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

29

"Okay, I'm in Toad's house." Luigi says immediately upon seeing Mario join him, then walking towards Toad's living room. "He's reading a letter?"

"What?" Mario exclaims, coming over to see for himself. "Tell me he didn't open my mail."

Luigi walks over to Toad, looking at the letter itself, "Not unless you're a member of the Lakitu Fan Club."

"Nope." Mario confirms.

"So it looks like our brave little adventurer here was into Lakitus. "

"It doesn't look like this is when he was petrified." Luigi notes, then starts walking.

"Hey, what's the rush?" Mario stops him. "Toad's petrification could be...traumatic."

"And why would that be different from any other victim exactly?" Luigi crosses his arms, annoyed.

"Because he was attacked in his own home. Not exactly something you want to think about, is it?"

Luigi's not impressed, "I've spent my whole life thinking about stuff I don't want to. I think I'm good."

"No you're not." Mario pleads. "You can't just dive headfirst into something like this."

"Who's the dreamwalker, you or me?" Luigi says, exasperated.

"What's going on in there? "

"Nothing, Luigi's being ridiculous." Mario replies.

" We can hear everything. The only one being ridiculous is you. This is Luigi's job. "

Mario huffs in frustration, "Fine.", then starts walking. "Come on. If we're gonna look, then we gotta get as close as humanly possible."

Luigi nods, and takes charge leading them away from the memory, until they stumble into another one.

"Well?" Mario asks. "See anything?"

"He's not over here anymore." Luigi notes. "He's moved over here by a window."

Mario nods as the memory takes shape in front of him, and they walk over together.

"I hear some sort of whooshing sound outside." Luigi notes.

"This isn't Brooklyn." Mario asks. "Not unusual for Lakitus to be floating around."

Luigi tries to move closer, but in seconds, he's whipping his head around and saying, "They're her---AUUUUGH!"

"What, what?" Mario demands. "I can't see Toad anymore, what just happened?"

"He never knew what hit him." Luigi replies.

"He didn't hear anything either?" Mario pushes. "Like, 'Send my regards to Mario'?"

Everyone goes silent, and Mario doesn't need to be in the real world to know they'd all be staring at him like Luigi is right now, but Luigi looks more amused than exasperated.

"Don't look at me like that. It's a possibility!" Mario insists.

"Well, sorry, but there's no way to tell." Luigi says.

"Great, just great." Mario sighs.

Then Luigi looks again, "Hang on, when did this computer get here?" He moves closer. "And it's...shiny?"

Mario's eyes light up, tapping his earpiece. "Did you all hear that? We got a shiny computer."

"Toad had some sort of emotional attachment to that computer."

"Okay, Weeg, I can't believe I'm saying this, but touch that computer." Mario instructs.

Luigi nods, reaches out with one hand, and in seconds, memories flash in front of his eyes.

A pink Toad.

Two people fighting in the park.

The pink Toad again.

A tiny flag being handed over.

The pink Toad. Again.

The lampposts flickering.

The same two people fighting in the park.

"Toad was spying on people in the neighborhood." Luigi says immediately upon snapping out of it. "Through this computer."

"Toad was a creep?" Mario doesn't buy it. "What did you see?"

"Something he wasn't supposed to." Luigi says. " That's why he was petrified."

"Mm, yes." Snoozemore says as he briefs the team. "Our adventuring Toad was a voyeur."

"Another word for Peeping Tom." Spike says unhelpfully.

"Which we are not calling him, because it doesn't matter." Snoozemore reminds him. "We're here to wake him up, not judge him."

"Hey, look on the bright side!" Pauline nudges Mario. "They weren't looking for you!"

"Which we still don't know." Mario reminds her.

"Did anything stick out at all?" Snoozemore asks Luigi, who shakes his head. "No, not really. Other than what you'd expect from a Peeping Tom."

"I need more than that!" Spike exclaims, making the rest of the team look at him. "What? I'm just curious!"

"Toad seemed to be fixated on a few things in particular." Luigi recalls, counting them on his fingers. "The flickering lampposts, a tiny flag, and a pink Toad with an empty bookcase."

"More, please." Spike repeats, and that gets another glare from the team. "What? I can't ask about the case too?"

"Also what looked like some kind of fight out in the park between two people." Luigi finishes.

"Maybe one of them saw the Lakitu camera, figured out Toad got into the camera's feed, and petrified him?" Pauline theorizes.

"I think the pink Toad knew Toad was watching her." Luigi says suddenly.

"If it was her, why bother petrifying him when he could just be reported?" Spike asks.

"Mm, no." Snoozemore says. "As of now, that neighborhood is our only lead."

Pauline taps something on her tablet, pulling up a map.

"Can you identify who lives where?" Snoozemore asks.

"On that thing?" Luigi says. "Of course not. They're all dots on a map."

"What if we look through the feed at Toad's house?" Spike suggests. "Might see something."

"Not possible. Petrified or not, the house is considered a crime scene. Clark can't excuse us being there." Snoozemore says firmly.

"Do we need that for Mario's place?" Luigi suggests instead.

"Sorry, why is Mario being brought up?" Mario asks.

"You said Lakitus float around this world all the time, right?" Luigi asks. "So what would it matter which house we do it at so long as we get the right feed?"

"Mm, yes." Snoozemore says. "Mario? Permission to use your house for this investigation."

Mario feels backed into a corner with all eyes on him, but he just throws up his hands, "Guess who's coming to dinner?"