Mario and the Koopa Conspiracy, Martin C. Featherworth [book recommendations .txt] 📗

not everyone could jump like the Mario brothers. The hollow on the inside had a measure of about five feet across, so it wasn’t a confined as non-commercial pipes. Before either of them could object, Peach hopped into the pipe and disappeared. A timer on the wall began a countdown down from fifteen seconds, indicating when it was safe for another person to use the pipe without bumping into another. Yoshi went down after the fifteen seconds, leaving Luigi standing at the mercy of the timer. A shady-looking piranha plant with a brown hat and gaudy tie leaned closer to Luigi, making him increasingly uncomfortable. He glanced briefly at it. He was met with a sharp-toothed grin that made him flinch and turn back to the timer.
“Oh, time to go,” Luigi said to himself as he jumped eagerly into the pipe. He flew through the dark tunnel at a surprising speed. Surprising, that is, if one had been from Earth and entirely new to the concept of travel pipes. They were a bit like waterslides, only with a far more steady course. Pipes usually went straight and made ninety-degree turns. Commercial pipes, on the other hand, made gentle turns or no turns at all.
Singular person pipes were much faster than the pipe cars. Remarkably faster, even. All three of them met up again in the World 5 terminal within only a few minutes. It looked almost the same as the previous one, but this one was less crowded and mostly populated by piranha plants.
“Ha, short trip!” said Yoshi. Luigi straightened himself and stepped over to his friends. All of a sudden, a sound rushed closer through the pipe. Another was coming. Everyone turned around as the individual slid out of the pipe. It was the creepy piranha plant with the hat, and he was still smiling. Luigi looked away. The three and the piranha plant got into the outgoing line. Leaving was another process. One would have to go to another ticket machine, this one printing out the tickets the other was fed with a red mark over a code on the side. You would also have to show your proof of residence certificate and go through security again. Then, you could leave.
After going through more security and loud comments from those around them, the three were able to slip out of the Inter-World Pipelines terminal. They found themselves within a much smaller city, this one built around the tall jungle trees in a coexistence with the environment. It was miraculous.
This was the city of New Jungleston, the capital city of World 5 and one of the only major cities in World 5. World 5’s population was mostly made up of natives, some of which still lived in primitive tribal villages. The city was near the banks of the Purple River, a river flowing with bright purple acid. Now, the acid in the river was not a result of pollution. It was a rich and sustaining component in World 5’s ecosystem, and it nourished the exotic plants that grew there. However, it was also quite dangerous when it made contact with skin. One could simply follow the river to come upon the structures of the natives, as it was lined with them. Most of them had long been abandoned, however. Mario and the others had explored a few of them before while trying to save Princess Peach. And Mario had also fallen into the river. Many times. Thankfully, the 1-ups he had consumed had saved his life. But it was an unpleasant experience to say the least.
“Where do you think Mario is?” Peach asked Luigi and Yoshi.
“Well, if he were going to waste 1-ups, I think he’d go to a bridge over the river,” said Yoshi. “What do you think, Luigi?” Luigi’s expression was distant and forlorn. He gazed off into a thicket of vines in the distance.
“That’s a polite way to say it,” he said. Peach and Yoshi exchanged glances. “‘Wasting 1-ups.’ My brother is trying to kill himself.” Luigi closed his eyes tightly in order to hold back tears. “And I think I know why.”
“The ‘why’ doesn’t matter right now. Now, we need to go and save him,” Yoshi stated. “Hopefully he has consumed multiple 1-up mushrooms. He’s always snacking on them…” he thought out loud to himself. Luigi shed a tear.
“We’ll get him, Luigi. We’ll get Mario back,” Princess Peach reassured him. “Now Luigi, where do you think Mario would go?” she asked. Luigi sniffed.
“There’s a bridge just a bit up the river,” Luigi answered. “Near the spot where World 5 connects with World 4. He’s probably there. An angry tribe of piranha plants chased us across it once. When we were getting you back from Bowser…once.” Peach put her hand on Luigi’s shoulder. She looked straight into his eyes.
“We will find Mario. It will all be okay,” she said. Luigi nodded.
“Let’s go find that bridge, then,” said Yoshi. Everyone headed off down the river.
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Mario paced back and forth on the wooden bridge, the deathly acid river rushing underneath him. Why exactly had he told Yoshi? It would have been a lot easier if nobody would have known. And he had eaten a few 1-up mushrooms today as well. Why was it so hard to just…use one? No…no it wouldn’t have been any easier if he hadn’t told anyone. Mario stood still. He crept toward the edge of the bridge and peered into the river. The acrid scent of the purple river stung his nostrils. He resumed pacing, this time including loud sighs. Soon, the sighing turned to mumbling. Mumbling…in Italian. The mumbling became increasingly faster as he went back and forth along the bridge. He probably looked insane. Then again, how sane was he if he was trying to convince himself to jump off a bridge into an acid river? He halted where he was. Mario stomped his foot and cried out.
