4

Mario and Luigi walked into a small diner that contained the fresh aroma of bacon and fried eggs. The room was almost empty except for a few early birds that were seen drinking their morning coffee. There were a few Toads and also a few snail people over in the back corner of the diner away from the front entrance. Mario and Luigi did not pay any attention to all of the details, for they were drooling over the scent as they sat down at an empty booth. A waitress came over to their table and took out her tablet.

"Good morning! My name is Barbara, I will be your server today." she said. "Is there anything I can get you boys? You two look like you've had a rough night."

"How much is the special of the day?" Mario said.

"You mean the fried eggs, hash browns, and bacon with a cup of coffee?" Barbara questioned.

"Yes." Mario said.

"It will cost you six gold coins a meal." she said.

"Well…I guess we'll just have the bacon and hash browns." Mario said. "Does that sound okay, Luigi?"

"Yeah." Luigi said.

"Alright boys, I'll have that ready for you in a jiffy." said the waitress, as she ripped the paper from her tablet and made her way to the kitchen. The room became quiet with only the faint clanging of plates echoing throughout the diner. The brothers looked outside and saw the other buildings illuminated by sunlight that was now finally breaking through the early morning cloud cover.

"Well, it's about time the sun started making an appearance!" Luigi said.

"I'm still thinking over what the two lady Toads told us." Mario said. "You know, about Lord Crump's plan to search for a crystal star."

"Yes, brother. I know what you're saying." Luigi said. "What's bothering you?"

"I'm just trying to figure out why he would want to do such a thing." Mario said. "Who is this 'old friend' that he mentioned?"

"Do you think it could be Bowser?" Luigi said.

"I'm not sure. We need to find out more information." Mario replied. "It's only a matter of time before things get worse."

"Do you think we should head over to the library and see if we can find anything related to a crystal star?" Luigi asked.

"We'll do that after we eat." Mario said.

Luigi glanced over and was startled to see one of the snail people in the corner of the room staring at him with a mean glare that hinted with the intent of hurting him. He sensed that the person did not like conversation that he and his brother were having.

"Are you okay, Luigi?" Mario asked. "Is something wrong?"

"No." Luigi quickly responded. "Nothing at all."

Mario turned around and looked over at the snail people, who were having their conversation, as if they never looked over.

"Something has to be bothering you." Mario said. "I can sense it."

"I'm just very suspicious of those people in the corner." Luigi said. "They look like they're up to no good. One of them gave me a death glare."

"Are they members of the Robbo gang?" Mario said. "What do you think?"

"Well, that one got suspicious of us right when we were talking about the crystal star and Lord Crump." Luigi said. "I don't know. Maybe they're just working for Lord Crump."

"Well, if that's the case, then they know the password into the Trouble Center!" Mario said.

"Yes, but we have to be careful!" Luigi said. "Remember, they will kill us."

The brothers saw the snail people get out of their seats and head for the front door to leave the restaurant. Barbara was scolding at them for smoking in the restaurant, which was obviously not allowed.

"Damn!" Mario said. "They left! They may have been our only chance to get the password!"

"How would you get the password if they know that you aren't part of the gang?" Luigi said. "They're not going to tell you."

"Then I guess we never had a chance." Mario said, remembering what the two ladies had told them. "I'll be right back, I have to take a leak."

Mario walked into the empty restroom and went over to the sink to rinse his face with water. The cold water made him feel more revitalized and clean, almost as if he were ridding himself of some unknown sin. He was about to use the nearby urinal when he stopped and noticed something strange on the walls. It was a message that was carved into the wall with a sharp knife. To Mario, the message looked recent. He took a closer look and read the message and was shocked by what it said:

Way to go Bowser!

It's only a matter of time before we start collecting the seven crystal stars to set up a destructive assault on the Mushroom Kingdom. By then, nobody will be able to stop it and the kingdom will be ours!

"Oh my gosh!" Mario said out loud. "This must've been written by one of those snail people that just walked out of the restaurant!"

Mario paused.

"Does that mean that they are part of the Robbo gang? If so, then Lord Crump is obviously working with Bowser! I must tell Luigi!"

