Cascore's Note: Well, I got just a little carried away with this chapter. It turned out that it was going to be quite a bit longer than I originally expected, so I've decided to split it up into two parts. I pretty much took a detour from our main characters for a while to focus on a pair of antagonists (who you can probably guess just by reading the title) and got so wrapped up in their back story that I've made it into an entire two-part mini-story altogether... So yeah. Sorry if you dislike these two characters, but I do attempt to answer how they meet in the first place, and I've decided to have them appear in future installments that share the same core title as this one ("Super Miscreant Brothers Act *number*). It might be fun as a small series of misadventures that weave into the main story from time to time that star a duo that I personally love to write about.
But anyway, enough of my ranting. Please read the chapter and I do hope you enjoy it.
Chapter 9: "Super Miscreant Brothers Act One: Partners in Crime"
Finally, after two days of pleading to her father, Peach was allowed to travel home by foot at last. It was so embarrassing having to climb into that incredibly conspicuous black limo those past two days, especially considering the fact that there was a Toad escort in a black tuxedo and shades standing right next to it just waiting for her to appear. And both times she approached, she had to quickly shush the Toad up, for it was apparently chiseled into his brain that every time he addressed Peach, he had to tag on the title "Princess".
"We can't let people know that I'm the princess," she whispered both times, though nearby students seemed to think that "Princess" was a joking title to go along with Peach's blatant display of her apparent high position in society. And unfortunately for Peach, some of these students simply had to address the scene that played out before them.
"Well hurry along 'Princess', we don't want to be late for tea time," one student snarkily teased on Peach's first day of school, causing her to blush intensely as she reluctantly climbed into the back seat of the limo.
What was her father thinking, making her ride home in such a vehicle right in front of so many other people who either walked, took regular cars, or rode those big yellow buses. Peach knew that the limo would draw unwanted and unneeded attention to herself, but King Toadstool seemed completely oblivious as to why his daughter was so upset with the service.
"But you love limousines Peach," her father responded, shocked that his daughter was actually opposed to the idea of being driven home in one. "I don't understand why you're so upset."
"Because Father, limousines aren't everyday vehicles to travel in," Peach explained with a sigh, lingering on the thought of the rude comment made to her earlier that day. "It's just not normal to be taken to and from school in them."
"Peach, you're not just a normal girl," King Toadstool began with a rather soft voice. "You're the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom. You only deserve the best in life...though you did choose to go to a commoner's school."
"They're not commoners Father," Peach retorted, expressing a hatred for the word. "They're people, just like you and me. Just because they don't live in a castle or have money to spend on luxuries like limousines to take them to and from school doesn't mean they're not living beings."
"I'm sorry Peach, I forgot you dislike the word," Toadstool apologized, though remorselessly. "But that won't stop me from sending an escort to bring you home. I want to ensure your safe passage and the only vehicle worthy of transporting you is a limousine. Nothing else will do."
"Then let me walk," Peach suggested quickly, making her father raise both eyebrows in disbelief. "If I can't take a more subtle car home, then I want to walk."
"Nonsense," King Toadstool denied immediately. "I've already allowed you to attend a...public school," he chose his words carefully, "And now you wish to walk home on your own? This must be that rebellious stage in life I've been told about. I'd never expected such behavior from you though. But regardless, I won't bend my will yet again. You will continue to be escorted home in a limousine; no ifs, ands, or buts about it."
It was obvious her father wouldn't budge on the subject, much to Peach's displeasure. And despite her further attempts throughout the rest of the day, he would hear no more on the subject.
However, she did have a plan that she would initiate the following day. A plan that never once failed in all fourteen years of her life.
King Toadstool was by no means a heartless father, despite the fact he was quick to turn down Peach's request. It was his nature to be strict and to keep a close eye on his daughter, but, of course, there was one flaw in the his otherwise solid personality; the same flaw that most parents that honestly cared about their children possessed.
After returning home from school the next day, Peach didn't even speak to her father upon entering the castle, walking right past him but ensuring that he noticed a tear rolling down her cheek as she sniffled and made her way upstairs and directly to her room. That was all Peach had to do to set the bait and completely tear down her father's defenses. As he watched her go, completely astounded by her behavior, the Toad escort charged with bringing her back in the limo walked up to the king's side.
