Mario took a deep breath.
In...
and out...
See? I feel better now. I'm fine. Now that I've got a plan. I'm fine. I just gotta think before I act. Thinking is how I beat Donkey Kong. And thinking is how I'll beat everything else.
With a crack of his knuckles, he advanced towards the right hall door. Careful steps to be quiet. His breathing was a little rough, but he managed to steady it. There was a gameplan. If any people are in there, they definitely don't have a Bit on 'em. I'm fine. I'm fine. He smiled to himself. I have a plan. I'm fine. I'm fine.
I'm fine.
He put his ear against the door as he grabbed the handle. Even with the Bit enhancing his hearing, nothing was making a sound. So there shouldn't be any new surprises. Just gotta go in. Can't hesitate. And...
"GO!" He pushed his way through.
A desk was surrounded by two bookshelves, both stacking as high as the ceiling. And a bust was sitting on the desk next to the nameplate. It bared the same face as the one downstairs. Dragmire. As soon as it saw Mario, its eyes went purple.
"Oh no you don't!" Mario went full speed ahead. Grabbing the bust, Mario chucked it straight through a stained glass window to the outside.
"Done and done." He wiped his hands."Hopefully, that's the last of em. Hope the window wasn't too expensive...Wait-" He did a double-take, finally taking in the image.
Three golden triangles shining brilliantly in the torchlight, combined to make up a bigger triangle. It was behind held, no, not just held, presented. Presented up high in the air by some...insect? Bird? Skeleton thingy? Maybe just a coincidence he was seeing something?
Either way, it was quite the sight to behold. And fortunately, Mario had defenestrated the statue right between the negative space of the triangles.
Ehh, guess the thing got off lucky. He shook his head. No time for this.
Just as he turned around to leave, he realized that he had been standing in front of quite a large desk, which seemed to be made out of solid mahogany. There was no footrest cutout in the middle, so it did seem like quite a decent hiding spot. Especially in a jam.
Tiptoeing closer to the desk, Mario lept forward and turned the corner.
Nothing.
"Alright," A quick sigh of relief. "coast is clear." He tapped the desk plate at the front. The font seemed to be written in gold. This has to be your manor.
"Frod Dragmire. Master of The Estate. Lord of Hyrule." Mario ran his fingers along the desk. "This is your desk. This is your study. This is your manor..." So why would Link hide a Bit here? He must live here. Which means he'll be back sooner or later! Better get going after that Bit.
Mario turned to the door, His eyes immediately cut to what was hanging next to it. Another portrait. It was of Frod. And Link. Together. Dressed in perhaps what went for royal clothing in this world. A sword and a shield matching the triangles Mario saw in the glass had been propped up in front of Link.
'The Today And The Tomorrow.' The title described.
The first thing he noticed was that Dragmire absolutely towered over Link. Either Link was a gnome or Dragmire was a giant. Maybe both.
Mario recalled his encounter with Watcher. Link had been talking to someone. Captain...N? Captain N definitely looked human, and he and Link had been pretty even in size.
So no, Dragmire was just an absolute beast of a man.
"Sorry Frod, but this place may be a little different than when you get back. Talk to your buddy Link about that." Mario went for the door. "Also, for being named Frod. Sounds way too much like fraud. Or Freud. Did your mother name you that? Ew."
"MARIO, CAN WE PLEASE COME UP NOW, MAN?!" Luigi's voice rang out from downstairs.
A stampede of heavy steps echoed through the halls as Mac and Luigi made their way up with Hiro and Kiyo in tow.
"The hell?" Mario looked down the staircase. Mac and Luigi were both in their Timberlands.
"Why are y'all in Timbs? We're trying to be quiet!"
"We were wearing these when all this shit started. When we were out in the snow. In New York." Luigi pocketed his Walkman before he got into his brother's line of sight. Why are you not wearing Timbs? Why you got Puma's on like your about to run a full-court?"
