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The sound of wings. A grandfather clock chimed midnight within the grand hall he found himself in, red carpet on the central staircase with marble walls and glistening floors all around him. Black wings with fraying blue edges fluttered across the clock face as the stately timekeeper began to tick once again with pendulum ever constant.

"Roy?"

He turned gently to hear another fellow creature hover gently towards him with flickering wings of amethyst glint, a young male voice.

"Have you heard about the moon?"

"No, whut's happened?"

"Joseph is calling a meeting. Quick, come on."

There came a gentle swarm sweeping down the stairs. Roy saw the double-door entrance out of the mansion in front of him, but followed the cloud of thirteen different shades towards the door on their left, which lead to a library. The door opened by itself, showing books in grand shelves thirty feet high in the old oaken room with covers in colours of green, red and brown. Seven butterflies came into the room to see one faded grey-winged insect sitting on a large desk, who spoke with a regal elder's voice both deep yet gentle.

"I have gathered you all here to inform you of some ill omen. The moon has turned red."

Gasps swept across the room as a young yellow-wing stammered:

"Wh-what?! What does this mean?!"

"It means what it means," said a rough male copper-wing, "listen before you speak, whelp."

"Is that unusual?" asked Roy. "Whut if it's just a trick of nature?"

"Like the harvest moon," said his purple-winged friend, "it is becoming autumn after all."

"I'm afraid not," said grey-winged Joseph, "the moon has turned red, that means evil shall come to this sanctum. I only tell you this to brace yourselves for a danger hidden to us as of now."

"What can we do?!" cried a green-winged female, "will our souls remain here, or will something take us?! I cannot return to the outside world, not like this!"

"Calm yourself Margaret...I only wanted you all to take greater preparations for this coming eve for who knows what lies afoot. I wish I had more information for you, but for now please rest well and be careful for any tricks that the moon may fell upon you this eve. Do not be so willing to hear its voice until its pallor changes back to its graceful bliss. You are dismissed."

The signs of fear and uncertainty were rife upon the little creatures, flickering wings of dissent and panic as the door opened once more to let them leave.

"Roy? Elliot? May I have a word with you?"

The two stayed behind, keeping themselves aloft before Joseph's desk.

"You are our most recent visitors, I know this must be troubling."

"It is," said Elliot, "is this something that has happened before?"

"Only twice before two-hundred years hence. The first cost the life of two children. The second almost cost us this place."

"How was the moon able to return back to normal?"

"With time. Along with uncovering the source of this fiendish treachery that lies within our manor, the moon is but simply a pawn to the presence of evil."

"Do you suspect anyone?"

"That is why I ask you to be extra-vigilant. As our most recent you shall be more vulnerable to the deceit that may lie within our perpetrator's heart."

"Whut about Samantha?" asked Roy. "She wuzn't at thuh meeting ah noticed."

"Samantha is...special. But you have an idea in the making there, would you be so kind as to consult her cards and see where they lie on this eve?"

"Alrigh'. We'll do our best."

"I only ask you both because your impressions of our world have been the least coloured by our history. A good pair of eyes without any hint of bias, you will regard all of us with impartial note."

"You don't suspect us?" asked Elliot. "We only just came here."

"I suspect everyone. If you wish me to not suspect you, then prove your trust and worth by visiting Samantha. You are dismissed."

The purple and blackened wings fluttered out of the room, feeling the door shut swiftly behind them as they looked at each other carefully. Beneath the multifaceted eyes and flickering antennae that brought the world into focus, they could sense each other's souls bristling with a hint of anxiety as they perched upon the banister of the second floor.

"Did you see anything strange today?"

"Naw, nuthin' ah can think of. So who do we have in this place, we got you, me, Joseph, Samantha, Edward, Terry-"

"He's much too timid to even go upstairs, let alone plot anything, how can anyone suspect him?!"

"Joseph said he suspects everyone, we have to be reasonable. There's Margaret but she won't even bother speaking to us bein' all high an' fancy with her grace."

"If you ask me, I think Hector would be most likely of many terrible things. He used to be a swordsmith didn't he?"

"Everybody is innocent until proven guilty Elliot. Come on, keep your head straight. Let's go see Samantha if anything comes up."

Bracing themselves for the inevitable, the two fluttered to the northeast door on the upper landing as the door opened before them. Blue walls with shapely patterns of the stars in constellations, it appeared to be some form of parlour with a pool table, a small bar, dartboards and a green circular table where cards had been stacked. Neither of them understood why she chose this room for her practices, but it was clear that even from the playful atmosphere, there lied a strangely powerful aura emanating from its walls.

"Do young boys dare to dream?" said a strong female voice. "Or is it just your fate that long dances with your dreams?"

"Um, h-hello?" asked Elliot. "Miss Samantha, can we talk to you about something?"

"Depends on if you can, your tongue seems afraid to perform its duty."

"Joseph said thuh moon has gone red," replied Roy, "we wanted to ask you if you had any ideas whut wuz wrong with it?"

"There is nothing WRONG with the moon per se. It is simply reacting to a presence. I will forgive your ignorance for you are so very innocent. Come here, come closer dear boys."

Hovering towards the table, they soon saw that indeed Samantha was there, camouflaged perfectly against the green velvet top with wings gently flapping. The card deck stood next to her was taller than her own legs as Roy and Elliot crept forwards slightly.

"Do you know anything about this moon?"

"I know plenty things about the moon dearest Roy. I know that it has conveyed many things across the lengths of time that many of us have looked to see its visage. Madness, wisdom, melancholy...mystery."

"And which one of those does THIS moon represent?"

"Certainly most of them. Wisdom even in defeat is precious."

"What about your cards?!" asked Elliot frantically. "What do they tell you?!"

"Peace, child! They are not your servants, they speak when they are ready, why else would I be rambling to you?"

"S-sorry...I'm just...I don't want to think what may even happen if something...did."

"We're both worried," added Roy, "we got no place else to go but here."

"That is true for all of us," replied Samantha, "we have all ended upon this shore of the fated hour of our souls and here we have become reborn as something new, a world within our hearts born free from this mansion."

"We must have had terrible lives if THIS wuz where we came to."

"Was it tragic? Or ungrateful? It matters not, listen. The cards began to speak."

Shimmering with an unseen energy, the card deck started to move gently shuffling by themselves through fated hands invisible. The first card to reveal itself, was that of a stern female moogle with crystal blue sword plunged into the earth beneath her feet, whilst holding two cups of blue and red that passed water to each other in front of her.

"Hmmmm...Temperance. There is a balance at its stake."

"Whutsat mean?" asked Roy.

"A great balance that must be sought, prudence and harmony are the key towards one's discovery."

"How do I...balance this out?"

"Let me see...ah...yes..."

The second card to slip free from its deck showed a beastly-looking elephant walking away from the viewer, wielding a huge military knife in one hand whilst a giant golden wheel kept spinning upon his back like the weight of the universe.

"Fortune. It appears that destiny will not come easy, in fact the only thing certain about your situation is that you must grasp it at any available opportunity."

"Wait, is this about me? Ah thought we were discussin' about thuh moon-"

"Do you see the moon here?"

The world started to disappear as Roy looked up from the table, seeing darkness consume everything from the floor to the ceiling as Elliot no longer stood next to him. The cards remained enormous to him, big enough to use like carpets as the velvet-winged Samantha continued to speak.

"Fate has many ideas in store for what you must grasp, but always you have refused. At every available opportunity you have always fought against fate, and when you gave yourself over to it at your very last...someone stopped you."

Card number three came in the form of a blood-red vision, a very familiar-looking creature of brown scales and purple markings, standing naked with a giant pair of scissors planted firmly into the ground before him. The scissor handles pressed against his pectorals almost resembling the shape of a demon's head.

"...James?"

"Temptation can lead to many things. Would you say it's ironic, or perhaps fitting that the one who's become tempted for so many years, was the very one to stop you at your greatest and last temptation of all?"

"A-a-ah don't...whut does this mean?"

"What does it mean do you think?"

"...where am I?"

The darkness had taken everything, now leaving him with nothing but the stack of cards and the hand he had already been dealt. The fourth card slipped neatly upon the table revealing his own face, weeping openly up towards the heavens within the shadow of two looming towers behind him. Crumbling. Falling. A chill of recognition came down Roy's spine as he felt his heart ache bitterly.

"N-n-no...don't...d-don't take me back to that moment. Ah...a-a-ah can't...ah can't go through that again, S-s-samantha? Samantha?! ...Elliot?!"

But there was no one else to hear him. A howling gust of wind from the apocalypse came instead to greet him, fiercely clawing against his skin to tear it with biting cold. He gasped clutching himself, realising only then he had lost his winged butterfly form to collapse to his knees. His arms shook as he shivered rocking back and forth, hearing the shrieking winds tearing into his ears as a vicious maelstrom began stirring from around him. Something pulled him to move forwards, stumbling onto his feet as he began walking through the dark torrid winds that began to rip the very seams of his flesh apart.

His hands became bleached glistening bones, his legs started to shine with pale white with his left upper thigh and right lower leg completely rent asunder of its skin. The left side of his face had become fearfully cold with clenched teeth naked against the screeching darkness. Soon he felt something at his leg, water beneath his feet. Shallow puddles left untouched by the wind before a grasping tightness violently latched at his leg, violently tugging him back into the pool. He panicked on falling to his knees, tearing his foot away as he tried to run but something else lashed at him from beneath. Pillars of pure glistening white bone like serpentine skeletons began coiling around his body, tendrils of ancient fossils latching onto his limbs as they began to pull him apart.

Roy began to scream, sheer strength forcing him in half as he severed from the neck, his chest tearing open like paper to reveal his still-beating heart, frantic in pulsing out his desperate need as he struggled to fight against his restraints. The skeletal tentacles simply twisted his arms and legs, snapping them out of joint by their graceful strength as he heard his limbs creak slowly from their sockets. Twisting. Ever so gently they would twist until the sound of four brittle snaps signalled his coming end like the bells of a funeral.

The head of the beast then emerged from the darkness underneath, a monstrous equine skull with human eye sockets and seven jaws welded together into one horrifying floral pattern. Teeth radiantly blossomed from its mouth like snowdrops as something regurgitated from its throat slowly. A fifth tarot card of a purple spirit, wispy hands clasped in deep prayer and remorse within a dark evening landscape. Death had come to him with a voice slavering of corpse dirt.

"Do yOu kNoW wHaT wE dO WiTh LivEsToCk?"

A deep burning creased into his arm, scoring the very bone with black marks resembling that of numbers. It was a horrid familiar feeling as he sobbed in wretched torment, before ending his life with a piercing screech the moment his heart burst with explosive red, staining the white teeth into a luscious crimson.

"HHHHHHH!"

His shuddering breaths woke him, coveting the bed sheets with a desperate flinch of his claws grasping for the softest warmth as he curled up into a foetal state. The room was not his own, which did nothing to help his fear as he struggled to resist the urge to weep.

"Nnnnnhhh?!"

A body started moving from behind him, but he dared not turn for fear of what he would find in case he were still dreaming.

"Ruuuy?"

Her voice managed to soothe him, along with her hand placed on his shoulder reassuring him further as he started to turn himself over to meet the yoshi's fearful gaze. His eyes adjusted to the natural light from outside her window as she signed:

You-alright?

"...I...ah had a bad dream. That wuz all."

Is-something-wrong? You-have-them-often, at-least-when-we-sleep-together.

"Yeah I um, just, it...comes and goes that's all, nuthin' for you to worry about."

Should-I-be-worried? Most-people-I-know-don't-have-nightmares-once-a-week.

"It's alrigh'...really, don't...don't worry about it."

Every time he said this in the waking of a nightmare, his face would turn the same expression filled with worry and discontent. Yolanda decided that this was good a time as any to ask him:

You-know-what-I-love-most-about-you? Honesty. I-want-you-to-know-that-you-never-have-to-hide-anything-from-me, even-for-the-sake-of-not-scaring-me-with-your-nightmares.

"Whuh...wh-whut you mean?"

I-want-to-help-you-through-any-problems-you-are-having, no-matter-what-they-are. Please. Tell-me-if-something-is-wrong. Clearly-something-must-be, if-you-keep-having-nightmares.

"Nuthin's...wrong. It's just that...I-i-i just, maybe mah mind is tryin' to think sum stuff out but it doesn't know how to think it, you...know whut ah mean?"

What-sort-of-stuff?

"Stuff lahk...is this where ah wanna be? Ah feel...ah don't know why but even when ahm here, with you, sumbody ah love whom every day ah spend with is thuh happiest experience I ever had in years...there's a part of me that feels guilty."

Guilty?

"Yeah. Ah know why that is, but...it's not your problem, ah don't wanna make it-"

Yolanda put a finger on Roy's lips, shushing him as she gently responded back with careful kind fingers caressing his cheeks. She pressed her lips against his in a soft embrace, breathing on his nostrils as she pulled back.

You-sleep-in-my-bed, we-share-our-bodies. Why-can't-we-share-our-problems? I-shared-you-my-problems-about-my-voice, what-about-your-problems-Roy?

"...because...because you're too innocent."

His response threw her off slightly as she blinked curiously.

"Ah don't want...to tell you thuh stuff ah dream, because of thuh things I've gone through. I've had a hard life Yolanda, an' this world is thuh first place I been to where ah can finally be at peace. But even that's not turning out to be true because of mah own issues."

What-issues-exactly?

"It...okay, do you really wanna know about mah problems? You're right, you shared your problems with me so it wouldn't be fair you don't listen to mine but, are you sure you want to?"

I-do. It-will-make-you-feel-better-if-you-tell-them-to-someone. You-made-me-feel-better-about-my-voice, now-let-me-return-the-favour.

"Al-...a-alrigh'. Hhhhhhh..."

He sat up firmly with his back against the headrest as she focused on his lips intently, not wanting to miss a word as Roy struggled to start things. It took him a good two minutes of mental focus to brace himself on where to begin.

