Super Mario World (Series)

by sleepfiction

After fixing a strange pipe deep below their city, plumber brothers Mario and Luigi find themselves sucked into a pipe that warps them to a strange new land: the Mushroom Kingdom! As strangers in a strange new place, Mario and Luigi quickly make themselves useful by helping those around town, also aided by the compassionate Princess Peach and pursued by the dark King Bowser.

10. 1-10: Lost Levels

MONTHS AGO AT THIS POINT…

"Samantha… There's something I've been meaning to tell you…"

"What is it, Charles?"

Though the scene that was playing on screen had "DRAMATIZATION" at the bottom in massive white letters, Luigi was still hooked on what was being portrayed. He sat on the couch, covered in an old woven planet, clutching onto one of the sofa's throw pillows close to his chest.

His eyes were wide as he stared at the screen, gripping the pillow close to him hard enough to make his knuckles stark white. People who knew Luigi closely (which were maybe three or four people) knew that the guy was a big scaredy cat; but in an oxymoronic fashion, Luigi loved mysteries and thrillers, and especially loved when the two were combined.

This show was one of his absolute favorites. He's been hooked on it ever since it came out a few years ago- if this series had only one singular watcher, that was definitely Luigi. The series combined thriller and mystery by presenting the weirdest things happening in the world.

The room was dark, the lights turned off. You know, for ambiance.

On the television, the dramatization continued, this Charles figure shaking. "I've discovered something wrong with me… Something… Dangerous!"

"Charles, what's the matter?"

"Samantha, I… Am… An alien!"

Unknown to the green plumber, a figure rose up from behind the couch he was on. As soon as the man on screen turned around to reveal red alien eyes, this dark figure behind the couch grabbed Luigi roughly.

The guy was wearing a gorilla mask. "RAAAAAH!"

Both Luigi and that Samantha woman on the show screamed, both in unison and same pitch.

"Has this man truly been an alien his entire life without knowing?! Find out soon when we return to Our Miraculous World !"

Mario chuckled, pulling off the gorilla mask he had on and flicking on the lights, revealing the living room that the brothers lived in growing up. It wasn't too big, but was certainly lived in, with many photos and nicknacks everywhere. Thanks to Luigi's dislike of dust, the heirlooms were all polished regularly.

It was an off day for the Mario Brothers, something that happened every once in a blue moon in Brooklyn. While the plumbing shop was closed down for the day due to the road being closed down, the Bros were relaxing at home- their father was pulling another 24-hour shift and their mother went out to sell things at the flea market… at least they still believe she's there.

The television went to commercial, leading Luigi to mute it before looking at his brother with a very deep frown. Mario wiped a small tear from his cheek, turning to put the mask on a table nearby.

"Oh, man… Thatsa good stuff."

As he turned, a wooden spoon whacked his nose. Mario clutched it in pain.

"Owowowow!"

"Incivile. Thatsa what you get for making your brother upset during his-a favorite show."

Maria Mario, known to many in Brooklyn as "Mia," though known to her boys under the iconic exclamation of "Mamma Mia," rubbed a finger under her own bulbous nose, a frown on her face from her eldest son's antics. She still had that wooden spoon- the same spoon she's had for nearly forty years now- clutched in her hand as she rested her other fist on her hip.

She was the same height as her youngest son, clearly where Luigi got his height from. She had on a pale blue blouse and worn out red pants; a bandana that was the same shade of red was tied around her head, keeping her curly brown hair away from her face.

"Ugggh…" Mario rubbed his nose. Mia didn't hit hard with that spoon, she never did, but it was enough of a hit to get your attention. "Mamma, I thought you were out to the market."

"I was, and I sold all of my items. Then I come-a back and see my sons frightening each other," Mia went over to Luigi, standing behind the couch and putting her hands on his shoulders. "Are you okay, ometto?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm okay Mamma."

Luigi stuck his tongue out at Mario, who rolled his eyes and scoffed at the teasing.

"Siete rimasti in giro e non avete fatto nulla tutto il giorno? Voi due avete bisogno di vite."

"I have a life!" The younger brother said defensively to his mother. "It's spent watching interesting TV."

"Un televisore doesn't-a pay the bills, Luigi."

"...Can't-a we go back to you harping on M-Mario instead?"

Mia gently slapped Luigi's shoulder to scold his suggestion, pursing her lips. She left him, though, walking over to her oldest son next.

"Hai sentito da Pauline, polpetto?"

Mario raised an eyebrow. "No? Why would I?"

"I wish you and her would get back together. You two were so cute!"

Though Luigi started cackling, Mario was exasperated. "Mamma!" He sputtered.

"What? You two were a good-a couple! And I'd-a like grandchildren before I'm too old to get out of bed, polpetto!"

"You know we broke up so she could go into politics. And so I could go off to college!"

"Well, I can't-a fault her for wanting to pursue what she loves…" The mother conceded. "But at the very least you could-a find someone else to bring home! And not someone like that woman you dated back in college!"

"Bertha wasn't that bad, Mamma."

"She was pretty, I'll give her that, but she was a bad influence on you!"

"Why can't-a you bother Weegee with this stuff?"

"My ometto will find someone for himself too! Someone caring, sweet, but-a strong and outspoken- just like your Nonni Pierluigi found your Nonnina Norina, rest her soul." Mia said, dotting her head, chest and shoulders. "But you're the one who goes to get things!"

Luigi called out from the couch. "A go-getter!"

"Yes, that."

Mario sighed. "I want to focus on myself right now, Mamma. Let me at least-a get the plumbing business in a spot where we're-a not relying on an influx of customers to make the bills."

"Oh, but polpetto… I've been in such despair being retired, and your father constantly working. All I want is to make sure my boys are happy and healthy," Mia sighed as well, deeply. "But I suppose I can wait a while longer for you to settle down. I've only been-a waiting about six years since you started college for you to find someone to join our family… Imma sure I could wait a while longer for whenever you're ready…"

With twenty-four years of experience dealing with Mamma Mia's guilt tripping tactics, Mario stared unamused at his mother while she spoke. He let her statement hang afterwards, still staring for a moment before slowly raising an eyebrow as if to silently ask her "seriously?"

"...Porca miseria. You got your father's stubbornness as well as his face." She frowned a bit.

"I'll be fine, Mamma. Don't-a worry about me."

"You know I always will."

"Which is the plight of all Italian mothers, I guess. Speaking of, has Nonna called recently?"

The phone on the wall nearby rang. The building still had a landline, even in modern years, due to Mia's insistence on keeping one. It certainly helped out, since that meant their customers didn't have their personal numbers on hand. Mario and Luigi always forgot their cell phones everywhere anyway.

"That must-a be her." The brothers' mother groaned. "Mio, you get it. You know she likes talking to you the most."

Luigi sighed. "Yet another family member who considers Mario their favorite…"

"You boys need to stop with that nonsense! I love both of my sons equally! Don't-a make me use this spoon on you next, ometto."

The younger brother chuckled, getting up from the couch now, turning off the television completely. He'll watch the rest of that episode later- right now, he made his way to the kitchen to see what Mia brought back from her trip to the town.

"Don't-a touch the sauce I have in there! It isn't ready yet!"

"Yes, Mamma."

"Shhh!" Mario said, hand on the phone receiver. After sustaining a quick glowering eye from Mia after she was shushed, Mario picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Mario! Ugh, perfect timin' as always."

"Pauline?"

Hearing the name of the woman on the other end of the call, Mamma Mia suddenly went from neutral to very interested. Knowing this would be the case, Mario shooed his mother off with a small wave of his hand, shaking his head as well.

Not knowing this since she wasn't there, the Brooklyn woman on the other end continued. "Yeah, it's me. I know you boys're closed on Wednesdays, but could you and Lu help me out with something?"

"What's up?"

"Look, the sewer's gettin' kinda messy down there. Pipes are going to places so far below that I don't even have schematics for it." Pauline said. "Ever since Mayor Valentina decided to take her spontaneous sabbatical, I've been stuck here tryin' to clean everything up so she can suck up some cocktails."

"You need us to look at the sewer system? Don't-a you guys have your own people for that?"

"Valentina took all her connections with her! Those guys won't take the deputy mayor seriously until I take the 'deputy' out from in front of it. You and Lu are the only guys I know who can get the job done, and get it done well. Can ya help me out?"

"I dunno, itsa supposed to be our day off…"

"I'll make it worth your while, I promise."

"Well…" Mario turned his head to think, but instead saw Mia there beside him, staring at him intently. She clearly didn't know what the request was, but the context clues were enough to fill her in that Mario could go see her. He sighed. "I guess we could."

"Yesss! Okay, you and Lu come to city hall. I'll meet you boys in front of the steps."

"Alright, alright, we'll be there. See you there, Pauline."

"See you in a sec! Tell your mom I said hi!"

Mario sighed as he hung up the phone. He paused for a second, knowing his mother was standing by and staring at him intently.

"...well?"

"She says-a hi." He replied casually, turning to walk away to the front door.

"Scemo!" Mia replied, exasperated and aggravated. "What is it that she wanted? Is she asking you to go out again?"

"Mamma!" scoffed Mario. "She asked for me and Luigi to help her with-a something involving the city's plumbing. We're gonna be helping her out is all."

"And there is-a nothing else going on with you?" The revelation made Mia sigh. "Honestly, must I call Lady Fiore and have us make a date for the two of you to meet each other again?"

