Author's Notes: Well this is much later than the past few parts! Here are my excuses (true, but not necessarily acceptable) in chronological order: sickness, helping someone move, discovering Legend of Korra, finishing 11/22/63, discovering Vlogbrothers, reading An Abundance of Katherines, and Mario and Luigi: Dream Team finally coming out here in the United States.

I don't own Mario, or the Mole, or Mountain Dew, got it?

Episode 4 Part 2

"Er, I suppose Wolley probably wants a room to himself," Anderson said awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. "Shy Guy, why don't you room with Toadiko?" the host asked, pulling out another key.

Shy Guy shrugged, suddenly feeling the weight of the past few days on his shoulders. He exhaustedly grabbed the key and his bag off the table and made his way into his room. "Night," he muttered.

The rest of the group seemed to be too shaken by Toadiko's outburst to go to bed. Instead, the remaining players took seats in various places throughout the lobby. Mona sat right in front of Toadiko. Not having gotten a reaction to her angry question, she took on a gentler tone. "Toadiko, why did you do that to Wolley?"

Toadiko refused to look up at Mona, keeping her eyes locked to the floor. "He's an asshole," she grunted frustratedly.

Mona gently lifted Toadiko's chin until the toad girl was looking at her. "Toadiko, please stop being so angry. It's scaring everyone! We don't like to see you like this!" she pleaded, her face reflecting clear worry.

"I think seeing Wolley cry might have been even scarier," Timpani said loudly. Mario shot her a warning glance.

Toadiko looked up at the faces of each of her fellow players, her own face becoming slightly more horrified as she saw the worry present on each and every player's face. "I-I had no idea," she muttered," some of the anger and frustration fading to shock.

Toadiko: I had been so mad at Wolley that I didn't even think about how my actions were affecting the rest of the group. I didn't realize how upset everybody was.

Mario was the first to detect the understanding on Toadiko's face and he quickly stepped up. "Toadiko," he said carefully. "Why are you so mad at Wolley?"

Toadiko took a deep breath and attempted to speak calmly. "He ignored me. Back on the plane I tried to wake him up and he rudely ignored me!" she said, growing frustrated. She took a deep breath to calm down again. "I know it doesn't sound like a big deal," she said before anyone could speak up. "But we've known each other for years and that's sort of been a running theme with him. It always seems like when I have something important to tell him, he won't listen, it has grown frustrating!"

The group paused for a moment, taking in her words. "I can see how that would make you mad at him," Mallow said sympathetically, though his face made it clear that he was struggling to decide whether he should sympathize with Toadiko or Wolley.

"Why were you so grumpy all day then?" Mona asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"I don't know," sighed Toadiko, slightly frustrated.

Timpani, the psychologist, approached Toadiko. "This game has been really stressful for you hasn't it?" she asked, showing genuine concern yet also clearly knowing the answer.

Toadiko nodded slowly, becoming a little less frustrated. "Yeah," she confirmed quietly. "Every time somebody gets executed it puts me through a flurry of emotions. Not to mention the frustration of losing challenges," she said, trailing off.

Timpani looked up at Anderson and the contestants. "I think I need to talk with her one-on-one," she said seriously. "You all should go to bed." Not willing to question the psychologist, the players slowly crept to their bags and into their rooms and Anderson left Igneous Inn. Soon only, Toadiko, Timpani, and the cameramen (who weren't shooed out either because the players no longer noticed them or simply didn't care) remained.

Timpani took a deep breath. "Toadiko, I understand what you're going through. Having someone close to you refuse to pay attention can be one of the most frustrating experiences in life." She gave Toadiko a gentle pat on the shoulder as she continued. "I definitely know how you feel about the executions and challenges, you've seen me get frustrated before, these games are designed to make you frustrated, they want to create drama." Timpani's tone was sweet, but serious.

"Are you sure it's just the game getting to me?" asked Toadiko worriedly.

"Well you're definitely frustrated with Wolley," replied Timpani, casting a glance to said player's room. "But I think a lot of your anger is magnified by the game. We've seen it before when you fought the fuzzies, that anger was unusual for you. It was triggered by a particularly stressful part of the game," Timpani explained.

"I-I think I understand," said Toadiko, eyes glazed over in thought.

"So next time you get angry, just remember it's the game getting to you, okay?" propositioned Timpani.

Toadiko grinned. "Okay," she said, sounding much more like her normal self. She cast a glance at Wolley's door and her expression grew darker again. "I'm still mad at him," she muttered. "Like I said, he's ignored me countless times over the years."

"And it's fine if you are," said Timpani, slowly nodding. "But at least be civil with him; let him be happy, until you two make up."

Toadiko stared at Wolley's door, knitting her brow. "That's fair," she finally concluded. She suddenly jumped up and gave Timpani a big hug. "Thank you!" she cried.

Toadiko: I'm so glad Timpani was there! She made me feel a lot more like myself!

