Episode 4: Front Page News
The next day, news reporters are reporting on what they saw from yesterday. They are talking about a weird looking man with a round nose, thick mustache, and red hat. There are even clips of him being attacked by Dr. Octopus and later saved by Spiderman. There are a lot of questions on who that guy was and where did he came from. This caught the attention of one man named J. Jonah Jameson, the head CEO of the New York news publisher the Daily Bugle.
After seeing the news, he says, "A weirdo in overalls with a mustache and a red cap." "What do you think we should do about it?" Asks one of his journalists. "I want information about him immediately!" Responds Jameson. "Go find him and see what you can learn about him!" "On it JJ!" Responds the journalist. And with that he heads out to do his duty.
Meanwhile Mario is sleeping in a hotel room that Spidey had taken him to. He soon wakes up and gets out of bed. He had apparently slept in his clothes. After getting up, he brushes his teeth, combs his hair, puts on his hat, and leaves the room. Once leaving the hotel he walks past several people who are looking at him after seeing him on TV. He comes across a TV with the news still going on. He looks at it when he sees himself on it. "Hey!" He says, "That's me!" Witnesses on the news describe what he looks like. "Can this place get any weirder?" He asks.
"Hey! There he is!" Says a voice. Mario turns and sees a group of people approaching him along with a reporter and journalist. "You're the guy who was saved by Spiderman yesterday." Says the reporter. "Tell me who are you and where are you from?" As he holds the microphone in front of the plumber, he says, "I'm Mario and I am from the Mushroom Kingdom." The whole crowd laugh at that response. "Mushroom Kingdom?" Exclaims the reporter, "What kind of place is that?" "You might not know about it because I am from a different world." Says Mario. "Hey Mario!" Says a man. "Does this mean you live in a mushroom?" Before bursting into laughter. "No," says Mario, "I live in a castle." "Is the castle grown out of the ground like a mushroom." Asks a woman. "No!" Responds Mario, "Look I don't know what you guys do in this world but I am trying to get back to where I am from so I can save my princess."
And with that, he leaves. But the crowd weren't done with him. They went after him. Meanwhile Luigi is walking down the sidewalk. He comes across a stack of free newspaper and takes one. He reads it and is shocked to see his brother on the headlines. "Mario!" He exclaims.
Meanwhile Peter Parker is reading a newspaper as well. He recognizes the man in the headlines as the person he saved yesterday. At that moment he sees Mario being chased by the reporter and crowd on the Time Square screens. "Apparently this guy, whose name is Mario, is looking for some fantasy land called Mushroom Kingdom." Says the reporter. "Mario." Says Peter. As he listens to what the crowd think of the Italian Plumber, Mary Jane approaches him. "Hey Tiger." She says. "Oh hey MJ." He responds. "Did you hear about that strange looking man on the news?" She asks. "Uh yeah." Responds Peter. The two start to talk about it as they walk together.
Meanwhile Mario has managed to escape the crazy public. As he goes down the sidewalk, he receives a phone call from Luigi, who has managed to get a hold of him since they are in the same dimension now. The two are on the phone together trying to determine where they are and what to do. "This world is very crazy." Says Mario. "The entire public is after me. And I have encounter some freaky looking people." He tells him about a multi-arm guy as well as a green elf who both attacked him. "And then I was saved by this guy in red and blue swinging with webs." He says. "Who is he?" Asks Luigi. "My friendly neighborhood Spiderman." Answers Mario.
"Spiderman." Says Luigi. "Well where are you right now?" But neither him nor Mario could determine their whereabouts. So he hangs up. Then he looks at the newspaper and sees his brother in the arms of Spiderman while swinging in the air. "That must be him." He says. "Luigi!" Shouts a voice. It's Yoshi who had just found him. "Yoshi!" He says."Where have you been?" "You won't believe me." He says. "But I was in the sewers which was very stinky. And then I encountered this huge dinosaur-like creature." "Oh my." Exclaims Luigi. "Yeah," says Yoshi. "And I basically fought it before making it out of there." "You're telling me." Says a voice. It's Wario and Waluigi who are just approaching them. "Last night we had to fight some black alien with sharp teeth." "Yeah." Says Waluigi, "He was so freaky-looking." "A black alien with sharp teeth." Exclaims Luigi. "If that creep ever shows his nasty face again, I'll pound him flatter than a pancake." Says Wario.