"The princess was very distraught when she boarded the limousine Your Highness," the escort informed as the king continued to look forward, though he was listening. "She seemed to be keeping herself from crying the entire way back."
Peach would have thanked the Toad for throwing in that little tidbit; it only added to the effect it had on King Toadstool as he let out a small inward sigh shortly after the escort departed. How could he possibly sit there and just observe as his daughter appeared to be so distressed? She was his little girl, despite the technical fact she was fourteen and therefore blossoming into a young woman. The truth was, no matter how old she grew, she would ALWAYS be his little girl. And as such, she would always have this godforsaken power of persuasion that only a child could muster from their parents. Not wanting to see his daughter cry though, it was immediately decided that he would go up to her room, see what it was that distressed her, and do whatever he could to alleviate the problem.
The rest, as they say, was history.
"He asked me what was wrong, I told him that kids were picking on me for riding in limos all the time, and eventually I was able to make him believe that walking was a fine way for me to get back home," Peach explained happily to an amused Daisy as they walked down the sunny streets of Toad Town with no particular destination in mind just yet.
"Man Peach, I didn't know you could be so cunning," Daisy complimented, making Peach chuckle slightly.
"Well everything I told him were facts anyway," Peach confirmed as she recalled her reasons from the previous day. "I was being picked on, the castle's not that terribly far from school, and walking is healthier for me, not to mention a great way to look around the city firsthand. I just had to make myself cry so he'd listen. You don't think it's wrong that I sort of tricked him into letting me walk though do you?"
"No way. It's a lot better than what I had to do to my dad when I convinced him to let me go to public school," Daisy commented. "So do you think you'll be allowed to walk like this every day?"
"I hope so," Peach responded, clasping her hands behind her back as she looked at her surroundings. "It's so rare I get to go about the town without a guardian breathing down my neck. It's so much more fun and relaxing to just walk with a friend."
Daisy smiled warmly at this comment as she began to look around as well. The pair found themselves walking down a road with no sidewalks and a rather narrow street. Fortunately, the neighborhood seemed rather desolate; neither girl had spotted a single car for quite some time. As a matter of fact, they'd not even seen other people for a while either.
The neighborhood felt barren. The houses were worn down, most of the grass resting in yards was dead, and, no matter how hard they looked, not a soul was in sight. Wondering exactly where they'd managed to stumble into, Daisy inspected a nearby street sign and read a name that she remembered hearing on the news last night.
"Prospect Avenue," Daisy muttered to herself, attracting Peach's attention.
"It certainly is a run down neighborhood by the look of things..." Peach observed, rather awestricken that neighborhoods such as this existed in the town. Having never seen any part of the city aside from areas near the castle, Peach assumed that all of Toad Town was virtually the same; a prosperous community with well-to-do families and nice housing everywhere. That certainly could not be said about this street however.
"This is where Toad's girlfriend was attacked last night," Daisy informed, causing Peach's eyes to grow wide as she cupped her hands over her mouth.
"Really?" she asked, prompting a nod from Daisy, who was looking to see if she could recognize the spot where the newscast had taken place. "Oh my... I can't believe I haven't heard about this. It doesn't happen very often, but every crime that is committed is reported to my father immediately, and he always informs me about what happened. Even so, why wouldn't Toad say anything about it? He seemed completely fine today. Is he worried at all?"
"Toad's taking it really well," Daisy said, giving up her search and simply settling to look over at her friend, who appeared to have sorrowful eyes as she listened. "He wasn't all that great last night, but we did find out that his girlfriend's going to be okay and that she should be awake from her coma by the weekend. That's probably what he's focusing on right now."
"Goodness...a coma...?" Peach mumbled, lowering her gaze to the ground for a moment, allowing a few small seconds of silence to pass before looking upward once again. "What happened exactly?"
Daisy slightly refrained from telling Peach right off the bat. She didn't like to think about the crime herself and it would certainly bear down on Peach for a time to come as well. Figuring the girl had a thirst for knowledge after having the information withheld from her though, Daisy decided she may as well tell her the truth.
"Well...she was raped," Daisy answered uneasily, causing Peach to gasp as she placed her hands over her mouth once again.