Timpani: Never bring a psychologist to a game of drama. She'll crack it right open!

Wolley groggily opened his door the next morning. "Bwah!" he cried in shock. Toadiko was standing right in front of him.

"Hey Wolley," she said, not waiting for him to get over the shock. "Listen, I'm still mad at you. You've ignored me more times than anyone could count and I think I have the right to be mad, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't be civil with you, so sorry for screaming at you and stuff. Feel free to act like yourself," she said. The little speech came off as awkward and frustrated, but there was a hint of genuine forgiveness hiding deep within her words. She then turned on her heel and walked off to get breakfast.

Wolley stood there, confused for a moment. Getting a message like that a little while after waking up generally means it takes a moment to process. Finally, Wolley managed to say something. "Wait, what?" he shouted.

Wolley: Okay, so I'm unbelievably thankful to not have Toadiko at my throat anymore, but it also makes me a bit nervous. I've only seen her as angry as she was at me one other time and Toadsworth had to hide for a week! Why did she let off on me so quickly…

The yellow toad approached the breakfast table. Anderson turned to him from the head of the table. "Ah, Wolley! How are you faring?" he asked.

"Um, I'm cool I guess," replied Wolley, hopping up into a chair. He clearly didn't want to get any special attention. "Mona. Coffee," he demanded.

Mona (who had clearly already had four or five mugs herself) overzealously filled his mug to the brim. "HereyougoWolley!" she said on her caffeinated high.

Mario scooted his chair closer to Anderson. "So Anderson, what are we doing today?" Mario asked, eager for information. "Is the mission going to involve something like, oh I don't know, climbing the mountain, getting to the center of the volcano, or stopping an eruption?" he asked a little arrogantly.

"Nah," Anderson dismissed. "That stuff would be too easy!"

"It would?" asked Mario, a little shocked. "What makes you think it would be easy"

"You've already done it!" replied Anderson. "We can't have Super Mario just doing adventures for a second time!"

"How'd you know?" Mario gasped. He twiddled with his moustache curiously.

"We've done… a lot of research into our contestants, I can guarantee," said Anderson. "Don't try to be sly, Mr. Mario. We know what you've done and what you haven't!"

Mallow leaned over to Anderson. "Well do you know about the time that I saved the universe from evil space vipers?" he joked.

Mona's jaw dropped. "You did that?" she asked, her tone filled with wonder. Everyone else at the table simply face-palmed.

"Mario has a point, what are we doing today?" Shy Guy asked quietly.

Anderson barely managed to hear the player. "What's with the urgency?" he asked, genuinely confused. "Sometimes you guys just want to kick back, but today you can't seem to sit still!"

"Well I wanna see more of Thwomp Volcano!" said Mona, managing to calm down just enough to separate her words.

"Some, dinero wouldn't hurt," commented Wolley, his tone a little sober compared to his normal self.

"Well, I can guarantee you won't be earning any 'dinero' in the next challenge," replied Anderson.

"Huh?" asked Toadiko, sounding completely normal. "Why not?"

"It is simply impossible to win!" cackled Anderson, unleashing an evil laugh for a few seconds. All the players could do was stare, some in fear, some in confusion, and some in pure amusement. After a moment, Anderson paused to catch his breath. Finally his expression grew sobered and he looked out at the players' various expressions. "I kid," he said. "It's not a challenge for money," he revealed.

"Well what's it for then?" Mallow asked eagerly.

The contestants suddenly heard the roar of an engine outside. "Ah, looks like Mr. Granite is here to take us to the challenge!" said Anderson, quickly getting up before anyone could pester him about it. "Let's go, folks!"

"Come ooooon Anderson, tell me!" insisted Mona for the umpteenth time. "You're gonna tell us about the mission soon anyways, what's wrong with telling me early?"

Anderson rubbed at his temples, clearly annoyed. "Hey Mona, weren't you curious about Shy Guy's past or something?"

A few seats back, Shy Guys eyes widened. "Huh, what?"

Mona dove back into the seat next to him. "So Shy Guy!" she began.

"Nope!"

Shy Guy: I'll get you for this, Anderson.

Mario took a deep breath. "Jeez, we're getting really high up!" he said, attempting to look to where the road they were on led to.

"Maybe we're going to the peak," suggested Wolley casually. "I guess that sounds like the kind of place where a challenge would be held."

"Maybe we'll go inside from there," Mario said nervously as he recalled the last time he ventured inside the volcano.

"Hey, it can't be that bad!" Mallow said cheerily. The high altitude didn't seem to be getting to him for obvious reasons. "Remember Barrel Volcano? Barrel Volcano was cool! Well… except for the dragon… and the fire," he trailed off, fear creeping up onto his face.

Across the aisle, Toadiko was staring out off the edge of the mountain. "It feels like this is the only landmass in the world," she breathed in awe.

