breath20k

Surprisingly, the Glitz Pit was the farthest I went while playing the original game myself.

CVGWJames

Not just yet. Mario and Co. need to get on the blimp first.

LiamTheYoshi

Everything happens for a reason, so I don't think there's been a time where my version of Mario got upset for no reason.

mariobroultimate

Mario's all better following the late lunch, so next up is the trip to Glitzville. Actually, the steps needed to get on the blimp.

Nataly Guardado

I'm sorry about your dog, Nataly. But you're not alone as I recently lost two dogs of my own due to old age. The good news is I'm on the other side now.

…

Chapter 21: Going to Glitzville

At the east side of Rogueport was a narrow alley between two buildings that led to the back area of the town. Mario brought out Goombella from his Partner Collection Band.

"So, what's going on, guys?" Goombella asked.

"Well, me and Luigi are searching for this Pianta named Don Pianta. He's a syndicate leader who owns the west end of Rogueport, but we're checking the east end for information about him," Mario replied.

"What's down this alley?" Luigi looked down the alley while Mario and Goombella chatted.

Mario saw Luigi go down the alley out the corner of his eye and decided to follow him. Upon reaching the back area, the group saw a door with a yellow knob on the left.

"Are you sure, bro?" Luigi asked with concern. "What if there're some thugs that'll gun us down?"

"That's true," Mario agreed. "Let's sneak inside."

Mario slowly opened the door, revealing three Craws, a purple Little Mouser, and an anthropomorphic snail with sunglasses. The Craws only wielded spears; the snail and Little Mouser had nothing with them.

"Come on," Mario whispered. He tiptoed inside before Luigi and Goombella walked in too. "Uh... Excuse me, sir?" he said to the snail, who turned to see the group.

"Who goes there?" the snail asked.

"The Super Mario Bros and our friend Goombella," Mario answered.

"I'm Luigi and that's my bro Mario," Luigi added in.

"The name's Ishnail. This is the fortress of the Robbo Thieves." Ishnail turned to the Craws and Little Mouser. "Guys, we have some visitors here."

"Can you tell them to not point their spears at us?" Luigi requested, having noticed the Craws' spears. "We're not doing anything wrong."

"Unless you got something up your sleeve, we believe you," Ishnail said before introducing his members. "That's Gus, his two brothers Garf and Goose, and our newly recruited thief Pierre."

"Why are they here?" Gus asked.

"I'm about to find out," Ishnail replied. "So, Mario, what business brings chumps like you and your friends to a place like this? Say it ain't a vacation."

"We're looking for answers about Don Pianta," Mario explained. "He's somewhere on the west side of Rogueport and goes to this arena in the sky called Glitzville."

"You mean that lyin', cheatin', stealin', no-good jerky-for-brains?"

"If that's who you describe him as, yes," Mario answered.

"Real thieves like us end up poor as dirt, never catchin' a break 'cause of that guy. Did you come here knowin' all that?" Ishnail asked.

"Kind of. I guess syndicates do treat their peers like trash," Goombella said.

"And you know that scumbag demands protection money from us too, yeah? You know all that and you still want us to tell you how you can meet that crumb?"

"Please," Luigi said.

"All right, you insensitive jerks. But it'll cost you 64 coins!" Ishnail said. "And no budgin' on the price! Not a single coin! Inside info is pricey! Them's the breaks!"

"One second." Mario took out all the Coins he previously collected for himself, counting 105 altogether. He carefully selected 64 of the Coins and gave them to Ishnail. "Here you go."

"Good call, Mario. You're a shrewd businessman. 64 coins, on the nose," Ishnail thanked Mario. "Now, you three clean those ears out and listen here." He turned to Gus. "Gus, take it away."

"There's a parlor in the west part of town that's run by that worm Don Pianta," Gus began. "Go to the store next to the parlor and buy a Dried Shroom and a Dizzy Dial."

"Make sure you buy 'em in that order: Dried Shroom, Dizzy Dial," Goose added in. "You do that and the shopkeeper's gonna ask you what your favorite color is. You answer 'yellow'. That's that."

