(A/N: Check it out! Here's a new "Super Mario Sunshine" fanfic for you to read, and special thanks to animegamefanatic for granting me permission to use their idea for this fanfic. Now let's get this show on the road so you can find out what happens!)
It was a dark day on Isle Delfino. All the days on the happy, dolphin-shaped island had been literally dark since a shadowy character that looked like a translucent blue Mario with piercing red eyes had come and messed up the place with a weird, paint-like substance. Not surprisingly, his weapon of destruction happened to be a giant paintbrush.
But that wasn't the worst part, though. Oh, no. The problem was a lot worse than it sounded. The graffiti had sent the Shine Sprites, the island's source of power, fleeing from their gathering spot at the Shine Gate in Delfino Plaza. Perhaps they had gone into hiding, and they weren't going to come out until the place was cleaned up. And the absence of the Shine Sprites was enough to ruin the once-peaceful lifestyle of the islanders.
And then, yesterday, the real Mario showed up on Isle Delfino, ready to enjoy a fun vacation here with Princess Peach. Upon seeing the plumber, though, some of the islanders were quick to blame him for the mess on their island, yet he claimed that he just arrived here, so he couldn't have done anything to make the mess. The worst part was that while this true, no one believed him! No one but the princess and her party, that is.
Not only that, but as soon as Mario had cleaned up the big mess he found out on the airstrip, he was hauled off to the courthouse at Delfino Plaza by the police. If that wasn't bad enough, he was also judged guilty in the most unfair trial in the history of trials, not getting a single say in it! Peach tried to object, but the judge decided to overrule her, not giving her a chance to explain! Mario had to spend that night behind bars as a result, much to his sadness and confusion.
So what was Mario's punishment for a crime he never did? He had to clean up the entire island, and he wasn't allowed to leave until it was all done! Mario and his friends agreed that the whole situation was completely unfair! But what they didn't know was that they were not the only ones who felt that Mario was being treated unfairly.
Yes, someone on the island believed that Mario may not be guilty of the crime. That someone was another cop, Sonny by name, and he had a feeling that Mario was telling the truth when he said he didn't do it. Now Sonny's fellow cops may have felt they were in the right when they accused Mario of ruining eveything, but Sonny didn't think so. He felt that the investigation was rushed, and Mario was innocent.
Sonny wanted to get to the bottom of this, so he went right up to the Chief and asked, "Permission to do some undercover police work, Chief?"
The Chief didn't know why Sonny felt the need to do undercover police work. There wasn't really any need for the cops to do so right now. He asked, "What do you need to go undercover for?"
Sonny thought carefully about how he was going to word his answer. He couldn't say that he was going to find out whether or not Mario was really behind the graffiti that messed up everything on Isle Delfino. The Chief would never believe him if he said such a thing, and he sure wouldn't give him the chance to find out.
Sonny also couldn't say that the information was classified. An answer like that was not going to convince the Chief to let him do this. Then he knew what to say.
"I'm planning to watch this Mario character for you, make sure he's not slacking off or making the mess even worse than it is." Sonny replied.
The Chief wasn't sure if that was even necessary, but Sonny seemed more than willing to do this job. So the Chief said, "All right. Permission granted."
"Thank you, Chief. I'll be going undercover as just a regular guy on the beach by Delfino Plaza. And I'm also going to play the role of a sunglasses vendor." said Sonny.
"What? No one is going to need sunglasses with the island as dark as it is." said the Chief. It was true; since the graffiti incident began, the sky wasn't sun-drenched, like the website and promotional video claimed.
"Who knows? Maybe if Mario cleans up the island, that will help to bring the Shine Sprites out of hiding, and if I'm right, then the brightness of the sun will return to the island once again." Sonny told him, before changing into a civilian outfit and heading out to begin his undercover work.
(A/N: I picked out the name 'Sonny' for the sunglasses vendor because it sounds so similar to 'Sunny', like the sunny days the islanders miss so much. Add to that the fact that he loves the sun, but we know that the sun's brightness is the reason why he wears sunglasses.)
So a short time later, Sonny was quietly sitting under the shade of an umbrella by the beach at Delfino Plaza. He may have looked like a normal Pianta on the beach, so you never would have guessed that he was really an undercover cop. Right now, he was working on making something special, a pair of sunglasses that doubled as a video camera.
Sonny was making these sunglasses for a very good reason. He wasn't going to use them for himself. He knew he wanted to make the sunglasses for Mario. What if Mario happened to run into someone else who was causing trouble on the island? If he wore these sunglasses when he found trouble, he could very easily record it and prove that the islanders had him wrong.
