Disclaimer: All characters and monsters in this story, with the exception of Emmy, are the property of Nintendo.

I hope you enjoy! Please read and review!


Mario got up to see Peach gone. He looked around and saw no sight of the princess. He instantly panicked. "Peach!" he called out. "Over here!" she called out, and emerged from the forest and walked over to Mario, who was still on the beach. She had some berries in her hand.

"I found these in the forest! The book that Toadsworth gave us about edible foods turned out to be handy."

Mario grabbed some of the berries and the two sat down. "Toadsworth gave us a book?" Mario asked.

"Yes, and some other things. Look, these are—" Peach was interrupted by the deafening roar that once again came from the forest.

"Momma mia!" Mario exclaimed. The earthquake stopped shortly after the roaring. Mario and Peach then quickly finished their food and gathered up their things.

"We need to find out what that is!" Mario said. "Let's a-go!"

So the two travelers then made their way into the forest, where Peach immediately pointed out a trail of coins.

"That's odd," Mario said, rubbing his chin. "We should follow alongside it just in case it's a trap."

Mario and Peach got a safe distance away from the coins, and Peach took out her umbrella, Perry, just in case things got bad.

The coins went down a path through the forest, and suddenly, another surge of fuzzys came again, same as what had happened on the beach. While Mario and Peach were crouched behind Perry, Mario said, "We must be getting closer to whatever that beast is."

Once the fuzzys stopped, another tremendous roar shook the forest, and Mario heard a distinct scream that was unmistakably his brother's.

"Luigi!" he called out, and ran ahead, leaving Princess Peach to call after him. Mario ran out onto the path of coins without thinking, and from the trees came a dog-like creature that attached itself to Mario and dragged him down to the floor.

"Mario!" Peach called out, and immediately ran over to the dog-creature, hitting it repeatedly with the end of her umbrella. Eventually the dog let out a whimper and ran off.

Mario got up and looked at Peach in astonishment.

"What?" she replied. "I told you I can fight!"

Mario smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "I could have sworn I heard Luigi. Did you hear him?"

Peach shook her head no. "I'm sorry Mario," she said, trying to comfort him. "I'm sure he's okay. He went through a whole mansion of ghosts on his own! I'm sure he can get through this."

Poor Mario couldn't come to tell Peach that what was really on his mind were the words Emmy had said.

That's what I never got about you two. Why brave and strong, but irrational Mario went after Bowser, when the cowardly, yet smarter Luigi could have done the job a thousand times better...


A little earlier…

Luigi woke up on the floor. He sat up and held his head. Where was he? He looked around and noticed it was dark everywhere, with only a small stream of light peering through rock. He looked around the room he was in, and saw Emmy staring at him wide-eyed. He jumped.

"Morning, Luigi," Emmy said. "The hobgoblin's gone who-knows-where, so we should leave before he gets back. They're hospitality runs short pretty quickly." She began to walk out of the cave. Luigi stayed where he was.

She turned around and faced him. "Well, are you coming or what?"

Luigi broke out of his trance and jumped up, running after Emmy. "So, what are we doing today?"

She turned around so quickly that Luigi almost fell over to avoid hitting her.

"Why would I tell you?" she spat back, and then continued walking.

Luigi clenched his teeth and murmured, "I was just asking."

They exited the cave into the brilliance of pure sunlight, the ground still a little wet after last night's storm. Emmy took a while to stop and stretch.

Luigi walked a little farther ahead, thought Emmy kept a sharp eye on him, and noticed a trail of coins throughout the forest. "Look!" he called out to Emmy, and she came running. "Did you do that?"

She shook her head. "I wouldn't go near that trail though if I were you. C'mon, let's see where it leads to. It looks like it started at the beach…"

So the two set off along the side of the trail, staying a safe distance from it. Suddenly they stopped, and Luigi figured out why. Five koopas were setting the coins out along a distinct trail, all the while laughing and talking amongst themselves.

Emmy decided to show herself to the koopas by jumping out on the trail, but she was suddenly attacked by a vicious dog-like creature. Luigi and the koopas stared in horror as Emmy struggled to gain control of a power star and use it. The koopas looked on with eager smiles.

Luigi quickly thought in his mind… run away, or help?

Mustering up his strength and courage, Luigi jumped out onto the trail and jumped on and punched the creature until it ran away whining.

Luigi panted, and noticed Emmy was looking at him strange. "You…" she began. "You saved me."

Luigi felt proud of himself, and he swelled up with pride. Unfortunately that also included loss of speaking.

"Hey, green 'stache!" one of the koopas yelled out. "You best be leaving before we hurt you!"

Luigi furrowed his brows at them. He could take on koopas any day.

"Do you even know who you're dealing with?" Emmy asked, getting up and brushing off dirt from her clothes. "I'm Emmy, and in case Bowser hasn't told you yet, I'm on your side. Luigi here is my captive."

Two of the koopas started bursting with laughter at Luigi being captured, while the other three looked terrified of what Emmy might do to them.

"Luigi! Ha! I knew he'd never last! He's such a brainless coward!"

Luigi's pride instantly went away and was replaced with shame. Emmy saw this and whipped out a power star, putting all five koopas in a bubble. "He had no choice!" she told them. "Let me see you break free of this!"

The koopas tried, and failed. Luigi stared on at Emmy. She was… standing up for him? No one but Mario and Peach ever did that for him.

Emmy eventually released the power star's hold, and the koopas dropped to the ground. "Now why are you setting this trail?"

"King Bowser told us that we should lead Mario to the beast in the forest!" the koopas said, still setting coins down. "Besides, those dog-creatures love the coins for some reason!"

Emmy looked down the trail of coins, and then said to the koopas, "Keep doing what you're doing. We'll be on our way." Emmy and Luigi decided to go around the half-finished trail of coins and back to the shuttle.

Luigi stiffened when, close to the trail of coins, a roar emerged from deep inside the forest, and another dog-creature leapt out and attacked him. He got a better look at its massive teeth and gleaming eyes before it attacked him. "Oh no!" he yelled out in fear, just as the dog latched on to him. A bright flash of gold whizzed past his face. He looked over to see the dog-creature lying on its side, and a power star staying obediently near Emmy's hand.

There was another noise after this, distant, that sounded like Mario. "Mario!" Luigi yelled, but Emmy stopped him with a force field, but a weak one.

"Luigi," she said, sounding exhausted, "we need to leave. I'm sure your brother is fine."

Luigi listened harder, ignoring Emmy, and heard only silence. He put his hands on the force field and noticed how weak it was. He could break through it…

"Please, Luigi," Emmy begged. "We need to go. The prophecy will be fulfilled. Your brother will be fine. Please…"

Luigi took his hands off the force field and turned back to Emmy, who looked tired. "I guess you're right," he said.

Emmy released the force field and said, "You have a lot of trust in you, don't you?" She was breathing fast.

"Are you okay?" Luigi asked her.

"I'm fine," Emmy said. "It takes a lot for me to do that, though," she said, pointing to the dog-creature that was still knocked out. Luigi, still a little out of the loop, walked with Emmy back towards the shuttle.


I know I'm not putting much information about Mario and Peach in here, but Luigi's on the inside of the whole operation, so he witnesses a lot more.