Chapter Three:

The Power Goes Out


Right when the gang was enjoying the song, when they were barely a few lyrics in, a huge bolt of lightning exploded outside and the lights flickered out. The power outage took everyone by surprise, and screaming filled the room. Mario, Luigi, SMG4, Meggy, everyone all screamed, including SMG3, who screamed like a little girl.

The others calmed down, but their former enemy kept screaming. SMG3 noticed their odd looks and stopped. "Uh, I mean..." He cleared his throat, "Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh..."

"At least we still have the TV." Mario said optimistically.

He spoke too soon. The window opened on it's own accord, likely due to some form of magic, and a lightning cloud with a smiley face floated in. The cloud hovered over the still active TV, and a bolt of lightning struck it. The TV short-circuited, and the screen flashed an odd sign with the words "Puzzlevision" on it. Seconds later, the TV was out.

The cloud floated away, and vanished when it was out the window as if it didn't exist, and the window shut on it's own as if it had never been opened. Mario, in a panic compared to everyone else, threw himself at the television set in an attempt to fix it. He did all that he could, he even dressed up as Doctor Mario... but nothing seemed to work.

Tears filled his eyes as Mario sat in front of the TV, waiting for it to come back on. He wiggled his legs around, and tried to smile despite his failed efforts to avoid crying. Everyone else in the room knew it, SMG4 could see it as well.

"M-Mario's having lotsa fun!" Mario whimpered.

SMG4 stepped forward, and pat his best friend on the shoulder. "Mario, it's over..." He told him, "The TV is dead."

Mario was losing his mind. He wanted that TV back on, there were so many shows he was itching to watch, and so many songs to singalong with alongside his friends. He lost it, and collapsed on his side, crying like a lunatic.

"Jeeze, Mario!" SMG4 protested, "Don't be a crybaby!"

"I dIdN't ThInK wE'd Be SeEiNg MaRiO aCt LiKe SuCh A lItTlE bItCh ToDaY!" Bob commented with surprise, "BuT, ThEn AgAIn, It's SoRt Of JuStiFiEd SiNcE wE wErE JuSt StArTiNg To HaVe FuN!"

"And I don't think I can get back to my streaming as long as the power is out." SMG3 remarked, "It'll be a while before we can do anything with the power out."

"Mama mia..." Luigi quipped uneasily.

Meggy stood up and started pacing around as if she were a military leader. "Boys! We got an electrical emergency on our hands." She declared in her best boss voice, "Who's going to go to the basement with me to fix the generator to restore power?"

"Tari GoEs!" Bob and SMG3 pointed to the blue-haired gamer girl, who looked very uneasy after hearing what Meggy had to say.

"WHAT?!" Tari protested, "No! I can't go in there! The basement is very scary!"

"We'll let fate decide." Meggy picked up a Monopoly: FedEX Edition board game that was lying around, and the intrepid former Inkling flashed the group an intense look as she cried, "Whomever wins this game gets to choose who will go to the basement with me."

'This isn't going to bode well.' SMG4 thought, he'd played that game with Meggy recently, and Meggy, who'd mastered bowling and risen to claim the honor as the first human Splatfest champion, had defeated him without practicing. It was crazy to think she was good at this game. Heck, Bob claimed to be an expert at Monopoly himself.

In fact, Meggy had taken him on in a game of Monopoly on the same day she beat SMG4. That girl was perseverant, and so was Bob, who beat her in a rematch. Sort of.

Meggy opened the box, and set up the pieces as well as the board with the money at the ready. The gang reluctantly gathered around the Monopoly set, and Meggy declared with confidence, "Let the games begin!"

Tari, Bob and SMG3 stepped forward, and took their positions as Monopoly players, even though Tari wasn't the best at regular games. Mario was too sad to join in, and he retreated to a different room, likely to go cry. Meggy stood on the sidelines, eagerly watching the action, and she blew the whistle to give one of the players some much-needed confidence.

"LoOkS lIkE I tAkE yOuR hOuSe, SMG3!" Bob cried as he made a move into SMG3's territory.

"What? I lose my property?!" SMG3 yelled, "You're an unfair piece of shit, Bob!"

"ThAt WiLl Be FiVe-HuNdReD dOlLaRs FoR sWeArInG." Bob goaded as he claimed more money from the former villain.

"Looks like I get chance!" Tari proclaimed as she placed her piece on a chance square.

"What sort of chance?" SMG3 asked.

"Extra space chance." Tari moved her piece, a duck, forward another couple spaces, "And I just landed on someone's property."

"ThAt WoUlD bE mY PrOpErTy, LOL!" Bob snatched some money from Tari, "AnD I'm GeTtIng So MuCh RiChEr, I ThInK I'lL gEt OuT ThE bOoZe!"

SMG3 rolled a die, and landed on a five. The streamer laughed with glee, "I get five spaces..." He moved a car five spaces, "AND I TAKE THE MONEY FROM YOU, TARI!"

"Oh no!" Tari wailed.

"Get wrecked, bitch!" SMG3 slapped on some shades.

"LOL! YoU jUsT lOsT mOnEy, GaMeR gIrL." Bob taunted, he grabbed a pile of cash that SMG3 had taken from Tari "...aNd ThIs Is WhErE I tAkE tHaT mOnEy FrOm YoU, SMG3!"

"WHAT THE FU...?"

"Ah, Ah, Ah! No SwEaRiNg."

Meggy smirked, she was enjoying the game, and the former Inkling was munching on some pre-made popcorn from a bucket as she watched the action taking place. Whomever came out on top, they would certainly be picking out the person who would be going to the basement. Whomever it was, something told Meggy it would be Tari.

Despite the progress she'd made with her during the Western Spaghetti incident, there were still instances of Tari slipping into her timid ways. Sports Coach Meggy was not going to let her student run and hide from matters, especially not during a time like this...