Chapter 8: Dinner, Massage & a Bond
That evening, Sam, Amorette and Zeta arrived at the "a la carte" restaurant in their 'business casual' outfits. Sam arrived in her typical clothes that she goes to work at the Dubno Company with. Amorette appeared in a extremely exquisite white suit with custom-made diamond buttons. She also does not have her usual tiny purple hat on her head. Zeta appeared in a dark grey suit and matching skirt with long leggings.
"Your name, please." The Toad waiter said,
"Samantha Miller." Sam replied
The Toad waiter checked the list. He then looked at Sam and said, "OK. I will show you ladies to your table."
As soon as they sat down, Amorette wasted no time taking a look at their surroundings. "Well, I have to say," she began, "This restaurant looks almost like it was back at the mansion. Look at that glass piece in the middle of the restaurant. I'd say that looks very exquisitely crafted."
"I agree." Sam replied looking at what appears to be a reversed chandelier over a circular bench, "That piece is like a glass volcano. I'm surprised to see one in a restaurant like this one."
A Toad waiter approached with a couple of wine bottles. "What kind of wine would you like?"
Sam, Amorette and Zeta replied, "Red wine, please."
The Toad waiter poured the red wine in all three glasses. "Why don't you take a look at the menus in the meantime?" The Toad waiter said, "I'll be back to get your orders." He then left.
"I have to say, Sam, you really gave it your all out there today." Amorette complimented, "I know you lost to Luigi, but you really gave to him as much as you could."
Sam chuckled and replied, "Thanks for that. You know, yesterday when I was relaxing at a spa in the resort, I was watching a match between the two Mario Brothers."
"Who exactly are the two Mario Brothers?" Zeta asked,
"Mario and Luigi." Sam answered,
"Oh! OK..." Amorette and Zeta replied,
"Anyways, Luigi is known for utilizing the net a lot more than Mario does." Sam said, "But somehow, he managed to stay in the baseline the whole match. I have to ask you both. Why did he do that?"
"I'd imagine that he quickly adapted his play." Zeta replied, "I was surprised to see him out of his comfort zone the whole time."
"Strange..." Amorette said, "I feel that I am much stronger from the baseline, yet I am quickly changing to net play. I actually saw that quite a bit from other players. Not just our own, but from the Mushroom Kingdom's top players."
"Ah, yes." Zeta said, "Lani was able to produce overhead smashes efficiently now."
Then, they heard their stomachs rumble. Amorette giggled and said, "We can talk more about our matches later. Let's eat first!"
"Agreed." Sam and Zeta replied and picked up their menus.
The next day, at a massage parlour in the resort, Fong was lying down on his stomach while he was being massaged by the Toads. "Ah... That's it... Hm, yes... Lower, lower..." He then sighed.
Fong thought to himself, "I'm happy to be taken care of by these Toads. My back feels a lot better now since the accident. Nothing will stand in my way now!"
As soon as he said that, he heard "Waah!"
Fong gasped. He leaned forward and looked down to see a familiar red hat. But he became shocked to see who it was. "Baby Mario?" He cried,
Just then, he leaned forward too much and fell on his head! Baby Mario laughed at Fong's mishap. Fong sat up and cried, "What are you doing here?"
Baby Mario made raspberry and blabbering noises. Fong said, "You need to play a match with me before your match tonight?"
Baby Mario nodded and continued to make more raspberry and blubbering noises. Fong said, "And you have a gorilla friend to bring along?"
Baby Mario nodded again. "OK..." Fong said as he got up, "I shall accept those terms. Let me find a partner, suitable for the challenge."
Baby Mario continued to blabber like normal babies would. "Meet at the 'Bowser Stage' attraction?" Fong asked and then quickly answered, "Hm. I am game."
"Yay!" Baby Mario cried
An hour later, at the 'Piranha Challenge' attraction, Hugo just finished his challenge of returning balls over to the other side where the green pumpkin-sized Piranha Plants are. He wiped the sweat off his forehead as he returned 16 out of 50 balls.
"Heh. Your strokes need more work, fella." Troy commented, "I can do them much better than you can!"
"But you do have that strength." Hugo said, "The whole point of this is to see if your net play is strong. That's why I asked you to be on the side where the Piranha Plants are."
"So... I ask you. Has it gotten better?" Troy asked
"Uh... Yes, actually." Hugo answered, "I am impressed."
"Ha-ha!" Troy cried, "I'm gonna cream Daisy tonight!"
They left the attraction. Hugo began to ask, "Have you considered asking someone out?"
"Wha-?" Troy cried, somewhat shocked "Are you sayin' I like someone?"
Hugo chuckles and then said, "Not necessarily... But, I have to wonder. Have you liked anyone from your old club?"
"Hm... There were rarely any girls there." Troy replied, "Shizuka and Nanaha were the only ones there. But I never really liked them. Come to think of it, I always saw myself as me against the world."
"Why would you think that?" Hugo asked,
"My coaches have fed me so much rubbish on taking over the tennis world that I started to suffer." Troy admitted, "I hate to admit it, but... I want to thank you, Hugo."
"For what, Troy?" Hugo asked
"For believing in me and making tennis fun for me." Troy answered, "I never felt a surge of confidence like that back then. That sort of thing will get me a lady..."
"Maybe..." Hugo said, "Who knows, right?"
"Yeah." Troy replied, "When I win the Flower Cup, I will get a girl to love me!"
"Like I said, who knows?" Hugo said,
They did not see Bridget walking towards them...
Thankfully, Bridget did not hear a thing Troy and Hugo were saying. Instead, she walked around with her music player on and attached to her ears. She was listening to pop music. She thought, "I may have lost to Daisy, but I feel much stronger now. Hopefully, I can get back up somehow... Someway..."
Just then, she saw two familiar figures. One is a short and obese male in his yellow and black football gear. The other is a tall and muscular male in a basketball jersey. "Kobe! Jason!" Bridget cried, "What are you guys doing here?"
"Remember what we said about we finding our way here back in Jocksford?" The short football player named Kobe cried,
"Well... We found it!" The big, strong basketball player named Jason finished
"But... How?" Bridget cried,
"We have been informed by the Mushroom Kingdom that everyone who has interacted with a Love Tennis Club's player from their own area can come to watch them play!" Kobe cried, excitedly
"Awesome!" Bridget cried, excitedly "Except..."
"Except what?" Kobe asked
"My match finished yesterday." Bridget said, somewhat disappointed, "And I lost."
"What a rip!" Kobe cried angrily,
"We missed it?" Jason cried,
"Yes..." Bridget said, somewhat sad "I was defeated by Princess Daisy."
Then, her mood turned cheerful again. "But I didn't take this loss to heart too much! I know what I can work on next!"
"Cool!" Kobe cried,
"Say... There's a place with a scary monster head as an entrance." Jason said, "What is that?"
"Oh, that's the 'Bowser Stage' attraction." Bridget said, "Why? Do you want to have a match with me there?"
"Yes!" Kobe and Jason cried at the same time
"OK!" Bridget said, "Let me get someone and we'll meet there in five minutes. Does that sound cool with you?"
"You got it!" Kobe and Jason replied happily. Soon, all three players parted ways and headed off. Little did they know that Waluigi was hiding and watching everything.
He said, "Yessss... I-a know how to-a make this Troy-a boy weak..."
