107LiamTheYoshi
Oh, I'm hyped up too!
mariobroultimate
Cybele really came through with her help; very impressive. If you're ready, here's Alex's special gift.
Nataly Guardado
I'm just as excited as you, Nataly!
Shana Hager
The one thing I can say is that it IS a special gift.
Epilogue: Tropical Movie Night
*18 DAYS LATER*
It's 5:32 PM on February 2, 2006. Alex and his family are in New York City walking toward the Harkins' Cine Capri theatre on Broadway. They were going to an early screening of Universal Pictures' Super Mario Sunshine: The Movie. This was a film adaptation of the events of the Isle Delfino adventure less than four years ago; its official release in cinemas is scheduled for February 11th.
However, as a thank-you gift to Alex for helping them save Princess Peach 18 days ago, Mario and Luigi gave him, his father Rocco, his mother Terry, and his older sister Leah VIP tickets for the screening at 6:40 PM.
"Oh man! I'm so excited, Dad!" Alex said with glee. "This is gonna be so much fun!"
"It sure is, son," Rocco replied. "I'm excited to see the movie too. How about you and your mother, Leah?"
"Me too!" "So am I," Leah and Terry answered respectively.
While walking to the theatre, Alex took the time to gaze at the night sky being illuminated by the city lights as well as the cars and taxis driving up and down the streets. This was only his second time in New York.
Eventually, Alex's family neared a really long line of people under a sign that read, "Cine Capri". They also passed various movie posters on the wall to their right.
"Where's the Mario Sunshine movie poster?" Alex asked Terry while looking at the posters.
"I think it's next to the theatre entrance," Terry replied.
"There's the ticket counter," Rocco pointed out, having spotted a small sign that read, "Will Call".
Alex's family stopped at the ticket counter and Rocco stepped forward to get the tickets.
"Hello, sir. How may I help you?" the counter lady asked.
"We have four VIP tickets for me, my wife, and my two kids," Rocco stated.
"Wait a second… You're Alex Peterson's father!" the counter lady said, having recognized Rocco.
"Exactly! We're here to see the Mario Sunshine movie!"
"And you get the best seats in the house!" The counter lady printed out four VIP tickets each of the family's names on them; she gave the tickets to Rocco.
"One of our staff members will guide you into the theatre. He's waiting over there." The counter lady pointed to her right-hand side, prompting Rocco to see a Harkins Theatres usher standing next to an open door.
"Thank you so much, ma'am. We appreciate it a lot," Rocco thanked the counter lady.
"My pleasure, Mr. Peterson. Have a tropical movie night."
"All right, guys. Let's go." Rocco led Terry, Leah, and Alex to where the usher was standing and gave him the tickets.
"Good evening, Mr. Peterson," the usher greeted Rocco. He tore each ticket a small bit to admit the family into the theatre. "I hear that your son was personally invited to the show."
"He sure is!" Rocco stepped aside to let the usher greet Alex.
"Hi, sir," Alex greeted the usher, who shook his hand.
"Hello, Alex. Are you excited for the Mario Sunshine movie?"
"Very excited!" Alex squealed with joy. "I can't wait to see Mario and Luigi!"
"Excellent! Well, Peterson family, follow me inside." The usher led Alex's family through the door and into a small lobby. The lobby had a black couch with a small wood table in front and two theatre doors with a countdown timer above them. The timer showed "03:50", or three minutes and fifty seconds to go.
"What's the countdown clock for?" Alex asked.
"It's how long there is until the doors open," the usher answered. "I'll send you, your sister, and your parents off when the clock reads zero."
"Okay."
For now, the family sat on the couch with Alex looking at the timer ticking backward. They also took their coats off and gave them to the usher. Right when the timer reached zero, the theatre doors opened.
"Okay, Peterson family. Whenever you're ready, come on in and enjoy the show," the usher said. Alex and his family stood up and walked through the doors, which closed by themselves. There was nothing in the small room they entered except for a single door in front. The door opened by itself, allowing the family to go into the next room.
They entered what appeared to be the foyer of Peach's castle. It turns out they were in for a preshow before going further. Alex's eyes widened as he looked around.
"This looks real…" Alex said quietly.
"Look. There's Princess Peach," Leah whispered, pointing to Peach talking with Daisy and Toadsworth at the west end of the foyer. Toad and Toadette were at the northwest corner and the living room was opened a small bit.
Suddenly, the in-video Toadsworth noticed Alex's family and walked up to them.
"Oh! Hello there! Welcome to the princess's castle!" Toadsworth said. "Looks beautiful, doesn't it?"
"Yes," Leah and Alex whispered. There was actually a one-second pause before the in-video Toadsworth spoke again.