"The last time you did-a that with someone's mother, Mamma, I ended up being Wario's punching bag for fifteen years." The red plumber smacked the wall next to the kitchen door. "Weegee, c'mon, we gotta go!"

"Coming!"

"Wario wasn't-a that bad." Mia commented.

"He stole our lunch money. And my hat. Multiple times. And he always-a stunk of garlic."

"Hmph. Tutto bene."

One thing that Mario found himself wasting time on was trying to get Maria to admit she was wrong. His mother was stubborn, and two things were instilled within the brothers when they were young: Mamma Mia was never wrong, and never forgave those that have wronged her.

Luigi came out of the kitchen, all ready for another job, slinging on his work backpack as he always did.

"You ready?"

"Letsa go!"

"Wait, wait, wait."

The brothers paused. After a moment of staring, Mia walked up and licked her thumb, rubbing Mario's cheek and making him wince.

"You got-a sauce on you."

"Mamma, stop! I look fine!"

"Alright, alright, if you say so. Good luck boys."

"See you later, Mamma. Love you."

"Love you, Mamma!"

Mia walked through the door of the kitchen, going to her simmering sauce to check up on it. "Mmhm."

The brothers grabbed their caps and put them on as they left the apartment. Luigi locked the door back, always worried about somebody breaking in and hurting their mother.

As the pair got down the steps, they could see that mail was pushed in through the door slot, piling on the bottom of the stairs. In front, Mario crouched down and picked the envelopes up- bills. Nothing but bills.

Walking out onto the sidewalk from the staircase door, Mario shuffled through the envelopes. While Papa Pio paid the mortgage by working constantly, the other bills mostly fell on the boys, having grown more expensive as the times have changed.

Some bills were more alarmingly due than others, but they all needed to be paid sometime. The plumbing business was slow, though, especially in early spring. They needed a break, whether that be a big break with lots of money, or an actual break from paying bills.

The Mario Brothers Plumbing van was parked out front, right in front of a fire hydrant that was leaning away from the street. The tilted hydrant had been there for years- as long as Mario and Luigi could remember, even.

Still shuffling through the mail, Mario climbed into the driver's seat. Luigi got in the passenger seat after taking off his backpack to rest it in his lap.

"Is it bad, bro?"

"Oh no, itsa just the electricity, the water, the television. All things a home can live without." Mario replied wryly, tossing the envelopes on the van's dashboard. He sighed. "We gotta get a payout soon, or we're-a gonna have to get a loan from the bank."

"You think we can pay back a bank loan?"

"What other choice do we have, Weegee?"

Mario started the van and tightly gripped the steering wheel, his white work gloves obscuring how white his knuckles were getting from the tight grip he had. It was getting more and more expensive to live in Brooklyn… This was the only home they really knew, though. Where else could they go if not here?

With a sigh, he pulled the van out from the curb and onto the street, sliding through some cones set up to marked the road as closed. Hopefully Pauline's favor was paid. If not… Well, who knows what would happen to them.

---

"Nothin'?"

"We haven't seen a thing, Miss Fiore. I think we actually hit a point where we're looking over parts of the pipe system that we've already searched through."

"That can't be possible. They gotta be down there."

"We've looked all we can, at least for today. We can look again if you want, but I don't think there's gonna be anything we haven't already seen."

"...no, it's… Alright. I'll call you again in a couple a'weeks, we can look again then. Thanks anyway, Judy."

"No problem, Miss Fiore."

Pauline ended the call, sighing after. She was sitting in her car, a cherry red sports car, parked right outside of that leaning fire hydrant- the one she remembered being there ever since she was a little girl.

It had been several months since she'd seen Mario and Luigi, her childhood friends, after she had asked them to travel down into the sewers of Brooklyn and help fix an issue with the rainwater disposal systems.

When they didn't return in a few hours, she was worried. When they didn't return after the sun went down, she sent people to look for them. When they never came back… Well, it didn't exactly help with the stress Pauline already had being left behind by MIA Mayor Valentina.

Between Valentina gone, and the brothers missing, Pauline has never felt more alone than she had in her entire life. She had other friends, sure, but the Mario Brothers were the first friends she ever had growing up- they were the kids next door, so they hung out all the time. She had sent them down there as a favor, pro bono, and their kindness was repaid by never coming back.

Taking a deep breath, trying to settle the deep pit in her stomach, Pauline turned off her car. She only got out after an extra moment to calm herself, ready to face what was ahead of her.

Pauline Fiore was a tall woman, with long and wavy dark hair. The most striking thing about her at all times was her affinity for the color red- it was the color of her car, the color of the pantsuit she typically wore for work. It was even the color of the glittery dress she used to wear whenever she performed as a lounge singer. Red was her color, she loved it.

That fire hydrant was placed right in the center point between Mario Brothers Plumbing and the bookstore on the corner that Pauline's mother owned- Lady's Barrel of Books. On the opposite side of the plumbing business was what used to be a sportswear store, now run down and abandoned by the people who used to live there.

Pauline knew the son of the family that lived there, and it was for the best that they moved away.

She closed her door, but felt the wind blow behind her as a car drove by, honking loudly at her for standing in the street. The lady in red gave the car an Italian salute to show her just how much she liked that- ironic given who she was visiting that evening.

Ever since Mario and Luigi disappeared, Pauline made it a point to visit Mamma Mia for dinners at least once a week. It wasn't like she had anyone else anyway- the brothers' father was always working and Mia hadn't talked to her own twin sister in years. Pauline's mother took Mia out for lunch when she could, but her bookstore was actually rather busy.

The dinners didn't help with the guilt that was gnawing away at Pauline. In fact, it made it worse.

She walked between the front of her car and the back of the Mario Bros. work van. Pauline had the van towed back to the place of business so it wouldn't get towed by the city and taken to the impound. It was the least she could do, really.

At the door leading up to the apartment, Pauline used the key she had (an emergency key, given to her by Luigi just in case) to unlock the door and head up the stairs. Everything was just the same as it always was, but with the notable lack of… Warmth.

She reached the door at the top of the steps, knocking twice. It was quiet for a moment, completely still, before the door flung open and Mia appeared with a rolling pin, ready to swing. Her demeanor changed when she saw Pauline, however.

"Pauline!" She said, surprised but still cheerful. "I forgot you usually come around-a during the week. Please, please, come in- Imma making pesto alla genovese."

"I can smell it already," replied Pauline, striding in. "It's nice to see you, Misses Mia."

"Itsa nice to see you, Lili- and whatsa with the formality? You were the first girl on this block to call me Mamma Mia." Mia looked her over, even leaning down to take a gander at her. "Just like back then, you're always-a wearing red. Red suit, red nails, red heels. Sei fuori, you look like a walking fire truck!"

"Red's my favorite color! I can't help it if I can work a color this good."

"Mm, if you say so," the older woman replied flippantly. "Howsa your mama doing? I haven't seen her in a while, she's-a always so busy."

"Mom's alright, she's still workin' to the bone over at the bookstore." Pauline replied, taking off her jacket and hanging it up. She walked further into the apartment. "How you been, Miss Mia? Do anything fun recently?"

"No, no, I just-a stick to watching the television," said Mia, waving her hand and following Pauline. "Though there's-a never really anything that interesting ever on. I've been trying to sell a few more of my things in the market for some money, but itsa more successful on some days than others."

Money. That was something that Pauline recalled was always a topic when she talked to both Mia, and the Mario Brothers before. The plumbing business was always strapped for cash, typically forced to spend it for both parts and any bills that were still unpaid.

After the brothers left, the business didn't really take any new clients. Though Mia had some "rainy day" money, and money she could loan from her own mother, Pauline stepped up and helped pay for the overdue bills in the absence of Mia's sons.

Pauline pulled out a chair at the dining room table. Before Mia could disappear into the kitchen she paused, leaning backwards to pull herself into the dining room.

"Not there! That is Mario's spot."

After a small pause, Pauline walked over to the other side of the table and touched the chair right across from it.

"No no, that is Luigi's!"

"Should've guessed. They've only been sittin' in the same spots for the last twenty-somethin' years," murmured Pauline. She looked at a spot that a fourth chair was clearly supposed to go. "Isn't there a chair for your husband?"

"Pah! That's over there."

Mia pointed to the nearby window. Though a tad confused, Pauline walked over to it, peeking through it- needing a better look, she opened the window and leaned out of it, her dark hair blowing in the breeze.

A wooden chair matching the others at the table was in the alleyway behind the apartment, smashed to bits- someone clearly threw it outside. Literally.

"…huh." The red-clad woman blinked.

"Just use one of the wingback chairs. Thatsa what the boys' Nonna uses when she comes over." Mamma Mia grumbled as she entered the kitchen. "All a'the time…"

Pulling one of those cushioned chairs over, the woman sat down, seeing a few newspaper sheets in front of her, clearly clutter from the older woman working at the table. Pauline tucked her hair behind an ear, tilting her head to read.

T-REX BOUNDS THROUGH BROOKLYN

"A prehistoric tyrant has been seen stomping through Empire City over the last few months, believed to be an accidental transfer from another kingdom during supply shipments. Are you safe from its carnivorous cravings? We asked local polymath Professor Elvin—"

Suddenly, the newspaper was taken from the table, Maria crumpling it up and muttering.