"Have you found Mario yet?" Asks Yoshi. "I haven't." Says Luigi, "But I did call him." "What did he say?" Asks Wario. "He said that he is in a different part of this city." Answers Luigi. He then tells them everything his brother had encountered in this dimension, including Spiderman. "Spiderman." Exclaims Wario. "What the heck is a Spiderman?" "He's this guy." Says Luigi as he shows them the newspaper. "Ooo." Says Yoshi. "What a weird looking guy." Says Wario. "Look at him." Says Waluigi, "He is red and blue with a spider on his chest." "I got to say he looks so stylish." Says Yoshi. "Is he a hero or a villain?" Asks Wario. "I don't know." Says Luigi. "But judging from how he saved Mario, I assume he's a hero." "Let's go find Mario." Says Yoshi. And with that, the four friends start to do exactly that.
Meanwhile at the Daily Bugle, J. Jonah Jameson is gathering information about the Italian plumber in red and blue. "So his name is Mario." He says. "And he is looking for some made-up place called Mushroom Kingdom." He then laughs at that name. "What is that suppose to be a kingdom full of giant mushrooms?" He exclaims. Peter then enters the room. "Boss I would like to talk to you." He says. "Yeah what?" He says. "I saw Spiderman save him yesterday." "So?" He asks. "I'm saying that this Mario guy may be a good guy just like us." Says Peter. "Yeah," says Jameson, "well there's no telling what kind of shenanigan he would be getting into. But now the Webhead isn't the only man in the city in red and blue." Peter isn't too sure about this.
Later that evening, Mario is still wandering the streets of New York. He is looking around for his friends, even calling out for them, but to no avail. He tries texting Luigi. At that moment, he hears an alarm ring. He sees a jewelry store with a broken window. He goes over to investigate. Inside, some criminals are attempting to steal priceless diamonds and jewels. As they put them into their bags, Mario enters and says. "Hey!" They turn around and see him. "Put those back where you got them." "Or else what?" Asks one of them, "Call the cops on us?" "No." Replies the plumber, "I can take you." The crooks react by taking out their guns and pointing at him. He reacts by putting his hands in the air. "Ok look guys." He says. "I don't think you should do that. It would definitely land you all into trouble." He then hurls a fireball at them. They are shocked at that. Mario then runs up to them to fight. After scuffling with them. They hear police sirens. "Forget the loot! Let's bail!" Says one of them before they all run out of the store, leaving the bag of jewels with Mario.
Soon the police arrived at the seen with their guns pointing at him. "Freeze!" He says. Mario puts his hands in the air. "Look guys," he says, "This isn't what it looks like." The cops mistaken him for stealing the jewels. So they place him under arrest for attempted theft. As they put him into a police car, Mario says, "No! I was trying to stop the bad guys from stealing! They got away before you showed up!" But the police didn't believe him and took him to the station. Unknown to them, Spiderman saw the whole ordeal.
Meanwhile Luigi, Yoshi, Wario, and Waluigi are sitting on a city bench. The plumber in green and dark blue is texting Mario about his whereabouts, but it is only met with lack of response. "It's no use." He says. "He's still not answering." Just then they see the news on television about Mario getting arrested for theft at a jewelry store. They could see their friend being taken into police custody. "Mario!" Exclaims Luigi. "He is apparently being taken to the county jail to be questioned by the authorities." "County jail?" Exclaims Waluigi. "Where is that?" "We must find it and help clear our friend's name." Says Yoshi. "He can't possibility be a thief." "Right." Says Luigi. "My brother would never commit a crime."