A/N: Thank you so much for reading! Weirdly enough, my favorite character to write is Waluigi, haha! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter!
Mario gulped as he noticed Pauline's grip on her purse doubled, crunching the leather and pulling the straps against her shoulder. Though her face was calm and she was silent, he could feel the silent discomfort radiating through her distant stare at Waluigi's door in front of them. He nervously cleared his throat and finally found the courage to break through the sour silence.
"Are you…are you sure you want to be here? I could have come alone," he gently reassured.
He flinched as her cold eyes shot towards him. Just like the rest of her demeanor, her glare unemotional, but something about the vacancy within her eyes made his skin crawl. Whatever emotion was subtly seeping out of her was more than enough to make him quietly cower away from her.
"Of course I do, don't I look thrilled to be back in this place?" She asked through clenched teeth.
Mario nervously pulled on his collar as his eyes diverted back towards the entrance. She sighed as she tried to cover up her growing anxiety.
"I wouldn't want you here alone. You don't know what he's like around those who are even slightly vulnerable," she muttered.
Mario nodded in agreement before digesting her words.
"You…you think I'm vulnerable?" Mario quietly asked with an insecure frown.
Pauline's nervousness fell behind a facade as her blank stare quickly morphed into a wide, welcoming smile as Waluigi finally attended to the door, though it still seeped venom. He swung it open loudly, the back rattling against his building's wall and shaking a few paintings behind him. He didn't seem to care, and instead flashed a wide, toothy grin towards the fellow humans.
"Mornin'!" The detective hollered through his teeth, as a large, fat cigar sat between them. He lowered the cigar and tapped it in the air, the ashes landing the tips of Mario's shoes.
Mario gulped and anxiously took a step away but was held in place by Pauline's strict grip around his wrist.
"C'mon in. Make sure to wipe your feet off before ya go rummaging through my stuff. Don't want ya trailing in any koopa filth."
The two awkwardly muttered their greetings as they walked into the building and hesitantly wiped their feet against the large doormat that seemed filthier than the streets.
Just as they had before, the two made their way over to the maroon couch and sat down in front of his large wooden desk. The couch's fabric was scratchy and old, and seemed to suck you deeper into the cushion the second you sat against it, and was anything but comfortable.
Waluigi muttered under his breath as he read something scribbled on a paper, dragging his cigar with him. The smoke trailed behind him as he headed towards his desk. Mario and Pauline coughed as the smoke was sour and pungent; it was clearly not a substance made for human consumption.
Waluigi fell into his chair with a loud creak. He leaned back, took a large puff of his cigar, and smiled.
"Just like old times, eh?" He hummed with a smirk. He paused "Though the only difference is ya got your 'lil pet with ya all the time now. What is he? Emotional support animal?" He laughed with a small nod towards Mario. "Haven't seen ya without 'em yet."
Pauline rolled her eyes and cut him off before Mario could react.
"Why did you tell us to come here? Is it really so urgent you couldn't let us know by mail?"
"Feisty as always," he laughed with a winded cough. He paused for another puff before continuing. "Mail is always monitored by her highness 'n her goons. I'm assumin' you don't want her knowin' as much as we do, isn't that right?" He asked with a small, cocky smile.
Pauline nervously nodded. She held her breath, subtly bothered by the power he held in their situation.
"You have my secrecy for now, 'least 'till she buys it off me. Ya have till then, sweetheart," he cooed.
"If I only have so much time to confide in you, you best tell me why we're here then," she grumbled.
He nodded.
"Wanted to fill you twos in with a few things: number one, I've been keepin' my eyes on the so-called phantom's murder cases. Been on the lookout for bodies showin' up. Assumin' you two are aware of his antics?"
Both visitors nodded in discomfort.
"Well, the freak hasn't killed a single person this month. Spooked a few, sure…but no bodies showin' up. Ever since Peach Toadstool has been under his care, he's been clean. Odd, ain't it? Considering how often he used to practically kill for sport."
He frowned and leaned towards the two.
"I worry this phantom of ours is more distracted with Toadstool than we think. For better or for worse…eh, at least he isn't as aware of his surroundin's because of her."
Mario dropped his face into his hands out of pure discomfort. Pauline sighed and patted him on the back. Waluigi arched a brow at his reaction but did not seem interested in his worry.
"Eh, him being preoccupied with his little playdate with Taodstool means now is the best time ta make our move. I found a volunteer who'll go under himself. Experienced, will get the job done, unlike those idiot guards who can't even get a look at 'em without cryin'. Not anytime soon, probably next month when he's back from his royal guard duties. Idiot's busy boot lickin' for the queen."
"Who would be stupid enough to do that?" Pauline asked. It seemed too good to be true to find someone willing to risk their life for a commoner human.
"My brother. Sad 'ol sack could use a side hustle. He'll be fine…if not, I'll get a pretty penny from his life insurance," he snickered with an inhale of his cigar. Pauline and Mario squirmed as they tried to decipher whether or not he was joking, but their discomfort only made his squeaky laughter grow, so they forced an awkward laugh along with him.
Finally, he continued. "Your missing friend. Tell me, what do you know about her?"
Mario and Pauline thought to themselves for a few moments. Through the awkward silence, Mario nervously raised his hand and cleared his throat.
"I- well-" His voice cracked as he felt their eyes focus on him. He continued awkwardly. "She is from the Mushroom Kingdom. She's about 5'5, blonde hair, blue eyes…"
The detective cut him off with a puff of smoke blown directly into his face.
"Not her looks, lover boy. Who is she."
Mario coughed as he swiped the thick smoke out of his face with an embarrassed scowl.
