Chapter 1: Difficult Times.
South Dakota. Present Day.
Mario sat silently on a stool in the back of his small grocery shop, reading a book (The Railway Series No. 23), to himself. It had been yet another stressful day for him.
The shop hadn't had any customers all day, so there wasn't anything to do. In-fact, businessmen had been quite poor for the last several months. A rival shop nearby had been getting all the customers recently, leaving none for Mario's store.
Sometimes Mario would wonder why he would even bother to open his shop if there weren't any customers to sell stuff to.
With very few customers for him to sell groceries to, Mario had been making very little money and now he was practically broke. To make matters worse, he was now struggling to pay his mortgage and the bank had threatened to kick him out of his house if he couldn't pay them.
Mario's brother, Luigi, had gone out to meet with the bank to discuss their financial issues and had decided to read a book to pass the time while he waited for him to return.
Mario let out a soft yawn as he flipped to the next page, he was tired. The stress of trying to think of ways to make the money had been making it difficult to sleep at night. He and Luigi had tried several things to get the money they needed, they tried advertisement posters to promote their shop, they tried a garage sale, they even tried opening fundraisers, but nothing worked.
If they couldn't find a way to get the money by next Friday, then the two brothers would be forced to live on the streets.
Mario then heard the front door open, followed by a ringing from the bell that hung above the door that would ring every time the door opened. Mario looked up as he watched a man walk through the door.
The man looked just like him, he had a mustache under his big nose and he was even wearing the same kind of cloths Mario was wearing, only this man was slightly taller than him and the color of his cloths were different from his own; Mario wore a blue shirt, red overalls and a red cap with an M on it, whereas this man wore a yellow shirt, blue overalls and a blue cap with an L on it. Mario new who this man was. It was his younger twin brother, Luigi.
Luigi closed the door behind him, leaned his back against the door, let out a loud sigh, and collapsed onto the floor.
"So, how did it go with the bank?" asked Mario. "Did they agree to give us more time to pay our mortgage?"
"Uhhg," groaned Luigi. "No. In fact, they're actually going to shorten the time we have to pay them."
"WHAT!?" Mario's scream was so loud that it even startled Luigi, making him jump back a little. Mario's eyes were wide open, and he dropped his book on the floor. "What do you MEAN they're 'shortening the time we have to pay them'!? I thought that we had till next Friday to pay them!"
"Not anymore, I'm afraid." Luigi sighed.
Mario looked down, still trying to take in what Luigi had just said. The bank was shortening the time they had to pay their mortgage!? Was that even legal? Were they allowed to do that? "B-b-but why!?" was all he could ask.
Luigi remained silent for a moment. Then finally he spoke. "I don't know." he said. "I asked them if they could give us a little more time and the manager just snapped at me and said, 'Pay up by this Sunday'!"
Mario couldn't believe what he had just heard. The bank had just decided to move up their pay date just like that!? It was already Tuesday, and Sunday was just five days away! The bank told them that they owed them $10,000, but Mario and Luigi barely even had $700. How were they ever gonna get that much money in just five days? He opened his mouth to reply, but he couldn't think of the right words to say and decided to remain silent and continue to listen to Luigi's story.
"Then I said, 'SUNDAY!? But you said we had till next Friday,' then he just snapped at me again and said, 'Pay up by this Sunday or we kick you out of your house,' and then they just kicked me out of the building just like that!" Luigi finished.
There was a long silence. Both brothers looked at each other, neither of them knew what to say or what to do. Everything they tried to get the money had failed, the bank was now only giving them five days to pay them, and neither one of them could think of any new bright ideas for their next move.
The two had reached a dead end.
Finally, Mario let out a sigh of defeat and spoke. "So that's it then." he said, lowering his head. "We're screwed, aren't we?"
"Yea." was all Luigi could think of to say. He then crossed his arms and pouted. "If only I didn't spend all the gold coins I collected from the Mushroom Kingdom on all the new furniture I used to re-decorate our house, then maybe I could have used them to pay off our debt instead."
The Mushroom Kingdom.
Mario looked up when he heard those words. It had been three months since their great adventure there. He could still remember the whole thing like it all happened yesterday.
He was up late one night playing video games, when the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom, Princess Peach, came to him and asked him for help, only for the evil King Bowser Koopa to come and kidnap her. Luigi didn't believe Mario at first when he told him about Peach and thought he was just dreaming. Mario almost believed that it was just a dream too, however, Peach had left her necklace behind at their house which made him realize that it wasn't a dream.
The next day, a dog named Kibidango came to their shop and led them to the Mushroom Kingdom, where they met an old man named Kinoko Sennin who told them they were the chosen ones of a prophecy to stop the evil King Bowser from forcing Peach to marry him.
Accompanied by Kibidango the dog, Mario and Luigi crossed through dangerous deserts, forests, steep mountains and even a vast ocean, until they reached Bowser's castle where they defeated him and rescued Peach.
A great wave of sadness overtook Mario as he looked down.
Princess Peach was a beautiful woman. Such a sweet and kind soul she was, with a lovely face and a voice of an angel. Mario had fallen deeply in love with her, it was the main reason why he went to Bowser's castle to save her.
Unfortunately, he hadn't seen Peach ever since he rescued her. How he wished to see her again. How he wished he could tell her how he felt about her. How he wished he could just runaway somewhere with her and live happily ever after. If only-
"You're thinking about her, aren't you?" said Luigi, interrupting Mario from his train of thought.
