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#sorry if i think about luigi too long i light on fire

xserenemeadowsx · 11 months

Text

Unconditional Love (Chapter 5)

By xSereneMeadowsx

Link for Chapter 4: https://www.tumblr.com/xserenemeadowsx/719178293244493824/unconditional-love-chapter-4?source=share

A/N: Thank you everyone for the likes and follows! I really appreciate it! :) This past week was a little hard on me which is why I didn’t update for a week. This chapter is a little shorter than the others. I hope you all enjoy it!

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Chapter 5

The sun spread its rays out, greeting the world before it. The light shone down on all who slept beneath it, stirring the slumber each guest had. Eyes slowly opened and took in the scenery. Peach was the first to awaken. She got up and stretched her limbs. Soon, her companions joined her.

“Good morning,” Peach spoke in a sleepy voice.

“Morning,” the brothers and mushroom man replied.

“Did all of you sleep well?” the princess asked.

“As well as I could,” Luigi answered.

“It was alright,” Mario said.

“I slept well,” Toad replied.

“I slept well too,” Peach answered. “We best get breakfast together and get a move on. We aren’t too far from the Yoshi Kingdom now, but we still have a long road ahead of us.”

“I got you covered!” Toad exclaimed as he whipped out his skillet and various items of food.

“Great!” Peach said. She did enjoy Toad’s cooking a lot and she looked forward to what he would prepare for them.

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Y/N sighed as she sat in the cage eating her food. It really was not the most pleasant being held up in a cage. Not that the cage was too small, but it was exhausting. She wanted space to walk around in, a nice bed to sleep in, and a wardrobe of different clothes. She’d been stuck in the same outfit for about two days now. She wondered how people at home were reacting to her absence. She was sure she was going to be fired from her job at this point. She mentally groaned at the thought of losing her job.

She didn’t have her cellphone with her either. She felt stupid not bringing it with her. Then again, service probably wouldn’t work out here either. She finished her breakfast and curled her legs into herself, knees propped up. She rested her arms across her knees, setting her chin down on top of her wrists.

‘It’s fun writing a song, but…what is the point in writing this song? He knows Peach doesn’t like him and this song probably won’t make a difference to her. No matter how much heart and soul you put into it, it seems pointless in the end…’ Y/N couldn’t help having these thoughts swarm through her mind. She’d been hurt before and as much as she wasn’t enjoying Bowser’s presence for the most part, she didn’t want to see him hurt. She felt that everyone deserved to find love with a special someone where the feelings are reciprocated amongst the two people involved in said relationship.

Just as she was going to continue pondering more, the doors of the throne room opened and in walked Bowser with Kamek.

“Songwriter! Ready to start the day?” Bowser asked as he stared up at Y/N.

“Sure,” Y/N replied softly.

Kamek worked his magic at getting Y/N out of the cage and transporting all of them to the music room. He immediately left the king and human alone in the music room. Bowser and Y/N made their way to the piano bench and sat down.

“I was thinking that we could start off the song with, ‘Peaches, I have a song just for you. Please lend me your ear to hear these words.’” Bowser said.

Y/N was slightly dazed out, “Oh! Uh, sure...that works.”

The Koopa King could read Y/N’s appearance, “You’re not focused. I need you to stay with me on this. I want to get this song out to Peaches soon.”

“Sorry…Guess I have a lot on my mind…” It wasn’t a lie. Y/N couldn’t stop pondering over if everything they were doing had any point to it or not.

“Well, get your mind out of the clouds and back on this song,” he demanded. “What line should we add after that?”

“Hmm…we could add, ‘I hope this finds you well because the sight of you makes my heart swell. Your kindness and care are like birds soaring in the air. I feel at ease and weak in my knees when I see you.’ We could add in the chorus after that where you say Peaches, I love you if that sounds good,” Y/N said.

“Yes. Following that, the descriptions of her hair and eyes could come in.” Bowser smiled, “‘Your dark blue eyes make the stars shine at night. Your hair is the sunshine of my mornings when I awake.’”

“Yeah, and then maybe after that, ‘I hope you see how much you mean to me. Peaches, your sweetness is like candy for my teeth. You make my heart sing with love for you. I want to be your right guy for all of time.’ Then, we could go back to the chorus again. Sound good?” Y/N asked.

“Yes. After the chorus, maybe a few other lines…” Bowser carefully thought over what else could be added in. He did want to emphasize his promise to love her, “How about this, ‘We may have our differences, but this I promise you. I will love you for all of time unconditionally my sweet. No matter the obstacles that come our way, I will make sure to treasure each day with you.’ Then, we go back to the chorus,” Bowser said.

“Wow, that all sounds great! Let’s hear it played out on the piano!” Y/N said. She was impressed by those lines.

Bowser, ecstatically, began the tune on the piano and sang out the words he and Y/N came up with. The scenery in the room changed once again to the scenery of the waterfall and grassy field. Y/N smiled at the scenery change. She quite enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere. She saw Bowser gaze at the picture of Peaches on the piano as he sang his heart out. She stared at him and could tell he really felt good about what was being sung out.

The piano finished its last note along with Bowser and the king turned to look at the songwriter who currently still looked at him, “Well Songwriter?”

Y/N, who had become lost in her gaze, snapped out of it, “Huh? Oh! Yes, the song. I really like it. I think the princess will too.” The song was lovely and very captivating. She truly hoped that his heart wouldn’t be too broken or broken at all.

Bowser had taken notice of how Y/N stared at him. He was a bit flustered, but he found it nice that someone was paying attention to him when he was singing his heart out. Y/N really helped him out with this song, and he was grateful for it. He couldn’t get her voice out of his mind last night for quite some time. Her voice was like a sweet lullaby and when her (eye color) looked at him, it made him feel good.

“Um…did you hear me Bowser? I said I like the song,” Y/N waved her hand in front of him to get his attention. Why was he so dazed out all the sudden?

“Hmm? Oh, yes. Glad you like it,” Bowser said, coming back to reality. “I want to show it the princess in the next couple of days. I think some practice is in order first.”

“Yeah, that’s understandable,” Y/N said.

“Now that you have helped me, I’ll have Kamek take you back to the cage,” Bowser said.

Y/N really didn’t want to go back into the cage, “Is it possible for me to…to have a room instead? Please?”

Bowser looked into her eyes and thought, ‘I suppose I could give her a room. She did well in helping me. Then again though, what is the point in keeping her still? She’s already done her part…but she could be used as leverage. Yes, I’ll keep her for that.’

“I suppose so…” he answered. “Kamek!”

The wizard in calling instantly appeared in the room, “Yes Sire?”

“Give Y/N a room. She deserves an upgrade in accommodations for helping me out,” Bowser spoke.

“Of course,” Kamek responded. “Come with me this way.” He ushered Y/N out of the room.

Y/N turned to look at the king, “Bowser, thank you.” She smiled kindly at him. She was happy at least that she was going to have a room.

Bowser only nodded and turned back to the piano, the background in the room slowly changing back to its original appearance. His heart was full of joy. This song was going to woo over the princess no problem. He began to play the tune again and sing the song as he gazed at the picture of Peaches.

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Y/N and Kamek walked all over the castle and Y/N took in all the different paintings that hung on the walls. Many of them were of lava sceneries, but there were a few of Bowser himself. He would look intimidating, cunning, and…lonely. She could understand the loneliness she saw in some of the paintings. He truly wanted a companion and he had been set on the princess for so long that he felt he had no other options.

“Over here will be your room,” Kamek said as they came upon two large red doors.

Y/N turned in the direction Kamek pointed to and followed him inside the room.

“I can design this in any way you please,” the wizard said. “Just say what you want to have in here.”

“Wow! Thanks! Um…I would like to have a queen-sized bed and a wardrobe with different clothes in it. Also, a nice size bathroom with a shower and tub please,” Y/N said as her eyes glowed in glee.

“Very well,” Kamek answered. He waved his wand and instantly, everything Y/N asked for appeared. The wardrobe was a blue color mixed with white and stood tall. Y/N immediately went to the wardrobe to peer inside it. The amount of clothes was endless and of various colors. The shoes included. Even jewelry could be found.

“It’s all so beautiful! Thank you Kamek!” Y/N said as she gave the wizard a hug. Realizing what she was doing, she bashfully let go of the wizard who was very flustered from the appreciation, “Uh, sorry…thank you.”

Kamek cleared his throat, recovering from the moment, “You’re quite welcome. Enjoy.” He walked out and closed the doors.

“This is the biggest bedroom I’ve ever had! I love it!” Y/N went toward the bed and sat down on it. It was very soft. The bed cover matched the blue of the wardrobe and the white sheets beneath it were very nice. The pillows were plush and comfortable too. She then got up to look inside the bathroom. White greeted her everywhere. The shower was a nice size, and the tub was practically like a hot tub with how large it was. She was satisfied to get an upgrade. She decided to jump into the shower and then change clothes.

The hair and body wash provided had the scent of cherry blossoms which Y/N didn’t mind. She worked on cleaning herself and used a white, fluffy towel to dry herself off. Walking to the wardrobe towel wrapped, she looked inside to see which outfit she would choose to wear.

“Hmm…how about this blue dress. I already like the shoes and jewelry that go with it,” she said to herself.

She put on a sleeveless blue dress and flat blue sandals. The dress was about knee length, and it made her think of the summer season. Blue flower earrings, bracelet, and necklace adorned her as well. The dress came to just above her chest to help show off the necklace that rested on her skin. She decided to leave her hair down since she had had it up for so long. Y/N smiled at her appearance. She was happy there was a full-length mirror in the closet too. She decided she would take a walk around the castle. Now that she wasn’t confined, she wanted to take this time to see more of the castle before her.

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Bowser played the final note in the song and sighed. He had already been practicing for a couple of hours and figured he needed a break. He got up from the bench and stretched his limbs. He walked to the doors, opening them with ease and decided to take a stroll inside his castle. Each koopa that passed by would carefully bow to him before they continued with their task or made their way to another destination. The king was happy that his koopas knew when to show him respect and always acknowledged him.

He rounded a corner and could hear a soft voice speaking.

“This food is delicious!” Y/N complemented to the koopa dressed in an apron and chef’s hat. He had given her a sample of what appeared to be a brownie to try.

“Thank you! I’m glad you like it! I hope the king will too,” chef replied.

“I think he will,” Y/N smiled. The chocolate was quite savory.

“Oh! Your majesty!” The chef bowed and Y/N curtsied.

“Songwriter, Chef,” Bowser said.

“I was just showing the human my new food. The recipe for it is easy to handle, but it takes time to bake these. I have a couple of samples left if you want to try it,” the chef explained as he held out a plate that contained a couple of other chocolate squares.

Bowser, using his claws, carefully picked up one of the brown squares and put it in his mouth. He chewed, swallowed, and smiled. The burst of chocolate hit his tongue in a pleasant way, and he was impressed, “This is very good!”

The chef smiled, “Thank you your majesty!” He bowed once again.

“Make more of these!” Bowser said.

“Right away your highness!” The chef replied as he scurried off to the kitchen.

“What exactly are you doing out here?” Bowser asked with suspicion.

“I was just taking everything in. Sightseeing. Is that alright?” Y/N asked. She hoped he wouldn’t be too mad about that.

Bowser raised a brow at her, “Fine, but you’re not going anywhere else alone. I will accompany you.”

“Uh, okay. Sure,” Y/N replied. Guess he was still a little suspicious of her. “You could show me your favorite areas! If you want to that is.”

“Hmm…” Bowser thought it over. It couldn’t hurt anything right? It was just a tour, and he would be right there to ensure she didn’t try anything like escaping on him. Even though Y/N didn’t seem like she was trying anything funny, he wanted to be weary of her. She intrigued him admittedly and he wanted to stick close to her. “Very well. This way.”

He began to lead the human down a long hallway that contained various rooms for meetings, games, and for focusing on knowledge of new worlds and new creatures. Bowser enjoyed exploring new places and thought it would be nice to have a room dedicated to storing all the knowledge he had found in some of his travels. He opened the door to the room containing all this information and Y/N’s eyes widened.

Never had Y/N seen so many books and journals in her life! It reminded her of the animated Beauty and the Beast movie with how high the shelves were, and the never-ending array of words and documents contained within.

“Wow! This library is like a history room! Historians would love a place like this if they could come here!” Y/N was impressed. She smiled as she gazed over the spines of the books lining the shelves. Various in terms of environment, people, and animals. “This all looks so interesting!”

Bowser turned to look at Y/N, “Really?”

“Yes! It really does! Do you have any books on galaxies?” she asked curiously.

“Uh…there’s very few and limited options, but yes,” Bowser replied. He was surprised at how fascinated this human was with his library. He couldn’t help but give a small smile. Her curiosity and amazement were cute.

He showed her where the galaxy section was and took out a book for her, “This book talks about the different stars and their shapes.”

“Oh! Like constellations!” Y/N beamed.

“Yes,” Bowser softly chuckled. “Here.” He handed the book to her.

She opened the book and was greeted with a constellation shaped like a heart, “Aw! That’s amazing! I don’t have any constellations like this in my world. How cool is it to see a heart shaped constellation?!”

“Very,” Bowser replied. “There’s plenty more pictures in here.”

“Great! I want to look at all of them!” Y/N said excitedly. There was a large red couch in the room which Y/N quickly sat down on. Bowser followed suit.

The king and songwriter spent a long time talking about the pictures found in the book along with what was written down about the stars themselves. Y/N felt like a kid taking in all this knowledge from Bowser. It was refreshing to see a side of Bowser that wasn’t intimidating. He seemed very mellow with everything, and Y/N enjoyed that.

“This constellation is my favorite,” Bowser pointed to the picture. The constellation was shaped like a crown.

“It is a neat one! What, makes it your favorite?” Y/N asked.

“It’s my favorite because it reminds me of me. I am a king and ruler to all before me. I am the greatest being to exist,” Bowser said with vigor.

“Ah, I see,” Y/N smiled. “You exude a lot of self-confidence.”

“That I do,” Bowser agreed. “Do you have a favorite constellation?”

Y/N wasn’t expecting him to throw that question at her, “Um…I don’t have any from my world. From this book though, I’ll say the heart.”

“Why the heart?” Bowser asked.

“Because it reminds me of the love I have from family and friends,” Y/N chuckled. “I know that sounds cheesy and very cliché, but it’s true.”

Bowser laughed, “Indeed, but it’s not bad.”

“Thanks,” Y/N smiled. Her stomach decided to speak up. Bashfully, she covered it, her face reddening slightly.

“Hmm…sounds like someone is hungry,” Bowser said amused. “We can have lunch now.”

Y/N, embarrassed, chuckled, “Great!”

The two went to put the book away and walked out of the room to go to the dining room. Y/N was happy that she got to see a softer side to Bowser. She felt that it was a rare, and probably, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see such a side to him. It was unexpected but welcomed to her.

Bowser felt himself softening some in Y/N’s presence. He didn’t feel as weary of her, but still wanted to keep his guard up. He enjoyed seeing her take in all the work he and his koopas had done with the library. He was pleased that he could have such a conversation with someone about his work too.

The two of them made it to the dining room and it was large. Y/N’s mouth dropped open at the size of it. Then again, thinking about it, it would make sense for this room to be as large as it is. There were a lot of people in the castle. They all had to eat at some point, right? Y/N was going to sit down at the far end when Bowser signaled for her to keep walking with him toward the other end of the table. Y/N followed, and Bowser gestured for her to sit down on his right side, next to his seat.

“Uh, is this really alright?” Y/N felt a bit awkward sitting next to him.

“Of course, it is. Plus, I must keep my eye on you,” Bowser said smirking.

“Even with eating?” she asked slightly amused.

“Especially with eating,” he replied with a smirk. This was a nice play of banter.

The two of them laughed. Y/N, again, wasn’t expecting this side of Bowser. It was nice that he could be so playful.

Bowser liked hearing Y/N’s laugh. It was as melodious as her singing. He gave her a small smile to which Y/N blushed a little in return. He shook his head. What was he doing? He should only be acting this way with and toward Peaches. Why was he doing this with the songwriter?

“Lunch is served,” the chef from before called out as he and a few other koopas came to set plates of various food down.

Y/N smelled some of the food in front of her, “Mmm…smells good!”

Bowser picked up his silverware and began eating and Y/N followed suit. The two stayed silent, each enjoying the food before them and residing in their own thoughts.

Y/N couldn’t help noticing how Bowser behaved earlier with the shaking of his head. He had smiled at her and then she had blushed. It was just an innocent smile, right? Why did she blush then? Why was she thinking so much about this!? She had to quit thinking about that and just reminisce about her time with him in the library. It was nice to see him relaxed and not uptight.

Bowser couldn’t get Y/N’s blush out of his mind. He found it cute. He didn’t know what got into him to do the playful banter and give her the smile, but he did it. He didn’t know what was coming over him. Perhaps it was because of the nice time they had together earlier? That had to be it. That most definitely was it. He wanted to focus on doing more practice of the song for Peaches and he decided he would do just that after eating.

The king and human finished their meals and Bowser had Kamek walk Y/N back to her room. As all three exited the dining room, Y/N turned to Bowser.

“Thank you for earlier and for the meal. It was all so nice,” Y/N smiled at him. Her face was slightly reddened.

“You’re welcome,” Bowser replied rather gruffly. He found her blushing smile sweet, and he didn’t want that to distract him.

Y/N noticed his tone of voice but decided to not think so much about it now. She and Kamek walked back to her room while Bowser went to his piano room.

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“Phew! It’s hot out here!” Mario said as he took his hat off to try and fan himself.

Luigi did the same as Mario. Toad was using his hands to fan himself while Peach walked with an umbrella held in her hand. They all made it to the Yoshi Kingdom at last. The tropical like area was very humid. Thankfully, the four of them spotted some shade from some trees up ahead.

“Let’s take a breather here,” Peach said as she sat down to lean against a large palm tree trunk.

The others nodded in agreement and joined her at the tree. All of them sat with their backs against the tree trunk, breathing a little heavily. Peach closed her eyes and laid the umbrella to the side of her, hands resting in her lap. The walk took a little longer than expected, but they all had finally made it.

“Well, I hope catching the Yoshies won’t be too difficult,” Mario said.

“Same,” Luigi replied.

“I don’t think it should be too bad,” Peach said. “We have to find some of their favorite fruits, feed it to them, and then we can catch some for ourselves.”

“It should be a cinch,” Toad said confidently.

“Let’s hope so. For now, let’s rest a little longer,” Peach replied.

The four of them continued their rest as the sun shone high above them. The shade was cooling and refreshing at least.

‘Please be alright Y/N,’ Peach thought.

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Soft piano music played as the king played a different tune. He had practiced Peaches’ song for a little while, but then decided to play something else. He felt like playing a classical tune. Something that could be heard as joyful, hopeful, and fulfilling. He couldn’t remember the name of the song. Only its tune and notes. His clawed fingers hit each key with precision and many years of practice. It had been several months since last playing this song, but he remembered it fondly.

This song was shown to him by his piano teacher many years ago. The teacher was very sophisticated and took her time teaching her students how to play the piano correctly. Bowser faintly smiled, recalling the times he had messed up in front of his teacher and her scolding him to play the same notes again until he got it right. He hated that, but it was all worth it in the end. The piano provided an escape for him. It was something that would always remain the same. Something that could take in his emotions whether good or bad.

As he continued the tune, he looked at the picture of Peach and smiled. He wished she could be right here listening to him play. As he imagined her sitting on top of the piano in her signature pink dress, the image of her slowly began to change. The dress went from pink to blue. Her hair color changed from blond to (hair color). Her eyes changed from blue to (eye color). The smile changed from a small one to a grin.

Seeing the new image of Y/N sitting on the piano instead of the princess, Bowser shook his head violently and stopped playing the piano. Why did Y/N suddenly appear replacing Peaches? He sighed and closed the lid of the piano and got up. He needed to lay down and rest his eyes for a while. That was it. He was tired.

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Y/N lay in her bed and stared up at the ceiling. She really hoped to be able to explore more of the castle tomorrow. Maybe even go outside of it. If she was going to be here for a long period of time, she wanted to take in all the scenery around her. She wanted to explore more of the library again too. There was so much she could learn about the world she currently resided in. Her thoughts then went back to Peach and the others. She hoped they all were doing okay. She also hoped that Peach wouldn’t be too…disgusted at the song from Bowser. She and Bowser had worked a lot on the song.

Y/N felt that Peach probably wouldn’t like the song, but she hoped she wouldn’t be horrified by it. She just knew Peach wasn’t too keen on being with Bowser. That’s why she heavily emphasized to Bowser not to exude force onto the princess. It is never a good thing to force a love that isn’t there. She really didn’t want to see Bowser’s heart break.

The images of her own heart break came to mind. It made her want to sing the song Almost Lover by A Fine Frenzy. It was a sad song, but it expressed some of what Y/N had gone through in her past relationship. She really thought that the guy she was with was going to be her lover. A tear streamed down her face, and she quietly began to sing the song to herself.

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Bowser was heading toward his room when he could hear soft singing coming from one of the passing rooms. He instantly recognized it to be Y/N’s voice. She sounded sad and almost as if she were on the verge of tears. He quietly walked to the door and put his ear against it. He listened to her sing the obvious heartbroken words of a past lover.

He wondered what could’ve brought Y/N’s mood down so suddenly. She seemed so chipper earlier. Why is she sad now? He decided to ask her later. He figured it would be best to leave her alone for now. Plus, he wanted to rest his eyes for a while. He needed/wanted to get his priorities straight. His focus was to impress Peach with his song and make her fall in love with him, not Y/N. Y/N was not to interfere with his plans. She already completed her part. She just needed to act the part of the hostage now.

Link for Chapter 6: https://www.tumblr.com/xserenemeadowsx/723682924934873088/unconditional-love-chapter-6?source=share

#bowser #bowser x reader #the super mario bros movie 2023 #mario #luigi #princess peach #toad #romance #adventure #fanfic

31 notes · View notes

sublimecatgalaxy · 2 years

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Hey! I saw that your requests are open. How about this: Eddie and Reader have been dating for a while now, and he is really apprehensive about meeting the parents. Not because he expects them to be mean or rude, but because they are so nice. Like their whole family dynamic is so supportive of one another that it freaks him out because he has never had that (at least not with his parents).

If that’s not something you’re comfortable writing with or anything, please don’t worry about it!

Love your writing ❤️

Liz

Sorry this took so long to finally post lol but HERE I AM!

"Do they actually like me?" Eddie leans over to whisper in my ear, helping me wash dishes and dry them, my parents laughing in the livingroom. He's been so scared lately, knowing I'd want him to finally sit down with my family after almost eight months of dating.

"Eddie, I told you they'd love you." I giggle, blowing some bubbles at him as he chuckles, bumping me with his shoulder, a sweet blush on his cheeks.

"I just expected them to think you could do better o-or I'm too rough looking or something-" I lean over, capturing his lips in a brief kiss before pulling back to look up at him through my lashes.

"You're perfect and they know I'm crazy about you." I whisper, looking down at the final plate that I hand him.

I know that he had been concern and partially confused at my family dynamic, not expecting a group of people to like each other as much as we do but it's always how it has been. And now that Eddie and I have been dating for a decent amount of time, I'm hoping that we can bring him into an environment, kind and supportive, that he's not used to.

"Now, c'mon, you're slacking on your drying skills." He laughs sheepishly and gets to work, my mom stepping into the kitchen as we finish.

"Eddie, would you like to stay a bit longer to watch a movie with us?" She asks with a nervous smile, sending me a wink as my boyfriend spins on his heels, his lips parting in quiet shock. Taking his silence as apprehension, I give him a playful pat on the back before turning to my mom who's grabbing bags of chips from the pantry.

"Well, it is almost Halloween and you know how much dad loves his scary movies." I laugh, watching Eddie's eyes light up at the mention of horror movies. He had been trying to get me to sit down with him and finally watch some of his favorites so maybe this is the perfect time to bridge the gap and kill two birds with one stone.

"Does Eddie?" My mom asks sweetly, kind eyes moving to look at my boyfriend who stutters cutely.

"Of course Mrs. Y/L/N." He replies, wrapping an arm around my waist with a relieved laugh. "I'd love to stay." He nods, biting back the obvious smile that wants to spread across his lips.

"Well good cuz we'd love to have you." She winks, slipping out of the room and leaving the two of us alone and before I can say anything, Eddie scoops me up into his arms.

"They like me."

"They love you."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o- Taglist: @bubblebuttwade @rafelover2405 @leslienjazzy @sorceresss @grxnde-dwt @alex–awesome–22 @bunnietoof @niyamar1e @serialghost @plantlungs @geniusohn @akaliltimmytim @lilaalouuxx @xshariex @elliotsbeigeguitar @elle4404 @lelieja @srhxpci @joselyn001 @taysirene @spinkspanther @thedivineuphoria @peter-maximoffs @tsukishimawhore @poohkie90 @szlaco @distantsighs @nstyles4299 @wolflover384 @givemefoodandlovesstuff @vane28282 @yeswhatever33 @amirrahfranson @vvaalleennttiinna @f-mu @yaspillz @jeyramarie @skylievin@abbybarnes17 @jointherebellion215 @visiondaddy @steezysimfinds @its-ya-gay-boi-luigi

@crunchytoenailsyum@glizzymcguirex @beth123lg @melovesmut @rafecameronswhore @ariianelle @write-from-the-heart @vampviolets@haylee-e@popehaywardssecretgf @honee-chai-tea @lokiandbuckywife @smoke-and-fire @officiallyunofficialperson@heyaitsklaudia@rosepetalsparks @bluetreecloud20 @scenesofobx @double-shot-of-tequila @1dluver13xx @colbysbrocks @iamasimpingh0e @smoke-and-fire386 @loveshineslikethesky @id-3-kbro @diorsitgirl @errorfound101-allideasburnedout @neverwillknowme18 @ellyskey @taylors-folk @loversjoy @myaloveee @thyris-is @lagataprrr @aaaaslaaaan @minjix @luvrosee @storytellingwitht @savageneversaw

#eddie #eddie x reader #eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #stranger things #stranger things fic

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rainbowwing251 · 3 years

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Oh, curious for the headcanons for the Mario Bros!

I haven’t played too many of the games in the Super Mario Franchise, but I think I can do this!

But first, I would like to make this statement: I am very sorry for all of the Mario fans out there. Fire Emblem fans may have lost a localized Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, but Mario fans lost Super Mario 3D All-Stars (I have a digital copy of that game, by the way. I want to get back to playing it at some point), Super Mario Bros. 35 (which was a very fun game, in my opinion), the Super Mario Bros. Game & Watch, and the ability to upload your courses in Super Mario Maker on the Wii U (though I guess that was going to happen at some point).

Needless to say, you guys have lost a lot. I hope that these headcanons will make you feel a bit better!

Starting off with Mario, I think he would be a ler-leaning switch who is incredibly ticklish. He isn’t as sensitive as his brother is, but he’ll still break down in laughter if someone were to put their hands on one of his worst spots.

Before I begin the lee!Mario headcanons, I would like to make an announcement: Mario is canonically ticklish! This is shown in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, and Mario & Luigi: Dream Team. There might be more, but for now, these are the games that Mario can get tickled in!

If you want to know how Mario can be tickled in these games, feel free to ask! I got this information from the Mario Wiki, and I would be more than happy to provide the links to the pages that I found all of this information on!

Now that I have gotten that out of the way, I’m going to list off Mario’s worst spots. Those spots are his sides, his knees, and his neck.

His often gets targeted by Luigi, Princess Peach, and Princess Daisy. All three of them love to sneak up on him and launch a surprise tickle attack. He’ll react as if he had just jumped into a pool of lava, and it’s one of the funniest things that you’ll ever see in your entire life.

He doesn’t squirm around or fight back all that much while he’s being tickled. He may prefer to be the ler, but he won’t get mad at his ler for making him laugh, especially if it’s Luigi. Mario seems like the kind of guy who would enjoy a good laugh every now and then, and tickling would definitely help out with that.

If his ler is Luigi, and if he gets in the mood to fight back against him, he will do so, but not out of anger. He’s not going to discourage his brother from tickling him. If anything, he’ll try to initiate a tickle fight so he can encourage his brother to fight back and turn the tables.

He is weak to teasing, but only if the teasing is coming from someone he knows. Don’t try to tease him if you are a stranger to him, he will hate it. A lot. Don’t tease him if you are anything like Bowser or Bowser Jr., either. He’ll hate it even more.

If he knows who you are, then you are more than welcome to tease him while you tickle him. He is especially weak to Peach and Luigi’s teasing. Something about Peach’s tone and the way that Luigi teases him just kills him on the spot.

Teasing is one of the few things that can make him blush. His blush will be a light pink color when you start tickling him, and it will gradually darken as you keep going. Teasing will speed up the darkening of his blush.

Mario’s lers are Luigi, Peach, and Daisy, as I mentioned earlier. The Toads will occasionally join in on the fun if they think he needs a good laugh. In Smash, the first three people in the previous list will continue to target him, but now, they are joined by Link, Ness, the Villagers, and the Inklings.

Let’s move on to ler!Mario headcanons. To me, Mario seems like the kind of ler that will tickle those who want or need to be cheered up. He will not tickle someone into hysterics (unless he is explicitly told to do so), and he will not overstep any boundaries.

His favorite way to tickle someone who’s has a particularly bad day is to lightly tickle their sides and the bottom of their ribcage to get quiet giggles out of them. He’ll keep it up until one of the following occurs:

His lee tells him to stop. He will always comply with this the request, even if he hasn’t been tickling that person for long.

His lee tells him to increase the intensity of the tickling. He’ll do his best to comply with this request without making it harder for his lee to breathe (unless he is explicitly told to tickle them until they are nearly breathless. He’ll hesitate to go through with this request, but he will eventually fulfill it).

His lee has been cheered up successfully. He’ll retract his hands as soon as his lee tells him that they are in a better mood, but if they tell him to keep going, he will comply.

Unless he is tickling Luigi, Mario will not initiate a tickle fight with anyone. He doesn’t know why, but the idea of getting into a tickle fight with anyone that isn’t his brother sounds unappealing to him (though he will occasionally make an exception).

The idea of teasing anyone who isn’t Luigi also sounds unappealing to him (but once again, he can make an exception), so unless you ask him, he won’t incorporate teasing into his tickling. If Luigi is the lee, then he will let loose a flurry of teases that are meant to make him laugh a little bit more than he already is.

Obviously, Luigi is his main lee, though he will go after Peach and Daisy from time to time. In Smash, Luigi is still his main lee, but he will also target the younger fighters. Out of all of them, Ness and the Inklings are the ones that will be targeted the most.

It’s Luigi time, now! He is definitely a lee in my mind.

I recently made a post about the most ticklish fighter for each Smash game, and how they would get into a tickle fight with one another. In that post, I said that couldn’t come up with an idea as to who the most ticklish fighter of Smash 64 would be. After thinking about it, I decided to give that title to Luigi. I hope the upcoming headcanons will make my reasoning clear.

Luigi is FAR more ticklish than his brother is. He’ll jump at the slightest of touches, regardless of whether or not the touch was intentional. He will squeak if you catch him off guard. He might fall over if you tickle his worst spots. And he secretly loves it all.

He doesn’t like to admit to it, but he enjoys being the lee due to the fact that he is getting attention. It’s not like anyone is intentionally ignoring him, but he definitely lives in his brother’s shadow for the most part. To him, tickling gives him the attention that he secretly craves, and it also gives him the satisfaction of making someone else smile, even if he’s the lee.

His worst spots are his underarms, his stomach, and his ears, but you could tickle him anywhere and he would laugh.

He is VERY squirmy! Seriously, he’s worse than both Pit and Shulk, and those two are even more ticklish than he is! If you pin his arms down to his sides, be careful while you are tickle him, because he could knock you down on accident due to his squirming.

Despite all of this, he won’t try to fight back, unless he’s in a tickle fight. If that’s the case, then he will try to get payback on his ler, even if it ends with him getting tickled to death.

Luigi can easily become overwhelmed by tickling, and he might become scared of you if you go too far with it, even if you didn’t mean to do so. This is another thing that you should take into consideration if you want to tickle him.

I probably should have said this earlier, but I can totally see Mario sending the Polterpup after Luigi if he sees him in a bad mood. I can also see him destroying his brother with tickles as payback for laughing at him at the end of Luigi’s Mansion.

Before I list off the names of his lers, I want to make one final lee!Luigi headcanon. Be warned, this headcanon will contain a spoiler for the plot of Luigi’s Mansion (and a possible spoiler for the plot of Luigi’s Mansion 3).

After the events of Luigi’s Mansion (and possibly Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon and Luigi’s Mansion 3), Luigi would therefore suffer from frequent panic attacks due to trauma. He became afraid of people sneaking up on him, and he fears that something will jump out at him at any given moment. He’s especially afraid of paintings after seeing Mario in one during the first Luigi’s Mansion and Luigi’s Mansion 3.

To help him recover from his trauma, Simon and Richter will tickle him after he makes a full recovery from a panic attack. Overtime, his anxiety will decrease as he begins to replace the terrifying thought of someone coming to harm him with a more positive image of being tickled by Simon and Richter. He hasn’t made a complete recovery just yet, but he is on the right path.

In his homeworld, Luigi’s main lers are Mario, Peach, and Daisy. In Smash, Simon and Richter will join those three, and they will all work together to help Luigi recover from his trauma.

As a ler, he is rather nervous. His nervousness can be compared to Pyra’s nervousness when she was getting used to the idea of tickling other people.

He’s always afraid of something going wrong while he tickles someone. He’s worried about his lee passing out, worried about digging his fingers a little too deeply into someone’s skin, and worried about his lee getting angry at him. Needless to say, he has a hard time with tickling other people, and he might leave his lee lying and waiting on the ground.

If this happens to you, you have two choices. You can either wait it out, or try to help him with calming down. You can even encourage him to tickle you. That way, he’ll know that you are comfortable with him, and he will regain the courage to tickle you.

He doesn’t like to tease his lees (even if his lee is Mario), but unlike his brother, it’s not caused by a lack of interest in teasing people who are not related to him. Instead, it’s due to the fact that he will make himself blush if he tries to tease his lee. He knows that people will take advantage of this weakness, so he won’t tease his lees.

Just like his brother, he won’t engage in tickle fights, unless they involve his brother. However, unlike Mario, he’ll stay away from tickle fights because he knows for a fact that he will likely lose the fight.

In his world, Mario and Daisy are his main lees. This is carried over into Smash, where Simon and Richter will join them (though Luigi tends to tickle them far less often).

And that’s that, I suppose. I’m a little nervous about posting this, but I’ll be brave and post it anyway.

P.S Is Luigi canonically ticklish? I have a feeling that he is, but I’m not entirely sure about that.

#tickling #the colorful words of the color gray #tickle tour #I can’t think of a tag for the Mario franchise #I don’t why but I got really nervous during the making of this list #why was I afraid of posting this? I have no idea #I wish that didn’t happen #but it did #by the way this is my 100th post #which doesn’t mean anything to me #but I guess it’s pretty cool

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go-dark-turtle · 3 years

Text

A day off with an opportunity and a rescue mission?

(A Mario x Nintendo loop crossover fanfiction)

Chapter 2: Now it's personal.

"Say Toad, where did you get that lighting bolt?" Luigi leaned closer as he held onto Toad's headrest.

Toad sat in the driver's seat of the Parade Kart, he was just about the right height to see the road. His eyes fixed on the road as they drove back down the bumpy hill towards Princess Peach's castle.

"Oh! Well when I ran off to smash some vases I found one in there and kept it in case we had to make a grand exit. We sure did ha ha ha." Toad laughed "Served them right, taking the princess like that."

Luigi sat back down and looked behind him and saw the mansion was still small, he sighed and folded his arms "You guys didn't have to wreck the place..."

"Luigi! We were worried about you and we had to find you quickly." Mario nodded to his brother.

Luigi huffed and looked to Yoshi "... and you, did you have to eat those curtains?"

Yoshi shrugged and rolled his eyes. Luigi, feeling more fed up, sighed more and rested his arm on the side and looked at the view heading back to the castle.

Meanwhile....

Everyone in the mansion had met in the lobby as everything started to shake and become smaller. Andi rushed to Irri's side and helped him up as BreadSquid and Ralfonic ran in from the tea room.

"Gah! We have to go after them at once! I won't allow what they did to MY lobby!" Irri demanded in a squeaky tone as he dusted himself down .

Andi and BreadSquid started to laugh and Irri glared at him, they both looked to the floor with the odd giggle.

Irri sighed "If you two would stop acting like children, we can see where they went! To the car!"

They walked towards the main doors still broken from earlier, the whole mansion started to rumble all around them as everything went back to normal.

"Sorry boss.." BreadSquid let out a small giggle

"Yeah sorry.." Andi bit his lip to hold in his laughter.

Irri rolled his eyes, huffed at the both of them. Andi ran on ahead to push aside the broken door out the way. Everyone ran out and Irri saw the damage that Mario and the gang had left for them.

"Ack! My beautiful fountain! That took 3 months to build and now there's a damn kart in it!" Irri clenched his fists and turned to Andi, who was just standing there. "Come on, what are you waiting for?! Get the car and let's go!"

"Irri... they took Goldie.." Andi started to sniffle and he turned around and held onto his shoulders and burst into tears "They took my precious car Irri..."

"Eww, you nicknamed your car Andi?" BreadSquid placed her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrow.

"Yes I nicknamed my car. She is mine you know!" Andi turned his head to the inkling, he rubbed his nose into his sleeve and sniffed again.

"Ugh, Andi here have this and sort yourself out." Irri reached in his pocket and pulled out a packet of tissues, he gently passed them to Andi. He then started paced up and down the pathway thinking on what to do next. "Aha! I've got it!"

Andi and Breadsquid glared at each other and Irri cleared his throat and pulled out his flip phone, with a flick of the wrist, he pointed it to the sky and smirked.

"I can summon a car with this trusty mobile device!" Irri stood proudly with the old school phone in his hand skyward.

"So dramatic.... Uh boss, you know that model is like 15 years old now..." Breadsquid folded her arms.

"Well I don't see any new phone working on Boo network now do you?" Irri smugly smiled and walked down the path and started to punch in the numbers.

"I mean it's true, no one uses Boo network anymore, Irri." Andi poundered to himself.

"Shh!" Irri covered the speaker with his hand and glared at Andi before continuing his telephone conversation. "Ah yes, hello there, we wish to summon one of your finest taxis please. Oh what's that? My address? Ah yes of course, it's south of south Toad Town, Irri house. Excuse me? What do you mean you don't know where that is?! Ugh, don't get sassy with me, just drive south and you can't miss it. How long? 25 minutes?! Alright, fine! But please hurry, this is an emergency! Good day!" Irri let out an angry sigh.

He snapped his flippy phone shut with a loud SNAP and shoved it in his pocket and shrugged at the others.

"Well it looks like we can't do anything until the taxi gets here. Tea and scones anyone?" Irri smiled at the others.

"Ah boss you read my mind, a cup of tea sounds lovely after everything we've just been through." BreadSquid jumped up with excitement and then turned to Andi, who was sitting on the step, sighing to himself "Oh come on Andi cheer up, we will get your karty back soon."

