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The dust slowly began to settle as the wind soon stopped. James was trapped on one side of a violent force field of pure violet lightning, which he was smart enough not to dare touch. Koopin was inside, facing towards the previously-cloaked antagonist. The silence was broken by James' outburst of frustration. "He had a twin SISTER?!" cried out James. "For FUCK'S SAKE, what kind of bullshit is this?!" "SILENCE!" roared Shellina. "...oh you are definitely his sister." "You...have no right to speak of him. Neither of you! I only allow you because I'd like you to comprehend my pain and frustration of you two still living!" "But," began Koopin, "what are you DOING?! Why did you try to poison me?!" "YOU killed my brother, moron! YOU, and HIM! He had a vision to change this world, to make ourselves greater than the physical weaknesses that we all carry! And you two were so STUPID and BLIND as to deny us that!" "We didn't kill him! That was Bowser, a-a-and he tried to throw me into the lava!" "Only because you interfered with his plans again and again, he had every right to rid himself of such a little pest, just like I do!" "Oh fuck off!" said James. "Your brother was an ass, if he hadn't been so damn shady all the time with his black cloaks and stupid trinkets, he wouldn't be dead!" "SILENCE!" Her scream of anger was added to by a violent strike of lightning from above, sent down unto James as he screamed in turn and buckled to his knees. The furious strike from the unnatural above made his body twitch and convulse, a gargling scream as he huddled onto his side. Koopin was horrified, but also indignant. "JAMES! ...that's it! You stop this RIGHT NOW and let us both go, or I'll MAKE you!" "With what? Your pretty little fists? Do you even know what I can do to you? What I WILL do to you?" "I don't care, you're just a bully, just like your brother was in the end, and bullies never win!" "I am NOT a bully, this isn't a playground Koopin, this is the real world where I have to do what's right, by the will of my brother's vision that YOU squandered and took away from me! Your boyfriend wasn't fooled by a poisonous bottle of wine, but he was somehow stupid enough to leave his DOOR open so anyone could just walk on in and leave a bottle beside the door! Especially when he was so stupid as to have his nose on the floor." "...wait, what?" "Y-YOU!" roared James. "F-fuckin'...contacts! BITCH!" "Finally he gets it," said Shellina, "but no matter." "So you did all this just to fight me?!" said Koopin. "No, I did all this just to KILL you. You and him, both of whom are going to be buried here six feet under. By me." "W-wait wait...listen..."

He stepped forwards cautiously with both hands up, trying to at least appeal to her more compassionate side. "...I'm sorry about Koopmar. I...before all this, he seemed like a nice guy! I didn't know what he was doing, I didn't know and neither did James! He kidnapped me! He tried to sacrifice me! I'm sorry that he's dead, I'm sorry, I know he was the only family you had, Kolorado told me so! Kolorado said he still regarded him as one of his dearest friends and students!" "Professor Kolorado has always been a friend to my family," said Shellina. "...you however, are not him." She lit up one of her hands with a dark arcane energy, lightning balling up into her finger before she struck out towards Koopin, who quickly dodged back and readied himself for battle. James on the other hand, struggling with pained fury, asked hoarsely with anguish: "Wh-why didn't you just blow us all up at the race then?! Or back on the ship!?" "Because then I would have hurt others, others who are innocent helpless fools trapped in their physical shells! When I aim for someone, I don't plan on hurting anyone else just to get to them, unlike YOU, you no-shelled freak." "F-fuck you!" Shellina summoned another lightning strike for his impudence, but this time James dodged, bringing out his scissors instinctively on defence. The lightning had struck close enough however to send a fierce tingle through his body, as Koopin stepped forwards defiantly. "Leave him alone! If you wanna fight, then fight ME! I'm the one you want, not James! You sent me a letter, a note AND an arrow with it! I'm right here now, so come and fight me!" "Fine!" Both her hands lit up with dark ignoble flames, purple and indigo wreathing together into unnatural forces. "Let's dance."