"Can you believe that?" She said, head shaking. "Dinosaurs in Brooklyn. Whatsa this world coming to? We can't-a even go outside without possibly being slurped up like pasta!"

Pauline was treated to the older woman putting a pasta bowl in front of her before the pesto alla genovese was scooped out in front of her.

The red woman knew her manners, waiting on Mamma Mia to serve herself and sit- which she did after a sighing pause at the spots Mario and Luigi would sit at, walking there on instinct.

It was eating Pauline alive- the guilt. Mia didn't show it, a pillar of stubborn strength, but she definitely missed those boys. Pauline missed Mario and Luigi too, but those were Mia's sons. The pain must be nearly unbearable.

No. This wasn't productive. Pauline couldn't keep her mind on what Mia was feeling… It would distract her from actually finding the Mario Brothers. The guilt couldn't have her, not yet. Not until she's fixed her mistake.

The air of the dining room was filled with the scent of herbs, garlic and cheese as the plates were served. Pauline spread a napkin on her lap, before picking up the utensils given to her.

When the young woman used her spoon to help swirl the noodles around her fork, Mamma Mia scoffed.

"Usando un cucchiaio come un bambino…" She murmured, twirling her fork against her plate.

"I dunno what you just said, but this is a mostly silk blouse. You want authentic Italian style eating, you go on and visit your familia." Pauline replied before eating her spool of pesto noodles.

Mia gave her a side glance before returning to her meal, eating the noodles in her own preferred way. She didn't argue with Pauline- whether it was because she liked her or not wasn't clarified.

After swallowing some noodles, she spoke. "So, Lili, how's it really been? Itsa been a while, Imma sure you've been working hard."

"Yeah, I've been alright. Things have been pretty quiet, luckily." Pauline shrugged, watching her twirl more noodles on her fork.

"Dating anyone yet?"

Pauline nearly choked on her noodles, swallowing them whole so she could reply. "Eugh! C'mon, Mamma Mia, you can't just ask that!"

"Why not? I wanna know!"

Shaking her head and sighing, Pauline continued. "No, I'm not datin' anyone. I've sworn off the fellas while I'm focused at work. Remember, work? Can we get back to that topic? Ya sound like my ma…"

"Hmph. Whatever you say." Mia slurped more pasta. "Are you still working for that idiota of a mayor?"

"Misses Mia, she's not that bad of a mayor."

"She's-a barely done anything since she got elected! What did I even vote for?" The older woman rolled her eyes.

"A fellow Italian, given Valentina's heritage."

"Don't-a be funny with me, Pauline." Mia pointed her fork at the young woman. "All I've-a seen is that she cares more about publicity more than actually helping people."

"Better than the alternative." Pauline shrugged. "Who would you rather be mayor, then?"

"You."

Pauline sighed. "Mia…"

"Don't-a take that tone with me, signorina. Your mamma wouldn't-a stop talking about how much you spent on all those politics classes! You know all a'those city policies I didn't even know we have! All for you to simply settle for second place."

"Second place?" The young woman was exasperated, dropping her fork. "I worked hard to where I'm at right now, thank ya very much!"

"You work as if you're the mayor already! You should be, thatsa all I'm saying."

"Valentina had more political experience. They weren't gonna vote for a nobody on that ballot, Mia."

"Experience? Pah!" Mia waved her hand as if smacking a fly, twirling her fork in her pasta with her other hand. "I didn't-a have any experience when my mamma shoved a plunger in my hands and told me to start working. A month later, me and my sister were getting a dozen calls a day. You don't-a need experience, you just need a good reputation." She stuffed more noodles in her mouth.

"…which takes experience to build up."

As Mia gave her the evil eye for the back talk, Pauline put her hands up in mock surrender.

"Just sayin', just sayin'." She said.

Mia swallowed her noodles. "You can't-a look me in the eyes and say you wouldn't wanna be mayor over that… more experienced mayor we currently have."

Pauline huffed, twirling another spool of pasta against her spoon.

"Hm? Am I wrong, Lili?"

"…no, you're not."

"Ha! I knew it."

"But it ain't up to me, Misses Mia." Pauline said seriously, leaning forward a bit. "You think I wouldn't wanna take that spot? I know I would be ten times the mayor she is! But when it comes to the public, they only care about charisma and if you sound like you know what you're talking about."

"Well, when the rest of Empire City see just how good of an assistant mayor you are… Maybe they'll-a let you into that spot."

"It would take a miracle." Pauline rolled her eyes. "Some things are too big even for me to do in her place. Take that storm comin' in a few days- Valentina gets to take a vacation for months and I gotta deal with all of that."

"Hmph…" Mia poked her noodles, frowning. "I haven't-a heard anything good about that. No plumbers helping out or nothin'. I hope it was worth it."

That statement stayed with Pauline, even as the meal grew quiet. I hope it was worth it… Pauline had no idea if Mario and Luigi actually managed to fix the plumbing at all, and now they were missing, and have been missing for months.

Pauline definitely wanted to be the mayor, but if she couldn't even control what was happening with the plumbing, could she handle being a bona fide mayor? How could she be trusted with the couple million people in Empire City if she couldn't even ensure the safety of her two longest friends?

Gently mixing the noodles on her plate, Pauline found that she was no longer even hungry.

As Mia reached over for her half-empty glass of water, she didn't open her hand in time, whacking the back of her fingers into the glass and knocking it over. The glass spilled across the table, rolling over to the seat beside her- the one meant for Mario- and falling onto it before rolling and clattering on the ground below.

"Caspita! " Mamma Mia exclaimed, standing up. Pauline stood up as well.

"Aw crap- Mia, I can get some towels for ya."

"No, no, it's…" The Italian woman looked at the chair the glass landed on, almost longingly, upset its peaceful state was disrupted. "…itsa fine. I… I got it, Lili. Finish your meal."

Pauline watched as Mia briskly left the room, taking off the bandana from her head quickly, as if it was bothering her. The dark-haired woman slowly sat back down in her chair, looking at the entrance of the kitchen. She heard cabinets open and close, and the sound of sniffling inside.

It certainly didn't help with how Pauline was feeling- and a part of her felt that was good. She should be feeling upset about what happened with Mia since she's the reason Mario and Luigi are missing. Pauline gently twisted the napkin on her lap as if wringing it out.

Mia took longer than expected, probably not wanting Pauline to see her upset about her water glass spilling over on Mario's empty chair and reminding her of her sons' absence. Pauline put her elbow on the table, sighing as she rubbed her eyes with that hand.

"Oh, Mario… Lu…" She mumbled under her breath. "Where are you?"

---

"C'mon, Mario and Lu, where are you?"

Pauline looked at the watch under her blazer's sleeve, then looked around to peer down the street in front of city hall. Her foot tapped, the outsole of her high heeled shoe clicking on the concrete.

At the top of the steps in front of the city hall building, she was expecting the brothers here any moment- they shouldn't be taking this long, their home was a few blocks away. Brooklyn's traffic wasn't that bad, was it?

Brushing hair from her face, which was getting tangled in the wind, she passed the time by looking at the buildings across the street. They were residential buildings, but people in the city did love decorating their windows and balconies with things indicative of their personal interests.

She saw flags, flowers, all kinds of things. At the top of one of the shorter residential buildings, a billboard faced out towards the road, advertising an Italian soap opera: Palle di fuoco, one Pauline had heard about, starring an Italian tennis-star-turned-actor. She had no idea why, he wasn't really that good looking.

A honk alerted Pauline that the brothers had pulled up. The beat up yellow van parked in front of the sidewalk across the street, finally arriving.

Mario and Luigi both climbed out. The plumber in red grumbled, adjusting his hat.

"Stupid Brooklyn drivers."

"Aren't-a you a Brooklyn driver?" Luigi asked, overhearing as he walked around the van.

"Imma the only good one, it seems."

The brothers walked up the stairs to speak with Pauline, who stepped forwards to meet them.

"Hey Mario, hey Lu." She said. "Sorry I had to mess up your day, but I'm desperate here. How's your ma?"

"Mamma's doing good." Mario answered.

"When she's-a not worrying about bills that is."

"What, is your dad still living in his 'vacation home'?" Pauline asked, half joking and half annoyed. "If you were still kids, I'd be calling protective services on that guy. Is the payment from the medical center that good?"

"Itsa paying off the mortgage," replied Mario, shrugging. "But the bills are still concerning. Between electric, water and cable… Not to mention everything to keep the plumbing place afloat."

"At this rate, we'll-a end up just like the neighbors did. Gross, no power, forced to move…"

"It won't-a come to that."

"Yeah, I agree with Mario," Pauline concurred, patting Luigi's arm. "Don't worry, Lu. You'll be fine, you guys always are."

"Hmph. I hope so…" Luigi mumbled. "Whatsa the favor you need from us, Pauline?"

"Right, right. So look- you know about that super-storm comin' in a few months or so?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I wanna make sure the city is all set to handle it. I want to make sure the drains are working well, but the rainwater disposal system is super old. Like, I'm pretty sure it's older than half the freakin' buildings in the city."

Reaching into her crimson red blazer, Pauline took out a folded piece of paper and handed it to Mario. He opened it up, his brother peeking over his shoulder to look it over too.

The paper was much larger than the simple folding would imply. It nearly reached Mario's feet, showing a side view of the sewers, every level of the disposal systems from the street level down.

"Sweet strozzapreti!" Luigi exclaimed.