"W-w-what?" asked Mario. "What do you mean?"
"You're thinking about Princess Peach, aren't you?" Luigi replied.
"Oh." Mario said as he slightly blushed with embarrassment. "W-wait," he stuttered. "How did you know?"
"Come on bro," Luigi said, "I've known you for 20 years. I saw the way you looked up when I mentioned the Mushroom Kingdom, plus the depressed look on your face you made was pretty much a dead give-away." he said as he stood up from the floor. "You're thinking about Princess Peach. Aren't you?"
Luigi always seemed to know what was on Mario's mind; whenever Mario started thinking about food, Luigi would always notice it, no matter what. It was like he was somehow able to read his mind. That- or perhaps Mario was more predictable than he realized.
"Yea." Mario sighed as he looked away.
Luigi rolled his eyes and groaned as an irritated look crept onto his face. "Bro, seriously, you need to move on." he said as he crossed his arms.
"But what if I can't?"
"Well you're gonna have to." replied Luigi. "It's been three months. Besides, she's engaged to Prince Haru, remember?"
"I know." Mario sighed.
Kibidango, the dog that accompanied Mario and Luigi on their mission to save Princess Peach, was really a human prince named Haru who ruled over the Flower Kingdom, an ally kingdom of the Mushroom Kingdom. Haru came to the Mushroom Kingdom to meet Princess Peach but had been transformed into a dog by Bowser's dark magic when he kidnapped Peach. Haru also wore a necklace that was a related twin to the one Peach wore herself, and the two of them were engaged because of this.
He felt envy towards Haru. It was because of him he would probably never get the chance to be with Peach. He risked his life to save her because he loved her. He and Peach could have been a lovely couple right now if he didn't show up, or if he didn't even have that necklace.
"You've got to let it go and accept reality bro. It's not good to morn over her like this." Luigi added.
"Easy for you to say," said Mario. "You've never even been in love with someone!" he countered.
Luigi didn't say anything, he looked away and began to think. Mario was right, he had never been in love with someone and therefore he would have no idea what it felt like to be dumped. He didn't know what it felt like to have a broken heart. Luigi then looked back at Mario and sighed. "Well, to tell you the truth- I don't believe in 'true love'." he said.
"Wait, you don't!?" asked Mario.
"Yep." replied Luigi.
Mario couldn't believe what Luigi had just said. How could he not believe in love? "W- Why!? How can you possibly think that!?" he said. "There's millions of happy couples in the world, surely that's got to be proof that true love is real!"
"Oh please," Luigi didn't buy it for a second. "Just because a bunch of other people in the world are in relationships, doesn't mean true love is real. Most couples usually break up or divorce each other. Is that true love?" he said, glaring at Mario.
"Well... no, but-"
"See?" Luigi interrupted. "Exactly my point!"
"Okay- but- what about couples who don't break up or- get divorced? What about family love!?" Mario countered.
"Family love!?" Luigi snapped. "How would YOU know anything about family love!?"
"Well-"
"We grew up in an orphanage for nearly 20 years, no one ever showed us family love. No one stepping into the orphanage cared to adopt us. No one in the orphanage treated us like family. Heck, for all we know our birth parents didn't even want us!" Luigi said sharply.
"What!?" Mario said. "Why would our birth parents not want us!? I mean- think about it, if our birth parents didn't love us, then why the heck would they even decide to give birth to us in the first place?" he asked sharply.
"Mario, they gave us to an orphanage when we were just babies!" Luigi argued. "And for all we know, our mother probably got pregnant with us by accident! Our birth parents probably both decided to get drunk one night and got carried away with people they didn't even know! We could be bastards for all we know!"
"That's not true!" Mario contradicted.
"How do you know!?" Luigi said. "You and I never knew them. It's certainly possible. Some people are born that way!"
"Well- yea but... W-what if there's another reason why they gave us up!?" Mario protested.
"Oh yea, and what do you think that reason is!?" Luigi angrily questioned.
Mario opened his mouth to reply, but he couldn't think of anything to say. Instead he just remained quiet.
"Yea," Luigi said, breaking the awkward silence. "I thought so."
Mario said nothing. He turned away and began to think. As much as he hated to admit it, Luigi had made some valid points.
They were both given to an orphanage when they were only babies, so he and Luigi never knew their parents. In fact, Mario knew little to nothing about his past. He and Luigi didn't know when they were born, they didn't even know who was the oldest/youngest brother. The only thing he did know about his past was that 'Mario' was his true birth name: His guardian had told him that when she found him and Luigi, their names were imprinted on their diapers.
Or- was that just a coincidence, Mario thought to himself. Did he and Luigi not have official birth names either? Were the words 'Mario' and 'Luigi' imprinted on their diapers just a coincidence?
Mario looked up and stared at the underside of the visor on his cap before he took it off and stared at the 'M' imprinted on it.As far as Mario knew, he had his cap his whole life: His guardian had also told him that he was wearing it when she found him and Luigi.
Now that he thought about it, why was he wearing it when his guardian found him and Luigi? Was it a gift that his birth parents gave him? Was it something they gave him so he would always have a piece of them? And if so then did that mean Luigi was wrong, did their birth parents really love them after all?
But that raised another question. If his parents really did love him and Luigi, then why had they given them up?
