Super Luigi: Battle Star Legend
Chapter 1: A Friendly Meeting
A dusky afternoon had settled in the land known as the Mushroom Kingdom when two young Italian plumbers, Mario and his brother, Luigi, walked along a dusty path into the outskirts of Toad Town, where the Toads and the kingdom's grand castle resided. The two brothers were to meet their friends, Princess Peach, the heir to the Mushroom Kingdom's throne, and Yoshi, the cheerful dinosaur, for an evening hang out. All four had known each other for many years, almost since the brothers and Peach were infants. Mario and Luigi, though, being brothers, had a bond stronger than that of any friendship they could make.
It should be no surprise why such a bond existed between the two. The most logical explanation would be that the two brothers were twins, fraternal twins to be precise, though Mario is often considered to be the "older twin" because he emerged from his sling first after the pair was brought by a delivery stork. To this day, the two brothers have maintained that bond that many pairs of twins share, though like typical siblings, they also share a friendly rivalry and even quarrel occasionally. Both were so eager to say something that neither of them could refrain from having brotherly conversation any longer.
"Hey, Luigi, you know what being out here always reminds me of?" Mario said as the two traveled.
"Oh? What would that be?"
Mario smiled and viewed his surroundings for a brief moment. Occasional trees lined the pathway towards the destination of the two brothers, with flowers scattered through the grass and birds singing their songs of spring. The sun was shining bright over the horizon while there was not a cloud present in the sky.
"It reminds me of the adventures we've been on. We've had to travel a lot together and that's almost exactly what we're doing now."
Luigi couldn't agree more and returned the smile.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. If being out here reminds me of anything, it's usually my habit of making myself look silly."
Mario chuckled at Luigi's remark. As much as he didn't want to think negative things about his brother, Mario couldn't disagree. Luigi really had been known to make himself look silly whenever he got into trouble and usually ended up embarrassed about it in the end.
"Like the time I found you clinging to a tree to escape from a bug?" Mario laughed. "I had to slam into it to get you down!" Luigi went red in the cheeks.
"Yeah, well…uh…just be glad I even went out there to get that Power Star for you!"
A few months before, the two brothers had returned from a quest to save the entire universe, which required collecting all of the missing Power Stars, the source that empowered a massive flying observatory Mario and Luigi needed to use for transportation through space. It was owned and run by the watcher of the cosmos, a princess-like woman named Rosalina.
"True, you were a big help out there. I'd have never found the three stars you got if it weren't for you. You've always been good at that stuff, you know?"
"Finding things you can't? Hehe, yep."
Mario shot a glare.
"Do you have to put it that way?"
Luigi couldn't prevent himself from laughing further.
"Sorry, I just couldn't help myself."
Only a few more minutes passed before the two brothers spotted their friends in the distance coming from other parts of Toad Town. Yoshi could be seen jogging along a group of trees in the direction of the usual meeting spot, his green body almost blending in with the foliage around him. For a dinosaur, he was a very kind creature, and he lived with his own group of friends, the Yoshis, on an island out at sea. The Yoshis had lived there peacefully for many years. It was the place where Mario and Luigi first met Yoshi as infants. The baby Mario had been knocked from the stork's mouth and plunged towards the sea below. He was fortunate enough to have landed on the younger-than-now Yoshi's back while the baby Luigi had been taken hostage by an evil Magikoopa named Kamek, the one responsible for slamming into the stork in the first place. Though Yoshi was in truth a lot older than Mario and the others, he barely aged at all since these events.
Peach was skipping up a nearby path in her usual pink dress which led almost straight to the castle. When Mario and Luigi saw her, they assumed she'd snuck out again, as Toad, the one who kept an eye on her, was always trying to prevent the princess from getting in trouble, even if she was simply going to be in the company of the boys. They never did mind it, though, seeing as they'd be there to guard her if anything happened, and easily convinced Peach that they wouldn't ever snitch on her. Luigi always thought Mario had a secret of his own, however, that he admired the princess. He couldn't exactly blame his brother either if it were true, as Peach was rather far from unattractive, but still wasn't to Luigi's tastes. Peach was pretty, but the whole blue-eyed blondie in pink thing was rather, well, boring. Of course, the green-clad plumber would never say so out loud.
"Hey you guys!" Peach greeted as the brothers and Yoshi approached one another. "It wasn't easy getting out this time, but I managed it!"
Mario and Luigi chuckled again.
"Pulling your usual Toadette-distracts-Toad-while-you-make-your-escape routine again?" Mario guessed with a smile. Peach usually relied on Toadette to distract her male counterpart while the princess made her unnoticed escape, but this time that was not the case. She simply smiled and folded her arms.
