trust; she wanted to keep this confidential until such a time when it mattered to be mentioned to someone else. There were a few things to sort out now since Peach felt like she developed a new approach in dealing with this possible war in the future. The first thing is sorting out a proper funeral for Mario and Princess Éclair, though she was debating whether or not to push it back until some ground was settled with regarding the Dargovi. The Dargovi themselves were another thing she wanted to sort out. The premise of them uniting the north is something that worried her this morning. The best way to minimise any damage they could do in the south is when they are fighting themselves and not with her people. The last thing she wanted to sort out regarding any threats was dealing with Daisy's view of the new fresh recruits. There had been no word of Rynmar recently, and there was no proper way for Peach to get in contact with him unless she went back to Brooklyn through the main pipe. She couldn't do that now though; it was too much out of her way.

Perhaps bringing this Dargovi threat up with the council would be a good idea, but Peach felt she needed to have other reasons to bring it up. Perhaps a call with Muji might do something. Bringing up Raiyon's name may very well be a great excuse. He ignored her yesterday, he surely couldn't do that to her today. Peach relayed a message down to the kitchens of the castle to prepare her a light breakfast and have it delivered to her bedroom door. At the same time, she reached for her mobile phone and got ready to call Muji. Hopefully he was at his phone.

…

"Hello Peach? I apologise for yesterday. The others and I were busy out in the outskirts of Aypyidaw, but I bring you good news." He picked up, giving her relief. Hearing possible good news was always a good thing as well.

"Sure let's hear it." She smiled.

"We found Neodjan had survived the invasion and we managed to find him yesterday still encamped there. Since then we've brought him back to New Donk City. However, we do face some other concerns."

"Dargo?" She hoped they were already on the same page.

"…Yes, well answered."

"Good. I know that the Raiyon Koopa is a Dargovi. I demand justice for his actions. You may already know about this though." She got reminded of her encounter with the Koopa's father last night and admiring the approach she took with it. "I would like you to bring all of your former Red Martyrs to the capital to discuss plans with my council concerning that city. I believe it may soon be time to finally put an end to their threats as well as the Hostile Koopa threats. This is a martial order that you cannot oppose I'm afraid." Those words at the end put Muji to a brief silence. He knew what this could mean. Having to go all the way to Mushroom City from New Donk City was a long trek and it would mean they are going far away from the border but now they had no choice. With the Red Martyrs no longer being an official group, nobody of the south could escape the orders of the Queen without punishment.

"Very well…"

"Please come for Sunday." She ordered again, at least giving them time to make the journey. "We have so much to discuss but I have other important matters to attend to on the Saturday. I will not be able to do that night, but we will certainly be spending a lot of Sunday establishing what we can do with what we have. I will be requiring your expertise on the Résethal lands on how we can deal with these… 'tribes'."

"I will relay these orders to Archbarn and Eoréc, do you require Neodjan to come as well or just the main three of us?"

"I want all of you coming and I want all four of you attending my council. You and I will be meeting with Princess Daisy as well as all members on my new royal council. Oh… and while you're up there, bring the message to Pauline. I would like to be seeing her as well."

"Will do, Queen Peach." Muji acknowledged, but it was unclear to Peach how he took it over the phone. The voice was very monotonous.

"Good." She was still very happy and relieved about this coming together of important figures. She felt now that she had the greater power over the north and now actual procedures could be made. "Arrive whenever you wish, but not in the evening. That's all for now." Peach gave Muji a few more seconds to appreciate her words before she ended the call with him. Already she felt like she had accomplished more today than she had done in all the days since her return to the lands. Now, the prospect of Rynmar returning came back into her thoughts again, but this time it wasn't about the way of contacting him, more so the surprising feeling of just not seeing him return. Where was he last seen in the Mushroom Kingdom anyway? As he was involved in trying to bring her back into the Mushroom Kingdom from a series of events, then it would be doubtful to assume he was still in the castle somewhere. It was now likely to her that he was somewhere else, somewhere… unknown. Peach sighed and prayed that this wasn't the case. The last thing she wanted was to know that Rynmar had defected to someone else's group or interests. At least she was thankful for him in helping her get back anyway, but now with this thought in her mind, dealing with him might just be another new problem for her…

EOC: The note at the start has shown full effect. At least there is another fully completed chapter ready to be uploaded as well. That might be two weeks after this one, maybe a little more depending on how I pursue the next ones. I've already written a significant amount of Interlude B so far as well, but that's going to be released in a few chapters time, right at the halfway mark.

Anyway, see you next chapter!