It was a stormy morning at Sumeragi's Headquarters and everyone was stuck inside. After Zonda quit, the work load basically doubled for the now Sumeragi Six and nobody was happy about it. Luckily, the work for the morning was complete so there was decisions on what to do next. Merak walked over to the couch where everyone was and carried over a Monopoly game he had in his desk for a bit.
"Huh? What's that? Some kind of paperwork box?" Viper pondered.
"Nah, this is just some old game I bought a while back. Thought we could play it y'know, since it's raining outside and all that." Merak supposed.
""It is rather boooring in here with nothing to do." Elise agreed.
"Let's put it to a vote. All in favor to play, raise your hand." Carrera ordered.
Everyone had a show of hands.
"Well that's all for and none against. I guess I'll set it up." Viper remarked as he grabbed the game from Merak and set the box on the floor to place the contents on the table.
Stratos grabbed a piece that looked like a mushroom and had it directly above his open mouth before Viper snagged it from him.
"Ay man, ya don't eat that! I'm tryna set this game up so you can play the game not eat the pieces!" Viper fumed as he snatched the piece from his ever famished coworker and slammed it down on the other side of the table away from Stratos.
"Hey! Be careful with that! That's my new Mario collector's edition Monopoly so be careful with that!" Merak cautioned.
With the game finally set up, it was time to decide who would get which piece.
"I wanna take the shell." Viper stated.
"I'll take the star." Carrera demanded.
"We'd better just give Stratos the leaf. I'll take the Yoshi egg." Merak guessed.
"The flower will be mine as it stands above the rest." Jota declared.
"I'll take the mushroom then p-p-please." Elise stuttered.
After the assigned pieces were claimed, it was time to start the game.
Viper was the first to roll and got a 3. He landed on W1-2.
"Heh, I ain't falling for it." Viper mocked.
Carrera rolled a 2 and landed on the Piranha Plant. Enraged, he threw 2 coins into the bank pile. When Stratos turn rolled around, he got a two as well, silently cursing the plants at the Pharma Lab. Particularly the fact that the Eidolon Plant was no longer operative and was having withdrawl problems with no more S.E.E.D being produced.
Hence why he was trying to eat anything he could get his hands on as the die nearly fell prey to his ever continuing hunger. Jota rolled a four, landing on the question mark block. Pressing the question mark shape released a sound similar the game over sound in Legend of Zelda. Merak handed Jota a card and pointed to the last part which read "Game Over" in big blue font while it read that you had to give ten coins back to the bank in the smaller gray font underneath.
Infuriated, and far too prideful to actually do it with anyone else seeing, Jota handed the coins off to Elise so she could do it for him. Merak wound up with the same roll results as the burning wrath and therefore landed on the same spot Viper had.
"Get off my spot! This is my property now! You're on my turf!" Viper shouted.
"Well I don't see the property deed card anywhere near you." Merak scoffed.
Viper, getting red in the face, threw Merak's piece at him.
"Ooh, is this a fiiight?" Elise wondered.
Carrera put his right hand on Elise's left shoulder and shook his head while looking at her. Elise returned her attention to the game as Viper called Merak stupid while the self acclaimed genius placed his piece on the board again. Taking her turn, Elise rolled a two, upset at the Phirana Plant as well along with Carrera and Stratos. Viper took another roll and the die landed on three.
After placing his piece on Yoshi's Island, it was Carrera's turn. Carrera rolled a four, landing on the first community chest square. He picked up a card and read that he was hit by a Bullet Bill and had to pay a coin. He was angry as well with the seemingly constant loss of coins.
When Stratos turn rolled around, he got a five, leaving him to place his Super Leaf piece on the Forest of Illusion.
"That doesn't seem much different from the Pharma Lab scenery." Stratos remembered.
"Why didn't anyone invite Nova?" Carrera wondered as Jota rolled a three and put his piece on the same part of the board Stratos had his piece on.
"Because we only have six pieces. And besides, he's constantly on my case since I didn't defeat that intruder back at the base. Practically puts the psycho in Psychokinesis Septima if you ask me." Merak retorted as he took a swig of his blueberry blaster flavored ramune.
Merak's turn resulted in a five, so he placed his Yoshi egg on "Just Visiting" in the jail square.
"They should've tossed you in jail after you failed to kill that grubby handed girlfriend grabber." Viper huffed.
Merak could only roll his eyes, causing Viper to, yet again, got very, very, very angry.
"Are you trying to call me hot headed!? You're worse than a troller!" Viper exclaimed.
"It's not like I'm doing this on purpose or anything." Merak informed as he shrugged his shoulders.
