Hey guys, this is Words-Of-A-Fallen-Angel here, I've had to upload the story for Precipifax but he'll be editing it in the morning, it's not completely finished yet :)
Mario and Luigi: The Beginning
Chapter 1:
It was thirty two minutes past seven in the break of dawn on the second of August; the youngest of the Sparrows family, Mark and Lewis, were eagerly awaiting their exam results following a past week of trepidation. The two brothers, being the competitive epitomes they've become, share another reason they'd like to triumph over one another with their academic accomplishments – to appeal to Annabel, the most beautiful, ferociously captivating and not-to-mention the prominent intelligent student of the class.
The family were waiting in the kitchen, the scathed old kettle boiling, releasing the white steam of anticipated relaxation and blossoming into the small, brown and yellow creviced kitchen. Their mother Hazel tried to break the eerie silence in the diminutive room, but was interrupted by the satisfying and almost awaited sound they were hoping for that morning – the letterbox. The two boys took a brief sip of their tea, and the emotion of combined intense nerves and excitement overwhelmed the enormous heat produced by the boiling kettle, and sent the pair racing to the white, paint-stripped door and tore the envelopes from the brass rectangular box. They returned to the kitchen, clutching the envelopes with all enthusiasm and quietly, savagely tore the right hand corner with a surge of adrenaline and exhilaration in their veins, thoughts bounding through their minds of what they hope to get. The frantic sounds of orders for calmness were rendered irrelevant by Mark and Lewis as they braced the paper, unfolding the paper with such swiftness and etiquette; they diverted their eager eyes to heading of the letter. Both boys exclaimed with excitement, their parents hailing inquisitive questions in all directions. After extensive competitive comparisons between the two boy's results, their father Daniel enquired "Can your mother and I at least have a look at them now?" he joked with an appreciative smile.
Hazel and Daniel revealed a wide, transfixed grin upon their faces, obviously pleased about their boy's achievements. Their father stepped forward, gently scooping the increasingly tepid mug from the sideboard, took a calm sip, and said "Looks like you two geniuses need a reward eh?" The boys jumped and smiled with excitement, after all, they knew exactly what they wanted. Hazel intervened into the moment and added "Nothing too expensive though, you'll know what your grandma will say if she finds out we've gone crown and jewels to get you two what you want.." The boys sighed, Mark swooped from his sigh, "What about something which helps us get something else?" he said, with intermittent elements of excitement and joy in his voice. "We'll think about it guys", she glanced at her watch, "Heavens above, look at the time! We better get Mark off to the stables, we're going to be late for his session."
Mark enjoyed sports and was a lifelong passion of his, like any other boy his age. He mostly liked playing football and gymnastics, an odd combination yet no-one questioned him at it. But there was one particular hobby that he favoured over everything. He simply adored horse-riding. He had a blossoming love for wild-west films and cowboy toys when he was younger. As a result, on his twelfth birthday, he began wanting what he longed to do for a long time; horse-riding sessions. Hazel and Mark arrived in their Volvo at Jane Farm, the ten acres of land was originally a farm, abundant in wheat and maize crops, but redeveloped into an endless pasture of green which carried beyond the horizon of the hill and continued to the clouds above. The day was developing into a wet and drizzly one, paralleling the composition in the sky above which was a heavy dark mixture of grey and white, intertwining like the roots of the oldest tree after decades of natural coexistence. Hazel frowned at the weather about to occur and darted back inside the car to grab her umbrella, regardless if it had old multicoloured sticky sweets on it or not. Mark trundled over to the stable/shed near the western corner of the plot, and changed into his blue and black riding gear. He walked over to the stable area, with the ground transforming into a sort of brown quicksand, albeit three inches deep of it. The stable owner, Jane Driven, greeted him with a hopeful yet faux pas grin, her mood damped by the unfavourable weather. Mark was borrowing one of Jane's steeds, Emily, who was a little smaller in size than the remaining horses, however she expressed a elegant, soft mane of a vanilla shade, and was the most calm horse he'd ever rode. He pondered what he'd like to have for his treat from his parents, and the prominent thought of extra money to permanently buy the horse that he rode as a child, providing that Jane would keep to her promise of complimentarily looking after him if the Sparrows bought him. Its name was Shadowfax, and boldly emitted a strong black coat, with a lengthy mane to match.
There was a kind of surreal connection between Mark and Shadowfax, when they rode together, there was no distinction between two contrasting mindsets of the duo, it appeared as if their heart and soul conjoined as one, and an eternal bond had been established between them; a luminescent companionship was showing as bold as brass between the pair. Mark only needed a couple extra hundred pounds to call Shadowfax his own, and the thought of that sprang instantly to mind and he decided he was going to ask for the remaining amount for the steed he loved so dearly. As soon as his instructor helped him off Emily after the session had finished, alas being an unpleasant one, Mark got changed back as swift as lightning into his plain wet red t-shirt and drenched baggy jeans. He raced over to his mother on the opposite side of the bordering fence, pleading that she and dad would discuss if they'd be happy to do this. Hazel recognized a particular longing in his eyes, a visual reminiscence of the times when he used to ride Shadowfax, and the happiness that he would finally get the chance to own Shadowfax, once and for all.
