Their Papa had helped them get the job at the Wrecking Crew. They were grateful for the job, but the boss wasn’t so grateful for their help.
“What are these two pipsqueaks goin’ to do?” Spike cried when he saw his new hires.
Mario stepped up to defend himself and his brother. “We are strong! We are athletes! Let us prove ourselves! We can do whatever you ask us to do!”
Spike asked them to prove themselves day after day after day. Giving them tasks that would take several people to complete, much to Spike’s chagrin, they would usually complete it by the end of the day. Spike had a bet that they would quit within the week, but it didn’t look like that would be happening. To get back at the brothers for ruining his bet, he had them clean the work vans until they sparkled. They did it. Then he blamed them for making a small dent in the van that had already been there.
One day while inspecting a building a raccoon jumped out at Luigi causing him to jump and scream like a little girl. This amused Spike. Now when they would inspect a building Spike would hide around corners just to scare Luigi. Mario would get on Spikes case about scaring Luigi. Spike would say ‘it’s all in good fun’ and that they were ‘being weenies.’ Mario rolled his eyes.
One day Spike scared Luigi causing him to fall down a flight of stairs. That day Spike got a fist in the face from Mario. Mario complained to his family about the mistreatment.
“Whatcha goin’ to do sue Spike? We can’t afford a lawyer! Youse aren’t in a union just yet!”
“Your Papa had to pull a lot of strings to get you guys this good paying job!”
They all had experienced mistreatment at work before because they were an immigrant family. He just needed to suck it up and get the money they needed to “live the better life their nonno had sacrificed for them to live.” Mario left the room in a huff.
Even though Mario had punched his boss he showed up to work the next day.
Spike sneered down at him. “I’m surprised you showed your face around here again. I thought you would be home babying your brother.” Some of the other workers snickered.
“You want another black eye Spike?” The workers all gave a quiet Oooooohh. “I’m here to work and that is what I’m going to do.”
The workday was horrible. Spike made all of Mario’s tasks extra hard just to spite him. Mario took it all silently.
At the end of the day Mario sat on his brother’s bed and cried out his frustrations.
Luigi recovered but his knees were weaker than they used to be. Luigi used to jump higher than Mario did and now it was all gone. Mario hated Spike. He was the first person he ever truly hated. Mario would take on some of Luigi’s tasks so as not to hurt his knees more.
Spike took notice. “If he can’t carry his own weight, he shouldn’t work at all!”
“He is carrying as much as he can! If you hadn’t messed up his legs…!”
“I’m sorry your wussy brother is made of glass!” Mario clenched his fists. “If you hit me again, I’m going to sue you for as much as your family is worth!”
A dark shadow came over Mario. “I quit.”
Luigi came up to him. “Mario, you don’t have to quit! I’ll quit that way HE doesn’t have anything to hold over you. You’re the best worker here Mario! I can get another job somewhere else.”
“NO, I’M SICK OF HIS CRAP! I QUIT!” Mario stormed out. Luigi looked up at Spike staring down at him expectantly. Luigi groaned and squeezed his eyes shut. “I quit too!” He followed Mario out.
Throughout his misadventures Luigi had run and jumped and fought and climbed but it was all fueled by adrenaline. After getting the super star his knees didn’t feel weak anymore. It was a miracle! He felt like he could truly help Mario out now. He could keep up! The brothers had always wanted to help others as a job. They were strong and worked well with their hands. He now felt more motivated than ever to help others. He felt more confident.
Mario and Peach challenged him to complete the training grounds. They both were blown away at how high he jumped over the obstacles. He completed the training with flying colors.
After jumping down from the flagpole Luigi got tackled in a hug by Mario. Mario shook his shoulders. “That was amazing!”
Peach skipped up to the brothers. “You did better than Mario!”
Luigi got his brother to stop shaking him by poking Mario in the belly. “Heheh! Does that mean Luigi is number 1?” He stood up tall and gave Mario a cheeky look.
“No, I still hold the record,” Luigi slumped a little. “But you are definitely second place!” She encouraged.
“At least I didn’t take all night!” Luigi resumed pestering his brother.
Mario swatted Luigi’s hands away, “Hey hey hey now! I could have completed it first try!”
Luigi held up his hands in a challenge, “Oh yeah? what stopped you eh?”
Mario didn’t have a comeback and started to become flustered. “Come ‘ere you!” He started to chase Luigi who jumped away through the training course. Peach laughed at the two brothers. It seemed all was right with the world.
Authors notes: I'm making fanfiction of the small throw away lines in the Mario move that made me think. This one was "I have bad knees."
another one was: "Destiny Del Vecchio from high school?"
Before his nonna died she gave everyone in the family advice. Some of it was good some of it sounded like the crazy ramblings of an old ill
