They spilled out of the pipe into a narrow alley that smelled like rust and old rain. Dust flurried at their boots. Rotten trash clung to the cracked concrete. No voices. No footsteps. Just a far-off hum that made the air feel heavy.
"This place… it's, it's terrible," Daisy whispered.
"What is this place?" Peach said, eyes wide.
Mario didn't answer. He was staring past the alley's mouth. They followed his gaze. Floating beneath the bruised clouds, a massive ship drifted slow and silent, its searchlights combing the city like fingers. Far below it, bolted to a tall, rust-flecked tower, a dirty green sign flickered: ROBOTROPOLIS.
"Robotropolis?" Luigi swallowed. "Uh… Mario?"
"This doesn't seem safe," Mario said. "We should find a place to hide."
"Did Bowser do this?" Toad asked, his voice small.
"I don't think so, little guy," Mario said. "This is something worse than Bowser."
They moved, keeping low, weaving through the slum blocks where cables dangled like vines and panels blinked to themselves. Lights flashed. Buzzers popped. Nothing living. Everything watching.
"As disturbing as it is," Peach said softly, "it's… amazing."
Toad stared at her like she'd grown a second crown. "Amazing? This place is scary!"
They found a building with boards nailed over the windows and a latch hanging broken. Mario eased the door. It swung open without a creak.
"That's strange," he murmured.
Inside looked as bad as outside; peeling paint, cracked floor, furniture slumped like tired Goombas. But when Daisy swiped a finger along the wall, she frowned at her clean fingertip.
"It looks like a mess," she said, "but it's actually… kind of clean."
Toad had already scrambled onto a busted recliner. The lever stuck out like a shiny tongue. "Hey, this place isn't half bad! So what are we gonna do here?" His short legs barely reached the edge. He grabbed the lever.
Mario tapped the floor with his heel. "You know, listen—it sounds hollow."
"Maybe there are pipes under us," Luigi said. The four of them stomp-tapped—thump… thump… thump…
Toad pulled.
The chair snapped backward, and Toad yelped as it folded him in half. The floor sighed—then dropped. The whole room tilted and the five of them plunged into black.
They screamed the whole way down.
---
Mario came to first. Concrete. A dim light. Bars.
"Hey - guys. Wake up! Wake up!" He shook Luigi.
"Mm what… is it time for spaghetti?" Luigi blinked himself awake and groaned. "Oof. My head."
"Toad?" Mario checked the little mushroom, still snoozing on the floor. "He looks okay. Maybe he feinted from the shock."
They hauled themselves up and peered around the cell. Four blank walls. A single door with a small barred window to the corridor. The two princesses were gone!
Clank. Clank. Clank.
Metal footsteps. Getting closer.
"Someone's coming," Mario whispered. "Got a Fire Flower? Just in case."
Luigi dug in his satchel. Empty. He made a face.
Clank. Clank. Clank. Right outside.
A shadow crossed the window, and a face peered in - a face of polished metal and plates, with whisker-lines etched like a tiny mustache. A hedgehog… but robotic.
"So, you guys are finally up, huh?" the hedgehog said. "You don't look robotic, but with all the new folks showing up lately, we don't know who to trust. So - who are ya?"
Mario squared his shoulders. This one didn't feel like a bad guy. "We're the Mario Brothers. And this is Toad. Before we answer anything else, who are you? Why are we locked up? And where are the two girls?"
The hedgehog's optic plates widened. "Mario? So it is you. You do fit the description, that is a nice stache you got there. Name's Chuck. We've been waitin' for you. Sorry about the cage—weren't sure if you were with him." He tapped a panel; the lock thunked and the door slid open.
Toad's eyes popped open, blinking. "Wha—"
"You've been waiting for us?" Mario said. "How do you know who we are? And where's Peach?"
"And Daisy!" Luigi added.
"Don't worry," Chuck said. "They're safe. We're the Freedom Fighters. We fight Robotnik and his tin-head army; we don't hurt anybody unless we know they're his. I'll take you to the princesses."
Toad scrambled to his feet and jabbed a finger. "Evil robot!? Aren't you a robot?! Mario, Luigi—how can we trust this guy?!"
"Toad's got a point," Luigi murmured.
"It's okay," Mario said. "He let us out, didn't he?"
"Yeah… he did," Luigi conceded.
Chuck lifted his hands. "I get it. I was robotized by Robotnik years back. But thanks to my nephew, I kept my head straight. Now I play spy. That's how we heard about you. Somebody was spying on you, tipped Robotnik off. He blasted orders across the city - 'strangely dressed humans snooping around - terminate on sight.' We figured if he wanted you gone, you might be on our side."
All three of their faces tightened.
"Terminate… us?" Mario said. "Who is this Robotnik? And a spy - on us?"
Chuck's mouthline flattened. "He was right that you were coming. How he knew, we'll figure out later. For now, we'll collect your friends and I'll take you to meet Sonic."
"Sonic?" Luigi asked. "Who's that?"
"My nephew," Chuck said, a little glow in his voice. "Leader of the Freedom Fighters. Fastest thing alive."
From a dark corner near the ceiling, something tiny clicked and shifted—just for a second.
"C'mon," Chuck said, beckoning them into the corridor. "Keep low. Stay close. And whatever you do, don't step in the spotlight."
Authors note!
I wrote this years and years ago. I found this site, and thought i'td be fun to rewrite it a bit and update it. If you're interested, leave some comments and I'll keep it going! I have a few more chapters I can pull from. I'd love to continue it even if there are just a few people out there that are interested!