Chapter Text
Mario hummed a familiar tune under his breath as he walked into the showgrounds. Just another day to get into some classic shenanigans with his friends, after all. He walked inside the castle, scanning around the area. His eyes settled on SMG4’s room, the door closed. Mario shrugs at the sight, making his way over and throwing the door open. “Oh SMG4!~” He called out in a sing-song tone. When hearing no response, Mario traversed further into the room, finding SMG4 still cuddled up in his bed. “SMG4…” Mario said ominously, standing right over the bed. “Get your ass up, boy!” He shouted, startling the meme guardian awake. “Oh my god— Fucking hell, Mario!” SMG4 exclaimed, letting out an annoyed sigh. “You couldn’t have woken me up in a different way?” Mario shook his head. SMG4 sighed again, burying himself under the covers. “It’s too early for this..” He muttered. Mario glanced at the conveniently placed clock on the wall. “Bro. It’s half past noon.”
SMG4 shot up in his bed. “Wait, what? It’s 12:30 already?!” Mario nodded, “Yeah, that’s-a exactly what I said.” he stated as matter-of-factly as possible. Truth be told, SMG4’s schedule has been nothing but skewed. Since ending the channel, he’s been granted much more free time than he’s used to, which is why Mario ends up finding him sleeping in super late most days. It’s a good thing Mario knows who his best friend is. “Mario can stop by 3’s to get you a coffee,” he mentioned, turning on his heel and walking towards the door. “Thank you Mario..” SMG4 called out from his bed.
***
Mario continued his humming, arriving at the door of SMG3’s Coffee and Bombs. He reached for the doorknob, ready to perform his weekly “rage bait SMG3” routine when the door didn’t budge. Mario raised an eyebrow, pushing against the door with more force. Mario braced his shoulder against the door, nothing. He pressed his entire back for as much force as possible. Also nothing. Mario even took a couple steps back to remove his own head and throw that at the door. Once again, absolutely nothing. “Mama-Fucker!” Mario exclaimed, picking his own head back up and twisting it back onto his neck. He examined the door carefully, stroking his chin in thought. Mario’s eyes even stretched out and extended far past than they should be capable of. That’s when he spotted the sign posted on the window. It read; Get lost! We’re CLOSED! Along with a small doodle of a very sour looking SMG3. “Ha!” Mario scoffed, putting his hands on his hips. “That sign can't stop me, because I can’t read!” He took a few steps back for a running start, and Mario proceeded to jump through the large windows of the cafe, crashing into the building and ragdolling onto the floor.
Mario popped back onto his feet as if nothing happened, scanning the area with scrutiny. All the lights were off and the chairs had been propped up on the dining tables. “Hmmm…..” Mario pondered. The thought soon hit him; SMG3’s lair. He honestly forgets 3 even has that. Mario skipped into the backroom, gingerly entering the elevator. He rode down and soon arrived in SMG3’s evil lair. The doors slid open and Mario exited the elevator. The first thing he sees is SMG3 sitting at his desk, playing on his computer. “Hm, decisions, decisions..” SMG3 thought aloud, focusing too greatly on his computer to notice the plumber.
“Alright chat, I’m putting up a poll. Blonde Blazer, or Invisigal?” SMG3 asked, typing on his computer. Ah, so he was streaming. Mario loomed behind the meme guardian, only ever inching closer. “Hello SMG3!” He greeted the other cheerfully. He might’ve been a tad too cheerful, with SMG3 letting out a high pitched scream and falling out of his gaming chair. From the floor, SMG3 reached up and paused his stream. “Dude!” The meme guardian exclaimed. “What the hell, man? You startled me!”
Mario shrugged exaggeratedly. “Yeah, anyway! Mario needs you to make-a SMG4 a coffee so he can get his ass outta bed.” The plumber explained, gesturing to the invisible space behind him as a placeholder for SMG4. SMG3 rolled his eyes. “Didn’t you read the sign? I closed down sho– Wait, how did you get in here when I locked the door?” Mario waved his hand dismissively. “There’s-a no need to worry about-a that, SMG3.”
