T Plus 12 Days
Koopa was still in his castle, recovering from his defeat. The Mario Bros had spared nothing with him, and seeing that they were already in a bad mood before he'd made off with Peach, he shouldn't have been surprised. The turtle didn't know who'd dealt the worst pain—Mario or Luigi. He'd spent yesterday and most of today in his bed, watching TV as his minions treated his wounds with salve, bandages and ice. But he'd be back on his feet in no time; he'd wait a while and then try again. Part of him hoped that the Mario Bros would be in a better mood next time.
But, man—he'd come so close! Their battle that night was among the most brutal throwdowns in MK and Nintendo history. The two pesky plumbers had been seething with anger, Mario with the heated, outward variant and Luigi with the cold, inward and calm variant. Standing there on the bridge, Koopa had fanned their fire with his taunts and defied them to do their worst. And that's exactly what they did. Those two weren't f—ing around anymore. Well, Koopa wasn't, either. Vicious attacks had been exchanged, and when Koopa sneaked a look at Peach in her gilded cage, he'd noticed that she'd looked positively aroused as she watched those two pound the living daylights out of him. And then came the moment where Fate had thrown him a bone, when he'd gained the upper hand over those two and began turning his attention on Luigi, hoping to use him as a means of persuasion.
"Surrender now," he remembered saying to Mario with a smirk, "and there might be some of him left."
He had seriously underestimated the potency of Green 'St—Luigi's devotion to Mario.
Mario was nearly in a panicked state, and yet Luigi had looked at him with those blue eyes of his and told him to focus on freeing Peach instead. He would've allowed Koopa to thrash him to kingdom come if it guaranteed Mario's safety. Even now, he could still hear Luigi's voice, telling Mario not to worry about him and that he could take whatever beatdown Koopa saw fit to dish out. And then there was Mario's glare as Koopa had tried to use Luigi to get him to stand down. The bone Fate had tossed his way had been cruelly taken from him as the plumbers managed to regroup and lay an epic smackdown on him.
Two days later, he still had the bruises to show for it.
"Someday, I'll get the better of them," Koopa vowed to himself, leaning back against his pillow. He remembered the grand scheme he'd revealed to Dorf and the Bennigan Brothers, his endgame—taking Peach as his bride. A smile formed on his face as he began to picture the beautiful blonde in the stunning Lochlady Dress, her hair swept up with a glittering tiara perched on her head, a bouquet of Piranha Plants in her hands as she walked down the aisle toward him. They would be married, and that would be that. The anticipation made this recent defeat a little bearable.
Enjoy this victory while you can, plumbers.
Kamek flew into the room. "Your Vileness?"
"Yes, Kamek?"
"You have a visitor."
Koopa perked up. "Dorf?"
"Yes, Your Vileness."
"Send him in."
Kamek nodded and withdrew. A few moments later, Dorf walked in, bearing treats and a flower bouquet.
"Hey, buddy," Dorf greeted.
"Hey!" laughed Koopa as the two of them shared a hug.
"Oh, my Din—those two worked you over," gasped Dorf.
"Indeed—and I almost had the fight in the bag," moaned Koopa. "I thought I could use Luigi against Mario, but I was wrong!"
Dorf tsk-tsked. "After what happened with those four guys, you should've known better."
"Yeah. I should've."
Dorf took a seat at Koopa's bedside before unloading the treats.
"Has MH sent someone to get me?" asked Koopa.
"Not yet," said Dorf, "but he's implied that you'll be in for it when you return. Even during a tournament, you just can't resist."
"No. I can't."
"Most of your co-conspirators from Project Nerf sided with those plumbers."
Koopa huffed in resignation. "Of course," he said. "They're the heroes, and I'm the villain. Vanessa and her family—I don't think they like me. They just tolerated me for the sake of a common cause."
"Yeah?"
"Yup. Vanessa is a Peach superfan, and her kids are into Super Mario games."
"Wow," mused Dorf.
"Tell me about it."
The two villains shared the food Dorf had brought.
"CH's little stunt opened up a can of worms," said Koopa, "but it didn't tell us who eavesdropped on us in the café."
"Trying to find out won't change anything," said Dorf. "MH still has the proof. And he's gonna go after all of us."
"I don't even know if we want to find out," said Koopa.
Dorf thought this over.
"CH probably sent those four after Mario," Koopa went on. "If he somehow discovered who eavesdropped on us, what would he do to the guilty party then?"
"Better not answer that," shuddered Dorf.
"I'm about to tell you something—outlandish," said Koopa. "These last few days have put things into perspective for me. And now I think that the best course of action is to confess."
"You think it's time to spill the beans to MH," said Dorf.