"Mah parents were murdered. For thuh last twenty years I've been tryin' to find out who did it, so I wandered the entire world lookin' for answers. Ah wuz seventeen, I had no idea where anythin' wuz or who wuz good or bad. I wandered from place to place, desperate to find answers an' then around fifteen years back, ah met this girl called Lizbeth. She wuz strong, feisty and dependable, we went everyplace together, she wuz awesome. Didn't take attitude from nobody an' then after about a year we...we got together. She wuz mah first time too, heheh damn it wuz kinda nuts. But ah couldn't stay, an' after a while ah told her ah had to get on thuh road an' find whoever killed mah parents. She understood, an' that ah would come back to her one day. So ah wandered again an it wuz almost nine years ago, ah met James. Wouldn't realise at thuh time he would become mah best friend."

Oh-my...stars, how-did-you-meet?

"He used to be a...mercenary for hire, along with a group of his friends who went around helpin' people, keepin' towns safe an' stuff so ah asked him to help me with sumthin'. We got real close, cuz we came from thuh same part of thuh world an' ah told him about mah problems an' he swore to me that he would find out thuh truth of whut happened to me. Wouldn't find that out for another seven years but ah joined his friends an' we all got pretty tight together. Then a monster came an' attacked us, a real ruthless beast that ah fought an' managed to buy his friends sum time to escape...but ah fell off thuh ship we were on. Ah lost my hand from that fight."

He gestured weakly with said prosthetic as Yolanda gently clasped it, stroking her smooth amber fingers across it in tearful pity at his story before signing:

You-fell-into-the-sea?

"No, from thuh sky. It wuz...an airship, thassit."

What...happened-after?

"I landed far in thuh wilderness, disappeared into a tribeful of folk who had all their mouths sewn up, called themselves mudokons. They were strange people, they kinda didn't care about existence or living. Just sorta accepted their place, but one of them wuz nice to me. Called himself Abe, said he would build me a new hand if ah did some work for him. So ah did, ah just helped out around his people getting them food an' fightin' wild beasts, just you know tribal stuff. He gave me a new hand made out of wood with vines instead of veins. Wuz pretty good, it worked for thuh time ah had it, let me grip onto things an' such. Then ah left thankin' them for their help but in a...kinda hallucinatory daze ah guess from one of their nights I ended up wanderin' to a pretty...awful place. I...I wuz a prisoner. In a slave camp."

Seeing Roy's hands shake with timidness, she pulled them close to her heart to let him feel reassured by her warmth. It worked as she felt the tremors cease with his fingers softly stroking her chest as he sighed deeply.

"Ah wuz...thuh people there were monsters, they rounded up others lahk cattle, branded them with numbers to make them feel worthless, lahk they meant nuthin'. Forced them to work 'til they exhausted themselves but when they saw me...they thought ah would make a good soldier for them. They...they told me ah could either be a farmer or his livestock. Ah refused, a-ah didn't wanna go around hurtin' anybody they wanted me to hurt, ah just couldn't. So they told me ah wuz cattle...they burned a mark into mah chest, an' numbers into mah arm tellin' me that's whut ah would be. They made me starve in a pit with thuh bodies of their enemies. They told me ah would only be released when ah feasted on whut they gave me."

Yolanda now shook, her breath stifling in her throat as her eyes watered with the horror struggling to even think what to say, which in turn caused Roy to start weeping.

"Ahm s-s-sorry. Ah...I know this is awful, but...y-you wanted to hear."

No-it's...fine. I'm-so-sorry, that...that's-horrible, you-should-never-have...nobody-deserves-that.

"No. You're right. But there wuz a good ending to it. Thuh prisoners spoke to me seein' ah wuz rebellin' against their masters, so we tricked them. Pulled out sum old bones, put them in mah pit, pretended ah did whut they wanted me to, an' when their guard wuz at its lowest...ah beat everyone of them to thuh damn floor an' freed everybody ah could. We all managed to escape, we broke free, hitched out on a train we stole and did all we could to get as far away as possible. Not everybody made it...but most of them did."

His smile was tender yet rather weak, his eyes bleary with pain from his remembering as he rubbed his steel hand.

"We finally escape...an' so we all went our separate ways whilst ah left heading to another land, a different place entirely. Ah found a mercenary group, called Maverick Security Consulting who would make me a new hand with all their super tech. Ah told them whut ah had gone through an' they gave me a few jobs helpin' out people an'...savin' lives, you know, nice stuff. Missions that their more elite agents couldn't have time for when they were all handlin' lahk bigger cases. Ah did mah duty with them an' they offered up this new hand."

The sign of a horse's head neatly inscribed with a steel lightning bolt could be seen on the underside of his wrist, catching the light of the town street.

"Ah went back to mah girlfriend Lizbeth. We had a good life together, a long peaceful seven years where ah could just bury mah head in thuh sand...until she passed away about a year ago."

Oh...oh-no. I'm-so-sorry-Roy. Is...was-that-why-you-were-so-nervous-about-being-with-me?

"Yes. Ah wuzn't...ah wuzn't sure if ah got over her yet. But when I came here, almost immediately after she died, ah found James livin' a good life. We got back to bein' friends once again an' he even found out who killed mah parents. Lahk he promised. Not that it really mattered anymore when thuh suspect wuz long long dead...an' I missed out on mah chance of justice for far too many years. So I stayed here. Hopin' to rebuild a life. I got mah job bein' a town guard, ah got friends who care about me...and now...I have you."

He pulled her closely to him as he kissed her sweetly, the yoshi reaching up to meet his lips in one gentle smooch as he began to smile.

"Ah walked through a lot of bad places...I won't be able to forget about them. But at least now ah won't be stayin' inside them with people lahk you to help me out. If that's okay."

She lifted herself up to meet his gaze, hands pressed on his scarred black chest as she could feel an old tender patch, where something had once been stitched into his flesh. Her voice struggled to breach, thick with patient effort.

"I...a-a-ah s-still luv yuu, Ruuy. Th-thank yuu."

"H-h-hhhh...hhhhh...I love you too Yolanda. Thank you."

The two embraced tightly as MacGregor could feel something happen, Something was different in the wake of this revelation after realising that one thing was now missing. He was starting to lose his regrets for the first time in eight years as a weight had been lifted from his heart filling with a pure, warm and trusting love. He pulled away from her to say:

"Thank you so much for listening to me. I feel a lot better about things now."

Do-you-feel-okay-now?

"I do. For thuh first time in eight years...I do. Come on, let's sleep."

Goodnight-sweetie.

"Goodnight."

As they returned to sleep, Roy felt no nightmares come to him that night or even for the remainder of that week. He was finally able to sleep without fear of his mind churning up deep and bitter wounds to taunt his conscience. He felt himself now able to let go and move on with his new life. Peace in his time.

"Stop FIDGETING."

"I'm trying GOD this shirt is just-"

"Oh for Peach's sake come here."

Koopin leaned over the rectangular table to manhandle the top button of his husband's shirt, pulling it free to let him breathe as the raptor sighed with relief. The blue polyester shirt felt a little too snug on him as his tail coiled out between his seat and his back down to his grey cotton pants.

"Thank you, that was getting sore."

"You buttoned it up yourself."

"I didn't know it was that tight, it's been years since I wore this."

"Your neck didn't get fatter James."

"I know I know but, maybe it kinda shrunk?"

"Hmmmm...I did wash it. It might have, we should just get you some new shirts."

"Ahhh I don't think we need-"

"We're getting you new shirts, I know you like being topless but when we're out at these places you need to have some formal wear, now I was fine to not let you wear ties because I know you hate wearing them bu-"

"Okay I got it, we'll get some new shirts this week."

Gently slumping into his seat, James watched for the door of the restaurant that him and Koopin now sat in, a rather laid-back place with red velour seats and brown carpeted flooring that included a small bar in the back for drinks. The moody lighting and soft piano music accompanied the place well as the Kennidons sat at a window-side table relishing the atmosphere, staring upon each other's face. Koopin was sporting his shell like always but even then he was wearing formal clothes with a blue bow tie around his neck, along with the polo shirt inside his shell and black pants over his legs.

"Remember the first proper date we went on?" asked Koopin. "After that whole thing and, being at Bowser's castle when we first-"

"Mmmmm yeah...down at that nice club near the seaside."

"We had sunset through the windows, that soft music coming in and chilled drinks...it was the first time I saw you wearing a shirt like this and I thought how much more handsome you looked."

"Your eyes never lost that spark. Even after everything you've gone through."

James reached out to caress his husband's cheek.

"I knew you deserved only the best...but you got me instead."

"James."

Koopin clasped his hand gently with his own.

"You ARE the best. Don't give me that kind of talk, that went out of style six years ago like your wedding suit."

"Hey now you said yes."

"That was before I saw the suit."

"Ohhhhh...is that why you wanted me out of it as soon as possible on our honeymoon?"

He nudged forwards with a teasing of puckered lips making Koopin start to blush.

"W-w-well, maybe-"

"Or are you just a horny little turtle boy underneath all them smarts and geography lessons?"

"You-...y-y-you-wha-what are you saying?"

"You didn't marry me for my smarts that's for sure, you married me for my body."

"I-c-c-come on James!"

"I'm not hearing a no."

The raptor grinned smirking fiendishly as Koopin's cheeks turned a blatant red. Then his chance finally came to distract his husband when he turned and looked up to see their expectant guests.

"OH, hey look they're here!"

Waving over at the door he caught the attention of Roy who just entered, waving over back to them with his girlfriend in tow to which both Kennidons were rather surprised by at her stature. MacGregor towered a full foot above the orange yoshi whose head only came up to just beside his shoulders.

"Is that...her?" asked James.

"He said a yoshi, what's the problem?"

"I just...she's a lot shorter than I thought, yoshis are usually quite tall right?"

"That doesn't matter, heeeeeey!"

The couples met with Roy hugging his friends individually whilst Yolanda shook hands with both of them eagerly. James and Koopin sat next to each other with Roy and Yolanda opposite, the raptor in his grey polo shirt and slacks whilst the yoshi wore a tangerine dress crimpling around her waist as the koopa started to sign and speak simultaneously:

"I-hope-you-don't-mind-but-James-doesn't-know-MKSL-do-you-mind-if-I-translate-everything?"

That's-fine, you-taught-Roy-how-to-sign?

"Yes-I-did! I-offered-when-we-were-talking-about-you-months-ago!"

How-long-have-you-been-signing?

"Since-I-joined-the-T-G-A, it-was-one-of-the-language-courses-they-offered."

Cool!

"So how did you and Roy meet?" asked James.

Bumped-into-him, he-showed-me-around-town-and-we-started-hanging-out!

"More lahk she started to eat out of mah wallet," said Roy half-joking.

I-paid-you-back!

"Oh you did, ahm not complainin', just settin' thuh facts straight girl!"

You're-off-duty-you-got-no-reason-to-grill-me.

"Mmmm ah dunno about that, may have to do a body search later on."

"YIEE!"

She squealed at his naughty grope around her waist before giving a throaty chuckle as James and Koopin smirked. The yoshi brought them into the discussion however by asking politely:

What-about-you-two, how-did-you-two-meet?

"We-met-at-a-rave," signed Koopin, "we-got-tipsy-and-then-he-took-me-home."

You-got-a-little-TOO-drunk?

"Yeah," said James smugly, "we got preeeetty drunk but hey, we became close, he made me breakfast the day after, then he showed me around the kingdom and next thing you know we were just...hanging together."

What-do-you-do-for-work?

"I'm the bartender at Roy's, not HIS place I mean the gay bar downtown."

Oh-you-work-there?! One-of-my-coworkers-met-her-wife-there!

"Aw no way that's cool! How long they been together?"

About-ten-years, she's-my-supervisor-but-so-sweet, she-encouraged-me-to-come-here-and-expand-my-job-opportunities.

"That's great, so Roy tells me you're from uh Crescent Island I've never been there."

"I-have!" replied Koopin. "Only-a-few-times-but-I-love-the-geography-of-it-with-that-gorgeous-long-bay, you-can-walk-an-entire-beach-for-miles!"

It's-one-of-the-longest-shores-in-the-world-according-to-distance, very-popular-for-tourists-and-movie-directors.

"Was-it-not-used-in-From-There-To-Forever?"

It-was! You-like-movies?

"I-watch-plenty-what-about-you?"

Only-after-DVDs-start-coming-out, subtitles-and-such.

Soon their orders arrived in the form of starter dishes served individually. James had cream of wild mushroom soup, Koopin had Chai congee from Sarasaland, Yolanda ate some potted shrimps and Roy lastly went for a thick lentil stew. The years that he spent in the Mushroom Kingdom had given James a surprising appetite for anything relating to fungus, slurping up the thickening creamy mixture with peppers sprinkled across the surface to give an extra kick. Koopin's starter was reminiscent of gruel, but had a wonderful flavour of chicken and rice infused with foreign herbs courtesy of the Chai kingdom, whilst Yolanda didn't waste any time almost sucking the shrimps straight out of their pots. Roy was last to finish, taking his time with the smoothly-filling vegetable broth.

"Big seafood fan huh?" asked James to Yolanda.

Totally. What's-your-fave-food?

"Pizza. Pepperoni and mushroom specifically."

Oh-yeah-I-LOVE-pineapple-fruit-pizza.

"Seriously? I never got that, why put fruit on a pizza that's just weird."

You-live-on-an-island-you-eat-fruit-whether-you-like-it-or-not. Good-thing-most-yoshis-love-fruit.

"Are there any that don't?"

Just-the-ones-who-get-allergies-far-as-I-know.

"It's still weird to me, like why put fruit on a pizza?"

"You eat fruity burgers," said Koopin in defence.

"Well-...y-yeah but...but...but that's-dammit-um...see-"

"Hhhahahaha," cackled Roy, "awhaw he got you there."

"Well it's not a NORMAL kind of food!"

"It is around here," said Koopin, "what's normal to you?!"

"Fruit not mixing with meat!"

"And now you cannot get away from my mom's fruit burgers, so who's not normal now?"

The raptor conceded his defeat, shaking his head before Roy felt a slight twinge in his bowels as he got up to excuse himself.