Timpani looked out from the seat behind her. All she could see beyond the mountain was a sea of clouds and what little bit of anything visible beyond that was the ocean, truly creating the illusion that they were on the only piece of land around. "Wow," she breathed. "It's a little intimidating."

"You're trapped!" cackled Anderson who had overheard their discussion. He was about to start his evil laughter again when a glare from Timpani cut him off. "Spoil sport," he muttered.

The road the bus was travelling on kept leading them higher and higher until it was pretty much impossible to deny that they were in fact heading for the summit of Thwomp Volcano. After another minute of driving, the bus slowly pushed its way up the last hill onto the summit and parked only 30 feet away from the massive crater leading deep into the heart of the volcano.

Mona jumped off the bus and peered over the edge of the crater. She was met with the sight of miles of red, steaming rock. She dizzily threw herself back from the crater. "That's… intense," she muttered, awestruck.

Shy Guy dared not look into the volcano. "A-are we going in there?" he asked nervously as he backed away from the crater.

Anderson hopped up onto a ring of rocks lining the back side of the volcano. "Nah, I've got something a bit more fun in store for you! Come on!" he said, waving the players to follow. The humans and Wolley (who was a fairly good jumper) were able to get up the rocks without problem, but the rest of the players struggled to scramble up the Thwomp-faced boulder.

"Grah," grunted Mallow with effort as he pulled himself up. He wandered over to the northern tip of the mountain where Anderson was waiting with eight snowboards. He looked at the boards, then down the mountain, then back, and then to Anderson with a look of terror. "A-are we going to," he began.

"Ride these down the mountain? Precisely!" confirmed Anderson. Each player recoiled with shock.

"That's like the first challenge to the extreme," shuddered Mallow, backing away.

"Oh my," breathed Toadiko, frightfully covering her eyes.

"That actually looks kind of scary," admitted Wolley.

Timpani turned to the toad in shock. "You think it's scary? You're Wolley Ohtoad! If there's one thing I've learned about you over these episodes is that you do not get scared by stunts! You should be thrilled!" she said, almost scolding him.

"Cut me some slack," defended Wolley, inching towards the edge. "I'm not quite myself."

Shy Guy was shivering in his boots when he looked up at Anderson. "S-so why would we want to do this?" he asked, his voice barely audible over his chattering teeth (not that he was speaking loudly in the first place).

"Remember when I asked you who you missed the most?" asked Anderson. His arms were crossed and he was smugly waiting to see the looks on the players' faces.

Mona seemed confused at first. "Yeah, what abo… oh my gosh!" she suddenly screamed upon realization.

"You mean my Blumiere is at the bottom of the mountain?" Timpani asked excitedly. Anderson nodded.

Toadiko's face lit up in realization. "So that's why Daisy's mum was there!" she said. Anderson simply winked in confirmation.

"So," said Anderson. "If you don't go, you don't see your loved one," said Anderson sternly. Mario stepped up, but Anderson stopped him. "There's a bit more to this though, it's a race!"

Shy Guy grew slightly more nervous. "Of course," he sighed.

"This just got much more interesting," said Mona, grinning and cracking her knuckles.

"The winner," Anderson said. "Gets an exemption."

Shy Guy: Anderson has made the rewards outweigh my fears. That's pretty impressive for a challenge of this risk.

"And the loser gets a choice," he said ominously. "You can either choose to take a -1," he began.

Mona snorted. "Why would anyone choose that?" she said doubtfully.

"Because the other choice is to not get to see your loved one," Anderson said bluntly.

Worry started to creep over all the players' faces. "Oh."

Mario: I've barely gotten to see Luigi between my last adventure and coming on the show. I need to see him.

Several crew members handed out helmets with goggles to each player and took the time to make sure they put on their headgear safely and were securely strapped into their boards. "This is a lot like snowboarding," explained Anderson. "Oh except try not to inhale the dust coming up from the boards, we're pretty sure that stuff's poisonous." Several players immediately drew the collars of their shirts up as makeshift gasmasks. "Now then, on your marks!"

The players scooted towards the edge and truly took in the sight before them. Evidently the northern face of the volcano had been the one to really feel the brunt of the eruption. Unlike the rest of the volcano, this side bore a wide strip significantly smoother than the rest of the volcano. Most of the ground was a thick layer of dark red-green sediment that sloped steeply down the mountain, often reaching around a 65 degree angle, though sometimes leveling out to 30 degrees. The only obstacles were a few chunks of rocks with Thwomp patterns on them sticking out of the ground.

"I-I don't wanna do this. I don't wanna do this," whimpered Shy Guy to himself. Fear was causing his whole body to shake.

"Get set," called Anderson.

"It's not sliding, it's falling with style," Mallow said in a vain attempt to convince himself he was in his element.

"Go!" roared Anderson. Just as he had planned, his unexpectedly loud shout had startled each player enough that they failed to think about how terrifying the jump they were making was. That didn't stop them from noticing it on the way down.

