"Is that cloning machine fixed yet?!" Tatanga yelled.
"Almost Sir" A clone said "the plumbers damaged it severely."
"Well, hurry up" Tatanga said "I only have sixty-three clones left from the last attack, including you. Speaking of which, I am going to talk to the others. You stay here and keep working."
The clones were back in the projection room.
Tatanga walked in and said "we have been going about this all wrong. Attacking the plumbers at their homes made it easier for them to defend themselves, and gave them access to their weapons. We must attack them away from their homes and when they are unprepared. From what we have observed, every Saturday Mario and Luigi play sports while the princesses do an activity called 'girl time' which usually involves shopping or watching a movie. Since it is Saturday, we will attack today. I apologize for the short notice. You will be the first wave of our attack. We will attack the brothers first. Do not kill them, capture them so we can use them as hostages. Not one of you is to carry a M-14, M-60, .357 or shotgun of any kind. That way, if they get to their weapons we can starve them of ammunition. Take a transport ship from the docking area and attack, now. Any questions?"
One of the clones stood up and said "you said we are to take the brothers alive, what if they acquire weapons and fire on us?"
"You may fire on them only if it is absolutely necessary" Tatanga said "any other questions?"
The other clones were silent.
"Good" Tatanga said "on your way."
The clones stood up and walked toward the armory. Then headed for the docking area. Meanwhile, Mario and Luigi were on Peach's court playing the third tennis game of the day. Of course wearing overalls, green or red shirts and hats. Suddenly a space ship landed beside the court. The clones ran out and surrounded Mario and Luigi. The brothers turned so that they were back to back, facing the clones.
One stepped forward and asked "will you surrender peacefully?"
"Surrender?" Mario asked "we've killed hundreds of you clones and you think your little group will make us surrender?"
"You have no weapons this time" the clone said "now surrender."
Mario looked over his shoulder at Luigi and said "Bene, questo sembra male." (well, this seems bad)
"Considerando il fatto che siamo tagliati fuori, circondato, in inferiorità numerica e disarmati sono d'accordo" Luigi said. (considering the fact that we are cut off, surrounded, outnumbered and unarmed I have to agree)
"Hai qualche idea brillante?" Mario asked. (Got any bright ideas?)
"Bene" Luigi said "che clone laggiù a destra, sinistra, ha un grande fucile d'assalto. Provate a portarlo fuori, poi fai quello che puoi. Farò quello che posso con i cloni sull'altro lato. buon suono?" (well that clone over there to the right, your left, has a large assault rifle. Try to take him out first, then do what you can. I'll do what I can with the clones on the other side. sound good?)
"Suona bene a me" Mario said "ma, cosa succede se ci ammazzano o ci catturano?" (sounds good to me, but, what if they kill us or capture us?)
"Non parlare così" Luigi said "abbiamo affrontato quote peggio contro questi scatti, basta afferrare una pistola appena appena possibile e faremo blastica nostra via dustcoat." (don't talk like that, we've faced worse odds against these jerks, just grab a gun as soon as soon as you can and we'll blast our way out)
"Buona idea" Mario said "tre, due, uno, via!" (good idea. three, two, one, go!)
He threw his racket at the clone with the assault rifle, hitting it in the forehead. Knocking it unconscious. Then he ran to the clones, grabbed two of them and slammed them into each other. One of them dropped a SCAR assault rifle. Mario grabbed it and began spraying the other clones. A clone pointed a .45 revolver at him. Luigi saw the clone, ran over and shoulder rammed it. Knocking it down and causing it to drop the pistol. Luigi grabbed the pistol and shot a clone in front of him holding a M-16. He grabbed the rifle and began shooting the clones behind them. Once they had killed about thirty clones, the others ran away. Mario and Luigi high-fived each other.
"The girls!" Luigi said.
"I think they're shopping today" Mario said "let's get our guns and go get them."
"We don't have time to go to the mansion or the castle vault" Luigi said "just grab something here."
Since Luigi couldn't find a M-14, he settled for a bolt action 30-06 with a scope and filled his pockets with all the 30-06 rounds he could find. Mario didn't see a M-60 or any other light machine gun, so he kept the SCAR and grabbed all the clips he could find. Luigi grabbed the M-16 and put the sling over his shoulder and put a few spare clips in his pocket.