Koopa nodded. "The truth—will set us free."
"But how can we tell him, with CH hovering around?" asked Dorf.
"I'm up for taking that chance," said Koopa, "because if we don't tell MH, then someone else will."
"What about the Bennigan Brothers?" asked Dorf. "You want to sell them out just to save yourself?"
Koopa shook his head. "I think they're starting to realize that what they did was wrong," he said, "but they're reluctant to take that big step and confess. Maybe the next time they visit, we'll talk it over."
"We'll tell them together," said Dorf.
"I have better things to do with my time than try to keep something like this hidden," said Koopa. "I'll tell all to MH and those plumbers, take my punishment and then move on."
"The wedding," Dorf realized.
Koopa nodded. "If I'm honest—if I don't try to rationalize what I did—maybe then Peach will warm up to me. Besides, going into a wedding with something like this hanging over my head would be bad luck."
"Who—who are your wedding planners?" asked Dorf.
"A four-sibling team known as the Broodals. I'm going to meet with them later this month. Would you like me to introduce you?"
"I don't see the problem in that," said Dorf. "They'd probably want to meet the best man, anyway."
"That reminds me—the Bennigan Brothers agreed to be my groomsmen," Koopa joyfully reported.
"Then the Broodals might want to get us fitted for tuxedoes," said Dorf. "Just let us know when they're going to visit so we can change our schedules."
"Right now, they're saying that they're coming over on the 25th," said Koopa.
Dorf nodded. "I'll make note of that."
"And I already passed that along to the BBs," said Koopa. "I'm glad they got out okay that night. But when we talked, they sounded a bit rattled. Who can blame them?"
"Right now, you need to focus on recovering from your latest throwdown," said Dorf. "Then, we'll talk about fessing up to MH, and then we'll talk about the royal wedding. Deal?"
"Deal," said Koopa.
The two villains shook on it before finding a good on demand movie to watch on TV.
1.1.1
Rory watched through the terminal window as the airplane made a smooth landing and taxied over to the passenger loading dock. As the passengers disembarked and began filing inside, he hung back, watching the sea of people streaming in, until he caught sight of a familiar young woman.
"Amy!" he called.
The young woman looked up, a delighted cry bursting from her lips when she saw her brother. She walked fairly fast toward him, notwithstanding the luggage she was toting, and jumped into his arms.
Rory laughed as he hugged his sister, and then kissed her on the cheek. "I missed you, too," she said.
"Oh, Rory—I can't wait to hear about your adventures," said Amy.
"And I can't wait to hear about yours," replied Rory.
Brother and sister separated, and then Rory offered to help Amy with her luggage. She accepted, and they walked out of the airport, where a taxi awaited them.
"You're gonna love the Smash Mansion," Rory said during the drive. "All of your favorite Nintendo characters, living together under one roof. There are a few of them which I know you'll love to meet."
"Like the Mario Bros?" asked Amy.
Rory swallowed back the rising guilt. "Yes," he replied. "Like them."
They arrived at the Smash Mansion's entrance. After they paid the driver, Rory and Amy hopped out of the cab and walked through the doors, proceeding down a hallway into MH's office.
"Enter!" boomed MH as Rory knocked on the door.
Amy and Rory walked into the office, where the giant glove sat, flanked by Rory's three colleagues.
"Hello," said Rory. "I'd like you all to meet my sister, Amy."
"Hi, guys," said Amy.
"Good afternoon, Amy," said MH. "I am Master Hand, the Hand of Creation."
Amy shook MH's pointer finger. "Heard so much about you," she said. "It's amazing, bringing all of these franchises together to duke it out."
"It's not easy, but it's worth it," said MH.
"Hey," said Remy. "Rory told me a little about you. My name's Remy."
"Nice to meet you, Remy," said Amy, shaking his hand.
"And over here are our colleagues, Jimmy and Timmy," said Remy as the aforementioned duo came forward.
"Hi, Amy," said Timmy.
"Welcome to the Smash Mansion," added Jimmy.
Amy shook hands with both of them.
"You couldn't have come at a better time," said MH. "We could use your help with something."
"I'd do anything to help my brother, Master Hand," said Amy. "What is it?"
"Let's just say that—one of our Smashers has caused some headaches for us," sighed MH. "He's repeatedly tried to get me to give up confidential information, he got extremely upset when I suspended him over a justifiable cause—he took a golf club to one of my private vehicles. He apologized for all of that, but…"
"It's not enough?" asked Amy.
Gravely, MH shook his head. "He needs to face the fact that actions have consequences," he said.
Rory shifted uncomfortably, which Amy noticed.
"Rory—is there something you care to tell me?" she asked.