"Goldie actually. Bready get the name right..." Andi huffed stood up and walked down the steps.

"Oh sorry I got your stupid car's name wrong." Breadsquid scoffed and looked up at him.

"My car isn't stupid. How dare you!" Andi huffed.

Ralfonic growled and stood in between them baring his teeth.

"No Ralf, I won't back down Bready said my car was stupid" Andi folded his arms and looked down at BreadSquid.

"Says the one nicknaming their car..." BreadSquid wiggled her eyebrows.

"Well I'm just going to get myself a tea. Have fun... Come along Ralfonic. " Irri stepped past them both and entered back into the house. "Call me when the taxi gets here won't you."

Andi stared down at the inkling, she smirked, her hand at the ready by her splat bomb. Andi reached slowly for his back pocket for his lighting bolt.

"What are you gonna do Andi?" BreadSquid smirked.

"Me? Ha! You shouldn't worry about that." Andi smirked back.

"Well what are you waiting for? DRAW!" BreadSquid encouraged.

"If you say so!" Andi raised his eyebrow.

They both fired at the same time, the lightning bolt struck BreadSquid and the splat bomb landed on Andi. Ralfonic watched from the window, curious what was going on.

"Ralfonic, I wouldn't stand too close to the window dear, you might get zapped or splatted." Irri was sitting on the velvet sofa and enjoying a warm cup of tea.

Ralfonic nodded and sat beside him and looked up to him, Irri smiled down at the wolf and petted his head.

"Just stay by me and pay no attention to them." Irri sighed as he heard them both squeal and argue.

"ANDI!" BreadSquid shouted at him as she got smaller and her voice became more squeaky.

"Ha ha ha. Serves you right for what you did. Look at my shirt, it's covered in purple stuff..." Andi groaned at the ink splattered over him.

"Ha ha ha ha. That's what you get for challenging me Andi." She pulled out her N-Zap 89 and pointed it at him. "And just so you know Andi, it's not purple stuff, it's ink get it right."

"Don't you dare Bready! I will snipe you with my green shells!" Andi smirked.

BreadSquid shot ink ahead of her, turning into squid form and swam into the mansion. Andi shook his head, pulling out a green shell and smacked her right on target. BreadSquid returned to normal size but due to the impact of the sudden snipe of the green shell, she went flying into the tea room. Andi ran up the stairs and pointed at her and laughed.

"HA! I told you!" Andi chuckled.

"Oh you are DEAD Andi!" BreadSquid used the table to help get her balance back.

Irri sipped his tea and watched them exchange words with a deadpan expression, BreadSquid smirked at Andi and tried to pull out another splat bomb but Andi nudged her and threw another lighting bolt at her.

"ANDI!" Breadsquid shouted in a squeaky voice again. "Come here!"

"Pfft, you are so tiny, Bready. Look at you so small~" Andi smirked and pointed at her.

BreadSquid pouted, shot Andi with her N-Zap 89 and sneaked out the room. Andi fell backwards on the table, the plate of the scones went into the air. Ralfonic saw them fly and he grabbed the plate and dashed about gracefully catching them all. Irri nodded to the wolf and smiled. Andi quickly scrambled out the room to find BreadSquid, he stood on the landing of the top floor looking up and down the hallway. He giggled slightly as he approached the stairs.

"Oh Andi my dear, please do not think about sliding down the banister." Irri called out.

Andi had already climbed onto the banister, paused in his tracks and his eyes widened. It was like he knew what he was thinking but it was a known habit at this point.

"Uh, I wouldn't dream of it, Irri...." Andi called back with a nervous laugh.

Once everything fell quiet again Andi let out a breath of relief, knowing he was alone he smirked and pushed himself downwards.

"EEEEEEEEEERIKA!" Andi giggled with glee as he felt like a kid as he slid down the banister.

He jumped off at the end and sneaked about the main lobby and bumped into BreadSquid. He flinched and BreadSquid grinned.

"Oh you lied to Irri, I'm SO telling him. Hey Boss!" Breadsquid smirked and nudged past him and started to run up the stairs.

"Bready, no, stop please, don't tell Irri." He chased after her and pulled out another green shell "Come on Bready! We are fellow guardians, no need to be like this."

"Boss, Boss, Boss, GUESS WHAT?" Bready smirked.

"Irri, don't believe what Bready is saying. She is lying!" Andi nudged past her and threw the shell at her feet.

Bready smirked "So predictable Andi..." She shot the shell with her N-Zap 89.

They both rushed to the top landing nudging and shoving to get to the tea room first, but a sudden honk from outside stopped them both in the tracks.

"Uh... is that the taxi?" Andi whispered to BreadSquid.

"I don't know. Maybe you should check." BreadSquid whispered back.

"No, you!" Andi pointed at her.

"No, you Andi!" BreadSquid folded her arms.

Andi pushed her and she shoved him back, they both started to pout. They glared at each other unaware that Irri was right behind them.

He cleared his throat and smiled "Would you both be a dear and check to see if that is the taxi, hm?"

The both of them jumped out their skins and turned around so see a not impressed Irri raise his eyebrow at them.

"Well see, I was going to but then Andi..." BreadSquid quickly spoke but got pulled back by Andi.

"I didn't do anything. Bready started this, don't believe what she tells you!" Andi stepped forward and held BreadSquid back

Irri sighed and held the bridge of his nose as the honking got louder and more frequently from outside and the both of them started to shove each other again.

"WOULD YOU BOTH GO AND SEE IF THE TAXI HAS ARRIVED, PLEASE!" Irri shouted at them both.

Seeing the sudden change in Irri's attitude both of the guardians scrambled down the stairs as quickly as they could. Ralfonic lowly grunted as he stood at the top of the stairs by Irri.

"Hey boss, the taxi is here! Oi Andi, that front seat is mine!" BreadSquid called back into the house.

"No! That seat is mine! Have fun sitting in the back Bready~" Andi smirked as he opened the front passenger door and sat down.

BreadSquid, annoyed, folded her arms and waited for Irri and Ralfonic. Everyone got in the back seat with Irri sitting in the middle, BreadSquid sitting behind the driver and Ralfonic sitting behind Andi.

"Alright then, where are we off to?" The driver asked in a posh voice, the driver turned out to be none other than Toadsworth himself.

"TOADSWORTH?!" Everyone was surprised.

"Of course, the one and only." He turned around smiling but it faded when seeing Ralfonic "I wasn't informed there would be a dog in my taxi. No pets allowed."

"Excuse me?! Ralfonic is a wolf, not a dog. How dare you!" Irri leaned closer and glared at Toadsworth.

"Oh you are in big trouble now, you better apologise." Andi whispered.

"Ah! A wolf you said. Oh, my mistake I'M, terribly sorry." Toadsworth turned back around nervously chuckling.

Ralfonic huffed and sighed loudly. Irri noticed his behaviour and sat closer to him.

"Shh, it's okay, Ralfonic. He didn't mean to call you a dog, no please, don't howl..." Irri petted his head again to console him.

"AWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOO!" Ralfonic howled loudly.

Everyone covered their ears and clenched their eyes shut.

"Oh look what you've gone and done. He's upset because of you!" Irri shouted over the howling.

"I said I was sorry!" Toadsworth felt bad for the mixup.

"Ah boss, I have an idea. Here take this." BreadSquid pulled out her switch and gave it to Irri.

"Good thinking BreadSquid. Hey Ralfonic look Miitopia, it's your favourite." Irri placed the Switch in front of him.

Ralfonic stopped howling and looked at the screen and wagged his tail. Everyone sighed with relief.

"If you could please, could you drive us to Princess Peach's castle? Thank you." Irri sighed as he leaned back in his seat.

"Certainly." Toadsworth reversed the taxi and drove past the broken gates and drove back down the bumpy hill at a steady slow pace.

[Mario Circuit from Super Mario kart totally plays here]

"Soon, we will have our car back and I can ask Princess Peach for a replacement of my velvet curtains... and pay for the damages to my lobby and my fountain..." Irri folded his arms and closed his eyes and nodded.

"Ah soon Goldie, I will be at your side." Andi clasped his hands together.

"Ohhh~ Goldie, baby, mwah mwah mwah, I wuv you." BreadSquid mocked Andi.

"Shut it Bready!" Andi turned around and glared "Don't make me.. uh..." he stopped as he saw Irri shake his head and glare at him. "We will talk about this later, Bready."

"Sure Andi~" BreadSquid smirked but then it faded as she looked out the window and saw how slowly they were driving. "OI GRAMPS! Mind speeding it up a little? We have places to be, you know."

"Gramps?! How dare you!" Toadsworth's eye twitched. "Fine as you wish!"

Toadsworth shifted the gear stick forward and pressed his foot down on the accelerator pedal. Everyone was flung backwards into their seats and braced for the fast and bumpy ride.

"You just had to go and open your big mouth, didn't you!" Andi nervously hung onto the handrail above him seeing everything up close from the front seat.

"Oh shut it Andi, at least we are getting somewhere now!" BreadSquid smirked.

"Andi, BreadSquid, we can talk about this later. Toadsworth please slow down." Irri asked nicely.

"We are nearly there, hang on tight." Toadsworth grinned as he entered Toad Town.

He swerved the taxi about the town, missing everything and everyone with an inch to spare. The townspeople screamed and ran for it seeing the small taxi come towards them.

"Toadsworth, this is great, keep going!" BreadSquid jumped up and down in her seat.

"You got it!" Toadsworth smirked and drove even faster towards the castle "Look just up ahead just another minute and we are there."

He took a shortcut and drove off a ramp and glided all the way to the castle's front gates. Andi closed his eyes from the intense height before him. BreadSquid was still excited in the backseat and Irri petted Ralfonic to keep him calm. Toadsworth tilted the car upwards and came in for a landing. THUD! The taxi landed with such an impact everyone jumped out of their seats.

"Here we are. Princess Peach's castle." Toadsworth smiled.

[End of part 1]

#fan fic

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mjwiththefangs · 5 years

Text

Beautifully Deadly (NaLu) #7

Chapter 7

Vampire/Supernatural AU

Rating: M

Summary: "Supposedly an entire kingdom disappeared when their queen went beyond the borders, remember?" When Natsu Dragneel leaves the kingdom to investigate mysterious disappearances, he finds a much bigger adventure than he was bargaining for, including a beautiful vampire hidden away in an ancient castle. She has little to say about her past, or why she's locked away. Who did this to her? What has she been feeding on? One thing Natsu knows for sure that she is dangerous... Could she have something to do with the disappearances? "I'm sorry, Natsu, but I'm just so thirsty."

Chapters: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7

Read it on: AO3 & FF.net

AN: Hello again! So, once again, my update was late. oops. My bad! Im almost moved in with Gary now, just a few more things and we’re good! So, since my work hours are doing crap, i ought to have more time to write :) This one is a bit shorter again (sorry) but i made up for it with fluff. I hope you all enjoy reading, let me know what you think! As always, thank you all for your patience and reviews, and thanks to both my Betas, @mannyegb and @bmarvels !

Review shoutouts! to: ChaosreigN, darkvampirekisses, KatanaNoNeko, Anna5949, YunaYue

Jellal felt grim. He was following Arlock and a few others down a darkened stairwell. They were taking him to “view their progress”. He wasn’t sure what that meant, but he felt it in his gut that it was not a good thing. The Angel could still sense the wariness and suspicion of those around him and he ground his teeth in frustration, he had to remain in power of this situation.

His magic thrummed beneath his skin, as it had during the entirety of his stay here. It flexed and crackled like a live wire, ready to zap any who dared to come too close. He kept it that way, alive and ready to strike. He made sure that those around him could sense it. Heavenly magic was certainly a force to be reckoned with, after all.

Arlock in particular kept his attention on him, Jellal was all too painfully aware. Still, he followed him silently. Jellal narrowed his eyes at the iron door before him. He turned his gaze towards Arlock. Beneath the unusual mask adorning his face, he smirked and side stepped Jellal, gesturing towards the door, 'Siegrain’ he inclined his head.

Jellal felt wary. Hesitating for a fraction of a second, he stepped forward, his hand grasping the cold door knob and opening it.

The Angel had always been an expert at concealing his own feelings, a professional actor. He would later be glad of this skill set, but he was currently struggling to retain his composure.

As an Angel, one of his powers was being empathetic to the emotions of souls. It allowed his kind to assist all manner of creatures and guide them.

However, as soon as he opened that door, he felt assaulted by the anguished cries of suffering souls. It took every fibre of his being to not rush to their aid, to fight his instincts.

The only physical reaction to come from him was a sharp exhale of a breath he hadn't been aware he was holding.

The door opened to a long, white corridor. Either side was lined with cell doors. Moans of pain, distraught sobbing, confused screams… Jellal could hear it all. He stiffly turned to regard Arlock.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he finally registered exactly what Arlock was, and briefly wondered how he hadn't noticed sooner.

Arlock's mask glinted in the light. Saying nothing, he strode past Jellal down the corridor. Jellal followed like a shadow.

They stopped in front of a cell door and he noted that it even had a barred viewing window, through which he saw a trembling figure chained to the wall.

Arlock reached into his cloak, withdrawing a key and unlocking the cell. Jellal, meanwhile, observed carefully, newly aware that Arlock was a Golem. A Golem without a master, apparently.

'Siegrain. I'd like you to assist with it.’ he pointed at the figure in the cell, ‘Take the chains and bring her with us.’

The blue cat yowled unhappily and squirmed against Lucy's gentle grip, his sharp claws skittering across the smooth granite surface. She gnawed on her lower lip, careful not to puncture herself with her fangs as she had done many times previous, muttering to the damp cat.

She'd been somewhat successful bathing him, but now she found herself struggling to dry him off with a towel.

‘You can't run off still dripping wet,‘ she scolded softly, ‘you might catch cold!‘ the cat glared at her indignantly. He hissed with vehemence and leapt from the counter, fleeing the washroom in a flash.

Lucy sighed. She wiped her hands dry on the towel and left to pursue the blue feline.

Meanwhile, still chained to the wall, locked in the small chamber, Natsu was growing frustrated. He sat cross-legged on the cot, cupping his palms together. He scowled intensely, concentrating all his magical energy into the empty space between his hands.

A growl rumbled in his chest. He was deeply focused, seeking out the fire in his belly. He exhaled slowly, wisps of smoke pouring from his mouth. He felt the warmth trickling through his veins, albeit sluggishly, lightning him up from within.

He tried again.

The air between his hands trembled, and finally a small flame sparked to life. His face burst into a grin, elation flooding him. The flame flickered with his lapse in concentration and he swore, his eyes locking onto it again.

It shimmered and danced between his palms. Natsu honestly couldn't remember the last time he had needed this much focus to create a flame. Probably when he was still a hatchling, he mused to himself.

Suddenly, drowsiness washed over him, like having icey water tipped over his head. He swore again, watching how the flame dimmed and was abruptly snuffed out.

The Draconic groaned heavily, slumping back against the wall. He hated it when his magic power dwindled. His mind just couldn't wrap around why his supply was so low.

His hand reached upwards, only to snatch at thin air. He blinked suddenly, bewildered. ‘what…?’

He straightened up again, whipping his head around frantically. He cursed himself for not noticing sooner. Especially when he’d already discovered bandages wrapped around his torn throat.

Had the blonde woman taken it? Maybe it had been strained or torn when she drank from him? His heart clenched at the thought. He whined softly.

Before he could further wonder where he may have lost his beloved scarf, a familiar scent caught his nose. A scent that probably shouldn't be here, Natsu found himself thinking, deciding in that moment that he must be hallucinating.

As the scent got nearer, his hallucination got stranger. He could almost hear paw pads pattering along the stone floor. And then there was the long mewling, and claws scraping at the door.

The bewildered Draconic quirked an eyebrow. He shrugged to himself, and summoning what little magic power he had left, he felt the fire inside him bubble and spat a small fireball at the doorknob.

'Now that was pathetic' he mentally scolded himself. His fire had been successful though, the door swinging freely open as the metal latch melted away.

In a flash of blue fur, the cat launched himself into the room and leapt into the man's lap. 'Happy?!' He exclaimed, 'what the hell are you doing here?'

His question was answered with a self-satisfied purr, and then footsteps approaching down the hall at a brisk pace. He recognised her scent immediately, his eyes moving to the ajar door.

Happy meowed expectantly, shaking droplets of water from this fur. Natsu smiled apologetically, 'Sorry little buddy, I'm all outta magic to dry you off' and he truly was, he realised, unable to even summon warmth to his palms now.

There was a creak as the door was tentatively pushed open, the noise snatching the man's attention. He immediately saw the flush on her cheeks and how she quickly averted her eyes from his face. He felt his lips twitch into a smirk. She was definitely amusing. He'd never known anyone as easily flustered as she was.

He didn't want to scare her off again. So he decided to introduce himself. 'My name's Natsu,' he said to her, making sure to keep his voice low and calm, 'I didn't catch yours before.'

Her honey gold orbs slowly moved to regard him- Natsu. She felt herself beginning to relax, but she still hesitated, reluctant to divulge that information to him. She still feared that her new visitor would result in her being found.

Natsu sensed her hesitation. He felt as though he understood something about her already. She was afraid of something, or someone. He wanted to know more about her. So when he felt tiny claws kneading his arm, he tried a new approach.

'I see you've met Happy.' He said, gesturing to the blue cat. She glanced at said feline, the question falling from her lips on impulse, 'His name's Happy?'

Natsu grinned. 'Yep!'

'And he's your cat?'

'Yep!'

'Why is he called Happy?'

'it's 'cause I was happy when he hatched.' Natsu shrugged, as if that explained everything clearly.

Lucy blinked at him. 'He hatched?' She asked, incredulous.

'Well, yea, he's an Exceed.' the man deadpanned. Happy meowed loudly in agreement.

The blonde's expression softened. What an unusual pair. Perhaps she could trust him. After all, how many evil folk would name a cat 'Happy'?

She smiled softly, her decision made. 'My name is Lucy.' She told him. Natsu beamed at her then his expression suddenly turned mischievous, 'Nice to meet'cha Luigi!'

He burst into cackles at her vexed expression and found himself laughing even harder when she pouted at him. Even Happy made small snuffling mewls, that sounded uncannily like giggles.

Natsu's laughter died down to snickers and he wiped tears of mirth from his eyes. He turned his head, still grinning, towards the blonde stood glaring at him with her hands on her hips.

If he'd had any more magic in his reserves, he would have blown a wisp of flame at her. He was definitely going to have fun teasing her. Now that he was done laughing, he realised her scent was slightly different from before. The scent of lingering magic clung to her skin.

He met her gaze curiously and asked her 'Do you use magic?'

Her eyes widened fractionally, and for a moment he thought she wasn't going to answer him, before she quietly uttered 'I can't anymore.'

'You smell like magic though.' He told her, gesturing with his hand and disturbing the Exceed in his lap, 'did you try a spell?'

She shook her head, golden strands dancing in the light. Her heart was pounding beneath her breast. She surprised herself at how calm her voice came out when she spoke, 'No, nothing like that.' She sighed silently, 'I just had a visit from an old friend. I… don't think I'll be seeing them again though.'

Natsu listened intently, his curiosity burning. His mind was piecing some things together. Sure, Natsu could be a bit obtuse sometimes, but his instincts were sharp. His own magic was still sluggishly recovering since she bit him, barely even there. Now Lucy stood before him, smelling of magic, saying she couldn't use it.

He knew she felt regret for having attacked him. He spoke carefully. 'Lucy,' he began, 'did you drink away my magic?'

She stared at him for a long moment. 'Yes' she thought.

Instead, she began to gnaw on her lip, anxious of what he'd say, if he'd judge her. Natsu kept his gaze on her, taking her silence as the answer. Slowly, he nodded and his frown fell to the ground. His brows drew down into a frown, falling deep in thought.

Lucy, however, bit down worriedly on her lower lip, misreading his expression. She instantly winced, hissing in pain as her sharp fangs pierced the plump flesh. ‘Sthit…’ She muttered, raising her hand to dab at the blood.

The sound of chains pulling taut and a disgruntled yowl from a certain unseated Exceed snapped her attention. Her eyes landed on Natsu, who was glaring at the cuff around his wrist, and Happy, hissing at the man then trotting off.

Natsu tugged at the cuff again, growling when the metal chains clinked together. Oh, how he wished his magic was replenished! Maybe he could ask Lucy to bring him some fire to eat…

He whined in his throat, turning back to the blonde before him. She held one hand beneath her split lip, trying in vain to catch the blood and her tongue darted out to wipe over the cut. She repeated the motion, Natsu’s onyx orbs fascinated with the movement.

Somewhere in the back of his head, he found it amusing that her fangs grew even when it was her own blood, but her eyes remained that stunning honey-gold even as she grimaced at the flavour.

She stepped towards him, reaching for his hand and he stood still as a rock when she mumbled something that he supposed was meant to be ‘Dont move’. Her fingers moved nimbly and quickly unlatched the cuff, Natsu didn’t hide his surprise that it didn’t need a key.

He rubbed at his wrist, relieving the discomfort from having been constrained for so long. He grinned, ‘Thanks, Luce!’

She half-smiled in return, still trying to stop the crimson liquid dribbling down her chin. He clicked his tongue. The scent of her blood was distressing to him. She seemed nice enough, after all, and he definitely had fun teasing her. His instincts screamed at him to hoard her just for her golden hair, and made it very difficult for him to ignore that she was injured.

She watched him questioningly when his hands slowly reached for her face, ‘Nat’thu?’ she whispered his name.

He brought one arm towards his mouth, ripping a length of the shirt sleeve with his teeth, ‘Just hold still, Weirdo… Let me get that for ya’... ‘ He murmured. He rolled up the torn scrap clumsily, then, with a face of pure concentration, he gingerly wiped at her lip. He ignored the way she took a sharp breath, and the way it brought some colour to his cheeks.

She didn’t move a muscle as he tended her, partly so he could work in peace and partly because she was in shock about the gentle treatment, having lived in isolation for so long now. She had missed having the company of others, and she realised then how much she longed for physical touches.

Her thoughts returned to the present, and she stifled laughter at the expression on the Draconic’s face. Especially the way his tongue was sticking out. She burst out in giggles.

‘What’s so funny?’ Natsu grumbled, although the corner of his mouth twitched upwards.

‘S-sowwy!’ She giggled, ‘It’th jutht.. Your face!’

‘What’s wrong with my face?’ He almost sounded hurt. Almost.

‘You were thticking your tongue out’

He pouted, but she saw mischief shining in his eyes. With gentle movements, he pulled his hands away from her face. She immediately missed the warmth they radiated.

‘There, stopped bleeding now.’

She blinked, having forgotten why exactly he had been wiping her lip to begin with and moved to graze her fingers over the tender injury. She saw how his pout morphed into a smirk, and he stuck his tongue out at her, deliberately this time, and blew a raspberry in her face.

He grinned, satisfied when she laughed. He gazed around the room, spotting the trail of wet paw prints leading out the door. He nudged her gently, pointing at the floor.

‘Happy’s taken himself for a walk.’ He mused. Lucy opened her mouth to suggest going after him, but Natsu cut her off. ‘Don’t worry,’ He shrugged, ‘He’ll have gone to find some fish.’

The blonde frowned, ‘Fish?...’ She gasped, a realisation hitting her and she groaned, ‘Oh no, He’ll probably go looking for Juvia! And i just got that pond smell out of his fur, too.’

Natsu snickered, ‘He’ll be fine.’

#beautifully deadly #bd nalu #BD updates #Nalu #natsu dragneel #Jellal Fernandes #lucy heartfilia #natsu x lucy #Nalu fluff #nalu fanfiction #ft nalu #fanfiction #fan fiction #fanfic #fairy tail #vamp!au #vampire!Lucy

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druckenglish · 5 years

Text

Season 3 Episode 7: “Together or alone”

Message from Hanna: Happy Easter, let me know if you need anything

Text from Mom: Will I see you at church today?

Text to Mom: I have to study

Matteo: Hey

Hans: It’s okay. You don’t have to apologize

Matteo: I wasn’t going to

Hans: Oh?

Matteo: I need your advice

Hans: You need advice. As in tip

Matteo: Yes

Hans: You need advice from me? De moi?

Matteo: Hans

Hans: So you trust me? In a way you look up to me?

Matteo: Is that enough now?

Hans: If you call me gay guru

Matteo: What?

Hans: Yes, you heard correctly. Go on, say it

Matteo: Okay, if it makes you happy, you’re my guru

Hans: Nice. Come on

Matteo: Where?

Hans: For a walk

Matteo: And the roast?

Hans: That has to rot in hell for four hours (”schmoren” means stew but also rot in hell)

Hans: Okay

Matteo: So I’ve told you about David

Hans: Yes

Matteo: There was something going on between us…well we made out all night and then I broke up with Sara for him and then he told me he doesn’t want to be with me. I just can’t believe it

Hans: Is David gay?

Matteo: I think so

Hans: Oh I know that. David probably isn’t out yet and got scared

Matteo: And what should I do now?

Hans: You can’t force him to be himself, he has to figure that out on his own. Do you want me to be honest?

Matteo: Maybe

Hans: Give him time. Or forget about him

Matteo: What are you doing?

Hans: What does it look like?

Matteo: Like you’re jerking off

Hans: Funny. I’m praying

Matteo: Why?

Hans: Just because. Besides I like the quiet in here. Too uncool for you?

Matteo: It’s okay. I used to sing in a church choir

Hans: Really?

Matteo: My mom was super proud. Unfortunately she’s totally cracking up/going crazy now. I don’t know how to tell her about all of that

Hans: You can light a candle for her. You know, sometimes parents can really surprise you. My mom for example. She’s recently started watching RuPaul’s Drag Race

Matteo: Mine is taking antidepressants now

Hans: At least

Matteo: At least

Amira: Hey, na, how are you?

Matteo: I looked up a few topics and read through them

Amira: Okay

Matteo: And I believe we’re done with the theory of evolution, now we only need to go over the genetics stuff

Amira: And that’s for me?

Matteo: Yes

Amira: Who are you and what have you done to Matteo?

Matteo: Funny

Amira: I know

Matteo: Okay, wanna study now?

Amira: Yes

Text from Kiki: I have your back!!!! Gaypride!

Amira: Did you see the link I sent you?

Matteo: What link?

Amira: Just an article I read, it’s not that important. Well, it’s about what we talked about the other day, that being gay and evolution aren’t compatible

Matteo: Yes

Amira: I know that doesn’t happen often, well, actually that never happens, but maybe I could’ve possibly been wrong

Matteo: Wrong? YOU?

Amira: Apparently there’s new research that proves that homosexuality has existed for thousands of years that’s why it’s basically a part of evolution. Epigenetically it’s passed on to the next generation. I thought that was good to know so that we won’t fail the exam

Matteo: Thanks

Amira: You’re welcome!

Matteo: What about Islam?

Amira: What do you mean?

Matteo: Well, what does Islam say about homosexuality?

Amira: Islam says that everybody - no matter the origin, orientation or skin color - is equal. If some idiot tries to judge people or spread hate through Islam then that only happens because of fear. Just don’t listen to it

Matteo: Cool

Amira: Good. Before I forget: my mom made these for easter

Matteo: May I?

Amira: Of course

Matteo: Sweet

Amira: And, how do you like them?

Matteo: Awesome

Abdi: Watch out

Carlos: Dude, that was your turn

Abdi: How was I supposed to get that?

Matteo: Yo

Jonas: Na, I’m beating these guys

Carlos: We’re gonna see about that

Abdi: What’s up?

Matteo: You okay? Boys, I’m really sorry about the other day. I wasn’t doing well and it was really shitty of me. You wanna come over to booze on Friday? Crate’s on me (crate of beer)

Carlos: Easy

Abdi: Yeees

Jonas: Sure!

Matteo: I’m really sorry!

Carlos: Ehm…I know it’s stupid, but Kiki texted me that you broke up with Sara because of a guy

Abdi: Dude, Kiki’s round the bend

Carlos: You’re round the bend

Abdi: What, she just goes around saying Matteo’s gay…that’s not normal

Matteo: Guys, do you remember the dance group?

Abdi: Dude, I only have to close my eyes and I can see them in front of me

Carlos: The dance moves

Abdi: No, it was more like that

Matteo: Do you remember the guy that came over?

Carlos: The gay one?

Matteo: How do you know he’s gay?

Carlos: You said so yourself

Matteo: No, not the instructor, but the one that asked about the beanie

Abdi: Yes

Carlos: What about him?

Matteo: Well, there was something going on between us

Carlos: How? Are you really gay?

Matteo: Yes, well, at least I believe so. I’m not into you or anything, just into guys

Carlos: But you always said you like girls

Abdi: Maybe you’re bi?

Carlos: Or pan

Abdi: Pan?

Carlos: Pansexual. When you’re into everything. Kiki explained that to me

Abdi: But when you’re bi you also like both boys and girls, I mean where’s the difference?

Carlos: When you’re pansexual the gender doesn’t matter

Jonas: Guys, it doesn’t matter, you know, the important thing is that we love somebody. And Friday I’d say we’re at Luigi’s.

Abdi and Carlos: Appreciative mumbling

Jonas: Attack! We need the ball

Abdi: Actually pretty cool Luigi, I mean if you’re gay there’s more girls for us

Carlos: I thought you liked Sam?

Abdi: I do, but if she’s not interested

Alex: Is she home?

Matteo: Yes, good luck

Matteo: Hey

Sara: Hey

Matteo: Sara please wait! Do you have time?

Sara: Not really

Matteo: Please! It won’t take long

Sara: Okay

Matteo: Are you moving?

Sara: Confirming nod

Matteo: Cool, where?

Sara: I don’t know yet

Matteo: Okay

Sara: What do you want?

Matteo: I wanted to apologize. I’m sorry, it was shitty of me

Sara: Yes, that’s right

Matteo: I just didn’t know how to tell you

Sara: What?

Matteo: You already know, right? Don’t you know that feeling that you just wanna belong and don’t have to explain yourself? I just want you to know that it’s not you. Even if that’s a stupid off-the-shelf line

Sara: My dad lost his job

Matteo: What?

Sara: We have no more reserve assets. No idea what’s gonna happen now, we have to move into a smaller apartment

Matteo: Why didn’t you tell me?

Sara: I don’t know

Matteo: Did you talk to anybody about it?

Sara: No

Matteo: What about Leonie?

Sara: She doesn’t understand

Matteo: Are you sure?

Sara: I think it’s better that you go now

Matteo: I just wanted you to know that I hope that one day you won*t hate me anymore and we can be friends

Sara: You (as in “hey”) What about David?

Matteo: I really have no idea. See ya

Abdi: And you really fucked her?

Carlos: Not bad

Abdi: And she really has an article on Wikipedia?

Carlos: What?

Abdi: Dude how was it?

Jonas: Was nice, but doesn’t compare to relationship fucks. Everything okay? Is that from David?

Carlos: What are you doing?

Jonas: That’s from David

Carlos: Super cute

Abdi: Totally

Carlos: He’s great at drawing

Abdi: Dude that’s not what it’s about

Carlos: Can be mentioned

Abdi: What about you and him?

Matteo: No idea. We were super close and suddenly he didn’t want to see me anymore

Carlos: Hot and cold? I know that from Kiki

Abdi: Maybe he just wants to fuck you

Carlos: Dude

Jonas: I just have the feeling he’s playing with you. You know, he keeps you on the hook

Matteo: What do you mean?

Jonas: I don’t know, I think you should tell him straight up

Mia: Na, flat share drinking?

Carlos: This is flat share coffee party

Hanna: Can I take a beer?

Jonas: Yes

Hanna: I can do that on my own!

Mia: See you later

Jonas: See? Just clearly communicate with one another and everything’s good. Okay honestly dude you just gotta tell David straight up he shouldn’t send you drawings anymore he should tell you what he wants from you. And otherwise he should just leave you alone

Carlos: Yes

Abdi: Isn’t that a little too harsh?

Jonas: Why? It’s just super clean-cut: Remember the girl I made out with? She just wanted to talk to me and in the end it was definite

Carlos: That talk

Jonas: You just take it serious and make a definite decision. And you don’t wanna wait until he comes just to shoot you off five minutes later, either. You want clarity, too, don’t you?

Matteo: Yeah, you’re right. But it’s so fucked up because I don’t know what to text him

Jonas: That he should tell you what he wants

Abdi: Maybe you should just tell him what you want

Matteo: Yeah, makes sense

Abdi (? not sure who’s talking): Are you texting him now?

Matteo: Yes

Deleted text to David: The drawings are nice but why are you sending...

Carlos: When Kiki and I aren’t doing well I listen to Miley Cyrus

Matteo: I thought I was the gay one

Jonas: I always listen to (couldn’t understand what he was saying) when I am or was lovesick back when I was with Hanna

Abdi: I’ve never really been lovesick before

Jonas: Be glad!

Carlos: Totally! Not nice

Sent text to David: Stop sending me drawings if you don’t want to be with me!

Abdi: Did you send it?

Matteo: Yes

Jonas: Nice. Cheers

Carlos: Absolutely right!

Abdi: Great. Is that him?

Matteo: No, just my mom

Jonas: Dude, everything’s good, you took the first step, that’s okay, that’s good

Abdi: In your place I’d feel really bad

Jonas: Dude!

Matteo: Thanks

Jonas: You know what: I still have this

Carlos: No

Matteo: You only buy the cheapest shit

Abdi: Dude, pure (as in “not mixed with anything else”)?

Carlos: My throat is on fire

Jonas: Look at your face

Carlos: Look at your mother. Dude do you have anything to eat?

Matteo: No, don’t think so

Jonas: Let’s just order pizza

Abdi: Yes, with lots of Hollandaise sauce

Carlos: Dude, are you stupid? Since when does Hollandaise belong on pizza?

Abdi: Hollandaise is just great, it belongs on everything

Carlos: Jonas tell that asshole that Hollandaise only belongs on asparagus and not on pizza

Jonas: No I actually quite like it

Abdi: Boom

Matteo: Dude get out of my flat

Jonas: You want anything, too?

Matteo (Italian accent): Yes, I’ll have a pizza Margherita with extra tzatziki

Abdi: And that’s not disgusting or what?

Carlos: No

Matteo: Dude shut up you put Hollandaise sauce on pizza

Abdi: Yeah because it’s great

Matteo: No it’s like putting milkshake on fries

Abdi: That’s great as well

Jonas: Boys, pizza is ordered, Hollandaise sauce, Tzatziki, everything. Nice, okay, should be here soon

Carlos: Well that was quick

Matteo: Hello?

Jonas: Do you want me to open one for you, too?

Matteo: It’s David

Carlos: That David?

Matteo: Yes, that David

Abdi: He’s here?

Matteo: You have to go!

Carlos: Let’s go

Abdi: And what about the pizza?

Jonas:Go go go go go!

Abdi: Are you gonna have sexual intercourse now? (yes, he uses that expression)

Jonas: Just come with us

Mia: What?

Matteo: Quickly, please

Hanna: Yes, we just need our jackets

Mia: Why?

Hanna: I don’t know. Matteo what’s going on?

Matteo: It’s okay, it’s okay

Mia: Right now?

Matteo: Yes

Matteo: Hi

David: Hi

#druck #druck translation #skam #skam germany

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sugarcoated-pain · 5 years

Text

Heavy Rotation-Part Two

Alright guys, I know it’s been a while but I’ve finally finished Part Two of my series, Heavy Rotation.

Best Friends to Lovers (eventually) trope- original character + Ashton

Part One

Warnings: Cussing and drinking. I think that’s about it though.

Another giant thanks to my homegirl @sublimehood for helping again!

“Come on, guys! Just one more game!” I beg, bouncing on the loveseat next to Ashton. I'm sitting cross-legged with my knee against his thigh and he has not moved away. I take small victories where I can get them. In the three months I've lived with these guys, I've started a little game I secretly like to call 'how much can I flirt with Ashton without anybody noticing’.

“No fucking way. Absolutely not.” Calum replies as he abandons his place on the couch next to Georgia to get another beer.

“You kicked our asses FOURTEEN times! Why the hell would we keep playing?” Mikey declares indignantly, tossing the Wii controller on the coffee table.

“Yeah I’m fucking done.” Luke chimes in.

“Don’t be sore losers. It’s very unattractive.” I add condescendingly, eliciting a chuckle from Georgia.

Ashton takes a swig off of his beer before contributing to the conversation, “I’m still playing. I came THIS fucking close to winning last round! But you have to change your character this time. No more ‘Lucky Luigi’. “ he mocks, “and we’re doing Battle Mode.”

“Deal!”

Just as the next round starts, I hear a knock at the door.

“I’ll get it.” Mikey says as he jumps up to answer the door. “Oh. Hey Camille, come on in.” Oh, NOW he moves his leg. Typical.

“Hey babe! What're you doin here?”Ashton asks, pausing the game and standing up to greet her.

“Uh, you said we could go to the club tonight, remember?” She shoots me a glare, potentially having noticed how close he and I were just sitting. I roll my eyes and unpause the game while Ashton is distracted and proceed to kick his ass.

“GODDAMNIT EMMA! You little shit!” He laughs “Come on, not cool!” He shouts, grabbing his Wii controller and pausing it once again. “The club, that's right, “ he adds, hearing Camille's impatient huff as she crosses her arms. “Yeah no problem, let me just get changed. You guys wanna come?” He asks the room at large. To Camille’s clear delight, no one else was interested.

The two of them were gone within fifteen minutes, and it wasn’t long after when Luke and Michael retreated to their rooms. I continue playing Mario Kart with Georgia while Calum rests his feet in her lap, leaning back on the couch and browsing aimlessly on his cell phone.

“BRB.” Cal says, eliciting an eye roll from myself and Georgia, as he gets up and heads down the hall to the bathroom.

No sooner do we hear the door close than Georgia pauses the game and rounds on me. “Alright, spill.” She demands.

“Uh.. you're gonna need to be a little more specific.”

“You and Ashton! Something is definitely happening between the two of you...” Georgia watches me with intrigue as an excited grin passes over her face.

I unpause the game nonchalantly. “I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.”

“Oh come on, Em!” She pauses the game yet again. “I know you better than that by now. You can trust me.”

I sigh, and look around the room to make sure no one else is around. “Okay. Fine. I may or may not have ...slightly more than platonic feelings for him...” Georgia lets out an excited squeal, but I cut her off before she can say anything “BUT. I have no intention of ever acting on this. He has a girlfriend and I am not here for guys. I am here to make music and I'm not letting anybody distract me.”

“Seriously?! 'His girlfriend’ is awful and you know it. He deserves WAY better than her. And what if he feels the same way you do?”

“What if who feels the same way?” Of course Calum walks back into the room at that exact moment. He makes his way back to his spot on the couch, eyeing us both curiously.

“NOBODY!” I shout a little too quickly, glaring at Georgia, who is now wide eyed and holding her hands over her mouth.

He grins mischievously and leans closer to her while watching me curiously. “Nope. I'm not buyin it. I know what I heard. Come on. I'll get it out of her sooner or later so you might as well just tell me…”

Georgia looks like she's about to explode. “UGH fine!” I snap and bury my head in my hands.

