Super Mario Brothers are Copyright by Nintendo.

Super Luigi Bros.

and

The Shaman of Shadows

Prologue, Part I: A New Discovery!

"Hmm…, where to begin…? My name is Merlon. I am a Wizard… When I read the stars last night, I felt a sense of dread. I have learned of something important. I don't know exactly what it means just yet, but I know it concerns you!" mused Merlon as he sat at his crystal ball. Merlon is a type of wizard, a Shaman to be specific, his face is shrouded completely in shadows save for his glowing yellow eyes and a very large puffy white mustache that even reached his feet. He is covered in azure robes with an azure hood and he wore red curl-tipped shoes. Lastly, he wore a smaller green crystal ball around his neck with a golden star deep within the center. Merlon became noticeably uneasy about the visions he was witnessing until a dark and evil face featuring deeply set ice blue eyes and pearly white teeth emerged within the depths of his crystal ball. Its remaining features covered in ink black shadows. Merlon leaped back in fright as the image suddenly vanished, "W-what is this? This rancid presence!" he shouted in fear as he left the confines of his home.

*Kerokero Sewers, Beneath the Mushroom Kingdom*

The Mushroom Kingdom's two most familiar faces wandered the spooky and eerie sewer system beneath their home, The Mushroom Kingdom. The short portly mustached man in blue overalls with a red shirt and cap with the letter 'M' on it and his slightly taller green clad sibling came down to the sewers to investigate a blockage. "Say Mario," started the green garbed brother. "What do you suppose is causing the blockage down here?" he finished as he shined his flashlight at the ancient dried out canals.

"I'm not sure Luigi," pondered Mario as he too searched around with his flashlight. "But I don't like it one bit…, it must be very large."

"Hmm, perhaps it's a collapse that is the cause?" Luigi continued to muse as he scratched his mustache.

"A collapse would be terrible, but it's looking like that may be it," Mario began to agree.

After some time, a small trickle of water was found, "Mario, we're almost there!" Luigi beamed brightly.

"Yahoo!" Mario cheered. "Let's go!" he urged as the brothers picked up their pace to a fair jog.

What they saw at the end surprised them. It was not a collapse like Luigi initially believed. The canal was plugged with a sticky brown sludge that had multiple ludicrous items stuck in it. Everything from bent re-bar, broken concrete and shattered pipes, to completely intact toilet bowls, luggage suitcases and even a kitchen sink. "Calamitous clam sauce Mario, would you look at all of this garbage!" Luigi said in astonishment.

Mario became determined as he brought out his wooden hammer, "Well Luigi, it looks like we'll be earning our coins today!" he said as he began breaking up some of the objects with his hammer. Luigi pulled a large metal pale out from nowhere and began placing some of the loose objects into it. After working for around a half an hour the brothers came across something very strange buried in the muck.

"Hmm?" grunted Luigi as he cleared some of the sludge with a trowel he found. "W-what is this, it looks like a… hand?"

Mario took a closer look, "Calm down Luigi, it's made of stone. There must be a statue in all this crud. I'll bet that the statue is where the clog started." Mario deduced.

"The water is starting to seep through around it," Luigi noticed. "Maybe it got stuck in the gate and all this junk just collected around it."

"Now that we know that let's keep going!" Mario urged as he resumed digging.

After another half an hour the water began to flow nicely and even started eroding the clog as it came through. Then the brothers heard a large rumble. "Here it comes!" Luigi said with a grin.

"It's breaking! Get back!" Mario alarmed with a shout. The bros jumped up to a ledge as the clog broke into pieces and the water flow was restored. The portcullis that should have been there was broken down and everything came through. As the brothers regrouped, Luigi looked around with some confusion. The supposed statue was not around.

"Hey Mario, let's go see if we can find that statue!" Luigi said curiously.

"Okie dokie then!" Mario agreed as he wiped his hands together.