"What's that for?" Mario asked.
"Daisy" Luigi replied.
"Oh right" Mario said.
He grabbed the .45 revolver for Peach and put it in his belt. They began running toward the toad town mall. Meanwhile at the mall, A clone was holding Peach. It had its arms wrapped around her elbows behind her back. Keeping her arms behind her. Two clones were holding Daisy's arms behind her back while another was tying her wrists together. Mario and Luigi came over a hill and saw what was happening.
"You're up, bro" Mario said.
Luigi knelt down, put his elbow on his knee and took aim. Peach was trying to shake the clone off so she could help Daisy. They heard a gun shot. Peach saw the bullet hit one of the clones holding Daisy in the head, it passed through its head and hit the other in the head killing both of them. When Daisy realized that she wasn't being held anymore, she spun around and head-butted the third clone in the forehead. The clone stumbled back. Daisy stepped forward and kicked the clone between the legs as hard as she could. The clone fell and curled into a ball. Daisy kicked it in the head, knocking it out. Mario began running toward Peach. Using the momentum of the run and all the strength he had, He punched the clone holding her in the face. The clone let go of Peach, stumbled back and fell down.
Mario walked over to it and said "keep your hands off of my wife!"
He leaned down and punched the clone across the jaw, knocking it unconscious. Luigi took out his pocket knife and cut the ropes on Daisy's wrists.
"Thanks" she said.
"No problem" Luigi said.
He took the M-16 off of his shoulder and handed it to her with the extra clips. Mario handed Peach the .45 and a handful of bullets. Daisy was wearing her usual Saturday attire, a yellow tee shirt with a daisy on the chest, tight blue jeans and tennis shoes. Peach had her dress on like always. She went into a clothing store near by and bought a pink tee shirt and denim shorts and quickly changed in the bathroom.
When Peach rejoined them, Luigi looked at the girls and said "I don't think any of the clones have the weapons we like to carry; which means if we go get our guns, when we run out of ammo, they're useless. So I suggest we find new weapons. There are about thirty to choose from at Peach's tennis court."
"Well then, let's go" Daisy said as she turned the safety off on the M-16.
They began walking toward Peach's castle cautiously. When they got to the tennis court, they began to search through the bodies. The rifle Luigi had was the only weapon with a scope. Mario was looking through all the machine guns he could find. He saw Luigi sitting on the court, looking the rifle over.
"Are you gonna switch to a semi-auto or automatic weapon, Luigi?" Mario asked.
"No" Luigi said "this is the only rifle with a scope, and I think we both know I make a better sniper than I would a machine gunner."
"You're probably right" Mario said smiling "besides that two heads with one bullet stunt proved you're a great shot with it."
"I try" Luigi said smiling.
Mario finally found what he was looking for, a M-240 LMG. Daisy smiled when she spotted a clone with a flamethrower strapped on its back. Her smile got bigger when she saw that it was a M2a1. She pulled it off of the clone and strapped it on. She pointed it away from the tennis courts and fired a short burst of flames.
Mario looked at her and said "uh Daisy, what was that for?"
"Just to make sure it has fuel" Daisy said.
Peach searched, but couldn't find a shotgun.
"There are no shotguns" Peach said.
Daisy walked over to her with the M-16 and asked "do you think you could use this?"
"I don't know" Peach said "I'll admit that I'm a terrible shot. Last time I used something besides a shotgun, I just used up all the bullets and didn't hit anything."
"That's ok Peachy" Daisy said with a reassuring smile "I'll help you with the rifle."
"Ok" Peach said.
Daisy handed it to her and said "Ok, put it up to your shoulder."
Peach raised it and pointed it at a tree.
"Good" Daisy said "now, look through the circle. Do you see the three points on the front sight?"
"Yes" Peach said.
"Ok" Daisy said "you put the center point in the middle of the circle and that's where the bullet will go. The rifle is set to three round burst, which means no matter how long you hold the trigger back it will only fire three bullets. Now, shoot the tree."
Peach took aim and fired three bursts.
"Ok" Daisy said "you fired nine bullets, let's go see how you did."
They walked over to the tree and found five bullet holes.
Daisy put her hand on Peach's shoulder and said " five out of nine, that's over half. see Peachy, you're not such a bad shot you've just gotta aim."