"Uhhh ah need to use the bathroom, be back in a bit."

"I'm gonna go too," said the older Kennidon, "just in case."

"Alright," replied Koopin, "don't take too long."

The two headed off through the small network of tables towards the restroom, leaving Yolanda to start poking some more curious questions into the koopa as she began with:

How-long-have-you-known-Roy?

Maybe-ten-months? He's-James'-friend-more-than-mine-but-we-bonded-pretty-well, it-helps-that-he's-only-a-year-younger-than-me.

Really?! You-look-about-my-age-you-do-not-look-older-at-all.

Haha really?! Wait, how-old-are-you-if-I-can-ask?

Thirty-two.

Wow. You-thought-I-looked-THAT-young?!

You-look-after-yourself-really-well, I'm-just-saying!

Awwww-thank-you!

So, what-is-Roy-like, with-you-two-I-mean?

Why? Is-something-up?

I'm-just-curious, he's-such-a-strange-but-really-nice-person-plus-he-has-a-lot-of-baggage. I-feel-like-he's-hiding-a-lot-of-it-from-me.

Koopin struggled with his fingers carefully tensing up to try and best convey the appropriate wording.

He's-had-a-very-hard-life. I-don't-know-much-about-it-but-James-told-me-enough. The-two-became-close-friends-but-at-some-point-Roy-disappeared-and-James-thought-he-had-died. He-only-just-found-out-he-was-alive-ten-months-ago.

Really?! Oh-my-stars-the-poor-thing, he-told-me-about-this-actually.

He-did?

I-only-just-started-hearing-about-his-past-from-him-a-few-days-ago, he-told-me-about-meeting-James-and-their-travels. He...he-seems-like-someone-still-in-mourning-but-I-didn't-want-to-ask.

He's-doing-a-lot-better-since-he-joined-the-guards. When-he-first-came-here, he-was-having-problems-trying-to-fit-in-and-we-did-everything-we-could-to-make-him-feel-at-home, because...he-has-no-place-else-to-go-to-not-even-his-own-home-anymore.

That's-awful. I-feel-so-sorry-for-him-but-I-don't-want-to-look-like-I'm-pitying-him, you-know-what-I-mean?

Oh-I-know-what-you-mean, absolutely-I-was-like-that-when-James-came-back-to-me-after-returning-from-the-war.

James-is-a-veteran?!

Basically. But-back-to-Roy, he's-a-kind-and-honest-person, he's-always-willing-to-help-people-that's-why-he-became-a-guard-after-all.

I-noticed. He's-the-most-honest-person-I've-met-but-I-wasn't-sure-if-that-was-really-him.

It-is. Trust-me-he-does-not-deceive-people-he-can't-even-sneak-a-cookie-from-the-jar-without-telling-somebody-first, he's-that-kind-of-person.

Really?! I'll-be-honest-I-thought-he-was-just-a-big-muscly-goof-when-I-first-saw-him.

Oh-he-can-still-be-a-goof-but...not-as-much-as-my-husband-is.

Hahaha! So-can-I-ask-you-something? You-married-a-rex-so-maybe-you-can-answer-this.

Maybe? What-you-want-to-ask?

How...big-is-your-husband-down-there? Because-when-I-said-Roy-was-big-muscle-I-meant-that-some-muscles-of-his-are-BIG-you-know-what-I-mean? Just-so-I-can-compare.

Yolanda winked with a huge grin on her face as Koopin gasped with hot cheeks, fumbling with his hands desperately to try and find a more gentle way of explaining such an intimate comparison whilst James and Roy were literally measuring that same thing at the urinals. Various sizes ranging from children to adults stood in a pristine row of porcelain, the sound of splashing streams filling the room as both raptors stared down upon their lengths gripped firmly in their claws carefully. They knew about each other well enough to catch glancing looks at the other raptor's size in mutual respect, until James asked:

"You think it's the width or the length that matters?"

"Did you really come out here to ask me that?"

"Well it's like the first time we ever shared a urinal, might as well commemorate it."

"With whut, breakin' a champagne bottle on your ass?"

"Hhhahah, wow kinky! But no seriously I came to ask you how things are going between you and Yolanda."

"It's going great! God she's awesome, ah mean...is it right to feel lahk this about a girl you only met a few months ago?"

"Roy seriously, stop asking, of COURSE it's okay you're a sensible dude, you're more sensible than I was! I just got lucky."

"Yeaaaah ah know just...ah don't wanna look desperate, lahk ahm jumpin' into sumthin' before it's too late."

"You're not that kind of person. The fact you're even talking about it like that proves you know what you're doing, plus she seems a pretty great girl, you two get along really well, you're actually HAPPY."

"I am...I am happy. Is that really all it is, just sumbody to feel happy with?"

"Yes, at least that's how it works in this world. Trust me, Koopin and me have been dating for a good six years then we got married for another seven...almost eight soon. I'm not exactly the deepest guy but I know one thing. If you are happy, then you are happy and the only time I ever felt happy in my life, was when I was with Koopin. If you feel happy with Yolanda, then there's no reason to question it."

"You know that's one thing ah never asked you. Ah never saw you as thuh kind of guy who wanted to marry sumbody, even more surprised that you took Koopin's name instead of keepin' your own. Why?"

"Did I never tell you?"

They finished their urinating after a few quick shakes to wash their hands whilst James explained.

"I never knew my family properly. You know that. But Koopin's family was the family I always dreamed of. I had foster parents when I was a kid and they were nice but...it was just weird, like it felt more like I was a lodger than being an actual son, you know?"

"Not really."

"They were nice people, good people. But I just never felt that little click of family connection, at least not until meeting Koopin's family. They're just perfect, the one family I always dreamed of having ever since I was little. A mum that never lets you starve or be sad, a dad who can be firm and forceful but at the same time be loving and kind. I realised when I came back that the Campbell family was pretty much dead with me at the end of it and I had nothing to show for it back in our world."

"Nuthin' about your extended family? If...any, that is."

"I don't know who they are...and from what I managed to learn about them when I went back, they seemed like pretty awful people. Least my father's side is, I know nothing about my own mum's family. I was only happy when I was with Koopin, he helped me become a better person and I want to repay that by being a part of his family and doing right by their name. I have nothing to live up to as a Campbell, but as a Kennidon...I only have to be a good husband and a loving son-in-law and in the end isn't...isn't that something good to be?"

"You're right. Ah understand, you want to be sumplace where you could belong as a person. Wake up a whole new person an' just reset everything."

"Right. Exactly."

James finished up washing his hands first as he left briskly. Roy simply stared out towards him with a sombre look as he shook his head mumbling:

"Ah don't blame you...if only you knew about your father's family."

He followed out of the restroom shortly back towards his date, sitting down next to Yolanda as they had not long to wait for the main courses they ordered. Two braised island steak dishes for the raptors, spaghetti vongole for the koopa and finally lemon sole with shrimp, capers and leek for the yoshi. The double date went superbly as the two couples shared their stories amidst the food laughing it up at their own expense. It was the perfect boost of confidence Roy needed to face his toughest week.

Three days after his double date, the raptor stood outside a medium-sized office of only two floors in one of the town's busiest streets alongside Stul T. He had not realised until first approach that it was a real estate company entitled "Pipe Dream Estates", with various houses available at mortgage rates throughout the length of the town's immediate region. A glass shining door with a long front window painted over to have clouds and bushes along a red brick road, the two guards entered the immaculately blue-walled interior that mimicked a sky when seen from the outside where a female koopa waited for them.

"Hi there welcome to Pipe Dream Estates, can I help you?"

"Yes," said Stul T., "we're here to investigate mister Koopisten's belongings, my name is Stul T. and this is Roy MacGregor."

"Oh. I see, my name is Shelley please come with me."

They passed further into the back of the building, the open floor layered with faux-brick patterning showing desks and chairs of ergonomic swooping shapes to try and pretend this wasn't a mundane office but some sort of free creative space of awakening and adventure. Roy only wondered how much the chairs cost as they were taken upstairs to the upper floor which was more typical of an office, with desks spanning across the entire room and the sound of two dozen keyboards clacking away from various species. One desk however was unoccupied as a green bob-omb waddled up to them.

"Afternoon, are you the guards here about Koopisten?"

"We are sir," said Roy.

"My name is Bobburn. First, let me just say we all thank you for your work despite what happened to our dear friend."

"My condolences. Ahm sorry for whut happened, but we need to keep protocol and make sure that everything is squared."

"Of course, I-i understand...is...was this an accident or-"

"At this time we have reason to believe that there wuz malicious intent, but we need to make certain to remove all possible doubts. Did Koopisten have any enemies, rivals, people who disagreed?"

"No, he was very happy here, he was a wonderful worker. He always came in on time, never missed a sick day and was very social with people."

"What kind of person was he?" asked Stul T. "What sort of work did he do here?"

"Very respectful. He kept his work and his home life separate but we understood that. He worked a few years as an administrator but a few years ago he got promoted to being one of our reps."

"Reps? Like he sold houses?"

"Quite a few," replied Bobburn with pride, "he always managed to sell a house to every customer he met, first try."

"Wow. Anyone he was friends with in the office?"

"He...he was one of those people that everybody knew but at the same time nobody knew. He was a friendly face, he came in every day, he talked, he laughed, but he never really connected with anyone. More like...that next-door neighbour you say hi to every morning and say good night to every evening, but that was it. Let me show you to his desk."

The desk of the former Koopisten was immaculate, a few knick-knacks here and there but nothing especially out of place. A cool mug shaped like a koopa shell, a drawer full of pencils and of course his main computer. Shelley typed in a password to open up Koopisten's work, but it was completely normal boring business detailing the houses that he sold and the customers that bought them. Filed reports spanning back several years offered nothing of interest.

"Anything else we can do?" asked the koopa administrator.

"Nuthin' thank you," replied Roy. "How long wuz Koopisten working here for?"

"About twenty years, I think."

"Does he have any previous employment?"

"No, actually he came fresh on the heels of his father who taught him-"

"Wait, father?" added Stul T. "Last we checked he had no family."

"His father previously worked here," said Shelley, "before the computers were put in, then he retired around ten years ago and died just shortly after that."

"...may I ask you about Koopisten senior then?"

"Why?" asked Bobburn.

"Well, it's the funniest thing, we don't really have any records about Koopisten's father, that's why we're sort of surprised."

"Oh he was wonderful, able to make a friend within a handshake and his son was very quick to learn the tools of the trade."

"Do you have any paper records of his father here?"

"We do, let me show you."

Stul T. went off with the two employers as Roy discreetly investigated the desk. Nothing hollow was in it this time, no secret compartments, and even with a cursory trace of his omni-tool into the software of the PC revealed nothing hidden within the folders. The only thing of interest were the houses Koopisten sold, as he scanned over each of them carefully with his eyes trying to find any sort of inconsistency.

"...wait a minute."

Three houses stood out to him, each one having had a substantial number of views on its file at least three times more than any other property. 9 Penny Brae, 27 Koopfort Lane and 81 Clearlake Crescent. They all seemed like normal houses and were already sold to people whose names did not send up any flags.

"Why you so into these properties if they already got sold...wait...nine...twenty-seven...eighty-one...three, times three, times three..."

Swiftly deducting some small arithmetic in his head, he began to see a pattern and went searching for another number amongst listed properties. Nothing came up which cut his train of thought down as he sat in the office struggling to think what else the connection could be until he saw Stul T. returning with Shelley and Bobburn.

"How are you getting on?" asked Shelley.

"Well, ah can't find anything about Koopisten, so I thank you for your patience. But, may I ask if you have a register of every property that your company has dealt with?"

"Of course, are you looking for any in particular?"

"It's just...not every property is listed on Koopisten's PC is it?"

"Oh no," replied Bobburn, "we have many properties listed, is there an address you require?"

"Is there any address with the numbers two-four-three in your records?"

"I...well, we can find out if you like."

Bobburn went to find the physical register copy as Shelley perused its contents, keeping a trained eye in the thick ledger of every house and price they had put since its early days. After a good thirteen minutes of careful scrutinising, she found it at last.

"Two-four-three Rue Champignon. That's the only address we have with those numbers."

"And what's up there?" asked Stul T.

"It...well it's a very old property, it doesn't exist anymore and it was knocked down."

"Is there anything there now?"

"I think it's part of the docklands, back when they were expanding the port years ago but I don't know what's there now."

"I think I remember," said the bob-omb supervisor, "they were looking to make it into a logistics office and then a hardware company bought the land to expand a warehouse. It was uh...it's the company at the very VERY end of the road, the furthest west you can go."

"That's fine," replied Stul T, "don't worry about it. Thanks for all the help you guys have done great."

"Always glad to be of service. I just hope Koopisten didn't get involved with anyone dreadful. Accidents are always terrible but there are worse things."

"Agreed."

They said their goodbyes to the company before Roy took a gentle slow walk towards the noted address. Stul T. did not ask until they were well within the docklands on the very furthest point of its westwards region which became less friendly to the eyes of a tourist. It was an industrial district, showing a small maze of warehouses and company lodgings, the sound of heavy machinery drilling and shrieking from every place amidst rough-hewn workers with shoddy arms and rolling crates.

"What hunch didya find big guy?" asked the toad.

"Koopisten's PC had sum sorta link, disguised sum kind of address by a little math puzzle."

"You serious?"

"Well...it's not thuh best lead ah got honestly, this is kinda reaching."

"It's better than nothing so I'll follow you, but we just gotta be careful, this place is full of danger and I trust most of the guys here but if any of our friends in cloaks are around they got every weapon they want."

"Righ', so let's just be cautious. Here it is."

Reaching the very end of the now-expanded Rue Champignon amidst delivery vehicles and carriers roaming back and forth, a large warehouse with the company brand of "Sunset Oak" appeared before them. The two approached carefully looking for any employees in the place, but despite the recently-used forklifts out front and the lack of dust, there was not a single soul to be seen. The door was bolted shut from inside, but Stul T. noticed a window higher up that had been left open.

"Think you can reach that?" he asked Roy.

"Heh, no problem. Stand back."