Elise took her turn amidst the chaos and rolled a five to place her mushroom on the Forest of Illusion with Stratos piece right next to hers. Viper had Merak by the collar of his shirt while Merak had his fingers straight and his palms facing forward, trying to assure Viper he had the wrong idea. Dropping his very frightened colleague, Viper took his turn and rolled a five, placing his piece on the "Just Visiting" section.
"We've really got to stop meeting like this." Merak sneered as he placed his chin on the palm of his left hand.
Carrera rolled a two, going on the Lethal Lava Land square. Stratos proceeded to get a four, moving his piece to the community chest space. He picked up a card saying Mayor Pauline gave him a Power Moon and to collect a coin.
He began to laugh maniacally at the prospect of gaining another piece of money. Jota obtained a five on his roll and moved his piece to the second question block space. At this point, Jota was irritated by the yellow block and closed his eyes as he pressed it. Landing another turn, Jota gave a small sigh of relief and got another five.
He landed on the Comet Observatory space and thought about calling Nova to inform him of their game and progress. Viper picked up on this and glared at the former militant.
"Oh no ya don't! We're gonna play this game and we're gonna play it right!" Viper yelled.
Merak sighed, muttered "some people" and continued his turn to be the first player to roll a six. He placed his piece on the second community chest square. He picked up one of the only two "get out of jail free" cards and pocketed it. But Viper caught him in the act.
"Aw nah man! Show us the card or you're outta here!" Viper ordered.
So, reluctantly, Merak pulled the card out of his front left pants pocket and showed the card to everybody. There was a gasp from Carrera and Elise, jealousy from Viper and Stratos while Carrera slammed his fist on the table in desperation.
"I shall offer to pay thou two coins for the card!" Carrera offered.
Merak sighed, held his forehead in the palm of his right hand, laughed lightly with his eyes closed and shook his head.
"You must think I'm a fool or something. As if the mighty genius commanding officer would need a trump card." Merak mocked.
"If you didn't need one then you'd be holed up at your place playing games right now." Viper remarked.
Elise was starting to get scared as she shakily rolled a four, putting her at Rainbow Ride. She admired the cuteness of the square she landed on while Viper rolled and got a six. Viper took another roll and landed on the Delfino Plaza after rolling a five. Carrera got a two and put his piece on Rainbow Ride where Elise had her piece.
Stratos took his turn and got to move his piece three spaces forward to the Comet Observatory where Jota's fire flower stood. Jota took another turn and moved his piece to the Frosted Glacier after getting a four. Merak happily rolled a four, placing him at the next community chest square. The card said he slipped on an ice block and had to go back three spaces.
"Man, this game is out to get me I swear. Jota's the one on the glacier so I say he should be the one to slip." Merak groaned.
"Guess you're the mighty stupid commanding officer now." Viper teased.
"Gang related violence can land you in prison with a hefty fee." Merak informed, not forgetting Viper's comment from before.
"Always right before I roll they start something." Elise whispered to herself as she rolled a two and moved her piece onto the Delfino Plaza tile.
Realizing it was his turn, Viper took his turn to move forward two spaces and go to the Bowser. Jr utility. Carrera rolled to get a two, landing him on the Delfino Plaza square. Stratos switched the position of his piece to the Magikoopa utility after rolling a five. Jota rolled a four and planted his flower on the Super Bell Hill square. Merak rolled a four as well, putting him at the free parking space.
"If I were you I'd park my butt far away from here so the game wouldn't be ruined." Viper scowled.
"Man, I didn't even give you any damage so why are you trying to give me a critical hit?" Merak interrogated.
"I'm just trying to make sure you know you're place." Viper hissed.
"Yours is back on the streets you village nimrod. An eight year old Grand Theft Auto player could do better at your job than how you're doing right now." Merak snapped.
Viper was practically as red as his hair at this point, seething with rage.
"Ya know what? I think this game and you have something in common." Viper growled.
"Oh yeah? What's that?" Merak queried.
"You both suck! I've had enough of this!" Viper yelled as he started to burn the "Just Visting" square with his Angered Explosion Septima.
"Hey I just bought that game and it's crazy expensive! You're replacing it with your own money later on by the way!" Merak complained.
Stratos threw the fake coins into the air and laughed hysterically as they fell like confetti around him. Elise was tightly gripping her uniform skirt in fear. Carrera was about ready to fight Viper so that he could restore order and Jota, well, he was being Jota. He stood up and left, deeming himself far too important to be associated with the gruesome battle that was currently taking place. And that is why the Sumeragi established the rule to never play games with your coworkers.