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Author's Note:
Hey everyone, long time no see. I have very good, happy news - I'm officially with clinical and I have graduated with the program. Now, all I have to do is study and pass the state board test then I'll be license to work in my field of study.
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Disclaimer: This following FanFiction story is a fan-based parody. "Mario" and all of its respectable characters are all owned by Nintendo and created by video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Please enjoy; favorite and review whenever you want.
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Chapter 88:
Undercover
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The hallways were completely deserted when mystery blond guy pecked his head through the door again. He gestured Luigi and his friends to follow as they quickly made their way through the building.
Luigi wasn't completely sure on whether or not they should trust this strange blond man. He may have released them from their binds, but it could very well be part of his plan to lead them into a sense of false security. However, with no other options available at the moment, they had no choice but to trust this stranger – for now any ways.
He let him take lead, since he seemed to know his way around the building. Upon reaching every corner, the strange man would check to see if the coast was clear before continuing on. It didn't take them long before they came across a room.
The door was unlocked and the blond peaked inside before gesturing them to come in. Luigi was a little wary at first, but followed the motion. Once everyone was inside, he closed it behind them and locked the door.
"What is this place?" Luigi asked.
"The Boss' Room," Blond guy answered. "It's where Scorpio usually stays. Don't worry, he won't be coming in anytime soon, but I suggest we don't stay for long,"
"Hey look!" Sergeant Guy yelled out. "I found our stuffs,"
Having his wand and his power-ups back in his possession gave Luigi a small sense of reassurance. He turned back to the other man who was approaching them with a pile of clothes.
"Here, put these on," He said, dropping the pile onto the floor. "Everyone here is wearing some sort of disguise so it'll be easier for us to blend in with them."
"Great; time to go undercover," Paraplonk commented
The three sorted through the pile of clothes. Not all the garments were clean, but they were better than their torn ruined ones. After picking out a few apparels, Luigi move over to a broken mirror placed on one side of the room. He removed his shirts and winced when he got a look at his injuries. As he suspected, his chest was turning black and blue from all the bruises he got. He ran his hand gently over some of them, flinching every so often when he comes across a sensitive one.
"That looks painful,"
Luigi turned his head to the other man. He was currently in the process of lighting a cigarette in his mouth.
"Yeah, well…this tends to happen when people take pleasure in torturing others for information,"
The man shrugged as his cigarette finally lights up. "Just the way things work around here,"
"Talking from experiences?"
"No," He answered bluntly, blowing out the smoke. "But I've been working around these types of Lags to know what they're like,"
"If you don't like what you do then why don't you just quit?"
"Who say I was with them to begin with?"
Luigi frowned. "But don't you work with them?"
"No…I mean… yeah, I was working with them but it was only temporary. All my jobs are. A rolling stone like me got to make money somehow."
"I guess," The plumber shrugged.
The man rolled his eyes. "Look, just be happy I'm helping you out. I didn't free you so you can judge me."
Luigi raised his hands in defense. "No, no, I wasn't doing anything like that." He said in apologetic tone. "It's just that…I wasn't quite sure where you stand,"
The blond remained silence at the remark, breathing in his cigarette before blowing it out. A sudden grumble causes them both to jump in alert. Turning, they saw Sergeant Guy sitting on the floor, rubbing his belly in discomfort.
"Sorry," He said. "Didn't get a chance to eat all day,"
The man sighed and points in a direction. "There a mini fridge over there; might be some food in it,"
Sergeant jumped to his feet and ran over to the fridge with Paraplonk right behind him. The two fought to get to the mini-fridge first; climbing on top of each other when it was finally opens. The green man sighed and continues to change his clothes, replacing his base layer yellow t-shirt for a gray sleeveless one and his long sleeve green shirt with a black one. He decided to keep his pants but replaced his jacket with a short trench coat.
Once he was done changing, he walked over to the fridge where the others were. There weren't any food but there was plenty of water, shakes and other beverages. Luigi pocketed a few Shroom Shakes for later before opening one for himself.
He down half the can in one go, sighing in relief as some of the pain he felt starts to fade away. He finished it and tossed away the empty can before grabbing another one. Opening it, he glanced back at the blond man who was silently glaring at the door.
"You never told us your name," Luigi said.