Shellina charged forwards, clearly the more aggressive fighter as she swung her fists hard towards Koopin who dodged instinctively. The flames never left her fists, charging them up with a burning power that would surely hurt Koopin far more than any punch he ever felt. A swinging haymaker followed by another, she tried to uppercut him to throw him off, but he simply leaned back before slamming out a five-hit punch combo. Dazing her slightly, he kicked towards her chest, slamming her back as she winced and ran forwards once again. Koopin easily marked her out as a boxer, the way she ducked in close with fists clenched to her waist, not even bothering to guard her face. Feinting with a left hook, Shellina crushed her right fist straight into Koopin's eye, making him scream as the burning ethereal flame sent rivets of pain through his mind. It wasn't going to leave any permanent scars, but it certainly felt like it would. He squinted through the pain and waited for the next punch, grabbing her wrist hard and trying to ignore the magic fire before slamming his other fist into her shoulder. An elbow slam into her face readily put her off balance before he kicked out her legs, sweeping them from underneath her before he slammed his boot straight into her cheek. Shellina looked vulnerable as Koopin waited for her to get up once more and kick her lowered head back down. But despite how sluggishly she got up, Shellina dodged and countered with a surprising spin kick from Koopin's left, slamming her boot to the back of his head. Koopin fell to the ground but quickly got back up despite his shock, even if he was a little thankful to be hit by the feet and not her fists. "Wh-what was that?!" "You really think I know only ONE style of fighting?!" boasted Shellina. "I knew this day would come and I made sure I'd know as many ways as possible of beating you into the dirt." She demonstrated this by switching her tactics, kicking out with surprisingly athletic capoeira-style kicks, turning somersault attacks into backflipping kicks to smack into Koopin's chin. He fell back in surprise but remembered his ways, charging in close to stop her from kicking out before pummelling her brutally across the face. One-two-uppercut, snap-kick to belly and an axe kick to finish her off.

It worked enough to smash Shellina to the ground in surprise, but she simply shoved herself forwards off the dirt like a charging bull to headbutt Koopin in the chest, making him wince before she grabbed him. Grappling him like a wrestler, she tried to use the sheer force of her muscle-twitching rage to turn Koopin upside down into a fierce piledriver. Fortunately, Koopin braced himself against her body before kicking with both feet straight into her jaw, cracking the beak slightly. Dropping onto the ground of his own volition, Koopin swiftly leapt back up with a rising kick, a shattering pain running through Shellina's skull as she fell back with a roar. He followed up with a spring in his step, leaping upwards once more with a scissor-kick of both feet, knocking her head higher into the air before she fell down to earth. This only made her roll back up and try to swing out with her vicious haymakers once more. But the male koopa wasn't going to give her another chance to hit him, scraping past her with a directional-block by smacking down her right arm and stomping her foot with his own. He immediately shoved her down onto the floor and quickly spun around to deliver a spinning axe kick directly onto her chest. The force of his torque combined with gravity was a deadly combination that sent shudders of agony through her. Finally she had enough, and summoned the power in her fists to blast Koopin away with a tremendous violet shockwave, using her dark energies to float back onto her feet. "That's enough!" she proclaimed. "So you can fight after all, even if you lost your last fight." "So what?!" said Koopin. "I'm strong enough to deal with a bully like you!" "I'M NOT A BULLY, SHUT UP! You can handle fists, but can you handle THIS?!"

With one hand outstretched, she caused the power of darkness to come forth as a long vertical line, reaching from the height of her head, through her left fist and down to her leg. A thick oaken pole formed from the darkness, curved at the top like a walking stick which she spun deftly in one hand, before slamming it onto the ground in front of her. "Ohhhhh a stiiiiiick," mocked FG, "watch out we got a badass over here!" "SHUT, UP!" Summoning another lightning strike, she managed to hit the not-so-fortunate raptor who didn't dodge fast enough. James received a violent agonising pain run through his body, screaming with a pain that Koopin had never heard before. Despite seeing James' hunched figure spasming with unquestionable anguish on the other side of the force field, he turned towards Shellina and charged with a sudden outrage. "I SAID, LEAVE HIM ALONE!" She smiled smugly as she swung her cane to hook the curved tip around the back of Koopin's neck, like a shepherd's crook upon a sheep before pulling him forwards and slamming his face into her knee. Groaning as he fell back from the force, his eyes blurred before he refocused upon her, trying not to let his anger control him. That was James' thing, not his. Shellina waited for Koopin to punch, before dodging to one side and palming his fist away, slamming his exposed armpit with a whack of her cane. Koopin shrieked but did not fall back. "Is that all you learnt? How many years have you wasted now?" Her taunt would only serve to anger him, but Koopin knew he could not let her do so. He tried to punch once more with his right, wanting her to repeat the same motion again. When she did, he slammed his own left fist at her dodging head, smacking into her jaw before performing a double spinning kick. One flying roundhouse up high at her head, another crouching roundhouse down low at her legs.

