Round 2 of Pass My Fic is complete! This round's authors are: Cascore, SugarBullet, Wayoshi, Wimpzilla, and ChildAtHeartForever. Brawlfannumber1 and LuigiRocsz were also suppose to participate, but due to problems with communication could not. Sorry guys, please contact me as soon as you can and we'll work things out.
As always see if you can tell where one author leaves off and another comes in.
"..."
"Hm..."
"..."
"Oh!"
"..."
"...No... Hm..."
"Dude, for Bowser's sake, make a move already!"
"Alright alright... Uh..."
One repositioning of a Goomba Knight later.
"Checkmate."
"Oh come on! That can't be a... Ugh! I'm done with this stupid game!"
And with that, Kuhu, the older of the Koopa twins, stood from the table and proceeded to pace in what little space the bedroom allowed. Kao decided to remain seated, staring at his brother with a bored expression in his eyes.
"There has to be something we can do around this dump," Kuhu muttered. "We finally get some paid vacation time and we spend it like this?"
"And Lord Bowser gave us two weeks off..." Kao commented with a sigh as he looked back at the chess board. "Only day two and we already have nothing to do..."
"This sucks," Kuhu muttered, settling by a window next to the front door. "We need to go out and do something...but what?"
As if to answer the older Koopa's question, a green-clad human in blue overalls passed casually by the brothers' front lawn, humming happily to himself as he did so. Recognizing the man right away, Kuhu perked up and carved a smile across his face.
"Come on Kao, let's go," he commanded, opening the front door immediately. "I found something we can do."
"Alright," Kao responded without a second thought, walking behind his brother as the pair exited the homestead together. He immediately noticed the man that was strolling by and soon looked over at Kuhu. "Mario's little bro?"
"Yeah, Luigi," Kuhu said as he slowly began to walk across the lawn and follow the plumber at a distance. "He's pretty good for a laugh or two if we can manage to scare him."
"Such a great way to spend quality bonding time..."
"Shut up; it's better than freakin' chess."
Several minutes would pass by as the brothers silently tried to figure out a way to frighten the unsuspecting victim before Luigi suddenly stopped in front of an alleyway. He began to look around rather suspiciously, forcing the brothers to look nonchalant until he slowly turned and walked into the thin pathway. Allowing a second or two to pass, Kuhu and Kao hurried to the alley and peered inside.
"Where the heck is he going?" Kao asked quietly as Luigi disappeared into the darkness.
"Come on," Kuhu said, stepping into the alleyway. His brother hung back though, wearing a slightly worried expression.
"Uh, you sure we want to follow him in there?" he asked, taking note of just how dark it was down the path "We don't know where this place goes."
"We may as well keep going," Kuhu explained. "And besides, if Luigi's going in there, there can't be anything that bad."
"I guess..."
Having successfully persuaded his brother, Kuhu led the way into the alley, determined to see just what Luigi was up to. The walk was a fair bit longer than they expected, but after five minutes they found a dimly lit clearing, and in it stood Luigi and a mysterious, cloaked figure that neither brother could identify. Hanging back in the shadows, Kuhu and Kao listened in on the conversation as closely as they could. They tried to see who the person in the dark coat was but Luigi's shoulder blocked their view of the person who was incredibly tiny.
"Are you sure she didn't notice anything?" The cloaked figure, who had a very feminine voice, inquired as Luigi handed the figure something that looked like a crystal flower.
"Yes…I made doubly sure… It was hard though …" Luigi assured the figure who cradled and held it like a precious gem that it is.
"Yes…Toad will take good care of it… It will help make the occ-- Er…" The cloaked figure looked over Luigi's shoulder, peering on to the darkness and the dumpsters that populate the alley, trying to see if a spy was following them.
Kuhu squeezed beside brother, Kao, who also squeezed behind a dumpster.
"Kao…who is that?"
"I'm trying to see too, you know…but it's looking at our direction…"
"What?"
