“We have to rescue the Princess!” exclaimed the stout plumber. His name was Morio. A plumber from Brooklyn and a hero in waiting.

“Ehh,” whined his brother. Also a plumber. Also named Morio. They were not twins but they acted like they were.

They’d been called on a job. A big plumbing job. Master plumbers were all over Brooklyn, fixing pipes, fishing plops, and finishing pamps. Nobody else was free. Only Morio and Morio were available.

The job was this: pick up 30 gallons of liquid lead and drive it across town. Deliver it to John Bowser IV. Get the invoice. Cash the invoice at the nearest bank and obtain a court order from the teller. Holy fuck this is terrible. Let’s see how far we can go with it.

Morio continued. “But the Princess!”

“I don’t know what she has to do with this,” Morio replied, hanging onto his mustache carefully. “She was not around for the debriefing.”

“NO.” Morio stomped his feet with a stomp and a plomp. He added his own sound effects for no one’s benefit. The floor shook in fear.

“Hey, what did John say?” Morio deflected his brother’s tantrum like an expert drawlsman on the job.

“…John Bowser?” replied Morio, taken off-guard but willing to change gears. It wasn’t too bad. “He didn’t say much. Just thanks. You’re welcome. Don’t look back. Bring them all along to roost. That kind of thing.” Morio’s voice hung in the air like a bell curve without abnormal distribution. He glanced at it and waved it away impatiently. No time for crossfatches.

“Here’s what we’re gonna do,” fired Morio back with a backfiring Morio on deck. “We’ll finish the job.”

“Jobs are fine,” interrupted Morio, eager to slice some words in edgewise to the wise old edge. He squinted. That did not sound right.

“They are fine,” agreed Morio in an even tone. A level tone. A level-headed tone that was all talk, no action. “We’ll finish the job and hang our hats on it.”

Morio finished puncturing his wrist with the knife and slowly painted the words Family Comes First on the wall with his bloody hands. “I saw my email,” he said casually, noting for a moment the flickering Kai Station. Hadn’t he just gotten that fixed? Worthless Maverlock, thought Morio. His friend Maverlock had offered to fix it but he hadn’t. He clearly hadn’t. It was right there not even fixed. It’s just sitting there broken. What good’s a broken Kai Station? No good. Get over here Maverlock and fix this fucking thing.

“Well so where is the princess?”

“Out back.” Morio had an answer for everything.

“I’ll check on this. Hang here and don’t bite down.”

TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 6