Chapter 3
Lost Memories
It has been a day since the Smashers arrived at Tangapolis. Well, it's a day for them at least, but for the people who are in the real world only a minute has passed. It's amazing to think that something like this can exist, doesn't it?
Luigi was walking up to random houses and asking the people in there, "So are you lacking any helping hand? Got any job for me to do? Don't look at me like this but I'm actually a plumber. You don't find a better plumber than me out there. Maybe except my brother…"
"The only help I need right now is someone who can satisfy me in bed, so beat it if you can't!" the alien snapped back at him, and he slammed the door in his face.
SLAM!
-
Toon Link was strolling through the streets seeing the sights all around him. There wasn't really anything to see though, asides from people doing works, chatting, and beating up each other for no reason. Yep, nothing to see…
"I wonder where the others are," he thought to himself. "At least I know Young Link is safe and sound, though acting like a douche…" He laid his eyes on YL who was punishing some lawbreakers by forcing them to do leap frogs while whipping them at the same time. "He's really not like he's used to be…"
As he continued down the path, his eyes set on a kid clad in blue parka walking past him and the kid was carrying a sack of potatoes. At first, he walked past this kid without caring about him, but then he froze in his tracks and thought, "That's Popo!" And he zipped right in front of Popo in a blink of an eye and grabbed him by the shoulder and shook him like crazy. "Popo! I found you at last!"
Sure enough, it was Popo that he encountered, but he said, "Um… Do I know you?"
TL was shocked and let him go, "You lost your memory too?! Please! I'm Toon Link! Don't you remember me? We live in the same place and do the same things together!"
Popo placed his finger against his face and dug through his memory safe to look up the term Toon Link. "Hmmm… I think I know and at the same time I don't know, but looking at you does bring back some very nostalgic and familiar feelings…"
"That's right! You know who I am! We are the Smashers! Do you remember anything?"
"Um… I'm not sure if I really know you, but anyway, want to come to my house and talk together? We can get to know each other more. Oh! I have to go home fast! My wife is waiting for these potatoes!"
TL's jaw dropped to the ground and his eyes came flying out at the hearing of this. "Your wife?!"
-
Popo brought TL to his house which has a small square building made of clay, and only one story too. Not the richest building in the block…
Popo pushed open the door and said, "I'm home, honey!"
TL stepped inside and took a look at his wife, who was in fact Nana…
"That's my wife!" Popo said to TL.
"Who's that guy?" Nana, who was sewing potato sacks, asked.
TL stared at Nana with strange eyes for a while and then asked Popo, "Are you sure he's your wife? I'm very sure he's your sister…"
"Come to think of it… I don't exactly remember if she is my wife or sister… That doesn't really matter since we haven't got on it yet in bed, if you know what I mean…"
TL patted him on his shoulder and said, "Oh well, at least I know you're straight…"
Soon afterwards, they all sat down in the middle of the room and had snack together. "You know, I actually do remember everything…" Popo confessed to TL. "How can I ever forget Smash Mansion and my fellow Smashers? I'm so glad to be able to see you again!"
"Me too!" Nana said. "It's been like 30 days since we came here and we thought we would never see our old friends again."
"I'm glad that you all are all right!" TL said. "Now let us try to find a way to go back to Onett together!"
"But… I really have to admit though," Popo said in a sad tone, "I'm starting to grow attached to this place…"
"Don't you miss your old home?"
"I do, but for reasons unsure, I feel like staying here more than returning home…"
"You see, we all seem to grow more and more attached to this place as time goes by. It really couldn't be helped…" Nana told TL. "I'm sorry to let you hear this."
"No! I'm sure there's a way to return home!" TL said, standing back up and his eyes were filled with determination. "There definitely is a way to go back home! Just you wait! I will find a way to return to Onett and that time comes, you're all coming back with us!"
"I hope you try your best, even though I'm not sure if I want to go home yet…" Popo said.
"Trust me, you will! Oh, by the way… Where are Pichu and Jigglypuff?"
"Those two? I haven't heard from Jigglypuff in a while, so I'm not sure where she is," Nana replied. "As for Pichu…"
-
"Jigglypuff, is that you?" Peach said with curiosity when she eyes a pink puffball with large eyes living in a really small shelter made out of boxes and barrels.
Jigglypuff looked at her curiously and asked, "Who you?"
"It's me, Peach! Do you remember me?" Peach asked her. "I'm so glad to see that you're all right!"
Jigglypuff thought for a while and said, "I think I know you. You Peach?"
"Yes! We live together! Don't you remember me?"
"Maybe I know, maybe I no know. But I happy to see you!"
"Good thing that you still remember us to some extent!"