Since their job was done, the brothers retraced their steps and found the water to have returned to its ordinary peaceful flow. A faint purplish glow beamed through the canal and the bros. nodded silently as they shut off their flashlights to focus on the foreign light. As they approached, the statue's figure came into their view. It was wrapped in ghostly chains that much was made to be sure as the chains glowed faintly with a white light. Luigi tripped and the water carried him in front of the statue. Mario called out in concern as Luigi rose and wiped his face. He found himself only a breath away from the statue. Not able to discern its full appearance, he shined his flashlight on it. What he saw caused him to break out in a bloodcurdling scream as he threw his hands into the air along with his flashlight. He fell back down and scooted himself away from the horrifying skeletal visage of the statue. Mario wondered what frightened his brother so badly so he too went around from the statue's backside and up to the front. He shined his flashlight at it and even Mario was shaken by what he saw. The statue in question was made in the likeness of one of the many wizards that Mario had encountered throughout his adventures. However, this wizard was very horrifying and had protruding teeth and evil looking eyes. His face had been contorted in pain and his robes did little to hide the serious hunched back and long boney fingers. His hands were thrown in front of him as if he attempted to stop something from reaching his face. His expression made him appear as though he had suffered great pain. The most peculiar feature though was the crystal ball hanging around his neck. It was the source of the dim purplish light as if it were a black light.

Luigi shivered, "Mario… this is one freaky effigy! What do we do with it?"

"Let's get E. Gadd he might know what to do!" Mario said with an idea.

*Princess Peach's Castle Courtyard, Mushroom Kingdom*

"Oyamaa! Be careful with that youngster!" warned an elderly professor as his colleague haphazardly hit a large crate with a crowbar. The professor was a short lanky man with thick glasses, a white tuft of hair on his otherwise bald head and dressed in a white lab coat.

The Toad, a mushroom-like person wearing a yellow spotted mushroom cap and lab coat turned to the professor apologetically, "S-sorry Professor Gadd, I'll try to be more careful!"

It was a wonderful morning in the Mushroom Kingdom. The sun shined brightly with not a cloud in the sky. Professor Elvin Gadd and some Toad researchers were beginning to unveil the bros. new discovery in front of the royal castle at the request of the Princess. Toads from all over Toad Town gathered around the courtyard to witness the show. The Princess walked gracefully onto the wooden platform just as the researchers finished unloading their precious cargo. She held a yellow parasol with blue and white accents and she wore her typical bright pink dress with pink heels, white long gloves, sapphire brooch and gilded crown. Her long blonde hair shined in the morning sunlight as did her ocean blue eyes. The Princess approached the Professor, "It looks like Mario and Luigi discovered something incredible Professor Gadd! Oh, I can't wait to see it!" she said with a sweetly excited tone.

"Hrm, yes, it seems the Bros found something truly nerve wracking in the sewers!" Gadd claimed. "Speaking of which, where are those two?"

"Oh, they said they were making last minute rounds in the sewers to make sure everything was okay. They should be back any minute!" Peach explained with a soft smile.

"Ah, well you know those two, their work is never done!" Gadd said as he took a crowbar to the large crate.

With a loud crash, the large crate from before was opened and its contents stunned the crowd with 'oohs' and 'aahs'. Princess Peach gave a good look at the statue, "My, it certainly is creepy isn't it?" she said covering her mouth with one hand.

"Yes, I want to know the story behind it! It's got me so excited!" Gadd said with a wide grin. "We know almost nothing about these wizards, so maybe studying this statue will give us some insight into their culture a little more."

Peach was then struck with an idea, "Oh, maybe Merlon can assist you Professor! He's a wizard that lives here in Toad Town. His home is easy to spot as its dark blue, resembles a circus tent and has a spinning roof. It's really quite lovely!"

"Now there's a good idea Peach!" Gadd complimented as he extended his hand and index finger into the air.

Then suddenly, off to the left of the stage a large green Warp Pipe came up from the ground and with a massive leap, Mario emerged, "Whoo-hoo, its-a me Mario!" he shouted as he landed. People in the crowd cheered wildly.

Also from the pipe, the younger twin Luigi leaped out with a spring in his step. He jumped even higher than Mario. "Yeah-hey, I'm-a Luigi, number one!" he said as he haphazardly landed on Mario's head.

As Mario recovered, Luigi apologized but the two began to bicker in a strange tongue. Peach turned to Mario and Luigi, "Ahem, oh Mario Brothers, over here!" she said sweetly. That sweet tone instantly killed the argument between the brothers and their attention was completely on her. The brothers bowed in respect and made their way onto the stage. "I take it you two finished?" Peach asked happily.

"You bet!" Mario replied with a 'thumbs up' gesture.

"All in a morning's work!" Luigi followed as he adjusted his cap.

