~Chapter Thirty-Five: A Change in Plans~
"Attention all Smashers. Would Mario, Sonic, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Wario, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Bowser, Bowser Jr., Rosalina, Ludwig, Larry, Wendy and Roy of the Koopalings come to my office please? Thank you."
Sonic frowned as Mario and Luigi next to him sighed, the three of them standing and giving Mega Man, Pac-Man and Pit apologetic looks.
"I guess we'll need to finish the campaign another time," Pit stated, referring to the game of Fortresses & Fairies they were playing. "Since Luigi is Fortress Master and all."
"Man, and just when it was gettin' good," Sonic complained, folding his arms. "I wonder what Master Hand wants."
"Well, we won't find out just standing here." Mario murmured, waving goodbye to their friends. Together they made their way to the third floor and into Master Hand's office where the other Smashers were waiting. After confirming that everyone was in his office, Master Hand began to speak.
"Good evening Smashers. I have gathered you here because I have received invitations for you all to compete in the Olympic Games on the Planet Doppel once again. The games are still quite a bit away though, and our tournament here should be wrapped up in time."
Sonic grinned as he was handed his envelope; even though he vastly preferred the winter games thanks to the lack of water based events he was still excited all the same. Mario accepted his envelope next, eyeing Bowser warily as he chuckled under his breath. Frowning, he waited for Bowser to leave the office before bringing Sonic and Luigi into a huddle.
"You two head back to the games room. I'll catch up with you two."
"Everythin' okay?" Sonic whispered, Luigi eyeing his older brother in concern.
"Sì, just keeping my eye on something."
Sonic and Luigi exchanged a glance, shrugging before heading out of the office and back towards the games room. Meanwhile Mario tailed after Bowser, quietly following behind him and making sure he wasn't being seen. Bowser was heading back to the dormitories, and Mario waited for a moment before following him inside, frowning as Bowser suspiciously glanced around before ducking into his room.
Mario bit his bottom lip, quietly creeping up to Bowser's door and resting his ear against the wood. He wasn't sure what he was doing, but his gut feeling told him that something was wrong.
"Good to speak with you again as well, Dr. Eggman."
Mario's eyes widened as he heard Bowser's voice from inside the room, before frowning. Eggman? Bowser had no means of communicating with anyone else in this dimension, how was he able to get into contact with Eggman?
"Yes, I've received mine as well."
'They must be talking about the Olympic invitations...' Mario thought.
"Of course... I've got the plans all set up!" Bowser laughed. "Those idiots won't know what hit 'em! I think this is our greatest plan yet, not to mention it'll happen all throughout the Olympics and not just at the beginning."
'They're actually planning on sabotaging the Olympics again!'
Mario stood, immediately hightailing it back to the games room. He needed to tell Sonic and Luigi what he'd just heard.
Mario could hear Sonic's loud laughter long before he was even near the games room. The sound made him smile, but he quickly returned to frowning as they had more pressing matters at hand than a game. Rounding the corner he entered the games room, where Sonic smiled brightly upon seeing him before his expression morphed into worry over the look on Mario's face.
"What's wrong?" he asked, catching the attention of everyone else in the room. Mario hesitated, he really only wanted to speak with Sonic and Luigi, but it wouldn't hurt if the others heard it too.
"Bowser... I don't know how, but he was communicating with Eggman. They're planning on sabotaging the Olympics again!"
"What? How is that possible, Master Hand won't let us communicate with anyone outside of this dimensional gap! How could he possibly-"
"I have an idea," Luigi interrupted, Sonic going silent and Mario gazing at his brother in interest. "Well, Master Hand does have that machine that lets items become communicators for us... could it be possible that Bowser showed the technology to Eggman and he was able to replicate it? Didn't you say his IQ was 300?"
"You're right," Sonic murmured as his eyes widened in horror, turning to Mario. "That... that explains how him and Bowser were able to come up with plans to sabotage the Olympics before!"
"They've been able to communicate with each other this whole time," Mario muttered. "How could we not have realized that?"
Pit, Mega Man and Pac-Man all stood, feeling awkward being there when the matter didn't concern them.
"Guys, you don't have to leave," Sonic tried, noticing them heading towards the door. Pit shook his head.
"No, this is between you three. We'll finish the game some other time."
The trio left the room, while Mario put his head down, thinking. Sonic sighed, folding his arms.
"So didja hear what this plan would consist of?" Sonic questioned, while Mario shook his head.
"No, I bolted before Bowser could realize I was eavesdropping. The one thing I did hear was that they would strike throughout the Olympics and not at the beginning."
"We need to keep an eye on 'em," Sonic realized, his tone flat. Mario nodded, but looked troubled.
"But we can't do that if we're competing."
"I know," Sonic continued, expression blank. "That's why we can't compete this time around."
The statement caught both Mario and Luigi off guard, staring at Sonic with wide eyes. Mario momentarily wondered if Sonic was joking, before realizing he was dead serious.
"We can't do that Sonic! We're the team captains!"
