Mimi slumped into the kitchen table chair, picking fuzz from her hair. She thought it was the perfect plan. She'd disguise herself and replace the fuzzy queen of the forest and capture Mario and company there. Sure, Mr. L had warned her about the strength the team had, but she didn't expect such a brutal defeat.

Two weeks had passed since that botched mission, and she was still picking fuzzy fuzz from her hair. The time since then had been mostly preoccupied by sulking. The Count had called off the hunt temporarily in Mushroom World favor of a different plan. The humans would do the work and the minions would simply take what they'd collected, preventing them from summoning the wishing star for their own selfish purposes. Dimentio and O'chunks traveled to other Worlds, collecting whatever star shards may have traveled there in the meantime.

But even so, waiting wasn't her strong suit. She had time to sulk and stare at her rubee collection. She flipped the pages over on her hot boy calendar, counting the days one by one until they could act. Mimi hadn't seen much of the others, save O'chunks, but even he was busy fighting what he called a "chunking dummy" when he wasn't out in another world.

She nearly jumped, stirring from her thoughts as a plate suddenly dropped in front of her. The plate was filled with a strange ridged pile of something that looked like noodles, meat, and cheese with some grilled mushrooms on top. Glancing up, she found Mr. L staring down at her, scowling as usual. He never had any other expression, but that wasn't what she wondered about. It was how long he'd been standing there. "What's this?"

"Lasagne," he replied, staring intently at her with his crystal-colored eyes. He'd rolled up his sleeves, removing the gloves and tucking them into his belt so he could bake without hindrance. The casserole dish was sitting on the stove, cooling off, two squares missing. One square was on Mimi's plate, the other on a plate he held in his hand.

"I want pasta," Mimi huffed, pushing her lip out to pout.

"It is pasta," he frowned sharply. "Eat it."

"It looks like a roof tile." Mimi stared back at the plate, prodding the lasagne with her finger.

"Fine, go hungry," he scoffed, turning to exit the kitchen and return to his work. "I have work to do."

"Wait! Hey! What work?!" Mimi screeched, standing up from the table to stop him. "Where have you been for the past two weeks?!"

He paused by the doorway, turning to look over his shoulder. "Preparations." He had taken to seclude himself, working on his inventions to further the Count's plans. He would be victorious over his rival. It would be a fight of legends.

Yet in his obsession, he had pushed away the one person who actually seemed to care about him in this dark world. He wasn't one to necessarily care for much more than his rivalry and his duty, but there was something about being noticed that appealed to him. Unlike the others, Mimi always paid attention to him, even when he attempted to push her away. He had a higher calling, a purpose of becoming the wishing star's vessel, yet Mimi always treated him like a person, even if half their conversations involved shouting at each other.

Almost begrudgingly, he turned and retreated to the table, dropping his plate on it then slipping into the chair across from her, leaning forward on with his elbows on the table. "I'm making something to best Mr. Hero once and for all, and then I'll be number one of the Mushroom World."

She hadn't expected him to return so easily, preparing herself to screech some more at him, but was pleased he'd sat down with her. She'd spent so much time alone the past two weeks, dwelling over another failure. It was nice to have some actual company that was actually breathing instead of just pictures of hot boys. "Can't you just wish it when we summon the wishing star?"

"Wouldn't be as satisfying," he scoffed. "I want to beat him with my own two hands." Even if those two hands had built something to beat him, it would count. And then the Green Thunder would be victorious, the one everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom remembered. He would finally step out of Mario's shadow.

"I see," Mimi nodded. "It would be like me finally beating those mean old princesses!" She jabbed the fork into the lasagne, tearing off a piece. She was hungry and frustrated and this roof-tile pasta smelled really delicious.

Mr. L knew that reaction well, that feeling of being number two. "I see you've found yourself some rivals." A smirk spread across his features as he pulled off a piece of lasagna. She had developed her own rivalry with Mario's allies. Now this was entertaining.

She shoved a piece of lasagna in her mouth angrily, frustrated with the situation but even that frustration was quickly quelled as tasted the new oddly-shaped pasta.

"Suddenly lasagne is acceptable?" Mr. L mused. It wasn't quite spaghetti, which was her favorite, but he felt like making something different this time.

"Mmm mmmm," Mimi replied, stuffing her mouth full of more, pausing only to glance up at the doorway as Nastasia entered.

"Mr. L," Nastasia called out. "The Count would like to speak with you."

Mimi frowned. Was she going to be left here with nothing to do? Surely she could have her hand in granting the Count's greatest wish. She huffed, watching Mr. L exit the kitchen with Nastasia. Sure, she had her losses, but she hadn't used up her usefulness. She eyed the casserole dish behind her on the counter. Another square of roof-tile pasta. That would make her happy for a moment.

Mr. L hadn't expected to hear anything from the Count. It could be something to do or perhaps a status report on recent inventions, though usually Nastasia was the one to inquire about them. In the grand meeting hall, the Count had already taken a seat, draping his cape and himself over the arms as he nestled sideways into the chair. In his hand was the star tome, his staff resting against the seat. He beckoned the two in.

Mr. L took a knee respectfully, hoping this was a mission of sorts. His work was complete. He was ready for the next move.

