Mario sat in the, run down little, plumbing shop dozing peacefully. His feet rested on the surface of the, old wooden, desk just inches shy of the phone. Hands clasped over his stomach, gently rising and falling with each passing breath. His favorite red cap over his eyes. Shielding them from the bright sunlight that was flowing in through the large window with the shop's name, "Mario's plumbing", on it.

Coming in through the store room entrance, Luigi picked up a box of...well only a plumber would know what.

"Mario those parts you ordered..." Luigi noticed Mario wasn't paying attention.

"Mario?" Luigi put the box down, gently on the swept but still filthy floor, and walked behind Mario's chair.

"Mario? Are you awake?"

"Hum?...Z...Z...Z"

Luigi grinned and crept closer to Mario's chair being careful not to wake him just yet. Getting right next to his ear he let out the longest, loudest, most ear splitting whistle that startled Mario so badly he fell out of his chair.

"Huh!? Wha? I'm up! I'm up!" Mario looked up at his brother, who was trying desperately not to laugh but; he couldn't hold it in any longer.

"(Snicker) Bwa, ha, ha, ha, ha,... you...ha,...should have....ha, ha, seen your face, it was priceless!"

Luigi extended his hand to help his brother off the floor, Mario shooed it away, to witch Luigi just snickered at, got up and brushed himself off.

"Why don't you act your age instead of your IQ?" Mario said sarcastically

"If I acted my IQ I wouldn't be able to move."

"That's right, infants don't get around much do they?" Luigi gave Mario a sour face. Why could he never think of a good come back when arguing with Mario?

"Where on earth have you been? I've been worried sick." Mario said as he bent down to pick up his hat and looked at his watch. Luigi was over an hour and a half late.

"Yeah, I see how worried you were...wipe the drool off your mouth" Luigi said dryly "I was at the arcade."

"The arcade! You were supposed to come here right after school" Mario shouted, he was more than a little upset at his brother's irresponsibility.

But then he should have known better than to expect any responsible action from Luigi. Even though they were brothers, Mario and Luigi could not have been more different. You'd never think they were raised in the same house. Luigi, a lad of just sixteen was impulsive, childish, and sometimes a little oversensitive, even for a teenager; but his happy go lucky personality would not allow for him to stay upset over anything for too long. Mario on the other hand was the complete opposite he was only twenty-one and was wise beyond his years, what Luigi lacked in the responsibility department, Mario made up for in spades. And since the pair was rarely apart, he was usually responsible enough for the both of them.

"But Mario, its not my fault. The game, it called to me, it said play m... " Mario glared at his little brother

"'It's not my fault' (Sigh) one of these days your irresponsible ways are going to get you into real trouble little bro"

"Yeah maybe, but lucky for me probably won't be around to know how much trouble I'm in"

Mario could have just smacked Luigi for what he was implying.

"Come on there was a call while you were out" Mario said, he motioned towards the door, before he grabbed the two tool belts from beside the desk; and threw one to Luigi.

"Where at?" Luigi asked, as he followed Mario out the front door onto the street.

"1983. N. Edison St., Stopped up drainpipe, its not far so we can walk."

The two brothers walked in silence most of the way there, Mario was still pretty ticked at the whole "arcade thing".

"This is it" Mario said as he stopped in front of a large Victorian home that had seen better days.

"Man these people need a couple of carpenters, not plumbers." Luigi replied, somewhat awestruck, only to be answered by silence.

Even though the house was run down it was still something to see. The porch groaned, as Mario and Luigi stepped onto the, rickety old, stairs. The owner of the house must have heard them coming, because just as Mario was about to knock on the door it opened. Standing in front of the two-surprised bros. was a white haired old woman.

"Ah; you must be the plumbers, I was beginning to wonder if you had gotten lost." She said with a chuckle.

Mario frowned at Luigi "Yes ma'am sorry to keep you waiting. You said over the phone that your drainpipe was stopped up?"

"Yes its in the backyard" The old woman escorted the two plumbers through the house to the backyard; and to a large green drainpipe full of water.

"We should be done soon" Mario assured her.

"Well then I'll leave you to your work, if you need anything just ask." The woman returned to the house.

"Hmmm...I've never seen a pipe like this one before" Mario said as he looked it over. "This pipe is huge what could be big enough to stop it up?"

"I'll find out big brother" Luigi rummaged through the pockets on his tool belt, until he found what he was searching for. A pair of goggles?

He put his hat in his back pocket and the goggles over his eyes; and before Mario could stop him Luigi stuck his head into the pipe. Water went splashing over the sides. Mario looked around he shuddered at the thought of one of the neighbors seeing his little brother head first in a pipe full of water like some kind of weirdo.

"(Sigh) Sometimes he can be so weird"

Luigi pulled his head out of the pipe and took a deep breath.

"Mario I saw it, I saw what's stopping the water!" Luigi said between gasps for air.

Rather than yelling at Luigi, and causing himself a lot of unneeded stress, Mario just sighed and asked "what?"

"Its a beach ball or something like that...its large round and it's red with white spots on it..."

"Must have been thrown in there by one of the kids in this neighborhood" Mario interrupted

"And its stuck right about..." Luigi ran his finger down the out side of the pipe and stopped just about an inch from the ground.

"Here! But I know how to get it out of there quick fast and in a hurry!"

Once again Luigi looked through his tool belt. Mario wondered what Weege would pull out this time.

"Ah ha! found it!" Luigi held up a very small plunger, one made for sinks.

"Fool, what are you going to do with that?"

"I'm going to unclog the pipe...here hold my hat." Luigi put his hat on top of the one Mario was wearing. He slipped the goggles back over his eyes.

"When I knock on the Pipe pull me up I'm not sure I can get myself out of such a tight spot."

"What do you mean pull you up..." Luigi was back in the pipe before Mario could finish his question.

"Not again...good lord mama's goanna kill me when I bring him home."

Luigi, inside the pipe head first, had stuck the little plunger to the top of the ball and was yanking on it like mad.

~ Come on...Just a little more I can feel it starting to give. One more good tug should do it! ~

Luigi pulled with everything he had. Then as if it had never been stuck in the first place it popped free and water started to go through the pipe as normal. Only problem was that it was going down too fast and Luigi was going down with it. Mario, grabbed his brother's ankles when he noticed the pipe trying to swallow Luigi. But the suction was too great and both Mario and Luigi went down the drain with the water.

Luigi had been under water for about a minute and a half and was having trouble holding his breath any longer. Mario on the other hand who'd been taken by surprise by the whole event swallowed a lot more water than he cared too. Mario felt a weird feeling as he slid through the pipe. It was like he was being torn apart but he felt no pain. The wild minute long ride ended with the brothers tumbling on to a grassy field littered with trees that looked like they belonged in a Brazilian rain forest somewhere.

Mario saw Luigi on his hands and knees coughing and gasping for air... then everything went dark.

About the title I don't have one yet "Bros" is the stories file name on my computer so that's the title until I think of a real one. It really doesn't catch ones attention does it?

Ps. Chapter 2, or 3 if you count the prolog should be up, later this afternoon. 1/ 11/02 at no later than 4:00pm is my goal. Hope you are enjoying the story so far. - Jes :P