"See, 'yellow' is the password for gettin' into Don Scumbag's oh-so-comfy office. You got all that?" Garf stated.

"We understand," Mario answered. "Thank you for your help."

"Don't mention it," Ishnail said. "Now scram and find Don Pianta on the double!"

With that, the group left the Robbo Thieves' building, returned to the main area of Rogueport, and headed to the west end of town.

"You know what this reminds me of?" Mario asked Luigi.

"What?"

*FOUR YEARS AGO*

"Before you ask, my name's Sheek, an information trader with a source for gossip," Sheek introduced himself after receiving the lemon. "Mr. Moustafa doesn't really come out of his place often, but there is one way to find him. In the shop of this town, you must buy a Dried Shroom and a Dusty Hammer in that order. This is a secret sign known to those loyal to Moustafa. The owner of the shop will let you see Moustafa if you follow my instructions. Understood?"

"We understand," Mario replied.

...

"You found everything you needed?" the owner asked.

"Yes, sir," Mario answered before handing the owner the Dried Shroom first before the Dusty Hammer. Immediately after ringing up both items in that order, the owner's eyes widened a bit.

"What ho! Buying a Dusty Hammer after a Dried Shroom... That's the secret sign that only friends of Mr. Moustafa know!" the owner exclaimed. "That means you three are in with Moustafa!"

*PRESENT DAY*

"Hmm... I see the similarity," Luigi said. "But this is mafia-related rather than finding desert ruins."

At the west end of town, there was an archway in the center with a store on the left of it. The group entered it and stopped to come up with a plan.

"Let's do what we did last time," Mario stated. "I'll go find the Dizzy Dial with Goombella. Luigi, go to the produce section for the Dried Shroom."

"But what aisle would a powerup be in?" Goombella asked.

"I don't know."

Mario and Goombella started by looking in the 'Toys' aisle, which had all kinds of kids' toys from beach balls to wagons and board games.

Right as they reached the end of the aisle, Mario spotted a single Dizzy Dial hidden behind a column of Magic 8 Balls.

Why would children want to make themselves dizzy? Mario asked while inspecting the powerup. It should say 'Keep out of reach of children.'

To make things more confusing, there was no price tag on the Dizzy Dial.

"They'll weigh it before telling us how much it is," Goombella reassured Mario.

After exiting the aisle, Mario and Goombella saw Luigi waving from the cash register. He had already found the only Dried Shroom in the portobello mushroom section.

The group proceeded to start letting the clerk ring up both items, starting with the Dried Shroom.

"You're the store owner, right?" Luigi asked the clerk.

"Yes, I am," the store owner replied.

While weighing the Dizzy Dial to confirm its price, the owner frowned a small bit. "Hmm... Buying a Dried Shroom before a Dizzy Dial..." He looked up at Luigi and said, "All right, mister. What's your favorite color?"

"My favorite color's yellow," Luigi lied; he knew his favorite color was green. "Well, it's actually my girlfriend's favorite color, but now it's mine too."

"Uh-huh. Well, you check out. You know the password. So, that means you and your friends must be acquaintances of Don Pianta! Good for you."

"What's the total?" Mario asked.

"Fourteen Coins, please," the owner replied.

This time, Luigi took out fourteen Coins of the 100 he had in his pocket and paid for both items. The owner bagged them before sending the group on their way.

Upon exiting the store, Mario and friends noticed an alley to the left of the store and went up a staircase on the other side. The staircase led them to an aboveground office that had a green carpet, blue-green walls, and multiple dressers with vases on top. Two Yellow Piantas in suits stood on either side of a desk, with an Orange Pianta with a suit and sunglasses behind it.

"Yo! What's wid you, wise guys?" the Orange Pianta called out as soon as the Mario Bros and Goombella entered the office. "I ain't too jolly today... If you got a beef, spit it out quick or dis is gonna hurt."

"Don't you dare question Boss's threat!" one of Don Pianta's sidekicks said.

Mario stepped forward while Luigi and Goombella stood a few feet behind him. "We're here to ask for three tickets for a blimp ride," he stated.

