Chapter Thirteen:

A Scary Tunnel Ride

'This guy is certainly not one of Mario's biggest fans.' Mario thought as the chains dragged him and Luigi through the darkness, 'And I bet that party invitation from Waluigi was some sort of scam and this mysterious villain wanted to lure us into some twisted game for his own amusement. In fact, whomever is behind that mask is a real cuckoo crazy fella.'

"WHOOOAAAAA-HOO-HOO-HOO!" Luigi wailed, "I DON'T-A LIKE WHERE WE'RE GOIIIIIING!"

Both plumbers squirmed and braced themselves, trying to find something useful that could break their chains or slow the two Italians down long enough to figure out how to escape, if there was something that they could use to escape or slow whatever made the chains move.

Unfortunately, there was nothing and that left the Marios in a helpless state. Faint lights shone through the dark, illuminating the chains and allowing Mario and Luigi to see the cold and drab tunnel they were being dragged through.

And somewhere else in the shadows, the mysterious man watched on the monitor while his hand grasped the remote that allowed him to contact the two Italians.

'The fun is just beginning, Italian idiots.' The man thought, 'Let's see how you handle this...'

Mario yelped as he felt the ground scratching against his behind as the chains dragged him along, Luigi was feeling the same thing. Without warning, the chains picked up speed and the Bros shrieked in agonized alarm, all feeling the discomfort of being dragged along the hard ground.

In fact, Mario was wondering where this tunnel would take him and Luigi. It seemed to be leading somewhere underneath the land of the Mushroom Kingdom. Heck, the place looked like a secret underground tunnel that connected to that mysterious fella's not-so secret underground lair.

"So, Luigi?" Mario chuckled nervously, "How's your Saturday going?"

"MARIO, WATCH OUT!" Luigi yelled, "INCOMING OBSTACLES!"

He turned his focus away from his little brother and yelped, seeing a Goomba coming at him. Mario made an effort to move his body, despite the chains holding and dragging him. He was able to move to the right, narrowly avoiding the Goomba. And then, a Koopa appeared from the darkness, its body tucked into its shell, and bonked Mario in the face.

Luigi screamed with fear while the mystery villain's laughter echoed through the dark, both Italians barely noticed that he was watching them on another TV-ish monitor. That guy was certainly a psycho, no doubt about it, and he was likely betting neither of the Super Mario Brothers would last long.

"IT'S THE TUNNEL OF DOOM, BABY!" The villain howled gleefully, "AND IT'S A LOT OF FUN!"

Monty Moles, streams of fire, more Goombas, Bob-Ombs and other obstacles appeared out of the darkness, coming in Mario and Luigi's direction. Mario plowed through several Goombas, taking them to the face, Luigi avoided them and evaded several streams of fire, so did Mario. They ducked and swerved around flying hammers, even as one bonked Mario on the cheek.

Despite how intense and scary the whole experience was, Mario briefly stopped screaming and started to smile as if he had found enjoyment from a seemingly hard game. His eyes went sideways from each other again and the plumber said in a gleeful voice, "Ooh, Mario's Tunnel of-a Doom, very..."

He was cut off when a Bob-Omb exploded close by and his face was covered in soot, even his hat was slightly damaged from the blast.

"MARIO, ARE YOU OKAY?!" Luigi wailed with concern.

"Don't-a worry, Luigi! Mario is okay!" Mario flashed a thumbs up as he shook his head, shaking off the dizziness from the blast.

Both brothers heard a grunt, looking up to see they were heading right towards a Whomp in their path. Luigi braced himself and slid harmlessly underneath the Whomp while Mario attempted to perform a slide under the big stone creature, only to wind up getting stuck under it, due to being overweight, and the chains shook as the plumber came to a halt.

"WHAT? HEY! NO STOPPING THE PAIN TRAIN!" The host cried, "FASTER! FASTER!"

BWHOOSH! Mario found himself being pulled through the tunnel a lot more quickly and, because he was stuck under the Whomp, the Whomp went with him.

The Whomp grunted and its red eyes widened as its stone feet grinded on the solid ground until it seemed like its legs would fall off. Mario finally became unstuck and caught up to Luigi, who was screaming with fright.

No more enemies and obstacles appeared by this point, they seemed to be safe. And just then, a pair of Boos popped out of the wall, followed by buzz saws from the ceiling. Luigi screamed and flinched while the Boos swooped down on him and Mario, who ducked and flipped around to avoid the saws.

Several Bullet Bills appeared, fired from cannons somewhere far off, streaking towards the fat Italians and threatening to hit them hard across the face. Mario and Luigi screamed and ducked, narrowly missing the oncoming missiles just as more Bob-Ombs appeared.

KA-BOOM, KA-BOOM, KA-BOOM! The bombs exploded all around them, freaking Luigi out, and Mario, who was feeling some level of excitement, threw his hands in the air while yelling, "YEAH!"

Finally, the chains slowed down and came to a stop. And thus, Mario and Luigi finally stopped, coming to rest next to a platform. However, they barely had room to breathe a sigh of relief, feeling dazed and nearly close to getting sick.

Squeaking wheels carried into their ears, followed by sinister chuckling. They looked up, seeing their host finally reveal himself, emerging from behind a corner on a bicycle. The strange Majora's Mask-wearing man turned his head and looked at the Mario Brothers in an ominous manner.

"Ho-ho-ho! Are you having fun so far? I know I am!" The man said with glee.

"GET OVER HERE, YOU CRAZY SONS OF A BITCHES!" Mario shouted, he got to his feet and tried to run towards the lunatic, only to trip due to the chain holding his leg back. Luigi screamed again, worried for his brother's well-being, and their captor laughed with glee.

"Ah-ah-ah." The man taunted, "You're breaking the rules, Mario!"

An irked Mario picked up a Monty Mole laying close by and chucked it at the mysterious maniac. The mole crashed into the man, knocking him off the bike, while he cried, "OW, MY OVAL EGGS!"

Mario broke into a fit of laughter, feeling confident with himself and feeling a sense of satisfaction to give that weirdo the comeuppance he deserved. Just then, the man got back up, starring at the plumber and his brother as his mask's eyes glowed more dangerously and an ominous purple aura glowed around his being.

"You really shouldn't have done that!" The mysterious horror host said, lagging his finger tauntingly, "You just earned yourself... THE PUNISHMENT ROUND!"

The man grabbed his remote and pressed another button, more chains wrapped around Mario and Luigi, frightening them both. And the next thing they knew, they were pulled into the darkness while their sinister host shrieked with laughter again, and Mario briefly blacked out...