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Author's Note:

Sorry for the late update. I left home for some time and for whatever reason, this chapter didn't go through. I stayed with some family during the week and they didn't have wifi or a computer/laptop that their place so I had to wait until I get back home to post it.

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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 91:
Up in Flames

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"SHIT! Something tells me that wasn't part of the plan,"

Rocco was outside of the hideout to fill out step 3 of the plan with the POW block Luigi had given him. He did his part and watched as people ran out of the building minutes later, keeping an eye out for those Masrestler children while he did so.

What he wasn't expecting were the explosions and the Hideout catching fire after it. He ran back to the building, pushing past people who were running in the opposite direction of him. Some of them were caught in the blast, but they weren't so badly injured that they couldn't run.

As soon as he was back inside of the now flaming building, he headed straight for the basement. The further he went, the more severe the damage was. Supporting structures and debris had littered the floors and blocked several doorways. He was halfway to the basement when he found the Masrestler children digging their way through some of the wreckage.

"Oi, what are you kids doing?" He said once he reached them. Some of the children jumped at his sudden appearance and grew tense. "Can't you see the building's on fire; you have to get out of here,"

"But..." The pink one spoke. "Our friend, Ranbir, he's hurt and under the rubble,"

"What?"

He took a few steps closer and spotted another one, male with a black and white a mask trapped under the debris. His head was bleeding and he appeared to be unconscious. Not only that, the remaining support beams around him appeared to be unsteady and looked ready to collapse as well.

"Looks like he took a conked to the head." He mumbled. "I'll get him out of there; the rest of you need to escape while you still can,"

"We're not leaving here without him," The pink one said firmly. "Our people never leave one of our own,"

She looked at him quite fiercely, refusing to back down from her claim. Although they looked scared, the other children were still willing to stay and help their fallen friend. Rocco glanced over all of them before groaning in annoyance.

"Stubborn little buggers, aren't you?" Rocco grumbled. Another part of the building collapse and he cursed out loud. "Shit! Look, we don't have time to argue." He moved around them and held up one of the unsteady support beams.

"If you wanna help, it's fine by me," He grunted. "Just do as I say, yer hear?"

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"HEY... WAKE UP!"

Blue eyes flew wide open at the shout. At least, he thought he had opened his eye...All he could is darkness.

"Hey,"

He turned his head and jumped out of surprise. Kneeling next to him was a masked man familiar looking to himself. He had to blink twice before he could recognize the figure beside him.

"Mr. L...?"

His darker half smirked, "Long time no see..."

Luigi stumbled with his words. The last time he physically saw his darker personal was when he was in a coma. "Wha...What are you doing here?"

"I think the better question is...what are you doing here?" He said "Look, I don't mind the visit, but the situation could have been a hell of a lot better,"

"What...are you talking abo-?"

"You got knock out," L interrupted, standing up fully. "There was an explosion and it knocked you out. Thankfully, you're not dead yet. But if you don't actually wake up and haul ass in the next few seconds, then you most certainly will die."

"Shit," Luigi cursed under his breath as he stumbles to get back on his two feet.

"My thoughts exactly," Once the two were standing eye to eye, Mr. L placed both hands on his shoulders. "You're getting stronger Luigi, but you're still holding back… holding me back. For you to be the best Luigi you can be, you have to merge us completely."

"How do I do that?"

"I...am not sure," Mr. L said honestly. "But I know you will figure it out. So you remember your reasons?"

Luigi nodded. "Yes, I remember,"

"Atta boy! Now do us both a favor and WAKE UP!"

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Blue eyes were shoot opened again, this time to a world of orange, black, and grey. There was a dull ringing sound in his ears, but it slowly begins to fade as his senses became more and more clear. Pain rocked through his body and he became fully aware of the situation at hand.

A building fire caused by several unknown explosions. The entire room was engulfed in flames and with debris falling all over. It won't be long before the ceiling structure breaks down on top of them.

Gritting his teeth, Luigi pushed through the immense pain he was feeling right now and stumble back on his feet. He no longer had his ice power-up; it was lost during the explosion. He managed to use the stone wall behind him to help keep himself steady.

"So you survived,"

Luigi jumped slightly and turned his head to the side. It was the Doogan he froze before. The dog-like creature had a stream of blood flowing down his head and was holding on his left arm.

"Funny…I'm sure you took quite the beating before this; you must be pretty resilient…" The Doogan commented. "That's more than I could say for Scorpio."

The green man frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I meant what it's supposed to mean," The Doogan said. "If you want me to be clearer, then I suggest looking over there," He pointed towards a direction. "He had it coming; in this line of business, it's best not to mess with people with power unless you have the power to back up. In Scorpio's case, he didn't." His arm dropped and snapped his gaze back on Luigi. "But enough talk... The entire building is on fire and if we don't leave soon then it'll most likely collapse on top of us."

"I'm not leaving without my friends,"

The Doogan shrugged. "I haven't seen them but I doubt they've survived this…most of my men didn't."

