Mario and Luigi walked through the quiet streets of Toad Town, the city dimly illuminated by the light of the moon and streetlights. They stopped in front of a blue house with a spinning roof. Mario knocked on the door. A voice came out from inside the house, "Merlon is out!"

Mario moved to the side of the door and knocked again. The voice from the house yelled, "Why do you keep on knocking? I'm telling you he's out!" The door suddenly swung open, startling Luigi and knocking the green-capped hero to the ground.

"What the?" Merlon said as he looked at Luigi lying on the ground. "Why is someone sleeping outside my house?"

"Merlon!" Mario said.

Merlon turned around and said, "Ah, Mario! I've been waiting for you. Come in."

Mario nodded and walked in as Luigi got up, groaning in pain, and quickly followed his brother inside. Inside Merlon's house, Merlon moved behind the table with his crystal ball on it as Mario and Luigi sat on two chairs that had been positioned in front of the table. "I have seen the battle that took place at your house," Merlon said. "I was about to go to bed for the night, when my crystal ball began shining and alerting me to the situation. These shadow creatures that attacked you…I know not who they are or where they came from. In fact, they don't even appear to be from this dimension at all."

"They scattered the Crystal Stars," Mario said. "I was hoping you'd be able to tell us where they are."

"Indeed, I can," Merlon said. "However, before you begin your adventure, I must tell you important information. It's a very long tale, but I'll shorten it to the most essential parts. It all started many years ago, when I was but a boy. The presence of the stars was powerful in our world…but one day it happened…suddenly…I..."

As Merlon's tale went on and on, Mario and Luigi began to drift off into sleep, tired from both the exhaustion of the battle and from Merlon's long story. Several minutes later, Merlon concluded, "…and that is all you need to know. Do you understand?"

Mario and Luigi quickly woke up and nodded their heads, hoping Merlon wouldn't realize they fell asleep.

"Good. Like I said, I shortened the tale to the most essential parts, so I was worried you might not get it. Now, my crystal ball is showing that the first Crystal Star is in the clutches of a large, raging fire turtle…"

"Bowser!" Mario said.

Merlon then asked, "Do you still have the Magical Map?"

"Yeah," Mario said, pulling it out of his overalls pocket. "I brought it just in case."

"Once you collect the first Crystal Star," Merlon said, "it will track the next one and embed its location into the Magical Map. The map should automatically change the land it shows to be the land where the Crystal Star is. This way, you should be able to collect the Crystal Stars in relatively short order."

"Alright," Mario said as he and Luigi got up. "Thanks for your help, Merlon!"

As the two brothers began to leave, Merlon said, "Be careful. My crystal ball shows that these shadowy beings are not to be underestimated."

Mario and Luigi nodded and left. "So," Luigi began, "what's the fastest way to Bowser's Castle?"

"If we buy two Warp Whistles," Mario said, "we'll be there in no time. I'll have to make a withdrawal from the bank, though."

Mario and Luigi walked to the other side of town, where the Mushroom Bank was. As they got there, though, they saw a green bean-like person robbing the bank!

"Hey, you!" Mario shouted. "Stop!"

The Beanish person, who had his back to the Mario Bros, said, "Heh! Who is it that would try and stop Popple, the great Shadow Thief, from pulling off the greatest heist of his career?" When he turned his back to face the Mario Bros, he exclaimed, "Mario?! And…that other green guy?! Boo! Boo, I say! But you two won't be stopping me this time, see?"

"We'll just see about that!" Mario said. "Let's-a go!"

"Bring it on!" Popple shouted. Popple charged at Mario. Mario leapt over Popple, turned around, and quickly punched Popple in the face. Popple jumped backwards a bit and began running in place, building speed until he zoomed at Mario. Mario couldn't react quickly enough and was knocked to the ground by Popple's attack.

"Augh…" Mario said as he got up. "You've gotten better."