"Anyway, you're just in time for our departure to the sun-drenched tropical paradise of Isle Delfino! They've got all kinds of entertainment and stuff from what I've heard."
"The princess is just behind me with Daisy, Toad, and Toadette, and there's one other guest in the living room that's still getting ready," the in-video Toadsworth said. "Even better, Master Mario and Master Luigi should be at the castle any minute now!" Toadsworth checked his watch. "Yup. Within the next few seconds."
The camera moved slowly toward the front doors, making it look like Alex's family was walking through the castle. The in-video Toadsworth walked along with them.
"Why don't we give them a warm welcome? Get it? It's snowing outside!"
The family giggled at Toadsworth's small joke.
"Let's wait for the doorbell, and we'll open the doors to let them in. Okay?"
"Okay," Leah and Alex answered as the doorbell rang.
"Oh! Here they are! Are you ready?" Another one-second pause passed. "Great! Here we go!"
The front doors opened, letting the camera zoom into a black void. Alex's family was no longer inside the preshow. Just then, an unseen wall rose up, revealing an open doorway with a bright glow shining through. The family walked into the next room, which resembled a sandy isle in the middle of the sea. There were seagulls squawking above and a palm tree stood tall on one end of the isle.
Alex got excited once again as he looked around the virtual tropical environment.
"Wow! This is so cool! It's like we're walking on the beach!" Alex said with glee.
"I love it too," Rocco agreed. Suddenly, Alex saw Delfino Plaza in the distance to his right.
"Look!" Alex pointed out. "There's Delfino Plaza!" Leah, Rocco, and Terry turned to see the distant Delfino Plaza too.
"Wow," Terry remarked. "Look how far it is."
"Very far," Leah chimed in. Just then, three blue blocks with the letters "A", "B", and "C" on each appeared next to the palm tree.
"The File Select blocks!" Alex exclaimed. He walked under the "A" block. "What will this do?"
"I don't know. Let's find out," Rocco replied. Alex hit the block from underneath, slowly shutting down the virtual tropical scene. Then, six lights on the ceiling turned on with a row of two turning on before the next and last ones. The last row of lights shined on two theatre doors ahead.
Next, the song "Go Go Mario!" started playing, beginning with the "World Clear" theme from Super Mario Bros. Alex smiled big, knowing this was his theme song. Right as the "Ground Theme" segment began, the theatre doors opened and Mario and Luigi walked in wearing their sunglasses outfits; their sunglasses were on their caps.
Alex and Leah squealed with thrill and ran into Mario and Luigi's arms.
"MARIO! LUIGI!" Leah and Alex exclaimed.
"Hello, Leah and Alex!" "Welcome to the movie!" Mario and Luigi announced respectively.
"What did you think of the opening show?" Mario asked.
"We loved it! We were in Princess Peach's castle and Mr. Toadsworth went with us to give you a warm welcome!" Alex answered.
"Well, thank you so much!" Luigi thanked Alex as the music faded out. "That was very nice!"
"Come along, guys!" The Mario Bros led Alex's family through the theatre doors into the actual theatre itself. There were approximately 550 empty seats and a gold curtain above a small stage in the front of the theatre.
Before Alex could look around the theatre, he saw two familiar faces next to a row of five reserved seats.
"Aqua! Daisy!" Alex shouted. He ran up to Aqua (she's ten years old) and Daisy, who were setting up the popcorn, sodas, and candies for the movie. Both were also wearing their sunglasses outfits with their sunglasses in their shorts pockets.
Aqua and Daisy turned to see Alex running over with open arms. Daisy was the first to hug Alex.
"Hi, sweetie!" Daisy greeted Alex.
"Hi, Daisy! I'm so happy to see you!"
"Hey! Do I get a hug too?" Aqua asked, holding her arms out. Alex gave Aqua a big hug too. "How are you, amico? (How are you, buddy?)"
"I'm even happier that you're here of all the friends I've made!" Alex said, hugging Aqua a bit tighter.
"Me too," Aqua giggled.
"What popcorn did you get?" Alex asked after letting go of Aqua. She pointed to a large popcorn tub on the center seat.
"I got a large tub with extra butter! For us to share!"
"Thank you, Aqua."
"I know you like Coca-Cola too, Alex," Daisy said. She gave Alex a medium-sized cup of Coca-Cola; he set it in the center seat's drink holder.
"Uh, Mario…?" Leah asked in a nervous tone of voice.
"What is it, Leah?"
"I haven't met Daisy and Aqua yet…"
"Don't worry. They're nice princesses," Mario said with a smile. "Let's-a go meet them."