"I wish I'd brought my Timbs, woulda been nice to stomp that out." He jerked his thumb at the remains of Link's statue.
"Dude," Luigi facepalmed at the sight of crumbs of marble. "did you destroy another one? Why?"
"Those things are fucking haunted, Luigi! It attacked me!"
"How? Did it beat you in a staring contest?"
"If I was lying, why would I be telling it to you? Those things were filled with energy from a Bit."
Luigi paused and gave him brother a blink. "W-what?"
"Yeah. You know that guy Watcher wanted us to go after? Link? He's here! This place is owned by that huge guy from downstairs, Frod Dragmire. But he and Link are connected! They're like high nobles or royalty or something. Link came here, He did some kind of shit to the statues, and it fucked me up big time. I'm pretty sure they only react to people holding Bits."
"Wait. You said Link is here? The guy with the sword?"
"Well, he's not here here. You said that yourself. He just lives here."
"I don't know where he is. I just assumed that he wasn't here because of what's going on outside."
"Well...I'm pretty sure there's some kind of Bit in that room. And you know what they say when you assume..." Mario looked at the door. They actually had no proof that Link wasn't in there. Wait. Mario shook his head. Watcher called him the Hero of Time. Any hero by now definitely would have come out by now, unless he's playing it safe...no, no, overthinking. I'm overthinking.
He glanced at the broken up statue. No...Link put those there for security because he knew he wouldn't be here to protect the Bit. So there's probably another statue in there. Maybe more.
"Hey guys," Mario pointed down the hall to the study. "Go find out the connection between Link and Dragmire. Look for any loose documents. Especially if it has some sort of royal-looking seal on it."
"Mario, we can't read any of that stuff."
"You don't have to, just bring it to me. I'll read it. Now go." He looked back at the door. "I got this."
"Tell me you have a weapon or something."
"I mean, I got my switchblade." Mario dug it out of his pocket and flicked the blade out. "Don't think its gonna be useful against a sword and shield, tho. I'd rather use this." He held up the Bit in his other hand.
"You're not helping my nerves, Mario. Can you get one of those portals up? We may need a quick exit for whatever's in there.
"Fair enough." Mario put out his hand. The portal starting forming behind Mac and the Duck Hunt Duo. "Mac, don't worry about the study right now, just stay near the portal."
With the portal primed and read. Mario pressed his ear against the door. This was fine. He was fine. Don't show the people that depend on you that you're scared shitless. "That sounds like a you problem, bro." Mario knocked on the door. "Hello, anyone in here?"
No response. Mario didn't hear anything move from inside.
"Alright, works for me." Mario flung the door open and moved back. With nothing popping out, Mario moved forward into the room. The first thing that got his attention was the massive bed in the middle of the room, but he quickly went back to searching for any statue or some other trap. The statues required a line of sight to work, but Mario didn't see any on top of the dressers or drawers, any on the floor, nowhere. No way there couldn't be something in this room. It can't be that easy.
He opened the closet, Bit at the ready.
Nothing but expensive-looking, well-kept clothing was inside. And from the size of the clothes, this bedroom could only belong to one person. This is Dragmire's bedroom, alright. And there's a Bit in here? Why would Link keep it here? Well, if Link's a knight and Dragmire's a lord, that must mean Link serves him. They'd have to be in this together, right?
"Is it safe, Mario?"
"Still looking!" Mario peeked under the bed. Nothing waiting there. He the Bit around to see if any of the objects in the room would react. There didn't seem to be any response.
With trepidation, Mario lowered his Bit. "All clear guys."
Luigi whistled at the sight of the bed as he came in. "Woowee. You could have a whole org-" His eyes quickly cut to Mac. "anization work on that thing. This ain't a King-size. It's King, Queen, and Ace. I didn't see any signs of this having a wife. Think he's a player? Can't possibly be using all of this for himself."
"He uses more than enough." Mario pointed to the clothes. "So let's be gone by the time he gets back."
"You said there was a Bit in here, right Mario?" Mac looked around. "Well, where is it?"
