Hello, children. What's up?

Petrushka is coming along nicely, though not nicely enough for Friday night. Unfortunately, that's when my festival ends. I stay another day, but that's another story. Overall, I'm really gonna miss this place; basically put, I had the time of my life. I loved the repertory, I loved the other people, but most of all I loved the overall musical integrity of everybody here. If I get into the festival next year, I will definitely go again; it takes a huge chunk of summer, but it takes a huge chunk to devote it to stuff that I really want to do when I graduate from college.

So with this, I'm afraid the EMF chapters of this story are beginning to close. If chapter 27 gets here before Sunday (which I doubt), then that will be the last chapter; otherwise, I say farewell to the festival with this chapter.

Anyways, that's all from me.

Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 26: From the New World

Mario hummed quietly to himself as he walked to the local Chinese restaurant to get some take-out service for himself and four other people.

It had been two weeks since he ran to Die Engelein under the assumed identity of 'Massimo'. He had seen some odd activities around there, but he knew he would have to get used to it since he was not used to the city life.

However, his new friends were making the transition easy; all of them knew the street lingo, and they all knew plenty of people there. Pit was his best friend from Die Engelein, as the two lived right next door to each other. Some parts of his relationship with Wario were still a little rocky, but otherwise they went well for the most part. Meta, his land lord, was also a very nice fellow, and Pit's girlfriend Palutena was one of the most unique women the Italian had ever met in his life.

The plumber felt he could get used to such a life; he liked the city for the fact that it felt alive, and he also felt that nobody was going to do anything to him.

However, he felt as if he had made a wrong choice by coming here; since he had moved to Die Engelein, he felt that a part of himself was incomplete. He felt as if he should have at least done something back in the mansion before he left.

Mario always justified it by saying that he was getting away from what he feared most, so he usually shrugged the thoughts away.

He wondered how Peach was back in the mansion. Mario was dying to write to her for the longest time, but he knew that he would probably reveal himself to his brothers. He knew that his identity was a delicate thing to hold on to, so he did everything in his power to keep himself from being exposed as Mario Mario.

He hummed the tune to himself as he walked into the Chinese restaurant because everybody he knew was gathering at Meta's apartment for dinner. They had decided this since that night happened to be the Dragon Festival, they would celebrate at Meta's with Chinese food. Nobody in the group was actually Chinese, but Meta was one to celebrate every holiday in the world no matter what the nationality in question was.

Mario walked up to the counter to order.

Meta sat on a couch flipping through channels on a television with Wario by his side as Palutena was preparing the table. Pit stared outside of the window, waiting for Massimo to appear.

It had been a quiet scene since Massimo left to get the Chinese take-out orders. The others were waiting very patiently, so the scene was not very tense at all. Pit liked to look out of windows during this, so he was not very tense at all. In fact, all of them were doing something that lowered the level of tension in their systems; after all, it was a medically proven fact that stress was not healthy for anybody.

Pit watched as the cars zoomed by below. His father had leapt into the cars driving down below from the top of a tourist building back home. The incident scared Pit once it had happened, and afterwards Pit knew that he did not want to wind up the way his father did. He knew for a fact that he had to avoid a depressing life to keep himself from having to do what his father did; thus, he kept a large circle of friends with him that he knew he could count on during times of struggle.

At this moment in time, Palutena had finished arranging plates on the table. She walked up to Pit.

"Are you staring at the cars again?" asked the young Hispanic woman.

"Yes," said Pit. "It's habit, I guess."

"I worry about that," said Palutena. "Your father jumped to his death."

"I know," said Pit. "I also know what I have to do to be able to avoid having to jump. We've talked about it a lot."

"I know," said Palutena. "Still, it never hurt anybody to worry about the health of their love."

"True," said Pit. "You know, I always wondered what secrets my father hid from me; the police told me nothing of his troubles…"

"You only know that they were quite depressing," said Palutena.

"Exactly," said Pit as he looked at Palutena. "I hope that one day somebody will have the answers I'm looking for…"

"I sure hope you do find the answers," said Palutena.

"Hey, would you two mind not talking about depressing subjects?" asked Meta from the TV. "It is the Chinese New Year, you know!"

This startled Pit and Palutena at the same time; neither of them remembered that Pit's landlord had sensitive hearing. Along with the fact that they had said much of the conversation at a soft dynamic, anybody would be surprised.

"Sorry!" said Pit.

At this moment, the doorbell rang.

"I got-a the take-out!" shouted Massimo's voice from the doorway.

"Yay!" said Wario. "I got it, man!"

