LiamTheYoshi

I love ice cream too, but I only eat it in moderation. As for Alex and Luigi, let's wish them the best of luck.

mariobroultimate

Both Alex and Luigi's outfits are based off Mario Tennis Aces. Even though I have not played that game, I saw the artwork and I was impressed by it.

StarlitDuck

Alex knows about the "death stare" because during his second visit to the Mushroom Kingdom, Luigi told Alex what happens if he gets upset. As for Aqua and Alex, their friendship is becoming just as strong as Alex and the Mario Bros.

Chapter 9

9A - Alex's Theme Song

"Are you kidding me? Alex is playing with you?" Mario asked with disbelief. Luigi had called him and told him about Alex being his replacement. The time is now 2:30 PM on November 22nd.

"Mario, it's okay. Alex knows what he's doing thanks to me," Luigi replied over the line.

"I understand, but I still don't want to show myself after what happened."

"Why not? You've been resting at my mansion for eleven days now," Luigi said while Mario stood up from his bed.

"What if everyone laughs at my short hair?" Mario asked.

"They won't, bro. I promise," Luigi reassured Mario. "Alex wants to come see you today before his training. Do you want to talk to him?"

"I'd love to, but..." Mario hesitated.

"Mario, don't let your bestest friend down. I covered up your injury by telling him you got in a bike accident."

"Luigi, I don't have a damn bike! All I have is my kart! What should I do? Tell you to tell Alex, 'Oh, I crashed my kart into a ravine.'?" Mario protested.

"Bro, don't talk like that!" Luigi retorted. "Alex is five years old, for God's sake! You're lucky he isn't here with me yet!"

"I'm sorry! I'm just feeling cranky!"

"Yeah. You're cranky, right?" Luigi said with sarcasm. "You better pull yourself together, or else you're NOT coming to the tournament!"

"Fine!" Mario replied with anger before hanging up on Luigi. After half a minute, Mario sat back down to calm himself down. He then went downstairs to get himself a cup of water.

Back at the Lake Shroom Country Club, it's been 20 minutes since Alex, Luigi, Daisy, and Aqua started another practice doubles match. The score currently stood at 5-2 with the goal being to win eight games.

"I can't believe I'm getting better and better each day!" Alex said just as everyone finished their water break.

"Yeah! I told you you're gonna be a super tennis player!" Luigi agreed. "But then again, Yoshi and Donkey Kong could catch us off guard."

"What do you mean?" Alex asked.

"Well, what if they come up with a few trick shots to distract us?"

"Hmm. I see," Alex replied. He stood on the center line, ready to make the next serve. To Daisy and Aqua's surprise, Luigi and Alex made it to 40-love within two minutes.

"That's the fastest we've reached a game point," Daisy pointed out.

"I run fast! That's why!" Alex said before the match resumed. Alex and Luigi won the next game before Daisy and Aqua caught up by one. Knowing that Alex and Luigi are likely to win the match soon, Aqua decided to go easy on them by slowing down a small bit.

"Why aren't you trying hard?" Daisy asked Aqua.

"Because I like Alex's playing style. He's somehow better than me." Aqua was right; the match proceeded to finish with a score of 8-4. Alex jumped for joy right as he made the winning shot again.

"I did it again!" Alex exclaimed before everyone high-fived him. "Thank you for playing with me and Luigi, Aqua."

"Any time, amico, (Any time, buddy.)" Aqua responded. "If you ever want to play one-on-one with me, give me a call."

"Okay." After Daisy and Aqua went back to their homes, Luigi decided to take Alex to the Mario Stadium, which was about 35 minutes from the country club.

"Are you gonna show me around the stadium?" Alex asked Luigi.

"I'd love to, but we're here for something different," Luigi replied. He and Alex parked his kart in the parking lot before walking through the south entrance. "This is actually where they play baseball, but the stadium people took out the baseball diamond and replaced it with a tennis court."

"That's clever," Alex remarked. Both made their way to the second floor and arrived at the "Audio Room", which is where music and various sound effects are played over the loudspeakers.

"I know you kind of feel the need to touch the machines in here, but please don't do that," Luigi warned Alex.

"I promise I won't," Alex replied before he sat down on a rolling chair. "Why are we in here?"

