The Man with the Smile
Prologue:
Many months after the defeat of Super Dimentio, Mario and his friends have lived in Flipside in comfort, unaware of the danger that they were about to face.
Meanwhile at an unknown realm, a man started to finish up organizing his files at his office. But of course, this was interrupted by a booming sound.
"MR. ZEP!" boomed the loud echo.
"Oh dear… I wonder what he wants now" muttered the man known as Mr. Zep.
Mr. Zep quickly finished up his work and hurried up the stairs.
Mr. Zep used to be a man of many qualities. He would walk down the street with his neighbors greeting him and inviting him to parties, but now such things have become irrelevant to him. For he has become dull, passive, and dislikable by many, which was part of his new job of being a bureaucratic agent working for a devilishly cunning master in a forlorn manor.
As he entered his master's study, he noticed that his master wore strange attire, which consisted of a red sparkling suit, a red top hat, black Italian shoes, white gloves, a yellow spotted green bowtie, and a spherical yellow helmet with a smiley face. This particular helmet sent shivers up Mr. Zep's spine mainly because of the black oval eyes drawn on the helmet, which seemed to peer into his very soul.
"Y-You called for me, Mr. Smiley, sir?" stammered the troubled bureaucrat.
"Yes indeed, for I have just thought up of an amazing plan and I am in need of your services… But before that, what do you think of my new outfit?" asked the man known as Mr. Smiley.
"Ummmm… well it's umm."
"I know, sexy isn't it?" said Mr. Smiley with a slight chuckle.
"What is it that you wanted me to do, sir?" inquired Mr. Zep.
"Oh right! Well, as you know I'm going to reopen the Crimson Circus, but this time we're going to double the action so that I can attract a large audience. However, I'm in need of some contestants, or fresh meat if you will."
The Crimson Circus was once one of the most attended structures in all of Flipside. It showcased events that were death-defying and exciting, but mostly dangerous, which led many casualties in the process. Because of these events, the Shamen joined forces to defeat Mr. Smiley and end his sick game show, their combined magic was just enough to match his own. And so with Mr. Smiley's defeat, he honorably agreed to the terms of unconditional surrender. The circus was condemned, while Mr. Smiley was forced to live in exile in his own dimension unable to step one foot into neither Flipside nor Flopside.
"Shall I look through the character archives?"
"Yes! Gather some worthy heroes and dastardly villains, with a side of random creatures if you please" said the eccentric ringmaster.
"I shall look into it at once, sir" replied Mr. Zep.
A few minutes later…
"Sir, I have a list of candidates for the show" said Mr. Zep.
Mr. Smiley starts to look through the list. "Ah well let's see… hrmm… No. No. Too scrawny. Nope. Yes. Yes. Oooh, I like this one" he muttered.
"Also, there's someone that might peak your interest." Mr. Zep hands over a separate profile to Mr. Smiley and although Mr. Zep couldn't see Mr. Smiley's face behind that helmet, he knew that he was putting on a malicious grin, which slowly turned into a menacing scowl as he kept reading through Dimentio's profile.
"Dimentio… so I've finally found you again at last… but wait… WHAT? How did he end up in the Underwhere?" shouted the angry ringmaster.
"Well how could you not know, sir? I mean, these events have been top news for several weeks" said Mr. Zep calmly.
"Uh… err… I, well… you know, I'm allergic to newsprint, but THAT DOESN'T MATTER! As soon as you get everyone else signed up for this event, you are to head down to the Underwhere and get Dimentio" demanded Mr. Smiley.
"But sir! The Underwhere is impenetrable, how am I supposed to go down there without, you know dying?" asked the frightened man in the expensive suit.
"I'll find a way to open a portal for you, but unless you want to fill in for Dimentio, I suggest you do as you are told without asking any questions!"
"Um… Understood, I'll get started on signing the competitors up immediately, but sir, I'm just curious…"
*Sigh*" What?"
"Why couldn't we, you know, brainwash these characters into going, or threaten them to compete?"
Mr. Smiley slammed his fists against the table. "BECAUSE Mr. Zep, it's one thing for me to lose in at my own game, but to CHEAT is simply unforgiveable. I would very much rather destroy my own beloved circus than to recreate it using slander and dirty tricks" explained Mr. Smiley.
"And tricking them into signing a soul-binding contract is different because?"
"At least this way, they have a choice whether or not they will compete, but hey! If they want to be stupid and give in to temptation, who am I to stop them?"
"True…" admitted Mr. Zep. "But how am I supposed to convince them into signing up?"
"Just use that salesman charm that you have. You did take that motivational business seminar, right?"
"Well yea… I guess I'll go think of something"
"That's the spirit! Besides, it would do some good for you to get some fresh air."
Mr. Zep creates an elevator in a wall and exits the strange dimension.
"Heh heh heh… who needs Flipside? There are plenty of other worlds out there that would KILL to see a show like this" declared Mr. Smiley.
