EPISODE 2-4

In the events concerning Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, Mario helped Don Pianta twice to get two separate tickets distributed by the mob. He brought the Don's dauthter Franchesca back to him twice, and after she married Frankie, Don Pianta stepped aside and made Frankie the new boss. For bringing a sort of peace to the household, they were grateful- and Mr. L correctly assumed they'd be willing to talk to him. He had gotten in the "usual way" through the item shop next to the Pianta Parlor. He'd also taken the time to change into his usual outfit- people in these parts had come to recognize him as Luigi, after his last visits.

Mr. L and Frankie were already talking in his office, and quite thankfully, they were hitting it off.

"So, den, tell me," said Frankie. "What brings you back to dis neck o' da woods?"

"Just passing through," replied Mr. L. "I'm running with a different crowd nowadays, but my bro wants you guys to know he hasn't forgotten how much you all helped him out way back when."

"We ain't forgot how much he helped us out, neither," said Frankie.

Mr. L checked his folder surreptitiously when he thought Frankie wasn't looking. "You know," he said casually, "You and, uh, Francesca were, uh, sort of honeymooning on Keelhaul Key before you came back here, right? Isn't that what my bro told me?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Just asking," Mr. L held up his hands defensively- he was a little intimidated by the mob presence. "I hear it's a nice place, you know, now that Cortez isn't trying to curse the heck outta everyone. Thought as long as I was here, I'd get a recommendation."

Frankie shrugged. "Yeah, it's a nice place."

"Great. Everything's great. Same with you?"

"I tell ya, it's da life. I got a great thing goin' here. I got a great wife, I got a whole syndicate to run…"

"And you've found time for both? That's impressive."

Frankie sighed.

"Something wrong?"

"Nah, I ain't got time to go on about my problems. Did ya need somethin' from me, or what?"

Mr. L put a concerned look on his face. "Well, I'd hate to ask you for anything if you've got too many problems of your own. Come on, if my bro can help ya out, I can help ya out."

Frankie leaned forward and confided in his friend, "It's Francesca. She's been sayin' I ain't got time to spend wit 'er. An' I keep tellin' her that that's what it's like to be Mrs. Boss, but she thinks I'm avoiding her. I don't know what to do, I tell ya, I'm at the end of my rope. An' if I do anything to make her unhappy, her dad's gonna come here and make me sorry. He may not be da boss no more, but he's still got it."

Oh, boy. It was to perfect. Here was his opportunity, the one he'd been hoping to set up. If he could convince Frankie to run away with Francesca again, they'd leave the Pianta syndicate in shambles. And it would be so easy, too. Here they were, talking man to man, and all he had to do was—

"Ah ha ha ha ha… and thus I arrive, like the now-defunct evening post. Have I missed anything?"

Or, it would have been easy, if he hadn't come back just then.

"Uh… Dimentio, hello," said Mr. L.

"Who's dis?" Frankie asked suspiciously. He was reaching carefully, two seconds away from either arming himself or calling his thugs.

"This is… a traveling companion of mine." Mr. L took Dimentio's wrist and held his hand out. "This is Dimentio. Dimentio, shake hands."

"I quite expected you to be finished by now," said Dimentio playfully, pulling his hand back into his own possession. "I mean, how long does it take to sabotage a crime syndicate anyway?"

Dead silence.

Dimentio clapped his hands over his mouth. "Oops! Careless!"

"So…" said Frankie coldly. "All dis time, I thought we was pals… and here I find youse guys was plannin' on stabbin' me in the back?"

Mr. L thought fast. He spun around and shed his Luigi costume, revealing his black overalls underneath. Quickly he tied the mask over his face.

"Surprise!" he shouted. "It's been me, all along, the evil Mr. L! Um, I've been trying to ruin you guys forever now, and have you take down Super Mario with you. Um… Ha ha ha ha!"

"Nice touch," Dimentio commented.

Mr. L grabbed Dimentio's shoulders. "Get us the heck outta here!"

Dimentio snapped his fingers and disappeared. Mr. L, seeing that Dimentio didn't plan on taking him with him, prepared to run or fight for his life.

"O'Chunks!" Mimi shouted as she dove out of the alley. She had reverted back to her usual form, and was running like crazy from the Robbos. O'Chunks, who had been waiting somewhat patiently for Mimi to call him, suddenly jumped into a ready position.

"O'Chunks, we have a problem!" Mimi panted. "I turned into this one Robbo and they thought I was someone else so I acted like I was someone else and then the someone else they thought I was came in and now they want to kill me and I'm scared of them! Mimimimimi!"

"Ah, I knew somethin' like this was gonna happen," said O'Chunks. "Step aside, lassie, we'll take care of it."

O'Chunks picked her up and put her safely out of harms way, just as soon as the Robbos made it out of the alley. Gus, who was still standing guard at the gate, saw that there was trouble and came to join them.

"All right, what are ya tryin' to pull, huh?" demanded Ishnail. "Where's thatthing and what's he doin' in our hideout?"

"It's this guy again!" Gus shouted. "What're you tryin' to do, huh?"

"Keep yer hands off o' her or prepare for another chunking!"

"Chunk 'em, Chunkie!" Mimi cheered from the sidelines.

Ishnail put his fingers in his mouth and let out an earsplitting whistle. Twelve more Robbos appeared, from the alley, from the buildings, from simply hanging out nearby where they hadn't been noticed.

"Aahhh…" said O'Chunks.

"Gosh," Mimi said in a squeaky voice. "I don't think you're this chunky!"