"Who would do such a thing?" Peach asked after a couple seconds, lowering her hands from her mouth slowly.
"An eye witness says he saw a male and a female Toad chasing her, and they were both adults," Daisy informed, now leaning against the street signs and silently observing that the entire street was still completely empty. "And Toad says that it had to be her parents that did it. They're the only suspects, and it doesn't sound like they'll last long before being put in jail."
"Gosh..." Peach muttered quietly, looking down at the grey road once again. She now allowed a long moment of silence to pass, going ten seconds before coming to a realization. "It's so much different when a crime affects someone you know personally," she admitted, looking off in the direction of the castle, which could be seen quite a distance away. "And seeing the town for how it really is...just walking through it on my own...it makes me want to do something." She then looked back up the road, at the worn down, empty neighborhood. "I want to be able to help."
"Good," Daisy said with a smile, giving Peach a confident pat on the shoulder and drawing her attention. "Then that makes us both ready to step up and become the new queens. You know, whenever that day comes. And to think our dads thought that letting us go to a public school was a bad idea."
"It's certainly opened my eyes up to the world much more than being confined to the castle has," Peach agreed as she looked up the street once again. Still, there was absolutely nothing in sight.
It seemed like the more time that passed by without any activity on the street, the more Peach was urged to demand that her father do something to help the poor neighborhood get back on its feet. Before she could come up with a proper approach for the proposition though, Daisy's cell phone was heard ringing from inside one of her front pockets. Digging into her pocket to extract the phone, she gazed at the caller ID and obtained a pleasantly surprised look on her face.
"Wow, I didn't expect Luigi to actually call so soon after I gave him my number," Daisy commented with a smile, referring to an instance during lunch earlier in the day:
Luigi once again launched a soccer ball towards Daisy's and Peach's table, but, fortunately, this time the sphere didn't make contact with anyone. Once Luigi ran over to retrieve the ball while tossing a friendly greeting to the two girls, Daisy caught him completely off guard by asking to exchange phone numbers. Wavering for a moment before remembering the talk he and Daisy had the previous night, Luigi gave in and decided to input his number into her phone while she put hers into his. It was truly surprising that Luigi would be the first to utilize the number though, considering his slight reluctance to give it in the first place.
Flipping the phone open and holding it up to her ear, Daisy was stopped from making a greeting as she heard Luigi say something on the other end, apparently unknowing that Daisy could now hear him.
"If it rings one more time I'm hanging- ...Wait, it stopped," Luigi said from the other end of the line, causing Daisy to smile and force herself to restrain from chuckling.
"Well say something to her," Daisy could hear Mario say in the background.
"I don't know if she's there though... Um...hello?" Luigi finally managed to say, speaking directly into the phone for the first time since Daisy answered.
"Hey Luigi!" Daisy responded energetically, figuring he was still a bit nervous about talking to her.
"Oh, um, hey Daisy," Luigi stuttered, attempting to recover from his earlier babbling. "Are you up to anything right now?"
"Not really," Daisy answered, looking over at Peach with a smile. "Peach and I are just walking around right now."
"Oh, Peach is with you?" Luigi asked, no doubt sparking the interest of his nearby brother. "That's perfect. Mario and I are at the park on the tennis courts; we just finished setting it up. So I was just thinking I should give you a call to see if you wanted to come play a few games with us. And Peach can come too if she wants."
"Sounds good to me," Daisy responded. "Hold on a sec, I'll see if Peach wants to come." Holding the phone against her shoulder to disallow their voices to be heard by Luigi, Daisy inspected Peach's quizzical look. "Luigi just asked if we wanted to go to the park and play tennis with him."
Peach appeared to think before a moment before gazing off towards the castle in the distance. "I don't know. I should probably head home. Father might begin to worry."
"You sure?" Daisy persisted. "Mario's there too. We could play a few doubles games. It'd be fun."
At the mention of Mario's name, Peach immediately looked back at Daisy, unconsciously widening her eyes ever so slightly, a dead giveaway of her excitement at the thought of seeing the brother in red.
"Well...I suppose it would be okay," Peach answered. "I would feel bad unless I let Father know first though... Could we stop by and tell him before we go to the park? It's not terribly far from the castle."