Peach smiled and said "thanks Daze."
"You're welcome" Daisy said "do you know how to reload?"
"No" Peach said.
Daisy showed her how to reload the M-16.
"Ok" Peach said "we're ready."
Mario and Luigi showed the princesses the ship that had landed.
"Here it is" Luigi said "it's not Tatanga's main ship, it looks more like a cargo ship or something."
"Yeah" Daisy said "I wonder why they didn't bring the main ship."
"I hope they aren't repairing that stupid cloning machine" Mario said.
The remaining clones began firing at them from a nearby hill.
"Use the ship for cover!" Luigi yelled.
They ran to the back of the ship.
"What do we do?" Mario asked.
"Well" Luigi said "they have the high ground and we have weapons that we aren't used to so it will be interesting to see how it plays out, but Mario set up to the right and try to find a safe firing position then let 'em have it."
"Gotcha" Mario said as he started crawling around the ship.
"Peach" Luigi said "go under the center of the ship, try to stay in cover and fire at them."
"Ok" Peach said then she started crawling under the ship.
Luigi looked at Daisy and said "I'm going left, you come with me. If they start to charge us, burn 'em."
"Ok" Daisy said "let's go."
They crawled around to the left side of the ship. When they were all in position, Mario started firing, moving the barrel from side to side. Luigi began picking off the clones with heavy weapons. Peach kept aiming at tightly grouped pockets of clones. Soon there were only seven left. The clones began running toward them.
"Finally" Daisy said.
She stood up and sprayed them with flames.
"Daisy, get back" Luigi said "there's one more."
Daisy moved back behind the ship.
"He just ducked behind that tree" Luigi said "I can't get a clear shot. Will you go tell Mario? He can probably see him from where he is."
"What about Peach" Daisy asked "her rifle is more accurate."
"It's your call" Luigi said "if you think she can do it, tell her. I trust you and your judgment."
"Ok" Daisy said.
She took her flamethrower off and started crawling under the ship.
She got to Peach and said "Luigi said that there is one more behind that tree. He can't get it from where he is, but you can kinda see it from here."
"Did you bring his rifle to shoot it?" Peach asked.
"Nope" Daisy said "I came to tell you so you could shoot it."
Peach looked at her and said "but, Daisy I-"
"No buts" Daisy interrupted "just do what Luigi does, aim, take your time and kill him."
"Ok" Peach said "I'll try."
She raised her rifle and aimed. She put the sights on the clone's chest and pulled the trigger. The clone fell and laid still.
"Atta girl" Daisy said as she patted Peach's back.
"Thanks" Peach said.
Daisy crawled back to Luigi and said "clear."
She strapped her flamethrower on and stood up and walked in front of the ship. Mario, Luigi and Peach joined her.
"Now what?" Peach asked.
"Well" Luigi said "I vote we go to the mansion, get something to eat, clean our weapons and plan our next move."
"I like that idea" Mario said "especially the eating part."
Meanwhile, on Tatanga's ship. The cloning machine started up as an evil grin crept across Tatanga's face. He stepped into the machine, it began to scan him. Clones began to appear and line up.
"How many are we making?" The clone at the controls asked.
"As many as we can in twenty-four hours" Tatanga said "as soon as we have one hundred made, arm them and send them to the Mushroom Kingdom."
The next day, Mario, Luigi, Peach and Daisy all met at Peach's castle.
"Ok" Luigi said "we know Tatanga is planning something so we need to take some precautions."
"Such as?" Mario asked.
"Well" Luigi said "first: we should keep our weapons and ammo with us at all times."
"What if we want to go out to eat and the restaurant owners don't allow guns inside?" Peach asked.
"You're the ruler of the kingdom" Luigi said "I think they have to listen to you more than you have to listen to them."
"Good point" Peach said.
"Yeah" Luigi said "second: keep your cell phones charged and close. If anybody spots Tatanga, a clone or the ship; immediately call the others. Third: I think we-"
Suddenly, bullets began tearing through the windows and the door, luckily they didn't come through the bricks.
"Find cover!" Daisy yelled.
They grabbed their guns and ducked behind the bricks.
"Well" Daisy said "this seems familiar."
"Except we aren't prepared this time" Luigi said.
"What do we do?" Mario asked.
"We fight back" Daisy said.