It did the trick enough to weaken her, but she retaliated by swinging out her cane to catch Koopin's leg and swing him around the other way, forcing him to fall with her. With both of them down, she had the advantage as she swung her cane down onto his chest, making him wince before he had the chance to roll away. As Shellina got back up in turn, she snarled and summoned more power to her cane, making it glow with a dark clouded energy. "This was my father's cane," she said gravely. "You'd do wise to respect its legacy, of his greatest work and his dark materials that have culminated in both me and Koopmar's greatest opus, the greatest accomplishment ever in our family lineage...or at least that's what it would have been." "Wh-what are you talking about?!" demanded Koopin. "I am talking about what my brother set out to achieve, that you so ungratefully rejected! The chance to transcend from our physical bodies to become something greater! I can command just as much power as he can, even with a piece of his soul inside my heart that will allow me to gain even the tiniest fraction of command over his essence! No matter what happens, ONE of us is going to complete this legacy." "The only legacy I see here is you being a jerk!" retorted Koopin. "I gave my apology, I tried to sympathise with you, but all you want is revenge!" "I demand JUSTICE!" Roaring with a furious swing of her cane to try and hook him again, Koopin punched out to try and catch her off-guard. Instead she quickly anticipated his straight jab in his attempt to start a combo, dodging to her left instead of right. She quickly veered around Koopin's body and swung her cane straight at his neck, locking it across his throat and choking him hard from behind. The dark power ignited within the oak, and he shrieked with a choking fit as the magic burned across his neck.

His mind suddenly ignited with a wrestling memory of his childhood, and he swiftly snapped his head backwards to crack onto her beak. Shrieking from the sudden pain, he felt her grip relax. He decided this was a perfect time as any to demonstrate a move he learnt from his dad playing around out back. The Sandstorm Snapmare. Locking her head into his own armlock with his right hand on the back of her head and the left hand under her chin, he threw her forwards with a cry of furious strength. Shellina found herself judoslammed down as she flipped over his shoulder hard, landing on her shell. Being thrown a small distance, she groaned and stood up once more with her cane as support, seeing Koopin was far enough away to finally use some magic. Grinning darkly, she struck the arena with hot spots of lightning, raining down from above as Koopin panicked and dodged. As best as he could try to avoid the areas that would suddenly warm up with the coming storm, he could never avoid all of them. Shrieking at least twice from being struck by magic lightning, this alerted James to stand up and try to watch the fight. He also noticed that whenever the lightning hit too close towards the barrier, a part of it would spasm and fade before realigning itself again. An idea came to him as he kept watching the fight. Koopin struggled to rush towards Shellina, who quickly blocked him with her cane before hooking his leg once more to trip him up. As the cane hooked him, he swiftly pulled his limbs into his shell, forcing the shell to be pulled towards Shellina and receive a hard clonk to her leg. "OWWWWW! AUUUGH! You JERK!" "Shut up, I've had enough!"

Koopin stood up shakily despite his voice bearing strong, clutching his side tightly as he added: "I'm sorry about your brother, I said it before but you won't listen! I wish none of it had ever happened, but he kidnapped ME! You need to face the fact that your brother was a monster trying to make ends justify his means!" "SILENCE! You wouldn't dare say such lies if he was still here, and I'll prove that here and now!" "Wh-what?!" "JESUS CHRIST LADY!" roared FG from afar. "What is WITH you and your brother huh?! Did you have some kinda thing going on, huh?! You wanted to fuck him or something?!" "WHAT?!" roared Shellina. "Yeah I know you did! Look at you, pretty li'l girl, I see that twinkle in your eye whenever you hear his name! What are you more mad at, not seeing him again, or not FEELING him again?!" "How DARE YOU!" If there was one thing FG could do immensely well, it was to piss people off. Seeing Shellina's outrage come in the form of a lightning strike was a perfect chance, as he swiftly dodged directly next to the force field barrier between him and Koopin. The moment the vile strike came from above, it shattered through the barrier, shortening it out with just enough room for FG to leap through and reunite himself with Koopin. Shellina's face was of utmost indignation as the raptor smirked alongside his boyfriend. "Now I think that you're gonna forget all this nonsense before I fuck you up bad." "NO! I am NOT backing down after coming so far! You want to make this two-on-two then?! Fine, I'll bring in an old friend of ours!" The ground soon began to tremble as her eyes blazed with a violet light, simmering flames radiating from her pupils as the land crackled and shook beneath them. James and Koopin were turning nervous, as bones stabbed out from the ground like spikes before slowly coalescing together into one single skeleton. A koopa's skeleton, with eyes burning purple like amethysts. Koopin's eyes widened with shock at the three scars on the back of the koopa's shell, burned deep and black into the cracked bony carapace. "No...n-no, no way, that isn't-" "Ohhh but it is," said Shellina smugly. "Brother! It's time for revenge! We shall take this land back TOGETHER!"