"Nopenopenopenope!" cried Toadiko in terror as she quickly reached speeds much faster than what she saw in the very first challenge. She flailed her arms, not sure what to do.

Wolley was silent as he began his journey down. He was purely focused on the thrill of the ride, the insane speed he was traveling at, the epic mountain face before him, the clouds he was sure to blast through, and the pure adrenaline rushing through his veins. Suddenly a grin appeared on his face, perhaps the widest grin he'd had during the entire game. He cackled wildly with joy as he bent his knees, lowering himself and greatly increasing his speed.

Mario currently led the pack, though his larger stature prevented him from pulling too far ahead of many of the smaller contestants. That fact mas made glaringly evident when a yellow figure whizzed by him.

"Just what the doctor ordered!" Wolley cackled with glee as he sped by. Mario was caught off guard by the speeding fungi and thus had to flail around to keep his balance. Evidently flailing fat plumbers sliding down volcanoes are less aerodynamic than flailing cloud people sliding down volcanoes and because of that little bit of physics, Mallow soon slid past Mario.

"Haaaalp!" cried Mallow exaggeratedly, flailing his arms in terror as he sped up. He cast a pleading look calling for help to Mario as he slid by. He looked ahead to his left where Wolley was carving a serpentine pattern into the mountain face. Suddenly, the toad banked to the right, sending a wave of volcanic dust toward the terrified sentient cloud. "Not air pollution!" he cried with genuine concern, not realizing how comical the exclamation was. He quickly turned to the left in an effort to avoid the incoming cloud. He was successful in his effort, but his movement created another cloud stretching out to the left, which, despite Wolley's cloud fading fast, left Mario in a position where he was forced to pass through a nasty cloud of volcanic dust.

"Mama-mia," he groaned exasperatedly as he tried to cover his mouth. As the passed through the cloud, he managed to get a lungful of the poisonous smoke. He began to cough. It wasn't a light cough either, his lungs were eager to get the awful substance out and thus forced his to retch violently until he finally crashed to the ground with a nasty thud.

"You alright?" cried Mona (who passed through Wolley's cloud when it was pretty much gone) as she passed Mario. Her face reflected true concern, but she didn't bother stopping out of fear of a -1 or not seeing Wario.

Toadiko swerved out of the way of the fallen plumber. "Get up, please!" she cried concernedly without looking back. Her cry didn't reach the plumber's ears.

Shy Guy had to jump over the hero. His words didn't even manage to make it out of his mask.

Timpani saw him long before she got to him. "Come on Mario, I know you can get up!" she urged, fighting to concentrate on her trajectory.

Mario: That fall left me with my limbs burning with pain. Nothing felt broken, but it was nothing short of awful. The only thing that got me up was the thought of the impending doom that awaited me if I didn't make it down.

With effort, Mario slowly pushed himself up onto his feet and began slowly sliding down. By that point, Timpani was already 100 yards ahead of him. He would have to work hard to catch up.

Unfortunately for the plumber, Timpani was starting to grow more confident on the board. She crouched lower with each passing second, going faster and faster. Shy Guy nervously glanced back and saw the human woman quickly approaching him. More nervous about a collision than being passed, Shy Guy swerved to the left, giving Timpani a clear shot down the mountain. She cheered gleefully as she was launched off of one of the large, carved stones sticking out of the mountain.

Timpani: Sure, the challenge was dangerous. I easily could have broken something, but sometimes a lady has to live a little!

Up ahead, Toadiko was fearfully attempting to keep her balance. She stared down at her feet, focusing on keeping herself from leaning too far in any direction. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't able to see the large ramp-like stone she was approaching until she was finally launched off of it. She looked down at the sudden distance between her and the ground. Her scream could be heard all the way down the mountain.

Mona used a ramp to jump ahead of Mallow. She strained her eyes to see the finish line at the bottom then sent a glare towards Wolley whom was twenty yards ahead of her. She crouched down as low as she could, sending her rocketing towards the toad. "Here I come Wolley!" she growled competitively.

Wolley looked back quickly, surprised to see someone get so close to him. He narrowed his eyes. "Not so fast, Mona!" he retorted, a competitive fire burning in his eyes. He suddenly turned sharply to the right, creating a cloud of volcanic ash that Mona had no choice but to blast through.

Mona began to cough violently, but unlike Mario, she managed to stay upright. She bared her teeth like they were fangs. "You'll pay for that dirty tactic!" she barked angrily. She swerved to the right, quickly nearing the toad. She swung her arm out in an attempt to grab him.

Wolley noticed the attack and wagged his finger at the human. "No fighting, Mona, remember?" he taunted.

Mona paused for a moment and grinned. "You got me, looks like you're going to win!" she conceded.

Wolley grinned back. "I guess so!" he said, ducking lower and going even faster.

Mona sighed as he zoomed off. "I suppose I really didn't have a chance," she muttered to herself remorsefully.

