Super Mario Sunshine

Chapter 9 - Surfing with Squids

   "Have you ever been surfing before?" Bobby wanted to know as he and his friend led Mario past the subway station.

   The small human following them observed the hefty cargo ship still sitting beside the dock as they passed, sending a towering shadow across the end of the port. "Oh yeah," he replied, somewhat absentmindedly.

Mario'd been surfing several times before - it wasn't like this was his first vacation ever. And like most things that required balance and tact, he wasn't too bad at it, either. He just hadn't expected to get to do it so soon.

   "I don't have a board, though," he went on, picking up his pace to stay with them.

   "Oh, well that's just the thing," the other sailor replied. "You don't need one."

Tilting his head, Mario fixed him with a knowing gaze. "And by that you mean..."

Coming to pause near the water's edge on the far side of the dock, Bobby turned to them and chuckled. "You know, there sure are some odd folks out there," he said, adjusting his straw hat. "Taming little bloopers is bizarre enough, but riding on their backs?"

Mario couldn't help a smile of amusement. "Doesn't sound all that strange."

Bobby's friend gestured to the small pier just a stone's throw from the dock where they stood. Several rows of giant logs were tied up together over the water between them, bobbing up and down gently with the ocean as some sort of makeshift path. Mario followed his gaze.

   "That guy on the pier? He's the Big Daddy of blooper surfing," he told the human. "That's nothing to sneeze at, I'll tell you that much!"

   Mario lifted his face a bit to the ocean breeze lilting into the harbor. Squinting just a little at the pianta man he could see moving about on the pier, seemingly amidst a small herd of bloopers, a tiny smile played the corners of his mouth. So then they really did ride on the little squids.

   Turning back to the sailor, he asked innocently, "So do you ride them?"

   "Me?" he appeared taken aback. "No, I do NOT ride bloopers! No, thank you!"

   "I tell you, some folks are just plain looney!" Bobby put in with a snort. "Some people might think us sailors are strange, but they haven't even scratched the surface of all the weird types we've got here on Isle Delfino!"

   Mario couldn't help the grin that was awakened at their reaction. "Well, I'm-a bet Isle Delfino's never seen a weird type like me," he replied, resting a hand on one of his water pump's handles. "Thanks for your help."

   Bobby nodded. "No problem, man. Just go talk to Big Daddy and he'll help you along from there."

   "See ya around, squid dude!" the other sailor waved.

Mario chuckled and returned the gesture. Turning to the path now laid before him, he then stepped up to the very edge of the concrete, observing for a moment the huge, slippery logs floating across the water. It would indeed appear to be the only way to the blooper surfing pier.

"Are you sure about this?" Fludd asked when the sailors were beyond earshot. "Do you think there really is a shine sprite?"

"Well," Mario pondered wth a cocky smile, "what do your sensors say?"

"There do seem to be unusual readings coming from beyond the construction site, but it is difficult to pinpoint an exact location," his machine acknowledged, lifting his head and rotating around periodically.