Super Mario Bros

Lack Of Support

Arriving home, Mario and Luigi hang up their hats and enter their family's dining room with Rosy behind them. Multiple voices are heard in the dining room, "Hey-yo!"

The brothers and Rosy return the reply, "Hey-yo!"

The brothers' Uncle Tony gasps, "Oh-ho, it's the Super Mario Brothers from the TV!" Uncle Tony, Uncle Arthur, and Grandpa laugh. Rosy grumbled at them as they sat down at the table. "They give an Oscar for worst actors?" Uncle Authur laughs. Aunt Marie smacks him on the head, "Hey!"

Uncle Arthur drops his fork on his plate, "What'd I do?!"

Luigi reaches for a bowl of spaghetti. Mario twirls a toothpick in his hands and weakly chuckles, "Ehhh heh heh... So, uh... So everybody saw the commercial, then?" Rosy grabs a plate and fills it with spaghetti as Uncle Tony takes the bowl of spaghetti from Luigi's hands and adds more to his plate, "Uh-huh. We seen it." Uncle Tony winks at Uncle Arthur, who does a quiet snicker.

"And?"

"I wouldn't quit your day job!" Uncle Authur answered. Uncle Tony laughed, "Oops! He already did!" Uncle Tony shakes Luigi. Uncle Arthur and a few family members laugh with him. Rosy glares at the two men in anger. The brothers' mom looks up, "Well, I thought it was incredible. It belongs in a movie theater!" She spoke as she was trying to feed Grandpa. The food falls off the fork.

While Mario picks at an olive, Mario's dad drops a big pile of spaghetti on Mario's plate. It's topped with mushrooms. Mario's face scrunched in disgust, "Ugh, mushrooms?!" Mario eats the olive as he glances at Rosy, and the two share the same look as Mario's father answers, "Everybody loves mushrooms, right?"

"Not me..." Rosy spoke softly. She hasn't touched a mushroom in years, especially the special ones. Luigi grins, "I like mushrooms; I'll take it!" Rosy hands her plate to Luigi, who happily scoops the mushrooms onto his plate.

Uncle Tony picks up an olive and slides his chair over. He squishes Luigi in between him and Mario. Uncle Tony frowns at Mario, "Mario, seriously." Mario starts picking the mushrooms off his spaghetti and placing them on Luigi's plate. "What were your thinkin' with that commercial?" Mario frowns at Uncle Tony, "What? It's supposed to be funny."

Luigi glances around the table, "Can someone pass the bread?" Rosy hands the bread to Luigi. Rosy glares at Uncle Tony as he tugs at Luigi's overalls, "Yeah, but... What's with the outfits? Plumbers wearin' white gloves?" Uncle Tony pulls Luigi's gloves out of his pockets and drops them on his plate. Uncle Arthur laughs. Before Mario could answer, Rosy spoke up, "That's right. You gotta have a trademark. Gotta stand out." Uncle Tony glares at her, "This is a family conversation, Rosy. You're not part of it." Mario glares at him, "She is at this table."

Mario's mom gives Luigi a bowl of food and glances at the three, "Don't listen to them. The world laughed at da Vinci, too." Luigi sighs, "Mm, I'm not sure they did, Ma." Mario glances at his father next to him, "Dad... What did you think?"

"I think you're nuts." The boys' father seasons his pasta, "You don't quit a steady job for some crazy dream. And the worst part: you're bringing your brother and your extremely pretty girlfriend down with you." He answered with no hesitation. Rosy drops her fork onto her plate with a clatter in shock as Mario gives an irritated look, "Well, thanks, Dad." Mario puts his fork down and pushes his chair out. He stands up, "Thanks for your 'support'." Mario leaves the dining room without eating. The family sits in silence for a second as Mario walks to his room. He slams the door shut. Rosy stands up to follow Mario as the family looks at Mario and Luigi's dad.

"What'd I say?"

Rosy glares at him, "You said plenty."

Mario sits in his room playing Kid Icarus. After losing, Mario sighs and switches the TV to the local news station. Rosy enters the room and sits next to him, "Hey..." She softly spoke. Mario grunts in greeting.

"Thanks for tuning in to channel..."

Luigi opens Mario's door, holding a plate of spaghetti, "Hey." Luigi sits next to Mario on the other side of his bed, "Nah, you're not bringing me down." Luigi offers Mario the pasta. Mario shakes his head. "You know what? What do they know, huh?" Luigi gives Mario a lighthearted nudge. Rosy nodded her head in agreement, "Mario-"

"It's not just them. Our whole lives, everyone's telling us we can't do this, we can't do that. I'm just sick and tired of feelin' so small." Mario spoke, looking glum, not wanting to eat. Luigi begins eating the pasta. Rosy sighed and rested her hand on his shoulder, "Mario..."

The news catches Mario's attention, "A water main burst underground today, stopping subway service and flooding Downtown Brooklyn."

Mario turns up the volume. The mayor, Pauline, speaks with reporters, "Everything is under control, I promise you. We are very close to fixing this." In the background, a huge spout of water bursts from the street. Pauline glances behind her and gives a nervous smile.

A civilian suddenly jumps on screen, scared. He shakes Pauline and grabs a reporter's microphone as a manhole cover shoots high into the air, "Out of the way, ma'am! Somebody help! Somebody save Brooklyn!" Rosy's eyes glazed over as a vision appeared, "'Lina! 'Lina is my friend." Luma spoke inside a cage. Luigi was also in a cage looking at the Child in utter disbelief, "Rosalina..."

Rosy blinks as the vision disappears. Mario perked up at the news on TV, "Save Brooklyn? Luigi, this is our chance! Destiny is calling!" Luigi stops eating the spaghetti, "Destiny del Macchio from high school?!" Mario glances at his brother in confusion, "What? No! Just come on!" Mario grabs Luigi by his hand and drags him out of the room. Luigi drops the plate of pasta on the bed, "Ah!"

"Rosy! Come on!" Mario calls out. Rosy rushes out of the room in a slight daze, noticing the two grabbed their tools and hats. Mario held her hand, and they bolted out of the house to downtown Brooklyn. Rosy was still wrapping her mind around what she had seen. It is almost time.