"If I could make these sunglasses look normal enough and get them to work at the same time, I can give them to Mario and help him prove to everyone that he's not the bad guy here." Sonny mumbled as he looked at his invention critically.
"Sure, the criminal looks kind of like Mario, but I have a pretty good feeling that Mario is not the one responsible for the troubles we're seeing." Sonny muttered to himself as he made some more minor adjustments to the sunglasses.
At one point, Sonny noticed Mario walking down by the beach. The plumber looked very sad and seemed to be feeling sorry for himself. Sonny couldn't help feeling bad for the poor guy. He'd been hearing the harsh way other Piantas spoke to him, and he winced when he heard Mario try to tell them that he hadn't done the crime. Mario sounded like he was about to start crying.
"He's in need of a friend right now, and I plan to be just that to him. I promise to help you prove your innocence, Mario." Sonny thought as he watched the plumber. He knew that Mario didn't deserve such negativity from the islanders.
He finished making a few final adjustments to the sunglasses, then decided that it was time to call Mario over and give him the help he needed.
"Hey!" Sonny called out to Mario.
Mario didn't turn to look at Sonny. He was feeling too sad to do that.
"Hey, you in the hat!" Sonny called out. This time, he got Mario's attention, for he turned around and saw Sonny looking at him.
"Me?" Mario asked, gesturing to himself.
"Yeah, you. I think you're in need of a pair of my special sun shades..." Sonny began.
"Am I?" Mario asked as he approached the undercover cop. He didn't think the sun had come back enough for him to really need sun shades.
As Mario walked over, Sonny tried to activate the camera, but to his dismay, it wasn't turning on. This was one of those cases where an invention works, but then when you're ready to show it off, it doesn't work. He hated this.
"Ooh, well... Then again, maybe you're not ready." Sonny said, trying not to sound sheepish.
"You're probably right. The skies are still pretty dark around here..." Mario muttered, not knowing the reason why Sonny felt the way he did about the matter.
"You need to spend a bit more time here on Isle Delfino." Sonny added, but then he felt bad when he saw how upset Mario looked at those words. He had no idea just how badly Mario wanted to leave the island, since he was being treated like a criminal by everyone who lived there.
"Come on back when you think you're ready for a pair. See ya!" said Sonny, trying to keep the new sunglasses from Mario's sight. He didn't want Mario to know what he was trying to do. Mario could not find that out until after all was said and done.
Mario sighed as he walked away from Sonny. What he needed was for someone to have a video camera and inconspicuously record him chasing the real villain, who was not only messing up the island, but proving himself to be a thief as well, taking things that didn't belong to him and claiming that he was about to use them, even though he had no idea how they worked.
At one point, Sonny had a breakthrough! He had done it! He finally got the sunglasses to work right! Now all he had to do was wait for Mario to show up so he could give them to him, and then the red-clad plumber could prove his innocence!
By the time Mario had recovered one-quarter of the missing Shine Sprites, the sunlight was really starting to come back, and the island was getting brighter than Mario anticipated. Now Mario's eyes were starting to hurt from the brightness, so he went to sit under an unoccupied umbrella to rest his eyes in the shade.
Mario had been resting his eyes for just a few seconds when Sonny spotted him out of the corner of his eye. As soon as the undercover cop saw Mario, he quickly called out to the plumber and waved him over while inconspicuously activating the sunglasses. This time, the camera turned on.
"I think I'm ready for a pair of your sun shades now... if you're willing to lend me one..." Mario said to Sonny.
"I can't blame you for needing the shades now, sir. The sunlight is starting to return, and is it ever bright!" said Sonny as he handed Mario the shades with the camera in them.
"It is. Grazie. Thank you." Mario said as he took the sunglasses and put them on over his eyes.
"You're welcome. Come back and talk to me when you don't need them anymore." Sonny replied.
"I will." Mario said, and then he ran off to get back to work, afraid that someone might tell the police that he was slacking off when he wasn't.
As Sonny watched Mario run off, he whispered, "Show us all that you're not a bad guy, Mario! You can do this!"
Mario didn't know it, but those sunglasses were his ace in the hole. The camera was recording everything he did, and everything he looked at, including the unhappy sight of Shadow Mario running around and causing mayhem in all the different areas.
"If only the cops had agreed to follow me like they said they would. They'd see that I'm completely innocent, and that guy is the one they want." Mario grumbled as he ran around the different areas, spraying his enemy with water, trying to down him. And whenever he did, the whiny baby would fall down and look like he was throwing a tantrum while yelling, "I'll remember this!"
