Chapter XXV: All Around Rogueport

Rumor has it that a Puni in Boggly Woods had the next yoshi egg that Luigi was looking for. Luigi and his friends have gone into the sewers to look for a pipe that would take them there. Unfortunately, they got lost and arrived in what appears to be an underground town.

"Wario, do you have any idea where we're going?" Luigi asked.

"Actually, I don't," Wario admitted. "This map is confusing as heck."

"Are you sure you're not holding it upside-down?"

"Of course! Gah! How dumb do you think I am?"

A nearby Bandit noticed the little argument. "Are you guys lost?"

"Yeah," said Luigi. "I'm trying to get to Boggly Woods."

"Oh. No problem. I know the way there. Go through the doorway over there and take the sliding platform to the pipe, go down the stairs and to the first pipe you see and go through the doorway just a few feet away. It's pretty straight-forward from there."

"Grazie," Luigi thanked the Bandit.

"That guy sure knew what he was talking about," Oshi said as he and the others continued on.

"Well, I guess there's nothing wrong with asking the locals for directions," Luigi pointed out. "I probably should've tried that first."

The gang stopped in its tracks when they got to an obstacle that was never mentioned. The doorway that they had to pass through was blocked by bars. Not even Waluigi could possibly squeeze through them.

"Why did I ever trust a Bandit...?" Luigi grumbled.

"Fear not," Wario boasted. "Behold what my big beefy biceps can do!"

Wario grabbed two of the bars and used his massive muscles to bend them so everyone could walk through.

"Impressive. I'm sure glad you're on our side. Not even Mario can do a stunt like that."

With the path opened, the adventurers continued and entered a nearby wooden pipe which lead them to an oddly-colored forest. The grass was a blue-ish hue, the flowers were pure white and the tree trunks were black.

"Wow..." Yosheta said in awe. "This is weird."

"This has to be the right place," Luigi mused. "Let's keep going. The big tree must be around here somewhere."

Luigi was absolutely right. After a short hike, the party easily found The Great Tree. It is difficult to not notice it due to its sheer size. It stretched toward the sky like a giant tower. Even its roots were taller than most people.

"This thing is huge!" Oshi exclaimed as he gazed at The Great Tree in disbelief.

While the yoshis stood around and marveled at the beauty of mother nature, Luigi and Amy went inside a metal door at the base of the tree. The interior was roomy and comfortable, but Luigi didn't see any Punis around. It was because they feared anything that was more than twice their size, including humans.

"Is anyone home?" Luigi asked. "I need a little help..."

A Puni slowly came out of hiding and skittered up to Luigi. Punis are small bug-like creatures with a single antennae on their heads. This particular Puni had a green ball on the end of his,

"Mario?" the Puni said timidly.

"Luigi, actually. Mario is my bro."

"Oh, hi. I'm Punio. What do you need?"

"I was told to see a girl Puni. She might have an egg that I'm looking for."

"You probably mean my sister, Petuni. I'll go get her for you."

Punio walked away. A moment later, another Puni came up to Luigi. This one was slightly smaller and had a pink ball on the end of her antennae.

"Hello," said Petuni. "Ask me anything."

Luigi became quiet and tried to think of a question. He had to make sure that he asked the right one.

Amy provided a question for him. "Mario likes what person the most?"

"Princess Peach!" Petuni giggled. "Mario likes Peach the most!"

Luigi was shocked. "What?!"

Petuni gave Amy an egg with gray stripes. This can't possibly be what Luigi came for...

"Stripes? Don't you have one with spots?" Luigi asked.

"Um...well..." Petuni said nervously. "I did have one with orange spots. I gave it to some shady guy awhile ago though. I'm sorry. If I knew it was yours, I wouldn't have done that. You probably want to eat me now, so please just keep that egg anyway. Okay?"

Luigi and Amy were very disappointed and didn't say a word. They went back outside where everyone was still gawking at the tree.

"I've got some bad news, guys," Luigi frowned. "The egg isn't here."