The guard did so as the raptor put down his spear and shield before bracing his legs, sighing to unwind the slight stress in his muscles before summoning his brazen gust.

"WULD!"

Blasting off a good twenty feet above the ground, he grabbed onto the open window and pulled himself inside, carefully dropping himself to the floor with another burst of wind to slow his descent. The door was unbolted in an instant, allowing Stul T. in as Roy retrieved his gear. The interior was like any other warehouse, the harsh glancing lights of the windows above reflecting an oddly empty landscape of hard wooden crates piled up like jagged mountains, the walkways above crisscrossing in a square fashion with a foreman's office up above. They only managed to walk halfway across the length of the warehouse before finding one sheer impassable wall of storage crates, too tightly packed together and also too heavy to even lift the first front ones out of the way. The stairway to the foreman's office was also beyond the crates giving no pedestrian access from this side.

"Dammit," murmured Roy, "we got nuthin' around here."

"Can always try the foreman's place."

"Alrigh' lemme just get mahself ready again. Hhhhhh...WULD!"

With another gust of wind he shot up to leave shimmering clouds of dust behind as he landed on the walkway with spear and shield still in his grip. The other side of the wall of crates from his perspective showed nothing but darkness, too dark to see anything within the shadows as he walked into the foreman's office. The light still worked allowing him to see a very simple-looking bureau, unrolling the top cover to find a single dossier, full of photographs and a report sheet. Each one of them focused from a zoom lens towards Roy or Stul T. from a distance while they were on duty, usually from the roofs with the report detailing their activities and what discoveries they had made concerning their investigation. What scared Roy especially was the fact that Yolanda was in several of the photos concerning him as the reports read:

Details of subjects follow:

Stul T., Toad Town born and raised, husband of Swee T., 3 children. Wife works at post office, could threaten easily with suspicious mail if needed to pressure.

Roy MacGregor, Dinosaur Land refugee, well-acquainted with Kennidons residing in Koopamuir. Recently formed a relationship with Yolanda of Crescent Island who works at travel agency, possible weak point to threaten him with.

Subjects currently searching for Koopisten, possible cover blown by Sher T.'s data but not confirmed. Need to discover what line of inquiry they took, MacGregor was seen speaking to bartender James Kennidon of ROY's, possible leak must be dealt with. Orders?

Kennidon is too dangerous, exposed our previous operations due to Sher T.'s blunder. Set up the "Lone Raven" trick at Koopisten's place, make MacGregor and Stul T. burn.

Subjects have escaped, Stul T. in hospital and potentially subdued. Yolanda could be threatened if MacGregor does not cease investigation?

Leave Yolanda, the less who know of us the better. No trace left at Koopisten and ashes have been placed, they have no lead left.

Subjects have visited Bibi Bombastique and seem determined on a new lead, orders?

Trail should be cold, no leads left possible. If they approach this location, bring Yolanda to us.

His blood ran cold as he carefully slipped it into his satchel fearing the worst. But he had little time to even think what could happen next when he turned and saw a black shadow screech at his face, striking out with vicious claws and the barest sight of a razor-sharp beak underneath its hooded cowl. He panicked and slammed his steel fist forwards but the shadow ducked with swooping cloak and grabbed Roy's extended wrist, pulling him viciously out of the office and hurling him over the railing into the darkest half of the warehouse.

"ROOOOY!"

Stul T. faded from view despite his voice echoing through the roof as MacGregor landed frantically with a burst of wind to soften his impact. Water splashed around his feet as he stood on the other side of the towering wall of crates with no source of light to aid him. He turned on his omni-tool's flashlight and scoured the area, seeing nothing but a shallow lake cover the entire floor stopping only at the mountain of boxes.

"ROY! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!"

"YEAH AHM OKAY! LISSEN, GET BACK TO THUH GUARDHOUSE, TELL THEM TO PUT A GUARD ON YOLANDA!"

"WHY?!"

"SHE'S GONNA BE TARGETED, AH FOUND SUM DOCUMENTS THAT THREATEN US, WE GOT IN TOO DEEP, YOUR FAMILY MIGHT BE AT RISK TOO!"

"WH-WHAT!? A-ALRIGHT, I'LL JUS-WH-WH-WHOA, WAIT G-GET OFF ME!"

"STUL T.!"

The sound of flying fists and a panicked toad came from the other side as Roy braced himself to leap back onto the railing. But the sound of something splashing behind him made the raptor turn to see the black shadow once again.

"Enough."

The voice was female. Cold yet playful as the cloak seemed to hover above the water. Not a single footstep came beneath as if she were a phantom, wrapped in complete darkness where only Roy's light could breach through.

"You have interfered for the last time Roy MacGregor. Koopisten's ashes were your last warning."

"Who are you? Are you Rodin?!"

"Hhhahahahaha...oh no. I am Ravel, one of the three ravens...and I am sorry to say that unless you manage to defeat me, you shall not even be worthy of seeing Rodin or Rembrandt. Save your last wish to the star spirits, boy."

The shadow suddenly dove into the water as Roy rushed over, knocking his spear hilt over where she last was to find nothing but solid ground. Not a trace of her cloak could be seen until a violent gush came from behind him. The phantom cloak reappeared with slicing talons to scar across his face, a vicious punching swoop that knocked him fiercely to the water. Before he could even compose himself, the shadow had faded once more into the water as he grabbed his spear, shining his light across the darkened lake. Stul T.'s voice could no longer be heard from the other side of the crates as he hoped that he managed to escape, but then another screaming crash of waves tore from his right as he turned and slashed with the spear.

The phantom was almost impossible to make out without his light on her, but he managed to strike her across the face to scrape across her steel beak forcing her to deflect her path. Hovering in a circle like vultures of the desert around him, the water barely moved beneath her cloak as she twisted her fabric, warping into a rounded black mass before turning into a spinning bullet, literally. A giant black shell with piercing eyes and wicked grin screamed towards Roy as he dodged fast, watching the bullet reform back into her cloaked self, flowering like a black rose beneath her many folds.

"Hmhmhmhm, is that the best you can do big boy?"

"You fight me all you want, but don't you DARE involve anybody else, not mah friends not anyone!"

"That is your problem, not mine."

"Then ahll have to MAKE it your problem!"

Charging forwards with a blast of wind, he swung his spear ferociously moments after she had disappeared back into the water, the raptor pounding the earth with his steel fist to try and clear some of the liquid. But always it came back, flooding in smoothly to cover it back up yet never elevating past his ankles. The shadow resurfaced, then ducked down once more behind him as he turned. She emerged a second later with a graceful leap like a dolphin spinning over his head with black glistening drops before diving back into the waters, taunting him with her strange battlefield. The "raven" surfaced mere inches from his left striking across his chainmail with deep vicious claws tearing it almost completely in half. He swung his fist still clenched beneath his shield with savage force almost missing her beak, snagging some of the cloak in the process as he saw a faint trace of a female's eye. She dove back into the shallow depths, the raptor tracing her movements with the light but finding not a single ripple following after. But there was one thing he did notice from the geography of the room, seeing a pattern in Ravel's movements. He waited to see if he was right as she burst free to slash towards his face, ducking fast and swinging his spear to strike against her waist, tearing more of the cloak free from its fabric.

It was then he realised that the female attacker was only coming out of the water from specific points as he stepped himself back towards the crates bracing himself for the next attack. The dark cloak burst to his right and spiralled violently towards the crates as Roy readied himself to lunge, but he hit only thin air as the cloak swept across his fingers. Disappearing straight before him, he moved to his left and waited to see the phantom come attack from the nearest exit point of the water. Just before she did, he leapt pre-emptive of her attack and slammed his fist violently sharp into her skull sending her straight against the wall with a heavy crunch. The spirit staggered with a shuddering gasp but retaliated with a sweeping flourish of her cloak, slicing Roy's arm with vicious claws scarring along his biceps as he pulled away swiftly.

Seeing her dive back into the water, he readied for the next attack as Ravel burst free from his right with spinning flurry to transform into another giant bullet. But Roy was not fooled this time and stood bracing himself as the furious smoke burst from behind the screaming black shell. He tensed his legs and roared with a tremendous gust of wind from his fists as he charged forwards to crush with a shrieking uppercut landing directly beneath the shell's pointed tip. Hurtling it to the ceiling above, the giant bullet misfired careening violently until it collapsed into itself, reassembling her cloaked visage once more as she flew down like a harpy upon him. Swooping with the frenzy of an eagle upon its prey, Ravel barely missed Roy's head with her claws as he dodged almost rolling through the water to steady himself against her speed.

He clenched his fists together into one, dropping his spear and with the force of a mighty hammer came crushing down upon Ravel's head just a second before she came in range of him. Perfect timing sent her down scraping fiercely through the water screeching like a careening vehicle until she slumped against the wall. The spirit laid into the water but did not disappear as the raptor braced himself to uncloak the mysterious beast.

"....whut thuh fuck?"

A red yoshi laid underneath, her face badly bruised by Roy's attack whilst wearing a mask in the shape of a beak along with clawed gauntlets on her hands. One of the hands held a small remote control but what truly surprised Roy was the fact that she had no legs. Severed stumps beneath her waist that ended in faded burns.

"Who...wait...that means-GUUH!"

Suddenly the floor opened in front of him to blast his face with a sudden puff of yellow smoke, smelling strangely like that of warm fluffy sheep that thickened in his nostrils as the strange chemical he inhaled sent him into a stumbling daze. The yoshi staggered onto her hands, gasping with a bitter snarl as the raptor struggled to keep standing with vision turning bleary.

"You thought you could...unmask me?"

"N-n-nnnnngh..."

"Rest assured...my son will take better care of you next."

He fell into the water with a heavy splash as the sound of a trapdoor came clearly from underneath before crumpling into a short drop straight into an even deeper darkness than before. The water trickled on top of him faintly before he passed out.

The moment his eyes opened was like coming out of a long dream, heavy in his chest and feeling a strange numbness in every limb of his body. He found himself still wearing his guard clothing but without his spear or shield in a rectangular steel room, a large oval door in front of him with a table on his left, the sound of an engine rumbling deep from underneath as he struggled to pull his arms from behind him. Chains rattled briefly around his limbs, suspended between two iron links as he struggled to ask:

"Where am I?"

"Our home."

He hadn't noticed the shape in the corner of the room next to the door nearly opposite of him. The shadow walked into the light revealing himself to be the purple yoshi in a neat black suit, holding a steel briefcase.

"Our new home. I hope you don't feel unwelcome."

"...this is sum kinda ship isn't it, thuh Tricorvid?"

"No, but you're very perceptive, we are indeed on a ship. Heading west from Toad Town at a good sixty knots, where you won't be coming back."

"Whut makes you think that?"

"I know how this trick goes. And I know how it will fail."

"So ah wuz right. Thuh remnants of your father's circus make up this gang."

"I think you already proved that point when you disgraced my mother you filthy peabrain."

Yannis slowly placed his metal briefcase on the table before opening it up, containing a small sealed container the size of Roy's head to which the raptor simply chuckled at the supposedly-menacing display.

"Hahahaha, look at you, all suited up lahk sum gangster, ah wuz expectin' knives or sum shit."

"I don't do knives mister MacGregor, I'm not a knife-thrower. My skills were elsewhere in my father's circus."

"May I ask whut?"

"The three ravens. Father, mother and myself."

"Are you Rodin?"

"Hm. No, actually. I am Rembrandt. You have already met my mother Ravel, also known as Yezebel."

"Really? Huh, so...why call yourself Yannis to your people?"

"Because the person and the performer are two different people, MacGregor. They do not know who Rembrandt is nor that Ravel and Yezebel are the same person. Much like a criminal's nickname as opposed to his real one, there is one name he uses in certain situations depending on what authority he must hold. You are the first and last to ever know that secret."

"Really? Whysat?"

"A great element of magic is the mystery," explained Yannis. "You never see the true face of the ravens, to which many assumed were actual ravens by the flight of us and how we swooped and danced so gracefully through the air. The names also were but a soft and simple misdirection that nobody questioned. Nobody noticed that father was never on the centre stage, he was just replaced by an elaborate puppet, with father throwing his voice and mother controlling him beneath her sleeves in mid-flight, to make it seem as if he were still there. A similar trick mother pulled concerning our mutual friend Koopisten who you only once met."

"...he's not dead is he?"

"Yes. And no, depending on which one you meant."

"And you're telling me this why?"

"To make a point mister MacGregor. Like my mother and father, I can make people question everything they know without ever laying a single hand on them. Do you know what's in this box?"

"Sum kinda...poison I assume, sumthin' you can't expose, lahk organic?"

"Very good. You have good observation skills, this is indeed something organic. Do you know what the bitter fruit is?"

"...a fruit that's...bitter?"

"Yes, we'll consider that an easy one."

The yoshi opened the box to reveal a rather strange-looking fruit. It resembled a sad face, blue and solemn like some sort of death mask sculpted out of a melon. Drooping sallow cheeks and tears embedded into the texture, the raptor simply cocked his head curiously as Yannis placed it back into its box.

"In my people's culture, we have a legend see. Once upon a time, a young yoshi hatchling became lost in the deepest heart of the jungle. All alone, his family unable to find him, he discovered a gentle sapling where no light could ever reach. To take his mind off from his loneliness, he fed the sapling with water from the melons that he could find, and push apart the leaves to bring light upon it. For thirty days he did this, one melon for each day watching it grow and soon he became happy at its strength. The larger the sapling grew, the more happy he became until finally it shot through on the thirtieth day through the very canopy and blossomed with a radiant wondrous heart fruit. His family found him, and in turn they found the tree of utmost mirth and joy that has become a symbol to my people. One of every fruit grows upon this tree, including the heart fruit which can bring happiness to anyone. But in order to know happiness...one must also know sadness. This..."

He walked forwards with the strapped funnel and the sombre fruit still in its box.

"Is the very essence of sorrow, of bitterness. For all those days that little boy felt sorrowful, and lonely, he would struggle to swallow down the tears that welled up inside of him. In the culture of my people, we punish those who commit the gravest taboos of our kind by forcing them to eat this. Pure unspoilt sadness. I have heard stories of yoshis who chose to cut out their own tongues rather than eat this."

