Chapter 8

The show must go on

Wario talked with Watoad and Waluigi in private. He grinned and said," We have-a everything-a ready for a tonight?"

"All according to plan boss." Said Watoad.

"No problem. We'll have that gold in no time!" said Waluigi

"Yea, and because of me, things'll go smoother, ya know?" said Watoad

"Because of-a you? What did you do?" said Wario.

Watoad was laughing as he told the story of him drugging Peach. He laughed as he told how security is down because they went looking for her, and he marveled at his own genius for doing so.

"Not bad if I do say so myself," said Watoad. "Crude, but effective. So ya see boss? Easy! No prob. I took care of it all."

Watoad grinned like an idiot while Wario looked unamused.

"Hey boss, what's wrong?" said Waluigi

Wario shook his fists and slapped Watoad, Mafia style, picked him up, and said," WHAT'SA MATTER FOR YOU?"

He slapped him again, and Watoad fell to the floor looking shaken.

"You IDIOT! You realize-a that we need the Princess to open-a the doors don't ya?!" yelled Wario.

"Well… I, er…" said Watoad.

"What are-a we going to do if-a they don't find her?!" said Wario

"I don't… know." Said Watoad.

Wario shook both his hands in anger. He stomped his foot and said," We've just-a got to get our-a best man on the job. Get him-a on the phone NOW!" Yelled Wario.

* * *

Max and I ran down a hallway and stopped in front of a room where we heard voices.

"BOSHI!" we heard them repeating to each other.

"Boshies." I said. "The exact opposite of a Yoshi. The Boshi thrives on hate rather than love. They are friends to no one and their mean streak shows why. I wouldn't want to cross their path without a weapon."

Max smirked and said," Humph. You have a weapon, now let's cross their path."

I agreed. I busted open the door and looked around. There were 3 Boshis playing a game of cards on a table full of chips and guns. They looked up at me and their eyes bulged.

"Looking for me?" I said as I fired the inagrams.

Again, things slowed down for me, and I got all 3 before they were able to do anything. Max came from behind and yelled," Look out!"

More Boshis came from a door on the opposite end of the room. They busted in with their guns already blasting. Max and I slow jumped in the opposite directions, firing rounds at the oncoming Boshis. I landed hard on my left shoulder, but had no time to rest. I quickly got up and had to jump again. We dogged, jumped and shot our way through the Boshis. I stood up, a bit shaken.

"So, this is the kind of stuff you put up with?!" I said

"No. It's not usually this easy." Said Max.

"Geeze," I said. "What's that smell?"

Max smelled the air and his nose wrinkled," I don't think the bodies are stinking. I think it's that room they came from."

I walked towards the room, and sure enough, the smell was stronger. It was a vile and putrid stench. It smelled like something had rotted and decayed in that room. I had half the mind not to go in, but my curious side got the best of me. I held my breath and took a peek inside. From what I saw, I would have thrown up at the sight of it.

The room was a slaughterhouse. Except this slaughterhouse was packing all sorts of things. One thing in particular was Yoshi. There were Yoshi parts littered throughout the room. Along the walls were crates that were marked as Cow meat. Goomba parts were beside the crate that was marked Pork. And there was red and flesh colored goo littered on the floors.

I ran out and started to throw up in the corner. Max looked pretty worried, but he kept his distance. I threw up and didn't stop until my stomach was empty. Max stepped into the room to see. When I was done, he came back out and handed me something.

"What's this?" I asked

"Hope it doesn't make you feel worse." He said

It was a clipboard with instructions on it: Delivery to Mushroom Kingdom; 5 crates cow, 8 crates pork, and 7 crates chicken. Delivery to Hyrule Kingdom; 10 crates cow, 1 crate pork, 10 crates chicken…

The rest was for other places for this stuff to be delivered.

Max looked at me with a serious expression and said," Looks like the mob's been working the meat factory. That means that those guys in there didn't pay homage to the Wa's. A sad but true fact of the Mob."

I sat there and looked up at him. I didn't know what to say. Yoshis are the kindest of creatures that I know of. Goombas are very smart, and some are very friendly and peaceful. This was the last straw. How dare they do such a thing to them. I started to get a little teary eyed, but I kept myself under control. I wanted to get back at them. I wanted to shut them down for good. They hurt me, and they hurt my friends. It was time for a little payback.