SMG3 sighed, dragging a hand down his face. “Ignoring that,” he muttered under his breath. “Look, I’m in the middle of a stream right now, and it’s not exactly great for viewership for you to just sneak up on me like that!” Mario glanced at SMG3’s monitor. Along with the stream itself being paused, there seemed to be a game paused as well, with SMG3’s chat going crazy. “The hell are you-a playing?” He asked, tapping on the monitor. “It’s actually this really cool game called none of your business, and don’t touch my stuff!” SMG3 replied, scrambling to his feet. He slapped Mario’s hand away. “Hey! No one tells Mario what to do!” The two almost immediately began a cat fight, repeatedly slapping each other. Something must’ve happened, and it was definitely someone’s fault. SMG3’s monitor started glitching out, sparks flying out from the screen. SMG3 gasped. “Dude, did you fuck up my pc?” He accused, pointing a finger directly at Mario’s nose. The plumber rolled his eyes and swatted SMG3’s hand away. “Mario didn’t-a fuck up shit!” he responded. He delivered one hard smack against SMG3’s monitor, because hitting devices always seems to fix them.
Well, not this time.
A sudden bolt of lighting shoots out from SMG3’s monitor, zapping directly into Mario’s chest. He shakes and convulses at the electric shock coursing through his body. It wasn’t Mario’s first time getting electrocuted, obviously, but he’s not even just a little numb to it by now? He shut his eyes tightly, maybe it’ll be over before he knew it!
In a moment, Mario felt as if he was flying. And, he actually was. His body felt weightless, the wind brushing past his face, cooling his nerves. Though, the wind felt a bit rough, in Mario’s opinion. He opened his eyes, finding himself surrounded by a sea of sky blue. Wait, Sky blue, as.. As in the sky?
Oh wait, no. He was– He was falling, okay.
Mario yelped in fear, flapping his arms desperately as if doing something to help. His eyes darted around the area, only seeing clouds stretch beyond his view point. He was just in SMG3’s cafe, how the hell did he get in the sky?!
Oh god, did Mario die? Is this what happens when he dies? The entire world just pops out of existence? Was this an attempt to ascend to heaven and God himself was denying it? These thoughts circled in Mario’s head, he felt like he was falling faster than before. Though, maybe that’s not a bad thing. After all, Mario could now make out the ground below. Unfortunately, Mario didn’t have a soft landing before him.
Glass shards pierced all over Mario’s body upon impact, several cuts mostly scattering through his arms and legs. He landed on his back, watching as black smoke flew up. A loud car alarm blaring as Mario sat up. At least he wasn’t falling anymore. Mario groaned, clutching his head for the throbbing headache now taking effect. He wasn’t sure if it was from getting glass shards stuck onto his head, getting electrocuted just mere seconds ago, or landing on his back and head. Mario hobbled to his feet, stepping out of his improv landing zone, clutching his arm tightly. Thanks to his avatar abilities plus cartoony plot armour however, Mario’s injuries weren’t anything to particularly fuss over. He shook his body violently, sort of how a dog would shake to dry off after getting in water. That action managed to shake off the majority of glass shards embedded in Mario’s skin. Mario looked back to his unfortunate landing space. It turned out to be a car, as if the aforementioned alarms weren’t already a dead giveaway. Seemed to be a pretty old car, from the make and model. Mario cocked his head at the flame decals printed on the car’s exterior. “That’s-a… definitely a choice.” Mario comments, squinting his eyes.
“Oh my fucking god!”
An unfamiliar, Spanish equivalent accented voice shouted nearby. Mario whirled his head around to see a large, burly man standing nearby, wearing what can only be described as a spandex suit with the deepest v-neck Mario’s ever seen. That, plus the obvious fire decal on the suit, the dots started connecting in Mario's head. Oops. “Are you fucking kidding me?” The man shouted, marching over to the scene. “You little fucker!” He snapped at Mario. “I just fixed this after that stupid—” The man paused, taking in a sharp breath. “This is coming out of your goddam pocket, you little shit.” He demanded, pointing at Mario’s face. Since the man had gotten closer, Mario could take a good look at him. And boy, there were things to be mentioned.
For starters, bro has a ponytail. And while that on its own isn’t bad, it just looks..bad. His hair looks especially greasy from whatever thick as hell hair gel this guy must be using. The problem of the v-neck had already been mentioned, so no need discussing that any further. When the guy yelled at Mario, he immediately noticed the missing tooth the man had. And Mario couldn’t fight back a chuckle.
