11th installment of the VGNU.
It's common in the Mario family to make bad deals, but this time it might just tear the brothers apart for good.
Sometimes, there are worse evils than magic turtles and space dragons. For example, corporate greed.
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After landing in Italy, Luigi was off the plane and out of the airport as fast he could be without running people over. And with all of the arrangements already made before hand, he was soon in a rented car driving through Verona.
Having been here so many times, he knew his way around. But with his thoughts focused on everything he planned to speak about, his mind shifted into autopilot and almost drove him back to their family home in the city. Not wanting to go down that road just yet though, he set back on course.
There'd be time for that later. Right now, he had an appointment.
Luigi drove up to the Palazzo Barbieri, the town hall of Verona Italy. For a moment he sat in his car, staring at the building. There were so many questions he wanted to ask, and he was still having trouble narrowing it down. He didn't want to waste anyone's time, his own or the mayor's.
As he got out of his car he tried prioritizing those questions. From the events relating to his and his brother's births... to the mess his parents got into with Colepepper... to the strange incident with the castle in the sky... Each topic could easily lead into a rabbit hole of dead ends and cover ups, which he wouldn't be able to go through or verify until well after this meeting. He'd have to pick something, and hope it led him in the right direction.
He entered the building, signed in, and sat down in the lobby waiting to be called up. And as he waited, he speculated where each path would take him. Which topic would be hardest to investigate? The castle in the sky, probably. There's less of a chance of people knowing what happened in the first place. And as much as the whole thing bugged him, finding out the truth of his birth felt--
Again he jolted, every nerve twitching. It felt like flying. Like being really high up with nothing below. Like all the air was being ripped from his lungs as he fell.
Forcing himself to move on before he made himself pass out, he considered the last topic. Colepepper and the gorilla. Would that information be public records? Would Colepepper have covered everything up?
"Luigi Mario?" a secretary called.
Luigi got up and was led to the Mayor's office.
"Thanks for havin' me," Luigi said as he entered.
"No problem," Mayor Valerio smiled. "Please, take a seat."
Luigi sat down, his thoughts still screaming in his head.
"So what can I help you with?"
Luigi nodded, trying to do a bit of last second organizing. He took a deep breath, looked up at the Mayor, and all his thoughts finally screeched to a halt, one standing out. "I guess I'll start from th' beginning," he decided at last. "I gotta lotta questions, sir. But uh, I think..."
"Let me ask you this," Mayor Valerio said calmly. "What was so important, you set up a meeting with me?"
"... I wanna know," Luigi started. "... What happened, t' Hollen T. Colepepper?"