"Sure thing," Daisy responded with a smile before lifting the phone back to her ear happily as Peach looked off towards the castle once again. "Hey Luigi?"
"I'm here," Luigi returned, assuring he was still paying close attention to the phone.
"Peach and I will be there in about an hour tops, okay?" Daisy informed vaguely. "We have to stop somewhere first. Think you can wait around that long?"
"Sure," Luigi responded. "There's still a lot to work on out here anyway. We can pass the time."
"Alright, see you then," Daisy affirmed, prompting a "Bye." from Luigi just before closing her cell phone, thus ending the conversation. Tucking the phone away into her pocket, Daisy looked over at Peach with a smile. "Well, let's get going. This'll be good practice for Sports Day this weekend."
Peach simply nodded in response as she walked alongside Daisy, headed back through town towards the castle resting on the far end roughly a mile and a half away. Thankfully the park was only a ten minute walk from the castle, a thought both girls kept in mind as they headed off.
Little did they know that the street they lingered about on wasn't quite as empty as it appeared to be. Without the notice of the two princesses, a pair of teenage boys, both the age of sixteen, stood watch nearby, cleverly hidden behind the one decently sized, healthy bush on the street.
One of the boys was a short, rather grotesquely overweight young man who wore a blue jean jacket with ripped off sleeves over a long-sleeved blue shirt. Atop his head was a leather helmet with a light blue "W" stitched on the front and had a pair of goggles attached to it and his rather tight jeans were a light shade of purple. A pair of yellow gloves that cut off halfway up his fingers finished off his ensemble.
The much taller, much skinnier and lankier boy standing next to him sported a simpler outfit, choosing a purple turtleneck and a pair of black pants, simple white gloves to cover his hands and a purple hat with a yellow inverted "L" stitched into a white circle resting on his head.
Despite the fact the boys weren't actual brothers, their facial features looked strikingly similar: they both had large eyebrows and wore blue mascara on the sides of their eyes (nobody knew why), and both were beginning to refine their mustaches, shaping them into two "W"'s and to slightly extended "L"'s respectively. They both had harsh eyes, long, slightly pink noses protruding from the center of their faces, and their mouths were quite large, a feature that became apparent once they laughed, which they did often. As a matter of fact, they were doing it right then.
"Queens huh?" the shorter of the two muttered with a hideous laugh as he stood up straight, barely emerging his head above the top of the bush.
"That brunette girl did call the blond one 'Peach'," the taller boy observed as he stood himself, extending a full two feet about the bush, easily dwarfing the boy as his side. "And Peach is the name of the princess."
"How do you know that?" the short one asked, recalling the fact that the princess was only ever called "Princess Toadstool" in public. People didn't even know the king's first name, for it was never uttered outside of the castle. The tall boy responded with a toothy smile as he stroked his mustache.
"I have my ways," he answered before looking off down the road. By now, the girls had disappeared, and they were truly alone. "Wish we could have heard the brunette girl's name, but we know her friend is the princess. And you know what that means," he said with a sly glance as his shorter companion chuckled mischievously while slowly shaking his head.
"No." The tall one smacked the short one in the back of the head swiftly, though the fat one didn't seem to recoil from the impact at all.
"It means she has to be loaded," the tall one explained with a grumble, making the short boy suddenly smile with a greedy brightness. "If we could snag the princess's purse, I bet there'd be tons of cash and valuable stuff inside."
The pudgier of the pair seemed to drift off to a fantasy land as he thought about just what valuable items could be found in a princess's purse and evaluated how much said items could be worth.
A tube of lipstick that was made with solid gold? Five hundred coins easy!
A piece of jewelry she stowed away for a while for safe keeping? Eight hundred right there!
And who knew what was in her actual coin purse. Hundreds, probably thousands of flat out coins. Sitting. Waiting. Begging to be stolen and spent on that motorcycle the boy had his eye on for quite some time. Sure, he already had a scooter, by that wasn't nearly as manly or speedy enough for his tastes.