“Bro, can you-a repeat that without-a whistling?” Mario requested innocently. The man blinked, taken aback. “Eh– What?” He asked. “I mean, even if I had-a enough money to spare, I would suggest using it to fix that missing tooth of-a yours.” The plumber quipped with a smug grin. “What? Did the-a tooth fairy not compensate you for that?” Mario gestured to his own smile. The man bared his teeth, the gap now fully visible. He clenched his fists at his sides, and it looked like..smoke? Emanating from the man’s body. “I’ll give you two fucking choices,” the man began, his tone cold and demanding. “You take your overall ass home and maybe, just maybe, I won’t set you on—” before the man could finish his threat, Mario simply jumped up and kicked him right in the face. The man stumbled back, clutching his now bleeding nose. Thankfully he didn’t lose a second tooth there. The man looked back, seeing Mario already sprinting off into the distance. The man gritted his teeth, smoke exiting the gap in his teeth as he breathed heavily. He wiped the blood off his face and formed a fist, his fingernails digging into his palm. The next second, the man’s hand was engulfed in a steady fire.
***
“SDN, how can we help you?” Robert asked into the microphone of his headset. He glanced at the time on his computer; 9:08 AM. His shift started barely ten minutes ago and he’s already getting a call. “Yeah uh–” The caller on the other end spoke, sounding confused. “So, I was just on my morning run, and I saw one of the Phoenix program guys chasing some guy through the street. I dunno if it’s a criminal he’s chasing down or what, I mean, the guy he’s chasing is carrying, like, huge trays of spaghetti, but it’s kinda freaking everybody out, including me.” Robert let out a silent sigh, his eyes glancing to the roster filled with the Z-Teams’ images. “Okay, and do you happen to know which one of the phoenix program heroes it is?” Robert asked, mostly to narrow down who he thinks it is. Out of the entire phoenix program itself, he has eight choices to go off of. Though, eight choices is still a lot. “It’s uh, fuck..” The caller began, audible snapping being heard on the other end. “Oh! The uh, the Ponytail guy! With the v-neck!” Bingo. Not a good bingo, though. Robert pinched the bridge of his nose. “Okay, thank you for calling. We’ll take care of it from here.” Robert assured, hearing the dial tone sound as the caller hung up. He then switched to the main area on his computer, the showcase of Los Angeles’ map, along with the roster of dipshits he’s been tasked with dispatching.
“Flambae, what the fuck are you doing right now?” Robert asked, his tone less polite then on the call just a couple seconds ago. “Ooh, someone’s in trouble.” Invisigal joked over the comms. “You’re one to talk, lass.” Punch Up added, earning a chuckle from Coupe. “You can’t even ride kiddie rides with your height, so I think I’m good.” Invisigal clapped back. “Damn,” Golem spoke up. “That’s cold.” Robert sighed, massaging his temples. “Flambae, hello?” He repeated, his tone taking on an annoyed edge. “God, the fuck do you want, Bob-Bob?” Flambae finally responded, the wind flapping on his end, distorting his voice a bit. “What I wanna know is why the hell are you chasing down some guy in the street?” Robert demanded, his tone stern. “Psh,” Flambae began. “It’s not just some guy, It’s a criminal.” He corrected. Robert sighed, looking back at the map to dispatch the other members. “Doesn’t matter, you weren’t assigned to deal with it,” he explained. “I assure you, this guy needs to get locked the fuck up.” Flambae insisted. Robert rolled his eyes.
“Enlighten me.”
“Okay, so, this fucking guy. As I’m chasing him, he’s like, hopping on buildings and shit like he’s fucking Spider-Man or some shit.”
“So the guy can parkour, big deal,” Invisigal spoke up.
“Yeah, that’s not a valid reason to be chasing him down like a mad man.”
“Well yeah, obviously. But it gets worse.”
“Of course it does.”
“This little fucker tries to lose me by walking into the walls of four different buildings.”
“Why is the guy your chasing the fucking Kool-Aid man?” Sonar asked in an amused tone.
“I don’t fucking know, man!”