"Ex-cuse me? You want me to give you three tickets for da blimp? See, now, to me, dat's funny... You a stand-up comedian, no? You oughta be. You got some nerve askin' me for dat. I'm Don Pianta! I make cryin' babies weep!"

"We're no crybabies, sir," Mario said.

"You want I should run dese bums out on a rail, Boss? Lookit dem! Whadda rube!" the second sidekick requested.

Luigi backed up a bit, having been frightened by the sidekick's threat. "Um... I don't l-like this..."

"What's wrong, you yellow fellow?" the first sidekick asked Luigi.

"I'm n-not yellow..." Luigi stammered.

"You must like pain, coward! You just lookin' for trouble, or what?" the second sidekick added in.

"Leave my brother alone!" Mario yelled. "We just walked in, for God's sake!"

In response to Mario's protest, the two sidekicks took out two shotguns only for Don Pianta to hold them off.

"Hey! Lower the guns, boys!"

The sidekicks put their guns away right as they heard Don Pianta's command.

"I like dese kids' gumption. They just came to talk, no? Dat ain't a crime. So we talk. You boys can wait 'til we're done before you rough him up, you got it?"

"Yes, Boss!" the sidekicks responded.

"Step forward, kid," Don Pianta told Luigi, who was already shaking with terror.

"Come on, Luigi," Goombella whispered.

Luigi slowly approached Mario with Goombella at his side.

"So, I gotta assume you got a reason for wantin' a ticket for da blimp. Out wid it!"

"Okay. So, we're on a mission to get these Crystal Stars to rescue Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom," Mario said. "Apparently, she got kidnapped by some soldiers called the X-Nauts."

"Da...Crystal Stars? Hey, Boss! Ain't dose things in dat legend 'bout da ancient treasure?" the first sidekick asked.

"Johnny, you're such a dope! Hey, Boss! Dese knuckleheads believe in fairy tales!" the second sidekick retorted.

"It's not a fairy tale!" Goombella argued. "The treasure is more real than you can ever believe!"

Mario joined in the argument, causing a loud ruckus. Luigi decided to stay out of it since he was scared to death.

"Yo! Everybody shut up!" Don Pianta yelled. Everyone went silent immediately. "I don't care if da treasure is real or not. Get me? But I tell ya, I can't help but like some guys who want to rescue some skirt they fell for."

"She's n-not my girlfriend..." Luigi trembled. "It's M-Mario's..."

"Whatever. You do me a little...favor...an' you get your blimp tickets. Sounds fair, right?"

"Are you sure about that?" Mario asked.

"It's easy. It's nothin'. It's less dan nothin'," Don Pianta replied. "See, da thing is... My own daughter...eloped wit' one of my young...associates. Dey vanished...but it wasn't too long ago dat dey did. Dey oughta still be nearby."

"You gotta find my daughter, Francesca, an' dis... Frankie...an' bring dem both here. If you are unable to bring dem here, then alls you gotta do is tell me where dey are. Then I shall settle dis matter quickly, an' wid what is known as extreme prejudice."

Before Mario could acknowledge Don Pianta's instructions, Johnny spoke up again, "Boss! We don't know nothin' about dese guys. You can't rely on some goofballs for dis job!"

"Yeah, Boss! Johnny's right! Leave it to us to-"

"SHUT UP, JOEY!" Don Pianta interrupted Joey. "It's 'cause you lugs can't find her dat I gotta swallow my pride an' ask dese guys! I hope you dopes ain't makin' complaints 'bout my decision. You makin' complaints?"

"No, Boss. Whatever you say goes, Boss," Johnny replied.

"I dunno what I was thinkin', Boss. It won't happen again, Boss. You're da boss, Boss," Joey agreed.

"Good. I'm glad we're all of full understandin' for one another." Don Pianta turned to Mario and friends again. "So it's settled, yeah? Find my daughter an' her...friend. Den come see me."

Don Pianta took out a picture of Francesca and Frankie and gave it to Mario. "Look at dis picture carefully. An' just so we're clear here... If you don't find my daughter, your luck may turn terrible..."