"Shh…they're talking again."
"So... Luigi…Thank you for your contribution… I will make sure she gets taken care of."
The figure jumped on top of the dumpster, ninja-style and disappeared into the night. Kao and Kuhu watched Luigi as he looked around, seeing if someone had seen him. The green plumber then turned around and hurriedly left the alley.
Kao looked at his brother who dashed out after Luigi. He followed his brother who looked at him with jaws hanging and eyes wide. Soon, like the mysterious accomplice before him, Luigi disappeared. It was impossible to disappear that quickly because the streets go straight for miles. And this is the only alley they know of.
"I think we've got a nice piece of mystery around here" Kuhu said.
"No, you sure about that? Because people disappear into nowhere after going into shady places every day" said Kao in a sarcastic tone "But anyway this time I am not following you around"
"It isn't as we have anything better to do during our time here, now do we?" Kuhu said. He was already pulling his brother around for one of the strangest ordeals one could've ever thought of.
Once the night fell upon the brothers, the slow and soft fluttering of the wind turned into devilish whispers that brought a chill down the spine, definitely something ominous was happening.
After realizing the situation they were in, the koopa siblings decided it was time to go back, but the road was closed for the night. There was no means of leaving.
Kao screamed at his brother to the top of his lungs "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE! IF WE DIE TODAY YOU'LL BE IN SERIOUS TROUBLE".
Although failing to see the logic beneath Kao's words; he knew his brother was right they were in a potentially dangerous situation.
Fearful they were, but if they just stood still in the dead of night they'd be easy prey, plus Luigi's disappearance stood, by the looks of it this place had far more secrets hidden deep within it than anyone would expect it to have.
Nevertheless the more they thought about it; the more the fear would consume them, and when fear has your will broken you die.
Everything reaching through the eyes and ears, made the brothers tremble in fear of impending doom, they had taken in far more than they could chew.
Walking for miles and miles, the place grew ever creepier at every single moment; the worst had yet to come.
Kao could just think of his fear, but Kuhu was thinking beyond that "where was Luigi? Who closed the street? What was happening?". Each of these questions filled him with angst, yet each of these questions was bringing him to the nucleus of the case.
Kuhu became so focused on these questions it took the flash of a blinding light to bring him back to reality. Kao briefly showed his cowardice through a girlish scream.
"Hey! You two!" A booming voice shouted through a megaphone, "What are you doing out so late?"
Kuhu held up a hand before his eyes to block out the light. Once his vision became clear he found himself facing the bright headlights of a police vehicle. Naturally the officer driving the car was holding a megaphone to his mouth.
"What's going on?" Kao asked, sounding more curious than demanding.
"You tell me." The megaphone wielding Toad responded.
"We're just going on a stroll." Kuhu lied. The situation was far more than a simple stroll for the two of them, but the less suspicion they raised around an officer the better.
"I don't know." The Toad said almost to himself. "Two koopas roaming the streets in the dead of night? Seems pretty suspicious considering we're looking for the jewel bandit and her accomplice at the exact same time."
"Jewel Bandit?" Kao asked.
"She also goes by the aliases of "HeartTail", "", and "Butch". She's stolen everything from badges to grandfather clocks. And now she's got her devilish little eyes on the princess's jewels." The Toad explained. "We got a call about suspicious action going on here so we shut down the street and held a search."
Well, that explained 1 of Kuhu's questions. The police shut down the streets to hold a search for this "Jewel Bandit" person. He received a quick look from his brother. They both knew who the cloaked figure was that escaped with the crystal flower.
"We believe she has an accomplice working within close quarters of the princess. If you two find anything don't hesitate to call us."
"Wait!" Kao shouted. The Toad paused. "We know who the accomplice is!"
"Oh really?" The Toad said. "Well don't just stand there all cross-eyed. Spill it."