-
Inside a teepee that was built just outside the town…
TL was sitting inside looking face to face with Pichu, who was wearing a feather-adorned hat just like the kinds that Native American chiefs where. "Do you remember me, Pichu?" TL asked. "I'm Toon Link!"
Pichu looked at him silently for a while and then said, "Toon Link… Yeah, I remember that name!"
"Then… Do you remember Onett?"
"Onett… I'm sure that's the place I always live in?"
TL jumped up with excitement and said, "All right! You still remember everything!"
Pichu smiled and said, "How can I ever forget my friends and my home? Those things and the moaning sounds of women coming from Snake's iPhone are two things that I can never forget in my whole life! I'm so glad to see you!" Pichu jumped onto TL's body and they both embraced each happily for a long time.
After a while, TL put him down and said, "Let's think of a way to get out of here! I'm sure we can return to Onett again!"
"I understand how you're feeling but apparently there is no way you can get out of here…" Pichu said. "We asked everyone and thought of every possible method, but we still haven't found a way out… Plus, the mayor here is a very scary man who refuses anyone to think of leaving here…"
"If that's the case, I'll teach him a lesson until he spits out the method!"
"Don't bother… He's very strong… We ganged up on him once but we were beaten up as fast as lightning bolt hits the ground. I want to return home too, but there's really no way to do so at the moment…"
-
"So you originally worked at the bar as a singer but got fired?" Peach asked Jigglypuff.
"I sing song, but no on no like song and sleep," Jigglypuff told her. "I angry and draw on their face. They even more angry and fire me."
"I can understand why…"
"They have new singer. Stupid purple dinosaur!"
"Stupid purple dinosaur? Wait, that sounds familiar…"
-
Meanwhile, a train was traveling on the train track that was leading to the unknown places. Tatanga and some of his men, including Ayleean, were on board it. He sat on the couch like a pimp and was being served food and drinks by Ayleean. "Your wine, master," she said to him while helping him pour a glass of wine.
Tatanga then looked out the window and called for his men to stop the train. The train came to a stop and he stepped out by himself and got onto his miniature UFO. "I'll be going alone from here," he said to his men, and then he drove off into the distance while his men watched on.
-
Since there was no known method of leaving this place howsoever, the Smashers had no choice but to spend their lives here.
In a blink of an eye, twenty days have passed. For them, at least…
Peach found a job as a janitor at the bar while Luigi and Olimar were laborers that worked on improving the town. TL just hanged out and did whatever that caught his interest while the other kids just continued whatever they're doing.
As TL was walking down the street, he came across YL, who ignored him and continued going past him. TL turned around and tapped him by the shoulder and caught his attention. "Hey!"
YL turned around frustrated and said, "What do you want?!"
"You sure you don't remember who I am?"
"I don't want to remember who you are! I'm glad with my current position and you better leave me alone before I arrest you!"
"You seriously sure you don't remember a single thing about your past?"
"I don't and I don't care!"
"Okay then… You remember the time when you and Saria were at the school storage and…"
YL's face suddenly turned and he shouted, "DON'T REMIND ME OF THAT!!!"
"See! You remember something! I knew you were pretending all along!"
"Shut up and get away from me!" TL shouted with frustration, and he stormed off with rage.
"Weirdo… But at least I know he hasn't forgotten everything." TL continued walking down the road again and eventually came across Ayleean. "Hi!"
"Hi! How are you doing?" Ayleean asked him.
"I'm still trying my best to keep my memory and forget nothing," TL replied. "I haven't forgotten anything as of yet."
"That's good to hear! I hope you keep this up."
"Yeah, but I'm also trying to find a way to leave here. Ayleean, are you sure you do not remember anything about your past?"
Ayleean shook her head and said, "No, I have not a single trace of my old memories. The only thing I know now is that I am serving under Mayor Tatanga."
"I'm sure you will remember it someday. You will surely remember everything once we find a way out of here! Maybe you come from a rich family or something like that. You may very well be a famous star in the real world too!"
"Maybe, but I don't know… But thanks for the encouragement!"
-
Days went on and nothing seems to have changed… The Smashers were actually starting to grow more and more adapted to life here, but still, they held on to their minds about their past lives and tried their best not to forget anything.
Luigi looked out the window and saw Professor Eetee being dragged across the road, and then he drew a mark on the wall. "25 days already," he said with a sigh. "Are we ever going to get out of here? I hope I haven't forgotten anything yet." He placed his finger on his chin and thought, "So what's the name of my brother? Mario? No, I think it's Martio. Yeah, Martio it is! Martio, yep! That's my older brother's name!"
-
TL was at Pichu's teepee and they both were trying to recall their comrade's name.
