7C - Manipulation Rumors

Mario and Rocco waited until everyone left the course before going into the clubhouse. From there, they made their way to the owner's office, which was open until 4 PM.

"Don't go in there demanding," Rocco instructed Mario. "I know you have temper problems, but you can't take it out on the owner."

"Can you wait out here, please?" Mario asked.

"Sure."

The owner of the Cheep Cheep Falls course was Grant Morris, a 51-year-old man who was once a professional golfer in the Real-Life Earth before moving to the Mushroom World.

"Good afternoon, sir," Mario greeted Mr. Morris.

"Well, nice to finally meet you, Mario," Mr. Morris returned as Mario sat in front of his desk. "I've been monitoring your progress for the last three days and I'm pretty impressed."

"But you saw how badly I did, right?"

"It wouldn't have been that bad if the greens weren't changed up drastically," Mr. Morris said.

"You know about it too?" Mario questioned.

"How could I not? I overheard some spectators a few hours before the tournament saying that the slopes and mounds were not meant to be put in," Mr. Morris explained. "And before you ask, all of us NEVER planned on manipulating anything to make it harder. All we decided to do was move the pins around each day by a SMALL amount. Whoever messed the greens up also placed the pins at uneven spots."

"To add on to that, one of the players that went before you spotted a faint red light on Hole 2's green," Mr. Morris went on. "He said there wasn't a drone or something that shined a flashlight from above, but that's all he knew."

"Did you check the cameras yet?" Mario asked.

"The reviewers haven't even started collecting the footage," Mr. Morris answered. "They'll look at it all throughout tonight and decide what to do the next morning. I recommend you come back to my office tomorrow just in case new info comes up."

"Thanks, Mr. Morris," Mario said. "Before I go, I want you to understand that I have no intention of failing miserably."

"Mario, it's totally fine. I know you'll make up for it tomorrow," Mr. Morris reassured Mario. "In case you want to know where you stand cumulatively, your overall score is 224 and you're in fifth place. The lowest so far is Wario at 195 with Waluigi in second at 200. There's still a chance for you to finish on top."

Mario let out a sigh of relief. "Thank God. I'm glad you're just as helpful as Rocco is out there. You know, my golf trainer."

"Well, me and Rocco both have your back," Mr. Morris said while shaking Mario's hand. "Have a nice afternoon, and I'll see you next morning."

While Mario drove him back to his pad, Rocco said, "I just called Alex and told him how good you were doing in the open; he was so happy that he literally jumped all over the place."

"Kinda like me," Mario chuckled. "I guess he's starting to look up to me as a hero like Aqua is even though she's my number-two buddy."

"Number-two? What makes you say that?"

"The truth is both of them are adorable, but I consider Alex to be more special based on his personality," Mario explained. "Aqua's is similar but it's on a slightly lesser level; not that I dislike her. I love her to death like Alex."

"It's also like one of my older friends, Jim Heeding. He was my number-one buddy starting in 1990 until he left for school reasons in 1994. But he did come back for a party at Princess Peach's castle six years later before leaving for good," Mario continued. "Regarding Aqua, as soon as I saw the look in her eyes for the first time, I knew she was going to be my new number-one buddy. She even thought of me as a second father based on how I treated her during the Isle Delfino vacation."

"That's a neat story, Mario," Rocco remarked. "I never knew you had three number-one buddies that succeeded one another."

"That's just life, Rocco. That's what friendships are like," Mario responded.

After sending Rocco back to the Real-Life Earth, Mario went to his living room and checked out three photo albums; each one featured Jim, Aqua, and Alex, respectively. Jim's album consisted of his visits to the Mushroom World starting the week after the Dinosaur Land trip up until 1994, and also included several pictures from Peach's party three years ago.

He started to tear up at Aqua's album, whose photos consisted of those taken after Bowser, his son, and the Koopalings were defeated.

"I'm sorry, piccolo amico... (I'm sorry, little buddy...)" Mario trembled. "I love you a lot, but I have a different number-one buddy now..."

He finally lost it when he got to the album with Leah and Alex's pictures in it. He barely got through the first page before collapsing on his sofa and crying his eyes out. His breakdown went on for ten minutes before he pulled himself together and finished looking at Alex's album.

"Maybe watching TV will make me feel better." Mario switched on his LCD TV and watched replay broadcasts of the last three days of the Cheep Cheep Falls Open. While rewatching his performance, Mario took out a notepad from his study and logged his mistakes he made so that he'll remember to correct them tomorrow.

"Those greens may have been screwed up, but that's not gonna stop me from finishing strong," Mario beamed with confidence. "I can do it."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Credit goes to mariobroultimate again for the references to Princess Aqua and part of the events of his ongoing fanfic, "Super Mario Sunshine: A Sprite of Light". Thank you so much.