"Well what else can we do?" Sonic fought back, unfolding his arms and placing one of his hands on his hip. "Are we just gonna sit back an' let Eggman and Bowser take over the Olympics? Or are we gonna do somethin' about it?"
Mario blinked, lowering his head and nodding. "But then that leaves us with two less members. And won't people ask if we aren't there?"
"Yeah, that's what I'm trying to figure out," Sonic responded, the couple trying to think of any possible solution. They were seemingly drawing a blank until Luigi spoke up.
"What about rookies?"
Both Mario and Sonic blinked, looking at each other before turning to Luigi.
"Rookies? But who could we possibly invite, almost everyone we know has been invited at least once!" Sonic pointed out.
"What about the Mii's on Doppel? I'm sure more than a few of them would jump at the chance to be a rookie member of either Team Mario or Team Sonic at the Olympics."
Both Mario and Sonic were quiet as they contemplated Luigi's proposition. Eventually though Mario nodded, seemingly liking the idea.
"I guess that would work," he mumbled, glancing at Sonic. "Would you be on board with this?"
"Dude, I'm on board for everythin'," Sonic replied with a wink. "But we need a way to announce the change in plans."
"Master Hand," Mario realized, before wincing. "We need to somehow convince Master Hand to get us into contact with everyone necessary."
"Dude, you're our leader. Master Hand's bound to listen to ya, right?"
"He already bent the rules for me this tournament though," Mario started. "I don't know if he'll be happy doing it again."
"Well, there's only one way to find out!" Sonic declared, grabbing Mario's wrist and starting to drag him through the halls.
"S-Sonic," Mario stammered, attempting to break free from his grasp. "I'm not comfortable asking Master Hand for another favor."
"Mar," Sonic stated, turning to face him. "Relax, will ya? You had no issue tracking down the Mii's to get me a lifejacket. And also... when did Master Hand bend the rules for you?"
Mario chuckled, gazing at Sonic tenderly. "I was worried when we hadn't received a response from you back when the tournament started. Master Hand let me know when you'd responded, even though he's not supposed to do that."
Sonic smiled. "You were worried about me?" he asked.
"Of course I was worried about you! I thought you'd died, especially when we couldn't get ahold of you."
Sonic hummed, not saying anything more until they were standing outside Master Hand's office. He squeezed Mario's hand and grinned. "Ready?"
"No."
"Well, too bad!" with that Sonic reached his hand out and knocked on the door three times. "Master Hand? It's Sonic and Mario. May we speak with you please?"
"You may enter."
Sonic pushed the door open and the two stepped into Master Hand's office, the hand in question placing some paper aside before motioning towards the chairs.
"Please, have a seat."
Mario and Sonic obliged, sitting in the chairs as Master Hand turned his attention towards them.
"Now, what has brought you two to my office?"
Sonic glanced at Mario, the latter gulping as he realized Sonic wasn't going to say anything. Swallowing his nervousness, Mario cleared his throat.
"We... need to ask you for a favor, Master Hand. There's been a slight change in plans for the Olympics, and we need to contact everyone necessary."
Master Hand was silent for a moment, before sighing. "I have already bent the rules for you once, Mario. I cannot allow you to keep abusing your powers as leader."
"I realize that, but this is important!" Mario fought back. "The entire Olympics may be at stake if we don't do something about it! Please Master Hand, I promise I won't ask for anything ever again."
"No."
The blunt answer caught both Mario and Sonic off-guard, Sonic narrowing his eyes as Mario recovered from the shock.
"Fine then, if you won't bend the rules for him, bend them for me!"
Master Hand shook again, signaling another no. "There is no reason I should bend the rules for you. You are not a leader here."
"Well, being the leaders boyfriend must stand for somethin', right?"
"Sonic!" Mario hissed. While it was certainly no secret that the two of them were together, Mario knew that Master Hand generally disliked relationships between Smashers. Of course it never stopped any of them, and Master Hand had never actually enforced a rule against it, but bringing it up now? In front of him? What was Sonic thinking?
Oh wait, he wasn't.
This was the bad part about Master Hand having no facial features. It was hard to tell what he was thinking most of the time, and as he floated there Mario felt his anxiety levels spike. Finally Master Hand floated out of his chair and towards the door.
"I shall make a few adjustments to my devices so you two may communicate with whoever you need to communicate with, since I sense that neither of you are going to leave unless I comply. Please wait right here, I shall return."
Master Hand floated out of the room as Mario breathed a sigh of relief, Sonic reaching out to squeeze his hand. "See? That wasn't so bad."
"Says you," Mario sighed. "What were you thinking, bringing up our relationship in front of Master Hand like that?"
"Gee, a simple 'thank you' would suffice," Sonic shot back as Master Hand floated back in.
"Alright you two, you're free to communicate with whoever you need to. The communicators are between my office and Crazy Hand's."
Saying their thanks, the couple headed out of the office and into the communicator room, Mario turning to Sonic.
"So I'll get into contact with the Mii's, while you contact your friends?"