"They're quite resilient," The plumber grinned slightly. "Maybe even more so than me,"

"Then you'll have to search for them on your own," The Doogan walked passes him, limping slightly as he did so. "Who knows… maybe one day, we'll meet each other again, preferably on friendlier terms."

Luigi didn't say anything to that. Instead, he focused his attention on finding his friends.

"Corporal! Sergeant!"

He managed to yell out their names before falling into a coughing fit. His chest was already throbbing from a possible rib injury; the smoke was just going to make things worse. Even so, he pushed himself through it.

"Corporal! Sergeant!" As he searched, he tried not to gaze upon the bloody and mangled bodies he came across through the rubble. But with so many around him, it was proving to be difficult.

"Corporal! Sergeant!"

"Kaff, kaff... Here..."

A small voice managed to rely on the sound of the raging fire. Luigi scanned the area until he eventually spotted the two just ahead of them. Both were injured as well but at least they were conscious. He stumbled towards them as quickly as he can.

"You two okay?" He asked, pushing aside the wooden planks on top of them.

"I'm fine besides from a headache and..." The Corporal trailed on.

"I think I broke my other wing," Paraplonk told him "But other than that..."

More of the burning wreckage fell just a few feet away from them. Luigi covered himself from damage as Paraplonk try to cough out the smoke in their lungs.

"We have to get out of here," The plumber said with urgency. "Can you either of you walk?"

"I can, but I don't think Guy can,"

The Shy Guy bowed his head. "I... cannot feel my legs,"

That was concerning but they couldn't think about it now. The fire was spreading, and the building was breaking down. Being the biggest one in the group, Luigi volunteered to carry the Shy Guy on his back. Once he got Segreant secured, they were quick to exit the basement area as heavy support beams fell on the ground.

Luigi and Paraplonk ran as fast as their legs could carry them as they made their way through the burning construction. Smoke and flames surrounding them from all corners, impairing their breathing and vision. After much running, they finally found an exit.

"Wait," Paraplonk ceased to a halt as he looked behind him. The plumber had stopped running and seemed to be distracted.

"Why did you stop? We're almost out of here,"

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Paraplonk frowned. "All I hear is the building coming down on our heads,"

The green man didn't say anything. Instead, he kneeled beside him and started passing Guy onto him. "Take Sergeant and get out of here,"

"Uh?" Paraplonk was puzzled. He took the Sergeant as best as he could before he looked up to see the plumber already running in a different direction. "Wait, where are you going?"

"Someone's calling for help," The green man shouted back. "I'm going to help them,"

"Hold on, wait...!" Paraplonk called out but the plumber was too far away to hear him now. The dry coughing behind his ear reminded him of his disabled companion. He cursed and headed towards the exit.

"Is he...going to be okay?" Guy coughed.

"I hope so," Paraplonk said. "If not, Lady Wendy is going to have our heads,"

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He swore he heard someone in this direction, but as each second passes by he was beginning to think it was already too late. He searched the hall as best as he could. Each room he checked was worse than the last as the further he went, the worse was the smoke and fire was. He was about to give up when he finally heard it again.

"Please... someone, please... help me..."

Under the roar of the flames, the voice was muffled, and Luigi almost didn't pick it up. Fortunately, he did. He stopped in his track and turned to the room it came from. He knocked down the door with a single kick and quickly covered himself from the smoke.

He was in the restroom. The ceiling had completely collapsed and littered around the tiled floor. It had taken him several glances around before he could make out the body underneath all that debris.

He was quick to act. He started removing the rubble as best he could, burning his hands as he did so. Once the load has lessened, he pulled the body out from under the remaining wreckage.

"Are you all right?" He asked, looking the body over, fearing that he may have been too late.

The figure appeared to be a Pinata, but not like the ones seen on Isle Delfino. This one was shorter, more humanoid and had a very androgynous appearance. The Pinata had a pale green skin tone, a small nose, and plump lips. There was a white flower with heart-shaped petals covering half their face and a yellow eye in the center. Its clothes, now burnt and torn, consisted of a black dress shirt, a grass skirt, and a dark green mask.

"...hmm..." It moaned. It wasn't conscious, but it was still alive. That was enough for the plumber to let out a sigh of relief.

But his relief was very short lived. Just outside the room, the hallway ceiling had started to collapse into itself.

"No!" He screamed out, but it was already too late. Fear ran through his veins as the sudden realization hit him – he was trapped in the restroom of a burning building, with no way of getting out.

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"Hey, hey, hey, take it easy! Can't you see that he's hurt?"

"Sorry, but gentle isn't my strong suit," Rocco huffed as he placed Sergeant Guy in the back of a truck.

After escorting all eight of the Masrestler Children out of the building, he located a storage truck to stuff them all in, away from the view of the terrified folk. Once he was sure they were out of sight, he ran back to the building only to find the Parakoopa making his way out with the Shy Guy on his back.

"It's okay," Guy said. "I can't really feel anything anyways,"

Rocco raised a curious brow but said nothing as he placed him in the back with the Children. He wasn't a doctor, but he knew everyone here needed some sort of medical attention, especially these two.

"Where's Luigi?" Rocco glanced up at one of the Masrestlers; the one wearing pink.

