Mariella's mouth hung opened as she leaned against the metal wall as her wide eyes darted to Mario and then to Luigi. "You can't be my papa," Mariella shouted, forgetting they didn't want to draw attention to themselves. "Because I saw him at home when I asked if I could go collect turnips, just before I found you in that scuttlebug web."
Mario and Luigi looked to one another and then anxiously glanced at the elevator door. They really did not have time to explain the entire situation. "And your papa is still waiting for you at home," Mario replied realizing just how odd the thought was. Perhaps once they finally untangled themselves from the current crisis, future Mario might have some insights on how to navigate this wild world. "This is the future to us. We traveled forward through time."
"That's not possible," she said.
Mariella was having a much harder time processing this entire timey wimey fiesco than the brothers had. When they followed Junior into that time hole at least they knew there might be some odd encounters that day. Mariella just wanted to ensure she didn't have mushrooms for dinner again. Mario and Luigi also had the prior experience of meeting their baby selves. Mariella most certainly did not.
"I will explain the science once we're outside," Luigi replied tugging on Mario's sleeve and tilting his head towards the elevator doors. They really did have to go. Stat. Mariella seemed to get Luigi's silent message and began to turn towards the door. No sooner had the trio started towards the exit, when the elevator dinged and slid open. The three skidded to a stop. Toadsworth and as many toads that could be packed inside the elevator poured into the hallway. Puffing more than a tea kettle ready to whistle and face redder than a tomato, Toadsworth pointed his cane at Mario and Luigi, "Get them!"
"Run for it!" Mario cried as the three of them jumped in the air and spun around charging away from their pursuers. As far as Mario could tell, there were no windows in the hallway and all the doors seemed to lead into cells like the one they just rescued poor Luigi from. As they flew passed the opened door of the Tickler 2.89's chamber, Mario saw out the corner of his eye that the guards were still strapped to the seat where they had left them. "Yeah, you butter run!" one of them shouted.
The patter of the guards behind them grew closer. How in the world were the toads gaining on them? They barely had legs. The hallway would not go on forever. Three doors down, Mario noticed a rather normal looking, wooden door to his right, marked staff only in purple letters. Mario dove for the handle and pulled the door opened, "In here, quick," he shouted to his companions without looking inside the room himself. Hopefully there was not an ill-tempered whomp waiting to squish them.
Mariella and Luigi leapt through the doorway with Mario following on their heels. He slammed the door behind him. The room was darker and cooler than the rest of the hallway, and also smelled strongly of cleaning solutions and mildew. The only light slipped in from the crack between the door and the floor. Mario felt around the door frame until he found what he hoped was a bolt. He fumbled with this until he heard a *click*, and not a moment too soon. The pounding of the guards' running feet ceased. There was only a few moments of silence until the door violently rattled. "Open up!" came the shrill voice of one of the officers.
It was only a matter of time until they got the door opened. Either by breaking it down, or maybe find a drill to remove the hinges. Hiding out in here was only a temporary solution. And with a capital T on the temporary. Mario could barely make out the silhouettes of Luigi and Mariella. The door shuddered again and Mario winced as he pressed his back against it. From what little he could tell, there were wide shelves lining the walls. "What is this place?" Mario asked rather loudly to be heard over the pounding at the door.
"Some sort of supply closet," Luigi replied with his arms outstretched as groped around the room.
"Anything we can block this door with," Mario asked fearing that if he took a single step away from it, the guards would break it down and come charging into the space.
"I'm working on it," Luigi said, "Ah, ha," Luigi pulled on a handle and, with a brain piercing screech, opened some sort of drawer in the wall. A draft, carrying the putrid stench of an apple that was left on the bottom of a backpack all school year, blew into the room. "I think I found a garbage chute," Luigi said.
"We can't jump in there," Mariella said. "I saw it in an old movie, we will end up in this room where the walls close in to crush the trash with no way out."
"Well we can't stay here," Mario said. He nodded to Luigi. "You go first," the door pounded again, and Mario was almost thrown away. He dug the heels of his shoes into the floor. What were they trying to break the door with? A battering ram? Jackhammer?
"Okie dokie," Luigi replied and jumped headfirst into the chute.
Mariella stared wide eyed at the garbage chute. Pinching her nose, she hessitently approached. "I will be right behind you, go!" Mario said.