"Mamma Mia…" Mario scratched the back of his head. "Where's-a the rainwater disposal system on this thing?"

"That's the thing- it's not. The disposal system is so old that it's placed at the bottom of the sewers, which is lower than these schematics go."

"Seriously?"

"As a freakin' heart attack. You're gonna be goin' down to those lost levels of the sewer to make sure the disposal system is all fixed up for that storm."

"…Mamma Mia." Mario said again, eyebrows furrowed. "You really couldn't-a get some professionals for this?"

"What, you two aren't professionals or somethin'?" She replied. "Our lovely mayor has left me out to dry, and at the very least I need to make sure this stuff is taken care of. I can handle the financial crap, but flooding Empire City is the last thing I want, y'know?"

"But itsa so far down! F-Freaky…" Luigi added, clearly anxious at the prospect of going deep below the street.

"Look, it's not anything major. Just a few valves pulled, a couple bolts tightened. I think there might be some slight blockage but I know you two can get rid of it!" Pauline said. "This is super important, not just to me but to everyone in the city! C'mon, help a girl out?"

At her pleading, Mario clearly looked conflicted. He scratched the back of his neck again, giving the schematics another once over.

He looked over at his brother. Though Luigi was clearly apprehensive, the green plumber raised his eyebrows, almost expecting Mario to agree to what Pauline wanted.

With that little push forwards, Mario sighed.

"Alright, alright. We'll go make sure things are all fixed up below the city."

Pauline immediately gave Mario a tight hug, happy again. "Yes! Oh, my hero!"

Mario looked at Luigi again, who rolled his eyes and shook his head, clearly expecting his brother to cave to Pauline's request. The red plumber's face turned a shade to match his hat and Pauline's suit.

"I'll-a go get the work pack ready for our spelunking trip," said Luigi, walking off to get back to the van.

After a moment, the hug finally ended, letting Mario breathe and readjust his hat. Pauline was still smiling.

"I really appreciate you two helpin' out, Mario." She said. "But uh… We should probably talk about payment for this stuff. Look, Valentina didn't leave anything involving checks from the city behind, and it's gonna be a solid week until I get anything like that again. I know you were talking about bills pilin' up, but…"

"Hey, itsa fine." Mario waved it off.

"You sure? I totally get it if you don't wanna do this because you won't get paid right away."

"What's another week or whatever? Itsa all good, Pauline. But I'm gonna be after you like a bloodhound as soon as a week hits."

"I'll hold you to it, Mario. Ugh, thank you so much for doin' this, you and Lu are a couple a'lifesavers!"

She leaned in, putting her hands on Mario's shoulders to give him a kiss on the cheek; though her lips were ruby red, it was from a lip stain, so the only red left on Mario's cheek was from his face flushing.

"You boys be careful, alright? Keep the paper, it'll help you reach the lower levels, and the surface after."

"I'll-a make sure Luigi's got it in the pack."

"Good! I'll see you later then. Thanks again, Mario!"

Mario tipped his hat at Pauline, turning and walking back down the steps to return to his work truck. He folded the schematics back up, crossing the street and finding Luigi stuffing his work backpack in the side door.

After tapping his shoulder, Mario gave Luigi the folded up paper, before readjusting his cap again, face still flushed.

"So, should I tell Mamma about your little exchange, or…?" Luigi asked, almost teasing.

"Luigi."

"Aw, c'mon, paisano." He continued, chuckling a bit. "Your mustache straightened out when she kissed your cheek. Your face is as-a red as a tomato!"

"You would be a sputtering mess if Pauline kissed your cheek too." Mario replied, climbing into the front seat.

"Imma not the one who dated her!"

With a sigh and a roll of his eyes, Mario settled into the driver's seat. After a minute, Luigi got into the passenger side, holding his work pack in his lap.

"Maybe you could ask Pauline to help us and Mamma out with the bills."

"What? No, no no no, absolutely not." Mario started up the van, which rumbled to life after a few cough-like whirs. "Outta the question, bro."

"Why not? Mamma loves her like she's-a the daughter she always wanted, itsa not like Pauline would refuse."

"Maybe." Pulling onto the street, Mario kept his eyes on the road. "But itsa still awkward. Me and her dated for half a decade."

"Your breakup was half a decade ago!" Luigi replied. "Our home isn't-a just where the business is run, it's our home too! Our childhood home! I don't-a want to end up like the Boccaccios!"

"Unless we start eating heads of garlic, I don't-a think we'll end up like Wario's family."

Luigi scoffed a bit. "Bro, whatsa the holdup? If it was anyone else, you'd ask immediately for Mamma's sake."

"Because, itsa Pauline."

"Do you still have feelings for her or something?"

There was a moment's pause. Mario cleared his throat, coughing a little bit.

"No. No, I don't." He finally spoke.

Silence speaks volumes. In the moments that Mario was quiet, Luigi definitely got the inclination that Mario still had feelings with Pauline, even after all this time. Sure, he thought Pauline was pretty, but the relationship Mario had with her was ages ago. He was amazed that his brother wasn't over her.

Except… he was. The reason Mario was quiet wasn't because he was called out for having feelings still, it was realizing that he didn't have any feelings for her.

Platonic feelings remained, sure, Pauline was one of his closest friends; but nothing romantic. He still thought she was beautiful, and being kissed on the cheek by a pretty lady was enough to make Mario's face heat up (he got it from his dad, just like his looks) but he didn't feel butterflies or anything when it happened.

But it was still awkward because they did date. Pauline was Mario's first in a lot of avenues, so reverting back to friendship was a strange course he was still trying to navigate without making it weird.

Unfortunately, all of that was hard to explain, especially to someone like Luigi, whose never been in a relationship. At least none that Mario knew of- he didn't pry in his brother's romantic life, he wanted Luigi to have some things to himself.

He heard his brother lean back in his chair, sighing. "Well, at least payment from the city will help ease Mamma's mind for a bit." Luigi said.

Mario's stomach twisted a bit, thinking back to how Pauline wouldn't be able to pay for a week. Who knows what the companies would do in that week… some things were so overdue it was scary. How was he going to tell Luigi? His brother was stressed enough as is.

He'd have to think of it while they traversed to the lost levels in the sewers. Mario just hoped he could come up with a good enough excuse that wouldn't make things worse.

---

The storm was here.

Over the entirety of Empire City, dark clouds swirled, letting the people know that heavy rain would be coming soon. A steady breeze whistled through the streets, the only sounds heard as the homes were either abandoned or blocked off in anticipation of the upcoming weather.

This gentle silence was soon broken with the sound of someone throwing their shoulder into a wooden door.

"Thatsa not gonna get the door open!"

"I'd-a like to see you try, coglione!"

"I have more muscle than you, stronzo!"

The duo was currently trying to break into a general store. Both were scrawny, short, with very short black hair. You'd think the duo were children if it wasn't for their matching pencil mustaches, but that didn't help much, as it only made people think they were teens instead.

Their outfits matched: flat caps, polo shirts- one olive brown and one red-violet- with dark suspenders attached to khaki pants. Them matching was on request of their mother, who they shared, though the pair didn't have the same father.

Olivio, dressed in the olive brown shirt, slammed his shoulder into the door again. Basilio, the one in red-violet, looked around to keep an eye out before scratching under his hat idly.

"C'mon, we don't-a got all day!"

"Ah, shaddup!"

With one more hit from his shoulder, the door swung open. Thanks to the storm, the general store was abandoned completely by its owner, meaning anything and everything inside was ripe for the taking.

"Finally!"

Basilio shoved past his half-brother to get inside. Olivio grunted with a frown, rubbing the arm that was hit as he followed the other in.

The money would most likely be in a safe, so the duo would have to do with stealing whatever items they could grab in the front of the store- they could resell it online, that's definitely quick money.

"Look for somethin' that kids would like. You know they'll-a buy anything."

"Maybe some chips?"

"Why would we resell chips online, stupid?"

"Kids eat chips, moron! Thatsa what you asked, for me to get somethin' kids would like!"

As the pair bickered, they didn't notice a rubber mallet slowly raising behind them. Suddenly, the mallet swung down and started hitting them on their heads.

"Ugh!"

"Ow!"

Mamma Mia continued to hit the delinquents with the rubber mallet, her trusty one, that she was using to help put up wooden sheets to reinforce windows around the block. She knew the owner of the store personally, and she definitely wasn't going to let a couple ruffians steal anything from it.

The duo soon parted, making Mia stumble forwards and into the store after a particularly hard swing. She turned back around, gripping her mallet with both hands tightly.

"Ragazzi vergognosi. Vostra madre dovrebbe vergognarsi di voi!" She said.

"Hey, don't-a talk about our ma like that, you saggy old bat!"

"Yeah! As a matter of fact, how about me and my bro teach you what happens to people who try to bring her up?"

Olivio cracked his knuckles.

However, before they could advance on Mia, someone grabbed both of their collars and lifted them clear off the ground like they were misbehaving cats.

"Why don't you two pick on someone twice your size?" Pauline asked, looking at the pair as she had them in the air- the two stout ruffians were practically a hundred pounds soaking wet, and she worked out regularly.

"Miss Fiore!" The duo were surprised to see their deputy mayor there.

Pauline walked out, carrying Olivio and Basilio out of the store through the door they broke down, and tossed them onto the sidewalk.