The fat man walked to the door and opened it.

The group sat around the TV, watching a boat race that was taking place midday in China. Massimo and Pit were betting on one boat while Palutena and Wario had bet on another boat, with the boat that Pit and Massimo had bet on racing ahead of its competitor.

Dragon Boat races never got boring during such gatherings at Meta's apartment; the landlord had lived long enough to know this. He had done this with many of the occupants of his apartment before, and they were always fun. They would always shout out the name of the competitors they were rooting for, and then they would always shout out in playful dismay once they had lost the race. They usually placed bets on pieces of orange chicken, which Meta left on a plate on the TV; whoever won a race would win two pieces of orange chicken.

The dinner had been wonderful; he always ordered from the same Chinese restaurant in town, and they always kept up a great meal for people hungry for Chinese food. This was good for everybody, as they always enjoyed a great meal at his apartment; it was part of Meta's job description to be hospitable, and he lived up to it because of that and the fact that it was usually fun to do so.

Thus, the scene was laid out, with Pit and Massimo cheering their boat on as it neared the finish line faster than Palutena and Wario's boat.

Finally, Pit and Massimo's boat crossed the finish line, and they jumped up and grabbed two pieces of orange chicken from the plate. Palutena and Wario were playfully dismayed, sighing with drooping figures. After the other three people in the room laughed, they perked back up.

"Figures," said Pit. "I thought that that captain had something going."

"So did I," said Massimo. "So who's up-a next?"

"I don't know," said Wario. "I bet it will be an interesting race, though…"

"I wonder how you got the channels from China anyways…" said Palutena.

"I have a powerful satellite network," said Meta. "I can get channels from all over the world."

"Cool!" said Massimo. "Do you know where I can find—?"

The Italian's question was cut off as a cellular phone ring tone sounded above the Mandarin being uttered from the TV. The oboist reached into his pocket and answered the phone.

"Hello?" he asked. "Oh, hi Jeremy! What's up?"

Massimo's face put on a curious expression as he noticed this.

"No, no, I'm just at a small party at Meta's," continued Wario. "Yeah. Listen, I'll call you back afterwards, okay? Good. Love you too. Bye!"

Massimo's curiosity was piqued more by the fact that Wario had referred to this 'Jeremy' as a lover. But Jeremy was a boy's name.

"What was-a that about?" asked Massimo.

"Oh, that was my boyfriend Jeremy," said Wario.

"Hm?" asked Massimo. "But I thought you liked to check out women…"

"You didn't know?" asked Pit. "Wario's bisexual."

Massimo looked shocked to hear this.

"Really now?" asked Massimo.

"I am sure he must have told you by now," said Palutena.

Massimo looked at Wario.

Then, without warning, the Italian jumped at the fat man, pinned him to the floor, and grabbed a glass of water and struck Wario in the face with it.

"What in—?" yelled Meta as he looked behind the couch.

"Massimo, stop it!" yelled Pit as he grabbed the Italian and carried him away from Wario.

"Why do you-a people see me as a target?" asked Massimo.

"But Massimo, he has a boyfriend already," said Palutena.

"Yeah, a boyfriend for one-a day!" shouted the Italian.

"We've been together for ten months!" shouted Wario. "Shut your face and live with it."

"Screw-a that!" shouted Massimo as he broke free from Pit's hold. He went to go punch Wario, but Pit and Palutena grabbed him. The Italian made them lose their grip on him, and he successfully punched Wario in the face. He was about to jump on Wario.

"Massimo, that is enough!" said Meta, standing on the couch and effectively surprising Massimo such that he turned to look at the landlord. "You will either behave in a civil manner in my apartment or you can leave this apartment for the rest of the night. If you take a fight to my apartment, may whatever gods you believe in help you from getting evicted!"

This snapped Massimo out of his trance. However, he turned to Meta and pointed his finger threateningly.

"Well, I don't-a see how you could defend these-a stupid, do-whatever-a-the-hell-I-want bitches who want men!" said Massimo. "One of these-a days, you will pay!"

The Italian stomped out of the apartment, furious at everybody. He slammed the door as he exited.

There was a long silence, terminated only by the sounds of rowing from the TV.

After a while, Pit finally said something.

"What a way to ruin such an event," said Pit.

"Seriously," said Wario, rubbing his cut cheeks. "Anybody got Band-aids?"

"Here," said Palutena. "I can help you with that."

With this, the young woman took Wario's hand and entered the kitchen. Meta shook his head.

"How stupid," said the landlord. He stepped off of the couch and walked to the door. "I better go talk to him. I need information."