"Oyamaa, well now this certainly is a treat!" Gadd said cheerfully. "Now to start the show!"

Professor E. Gadd began explaining his presentation to the denizens of the Mushroom Kingdom. He gave hypotheses and theories based on the wizard statue. Everyone, including Peach and the Mario Brothers were glued to the presentation. As Gadd paused, a moment of silence was broken by a voice in the center of the crowd. Everyone turned to the voice and it belonged to the shaman named Merlon. Merlon made his way through the crowd and up to the stage area. Merlon then faced the statue, "What the...? Was this in the Kerokero Sewers?" he said growing with fear as he shivered slightly.

"Why, what's wrong Merlon?" Peach asked with concern.

"'This' is what's wrong Princess!" Merlon said pointing to the statue with a horrified gesture. "Why did you bring this foul thing here, Professor? It belongs nowhere! Not in a museum, not in an art gallery, not even in someone's home! This thing…, belongs in the Minus World!"

The Mario Brothers turned to at each other believing they had done something wrong. Gadd responded with a disappointed tone, "You mean this statue isn't sacred to your people?"

"Professor, this is the opposite of 'sacred', it is a foul and wicked idol!" Merlon claimed fearfully. "Mario, I beg of you smash this idol with your hammer!"

"Oyamma, now wait just a minute Merlon!" Gadd shouted nervously. "My colleagues had a hard time getting this out of the sewers! Wouldn't it be okay to study it just for a little while?"

"If you must then you can study it in pieces!" Merlon continued on.

Peach stepped forward and offered Merlon some tea in a very beautiful china teacup placed on a matching saucer. "Now, now, let's not do anything rash. Let's just take a moment to relax. Okay, Merlon?" she asked sweetly.

Merlon calmed almost immediately as he took the tea and gave it a sip. "Oh, this is good!"

Then, Princess Peach approached Merlon from the side, knelt down and placed her hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry Merlon, if there's anything wrong with this statue then the Mario Brothers can take care of it. I can assure you of that! All right everyone, let's call it a day and thank you Professor Gadd for your wonderfully insightful presentation!" she said with her hands gently clasped together at the finger tips.

Professor Gadd and his colleagues began packing up the small things and eventually nothing but the statue remained. Mario and Peach departed together to go to the castle for some cake and tea while Luigi stayed behind to help with other things as did Merlon. Finally, it was decided that the idol remain in its place until someone decided what to do with it. "Why destroy it Merlon? What does it stand for?" Gadd asked curiously.

"It's a prophecy..., one I had hope would not come to pass in my lifetime...," said Merlon in a serious tone.

Luigi approached the idol again, "Hmm, certainly is creepy looking… I wouldn't want it at home," he thought out loud as he shivered.

"Well then Merlon, you wouldn't mind helping me with my studies would you?" Gadd asked politely. "As a researcher on ghosts and other phenomenon, I am interested in your people's spiritual culture."

"Hmmm, now that I would be happy to help with," Merlon said relaxing a bit. "Come to my home Professor and I will share with you all that I can."

"Sounds good, I would be happy to," Gadd responded as he and Merlon departed.

As Luigi looked around, he noticed that he was now all alone. He then took a permanent marker from his pocket and began to comically draw all over the idol. After he was done with his mischief he laughed heartily. Then suddenly, a nasty wind bellowed throughout the courtyard. Luigi shivered and then proceeded to leave the courtyard as his attention was caught back by it three times each gaze more uneasy than the last, before he finally left.

*Mario's Pad, Later That Night*

Mario and Luigi were snug in their beds as Luigi tossed and turned until finally, he awoke groggily and noticed three strange entities standing around his bed glaring at him. They were wizards not unlike Merlon but lacked any facial hair and wore dark purple robes instead of blue. Luigi was dumbstruck more than afraid, "Uh…, Mario we have wizards..."

Mario opened one of his eyes and looked at a wizard that was leering at him over his bedside, "Huh? Oh yeah… thanks Luigi…," he said as he grabbed the wizard as if he were an extra pillow and blanket. The wizard did not like this treatment and began punching Mario wildly. He was joined by several other wizards who also began pummeling Luigi.

Mario completely awoke in burst of irritation and shoved his offenders off by performing a spin, "Alright, what's going on here?!" he said irately as he fully came to his senses. All the wizards began throwing themselves on top of the Mario Brothers. Mario erupted from the pile and began slamming them with his fists.

