The year was late 1981, and the Princess had managed to fit into retro Brooklyn society. She bought a small apartment downtown, and all of her New York friends knew her as Pauline. On this particular day, Pauline was returning from the supermarket with a few frozen mushroom pizzas in the trunk of her 1977 Mercedes Benz. As she pulled up to a red light in an intersection, she turned on the radio to find an odd message coming through:

[ATTENTION ALL DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN RESIDENTS]

A rogue gorilla has just escaped from the Bronx Zoo and appears to be headed toward your area. We advise you to stay indoors and if possible, lock and board all of your windows until authorities can contain the ape. We repeat, stay indoors until the ape is contained. That is all.]

The Princess switched off her radio as the light turned green, and she turned into the road leading to her apartment building. Next door to the building was an area in construction, a soon-to-be arcade. Peach pulled up to the front of the construction site and began to unload her groceries, while some of the local carpenters watched on their rafters.

"…She's a real beauty isn't she bro?"

"The girl with the blonde hair? She seems a bit high-maintenance for either of us…"

"This comes from the guy who couldn't even get a date for the high school prom."

"…Shut up Mario…"

These two carpenters were the Mario Bros, some of Brooklyn's finest. They lived across the street from the Princess, and they both had rather impressive mustaches. Mario was the older brother, while his younger brother, who went by the name Luigi, was a bit shy around women. Before Mario could introduce himself however, he was shoved aside by one of his "larger" co-workers.

"Outta the way Mario! If anyone's gonna get this girl, it's gonna be Wario!"

This larger co-worker was Wario, Mario & Luigi's distant cousin. He lived in New Jersey, but he was spending the month with them, working as a carpenter to raise money for a boat. Wario was pretty friendly around the ladies, and he wasn't afraid to show it. He perched himself up against Peach's car and introduced himself.

"S'up toots? The name's Wario, and you look like you could use a drink. How about you & me get some dinner at the old pizza parlor uptown, say…seven?"

Peach slammed her trunk and turned to Wario, with a smug look on her face.

"Maybe next time, tubby. I'm busy."

Suddenly, a rumbling sound came from around the corner. Peach and Wario turned to check what was happening, and almost out of nowhere, a fire-red Ferrari flew out from behind the corner and crashed into the sidewalk.

"MY CAR!"

Luigi ran up to the crushed convertible and began to sob as a massive gorilla turned the corner and let out a roar. Wario made a run for it and dashed down the street as the ape grabbed Peach and leaped into the construction site.

"Let me go you damn dirty ape!"

Peach hollered as the gorilla grabbed the rafters and heaved itself to the top of the stack of iron girders, beating its chest with pride. Mario turned on his heels and looked up at the crazy gorilla, with the sun glaring in his eyes.

"…Just when I started to think that things were normal here in Brooklyn…"

Without a second thought, Mario ran up to the girders and started to climb them, one by one, squeaky ladder by squeaky ladder. The gorilla was angry, and it noticed a pile of empty barrels sitting behind it. In about three seconds, a hail of splintering wood came hurtling down toward the determined carpenter, who leaped over each one with ease. Pulling a hefty mallet out of his utility belt, he began to bash the barrels as he continued his construction site marathon, with Pauline screaming in terror. Before the Princess could let out another shriek, Mario leaped up to the top of the site, and the gorilla let out a deafening grunt.

"C'mon! Fight me, you oversized orangutan!"

The gorilla hurled itself at Mario, who jumped in the air and kicked it at the last second. The ape crashed into the rafter, causing it to break apart, and the site began to sway back and forth. Mario grabbed Pauline and jumped over to a nearby tower as the construction site crumbled to the ground, with the gorilla plummeting all the way. Police sirens wailed as several officers injected the gorilla with tranquilizer, and loaded it into an armored truck. Mario climbed down a ladder with the Princess in one arm, and she hopped down into the dirt before Mario followed her.

"Wow…that was…interesting…"

"Tell me about it. I'd try not to get abducted by monkeys from now on, lady."

"I'll try. I cannot thank you enough...what's your name again?"

"I'm Mario, and that's my brother Luigi over there."

Mario pointed over to Luigi, who was still shedding tears over his shattered car.

"IT TOOK ME SEVEN YEARS TO SAVE UP FOR THAT CAR!"

"That's fantastic Luigi. Anyway, I don't have much to do later on today…do you wanna maybe catch a movie with me later?"

Pauline smiled and put her hand on Mario's shoulder.

"If that's how you want me to repay you, I'd be happy to."

The Princess then went to pick up her groceries, and she went into her apartment as the police cars began to drive away. Mario went up to Luigi and said with a sigh:

"I've still got it bro. I've still got it."