For all we know our birth parents didn't even want us, Luigi's words echoed through Mario's mind. They gave us to an orphanage when we were just babies.
Was it true? Did their parents really give them up because they didn't love them?
Didn't you love us, Mario thought sadly.
More of Luigi's words echoed in his head: No one stepping into the orphanage cared to adopt us.
He then began to think about his childhood growing up in that old small orphanage. As he and Luigi grew up together, they had dreamed of being part of a family, and the two of them would get very excited whenever someone came to adopt a child or two. Sadly though, Mario and Luigi never were adopted. Other children were adopted, but the Mario bros never were. They all wanted the other children, but not him and Luigi.
No one in the orphanage treated us like family.
While growing up in the orphanage, Mario and Luigi were treated like outcasts from all the other orphaned children. None of them ever wanted to play games with them, or even wanted to have a friendly conversation with them. Whenever he and Luigi tried to hang out with them, they would always try to push them away and pretend like they didn't even exist. There was even another pair of brothers that always bullied Mario and Luigi.
"Face it Mario," Luigi said in a calmer voice. Mario looked up from his cap and looked at his brother, once again he somehow knew what he was thinking. "No one wanted us. No one cared about us. No one loved us." He paused briefly and whipped his eyes. Mario thought he was crying. "Love isn't real."
Love isn't real.
Mario looked back at his cap. A small tear began to form in his left eye. All of his disappointments and hurt feelings came back ten-fold. His parents abandoned him when he was just an infant, no family ever wanted to adopt him, and all the other children didn't even want to be friends. No one loved him.
He's right, Mario thought sadly. If no one ever loved him, then what was the point in believing in love anyways? Heck, even Princess Peach chose Prince Haru over him.
Love isn't real.
At last, he let out a deep sigh and spoke. "Maybe you're right." he said. He began to think about the Mushroom Kingdom again when he thought about Peach. "But- it's just..." Mario stuttered, struggling to find the right words to say.
"Just what?" Luigi asked.
"There's something else you should know." Mario replied
Two men were passing by Mario and Luigi's shop. One of them was short and fat, he wore a purple t-shirt, yellow overalls and a yellow cap with a W on it. The second man was taller and allot skinnier. He wore a dark purple shirt, light purple overalls and a light purple cap with an upside-down L on it.
The short fat man couldn't wait to get back home, it had been a very busy day for them.
He and his brother, the skinny tall man, walked towards their house with their wallets full of cash. Business for their shop today was fantastic, they had many customers coming to their store all day and the two of them had made lots and lots of money.
"So, how much money did we earn today bro?" asked the skinny tall man.
The short fat man reached into his pocket and took out his wallet, he opened it up and began to count the money they made. "Let's see," he said. "10... 20... 50... 100... 125..."
"Sometimes, I also feel like- we really belong in the Mushroom Kingdom." a voice said.
The short fat man stopped in his tracks as soon as he heard the voice. He recognized that voice anywhere. It was Mario.
The Mushroom Kingdom? What is he talking about, he thought to himself. Why was Mario talking about some mythical land? He had heard about the Mushroom Kingdom, the land of untold riches, but always thought it was just some myth from a legend like the lost city of Atlantis. Curious to hear more, he walked up to Mario and Luigi's shop and peered through a window.
"What?" another voice said. "What do you MEAN 'we really belong in the Mushroom Kingdom'?" The man recognized this voice too, it was Luigi. Why were he and Mario talking about the Mushroom Kingdom? The man was getting more and more intrigued by their conversation.
"Hey bro, come over here." the short fat man said to his brother, gesturing his hand to him to come to where he was.
The skinny tall man quickly came over to his brother and crouched down next to him. "What is it?" he asked.
"Listen to this." replied the short fat man, as the two of them peered through the window and listened to Mario and Luigi's conversation.
"Well- it's just... ever since we went to the Mushroom Kingdom to save Princess Peach, I just- feel like... we... truly... belong there." saidMario.
Luigi just sighed and rolled his eyes. "Mario, do you hear yourself right now?" he asked, sounding annoyed.
"Yes. Why do you make it sound like it's a bad thing?" Mario asked.
"Because you can't keep living in this fantasy your whole life." Luigi replied. "You need to accept reality. We have a great life here and-"
"Great life!?" Mario snapped. "GREAT LIFE!? How could you possibly say that we have a good life here!?"
"Well-"
"Did you seriously just forget everything you said two minutes ago!?" Mario yelled angrily. "We've never had a great life here at all! No one ever loved us when we were kids, even our own parents ditched us when we were babies!
"Okay, but that doesn't mean-"
"And what's worse! Our arch-rivals' shop is about to run ours out of business and it's because of them we're broke and we're struggling to pay our mortgage, and if we don't get $10,000 by Sunday, you and I will be forced to live on the streets!" Mario yelled.
"ALRIGHT! FINE!" Luigi angrily snapped. "Your right! We don't have a great life here! We have a terrible and stressful life! But the fact is, you can't keep living in this ridiculous fairy-tail! We belong here Mario, not in the Mushroom Kingdom. Your probably just saying that we belong there because you just want to be with Princess Peach."
Both brothers remained silent for a moment before Mario spoke. "Actually... I think there's more to it." he said.
"What do you mean?" asked Luigi.
"That's just it- I don't know." said Mario. "I... just don't know."