Levitating herself above the ground, the remains of her brother retreated wordlessly into its shell, bony hands and legs retreating before she stood on top of his shell. Soon he began to spin, yet she herself did not turn with it as a dark purple shimmer began to circle around it. Without warning, she charged with her brother's shell, spinning straight towards James and Koopin like they were bowling pins. Both of them managed to dodge the first time, but the second time when she came hurtling back towards them, Koopin received a heavy blow to the back of his shell. Crying out as he tumbled forwards, he had no way of anticipating an attack from the speed she was going. She also had her cane, able to hook at their necks and arms quite roughly whenever she passed them by. James however dodged close with an idea. "Koopin!" "Wh-what?!" "Let's beat her at her own game, remember the Koopa Brothers?!" "...OH, YEAH!" Almost slapping himself at such an obvious idea, Koopin quickly popped back into his shell for James to stand on him, the two spinning in turn as an intense battle began. James swung out with his scissors, staring down hard at Shellina with her crook. Koopin's adrenaline surged him forwards, as he spin-charged towards Koopmar's shell. Due to being part of Koopin's torque, James was forced to spin with him, but he didn't mind so long as he had his scissors. Shellina roared as she clashed with the raptor, scissors against cane as both koopa shells smacked hard and screeched like burning wheels against the cracked hard soil. The two separated with a powerful friction, spinning off each other before slamming once more like spinning tops. Cane upon scissors, both James and Shellina snarled and striked out at each other everytime their spinners clashed.

Sometimes they slammed their weapons against each other into a perfect crossblock. Other times Shellina got lucky with a good whack across James' snout, or James would make a perfectly timed lunging thrust to stab her shellbelly. He knew a koopa shell was strong enough to take it, but he wanted to weaken her defence, slashing furiously in front of him to try and scar her body. She screamed from one particularly nasty slash to her head, the scissors scraping across her beak and nearly taking her eye. In return she occasionally managed to hook at James' arm or leg, trying to trip him up. But he always managed to rebalance himself by working with Koopin's momentum, reasserting his stance as he spun psychotically fast towards her. One final clash of shell upon bone was too much for both, as the force reciprocated violently through both riders, making them fall off onto the ground. Now dismounted, Shellina and James ran towards each other with an almost telepathic rage, shooting out their magic before they could get in close. Shellina had lightning-charged fireballs, whilst James had burning fists and violent water spouts. Hitting each other enough to blind them temporarily, both swung out their weapons only to clash with an ear-piercing clang, forcing their arms against each other's weapon until the other would give in. Koopin found himself suddenly against Koopmar's skeleton, now a dry-boned husk of his former self who charged towards the koopa. Yet Koopin did not sense any anger within him, the furious bony fists swinging out towards him notwithstanding. Thankfully the skeleton was not a good fighter, and swung with clumsy haymakers that gave Koopin ample opportunity to punch out a furious five-hit combo across the skull. He finished with a tremendous diagonal uppercut, literally punching Koopmar's jaw straight off of his skull.

