Past Lives Could Never Come Between Us

39

Spike and Pauline are kissing and giggling in Spike and Luigi's apartment, even as Pauline tries to push him away.

"Enough, alright?" Pauline protests. "I just came to give you a ride."

"How about I give you one?" Spike grins, picking her up, making her squeal as they kiss again. "Or maybe we should unpack your stuff from the van."

"Eh, who cares?" Pauline shrugs. "And anyway, Mario can be hospitable."

"Man, the guy's sheets are insane." Spike sighs dreamily.

"But he wasn't too happy to find out we defiled them." Pauline reminds him.

"Not like he needed them anyway." Spike tries to defend.

"Actually..." Pauline says, making Spike stop kissing her, so she tries to move along, "You're right, we should get going."

"Not so fast, Paulie." Spike shakes his head. "If you've got dish, I want it."

"Mario....met someone?" Pauline poses it like a question, but it's clear she's not mistaken.

"What? Who?" Spike pushes for more details.

"Peach. Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom, actually." Pauline confesses. "I don't know anything else!"

"You can't be serious." Spike doesn't buy it.

"And the two of them spent all last night cooking." Pauline adds sheepishly. "Emulsion this, port wine reduction that. Look, I love food, but these two take it as seriously as a heart attack. Kept me up all night long, and they didn't share any of their creations with me."

"Wait a sec, does Luigi know about Half Pint bagging himself a princess?" Spike says suddenly.

"Not until 3 seconds ago." Pauline says, as she watches Luigi come out of his bedroom and to the kitchen without talking to them.

"Duty calls." Spike steps away from Pauline to follow Luigi.

"Hey there." Spike greets as Luigi pours himself some coffee.

"You can stop now. I know all about Mario's royal rendezvous." Luigi tells Spike without turning to look at him. "I told him I don't want to change things with us, since I'm not gonna have time to think about what that would mean anyway. I don't get to tell him where to go from there." Now he does turn around. "And I'm happy for him."

"What're you not saying?" Spike asks as he moves to stand next to him. "Something's nagging at you."

"Apparently Arthur's not my only uncle." Luigi says. "Tony. I found his place card and a cocktail napkin from Arthur's wedding in a tuxedo jacket in the garage."

"You didn't know?" Spike asks.

"Not one." Luigi sips his coffee again.

"So Arthur walked out on his family?" Spike wonders.

"If I could find Tony or Marie, maybe they'll know where Arthur is." Luigi theorizes. "But however little there is on Arthur, there's even less about Tony. It's like he never existed. I was up all night trying everything."

"But isn't that our job?" Spike asks. "Waking up people who were thought to be wiped out of existence?" he shrugs, then walks away.

"Her name is Merri." Snoozemore briefs the team. "She ran a spa with her sister Gigi, but was also an aspiring actress. She was found on the roof of the Yoshi Theater."

"And someone left a note?" Spike asks.

"They did." Snoozemore confirms, showing it to the team.

It's all his fault. LT.

"We have a match on the handwriting. It's Merri's." Snoozemore says.

"No match on the initials?" Pauline wonders.

"Not one." Snoozemore shakes his head.

"Luigi Turner." Luigi reminds them.

"Or it's just a coincidence." Mario says immediately. "And you're so desperate for a lead you'll latch onto anything."

"A petrified body with a note addressed to LT?" Spike points out.

"While Spike might be onto something, we will not be dreamwalking through Merri." Snoozemore tells them.

"Yes we are!" Luigi insists. "How else am I going to debunk the theory this wasn't meant for me?"

"And if it was?" Snoozemore challenges. "How do we know they're not trying to hack into your subconscious through us? We're not doing anything until I hear from the Zeekeeper."

"And when we do hear back, we won't be able to dreamwalk at all." Luigi says.

"The Zeekeeper is well aware." Snoozemore says flatly. "But he has the final call."

"The note is blaming someone." Luigi taps the evidence bag. "What if they're talking about my uncle Arthur? We can't know until we dreamwalk."

"That's a stretch, and you know it. You're not going in there. We're waiting." Snoozemore says with finality.