Luigi rose up and slammed both his clasped fists down hard on one the wizard's backsides, "How did these guys get in here?!"

Mario's house was bustling with chaos as the brothers finally made it out the door fully dressed. They then headed out of their modest wooden house with foliage surrounding as they headed towards the Warp Pipe that led to Toad Town.

*Toad Town*

As the Mario Brothers emerged from the Warp Pipe they noticed a strange event occurring. "Sufferin' spaghetti Mario, there are wizards everywhere! They're packed in the streets like sardines!" Luigi said with surprise.

"Mama Mia, you're not kidding!" Mario started. "Where did all these guys come from?!"

"A better question, how come they are not attacking us?" Luigi asked with astonishment.

"Who cares they must have something more important to do!" Mario deduced. "Let's take a look from the roof tops! Maybe we can see what they are up to!"

The brothers found some crates near a house and decided to climb up to the roof. As they hopped from roof to roof, traversing rickety gutters and avoiding holes in ceilings, the Mario Brothers came within reach of Princess Peach's Castle. The wizards seemed to be headed into her courtyard. "Oh, that's it! They are probably looking for that idol we found!" Luigi realized.

"Look, we can get a closer look from that building over there!" Mario claimed as he pointed to a two story home. The brothers continued traversing the rooftops until finally climbing the two-story home's balcony to the top. From this home, Mario grabbed hold of the chimney and placed his hand above his eyes as he gazed into the courtyard. The wizards were praying and worshiping the idol. "Frustratin' fettuccini Luigi, it looks like Merlon was right! We have to destroy that idol!" Mario said as he pulled out his large wooden hammer. "You got your hammer Weeg?"

Luigi went though all his pockets and quickly found that he did not have his hammer with him, "Nope, forgot it when we we're attacked…," Luigi moaned.

"Do'h!" Mario moaned as he face planted into the rooftop.

"Yoohoo, Mario, Luigi over here!" called Peach from her balcony. "Um, I guess you guys already know about the wizards. If you could, please make them leave! They don't even have their passports!" she said growing more panicked. The wizards forced open the door to Peach's balcony and they crowded around her. They crowded so much that she lost her balance and fell. The brothers were stunned with fear, but luckily Peach had a card up her sleeve, "It's okay I'll just float down!" she said using her magic to catch her fall and float gently down. However, this calm was short lived as the wizards grabbed Peach and held her in place. "Oh my, please don't do that! Please let go!" she pleaded. Back up on the balcony a well dressed elderly Toad with glasses was also held down by the attackers. "Oh, Toadsworth are you okay?"

He grunted from underneath the dog pile, "Err, yes milady, nothing to worry about here! What's with these guys anyway? Since when do wizards use physical force?" he said with confusion.

Down below where the idol stood, Merlon and Gadd fought off the worshipers as best they could; one with magic and the other with the Poltergust 3000 and its fire function. Mario readied his hammer, "Come on Weeg! We've got to get down there!"

"Oh no…," Luigi moaned.

Mario jumped on Luigi's shoulders and Luigi hesitantly jumped off the roof and began 'walking' along the wizard's heads, who in return attempted to grab at them. Luckily, Luigi's quick feet and high jumping made it relatively easy to use their heads as stepping stones. Mario and Luigi quickly made it to the magical barrier that Merlon had set up, but just as Luigi was about to leap into it his foot was snagged by one of the many grabbing hands. Mario leaped from his brother's shoulders and landed safely to meet Merlon and Gadd, but Luigi fell into the barrier and then the stage face first with his back feet in the air. Luigi picked himself up with a moan as he cursed his bad luck.

Merlon pleaded to Mario, "Please Mario, destroy the idol, now!"

"Here I go!" Mario shouted strongly as he jumped into the air, ready to bring down his hammer.

However, Mario was a moment too late as the statue erupted with a powerful purplish light, empowered through all the chanting. Mario was repelled and he managed to save himself from his fall and land safely next to his cowering brother, who had his hat pulled over his eyes. As the light faded it became apparent that the statue was merely a petrified wizard and not a simple creepy statue. The wizard had come back to life, in a way. The visage of the wizard was one of undeath. He was completely skeletal with pin prick sized eyes set deep in the pale skull that lie underneath his tattered hood. His boney hands clad in fingerless black gloves reached out from underneath his tattered and faded purple and black robes. His robes were an older style than Merlon's. They were stitched loosely at the shoulders and he had golden curl-tipped boots. The accents on his robes were missing due to rot and decay.

