It was a peaceful day in the Mushroom Kingdom. There were very few clouds in the sky, despite being 7 in the morning, and birds chirped happily. In a certain house on the outskirts of the kingdom's central town, a certain younger brother was making breakfast. It was routine for him at this point. Wake up, get changed, make breakfast, wake up Mario.

Today he was making pancakes. Nothing fancy. He had already got out the golden syrup and the whipped cream and placed them in the center of the table. He knew he'd forget if he didn't do it before he started cooking.

He had just finished making the fourth pancake when the phone rang. Knowing that its ring wouldn't reach Mario's ears, he placed the freshly-made pancake on the pile and answered the phone.

"Hello, this is Luigi," he said.

"Oh! Luigi! I... wasn't expecting you," the caller replied. Their voice was raspy and high-pitched.

"...Kamek?" Luigi asked.

"Yup, that's my name, don't wear it out," Kamek replied, then laughed weakly. The laughter, or lack thereof, ceased, and Kamek went quiet for a few moments before asking, "Can you pass me to Mario?"

"He's asleep," Luigi told him, glancing at the doorway. "Well wake him up then!" Kamek replied. Luigi sighed quietly. "Okie dokie then."

He exited the kitchen and went up the stairs leading to their room. He went over to Mario's bed, and what do you know, he was still asleep.

Luigi poked Mario's nose and whispered, "Bro. Bro, wake up."

Mario was still asleep, much to the disappointment of Luigi.

Luigi poked his cheek, whispering louder, "Bro. Wake up."

Still, Mario did not wake up.

'Right,' Luigi thought, 'looks like I'll have to use my last resort.'

He placed the phone down on his bedside dresser, then kneeled down and started pulling out Mario's mattress. That got him up.

"Huh? Wha... What's going on?" Mario questioned groggily, sitting up.

"Bro, Kamek's on the phone. He wants to talk to you," Luigi replied.

"Oh."

Mario picked up the phone and said, "Hello?"

"Ah, Mario! You're up!" Kamek said cheerfully. "How are you?"

"...Okay, I guess," Mario replied, rubbing an eye. He took the phone away from his ear and asked Luigi, "Hey, could you, uh, put my mattress back in place?"

"I can try," Luigi replied, then started pushing Mario's mattress back.

Mario put the phone back to his ear and asked, "So why are you calling? Just wanted to say hello? Bowser wants to play golf but he's too sick to actually make a call?"

"No, it's... I have a job for you two," Kamek replied.

Mario's face lifted a little. "Sure, we can do that! Which toilet?"

"Not a plumbing job... Master Bowser's gone missing."

"WHAT?!" Mario shouted, making Luigi jump.

"Huh? What 'what'?" Luigi asked.

"It's true... He just... disappeared," Kamek explained. "He was definitely here last night, but this morning, he was nowhere to be seen. We checked all over the castle! But he's just... not there. I told the kids, and they were pretty upset, especially Junior. I told the kingdom as well, and now they've gone into a state of chaos. Without their king, they don't know what to do..."

Mario was stunned. "Oh... I'm... sorry..." He replied quietly.

"...It's fine," Kamek replied.

Luigi was rather concerned now. So concerned, in fact, he had stopped pushing Mario's mattress back in, leaving a lop-sided bed with the blankets all over the place.

"If it's not too big of a trouble, could you help find Master Bowser, please?" Kamek asked.

"Of course!" Mario replied, sitting up straighter. "It sounds awful over there, we'll do as much as we can!"

Kamek let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank you! I want you two to come over to the castle and meet me in my laboratory. I'll brief you there, and set you on your way."

"Right!" Mario said. "See you there!"

And with that, the call ended.

"M-Mario? What's up?" Luigi asked.

"Bowser's gone missing, and we're gonna find him!"

"Bowser's gone missing?!" Luigi repeated. "He could be anywhere, how are we gonna find him?"

"Don't worry, Weegee, we'll pull through!" Mario cheered. "We have before, right?"

"Yeah..."

"So come on! Let's-a go!" Mario stood up on his bed, his fists clenched with excitement.

"Um, Mario," Luigi said, pointing at Mario's pajamas, "you might wanna get changed first. And have some breakfast as well. I made pancakes."