"This battle hasn't even begun!" Popple said. Luigi jumped at Popple, but Popple dodged to the side and kicked Luigi to the ground. Luigi jumped up, leapt backwards, and began firing multiple electricity orbs at Popple. Popple tried to dodge then, but ended up getting hit by one, shocking him. While Popple was paralyzed in place, Mario took out his Ultra Hammer and smashed it into Popple, before smacking Popple away.

"Grah…" Popple said. "This isn't over yet!" Popple took out a light brown sack and began tossing coins out from it. Mario and Luigi collected all the coins that Popple threw at them, but then, Popple tossed out a poison mushroom, causing Luigi to accidentally poison himself!

"Ack!" Luigi cried out.

"Luigi!" Mario shouted.

"Heh!" Popple said. "How do you like them apples?"

Popple then tossed another poison mushroom at Mario, but Mario grabbed it without triggering its poison effect and tossed it back at Popple! "NO!" Popple shouted as the poison triggered on him and caused his green skin to take on a shade of purple.

Alright, Mario thought. Now I just have to outlast him. Popple charged at Mario, but Mario jumped to the side. Popple then took out a Bob-omb from his bag and threw it at Mario, but Mario grabbed it and threw it upwards, where it exploded harmlessly. As Mario did that, Popple tried to sneak around him and attack him from behind, but Mario ran forward immediately after throwing the Bob-omb, and Popple's punch fell short. The momentum Popple had from throwing the punch combined with the poison sapping away at his health caused Popple to fall onto the road, defeated.

"Alright! I did it!" Mario said in victory, adjusting his cap and giving a thumbs up. He went to where Popple was lying and picked up Popple's bag, rummaging through it until he found a Refreshing Herb. He used the item on Luigi, curing his brother's poison.

"Ahhh…" Luigi sighed as his poison went away. "Thanks, bro."

"No problem," Mario said. "Now," Mario picked up the sack of coins that Popple was about to steal, "let's return these to the bank manager."

A few minutes later, Mario and Luigi were in the Mushroom Bank manager's office. "Oh, thank you so much!" the manager said as Mario handed the coin sack to her. "I don't know what I would've done if that thief had gotten away with all these coins!" She pulled open a drawer, took out a Life Shroom, and gave it to Mario. "Here. It's the least I can do."

"Thanks!" Mario said as he pocketed the Life Shroom. "Alright," Mario said to Luigi, "let's make that withdrawal, and then we can head to the shop."

Several minutes later, Mario had gotten 30 blue coins out of the bank, and they were at Harry's Shop on the southern end of Toad Town. Mario laid out 20 blue coins on the table, the equivalent of 768 gold coins. Harry T, the shopkeeper, counted each one, and said, "Twenty blue coins. Select any other items you'll be buying; let me go get the Warp Whistles." Harry T. took out a key and unlocked the storage room, then went inside.

"I've still got ten blue coins," Mario said. "What else should we buy?"

"Hmm…definitely more Refreshing Herbs," Luigi said, picking a pack of six off the shelf. "I don't like being poisoned."

Mario chuckled and said, "I'll grab some Super Shrooms too, in case we ever need healing." Mario got six Super Shrooms, enough for three for each of them.

"And some Fire Flowers," Luigi said, getting six Fire Flowers.

"We have a lot of items, and we're going to be carrying around even more stuff when we start collecting the Crystal Stars," Mario said. "I'll get this backpack to carry the items in." Mario grabbed a small red backpack.

Just then, Harry T. returned with two Warp Whistles in hand. "Here you go," he said, giving them to Mario. "Anything else?"

"Yep," Mario said as he and Luigi put the items they wanted on the counter.

Harry T. took out a calculator and said, "It comes out to 9.55 blue coins exactly." Mario gave Harry T. his remaining 10 blue coins, and Harry T. gave Mario 29 gold coins in change. "Thanks for the business!"

Mario and Luigi left the shop. "Ready to do this?" Mario asked Luigi. Luigi nodded. "Hang on to me!" Mario took out one Warp Whistle and played it. A small whirlwind came by, picked up Mario and Luigi, and flew away to the Warp Zone.