Mario led Leah to Alex, Daisy, and Aqua while Rocco, Luigi, and Terry stood by and talked with each other.
"Hey, guys," Mario said. "I want you to meet Alex's sister Leah. She's a bit shy, though."
"Hi, Daisy… Hi, Aqua…" Leah greeted Daisy and Aqua.
"Well, hello, Leah! I'm so glad to meet you!" Daisy shook Leah's hand. "You ready for the movie?"
"Yeah, but it's not gonna start for a while," Leah answered. "Mom and Dad said 6:40."
"That's right," Aqua said before holding her hand out. "I'm Aqua, the youngest of the Toadstool princesses."
Leah shook Aqua's hand. "Where are you from?"
"I'm from the Lake Kingdom and Daisy is from Sarasaland."
"I've been to the Lake Kingdom before and it's very nice with all the water and mermaids," Alex said. "When did I go there, Aqua?"
"It was last year after you finished kindergarten," Aqua replied.
"I see. Thanks for reminding me."
"You look nice with the blue sun outfit," Leah told Aqua having seen her sunglasses outfit.
"Thank you, Leah! Me, Daisy, Mario, and Luigi bought these outfits while we were in Isle Delfino," Aqua said.
"Speaking of which…" Mario started to say, but he turned to Daisy and whispered, "Show it to him."
Daisy reached under the leftmost seat and took out a red apparel box with Alex's "A" symbol on it.
"What is that?!" Alex gasped.
"Voila!" Daisy opened the box, revealing a Hawaiian-styled sky blue shirt with a Shine Sprite pattern and red-framed sunglasses.
"A sunglasses outfit! Thank you so much!" Alex quickly took the shirt and put it over his casual clothes; he then put on the sunglasses.
"Mamma mia! You look like you want to go on a vacation!" Mario remarked.
"Alex!" Luigi called out from the theatre doors. "Your dad wants to get some pictures of us!"
Rocco took out his camera as Luigi joined Mario, Daisy, Aqua, Leah, and Alex. Rocco took a big handful of photos of the six of them; most of which were individual photos of Alex with each of the four heroes.
"That's a night we will never forget!" Rocco said while putting his camera away. "I can hardly wait to put these pictures in our album!"
Just then, a staff member brought in a camera on a tripod and set it near the left aisle.
"What's the camera for?" Alex asked.
"They're going to record our reactions to the film," Luigi replied. "It'll focus on you, me, Mario, Daisy, and Aqua."
"Okay. Can I have the reaction video after the movie?"
"Absolutely! All of us will have our own copies too."
Alex turned to Aqua and asked her, "Where do we sit?"
"You sit in the center…" Aqua led Alex to the center seat. "…I'll sit to your right, Daisy will sit next to me, Mario will be on your left, and Luigi will sit with Mario."
"That sounds great!" Alex exclaimed. "Where will Mom, Dad, and Leah be?"
"We'll be up behind you, Alex," Terry said from the row above the five reserved seats.
"Daisy, did you bring any candies? Like, M&M's or Hershey's?" Alex asked.
"Of course! Here you go." Daisy handed Alex a regular M&M's bag and two Reese's cups.
"Thank you, Daisy," Alex thanked Daisy.
"You're welcome, sweetie." Aqua and Daisy took theirs seat before the Mario Bros sat down too.
For the next half-hour, Alex and the four heroes talked with each other until the first several general admission guests started to pour in.
"Here they come, buddy," Mario said, pointing to the guests.
"How many are watching the movie?" Alex asked.
"About 540 including us. Most of them are children with their parents," Mario said.
"Wow. That's a lot of people."
"I know, right?"
Over time, the entire theatre was completely filled up and the lights dimmed a little bit five minutes before showtime.
Then, a 30-year-old man took the stage with a cordless microphone.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! How are you doing tonight?" the man asked. Everyone cheered in response. "I'm doing great too! My name is Zeke Saltzer, the director of Super Mario Sunshine: The Movie. We've been working on this project for nearly two years now, and we're aiming for a release date on the 11th this month in time for Valentine's Day."
"However, on this special night, me and my crew from Universal Pictures are exceptionally pleased to present to you the finished film before its official release in nine days! How about that?"
The audience cheered again.
"Before we go any further, I'd like to bring out some very special guests who are attending tonight's show. They are four heroes who you've got to know about in Nintendo's famous video games, and they've come all the way from the Mushroom Universe to participate in this event. They are…"
First, Mario got up from his seat and headed toward the stage. The audience immediately stood on their feet, giving him a standing ovation.
"Mario Mario!"
Mario waved to the audience and did the V-sign.
