Chapter 7

7A - I'm Too Scared, Mario!

It's a quarter to 6, and the Mario Bros. are wrapping up an hour and fifteen break, which included having a huge dinner to replenish their energy. As promised by Mario, he and Luigi changed outfits once again for the sake of washing off the sand that accumulated during the trek through Dry Dry Desert.

Mario came out with his trademark outfit again while Luigi, on the other hand, was wearing a completely different outfit that resembled his Fire form, surprising Goombario.

"Wow. You look different, Luigi," Goombario remarked. "Did you use a rare Fire Flower or something?"

"Not really. I made this myself," Luigi said as he showcased the details of his clothing. "First off, my gloves are tan colored to make it look like I'm bare-handed, my green overalls are a bit darker than the Fire Flower version, and the 'L' logo on my cap is completely bronze, which is never the case of my other outfits."

Suddenly, a small smirk formed on Luigi's face. "Finally, the biggest difference... Um... This is gonna be really weird..." He slightly pulled up his right sleeve. "I spray tanned my skin before I got dressed!" Everyone laughed for a few seconds.

"It only lasts 24 hours, Goombario," Mario chimed in. "Once the spray tan wears off, Luigi will go back to wearing green and blue again."

"All right. You ready to resume rescuing the Star Spirits?" Goombario asked.

"We're ready! Let's-a go!" Luigi declared as he led Mario and Goombario to the Warp Pipe that took them to Toad Town and went eastward. By the time the group reached the intersection, whose north end goes to where Peach's castle was, Twink came in from behind and hovered in front of Luigi.

"Hello! It's good to see you again, Mario and Luigi!" Twink greeted the Mario Bros.

"Hi, Twink. Any new info of the Star Spirits?" Mario asked.

"Well, not too much, but it should be enough to help you," Twink started. "Just earlier, Bowser was told by his assistant Kammy that one of the Star Spirits escaped from this castle that belonged to a creature called 'Tubba Blubba'. And he is said to be more powerful than Bowser himself."

"What do you mean, 'More powerful'?" Luigi questioned.

"He's invincible, Luigi. It's impossible for anybody to hurt or damage him, but me and Princess Peach snuck into her library and some of Bowser's minions were talking about Tubba Blubba having a weak point, which we do not know what it is," Twink replied. "You're going to have to find out yourselves."

"Where did the Star Spirit fly to?" Mario asked.

"Tubba Blubba's castle is somewhere in this place called Forever Forest, and I think that maybe the Star Spirit is hiding somewhere in the forest. But again, I'm not so sure about where exactly. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Twink," Mario said. "We can do this."

"Great! I hope you manage to find the Star Spirit, Mario and Luigi. Princess Peach and I know you can save them all!" Twink said before flying back to Peach's castle.

"Looks like we're gonna have to ask for directions again," Luigi said. Before the group started to go back to the Information Center, Mario spotted a flower on a grassy yard between the post office and corner store. He led Luigi and Goombario to the flower, which uprooted itself, revealing that it was a Bub-ulb.

"Wow! Finally, there's someone I can talk to," the Bub-ulb said.

"Are you one of those Bub-ulbs?" Mario asked.

"Yes, I am. It's been a long while since I first came here from my home in Flower Fields, and you're the very first people to speak a word to me. Nobody ever notices me. The few people I actually see just think I'm blooming," the Bub-ulb explained.

"But we know you're not just blooming," Luigi added in.

"Thank you, sir!" the Bub-ulb thanked Luigi. "I love the generosity you've shown me! Here, take this as thanks!" The Bub-ulb spit out a red seed, which Mario picked up and stowed in his overalls pocket. "This is a precious Magical Seed. Keep it well and remember me."

"All right-y. See you soon," Mario bid the Bub-ulb goodbye as he started off with Luigi and Goombario to the Information Center but stopped after a few seconds to think things over.

"Hold on... I don't think we need Daniel's help."

"Why not?" Goombario asked.

"When we were walking to the train station earlier this morning, I eyeballed a sign that said, 'This Way to Forever Forest'. We should go south until we see the sign again," Mario explained. He then led Luigi and Goombario to where the Forever Forest sign was before looking to his left.

"Looks like that's the forest."

"Um... Mario?" Luigi said with concern while looking at the path toward Forever Forest.

"What's wrong, bro?"

"I... It..." Luigi hesitated. "You know what? Forget it."

"No. Tell me what's wrong," Mario said.

"Nothing's wrong, Mario. Let's-a go into that forest." Knowing that Luigi could get scared easily in the forest, Mario walked alongside Luigi as they began going down the path. As the group got closer to the actual forest, they passed under a couple trees with purple leaves.

Suddenly, Luigi eyeballed something from behind and screamed with terror before falling on his back.

"What happened, Luigi?" Mario asked.

"I just saw a ghost behind me!" Luigi cried.

"I don't see any ghosts." The ghost faded into view behind Mario.

"He's behind you!" Mario turned around, but the ghost disappeared. "I'm serious, Mario! I'm NOT crying wolf!"