“EMMA HAS FEELINGS FOR ASHTON!” she whisper-shouts excitedly, bouncing a little as she says it.

Calum grins. “Excellent! Let's call him and tell him right now. I bet he dumps that dumb bitch on the spot!”

“NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT! He cannot find out! Do you understand me?? Neither one of you can ever speak a word or this!” I demand frantically.

“Emma, he's my best friend. I can't NOT tell him something like this.” He replies, pulling out his cell phone.

I immediately slap it out of his hand and onto the floor. “I'm dead serious. He is currently in a relationship and I, on the other hand, am not looking for a relationship. Ashton can't ever find out. Nobody can. PLEASE. I'm begging you.”

They exchange a look. “Fine, I won't say anything.” Cal replies with a huff, glaring at me angrily as he reaches to pick up his phone.

“But Em, I know you don't really want to be single forever.. don't you ever get lonely?” Georgia asks.

“That's what Tinder is for. I'm not interested in anything more than a one night stand right now, and roommates slash best friends are NOT one night stand material.” I pick my cell phone up off the coffee table and start to get up. “I'm going to bed, but please promise me you will keep this between us?” They both nod.

Once in my room, I plop onto my bed with a deep sigh. Guess I took my little game too far, but no more. It’s time to get serious and stop daydreaming about the guy across the hall. No more flirting. No more touching. It’s music time. I grab my favorite journal that has my best song lyrics written in it, and climb out my window onto the fire escape. In my first week in the apartment, I discovered one of my favorite places in the whole world : our rooftop. With a perfect view of the LA skyline, it is by far the best place in this building for song writing. There isn't a ton of space up there, just room for a couple of people comfortably. I found that out in my second week here when I went up there only to discover I'm not the only one who uses this hideout. Ashton was already sitting there, but he let me join him. And of course, we talked music, cracked stupid jokes, shared a joint, and had deep philosophical conversations for hours- the usual “just friends” stuff, right?

I was glad to know he wouldn't be up there tonight though. I needed my rooftop spot for thinking and writing. With my favorite fuzzy throw blanket around my shoulders, I start writing. All my thoughts and emotions from the day easily flow out of me, through my lucky red gel pen and onto the paper. Lately, my writing has mostly revolved around my feelings for two things: my dramatic change in scenery, and Ashton. I hold it back and fight it off as best as I can in the daylight, but up here alone, I can’t help writing about him. What can I say, he seems to be my muse. After I’m completely drained of words and energy, I head back down the fire escape to go to bed.

The next day starts out the same as any other. Camille stayed over and is walking around in one of Ashton’s shirts and little else, which makes me sick to my stomach so I avoid the kitchen at all costs until it’s time to head downstairs for work. It’s my turn to open the record store. Everybody else will probably wander down whenever they feel like it. Joys of being the newbie.

I go through the opening checklist that the guys made for me, and finally open the doors. It's a Saturday so we will probably be busy later in the day, but nobody is ever here first thing in the morning. I wander around hunting for busy work to do, but eventually end up sitting behind the counter doodling on receipt paper. After a while, Luke comes down to start his shift in the store, and I see that someone has opened up the recording studio.

As one would expect, my obsession with that studio has only grown in the time I've been there. Once Luke gets settled, I casually wander through that heavy purple curtain, under the guise of making sure the trash cans were emptied the night before. Ashton is already helping some random musician nobody has ever heard of record their album. I'm fascinated by everything happening in the room- the buttons, the knobs,the lights, the flawless human being operating them all so effortlessly.

“Oh! Hey Em. I didn't see ya there.” His voice breaks me from my trance.

“Morning.. I'm just .. uh.. just making sure the trash was taken out in here last night…” I reply as I quickly grab the nearest can.

“Bullshit. I watched you empty them last night.” Ashton chuckles. “You're just trying to get close to the board again to see how it works….”

“Yep. That's definitely all I was looking at. You caught me..”

“Well, come on then.” He motions for me to take the chair next to him.

“Seriously?!”

“Yeah. This is a pretty easy client. Good one for you to learn on. Sit down.” I hop over to the empty swivel chair excitedly. Ashton shakes his head with a small laugh at my enthusiasm, and then begins talking through the different steps in the process. I force myself to concentrate on the words he is telling me, and not the way his perfect hazel eyes light up when he talks about something he's really passionate about.

After about thirty minutes, Luke frantically pops his head into the studio. “There you are! Come on, Emma, I’m gettin my ass kicked out here!”

“Oops sorry!” I bounce up quickly to follow him out, before turning back to Ashton. “Hey thanks for showin me this stuff.. It was awesome.”

He smiles. “Anytime.”

My shift goes by in a blur after that. Any moments not involving customers are spent daydreaming about my time with Ashton this morning. That nagging part of my brain that knows he’s off limits tries to stop me, but I can’t help myself. He was so sweet and patient with me today. Since I’ve gotten here, Ash has definitely been the most interested in my music and the most supportive on my path to learn more about the music industry in general. I know by now that this is just the type of guy he is, but there is another part of me that wishes it was more than that.

The guys have band practice scheduled that evening. There’s a small, old warehouse attached to the back of the store that Liz let’s them practice in. They’re pretty good together but their practices are entertaining as hell to sit in on. Georgia and I have started bringing snacks and booze to watch. We even recently made a drinking game out of some of the stuff that regularly happens. I lay out a blanket on the floor for us to sit on and start setting up camp while Georgia playfully feeds popcorn to Calum while he’s getting ready. They’re so cute I could puke.

“Hey G, first shot of the game. Mikey’s late again.” I say as I pour cheap vodka into two dixie cups. Georgia takes hers as she sits down next to me on the blanket.

“Cheers.” she says, holding it out as if to toast. I clank my plastic cup to hers and down it in one quick motion.

Michael finally shows up and practice begins. I pour white wine into two red solo cups for Georgia and I.

Relaxing a bit as they finally start playing, I find a comfortable sitting position and take in the music. They're actually getting better, even in just the few months I've been here. But what I really love about their practices is how passionate they all are about their music, particularly Ashton. The way he moves when playing the drums, the intensity in his face. It's mesmerising.

“I've got an idea for another one..” Georgia says in a low tone with a mischievous grin, leaning closer to me. “YOU have to take a drink every time I catch you checking Ashton out.”

“GODDAMNIT GEORGIA!” It's meant to be a whisper but it comes out as more of a hiss, as I look around frantically making sure nobody else heard her.

She laughs, “Actually, make it a shot this time. You were practically drooling.”

As I pour another shot into my dixie cup, I glare at her. “I hate you.” Georgia laughs again as I throw back my shot.

Practice continues and I make an extra effort not to look at Ashton. This is apparently an impossible task for me at this point. His energy on that drum kit is like a black hole sucking me in. I try to find other things to focus on. I stare at Luke for a while. He’s pretty enough to keep my attention, right?

“OH! Luke touched his hair. Take a drink.” I say. Georgia and I both drink.

“And now Ashton is drumming on something that isn’t his drums. Drink.” Georgia said, smirking in my direction.

“Are you purposely drawing my attention to him drumming on his thighs so I have to drink AGAIN?” I shake my head and take another drink while she laughs at me as the guys start playing their next song. Within a matter of seconds, I realize I don’t recognize it. I’ve been overly familiar with all the covers they usually play, and now know the couple of originals they’ve thrown in but this one is different.

“Is this an original?” I ask Georgia curiously.

“I guess so.” She shrugs.

It’s surprisingly good. I’m actually genuinely enjoying this song. It’s heartfelt and emotional, raw even. It has a different feel than most of the other songs they play, but in a really good way. They stop a couple times during the song to discuss aspects of it, and I can tell they aren’t completely happy with it, particularly Ashton.

“There’s just something about the bridge that didn’t feel right.” He says, tapping his drumstick absentmindedly on his knee, as he often does when he’s thinking. They continue debating it for a couple minutes, struggling to agree with what was missing from the sound.

“For the bridge, what if you switch the vocals only to a minor key, but keep the guitar in major?” I chime in loudly. Everybody stops talking and turns to me.

“What?!” Luke asks, apparently stunned that I would speak up during their sacred practice.

“No that’s actually a REALLY good idea. You up for trying it, Luke?” Ashton asks, with a quick smile at me. I really hope I’m not blushing but I’m almost positive I am. Luke shrugs. They start the bridge over, but this time with Luke singing the lead in a minor key. It sounds a million times better, or maybe I’m biased. Georgia turns to me, completely impressed. They finish the song, and Ashton is beaming at me. The other guys nod their approval, looks of mild shock on their faces. They all thank me and compliment me on the idea.

When they’re all finished, Ashton walks over to me. “That was seriously a genius tip.”

“Ha. Thanks. It was already an excellent song, just needed a little tweak.” I shrug, hoping again I’m not fucking blushing.

“You really like it? That means a lot. I wrote this one.”

“I’m not surprised at all.” I say quickly under my breath.

“What is that supposed to mean?” He asks with a curious smirk.

“Never mind.” I answer as I finish packing up our little picnic site to head back upstairs.

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

Part Six

Part Seven

Part Eight

#heavy rotation #5sos #5sos fanfic #5 seconds of summer #5 seconds of summer fanfiction #5sos fanfiction #ashton irwin #calum hood #luke hemmings #michael clifford

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freakin-edikan · 5 years

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More Unpopular Smash Onions

I have a lot of Smash Onions and here are most of them in one post. Be warned it’s long and stupid

Bayonetta Should Not Have Been in Smash Ever

The whole point of Bayonetta is that she whips out these crazy combos and super strong witch tricks to defeat her opponents. The only problem is...barely anyone else can do that because they’re not supposed to because it’s Smash Bros and not Street Fighter. There was no way to nerf Bayonetta without ruining her, and there was no way to keep the Bayonetta feel and style without her dominating the game.

Cloud Should Not Have Been in Smash Ever

He was too fast, he was too strong, he had a projectile. Sakurai specifically said he knew Ike had exactly these stats when Ike was added to Brawl in 2008. He intentionally left them out so as to not let Ike become too strong. But years later, Cloud strutted into Super Smash Bros. for Wii U/3DS with these same attributes anyway. He’s a lot more tame now, but how many Peaches had to die?

The Zelda Characters Got the Short End of the Stick

A game with 30 years of history does not deserve to be represented by three Links, two Zeldas, and one Ganondorf. It’s clear that the development team was banking on the games sticking to its Ocarina formula, which is why they tried so hard to keep all the designs from one game and didn’t introduce anyone who wasn’t a Triforce bearer. By the time they finally stumbled on the idea of giving characters designs from different games, they had run out of space for any newcomers specific to particular games in the series, and the potential for new characters had run out.

I’m aware that Zelda isn’t as popular in Japan as it is in the United States; however, seeing how big Super Smash Bros. and its audience is, I think its representation could be a little better than that.

Zelda Got the Short End of the Stick

You mean to tell me it took 17 years for someone to look at that trainwreck of a moveset and finally do something about it? Y’all ugly.

There Doesn’t Need to be 15,897 Marths

If the devs over at Sora Ltd. played their cards right, our Fire Emblem lineup could have consisted of a balance of characters and assist trophies that could show off the most prominent aspects of the series. My idea is this:

Characters

Marth

Ike

Lyn

Robin

Assist Trophies

A Manakete (from any game)

A Pegasus Knight + Triangle Attack (any game but preferably the ones who made it famous—so Palla, Catria, and Est.)

A main villain (person, any game)

A main villain (monster, any game)

Ephraim?

Micaiah.

...and some cute lil spirits/stickers/trophies with some lore or references or something. If you ask me, we got the characters we got because of poor planning. I might not know the ins and outs of the process, but that’s what it looks like to me.

I Am Singling Out Corrin Specifically

This pick feels like an impulse because of the fact that FE14 was new, but besides that, I (a salty Peach main and Bandana Dee fan) first thought the character was busted. Never before had we a character with such ridiculous range—I thought Shulk’s energy sword Sunday was pushing it. It looks like Corrin set a precedent, though, because tall, adult characters who can reach across the entire stage seem to be the norm nowadays.

The Mario Characters are Out of Character

I think it’s telling when you can’t convey the character of Mario properly. Mario in Smash rather quickly moved away from his friendly everyman balancedness to a very aggressive, very angery Man who apparently just beats the living daylights out of people as the Smash Ultimate music blares in the background. Mario in his games is so much more friendly, eccentric, comical, fun. Smash Mario is way too serious; he doesn’t even smile in his renders anymore. I know, it’s a fighting game; you have to be serious to some extent. I just find this a little odd considering, um...

Peach was pretty similar when she first came to Melee. But when Brawl came around, her headbutt was replaced with hearts, her explosions with hearts, her diplomatic walk with a ditzy skip—it’s all incredibly suspicious. I talked about this before, but I think Smash makes Peach look dumb. I feel like it tries too hard to appeal to the girl who couldn’t pick any of the boy characters because they were icky so she picked the prettiest, girliest girl and that’s Peach. Her character feels like it’s making a mockery of her. (I mean, who remembers the tea time? I remember the tea time.) Nearly all of the nuance in Peach’s character is gone; I like the Toads and it feels like she’s commanding an army, but she herself with the rainbows and the hearts...I don’t know. It makes me. Uncomfortable. Peach has displayed far more competence before; she’s a very intelligent individual, but in Smash it’s not showing.

If I thought Peach was bad, imagine how I feel about Daisy! They barely changed a couple of animations and visuals but no attributes. It feels cheap and lazy and even though she’s an echo fighter, other “clones” had at least a little more thought put into them. And no “Hi, I’m Daisy”??? Preposterous. I think it goes to show that you really can’t make a clone of Peach because her moveset is too unique, and tinkering with it makes it fall apart. I think this was a bad call.

Bowser Jr. seems fine. He’s just a kid with some toys and it shows. Bowser...can at least walk straight, nowadays. But...

Luigi Baby I’m So Sorry That a Ugly Ass Bitch Would Even Do That

So when Smash 64 came out in 1999, Luigi had had his own voice for 3 years. Smash had decided to take Mario’s voice clips and pitch them up instead. This didn’t change until Brawl.

Luigi is Mario’s taller, slippery-er, eccentric younger brother, and Smash played the eccentric up to 11. (I mean, who remembers the Negative Zone? I remember the Negative Zone.) The hip bumps? And the weird dances? And the being able to fall over and be so round that he can just roll back up? I’ve never seen him do that anywhere but Smash. I don’t know who that is with the green hat in Smash. But it’s not Luigi.

The great thing is that he plays like Luigi! But he sure doesn’t act like it. And neither does Mario. And Mario and Luigi don’t play off each other at all, either. They’re so awkward to put together in this game; it’s like an attack on the sibling family unit.

We Don’t Stan Rosalina

We don’t stan her

“We Made Up Lore About EarthBound Hoping No One Would Notice Also We Really Like Pollyanna and the First Eight Melodies and We Exclusively Reference Mother 1 But We Still Won’t Put Ninten in This Game”

Ness is supposed to have defensive and support PSI because he has the highest physical offensive stats—and the lowest IQ—in EarthBound. He can’t use PK Starstorm, or PK Fire, or PK Thunder. He can use PSI Shield and Brainshock and Paralysis and um, PSI Rockin, and though I don’t mind using Ness and Lucas as they are now, I still can’t help but notice how inaccuracy-laden all the EarthBound references were, and that a moveset focused around trapping an opponent to go in for the beat down intrigues me.

Listen, no one else in this game has made-up lore about how their friends taught them certain moves after the end of their game, and how they channeled their big finisher into smaller bursts of energy while taking on the friend’s (much weaker!) signature move as their Final Smash. You could probably explain the magic Zelda uses as they come in crystals anyone could theoretically use, but the framing that they use for Ness and Lucas? It’s pretty silly.

Okay, about Ninten...he doesn’t have to be in Smash. But what’s the point of saying “Mother (Series)” and then making this weird conglomerate of ideas that doesn’t actually get the point across? All three games communicate very different ideas, but hardly any of what’s in Smash portrays any of it very well.

Where’s Bandana Dee

Where is he

Realistic Guns

Joker is about to enter this game with a literal fucking glock and I’m not okay

Final Smashes is the Same

It’s either a Mega Laser, a Giant Stage Hazard, a I’m Gonna Just Ram Into You Like Nobody’s Business, or a Barage of Attacks With One Final Hit. For all the crap I give Peach’s Final Smash, at least it’s different. Oh, there’s a new kind now: the We Stole Snake’s After We Thought He Was Never Coming Back And Oh God He’s Here. Oh No He’s Back. He’s Angry Oh N-

Kirby and Jigglypuff

They haven’t been great for years! I want them back to being good again.

Okay so Jigglypuff was OD’ing in Melee. But insta-death shield break just doesn’t tell me you care about them!

Speaking of Caring About Kirby

I see y’all only putting Kirby’s Adventure and Kirby Super Star content in your game. Look, whoever made Kirby 64 and friends disappeared the same year Sakurai left HAL Laboratory. The new Kirby games acknowledge all of Kirby’s history, and they take many cues from Smash. Smash is a big game, but the least it could do was reciprocate some of that.

The Music Selection is Underwhelming Me So Far

And it’s not the sheer number; I think that’s incredible. My problem is many of the songs are remixes with multiple versions. There are multiple versions of Light Plane from Pilotwings, multiple versions of Magicant, multiple Ballads of the Goddess, a billion Mario Main Themes. There are so many different musicians arranging for these games; are they all sitting there thinking “I’ll do you one better!!” making the same songs again? Some series have one song being remixed over and over while the rest of the soundtrack is just ripped from the original and chucked into the game. Other songs are just weak, which I expect, but they’re just so...mild.

The original music in Smash Ultimate I think is also pretty weak. It’s the same problem Brawl ran into and the only difference is the Ultimate themes are better orchestrated. The arrangement became stale to me and I think it’s because the game is so big that it couldn’t tie itself together as neatly as Smash 64 could (although only one, maybe two people worked on Smash 64’s music).

Stage Hazards

I don’t remember if it’s possible to turn them off but I am tired of the goddamn Flying Man.

So I think that’s about it. Thanks for reading and on the off chance that someone responds to it, you don’t have to go through the entire thing just to pick it apart bit by bit, I don’t want anyone to have to slog through that unless they want to, I guess. Happy New Year!

#smash ultimate #thinking about video games

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thecrimsonsageofgaia · 5 years

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Dissidia Final Fantasy - style quotes against the cast in Smash Bros. Ultimate (Logan’s Intro to the fighters)

Himself - “Time to see how far my training has gotten me.”

Mario - “I hear you are regarded as a natural-born hero. I look forward to this match.”

Donkey Kong - ”You think your huge fists will slow me down? Time to prove you otherwise.”

Link - ”You would be an excellent warrior of light with your courage and willpower this strong.”

Samus - “Don’t think your armor and attacking from a far will help, because two can play at that game.”

Yoshi - “Heh, you may not be a chocobo, but you seem like you’d be fun to ride on.”

Kirby - “You have such potential as a strong warrior, my friend. Time to put it to the test.”

Alternately - “You still require a bit of practice if you hope to master my craft you copied.”

Fox - “Don’t think your speed is going to be enough to overcome me.”

Pikachu - “Hehe, you seem to be enjoying yourself a bit, huh little guy?”

Alternately - “If you were traveling with me, I’m sure we could do much in together when it comes to shocking the opposition.”

Luigi - “You need to feel more confident in yourself. Try not to be so doubtful within your heart.”

Captain Falcon - “Huh, never knew you could spellbind your punches and kicks with fire. That’s a new one.”

Ness - “Heh, I was young once too. Keep up with your skill and you could make a fine mage one day.”

Jigglypuff - “I won’t be put to sleep that easy, I’ll just knock you away.”

Peach - “You seem like an easygoing ruler, but I won’t go easy on you.”

Daisy - “Haha, you have a pretty spunky attitude. Let’s see how this goes, shall we?

Bowser - “I’ve encountered more fearsome monsters than you.”

Zelda - “Your light and wisdom is bright, yet gentle. Much like another princess I know.”

Sheik - “Don’t think hiding in the shadows will protect you.”

Ganondorf - “This overwhelming power... this darkness. I better tread carefully with this one.

Young Link - “Takes me back to my earlier days as a novice. You have strong courage within you... it will take you far indeed.

Falco - “Time to clip those wings of yours, and your gab.”

Ice Climbers - “The bond you two share is something to commend. It will certainly get you far in the long run.”

Marth - “Let’s see which one of us has the fastest sword-arm.”

Mr. Game & Watch - “Your very existence... it’s an enigma, and it is blowing my mind now...”

Dr. Mario - “So, I get the idea that medicine you have is not the healing kind, huh?”

Pichu - “Hehe, you shouldn’t try to overexert yourself, little one. Pace yourself, take it slow, and you will surely master it.”

Mewtwo - “Your mental powers are nothing to scoff at. Show me what you got.”

Alternately - “You are just very lonely... that is what I feel deep within your heart.

Roy - “Your bravery and pride is very befitting of you, like a young lion...”

Pit - “It isn’t often I get to fight a messenger of the gods.”

Diddy Kong - “A chimp with a wooden firearm that fires peanuts... That is something to write home about.”

King Dedede - “So... are you really of royalty?”

Meta Knight - “To challenge a knight of your skill... This will be fun.”

Zero Suit Samus - “Your suit maybe off, but do you think your agiliness will be enough to win?”

Wario - “Why do I get the foreboding feeling of dread and regret in this upcoming battle...?”

Ike - “I can tell you are a strong and dedicated leader who will be there for his allies.”

Olimar/Alph - “Strength in numbers, no matter the size, can often make a difference in combat.”

Snake - “Quite an arsenal you have there. That’ll surely keep me on my toes.”

Pokémon Trainer - “Well now, never thought I’d fight a Beastmaster here.”

Alternately - “The creatures you command... they really do believe in you, huh? The bond you four share is strong, indeed...”

Lucario - “A natural class Monk... Don’t hold back on me.

Alternately - “I wouldn’t be against have you as a traveling partner.”

Toon Link - “I sense a strong resolve within you. There are those you wish to protect, right?

Alternately - “You’re an older brother too? Do me a favor, and keep them close to your heart, no matter what.”

R.O.B. - “You look like a toy... a rather cool looking one.”

Alternately - “It is strange, but why do I feel sorrow when I’m near you?”

Sonic - “What would be better? Hastega on myself to keep up or Slowga on you to make it even?”

Lucas - “I know what it is like to lose those close to you. Just try to keep a chin up and move forward.”

Wolf - “You mean business... but doesn’t mean I can still try to clip those claws of yours.”

Rosalina - “The fact these creatures are willing to sacrifice themselves to protect you goes to show how much they care about you...”

Alternately - “Your powers... are you able to travel in the Rift too?”

Greninja - “A ninja that uses water made shurikens is rather impressive. But will it be enough?”

Robin - “Your skills in sword and magic are to be respected. You have the makings of an adept Red Mage.”

Palutena - “To be able to fight a goddess with your radiance is a true honor. I’ll show you that my light is as bright!”

Villager - “You seem like a good individual... yet I can’t help but find something unsettling about you at the same time.”

Little Mac - “Well, was it mistake to bring a sword to a fist fight, or a mistake to bring gloves to a sword fight?”

Wii Fit Trainer - “Huh, maybe I should try doing more than meditation to achieve better mind and spirit.”

Shulk - “That is very impressive blade you have there. Good thing an individual I know in the Rift isn’t here, or he would want it for himself.”

Alternately - “Even a seer can make their predictions of the future wrong.”

Mii (Gun/Sword/Brawler) - “Perhaps three more of you and I have a good party set.”

Mega Man - “One doesn’t need to know that you likely continue to fight for everlasting peace... Do what you can.”

Pac-Man - “You have a rather strong appetite do you not?”

Bowser Jr./Koopalings - "I guess even young minds want nothing more but power.”

Lucina - “A princess that takes action head-on… much like her.”

Alternately - “Prove to me that you have the power to change your own fate.”

Dark Pit - “Well, aren’t you a real ray of sunshine?”

Duck Hunt - “Well, if moogles and chocobos are capable of battling well together, can’t see why a dog and a duck would be any different.”

Ryu - “We both appear to have wandered around a lot. Show me what you learned along your travels.”

Ken - “Heh, with your energy, I can’t help be feel fired up going against you. Let’s go.”

Corrin - “The road to conquest or the road to one’s birthright… Only you can decide what path you go, for it will eventually lead to the true revelation.”

Alternately - “You are not half Eidolon, are you?”

Cloud - “Haven’t seen you since the conflict of the gods. Let’s see how far we both have come since then.

Bayonetta - “With a skill with being able to control time, I’d mistake you for a Time Mage.”

Inkling - “Wonder how well water spells will work against someone like you...”

Ridley - “You may be menacing and intimidating, but I think Bahamut is much more of a threat than you.”

Simon - “Do you require the services of a sage for the battle against the undead?”

Richter - “With confidence like that, be wary of being manipulated against your will.”

King K. Rool - “This blade will cut through that tough hide of yours, you big lizard.”

Isabelle - “I’m sorry, but even if you are a pure and gentle little soul I can’t hold back… Forgive me, miss...”

Incineroar - “You gotta admire that strong spirit.”

Joker - “Try as you might, but I’m only one that will be stealing this victory.”

#ooc

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radramblog · 3 years

Text

Retro Games WTB

So for reference, this and the last two posts were written on the same night. We went from serious discussion about sensitive and graphic material in media, to silliness about shooty mans, to this. The thing is, I’m going away on a weekend camping trip (Melbourne got delayed again but at least getting to go on this is a silver lining?), and when this post goes up (assuming I figure out how to schedule it right) is the one day where I’m just never at home. The Saturday of a weekend trip. I don’t know if the place is going to have cell signal, and I’m not letting that of all things get in the way of me posting more bullshit.

It’s been a long night.

I was originally going to do, like, a tierlist thing, but staring at the list of these was just depressing. Motherfuckers put Homestuck in the Video Games section multiple times, and I had to stare at the fact that someone went out of their way to make a FNAF shipping tier list. And lots of people played it. Fuck, man.

I don’t know if me talking about a bunch of games I want to buy is actually more interesting, but I’ll be damned if I can’t do that easily and for a lot of words. Plus, it’ll force me to actually come up with a complete list.

(editors note this is ridiculously absurdly long and it has no images it’s just 2.5K words of jack shit and me tiredly trying to make jokes about old games you probably haven’t heard of you’ve been waaaarned)

N64

The prospect of collecting all the N64 games I want is somewhat daunting, especially considering my region-based issues. But I’ve made some solid progress since that one time I talked about my collection (and I cannot be fucked dragging that post up at the moment). I’ve acquired Banjo-Kazooie and a Kirby 64 cart that I sure didn’t know was coming in fucking box.

Anyway. I’d like to pick up Smash 64 at some point, if only for the novelty of it. I’ve played it, like, once? And that was a very long time ago, the first time I ever played an N64 (possibly the only time I even touched a controller before I bought my own), and I wasn’t as mediocre to functional at Smash as I am now. 64 is kind of a whole different animal, though- no competitively viable maps by modern standards and the engine is fucky- every character combos so well that they run 5-stock matches instead of 3.

(From this point on, I’m literally looking at a Wikipedia list of games and picking ones to comment on, so it’s alphabetical)

Banjo-Tooie would be nice, I suppose, but I’ve barely played the first one- let’s maybe do that before I start thinking sequels. I didn’t realise until I actually picked up the game that Kazooie is like, a massive asshole? Extremely rude? Apparently that’s their character trait and I just didn’t know. Banjo seems like such a cool bloke, why does he hang out with them?

Even though I’d never be able to play it, the Australian version of Beetle Adventure Racing actually replaces the titular cars with Holdens, which is fucking hilarious and I need to see it.

I’ve heard a lot about Conker’s Bad Fur Day, that it’s basically Banjo/DK but M rated. I…don’t imagine it’s aged particularly well. Man, remember when he showed up for Project Spark, though? Yeah, me neither.

Donkey Kong 64 is another classic, and I’m sure it’s really good. I have managed to pick up an Expansion Pak, so there’s half the cost of it gone, too. I’ve never actually finished any of the Country games, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t play like one, so. I also never watched the HBomberguy charity marathon, so I am pure and unspoiled as to the grisly details of this jungle bash.

On the one hand, Goldeneye is arguably one of the most iconic FPS games of all time. On the other, it’s not aged particularly well, and I don’t have a cadre of people to hang around being nostalgic for it, because we’re all either younger than this game or barely out-age it. I hope someone reading this feels old now. (sorry)

Even as a Pokemon fanatic, I’m not buying Hey You, Pikachu. That game barely worked with people in the USA, imagine that shitty microphone trying to decipher my accent on fucking N64 hardware. Also it’s pretty lame even if you can get it to work, so.

Majora’s Mask is currently my White Whale, because I want nothing more than to play that game. I’ve heard so much, it sounds and looks so fucking incredible, and as I said I have the Expansion Pak now so I can actually run it. One day, man, one day. Once again I should probably finish Ocarina of Time first, but like, I know I’m going to play this one, so.

I guess Mario Kart 64 would be worth picking up, apparently it’s one of the better ones. I reckon if people showed up to play fucking Beetle Adventure Racing before knowing the game was actually really good, they’ll show up for Mario Kart. I’d rather buy 64 than 8, frankly.

I could barely get any interest in my bootleg-ass copy of Mario Party 3, I’m not going to spend stupid money on the other ones.

Oh, apparently Mega Man Legends came out on the 64 as well? I thought that was just on the Playstation. I mean, people really seem to like that sub-series, but then people also liked Star Force, so I don’t know if I can trust the Mega Man fandom on anything. (MMBN legacy collection when, Capcom)

Yo so there was a Neon Genesis Evangelion game for the N64, and apparently it’s a fighting game? Japan-only, of course, but my console can run those anyway. And like, that sounds funny and cool, I’ll punch Sachiel to death, why the fuck not? Who needs a progressive knife. Congratulations joke.

God Paper Mario is so fucking expensive god damnit

Perfect Dark rounds out the trio of “hey I have the expansion pak now”, but I know substantially less about it. So, maybe?

The Pokemon games I’m missing (and care about) are Snap, Puzzle League, and Stadium 2. I’ll consider Snap if I can find a cheap copy, as I know it’s pretty limited (and the new one just came out), Puzzle League is probably meh, and Stadium 2 sounds fun but I’d need to then buy a GSC cart to get the most out of it and they aren’t cheap. Unless I get a Japanese one, but apparently, they’re only compatible with Japanese Stadium 2 (er, Stadium GS), so I’d have to double down on illegibility.

Oh fuck, right, Star Fox. Man I thought I was going to get away with just talking about Star Wars here (I’ve already got the good ones), but I forgot about fuckin Star Fox 64, aka The Good One. Shit I gotta get that don’t I? Fuck me. At least searching for one will be slightly easier because the PAL version has a different name.

Oh, and Yoshi’s Story looks like a trip and I don’t know if that’s a good thing. Like, this just looks worse than Yoshi’s Island if I’m being honest.

GBA

I haven’t actually talked about by GBA collection on here have I? TL;DR- it’s a console I’m very nostalgic for, but my collection is lacking because all the carts in Malaysia were bootlegs.

Jesus there’s so many more GBA games than N64 ones. Like, in general, not just on this list.

Advance Wars is a solid maybe, because the carts are super fucking expensive, I’ve never played the series, and the remaster is coming soon. But apparently they’re good? Big shrug energy.

Wow, they made two whole Banjo games for the GBA. Both of these look like shit, though, so fuck it. No wonder I never hear anyone talk about them.

Boktai is an interesting series I’d like to maybe give a shot. It’s a JRPG made by fucking Hideo Kojima, where the cartridge had a light sensor in it to encourage you to play outside by buffing the main character. Which was an interesting choice on the notably not backlit GBA. It also has crossover stuff with something we’ll get into later.

I’ve played Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow to death, and as a result I’d love to pick up a copy of it’s GBA prequel, Aria of Sorrow- it’s apparently almost just as good. I’ve not heard much about the other two GBA Castlevanias, but they’re apparently similarly excellent- a stark comparison to the mediocre to bad N64 ones.

If someone buys me a cartridge of Crazy Frog Racer I will play it and that is a fucking promise.

There are like three whole Fire Emblem games on the GBA, though only two came out in English. I actually have a bootleg of one of them. It’s another one of those ones that are unreasonably expensive because it didn’t sell well and they didn’t make that many as a result, though. So probably not worth getting a real one unless I fall super head over heels for the series- I don’t see that happening soon.

Oh right, Golden Sun. Another JRPG franchise for the GBA. There were a lot of those, huh? Anyway there’s like no way this guy is getting into Smash, don’t get your hopes up.

Harvest Moon is basically Stardew Valley, but older. Two games of it came out on the GBA, and I’m probably not about to commit to buying one of those rather than Stardew. And that game has yet to successfully appeal to me, soooooooo

I have a bootleg of Kirby and the Amazing Mirror, and that’s one of the ones where it probably doesn’t matter at all that it’s a bootleg, so I’m satisfied with it. Don’t have Nightmare in Dream Land, which I’ve played before on emulator and wouldn’t mind retrying, so maybe. I’ve never been massive on remakes if the original is viable, but I don’t have an NES so I’m sure not buying Kirby’s Adventure.

There are two Zelda games on GBA- a port of A Link to the Past which I have, and Minish Cap which I don’t. Minish Cap is very expensive!!! Aah!!!

Yo they ported The Lost Vikings to GBA? Wack. I guess Blizzard gets a shoe in this console’s door, then.

Yeah okay so there are like a million Mario games here, huh. Superstar Saga was the first Mario and Luigi game, and the one of those I’ve played (Partners in Time) was good enough that I’d bite for the original. Or I’d just go buy Bowser’s Inside Story. Mario Kart and Golf on the GBA don’t appeal super hard, and I’ve played Mario Pinball Land (long before that Alpharad Deluxe series), to the point where I don’t feel the need to actually buy it.

Speaking of Alpharad, I played Mario Party Advance on one of my Malaysian Bootlegs long, long before he made that video reminding people it existed. That game actually kind of fucks, for what it’s worth, and since my copy can’t save, I’d consider buying a real one. Assuming that Alpha’s video didn’t lead to a mass buyout or price spike.

Okay, so Mega Man Battle Network is kind of the big one on this list- definitely the White Whale so far, since to my understanding the series had extremely limited release in Australia. I do have a Japanese copy of 4 (Blue Moon) that I picked up because it was like 5 bucks, but A. 4 is godawful relative to the others and B. it’s a JRPG and I can’t read Japanese. But I would Do Things to get copies of 2, 3, or 6. Not so much 1 (because it’s not great), or 5 because I’ve nearly 100%’d the DS version on my flashcart.

Seriously, I’ve considered writing multiple blog posts on this series, I think it’s a super underrated gem. It’s an eSport on GBA for fucks sake! It’s also the series that crossed over with Boktai from earlier- apparently Kojima’s kid was a huge fan, so he got in touch to get some cross-promo content going. Funny how that works.

It’s not like they’re ever going to release Mother 3 anyway. Y’all aren’t even going to let me pay for this game, so you can’t complain if I buy a Chinese bootleg with the fan translation on it. I paid five whole bucks, and if they released it in English for real, I’d easily drop more on it. It’s a 10/10 game.

Oh alright, there’s Pokemon. I’m actually 4/7 on the GBA Pokemon games, which is pretty good considering the price just keeps going up and up. I’ve actually considered making a Living Dex solely in Gen 3- however that would either require all the ones I don’t have (save Pinball) a Gamecube with Colosseum/XD (which I have thought about), or maybe both. A long-term project, for sure, but one I’d enjoy doing.

Apparently the Sonic GBA games are pretty good, save for the infamous remake of the first Sonic game- Sonic Genesis. That is, however, the only one of them I’ve actually played. And for a long time was the only Sonic game I’d ever played. Great first impression, huh? The Marble Zone OST unironically slaps, though.

Yeah okay so there’s like over a hundred games still on this list and I care about, like, none of them. Except maybe some of the Wario games and Yu-Gi-Oh games- and I know some of the latter are complete and utter garbage. Like, I’ve played The Sacred Cards, and that game is genuine shite. I’ve still only played one Yu-Gi-Oh game I’ve liked.

I guess I can close off this wall of text by saying I want to get a GBA flashcart so I can run romhacks on console, but there’s a bunch of different types and it doesn’t seem like anyone can agree on which one is the best, so I guess I’m in limbo a bit on that one. Still, it’s worth a look at some point- I’ve gotten so much mileage out of my DS one after all.

And that’s a full-ass list. Perhaps a little daunting, but something like this is a long-term project, and there’s plenty of time to adjust, or make trades rather than buy, et cetera. I don’t ever expect to like, complete a collection, but I’m happy getting things bit by bit.

Anyway it’s like 2AM now I need to be up in 5 hours oops if I’m late then sorry james lmao except you won’t possibly be able to read this until Saturday and it’ll be too late then ha HA

#ramble #retro games #gba #n64 #collecting

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b0blegum · 7 years

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Redamancy [TWO]

Author: b0blegum

Pairing: CEO Yoo Kihyun x Reader

Rating: G

Genre: Romance, Drama

Status: On Going

Words: 2.6k+

Summary

He was so broken and afraid of Love. Never thought he would return one’s love in full anymore.

a/n gif credit to owner | (y/f/n) = your first name

I changed my mind to post this at 4pm instead of 8 because i just can’t wait to share this with you all, loves. Anyway, enjoy!

The familiar classical song from Luigi Boccherini was playing at the background, alongside with the sound of expensive gold cutlery sets hitting the side of the plates when the owner put them down for a small pause.

Following your boss, Yoo Kihyun, who was walking confidently in the middle of this five-star restaurant like it was his own property, you felt uncomfortable when people slightly took a glance on you. You know they weren't judging on how you look, but it's just you who didn't really like to attract people' attentions.

Kihyun turned left, to the more private area of this restaurant. Where there were five rooms, each inside a small private room. You followed him entering the third room.

"Kim Yoona." Kihyun called after you closed the door behind you as he gestured you to do so.

A woman was sitting on her chair elegantly, sipping down her wine, when both of you entered the room. Kihyun began to unbutton his suit jacket and made his way to sit across the woman.

"Long time no see, Yoo Kihyun." She gestured two men who was standing behind her to leave the three of you alone. Her eyes darted to you with a questioning look after the men were no longer to be seen in this private room.

"She's my secretary." Kihyun said, reading her look.

"Oh, secretary?" She smirked. Turning her eyes to you, "What a great pick. She's beautiful."

Her words could mean thousand of things. Was it a sarcasm or it had something implied behind, you weren't sure.

"I don't do that kind of thing anymore." Kihyun cleared his throat.

"That makes me the last, then, dear?"

Your pupils started to shake, trying to understand their conversation– or not.

"I don't cut around the bush. Just tell me why do you want to see me. I'm busy so i don't have much time." Kihyun cut.

"You always are, Kihyun. You always are." She smiled and stood up, walking towards the man.

You scooted a bit, giving her the space to walked around Kihyun. Her finger slowly tracing Kihyun's shoulder then up to the back of his neck before she lifted up Kihyun's head to face her.

You blinked at the sight. You didn't know what'd happen next but you're pretty sure that this is something private that you shouldn't see.