At the same time, James succeeded in his own sudden impromptu battle by slicing at Shellina's knee, making her shriek and fall before he swung down onto her shell back brutally. Were it not for the natural defence, she would have been cleaved in two, but instead she found herself with a cracked shell and a wounded body. She struggled to get up again, and the pain now resonating within her body had also made her lose her focus, as Koopmar's dry bones clattered to the ground. A pile onto soil, its eyes dimming as her control was gone. "N-no...no!" Shellina forced her arms to push up her body, crying out as she fell down once again. Between her new scars and the cracked shell, she was panting heavily with pain and exhaustion, fighting back her tears. "I can't lose! I CAN'T! I have to DO THIS! My brother will not have died in vain, not because of YOU!" Taking them by surprise with a sudden burst of dark power, Shellina threw herself off the ground and into the air, barely levitating by how weak she now was. She did however get the jump on James with a sudden ball of black infernal magic, covering him completely in a vile aura. "G-GAAAAAAARGH!" "JAMES!" Koopin tried to come closer, but he was immediately thrown away by a deeper aura from James. A blinding flash that he almost imagined seeing the scissors come from out of nowhere to shove him away. James soon felt an even deeper energy, his mind harrowing with fear as he shook all over. Two forces were now trying to fight over him from the inside. And he knew which one was going to win. "_ NO! YOU STUPID BITCH, WHAT DID YOU DO?! _"

Before he could even stop himself, he swung his scissors straight out towards Shellina with a vile roar, his blades venomously spinning straight towards her and knocking her out of the sky. Her already-wounded shell cracked a little further, as a scraping slash was accompanied by her anguished cry, falling back down to eath. The battle's end however was signified by a most dreadful sound coming from beyond. A bell, lone and calling out across the darkened horizon. Its sombre tone sent sorrow into Koopin's heart, shock into Shellina's, and utmost agony into James'. Or rather, it sent an utmost agony into something within James' heart. He could not stop himself from falling to his knees, grunting with an unbearable anguish that ripped through his veins and heart. A flash of psychotic pain, sound and fury among other things began to cry out from his very mind, as something unholy shivered within him. Koopin was horrified, seeing the raptor hunched over and starting to scream. "JAMES! JAMES, WH-WHAT'S HAPPENING!?" "A-A-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH! NO! S-STOP IT! S-STOP IIIIIT!" "JAMES! ...what did you do?!" "What?!" said Shellina. "WHAT DID YOU DO!? DID YOU CAST SOMETHING ON HIM!?" "Wha-wait, tha-that wasn't supposed to happen! I don't know what's happening to him I swear!" "...JAMES!" The raptor continued to scream and roar, hunched over as his claws grabbed at the dirt desperately trying to contain himself. The demon was tearing its way out of him, suddenly gone mad by some sort of trigger that sent it into a psychotic frenzy. Despite being in company, his mind was far too blind with pain to stop himself from screaming: "S-STOP! PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!" "Wh-what's happening James?!" "_THE BELL! MAKE IT STOP, IT'S TEARING MY HEAD! A-A-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAARGH! _" For the briefest instant, Koopin heard something approaching unholy within James' voice. A guttural underline of unearthly proportions, the raptor's eyes twitching with the slightest fray of bloodshot anguish. Koopin also noticed the nerves rapidly flicker between black and red. But he could do nothing, until the bell ceased its call. Twelve times it tolled. And Shellina soon turned with her own horror approaching. "...n-no...I...I feel him...it can't be him..." "Wh-who?!" asked Koopin fearfully. "Who's doing this?!" "Me."

A cloying darkness began to form behind Shellina, slowly convalescing into a solid cloud rising from the very dirt around her. Whispers of death came to her and Koopin, cold yet tender as the dark tendrils soon thickened into a cloak. A cloak somehow blacker than night itself and yet taller than even James. Shellina's cane was taken from her by unnatural forces, wrenched free from her grasp hard enough to make her stumble as a bony hand reached out from the cloak. As the cane softly touched upon the ground, the darkness pulled away from the top to reveal a koopa's skull, eyes now nothing more than two piercing yellow dots within the infinite abyss of black. Koopin was terrified, gently stepping back. James was shuddering still from his agony, unable to look up. Shellina however merely gasped at somehow knowing this presence, who simply turned its head towards her and spoke: "...my child. How long has it been?" "...f-father?" Her voice was like a child's, whilst his was like that of the ancients. Koopin found it similar to Blooshan's, except where there had been kindness and wisdom, there lied strength and darkness, deep with infinity. "To think you recognise me still by the way I stand...it honours me." "B-but...how are you-" "Do you not remember our teachings? The bleeding influence of the dark arts can affect the surrounding area...that or I am a great enough warlock that I am capable of keeping my own soul within the bounds of my mortal shell." His smile was terrifying, yet also compassionate as he said this. Koopin asked with a sudden sense of his mortality: "A-are you...hoh stars are you..." "My name is Mortimer. I am the father of Shellina...and Koopmar." The cloaked koopa walked over towards the pile of bones that was once his son. All he could do was shake his head, yet there was no sorrow within him as he asked his daughter: "Was it necessary to bring your brother here? What was the nature of this experiment?" "I...I-i-i...I am here to avenge our family name. Our...our greatness, our legacy, to save the souls of this land from the cruelty of death! To transcend beyond mortal weakness!" "Ah...and you decided that the deaths of two more was the best course of action?" "TH-THEY KILLED KOOPMAR! THEY KILLED MY BROTHER!" "Child, do you truly know that?" "Wh-what?!" "...did they kill Koopmar by their own hand?" "They caused his death! Had he just been left alone, with his plans unspoilt, he would have succeeded! He would have given what we wanted, what YOU wanted father!" "What I wanted? ...I do not recall leaving in my will to commit murder upon a koopa and...this creature." "I WAS AVENGING HIM!" screamed Shellina. "HE DID NOT DESERVE TO DIE FATHER, NOT BY THEIR HAND OR BOWSER'S OR ANYONE ELSE!" "Now you speak of the king...already you commit your bias."