“Okay, so what happened next?” Robert asked, trying to stay on track. Though the mental image of Flambae chasing down the actual kool-aid man is pretty funny. “Alright so,” Flambae began. “So obviously I can’t chase him through the buildings, so I go around, right?” Robert nodded, even though he couldn't be seen by Flambae at that moment. “Right,” he muttered. “Right! So I go around, see the little bastard run straight into a spaghetti factory. And of course, I go after him.” Flambae explained. “Bro, Spaghetti Factory is so good, man.” Golem said, letting out a content sigh. “Oh my god, I know right?” Malevola replied. “Dude, the way they make the spaghetti, chef’s kiss.” Sonar added on, most likely doing a chef’s kiss motion wherever he is now. “I’ve never been, sounds kinda trashy,” said Prism. “Okay, thank god for you,” Flambae continued. “And the rest of you, you’re not gonna like what I’m about to tell you,” he warned. “Uh oh,” said Golem. “When I went inside the spaghetti factory, I swear to god, it looked like he put his fucking dick in the spaghetti.” Flambae revealed, and obviously with a revelation like that, the response was immediate, and negative.
“Oh that’s fuckin’ nasty,” said Prism. “Ew.” Golem simply replied. “Holy shit, that’s gross.” Malevola responded. “Dude, that just ruined Spaghetti for me, like forever. Not even just the spaghetti factory, the entire pasta in general.” Sonar said, no doubt shuddering after hearing that sort of news. “Christ, that’s just sick!” Punch Up exclaimed. “Disgusting.” Coupe added on, keeping it simple as well. Invisigal didn’t even dignify the news with words, instead opting to make gagging noises.
“I fucking know, right?” Flambae said in response to everyone’s reactions. Robert kissed his teeth. He’s definitely seen a lot of things as Mecha Man and has definitely had images of things he’s never been able to get out of his head. But the image of some guy sticking his genitals into a huge comfort food for all, that’s something he can never recover from. “Yeah, that uh.. Yeah,” he says, putting any words he thought about into a somewhat coherent sentence. “So we’re gonna get the pasta pervert arrested, right?” Invisigal asked, finally speaking again. “Pasta pervert, I like that.” Golem replied.
“Well, we’re gonna try.” Robert cut in, looking through the footage of the various outdoor cameras posted throughout Flambae’s current location. “You still following him, Flambae?” He asked. “No,” Flambae responded with an agitated sigh. “Lost the little fucker a couple blocks ago. He’s like, barely a third of my height, why is he so fucking fast?” Robert rolled his eyes. “We’ll deal with that later,” he said, scouring through the map, checking for anyone’s profiles near Flambae. Someone must’ve seen something, right? “Robert,” Coupe says. “I have eyes on our pasta pervert,” she says. “How can you be sure, though?” Prism asked. “I see a man carrying four buffet style trays of spaghetti while running like a madman.” Coupe responded. Robert let out a silent sigh of relief, a lead is always good. “Okay, shit, uh, where’s he running to, Coop?” He asked. “Hmm..” Coupe paused before answering. “He’s running down the Rodeo as we speak.” Robert immediately went towards the Rodeo street on the map on his screen, trying to hack into the public security cameras. “Oh shit, Rodeo?” Malevola perked up. “I’m nearby, actually. I’ll meet you guys halfway.” Sonar obnoxiously cleared his throat. “Right, we’ll meet you guys there.” Malevola corrected. Robert’s eyes followed Malevola and Sonar’s profiles approached Coupe’s on the map. “Coop, still see the guy?” He asked.
***
Coupe soared at an incredible height, just above the power lines of the city. Her golden eyes searched through the streets until landing on the suspected pasta pervert. He’s not hard to miss, carrying a shit load of spaghetti and all. “Affirmitive,” she replies, following the suspect closely in the air. “Okay, good.” Robert said through Coupe’s earpiece. “Uh, what’s his description like? Any key features?” He asked. “Isn’t the guy running around with a bunch of pasta? That should be enough description.” Invisigal questioned. “It’s more so for getting an idea of what our pasta pervert looks like, plus his profile if he has one.” Robert explained, clearing his throat to get down to business. “Coop, description?” He asked again. It’s a good thing that Coupe was the one to get a good look at the guy. She’s scarily good when it comes to remembering names and faces. “Hm…” Coupe paused, keeping a close to capture every single detail. “Short, though a bit taller than Punch Up,” she began, following the pasta pervert as he took a sharp right. “Red shirt, blue overalls, blue eyes, brown hair..” Coupe trailed off. “Black moustache? And a red hat with the letter ‘M’ on it.” Robert paused, imagining the different descriptions combined into a single idea of a person. He ended up picturing someone very familiar. “Coop..” He began. “Coop, are you describing fucking Mario right now?” Coupe glanced at the guy. “Maybe. I don’t know what Mario looks like.” Robert sighed, dragging a hand down his face. “Okay team, just uh,” he can’t even comprehend the upcoming sentence. “Keep a lookout for Mario, yes I’m serious.”