Kuhu began, "We think the accomplice is Luigi. You know Mario's little brother. Anyways we saw him walk down this alleyway and-"
"HAHAHAHAHA-" The Toad erupted, leaning on the door of his car to keep upright, "HAHAHA! Oh man... oh man I can't breathe! Hahahahaha!"
"What?" Kuhu asked, failing to see the humor in this.
"You... you..." the police officer wheezed, "you actually think Luigi is in on this! HAHAHAHA! That's priceless, that's freakin' priceless. Oh man wait 'til the boys back at the station hear this one."
"No, you don't understand-" Kao pleaded. But the officer ignored him and climbed into his car, still clutching his sides. With a "Good one" and a wave goodbye he sped down the road, leaving the two brothers dazed and confused.
"... He didn't believe us!" Kao exclaimed. "What is wrong with him?"
"Well you know what we have to do now." Kuhu concluded. "We have to bring Luigi to justice ourselves."
Kao did a double take. "Are you serious? How in the Mushroom World are we supposed to do that?!"
Kuhu rubbed his hands together. "Don't worry; I have ways…"
"Oh no…"
Later in the same day, the two Koopas were wearing horrible Mario and Luigi disguises. Kuhu was supposed to be Mario, while Kao had to be Luigi.
"Okay, what's the plan again?" Kao asked. "And why do I have to be Luigi? This fake mustache is so itchy!"
"Sigh…I told you, I'm Mario, so we're going to pretend that I caught you red-handed, and then when the officer sees you, you'll admit you were the accomplice! Genius!" explained Kuhu.
"Uh-huh. Once I give myself up, they'll cuff me!"
"Not unless you run away! We head to Luigi's house, where the real Luigi will be! You get out of the Luigi costume, and they'll nab the real Luigi!"
Kao nodded. "That's pretty good. Let's-a go!"
They headed to the nearest pipe and warped themselves back to the police station. At the door, Kuhu pulled Kao's hand's behind his back and kicked open the door.
"YOU'RE-A GONNA PAY LUIGI!" he shouted in a fake Italian/Brooklyn accent.
"Oh nooo!" wailed Kao, pretending to struggle free. The police officer they had seen before was now back at his desk, flipping through Grand Star magazine. He looked up to see Mario wrestling his younger brother. You didn't see that everyday.
"What in the-" he gasped.
"Give-a yourself-a up-a! It's-a over-a now-a!" Kuhu cried.
"He doesn't add the "-a" ALL the time!" Kao whispered. "This is so ridiculous!"
"TELL HIM!"
Kao cowered in front of the officer. "Oh! I am-a the accomplish to the stylish jewel thief! It was-a me the entire time!"
The officer recoiled. "Whoa. Those two Koopas were right!" The "Mario Bros." gave a wink to each other. "I never thought Luigi…C'MERE!"
He dived toward Kao, only for Kao to escape Kuhu's grip and sprint out the door. The officer motioned for "Mario" to follow him and the next thing he knew, he was speeding down Rainbow Road in a police car. The sirens were blaring, and many a Toad were coming out to see. Poor Kao was frantically trying to outrun the car and make it to the Mario house. He was almost there, when Mario himself showed up.
"Luigi?" he thought.
"MOVE!" yelped Kao, pushing him out of the way. Kuhu sweat dropped, but luckily the officer was too focused on the road to notice that there were two Marios. Probably because he was hardly three feet tall, being a Toad and all. Kao literally broke through the door, and found the real Luigi lying on the couch. He quickly shed his Luigi disguise and jumped up and down and pointed. The officer Toad and Kao, now back to normal while dragging the real Mario back to consciousness, walked in the door.
"There's Luigi! He's trying to look innocent!" Kao remarked.
"What are you-" Luigi started, but the Toad called in back-up. He was handcuffed in every place possible.
"We've got you now! You admitted to your crime, and now you're going to tell us where Ms. Mowz's hiding place is and what her next move is!"
Luigi was on the verge of tears. "I DON'T KNOW!!!!"
