The Mushroom militia were waiting at the departure site helping the townspeople load up and get onto the busses. They were Mushroom men that wore loose green outfits, and headpieces with one green ring around the outside. The trio walked halfway across the parking lot, looking for the bus number that the Chancellor had assigned them. They saw bus #4 and approached it. But a soldier with a clipboard stopped them on the way.
"Mario, Luigi, Toad? An honor to see you boys again." He said professionally and saluted them.
"Thanks, buddy… No need for that, we're all friends here."
"At ease." Toad added. He appreciated the work the militia did, and felt it was unnecessary for them to have to revere them.
"Uh… right." The man said, loosening his stance. "You guys aren't going to be bussing. Your ride is over there." He pointed to a small white plain.
"Wow, cool stuff!" Luigi smiled at the instant upgrade.
While boarding the plain, a woman with an all-pink headpiece and blue jacket told them to get comfortable in the front three seats. There were two sides with only four pairs of large seats on each side. Luigi and Mario sat on the left, and Toad sat on the right. He fiddled with the seatbelt for a while, waiting for the plane to take off.
Luigi nudged Mario. "You think Bowser did this?"
Mario shook his head. "No way. This is too original. Besides, even though he's rich, he doesn't have the power to unleash these new virus flowers so quickly.
About ten minutes after takeoff, the woman in the pink headpiece came into the passenger area and greeted the three gentlemen.
"I have some news for you boys. The Chancellor knows that you are capable of solving this problem once the tasks have been fully delegated, but he also knows of two more men with abilities almost equal to yours. He wants to be ensured with all the help we can get to make sure that this parasite is stopped as soon as possible for the good of the people.
"So who're they going to be working with?" Toad asked, laying back with his arms folded.
"Their cousins, who live in the city we are now heading to."
"Wait a second…" Mario stood up.
"Please be seated, sir." The woman said, putting a hand on his shoulder.
Luigi raised his hands a bit. "You don't mean…"
Toad was puzzled for a second, but then it clicked in his mind. "Your cousins? Wait, does she mean Wario and Waluigi?"
She turned and answered Toad. "Yes. We knew they initially wouldn't be inclined to help with this, so the Chancellor proposed a reward. They gladly accepted. They are going to be accompanying you on this assignment. Until then, you are going to be staying with them in their apartment in the city of Flarch."
"NOOO!!!" Mario let out a howl as the plain continued on.
"Toad, you will be staying with Daisy and Peach. They've already been checked into the hotel."
Toad patted Mario on the shoulder. "I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow then." He walked away with a chuckle.
Later, on the subway bench, Mario studied the city map as Luigi stared blankly into space.
"Wario Mario… and Waluigi Mario. The cousins we share our birthday with. And the most rotten men in the world. How are we going to get through this?"
Mario turned to Luigi. "Now calm down. It isn't that bad. And stop thinking about stupid things like that. We've got a lot of sick people back in Mushroom, and we need to put a stop to this. We just need to figure out how. Or wait for the team investigators." The subway car pulled up in front of them, and they stepped off the floor and through the metal doors. Mario gripped a hand pole and looked around.
"This city's actually pretty nice, once you get used to it."
On Luigi's side of the rail, a man with a huge, sharp black Mohawk, sunglasses, and a joint in his mouth caught Luigi looking at him. He raised his arms silently and faked a lunge at him. Luigi flinched more than accordingly. The man stared angrily at the scared man in green and slowly walked away.
"Right, Luigi?" Mario was facing the other direction.
"Uh…" Luigi gulped. "Yeah."
Later, when Mario and Luigi had gone back up above ground, they were walking along a cracked sidewalk with steaming sewers, bent telephone poles, and crookedly shaped building walls. Luigi asked Mario,
"Is this the street?"
"No, it's off of this street." Mario answered, looking at the map. Luigi couldn't possibly imagine how a street so narrow could have streets that branched off of it. But surely enough, they reached a tiny street that connected the one they were one, and another one. It was only about twenty feet long, and there didn't appear to have any homes. Mario pointed to a bar with rock music blaring from it. They walked around the side and started up a black metal flight of stairs. Just in time, Luigi noticed that one of them was missing. Mario knocked on the rickety door above the bar, and waited a minute or two. A man came to the door in his underwear and a T-shirt. He had brown hair, a really fat head, and a tubby gut. His bright red nose contrasted with his skin, and under it was a scraggly zigzagging mustache. He looked behind him and called out into the next room.
