(A/N: Did I really take this story to Chapter 3?! I honestly didn't see the story having this many chapters when I got the idea for it, but that's always how it is when I actually write these things! Okay, let's read on and find out what happens!)
"All right. So what do you need to tell us?" Martha politely asked the plumbers, breaking the silence.
"If you boys have come here to repair the plumbing problem, that won't be necessary. We called a different plumbing company to take care of that weeks ago, right before that monster appeared and tried to destroy the city." Elmore told the group.
Mario felt upset when he heard that, because he was trying to figure out just how to explain to Elmore and Martha what went on when he and Luigi had shown up to fix the dripping faucet. And Francis was right there in the room, too. This whole thing got more nerve-wracking than he feared. How could he and Luigi ever explain this?!
Peach noticed Mario's worry, and she gently placed her hand on top of his. Mario noticed, and he slowly took her hand in his, hoping that's what he was supposed to do. The princess didn't try to pull her hand away from him, which was a good thing, because holding her small, delicate hand gave him the courage he needed to find his voice. He finally cleared his throat and said, "Luigi and I... are here to explain why we... botched the job..."
"Martha and I have been wondering about that. After all, you did tell the both of us that you do not make messes; you fix them." Elmore recalled.
Luigi hesitantly took the princess's other hand, and when he realized that she wasn't protesting, he said, "We... we didn't think... you would want to hear it... or even... give us the chance to explain... Not after what you witnessed... when you came upstairs..."
"Well, after seeing how you boys saved Brooklyn from being completely destroyed by that monster and his awful minions, we're more than willing to listen to your side of the story and find out what happened up there. Isn't that right, Elmore?" Martha asked, turning to look at her husband. Elmore nodded in agreement.
Mario took a deep breath and said, "The drip was super easy to fix, ma'am. In fact, we had the job completed in seconds. We were done working in there before you could say, 'Mama-mia'." Mario said.
"Really? You boys repaired the problem that quick?" Elmore asked.
Mario and Luigi nodded their heads, and Elmore said, "Now that's service!" Even Martha looked surprised to hear that the job had been completed so fast.
"But before we could go downstairs... and tell you that we had already finished the job... Francis came into the bathroom." Luigi said.
"And guess what? Francis was mad at Luigi." Mario said.
"Francis was mad at you? Why would he be mad?" Martha asked gently.
"Because... you're not going to believe this... I accidentally... stepped on Francis' bone... and broke it. The key word here is 'accidentally'." Luigi told them.
"What? When did you break his bone?" asked Elmore.
"Seconds before we entered the bathroom... to begin the plumbing job..." Luigi replied, too nervous to look at Martha and Elmore. He turned his gaze to Princess Peach, who gave him a small smile of reassurance and mouthed the words, "You're going to be fine."
"And then what happened?" asked Martha.
Mario and Luigi sighed. It was time for the hard part. But the princess gave them the courage they needed by just being there and allowing them to hold her hands.
"Francis was about to attack Luigi... so I had to intervene. I wasn't going to let the dog maul my brother... over something that the two of you could easily replace... And the reason you didn't know anything was wrong... is because Francis closed the door... so you wouldn't hear the commotion... and come running upstairs... to save us from your dog's wrath." Mario said.
"And Francis' attempt to attack us... is what made a mess of the plumbing... and your bathroom... We're so very sorry..." Luigi said, looking sorry and sad.
"Francis wanted to rip out Luigi's throat... over a simple bone... and he wanted to do the same thing to me... because I was trying to save my twin brother from... from losing his life." Mario said. The thought of losing his twin brother, his other half, made Mario feel very sad, and Peach gave him a look of sympathy. She didn't like seeing her friends upset.
Martha and Elmore were shocked at this information. They sternly looked at Francis and in equally stern voices, they asked him, "Is this true?!"
Francis looked guilty when he saw the way his owners looked at him and heard the way they spoke to him. He could not deny that he had done what Mario and Luigi claimed. Seeing the guilty look on his face told Elmore and Martha that the Mario Bros. were telling them the truth. Their nervousness about Francis being right there in the room was proof enough of that.
Mario then explained how he trapped Francis in the shower, and that was when all hell broke loose. The dog's attack was what wrecked the plumbing. Luigi also told the couple how when they ducked to avoid Francis leaping at them to attack them when he escaped from the shower, he went out the window.
"Even though he tried to attack us, it wouldn't be right for us to let Francis get himself killed. And we know you would have blamed us for his death." Mario said.
"So we caught him. That's why you saw him stuck to Mario's plunger when you came up to check on us. But at least we saved him from falling to his death." Luigi explained.
"I was just trying to lighten things with a joke. I know you two didn't find it funny, because it was actually pretty stupid. But we didn't know how we were going to explain to you what went on." Mario finished.