The short fat man could hardly believe what he had just heard. Ever since we went to the Mushroom Kingdom, he remembered Mario saying. Mario had been in the mythical Mushroom Kingdom before!? But that was impossible, the Mushroom Kingdom was just a myth; but- if what he just said was true- then, that meant- it was real!? A land full of treasures beyond ones' wildest dreams, was real!?
A sinister smile crept on his face. He quickly turned to his brother and whispered. "Did you hear that?" he asked.
"I sure did." the skinny tall man grinned, placing his fingers underneath his chin in thought. "Mario has a crush on some Princess." The short fat man smacked the skinny tall man's head hard with his fist. "Ow!" he cried.
"Not THAT you idiot!" the short fat man snapped. "I'm talking about the fact that Mario and Luigi have been to the mythical Mushroom Kingdom."
"What!? But, I thought that place was just a myth." said the skinny tall man.
"So did I," replied the short fat man. "But based on what they just said, it sounds like it might be real after all." he said, grinning and rubbing his hands together greedily. "A mythical land, filled with riches beyond our imaginations." They looked at each other and smiled. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" the short fat man asked.
"We find the Mushroom Kingdom, and collect all the treasure it has for ourselves?" the skinny tall man guessed.
"Bingo!" smiled the short fat man. He clapped his hands together and rubbed them greedily, "We're rich men baby!" he said.
The skinny tall man smiled greedily at the thought of being rich, but then he quickly realized something. "Wait- how exactly do we find the Mushroom Kingdom anyways?"
The short fat man's eyes widened. "Oh, right." he said, looking away embarrassed. He then placed his fingers underneath his chin and began to think. His brother had a valid point, how were they going to find the Mushroom Kingdom? He thought for a moment, then an idea quickly flew into his mind, if they couldn't find the Mushroom kingdom on his own, then they would just have to ask Mario and Luigi.
The short fat man smiled and laughed to himself. "I got it." he said. "Mario and Luigi are gonna close up shop to go home any minute. So, when they leave, we interrogate them and trick them into telling us where it is."
The skinny tall man grinned mischievously and said, "Good plan. It just might work."
"Of course it will." replied the short fat man. "But remember, we can't let them know what we're up to. So, we'll have to make sound like we're not looking for the Mushroom Kingdom." He then glared questioningly at his brother. "Got it?"
"Got it." said the skinny tall man. But the short fat man wasn't really convinced that he did. He did have a reputation of screwing up.
Luigi remained silent for a bit. Then at last he sighed. "Bro, look, I understand that your upset, but like I said, you need to accept reality. Yes, reality can suck sometimes but that's the way it is. We belong here Mario. And you need to let go of Princess Peach."
Mario thought for a moment. Then he spoke. "Yea, your right."
"Come on," Luigi said. "It's about closing time. We've had a long day, lets head home and watch a movie or something to take our minds off of all this stress."
"Yea. Alright." Mario sighed. He stood up from his stool and walked over to Luigi by the door. "But what do we do about our mortgage problem?"
"I don't know." Luigi said has he opened the door. "But I'm sure we'll think of somethi-" he was cut off when he suddenly felt his right foot trip on something causing him to fall flat on his face. "Ow." he groaned.
"Luigi!" Mario yelled in shock as he helped his brother up.
"Ahahahahaha!" a mischievous voice laughed. Mario and Luigi turned to see the short fat man and the skinny tall man laughing at them.
Oh no, not THEM, Mario thought to himself. As if the day couldn't get any worse. He knew who these two were. It was Wario and Waluigi, him and Luigi's long-life arch-rivals.
"Well, well, well," Waluigi snickered mischievously. "If it isn't the stupid Mario brothers."
Mario clenched his teeth upon hearing that insult. He REALLY hated these two, and for good reason. Wario and Waluigi grew up in the same orphanage as Mario and Luigi. Like all of the other children, they treated the two of them like outcasts. In-fact, they were the two brothers that always bullied them when they were kids. But it was more than just teasing that a stereotypical bully would do.
One thing Wario and Waluigi would do was they would often steal something from Mario and Luigi. When they were all in kindergarten, they would often steal toys they were playing with and would simply laugh at them while they cried and begged them to give their toys back (which they never did). In middle school, they often stole their lunch for school, leaving them with nothing to eat. In high school, they would even steal money from them and would never give it back. They never even got into trouble for it, even when Mario and Luigi would report them to a teacher/council manager/principle/police officers.
Another thing they would often do would pick fights with them, and during the end of each fight, poor Mario and Luigi would end up with a bloody nose or a black eye. Despite Wario and Waluigi being the one who always started the fights, it was Mario and Luigi who got into trouble. Whenever their fights took place at school, they always wounded up in detention (Luigi even got suspended once). Whenever the fight took place at the orphanage, they were sent to bed without dinner.
But even after when they all grew up and moved out of the orphanage, their rivalry never ended. If anything, it grew! In-fact, Wario and Waluigi were the ones who owned the shop that had been stealing all of Mario and Luigi's customers. And it was because of them that theirs was about to run out of business. It was because of them they weren't making the money they needed to pay their mortgage. It was because of them Mario and Luigi were about to lose their home.
"Get out of here!" Luigi snapped at them, he was no mood for nonsense from these two.
"What do you two want!?" retorted Mario.