“We’re hunting down Mario for being a pasta pervert?” Sonar summarized, sounding just as dumbfounded by the reveal as Robert.
“Mario, as in, like Super Mario?” Golem asked.
“My childhood is ruined, thanks for that,” said Prism
“You knew both Spider-Man and the Kool-aid man, but you didn’t recognise Mario almost immediately when you first saw him?” Invisigal questioned.
“Well I–.. I grew up with certain things, okay? Can’t fucking know everything.” Flambae stammered.
***
There’s an alleyway up ahead. Should be a good time to stop since that v-neck-deeper-than-the-bermuda-triangle-asshat wasn’t following him anymore. Mario screeched to a halt, placing his loot down, hands on his knees while he huffed and puffed. Clearly he doesn’t exercise as consistently, if exercising consistently meant having to run for your life occasionally. Mario glanced at his findings; basically today’s entire supply from a spaghetti factory he ran into earlier. The spaghetti factory here in comparison to the last one Mario visited had some vast differences, but hey, spaghetti is spaghetti. And the plumber was well aware about his lack of self-control when it came to the pasta. He did some rather.. Unsavoury actions that he admits were just plain gross.
Though Mario hadn’t been given enough time to catch his breath, since what appears to be a giant bat just swoops down and snatches the contaminated spaghetti away. Mario gasped, “SOMEBODY TOUCHA MY SPAGHET!” He exclaims. While that was being processed, a demon with a huge ass sword just showed up out of thin air. Mario knew it had a huge sword because that sword was swung down on him, barely missing him. The impact of the sword hitting the pavement created a huge crack in the concrete. Alright, note to self; don’t get hit by the big ass sword. Malevola propped her sword up, bringing it down once again, though Mario actually paid attention this time and hopped out the way. “Yep, that’s definitely Mario..” She muttered under her breath. Every time Malevola swung and attempted to slash with her sword, Mario kept hopping and ducking like the squirmy bugger he is. Malevola gritted her teeth in frustration, bringing her sword over her head and swinging down with all her might. Mario anticipated this, surprisingly. He caught the blade with his hands, jumping up and hopping off of Malevola’s face to disorient her. The attack loosened her grip on the sword handle, so the result was Malevola’s prized weapon now in the hands of Mario.
Mario glanced at the sword now in his possession, a manic grin forming. “Mario’s gonna do something very illegal,” he said in that familiar manner. Before being questioned, he zipped away out of the alley and into the street. “Oh fuck, that’s not good,” Malevola whispered to herself. She pressed on her earpiece.
“Uh, Robert?”
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“We have a problem.”
“What kind of proble—”
“HE HAS MAL’S FUCKING SWORD!”
Sonar’s panicked shout interrupted. He looked back over his shoulder, the distance between him and the plumber only ever decreasing. Flambae was right, this little fucker was fast. “Come back here, you big monkey!" Mario demanded, waving around the giant sword. He couldn’t exactly chase a huge, flying bat creature thing on foot, so he resorted to hopping from building to building to even the playing fields. Sonar looked over his shoulder, seeing the maniac even closer than before. Mario jumped up, brandishing the sword over his head for a sharp downward swing. Sonar swerved in the air just in time, only having a couple hairs cleanly sliced off. “Holy shit!” He exclaimed. “I could use some fucking help, maybe!”
“Look up, Sonar,” said Coupe. Upon demand, Sonar’s eyes darted towards the sky, spotting a familiar figure in flight. Just perfect timing too. Sonar flew enough to find a large garbage bin hanging outside of a building. He looked back at the overall wearing psycho still chasing him and decided to drop the trays of spaghetti straight into the bin. “No! That was-a such a waste!” Mario exclaimed, hopping from the rooftop of a building to continue the chase.
