Chapter Forty:

Luigi and The TARDIS

Despite being timid at times with moments of bravery, Luigi was in the brightest of bright moods as he walked through the doors that led into the convention hall, sporting an Adventure Time Finn costume complete with a sort of helmet wig.

A less-than-enthused Mario followed the upbeat Luigi, not even humming a certain overworld theme or saying anything like "wahoo".

Mario just could not believe that his brother was so keen on going to this Glitch-Con event, especially as conventions usually weren't the fat Italian's cup of tea, regardless of the fact that upcoming video games, movies or comics were revealed at events like this.

"Come on, Mario. You'll love this." Luigi urged, "I mean, wow, you got to admit this convention is awesome! Just look at all of the cool stuff we got here." He gestured to all of the booths that were nearby.

"Can Mario go home now?" Mario asked, already bored by what was happening, "My feet hurt, and there are too many weirdos..."

Luigi chuckled, "Come on, bro. They're not weirdos, they're wearing costumes. It's called 'cosplaying', when you dress up as a certain character from an anime, movie, comic, or video game. Look, I'm cosplaying too."

A pink-haired woman dressed up as a Doki-Doki club character walked up and snapped some photos of Luigi in his Finn costume. Mario watched, then he turned around to walk away, already fed up with the convention, deciding that he was out of there. However, he stopped halfway to the door when Luigi called him back.

"Don't leave, Mario!" Luigi begged, "Just look at all of the booths here, there's something for every kind of fan."

"Do you think they have a spaghetti appreciation booth?" Mario asked.

"You may never know, Mario. They just might." Luigi winked at his younger brother, "C'mon, let's go check out the sci-fi booth."

The younger plumber ran towards the nearby science-fiction booth which was slightly adorned with Star Wars-themed merch, and Mario rolled his eyes. It was better to go along with Luigi for the time being, especially if they had a spaghetti booth somewhere.

"Fine..." He muttered, and the fat Italian ran after his little brother.

Both plumbers entered the booth, coming face-to-face with Bowser himself. Bowser sported an odd sort of helmet on his head, and he was standing right next to a table with various items laid out for viewing or potential buying.

"Who dares enter my booth?" Bowser declared in an ominous tone, he pressed a button and a familiar mechanical breathing emitted from the speakers of a box nearby.

"Hey, Bowser. Why are you dressed like a Pokémon?" Mario inquired.

Bowser looked at Mario with confusion. "I'm not a Pokémon..." He explained, "I'm Darth Vader!"

Mario, in all of his curiosity-mixed boredom, picked up a red-gray object with the B letter on it, and tossed it to the side. The item was a bomb from Star Fox, and it exploded as soon as the device landed in a corner somewhere close by, almost hurting a pair of Goombas.

Luigi took notice to something blue sitting out of the corner of his eye, and his mind went into maximum fanboy mode as he saw the large blue-colored 1960s British phone box. He recognized it from every Doctor Who viewing, and one could never have enough of that wonderfully-disguised machine of wonder.

"Look, Mario! A TARDIS!" Luigi told his younger brother.

Unfortunately, Mario did not seem to like what he'd just heard. "What did you just call me?" The fat Italian demanded.

He didn't get an answer. Luigi opened the door, and stepped into the TARDIS. Forget about Adventure Time, it was Doctor Who time, and the green Italian loved that show. He was so caught up in fanboy mode, Luigi didn't notice the TARDIS was bigger on the inside, and accidentally hit a switch while turning to face Mario in the convention hall.

"Look, I'm the Doc..." Luigi was cut off in mid-sentence as the not-so fake TARDIS began vibrating with the engines whining to life. The doors closed shut, and the famous Gallifreyan time-space travel machine vanished from the convention hall, taking Luigi along with it.

"I DIDN'T GET ASKED TO BE DRAGGED ON AN ADVENTURE THROUGH TIME AND SPACE!" Luigi cried, finally noticing the TARDIS control console behind him. The cosplaying Italian ran up to the controls, and frantically looked around.

He had to get back. Not just because a certain two-hearted, face-changing humanoid alien would be worried to find his (or her) transport missing, but because Luigi wanted a normal day with his mentally-challenged, spaghetti-obsessed big brother, even though Mario tended to drag him along on wacky adventures with the first chance he got.

The wheezing of the engines seemed to get louder, with the pistons rising and falling with a little more speed, and Luigi slapped some buttons with desperation before pulling a lever.