The man tore his gaze from the door to look at the plumber before him. "Does it matter? Not like we're gonna meet up again after this,"
The green hated man shrugged. "Doesn't hurt to know,"
The blond man hesitated for a bit before deciding to go with it. "I go by Rocco around here,"
The green man smiled, "Nice to meet ya, Rocco; my name is Luigi."
"Charmed," He said, glancing at the two by the fridge before turning back at the door. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but last I check, there weren't any normal Parakoopa or Shy Guys in the audience."
The green man frowned. "We'll think of something,"
"Well, do it quick." Rocco said, tossing away the remainder of his cigarette in the corner. "We have to finish up here; we don't wanna be in here in case someone decides to show up,"
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X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X
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The hallways were clear still when Rocco stepped out of the Boss room. Once he confirmed it, the others came out behind him. Luigi was the first one to step out; He kept his hood low and wore a half face lower mask that sits high on his face and low on his neck.
A hooded figure cautiously stepped out after him, wearing a conspicuous trench coat, a fedora hat, green shoes, and a Shy guy mask. Rocco gave the figure a doubtful look before turning to the green plumber.
"This isn't going to work," He told him a low voice.
Luigi shrugged. "You have any better ideas? If not, then this is the best we can come up with.
"This isn't a little kids' show; people will see through this half arse paper thin disguise."
"That's if they can see at all," Luigi agrues. "As long as they keep their distance and stick to the shallows, they should be alright,"
"Fine," Rocco groaned in annoyance before turning. "Come on,"
He gestured them to follow behind him with the hooded figure in the middle and Luigi walking behind him. As they make their way through the halls, Rocco informs them on what they need to know.
"The auction show is being held in the basement." He said in a low voice. "I'm pretty sure the kids are being held there, with the other slaves."
"Other slaves?" Luigi questioned.
The blond man nodded. "Since Scorpio announced the show, he has brought in some other slaves in hopes to increase his profit. Don't ask me how many, I wasn't paying attention."
The green man frowned. If there were other people imprison here, then they'll need to rescue them too, not just the children.
"YOU HERE, STOP!"
The three pause and turn around. Two Boom Booms had spotted them down the hall. Luigi grew tensed; he recognized the two as the ones who tortured him. As the others grew nervous, worried that they were about to be discovered, Rocco stepped in between them and the approaching Boom Booms.
"Relax…or else you'll blow our cover," Rocco whispered harshly. "Let me handle this,"
"What are you doing here? No one is allowed on this floor." Says one of the Boom Booms
Rocco snarled, "Well, next time don't serve such shitty beer. We were in so much of a hurry to find the bathroom we didn't even notice where we were going."
The Boom Booms shared a distrustful look with each other. "And you guys are?"
"Auction attendances of course,"
"Any proof?"
Rocco made a growling noise underneath his mask. "Idiots, do you think we would be here if we didn't have this with us."
Rocco pulled out his bag and revealed all the coins he had earned from the job – his ticket to attend the auction. Both Boom Booms shared a wary look before bowing their heads in apology. "We're sorry, sir. Someone should have been with you to show you around. We'll escort you back with the others,"
"Hmph, this auction better be worth my time. Come on you two,"
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Scorpio was quite pleases with how his auction show was going. Weapons were easy enough to sell out themselves; slaves, on the other hand, require a bit of talk to get people into a buying mood. So far, they managed to sell the Pi'illos and Bubblainians they had brought in for a couple thousand. It wasn't as much as he as he would like but hopefully Doogma can make the Pi'illos and the Volbonans seem more interesting.
He glanced back at the audience, taking note of their reactions. While some were listening to the auction with some interest, others had completely lost their and were talking among themselves. He scowled; this isn't good. They may have to pick up the pace towards the main event.
He flashed Doogma a signal to pick things up. The Doogan nodded in understanding and ordered some men to quickly bring in the next group of slaves. His attention was then drawn to the three men just entering inside the room. He didn't recall seeing these three before but then again, they weren't the first ones to leave room.
He hummed to himself before standing up from his webbing seat he had made in the corner of the room. Perhaps it was time, he interact with his clients.
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The basement was full of people when Luigi and the others made it there. Several tiki torches were place around but for the most part, much of the lightning came from the overhead lights pointing at the stage. As the three walked in further, Luigi leans to the side of the hooded figure and asks,
"Paraplonk, how are you holding up?"
The hooded figure's trench coat opens in the middle where Paraplonk's eyes became visible. "I'm fine. But for a Shy Guy, he's heavier than he looks,"
"Hey," Sergeant Guy whined.