Wolley was finally able to get a good look at the ending. At the bottom of the hill, large quantities of ash had piled up to form a crude ramp. 20 or so feet past the ram was a checkered line signifying the ending, but more importantly, there were seven figures standing just past the line. Wolley stared at the second figure from the left before suddenly grinning with glee. He aligned himself with the figure as he got closer and closer to the ramp. Finally he hit the massive ramp and unleashed an equally massive shout. "Yvan!"

A toad four inches shorter than Wolley perked up. His cap sported dark blue spots and he wore a dark blue vest. He ran towards the ramp and leapt into the air.

"Booyeah!" shouted the Ohtoad brothers, high-fiving in midair.

"So. Much. Style," muttered a white Shy Guy.

Wolley quickly unstrapped himself from the snowboard and threw off the headgear. He hugged the younger toad. "It's great to see you, Yvan!" he cried happily.

Yvan rolled his eyes, but accepted the hug anyways. "Great to see you too, bro."

The next contestant flew off the ramp. "Wario!" she squealed.

The portliest of plumbers looked around confusedly. "Wa?" He was suddenly tackled by Mona as she landed.

The duo was sprawled out on the ground, Mona's nose comically pressed against Wario's. "Hiya boss!" she chirped excitedly.

Wario grumpily pushed Mona off of him and sat up. "Yo, Mona." He stood up as Mona removed her gear. "So what are you people trying to do here?" he asked apathetically.

Mona hopped up, eager to inform her boss. "We gotta find out who the Mole is!"

Wario stuck a finger up his nose, still clearly not caring. "So, what's the point of that?"

"Well if you know who they are you're more likely to win the whole thing and get all the money!"

Wario's eyes lit up and he quickly turned to Mona, grabbing her by the shoulders. "You can win cash?" he gasped excitedly.

"Yeah!" cheered Mona. "And the better we do on challenges, the more the winner wins! Up to 500,000!"

Wario's jaw dropped. "500,000!" he gasped almost in a trance at the thought of all the money. "Mona, if you can win this I'll give you a promotion!" he promised, excitedly tossing her into the air.

Mona cheerfully struck a pose in midair. "You got it, boss!"

A moment later, Mallow gracelessly fell off the ramp, landing face-first. An elderly frog sporting a massive, white beard and moustache hopped over to the fallen cloud. "You never were much of a jumper, were you?" he croaked. He sighed lightly when regarding the boy's jumping.

Mallow jumped up excitedly. "Grandpa!"

As the two began to catch up, a human woman shot off of the ramp. A man on the plateau perked up. He had navy blue hair, yellow eyes, and a shiny monocle. He wore a navy blue suit and a white cape that matched his white top-hat perfectly. He threw his jewled scepter to the ground and ran for the woman. "Timpani!"

Timpani (who had quickly shed her gear) ran for him, arms stretched wide. "Blumiere!" she cried passionately. Their embrace was accompanied the sloppy type of make-out television absolutely loves.

"Yuck," muttered Yvan, quickly shielding his eyes. Wolley chuckled lightly at his brother's innocence.

Toadiko was the next to come over the ramp. A toad with a blue cap, white spots, and blue glasses approached her. "Hello sister! It's great to see you, by boogity!" he said. His voice was steady, though it didn't hide his excitement.

"Hi Toadiko!" chirped Yvan. Toadiko shot him a glare. It was likely an unintentional one, one likely spurred by irritation at being reminded of the friend she was currently mad at while wanting to focus on her brother.

Yvan flinched and stepped back. "Yikes!" he piped, fearfully stepping backwards. "What's up with her?" he whispered to Wolley.

Wolley surprisingly wasn't fazed. Maybe it was the adrenaline, or maybe he truly felt better. "It's nothing personal, bro," he assured the younger Ohtoad, patting him on the head. "Apparently I happen to be an asshole."

Yvan gave him a judgmental look. "Nice going, big brother," he said exhasperatedly.

Back over by Toadiko, Toadbert was scouting around the area, enjoying the scenery. "I say, this place is looking even more magnificent than 20 years ago, by boogity!" he exclaimed, still quickly moving around.

Mona quickly and suddenly rounded on him. "You time traveled too?" she asked excitedly. Her eyes grew oddly wide and she got right up in the toad's face. "Tell me everything!"

Toadbert began to back away, clearly creeped out. "I-it's a rather long story. Maybe another time!" he said, scurrying over to Toadiko before Mona could ask him anything else.

Shy Guy finally emerged from over the ramp. His eyes shining with fear until he touched the ground, when he suddenly grinned in triumph. "Yes, not dead-last!" he cheered, spiking his helmet into the ground victoriously.

The white Shy Guy walked over to him. He was fanning himself with his comically large, white hat. "Real classy, son," he said sarcastically.

Shy Guy looked down in shame at his father's scorn. "Sir, yes sir," he muttered.