As Mia came out, the two criminals scrambled up and hurried away, no longer wanting to fight now that a high-ranking member of the local government was present.

Shaking her mallet, Mia yelled after them. "Yeah, you two better run! And if I ever see the two of you around here again, I'll-a tie you up like a bundle of fresh pasta!"

Olivio and Basilio ran past a cop car, which had just arrived from the silent alarm going off from the break-in, luckily already patrolling the area. With the half-brothers being repeat offenders, the cop knew who to chase, turning around to pursue the pair and arrest them.

Still with a sneer of disgust on her face, Mia walked over to pick up the wooden sheets she had leaning against the store's front wall, shaking her head.

"Disgraceful little..." She huffed, turning back to Pauline. "Thank you, Lili."

"No problem. I was headin' this way to look for you anyways." Pauline walked over to the door, seeing the doorframe was busted. "Oh man, Mr. Afghani's gonna be so upset…"

"Hopefully we can-a get the block together to help him buy a new one." Mia replied. "Those two brats steal anything?"

Pauline stepped inside, looking around. Everything was still tidy, not a thing in place.

Glancing at the wall right beside the door, she saw the pictures of the three people who were banned from the store. Two of them, in the same photo, were actually Olivio and Basilio.

Pauline recognized the third, as he lived on the other side of Mario's building. After wincing from the sight of Wario on the photo, Pauline stepped back out, closing the door to the best of her ability.

"Nope. It's all in its place."

"Wonderful."

Mia went up to the door, putting one of her wooden sheets against the frame and hammering it in with the nails she had in her shirt pocket.

"I'll-a have to tell him those two tried to break into his store… he's-a not gonna be happy. Having to evacuate from the storm was enough as it is."

"At least none of his merchandise was stolen. Silver linings and whatever."

"Hmph. Yeah, guess so."

Pauline helped hold up the board, letting Mia nail it to the doorframe completely to block the broken door.

"I was told you were helpin' board up windows down here. You do your place already?"

"Yeah, itsa all boarded up except the front door to the business. Thatsa made of pure oak, and I plan on staying downstairs until the worst of it is over."

"And if your husband wants to come back around, yeah?"

Mia scoffed, rolling her eyes. "He knows how to unlock a door. If not, he can drift away in the storm for all I care."

"C'mon, Papa Pio isn't that bad a guy."

"Hmph. A week with no phone call, no visits, not even some-a flowers? He can bunker down in that hospital of his if itsa so important to him."

The door was all boarded up. Mia and Pauline moved on, the latter taking the wooden sheets to carry it for her elder.

Walking down the block, they turned the corner- seeing those two young criminals from earlier being stuffed into a police car- coming up to the line of homes across the street from the Mario residence.

There was a group of five there- four adults, one child. Four of those people were residents from the homes beside them, while one was Pauline's mother.

Lady Fiore had her strawberry blonde hair in a bun, wearing a pink dress that matched the one she wore in promotional posters for her book store. She noticed her daughter and Mia approaching first, waving at them.

"Good, ya found her." She said, referring to Pauline seeking out Mia. "I told you not to run off without us, Mimi."

"Ahhh…" Mia waved her hand dismissively.

"Paulie," continued Lady, to her daughter. "You remember the Scapellis, and Mr. Dalzotto, don't ya?"

"Of course! Mr. Anthony and Misses Lena used to babysit me, how could I forget?"

"Woof, called 'mister' and 'misses'." Anthony Scapelli put a hand on his stomach like it was punched. "That'll make me feel real old."

His wife shook her head with a scoff. "It's good to see you, Pauline."

"It's real nice to see you too, Misses Lena." The lady in red squatted down to greet their daughter. "Hi, Angelica."

"…hi." The preteen girl said, clearly bashful. She clutched her mouse's cage a bit tighter, almost like a shield. Inside was a large gray mouse with a pink bow wrapped around its body.

"That's a cute mouse you got in there. What's its name?"

"…her name is Mouser."

"Cute name. Is she dealing with the storm well?"

"She's really scared. I would put a blanket over her cage but I already packed them all away…"

"I'm sure you'll get her somewhere safe soon. Don't worry, okay?"

Pauline stood up again, and turned to the other present resident next. "Mister Dalzotto, it's a pleasure to see you again."

Salvador Dalzotto twisted the end of his stark white mustache, his face a permanent snarl of indifference. It wasn't indicative of his personality… for the most part.

"Yeah, yeah, nice to see you." He said. "Maria! Where are those two boys of yours? Don't tell me they're the two beanpoles being arrested over there!"

"If they were, they wouldn't be my sons anyway." Mia replied, she gently pat her rubber mallet in her palm. "My boys… they're-a still not here, Salvador."

"…ah, right, I remember now." The old man nodded. "Don't mean to bring up old wounds. They still haven't turned up yet, though?"

"Maybe… You shouldn't…" Lena said, interjecting.

"No. No, it's fine." Mia said. "No, Salvador, I haven't seen them. They haven't been around. I don't know where they are, alright?"

"Weren't they headed out to help Pauline last you saw them? Why haven't you asked her where they are?"

Pauline felt a wave of guilt and something akin to panic as the old man asked the question. She opened her mouth to speak, but Mia beat her to it.

"Shut your mouth!" Mamma Mia snapped. "Pauline would never do anything to my boys! They must be caught up in a job- they take after their father, I'm sure they're away working. Don't-a even try and joke like that!"

That definitely didn't help. Pauline felt her stomach twist sharply from guilt, her face flushing again, but this time from her overwhelming anxiety about what she had done.

"Alright, alright, alright." Salvador waved a hand. "Just asking. Don't have to bite my head off."

Before the conversation could go further, however, a gasp came from Angelica. The preteen girl turned her cage around, revealing a big hole in it. She turned to see the big mouse running down the sidewalk.

"Oh no! Mouser!" She cried. "The storm must've scared her too much!"

The opportunity for Pauline to both do something good, and get away from this situation that was making her feel worse, was something she couldn't pass up.

"I got her. Stay here, don't go nowhere!"

She rushed forwards, going to an orange vespa parked against a light pole.

"Mister Anthony, mind if I use this?"

"I guess, but it should be chained up to that light post! I don't think I have the padlock key on me!"

After a small pause, Pauline picked up the chain attached to the front part of the motor scooter, showing him and the others that the locked chain wasn't wrapped around the light post at all with a blank expression.

"…oh. Well, then, go on ahead."

After catching the keys tossed to her, Pauline started up the Vespa and peeled out, driving at the side of the road right next the sidewalk.

"Be careful!" Lady called after her daughter as Pauline drove off.

The scooter was just fast enough to be a bit quicker than Mouser. The shimmering pink bow helped clue Pauline in on where the mouse was, since the mouse's fur helped it blend into the sidewalk.

With cars parked next to the walkway up ahead, Pauline soon crossed the Vespa into a crosswalk and got it up on the sidewalk next, now a solid few yards behind the quick little mouse.

She pressed the horn button on her handlebars to make sure the people walking on the sidewalk knew she was coming.

Pauline passed by a man with a box, clearly packing to leave town due to the storm. He was scared enough to fumble with the box, which flopped onto the ground, spilling out all the milk that was inside of it.

"Sorry!" She called back to the person. "But also, who fills a box with milk?! What is this, the Great White North?"

When she turned back around, Pauline realized she was on the path towards two women carrying a massive pane of glass, which Mouser easily ran under.

"Do we seriously need this comically large pane of glass? We're gonna be back in the city by tomorrow."

"You know I can't get to sleep at night without my glass pane."

"Could you at least not put it on top of me when you sleep?"

"Why not?"

"Because I'm your wife—!"

Pauline screamed as she ran into the glass, which flung it out of the women's hands and up into the air, spinning.

However, the glass soon landed back in their hands, completely safe and sound. After a beat, the woman who had been complaining dropped her side the glass, causing the pane to instantly shatter.

"Oh nooooooo, the deputy mayor broke the glass, now you can't bring it to bed, this is such a tragedyyyy…"

Not stopping, Pauline shook her head, whipping any hair that got in her face away. She adjusted the bucket hat still on her head, focusing in on the mouse ahead.

She passed by a bunch of posters that were hung up on a business' window, advertising travel. Things like "take a dip in the Seaside Kingsom," "chill out in the Snow Kingdom" and "get a taste for the Luncheon Kingdom" were all hung up and lightly fluttering in the stormy breeze.

Unfortunately, the breeze was too strong for one of the posters. The large flyer for the Snow Kingdom was torn from the window by the wind, which found its new spot right across Pauline's face, matching up the smiling face of a snowman to her own.

Swerving a bit from the lack of sight, Pauline soon tore the poster from her face, tossing it away from her. She found herself barreling into a construction site, seeing Mouser run out of the other end of the site before it was obscured by a massive concrete pipe being lifted up ahead of her.

There was a ramp headed up ahead of her, clearly meant to climb up to higher levels but currently laying dormant. Steeling herself, Pauline twisted the Vespa's handle to the max, zipping forwards.

She launched off the ramp, entering one end of the concrete pipe and driving through it, coming out the other end just as fast. She bounced off a metal girder in front of the pipe before landing on solid ground, drifting around a corner.

Nearby, the foreman watched with shock and horror. He scoffed, shaking his head.

"Crazy broad." Spike grumbled, before the foreman went back to his blueprint.

