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A month and a half later, after the eventful cruise of the S.S. Rosalina, James had another big event up and planned for him to participate in. The final leg of the Tanooki Cup, set within the Kalimari Desert. A huge turnout in the form of Toad Town travellers and Dry Dry Desert denizens meeting together from east and west, the stands were absolutely packed for what was built up to be a rather exciting race, crowding out to the right of the racers on the starting line directly opposite a huge rocky mesa. Despite having done extremely well in the first race at Mario Circuit, James had suffered poorly during Yoshi Valley due to his risky tactics. Many times he had fallen off the track, only to be rescued by the ever-helpful, but not particularly quick-footed Lakitu crew. This of course cost him time as well as many points, having won in a rather pathetic fourth place. The race after that was high up in the Shiver Region, a racetrack known as Frappe Snowland. Despite the burning cold, James had managed to score second place. He had counted up the points needed in order to earn this last victory. If he was able to reach first in this race, he had a chance of winning. He had no idea however of his friendly rival, Wakoshi, who was clearly a professional racer and had never gotten below third place. If Wakoshi got higher than third, James' own chances of winning the Cup were extremely slim. But he kept a confident air about him, knowing that at the very least, he wanted to lose to the friendly yoshi rather than say, the jackass Boorichello. James saw Koopin with his parents in the stands, sitting in the very corner front waving at him excitably as he waved back at them in turn. The Kalimari Desert was a rather intriguing place, a rather easy-looking circular loop around a ginormous mesa, the sunset-coloured rock formation just as intimidating to see as it was to feel. He had also noticed another set of tracks when he arrived, but was not entirely sure what it was. Soon the commentators would start recording, amidst the cheers outside their box.

"Good afternoon everyone I'm Boose!" "And I'm Koopson." "And today we're at the VERY very exciting final leg of the Tanooki Cup, the Kalimari Desert! A wild untamed land of grand rock formations and dusty winds across the barren lands." "Yes indeed," said Koopson, "and we've already got our eyes on a few special racers to mention today, first of all being the renegade racer James Campbell!" "Now," began Boose critically, "I like this kid, I really do, he's got a real flare for a high-risk high-reward kind of style to him, but when you mess up that badly in Yoshi Valley, you just GOTTA start thinking about coolin' off your jets yanno!" "Well there are no pitfalls here so hopefully, long as he doesn't have a...one-track mind shall we say, he'll be alright. Now you all know I love to rate very highly our resident professional Wakoshi." "Obviously." "And he's been very VERY consistent in these races I have got to say. Second place at Mario Raceway, first place at Yoshi Valley, third at Frappe Snowland, you just gotta give him credit for at least keeping in the top three all the way." "Well he's gonna make Campbell sweat for sure, cuz if Wakoshi gets higher than third place, he ain't gonna stand a ghost of a chance in winning that trophy!" Koopson's dead silence was caused by his slow turn of a head and looking rather disgraced at his colleague before quickly saying: "That's true Boose, but what about the others? Boorichello's a dangerous trickster, but his cockiness could be the end of him!" "I have to say, I think Shylacque could do really well here, he's small, he's in and out like a bee, and he's not too fast, lets him brake back a li'l bit easier for any nasty surprises that may come up in this track." "And the track within the track?" asked Koopson. "Well that's for our racers to find out! We now take you live to the action. "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" said the starter Lakitu, "START YOUR ENGINES!" Seeing the racers all around him, James gripped the handles hard with a burning determination in his eyes. His age may have tempered his recklessness, but only very slightly. He smiled at Wakoshi nearby, winking at him in a friendly manner as he winked back in turn. He was thankful he had finally learnt how the boost worked on these bikes. Red. Orange. Blue.

