Mary, Uncle Luigi, Aunt Violet, and I were on our way to Koopa Kingdom to save Mom and hopefully find Dad along the way. So far, Uncle Luigi and Aunt Violet had bought Mary's story that we were Aunt Daisy's friends from Sarasaland.

Mary told me in private before we took off, "It'll be sorta weird saying that she's my Aunt when technically she isn't."

"Don't worry, you'll be fine," I reassured, smiling.

So, there we were, running towards Koopa Kingdom. At the current moment, we were taking a shortcut to Merginue Clouds by going through Rock-Candy Mines. Uncle Luigi was leading the charge as we all followed him. Aunt Violet looked at Mary.

She asked, "What kind of power-ups do you have?"

Mary answered, "Several. I've got Acorn power-ups, P Acron power-ups, Helicopter power-ups, Penguin power-ups, fire flowers, stars, mushrooms, and mini mushrooms.

Uncle Luigi asked, "No ice flowers?"

Mary was about to say something but I quickly intervened.

"Sadly, Aunt Daisy didn't have any," I lied.

Violet stated, "That's okay, I've got ice powers."

Uncle Luigi replied, "Besides, we might find some along the way. I don't want my Vi using too much of her energy."

Mary responded, "That's very considerate of you."

Before Uncle Luigi could thank her, I saw something in the distance.

"Hey guys, what's that," I asked them.

Uncle Luigi, Aunt Violet, and Mary took a look and saw the same thing: Boom-Boom. Boom-Boom was one of Bowser's kids, that was something I knew from the history books. Uncle Luigi grabbed an Acorn power-up and threw it in front of him as he was running towards Boom-Boom. The minute the smoke hit him, he flew up and away from Boom-Boom, wearing a flying squirrel suit.

Aunt Violet commented, "Time to cool this guy down!"

As soon as she said that, she waved her hand as an ice shot came out and froze Boom-Boom in place, allowing Uncle Luigi to hit him. I had to admit, Uncle Luigi and Aunt Violet made a great team. There was so much trust there. Mary took a fire flower, her outfit turning mostly white and violet.

Mary stated, "Coruse where there's smoke, there's fire!"

As Mary threw some fire balls at Boom-Boom, I looked in the bag for my own power-up. What could I take? Mary was using the fire flower, Aunt Violet had her ice powers, and Uncle Luigi was in the squirrel suit… I grabbed the Helicopter power-up and turned into a sort of propeller guy. I spun the blades and zipped into the sky. I couldn't believe it, I was flying! I stomped on Boom-Boom, making my own mark on him. After he got back up, Uncle Luigi and I stomped on him together, knocking him out. We all celebrated as Uncle Luigi and I shared a high five, my heart pounding in my ears. I might have been Mario's son but I still had a lot to learn about battles.

Uncle Luigi told me, "That was awesome, Melvin!"

"Thanks," I replied, panting a little.

We were lucky enough to keep the power-ups as we kept on moving. We finally got to Mergiune Clouds when we heard a sound...

Uncle Luigi investigated the groaning that we were hearing and saw Dad on one of the Meringue Clouds. He was hurt, there were oblivious claw marks on his chest.

Uncle Luigi cried out, "Malleo!"

As Uncle Luigi got Dad to his feet, he looked at Uncle Luigi briefly.

He groaned, "I should've listened to you and Violet, Weegie. If I had listen to you before...I wouldn't have been captured by those damn Boos..."

Mary asked, "What is he talking about?"

Aunt Violet answered, "I don't know, he wasn't even near Boos. These cuts are defiantly from Ludwig, though."

"Ludwig messed him up," I questioned, a bit surprised.

Ludwig was also one of Bowser's kids, though he was a bit unfavored by Bowser - he wasn't very strong with his claws - only magic. When Aunt Violet confirmed to me that Ludwig did mess up my dad, my thoughts went all over the place. We could have been in the wrong point in time to stop the horrid future.

Dad groaned, "We have to get Peach back... Now that she is queen, Bowser will be after her more and more."

Well, there was one question answered. Mom was queen. But did that mean that Dad was married to her or not yet? Mary looked at me and I could tell that she had the same questions I did and more.

Mary whispered, "I don't know when we are."

"Me either," I whispered right back.

Suddenly, Uncle Luigi and Aunt Violet caught our attention.

Uncle Luigi stated, "I agree but you are in a bad condition for continuing, fratello."

Aunt Violet added, "Weegie is right. Let him, Mary, Melvin, and I handle this."

Dad barely sat up and got a good look at Mary and me. Dad stared at me the longest, his sapphire eyes searching mine almost. It was like he was studying me. I could see that Uncle Luigi was doing the same thing with Mary. In one moment, I saw shock in my father's eyes. I gulped. 'Does he know,' I thought, my heart racing. Though Aunt Violet wasn't giving us the once overs, it was nerve wrecking for Dad and Uncle Luigi to do it. Eventually, Dad sighed.

Dad replied, "Alright but I'm coming with, bad condition or not."

"That might be unwise," I pointed out.

I had become slightly wiser on this trip but I was nowhere near as wise as my own father.

Mary spoke, "Might be unwise? It IS unwise. We don't know what to expect when it comes to Ludwig."

Aunt Violet responded, "That is a good point."

Uncle Luigi told us, "Now hold on. I agree that Malleo is being hard headed and that he should go back to the kingdom. But…we might need more power when we fight Bowser."

That was something that didn't cross my mind. We were planning to go up against a rather giant beast with only power-ups, our fists, and our feet. The odds were against us and the more power we had on hand, the better off we would be.

"He's right," I said.

Mary sighed as she stated, "I hate to admit it but…you are right after all."

Aunt Violet looked at Dad and replied, "Alright, you can come but just be careful."

Dad nodded and responded, "I will be more careful than I was when I ran off a few years ago."

Uncle Luigi shivered and stammered, "L - let's get going then."

We all nodded and proceeded onwards towards Koopa Kingdom. As we walked on, I thought more about my dad. Was he really hard headed like Uncle Luigi said? He had to be. He did run off without power-ups or without Uncle Luigi. Besides, he did have a history of running off and leaving Uncle Luigi behind...

AK1028: Well guys, that's where we are going to end it for now! Stay tuned for more of this! Please read and review! And always think outside the box!