She brought her face closer to the man. Slowly making her way to sit on the man's firm laps. Her legs parted, rested on either side of Kihyun's thighs.

Their eyes met. The woman's gaze looked lustful, filled with dark romantic feels while Kihyun's... you can't described his gaze.

His was dark, too, but rather... stoical.

"So this is the reason on why do you want to see me?" He asked with his face just an inch away from the woman. She smiled without hesitation

"Excuse me, but i don't have time for this. Ms. Kim." Surprisingly, Kihyun pushed the woman off him and stood up. Turning his back and about to walked out when she called him as she leaned on the table.

"I know you better than yourself, Yoo Kihyun. I know you miss me."

He ignored and touched the censor machine to opened the door. Still in confused, you followed him out. Kihyun's walked in a quick pace, almost too fast for you who wore heels and short skirt.

"Sir," his driver greeted as he opened the car's door for him. Without saying anything, he slid in and slammed the door closed harshly. You followed him in from the other door and sitting there awkwardly.

"Slide the partition up." Kihyun ordered his driver once he got in. He did as he told and slowly the glass soundproof partition separated him from the two of you.

He looks uncomfortable judging by how he looks and how his fingers clenched into a solid fist.

"Are you alright?" You carefully asked after awhile watching him.

He turned his head to you. "Yes, i am."

"But... you don't look like you a–"

"I said i am. Enough with the question." He snapped, sending chills up to your spine.

Keeping yourself silent, you looked out the window and forcing yourself to admire the beauty of Seoul with an angry man sitting beside you.

"You could go home after we reached the office." He said. Breaking the silence.

"Excuse me, Sir?"

"I'm not firing you. I'm just asking you to go home."

Still looking at him in confusion, you nodded slowly.

'Work hours are decided by the CEO.' Oh, right...

"Here you go. One Mocca Frappuccino and two Caramel Latte." The waitress served the order. The three of you mouthed thank you, plus a friendly smile from the forever-single Hoseok.

"Don't flirt with her, Hoseok. Just don't." Elena rolled her eyes immediately after the waitress went away.

"I didn't." Hoseok denied.

"Oh, come on, we all know you did. Even that grandma who sit right there could see you flirting with her." You could only chuckled hearing Elena and Hoseok acted all noisy like this.

"Oh whatever, El." Hoseok took a sip of his drink. "Now, (y/n). Continue. Where were we?"

"That woman. Who is she again? Yoona?" El added. You nodded immediately.

"Yes. Yoona. She must be one of Kihyun's lovers. An ex maybe. I don't know, but i'm sure they broke up on bad terms." You started again.

"But she mentioned something with 'his last' right after he told her you are his secretary, right?" Hoseok pointed out. "Did he date his secretary?"

"No way. He didn't date that girl with those stupid glasses." Taking another sip of his coffee, she shook her head.

"If i were he i wouldn't date her, as well. I can guarantee that." Hoseok rolled his eyes.

"That's a good point, but,"

"Guys. Lower your voice." You gestured as you sshhed them down.

"Oh, sorry." El shut her mouth with her own finger.

"Did he fuck her while she was his secretary?" Randomly, Hoseok added. Both of you and Elena almost choked on the drinks.

"Are you kidding me?"

"No, seriously. He said he didn't do that kind of thing anymore and then she said she was the last. What is it then if it was not fucking his own secretary or at least, dating his secretary." Without any hesitation, those chain of words slipped out of his lips.

"He's so gonna kill you if he heard whatever you said just now." You massaged your temple. Somehow the scene of you and him in the elevator, where he warned you about not talking about him to anyone replayed in your mind.

"You better take care of yourself, (y/n)." Elena added. "He got a point there."

"You both crossed the line. Guys, listen. If, what Hoseok was true, if," you emphasized at the word 'if'. "He wouldn't date me, let alone... fuck me." You said the f word shyly.

"Why not? You're beautiful, smart and sexy–" Hoseok counted with his finger until Elena slapped the back of his head with her hand.

"No, no. That wouldn't happen and i would not let that happen." You finished your drink. "Anyway, i should get home. I have laundry to do." Looking at your watch, you stood up and fixed your tees that's crumpled.

"Oh, right. I still have to do some reports." Elena stood up after you, leaving only Hoseok who was still finishing his coffee.

"I'm staying here. You guys can go home first." He waved.

"Is it a man or a woman this time, Hoseok?" Elena said, half jokingly.

"Shut up, El."

"Alright, guys. See you later."

You and Elena immediately parted ways at the subway. Her apartment was on the west while yours was on the east, so both of you should really took the different line to reach home.

It was almost 9 but the road to your apartment was still crowded with cars and people, unlike the usual.

Smiling at the young boy who was currently pedalling his bike, you swiped your card before you pushed the elevator button then got in once the door opened.

Your floor wasn't that high up, it was on the 3rd floor. Usually you'd take stairs, but you just felt too lazy to climb tonight.

Again, you tried to swiped the card on the machine that was attached to your door until it was clicked opened, letting you in to your own apartment.

All the lights were off. The smell of soft cotton filled the air from the automatic room spray that you just put above the shoe rack.

"I'm home..." you said to yourself as you turned on the lamp.

"Welcome home, (y/n)." Startled, you jumped back to the door behind you as you tried to find the owner of that voice.

"So this is where you live?"

You gasped at the sight in front of you. The man from your work was now sitting still on your couch.

"Why... why are you here?"

"I think you know why am i here better than me." He stood up. Buttoning his suit jacket and walked painfully slow towards you. Cornering you to the wooden door behind you.

The sound of his shoes tapping the floor underneath made a great combination with his powerful sentence, "Why am i here, Ms. (y/f/n)?"

"I..." You took two steps back but after those two, you realized you were totally cornered.

He caged you with his arm stretched on the left side of your head. His other one on the other hand, slipped into his pocket. His face came closer to yours and a smirk haughtily plastered on his face.

"Why am i here, Ms. (y/f/n)?" He repeated.

"I don't know." You stuttered.

"Elena William and Shin Hoseok." He called the name that were most familiar to you. "Those two were your best-friend, am i right?" You nodded in frightened. "You are so close with them that you even shared information that actually unnecessary for them." He tilted his head to the left. His eyes still shooting into yours.

"Mr. Yoo. I... i'm sorry," finally you knew what was this all about.

The talk.

The one you had just before you came home.

"Why are you sorry for?" His smile somehow creeped the hell out of you. He was too intense and to intimidating.

"I am sorry for telling them about the meeting between you and Ms. Ki–"

"Kim Yoona." He uncaged you and turned himself around, walking back to your living room. "Ex secretary. Ex lover. We used to fuck in my office. On my table. On the floor. In my meeting room and on the table that you now working behind. Tell Mr. Shin he was right about her being my ex."

Your whole body shook in fear. Scared that he would do something you can't imagine.

"What else do you want to know about us? How often do we fuck?"

"No! Sir, no." You waved your hand immediately. "I'm sorry." You looked down.

"I think i made myself clear the other day." He sat on the armrest, eyes still fixed on yours.

"I'm sorry. I'm terribly sorry. I won't talk about you ever again. I swear, i won't."

"Ouch." He shook his head with a sarcastic smile painted on his face. "Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Is that all you could say?"

"I..." you stuttered. "Y– you could fire me if yo– you want, Sir. I'm sorry."

"No. No." He stood back up and walked to you again. "I won't fire you. I know you got some reputation and i am now in need of secretary, so i won't do that."

Shit, he must have other sick idea...

"I need your brain but... i don't trust your mouth." His expression softened. "What could i do about that? Any idea?" Hesitantly you shook your head. "Well, then. If you don't have any." He cleared his throat and stood right beside you, facing the wooden door. "Move to my penthouse." He gripped the door handle. "3 pm sharp. I left the address on your coffee table." With that, Kihyun opened the door and left.

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Full part will be uploaded every Sunday 2pm GMT+7.

Teaser will be uploaded every Monday 2pm GMT+7.