The blond man glanced over to the other two. He hadn't seen the green hated man with them, so perhaps they know of his whereabouts.

He watched as the two shared a glance before casing their head down in sorrow. Rocco stared at them for a moment longer before glancing over to the Hideout. The building was almost completely engulfed in flames; there was no way anyone could make it out of there alive now.

"Is Luigi gonna be okay?" The pink one asked, her voice coated with worry.

Rocco glanced back at the other two, hoping they would jump in and answer her question. Unfortunately, they remained silent, their heads still case down. He sighed heavily, scratching the back of his head.

"Uh...listen, Kid..." He started, digging through his pocket and placing a cigarette in his mouth. "I, uh, hate to tell ya this... I really do, but... I don't think anyone's going to make it out of that...alive that is,"

The girl whimpered as tears began to form around her blue eyes. Rocco walked away; he wasn't the emotional type; he didn't like getting caught up in all the waterworks. He pulled out his lighter to his cigarette and tried to ignite a flame. Unfortunately for him, he still had the old lighter as he had yet to buy a new one.

Another explosion bought him to bring his glance up. He watched as the entire top floor of the building started to collapse onto itself. The crowd of rich folks on the other side of the building started screaming frantically again. He couldn't hear everything on what they were saying but he did hear something of it, enough to make him curious.

He gave up on the lighter for now and started running back towards the crowd was, ignoring the others' scream for him.

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The explosion upsurged the flames around it and discharged fragments of debris into the air, including a body donned with a green hat. The plumber landed on the ground awkwardly and painfully, letting out a groan as soon as he hits the ground, rolling a couple of times before he finally came to a halt.

He let a half painful moan, a half sigh of relief as the invulnerable of the Super Star power-up began to fade away. He lay there for a short time, for once relishing the agonizing pain he felt in his body as it was a great indicator that he was indeed still alive. Once his minute was up, he forced himself to sit up and checked on the Pianta he rescued. He gathered the plant-like creature into his arms and checked to see if it was injured any further.

"Hey, are you okay?"

The plant creature moaned as it started to wake up. Its eyes opened slowly; revealing them to be big, dark, and beady. They were foggy and unclear, needing to blink a few times before it can get a clear sight of the mustached man before it.

"Y-You..." it spoke; voice sounding hoarse from all the smoke. "Y-You save me..."

The green man nodded. "Don't worry; you're safe now,"

"...T-Thank you,"

The Pianta managed to smile before losing conscious again. Falling into a bit of a panic, Luigi quickly checked for a sign of life. He sighed in relief when he found that the Pianta was still breathing.

"Hey, are you two all right?"

Luigi looked up to see a squirrel-like creature wearing a lab coat was running towards them. As soon as she reached them, she dropped down to her knees, dragging a large box medical box with her.

"Don't worry, I'm a medical expert. I'll have her looked over," She stated. She was quick to start working; already taking vital signs, applying ointment, and wrapping bandages around the Pianta's cuts and burns.

"Some of her injuries are severe," She informed him. "But none of it is life-threatening; she should be fine once she gets to a hospital,"

"Thanks," Luigi smiled in gratitude. He was glad the Pianta was going to be all right. He was also surprised by how young the squirrel physician looked. If he were to guess, he'll say she could be in her late teens or early twenties. He was so focused for the Pianta that he failed to notice someone approaching from behind.

"So you're alive after all,"

A familiar rough accented voice caught the plumber's attention. He turned around to his temporary ally standing right behind him. "Rocco..."

The dark blond man was standing close to a small burning piece of debris. He kneeled down and lit his cigarette with the flame. He stood back up with the cigarette to his mouth and took a deep breath.

"Come on," He said with a smoky breath. "The others are waiting for us,"

"The others..." The plumber blinked before nodding slowly. "Right, ok,"

Using what bit of strength he had left, he pushed himself to stand on his feet one more time. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough as his knee buckled underneath him. But instead of hitting the cold hard sand, he fell into the arms of a warm firm body.

"I got ya," Rocco offered as he helped him to stand on his feet.

Luigi nodded in appreciation. "Thanks,"

The taller man adjusted his hold on the plumber. He placed his arm was around his shoulder and hold on to his side. Once he had a good hold on him, he started to half carry the green man back to where the others were.

"Hey wait," The squirrel physician called out. "I have to look you over as well,"

"Sorry, but no time," Rocco said over his shoulder. The fire was large; probably large enough to be seen in Deserto Rosa which was only a couple miles away. He also noticed some of the people in the crowd were talking on their mobile phones. Judging by how frantic they sounded, it was only a manner of time before the police show up... or worse, the national guards.

"Don't wanna be around when the Fuzz shows up," He glanced behind his shoulder. "If I was you, I won't stick around either," He knew she wasn't a real medical physician, at least not a legal one.

"I'll be fine," Luigi said over his shoulder, "Just look after him,"

The young physician frowned, but did nothing more as she watched them walk/limp away.

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Ending Note:

I'm having a bit of a writer's block right now so the next chapter might be late (again).

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