Chapter Thirty-One:

The Magic Wheelchair Scam

"That was a failure." Wario groaned, clenching his fists with frustration.

He and Mario had found Fishy Boopkins hanging out with a Miku body pillow, and talking to it, leading to Wario hatching a 'bring the waifu to life' scam, which involved him conducting a fake ritual before tossing away the pillow with Mario coming out in an anime girl costume.

However, the plan went south when Boopkins tried to kiss what he thought was Miku, making Mario run away.

And yet, Wario's scam business was far from over. He wasn't done by a long shot, and he made sure that Mario was still with him. In his eyes, the spaghetti-loving son of a bugger was still of use for his scams, and he had a whole load of ideas.

Both Italians were walking through the streets together, then they spotted Koupey, the wheelchair-bound Koopa Troopa, just rolling around on a nearby sidewalk as if he didn't have anything to worry about. Wario smirked maliciously, then he pulled a magic hat out of a bag with a wand before slapping the hat on.

"You're my partner for this one." He told Mario, "And remember the plan."

"Okie dokie." Mario quipped, 'Oh, mama mia. This is the dumbest day in Mario's life.'

Koupey rolled the wheels of his wheelchair and took in the scenery of Mushroom City, breathing the fresh air into his lungs and feeling at ease. Despite his inability to move his legs, he felt content to a degree.

"Hey, you."

The Koopa turned around, finding himself face-to-face with a magician-looking guy, who was actually Wario. However, Koupey didn't seem to care about the man's identity, other than the fact that he was a magician of sorts.

"Would you like to see a magic trick?" Wario asked.

"Oooooh. Aw yeah." Koupey said with intrigue, "I love magic tricks! Lemme see it happen. Show me! Show me!"

"First, I'm gonna need your wheelchair, because..." The greedy Italian rubbed his fingers together, "…I'm gonna make it disappear."

Wario scooped the immobile Koopa out of the chair, and placed him on a bench, then he took Koupey's wheelchair and instructed Koupey to close his eyes and count to three. Wario waved his wand and tapped the tip on the side of the chair, signaling for his partner to do his thing.

Mario, who was waiting on the rooftop with a large magnet, held it out and pulled the wheelchair off the street. Seconds later, Koupey opened his eyes, and Wario posed dramatically, gesturing to the spot where the wheelchair had been just a moment before. Koupey was amazed, especially given how impressive the magician had to be.

"Alright, now pay up!" Wario told the Koopa, "Magic is expensive stuff!"

Koupey nodded, pulled out his wallet, and paid Wario the sum of forty-five dollars. Then he asked him to make it appear again.

"Alright!" The greedy Italian declared, "Now, I'm going to make it... REAPPEAR!"

He waved the wand and Mario threw the wheelchair back down into the street. However, the wheel chair had broke when it landed on the roof. To make things ever hairier, Mario had dropped a lighter he'd found in Wario's bag and ended up turning it on. And when the chair landed on the roof, it landed on the lighter and started to burn.

And by the time the wheelchair wound up in the street, it was broken and burning. Wario yelped in surprise as soon as he saw the results for himself. Koupey, of course, was beyond baffled by how a magician like him could do such a thing.

"YOU BROUGHT BACK A BROKEN, BURNING WHEELCHAIR?!" The outraged Koopa cried.

'Now's the time to get outta here.' Wario thought.

And without a moment to waste, the greedy Italian scam artist made a break for it with Mario following him. Koupey shrieked, calling Wario a horrible magician, and demanded for a refund as he'd given Wario his money. Koupey then reached into his pocket to find his phone, only to find that it was missing.

That's right. In the event the scam went awry, Wario took the Koopa's phone so he wouldn't call the police on him. The greedy Italian was just that resourceful in so many ways, just as Waluigi had been resourceful whenever he aided Wario in his scams.

Right now, it was time for Mario and Wario to prepare for their next scam, and they never noticed that the shadow of Waluigi was watching from an alleyway near the very spot where Wario had scammed Koupey.

The poor paralyzed Koopa continued to curse Wario for such a poor magic act, then a dark figure appeared from his own shadow and took Koupey by surprise.

"Um, hi?" Koupey whimpered.

And without a word, the shadow of Waluigi grabbed Koupey and dragged him into the darkness, leaving behind a broken and smoldering wheelchair...

Koupey whimpered as shadowy tendrils tied him down.

He was flat on his back, unable to get back up. He didn't know what was going to happen. A dark cloaked figure was looming over him, smiling ominously at the Koopa from the shadows of his black hood. And then, the dark figure lowered the cowl, revealing the face of Waluigi.

Waluigi held up a purple mushroom with a T symbol on it, grinning maniacally. And then, he forced it into Koupey's mouth, not a word. The lanky wah-man's grin widened as he forced the poor Koopa to eat every last inch of the T-Pose Mushroom. Koupey had never seen a T-Pose Zombie before, nor had he seen the mushroom until now.

The soon-to-be apocalyptic overlord of the Mushroom Kingdom stepped back, watching as Koupey's transformation began. Every bone in his arm cracked, every finger stood in a rigid manner, then the bones in Koupey's legs snapped together and his knees wobbled. Koupey finished tasting the mushroom and he screamed, wailing in pain.

And then, his eyes became blank, and the scream faded. Waluigi clicked his fingers and the tendrils holding down Koupey faded. He looked down at the T-posing Koopa and watched as Koupey floated to his feet, staring blankly at Waluigi, ready for his commands.

Waluigi laughed, filled with satisfaction, as he savored having another T-Posing zombie at his whim...