Rainbow Road [Super Mario Bros.]

22

They returned to the roof in two groups. Nabbit and Luigi went up first, alone, and then Mario and the officers came up after.

When Luigi and Nabbit arrived, three officers were waiting for them, but all they could do was watch helplessly and grip their bobby sticks with frustration. It didn't hold a candle to how Luigi felt, though: the humiliation was so extreme that he was stunned that he hadn't gone from a solid to a liquid yet. After his bold declaration of being the one to take Nabbit down, he'd been reduced to a hostage that was helping the jerk get away scott-free. It was a thousand times worse than being thrown through a tea shop window and having the video recording of it go viral online. Part of it was because of the look on Mario's face when he came up: his older brother looked anguished at this troublesome turn of events, and it was Luigi's fault. If only he was a little more competent... If only he could fight like Mario could! He might've wrapped this up by now...

He wanted to do something. He needed to do something. But that was impossible with Nabbit's bony arm around his throat, holding him as well as his air hostage.

"Hm, hm," Nabbit said as he dragged Luigi towards the shrooms -- the police toads parted around him, looking furious. "Yes! That one!" The criminal pointed towards one of the shrooms...which didn't look different from any of the others. "That one strikes my fancy. Do you guys do financing?"

He cackled, while Mario and the others simply stared at him with muted fury. "Sheesh, no sense of humor here," Nabbit said. He crunched Luigi's throat again. "C'mon, brussel sprout, that was funny, wasn't it? Gimme a chuckle."

Luigi wheezed instead, digging at his throat.

"Stop it!" Mario cried. "Just take the shroom and go!"

"Not yet," Nabbit hummed. "I need the ignition keys for all the other ones first." His request was met with absolute silence, and he raised a brow and squeezed Luigi again. "Did I stutter?"

"Agh," Luigi choked.

Mario looked desperately at Jack, and the toad quickly went to each spaceship, snatching the keys out of each one and bringing them to Nabbit. "I hope you choke on them," he hissed.

"For that," Nabbit said, "I'll take all of your radios, too."

"What!" Officer Jack cried.

"Quiet, toad, and just to what you're told!"

Fuming, they all took out their radios and threw them down to where Nabbit indicated. When the last one was on the pile, Nabbit said, "Hey Greenie. Break them."

Horror made what little breath there was in his throat evaporate. "What?" he gasped.

"You heard me. Put those nice tennis shoes of yours to work. Stomp on them! Or I stomp on your air."

Luigi exchanged a pained look with Mario, but he didn't see that he had another choice: Nabbit dragged him closer and closed his arm on his throat again, and Luigi quickly began stomping on the radios, one by one by one, until their plastic casings broke apart and their springs and wires popped out of their sides. Nabbit laughed again when he was finished.

"Nice work!" he said. "All that walking must've strengthened your legs: one day, you might be able to kick like me, kid!" He pulled him towards the shroom. "Now come along."

"What are you doing!" Mario shouted. "You're supposed to let him go."

"Ugh, so noisy." Nabbit hopped into the cockpit and dragged Luigi behind him. There was only room for one person, so Luigi was forced to perch on the very edge of the seat, with his legs dangling out of the sides. "Don't worry, I'll give him back, just get ready to catch him!"

Mario said something else, but it was lost over the noise of the ship powering up as Nabbit stuck in the ignition key. Somehow, he knew how to work the controls, and the shroom was rapidly rising from the roof of the transport ship. Ten feet, fifteen feet, thirty feet... Luigi was beginning to sweat. He's not going to...?

He did: at thirty-five feet, Nabbit shouted, "Break a leg, Greenie!" and shoved Luigi straight out of the cockpit. He had no time to prepare himself -- he was just suddenly falling towards certain death, without a way to cushion his fall.