The two Mario brothers simultaneously jumped about a mile in the air as an impromptu banging on their door resounded, making the thing jump and rattle on its hinges. Luigi quickly rushed behind Mario, who frustratedly swung the door open, glowering at-... Toad. The red clad plumber blinked, face softening as he looked down at his little friend, who was clearly shaken and out of breath.
"Mama mia, Toad," Mario breathed, briefly putting a hand on the guy's head. "What's the matter?"
"There's a wild Boo loose in the castle!" Toad gasped, small arms flailing. "It's running around like crazy, scaring everyone! I would have called a Paratroopa or a Paragoomba, or anyone else, but they're all busy trying to get rid of it, and, and-"
"Don't worry," Mario interrupted, squaring his shoulders in determination. "We got this. Right, Luigi? Let's go!"
Behind him, Luigi nodded rapidly, not trusting his voice. He had been skittish around Boos to begin with, but after what happened at the mansion…. Though it was weeks and weeks ago, he still felt his stomach do flip flops at the thought of encountering a ghost. He quickly closed the door behind him and ran to catch up to Mario and Toad, who had already begun to race away.
"Oh boy…" he mumbled to himself.
To say that the castle was in chaos was an understatement. Toadsworth refused to idly sit by, so he was throwing whatever object was nearby while a bunch of toads ran in circles, anticipating the Boo to float down. Meanwhile, a group of Paragoombas bounced about- but they couldn't quite reach, so they glowered at the Paratroopas up above, who were dashing back and forth as fast they could, but still couldn't manage to get their paws on the Boo.
The ghost in question was flying in rapid circles, dashing around the flying turtles in crazy figure eights and aerial barrel rolls, making loud, shrill cries as it did so. As he stared at it apprehensively, Luigi couldn't help but feel it sounded… almost scared. But that was silly! Ghosts didn't get scared. Especially not Boos. And yet… this one seemed a little different. He couldn't quite put his finger on it.
Mario looked back at his younger brother, noting how stiff he was, and how his eyes never left the phantom above. He took a few steps back and elbowed him gently, putting a hand on Luigi's shoulder when he jumped in response.
"I got this one," he mumbled. "Alright?"
"I.. guess," Luigi muttered reluctantly, only half paying attention, thoughts scrambled by this Boo's erratic behavior. Taking his halted response as fearful, Mario gave Luigi's shoulder a reassuring squeeze before getting a running start and leaping onto the nearest Paratroopa, who wiggled a bit in surprise. Once he was stable enough, Mario guided him over to the ghost, who was momentarily cornered, mouth open in a scream to reveal several sharp fangs.
"Hey, you!" Mario shouted to be heard above the screeching.
"WAIT!"
The yell startled everyone, and the chaos momentarily quieted down. Everyone turned to look at Luigi, who was frantically pointing at the Boo, bouncing on his heels, eyes wide.
"D-Don't hurt it, it's-"
Taking this opportunity, the Boo darted between two Paratroopas and fled out the main entrance, gone with a fading scream and a puff of white and purple smoke. Everyone let out cries of dismay, about half the crowd rushing outside to chase after it while the other half remained inside, in an effort to clean up the mess Toadsworth had made. The old Toad in question was beet red, angrily waving his walking stick and trying to run after the ghost while Princess Peach held him back by the collar, trying to reassure him.
Mario leapt off his Paratroopa and landed beside Luigi with a thud, a startled and frustrated look to his face.
"Mama mia, Luigi- what's gotten into you?" he asked, giving his younger brother a light whack on the back. Luigi rapidly shook his head, waving a frantic hand at him, yelling over his shoulder as he ran for the main entrance after everyone else.
"It's not fighting back!" he cried, stumbling through the grand front doors and landing flat on his face. With an embarrassed groan, he lifted himself off the ground and rushed past the crowd of frazzled Mushroom Kingdom inhabitants, trying to push some of them back as gently as possible.
"I got this, I got this," Luigi insisted as he carefully pushed a final Paratroopa behind him, inching his way towards the frantic Boo, who only covered its face with it's small hands and peeked out at him with a wary, glistening black eye. A hush fell over the crowd as Luigi shakily made his way closer, extending a trembling hand. In response, the Boo peeked out a bit more, giving him an inquisitive chirrup that made him jump about ten feet in the air.
Luigi swallowed back the scream building up in his throat, all the certainty he'd had just moments before completely gone. His teeth squeaked in protest as he clenched his jaw hard, goosebumps wracking his body. Boos were conniving creatures. What if this was all an act? This fiend could call his buddies any second, and they'd all gang up on him, just like King Boo's mob at the mansion, just like Boolossus…
Before he knew it, he'd made contact. He'd touched the thing without even realizing it. The Boo jumped a bit and let out a protesting squeak, uncovering its face and backing up a bit. Luigi yelped softly and shuddered, retracting his hand and blinking a few times before turning to the ever observant crowd behind him.
"S-S-See?" he stuttered weakly, voice barely audible despite the awed silence. "It's h-harmless.."
