Sorry this took so long, password problems.
Sooooooooo; Enjoy, hope you like, and thank you for your time.
Disclaimer: Mario and Luigi belong to Nintendo.
Mario stepped back to take in his newest work and reflected how sad it was he'd pulled it off so easily. Once upon a time people would line the street 24/7 to get a glance at the main attraction. Now that time was long gone, and cheap security cameras where the only things with eyes on the magnificent, ancient structure.
That will all change soon, Mario thought with a delinquent smirk. All the world will have their eyes on my masterpiece by morning, maybe sooner. I should clear out.
Mario picked up some of the empty spraypaint cans at his feet and threw them in the trash before thinking: What's the point? Weather or not their in the trash, they'll end up in the fingers of the police.
Mario turned and jumped to the top of the nearest building. as soon as his feet touched the platform he took off, sprinting along the roofs of the town, never touching the ground. In a matter of minutes he arrived on the outskirts of town, and at the thermal train station. The train ran on heat energy, and its rails were so hot you could get a third degree burn from getting too close.
Mario hopped right on straight from the roof and hit the rails running. He had no idea why it didn't bother him, it just didn't. There was a voluminous list of stuff Mario didn't know about himself.
He didn't know why he couldn't bruise, or why he couldn't cut himself. He could feel physical pain, but on a level that was obviously dimmer to everyone else's; and he had absolutely no clues whatsoever of why he loved red as much as all get-out. But worst of all, Mario didn't know where he came from. Ten years ago Mario woke up in Italy with no memory at all except for his own name, Luigi's name, and the fact that Luigi was his brother. The world was not a welcoming place for the two five year olds. No one would take in kids, because they did not want to break the E.R.L.s. The Earth Resurrection Laws were in place to revive earth, (which they already had)and keep it a beautiful place. Mario's least favorite of the E.R.L.'s was the set that was supposed to prevent overpopulation. Each couple was only allowed to have one set of children, and they were only allowed to have that set if all the orphanages in the world where empty. The urge to reproduce is a strong one, and if everyone was only allowed to go through the procedure once, they wanted to go for it. Since the human race's HQ was on Mars, those on Earth could get away with a lot, like not putting orphans in orphanages.
It means I can get away with a lot too. Mario thought.
All the super intense crimes to be solved by super intense gadgets were on the Moon and Mars. As a result of the E.R.L.'s the high-tech gadgets all were also on the Moon and Mars. As a result, life on Earth had not really advanced at all. It was like the Homarsapiens and the Homoonsapeins had stuck the earth in a giant time machine and turned back the clock to around the time smartphones were invented, but swapped out everything that was hurting the environment to eco-friendly alternatives, like the train that was barreling towards Mario. He had spotted the blinding headlights far before, and didn't even wince when they loomed a meter from his face. Without really thinking Mario deftly jumped over the engine and sprinted down the length of the train. He hurtled off the caboose and hit the rails still running. Mario's tireless energy supplied a swift, steady, pace that only he, and his brother could accomplish. In no time, but quite some distance, another rail joined Mario's, one that ran on electric energy instead of heat. They dipped into a tunnel. Mario followed the rails into the darkness, carefully measuring his footsteps before abruptly jumping to the side. Mario landed in a little cave in the tunnel.
"You in here?" he called to the darkness.
A single grunt answered his question. Something shifted in the small tunnel and a gust of air shot past Mario. It was hard to see, but Mario could just barely make out the outline of his brother, Luigi; who had landed on the electric rail nimbly.
"Ready to move out?" Mario asked.
His twin nodded. "But I got a snack for you first." Luigi tossed Mario a bright red apple. How did Mario know it was red? He had not the slightest clue, but he just... knew. Mario bit into the apple. The crunch echoed in the tunnel, just a little too loudly to only be from one apple.
"Did you get one too?" He asked Luigi.
"Um hum." Luigi responded, his mouth full. "They had granny smith today."
After their snack, the two brothers emerged from the tunnel. In an unspoken agreement they simultaneously started running northwest.
In a half hour they came across a sprawling winery. Leafy green vines with bunches of bulging red and green grapes went on for miles. Mario and Luigi sauntered down a strip of land between the red grape vineyard and the green grape vineyard, taking as much of either color as they pleased. Finally they came to a secret door enmeshed in grapevines. After entering a passcode, the door slid smoothly open. Inside was the bros' secret base. It was a plush white space dotted with red and green items. Everything from Ipads to tooth brushes were color coded. Among the white items that the brothers shared where the walls, floors and ceilings, apart from those in their own personal bedrooms. In the main living area was a curved flat screen TV and a wraparound couch. Between the two lie a shag carpet.
