Chapter Text
Mario had a tendency to get bored quickly. He was always eager to get things done, to move around and be productive. However, it was inevitable that some days would be uneventful.
Today was one of those days. Mario sighed as he flipped past the same array of channels for the fourth time. The rain was pounding, the candle was flickering, and Mario was just about ready to die of boredom.
The phone rang, shattering the silence. Mario leapt up to answer, but Luigi was already next to the telephone, clacking away at the typewriter. "I've got it," Luigi said as he reached for the receiver beside him, ignoring the way Mario frowned. "Mario Brothers Plumbing! How can I help you?"
Mario huffed, slinking back into the couch. The remote fell to the floor and stayed there. He wasn't really interested in watching TV anyway.
"Uh-huh," Luigi muttered in reply to the voice on the phone, scribbling something down on his notepad. "Oh... wait, really? ...Yes... Yes, we can be there in thirty minutes. Alrighty... Yes, sir. Have a good day." The receiver was unceremoniously plopped down. Luigi stood up, scratching his head. "Mario, that was a call from the city. The sewers in Manhattan are completely blocked."
"The city?" Mario perked up, turning away from the couch to look at his brother questioningly. "Don't they have public workers for stuff like that?"
"I guess they're calling a lot of private plumbers for this. Must be a real mess."
Mario hummed in reply. He wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. In fact, he was already sifting through his toolbox by the door to make sure he had everything. "How does the main sewer system get clogged, anyway? Did Paul Bunyan eat some tacos or something?"
Luigi simply shrugged. "Who knows? They're paying us well, at least."
Mario stared at Luigi for a moment in thought, then nodded with finality. "Okay. Let's go."
The car ride to Manhattan was briefly delayed by the onslaught of rain. Luigi fiddled with his overall straps as Mario drove, glancing out the window every few seconds. If Mario knew his brother at all, then Luigi was probably nervous about this job. Mario couldn't empathize, although he did feel bad for him.
"Reach into my back pocket," Mario said quietly. "There's a couple granola bars in there."
Luigi jumped, startled out of his silence. He stuck his fingers into Mario's pocket and retrieved a single granola bar. But when Luigi held it out, Mario shook his head. "No, I mean you should eat it. You look sick."
"I'm not hungry."
"Eat, Luigi. Please."
After a few protests, Mario finally convinced his brother to eat. Luigi took small, careful bites like he was afraid the bar would bite him back. It seemed that even a good snack wouldn't be enough to calm his frayed nerves.
Mario reached over and held Luigi's hand tightly, assuring him that he was okay. Luigi took another bite, squeezing the hand for comfort.
Before Mario managed to wreck the van in the stormy traffic, they pulled up to their destination. A significant portion of the downtown area was blocked off; various trucks and vans belonging to plumbing companies lined up along a barrier of warning tape.
A man with a clipboard and wearing aviator sunglasses waved them over. He stared them down for a moment as they stepped out of the truck. "Mario Brothers plumbing?"
"That's us," Mario confirmed, hauling his toolbox out of the trunk.
"Perfect. This way," the man urged, guiding the two past the caution tape. They stopped before an open manhole dancing with flashlight beams from below. "We need you two to check the eastern area and see if you can find what the issue is. The flow is being disrupted by something—the clog is massive. So if you find anything, report back before trying to fix it. Understood?"
"Yes, sir," the brothers replied in unison.
"Excellent. Then off with you." The man shooed them away, running up to another approaching vehicle.
Mario and Luigi peered down the manhole curiously. Voices of other plumbers echoed through the gap, and the smell of sewer water permeated the air nearby. Luigi glanced at Mario, who simply shrugged.
They began the descent downwards into the darkness with nothing else to do but venture onward.
Once they'd found their footing, they moved past the other people already in the sewers, waving in greeting as they walked. Eventually, the brothers found themselves far from the other plumbers working in the sewers. Mario and Luigi donned their high-beam headlights once they'd gotten too far from the light.
"Okie dokie," Mario said, flicking his headlight on with a grin. "Let's see what we can find."
It seemed like nothing was wrong with the sewer system for the first half-hour, aside from the water level being far too low. Mario was inspecting various tunnels for any signs of clogging with little success. Luigi sighed, kicking away a chunk of brick in his path. As it splashed into the water, Luigi noticed something interesting.
"Hey, bro," Luigi called, pointing down a smaller, adjacent tunnel. "What's that thing over there?"
"Huh?" Mario turned around, squinting into the dark. "I don't see anything."
"Right there."
Mario blinked, rubbed his eyes, and blinked again. A dark figure was lumbering through the water, shambling like a zombie from an old movie. Mario smiled and waved, thinking it was just a plumber hired by the city. "Hey there! Uh, we thought we were covering this section alone..."
"M—Mario?"
"Yeah, bro?"
When he didn't immediately reply, Mario turned to Luigi, who'd gone pale as a ghost. His whole body was stiff as a log, and his eyes were wider than saucers. "M—M—Mario… i—it's a—"
Before Luigi could finish his sentence, the colossal figure dropped to all fours. It lunged towards the brothers with horrifying speed. Mario cried as he jumped out of the way, accidentally knocking himself and Luigi to the muddy ground.
As the creature drew closer, Mario's trembling headlight happened to illuminate its features; the beast was green and scaly, with a sharp beak and beady eyes. It moved about on four legs in an unnatural manner, like a massive dog with talons. A sizeable green shell lined its back, making it look even bigger than it already was. The thing barely even fit in the sewer passageway—it grunted in pain as its arm scraped the brick walls. With a flutter of terror, Mario realized that the creature would be at least forty feet tall if it had room to stand up.