Mariella bit on her lip before crawling feet first inside of the shoot. Finally. Mario leapt away from the door and dove after his companions. He thought he heard the sound of wood splintering behind him, but perhaps it was just his nerves. The shoot was no different from a slide at a playground. If it was completely dark inside and someone had spilled a milkshake in there on the hottest day of the summer.
Mario's fall was broken by several large garbage bags. It was not nearly as padded as he expected, and he sank quite a bit into what was probably a large dumpster holding the bags. A cool, thick liquid touched the edge of his pants. Mario shuddered, and decided it was best not to think about what was leaking from the trash bags. He struggled to the top of the pile and was greeted by the warm evening air. The chute had led them to a dumpster on the side of the main building.
If it was not for a wall that was at least 3 times the height that Mario could jump, surrounding what looked to be a huge parking lot, they would be completely free. The tar of the parking area was covered with neat rows upon rows of purple and black police cruisers and on the opposite side of those, small flying saucers much like the one Luigi had been carried off in earlier that day.
Luigi groaned as he hauled himself from the dumpster and onto the gravel below. Mariella was quick to follow. "I never knew adventures would be so messy," she said as she dusted off her jumper and sighed. "This is my last clean outfit," she kicked away a small pebble with the tip of her shoe and looked over to Mario.
"Look on the bright side," Luigi said. "If they try to track our scents, it will be completely covered by the garbage."
Mariella seemed to thoughtfully consider this before finally adding. "That is something my Uncle Luigi would have said." Before turning her focus back to the other twin. "Now what, Mr. Mario?"
Mario swallowed as he considered their options. It would not be long for Toadsworth and the others to figure out where they had gone. He would not be surprised if the guards would be following them down the chute at any moment. "We are going to steal one of those vehicles."
"I say we take one of those flying saucer thingies," Luigi said.
Mario nodded in agreement. When they tried to get away on one of the cruisers earlier, they were quickly overtaken by the UFOs. Might as well take the faster vehicle this time. Now how to get to one without being caught? He scanned the area again. A group of three uniformed toads stood puzzlingly around a cruiser on the far side of the lot. The cruiser was heavily dented and Mario realized with a smile that it was the one that had spun out on the banana peel Luigi threw on the road.
Regardless of how that particular cruiser was damaged, it appeared that as long as they were quiet, they could walk right over to the UFO of their choice. "Do any of you see any more guards?" Mario asked.
Luigi and Mariella both shook their heads. That was good. Mario pointed to the nearest UFO, on its tripod-like stand. It was perhaps the length of a soccer field away. "Let's go on that one."
The trash bags behind them clanked and clacked against each other. Mario felt his blood freeze as he slowly looked over his shoulder. They had been followed!
"Oh, that smarts," one of the toad guards grumbled. Toadsworth and several of his companions were struggling to crawl out of the dumpster. Toadsworth lifted his head, "There you are, you scoundrels" he cried.
Even after all these years Toadsworth had a voice that could carry far. The toads working on the cruiser stopped what they were doing and looked to the ludicrous sight of their boss sitting in the dumpster and then to Mario and his companions.
The three of them sprinted across the gravel towards the nearest UFO. Stealth and sneaking around was overrated anyway. "Stop right there!" one of the mechanics shrieked. Mario was not sure why the toads even bothered ordering them to stop. Even if they said pretty please with sugar on top, Mario was not about to give up resistance and turn himself in to them.
Panting Mario stopped at the metal leg of the UFO's stand. A ladder, painted purple, led up to the hatch on the bottom. It was not as large as Mario had been expecting, but the three of them would be able to fit rather snugly inside. It was not if they had much of a choice anyway.
"Get inside," he said, pushing gently against Mariella's back. This time, the girl did not hesitate and hurried up the ladder, then Luigi, and finally Mario. As he climbed he spared a look behind him. Toadsworth and his team had climbed out the dumpster and were charging towards them, but the toads who had been working on that cruiser were so close, Mario could count the buttons on their shirts.
Mario tore his gaze away from them and scurried the rest of the way up the ladder. Once he reached the top, he kicked the ladder away and it crashed loudly against the pavement. Hopefully that would buy them a small amount of time. Mario closed the hatch behind him.