"DON'T LIE TO ME YOU DIRTY SCUM!!!" The officer bellowed, slapping Luigi hard across the face. The younger Mario brother was in tears, much to Kao and Kuhu's pleasure.
"We did it! We caught the bad guy!" Kao cheered to his brother. They high fived to commemorate their accomplishment as the poor plumber was dragged against his will to the police car.
The officer let out a sigh, "It's always the most innocent that turn out to be the criminal."
"Okay sir, Mario's knocked out but he's okay." Another officer reported to the chief. He received a quizzical look from his chief.
"What do you mean "unconscious"? He's right inside." The chief explained, pointing to Kuhu still in his Mario get-up. But as he pointed he saw the actual Mario propped up against the side of his house. The chief did a double take before realizing that the Mario inside actually looked more like a koopa in a bad Mario disguise.
"Hold on." The chief instructed, passing the still sobbing plumber to his coworker.
"Oh man, wait 'til Bowser hears about this!" Kao continued to cheer, "Throwing one of the Mario brothers in the slammer? He'll be ecstatic!"
"Yeah, maybe he'll give us a bonus. Or even a raise!" Kuhu exclaimed. He threw both hands in the air, which were immediately cuffed by the officer behind him. It took a second for him to realize what happened, and when he came to that realization, he properly freaked out and made a scene.
"HEY! What's going on here??" Kuhu demanded, struggling against the cuffs that binded him.
"You're under arrest for illegal impersonation of Mario without a permit." The chief announced. Kuhu looked down at his diguise, which he had forgotten to remove. As he fought further with the chief a second officer tapped Kao on the shoulder. Kao turned around.
"Sir, is this "Luigi" disguise yours?" The officer asked.
"No." Kao immediately lied. The officer rifled through the pockets of the denim suspenders fit for a koopa.
"Then why is your license in here?" The officer asked, pulling a wallet from the suspender's pocket.
"…Yes?" Kao asked, preparing to be handcuffed.
"Oh, okay then. Here ya go." The officer said, handing Kao's wallet back to him. The officer then left Kao alone and helped the chief with Kuhu.
"WHAT?? WHY ISN'T HE BEING ARRESTED??" Kuhu loudly demanded.
"There's no law against impersonating Luigi." The officer said. Kuhu was nothing short of stunned. As he was shoved screaming and kicking into the back seat of the patrol car, Kao silently watched from inside the house.
"Well, better you than me!" Kao said to himself. He placed his wallet in his actual pocket and strolled casually out of the house, whistling a tune. As he passed the patrol car he was cuffed from behind. It took him longer to realize this than it took Kuhu. Before he could even ask why the officer said,
"Kao, you are under arrest for being in cahoots with Mrs. Mowz."
"WHAT???" Kao shouted, not understanding.
"We got a full confession from you earlier today from the station. We have a few questions for you."
"B-but I was wearing a Luigi disguise!" Kao explained.
"A confession is a confession no matter what you were wearing at the time." The officer explained. With that the two koopa bros. were thrown into the backseat of the patrol car and whisked away to the station.
"Hey, sorry about the mix up Luigi." An officer apologized as he removed Luigi's cuffs, "We got the actual criminal now so you're free to go."
Luigi took some deep breaths to calm himself down. The officer patted him on the back before taking off. Wiping the tears from his eyes Luigi looked over at Mario who was still knocked out. Before he could even comprehend what just happened his cell phone began ringing. He looked at the ID.
"Restricted"
There was only one person he knew with a restricted phone line. He flipped open the phone to hear a familiar feminine voice on the other end. Luigi listed before responding.
"Hey "Butch". What do you need this time? …2 Ruby Roses? No problem. But I think we'll need a new rendezvous point this time around."
As always we're welcome to any authors who want to be part of "Pass My Fic". Just contact me with an E-mail you check frequently. As you can tell you never know what to expect when you combine several unique people into one story.