Mortimer simply tapped his cane onto the ground as a dark aura swept out from him within a circle. Dark smoke wreathed across in all directions, convalescing around Koopmar's bones which soon raised up into the air and hung like a puppet. As the cloaked creature sighed with eternal exhaustion, the sound of rattling vertebrae resonated with an eerie tingle, setting Koopin's teeth on edge. "I feel...yes...it was Bowser that committed him to be put to the flames. ...your brother's memory does not lie, yet he remembers these two as well...his anger remains, which I see that you have inherited from him. But I say he is wrong." "Wh-what?!" cried out Shellina. "What do you remember, when I told you and your brother of how we planned to aid this world?" "Y-yes! You said...that we would erase death from this world, for all to live eternal as spirits, just like the stars themselves!" "No." "Wh-what?!" "I said...that we would erase the pain of death...to ease our suffering, to allow our bodies and our spirits to flee their separate ways, without remorse, and without things unchecked. No regrets, no last words unspoken, to allow that which could not be said to become heard by those long departed." "B-but...but you said, I mean Koopmar said-" "Your brother was a vain wretched boy, whom I failed to upbring with respect and dignity towards others. At first I thought his time with Kolorado would help humble him, and indeed it did. ...but power can attract strange things to a boy such as him. In time his already misremembered words of mine would soon further twist themselves. ...but I will rectify this error, by preventing you from following the same." He turned towards his daughter, the cane tapping once more upon the ground as Koopmar's remains fell to earth. Shellina was torn with gut-wrenching sorrow. She knew what he was saying, but Koopin could not help himself from asking: "How did you...I mean...are you REALLY their father?" "Yes, Koopin Kennidon. ...and I feel I must apologise to you in turn for my family's actions towards you." "B-but...how are you here?" "A little personal history is in order, of which I am glad that Kolorado decided not to enlighten you on." "H-he did mention Koopmar had a sister...and that his father passed away some years ago..." "When Koopmar was but a boy a few years after obtaining his child shell, his mother passed away from an illness I could not heal. I was but a mage working for the king of our people, desperate to find any and every source I could on how to heal her. I would pray to the stars, but even they could not help her, simply because there was not enough to wish for her." "Wh-what!? That's horrible, wh-why couldn't they-" "Because I was too obsessed within my own work to even consider asking for others to help. I had no friends, none of whom would ever honestly wish for the wellbeing of my wife. The power of kindness can only work if it is with an honest desire. I did not wish out of kindness for her, but out of selfishness by my own misery."