Pauline took a deep breath to calm her nerves, slowing down as she passed the block. She tried to find where Mouser went, but didn't see the mouse or the bow anywhere.

With no mouse in sight, Pauline stopped to look around. She didn't see any sign of the mouse or her bow, but she did see something else: a street performer, sitting cross-legged and strumming a guitar slowly on the street corner.

Pauline scooted over, stopping the Vespa in front of the sidewalk that the performer was playing at. Even with a storm brewing, the woman didn't seem concerned, only wanting to play her guitar.

"Hey, 'scuse me?" She called out. "You see a mouse scamperin' anywhere around here? Small, gray, got a pink bow around it?"

The performer stopped her playing, eyes still closed for a moment. She tucked her platinum blonde hair back over her left ear, revealing the gold star hanging from it- though she didn't touch the hair that was completely obscuring her right eye.

This otherworldly woman simply pointed a nail, painted sky blue to match her eyes, over to the alleyway across the street, right around the corner.

"…cool! Thanks!"

Pauline reached into her blazer pocket and flipped a coin from her thumb into the container that the woman was using to take any donations, which was silver with red and blue gems on it- it looked almost like a tiara if you really squinted your eyes.

The street performer silently gave her a thumbs up, her expression unchanging from neutral. She immediately went back to playing her guitar, eyes closing with tranquility.

Pauline scooted off into the alleyway, which was a three-way intersection. One turn led back out into a small construction area, and the other turn led to a dead end that had a garage, with a shutter door halfway open.

Hearing squeaking, she saw her target. Mouser had gotten her bow caught on the corner of a dumpster, and was trying to pull it off in order to scamper away in Pauline's direction.

"There you are." Pauline said as she pulled up close to the mouse. She leaned down, gently pulling the bow from where it was caught to pick the mouse up.

"There you go, sweetie— whoa!"

Mouser quickly scurried over Pauline's sleeve, up her hair and into her hat to hide. She was no longer running from the woman, instead clearly afraid of something else.

"Hey now, I gotcha. What's got your little bow in a twist?"

A rumbling nearby clued Pauline in of what that might be. From the half-open garage, an eye peeked out from below, before a massive snout poked out, sniffing deeply and soon pushing the shutter door upwards to open it completely.

With ground-shaking steps, the massive T-Rex stood up to show off her entire terrifying size. She glared down at the wide-eyed Pauline, a low growl coming from the dinosaur's throat.

Looks like Pauline found that dinosaur that's loose in Brooklyn.

"Mamma Mia…" Pauline was so shocked she mumbled something she heard the brothers say without thinking.

Twisting the handle to the Vespa sharply, Pauline spun the scooter around and sped off. The territorial dinosaur let out a short roar and followed, keeping her head low so she could simply open her mouth and catch the fleeing deputy mayor in her sharp teeth.

Pauline steered the motor scooter out of the way of boxes that were in the way, missing the turn from whence she came out of focus on getting as far away from the T-Rex as possible.

She ripped through the caution tape and across the construction area at the end of the alley, driving over the board of wood that was covering a massive hole.

It was a good idea, albeit unintentional, from Pauline. As the T-Rex stepped on the large wooden boards, they instantly snapped under her massive weight, sending the Rex plunging into the hole it was covering. It had been covering up a part of the road already broken by the dinosaur, which led down into the levels of the sewer under the concrete. The T-Rex roared as it disappeared into the darkness below.

Pauline turned the Vespa to the left sharply, leaning towards the turn and causing the scooter to drift away, sticking her left foot out to slide across the asphalt as well until it came to a stop.

Slowly, she got up off the scooter and went to the massive hole, looking inside. There was a soft yellow glow from somewhere, inside a mechanical machine- one that Pauline knew was an underground generator for the block's power supply.

The soft roars of the still angry dinosaur could be heard, clearly not harmed too bad from what happened. Pauline sighed- she'll tell the police that the T-Rex was in the sewers later.

Hopefully Mario and Luigi, wherever they were down there, was far away from the dinosaur's location.

She reached into her hat, pulling out Mouser, smiling and giving the mouse a pat.

"You're safe, don't worry. C'mon, let's head back home." Pauline said to the scared mouse. She put the little mouse in her blazer's liner pocket for better safekeeping.

Turning away, Pauline walked away from the hole, which still had a soft gold glow coming from it. Unbeknownst to her, the source of this soft glow was a Power Star contained in the generator supplying power to the city.

The ride back was uneventful, thank goodness. Pauline soon parked back in front of that same light post from before. Stepping back off, she pulled the mouse from her jacket, smiling as she handed it back to Angelica.

"Mouser!" The girl was happy, gingerly taking the mouse back. She gave Pauline a hug after. "Thank you, Mayor Fiore!"

"It's dep..." She stopped herself from the correction- she was, in fact, the current working mayor. "…it's no problem, hon."

After the hug was ended, Angelica and her mouse went with her parents to leave the block. Salvador had already split while Pauline was gone, the woman found, leaving her with just her mother and Mia.

Lady patted Pauline's back. "I wish you'd stop runnin' off like that when somethin' crazy happens. Last time I rushed off to do somethin', I ended up pregnant."

"Ma!" Pauline said, recoiling slightly.

"What, what? I'm talkin' about tutorin' your father back in high school! I was in a hurry 'cause he was such a cutie. Oh, may he rest in peace..." Lady dotted her head, chest and shoulders.

"Itsa good to see you back in one piece, Lili." Mia added, her arms crossed. "Well, I mostly just wanted to see you back. Imma gonna go hunker down in the plumbing office. You two be safe."

"You too, Mimi."

"See ya later, Misses Mia."

Mamma Mia walked back across the street, uncrossing her arms, lightly swinging the rubber mallet in her hand.

It was nice to do something nice, but the guilt Pauline felt still lingered. Mia was alone, forced to bunker down without her husband… and without her sons.

"I'm goin' back to my apartment too." Lady said, turning back to her daughter. "Would you like to stop by before the storm hits? I still have some a'the cake leftover from the book mixer I had."

"Nah, I'm… I'm alright, ma. But thank you. I… Need to think about some stuff."

That gave Lady pause, her eyebrows furrowing as she saw Pauline's lost expression. She had been like this for the last few months, and when Lady asked about it, she got the same answer: that Pauline was fine, and she didn't need to talk.

There was a lot going on, with the Mario Brothers being missing. It was clearly dwelling on Pauline. So, Lady decided to just let it go.

"…okay, honey." She kissed her daughter's cheek. "Call me if you need me, alright? Stay safe during the storm."

"I will, ma. You too."

She watched her mother stride away, headed back to her book store. Pauline put her hands in her blazer's pockets, watching Lady slip into her store, before her gaze went over to the plumbing office.

It was nice to help people. But the good feeling she got from returning Angelica's mouse to her was short-lived as she recalled the feelings she was so desperate to be relieved from.

Pauline wished she could return Mario and Luigi just as easily.

Rain cautiously started to fall.

---

"M-Mamma Mia, I don't-a think I've ever been this far down before…"

"I know. I think we're-a gonna find a super colony of rats down here."

"W-Wah! Don't-a even suggest that, Mario!"

The schematics no longer helped Mario and Luigi as they headed further down into the sewers to reach the primary coupling for the rainwater disposal system.

Dim golden light shining from multiple power generators set up deep down provided some sight to their path down the rusted metal steps, but other than that, Luigi was leading with a flashlight tightly gripped in both of his gloved hands.

Mario had the sewer map folded in his hand, down at his side, looking around as he tried to find any pipe coming down that connected to the sewer gutters up above- they were so deep down, it was hard for Mario to tell which pipe went where.

"What kind of pipes are rainwater again?"

"Th-They're-a green." Luigi answered his brother. "Green pipes mean drainage. Or sewer water."

"Eeyuck. Hope we don't-a mess with any of the sewer ones. Remember when you got sprayed with sewage when we were sixteen?"

"Eugh, yes, I remember. Right before homecoming too… Not that I had a date anyways."

"Pauline and I went with you!"

"You two were dating, itsa n-not like we were going as a friend group."

"Eh, touche."

Finally, guided by the beam of the flashlight, the brothers got down to the very bottom level of the underground disposal system. As Luigi took the first step onto the concrete floor, dust was kicked up into the chilly subterranean air.

Their footsteps echoed off the walls, the world deadly silent all the way down below. Mario stayed close behind his brother, his hand gripping part of Luigi's backpack in order to keep close, knowing his brother wanted that anyways.

Luigi shined the lights on all the pipes around them.

"Y-Yellow are the fuel pipes… Red ones douse fires…" The green plumber grumbled to himself, going through the pipe color codes in his head. "Orange means-a toxic stuff… Blue is compressed air…"

His light came across the pipes to the brothers' right, a massive, solid green pipe that extended into the darkness ahead of them.

"Aha! Thatsa the pipe we're looking for! Green ones!"

"Sweet!" Mario said behind Luigi. "Letsa keep going and make sure everything's running smoothly."

Trekking through the darkness, what had been happening through the day continued to weight on Mario. He looked over at the pipes around them, thinking back- the lack of funds and how Mario took this job knowing Pauline couldn't pay yet.

He still didn't know how to tell Luigi yet, but he knew it wasn't going to be that good. He was stressed enough with Mia's bills, and their options were scarce. With how student loans were raking Mario over the coals, he was certain he couldn't even get a loan from the bank, and Luigi didn't have anything to build up any credit just yet for him to get a loan.