"THEY'RE HERE!!! Alright, come on in." He motioned curtly inviting Mario and Luigi in. They walked through the living room. The TV was on, and they were watching Jerry Springer.
"So what happened to that castle you bought with all that money you found on that island?" Mario asked while stepping over piles of beer cans and empty TV dinner trays.
"What's it to you, shrimp?" Wario shot back.
"Well, if you were still living there, then I'd be sleeping in a king-size bed tonight as opposed to flipping a coin with Luigi for that couch. That's what it is to me." Mario explained.
"Well you really wanna know what happened to it?" Wario looked back at him coldly.
"I gambled it."
"You gambled it?" Luigi joined the conversation.
"I gambled it." Wario repeated. "I used it as collateral at the bookie's office. Remember back in the 90's when yous two went to Dinoland? Well, the bet was you two verses Bowser's army. I bet on Bowser. You didn't end up dead so I lost my castle. Thanks a lot." Wario turned around and went into the kitchen.
"Well I'm so very sorry we had to do that." Luigi looked a little mad at his ignorance.
"And thanks for bringing it up too. Yous guys have ruined my day for the third time in a row."
"How do you figure that?" Mario asked.
Wario counted on his fingers. "First when the freakin' sporeheads woke me up at 2 to tell me you idiots were coming. That was pretty crappy. Second when you actually did show up, and I was hoping you wouldn't make it through the bad section of Flarch City without getting your brains blown out. And third when you brought up this crap about my castle. You wanna go for four?"
"Or maybe… you should have stayed at your parents' house?" A fourth voice came in. It was one that was familiar, but they hadn't heard it in a few months. A very tall, thin and lanky man with the same hair color and facial features as Wario walked into the TV room with a bottle of beer. He, too, was in his underwear. It was Waluigi.
"Hello, Waluigi." Mario said with his arms folded. "We would have gone there, but the entire point of us leaving our house was to get away from the black flowers, and you both know that our parents live in Mushroom. They've left to Rose town, and if we went to stay in their house, we'd eventually be devoured by the plant."
"Exactly my point." Waluigi took a sip if beer.
"So what are we supposed to do? Just stay here until the Chancellor calls us?" Luigi asked.
"Yes. But we can answer the phone by ourselves. We're big boys. In fact, we'll be 37 in three days." Waluigi said sarcastically. "So you two can go downstairs to the bar, or into town until tonight. Go anywhere. Just as long as it isn't here." By now, he was practically throwing them out the door and down the stairs. Mario and Luigi were glad to be gone.
"Mario, Luigi, Toad? An honor to see you boys again." He said professionally and saluted them.
"Thanks, buddy… No need for that, we're all friends here."
"At ease." Toad added. He appreciated the work the militia did, and felt it was unnecessary for them to have to revere them.
"Uh… right." The man said, loosening his stance. "You guys aren't going to be bussing. Your ride is over there." He pointed to a small white plain.
"Wow, cool stuff!" Luigi smiled at the instant upgrade.
While boarding the plain, a woman with an all-pink headpiece and blue jacket told them to get comfortable in the front three seats. There were two sides with only four pairs of large seats on each side. Luigi and Mario sat on the left, and Toad sat on the right. He fiddled with the seatbelt for a while, waiting for the plane to take off.
Luigi nudged Mario. "You think Bowser did this?"
Mario shook his head. "No way. This is too original. Besides, even though he's rich, he doesn't have the power to unleash these new virus flowers so quickly.
About ten minutes after takeoff, the woman in the pink headpiece came into the passenger area and greeted the three gentlemen.
"I have some news for you boys. The Chancellor knows that you are capable of solving this problem once the tasks have been fully delegated, but he also knows of two more men with abilities almost equal to yours. He wants to be ensured with all the help we can get to make sure that this parasite is stopped as soon as possible for the good of the people.
"So who're they going to be working with?" Toad asked, laying back with his arms folded.
"Their cousins, who live in the city we are now heading to."
"Wait a second…" Mario stood up.
"Please be seated, sir." The woman said, putting a hand on his shoulder.
Luigi raised his hands a bit. "You don't mean…"
Toad was puzzled for a second, but then it clicked in his mind. "Your cousins? Wait, does she mean Wario and Waluigi?"
She turned and answered Toad. "Yes. We knew they initially wouldn't be inclined to help with this, so the Chancellor proposed a reward. They gladly accepted. They are going to be accompanying you on this assignment. Until then, you are going to be staying with them in their apartment in the city of Flarch."
"NOOO!!!" Mario let out a howl as the plain continued on.
"Toad, you will be staying with Daisy and Peach. They've already been checked into the hotel."