"...Good question." Mario held up the Bit. It shimmered instantly with its bright glow, going back and forth from blue to magenta.
Damn, it's going off like crazy. Gotta be in this room...
"Start looking, the Bit's gotta be in here somewhere. Go through everything. If you're going to be slow, at least be thorough. Once you're done with it, throw it outside so it's not in the way anymore. No reason to keep it in here and let stuff clutter up." Mario ripped out a drawer from a chest and quickly scanned through the contents.
"Jesus, Mario." Luigi shook his head. "We're already robbing whoever lives here. At least shows some respect."
"We don't have time for respect, Luigi! And no one else who burglarizes does either! Now help me tear this place apart!"
Hiro and Kiyo were already digging through the lower cabinets on the dressers.
"See, they've got the spirit!"
Mac emptied a jewelry box on the bedside chests. "It's not in here!"
"Not here."
"Not in here either."
"Keep looking. We aren't leaving until we get the Bit. Tear this place apart if you have to."
"Where the hell could it be? We've looked through everything." Mario looked at the open door. Every single cabinet, drawer, chest, miniature box, and bag was outside of the room. All of Dragmire's clothes had been searched through and subsequently thrown at as well. Shirts, shoes, underwear, all tossed to the wayside.
Mario leaned against the wall, checking the Bit's status. It was still flashing between blue and magenta.
"Don't tell me its something else activated you." Mario looked at the bed. It was the one piece of furniture untouched. He flicked out his switchblade. "I wonder if it's in the mattress..."
"Here, let me try it. I got an idea." Luigi held out his hand.
Mario hesitated for a second, before giving it to his brother. "...Yeah. Go ahead. I'll just be doing this" He tore into the mattress and started ripping away at the contents.
Mac looked on curiously at Luigi. "What are you gonna do?"
Luigi walked to the corner of the room parallel to the door and faced the corner diagonal to the door. "This thing is supposed to tell us where the other Bit is. So why not use it to see if I can pin it down to a specific thing in here? If it's in here, no doubt it would be hidden.
Holding the Bit straight out in front of him, Luigi took a step forward. The Bit shined brighter through its fluctuations.
"So does that mean we can rule out it being anywhere next to the door?" Mac asked.
"Guess so, for now."
"Luigi...you're a fucking genius." Mario put away his knife and sat on the ripped up mattress. Mac and the Duo opted to do the same.
"See what happens you take it slow and think?"
"Don't run your mouth until you actually get it." Mario chose to not acknowledge Luigi's smirk. With Luigi taking care of the Bit, Mario's thoughts started running back to the fact they were burglarizing someone's mansion. Forget the lord, there weren't even any servants present. Something was, for better or for worse, different. To keep a running clock of how long everything took was a little fuzzy, especially with the statue. Still, with ransacking the bedroom, they'd probably been here for...getting close to forty-five minutes? An hour? Watcher came through when he said this would be an easy Bit to get. If anyone had come in here while we were getting it...
"Mmhmm." Luigi smirked as he kept walking. He could feel himself getting closer. This whole Bit thing was crazy, but the Bit itself was...kinda cool. Gave him a weird little tingle. It was like sticking your finger into a socket, but instead of being electrocuted, it felt like...power, instead of pain. I wonder what two Bits feel like. Actually, I am kinda glad we emptied this place. Because now that there's nothing left, I think my hunch is right...
The Bit went into a continuous flash of white at the headboard of the bed.
"Behind the bed?" Mario quickly looked underneath. I checked before, and I'm checking now. But I don't see anything underneath.
"I don't think it's under or in the bed Mario. He tapped the headboard. "I think it's in the wall."
"In the wall?" That's why we haven't seen it. Mario facepalmed. "Of course, why didn't I think of it sooner?!"
"I got it." With the Bit powering him, Luigi pushed the huge mattress next to the closet. With Mac, Hiro, and Kiyo still on it. The pets seemed rather amused with the sudden movement, bouncing in place for a little while with goofy grins on their faces.