"Bleck has a special mission for L," the count began, shutting the book with one hand. "Bleck needs to know of the Man in Red's progress and the location of the Man's star shards. And if L can take the shards, even better."

A large smirk tugged at Mr. L's features. Finally, it was time to have a face-off with Mario once again. This time he'd be certain to emerge victorious and become number one.

"But Bleck isn't done," the count added, holding one finger out to his minion. "L must take a partner to the Mushroom World for a special task. L must choose who this partner will be."

There was only one right answer in Mr. L's mind, only one person he'd entrust a special task and one person who he'd trust to not screw the whole thing up.

...

"Get your things, Mims, we're leaving."

Mimi dropped the fork on the table as she gaped, working on her third square of roof-tile pasta. "What?!"

Mr. L frowned, glaring down his nose at her. "Did I stutter? Get your things. We've got a job. Right now. And I'm sure you don't want to disappoint the Count."

Mimi lit up excitedly. She wasn't sure why the count paired the two of them up, but she was happy to get something done. And if she were to team up with anyone else, she'd choose Mr. L because he was reliable and smart. O'chunks had strength, but he'd rather go off chunkin' things instead of getting work done. Dimentio never seemed to be around. Mr. L, even as harsh as he was, certainly was the natural choice.

Shoveling the last of the pasta into her mouth, she sprang from her seat, dumping her dishes in the sink, and skipped out after him. "I'm really surprised the Count paired us up together."

"He didn't," Mr. L countered as he rounded the corner, heading down the hallway towards his workshop. "He said to chose. You're the only one I trust."

Mimi stopped and stared. "You trust Mimikins?"

He turned, pushing the door to his workshop open. "You have more than half a braincell, and I know where your loyalties lie. Besides, you're the only one who will fit into my robot and not wreck it."

That was about as close to a compliment as she'd get from him. And he mentioned a robot. Sure, they weren't cute boys or rubees, but they were robots! She skidded around the corner after him, following into his workshop. Pausing at the doorway, she gaped, marveling at how large the place was. She didn't even know something like this existed. "It's like a mansion in here!"

Reaching the railing, he turned, opening his arms dramatically. "Welcome to my workshop, the best there is, of course." Humility wasn't his strong point. "And here is my greatest creation, my mechanical brother, Brobot."

She glued herself to the railing, peering over. She hadn't noticed the mechanical creation at first, but she was more focusing on Mr. L and the lasagne stuck between her teeth. "Are those cannons?"

"Are those cannons," Mr. L scoffed. "Only the best cannons there are, capable of firing bursts of static electricity. I would settle for nothing less. Not to mention he's also capable of hopping worlds and flight. He'll come whenever I call him. That is what brothers do, after all."

She glanced at him sideways. Mr. L was surely the odd sort, but all people from the Mushroom World were odd to her, but she couldn't deny that L was extremely intelligent. "Goodness! You built all this? In less than a month?!"

"But of course," Mr. L bragged. "I am a mechanical genius. Come, my brother awaits. We have an important mission to accomplish." He turned, pushing open another door to the landing bay behind Brobot's massive head. At the push of a button, the top of the head opened with a whirr.

Mimi stared before startling with a hop and bounding after him. "Wait up! You still haven't told me what that is!"

"It's a plan so good, I'm disappointed I didn't think of it myself!" He motioned towards the hatch. "Get in. I'll explain."

He stepped over the gap and slid into a seat behind a number of controls. Panels lit up, covered with various buttons and a pair of joysticks. The windshield was slightly tinted. As Mimi hopped in, taking a seat next to him, she marveled at the panels, wanting to touch every button to see what each did. Maybe one of them would pop out a bunch of rubees. She reached forward but was quickly deterred when Mr. L reached over to push a button and close the hatch. She slumped into her seat, folding her arms and attempting not to give into temptation.

The robot whirred to life, lifting up and out of the supports which held it. A few more button presses and Brobot generated a large portal in front of them, drawing them inside and towards their destination of the Mushroom World. "Our mission is to launch a dual attack. I'll drop you off at Plack Beach to collect the star shards there. I have an improved shard tracker that should make this a breeze."

"There are cutie-pies at the beach!" Mimi exclaimed excitedly.

"Focus, Mims!" Mr. L fussed, prodding her in the shoulder. "We're not going to sightsee."

Mimi huffed. "Right. Right. But what about that hero and his mean posse of princesses?"

"That's where the great Mr. L comes in." He tapped his chest, indicating himself with a smug smirk. "I'll intersect them in Dimple Woods, preventing them from coming your way and taking whatever star shards they have on them."

"Brilliant!" Mimi exclaimed excitedly. "The sooner we get all the star shards, the sooner the Count will have his wish! I wonder if he'd let me wish for a mansion full of cute boys and rubees! What would you wish for, Mr. L?"

"I wouldn't wish for anything," Mr. L replied. "I want to be number one by my own hand."

.

Author's notes

L is really obsessed with being number one… Seriously.

The two locations, Plack Beach and Dimple Woods, are both from Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (the third game in the Mario & Luigi series), which I reference heavily in this fic. There are theories that the M&L and Paper Mario universes are somehow linked, but nothing's been completely proven. One can always dream they are, right?