"My friends and I—we did something to this Smasher that we're not particularly proud of," Remy said slowly. "It all started—after Luigi got nerfed."
Something clicked inside of Amy's head.
"This Smasher—it's Mario, isn't it?" she asked.
"Yes," Rory solemnly intoned.
"Okay, well—if Mario's acting so strongly over this, then he's just trying to protect Luigi, isn't he?"
"We know that there were good intentions behind his actions, but the way he's handling this affair is wrong," said MH. "First, he wanted me to tell him the names of the people who complained to me about Luigi's down throw combos. Then, two people attacked Luigi in the Training Area. I punished the attackers accordingly, but it wasn't enough for Mario. He violently beat them the next day while they were minding their own business. I had no choice but to suspend him, and we had words. Two days after that, I tried explaining myself to him, and he responded by wrecking my private vehicle. Even though Mario cooled off and apologized to me, I don't want him to think that it's okay to do things like that just because he's Nintendo's mascot."
"I see," said Amy. "What happened next?"
"Crazy Hand roused us early one morning and told us that we had to discourage Mario from disrespecting MH's authority again," said Rory. "After breakfast, we cornered him in his room. There was a fight. It ended up in an empty lounge area. My blood started boiling, Remy's blood started boiling—and we just—went crazy on Mario. We whaled on him, even when he could barely stand, and said these things to him—we showed no leniency. And then Luigi showed up…"
"By the time it was over, the Mario Bros' trust in us was decimated, Mario's suspension was extended, and Luigi himself was suspended," said Remy. "Then, Koopa did his Koopa thing, and I presume that gave the Bros an opportunity to vent, but when we tried to apologize, he…" He trailed off regretfully.
"Why did CH ask you to do that?" asked Amy.
"He says that his brotherly instincts kicked in," said MH. "I think it's because he's hiding something—something that has to do with Luigi's nerf."
"What Mario did was wrong," conceded Amy, "but there was no reason to shatter his self-esteem. He apologized; he tried to make it right…"
"He took me out for pizza," shrugged MH. "Pizza doesn't change the fact that he put one of my vehicles out of commission."
"You can always repair a car," said Amy.
"He still needs to answer for it," said MH.
"Let me get this straight," said Amy. "You're remorseful over what you did to Mario—yet you want to antagonize him further?"
"We're not antagonizing him," said Rory. "Don't get me wrong, Mario's a nice fellow. But when he explodes, he's one of the most dangerous plumbers on the planet. He's not the Hero of the Mushroom Kingdom just because he has a nice mustache."
"You—you think something else will set him off?" asked Amy.
Rory nodded. "I don't think he's happy that MH suspended Luigi, although I think deep down, he knows why. And his motives for finding out who wanted Luigi nerfed sound quite—sinister."
"But doesn't he deserve to know?" asked Amy.
"Yes," said MH, "but after my investigation into this matter, I will release an official report to the public. He will find out all he needs to know then. But when I hear complaints, it's with the unspoken guarantee that their identities will remain anonymous. I won't break that unspoken promise in the name of petty revenge."
"Revenge? Or closure?" Amy wanted to know.
"It could be both," offered Rory.
"We need to be ready in case he flies off the handle again," said MH. "The same goes for Luigi, too. When he saw what Remy and Rory were doing to Mario—it's a miracle they're still walking."
"So—you want me to keep an eye on both of them?" asked Amy.
"I need you to help your brother and his colleagues keep an eye on them," clarified MH. "If you see anything suspicious, don't be afraid to report it to me. And if Crazy Hand instructs you to do something, run it by me first. Don't engage either of them until we both give you clearance to do so. Understand?"
"Yes, Master Hand," said Amy.
The other four nodded in agreement.
"He might never fully forgive us," said MH, "but in time, he'll understand that we're not doing this to harass him."
"I hope you're right," said Timmy.
"Rory," said MH, "would you like to show your sister to her room?"
"Sure," said Rory. "C'mon, Amy—you're gonna love your new digs."
MH and the others watched as Amy and Rory strode out of the office, hand-in-hand.
And next door, Crazy Hand watched them walk by, an unsettling smile slowly forming on his face—
1.1.1
"You're packing," observed Mario as he noticed the suitcase on Luigi's bed.
"It's not permanent," Luigi assured him, neatly folding pairs of clothes before slipping them into his suitcase.
"Any idea where you're headed?" asked Mario.
Luigi smiled. "I'm visiting an old friend," he said, and Mario understood immediately.
"Give him my best," Mario told him.
"Will do," said Luigi.
"Are you—are you sure you'll be okay?"
"Yeah," sighed Luigi. "I just need some cooling off. I don't have any matches to look forward to, so I might as well do something productive during my suspension."