Revving the engine just before it went blue, he roared off the starting track alongside several others. Yet the moment he found himself going around the first turn, grabbing an item box along the way, the other racers bunched up around him with a violent speed. They were extremely determined to get ahead of him, far moreso than usual. At first he put it down to just wanting to be ahead. But then he saw why there were two tracks on the race course. Screaming like a banshee from his far right, came a beautiful red-and-black train with several carriages rattling along behind it. The track in front of him went straight across a train crossing directly in front of the steam engine. He was too startled to do anything other than just rev forwards and easily beat the train. Four other racers stayed with him, the other three forced to brake and wait for the engine to pass, all while James cried out: "HOLY SHIT, THEY GOT A FUCKING TRAIN HERE!?!?" "YEAH!" roared out Wakoshi, "DIDNTCHA KNOW THAT ALREADY?!" "...I fuckin' LOVE this kingdom, hhhahahahahaHAAA!" His excitement only turned stronger when he saw another track ahead of him, and thinking he had the chance before the train caught up, he revved violently forwards with a mushroom boost he had picked up beforehand. Another row of item boxes was straight ahead just before the second railway crossing. But then a looming black metal surprise came out from behind the rocks to his left. "WHAT THE FU-AAAAAAAAAAA_AAAAAAAAARGH!_" Screaming with a psychotic panic, he gripped the handlebars hard as he felt his boost propel him through the crossing just in the nick of time. He almost swore he could have felt the cowcatcher of the train nearly clip his bike, racing furiously onwards besides Wakoshi while laughing in fearful panic. "HOHOHOHOHAHAHAHA, H-HOW THE FUCK DID HE GET THERE SO FAST?!?!" "I'LL LET YOU FIGURE IT OUT!" said the yoshi racer.

The commentators had noticed this little incident, and eagerly leapt upon it for the fans with Boose saying: "Aaaaaaaaand it looks like James Campbell just got his first taste of the desert railway!" "True that Boose," said Koopson, "and he's freaking out about it trying to understand HOW a train could have possibly gotten there so fast! Should we tell him?" "He can't even hear us, but maybe your friend Wakoshi might help him the way they're both neck and neck! I really wanna see just how risky this boy is when it comes to those crossings. Will he squeak right in front of the train and risk it all?! Or will he wait and bide his time? Let's find out!" The rest of the track was surprisingly easygoing, a simple gentle curve that went parallel with the train tracks themselves. He saw the train yet again alongside him, roaring past with a howling shriek as it came out from a tunnel in the rock. He ignored it for now and focused on finishing the first lap, the finish line already ahead of him with another set of item boxes to collect. Nothing happened, until he realised he hadn't used his previous item yet. "...OH, shit, right!" He threw the item away, a banana peel, easily so. Nobody fell for it as far as he knew, his mind far too busy focusing on Wakoshi while also reflecting how simple yet dangerous the track really was. As he finished the first lap, he grabbed another item box, three green shells that spun around his bike in perfectly synchronised speed. He decided to keep them on him for now, to either batter into other racers or to shield them from attacks. One racer, a shy guy, wasted his red shell by trying to take him out, a hearty CLONK of shell upon shell knocking out one of his green guardians. He looked behind to see Boorichello race up towards him, cackling as he aimed his own single green shell straight into the shy guy's exhaust, making him spin out of control. James focused on trying to beat the train, storming through easily so.

"The fight's starting to heat up folks!" said Boose excitably, "Boorichello's heading up to third place to see if he can't take down his greatest enemy." "James Campbell's still got two green shells left," added Koopson, "but will it be enough to keep him safe to the end of the second lap?! Wakoshi's staying ahead and planting down a whole trail of banana peels in a glorious diagonal cross! Who's gonna get past that?!" The answer came in the form of James seeing the banana peels streaked out ahead of him, just past the second train crossing in a diagonal fashion. He quickly steeered around and off the main track, slowing down slightly but not letting it deter him despite Boorichello roaring past with a star power. His cackling of glee was only further made annoying by the magnificent rainbow hue he had as he tore through the banana peel trap like it was nothing. James was determined now to use offence instead of defence. The moment the boo's star power ran out, James was straight behind him with one shell slamming into his rear, knocking him away hard as he charged ahead. When he saw the boo recover and tear after him from behind, he fired the last shell behind him to knock him further back. Grabbing the last item box of lap 2, to receive a healthy triple-blast of three mushroom boosts, he suddenly realised the secret of the trains. "...there's two of them. Ohhhh damn." But this did not matter in the long run. So long as he kept ahead of the track, he would be fine. Wakoshi was breezing ahead somehow, with James struggling to catch up with him. The train however came charging around in the third lap, scaring Wakoshi who slowed down in a panic, just in time for FG to catch up with him. But he was far enough behind to not need to brake, streaking past the yoshi as he grinned fiercely. This was his chance.

