Extermination (Mafia)

Chapter 8

"So... We didn't really try to figure out who the mafia could be very well the last two times," Bowser brought up as everyone remained quiet. No one seemed to know what to say and everyone was scared out of their minds for real this time. The first one had seemed fake. The second one brought denial. Now, reality sunk in. Now, the stakes were amped.

Now, they understood that they could really die.

It had all seemed like a joke. None of them understood the whole actual concept of death, but now Peach had really, really been killed. They understood that the mafia was taking it easy on them, that the mafia didn't have to allow them all to come back.

But the terrifying part was that the mafia just wanted to play with their food.

"I-I'm not good at deducing anything," Dixie said shakily, grasping Dixie's hand. She was nervous, reasonably so. "I-I'm probably more of a burden.."

A silence fell over the air since no one knew what to say. Eventually, Toadette added to the conversation.

"Dixie, that's not true," She disagreed, although the others knew it was just Toadette being nice like normal. No one could deny Dixie's cluelessness at times. But they all didn't think she was a problem like she'd said. "You're no burden, you're a friend. A very dear one. "

"I-I'm not smart though!" Dixie acknowledged this fact, knowing full well that everyone else thought the same. "I-I don't know how to help-"

"Dixie, it's not that," Mario said firmly. Ever since Peach's death, someone needed to be the voice of reason. He was glad to step up as the one. "It's going to be okay. You're not being a burden, we all need you here."

"...I-I-I dunno about that..."

"Enough of this. We're wasting time. There's apparently four other people who had special roles, wouldn't it help us if we knew?" Pauline questioned suspiciously. "There's a cop and a nurse, like traditional mafia. I forgot the other two roles..."

"Veteran and bodyguard," Birdo scoffed. "How nice of them to give us some sort of defense. Are they really so arrogant?"

"They shouldn't come out," Bowser shook his head, disagreeing with Pauline. "If they did, no one would attack the veteran, and the bodyguard themselves would be killed."

"But if the doctor and the bodyguard come out, couldn't they just save each other?" Luigi asked, as it had been the first thing on his mind.

"That's assuming both of those people comply. Everyone's lives are on the line, you really think they'll save some random person over the one they love?" Donkey Kong reminded them. "This isn't some game. We could all die for real."

"I mean, he's kinda right," Toad mumbled, glancing over at Toadette. "I personally wouldn't ever stop healing those that I love."

Toadette looked over at him and smiled, grabbing his hand for comfort. They looked at each other happily.

"So what can we do?" Diddy Kong asked, confused. He nervously began to play with his cap. "I don't want to sit around and wait to die."

"The cop just needs... to share a-all the information," Rosalina said slowly, as it was the only idea she could think of. "If we do that, then... We'll know who is suspicious and who isn't."

"That's a good idea," Luigi nodded. "The doctor should stay on the cop. Or the bodyguard."

"Assuming they both cooperate," Birdo reminded them, remaining realistic. "Let's just be honest."

"We all need to work together to find the mafia," Mario instructed, trying to keep everyone unified. "I know that these are hard times and that tensions are high. Anyone around us could be the mafia. I know that. But we need to work together even if those we love are put in danger."

"I'm not losing anyone else I care about," Toad said strongly, squeezing Toadette's hand tightly. He then looked over to Mario. "We can't lose a second leader."

"We must be unified indeed," Luigi nodded. "Otherwise we'll all die again..."

"Right," Boo scoffed. "Now that we've gotten all lovey-dovey, what's our line of defense against this mafia? We're all just going to sit here and wait to die?"

"You mean that doesn't sound like a good plan?" Pauline asked sarcastically. "Well, I'd rather stay grouped up than to separate. The mafia will probably have a harder time, right?"

"I mean-"

As soon as Bowser tried to answer, the lights blacked out once again. Complaints and screams echoed through the room again as the sound of a struggle was heard. The sound of a weapon stabbing someone was heard.

The lights were off for a long time after the event, leaving everyone shaking.

As light filled the room, everyone let out a horrified scream at the sight before them.

A knife to the chest, blood pooling out beneath him, laid Mario.

hey everyone! so so so sorry for the late/lack of updates. i had really bad writers block but i felt bad that i hadn't uploaded. so i'm sorry if it's not that good.

question(s) of the chapter: who's the mafia? cop? nurse? bodyguard? veteran?

thanks for reading!