"Heh, an' whut's my crime?"

"Digging up my family's past and refusing to let our ghosts lie."

"Your family MURDERED people for a stupid rivalry."

A vicious backhand struck across Roy's face, stinging his left cheek.

"And what of us? You don't care my family almost died?"

"Almost. That's thuh keyword."

"So is regret, which you will be tasting literally."

Yannis broke the fruit into smaller pieces and offered one part to Roy. He simply closed his mouth, distrusting whatever it was until the yoshi smiled and pulled out a phone from his pocket.

"Are you there? Is the girl with you? Good, if I call you back in...five minutes, dispose of her neatly. ...the drainage obviously, the sewage will make quick work of her remains."

He clicked the call off and smiled seeing Roy's expression of bitterest rage, tearing his wrists against the steel restraints as he snarled:

"If you...even touch one fucking hair on her ah will destroy you."

"That doesn't have to happen. Simply eat all of this...and I will not harm her."

"Why should ah believe you'll keep your word?"

"Because you've already seen our documents. I don't want to involve more people into this, and neither do you. But you have forced my hand now either eat this fruit entirely, or else you will be sleeping in a bed alone, once again."

"...you fuckin' asshole."

"Four-and-a-half minutes until I call my friend back, now eat up or she drowns."

Against his better judgement Roy carefully opened his mouth and ate up the first piece of the bitter fruit. And almost instantly would he start to regret it.

"M-MMMMPH! MMHHHRRRK! GLLLLK!"

"Shhhhh...swallow it. That's a good lizard."

To say it was foul, wretched or ungodly would do little justice to its abhorrent taste. To feel it across his tongue tasted like a porous worm slithering its bile down his throat. To feel himself swallow it was like burning lava sprinkled with ashes that smeared and caked themselves across the walls of his oesophagus. To feel it sink into his stomach was like a viper crawled into his body and viciously began biting every single part of his insides with piercing venomous fangs that sent him into dry vomiting sensations.

"HHHHHRRRRRRRKKKH! LLLLHHHHRRRRHHHKH! KHHHHH! HHhhhhh...KHHH! F-f-fuck is this sh-shit?"

"Rambling already?" said Yannis unflinching. "You break faster than I expected. The bitter fruit, is the most unquestionable taste, the most bitter and vile of sadness itself, the utmost worst that almost tastes especially like a poison of some sort. Oh it won't kill you, certainly it won't...but you will wish it had."

"Th-th-that's it? You just gonna feed me sum kinda fake poison an' make me vomit?!"

"Oh that's the worst part. You never vomit. It stays inside you, it forces the motion but the bitter fruit latches itself against your walls, reacting with your stomach acids to create a perfect seal and prevent any regurgitation. Once that fruit is inside you, it's only getting out one way. And when it finally starts digesting...you're going to be in such agony that you will beg me to end it."

"I-i-i...s-suffered worse."

"Really? Oh I doubt that mister MacGregor, now come on. Don't waste a single bite, you should always be thankful for your food."

"G-GET THUH FUCK AWAY FROM ME-H-HRRRRK!"

Before Roy could clench his mouth and pull away, Yannis slipped out his tongue to swiftly wrap around his throat. The powerful muscle began to strangle him, violently tight like ropes as they creaked and twisted slowly against his throat. He struggled not to open his mouth, but his body desperately wanted to breathe as his eyes watered, staring up at the cold unflinching eyes of the suited yoshi. Not more than forty-seconds later, after almost passing out with spots flickering across his vision did Roy finally open his mouth gasping by instinct to breathe before suddenly the bitter fruit was forced into his mouth.

"M-MMMMMMMPH!"

The son of Yakovich quickly forced his mouth shut with both hands, unwrapping his tongue from the raptor's throat to force him to swallow.

"You can either...swallow and survive...or...you can choke and see if you come back to life again, I won't care which way."

"MMMMNNNNNNNNNGH! FHHHK NNNHHHH-G-G-GLLLK!"

The second part of fruit was even worse, knowing the taste that would come made the anticipation strengthen its awful piece as he roared echoing throughout the ship's hold to force the taste from his throat. He vomited once again, heaving dry violent lunges that came bubbling as hot air from his gut as tears began to flinch from his eyes.

"Wh-wh-whuh...why...wh-whut you gotta bring Yolanda into this, when you jus' fuckin' strangle me to eat this shit?!"

"I like to be certain. If you cause any trouble for me then your beloved will be in deep water for the rest of her life. And unlike your previous investigations I will make certain that she will never be found again."

"SHUT UP! SHUT THUH FUCK UP YOU WANNABE LITTLE BITCH-H-HRRGGHHHHK!"

Yannis would choke him with his tongue and quickly suffocate with a viciously tight grip as the raptor struggled to last against the strong asphyxiation. He was amazed by how powerful the tongue was, feeling as if a constrictor was about to crush his neck and twist the bone at a moment's notice. Gasping and shuddering against everything he could, his will to breathe was too strong as his mouth barely opened before another piece of fruit shoved itself in with Yannis' forceful grip, despite the raptor viciously shaking his head.

The third taste almost broke him. He couldn't tell what was worse, his tongue shrivelling at the taste as if desperate to curl up and die, his throat burning deep through its own muscles or his stomach lurching with such vicious suddenness that his chest began to hurt. With every dry vomit he felt like it was a heart attack, burning inside his ribs as he grinded his teeth together, hard enough the sound of creaking could be heard in his jaw.

"You're almost done. Just one last taste...and it will all be over-"

The sound of his phone interrupted him as he pulled back to reply to it.

"I told you to wait until my call. ...what? Hello?! Who is this?"

The call clicked off as a look of insult smeared across Yannis' face. He put away the last remnants of the bitter fruit and sealed up his briefcase whilst speaking with stressful voice:

"If you want something done, do it yourself. Enjoy your meal mister MacGregor I have business to attend to. I will return shortly."

He opened the door with a firm five knocks in sequence before a guard on the other side unsealed it, leaving Roy by himself to struggle with the bitter fruit sitting in the pit of his stomach. The chance for escape came to him as he began burning his restraints with searing hot flames piercing through his claws from the nanos in his veins which took him a long while. The raw iron chain was thick, and after almost exhausting himself with a constant stream of potent fire, he managed to shed the chains from his wrists leaving him now on the floor with his legs left to unclasp. The double effort from using both hands per foot broke through the chain quicker into a weakening melt, pulling himself free as he quickly brought up his omni-tool to see the time. Luckily none of the goons had realised his futuristic device was even detachable, seeing it was still the same day he had been at the warehouse, but it was now around 7pm. He contacted the one friend he knew he could speak to through it:

"FG? FG, come in, answer me."

"Roy?! What's up?"

"Listen, ah need you to do sumthin' for me, where are you at righ' now?"

"I'm at home with Koopin, why?"

"Okay...lissen, ah need you to go to thuh guardhouse, an' tell them that both me an' Stul T. were attacked, ah just woke up on a ship, ah've been kidnapped."

"Wai-wait WHAT?!"

"James what's happening?!"

"H-hold on, jus-lemme hear, Roy needs help!"

"Just go to thuh guardhouse, me an' Stul T. got attacked, ahm on a ship somewhere, but TELL THEM to find an' keep Yolanda safe, she lives at number thirty Sandy Street, remember that!"

"Sh-shit, shit alright...alright we're going, Koopin I need to tell them-"

"A-alright, I'll come with you!"

"Don't worry Roy we got things covered, we'll see you soon!"

"Alrigh' but do NOT contact me alrigh'? Ah need to keep quiet, when ahm safe ahll contact you. How long's it take you to get to town?"

"Twenty minutes, maybe fifteen."

"Ahll call you back in twenty minutes then."

He felt guilty having to call his friends and hoped he would make it up to them but Yolanda's safety was his highest priority. Stul T. he wasn't certain on whether he escaped or not, but he staggered himself to the door seeing it was far too thick for him to even attempt boring a hole through. An idea came to him as he lurched over to the table and threw it viciously across the room to clatter sharply against the wall opposite of him. He hid beside the door into the corner and waited hoping that the guard was curious enough to come in. A creaking of the valve proved him right as a large clubba waddled in looking over at the table flipped over by the wall. His head was a perfect target for a steel fist to come flying hard into the back of it.

"Goodnight punk."

The clubba crumpled easily from the unexpected blow as Roy dragged his body over to the chains and began to tie him as best he could with twisting knots before escaping his brief prison. The long corridors of girdered steel became intimidating to the raptor, almost as if he were in some deep labyrinth underground with the sound of rumbling engines breathing through the place, the lungs of a seafaring beast. Carefully stepping around corners to avoid being spotted, the former captive kept his hearing alert for any footsteps whilst slowly treading along the hallways of the ship. He checked his time when it was 20 minutes after as he ducked into a storage room and hid to contact James.

"FG, you there?"

"Roy?! We're at the guardhouse they're here listening now just, tell them what you told me."

"This is Roy MacGregor, badge number one-eight-six-two, ah wuz attacked an' kidnapped by a criminal group at thuh Sunset Oak warehouse on Rue Champignon. Stul T. my partner is unknown, there's a possible threat on the life of miss Yolanda, resident of thirty Sandy Street, please update."

"We read you MacGregor," said a guard's voice from James' omni-tool, "Stul T. reported back to us, he's been keeping guard on his family and told us to keep watch on miss Yolanda."

"Is she safe?"

"We don't know. She's currently gone missing."

"Whut?!"

"We're putting a watch out for her, nobody's left the town."

"Keep...an eye out at thuh docks, look for any suspicious people carrying large sacks, okay?!"

"Do you know your location?"

"No, just that it's a large ship, maybe a freighter. Lissen, ahll try to make a signal, get thuh coast guard's attention if any are nearby."

"Affirmative, we'll put out an aerial patrol, make a signal if you can and good luck MacGregor."

"Over and...out."

He clicked off his transmitter as fear began to well up inside him, pushing himself against the wall as he prayed to God silently that Yolanda was safe. He was about to correct himself however to star spirits when a voice came through the wall beside him.

"H-hello? Someone there?!"

"....hello?"

"Um...a-a-are you from...Toad Town by any chance?"

"Maybe. Who's asking?"

"It's....It's Sher T., I've been um...I've been kidnapped by these goons."

"Heh...Sher T.? You still alive?"

"Yeah, you...you know me?!"

"You gotta be thuh most willing kidnap victim ah have ever seen, don't you remember thuh black raptor that grilled you at thuh hospital?"

"...oh...ohhhh jeez, for once I'm so glad to see you, I mean um, hear you! Can you get inside the room I'm in?"

"Lemme look."

Getting up from his hiding spot, he peeked out along the halls to see a few workers aimlessly wandering along the corners as he moved to the vault door of Sher T.'s room. The creaking weight of the door raised no suspicions in the noisy ship as the sounds of clamouring voices from crew members masked his disturbance to find the toad drug dealer tied up with ropes in another storage room.

"Thank the Stars, I am so glad to see somebody outside of this group of freaks."

"You sure you gonna be thankful even after we get outta this?"

"I'd rather go for prison than try out some new shoes in the bottom of the ocean."

"Just so we're clear, ah didn't come to rescue you, ah came to arrest you after we both get out of danger. You should be thanking yourself for your little backup plan."

"You mean...you found my backup data?"

"Mmhmm, it lead us right to you...eventually. But they kidnapped me too, did you see an orange yoshi girl get taken on this ship?"

"Nope, why?"

"Another hostage...possibly."

"Listen, just untie me, I swear I'll do anything you want, I'll even testify against them!"

"You do that, you might get off a few years from your service."

"Fine, great, just untie me please!"

The raptor snapped through the rope with his claws as Sher T. gasped in wondrous relief, rubbing his wrists carefully as he asked:

"You got a plan to get out this place?"

"Not exactly. You know if there any flare guns or fireworks on this place?"

"There's some fireworks in the boxes, they got a lot of pyrotechnical stuff on here."

"Perfect, can you get me to thuh deck?"

"Sure, I know this place. Why do you need fireworks?"

"To send out a signal. We gonna call on thuh Rescue Aid Society to get us outta this jam."

"The what? Look if we get caught, then we're fish food."

"You let me worry about that."

Grabbing some spare bags they could sling over their shoulders, the toad and the raptor opened up two crates and stuffed as many fireworks they could bring before heading out of the storage rooms to make their journey up top. Combining their eyes and ears along with Sher T.'s directions, they kept a constant vigil ascending towards the upper deck, watching goombas, koopas, clubbas, piantas and the odd yoshi patrolling the corridors. Most of them seemed to be just maintenance crew but they took no chances, soon finally seeing the sky at dusk above their heads as they snuck cautiously into a corner of the topside deck. A medium-sized cargo freighter with a grand platform of steel in the very centre of it. The control room was at the opposite end of the ship to them, but most of the crew were still downstairs thankfully giving them a better chance towards it.

Expansive ocean laid in every direction around them, a cool deep blue with reddish pink and soft amber gradients coveting the sky surrounding the earth. Roy just realised in that moment that he had never seen winter or autumn fall upon Toad Town, not in the entirety of the year he had spent in this world and started to wonder if this place even had seasons, or if the weather was just restricted to certain locations. Did the world even orbit around the sun in this place?

"Hey, buddy!" stammered Sher T.

"Whu-s-sorry...ah wuz just thinkin' about sumthin'."

"Well maybe save your philosophy until after class we gotta get out of this place!"

"Alrigh'...you wanna set up these fireworks, or you wanna go up to thuh control room an' call out thuh coast guard on thuh radio?"

"Uhhhh...which one is least likely for me to get caught?"

"Either if you're careful enough. Alrigh' better idea, you take half these fireworks an' hide over there, ahll take the other half an' go this way. Once ah set mine off, you set off yours, they won't know which direction it's coming from, that'll give me a shot at thuh control room."

"Right, that's good. Hokay."