“Non posso farlo!” Mario screamed. He fell to his knees, weeping.
“Mario!” Luigi called to him. Shocked, Mario looked up. Luigi, Peach, and Yoshi had come. They stood on the side of the bridge, looking out upon him. They had come to save him from…himself. Mario felt his heart soar… and then sink back down a hundred feet. Princess Peach, the cause of his grief. There she was, standing on the bank of the fatal purple river and beautifully made-up with a sorry look on her face. Mario buried his face in his hands. What was he doing? Peach wasn’t conspiring against Mario and planning to be kidnapped. Certainly she wasn’t. Everyone else was right. How…why would Mario take it to such an extreme level? Did this all have some kind of deep, sinister root in his past?
“Mario, come over to us!” Peach called to him. He scarcely looked up.
“C’mon, Mario. You don’t want to do this,” said Yoshi.
“That’s what he yelled,” Luigi murmured to Yoshi indirectly. Neither one of them paid attention to him.
“Come here, Mario. I know why you’re upset,” said the princess. Mario quieted himself and turned to meet her gaze. “Yoshi told me.” Mario stood to his feet.
“What did Yoshi tell you?” Mario questioned, trying to keep a steady voice. Peach looked to the green dinosaur beside her and back at Mario.
“He said that you were thinking bad things about me.” Mario placed his hand over his face, shaking his head. “And they’re not true,” she said plainly.
“I’m so sorry… I don’t know why I would ever think those things… I’m sorry everyone, I just…” said Mario. He walked briskly over to the rest of them.
“It’s okay, Mario. We forgive you,” said Yoshi. Mario nodded.
“I know you do,” he said. “Yes, I know you do.” Mario began to regain his composure. “I’m ready to go back home now,” he said, though his words made it seem unclear as to which home he spoke of. Perhaps he did speak of his house outside Toad Town. Or, he could have been speaking of Earth. Brooklyn or even Italy. Mario rarely referred to his Toadstoolian house as “home,” so there surely was another reason behind what he had said. Maybe he didn’t speak of a physical place at all but a supernatural place, a place beyond all dimensions. 5: Journeys

“You know, you guys didn’t need to come after me,” said Mario. “I wouldn’t have done it anyway. I would have been too scared.” Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Yoshi had wandered away from the Purple River and the bridge and lingered on a grassy patch of ground. The thick canopy of jungle trees made it seem darker, as did the recent happening with Mario on the bridge. He was going to jump into the acid river and kill himself, but Yoshi, Peach, and Luigi had arrived to convince him not to. Now they stood around in the jungle, still talking with suicidal Mario.
“No way. We wouldn’t have just let you do it,” said Luigi. “And you probably would have done it, Mario. You would have found a reason.” Mario turned to his brother. Luigi leaned against a tree, staring off with a blank expression. Mario closed his eyes. He recalled all the ways he had hurt his own brother in the past, and it made him sick. Sick with himself.
“You don’t know how sorry I am, Luigi. I…have been so terrible to you,” Mario apologized. “I have not been a suitable brother.”
“But you are my brother, Mario,” said Luigi. “And you always will be.” Mario stared directly down at his feet. The group tarried there for a few more quiet moments, letting the sounds of the jungle sink in. Birds, bugs, or whatever creatures lurked out there, all sang out from the trees or the bramble thickets.
“We should go now,” said Princess Peach. Yoshi thought of something.
“Mario, what way did you use to get here?” Yoshi asked him.
“Oh, I used a pipe I built from my house.” He pointed to his left. “It’s over that way.”
“Isn’t that illegal? Building your own pipes into different Worlds?” Peach prompted him with just a hint of sarcasm.
“Yes, of course it is. Unless you have a permit,” Mario replied with a smirk. Peach returned Mario’s little smile. Yoshi took notice of their exchange, but he said nothing. Yoshi changed the subject.
“Well, let’s go now. There’s no sense in waiting around here for something to eat us,” said Yoshi. Mario turned to the others.
“Yes, we should go now. I’ll lead the way back to my pipe,” Mario said, starting off in a northerly direction through the jungle. The rest followed him. The four moved wordlessly under low branches and around trees. They also occasionally hopped over small pits and acid streams or on top of floating blocks and tree limbs.
About a quarter of the way into the trip, Mario began humming to himself. It was an oddly familiar tune, though not one of them had ever recalled hearing it. Mario did this frequently when he was happy. He also did it when he was scared or sad as a means of