"Of course," said Pit. "Do you want me to come as well, or no?"

"No," said Meta. "I should do this alone…"

"Right," said Pit. "Good luck fishing out information!"

Meta nodded and exited the apartment.

Mario threw his shirt at the wall, angry at the world. No matter where he went, it felt as if the plumber never really got away from homosexuals. They seemed to be everywhere he went. His suitcase was open a crack as it lay on the coffee table, waiting for Mario to get something out of it to throw at the wall.

The plumber sat on his bed, wondering if it was a good idea to come to Die Engelein in the first place. Maybe he had chosen the wrong place to move to. Maybe he had left at a bad time.

No matter what, though, Mario felt that getting away from them at this point was too much, and until he knew of a place where homosexuals did not exist he would stay put.

At this, a set of knuckles rapped on the door.

"May I come in?" asked Meta's voice from the hall.

"It's-a open," said Mario. The landlord walked in, closing the door behind him as he did.

"Massimo, why?" asked Meta. "Why did you—?"

"How many of-a them are there?" asked Mario, looking Meta in the eyes. "How many?"

"Approximately one sixth of the world is made of homosexuals," said Meta. "Why do you ask?"

"I can't-a get away from them!" shouted Mario, grabbing his hair.

"Massimo, settle down!" said Meta as he ran into the room. "It's nothing to tear your hair about! Now settle down and leave your homophobia alone."

"Alone?" asked Mario. "Alone? They will all-a go after-a me next!"

"Massimo, that is not true!" said Meta. "If that was true, Wario would have asked me out by now. And I am not gay!"

"Yes it-a is!" shouted Mario. "You should-a know that!"

"Massimo, stop it!" said Meta. "Homophobia is not good for anybody! Gay men don't lust after straight guys unless they have no lives, so shut up and—!"

"No, you shut up-a your face!" shouted Mario.

His right hand curled into a fist and flew in front of his face as the left hand went behind him.

Mario's left hand knocked the suitcase off of the coffee table and right at Meta's feet. It had flown open upon impact, revealing a small little cap of a crimson complexion.

Meta's head perked to the side in curiosity as he stooped down to pick it up. It had a little red M in the middle of a white circle. The landlord thought he recognized it, but he could not place what he knew it from.

"What is this?" asked Meta.

"That… is-a nothing," said Mario. "Why do you-a say that?"

"Where did you get this?" asked the landlord, this time with more conviction.

"It was-a souvenir from-a Smash Island," said Mario, hoping the lie would side track him.

However, Meta suddenly remembered where he recognized the M from.

It was the M on Mario Mario's cap.

Upon realizing this, Meta threw the cap aside and began searching the suitcase.

"Meta!" shouted Mario. "What-a the hell are you doing? You can't-a look through anybody's stuff!"

It was too late, though, for Meta picked up a picture from within the depths of Mario's suitcase; this was a picture of him and Peach when they had first arrived at the island for the second tournament three months ago.

"Hmph," said Meta. "I thought so. Now tell me, Mario; why did you run from there?"

Mario sighed and looked down, realizing that there was no use in lying to him anymore.

"What could I have-a done?" asked Mario. "Both Luigi and-a the doctor are gay! I don't-a want them after me!"

"What?" asked Meta. "Who gave you such a stupid idea? They both know better than to lust after a brother!"

"They-a don't when they're-a gay!" shouted Mario.

"Mario, it's stupid!" said Meta. "They would never do that to you. Understand?"

"You don't-a think so, eh? You don't think a man who knows you for an entire lifetime would want to rape you someday? Try having a total-a stranger pull you into an alley and do that to you someday!"

Mario blurted this sentence before he realized that he had just given himself away. He thus promptly gasped and covered his mouth as Meta perked his head to the side.

"Something must have happened then," said Meta. "Rape, I assume?"

"Shut up-a your face!" shouted Mario. "I don't-a want to associate with them! They do things to you when you don't want it!"

"No they do not!' shouted Meta. "You do not understand, do you? Those are not true homosexuals; those are the ones that screw whomever they want simply because they have no idea what real love is! That man that did rape you was stupid; therefore, do not bring yourself down to his level! Understand?"

"But what if it-a happens again?" asked Mario.

"It will not if you are careful!" said Meta. "Now be quiet!"

Mario opened his mouth to speak, clamped it shut, and then opened it again.

"Okay, I-a get your point," said Mario, somewhat defeated at having his mindset torn to pieces by logic that he realized he should have used back when he had first been raped. "But I still-a think that my brothers should go to-a hell for not telling me earlier!"