"Why didn't you tell me MH suspended you?" Mario suddenly asked. "I didn't find out until Lauren broke the news."
"I was waiting for the right time," said Luigi. "You'd just gone through a Hellish ordeal, and…"
"That doesn't matter," said Mario. "In my eyes, nothing is more important than your health and well-being. Nothing."
Yeah, that's the same attitude that got you suspended in the first place, thought Luigi.
"I can handle a nine-day suspension," Luigi assured him. "I just—I need a break from the Smash Mansion, because I'm afraid if I look at MH again, then I'm gonna lose it."
"You and me both," said Mario, "but you shouldn't be afraid to tell me things like that."
Why? So you can flip out and get yourself deeper in trouble?
"I'm not afraid to tell you anything," said Luigi. "I wanted to wait until you've calmed down to tell you."
Mario nodded in understanding.
"I can still see you on the floor while they…"
"Let's not talk about that anymore," said Mario, cutting him off.
"But they left a mark on you. I could see it during our trip to rescue Peach."
"They did. But the moment Peach was in my arms, I was reminded why she entrusted me to protect her people," said Mario.
"I just don't understand why we were the ones punished," murmured Luigi.
"Me, neither," said Mario.
Luigi zipped up his suitcase. As he turned toward Mario, the man in red wrapped him in an intense hug.
"Oh, Luigi…" Mario uttered as he felt Luigi's arms encircle him in kind.
"Mario…" Luigi held Mario so closely that he could feel both of their hearts beating together. "I didn't come to this choice lightly. I don't wanna leave you here…"
"I'll be fine," Mario said softly. "If those four try something on me again, then I'll be ready. Right now, you need to focus on yourself."
Practice what you preach, Bro.
"Before you go," Mario went on. "I want to thank you for what you did that night. Koopa was inflicting so much pain on you, and he was trying to use that as leverage. But you showed him that you were no leverage."
"Koopa knows how much we care about each other," replied Luigi. "I wasn't about to let him weaponize that."
"You were willing to take a beating for me and for Peach," said Mario, "even after what I said. Why?"
"I would've let those four beat me into the ground if that was what it took to neutralize the threat against you," Luigi said emotionally.
"I'm sorry I didn't bring it up at the feast yesterday," whispered Mario. "I should've, but I guess I just let the praise get to my head…"
Like you always do, Luigi thought, but he hugged Mario more tenderly.
"I keep leaving you out, and—I'm sorry!" Mario wept, only for Luigi's voice to put him at ease.
"Being left out hurts—but seeing you safe and sound eases the pain."
Luigi's breathing steadied as he felt Mario beginning to calm down.
"Luigi—I hope this trip helps you sort things out," said Mario.
"Same here," Luigi softly intoned. "Bro—don't do anything stupid until I get back."
"How can I? You're taking all of the stupid with you," Mario said good-naturedly.
They remained in their embrace for a few more minutes before separating and smiling into each other's eyes.
"See ya, Mario," said Luigi.
"See ya," the man in red replied.
Luigi watched Mario leave the room before making sure he had everything he needed. Then, he fished out his cell phone and scrolled down his Contacts list until he came across a number he hadn't dialed in a while—
1.1.1
Crazy Hand sat in his office, the two Steves seated before them.
"I believe I've lost four potential allies," CH was saying, "but I know I can count on you, right?"
"You bet," Stevie replied. "We'll make those two plumbers pay for what they did to us!"
"This is about more than revenge," said CH, "but that's—good incentive. I have a feeling that one of your co-conspirators is about to spill the beans about Project Nerf. It's up to you to discourage them from doing so."
"We'll discourage them, never fear," vowed Steve.
"Our main threats, however, are Mario and Chad," said CH. "Mario's encounter with Jimmy and his crew didn't deter him from pursuing the truth, and Chad's starting to slip his leash. It's time everyone paid for their mistakes, yes?"
Grinning deviously, the two Steves nodded.
"With Luigi gone for most of the week, we'll definitely have a blast," cackled Stevie.
"While you do that, I'm going to go through that café's surveillance footage and find out who listened in on Dorf, Wario and Koopa's little talk," said CH, "and we'll take care of the eavesdropper together."
"I'm really gonna enjoy this," said Steve.
"Me, too," CH told him.
"Mario had some b—s putting his hands on us," growled Stevie. "We could do to him what we did to Luigi, but worse. But I know a better way we can get to him."
"Let's hear it," smiled Steve.
Steve leaned into Steve's and CH's ears and began to whisper.
When he was finished, CH let out an evil giggle.
"Excellent," he hissed.
Karma was headed Mario's way, and it was gonna taste so sweet…
Please R&R.