The Boo nodded in response, and closed its eyes in concentration, the space in front of it beginning to swirl with a milky purple cloud. The residents behind Luigi began to stir uneasily and back up, causing the green clad plumber to silently panic. What if he was wrong? What was it doing? Was it going to fire some sort of ghost ball at them all? He backed up a bit, lip quivering with anxiety as his thoughts spiraled. As if on cue, Mario rushed to his aid, standing in front of him defensively, his fists curled as he aimed a glower at the Boo.
The ghost didn't react, however, and the cloud was getting thicker, taking on a square shape and a brownish color until out of the haze materialized…. A small messenger bag. It plopped to the ground with a thunk as it finally became solid, and the Boo let out a satisfied snicker, doing a brief cartwheel before eagerly nudging the bag towards the Mario Bros.
Mario carefully stretched his leg and bumped it with his foot before snatching it up quickly. Before Luigi could protest, the red clad brother opened the bag to reveal… a large, thick envelope, and many little jars containing a bunch of different plants.
"What's this?" he asked, brows furrowing in confusion as he set the bag down and flipped the envelope around in his hands.
"It's from Alby!" Luigi yelped, pointing at the blue 'A' on the seal. Mario hummed and glanced up at the expectant Boo, squinting.
"Did you steal this?" he demanded, holding up the envelope. The Boo shook its head adamantly, making a displeased growling sound. Luigi tapped his chin briefly before an idea came to him, and he hesitantly spoke up.
"Did… Alby give this to you?" he prompted. "To deliver to us?"
In response, the Boo nodded and did a celebratory flip in the air, flapping its small arms happily. Mario, still a bit skeptical, grumbled incoherently and gave a shrug. The crowd behind them had begun to murmur curiously, no longer afraid of the infamous ghost.
"Right then, nothing to see here," Toadsworth called from the back, waving his walking stick around authoritatively. "Everyone may run along, now. As you were. Many thanks for your troubles, go on now."
Reluctantly, the crowd dispersed, and soon it was just Peach, Toad, Toadsworth, Mario, and Luigi- and the Boo, of course. The Princess and her advisors stayed a ways back, however, not quite willing to trust this intruder just yet.
"Well?" Peach asked peering at the letter curiously. "Are you going to open it?"
Mario hummed in agreement and tore open the envelope. Inside were several papers, but one blue sheet stood out, and he pulled that one out first.
"It's a letter," he mumbled, handing the envelope to Luigi as he squinted at the loopy, slanted handwriting. He then began to read it out loud.
Dear Luigi and Mario,
Heya! In case you couldn't guess, it's me, Alby! I'm sorry about the trouble Bo must've caused. I had no other way of sending this to you, and he was more than happy to oblige!
I noticed you guys seemed to like the tea, so I thought I'd send you a few recipes so you could make your own! I also included the recipe for instant bread, since it's pretty handy.
Unfortunately, if you send a letter in response, we won't be able to receive it. Pops and I needed a break from all the paranormal mayhem, so we decided to do some research overseas! I don't know when we'll be back, but I'll definitely send a letter when we return.
Hope you guys are doing alright!
- Alby Gadd
"Well that was sweet of them," Peach commented, giving a small smile. Toadsworth nodded in agreement, tapping his chin.
"Yes, very. I wish to meet this person, this Alby," he muttered. Luigi handed the envelope back to Mario so he could put Alby's letter back inside, and he gave a small shrug.
"Maybe you'll be able to, one day," he mused. "After they come back from their research."
"Meanwhile, what do we do about him?" Mario interrupted, gesturing to the Boo, who they now knew was named Bo. Bo was floating in place, looking around curiously and squinting. This place was so different than home, so colorful and bright. And definitely noisy. He couldn't say he particularly liked it, but he would be lying if he denied the want to explore. He knew very well that wouldn't be allowed, though. At least, not today.
"Bo, right?" Peach asked, taking a small step forward and giggling as Bo did a happy flip and nodded in response. "Thank you for sending this to us, it was very kind of you."
"We don't normally deal with your kind around here," Toadsworth grumbled, clearing his throat and standing up straight. "So, on behalf of the kingdom, I apologize for all the ruckus earlier. I do hope you understand."
Bo nodded, not at all bothered, and gave an inquisitive squeak, angling his head to the nearby road that lead away from the castle, and ultimately the kingdom.
"Y-You can go back home, if you'd like," Luigi offered, giving him a nod of affirmation. With a final laugh, Bo gave the gang a wave before dashing off, eventually fading from view.
"Well, that was weird," Mario mumbled, picking up the messenger bag and strapping it around his shoulders. "I've never encountered a Boo that doesn't wanna bite me before."
"Alby says most of them are actually pretty alright," Luigi informed. "They know a lot about Boos, and that sort of thing."
"It seems Mx. Alby could teach us a few things," Toadsworth mused as they began to walk back to the castle. Luigi nodded in agreement, turning to look at the road where Bo had vanished one last time.
"I guess they could," he agreed quietly.