"Yeah, right. Everybody says that, but they usually don't mean it over little things like this." Mario muttered as his enemy disappeared, leaving behind a Shine Sprite for him. So now Mario knew the little idiot had even filched some Shine Sprites. If the cops knew that, then Mario would have been let off the hook in two seconds!
When Mario returned to Delfino Plaza after dealing with his enemy in Pianta Village, he found that something rather unpleasant had happened: the place was flooded!
"Mama-mia!" Mario exclaimed as he landed in the water. He swam around the plaza, finding that pretty much everyone there had found refuge on the rooftops. Even Sonny was up there.
"Are you okay?" Mario asked Sonny when he found him.
"I think so. How about you?" Sonny asked.
"Could be better." Mario replied.
"How are those sunglasses treating you?" Sonny asked.
"Sono bravi. They're good." Mario said.
"May I please see them for a moment?" Sonny asked.
"Sì. Here." Mario said, removing them and allowing Sonny to check them out. Mario didn't notice that Sonny was making sure they still worked after he'd hit the water. To his good fortune, they did work. Mario didn't notice because he was looking around, trying to figure out how this flood could have happened. After a few minutes, Sonny handed the glasses back to Mario, saying, "Here you go, bud."
"Grazie. Thank you." Mario replied as he put them back on over his eyes. Then he saw his enemy nearby and immediately went after him, knowing that he was the one responsible for the flood in the plaza. Sonny watched as Mario disappeared into Corona Mountain.
"Uh-oh..." Sonny said to himself. He was hoping that Mario, and the sunglasses, would survive in that inferno.
Mario's sunglasses were handling the heat in Corona Mountain quite well, recording the danger he was going through to look for and help Princess Peach, who had been taken there by Bowser Jr., who was Shadow Mario. The shades even recorded the moment he found Peach in the clutches of the Koopas. However, Mario had a feeling that he shouldn't wear the sunglasses during his battle with Bowser and his son. He was simply borrowing these, after all.
To avoid the shades suffering damage in the fight against the Koopas, Mario quickly removed them and slipped them into the pocket of his overalls. Good thing, too, because when the tub flipped over and everyone fell, Mario ended up with his head stuck in the sand. Not only that, but his F.L.U.D.D. had also suffered some nasty damage and shut down.
When Mario and Peach returned to Delfino Plaza, the flood Jr. had caused was gone, the Shine Sprites had all returned, and the whole island was cleaned up. But the cops were still not amused with Mario (not surprisingly). The Toads took F.L.U.D.D., planning to repair it for Mario. Then Peach went with Mario to the beach to see Sonny, so he could return the shades to him.
When Sonny saw that Mario wasn't wearing the shades, he got concerned and asked, "Where are the shades? You didn't lose them, did you?"
"Nope. I put them in my pocket for safe-keeping to prevent them from getting damaged when I had to fight the guy who kidnapped my girlfriend here." Mario explained as he removed the shades from his pocket and handed them back.
"You had enough?" Sonny asked as he accepted the shades.
"For now, yes." Mario replied, nodding his head.
"Come by anytime it's too bright for you, OK, little man?" asked the vendor.
"I'll do that." Mario said.
"He seems to be nice to you. Nicer than most of the Piantas here." Peach whispered to Mario as they walked off to find a hospital. Peach was going to need to be checked out by a doctor after all the time she spent in Corona Mountain, courtesy of the Koopas.
"I know. I wish all of the Piantas could be nice like that." Mario whispered back.
Meanwhile, Sonny deactivated the camera, backed up the footage, and watched the video carefully. He saw everything Mario had seen, including Shadow Mario. He also saw Bowser and Jr., claiming that the (human) girl with them was a member of their family. And then he saw Mario removing the shades and slipping them into his pocket.
"Oh, yes! You did it! You got all the proof we need! Mario, you are about to be proven innocent!" Sonny said to himself in excitement.
After a few minutes of celebrating to himself, Sonny packed up his things and went back to the police station. Upon seeing him enter the building, the Chief said, "All right. The Shine Sprites have all returned, and the island is clean. How did your undercover investigation go?"
"Better than I thought it would. You were all in the wrong." Sonny replied as he moved the footage to his laptop computer.
"What?! Don't tell me you believed that Mario was actually innocent! We all know he was guilty! It was written all over his face!" said the rookie.
"So you say. But I have something to show you, and the judge, and the prosecutor. And so we need to get to the courthouse right now." said Sonny.
"What for?" asked the Chief.
"This is something all of you need to see." Sonny explained.
The Chief and the rookie shrugged, but they went with Sonny to the courthouse and told the judge and prosecutor to come and see something.