"Okey-dokey," Mario answered. He left the office first with Goombella following behind. Luigi slowly stepped toward the door and took one last look at Johnny and Joey. Joey glared at Luigi, making the latter zoom out the door.

"Don't make me...g-go in there a-again..." Luigi said in a shaky voice.

"Easy, bro," Mario coaxed Luigi. "You can stay outside after we find them, okay?"

Luigi could only nod his head.

"Come on."

Mario took Luigi's hand before going downstairs. He studied the picture for a brief moment, noticing that it was taken long ago at the harbor.

"If Frankie and Francesca are at the harbor now, we have to hurry," Goombella said. "They might be leaving Rogueport soon."

Mario and friends hurried to Rogueport Harbor where a yellow female Pianta with a beach hat stood next to a light blue Pianta wearing sunglasses.

The yellow Pianta saw the Mario Bros and Goombella out of the corner of her eye and jumped back a bit.

"Hey! Back off, you creeps!" the Pianta yelled. "You want something or you just like sliding up to people?"

"We weren't sliding up," Mario replied. "Say, are you Francesca with your friend Frankie?"

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?! How do you know our names?!"

"Your father told us earlier," Luigi said. "He wanted to see you two."

"Oh, Frankie... What should we do?" Francesca asked Frankie. "If Daddy finds us now... Oh, I don't know...and the boat's coming any minute..."

"Dollface... Maybe we oughta head back and try to talk to da boss one more time," Frankie suggested.

"No, Frankie! Don't say that! Don't you know what he'll do to you if we do that?"

"Francesca... Babydoll... If we can just talk calm-like wit' da boss, he'll understand."

"Oh, Frankie... My Frankie... Don't you still love me?" Francesca asked.

"Of course I still love you, sugar cookie. More dan anybody in da whole world!" Frankie exclaimed with enthusiasm.

Mario quietly snickered at Francesca and Frankie's conversation.

"Then let's go, Frankie! Let's run! To the ends of the earth if we have to!"

"But, butter biscuit... Dey already found us out. We can't keep runnin' forever," Frankie said.

"We can, Frankie! The more you try to put out the flames of love, the hotter they burn! Until I marry you, no one will extinguish these flames of passion! NO ONE!"

"What's this? A forced marriage?" Goombella quipped. "What's your daddy gonna do if you don't walk down the aisle? Huh?"

"Shut up! You don't wanna know!" Francesca chided. "Just pretend you guys never saw us!"

"Okay," Mario answered. "Goodbye now."

As Mario, Luigi, and Goombella walked back to Don Pianta's office, they talked about what Plan B would be like.

"Don Pianta will understand us," Goombella stated. "At least he'll know they're waiting to leave."

This time, Luigi waited at the bottom of the stairs while Mario and Goombella entered Don Pianta's office themselves.

"Oh. Look who's come back. Da proverbial red mustache," Don Pianta remarked. "I guess your brother's waitin' outside?"

"Don't worry about it," Mario answered.

"Right. You gonna brighten my mood? So give. What you got? You know da whereabouts of dese two runaways?"

"Both are at the harbor waiting for their ferry," Mario explained. "That's that."

"Oh, is dat a true fact? Well done. I appreciate dis favor you done for me. I'll prepare your blimp tickets." Don Pianta turned to Johnny and Joey. "Hey! You two nimrods! Da kids are at da harbor! NOW GO GET 'EM!"

Before Johnny and Joey could acknowledge their order, a familiar voice cried from outside the door, "Daddy, wait!"

Frankie and Francesca busted into the office, panting profusely.

"Francesca!" Don Pianta exclaimed.

"Boss! Forgive me, Boss! I-I'm sorry! Truly, I am!" Frankie apologized.

"Frankie! So! Back you come, head hung low an' wit' your tail between your legs!"

"No, Daddy! Don't hurt him! I'm the one who said we should elope," Francesca pleaded. "It was me! But Frankie said no! He said we should come back and talk to you, Daddy!"

"Boss! Listen, I don't care what you do to me! I deserve it all for bein' disloyal! But you gotta forgive her. Forgive your daughter, Boss! Dat's all I ask," Frankie requested.