"What? It isn't?" Oshi asked.

"It turns out that Petuni gave it away. She said that she gave it to some shady guy. In this region though, it could be anyone."

Wario cracked open The World of Plit to find some answers. "Hey. It says here that Twilight Town and the people that live there are always dark. Shady can mean dark, so..."

"I see what you're getting at. I suppose Twilight Town is worth a shot."

Luigi and friends turned around and went back the way they came. Wario still had trouble reading the map, so they retraced their steps to the underground town and asked the Bandit there for directions to their new destination.

"Twilight Town?" said the Bandit. "I have no idea what you folks are up to, but I guess I'll tell you how to get there anyway. It's not far from here."

The path was short and simple, but it also involved a long jump. It wasn't a big deal for Luigi and the yoshis, but everyone else had to hitch a ride on a yoshi. The party found a brown pipe and hopped in. They now found themselves in a dark and eerie town.

"How did it get so late already?" Amy asked. "We weren't even underground that long, were we?"

"It's Twilight Town, all right," Luigi said matter-of-factly. "It's always dusk here."

"Hmm..." Waluigi mused. "I like darkness and all, but I'm not sure if I'd want to live in a place that's always dark. If you think about it, it's kinda depressing. Then again..."

While Waluigi contemplated on if he liked the town or not, everyone else spread out and asked the residents if they knew anything about the yoshi egg. Purpley tried the local item shop that was run by a married couple.

"An egg with orange spots, you say?" said the husband. "Sure. I've seen one."

"You have?" Purpley smiled.

"Yup. I had one for awhile, but then I sold it to some pig fellow."

Purpley's smile faded. "Oh... Well, thanks anyway."

After leaving the shop, Purpley looked around for Luigi so she could tell him the news. She found him at the mayor's house.

"Hey, Luigi," she began. "I found the guy that had the egg, but...well... He doesn't have it now. He said he sold it to a pig."

"A pig?" Luigi said skeptically. "Weird. I didn't know there were pigs around here. Why would a pig want an egg anyway?"

"Maybe we should ask Wario if he knows anything, huh?"

Luigi and Purpley went to the warp pipe where the others were waiting for them.

"Does The World of Plit say anything about pigs in this region?" Luigi asked Wario.

The navigator flipped through the pages of the book, but found nothing. "Sorry, buddy. It's no good. I hate to say it, but we probably need Mario's help on this one."

"I see." Luigi shrugged. "I guess it's back to the S.S. Garlic for us. I suppose it's about lunch time anyway..."

Luigi and the rest of his party climbed into the pipe, returned to Rogueport and made their way back to Wario's ship. When they got on board, Luigi tried to enter Mario's cabin, but the door was locked from the inside. Luigi knocked on the door instead.

"Hey!" Mario snapped. "I'm sorry about the request, okay?! So leave me alone!"

"I need a little help and..." Luigi hesitated for a moment. "I'm sorry too..."

After he heard Luigi apologize, Mario got up from his reading, unlocked the door and let him in.

"Research isn't going too well," Mario sighed. "I'm up to the point when we took a vacation in Dinosaur Land and met Yoshi. So what brings you back here? You said you needed help?"

"I was told that a pig has the egg. But I've never seen pigs around here and The World of Plit doesn't say anything about it either. Do you have any ideas?"

"Good thing you came to me. I know exactly where one is."

Luigi was a little surprised. "You do? Where?"

"There's a hot dog stand in Glitzville run by a guy named Mr. Hoggle. I bet he's who you are looking for. Here. You'd better take this."

Mario reached into the pocket of his overalls and pulled out a ticket, then he gave it to Luigi.

"The only way up there is by the Cheep Cheep Blimp," the older brother continued. "This ticket should get you on there with no problem." Mario's voice took on a darker tone. "I suggest you hurry though. If you don't find him soon, your friend is going to be fried and served on a hot dog!"

