Luigi Mario and the Legend of the Golden Mushroom.
Summary: Luigi dreams of going on a grand adventure without Mario. He wants to fly solo but however things don't go to plan and he finds out that there is no shame in asking for help.
Chapter 1: The Start of a Dream.
Luigi was sat on his sofa in his new mansion. He was eagerly awaiting the news on the television. At any time now the news reporter would tell the story of how Luigi saved his brother, the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom from King Boo. For once he could revel in the glory of being a hero. This was his time. Luigi watched patiently, feeling a rare sense of proud ness well up inside of him. And here it came…
"Finally I have some fantastic news!" The reporter started with glee. Luigi smiled, fantastic – he had been described as fantastic.
"Shortly after Mario had been taken hostage by the evil fiend King Boo..." Evil fiend? That made Luigi sound braver then he actually felt all way through rescuing Mario.
"And rescued by his brother..." No mention of his name? Surely they will in a minute. Luigi started to worry a little, something was bound to go wrong.
"He has now proposed to our beloved Princess Peach!" The reporter all but yelled in excitement. Luigi's jaw dropped. That was it? Just an extremely brief mention of his adventure? Mario had overshadowed him and this time Mario had hardly done anything. Luigi felt sick to the stomach. This was unfair, if Luigi hadn't rescued Mario, then Mario couldn't have proposed to Peach.
The phone rang and Luigi jumped in surprise. He didn't really want to answer it but he wasn't ignorant and would have felt guilty if he had left it ringing.
"Hello?" He said fighting back his sadness.
"Hey Bro! Did you hear my news?" Came the voice of Mario from the receiver.
"Yeah sure! Listen I'm so happy for you, congratulations!" Luigi said forcing himself to be enthusiastic. He genuinely was happy for his brother, but he was just disappointed that once again it came at the expense of him.
After a short conversation Luigi put the phone down and let out a big sigh. Mario had invited him around for a big party up at Peach's castle and Luigi couldn't really say no. He was still his brother after all.
He decided to brave the occasion. This was going to be hard but it's not like he hadn't done it before. He always had to smile and grit his teeth. When ever he met Mario's partners from previous quests or when members of the public congratulated him on his solo efforts.
As he got ready for the party all he could think about was the news report that featured all of about two sentences of his adventure.
He was just on the verge of leaving his house when the phone rang again. Shaking his head he answered it.
"Ah Luigi my friend! You haven't left yet? Good," This time it was Professor E Gadd; the professor who happened to be of great help in rescuing Mario.
"What's up Prof?" Luigi asked.
"Well I just received a startling email from my good pal Professor Frankly! I need to meet up with you in person to explain the details further…." E Gadd said excitedly.
"Fine, I'm off to Peach's party first…" Luigi said, wondering what could have got the Professor so excited.
"Splendid! I'm going there too! See you there my boy!" E Gadd said before he put the phone down.
Luigi opened his front door and walked out locking it behind him. He walked down his steps and headed for his car. He got in and started the engine. He really wasn't looking forward to this party at all. The hall would be filled with well-wishers and fans of the happy couple.
As he drove through the streets of the Mushroom Kingdom he could see many of the residents already celebrating the sacred union of their beloved Princess and their hero. He shook his head as all the pink and red banners started to make him feel queasy. After battling to keep his lunch inside him Luigi made it to Peach's castle. The castle was covered from top to bottom in white and pink balloons and banners.
"Eurgh…the pinkness. I wonder how Mario feels about it?" Luigi muttered to himself as he got out of his car and tossed his keys to a smartly dressed Toad.
He hadn't gotten very far before he bumped into someone he knew well.
"Hey Luigi…" Came a sullen female voice. Luigi whirled round to come face to face with a very disgruntled Daisy. Luigi forgot all of his troubles the very instant that he clapped eyes on her.
"Hey Dais!" He called out as calmly as he could. She forced a smile and hugged him in greeting.