The motorcycle in question was yellow with patterns of red flames painted across it, a perfect example of manliness in its prime. It was bulky, it was loud, and it was a ten thousand coin purchase. A staggering price for a high school dropout with no job and a family that wasn't anywhere near willing enough to shed such coinage on their delinquent of a son. And they made it known that they weren't shelling out that kind of cash as soon as the boy showed interest in the bike.
"You're not getting that motorcycle Wario," his father would say after Wario pointed it out. "You should be lucky you have a scooter. Lord knows you don't even deserve that, so be glad to have it."
"Whatever," Wario would respond, continuing to look back at the bike as they passed by.
Every single day, Wario would go back to that same dealership and just stare at the bike. He would imagine himself riding it all around town, through the continent, all around the world, leaving what few cares he had in the wind behind him as he sped along. Having that bike was his only dream, his only aspiration. It was the first true passion in his life; he even went so far as to buy the biker gear he wore that very day in simple anticipation of possibly getting to ride the motorcycle someday. And if he had anything to say about it, "someday" would be as soon as possible. For, he figured, if he pestered his father enough, he would eventually crack and get him the bike. Wario's family was pretty well off after all. They had money to spend. So why not spend it on something cool?
Wario wasn't expecting the argument to escalate so dramatically on the night his father finally exploded though...
"That's enough Wario!" his father shouted angrily, surprising his nearby wife who was busy cooking dinner for the family of three. "I'm getting sick and tired of you asking for that motorcycle! I will not repeat myself after this! You, are, not, getting, that, bike!!"
"Oh come on you tightwad, you make loads of money!" Wario shouted back, much to the displeasure of his poor mother, who continued to cook silently in the background. "It's not like the motorcycle is gonna make that much of a freakin' dent in your wallet!"
"Well excuse me for going out and working for a living!" his father retorted. "Money doesn't just grow on trees Wario! It doesn't just fall from the sky! I've earned this money with years of education and hard work, effort that you'll never get a handle of in your entire life! You gave up on high school for God's sake! What do you expect to do with the rest of your life when you leave home and leave the comfort of my paycheck!?"
"Chester..." the man's wife would mutter, feeling that the comments were uncalled for. Wario wouldn't stand for being defeated though as he stupidly made a declaration that would alter his entire life.
"I don't need you or your paycheck you old bastard; I could make it on my own if I wanted to."
"Oh really?" Chester said, folding his arms as he glared at his spoiled, rotten son. Wario nodded in response. "If you're really so confident that you could live without me and your mother...then you have fifteen minutes."
"Fifteen minutes for what?" Wario spat.
"To pack whatever you think you need to survive and to get out of this house," his father replied, shocking both his wife and Wario himself.
"Chester please..." his wife spoke up again, a little louder this time.
"No Claire, I'm getting sick of his attitude," Chester declared, keeping his eyes on his son. "He drops out of high school, he treats us like we're nothing, he demands everything in the world, and now he claims that he can actually take care of himself. Well, I'd like to see him do it. It'd be the first respectful thing he ever accomplished."
"Fine, I'll leave," Wario accepted the challenge without a second thought, surprising his mother, though his father seemed to smirk. "I'll pack my crap and get outta here."
"Wario! Wario wait!" Claire called in vain just before hearing her son slam his door upstairs, beginning to pack up a bag of essentials. The distressed mother immediately turned to her husband, smacking him on the chest with the back of her hand angrily. "What the hell are you thinking!?" she hissed, sourly disappointed in her husband's immature way of dealing with the situation. "You're making our only son leave the house!"
"I'm not 'making' him do anything Claire," Chester responded with a confident smirk. "He's just being stubborn. I mean really, do you think he can even make it through the night before coming back? He just needs to learn a lesson in respect and humble himself a bit, and this will teach him that the world isn't going to hand him everything he wants on a silver platter."
"I don't care if he needs to learn a lesson, I don't want my son on the streets trying to fend for himself," Claire responded. "We're his parents. We're supposed to take care of him and make his life more comfortable."
"You can't deny that he's taking us for granted," Chester retorted. "All we ever do for the boy is give and give, and he never once appreciates what we do for him; he just keeps asking for more. He only sees us as an endless supply of money. He needs to learn that it's not so easy to make ends meet."
