Disclaimer: All assets of the Mario Movie belong to Nintendo and Illumination.

Chapter Two: Resignation

A Couple Years Ago

"Alright, that's a wrap for today, ladies and gents! Time to head home!" Mario sighed as he wiped the sweat off his forehead as he placed the wrench down. He glanced at the sky as the sun was still high in the sky, which was typical during the hottest days of the year when the shifts ended at 3pm. Brooklyn was a very busy city, and the company Mario and his brother Luigi worked always kept them busy with a new construction project happening every other day. That was how busy every day was, with something new happening to keep them on their toes. Plus, it paid well, but if there was one aspect Mario hated, it was his boss.

Foreman Spike was one of the most notorious and infamous bosses throughout Brooklyn. He ran one of the most successful construction companies in the world, but it was how he treated his employees that the name of the company exemplified the situation where he would wreck his crew through and through, pun totally intended. There were many incidents over the years where any incidents that involved Spike often led to numerous layoffs of employees either being fired for wrongdoings or quitting. Some even tried to sue him for his misdeeds, but Spike was a rich man, and as such, he knew the loopholes of the legal system and would often hire lawyers to get him out of sticky situations, and 100% of the time, he walked out a free man, mostly due to the success of his company. Because he got a lot done, he became well known as one of the most successful businessmen alive, and Mario hated him for it.

Foreman Spike was one known for favoritism, often adorning employees he loved with extra perks and rewards and would do things like dock people's wages for people he despised. That was a common thing that happened to Mario and Luigi, especially if Spike was bullying Luigi, and if Mario was forced to step in. Mario didn't get why. Why was this man like this? That man could be described with so many words, but what Mario wanted to do was to open his own plumbing business. Plumbing was always a favorite trade of his, plus plumbers made more money than construction workers, so what he had to do was to bite his tongue and get through one day at a time. He sighed. Too bad going to school wasn't an option. "Mario, get your brother. You two stay behind. We need to talk. My office. Now." The bearded man walked away. Mario rolled his eyes but grabbed his stuff before finding Luigi. Either way, this wasn't gonna turn out good in the end.

Mario and Luigi sat in silent anticipation for Foreman Spike's arrival. His office was the standard with the only thing standing out were the blue walls that were filled to the brim with hundreds of photos of the man doing many different poses. It was like he took these in hopes of impressing a girl, not that Mario was calling him single because Spike had called himself married numerous times, but that's besides the point. "Mario." He glanced at Luigi. "What did we do wrong?! We did nothing wrong! I just wanna go home!"

"Don't give me that bullcrap." Spike walked inside with a cigarette in his mouth and a stack of papers. "We all know something goes wrong every other day, and the other consistent factor is that it always revolves around you two. Why should you be surprised? You've worked for me for five good years. You should know what happens when we have meetings like this."

"But we didn't do anything wrong! Tell him, Mario! Please, sir! Just let us go-"

"Be quiet!" He slammed his hand on his desk, quickly quieting Luigi as he cowered in his chair. "You didn't even let me finish, so zip your lip!" He cleared his throat. "Anyway, real talk, I've called y'all here because this week is Performance Week. I talk with each employee, evaluate their performance, ya da, ya da, ya da. Based on the report, rewards or consequences will be dealt with. And boy, you two are in for it big time. Based on the report I got here, y'all be getting an F-. Not surprising there." Mario's muscles tensed. Whenever they had a performance evaluation, Mario just assumed that anything Spike said was just made-up schtick, some nonsense things that they didn't do instead of what they've actually done for the company. Such was the life of working at a job where the boss's word was law, and there was nothing that Mario could do to refute it should he face the consequences. "According to eye testimonies and things I've witnessed myself, y'all have been doing things like taking excessive breaks during normal hours, abusing company equipment, and being late on multiple accounts." He shook his head. "I'm not surprised. You've worked for me for many years. Y'all should know better."

"But those are wrong!" Luigi stood up. "Please, Spike! We do our job properly! Those are made up by you and anyone who hates us!"

"Or really?" Spike towered over Luigi as he glared daggers at him. "You really think so? I have your coworkers' testimonies and reports regarding the issues! I have proof! Where's yours?! Or right! You don't have any, so shut your damn trap!" He shoved him in the seat and sighed. "You're not getting paid this week. One more kind of these reports and I'll have no choice but to fire y'all if you don't get your act together. Final warning. Y'all may leave." Mario didn't move a muscle. "I said 'y'all may leave'. If you ain't dumb, that means you get the hell out of my office. Like now."