"No, Daddy! No! No! No! I'm the bad one. It's my fault! If you're going to punish anyone, punish me!"

Mario put his hands over his ears, not wanting to listen to Francesca and Frankie's arguing.

"No, Boss! It's all on me. It's my responsibility! All da blame, right here," Frankie said.

Francesca and Frankie resorted to crying, "Daddy!" "Boss!" over and over again.

Don Pianta finally had enough and took out his own shotgun, firing it at the ceiling. The gunshot silenced everyone immediately.

"BOTH OF YOU, SHUT UP!" Don Pianta yelled. "Francesca! My headstrong daughter... You used up your last favor long ago! An' you, Frankie! You were like a son to me! Dis is how you repay your debt to me? I feel such disappointment in you two, it's like a bullet shot in my chest."

Don Pianta reached for his shotgun again.

"You know what? I'm giving you five seconds to get outta my sight! Both of you! I don't care where! Just go! Even if it means gettin' married, do what you want!"

"Oh, Daddy!" Francesca shouted with glee.

"BOSS! NO!" Frankie yelled as Francesca grabbed his shirt collar. "YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO SAY THAT!"

"Goodbye, Daddy! And thank you for your blessing!"

Francesca dragged the frantic Frankie out of the office.

...

Meanwhile, Luigi sat on some barrels, waiting for his brother and Goombella to wrap up their business. Suddenly, he heard the office door fly open and saw Francesca pulling Frankie down the stairs.

"Oh yes! Now we can finally get married!" Francesca squealed.

"I didn't mean that kind of love!" Frankie cried. "You're going overboard wit' it!"

Luigi watched as the two made their way back to the harbor and looked back up at the open office door.

...

Mario uncovered his ears, relieved that the arguing was over.

"Very sorry 'bout dat," Don Pianta apologized, putting his shotgun away. "Where were we?"

"The blimp tickets, sir," Goombella answered.

"Oh, right. I have 'dem right here." Don Pianta took out three blue and white tickets and handed them to Mario.

"Thank you," Mario thanked Don Pianta.

"Who knew? Dat guy's got her smilin' ear to ear! She's...happy. Dat's good," Don Pianta said. "But don't ever come back here! You two hear me?"

Mario and Goombella left immediately without answering.

...

Back on the ground, Luigi noticed Mario and Goombella going downstairs with the blimp tickets.

"Did he write our names on them?" Luigi asked.

"No. But I'll make sure the conductor signs our tickets," Mario replied. Without further ado, he led Goombella and Luigi out of the alley and to the east. They stopped at the archway and looked down it. At the end was a light blue platform with four rods attached to it.

"Well, next stop, Glitzville," Mario said.

The group went down the archway toward the platform where a Cheep Cheep conductor stood next to it.

"This blimp goes to Glitzville. Will you be joining us on our flight today?" the conductor asked after Mario and friends arrived at the platform.

"Yes," Mario answered as he handed over the tickets. "How long's the flight?"

The conductor checked his watch on his right flipper. It was 3:30 PM. "We'll be leaving in 15 minutes. The flight lasts about three and a half hours."

"Okey-dokey."

The conductor ripped the tickets a small bit to admit the group into the blimp; he also wrote their names on the tickets per Mario's request.

Mario, Luigi, and Goombella stood on the platform, which raised them into a white gondola. The gondola, attached to a giant orange and yellow balloon, resembled a small airplane cabin with three rows of three seats.

Mario sat in the middle row's center seat, Luigi sat in the front row's left window seat, and Goombella sat in the front row's right window seat. Two pilots were already stationed in the cockpit, ready to launch the blimp.

Ten minutes later, the captain spoke over the intercom, "Attention, passengers. We're now departing Rogueport Station in transit to Glitzville Station. Our flight time will be three hours and 38 minutes, which places our ETA at 7:23 PM. Please fasten your seatbelts at this time."

Right as the group fastened their seatbelts, the pilots started the blimp's propellers, lifting the ship off the mooring masts.

With Mario and friends bound for Glitzville, they'll be in for some of the biggest and most competitive fights of their lives.