Martha and Elmore knew that if they had found Francis dead, they most likely would have blamed Mario and Luigi for the death of their beloved dog. But they knew that they owed the Mario Bros. for saving their dog's life, in spite of what he'd tried to do to them.
"Okay, I'll admit that we deserve the blame for what happened to our bathroom. We really should have thought to keep Francis downstairs with us while you were up there, so that he wouldn't get in the way of your work." Martha replied.
"Every pet owner who needs repairs made on their house should be smart enough to keep their pets out of the way of the people who come to make repairs." Elmore said.
"But if you had also thought to just tell us about Francis' bone before you went to work, we could've fixed the problem with Francis right then, because there is a trick to make Francis less wary of strange people in the house." Martha added.
"We weren't even going to be here that long. Francis kept us longer than we anticipated." Mario replied. However, it did make him feel glad that Martha and Elmore dealt with Francis being wary before, and that they knew how to resolve the problem.
"But seeing that you're still nervous about being here, being near him, Martha and I know how to remedy the problem, and we're going to do it right now." said Elmore, standing up. He then said, "Francis!"
Francis stood up and looked up at his master.
"Milk-Bone." said Elmore.
The word 'Milk-Bone' had the most amazing effect on the dog. Francis suddenly looked happy and wagged his tail really hard.
"Please excuse us for a moment. We'll be right back." said Martha. She stood up, too, and she and Elmore walked out of the room with an excited-looking Francis following them.
"What do you suppose they're going to do?" Luigi asked, a little nervous.
"I don't know. Did you see how Francis reacted when his master said 'Milk-Bone'? It seemed to be a magic word of some sort." Mario replied.
"It's probably something that will resolve the problem with Francis." Peach said.
A minute or so later, Elmore and Martha returned. Elmore held a box of Milk-Bones, and Francis looked at the box with happiness, still wagging his tail.
"All right. Now everyone hold out a hand." said Elmore.
Mario and Luigi let go of the princess's hands, and the 3 of them all held out a hand. With that, Elmore placed a Milk-Bone in each of the waiting hands.
"Okay, now what?" Mario asked, looking at the dog treat in his hand.
"It's simple. Ask Francis to do a trick, then give him the Milk-Bone. He'll eat it, and you'll have a new friend for life after that." Martha replied.
"That's it? That's the extent of your instructions?" Luigi asked in disbelief.
"It works every time. Try it." Martha encouraged.
(A/N: Dad told me how his family taught this trick to people who came to see them after they got their German Shepherd dog. I know Francis isn't a German Shepherd, but I bet you can easily soften him (or any dog) with a Milk-Bone. Dad's story about that trick inspired this fanfic, so special thanks to my dad!)
When Luigi looked at Francis, all he could see was the look of malice the dog gave him when they were in the bathroom (thanks to his imagination), and he was too scared to try.
"You go first, Mario. I-I don't think I can do this." Luigi said, feeling nervous.
"All righty..." said Mario. But when he looked at Francis, he remembered how the dog tried to bite him when he was trying to save Luigi. It made him feel nervous.
"Princess, I really think you should go first. After all, ladies first." Mario suggested.
"Okay." said Peach. But before doing anything, she turned to Martha and Elmore and asked, "What kind of tricks does Francis know?"
Mario and Luigi could have slapped themselves for being so stupid! Why hadn't they thought to ask Elmore or Martha that question?
"He knows how to sit, speak, roll over, play dead, and shake hands." Elmore said.
"That sounds easy enough." Peach thought. She smiled and said, "All right. Thank you." She stood up, looked down at Francis, and said, "Francis!"
Francis looked at Peach.
"Sit." Peach commanded.
Francis sat down right away, eyes on the prize that Peach held over his head.
"Good boy. Here you go." said Peach, kneeling and giving Francis the Milk-Bone. Francis happily ate the treat, then he plunked his forepaws on Peach's chest, knocking her to the floor, and began licking her face.
"Easy there, boy!" Peach said, never having made friends with a dog before. This was something entirely new to her. But she laughed and petted the dog, glad to have made a new friend so easily.
"That's easy!" Mario exclaimed, seeing how easily the princess made friends with the dog. He stood up then, inspired to try his luck.
Once Francis had settled down, he allowed Peach to sit up. She stopped petting the dog and said, "Look, Francis. There's another Milk-Bone for you."
Francis looked at the treat in Mario's hand and looked at it like it was the greatest thing in the world.
"Francis, roll over." Mario said.
Francis eagerly rolled over.
"Here you go." Mario said, giving the dog his reward.
Francis ate the Milk-Bone, then he began to thank Mario the way he did Peach.
