Mario felt something wet on his cheek, like a puppy licking his face. At first, he thought he was dreaming. But Mario felt some movement. The red hated plumber woke up and saw Polterpup over him, wagging his tail happily.

"Polterpup," Mario blurted out, surprised.

Polterpup barked as he went through the wall. Mario bolted up and followed the ghost pup downstairs. Almost instantly, he was in Professor E Gadd's lab.

Elvin saw Mario up and at them and greeted, "Ah, good to see you up and about my boy!"

Mario asked, rapid fire, "Professor E Gadd, what is going on? Why didn't you tell me about the ghosts? Why the hell didn't Luigi tell me?"

"You remember," Elvin reasoned, quietly.

"You bet I remember now what is going on," Mario blurted out.

Daisy came into the room and started to ask, "What's with all the...?" That's when she saw Mario up and about. "Mario, you're up," she said, knowing that she was in a lot of trouble.

Mario told her, "You have a lot of explaining to do, Daisy as does Luigi."

Polterpup stood next to Daisy, looking sad.

Luigi stepped out of the shadows and stated, "She doesn't have to explain anything to you. I told her to keep quiet so that we could keep you safe from King Boo."

Mario observed Luigi as he saw that he hadn't changed that much but was defiantly a lot stronger...but his left arm... It was about the same size as before. Mario was puzzled and before he could ask a question, Luigi approached Elvin.

Luigi asked, "So what is going on Professor?"

Elvin answered, "Seems like King Boo has indeed disappeared but more and more Boos are showing up. They are actually leaving Evershade Valley and headed towards Mushroom Kingdom!"

"Mushroom Kingdom," Mario repeated, surprised.

"Why are they going to Mushroom Kingdom," Daisy questioned.

"Good question," Luigi said, a bit spooked. The green hated ghost hunter turned to Mario and asked, "You did make sure that Princess Peach wasn't alone...right?"

Mario's face turned a ghostly white instantly. Daisy, Luigi, and Elvin did the same when they realized what Mario wasn't trying to tell them.

"Crap baskets," Luigi cursed, obviously upset, "You left her alone with just the toads and Toadsworth?!"

Elvin stated, calmly, "Now, now. You four will just have to go back to the kingdom post-haste!"

Daisy nodded and replied, "Yes before those Boos get ahold of my cousin!"

Polterpup barked in agreement as Luigi realized that he had no choice but to return home. They had to stop the Boos and their plan...whatever it was.

Luigi commented, "Fine. Daisy, you take Mario and Polterpup up to the border of Evershade Valley. I need to unload the Poltergust 5000."

Daisy nodded as she left with Mario as Polterpup followed.

Elvin turned to Luigi. "You didn't capture any ghosts while Mario was out," Elvin pointed out.

Luigi sighed and stated, "I know. I was hoping you could check my arm before we go. If Mario finds out, he won't allow me to return here after this crisis."

"Good point," Elvin replied.

With that, he checked on Luigi's arm.


Mario, Daisy, and Polterpup were headed towards the border - walking so that Luigi could catch up with them. Mario looked back at the Bunker, worried about his younger brother. Daisy saw this as she knew the true reason Luigi wanted to lag behind.

She said, sweetly, "Don't be so worried, Luigi will be fine."

"To think that he's been here this entire time," Mario stated, looking around.

Daisy whispered, "I'm so sorry for not telling you, Mario."

"You were only doing what Luigi asked you to do," Mario reassured.

Daisy smiled sweetly at him as Mario saw that Polterpup was starting to dig up ahead. Mario chuckled at that.

Daisy smiled and said, "That's the first time I heard you laugh in a long time, Mario."

"Yeah, it feels good," Mario stated.

By this time, Luigi had caught up to them.

Luigi told them, "Sorry about that, Professor E Gadd just loves to chat."

Mario turned to him and said, "It's fine but we better get moving."

"Right," Luigi said, as he whistled to Polterpup.

Polterpup obeyed and ran over to the three of them.

"He's very well-trained," Mario complimented.

"Thanks but he's also a pain in the butt," Luigi stated, with a blush of pride and embarrassment.

Polterpup looked confused as he panted. Daisy giggled as the reunited Manfredi brothers chuckled. Mario was glad that Luigi was okay and well, he had to admit that he was getting worried. 'It'll be good to have him home even though he's only helping us to stop the Boos and save Peach,' Mario thought as the four of them hurried back to Mushroom Kingdom.


Unaware of the danger, Peach was being fitted for her wedding dress by the blue and a green spotted toads.

Green asked Blue, "Hand me the pins?"

"Sure," Blue answered, handing Green the cushion of pins. Green took it as there was a knock on the door. Blue asked, "Who is it?"

"It's me, by boogity," answered Toadsworth.

"Come on in," Peach stated, sighing a bit, hoping it was Mario.

Toadsworth entered as he asked, "Mario hasn't returned yet?"

Peach shook her head, sadly. Toadsworth was surprised. Usually, Mario wouldn't leave Peach alone for this long...

Blue stated, "Your majesty, I'm going to get some more ribbon."

Peach dismissed him and once he was alone, his eyes glowed red as he pushed a button on his remote. Suddenly, the castle shook as night mysteriously fell. Peach, Toadsworth, and Green perked up.

Green asked, "What's going on?"

"I don't like this, by boogity," Toadsworth answered, on his guard.

Peach stated, "It might be Bowser again, you know. He'll do anything to get our kingdom."

Toadsworth didn't relax, since Mario wasn't here and Luigi was gone for a good two years. He wouldn't admit it to anyone but he missed Luigi as much as Mario did. Anyways, the next thing he knew, a Boo appeared in front of him. Scared out of his mind, he stumbled backwards.

"Toadsworth," Green cried out, worried.

Another Boo appeared on the side of Green and spooked him. Green also stumbled backwards, surprised. Before either of them could get to their feet, a Shy Guy came in and tied both of them up.

"A Shy Guy," Peach gasped, "So Bowser is behind this!"

One of the Boos, Boofon, said, "You're coming with us!"

"Get her," said the other Boo, Boola, said.

The Shy Guy snapped his fingers and instantly - a ton of Boos surrounded the princess. Before she could try and fight back like Mario had taught her, they left with her and the room went dark. The Shy Guy also had left the room as Blue showed up a few minutes later.

He asked, pretending to be surprised, "What on earth happened in here?!"


AK1028: I hope that was worth the wait! Things are getting more and more mysterious, that's for sure! As we continue, more surprises will be coming for you and our heroes too! Please read and review! And always think outside of the box!