Koopin knew this to be true and said nothing, whilst James struggled to get back up on his feet. "In realising that others would feel the same pain too soon, I began to try and discover ways of reaching out towards the souls of the recently departed...perhaps I was in grief. Perhaps I was simply trying to clear my own conscience. But I could never figure out how to cross over to that boundary of the spirits beyond." "Why couldn't you?! Didn't you ask the boos, or maybe someone else who knew about ghosts?" "Because I knew that the damage had already been done. That once they had departed from this life, there would be no coming back. All the spirits I tried to meet, could only ever speak of pain and regret. ...I soon realised that I should not be trying to bring back my love, but to ease the passing of others who would go in turn. My wish was selfish, for I wanted to keep her with me for my own sake, not hers. I learnt that too late." The young male koopa shook his head at the sadness evident within the family, feeling rather sorry for not even trying to learn more about it. James had finally managed to stand back up full, the raptor gasping out his first and only question at this time. "Wha...what was with that...bell?" "Ah...a remnant of the steeple beyond...since it has now become rather abandoned of its previous inhabitants, I have taken it upon myself to reside within its boundaries. Does it trouble you?" "Y-you could say that...ah...s-sorry I...guh..." "Do not strain yourself, James Campbell. We do not want you to suffer any...blackouts, correct?" The smile upon his lips pierced like a knife into James' heart, making him shiver and hunch over once more. Koopin kept him upright with worry upon his face, holding an arm around him before asking: "Um...do you...is there anything else we can...do?" "There is no need for you to be here," said Mortimer, "you have proven yourself already." "P-proven myself? ...but, I...your daughter, she wasn't...she's not like the other fighters I met." "Because she is not." "Huh?" "You received a letter did you not, to bring you here?" "Well I got a note from her arrow when she uh...yeah, but I got a letter too." "Huh?" said Shellina. "I didn't send a letter." "I did." "Wh-what?" "I was the fourth World Warrior for you to face, Koopin. I had been planning to meet you for sometime, and your master had informed me of such." "Wh-wh-WHAT?!" cried out Koopin. "B-but...but you're...you're-" "Deceased? Perhaps...but they do not know that, I am still able to send messages from beyond the grave...literally."

His small chuckle was like the sound of gravedirt shifting beneath the ground. It made Koopin shiver before asking: "You...were gonna face me?" "WAS going to face you, yes. My daughter however has given you quite a challenge, it shows I have trained her in quite the variety of arts well. I do enjoy mixing my other fellow warriors' styles, including my own of the Koopkaido style of cane-based fighting. Perhaps one day I shall ask you to challenge me proper. But I believe that your victory over my daughter will be just as satisfactory, unless you believe otherwise." "W-well...Shellina was good, I mean a real good fighter but...I didn't even beat Yoshitaka, and technically didn't even fight YOU. ...I'm not a World Warrior. But I don't mind." "Oh?" "I've learned something on this journey. That I don't have to be the very best, like no one ever was. All I have to be is...strong enough." He kept close to James to signify this, the raptor not even resisting as he leaned more heavily on him with deep breaths. Shellina herself was shaking with grief, struggling to come to terms with her wasted agenda. Mortimer nodded as he said: "I apologise for all that my family have caused on you two. I believe Shellina now feels the same way, now that someone has opened her eyes from the veil of sorrow that has blinded her so. Is that not true, my daughter?" Shellina had been spending the past few minutes trying to do just that. She trusted her father, implicitly so above all others. She would never dare argue with him, as she slowly stepped forwards towards James and Koopin. Her trembling scarred beak softly said: "...I'm...s-s-sorry."

She barely finished before tears welled from her eyes. James said nothing, mentally not accepting the apology but also far too wounded by his own problems to even say anything. Koopin however nodded back, saying: "I'm sorry too..." With this mutual peace now settled between them, and the assurance that there would be no more trouble from them again, Koopin slowly turned to walk away from both Mortimer and his daughter, with James in tow. As the raptor kept leaning on Koopin strongly, a voice slowly weaved into the back of his mind. Mortimer's voice, not spoken but instead coming through the air. I know what you are hiding, James. "H-huh?!" You cannot hide your darkness forever. Not from this world, not from Koopin. You must either open your heart to him one day, or train yourself to close it completely from him. But know that either choice you make will have severe repercussions upon your relationship together. You must prepare yourself for this eventuality. "I know...I know that." "James?" Koopin looked up towards him, seeing the raptor look rather listless as he shook his head clear. "Yeah...heh, sorry was kinda thinking there." "You sure you're okay?" "Yeah yeah I'm fine, come on, let's get home. Heh, wanna get my strong sexy boy sat down all nice and comfy." "Hehee, right." Smiling at this, Koopin kept on walking, oblivious to the brooding torment that now swirled ever further within James' heart. For as long as he had tried to deny it, beneath the summer skies and warm fuzzy hills of this great and joyful land, darkness was coming. A darkness that would not leave his mind in the coming third year of their relationship together.