Heeding Mario's advice, Luigi quickly left without even telling anyone where he was going. He headed to the Rogueport Station where the blimp to Glitzville was docked. Luigi used the ticket Mario gave him to get on board and the ride went swimmingly. The blimp dropped him off at Glitzville as planned and Luigi looked around.

"Now let's see..." Luigi thought. "Mario said to look for a hot dog stand. Ah. That must be it." Luigi spotted the hot dog stand between the souvenir shop and the famous Glitz Pit Arena.

"Holy crap!" said a passerby. "It's the Great Gonzales!"

"Huh?"

Everyone in the area suddenly swarmed around Luigi, much to his utter confusion.

"He's back!"

"Can I have your autograph?!"

"Can I touch your hammer?!"

"Can I have a lock of hair?!"

"What the heck?" Luigi growled.

Luigi was annoyed and had a mission to take care of. He busted out his hammer and used it to swat everyone away. After breaking up the crowd, he ran to the hot dog stand.

"Hello there, you customer," said the pig-like Mr. Hoggle. "Would you like one of my famous hot dogs? Only ten coins each."

"Hmm. Tempting, but that's not way I'm here," Luigi said importantly. "Do you happen to have an egg with orange spots?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I've sold it already. See, I was going to use it for a recipe, but I couldn't crack it open. So I swindled a Bob-omb into buying it. I made a nice profit too."

Now Luigi was just plain frustrated. He began to stomp off toward the blimp, but he had second thoughts and came back.

"Actually, I hate to leave empty-handed and I am hungry right now. I'll take two, please."

"Certainly. Here you go."

Mr. Hoggle served Luigi two hot dogs and he paid twenty coins. Luigi got back on the blimp before the crowd could bother him again. Luigi ate both of the hot dogs on the ride back to Rogueport. Afterward, Luigi high-tailed it to the S.S. Garlic.

Mario was still working on his research when Luigi entered his room. "So how did it go?" he asked.

"Well, I've got some good news and some bad news," Luigi replied.

"Oh? What's up?"

"The good news is the egg didn't get cooked. The bad news is that it was sold to a Bob-omb. Now where do I look?"

"There is a village in the area with nothing but Bob-ombs. I believe it was called Fahr Outpost. I think...? Ugh. I think I gave myself a headache from reading that blasted book. I need a break..."

Luigi left as Mario lied down in bed. He went to the kitchen where everyone was passing the time by chatting with each other. Wario was once again flipping through the pages of The World of Plit.

"Hey, Wario. The egg changed places again."

"Oy..." Wario shook his head. "Need me to look up a new location?"

"Yeah. See if there's a village of Bob-ombs."

"Sure thing. Ah. There it is right here. Fahr Outpost. Oh, looks like it's in a snowy area though. You're probably not gonna like that.

Luigi looked at the page. Though Fahr Outpost was indeed a cold area, it was also a rather small area. Plus, the pipe that lead to it was right near the one that went to Twilight Town.

"Bah. I thought I was done with the white stuff. I guess this looks easy enough though. I'm not going alone either. Who wants to join me?"

Amy, Purpley and Oshi offered to come. The quartet departed and went into the Rogueport Sewers where they easily found the pipe to Fahr Outpost. Luigi was a bit displeased that he had to go through some snow at first, but this time he wasn't famished and he had company. The path to town was also short. The only real obstacle were the Frost Piranhas that occasionally attacked. They were no match for Luigi's firepower however and he was able to reach his destination.

Now in town, Luigi and friends asked each of the Bob-ombs that lived there if they knew about the egg. The Bob-ombs all looked very similar though and they often made the mistake of asking some of them multiple times. Luckily, they were able to find the right one.

"An egg you say? KA-BOOM!" said a Bob-omb that Luigi talked to. "I had one with orange spots. KER-BLAM! I lost it on the way home. KA-POW! Sorry."

"You lost it?!" Luigi fumed. "I ran around Rogueport all day and you lost it?!"

"Huh? What's wrong, Luigi?" Purpley asked when she heard Luigi yelling.

Luigi felt defeated and sighed. "It's over. I simply can't find it..."