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creepersx35-blog · 7 years

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Spam

A sleek British sports car talks directly to us in a pixilated, garbled video. He's OUT OF BREATH. Crates are visible behind him. We're in the shadowy bowels of a steel room. LELAND TURBO This is Agent Leland Turbo. I have a flash transmission for Agent Finn McMissile. SUPERIMPOSE OVER BLACK: WALT DISNEY PICTURES PRESENTS LELAND TURBO Finn. My cover's been compromised. Everything's gone pear-shaped. SUPERIMPOSE OVER BLACK: A PIXAR ANIMATION STUDIOS FILM LELAND TURBO You won't believe what I've found out here. He angles our camera view, reveals a PORTHOLE through which we can see flames rising in the distance. LELAND TURBO This is bigger than anything we've ever seen. And no one even knows it exists. Finn, I need backup. But don't call the cavalry - it could blow the operation. And be careful. It's not safe out here! ANGRY VOICES O.S. Time for Turbo to go. LELAND TURBO Transmitting my grids now. Good luck! Coordinates appear: 40 6.80' N - 172 23.84' W TITLE CARD: CARS 2 EXT. SOMEWHERE IN THE NORTH PACIFIC - NIGHT A TINY CRAB BOAT (CRABBY) crests over massive swells. CRABBY Alright buddy, we're here. Right where you paid me to bring you. Question is, why? A metallic blue sports car, circa the `60s, emerges from the 2. shadows. Cagey, smooth, he'd turn heads driving through any intersection in the world. Meet FINN MCMISSILE. FINN I'm looking for a car. CRABBY A car? Hey pal, you can't get any further away from land than out here. FINN Exactly where I want to be. CRABBY Well I got news for you, buddy. There's nobody out here but us. Suddenly, a HORN -- a COMBAT SHIP, the size of most cruise ships. FINN quickly backs into the shadows, out of sight. COMBAT SHIP What are you doing out here? CRABBY What does it look like, genius? I'm crabbing! COMBAT SHIP Well turn around and go back where you came from. CRABBY Yeah? And who's gonna make me? A laser sight hits Crabby between the eyes. CRABBY Alright, alright! Don't get your prop in a twist. (as he turns to leave) What a jerk. Sorry, buddy. Looks like it's the end of the line. Buddy? ON CRABBY'S DECK: Finn is gone. CUT TO: FINN - He HANGS off the side of COMBAT SHIP, clandestine. We're with Finn as the ship continues on, cuts through the darkness with purpose. Suddenly small flames appear, perhaps a knot or so away. Then WHOOSH!!! A flame rises above Finn, the ship. It illuminates an OIL DERRICK. 3. THWAP! Finn fires a GRAPPLING HOOK to the derrick and SWINGS toward it. He's going to SLAM into the side with brute force WHEN --- --- HIS TIRES sprout a magnetic exoskeleton. He STICKS to the derrick and now DRIVES VERTICALLY UP UP UP... From this vantage point, hundreds of derricks appear. EXT. PLATFORM - OIL DERRICK - MOMENTS LATER Finn approaches a loading bay from above, hides. He watches as GREMLINS, PACERS and assorted other cars scurry about. FINN (INTO RADIO) Leland Turbo, this is Finn McMissile. I'm at the rally point. Over. No response. FINN (INTO RADIO) Leland, it's Finn. Please respond. Over. AN ACCESS DOOR OPENS LOUDLY below. A boxy, monacle-wearing German car enters. This is PROFESSOR OTTO ZUNDAPP. PROFESSOR ZUNDAPP (in German and English) Too many cars here. Out of my way! FINN Professor Zundapp? PACER (O.S.) Here it is, Professor. Zundapp approaches a NOSY PACER who idles next to a CRATE. NOSY PACER You wanted to see this before we load it? PROFESSOR ZUNDAPP Ah, yes. Very carefully... A forklift opens the crate -- inside is a TV CAMERA, packed carefully in foam. Finn SNAPS PHOTOS FURIOUSLY. NOSY PACER Oh. A TV camera. What does it actually do? 4. PROFESSOR ZUNDAPP This camera is extremely dangerous. FINN (TO HIMSELF) What are you up to now, Professor? Finn, angling for a better view, FIRES SUSPENSION WIRES --- --- which sail clear to the other side of the derrick --- --- THOK! They hook tightly onto a steel girder. Finn slides out ONTO THE WIRE like an acrobat, then expels another cross-wire for support. PROFESSOR ZUNDAPP This is valuable equipment. Make sure it is properly secured for the voyage. NOSY PACER You got it. Finn LOWERS HIMSELF. He snaps more pictures. GREM (O.S.) Hey, Professor Z! Zundapp turns as a CRANE LOWERS A CAR-SIZED CRATE. GREM and ACER, an orange Gremlin and a green Pacer, flank it. GREM This is one of those British spies we told you about. ACER Yeah. This one we caught sticking his bumper where it didn't belong. Finn PRODUCES SEMI-AUTOMATIC GUNS from his side, readies himself for a tag-team spy fight with his buddy Leland. PROFESSOR ZUNDAPP Agent Leland Turbo. The crate is lifted, revealing a CRUSHED, CUBED Leland Turbo. Finn's eyes go wide. Suddenly --- WHOOOSHHH! Another derrick flame rises behind him, casts a Finn-shaped SHADOW over the Professor. He looks up. 5. PROFESSOR ZUNDAPP It's Finn McMissile! He's seen the camera! Kill him!! Finn UNLOADS with bullets as he starts to retreat --- He STOPS: BAD GUY CARS are waiting for him on the catwalk where he just came from - BLOWTORCHES ready. Finn, stuck in midair, notices an angry CRANE. Finn GRINS, having just found his escape. THWAPTHWAPTHWAP!!! Finn releases three of his four cables, swinging, Indiana Jones-style on the last one TOWARD THE CRANE --- --- where he lands on its BOOM, drives UP and LAUNCHES OFF IT where he LANDS - MOVING - onto another deck! Finn now DRIVES, spraying oil and screeching around corners. A GREMLIN in pursuit hits the oil patch, loses control --- --- and PLUMMETS OFF the side of the rig! The Gremlin FALLS... it's like an eternity... He smashes into the water and breaks into a million pieces. ON FINN - Now set upon by 20 or 30 MORE pursuing cars. He has nowhere to go but UP UP UP a ramp toward the helipad. He spies some GASOLINE BARRELS, fires a SINGLE BULLET which cuts through its leather straps, sending barrels DOWN the ramp, PAST FINN --- --- PAST the pursuing CARS --- --- to the bottom where they EXPLODE in a CHAIN REACTION back UP THE RAMP, taking out at least 15 CARS! ON THE HELIPAD - Finn blasts into view, pulls to a stop. No more road. Nowhere else to go. The 20 BAD GUY CARS that are still in pursuit surround him, fire up their blowtorches. About to pounce. Finn GRINS. The second time we've seen this grin. It means he's got something cooking. Finn's REVERSE LIGHTS appear. He DRIVES BACKWARD off the edge of the helipad to the SHOCK of the other cars. Finn falls. He turns himself so he's grill first, cleanly cutting into the water. 6. He EMERGES, now sprouting HYDROFOIL and speeds away. GREM (NONPLUSSED) Get to the boats. THE BOATS - an army of combat ships quickly DROP into the sea and CHURN WATER with unprecedented fury as they quickly make up the distance between them and Finn, FIRING BULLETS as they do so. ACER He's getting away! COMBAT SHIP Not for long. The LEAD COMBAT SHIP quietly drops a TORPEDO into the water. It skips along, connecting with Finn in his rear and EXPLODING with such force that water skyrockets into the night clouds. UNDERWATER - McMissile SINKS. Then, he blinks. He GRINS. We're starting to like this grin and what follows it. He now CONVERTS into a submarine. From his trunk he releases four DECOY tires which float to the surface like body parts. ON THE DERRICK - Professor Zundapp watches it all from far away. GREM (OVER RADIO) He's dead, Professor. PROFESSOR ZUNDAPP Wunderbar. With Finn McMissile gone, who can stop us now? EXT. RADIATOR SPRINGS - DAY TOW MATER, a rusty tow truck, putters into view. MATER Mater. Tow Mater, that's who... is here to help you! He approaches a broken-down sedan on the side of the road. He drives around to the front, catching OTIS' face for the first time. MATER Hey, Otis! 7. OTIS Hey, Mater. Gosh, I'm so sorry. I thought I could make it this time, but... (he tries to start his engine, stalls) Smooth like pudding, huh? Ah, who am I kidding? I'll always be a lemon. Mater hooks his friend and starts towing him. MATER Well dadgum, you're leaking oil again. Must be your gaskets. Hey, look on the bright side: This is your tenth tow this month, so that means it's on the house. OTIS You're the only one that's nice to lemons like me, Mater. MATER Don't sweat it. These things happen to everybody, Otis. OTIS But you never leak oil. MATER Yeah, but I ain't perfect. Don't tell nobody, but I think my rust is starting to show through. Mater and Otis drive past THE RADIATOR SPRINGS WELCOME SIGN. It has been amended to say: "Home of Lightning McQueen." OTIS Hey, is Lightning McQueen back yet? MATER Not yet. OTIS He must be crazy-excited about winning his fourth Piston Cup. Four! Wow! 8. MATER Yeah, we're so dadgum proud of him. But I sure wish he'd hurry up and get back `cause we got a whole summer's worth of best friend fun to make up for. Just me and -- Ahead of them, a half-mile off, a RED RACE CAR is visible. MATER --- McQueen! Mater FLOORS IT, dragging poor Otis behind him. OTIS Uh, Mater? I'm in no hurry. You don't need to go so fast! Boom! They hit a bump. Otis catches air. EXT. RADIATOR SPRINGS - DAY Lightning McQueen is surrounded by his hometown friends. LUIGI Oh, Lightning. Welcome home. FLO Good to have you back, honey. FILLMORE Congratulations, man. SARGE Welcome home, soldier. SHERIFF The place wasn't the same without you, son. LIZZIE What? Did he go somewhere? MCQUEEN It's good to be home, everybody. MATER (O.S.) McQueen! They all turn around, see Mater speeding into town, with Otis swerving behind him. MCQUEEN Mater! 9. MATER McQueen! Mater skids into main street and in one swift motion, slingshots Otis forward --- OTIS Woaahhhhh! --- right through Ramone's front door --- INT. RAMONE'S - CONTINUOUS --- where he lands perfectly on the hydraulic lift. Ramone lifts him up, routine. RAMONE Hey. How far'd you make it this time, Otis? OTIS Halfway to the county line. RAMONE Not bad, man. OTIS I know, I can't believe it either! EXT. RADIATOR SPRINGS - CONTINUOUS MATER McQueen, welcome back! MCQUEEN Mater, it's so good to see you. MATER You too, buddy. Mater and McQueen do an ELABORATE TIRE BUMP (fist bump style). MATER Oh, man. You ain't gonna believe the things I got planned for us. Everyone watches as the tire bump continues. MACK (to Lizzie, an aside) These best friend greetings get longer every year. 10. MATER (TO MCQUEEN) You ready to have some serious fun? MCQUEEN Well, actually I've got something to show you first. INT. RADIATOR SPRINGS MUSEUM - DAY CLOSE ON THE PISTON CUP. It has now changed, been adorned with a small likeness of Doc. It says "Hudson Hornet Piston Cup." MATER Wow. I can't believe they renamed the Piston Cup after our very own Doc Hudson. McQueen and Mater are alone, the museum closed to the public. McQueen approaches a "Hudson Hornet" wall with Doc's three Piston cups, framed articles, other racing ephemera. MCQUEEN I know Doc said these things were just old cups, but to have someone else win it just didn't feel right, you know? MATER Well, Doc would've been real proud of you. That's for sure. McQueen takes this in. EXT. RADIATOR SPRINGS - LATER McQueen and Mater exit the Doc Hudson Museum. MCQUEEN Alright, pal. I've been waiting all summer for this. What've you got planned? MATER You sure you can handle it? MCQUEEN Come on, you know who you're talking to? This is Lightning McQueen. I can handle anything. 11. EXT. RADIATOR SPRINGS - DAY Mater and McQueen roll on an old train track, their tires off. They're on their rims. MCQUEEN Uh.... Mater?! MATER Just remember, your brakes ain't gonna work on these! As they head INTO A DARK TUNNEL --- MCQUEEN (O.S.) Mater! MATER (O.S.) Relax, these train tracks ain't been used in years! From inside the tunnel a loud TRAIN HORN. The two friends emerge, going as fast as they can on train tracks, uphill, with no tires. MCQUEEN Come on, come on! Faster, faster! Moments later a harmless GALLOPING GOOSE appears, oversized horn visible, cackling and laughing at his prank. EXT. FIELD - OUTSIDE RADIATOR SPRINGS - LATER An ENORMOUS EARTH MOVER sleeps. McQueen and Mater sneak up. MATER This is gonna be good! They blow their horns and he TIPS OVER, tractor-tipping style. They LAUGH at the gag, but soon realize the earth mover's GIANT EXHAUST PIPE is directly above them. MATER Uh-oh. This ain't gonna be good. The exhaust pipe BELCHES. McQueen and Mater are BLASTED out of view. INT. RADIATOR SPRINGS - DUSK The sun sets. McQueen and Mater roll into town. McQueen looks exhausted. Mater is still full of energy. 12. MATER Boy, this was the best day ever! And my favorite souvenir? Mater proudly shows off a dent. MATER This new dent! MCQUEEN Boy, Mater. Today was, uh... MATER Shoot, that was nothing. Wait til you see what I got planned for tonight. MCQUEEN Mater, Mater. Whoa. I was kind of thinking of just a quiet dinner. MATER That's exactly what I was thinking. MCQUEEN No, I... I meant with Sally, Mater. MATER Even better! You, me and Miss Sally going out for supper. McQueen pulls around in front of Mater, stops. MCQUEEN Mater, I meant it would be just me and Sally. MATER Oh. MCQUEEN It's just for tonight. We'll do whatever you want tomorrow. MATER (DISAPPOINTED) Okay. MCQUEEN Thanks for understanding. MATER Yeah, sure. Y'all go on and have fun now. 13. MCQUEEN Alright, then. See ya soon, amigo! McQueen drives off. Mater watches him go. EXT. THE WHEEL WELL - NIGHT It's been converted into a white-tablecloth restaurant, with cars dining al fresco and a hopping gastropub inside. MCQUEEN AND SALLY have a prime table with a view of Radiator Springs and the starry night sky. SALLY This is so nice. MCQUEEN I can't tell you how good it is to be here alone. Just the two of us. Finally, you and me --- MATER (O.S.) Good evening. Mater is at their table, dressed as a waiter. MATER My name is Mater and I'll be your waiter. (TO HIMSELF) Mater the waiter. That's funny right there. MCQUEEN Mater, you work here? MATER Well yeah I work here. What'd you think, I just snuck in here when nobody was looking and pretended to be your waiter, just so I could hang out with you? McQueen and Sally exchange a look. MCQUEEN Oh, yeah. How ridiculous would that be? MATER Now, can I start you two lovebirds off with a couple drinks? 14. MCQUEEN Yes. I'll have my usual. SALLY You know what? I'm going to have that too. Mater blinks. MATER Uh, right. Your usual. CUT TO: INSIDE AT THE BAR - Fillmore and Sarge watch as Guido mixes drinks, ala "Cocktail." Mater arrives. MATER Guido! What's McQueen's usual? GUIDO (in Italian, subtitled) How should I know? MATER Perfect! Give me two of `em. SARGE Quiet! My program's on. MEL DORADO (O.S.) Tonight on "The Mel Dorado Show"! ON THE BAR TV - "THE MEL DORADO SHOW," a cable talk show, begins with file footage of MILES AXLEROD, a sleek SUV. MEL DORADO (ON TV) His story gripped the world! Oil billionaire Miles Axlerod, in an attempt to become the first car to circumnavigate the globe without GPS, ironically ran out of gas and found himself trapped in the wild! We see images of newspaper headlines, search crews. MEL DORADO (ON TV) Feared dead, he emerged 36 days later, running on a fuel he'd distilled himself from the natural elements! Since then he's sold his oil fortune, converted himself from a gas-guzzler into an electric car, and has devoted his life to finding a renewable, clean-burning fuel! 15. Images of oil derricks torn down; Miles Axlerod getting converted to electric; lab scientists testing chemicals. MEL DORADO (ON TV) Now he claims to have done it with his Allinol. Images of fields, rivers, vegetables, and mountains all combining to form the Allinol logo. MEL DORADO (ON TV) And to show the world what his new superfuel can do, he's created a racing competition like no other, inviting the greatest champions from around the globe to battle in the first ever World Grand Prix. Welcome Sir Miles Axlerod. SIR MILES AXLEROD arrives, parks across from Mel's desk. MILES AXLEROD (ON TV) Thank you, Mel. It is very good to be here. Now listen to me: Big Oil. It costs a fortune. Pollution is getting worse. I mean, come on. It's a fossil fuel. Fossil. As in dead dinosaurs. And we all know what happened to them. Alternative energy is the future. Trust me, Mel, after seeing Allinol in action at the World Grand Prix, nobody will ever go back to gasoline again. MATER (TO FILLMORE) What happened to the dinosaurs, now? MEL DORADO (ON TV) And on satellite, a World Grand Prix competitor and one of the fastest cars in the world, Francesco Bernoulli. Across the screen: LIVE FROM ROME, ITALY. We meet Formula race car FRANCESCO BERNOULLI. FRANCESCO (ON TV) It is an honor, Signore Dorado. For you. 16. MEL DORADO (ON TV) Miles, why not invite Lightning McQueen? Mater, collecting his drinks, looks up, half-intrigued. MILES AXLEROD (ON TV) Of course we invited him. But apparently after a very long racing season he is taking some time off to rest. FRANCESCO (ON TV) Lightning McQueen would not have a chance against Francesco! Mater doesn't like this. FRANCESCO (ON TV) I can go over 300 kilometers an hour! In miles that is like, uh... way faster than McQueen. MEL DORADO (ON TV) Let's go to the phones. Baltimore, Maryland, you're on the air. CALLER (ON TV) Am I on? Hello? MEL DORADO (ON TV) You're on. Go ahead. CALLER (ON TV) Hello? MEL DORADO (ON TV) Go ahead, caller. Dial tone. MEL DORADO (ON TV) Let's go to Radiator Springs. You're on, caller. MATER'S VOICE (ON TV) Yeah, that Italian feller you got on there can't talk that way about Lightning McQueen. He's the bestest race car in the whole wide world. Fillmore and Sarge look around. Mater is visible in the back of the bar on an office phone. 17. SARGE Uh-oh... FRANCESCO (ON TV) If he is, how you say "the bestest race car," then why must he rest, eh? MATER'S VOICE (ON TV) Cause he knows what's important. Every now and then he prefers just to slow down, enjoy life. FRANCESCO (ON TV) Ah, you heard it! Lightning McQueen prefers to be slow! Of course, this is not news to Francesco. When I want to go to sleep I watch one of his races. After two laps I am out cold. Audible RXNS from the bar. A crowd has been forming ever since Mater started talking. MATER'S VOICE (ON TV) That ain't what I meant. CUT TO: MCQUEEN AND SALLY - They hear the commotion inside. MCQUEEN Hey, what's going on over there? CUT BACK TO: THE BAR - Sally and McQueen push through the crowd, see that they're watching Francesco on the television. MCQUEEN (TO SALLY) Oh, it's that Italian Formula car. His name is --- SALLY Francesco Bernoulli. No wonder there's a crowd. When Sally says his name, she enunciates each part, as if Italian were her mother's tongue. MCQUEEN Wait, why do you know his name? And don't say it like that. It's three syllables, not ten. 18. SALLY What? He's nice to look at. You know, open-wheeled and all. MCQUEEN What's wrong with fenders? I thought you like my fenders. MATER'S VOICE (ON TV) Well let me tell you something else there, Mr. San Francisco --- MCQUEEN Mater? MATER'S VOICE (ON TV) McQueen could drive circles around you. FRANCESCO (ON TV) Driving in circles is all he can do, no? MATER'S VOICE (ON TV) No! I mean yes. I mean he could beat you anywhere, anytime, any track. On McQueen - he looks at Guido who gives a nod over to --- --- Mater, turned away from the crowd, still on the phone. FRANCESCO (ON TV) Mel, can we move on? Francesco needs a caller who can provide a little more intellectual stimulation. Like a dump truck. ON MCQUEEN. He doesn't like this at all. MATER Ha ha! That shows what you know. Dump trucks is dumb. Suddenly, Mater is YANKED from the booth and replaced by McQueen. MCQUEEN (INTO PHONE) Yeah, hi, this is Lightning McQueen. Look, I don't appreciate my best friend being insulted like that. 19. FRANCESCO (ON TV) McQueen! That was your best friend? This is the difference between you and Francesco. Francesco knows how good he is. He does not need to surround himself with tow trucks to prove it. MCQUEEN Those are strong words from a car that is so fragile. FRANCESCO (ON TV) Fragilé!? He calls Francesco fragilé? Not so fast, McQueen! MCQUEEN "Not so fast." What is that, your new motto? Francesco goes ballistic in Italian. They cut his mic. MILES AXLEROD (ON TV) Well, this sounds like something that needs to be settled on the race course. What do you say, Lightning McQueen? We've still got room for one more racer. MCQUEEN Well, I would love to. The only thing is my crew's off for the season so --- A sound O.S. McQueen turns to see Fillmore, Sarge and Luigi flank a tablecloth which is hanging off the bar. Ramone backs away, having spray painted "TEAM LIGHTNING MCQUEEN" on it. Guido quickly uncorks three wine bottles. GUIDO Pit stop. McQueen turns back to the phone. MCQUEEN You know what? They just got back. Deal me in, baby. Ka-chow! The place ERUPTS IN CHEERS. MOMENTS LATER - General excitement as McQueen exits the phone booth where Sally waits. Off her look: 20. MCQUEEN I know, I know. I just got back. But we won't be long and --- SALLY Oh, no, don't worry about me. I've got enough to do here. Mater's going to have a blast though. (off McQueen's silence) You're bringing Mater, right? You never bring him to any of your races. McQueen turns to the bar where Mater privately tries their drinks, hates it, spits it back in the glass. SALLY Just let him sit in the pits, give him a headset. C'mon, it'll be a thrill of a lifetime for him. Mater arrives. MATER Your drinks, sir. MCQUEEN Mater. MATER I didn't taste it! MCQUEEN How'd you like to come and see the world with me? MATER You mean it? MCQUEEN You got me into this thing. You're coming along. BEGIN MONTAGE: - McQueen is given a new paint job and headlights by Ramone. Mater, now sporting a "Team McQueen" emblem, seems psyched as well. - An airport DEPARTURES SIGN advertises the next flight: Tokyo, Japan. - Mater waves goodbye with his hook alongside McQueen, Guido, Luigi, Fillmore and Sarge as --- 21. --- the rest of Radiator Springs watches them board a plane. Red bawls. - IN THE JET, LATER. McQueen and Mater are the only ones awake, watch an insane Japanese game show. - JAPAN AT NIGHT. A stylish Tokyo cityscape of neon, glamour, scrolling billboards, vending machines and high-tech skyscrapers. - INSIDE A SOUVENIR SHOP loaded with McQueen toys: Mater and McQueen enter. A tourist sees McQueen and faints. - A KABUKI THEATER. Team McQueen watches a methodical dance. Mater, dressed in Kabuki makeup, arrives. He looks insane. - A SUMO MATCH - Two SUZUKI SAMURAI CARS wrestle over a parking space. Mater, now in his element, cheers. The MONTAGE ENDS on this high note as we CUT TO --- EXT. MUSEUM - TOKYO - NIGHT ---- TEAM MCQUEEN, as they roll up the red carpet. Press is held at bay behind ropes. WORLD GRAND PRIX and ALLINOL logos are strategically placed for maximum press exposure. RACERS are interviewed by press behind the red-carpet ropes. INT. TOKYO MUSEUM - NIGHT Team McQueen enters via a second floor landing which overlooks a massive indoor party in a converted museum. As they roll down a ramp to the party, they are awed. LUIGI Guido, look! Ferraris and tires! Let's go! MCQUEEN (IMPRESSED) Hey, look at this. Okay now Mater, remember: best behavior. MATER You got it, buddy. Hey, what's that? He sees something, peels away. MCQUEEN Mater! LEWIS HAMILTON Hey, McQueen, over here! 22. It's fellow racers JEFF GORVETTE and LEWIS HAMILTON. McQueen now has no choice but to let Mater go. MCQUEEN Hey, Jeff. Lewis! CUT TO: MATER as he approaches a GLASS-ENCLOSED ROCK GARDEN where a pitty RAKES rocks with precision. He knocks on the glass with his hook. MATER Hey! You done good! You got all the leaves! People turn at the noise he's making. CUT BACK TO: MCQUEEN, JEFF and LEWIS. JEFF GORVETTE Check out that tow truck. LEWIS HAMILTON I wonder who that guy's with? MCQUEEN Will you guys excuse me just for one little second? He zips over to Mater's side, quickly pulls him out of sight. MCQUEEN Mater, listen. This isn't Radiator Springs. MATER You're just realizing that? Boy, that jet-lag really done a number on you. MCQUEEN Mater, look -- things are different over here. Which means maybe you should, you know, act a little different too. MATER Different than what? MCQUEEN Well, just... help me out here, buddy. I --- 23. MATER You need help? Shoot, why didn't you just say so? That's what a tow truck does. Hey, looky there, it's Mr. San Francisco! FRANCESCO is visible across the room, holding court. MATER I'll introduce you. MCQUEEN Mater, no. MATER (already on his way) Look at me -- I'm helping you already! On FRANCESCO - MOMENTS LATER. Mater approaches, giddy. MATER Hey Mr. San Francisco, I'd like you to meet --- FRANCESCO Lightning McQueen! Buona sera. MCQUEEN Nice to meet you, Francesco. FRANCESCO Yeah, nice to meet you too. You are very good-looking. Not as good as I thought, but you're good. MATER (TO FRANCESCO) Excuse me. Can I get a picture with you? FRANCESCO Anything for McQueen's friend. As Mater poses for a photo with Francesco: MATER Miss Sally is gonna flip when she sees this. She's Lightning McQueen's girlfriend. FRANCESCO Oooh. 24. MATER She's a big fan of yours. FRANCESCO Hey, she has good taste. MCQUEEN Mater's prone to exaggeration. I wouldn't say she's a "big" fan. MATER You're right. She's a huge fan. She goes on and on about your open wheels here. MCQUEEN Mentioning it once doesn't qualify as going "on and on." FRANCESCO Francesco is familiar with this reaction to Francesco. Women respect a car that has nothing to hide. MCQUEEN Yeah, uh... FRANCESCO Let us have a toast. McQueen doesn't like where this is going, covers. MCQUEEN Let's. FRANCESCO (raising a drink) I dedicate my win tomorrow... to Miss Sally. MCQUEEN Oh, sorry. I already dedicated MY win tomorrow to her. So if we both do it, it's really not so special. Besides, I don't have a drink. MATER I'll go get you one. You mind if I borrow a few bucks for one of them drinks? 25. MCQUEEN (could kill him) They're free, Mater. MATER Free? Well, shoot, what am I doing here? Mater ZIPS OFF. MCQUEEN I should probably go keep an eye on him. See you at the race. McQueen starts to leave. FRANCESCO Yes, you will see Francesco. But not like this. Francesco does a 180, so his rear end now faces McQueen. FRANCESCO You will see him like this, as he drives away from you. Francesco wears a bumper sticker that says "Ciao, McQueen!" MCQUEEN That's cute. So you had one of those made up for all the racers? FRANCESCO No. MCQUEEN Okay. He rolls off. �� MCQUEEN He is so getting beat tomorrow. INT. PARTY - MOMENTS LATER Lights caress the main stage where a crowd has formed. VOICE Ladies and gentlecars... Sir Miles Axlerod! MILES AXLEROD drives through an infinity fountain, appears. 26. MILES AXLEROD It is my absolute honor to introduce to you the competitors in the first-ever World Grand Prix. From Brazil. Number eight... ON FINN MCMISSILE. He appears from the shadows, keeps a careful distance from the stage. He ZEROES HIS GAZE ON --- --- THE WORLD GRAND PRIX TV CAMERAS which roll, catching Miles Axlerod's speech for publicity and posterity. Finn's ONBOARD COMPUTER ANALYZES each one, compares to the photos we saw him snap on the oil platform. Each one is "NOT A MATCH." His view is suddenly disrupted by A BEAUTIFUL SPORTS CAR. She approaches Finn. Meet HOLLEY SHIFTWELL. HOLLEY A Volkswagen Karmann Ghia has no radiator. FINN That's because it's air-cooled. HOLLEY I'm Agent Shiftwell, Holley Shiftwell from the Tokyo Station. I have a message from London. FINN Not here. (LOUDLY) You must try the canapes on the mezzanine! He moves her onto an elevator. The doors close on them. IN THE ELEVATOR, GOING UP. FINN So the lab boys analyzed the photo I sent? What did they learn about the camera? HOLLEY It appears to be a standard television camera. They said if you could get closer photos next time, that would be great. FINN This was London's message? 27. HOLLEY Oh -- no, no. No sir. Um, the oil platforms you were on? Turns out they're sitting on the biggest oil reserve in the world. FINN How did we miss that? HOLLEY They'd been scrambling everyone's satellites. The Americans actually discovered it just before you did. They placed an agent on that platform, under deep cover. He was able to get a photo of the car who's running the entire operation. The doors OPEN and they exit onto the Mezzanine. FINN Who is it? Has anyone seen the photo yet? HOLLEY No, not yet. The American is here tonight to pass it to you. He'll signal you when he's ready. FINN GOOD --- Finn suddenly STOPS COLD. FINN Oh no. Professor Zundapp is visible below them. He talks with a few Pacers and Gremlins. Finn quickly retreats into the shadows. Holley follows suit. HOLLEY What is it? FINN Change of plan. You're meeting the American. HOLLEY What, me? 28. FINN Those thugs down there were on the oil platform. If they see me, the whole mission is compromised. HOLLEY No, no. I'm technical, you see. I'm in Diagnostics. I'm not a field agent. FINN You are now. CUT TO: MATER as he grabs a drink, keeps moving. MATER I'll take one of them. He snatches it, drops it in the back where we now see a large assortment of drinks balanced. MATER Never know which one McQueen'll have a hankering for. He approaches a sushi bar. MATER Hey, what you got here that's free? How about that pistachio ice cream? He refers to wasabi, of course. SUSHI CHEF No, no. Wasabi. MATER Oh, same ol', same ol'. What's up with you? That looks delicious. The chef starts to carve a small scoop aside for Mater. MATER Uh, a little more, please. It is free, right? (the chef adds more) Keep it coming. A little more. Come on, let's go, it's free! You're getting there... Scoop scoop! The chef gives in. Scoops a baseball-sized ball out. 29. MATER There you go. Now THAT's a scoop of ice cream. SUSHI CHEF (in Japanese, subtitles) My condolences. CUT BACK TO: MILES AXLEROD - He's now nearly done with his intros. MILES AXLEROD ... and now, our last competitor --- Number 95, Lightning McQueen! MCQUEEN approaches the microphone, flashes his headlights. MCQUEEN Thank you so much for having us, Sir Axlerod. I really look forward to racing. This is a great opportunity. MILES AXLEROD Oh, the pleasure is all ours, Lightning. You and your team bring excellence and professionalism to this competition. As if on cue, Mater arrives with a piercing scream of pain. Everyone turns as he charges head first toward the stage, making a bee-line for that FOUNTAIN. MATER Somebody get me water! He laps up water from the fountain like a diabetic cat. MATER (LAPPING WATER) Sweet relief... Miles Axlerod is shocked. The crowd can't believe it. Francesco cackles. Mater, now sated, approaches the mic. MATER (to the crowd) Whatever you do, do not eat the free pistachio ice cream. It has turned! MCQUEEN Sir Axlerod, I can explain. This is Mater. 30. MILES AXLEROD I know him. This is the bloke that called into the television show. (TO MATER) You're the one I have to thank. MATER No, thank you. This trip's been amazing. MILES AXLEROD (TO MCQUEEN) He's a little excited, isn't he? TILT DOWN to reveal a pool of oil beneath Mater. MCQUEEN Mater! MATER But wait, I... oh, shoot. McQueen quickly pulls Mater aside, out of earshot of Miles Axlerod and the others. McQueen is beside himself. MCQUEEN Mater, you have to get a hold of yourself. You're making a scene. MATER But I never leak oil. Never. MCQUEEN Go take care of yourself right now. Mater drives off. ON MATER - MOMENTS LATER He drives through the party, frantic. MATER Coming through! Excuse me, leakin' oil. Where's the bathroom? Thank you. I gotta go! Someone points Mater down a hallway. He whips around the CORNER --- --- and STOPS. Finds himself in front of TWO BATHROOM DOORS, neither of which clearly indicate MALE or FEMALE. 31. MATER (CONFUSED) What the... Mater chooses one, drives inside. A SHRIEK is heard and Mater zips out. MATER Sorry ladies! He heads into the other door --- CUT TO: INT. MEN'S ROOM - NIGHT Mater rolls in, still `holding it in' like a kid. MATER I never leak I never leak I never leak... He sees someone leaving a stall. He heads in. IN THE STALL - Mater enters, looks up. MATER Wowee... The stall is a complicated apparatus with buttons and lights. High-tech Japanese. It suddenly GRABS MATER, hoists him up as if he's going to get an oil change. MATER What in the--- A Japanese style cartoon CARICATURE appears on a TV MONITOR, followed by images of waterfalls and rivers. MATER (GIGGLING) Hey, that tickles. The caricature starts talking in Japanese. Suddenly WATER FIRES UP underneath Mater's undercarriage, goosing him. He freaks out. OUTSIDE THE STALL - With Mater's yells audible we see a GREMLIN enter, furtive. Suddenly, inexplicably, his frame BREAKS APART like an egg, revealing an AMERICAN MUSCLE CAR underneath. The pieces of the Gremlin disappear under him, clearly his disguise. This is ROD REDLINE - American Agent. 32. ROD REDLINE Okay, McMissile. I'm here. It's time for the drop. INT. PARTY - SAME HOLLEY, rolls along by herself. Nervous. DING! Her rearview monitor springs to life. HOLLEY (INTO RADIO) The American has activated his tracking beacon. FINN (OVER RADIO) Roger that. Move in. INT. BATHROOM - SAME Rod Redline, waiting at a sink, feels a presence behind him. GREM and ACER have entered, hesitate briefly when they see Rod Redline. Rod Redline, careful, slides a gun out of his tire. He is suddenly CHARGED by the AMCs --- Rod SPINS AROUND and gets a shot off but is SLAMMED HEAD FIRST. A TIGHT, CLOSE-QUARTERS FIGHT begins --- IN THE STALL - Mater, still TRAPPED, is now being SCRUBBED as if in a car wash. He is helpless. OUTSIDE THE STALL - Rod is being pulverized. Just when he scrambles away from one car, the other one takes over. IN THE STALL - Mater is mercifully released, but when he backs out --- --- Rod Redline is THROWN INTO MATER'S STALL DOOR, crunching it and sending Mater --- --- BACK INTO THE CLUTCHES of the insane toilet. INT. PARTY - SAME Holley isolates the tracking beacon's location in the party. HOLLEY Oh, you've got to be joking. FINN What's the problem, Shiftwell? HOLLEY He's in the loo. 33. FINN So go in! HOLLEY I can't just go into the men's loo. FINN Time is of the essence, Shiftwell. INT. BATHROOM - OUTSIDE THE STALL Rod Redline is in bad shape. He backs away, betrays a look of concern. He's in trouble here. ACER burns rubber, ready to finish him off. Just as he shifts into DRIVE --- --- MATER'S STALL DOOR KICKS OPEN, knocking ACER out. Mater jumps out, face-to-face GREM. MATER (out of breath) Whatever you do, I would not go in there. The door SWINGS shut, revealing the pulverized Acer. MATER A Gremlin and a Pacer! Rod Redline, now behind Mater and sensing an opportunity here, quickly produces A SMALL DEVICE. MATER (to Grem and Acer) No offense to your makes and models, but you guys break down harder than my cousin Betsy after she got left at the --- Rod Redline, surreptitiously attaches the device to Mater's undercarriage. MATER (as he's goosed) --- altar! He spins around, sees Rod Redline for the first time. MATER Are you okay? ROD REDLINE I'm fine. 34. GREM Hey. Tow truck. Mater turns back to Grem and Acer. GREM We'd like to get to our private business here, if you don't mind. MATER Oh, yeah. Don't let me get in the way of your "private business." Oh! A little advice: When you hear her giggle and see that waterfall, you best press that green button. GREM Thank you. MATER It's to adjust the temperature. ACER Got it. MATER Remember it's in Celsius, not Fahrenheit. GREM AND ACER Get outta here! MATER Alright then. Mater exits, leaving Rod Redline to a now even angrier Grem and Acer. EXT. BATHROOM - MOMENTS LATER Holley arrives at the door. She takes a breath, is about to enter when Mater EXITS. MATER Excuse me, ma'am. He passes her, expelling some exhaust in the process. Holley's rearview tracking confirms that the device is on him. MATER (TO HIMSELF) Dadgum pistachio ice cream. 35. HOLLEY (INTO RADIO) This cannot be him. FINN (OVER RADIO) Is he American? MATER (driving off, to himself) Look out, ladies. Mater's fittin' to get funky! HOLLEY (INTO RADIO) Extremely. FINN (OVER RADIO) Then it's him. It's settled. Holley takes one more nervous breath, quickly closes the distance between her and Mater, cuts him off. He is forced to STOP. HOLLEY Hello. MATER Well, hello. HOLLEY A Volkswagen Karmann Ghia has no radiator. MATER Well of course it doesn't. That's `cause it's air-cooled! HOLLEY (RELIEVED) Perfect. I'm from the Tokyo Station OF THE--- MATER Course, Karmann Ghia's weren't the only ones. Besides the Beetles you had your Type-3 Squarebacks, with the pancake motors... HOLLEY Yeah. Okay, I get it--- MATER ... And before both of them, there's the Type-2 buses - my buddy Fillmore's one of them. 36. HOLLEY Listen! We should find somewhere more private. MATER Uh, gee. Don't you think that's a little, uh --- HOLLEY (NERVOUS ENERGY) You're right. Impossible to know which areas here are compromised. So, when can I see you again? MATER Well, let's see. Tomorrow I'll be out there at the races. HOLLEY Got it. We'll rendezvous then. INT. PARTY - MOMENTS LATER Mater returns to his team, lost in thought. MCQUEEN There you are. Where have you been? MATER What's a rendezvous? LUIGI It's like a date. MATER A date?! MCQUEEN Mater, what's going on? MATER Well, what's going on is I've got me a date tomorrow. Guido makes a crack in Italian. LUIGI Guido don't believe you. MATER Well, believe it. My new girlfriend just said so. Hey, there she is. Mater points out Holley, who's within earshot. 37. MATER (YELLING) Hey! Hey lady! Holley, caught in plain view, DRIVES OFF. MATER See ya tomorrow! Guido makes another crack in Italian. LUIGI Guido still don't believe you. EXT. SHIPYARD - THE DOCKS - TOKYO NIGHT An industrial dock, outside of the city proper. INT. SHIPYARD - NIGHT Rod Redline dangles from a car magnet. He's been beaten up, clings to consciousness. GREM (O.S.) I gotta admit --- Grem, Acer, and a bunch of nasty looking troublemakers look up at Rod amidst crates and shipping containers. GREM --- you tricked us real good. ACER And we don't like being tricked. Rod Redline laughs to himself. ACER Hey, what's so funny? ROD REDLINE Well, you know, I was just wearing a disguise. You guys are stuck looking like that. This doesn't help him. They DROP HIM onto a TREADMILL, lock him down. A container is wheeled forward and Rod is plied with Allinol brand gasoline. ROD REDLINE Allinol? Thanks, fellas. I hear this stuff is good for you. 38. PROFESSOR ZUNDAPP (O.S.) So you think. The Professor emerges from the darkness, behind Rod. PROFESSOR ZUNDAPP Allinol by itself is good for you. Zundapp hits a button and the TREADMILL starts Rod's wheels spinning at a high rate of speed. PROFESSOR ZUNDAPP But after microscopic examination, I have found that it has one small weakness. When hit with an electromagnetic pulse, it becomes extremely dangerous. GREM SMILE --- Grem pushes a World Grand Prix CAMERA - the same one that was in the box back at the oil derrick. He points it at Rod Redline. GREM --- for the camera. ROD REDLINE Is that all you want? I got a whole act. PROFESSOR ZUNDAPP You were very interested in this camera on the oil platform. Now you will witness what it really does. ROD REDLINE Whatever you say, Professor. Acer pushes a TV MONITOR toward Rod. On it, surveillance footage from the party. Clearly, they were watching and recording him there. ACER You talked up a lot of cars last night. Which one's your associate? ROD REDLINE Your mother. Oh no, I'm sorry. It was your sister. You know, I can't tell them apart these days. 39. GREM �� (HAD ENOUGH) Could I start it now, Professor? PROFESSOR ZUNDAPP Fifty percent power. (to Rod Redline) This camera is actually an electromagnetic pulse emitter. ACER (re: a girl on the TV) What about her? Did you give it to her? PROFESSOR ZUNDAPP The Allinol is now heating to a boil, dramatically expanding, causing the engine block to crack under the stress, forcing oil into the combustion chamber. Rod Redline's engine starts to CRACK and BREAK. ACER (re: a guy on the TV) How about him? You talk to him? ROD REDLINE (to Professor Zundapp) What do I care? I can replace an engine block. PROFESSOR ZUNDAPP You may be able to, but after full impact of the pulse, unfortunately, there will be nothing to replace. ACER How about him? Does he have it? The monitor reveals MATER, rolling out of the bathroom and down the hall. Rod Redline, seeing this, does the world's most subtle double take. We caught it, but there's no way anyone else in the room could have --- PROFESSOR ZUNDAPP That's him. He's the one. GREM Roger that, Professor Z. 40. ROD REDLINE No! As Grem turns up the machine even MORE, the Professor makes a call. PROFESSOR ZUNDAPP (INTO PHONE) Yes sir. We believe the infiltrator has passed along sensitive information. (beat, listening) I will take care of it before any damage can be done. The Professor hangs up, turns to the room. PROFESSOR ZUNDAPP The project is still on schedule. You will find this second agent --- Zundapp kicks the camera's power into the RED. PROFESSOR ZUNDAPP --- and kill him. On the MONITOR - With Mater's frozen image on the screen we see Rod EXPLODE in the reflection. EXT. JAPAN - DAY Over television pre-roll of Japan: BRENT MUSTANGBURGER (V.O.) Japan. Land of the rising sun. Where ancient tradition meets modern technology. Welcome to the inaugural running of the World Grand Prix. ON OUR ANNOUNCERS as they introduce themselves: BRENT MUSTANGBURGER I'm Brent Mustangburger, here with racing legends Darrell Cartrip and David Hobbscap. There's never been a competition like this before. SHOTS OF THE PITS as the racers fuel up. BRENT MUSTANGBURGER (V.O.) First, Allinol, making its debut tonight as the required fuel for all these great champions. (MORE) 41. BRENT MUSTANGBURGER (V.O.) (CONT'D) Second, the course itself, and it's like nothing we've ever seen. David, how exactly does this competition work? DAVID HOBBSCAP (V.O.) Well, Brent, all three of these street courses are classic round- the-house racetracks. OUTLINES OF THREE RACE COURSES are shown. They're labeled Japan, Italy and England, and are different in shape and size. DAVID HOBBSCAP (V.O.) This means that the LMP and Formula cars should break out of the gate in spectacular fashion. SHOTS OF THE RACERS as they weave up the track, practicing. DAVID HOBBSCAP (V.O.) Look for Francesco Bernoulli in particular to lead early. SHOTS OF Francesco, featured in an inset. DAVID HOBBSCAP (V.O.) And with a series of technical turns throughout --- MORE SHOTS of the course, now highlighting the tech turns. DAVID HOBBSCAP (V.O.) GT and Touring cars like Spain's Miguel Camino should make up some ground but I doubt it'll be enough to stop Francesco from absolutely running away with it. DARRELL CARTRIP (V.O.) Woah, now just hold your horsepower. You're forgetting the most important factor here. That early dirt track section of the course! The dirt is supposed to be the great equalizer in this race. GRAPHICS OF THE COURSES now isolate a stretch after the first couple turns, label it "DIRT SECTIONS." 42. BRENT MUSTANGBURGER (V.O.) French Rally car Raoul ÇaRoule is counting on a big boost headed through there. DARRELL CARTRIP (V.O.) And don't forget Lightning McQueen! His mentor, the Hudson Hornet, was one of the greatest dirt track racers of all time. In my opinion, McQueen is the best all-around racer in this competition. BACK IN THE STUDIO DAVID HOBBSCAP Really, Darrell, I think you need to clean your windshield. You're clearly not seeing this for what it is: Francesco's race to lose. EXT. STARTING LINE - DAY BRENT MUSTANGBURGER (V.O.) It's time to find out. The racers are locking into the grid --- Engines rev as everyone gets ready to go. Everyone's bright eyed and alert except for McQueen who we find in the back of the grid. He CLOSES his eyes. MCQUEEN (TO HIMSELF) Speed. I am speed. A LAUGH O.S. McQueen opens his eyes. Francesco is next to him on the grid. FRANCESCO Really? You are "speed"? Then Francesco is triple speed. (closes his eyes) Francesco. Is. Triple speed. Francesco likes this, McQueen. It's really getting him into the zone! MCQUEEN He is so getting beat today. The starting lights click down from RED to YELLOW to GREEN. The race begins. Francesco quickly grabs the lead. He's pulling away within seconds. 43. ON PIT ROW - We TRACK PAST as the various Crew Chiefs on their crash carts bark orders to their racers. We end on Team McQueen. No Crew Chief, just a solid looking team. SARGE His suspension stats look good. LUIGI Tire pressure is excellent. FILLMORE He's got plenty of fuel. MATER And he's awesome! CUT TO: The same view of Mater but now THROUGH A TELESCOPIC DISPLAY. Reveal Finn and Holley watching from high above in a downtown office building, behind reflective glass. HOLLEY Why is he in the pits? He's so exposed. FINN It's his cover. One of the best I've seen, too. Look at the detail on that rust. It must have cost him a fortune. HOLLEY But why hasn't he contacted us yet? FINN There's probably heat on him. Be patient. HOLLEY Right, of course. He'll signal us when he can. FINN And then we find out who's behind all this. ON THE TRACK - VARIOUS SHOTS OF THE RACE through Tokyo as Francesco extends his lead and McQueen attempts to make up ground. 44. IN MCQUEEN'S PIT - Mater watches the monitors, sees them approaching the dirt section. MATER McQueen! It's time to make your move. Get on the outside and show 'em what Doc done taught you. MCQUEEN (OVER RADIO) Ten four, Mater. ON THE TRACK - Francesco hits the dirt section and loses all control. He SLAMS to a halt, his tires getting no traction. DAVID HOBBSCAP (V.O.) Francesco is brought to a screeching halt! MCQUEEN skids into view, turning right to go left, passing Francesco, followed by other cars --- BRENT MUSTANGBURGER (V.O.) Lightning McQueen is the first to take advantage. And just like that, folks, Francesco's lead is left in the dust. MCQUEEN Nice call, Mater. Keep it up! McQueen now leads the pack, zooming out of the dirt now starting to relax. DARRELL CARTRIP (V.O.) Who-hoo! Man, McQueen looks happier than a rollbar at a demolition derby! ON PAVED ROAD AGAIN - MOMENTS LATER The field of cars thunders into a tunnel. BRENT MUSTANGBURGER (V.O.) Everyone's jostling for position as we hit the asphalt again. Francesco crests the hill, in last place. He bites down, determined, then CHASES. BRENT MUSTANGBURGER (V.O.) Francesco lost a lot of momentum in the dirt. He's got some serious work ahead of him if he wants to get back in this race. 45. VARIOUS SHOTS OF TOKYO as the racers move through the Rainbow Bridge. Bit by bit, Francesco ekes his way toward the front, toward Lightning McQueen as we CUT TO --- --- A ROOFTOP, and a VIEW THROUGH THE WGP CAMERA LENS. Grem and Acer are manning this one. They focus it on the racers as they approach. PROFESSOR ZUNDAPP (OVER RADIO) It is time. GREM Roger that. ON THE TRACK - A racer (Miguel Camino) suddenly PLUMES WITH SMOKE and skids out. DARRELL CARTRIP (V.O.) Oh! Miguel Camino has blown an engine! BRENT MUSTANGBURGER (V.O.) Very unusual, Darrell. He's been so consistent all year. Camino quickly pits, passing McQueen's pit where Mater is visible. ON GREM AND ACER, watching from above. GREM You gotta be kidding me. ACER �� What is it? GREM It's that tow truck from the bathroom. ACER The one from the bathroom? GREM Yeah, the one the American Agent passed the device to. ACER What about him? GREM What about him? He's in the pits! 46. ACER Not for long. Acer exits, with purpose. ON FINN AND HOLLEY, still in their office hideaway. Holley's onboard computer flashes an ALERT. HOLLEY Hold on. I think I've got something. FINN What is it? HOLLEY The Pacer from the party last night. She's spotted Acer, moving swiftly forward. HOLLEY Cross-referencing with the photos from the oil derricks... Yep. His VIN numbers match. FINN Anyone with him? He won't be alone. HOLLEY Conducting analysis on the target. The computer finds more and more bad guy Pacers and Gremlins are in the crowd. HOLLEY He's not the only one here. Three... five... they're everywhere. And they're all closing in on... oh no. We PAN OVER to see it's MATER. HOLLEY Finn? Finn, where are you? She turns. He's GONE, leaving only an open window. FINN (OVER RADIO) Get him out of the pits now! IN MCQUEEN'S PIT. A car WHIPS BY O.S. 47. MATER Wow! Some of them fellers is really loud. HOLLEY (OVER MATER'S RADIO) Can you hear me? Over. MATER Uh, what? HOLLEY (OVER MATER'S RADIO) Get out of the pit now. Do you hear me? Mater realizes this girl has somehow broken into his radio. MATER (INTO RADIO) Hey, I know you. You're that girl from the party last night. You wanna do our date right now? ON THE TRACK - McQueen boxes out Francesco, holds his slim lead, but barely. MCQUEEN Guys, a little too much chatter. Let's keep this line clear. BOOM! A racer behind McQueen suddenly expels black smoke, skids out of control. ON GREM - laughing. That was clearly his handiwork. IN MCQUEEN'S PIT - SAME HOLLEY (ON MATER'S RADIO) There's no time for messing about. You've got to get out of the pits. MATER Is there gonna be cable where you is so I can watch the rest of the race? ON HOLLEY - Watching from the downtown building. HOLLEY (INTO RADIO) You're running out of time! FINN (OVER RADIO) They're coming, Shiftwell. HOLLEY (INTO RADIO) Yes, I know. 48. FINN (OVER RADIO) Get him out of there. HOLLEY (TO FINN) I'm trying. (TO MATER) Get out now! We CUT BACK TO --- --- MATER. He gives in, exits the pit. MATER Well, all right but I usually like to have a proper detailing done before I meet a lady friend. He moves toward the back PIT DOOR, is about to open it. OUTSIDE THE PITS - ACER and another Pacer approach McQueen's pit door on the other side. Ready to pounce. The doors OPEN, REVEALING --- --- Finn, holding a fire extinguisher. ACER Finn McMissile? But you're dead! FINN Then this shouldn't hurt at all. He empties the extinguisher in their eyes, speeds past. They try and follow, but have been blinded. One of them crashes right into a COP. ON FINN - Already on the move, along a side street. FINN Miss Shiftwell? ON HOLLEY - Tracking everything on a grid map. Mater looks like Pac Man, weaving through the streets as bad guys close in all around him. HOLLEY I've got him in the back alleys east of the garages. Multiple assailants are closing in quickly. FINN (OVER RADIO) Keep him moving. I'm on my way. ON MATER - He turns a corner, sees a flower shop. 49. MATER Hey, new lady friend? You like flowers? ON THE TRACK - McQueen, hearing this, is taken aback. MCQUEEN What? ON MATER - Slowing at the flower shop. HOLLEY (OVER RADIO) No! Don't go 'in' anywhere. Just keep moving. MATER Stay outside. Gotcha. ON THE TRACK MCQUEEN Outside? McQueen drifts outside allowing Francesco to slip past! FRANCESCO Grazie and arrivaderci! DARRELL CARTRIP (V.O.) I cannot believe what I just saw, Brent. That was a bonehead move. You don't open up the inside like that! IN THE BACK ALLEYS - As Mater moves on he's followed by Pacers and Gremlins. Suddenly --- --- CABLES whip in front of them, pulling over flower vending machines and sending the shop's owners into a frenzy. They direct their attention to the AMCs, who try and explain. ON FINN, admiring his handiwork as he appears. Just as he turns to leave he's BROADSIDED and pushed INTO A DARK ALLEY. IN THE ALLEY - Finn finds himself boxed by two Pacers and pushed toward --- --- ACER, who now holds a FLAME THROWER. ACER This time I'm gonna make sure you stay dead. He hits the flame. WHOOOSSSH!! 50. ON ANOTHER STREET - Mater clicks along, still looking for Holley. Just as he passes the alley entrance where Finn stares down death: HOLLEY (OVER RADIO) You're doing brilliantly. Now just stay focused. MATER What's that? You want me to head toward that ruckus? Mater turns INTO the alley. HOLLEY (OVER RADIO) No! Don't go down that street! IN THE ALLEY - Finn, now nearly pushed completely into the flame thrower, leaps into the air. He FIGHTS BACK, using his wheels, axle, indeed his entire car frame as if he were human, kicking and tossing and shooting his enemies. Mater witnesses the whole thing. MATER Wow! A live karate demonstration! ON THE TRACK - McQueen, now playing catch-up again, scowls. MCQUEEN Stop it, Mater. Just sign off. IN THE BACK ALLEY - Finn polishes off the AMCs by firing a bullet into a gas main line, causing an EXPLOSION that tosses Acer through the air where he lands in a NOODLE SHOP'S SIGN. ON THE TRACK - The end of the race is nigh --- BRENT MUSTANGBURGER (V.O.) They're bumper to bumper as they approach the finish line! The Formula car gets there first. BRENT MUSTANGBURGER (V.O.) Francesco's the winner, McQueen's number two! IN THE ALLEY - Finn heaves breaths, surveys his damage. MATER That was cool! Hey, can I get your autograph? 51. Mater approaches when a MASS OF RACE FANS burst out a door, momentarily blocking Mater's view of Finn. Once the fans have past, Finn has disappeared. MATER Hey, where'd he go? HOLLEY (OVER RADIO) Our rendezvous has been jeopardized. Keep the device safe. We'll be in touch. MATER Dadgum, did I miss our date? EXT. PRESS STAGE - LATER Post race press conference. Francesco is center stage. DARRELL CARTRIP Francesco, over here! Hey, what was your strategy today? FRANCESCO Strategia? Francesco needs no strategy, it's very simple. You start the race, wait for Lightning McQueen to choke, pass him, then win. Francesco always wins. It's boring. McQueen, waiting in the wings, rolls his eyes. He suddenly notices something O.S. McQueen's P.O.V. - It's MATER, appearing from a side street, moving toward the pits, oblivious of the press conference. DARRELL CARTRIP (TO FRANCESCO) I gotta tell you, dude. You were in trouble for awhile. That dirt track section had you crawling! As McQueen SNEAKS AWAY --- FRANCESCO To truly crush one's dream, you must first raise their hopes very high. IN MCQUEEN'S PIT GARAGE - Mater looks around for everyone as McQueen approaches. 52. MCQUEEN Mater. MATER Hey McQueen! What happened? Is the race over? You won, right? MCQUEEN Mater, why were you yelling things at me while I was racing? MATER Yelling? Oh, you thought... that's funny right there. Nah, see that's `cause I seen these two fellers doing some sort of karate street performance. It was nutso. One of them even had a flamethrower --- MCQUEEN A flamethrower? What are you talking about? I don't understand. Where were you? MATER Going to meet my date. MCQUEEN Your date? MATER She started talking to me as a voice in my head, telling me where to go --- MCQUEEN What? MATER Wait a minute -- I didn't screw you up, did I? MCQUEEN I lost the race because of you! MATER Well, I'm sorry. I didn't mean --- MCQUEEN An imaginary girlfriend, flamethrowers. This is exactly why I don't bring you along to these things. 53. MATER Maybe if I, I don't know, talked to somebody and explained what happened I could help. MCQUEEN I don't need your help. I don't want your help. PRESS (O.S.) Hey, there he is!! The press finds McQueen, swarms him. Mater is pushed backwards as the questions fly again. PRESS - McQueen, you had it in the bag! - Yeah, what happened? MCQUEEN I made a mistake. But I can assure you, it won't happen again. On Mater. He takes this badly. MCQUEEN Look, guys. We know what the problem is and we've taken care of it. SMASH TO: OVER FOOTAGE OF FRANCESCO and various other highlights: BRENT MUSTANGBURGER Lightning McQueen loses in the last lap to Francesco Bernoulli in the first race of the World Grand Prix and three, count em, three cars flamed out leading some to suggest that their fuel, Allinol, might be to blame. FOOTAGE OF MILES AXLEROD, speaking to an aggressive press. He must SHOUT over the press. MILES AXLEROD Allinol is safe! Alternative fuel is safe! There is no way my fuel caused these cars to flame out! 54. IN THE TV STUDIO - Darrell, Brent and David talk to camera. DARRELL CARTRIP Well the jury may still be out on whether Allinol caused these accidents, but one thing's for sure: Lightning McQueen blew this race. Off a FROZEN IMAGE of McQueen crossing the finish line, a look of severe consternation across his face --- BRENT MUSTANGBURGER Team McQueen can't be happy right now. --- MATCH CUT TO --- INT. AIRPORT - JAPAN - DAY --- McQueen's SMILING FACE, on a Team McQueen poster. REVERSE to reveal Mater looking at it, sadly. He drives on, passing (but not noticing) --- --- GREM and ACER. AT THE SECURITY CHECK - MOMENTS LATER. Cars take off their tires, move through the metal detector. Mater waits in line. A SECURITY CAR approaches Mater. SECURITY CAR (in Japanese and English) Come with me please, sir. MATER But I'm gonna miss my plane. IN THE ADMIRAL'S LOUNGE - MOMENTS LATER. The Security Car leads Mater inside. SECURITY CAR Right this way. As they move past us the Security Car covertly drops a BALL BEARING which rolls into a corner. The ball bearing then sprouts MECHANICAL LEGS, tripods itself and IRISES out, revealing itself to be a tiny CAMERA. IN THE MAIN ROOM - ADMIRAL'S LOUNGE - CONTINUOUS Mater follows the Security Car in, nervous. 55. MATER Doggone it. This is about my hook, isn't it? I know I should've checked it, but I can't really, look -- it's attached to me. ZWAPPPPPP!! The Security Car suddenly DECLOAKS himself, reveals himself to be Finn McMissile! MATER Hey, I know you. You're that feller from the karate demonstration. FINN I never properly introduced myself. Finn McMissile. British Intelligence. MATER Tow Mater. Average intelligence. FINN Who are you with? FBI, CIA? MATER Let's just say I'm triple-A affiliated. You know, I know some karate. I don't wanna brag or nothing, but I've got me a black fan belt. BEEP! Finn's rearview alarms. His camera has picked up Grem and Acer. They've just entered the lounge, are right around the corner. MATER Hey, you wanna see some moves I made up? FINN You're being followed. Finn quickly turns, fires a tiny GLASS CUTTING BEETLE at the window. As Mater talks, oblivious, the beetle cuts out a round hole. MATER This first one I can reach into a car's hood, pull out his battery, and show it to him before he stalls. I call it, "What I accidentally did to my friend Luigi once." 56. Mater does his best (worst) karate moves as Acer and Grem turn the corner. GREM There he is! The glass drops away, leaving a car-sized hole. MATER (eyes the clock) Look, I probably ought to go. I'm about to miss my flight. FINN Don't worry. Finn HOOKS Mater from behind. He YANKS HIM forward --- FINN I've taken care of that. Hang on. --- and LEAPS OUT THE WINDOW! EXT. TARMAC - AIRPORT - JAPAN Finn pulls Mater down HARD onto the tarmac, towing him away from the terminal. MATER This is First Class service. You don't even have to go through the terminal. ACER and GREM appear, chasing them. Mater, who is facing backward as he is being pulled along, faces them. They're about a hundred yards back. MATER (TO FINN) Your karate partners are back here. They kinda look like they're trying to catch up! FINN Drive forward. Whatever you do, don't stop. Finn SKIDS around, whipping Mater in a 180 so that Mater is now towing Finn. Grem produces a ROCKET, lines up Finn as his target. 57. Finn, without hesitation, fires a MINI ROLLING-JACK. The jack DRIVES ITSELF toward Grem, anchors itself under his frame and flips him like a turtle but not before Grem gets the rocket OFF --- THE ROCKET - it flies toward Mater and Finn. FINN aims and launches a MISSILE back. THE ROCKET AND MISSILE COLLIDE IN MID-AIR, EXPLODE. MATER (only hearing this) Is everything okay back there? SIDDELEY (O.S.) Finn, it's Sid. I'm on approach. A GULFSTREAM JET wings into view overhead. This is SIDDELEY. FINN Roger that. Mater looks up: ACER screeches into view up ahead, dragging a long row of luggage carts in Mater's path, attempting to create an accident. MATER (TO FINN) You remember that whole thing about me not stopping no matter what? Just as it looks dire --- RATATATATATATAT!!! SIDDELEY descends, hawklike, fires bullets and blows the luggage carts sky-high. Mater and Finn burst through them, luggage now raining down from above. MATER I knew I should've done carry-on! FINN (TO SIDDELEY) Thanks, old boy! Siddeley LANDS HARD on the tarmac ahead of them. No time to stop, he DROPS his back open, revealing HOLLEY. MATER Hey, doggone it. It's my imaginary girlfriend! HOLLEY Come on! Get in here! 58. Mater SPEEDS UP toward Siddeley's ramp, Holley. MATER (TO HOLLEY) Boy I tell you what, you really do want this first date, don't ya? That's a no-quit attitude right there. Just as Mater's wheels touch the ramp, BULLETS PING around him in a spray. Siddeley is HIT, a tire BLOWN. He yells in pain. FINN Hold on, Sid! Siddeley peels off the runway onto the grass. A gunfight ensues between Finn and Acer. Finn SHOOTS ACER'S TIRE, blowing it and throwing him off-course. Acer CAREENS out of control, drives up and THROUGH A JET --- --- OUT THE OTHER SIDE where he lands in an oil tanker. ON SIDDELEY - He's headed toward the edge of the tarmac, where the grass and runway meet WATER. He HITS THE GAS, his only hope. SIDDELEY Finn, it's now or never! Finn BRAKES, 180s and grabs the ramp just as Siddeley gets air. SIDDELEY Hold on! Mater, the only thing not in the jet, dangles and recedes from our view as Siddeley climbs toward the clouds. As he's PULLED in through the back hatch: MATER (V.O.) By the time you read this, I will be safely on an airplane, flying home. INT. LOBBY - HOTEL - TOKYO - DAY CLOSE ON a handwritten (er, tire-written?) NOTE in childish scrawl. We don't see all of it, only a bit. Mater's voice O.S. begins the note with the first sentence, but we DISSOLVE into McQueen's voice. 59. MCQUEEN "I'm so sorry for what I did. I don't want to be the cause of you losing any more races. I want you to go prove to the world what I already know - that you are the greatest race car in the whole wide world. Your best friend, Mater." McQueen takes this in. MCQUEEN I didn't really want him to leave. LUIGI Wait, there's more here. (READS) "P.S. Please tell the hotel I didn't mean to order that movie. I thought it was just a preview and I didn't realize I was paying for it. P.P.S... That's funny right there -- PP." (to the others) There's a few more pages of P.S.'s here. MCQUEEN (TURNING BACK) Well, at least I know if he's at home he'll be safe. EXT. SKY - DAY SIDDELEY breaks through some cloud cover, flies with purpose. INT. JET - DAY A well-appointed spy jet. Various computers line the walls. FINN Now that's how I like to start the day! You never feel more alive than when you're almost dead. HOLLEY (SCANNING MATER) I hope that device didn't fall off. MATER That's the closest I ever been to missing my flight! That was --- 60. With a ROBOTIC ARM, Holley grabs the THE DEVICE that Rod Redline hid under Mater. She yanks it out with a GOOSE. MATER (JUMPS) Yow! HOLLEY Still in one piece, great. Holley drops the device into a mainframe computer. It starts "ANALYZING." MATER I gotta go to a doctor. I keep getting these sharp pains in my undercarriage. HOLLEY Downloading the photo now. MATER Hey, lemme introduce you two. (TO HOLLEY) This here is Finn McSomething-or- other. He's a First Class VIP airport whatchamacallit. And Finn, this here's my date. (TO HOLLEY) I never did get your name. HOLLEY Oh yes, sorry. It's Shiftwell. Holley Shiftwell. MATER (TO FINN) It's Shiftwell. Holley --- DING! The computer is done analyzing. The cabin lights dim. FINN Finally. Time to see who's behind all this. AN IMAGE is blasted between the three of them. It's of a photograph, a complicated melange of metallic parts stuck together. HOLLEY (to Mater, expectantly) What is this? 61. MATER Well, that's one of the worst engines ever made. It's an old aluminum V8 with a Lucas electrical system and Whitworth bolts. Shoot, them Whitworth bolts is a pain, tell you what. Them ain't metric, they ain't inches... HOLLEY Yes, OK, right. But who's engine is this, Mater? MATER Well, it's kinda hard to tell from this picture, ain't it? HOLLEY But you're the one who took it. FINN Holley. HOLLEY Oh, right. Yes, of course. "A good agent gets what he can, then gets out before he's killed." Sorry. MATER Agent? You mean like insurance agent, like, (SINGS) `Like a good neighbor, Mater is there'? Wait, you mean secret agents. You guys is spies! FINN Holley, in how many makes and models did this type of engine appear? Holley has these stats in seconds. Kid's play. HOLLEY It was standard in seven models over a 12-year period. At least 35,000 cars were made with this engine. Mater MOVES HIS SEAT FORWARD, through one part of the hologram so he's face-to-face with Holley. MATER You're pretty. 62. HOLLEY (ANNOYED) Yes, alright. Thank you. MATER And so nice. HOLLEY Just pay attention. She moves the engine photo so it's now blocking Mater again. FINN This seems like a dead end. If there were something in the photo that could narrow this down a bit I'd be a lot happier. MATER You might not be happy, but I bet this feller is. See how he's had most of his parts replaced? And see all them boxes over there? Them's all original parts. They ain't easy to come by. HOLLEY Rare parts. FINN That's something we can track. HOLLEY Exactly! Holley drops her screen down. FINN Well done, Mater! I would never have seen that. (TO HOLLEY) I know of a black-market parts dealer in Paris, a treacherous lowlife. But, he's the only car in the world who can tell us whose engine this is. Mater, what would you say to setting up an informal task force on this one? MATER Wait, what? 63. FINN You obviously have plenty of experience in the field. MATER Well yeah I live right next to one. (thinks about it) I don't know, Finn. I ain't exactly been much help to anybody recently. FINN You're helping me. Please, Mater. MATER Well, okay. But you know I'm just a tow truck, right? FINN Right. And I'm just in the import/export business. Siddeley? SIDDELEY Yes, Finn? FINN Paris. Tout de suite. MATER Yeah, two of them sweets for me too, Sid! (TO HOLLEY) You know, I always wanted to be a spy. HOLLEY (SMILING SWEETLY) Really? Me too. SIDDELEY Afterburners, sir? FINN Is there any other way? EXT. JET - MOVING Siddeley HITS THE JUICE, they kick forward like a mule as we CUT TO --- A MONTAGE OF PARIS: Mater attempts to merge into roundabout traffic; mimes annoy tourists at the Eiffel Tower; a painter works his magic on an unattractive couple; a couple kisses on the most romantic spot in the world; we might even catch GASTOW'S RESTAURANT. 64. The charming, low-key introduction ends with a SWEEPING VISTA of Paris's center from far away as we CRANE DOWN INTO --- EXT. STREET - DAY --- a dirty street in the 1st Arrondissement. Finn and Holley drive along together as Mater, playing "spy," darts back and forth behind them from doorway to dumpster, "hiding out." He's having a ball. FINN (TO HOLLEY) Once we're inside, stay close. Don't bother checking VIN numbers for criminal records, they're all dodgy here. HOLLEY No VIN scans. Got it. FINN Don't talk to anyone. Don't look at anyone. And absolutely, positively no idling. Are we clear? HOLLEY Yes, right. No idling. Yes, sir. FINN Mater? MATER Yeah, Finn? FINN We're not here to go shopping. As Finn and Holley and Mater turn the corner... MATER Shopping? What do you mean? Why would I --- Mater turns the corner and enters a massive Les Halles- inspired Parisian market filled with car parts. A tow truck's dream. MATER Dadgum. MERCHANTS - Parts for sale, Monsieur! - Monsieur! Parts for sale! 65. IN THE MARKET - MOMENTS LATER Mater rolls along, impressed by the goods for sale. MATER You gotta be kidding me - they've got everything here. Look at them hoods! I could use a hood. Mater continues on though, heeding Finn's advice. MATER Sorry fellers, I gotta go. INT. ENCLOSED MARKETPLACE - DAY Mater, now out of sight of Finn and Holley, passes a darkened stall. He STOPS, peers in. There's someone in there. MATER Excuse me. What are you selling? It suddenly OPENS its headlights revealing... EYES!! In French, the mutant car pitches his wares to Mater. Mater FREAKS OUT, speeds off, TERRIFIED. AROUND THE CORNER - FINN AND HOLLEY A few car lengths ahead of Mater. They roll along, looking for... Aha! Finn and Holley recede into the shadows. In FINN'S SIDE MIRROR: TOMBER, a three-wheeled parts dealer, argues with a French customer. FINN There you are. Mater suddenly turns the corner, sees Finn and Holley. MATER Man, there are some great --- FINN Mater, get back! Too late. Tomber sees Mater, then notices FINN, reflected in a hubcap. He BOLTS. Finn and Holley give chase. MATER Hey, wait for me! Tomber, skidding away, kicks a tent in Finn's way. Holley quickly pivots RIGHT and disappears. Where did she go? 66. Finn, hot in pursuit, leaps another obstacle and loses ground TO --- --- Tomber who turns a corner and finds himself grill to grill with HOLLEY. He whips to the left but TURNS OVER, rolling sideways and CRASHING to a stop. Holley ZAPS him with ELECTROSHOCKERS. Finn suddenly arrives, stops her. FINN (TO HOLLEY) Have you lost your mind?! HOLLEY But I thought --- FINN Mater! This chap needs a tow. Hook him up. MATER Sure thing. CUT TO: MOMENTS LATER - Mater tows Tomber, following Finn and Holley. TOMBER You rusty piece of junk, get your dirty hook off me! INT. A SMALL GARAGE - MOMENTS LATER Finn throws open a door. Cars scatter like cockroaches. FINN (to the cars) Allez! Maintenant - vite! Mater unhooks an angry Tomber who spits in French. Finn pulls the door down. As it LATCHES TIGHT --- TOMBER (TO FINN) Electroshock! Are you kidding me?? FINN Easy, Tomber. This is her first field assignment - she didn't know you were my informant. HOLLEY Informant? 