The car pulled up to the house, with the depression in the drive casing a substantial amount of rainwater, and the tiny traces of leaves and twigs peacefully ruining the clear picture. They opened the front door, and embraced the warm gust of hominess, clambering inside from the increasingly heavy rain. They both hooked their wet raincoats on the remaining pegs in the corridor, Lewis upon hearing their entry, exclaimed from the top of the stairs "Mark, you know we both got rewards.. ..guess what I got?" Mark brushed past his mother and rushed upstairs, eager to see what his brother chose as his reward. His brother got the new Gameboy Advance, which both boys wanted for Christmas. "Ah wow Lewis! Can I have a go after you?" he asked. "After this," he replied "I'm playing Jumpman, you know the game on the telly? I got that with the package". "Cool! Thanks, oh and by the way I'm popping down to get some chocolate, you want some?" asked Mark, with the sly intention of subtly grovelling to his brother in case he changed his mind. "Yeah sure that'll be great cheers!" Mark returned his reply with a silent smile, and quickly walked downstairs.
He returned up the stairs, carefully balancing two Snickers bars upon two individual cups of tea, which the boys drank religiously. Making the tea in the morning was almost a sort of ritual, and also coupled as an instrument of bribery for use against their parents handily. He placed the tea on the table-side and sat bedside Lewis, deliberately insinuating his time for playing was approaching. "Damn it, I died. Argh, that level is so hard!" said a defeated Lewis. "Come on, pass it here, let the master do it" he joked, with a sense of eagerness in his voice. Mark completed it first time, and Lewis challenged Mark that he couldn't complete the game before dinner, to truly test his brother's skill and the hopeful spark that he'll lose as well. As time flew by, the two boys were fixated to the screen, religiously playing and proving each other's skill, determined to better the other until the final level.
They had managed to reach the final level, and the two boys were triumphantly taking it in their stride and agreed they'd try and finish the game before dinner was served. After fifteen minutes, the boys frustration rose as they found it near-enough impossible to complete the level. They had squabbled, complained, patronized, as if they had become mutual enemies, but displayed the same amount of amicability they had expressed before. A clash echoed from the kitchen downstairs, and the faint cry of Hazel shouting that dinner was being served up, and was a good opportunity for the boys to get refreshed and calm down. That night's dinner was like no other. Time for the boys appeared to have sped up as they wolfed down their supper, eager to rush back upstairs to continue their quest to finish Jumpman. Before they left the oak dinner table, a resounding thunder swept through the house, a blinding light transcending from the pitch-black sky. "Oh dear," their father commented, "don't turn on your TV boys, otherwise the fuse might blow because of the possible electrical surge". "We're not using it anyway, we're playing on my new Gameboy" replied Lewis, slowly advancing to the stairs. "You can come off that actually, you've been on it far too long, and it'll make your eyes go square!" said Hazel authoritatively. "Oh mum! Can we have like five more minutes, we're on the last level!" complained Mark, hoping to buy time to complete what they're set out to finish. "Fine, FIVE minutes, but after that, I'm expecting to see you off when I come up there" she replied with reluctant leniency. A joyful silence echoed between the two brothers
Mark and Lewis immediately scrambled up the stairs and into their room to try and attempt to complete the game in the five minute time frame, as they knew the consequences of their mother hiding their possessions as a kind of punishment. Mark had the initial try and came close to carrying out their task, but failed, leaving Lewis an opportunity to break the tense silence and reclaim his Gameboy. The thud of the sound of hollow footsteps walking up the stairs sparked a frantic panic to save the game, switch it off and put it on the television. The boy's door opened with a reassuring creak and their mother entered, almost transmorphing into an eagle, her eyes scanning the room and the duos hands for the small, rectangular electrical device which bewildered so many parents. "Glad to see you're not on it guys, come on – time for bed now" acknowledged Hazel. "Oh mum!" remarked Mark and Lewis simultaneously. "Can't we have another ten minutes please?" pleaded Lewis. "No, sorry boys, you had a late night last night, and you've got your paper rounds in the morning, I almost had to drag you out of bed this morning!" denied their mother. The brothers released a sigh of defeat and got ready for bed, resisting temptation to play the Gameboy under the covers, but the thought is actively relinquished by the prospect of their mum pouncing in thorough the door for a quick check-up.
They both stumbled into their individual beds; the cold bracing duvet coupled with the pillow was frantically tossed about and moved ecstatically in every attempt to convert the harsh cold to warmth. Intermittent glances were made to the top of the television, as temptation grew on them to play with it. However if their mother found out, they'd get it confiscated for at least two days after, so they decided between them that they both wouldn't try and complete it that night. The two boys wished each other goodnight and they both drifted off to sleep.
The night grew even more thunderous, and increasingly more tridents of electricity were emitting from the darkened sky, and the rain threw down heavier. It was twenty-seven minutes past eleven, and the parents had also returned to slumber. Then, instantaneously, an extremely unusual
Sorry to those that have read this far and encountered an unfinished sentence, but I did warn you at the top! It will be edited soon guys!