"Oh nothing," Wario smiled sinisterly, leaning against the shop wall. "Just stopping by to say hello to some old childhood friends."
"So- got any 'vacation plans'?" Waluigi asked suspiciously.
"No!" Luigi said sharply. "And why the hell do you ask that?"
"Oh, just curious." Waluigi replied with a sinister smile.
Mario didn't buy it. "Oh please, how stupid do you think we are!?" he questioned.
"Pretty stupid." Wario smirked.
"Oh yea!" Luigi snapped. "Well... maybe we're not as stupid as you think!"
"Weeh, heeh, heeh. So, you ARE stupid." Waluigi countered.
Luigi growled furiously.
"We might not be the smartest people in the world," Mario retorted. "But Luigi's right, we're not as stupid as you think! We know you're up to something!" He then pointed a finger at them accusingly. "Were you guys spying on us again!?"
"Us? Spying on you? Why we'd never!" Wario said, trying to sound innocent but failing miserably at doing so. "We weren't spying on you."
"Yea!" Waluigi said. "How DARE you accuse us of something like that! We weren't spying on you!"
"Oh really!?" Mario questioned. "Then why were you two standing outside of our shop just as we were leaving?" he asked, crossing his arms.
"Because we were spying on you guys when we overheard you guys say that you've been to the Mushroom King-" Waluigi was cut off when Wario slapped him on the back of his head. "Ow!" he cried, and rubbed his sore head.
"You idiot!" Wario snapped at him. "I TOLD you NOT to tell them what we're up to!"
"AHA!" Luigi yelled. "I KNEW it! You WERE spying on us!"
"No we weren't!" Wario lied.
"Then why did Waluigi just say you WERE!?" Mario accused angrily.
"Don't listen to him!" Wario said. "He doesn't know what he's talking about!"
"Yes I do!" Waluigi protested. Wario slapped him on the back of his head again. "Ow!" Waluigi cried.
"SHUT UP you idiot!" Wario yelled angrily.
Mario glared angrily at them, then he suddenly remembered what Waluigi had said when Wario had cut him off. "Wait a minute," he interrupted. "Was Waluigi about to say, 'you heard us say that we've been to the Mushroom Kingdom'?"
Luigi looked towards Mario. "The Mushroom Kingdom?" he asked, he turned back towards Wario and Waluigi. "Is that what this is all about?"
Wario and Waluigi's eyes winded a bit. "What?" Wario said sarcastically. "No way. We didn't hear you say anything like that." He then slapped Waluigi on the back of his head again.
"Ow!" Waluigi wailed.
"RIGHT!?" Wario questioned angrily.
"Huh? Oh- right." Waluigi stuttered. "Nope. We didn't hear you say anything about the Mushroom Kingdom. Not at all!"
Mario looked over to Luigi and nodded. Luigi understood what he meant and nodded back. Wario and Waluigi were never really the sharpest crayons in the box, so it was pretty easy to fool them. Mario huffed and said, "Well- because we didn't say anything about the Mushroom Kingdom in there."
"Yea. We were- talking about our financial issues." Luigi said, which- to be fair, was partially true.
"LIAR!" snapped Wario. "We heard you guys specifically say that you've been to the Mushroom Kingdom and we-"
"HA!" Mario interrupted. "You admit it!"
This time, it was Waluigi's turn to slap Wario. "Ow!" Wario yelped.
"Way to go genius!" Waluigi said sarcastically. "Now they know what we're up to!"
Wario just growled at Waluigi as he rubbed his sore head, before he turned towards to Mario and Luigi again, who just stared at him with angry looks. "Alright- fine. You caught us!" he admitted. "Yes, we were spying on you! We know the Mushroom Kingdom is real and we know that you guys have been there before! Now tell us where it is!" he demanded.
"Why should we?" Mario questioned angrily.
"Yea," added Luigi. "Why do you two even want to know where it is!?"
"That's none of your business!" Waluigi replied angrily.
"Well then we're not telling you anything!" Luigi said sharply.
"Alright! I've had enough!" Wario retorted. He then grabbed Luigi by the collar violently.
"Luigi!" Mario gasped out in horror, he reached his hand out to Luigi as Wario lifted him up, but fear held him back. He had, after all, fought Wario before and never won. Wario was much stronger than him and would easily beat him if he started a fight.
"Tell us where the Mushroom Kingdom is," Wario said, raising a fist threatening to punch him, "and I might show you mercy!" Luigi said nothing, all he did was gulp in fear and shrunk his head back into his shirt a little. "Very well then." Wario smirked, and he launched his fist forward. Luigi shut his eyes.
That was all it took for something to snap inside of him. "LEAVE MY BROTHER ALONE!" Mario shouted, and without thinking, punched Wario hard in the stomach. Wario wailed in pain and released Luigi as he clenched his stomach. Mario's eyes widened as he suddenly realized what he just did. A mixture of guilt and fear engulfed him. "Wario! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to-" Wario growled furiously and charged towards him. He didn't have enough time to react as Wario slammed his elbow into him, knocking him to the ground.
Mario blacked out for a moment before regaining consciousness. Laying his back against the sand, he looked up to see Wario growling furiously. "You shouldn't have done that pal!" he snapped. "Now you're about to get the beating of a life time!" Wario raised a fist and charged at him again. Everything slowed down for Mario as Wario was bringing down his fist. No, you're not going to hurt me and Luigi this time!