"No," the red man growled. He never found Spike to be intimidating. Sure, he had the power to make his life a living hellscape if he wanted to, but Mario had stayed silent for far too long. He thought that speaking up would make things worse, but so did the opposite because he had to watch Luigi get bullied for his cowardliness over and over until Mario was forced to step in, and stepping in proved to be just as consequential as staying quiet. Mario had been putting up with his crap for the past five years all for the sake of gaining experience so he could open his own plumbing company, granted he would have to get certified, get a license and insurance, and all the other headache stuff that went to owning a plumbing business, but he would cross those bridges when he would, but with the abuse getting worse everyday, that would have to start sooner than later with what he was about to do.

"What?" Spike hissed. "What did you say?"

"Oh, you heard me. Don't feign ignorance like how you've been doing that to us ever since we started working here."

"Mario," Luigi said in a soft voice, "It's OK. Whatever punishment Spike gives me, I can take it."

"And let him trample all over you like everyone else has?! How can you be happy with that?!"

"I just hate conflict. Please, just drop it!"

"No!" Mario turned to Spike. "I've had it with everything you and your dumb crew have done to us! We've done nothing but our jobs and you've treated us like trash! I'm done with it all!"

"And what are you gonna do about it? You know you won't get far without this job. You need it, otherwise there's no way you're gonna survive this world. Everyone's gonna eat you alive for dinner. So, tell me, Mario. How can you hope to avoid that?"

"Two words: we quit." Luigi gasped in shock.

"You're gonna quit? That's how you expect to fix your problems?!" Spike collapsed to the floor in laughter. "Give me a freaking break! You plan on running away?! That's hilarious!"

Mario grabbed him by the scruff. "Listen well. We're done with this piece of crap. We're never coming back, and I hope to see this place burn. I'm gonna open my own plumbing company, and there's nothing you can do to stop us." He threw the man at his desk. He crashed into it, knocking papers and furniture everywhere. "Come on, Luigi. Let's get out of here. We don't need him." He walked out without glancing at Spike with Luigi trailing behind as the door slammed behind him. He was gonna prove everyone wrong.

"Wait!" Mario continued to trudge forward as Luigi ran to catch him. "Mario, wait!"

Mario turned to him. "What?"

"How could you do that?! How could you make that kind of decision without my say-so?!"

"Oh, believe me, you did give your say-so. You said it was OK to be bullied all for the sake of avoiding conflict. You wanted to be tormented for the rest of your life because of your cowardliness! If it wasn't for me, what would you do? Huh?! I've had to stand up to bullies like Spike ever since our childhoods, and I wasn't going to stand it for one more second! So, yes! I was the one who made that split-second decision, but I don't regret it for one minute because we got away from that fat bastard! We should've quit a long time ago! It was gonna happen eventually, and I'm glad that I did."

"But don't my own feelings matter?!"

Mario scoffed. "Of course. Why do you think I've cared for you and stood up to others for your sake? I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings, but I had my own, and having us not getting paid was the straw that broke the camel's back. There's nothing else to it." The two trudged home in silence as they stared at the cars that traveled on the busy and crawling streets.

"What now?" Luigi said. "Mom and Dad are gonna hate us for quitting our job. What are we gonna do now?"

"It's quite simple. We put our dream into reality." He caught Luigi's depressed look. "Oh, come on, man. You remember all the talks we used to have about opening our own business, to not only spread our passion, but to help others in need? You remember that, right?"

"Well, maybe that's not what I want. Maybe I want something else. Truth be told, it was your dream, not mine. You just wanted to drag me along."

Mario shook his head. "No. I did that because I knew I couldn't do it alone, but you are right. It was more my idea than yours, and I shouldn't force you to join me. What is it that you want to do with your life?"

Luigi sighed. "I don't know. I'm at a loss. I just feel so lost right now."

"Then maybe you need to do some soul searching. Take some time to discover yourself."

"But what about your dream?"

Mario sighed. He didn't have a back-up plan because he assumed Luigi was on board, and he was a fool to assume that and not consider his feelings. But there were other ways around this like using work websites like LinkedIn to search for recruits, but he had to get employed first. It was just one step at a time. "Don't you worry about me, bro. I got it all figured out. Let's just go home."

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