"Sounds good," Sonic agreed, figuring that contacting Tails was probably his best choice in a situation like this one. However, he paused as he was about to contact Tails, realizing that he'd need to tell his little brother that he was now in a relationship with Mario.
Well, whatever. He would have found out eventually, and nodding to himself Sonic dialed the number of the Miles Electric. A few moments of silence passed before an image appeared on the screen in front of Sonic, Tails recoiling in shock as he realized who it was.
"Sonic?"
"Hey buddy!" Sonic greeted, a smile on his face. "Miss me?"
"Yeah, but how are you able to contact me?" Tails questioned.
"A little help from Master Hand," Sonic replied, before turning serious. "So, you got your Olympics invite, right?"
"Yeah, I just got it today. Why?"
"Well, Baldy McNosehair and Bowser outsmarted me an' Mar, they've been able to contact each other for quite some time now. An' they're planning on sabotaging the Olympics again."
"What are they planning on doing?"
"We don't know yet, but it's somethin' big. So me and Mar ain't competing this time around. We'll be keepin' an eye on 'em, and we'll have rookies in our place."
While Tails looked stunned, he nodded. "Sounds like you guys have everything under control then! Is there anything I can do?"
"Yeah, actually. Tell the team to keep on their guard, but don't tell 'em that the villains are planning anythin'. Don't wanna freak anyone out."
"Alright, got it!" Tails exclaimed. "Is there anything else you need to tell me?"
Sonic took a deep breath, the moment of truth had arrived. "Yeah, somethin' pretty big actually."
"Go on."
Sonic clicked his tongue, pondering on how to word things. "You see... I'm kinda... in a relationship with somebody."
"Is it Mario?"
Sonic blinked, shocked at how fast Tails was able to figure it out. "How did you-"
"I've known about your crush for years. I just never said anything because I could sense that you were a bit uncomfortable with it."
"You're way to smart for your own good sometimes," Sonic mumbled. "So how do you feel about it?"
"Are you happy?" Tails asked seriously. Sonic nodded.
"'Course I'm happy."
"Then that's all that matters. As long as you're happy, then everything's fine," Tails smiled. "I'd love to chat more, but I was kinda in the middle of testing a new power source for my plane."
"I get it buddy. See you soon! And... I guess let a few of our friends know that I'm in a relationship."
"Got it. See you soon!"
With that the connection went dead, and Sonic grinned to himself as he went to see if Mario was done. It seemed he was just finishing up as Sonic waited, and as soon as the connection went dead he wandered over. "So you got everythin' sorted out?"
Mario nodded. "Sì, so both of us will need to pick a rookie for our team. There will be a lot of applicants, so be prepared for that."
"Oh, I'm ready. I let Tails know what was happening. An' he also knows that we're a thing now as well."
"Oh?" Mario exclaimed, cocking his head. "What was his response?"
"He was totally fine with it. Apparently he'd known about my crush for years. Guess I wasn't bein' as subtle about it as I would have liked to have been."
"You? Subtle?" Mario questioned. "Come on now, we all know that those two words don't belong in a sentence together when discussing you. Though in all honesty, I hadn't figured it out, so you were doing something right I suppose."
Sonic hummed, folding his arms. "So... we've got nothin' else to do today... wanna track down your brother an' our friends so we can finish the campaign?"
Mario contemplated it, before smiling and nodding. "That sounds like a great idea. After all, we may as well have some fun before all hell inevitably breaks loose."
Replies
Inuyasha572: That's actually coming up next chapter! Hopefully it's entertaining enough. Thank you for the review!
TheGameNguyener: I was on the fence about adding the kiss before Sonic took out his last stock, but in the end I decided it was sort of in line with his character to do something like that. And yeah, their rivalry is what makes writing them together fun in the first place to me at least, so having them be a bit of a competitive couple seemed like the right way to go. Thank you for the review!
breath20k: I'm glad you think so! Thank you for the review!
The Reviewer 2.0: Let's see... Sonic saved Mario's and all the other Smashers lives back in chapter 2, he was a shoulder for Mario to lean on in chapter 11, he reunited Mario and Luigi back with their parents in chapter 17, and in general he's been one of the closest friends Mario has ever had, as Mario himself says in chapter 30. After the blanket fort in chapter 25, Mario's feelings for Sonic began to change, and there were several subtle hints I placed throughout the chapters to reflect this, such as him not knowing how to feel when Sonic was still holding onto his arm at the end of chapter 26, and feeling flustered when Sonic accused him of flirting with him back in chapter 28. However, he was still a bit blind to his own feelings, and if Sonic hadn't kissed him he may never have discovered he had them in the first place. Thank you for the review!
AN: Yes, Fortresses and Fairies is this worlds version of D&D. *shrugs*
Anyway, since I'm positive that maybe three people in the world played the 3DS version of Rio 2016, this entire chapter may be a bit confusing to you. The story mode was quite different from the other games in the series. Don't worry, things will make sense once we actually get to those chapters. Thanks for reading guys, see you all next week.
~Steel