He narrowed his eyes, filled with determination, and rolled out of the way just in time! Wario's fist collided with the sand as Mario leaped up and stood on his feet again.
Wario looked over towards Mario and growled. He charged again and threw another punch forward at Mario, but Mario leaped out of the way and dodged it. Wario threw another punch forward, Mario just swayed to his left and once again dodged the punch. Wario threw a third punch forward, causing Mario to limbo under his fist and this time, not only did he dodge the attack, he managed to perform a counter attack by kicking his foot upward at an incredible speed hitting Wario directly under his chin, causing him to fall backwards and land on the ground.
Because he was in a limbo position, kicking his foot upwards like that would have made Mario fall on his back too, but he quickly back-flipped to avoid that and he landed perfectly upright on his feet.
Wario growled furiously as he got up. "That's it!" he yelled. "Now you're gonna get it!" He charged forward again and threw yet another punch at Mario, Mario swayed to his right and once again dodged the attack. Wario threw another punch forward, causing Mario to limbo underneath it and back-flip to gain some distance. Just as he landed on his feet, Wario charged at him again and threw a punch vertically from below, which Mario quickly swerved left to avoid resulting in him coming straight forward and threw a punch of his own forward, hitting Wario right in the face.
Before Wario had a chance to recover, Mario arched his right fist behind his head and threw it forward hitting Wario hard in the stomach. Then he used his other hand to punch vertically upward and hit Wario's stomach a second time. Finally, he clamped both of his fists together and swung them vertically upward, hitting Wario directly under his chin, causing him to fall on his back again.
Wario's face went red with anger as he got up, steam hissed out of his ears like a steam locomotive. But before he could do anything, Mario ran over to him and threw yet another vertical punch upward, hitting Wario on the left side of his face. He swung another punch horizontally, hitting Wario on the right side of his face. Then, Mario arched both of his fists behind him and threw them both in many directions at such an incredible speed that it looked like he had at least twenty fists hitting Wario at once! Finally, Mario pulled back both his fist, crouched down for a brief moment, and preformed a super jump punch directly under Wario's chin. Wario fell back several feet and landed on his belly.
Mario landed on his feet and glared at his fallen opponent.
Waluigi ran over to Wario and helped him up. "H-how?" Wario said, groaning in pain.
"How what?" Mario asked.
"How did you become so strong?
Mario's eyes widen in realization. He had just beaten Wario in a fight! He'd never been able to do that before! Wario was always much stronger than him. How did he become so strong? Then he suddenly remembered.
The sacred power ups!
In his quest to rescue Peach, Kinoko Sennin told him that he had to obtain three items (the super mushroom, the fire flower, and the starman) called the sacred power ups. They held unusual power and were created to give the chosen ones of the prophecy, him and Luigi, the power they needed to save the Mushroom Kingdom from evil. During his final battle with Bowser, Mario ate the sacred power ups to give him the power to defeat the evil Koopa King.
Their power must still be inside me, he thought. He looked back at Wario and said, "Let's just say I'm not as weak and helpless as I used to be." He then turned to Luigi. "Come on Luigi, let's go home."
As the two of them walked up the stairs to their front door, they heard Wario call out to them. "You may have won this time Mario, but mark my words! We know the Mushroom Kingdom is real and we're gonna find it one way or another!" He angrily waved his fist in the air. "And when we do, you'll rue this day I tell ya! You hear me? RRRRRRRRUUUUUUUUEEEEEEEE!"
Mario and Luigi just ignored him. They opened their front door and walked inside, slamming the door behind them.
Waluigi turned towards Wario. "Now what genius!?" he questioned. "You're plan to make them tell us where to find the Mushroom Kingdom didn't work. And now they know what we're up to and they're never gonna tell us."
"It's your fault!" Wario argued.
"How is it my fault!?"
"You were the one who told them we were spying on them! After I specifically told you NOT to tell them what we're up to!" Wario replied angrily.
"Oh yea!? Well you're the one who told them we heard them say that they've been to the Mushroom Kingdom!" Waluigi countered.
"You told them first!" Wario countered.
"I did not!"
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
Mario slammed the door behind him and sighed. "Man, I hate those guys." he said, and walked through their hallway.
Luigi just stood by their front door. He was still a little shaken by what just happened. He could have been seriously hurt back there. He could have had a bloody nose, or a black eye right now, or worse. But Mario had prevented that. He had defeated Wario and saved him. But- Mario had never been able to do that before. Every time they fought Wario and Waluigi, they always lost. At last he looked up and said, "H-how did you do that?"
"Do what?" asked Mario.
"Beat Wario in a fight." Luigi replied. "You've never been that strong before."
Mario didn't say anything for a moment, then he shrugged and said, "I think it was because I still had the power of the sacred power ups inside of me."
"Oh." Luigi said and looked down. He then took a deep breath and said, "Well... thanks... for saving me back there."
Mario smiled. "You're my brother Luigi." he said. "That's what brothers do. We look out for each other." And continued down the hallway.
Luigi froze when he heard Mario say that.
Brothers.
He looked down towards the floor in thought.
Memories of what he said to Mario back at the shop came back to him: How would YOU know anything about family love!? We grew up in an orphanage for nearly 20 years, no one ever showed us family love. No one stepping into the orphanage cared to adopt us. No one in the orphanage treated us like family. Heck, for all we know our birth parents didn't even want us!
