Four
"Is he breathing?"
"Is he dead?"
"Take his pulse!"
"Heeelllloooo in there!"
"Hey, wake up!"
"He's dead. He's just dead."
These were the voices that Mario heard. They were unusually high pitched and not like the ones he heard before. He gently opened his eyes to see who loomed above him. At first, his vision was blurry and all he saw were blobs, but it cleared up and he saw four little people looking down at him. They each had the same mushroom hats like the little guy that he and Luigi were attempting to save earlier. Speaking of Luigi….
Mario shot up from where he was laying down, but an instant headache overcame him to the point where he couldn't open his eyes anymore, and he had to sit back down. Two of the little people rushed to either side of him to comfort him, one of them taking a bottle filled with rainbow pills, pouring one into his hand, and giving it to Mario.
"Take this."
Mario studied the pill suspiciously. "Why's it all rainbow?"
"Just take it. You'll feel better instantly."
Still suspicious, Mario slowly placed the pill in his mouth, then took a sip of water from the cup beside him, and swallowed the pill whole. He didn't know what happened after that, but something moved inside his body, and he felt instantly light and happy. Even a smile had begun to spread on his face. A door opened, and they all looked up. The little man from earlier had walked in, and right behind him was Luigi. Mario let out a silent sigh of relief upon seeing Luigi, and then proceeded to look him over. There were cuts on his face and his left arm was in a sling. Mario then turned to his left to look into a mirror to look himself over. His cheek was slightly bruised, and his head had a bandage wrapped around it in a headband style, the front part of his hair covering it.
"I'd like to thank you two for saving me," the small man said as he walked towards Mario. His voice was high pitched but raspy.
"No problem. Are these…these…monsters-"
"Goombas. They're called Goombas."
"These…Goombas…are they all over this world?"
"No, they just live in Boggly Woods a bit ways from here. But they come here sometimes to torment us Toadshroom people."
"Where are we right now?"
"We're in my friend Toadette's house in Toad Town. Sorry, but I haven't introduced myself. My name's Toad."
"Well, my name's Mario, and this is my younger brother, Luigi."
Mario held out his hand, and Toad shook it. Luigi held out his good arm and shook Toad's hand as well.
"Now then," Toad asked as he stood back and looked the two of them over, "May I ask just how the two of you got here?"
Mario and Luigi both looked at each other with wide eyes, each trying to figure out how to explain their situation.
"Well you see…We're plumbers where we come from. We were responding to a call about a busted toilet, and then a pipe came up from the same toilet and it had a piranha plant spitting fire at us. I caught a fireball and threw it back, killing the plant. Then we jumped down the pipe, had an adventure there, and now we're here."
"Wait…" the pink Toadshroom came forward, eyes wide and hand to mouth, "You're plumbers from your realm?"
"Yeah…?"
"And the pipe that brought you two here came from the toilet?"
"Yes…why?"
"Toad..!"
She stepped back to the other two Toadshrooms and gestured Toad towards them. They huddled and talked in hushed tones. Mario and Luigi looked at them and wondered what was so urgent. They heard the word 'Prophecy' thrown around about three times. The Shrooms broke their huddle and Toad came forward to the brothers once more.
"Toadette's going to clean you guys up a bit more and then I'll take you down to Toad Town."
Toad disappeared into the next room. The pink Shroom, Toadette, came forward and tended to Luigi's arm. She used rubbing alcohol to clean the open cuts, and then changed the bandages. She then tended to Mario's gash on his head.
"I'd like to thank you two for saving Toad," she said as she rubbed alcohol onto the gash. Mario hissed with every rub. "It means a lot to me."
"It's no problem. Are you and Toad, like, close?"
"Yes, he's my boyfriend. The end of this month would make it six years that we've been together. I love him so much, and I don't know what I'd do without him."
Mario smiled. Six years to a committed relationship. That's exactly what he wanted. He wished he could've had that with Pauline. But hey, things happen. Toad came back into the room.
"You guys ready? After a bit of a walk around town, I'll take you guys to meet the princess."
"The princess? Count me in!" Luigi answered. He hopped off the bed and followed Toad out of the house. Mario began to follow them, but stopped and turned around to face Toadette.
"Hey, if all goes well, I'll talk to Toad about marrying you. Six years of devotedness really deserves a ring on your finger."
Toadette smiled and blushed. Mario showed off a small smile before patting her arm and taking off after the other two.