"Next up is Mario's brother Luigi Mario!" Luigi rushed to the stage and stood on Mario's left, doing the V-sign too. Everyone cheered for Luigi louder than when they cheered for Mario.
"Next, we have Princess Daisy from Sarasaland!"
Daisy joined the Mario Bros on the stage too and stood next to Luigi.
"For those of you who don't know, Daisy is actually Princess Peach's sister. And finally, it's Princess Peach's youngest sister from the Lake Kingdom: Aqua!"
Aqua quickly ran to the stage and stood next to Daisy.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the Super Mario Sunshine heroes!" Zeke exclaimed. The cheers continued for a few more seconds before Zeke gave the microphone to Mario.
"Hello, everyone! It's-a me, Mario! Wahoo!" Mario introduced himself, prompting the audience to cheer again. "Boy, oh boy! I'm so excited for seeing Super Mario Sunshine on the big screen just as much as I was when it came out for the GameCube! When I got the call from Universal Pictures, my mind was completely blown. I was like, 'How on Earth is a Mario game being made into a film?'"
"But then I realized that anything is possible and I oversaw the making of the movie with Zeke's crew," Mario went on. "And let me tell you, I couldn't have been prouder myself! Great job to Universal Pictures!"
Again, the audience applauded in response.
"How about I hand the mic to my bro?"
As Mario gave the microphone to Luigi, the audience started cheering and chanting Luigi's name.
"Hello, everyone!" Luigi greeted the guests. "I'm very happy to be here with you tonight! And thank you so much for cheering for me. I may have been in Mario's shadow before, but that doesn't mean there are no fans who love me. I know you all are there for me just like Mario and the princesses are."
Again, everyone cheered for Luigi.
"And you know what also makes my heart grow big? To see myself in Isle Delfino with my brother, my girlfriend, and Aqua on the far left. After all, this was meant to be a family vacation. You got to bring everyone onboard."
Luigi turned to Daisy. "Say, my flower, why don't you tell everyone about the sweepstakes?"
Daisy nodded as Luigi handed the microphone to her.
"Good evening, folks. As Luigi just mentioned, there's a sweepstakes that all of you have entered in ahead of time on Universal Pictures' website," Daisy announced. "After the movie, we will be giving away a Super Mario Sunshine: The Movie DVD signed by the four of us as well as a GameCube console with a subset of Mario games. Only one lucky winner will walk out of here with those prizes, which Mario and Luigi will hand over themselves."
"We're coming up on 6:40, but my sister Aqua would like to say a few words first."
Daisy gave the microphone to Aqua.
"Hi, everybody!" Aqua greeted the audience, who cheered for her. "Before we get the show on the road, we have another special guest who Mario, Luigi, Daisy, and I have invited personally."
"Just recently, he helped Mario and Luigi save Peach from Bowser and his Boo minions, which would've been impossible if it weren't for him. And everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom recognizes him as the third Super Mario Brother for a good reason. Ladies and gentlemen, Alex Peterson!"
Alex immediately leaped out of his seat and took the stage to the audience's applause. Rocco, Terry, and Leah shouted Alex's name from their row.
"Here you go, Alex," Aqua told Alex, handing him the microphone.
"Hi there," Alex said to the audience. "First off, I want to thank Mario, Luigi, Daisy, and Aqua for inviting me and my family to the theatre tonight. It means so much to me. Like most of you, I've played Super Mario Sunshine and thought it was the best Mario game ever. But it was only Mario as the main player. However, I'm so glad to see Luigi go on vacation with Mario along with some other friends of theirs."
"How much longer, Mario?" Alex asked. Mario held up one finger, meaning the showtime was in one minute. "The movie's gonna start in one minute, so get your popcorn and snacks ready! Without further ado, here is…"
The four heroes and Alex announced in unison, "SUPER MARIO SUNSHINE: THE MOVIE! WAHOO!" The audience gave them a final standing ovation and Zeke retrieved the microphone before sitting at his seat. Then, Alex, the Mario Bros, Daisy, and Aqua went back upstairs to their seats; the theatre doors closed by themselves.
The lights dimmed even more and another staff member turned on the tripod camera to start recording the reaction video. The gold curtain opened in two halves, exposing the movie screen.
"Here we go, buddy," Mario whispered to Alex, who smiled big and began eating his popcorn.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
And that's a wrap for "Mario and the Incredible Rescue"! Thank you, everybody, for reading this fanfic and leaving your favorites and reviews along the way. And a special thanks to mariobroultimate for allowing me to use his OC Aqua. Stay tuned for more game adaptations and/or original stories in the near future, and this is nintendoscript15 signing out.