Finally, surprisingly close to Shy Guy, Mario came rushing off the ramp sporting a bit more tattered clothes than when he began and a disappointed expression. That expression immediately brightened when he saw the final of the guests lurking shyly. "Weegee!" Mario cried, throwing off his gear.

The twins ran towards each other, arms outstretched. Luigi grinned widely. "Mari-AAAAAHH!" he cried, suddenly being scooped up into the air by a shadowy figure.

"Not so fast!" snapped Gloombadrick. He held Luigi by hooking his feet under the Green-Mario's armpits.

Luigi flailed fearfully as he was dragged higher into the air. "Wha- wher- why- how- who are you?" shouted Luigi.

"Name's Gloombadrick, Anderson's assistant," Gloombadrick answered politely. He stopped ascending once they were out of Mario's jumping range.

Luigi bit at his fingernails. "Wh-who's Anderson?" he stuttered.

"That would be me," replied the host of question from behind the group. Everyone quickly turned to face him.

"Where did you come from?" Wario barked.

"It's like he came out of nowhere," observed Lord Blumiere.

Timpani put a hand on his shoulder. "You get used to it," she said tiredly.

"Mario," said Anderson, ignoring the guests' comments. "You were the last one down the mountain and in addition to looking incredibly filthy," he commented whilst eyeing the plumber's clothing, "you must choose: take a -1, or let us whisk your brother far away from here."

"This guy is gonna carry me away?" cried Luigi, panicked. Gloombadrick rolled his eyes.

Mario: I can handle a -1, right? Luigi better be thankful for this.

Mario held out his hand. "-1 please," he ordered.

Anderson handed him the card saying, "It's your funeral. Well, execution to be more accurate." He grinned for a moment before seeing the glares on several players and guests' faces. He walked over to Wolley, carrying a green card. "And, Mr. Ohtoad, I believe I owe you and exemption!" He handed Wolley the card.

"Sweet!" cheered Wolley, leaping into the air.

"Hey, can you let me down?" Luigi gently asked.

"Oh. Right." Gloombadrick gently lowered Luigi to the ground.

"Freedom!" cried the plumber, running over to Mario.

"Chill, dude," muttered Gloombadrick.

The players were turned loose for the afternoon; Anderson saying something along the lines of, "I can do a lot of harm to you all, but I suppose I can't keep you away from your loved ones." Mario and Luigi were lounging in the main square of Obsidian Village and Mario filled his brother in on what had happened so far.

"It really stinks that Daisy got exeliminated or whatever," Luigi sighed dejectedly, letting his head fall into his hands.

"Indeed," agreed Mario. "Though I don't know why you're so sad. You two probably went on like a billion dates while I was on my adventure!"

"Wh-what? Of course not! We wouldn't be having fun while the kingdom was in danger!" stammered Luigi. Mario gave him a knowing look. "At least not that much," Luigi admitted, sheepishly grinning.

Blumiere and Timpani approached them. "Mario brothers!" called Blumiere jollily.

The bros. jerked away from their conversation. "Hey!" said Mario, waving.

Blumiere grabbed Mario's hand and shook it vigorously. "It's great to see you guys now that we're on the same side!"

Timpani waved. "Hello Luigi," she said pleasantly.

Luigi, being his awkward self, simply flopped his hand into the air. "H-hey!"

"So," said Timpani, addressing the whole group. "We were looking at some guides to the area in the Inn and it seems that a nearby village has a tennis court, would you care to play a match?"

Mario jumped onto his feet. "You bet!" he said excitedly.

Luigi lazily got up. "Sure, sounds fun!" So the group began to hike down a narrow, dusty road in the sweltering heat. The road led to the southwest and generally kept away from the edge of the mountain, much to everyone's relief. They eventually came upon a long tunnel which provided a good shelter from the sun's heat, but also (and certainly less good) the sun's light.

"Jeez, it's darker than Castle Bleck in here," commented Blumiere.

"Hold on a sec," ordered Luigi casually as he fished in his pocket. After a moment, he whipped out a flashlight, providing a decent bit of visibility.

"Why do you have a flashlight?" asked Timpani, making some sort of confused gesture that would have been seen had Luigi been pointing the light at her.

"Eh, I've learned to always be prepared for dark places," Luigi explained, pointing the light at the couple.

"But the producers made sure we didn't have anything other than clothes and," he paused to hold up his scepter, "canes," he said bewilderedly.

Luigi held the flashlight under his face. "I'm always prepared," he said in a faux-creepy voice.

Blumiere chuckled charmingly. "Well if you are worried about bad things getting you, you should probably be wary of your brother," he said.

Luigi quickly moved the flashlight over to Mario who just stared in Blumiere's direction curiously. "Huh?" asked the younger Mario bro.

"He's obviously a Mole," Blumiere warned.

Luigi looked at Mario, shocked. "Mario? No way!"