Coupe swooped down, landing a harsh kick straight into Mario’s face. The force of the blow sent him down into the pavement. Mario gritted his teeth, tightening his grip on the sword. The mercenary didn’t waste anymore time. She dashed towards the plumber, brandishing two ebony blades in her hands. Mario reacted just in time, positioning the sword to block the incoming slashes. He scrambled to his feet, lifting the sword above his head and bringing it down. Coupe sidestepped away, reaching for more blades from her mechanical wings. Holding the blades between her fingers, Coupe launches the blades in Mario’s direction. He yelped, scrambling to his feet. Mario positioned the sword’s blade sideways, blocking the oncoming attack. Coupe’s blades clanked against the sword and dropped to the ground. Mario took the momentary distraction to drop the sword and flee. Coupe clicked her tongue, picking up the fallen weapon and beginning the second chase of that day.
***
It’s hard to believe this one guy was causing this much headache. Yet, here Coupe was, chasing down this supposed pasta pervert. She flew above, occasionally throwing blades down in Mario’s direction in an attempt to slow him down. It’s like being in those shows where a cop tries shooting a criminal’s car tires to slow them down. Not very effective, though, unfortunately.
A whoom sound is heard next to Coupe, and a familiar face starts running next to her. “You dropped this,” she said, handing the sword to Malevola. She thanked the other and the two resumed their focus on Mario. “I swear, if we end up not getting this guy..” She murmured under her breath. “We will,” Coupe insisted, throwing about four blades at the plumber. “We have the numbers against him.”
“Fuck yeah, we do.” Sonar chimed in through the earpiece. “I think I’m nearby, actually.” Coupe and Malevola exchanged a glance. “Weren’t you nearby before? He was chasing you at first.” Malevola questioned. “Yeah, I got distracted with…other things.
“You were doing lines, weren’t you?”
“Maybe like one.”
“You said you were gonna cut back, man.”
“Yeah, I know..”
Coupe kept her focus on the plumber, watching him sharply round corners while dodging the various blades thrown in his direction. She narrowed her eyes, the cogs in her mind turning. “I think I have a plan,” she said.
***
The number one rule of being chased is to never look back. It can derail your focus which means running into obstacles that’ll slow you down if you’re not careful. Mario was well aware of this rule, having played horror games on occasion or from the many different times he’s been chased down in his life. But in true Mario fashion, he glanced over his shoulder. Still that scary knife lady after her, but she’s stopped with the knife-throwing. Should he be concerned about that?
Well actually, yes.
That huge ass flying bat– rat– thing, appears from the shadows, apparently. It grabbed onto Mario using its feet, lifting him off the ground. “Oi!” The plumber exclaimed. “Let Mario go, you sky rat!” He demands, squirming around in Sonar’s hold. “Yeah, no can do, bud.” The bat responds. “You gotta be a special kind of fucked up to stick your dick is spaghetti, by the way.” Mario crossed his arms. “That’s-a coming from the man bat with-a coke on his nose, by the way.” He quipped back. Sonar wiped his snout with the back of his hand.
“..No I don’t.”
“I just-a saw you wipe it away!”
“Nuh-uh.”
“Dafuq— Yuh-huh!”
Sonar sighed, rolling his eyes. “Welp, at least I don’t have to deal with you anymore.” Mario raised an eyebrow. “Wait, what do you—” Sonar released his grip on Mario, letting the plumber fall through the air.
Mario rotated mid air, seeing that demon lady once again, a knowing smirk on her face. Amazing how he can even see that from the heightened distance. She raised her hands, some kind of red energy forming around them. Mario spots a dark red slit in the air, it opens up into a circle; a portal. That’s about the time when the plumber realized he was falling in the same direction as that portal. Mario shut his eyes tightly, his body tensing from the force.
Soon, Mario’s back hit against a hard surface, the desk underneath him shattering on impact. Mario stood up after landing in the classic Family Guy death pose. He brushed off any wood chippings on his body, freezing as he made eye contact with a tall, blonde woman, who had been standing a couple feet away. “Uh…” She tried to speak, barely comprehending what just happened. Mario couldn’t blame her, of course.
Mario’s sudden intrusion must’ve caught the attention of other people outside of this small office space, because another man with a headset threw the door open in a panic, not to mention the crowd of people forming around it. Both the woman and the man had their eyes fixated on Mario.
Mario glanced at the woman, then at the man. Welp, not the most convenient situation to get yourself caught in, now is it? “Shet..” Mario muttered to himself.