Chapter Nine:
Observing from The Shadows
Unseen to the world, his presence unnoticed by anyone, he followed Mario and the girl named Tari, silently and swiftly. He was like a disembodied spirit, intangible with the land of the living, gliding as if he was a speck on the breath of the wind. The orb on his scepter glowed, fueling his power, and he concentrated his will into every ounce of it.
He glided through the mall, gliding past the unsuspecting Toads, and blending in with a Goomba's shadow, and nobody noticed any outline. One Koopa seemed to shiver before he took a sip of water, unaware that someone had passed him by, in shadow.
Making himself invisible, enabling himself to travel around undetected, was no easy power to master. It required a high level of concentration, meditating and ensuring that the user of this power remained anchored to the mortal realm, to the physical plane of existence.
Overexert such energies, fail to properly master the spell, and you were forever lost in another realm.
All around Waluigi, the world was a blur of purple and other colors, but he could see clearly enough and he could hear everything. And he could be everywhere, see everything that happened, all at the same time.
He could see SMG4 sitting comfortably in the castle, waiting for Mario to return from training for their next gaming match.
He saw Princess Peach, sitting in her throne room, attending to her royal duties as any other monarch would and little knowing of what would soon fall upon her land. And he could see Toadsworth at her side, giving her a bit of advice as her royal advisor.
'Enjoy your peace as it lasts, Princess.' Waluigi thought.
He saw Shroomy in the Luncheon Kingdom, enjoying tea with a Koopa kid and a young Goomba, being a happy scout. Watching him, Waluigi smirked evilly, savoring the memory of how he made that mushroom boy patient zero for the beginning of the events that would see the world in his grasp.
He saw Fishy Boopkins looking at anime body pillows at an anime store, looking at a Dragon Ball-themed pillow that featured Vegeta on the front. And he could see Bob, attempting to strike up a conversation with a shapely brown-haired woman in a revealing fighter costume, only for the girl to smack him silly.
He saw Boopkins' papa, Joe Boopkins, interacting with an octopus many miles off the shore of the Mushroom seaside, minding his own buisness as well.
He saw Luigi at the Mario Bros' house, taking an afternoon nap, resting peacefully in bed.
He saw Meggy in Inkopolis far away from the Mushroom Kingdom, training with her Splattershot and honing her skills. He saw the Squid Sisters, Callie and Marie, sitting comfortably in their studio and chatting away after another broadcast.
He saw Captain Cuttlefish in Octo Valley, studying various pictures of Octarians and Octolings.
He saw Off The Hook in Inkopolis Square, enjoying coffee together outside their studio as if they had nothing to worry about. Waluigi had heard of how Mario kicked Pearl into a Salmonid-infested sewer and was surprised to see she was still alive. Oh, thank goodness for the Inklings of Inkopolis having Spawning Pads ready.
He could see SMG3 in his lair in the Mushroom Kingdom, plotting out his next plan to humiliate SMG4 and take over YouTube as the top YouTuber.
He saw that pink-haired anime girl, Saiko Bichitaru, walking around Mushroom Town alone as a few people backed away at the sight of her with frightened expressions as if she had a terrifying reputation as the Mushroom Kingdom's resident psychopath.
And then, there was Wario, alone at their residence, counting the money he'd gotten from his latest scam. And Waluigi had missed it.
So many people across the world, doing their own thing, living their lives, and not even suspecting that someone like Waluigi was capable of the likes of a T-Pose apocalypse. Oh, their livelihoods would soon change forever. Never again would they feel love and compassion, only pain, neglect, and the loss of their own humanity.
And then, Waluigi could see Mario and Tari again. They were now in the local arcade and he could see Tari leading that fat idiot to a crane game, and he could hear every word. He heard her remark the crane game was a gambling addiction disguised as a kid's game, he saw her put in a coin and he saw Mario try his hand at the game.
"Focus!" He heard the blue gamer girl say.
Waluigi stood in a corner by an arcade cabinet and nobody else saw the shadow of the lanky man holding a magic staff, he blended in with the shadows cast by the arcade machines upon the wall, watching the activity unfold in the arcade and catching a clear view of Mario and Tari's activities.
'Yes, have fun.' Waluigi sneered, 'Have fun, playing games, games such as Super Smash Bros and that ridiculous crane game, without Waluigi as if there is nothing else to care about in this world. You don't even know I'm here, none of you suspect a thing. But make no mistake, I am here, it's just you can't see me.
'And I am everywhere, watching all of you. I am in your walls, I am in your shadows, and I can see everything that you do and I can hear all that you say.
'You think you are safe and alone, you think you're cozy and warm in your bed, and you think that all will be wonderful. You think you are safe from anything, but I can see all of you. You are not safe from Waluigi,
'I know where you are, I'm always watching, always. I can't see your mysterious future, but I know what awaits you all and none of you will ever see it coming.
'I could reveal myself now, I could unleash my power and the world as you know it would change in seconds. I could make everyone and everything you know and love disappear as if it never mattered, then feast on your despair. But it's too soon, I must make the last touches to my plans.
'We can't have a repeat of what happened nearly a month ago, can we? The fact that the T-Pose apocalypse was cut short by that princess with her 1-Up Mushrooms. Continue having fun, Mario. I'll see you again very, very soon, and we're going to have so much fun. Just watching you playing games, oh, it gives me a very interesting idea.'
He continued to watch, watching as Tari showed Mario a Wack-A-Luigi game. They were done with the crane game and had moved onward. Waluigi continued to observe from the shadows, then he teleported away to continue observing from a long distance...