67. TOMBER A rookie, eh? I never liked new car- smell. Holley FUMES with anger. FINN Tomber was doing 20 to life in a Moroccan impound the first time I saved him, if I recall correctly. TOMBER Speaking of recalls, you're getting up there in mileage aren't you, Finn? HOLLEY Alright, we get it. You both know each other, you're both old. So. Holley shoots a HOLOGRAPHIC PHOTO of the engine in front of Tomber. HOLLEY There you go, informant. Inform us. Tomber eyes the photo. He recoils, unimpressed. TOMBER That is the worst motor ever made. Suddenly, Tomber narrows his gaze. TOMBER Wait. That oil filter... those wheel bearings. FINN Do those parts look familiar, Tomber? TOMBER They should. I sold them. HOLLEY To whom? TOMBER No idea. He's my best customer, but he always does his business over the phone. I was always wondering why he needs so many parts. Now I know. 68. MATER Well, a lemon needs parts. Ain't nothing truer than that. FINN "Lemon?" MATER Yeah, you know. Cars that don't ever work right. Lemons is a tow truck's bread and butter. Like them Gremlins and Pacers we run into at the party and the race and the airport. FINN Holley, pull up the pictures from the oil platform. I want to know what other type of cars were out there. Holley complies and suddenly PHOTOS OF CARS FROM THE OIL PLATFORM hang suspended in the air in front of them. HOLLEY Right. Let's see. There were Hugos. And Trunkovs. FINN Mater, are these cars considered lemons? MATER Is the Popemobile Catholic? HOLLEY Finn. Everyone involved in this plot is one of history's biggest loser cars. Holley refers to the ENGINE PHOTO, which now rises forward as the prominent picture, perhaps the only one in view. FINN And they're all taking their orders from the car behind this engine. TOMBER This explains it! FINN What, Tomber? 69. TOMBER Gremlin, Pacer, Hugo and Trunkovs never get together. But they're having a secret meeting in two days. FINN Where's this meeting taking place? TOMBER Porto Corsa, Italy. MATER That's where the next race is! FINN Then there's a good chance our mystery engine will be there too. TOMBER Your chances are more than good. I just sent him a new clutch assembly yesterday... to Porto Corsa. FINN Holley, contact Stephenson and have him meet us at Gare de Lyon. Good work. EXT. FRENCH ALPS - NIGHT STEPHENSON, a THREE-CAR LUXURY BULLET TRAIN speeds along a snow-covered mountain in the dead of night, its halogen headlight cutting through the darkness. It DIPS into a TUNNEL --- MATER (O.S.) Boy, I'll tell you what. That three- wheeled feller had to be right about a big meeting. INT. SPY CAR - MOVING - NIGHT Mater, Finn and Holley scroll through surveillance-style photos of TRAFFIC on an Italian street. They're in the front train car, which doubles as a luxury seating area and intelligence command center. MATER You never see this many lemons in one town. Unless there's a swap meet, or something. (TO HOLLEY) (MORE) 70. MATER (CONT'D) Hey, how'd you get all them pictures? HOLLEY Well, I remotely reprogrammed Porto Corsa's red light cameras to do recognition scans. MATER Wow, not only is you the prettiest car I ever met, but you the smartest too. HOLLEY Thank you. I think. MATER That's a familiar sight. Mater refers to a photo of VICTOR HUGO, the HUGO Lemonhead, being towed by an EASTERN EUROPEAN TOW TRUCK. MATER A Hugo being towed. But he looks absolutely perfect. FINN Of course. They must be the heads of the lemon families. MATER Makes sense. If I was rich and broke down every day, I'd hire me to tow me around all the time too. FINN We've got to infiltrate that meeting. It's the only way to find out who's behind all this. HOLLEY (EYEING MATER) Hang on a minute. MATER What? HOLLEY Hold still. Holley SNAPS Mater's picture, temporarily blinding him. MATER Ahh! 71. Holley turns back to her monitor. Mater's face appears on screen. She quickly GRAFTS it over the Hugo's tow truck's. FINN Good job, Miss Shiftwell. Holley isn't sure what surprises her more: the compliment or how pleased it makes her. HOLLEY Thank you, Finn. MATER Boy, I sure wish my friends could see me now. EXT. SMALL TOWN - ITALY - OUTSIDE PORTO CORSA - DAY A quaint Italian piazza. A pristine MASERATI FOUNTAIN, complete with ancient trident, looms in our view. Luigi and Guido roll into view. LUIGI Guido, your eyes do not deceive you. We are in Italy. We are home! Sarge, Fillmore and McQueen exit a WGP transport truck. FILLMORE Hey, Luigi. Which way to the hotel, man? LUIGI What? No friends of mine will stay in a hotel in my village. You will stay with my --- Uncle Topolino! UNCLE TOPOLINO, a distinguished 1937 Fiat Topolino, rolls forward. He greets them warmly with affectionate Italian salutations as word of Guido and Luigi's arrival spreads. The square FILLS with family and friends. EXT. PIAZZA - DUSK A festive homecoming party. Lights strung across the square. Music and dancing. Fillmore and Sarge are at a dining table. SARGE How do they do it? These are the same ingredients as back home, but it tastes so good. 72. �� FILLMORE It's organic, man. SARGE Tree hugger. LIGHTNING MCQUEEN rolls along the periphery of the square, seems lost in thought. UNCLE TOPOLINO (O.S.) Race car. Uncle Topolino beckons McQueen over. UNCLE TOPOLINO You look so down, so low. Is like you have flat tires. MAMA TOPOLINO, a hefty Italian grandmother pipes up, a mile a minute then drives off, now a car on a mission. UNCLE TOPOLINO She said you look like you're starving. That she's going to make you a big meal, and fatten you up. MCQUEEN No, Mama Topolino, please. You don't need to make a fuss! Too late. She's disappeared inside her kitchen. UNCLE TOPOLINO Capisco. I understand. Is a problem, yes? Between you and a friend? MCQUEEN How'd you know that? UNCLE TOPOLINO A wise car hears one word and understands two. McQueen takes this in, impressed. UNCLE TOPOLINO That, and Luigi told me. While Mama cooks, come and take a stroll with me. They amble forward, Uncle Topolino setting the pace. 73. MCQUEEN I brought my friend Mater along on the trip. And I told him he needed to act different, that we weren't in Radiator Springs. UNCLE TOPOLINO This Mater. He's a close friend? MCQUEEN He's my best friend. UNCLE TOPOLINO Then why would you ask him to be someone else? McQueen considers this - a realization. MCQUEEN What did I do? I said some things during our fight... UNCLE TOPOLINO You know, back when Guido and Luigi used to work for me, they would fight over everything. IN THE SQUARE - Guido dances with a girl. Luigi suddenly CUTS IN. They begin to ARGUE. UNCLE TOPOLINO They fight over what Ferrari was the best Ferrari; which one of them look more like a Ferrari... There were even some non-Ferrari fights. Guido now LIFTS Luigi, cuts BACK in. UNCLE TOPOLINO So I tell them, va bene. It's okay to fight. Everybody fights now and then, especially best friends. McQueen takes this in. Seems to take some small comfort. UNCLE TOPOLINO But you gotta make up fast. McQueen's comfort quickly evaporates. UNCLE TOPOLINO No fight more important than friendship. 74. Guido and Luigi now dance together with the girl and her friend who has just arrived. All having a great time. They dance past us, crossing in front of MCQUEEN AND UNCLE TOPOLINO. We STAY WITH them. UNCLE TOPOLINO Chi trova un'amico, trova un tesoro. MCQUEEN What does that mean? MAMA TOPOLINO (ARRIVING) Whoever find a friend, find a treasure. Mama Topolino drops a tray of food in front of McQueen. MAMA TOPOLINO Now, mangia! Eat! ON MCQUEEN, distant, taking all of this in, lost in thought as, in the background, Uncle Topolino and Mama Topolino talk, then argue, then make up (all in Italian) all while we stay on McQueen's pensive face --- INT. TRAIN TUNNEL - LATER Stephenson glides along, all business. STEPHENSON Finn, one hour to Porto Corsa. INT. TRAIN - MOVING - LATER FINN Thank you, Stephenson. Finn watches as HOLLEY attaches a new EMERGENCY LIGHT on Mater's roof. It looks exactly like his old one. HOLLEY That should just about do it. FINN Perfect. HOLLEY So Mater, it's voice-activated. But you know, everything's voice- activated these days. 75. MATER What? I thought you was supposed to be making me a disguise. MATER'S COMPUTER Voice recognized. Disguise Program Initiated. ZWWWWAT! A HOLOGRAPHIC disguise suddenly umbrellas out, emitted from Mater's roof. It drops a clean cloaking image of the EASTERN EUROPEAN TOW TRUCK over Mater. MATER Cool! Hey, computer. Make me a German truck! MATER'S COMPUTER Request acknowledged. ZWATTTT! Mater suddenly wears lederhosen and a German hat. MATER Check it out. I'm wearing Materhosen. Make me a monster truck! MATER'S COMPUTER Request acknowledged. He's transformed into Dracula, complete with fangs. MATER (ALA DRACULA) I vant to siphon your gas. Now make me a taco truck! MATER'S COMPUTER Request acknowledged. MATER A funny car! MATER'S COMPUTER Request acknowledged. Finn suddenly pushes a button, stops the madness. FINN The idea is to keep a low profile, Mater. Mater, chastened, moves on. 76. MATER So I just go in, pretend to be this truck. FINN And leave the rest to us. HOLLEY Now hold still. Holley turns back to her work. The disguise's cloaking is larger than Mater. As a result, Holley must dial it back to fit his body. As she carefully calibrates the hologram: HOLLEY I have to do the final fitting on your disguise. Holley STOPS. The 3D disguise is now flush with his frame, but dents SHOW THROUGH. HOLLEY Oh dear. That's no good. She deploys A BONDO SPRAYER on a robotic arm, moves it toward one of Mater's DENTS. Mater pulls away. MATER Hey, what are you doing? HOLLEY The disguise won't calibrate effectively without a smooth surface to graft onto. MATER Oh. For a second there I thought you was trying to fix my dents. HOLLEY I was. MATER Well then no thank you. I don't get them dents buffed, pulled, filled or painted by nobody. They're way too valuable. HOLLEY Your dents are valuable? MATER I come by each one of them with my best friend Lightning McQueen. (MORE) 77. MATER (CONT'D) I don't fix these. I want to remember these dents forever. HOLLEY So you were being serious in Paris? McQueen isn't just part of your cover? FINN Friendships can be dangerous in our line of work, Mater. MATER But my line of work is towing and salvage. FINN Right. And Miss Shiftwell's is designing iPhone apps. MATER No, I meant for real. I --- HOLLEY It's okay. Say no more. I'll work around the dent. FINN In the meantime... Finn hits a button. The walls transform into a MASSIVE WEAPONS CACHE. FINN You look a little light on weapons. Off Mater's RXN --- EXT. ALPS - DAWN --- STEPHENSON EMERGES LOUDLY from a tunnel. He powers forward, starts his descent into Italy --- BRENT MUSTANGBURGER (V.O.) You are looking live at beautiful Porto Corsa, Italy, on the Italian Riviera. What a magnificent setting for the second race of the World Grand Prix. EXT. PORTO CORSA, ITALY - DAY Over sweeping helicopter BEAUTY SHOTS: 78. DAVID HOBBSCAP (V.O.) Well Brent, they call this place "The Gem of the Riviera," and it's easy to see why. A local fishing boat chugs through an idyllic waterway, beneath bridges that connect hillside villas. DAVID HOBBSCAP (V.O.) With its secluded beaches and opulent casinos, Porto Corsa truly is a playground for the wealthy. A long line of RICH-LOOKING YACHTS in the harbor. DAVID HOBBSCAP (V.O.) And everyone who's anyone is here today. Rich SPORTS CARS drive past pricey shops. DAVID HOBBSCAP (V.O.) From the ultra-rich and super- famous, to world leaders and important dignitaries. THE POPEMOBILE, visible in a crowd, drives through town. DARRELL CARTRIP (V.O.) You aren't kidding, David. You can't do a three-point turn around here without bumping into some celebrity! HELICOPTER SHOT of the Casino. BRENT MUSTANGBURGER (V.O.) Welcome everyone to the second race of the World Grand Prix! CUT TO: MUSTANGBURGER, HOBBSCAP and CARTRIP in the control booth. BRENT MUSTANGBURGER The big news continues to be Allinol. Sir Miles Axlerod spoke to the press earlier today to answer questions about its safety. FOOTAGE OF THE PRESS CONFERENCE - Miles Axlerod, at a podium, addresses the press throng. He looks a bit exasperated. 79. MILES AXLEROD An independent panel of scientists has determined that Allinol is completely safe. Okay? Safe! There it is. BRENT MUSTANGBURGER So the race will go on, folks. RACE GRAPHICS show Francesco with 10 points at the top of the race standings. DARRELL CARTRIP But the question everyone is asking: Will the real Lightning McQueen show up today? ON THE TRACK - As the racers begin to get into position on the grid. BRENT MUSTANGBURGER (V.O.) Well, he better. Talk about a home- track advantage. Francesco Bernoulli grew up racing on this course. ITALIAN TRACK ANNOUNCER (V.O.) Signore e signori, in the pole position, numero uno... The crowd is cheering already, knows who this is. ITALIAN TRACK ANNOUNCER (V.O.) ... Francescoooooo! The Italian crowd roars and chants for their hometown hero. FRANCESCO (to the crowd) Bellissima! Thank you for your support. (TO MCQUEEN) And your big mistake, McQueen! McQueen missed this comment. He approaches his grid position, lost in thought. ITALIAN TRACK ANNOUNCER (V.O.) In the secondo position. Numero novantacinque. Lightning McQueen! Cheers (not so thunderous, obviously) from the crowd. McQueen doesn't seem to notice. 80. IN MCQUEEN'S PIT - His team exchanges looks, worried. LUIGI McQueen? Is everything okay? FILLMORE If you're worried about your fuel, man, don't. It's perfectly safe. BACK ON THE STARTING GRID MCQUEEN No, guys, I just really wish Mater were here. FRANCESCO (O.S.) Francesco understands, McQueen. Francesco parks next to him, grinning. MCQUEEN Oh, great. Here it comes. What've you got, Francesco? FRANCESCO For famous race cars like Francesco and well... you, to be far away from home is not easy. MCQUEEN I think you forgot the insulting part of that insult. FRANCESCO Is no insult. When Francesco is away from home, he misses his mama just like you miss your tow truck amico. MCQUEEN Gee, I maybe misjudged you, because that's exactly how I --- FRANCESCO Of course, I am at home. And my mama is right here. Francesco refers to his MAMA who sits in a special box in the crowd, cheering him on, blowing him kisses. FRANCESCO (YELLS) Mama! Don't worry, Mama! (MORE) 81. FRANCESCO (CONT'D) McQueen is very sad! I will beat his cry-baby bottom today! MCQUEEN And there's the insult we were missing. Grazie! THE LIGHTS - CLICK FROM RED TO GREEN --- THE RACERS TAKE OFF! EXT. PORTO CORSA - DAY SHOTS of the racers making the first few turns through the city streets. We PAN to the CASINO DI PORTO CORSA. The Beaux Arts-style architecture towers atop a hill, overlooks the course. EXT. THE CASINO - MOMENTS LATER A group of thuggish HUGOS - ugly Eastern European cars - wait impatiently at the front. A LIMOUSINE-STYLE car carrier rolls up to the roundabout. An esteemed, elderly GREMLIN rolls past with a group of GREMLIN THUGS who usher him into the casino. ALEXANDER HUGO Gremlins. Man, those are some ugly cars. Look like someone stole their trunks. The THUGS all SNICKER. HOLLEY Scusatemi, tutti! Signori! Holley arrives, sporting a decent Italian accent. HOLLEY Mio nonno, my grandfather, has broken down. If one of you would help I would be so thankful. IVAN, AN EASTERN EUROPEAN TOW TRUCK (the one Holley and Finn prepped Mater to impersonate), drives forward. IVAN THE TOW TRUCK Sounds like you need some "roadside assistance". ANOTHER HUGO She was talking to me, Ivan. 82. IVAN THE TOW TRUCK Oh really? Prove it. HOLLEY No, no, don't fight over me. Holley directs her interest toward Ivan. HOLLEY Signore Tow Truck, per favore? CUT TO: MATER - He watches this from a safe hiding spot around a corner. FINN (V.O.) Get ready, Mater. CUT TO: FINN, at an outdoor cafe on the casino grounds. FINN You're on any moment now. CUT BACK TO: MATER, now looking a bit nervous. He backs out of sight. MATER I don't know about this, Finn. What if I screw things up? FINN (OVER RADIO) Impossible. Just apply the same level of dedication you've been using to play the "idiot tow truck" and you'll be fine. MATER It's just that them guys look pretty tough and --- Wait, did you say "idiot"? Is that how you see me? FINN (OVER RADIO) That's how everyone sees you. Isn't that the idea? I tell you, that's the genius of it. No one realizes they're being fooled because they're too busy laughing at the fool. Brilliant. While Finn talks, Mater takes this in. He catches his own reflection in a nearby window. Seems to be seeing himself with new eyes. 83. ZZZZATTT! Mater jumps at the sound, turns in time to see Ivan SHOCKED UNCONSCIOUS by Holley's ZAPPERS. HOLLEY Why aren't you in disguise? MATER I, uh--- HOLLEY Come on, there's no time. Go! MATER Okay, okay. Computer: disguise. MATER'S COMPUTER Request acknowledged. EXT. AROUND THE NEXT CORNER - CONTINUOUS Mater, now disguised as Ivan the Tow Truck, approaches the Hugos. Another LIMO CAR CARRIER arrives. ALEXANDER HUGO It's the boss! He is coming! The carrier parks and the back opens. VICTOR HUGO waits. VICTOR HUGO Ivan! Mater realizes Victor is talking to him. He hops to it. VICTOR HUGO Ivan, why do you insult me so by making me wait? Mater, now with Victor hooked, tows him in the front doors of the casino. ON FINN - now joined in the cafe by Holley who monitors everything and SEES EVERYTHING MATER SEES on her display. HOLLEY He's in. EXT. RACE COURSE - PORTO CORSA - DAY McQueen and Francesco battle for first place --- BRENT MUSTANGBURGER (V.O.) The racers are now making their way around the hairpin, and headed downhill toward the casino bridge. 84. INT. CASINO - DAY Cars play craps with FUZZY DICE; slot machines with odometers for jackpot numbers; cigarette girls sell car items. CIGARETTE GIRL CAR Air Freshener, antenna balls, sparkplugs... ON MATER - He tows VICTOR. They are flanked on all four corners by Hugo thugs, ala a presidential motorcade. The largess of the interior design seems to finally snap Mater out of his funk. MATER (WIDE-EYED) Wow, this place looks like it's made out of gold. The Hugos on either side of Mater exchange a look. HOLLEY (OVER RADIO) That's because it is, Mater. Now, be careful what you say. MATER Why is that? What do you mean don't talk to you? (more talking from Holley which we cannot hear) So you want me to stop talking to you. Right now? ALEXANDER HUGO You are acting strange today, Ivan. MATER I have no idea what you're talking about... MATER'S P.O.V. - A digital readout isolates the Hugo and starts to scroll reams of information alongside. MATER ...Alexander Hugo, aka "Chop Shop Alex." IN A WIDER SHOT we realize this display is invisible to all but Mater. Some of Alex's other alias' include "Alexander Hu- Don't Go" and "Alexander the Not-So Great." 85. MATER Hey, you got a lot of aka's, Alex. But I guess that makes sense seeings how you's wanted in France, Germany, the Czech Republic... HOLLEY (cutting in to his DISPLAY) Mater! Stop it! Alexander Hugo, unaware of Holley's interruption, whispers to Mater as they turn a corner. ALEXANDER HUGO Okay, okay. Keep your voice down. You're gonna make me arrested. (to the other Hugos) Don't mess with Ivan today. He's in a bad mood. EXT. CASINO - DAY Holley, hearing this, can't believe it. FINN He's so good. INT. CASINO - DAY Mater tows Victor inside a private room, where inside are the WORLD'S WORST CARS including VLADMIR TRUNKOV, TUBBS PACER and J. CURBY GREMLIN. VLADIMIR TRUNKOV Victor! TUBBS PACER Hey, Victor! J. CURBY GREMLIN There you are. VLADIMIR TRUNKOV Come in, come in. J. CURBY GREMLIN Victor Hugo. I'm J. Curby Gremlin, from Detroit. It's good to see you. Now we can start. VICTOR HUGO Is the big boss here yet? 86. VLADIMIR TRUNKOV No, not yet. TUBBS PACER He's supposed to be here any minute. WHAM! A DOOR is thrown open O.S. Everyone turns, now silent. ON THE DOOR - It sits open. No one enters. The room of Lemons watch, nervous. ON MATER - Nervously watching too. EXT. CASINO - CONTINUOUS FINN Here we go. INT. PRIVATE ROOM - CASINO - CONTINUOUS A car finally appears. It's Zundapp. PROFESSOR ZUNDAPP Guten Tag! Everyone looks disappointed. TUBBS PACER It's just the Professor. VICTOR HUGO Zundapp, when is he coming? PROFESSOR ZUNDAPP He's already here. MONITORS descend from the ceiling. On them, an image of AN ENGINE - the same bloody engine from the photo. But this is a LIVE image. The car is being worked on. VOICE Welcome, everyone. The VOICE is garbled, scrambled. No way to determine who. ENGINE VOICE I wish I could be with you on this very special day but... my clutch assembly broke. You know how it is. The Lemons all nod in understanding. 87. TUBBS PACER Been there. J. CURBY GREMLIN Forget about it. VLADIMIR TRUNKOV We know how you feel. EXT. CASINO FINN Descramble that voice! HOLLEY (already on it) I'm trying... It's too sophisticated! INT. PRIVATE ROOM - CASINO - CONTINUOUS ENGINE VOICE We are here to celebrate. Today all your hard work pays off. The world turned their backs on cars like us. They stopped manufacturing us, stopped making our parts. The only thing they haven't stopped doing is laughing at us. They've called us terrible names... On VICTOR HUGO. ENGINE VOICE Jalopy. Rustbucket. On TUBBS PACER. ENGINE VOICE Heap. Clunker. On J. CURBY GREMLIN: ENGINE VOICE Junker, beater, wreck. On ZUNDAPP. ENGINE VOICE Rattletrap. And finally back on the monitor. The ENGINE. 88. ENGINE VOICE Lemon. But their insults just give us strength. Because today, my friends... The monitors switch to LIVE RACE FOOTAGE. ENGINE VOICE ...that all ends. On the VIDEO SCREENS - CARLA VELOSO'S ENGINE BLOWS --- EXT. RACE COURSE - CONTINUOUS Veloso swerves, attempts to mitigate a crash --- DARRELL CARTRIP (V.O.) There's smoke! On the casino bridge! DAVID HOBBSCAP (V.O.) Oh no. BRENT MUSTANGBURGER (V.O.) It's Carla Veloso, the Brazilian race car. She skids into a wall, hard. EXT. CASINO - CONTINUOUS FINN What just happened? HOLLEY (analyzing the data) I'm working on it. INT. PRIVATE ROOM - CASINO - CONTINUOUS The lemons are CHEERING. Mater is freaked out. ENGINE VOICE They laughed at us. But now it's our turn to laugh back. BOOM! Another racer blows an engine. Mater JUMPS again. EXT. RACE COURSE - SAME As the racer smashes into the railing --- 89. DAVID HOBBSCAP (V.O.) Another crash! It's number nine, Nigel Gearsley. ENGINE VOICE (V.O.) Embrace your inner lemon! Let it drive you! EXT. CASINO FINN Holley? HOLLEY I'm detecting an extremely strong electromagnetic pulse. Holley replays that last crash. The OUTLINE OF THE BEAM is seen hitting the racer. Holley TRACES THIS to its source --- --- a WGP CAMERA, which Grem and Acer have pointed at the racers from a tower position. HOLLEY Finn, it's the camera! FINN Where? HOLLEY On the tower. Finn TAKES OFF, speeding toward Grem and Acer --- ENGINE VOICE (V.O.) This was meant to be alternative fuel's greatest moment. EXT. GRANDSTANDS - RACE COURSE - CONTINUOUS Angry fans knock over cans of Allinol. One drives over an Allinol sign. They're fed up with it. ENGINE VOICE (V.O.) After today everyone will race back to gasoline. We RACK FOCUS to reveal another fan as he RIPS an Allinol banner down angrily. INT. PRIVATE ROOM - CASINO - CONTINUOUS The video screens are now filled with ONE IMAGE - of the OIL PLATFORMS in the Pacific from the beginning of the movie. 90. ENGINE VOICE And we, the owners of the world's largest untapped oil reserve, will become the most powerful cars in the world! EXT. STREETS OF PORTO CORSA - CONTINUOUS Finn ducks, weaves, speeds, and pushes his way through BYSTANDERS --- FINN Get out of the way! Andate! He speeds furiously through town. EXT. RACE COURSE - PORTO CORSA - CONTINUOUS McQueen and Francesco FLY PAST US. INT. PRIVATE ROOM - CASINO ENGINE VOICE They will come to us and they will have no choice, `cause they will need us. ON FINN - He SPEEDS up a road, Grem and Acer visible ahead of him. He LEAPS over the crevasse toward the AMC cousins --- Suddenly, FINN FREEZES. He's immobilized in mid-air! He looks up. A CHOPPER with a LARGE MAGNET hovers over him. ACER (TO FINN) We figured you might stop by. ENGINE VOICE (V.O.) And they will finally respect us. So hold your hoods high. After today you will never again be ashamed of who you are! Grem and Acer turn back to the camera. They line up Shu Todoroki, who's a bit further along now. FINN No! INT. PRIVATE ROOM - CASINO - CONTINUOUS ENGINE VOICE Long live Lemons! 91. EXT. RACE COURSE Grem ZAPS THE RACER. Flames burst from Todoroki. He loses control. BRENT MUSTANGBURGER (V.O.) Number seven is loose! Shu Todoroki! Shu takes down three more cars with him and others follow suit. It's a nightmare pileup. EXT. CASINO - SAME Holley sees Finn being flown away by the chopper. HOLLEY Finn. EXT. FINISH LINE - PORTO CORSA - CONTINUOUS BRENT MUSTANGBURGER (V.O.) Bumper to bumper as they approach the finish line. McQueen NOSES out Francesco for a win, both oblivious to what's just happened. BRENT MUSTANGBURGER (V.O.) McQueen's the winner, Francesco's second. And they have no idea what happened behind them. MCQUEEN Yeah! FRANCESCO Dah! This is impossible! MCQUEEN That's what I'm talking about. Kachow! Hey, where are all the other cars? FRANCESCO What is going on? They see the pile-up from an overhead monitor. Sirens blare as a MEDIC CHOPPER flies to the scene of the pile-up. 92. MCQUEEN (REALIZES) Oh no. CUT TO: MILES AXLEROD - LATER. He's near the casino. He's completely surrounded, 360 degrees, by press. He's drowned out by a blizzard of questions. BRENT MUSTANGBURGER Sir Axlerod! Is the final race in London still going to take place? PULL BACK to reveal we are watching this on monitors in the PRIVATE CASINO ROOM with the Lemonheads, Zundapp and Mater. MILES AXLEROD (ON TV) I suppose that... Look, "the show must go on" as they say. But now is not the time to talk about... J. CURBY GREMLIN I can't believe this is really happening. VLADIMIR TRUNKOV Shh, quiet! BRENT MUSTANGBURGER (ON TV) And Allinol? Will you require all the racers to still run on Allinol? VLADIMIR TRUNKOV Here it comes. On Miles Axlerod: He's devastated. MILES AXLEROD (ON TV) I cannot in good conscience continue to risk the lives of any more race cars. The final race will not be run on Allinol. WILD WHOOPING CHEERS fill the room. Lemonade corks are popped. BRENT MUSTANGBURGER (ON TV) There you have it. A clearly devastated Sir Miles Axlerod announcing that he will not require the cars to use Allinol for the final race. 93. PROFESSOR ZUNDAPP A toast! To the death of Allinol and alternative fuel forever! EXT. CASINO - CONTINUOUS Holley is already on the run. Speeding away. HOLLEY Mater. Abort the mission. They've got Finn. Get out of there. Get out of there right now! She turns a corner and STOPS. Her escape is now blocked by the same HUGO THUGS she tricked before. Another vehicle appears BEHIND HER, LOOMS. IVAN THE TOW TRUCK How is your grandfather? INT. PRIVATE ROOM - CASINO - CONTINUOUS The Lemonheads celebrate, chant "Long live lemons!" Mater, scared, turns to leave. He's stopped by ALEXANDER HUGO. ALEXANDER HUGO Isn't this a great party, Ivan? MATER Oh yeah, it's unbelievable. ALEXANDER HUGO You are not leaving, are you? MATER Uh, of course I ain't leavin'. MCQUEEN (O.S.) I'm just in shock like everybody... MATER McQueen? He turns, sees that McQueen is being interviewed on the monitors. MCQUEEN (ON TV) Crashes are part of racing, I know. But something like that shouldn't ever happen. 94. DARRELL CARTRIP (ON TV) They're letting you choose your fuel for the final race. Do you have any idea what it's going to be? MCQUEEN (ON TV) Allinol. The excitement suddenly DRAINS from the room. LEMONHEADS - What?! - Did he just say Allinol? After today? MCQUEEN (ON TV) My friend Fillmore says the fuel's safe. That's good enough for me. I didn't stand by a friend of mine recently. I'm not gonna make the same mistake twice. On Mater. He takes this in. BRENT MUSTANGBURGER (ON TV) So a surprising revelation from Lightning McQueen... Zundapp is already on the phone with their Big Boss who, based on his angry O.S. voice, sounds ticked off. PROFESSOR ZUNDAPP Yes, sir. Of course. Zundapp hangs up, turns to the room. PROFESSOR ZUNDAPP Allinol must be finished for good. McQueen cannot win the last race. Lightning McQueen must be killed. Mater's eyes open wide. MATER No! Mater backs up, KNOCKING his emergency light against one of the monitors. ZZZZZAT! His holographic disguise flickers away then quickly SCROLLS THROUGH all of his previous disguises, finally revealing rusty old Mater. PROFESSOR ZUNDAPP It's the American spy! 95. The thugs DRAW TERRIFYING WEAPONS. MATER Dadgum. MATER'S COMPUTER "Gatling gun" request acknowledged. WHIRRRRR! GUNS roll out of Mater on each side. MATER Shoot. I didn't mean --- MATER'S COMPUTER Request acknowledged. Mater SPRAYS BULLETS into the crowd. VLADIMIR TRUNKOV Get down! MATER Whoa!! The Lemons and Lemonheads hit the deck and RETURN FIRE --- Mater is THROWN BACKWARD by the force of the guns, back through some double doors and onto a BALCONY. MATER Wait wait! I didn't mean that kind of shoot! MATER'S COMPUTER Correction acknowledged. Deploying chute. WHOOM! A PARACHUTE BURSTS out of the back of Mater, he catches air and is YANKED INTO THE SKY! The Lemonheads watch him float away, amazed. ON MATER, out of the frying pan but still toasty. He looks around, notices: LIGHTNING MCQUEEN, far away, leaving the press podium. MATER McQueen! Mater looks down at the harbor, over which he flies. He spots a MOTORBOAT. Mater WHIPS his hook down, steals a ride behind the boat TOWARD MCQUEEN. 96. ITALIAN MOTORBOAT Aspetti! The motorboat isn't happy about this, tries to shake him. Mater is THROWN INTO A "HOTEL" sign, then SMASHES down through a Francesco souvenir stand. As he CRASHES onto the ground hard, we SMASH CUT TO --- EXT. SECURITY CHECKPOINT - WINNERS CIRCLE --- a barricade. Separating the press from the public, ITALIAN SECURITY TRUCKS stand guard. MATER Lemme through! Lemme through! MATER barrels around a corner. He's now covered in Francesco memorabilia and palm leaves. The word `HOT' now dangles off him like the world's biggest bling. He looks INSANE. MATER (TO SECURITY) You gotta let me in! I gotta get through to warn McQueen! Security eyes one another. This is serious. ITALIAN SECURITY #1 You cannot come through here. Back up, signore. ITALIAN SECURITY #2 (into a walkie-talkie) We have a lunatic at Gate Nove. MATER No, listen! I was disguised as a tow truck to infiltrate this Lemonhead meeting and my weapons system misinterperated what I was SAYING --- ITALIAN SECURITY #2 I repeat. Lunatic at Gate Nove. Mater spots McQueen far off in the distance. MATER McQueen! McQueen! JUST OFF THE PRESS STAGE - McQueen is led toward the exit. PRESS LIAISON Right this way, signore. 97. MATER (O.S.) (DISTANT) McQueen! MCQUEEN Mater? McQueen looks up but can only see A SEA OF VEHICLES, flashbulbs, cameras, TV trucks with those tall satellite antennae things that spindle toward the sky... BACK AT THE SECURITY BARRICADE - Mater, like a nimble running back, dances around to avoid capture by security. MATER McQueen! ITALIAN SECURITY #1 Back up, sir. Stop moving! Stop! Mater head fakes them and pushes through, into the crowd --- ITALIAN SECURITY #1 Oy! Stop! Ferma li! IN THE CROWD - Mater shoves his way through. He's still far in the back. MATER McQueen! ON MCQUEEN MCQUEEN That really sounded like Mater. Mater? PRESS LIAISON (TO MCQUEEN) Signore... ON MATER, getting CLOSER... MATER McQueen, they're gonna kill you!! ON MCQUEEN - Okay, he's positive that was his friend, but where is he? MCQUEEN Mater?! McQueen spots a TOW HOOK, moving through the crowd toward him, "Jaws"-like. 98. MCQUEEN Excuse me. McQueen disappears into the press crowd. PRESS LIAISON No, no, where are you going? Please, Mr. McQueen! McQueen pushes through the press. MCQUEEN Scusi. Mater! Scusi... McQueen tracks the tow hook, gets closer. He pushes through the last few vehicles --- MCQUEEN Mater, I'm so glad to see you. I'm so sorr --- It's NOT MATER. It's IVAN, the Hugo Thug's tow truck. IVAN THE TOW TRUCK Lightning McQueen! I am a huge fan. MCQUEEN (CONFUSED) Oh, I'm sorry. I thought I heard--- IVAN THE TOW TRUCK Yes, but that was me. I said, "You killed out there today." You're the best. MCQUEEN What? Oh. I mean, thanks. PRESS LIAISON Right this way, signore --- Now the Press Liaison and his assistants are pushing McQueen back in the other direction --- MCQUEEN (as he's pulled away) I really thought I heard my friend. As he's pulled away, press and onlookers start to come between him and Ivan, who hasn't moved. 99. IVAN THE TOW TRUCK (TO MCQUEEN) In England you'll be finished. At the finish line. Ivan is now obscured again. MCQUEEN Wait, what? The ITALIAN PRESS being to swarm. PRESS LIAISON Please, the world press is waiting. You come with me, please. McQueen is pulled back --- EXT. STREET - PORTO CORSA - MOMENTS LATER --- just as Mater, now BOUND and with HIS MOUTH TAPED, is pulled away and thrown into the back of a transport vehicle. He lands hard on his side, spits out his TAPE. MATER Let me go! PROFESSOR ZUNDAPP You actually care about that race car. A pity you didn't warn him in time. As the doors close on Mater --- PHHHHHSSSSSSTTTTTTT! A thick, noxious gas starts to fill the truck. On MATER as the knockout gas works its magic. HIS EYES CLOSE. CUT TO: BLACK SCREEN. MATER (V.O.) Idiot? Is that how you see me? FINN (V.O.) That's how everyone sees you. I tell you, that's the genius of it. FADE IN on Mater, back at the Casino, eyeing his reflection in the glass window. It's the same moment from before except now we are watching it from a DETACHED, FLOATING PERSPECTIVE. 100. FINN (OVER RADIO) No one realizes they're being fooled because they're too busy laughing at the fool. - IN THE KABUKI THEATER IN JAPAN - Again, from before. Mater makes a spectacle of himself, WHOOPING AND HOLLERING in the stands with the face paint on. MATER Domo arigato! McQueen, Fillmore, Guido, Luigi, Sarge and patrons eye Mater, embarrassed and angry. - IN THE JAPANESE MUSEUM - The moment of Mater banging on the Zen rock garden's glass. Except that now we see all sorts of disappointed and eyebrow raising reactions. MATER You done good! You got all the leaves! JEFF GORVETTE Check out that tow truck. LEWIS HAMILTON I wonder who that guy's with? MCQUEEN (HUMILIATED) Will you guys excuse me just for one little second? We now REVEAL that this FLOATING, THIRD PERSON PERSPECTIVE is MATER. He's INSIDE his past, watching it from others' points of view. He doesn't like what he sees. - ON MATER, now at the sushi bar. MATER Now that's a scoop of ice cream! Mater swallows the wasabi with one big bite. He SCREAMS! The sushi bar patrons blanch with revulsion at his wail. - ON THE FOUNTAIN, as Mater peels into full view of everyone else at the party. As Mater laps up water from a fountain: MCQUEEN (EMBARRASSED) Mater?! 101. ALL THE RACERS, with FRANCESCO front and center, guffaw at Mater. - On MCQUEEN, now scolding Mater moments later. MATER I never leak oil. Never. MCQUEEN Mater, you have to get a hold of yourself. You're making a scene! - IN MCQUEEN'S PIT GARAGE, after the Japanese race. MATER Wait a minute. I didn't screw you up, did I? MCQUEEN I lost the race because of you! MATER Maybe if I talked to somebody, or--- MCQUEEN I don't need your help. I don't want your help! - Now BACK AT THE PARTY, a moment we didn't see before but which presumably happened. Mater is BANGING a ceremonial GONG, to the horror of Japanese guests. MATER Bang a gong, get it on! GONNNNNNG!!! --- On the PARTYGOERS, RACE CARS, PARTY STAFF - they're all laughing at Mater as McQueen's final words blend in, making a DISSATISFIED CACOPHONY MCQUEEN Listen, this isn't Radiator Springs. This is exactly why I don't bring you along to these things! Off the GONG at the party --- INT. BIG BENTLEY - DAY --- to the GONG of a CLOCK. CLOSE ON MATER as he OPENS HIS EYES. 102. All around him, all he sees are GIANT PIECES OF MECHANIZED CLOCKWORK. HOLLEY and FINN are here too, strapped bumper to bumper in the divots of large clock movements. MATER Holley! Finn! Where are we? FINN We're in London, Mater. Inside Big Bentley. EXT. BIG BENTLEY - CONTINUOUS The BIG HAND finishes ADVANCING one minute. It's 3 PM. INT. BIG BENTLEY - CONTINUOUS Suddenly Mater DROPS QUICKLY down toward --- --- whirring, scary machinery. MATER Woaaaah! --- WHAP! The chain yanks to a STOP. Mater, instead of being 30 feet from death, is now 20. Finn and Holley are only a few clicks closer to being crushed themselves. The clock ticks to 3:01. MATER This... this is all my fault. FINN Don't be a fool, Mater. MATER But I am, remember? You said so. FINN When did I... Oh. Mater, I was complimenting you on what a good spy you are. MATER I'm not a spy! This echoes throughout the clock. 103. MATER I've been trying to tell you that the whole time. I really am just a tow truck. Finn and Holley take this in. HOLLEY Finn, he's not joking. FINN I know. MATER You were right, Finn. I'm a fool. And what's happened to McQueen is `cause I'm such a big one. This is all my fault. GREM and ACER arrive on a lift, roll into view on a catwalk. GREM Good, you're up! ACER And just in time! GREM Professor Z wanted you to have a front row seat for the death of Lightning McQueen. MATER (HOPEFUL) He's still alive? Acer whips a sheet away, revealing the WGP CAMERA, turns it toward the clock face. ACER Not for much longer. He pushes the camera through an open small window, turns it toward the course. Mater DROPS down again --- FINN and HOLLEY CLICK FORWARD. EXT. LONDON - DAY Big Bentley's big hand CLICKS ahead another minute. But we're a bit farther away from it than before. SALLY (O.S.) We came as soon as you called. 104. INT. MCQUEEN'S PIT - LONDON Sally, flanked by Red, Flo and Ramone, are in front of ---- --- McQueen and the rest of the team. MCQUEEN I called to talk to Mater. It never occurred to me that he wouldn't be there. RAMONE Sheriff is talking to Scotland Yard right now. FLO And Sarge is in touch with his friends in the British military. SALLY You just need to focus on the race. MCQUEEN I know, but Sal, with everything going on I'm not sure I should--- A HORN O.S. Someone's entering the pit. Everyone parts, revealing MILES AXLEROD. MCQUEEN Sir Axlerod. MILES AXLEROD I'm sorry to interrupt. MCQUEEN No, no, it's all right. MILES AXLEROD I just wanted to come down here and personally thank you. Because after Italy, I was finished. And then you gave me one last shot. MCQUEEN Listen, I --- MILES AXLEROD And I probably shouldn't be saying this at all but... I hope you win today. Show the world that they've been wrong about Allinol. McQueen takes this in. He looks at Sally. 105. SALLY Mater would want you to race. MCQUEEN All right. For Mater. EXT. THE STARTING GRID - MOMENTS LATER TIRES SQUEAL --- MCQUEEN, FRANCESCO and the other racers PEEL OUT --- We PAN UP to reveal the LEMONHEADS watching from a VIP box. EXT. RACE COURSE - LONDON - DAY McQueen leads Francesco as they approach Big Bentley... INT. BIG BENTLEY - LONDON - CONTINUOUS GREM Here he comes! Grem turns up the juice to the HIGHEST, DEATH-INDUCING LEVEL. Holley and Finn watch, helpless. Mater closes his eyes. Grem ZAPS MCQUEEN. EXT. RACE COURSE - LONDON McQueen SPEEDS PAST Big Bentley, unharmed. Oblivious to what was supposed to have just happened. INT. BIG BENTLEY - LONDON Zundapp suddenly SQUAWKS over the radio. PROFESSOR ZUNDAPP (OVER RADIO) What happened!? GREM I don't know, Professor. ACER What did you do? GREM (TO ACER) I didn't do nothin'. Shh! I'm talking to the Professor--- They're all talking at once and for a moment we cannot understand what is being said. 106. ACER You broke it. GREM Quiet! (INTO RADIO) I understand, sir. Yes. Grem hangs up. ACER What'd he say? GREM We go to the backup plan. MATER Backup plan?? GREM We snuck a bomb in McQueen's pit! ACER The next time he makes a stop, instead of saying "ka-chow," he's gonna go "ka-boom"! They LAUGH. Mater shudders, upset. GREM Don't feel bad, tow truck. You couldn't have saved him. ACER Oh, wait. You could have! Grem and Acer laugh. As they board the elevator: MATER Dadgum lemons. MATER'S COMPUTER Request acknowledged. Suddenly, Mater's GATLING GUNS rotate out again - a surprise to Mater. But they SPIN IN PLACE, empty. Grem and Acer just laugh more. GREM What, you didn't think we'd take your bullets? Mater NOTICES SOMETHING. 107. CLOSE ON WHAT MATER SEES: A small piece of his ropes have been shaved away by the Gatling. He carefully rotates his guns BACK IN, pretending like he's seen nothing. ACER That's right! You got nothin'. GREM (as the elevator descends) Who's the lemon now, huh? They're GONE. FINN Nice try, Mater. MATER Dadgum! MATER'S COMPUTER REQUEST ACK- The guns ROTATE OUT AGAIN, SPIN. Mater watches as the spinning barrels SLICE INTO the ropes, do some damage. MATER Dadgum! Dadgum! Dadgum! The COMPUTER responds with each "dadgum." The barrels continue to SPIN, CUTTING THROUGH the ropes. MATER DADGUMDADGUMDADGUMDADGUM --- PING! The ropes BREAK AWAY and Mater FALLS --- right toward the whirring machinery! HOLLEY Mater! Mater QUICKLY WHIPS his tow cable around, hooks a pipe and tosses himself to the ramp with a heavy THUD. He doesn't HESITATE: MATER I gotta get you all out of there! FINN There's no time. McQueen needs your help, Mater. 108. MATER But I can't, I'm just a tow truck. FINN It's up to you. Go to the pits and get everyone out. You can do that. MATER What about you guys? FINN We'll be okay. HOLLEY Go and get some more dents, Mater. EXT. BIG BENTLEY - LONDON Mater SPEEDS out the front door, a bat out of hell --- INT. BIG BENTLEY - LONDON - SAME On Finn and Holley, now closer to death. HOLLEY So we'll be "okay"? Really? FINN He wouldn't have left if I'd told him the truth. (re: his death trap) Being killed by a clock. Gives a whole new meaning to "your time has come." At this mention Holley seems to perk up, gets an idea. HOLLEY Time. That's it! She spies a GEARBOX below them, at least 20 feet down. Holley FIRES HER ELECTROSHOCKERS --- --- but they miss their target. She recoils them back. FINN What are you doing? HOLLEY Trying to turn back time. If I can just reverse the polarity... She FIRES them again. Direct hit! 109. Holley JUICES the gearbox with HIGH VOLTAGE. The CLOCK STOPS. It reverses itself. Finn and Holley's wheel now rotates AWAY from danger. FINN Good job! Quick thinking, Holley! EXT. LONDON - CONTINUOUS BIG BENTLEY, visible from street level, now moves BACKWARDS. Fast. CRANE DOWN TO --- --- Mater, speeding toward the track, unaware. MATER What's everybody on the wrong side of the road for?! INT. BIG BENTLEY - CONTINUOUS Finn and Holley are now moving in the opposite direction, toward ANOTHER GEAR! And it's going MUCH FASTER. They're seconds from a crushing death... HOLLEY Oh no! FINN Drive! They both DRIVE, fast as they can with FULL FORCE --- FINN Burn rubber!! They drive HARDER, separating bumpers with just enough room for the descending gear to SNAP THEIR ROPES! Their tires spinning, they both LAUNCH off in opposite directions, LAND HARD on opposing platforms. As Finn squeals around to Holley's side of the clock: FINN We've got to get to the course. Calculate the fastest way to --- Holley pops WINGS out of her side. HOLLEY Done. 110. FINN (IMPRESSED) Miss Shiftwell. HOLLEY They're standard issue now. FINN You kids get all the good hardware. They turn to leave when they STOP, see SOMETHING. It's an AIR FILTER on the ground. HOLLEY Oh no. That's Mater's. FINN I knew his escape was too easy. EXT. BIG BENTLEY - LONDON Finn BURSTS out the front doors of Big Bentley, speeds off as HOLLEY SMASHES through the clock face, careens into view flying over the traffic --- INT. PIT ROW - TRACK SIDE - DAY Mater bursts through the security gate with aplomb, tears through the pits and stops at MCQUEEN'S. LUIGI Mater! MATER Everybody get out! Get out now! Y'all gotta get out the pits! The ENTIRE RADIATOR SPRINGS GANG is here. MATER Hey, what are you guys doing here? SALLY We're here because of you, Mater. FLO Is everything okay? MATER No! Everything's not okay! There's a bomb in here! Y'all gotta get out! Now! 111. EVERYONE - A bomb? - Huh? - Woah. FINN (OVER RADIO) Mater! MATER (INTO RADIO) Finn! You're okay! EXT. LONDON STREETS - CONTINUOUS FINN Mater, listen to me. The bomb is on you. ON HIS REARVIEW DISPLAY: We can see that a BOMB has been detected, anchored to Mater's air filter. FINN They knew you'd try to help McQueen. When we were knocked out they planted it in your air filter. INT. MCQUEEN'S PIT - CONTINUOUS Mater SNORTS, blowing his air filter cover off. Cross-eyed, Mater sees the explosive device attached to him. He looks up: An ALLINOL CONTAINER hangs ominously over his head. MATER Uh-oh. MCQUEEN Mater! There you are! Mater turns. McQueen enters Pit Row, 100 yards away and closing in FAST. MATER Stop right there! MCQUEEN Oh man, I've been so worried about you! CUT TO: The view of this scene through the window of a luxury box. Reveal Zundapp in the window's reflection. He's watching from inside. He's poised to push a DETONATOR BUTTON. As Zundapp's front tire approaches the detonator --- 112. INT. MCQUEEN'S PIT - CONTINUOUS MATER Don't come any closer! MCQUEEN Are you okay? MATER No, I'm not okay. Stay away from me!! Mater PEELS OUT BACKWARDS, out onto the track. MCQUEEN No, wait. Wait! CUT TO: PROFESSOR ZUNDAPP - He hesitates, can't believe it. TV FOOTAGE OF MCQUEEN CHASING MATER BRENT MUSTANGBURGER (V.O.) Hold everything. A tow truck has just raced onto the track. And he's driving backwards! IN MCQUEEN'S PIT MCQUEEN Mater, wait! He breezes right through his pit, goes after Mater. DAVID HOBBSCAP (V.O.) Normally an emergency vehicle on the track means there's been an accident. BRENT MUSTANGBURGER (V.O.) Wait, wait. Lightning McQueen is chasing him! EXT. TRACK - DAY Mater drives up the track. McQueen gains, fast. Because Mater's going backwards, they're face-to-face (but still with some distance between them). MCQUEEN Mater, wait! 113. MATER Stay back! If you get close to me, you gonna get hurt real bad! MCQUEEN I know I made you feel that way before, but none of that matters because we're best friends! CUT TO: TV FOOTAGE OF MCQUEEN CHASING MATER BRENT MUSTANGBURGER (V.O.) And McQueen seems to be having a conversation with the tow truck! DARRELL CARTRIP (V.O.) I don't know who that truck is, Brent. But I'll tell you what, he's gotta be the world's best backwards driver. REVEAL ZUNDAPP is watching this footage from his luxury box. The closer McQueen gets to Mater the farther his tire ROLLS onto the detonator. But he holds back ever so slightly so as not to jump the gun. ON THE TRACK - McQueen gains on Mater. MATER McQueen, you don't get it. I'm the bomb! MCQUEEN Yes, Mater! You are the bomb! That's what I'm trying to say here. You've always been the bomb! And you'll always be the bomb. MATER Stay away! MCQUEEN No! Never! ON ZUNDAPP. He watches as McQueen SPEEDS UP. PROFESSOR ZUNDAPP Almost there... ON MCQUEEN. He's had enough screwing around. Here he comes. MCQUEEN I'm not...letting you... 114. He's going to catch him now. MCQUEEN ...get away again! McQueen JUMPS FORWARD, in an attempt to grab Mater's HOOK --- MATER (TO HIMSELF) Gotta keep away from McQueen. McQueen hooks Mater with his bumper JUST AS --- MATER'S COMPUTER Request acknowledged. TURBINE ROCKETS slide out of Mater. MCQUEEN Oh my gosh! BAWHOOOOOOM!!!!! Mater JOLTS forward with a rocket blast and disappears, taking McQueen with him. ON ZUNDAPP. He now freely PUSHES the detonator, but it says "OUT OF RANGE." Zundapp can't believe it. He FLIPS OUT. FARTHER UP THE TRACK - Francesco speeds along. ZHWAAAAAP!!! Mater and McQueen ZING PAST HIM with a RED BLUR. FRANCESCO What is happening? It's a bad dream. NOW EVEN FARTHER UP THE TRACK - Mater takes a turn, SMASHES THROUGH A FENCE and skids around a corner out of sight. A white, smoky JET TRAIL is all that remains. IN MCQUEEN'S PIT - All of Radiator Springs watches the television monitors, dumbfounded. BRENT MUSTANGBURGER (V.O.) And Lightning McQueen just blasted away, hooked to the now rocket- propelled tow truck. CUT TO: EXT. STREETS OF LONDON - DAY Overhead P.O.V.: Mater and McQueen swerve through the streets. 115. INT. LUXURY BOX - CONTINUOUS Zundapp is still furiously hitting the button as Holley drops into view just beyond the glass. Freaked, Zundapp does a 180 and SMASHES out a plate glass window, lands on a ridiculously large balloon tethered to the ground, and speeds off --- INT. ADJACENT LUXURY BOX - CONTINUOUS The LEMONHEADS watch, baffled, as Zundapp drives away. J. CURBY GREMLIN The Professor's on the run. TUBBS PACER Someone's gotta get McQueen. VLADIMIR TRUNKOV Get McQueen!! Grem and Acer are already out the door --- EXT. SIDE STREET - SAME Finn speeds into view, in time to see Zundapp turn a corner out of sight. FINN Holley. I'll get Zundapp, you help Mater. EXT. TRACK - SAME Holley, still in the air, turns --- HOLLEY Got it! FARTHER UP THE TRACK - Holley THUNDERS past Francesco and out of sight. FRANCESCO What is happening?! EXT. STREETS OF LONDON - SAME Finn screams around a corner, sees --- --- Professor Zundapp, speeding toward docks along the Thames where a COMBAT SHIP waits. 116. COMBAT SHIP Hurry, Professor! ON ZUNDAPP - With Finn gaining fast, he accelerates. Suddenly --- WHAP! He's been TETHERED by Finn with tensile cables now attached to his rear end. Zundapp SCREAMS like a little girl. FINN Do you really think I'm going to let you float away, Professor? Finn reels him in. Zundapp spins his wheels, caught. Suddenly Zundapp miraculously, inconceivably, GAINS TRACTION! Now it's FINN'S WHEELS that are spinning. ON THE COMBAT SHIP - the ELECTROMAGNET has been turned outward and switched on. He's PULLING ZUNDAPP AND FINN IN with the magnetic force. He pulls out a laser, TARGETS it at Finn's windshield. CUT TO: EXT. LONDON STREETS - SAME Mater, still towing McQueen, rockets around a corner, zips down another street --- MATER McQueen, let go! MCQUEEN Never! They pass a Gremlin with a headset. ON GREM AND ACER - Down another side street. They get this message, take off in the opposite direction. CUT BACK TO: EXT. DOCKS NEAR THE THAMES - CONTINUOUS FINN, tires squealing, loses more and more ground to the boat. Zundapp, the "rope" in this tug-of-war, buckles under the tension. PROFESSOR ZUNDAPP Give it up, McMissile! Finn releases a mess of bullets, grenades, and other weaponry into the air --- 117. THE MAGNET SUCKS it in quickly like a black hole --- THUNK! It all sticks to the magnet, right next to Finn's bullets. They're BOMBS, GRENADES, ROCKETS and one little detonator with a flashing, beeping light. Off the boat's RXN --- CUT TO: ANOTHER PART OF LONDON, AT STREET LEVEL KA-BOOOOOOM! A distant explosion (miles away) festoons into the air, visible over the rooftops. Holley suddenly WINGS into view. She sees --- Mater and McQueen, speeding up the street. HOLLEY Mater, stop! MATER No way! You could get hurt! Then she looks over, catches a glimpse of GREM AND ACER, bearing down on them from a side street. They're going to broadside Mater and McQueen. HOLLEY Oh no. ON MATER AND MCQUEEN - They're not aware of the impending impact. Holley DROPS FROM THE SKY, hits the pavement, SKIDS into the path of the AMCs and DEFLECTS THEM. They FLIP OVER Holley, Finn and McQueen and sail --- --- INTO A PUB --- --- where they skid across the room and SLAM into the bar, knocking a ROW OF BEER MUGS to the ground. IN THE PUB - MOMENTS LATER Grem and Acer are pulverized by the bar patrons. EXT. LONDON STREET - MOMENTS LATER Holley, McQueen and Mater are now stopped. HOLLEY Mater, we've got to get that bomb off you. 118. She's already SCANNING the bomb, working away. MCQUEEN Bomb? MATER Yeah, they strapped it to me to kill you as a back-up plan. MCQUEEN Back-up plan? Mater, who put a bomb on you? PROFESSOR ZUNDAPP (O.S.) Ahhhhh! Professor Zundapp suddenly ROLLS to a stop next to (a now totally freaked) McQueen, entangled in grappling hooks care OF --- --- Finn, who has him leashed. PROFESSOR ZUNDAPP (TO MCQUEEN) You. Why didn't my death ray kill you? MCQUEEN Death ray? FINN Turn off the bomb, Zundapp! PROFESSOR ZUNDAPP Are you all so dense? It's voice- activated. Everything is voice- activated these days. MATER Deactivate! Deactivate! BOMB'S COMPUTER VOICE Voice denied. The BOMB suddenly TRANSFORMS into a TIME BOMB, now complete with a countdown mechanism from 4:59... 4:58... Mater GASPS. PROFESSOR ZUNDAPP Oops. Did I forget to mention that it can only be disarmed by the one who activated it? Holley immediately shoves a GUN in Zundapp's grill. 119. HOLLEY Say it! PROFESSOR ZUNDAPP Deactivate. BOMB'S COMPUTER VOICE Voice denied. THE BOMB'S TIMER: It loses a full minute! Goes from 4:48 to 3:48 to 3:47... Mater GASPS. PROFESSOR ZUNDAPP (GRINNING) I am not the one who activated it. Would anyone else like to try? ZZZZZZATTT! Holley shocks him unconscious. FINN (TO HOLLEY) You read my mind. HOLLEY He was getting on my nerves. MCQUEEN What do we do? VICTOR HUGO (O.S.) It's very simple. VICTOR HUGO blocks the entrance to a side street. He's surrounded by Hugo relatives. VICTOR HUGO You blow up. The four streets surrounding them are now blocked by each of the Lemonheads and their families. MCQUEEN (TO MATER) I'm gonna go out on a limb here. These are the guys that want me dead, correct? VLADIMIR TRUNKOV It's nothing personal. MATER (to the Lemons) Fellers, listen. (MORE) 120. MATER (CONT'D) I know what you're going through. Everybody's been laughing at me my whole life too --- McQueen turns to Mater - he wasn't expecting that. The Lemons all eye each other, considering Mater's words. MATER --- but becoming powerful and rich beyond your wildest dreams ain't gonna make you feel better. J. CURBY GREMLIN Yeah, but it's worth a shot. WHOOM!!! He's BROADSIDED by a blast of water from O.S. It's Red! He's sitting outside an underground entrance, followed by Sally and the rest of the Radiator Springs gang. ALL OUT WAR ensues between the LEMONS, RADIATOR SPRINGS along with FINN and HOLLEY. FINN attaches his four-way cable hooks to the thugs and springs high in the air, crushing the four of them together. HOLLEY SPROUTS her wings, and knocks out two cars on her side. VARIOUS SHOTS OF RADIATOR SPRINGS KICKING BUTT: Guido pulls some LEMON tires off with his air gun. In seconds he has a stack of lugnuts next to him. GUIDO Pit stop. The two Pacers' tires all FALL OFF. Flo hits VLADIMIR TRUNKOV with her high-beams, BLINDING HIM. Sheriff BOOTS him. SHERIFF Not today, boys! Guido pushes away his tireless thug, YELLING AT HIM IN ITALIAN. Mater KARATE CHOPS lemons, three and four at a time. Ramone SPRAY PAINTS a lemon's windshield. 121. TUBBS PACER Retreat! A few Lemons turn back the way they came. BLOCKING THEIR PATH are a line of BRITISH MILITARY VEHICLES clad in digital camo, led by SARGE. SARGE Thanks for the help, Corporal. BRITISH CORPORAL Anything for one of pop's mates. And in the middle of all of this craziness we CUT TO --- --- MATER. WRENCH BITS are strewn all around him as Guido tries wrench after wrench to take the bolts off. No dice. Guido gestures wildly, spits Italian a mile a minute. MCQUEEN What's he saying?! What's wrong!? LUIGI None of his wrenches fit the bolts! This is a light bulb moment for Mater. He eyes the bolts. MATER I get it. I get it! I know what needs to be done. MCQUEEN Then do it! MATER What? No, I can't do it. Look, nobody takes me seriously. I know that now. This ain't Radiator Springs. MCQUEEN Yes it is. Mater looks at McQueen. It is? MCQUEEN You're yourself in Radiator Springs. Be yourself here. And if people aren't taking you seriously, then they need to change. Not you. I know that, because I was wrong before. Now you can do this. You're the bomb. 122. MATER Thanks, buddy. MCQUEEN No no no, you're the actual bomb. Now let's go! MATER Oh, right! Hang on! Mater HOOKS McQueen and they're off. They SHOOT PAST FINN, who's in the middle of battling lemons. FINN Where's he going? ON MATER AND MCQUEEN - Flying down a side street. MATER Computer! MATER'S COMPUTER Yes, Agent Mater. MATER I need that thing you done before to get me away from McQueen! MATER'S COMPUTER Request acknowledged. The ROCKET THRUSTERS kick in. They head right for a WALL. MCQUEEN Mater... MATER Now I need you to do the chute, the second kind not the first! MATER'S COMPUTER Deploying chute. Mater's chute POPS OPEN, catching air and sending Mater and McQueen SAILING INTO THE AIR. Mater starts to steer them the direction he wants. He and McQueen are FLYING OVER LONDON. EXT. BALCONY - BUCKINGHAM PALACE - DAY The QUEEN, her attendants, assorted dignitaries are here. 123. QUEEN Who's winning the race? Mater and McQueen drop from the sky. They land and skid to a halt just before the Queen's guards who DRAW THEIR WEAPONS. QUEEN'S GUARD Back up! Back away! QUEEN (STAR-STRUCK) It's Lightning McQueen! QUEEN'S GUARDS Get back! MCQUEEN No, no, it's okay! Tell them, Mater. Explain. MATER Okay! Somebody's been sabotaging the racers and hurting the cars and I know who. Oh wait... Your Majesty. Mater BOWS to the Queen. In doing so, the TICKING TIME BOMB angles into view. The clock's at T-minus 1:53. QUEEN'S GUARDS - Bomb! - It's a bomb! - Everybody down! - Look out! FINN (O.S.) Hold your fire! He can't disarm it! Finn dives onto the platform and rolls between the Queen and Mater. FINN Mater, I don't know what you're doing but stand down now! MATER (aside, to McQueen) This ain't nothing at all like Radiator Springs. MCQUEEN Mater, just cut to the chase! MATER Okay. 124. He turns to Miles Axlerod. MATER It's him. MILES AXLEROD What? Me? You've got to be crazy. Everyone exchanges confused looks, including Finn and Holley. MATER I figured it out when I realized you all attached this ticking time bomb with Whitworth bolts. The same bolts that hold together that old British engine from the photograph. Holley! Show that picture. HOLLEY O-kay... Holley projects the much discussed PHOTO OF THE ENGINE. MATER And then I remembered what they say about old British engines - "If there ain't no oil under `em, there ain't no oil in `em." MILES AXLEROD What is he talking about? MATER It was you leaking oil at the party in Japan. You just blamed it on me. MILES AXLEROD Electric cars don't use oil, you twit. MATER Then you're faking it. You didn't convert to no electric. We pop that hood we gonna see that engine from that picture right there. Mater moves toward Miles Axlerod to pop his hood. MILES AXLEROD This lorry's crazy. He's going to kill us all! Miles Axlerod BACKS UP to the edge of the stage. 125. MILES AXLEROD Stay away! HOLLEY But Sir Axlerod created the race, Mater. Why would he want to hurt anyone? MATER To make Allinol look bad so everybody'd go back to using oil. I mean, he said it himself with that disguised voice. MILES AXLEROD "Dee-sguised voice?" What are you talking about? You're nuts, you are! The QUEEN'S GUARDS have had ENOUGH. As has the PRINCE. PRINCE WHEELIAM This is going nowhere fast. We really should go, Grandmother. QUEEN One moment. I'd like to see where this is going. FINN Mater, he created Allinol. MATER Yeah, but what if he found that huge oil field just as the world was trying to find something else? Mater sticks his ticking bomb-nose into Miles Axlerod's grill. MATER What if he came up with Allinol just to make alternative fuel look bad? MILES AXLEROD "What if?" You're basing this on a "What if"?! GUARD Okay, that's it. And the QUEEN'S GUARDS spirit the Queen and Prince Wheeliam out of there FAST --- 126. MILES AXLEROD Wait! Somebody save me! The lorry's crazy! Now it's just Miles Axlerod, Mater, McQueen, Finn and Holley. Miles Axlerod's back tires slip on the edge of the podium as he is cornered by Mater. MILES AXLEROD Keep away, you idiot! 00:00:08... FINN Mater! HOLLEY Mater! 00:03...00:02... MILES AXLEROD Someone do something! Everyone FLINCHES, DUCKS or DIVES FOR COVER except McQueen, Mater and Axlerod --- MILES AXLEROD You're insane, you are! Deactivate!! The bomb FREEZES at 00:01. THE BOMB'S COMPUTER VOICE Bomb deactivated. Have a nice day, Sir Axlerod. General shock all around. Miles Axlerod realizes what he's done, looks terrified. Police surround him. Mater FLINGS Miles Axlerod's hood open with his hook, revealing AN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE, oil dripping from all sides. It MATCHES the photo. FINN The engine from the photo. HOLLEY It's a perfect match! MILES AXLEROD How did the tow truck figure it out? 127. MCQUEEN (TO MATER) It's official. You're coming to all my races from now on. MATER Now you're talking! Tire bump. EXT. BUCKINGHAM PALACE - DAY A massive crowd packs the adjacent streets and parks. INT. BUCKINGHAM PALACE - DAY Mater does the requisite "silly faces" in an attempt to break the composure of a Buckingham Palace Guard. It isn't working. McQueen approaches. MCQUEEN Mater, let's go. You're on. INT. QUEEN'S CHAMBER - BUCKINGHAM PALACE - DAY The Queen sits in attention at the front of the Main Ballroom. As Mater and McQueen approach: LORD STEWARD Your Majesty. May I present for the investiture of honorary Knighthood of the British Realm. Tow Mater of Radiator Springs. MCQUEEN Go get `em, buddy. McQueen joins his friends from Radiator Springs. Mater rolls forward. He bows, as if he's practiced it all day. QUEEN I hereby dub thee "Sir Tow Mater." Applause from all around. MATER (LOOKS UP) "Sir?" Shoot, you can just call me Mater, Your Majesty. I don't wanna hear none of this "Sir" business. By the way, have y'all met each other? Queen? McQueen. McQueen, Queen. McQueen? McMissile. (MORE) 128. MATER (CONT'D) McMissile, McQueen. Queen? McMissile. He continues introducing everyone as we CUT TO --- EXT. RADIATOR SPRINGS - DAY The town sign now reads "WELCOME TO RADIATOR SPRINGS - HOME OF LIGHTNING MCQUEEN AND SIR TOW MATER." EXT. FLO'S - DAY Cars surround Mater and McQueen. The rest of the Radiator Springs gang is here too, watches. VAN and MINNY are front and center. MATER So there I was: rocket jets going full blast, McQueen hanging on for dear life when suddenly them two nasty lemons come out of nowhere, guns drawed. We was goners. But then out of nowhere, this beautiful spy car swoops in from the sky to save us! MINNY That's a very entertaining story, young man. VAN Oh, Minny, please. Come on, none of this happened. Rocket jets? Flying spy cars? HOLLEY No, you're quite right. It does sound a bit far-fetched. The crowd turns, sees HOLLEY, wings out, swooping in. FINN is right below her, driving up the street. MATER Holley! Finn! HOLLEY Hello, Mater. It's so nice to see you again. MATER What're you doing here? 129. FINN Our satellites picked up an urgent communique. LUIGI So you got my e-mail. MATER Oh, man. Y'all is gonna have a great time. Everybody! This here's Finn McMissile. He's a secret agent. (WHISPERS) Don't tell nobody. And this is Holley Shiftwell. She's --- HOLLEY I'm Mater's girlfriend. It's so nice to meet you all. Everyone is shocked. Including Mater. Guido's jaw drops. LUIGI (TO MATER) Guido believe you now. FLO (TO HOLLEY) Whoa, honey. You got a nasty dent there. Indeed, Holley still wears the dent from when she saved Mater from Grem and Acer. VAN (already crushing on her) Was that from when you swooped in and saved them in London? MINNY Van! VAN What? I'm just asking. FLO (TO HOLLEY) Don't you worry, sweet pea. My baby Ramone can get that fixed up for you in no time. RAMONE Yeah, sure thing. No problemo. Just let me go get my tools. 130. HOLLEY Oh no no. I'm keeping that dent. It's way too valuable. Mater takes this in. LIZZIE A "valuable" dent? Oh, she's as crazy as Mater. MACK Those two are perfect for each other. MCQUEEN You know, there's one thing I still don't get. The bad guys hit me with the beam from the camera, right? So why didn't I, you know... MATER Explode in a fiery inferno? MCQUEEN Yeah. FINN We couldn't figure that one out either. HOLLEY Our investigation proved that Allinol was actually gasoline. And Miles Axlerod engineered it so that when it got hit by the beam it would explode. MCQUEEN Wait a second. Fillmore, you said my fuel was safe. McQueen turns to Fillmore. Everyone does. FILLMORE If you're implying that I switched out that rotgut excuse for alternative fuel with my all- natural, sustainable, organic biofuel just because I never trusted Axlerod, you're dead wrong, man. (RE: SARGE) It was him. 131. SARGE Once Big Oil, always Big Oil. Man. FILLMORE Tree hugger. EXT. MAIN STREET - LATER A banner says "Radiator Springs Grand Prix." SHERIFF rolls up the street. SHERIFF The Radiator Springs Grand Prix is about to begin! All spectators clear the starting line! MCQUEEN heads up Main Street, other racers following. LEWIS HAMILTON Man, I can't wait to get rockin'. This is gonna be wicked. JEFF GORVETTE Yeah, we should do this every year. MCQUEEN I just figured, we never found out who the world's fastest car is. Plus: no press, no trophy. Just racing - the way I like it. FRANCESCO Francesco likes it like this too. McQueen SEES Sally. He and Francesco approach her. MCQUEEN Francesco. I'd like you to meet --- FRANCESCO Signorina Sally. It is official: Lightning McQueen is the luckiest car in the world. SALLY (SWOONING) Why, thank you --- FRANCESCO Which he will have to be to have a chance against Francesco today. Francesco turns to leave. As he's moving away: 132. FRANCESCO See you at the finish line, Mc--- Francesco STOPS. FRANCESCO What is that? McQueen has a new bumper sticker: "Ka-ciao, Francesco." MCQUEEN It's just something I had made up for the occasion. FRANCESCO Is good, McQueen. Very funny. It was funnier when I did it, but it's very funny. What are you going to do next? Are you going to take off your fenders? Try it. You'll like it. Francesco leaves. We stay with McQueen and Sally. SALLY So he's not so good-looking. MCQUEEN Yeah. Nice try. SALLY I'm serious. MCQUEEN That's why I love you, Sally. (as he leaves) Wish me luck. SALLY You don't need it! He drives off. Flo approaches Sally. FLO Mmm-mmm. That Francesco is fine- looking. SALLY And those open wheels. FLO I'm gonna have to go get myself some coolant. 133. EXT. MAIN STREET - LATER The racers at the starting grid. ON THE TRAFFIC LIGHT in the center of town. It goes from RED to GREEN! The RACERS SPEED OFF, tearing up main street and out of town, blazing past tourists --- EXT. WILLY'S BUTTE - DAY As the racers, led by McQueen and Francesco, take the wide, sweeping turn around Willy's Butte we CRANE UP to see MATER, FINN, HOLLEY, and the Radiator Springs gang watching. Everyone CHEERS. MATER Go McQueen!! Whoo-hoo!!! Holley gets an alert. HOLLEY Finn, time to go. Siddeley's gassed, geared and ready to fly. Finn starts to back up. MATER You're leaving already? FINN We've got another mission, Mater. Just stopped by here to "pick something up." They both eye Mater, expectantly. MATER Something tells me you're not talking about souvenir bumper stickers. FINN Her Majesty asked for you personally, Mater. MATER But I told you all before. I'm not a spy. HOLLEY We know. 134. FINN Spy or not, you're still the smartest, most honest chap we've ever met. HOLLEY Don't forget massively charming. Mater looks over at Holley. He looks touched. MATER Well, thanks. But as much fun as it was hanging with y'all, this... He looks over to his friends who watch the race, CHEER MCQUEEN ON. MATER This is home. HOLLEY That's alright, we understand. But I'll be back. You still owe me that first date. FINN If there's ever anything I can do for you, just let me know. MATER Well, I sure appreciate that, thank you. (THINKS) Actually... there is one thing. CUT TO: EXT. RADIATOR SPRINGS - MOMENTS LATER MATER, blazing forward fast. MATER Whoo-hoo!!! He ROCKETS FORWARD, through the whole town. In doing so he GRABS A BROKEN DOWN OTIS, hooking him --- OTIS Whoa!!! --- and TOSSING him right into Ramone's. OTIS (O.S.) Thanks, Mater! 135. ON THE "RACE TRACK" - Mater flies past ALL the racers, including Francesco --- FRANCESCO Impossible! --- until he approaches MCQUEEN. MCQUEEN Mater!? MATER (KEEPING PACE) Check it out. They let me keep the rockets! MCQUEEN I'll see you at the finish line, buddy! MATER Not if I see you first! McQueen and Mater peel away from the rest of the racers, lead them off the road and into the dirt for another lap. The two friends are side by side when we FADE OUT.