Mario felt along the wall, knocking on it for any hallow spaces. To have something stored in it, everywhere he felt seemed pretty solid. There didn't seem to be any cutout, at least that he saw. Then again, this is the same way everyone else felt with the statues. "You're the one with the Bit, Luigi. You see anything?"
"I'll try this." Luigi put the Bit against the wall. The tingling sensation in the Bit turned into a full-on rumble.
"Yo!" Mario stepped back. Luigi's hand was vibrating, practically about to snap off his wrist. "Are you okay, man?!"
Luigi followed his gaze. "Yeah. I'm fine." His hand was shaking a little, but nothing too bad. As he pulled his hand along the wall, he could feel it get stronger. His knees started shaking as the vibrations made the rounds through his body. Whatever powered these Bits were reacting. To each other. The Bit was here. Only a few feet away until finally...
"Here!"
The Bit flash white with an audible DING! only Luigi heard. The rumbled ceased instantly.
"Right here." Luigi tapped the spot with his Bit.
"Got it." Mario looked back at Mac and the pets, who had been watching on the bed in awe. "Mac, get over here."
Mac snapped out of it at the call of his name. "O-oh. Okay."
"Why'd you call him here, now?" Luigi furrowed his eyebrows.
Mario quickly got his hand up. Just trust me on this.
"Aight Mac, you're the best out of all of us to do this. See where Luigi has the Bit? The second Bit is right there in the wall. I want you to punch through the wall and get it. Those gloves Doc gave you, you've already shown you can punch through solid brick, so with the Bit, this should be a piece of cake. Luigi, give him the Bit."
"Wait, I can-"
Mario's expression silenced him. Do it.
"Alright, here ya go." Luigi quickly gave Mac the Bit.
"Just gotta believe in yourself Mac," Mario gave him a pat on the back. "you got this."
I do? Mac stared at the Bit. After his fight last night, Mac felt the soreness permeate through him. And then all the crazy stuff happened with Luigi and the other guy and now...they were on this scavenger hunt for these Bit thingies. He'd tried to stay out of their way and let the bros. do their thing, but now, they needed him? He didn't even know what was going on...
You got this.
Mac closed his hand, making a fist.
"Let's just get back and let him do his thing." Mario hopped back to the door, looking outside. I didn't hear anyone come in, but let me just be on the lookout...
Mac got in his stance, keeping his eye on the spot where Luigi had the Bit. "Here?" Mac tapped the spot with his knuckle.
"Perfect." Luigi gave him the thumbs out.
Just seeing that. That thumbs up...
Warmth. Mac looked at his hand. The Bit wasn't burning him, but...he could feel the heat stemming from it. It was..actually pretty comforting.
I don't know what's happening, but if Mario and Luigi need me, I have to help them whenever I can. Huh, that's weird.
I don't feel sore anymore.
With one strike and his entire body behind the blow, Mac shattered through the stone wall. The entire room seemed to shake from the impact.
Jesus. Luigi staggered for just a second. I know the Bit makes you stronger, but man, that was something.
"Got it!" Mac called out.
"See, already done!" Mario popped back into the room. A trifling victory, but a victory nonetheless. "Great job Mac. And all it took was one punch."
Luigi flashed him a smile."Knew you could do it."
Mac beamed a little. It was just one punch. Something he'd done with Doc thousands of times. He'd never really gotten this before. It was weird, but it made him feel pretty...okay. "Thanks."
Mario put his hand out. "You mind if I have the Bit ba-
As his gaze shifted from Mac to the hole in the wall, Mario froze. A tiny jewelry box was laying in the stone. A lockless rectangular prism of pure onyx. And on the roof of the prism, laid a forward-facing skull, etched in green. Horns on the side of its head curved out in front of its face like tusks, with two canines poking up from its bottom lip. And while the box didn't make a sound-
Mario felt its overwhelming scream for death.
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