Mario and the party were shocked as the wizard lumbered slowly forward, moaning. The Wizard Cultists all bowed down until their faces reached the ground. One of them forced Peach to the ground as well. She responded in disgust, "Oh, please don't do that! I heard mud is good for a woman's complexion but this is ridiculous!"

"Just hold on Princess!" Mario shouted.

Merlon began chuckling, "Well..., this is a surprise! He's become a Dry Lich!" he laughed.

Gadd was stunned, "I've never seen this type of ghost before! What is a Dry Lich?"

Merlon explained, "A Dry Lich is any sorcerer that has fallen into undeath! He probably can't even remember any of his former spells due to his brains rotting away! Even if he does remember he can't pronounce the big ones without a tongue!"

"So that's a good thing right?" Mario asked hopefully.

Gadd smirked, "You bet, since he's undead he's vulnerable to my inventions! I'll just suck him up and turn him into a painting!"

Gadd approached the Dry Lich and turned on the Poltergust 3000. The vacuum grabbed hold of the undead wizard and he began to slowly be drawn to its nozzle. The Dry Lich made three forced steps towards Gadd with the professor growing more excited with each step. However, the link was threatened as the wizard performed a strange technique. He was able to materialize his own shadow from the ground into a hand and bat the professor away. The connection was cut and he was thrown to the ground.

Mario came to him, "Professor are you alright?!" he asked alarmed.

The professor simply moaned deliriously as Mario brought him to his feet. Merlon on the other hand blocked the Lich's path as Mario continued to help the professor. As he was face to face with the Dry Lich, Merlon began chanting a spell. However, the Dry Lich placed his boney finger to his mouth and 'shushed' him with a long echoing whisper that whistled slightly through his protruding teeth. Merlon's words were taken from his mouth as his voice vanished. Merlon's eyes widened in horror, "I've' been muted!" he thought. The zombified wizard then stretched his shadow again and bound it to Merlon's shadow. Merlon was completely immobilized and now being controlled like a puppet. Now controlled by the rancid Dry Lich, Merlon was forced to undo his barrier spell. The Wizard Cultists all began surrounding everyone they could. They took every Toad they could get their hands on and attempted to take Luigi and Mario, but they managed to rescue the Professor and jump to higher ground.

Mario shouted to Luigi from atop a large stone star effigy, "Luigi, are you all right bro?!" he asked as Luigi stood atop the tall castle walls.

"Yeah, just getting my balance is all!" he said with his knees shaking. "Hey, where is that bonehead taking Merlon?"

"All the cultists are following too!" Gadd pointed out.

Mario looked around and as Merlon was already nearly out of sight. Gadd realized where they were headed. "Mario, they are going to Shooting Star Summit for some reason! They may be after Murluvlee and Merlow, you have to stop him!"

"Hey weeg! Take care of the Princess and the Professor! I'm going after Merlon!" Mario instructed strongly.

"Oh yeah!" Luigi replied with a thumbs up.

With that, Mario began chasing down Merlon while jumping and leaping on the heads of the cultists. Luigi on the other hand leaped and scuttle jumped over to the Princess who was being slowly carried off.

"I hate to trouble you Luigi, but could you please get me out of this mess?" Peach cried out sweetly.

"No problem Princess!" Luigi claimed as he landed in front of the cultists that were carrying her. Luigi performed a break dance sweep with his sturdy legs and knocked all of the wizards down. He quickly scooped up Peach and jumped over to Gadd's position.

Luigi stacked both the professor and the princess on his back, "There we go!" Luigi cheered confidently.

"Thanks youngster, I thought I was done for!" Gadd said in relief.

"I thank you as well Luigi, but we should really find out how to help Mario!" Peach said with worry. "We've never seen anyone like this Dry Lich before, so he may need some help!"

"I agree, these spiritual foes are always tricky for Mario!" Luigi claimed. Luigi looked around to se if there was a safer spot to get to, as the cultists began attempting to climb the effigy to reach them. Luigi then realized something as he looked to the roof of Peach's Castle.