As they continued to walk, Mario could hear the slow dripping of water nearby. He could tell Luigi heard it too, as he shined the light around until the twinkling of water could be seen.

"Oh no, we got a leak down here."

The green pipe they were following joined a Y-splitter, taking in the water from that pipe and another green pipe from above, to merge the water inside into one pipe the Y-splitter fed into. The pipe they were following specifically was clearly rusted right at the end where it connected to its side of the coupling.

Their attention now on the pipe, the brothers walked up to stand side by side in front of the rusted metal, looking it over.

"Did you bring some pipe?"

"Itsa in the bag. I think I got a hacksaw too." Luigi pulled the backpack to his front. "That rust is gonna make it hard to get the nut connecting it off. I'm sure it's been stripped clean."

"Thatsa nothing a little extra strength can't-a fix."

Mario reached behind him, pulling around something large from the darkness- his hammer. Luigi's eyebrows furrowed.

"How'd you sneak that thing down here? Itsa like there's some space you have behind your back for that hammer."

"Just a little bit of sleight of hand, Weegee." Mario preened, stepping up to the green pipe. "I did join the close-up magic club in high school."

"Was that the club you used to take naps in?"

"…not confirmed."

Luigi snickered as the brother stepped up to the pipe, gripping his hammer tightly. He raised it up and smacked it into the rusted part of the pipe.

The pipe was so deteriorated that it shattered under the force of Mario's hit, making the pipe sag down slightly. Thanks to the lack of precipitation in the last few weeks, only a small dripping of water came out.

"Oh, yeah!" The red plumber was pleased. "Got the pipe and hacksaw, paisano?"

"R-Right here, Mario."

"Gimme a couple couplings too, I might need a few of them to get it right."

Measuring on the fly, Mario and Luigi cut a pipe of their own down to size, connecting it to the Y-splitter; they cut down the green pipe as well, removing the rusted part, and connected that with the new pipe with one of the red couplings Mario was given.

"Wonderful! That should hold up for the storm."

"Fantastic! Letsa keep going." Luigi pulled his bag over his shoulders again. "I'm sure we're only getting started."

Mario put his hammer away, tucking the remaining couplings he had in his tool belt, along with the small hacksaw- he'd probably need those later.

Heading further into the underground system, they soon reached a point where all of the pipes spread further out, with the narrow corridor they were walking through opening up to some kind of massive space.

Luigi shined the light around, seeing that the room was not only open, but it had a lot of supplies in it- at least, it had a lot of boxes, a lot of barrels and similar containers.

"Wh-What is this place?"

Seeing a small shimmer when Luigi shined his light around, Mario broke from his brother for a moment, reaching out into the darkness to grab onto what he saw the light hit.

His gloved hand grabbed the padded handle of a massive knife switch- like something straight out of Frankenstein- and he flipped it upwards.

A massive whirring came from above, coming from one of the Superstar Power Generator 5000s (property of Gadd Technologies, patent pending) and one by one, a row of lights turned on above them, until the open area they walked into was fully illuminated by a dozen lights above them.

Turning off his flashlight, Luigi joined Mario as the pair leered out at their new surroundings. It smelled like old dust and mildew down here… nobody's been down here for a long time.

The pipes all lead into the ground in this area. But the strangest thing of them all was a massive lift, like one for vehicles or cargo, which was positioned at one side of the open space. It led upwards into the darkness, and the Bros had no idea where it would end up on the surface.

"What in the…" Mario scratched his head under his cap. "What is this place?"

"Itsa like one of those b-bunkers used at the end of the world…"

"You watch too much TV, bro."

Looking around, Luigi suddenly patted Mario with the back of his hand. The taller plumber pointed over across the way from where that lift was.

Protruding from the darkness of a very narrow tunnel, one with only an inch of space around it, a massive green pipe jutted out. It wasn't connected to anything, and it had a similarly colored plug covering the end.

"Thatsa one big rainwater disposal pipe." Mario grumbled. "You think that one helps with any excess that drips down here?"

"I dunno what else that would be used for, bro. But if that storm is gonna be as big as it says it's gonna be… maybe we should open it?"

"Oooh, I like that idea."

The pair walked over to the end of the massive pipe, with Mario running his hand over the smooth metal of the pipe plug. His white glove was covered in gray from the dust, showing him just how long this thing has been covered up.

"Pauline better pay us extra for opening this old pipe up too."

At the mention of pay, the conflicted stress Mario felt about the delayed payment came back. His ears, nose and cheeks turned red, and he kept his eyes on the pipe ahead of him.

No longer covered in darkness, it was easier for Luigi to see that Mario was upset about something.

"…Mario? Is there something bothering you, bro? You got that constipated face."

"Constipated—?" The stout plumber sputtered. "I don't… No, no, Luigi. Imma fine."

"You don't-a look fine. Wait… You did that when I mentioned Pauline. Is this about how you feel about her?"

"Let it go, bro. I don't feel like that for Pauline anymore."

"Then whatsa goin' on, Mario?"

After a moment, Mario sighed, both hands on the pipe plug as he leaned against it.

"…Pauline can't pay us for this job right now."

"Wh-What?! No, Mario, you gotta be joking. Please tell me this is some kinda joke!"

"Itsa true, Weegee," replied Mario, turning to his brother. "She can only pay us when she finally gets the info on the city's financial stuff back. She says she can get us paid next week."

"Next week? We could be kicked out by next week!"

"We won't-a be kicked out! We'll be fine!"

"You don't-a know that! Why did you even take this job if you knew we weren't gonna get paid?"

"Pauline needed help! She's-a left all on her own over here!"

"Oh, oh, I get it." Luigi said, walking over to stand in front of the pipe plug before Mario. "You did it because you want to get back on Pauline's good side, eh? Gimme a break, paisano."

Mario made a noise of shock. "Hey! Don't-a make Pauline out to be some kinda seductress!"

"Don't-a twist my words, this is about you! Pauline has moved on, you need to, too!" Luigi replied, voice shaking but raised. He knocked on the pipe plug. "You think unplugging this pro bono will do anything to help us, or just you with her?"

"I…" Mario pulled out his hammer. "Don't-a have feelings…" He swung the hammer back. "FOR PAULINE!" He swung it into the bottom half of the plug, hard enough for the top half to pop out.

The yelling and swing made Luigi jump back. He leaned back even more as Mario pointed a finger in his face.

"Imma trying just as hard as you to help Mamma, stop acting like I'm only out to help myself!"

"You shouldn't have taken this without payment!"

"We're-a going to get paid, and Pauline's our friend. I'm doing her a favor. If you can't handle that without thinking Imma being selfish, then you're free to leave!"

Luigi scoffed. "Scusi?! "

"You heard me! I can finish this job all by myself! The elevator's-a right over there!"

Mario turned around. He jumped up, his feet a few inches off the ground as he hung from the distented top half of the plug. He kicked slightly, grunting as he tried to get it out.

Watching his brother, Luigi soon scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"You're-a doing really well all by yourself."

"Ah, shaddup!"

"Stop being such a stronzo."

Luigi walked over, tall enough to grab the top edge of the pipe plug with Mario.

"Hey! I got this myself! I don't need your help!"

"Clearly."

Mario put both feet on the sunken half of the plug, pulling in tandem with his brother- though both were clearly intending on getting it out first.

The combined strength of the Mario Brothers was enough to pull the plug out of the pipe's end, coming out with an echoing pop.

Both brothers stumbled back, now carrying the pipe plug together. They looked down at the plug, then at each other.

"That was all me!" They yelled at each other in unison.

Suddenly, the atmosphere shifted. The lights that were fueled from Power Stars above them started to flicker rapidly, at uneven paces. The brothers looked around in confusion.

The pipe they just opened- the Warp Pipe- began to rattle. It groaned deep inside of itself, a sickening wail that made Luigi's neck hair stand on end.

And then it stopped. For only a second.

A massive pull inwards came from the pipe, a vortex that was sucking even the boxes and barrels they saw earlier.

Both brothers dropped the pipe plug, which clanged against the concrete floor. In their moment of shock and awe, staring at the vacuuming Warp Pipe, the vortex became stronger- strong enough to lift the lighter of the two.

Even though the backpack added weight, Luigi suddenly found himself sliding across the concrete floor, the dust removing any traction from his loafers.

"W-WAH!" Luigi yelped, turning and trying to run. Though he did, the suction was enough to keep pulling him back as he ran. "Mario!"

"Luigi!"

Rushing forwards, Mario grabbed onto his brother's outstretched hand. His shoes were just as slippery, and they soon found themselves right at the opening of the Warp Pipe.

With stout strength, Mario held onto Luigi's hand as tightly as he could, putting his foot on the lip of the green pipe to use as an anchor.

"Imma slipping!"

"No… You're…!"

Luigi was right. The gloves slipped against one another, and even the fabric of the sweatshirt Luigi had under his overalls couldn't hold friction.

Just as soon as he grabbed him, Mario watched as Luigi slipped from his grasp.

"WAAAAHHH…!"

"LUIGI!" Mario yelled into the darkness, his hand still reaching out into the pipe.

The suction had gotten strong enough that the pipe plug was starting to move. It soon lifted clear off the ground, and only a few seconds after Luigi was flung into the darkness, the plug crashed into Mario's back.

"Oof!"