Sher T. brought out a fire flower he had snuck out of one crate as he waited for Roy to head to the far port side of the ship, keeping out of sight from the wandering crew members by ducking behind boxes and slipping between crates. He planted his stash in a lifeboat on the side and lit up the whole bag with a loose few sparks before taking cover. Not more than six seconds later there came a piercing shriek and a burst of light that near-blinded the people up top.

"WH-WHAT IS THAT?!"

"S-SOME MORON LET OFF A FIREWORK, FIND IT!"

"WH-where's it coming from?!"

"Over there!"

Adding to the confusion was Sher T. with his own bundle, blasting the fuses with his fire flower before spreading even more fire all around the immediate area to further delay any attempts to douse his work. He hid inside a box to see the sheer whizzing fury of bangers, candles, and banshees, spinning towards the sky and bursting free to send all the ship into a frenzy of panic and frustration.

"WHERE IS IT COMING FROM!?"

"JUST GET SOMEONE TO PUT IT OUT FOR PEACH'S SAKE!"

"YOU SAID IT WAS OVER THERE!"

"I KNOW I SAID-"

"JUST GET THE DAMN FIRE BUCKET!"

With both ends of the freighter now rampant with fires and rampant lights, the raptor had all the distraction he needed to head up to the control room. Three koopas were currently manning the controls as he burst in with an ice flower aimed at them.

"NOBODY MOVE!"

"OH JEEZ, C-CALL FOR HEL-"

The first one to shout was blasted by a thick freezing spray that froze him solid, turning the panicked sailor into a block of thick ice as Roy stepped into the room.

"A kingdom of isolation...an' it looks lahk ahm thuh queen."

He closed the door behind him carefully.

"Now you boys better be good or else...one thought crystallises like an icy blast."

"Wh-what the heck is he on about?!" whimpered one koopa.

"Just do what he says or he'll ice us fast."

"Good," said Roy, "that's better, now ahm a guard from Toad Town, badge number one-eight-six-two, see this uniform? You do EXACTLY whut ah say an' you'll be gettin' outta prison a LOT faster than all your buddies out there, you understand me?"

The two sailors nodded with hands up quivering.

"Good, now see that radio? Ah wanna call thuh coast guard. Stand next to it directly. Turn it on to thuh coast guard frequency an' DON'T try to trick me cuz ah know whut it is."

Roy did not know the frequency at all but he hoped that threatening them with confidence would make them think otherwise about any attempts at deceiving him. The koopa stepped over towards the radio standing on top of the console, a rectangular grey box with microphone and tuners as the sailor tuned it to send a signal.

"Okay, it's ready."

"Whut's thuh name of this ship?"

"The Yulysses...spelt with three S's and a Y at the start."

"Whut's the appropriate response for a mayday signal?"

"Say mayday three times, then your name, then the ship's name three times. Then you wait for a response and give the ship's position and what the problem is."

"Our position?"

"It's those numbers over there. L-listen, we're not part of this, we're just sailors, I dunno what they do jus-"

"Be quiet. You're technically under arrest an' you have thuh right to remain silent but anythin' you say can and will be used against you in court, is that understood?"

"R-right. Sorry."

"If we get thuh guards here, ah will tell them about you assisting me greatly an' we will be lenient with you. As long as you behave."

He quickly began to transmit his distress.

"Mayday, mayday, mayday. This is Roy MacGregor on the Yulysses, Yulysses, Yulysses, over."

"You mean break," corrected the sailor, "not over."

"Ah mean break."

"We read you MacGregor, this is toad coast vessel four-eight-three, what's your distress?"

"Mayday, this is Yulysses we have a hostage situation. Mah name is Roy MacGregor, I'm a guard from Toad Town kidnapped by thuh crew, break."

"Can you spell the name of your vessel and also give your position? Break."

"Yoshi-Under-Lemon-Yoshi-Singer-Singer-Echo-Singer. Position is five-seven, three-five north, zero-two-one, three-three west, speed of forty knots and bearing at two-two-eight degrees. Look for thuh fireworks, repeat, fireworks have been set off to guide you to my location, break."

"Confirmed Yulysses please confirm you are the Roy MacGregor currently reported missing from Toad Town, break."

"I am, break."

"Confirmed Yulysses, we have been contacted by an aerial patrol force, they have spotted the fireworks from your ship and we are in pursuit, please advice potential danger to us break."

"They are a dangerous group, drug smugglers, have also kidnapped and murdered, they have flowers, firepower and lots of muscle, bring your best people down, ah need them stopped break."

"Confirmed, we are calling other vessels in the area to assist, please stay safe MacGregor, break."

He hung up and turned towards the sailors looking rather nervously at him before he ordered:

"Can you turn off thuh engines?"

"W-we can but, if you turn them off, the boss is gonna come up to the control room and find out what's going on, you don't wanna get caught."

"That's a good point. Listen, ahll defrost your friend, but you all stay up here an' say you never saw me, that understood?"

"Got it, we're just manning controls, we got no business with whatever's downstairs."

"Ah hope you're tellin' thuh truth."

The raptor went to work on defrosting the frozen sailor, melting the ice off of him rather quickly with his burning hands as he put his ice flower back into his satchel. The other two koopas made no attempt to fight and stood manning the controls cautiously until their third companion was fully unfrozen a good seven minutes later. MacGregor put a hand to his beak with a firm warning as the fireworks continued to explode behind him.

"Your friends are cooperating with me, ahm a guard from Toad Town. You will not be given as harsh a sentence if you cooperate with me an' do not fight, you have thuh right to remain silent, that understood?"

The koopa nodded, shivering slightly but understood very quietly what the situation was. He did not however play along when he shoved Roy back against the door and into the waiting arms of the suited purple yoshi behind him.

"How about YOU cooperate LIZARD?!"

Yannis pulled him hard out of the control room slamming Roy's head onto the railing to dull his senses before violently strangling him with his bare hands. Sitting onto the raptor's back, he pushed Roy's throat against the rail and squeezed his neck with bitter malice, whilst Roy struggled frantically to punch and flail behind him from the awkward suffocating position.

"I WARNED you MacGregor, you could have had a nice happy life but THIS is what you wanted?! IS IT?! You want to stir up my family's past, then you can join your girlfriend in the SEWER!"

"GH-GHHHRRRUUUGHK! AAAHHHGHHK-"

"GUUUURRH!"

Suddenly Yannis felt a blinding crack to the side of his head, powerfully knocking him down and forcing him to release his grip on Roy. Staggering up to look towards the walkway on his right, there stood a very familiar-looking yoshi coloured orange like the sunset, wearing a business vest.

"WH-wh-what...YOU!?!"

She wielded what appeared to be a grappling hook that swiftly rewound its rope back into her grip before Yannis charged with brazen fury. Screaming with piercing eyes, his opponent fired the hooks once again but Yannis dodged underneath and slammed his fist hard into her face, knocking her down with a shriek as she collapsed panting. Staring up towards the purple yoshi, his foot came above ready to stomp on her face.

"You...both of you will NEVER leave this sea ali-a-a-A-A-A-A-AA-AAAAAAAARGH!"

Yannis spasmed suddenly with violent electrical currents sizzling through his body, the orange yoshi pulling a small device the size of a cell phone that shot from her vest a set of two small probing strands that lodged straight into his thighs trapping him in place. His balance lost as he felt every muscle seize up inside of him before he fell over backwards, straight down the stairway before landing in a crumpled heap to hit the deck unconscious. Roy managed to regain his breath with a deep gasp that he almost lost upon seeing who had saved him.

"Y-....y-y-yolanda?!"

She smiled confidently despite the bruising welt to her cheek as she held up her hooked device.

"Grapplin' huuuk!"

"Wh-wh-what...whut did...how did you get here?! Is that mah skyhook?!"

The yoshi nodded happily, walking closer to let Roy see she had indeed modified his skyhook into a grappling hook in one hand, whilst her other hand held a taser bristling gently before she put them into a small tool bag round her waist.

Are-you-alright?!

"I...y-yeah but...how did you, I thought, did...someone find you?"

A-koopa-took-me-down-to-the-dock-claiming-to-be-a-friend-of-yours. He-didn't-know-I-could-read-lips-so-I-tased-him-then-picked-up-his-phone-to-trace-the-signal.

"How did you do that?"

I-have-lots-of-tools. And-a-lot-of-time-to-let-my-hands-wander-into-making-things-not-entirely-legal.

Yolanda pulled out a cell phone with a small attachment to it reminiscent of a headdress, blinking rapidly towards the direction of Yannis' body through a four-pointed light on the top of it. Despite her bruised face, she smiled with such gleeful pride that Roy's fears and anger at someone even daring to hurt her started melting into wondrous relief. She pulled him over to the side of the ship she had come from and pointed out a small speedboat, where lo and behold, Stul T. waved up from the bottom silently as she further explained:

Stul. T-met-up-with-me-and-told-me-what-happened-so-we-hitched-a-boat, for-official-reasons-so-we-could-find-you.

"...alrigh', so...on thuh one hand, I am...very upset that you would be so...foolish to rush out to this damn ship without any backup without even knowin' whut's out here! But, on the other hand..."

Roy brought her into a deep kiss, happily smooching her lips in the midst of the dying firework storm as she gasped dreamily.

"I have never loved you more than in this moment, not only for savin' mah life but...damn you do not waste any time makin' decisions!"

I-know. I'm-sorry-for-jumping-the-fire, but-I-care-about-you. I-don't-care-what-I-have-to-do-to-make-sure-you're-okay. You-might-be-a-guard-but-I'm-an-electrician-I've-been-burned-enough-times-to-know-how-to-handle-a-livewire.

"Hhhhahahahaha, hoho god damn...maybe we oughta hide until we can get off this boat then you can talk to me about thuh rest-"

"That will not be necessary."

The fireworks had stopped, the ship falling into a dead silence as Roy and Yolanda turned to see the entire crew topside staring upon them. Dozens of mixed figures stuck between bewilderment and furious insult, until the one who spoke gently parted the crowd with hushed gasps of wonder. A grand strident black cloak could be seen much taller than most of the crew before it began to speak with an old grizzled voice.

"Take a look at this tiny place. To a heart seeking freedom, an island or indeed a ship becomes a prison, surrounded by water. And so this family sought to escape from that prison, for which their enemies had incarcerated them. They sought a way to cross the ocean, and to open their hearts to darkness."

"Who...who are you?"

"I am Rodin. The one that you seek."

"Is that a fact. Hmm. Your boy done messed up...am I right in assuming that you're Yakovich?"

"You assume correct, Roy MacGregor."

"You got wrong one thing. Your enemies didn't blow up thuh ship, did they?"

"Why do you think that?"

"Because you're magicians. It's all about tricks with you, how else could nobody find a ship if it never got sunk in thuh first place. Just lahk with Koopisten, he never died in thuh first place."

"Very good. When did you solve the mystery?"

"His father worked at thuh same company his son eventually worked for. He died around thuh same time Sher T. wuz gettin' involved with your gang."

"Very good. Yes, Koopisten Sr. was a good friend and loyal member of our group, and had his son infiltrate the Bombastique troupe to partake in their undoing. They never knew who the traitor was in their midst."

"Except Bibi still remembers. You left that thread still all loose."

"I think she's suffered plenty. I never thought you would be able to find her, but here we are. Koopisten's father was who you found as the ashes left at his home, a sleight of hand that involves a simple distraction, such as a telephone and-"

"A door wide enough to block thuh view of you swappin' koopas. That's why the escape passage wuz there."

"Very good," repeated Yakovich with honest impression, "you saw what was simply a model of Koopisten before he ignited, the real one still in the cupboard with his voice. You never saw the wires so thinly along the entire ceiling which not only controlled the false Koopisten like a puppet...but also to levitate my dearest wife to be a phantom upon you."

"Then she left with thuh wedge in thuh door an' any parts that...coulda been odd lahk pieces of a puppet."

"With father's ashes, that is Koopisten's father left behind. He always was very loyal, and for that very reason we had him cremated as to his wishes. His son carried on his work at the estate agency whereby he would send us signals as to which places were deemed safe for us to trade and which places weren't by means of real estate address codes. His home made for a very good exit strategy to cover tracks, except you were far more resilient."

"How come your wife didn't burn alive?"

"We're professionals mister MacGregor. Do you really think we would concoct fire tricks without proper safety, flame-retardant cloaks and whatnot?"

"Alrigh'...you wanna tell me this whole plan before you kill me, go ahead...h-hrrrk..."

Roy leaned on the railing struggling to compose himself as he felt his worsening stomach from the effects of the bitter fruit.

"You somehow tricked thuh Shyster brothers to think this ship had sunk. How'd you do it?"

"The Shyster brothers were the only members of my group who wanted to turn a blind eye to this whole ordeal, of this war between me and Bombastique which they started. With everyone else on board, they only thought that a ship had been destroyed when nothing of the sort happened. All I needed was some seawater, small explosives to blast their door open and a few good actors to make them think everything was coming down quite literally. Once they were out unconscious, we slipped them onto the sea towards shore where their minds would create the entire story of Bombastique's supposed sabotage of my ship...and so they become unwittingly those who sow the seeds of their unfortunate fall from grace."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Revenge...at first. Now it is but old simple habit, for it is now our own business. I can forgive many things, many slights against me. But my wife and I were scarred by that 'prank' Bombastique pulled on us regardless of his intent, so I paid him back. All it took was simply finding the weaker points of his group and coaxing them with a little relief...something to ease their frayed amateur minds crumbling beneath the pressure of show business. There's a sucker born every minute."

"You...you set up a drug dealing empire, just to get back at your family's enemies?"

"Eliminating them would do no good, they would be pitied like we had been in the news, martyred as such. Tragic accidents are a fact in our career, so we needed to destroy them. By ruining their reputation, ruling out their weakest link and so consuming them within a terrible malady."

"This...that's insane...and hella complicated, you been doin' that for years? But they're all gone now."

"They are...but we can never return, our hands too stained with white lines. So we became a reclusive business. If the world would not allow us to profit from their tears of joy and smiles, then we shall profit from their tears of ruin."