They gave us to an orphanage when we were just babies! And for all we know, our mother probably got pregnant with us by accident! Our birth parents probably both decided to get drunk one night and got carried away with people they didn't even know! We could be bastards for all we know!
No one wanted us. No one cared about us. No one loved us. Love isn't real.
All his life he had never believed in love. Why should he? Growing up, no one ever did love or care about him. His birth parents gave him up when he was just a baby, no adult who came to the orphanage to adopt a child ever wanted to adopt him, all the other kids treated him like an outcast, even his guardian would sometimes slap and hit him whenever he did something wrong (although it was really Wario and Waluigi who did something bad and got him into trouble when he never did anything wrong.) Everyone hated him... except... Mario.
Whenever he was feeling down, Mario would always try to comfort him. Whenever other kids (most notably Wario and Waluigi) were picking on him, Mario would try to stand up for him (which often led to them beating him and Luigi up.) Whenever he was feeling bored, Mario would try to play with him.
"That's what brothers do. We look out for each other." he repeated quietly to himself. Mario had always been there for him. Brothers look out for each other because they're family.
Was he wrong? Was family love real? Was love real?
No, he thought. That's stupid. it can't be true! Love isn't real! People in relationships break up all the time. And... brothers and sisters fight all the time! Mario and I certainly do. That isn't brotherly love, Luigi told himself. Is it?
He and Mario did have arguments from time to time (like the one they just had in the shop), true that, but no matter how many times they did argue, they were still there for each other. He always thought that love was just a myth, but now...
Now I'm not so sure.
He let out a long breath, he could feel his body feeling a bit unclean. It was all too much. Too confusing. He hated it. It was all so stupid.
Love wasn't real. If it was, then why did his parents abandon him? Why did no one want to adopt him? Why did his guardian beat him from time to time even when he did nothing wrong? Why did he and Mario sometimes argue? He felt a lump in his throat and swallowed it. Perhaps-
"Luigi?" Mario's voice interrupted his thoughts. Luigi looked up to see his brother standing by the door that led to their living room. "You okay?"
"Oh yea, I'm fine." Luigi cringed slightly. He hated lying, especially to himself.
"Okay then." Mario said, and went into the living room. Luigi looked down again and sighed.
Why am I thinking about this, he asked himself. Even if Mario had always been there for me, that doesn't mean anything. Love isn't real.
He looked up and went to join Mario in the living room. Deep inside though, he wasn't so sure.
"A little to the left." Wario said.
"Gah," Waluigi quivered. "Which left? Your left or my left?"
"My left." Wario replied rudely. Waluigi shifted Wario to the left (Which was his right).
This was poorly planned, Waluigi thought to himself. Wario's new plan to find the Mushroom Kingdom was to continue to spy on Mario and Luigi to find out more information. The only problem was, Mario and Luigi lived in a two-story house. Their garage took up the entire first floor, so all the actual rooms were located on the second floor, and all the second story windows were too high for Wario and Waluigi to reach on their own.
Wario decided that one of them should stand on the other's shoulders so the one on top could reach the second story windows. And Waluigi had to be the one to carry Wario on his shoulders. Poor Waluigi's back was aching so much from Wario's heavy weight on his shoulders. He decided to lean his back more on the wall of the Mario Bros' house to sturdy himself more. It helped, but not much.
"You really need to lay off on all the garlic." he groaned.
"Oh shut up and quite complaining already!" Wario retorted and peered in through the window into Mario and Luigi's living room.
"Do you see them?" Waluigi asked.
"Yes." replied Wario. "It looks like they're watching a movie."
Waluigi quivered. "Hhhnnnnnnnnng. How can you be so sure that this plan is going to work?" he asked for the umpteenth time.
"Trust me. It'll work." said Wario. "We just have to wait until one of them says where the Mushroom Kingdom is."
"Yea, and how long will that take?" Waluigi questioned, fearing that he might have to hold Wario up like this for several hours (or even longer.) His back already felt like it was about to break.
"I don't know! Now shut up!" Wario snapped. "I'm trying to listen."
Waluigi groaned. "Can we at least take turns being the one on top?" he asked hopefully.
"NO!" Wario yelled. Waluigi sighed disappointed.
"Where's the goat?" asked Lex. Suddenly, a piece of the goat's leg landed right on the car's roof. Lex, Gennaro, and Timmy all gasped in horror. They heard the electric wires on the fence creak a bit and looked to see a reptilian hand with two claws stroking the 'Danger: High Voltage' sign before it pulled away and disappeared. There was a loud growl, they looked up and saw a sight that sent shivers down their spines. There, they saw the head of a huge Tyrannosaurus Rex. The giant predator swallowed the remains of the goat before turning its head towards the car.
Luigi and Mario were watching a movie on their new HD flat screen TV Luigi had bought them with the gold coins he had collected from their adventure in the Mushroom Kingdom. It was much nicer than their old TV, which was just and old-fashioned TV that was shaped like a box and had two antennas sticking out of the top. Luigi had even bought them a brand-new couch blue that had three cushions on it for them to sit on. It was much comfier than their old rocking chair.
Luigi shivered. "Ugh, this scene gives me the creeps."
Mario chuckled. "Well I don't really blame you. I'd certainly would hate to run into a live T. rex."