"And James Campbell just TEARS past Wakoshi!" said Koopson. "That darn train's just delayed him big time, can he catch up?!" "Survey says yes!" cried Boose. "Thanks to Wakoshi grabbing that boost mushroom before, he's still got a chance in the lead. Wait a minute, Boorichello just might make i-OHHHHHHHH!" "OHHHHH!" James heard a terrible crash come from behind him, wondering what it was as smoke began to rise from the first crossing. "Boorichello just got knocked BACK by that train, straight into the side of that carriage!" "He thought he could make it," said Koopson, "but I guess he couldn't. Good thing for those magic repel barriers so nobody gets run over for real huh?!" "You said it Koopson! Now it's all down to the yoshi and the dinosaur, who will win?! Will it even matter?!" The raptor did not know if it even mattered so long as Wakoshi came in second. But he was determined to try, to try and leave with some dignity in this race and to prove he could be with the best. As he approached the finish line, streaking towards the huge crowd to the right, he saw something shining atop the rocky foundation that laid opposite the crowd. A small black shadow, with something glinting. James' intuition knew there was only one reason someone would be standing up there, facing towards the crowd. He was lucky that he just happened to have a green shell on him, but he had no idea how he was going to shoot it upwards. He saw it move its arms towards the crowd. Something terrible would happen, he just knew something would. A desperate idea came to him, but it was something he had never entirely managed to get the hang of. That and he was on a motorcycle. All he needed was a good distraction. It was a big risk but he had to try.

Standing up slightly on the motorcycle, he made the motion to act like an incredibly arrogant racer, arms spread out as he let the bike coast on forwards with roaring cheers coming from the crowd. Nobody noticed his fingers pinpricking slightly. "Wow, what a showman!" said Boose. "Look at the bravado of this guy, can you believe it?!" "That's not very sporting I'll say," added Koopson, "a real racer doesn't need to show off like that, and he hasn't even won yet! He might not even win this at all!" "Well we'll just see abou-hold on! What's that?!" "I-i-i don't believe it, a stray tweester!" For everyone in the crowd and every other racer around him, it was a sudden unfortunate event of the unpredictable desert winds. But James knew better, as did Koopin who gasped with disdain. Surely James would not be so low as to go this far to win! Perhaps in a previous life, he would be. But for now, his eyes were focused on the mysterious black shadow trying to aim something towards the crowd. With a suppressed roar of effort masked beneath the whirling wind, he tore into the miniature cyclone and summoned a raging fire from within. He didn't even have to be accurate, just hit close enough to throw the assassin's aim off. The fire soon spread, swirling around within the mighty hurricane until it burned a furious blood orange. James kept his eyes open, seeing the crowd, the finish line, the rock then the crowd again as he spun round and round. Timing it just right as he saw the finish line skim past his vision, he shot out a tremendous fireball, roaring with all his might. Hurling it towards the top of the rock, the black shadow barely had time to react as a fireball exploded right next to its feet. Something shot out straight towards the edge of the crowd. Koopin had seen the fireball and finally noticed the unknown assailant, as well as something heading for him. An arrow, barely noticed amongst the panic of the crowd, lodged into the sand next to the seat stands. The shadow had fled, its mission failed. James soon managed to undo the cyclone and charge forwards across the finish line. Had none of this happened, he would have been far more upset to find out that he had only reached third place.