"Why couldn't you forget?" asked Roy. "Whut drove you to become this...hateful?"

"Because unlike the Shyster brothers...I..."

The hooded Yakovich soon revealed his head.

"Could not turn a blind eye to anyone, anymore."

Roy and Yolanda gasped quietly at the fearsome scar that covered his face. A deep burning red went searing across his blinded white eyes to stain his sky-blue skin, amongst many wrinkles that went riveting into his sallow cheeks.

"You think my wife was the only one to suffer the indecency of a little 'prank'? Accident or no accident, I was not going to let this slight against us go unpunished."

"Holy shit...listen, ahm sorry for whut you have suffered, but ah can't let you walk away unpunished."

"I know you won't. Even after you have already witnessed what my family are capable of...I was going to make you an offer to walk away with a suitcase full of coins but I know you. You are far too arrogant to resist."

"It's not arrogance that stops me from walking away. It's duty. It's loyalty, it's whut keeps me right in my heart."

"Why? You're not from these parts, you don't belong in that town. Why would you be so loyal as to keep your precious little town unspoilt by our grace?"

"Because I wuz taught that any crime, no matter whut intention, should not be left unpunished. Regardless of the intent, be it for thuh good of others or just plain selfishness, every criminal has a right to trial, to be judged by their peers and dealt with by a fair ruling. Whutever punishment you receive should only be as deserving as thuh severity and scale of your crime, that is whut ah wuz taught."

"Hmhmhmhm...such a spirited youth. I respect your urge to seek justice even on the last day that you breathe."

"Ah seek thuh truth. Justice is not my right, ah seek only to right wrongs upon innocents an' to bring those who are unjust to be given their trial. I am not a judge, I am a guardian. A knight."

"Hhhha ha ha...you think you are a knight? Very well, but firstly one thing. You."

He pointed towards a toad underling before bringing out a vial of clear rose liquid from his coat.

"Give this to him. It will cure him of the bitter fruit that my son has forced him to eat."

"Why would you give me that?" asked the raptor. "Don't you want me dead?"

"I simply wish to give you a fair trial, like you said. Your girlfriend can attest to this being the real ingredient for it is a scent that all yoshis know of well and its use. She can prove me wrong."

The toad waddled up the steps and handed the vial to him, as Yolanda took it and sniffed it cautiously. It was a strangely soothing scent that made her heart feel as if it were blossoming. Pure wholesome happiness in a bottle as she nodded and gave it to Roy signing:

It's-real. You-can-trust-me.

"Are you sure?"

Yes. Did-someone-make-you-eat-bitter-fruit?

"Earlier, yes."

Then-drink-it, quickly.

"Alrigh'. Ah trust you."

He drank up quickly and soon felt the bitter thickness of his stomach start to dissipate. True to his word Yakovich had given him the antidote as the fruit pieces slowly melted into a harmless ooze that spiralled deep into his body. He felt extremely relieved and more wholesome, rejuvenated even as he walked down the stairs to the very centre of the ship. The sound of the ocean muted itself around them as if a hushed silence came over the sea watching the battle begin as Yakovich stood firmly opposing MacGregor.

"You seem a rather old-fashioned beast, so let us do this the old-fashioned way. No items. Fists only. Final destination."

"You...you mean lahk a duel? Just you an' me?"

"Exactly. No tricks. No magic. Just pure strength and will like the good old days."

"You won't pull any tricks? Cuz ah don't have to play fair if you won't."

"Anyone who interferes with us I will send them to the very bottom of the sea. This is a gentleman's duel, and we respect that. After all, I am blind so how much of an advantage do you have?"

"Ah won't underestimate you. You managed to control an entire operation of drug trafficking for twenty-five years at least. Ah get thuh feeling you know whut's up an' you don't need no eyes for that."

"Hmhmhm...very true. Don't worry, I'm not some supernatural kung fu monk, I'm just...very...difficult and well-trained for I have had many, many years to learn how to expect the unexpected. But my point still stands, NO ONE interfere with this battle, is that understood?"

The crew nodded as Roy turned towards Yolanda with a firm look of understanding. She nodded but gave her support with the loudest voice she could muster.

"RUUUY! Y-YUU, YUU CAN D-DO IT, RUUUY! I...A-AH BUHLIEVE IN YUU!"

"Alrigh' girl! After this, you an' me are goin' to thuh fanciest damn place in thuh town an' loadin' up on meals! Promise!"

He turned back towards Yakovich who stated firmly with arms crossed:

"Are you ready?"

"Yes."

"If I win, then you and Yolanda will be sent to the bottom of the sea and this whole investigation shall finally cease upon ending with both of you. I'm sorry but since she is now involved I cannot allow any witnesses."

"And if I win," replied Roy, "ahm takin' you an' everybody else into custody. No exceptions."

"Deal. That is IF you win."

The blind yoshi swept off his cloak fully to reveal a magnificently-sculpted body. The cyan rippling muscles coveted his arms like the restless sea, his chest broad with a powerful gait despite his advanced years seen from the wrinkling of his eyes and skin. A deep blackening scar crossed his upper right pectoral curving towards the left as he cracked his knuckles within his fists, his legs firmly wrapped within loose black pants. Roy in turn stripped off his chainmail leaving only his pants on with raw black muscle shining freely. His chest remained taut with arms clenching fiercely in defiance against the former circus master, his old wounds hidden beneath the sunset. Their eyes met at an equal gaze of the same height, two strong reptilian beasts at 6'6''.

"Can you slay this dragon, dear knight? Or will you just be another lost legend, like the Bombastiques once were?"

"You mean, lahk YOU once were?"

"I've always been a legend. How else did you find me?"

He stomped his bare foot as he braced himself into a stance. Roy did the same as he approached cautiously, his hands curled into tight fists as he threw a steady jab to test his opponent. Yakovich dodged neatly out of the way with sudden speed and threw a left hook knocking Roy solidly on the cheek. A brief blow that barely hurt, at least compared to the powerful right hand that followed it crunching hard into MacGregor's face. His vision blurred slightly with stinging snout as he returned the favour, hammering a vicious one-two beat that missed Yakovich's head, but pounded hard into his pectoral making him stagger slightly. Pushing forwards, he swung down with vicious hammerblow that the yoshi veered his body back from, spinning into a sweeping low kick that slammed into Roy's foot.

The raptor stumbled and pulled himself away fast to avoid the monstrously swift uppercut that followed after, the yoshi hoping to crush his jaw at its lowest height but whiffing neatly past Roy's throat. Bracing himself on his back foot, he charged quickly with his head butting straight into Yakovich's face sending him almost falling onto his back. He turned his body sideways in mid-fall and planted his hands against the steel plateau, sensing his gravity before pushing himself straight back up. The two regained their stance as Yakovich sensed where Roy's feet were by focusing on the gentle tapping vibrations in front of him.

His pale scarred eyes knitted into grimaced strength, delivering a rapid three-hit combo which Roy dodged until just after the third strike, where Yakovich finished his brief assault with a screaming left haymaker that crashed deeply against MacGregor's cheek, directly where Roy had been dodging towards. He staggered awfully from the violent blow, groaning as his head throbbed painfully in his struggle to refocus. But the yoshi gave him little time to recuperate as he jabbed suddenly towards him, thick blue fists coming left right left right before one huge blatant roundhouse kick that Roy almost stumbled into dodging from by ducking straight underneath. His mind blinked with the sudden chance he sought as he slammed his foot straight into the yoshi's chest. The brute force of his thrusting kick was unexpected as Roy threw his body forwards with roaring strength, crunching into Yakovich's stomach along with the raptor's claws scraping through the bare flesh as the gang leader hunched over.

"HHHHHHH! GUH...hhhh...what knight has daggers in his feet?"

"A rex, that's who. Now get up, this fight ain't over 'til you gimme everythin' you got, Yakovich."

"Hhhh...hhhh...a showman, must always, make his audience beg for more, HRAAAAH!"

The yoshi made a flying leap surprising Roy as he sent his feet colliding against his head, the fluttering push of air underneath Yakovich causing him to almost hover as he pummelled Roy in the face several times with rapid kicks before landing. The raptor stunned felt his skull vibrate as he clutched his head from the growing bruises of his forehead, which gave Yakovich all he needed to grab one of his arms and gut punch him violently sharp to send him on his knees. Wheezing harshly from his lungs being forcefully emptied, he shoved himself out of the way fast into a dodgeroll to avoid the crushing stomp of Yakovich's bare feet, his strong thick-legged body almost quivering from the flex of his muscle as he sensed Roy's presence pounding on the steel platform from his right.

Turning fast to prepare for the next attack, he waited for the raptor to make his move as Roy bullrushed him, giving the yoshi less time to prepare as he swung furious haymakers to gauge his speed. Spinning into a brief lariat with his whole body whirling on the spot, his rippling black arms blurred as Yakovich ducked ready to slam his fist into MacGregor's stomach which was precisely what he waited for. Turning to a halt in mid-spin, he sent up a brutal slam of his knee straight towards the yoshi's jaw, hearing a brutal crack that sent him flying backwards. He went down only after Roy followed up by grabbing Yakovich's arm and pulling him back forwards to drive his elbow furiously into the circus ringmaster's face, crunching powerfully between the whites of his eyes as he shuddered a gasp of sweet piercing agony.

His only relief was that he had no vision to lose, but his senses were now distorted by the pain burning through his head, shaking himself free of its sting as he lunged with open arms to grapple Roy fiercely into a bear hug and suddenly lift him off the floor. The old yoshi's strength was surprising, his surge of adrenaline coming forth as Yakovich roared his ruthless voice in crushing MacGregor as hard as he possibly could. Hot glistening muscle of cyan pure kept trickling with hot sweat from the black rough-hewn pebbled skin, grinding against each other's bodies in a heated wrath. The pain of his crushing grip sent Roy into a brief spasm, gasping as he pulled his steel hand free to punch hard across the gangster's face. But the yoshi simply gritted his teeth bitterly resisting the throbbing bruise as he choked harder on the raptor's abdomen, tightening the pressure as Roy savagely clawed the leader's face.

Tearing strikes from steel talons carved fresh wounds upon the yoshi's cheek, but even when he gouged one claw deep into the left eye of Yakovich still he did not release. He screamed with agony, a blinding red that his brain just briefly caught a glimpse of, his arms shaking against Roy's lower back desperately trying to snap his spine in half. The only thing that managed to force his arms apart was the raptor pulling his other arm free to forcefully strangle his opponent, clutching his throat tight and pushing his thumb firmly against the larynx. He had no intention of crushing it, but simply enough to weaken the elder yoshi as his grip started to loosen. A suffocating gasp escaped him as his eyes flickered blinking in desperate struggle to breathe. But Roy would not let go until he had done so himself, and only once he felt his arms slump free from his back, would he release his grip and stand back struggling with sore hunching spine.

Yakovich slowly regained his breath, coughing wretchedly with grizzled throat as he swung out four hits, sluggish but still going strong. Left hook, right hook, thrust-jab, uppercut all of which completely missed until the surprising thrust of his knee slamming into Roy's gut. MacGregor in turn countered back with the same exhausted gait, hurling two haymakers before following with a hammerfist from the side to crack deeply against Yakovich's chin. Both fighters looked beaten senseless, their eyes swollen with purple bruises welting across their scaled skin whilst panting hard to keep their strength up, knowing their lives depended on this outcome. The final resolution of this came when Yakovich made one last desperate charge, hoping to grab Roy once again and pin him to the floor but he was wise to this. He focused all of his senses waiting for the perfect moment, watching the pounding feet of the yoshi until he was just two steps away. He dodged, once to his left before delivering his coup de grace. Pure naked black fist collided against cyan blue skin, forcing Yakovich into a stumbling stagger until Roy grabbed his neck from behind and ploughed his raw steel fist straight into the yoshi's back, pulverising his ribs.

"A-AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGH!"

With visceral deep throbbing inside his body, he made a gasping shriek that forced the air out of his lungs as he felt Roy grasp his waist along with his neck. Bulging thick muscle turning slick like oil grabbed him tightly with just his fingers before suddenly throwing Yakovich up into the air with a monstrous bellow.

" RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGH!"

The yoshi felt his face crush down upon the steel platform as the sound of Roy's furious triumphant roar came ringing across the scene, the raptor throwing Yakovich's body back down to earth as gravity came down along with him to the sound of crunching fractures from his insides. He struggled to push himself up, breathing turning funny for a moment as his hand shook desperately attempting to clutch his chest. The audience stood in shock at the fallen body of their old leader as hushed whispers came teeming around them.

"Who...wh-who are you?" gasped Yakovich.

"Mah name is Roy Charles MacGregor. I am a knight, and I swore to keep this land safe from people lahk you."

"But...i-it's not...your land."

"It's thuh home of my friends. Them and their families, who I will protect. No matter whut. You're all under arrest."

Defeat had come to Yakovich from the moment he slumped against the steel of his own homeship, fluttering his eyes faintly as Roy turned towards the rest of his crew with dutiful determination. However one thing stopped him in his tracks.

"RUUUUUY!"

He turned fast to see Yolanda pointing towards Yannis, his suit become ragged as he tore off his tie and tightened it between his hands like a garrotte.

"No...no you won't, my father will NOT be defeated by you."

But before any second battle could engage with Yannis, there came a sudden blur of green and yellow flying through his vision, a boot crushing thick against his jaw that sent him down hard into yet another crumpled heap.

"No. It's over, Yannis."

Roy thought he was seeing things, but he knew that voice. The stern eyes of blue as two pairs of feet landed upon the deck, one of them belonging to a koopa that he recognised from anywhere even before seeing the brown raptor behind him.

"K-ku...K-k-koopin?! How did you-"

"TGA senior, remember? I'm an official guide and navigator on land, sea and air so it's my official duty to assist."

Koopin turned towards Yannis who was now panting from his weakened state.

"D-Mob sends his regrets by the way, that's what you get for ruining my night in."

"That goes for all of you," said James, "anyone make any funny moves..."

He pulled up his right arm now encased in pure steel amber, almost resembling that of an arm cannon.

