Mario felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to find himself staring into the lens-covered eyes of one of Smergenflov's corrupted toads.
Abruptly, the toad suddenly threw its arms around Mario, Luigi, and Peach.
"Mario! Luigi! Princess!" it exclaimed in a girlish voice. "I'm so glad to see you!"
"Right," replied Mario. "Who are you exactly?"
"Oh, sorry," said the toad as it backed away. Suddenly, a large cloud of magenta smoke enveloped the toad. When it cleared, a green young-looking girl stood smiling in front of the heroes.
"MIMI?!" all three shouted simultaneously.
"Yep!" said Mimi happily. "Golly, am I glad to see you. Where've you been?"
"Long story," answered Peach. "What are you doing here?"
"Impersonating a Smerg, of course," replied Mimi, as if this was obvious.
"That's what those are called?" asked Mario. "'Smergs?'"
"Well, 'SMERG' is technically an acronym," said Mimi. "But when you have the choice between 'Smerg' and 'Super Monstrous Evilized Reanimated Gastrointestinaldimensionalp neumountramicroscopicsilicov olcanoconeosicterrifyingdemo nichydromushroomoids,' it's usually easier to say 'Smerg.'"
"That makes sense," said Luigi thoughtfully.
"Gosh golly, what am I doing?" exclaimed Mimi suddenly. "I have to show you guys to the others!"
"What others?" asked Peach.
"You'll see," said Mimi facetiously. She then proceeded to skip away. The heroes shrugged and began to follow. Eventually, they stopped at the end of an alley. Mimi took out a remote control. She pushed a cubic blue button with an exclamation point on top. A sand-colored warp pipe rose out of the ground in front of them. As the heroes made to jump in, Mimi held out a hand to stop them. "Hold on a sec," she said. She rubbed a small white crystal on a ring she had on. "Okay! You can go in now!" she said, satisfied. The trio jumped in without hesitation, eager to leave the wasteland.
Lord Smergenflov yawned as he took a sip from a cup of coffee. "Time to check the cameras," he muttered as he walked sluggishly to the scrying room. "Desert cam, fine, fountain cam, fine, Mario cam, fine, palace cam, fine...hold on." The Mario scrying sensor never worked. It was always blank. He peered at the screen. Mario was running down an alleyway with both Peach and Luigi, following some green girl. "Interesting," he said to himself. His eyes narrowed as a warp pipe rose out of the sand. So that's how smugglers had gotten in and out of the town. He paused the video as Mario jumped down the warp pipe. He could fast-forward later. He rewound to see Merlon teleporting the heroes, their discovery of the new Toad Town, and the revelation of Mimi as a false guard.
"TOADSWORTH!" barked Smergenflov.
"Yes, lord?" asked the now-corrupted toad.
"Set an ocular into that alleyway," Smergenflov ordered as he pointed at the screen. "Cloak it, too."
"Yes, lord," said Toadsworth as he exited. Smergenflov grinned as he watched what was currently happening to the heroes. "Let the games begin..."
Mario exited the pipe along with Luigi, Peach, and Mimi to find himself in a jungle. "Where are we?" he asked Mimi.
"Keelhaul Key," she said happily. "Come on, the others will want to see you."
"What others?" asked Luigi as the heroes followed Mimi.
"We formed a resistance group," Mimi explained. "We call ourselves-"
"THE RESISTANCE!" bellowed Flavio as the heroes entered the island's camp.
"I thought we were going with 'Toad Town Underground,'" said Toadette.
"I would've gone with 'Mushroom Liberation Front,'" said Popple.
"I still prefer 'Rebel Alliance...'" muttered Doopliss as he came up behind the heroes.
"It's great to see you guys!" exclaimed Luigi.
"Except you," added Mario as he glared at Doopliss.
"Hate to break it to you, Slick, but I'm on your side," said the duplighost, grinning. "Frankly, you're lucky I'm here at all. That Summons went off as I was in the middle of a troop of Smergs."
"Summons?" inquired Peach.
"That's what I was doing when I stopped you at the Warp Pipe," said Mimi as she showed the heroes her ring. "We each have one of these. When we rub the jewel, we can call someone else wearing a ring to your location."
"Why call Doopliss?" asked Mario.
"Because he needed to know that you're here and he's always in the Obsidian Palace, masquerading as a Smerg," replied Mimi.
"I'm assuming that the Obsidian Palace is that huge palace that I also assume is Smergenflov's?" assumed Luigi.
"Yes," said Doopliss.
"Our leader will want to see you," said Mimi. "Be right back!" With that, she ran off.
"...So." said Doopliss. Silence. A cricket chirped in the backround. "How about this weather?"
"Pretty nice," replied Mario. The cricket sounded again. "So how've you been?"
"I've been all right," answered Doopliss. The cricket stopped chirping. Mario assumed that it was dead.
"Welling, welling, welling!" declared a voice behind Mario. He turned around to see none other than Fawful.
"Evening of good, Mustache."