Mr. Grubba announced, "Squarin' off next, folks... are the Hoppin' Hardheads... the Goomba Bros!" There were about five Goombas present. He added, "And...two newcomers with a hankerin' for hammerin', the Pink Destruction and the Icy Punch! The Goomba Bros. have been waitin' an' gettin' all het up for the fight. Let's check in!" He walked over to the Goomba Bros., "How do, Goomba Bros! How're y'all feelin' today? You ready fer this fight?"

The first Goombas (Joe) answered, "Ha! Are you kidding me, man? We're always ready to bonk a fool or two!"

The second Goomba (Steve) added, "Who are these rookies? They are idiots, that's who! Waiting just makes us more mad! We're gonna teach these tardy punks how to respect fighters with seniority! I think you better call an ambulance for them now, just to save time later!"

Mr. Grubba turned, seeing Violet and Goombella coming onto the stage.

Mr. Grubba commented, "Hot-diggety-dang, fight fans! There's the Pink Destruction and Icy Punch stridin' on up!"

Joe rolled his eyes, "I tell you, these rookies got some guts, strollin' up late like they own the place! Hoo!"

Mr. Grubba turned to them, "Okay now, listen up. Lemme just explain the rules of the match real quick..."

Steve interrupted, "Have a bonk, punks!"

That's when he attempted to head bonk Goombella. She quickly moved out of the way, countering with her own head bonk. Steve was forced back a bit.

Goombella frowned, "Starting the match before the bell rings is cheating, ya know?!"

Steve pointed out, "You girls were taking long! What were doing for so long? Your nails or something?"

Violet froze Steve in an instant, keeping him quiet. She teased, "We were also doing our hair too!"

To that, Goombella laughed. Both of the girls waved to the crowd.

Joe replied, "Well that's one different kind of welcome but we've got this covered!"

Goombella went for another head bonk as Violet went for another ice move. They waved to the crowd again before taking down the five Goombas.

Mr. Grubba announced, "The Pink Destruction and the Icy Punch win! Tell me girls, what was this first taste of victory like?"

Violet replied, "That fight? What a joke!"

Goombella teased, "Took the words right out of my mouth!"

Mr. Grubba chuckled, "I'll tell you what I just saw folks: a whuppin'! These girls have some skills! We've got ourselves new heroes: Pink Destruction and Icy Punch! Let's hear it for them, folks! Yeah!"

Confetti came down as the crowd cheered.

...

After the fight, Mr. Grubba was very pleased.

He turned to Mario, "Well Red Comet, your friends did a great job with the Gooba Bros!"

Mario replied, "Yeah they sure did! Great work, you two!"

Goombella blushed, "Aw thanks Mario."

Luigi kissed Violet's cheek, "But I thought it was going to be two Goombas?"

Violet giggled, "Two, five, or twenty - it doesn't mater. We did it!"

Koops gushed, "Aw man you guys did a great job!"

Flurrie stated, "You sure did."

Mr. Grubba pointed out, "But listen, fighters gotta play to the crowd! You know, pump 'em up for more! I'm hopin' you'll gimme more razzle-dazzle next time, huh? We understand each other?"

"Yes, sir!" Everyone answered in unison.

He added, "Good. I'll be on my way, then. Ms. Jolene here'll give you yer fight money. See ya!"

That's when he left.

Jolene went over to Mario, "Here's your money, Mr. Comet." She gave him three coins, moving them to ranking nineteen. She added, "The next fight will not be set up until you select 'Reserve a Match' on the terminal. You can also check your current ranking on the terminal's screen. Feel free to do whatever you like until your next fight." She pushed up her glasses, "You have a nice day, everyone."

That's when she left.

"Yo, Rook! How was your first fight, dog?" That's when King K came over. He told them, "I'm King K, man. Just a bush-league scrub like you. Good meetin' you, man. You look like standup dudes. I think I can hang with you guys." He turned to the Bob-omb and said, "Hey, so, why don't you meet the gang, huh? This guy here's Master Crash."

Master Crash replied, "Nice to meet you BOMB! Well, now that we've gotten to know each other, I will give you advice BOMB! As Ms. Jolene was saying, you'd better BOMB obey Mr. Grubba's conditions. If you clear the conditions and win, you get to fight higher-ranked foes BOMB! If you can't clear them, you BOMB end up battling a lower-ranked fighter BOMB! You can't climb the BOMB ranks fighting the bottom of the barrel BOMB-BOMB!"

King K commented, "Yeah. My man's got, you know, some speech issues but he's got good advice sometimes."

Master Crash retorted, "Not just sometimes! BOMB! Advice is ALWAYS useful BOMB-BOMB!"

King K rolled his eyes, "Right man, whatever. Anyways, this lean machine over here is Bandy Andy."

Bandy Andy waved, "Heh. Nice to meet you. I'm not in here too often, but if you see me around, say hi."

King K replied, "Okay cool, and this last guy with the sweet purple kicks is known as Cleftor."

Cleftor huffed, "Grack! Cleftor no like make friends!"

King K chuckled a bit, "Easy there, Cleft-dog! Dude ain't the friendliest guy, but you get used to him. Anyways, that's the core minor-league crew, man! You need something, ask us."

Mario introduced, "I'm the Red Comet but my actual name is Mario."

Goombella introduced, "I'm the Pink Destruction but my name is Goombella."

Luigi introduced, "I'm the Green Thunder but I'm Luigi."

Koops introduced, "I'm the Shell Raiser but people call me Koops."

Flurrie introduced, "I'm Windy Madame but I'm Madame Flurrie."

Violet introduced, "I'm Icy Punch but my name is Violet."

King K replied, "Nice to meet you. I almost forgot though. You and me gotta eventually square off, so good luck, everyone."

With that, he walked off.

Goombella commented, "He seems nice enough."

Koops agreed, "Yeah he does."

Flurrie said, "I wonder who will be our next opponents here?"

Violet frowned, "I'm not sure."

Luigi stated, "I'm sure we will find out."

Mario replied, "Whoever we face next, we will do this together."

...

Wishmaker1028: I think that's where we will end this chapter. Happy Mario Day everyone! I thought this would be a great way to celebrate! Please read and review! And always think outside of the box!