"I know, bro. I'll eventually find him," Mario reassured Luigi. The ghost appeared behind the Mario Bros. again.

"He's right there!" Luigi yelled, having looked up at the ghost again. Again, it faded away by the time Mario turned around. Finally, the ghost appeared in front again and stayed in place before it spoke. The ghost was pale colored with white hair and mustache and was holding a handkerchief. Luigi shook uncontrollably and couldn't move a muscle.

"Pardon me, sir... Would you happen to be Mario?" the ghost asked.

"Yes. It's-a me," Mario answered. He and Goombario weren't fazed by the ghost at all.

"How do you do, sir? My master wishes to see you. If you would, please call on us at the mansion on the far side of Forever Forest," the ghost explained. "My master would also like me to add that she has in her possession important news regarding the Star Spirits."

"Please make haste! We shall await your arrival with a warm welcome. And if you don't come..." The ghost slowly disappeared, slightly relieving Luigi.

But the ghost reappeared in a bigger form and shouted, "WE WILL GET YOU! BAHAHAHA!" Luigi screamed louder than the ghost as it faded away and started to hurriedly crawl back the way the group came. Mario saw Luigi crawling and grabbed him by his overalls to stop him.

"LET ME GO!" Luigi cried, struggling to free himself.

"Luigi. Now's not the time to crawl away," Mario said. "We have no choice but to find that ghost's mansion."

"BUT I DON'T WANNA GO THERE!" Luigi began to tear up. "YOU KNOW I'M TERRIFIED OF GHOSTS!"

"You can't be scared of them forever, bro. I know you're terrified, but you have to try to face your fear," Mario said.

"He's right, Luigi," Goombario agreed. "It's the only way to get to the next Star Spirit."

Luigi slowly got up and grasped Mario's hand. "O-okay... I-I'll tr-try..." Luigi trembled.

"I'll make you sure don't go off on your own, bro," Mario reassured Luigi. The group then walked into Forever Forest, which was completely dark because the sun had set five minutes ago.

"Can you see well, Mario?" Goombario asked as he looked around the forest.

"Not really. I didn't bring a flashlight, but we'll make the most of it," Mario replied. By now, Luigi was shaking a little more than when they encountered the ghost.

"I-I'm t-too...sc-scared...M-M-Mario..." Luigi murmured.

"I know, Luigi..."

Mario decided to go straight ahead as he believed walking aimlessly would not let the group make any progress. After a minute and a half, they came across a Toad with a black jacket. Luigi jumped a small bit upon seeing the Toad but didn't overreact.

"Hmm... What do you think you're doing?" the Toad asked. "This is Forever Forest... It's extremely dangerous here. Didn't you know that? You'd better go back." The Toad's warning prompted Luigi to back up slowly, but Mario managed to stop him.

"We can't go back. We were told to go to this ghostly mansion within the forest," Mario requested.

"Is that so? All right, then," The Toad said. "If you want to get through this forest, you have to pay really close attention to your surroundings. The areas near the path's forks will look slightly different from the others. Watch carefully for clues."

"For example, there will be about four flower patches, one of which is a different type than the others," the Toad continued. "These clues will be different in other parts of the forest. Watch the inner forest very, very carefully as you go."

"Thank you so much," Mario thanked the Toad.

"Go straight ahead, please. I hope you make it to the mansion." Without hesitation, the group kept going straight, but walked slowly because of Luigi having trouble walking due to him shaking so much.

Two minutes later, the group came across the four flower patches the Toad mentioned earlier. In front of the patches were four paths, one of which was one of the right ways to the mansion. They all looked the same, which confused Mario.

Just as they passed in front of the one second from the right, the bush rustled loudly, and the flowers cackled in a high-pitched voice. Luigi shrieked upon hearing the rustling and almost fell over on the correct path, but Mario pulled him back up.

"I d-don't...kn-know if...I-I'll m-make...it..." Luigi moaned.

"Yes, you will, Luigi," Mario said. "Hang in there."

Over the next fifteen minutes, the group went through five more puzzled areas; each had different correct paths: a hollow tree trunk with red eyes, blue flowers that made chirping noises as opposed to the cackling flowers, a tall tree with a laughing red face, a blue patch of mushrooms as opposed to three purple mushroom patches; and similar to the first area, the rustling bush and cackling flowers.

During the whole walk, Luigi covered his eyes so as to not accidentally scream while passing the flowers and trees. Mario held Luigi's hand, which calmed him down a small bit. In the final area that the last cackling flower bush led the group into, there was a sign on the right side that said, "This Way to Boo's Mansion". In addition, there were no scary noises except for chirping crickets.

"You feeling better, bro?" Mario asked Luigi.

"N-no... I-I'm s-still sc-scared..." Luigi muttered as he uncovered his eyes. "I-I'm sh-shaking..."

"I can tell." Mario felt Luigi trembling, which persisted during the trek through the forest.

"We're getting close to the mansion, Luigi," Mario said. "Stay with me during our time in there, okay? You're gonna be fine."

"O-okay..." Mario proceeded to lead Luigi and Goombario toward the mansion, which was dead ahead.