The red plumber was shoved into the Warp Pipe, down into the darkness of the unknown. With the plug haphazardly back in place, the suction stopped, the only thing left behind was the schematics Pauline gave them, fluttering to the floor.

The lights turned back off.

Inside the pipe, Mario flipped around as the space seemingly opened much larger. However, it wasn't much help to the path ahead of him.

Mario slammed into a turn in the pipe. Then another. And another. His head was spinning by the time the pipe hit a long and straight path, and he could feel knots in his head under his hat.

The darkness around him suddenly became very cool in color. Speckles of light appeared all around him, and Mario was amazed to find himself suddenly traveling through a clear tube in what appeared to be space.

He must have hit his head too many times.

Mario was traveling at super-speeds, though he didn't even realize it. He continued to watch in awe as more stars appeared around him.

A bright light appeared ahead of him, a light at the end of the tunnel he was in. Mario winced and covered his eyes, up until he entered the area of light.

It was a massive open space, shaped like a star. There was solid ground a foot or so of space below Mario, with grass colored cyan, as the plumber floated out from the tunnel he was just in from altered gravity.

At each point of this star-shaped place, there was another clear pipe end that led to somewhere unknown. Looking at it from above, Mario had entered from the left point of the star, and as soon as he did, his pipe stopped its suction briefly.

All of the other clear pipes continued to draw any and everything in, wanting to warp its new guest to somewhere new. Most of them looked welcoming… most of them.

The clear pipe protruding from the top point of the star was busted. It clearly had collapsed in on itself somehow, with broad parts of the pipe blocking the end to keep people from entering. The suction was more concentrated, though the only thing that could possibly fit through there was trash.

As Mario passed through this pipe area, this Warp Zone if you would, his awe continued to be his downfall.

He trailed past the pull of the pipes on the right and bottom left points of the star-shaped area. However, his aimless floating allowed him to end up right in the path of the bottom right pipe's vacuum.

"Whoawhoawhoawhoa!" Mario yelled as he felt himself uncontrollably pulled towards that pipe. He tried swimming away, but it was no use- he was sucked in.

He was flung through the pipe, through more space-like terrain, and slammed into more turns in the tunnel as the pipe went from clear to green again. Slamming into a few splits in the path, Mario could barely tell where he was heading to.

Mario hit his head one more time before he was launched directly upwards, making him yell out in fear.

He slammed into something- something large, and round. As he did, it yelped like a dog would for some reason. Mario was flung further upwards, flipping around and screaming.

Mario crashed into the pipe plug, shattering it with his stout body. The piece of the plug attached to a chain, heading down to parts unknown, flew upwards, snagging into the split of a tree and constricting it to there.

After being flung an arc through the air, the plumber landed on his face, sliding across the ground on his nose before the rest of his body flopped down to the Earth with his face.

"Ungh…" Mario groaned, slowly picking himself up. He got to his feet, taking note of his surroundings. "What… Where…?"

This place as a forest. There weren't any forests within ten miles of Brooklyn… where the heck was he? And why were there so many mushrooms around?

More importantly…

"Luigi?" He called out for his brother.

As if on cue, the chain connected to the plug piece in the tree started to gently rattle. Mario turned to look at it, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Luigi…?"

Suddenly, the chain started to rapidly slack and tense, slamming the piece into the tree. A powerful rattling came from the pipe, one that Mario hadn't heard before. At the same time, the world below him started to shake.

With his brother nowhere in sight, and needing to get to shelter, Mario ran for cover, far away from the Warp Pipe he just crashed through.

---

The storm was in full swing, and Pauline was walking out in the rain.

Her red pantsuit was covered with a shrieking yellow raincoat, wearing her bucket hat still and with a pair of sneakers on. The rain pounded against the fabric of her hat, dripping down into her dark hair.

She had been walking for a solid hour, out in the cold rain, looking in every storm drain ever since then.

Though originally she wanted to try and relax in her apartment for the night, the guilt she had was eating her alive. The storm, the very thing she sent the Mario Bros into the sewer to help with, was finally here.

From the fact the city wasn't flooding excessively, Pauline knew that Mario and Luigi did their job as asked. But if they did their job, where did they go next? Why didn't they come back?

Shuffling through the rain, Pauline stepped off the sidewalk to look down into the nearby street gutter, which was sputtering out water collected uptown. Though there was some water on the road, it wasn't enough to flood.

Nothing. No signs of anything. Pauline didn't even know what she was looking for, but she needed something. She needed to find something, anything, anything at all that proved that Mario and Luigi were down there somewhere. Proof that they simply just missed the brothers.

There wasn't any other sound except the heavy raindrops slapping her hat and the concrete. Pauline could barely think, feeling unfocused as she was only out to look for something to make this guilt go away.

Where were they? Why haven't they come back? Why haven't they said something, made a sign or anything? Their mother needed them- Pauline needed them, they were her friends.

Putting her hand up over her eyes, Pauline tried blocking out the rain in order to look at the street ahead.

Up there, she saw it. She saw something sticking out from the drain up ahead of her. Her eyebrows went up- part of her expected to find nothing out here.

She quickly rushed forwards, her soaking wet sneakers splashing through the shallow puddles as she reached the gutter. She reached in, grabbing the mystery object and pulling.

It was much larger than expected. It was soaked, much like Pauline, and she found that it was a massive piece of apper. It was familiar, with drawings on it that she had seen before.

It was the schematics for the sewers. The same one she gave Mario and Luigi months ago.

Here it was, floated up to the surface once again, soaking wet. But the point of the matter was that it was alone. Mario and Luigi didn't have it, it was abandoned.

Was it left behind? Why would they leave it behind? It was supposed to help them. Or maybe it wasn't left behind, maybe it was taken from Mario and Luigi, and they were hopelessly stuck down there without any way to get up to the surface.

Pauline clutched the paper, looking over the surface. She felt warm drops hit her hands, breaking from the cold rain. While her mind was racing, she was crying without even knowing. Warm tears started to trickle down her cheeks.

She hugged the schematics to her chest, eyes closing tightly as she felt the waves of guilt and panic overwhelm her again.

However, she soon felt a light trickle in from between the rain. Pauline opened her eyes again, looking up and seeing something shining in the distance.

Feeling compelled, Pauline got up to her feet again, walking through the rainwater to reach this light of interest.

Soon, the light came into full view. It was the Mario Brothers Plumbing building, the light coming from the windows at the top of the office front that Mia couldn't board up.

This had to be a sign of some kind. She managed to walk all the way from her apartment to the Mario Brothers' place? Not only that, but it was when the storm she had been dreading was occurring.

Enough was enough. Pauline couldn't take it anymore. She had to do what was right.

Crossing the street- nobody was out driving in this weather anyway- Pauline went straight to the thick oak door at the office front. The map was in one hand, squeezed tightly, using the other to pound on the door.

Pauline was alone with the rain for a minute. Then, she pounded on the door again, feeling the tears continue to fall.

After a moment, the door opened a crack, Mia looking out with one eye. When she saw who it was, Mia opened the door, her face full of confusion and worry.

"Pauline? What're you—?"

"Mia," Pauline interrupted, her voice cracking. "I need t'talk to you. Please let me in."

"Are you crazy? Look at how hard itsa coming down! Get in here, right now!"

Pauline rushed inside, putting the soaking wet schematics on the table beside the door. Mia looked at it, confused.

Walking further in, dripping wet, Pauline took off her hat and clutched it tightly, eyes closed just as tight.

She heard Mia close the door slowly behind her.

"…Pauline? Whatsa going on?"

Mia sounded genuinely worried. Pauline kept her eyes closed, not wanting to open them any time soon.

She winced, gritting her teeth, feeling the tears continue to fall. Pauline stumbled to one of the chairs set out for customers, sitting down and hanging her head, her hair curtaining her face.

Mia came to her, eyebrows furrowed worriedly, standing in front of her and gently tucking the hair behind her hair.

"Pauline?"

"…it was me."

"Scusi? "

"It was me. I'm the reason the boys are missing." Pauline continued, looking at Mia. "They got lost on a job alright- my job. I asked them to into the sewers to fix up the rainwater disposal system, which was all the way towards the bottom of the systems underground. They went down there… they didn't come back."

Pauline covered her face, still feeling her face grow warm and wet from crying.

"I tried lookin' for them but I can't find them. They're not down there anywhere, it's like they freakin' vanished into thin air." She said. "I made them go missing, all for some stupid rainwater. I'd rather the entire city flood than be stuck in the dark about if they're okay or not. I never meant to do this to you… I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

It was quiet for a bit, with Pauline only hearing the rain pound against the building on the outside.

Pauline soon felt Mia's hand gently grip her wrist, prying one of them from her face. Pauline moved her other hand too, letting Mia see her reddened eyes, and the face wet with a mix of tears and rainwater.

Mia's eyebrows were furrowed, but her expression was unreadable. Pauline held her breath, feeling just as she was as a young girl- about to be scolded, but this time for something unforgivable. Mia didn't forgive, and she didn't forget.

However, no scolding came. Instead, Mia moved in, wrapping her arms around Pauline to give her a hug.

After some initial shock and confusion, Pauline's arms wrapped around the older woman too. She clutched onto Mamma Mia, her face in the woman's shoulder, feeling her body shake with her emotions fully spilling over.

As Pauline's tears continued to fall, so did the rain from the storm outside, both with no signs of stopping anytime soon.