"Okay, okay!" Mario said in surprise, not expecting this kind of thank-you. But at least Francis wasn't trying to attack him. He seemed to have forgiven him for that because of the Milk-Bone. Now Mario was able to pet Francis, like Peach had done. In fact, she had resumed petting him after he ate the treat from Mario.
Luigi was the only one left. He was pleased to see that Francis was getting along with Peach and Mario, but he didn't think Francis would be willing to get along with him. Sure, Francis had given Luigi an affirming nod, showing he had probably dropped his grudge with Luigi for accidentally breaking his bone after Bowser was defeated, but who was to say that he'd take the Milk-Bone and thank him the way he did Mario and Peach?
"What am I gonna do?" Luigi thought, seeing that after Francis was done licking Mario's face, he was anxiously looking at the Milk-Bone he was holding. He was also wagging his tail, waiting for Luigi to give him a command.
Mario noticed his brother's nervousness. He stood up, moved over to Luigi, and whispered to him, "Try asking Francis to shake hands with you. I bet he'll do it, and that might help smooth things out between the two of you."
Luigi gulped, got down from the couch, and, holding out his other hand, said to the dog, "Francis... Sh-shake hands..."
Francis placed his paw in Luigi's hand, and Luigi was able to shake hands with the dog.
"Good dog." Luigi said, giving Francis the Milk-Bone. He watched as Francis ate the treat, and then he thanked Luigi for it by licking his face, the same way he did Mario and Peach.
"What did I tell you? It works every time." Martha smiled as she watched Francis shower the green-clad plumber in dog drool.
"You were right! You were right!" Luigi said, laughing partially in relief, but partially from the doggie kisses.
"Well, now you don't have to worry about Francis being a problem to either of you anymore." Elmore said.
"We really should've done this trick with you from the get-go. If we had, you boys wouldn't have had any problems with Francis, and it would've spared our bathroom the new damage. We're sorry that it took us until now to find out what the problem was." Martha apologized.
"It... it wasn't your fault. You didn't count on... that... happening..." Luigi said as Francis finally stopped licking his face, allowing him, Mario, and Peach to pet him, which he really liked.
"Yes, but... we should have thought about what might happen if he had stayed upstairs, where you two were working." Elmore said.
"And I'm terribly sorry about the bad review we left on your website." said Martha.
"Well, that was mostly our fault. We didn't tell you what had happened, or at least asked you to make sure the dog stayed out of the way." Mario said.
"We were afraid to tell you what happened because we didn't think you would have believed us." Luigi said.
"But we really should have known better than to leave Francis upstairs, and now that we do, we'll get Francis squared away immediately whenever people come to the house, to visit or to do work from now on. And if we need repairs made, we'll make sure to keep him close to where we are so he won't cause any more trouble like he did you." Elmore promised.
"So, we're all good now?" Peach asked, wanting to make sure that her friends were no longer in trouble.
"Yes. We are." said Martha. She then added, "In fact, I do believe Elmore and I owe you boys for the trouble you went through, and for coming here and giving us an explanation." With that, Elmore and Martha gave Mario and Luigi $50 each. The brothers were impressed, and the princess smiled at them.
"You do a good deed, and good comes back to you." Peach told Mario and Luigi.
"Thank you for saving Francis, in spite of what he tried to do to you, and for explaining everything to us." Elmore said.
"Hey, it was no problem." Mario said.
"And thank you for helping us fix things with Francis." Luigi said.
"Once you told us what the problem was, we were glad to help you out." Martha said.
"Thanks again." Mario said.
After a lot of thank-yous and good-byes, the brothers and the princess left the building.
Mario and Luigi decided to show the princess around Brooklyn for a bit, but they didn't get to see much, since Peach told them that she promised the Toad Council that she would be gone for only a few hours at the most. So around noon, the group returned to the Mushroom Kingdom to do lunch at the castle, much to the relief of the Toads.
"So, did everything go well in your old hometown?" the Toad General asked the Mario Bros. when they entered the castle with the princess.
"Yup. We fixed what needed to be fixed, and now all is right with the world again." Mario replied.
"And Peach gave us the courage we needed simply by being there." Luigi replied.
Peach smiled and said, "That's what friends are for."
Mario looked at the princess and whispered, "Thanks for agreeing to come with us. We really did need peer support over there."
"Think nothing of it. I was glad to help you." Peach whispered back.
The Mario Bros. were very lucky men to have a friend like Princess Peach in their lives, and with her support, they were able to smooth things out with their first customers. It had been a good day.
The End
Well, now the Mario Bros. have resolved the trouble with Francis, and their first customers now know why they saw what they saw when they came up to see how the job was going. I hope you enjoyed this story.