"Well," began Boose uncertainly, "...that was interesting." "Sure was," said Koopson, "but it seems the race can now finish unabated! Wakoshi heads straight off into first place, Shylacque in second, and James Campbell into third! I'd say that James got taken down a peg or two after that display huh?" "It's unfortunate, but that's why you never act like that until ya passed the finish line for sure! And now to tally up the scores with the ceremony in a few minutes, even though we are all very certain that Wakoshi has won first place in the Tanooki Cup!" "Just as planned," said Koopson smugly. Parking his bike in the pit area a few minutes later, James sighed with relief as he saw Koopin walking up to him with a rather uncertain look. He didn't even care about where he had come in the Cup overall and as such had barely heard the announcements. Klair and Shelldon also came along to congratulate him, the father shaking his hand. "Congratulations!" "Heh, thanks." "Second place, not bad for someone just new to the track! Shame about that tweester though." "Hehe, it's fine, second place is pretty good." "It's weird though!" said Klair. "It's not tweester season at all, to think a rogue one could just pop out of nowhere, and it even went on FIRE!" "I think that was my exhaust," said James, "but it's cool. I'm actually more glad that yoshi guy won rather than that...boo." "Haha, true true...he does seem a bit of a jerk, I'm glad you got higher than him! Now I just wish I'd bet on you." "Woah ho now, hold your purse for the casino ma'am." "Haha!" "Uhhh mom?" asked Koopin. "Could you give me and James a few minutes? I just remembered something private I gotta tell him." "Of course dear." Klair and Shelldon walked away hand in hand to wait for them, as Koopin turned to reveal a rather venomous-looking arrow. Deep purple, with a shining tip and some paper wrapped around the shaft. Koopin decided that James knew enough by now as he confessed: "I saw that shadow before." "Yeah?" "Back at the Shhwonk Fortress, after we beat up the Koopa Brothers, I thought I saw it behind one of the walls. Then I saw it again at the Mario Circuit. ...this is poisoned isn't it?" James gently took the arrow and sniffed the tip lightly from a distance. It was strong enough for him to recognise the exact same smell as the poisoned bottle of wine back on the ship. "Yep. Someone was aiming for you." "What does it smell like?" "...almonds." "...ohhh no." "Wh-what?" "This is...poison mushroom! If you got this in your system you end up in agony for hours and not able to move before dying. Last time I heard about this was someone got poisoned on the Excess Express." "Jesus...who would do this to you?" "I-i-i don't know! ...but I've gotten a warning already." "Huh?" "...I'll show you it when we get home, it's easier to explain." "What about the note?" "We'll read it later. You got a trophy to pick up."

Trying to lighten the mood, Koopin smiled and hugged James as he walked over to the ceremonial podium. Amidst the confetti and celebratory cheers all around him, he smiled and accepted his award gracefully. Koopin was surprised, expecting him to be rather miffed about not reaching first place. In retrospect, so was James. Wakoshi stood above him in the centre with a magnificent golden cup shaped like a raccoon's tail. James got a silver statue resembling some spear-holding stone totem. Boorichello in third got a bronze leaf, much to his displeasure. "Hey Wakoshi," said James. "You deserved to win." "Heh, same to you," said the yoshi, "for a first-timer, you did awesome. See ya next race?" "Oh yeah." With a handshake between them, the ceremony was short but sweet as James headed home with his prize. As eager as he had been to finish the race, his concern for Koopin being a target for assassination was far more important in his mind. The moment they got home, Koopin went to his drawer. They disposed of the arrow safely with a fire flower after taking its note, the koopa bringing out a familiar-looking black wallet. "When I was at that conference, when you were helping my mom, someone gave me this like some kinda complimentary thing. But then I saw inside." James noticed the rather dark vile note with both surprise and expectation. He shook his head and walked over to his own drawer, pulling out the exact same wallet. "Someone gave this to me when I was out with your mom." Revealing his note, both of them fitted the two scraps together. The tear was a perfect match.