"Max…" I said quietly. "Let's go."

We walked down the hallway, and saw 2 Boshis crossing the path in front. They saw us and yelled out," BOSHI! BOSHI!"

Max and I quickly shot and nailed em. Instantly, 4 more Boshis opened doors from the sides and started shooting at us. I dove forward at them aiming only for the face. As I shot, I could feel a strange serge of anger overcome me. Nothing joyous, just anger as I shot them. If there was one thing I knew about Max, it was that he didn't get joy from his work. It only helped ease the pain.

I got up quickly and had to dive again to avoid 3 more coming out of the door next to me. Max took care of 2, and I got the other. We both got up, and I almost crumpled to the floor again. Sparky came out and panicked.

"PEACH! YOU'RE HIT! OH NO! YOU CAN'T DIE NOW, YOU JUST CAN'T!"

"I…Oh, so I did get hit. It doesn't hurt that much though." I said.

"Here," Max said as he handed me a bottle of Painkillers. "It'll help, trust me."

I took the pills, and swallowed them. "Ok, but I don't see how it's going to h-"

I stopped because almost instantly the pain was gone, and for some strange reason, my wounds were gone.

"How did- what happened?!" I said

"Healing items, you'll learn to love them." Said Max.

"Yea. I already do." I said looking shocked.

"Phew. I'm glad you're alright." Said Sparky

"Yea, and don't panic like that anymore, you might get me in trouble one of these days."

He lowered his head and began to pout.

"It isn't that easy. When I saw those Yoshis, I wanted to cry. Then when I saw you hurt, I… well I didn't know what to do."

"Sparky…" I said.

"Peach, please, I don't want to loose you just because of me. I couldn't live with myself if I'd have gotten you killed or in serious trouble. If I start panicking again… well… I want you to slap me."

"What?" I said.

"Yea, just hit me or something to calm me down. Please. I don't want to get you in trouble."

"Ok," I said, and tried to smile. "I'll remind you to not panic somehow."

He smiled and went back into my coat pocket. I could tell, he needed work, but I was more then willing to give him help.

Max and I continued down a series of corridors. It seemed like it was heading in a big circle. Max decided to bust down some doors and find a staircase maybe, or a ladder. All we found along the way was more Boshis. Funny thing about it, I didn't feel sorry for the Boshi's I shot. I thought I might have been going crazy, but I realized now that it was just adrenaline. Now was not the time for a morality check though. My focus at the time was one thing. Stop the Wa's.

* * *

"Humm…" said Wario as he looked through the paper. "Donkey Kong runs for-a mayor of New York. HA! Who'd vote-a for him anyway?"

Wario put the paper down and laughed. It was his shot at pool next, when Waluigi came bursting in the room

"DON WARIO, DON WARIO!" yelled Waluigi.

"What is it?" said Wario as he got ready to take his shot at pool.

He was breathing heavily as he said," It's… Peach. She's HERE! She's toting a heavy piece and has a mean streak to follow. She's taking out our Boshis one by one!"

"Wait, you said-a Peach was here?" Wario said calmly.

"Yea… But that's not the worst part! She's brought Max Payne! THE MAX PAYNE! And he's not very happy either!" he said

Wario's eyes widened as he heard the words, Max Payne. All the other Don's gasped as they heard Max Payne as well. All at once, they started talking about Payne. Wario yelled out to silence them. But they all continued, fearful for their lives. Wario shot a gun with a blank to get their attention. Each man reflexively pulled a gun as they heard the shot.

"Gentlemen. This won't get-a us anywhere. We know what Payne's capable of. The Punchinello Family underestimated him… and look what happened. Payne may cause-a problems, but Peach isn't-a problem. I know for a fact that she's-a pretty stupid. If-a you'll follow-a me gentlemen, I'll- a show you-a the back door. We'll escape for-a now, and we'll-a lure her to her castle, and then-a we strike."

Wario showed them to a secret exit through the bookshelf, and they all left. Wario left a note on the desk for Peach.

* * *

"You're dead Peach!" yelled out Watoad from behind a corner.

We had him trapped, but he was fortified behind a bunch of crates. He had about 3 Boshis, equipped with pump action shotguns, and he was toting duel inagrams.