"I can blow six of you down with one shot if you give me an excuse. So don't. Try me."

"No need for that sir."

The voice of the Toad Town sergeant came from the right of the ship, along with a small flotilla of guards from the coastal vessels now teeming with koopas, yoshis and toads all armed with fire flowers and spears.

"On behalf of Toad Town and the coastal guard, you're all under arrest. You have the right to remain silent but anything you do say while in custody may be used against you. Is that understood, crewmembers of Yulysses?"

A slow murmur of acceptance came from the entire ship as they began filing into the police boats. One by one, they abandoned their home in custody while Yannis, Yakovich, and Yezebel who was found recovering in the crew's quarters were taken in with medical care treated for them. Roy received the same along with them as the guards navigated the ship's freighter back towards Toad Town with all of its contents now seized as Roy sat with his friends.

"Ahm...sorry you guys got involved."

"Oh please," said James offhanded, "you can't help getting kidnapped, we've all had that happen to us, it's cool dude."

"Surprisingly yes," added Koopin, "I wish that wasn't the case but it did happen to all of us."

"I ain't never been kidnapped," replied Stul T.

Neither-have-I. Well, almost-maybe.

"Are you alright?" asked Koopin softly.

"Y-yeah," said Roy nodding, "just...went in a little over mah head."

"Oh this is nothing. Remember who I'm married to."

"Haha, well ah mean it just...ah didn't wanna bring you both in cuz ah know you done enough adventuring."

"You're our friend. There's a difference between going off on a dangerous adventure like James used to and coming to someone's aid. You know we're always here for you."

"And if anybody mess with ya," said Stul T., "they got us to answer to."

That-includes-me, I-can-zap-a-punk-at-fifty-paces-now!

"Yeah, what she said!"

"You know we're not doing this for fun," replied James, "we'll always help you because we know you'll help us too. You're a good friend...and even more than that to at least one person here."

He nodded towards Yolanda who simply smiled and grasped his hand cheerfully. MacGregor held hands with her back all the way to the mainland where things could only get better when a special event would happen at least twenty days after Yakovich's reign was finally over.

"And now our top story, following an unexpected twist in a recent investigation of drug smuggling in Toad Town. A large freighter full of illegal goods including supplies of Fuzzy was seized by the Toad Town Guards last month in cooperating with coast guards of various regions. The Yulysses, which was thought to have been the victim of sabotage thirty years ago, was found intact along with the entirety of the former Yakovich circus group. The legendary group of entertainers had faked their own deaths before undertaking their own illegal trade in smuggling Fuzzy to various parts of the world, along with their own operations to sabotage the Bombastique troupe, who have since been exonerated after having years of suspicion being placed upon them.

"Yakovich along with his family and crewmates, are currently serving their sentences in Her Highness' prison for various crimes of organised intent, with no bail given. We now go live to the grounds of the Toad Town guardhouse at the ceremony today to celebrate the two officers who were responsible for taking down this entire group single-handedly."

The fifty seats before them was overwhelming as Roy and Stul T. stood behind a large blue curtain embedded with the symbol of Toad Town. Both of them wore their smartest suits, crisp and powder blue as the sergeant made his preparations at the podium in front. Peeking round the curtain they could see various citizens, work colleagues, and also their closest friends and family. MacGregor could see one rather plump red toad with three children squealing happily in excitement as he nudged Stul T. gladly who smiled.

"Damn ahm nervous," murmured Roy.

"What, come on it's just a little official thing."

"Ah just never got an award before."

"Listen, the first one is always scary but after the third one you tend to get used to it. You just say some words, accept your honours and bask in adulation, not much to it! I got like four of them back in high school, this is exactly the same thing."

"He's right Roy."

James' voice came from the side as he walked towards him whilst wearing a smart casual shirt.

"You just busted your way out of being kidnapped on a ship, this can't be scary for you!"

"That's a different kind of scary man, this is lahk a public thing, also shouldn't you be at your seat?"

"I just wanted to wish you the best, what I can't do that for you?"

"Jus-...ah dunno man. Ahm all shakin' but ah jus-...ah didn't do this job to get awards, that's not mah thing."

"You never got any awards in high school?"

"No! Ah never got awarded for anythin' man ah just did mah service."

"You make it sound like the army jeez."

"Look I got awards before," said Stul T., "and it's not scary, it's just a perk! They gotta recognise your official duty for what we did because it was kinda awesome."

"Why don't you do it then?" asked Roy. "Ah mean you done all this before, you got better experience."

"Noooo come on, I don't wanna take this from you."

"Hhhhhhhh...ah just wanted to be a guard to help people, not get medals or service honours or whatever you guys get. Ahm not here for awards or to be recognised, ah just wanna do mah best to give back to this kingdom for helpin' me."

"I understand," replied James. "But...you can't have one thing without the other, I mean you are a guard and if you wanna do your best and protect this place, you just have to accept that people are going to recognise you as a local guardian. Look I know you, you're a knight, we get it. But knights don't get to hide behind the curtain, they were knighted for a reason right? In front of people, recognised for their efforts."

"A-ah guess, but-"

"Why are you scared about this anyway? Like, truthfully."

"......ah just don't want it to go to mah head and forget about whut ah do, lahk do it for the duty not the glory."

"Hah. Hahahahaha, yeah, right, like YOU would ever forget about that. Listen."

He placed a hand on Roy's shoulder and stared him straight in the eye.

"You are a better more upstanding person than I ever could be. You deserved this, you earned it and I know that you of all people would not let this go to your head, the fact you're even SAYING stuff like that proves that you won't, so I think you should go up and do it. Make your speech, accept your medal like the humble nice guy you really are, and not behind the curtain like some vigilante at the end of a movie. You're not that kind of person, you don't have anything to hide like I do."

"......you're right. You...you're absolutely right, never thought of it lahk...that. Thanks FG."

The two hugged before James returned back to his seat, as Roy and Stul T. waited for their sergeant to finish up his delivering speech.

"And so, on behalf of the Toad Town Guards in Her Royal Highness' kingdom, we honour the bravery and aptitude of these two who managed against all odds, to round up and completely dismantle one of the largest groups of organised crime in the recent history of this nation. Please, everyone join me, in congratulating our two upstanding heroes, Roy MacGregor and Stul T.!"

The two walked on from around the curtain to the sound of thunderous applause from the fifty seats before them was overwhelming, easily spotting not only James and Koopin cheering for him, but also Yolanda and even miss Flo T. joining the warm praise right next to a rather savoury middle-aged koopa who was clapping politely. Stul T. nudged him forwards.

"Go on man."

"You...you sure?"

"Go ahead, it's on me."

He winked at the raptor as he walked forwards, gently leaning down to talk closely to the microphone which was a little too short for him to reach.

"Uhhh...h-hello. I...they said that this wuz an effort between two people to take down a group of smugglers. Well that's not true, cuz whut they don't tell you...is that without friends an' family to keep us goin' there wouldn't be none of that or us standin' here. I look out at this crowd, an' I see faces of people who kept us full an' made sure we wouldn't go hungry...kept us safe when nightmares would come into our heads on dark lonely nights...kept us warm so we would never come back home to an empty bed. I came to this place hoping to find peace from a long an' troubled past. Instead I found friends, a new purpose...and love.

"I owe everything to people like you, to those who picked me up when I fell down an' now I wanna pay you back, by doin' this job, by keepin' your houses safe, by keeping this world free of the corrupt and unjust and to better them with your laws for they are now my laws too. So I say thank you. Thank you for making me feel like I can belong here, so I can protect and serve you...because I know that you will do the same for me. Thank you."

He stepped down politely to the sound of a tremendous standing ovation, receiving his medal along with Stul T. as the sergeant pinned them to their chests proudly with marked salute. Stul T. briskly headed off to hug his wife and kids, nearly smothered in their embrace as Roy met Flo T. first along with the middle-aged koopa she had been sitting next to.

"That was wonderful mister Roy."

"Please, Flo T. you know you don't have to call me mister."

"Hmhmhm sorry, just you looked so good and wonderful in that suit with that bristling medal on your chest. I almost feel like you're family by this point I just simply couldn't help myself from just welling up with pride at all this!"

"She does love to talk about you," said the older koopa, "considerin' how much Yolanda talks about you too I wouldn't be surprised hhmmmm?"

"Ohhh does she?" asked Roy coquettishly. "Ah wouldn't know."

"Mmmyeeeees I thought as much, though it seems I should be thankful knowing I had a kindred spirit only but a few blocks away."

"Who would have thought!" cried Flo T. "But really, we are very happy to see you, do not be afraid to drop in anytime!"

"Just remember to knock first. Goodness knows I'd do the same for you and Yolanda."

"Ah will," said Roy politely. "Ahm very happy for you two, and again thank you for all you done for me."

"Well we won't delay you, you have other friends to talk to I'm sure but please, don't be a stranger."

"Ah won't sir. You two have a lovely day."

"Oh we will, same to you too! Now madame Flo T. howsabout you and I head back to your place and sample some of them juicy tarts?"

"Wha-wait, I didn't buy any tarts!" said Flo T.

"I didn't mean THOSE kind of tarts my sweet cheeks."

"OH! MISTER Shelltenheimer you BEASTLY old coot, hohohahaha!"

"Now now, lady like you deserves only the best of old coots and trust me when I say, there'll be nary more cootie than me until long after the sun sets upon the Mushroom Kingdom."

Leaving the two lovebirds to their devilish duties, MacGregor headed over towards James and Koopin who gladly shook his hand along with hugging him.

"Congratulations Roy," started Koopin, "I'm just so proud of you that was a wonderful speech!"

"Seriously dude," said James, "I haven't gotten one freaking medal in all the years I spend here then you just walk in like what, a year ago and bam they just give you one!"

"Hmhmhm, is somebody jealous?"

"What, noooo I'm just teasing him."

"Sure, from somebody who has a TOWN named after him, hmmmm James?"

A tempering blush came over James' face as he smiled with toothy grin.

"Hhhehehehehee...seriously I'm real happy for you Roy, like this is what you wanted."

"It sure feels lahk it," said Roy, "besides, you got your own business at least."

"Mmhmm, at least until I go on this trip in two months."

"Oh really you goin' on a trip? Ah thought Koopin didn't lahk you goin' off on those."

"If it's THIS world then it's fine," stated Koopin, "it's heading OUT of this world I don't like him doing unless he's just meeting friends for a few days."

"Don't you worry," said James, "it's just a trip to Gusty Gulch to meet up with Boona because I promised him."

"You remembered to take your shots?"

"I'll do it next week, we've had a busy time here what with golden boy and all things."

"Alright, but you really need to take them before heading out."

"I'll be fine god, I like NEVER get sick, not even once in my life."

"I find that very hard to believe, considering the world you came from looks like an oil spill hit a condemned city."

"Wooooaaaaah woah jeez you just hear that, he's SASSING our home world!"

"He's right though," said Roy, "ah mean it is pretty shitty."

"Well yeah compared to THIS place, here you can just FIND money in floating blocks on the road, back home you'd be lucky to find TWO dollars in somebody's soFA: "

"Man ah found lahk a five-dollar bill, whut kinda cheap-ass sofas YOU been lookin' at?"

"Hahahahaha," chuckled Koopin, "stars you two really are like brothers sometimes the way you keep on acting."

"What, that's offensive!" said both James and Roy.

"PFFFT HAHAHA!"

The two raptors smirked laughing in turn until Yolanda walked up gently to give Roy a smooch as they all welcomed her.

You-looked-so-handsome-up-there! I-can't-believe-I-have-a-hero-boyfriend.

"Hey now ahm thuh one who's got a hero girlfriend, how lucky am I?!"

I'm-not-the-one-getting-a-medal, where's-mine-then?!

"Ahll share mine with you, let's say you keep it at your place on weekends."

Deal!

"Hahaha...alrigh' we gonna head off, ahll uh see you later."

"Okay," said Koopin, "see you soon!"

"Try not to get your ass kicked again!" said James loudly.

"Yeah same to you!"

Roy shouted this back as he walked back all the way to Yolanda's place. Smiles and joy surrounded him in the entire town as people greeted, birds sung sweetly and the sun shone just a little bit brighter than usual. As they stood on the doorstep, she signed to him:

I-am-so-proud-of-you-Roy. That-speech-was-really-sweet-too.

"Just wanted to speak it from thuh heart, you know?"

I'm-really-glad-you-found-peace-here. I-hope-I-can-help-you-with-that.

"You have done more than enough. You gave me peace in my heart because you're here."

The two kissed softly on the lips, until Roy asked Yolanda:

"Sooo you wanna explain to me how an' why you turned mah skyhook into a grappling hook?"

Well, it-had-a-propulsional-force-mechanism-I-rewired-to-make-the-hook-shoot-out-rather-than-pull-in. I-didn't-even-need-to-use-all-the-parts-inside-so-I-used-the-spare-parts-to-make-that-little-taser, for-self-defence.

"Hahaha...really? You turned that into sumthin' useful, an' also to protect yourself?"

You-saw-that-it-worked.

"You make anything...else, with all them spare parts?"

Maybe-I-made-a-special-toy. Just-for-personal-use.

Yolanda winked rather lewdly as Roy blushed slightly, before she pecked him on the lips with a cheeky grin and cackled at his expression.

"FFFNNHAHAAAA!"

"Hhhhah! Heeheehaha, you uh...were you serious about that part?"

She simply gave the most angelic smile she could possibly give before opening the door and signing:

You'll-have-to-find-out-for-yourself-big-boy.

"Pffffhhhhhahahahaha...god I love you."

I-love-you-too.

Slowly he walked in after kissing her in return, as Yolanda followed on after him. For the first time in years, he had everything he needed in one place, after a long and bizarre year of what he now knew was the future that he wanted. A future with love, friends and peacefulness. Roy slept peacefully from that day on for he never suffered another nightmare since. He slept in Yolanda's bed, or she slept in his, but they would never sleep separate from each other since the day they first consummated their love for each other. Just like his dearest friend before him, Roy MacGregor never left the Mushroom Kingdom since.

True End