And that was when the TARDIS stopped. Hoping the madness was over, the younger Mario Brother wiped his forehead, then he backed away from the controls, and ran for the door. Luigi's heart throbbed intensely, and the timid Italian gripped the door knob cautiously.

'I hope we made it back.' He thought, 'You didn't send me to the future, did you, Ms. TARDIS?'

Luigi opened the door, and stepped onto a rooftop. In a second, he was met with the sight of smoke filling the sky, a large green tower off in the distance, and once-colorful signs covered in soot. He heard the sounds of warfare, and almost shrieked when he looked down to see Inklings engaged in warfare with human soldiers.

On another street, a tank rolled into position and fired on a pair of charger-wielding Inklings, wiping them out. Luigi stepped back, completely terrified, and it dawned on him that he was in Inkopolis, somewhere in the future or the past while Inklings and humans waged war.

The terrified Italian ran back inside the TARDIS, closed the door, and started slapping random buttons, determined to get away from the chaos of a Human-Inkling War that he'd just seen. Hopefully, the next place would be safe, with nothing terrifying to see. The TARDIS thrummed and wheezed, and Luigi held on as the ship buckled.

BOMP! He crossed his fingers, and stepped out once more. This time, Luigi was not on a battlefield, but somewhere alien. The terrain looked rocky, and he could see a large city with sphere-shaped, and dome-shaped buildings.

A chill ran up Luigi's spine as he observed the environment, and something told him he was being watched. Something about this place wasn't safe, and he knew it. Whirring filled his ears, and he turned with a jolt to be greeted by a pair of blue-eyed pepper pots advancing on him with their weapons aimed right at the timid, super Italian.

"INTRUDERS WILL BE EXTERMINATED! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!" The Daleks cried.

"AAAARRRRRGH!" Luigi ran for the TARDIS, and dove inside, right before the squad of Daleks opened fire. As he slammed the door shut, the plumber realized he'd been taken to Skaro, the Dalek home-world, at an unspecified point in time... another not-so safe location.

"THE HUMAN WILL EXIT THE TARDIS AT ONCE!" Luigi heard the Dalek squadron commander order menacingly over a loudspeaker, "YOU HAVE FIFTEEN RELS! SURRENDER OR WE WILL DESTROY THE SHIP WITH YOU INSIDE! YOU ARE AN ENEMY OF THE DALEKS, AND ENEMIES OF THE DALKES ARE TO BE EXTERMINATED!"

"GET ME OUT OF HEEEEEEEEEEEEEERE!" Luigi screamed and jerked the nearby lever.

It was known The TARDIS had sentience to a degree, especially when it often talked to someone like The Doctor. As Luigi feared for his life while the Daleks continued ordering for his surrender, the TARDIS thrummed to life again, as if it acknowledged Luigi's request.

Within moments, he heard the sound of Dalek voices fading, and Luigi breathed a sigh of relief. The engines whined, and wheezed, and thrummed. Luigi ran to the console, and pressed random buttons, typing in random coordinates into the TARDIS as the engines hummed wildly.

Moments later, the Gallifreyan transport stopped, and Luigi decided to look outside again. As he opened the door, his heart thumped, and he was met by the most eerie sight yet. Luigi faced the starry vastness of space, and took it in, just before he caught sight of a large black box with red symbolism on it.

An ominous aura surrounded the rectangular object, and the not-so fat Italian brother observed it for a moment until he closed the door quickly. He backed away slowly, taking in what he'd just seen.

'What was that? Just what was that?' Luigi thought.

DUUUUUN! DUUUUUN!

'The Cloister Bells...' He recognized that sound, and the interior flashed red.

Luigi wondered if the TARDIS was starting to freak out over going near that mysterious box thing he'd just seen outside. He dashed to the control console, and the tolling sounds continued. Whenever the Cloister Bells went off, especially in Modern Doctor Who, trouble was unfolding.

"It's just a box, what harm can it do?" Luigi asked aloud.

DUUUUUN! DUUUUUN!

"Eh, i-i-it's okay there, Paisano TARDIS. I'm sure that box won't be trouble in the future. I-It'll be fine."

The engines began to whir again, and the red light seemed to settle. Luigi wondered what was going on now, realizing the TARDIS was going somewhere else. Hopefully, he'd succeeded in calming the ancient time-traveling, space-faring machine with plenty of assurance.

Moments later, the machine came to rest again, and Luigi stepped towards the door. The cloisters sounded again, and Luigi turned the knob. He stepped out, and his eyes were filled with dread as he observed where the TARDIS had taken him now.

It was a different world, not like his own, and the landscape looked apocalyptic, very apocalyptic...