#cars #movie script #movie #script

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gyrlversion · 5 years

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British OAP who saved villagers from Nazi death squad when she was 17

Sitting in her elegant apartment on Brighton seafront this week, Gabriella Skittar, now 91

She had just seen her father rounded up at gunpoint, along with all the other men in the village of Cappella di Scorze, near Venice. Like everyone else, Gabriella Skittar knew what was coming next.

The Germans had already massacred dozens of innocent civilians in nearby Bassano del Grappa — the standard reprisal for any show of armed resistance.

And now, the Italian partisans had just attacked a German column outside Cappella di Scorze.

Soon, all 38 menfolk would be lined up in front of a deep ditch, waiting for the German commanding officer to finish his lunch and give the order. Their only last, lingering hope was that their journey to the grave would be a swift one.

Except Gabriella had other ideas. Though just a teenager, she went to remonstrate with the Germans. Her years at school in Austria suddenly proved to be a godsend.

Astonished to be addressed in fluent German by an Italian girl, the German troops took her to see their officer, who listened to her protestations that the men were innocent.

Eventually, he took her to see them all lined up. Ordering Gabriella to translate into Italian, he told them: ‘This young lady tells me that you had nothing to do with the attack on us. I would like to believe that.’

At which point, an anti-tank gun appeared. ‘I want you to look at this gun,’ he said, before giving the command. It fired a round into a nearby cherry tree, blowing it to pieces.

‘If I find she has been lying to me,’ the officer shouted at his petrified audience, ‘she will be the first of you to die.’ Whereupon the troops began a systematic search of the prisoners.

Putting on a brave face, Gabriella stood her ground. But there was one fatal flaw in her story. For, as she very well knew, she was lying. Some of these men really were partisans.

If the Germans unearthed so much as an Italian armband, she and her father would go the same way as the cherry tree. The next half an hour would be the longest of her life . . .

Sitting in her elegant apartment on Brighton seafront this week, Gabriella, now 91, remembers it all as if it were yesterday. Yet this extraordinary tale of heroism and sheer good luck was to remain unknown for almost 75 years.

Now, despite having spent most of her life in Britain, Gabriella finds herself feted as an Italian national hero, with one of the highest honours her mother country can bestow.

And I am captivated as I listen to her inspirational story.

It is one that takes us from war-torn Venice and the execution of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, to the stage of Glyndebourne Opera House.

But it all centres on the morning of April 28, 1945, as Allied forces moved northwards through Italy.

Gabriella and her family were relative newcomers to Cappella di Scorze. Before the war, they had lived near Venice, where her father, Luigi Skittar, was a senior figure in the management of Italy’s railway network.

For four years, he was posted to Innsbruck in Austria, where Gabriella attended an international school, becoming fluent in German and learning English.

This extraordinary tale of heroism and sheer good luck was to remain unknown for almost 75 years (pictured in Venice just after the war)

Gabriella was informed that the Italian President wished to elevate her to the rank of Officer of the Order of the Star of Italy, one of the country’s highest accolades, with the letters ‘OSI’ after her name

In 1943, the family returned to Italy, but Luigi feared exposing his family to Allied bombing raids on industrial targets around Venice. So he moved his wife and children to the countryside.

At first, they lived in Mogliano, until that, too, was bombed and he found them digs with a farming family in Cappella di Scorze.

Luigi would never have ended up facing a firing squad but for the fact that April 28 was his birthday. He decided to leave the city to spend a couple of days with his wife, Laura, and children, Gabriella, then 17, and son Lucio, seven.

By chance, his arrival coincided with that of a retreating German column which had just stopped in the village.

‘This was my father’s birthday, and we had looked forward to celebrating it, but, at 10am, a young man arrived on a bicycle,’ says Gabriella.

‘He told everyone to get indoors and close their shutters, since the partisans were about to attack the Germans.

