"You're sure the time machine is here?" Bowser asked Kammy again.
"Positive, your Impatientness. Read any chapter to this story, and you'll see for yourself."
Bowser pulled out a little three-chapter book, peeked inside, and saw that Kammy was right.
"Okay, so, uh, what's the plan?" Bowser asked, shrugging his shoulders.
"I figured you were supposed to answer that," a raspy voice said out of somewhere.
A very tough-looking red-shelled Koopa walked into the scene behind them. He had big muscles, a tough face eternally twisted into a grimace that showed his teeth, and an old western pistol strapped to his side. He was nearly as tall as Bowser himself.
"Uhh...I believe I remember you from somewhere," Bowser murmured. "Ah, yes. That voice...that pose...you're Klint Koopawood, aren't you?"
"Some prefer to think of me as an outlaw," Klint responded, his expression remaining unchanged.
"Right...well, I say we go in, destroy the time machine, lock Mario in the past forever, and beat that pesky Luigi to a pulp if he's there," Bowser said, counting on his fingers.
"Oh, he's there," Klint said, lifting his head up a bit. "Ohhh, yeah. He's there. I can smell him..."
Bowser looked at Klint for a few more seconds, paused, then turned back around and starting marching towards Prof. Gadd's house. Klint followed after him in his swaggering walk, and Kammy scuttled after Klint.
Meanwhile, back at the shack...
Luigi was eagerly helping Prof. Gadd build the time machine. The more help the professor got, the quicker Mario would be back home. Sure, Luigi had nearly blown up the time machine, lost the wrench in the toilet, and lost his mind a few times, but otherwise, all was going smoothly.
Until the hairs on the back of Luigi's neck started standing up...
"Hey, professor, I think there's--" Luigi started to say, but a bullet through the nearest window stopped him mid-sentence and caused both Luigi and Prof. Gadd to duck for cover.
Back where Bowser was...
"Whoa!" Bowser shouted, recoiling as the first bullet went off. "I didn't think those were actual guns! I thought they were just for display or something!"
"What are ya, stupid?" Klint said in the same raspy voice as he took aim for the next bullet.
Aaaand back where Luigi was...
"We're gonna die!" Luigi shouted. He slapped himself, then yelled, "Shut up! You're not gonna die! Just be strong!"
After a brief conversation with himself that sounded like something Gollum would do (and maybe a few slaps to his own face), Luigi got back under control.
"Are there any weapons in here?" Luigi shouted to the professor.
"Screwdrivers and wrenches! That's about it!" Prof. Gadd yelled back.
They never got to get any "weapons," because the door soon blasted open, and in came Bowser.
"Party's over!" he yelled in triumph. "Now where's that time machine?"
Prof. Gadd pointed to a completely different machine in the corner of the room. Bowser, still holding his triumphant pose, strutted over to whatever machine that happened to be and swiped his fist into it. The lights flickered on and off as Bowser's skeleton flashed into view while he was being electrified. When the painful session stopped, Bowser was covered in black smudges. Smoke was being emitted from his mane.
"What are ya, stupid?" Klint repeated as he walked into the room. "I know how these fellas all work. They're all liars. I don't take well to liars." Klint held his gun up to Luigi's forehead. "So if you know what's good for you, you'll start talking." Luigi said nothing as he stared into Klint's eyes. "Do you feel lucky?" Klint rasped, still concentrating the gun on him. "Well do ya? ...Punk?"
Simply put, Luigi did not feel lucky. However, he remained completely silent. He had to protect his brother. Klint moved his gun forward, and Luigi started backing up. His head accidentally bumped into a lever. His head recoiled downward, but his hat was caught on the lever and pulled it down.
"I'd start talking right about now," Klint said, cocking his gun. He was pushing Luigi farther and farther into the time machine, knowing that all too easily it could teleport Luigi away.
"Come to think of it," Luigi said, "what do you need to know? You already know this is the time machine. What are you asking about?"
"Good point. In which case, maybe you'd like to go meet your brother. Family relationships are important."
Klint pushed a bunch of random buttons, but, as fate would have it, wound up pushing the same buttons Mario had before. He kicked Luigi into the back of the time machine, who banged into the wall and was sent flying back. Klint, who was too busy smirking, got tripped up as Luigi's leg caught him while he was flying back. Klint fell into the time machine, and he was sent back to the same time as Mario.
Ah, the world of fanfics and stories, where anything is possible, like hitting a button combination just so and being sent to the same time period as your enemy...