"All right, what's this all about?" asked the judge as he and the prosecutor followed the police into the courtroom.
"This is about Mario, the man you judged guilty at that trial." said Sonny.
"He was guilty, and everyone knew it. Why that lady was trying to object when she knew he was in the wrong is completely beyond me." said the prosecutor as he and the judge sat down at one of the tables.
"Because she had every right to do so. He wasn't in the wrong after all." said Sonny.
"WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?!" the Chief, rookie, judge, and prosecutor asked, their eyes big.
"I had a feeling the investigation was rushed, so I got permission to go undercover as a sunglasses vendor and loaned your so-called criminal a pair of sunglasses. But these sunglasses had a built-in video camera, and they recorded everything Mario saw! They proved me right!" Sonny exclaimed happily.
"You went undercover... to help Mario?! You ought to be demoted for trying to help a criminal who we all know is guilty!" the Chief said.
"You know, Boss, I really think you should watch the footage Mario gave me first before you think of demoting me. You'll thank me for this afterward." said Sonny.
"All right. Play us the footage, and we'll see just what Mario did." said the judge.
"Get ready to feel stupid, for you're all about to get a sneak-peek at what shall appear on the 6:00 news." Sonny thought as he opened his laptop and started to play back the footage that Mario's sunglasses had picked up.
Everyone watched as Mario accepted the sunglasses and put them on. They also watched him clean the island and recover some of the missing Shine Sprites.
"Okay, so Mario has been bringing back the Shine Sprites, but we still don't have proof that he should be off the hook." said the Chief.
"I anticipated those words. So let's get to the important parts." said Sonny, fast-forwarding to the scenes where Shadow Mario was on the loose. They also saw Mario talk to some islanders who thought the two were the same, and Mario said they weren't.
As the Chief, rookie, judge, and prosecutor were beginning to see, Mario and this blue character were very different characters. The blue one was proving to be the problem, and Mario was stopping his reign of terror, and getting back some Shine Sprites he'd filched. Their faces began to turn pale as they wondered how they failed to notice that Mario and this guy were not the same until now.
"Oh, and do you remember the flood that happened earlier on? Well, it turns out that you can't go and blame Mario for it because he didn't cause it! The camera has a clock that told where Mario was at the time of the flood. You'll be surprised to know that he wasn't even in Delfino Plaza when it happened!" Sonny added, further proving Mario's innocence.
At the time of the flood, Mario had just stopped the bad guy while he was in Pianta Village, and the mayor and the villagers were thanking him for stopping the little blue idiot, who had also left a trail of burning goop behind him as he ran away from Mario.
"Oh no..." said the rookie to himself as he saw Mario return to Delfino Plaza to find that a flood had happened. He remembered blaming him for the flood, but now he knew that Mario was right when he said he wasn't behind the flood! He was going to owe Mario a big apology the next time he saw him.
The group even saw Mario chase the little dweeb right into Corona Mountain!
"What?! He had to go in Corona Mountain?! That's dangerous!" said the judge.
"When he returned, he told me that the woman he loved was taken in there by that blue criminal, and he had to save her! She was with him when I saw him again, after everything was taken care of." Sonny said.
"The woman in question wouldn't happen to be the same woman who tried to object at the trial when I said Mario was guilty, right?" asked the prosecutor as they watched Mario make his way up some cloud platforms.
"The camera don't lie." Sonny said as they watched the camera look at Princess Peach, who was smiling brightly at the sight of her red-clad beau.
Then they heard Bowser Jr. acting like Mario was a criminal and should give up, and they saw and heard Bowser claim that Mario was disturbing his family vacation.
"His WHAT?!" the Chief, rookie, judge, and prosecutor yelled.
"Yeah, I know. I couldn't believe it myself when I heard that beast say such a thing. He's a monster, and the woman with him is a human. And if they really were related, then how come the woman looked and sounded so happy to see Mario?" Sonny asked, a knowing smirk in his voice.
The others all looked at each other with nervous faces. Yep, they had screwed up real bad, being quick to accuse Mario of everything, and now they were realizing that the monsters who showed up near the end of the video must have had something to do with the mess on the island, and they had framed Mario!
"I guess we have a lot of explaining to do." the judge said.
"You most certainly do. And you're going to do it tonight! On the 6:00 news!" said Sonny.
Everyone groaned and facepalmed. If they had just done everything right the first time, they wouldn't be in this mess!
So Sonny was able to prove that Mario's an innocent man! What's going to happen when they go on the news? You'll have to stay tuned if you want to find out!