"Well, maybe if you had not been so afraid of being raped again none of this would happen," said Meta.

"Then what do-a you suggest I do?" asked Mario.

The landlord opened his mouth to speak, but then he got an idea that would get Mario to reconcile with his brothers.

"Write to Luigi," said Meta.

"What?" asked Mario.

"Write to Luigi," repeated Meta. "Tell him that you are sorry for what you did to him and wait for him to respond. You will see."

"But why?" said Mario.

"You have been enlightened," said Meta. "Use this to apologize to him.

"Okay…" said Mario somewhat hesitantly. "Should I use my—?"

"Yes," said Meta. "Use your alias on the envelope but your real name in the letter."

"Right…" said Mario as Meta walked to the door. "You aren't-a going to tell anybody else, are-a you?"

"No," said Meta as he approached the door and turned to see Mario. "I believe in landlord-client confidentiality. Your secret is safe with me."

"Thank-a you," said Mario.

Meta nodded and shut the door behind him.

Mario looked at his coffee table for a brief second before jumping to his knees and sifting through his suitcase to find the pad of paper that he would use to follow up on Meta's advice.

Peach walked to the mail room. It had been four days since she had last checked Luigi's mailbox, and she felt that she should at least check it to make sure that no more friends thought the plumber was still alive.

The princess felt responsible for making sure people knew about Luigi's death in a manner that did not seem cold; whenever the post office sent things to the plumber's friends they would send the most insensitive messages along with the letter. Thus, Peach asked Bowser to write letters that she dictated to the people who knew Luigi informing them that the Italian was dead, offering many condolences of equal value to everybody.

Most of all, however, Mario was in the princess' thoughts; the poor man was probably lost somewhere, wondering what to do with his life. Peach prayed for his soul every day, praying that Mario would have the strength to overcome his homophobia and apologize to both of his brothers. She sincerely hoped that Mario was not dead, for she knew that the doctor would slowly shrivel into madness before finally ending his own life.

However, the thought that prevailed in her thoughts the most was the coming funeral for the ones killed by Link. Matthew had finally set the date for the funeral; it was to occur during the course of the next week. She wondered how many people would attend, and she also wondered how much would be put into it. Also at the top was when the procession would be; she had heard from various people that the procession would take place immediately after the funeral, but she had not heard from Matthew whether this was true or not.

Peach arrived at the mailbox and turned the now familiar combination into the lock. The princess had done so much to write letters to Luigi's friends that after a break it still felt exactly the same as it would if a break was not taken.

When she opened the mailbox, she found a solitary envelope in the box, addressed to Luigi with the name 'Massimo' on it.

The name startled Peach a little; she had never known Luigi knew a Massimo in his life. Whatever it was, though, she knew the routine. Of course, she always read the letters first before sending the letters to the original senders along with the note that Luigi had died, so she usually knew something about what that person was referring to.

Since she had no right arm, she usually went to the clerk's table, where the clerk was waiting expectantly. Peach handed him the letter.

"You know what to do," said the princess.

Not another word was said as the clerk opened the envelope for her and handed her the sheet of paper.

She then walked to her room, letter in hand. As soon as she arrived, she sat at the desk, opened the letter, and was quite startled to find the following text:

"Dear Luigi,

Don't pay attention to the fact that you don't know a 'Massimo' or whatever. I'm Mario!

Listen, I'm sorry for causing any pain to you and the doctor. I realize that I must have made an error of some sort when I yelled at both of you back at the mansion when I was still there.

It is a complicated story, actually; you know when we went to that part of the casino town on our way to a town way back in December of five years ago? Well, I lied about my delay. Some gay guy found me and… well… did stuff with me." (Here, Peach had to reread the letter to make sure that she was not seeing things.) "I have feared such people since then since if that man did it, others would be more than willing to do so as well. I never thought it would extend to both of my brothers indiscriminately.

Thus, we wind up with how we are. Listen; I'm really very sorry for what I did.

Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?

-Mario

P.S. When you respond, be sure to send it back to a 'Massimo', will you? That's my alias, and I don't want people finding out about this, and plus, they won't know who you're talking to anyway. Also, please don't tell anybody else I sent this to you; this can be our secret."

Peach finished reading the letter, eyes brimming with tears.

Mario had finally contacted his brother. However, the sad part was that Luigi was not there to receive it.

"Oh, what am I going to do?" asked Peach, setting the letter on her desk and putting her hand over her eyes. "The poor man does not know a thing!"

Peach shook her head, the beginnings of a headache beginning to develop over what she should tell Mario.