A groggy plumber slumped out of his apartment in Brooklyn, New York; His well-polished shoes clacking against the solid concrete steps as he descended to the sidewalk below. Not much went out of this mans mouth, but thoughts raced in his mind. "Ugh, late for work again-a. I wonder what my boss is gonna think."
He wore his normal attire; clad in blue denim overalls, a red t-shirt underneath. Sitting atop his messy head was a wrinkled, red cotton cap, decorated with a similar red "M" in the middle of a white circle. He slowly dragged himself to work; a plunger slung over his shoulder, holding it there with his white latex gloves covering his wrinkly hands.
Strolling behind him was his brother, Luigi. Wearing similar clothing, he bared similar blue overalls, but a green shirt underneath, and a green cap on top of his marginally more trimmed head, an L stitched on it.
They quietly passed by the busy citizens, listening to the common New York sounds. Luigi, finally becoming bored of the silence between the two, broke the ice with his brother. He said in a concerned tone, "Mario, what's the matter?" Mario adverted his eyes sideways, towards his interrogative brother. "Just the fact-a we're fifteen minutes late for work. Not-a big deal," he replied, sarcasm in his voice. Luigi took the hint that he didn't want to start a conversation, and remained quiet until they returned to their office building.
Opening the door, they clocked in, and passed their secretary, who greeted them accordingly as they passed by. "Mr. Mario, Mr. Luigi! Wonderful to see you!" she exclaimed. This cheered them both up a bit. However, her tone quickly changed to a gloomy one, as a memory dawned in her head. Before they walked off to the office area, she exclaimed, "Hold on now, Mr. Cappo would like to see you," she said pitifully. Minutes later, they came out of his office, their heads hung in shame. "Well, it looks as if we're late again, we're-a fired!" Mario sighed disappointedly, as they walked out the door.
The duo headed out to the numerous grey vans, full of plumbing supplies. Fumbling to unlock the van, he finally released the lock the vehicle, allowing Luigi to climb inside with Mario driving. With the keys inserted and turned, the roar of the engine was audible. They soon proceeded to their first destination. They traveled for at least 30 minutes, around the twists and turns of the busy New York roads, Luigi exclaimed, "39th and Sequoia, we're here!" On the intersection, sat a tall 5-story building, caked in brick. "Apartment 245," Luigi mumbled. This meant searching wildly for the right apartment. As it turned out, after ten minutes of searching, it was on the top floor. They arrived to the door of the living space of their first customer of the day, expecting an angry scolding.
Mario knocked gently on the wooden barrier, but without a response. After a time with nothing happening, he knocked again, this time with more gusto, but to no avail. Finally, fed up, Mario banged the door with his fist, only to see it slowly crawl open. "HELLLLO?" Luigi called. They slowly walked inside to the uninhabited apartment. To the left, a large couch, a smaller chair, and a TV. To their right, a dining table. Next to that was a small kitchen area. Then they noticed the only light on, that being the bathroom, across from the bedroom. On a table next to the doorway leading to the bathroom, lies a note, written in fancy handwriting. Mario picked it up and read aloud, "Sorry I couldn't be with you right now, but please proceed to unclog the tub. It seems to be stuck. Thank you. P.S. Just send me a bill in the mail," At the bottom was a stamp, with the icon of a toadstool mushroom. "Odd that-a someone living here has such-a neat-a handwriting, and the odd stamp is certainly interesting," Mario thought.
Shrugging it off, the two proceeded to the bathtub, and first inspected the drain. The plug was still inside the opening. Luigi crouched over to remove the seal, but found himself having trouble removing the plastic cork. Luigi grunted as he propped one leg against the tub, still yanking its chain, literally. Mario stared impatiently, not amused. "Wow, this thing is stuck in the drain good," he chuckled. Mario set aside his plunger that was still being toted on his shoulder. He said in a bragging tone, "Step aside-a, bro. I'll take care-a this," he said with a smirk on his face. Using all of his might, he pulled as hard as he could, but with no success. He begrudgingly beckoned Luigi to help pull the chain connecting to the plug. Both pulled as hard as they could. After a few minutes of strenuous heaving, they finally pulled the plug lose from the duct. They instantly wished they hadn't.
A huge torrent of air pulled Mario towards the drain, nearly toppling him over the bathtubs edge. Panic filled his thoughts as the drain expanded to 10 times its original size, bringing Mario's cap flying off his head, himself next to be sucked inside. Luigi stepped aside as Mario tried to back off, but he literally had to step forward to escape its grasp, but a fruitless effort. He went heels-over-head, going feet first into the metal opening, getting stuck at his waist. Mario clenched to the side of the tub, Luigi grabbing his arms. Mario had shut his eyes, gritting his teeth as the drain drew wind harder and more forcefully. Luigi's expression of fear worsened as Mario's hands slipped from the grasp of the rim of the tub; Only Luigi's two hands were keeping Mario from being inhaled into the dark abyss. Luigi's feet flew up and over the tubs rim. Still holding on, both of them flew down the opening.
They were violently jostled around the tight steel framework of the apartment's plumbing system. After a few minutes of fumbling around in the dark, they came to an opening, feeling like they were free falling. They both yelled in unison, plummeting into the unknown, through the darkness.
To be continued?