*Meanwhile*

Mario trailed Merlon as fast as he could but the crowd was quick and already made it to the base of Shooting Star Summit. "I need some more air time!" Mario exclaimed as he punched a '!' Block and out popped a Super Leaf. Mario grabbed it and transformed with a puff of smoke. He now donned a pair of raccoon ears and a tail. "Oh yeah!" he shouted cheerfully as he gently floated down. Mario then followed this with a triple jump, using the wizard's heads as trampolines, he was able to propel himself in the air high enough to start flying.

The Dry Lich ascended the spiraling Sooting Star Summit guarded heavily by his followers. Both he and Merlon made it to the top of the hill with Mario landing on a strip of '?' Blocks just out of reach. Mario ground his teeth, "Drat, I didn't have enough flying power!" he cursed.

The wizards encircled Merlon and his captivator and yet allowed them some breathing room. The Dry Lich began to utilize his shadow bending ability again and this time he incorporated all of the shadows of his followers and his captive. The shadows rose up into the sky and formed a massive hand shape. "Mama mia...," Mario said in awe. The massive conglomeration of shadows reached high into the sky. It rose until it reached above the very clouds in the night sky. Mario could no longer see what the hand was going for but it eventually came to a halt as it seem to grasp something.

"Mario!" Luigi called out from behind Mario.

Mario averted his gaze to witness his brother carrying Peach and Gadd while falling from an even higher height than from where Mario was standing. "Luigi, how did you get up there?" Mario asked in surprise.

"I found a vine to the clouds in a Brick Block...," he replied with a smile. Luigi landed on the same strip of blocks his brother was on. "What's going on?!"

"I don't really know but it can only end badly!" Mario shouted as he made a running jump to the hill's top. He slowed his descend using his Super Leaf power and landed right on top of the Dry Lich's head. The stomp caused him to fall to pieces like any 'Dry' class undead. The cultists noticed but did nothing as Mario grabbed Merlon by the upper arms and attempted to free him. Merlon would not budge however as he was trapped still by the Lich's shadow. "Hey come over here and help me out would ya weeg?!" he urged.

Luigi jumped into the sky and the Princess used her floating ability to gently fly over to the summit. "I thought you could use a little more air Luigi!" she said confidently.

"Ohh, I think I'm gonna get air sick!" Gadd moaned.

The Dry Lich's bones shook violently as he sprung back to life, but before he could take any action against Mario his brother landed on him breaking the skeletal wizard to pieces again. Everyone leaped off Luigi's back and gathered around Merlon. "My Therapy spell should bring Merlon's voice back!" Peach claimed as she gently laid her palms on Merlon. Her hands gleamed with a soft warm pink light.

"I think I can disconnect the shadow binding!" Gadd shouted with a twirl of a flash light. Gadd shined his bright flash light on the shadowy tether that connected Merlon to the Dry Lich. The shadow on the ground began to dissolve as the Dry Lich started shaking again. "There, got it!" Gadd said as the connection was broken.

Merlon fell into the Princess arms, "T-thank you...," he said wearily.

The Brothers intercepted Merlon and Peach from the now revived Dry Lich and Luigi pulled Gadd out of the way via his lab coat's collar. The Dry Lich stared at the brothers who were ready to fight back only to hear a horrifying noise come from up above. Rocks and blocks fell to the world below as it was now revealed what the Dry Lich had been trying to do with all those shadows. The large hand had yanked the Star Shrine from the sky and it was being dragged down from the heavens. It was falling to pieces as it did so. Everyone gazed into the sky in horror as they attempted to brace for the impending impact. With an enormous crash and massive dust cloud following, the Star Shrine, built to house the mythical Star Spirits and the magical Star Rod they guarded, fell to the base of Star Hill in absolute ruin. The Star Spirits were incapacitated by the crash.

Coughing and wheezing could be heard as everyone attempted to make sense of what had just happened. "Peach, Luigi, Professor?" Mario shouted. "Is everyone all right.

"I'm over here bro!" Luigi cried out as he had the Professor with him who was coughing and gagging on the dust but otherwise alright. He was not far from Mario's position, but Peach and the Dry Lich were missing. As the dust cleared out some more Mario looked around frantically until he seen a sight that angered him. Peach was being controlled by the evil wizard just as he had done to Merlon, but the zombie had the gall to ride on her back while she traversed the rubble.