He quickly lowered his hand back into his lap with an apologetic nod. For whatever reason, he was terrified of setting off the detective and Pauline, who was practically vibrating from anxiety during the entire conversation. He held his breath as he shrunk further into the couch.
Pauline thought to herself for a few moments as she tried to gather any information she had on the missing human. Her eyes fell to the tips of her heels as she tried to think of something, anything, that defined Peach as a person outside of what Kingdom she came from and what hobbies she enjoyed.
"I…well, I can't say I can think of anything," she whispered in shocked defeat. "I suppose I never asked many things of her."
She leaned back into her chair, trying to pull away from Waluigi, as he broke out into shrill laughter that rattled the inside of her skull. He crushed his cigar into an empty cup, smothering the heat as the smoke trailed towards the ceiling, and looked up at her with an amused smirk.
"Well, sweetheart, ya have something in common with the entire Mushroom Kingdoms' records: there's no information on that girl. It's like she doesn't exist."
He tossed a dirty folder onto the desk between the two, its corner bursting with lazily filed papers, and its brown surface covered in dark, mysterious stains.
"I got m'hands on a one-to-one rendition of the Mushroom Kingdom's lineage records…Give-or-take. That 'lil kingdom is known for many rotten things…but, they sure do keep intense records of everyone. Royal, common: everyone who was born in that cruddy kingdom should be listed in 'ere," he angrily rambled as he loudly tapped his finger against the file. "Yet, 'lil miss Toadstool is redacted from every record I dug up."
Mario's face fell at the man's implications.
Peach's identity…didn't exist? Or, rather, wasn't recorded anywhere?
For whatever reason, the file in front of him sent a chill down his spine as he couldn't think of any good reason why someone would erase their identity from the world. What could she possibly be on the run from, or, rather, what had she done that she needed hidden from the world?
Or, was the lack of her presence something insignificant? Mario's brow furrowed, as Waluigi didn't seem the type to fixate on information unless it led him closer to his payday. What trail of information was he chasing after?
Pauline, on the other hand, stared at him in suspicion, not yet sold by his confident words, as she stared at him with her arms tightly crossed against her chest.
"That girl is nowhere to be seen. Go ahead, take a look," he beckoned. "Prove me wrong."
He shoved the file towards the two with an attentive scowl.
Pauline's hands nervously twitched as she reached for the papers and pulled them in front of the two. She carefully opened the file on the table and spread out the papers far enough to view everything at once. Mario was too nervous to help her and instead watched attentively.
Once spread across the table, the papers lined up to illustrate a giant, literal lineage tree; a colorless illustration of a large, bountiful tree spread across the paper, its branches and leaves covered in thousands of names trailing and spreading out in every direction; it seemed to define hundreds of separate families and how they connected to the Mushroom Kingdom. Waluigi was right, it listed names from countless backgrounds and origins: royal, common...everything!
The writing was small and hardly readable, especially through the impressive drawing's details. Their eyes squinted, trying to make out the messy, finely-written cursive.
Waluigi shifted in his chair as he leaned towards them.
"Her name should be towards the bottom if she were on record," he added as their eyes were clearly overwhelmed from the amount of text. "The real human lineage is actually on a wall in their castle, so the illustration is just a rushed copy. Best I could get for ya on such short notice."
The two visitors ignored his shrill voice as their eyes trailed towards the bottom of the illustration and looked for their missing friend. They leaned over the papers and trailed their fingers over each person's last name, each covering their respective half of the diagram.
The longer they looked, the more the air pressure tightened around them as the sneaking suspicion that he was right crept onto them. Mario, especially, could feel his sweat dripping onto the paper beneath him.
Waluigi leaned towards the two as he eagerly awaited their findings.
Pauline nudged Mario in the arm as she directed his eyes towards the tips of her fingers tracing the name "Toadstool."
A rush of relief crashed over Mario as he didn't realize how stiff his posture had become; he let out a long, deep breath of reassurance at the familiar name, however, his rigid composure returned as both noticed what sat underneath the family name:
"She's not here," Pauline whispered under her breath in surprise.
"It's…It's only her father," Mario added.
"Father?" Waluigi asked in a sickening amount of interest. "Living, I presume?"
Pauline hesitated but gave a small nod. His eyes lit up.
"Tell ya what. I'll give ya two some homework: go interview that father of hers; ask him about his daughter. Send 'em my way if he's difficult, I have my ways of gettin' what I need."
That was Pauline's breaking point as her eyes subtly widened. She abruptly stood up, snatched Mario's arm, and pulled him to his feet. Mario still seemed to still be desperately searching for Peach's name, as he stumbled over his footing the second he was pulled off of the couch, gulping as he noticed the flames returning to Pauline's eyes.
Waluigi's eyes trailed the two with smug interest.
"We'll be on our way now," Pauline dryly muttered. "Unless you have anything else you need to inform us of."
Waluigi's face spread into a cheeky smile as his eye twitched.
"We'll be in touch. Take those papers with you. Read 'em, study 'em, hell, use 'em to wipe, doesn't matter to me."
Mario snatched the papers under his arm as he struggled to keep up with Pauline's hasty desire to leave the stuffy room. He dropped a few papers under the desk as his hands shook in anxiety, though once he finally managed to get his hands on everything, the two headed for the door without a look towards Waluigi who stared at them in sick amusement.
Pauline began to shut the door behind her, eager to escape his creeping glares, but before it closed, she felt Waluigi's eyes crawl onto her one more time, muttering one final warning before she angrily slammed the door shut:
"I doubt this girl is what you think she is."