‘We all pleaded for restraint. The Germans had executed 31 men in Bassano del Grappa, so we had no doubt of the German appetite for revenge.

‘But the attack went ahead, and several German soldiers were wounded.’

Not long afterwards, two German soldiers broke into the farmhouse with machine guns.

‘They just grabbed my father and every male over 14 years old and took them to some nearby stables,’ says Gabriella. ‘My mother wouldn’t let go of me, but I said: “I’m going to see where they are putting Daddy,” and I ran up the road.’

There, fearlessly, she demanded an explanation from the troops.

‘Confused by my perfect German, the soldiers took me to their commanding officer, who was having lunch,’ she says.

‘He made me stand and wait while he finished his meal. He was very tired, with the look of a defeated man.

‘For nearly two hours, I pleaded with him, insisting that the men were innocent bystanders — simple farmers who had nothing to do with the attack, which had been carried out by partisans from outside the village.’

But the officer was not so easily convinced. ‘Why did the villagers all go inside and close their shutters before we were attacked?’ he wanted to know.

Quick as a flash, Gabriella replied that it was merely the custom among Italian country dwellers to shut one’s shutters after the morning clean, in order to keep out the sun.

‘You are just a girl,’ he told her. ‘How can you know what’s in men’s hearts and souls?’

Gabriella was adamant: ‘They are innocent, not partisans.’

Finally, the commanding officer left the room for a few minutes. Then he returned and ordered her to follow him outside, where she found all the men in front of the ditch with machine guns trained on them.

She managed a brief word with her father, who fumbled in his pocket and gave her his watch, along with a hastily scribbled note to her mother.

She remembers the ‘terrific noise’ of the anti-tank gun pulverising the cherry tree before the troops began their search. ‘It was very, very tense,’ recalls Gabriella.

‘They were looking for any signs of partisan membership. Luckily, while in the cowshed, those who did have tricolour armbands, or the like, had had the sense to hide them in the dung on the floor. No incriminating evidence was found.’

Finally, the officer issued the order for the machine gunners to stand down and warned the villagers that if there was any further attack on his men, then he would have no hesitation in massacring the lot of them.

Finally, he said: ‘You have this young lady to thank for your lives.’

Gabriella remembers that most of the men still had their eyes screwed shut, waiting for a bullet.

‘Then my father put his arm around me and said: “Let’s go back to Mama.” ’

The villagers remained indoors as night fell and, in the early hours, the Germans moved off. Not long after, there was the sound of another engine and a light outside.

‘We were all still in shock. But one of the sons of the house got very nervous and said: “Those fools will get us all bombed with that light on.” He went outside, only to discover a British officer and his sergeant asking if anyone knew where they might find some breakfast.

‘I can’t tell you how astonished we were to hear English. We were being liberated!’ she says.

The entire village was only too happy to serve up its meagre rations as dawn broke.

‘It was very funny. As news spread, the whole village came out to watch these men just eating their breakfast. People were getting out the wine they had been hiding from the Germans. It was wonderful.’

Hours later, the news came through that Mussolini had been found strung up at a Milanese petrol station. ‘We were not sorry,’ laughs Gabriella.

Within days, the war was over and the Skittars moved back to Venice. Gabriella got a job with the British military authorities in Venice, where she met a British officer, Captain Peter Ezra, who had fought his way across the desert and up through Italy.

Romance ensued and, in 1949, they married and began a new life in Sussex.

Peter, who had represented Cambridge University in both cricket and boxing, taught at Sussex University while also playing and coaching at Sussex County Cricket Club.

Gabriella became a linguistics expert at Glyndebourne, teaching generations of opera singers how to sing properly in Italian and German. They had two children, Diana, who is now an entrepreneur, and Mark, the feature film producer. Finally, around 20 years ago, during a holiday in Italy, Gabriella decided ‘on a whim’ to pay a visit to Cappella di Scorze. No sooner had she walked into the place with her daughter, than a cry went up: ‘It’s Gabriella!’

‘Work stopped for the day as the whole village threw me an impromptu feast,’ she says.

Some years later, Mark read about an Italian woman receiving an award for something similar and decided that his mother deserved recognition, too.

Just over a year ago, he wrote to the Italian Embassy in London. Many months later, Gabriella was informed that the Italian President wished to elevate her to the rank of Officer of the Order of the Star of Italy, one of the country’s highest accolades, with the letters ‘OSI’ after her name.

Hence her appearance as guest of honour at the Italian Embassy, lauded for her bravery and quick-thinking as a teenager.

‘I never expected a reward,’ she says. ‘I was simply happy to have saved all those lives.’

Endearingly astonished by all the interest in her story, she says she has one bit of unfinished business. ‘I want to send some money to the people we lived with. They didn’t have much. But they were such good, honest people.’

The post British OAP who saved villagers from Nazi death squad when she was 17 appeared first on Gyrlversion.

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les-bi-katamari · 6 years

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B-SIDE: SESSION 3 (7/1/18)

[As an addendum to last week’s lore: Nisha also knows that it would take very strong restorative magics (greater restoration) to restore a person drained by a Hollow Fool – and killing the Fool might also work. Only relatively recent victims of the creature will be capable of being restored.

Also, unless the Fool has actually drained someone, other psychic harm it does is temporary.]

Cecile’s mother is looking over her, still trying to rouse the girl.

The burrow we saw is most likely a portal to the Shadowfell, where its lair would be. We don’t know of any way other way to cross back and forth, and don’t want to go in without a plan.

We ask Damian about restorative magics – he tries, but doesn’t have potent enough spells to do it.

Cecile’s mother, Amandine, agrees to back us up to the guard – that something is stealing children, but not us, and we fought it to try to save her daughter.

Liriel suggests we move up the show to before dusk. We also ask about the illusory tieflings – they may have been a Hollow Fool thing too, as they have powers of illusion and illusions can just manifest near its lair.

Silenne takes Amandine home while the party goes to the library, The Moonlit Reserve to see if the priestess there could help. As we move through the streets of Rothanvar, the spaces between lampposts seem to have deeper, darker shadows, each circle of light like an island of safety.

Fara bangs on the door repeatedly, until eventually the door opens to reveal, for once, a figure shorter than she is. Teresa looks ready to go out, in very fine but sedate clothes.

“I’m sorry, we are closed for the night-“ Fara: “It’s kind of a library emergency.” Teresa: “…these, are not words I usually hear together. Wait, Fara? Is that you? It must be, no one else would be dressed so fine.” “There’s a child in trouble – look, do you know this poem?” Fara recites the lines Silenne mentioned earlier. Teresa: “It’s back?” She seems very surprised that we fought it and lived, as well as getting the girl back.

We lead her to Amandine’s – Silenne is out front, and starts dramatically when she sees Teresa. She shrinks away, looking guilty, and stays outside as we go in. [“Teresa gives her a luigi death stare as she passes.”]

Teresa sings a long bardic melody to the girl, and slowly, life and color begin to return to her. Amandine and Cecile are crying in relief, and we leave them with well-wishes.

We leave, and Fara pays Teresa for the cost of the spell.

Teresa tells us some more history – the Hollow Fool has been haunting Rothanvar for a very long time, picking off children from time to time, usually when a circus is in town. She also tells us about a Playhouse that burned down fifty years ago - Verner Holtz lost all three of his children during one of the last bouts of Hollow Fool attacks, and he burned down the Playhouse in a fit of rage. She theorizes that there was a portal to the Shadowfell beneath it – children went missing there before, and it’s still believed to be haunted.

They agree to reconvene at the library in the morning. Fara invites Teresa out for the night on the town we’d interrupted, but changes her mind quickly when Fara mentions Silenne coming with. She retires for the night, and Fara wheels on Silenne, asking what she DID to upset Teresa so much.

She admits that she used magic on Teresa to get her to show her a book – but doesn’t want to say which one in front of ‘the wrong sort.’ Liriel and Nisha depart for their ‘night on the woods.’ Once Fara and Silenne get back to their room in the inn, Silenne admits: she was getting a ritual tome, which she needed for Ivandra. She spills the truth about Ivandra’s Faustian bargain to Fara, who is shocked and outraged. “So why did you need a ritual book?” “I wanted to make… a trade.” “NO!” “An eternity in hell… I can’t leave her to that.” “And you would feed yourself to that thing in her place?” “What else can I do?! This is the only thing devils deal in!” “How long have you known?” “The day we left, Ivandra told me. That was why you found me in the garden in such a state. She told me not to tell you.” “Why?” “I don’t know!” “You don’t know, or it’s another secret?” “I don’t! My best guess is that she does not want you to feel as helpless as I do.”

Fara goes on, furious, to tell her exactly what she thinks of this plan. She insists that Silenne will NOT do this, and she’ll be sticking by her side at all times to ensure it. Then, she drinks half a bottle of whisky until she can finally sleep.

[“Look, I have a LOT of characters. It’s hard to remember who’s bi and who’s gay.”

“We’re overthrowing all monarchy, beginning with the monarchy of Hell.”

“Genderless mermaid communists –“ “Merfolk?” “Mercomrades!”]

There is a ring of bonfires around the carnival site, set up in the hope of warding the beast off with light.

Liriel and Nisha report back to Osvaldo and Medea, who is still very shocked and out of it. We explain what we learned about the Fool, including the fact that the illusions tormenting Medea were most likely caused by it. We resolve to report what we’ve learned to the guard in the morning – Osvaldo and Damien will go, along with Amandine and Cerise, and hopefully will be able to clear our names. Liriel also suggests we move up the show to before dusk, and Osvaldo agrees that it’s worth a try.

The next morning, Fara visits a blacksmith to finally get some armor, a real weapon, and a shield. It is not fashionable at all, and when we meet at the library, she is quite deflated.

We troop on in – Fara insists that Silenne will be having a Talk with Teresa later and apologize – and Teresa starts gathering various books and tomes for us to examine. Nisha also pulls out periodicals from the time of the fire. Liriel [who got a nat 1 on her investigate] tries to read a book in gnomish, which she holds upside-down.

[Teresa, it turns out, had left her journal wide open and unattended on the counter while getting things for us. However, since our party is apparently the Least Nosy PCs Ever – and Liriel, who’s just too self-absorbed – we miss out on the opportunity to find out that she had been writing gay erotica. A tragic loss.]

As we continue to pore through reference material, Nisha goes into a back section filled with more arcane books, and with Liriel’s help, discovers a case with an essay on the Mirror Planes (the Shadowfell and Feywild.)

End of session.

#b-side #day 7b #day 8b

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mechanintendomaster · 6 years

Text

Unused Mario and Bowser: Frenemies Forever 14

Unused Mario and Bowser 14

Mario and Bowser: Frenemies Forever

Night of the restless Mario characters (Chapter 14)

Originally Created: 4/5/17 -4/8

Disclaimer: Mario and co. Belong to NIIIIINNNNTTTEEENNNDDOOO (Woohoo!)

Author note: Can events ever stop happening all in one day? Well they will after this chapter. The main part of this was written in one day, rest was editing and etc. etc. you get the point. ^_^

Author note: Chapter 14 as it was originally written. The final version has a date two days later than the one here so do the math. I go over slightly in my overview for this chapter the changes I made and why I made them but now you can see exactly what I mean. I don’t think my final version is the best either, but I do think it was better than this. Enjoy.

-----

The streets of Toad Town were quiet. Shops were closed and the town's residence slept peacefully at home. The few citizens that were adventurous however tended to flock to one place, Club 64. A nice and friendly little restaurant/cafe in the day, nightclub and bar at night.

Jelectro Bond's silver Aston Mushroom pulled by. Kylie Koopa's face was practically glued to the window, she could hardly contain her excitement. Bond pulled into the crowded parking space. Kylie even recognized a few license plates of past trouble makers she'd had encounters with on the job. A B Dasher kart that belonged to a venomous Pokey she'd exposed for conspiracy to gameover? A Barrel Train that belonged to a mentally unstable Shy Guy who was convinced his life was a video game? A Power Flower kart that belonged to a con-artist Princess Daisy impersonator? Someone's oversized Koopa King kart that seemed strangely familiar?

"Is everything okay?" Bond asked, cutting off the ignition.

"Uh, sure..." she replied.

"Do not worry. This is safe, despite the occasional seedy customer."

Kylie was impressed, he'd noticed the cars too? "Well this sure is a different place at night! "Shame I'm not dressed for the special occasion!"

"You are stunning as you are, mon ami. Take my hand." Bond gave her his hand. Kylie's heart raced. She's never thought she'd meet a true gentleman in a two in a half foot Noki! She gladly took it and they walked from the parking lot hand in hand. Booming bass could be heard through the walls. The neon lights, including a now vintage Nintendo 64 sign, were displayed in the glass window, which had its shutters down to block any view inside. Despite the uncharacteristically rowdy aura that surrounded the club at this hour, this was still the relatively safe Toad Town, so they went inside with no harassment from bouncers or security.

Suddenly an unmarked white van screeched to a stop straight in front of the door.

"Think they'll let us park here?"

The rest of the MKDCU agents groaned at Jimmy. His past attempts at illegally parking too close to buildings to save a walk (though he always argued it was for everyone's benefit) always turned out badly.

"You imbecile, haven't you learned anything? We just got towed for this today!" Dick snapped.

"Just get out, Richard. Wiggs, you too!"

"Whata 'bout us?" Parabilly asked.

"You and Sebastian get to stay and watch Toad and Daisy! We gots to get them at the Toadley Clinic in another hour, or we will loose our commission. By the way, they are awfully quiet now…"

"Patients have went into a unconscious state. Do we exit now or later?" Wiggs asked.

"Now! Are...are those flashing blue lights back there? Uh oh!"

Dick and Wiggletron were pushed out of the van forcibly. The van sped towards the parking lot right as a Mushroom Police car passed by.

"Gotta love Jimmy, eh?" Dick said sarcastically.

Meanwhile at Peach's Castle

"Oh Mario! I'm so glad you're here," Princess Peach exclaimed the moment Mario entered the room. Toadette came in as well, holding his hand.

"I'll uh...leave you guys alone now," Toadette said ackwardly. She slowly backed up and closed the door.

"I'm so sorry Princess," Mario apologized, looking towards the ground.

"It's Peach, remember? But anyway, what happened??" Peach asked impatiently.

"Daisy and Toad are still in the 'care' or should I say, clutches of the MKD-whatever.." Peach gasped and instinctively clutched her hands together. Mario told her about the crazy events that happened at the hospital. Peach was on the edge of her seat.

"This is terrible! But Mario, that part isn't your fault!"

"I know, but everything else is...I'm sorry that I've been so wrapped up trying to be Bowser's friend that I've pushed you all away. I'm sorry that I've came up with plans without you guys. I'm sorry that I've broken my promises. And I'm sorry to.....Luigi!" Mario suddenly remembered something. "Princess, I mean Peach, I have to get home."

"Fine Mario. But...at least tell me something first." Peach got from her seat up to approach Mario. "Is it real?"

Mario scratched his head, "Is what real?"

"You and Bowser?" Mario continued to look confused.

"Umm. Yes? Why, Prin- Peach?"

"I don't know. Just...are you sure Bowser can be trusted?" Mario was silent for a moment.

"Yes," Mario said determinedly, "Bowser isn't the nicest guy in the world, but he knows to not cross the line. Bowser has never tried to hurt us outside of our games has he?"

"Yeah, I guess so. Listen Mario, I believe and trust you, but you can't expect everyone else to. If this information spreads…"

"I know, I know. People will always judge others, but you can't please everyone either. The only thing you can really worry about is making things right with your friends and family, that's why I have to get home to my brother. I'll talk to you tomorrow, Princess. Good night." Mario turned away.

"It's Peach!" Peach called out, "And one more thing!" Mario turned around. "Where do you think those agent people are taking Daisy and Toad?"

Mario shrugged. "I'd check out the Toadley Clinic tomorrow for a start. Hopefully though, we can plan something out tomorrow. Together, I mean!"

Peach smiled until she thought of something. "Yes, it would be nice to have some team work for once, but what about Bowser?"

"Oh about that...We can always meet outside somewhere to not scare anyone. Either way, we'll think of something. I won't even bother to call him tonight. He has enough worries with the kind of people that live at his castle!" Mario and Peach laughed.

"Okay Mario, so long," Peach said, giving Mario a hug.

"So long...Peach."

As Mario left, Peach felt a lot better about the whole situation. Yes, despite the dire circumstances she knew Mario could accomplish anything with the help of others.

Club 64

The Dance music was loud, dancers danced (or stumbled around) on the dance floor, and the more subdued customers sat at the tables, eating and drinking.

Emery sat that the bar, watching the late night Japanese game shows on the TV screens. She sipped on her Strange Fruit Juice. After work, she had sped to there in her prized (and unpopular among her peers) Koopa King Kart. Across the room, she spotted someone she could swear she'd seen before. A sunglasses wearing Noki? Also, was that her friend Kylie Koopa? She watched them seat themselves towards the back and order something.

Feeling brave and curious, Emery got up to set down in an empty bench directly behind them, carefully escaping their notice. Since when did Kylie have a boyfriend? They were definitely into each other, holding hands and what not! Wasn't she married to the job, like she insisted when Emery had tried to hook her up with a cute Doctor she knew? No matter, Emery would finally get to snoop on the master snooper!

Dick and Wiggletron entered the club and went straight for the bar.

"Hmm. Wonder what they serve at night like this? I've never been the clubbing type," Dick yelled over the music.

"I just want a cup of ice actually," Wiggletron said wearily.

"What's with you?" Dick asked genuinely.

"I am not well. I did not want James to know of my condition."

"Why not?!? He is not really really our boss."

"Correct. We must however communicate respectfully to him regardless."

"Well aren't you an sweet angel? I'll call the fool out any time."

"Yes," Wiggs said mischievously, "But look at where you are now!"

Dick looked back in annoyance and confusion. "Wiggs, what is with you? Seriously!"

Wiggs pointed. "I will be honest with you. You are my friend, correct?"

"Uh...sure...You ARE the only person in the world I don't hate right now.."

"Do you wonder why James tolerates your rambunctious and unpleasant attitude?"

"Because he'd better??" Dick huffed.

"Because he's going to fire you when when we drop off our patients. He will do so before the commission as a final 'screw you' so to speak. He explained this to us all before we picked you up for the mission." As Wiggs explained this typical monotone, Dick's eyes were popping out of his head in anger.

"WHAT?!" He screamed, louder than the dance music. Everyone nearby stared at the Mega Goomba and Wiggler like they were freaks. Wiggs continued.

"It was the plan all along, Richard. He wanted to work with you no longer. He hates you actually, as does the rest. Please calm down."

"That mouser!! I knew he was taking my insults a little too well. He just couldn't wait to get rid of me! And the rest agreed? I knew they were idiots but...hey! Did YOU agree???"

Wiggs chuckled slightly. "Of course not! You know I have affection for you."

"Oh, okay. Wait what???"

"What would you two like?" the morbidly polite bartender, who had been listening to the whole asked.

"Ice only," Wiggs said.

"The strongest thing you got!" Dick ordered." I'm as good and fired and I needed this money! Why did we ever let Jimmy handle the commissions?? What am I gonna do??"

The bartender sat down a cup of ice and some Root Beer. Dick chugged the whole root beer and Wiggs looked on amusingly.

"Let me join you," Wiggs said vaguely.

"*hic* Join WHAT?"

"I knew the Morse code from the BooTracker you suddenly acquired. Your secret is safe with me. By the way, James is here."

Jimmy M. walked up to the agents in his usual pompous way.

"What are you twos havin? What?" Jimmy noticed Dick's hateful look. "What's gotten into you?"

Dick breathed deeply, as if holding himself back from doing something. "I quit," he said simply.

Jimmy gasped. "What? Why?"

"Besides...I found a better agency! Yeah!"

Jimmy gave him strange look. "Better than the MKDCU?"

"Yes. Why do we call ourselves that way? None of us are even from the Mushroom Kingdom."

"I'm...telling boss bout this!" Jimmy shot back in a slightly whiny way.

"Tell him. Tell your rich Mole Mafia daddy! And tell him that you were gonna fire me anyway!"

"What?!?"

"I told him." Wiggletron admitted.

Jimmy crossed his arms. "Both of you twos are fired then! Yeah, who's boss now?"

Wiggletron sat continently, as if he expected this. Dick got up from his seat and approached Jimmy, towering over the Monty Mole. "You'll never be the boss of anything, you coward. You care more about following arbitrary protocols then getting work done. Do you even know what's going on right under your furry little nose?"

"Back off you! You think that I? Ugh, whatever! You twos planned this didn't ya? Enjoy your adventure together!" Jimmy turned around. "MKDCU, out!" He announced to himself as he scurried out of the door.

"HAHAHA...wait. Did he just say that??? And you're fired too now?"

"It appears so. So unfortunate. I could have really used that five dollars."

"FIVE DOLLARS??? That was our commission money? I earned more money scrubbing pipes during the summer. What a waste!"

"Who is your agency now?" Wiggs suddenly asked.

"Hm. Well I guess it's now this Bond pipsqueak and annoying reporter girl. In fact, I think I see them in the back. You should join me and we can maybe get some money out of them for helping them out."

"You would like my assistance?"

"Well what else are you going to do? You still live with your parents back on Yoshi's Island, right? Besides, I don't hate ya, like I said before. Pals?"

Wiggs responded by unexpectedly patting him on the back. This knocked to the breath out of Dick slightly.

"Sorry. What information do they possess?"

Dick quickly explained Bond and Kylie's hypothesis to Wiggs. He suddenly sat up and grabbed his cup of ice. "Let us go."

At the Mario bros. House

"Got you!" Luigi said excitingly to Boo.

"Have mercy, Weegee. It's not like I have fingers!" Boo and Luigi were playing Smash Bros 4 on the WiiU. Mario entered, surprised at the house. Candy wrappers and soda cans were on the floor and games were strolled everyone. Boo and Luigi were on the floor playing video games.

"Hello Luigi..and Boo?" Mario greeted.

"Hey bro!" Luigi perked up, giving him a hug. "Sorry I got carried away this late at night. Wow! 1 a.m already?" The younger brother looked around embarrassingly.

"Er, it's okay Luigi. You seem happy tonight!"

"Because he's beat me every time in Smash Bros," Boo said. "I have the species disadvantage here!"

Luigi pretended to be annoyed. "Yeah but you can do all sorts of cool stuff we can't. I think that makes up for not having fingers!"

"I'd better go. As much as I love nighttime, I know it's important for you humans to sleep," Boo said, heading for the door.

Luigi yawned. "Yeah I guess so. Talk to you later, Boo. You can call me on my own cell phone by the way."

Luigi winked and Boo did so back. Mario was confused at this, but let it go. This wasn't the atmosphere he thought he'd come home to so he wasn't going to complain. Still, he had to get something off of his chest.

As soon as Boo left, he turned to Luigi. "Bro. I have to apologize...again. I-"

"I know. You got so wrapped up in trying to be a fair and good friend to Bowser that you forgot about us for a moment. You promise to keep your promises from now on and not be a 'tuna head' so much." Luigi said matter of factly.

"Umm...Yeah. That's exactly what I was going to say. Wait, you guys think I'm a 'tuna head'?"

"Yeah sometimes you are, but it's okay bro. I know you area only human. It was about time Mr. Perfect screwed up."

"Who's that?" Mario asked.

"You?"

"Oh? People really see me as that way?"

Luigi looked at Mario funny, but then realized that he was genuinely surprised. "Of course they do! You aren't just the hero, you are their savior, local celebrity, leader...well you get the point."

Mario sighed. "You know, I love to help everyone, but that can come with a lot of pressure too. It's a lot to manage at times..." Mario then explained the day's earlier events to him. Luigi went pale at the mention of Toad and Daisy's attack. "And so you see, I just got so carried away in the situation. But it WILL change now. We will all meet up tomorrow and discuss how we should do things together."

"Discuss what? Isn't this out of our hands, now?"

"It's whatever you want to discuss."

"Huh?"

"You are the leader now!" Mario explained warmly.

"Me??"

"Yes. All I've done is mess up. I am a tuna head I suppose. You are just as passionate about our friends and you have patience and delicacy that this situation needs. My biggest mistake was to think that we needed brawn to handle this but look at where we are now! I know you can do this, bro. I believe in you." Mario put his hand on Luigi's shoulder.

"But...what will everyone?-"

"They will accept you as the leader for now, I'll make sure of it. Now we'd better settle down if we want to be any good for tomorrow. This mess can be cleaned later." Mario went into the washroom as Luigi stood speechless.

He was prepared to forgive Mario and be content with that but not for Mario to elect him leader of their little mission. Where to start? Would this mean that Mario would take orders from him now? What about Bowser and the rest? Luigi didn't know what was happening, but he was eager to find out how this would turn out.

At Peach's Castle

After leaving Mario and the Princess, Toadette got ready to head home. Since this was school season, she was staying on campus at Mushroom College instead of the castle. There was one thing, she hadn't seen Buckenberry since her arrival! She checked his post inside the castle but he wasn't there. She asked other staff but they hadn't seen him either. She knew something was wrong, Buckenberry only disappeared like this when he was in one of his "moods". And by disappear, she meant he went to set on the lake shore to brood. Sure enough, she spotted him outside staring into his reflection in the water.

"There you are! What's up?" Toadette greeted.

Buckenberry jumped. "Toadette?"

"Um, who else? Anyway, why are you upset now? There hasn't been a New Super Mario Bros game in forever, you know. Get over it!" she teased.

Buckenberry continued to look in the water. "Do you know something?"

"What?" Toadette sat beside him.

"It's about Toad Toadstool."

Toadette shifted uncomfortably. When she and Toad went out, Buckenberry rarely if ever interacted with them. After their breakup though, Buckenberry randomly asked Toadette out and she said yes for the fun of it.

They hit it off to her surprise. He was less bombastic for starters and Toadette appreciated being with someone who wasn't a celebrity. She also liked how Buckenberry was kind of mysterious. He showed up out of nowhere as castle employee, and then immediately volunteered to help the Mario bros. on a dangerous mission. He was brave, educated, and hardworking, but he had one problem.…

"What about him? He's in horrible shape! Haven't you heard about them being taken by some special agents?"

"I know that!" Buckenberry snapped. Toadette frowned.

"Well excuse me! I sort of care when people I know and love are sick!"

"Do some of those people talk to Larry Koopa on Facebook?! Everyone's favorite castle advisor! The guy that hangs around our dear Princess everyday!"

Toadette's stomach turned as Peach's revelation about Mario and Bowser came to mind. "Umm. He does?"

"Yes! I can't believe it. I told Mr. Toadsworth and he didn't want to do anything about it."

"Well, what do you want him to do?"

"Throw the rotten fungus out of the castle! He talks to Koopalings!"

"And what exactly is wrong about that, huh?!" She asked defensively.

"What's wrong with that? Bowser and his associates are our enemies! Do I need to explain this?"

"Maybe so, but they might not be that bad in real life. There's forces out there more evil than Bowser, you know!"

"Are you defending him?!?" They were now screaming at each other, attracting curious looks from the night gardeners.

"Lots of people may converse with the Koopa Klan occasionally. It doesn't mean it's wrong or evil. Heck, even your idol Mario talks to Bowser!!!" Toadette immediately covered her mouth. Buckenberry's eyes went wide in shock. "Listen, you can't tell anyone I said that! Everyone will freak-they won't understand! Please!"

Her boyfriend then did something unexpected. He broke down and started to cry! Buckenberry, affectionately nicknamed "Cool Blue" by Mario for his stoic and cold demeanor, was cried hysterically.

"I'm...so sorry..." he sobbed, "I just get so jealous sometimes! I can't help it. No matter what I do, it's never good enough!"

Toadette put her arm around him. "Tell me! What do you mean?"

"He gets the credit for everything! I did my very best, risking my life in a way hardly any Toad has ever and I get nothing! Why can't I be the hero for once???"

Toadette shook her head. "What does it matter?? Toad works very hard here. Haven't you seen how things are running with him gone? No one is organized, dust is piling up, and everyone in despair. Would you really be selfish enough to want him gone, because YOU don't like his friends?"

Buckenberry stood silently as he wiped away his tears. Toadette took a deep breath and blurted out, "You know what? I talk to a Bowser minion too! Wendy O. Koopa and I share beauty tips on Instagram sometimes. It's no big deal, we don't talk much but still. I guess that makes me a hypocrite too for judging Mario at first.."

"Y-you did?" he stammered.

"Yeah, I did. I was just sure Bowser must have some evil motives behind it, but the Princess seemed to really believe in Mario. We both know that the Princess has the purest heart in all of the kingdom so she can believe in that a friendship like that can be real, I do to! Think about it. We both love the Princess right?"

"Yes. I would die for the Princess! Why would you ask me that?" Buckenberry asked pointedly.

"Because we need to band together instead of tearing each other apart. It's not about getting a statue made or New-Mushroom Peace Prize, it's doing what's right. THAT'S how you can do a real service…"

They stood for a moment, then Toadette spoke up. "Well I'm going to the dorms. You take care of yourself, okay?" She left, leaving Buckenberry alone at the lake shore.

Club 64

"Wow oh wow! This place is smoking!" Kylie exclaimed. Bond smiled in response. She took another bite of her Koopasta. Since they were in the back, the music was less loud and the place more subdued in general. They talked and ate, though Bond was unusually quiet. But in a hot way! Dick and Wiggletron approached the table to Kylie's surprise.

"Richard! I was wondering when you'd join us," Bond greeted cordially, "And I see Agent Wiggletron Berry of Yoshi's Island is accompanying you. I'm so glad you both knew Morse code."

"Greetings to you, Jelectro Bond," Wiggs said. His voice was flat as ever but he smiled genuinely enough to make Kylie feel at ease with the tall stranger.

Dick didn't bother with a greeting. "We ain't stupid, you know. Now don't give me trouble, I just got fired. Wiggs too!"

Bonds eyebrow raised. "Hm? That is unfortunate! Sit, will you? And tell us what is new."

"Sure shorty!" Dick sat next to Bond, accidentally squishing him against the wall, and then recited the earlier events involving Toad and Daisy, including the fact that Mario and Bowser were there. Kylie pushed her plate aside and wrote the details in her notebook, somehow keeping up with Dick's mildly incoherent and rambly recount.

"What IS the MKDCU exactly? How'd you get into this bucket of Cheep Cheeps?" Kylie asked, too excited to notice that Bond had disappeared.

"I can answer your inquiry," Wiggs said. "We were formally the MKDCU. Independent heath experts that band together in times of crisis for a commission fee. We work according to strict protocols and our exact skills vary. We come from all over and we are the best agents in our lands. Someone from MK hospital called us in, but I am uncertain as to why. James may have that information."

Kylie studiously recorded this info in her notebook too, then her pen died. "Dang, my special glittery pen!"

"Take this," Bond said, handing her a silver expensive looking fountain pen.

"Where were you just now?"

"Being suffocated to death. Richard, please continue."

"Yeah, so as I was saying, 'James' is Jimmy M., the lazy Monty Mole. He was kind of our leader, but really he's just the son of the actual boss. Ya know, dirty sneaks from Donut Plains. What does the have to do with stopping Bowser anyway?!? Hey, where is Bond now?"

"Over here. Where were they taking Mario's friends?" Bond had crawled under the table to Kylie and Wiggletron's side and sat in between the two. Kylie had never been this close to Bond before and was distracted by his cologne. Wow, it smelled expensive!

"It's Demented by Dimentio," Wiggs whispered to her. Kylie game him a weird look.

"How do you keep disappearing? Anyway, the Toadley Clinic," Dick answered. "Then once there was a diagnosis, some special hospital in Special World. Why?"

"Oh this is not good..." Bond said disappointedly.

On the row behind them, Emery couldn't believe what she'd heard. Toadley Clinic? She'd volunteered there and the place was cray cray. They only dealt with the worse of the worse, first of all. Secondly, if Mario's friends were going there, they might get sent off to they maximum severity hospital in Special World. Legend says, patients never leave! She have to do something now! She peeked over the bench seat.

"Emery??" Kylie called out. "Guys, this is my friend. She works at the hospital and she's a crafty one to!"

"I am disappointed in my self," Bond admitted, "You were snooping in on us and I only noticed now.

Someone's wonderful smile must have distracted me!" Kylie flushed.

"Thank you," Wiggs said, grinning.

"I meant...never mind. You are Emery Toadstool of MK East, right?"

"Yes! And...uh I can- I mean...What were y'all talking about?" Emery had been listening at first, but after a moment she had gotten bored spent most of the time playing on her phone . She only had perked up again when she had heard Toadley Clinic being mentioned.

"Emery, do you want to do your country a service?" Bond asked with sudden seriousness.

Emery shrugged. "Sure?"

"Country? Isn't this about Mario?" Dick asked.

Bond dodged the question. "If what I think is about to happen happens, we might have big trouble tomorrow, mes amies…"

"I'm not gettin it, Bond. What do you know that we don't?" Kylie asked with some impatience. Bond motioned for everyone to get up. He lead them to the back stage kind of area where bands would play. At this time it was empty, save a giant fish tank filled with exotic and colorful Cheep Cheeps.

"Everything is as is confidential from this point onward, understood?"

Everyone nodded. Wiggs raised his hand. "Does this mean you consider me to be an assistant in your operation?"

"Of course?" Bond replied curiously.

"Thank you!! It means so much to be accepted by a wonderful Noki such as yourself!" Wiggs affectionately patted Bond on the back, which sent the Noki flying into the fish tank. Water splashed on the floor and Dick laughed hysterically as Wiggs and Kylie frantically ran to his aid. Emery only rolled her eyes unimpressively. This was the least weird thing that had happened all day. No one in the club seemed to notice the commotion either.

Once he was (fished) out, he immediately continued, "These are the facts: Toad and Daisy's coma walking proves that is is Mushroom Flu; we know this had to have originated from Bowser, specifically his castle laboratory; we know they would have had to have been deliberately targeted; we know that all other cases of the T-virus are less severe for an unknown reason; we know Bowser, or someone in his household would have a motive; we do not know how this was introduced. And worse still, all of the has occurred in one day."

Everyone was silent as if taking his statements in. Or maybe cause Bond was soaking wet, his sunglasses were crooked and he and acted as if he wasn't just smacked like Daisy smacked Bowser in Mario Party 3. Wiggs raised his hand.

"Umm, yes?" Bond asked hesitantly.

"You said that Bowser or someone in his household would have a motive, correct? Why would Bowser work with Mario to interfere with the MKDCU? Would he not want Mario's friends taken away?"

"I was getting to that. Yes, my secondary points. These are not yet clear in my head: who exactly called the MKDCU? It is clear that them coming was part of the plan. I would not at all imply that the MKDCU themselves are in on it, but it is obvious now that it was meant to be. Because of the complications that arose from that, Toad and Daisy are now ultimately inaccessible and are in danger of being permanently that way. How does the crazed Koopa Doctor and Nurse Nass T. come into play? Surely they didn't call-"

"Nass T?? My mom??" Emery blurted out.

"Oh yeah! She is your mom. I forget that," Kylie said. "Are you saying she's involved, Bond?"

"Yes. And I say that without a doubt. That is why I ask again, are you willing to fully cooperate?" Bond looked expectantly to Emery.

Emery thought for a moment. Her mom didn't have the best reputation and their family was in debt. If some kind of reward was involved in all of this, she would have to admit that her mom getting involved in the conspiracy was exactly what she'd do.

As if Bond could read her mind, he added, "Listen mon ami, I also know for certain tat she isn't at the head of this. I just want you to find out about all of the circumstances of the victims tomorrow at work. You don't have to turn anyone in or mention anything to anyone else. Here." He handed her a soaking wet BooTracker. "Its water proof, don't worry. Just let me know what you find, okay?"

Emery slowly nodded. She could do that at least, right? And now all of this serious business was making her tired. Emery swept back her black hair. "I'm gonna go, guys," she said.

"Very well. Au revoir!" Bond said, his genially somewhat forced now.

"Stay safe," Kylie said, feeling uneasy about the whole situation again. Wiggs waved. After she left Bond signaled their attention.

"As for the rest of us, well. We will put our infiltration plan on hold." Bond said, seeming mildly spaced out.

"What??"

"Because of this. When the official word of Mushroom Flu gets out tomorrow morning, all Underwhere will break loose. I just can't say what our next move should be.."

"We can tell Mario at least?" Kylie said.

"He will find out."

"How do you know so much??" Dick asked, annoyed of Bond's vagueness.

Bond suddenly slipped past them, away from the back area. He threw some coins on their table for a tip, not bothering to count. "So long gentlemen. We will talk more tomorrow. Let's get you home, Kylie."

"Huh?" Kylie questioned but followed. She grabbed his still soaking wet arm and they left in a hurry.

"That Bond is..!"

"Sauve. Mysterious. Slightly omniscient. A perpetual sunglasses wearer. Handsome?" Wiggs answered. Dick looked at him funny.

"Okay...How dare they bail on us? We don't have a ride...or a place to sleep tonight! Hey...we didn't even discuss our commission!"

Wiggs looked to him and smiled. "Regardless I am extremely glad to be part of his operation. I even forgot about my headache! As for a place to reside, I have provisions for that!"

"Huh?"

"My friend, T. Yoshisaur Muchakoopa lives near here. I am surprised he did not recognize me earlier."

"You mean Yoshi? I know what you and that Bond guy have in common. Y'all are too dang formal!"

Wiggs laughed loudly though no one was joking. "Affirmative, friend!" Wiggs put his hand on Dick's back, but thankfully no one flew anywhere this time.

Later

"What was that about, Bond??" Kylie finally asked as Bond pulled up to her apartment. She lived in a meager complex off of Pleasant Path. Since this was somewhat rural, there were no street lights aside from the high beams of Bond's Aston Mushroom. "We were out of there quicker than a Speedy Comet!"

"You can call me Jelectro. And I didn't want them to know." Bond said apprehensively.

"But why? How do you know so much? Are you that good of a spy?"

Bond seemed disturbed about something. "Don't share this info with others, mon ami, but…"

"What?" Kylie was finally starting to feel creeped out.

"Not all of my spy skills are spy skills. You see, have premonitions," he said simply, "I always have. Sometimes it does not work if I am distracted or caught off guard, as you saw before."

In Kylie's mind, he might as well have told her that he was Santa Claus. His exotic charm on her had worn off. What was he, part Magikoopa? "Oookay. And so you just 'know' something is going to go down tomorrow?"

"Yes. It hit me while we were setting down, what I saw...was bad... What is wrong, mon ami, what are you-?"

Kylie jumped out of the his car, leaving the door open. "I didn't become a reporter and journalist to deal with tomfoolery. What is this? Boo Hunters? How did you really get this info? How did you even know where I lived?"

"I just knew. You have to listen!"

"So you ain't really a spy, just a Magikoopa like freak? You aren't really from Spy Land are you?" she asked accusingly.

"Yes I am! I trained at the Super Spy Headquarters and everything. It's just that, as long as I remember, I have had dreams and visions and..I am adopted you know!" Bond blurted out.

Kylie shook her head and shut the door. She walked to her apartment without looking back.

To be continued.

#boomaster-amia #fanfiction #Mario and bowser #beta #unused content

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