"What's up?" He asked. It was unusual to see her not smiling.
"Peach! She's crazy!" Daisy exclaimed waving her arms about.
"Well she's marrying my brother so yup, I'd have to agree," Luigi said with a chuckle.
"She's making me wear pink to her wedding," Daisy said over dramatically.
"Oh dear. You'll look beautiful no matter what you wear you know?" Luigi said with a smile. Daisy looked at him and smiled back.
"Thank you Luigi," Luigi grinned more broadly, she was smiling again and it was because of what he had said.
"Lets go inside. Everyone and I mean everyone is here!" Daisy said as she pulled Luigi towards the castle.
Together they made their way inside and true to Daisy's word everyone was there. Even Wario and Waluigi were there and seemingly behaving themselves. People were dancing and generally enjoying themselves, Luigi found it hard to find time to sulk about being overlooked as a hero.
"Daisy?" Luigi asked feeling a little impulsive. Daisy looked at him but said nothing.
"Care to dance?" Luigi blushed as he said it. Daisy was about to respond when there was someone behind them laughing hysterically.
"Luigi! Why on earth would she want to dance with you? You're more feminine then she is! Mind you it's not hard is it?" Waluigi said teasing the pair of them. Luigi had no reply and Daisy frowned at Waluigi. She didn't respond with words, she gave him one last look before ignoring him completely. She looked at Luigi and smiled sadly.
"Erm maybe later Luigi yeah?" She said before hastily making an escape. Luigi sighed.
"Thanks Waluigi…" He muttered sarcastically. Waluigi slapped him on the back.
"No probs!"
Luigi started to walk away when he spotted Mario walking over. Mario eyed Waluigi suspiciously, who saw the look on Mario's face and went off to pursue some poor unsuspecting female.
"What did he want bro?" Mario asked, concerned. Luigi shook his head.
"Never mind," Luigi responded.
"I'm so glad you could come," Mario said with a smile.
"Why wouldn't I?"
"You know if it wasn't for you I wouldn't be here now," Mario said admittedly. Luigi smiled.
"Well I wasn't going to say anything," Luigi said with a faint trace of red hitting his cheeks.
They continued talking for a short period when Mario made his excused and left leaving Luigi to search for the Professor. Luigi searched high and low for the pint-sized professor but failed to spot him anywhere. Leaning on the buffet table he decided to give up.
"Psst! Luigi," Someone whispered. Luigi looked around but saw no one.
"The fruit bowl," Came the voice again. Luigi looked at the fruit bowl in confusion.
"Lift it up god darn it!" Came the whisper, a bit harsher then before. Even though this request puzzled him, Luigi did indeed lift up the fruit bowl only to come face to face with the head of Professor E Gadd.
"What the…?" Luigi cried out in shock. The professor smirked and put a finger up to his lips. He then motioned Luigi to crawl under the table and join him. Not making a fuss Luigi did so, but he made sure that no one watched him in the process.
Once he was under the table he gave E Gadd his undivided attention. E Gadd held a small laptop in his hand and he opened it up before placing it in front of Luigi.
"This is my email from Professor Frankly. I would like you to see this, Luigi," E Gadd explained. Luigi watched with interest as a picture of Professor Frankly appeared on the screen. The small eccentric looking Goomba started to talk and Luigi made mental notes if what he was saying.
"Greetings my fellow Professor! It's been a while has it not? Anyhow I have something that may be of interest to you. You see for a while I have been doing research on ancient ruins and their legends in Sarasaland and I came across a small artefact,"
Professor Frankly held up a small golden object. It seemed to be a misshapen platform of some kind.
"This is the bottom of the Golden Mushroom. I take it my dear Professor that you do know what the 'Golden Mushroom' is?"
E Gadd paused the video email and turned to look at Luigi. Luigi wondered what this had got to do with him and looked at E Gadd questioningly.