_ YOU WILL PAY AND YOU WILL BURN _

"Who would DO this?!" said Koopin with alacrity. "Someone who wants us dead. Let's check this note." Examining the note from the arrow, James read it out loud. "If you wish to save the one you love from this most dreaded poison, face me in the land where the night never ends, beyond the town of thieves." "...town of thieves? That's Rogueport!" "Guess so, but what's this about a night that never ends." "That must be Twilight Town! It's a gloomy place up in the hills in perpetual twilight! The assassin must wanna meet us there." "Well looks like this fucker's gonna meet BOTH of us at our best, rather than one of us sick and weak." "Yeah. I don't like being followed by weird people in black cloaks, we're gonna put a stop to this right now before anyone else gets hurt." "Now that's what I like to hear." Cupping Koopin's chin, he kissed him happily with a renewed gleam in his eyes. Planning to leave for Rogueport however, they received a letter the next day through the mail. Koopin found it to be rather suspicious, having no return address or stamp upon it. Yet the paper was oddly similar to that of the official documents used by the Toad Town Dojo. The writing however was archaic and flourishing, nothing like any of the disciples or the Master's handwriting. "Your final challenge awaits across the sea once more, beyond the town of thieves beneath an eternal moon. Seek out the steeple where trickery once began, and end your journey of strength with one final blow..." He decided to show James this as they made their way once again across the sea. James was even more suspicious now, but he did find it rather odd that a letter would be sent out when the assassion was clearly expecting to give them a note to be in an arrow lodged into Koopin's body. Questions would only rise greater in their minds as they hopped off the ship to Rogueport three days after departing Toad Town. By the time they reached it, it was afternoon.

Even with the welcoming rakish atmosphere of the scum-ridden town, James was uneasy. Not just because of their objective, but also that he had been feeling unwell the past few days, suffering from headaches and the occasional chest pain according to him. Koopin did not ask often, knowing James had his own problems, not even objecting to the fact he took his scissors with him for safety. Twilight Town, no matter what time they reached it, would always be forever dusk. The sky hung above in orange and purple, a bright yellow moon gazing down upon all like the eye of a god, unblinking but all-knowing. The town inhabitants, hiding away in ramshackle wooden huts spread across the land, were a rather sickly-looking mix of green and blue-skinned humanoids. Yellow eyes glared uncertainly from beneath hand-woven clothes, mismatched shirts and pinafores further marking the town's rustic backgrounds. Despite the gloomy atmosphere aided by the sounds of many crows cawing from deadened trees, they were welcoming enough to offer rest and provisions should James and Koopin need any. Unfortunately, nobody had seen or would even speak of any black-cloaked figures. All except one, a visitor to the town just like them. "Hold up," said Koopin. "...is that...it can't be!" "Huh?" "That bumpty over there! You know who that is?!" "...a very dapper-looking bumpty who looks like a detective?" "Not just any detective!" "Quite right my boy!" The bumpty had overheard their voices from afar and waddled over towards them with a curious glint in his eye. Squat and blue with a flatcap on his head and a magnifying glass in one hand, the dapper little penguin slightly picked at his red bowtie, his satchel slung to his left hip waddling with him. "The name's Pennington, good sir. Penguin with improbably large brain and all that, perhaps you have heard of me?" "Oh I have!" said Koopin. "I read all about you, the sleuth of Poshley Heights!" "I haven't," said FG, "not me." "Really!?" said Pennington. "I daresay you must not keep your eyes and ears open enough my lad!" "I think you're a li'l off in your deduction, detective." "Really?" "Hehe, yeah." "James come on," said Koopin, "you have to have heard of him! He's the most famous detective alive!" "The lad's right oh strange creature," replied the detective. "But since you have not, perhaps it would do you well to learn of my talents." "Really? Heh...well, alright then." James crossed his arms cockily and made a challenge. "If you're such a great detective that I apparently never heard about, how about showing me what you can guess from me, right now? Everything you can. That's what you guys do right?" "My lad, I do not guess, I deduce! And I am always willing to prove a disbeliever wrong!"