"Later," Wario called back to his parents unceremoniously as he approached the front door of the house. Neither parent expected him to be packed and to leave so quickly, but before either of them could say a word, the door was closed, Wario's scooter could be heard starting up, and their son was officially out of their lives. And little did they expect him to be gone for good.
Admittedly, it wasn't easy going for the first day or so. Only carrying twenty coins on his person and a minimal amount of clothes to change into (he'd only packed two yellow shirts, two pairs of purple pants, and some purple suspenders), Wario hardly had enough money to afford a single meal at a restaurant; a meal he gulped down quickly and greedily and that hardly satisfied his bulky girth for the remainder of the day. By the morning after leaving home, Wario was already wondering what in the world he was going to do to keep himself sustained. He doubted he'd be able to even last the day without starving if he couldn't find food somewhere.
It was when Wario was presented with the classic scenario of a freshly baked pie cooling off on an open window sill that he met someone who would soon become his partner in crime: Waluigi.
The meeting was a rocky one of course, as both boys sneaked up to the sill at the same time, approaching from opposite sides of the window, while looking in different directions to make sure nobody was watching them commit the act of lifting the delectable pie. They both glanced up into the open window at exactly the same time, giving a double take as they realized that someone else was trying to take the pie. This immediately led to physical confrontation as Waluigi, with his long, surprisingly powerful legs, connected the bottom of his shoe with the side of Wario's pudgy face, roughly knocking him back a few feet.
"Outta my way fatso, this pie's mine," Waluigi grumbled as he went to grab the succulent delight. Wario was quick to respond however, immediately charging at the lanky thief and whacking him across the face with a closed, rock-hard fist, sending the boy in purple to the ground and away from the pie.
"Screw you, I haven't eaten in a whole day," Wario replied, going to grab the pie for himself. It wasn't long before Waluigi got to his feet and leaped over to him though, using both arms to pin Wario up against the wall.
"Please, you have enough fat to last a year easy!" Waluigi insulted, making Wario push the boy off with impressive force.
"It's muscle! And I just like to layer my clothing!" Wario shot back, adding the extra bit after glancing as his admittedly blubbery belly.
The end result was inevitable. Having insulted Wario's stature directly, Waluigi dragged himself into a fistfight in the backyard of a random house that belong to somebody that neither boy knew. They both forgot all about the pie they were originally fighting for and turned the confrontation into a personal battle, throwing insults just as often as punches.
The scuffle persisted for several minutes, neither boy ever seeming to run out of energy or fighting spirit. It was only when the well-renowned cook Tayce T. poked her head through the window just above the pie, staring into her backyard in surprise as she observed the young men beating the living daylights out of each other, that Wario and Waluigi remembered that the pie was the original reason they were there in the first place.
Bringing their fight to a sudden pause and looking over at the pie at the same time, Wario and Waluigi seemed to give each other a sort of agreeing glance shortly before nodding to each other. If they wanted to attain their similar goals, they would have to set aside their differences for the time being at least and nab the pie.
Running toward the ovular source of tasty pleasure at the same time, Waluigi used his longer arms to push away the elderly cook before she could remove the pie from the sill as Wario went in to grab the treat. However, Tayce T. wasn't about to give up so easily, for she soon slammed shut the window, thereby crushing Waluigi's arm, causing him to scream in pain as Wario ran off with the pie.
Shouting out cries for help, Waluigi could swear he broke a bone at the force of the window's slam. At the same time, Tayce was calling over to her husband, telling him to hurry to the backyard to teach the delinquents a lesson. All the while, Wario could hear Waluigi beckon for him to come back and help him, a request that Wario normally would have left unanswered. However, this time was a little different. Waluigi. Wario liked something about him. He liked his style.
Unlike most people, Waluigi wasn't afraid to fight for what he wanted, even if the fight was against someone with such intimidating girth as Wario's. He also proved to be pretty sneaky, managing to throw a few punches and kicks that Wario couldn't see coming at all. And Wario was great at reading people's moves. But most of all, Waluigi appeared to be a kindred spirit. Although they'd only interacted via fighting, Wario knew that Waluigi was similar to him in at least one way: he would do anything he had to to get what he wanted. Even if it meant stealing, an activity that Wario wasn't ashamed to do at all, though he found that he wasn't particularly good at it by himself, having trouble with committing the petty crime several times already.
