"Motherfucker, this place is a mess," Kaira commented as everyone visited Classroom 5-C. "Fucking blood everywhere."

"No shit," Birdo scoffed as she looked around. "Damn, why wouldn't you show us first thing? This opens up so many clues."

"Long live the King?" Toadette pursued her lips. "What the hell does that mean?"

"Back when we were still in the normal world, there was this campaigner who was trying to run for us to be a communist community," Sarah told them. "I believe his name was Bowser Koopa, although I'm not quite sure."

"Bowser Koopa? The father of the super annoying actor Koopa Koopa?" Toadette asked in surprise. "Original name, I know. But wow."

"Did you know Bowser?" Peach said tensely, knowing that at least part of the mystery had been solved.

"Sure, a little bit. He kept saying he was going to round up followers," Toadette shrugged. "He said he already had someone who would ensure everyone would follow him through violence, but he said he wanted someone who was a voice of reason. I didn't know he was campaigning, though. It was always a joke with him."

"It was on the news," Sarah told her, looking away.

An awkward silence passed, with everyone conversing awkwardly, when Peach called out.

"I figured it out!" Peach said suddenly, causing everyone to look at her.

"What?"

"Never mind," Peach kept a straight face, knowing that the mastermind could end up coming after her now that she knew and could mess up their whole plans. "The King is corrupt, which explains why Koopa is so annoying."

"Sure," Toadette looked away. "Okay."

"What's this megaphone for?" Mario asked curiously.

"Megaphone? Oh, I was wondering what that was."

"Probably to round up troops," Rubi suggested. "Or to make a message clear."

Peach seemed to know something, but she shut her mouth and looked away. Instead, all sorts of speculation popped up.

"Alright, well, what about this scythe?"

"It's definitely someone who liked violence," Rubi said, her eyes shifting to Kaira, who snarled in response.

"Fuck off. I thought you were over your judgmental shit, and now you're throwing shade at me?"

"You're a murderer!" Rubi argued, clutching her racket tightly as Kaira drew her katana. "I'm not."

"What makes you so sure of that?" Kaira's eyes narrowed, and Sarah chuckled slightly.

"Y-you guys are so similar, it's funny," Sarah said lightly.

"Similar!?" Kaira protested. "How in the hell are we-"

"Well, you're both competitive, angered pretty easily, materialistic-"

"I'm none of those things," Rubi argued.

"And neither am I!" Kaira added.

"Sure, sure..."

<><><>

"I found some records of something," Mario told Peach, as the two rested in his room. "I figured I should wait until we were alone to open them."

"Smart, smart," Peach smiled saccharinely, and looked at the tan folder. "So... let's open it! The anticipation is killing me."

"Alright, alright."

Mario quickly opened the folder, and the title read 'THE MUSHROOM HIGH SCHOOL PLAN."

"What an original name," Peach giggled slightly. "Oh well."

THE MUSHROOM HIGH SCHOOL PLAN

DOCUMENT ORGANIZED BY MARIO MARIO

"Wait, what!?" Mario was taken aback, confused as to what he'd done previous to the brainwash. "Are you telling me...I organized this whole thing!?"

STUDENTS INVOLVED: KAIRA REIKO, MARIO MARIO, LUIGI MARIO, STELLA PAATH, WALUIGI NAPIER, JAMES TARE, ELEKA TARE...

The list of students continued, and Mario skipped past it. He did note, however, that people on the list were missing.

11/23/2068

STUDENTS ARE SAFELY HOLED UP IN MUSHROOM HIGH. EVERYONE SEEMS HAPPY. I HAVENT TOLD THEM YET, BUT LOTS OF VIOLENCE HAS GONE DOWN LATELY. WE'RE NOT COMPLETELY SURE WHY, BUT THERE'S NO WAY IM COMPLAINING.

THINGS HAVE BEEN GOING WELL.

12/21/2068

EVERYTHING HAD BEEN GOING WELL UNTIL YESTERDAY. A MEETING FOR PEOPLE TO VOTE AGAINST THE KING HAPPENED IN ROOM 5-C, EVERYONE ATTENDED BESIDES MYSELF. IT WAS IMMEDIATELY CRASHED BY ONE OF BOWSER'S LACKEYS, WHO MADE EVERYONE FORGET ABOUT THE MEETING, AS WELL AS KILLED THE ONE'S IT DIDNT WORK ON. BOWSER WAS KIND ENOUGH TO MESSAGE ME WARNING THAT MY ATTEMPTS TO STOP HIM WOULDN'T WORK, WHICH IS HOW I DETERMINED IT WAS HIS WORK. IVE NOW COME TO THE CONCLUSION THERE IS AT LEAST ONE PERSON IN THE SCHOOL THAT IS A TRAITOR. CASUALTIES WERE JAMES TARE, ELEKA TARE, WILSON GRANT, JOSHUA CHEN, KIRK ERES, AND ALEXANDER HARDING. IT HURTS ME TO KNOW THAT MY FELLOW CLASSMATES ARE BEING INJURED, BUT THERES NOTHING I CAN DO NOW.

"Who are these other people?" Mario asked in confusion. "What?"

"They were killed for Bowser's... whatever," Peach shuddered. "That's horrible..."

"Seems I was the one who had everyone holed up in here?" Mario looked away. "But..."

"There's brainwashes happening, apparently," Peach shrugged. "Maybe it wasn't you."

"So who could've done this?"

"Someone who's either really persuasive," Peach said. "Or someone who's really violent."

Hey everyone! Hope you're all enjoying.

GUYS WE GOT 2k!!

Did this give you a better clue?

Who do you think the mastermind is?

Thanks for reading!