"You never know, Weegee!" Mario said, making a creepy face. Everyone laughed for a brief moment. "I wouldn't be so quick to accuse, Blecky. Your wife is pretty moley!"

Luigi shined the light on Timpani as Blumiere stared at her. "My Timpani?" he asked defensively. "Why that's absolutely cra-," he suddenly paused for a moment before looking over at Mario. "Actually, I could easily see that."

"Honey!" protested Timpani.

"I'm not saying you're a traitor!" defended Blumiere. "You're just rather crafty!"

Timpani accepted this and shrugged. She then suddenly cried out, "I can see the exit!" joyfully.

Luigi sighed happily. "The light at the end of the tunnel," he said, flipping off his flashlight.

Wolley and Yvan were lounging in the lobby of the Igneous Inn when a pair of hands suddenly grabbed Wolley by the shoulders. "Gah!" he screamed, whirling around.

"I got you, by boogity!" chuckled Toadbert.

"Why you little," growled Wolley before Yvan cut in.

"What my brother means is 'Good to see you, Bert!'" he said, putting a hand on the yellow toad's shoulder.

"Right," muttered Wolley. "What are you doing here anyways? Shouldn't you be with Toadiko?" he asked, genuinely curious, not judgmental.

"She's changing out of her volcanically-stained clothes," explained the intellectual toad. "I'm taking this opportunity to see how you're fairing," he said politely.

Wolley smiled a bit. "Thanks, Bert. Well, I'll admit having your best friend be pissed at you for something that is definitely your fault really sucks. And I miiiight have cried on national television over her screaming at me," he admitted, cringing.

Yvan began to laugh uncontrollably. "No effing way, bro! You embarrassed yourself on TV, good job!"

Wolley flicked Yvan's nose. "Can it, squirt." He turned back to Toadbert, regaining his normal, laid back posture. "But now she says we'll be civil and I don't really do the whole mopey emo thing, so I'm actin' like my regular funny-guy self, so I guess I'm fine and all that jazz." His finish came out a bit awkwardly, but he didn't seem to care whether or not he got his point across.

"That's good," said Toadbert, adjusting his glasses. He failed to let on whether or not he believed Wolley was really fine. "A word to the wise though: let her make things better and don't approach her until she does. See you later!" And with that, he scurried back to where his sister was likely waiting for him.

"Thanks, man!" called Wolley. The Ohtoad brothers sat for a moment in silence.

Finally, Yvan spoke up. "I can't believe you cried on TV."

"Shut up, Yvan."

In a small café in the corner of Obsidian Village, two men were locked in an epic duel. Mallow and Shy Guy stood merely as onlookers, marveling at the battle taking place before them. Mallow nudged Shy Guy. "My grandpa is totally gonna win," he whispered.

Shy Guy knit his brow. "No way," he said defensively. "Chess is just like military strategy, my dad's got this."

Frogfucius slid his last remaining bishop across the board, claiming one of General Guy's pawns. "Did you see that sick move?" Mallow taunted quietly.

General Guy's knight took one of Frogfucius's pawns. "How about that?" replied Shy Guy smugly.

Another one of Frogfucius's pawns took General Guy's knight. "Take that!" snapped Mallow loudly.

Frogfucius, without looking up from the game, said, "Listen Mallow, I know hold me in high regard, but could you hold me in high regard quietly?" Mallow slapped his hands over his mouth. "Thank you," Frogfucius said calmly.

Shy Guy chuckled at the nimbian's misfortune.

"Take what he said and apply it to you, son," said General Guy. Shy Guy's hands flew over his mouth.

Wario wiped his brow as Basalt Town finally came into view. "Finally!" he grumbled. He looked over at Mona, annoyed. "You should have told me this place was so far!" he grumbled.

"Sorry boss," sighed Mona. "But hey," she said, suddenly perking up. "We're here!"

They strolled into Basalt Town, keeping an eye out for the destination they had in mind. The found it without much trouble, but upon finding it, trouble was inevitable.

Wario's fists clenched. "Maaaaaaaariooooooo!" he roared angrily.

Mario whirled around with surprise, leaving himself open to completely miss Timpani's wicked serve. Mario glared at the pudgier plumber. "What are you doing here Wario?"

"Oh boy," sighed Mona and Luigi simultaneously.

"Well, Mona and I were going to play some tennis, but we didn't expect to see you here!" he grunted rudely.

Mario folded his arms and turned back towards Timpani and Blumiere. "Well that's just too bad."

Wario took a step towards the court. "Mario, I challenge you to a match!"

Mario whirled around again, once again missing a serve. The rival plumbers glared intensely at each other, not breaking eye contact. "Do you guys mind?" Mario asked, not looking away from Wario.

"Nah, I'm beat anyways," admitted Timpani, her relaxed tone in stark contrast to the tension between the two rivals.

Luigi looked between the two nervously. "G-go for it."

"I've gotta tell the other players about this!" Mona suddenly exclaimed, dashing out of the village.