"Let's see…" TL said. "There's Manio, Bowyer, Boshi, Monkey Kong, Biddy Kong, Stink, Zeldo, Gannondorf, Peekaboo, Rukario, Mooshoo, Furby, Fax, Walco, Faptain Calcon, Sammy, Martha, Snes, Mr. Gay Man Watch, Nurse Mario, BOB, Tip, Snale, Polly, Master Wang, Crazy Wang… Am I forgetting anyone?"
"I don't remember very well now…" Pichu said.
TL placed his hand on his forehead and said in a worried voice, "No… At this rate, we're going to forget the name of all the Smashers living at our house…"
-
Another day passed…
There were even more newcomers to this town and they were all very confused and where they are and what was happening here.
"Where are we?!"
"What am I doing here?!"
"How did I get here!?"
"I want to go back to Onett!"
Meanwhile, Tatanga was giving a speech on top of a stage that was set up in the town. "Ladies and gentlemen!" he said. "I would like to welcome all of you to Tangapolis. As you can see, this is just a small rural town at the moment with nothing special, but I have an ambition to build it into a large city! In order for that to come true, I need the help of everyone! From now on, you will all work as laborers for the good of this town! I promise that all of you will enjoy the peace that this city will offer once it is completed! Now get to work!"
-
No sooner after he said this, the laborers began doing harsh slave-like work. Of course, they are being paid, but it's still no easy task.
Luigi and Olimar were working on the millstone by pushing its wooden handles around in circles. "Why am I doing this…?" Luigi grumbled as he pushed.
"You know, I've been wondering," Olimar said to Luigi. "Why is it that the movie theater is bringing us to this place?"
"How would I know?"
"Perhaps there's a good reason that this is happening?"
"You tell me."
"Okay… This is just a theory, so I cannot be sure… The movie theater needs our help…"
"It's not like the theater is a sentient being. How do you know it needs our help?"
"Like I said, it was just a theory. Perhaps something is happening to the movie theater and all of us are being brought here in order to help it. For whatever reason…"
"Your theory sounds crazy…
"Hey you! Get to work!" the foreman shouted to them while giving them a crack of whip.
WHACK!
"YEOW! Sorry!" And they quickly got pushing again.
Tatanga walked through the road like a pimp and made sure that everyone was working, and then he heard some uproar coming from the distance and thus went over to check it out.
Over there, three humans were revolting against the aliens. "We have enough!" one of them shouted. "We don't want to work for you anymore! All you do all day is force us to do all these pointless things!"
"Yeah! We want freedom! Tell us how to get out of here!"
"We're revolting against you!"
The aliens were trying to hold them back and YL shouted to these rebels, "You people better get back to work before I go harsh on you!"
Tatanga approached the scene and saw everything, and he said, "Don't stop them. If it's a revolt that they want, let them challenge me then!"
"Are you sure about this, mayor?" one of his servants asked him.
"Let them try. Heh!"
Soon, a scene of duel was set up. The three humans were equipped with guns while Tatanga stood in front of them by himself and he doesn't seem to be wielding anything.
The people at the sides watched on and the atmosphere was an intense one. TL and Pichu dug their way through the crowd and got to the front to see what was going on. "Looks like a duel," TL said.
"Those three won't fare well, I tell you…" Pichu said in a worried voice.
As both sides stared at each other, Tatanga said to the three humans, "If you can take me down, then you win. But if I win, you will have to work thrice as hard as you used to."
"We won't let you make fun of us again!" shouted one of them.
When the signal for starting to duel began, the three men whipped out their guns and readied to fire at Tatanga. Quick as a flash, Tatanga reached for a handle attached to his waist and whipped it out, revealing it to be a laser whip. He swung it across the three men and their guns were knocked out of their hands before they had the chance to pull the trigger. Frightened by this, the three men quickly made a run for it, but they did not go far as Tatanga swung his whip the second time and knocked them out from behind.
WHACK!
The duel had ended and Tatanga emerged victorious. As he turned to leave, he said to YL, "Punish them whatever way you want, and add the workload to them too."
"Yes sir!" YL replied with a salute, and then he ordered his men to arrest those three. "Get them!"
No sooner after the command was given out, the three humans were tied onto a makeshift merry-go-around and it was spun at a very fast speed. Needless to say, it totally made them throw up from such a fast spinning speed.
The others couldn't bear to see the scene. Their possible hope for escaping had just gone down the drain again, and each of them went back to their positions with faces of sadness.
"I can't believe this…" TL said with a hint of anger.
"That's what happens if you dare defy the mayor…" Pichu said. "There is no hope for anyone in this town…"
TO BE CONTINUED