Mario jumped into the rubble pit and gave chase, "Hey you! Get your boney butt off the Princess!" he shouted with fury.

Peach headed towards a bright light that shined through the night and brought the Dry Lich to it. He dismounted and Peach began to unwillingly dig through the rubble. Underneath a stone revealed the shining object to be the mystical Star Rod that was used to grant wishes. The Dry Lich looked back at Mario and hissed at him as he approached quickly. He drove Peach to raise the Star Rod and she began to make a wish for him.

Peach struggled to fight back as her voice escaped her mouth, "Mighty Star Rod grant my wish! I Merloom, wish for the return of my flesh! I wish for flesh that does not rot or decay even under the power of undeath or the flow of time!"

The Star Rod erupted with a bright flash of light as the wizard's wish was granted. Peach then tossed the Star Rod away as hard as she could and fell to the ground holding her mouth, stunned at the words that came from it. Meanwhile, the Dry Lich's body was enveloped in a bright but sickly light as new flesh wrapped itself around his bones until he emerged fully restored. Under his hood lie bright, cold, icy blue eyes and pearly white pointed teeth. His flesh had been restored and he could now speak for himself. Mario stopped before him and braced himself in a fighting stance. "Just who are you anyway?" Mario asked angrily.

The wizard spoke with a deep grating voice, "Ah, that's much better... Well, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Merloom and I am called 'The Shaman of Shadows' by my peers. I hear that your name is Mario? Is that correct?" he asked curiously.

"That's-a me!" Mario emphasized.

"Interesting... I hope you don't feel insulted, but I loathe the colors red and especially green," Merloom stated. "Nevertheless, I thank you for releasing me from that wretched torture! Now, where is this exactly?"

"Your in the Mushroom Kingdom!" Mario began. "We found you because of the light your crystal ball gave off."

"My crystal ball?" Merloom said as he remembered something important. "Oh, that reminds me!" he continued as he rattled the chains that stuck to his body. "I have a deal to complete! I think your souls and the souls of every Toad in this... Mushroom Kingdom will be enough to complete it!"

"Try me!" Mario said fiercely as he dashed at Merloom. Merloom was not ready as Mario hit the wizard with his raccoon tail. Merloom slid across the ground and caught himself by placing both hands on the ground in front of him. Mario then followed up by coming face to face with the wizard, "Firebrand!" Mario shouted as he generated a large sphere of flames in his hands. He pushed the orb into Merloom's chest and the force sent him flying.

Merloom shouted loudly as he crashed into the rubble. He then angrily used his shadow to move a boulder off of him. "Oh, humans can use supernatural abilities now? From a Deity no less..., so that's a thing! Why would a Deity give something as powerful as the Firebrand to a lowly peddler?!" he thought as he looked around. "Huh, where'd he go?!" he thought as he looked up. Mario was closing in from above, "He's going stomp on my head again isn't he?" he finished as Mario did just that. Mario landed and confidently readied himself for another round. Merloom rose up holding his head, "What is it with you people and the head?! Oww! Alright I've had enough of this! I have business I need to finish!" he said as he began chanting.

Merloom levitated into the air and his followers all rose in cheer. The followers offered up Toad people they had kidnaped from Toad Town, but Luigi, Merlon and Gadd were nowhere to be found. Peach quickly hurried under a large slab of stone and took cover. Mario on the other hand still wanted to fight back although he was now unable to reach Merloom. In a bright flash of blinding light souls from the Toad people were ripped from their bodies and sucked into the wizard's dark crystal ball. When it subsided, Peach gazed over her cover and to her horror she seen that Mario was standing cold and lifeless. His soul was taken as well leaving behind a pale and slumped body with a depressed expression on his face.

Merloom touched down, his crystal ball now completely filled and then some. It shined with a sickly violet glow, "Ah, now that, that's done its time for me to head home!" he said as he began chanting again.

Luigi, Peach, Merlon and Gadd rushed over to try and grab Mario but they were too late. "Mama mia, he's escaping into a Warp Zone!" Luigi panicked.

As Merloom rose into the portal above so did everyone else. "We're being sucked in!" Gadd said panicking.

"Hold on everyone!" Merlon shouted as they all followed the dark wizard into the Warp Zone.

"Here we go!" Luigi and Peach shouted in unison.

*End of Part I*