Meanwhile, Luigi was sitting at the table all by himself when Barbara the waitress came by with the two breakfast plates.

"There you go, sir!" said the waitress. "Where's your brother?"

"Oh, he'll be back." Luigi said. "He just had to use the restroom. Wait, how did you know that we were brothers?"

"Well, it was kind've obvious." Barbara said. "You two look very much alike. Say, you two don't happen to be the missing brothers that were given permission to marry the kidnapped princesses, are you?"

"Why, yes." Luigi said. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I recognized you guys from the morning paper. Sounds like Bowser tried to kill you guys."

"He did try." Luigi said. "Me and my brother Mario were trying to save the two princesses by taking them back to our house, but Bowser raided us and kidnapped them both. The next thing we knew, we were being strapped by Bowser's Koopa henchmen to a couple of chairs and were left to die in the fiery explosion of a Bob-Omb. Luckily, we managed to escape, but now, we are left with nothing but what we can carry on our backs, that is if we had anything."

"Oh my gosh!" Barbara said. "I'm so sorry about that!"

"That's okay." Luigi said, as a tear started dripping down his cheek. "I'm used to it."

Barbara stood there completely motionless with sorrow for the two brothers.

"I'll tell you what." She said. "I can give you and your brother ten gold coins each, plus a free refill of your drink."

"You don't have to." Luigi said.

"But I insist!" Barbara said. "It would be my pleasure to help you boys out."

"Why, thank you!" Luigi said. "I don't know how to repay you."

"You already have." Barbara said. "You two are the first customers in years that I didn't have to kick out for starting violence and not obeying our no-smoke policy. You have no idea what it's like to come into Rogueport every day and deal with the havoc that stains these filthy streets. I can't thank you guys enough for your kindness and patience!"

"You're welcome." Luigi said. "And thanks again for helping us out!"

"Don't mention it!" Barbara said. "I'll back with your free refill."

"Thank you." Luigi said.

What is taking Mario so long? He thought to himself. Suddenly, he looked over and saw Mario dashing from the men's room back over to the table with a frightened expression on his face.

"What is it?" Luigi asked. "You look like you've seen something."

"I did." Mario said. "There was a message on the wall that was written by one of the snail people we just saw earlier."

"How could you tell?" Luigi asked.

"All snail people have the same distinct writing style." Mario said. "But the message said that it was only a matter of time before the seven crystal stars are located before Bowser can unleash his destructive powers on the Mushroom Kingdom and take it over!"

"That's impossible!" Luigi said. "But at the same time it is…Lord Crump wasn't just looking for a crystal star, he was looking for one of seven! Where are the other six stars?"

"I don't know." Mario said. "But that gives us a very good reason to go to the library now."

"Yeah." Luigi said. "Hurry before your eggs get cold."

Barbara came back to the table and saw that Mario had returned.

"How is everything?"

"Everything is good, thank you!" Mario said.

"Here are those free refills I promised." Barbara said.

Mario gave out a shocked expression.

"Free refills?"

"Yes, Mario." Luigi said. "When you were in the bathroom, Barbara agreed to give us both ten gold coins and free refills of our drinks after hearing about what we went through last night."

"I figured that I could help you guys out." Barbara said. "I couldn't just let you guys suck it up on your own."

"Well, I must thank you so much!" Mario said. "You have no idea what that means to us!"

"You're very welcome!" Barbara said. "I still have one question to ask you guys."

"What's that?" Mario asked.

"Do you guys plan on rescuing the princesses?"

"Well, of course!" Mario said.

"You can't be serious!" Barbara said. "You'll get yourselves killed!"

"We realize that." Mario said. "But I must say that the very fate of this kingdom rests on getting the princesses back to us safely and alive. The death of our king was very catastrophic, but the kidnapping of the princesses will ultimately cause our kingdom to collapse, and that's exactly what Bowser wants. We can't let him destroy our kingdom!"

"Well, I certainly wish you guys the best of luck!" Barbara said. "Everyone in the kingdom will be so proud. I believe in you guys!"

"Thank you so much!" Mario called out as Barbara left the table. "We're going to need it!"