The brothers followed Toad on the trail from the woods. Toad stopped them on a hill and gestured to them down below.
"Look down yonder you guys. Welcome to Toad Town."
Mario and Luigi looked down in high awe. The town looked glorious; little trading centers and merchant shops. There were even a bunch of restaurants. All the Shroom people bustled around the town going about their business. The brothers continued to follow Toad around.
"So Toad, do you live around here?" Luigi asked.
"Actually, I do," Toad answered, and he pointed over to the left where there were a series of houses. "I live in those houses over there."
The neighborhood looked peaceful from afar, and Mario could see why Toad would want to live here. Toad Town was actively buzzing at that moment, and Mario and Luigi fought to keep close to Toad so that they wouldn't lose him in the crowd. They walked on for a few minutes longer before stopping in front of a corner restaurant called "Smoothie Heaven". It had a patio out on the front porch with circular tables that had umbrellas covering over them. At one of the tables sat a young woman with shoulder length wavy brunette hair, a yellow flowing sundress that stopped about five inches above the knee, white flats with a flower on top, and a golden crown on her head. Toad walked up and greeted her.
"Why, hello there, Daisy!"
The woman turned around and her eyes instantly lit up in a smile. "Hiya, Toad!"
She jumped off of her seat and bent down to hug him. "How are you?"
"I'm fine. How's your life been?"
"Hmph," Daisy pouted as she stood and crossed her arms, "I just need this battle back in my kingdom to clear up so I can get back to ruling once again."
"Ruling?" Mario and Luigi said at the same time.
"Oh yeah. Mario, Luigi, this is Princess Daisy. She's the ruler of the neighboring Kingdom of Sarasaland. She's also a really close friend of the princess. Daisy, this is Mario and Luigi."
"Nice to meet you guys!" Daisy beamed as she shook both brothers' hands. She then stood back and looked them over. "Say, you guys aren't from around here, are you?"
"They're not. They came from…uh…"
"Brooklyn," Mario answered, "Brooklyn, New York."
"Brooklyn? Is that in the Mushroom Kingdom?" Daisy asked.
"The Mushroom Kingdom?" Mario and Luigi said with confused looks on their faces.
Daisy straightened up her head. "Yep. You guys are definitely not from around these parts. Take a look around you. Everything you see is all a part of the Mushroom Kingdom. Toad Town is just the capital."
"They're from the realm known as Earth, Daisy. And I'm already thankful for they saved my life."
"Really? How?"
"Well," Luigi started, "We came here by means of plumbing toilet pipes-"
"Woah, did you say toilet? You two don't happen to be plumbers, are you?"
"Well yeah we are," Mario said, "But what's wrong with-"
Daisy grabbed Toad and pulled him to the side and they whispered amongst themselves. Mario and Luigi strained to hear them. For the second time, the word 'Prophesy' was thrown around. Daisy looked up to them.
"Well then. Seems like you two will be enjoying your stay here! And what an eventful stay it will be!"
Mario and Luigi just looked at each other, both more confused by Daisy's words. What did she mean by 'eventful stay'?
"Make sure they reach the castle safe, Toady," Daisy said with a smile as she grabbed her stuff, "I have to go now. Don't wanna be late for practice! Bye now!"
She took off, but as she ran, a bracelet fell from her body. Luigi noticed and ran to pick it up. He looked up and shouted for Daisy.
"Hey! Daisy! You forgot this!"
"Huh?"
She stopped and turned around. Luigi ran and caught up with her.
"You forgot this," He said as he panted slightly.
"My lucky bracelet! Thanks! I don't know what I'd do without it!"
Luigi panted bit, but did something astonishing: He knelt to the ground, held Daisy's hand, and slipped the bracelet on for her. Daisy looked at him as he did and he then looked into her eyes. He didn't know what happened, but he felt an instant connection from the moment their eyes locked on each other's. After what seemed like an eternity, Luigi cleared his throat and got up.
"Uh, you're welcome."
"Thanks again," she chuckled. "So, I'll see you around again, right?"
"Uh…right."
"Cool. Peace out!" She smiled at him one last time before taking off again. Luigi let out a sigh before going back to the other two.
"Alright you guys," Toad said as he pointed ahead to a grand castle in the distance, "Time to go see the princess."
Toad began leading the way and Mario followed right behind him. Luigi turned around to see the direction that Daisy had run off to. He sighed one last time before turning around to catch up with the other two.