Inside of the UFO, Mario and Luigi could not stand up completely straight even when the glass dome was at its highest. "This was not made with people our size in mind." Mario said. He thought about the last time he encountered Tatanga, the adventure he met Princess Daisy. The purple alien did not take up much space. Perhaps everything was built so small as an anti-theft measure.
At the center was a round table-like structure reminding Mario of the wheel of the spinning tea cup rides found at amusement parks. The seats of the UFO wound around the circular structure. Only Mariella was able to sit comfortable enough in the chair to buckle her seatbelt. "Okay," Luigi said once everyone was seated. "I was kidnapped in one of these things, and I think I remember how they flew it."
Mario nodded hoping what Luigi said would not become his famous last words.
"I think this is the start button," Luigi said reaching for a large green button with an "on" symbol fading off. The structure rumbled as an engine started. "Okay, that did something," Luigi said gripping the edges of the turntable. Straining Luigi twisted it. The entire UFO began to spin in its stand. They turned, and Mario saw the bewildered guards struggling to stand the ladder back up again as a red faced Toadsworth shouted orders at them. The UFO spun faster and faster, but remained firmly planted in its stand.
To keep from getting motion sickness, Mario forced his gaze away from the window. Mariella stared at the table with an expression that she had something to say, but was exercising every ounce of self-control inside of her not to.
"Luigi," Mario said, "We need to go up not down,"
"I-I know," Luigi replied as he felt around the table. "Oh, what's that," he said pointing to a leaver on the floor just beside Mario's feet. "That looks like in might be a break."
Seeing there was probably absolutely no harm in pulling it, Mario reached down and yanked the lever up. The UFO rumbled again just before it shot into the air until all they could see out of the domed window was the clear blue sky and the occasional fluffy cloud. Mariella gasped with delight as her eyes, just as blue as the sky, focused upward, "I have always wanted to fly," she said breathlessly.
The vehicle soon leveled out and then lurched forward. "I think I am getting the hang of this," Luigi said tightly gripping the turntable and gentle adjusting the direction. "It should be smooth sailing, until it's time to land this thing."
"We can cross that bridge when we get there," Mario replied relieved to finally have that terrible purple and black version of toad town behind them, hopefully this time for good. They could reach Mushroom gorge, return Mariella to her father, find Princess Peach, and once they got back to their time, make certain this future did not come to be.
Mario glanced over at Mariella, who had turned around in her seat and pressed her face up against the window, absolutely enthralled by the world below them. Not that Mario could blame her one bit. It was breathtaking.
Below them was a carpet of green, and then the colorful dots marking out mushroom valley. It was almost like staring at a dollhouse sized world. He wondered if he should direct Luigi to land the craft in mushroom gorge or not. He felt the sooner they got Mariella home the better. Heck, the sooner he had the chance to talk to his future self the better. Maybe he would have answers. However, given how secretive Mariella was about the location of her home when he first had run into her meant it would be the absolutely worst idea to immediately head there if they were being followed, or just as bad, if they were being tracked. Most likely the best option would be to land on the ground near the edge of the canyon and then walk the rest of the way.
However, even with that plan they would absolutely need to make certain that none of Tatanga's minions were on their trail. Mario looked away from Mariella and then at the area behind Luigi's shoulder. A large grinning, bonanza bill was still quite a distance away, but was moving closer and closer to them. The funny thing was that it looked identical to all of the bullet bills bowser used, except that this one was purple with odd yellow lighting bolts on its sides.
Mario swallowed and jumped up in his seat, loudly bonking his head against the ceiling. This both got Mariella's and Luigi's attention. Mario quickly recovered himself and pointed out the window, "Luigi!" Mario shouted.
Luigi looked over his shoulder and turned white as the clouds. "Mamma mia!" he exclaimed gripping the wheel tightly. "Brace yourself," he said sharply spinning the wheel hoping it would turn a barrel roll. That did not happen. Instead, they spun around faster than a top. Luigi quickly righted this and the took a sharp turn. The bonanza bill was still on them. Mario realized just how slow this UFO like thing was. He could see the sun reflecting off the painted metal, just before its nose touched the edge of the flying saucer. Mario just had enough time to reach and grab onto Mariella's arm.
Instead of an explosion, sparks of electricity erupted all around them before the entire cabin went dark. Luigi gulped. "I think we lost all power."
The flying saucer plummeted to the forest below them.