"Ah Luigi let me explain…The Golden Mushroom once belonged to an ancient civilisation native to the Mushroom Kingdom of the past…It held magnificent powers. Powers even Kammy could dream of. King Horatio of the Mushroom Kingdom split it up into six parts so that evil hands couldn't get hold of it. However the force of the Golden Mushroom is strong and it searches for a way for it to unite,"
"Oh great, you'd better get Mario to help out with this one. I'm the lesser insignificant brother…. remember?" Luigi said half-heartedly. E Gadd waved his hand in disagreement.
"I'm choosing you Luigi!" He said sternly.
"Fine…" Luigi said a little stiffly.
E Gadd then started the video email up again.
"I want you to send you're bravest hero to track down the other five pieces of the Golden Mushroom. I will meet him – or her – in Sarasaland. They should head to the Sand Dune Hotel where I shall discuss their next action,"
"He never said when he wanted to meet…" Luigi muttered disapprovingly.
"Be there on the 5th of this month and 12pm sharp!" Professor Frankly concluded.
"So that's final then?" Luigi asked E Gadd hoping there was a way he would be let off the hook. E Gadd shook his head as he put away the laptop.
"You may want to get some help to go with you, if you do so wish…hm?" E Gadd said. Luigi thought about this and shook his head; if he was going to do this then he was going alone. He could do it and prove to everyone that he is just as capable as Mario and this time they would not forget it!
"Nope I'm going alone!" Luigi said defiantly.
"Okay, but just remember there is no shame in asking for help along the way. You know you can contact me when ever you need me," E Gadd said encouragingly.
Luigi nodded and looked at his watch. It showed him both the date and the time, as he looked at the watch he noticed something.
"Professor…?"
"Yes Luigi?"
"It's the 3rd today…" Luigi said feeling a little uneasy. E Gadd jumped up in glee.
"You'd better get going then! Yes yes my boy, your adventure begins here!" He said jumping and banging his head on the table.
"But I haven't had time…" Luigi stuttered. This was all so sudden.
"Go home, pack provisions and let me know when you arrive in Sarasaland!"
"I should let Mario know…" Luigi said thoughtfully. E Gadd replied straight away.
"Why would you want to do that? He'll only insist on going with you, wont he? You could always leave him a letter or ring him to let him know you're safe…"
E Gadd said pushing Luigi out from under the table. Luigi stood up and straightened his clothes. He walked off feeling a little helpless.
He thought about telling Mario what was going on and then thought back to E Gadd's words. He had a point. Mario would insist on going with him. Luigi couldn't let that happen.
He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he walked smack bang into Toadette. Both of them crashed to the ground. Toadette got off the ground first and dusted herself down. Luigi followed suit and apologised.
"Never mind, no harm done! How are ya?" She said cheerfully.
"Erm…fine thanks, you?" Luigi answered slowly, he was still thinking about his trip to Sarasaland.
"I'm fine and dandy thanks! Mind if I hang with you?" Toadette asked hopefully.
"Sorry Toadette, I'm on an important miss…. I'm busy 'kay?" Luigi had changed his wording mid sentence and hoped that Toadette didn't pick up on it. She gave no indication of picking up on it and allowed Luigi to carry on his way.
Luigi left the party without a word to anyone. He drove all the way home and not once did his mind stray away from the task at hand. He briefly wondered what kind of powers one small mushroom could hold and what this could mean for all the residents of the Mushroom Kingdom.
He soon reached home and packed a small case. He took replenishing herbs, fire flowers and mushrooms. He also packed a spare change of clothes. He was about to leave his humble home for the open road when he saw a photo on his mantelpiece. It was of him, Mario, Peach and Daisy. This was his favourite photo. He always looked at it and hoped that like Mario and Peach, he and Daisy could become a couple.
Taking one big sigh he went through the front door and locked it behind him. He wondered when he would see his home next.
Next Chapter: Luigi's off on the road to Sarasaland to meet Professor Frankly. In Sarasaland a familiar face pops up and wont leave him alone.