The Sword of Mushrooms

Chapter II - Fuzzy Frenzy

Mario blinked. Why did that crow go through all this trouble just to lure him over to where Peach was? And how did it even know she was here? Was it watching her, too? What else did it know? Mario shuddered. Did it know that he had a secret crush on Peach, a secret crush he had harbored for years? Impossible! Mario thought. He looked up at the branch, but the crow was gone. He looked around. It wasn't anywhere to be seen, either. Mario thought it once, and he thought it again: that was no ordinary crow.

It no longer mattered to him anyway. The crow was gone and Peach was right there. Mario hadn't seen her in a month some time and was really eager to go over to her. If only those kids weren't there, though, he thought. He'd much rather do this while she was alone. He wondered what Peach was doing with them anyway. From the look of things, she appeared to be in the midst of telling them a story. And judging by how spellbound the children all looked, it must've been a good one.

Mario chose to give it another minute or two. After that he would march himself over there, regardless if the children were still there or not. But his patience was soon rewarded. The children all got up and scuttled back over to the playground. Peach remained seated and watched them. Excellent, Mario thought. He was just about to make his move, when Luigi unexpectedly came running up to him from behind. Talk about bad timing.

"How'd you know I was here?" Mario whispered.

Luigi blinked at him. "I followed you," he whispered back. "I was at the bakery when I saw you run by like there was a building on fire. What's up?"

Mario had neither the desire nor the time to explain things. The details were just too farfetched. Instead, he merely pointed out Peach to him. Luigi blinked in surprise. Mario was then shocked by what happened next. Luigi called out to Peach at the top of his voice and waved to her. Mario could've hit the ground.

"She's waving to us," Luigi said, oblivious to Mario's stunned expression. "She looks happy to see us, too. C'mon!"

Mario acted quick and darted behind Luigi as they went over. The last thing he wanted was for Peach to see him coming out from behind the tree and asking him about it.

"Luigi, Mario," Peach said with a beaming smile. "This is a pleasant surprise. It sure has been a while."

"I'll say," said Luigi. "What are you doing here in the park on this lovely morning?

"Oh, I just came here for a little me time before I got started on my royal duties. A princess' job is never done. Then I decided to entertain the children over there by telling them the story of how my dad defeated Growser."

No wonder those kids were paying such close attention, Mario thought. He and Luigi had been told this story, which was known as the Battle of Toad Town, many times themselves when they were kids.

Mario and Luigi then joined Peach on the bench. It really felt like old times again. The three of them used to hang out together like this all the time, back when King Giles was still around. But ever since he had mysteriously disappeared four months ago, Peach had had to run the entire kingdom by herself. And even though she was doing a splendid job of it and was adored by everyone, her work kept her away a lot. These days, moments like these were a little hard to come by.

"So what have you guys been up to lately?" Peach asked.

"Well," Luigi began in a somewhat boastful tone, "I don't know about Mario here, but you'll be interested to know that I've recently been taking cooking lessons from Mrs. Bea." Mrs. Bea was a middle-aged Toad who owned and ran the town bakery Luigi so very often visited. She was also a highly skilled cook whose talents were known throughout the kingdom.

"That's great, Luigi," said Peach. "It's always good to learn a new skill, and Mrs. Bea is a fabulous cook. I'm sure with her teachings, you can become one of the greats yourself some day."

"You really think so?" Luigi asked, then took a moment to think about it. At first, he imagined himself owning a bakery of his very own in town, but then that quickly dissolved into his true heart's desire, which was himself surrounded by hills of delicious baked goods from cookies to cakes, all made by his own hand and all for himself. Luigi's eyes gleamed and his mouth hung open as he gazed into this fantasy. Mario and Peach exchanged awkward glances. It didn't take a mind reader to know what he was dreaming of. He better not start drooling, Mario thought.

Suddenly, a panic exploded over at the playground. The children were scurrying out of the way of a Fuzzy that was wildly bouncing about. It looked frenzied, as though it had been spooked by something. A Toad girl was desperately trying to catch it. Mario jumped from the bench. This looked dangerous. Fuzzies were parasitic little critters that liked to suck the energy out of other living beings. What was one doing here in the park?

"Somebody, catch my Fuzzy!" the little Toad girl cried.

That Fuzzy's her pet? Mario thought in bewilderment.

The Fuzzy was now bouncing toward him, Luigi, and Peach. Mario tried to intercept it. He had to protect Peach. But it was just too quick. The black, furry critter bounded over his head and smacked directly into Luigi's face. Luigi squealed as he was flipped over the bench and floored. He then felt his bare head and cried, "My hat! He's got my hat!" Mario and Peach stared as the Fuzzy made off wearing Luigi's prized possession. Not this again! Mario groaned as he bolted after it, with Luigi right on his heels. They chased the frenzied Fuzzy over to the nearest tree and watched as it leaped up onto a high branch. Then, unexpectedly, it settled down, and from where Mario and Luigi were standing, they could hear snoring — it had fallen asleep!

"I'll take it from here," said Luigi as he rolled up his sleeves.

Mario was more than happy to let him. He had already gone through this once this morning and was in no mood to do a repeat. He took a few steps back to give Luigi some room as he analyzed the height of the branch. Luigi possessed an even higher jump than Mario's and could make it in a single bound. He bent his legs, just as Mario had done before, and shot straight up. The branch shook as he grabbed it with both hands. His body then hung and froze. The Fuzzy woke up, its big eyes popping wide open. It let out a loud Meeorksound and pounced on Luigi's face. Luigi screamed as he plummeted and flattened Mario, who tried to catch him, like a pancake. Meanwhile, the Fuzzy safely hit the ground. Seemingly calmed, it bounced all the way back to the Toad girl, who'd been standing over at the bench with Peach.

"Thank you, Mario Bros.!" the girl yelled happily, and took her Fuzzy away.

Peach went over to Mario and Luigi as they were picking themselves off the ground and handed back Luigi's hat.

"Well, guys," she giggled, "that was some rescue."

"All in a day's work," Mario groaned as he straightened his back out. "What happened, anyway? How did all this start?"

"Well, the little girl told me that one of the boys over there frightened it with a prank. That's why it freaked out like that. Are you guys okay?"

"I'll be fine," Mario said. He was still a little hunched over and sore. Luigi, on the other hand, didn't seem to be in any pain at all. Not surprising considering he had just used him, Mario, as a human cushion. "So where do we go from here?"

"Well, actually," Peach said with a little sigh. "I need to be heading back to the castle now."

"A princess' job is never done," Mario recalled. He sighed as well. "I guess we'll see you around, then?" But to him that felt like it could be days or weeks until then.

"Or," said Luigi suddenly, "if you're free tonight, princess, you can come over to our house for dinner. We're ordering pizza. And I'll be preparing something extra special for dessert."

"Really? What is it?"

"It's a surprise. You'll have to show up to see for yourself."

"Well, I do like surprises," Peach said with playful inquisitiveness. "Okay, you twisted my arm. I'll be there! This sounds like it's going to be a real blast. I can't wait."

Mario couldn't, either. What a great morning this turned out to be, he thought. And to think, it was all thanks to that mysterious, pesky crow. Thinking of which, after he, Luigi, and Peach parted ways, Mario bolted back through the park to go and retrieve his toolbox and bag of coins he'd left behind when this whole thing had started. Once again, that same thought raced through his head: That was no ordinary crow.