Pennington gazed at the raptor for a small amount of time, perhaps about eight seconds in full, moving his eye over every part of the body with the occasional magnifying glass before he made the following observations. "Trained professionally for several years, presumably in sword training owing to the difference in muscular size between your legs and your arms. Your legs however have their own story showing you are athletic, but with no disciplinary standard, self-taught as a runner. Your claws are scarred with scratches from years ago, but to a much lesser extent in recent times implying you've become less of a street fighting ruffian and wielding your weapon more. Which allows me to estimate you trained in weapons training at least five years ago." "Hah, pretty good. What else?." "Marks on your body range from animal claws to weaponry, clearly involved in several fights. Repetitive bite marks on your neck are evident yet non-fatal, something did this to you repeatedly with no intention of killing you, perhaps as some form of subservience. And it was of a creature with similar teeth to yours. You were in hospital in intensive care several years back judging by the faded burn trails on your chest, perhaps involved in a high-speed automotive-related crash." "Wh-wha!?" James rubbed his neck nervously as the penguin continued with: "Your right arm hangs slightly different at your side compared to your left, which was broken in the past, judging by the stiffness you hold it at and your significance of the shoulder pauldron. Mayhaps I can conclude there is also a deep wound that has crippled your shoulder in the past?" "...okay that's just fucking creepy." Pennington merely grinned, revelling in his talent as he continued without interruption, walking to the side. "Your unnatural scars, while obvious, are intriguing. Possibly a birthmark were they more subtly infused into your skin, but instead it was perhaps by some form of experimental abnormality owing to the ever-so-slight diffusion between your natural skin and them. Speaking of which, you are fitted with advanced electrical implants throughout your body, owing to the small pockmarked burns from when you were electrocuted before, which has overloaded a few of them...and it has become a frightful weakness for you, hasn't it?" "B-but-woah woah hold on! How do you know I wasn't just struck by lightning by a magikoopa or something?!" "Lightning strikes are large and direct THROUGHOUT the body, leaving large scars resembling your nerves. Your marks are small, like tiny little overloads throughout you, which while non-fatal as of now, are still quite astonishingly painful I dare say. And that's just your physical appearance, I've barely even begun to scratch your personality!"

James was now even more nervous as Pennington started to get invasive, excited at what he was discovering. Koopin could have stopped, but he smirked at watching the detective work. "The way your tail twitches in a less relaxed fashion than most normally, combined with the slackness of your thigh muscles implies that you are, shall we say, intimate with males, which I could have estimated with your lover obviously-" "Uh, bisexual, actually!" James felt violated as Pennington peered close to him with a magnifying glass straight at his snout. "And from what I can read from your face alone is MARVELLOUS! The slight twitch in your eyes means your nerves have weakened over time, presumably a few mental breakdowns, not that I can tell you when those occurred. Also the way you keep extremely close to your lover makes me sense you've lost a lover before." "So?! I love him, course I wanna be near him!" "No no...being NEAR implies love. Being close enough to invade one's personal space, implies protectiveness. You're also an orphan." "Okay, how the FUCK did you know that!?" "I didn't. I will admit, that one was a guess. But your speech pattern implies that you were uneducated beyond higher education, which made me ponder, and if I suggested poverty or irresponsibility I might insult your parents. Judging from the way your muscles tensed when I mentioned parents...mother perhaps...you are rather protective of that, which only gives me one mystery in WHEN you were orphaned. Not that I should know anyway, and I can hardly look it up since your accent and species give me the first and easiest conclusion to make of you." "And what's that, smart-ass?" "Simple. You don't even come from this land at all." "...wow." Koopin could only gasp in awe, much to Pennington's absolute smugness, which James was so ready to punch right through. But he instead forced a smile and said: "So...you got everything right, except knowing when I became an orphan right?" "Well...you are not as offended as you SHOULD be, of which I am glad, and I apologise for this, but I would assume you did not have a good relationship with them beforehand. But that is thrown out of the window by your reaction, which leads me to my second conclusion in that you never actually knew your parents. Perhaps you were far too young to remember them. Yet when I mention a mother...ahhhhh." "Wh-wh-what now?!" "Of course. Foster mother." "Hmph...fine, you convinced me, you're an awesome detective, whoopee shit." "And therefore I conclude that you are indeed...Bowser's long lost son!"