Hmm... There was a thought. Maybe this kid could be Wario's partner. He figured that, if he helped the boy with the window situation, the boy would return the favor and be an accessory in his theft attempts. Yeah, that'd make life a lot easier, especially if the guy was pretty decent at stealing. And, really, just looking at him, Wario figured that Waluigi was a natural born thief. He simply had the look of a crook. It was definitely promising.
Well then, it was settled.
With pie in hand, Wario ran back to Waluigi's side, lifted up the window with his free hand (thereby causing Tayce T. to be lifted a fair ways off the floor), and allowed Waluigi to bring his arm free. The boys then jetted off across the yard just as Tayce T.'s elderly Toad husband erupted into the backyard with a broom, swinging it wildly as he chased down the boys. Of course, this form of chasing wasn't very impressive, for the Toad only waddled moderately speedily and could only hope to manage to make his way to the end of the short yard in roughly forty-five seconds, an amount of time that allowed Wario and Waluigi to hop a fence and zip around the street corner before stopping to take a breather.
After a few seconds of heavy breathing, Wario began to laugh out of nowhere. Holding his protruding belly with his free hand, his laughter grew harder and harder over several seconds, and Waluigi soon wondered what in the world was so funny.
"What are you laughing about?" he asked between breaths. Wario immediately pointed a finger at the boy in purple.
"You almost got your arm broken by some old hag," Wario answered, making Waluigi furrow his eyebrows angrily. Before he could say anything though, Wario quickly controlled his laughter and continued to speak. "I like your style though," he admitted, making Waluigi raise an eyebrow skeptically as he folded his arms. "And I was thinking, we could probably make good partners."
"Why would I want to be partners with you?" the boy asked with a frown, looking at the pie enviously, the smell of its apple filling flowing into his nostrils. Wario quickly took note of the glance and decided to use the pie as the first part of the deal.
"Well, I could give you part of this pie," Wario offered, holding out the pie just underneath Waluigi's nose, teasing him with its scent for a small while before pulling it back to himself. "And, just like this pie, everything we manage to steal together could be split half and half. Workin' together, I'm sure we could get some better loot than this."
The lanky kid thought about the proposal for a moment, wondering if working with this random guy would yield better results than if he continued to steal alone. Despite the rather pathetic display that took places only moments ago, Waluigi was a rather good thief. He was cunning, tricky, sneaky, the whole deal. But when he got caught, there was hardly a thing he could do. Sure, he was a decent runner, but that was rarely a reliable means of escaping, for there were always faster runners out there, and, when people shouted for help, others would often answer the call and blindside the fleeing thief, bringing him to a halt immediately. He'd only been caught twice in the past, but it would be nice to have a way of escaping that worked a bit more effectively...
"Alright, if I agree to this, what could you do to help me?" Waluigi asked, putting on his business face. Wario immediately knew how to answer this inquiry.
"Just look at me. I'm buff," Wario complimented himself just before flexing a muscle, showing off some very impressive bulkiness where Waluigi thought there was simply fat. "I can take down anyone. Plus, I have a scooter," he added, pointing out his rather large blue vehicle parked only feet away on the side of the street.
That was exactly what Waluigi wanted to see.
By the looks of it, the scooter was large enough to fit two people moderately comfortably, even considering Wario's size, and it looked powerful enough to move along at a reasonably speedy pace. If Waluigi had to make a quick getaway, Wario could man the steering and they could zoom off on a moment's notice. It was perfect.
"...Alright then," Waluigi said after several seconds of contemplating the idea. It couldn't hurt to try a partnership at least. He extended a hand shortly before saying, "You've got a deal."
Wario gave off his toothy smile and grabbed Waluigi's hand, shaking it only one time before the boys turned to approach Wario's scooter.
"What's your name?" Wario asked as he handed Waluigi the pie and the pair climbed onto the scooter.
"Waluigi. You?"
"Wario," the portly boy answered as he turned the key in the scooter's ignition. The vehicle sputtered to life and Wario wasted no time pulling away from the curb and zooming off down the street.
"Got a hideout or something?" he asked over his shoulder above the rush of the wind.
"Yeah," Waluigi called back. "Toad Town Orphanage."