Wario took his place on the court and snarled at Mario, "You're going down, punk!"

Luigi suddenly jumped to the sideline and used his best imitation of an announcer's voice. "Set: 1, Game: 1!" he announced.

Mario tossed the ball into the air and hit it with all his might. "Yahoo!"

Mona burst into Obsidian Village's café loudly causing both chess players to jump in surprise, knocking over most of their chess pieces. Shy Guy and Mallow looked down at the board in horror. "Mona!" they shouted angrily.

Toadiko and Toadbert had come in to watch the game and both gave their own disappointed looks. "Nice job, Mona," sighed Toadiko.

"Guys! Epic tennis match! Wario vs. Mario! Basalt Town! Come on!" each sentence had a desperate gasp in between it, but she still managed to sound excited.

General Guy shrugged. "So do we call it a tie?"

Frogfucius nodded wisely. "Indeed we do, great match!"

"Come on!" insisted Mona. Everyone (albeit slowly) got up and left the café with Mona. Out in the main square, she saw Wolley and Yvan sitting on a bench. Mona quickly ran up to the brothers. "Hey Wolley!" She looked down at his hands. "Oh sweet, Mountain Dew!" she chirped, happily snatching the full bottle from his hands and chugging the whole thing.

Wolley stared down at his hands with severe disappointment. "My… my Mountain Dew!"

"BigepictennismatchbetweenWandMatBasaltTowncomewat chnow!" Mona shouted, the caffeine quickly kicking in. Wolley, who was fluent in hyper-speak, got the message and began to make his way down the path to Basalt Town.

"My Mountain Dew," he lamented.

"The score is one set to one set!" announced Luigi as the crowd began to stream in. "Here we go folks, Final set, Game: 1!"

Wario served the ball with a wicked spin. "Have a rotten day!" he shouted. Mario returned it excellently, but Wario easily continued the volley. These two were experts after years of playing and neither would let the volley end soon. As they continued on, they began hitting the ball harder, until their hits were mere instants apart. Finally, Wario managed to hit the ball into the doubles lanes.

"Crap," sighed the yellow-clad player.

Predictably, the entire crowd (minus Mona) was on Mario's side and he received a rousing applause. However, after the next point, it was Mona's turn to cheer, though a tied game wasn't the biggest cause for celebration.

The set carried on like that for the rest of its duration, always a close, if not tied, score. Finally, after nearly an hour of playing, Mario and Wario found themselves in a tiebreaker game, with the next point winning the whole thing. Even Luigi abstained from using his announcer voice, allowing the tension to quickly rise.

"Take this!" shouted Wario, serving at full force. Mario managed to hit it back, but the shot was high and Wario took the opportunity to slam the ball down. Mario ran to the far left and back of the court, managing to hit the ball as he dove. Wario had to run to the right to get to the ball and he sent it all the way across the court. Mario, however, anticipated the move and was right there to hit it back. Wario barely returned the ball with a dive, but it gave Mario the opportunity to spike the ball and after the first bounce, it flew way over Wario's head. Mario had won the match.

"And the winner is Mario!" cheered Luigi, dropping his announcer's voice. The crowd (minus Mona) swarmed him and put him up on their shoulders. So, Mario got to ride on a chariot of fans back to Obsidian Village, while Wario was forced to walk.

"Gee, nobody's gonna say good game or anything?" grumbled Wario.

"You did great!" cheered Mona, running to his side.

Wario hardly seemed to notice her. "I hate it when people just abandon me like that."

"You still have me!" protested Mona.

Wario looked over at her. "Yeah, I suppose I do," he said with the tiniest hint of gratefulness in his voice. He thought for a moment. "Can you throw Mario off the mountain?"

"Anything for you, boss!"

Wario chuckled heartily and patted her on the back. "Ya really are there for me!"

Author's Notes: Woah! Longest chapter! This was actually completely unintentional. I meant for there to just be a brief dinner scene after the challenge, but then I realized that they had breakfast right before the challenge and I would be skipping most of a day, so then tennis happened!

I'd like to address a grievance made by Princess Toady about last chapter. I completely see what you mean, yikes I didn't even think about that when writing it! And yeah, they kind of did another 180 in this chapter though whether it's for the better or for the worst I can't be sure. The point of Toadiko becoming a hysterical fury and Wolley going all emo wasn't to change them, a minor point of that was to show that things can push them over the edge and make them act totally different (like real peoples they have a breaking point) and of course there had to be drama in a reality show. The main point however, was the change in their dynamic, which could potentially be a game-changer, we'll have to see!

Oh and about Shy Guy, I just like writing his dialogue and I like writing about Darkland, so it's hard to make him shut up sometimes XD, so thanks for catching me on that!

Anyways, next chapter will hopefully take a shorter amount of time than this one did, though probably longer than the other recent ones due to the fact that I'd like to finally update my Paper Mario fic.