James took a moment to blink at comprehending the last four words. "...whu, what?" "Yes, clearly the build, the recklessness, your arrogant nature, not knowing your mother yet having a strange protective nature, it all points quite simply to a powerful lineage! And what better a reptilian lineage fitting all these tropes, then that of the king of the koopas himself?!" Koopin smirked and giggled bashfully at such an "astute" observation, which James criticised in his own thoughts. Okay, where the hell did he think this was going? "Shall I make an encore?" asked Pennington. "Ooh ooh, how about me!?" Koopin perked up rather excitably at this prospect as if it was an attraction, to which Pennington merely glanced over and said: "Born and raised in Dry Dry Desert due to deteriorated sand grains in the shell and slightly off-colour tan of your skin compared to koopas of northern regions. A family of possibly artists or musicians due to the practiced dexterity in your fingers, a loving family at that who raised you well judging by the way you smile when I mention them. Trained in a martial art, presumably Toad Kwon Do due to arm-leg muscle ratio...you are also a traveller of many lands owing to the various granules attached to your boots of ice, sand, and dirt." "Woooow, that's amazing!" "Therefore I conclude that you are a travelling circus performer!" "...h-huh?" "Wooooow," said James sarcastically, "that was amazing, however did you guess my boyfriend was secretly Chuckles the fucking CLOWN?!" "Please do not feel offended that I managed to deduce so many correct things about you," said Pennington. "This is a skill that takes years of deduction and a keen eye, not everyone can read you so easily." "Okay, so, despite all THAT, what are you doing here? And more importantly, did you see anyone with a black cloak?" "Quite right I did! Someone passed me just beyond there towards Creepy Steeple at the far end of the Twilight Trail. I was out conducting research for an old friend of mine who wants to write a new novel, but he was too ill to travel over here. So I decided to write down some good details of what could correspond to be a fantastic new book! Obviously I will be credited." "Alright then, thanks uh...good luck with your research." "And you good sir! Or should I say, your highness?" James humoured him with a half-hearted bow before heading out towards the east, with Koopin following after him. As they left the town outskirts, heading towards the far-open plains of Twilight Trail. Already in the distance they could see the outline of a dark twisted spire to be the steeple, as they walked on through the strangely absent trail, naked to the cool sinister wind.

"Man it's dark here," said James. "They don't call it Twilight Trail for nothing," replied Koopin. "...do we ever meet anyone normal?" "Now why would you want that? Where's the fun in not meeting strange and interesting people?" "...heh, right. You really think this letter you got was the last person to fight in this world warrior thing?" "I know it is, no way it can't be. But it makes no sense, I didn't BEAT Yoshitaka, I shouldn't get to have this, but why would they come after me?!" "Maybe it's some kind of brutal training." "Not THIS brutal, the Dojo would never allow this!" "Didn't your master say that they stopped doing this years ago, officially? Maybe this is why, someone maybe took it too far." "I...I dunno if that's it, I mean he said it was because of administrative costs but-" At that very moment, a sudden blast of dark energy exploded between FG and Koopin, shooting them both ways. Koopin fell forwards hard onto the ground, while James fell back facing a sudden violet force field erected up in front of him. Sizzling with dark electrical energy, he saw Koopin trapped on the other side, the barrier circling around him with thundering ferocity. "KOOPIN!" "Wh-what's happening?! What is this?!" "Your fate, Koopin." A female voice came from right in front of him. Walking forwards out of thin air, cloaked before his very eyes as the veil of night slowly slipped off of a now-visible body, was a female koopa in a black cloak. Dark-brown hair in a ponytail, which James somehow faintly recognised. Koopin looked rather frightened at the darkened grin upon her beak. "Wh-who are you?!" "You don't recognise me?" said the female. "I thought you'd at least recognise my face...both of you." "Um...I don't...I'm sorry but I-" "Maybe this will help." She threw off her cloak, letting it float into the shield barrier to be electrocuted, sizzling to ash like dust in the wind. Upon her back was something both James and Koopin gasped at in horror. Three diagonal streaks, neatly grooved into her shell. "K-...K-k-koopmar?! No, no way that's impossible!" "Close. I'm his sister, Shellina. And you will both pay for what you did."