I looked towards Max, and he nodded. We jumped out of our places and crisscrossed in midair. We both took out the 3 guarding him. Watoad only took a few shots, but missed.

I smirked and said," Just give up. Drop your weapons and I might just let you go Watoad."

"Not a freakin' chance! You're gonna pay for this, in spades!" he yelled

He yelled out and started firing like mad. That was, until we heard a sudden rumble.

"What the-" he said

Suddenly, a hole blew open through the floor. Gannondorf, came floating down, slowly and laughing his nasty laugh. Watoad stared in sheer horror. He panicked and fired his gun at Gannon. Gannon though, had some sort of magical barrier, and the bullets were absorbed in the shield.

"HA HA HA! FOOL! YOU DARE DEFY THE ULTIMATE POWER OF THE ALMIGHTY GANNONDORF?!" yelled Gannondorf.

Gannondorf swooped over him, and grabbed his throat. Watoad struggled to break free, but Gannon's dark grip had him to tight.

"I should crush you. Right here and now for daring to shoot me." He said with an evil grin.

"WAIT!" I yelled.

"Eh? Peach?" he said.

"No!" I said as I walked up to him. "He knows where Wario is. Don't kill him. Make him tell us where he is."

"You heard her," said Gannondorf. "Tell us where Wario is, or suffer the consequences."

"I…" he said while being choked. "I don't know. I don't know nothin'."

"THEN YOU ARE USELESS TO ME!" yelled Gannondorf as his grip tightened.

"(ACK) Wait!" Watoad yelled before Gannon delivered the crushing choke. "The Billiard room… he's there. It's downstairs. At the end of the hallway."

Gannondorf smiled again evilly. He let go of Watoad, just as I said. He started to walk away, then turned around to Watoad again and pointed a finger at him.

"Just one more thing." He said

Gannon shot a bubble out of his finger, and it fit around Watoad.

"What the f*ck is this?" said Watoad as he tried to get out of the bubble.

"Should anything go wrong, like a misdirection perhaps, the bubble you are in will shrink to the size of a salt grain, and so will you."

Watoad's eyes bulged as we left him there.

As we continued down the corridor Gannon spoke," Tisk Tisk. Only gone 10 minutes and already you're in a heap of trouble. What would you do without me? Oh, and by the way, I also found out about what happened with you and Falcon. It was on his peeping tom hidden camera."

"WHAT?! He had a camera too?!" I said.

"But of course. I wondered why you even bothered with him at first. I thought you knew about him."

"No I didn't. I don't see him very often at all. And now I'm glad about that. He's a filthy, oversexed, pervert."

"Ha! I can't believe you didn't know that! Oh, and nice kick. He'll be feeling that even tomorrow." he laughed.

"That dirty bastard. He deserves it…Hey wait. Where did you come from? And how did you find me here?!" I said

"We're right under the studio! I detected your presence here still even after you left. I have a knack for finding secrets, so I found the secret entrance."

"Oh…" I said as I noticed Max looking at Gannondorf's extremely long nose. "Gannondorf, this is Max. Max Payne."

Gannondorf's smile widened as he shook Max's hands. "I envy your name."

Max just nodded in agreement.

We encountered a few more Boshis along our way, but Gannondorf said," Don't worry Ladies and Gentlemen. I'll take it from here."

He simply blasted our way through all the Boshis. As we walked, I explained how Max had come along, and who we were fighting. Gannondorf smiled a bit. He probably didn't care who it was he was blowing up, as long as he got to do it.

When we arrived at the billiard room, Gannon checked for traps. He then proceeded to blow down the door anyway. He charged in and started yelling and blasting left and right.

"HA HA HA! MAFIA OR NO MAFIA, YOU HAVE ATTACKED MY NEW FRIEND PEACH! YOU WILL ALL PERISH!" he yelled.

He kept laughing, and blasting, then his laughing died down. He came out with that annoyed expression on his face.

"Well that's no fun. They already left through a trapdoor I found."

It was no kidding he found it. The place was almost torn completely down.

"Peach," said Max as he pointed to a singed piece of paper. "Look, that's for you."

I picked it up, and tried to read the barely legible words. Gannondorf grabbed the paper and cast a spell to display the words previously written on the paper. He handed it to me, and I gasped as I read the letter.