Toad patted Mario on the shoulder. "I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow then." He walked away with a chuckle.
Later, on the subway bench, Mario studied the city map as Luigi stared blankly into space.
"Wario Mario… and Waluigi Mario. The cousins we share our birthday with. And the most rotten men in the world. How are we going to get through this?"
Mario turned to Luigi. "Now calm down. It isn't that bad. And stop thinking about stupid things like that. We've got a lot of sick people back in Mushroom, and we need to put a stop to this. We just need to figure out how. Or wait for the team investigators." The subway car pulled up in front of them, and they stepped off the floor and through the metal doors. Mario gripped a hand pole and looked around.
"This city's actually pretty nice, once you get used to it."
On Luigi's side of the rail, a man with a huge, sharp black Mohawk, sunglasses, and a joint in his mouth caught Luigi looking at him. He raised his arms silently and faked a lunge at him. Luigi flinched more than accordingly. The man stared angrily at the scared man in green and slowly walked away.
"Right, Luigi?" Mario was facing the other direction.
"Uh…" Luigi gulped. "Yeah."
Later, when Mario and Luigi had gone back up above ground, they were walking along a cracked sidewalk with steaming sewers, bent telephone poles, and crookedly shaped building walls. Luigi asked Mario,
"Is this the street?"
"No, it's off of this street." Mario answered, looking at the map. Luigi couldn't possibly imagine how a street so narrow could have streets that branched off of it. But surely enough, they reached a tiny street that connected the one they were one, and another one. It was only about twenty feet long, and there didn't appear to have any homes. Mario pointed to a bar with rock music blaring from it. They walked around the side and started up a black metal flight of stairs. Just in time, Luigi noticed that one of them was missing. Mario knocked on the rickety door above the bar, and waited a minute or two. A man came to the door in his underwear and a T-shirt. He had brown hair, a really fat head, and a tubby gut. His bright red nose contrasted with his skin, and under it was a scraggly zigzagging mustache. He looked behind him and called out into the next room.
"THEY'RE HERE!!! Alright, come on in." He motioned curtly inviting Mario and Luigi in. They walked through the living room. The TV was on, and they were watching Jerry Springer.
"So what happened to that castle you bought with all that money you found on that island?" Mario asked while stepping over piles of beer cans and empty TV dinner trays.
"What's it to you, shrimp?" Wario shot back.
"Well, if you were still living there, then I'd be sleeping in a king-size bed tonight as opposed to flipping a coin with Luigi for that couch. That's what it is to me." Mario explained.
"Well you really wanna know what happened to it?" Wario looked back at him coldly.
"I gambled it."
"You gambled it?" Luigi joined the conversation.
"I gambled it." Wario repeated. "I used it as collateral at the bookie's office. Remember back in the 90's when yous two went to Dinoland? Well, the bet was you two verses Bowser's army. I bet on Bowser. You didn't end up dead so I lost my castle. Thanks a lot." Wario turned around and went into the kitchen.
"Well I'm so very sorry we had to do that." Luigi looked a little mad at his ignorance.
"And thanks for bringing it up too. Yous guys have ruined my day for the third time in a row."
"How do you figure that?" Mario asked.
Wario counted on his fingers. "First when the freakin' sporeheads woke me up at 2 to tell me you idiots were coming. That was pretty crappy. Second when you actually did show up, and I was hoping you wouldn't make it through the bad section of Flarch City without getting your brains blown out. And third when you brought up this crap about my castle. You wanna go for four?"
"Or maybe… you should have stayed at your parents' house?" A fourth voice came in. It was one that was familiar, but they hadn't heard it in a few months. A very tall, thin and lanky man with the same hair color and facial features as Wario walked into the TV room with a bottle of beer. He, too, was in his underwear. It was Waluigi.
"Hello, Waluigi." Mario said with his arms folded. "We would have gone there, but the entire point of us leaving our house was to get away from the black flowers, and you both know that our parents live in Mushroom. They've left to Rose town, and if we went to stay in their house, we'd eventually be devoured by the plant."
"Exactly my point." Waluigi took a sip if beer.
"So what are we supposed to do? Just stay here until the Chancellor calls us?" Luigi asked.
"Yes. But we can answer the phone by ourselves. We're big boys. In fact, we'll be 37 in three days." Waluigi said sarcastically. "So you two can go downstairs to the bar, or into town until tonight. Go anywhere. Just as long as it isn't here." By now, he was practically throwing them out the door and down the stairs. Mario and Luigi were glad to be gone.