Luigi could barely squeak out a 'run' before Mario was already dragging him away by the wrist, bolting as fast as his legs could carry him. The creature pursuing them made a noise, maybe a growl, but the brothers weren't listening. They hooked a right turn and kept running in the direction of the exit, trying to lose the creature in the labyrinthian sewer system. It was fast, faster than anything that large had any right to be, but maybe they'd be faster if they kept running.
Mario tripped at one point, stumbling but not quite falling. His headlight slipped off, plopping into the waters behind them. When they veered left to turn another corner, Luigi's headlight fell off too. They kept on running but were struck with another realization: it was too dark to see anything. The brothers were now sprinting through the darkness, blindly navigating the maze of the New York sewers with a giant monster right on their tails.
They ran for a few seconds more before Mario's foot slipped against the wet floor.
He expected to land face-first into the water, where he would promptly be squashed or eaten by the monster. But Mario never collided with the ground. Instead, he was overcome with a strange falling sensation, like he was on a declining roller coaster. Luigi's hand slipped out of his grasp, and neither one could think to scream as they plummeted further into the abyss.
Mario's head was pounding when he finally woke up.
He grasped his temple and hissed, cradling his head to ease the searing pain. What could have happened to cause him such a headache? Mario moved to sit up but was immediately forced back down by a pair of frantic and trembling hands.
"What are you—"
"Shhh!" Luigi shushed him, clamping his brother's mouth shut. "Quiet," he hissed.
Mario blinked. "Why?" he whispered through Luigi's fingers.
Luigi paled at the question. He turned around, checking their surroundings, then leaned close to Mario's ear.
"Giants."
When his head finally stopped spinning from vertigo, Mario looked around.
It wasn't like it helped much, though. Wherever the brothers had ended up, it was pitch black—he could barely see a hand in front of his face. Mario's only evidence to confirm he didn't die was the trembling presence at his side. Mario tentatively slipped his arm over it, whispering comforting words into what he hoped was an ear.
"It's okay, Weeg," Mario breathed, moreso to himself than to anyone else. "We're okay, see? It's gonna be alright."
Luigi simply sniffled in reply.
Mario offered a comforting smile but frowned again when he realized it was too dark for Luigi to see it. Instead, he tightened his grip on his little brother, allowing him to bury his face in Mario's shoulder and hold on for dear life.
They stayed like that for a few minutes, silent and motionless. Luigi mumbled a half-hearted account of what happened while Mario was unconscious. He rambled for a few minutes, only pausing to catch his breath or to choke back a sob.
Then Mario spoke up.
"...Giants? Are you sure?"
Luigi nodded grimly. "I took you down here when they came... I—I think there were five of them."
"Where is 'down here'?"
"I'm not sure... It looks like an old wastewater route, but it's bone dry." Luigi huffed indignantly. "You don't sound worried about the giants part."
"I'll get to it," Mario quipped with a grin. "I'm still trying to wrap my head around this whole thing."
Luigi's shoulders sagged. "I—I know. I'm sorry."
"Hey, hey, don't apologize." Mario lifted his brother's chin and wiped away a few tear streaks with his thumb. "Where did you get in from? Can you show me?"
Luigi shifted, pulling away from Mario until he drifted through the distant darkness. Mario waited one second, then two seconds, until he was suddenly bathed in trickling moonlight. A bundle of large shrubs had been stuffed into a moderate-sized hole, which had been concealing it from Mario's sight.
Luigi pushed the leaves and branches aside, gesturing to the world that lay beyond.
If Mario had woken up to the sight, he'd swear up and down that he was dreaming. Giant speckled mushrooms bloomed overhead like umbrellas, blocking out patches of moonlight. The hills were rolling like waves, unnaturally green, lined with strange flowers of various colours and shapes. And off in the distance, the telltale lights of a small town glimmered. The landscape was ripped right out of a surrealist painting.
Mario barely had time to take it all in before Luigi covered the hole again, plunging them back into darkness.
"Don't want them to see us," Luigi muttered, mostly to himself. He sat back down next to Mario, shoving a plastic-wrapped rectangle into his hands. A granola bar, no doubt. "I guess you were right to bring food with us... I only wish we had more. I should have packed us something."
"Don't beat yourself up over it." Mario peeled away the plastic and took a hearty bite. "There's a town over the hill, right? Maybe we can head there in the morning and find something to eat. I've got enough money for a meal or two."
Luigi's eyes shot wide open. "No! Wh—what if giants live there?!"
"We'll be alright, I promise." Mario tightened his grip on Luigi's hand. "I can go by myself if you don't wanna come with me. I won't mind."
"N—no." Luigi shuffled guiltily. "No, I'll go with you. Let's just be careful, okay?"
"Yeah. Careful."
"Yeah."
Mario leaned onto Luigi's shoulder. "Let's try to sleep. We can leave at sunrise."
"I—I don't know if I can sleep."
"I don't believe that. You can fall asleep anywhere. Remember when you took a nap on the coffee table?"
Luigi sputtered indignantly. "I was seven! That doesn't count!"
"Or how about when you slept in the washroom with the door locked?"
"I was tired. People fall asleep in the bath all the time."
Mario cocked an eyebrow. "You were on the floor."
"My point stands." Luigi yawned deeply, leaning against Mario hesitantly. "O—okay, I'll try to sleep."
"That's my bro." Mario closed his eyes, snuggling into Luigi's side. "Goodnight, Luigi."
"Goodnight, bro."