Luigi immediately crashed on the couch, while Mario waded through a sea of red and green remotes and other types of controllers. When he found the right one, the TV flickered on to the program Good Morning Italia! Mario couldn't suppress a smile when he saw the breaking news head story.
"The defacing of four of Italy's most amazing architectural feats has occurred!" The news anchor said. "Ponte Vecchio, the Florence Cathedral, the Pantheon, and the worst of all, the Colosseum have been grotesquely defaced!"
"I wouldn't say grotesquely." Mario commented. "It's not that bad"
"If you change any one of Italy's true marvels in any way, they'll call it grotesque." Luigi pointed out. "Even if it means straightening the leaning tower of Pisa, or restoring the colosseum to it's former glory. It's the fact that those exquisite buildings are old and crumbly that makes them so attractive."
"This specific style and color graffiti are proof enough that the Scourge of Italy has struck again." The TV continued "I asked last time if he could do anything worse than his previous scandal, and he delivered."
"You bet I did lady." Mario retorted.
"Indeed you did." said another voice.
As quick as he could be, Mario was kneeling in front of another.
Dante was the 22 year old owner of the winery. His father was imprisoned in space, and Dante had inherited his father's winery. He was a suspect in smuggling space weapons down to earth, where they where prohibited. Dante had taken in Mario and Luigi when no one else would. He even spoiled them, as long as they completed their errands for him. Mario owed him everything, and felt like Dante had saved his life.
"You two have outdone yourself." Dante remarked. "Mario, running all the way from Bologna to Rome and back in one night? Outstanding! And Luigi! The quality of your work on the Cathedral in florence? Amazing! Also, the clip of you playing the organ was simply magnificent!"
"Why thankyou." Luigi said blushing.
A loud wailing sounded as sirens went off. The TV screen switched from Good Morning Italia! to the security monitors. A group of people in dark black uniforms attacked the grand front entrance of Dante's mansion. All of them were immensely tall, a common characteristic of humans who lived on Mars. Humans that lived on the moon would have been taller. All of them had gold badges that identified them as space police. Quickly, Dante stepped in front of the screen and shooed Mario and Luigi away from it. He pressed a button on the frame of the screen and a tiny camera poked out where Dante had pressed. On the live video feed of the front door, a small screen next to the tattered entranceway buzzed to live and Dante's face appeared on it.
"Why would you lovely gentleman be assaulting my establishment in such a rude manner?" he asked, rather fussily.
"You are under space arrest for contraband in your possession," one of the men said. "specifically space-developed technology that could be harmful to the fragile ecosystem here on Earth. Open the door before we break it down more than it already is."
"You have no proof." Dante proclaimed angrily. "Down on Earth you need something called a search warrant, remember?"
"Um Mario," Luigi murmured from somewhere behind his brother.
"Quiet!" Mario hissed, his eyes glued to the screen. He did not want to give them away to the authorities.
"We don't need a search warrant for space-related purposes," The guy said, not noticing anything amis behind Dante. "Besides, we do have proof," he said, smiling. "It's behind you."
Mario whipped around quickly and jumped aside a second before a powerful blast reverberated the spot where he'd been standing.
A platoon of angry space police had found the back exit to Dante's mansion, much to Mario's astonishment. They held several weapons, a search warrant, a search warrant space-excuse, and a flustered Luigi; with a gun pressed to his head.
The guy on the screen sneered, his triumph was palpable.
Mario's heart burned with hatred.
And then all cheese-fudge broke loose.
Mario somersaulted backwards through the air, putting the couch between him and the police moments before it was blasted to bits. Mario flew out of those bits, and straight over the agent's heads, and sprinted outside to hide among the grapes; which he found he could not do. Heat seeking drones scanned the whole compound, and Mario got the sense they had just descended from space. Already, about ten had found him. A recorded warning to surrender and not move echoed from the speakers, which Mario ignored entirely. He sprinted around the mansion to its courtyard. The drones followed his every move. Mario dove into the pond, which despite the beautiful weather, was freezing cold. It was always kept this way, for the puffins that lived in it.
Dante had a very strange fascination with puffins.
Anyway, it did the trick. Each drone had settled on a puffin or two, and ignored Mario completely. Mario silently slipped out of the pond, suddenly incomprehensibly sleepy, and wandered into the mansion. The main showroom was very grand, but Mario didn't notice. He flopped on a couch, yawned, and went to sleep.
Only later would he remember Luigi.