"Me neither," said O'Chunks. "But remember, there's no shame in retreatin' when the going gets impossible!"

"I couldn't agree more!"

They took off running, the entire Robbo gang behind them. Dodging pedestrians, garbage, and walls, they bolted back to Rogueport Square, only paces ahead of their pursuers.

Right behind the hangman's noose, they plowed into Mr. L. All three of them went down, staggering backwards a few steps before falling flat on their backs. By a sheer coincidence, Tippi was also fluttering to that very spot and almost got caught in the crossfire.

"Who are you running from?" Mimi asked?

"The mob. Who are you running from?"

"Street gang."

"Hi, Tippi."

Suddenly, Dimentio appeared above them. He looked around quickly, saw the two gangs converging on the one spot, and snapped his fingers. Before anyone knew it, O'Chunks, Mimi, and Mr. L were invisible.

Dimentio crouched down on the ground. "So sorry I bolted without you," he said. "I could have sworn you were right with me."

"You knew perfectly well!" Mr. L snarled.

"Sh!" Dimentio put a finger to his lips.

There was mass confusion in the square all of a sudden.

"Ey, where'd they go?"

"Aw, man, I was ready for a thrashing."

"Da boss isn't gonna like us lettin' 'im get away."

"I want to hit something!"

"Listen to this," Dimentio whispered.

"Oh, we ain't gonna forget this," said one of the Piantas. "Da boss won't let us rest until we get that scrapper who tried to break up da syndicate an' ruin da good name of da Mario Brothers."

At the same time, one of the Robbos was saying, "Man, if there's a shapeshifter on the loose, tryin' to infiltrate our gang… we can't rest until we stop it…"

In about ten minutes the square was free and clear, and Dimentio had the rest of them reappear.

"See?" he said happily. "Everything worked out for the best."

"Where were you?" Mimi demanded.

"I went to be creepy somewhere else," Dimentio said. "I had to meet one of my old friends from the Mushroom Kingdom Jester's Club. He lives under Rogueport. Why? Did you need my assistance?"

He smiled innocently.

"I don't believe this!" Tippi said angrily. "Our plans are completely ruined!"

"Yeah, Dimentio!" Mr. L piped up. "I almost had 'em before you ruined everything."

"But did you not hear them? They've been preoccupied for the time being." He laughed. "It may not be a permanent solution… but neither was yours."

"I just hope Blumiere isn't upset by all of this." She shook a little. "He's feeling rotten enough already. I just can't believe this…"

Just then, Mr. L felt a tug on his sleeve. He turned around, and saw two X-Nauts standing behind the group.

"Hi," said one of the X-Nauts. "My name's Sherwood, and this is Gary." He leaned over and addressed Tippi. "Are you the same butterfly we met in the inn a little while ago? The one with the monocle guy?"

"Yes," said Tippi.

"Is this your organization?"

"Yes…" Tippi said suspiciously.

Sherwood nodded thoughtfully. After a few moments silence, he said, "You do good work."

He took Gary by the wrist and led him away.

Mimi looked at Tippi, totally confused. "What was that about?"

"So, let me get this straight, said Count Bleck. Instead of driving the organizations to focus their attention elsewhere, you drove the organization to focus their attention… on us. Is that correct?"

"Uh… yes. Yes, it is."

Count Bleck shook his head. It was times like these when he seemed to tower strongly over the rest of the minions, as if he was a hundred feet tall and they were mice.

They were back in the meeting chamber, all seven residents of Castle Bleck. Count Bleck looked to be his old self- or rather, his old new self. He had gotten over his little bug and was back in business. His minions, while glad to see him better, were still cowering at the presence he carried.

"I shouldn't have expected more," he said at last. "I should have waited to send you all out. This is unlike anything I've ever had you do before…" He shook his head. "What's done is done. You have failed Count Bleck."

"But it wasn't our—" Mimi started to protest.

Count Bleck spread his cape open suddenly. The folds of his cloak made a loud rustle, and Mimi shut her mouth right away, putting her hands over it for good measure.

"Nastasia," he said, "I don't think we'll dispense any minion discipline this time. Come with me, we'll prepare their next assignment." Count Bleck pulled the Beige Prognosticus from the air behind him and flipped it open. "I'll make a note of this… never send the minions on their first mission alone."

Then he looked up at Tippi. "Tell me, though, Timpani… did you enjoy yourself?"

"I wanted to be with you."

Count Bleck sighed. "I knew you'd say that," he said. "I knew after I sent you away I shouldn't have asked you to leave. I was only thinking of myself, how I would feel. I did not take your feelings into account."

"Blumiere, don't be so sappy," said Tippi. "I honestly think it was good for me to get out. And… it was good to spend some more time with the others. So don't beat yourself up, okay?"

Count Bleck looked down at his minions and noticed, for the first time, that Dimentio was sagging. His back was hunched and he had his hands covering his eyes.

"Dimentio," said Count Bleck, a smug smile creeping across his face. "Is there a problem?"

Dimentio muttered something inaudible.

"He's been like that since we left," said Mr. L.

"Is that so…" Bleck smiled. "Bleh heh heh heh… I think I know what the problem is." Then he spoke to Dimentio, "Tell me, did you travel around Rogueport a lot?"

Dimentio looked up and muttered in the affirmative.

"It looks like our little jester's immune system got more than it bargained for," said Count Bleck.

"That's what you get for being a jerk," Mr. L added.

"You all suck," Dimentio grumbled.

"Get some sleep," instructed Count Bleck. "It's going to get a whole lot worse before it gets any better."