The fence creaked and groaned as the giant Tyrannosaurus Rex ripped off the last few wires. Lightning flashed through the rainy night, and thunder roared all around them. The T. Rex took one giant step forward, then another giant step onto the road, and another giant step, and went- RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW! "Boy do I hate being right all the time." whispered Ian to Grant. HARAAAAAAAOOOOOOORAAAAAAAWWW, the T. Rex roared again.
"Kinda makes you wonder though." said Luigi.
"What?"
"What it would be like to see a real live Dinosaur." Luigi replied.
"Yea. It does." was all Mario could say.
The T. Rex purred calmly as it peered its eye into the car's window. Lex cautiously shined her flashlight into the giant killer's eye. The T. rex's eye pupil shrunk from the bright light. It growled again and lifted its head up. Tim and Lex just stared at each other in horror, before turning their heads back to the massive predator outside. The T. Rex took a deep breath, and went- RAAAAWWW-HARAAAAAAAOOOOOOORAAAAWWW! Tim and Lex covered their ears to avoid becoming deaf from the T. Rex's loud bone-chilling roar.
"What DO you think it would be like to see real live Dinosaurs?" Luigi asked.
"You know," Mario began, placing his fingers under his chin in thought, "I'm not sure." He paused briefly before putting his hand down, shrugged and said, "Probably be all like 'oooooh aaaaaah' at first and later on turn into 'running and screaming'."
"Yea," Luigi said. "Probably."
"HEY!" Grant shouted, waving a red flare in his hand. The T. Rex looked towards him and went- RAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOWWW. It's bone chilling roar echoed. Grant froze and nervously stepped back.
Suddenly, the TV flashed and turned off.
"What the-" Mario gasped.
"Aw man!" Luigi groaned. "We were just about to get to the best part!"
Mario just stared at the TV. He couldn't shake the feeling that he had seen this before. It can't be, he thought. He tried not to get his hopes up, but it was no use.
He heard Luigi mumbling to himself and looked over to him to see him fiddling with the remote. "Come on, COME ON!" he growled, rapidly pressing the power button on the clicker. At first nothing happened, but then, the TV screen started to glow.
Mario gasped. It is, he thought.
Finally, the glowing subsided, and there on the TV screen staring at Mario and Luigi was a VERY familiar woman with long blond hair, ocean blue eyes, pink lipstick on her lips, a gold crown on her head, a pink dress, and a diamond necklace wrapped around her neck. "Mario? Luigi? Can you two hear me?" she asked.
Both Mario and Luigi's jaws dropped. "P-p-p-PRINCESS PEACH!?" they both exclaimed.
And there you have it folks. Phew, this chapter was an absolute NIGHTMARE to write! I apologize that this chapter took so long, I knew that this chapter would be somewhat difficult to write but I never thought I would be struggling with it for SIX months (seriously, I've been struggling to write this chapter since May!) Often times I had huge difficulty trying to write some good dialogue, most the time the dialogue felt either rushed or forced and I wasn't happy with it. In the end, I think this chapter turned out alright, not perfect like I was hoping it would, but not bad.
This chapter was also originally going to be longer, but I decided that this was a good spot to end things off. So the ending I had originally planned for this chapter will be featured at the begining of the next chapter instead.
What do you think of my portrayal on Mario and Luigi? Is it good? Does it feel forced? As I said in the prologue, part of this fanfic's story is based on Kung Fu Panda 2. The reason I chose to write the bros like this is because we've never actually seen or heard anything about Mario and Luigi's parents before, and I wanted to include a back story for the bros about their childhood and their parents (if you've seen Kung Fu Panda 2, I think you can get a pretty good idea). And it will also help their character development.
And yes, I am also including Wario and Waluigi in this story. I am doing this for two reasons. One: I wanted this fanfic to tie in more with the games. Two: since the majority of this fanfic's story is based on the 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series special, Half Shell Hero's: Blast To The Past, I needed two characters to play the roles of Beebop and Rocksteady, and, well, they were the first two characters that came to mind. If you don't like how I portrayed Mario and Luigi, then I hope you like how a portrayed Wario and Waluigi, because they were the most fun to write. I changed the color of their outfits slightly to fit them with the anime movie more (since Mario and Luigi have different color schemes in the anime movie than in the games.) I am also proud to announce that there will also be more modern day Mario characters in this fanfic. I won't say which ones they are, however, one of them IS hinted in this chapter, can you guess who (before you say it, NO it is NOT Princess Peach)?
The idea of the Mario bros struggling to pay their mortgage was inspired by an episode from the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series called "Touch and Go", where Raphael meets an old blind lady who's struggling to pay her mortgage and the bank has threatened to kick her out of her house.
Mario reading one of the Railway Series books at the begining is a little reference to my upcoming Thomas The Tank Engine fanfic series (Yes, I'm 19 years old and I still watch Thomas. Go ahead and make fun of me if you want, I honestly don't fucking care.)
And then finally, the movie Mario and Luigi watch at the end is a little reference to my all time favorite movie (can you guess what it is?).
Feel free to comment and critique this story. I appreciate your feedback and would love to hear your ideas on how to make this story better.
Why has Princess Peach called our heros? How much longer will Waluigi be able to hold Wario up like that? What happened to the T. rex and Edmontosaurus in the first chapter? Find out in the next exciting chapter of Super mario Bros: Back From The Jurassic!
