I've Got the Strangest Feeling This Isn't Our First Time Around

28

Mario shakes his head in disbelief as Toad's petrified body is led away. "Poor little guy."

"Friend of yours?" Clark asks as she walks over.

"I guess." Mario shrugs. "I mean I see him in passing when I come to town, but he was always on adventure."

"You'd think the place would be a lot cleaner." Luigi notes in disgust, looking around before turning back to Clark. "So was it a break-in or what?"

"Doesn't look like anything is out of place." Clark gestures around them, then goes to observe.

"Not even the junk fliers." Mario notes, picking one up.

Luigi takes it and reads, "Self-defense class?"

"Little dude was trying to break the Toad stereotype." Mario says offhandedly.

"The Toad appears to have been attacked from behind." Clark says when she comes back. "He looks as if he wasn't even aware anything happened until it was too late."

"Wait, you're saying this was premeditated?" Mario says nervously.

"Hey, calm down." Clark orders. "What exactly do you know about this guy?"

"He was an adventurous Toad that was always bragging about his adventures." Mario shakes his head.

"Who stole your mail as an excuse for you to come over." Luigi reminds him. "Or at least, he did."

"Really?" Mario looks at him in disbelief. "A Toad was petrified in my old house, and you're joking about him stealing my mail?"

"What is he talking about?" Clark demands. "He was stealing your mail?"

"This was my old house before I sold it to him." Mario explains. "But he wouldn't put in the official change of address, so some of my mail keeps going back to him."

When he sees Luigi and Clark look at each other, Mario demands, "Oh no no, you're not keeping me out of the loop this time. What did you two just put together?"

"That it was supposed to be you." Luigi says bluntly, making Mario's mouth fall open, " Excuse me?"

"He's got a point." Clark agrees. "He's living in your old house, and he's letting people think you still live there. If they were looking for you, they easily could've gone there looking for you."

" Me? " Mario squeaks. "What did I ever do to them?"

"Besides join a secret program with groundbreaking technology that's working towards saving the world?" Luigi says in a deadpan as he stares at Mario.

"Oh yeah." Mario says weakly.

"But we don't know that." Clark reminds him.

"Great! So we can know something else." Mario snaps. "Which is that the guy wasn't as nice and unassuming as people think, and he got petrified over it."

"That's another possibility." Clark says.

"But we can narrow it down." Luigi says, neither of them needing to ask what he means.

"What if they're right?" Mario asks as Toad's petrified body is loaded into the glass box. "What if it's supposed to be me in there?"

"Mm, no." Snoozemore says as he approaches. "We can't assume anything until we know for sure. Clark is interviewing everyone he knows."

"Anything?" Mario begs.

"Unfortunately not. While he seemed to know them, they didn't appear to know him. And the few that would call him a friend haven't spoken to him recently."