"No, you big stinker. Toad isn't falling for that anymore. I had to sneak out through the back of the castle while he wasn't around."
Luigi laughed.
"I wouldn't be surprised if Toad was going nuts worrying about you now as we speak."
"Very funny," Peach remarked. "Now come on, the meadow's just over there."
A wide and open meadow on a hill just outside of Toad Town was the foursome's usual meeting place. It was a beautiful area, the aroma of flowers sweeping the land and peaceful creatures scurrying about on it. A few lone trees were scattered across the meadow, however most of it was open and contained nothing but grass and flowers. It was definitely everything that any group of friends would want to have as a place to hang out. At least that's what they all agreed on.
As the four traversed the slightly steep slope of the hill, they entered the meadow ahead of them. The setting sun was just on the other side, sinking below the horizon. Peach gazed at it with a smile forming on her face and sat down on the soft green grass. Mario and Luigi sat down beside her with Yoshi following. A light breeze blew through the meadow as they sat and watched squirrels and rabbits hurry by.
"I simply love being out here," Peach said, breaking the short silence. "It smells so pretty." She then picked a daisy from the grass and stuck it in her flowing blonde hair. Mario smiled as he admired the flower.
"That looks good on you," he complimented. Luigi secretly rolled his eyes as he reminded himself of his secret assumption. However, Peach caught him before he could do anything else.
"What was that for?"
Luigi suddenly jerked around to face Peach.
"Uhh, nothing. I agree with you though, it is nice out here." Luigi then stood up in the grass and looked around for the nearest tree. Yoshi looked up to face him just as he spotted one to his left. Luigi instantly bolted towards it, hoping to look at the meadow from another angle.
"Where are you going?" Yoshi inquired.
"To get a better view of this place!" Luigi called back. Mario, Peach, and Yoshi watched as the green-clad plumber jumped onto the tree's trunk and began climbing up to the lowest branch while at the same time being careful his white gloves wouldn't get caught to the wood. Even though he knew his brother was probably light enough to sit upon a branch from this large tree, Mario soon followed anyway, just to see what Luigi would get out of viewing the meadow from a higher elevation.
Once Luigi settled himself atop the highest branch he felt would hold his weight, he began viewing the vast meadow before him. He was quite impressed with what he saw, for the meadow looked bigger and even more beautiful from higher up, at least the way he saw it. It seemed to extend further than any of the foursome had ever imagined. Luigi turned around on the branch to see his brother watching him, and smiled as he sat.
"Hey, Mario! You've got to see this! This meadow goes far!"
"Really?" Mario replied, just as Peach and Yoshi had strolled over. "I must admit, I'm curious!"
With that, Mario walked up to the tree trunk. However, just as he was about to begin climbing, a massive boom in the distance interrupted him. The four suddenly jumped in fright, Luigi so much that he lost his balance and fell over, getting his foot caught on the branch, leaving him hanging there. However, nobody else noticed, as their attention was focused on where the noise was coming from.
"What the—?" Mario exclaimed in horror.
To their dismay, the four turned around to see thick, black smoke rising from Toad Town and the castle. Peach gasped in fright at the sight before her and found herself worrying frantically for all of the Toads. Mario shot a grimace, knowing only one creature could be responsible for such an attack, and that was his arch nemesis and the king of the Koopa race, Bowser. Still, why would he return now after being gone for so long? He disappeared without a trace after Mario handed him defeat in the center of the universe. If Bowser was indeed behind this sudden onslaught, his motives couldn't be good. Before Mario could decide on possibilities, however, a grunt interrupted the red-clad plumber's thoughts. He turned around to see his brother hanging by one foot on a branch of the tree he was previously sitting in. All he could do at this was groan and fold his arms.
"Great, now we have a mysterious explosion and my brother is playing hang-man."
Luigi glared as he attempted to disentangle himself, clearly not in the mood for jokes.
"Haha. Can someobdy help me down now?"
Mario heaved a sigh.
"Fine. Yoshi, you and Peach go on ahead. Luigi and I will be right behind you, but be careful."
"You got it," Yoshi agreed with a smile. "Shall we, Princess?"
He motioned Peach to follow him back to Toad Town. Mario, however, sighed again before attempting to help his brother. Still rather annoyed at how ridiculous Luigi looked in the tree, he climbed up to the branch he was caught on and carefully crawled across it, keeping an eye on Peach and Yoshi as he went. Luigi simply stared at the burning castle with worry as Mario began untangling the branch from his foot. By the time his brother hit the ground with a thud stomach first, Mario was already sliding back down the tree trunk.
"Ouch! Thanks a lot."
"Just come on!" Mario barked as he pulled Luigi up by the hand. The two immediately raced down the hill back to Toad Town as fast as their legs could carry them.