"I want to help you choose a song that plays when you walk onto the court," Luigi explained. "It's a thing all players do to get the crowd cheering." Luigi found an audio player on the right side of the room and took out a CD he had in his possession.

"I'm gonna play some songs on this disc and you tell me which one you like the most," Luigi said.

"Okay."

Luigi loaded the CD in the audio player, which was set to play the first song on the playlist. After five seconds, the "Sirena Beach" theme from Super Mario Sunshine started playing.

Alex shook his head 'no' halfway through the first bar. "Not that one."

"What's wrong with it?" Luigi asked after pausing the music.

"It doesn't sound right for me," Alex answered.

"But don't you like going to the beach? This song is supposed to make you feel like you're walking on the shore," Luigi said.

"I like the beach, but it just doesn't sound right."

"Okey-dokey. Let's try the next one." Luigi pressed the "Skip Forward" button, which prompted the audio player to start the second song. Three seconds passed before the "Peach's Castle Grounds" theme from Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour began playing.

Again, Alex shook his head a few seconds into the song. "I don't like it."

"But it's one of my favorites from Mario Golf," Luigi calmly protested after pausing the song. "It's an upbeat song which suits your character."

"I'm sorry, Luigi," Alex apologized. "I know you like the song, but..." Alex mulled it over for a short while. "Yeah. I don't feel good about it."

"Don't be sorry, Alex. If you don't like that song, I'm okay with it." Luigi proceeded to skip to the third song. "You're going to love this next one."

"What is it?" Right as Alex asked his question, a synthesized version of the "World Clear" theme from Super Mario Bros. started playing.

"It's the Super Mario Bros. theme song!" Luigi answered with glee. Alex finally smiled, knowing that the song could be the right one. After the "World Clear" theme was finished, the "Ground Theme" started playing, prompting Alex to scat to the music. Suddenly, a Japanese woman began singing in tune to the music, confusing Alex immediately.

"Wait! Stop the music!" Alex exclaimed.

"What's the matter?" Luigi asked after pausing the song.

"What is the lady singing about?" Luigi blushed in response to Alex's question.

"Oh, mamma mia," Luigi giggled. "I forgot to tell you about what this version of Super Mario Bros. really is. Sometime after me and Mario first saved Princess Peach, Nintendo made the famous video game we've come to love over the years."

"And because of how good it did in terms of how much money Nintendo made, there was a lady singer who wrote this song about our first adventure even though it was made for Mario only. But the song was sung in the Japanese language, so it's hard for us to understand the words," Luigi explained. "A few months after the song came out, Nintendo made a video that showed how to play Super Mario Bros. from start to finish."

"What's the song called?" Alex asked.

"It's called 'Go Go Mario!'," Luigi replied. "Anyway, the video I mentioned earlier showed everything about Super Mario Bros., and at the very end, they played 'Go Go Mario!' while showing the best moments of the video."

"Wow. That's neat," Alex said. "Can we listen to it again?"

"Sure. Let's start from the beginning." Luigi rewound the song before playing it again. This time, right as the "Ground Theme" segment started playing, Luigi scatted to the music alongside Alex. Then, the "Underwater Theme" started playing while another Japanese voice started speaking.

"I like that song!" Alex said.

"It's not over yet, Alex," Luigi reminded Alex. "They're gonna play it two more times." A few seconds later, the "Ground Theme" segment started playing again with Luigi and Alex scatting to it. After two more verses, the "Ending Theme" played while the song faded out.

"Yay! Now I love it more!" Alex cheered during the "Ending Theme". "That's the one!"

"Good for you, buddy!" Luigi said before holding his right palm out. "High-five!" Alex high-fived Luigi before the music finally stopped.

"I'll make sure to tell the stadium people to play this song when you walk onto the court," Luigi stated. "I'm so glad you love 'Go Go Mario!'."

"Me too," Alex agreed. "I could sing this all day if I wanted to." Luigi took the CD out of the audio player before leading Alex downstairs and out of the Mario Stadium to his kart.

"Only two more days until the game, Alex!" Luigi said with enthusiasm while driving back to Mario's Pad. "Are you excited?"

"Yeah! I'm ready to play on Wednesday!"