"Cover back up," Rocco scowled. "The last thing we need is for you to be seen,"
"Sorry," Paraplonk mumbles as he closes the middle of the trench coat.
"Can we at least pretend that we know what we're doing?" Rocco sighed heavily. As a waiter pass by, he grabs three bottles of cold beer from a bucket full of ice and hands them to the other two. "Here, have some beer and act like we're actually considering buying something,"
Rocco lead them to a corner in the room, just isolated enough so they could talk without anyone hearing them. Luigi lowered his face mask and took a sip of the beer. He winced when the taste of it touch his tongue, forcing himself to swallow it.
"This beer is awful,"
"Yeah, but it gets the job done," Rocco commented as he downs at least half his bottle with ease before letting out a sigh. "You get used to it after a couple tries,"
The green man frowned and glanced back at his bottle. He took a quick breath before drinking from it again. He managed to take a few gulps before gasping for air. It was easier, but still very much disgusting.
"Toadson, can we please leave? This place is so dreadful,"
"Uh?" The plumber's attention was drawn to the Toad couple standing not too far from where they were. The female toad was wearing an expensive fur red dresses, luxurious jewelry, and a small red mask to match. Her male companion wore an equally expensive grey suit and a black mask.
"But Toodles my dear, we have yet to see the main event," Her companion said. "And besides, won't you like a slave or two to clean around the house?"
"If I wanted someone to clean the house for me, I would have hired someone to do it." She argued.
As the two continued their conservation, Luigi tries to recall where he recognized the names. Toodles was a well-known actress now gold digger around the Mushroom Kingdom. Every time she appeared on TV, she had her arms wrapped around someone new and (most importantly) rich. Last time he had heard of her, she was currently dating Toadson Spore, the CEO of Spores Bank - one of the biggest banks in the entire Mushroom Kingdom.
"What is the CEO of Spores Bank doing in a place like this?" He didn't realize he had ask that question out-loud until Rocco answered him.
"Probably for the same reason the rest of these rich Nobs are here for,"
"Don't any of them realize that if they're ever found out, they could all go to prison?"
Rocco snorted. "They don't care. These are the type of people that keeps this sort of business booming… Even if they are caught, it isn't going to stop them from coming back."
"But it's illegal…"
"Doesn't matter…the worse that will happen to them is probably some media attention, a couple of fines, and some time in jail. After that, they're be back picking up from where they left off." Rocco downed the rest of his beer in one go, tossing his bottle away without much of a care. "With money comes power, and these people have a lot of it. They know how to keep their dirty little secret hidden. And if it ever does come out into the open, they know how to get out with as minimum punishment as possible."
"It happens all the time," Paraplonk spoke hopping his head out of the trench coat. "And it isn't just with corporations…this sort of influence extends towards law enforcement, labor unions, and even politicians."
"That's probably the worse of all," Luigi commented darkly. But Rocco shock his head.
"No, I'll say the worse will be if a monarch was involved. But who knows – maybe there is one in the higher ups."
"Higher ups?"
The blond man nodded. "The Underground Network is kind of a mix between a business and a monarchy controlled by the Four Black Emperors. Don't ask me who they are because no one knows who nor what they look like. All I do know is they have the highest rank and therefore, the most influence of the market."
"And what about Scoprio?" Luigi asked, his eyes on the stage as Pi'illos were auctioned off. "What's his 'rank' in all this?"
"Mob Boss Major; a low rank really but better than a Mob Boss Minor,"
"What's the difference between them?" Sergeant Guy asked.
"More money and a bit more respect, basically. It's when you earn the title Crime Lord is when you really start getting notice."
"Crime Lord or not, we have to do something before this is all over," Luigi proclaimed, referring to the auction show. He never knew much about the Underground Network other than what the princess had took him. But the more he was becoming aware, he was being to realize just how vast and dangerous the Underground Network was.
"I surely hope so. Otherwise it will be a waste for you to come all this way here,"
The green man jumped and quickly turned around as the others around grew tense. There in front of him was the Mob Boss Major himself, Scorpio.
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Ending Note:
I'm currently working on the next chapter; however, process has been really very slow. I would sit in front of the computer for a few hours only to come up with less than 500 words. Nevertheless, I'll work on it on my off study time and will post it up as soon as it's ready.
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